B.C. land swap deal with Westbank First Nation stirs up political trouble in West Kelowna

Posted on August 9, 2011 by

The B.C. Liberals have themselves a little problem in the Okanagan. The District of West Kelowna is up in arms over a land deal between the province and the Westbank First Nation, fearing it will fleece taxpayers and leave the municipality dealing with a major development right next to a water reservoir. I got to write about it for the Globe and it got heavy treatment from local media. I guess the cabinet minster responsible for the file, Transportation and Infrastructure Minister, Blair Lekstrom, got so many interview requests, he felt compelled to hold a conference call with reporters. The problem there was that he wasn’t the minister who made the deal and he probably hadn’t had time to thoroughly immerse himself in the file yet.

The wide reporting of Lekstrom’s remarks got West Kelowna Mayor, Doug Findlater, all mad again and he sent out another press release and got a lot more local coverage. And then today, Westside-Kelowna MLA Ben Stewart felt compelled to hold a press conference in his consituency office. Unfortunately I couldn’t go because I was on another job. But the Capital News went and so did CHBC and AM1150.

But it seems that, no longer encumbered by a cabinet post, Stewart chose to take the tact of a local representative standing up for his constituents by trying to hold his own government to account.

It ‘s a difficult spot for the Liberal government. They’ve gone to great lengths to foster good working relationships with First Nation leaders and they probably don’t want to damage those alliances by changing a deal that had been awfully close to closing. At the same time, the Central Okanagan is a party stronghold, and they need to hold onto its three seats if they hope to survive the the next election. But voters here are vulnerable to wooing by the B.C. Conservatives should the Liberals prove to be too soft for the Conservative/Socred/Reform wing of their coalition. And those are the kind of constituents that take to flooding an MLA’s office when they are passionately displeased with what’s going on.

It will be interesting to see how this one gets untangled. Maybe this is what’s preventing the government from making a decision about where to put a prison in the Okanagan, something it said it wanted to do by June.

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Kelowna Constable Geoff Mantler pleading not guilty to assault

Posted on June 21, 2011 by

Well, the case of Constable Geoff Mantler is slowly starting to grind its way through B.C.’s clogged up justice system. Here’s The Globe story I wrote today.

Mantler’s lawyer, Neil McDougall, showed up in court today with plans to plead not guilty on behalf of his client in the case involving Manjit Singh Bhatti. The details of this case are not widely known as the media became aware of it only when the Crown announced the charges against Mantler. However, police wouldn’t release details and no one in the media has secured an interview with Bhatti so we still don’t know anything about it.

Turns out, McDougall couldn’t officially enter a plea today because of a paperwork foul-up. Seems the charge was initially laid “by indictement” (which carries higher maximum penalties) rather than “summarily” because it was laid more than six months after the Aug. 30 date of the alleged incident and summary charges have a six month statute of limitations. Mantler has waived any objections to missing that deadline, but the Crown counsel overseeing the file apparently put contradictory notes in it as to how the charge is proceeding. The lawyer standing in for the Crown didn’t want to make a decision, so the matter was put off.

As for the widely known case involving Buddy Tavares,who was kicked in the head while being arrested in an incident caught on video and posted to YouTube, McDougall still needs time to digest all the evidence in the case before entering a plea, though it certainly sounded like a not guilty plea is coming in this case too. We should know what is happening on July 12, when the plan is to officially enter pleas on both counts.

But after that, get ready for a lot of waiting. The Bhatti case -if it only needs one day as McDougall thinks- will not get a trial date for at least 8-12 months because of how backlogged the system is. As for the Tavares case, which will take at least several days,  “I suspect we’re looking at a long time down the road,” said McDougall.

It will be interesting to see if the RCMP -which has already taken the very unusual step of suspending Mantler with pay- waits until the charges are taken care of before deciding on internal discipline.

Here’s my Globe story from three weeks ago, when the RCMP took away Mantler’s pay.

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Return of the Christina Lake pot bears

Posted on May 18, 2011 by

Well, I couldn’t resist. I did another installment of the Christina Lake pot bears story for the Globe.

It’s an update on the bears discovered by police outside an alleged marijuana grow op. Police said they were guarding the pot, but it seems more likely that it was just an old hippie trying to befriend them.

About a week ago, I read a story where B.C. Environment Minister Terry Lake was asked about the bears and he said they’re coming out of hibernation and that he hoped they would stay away from people. I decided I should try and talk to Allen Piche, the man who has plead guilty to feeding them, so I tracked him down via Facebook. I’m glad I did as he told me a great tale…

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Fate of Canadian democracy in the hands of Conservative backbenchers

Posted on May 10, 2011 by

Well, Stephen Harper finally got what he wanted: a strong Conservative majority with himself firmly entrenched at its controls. No longer will the opposition parties be able to gang up on him and find his government in contempt when it refuses to explain what it’s up to.

It’s the scenario that Harper’s foes have dreaded for years. As long as every one of his 166 fellow Conservatives votes with him, Harper can pretty much do what he wants between now and the next election. There’s certainly nothing opposition MPs can do to stop him.

Now, I don’t buy the caricatures of Harper. I don’t think he’s going to turn out to be some sort of demon who was just waiting to unleash his devilish plot on an unsuspecting Canada. Rather, my worry is that old maxim about how absolute power corrupts absolutely.

So here’s hoping  -now that he has the power he so desperately craved- that Harper wields it responsibly and takes care not to let it go to his head, lest he start abusing it.

