Thoughts on BC Politics and More

  Tomorrow, Friday April 2 nd , will mark the 30 th anniversary of Rita Johnston becoming Premier of British Columbia.   No matter whether your political beliefs are in line with them, these days women becoming the leader of a province or country is no big thing; think of Alison Redford and Rachael Notley in Alberta, Margaret Thatcher in Great Britain, Kathleen Wynne in Ontario, Angela Merkel in Germany, BC’s Christy Clark, Jacinda Ardern in New Zealand, and Caroline Cochrane in the Northwest Territory just to name a few.   BUT by becoming Premier of British Columbia in 1991, Rita Johnston made history becoming the first female premier in Canada.   Johnston first held public office as a city councillor in Surrey, a position she continued until 1982. One year later (1983) she was elected as an MLA for the governing Social Credit Party, initially under Premier Bill Bennett, and went on to hold several Cabinet positions including Municipal Affairs and Tra...

Four time Kootenay - East MLA, now retired,  Bill Bennett Leslyn Lewis as leader allows conservatives in Canada to establish a new, and more honest, public narrative. The current narrative has it that conservatives in Canada are in a minority, meaning that leadership candidates must be "less conservative" to be successful. Hello Mr. Peter McKay. The media and the federal Liberals have persuaded the public that Canadians are generally "liberal" -- and that it is an aberration when the Conservatives form government. There is an implicit understanding in Canada that when Conservatives govern, their days are numbered and the Governing Party of Canada will be back soon. Even conservatives believe this! That narrative is very sticky and well entrenched, but in fact, wrong. The majority of Canadians have conservative values: belief in the importance of family, hard work, natural resource development, basic fairness and equality of opportunity. While on one hand, the Conser...

When former MLA and Cabinet Minister Bill Bennett muses aloud about what's to become of the so-called big tent free enterprise coalition ... people really do need to have a listen to what he is saying. In an article in the Province newspaper on Friday , Bennett (not to be confused with the Kelowna Bennett dynasty) stated: ... the abrupt changes will put pressure on the free-enterprise coalition of centre-left liberals and right-wing conservatives. “I think there’s likely to be some real angst today on the part of business and fiscal conservatives ,” ... the resource sector is likely to be particularly concerned about increasing the carbon tax ... ... challenge will be to deliver the new promises while not compromising the basic principle to balance the budget, pay down debt and maintain the province’s AAA credit rating ... going to be a tall order given some of the new commitments ... Did Bennett know something he wasn't able to sa...

Care to guess which of the following news story starts, from the BC Government News on Demand website, ran prior to the start of the BC provincial election -- and which have run since after the election? Effective immediately, the new allowable annual cut for the Quesnel Timber Supply Area is set at 2,607,000 cubic metres, chief forester Diane Nicholls announced today... Floodwaters and groundwater in many places in the Central Interior are expected to continue to rise, and the threat may not be over for some time... Effective at noon on June 15, 2017, the size of open fires will be restricted at all elevations throughout the entire Kamloops Fire Centre to help prevent human-caused wildfires and protect the public... All travellers, including drivers, pedestrians and cyclists, are reminded that McKenzie Avenue will be closed while construction crews install the new Galloping Goose Trail bridge as part of the McKenzie ...