BC Greens sign Agreement-in-Principle with BC NDP

Courtesy of BC Premier (and BC NDP Leader) David Eby:

“British Columbians expect us to work collaboratively to deliver on the most important issues people are facing.“I’m pleased to share that the government and BC Greens have reached an agreement to work together on a specific set of shared priorities:  

“Strengthening health care, building affordable housing, creating livable communities and growing a strong sustainable economy.   

“We are two distinct parties with two distinct identities, and we won’t always agree. We also have many shared values. The agreement lays out specific areas of action we will work together to achieve. 

“This agreement will strengthen the stability of government and help deliver on the priorities of British Columbians. We will continue to work with all MLAs who want to make the legislature work for people.”

To read the agreement, visit:

https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/Agreement%20in%20Principle.pdf

Cariboo- Chilcotin All Candidates Forum at 100 Mile House

Lorne Doerksen (L) of the BC Conservatives and
Micheal Moses (R) of the BC NDP 

Last night from 6:30 to 8:30pm in 100 Mile House inside a packed Creekside Seniors' Centre nearing capacity limits -- residents' in the 100 Mile House and surrounding areas listened to a lively debate between the two candidates (Micheal Moses of the BC NDP and Lorne Doerksen of the BC Conservatives), as to why they should be elected as the local MLA for Cariboo-Chilcotin... 

Topics covered at the All Candidates Forum included:

* Healthcare 

* Education  (SOGI, lack of teachers,) 

* Amendments to BC's Land Act 

* Jobs in the Cariboo-Chilcotin

* Indigenous Reconciliation

* Justice System/Homeless Camps

* Wildlife Management (science based vs public opinion) 

* Auto insurance policies in B.C.

* Vacant Downtown Buildings/Provincial incentives 

* Housing Policies 

* Support for Local Infrastructure (roads, utilities, etc) 

* Single use plastics policy / returning to plastics products (straws, etc) 

Unfortunately, Mr. Moses had to leave the Forum half way through for reasons that were not publicly disclosed 

Following answering submitted questions -- Mr. Doerksen agreed to answer questions from the floor including:

* ICBC, 

* Roads at Deka Lake 

* negative election campaigning, 

* SD27 public communications 

* more teachers in SD27

* tuition incentives for healthcare workers based on location, 

* incentives to mentor new nurses

I am not currently aware of any future All Candidates Forums - either in Williams Lake or 100 Mile House prior to Advanced Voting starting on Thursday, October 10th, 2024 and General Voting Day happening on Saturday October 19th, 2024 

~SF

BC Election 2024 gets underway

 

Royal Proclamation dissolving
42nd BC Legislative Assembly 

Earlier today -- the 42nd Parliament of BC was dissolved by Royal Proclamation of BC's Lt-Gov, the Hon. Janet Austin - thus kicking off BC's 43rd General Election (see attached picture)

Some related background:

i) What happens now to MLA's who served during the 42nd BC Legislature (BC Parliament) -- https://members.leg.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Transition-Guide_Members-seeking-re-election_V2_2024-09-19.pdf

ii) The BC Government enters into a period called the "Caretaker Convention" -- while this is written in a federal government context, the principles are the same. In short, a provincial government between Provincial Parliaments' (Legislative Assemblies), may only act on matters that are:

routine, or
non-controversial, or
urgent and in the public interest, or
reversible by a new provincial government without undue cost or disruption, or
agreed to by opposition parties (in those cases where consultation is appropriate)

https://www.mccarthy.ca/en/insights/articles/what-you-need-know-about-caretaker-convention

Also -- Elections BC has all the information you need to vote in the October 19th, 2024 provincial election at https://elections.bc.ca/2024-provincial-election/

Finally -- as of 1:30pm today, the MLA candidates in the Cariboo-Chilcotin Region are:

1) Prince George-North Cariboo (officially/unofficially)

* Coralee Oakes, Independent (Incumbent)
* Sheldon Clare, BC Conservatives
* Randy Thompson, BC Greens

2) Cariboo-Chilcotin (officially/unofficially)

* Lorne Doerksen, BC Conservatives' (incumbent)
* Micheal Moses, BC NDP

The deadline to register as a MLA candidate with Elections BC is 1pm on Saturday, September 28th, 2024

All the best to candidates running for election/re-election in the October 19th, 2024 BC Provincial General Election

Micheal Moses to run for BC NDP in Cariboo-Chilcotin

Yesterday afternoon in Williams Lake -- Williams Lake City Councillor Micheal Moses was acclaimed as the BC NDP Candidate in Cariboo-Chilcotin for the October 19th, 2024 Provincial General Election.  Councillor Moses is currently serving his first term on Williams Lake City Council after being elected in the October 2022 City of Williams Lake Local General Election

More on that here.  

