BC politics

BC NDP Leader John Horgan (right) meets with Spring Hawes, the BC NDP candidate for Kelowna West, at Vernon’s Ratio Coffee on Saturday, Oct. 3. (Contributed)

Horgan makes impromptu Okanagan campaign stop

Weather delays caused the premier’s flight to Revelstoke to make an early landing in Kelowna Saturday

BC NDP Leader John Horgan (right) meets with Spring Hawes, the BC NDP candidate for Kelowna West, at Vernon’s Ratio Coffee on Saturday, Oct. 3. (Contributed)
Received a write-in ballot for B.C.’s 2020 election? Here is what you need to know

Received a write-in ballot for B.C.’s 2020 election? Here is what you need to know

Close to 500,000 British Columbians have so far requested mail-in ballots

Received a write-in ballot for B.C.’s 2020 election? Here is what you need to know
BC Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson, BC NDP Leader John Horgan and BC Green Leader Sonia Furstenau. (Black Press Media graphic)

NDP, Liberal, Green leaders set for televised debate on Oct. 13

A consortium of broadcasters will televise the 90-minute debate starting at 6:30 p.m.

BC Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson, BC NDP Leader John Horgan and BC Green Leader Sonia Furstenau. (Black Press Media graphic)
B.C. Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson at a campaign stop in Campbell River Sept. 29, promoting a one-year elimination of provincial sales tax to help businesses buy equipment. (Campbell River Mirror)

B.C. VOTES 2020: Wilkinson targets pipeline protesters, promises forest stability

B.C. Liberals vow to grow tree planting, legislate ‘working forest’

B.C. Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson at a campaign stop in Campbell River Sept. 29, promoting a one-year elimination of provincial sales tax to help businesses buy equipment. (Campbell River Mirror)
Carbon Engineering’s pilot project at Squamish B.C. began in 2018, extracting carbon dioxide from air to convert to liquid fuel. (Carbon Engineering)

B.C. VOTES 2020: NDP promises carbon neutral province by 2050

Trans Mountain lays first B.C. pipe, LNG Canada continues

Carbon Engineering’s pilot project at Squamish B.C. began in 2018, extracting carbon dioxide from air to convert to liquid fuel. (Carbon Engineering)
Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau speaks during a campaign stop in Squamish, B.C., on Tuesday, September 29, 2020. A provincial election will be held in British Columbia on October 24. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

BC Greens focus on long-term care reform in first platform promise

Greens have promised to move away from the for-profit care home model

Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau speaks during a campaign stop in Squamish, B.C., on Tuesday, September 29, 2020. A provincial election will be held in British Columbia on October 24. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Fire breaks out with exploding propane tanks at an entrenched tent camp in Maple Ridge, March 2019. (Maple Ridge News)

B.C. VOTES 2020: Wilkinson to stop 24-hour camping in city parks

Ban on ‘unsafe roadside panhandling’ to be enforced

Fire breaks out with exploding propane tanks at an entrenched tent camp in Maple Ridge, March 2019. (Maple Ridge News)
B.C. mayors call on all parties to commit to ‘new fiscal relationship’ with province

B.C. mayors call on all parties to commit to ‘new fiscal relationship’ with province

Municipalities are bearing the brunt of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, politicians say

B.C. mayors call on all parties to commit to ‘new fiscal relationship’ with province
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry briefs B.C. residents on the state of the COVID-19 pandemic, B.C. legislature, Sept. 14, 2020. (B.C. government)

B.C. counts 125 new COVID-19 cases, up to 1,284 active

No new deaths or health care facility outbreaks

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry briefs B.C. residents on the state of the COVID-19 pandemic, B.C. legislature, Sept. 14, 2020. (B.C. government)
B.C.’s carbon tax is the highest in Canada, collected by businesses along with motor fuel tax, provincial sales tax and hotel tax. (Black Press Media)

B.C. VOTES 2020: Businesses now owe $6 billion in deferred tax payments

COVID-19 relief from remittance to province ends with September

B.C.’s carbon tax is the highest in Canada, collected by businesses along with motor fuel tax, provincial sales tax and hotel tax. (Black Press Media)
B.C. NDP leader John Horgan visits an urgent care clinic in Sooke, June 2020. (B.C. government)

Horgan vows to replace B.C.’s shared senior care rooms in 10 years

$1.4 billion construction on top of staff raises, single-site work

B.C. NDP leader John Horgan visits an urgent care clinic in Sooke, June 2020. (B.C. government)
Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau responds to questions during a campaign stop in Squamish, B.C., on Tuesday, September 29, 2020. A provincial election will be held in British Columbia on October 24. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Greens’ Furstenau fires at NDP, Liberals on pandemic recovery, sales tax promise

