Thoughts on BC Politics and More

... As the NDP government faces intractable crises of ­homelessness, overdose deaths and a physician shortage, the decades-in-the-making ­challenges in cancer care have once again surfaced as a major concern. As 2022 wound down, ­cancer patients were reported to be dying while awaiting ­treatment. Now as 2023 winds down, some late-stage cancer patients are resorting to medically assisted death before ever ­seeing an oncologist or receiving ­chemotherapy ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Governments have already invested tens of billions into two EV battery manufacturing plants in southwestern Ontario. However, they come with the environmental dilemma of what to do with the millions of EV batteries when they reach the end of their life. "The rules are non-existent," said Mark Winfield, a professor at York University in Toronto and co-chair of the school's Sustainable Energy Initiative. "There is nothing as we talk to agencies on both sides of the border, the federal, provincial, state levels ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Heads up … this is advance warning that some reading this are going to be outraged by what I have to say. I don’t care, because I'm sick and tired of feeling like reality, and common sense, has left the building. Yesterday (Dec 29), in a decision that has left many scratching their heads, and others simply outraged, the BC Supreme Court put a hold on the ‘Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act’. The act, passed in the BC Legislature just two months ago, is now in limbo given Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson ruling which said: “ When people are isolated and out of sight, they are at a much higher risk of dying from an unreversed overdose .” In other words, drug addicts, many suffering from mental health issues, should be permitted to shoot up, snort up, and inject (illicit) drugs anywhere their addled brains find then – regardless of where that might be. Along with business store-fronts, the ‘Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act’ had s...

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is ruling out the possibility of forming a coalition government with the Liberals if no party wins a clear majority after the next federal election. “That’s off the table,” Singh said in a year-end interview with The Canadian Press, even though the two parties have been working closely together. “That’s not something that we’re focused on. We’re focused on getting enough done in this Parliament and then running to win" ... CLICK HERE for the full story

More than 13,500 people in B.C. have died after taking unregulated drugs since 2016 ... there is no clear path to continuing care for many of the patients without a family doctor, said nurse lead Victoria Ramos. "We have such limited resources for where patients can go so we kind of hold on to them until they can be transferred,'' Ramos said of the clinic that opened in September 2016, five months after British Columbia declared an ongoing public health emergency due to rising overdose deaths ... CLICK HERE for the full story

British Columbia Premier David Eby is managing expectations about how much his government can achieve before the October election. The province faces significant challenges, Eby acknowledged in a year-end interview with The Tyee, listing the housing crisis, the rising cost of living and the strained health-care system ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Keith Baldrey reflects on the big stories out of Victoria this past year, including housing legislation, health facility closures and the rise of the B.C. Conservatives ... CLICK HERE for the full story

The B.C. United party's rebrand placed it in the eye of a perfect storm in 2023, as it trailed the NDP in polls and competed with the re-emerged B.C. Conservative party for votes and name recognition. But opposition leader Kevin Falcon says polls aren't the numbers he's watching as he prepares the party — formerly the B.C. Liberals — for an election year in 2024 ... ... Falcon sat down with Stephen Quinn, host of CBC's The Early Edition , about B.C. United's rebrand, affordability policies and his busy year ahead ... CLICK HERE for the full inhterview

The BC Green Party currently holds two seats in the provincial legislature, both of which represent ridings on Southern Vancouver Island. The next provincial election is scheduled for October 2024 and the party has put up nine candidates, including incumbent Adam Olsen, MLA for Saanich North and the Islands, and Party Leader Sonia Furstenau who represents the Cowichan Valley. The party marked its 40th anniversary in 2023 and, despite its small numbers in the Legislature, Furstenau is optimistic about the future, saying she is ready to make history by electing the largest BC Green caucus ever next year ... CLICK HERE for the full story

THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT has some ‘splainin’ to do to the people of Kamloops. Without saying why, other than the old “going in a different direction” excuse, the Province has kicked Peter Fassbender out of the advisory role of helping Kamloops City council mend what’s broken about the way it operates — which is just about everything. The timing is strange. Only last week, Fassbender was talking about having met on Zoom with some senior staff, the mayor and the councillors as a first step in his review ... CLICK HERE for the full story Published with permission.  Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and newspaper editor. He publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website , and can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca .

