B.C. Politics Thread

[Bob Long]

19 minutes ago, Warhippy said:

No.  

 

We need a bypass from Vernon/Spalumcheen to Westbank or the Connector itself.  

 

Why would adding another bridge to slam 4-6 lanes of traffic in to 2 lanes of residential help anything at all?

 

Yikes lol

 

Ok ask Eby to do that then.

[Warhippy]

Just now, 4petesake said:

 

Bypassing Kelowna would help the most imo.

 

Glenmore Rd helps bypass most of the heaviest traffic and gets you through to Winfield but you still have to cross the bridge first. I wonder what the feasibility of expanding Westside Road is or an entirely new highway on the west side of the lake up to #97 and Armstrong? Or a bridge from Westside Rd into Vernon?

 

Fa kling that you need a few overpasses on Harvey. Why does every single crossroad of a major road have to have lights? Or at least synchronize them…

RIGHT!

 

Like wtf, traffic backed up to Friends pub in Westbank because the lights at Water, Pandosy Ellis and Richter are all like 100 meters apart and red at the same time.  They absolutely can not expand the lanes on the Bennett because they can make the actual Highway/Harvey wider.

 

the idea of a new crossing to the foot of Knox is insanity because it would slam 4-6 lanes into single lane residential.  The idea of crossing to McKinley and using the Glenmore is even worse because you cannot make Glenmore wider due to the ALR and private residencies so it would be the same thing.  Added the end of Glenmore in Winfield is single lane and winding in extreme residential.

Do it from the end of Vernon all the way in to Rose Valley or directly to the Connector.  Take 30% of all traffic off of that road/highway entirely and it would make Kelowna so much more bareable

[Warhippy]

Just now, Bob Long said:

 

Ok ask Eby to do that then.

We asked Clarke/Campbell to do it and it was even brought up during the construction of the Coq

 

Nobody listened

[Bob Long]

25 minutes ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

 

 

 

I don't care, I don't live there, whatever works.

[Bob Long]

2 minutes ago, Warhippy said:

We asked Clarke/Campbell to do it and it was even brought up during the construction of the Coq

 

Nobody listened

I'm surprised Clarke didn't but then again it's was her, so....

 

We never seem to think building infrastructure proactively is a good thing for some reason.

Edited July 4 by Bob Long

[Ghostsof1915]

3 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

I'm surprised Clarke didn't but then again it's was her, so....

 

We never seem to think building infrastructure proactively is a good thing for some reason.

I never figured that out. Everything is done for now. Not for long term planning.

Real Estate is not going to get any cheaper (Unless there's some massive financial crises).

Better to plan for 50 years ahead, not 5.

[Bob Long]

6 minutes ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

I never figured that out. Everything is done for now. Not for long term planning.

Real Estate is not going to get any cheaper (Unless there's some massive financial crises).

Better to plan for 50 years ahead, not 5.

 

That's why I'd love to see a big expansion of rail, it would be a big catalyst for opening up land for affordable homes imo.

[Ghostsof1915]

4 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

That's why I'd love to see a big expansion of rail, it would be a big catalyst for opening up land for affordable homes imo.

Absolutely.

[The Arrogant Worms]

Vancouver Island to see $3B over 10 years in B.C. Hydro upgrades

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-hydro-upgrades-vancouver-island-1.7255760

[Bob Long]

1 hour ago, The Arrogant Worms said:

Vancouver Island to see $3B over 10 years in B.C. Hydro upgrades

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-hydro-upgrades-vancouver-island-1.7255760

 

Can't all you island hippies just burn home made candles? 

[Gurn]

5 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

Can't all you island hippies just burn home made candles? 

Most of the hippies hang out on the gulf islands, both south and northern gulf.

Which seem to be getting squat, in upgrades, meaning all those electric boats the ferries are buying, will have to be home ported on Vancouver Island, to recharge over night.

Currently many of the ferries are deliberately stationed on the smaller/remoter islands. This enables faster medical/emergency transport of people.

 Now/soon this will lead to delays, in patient transport--- unless the feds step in and deploy fast response Coast Guard ships and Zodiacs on the remote islands.

[Bob Long]

22 minutes ago, Gurn said:

Most of the hippies hang out on the gulf islands, both south and northern gulf.

