Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Even accounting for the usual standard for rhetorical hyperbole in throne speeches, talk of the “largest transformation” of Canada’s economy in 80 years certainly stands out. It’s a bold statement that Prime Minister Mark Carney has made several times since he officially entered politics in January. Yet we’re still no further ahead in understanding what precisely it means. What kind of transformation does he envision? What does it involve? What are the trade-offs? What will it look like? What will it mean for Canadians? Answers to these basic yet important questions remain decidedly elusive ... CLICK HERE for the full story  

... This throne speech was like many before it, though out of deference for the deliverer it was on the short side, 21 pages tucked inside wide margins. In substance it was a paraphrase of Mark Carney’s already-semi-legendary Single Mandate Letter for cabinet ministers. There were sections on redefining Canada’s relationship with the United States; on internal trade; on crimefighting and national defence; and on “spending less and investing more,” which, I mean, we’ll see. The mandate letter seems to have supplanted the Liberal election platform as the main blueprint for Carney’s action. The two aren’t wildly incompatible, but the mandate letter/ throne speech is streamlined and puts stuff in different order. I saw two surprises big enough to make me write today, but first I want to point to a few elements that are worth noting in the less-surprising stuff. That’s right, I’m trying to be useful, not just smart-assed ... CLICK HERE for the full commentary

When I was a young MLA, I was outspoken about the irrelevance of the Canadian connection to the British monarchy, and I wanted to abolish the Canadian Senate. I felt both were a waste of money, and from a western perspective, not useful. Today is the first time I have felt that as a Constitutional Monarchy, Canada has a much stronger place in the world, and we are all protected in this institution in a way that we would not be if we were independent. It's a bit like insurance, you can grumble about paying for it until the day you need it. And then, you realize it's worth all the years of premiums. Reconciliation is happening. At every step in the opening of parliament, Indigenous leaders and Indigenous culture was featured. The best part? It felt natural and meaningful. What an enormous change in the past fifty years. |For the first time in Canadian history, the King of Canada opened our parliament by reading the Speech from the Throne. I paid attention to the response of membe...

King Charles III says Canada is seeing a “renewed sense of national pride, unity and hope” at a critical time while delivering the throne speech on Tuesday. “It is with a deep sense of pride and pleasure that my wife and I join you here today as we witness Canadians coming together in a renewed sense of national pride, unity and hope,” the King said. “I’ve always had the greatest admiration for Canada’s unique identity, which is recognized across the world for bravery and sacrifice in defence of national values and for the diversity and kindness of Canadians,” the King added. Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech from the throne, used by prime ministers to outline their plans for the upcoming session, focused heavily on a sense of national unity, economic growth and global trade ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: The B.C. government delivered a throne speech to open the legislature that was big on rhetoric, low on details and a sign, critics say, it’s out of ideas. It’s a familiar broken record. Like an annual political Groundhog Day. And it happened again Tuesday, as Premier David Eby’s government delivered his first throne since the October provincial election. I’ll spare you the trouble of reading it: There’s nothing there. No new ideas. No new promises ... CLICK HERE for the full story

What do Nazis, superfortress bombers, fascism in Europe, and Donald Trump have in common? All somehow managed to feature prominently in British Columbia Premier David Eby’s speech from the throne Tuesday — an address to the legislature so heavy in wartime imagery you would have thought it was 1939 ... CLICK HERE for the full story

In today’s BC Throne Speech, Premier Pinocchio explained that he wants to spend the next year blaming Trump for the fiscal and economic problems that Eby and the NDP’s mismanagement has caused. Hypothetical tariffs are a convenient excuse for BC’s declining GDP, our ballooning debt, a massive affordability crisis, and our crumbling healthcare and infrastructure — but these were all caused by terrible NDP policies and decisions that have left BC more vulnerable than ever before. The NDP spent the rainy-day fund when the times were good — now we have nothing to fall back on, and no plan on how to proceed. The truth is that David Eby gave all of his MLAs a raise, pulled back the $1,000 he promised British Columbians, and went into hibernation for nine long months. Now, Eby is coming out of hibernation to feign leadership and play politics. In reality, Eby’s NDP has never wanted to unite British Columbians. Instead, he has spent several long, long years dividing British Columbians and play...

