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#BCElection | Who Will Form Government Post October 19? | Who Knows?

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L-r, Premier David Eby;  Kevin Falcon, BC United; John Rustad, BC Conservatives; Sonia Furstenau, Green Party BC

One month from today, on Saturday, September 14th, Premier David Eby will visit the Lieutenant Governor, the Honourable Janet Austin, and ask her to dissolve the Legislature and arrange for a Saturday, October 19th B.C. provincial election.

The latest compilation poll from 338.com has David Eby’s BC NDP, and John Rustad’s surging BC Conservatives in a statistical dead heat.

Of course, we’re still 67 days away — which is to say, a lifetime in politics — from knowing the outcome of the October 19th B.C. provincial election. All indications at this point suggest the coming election will be hard fought, the results close.

Unless …


William John Bowser, the 17th Premier of British Columbia & last elected Conservative Party Premier

The BC Conservatives sweep the election, riding on the popularity coattails of federal Conservative Party leader, Pierre Poilievre, causing not just a wave election, but a tsunami of support for novice party leader John Rustad, resulting in a Conservative Party of British Columbia forming majority government in the province for the first time since 1915, when William John Bowser swept to power for a near one-year period, from December 15, 1915 to November 23, 1916.

Here’s the bottom line: the coming election will be hard fought, it’ll be a tight race for government between David Eby’s well-funded BC NDP, and the B.C. Conservatives (now, surprisingly) well-organized campaign, the latter about which we will write next week.

Chances are that Kevin Falcon’s B.C. United will be all but wiped out, although some polls have B.C. United winning as many as six seats.

As for the Green Party: leader Sonia Furstenau is running in the riding of Victoria Beacon Hill, currently held by Grace Lore, Minister of Children and Family Development, the riding held by former BC NDP leader Carole James from 2005 through 2021, when Ms. James resigned from government for health reasons.

We predict Sonia Furstenau will lose in Victoria Beacon Hill. Well-respected B.C. Green Party incumbent Adam Olsen has indicated he will not run for re-election.

The B.C. Green Party post October 19th could be no more. Sad. But there it is.

Over the course of the next month, we’ll cover the coming B.C. election’s pre-Writ period — for instance, we intend to write about the closely fought races that will occur in the new provincial ridings of Vancouver-Yaletown, and Vancouver-Little Mountain — while delving into Vancouver municipal politics and the sorry state of Ken Sim’s ABC Vancouver civic party, what’s going on federally with Justin Trudeau’s beleaguered federal Liberal Party, and Pierre Poilievre’s ‘certain to form government’ post the 2025 federal election Conservative Party (we’re not a big fan), while addressing any number of other topics which catch our fancy.

Want to know what’s going on in federal politics? You’ll want to watch …

See you here tomorrow, and often we hope after that, and for the next 67+ days …

#BCPoli | #VanPoli | Vancouver-Little Mountain NDP Nomination Battle

#VanPoli Civic Politics, BC Politics, Environment, Politics, Vancouver, , , , , , ,


Andrea Reimer and Christine Boyle. Candidates for the Vancouver-Little Mountain NDP nomination.

Three weeks from today, the remaining 300 members of the Vancouver-Little Mountain NDP riding association will cast their ballots to choose who they wish to represent them in the upcoming October 19th provincial election.

Background as to membership numbers: when, in late 2022, Anjali Appadurai announced her intention to run for the leadership of the provincial NDP, 200 citizens who lived in the Vancouver-Fairview (now called Vancouver-Little Mountain) NDP riding signed up to support her candidacy — but did not renew their membership this past, or this, year, leaving 300 remaining voting members in the riding to cast a ballot in the current race to determine the provincial Vancouver-Little Mountain NDP candidate. In 2021, Ms. Appadurai had run as the federal NDP candidate in the riding of Vancouver-Granville, which shares borders with Vancouver-Fairview, thus was well-positioned to re-sign members during her provincial leadership bid.


Vancouver-Fairview MLA George Heyman will not seek re-election in the October provincial election.

In the lead-up to former three-term Vancouver City Councillor Andrea Reimer announcing her Vancouver-Little Mountain New Democratic Party nomination bid, Ms. Reimer and her team were able to sign up a handful of NDP members in the riding to support her candidacy for the nomination, following George Heyman’s March 4th announcement that he would not seek a further term in the Legislature.

