Thoughts on BC Politics and More

BC Green Leader Emily Lowan is calling for a pause in building AI data centres in BC until the environmental, health and security risks of these ­facilities are properly ­understood and regulated. The federal government and Telus, the telecom company building the projects, describe the data centres as a bid to boost Canada’s sovereign ­computing and artificial-intelligence ­infrastructure. Two data ­centres ­— the cost of which have not been disclosed — will be in Vancouver and the other in ­Kamloops. Lowan said the current “build first, regulate later” model pushed by the federal and ­provincial governments is ­reckless and unacceptable for British Columbians ... CLICK HERE for the full story  

Pallas Data Poll: British Columbia: This poll does not cover the period after the BC NDP budget with its sea of deep red ink. That said, there's some good data here to chew through.   The first is that three of the four main parties are down in the polls by statistically insignificant amounts, 2% is within the margin of error. That all three are down though, kind of interesting.    The Greens are up by 3pts but I don't think that's of any value in the BC political picture mainly because we have an Anybody But Conservatives or ABC movement in the province. This means that Green votes will likely shift to the NDP in ridings with close races.   Regional numbers Regionally the numbers are great for the NDP. They have a 10 point lead in Metro Vancouver. On Vancouver Island they have a 21 point lead. In the rest of BC the BC Conservatives lead by 7 points meaning there are plenty of seats that the BC NDP is still competitive in.   OneBC is eating some Cons...

The BC Green Party’s new leader, Emily Lowan, says she’s focused on protecting renters through vacancy control and expanding the supply of non-market housing through taxation. “I think the key role for the BC Greens is to actually really force the investment in non-market housing and point to the tens of billions of dollars in untaxed wealth that would make that a reality,” the Victoria-based climate justice advocate told BIV.  “Obviously the government’s been under fire for the scale of the deficit, and that’s triggered another wave of austerity from the NDP government, so a key part of my mandate is pointing to these other sources of revenues through taxing the richest one per cent and largest corporations in BC that aren’t paying their fair share”  ... CLICK HERE for the full story

At any other time, a province undergoing a labour dispute, a significant budget deficit and heightened concerns about inflation would see the Official Opposition rising to challenge the incumbent government. But this not any other time. The Conservative Party of BC is currently in second place with the support of 38 per cent of decided voters (down four points since June), with the governing BC New Democratic Party leading with 44 per cent (up one point). The Green Party of BC, fresh off the appointment of Emily Lowan as leader, is third with 12 per cent (up four points), followed by Centre BC with three per cent (up one point) and OneBC with one per cent (unchanged) ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

BC Green Party house leader Rob Botterell is ready to get back to work after a somewhat contentious three-month party leadership race. That contest nearly devolved into a legal battle over the process for verifying the identity of new members, several thousand of whom signed up over the summer to enable them to cast a vote. "The summer session of musical chairs is over, and the political shenanigans seem to be dying down — at least a bit for now," Botterell said. But the BC Greens still have some unanswered questions ... CLICK HERE for the full story

“This campaign was electrifying,” Emily Lowan told supporters after bounding to the stage at a Victoria hotel. “It was a lightning rod of hope. We brought in thousands of new members to this party, many of whom were completely disillusioned with politics.” The climate activist and organizer scored a decisive win last week just days after turning 25, making her the first zoomer to lead an official party in Canada. Her victory is a sign that the climate movement still has the energy to capture voters ... CLICK HERE for the full story

A 24-year-old climate activist advocating a sharp left turn in the BC Green Party leadership race has run up against a difficult verification process for thousands of new members who had flocked to vote for her. In less than two months, leadership candidate Emily Lowan seems to have doubled the party’s membership.  But with voting now underway, the thousands she signed up face a two-tier vetting process that could suppress her votes, which her supporters suggest stems from a party hostile to the success of her insurgent, anti-establishment campaign ... CLICK HERE for the full story

BC Green Party leadership candidate Emily Lowan has threatened to sue the party unless changes are made to the process for verifying members allowed to participate in a vote set to start Saturday ... ... Victoria lawyer Ben Isitt wrote that Lowan had retained him as legal counsel, raised a number of concerns and suggested it may be necessary to delay the leadership vote. “We understand that the Party is proposing a verification process for new members who have joined the Party since Oct. 19, 2024... while exempting 5,492 members who belonged to the Party prior to that date”  ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Shouldn’t somebody have some sort of independent oversight into how political parties elect their leaders? It’s a question on the minds of more than a few BC Green and Conservative members, as the two parties struggle through membership controversies that threaten to undermine the legitimacy of their respective leadership races ... CLICK HERE for the full story

BC’s Green party is scrambling to verify whether thousands of new members who signed up to vote in its leadership race are actually real people, with at least one candidate warning the process is so cumbersome it could suppress voter participation. Emily Lowan, the 24-year-old climate justice activist running for the party’s top job, said the complexity of the new verification system could leave some members unable to cast ballots. Her campaign said it has identified at least a dozen new supporters who never received an email from the party to start the authentication process. “We are hearing from new members across the province—from students to seniors—that the current verification system is presenting significant challenges”   ... CLICK HERE for the full story

