Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis has sponsored a petition calling on Canada to withdraw from the United Nations and the World Health Organization, saying Canada’s membership in these bodies has undermined the “health rights and freedom of Canadians.” Liberal and NDP MPs have accused Lewis and the Conservatives of being dangerous conspiracy theorists as a result. What do you think? True North’s Andrew Lawton weighs in ... CLICK HERE for the full commentary

This morning in my political email Inbox, came another in what has been hundreds of emails from all of the candidates seeking to become the next leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, and from that, the opportunity to become Prime Minister after the next federal election. This morning’s email was from Leslyn Lewis, who is taking a second shot at it.   In it, she made what I consider to be some pretty wild statements and accusations – including her beginning statement that: ... The United Nations is fuelling a misinformation campaign that they cleverly disguise as a war on conspiracy theories She then continued ... The UN has put out a framework for people to assess and ultimately undermine the legitimate questions that people are asking of their governments by labelling these questions as “conspiracy theories” ... it is a clear agenda to control thought by pitting citizens against each other and to police the thoughts of their neighbours . ... It is textbook gaslighting – a ...

  By John Twigg It's been a long day so this won't be a long column but I feel moved to share a few of my initial thoughts about the to-me-surprising win of the federal Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) leadership by relative unknown Erin O'Toole. Okay, O'Toole obviously is well-enough known inside the CPC to have just won the leadership in a third-ballot counting of a somewhat complex preferential ballot between four candidates, but among most Canadians (like me) he was a relative unknown even though he had run in a previous leadership contest for the Conservatives. He was a strong second on the first count, had a very small lead over Peter MacKay in the second count and won roughly 60 per cent in the third count, suggesting he was the second choice of most CPC members; O'Toole was especially strong in Quebec where he won more than 50 per cent of votes in the first count but he also did well in other regions. So, who is Erin O'Toole? I confess I knew...

  FIRST ... I have to get this off my chest --- the Conservative Party points system, foisted on the party by Peter MacKay with the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party ( October 2003 ) – SUCKS!!!   At the end of the second round, voter tabulation had Dr. Leslyn Lewis ahead (60,316 total votes) of both Peter MacKay (54,165) and Erin O’Toole (56,907), but because of a complicated system -- where every riding had a total point score of 100 points (regardless of how many members the riding had) -- Lewis was dropped of the ballot, leaving O’Toole and MacKay on the final ballot. OKAY ... with that out of the way ... Erin O’Toole was my second choice on the ballot, and I feel certain will be able to lead the party from the opposition benches, to governing party. Since first being elected in a 2012 by-election, and having twice campaigned for the leadership of the Conservatives, O’Toole knows what is needed to put together a winning team ... ...