She also criticized the NDP economic recovery plan, arguing it abandons the tourism industry

Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau responds to questions during a campaign stop in Squamish, B.C., on Tuesday, September 29, 2020. A provincial election will be held in British Columbia on October 24. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Tent camp organizer Ivan Drury demands housing from NDP leader John Horgan during his campaign stop in Maple Ridge, May 2017. He faced protests at his latest campaign appearance there over his government’s imposition of transitional housing. (Maple Ridge News)

B.C. VOTES 2020: Few solutions offered for ‘out of control’ camping

B.C. Liberals, NDP spend millions as problem keeps growing

Tent camp organizer Ivan Drury demands housing from NDP leader John Horgan during his campaign stop in Maple Ridge, May 2017. He faced protests at his latest campaign appearance there over his government’s imposition of transitional housing. (Maple Ridge News)
NDP Leader John Horgan pauses while speaking during a campaign stop in Coquitlam, B.C., Friday, Sept. 25, 2020. Horgan said the struggles of his childhood, watching his mother build the family and his bout with bladder cancer in his 40s, helped forge his political aims of making life better for people. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Childhood lessons, fight with cancer helped John Horgan forge political goals

Struggles of Horgan’s childhood and a bout with bladder cancer helped forge his political goals

NDP Leader John Horgan pauses while speaking during a campaign stop in Coquitlam, B.C., Friday, Sept. 25, 2020. Horgan said the struggles of his childhood, watching his mother build the family and his bout with bladder cancer in his 40s, helped forge his political aims of making life better for people. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
B.C. Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson responds to the B.C. NDP government’s $1.5 billion COVID-19 economic recovery plan in Burnaby, B.C. on Thursday, September 17, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Wilkinson aims to be B.C. premier after cabinet role, working as doctor and lawyer

B.C. election is Wilkinson’s first as party leader, following predecessor Christy Clark

B.C. Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson responds to the B.C. NDP government’s $1.5 billion COVID-19 economic recovery plan in Burnaby, B.C. on Thursday, September 17, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Pensions for B.C. politicans are calculated by taking the highest earning years of the retiring MLAs and factoring in their years of work. (Pixabay.com)

16 MLAs retiring from B.C. politics add up to $20M in pensions: Taxpayers Federation

Taxpayers pay $4 for every dollar MLAs contribute to their pensions

Pensions for B.C. politicans are calculated by taking the highest earning years of the retiring MLAs and factoring in their years of work. (Pixabay.com)
B.C. Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson, a former doctor, doffs his facemask in the medical fashion before a campaign announcement in Vancouver, Sept. 26. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

B.C. VOTES 2020: Echoes of HST in B.C. debate over sales tax

Cannabis, tobacco, luxury cars still taxed in B.C. Liberal plan

B.C. Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson, a former doctor, doffs his facemask in the medical fashion before a campaign announcement in Vancouver, Sept. 26. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)
B.C. Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau speaks during a media availability following her speech at the UBCM convention at the Victoria Conference Centre in Victoria, B.C., on Thursday September 24, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

The ‘relentless underdog’: Green Leader Sonia Furstenau ready for uphill battle

Furstenau was only named the party’s leader one week before the election was called

B.C. Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau speaks during a media availability following her speech at the UBCM convention at the Victoria Conference Centre in Victoria, B.C., on Thursday September 24, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
FILE – A voting package for the 2018 electoral reform referendum. Vote-by-mail packages for the 2020 provincial election will look similar, according to information provided by Elections BC. (Katya Slepian/Black Press Media)

More than 400,000 mail-in ballots requested in the first week of B.C. election campaign

Last election in 2017 saw just 6,500 people vote by mail

FILE – A voting package for the 2018 electoral reform referendum. Vote-by-mail packages for the 2020 provincial election will look similar, according to information provided by Elections BC. (Katya Slepian/Black Press Media)
B.C. Liberal leader speaks at a campaign event with local candidates, Richmond B.C., Sept. 28, 2020. (B.C. Liberal Party)

B.C. VOTES 2020: B.C. Liberals vow to eliminate sales tax for a year

From 7% to zero, then back in at 3% to stimulate economy

B.C. Liberal leader speaks at a campaign event with local candidates, Richmond B.C., Sept. 28, 2020. (B.C. Liberal Party)