Crime down, health care swinging upwards, housing booming. B.C. throne speech paints a picture too rosy for some. When reality begins to fracture in a Hollywood movie, it’s usually called the multiverse — but when it happens in B.C. politics apparently it’s just called a throne speech. That was the feeling you got reading the government’s speech from the throne Tuesday, in which New Democrats painted a spectacularly rosy picture of the province that you might not recognize from your own community . . . . CLICK HERE for the full story

It’s not often a government opens the first full day of a legislative session with an angry capitulation. On Tuesday, the NDP government confidently promised grand advances on all fronts in the throne speech. On Wednesday, they sulkily announced a major retreat. Key changes that were planned to land-use law to recognize B.C.’s formal adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples have been parked indefinitely . . . . CLICK HERE for the full story

THE B.C. Green Party on Tuesday criticized the speech from the throne, saying that it paints a picture that doesn’t match up with British Columbians’ real problems. Party leader Sonia Furstenau said: ““Once again from the BC NDP, we see a lack of strategy, a lack of action, a lack of accountability for their spending – there’s nothing tying all of this together. The Throne Speech paints a picture that doesn’t match up with the real problems British Columbians are experiencing. Healthcare remains inaccessible for too many, schools are overcrowded and lack resources, homes are too costly, and the gap between the rich and the poor keeps getting wider" . . . . CLICK HERE for the full story

Conservative Party of BC Leader John Rustad says the Throne Speech delivered by the NDP government was lackluster at best and failed to put people first . . . . . . . . Rustad told Vista Radio the Throne Speech revealed more of the same-old approach past and present governments have tried and failed at. “It’s been 16 years of the BC Liberals and now the seventeenth year of the NDP and we have a crisis in housing, we have an affordability crisis, we have a health crisis, we have a crisis in drugs and crime. The province quite frankly is in crisis" . . . . CLICK HERE for the full story

Premier David (I’m a people person) Eby set out the NDP government’s itinerary to get from where they are now (top of the polls) to where they want to be come voting day this fall (exactly the same spot). The three other parties on the same journey have to make huge gains in a hurry. For Eby’s NDP, it’s a matter of staying on cruise control, keeping the wheels on the bus and seeing it through to decision day. So Tuesday’s throne speech just hammered home — over 26 pages — the elementary point that the government cares about people . . . . CLICK HERE for the full story

BC’s legislature resumes this week with a throne speech full of promises and a budget full of numbers — neither of which it would be wise to put much trust in, with an election just a few months away. Premier David Eby’s New Democrats will start the legislative session late, and finish early. Amidst that truncated timeline, the government says it intends to introduce 20 bills. That’s a rate of new legislation at least every second day. Some things we know are coming, such as a new two-year real estate flipping tax and a bill to allow government to sue social media companies for harms. Both are measures that the NDP intends to package in its election campaign as protecting British Columbians against speculators in real estate, and predators online. Whether either law actually improves the stated problem of housing affordability and online bullying and sextortion, will be a question only answerable after the Oct. 19 election . . . . CLICK HERE for the full commentary

BC's CONSERVATIVES RESPOND TO TODAY'S THRONE SPEECH: This afternoon BC’s Lieutenant Governor, the Honorable Janet Austin, gave the government's Throne Speech to members of the Legislative Assembly and to the people of BC. While short on specifics, it indicated the continuation of actions taken since last spring towards fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic repercussions. Speaking this afternoon from his home in Fort St, John, Conservative leader Trevor Bolin noted that, despite now having a majority government, one thing is certain, and that is the lacklustre plans they have for British Columbia, and its people. “ We are at a pivotal time in our province, one in which people need security for the future, the removal of red tape which will allow industry to provide jobs, a health care system that works, and a plan to re-open business and the economy ”, Bolin observed. “ None of this was mentioned in today’s Throne Speech, or even hinted at. Instead...

Hon. J. Austin (Lieutenant-Governor):  Good afternoon, friends. ÍY SȻÁĆEL NE SĆÁLEĆE. We begin by acknowledging the Lək̓ʷəŋin̓əŋ peoples, the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations, upon whose traditional lands we are gathered today. It is a longstanding tradition to begin a new session by memorializing prominent British Columbians who have passed away since the last Speech from the Throne. At this extraordinary time, it is appropriate to focus on the almost 500 British Columbians who have died from COVID-19. We pause to mourn those who have passed, all of them taken from us by a virus that was unknown just one year ago. We acknowledge the grief the pandemic has caused all British Columbians, especially those who have lost someone they love. We recognize the compounding effect of the pandemic on the parallel health emergency that is the opioid crisis. We mourn those we have lost to an increasingly toxic drug supply. They were our children, our parents, sisters, brothers and nei...