Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says the federal government is “not interested” in subsidizing future liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, including the electrification of projects currently in the works. In an interview with CTV Question Period host Vassy Kapelos airing on Sunday, Wilkinson said those investments are up to the private sector. “The government is opposed to using government money to fund inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. We’re the first country in the world to actually do that. We are not interested in investing in LNG facilities. That's the role of the private sector. They need to assess the business case and make the investments" . . . . CLICK HERE for the full story

Some might say a shift has occurred in the race to become the next leader of the Alberta NDP, and the candidate who many believe is the front-runner says he’s not really focused on that label. Said repositioning took place this past week when two-term MLA Rakhi Pancholi announced she was dropping out of the race in order to back former Calgary mayor of 11 years, Naheed Nenshi . . . . CLICK HERE for the full story

BC, federal carbon taxes are the same, so why do British Columbians still pay more? Carbon taxes go up April 1 across Canada, from $65 per tonne of CO2 to $80 per tonne, except in Quebec, but British Columbians will still generally pay more, due to the fact less carbon tax revenue gets kicked back to consumers in the form of rebates than elsewhere in Canada. BC’s carbon tax goes up April 1 to $80 per tonne of CO2, as does the federal carbon tax, which applies in those provinces that didn’t already have a provincial carbon pricing scheme in place. But Canadians in other provinces get more back in rebates than British Columbians do, said Carson Binda, BC. director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. "British Columbians are absolutely getting the short end of the stick here"  . . . . CLICK HERE for the full story

  Taxing everyday working people into poverty will not change the weather   KAMLOOPS (March 31, 2024):   As David Eby’s NDP government prepares to raise the BC Liberal initiated provincial carbon tax tomorrow, BC’s Conservatives remain the only party committed to eliminating this unfair tax on residents. With gas prices already averaging $1.70 per litre across the ridings of Kamloops Centre and Kamloops North Thompson, how much are people in Clearwater, Kamloops, and Barriere already paying in taxes? According to the Government of Canada * , it amounts to 38.81 cents per liter; tomorrow, it will reach over 42 cents as the provincial government implements a further 3.3 cent increase to the carbon tax . Speaking to this latest increase to hit families, Kamloops North Thompson Conservative candidate Ward Stamer noted, “ A good t wo-thirds of the economy in the North Thompson is driven by ranching and forestry, and both will be hit hard as the carbon tax -- on fuel ne...

“March holiday what” you ask? Isn’t it, um, Easter weekend? How to explain this post? Perhaps the holiday rolled around and a communications officer noticed that VAC had not issued greetings for other holy days, such as Purim or Ramadan, earlier in the month. Now Easter loomed and an acknowledgement was due. So to avoid offending anyone, VAC decided to lump all celebrations into one non-existent “March holiday season” and issue it on Good Friday. Problem solved! Not quite. Instead, many people got hopping mad . “What is a March holiday season?” asked X user  Sue Kelland-Dyer . “I think the holiday is Easter. I am not even Christian and I recognize it is Easter,” posted X user,  Vance Yung . As of Sunday morning, the VAC tweet had nearly 2 million views, over 4K comments and over 900 shares . . . . CLICK HERE for the full story

I used the term "stale dated pandemic-related issues" on a recent post, and I shouldn't have. When I wrote that, I had in mind the signs warning against the harms of COVID vaccines, and not about the continued medical restrictions on real people today. As I've said lots, that sign is stale-dated because anyone who took the vaccine has already taken it and everyone who hasn't, won't. There's no one left to save. What I wasn't thinking about is the continued vaccine mandate in BC for some public employees. Some of the comments on here pointed that out, but it was a private message that really made me feel the angst these restrictions caused and were causing. BC is the only jurisdiction in Canada that still require vaccines for some public employees and refuses to hire back the unvaccinated, and even many doctors mutter privately under their breath about it. Since there are no major outbreaks in the other nine provinces that have lifted the restrictions...