Frankly Speaking

Attorney-General David Eby is setting the table for some significant changes at the Insurance Corporation of B.C. It is important to remember that ICBC has been a highly-political Crown corporation, used by all political parties for their own purposes, since it took over the car insurance market in 1974. The Insurance Corporation of B.C. (ICBC) is in crisis. ICBC is set to lose $1.3 billion in the current fiscal year, and once again it is the subject of intense political gamesmanship. On Monday, Attorney General David Eby called a press conference to officially confirm the deficit. He pledged a number of measures to try and ease the bleeding. At the same time, he said the former BC Liberal government left ICBC as a “blazing dumpster fire” by ignoring its problems, and even changing an independent report commissioned in 2014 which examined ICBC’s financial issues. “They knew the dumpster was on fire, but they pushed it behind the building instead of trying to put the fire o...

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson announced Wednesday he will not seek another term as mayor, after 10 years in office. His legacy is mixed, and he has done little to improve the conditions faced by South Fraser residents. Like most mayors, he has been parochial. The region's overall interests take a back seat to their own cities. Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson announced Wednesday that he won't run for mayor this fall, after 10 years on the job. His leadership of the city has been notable, with no shortage of controversies. He vowed when elected to make Vancouver "the greenest city in the world," and it has made some significant steps in that direction. Here's how his announcement looks from a South Fraser viewpoint. His stewardship of Vancouver has been mixed. Vancouver is the largest city in the Metro Vancouver region, gets most of the media attention, and in many ways sets many of the directions for the region. Some of those directions have been very ...

Delta Mayor Lois Jackson will be retiring from politics in 2018, after 46 years of involvement with Delta council. First elected as an alderman in 1972 (the first woman ever to hold that office in Delta), she has been mayor of Delta since 1999. In late 2017, she ushered Delta into a new era as it officially became a city. The new year will bring a lot of changes to the South Fraser area of Surrey, Delta, White Rock and Langley. Some of the biggest potential changes could be at the local council level. Voters will elect new councils on Oct. 20, 2018. The results of the 2014 election, the first in which councillors and mayors were elected to four-year terms, ended up mostly as expected. Many indications are that 2018 could be considerably different. Four-year terms did not bring out the best in some local politicians. For sure, there will be at least two new mayors. Delta Mayor Lois Jackson is not seeking another term. She has been mayor since 1999. Her involvement with Delt...