Thoughts on BC Politics and More

  No new schools for you.  The provincial government’s school building spree looks set to grind to a halt in the fast-growing Fraser Valley, with Victoria telling the region’s five school districts it won’t green-light new major projects this year. Last year, the school districts submitted capital plans with a combined $1.5 billion of schools, sites, and expansions for which they hoped to receive funding. This spring, the province told the districts that there is no money for new schools in the valley ... CLICK HERE for the full story

It’s already been four years since BC’s 2020 pandemic election, which means it’s time for another vote—but things are looking different this time. Re-shaped ridings and new party dynamics are mixing up provincial politics in the Fraser Valley. With some candidates already announced, and with just eight months until voters head to the polls in the Fraser Valley, the 2024 election is shaping up to be one of the most interesting and contested votes in the region’s political history . . . . CLICK HERE for the full story

A familiar face will be running again for the B.C. Green Party in the newly-redrawn Fraser-Nicola riding — which will encompass the communities of Merritt, Logan Lake, Lytton, Boston Bar and Hope. For a second provincial election, Jonah Timms will run for the party. BC United incumbent Jackie Tegart has announced she will seek re-election, while the BC Conservatives and BC NDP have not announced candidates in the riding ... CLICK HERE for the full story

REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION Former BC MLA Laurie Throness There was a political earthquake in BC today. MLA Bruce Banman switched from the BC United to the BC Conservative Party. Now there are two BC Conservatives in the Legislature, giving them all the privileges of Party status, including funding. Banman is a cagey political operator. I thought of him as a long-shot for Abbotsford South's BC Liberal nomination in 2020, but he pulled it off.  Now he senses defeat for BC United, and opportunity on the right. Free enterprisers in BC have always depended on the unity of conservatives and liberals to win the province. That unity is now obviously defunct and, barring some kind of political miracle, signals a disastrous defeat for free enterprise in next year's provincial election. This is a uniquely difficult situation for BC United leader Kevin Falcon, who ejected a conservative from his ranks and thus broke the cardinal rule of BC politics:  liberals and conservatives...

I have to admit being harsh on the provincial government, when it comes to drug deaths from overdoses ... but more importantly from deliberately poisoned drugs that I feel the government is not dealing harshly enough in ensuring that those manufacturing the poison, get HARSH jail terms. That said, something appears to be working because the past two reports now show significant declines in the numbers of young people, and adults, who have died. Here is the most recent report from the BC Coroners Service, regarding updated reports on illicit drug toxicity deaths and fentanyl-detected drug deaths to the end of June 2019. Key preliminary findings of these drug death reports are below. Data are subject to change: In June there were 73 suspected illicit drug toxicity deaths, a 35% decrease from the number of deaths in June 2018 (113), and a 15% decrease from the number of deaths occurring in May 2019 (86). There were approximately 2.4 illici...

Everyone is covering the main political parties in BC (ie: BC Liberals, BC NDP, BC Green Party), so I thought I would take a moment to shed some light on the BC Conservative Party ... BC First ... and YES, the Social Credit Party First to the BC Conservative Party for a moment. Nels Harrington, who was running for the party in the riding of Vernon Monashee announced he is dropping out of the race due to an unexpected increase in work commitments.   Harrington's Campaign Manager was to have been Scott Anderson.   Anderson was the Conservative candidate for the riding in the 2013 election; he placed third on election day winning a respectable 11.75% of votes cast. As for another former 2013 BC Conservative candidate (Chilliwack - Hope riding), Michael Henshall has confirmed to me that he will be running for the BC Social Credit Party in the riding of Fraser Nicola.   That will pit him up against current BC Liberal incumbent Jackie Tegart ... and...