Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Thirty-seven years ago, Halloween 1987, I became the leader of the BC Liberal Party.   British Columbia was badly polarized. Social Credit held one side and the NDP the other. It had been twelve years, 1975, since Liberal MLAs Garde Gardom, Pat McGeer, and Alan Williams had walked away from their party to join Social Credit, one year after the lone Progressive Conservative MLA Hugh Curtis had abandoned his party to sit with Bill Bennett, the son and heir apparent to long-serving BC Premier, WAC Bennett.   An unwritten agreement by the biggest Canadian political shareholders, the federal Liberals and Conservatives, decided that if British Columbia was to remain a lucrative franchise from a revenue perspective, they couldn’t risk splitting the electoral vote and electing the real enemy, the NDP, so no resources would be used to finance either a Liberal or Conservative party provincially.   “There are two sides to every street,” I was told by a very prominent Canadian businessman who cont

BC Conservative Leader John Rustad was reflective when asked this week how he could have gotten his party over the finish line to a 47-seat majority in the provincial election campaign, rather than a 44-seat opposition. “Well, I think there's an old saying in politics that you don't lose elections, you run out of time,” he said. Inside the Conservative campaign, time and money proved lacking at key moments ... CLICK HERE for the full story

 ... The BC Conservative surge engineered by John Rustad and campaign manager Angelo Isidorou will go down in B.C. political lore as one of the most incredible accomplishments ever seen. And yet they remain in opposition. This election has the odd characteristic of allowing both parties to feel simultaneously great and depressed about themselves and their performance ... CLICK HERE for the full story

The federal government says Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s application for a judicial review of Ottawa’s carbon levy is nothing more than political posturing. Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault and Justice Minister Arif Virani say it’s disappointing, but not surprising, that Smith is engaging in a “political stunt” ahead of her United Conservative Party leadership review this weekend. “She knows full well that the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of carbon pricing,” they said in a statement to The Canadian Press Wednesday ... CLICK HERE for the full story

... The loss still means he and his colleagues are destined for the Opposition benches, something Rustad previously described as an exercise in “frustration”. Never mind the distance covered. How did the Conservatives fail to close the gap in constituencies (Vancouver-Yaletown and Langara, Vernon, the Nanaimo region) that their own organizers regarded as winnable? “There’s an old saying in politics that you don’t lose elections, you run out of time,” said Rustad. “We needed more time to build a connection, particularly with those people in the province that may not have heard the messaging and what we were trying to achieve in this province" ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Recounts may not change election results very often, but British Columbia political scientist David Black says they play an increasingly vital role in demonstrating election integrity. “There is the quality control, the quality assurance, the self-correcting nature of our of our system showing up and demonstrating that it works,” said Black, an associate professor at Greater Victoria’s Royal Roads University ... CLICK HERE for the full story

The New Democrat whose 27-vote, come-from-behind election victory is being credited with giving Premier David Eby a razor-thin majority says he's a bridge builder in his diverse community and the party needs to forge similar relationships across British Columbia. Garry Begg's slim win over the BC Conservative candidate in Surrey-Guildford is still subject to a judicial recount, but for now it gives the NDP the 47 seats needed to form a majority in British Columbia's 93-seat legislature ... CLICK HERE for the full story

A well-functioning healthcare system is one that is available when called upon, that is responsive to patients’ needs, and that improves the health of individuals. Yet, Canada’s primary healthcare system is not living up to its potential. In 2023, 14% of Canadian adults did not have regular access to a primary care provider or place to get care, compared with only 1% of the Dutch and 4% of the German population. For Canadians who did have access, almost 3/4 were unable to secure a timely appointment. To increase access to primary care, it is imperative to learn from better-performing systems such as those of Germany and the Netherlands ... CLICK HERE for the full story

