Thoughts on BC Politics and More

The other day a BC political acquaintance, Sean Upshaw, and I had an online / offline conversation.   This followed up on my blog post of Saturday July 29th entitled, " Well Christy Clark never did move there -- and poor Sean never had a chance to sell her a house either " Sean good naturedly (I hope) took exception to my title for the post and responded to me by saying: For the record, Sean Upshaw is not poor in anyway. I would have declined to sell her a house any ways as I prefer to work with people who are sincere. Having said that I wish her luck in her next endeavour. Maybe now the party to the right of centre can find someone who is not affiliated with Trudeau to lead them . Hmmmm ... I said to myself, 'Is he referring to the BC Liberals being right of center?? ... or ...?? '.   And so I asked him: I'm interested by the wording on your comment Sean ... the party to the 'right of centre' can find some...

Say What?  Former BC Premier Christy Clark who resigned on Friday July 28th as Premier and Westside - Kelowna MLA Early in the morning yesterday, I go outside to work in the yard and the next thing I know Christy Clark had resigned. Let me tell you, if I'd known sooner, that was all it took, I would have done it earlier. No surprise, but looking to social media, there was a mix of both good and bad, as people commented of Christy's departure.  Here's just a small sampling: Christy Clark resigning is good but a party is not *a* person. Every rotten decision & its harmful legacy belongs to BC Lib Party   Few understand the sacrifice & the "all in" commitment needed for public life. Christy Clark responded to that call: not once, but twice.   Christy Clark, and Gordon Campbell before her, hurt working class people in BC the entire time they were in office. Good riddance to bad rubbish.   Why should we say we thank someone...

The gnashing of teeth by our neighbours, next door in Alberta, continues frothing away yesterday (July 25th).   On the heels of the Progressive Conservatives, and Wildrose parties coming together on the weekend, the NDP's Sarah Marjorie Hoffman, current Deputy Premier of Alberta, and Minister of Health in the NDP cabinet of Rachel Notley Sarah Hoffman got herself in a lather against the forces of evil -- that being the new United Conservative Party. Rachael Notley's Deputy Premier, Sarah Hoffman, had this to say: blah blah blah ... all conservatives hate LGTBQ ... blah blah blah ... we / me / you will know it because he's a white Anglo-Saxon male  blah blah blah ... he held views that were anti LGTBQ previously, and so those will always be his beliefs ... blah blah blah ... I will rake the new United Conservative Leader over the coals because as a self-righteous leftie I am allowed to do this ... blah blah blah ... no one had better eve r ...

THE SIDEWINDER:   Following the election of the NDP, anyone expecting quick action on social housing issues in Maple Ridge, and the rest of British Columbia, will likely be in for a huge disappointment. NDP MLA Selina Robinson Coquitlam - Malardville As part of his gender balanced cabinet, Premier John Horgan appointed Coquitlam - Maillardville MLA Selina Robinson as the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.  Other than having served as a member of Coquitlam's city council, it is not clear what other expertise Robinson brings to the table, particularly on the demanding housing portfolio. Robinson's performance on Jon McComb's CKNW talk show on Monday morning revealed her seemingly total lack of ability to answer even the simplest of questions on housing issues. Robinson said there was no clear timeline on how or when the NDP government would tackle the housing crisis. McComb is usually thoughtful and polite, regardless of who he is inter...

Wildrose Leader Brian Jean and Progressive Conservative leader   Jason Kenney May 18th announcing tentative deal to unite parties Next door in Alberta over the weekend, members of the Progressive Conservative Party -- and the Wildrose Party -- both agreed to a merger. And how was that hailed by the mainstream media, including CTV?   Their focus was on the paltry number (5%) of Progressive Conservatives who were 'lamenting the death of Alberta's historic PC party' . The former President of the party, Katherine O'Neill   spoke of a lot of grieving going on ... and that a lot of people were heartbroken .   It should however be noted that O'Neill left the party, after Jason Kenney's victory as party leader.   From what I have read, I take that to mean that she was far more progressive (left-leaning?) than she was conservative.   And therein, lies the rub, as it were, with attaching the word progressive , to the word conservative ...

Good morning ... (or afternoon ... or evening -- depending on what time you are reading this.  Today's post is a mix of my own thoughts ... a BC government News release ... and background information on one of John Horgan's new Cabinet Ministers ... Doug Donaldson (Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations, and Rural Development). BC GOVERNMENT NEWS :  Office of the Premier Premier John Horgan announced his new cabinet today to build a better B.C. and get results for people. “ Our government will offer families relief from high costs and fees, strengthen services like health care and education, and create good jobs and economic opportunity across B.C .,” said Premier John Horgan. “ We will put people at the heart of everything we do. And we’ll work hard to deliver on our commitments to British Columbians .” The new cabinet is made up of 20 ministers and two ministers of state. In addition, six ...

