Lights, Camera's, Action - the next moves are now underway for BC Premier Christy Clark

YES ... today is the day, and we will see what the face of the next BC Liberal cabinet looks like.  Most people fully expect that Kamloops North Thompson MLA Terry lake will return to the role of Environment Minister. 

We'll find out soon, and we will get a good idea of the direction she plans to take with the faces that return to cabinet -- and those who are left out.

One thing is almost a sure bet, and I was reminded of it by Kamloops Armchair Mayor, Mel Rothenburger:

Lights, camera's, action - the next moves are
now underway for BC Premier Christy Clark

Ralph Sultan, who won re-election in West Vancouver-Capilano by the biggest margin of any Liberal, was quoted by CBC shortly after election night that he would not voluntarily give up his seat for Clark. It will be interesting to see if Sultan’s name comes up on the list of cabinet ministers that will be announced Friday.

A news story on the CBC also states that:

Veteran politicians Shirley Bond, Rich Coleman and Mike de Jong can expect to remain in cabinet, while newcomers like former RCMP Insp. Amrik Virk and Langley Mayor Peter Fassbender are strong contenders.

Other potential cabinet ministers among the newly elected Liberals are paralympic champion Michelle Stilwell, former deputy minister Andrew Wilkinson and Richmond businesswoman Teresa Wat.

Stay tuned; we'll hear who is in, and who is out, when the new cabinet is announced early this afternoon.

One thing we know for sure, unless Christy Clark wins that by-election (to be held in Westside Kelowna), she won't be joining them in the legislature in July.  There is of course every expectation she will, but there's no guarantee.

One thing that WILL be on the minds, of at least a few voters in Kelowna, will be the fact that the Liberals already have a majority government. 

If the party actually won the May 14th provincial election, in spite of Christy Clark, then voters in Kelowna will certainly have no fear of electing any candidate, on the ballot, who they feel will best represent them.

Interesting times indeed.

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


FOLLOW-UP:
The cabinet announcement from Premier Christy Clark will be live-streamed on the BC government Newsroom website beginning at 2pm today at http://www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca/2013/06/webcast-naming-of-british-columbias-new-executive-council.html


FOLLOW-UP TO THE FOLLOW-UP ... here is the new cabinet, as announced today by BC Prenmier Christy Clark.  It includes BOTH Kamloops MLA's with Terry Lake moving into Health ... and Todd Stone into Transportation:

• Deputy Premier / Minister for Natural Gas / Housing ... Rich Coleman
• Finance Minister ... Mike de Jong
• Forests, Lands & Natural Resources Minister ... Steve Thomson
• Health Minister ... Terry Lake
• Aboriginal Relations & Reconciliation Minister ... John Rustad
• Education Minister ... Peter Fassbender
• Advanced Education Minister ... Amrik Virk
• Transportation and Infrastructure Minister ... Todd Stone
• Social Development Minister ... Don McRea
• Technology & Citizen Services Minister ... Andrew Wilkinson
• Children & Families Minister ... Stephanie Cadieux
• Energy & Mines Minister / Minister Responsible for Core Review ... Bill Bennett
• Community Sport & Cultural Development Minister ... Coralee Oakes
• International Trade & Asia Pacific Strategy / Multiculturalism Minister ... Theresa Wats
• Justice Minister & Attorney General ... Suzanne Anton
• Jobs, Tourism, & Skills Training Minister / Minister Responsible for Labour ... Shirley Bond
• Environment Minister ... Mary Polak
• Agriculture Minister ... Pat Pimm
• Small Business & Tourism Minister ... Naomi Yamamoto

We should only do it if we have the gumption to say the BC Conservatives do have a future, and will be a 'strong' and 'viable' option for voters

Kelowna Westside MLA Ben Stewart to step
down.  Photograph:by Adrian Lam
(Victoria imes Colonist)

Following the announcement Christy Clark was preparing to call a by-election in the riding of Kelowna-Westyside (after the winning candidate, BC Liberal Ben Stewart, stepped down) I was asked if I thought the BC Conservative Party should run a candidate against her. 

I SAID YES!

I think we should --- we gave her a pass first time round when she ran to get a seat in legislature after becoming leader; she doesn't deserve another one 

She ran the BC Liberal Party, and the government, her way.  Her personal stamp was on everything.

