Now … upwards and onwards to the next general election

Over the past several months, I have had a number of people ask, and suggest, that I seek the nomination to become the BC Conservative Party candidate for Kamloops South Thompson.

This is something I had been considering for some time, and to have the affirmation of friends and party members, who felt I would be a good representative for our riding, has been very much appreciated.

I wish to let you know that, as much as it is my desire to move forward, and seek the nomination, I am unable to do so at this time. 

There are a number of factors for this decision; however this has now enabled me to take on a new role within the Kamloops South Thompson Constituency Association.  Along with two time federal Reform Party candidate Fred Bosman … and Ted Joslin (who has been involved in federal and provincial politics for many years … we will head up the constituency associations Candidate Search Committee.

Our job will be to look into, and talk with, potential candidates to represent the BC Conservative Party in our riding.  We are also seeking your input in this matter as well. 

If you decide to support the forces of constructive change – then the future will be different

Yesterday (01/30/12) the Vancouver Sun had a piece written by Paul Kershaw from the University of British Columbia.  It was entitled “A Canadian sidekick for Colbert”, and it began with the following:

Just 10 per cent of Canadians trust politicians, according to a recent Ipsos poll. Canadians are more likely to trust new-car sales people than elected officials, data from Leger Marketing tell us.

These facts may be good for a laugh. But, really, we shouldn’t be amused. The fact that Canadians are more likely to treat politicians like punch lines rather than people to respect is a fundamental reason why we are tuning out politics. Barely 60 per cent of Canadians voted in the last federal election; in Ontario’s fall provincial election, fewer than 50 per cent of eligible voters showed up at the ballot boxes. Our largest province has not seen such low turnout since Confederation in 1867.

Apathy is not a neutral force in our democracy. Apathy helps to sustain the status quo. And the status quo is not a friend of Canadians under 45.

“POLITICIANS” … have become the punch lines, and punching bags, of municipal, provincial and federal voters – and THEY DESERVE TO BE!  And not just of people under the age of 45.

In 1999 a Canadian political party release a brochure … “This is the Reform Party”.  Here are just some of the things they had as policy objectives in this brochure:

1. the equality of citizens …
2. Responsible government that is accountable to citizens …
3. More and better jobs through balanced budgets and tax relief
4. Safer streets and communities
5. Strong reliable and affordable social services
6. Greater support for Canadian families as the basic building block of Canadian society

In BC we have two political parties that have governed this province over the past two decades … the BC Liberals … and the New Democrats.  Has anything truly been done towards the goals I noted above ... and that apply just as easily to our province?  I think the fact that only 10% of Canadian voters trust politicians provides the answer.

Looking back at the year 2011 – Conservative Thoughts – the Top 10

As I mentioned yesterday, since I began the Conservative Thoughts blog I have written and posted just under 350 articles.  I recently looked to see which ones had interested readers the most this year, and yesterday I posted the ones from #20 to #11 that had most interested you.

Today we’re counting down the stories and articles from ten to #1.  Following each of the headings, which have links to the full story, I will include a brief paragraph or two on what the story was about.

Here we go …

#10 Three points made by the BC Liberal Party are a beautiful display of spin-doctoring  … we begin with a story from early Fall … September 15th

… I have a HUGE smile on my face however because if the BC Liberals have already started this, they are obviously scared of what a common sense campaign of people powered policy is going to do to their "Top Down" style of government. Their first three points are a beautiful display of spin-doctoring starting with the pension issue …

#9 BC Conservatives will not be splitting the vote --- the BC Liberals are driving their supporters away … from May 30^th

… today I was puzzled but what appeared to be an acceptance of the Liberal mantra that that BC Conservatives are going to ‘split the vote’ … if you listen to Christy Clark and her Liberal MLA’s, it seems that their only reason for being, and why people should support them, is because ... “We’re not the NDP” … once believed in government reform by the grassroots … and that accountability, honesty, and responsibility to the voters was paramount …

HERE’S THE QUESTION … “WHO, put our province where it is now"?

On the weekend, Chantal Hebert had an op / ed in the Toronto Star entitled, “PM could use premiers like Christy Clark”.  That lead me to question her ‘opinion’ and to share some of my own (what a surprise eh?).  Part of that led to an exchange of comments between me, and a recent Facebook friend, who is a member of the BC Liberal party. 

ME … as an easterner (Chantal Hebert) you make no sense -- given the beginnings and rise of the reform movement in western Canada, and why the reform movement led by Preston Manning came about. And it shows you still have not learned, that the west doesn’t appreciate, being lectured and dictated to by the east ...

FB Friend: Isn't Preston Manning supporting the BC Liberals?

