Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Very late Saturday evening ... well actually it was VERY EARLY Sunday morning, I decided to pen the piece, " He was right ... he still is ... and yet the BC Liberals choose to take this money anyway. I hope they choke on it ".   It has generated several comments, sadly some come as personal only, and the individual writing them cannot be identified for reasons it could cause them problems.   Regardless, here is an interesting dialogue I've had over the past day and a half, with one of my acquaintances in BC politics I'd share your outrage but in this case it's transitional to zero subsidies so in the big scheme of things it's not a major issue.   Lots of other issues are more important, like electing the Tory guy in Kelowna ! Sorry __ xyz __ but I have to strongly disagree.  They can spend their own money on whatever they want, but taxpayers should not have to subsidize the Liberals, NDP, and Greens.  And as I mentioned, what...

The three main parties, filling their bank accounts with taxpayers money, all seem to believe it shouldn't be done.  So then why have NONE have decided decline this months windfall jackpot, that instead SHOULD BE GOING to health services, education, and other social services? I've said it before, and I'll say it again; " Ideally only individuals should be able to donate up to a limit, similar to our federal system " Instead, BC Liberals, NDP, and Green Party all headed to a taxpayer funded, and fully paid for, buffet. This from the Globe and Mail, in the Wednesday edition : " ... British Columbia taxpayers just deposited $2.4-million into the bank accounts of the province's three main political parties — the first installment of a subsidy designed to wean them off corporate and union donations. The governing New Democrats and BC Liberals each received nearly $1-million, a contrast from traditional donations in which th...

A commentary from Sandy Macdougall ... AKA the Sidewinder: The need to campaign effectively with a united front to defeat the NDP's proposed preferential ballot referendum, to be held this coming October, seemed to be the single issue upon which all six candidates agreed in Tuesday's televised debate. Michael Lee, Dianne Watts and Sam Sullivan serve little purpose in the campaign, other than to position themselves for cabinet consideration, by the ultimate victor --- if the Liberals actually win the next general election. Dianne Watts resigned her seat as a member of parliament to run for the provincial Liberal leadership. Despite her claims of success everywhere she casts a shadow, few examples have been uncovered of even a single instance where she accomplished anything in Ottawa except collecting her pay. In her role as the mayor of Surrey, she distinguished herself by joining ranks with Gregor Robertson on the mayors committee on transit in an attem...

Mark Thompson, a father of four, and three term ( 1985 to 1994) Saskatoon City Councillor, will be carrying the BC Conservative banner, forthe riding of Kelowna West. Kelowna-West BC Conservative Party candidate Mark Thompson Since leaving Saskatoon, Mark has resided in BC for the past two decades.   And "YES", Mark Thompson's name will sound familiar to many. He ran for the BC Conservative Party, in the riding of Kelowna Mission, in the 2009 provincial election campaign.   In that campaign, Mark placed a respectable third, out of six candidates, and garnered over 2,300 votes (11.82%). Says Mark, regarding his business acumen and skills, " Clients consider me to be different than your “typical consultant” as I have a very unique perspective of providing advice that comes from real experience as a business owner, investor, team leader, policy analyst and speaker. I assist clients effectively analyze their current situation with a focus...

In the January 19th edition of the Vancouver Sun Newspaper , Vaughn Palmer had an article regarding how the BC Liberals preferential ballot meant leadership candidates would be (as he said) left guessing as to who would win.   He went into likely scenarios ... the number of new membership sign-ups (and what that actually meant) ... where the majority of new members were from ... and who appeared to be the top three in the running ... and more. Looking at the raw numbers for the BC Liberals, there were 34,000 members prior to the start of the leadership race -- 58,000 after new membership sign-ups once the race began -- which equals 2 3,000 new instant members. SO ... my question then would be, "Why is it that as of the end of last week only 21,000 of those Fifty-Eight Thousand had actually taken the time to register, so they would receive the PIN required, to vote for the candidate of their choice?" With that in mind I posted the followi...