On May 14th residents of Vancouver Point Grey said what they thought of that, and she lost.  BC Conservative will of course have to recognize the ever raising 'vote-split' arguement will rear its ugly head again -- that however should NOT be a consideration, and there will have to be a plan and strategy in place for that. 

AGAIN ... I think we should run a candidate ... and put every ounce of energy we can in to it.  We should only do it however if we have the gumption to say the BC Conservative Party does have a future, and will be a 'strong' and 'viable' option for voters to support.  That however is my personal opinion and others may not share it -- so be it.

Just so you know I'm willing to back up my beliefs, I have just made a $55 donation to BC Conservatives for the Kelowna campaign. 

Anyone else willing to show the party we still want to give BC a REAL choice .. a real alternative to BOTH the BC Liberals and the NDP?  Here's the link to go to: https://secure.bcconservative.ca/?f=donate

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

The economics of moving oil by rail are already proven viable

On Monday (June 3rd) I wrote a post entitled, "Could this in fact be the real reason, for the BC Liberal government, to be declaring they will not agree to the Northern Gateway Pipeline proceeding"  



Journalist John Twigg

The post led to a number of people making comment about it on Facebook -- and to me personally by email.  One of the responses I received came from John Twigg, who has a long history in BC's political arena, as a commentator, and a journalist.

I asked if I could share his response and he agreed.  This is what He had to say:

Thank you for sending me a copy of your opinion piece below on the Northern Gateway pipeline situation, which was about the first thing I opened and read when I downloaded my email tonight because of the teaser reference to a railway outcome.

I could quibble in a few places but generally it's a thoughtful piece and something that was a pleasure to see coming from the perspective of an Interior conservative citizen. But there's always a but and it has to do with this line:

"I for one have to think that moving the oil through a pipeline would be far safer than it would be by rail car"

Did you do any research on that? Did you read any of my blog posts in the last year or so about the great potential for using rail cars to move Alberta bitumen - but to Prince Rupert rather than Terrace? Did you read any of the handful of other op-ed and news pieces about this concept? Do you recall seeing any tweets with links to industry and MSM articles on oil shipments by rail, such as happening now from southern Saskatchewan to Texas?

In other words, the economics of moving oil by rail are already proven viable and in the Alberta bitumen case they have the added huge advantage of infrastructure being mostly already in place! Namely that the CN Rail mainline to Prince Rupert is already at world-class standards and its running rights are in place and not subject to Indian Land Claims or Environmental Reviews - the only items needed are loading and unloading terminals and spaces for those are already readily available.

Safety? Perhaps you were influenced by the latest news of a Canadian Pacific Railway freight train plunging through a bridge near Sudbury, but did you hear any reports of dire effects? No, because rail car spills tend to not have catastrophic events like say the Kalamazoo spill, though of course accidents can still happen with rail cars carrying flammable materials.
But again one of the advantages of rail-car movements of Alberta bitumen is that they would need less diluent or perhaps even no diluent whereas the Northern Gateway would need so much diluent that they are (or were?) planning to build a small twin pipeline to carry diluent only from Kitimat back to Fort McMurray because it is so costly and scarce that it has to be extracted and re-used.

Now imagine if that diluent line was to have a bad break along with the bitumen line and they were to catch fire, which could happen in a variety of scenarios, and imagine it was near a major river or salmon-spawning-stream crossing - you and we would be talking about something far worse than Kalamazoo!  But a rail car or two carrying only bitumen going off the rails might not even break open let alone flow into a cold river....

I've recently learned that there's also a whole bunch of modern technology to prevent derailments, notably sensors that detect "hot boxes" when trains pass by, i.e. wheels that for some reason are over-heating.

Anyway, I think you should reconsider your assumptions about the northern oil pipeline, and furthermore your BC Conservative Party probably needs to review its blanket pro-pipeline policy too because it's obvious to most B.C.ers in almost all parties that the Enbridge pipeline proposal has numerous flaws (the worst feature IMO would be the use of Douglas Channel for large oil tanker ships because the navigation is hazardous and the environment pristine, but I also worry about the diluent pipeline crossings being too hazardous too, i.e. not worth the risks).