George Heyman endorsed Andrea Reimer at his retirement announcement.

Much to the surprise of political observers, current two-term OneCity Vancouver Councillor Christine Boyle announced her candidacy for the Vancouver-Little Mountain NDP nomination, within an hour of Ms. Reimer’s announcement.

Vancouver-Little Mountain membership was locked in early March, just prior to Andrea Reimer and Christine Boyle announcing their respective nomination bids.

After which, the NDP nomination race in Vancouver-Little Mountain was engaged.

Ms. Reimer’s Twitter announcement was followed by Ms. Boyle’s …

In the 10 days since their respective announcements, both Andrea Reimer and Christine Boyle have been active on the campaign trail …

Christine Boyle also tweeted out her work with volunteers on the campaign trail.

Both Vancouver-Little Mountain NDP candidates for nomination have active websites.


Each day on her website & on social media, Andrea Reimer has announced one or more endorsements.


When it comes to endorsements, nomination candidate Christine Boyle’s website hasn’t been as active.

Click on the Vancouver-Little Mountain Electoral Map [PDF] for finer detail.

So, where are we three weeks out from April 4th’s NDP nomination meeting?

Andrea Reimer has run a 24-hour-a-day, high energy, community-oriented and tightly focused campaign to gain the Vancouver-Little Mountain NDP nomination.

Christine Boyle has also been out on the campaign trail, but her commitment to gaining the Vancouver-Little Mountain NDP nomination has been hamstrung by her full-time job as OneCity Vancouver’s only member on Vancouver City Council.

Should Andrea Reimer secure the Vancouver-Little Mountain nomination, she is a lock to be appointed as British Columbia’s next Environment Minister this upcoming November, when a newly-elected Premier David Eby announces his new Cabinet. Both are can-do, no nonsense politicos, both are team players, and neither politician suffers fools gladly. David Eby prefers to appoint Cabinet Ministers in whom he sees a bit of himself — and that is certainly the case with Ms. Reimer.

Christine Boyle, should she secure the Vancouver-Little Mountain nomination will not be destined for Cabinet, but will most certainly secure a position as a Parliamentary Secretary. To some extent, Ms. Boyle — an Anjali Appadurai acolyte — while friendly with the Premier must be seen as something of a Trojan horse, who will in all likelihood emerge as a thorn in the side of the Premier, as she speaks out against fracking and the lack of progress on the development of the Little Mountain site between 33rd and 37th avenues along Main Street.

Note. There is much NDP support for the policy positions enunciated by Ms. Boyle.


Christine Boyle holding Vancouver School Board trustee Jennifer Reddy’s child in her arms

Of all the politicians across British Columbia, Christine Boyle has the most winning smile, and for many she is the most authentic political figure in Metro Vancouver.

While we support Andrea Reimer’s candidacy, we believe the Vancouver-Little Mountain NDP nomination is Christine Boyle’s to lose.

Not a day goes by when we don’t run across someone, or receive a call from an associate who sets about to extol Ms. Boyle’s many virtues — this recognition coming from persons from across the political spectrum. If you’re an old fogey like many of VanRamblings’ associates, you can’t help but look at Ms. Boyle and think, “If she were my daughter, I would be so proud of her.”

[A photo of Christine Boyle accompanies the word charming in the dictionary]

Clearly, Ms. Boyle has much support among younger, more activist NDP members.

Christine Boyle’s campaign for the Vancouver-Little Mountain NDP nomination has been less high profile than that of Andrea Reimer. But does it really matter?

All Christine Boyle needs to do is secure the support of one hundred and fifty-five Vancouver-Little Mountain NDP members to win the nomination.

We imagine that Ms. Boyle has found herself on the doorstep of each riding association member, and been invited inside for a cup of tea, and a warm chat, whereupon Christine Boyle without any effort on her part at all, has charmed the socks off the riding members in whose homes she finds herself, who will invariably be impressed at her deep knowledge of the issues, her presentation of self as an advocate for the change we all want to see, and perhaps the most authentic political figure Vancouver-Little Mountain riding members will have ever encountered.

A winning combination that.


The 2017 by-election expense document published by Vancouver’s City Clerk’s office.

The only potential fly in the ointment of Christine Boyle securing the Vancouver-Little Mountain NDP nomination arises as a consequence of the near million dollar expense to the citizens of Vancouver should she secure the nomination, and go on to attempt to win a seat in the government of Premier David Eby.