On January 15th an innocent young teenager, from Coquitlam, died after being hit be a stray bullet, shot by a cold-hearted callous and uncaring thug. This teen, was simply headed home after dinner out with his family. Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer, in an interview with the Sun, stated: “ My heart goes out to the family of the 15-year-old boy. They were having a normal Saturday night evening out with family and now they are grieving for their son,” Palmer said. “My message to the family is this: we will not ever be able to fully comprehend your grief, but the Vancouver Police Department will do whatever it takes to seek justice for your son .” Following the outrageous and senseless death of this young teen, someone whom I will choose to call insensitive (at least by my standards), decided to post this comment on Twitter: To this, I replied:

The following is a Mini Sidewinder piece from my friend Sandy Macdougall, regarding a Bingo Shutdown In Maple Ridge.   He talks about fools, and their money, being separated.   As well, he also comments on governments at all levels, which seem unable to connect the dots to societal problems.  Those connected dots lead to huge costs dealing with those addicted to alcohol, to gambling, and other vices the government is all too happy to collect taxes from. Whatever revenues governments collect, they never cover the associated costs -- NOR do they create wealth (both in taxes and jobs), that would result if instead it was spent at the retail level. I also suspect there would be a whole lot less need for Food Banks, and feeding school children breakfast before classes begin. Now, here's Sandy: The management of Chances Casino in Maple Ridge has raised the ire of Bingo players following their announcement that the Bingo parlor operation wa...

Jason Kenney, leader of the United Conservative Party QUESTION: Who among any of the leadership candidate hoping to be elected on February 3rd, has ruffled any sacred feathers in the BC Liberal Party? IF the BC Liberal Party is indeed the free enterprise coalition (a claim I have shredded on numerous occasions), then why has no leadership candidate mentioned anything about the success of Jason Kenney’s unity party right next door in Alberta? Is it NOT a welcomed idea, and if so, why not?   Like Kenney, a new leader will have to mold the party (again that so-called coalition) into the form and shape he or she desires.  Have I missed the news story somewhere?  The one where the media ask candidates why this discussion, on a comparable free-enterprise party’s in Canada, isn't part of the discussion.  Especially during a leadership race? Perhaps it has to do with the fact that no one, in the media, has ever asked the capit...

What attracted the most interest from readers of this blog-site in 2017?   I took a few minutes to review and look that over, before compiling a TOP 10.   Eight of these posts are indeed the top stories, going from number 8 down to number one.   In addition, I added the top two stories from December. Starting with Number 8, here are the top stories that were of interest to you last year. NUMBER 8 from June 29th ... " UPDATE ... 8:15pm Thursday June30th ... John Horgan, NDP Leader, has been invited to form government ." NUMBER 7 from January 14th ... " How Can Governments Thirst for Increased Tax Revenues be Squared With It's So-Called Concern for Those Suffering From Addiction " NUMBER 6 from May 8th ... " PLACING MY "X" ... 'Do jobs matter more than governing with honesty,compassion, and forthrightness " NUMBER 5 from July 15th ... Todd Stone and Peter Milobar, by all means possible, extort this government toend the never end...

I hope the past few weeks have been a wonderful time of welcoming family and friends for special gatherings ... enjoy festive dinners ... gift exchanges ... and wonderful holiday pastries and treats . Now, we'll soon be entering the race to elect an MLA for the Kelowna Westside riding; and beginning a race to elect a new leader for the BC Conservatives. And there's more that will require something of you. The obvious things like people to take on roles in an executive for Kamloops North, Kamloops South, and Fraser Nicola will be needed ... so to will be dozens of volunteers ... individuals to raise funds for the needs of our constituencies ... people to make calls to members about events ... people to fill a candidate selection committee ... sign crews ... office workers ... and so many other positions will all need to be filled. Any parties success will ONLY come through the efforts of people who come out to volunteer and help -- and those ...