Thoughts on BC Politics and More

After receiving the electors’ stern October message, Premier David Eby spoke with the required humility, “We are listening to the message voters sent to us with this close election, and will be getting to work on today’s tough challenges right away.” The premier’s office echoed Eby’s familiar talking points, “The new cabinet’s priorities will be bringing down costs for families, strengthening health care, making communities safer and growing the economy so everyone feels the benefits.” To bring down living costs and grow the economy will require major shifts in the NDP government’s energy and climate policies ... CLICK HERE for the full story  

The Business Council of British Columbia has launched an awareness campaign to counter the province's rising outward migration to Alberta. The business advocacy group says its "Stay with B.C." campaign is placing advertisements on billboards and transit stops, as well as online in cities such as Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna and Prince George, urging residents to think twice before moving to Alberta for economic or other reasons ... CLICK HERE for the full story

As the clock ticks down on a turbulent 2024, Premier David Eby and his recently installed cabinet are staring at an uncertain and unforgiving economic landscape. While the province’s economy has been growing, the population has been increasing faster—resulting in a downward trend in the value of economic output, measured on a per-person basis. The same story has been unfolding across the country since 2022. Looking ahead, BC policymakers and the economists toiling in the Ministry of Finance must contend with two big external unknowns ... CLICK HERE for the full story

British Columbia’s government expects to plant nearly 60 million fewer trees next year — a 23 per cent drop from this year’s planting season at a time the province has seen a major spike in wildfire activity. The projections come from presentation slides obtained by Glacier Media and shown to industry in September, less than 10 days before the BC’s provincial election campaign kicked off ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Despite disappointment and turmoil surrounding the Fall Economic Statement and Chrystia Freeland’s shocking departure from Justin Trudeau’s cabinet, Canada remains a country of immense promise. I’ve spent more than a few words in The Hub highlighting the challenges we face—creeping neofeudalism, a stagnant economy, the suffocating complexity of our regulatory regimes, the subtle but relentless erosion of trust in our public institutions, and the glaring distortions in our housing and health-care systems. But looking towards 2025, I remain optimistic. If we can channel our inherent advantages—our openness, human capital, abundant resources, and a mostly pragmatic culture—and lead in a changing world. What follows are some big (and controversial) topics—ambitious ideas that cut against some sacred Canadian cows. While some may seem radical, I believe putting them on the table could contribute to necessary debates and hopefully progress ... CLICK HERE for the full story

In November a woman named Comfort Sakoma-Fadugba, the co-chair of the Vancouver Police Board, was asked to resign over social media posts she had made. She apologized for her posts and resigned. First up, let's be clear: her posts did violate the Code of Conduct she agreed to when she accepted a seat on the board. Public officials on these kinds of boards cannot ever show cultural, religious, etc preference. They must at all times appear to be neutral to fulfill their roles - just like judges. She resigned and that should have been the end of the story. Elenore Sturko, the newly re-elected MLA, now sitting as a BC Conservative, publicly agreed with this resignation. She serves as the Public Safety critic so, this is part of her job to comment on things like this. That should have been the end of the story, but 13 BC Conservative MLAs wrote a letter taking issue with Sturko. They claimed Comfort was a victim of cancel culture, mused about values, etc. Sturko is...

PRINCE GEORGE : Rosalyn Bird, Conservative MLA for Prince George – Valemount, says Starlink satellite internet service is the superior solution for northerners.   “Although I was very pleased to hear today that another Northern BC community has reached completion, I recognize many other northern, rural, and remote communities in British Columbia continue to face connectivity challenges," Bird said in response to the completion of the Upper Viewmount (Smither) fibre-optic project. Access to reliable, high-speed internet has become an essential element in progressing economic growth and providing access to education and health care, while improving community well-being. No longer a luxury, we now recognize its importance as our work, school and personal lives increasingly shift online. One of the main hurdles in expanding cellular services is the availability of power, as cellular infrastructure requires electricity. Additionally, many remote areas and highways ...

History will remember Chrystia Freeland as Canada’s first woman finance minister ... ... She could also be remembered as the woman who brought down Justin Trudeau in the most dramatic of fashions ... ... Or perhaps this is merely the opening scene of a new story, where Freeland uses her resignation as a springboard to mount a campaign to replace Trudeau as Liberal leader and become Canada’s first woman to be elected as prime minister ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Stagnant job growth and falling participation highlight cracks in B.C.’s labour market. British Columbia employment remained virtually unchanged in November with only 1,400 more people working compared with the previous month. Year-over-year hiring growth of 0.3 per cent fell well below the national performance of 1.6 per cent ... CLICK HERE for the full story

"David Eby and Brenda Bailey are playing Santa with NDP insiders while our construction and resource workers are getting Scrooged ” ~~ Peter Milobar, MLA – Kamloops Centre, Finance Critic of the Official Opposition British Columbia’s fall economic and fiscal update reveals a province sinking deeper into debt, plagued by revenues falling short of expectations and cost overruns on major projects, according to the Conservative official opposition. “It’s easy to see why they released the fall economic statement a week before Christmas Eve,” said – Peter Milobar, MLA – Kamloops Centre, Conservative Finance Critic. “ There’s a pay raise in the range of roughly $20,000 to $60,000 for every NDP MLA who is now a minster, minister of state, or parliamentary secretary. Promotions for NDP staffers .” “ Meanwhile our economy is slowing down, our budget deficit is expanding, and resource and business tax revenue is dropping ,” Milobar questioned why voters were never told about the $...