I can understand why you and many other people would assume that pipelines are better than railcars because they are safer and more efficient, because for one reason that is also the industry propaganda line, but actually with bitumen the railway would actually be a faster mover than the pipeline and maybe even more energy-efficient than would be a pipeline too, as well as safer. And if you consider the huge costs and risks and delays of building a new pipeline you can see that the railway solution begins to make a lot of sense. (It may be more labour-intensive too, which in these days of high unemployment would be a good thing.) 

Could this in fact be the real reason, for the BC Liberal government, to be declaring they will not agree to the Northern Gateway Pipeline proceeding

Let me begin today's Conservative Thoughts blog post with the following:

"Under our feet lies as much energy as Alberta has in its oil patch. It is in the form of natural gas, a cleaner alternative to oil or coal, in the Northeast corner of British Columbia ... our goal is to have a Liquefied Natural Gas industry that will add value to our abundant natural gas resource by shipping it by sea to Asia ..." ~~~ 2013 BC Liberal Election Platform

 

I'll come back to this shortly.

 

With the Final Hearings and Questioning Phase yet to be held, by the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project Joint Review Panel, the BC Liberal government Environment Minister, Terry Lake, has already announced "Our questions were not satisfactorily answered during these hearings." 

 

For those unaware ... there are still twelve days of hearings yet to be held in Terrace from June 17th and 28th.  Would it not seem to be in BC's best interests to wait for them (the hearings) to conclude before coming to that decision? 

 

BC needs a provincial government that is prepared to work with and for British Columbians, to implement policies that take full advantage of our natural resources, our geographic position, and our hard-working residents.  

 

Yet despite that, and just two short weeks after the provincial election, both Premier Christy Clark, and Environment Minister Terry Lake, are both showing the Liberals are going to be a failure in that area.  

 

Our province has suffered ongoing interprovincial population loses since Christy Clark first became Premier two and a half years ago.  With Environment Minister Terry Lake's announcement Friday, the people of BC can except that trend, officially documented and recorded by BC Stats, will continue. 

 

Once again, this government, led by Premier Christy Clark, is about to betray the hard working men and women of the Peace River and Northern BC, by rejecting the Northern Gateway development, before the Review Panel completes its duties. 

 

It's one thing to criticize, but what are your expectations; what will satisfy your government?  Both Terry Lake and Christy Clark can't simply say they are opposed.  What is the government's real position; and what outcomes do you need to have met, so that they can be realistically addressed. 

 

In a story on Saturday (June 1st), in the Kamloops Daily News, they state:
Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development Minister Diana McQueen issued a statement saying the two provinces have a shared commitment to both protecting the environment and economic growth. 

You told us that today's' BC Liberal government is, "using resources wisely to give children the start they need in life"

Up to the election writ being dropped, the BC Liberal government found it necessary to spend millions of taxpayer dollars in what many called highly partisan advertising.  

Well the election campaign ended two and a half weeks ago, the Liberal were re-elected, and since then not ONE single ad has been run on the balanced budget ... the BC Jobs Plan ... or about the security of our economy due to careful government strategies and planning. 

Does that not clearly confirm these ads were not necessary, and were ONLY run for the benefit of the BC Liberal Party in the lead up to the election?

Again, the lack of integrity by the BC Liberal Party is there for all who wish to see it.

I mean no disrespect to the many hard working journalists out there, but why is it that no media news outlet is raising this issue? I would hate to think it comes down to a matter of dollars and cents, but then again the media owners were the direct recipients of this spending extravaganza, by the BC Liberal government, which wasted millions of dollars of resources entrusted to them by the people of BC. 

I had a Letter to the Editor published the other day in the Kamloops Daily News -- it included the following direct quote from a then opposition MLA by the name of Christy Clark:

“People don’t want the government to spend $700,000 of their money so they can find out how to access services; people want this government to spend their money so that those services are there for them to access."  

"That’s what British Columbians want,” Clark railed. “How many firefighters, how many police officers will not be on the street because [the Finance Minister] is spending on her advertising campaign?” 

So Christy ... how many firefighters -- how many police officers aren't on the street because YOU decided it was more important for your government to be re-elected.  

Better yet; how many nurses and other medical staff aren't available that could have helped reduced surgical wait times -- or shortened wait times in ER's?

