Merritt Home to First BC Conservative Candidate to Declare in the running for the Fraser Nicola Riding

BC Conservative Party members, from across the Fraser Nicola electoral district, gathered this afternoon in the Cache Creek community hall.

"Today's event was to officially bring in to existence the BC Conservative Party Constituency Association for Fraser Nicola ... and secondly to hear the announcement of the first person who has declared they will seek the nod of members to run in next Mays provincial election", declared Regional Director Alan Forseth.

New Constituency Association President Dan
Cummins (L)  talks with Board Director Ted Lund

Elected to the first board were Dan Cummings of Savona, Wayne Ferguson of Seton Portage, Ted Lund of Merritt, Patrick Mulldoon of Logan Lake, Shaun Freeman of Savona, as well as Michael Beauclair of Merritt.

Following the election of the board members, Forseth then went on to announce the first person approved to seek the nomination for Fraser Nicola.

"It is my pleasure today to introduce you to an individual who is married, has two children, and who lives in the community of Merritt. He has worked with timber for over 24 years, and has scale and graded our provinces most precious natural resource for 17 years on the Coast and the Interior."

"That individual is Michael Beauclair"

Mr. Beauclair spoke for several minutes, talking the time to let members know a bit about himself, and the things that are, and will be, important to voters in the riding in the next election.

Those four things stand out to me, as having clear direction … a vision so to speak … of what government should do, and the role it should play in our society

I woke up on Sunday evening with the word “Vision” going through my mind.  Of course it was attached to something that is often on my mind, which is politics.  I believe that in BC we have suffered from a lack of elected officials, and leaders, that have had a real sense of vision on what our province can be for us, and the future it can hold for our children and grandchildren.

But first … what does the word ‘vision’ actually mean?  Here are just a few descriptions:

• a thought, concept, or object formed by the imagination
• the act or power of imagination
• mode of seeing or conceiving
• unusual discernment or foresight (a person of vision)

Each of the three main political parties in BC has a vision of how they would govern – and if you are interested you can see what they have to say by visiting their websites.  The one that has resonated for me has been the direction, and vision, presented by the BC Conservative Party.

The first four guiding principles of the BC Conservative Party say it will be guided by the following principles:

1. A belief in clearly defined public policies and programs that are affordable and effective and for which delivery is accountable to all the people of British Columbia.
2. A belief in managing the government to the highest standards of integrity and transparency and British Columbians are entitled to full knowledge of services rendered and their costs.
3. A belief in the rights and responsibilities of all British Columbians and that Governments at all levels are responsible to serve and respect all individuals and their families, including freedom from unnecessary laws and regulations and excessive government.
4. A belief that Members of the Legislative Assembly are primarily responsible to represent the interests of their Constituents.

Those four things stand out to me, as having clear direction … a vision so to speak … of what government should do, and the role it should play in our society.

The Carbon Footprint --- HST --- and the BC Liberals

There are a couple of interesting stories in the news today, that show how this current BC Liberal government seems able to have a foot in both sides of an issue.

While claiming they want factual unbiased information out on the HST, this didn't strop them from having the whole HST debacle benefit party friends as a story in today's Globe and Mail indicates:

The B.C. government office running the province’s pro-HST campaign secretly doled out contracts to two Liberal-connected companies and a former aide to the minister who introduced the tax, records show.  The contracts, according to documents obtained by The Globe and Mail via a freedom-of-information request, had paid out more than $250,000 as of June 1. That included compensating the ex-aide, Marc Andrew, to do what he called “purely logistical” work for the government panel that provided an independent analysis of the harmonized sales tax. 


See full story here -- click HERE

Meantime Environment Minister, and Kamloops North Thompson MLA, Terry Lake seems to be fine with lower mainland communities burning their garbage now instead of trucking it to landfill in the Cache Creek area.  

Terry Lake says ... "the province can’t ban waste-to-energy projects if they are done to European standards. It’s up to Metro Vancouver to make those decisions ... "  (see full STORY)
 

I find it interesting to note however that the provincial government has recently made it uncomfortable for several real job and economy drivers to move forward -- including the Prosperity Mine.  

Hmmm -- I wonder how burning fits in with reducing the carbon footprint?

Merry Christmas to you … and best wishes for a safe and happy holiday season …

As this year rapidly draws to a close, many people were asking what the likelihood of a provincial election was for next year.  While one Liberal leadership candidate, Christy Clark was saying there should be one if she is elected -- other leadership hopefuls have been saying no.  Regardless, Elections BC says they will need six months to prepare and get voters lists ready.  Keep in mind though there is at least the possibility we could have a few by-elections depending on the outcome of recall campaigns -- and depending on the winner of the NDP and Liberal leadership races.