Skip to main content

“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

Nanaimo by-election a minefield for John Horgan’s NDP government. A loss, or lack of Green Party support in its aftermath, could lead to the government’s defeat, and an early provincial election


Former NDP MLA, now Mayor of
Nanaimo, Leonard Krogg
UPDATED AT 3:12pm


Premier John Horgan has called a byelection for the Nanaimo electoral district, following stepping down of NDP MLA Leonard Krogg – Krogg was elected as Mayor of Nanaimo on October 20th.

Current NDP MP Sheila Malcolmson will be running for the provincial NDP, BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson anointed ... ooops I mean appointed ... Tony Harris, Michelle Ney (daughter of the late Frank Ney, who served as the Mayor of Nanaimo for 21 years) was selected in a contested nomination race for the Green Party.  The BC Conservative Party announced on December 21st that they will be contesting the Nanaimo by-election, and will be announcing a candidate shortly.

With the NDP currently holding the reins of government with 41 seats, and propped up by the 3 MLA’s of Andrew Weavers Green Party, he has a combined total of 44 MLA’s to the BC Liberals 42.  That means a lot is on the line for John Horgan’s NDP government.

If Sheila Malcolmson should fail to win the January 30th Nanaimo byelection – and Tony Harris win, that will leave his combined total of 43 combine NDP / Green seats equal to the BC Liberals.  His government could only service IF House speaker Darryl Plecas cast tie-breaking votes in favour of Horgan on all legislative votes that ended in a tie.  

Furthermore, if the Green Party ended up in a situation where they could NOT support NDP legislation, it could then also lead to the government’s defeat, forcing an early election. But, here’s another thought.




A short time ago, former Liberal MLA John Les said to me, that it would be awesome
to flip that seat! And of course, his meaning of that was to the Liberals. 

My question to him however was; “If the BC Conservative Party was to win the Nanaimo by-election, then they would be better able to keep the Liberals accountable”.

I continued, “I am guessing you are basically small 'c' conservative in nature, so why wouldn't you want to see the provincial Liberals be more accountable to the people of BC?” 

That is still the question I put out there for all to consider – especially to the thousands of small ‘c’ conservatives who have basically not had a home to be part of, and were only supporting the BC Liberals because of that. 

Candidate nominations may be filed with the Chief Electoral Officer until 4:30 p.m. on Friday, January 4, 2019. After this time, they may be filed with the Nanaimo District Electoral Officer, up to the deadline on January 9.  Those consider letting their name stand for election, can find out more at elections.bc.ca/provincial-elections/provincial-candidates/ 

As to who can vote in the January 30th by-election?  The Election BC website states that individuals will need to be:

... a resident of the Nanaimo electoral district,

... 18 or older on January 30, 2019,

... a Canadian citizen, and, a resident of B.C. since July 29, 2018

Residents not already on the voters list can register to vote in the by-election here until midnight January 2, 2019. After that, eligible voters can only register in person at locations where voting will take place.

Stay tuned ... we’ll keep you posted with news on how the parties are fairly, in the race to win that all important Nanaimo by-election. And for more information on key dates in the run-up to the election, check Election BC at https://elections.bc.ca/nan-byelection/#key-dates 

I’m Alan Forseth in Kamloops.  If you have any thoughts on this commentary, please share them below in the Comments Section.

 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nurses Take Job Action After Years of NDP Neglect

Image Credit:  BC Nurses Union BC nurses have reached a breaking point after years of unsafe conditions, rising violence in the workplace and a government that wouldn’t listen. Now they are on the picket line fighting to be heard. Last week, nurses began job action with a 72-hour strike notice, refusing non-essential overtime and stepping back from non-nursing duties. As of Tuesday, they have escalated to picket lines for the first time in decades. This moment was avoidable. It is the result of years of unanswered concerns from the frontline workers who keep our hospitals running. Nurses have been raising the same concerns for years: unsafe staffing levels, rising violence on the job, and a workload no single person should have to carry. None of it is new, and none of it should have taken a strike vote to get the government's attention. "Nurses are exercising their legal right to job action, but it shouldn’t have had to come to this," said Kiel Giddens, MLA for...
Post a Comment
Read more

British Columbians Still Don’t Know Who’s Paying for NDP’s BC Hydro Deal

The NDP is making billion-dollar promises with BC Hydro, but British Columbians still don’t know who will pay the bill. Last week’s memorandum of understanding isn’t what the federal government and the NDP are making it out to be. It’s an admission that the NDP failed to make the long-term investments needed to keep B.C. powered. Now British Columbians have serious questions about the cost and whether BC Hydro ratepayers will end up paying the price. David L. Williams, MLA for Salmon Arm-Shuswap and Shadow Minister for BC Hydro and Electrical Energy Development , said British Columbians deserve clear answers about the full implications of the Canada–British Columbia Cooperative Prosperity Agreement. “British Columbians deserve the full truth,” said Mr. Williams. “This multi-billion-dollar announcement does not answer who pays for cost overruns, who pays for new generation, who carries the risk if industrial customers do not materialize, or whether ratepayers will be forced ...
Post a Comment
Read more

NDP Government Blames Everyone but Themselves

The federal government has announced new measures to support British Columbia's forestry sector, including $65 million in funding for projects across the province. While any support is welcome, it falls far short of the level of assistance other provinces have secured for key industries. Conservative Forests Critic Ward Stamer says the NDP government needs to take responsibility for its mismanagement of B.C.’s forest industry instead of trying to pass on the blame. Despite promising to create more jobs in the forest sector, the NDP government has overseen the loss of thousands of forestry jobs and 21 mill closures which have devastated communities. “If Premier Eby spent more time addressing the regulatory issues impacting the forestry sector than he did complaining about the federal government, we would not be in the position we are now,” said Stamer. “And instead of trying to place the blame for mill closures on Donald Trump, Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar should t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Labels

Show more