It may seem mundane, as opposed to the wild flurry of an election campaign, however it is a VERY important step to be ready for 2017

Al Siebring, Chair of the BC Conservative Party Policy Committee, sent an email out the other day.  It began by saying;

 

"Now that the election is out of the way, it's time to move on with more mundane Party business.  We have our Party's AGM coming up in Vernon in September.  Per Article 10 of the Party Bylaws, we are giving each CA an opportunity to provide input and amendments to our Party “Policy Document” in advance of the AGM."

 

I for one found that refreshing, and encouraging -- it also fit with something I had posted on this web-blog as well.  On Monday, I asked the question "Can you please tell me the differences between the Conservatives and the Liberals?", which I was delighted to see generated some conversation and dialogue. 

 

Some of the comments coming back included one from Sean who mentioned:

"... I think the person requesting this info would have liked to see a specific breakdown of the actual differences ... the differences are quite stark when you compare policies versus rhetoric." 

 

Sean is likely right on the mark, that said, I still think everything flows however from the 2 direct points which I made in the original post.  The BC Liberals -- and the NDP for that matter -- can say anything they like, however no elected member of either party is really accountable to the electorate.  They are ONLY accountable to the political party which they represent.

 

For REAL change to actually happen, there is going to have to be an acceptance that at times MLA's will have to vote against party line.  If a way is made available for the to happen, in a way that can be respectful, then this becomes a win-win for everyone ... everyone that is but those manipulating from the backrooms. 

 

Here's another snapshot from a comment made by Bob:

 

" ... we need to aim for a turn as the Opposition in 2017 as a training ground in preparation for governing in 2021 ... we need to compete with the statist party in those areas where they are winning the ideological competition with many citizens if we are to replace them ... we will have to produce some innovative policies using very conservative principles on issues such as poverty, education and health in a way that outshines their central-planning approach ..." 

 

Well indeed the leap for us to go from nowhere as a party, to government, was a hard one for most to swallow -- BUT it has been done elsewhere.  That said, getting MLA's in the legislature is the start needed to season a number of quality government ministers to take reins of government.

 

I like Bob's suggestion of having "innovative policies using very conservative principles" to deal with serious issues. 

 

We were right, in my opinion, to say that getting BC economy running, at full steam, would go a long way towards coming up with solutions to many of the "issues of poverty, education and health".  That said people need, and want, to see the steps that BC Conservatives will take to find them (solutions).

 

I am convinced we have individuals from every background and experience needed to come up with the pieces to connect our broad stroke ideas, with issues and problems we face as a province.  Now leadership at all levels of the party need to be open to hear possible solutions (workable or not) that can lead to real and workable policy.

 

(STAY WITH ME ... I'm headed directly to policy considerations, for the BC Conservative Party, in just a moment)

Can you please tell me the differences between the Conservatives and the Liberals?

Differences?  Yes there certainly are differences, and not just
minor ones, between the BC Liberals and BC Conservatives

On Saturday I received an email from a resident of the North Thompson; they asked, “Can you please tell me the differences between the Conservatives and the Liberals?” 

I think if a number of BC Conservative supporters were asked that question, they likely would have a number of different answers. 

It is a good question, one the party should be considering, and I hope you will take a moment to see what I had the say in response to it: 

Hello Alan,


This is Robert S---, I am in the North Thompson riding. I emailed Peter Sharp before the election because his was the only email I found. I don't imagine it makes much difference at this time though.

I only started getting interested in politics this year because I am tired of voting a party out, not voting a party in, so I figured to try a third party, the Conservatives.

Can you please tell me the differences between the Conservatives and the Liberals, both being free enterprise parties.

Thank you,
Robert S.  


Good afternoon Robert ... thanks for getting in touch ...

WOW -- you have asked a big question; one that deserves a thoughtful response, and not necessarily one that all members would not be unified in stating. 

First I believe there are two distinct area where we differ from the BC Liberals; one we believe that political parties should be sponsored by individuals, not big business and big labour.  The BC Liberal Party has be steadfast in not supporting this, which is not hard to understand as they are supported to the tune of millions of dollars by big business.  Our position has now also been taken up by the NDP and Green Party, and is being pushed by Integrity BC.