Thoughts on BC Politics and More

UP UNTIL TODAY I have purposely decided not to comment on the election campaign we were just subjected too, and in particular the Conservative campaign. YES ... subjected! This morning however I was reading a few letters from readers of MacLean’s , and one in particular struck me.   In their letter they stated: " None of our political leaders are statesmen with clear and inspiring national visions that unite Canadians. Instead, voters are bartered in an open political market where myopic promises are traded for votes—a choice as appealing as a Big Mac to vegans. The choices before voters are stunningly vacuous, if not perilous ." While I am not so sure that ‘ vacuous ’ would be the best descriptive for Election 43 ... ‘ disappointing ’ would certainly fill the bill Leaders of all parties, to some degree, promised the moon and beyond in their spending promises –far too many of which intruded into provincial jurisdictions. What t...

Yesterday, two blog posts caught the eye of a longtime provincial, and federal Liberal, who lives here in Kamloops.   To say the least, he didn’t like them, and he made that known on Facebook where I also had them posted. One was written by John Feldsted ( The choices are difficult and made worse by ‘attack ads’ where one party or group attacks one of the other leaders and suggests, without evidence, that he will do great harm ) … the other was written by me ( Honestly though John, and to anyone reading this, it doesn't matter who started it -- it's bullshit and it should stop ) Another individual, Ian C. MacLeod saw them as well, and he responded by stating: “ As I have said before, these types of ads are awful, but the political parties use them because they work. So sad ”. In my post yesterday I stated that I was disappointed by attack ads, issued by any group or organization, because they sensationalized minor imperfections, and wer...

“Truth in Advertising” ... at one point that was something that was adhered to by the broadcast industry.   Nowadays however with such lack laws on the books, that same industry basically allows anything, and everything, to go out over the airwaves. A recent CBC News story talked the left side of the political spectrum, and Engage Canada (formed in late 2014), which ran two short ads during the game painting Scheer as a "yes man" to Ontario Premier Doug Ford. The story stated that spokeswoman Tabitha Bernard wouldn't say who runs the group, but former NDP strategist Kathleen Monk — now a principal with the Earnscliffe Strategy Group and a frequent contributor to CBC's Power & Politics 's power panel — former Liberal staffer Dave Gene, executive assistant to the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario Igor Delov, and Peter Kennedy of the Canadian Autoworkers Union are all listed as dir...