DAY SEVEN … the week of November 24th to 30th

As of yesterday, 333 days had passed in the year … and with them, a few hundred commentaries have been presented on this blogsite … 17 alone this week.

Let’s take a look at the ten which garnered the most readership from you, starting with …

#10 ADAM OLSEN: Success comes from remaining receptive to advice and maintaining a healthy balance of confidence and humility (November 25^th)

…. the challenge is balancing the frequency that venom is used ... and the dose that is delivered in any given situation. Care must be taken. Venom is only one tool and, if it is used too liberally, people grow a resistance to it essentially rendering it ineffectual …

#9 Conservative Opposition leader Andrew Scheer names new shadow cabinet; calls on eight MP’s from BC (November 29^th)

… one day after naming former Liberal MP, Leona Alleslev (crossed over to the Conservatives September 2018) to the role of Deputy Leader, Andrew Scheer today named his Shadow Cabinet. From the BC interior, and my home riding of Kamloops – Thompson – Cariboo MP Cathy McLeod has been named as the Conservative Party’s Shadow Minister for Natural Resources (Forestry and Mining) ... 

#8 FELDSTED: The Conservative mandarins believe they can hire specialists to package a leader and run an election campaign. They have been proven wrong twice in a row (November 27^th)

… Scheer’s campaign people and advisors should all be dismissed. In the critical period from the beginning of May to the end of August, Scheer was a ghost with no media presence. No one knew what he stood for. No policies were articulated. The CPC was a cipher …

#7 The main theme is confidence, and the BC NDP are in no way instilling confidence for capital investment - we’re seeing that play out on the ground now (November 27^th)

… it’s not hard to see that the resource communities they live in are at risk -- businesses are facing bankruptcy, services are being withdrawn, and schools are closing – due in large part to persistent lay-offs, and job losses through-out the province ... and a lack of meaningful government action …

#6 ADAM OLSEN: In the face of scientific evidence, this government not only chooses to approve the biggest point source of pollution in the BC's history, but subsidize it with public funds every step of the way (November 28^th)

… it's important to focus on the fact the public needs more than just highlighting the number of people working in the innovation economy. There are many communities across the province that have relied on the resource extraction for multiple generations that are in deep trouble …

#5 Once again, Alberta is ahead of the pack in exploring Carbon Capture Systems to reduce (GHG) emissions – Jason Nixon (November 28^th)

… while John Horgan’s BC NDP government, and the federal Liberal government of Justin Trudeau, continue to put a ‘price on pollution’, Alberta’s Conservative government, under the leadership of Jason Kenney, is actively at work to dramatically reduce greenhouse gases …

#4 Sonia Furstenau is correct when she says not having the needed training and education is like ‘hiring more people with basic first-aid skills’ to alleviate the doctor shortage (November 26^th)

… Expanding the range of professionals working with children and families is one thing. But replacing highly educated and trained social workers with alternative professions is an entirely different manner", she quoted from the employees union.

She then continued saying the BC Association of Social Workers also had concerns, and that they were ... requesting clear protection of title, mandatory registration of social workers with the college, statutory scope of practice and accredited social work education …

#3 Alberta needs help. The world has to turn away from fossil fuel expansion, not from Albertans (November 26^th)

… it’s easy for me to say this because I’m well-off, retired, happily hypocritical about flying on holidays and driving my car, and not going to suffer personally from limits to fossil fuel expansion in Canada. I realize that colours my views, but it doesn’t make me unsympathetic to Alberta’s plight, and it doesn’t mean Alberta can tune out climate change …

#2 Forest Minister Doug Donaldson has spent a great deal of time stating they can’t change our stumpage system. I call BS because the ministry is currently, quietly working on a change (November 25^th)

… what is really going on is pure incompetence by this minister, and this government. They have ignored the pain being suffered by workers, families and communities because they have no clue what they are doing …

And now we have arrived at the post which most caught your attention this past week … and one that only went up online yesterday. 

#1 All levels of government in BC should offer competitive compensation, to attract qualified employees, but government sector wages and benefits are clearly out of step (November 30^th)

… wages for government employees in British Columbia were 5.8 per cent higher (on average) than wages for comparable workers in the province’s private sector last year, finds a new study by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank …

My thanks, as always, goes out to all of you who join us on the Thoughts on BC Politics and More blogsite, each and every day – and my thanks as well to all of the writers who provide their thoughts and opinions.

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Take care … enjoy the rest of your day … and have a great week ahead!