Will history repeat itself in the next BC election? Gerry Warner

Will history repeat itself in the next BC election?

“Perceptions,’ by Gerry Warner

The mists are beginning to lift and an image is starting to come into focus. What can it be? Oh, oh! It looks tumultuous and kind of ugly with a lot of rhetoric that can’t be trusted. Of course, it can only be one thing and it can’t be avoided. It’s the May 9, 1917 BC election in a province where politics is often called a blood sport.

I can hardly wait.

So once again pert and popular Christy Clark will dip into the electoral well and see what she can come up with. A larger majority? (By no means impossible.) Fewer members, but still government? (A more likely scenario.) But there’s one thing our telegenic Premier is very unlikely to come up with try as she might. And that, of course, is a brand, spanking, new LNG plant for the province.

Didn’t she promise at least a dozen of these giant, job-producing and polluting mega-projects during the last election? I believe the number got as high as 18 at one point and the “boom” they were suppose to create – along with a pipeline or two – was going to pay off the provincial debt and put us all on the gravy train as former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was so fond of saying.

But all Christy could do on that preposterous, political promise was produce a big fat zero and it will be interesting to see how she tries to spin that embarrassing shutout in the next electoral go-around.

But in spite of that fairy tale political promise that was never likely in the first place one would be very foolish to count Christy and her merry gang of Socreds out. For starters, Clark is a hell of a campaigner. Just ask Adrian Dix. Secondly, you’ve got to consider the most important dictum of BC politics that has stood the test of time going as far back as W.A.C. (“Wacky”) Bennett. Considering that Clark’s liberals are really hard-line conservatives (Socreds) in drag there’s an iron law of BC politics that’s never been broken. The NDP can never defeat the BC Socreds, but the Socreds can defeat themselves as they’ve done on a very few occasions.

Don’t believe me? Let’s look at BC electoral history.

In 1972, the Socreds under W.A.C. Bennett had been in power for 20 years and were looking to cruise to another easy election victory when they were upset by Dave Barrett’s idealistic band of socialists. What happened? Bennett was getting long in the tooth and had lost his populist touch and his right-hand man and logical successor, “Flying Phil” Gaglardi antagonized a lot of voters with remarks in favour of greed and the role it played in building the BC boom and calling the pulp mill stench that hung over several BC mill towns the “smell of money.” Environmentalism was just beginning to become a major movement in BC and it was obvious the Socreds were out of touch.

However, the Socreds won four consecutive elections after defeating Barrett in 1975 and only lost again in 1991 when the controversial and scandal-plagued Bill Vander Zalm government fell hard in the 1991 election. In 1996, the NDP got lucky, winning a narrow, majority victory under Glen Clark even though their total of the popular vote was less than the Liberals, which the Socreds were now mischievously calling themselves. It also didn’t help when the NDP did, as the left so often does, ate one of their own when they forced former Premier Mike Harcourt from power even though he won a huge victory for them in 1991.

So now it’s John Horgan’s turn to try to win one for the gipper even though he leads a party that has a sheer genius for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory as they showed so dramatically in the 2013 election debacle. But fortunately for the NDP, Horgan is personable and can give a good stump speech unlike Dix who was barely coherent in the last campaign.

With no LNG plants in the immediate offing and the Liberals clumsy and expedient handling of the school closure crisis in the province, Horgan may have a fighting chance to reverse NDP fortunes. But don’t bet the farm on it. Unlike Alberta, the right is united in BC while the Greens tend to steal precious votes from the NDP.organ  

United we stand; divided  . . . well you know the rest.organHorgan’s  

 

Gerry Warner is a retired journalist, whose political predictions haven’t been too accurate lately, but he’s not trying to jinx the Socreds, oops, the Liberals.

          

Why Brexit Happened, Alexander Betts

Chinese Politician's Role on Teck Board Worries Watchdog

http://thetyee.ca/News/2016/07/07/Chinese-Politician-on-Teck-Board/

Chinese Politician's Role on Teck Board Worries Watchdog

Beijing in the boardroom bad for sovereignty, says IntegrityBC's Dermod Travis.

By Jeremy J. Nuttall, Today, TheTyee.ca

A British Columbia watchdog says Teck Resources' appointment of a Chinese government official to its board of directors undermines Canada's control of its resources.

Dermod Travis of Integrity BC said the move gives China a voice at the board table of one of Canada's largest mining companies, with revenues of more than $8 billion.

"You have an official with a foreign government who is sitting on the board of a public company in Canada," Travis said. "There are a lot of people in China they could have chosen, and the fact this individual is a member of the government should set off alarm bells."

He said he isn't aware of any other foreign government officials sitting on the boards of Canadian corporations.

Quan Chong was elected as one of 14 directors on the Teck board in April.

A Teck spokesperson said Chong has a wealth of experience in international trade and insight into the business climate in China.

Dead Ash Trees Become Works of Art

Cranbrook City Councillor Norma Blissett seeks the Kootenay East NDP Nomination

Norma Blissett opening the Under 16 Softball Ball BC
Provincial Championships
 in Cranbrook, Canada Day Weekend

Cranbrook City Councillor Norma Blissett seeks the Kootenay East NDP Nomination

Cranbrook City Councillor, Norma Blissett has thrown her hat in to the ring for the Kootenay East NDP nomination.  “ Running for the provincial NDP in 2013 and sitting on Cranbrook City Council  have provided me with the experience necessary to run a successful provincial election campaign in 2017” she said.

