Thoughts on BC Politics and More

The following commentary references a story this morning (December 29th) from CBC News:    Why this Independent MLA wants to make it easier for MLAs to be ousted by voters   Amelia Boultbee’s private member's bill seeks to lower the threshold for a successful recall... To be fair, there needs to be a careful line drawn between voters who are unhappy with a MLA's genuine work, and voters whose choice for MLA lost, and who won't accept that the majority of voters didn't vote the same way they did.  I've changed my opinions on recalls. It was one of the first things I asked Chief Election Officer Ms Campbell at the Thompson Nicola Regional District (TNRD) as I signed the paperwork as an election candidate; what are the processes of a recall if residents don't find me accountable so I can tell voters during election I am about accountability. I was told for the local order of government, there aren't any legislated recall processes and remember being...

One of my favourite things to show visitors to the B.C. legislature are the “class photos” of every parliament that are hung in the second-floor corridors, as they illustrate the changing demographic makeup of our elected representatives. The photos, which date back to 1952, show that for well more than 35 years the legislature chamber was the domain of proverbially older white men, dressed in dark suits (and invariably short or non-existent hair!). Few women and even fewer people of colour are present in them. Things slowly began to change in the 1990s and have really picked up momentum in the last decade or so. The current “class of 2020” photo has not taken its place in the corridor just yet (there literally is a shortage of wall space), but it shows a makeup of a B.C. legislature that was perhaps unimaginable even back in the 1980s. Of the 87 MLAs, almost 40 are women and more than a quarter are from ethnic or First Nations communities. When I point out these changes to visitors, t...

W ill there be an election in BC this spring?   For those of us that are engaged Reading of the 2019 BC government Throne Speech in politics, this is a burning question. What could the signs be? A throne speech normally sets the tone, and is used to lay out a vision for the next year, with hints at other initiatives. It is then defended by government MLAs. The NDP introduced the lamest throne speech in BC’s history which simple attacked the BC Liberals, and praised the NDP initiatives from the previous year. It also contained a few populist issues and promises of programs not starting until future years. The NDP also refused to speak to their throne speech, or defend it, leading to the shortest throne speech debate in BC history. I initially thought this was simply incompetence by the NDP. But did they do this intentionally to save their plans for a spring election call? The NDP need to introduce legislation to support their promises made to ...

This old stone building resists change. The physical manifestation of government, the people's house on Belleville St. in Victoria, is a metaphor. The emergence of three Greens is shocking on its own. Three MLA's negotiating a pathway through a tied house, is exceptionally unusual. The seat count in this place has not been so close in decades. A majority here is the norm. And, it provides comfort for the status quo to prevail. Layers of "this is how we have always done it" insulates us from the peril of having to think about "how we can do it better?" Or even, "who do we serve?" Perhaps, that is why my first few months in this place was so chaotic. Everyone speculating about how unstable it is. Not because it is any less stable, none of us love elections, but because it was unusual, uncomfortable, and different. Far too much resistance There is so much resistance holding us back ... take ride-hailing as...

I returned to the University of Victoria (UVic) while I was Mayor, and completed my Master’s Degree in 2002.   As I defended my thesis, I knew I had passed when the conversation turned with this question: ‘ so why didn’t you run with Gordon Campbell last year ?’   I frequently encountered this question and still do but it did make me chuckle to hear it in this serious academic setting.   My reply?   “ Well, I bought this tee shirt that said ‘to thine own self be true .’” I was a Saanich Councillor and Capital Regional District Chair in the early 1990’s, and was often working with Campbell while he was Vancouver Mayor and Greater Vancouver Regional District Chair.   I recall telling him that when he made the move to provincial politics that I’d go with him – even though I didn’t know which right of centre party he’d choose.   So, I was there as we built up BC Liberal constituencies and recruited candidates – and celebrated victory in May 1996, ...