A steady rise by the BC Conservatives in opinion polls is not a result of “brand confusion” with their federal namesake but rather a historic shift in political loyalties, Leader John Rustad says. The latest poll shows the BC Conservatives with 26 per cent support, second to the governing NDP at 44 per cent, and considerably ahead of the BC United Party, formerly the BC Liberal Party, at 17 per cent. The BC Conservatives are the current preference among voters in the Interior and the North, with 37 per cent, compared to 36 percent for the NDP, and just 15 percent for the BC United Party. “I think there’s a real appetite for change,” BC Conservative Leader John Rustad said ... CLICK HERE for the full story

There is only one date that matters in B.C. politics in 2024: Oct 19. The provincial election. The day B.C.’s political landscape changes, again. Every party is working towards that moment: BC United by boosting recognition of its new name, BC Conservatives by converting hopeful polling numbers into real voters, BC Greens by targeting key ridings and the BC NDP by holding steady on what could be the path to an even larger majority government. Ten months: Both a lifetime, and a blink, in politics ... CLICK HERE for the full story

In October, The Bureau published an investigative story of mine which recounted how safer supply programs in Nanaimo, British Columbia, are being widely defrauded and flooding communities with opioids and crime. This story follows up with more testimony from Nanaimo illustrating how bad government policy is destroying lives and blighting cities ... CLICK HERE for the full story

... Sam Ciacco purchased a unit in the Playa del Sol, a building that for the past 17 years has been largely operating as a short-term rental building. “It is zoned commercial zone, particularly for short-term rentals. And so it comes with a bunch of challenges,” Ciacco said. “We paid a premium for the unit. We pay higher property taxes because of the zoning and the potential for earning revenue. We pay higher strata fees because the insurances is more expensive. We pay higher interest rates because banks won’t treat it as a residential unit. So, it’s a commercial level mortgage. So, there’s and higher licensing fees as well to operate as a short term rental" ... CLICK HERE for the full story

... Falcon said that the public is looking for a change in light of the province’s debt as well as the state of health care and education among other issues, with B.C. having become the most unaffordable province in Canada ... ... “BC United is the coalition party…to defeat the NDP,” he said. “That hasn’t changed. We welcome all Conservatives and others who want to support us to join with us and I don’t join the parlour games and the discussions about that. I’m focused on winning the next election” ... CLICK HERE for the full story

The NDP is hoping to translate policy success into political success when some key elements of their supply-and-confidence agreement with the Liberals roll out in 2024 — but one polling analyst says the party's numbers don't seem to be budging. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh told CBC News Network's Power & Politics that his main goal is to push for policies that help Canadians. But he conceded that he hopes the NDP can get some credit for some of the government's recent policy moves ... CLICK HERE for the full story  

BC United Leader Kevin Falcon has little use for recent polls showing his party floundering, trailing not just the governing NDP but also the upstart Conservative Party of BC. “Often the pundits and the pollsters are dramatically wrong,” said Falcon in a year-end interview in his B.C. legislature office, explaining why he refuses to worry 10 months out from the next scheduled election. “I feel the pulse of this province way better than some stupid online panel that’s trying to gauge the public" ... CLICK HERE for the full story  

May your Christmas be one of joy, peace, and happiness Merry Christmas, and best wishes for the new year ahead.  Enjoy this musical wish to you , with the late Frank Sinatra ( CLICK HERE ). Alan   Have yourself a merry little Christmas Let your heart be light From now on Our troubles will be out of sight Have yourself a merry little Christmas Make the Yule-tide gay From now on Our troubles will be miles away Here we are as in olden days Happy golden days of yore Faithful friends who are dear to us Gather near to us once more Through the years we all will be together If the fates allow Hang a shining star upon the highest bough And have yourself a merry little Christmas now Here we are as in olden days Happy golden days of yore Faithful friends who are dear to us Gather near to us once more Through the years We all will be together If the fates allow So hang a shining star upon the highest bough And have yourself a merry little Christmas now.