 “I knocked on over 2000 doors and spoke with hundreds of people over the course of the 2013 campaign.  Knowledge of the local people and local issues allowed me to successfully run for Cranbrook City Council. Since being elected I have increased my knowledge by attending numerous community events and meeting with a variety of community members.”

Blissett has lived in Cranbrook for over 20 years. She works as a science and math teacher at Mount Baker Secondary School. She was a forester before becoming a teacher and was employed by a group of East Kootenay forest companies to do forestry education in local schools. Blissett holds bachelors degrees in both forestry and education, as well as a masters degree in leadership and administration.

“I have a resource industry background. I am aware of the importance of resource industries-- forestry, mining and agriculture-- to our local economy and I will fight for resource industry jobs at the provincial level.”

 “Being employed as a high school teacher has given me an appreciation of the issues that impact Kootenay families. I am confronted daily with the concerns of youth--affordable postsecondary education, employment opportunities, and the environment. “

“I enjoy being on Cranbrook city council and teaching at Mount Baker, so it has been a difficult decision to run again provincially “ Blissett said. “A number of people within the NDP and the community at large have encouraged me to run. It is time to put the experience that I have gained from working in forestry, education and municipal government to good use.  I am very aware of how much hard work is required to run a provincial election campaign and I am up for the challenge.”

Blissett, a mother of three adult children, says that she has the time and the energy required to devote to provincial politics. “For the NDP to be successful in Kootenay East we need to provide a strong alternative to the BC Liberals. The residents need to know that they will be listened to and that their concerns will be advocated for at the provincial level.  The people of Cranbrook have seen from my work in the community and on city council that I will do my best to speak on their behalf. Now I must demonstrate this to the rest of the constituency.”  

Norma Blissett volunteering at Fort Steele

Out and About with Stewart

at Elizabeth lake

Youth Citizenship Awards

Acting Mayor, Norma Blissett, presents the Youth Citizenship awards to students from Parkland, Laurie and Mt. Baker Schools during the Canada Day celebrations at Rotary Park on July 1st.
Students receiving awards were:

Mt Baker - Josie Ruoss (absent from picture), Nicole Byford, Matthew Honeyman

Parkland - Ryan Lockhart , Ryan Penney, Kimberley Willicome

Laurie - Kaitlin Grainger, Samantha Simmons, Connor Thompson

click to enlarge

A modest proposal for the future of Cranbrook, Gerry Warner

A modest proposal for the future of Cranbrook

“Perceptions” by Gerry Warner

As the shockwaves subside from the Disunited Kingdom voters’ decision to separate themselves from the European Union (EU) it seems there will be no end to the madness.

No, I’m not talking about Quebec, where separatist flames are barely flickering or Catalonia breaking away from Spain, or for that matter, Scotland ditching not-so-great “Great” Britain for the EU.

I’m talking about a separatist movement much closer to home. No further away then just off the Left Coast in fact where a new political party has sprung up wanting to make Vancouver Island Canada’s eleventh province.

No kidding!

This week saw the launch of “VIP,” the Vancouver Island Party led by a former MP in Joe Clark’s Progressive Conservative government and a Harvard economist at that. Robin Richardson wants to run candidates in all 14 Vancouver Island ridings in the May 2017 provincial election and have an Islanders-only vote on becoming Canada’s 11^th province in 2021, the 150^th anniversary of BC joining Confederation.

“Our beloved Island’s distinct way of life is under threat from severe climate change, federal and provincial government indifference and economic, environmental and social injustices,” the party’s website says. Its platform includes lower ferry fares and free university tuition. “Our motto is Island first and proud of it,” said Richardson in a CBC interview.

Whew! Maybe the VIP leader also wants to turn water into wine and lead into gold? It’s certainly a very ambitious platform. But after all, we are dealing with BC politics.

Say what you want though, these VIP’ers are serious. They’ve even designed a flag that looks startlingly like the Red Ensign. It features a circular white badge with the trident of Neptune and the wand of Mercury representing the sea and trade, a pine cone representing the forest – though a chainsaw might be more accurately symbolic – and a beaver to represent the fur trade or maybe all the furry critters in our wildlife-rich province.   

Whatever the case, these super-patriotic Vancouver Islanders got me to thinking. If a chunk of terra firma as small as Vancouver Island could become a province, why not the Kootenays? After all, we’re bigger than The Island and much bigger than Prince Edward Island. We’re a long way from our provincial capital in Victoria and often ignored by it. And we’re unique in many ways. We have historic Nelson, one of the mellowest cities in the country with its Victorian architecture, laid-back lifestyle and the shaggiest, ‘60s-era hippies you’ll find north of San Francisco. There’s Trail with the biggest lead/zinc smelter in the world and some of the best Italian cuisine to be found East of Italy, Kimberley with the only power-generating “sun mine” in the province, Fernie with its legendary skiing and fishing. And then, of course, there’s Cranbrook with its lively, if much maligned “Strip” and its unique Sam Steele Festival dedicated to the man that brought peace to the valley between the invading settlers and the indigenous Ktunaxa who were being pushed off their land after more than 10,000 years of successful settlement.

What better example is there of peaceful co-existence and learning to get along? And what better community than Cranbrook to be capital of this new province? We are, after all, the “Key City” of the Kootenays.

Surely if Scotland can separate from England after more than a thousand years, as is being talked about now, why couldn’t the Kootenays separate from BC, an arrangement less than 150 years old? Think about it because there’s only one other logical alternative for separation.

Join Alberta!

Gerry Warner is a retired journalist, who’s been known to write tongue-in-cheek on occasion.

Happy Canada Day

Happy Canada Day from MP Stetski