Which seem to be getting squat, in upgrades, meaning all those electric boats the ferries are buying, will have to be home ported on Vancouver Island, to recharge over night.

Currently many of the ferries are deliberately stationed on the smaller/remoter islands. This enables faster medical/emergency transport of people.

 Now/soon this will lead to delays, in patient transport--- unless the feds step in and deploy fast response Coast Guard ships and Zodiacs on the remote islands.

 

Interesting, never really thought about that aspect of it. I'd hope that there's a plan but it is BC ferries. 

[The Arrogant Worms]

BC United's Michael Lee, once a leadership candidate, won't seek re-election

VICTORIA — British Columbia's Opposition BC United is losing another elected member just ahead of the province's fall election.

 

https://www.timescolonist.com/bc-news/bc-uniteds-michael-lee-once-a-leadership-candidate-wont-seek-re-election-9207553

[Elias Pettersson]

 

[Bob Long]

25 minutes ago, Elias Pettersson said:

 

 

Cool, rustad found his fauci 

[King Heffy]

33 minutes ago, Elias Pettersson said:

 

Organized crime loses a major source of income and people at least know what the fuck they're taking.  Most overdoses are caused by either the product being stronger than expected or adulterated with other substances.

[Warhippy]

1 hour ago, Elias Pettersson said:

 

LOL

 

Of course a conservative brand like rustad's would make this statement without ACTUALLY posting her entire quote or her reasoning behind it.

 

Fuck me he's just the pinnacle of apex idiot campaigning under the Conservative brand aint he?

 

Just gonna leave this ENTIRE report here you know.  Where it won't be read by anyone who just reads a blurb from a partisan source and immediately assumes that the lead health voice in our province just said give everyone meth at the local IGA

 

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/health/about-bc-s-health-care-system/office-of-the-provincial-health-officer/reports-publications/special-reports/alternatives_to_unregulated_drugs.pdf

 

 

[Elias Pettersson]

NDP disagrees with Dr. Bonnie Henry, likely hopes she'll find a new job (msn.com)

 

NDP disagrees with Dr. Bonnie Henry, likely hopes she'll find a new job

 

VICTORIA — The provincial health officer must have known this week that her call for expanded access to hard drugs without a prescription would be a non-starter with the NDP government.

 

Premier David Eby had already ruled out easier access to the so-called safer supply drugs as a response to the crisis in toxic drug overdoses.

 

There was also what happened last November. Then-coroner Lisa Lapointe released the report of an expert panel calling for the province to alleviate the toxic drug crisis by dispensing hard drugs without a prescription.

 

The New Democrats were so put off by the recommendation, they issued a rejection before the news conference where Lapointe released the report.

Lapointe learned about the government response from one of the reporters covering her announcement. “I haven’t seen that, so I can’t talk about the specifics of it,” said the chief coroner, thoroughly blindsided.

 

The reporter then read out the key passage in the pre-emptive statement from the government: “Non-prescription models for the delivery of pharmaceutical alternatives are not under consideration.”

 

Lapointe, consummate professional that she was, maintained her cool in the face of the insult.

 

“It’s disappointing,” she told reporters. “The panels are impartial, objective, they’re not political, they’re not swayed by ideology. They base their advice on what they believe, based on their knowledge and experience, will reduce the deaths. This is the panel’s best advice.”

 

The government brushoff must have made it easier for Lapointe to announce in the following month that she’d be leaving when her third term as coroner expired in February of this year.

 

Dr. Bonnie Henry, like Lapointe, drew on her own authority and the expertise set out in an 88-page report to bolster her call Thursday for non-prescription access to unregulated drugs — “also known as safer supply.”

 

This time the New Democrats waited until the provincial health officer wrapped up her hour-long news conference before putting out a response. But it was not long in coming.

 

“Dr. Henry is an important, independent voice on public health issues in this province and we respect her advice,” said the statement from Jennifer Whiteside, the minister of mental health and addictions.

 

Then the big but: “However this is a topic we do not agree on. The province will not go in the direction of compassion clubs and other non-medical models for distributing medications.”

 

The premier’s rejection, delivered Friday, was downright blunt.

