The risk of vote-splitting comes not from BC Conservative voters

BC Conservative nominee
candidate Rick Peterson

Former BC Liberal supporter Rick Peterson, and now BC Conservative nominee candidate for Vancouver-Quilchena, wrote a great piece which ran in the Vancouver Sun yesterday.

The following are some of the comments I received in an email from him this morning, along with a link to the story.  If you haven’t had the chance to read it yet, it’s well worth the time.

The obvious momentum and strong support that the BC Conservatives are enjoying under the leadership of John Cummins is provoking dire warnings of “vote-splitting” from some quarters. The argument is that our BC Conservative strength will cause a split in the “free-enterprise” vote that will allow the NDP to come to power next May.

The vote-splitting argument has some merit. But as you’ll see in this op-ed piece, the risk of vote-splitting comes not from BC Conservative voters. The threat instead comes from voters continuing to support the BC Liberals at a time when it’s clear that the free enterprise coalition is forming under new leadership – and that is the leadership of the BC Conservatives.

Recent election history in this province provides clear and compelling evidence of this, as you’ll see in this link to the op-ed piece.

No one else can ever make your choices for you. Your choices are yours alone

Last night I received an email from a resident of Kamloops.  This person is NOT a member of the BC Conservative Party … at least not yet.  Here is what they had to say:

The BC Conservative Party offers a valuable 3rd choice to the voters of BC.  I am amazed how dysfunctional a 2-party system plays out in real life. 

History has shown a minority government actually achieves the wishes of the people.  After all, isn't that what democracy is supposed to work?

Good luck and all the best.

Why is it that the people of BC can understand the need to have a choice, or an option, that fits best with their needs, but not the BC Liberals?

On June 26^th, following a talk John Cummins gave to business leaders in Vancouver, Christy Clark again reiterated her insistence that the only choice the people of BC should have is her Liberal Party.  She said, and I quote:

We need one party, to lead the coalition, against the NDP.  We don’t need two.  And the coalition against the NDP is this party that I lead, the BC Liberals.

What Christy Clark continues to miss, and not understand, is that British Columbians are not listening that message any more.

She has failed to understand, or ignores the fact, that she and her party MUST EARN the vote of British Columbians.  The BC Liberals litany of gaffes, issues, and problems continues to grow day by day; which is why we are seeing people across the province abandoning the party in droves.

To give credit where credit is due, he did work hard for constituents

Kamloops South Thompson, BC Liberal MLA, Kevin Krueger

News this morning, that BC Liberal MLA Kevin Krueger has decided not to run in the next provincial election, will be a surprise to voters in his Kamloops South Thompson riding.  

Mr. Krueger had indicated, quite strongly in recent months, that he planned to run again next year.

For me personally, I have to say there may be more at play, than Kevin looking at whether he could, or would, win again.  Having run against him as a candidate in the 1996 election, I know that Kevin is not a man to take lightly; he campaigns hard to win. 

To give credit where credit is due, he did work hard for constituents. That said, with a growing list of issues, which are calling in to question the ability of constituents to vote for the BC Liberals, he could well have been questioning his own ability to continue support for Premier Christy Clark.

All that aside, we as BC Conservatives in Kamloops South Thompson, will continue having discussions with possible candidates to represent us in next May's provincial election.  We’ll be holding a meeting to elect a candidate in mid-October, following the BC Conservative Party AGM which is being held in September.

I'm Alan Forseth in Kamloops, with the thoughts of one conservative

Saul Bellow, “Open discussion of many major public questions has for some time now been taboo”

On Monday the Kamloops News ran a story, “Liberal-turned-Conservative beats drum in Kamloops” about BC Conservative MLA John Van Dongen dropping by for a visit with members and guest at a get-together and Bar-B-Que.

It certainly generated a lot of comments, many of which were the poisoned kind.  It led me to Google quotes on character assassination.  Here is one I found:

"Open discussion of many major public questions has for some time now been taboo.  We can’t open our mouths without being denounced as racists, misogynists, supremacists, imperialists or fascists.  As for the media, they stand ready to trash anyone so designated."

~~ Saul Bellow (1915-2005) Canadian author and Nobel Prize winner for Literature

Sadly it seems, some would rather attempt to shout down those who have a differing opinion; some are closed minded, and others simply have no interest in a civil discussion of ideas.

Here are just a few of the exchanges I had regarding this story

Petosa:
The Liberal Crime Family is the same stripe as the Conservative Crime Family. They should all be in Jail stripes.

ME:
Petosa ... I tend to let most comments slide of my back, this however is not one that will go unanswered.

The BC Conservative Party is NOTHING LIKE the Liberals, which is why it continues to grow and gain new members.  We are people from all walks of life, all backgrounds, and all ages, that are working to provide a real alternative to the government we have had during the past decade.

Your comment, which tars all BC Conservative members, is disrespectful and uncalled for.  IF you would care to have a serious discussion, and talk about the realities of our party, I would have no problem meeting with you over a coffee.

CLBC ... Creating Lies, Bedlam, and Chaos

The letters “C”, “L”,”B”, and “C” used to stand for Community Living British Columbia … now, more aptly; they should stand for Creating Lies, Bedlam, and Chaos.

Last Fall, British Columbians were rightly outraged that Executives of Community Living BC were receiving huge bonuses, while at the same time the agency was cutting back on services.  So what did the Liberal government say they would do? 

BC Premier Christy Clark

Christy Clark said, and led us to believe, they had ordered an end to the bonuses.  As we now all know, they waited for 6 or 7 months, and then rolled the ‘bonuses’ into the pay of these same CLBC executives.

Was that honest or truthful?  Not according to Jordan Bateman, of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation:
"Whether implicitly or between the lines, we were led to believe last fall that the bonus structure was gone. I think most taxpayers thought that meant that money was going to go back into front-line CLBC services where it belongs, and yet now we find out that really nothing's changed, just the way the executives get this money has been altered."

Still, Christy Clark insists that we have it all wrong … that we don’t understand … and that the opposition coming from the BC Conservative Party, the NDP, and the advocacy groups like Moms on the Move, have it all wrong ... and that some are deliberately misrepresenting the facts.

Christy … there is only ONE group misleading the province … that is the BC Liberal party.

DON’T tell us we don’t know the facts!

The grey skies in Kamloops, and a brief shower, didn't dampen our spirits

What a great time this afternoon, at the Kamloops North and South Thompson Constituency Associations Get-Together and Bar-B-Que, at Juniper Ridge Park.

It’s too bad the sun waited till we were wrapping things, before making an appearance, but the grey skies and a brief shower didn't dampen our spirits.

Nearly 4 dozen members and guests came out and had the opportunity to meet, and speak one on one, with BC Conservative MLA John van Dongen.

Also joining us was Tom Birch, nominee candidate in the Shuswap riding, and Maria Dobi who ran as a candidate in Kamloops South Thompson, for the BC Conservatives, in the last provincial election.

We'd especially like to thank four of our guests who joined the party today ... welcome Hazel, Lorna, Marisa, and Bill!