Tag Archives: glen clark

#BCPoli | Good-bye John Rustad We Hardly Knew Ya


Buh-bye, so long, adios: John Rustad, “interim leader” of the Conservative Party of British Columbia

One year from today John Rustad will no longer lead the B.C. Conservative Party.

How to explain VanRamblings’ late 2025 B.C. Conservative leadership projection?

  • B.C. Conservative Party infighting. In his interview with This is Vancolour’s Mo Amir, former BC NDP Premier Glen Clark referred to 20 of the newly-elected B.C. Conservative Party MLAs as “whack jobs” — this adjudication arising from a series of racist, misogynist, homophobic QAnon conspiracy theorist comments made by these, now, sitting B.C. Conservative Party members of the B.C. Legislature.

    From what VanRamblings’ sources tell us, these 20 newly-minted B.C. Conservative MLAs are far from happy with their leader, John Rustad, for having roundly denounced several of their number during the course of the recent provincial election campaign. VanRamblings is told there is a movement afoot to remove Rustad as leader, in favour of a member of the QAnon conspiracy theorist contingent who more rightly align with their “the whole system is rigged and oughta be brought down” far right, People’s Party of Canada, anti-vaxx, Freedom Convoy-loving “philosophy”.

Meanwhile, Premier Eby has drawn what he calls a “bright line”, stating that his NDP government will refuse to work with newly-elected B.C. Conservative MLAs who have expressed “offensive” views on racial and other matters.

Vaughn Palmer, in The Vancouver Sun, has called the …

 “Bright-line test a proverbial line in the sand. It establishes a clearcut, easily recognizable boundary between the right and the wrong, the good and the bad, the pure and the tainted.”

Eby singled out Brent Chapman, newly-elected B.C. Conservative MLA for Surrey South, and author of some deeply offensive social media posts in past years.

“Brent Chapman (is) a hateful man promoting hate and racism in our province,” Eby told host Vijay Saini of CJCN radio last week. “We have a very bright line around that and it is a non-starter for us. We need to fight hate and racism every day. So there are definitely restrictions on our willingness to work with the Conservative party.”

The BC NDP leader has suggested that B.C. Democrats are preparing a list of Conservatives whose utterances have consigned them to the dark side of the line.

“I’ve seen them speaking out with concern on issues that I share concern about — open racism from Conservative candidates, open homophobia, anti-Muslim sentiment, anti-woman sentiment — and those are bright lines. That is non-negotiable for us.”

Premier Eby has created a ‘no win’ situation for B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad: defend his MLAs who have expressed intolerant and hateful views, or denounce them. Smart, divisive NDP politics, set to create much trouble for Rustad.

Elenore Sturko celebrating her B.C. United Party by-election win in 2022, with Kevin Falcon.

  • Elenore Sturko. VanRamblings has been told by our B.C. Conservative Party sources that former B.C. United MLA for Surrey South, now the newly-minted B.C. Conservative MLA representing the riding of Surrey-Cloverdale has formed an exploratory committee to challenge John Rustad for leadership of the Conservative Party of British Columbia. Elenore Sturko: thy name is ambition at all costs, the person in which such picayune considerations such as loyalty will never be vested. Just ask former B.C. United Party leader Kevin Falcon; he’s got a story or two to tell ya.

And, finally, why John Rustad won’t be the leader of the Conservative Party of British Columbia, and His Majesty’s loyal Opposition, twelve months from now.

The venerable and exclusive Vancouver Club, on West Hastings in Vancouver.

  • Powers that be who rule our province. The same group of folks who just weeks ago — billionaire developers, and their ilk — convinced, under threat, B.C. United leader Kevin Falcon to fold his and his B.C. United tent in favour of supporting John Rustad’s far right B.C. Conservative Party — never for a moment wanting to see the conspiracy theory amenable Rustad continue on as B.C. Conservative Party leader should he “lose” the election — even as you read this, are meeting behind closed doors deep within the inner sanctum of The Vancouver Club, developing plans to oust John Rustad as B.C. Conservative Party leader — as they did with then B.C. Liberal leader Gordon Wilson, in favour of their hand-picked choice and oh-so-amenable, Gordon Campbell — to be replaced by Ms. Sturko, or Brad West or another potential B.C. Conservative Party leader, who would be acquiescent to their entreaties, a leader not wedded to conspiracy theories, someone more acceptable to the general populace.

So there you have it.

In the face of the chaos that will be wrought in the United States with the (re) election of Donald Trump as President, in British Columbia some degree of sanity will prevail, with the Nuremberg 2.0-compliant John Rustad set to be removed as B.C. Conservative Party leader, in favour of someone more balanced and palatable to a broad swath of the British Columbia electorate. With David Eby at the helm of a progressive British Columbia New Democratic Party, we can look forward to enjoying a government committed to empowering women, empowering members of our Indigenous community, and building the economy, an oasis of political sanity in this crazy old world of ours where stability, in British Columbia, is our friend.

#BCPoli | An Autocrat No More | 2024 Election | Eby Emerges As a Humbled and Chastened Politician


David Eby: chastened, humbled, reflective, willing to listen, refocusing his government’s priorities.

