BC Election - May 9th, 2017

[GGG]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

build a bloody commuter train out to Hope, ultimately to Kelowna, like any European country would do, run it 24/7 so people can live in Abbotsford or Chilliwack and be into Vancouver in 30 minutes for work or a show.

This works when you have 20 million people between Kelowna and Vancouver

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

As a member of the federal conservatives I will be voting NDP.

The bc liberals have done huge, legacy, damage to this province. It's unconscionable at this point.

Irony of all ironies... you don't know what huge, legacy damage to the province is until you've lived through a BC NDP government. There's a reason it's taken this long for the voting public to forget.

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Even rent control is pretty reasonable here with rent increases being capped at 6% annually. BC's Residential Tenancy Act is generally more favourable to tenants than those in other provinces (Alberta's is pretty bad in this regard). Something I would like to see, but I think has to be done at the municipal level is removing the ability for landlords to flat-out ban pets, especially in apartment and condo complexes. I totally understand size and noise restrictions or, in the case of basement suites, the upstairs owners having allergies, but no pets policies are unnecessarily restrictive and are also leading to a surge in people abandoning their animals to various adoption agencies and animal control services.

Rent increase % varies year to year. I dont think the rent increase has been near 6% for almost 20 years. This years rent can only be increased by 3.7 %. One of the highest rates in the last 10 years.

[driveway]

Originally Posted by evman150

Saanich North and the Islands might be the most interesting riding in the province. The three candidates were separated by only a couple hundred votes last time. With a strong Green candidate, I see them taking their second seat here.

Cowichan Valley is another strong spot for the Greens. I would expect them to win the seat somewhat handily.

The rest of the island should go NDP, with the possible exception of Esquimalt-Metchosin (high profile Liberal Barb Desjardins) and maybe one of the up island seats (Green or Liberal).

Here is my prediction:

NDP: 43
Liberal: 41
Green: 3

Also, a small piece of data that hasn't been mentioned is that the Greens have been leading on Vancouver Island in the last two Mainstreet polls. And for what it's worth the Green candidates on the island tend to be more qualified than those on the mainland.

Lana Popham (NDP Saanich South) is an old friend of mine. I'd be happy to support her.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Irony of all ironies... you don't know what huge, legacy damage to the province is until you've lived through a BC NDP government. There's a reason it's taken this long for the voting public to forget.

I've lived through a BC NDP government.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Do... do you have amnesia?

[OMG!WTF!]

After our last AB election I've started to hate the blind vote logic that goes like..."The last/current government is so bad and corrupt I will vote for whatever the alternative is no matter what their current platform is". I just think you have to know by now that whatever government you elect is going to be corrupt, so why not elect the one you think will provide the best platform in the future. Not currently being corrupt isn't good enough.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!

After our last AB election I've started to hate the blind vote logic that goes like..."The last/current government is so bad and corrupt I will vote for whatever the alternative is no matter what their current platform is". I just think you have to know by now that whatever government you elect is going to be corrupt, so why not elect the one you think will provide the best platform in the future. Not currently being corrupt isn't good enough.

This is exactly what I am doing by voting NDP.

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

This is exactly what I am doing by voting NDP.

https://www.amazon.ca/Barbarians-Gar.../dp/0968791506

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!

After our last AB election I've started to hate the blind vote logic that goes like..."The last/current government is so bad and corrupt I will vote for whatever the alternative is no matter what their current platform is". I just think you have to know by now that whatever government you elect is going to be corrupt, so why not elect the one you think will provide the best platform in the future. Not currently being corrupt isn't good enough.

Exactly. People seem perfectly happy to cut off their noses to spite their faces. There simply are no good options in BC, and there really never have been, but the status quo sort of works... the standard being "not a total disaster". The BC NDP are a disaster. The bumbling incompetence of the New Democrats saw them go from a majority to two seats in the late 1990's and it's taken them this long to recover because the vast majority of British Columbians swore, "never again". There was talk at the time of folding the party, which, frankly, should have happened in favour of a new one. I just cannot see how anyone can be comfortable saying "well, it's been a while, maybe they've got their act together".

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

https://www.amazon.ca/Barbarians-Gar.../dp/0968791506

Listed cost: $0.01

Additional shipping cost (from Nevada of all places): $6.49

There is some kind of allegory here, I'm sure of it . . .

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Exactly. People seem perfectly happy to cut off their noses to spite their faces. There simply are no good options in BC, and there really never have been, but the status quo sort of works... the standard being "not a total disaster". The BC NDP are a disaster. The bumbling incompetence of the New Democrats saw them go from a majority to two seats in the late 1990's and it's taken them this long to recover because the vast majority of British Columbians swore, "never again". There was talk at the time of folding the party, which, frankly, should have happened in favour of a new one. I just cannot see how anyone can be comfortable saying "well, it's been a while, maybe they've got their act together".

The status quo "sort of works" if you're above a certain income level. It is a disaster for those below it.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

I don't think you're appreciating what I mean by "total disaster".

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

I don't think you're appreciating what I mean by "total disaster".

Okay, do you think life for people making under say $40k/year has been substantially better under the Liberals than it was under the NDP?

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

I think you've just made my point for me. Your view of "total disaster" appears to encompass "things that would be better for some people if different social and economic policy approaches were preferred by those in power". This is like saying the Federal Conservatives were a disaster if you were below a certain income level. I'm talking about doing massive damage to the provincial economy such that the province as a whole is unequivocally worse off. E.G. the case in ~2000.