In-coming NDP Premier John Horgan TODAY ... NDP Leader John Horgan will be sworn in as the new Premier of British Columbia.   How long his government, supported by Andrew Weaver and his two Green MLA's, lasts is unknown at this time of course -- we'll just have to wait and see. Meantime, Christy Clark exits the Premiers office, and her position as leader of the BC Liberals is also be unknown.   Some (many?) say the knives are out to have her replaced, and that of course should be no surprise to anyone. As to my own Kamloops South MLA Todd Stone; in a Facebook post yesterday, he stated; As the Interior has been ravaged with wildfires over the past 10 days, it has been by privilege to be on point through this emergency with my colleague, Minister of Forests John Rustad (who has done an outstanding job). While we have often been the face of government’s efforts to respond to the wildfires and support those most directly impacted, we have the e...

With all the troubles and strife people in the Cached Creek / Ashcroft area ... and all the way through, and just past, Williams Lake are going through ... it's hard to get worked up -- annoyed -- or just plain miffed at matters that are political in nature. Kamloops City Councilor Denis Walsh I mean, really it is.  WITH ONE EXCEPTION.  The recent letter written by Kamloops City Councillor Denis Walsh.  To be fair (to me that is), I did wait five days while I let things simmer to see if what I had thought up first reading his letter, had changed it all. It did not. The letter Denis Walsh wrote to Christy Clark, Andrew Weaver, and soon to be Premier John Horgan had all of the hallmarks of the rabid opposition that has been stirred up for several years now. It was all filled with all of the buzz words, of doom and gloom, that one would expect ... and even more.  Those included: ...policies on the Ajax mine appr...

WELL I CERTAINLY STIRRED UP REACTION when my last post went online , as well as other comments, which were made online elsewhere.  People opposed, to what I had to say, had comments which included the following:   Okay, I'm f - - king sick of the idiocy and done with writing a diatribe every single time a friend posts about how they're upset that Trudeau is giving a terrorist $10m. ... You people are.... willfully ignorant and hypocritical .. ·          God help us. What’s next everybody is “packing”, burning crosses, and having segregated bathrooms.  This rhetoric is disturbing.  Canadians are better than this. My mind is in awe of the number of people who have no respect for what being tortured actually means. Who foolishly think that they wouldn't break ... If our governments are willing to trap and torture people on foreign soil then we h...

So our daisies and sunshine ... photo bombing ... life is grand PM Justin Trudeau, along with his Liberal government, has issued a formal apology to a terrorist ... who belonged to a terrorist family ... who injured, killed, and maimed untold numbers of people.  I don't give a crap about what anyone else may have to say --- this was D I S G U S T I N G, and a slap in the face to all Canadians who believe in justice. TERRORIST Omar Khadr was captured, and sent to Guantanamo Bay under a Omar Khadr -- terrorist receives +$10 million pay-out after murdering battlefield medic PREVIOUS LIBERAL government --- he was brought back by a Conservative government. Regardless however -- his CRIME got him where he ended up.  NO ONE, other than his own terrorist father (and other family members), are responsible for that. Andrew Sheer had it right in this GLOBAL NEWS story : “ This settlement is a choice made by Justin Trudeau … a sla...

For those who read my last post titled, " BC Liberals will win next election, Greens will be wiped out " on the Armchair Mayors website, or in its original title, " That has never happened before, and most will consider it to be a perversion of democracy ", on my own " Thoughts on BC Politics and More " blog, it elicited a strong response from at least a few people.   Gary commented ... Shame on you Alan—I thought you were a loyal Conservative, you have completely forgotten about the resurgence of your party in the next election. If there is anything that Christy Clark has done with her un-Liberal throne speech it will be to revitalize the BC Conservative Party. More than half the BC Liberal Party are hard core Conservatives and they have just been left high and dry by Christy’s throne speech. Your numbers are way off—lets look at this again in four years . Alan Forseth -- BC Reform Party candidate 1996 BC Provincial election Kam...

Three or four times over the years, that I worked as a reporter, I was privileged to cover Canada Day citizenship ceremonies. The memories of those events left an indelible impression on me and reminded me of just how fortunate we are to live in the best country in the world. Families who had fled from war torn countries, often having been forced to leave loved ones behind; people who had fought against the impossible odds of starvation and disease, and those who were simply seeking a better life for themselves and their children, they all came to Canada seeking the hope and commitment we held out to them. These ceremonies always aroused a humility in my soul and re-awakened my sense of gratitude for being a Canadian. Too often we forget how truly blessed we are in Canada; that our struggles in this country are nothing compared to much of the rest if the world. Certainly, we have poverty and many other social issues which can drag people down to the depths of...