Thoughts on BC Politics and More

 . . . . “Public transportation is a serious impediment for thousands of residents living within the BC Interior,” wrote Hopfl in a letter to the Squamish - Lillooet Regional District (SLRD). “With the cessation of passenger rail service serving communities between North Vancouver to Prince George in 2002, not only is direct access to medical care, social opportunities in major centres and family visits not possible, but tourism has also declined.” Lillooet also lost its only public transportation link to Whistler earlier this year, when the Owl Bus formally ceased operations . . . . CLICK HERE for the full story

Youth around British Columbia and their families will have faster, easier access to mental health and substance use services and supports with eight new Foundry centres to be developed throughout the province. The new Foundry Centres will be in Burns Lake, Comox Valley, Cranbrook, Langley, Squamish, Surrey, Port Hardy and Williams Lake. The new locations, as with all Foundry centres, will offer increased access to integrated health and wellness services for young people aged 12 to 24 in both rural and urban communities. Each centre will offer primary care, youth and family peer supports, walk-in counselling, mental health and substance use services, and social services all under one roof, making it easier for youth to get help when they need it. “ I am so excited that young people in eight more communities in rural and urban B.C. will be able to get quick access to the mental health and substance use services they need and deserve ,” said Judy Darcy, Minister of Mental Health and...

MLA John Rustad -- Nechako Lake riding The announcement by LNG Canada to invest $40 billion in an LNG facility in Kitimat, an associated pipeline and upstream extraction, and infrastructure, will be the largest private sector investment in Canadian History. All of this is well covered, but perhaps here is a bit more of the story. The natural gas industry in BC was on the ropes. Investment was still healthy but with the incredibly low gas prices, coupled with the massive growth in production in the USA, we were quickly losing our market for our gas. LNG is the lifeline needed to re-energize our natural gas industry. Around the world, LNG companies tend to move in packs. Once one project goes ahead, suddenly everyone else in interested in doing something -- if the math works for one, it works for all. What this means is that BC should expect additional LNG investment decisions in the next 5 years.   It also means the BC Liberal vision for this new indu...