Keeping it Real…

In politics … and comedy … timing is critical! But no one in the BC Conservative Party should be laughing at how the vote results/announcement of their new Leader were rolled out Saturday.

The Conservatives, although Official Opposition in the BC Legislature, are barely known by most British Columbians … I’d bet most could not name the past Leader, the new contenders for the job, the party’s critic or more than one or two of their MLAs, if that!

Saturday, the Conservatives were given a FREE gift by Global BC, my old alma mater, when the province-wide station pre-empted its entire 6 p.m. Newshour to broadcast LIVE from the Conservatives’ Convention where the ballot results of their Leadership Election would be announced.

Trust me: given current budget and staffing restraints, that was a real public service to dedicate to the event a full one-hour broadcast (microwave or satellite equipment/technicians; on-site camera, lighting, audio crews; master control staff; on-location host Sophie Lui, Legislative Reporter Ben O’Hara-Byrne, three guest panelists and, in Victoria, Legislative Bureau Chief Keith Baldrey). No other TV broadcaster did that.

And then the Conservatives blew it!

The party’s new Leader had been chosen by members voting on-line over several days, with the ranked-balloting ending at 8 p.m. Friday.

Let’s keep it real: the results of the computerized vote could have been collated and announced within minutes.

But the Conservatives brass decided, quite understandably, to hold a large public event of supporters Saturday in the hall of the Rocky Mountaineer Train Station in Vancouver to announce the results and crown their new Leader … TELEVISED LIVE by Global BC in its top-rated 6 p.m Newshour slot.

What a coup!

Until the Conservatives shot themselves in the foot.

The Newshour went on air as scheduled; Lui and her panel suitably announced to the viewing audience what was happening; and, then filled airtime waiting for the results; and waited, and waited; and waited.

The First Ballot results were not announced until 6:35 p.m!

I can tell you I really doubt, in today’s 150-channel universe, many of the Newshour’s 100,000 (?) weekend viewers who tuned in a 6 p.m. were still watching at 6:15 p.m. … still waiting for FIRST BALLOT results.

Click! Probably by 6:10! Click! Click! Click!

And it got worse!

The Second Ballot results weren’t announced until 6:45 p.m.; the Third Ballot results at 6:52 p.m. … and the final, Fourth Ballot results at 7:01 p.m.

But The Newshour had gone OFF the air at 6:59 p.m. to return to regular programming.

LOL!!!

So the party, that wants to convince British Columbians it can run the province, couldn’t even announce its new Leader … Kerry-Lynne Findlay … and make sure her speech got carried province-wide before the NEWSHOUR went off the air!

Newshour viewers … any who stayed for the full hour … missed her entire speech! When the party could have collated the results shortly after 8 p.m Friday and surely have announced it all and given their new leader province-wide Newshour LIVE airtime before 7 p.m. Saturday.

The” past-7 p.m” coverage did continue on Global’s BC-1 24-hour news station, but I doubt, apart from political and news junkies, the audience there was anything like that of the Newshour on Global BC.

Not an auspicious beginning for the new Conservative Leader!

As for Findlay herself, she’s carrying lots of baggage and may seem too far right for most British Columbians; but David Eby is also burdened down these days , so should be an interesting battle.

And DRIPA could end up being Findlay’s most powerful weapon!

Harv Oberfeld

🇨🇦🇨🇦More than ever, Buy Canadian🇨🇦🇨🇦

(Follow @harveyoberfeld.ca on “X” for FREE First Alerts to new postings on the Blog.)

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First, a quick test: Where were the last FIFA games held? What did you learn about the CITY where the games were held? What did you learn about the REGION where the games were held? When the games were over, did you plan a visit or make investments in the city, region, country?

Some may remember FIFA 2022 was held in Doha, Qatar, but I doubt many Vancouverites, British Columbians or Canadians remembered much more than that … certainly not enough to invest or visit the place.

I recall, from TV coverage, how rich the place seemed, with luxurious sports venues, gold-star hotels and very high end indoor shopping malls … all quite fitting for one of the wealthiest per-capita nations on earth, built on massive exports of oil and gas revenues. (No pipeline blockades or coastal oil tanker ban there!!!)

But there were also many reports/stories/revelations about the use/abuse of hundreds of thousands of foreign migrant workers.

“Human rights organizations reported grueling working conditions in extreme heat, unpaid wages, and the confiscation of passports. Investigations highlighted thousands of unexplained migrant worker deaths, though Qatari authorities claimed only a small fraction were directly work-related,” the BBC reported.

Qatar, of course, is a dictatorship… a monarchy ruled by the Al Thani family. No political parties are legally allowed in the country, so there is no Opposition Leader, no Question Period, no free media and no cheeky bloggers!

Qatar was a FIFA paradise! And so was Russia, host for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada are quite different … thankfully!

The Parliamentary Budget Officer has revealed the estimated PUBLIC cost (all levels of government) for hosting 13 FIFA games will top One Billion dollars … or $82 Million per game. (That’s the estimate: I predict the figure will be considerably higher once all the security bills… and all the “unanticipated overtime’ run up by the cops … piles up.)

Ka-ching! Ka-ching! Ka-ching!

Easy for Qatar and Russia to absorb, control and suppress: no public outcry there.

But here, we’re watching … and should be mortified at the politicians who got us into this mess, being held at the same time that the BC government put “on hold” plans to add 160 critically-needed more beds and a cancer center at Burnaby Hospital; postponed announced plans for seven long-term care homes in Abbotsford, Delta and Chilliwack; delayed the  student housing expansion at the University of Victoria: and will “slow down” its plans for housing investments.

“Seniors are dying in hospital beds waiting for long-term care as B.C. waitlists span years,” read the headline in The Vancouver Sun just days ago.

“Statistics provided by (Health Minister Josie) Osborne during debate on the budget for her ministry show that 7,829 seniors are on waitlists for long-term care beds in B.C.”

“The wait time in the Island Health region averages 345 days, with some seniors waiting as long as 1,861 days. The situation is even worse for some in Vancouver Coastal Health with the maximum wait hitting 2,825 days. The average wait time in the health authority is 315 days. Northern Health has the highest average wait time at 376 days,” The Sun reported. (Read the full story: https://vancouversun.com/news/seniors-dying-hospital-beds-waiting-for-long-term-care-bc-waitlists-span-years.)

This, despite the BC NDP government still running up a deficit this year alone of $13 Billion!

How can the politicians (municipal, regional, provincial, federal) find more than a Billion dollars of taxpayers’ money for FIFA soccer games while so many of the people they’re pulling those dollars from can barely afford rents, groceries, other essential services or, worse, can’t get the essential health care they need … and deserve!

Harv Oberfeld

🇨🇦🇨🇦 Buy Canadian! More than ever …🇨🇦🇨🇦

(Follow @harveyoberfeld on “X” for FREE First Alerts to new postings on this BC Blog.)

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