Meanwhile, incumbent Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Lorne Doerksen has already been acclaimed as BC United's candidate in Cariboo-Chilcotin.  Neither the BC Conservatives, BC Greens or other provincial political parties or Independent candidates - as of this post - have put forward a provincial candidate in Cariboo-Chilcotin... 

Although not legally required -- it has been past practice that those elected to local office (Mayors, Councillors, Regional District Area Directors' or School Trustees) will take an unpaid leave of absence from their local elected positions while participating in the provincial election, in order that it does not appear that local taxpayers are paying for them for local duties NOT performed while campaigning provincially ... 

Meanwhile in North Cariboo-Prince George (previously Cariboo-North):

Incumbent Cariboo-North MLA Coralee Oakes has already been nominated as the candidate in North Cariboo-Prince George on behalf of BC United, BC Conservatives have nominated Sheldon Clare however there are no formal candidates in place for either the BC NDP, BC Greens or other provincial political parties or Independent candidates... 

The writ is expected to drop for the 43rd General Election of British Columbia on or about September 19th, 2024 with General Voting Day scheduled for Saturday, October 19th, 2024 

General Voting Day/42nd BC General Election

Today, voters across the 87 British Columbia Provincial Electoral Districts are voting, on General Voting Day, for a MLA/Member of the Legislative Assembly.  This after mail in ballots/absentee ballots having been distributed and returned to Elections BC and 7 days of Advance Voting.  

You can locate your specific polling station here while Elections BC has General Voting Day tips for you, the voter, here

After voting closes at 8pm tonight -- preliminary results will be available on the Elections BC website here while final vote results are not expected until November 16th

My personal thanks to the candidates who put their names forward for consideration of election along with their support teams.  All of them must be congratulated for participating in their own way in the thing we call our provincial democracy.... 

Looking forward to hearing the results after 8pm tonight!

SF

Adrian Dix stays on as BC NDP Leader

As I personally suspected and in a press conference held today, Adrian Dix stated that he would stay on as Leader of the BC NDP

View the article from CBC British Columbia here while Mike Smyth of the Province writes on this subject here and former NDP MLA David Schreck writes on this topic here

Meanwhile - watch Mr. Dix address the topic below:




Dix has now called for an comprehensive review of the 2013 Election Campaign and "no stone will be left unturned".  In addition, there is the BC NDP Party Convention this fall which includes a Leadership Review.  Should Dix either step down then or be forced out - there begs the question of:

Who then next as BC NDP Leader?

A couple of obvious choices include Mike Farnworth of Port Coquitlam and John Horgan of Juan de Fuca.  Both Mr. Farnworth and Mr. Horgan are very effective communicators and hopefully Dix will make use of these two gentleman in the 40th Parliament of BC

The NDP have no real reason to rush into a Leadership Race as the next election (at this point) is on May 8th, 2017.  Sufficient time to review the entire 2013 election campaign (and no, you can't blame it 100% on Dix, in my opinion) and determine what steps need to be taken to ensure no repeat of the 2013 Election Campaign for the next election campaign.  In my opinion, the Leader of a political party doesn't solely make for a bad election campaign.  It is usually the result of mis-steps by many to make a election campaign go south.  Methinks that the NDP Party faithful will say that it was Dix's first election campaign but the question will be -- Should you change party leaders after an election loss, like Carole James in 2009 and hope that the change is sufficient to get an electoral win at the ballot box in 2017.  I don't think the answer is that simple when you talk about winning in a province that typically has "divisive politics".  As a BC Liberal - I will be interested to see how the NDP struggle internally with the issue and where they take it...  but let's be clear - simply hoping for a win because of a change of leadership will not, in my view, improve your chances at the ballot box.  A successful election campaign has many elements to it, aside from a very good political leader who is able to connect with not only their supporters but with the 'undecided' vote as well which was roughly 20% in this recent provincial election.  A successful election campaign also needs to put good policies forward and communicate them with the 'apolitical' public in a way that they understand

I should add the BC Conservatives' should be (if not will be) going through the same process themselves like the BC NDP.  Unlike the BC NDP however, it is likely that John Cummins will resign his post and call for a new Leadership Race which the conclusion of this race could result in a better performance for the Conservatives' in 2017

BC Conservatives' in the Cariboo-Chilcotin

This past Thursday - BC Conservative Kamloops area Director Alan Forseth reported on his blog that the BC Conservative Party Constituency Associations for the Richmond & Delta areas have now been formally recognized by Elections BC

Read that blog post here

Meanwhile - here in Cariboo-Chilcotin & Cariboo-North, there isn't a lot of activity from BC Conservative supporters in this area.  At one point, the BC Conservatives' had a Cariboo-Chilcotin Riding Assocation President in Brad McRae (former City of WL Senior Bylaw Officer) while, to the best of my knowledge, no BC Conservative Party activity in Cariboo-North

If the plan for BC Conservatives' is to run 85 candidates in all 85 Constituencies, including Cariboo-North & Cariboo-Chilcotin, they need to very soon get active BC Conservative Constituency Associations in Cariboo-North & Cariboo-Chilcotin, otherwise they risk being seen as a "fringe party" and thus leaving Cariboo-Chilcotin to be fought between the BC NDP (Charlie Wyse) and BC Liberals (Donna Barnett) and in Cariboo-North, having next year's election fought between Bob Simpson, and the candidates for the BC Liberals and BC NDP

SBF

A Proud BC Liberal Supporter...