It's not easy being a BC Green right now.   Sonia Furstenau stepped down as leader after losing her seat in the October election. And the Greens just barely hung onto official party status with two seats and its lowest vote share since 2013.  Now the party is fighting for relevance, at a time when climate issues are being eclipsed by tariffs and the economy ... ... three leadership candidates, Jonathan Kerr, Emily Lowan and Adam Bremner-Akins, are fighting to re-energize the party ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Jonathan Kerr, Comox Councillor, family doctor, Vice-Chair of the Comox Valley Regional District and BC Green leadership candidate has released his proposed platform, focusing on BC’s energy and economy. Kerr is focusing on building a stronger local economy to assert BC's energy independence from the U.S. amidst the tariff threats that come from President Donald Trump. “The BC NDP and the BC Conservatives are using the threat of Trump’s tariffs to pursue a risky strategy of raw resource extraction,” said Kerr ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

British Columbia’s governing NDP and the opposition BC Green party say they are “seeing progress” and “real results” on a series of shared priorities underpinning a cooperation agreement. The one-seat majority the NDP won in October’s provincial election left the government vulnerable to MLA illness or absence, and would have required the traditionally neutral speaker of the legislature to cast frequent tie-breaking votes. Instead, the two parties inked a deal that sees the Greens’ two MLAs back the NDP on all confidence votes, in exchange for the government moving on several Green policy priorities and committing to “a relationship of trust based on good faith and no surprises.” “Half a year in and it is fair to say that we are working well together and holding true to the spirit of our agreement" ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

If there’s one thing the BC Greens can agree on, it’s that the political climate has changed.  Last October’s provincial election was a mixed bag for the party. Sonia Furstenau, a popular leader who had demonstrated she could connect with voters, was left without a seat when she lost the riding of Victoria-Beacon Hill. The Green Party was squeezed to its worst showing since 2013 by a polarized electorate as the BC NDP battled the renewed Conservative Party of BC. Although the Greens continue to hold two seats in the legislature, the party has been left without a leader since Furstenau resigned in January ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

... The BC NDP government signed a four-year supply-and-confidence agreement with the Green Party in December 2024. But a spokesperson for the B.C. Green Party said the caucus could not support the bill in its current form and that the scheduled first vote on the bill at the end of the month was too narrow a time frame to make the appropriate changes. “We agree that hospitals, schools and public infrastructure need to be expedited, and that unnecessary red tape must be removed to get these projects built,” said Green interim leader Jeremy Valeriote in a statement. “However, our concern lies with the bill’s provisions allowing the province to approve any project it deems ‘provincially-significant’—a term that remains undefined and vague”  ... CLICK HERE for the full story

With the support of the BC Conservatives, the NDP have passed Bill 8 — in one day — to take the price off carbon pollution, giving in to the Conservative-led campaign to axe the tax.  With their decision to kill the carbon tax, the government is showing that rather than making decisions from a place of principled leadership and addressing the shortcomings of the carbon and rebate system in BC, they are willing to take the path of least resistance ... CLICK HERE for the full story

With less than a day to go before British Columbians are supposed to see a drop in gas prices, the province is under pressure to pass legislation Monday that would eliminate its long-standing consumer carbon tax. The B.C. government says it intends to fully repeal the provincial consumer-facing carbon tax by April 1 — a move expected to reduce prices at the pump by about 17 cents per litre and save residential natural gas users nearly $30 per month, according to FortisBC. But first, the repeal needs to be passed in the legislature ... CLICK HERE for the full story

The BC NDP and Green Party have officially signed an agreement to collaborate on the issues most important to British Columbians. The agreement, first announced in December 2024, would see the Green Party supporting the government on five priorities:  health care, affordable housing, creating livable communities, and the economy. In exchange, the NDP agrees to work on some key issues from the Green’s platform including removing barriers to the establishment of community health centres, expanding key transit routes, and ending spousal claw-backs on disability payments ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Almost five months have passed since British Columbians participated in the provincial election. When Research Co. asked the province’s residents about their political views earlier this month, the needle did not move much. The governing BC New Democratic Party remains in first place with the support of 44 per cent of decided voters, closely followed by the Conservative Party of BC at 42 per cent. The BC Green Party is third with 11 per cent, and three per cent of decided voters would back other parties or independent candidates ... CLICK HERE for the full story

“ Once again, we see further evidence, now from the Greens, of serious irregularities in the 2024 election. We need a public inquiry. The Chief Elections Officer has chosen to stick his head in the sand ." ~~ John Rustad MLA, Leader of the Official Opposition     John Rustad, Leader of the Official Opposition, delivered additional evidence today of serious voting irregularities in the 2024 British Columbia provincial election in Surrey-Guildford. Rustad repeated his demand, originally made January 9th, for the urgent appointment of a senior justice of the Supreme Court to lead a formal investigation by an independent Commission of Inquiry, pursuant to the Public Inquiry Act. On Tuesday, February 25th, Manjeet Singh Sahota, the British Columbia Green Party candidate in Surrey-Guildford in the 2024 election, swore an affidavit as part of the ongoing court action. In the sworn affidavit, Sahota states: “ Before the 43rd Provincial Elections’ final voting date of October 19, 2024,...