All posts by Guest Post

Inside Election Night’s Drama

By Michelle Gamage, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

As an atmospheric river settled over much of the Lower Mainland, the lights flickered off at six polling stations in Kamloops, Langley and some Gulf Islands. Water coursed down streets in Deep Cove and West Vancouver, and cars were submerged in Burnaby.

It was a fittingly dramatic end to the strangest and nastiest election in recent B.C. history. The campaign was marked with warnings about extremism, communism and climate change denial, leading to a uniquely polarizing election campaign.

At The Tyee, we braved the rain to head out to the parties’ headquarters and watch the results arrive. This is the first year electronic tabulators were used to count votes, meaning results — like the weather — flooded in.

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Some climate information for BC voters

By Barry Saxifrage

BC’s election is coming up. I’m climate-concerned voter, deeply concerned about the increasingly destructive climate future we are leaving to our kids and to all future Canadian generations. I still haven’t decided how I’m going to best vote for climate hope. So, I’m not writing to offer any recommendations on who to vote for. Instead, I’m writing to offer some basic information about BC’s emissions.

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Squamish Nation to unveil 25-year roadmap for the future

Editor’s note: A First Nation’s vision for the future and its political relationship with the larger community.

By Bhagyashree Chatterjee, The Squamish Chief, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Building a future that lasts generations takes time, trust, and a plan. On Saturday, Nov. 2, the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) will unveil its Úxwumixw 2050 Generational Plan—a vision for the next 25 years aimed at strengthening the Nation’s connection to its people, land, and culture.

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Candidates are making election promises on behalf of ecosystems that can’t vote

By Sidney Coles, Capital Daily, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The future of the natural systems we rely on to meet our basic needs—food, water, and shelter is being rolled into campaign promises made by sitting and would-be MLAs across the CRD.  In the run-up to the Oct. 19 election, it’s important to remember that these ecological systems aren’t constrained by riding or ideological boundaries. They will be constrained, however, by environmental policies that impact them, and so impact us all.

Because of their overarching effect on the way we live, work, play, and sustain ourselves, campaign promises concerning the environment and climate should trump all, but they don’t.  It’s understandable that as people struggle to pay rent, mortgage, heating, and grocery bills each month, it’s easy to forget the horrifying impacts of the 2021 heat dome in which 619 people in BC died and the disruptions the washout along the Malahat Highway caused that same year.

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‘Tis the season for promises ahead of this weekend’s BC election

By Sidney Coles, Capital Daily, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Come election season, politicians seeking reelection or office for the first time make a lot of promises. Some we know they’ll keep. Others? It depends. Politicians make promises because they will impact voters’ beliefs about the policies they will implement if elected and serve as an indicator of their capabilities to govern. Incumbents have the advantage of the rearview mirror. They can ask voters to look at past performance. Even freshmen candidates for an incumbent  party seeking to prove their mettle to constituents can bank on that party’s record, in part or in whole—but that also means being accountable for the promises it has broken. In all cases, promises are a kind of promissory note in exchange for representation.

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