Conspiracies abound ... I think not :)

It is unfortunate and regrettable that some people have to see conspiracies and plots every where.  Such is the case this weekend at BC Blue, a blog by former member of the BC Conservative Party,  Dean Skoreyko.  This blog is much like another one written by someone that appears to stay in the dark and be unnamed in their blog at http://www.bcconservatives.ca/.

BC Politics … the week of February 27th

BC Politics ... the week of
Feb 27th to Mar 6th

Most of what the news has been filled with this past week was the leadership win by Christy Clark … and her first cabinet get-together. That said, this weekends news summary has much with regards to that, BUT there are also several stories about, and with reference to, the BC Conservative party.

By the way, just in case you missed the news, the most recent federal political survey shows the Conservative Party at 48% vs. the Liberals at 22%.  With that in mind I believe it is very hard to debate the point that conservative minded voters provincially have only been supporting the BC Liberal party because they felt they had no other option.  Looks like that is about to change however.

Anyways … now here’s some of the political news stories from the past week … enjoy!

Search for a leader has begun ... and national survey results

Well it has been a very busy week at work ... several meetings ... and I've been sick to boot.  I guess that's my way of saying that I am slacking off today as I have not had time to write the story I had planned to, that will have to wait now until next week.

Still, I would like to let you know, if you were not already aware, that the BC Conservative Party has begun the search for a leader who will be elected by "all" members of the party in a one-member = one-vote election.  Nominations for Party Leader will be received by the Party Secretary from March 1 through to March 29, 2011.

Will that be a double latte --- or a double by-pass?

 

Are you asking the same question I am; is Tim Horton’s part of Christy Clark’s new health care plan for British Columbians?

Just like the Royal City in New Westminster, we have several Tim Horton’s outlets right here in Kamloops where I live.  I just wonder if next time there’s an emergency in our family, if that’s where I should be headed to?

Incredibly, Health Minister Colin Hansen seemed quite okay with a Tim Horton coffee shop, at Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster, being turned into an emergency ward on Monday night. 

Defections from the BC Liberals may be on the horizon in the next few months

Yesterday I was delighted to have the opportunity to listen online to the Bill Good Show, and hear his interview with former Social Credit Premier Rita Johnston. 

For those of you who are not aware, in 1991 she became Canada's first female premier.  She is also a member of the BC Conservative Party's Tactical Advisory Group, which is headed up by former Reform MP Randy White.

While Bill’s interview with her was mainly focused on comparisons between then and now, as Christy Clark takes over the reins of the BC Liberal Party, she was able to comment and get in discussion of the BC Conservatives, and their upcoming leadership race.

I did stick around for the next segment on his show as well, because Bill Good mentioned that he would be having former Liberal, now independent MLA’s Bill Bennett (Kootenay East) and Blair Lekstrom (Peace River South) on with him.

Liberal Math … Version 2.0

Some time back I had the original Liberal Math story --- so this has to become Version 2.0.  What’s with the math I know you are saying … BORING … but stick with me for a moment while we take a look at how the BC Liberal leadership race played out.

First of all when they started the leadership race, the BC Liberals said they had a membership of 35,000 – during the race they added 50,000.

85,000   Number BC Liberal members

-6,000   Cats, dogs, hockey player memberships canceled by Liberal executive

79,000   NEW total number of BC Liberal members

48,980   62% of Liberal members announced as having voted

30,020   Number of “Instant” BC Liberal members not bothering to vote

Thirty thousand and twenty members of the BC Liberal party DID NOT vote -- why is that?

Small “c” conservatives have cause for concern

Well we all know the news of what happened on Saturday on the 3^rd round vote, but don't expect that a Liberal government led by Christy Clark will be any different than the government we’ve already had under Gordon Campbell!

While promising to fundamentally change the governmental culture in Victoria, Clark (who served as a loyal MLA to former Premier Gordon Campbell), has been full of praise for her former mentor -- time and time again.  That said, Clark now has the job of putting together a cabinet from the very people she ran against, and that already sit in the BC Legislature. 

I expect we are going to see a lot of fireworks, and she is going to have an uphill battle to bring together a team from Liberal heavyweights who were not at all flattering in their comments of her during the leadership race, including Kevin Falcon who she lost to in the 3^rd round vote.    

George Abbott himself said that he was attacking Christy Clark’s policies because she was providing him with, ‘so much good material to exploit’.   “Ms. Clark has given me such a plethora of issues to work with. Whatever Christy says is fair game for debate, and that’s what I intend to do.”