My latest Vancouver Sun blog looks at Vancouver International Airport traffic figures and shows foreign tourism took a hit during the Olympics and very few passengers were from outside Canada. Read it here: Did the 2010 Winter Olympics Hurt Tourism in BC?
BCNDP 2013 Election Promise: Clean Elections
BC NDP leader Carole James has fired the first shot of the 2013 provincial election contest by tabling a private members bill entitled the Campaign Finance Reform Act, 2010. Aimed at taking big money out of BC politics, Bill M204 will die on the order paper as there is no chance the Liberals will pass any legislation proposed by the NDP. However the contents of this bill will undoubtedly form a central part of the NDP’s 2013 election platform and be one of the first orders of business for a new NDP government.
Less than 1000 words in length, the Campaign Finance Reform Act, 2010 proposes to amend a number of clauses within the current Election Act which regulates how BC elections are conducted. Most importantly, the amendments would ban all organizations – businesses, union, NGO’s, community organizations, societies, law firms, professional associations, etc – from contributing money to political parties or candidates. Only individuals could contribute to campaigns under the new law. Continued…
Posted in Uncategorized.
– May 27, 2010
New Poll Adds Up to Wipeout for BC Liberals
A new Mustel Group poll shows support for the BC Liberals has sunk to a new low of 32 percent. The poll indicates the NDP are currently enjoying a 12 point lead over the governing Liberals – with 44 percent indicating they would vote for the NDP. With the Green Party hovering around 13 percent support and very small parties at 3 percent, the biggest surprise in the poll is the rise of the BC Conservative Party that now has support from 7 percent of the BC adult population. Continued…
Posted in Uncategorized.
– May 21, 2010
Premier Needs to Rescue Ailing Task Force
The British Columbia Local Government Elections Task Force is slouching toward disaster. Community Development Minister Bill Bennett has badly bungled his responsibilities as task force head and most BC municipal politicians have shown they either do not care enough about local voters to participate in the process or are content to push their own pet demands at the expense of the public. The situation has become so desperate Premier Campbell will soon need to take over if he is to deliver on his promise to “improve fairness, accountability, transparency and public participation” in local government elections.
Posted in Blog.
– April 3, 2010
The BC Elections Task Force: Where’s the NDP?
Now that the Olympic storm has somewhat subsided, media attention seems to be turning to the BC Local Government Elections Task Force. Headed by Community and Rural Development Minister Bill Bennett, the LGETF was struck in October, 2009 and is set to report to the premier May 30, 2010. Listed below, recent media coverage focuses on two main issues: the task force’s lack of transparency and whether to allow businesses to vote in municipal elections as if they were citizens. While it is great to see this coverage, two things are needed to move the debate ahead: the focus of the debate needs to shift and the NDP needs to get involved.
Posted in Blog.
– March 18, 2010
Minister: “Local BC Elections like ‘Wild West’”
A new article about the Local Government Elections Task Force by a reporter who knows her stuff. It would be great to see more of this from papers around the province. According to North Shore News reporter Jessica Barrett:
Municipal election scandals that rocked West Vancouver and several other B.C. communities in 2008 have eroded public confidence in local government elections, according to the minister in charge of a joint task force aimed at remedying the situation. Bill Bennett, minister of community and rural development, said loopholes in the Local Government Act put the onus of enforcement on members of the public, creating an impression that local elections in B.C. are run like the “Wild West.”
“Right now if you’re a member of the public and you are critical of something that’s happened in a local government election, you’re essentially forced to lay a complaint with the RCMP or the police and end up in court,” said Bennett. “For most citizens, that would be a remedy of last resort, but it’s not reasonable to be the first option for someone that has a complaint.” Click here for full article “B.C. task force looks to amend election laws”
Posted in Blog.
– March 15, 2010
Unemployment: Meeting Vancouver’s Next Olympic-sized Challenge
Post-Olympic policy attention appears to be shifting to regional economic matters now that the games have left Metro Vancouver. After experiencing a boom through most of the last decade, Vancouver’s future economic prospects are now less certain. One of the major bonuses of the 2010 Games was that construction projects, and associated jobs, were well underway at the same time the rest of the world was falling into recession. By sheer luck then, these Olympic projects kept the good times rolling by acting as our own local economic stimulus package. Unfortunately current unemployment trends and government policy choices suggest rougher times ahead. Continued…
Posted in Blog.
– March 9, 2010
How Would You Change the BC Local Government Elections Process?
The BC Government has struck a Local Government Elections Task Force to advise Premier Campbell as to how the BC local election process might be improved. In addition to reporting to the Task Force, I have decided to post all submissions I can get my hands on to this webpage in order to encourage more discussion on this issue. If you have made a formal submission please send a copy along to me at kennedys@sfu.ca and I’ll post it here. If you feel like commenting, please do so at the bottom of the page and I’ll incorporate anything you have to say into my final summary report. There are already a couple of postings for you to consider, but please send along any ideas you might have.
Posted in Blog.
– February 21, 2010
How to make municipal election financing fair
In 1997, we were commissioned to investigate how local government accountability in British Columbia might be improved. Disappointingly, little was done to implement the recommendations found in our 50,000-word report. In 2010, we were again asked to reflect and report on the state of local democracy in this province, this time by Minister of Community and Rural Development Bill Bennett and the newly formed Local Government Elections Task Force. We recently presented our findings to the group, the bulk of which concern limiting the amount of money candidates and parties can spend and raise during local elections. Continued…
Posted in Blog.
– February 16, 2010
Report to BC Local Government Elections Task Force
On February 5th, Paddy Smith and I reported to the BC Local Government Elections Task Force. Here is a copy of our presentation in which we call for strict spending and contribution limits and a total ban on corporate and union donations. Local Government Elections Task Force Final Report (Smith/Stewart 2010).
Posted in Blog.
– February 9, 2010
