British Columbia —The Built In Socialism !

The Provincial  Election on October 19 provided one of the best opportunities for some party to the right of the  NDP to take power . With the complete collapse of the Liberal Party of BC , once the coalition of Liberals and Conservatives in the Province, and the resurgent Conservative Party of BC , you had this unique opportunity for this one Party to the right( so called  although hardly conservative in more pure terms ) to have a real shot at unseating the Socialists . And in the recount it might still happen. But even if so ,barely.

It points to what has happened in many parts of the western world where the dominance of Government and Government agencies within society and the economy have led many —to the left , to socialism. The growth of government , federal , provincial and municipal see many university graduates working for them , all imbued with the left wing views so prevalent in today’s halls of higher learning. And urban growth has concentrated this nest of left wing ideology and with this growth more political ridings and the preponderance of left wing candidates being elected. The urban centres have the concentration of health care and universities and government, all hot beds of progressive , left wing ideas that lack common sense and real life circumstances. These urban centres are bubbles of progressivism and could not exist in a less urban setting for long.

Of course, there are exceptions as we will see as we review the BC recent political scene —but the trend is clear and makes the successful rise to power of conservative parties far more difficult.

Looking at the recent election results we see 11 of the 12 ridings in Vancouver all won by the NDP, the home of UBC and the big health care facilities and BCIT nearby in Burnaby.  And Simon  Fraser University in Burnaby and the five ridings in Burnaby all NDP. Then there are two in Coquitlam , 1 out of 2 in Delta and 1 out  of 2 in Maple Ridge, NDP. Then there are two in North Vancouver , NDP, one in New Westminster and Port Coquitlam and Port Moody.

This is a flying start for the Socialists.

If one goes to the Island , take Metro Victoria , home of University of Victoria , Royal Rhodes University , Camosun College , the island’s largest hospitals , and the home of the Legislature and the many Government Departments. Hence, Oak bay -Gordon Head, Sannich South, Victoria Beacon Hill, Victoria Swan Lake, and Esquimalt Colwood all NDP. And Langford-the Highlands.

The Powell  River Sunshine Coast went NDP and the North Coast Haida Gwaii. So some even rural ridings are NDP. There was a even a Green elected in Sannich North and The Islands and another in West Vancouver Sea to Sky!!

Up Island from Victoria even Cowichan and Ladysmith Oceanside went NDP . And MidIsland -Pacific Rim.

And Nanaimo , the island’s largest city, home of Vancouver Island University, two BC Ferry Terminals , Regional Hospital—-well the two ridings went NDP .

So you would have to have a lot of Richmond’s, Surrey ‘s and Fraser Valley’s to offset this base of socialism . And while Kamloops and Prince George went conservative their size does not garner the seats the larger urban centres do. .And though Kelowna was conservative two Kootenay seats went NDP.

BC is not alone , especially in the west . Look at Edmonton and Calgary !! If it was not for such a strong almost unanimous rural Conservative base the Socialists would be in control there as well. Edmonton is rushing to be a 15 minute city. And Saskatchewan election sees a resurgent NDP with the urban centres firmly in their control but the rural, like in Alberta , will keep a right leading party in power, I suspect. And Manitoba is already in the Socialist camp.

In today’s environment in Canada we see right of NDP parties and a  little right of Liberal  Parties , but not real Conservative parties  . Some more conservative activity is happening in parts of Europe and individual states in the US , Florida and South Dakota come to mind. Sadly, here in Canada federally it is more an anti Trudeau movement than a clear eyed Conservative Party alternative especially if one looks at the Conservative platform. All the parties are in the ‘administrative state’ mode .

Socialism will be hard to root out in this provincial and national environment —-likely not until the lenders decide to stop lending.

by The Honourable A. Brian Peckford

pe********@wo*******.com

October 21, 2024

“Many of them[Canadians] think that they have a right to equal treatment under the law. They think that discrimination is illegal. But nothing could be further from the truth.”

by Brad Salzberg

October 21, 2024

“Canadians have been sold a bill of goods,” says Bruce Pardy, the author of the report and a Queen’s University law professor.

“Many of them think that they have a right to equal treatment under the law. They think that discrimination is illegal. But nothing could be further from the truth. In Canada, discrimination is lawful as long as it is committed against the right groups — and in particular against straight white men.”

Professor Pardy’s distinction between social equality and social “equity” is critical to race-relations in our country. At present, the ominous nature of his statements are poorly understood within Canadian society.

“Social ‘equity’ recognizes that each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome. Social ‘equality’ means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities.” 

Read More HERE

by Harvey Oberfeld

Keeping it Real…

October 21, 2024

Politicians often forget they work FOR the people: they are hired BY the people; they are paid BY the people; they are supposed to deliver services FOR the people; and, they can be fired by the people!