Vancouver City Councillor Christine Boyle upon securing a second term of office on Saturday, October 15, 2022 to City Hall, committed to representing those who elected her to office for the full four years of the mandate she had been given.

Given the cut and thrust of politics, one is left to wonder — should Christine Boyle secure the Vancouver-Little Mountain NDP nomination — how she would fare in the upcoming provincial general election, when confronted by her B.C. United, B.C. Conservative and Green party opponents, who would surely call her out on her failure to complete her elected term of office, and the consequent million dollar by-election expense that would ensue, in service of her ambition they might well say.


Andrea Reimer. Vancouver-Little Mountain NDP candidate? B.C.’s next Environment Minister?

Perhaps Andrea Reimer’s high profile campaign to secure the Vancouver-Little Mountain NDP nomination, her many, many endorsements and her active participation in the community — and, let’s face it, her overall competence —  will carry the day, and come the evening of Thursday, April 4th, Andrea Reimer will emerge as the chosen candidate, the Vancouver-Little Mountain NDP candidate who will go on to victory on E-Day, Saturday, October 19th —  where soon after, Andrea Reimer will become British Columbia’s next, much admired Environment Minister.

#BCPoli | The Speech from the Throne | Preparation for the October Election

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As of this writing, the British Columbian electorate are 241 days away from our province’s 43rd general election, set to take place on Saturday, October 19th.

Members of the British Columbia Legislature will sit for a total of 37 days in the spring session.


All 41 minutes and 2 seconds of Lieutenant Governor Janet Austin’s Speech from the Throne

The Throne Speech read in the Legislature by Lt. Gov Janet Austin on Tuesday kicks off a 10-week spring legislative session.

On Thursday, the government will unveil their budget, a compressed timeline in 2024 to accommodate a session that’s two weeks shorter than usual, in this the final session of the Legislature before the upcoming October provincial election.

In the Vancouver Sun, Legislative reporter Katie DeRosa writes, “The throne speech did give a hint that the 2024 budget is expected to be heavy on social spending “because leaving people to fend for themselves does not work. It did not work before. And it will not work now. It would mean deep cuts that weaken the services we rely on.”

In her speech — that was drafted in the Premier’s office —  the Lieutenant Governor began her address to British Columbians by emphasizing the actions government is taking, and will continue to take, to boost the number of middle-class homes available across the province.


On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a housing funding announcement with B.C. Premier David Eby, and Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim to expand the province’s B.C. Builds programme, to construct between 8,000 & 10,000 units, on an expedited timeline, over the next 5 years.

Programmes like BC Builds were touted as a way the government is reportedly taking underused land, grant money and low-cost financing to lower the cost of construction. On Tuesday, the federal government announced it would invest $2 billion in additional financing into the programme, on top of the $2 billion announced by the province last week.

Lt. Gov Austin also highlighted expanding infrastructure the province is building to accompany the growing housing supply, including projects that are set to increase the region’s SkyTrain network by 27 per cent. Other priorities outlined in the Throne Speech included public health care, such as the addition of hundreds of new doctors and thousands of new nurses in the province in the last year.

Lt. Gov Austin also referred to the medical school being built at Simon Fraser University’s Surrey campus, which will be the first new medical school in Western Canada in more than 50 years. She also alluded to actions the government will continue to take to build on its ten-year cancer plan.

Relieving cost-of-living for British Columbians and leveraging B.C.’s natural resource sector were also mentioned as areas where action will be taken in the upcoming budget, set to be announced Thursday.  The Lt. Gov gave B.C. Hydro as an example, as it attempts to expand B.C.’s electrical grid, and the new E-One Moli facility in Maple Ridge where battery production will be ramping up in the province.


Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the E-One Moli manufacturing plant in Maple Ridge to announce a billion-dollar battery cell production plant that will produce up to 135 million batteries each year as part of Canada’s push toward clean technology. (Justine Boulin/CBC)

References were also made to the government’s plan to manage the droughts and wildfires continuing to plague B.C.’s warmer seasons.

“The climate crisis is here, we have seen it all around us these last few years,” Lt. Governor Janet Austin said.

One of the highlights of Tuesday’s kick-off to the upcoming Legislative session were the cries — welcomed by Lt. Gov. Austin, mid-speech — of Azalea, the young daughter of British Columbia’s Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Minister, Bowinn Ma.