Barely scraping by with the slimmest of majority governments, Premier David Eby has emerged from the bruising 2024 British Columbia election campaign a humbled and chastened man, a provincial leader prepared to change his government’s legislative priorities, to listen more, to be more collaborative in his approach, and to refocus on the priorities identified by the British Columbia electorate.

In the two years since assuming power in the Premier’s office, David Eby proved to be the provincial equivalent of the energizer bunny, going off in 10,000 different directions at once, unfocused, taking on far too much with little prospect of changing anything at all, Eby’s imperious, autocratic, top down approach alienating broad swaths of British Columbia’s citizenry, at odds with municipal administrations across the province, all the while racking up debt and ill will, and a cry to please just slow the merry-go-round down a bit, the change David Eby sought to achieve dizzying and disquietening in the breadth and depth of its unachievable scope.


British Columbia’s 31st (BC NDP) Premier, Glen Clark, pictured above in 2024, at 66 years of age.

During the course of the election, broadcaster Mo Amir conducted an extensive, thoughtful and engaging interview on his This is Vancolour podcast with British Columbia’s 31st Premier, the original B.C. political energizer bunny, the British Columbia New Democrat’s Glen Clark, now a senior citizen at the ripe old age of 66 (soon to be 67, given that his birthday is coming up on November 22nd).

This is the advice that the older, and now wiser, Mr. Clark has for David Eby …

“David tried to accomplish too much in his two-year term as Premier, with little in the way of definable outcomes that people could see and feel. In the coming term, my advice to the Premier would be to refocus his government on four or five achievable goals: fulfill the government’s promise of $10-a-day child care; when it comes to health care, make a firm commitment that by 2026 the Interior region of the province will no longer experience emergency room closures, all while committing to reducing wait times and ensuring every B.C. citizen has a family physician.

Focus his government’s priority on achieving public safety, while ensuring that the indigent population are well-housed; and build social housing, high quality co-operative housing constructed on Crown land, a commitment to opening the doors on 10,000 units of housing for families, by 2027, in every region across our province.”

In the 2017 British Columbia election campaign, the BC NDP committed to building 100,000 units of affordable housing by 2025. In point of fact, the government has achieved only 20% of that goal. British Columbia’s NDP government has got to stop making promises that they have no real and palpable intention of fulfilling.

Throughout the course of the recent 28-day election campaign, David Eby championed his government’s near fulfilled commitment to achieving $10-a-day child care for families who live in every region across B.C., when in point of fact his government is a very long way from achieving that goal. Most irritating to VanRamblings was the Premier’s championing of how his government had cut child care fees in half during their term of government (note: not $10-a-day child care), when David Eby’s government had no role to play in halving child care fees: doing so was entirely a federally funded initiative of the Trudeau government.

The key to a successful, full-term David Eby-led British Columbia New Democratic Party government is, as we write above, collaboration, consultation, respect for the municipal partners in the change movement to build the much needed housing the public has demanded, an ability to listen and to act, and be seen to act, on the input that will be provided by the stakeholders in the movement for change (read: citizens), who desire change as much as David Eby wants change, but change reflected in the wants and needs of the populace, rather than the autocratic imposition of a “I know best what you need” British Columbia provincial government.

Now for the good news — good news, that is, if you’re a fan of Premier David Eby (as is the case with VanRamblings) and the B.C. New Democratic Party government he leads with vision, and an unwavering commitment to the public good.

If Premier Eby can hold onto government for the next three years — for which the prospects are good, given that negotiations between Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau and David Eby, to work collaboratively, are moving ahead well for both concerned parties — a number of salutary events will unfold for the BC NDP …

  • The Broadway Millennium Line Skytrain extension to Arbutus Street will open in late 2027, along with the 13-storey social housing seniors facility at 7th and Arbutus. Governments that get things done always wears well with the public;

  • The new Pattullo Bridge, connecting New Westminster to Surrey, will also open, as yet another feather in the cap of the B.C. New Democratic Party government;
  • And, best of all, a far-right, chaos driven, extremely unpopular Pierre Poilevre government will have been in power for two years come late 2027, which will have a number of salutary impacts: the re-birth of a renewed B.C. Liberal Party, a very unpopular B.C. Conservative opposition following on the coattails of a hated Pierre Poilievre, a Trumpian nightmare of a Prime Minister — you wonder why Nova Scotia Conservative Premier Tim Houston is going to the polls early, as will soon be the case with Ontario Conservative Premier, Doug Ford … cuz they know, even if you don’t, that Pierre Poilievre will be held in such disrepute that their respective chances for re-election would be fatally wounded with Poilievre in power. And what does this have to do with the cost of tea in China, and the prospects of David Eby being re-elected to a second full term, with a much increased majority, in 2027-2028? An upstart B.C. Liberal Party garnering 23% of the vote, a B.C. Conservative Party also registering at 23% in the polls, and our beloved David Eby-led British Columbia New Democratic Party government coming up the middle in 2027-2028, in a B.C. provincial election that will give them a comfortable majority in the British Columbia legislature.

And, yes, we’re aware that we’re driving you nuts with our criticism of the BC NDP, while touting their majority government re-election, three or four years hence.

All part of the invaluable service we provide to you, most days, at VanRamblings!