Thoughts on BC Politics and More

The following commentary references a story this morning (December 29th) from CBC News:    Why this Independent MLA wants to make it easier for MLAs to be ousted by voters   Amelia Boultbee’s private member's bill seeks to lower the threshold for a successful recall... To be fair, there needs to be a careful line drawn between voters who are unhappy with a MLA's genuine work, and voters whose choice for MLA lost, and who won't accept that the majority of voters didn't vote the same way they did.  I've changed my opinions on recalls. It was one of the first things I asked Chief Election Officer Ms Campbell at the Thompson Nicola Regional District (TNRD) as I signed the paperwork as an election candidate; what are the processes of a recall if residents don't find me accountable so I can tell voters during election I am about accountability. I was told for the local order of government, there aren't any legislated recall processes and remember being...

... Under the Indigenous section of the party’s priorities on its website, OneBC says it wants to “defund the reconciliation industry." It also wants street names to be in English, to end land acknowledgements and to remove Truth and Reconciliation Day, observed annually on Sept. 30, as a provincial holiday.  Now, calls for the OneBC leader and MLA to resign are growing.  An online petition calling on Brodie to resign launched in March. It has since garnered about 1,800 signatures.  In early November, the First Nations Leadership Council called for Brodie’s immediate resignation.  Last week, Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc kúkpi7 (chief) Rosanne Casimir joined the calls for Brodie to resign ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

Creation-turning-on-the-creator is a well-worn trope in popular cinema, usually serving as a cautionary tale or providing some deserved poetic justice. Alberta’s experiment with voter recall is shaping up to be a real-world case study of this phenomenon. It is certainly a cautionary tale for other governments, but also, arguably, some well-earned comeuppance for this government. Unfortunately, with the potential embarrassment of seeing their own members devoured by recall, the UCP is prepared to inject some chaos into what’s already shaping up to be a tumultuous period. Things are going to get messy ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

There is no return policy on a mayor. But some former local politicians think there should be. With dysfunctional councils sparking discussions about how the provincial government might increase the oversight of local politicians, BC’s Municipal Affairs Ministry has said it will look to increase oversight of mayors and councillors. Provincewide codes of conduct, third-party enforcement of complaints and clear consequences are all on the table. But some current and former mayors think the province should consider another step: giving voters the chance to throw elected officials out of office ... CLICK HERE for the full story