The response to the Throne Speech by the Opposition B.C. United Party …

Todd Stone, BC United Member of the Legislature for Kamloops-South Thompson; Official Opposition House Leader; and Shadow Minister for Jobs weighed in with …

John Rustad, B.C. Conservative Party leader (pictured above) had this to say …

“It’s been 16 years of the BC Liberals and now the seventh year of the NDP and we have a crisis in housing, we have an affordability crisis, we have a health crisis, we have a crisis in drugs and crime. The province quite frankly is in crisis.

It’s about time quite frankly that people became the focus of governments rather than what we are seeing, which is ideologies and other types of approaches that have failed every time they have been tried.”

B.C. Green Party leader / Cowichan Valley MLA Sonia Furstenau  had this to say …

All said, the David Eby government — despite the slew of ads from B.C. United that cross our dinnertime news programmes, and desultory commentary from the B.C. Conservatives and B.C. Greens — continue to sit in the catbird seat according to the polls, in what would appear to be a near wipe out vote for the opposition parties.

#CdnPoli | B.C. Family Day, and the Iterations of the Third Monday of February

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In most provinces across Canada, the third Monday in February is observed as a regional statutory holiday, known generally as Family Day.

Family Day is celebrated on the third Monday of February in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and New Brunswick.

Manitobans celebrate the third Monday of February as Louis Riel Day.


A portrait of Louis Riel hanging in the provincial legislature now recognizes the Métis leader as Manitoba’s first Premier. Premier Wab Kinew and Manitoba Métis Federation President David Chartrand unveiled the updated plaque below the portrait on Monday.

Louis Riel is acknowledged as a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. Riel led his people in revolt against Canadian sovereignty in two resistance movements leveled against the Government of Canada and our country’s first Prime Minister John A. Macdonald, as he sought to defend Métis rights and identity.

In Nova Scotia the day is celebrated as Heritage Day; while in Prince Edward Island, the third Monday of February is celebrated as Islander Day.

Family Day isn’t a statutory holiday in Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Workers in those provinces and territories won’t have Monday, February 19 off work like employees in other parts of the country.

Québec has the lowest number of statutory holidays, tied with Manitoba. Yukon has the most holidays in Canada, celebrating 12 each year. Alberta, Newfoundland, and PEI celebrate 11 holidays, and B.C., New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, the Northwest Territories, Ontario, and Saskatchewan have 10.

Québec doesn’t observe Family Day as a statutory holiday because it celebrates Journée nationale des Patriotes on the Monday preceding May 23, as well as Fête nationale du Québec every June 24.


A very Happy #FamilyDay to all of the diverse one-parent families across Canada!
Today, the third Monday of February, is a day to celebrate and cherish your beautiful families. ?

In modern society, where the pace of life can be relentless and demands on individuals are often overwhelming, the significance of family cohesion and bonding is more pronounced than ever. Amidst the hustle and bustle of daily life, the concept of a dedicated Family Day holiday supported by the government emerges as a beacon of acknowledgment for the pivotal role families play in shaping societies.


Vancouver City Councillor Rebecca Bligh, her partner Laura and their children celebrate Family Day

One of the hallmark benefits of the Family Day holiday is its capacity to foster inter-generational connections. In an era characterized by rapid societal changes and evolving family structures, the importance of preserving traditions and passing down values from one generation to the next cannot be overstated.

Family Day provides a platform for grandparents, parents, and children to come together, exchange stories, and impart wisdom garnered from their respective life experiences. This interplay between different generations not only enriches familial bonds but also instills a sense of continuity and heritage, reinforcing individuals’ identities and cultural roots.

While the intrinsic value of Family Day lies in its promotion of family cohesion and emotional well-being, its ripple effects extend to the economic realm as well.

Studies have demonstrated a strong correlation between employee satisfaction and productivity, with individuals who feel supported in their familial roles exhibiting higher levels of engagement and commitment in the workplace. By affording employees the opportunity to prioritize their families on Family Day, governments contribute to a more motivated and productive workforce, with holiday-related activities and gatherings injecting vitality into local economies, benefiting businesses across various sectors.

By promoting family unity, enhancing emotional well-being, fostering inter-generational connections, and boosting economic productivity, Family Day serves as a cornerstone for building stronger, more resilient communities.

As we navigate the complexities of the modern world, let us cherish and celebrate the bonds that unite us, reaffirming the timeless value of family in our lives.