Are you ready?   Set?   Then click the Karaoke link to sing along! Our MLAs are working at the Legislature Over on Vancouver Island Our MLAs are working at the Legislature Just to pass the time away Can't you hear the wind a blowin’ It starts up early in the morn The Sergeant at Arms is callin’ Get ready to blow your horn Horgan won’t you blow, Horgan won't you blow Horgan won't you blow your ho-o-o-orn Horgan won't you blow, Horgan won't you blow Horgan won't you blow your horn Now wasn’t that fun?? After that joyful sing-along, let me just say that I only nail the NDP government for a multitude of self-congratulatory news media release (many of them set on multiple occasions) ... the BC Liberals mastered this tactic, I believe, well ahead of the NDP. The bottom line is either they have too many staff in their government ministry communications departments -- or -- they have been ordered by superviso...

Through-out the province of BC recently, there has been much talk about electoral reform --- what it should look like, how it will be achieved, how we as BC Attorney General David Eby (right), campaigning in May 2017. The BC NDP promised to hold a referendum on a new voting system for the province voters will have input to the process, what a referendum question(s) should look like, what kind of majority would be required to have a change made.   These, just to name a few, are the questions being asked. For many, the name John Twigg will be familiar.   He recently submitted his thoughts to the BC governments Citizen Engagement , as well as forwarding those thoughts to me, Bob Makin, Bill Tieleman ( co-chair of the No B.C. Proportional Representation Society ), the BC Pundit, and BC NDP Attorney General David Eby. Here are those thoughts: The NDP does have "democratic" in its name but its past and present practices too often have ...

I have just struggled through Cheryl Ashlie's column ( MacDuff’s Call: A political novice with a sizeable ego ), in the Sept. 22 edition of The Maple Ridge News. To say the least, Ashlie's comments are naive and show just how totally out of touch she has become with political reality. Ashlie lauds the decision of Darryl Plecas to accept John Horgan's invitation to become the Speaker of the House, a move described by almost everyone else as self-serving and a betrayal of the trust of the constituents who voted for him. Ashlie claims Plecas' turncoat move will help provide good governance but in making this claim, she fails to explain how he will achieve this lofty goal.

JOHN CROCOCK SAYS, some people ask me why I started a new political party in BC? Good question !!! First of all it was a group of people that started the BC Action Party, mostly consisting of former BC Conservatives, but also people from other parts of political spectrum.  We had a choice to go with some recognizable party name that already existed, or go with new name. We decided on a new name for two reasons: 1)     There would be no political baggage with a new name. 2)     This would allow people from the all walks of life and political backgrounds to unite under one umbrella for the common purpose -- to advocate for a more accountable and transparent government.   The BC Action Party supports fiscal conservatism, but we acknowledge the importance of unions.  You’re not going negotiate thousands of separate employee contacts without the assistance of the unions.  However, we remember when th...

Seriously, the BC Liberal government decided in it's wisdom (and of course the wise stewardship of our tax dollars) that there had to be a media release to announce the purchase of 4 palliative care beds for Kamloops . While the beds cost $30,000 each to purchase ... I wonder how many people it took to write, re-write, and approve each step through draft to finished product, and how many hours were needed to get quotes from MLAs Terry Lake and Todd Stone, along with Interior Health board chair John O’Fee.   And remember too that the Media Relation official for the Ministry of Health ... along with David Weir the Communications Manager (BC Centre for Palliative Care) ... and Tracy Watson, (Communications Officer Interior Health) all had to be available for what must have been back to back interviews about this earth shaking announcement . Sounding suitably somber, and specific to the situation, Terry and Todd had this to say: “ This funding...

A couple of days ago a fellow former BC Conservative posed a question(s) to me regarding the organizational strengths and weaknesses of each of the four political parties in BC ... the Liberals, the Greens, the NDP, and the BC Conservatives.  He wasn't looking for a deep in-depth analysis, just a quick summary. " Interesting ", said I, upon which I replied back with the following before I had a chance to over-think my responses.  I just thought I would take a moment a share them with you.  Here goes: In your opinion what are the organizational strengths of the BC Liberals ?  Honestly I think it is simply that it 'appears' to be the only game in town.  It can draw from across the political landscape of municipal and Regional District leaders and politicians ...leaders of community groups ... businessmen and women and the like.     What are their organizational weaknesses ?  The negatives of that apparent strength, is that they ...