Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Voting for the next leader of the Conservative Party of BC runs May 23-29. Ahead of the vote, candidates make their case, to Business In Vancouver, on some of the province's most pressing issues.  Q&A with Peter Milobar Q & A with Caroline Elliott Q & A with Yuri Fulmer Q & A with Kerry-Lynne Findlay Q & A with Iain Black  

By the end of the month, the BC Conservative Party will have a new leader and the province, just maybe, will have a new premier-in-waiting. While it’s clear that the Conservatives appear to have some momentum against David Eby’s BC NDP government, figuring out who will actually win the leadership race isn’t very straightforward ... CLICK HERE for the full story  

... While he is emphasizing his usual campaign priorities including his leadership experience and plans for the future, Black also revealed a philosophy that he has yet to speak of publicly. While in the forest-sector dependent community of Castlegar, Black told Castlegar News that if he were eventually elected as premier, he would like to re-locate some bureaucrats from Victoria to the areas rich in the resource sectors they represent. “Why is the chief forester of British Columbia in Victoria, why isn’t that office out where the forestry is?” asked Black. “We need to get senior officials, that impact the livelihoods of our communities, out of Victoria and in offices elsewhere ... CLICK HERE for the full story

The first two debates with all five candidates featured tough attacks. Conservative Party of BC leadership candidates have used the first two debates with all five hopefuls to make a pitch for what sets them apart.   CLICK HERE for the full story 

This morning, I shared information regarding a new Mainstreet Research poll of BC Conservative members that shows two candidates are basically neck-and-neck in support to become the next leader of the party. The poll shows Caroline Elliott with 21.2 percent support, closely followed by Peter Milobar at 20.8 percent. Iain Black, in this poll, is a distant third with just 8.4 percent support. After seeing and reading the story, Chelsea Meadus had this to say: The weighted vote means it really might not matter who is popular. The 3rd place winner could win as leader; that’s how Andrew Wilkinson won. If this vote goes three rounds. People need to understand how the vote works.  For me the most important factor is someone who currently is NOT an MLA. The infighting and lack of unity requires an outsider. The lack of training is really impacting some riding’s. Some of these new MLAs have no idea what they are doing, and nobody is noticing except their voters. Someone who is already in t...

For years, the NDP has been focused on the wrong priorities. Ideology in the classroom. Eroding standards. Letter grades cancelled. Parents shut out of decisions that directly affect their children. And teachers, good teachers who just want to teach, being sidelined by politics. The result? Kids who are falling behind in reading, writing, and math at the very moment when we need them to be more globally competitive. And a school system that has forgotten what it’s there to do. That changes under my government. Back to Basics   Every child deserves to leave school able to read, write, and do math at grade level. Under my government, that is the starting point not an afterthought.  I will refocus BC schools on reading, writing, math, and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). I will bring back real report cards with letter grades. I will reinstate mandatory standardized testing so we can actually measure results. And I will restore safe classrooms focused on a...

Last night I had the opportunity to meet the Conservative Party of BC leadership candidate Iain Black .   The following is a condensed version of our conversation ME:   I’ve been involved with the BC Conservatives since 2010 ... and I’ve seen lots of ups and downs with infighting, and it’s been extremely disappointing.   Now, in this leadership race, we have some that are calling for purity. How blue are you? Light blue? Royal blue? How do you answer that” IAIN:   Great question. I love the setup because it tells me where you stand because sometimes you get asked that question and you're like, okay, which side of this issue is this person on, right? So, thank you for telling me at least kind of you're thinking on it. We are violently in agreement. I very much disagree with all purity tests because I think it's artificial and I think most of the people who are going down that path are new to being involved in politics.   I kind of don't understand why they sudden...