It was inevitable. Hearing today that Christy Clark’s time as BC Premier is at an end doesn’t surprise. Looking at the substantive issues, it was the only logical outcome.
Fifty-seven percent of voters chose the NDP or the BC Greens. This came despite many millions of dollars spent by taxpayers and rich Liberal friends to prop up a government that had ceased to worry about ethics or care about ordinary citizens. In addition, most of the province’s fishwrap distributors sided with Clark, Coleman et al.
Green and NDP positions on important issues show much common ground. Working together makes sense and in recognizing that policies matter above all, John Horgan and Andrew Weaver pass the first test. Now, they’ll work cooperatively on implementing solutions to immediate problems.
No longer will big money have the ability to influence politics. The Legislature will become a place of meaningful debate and electoral reform will ensure that our democracy grows stronger. Fresh blood at the cabinet table will bring new leadership into the civil service. That will be followed by new provincial appointees at the countless quangos that now play too large a role in governance.
Horgan is ready to be British Columbia’s 36th Premier. He was an effective opposition member, noted for detailed understanding of files he followed. In a short period as leader, John improved caucus unity and recruited excellent candidates for the recent election. In addition, we saw a campaign that was thoughtfully contrived and effectively managed.
Weaver deserves applause as well, having moved his party from 8% to 17% of the popular vote. He promises to give the environment a high priority and only the careless exploiters oppose that position.
NDP/Green alliance could mean honest government for ordinary people by near instant end to big money influencing BC politics. #bcpoli
— Norm Farrell (@Norm_Farrell) May 24, 2017
NDP/Green alliance could mean a transparent government that respects FOI and the duty to document public business. #bcpoli
— Norm Farrell (@Norm_Farrell) May 24, 2017
NDP/Green alliance could mean an end to the costly BC Liberal patronage network that infects conduct of BC’s public business. #bcpoli
— Norm Farrell (@Norm_Farrell) May 24, 2017
An NDP/Green alliance could mean that political hacks are replaced at #BCHydro & #ICBC with professional managers. #bcpoli
— Norm Farrell (@Norm_Farrell) May 24, 2017
NDP/Green alliance could mean a quick start on affordable childcare and improvement of resources for #bced students in need. #bcpoli
— Norm Farrell (@Norm_Farrell) May 24, 2017
NDP/Green alliance could mean immediate start to more affordable post-secondary education. #bcpoli
— Norm Farrell (@Norm_Farrell) May 24, 2017
NDP/Green alliance could mean that 2017 is the last BC election under a first-past-the-post system. #bcpoli
— Norm Farrell (@Norm_Farrell) May 25, 2017
NDP/Green alliance could mean that hundreds of large ships will not be carrying bitumen through Burrard Inlet. #bcpoli
— Norm Farrell (@Norm_Farrell) May 24, 2017
NDP/Green alliance would mean more jobs in NE BC and in province’s resource industries for environmental regulation & protections. #bcpoli
— Norm Farrell (@Norm_Farrell) May 24, 2017
NDP/Green alliance could mean a quick end to billions of public dollars subsidizing BC’s fossil fuel production. #bcpoli
— Norm Farrell (@Norm_Farrell) May 24, 2017
Categories: Green Party BC, NDP BC
in-sights.ca 
When Horgan and Weaver went to the l.governers house the other day baldry on global ‘news’ called it a photo op, to your knowledge has baldry used the term photo op in the last few years?
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Hi Norm, I believe I read somewhere that you had taken a well deserved trip. I hope all went well and that you took a lot of pictures.
I agree with your comment that John Horgan can be an effective leader, however from what I see in the past few days, He must be careful not to allow the right wing MSM to tarnish his image. It seems the media wants John Horgan to comment on everything. Even today the CBC wrote that John Horgan will ” read ” the Feds handout to the Forest industry. The problem is, the media will focus on Horgan and avoid Christy Clark and Andrew Weaver. Too much media like this can be come back and bite you. All his comments against pipelines & hydro projects will do nothing but to upset those who are unemployed and give the Liberals more ammunition to attack John Horgan and all NDP members because they will be painted at the party that wants to kill jobs. John should be giving out Andrew Weaver’s number and direct the media to Weaver and let him be the face of bad news……. the bad news that Liberal supporters don’t want to hear and will only cause them to mobilize in the next election.
Thanks Norm,
Guy in Victoria
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I do hope there is some realistic debate about regional transit and TransLink’s tepid performance.
Factbender never took off his rose coloured transit glasses and he got the boot.
I have been told that Horgan is open to new ideas, but is his caucus?
There is that massive $12 billion vanity project of the Premier, the replacement of the perfectly sound Massey Tunnel, that will only exacerbate gridlock in Richmond. it seems Delta South’s newly elected MLA wants the new bridge so he can drive his manure spreader to Richmond (He said in the mop and pail that a new bridge was needed so farmers can take their machinery to Richmond.)
There is also a rumour in south Delta that the new bridge is going to be named after Delta’s mayor, Lois Jackson, which may explain, in part, for her steadfast support of the bridge despite some very logical objections to it.