Once elected too many instead lord OVER us; push their own publicly-unendorsed agendas, ideologically-driven policies and programs; pander to their narrow partisan base; cater to their major financial backers; and, then squeeze taxpayers for every dollar they can wring out of us to pay for it all … while ignoring the majority’s complaints, protests and growing daily struggles to make ends meet.

However, every few years, thanks to our democratic system, our politicians must submit to what really amounts to a job performance review by the people.

David Eby and his NDP government have now had their review … and let’s face it, received a bad score. In fact, they may still even be fired from their current positions when the review process is complete.

Tentative results (pending recounts) give the NDP 46 seats, the BC Conservatives 45 and the Greens 2. That’s a loss of 9 seats for the government, despite the addition of 6 more seats in the Legislative Assembly.

That is certainly NOT a great vote of confidence for a leader two years on the job and a party seven years in power!

Especially when you break down the vote count.

The preliminary popular vote figures show a turnout of 2,038,000 or 57.39% of eligible voters (compared to 53.86 in 2020 and 61.18% in 2017).

The NDP picked up 908,871 votes (44.6%); while those opposing them, the BC Conservatives garnered 887,828 votes (43.6%), the Greens captured 166,850 (8.2%) and Independents drew upwards of 61.000 votes (3.6%).

In other words, well over half of those who voted actually wanted to fire Eby and his government … and give others a chance to tackle BC’s problems.

That, in itself, is not unusual in a multi-party system: pretty hard to get more than 50% support among the total vote.

However, don’t forget that, just a year and a half ago, Eby and the NDP were repeatedly leading the polls by as much as whopping 20% spread!

Eby should now be embarrassed.

Where did it all go wrong … very wrong?

I attribute a lot of the blame to what I perceived as Eby’s own arrogance: a sort of “I don’t need no stinking election” attitude that went on too long after the NDP internally placed him in the Premier’s post when John Horgan resigned.

He waited almost two years to seek a mandate … until he could not legally delay an election any more. If he could, maybe he would have stalled even longer.

Readers of this blog may remember how, after Eby was six months in the Premiers job, I gently prodded him … when most of the mainstream media failed to do so … that he personally had no public mandate for any of the announcements/programs/changes or massive spending he was announcing/implementing.

But the Premier pressed on.

After a year in the post, I stepped up my criticism and my condemnations of Eby for not calling an election and seeking public approval for his agenda … as so many problems actually started getting worse … much worse.

Eby likely would still have won an election back then … but kept rejecting the idea: apparently preferring to listen to sycophantic media and pundits, who repeatedly defended his un-elected, unmandated reign and instead kept reminding the public Eby need not legally call an election before the legislated scheduled date, in October 2024.

Not legally, but ethically and strategically?

Eby waited … but clearly too long!

As the carbon tax kept increasing, housing costs went through the roof, hospital emergency room closures multiplied, druggies and mentally ill were increasingly and violently running amok in many communities, and BC’s Crown Counsel and provincial Court processes became a joke … but no one was laughing.

The bubble around the un-elected NDP Premier finally burst.

More and more people had grown dissatisfied, frustrated and even angry at the BC they now saw and experienced. They began looking for an alternative … and the BC Conservatives, who had not formed government since 1928 and last elected an MLA in 1978, suddenly came back to life … so much so, the party supplanted BC United in the polls … and ultimately, on the ballot!

Saturday was the day of voters’ revenge!

The ultimate result, even if Eby and the NDP do hold on to power, is they won’t have much of it!

With 46 seats, they would have to surrender one NDP MLA to become Speaker, losing a vote in the House, and also another NDP MLA to become Chair of the Committee of the Whole, who also apparently does not normally vote on issues.

Basically, the government will be crippled … forced to substantially moderate its legislative plans and objectives to gain necessary support from either the Conservatives and/or the Greens to get anything passed.

The Greens, by the way, would be smart NOT to enter into a formal support agreement with the NDP, but instead do a “Bloc Quebecois” move … only agree to prop up the government on specific Legislative votes, IF Eby/NDP give them some concession, or maybe even two or three.

And those concessions would cost the taxpayers a LOT! The Greens support more public drug consumption sites, free public transit for all, increased welfare and disability rates to above the poverty line, higher carbon taxes and prohibition of any new LNG projects. etc. etc.

Think of the impact of any of those ideas/plans on BC’s deficit, economy, debt … and your taxes … just to keep Eby and the NDP hanging on to power !

It won’t work.

Something tells me regardless of the final outcome of this year’s voting results, and the wheeling and dealing the politicians will do, we won’t wait four years this time for the next election!

Harv Oberfeld