British Columbia Premier David Eby is promising that his government will press for reforms in the justice system, after a trial that convicted a man of murdering a 13-year-old girl exposed the victim’s family to what the Premier described as profoundly offensive arguments by the defence. On Dec. 8, a B.C. Supreme Court jury found that Ibrahim Ali had sexually assaulted and strangled the girl, then left her body on the forest floor of a park in Burnaby, B.C., in July, 2017. He was convicted of first-degree murder ... CLICK HERE for the full story  

This year saw some significant movement when it came to political party support in Canada, amid a series of major news-making moments and federal policy challenges. In the second half of the year, Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives led the Liberals in polling by a two-digit margin as housing and the cost of living became top of mind concerns for Canadians. That sliding support prompted questions over whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will continue to lead the Liberals into the next election, which is currently scheduled for fall of 2025 ... CLICK HERE for the full story  

I studied history at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay in the early 2000s. It was a small yet pretty impressive department that outperformed its size in research grants, publications, and instruction quality. Specialized scholars like Bruce Muirhead and Ron Harpelle were leaders in their fields. Old-school professors like Victor Smith and Peter Raffo were fountains of knowledge and compelling lecturers.  Perhaps due to its small size, geographical isolation, and the disparate and eclectic interests of the faculty, it wasn’t a polarized place. One would have found the usual Left-Right debates in seminars about Pierre Trudeau or Margaret Thatcher or whatever. But otherwise, the so-called “History Wars” of the 1990s never quite reached Thunder Bay.  I had barely heard of them when I arrived at Carleton University in fall 2005 to start my master’s degree. It soon became clear, however, that its history department was on the front lines of an unfolding intellectual ...

As we enter the holiday season and the end of the year approaches, it’s natural to begin reflecting on the year that has passed. While 2023 was full of both exciting moments and serious challenges, the one issue that continually dominated discussion was affordability and the cost-of-living crisis.   Whether it was formal debates in the Legislature or dinner table conversations here in Kamloops, barely a day passed where I didn’t talk to someone concerned about skyrocketing prices.   In every corner of the province, people are struggling to make ends meet. The cost of daily necessities like groceries, gas, heating, and housing remain at astronomical highs, and while the current NDP government has acknowledged these challenges, they have done nothing to address them or make people’s lives any easier.   If anything, the NDP has made matters worse. They have added dozens of new taxes over the last few years that continue to take more money out of the pocke...

... BC is not alone in net losses to elsewhere in Canada. Every province and territory saw more people going out than coming in between July and September—except for Alberta and New Brunswick. New Brunswick’s net gain was marginal at 21, but Alberta’s gain from provincial exchanges was 17,094 in those three months, with September marking the 15th consecutive month it has had a net gain of more than 10,000 people. “Most of Alberta's population gains through interprovincial migration were due to its exchanges with Ontario and British Columbia,” StatsCan wrote in a release accompanying the data. Between July 2022 and June 2023, almost 37,000 British Columbians chose Alberta as their new home, according to StatsCan ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Justin Trudeau’s minority Liberal government survived another year but its prospects have never looked worse, as Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives took a commanding lead in the polls over the summer and have never looked back. In the end, 2023 could prove to be a turning point in the political careers of both leaders, regardless of who wins the next election. It’ll either be the year when Poilievre solidified his status as the prime-minister-in-waiting — or the year when Trudeau hit rock bottom before turning things around. So, what did we learn about each of the major parties in 2023 and what questions about them are we waiting to be answered in 2024? To answer that, I’m joined this week by Stephanie Levitz of the Toronto Star and the CBC’s Aaron Wherry CLICK HERE to access the podcast