Thoughts on BC Politics and More

In the safest of UCP and NDP seats, by-election results come with few surprises ... If there were to be any surprises, it was to be in the Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills race to replace outgoing UCP Speaker Nathan Cooper. There, upstart Republican Party Leader Cam Davies was hoping for a repeat of a 1982 by-election in that same constituency that saw the Alberta nationalist Gordon Kesler of the Western Canada Concept Party win ... CLICK HERE for the full story

When political parties ride to power calling themselves “populist,” their leaders can sound as if they are restoring power to the people as they carry out their radical reform movements. But here’s what populist parties — from the extreme-right AfD in Germany to Donald Trump’s Republicans in the United States, from the Conservative Party of Canada to the United Conservatives in Alberta — have in common. Their idea of freedom and democracy is fundamentally different from what most of us are used to. A “liberal democracy” doesn’t mean one governed by liberals or Liberals. The term, originating in 18th-century Europe, instead means a form of democracy that protects individual liberties and group rights, and ensures diverse voices are heard ... CLICK HERE for the full story