  Premier David Eby took the first steps on the tightrope Tuesday, standing in front of a legislature where he now has a scant majority with no safety net. Conciliation and constructive co-operation were the new watchwords as he described how open he is to working with anyone who has reasonable ideas. Incoming Opposition Leader John Rustad? Not so much. The Conservative Party of B.C. leader committed to supporting the NDP government only on policies that align with his party’s views. He referred to Eby as a “habitual liar” again and remains intent on trying to bring the government down over any new moves with which his party disagrees ... CLICK HERE for the full story

  Premier David Eby says his first order of business — pending the results of judicial recounts — is choosing and swearing in a cabinet and electing a Speaker in a fall sitting of the legislature. At a new conference Tuesday at the legislature, Eby said he has no plan to introduce new legislation this fall. “It is my intent, if we can, to have a sitting, get the Speaker elected and get the legislature working for people as well as to get a cabinet selected and sworn in, so that we can start working and delivering for British Columbians right away.” ... CLICK HERE for the full story

... During a campaign stop last month, John Rustad announced that a B.C. Conservative-led government would not commit provincial policing resources to the federal Firearm Compensation Program (FCP), a program designed to collect and destroy certain legally acquired, privately-held firearms now deemed “assault-style” after they were prohibited by a 2020 order of the federal government. This is a common stance among the provinces. It is already held by the premiers of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and New Brunswick. Yukon’s legislature supported it in a motion backed by the Yukon NDP. When Saskatchewan passed legislation constraining federal ability to confiscate firearms from lawful owners within their borders, it did so with the unanimous consent of its provincial NDP. Other provinces have been quieter, but most are similarly reluctant to pay ... CLICK HERE for the full story

New documents show that Parks Canada officials were bound to a responsibility to “decolonize” Canada’s heritage and negatively portray Sir John A. Macdonald’s home as an expression of “white settler” history.  Files obtained by True North via a freedom of information request show the Liberal government’s deliberate efforts to play up an overwhelmingly negative portrayal of Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first Prime Minister, in the re-opening of his historic home ... CLICK HERE for the full story

... “We got so fed up we said, ‘You know what? We’re done doing your dirty work,’” said Petersen. “‘You go tell these workers whether they have a job or not tomorrow.’” “I honestly have zero sympathy for this company anymore,” Blacker said. Forestry, once one of B.C.’s biggest industries, is in free fall ...   CLICK HERE for the full story

  Conservative Party of B.C. John Rustad Tuesday (Oct. 29) said his party would support government policies that support "average, everyday working" persons in B.C., but also repeated earlier promises to bring down the B.C. NDP government under Premier David Eby. "If there are things that are moved forward that will improve lives for those people, we would be looking at support it," Rustad said. "But if he's going to carry forward with the destructive policies that he has, then yes, we are going to look at every opportunity possible to bring him down as soon as possible."  CLICK HERE for the full story

  The Alberta government said it has filed an application for a judicial review of the home heating oil exemption to the Canadian government’s carbon tax in the Federal Court of Canada.  In this application, the Alberta government has asked the Federal Court to declare the exemption unconstitutional and unlawful. The exemption benefits Quebec and Atlantic Canada the most, as they have the largest share of people using home heating oil ... CLICK HERE for the full story

  Ward and his wife Carleen celebrating his win on election night.   In March of this year, I took on the role of Campaign Manager for BC Conservative candidate Ward Stamer.  It’s the third time I’ve had the opportunity as I took on the role for Peter Sharp in 2013, and for Dennis Giesbrecht in 2020. Now let me tell you, in the past, a BC Conservative campaign team generally consisted of myself, the candidate and one or two helpers – and very little in the way of a campaign budget. Thankfully, a benefit of having spent 30+ years in the broadcast media afforded me the ability to do ad copy and write candidate speeches, and prep both Dennis and Peter to deal with the media – it’s also something I have always enjoyed. That was part of my duties this time around as well, however having a team of a dozen and a half volunteers meant that for the first time we had people available to ID our supporters, put together and install campaign signs, distribute campaign literature, and help out at ou