Thoughts on BC Politics and More

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...

IMAGE CREDIT:   BC Green Party  I have been thinking about the BC Greens ending the cooperation agreement with the NDP and there are some sound short-term tactical reasons for it. First, after years of overspending, the NDP now has no choice but to restrain spending. This will cause some within the NDP coalition to look for options. Second, the NDP knows that they have to address issues around reconciliation, private property and the D eclaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act  (DRIPA). After all, it was Eby who played the lead role in creating the current mess. While amending DRIPA is all but inevitable given public sentiment it will cause serious division within the left and could lead to caucus splits and potentially even a defection or two (Joan Phillip?). Again,the Greens become the direct beneficiary of any Holes in the NDP matrix. It is hard to tell whether the Greens or the Conservatives become the greatest beneficiary of any NDP decline but...

It was meant to be a political party where people could speak and vote freely.  The “big tent” BC Conservatives began 2025 ready to check the power of the governing NDP. The party held 44 seats to the NDP’s 47. The BC Greens held two.   Then personalities and politics collided ... CLICK HERE for the full story

It was the night before Christmas and all through the legislature, not a creature was stirring, not even a cat. The mace was placed in the chamber with care, in hopes that Throne Speech day would soon be there. The party leaders were all snug in their ridings, as visions of being premier danced in their heads. Article content For Premier and NDP leader David Eby, Conservative interim leader Trevor Halford and Green party leader Emily Lowan, the holiday season will serve as a time to reset after a bruising year that saw the provincial government under fire, the Conservatives ditch their leader, and the Greens anoint a new one ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

In the last weeks of BC’s legislative session, Green Party Leader Emily Lowan has been a long way from Victoria. The 25-year-old leader, who doesn’t have a seat in the legislature, is in the midst of a provincewide tour ... ... tour is also an effort to build strength for the Green Party across the province, as speculation builds about an early election call ... ... One of the first tests of the strength of this new team are renegotiations that have just begun on a co-operation agreement with the governing BC NDP – and whether they can secure commitments from the government on key priorities including taxation, the climate and electoral reform ... CLICK HERE for the full story  

In the days following the October 2024 provincial election, when ballots were still being counted, David Eby addressed voters, and announced that the “message,” as he put it,  had been received, loud and clear. With an almost meek countenance, the NDP leader ate humble pie as he reflected on his party’s narrow victory over the Conservatives. But, one year out, it seems as though the NDP has done little to course-correct, leaving some progressive voters feeling left behind in BC’s political arena.  For those not up to speed with the current state of affairs, the political landscape in BC can be simplified as follows ... CLICK HERE for the full story

The BC Greens have unveiled a proposal for bold tax reforms for the province, including a controversial inheritance tax, tax increases for the ultra-wealthy, and a review of the popular property-tax deferral program. They were among what they called seven “viable pathways” for the BC government to raise revenue to address the provincial deficit. “It’s time for the ultra-wealthy to pay their fair share,” leader Emily Lowan said at a news conference ... CLICK HERE for the full story

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

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

British Columbia Green Party members have chosen Emily Lowan, a climate activist and former student politician who turned 25 last week, as their next leader. “Our bold progressive vision has captured the imagination of a new generation of Green members and voters,” Lowan said today following the announcement at a Victoria hotel. “This campaign was electrifying. It was a lightning rod of hope.” Lowan was the first choice on 3,189 of the 5,259 votes cast, or 61 per cent. That was enough to win without counting members’ second choices ... CLICK HERE for the full story

There’s lots to chew on in this week’s edition of the Weekly Writ , so let’s get right into it. Here’s what’s on deck: News of the first official contestant for the leadership of the federal NDP, with newly-released numbers suggesting which bridges the next leader of the party will need to rebuild on their path back to relevancy. Plus, Marit Stiles and John Rustad face very different circumstances after some middling leadership review scores, while the B.C. Greens might have just selected the youngest leader of a party in Canadian history. There are also some caucus departures in Ontario and Quebec and a writ drop in Nunavut. Polls suggest the gap between the Liberals and Conservatives might be shrinking, plus a new poll out of Alberta shows gobsmacking results. There are also some new surveys out of Ontario, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Yukon, as well as for the mayoral races in Calgary and Edmonton. #EveryElectionProject: The 1976 PEI PC leadership race everyone’s talking ab...

A recent poll by the Angus Reid firm contains both good and bad news for David Eby.  The good news is that he’s more ­popular than the BC Conservative leader, John Rustad, and by quite a lot. Rustad’s popularity stands at just 28 per cent, while Eby has 41 per cent support. After that, though, it’s bad news all the way. Over the past six months, Eby’s standing in the polls has fallen by 12 points, from 53 to 41 per cent. And while Rustad is personally unpopular, if an election were held today, the Conservatives would take 44 per cent of the vote, compared with 42 per cent for the NDP. In that eventuality, the NDP might still form a government, albeit a minority administration depending on how many, if any, Green Party members are elected ... 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

Are the BC Greens an environmental protest movement consigned to shouting on the lawn of the legislature, or are they a party that advances its policies into reality inside the corridors of power? It’s a question Jonathan Kerr says is core to his campaign as party leader. “I’m not interested in the Greens being a protest party standing out on the legislature steps with a megaphone,” he says in a recent interview. “I’m focused on holding the balance of power inside the legislature so we can enact more green policy" ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

There was much back-patting this week as the NDP and Greens joined to release a report showing the province has attached 750,000 people to a primary care provider since 2018 and that 76 per cent of people signed up to the government’s Health Connect Registry now have a family physician or nurse practitioner. But one family physician is worried the government isn’t effectively counting “attached” patients. Dr. Rita McCracken, who is also a UBC assistant professor in the family practice department, says the process the province uses remains opaque and there is little recording of whether British Columbians are getting care quicker as a result ... 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

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 

The BC Green Party says a 24-year-old advocate for climate justice and Indigenous solidarity has joined the party's leadership contest. Emily Lowan is the second person to announce their candidacy in the race after Comox town councillor and physician Jonathan Kerr. The candidates are seeking to replace Sonia Furstenau ... CLICK HERE for the full story

It took a tie-breaking vote from Speaker Raj Chouhan to save the government from potentially falling, after government house leader Mike Farnworth made the bill a matter of a confidence vote. All three of BC’s political parties will be licking their wounds this summer as the last few months have left First Nations and municipalities united in their anger at the governing NDP, the Conservatives dealing with a number of defections, and the Greens’ caucus of two struggling. Premier David Eby in February said the session would be focused on addressing the “existential threat” posed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats ... 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