John Rustad needs to win two elections

And trying to catch up on some of the summer news

OK, let’s do this. Among the reasons I’ve been delaying restarting the daily newsletter is a bit of paralysis around how to approach the whole provincial election thing. In case you somehow missed it, B.C. United leader Kevin Falcon decided to pull himself and all of his party’s candidates out of the race, bringing to an end the careers of many veteran MLAs, including Shirley Bond who has represented the Prince George and Robson Valley regions for more than two decades. This past Friday, Bond held what is likely her last public events as an MLA, unveiling a new program to expand defibrillator access alongside someone she often critized while in opposion - Adrian Dix, the B.C. NDP health minister. At the event, both MLAs pontificated on the need to work across party lines in order to improve the lives of contsituents, with Bond making mention of the increasingly polarized political environment. She didn’t specify whether she was referring to international, national or provincial politics, and she has so far refrained from endorsing anyone in the upcoming provincial race.

This is potentially notable because one might think the decision for who she’d want to endorse is easy: On the one side, you have the B.C. NDP, the party that Bond has been in opposition to her entire political career, and on the other, you have the B.C. Conservatives, the party that Falcon is supporting and the party that is led by someone Bond worked closely with for many years — John Rustad, an MLA elected four years after Bond who also represents north-central B.C., and who frequently appeared at events alongside Bond when his riding included a portion of Prince George. Of course, Rustad didn’t invite Bond to run for the B.C. Conservative Party when the whole shakeout happened, so clearly somewhere along the way the two set on different paths. Asked directly her thoughts on Rustad’s position on healthcare Friday, including his party’s repeated call for Dr. Bonnie Henry to be fired, Bond simply said “John has clear views about how he would behave as premier of British Columbia and that's going to be up to voters.”

Which brings me to the next part of this newsletter, which is the voters Rustad needs to win over.

The B.C. Conservative Party has been polling well— that is why we’re here— but the way elections are set up in B.C. is that if you want be the premier, 1. your party has to win the most ridings in B.C. and 2. you need to win in your riding. These are two different things. Winning the most ridings in B.C. involves a provincial fight, convincing a majority of voters that you will be the best person to represent B.C. on a national and international stage. But winning your riding means convincing the people who live there that you will be the best person to represent that specific, local area on a provincial stage.

Sometimes, those two things are at odds with each other. If you’re trying to make your way around the province drumming up support for your party as a whole, that’s less time to appear at local events and speaking to the voters you need to sent you back to Victoria. Take, for example, news late last week that Rustad has opted to pull out of the local all-candidates’ debate organized by the Vanderhoof Chamber of Commerce:

"This is very disappointing for our area. The Nechako Lakes riding has supported John for almost 20 years," said Chamber manager Shelley Funk.

"In John's write up on the BC Conservatives page he states 'that his focus has always been on developing his riding'. Vanderhoof has always been a very strong political community and should have the opportunity to ask questions of the people who want to represent this area," Funk added. 

Then there’s this post from Vanderhoof city councillor Brian Frenkel made in response to Rustad unveiling his party’s forestry platform:

I'm at a loss for words. It has been 10 days since the Canfor annoucement in regards to the plateau closure. As our community struggles to deal with the path forward we are working and talking to as many folks who have offered support. Ministers, Deputy Ministers, government staff and industry. HOWEVER, our MLA has failed to reach out to our Mayor and offer his support , thoughts or a path forward. But yet he shows up for a photo OP today at Canfor Plateau to unveil his partys forestry policy. Still no contact with our Mayor today. Unbelievable, wouldn't he want know what the community of Vanderhoof was thinking.

Probably not surprisingly, the B.C. NDP seized on this and sent it out as campaign material (I noticed it and was planning on putting it in this newsletter prior to that).

Whether any of this really has an impact in the campaign, who knows? Rustad has won more than 50 per cent of the vote in his riding every time he’s run, so I’m not sure he’s likely to see a drop in that support now that he has a shot at being premier. Still, there are at least a handful of people who seem miffed that his attention is divided at at a time when the Vanderhoof-Omineca region is going through difficult economic times… we’ll see how that plays out.

That’s enough provincial politics for today — there’s a lot else going on here on the home front, including two school board trustees planning to run against each other, but let’s pace ourselves.

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Summer catch-up

There’s no way I’m recapping the whole summer, so let’s go through some key points:

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Arson in Moccasin Flats?

Shelters continue to burn in Moccasin Flats and there is more reporting that this is some form of arson, though the odds of that ever actually being investigated seem exceedingly low.

"Individuals also shared a belief that many of the fires in the [camp] are arsons occurring as retribution (outstanding debts and punishing those who speak to the police to report illegal activity as [an] example)," reads a report from city staff to council.

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RCMP officer found guilty

A provincial court judge has found a Prince George RCMP officer guilty of obstructing justice for ordering a bystander to the aftermath of a violent police takedown to delete video of the incident from his phone.

Const. Arthur Dalman was one of two officers charged in the case — which stemmed from the arrest of a Wet'suwet'en and Gitxsan man who later died in custody.

More here.

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RCMP superintendent retires

Meanwhile, the city’s top cop retired in August and used a Q&A in the Citizen to throw criticism at a lot things. I guess what strikes me is that while there’s a lot of complaining about safe supply and the way the courts work, there is no reflection on police themselves? Like, an RCMP officer was found guilty of obstruction of justice in the case where an Indigenous man died and there’s just comments about “general resentment” toward police tied to George Floyd in the United States. This isn’t really a specific thing to the RCMP, though, I have mentioned in this newsletter before that no one at any political or leadership level, outside of First Nations organizations, even seems to acknowledge when these things happen.

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A news Books and Co. mural

booksandcompanypg

A post shared by @booksandcompanypg

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A new airport hotel?

Apparently, a hotel is being built by the airport. I said this on my social pages when it was announced but while an airport hotel feels very big city, having transit go to the airport would feel even more big city.

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OK, I’m leaving it there. Here’s a picture or Raven Lake from this weekend. If you want huckleberries, I recommend you get up that way.

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