Frankly Speaking

One of these six individuals will be the new BC Liberal party leader, as of Saturday night. From left to right, (top) are Dianne Watts, Andrew Wilkinson and Michael Lee; (bottom) Sam Sullivan, Todd Stone, Mike de Jong. (Montage by CBC) Members of the BC Liberal party are casting their ballots over the next few days to choose a new leader of the opposition. That very phrase must gall many of them, after the party enjoyed 16 straight years in power under premiers Gordon Campbell and Christy Clark. However, that’s where they find themselves right now, and based on the most recent public opinion poll which came out Jan. 19, they could be there after the next election as well. The NDP were well ahead of them in that poll, 40 per cent to 31 per cent (the Green Party came in at 19 per cent) conducted by Insights West. The new Liberal leader will be determined by a ranked ballot, and membership sign-ups actually will play a diminished role in the final selection of the leader. Eac...

Dianne Watts is running for the BC Liberal Party leadership. Dianne Watts is in, as a contender for the BC Liberal party leadership. The South Surrey-White Rock Conservative MP announced on Sunday that she will run in what will be an fairly short leadership campaign. The new BC Liberal party leader will be named, after a vote by party members, on Feb. 3. Watts is also resigning as an MP, effective immediately. Watts was widely suggested as a possible candidate for the leadership in 2011, when Christy Clark won. At that time, of course, the BC Liberals were in power and winning the leadership came with the added bonus of becoming premier. Clark ran an excellent campaign in 2013 and boosted the party’s seat count in an election that almost everyone thought would go to the NDP. Back in 2011, Watts was in the process of finishing her first six years as Surrey mayor and was extremely popular in Surrey and throughout the region. She won the 2011 election a few months later wit...

When the BC Liberal government under then-premier Gordon Campbell decided to replace the original Port Mann Bridge (pictured) and upgrade Highway 1 between Vancouver and Langley, it failed to see how unfair it was to only charge bridge users a toll to pay for the entire project. That inequity has been rectified by their successors, the new NDP government under Premier John Horgan. Stephen Rees photo On Friday, Premier John Horgan announced that tolls would be removed from the Port Mann Bridge and the Golden Ears Bridge, effective Sept. 1. This fulfills a key election promise made by the NDP – one that likely made the difference between winning and losing the provincial election. They picked up four seats in North Surrey and Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows (and a fifth one in North Delta). There is no doubt that the pledge to remove the tolls was a key factor in some voters switching their loyalty from the BC Liberals to the NDP in all those ridings. (The importance of this pr...

Finance Minister Mike de Jong is also the BC Liberals' government house leader. Mike de Jong, Abbotsford West MLA (who also represents northeast Langley) was the latest provincial politician to hold a news conference. His took place today, in Vancouver. De Jong is the government house leader and also minister of finance. He (quite rightly) said it is not up to the BC Liberals to strengthen the hand of an NDP minority government which will likely take office when the BC Liberals lose the confidence of the B.C. legislature. He does not expect a BC Liberal to stay on as Speaker once the government falls. A Liberal will likely to become Speaker on June 22, when the legislature is scheduled to meet. That will allow the government to present a throne speech He is also correct that the NDP-Green agreement seems quite shaky. We will know best how strong it is after there is an NDP minority government in place. For now, Green Party leader Andrew Weaver is making irresponsible statemen...

Rich Coleman's new responsibilities for BC Hydro, which he assumed in today's cabinet shuffle, are a signal that the BC Liberals want to deepen the fissure between the NDP and the Greens over the Site C dam project. The objective is another election, as soon as possible. Most people may think the revised cabinet announced by Premier Christy Clark on Monday is simply rearranging the deck chairs on the rapidly-sinking Titanic. On the surface, that is absolutely correct. However, a closer look at the new cabinet could lead to the conclusion that Clark is outfitting them with life preservers, in the strong hope that this new cabinet will all board life boats, and make their way aboard a new ship. The new responsibilities given to Langley East MLA Rich Coleman illustrate this point perfectly. He has been named minister of energy and mines, with responsibility for BC Hydro. He is still deputy premier, even though that fact was left out of the news release announcing th...