Thoughts on BC Politics and More

The year is near end ... and today, as likely my last post of 2019, I present a quick little ditty .... ‘Twas two days before Christmas, And all through the land, Scribes on their keyboards took the ‘ledge to hand What about Andrew, and Horgan, and Andrew? Sounds like a law firm; and what about lawyers? Many don’t like ‘em, there's too many elected But in a spirit of cheer, and goodwill to all men, We’ll give them a break, so that they can reflect And perhaps start the new year with mutual respect Thank you for joining us here each and every week – each of us who participate with opinions and commentaries on the blog appreciate.   Stay tuned for the years top commentaries of 2019.  I’ll have them for you on what many who love in the Cariboo still call Wrestling Day ... January 2 nd . Merry Christmas, and may you enjoy Gods richest blessings through-out the new year ahead! Alan Forseth

Postponement of the April Conservative Party of Canada convention, to November, is not a surprise. The Party National Council failed the Party membership by not curtailing efforts to push Andrew Scheer out. The decision on whether a leadership contest was required was up to the delegates to the April convention. No group of party members has the authority or right to usurp the Party constitution and the authority of delegates to convention. Intervention was needed and did not happen. The “leak” of an arrangement between the Party and Mr. Scheer on school tuition fees was unethical and those involved were in breach of confidentiality clauses and failed to protect the interests of the Party and its members. No amount of lipstick will make that pig presentable. Instead of dealing with the culprits, the Conservative Fund chose to dismiss the Executive Director although the Fund does not choose or approve the person appointed. It appears that Mr. van Vugt was dismiss...

Green Party MLA, and soon Interim Leader, Adam Olsen When Green Party leader Andrew Weaver announced that he would not be seeking re-election the next time British Columbians go to the polls and that he had asked the BC Greens provincial council to begin the process of electing another leader, I immediately began fielding questions about whether I intended on putting my name on the ballot . At that time, I did not know. It was the beginning of the fall session and, while I did know in advance that Andrew's announcement was coming, I did not have the time to turn my full consideration to whether I was going to run for leader or not. A few weeks later Andrew made his second announcement that he would step down as the leader when the leadership contest began in early 2020. This meant that there were essentially two leadership roles in the party that I needed to consider: the full-time leader and an interim-leader. In the weeks that followed Andrew'...

FROM THE BC GREEN PARTY : The BC Green Party released the rules for its upcoming leadership contest today, which will take place from Jan. 6 to Jun. 27, 2020. Sat Harwood, chair of the party’s Provincial Council, explained that the rules were developed with equity, diversity and accessibility as central values: “ We believe those who seek to form government should lead by example ,” Harwood said. “ We have designed our 2020 leadership contest on the same foundation of leading with our values”. “ That is why these leadership contest rules extend the vote beyond formal party membership to any British Columbian of 16 years or older who wants to support a leadership candidate (and does not actively support another political party). “ It is our hope that the 2020 BC Green leadership contest can be an opportunity to participate in an important democratic process for those who would otherwise be uninterested, disadvantaged or excluded .” Highlights of the leadership...

Just the other day, from the Alberta government, came news regarding the on-going, and apparently never ending, softwood lumber dispute: Their government’s Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Devin Dreeshen let it be known that … “ We are disappointed with the US International Trade Commission’s finding that Canadian softwood lumber hurts the US industry. Alberta will continue to support Canada in defending our forest sector through litigation and appeals, including at the World Trade Organization”. “We will continue making our case until it’s understood that the Canada-U.S. softwood lumber trade creates benefits on both sides of the border. The imposition of US duties on Canadian softwood lumber is completely baseless .” Regrettably the comments of then Minister of Foreign Affairs (now Deputy Prime Minister, Chrystia Freeland -– back in early September -- seem hollow and echo as empty from afar in Ottawa. “US duties on Canadian softwood lumber ...

American legislators tend to get rather full of themselves, and media reports are inconsistent and erroneous. The US House of Representatives (Congress) can’t remove a president from office. The term ‘impeachment’ as used in the US constitution refers to the process of Congress, having held hearings and examined evidence, recommending that charges against a government official, including the President, be sent to the Senate acting as a properly constituted court. The Senate will consider the charges and evidence presented by Congress but may call more witnesses and additional evidence if it so desires. The entire Senate is the jury and eventually Senators will vote on whether President Donald Trump should be removed from office. Removal from office requires a two-thirds majority vote of Senators present. The impeachment process is troubling in many ways. Because the process is rarely used, there are no rules in place as to how impeachment proceedings are to be cond...

Although the House of Commons was sitting last week for the first time since June, the House stands adjourned again as the regular winter break is now in effect until Monday, January 27 of 2020. This week, the Liberal government used the opportunity, of the House not sitting to, release the fall economic update. One look at the numbers and it is easy to see why Finance Minister Bill Morneau did not want to be grilled in the House over the fact that the Liberals continue to not meet the fiscal promises they make to Canadians. In this case, while the Liberals had claimed that the deficit would be $19.8 billion it will actually be $26.6 billion during the end of the fiscal period in March. Next year’s deficit is forecast to come in even higher, at $28.1 billion . To further complicate these growing deficit numbers is that they do not yet include spending on the many promises the Liberals made during the recent election. This suggests that either the defici...

Three days ago (Dec 16th) in Williams lake, BC NDP Attorney General David Eby issued a statement in support of the new Indigenous court:    Okanagan Correctional Centre “ Our government is committed to addressing the over-representation of Indigenous peoples in the correctional system, which has its roots in systemic discrimination and the impacts of inter-generational trauma from residential schools . “ The Province is working with Indigenous communities to establish Indigenous courts throughout British Columbia. These courts offer alternative sentencing options that honour traditional cultural practices, support rehabilitation and acknowledge the impact the person’s actions have had on others . Attorney General Eby then continued, “ I’m very pleased that Melissa Gillespie, provincial court chief judge, has increased access to these more culturally appropriate approaches in Williams Lake by approving the community’s proposal for an Indigenous c...

Nechako Lake MLA, and Forestry Critic, John Rustad The following was posted on social media yesterday, by Nechako MLA John Rustad – he granted his permission to share it here: Ian Paton and I attended a rally in Campbell River on Monday in support of forest dependent families and communities. About 150 people attended, braving the blustery, wet evening. Speakers talked about the challenges they are facing, the strike that is in its 6th month and the need for HELP! Why is Horgan’s NDP government so hell bent on destroying BC’s forest industry? And now that negotiations have broken down, this will be a very bleak Christmas for thousands of forestry dependent families. Forestry feeds my family. One hundred and twenty thousand (120,000) workers in the province depend on a healthy forest sector. The north Island is getting the worst of it. Horgan’s NDP should immediately bring help to those struggling families. They need to bring in bac...