I'm not saying that the Liberals have been equally good or bad regardless of who you happen to be in BC. I'm saying that the province isn't driving a hundred miles an hour into the ditch. Compare the present situation with Ontario's.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

I think you've just made my point for me. Your view of "total disaster" appears to encompass "things that would be better for some people if different social and economic policy approaches were preferred by those in power". This is like saying the Federal Conservatives were a disaster if you were below a certain income level. I'm talking about doing massive damage to the provincial economy such that the province as a whole is unequivocally worse off. E.G. the case in ~2000.

I'm not saying that the Liberals have been equally good or bad regardless of who you happen to be in BC. I'm saying that the province isn't driving a hundred miles an hour into the ditch. Compare the present situation with Ontario's.

GDP growth under the BC liberals has stagnated, they have routinely used crown corporations to prop up ill advised tax cuts, and they've sold what were otherwise profitable, revenue generating crown assets for meagre returns.

The province is massively in debt.

The B.C. Liberals will no doubt cite the latest win in the courts as further evidence that they have got Site C past the point of no return.

But that prospect is far from reassuring to taxpayers, given another piece of news this week regarding B.C. Hydro. Moody’s, the international investor service, weighed in Monday with another warning that Hydro’s soaring debt and over-reliance on deferral accounts poses a major risk to the province’s best-in-the-country credit rating.

“The anticipated increase in debt continues to pressure the province’s rating since it raises the contingent liability of British Columbia,” wrote the analysts at Moody’s, even as they reaffirmed a Triple A rating for the 12th consecutive year.

B.C. Hydro’s debt is approaching $20 billion this year, up from about $12 billion when Premier Christy Clark took office six years ago.

The running tally of debt-loading to date covers only a small fraction of the estimated $9 billion cost for Site C and none of the billions more that Hydro expects to spend over the next decade renovating the existing network of dams and transmission lines.

Nor is Hydro in a strong financial position to service and retire all of that debt, as Rob Shaw noted in a Vancouver Sun story Wednesday on the report from Moody’s.

The investor’s service expressed particular concern about Hydro’s practice of deferring present day spending to a burgeoning series of regulatory accounts, to be paid back by ratepayers at some future date.

“Once adjusting net income to take into consideration the extensive use of largely debt financed regulatory asset accounts, B.C. Hydro posts some metrics that are among the weakest of Canadian provincial utilities,” Moody’s said.

Metrics, as in sustainable measures of financial position like revenue, operating costs, ability to cover all those deferral accounts, and service the groaning debt load.

All this is being fixed, say the Liberals. But they’ve been saying that for years while Moody’s continues to ring the alarm bells about Hydro finances.

That last quote from the latest Moody’s report is especially damaging to the governing party.

The Liberals can’t stop boasting about the vaunted Triple A credit rating they’ve brought to B.C. You’ll not hear them admit that under their management, B.C. Hydro has descended to one of the weakest financial positions of any provincial utility in Canada.

Most taxpayers are unaware of the fact that an ever-increasing government debt by the British Columbia government is hidden in the province’s capital budget, according to a Fraser Institute report released June 3.

The study said the true state of B.C.’s finances are misleading because annual interest payments and amortization expenses associated with money borrowed for capital spending for infrastructure including roads, hospitals and schools are recorded in the operating budget.

This spreads the cost over several years, disguising the true state of the government’s finances.

“For example, the B.C. government plans a $184 million surplus in its operating budget for 2014/15,” the Fraser Institute said in a release.

“Despite this projected surplus, government debt is slated to grow by $1.9 billion this year, to a total of $41.1 billion.

“In fact, B.C.’s debt will amount to 17.6% of the provincial economy in 2014/15, up from 12.2% or $24.9 billion in 2008/09.”

This debt, which the Vancouver think tank said is growing “under the radar,” will have serious fiscal repercussions in the future.

https://www.biv.com/article/2014/6/g...by-most-taxpa/

Further, the ideology of these stupid public private partnerships, where the government is unable to take advantage of historically low borrowing rates, has inflated the costs of necessary infrastructure that will haunt this province for the next 50 year or longer.

As economic stewards the BC Liberals have been awful.

[Mike F]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

GDP growth under the BC liberals has stagnated, they have routinely used crown corporations to prop up ill advised tax cuts, and they've sold what were otherwise profitable, revenue generating crown assets for meagre returns.

The province is massively in debt.




https://www.biv.com/article/2014/6/g...by-most-taxpa/

Further, the ideology of these stupid public private partnerships, where the government is unable to take advantage of historically low borrowing rates, has inflated the costs of necessary infrastructure that will haunt this province for the next 50 year or longer.

As economic stewards the BC Liberals have been awful.

Serious question: Do the NDP or Greens propose a fix to this?

I'm currently in the "Liberals stink the least" camp, but have to admit that I'm fairly uninformed about Provincial politics due to my choice of news viewing (I watch ~5 hours of Charlie Rose per week, and ~1/2 hour of assorted other stuff which may or may not include local news).

[OMG!WTF!]

Originally Posted by Mike F

Serious question: Do the NDP or Greens propose a fix to this?.

I wonder that too. Like how is the NDP going to make life better for poor people? And How will they fix the bc hydro debt? So far all I know is they plan to cap hydro rates which it laughably stupid. I didn't really bother with the rest.

[d_phaneuf]

Anytime Horgen is asked how he plans to fix something he says it will be decided after the election, today was on Healthcare

It's for one of two reasons

The NDP base is still very union heavy but they also need a lot of the environmentally leaning voters to go their way as well to win, a lot of BC Business and things like LNG see those groups on opposite sides, he's straddling a fine line because he badly needs both

The second reason is that they don't know, it's a typical BC ndp provincial party platform which takes the position of spending first with no plan on where the fmoney comes from

[Street Pharmacist]

I really don't like the liberals, but the NDP give me zero reason to vote for them. The green party is a joke, so where does that leave me?