Last week Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland unveiled a massive budget that includes $53 billion in new spending on, well, just about everything in what looks like a swing for the fences, last-ditch effort to turn around the Liberal Party's ailing political fortunes.One of the big promises in the budget is to b...

It's about 5 months to go, or less, until we go to the polls to elect the next BC government, and wow, things are getting very interesting. The last time we saw anything like this was way back in 1991 when the former Social Credit Party and government virtually disintegrated allowing the upstart BC Liberal Party to swo...

There has been a lot of debate around the Carbon Tax lately, particularly since it's increasing from $65 to $80 a ton on April 1st, and specifically up to 17 cents on a litre of gas. The whole point of this tax was to get people to stop buying gas by making fuel so expensive that we would stop driving conventional cars...

Last week BC Finance Minister Katrine Conroy unveiled the provincial budget for 2024, announcing nearly $90 billion dollars in total spending for the year and a record $7.9 billion annual deficit for the province. By the end of 2027 BC's total debt is now projected to reach almost $130 billion, which means it will have...

Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre recently touched down again in northern B.C. to set off what should be a hard-fought battle for the riding of Skeena-Bulkley Valley in the next federal election. Since the late 1950s the riding has gone back and forth between the NDP and the Conservatives, with the Liberals ...

Happy New Year's. So we've turned the page on 2023 and get to hit the reset button once again on the calendar with new goals and aspirations, but what does 2024 have in store for us? With all the bad news in recent times, from wars in the Middle East and Europe to severe droughts, wildfires, mass shootings, sky high in...

The recent uproar over Prince George Mayor Yu's travel and expense budget has caused quite a stir here in the city and around the province, and he certainly didn't handle the whole situation very well. There's no question the taxpayers should not be paying for unused hotel rooms right here in the city. I think it's a s...

The city of Prince George is now considering reducing garbage pick up from once a week to once every two weeks and in my opinion there's no question city council needs to pull the trigger on this and hopefully increase recycling pick up to once a week to make up the difference. Why? Quite simply because for households ...

.There's been a lot of talk lately in the political world about fixing things that are broken as we get closer to the next provincial election.One thing that hasn't been discussed much of late is ICBC. While there have been some smaller positive changes like renewing your car insurance over the phone, and no longer nee...

By now you've probably heard about the Liberal government carving out the carbon tax mostly on home heating in Atlantic Canada. As really the flagship policy for the government since 2015, it was surprising to hear Trudeau announce that he would be walking back the tax basically in one region while leaving it up to Can...

Crime of all sorts is simply out of control in B.C.This past week we heard about a major retailer, London Drugs, thinking about shutting down stores across the province, including here in Prince George, due to safety concerns and financial costs of repeated criminal acts in and around their stores. We also heard about ...

Recently there has been some controversy around local School Board Chair Rachael Weber's nomination as the BC Conservative Party candidate for Prince George-Mackenzie in the upcoming provincial election.Adding fuel to the fire was Weber's recent comments about private vs. public education, and questions around some of ...

It's been a crazy few weeks for Canadian and BC politics, with shocking stories seemingly coming from everywhere, including the news that the once again upstart BC Conservative Party, now led by Nechako-Lakes MLA John Rustad, has overtaken the Official Opposition BC United for second place in the province.A recent poll...

The complex and difficult decision by the Mayor and Council to shut down the homeless camp at Millenium Park garnered some criticism from those who opposed the move, but it seems clear the majority of residents in the city supported the Council's decision. It's important to remember that our city council represents eve...

.With record heat waves, droughts and forest fires raging once again here in B.C. and across Canada, it's clear that climate change is occurring, and its existence has nothing to do with one's political beliefs.So, what can we do to help mitigate the effects and lessen the burden for future generations? Recycling is on...

On June 17 there will be yet another by-election for two seats on School District 57's Board of Education.Ten people have stepped up and put their names forward to run for those two seats, which is a great thing to see so many people in the community interested in serving on the board. And if one ever needed a reason t...

In February, I had to make a weekend emergency trip to Mexico and back to bring home an ailing family member who was critically ill.And it's my subsequent experience with our health care system that I'm going to talk about today. My relative's first encounter with the UNBC Hospital, weighing only 85 pounds and having n...

The now former BC Liberals finally pulled the trigger on their anticipated name change and became the BC United.No, they didn't become a soccer team and join the MLS. They decided that sounding like something other than an actual political party was a good thing, as fewer and fewer people are joining parties these days...

Last week Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad was acclaimed as the new Leader of the BC Conservative Party.While this may not seem like a major change in the BC political landscape, it has the potential to have a significant impact in the next provincial election.Rustad, who was kicked out of the BC Liberal Party caucus last...

.Last week Skeena Bulkley MP Taylor Bachrach tabled a private member's bill in Parliament to increase airline passenger protection and make it harder for airlines to avoid compensating travelers when disruptions happen within their control. This is something the federal Liberal government should make happen, as the sta...

.These last few weeks have been a rough ride for Justin Trudeau. You might say the entire last eight years have been a rough ride for the Prime Minister. From ethical violations that ranged from accepting luxury tropical vacations from a billionaire; to trying to circumvent justice in the SNC Lavalin scandal; to the Br...

If you're ever spent any time in the world of local government, you know there is a secret, an unspoken truth, you might even say it's the elephant in the room that no one dare speak of:There isn't really a need for regional districts to exist anymore as separate entities from the municipalities they surround. Today, r...

Last time I criticized what I called the Extreme Right in Canada, and today I'm going to talk about the Extreme Left.And I'll get right to the point. We have become a society that's intolerant of alternate points of view and people are often afraid to say what they really want to. A friend that I grew up with in Northe...

In recent years it's becoming very clear how some Canadians have become increasingly polarized on the political Left and Right. This week I'll focus on the extreme Right.A few days ago on the Vancouver sky train a young gay couple was verbally attacked and intimidated by another man who disapproved of their relationshi...

It seems there is an endless debate about the problems facing our health care system and how to improve it - or at least maintain it - along with the perennial requests from the provinces for more federal healthcare funding. Clearly there is not one solution that's going to overcome all the current challenges. A few pr...

Last week both Premier Eby and BC Liberal - now BC United Leader - Kevin Falcon, were in town talking about natural resource industries in the province, and of course top of mind were the formidable challenges facing the forestry industry. But if Premier Eby got the chance to walk or drive around downtown Prince George...

Another new year is upon us and so it's tax season once again.I've always wondered about the logic of the entire process where we spend our own time and money gathering documents and hiring accountants to tell the government how much tax we paid - only to have them spend countless taxpayer dollars to confirm we are tel...

The federal government recently announced that it will prohibit foreigners from buying houses in Canada. Industry experts from across the nation say this will have virtually no effect on the rising cost of housing, as purchases by foreigners make up only a few percent of the entire market.Indeed, New Zealand tried the ...