Switching Site URL Back To nbcdipper.wordpress.com

I haven’t been really inspired to write in this blog for a while now, so I’m not going to bother paying the money to map the domain name nbcdipper.ca. The domain name still belongs to me.

If I feel like writing again, I’ll be sure to restore the domain mapping.

Media: If Not The BC Conservatives, Some Other Party Must Rise

Now that the BC Conservatives are busy self-immolating over their cognitive dissonance over the HST, one would think that the BC media would settle down in their predictions of the rise of a significant third party.

Not so, it seems. Instead of the BC Conservatives, another political party, the BC First Party, is ready to rise.

You know, because a 3 month old political party with less money and members than the BC Conservatives is totally going to be the new significant third party.

Oh well, I guess one can’t keep a good media narrative down, I suppose.

On BC Liberal Fiscal Management

After overstating public revenues by $2.6 billion, and a deficit of $1.8 billion, around 4 times higher than the promised $495 million, for the 2009/10 fiscal year, can we now admit that the only thing that the BC Liberals can fiscally manage is a fudge stand?

Ignatieff’s Support For Tanker Ban Good, But Motivations Questionable, & NDP Only Realistic Choice In Northern BC

Well, I’ll give Ignatieff’s announcement of the federal Liberal support of a oil tanker ban on the Northwestern coast of BC one thing: its the first time in a long time that the Liberals have even thought about Northern BC.

But beyond that, I’ve really got to question the logic behind supporting the Alberta Tar Sands and the environmental destruction it brings, but not supporting the method in which to bring that oil to market to sell. I’ve also got to question why Northern BC’s environmentalists are worthy for Liberal support while Alberta’s environmentalists aren’t.

It’s these inconsistencies that make me wonder if the federal Liberal support of a tanker ban only comes from a desire to politically benefit from the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. But despite the reasons, supporting a ban on oil tankers is the right thing to do, considering the negative effect on Northern BC if an oil spill happens.

However, for those progressives living in Northern BC with major concerns about oil tankers and the proposed Enbridge Pipeline, the only realistic choice is the New Democrats, who have supported an oil tanker ban for quite a while. After all out of the 3 Northern BC ridings, the New Democrats control 1 and placed 2nd in the other 2. The Liberals on the other hand, have placed a very distant 3rd in 2 ridings and placed 4th behind the Greens in 1 (in my riding Prince George—Peace River.)

BC Conservatives Not Ready For Prime Time

Out of the immediate fallout of the Blair Lekstrom resignation, the strangest has to be the BC Conservative reaction.

After all, one would think that a resignation of a MLA from the BC Liberals that represents one of the most ideologically conservative constituencies in BC would be an opportunity for them to either gain a member of the Legislative Assembly or at least an ally. Especially considering that Lekstrom and the BC Conservatives have similar views on the HST: that it is something they supported until public opinion turned against it.

But instead of the beginnings of a quiet discussion with Lekstrom, we had a representative of the BC Conservatives, Dean Skoreyko, telling the entire province that Lekstrom was a “rat” and that the BC Conservatives wouldn’t want him in their party.

But wait! Apparently that wasn’t true. Another representative of the BC Conservatives, Randy White, said on Public Eye Radio that Lekstrom was an ideological conservative and that he’d be welcome with open arms into their party.

Oops! Somebody’s gonna have to be fired for that.

The problem now for the BC Conservatives is that the genie is out of the bottle and not willing to go back in. Let’s ignore the personal insults for a minute; as an Independent MLA, would one join a political party that seems to have no handle at all on its communications? Especially considering that, in this modern world, good communications is essential in achieving one’s agenda.

This should have been a simple task for the BC Conservatives: talk about how the Lekstrom resignation means that the BC Liberals can no longer be an effective political voice of the right in BC while sending feelers to Lekstrom to determine if joining the party is in the cards. The fact that they couldn’t do it right shows that they aren’t ready to enter the Legislature, let alone become official opposition or government.