Thoughts on BC Politics and More

After the unmitigated disaster that was the NDP’s 2025 election result, prominent members are pushing back against an “elitist” leadership race and want the party to rebuild from the grassroots up. “We lost touch, and we have to be honest about that,” former MP Charlie Angus said at a June 11 press conference in Ottawa. “We have to re-engage with people.” When asked about Angus’ comments, NDP interim leader Don Davies said it was a “tough election” but he doesn’t think the party lost touch. The question of how to rebuild has become existential ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Earlier this week, Edmonton MLA Rakhi Pancholi said that buying a membership in the party she hopes to lead — the Alberta NDP — should not automatically bring a membership in the party Jagmeet Singh leads — the federal NDP — as it does now. And even before that, the Alberta NDP and Saskatchewan NDP took it upon themselves to issue a joint statement denouncing a proposal made by federal NDP MP Charlie Angus that New Democrats in those two provinces saw as an unhelpful and inappropriate anti-oil-and-gas idea. These were the latest examples of growing friction between Western New Democrats and their eastern and mostly federal cousins . . . . CLICK HERE for the full story

. . . . a federal election is creeping closer. The climate radicals, both in the NDP and Liberal caucus, would love to shut the industry out of the national dialogue. Jail and fine the enemy for daring to speak, says Angus, whose riding of Timmins-James Bay has gold mines. These mines have tailings ponds, much like oilsands operations, except that gold won’t run your car. There’s a note of panic in Angus’s private-member’s bill, for good reason. Ottawa’s Liberal-NDP climate agenda is far more challenged, doubted and opposed than it was in the prelude to earlier elections. Any semblance of national NDP unity is cracking wide open . . . . CLICK HERE for the full story

This afternoon, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came before the Finance Committee to answer questions about the #WECharity ... and the ensuing chaos that came about as a result of the government handing over nearly ONE BILLION DOLLARS ($900 million) to the WE Charity, before the contract was cancelled. In the ensuing weeks, we have heard of multiple instances of the family of Justin Trudeau having various roles, and participating in events WE held ... and the same for the governments Finance Minister, Bill Morneau. Today was to have shed light on the entire situation – not that any of us expected that would happen – despite the best attempts of the NDP’s Charlie Angus ... and the Conservative Finance Critic Pierre Poilievre. I made seven comments as I watched the 90-minute exchange on the Canadian Parliamentary Channel (CPaC) ... BEGINNING WITH ... OMG. the Finance Committee gas given #JustinTrudeau at least 10 minutes of "Boy our government is great" bullshit. #Skippy...

On the weekend federal NDP MP Charlie Angus posted the following on his Facebook page . While there are several things I take exception to, there are also a number of points very much worthy of consideration regarding the situation our country has found itself in over the past 2 weeks – and longer going back in recent and past history. Here is what he had to say ... The railway blockades across the country have shaken up the political and business establishment in Canada. There are millions of opinions floating around Facebook and Twitter about the meaning of these protests. The media pundits seem absolutely shocked. Talking heads for the right-wing are denouncing these actions as mob rule, but none of them have a credible plan for defusing the situation. On the centre / left the focus has been on who is the legitimate voice of authority in the Wet’suwet’en lands. And as the Toronto Star pleaded, " There are growing calls for somebody to do something ...

Facebook's Zuckerberg, Sandberg won't appear before committee, could be found in contempt of Parliament Catharine Tunney ~~ CBC News ~~ May 27, 2019 Canadian MPs are warning that Facebook's top officials could be found in contempt of Parliament if they continue to ignore a subpoena to testify in Ottawa ... company representatives confirmed ... founder Mark Zuckerberg and chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg would not attend. "I don't think it would send a good message internationally about, you know, blowing off an entire country of 36 million people," said Conservative MP Bob Zimmer, the chair of the Commons committee. NDP MP Charlie Angus; “"You have a company that acts with complete disregard for the democratic systems that we've put in place … that's just unbelievable that a company could be that dismissive ...” CLICK HERE for the full story The irony is delicious! Members of Parliame...