ME … unfortunately it appears he too has forgotten what he once believed was MOST important --- and a steadily declining number of BC voters, at all levels of government, also attests to a lack of belief that anyone running for office has anything in mind other than themselves. BC Reform tried to make inroads in bottom up grassroots democracy in the mid-90's. It wasn't successful then, but my hope is that people are now ready for truth in politics

The weeks news from BC’s wonderful wild and wacky world of politics

Things are continuing to heat up, and get interesting, in BC’s wonderful wild and wacky world of politics.  Without any further ado, let’s get to some of the stories that have made the news … in a big way … and some that perhaps should have …

That’s Christine Clark — no, not Christy — running for B.C. Conservatives in Port Moody by-election

… a devoted conservative, who believes strongly in smaller government and lower taxes as the path to a healthy economy … running because she believes British Columbians deserve a representative in Victoria who will fight to keep taxes low, work to find creative solutions to issues in health care and take back education from union bosses, placing it instead in the hands of parents and school boards … has a wide range of experience, both as a manger and as an entrepreneur …  specializes in the business side of technology and education … proven an effective negotiator, and an analytical, impartial and proactive decision maker and problem solver …

Success of B.C. NDP Leader Dix has Liberals firing blanks

… the just-concluded legislative session showed a different Mr. Dix than many expected. He was measured, pointed in his criticism, supportive of Liberal legislation that made sense, and effective … performance frustrated those on the government benches, who had hoped to contrast a personable Premier against a dour Mr. Dix. It didn’t happen … the Liberals were left railing against a long-ago misdating of a key memo … a serious mistake he has acknowledged many times  …

Michael Smyth: Critics question Trasolini’s motives

 … He was particularly pally with another local Lib by the name of Christy Clark … co-chaired Clark’s 1996 election campaign in Port Moody. She returned the favour by backing him for mayor … If Joe was going to make the jump to provincial politics, everybody assumed it would be as a Liberal …  now that Trasolini has burned his Liberal bridges, the Libs want to burn him but good….

Cummins: Increased deficit demonstrates Liberal government unable to set funding priorities

“… priorities should be maintaining and improving services such as CLBC, sheriffs and education – not these pet projects of the Premier.”  The increase to the deficit undermines the Liberal commitment to balance the budget by 2013/14. While Minister Falcon has stated that it is still possible for the government to meet its target, he has failed to provide a substantive plan for doing so and is backing away from the Liberal’s promise to achieve it.

Clark could roll the dice on spring election

… Christy Clark, gave Penner a hug, and then told reporters his resignation actually might be a good thing for the Liberals. "People want to see us renew.  They want to see some new people come to the table with new ideas, It's an opportunity for us, frankly." … why would you want to "renew" one of your best MLAs, in one of your party's safest seats? … other Liberal MLAs wondering just what the premier was getting at, and there are rumours some of them might be encouraged to retire, so Clark can move those new people and new ideas into position in by-elections...

This Week in BC Politics … a News Wrap-up

Halloween is just around the corner … and as if right on time, there have been some scary stories coming out of Victoria, and in the news media regarding Christy Clark's BC Liberal party … about BC Hydro … and about the Teachers College.

Here are some of the stories that made the news this week … and that you may have missed.

Barinder Sall guilty plea bargain in Kash Heed election overspending case: $15,000 fine, 1 year probation, 200 hours community service, no jail time

BC Liberal MLA Kash Heed's 2009 election campaign manager Barinder Sall avoided a jail sentence Friday afternoon but was fined $15,000, put on one year's probation and ordered to perform 200 community service hours in the Vancouver-Fraserview election overspending case.  Sall admitted to six violations of the Elections Act in a guilty plea bargain deal that saw serious Criminal Code obstruction of justice charges dropped that could have seen him sentenced to up to ten years in jail …

Les Leyne: Wallace's words ring true, 40 years on

… he said: "There have been changes indeed in this chamber and ... the House should know that the change which I appreciate most lies in the fact that I now have a much easier time in caucus."  Jeered about switching teams, he said he'd be happy to let his constituents decide … after winning as a Socred with 52 per cent of the vote, he ran in Oak Bay as a Conservative and won 52 per cent of the vote again.  Back to his debut as a Conservative. Wallace said his new party's priority was to raise the standard of living for the poor, the sick, the disabled and those on fixed incomes….

BC Hydro Spend-Today, Pay-Tomorrow Ripped by Auditor General

Doyle is worried that BC Hydro is using American-style accounting practices to defer billions of dollars of debt to future years … neither the BC Government nor BC Hydro seems to have a plan to pay down those deferred costs.  Doyle says the government… is forcing BC Hydro further and further into red ink, and it will come back to haunt future rate payers …  BC Hydro is using smoke and mirrors to appear profitable, while actually pushing off costs into the future. This is extremely troubling …

BC Liberals imploding under Premier Christy Clark's leadership and fears of impending doom

… they fear the surging strength of BC Conservative leader John Cummins in traditionally safe seats, including in the Interior, Okanagan and North.  Cummins is now at 12 per cent, up two points since May …. Cummins is also creating a viable network of constituency associations and attracting former Reform Party Members of Parliament to his cause, with Jim Hart and Paul Forseth seeking nominations while Randy White chairs a key election committee.

It's been a great Summer --- but now it's time to get back to work!!

For starters, I'd like to pass along a news story of another very experienced MP who will be seeking the nomination to run in the next provincial election under the BC Conservative banner --- it's Paul Forseth from New Westminster.  He sat as an MP for the Reform Party, Canadian Alliance, and Conservative in Ottawa between 1993 and 2006.