 

There was “zero” chance the New Democrats would implement Dr. Henry’s recommendation, Eby told reporters. “It’s just non-negotiable.”

 

Still, the premier, like the minister, paid tribute to Henry’s expertise.

 

The New Democrats could scarcely do less, given the way they depended on the provincial health officer during the COVID-19 pandemic.

They maintained that B.C.’s pandemic response was “guided by science,” as interpreted and articulated by Henry. They also relied on her authority to provide cover for some of the more controversial decisions made in B.C.

 

When the schools remained open and some industries avoided lockdown, that was Henry’s doing.

 

When COVID-cases surged around the time of the NDP’s snap election call in the fall of 2020 — yet no new restrictions were added until after the votes were counted — Henry determined the timing.

 

When Henry joined then premier John Horgan on the public platform in mid-2021 to announce restrictions were being lifted, she decided to take part. And when some restrictions were restored after another surge in cases over the summer, that was her doing, too.

 

Well, it was the same Henry who spoke out this week on the toxic drug crisis and her recommended remedy was no less based on her authority and expertise than what she’d said and done during the pandemic.

 

“My role is to provide my best advice on public health matters,” she reminded reporters as well as the government itself.

 

“My job is to put out there what we could do, how we might go about it, what I think are the important health issues that we need to address. I stand by this report.”

However, she also acknowledged that it is up to the government to decide “what people are willing to accept.”

 

And in this case, the New Democrats recognized that there is little enough public support for the combination of decriminalization, open drug use and access to hard drugs on even the current limited basis.

 

Further expansion would be toxic in the political sense, never mind what a widely respected figure like Henry says.

 

Listening to her Thursday, I was struck that we might be witnessing the final phase of her time as provincial health officer.

 

Given the calls for her head from the B.C. Conservatives, Henry acknowledged that her days might be numbered in the post.

 

“You know if people don’t appreciate the work that we are doing, then that is fully their right to replace me with somebody who they are more aligned with.”

 

Even a re-elected NDP government might not be all that disappointed were Henry to parlay her record and credentials into a posting elsewhere.

[Boudrias]

Kinda laughable in a sad way as the NDP move to the center in an attempt to blunt the BC Conservatives. Question might be whether the BC United throw in the towel prior to the election. I suspect they will. 

[Bob Long]

5 hours ago, Elias Pettersson said:

NDP disagrees with Dr. Bonnie Henry, likely hopes she'll find a new job (msn.com)

 

NDP disagrees with Dr. Bonnie Henry, likely hopes she'll find a new job

 

VICTORIA — The provincial health officer must have known this week that her call for expanded access to hard drugs without a prescription would be a non-starter with the NDP government.

 

Premier David Eby had already ruled out easier access to the so-called safer supply drugs as a response to the crisis in toxic drug overdoses.

 

There was also what happened last November. Then-coroner Lisa Lapointe released the report of an expert panel calling for the province to alleviate the toxic drug crisis by dispensing hard drugs without a prescription.

 

The New Democrats were so put off by the recommendation, they issued a rejection before the news conference where Lapointe released the report.

Lapointe learned about the government response from one of the reporters covering her announcement. “I haven’t seen that, so I can’t talk about the specifics of it,” said the chief coroner, thoroughly blindsided.

 

The reporter then read out the key passage in the pre-emptive statement from the government: “Non-prescription models for the delivery of pharmaceutical alternatives are not under consideration.”

 

Lapointe, consummate professional that she was, maintained her cool in the face of the insult.

 

“It’s disappointing,” she told reporters. “The panels are impartial, objective, they’re not political, they’re not swayed by ideology. They base their advice on what they believe, based on their knowledge and experience, will reduce the deaths. This is the panel’s best advice.”

 

The government brushoff must have made it easier for Lapointe to announce in the following month that she’d be leaving when her third term as coroner expired in February of this year.

 

Dr. Bonnie Henry, like Lapointe, drew on her own authority and the expertise set out in an 88-page report to bolster her call Thursday for non-prescription access to unregulated drugs — “also known as safer supply.”

 

This time the New Democrats waited until the provincial health officer wrapped up her hour-long news conference before putting out a response. But it was not long in coming.

 

“Dr. Henry is an important, independent voice on public health issues in this province and we respect her advice,” said the statement from Jennifer Whiteside, the minister of mental health and addictions.