Better transit planning is sorely needed and not SkyTrain clone LRT in Surrey that is both massively expensive to build, but offers no real transit solution.
The same can be said for the proposed $3 billion Broadway SkyTrain subway, which again will not take a person out of a car and very well may force more people into cars.
Horgan and Weaver have a choice, either work together and make some good changes on how regional transit is funded, or watch the transit gong show will continue.
The public well understands the TransLink “Gong show” by voting NO in the 2015 plebiscite, yet regional mayors have ignored this.
Hard work ahead, but if Weaver especially wants a viable alternative to the car, an affordable rail transit system is a must. It can be done, but do Horgan and Weaver have the political will to tread on sacred cows and step on toes of the dreaded SkyTrain Lobby, including Bombardier Inc. and SNC Lavalin, who happen to hold the patents for the ALRT/ART SkyTrain system.
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This is going to be fun. Clark has 43 seats but has to give up one seat for the speaker .. Linda Reid ( the one who wants free muffins from the snackbar) … taking Clark to 42 seats.
Sounds like she had been crying earlier … as she gasped her way through the media event. She knows she will be “defeated by a non confidence vote in early June” and the Lt Governor will have no choice but to ask NDP/Greens to form the next government.
She is prepared to be the leader of the opposition – but her party will no doubt be posting her job.
Site C will stop, fracking and LNG pipelines will end and Kinder Morgan will be plugged.
The Trudeau, Notley and Clark choir will be singing “On A Slow Boat To China” as they watch their dreamboat go up in smoke and sink off the coast of BC.
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Many thanks for keeping the drumbeat going for so long Norm. It may not be a perfect outcome but there is at last a fighting chance.
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I hope somebody rushes to the aid of the Crown Corps first, way before getting sidetracked by electoral reform which is a relatively unimportant file. Indeed, there are many files more important that I hope will be attended to relatively quickly.
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I have the same expectations Norm has and hope for a successful new government. My main, and not well discussed point generally, is what will the Liberals do? They can by sheer bluddymindedness make all legislation damned hear impossible. You wouldn’t believe the delaying tactics available to an opposition that wants to use them. And the Liberals have the money for another election.
On the other hand, if the Liberals aren’t very careful, voter sympathy could go to the NDP whom the public will want to have a fair chance. With the numbers like this, its a political briar patch. Each side has ro walk with care,
My thoughts on seeing the end of the worst government and premier i’ve witnessed is joy! Good riddance to Christy & Co but John, I know you don’t care for me or my advice, but take care. f I was there in 1979 and saw what a skilled opposition can do! Even Rafe isn’t always wrong!
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I’m delighted to see the end of Christy and to give Horgan a good and fair chance. In that regard, let’s remember he inherits a Province twice as indebted as it was in 2001, a bankrupt BCH, IPP raking off a fortune, a $10 BILLION site C committment. ICBC in tatters, a natural gas industry in big trouble (thank God we have that Billion$ Prosperity Fund – or is it a TRILLION) plus, Kinder Morgan and Woodfibre LNG etc). Before the new zcaninet has found the Cabinet Room the Liberal Opposition will be convincing us that all the above is the fault of the NDP.
Somehow we’re forgetting that the NDP haven’t really got a majority in real terms and “properly” harassed are always on the brink of death and the Liberals have buckets of dough. The chickens will come home ro roos but Christy is no longer in charge of nor responsible for that roost.
Good riddance, I say, but let’s not kid ourselves and make Horgan’s job even harder by assuming he has a slam dunk.i was in a government with a 5 seat majority and it was hell.
Good luck, Mr. Horgan, you’re sure as hell going to need it!
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I suspect that we’ll see a few by-elections in the next 12 months. After years at the cabinet table, a number of soon-to-be-ex ministers will not relish seats on the opposition bench, particularly if the Legislature is in session for more than a few weeks each year. The seat count may look different before too long.
No doubt the Liberals will be blaming NDP for all difficulties we face, especially if interest rates increase and the real estate bubble bursts. However, the new government will be revealing some uncomfortable truths that Liberals cannot evade.
First and foremost will be truthful accounting at BC Hydro. That means BC Hydro’s true financial woes will be widely known. In addition, the shocking amount of subsidies to natural gas producers will be prominently reported and the $2 billion in unrecorded credits owed producers will become known to all. I’m certain the Coleman initiatives will be particularly embarrassing when fully revealed.
I don’t expect perfection in the coming months but I do expect a new openness and a government willing to listen to people other than lobbyists, special interests and political donors.
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But will Weaver allow a closer inspection of IPPs, since he is the keynote speaker at CleanEnergyBC’s AGM tonight?
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Maybe Christy Clark can now finally get a real job where she has to show up for work. B.C. has woken up from her nightmare.
Perhaps she can apply for one of the thousands of jobs she said her Government was creating.
She has a hard hat. Maybe she wiill apply for one of her ” world class oil response” clean-up crews and take her media entourage with her.
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Watch the reporting get way more intensive from palmer and baldrey now,,,and I didn’t use capitals on purpose
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Great Summary Norm. Your hard work…investigative journalism that kept the electorate informed was always appreciated and certainly helped formulate our decisions at the ballot box.
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