He joins another former Reform MP, Jim Hart who has also declared that he plans to seek a BC Conservative nomination --- and of course our party leader John Cummins.  From municipal ranks, provincial ranks, and federal ranks, we are assembling a great team of people that will be running as candidates-- and who will help guide us in the next provincial election.

PART TWO: Liberal party is a mish- mash of those on the political left … and those on the right

Part one of this story was written back on May 4th, and in it I indicated that I felt that there really was nothing that could be called Liberal about the Liberal party.  In that blog editorial I posed the following question:

 “Again I have to ask the question then … why do we need a Liberal party at all --- and what is it they stand for that people on the center right can’t find a comfortable home with the Conservatives … and those on the center left with the NDP (or a new hybrid called Liberal Democrats)?”

 I have not changed my opinion, and I still feel that believe that many who find themselves on the center right of the political spectrum are supporting the BC Liberals because a few years ago they felt they no longer had a home.  I believe the still don't -- at least not in the Liberal party.

 Again as I say, this story was written some weeks ago, however yesterday (Sunday July 10th) I had the following comment posted to my Conservative Thoughts blog:

 “As a BC Liberal I feel Clark needs to put her stamp on government before rushing off to call an election this fall. A victory in the HST referendum could very well achieve that. I still don't like the prospect of a split vote on the right and, as someone who feels more comfortable in the center, I won't be voting for a BC. Conservative Party anytime soon. “

 I of course did take time this morning to post a response, and this is what I had to say:

Fringe politics are for fringe parties – not a movement for the majority



- Jack Wiesgerber -
Former BC Reform
Party Leader & MLA



Anyone remember who spoke those words – and when?? 

They were spoken by Jack Wiesgerber on June 10^th, 1995 in Kamloops, and I was there.  He was then leader of the BC Reform Party, and those words are just as true today, as they were back then.

Not much later (1996) another BC politician, Gordon Campbell, spoke for the BC Liberal Party uttering the words “We must have the courage to change the way government is run”.

He spoke of having a, ‘common sense government’, but after a decade of government by the BC Liberal Party are we any closer to having common sense government?

John Cummins to lead the BC Conservatives -- deals a blow to Christy Clark's Liberals

Former MP
John Cummins

This morning at a news conference in Vancouver, former Conservative MP John Cummins announced his intentions to lead the BC Conservatives. Cummins is the first to announce his intentions to seek the leadership, and will give the party a real boost in public – and in the media.

John Cummins first ran federally as a Reform Party candidate in 1988, but was not elected until 1993 when he went to Ottawa as the MP for Delta. He won re-election each time since then through the transition of the Reform Party to the Canadian Alliance – and then the Conservative Party.

A look at his biography shows a man that in 1988 earned an M.A. from University of British Columbia ... and who received a B.A. from University of Western Ontario in 1966.

Stockwell … remember the early days of the Reform Party, what they stood for, and why they came about

Conservative MP
Stockwell Day

In the late 80's I heard about this group of people wanting to see change in Canadian politics -- I found out they were part of a group of people called the Reform Party.  After looking into what they believed and stood for, I became a member of what was developing as a grassroots political party.  I have followed the transition through the Alliance Party, and through to the Conservative Party and have continued my support, although currently I am not a member of the federal Conservative Party.

Back all those years ago the Reform Party would have died on the vine if supporters with vision like Preston Manning, had not said, this party needs to be there for Canadians, and this party can and will bring about change.  Vote splitting was no less a concern then, and yet the early first members, and those who ran to be Members of Parliament (MP's), became part of the process to see government done differently.

BC Liberals no more fiscally responsible than NDP.

Plain and simple, the BC liberal Party has given up any right to claim being fiscally responsibile, when it comes to the finances of British Columbia.  In fact, with the provinces debt now approaching the $60 billion dollar mark, the BC Liberals have shown themselves to be no more fiscally responsible than the NDP.

The NDP actually appear to have been more fiscally responsible than the Liberals because they took the debt up to $30 billion from its initial starting point. Liberals however; including current Finance Minister Colin Hansen, have actually raised the debt by $30 billion.

In so doing, they are holding future generations to ransom to pay down this debt, and they have left today’s taxpayers responsible for debt payments of $8 million dollars a day.

We need a strong alternative to provide voters with a clear and identifiable choice

Why is it in British Columbia that we seem to have a penchant for one or the other; the left or the right??  There is a definite solid base of supporters for the NDP --- and a solid block for what is now the BC Liberal Party, former represented by Social Credit.  In the middle stands a huge block of voters who swing from one side of the pendulum to the other saying, “lets throw these bums out”. 

It seems that a growing number of people are beginning to see that a strong alternative would go a long ways to providing voters with clear and identifiable choices – and would go a long ways I believe to seeing an end of the swinging pendulum.

I have said this before, but I believe it is still as true as ever … NO political party can embody everything an individual would want.  I do believe however that those of us wishing to see a clear alternative to the Liberals vs. NDP option we have had for the past decade … can identify with the beliefs and values of the BC Conservative Party.

What seems to be at the top of the list in importance to the BC Conservative Party includes, but is not limited to: