Thoughts on BC Politics and More

  “What is different from yesterday, or a month ago, or several months ago? This is clearly political — every other jurisdiction in North America has already hired back workers. British Columbians should not have to wait for an election to have our healthcare workers hired back.” - John Rustad, Leader of the Conservative Party of British Columbia July 26, Vancouver, BC: John Rustad, Leader of the Conservative Party of British Columbia, is slamming David Eby and the NDP for their prolonged delay in removing COVID-19 vaccine mandates for healthcare workers. This overdue decision comes after sustained pressure from the Conservative Party of British Columbia and highlights the NDP’s failure to act in the best interests of healthcare professionals and the public. NDP’s Delayed Response: A Failure of Leadership The NDP government’s reluctance to lift the vaccine mandates for healthcare workers left British Columbia as the only province in the country still enforcing these outdated res...

The Conservative Party of BC is calling on the New Democrat-led government to fire Dr. Bonnie Henry over a continued requirement that health-care workers in the province be vaccinated against COVID-19. In the legislature this week, Abbotsford South’s Bruce Banman — one of only two Conservative MLAs — accused the “extreme leftist NDP government” and its “unelected bureaucrats” of failing British Columbians with its mandate in the midst of a health-care crisis. He and party leader John Rustad, who represents Nechako Lakes, doubled down on their call on Thursday ... CLICK HERE for the full story

The caucus of the Conservative Party of BC joined about 50 people rallying outside the provincial legislature Thursday calling on B.C. to end its vaccination mandate for health care workers. The rally took place a day after BC Conservative House Leader Bruce Banman called on the provincial government to fire provincial health officer Bonnie Henry and bring back “thousands of health care workers who were wrongly kicked to the curb” because of the mandate. “This is not about opposing the jab,” Banman said. “It is about ending the medical tyranny of this NDP government and Dr. Bonnie Henry. Enough cajoling, enough coercing and enough deflecting. It’s time to be held accountable" ... CLICK HERE for the full story

 ... “An independent, national inquiry is needed to review Canada ’ s COVID-19 response, draw lessons, and ensure accountability for the past and future pandemic preparedness,” said the BMJ .   “I don't have an opinion on whether we need a national inquiry, I think there's pros and cons to it,” Henry said during a news conference last week about ongoing wildfires and the upcoming heat wave. “I think that it's very important for us to record what we went through, to understand the lessons from it and to really look at how do we have more robust, resilient communities" ... CLICK HERE to read the full story

  Beginning on Tuesday, June 15, 2021, British Columbia will take the next step in safely bringing people back together, transitioning into Step 2 of BC’s Restart plan, including lifting restrictions on travel within B.C.    “Thanks to our collective efforts and commitment to get vaccinated, we are ready to take another step forward in our careful restart,” said Premier John Horgan. “This next step means seeing more of the people we love, visiting more of our favourite places and safely celebrating the major milestones we’ve missed. Better days are in sight, but we must continue to do our part, get vaccinated, keep our layers of protection strong and work together to put this pandemic behind us.”    The transition into Step 2 of the four-step restart plan aligns with key metrics for moving forward. More than 75% of adults are vaccinated with their first dose,...

Monday August 31st is International Overdose Awareness Day. Long before the Covid-19 pandemic British Columbia was dealing with another public health emergency - overdoses and poisonings from toxic illicit street drugs. Since 2016 more than 5500 British Columbians - our friends, family and neighbours - have tragically passed away. Covid-19 has caused increased isolation and limited access to healthcare. One of the results of the Canada-US border closure is the disruption to the flow of street drugs and the supply in Canada has become more toxic. For three straight months more than 170 British Columbians have died as a result of overdose. It is clear the provincial government needs to do more.  The B.C. Green Caucus will continue to advocate for solutions to this health crisis. We are committed to pushing for treatment programs, mental health supports, decriminalization, affordable housing and income supports in conjunction with safe supply to prevent any further loss of li...

My apologies for missing last week, but I’m back once again with Day Seven ... and a look at the most read posts and commentaries of the week.   Here we go ... here’s ... #10 ... FELDSTED -- Government efforts to offset some of the results of a destructive economic policy are aimed at maintaining political power (August 14 th ) Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney advising PM on COVID-19 economic response -- Carney recently departed top job at Bank of England after guiding it through Brexit uncertainty (David Cochrane ~~ CBC News ~~ Aug 10, 2020) This is incredibly dangerous to Canada’s sovereignty ...   #9 ... I take issue in your statement the Leslyn Lewis campaign has a 'weak' get out the vote effort ... and is lacking in a national team and infrastructure (August 15 th ) You couldn't be more wrong -- and that's why she has done so well in fund-raising -- and getting the grassroots support of more individuals than any other candidate, donating ...