Readers' on this blog know that I'm a proud BC Liberal supporter and will continue to support them, much to the chagrin to BC Conservative supporters...

BC Premier Christy Clark reviews 2012 in this video blog post - see below:

But I'd point out that as we approach the 1st Anniversary (Feb 26th, 2011) of Christy Clark winning the BC Liberal Party Leadership, she and I would both agree that much work remains to be done but she's insured a good start but the global economy doesn't help and it certainly doesn't help that she has had to clean up a couple of files (HST & CLBC) that she did not initiate under her Premiership but has had to get fixed because that is what the public demanded.

But as Premier Clark notes - BC Liberal Party members', like myself, will have significant input into Party policy going into the 2013 Provincial General Election (good on BC Liberals to use online platforms to gather policy input).

Like any government (and party members having input into that government) - it sometimes moves slower than you want but it very well has legitimate reasons as to why it can't move faster (hint to BC Conservatives & BC NDP on HST Rules... tax law is not as simplistic as you make it out to be...)

Meanwhile, over on his blog - my uncle and BC Conservative Regional Director Alan Forseth has a blog post worth reading:

1) Why I can say this? I'm one of the voters BC Liberals drove away!  - Read here

Having read the article that Mr. Forseth refers to - Warren Kinsella speaks the truth.

Remember the elections of 1991 & 1996 ... when the "right" is split like it regrettably is right now - the BC NDP always win.  Also - think about this - both the BC NDP/BC Liberals had plenty of contenders for their leadership races but yet the BC Conservatives acclaimed their leader... people should ask - Why is that ... ?  People should ask Mr. Cummins and his party what kind of provincial political experience they bring to the table... especially voters' should ask if Mr. Cummins (if Premier) will abandon his "bull-headed" fights over First Nations' rights and fisheries... one of my personal chief reasons NOT to join the BC Conservatives...

So as we progress towards 2013 - should the BC Liberals' lose in 2013 (and it is starting to look that way, based on recent polls), the NDP should thank the BC Conservatives for playing spoiler, just like the Federal Reform  & Canadian Alliances parties played spoiler in the 1993, 1997 and 2000 Federal Elections... until the conservative right parties merged into one Federal Conservative party in 2003 and thus allow like-minded Conservatives on the federal scene to win minority governments in 2006, 2008, 2010 with a majority government in 2011

Finally - Message to BC Conservatives or disenfranchised BC Liberals...

Come back and join the BC Liberal "coalition" before you help indirectly to elect BC NDP MLA's and send BC back to the "lost 90's"

SBF

John Les: BC NDP going back to 'Tax 'n Spend 90's'

From John Les (Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier):

Today on CKNW's Bill Good Show, Adrian Dix acknowledged that he is considering jacking up personal income taxes on "high income levels".

"Before Adrian Dix and the NDP left office, a "high income" earner was classified as anyone making over $60,009 a year," said John Les, Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier. "While Dix is eager to use rhetoric and vague statements to get his point across, he can't hide from the fact that average British Columbians suffered from a punitive tax regime the last time Dix had his way."

Let's take a look at tax rates in British Columbia.

• In British Columbia, a family earning $90,000 a year paid $5,988 in provincial income tax in 2001. Today the same family pays just $3,166 in provincial income tax – a cut of 47%.
• Similarly, a family of four earning $60,000 a year paid $3,272 in provincial income tax in 2001. Today, the same family pays $1,302 in provincial income tax – a 60% tax cut.

The tax cuts brought in by the BC Liberal government have put more money back in the pockets of hard working taxpayers. In fact, British Columbia's personal income taxes are the lowest in the country for individuals earning up to $119,000.

"Once again, Adrian Dix is hiding his true intentions under the guise of taxing 'high income' earners," said Les. "We saw his plan in action the last time the NDP were in power, creating the highest personal income tax regime in Canada and driving entrepreneurs and families out of British Columbia. The BC NDP treated taxpayers like their very own ATMs."

All levels of earners are far better off today than before the BC Liberal government took power in 2001. In fact, the lowest income earners no longer pay any provincial income tax.

Harry Bains: Post Pine Beetle Strategy Needed

From the Rush:

Surrey NDP MLA Harry Bains says a post pine beetle strategy is needed in BC.