But in case Harper does develop an emperor-complex or a Liberal-like sense of entitlement to the spoils of the prime minister’s office, the other 166 Conservative MPs who prop him up in the House of Commons need to be prepared to stand up to him. Because the only way a Harper initiative can be defeated is if 13 Conservatives vote against him.

Now I grant you this is an unlikely scenario. It’s also quite undesirable. Its probably something Conservative MPs want to avoid at all costs as it would bring their government tumbling down and throw their party into disarray. But I do hope that those backbenchers who didn’t make it into cabinet realize they have a role to play in making sure the absolute power bestowed by a majority is used responsibly.

It’s up to them to keep the PM and his inner-circle in check, by not acting as a rubber stamp and subjecting government proposals to scrutiny. Admittedly most of the time that will have to mean quiet, respectful and private scrutiny, but scrutiny nonetheless.

I know it sounds corny but Conservative backbenchers really are the guardians of Canadian democracy. While they were given a mandate to implement the Conservative platform, they were ultimately elected to represent the interests of their constituents, not the interests of the Prime Minister.

And if at some point those interests should clash, it will be up to them to make the right choice.

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Notes from a Conservative backbencher’s victory party

Posted on May 2, 2011 by

Ron Cannan appears to have had an historic win in the riding of Kelowna-Lake Country. At this writing, the backbencher has close to 57 per cent of the vote, making him one of the highest winning Conservatives, as he captures his third term and the party sweeps its way to a majority government.

I went down to Cannan’s victory party at the Delta Grand here in Kelowna to listen to his victory speech. I’m guessing here at least some of the themes he touched on were transmitted through him from the Conservatives war room and I think they give some insight into how the party views itself and its amazing victory:

-linking itself closely to our military. Cannan chalked up the Conservative win as a win for democracy, a right people in places like Egypt and Syria are dying to have and a right that has been achieved here because of the sacrifice of our “brave men and women.” He also cheered our veterans.

-mentioning the “successful elimination” of Osama Bin Laden by the U.S. and the need to stand by our southern neighbour. “Just another example of the importance of supporting our troops who serve with and alongside our NATO and UN partners around the world keeping the  peace and fighting corruption.”

-He compared the fight of Conservative “army” of campaign volunteers to the fight our soldiers are waging. “The fact is we won this battle street by street, door by door, voter by voter.”

The thing for me is that democracy is not like war. The goal should not be to defeat your opponent, but to engage them in dialogue and to work with them to find something that works for everybody.  A vote is not just a non-violent proxy for a bullet.

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Kelowna waterfront development project put on hold

Posted on May 1, 2011 by

How involved should a city get in the development game? I find myself asking that after writing this story: Mystery donor adds wrinkle to contentious Kelowna development plan.

Essentially the City of Kelowna bought up a bunch of properties between 1988 and 1998 and now want to tear down the houses, turn part of the land into a park and sell the rest off to a developer who will be required to build condos, along with a restaurant and commercial space, according to specifications set by the city.

In order to pay for a park, the city is getting into the land speculation game and acting as a quasi-developer, and one it must be noted, that has an “in” at city hall, where all the zoning and permit approvals are made. There’s no dirty dealings going mind you, every is being done above board, but I think it’s worth asking the question whether this is a role we want our municipal governments taking on.

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Federal NDP no longer looks like bogeyman

Posted on April 28, 2011 by

My take on the NDP surge in the final days of the federal election is that voters frustration with the state of Canadian politics is overcoming their ingrained fear of the NDP.

Basically, centrist or right-leaning Canadians have traditionally shunned the NDP, fearing the party would jack up  taxes, embark on a host of expensive social program, send the country spriralling into debt and send investors scurrying for friendlier shores.

But now, their disgust at Harper’s secretive, mean and manipulative ways combined with their contempt for the Liberals inability to get its act together, has them taking another look. And they’re not that scared. As University of Western Ontario economist Mike Moffatt put it, this is “not your father’s NDP.”

Sure, the NDP platform contains spending and programs that are bound to tweak the sensibilities of those inclined to favour a more laissez-faire approach to social policy and economics. But most voters also know from past experience that election platforms shouldn’t be taken literally, no matter what party they come from.

Plus, no one imagines that the NDP is going to grab a majority government and be able to do whatever the hell it pleases. Right now the most probable way the NDP takes power is if it comes in second place but can topple the Conservatives and govern with the support of a shell-shocked Liberal party.

And so while most voters don’t think the Liberals deserve to form government, a growing number are comfortable with them as the economic conscience that keeps the NDP in check.  It’s easy to believe that a pragmatic need to hold onto power will keep the NDP from indulging it’s most extreme urges, just as it did with the Conservatives – though hopefully the NDP won’t be as begrudging and nasty about it.

And who knows, an NDP government supported by the Liberals just might be able to do some exciting things. Perhaps they’ll take stock of the political landscape and realize that its in both their interests to replace our first past the post electoral system for something more representational. At the very least, if they pull this off, I’d like to see them institute reforms that force future governments to be more open and transparent.

If there’s a message that I want all three parties to get out of this election it’s that we don’t trust any of you to have carte blanche to do as you please. We expect you all to work together no matter who is in power and just to be sure none of you get too comfortable in the driver’s seat, we are going to make you take turns being in charge.

And this time, just to show we’re serious, we’re going to hand the keys to the new guy.

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