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

It’s taken long enough for Wilkinson’ Liberals to acknowledge this ... perhaps now is the time for he and Bolin to sit down and discuss what electoral financing reform should look like


With CBC News reporting a poll from Mario Canseco of Research Company now showing the BC Liberal Party sitting at 30% support across the province, a 10% drop from the 2017 election, leader Andrew Wilkinson introduced legislation on Tuesday (May 28th) today that would ban foreign interference in British Columbia politics.

In doing so, he stated, “The serious issue of foreign money and influence in elections has been making headlines for years now and many countries have taken action. It’s time for B.C. to firmly protect the integrity of our elections.”

The only problem is that BC Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkson is ‘late to the party’ to quote an old saying.

LONG before other political parties had decided to make electoral financing an issue of concern, BC Conservatives had already put policy in place that as government they would ... enact legislation relating to political contributions to registered British Columbia political parties, limiting such donations to those received only from individuals and banning donations from corporations, unions and all other similar entities.

And so, it definitely seems like Conservatives were driving the boat on that one.

Now, getting back to Wilkinson’s bill announced earlier this week; it would prohibit contributions from any foreign person, government, or political organization for any purpose related to an election. Foreign-funded individuals and organizations would also be prohibited from making false or misleading communications for any purpose related to an election in B.C.


Trevor Bolin, BC Conservative Party leader, stated, “It definitely feels like the BC Liberals are late on this one as well”.

“At our Annual General Meeting last year, our grassroots membership brought forward policy confirming that ... no political party, candidate, or third-party- advertiser shall receive funding or other types of financial or material support for their election campaign from a foreign entity”.  

Bolin continued, “Our policies for democratic reform and government accountability are reaching British Columbians.  While Canseco’s poll is showing our Party at 9% across the province, we are well into the mid to late teens percentage wise in the interior of BC ... and the North”.

"In fact", Bolin stated, "Results of a poll of over 8,200 their readers, taken by Castanet, showed Liberals in the Okanagan / southern interior at just over 41% support, while the BC Conservatives were just 10 points back at just over 31%”


Regarding those supporting the BC Conservatives in the CBC story; Bolin was welcoming of the current voter intentions, and Canseco’s comment that; “... the increased support for the B.C. Conservatives is likely the result of centre right voters looking for an alternative to the Liberals.”

“The Liberals, both in government and as the official opposition, have not led the way when it comes to government that people can respect and trust”, 
observed Conservative Leader Trevor Bolin. 

“Our policies, such as we already have in place on election financing and foreign interference, ARE going to attract not only centre right British Columbians, but also those just looking for government that is not out for itself ... or those funding them with big campaign cheques”, Bolin continued.

The Liberals Wilkinson is NOW stating that .... it’s time to take back control and guarantee that political power remains in the hands of British Columbians.

Furthermore, he went on to say, “This is beyond partisan politics, and I am confident that all parties in the Legislature will support this important measure to protect our democracy and keeping British Columbians in charge of their own elections.”

It’s taken long enough for them to acknowledge this ... perhaps now is the time for he and Bolin to sit down and discuss what electoral financing reform should look like, and perhaps come out with joint legislation to be put before the BC Legislature.

Now that would be ‘non-partisanship’ indeed.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WARD STAMER: “Hopefully he’s actually listening to what people have to say, and not just showing up for a photo op”

In his latest travels across the province, BC Forest Minister Ravi Parmar touched down in the Okanagan. A trip essentially, he said, to be on the ground meeting industry people. I read what he had to say, and about how he has been tasked with getting more timber to market. Let me start by saying, “ He hasn’t been tasked. He and Premier Eby guaranteed 45 million cubic metres of available wood fibre – they guaranteed that .” BC Timber Sales is a government agency within the provincial forest’s ministry, which is responsible for managing a portion of the province's Crown timber; specifically, 20 percent of the province's annual allowable cut. Unfortunately, BC Timber Sales did not provide anywhere near that amount last year, it was just 12.2 percent. Three years ago, BC mills cut 52 million metres of wood, bringing in nearly $2 billion dollars to the provincial treasury. That figure doesn’t include the taxes from 55,700 people directly employed in the industry, nor from the tens o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Conservative Opposition demonstrates focused and policy-oriented approach in first four weeks of the legislative session

In the first four weeks of the legislative session, the Conservative Official Opposition has scored significant policy wins as it proves every day that the Conservative team has fresh ideas and real-world experience to bring to the table. At the same time, the NDP government has been listless, struggling to find a policy agenda that addresses the problems that British Columbians are facing. “This NDP government led by David Eby has tried to do everything under the sun to distract from their disastrous fiscal record and the fact that they are utterly out of ideas,” said Conservative Opposition Leader John Rustad. “They’ve tried to use the U.S. President to deflect from their eye-popping $11 billion deficit, the worst business confidence in the country, and the fact that they’ve created almost zero private sector jobs. This is no way to run a province or an economy.” Since the legislative session started on February 18th with the Throne Speech, the opposition...
Post a Comment
Read more

Conservative Party of BC Calls for Coroner’s Inquest in the Death of Chantelle Williams

  Chantelle Williams/Facebook “Somebody has to come out and tell the truth on what happened and who’s at fault” ~~ Martin Watts, Uncle of Chantelle Williams The Conservative Party of BC is urgently calling for a coroner’s inquest into the death of 18-year-old Indigenous youth Chantelle Williams, who tragically died under the care of Usma Nuu-chah-nulth Family and Child Services, an agency of the Ministry of Children and Family Development. Her family is disturbed by the lack of transparency and unanswered questions surrounding her final moments, and are seeking answers on who was responsible for her care and supervision and why no one noticed she was missing until it was too late. Chantelle was found unresponsive in Port Alberni in the early morning of January 28, 2025. She was later pronounced dead in the hospital. Temperatures had dropped below –7°C the night of her death. Her family is demanding clarity on the circumstances that led to her untimely passing, and they demand answ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Labels

Show more