Here Bains explains: “A post beetle strategy is not there. Steelworkers and forestry workers, they’re telling me that in the next three to four years when the pine beetle wood is gone, they’re annual cut will go down anywhere from 25 to 40%, that means that many jobs and sawmills will be shutting down.”

Bains says the NDP has a plan in place which includes making forestry a number one industry again in BC.

He says they’d achieve that by working with industry, communities and forestry workers to ensure raw logs stop leaving the province and by encouraging locals to process logs here.

Bains was in Williams Lake and 100 Mile House this past weekend.

Question:

1) Like Bruce Ralston over the HST Debate - doesn't Harry Bains have enough work to do in Surrey-Newton and being the NDP Transporation Critic, rather than coming up here and telling us what we already know.  The Cariboo-Chilcotin Beetle Action Coalition, for years now, has been working on a Post Beetle Strategy which has received some money (not the amount this region needs I'll grant you) but work progresses in this regard and no thanks to Mr. Bains and his party but thanks to great work from our local MLA, Donna Barnett and BC Cabinet Ministers like Pat Bell and Steve Thomson

NDP Blast from the Past - Post-Secondary Edition

Issued yesterday by the BC Government Caucus:

Today’s hollow and contrived policy pronouncement echoes the back-of-the-napkin planning that Dix displayed a penchant for when he was the chief architect of the last BC NDP government between 1991-2001

Today, Mr. Dix’s inability to answer the most basic questions on his latest spending promises proves again that he intends to take British Columbia backward to the disastrous economic policies of the 1990s that hurt both students and graduates.

Adrian Dix’s record speaks for itself. His hasty promises without any plan to pay for them can only mean one thing – higher income taxes for new post-secondary graduates (and everyone else) if they are fortunate enough to find a job in a hostile investment climate.

Students who graduated in the 1990s faced a brutal youth employment market:

• From 1998 to 2001, B.C. had the highest youth unemployment rate west of Quebec, and was higher than the national average in each of those years.

• In every year since 2005, B.C. has had a lower youth unemployment rate than the Canadian average.

• Between 1991 and 2001, the BC NDP created only 2,000 net jobs for youth in the province – a paltry average of only 200 a year.

• Under the BC Liberals, from 2001 to 2010, 43,800 net jobs were created for youth. In an average six month period over the past decade, more jobs were created for youth in B.C. than were created over an entire decade of BC NDP government.

• In 1998, youth unemployment reached 17.4% in B.C., higher than any province outside of the Maritimes.

• Ten years later, under the BC Liberals, youth unemployment had dropped to 7.7%, lower than any province other than Alberta.

• Between 1991 and 2001, the number of employed youth increased by just 0.72%, compared to 15.72% between 2001 and 2010.

• From 2001 to 2010, B.C.'s youth job creation rate was 15.72% - the highest in the country, and nearly three times the national average.

Post-secondary:

• Today, B.C. currently has the fourth-lowest tuition in Canada: $4,802 is the average tuition undergraduates paid at B.C.’s public institutions in 2010-11.

• Student debt load in B.C. is the third lowest in Canada, and approximately 70% of students graduate without a B.C./Canada student loan.

BC Liberals attack NDP on Municipal Auditor-General

Earlier today - the BC Government Caucus (BC Liberals) released a statement attacking the provincial opposition BC NDP over a Municipal Auditor-General.  See that statement here

Interestly enough - Section 1 of the Community Charter says:

Principles of municipal governance

1 Municipalities and their councils are recognized as an order of government within their jurisdiction that

(a) is democratically elected, autonomous, responsible and accountable,
(b) is established and continued by the will of the residents of their communities, and
(c) provides for the municipal purposes of their communities.

(2) In relation to subsection (1), the Provincial government recognizes that municipalities require

(a) adequate powers and discretion to address existing and future community needs,
(b) authority to determine the public interest of their communities, within a legislative framework that supports balance and certainty in relation to the differing interests of their communities,
(c) the ability to draw on financial and other resources that are adequate to support community needs,
(d) authority to determine the levels of municipal expenditures and taxation that are appropriate for their purposes, and
(e) authority to provide effective management and delivery of services in a manner that is responsive to community needs.

I'm well on record opposing the idea of a Municipal Auditor-General, with blog posts from yesterday see here and last week (see here) on this subject

It seems Victoria has not learned its' lessons over the HST - shoot first and ask questions later.  The idea of a Municipal Auditor-General has been thrust upon municipalities with inadequate consultation, much like the HST was thrust on BC'ers with no consultation prior to implementation, hence the reason why we had the HST Referendum

Finally - I respect the views of John Les on many provincial matters but this idea is one I stubbornly oppose and disagree with him on.  Is he now saying card-carrying BC Liberals - like me, who oppose this idea somehow are "BC NDP'ers"??

SBF