Forseth endorses Brooks for Leader, joins team as Campaign Manager

It's official ... and I am announcing the following today:

 

 

KAMLOOPS:  Dan Brooks, candidate for the leadership of the BC Conservatives, today announced that Al Forseth, a long-time party member, regional director and former constituency-association president, has endorsed him as the best choice for Leader.

Brooks also announced that Forseth has accepted an appointment as Campaign Manager of his leadership team.

“I am absolutely thrilled to have Al Forseth endorse my candidacy and join my campaign team as manager,” said Brooks.

“Al’s passion and dedication are legendary throughout our party and across the province, and his decision to manage my leadership campaign sends a strong signal of our unwavering commitment to building the BC Conservative Party into a vital force that will be reckoned with well into the future.”

Forseth said that Brooks shares his belief that British Columbians deserve a better political option than they have faced in recent years – a choice between the lesser of two evils: the New Democrats or the BC Liberals.

“The BC Conservatives – indeed, British Columbians across our great province – desperately need a Leader with a vision of how to create prosperity through well-paying jobs, a place where businesses can thrive and where we have a solid foundation for health-care, education and more,” said Forseth.

“I am inspired that Dan Brooks has a vision and a plan for our party – one where party members will be fully engaged and asked for their full input.

“I believe that Dan has the drive, passion and openness to listen, which will get us back on a path to gain the support of British Columbians and to governing British Columbia.”

Brooks concluded by saying that he will make additional, important announcements in the days leading up to the BC Conservatives annual general meeting, to be held in Vernon on October 19.

With this announcement, I will no longer be be considered neutral in commenting on the BC Conservative Party leadership campaign.  That said, I WILL however continue to make comment on social media, and on this blog, on things I beleive are important to our party -- and that includes information on Rick Peterson's campaign, and the vision and direction he also has for the party.

I fact, in conversation with Dan regarding my endorsement, and taking on the role of Campaign Manager, I indicated that it would be a deal-breaker if this was not acceptable.

To quote Dan ... "I wouldn't have it any other way."

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

She is the Premier of British Columbia, and as such, she leads a 'team'

I read BC Premier Christy Clark's column yesterday in the Kelowna Daily Courier (Bringing Canada To Kelowna), and one thing immediately struck me in the just the first few sentences:

"I" did this ... "My" this ... "My" that ...

 

In the last few weeks, all eyes have been on Kelowna. I brought cabinet to meet here, and later addressed the B.C. and Canadian Chambers of Commerce here.

My focus was on small business and skills training.

Small businesses don't always make headlines, but they're  crucial for the economy. They drive almost 55 per cent of B.C. exports and represent 98 per cent of all our business.

My government believes in freeing small business from regulatory burdens that can make it difficult to grow, and supporting them where we can. Our record on cutting red tape speaks for itself, as we were awarded the Canadian Federation of Independent Business' only A grade.

She doesn't begin to acknowledge the work of others, or that this government belongs to the 'people', until the 5th paragraph when she finally begins a sentence with, "We're ..."

We're also supporting small business is the Small Business Accord ...

BC Premier on Christy Clark

Right after that, however, BC Liberal Premier Christy Clark is right back to ... I announced ... I also spoke ...

At least on the positive side, she concluded with:
"Ultimately, we all want the same thing - more opportunities for Canadians.

This column was written from the MLA's perspective of course, but that said, she is the Premier of British Columbia, and as such, she leads a 'team'.

It could have been written to be much more inclusive, but instead it seems the focus and spotlight continues to be on her -- guess that's why I have never been able to feel comfortable with her way of doing the governments business.

One things for certain, at least in my opinion, when (not if) things start to go wrong, we know who has claimed all responsibility for the direction and policies of government.

I'm Alan Forseth in Kamloops, with the thoughts of one conservative.  The floors now opinion to you; your thoughts?

Dan Brooks is not taking the safe route in presenting his plan, and for that, he gets praise from me

It always seems to amaze me how things seem to happen for no apparent reason, but of course they never do. 

 

Earlier today I came across the following  quote below, in an article about change in business.  It seems fitting to me to have found it, given the leadership race currently underway within the BC Conservative Party, and so in a post to Facebook I stated:

"It will be interesting to see the ideas presented by Dan Brooks, Rick Peterson, and any others who may decide to let their name stand"
Now here is part of the article I found, "CHALLENGING THE STATUS QUO":

 

"Simply asking the question "Why?" can lead to new ideas and new innovations that can directly impact the bottom line. 

 

Organizations benefit from change that results in new ways of looking at customer needs, new ways of delivering customer service, new ways of strengthening customer interactions and new products that might attract new markets.

New employees joining an organization are especially valuable because they can often point to areas of opportunity for improvement that those who have been long involved in the company might have overlooked. But even existing employees should be encouraged to question why things are done a certain way and look for new ways to get work done faster, better and with higher levels of quality and service."

Well it wasn't more than an hour later when I received a media update from the Dan Brooks leadership campaign.  This is what he had to say:

Dan Brooks, candidate for the leadership of the BC Conservatives, today introduced a dramatic, innovative plan to promote party unity.

"The BC Conservative Party has recorded many successes in recent years," said Brooks. "We have significantly increased our membership, and in the last election we fielded an impressive roster of candidates."

"Yet, because of internal divisions, it sometimes has been difficult to focus on our primary task - electing BC Conservatives to the Legislative Assembly."

"The leadership contest now underway gives our party a welcome opportunity to build a solid foundation for the future, and I pledge my best efforts to ensuring that in April 2014 we emerge stronger and more united than ever before."