Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Vancouver Island farmers Arzeena Hamir and her husband decided they wanted nothing to do with the British Columbia government’s mismanaged water licensing system.    Even as drought hit their 10-hectare certified organic Amara Farm hard this summer and they face destroying crops because there’s not enough water, Hamir doesn’t see joining the provincially regulated system as the answer ... CLICK HERE for the full story

New construction won’t be allowed to have natural gas as a primary heat source as of July 1, 2024 — six years before the provincial target   Newly built homes in Nanaimo won’t be allowed to have natural gas as a primary heat source as of July 1, 2024.   Following the lead of other B.C. municipalities, such as Saanich and Victoria, Nanaimo council this week approved speedy implementation of the province’s zero-carbon step code, a B.C. Building Code update to limit greenhouse gas emissions from new construction ... CLICK HERE for the full story

  BC says controlled burns can save communities; but bureaucracy and inaction has hobbled efforts to clear forests of fuel Of all the ways to protect BC communities from increasingly furious wildfire seasons, few have been as widely endorsed as the tactical, controlled use of fire.   Both experts and provincial officials say fire is one of the best ways to clear forested areas of dangerous (and unnaturally large) amounts of dead underbrush and dry vegetation. But by all measures, BC’s governments are failing to meet the moment, leaving the province’s forests increasingly vulnerable not just to fire—but to intense, quick-moving firestorms that can overwhelm firefighters and destroy hundreds of homes ... CLICK HERE for the full story

In April 2016, British Columbia declared a public health emergency as deaths from an increasingly toxic supply of illicit drugs skyrocketed.  Now, more than 12,000 people in the province have died from toxic drugs, according to the B.C. Coroners Service, in a crisis that appears to be unrelenting. Every month, the coroner reports how many people have died in the province as a result of using toxic drugs. Those numbers can help define the scope of the toxic drug crisis in B.C., but what they don’t do is give a sense of who those people were. They loved and were loved and their deaths leave friends and family to cope with the loss. Overall, about 80 per cent of those lost to toxic drugs since April 2016 have been men. More than half were over 40 years old, while about a quarter were between 30 and 39. The coroner doesn’t keep track of the race or ethnicity of those who have died, but the First Nations Health Authority says Indigenous people make up about 16 per ce...

  The federal Liberals are seeing a dive in popularity among younger voters, once the core of their base, falling 23 points behind the Conservatives by the end of August, according to new polling from Nanos Research.   The data shows the Liberals in a distant third place for 18-29 year olds with 15.97 per cent, compared to the Conservatives and the NDP with 39.21 per cent and 30.92 per cent respectively.   It’s a dip for the Liberals, who were at 26.8 per cent at the beginning of August for the same age group. And it’s a boost for the Conservatives, who are up from 29.3 per cent at the beginning of the month.   “I would be very concerned if I were the Liberals,” said Nik Nanos, CTV News’ pollster and Nanos Research’s chief data scientist and founder. He told CTVNews.ca the party has to do three things to win the next election, currently slated for 2025: win back women who have pivoted their support to other parties, mobilize younger voters und...

  Political staffers for B.C. cabinet ministers now make more money than elected MLAs under quiet pay hikes authorized by Premier David Eby’s office that have upended the long-standing financial hierarchy at the B.C. legislature between staff and elected officials.   Chiefs of staff to ministers — often young, hyper-partisans working their way up the New Democratic Party — received what effectively amounted to two large salary increases in the last five months, worth up to as much as $17,129 in total for at least one staffer, the equivalent of a 17 per cent pay hike.   They now stand to make a maximum of $122,100 – almost $7,000 more than the $115,046 base salary for MLAs ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Property wealth has become a massive source of inequality in B.C. as home prices and rents have risen dramatically amid a severe housing crisis and shortage. A consequence of high prices has been an explosion of residential real estate wealth now totaling over $2.1 trillion in the province, a stock of wealth that remains only lightly taxed.   In less than two decades, just the increase in residential property wealth has amounted to a staggering $1.7 trillion. Even the most equally distributed segment of property wealth — owner-occupied principal residences — is highly concentrated. As of 2019, the top two-fifths of British Columbians (by net worth) held almost 80 per cent of principal residence asset values.    While the B.C. government has taken some worthwhile steps towards taxing the most expensive properties, these have only scratched the surface of the enormous property wealth gains in B.C.    In this report, I examine provincial...

  Saskatchewan is joining New Brunswick in an unseemly political manoeuvre, using the sensitive issue of gender identity to gain the support of certain voters at the expense of the fundamental right to equality. If it were an oblique attack against people for who they are in terms of their religion or ethnicity, calling out that prejudice would be a slam dunk. Most segments of our society would denounce it. No serious politician would ever get close to it.  It is no less bigoted and prejudicial to target people for who they are in terms of their gender or sexual orientation. Unfortunately, it’s still possible for some politicians to fan the flames of intolerance on these issues by claiming honourable motives. For those promoting it, this particularly dirty battle in our culture wars is simply about ensuring parents’ right to know what’s going on in their children’s lives. What could be wrong with that?  CLICK HERE for the full commentary

  Ontario Housing Minister Steve Clark broke the Member’s Integrity Act when carving up the Greenbelt for development, a new report by the province’s integrity commissioner finds.   In a report released Wednesday, Integrity Commissioner J. David Wake found that Clark contravened two sections of the Members’ Integrity Act by “failing to oversee the process by which lands in the Greenbelt were selected to development.”   The 166-page report found this led to “the private interests of certain developers being furthered improperly.”   “The evidence paints a picture of a process marked by misinterpretation, unnecessary hastiness and deception,” Wake wrote in the summary of his report ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Citizens deserve to have the most up-to-date information to make informed decisions. Last week, Kelowna Fire Chief Travis Whiting announced that he and his department hoped to lift all evacuation orders within the City of Kelowna by Thursday of that week. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all our firefighters and first responders for their incredible work in saving so many homes. I would also like to thank the many volunteers working behind the scenes to assist those who have been evacuated or lost their homes. For example, the Central Okanagan Search and Rescue (COSAR) volunteer members have put in many hours of service during the past few weeks. All these incredible efforts are greatly appreciated by all of us. Regarding the announcement from Kelowna Fire Chief Travis Whiting, it should be noted that the situation was not certain due to the rapidly changing weather and wind conditions in the Okanagan. Nevertheless, the Chief and his department shared ...