John Horgan is enjoying the highest approval rating of all.

[Urban Cowboy]

604 BC residents participate in the survey. Not something I'd be cheering about.

were they all from Quadra Island?

More like from a Quadra Island home for those suffering dementia.

[George+]

And still going up....

Went up 3%.

Eat your heart out!



"Moe and Horgan's approval ratings sit at 52 per cent, the highest approval rating of nine provinces polled.

Moe also has the highest percentage of people who are "unsure" — 23 per cent.

Scott Moe and John Horgan are the most popular premiers in Canada, according to a poll. (Angus Reid Institute)"

[George+]

And even Andrew Weaver is way ahead of Wilkinson in popularity...


http://angusreid.org/wp-content/uploads ... e-year.pdf

[Merry]

introducing a new payroll health tax expected to bring in much more than the MSP premiums ever did, resulting in much higher costs for businesses.

For business already paying their employee's MSP premiums, this is mainly just a different way of paying.

Taking the toll off the bridge has also increased congestion and traffic.

Using that logic we should toll every major highway that gets congested. Including our bridge, here in Kelowna.

Primarily by creating a whole new suite of taxes on real estate, including an asset tax on unrealized gains for fellow Canadians, and a new "school tax" that dumps money into general revenues rather than schools.

If we (collectively) are going to build affordable housing for people, we need to find a way to pay for it. And that means some form of tax. Ditto if we want to find money to pay to train adults to re-enter the workforce. Nothing comes free. However, the benefit to society as a whole of having both those things makes the payment worth it.

Just as we collectively pay for things like education, health care, and transportation infrastructure (for the benefit of us all) we ought to be willing to pay to build affordable housing in places where there isn't enough (or any), and to help people to re-enter the workforce (and not be a burden on the rest of us).

That said, any money collected under the guise of "school tax" ought to be used for schools. Using it to make lower mainland schools earthquake proof would be my suggestion.

Other provinces have done this, and while it does bring claim costs down, including the associated legal and litigation costs, it also limits options and payments for people who have a legitimate claim.

The new limits only apply to minor injury claims which, even when legitimate, shouldn't be excessive. Most of the savings will come from reduced need for lawyers, which will save the claimants money as well as ICBC.

Turning minor injury claims into more of an administrative process, as opposed to a legal one, will simplify and speed up the process, while at the same time saving all of us a lot of money. And it should have been done years ago.

[Merry]

George is crowing about the grinning fool having the highest leader popularity. Never mind that his rating has dropped from 53% to 46% since March. That's a significant drop in a very short period. The cloud is lifting from people's eyes....and soon Horgan will plummet to rubbish levels, which is what he deserves.

I'm quite sure that the NDP's handling of the Kinder Morgan file is the single biggest reason Horgan's popularity has plummeted. Because most BC citizens are in favour of that pipeline expansion.

[Urbane]

And even Andrew Weaver is way ahead of Wilkinson in popularity...


http://angusreid.org/wp-content/uploads ... e-year.pdf

The NDP and their supporters always seem to focus on the Liberal leader because they know that the policies of their own party are generally not that popular. Most people are dead set against what the government is doing to try and stop the KM pipeline expansion so they hold out hope that Wilkinson won't be a popular leader. As for polls, I'd say that's the one area that the NDP have done pretty well in over the years. If the polls had all been accurate the NDP would have won five elections in a row instead of losing five in a row.

[Merry]

The NDP and their supporters always seem to focus on the Liberal leader

I think BOTH Parties are guilty of doing that. In fact, ALL political parties, at ALL levels, seem to do that more and more these days. And consequently elections are won and lost based on the personality of the Leader, rather than the policies of the Party. Trudeau winning the last Federal election is a very good example of that happening. Many folks (my adult grandchildren included) voted for the "dreamy, good looking candidate" rather than for particular Party policy. In fact, in far too many cases, if you asked voters which Policies they like (or dislike) the most about the Party they voted for, they probably couldn't tell you. Sad.

As for polls, I'd say that's the one area that the NDP have done pretty well in over the years. If the polls had all been accurate the NDP would have won five elections in a row instead of losing five in a row.

Agreed. But I think part of the reason for that was the Liberal fearmongering about all the terrible things that would come to pass if the NDP were ever elected.

Now that the NDP is in Government, if they can prove the fearmongers wrong, they stand a very good chance of being re-elected. But, if they blow it (which may happen if they continue to handle the KM file badly), they'll be cast into the political wilderness for decades to come.

[rustled]

...
Now that the NDP is in Government, if they can prove the fearmongers wrong, they stand a very good chance of being re-elected. But, if they blow it (which may happen if they continue to handle the KM file badly), they'll be cast into the political wilderness for decades to come.

IMO, you're being very generous with them re: the effects of their "policies" on our economy. Perhaps I am fearmongering, perhaps I am too cynical. We shall see.

(My strongest response to your post was "cast into the political wilderness - from Merry's fingertips to God's ears." Yep, very cynical. But given what's at stake for BC, I'd much prefer they prove me wrong.)