 

Then the big but: “However this is a topic we do not agree on. The province will not go in the direction of compassion clubs and other non-medical models for distributing medications.”

 

The premier’s rejection, delivered Friday, was downright blunt.

 

There was “zero” chance the New Democrats would implement Dr. Henry’s recommendation, Eby told reporters. “It’s just non-negotiable.”

 

Still, the premier, like the minister, paid tribute to Henry’s expertise.

 

The New Democrats could scarcely do less, given the way they depended on the provincial health officer during the COVID-19 pandemic.

They maintained that B.C.’s pandemic response was “guided by science,” as interpreted and articulated by Henry. They also relied on her authority to provide cover for some of the more controversial decisions made in B.C.

 

When the schools remained open and some industries avoided lockdown, that was Henry’s doing.

 

When COVID-cases surged around the time of the NDP’s snap election call in the fall of 2020 — yet no new restrictions were added until after the votes were counted — Henry determined the timing.

 

When Henry joined then premier John Horgan on the public platform in mid-2021 to announce restrictions were being lifted, she decided to take part. And when some restrictions were restored after another surge in cases over the summer, that was her doing, too.

 

Well, it was the same Henry who spoke out this week on the toxic drug crisis and her recommended remedy was no less based on her authority and expertise than what she’d said and done during the pandemic.

 

“My role is to provide my best advice on public health matters,” she reminded reporters as well as the government itself.

 

“My job is to put out there what we could do, how we might go about it, what I think are the important health issues that we need to address. I stand by this report.”

However, she also acknowledged that it is up to the government to decide “what people are willing to accept.”

 

And in this case, the New Democrats recognized that there is little enough public support for the combination of decriminalization, open drug use and access to hard drugs on even the current limited basis.

 

Further expansion would be toxic in the political sense, never mind what a widely respected figure like Henry says.

 

Listening to her Thursday, I was struck that we might be witnessing the final phase of her time as provincial health officer.

 

Given the calls for her head from the B.C. Conservatives, Henry acknowledged that her days might be numbered in the post.

 

“You know if people don’t appreciate the work that we are doing, then that is fully their right to replace me with somebody who they are more aligned with.”

 

Even a re-elected NDP government might not be all that disappointed were Henry to parlay her record and credentials into a posting elsewhere.

 

Sure, why listen to the groups on the front lines when an easy political solution is right there?

 

[Gurn]

1 hour ago, Bob Long said:

 

Sure, why listen to the groups on the front lines when an easy political solution is right there?

 

They are too worried about votes loss, and not about following medical evidence

 

Every party does this, and every party, when they do this are generally wrong.

2024, and leaders are still politicking, with lives at stake.

[bishopshodan]

1 hour ago, Boudrias said:

Kinda laughable in a sad way as the NDP move to the center in an attempt to blunt the BC Conservatives. Question might be whether the BC United throw in the towel prior to the election. I suspect they will. 

I think the BC NDP has done pretty good at responding to the people.

If they are moving a bit more to the center then that might prove my point. 

[Bob Long]

21 minutes ago, Gurn said:

They are too worried about votes loss, and not about following medical evidence

 

Every party does this, and every party, when they do this are generally wrong.

2024, and leaders are still politicking, with lives at stake.

 

It's true. Moral high ground gets shaky when there's competition.

[Sapper]

I like that Dr Henry is at arm's length from government and gives advice based on medical fact and expertise.

 

Politicians take those recommendations and then moralize them to their values as well as costing it out for their priorities 

 

The BC conservatives are following PP in simply condemning it by further ridiculing users and name calling... Only promising to close them.

 

That's it ... So no solutions beyond reminding users that it's illegal and jailing then .... Knowing that non violent offenders won't see jail time because it costs lots of money to build new jails 

 

Shows how gullible con supporters are ... 

Edited July 14 by Sapper

[BabyCakes]

On 7/4/2024 at 1:10 PM, Bob Long said:

I'm surprised Clarke didn't but then again it's was her, so....

 

We never seem to think building infrastructure proactively is a good thing for some reason.

Transit, electrical grid infrastructure, waste water, no matter the government, they don't want to tackle these issues