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Another back and forth between British Columbia's political parties was sparked this week after theB.C. Liberals said it was not their job to provide any help forthe NDP and Green alliance gaining power in the B.C. Legislature.

"The government, current, is going to put forward a Speaker. Good. That Speaker should be in place as a non-partisan for the term of the parliament," said NDP Leader John Horganin a joint press conference with Green Leader Andrew Weaver on Wednesday.

Christy Clark has indicated her party would put forward an MLA to run as Speaker next week when the legislature is brought back in session.

But whenasked about whether a Liberal Speaker would stay on following a potential lost confidence vote, Attorney General Andrew Wilkinson said it wasn't his party's job to help the opposition secure power.

"It's clear a stable government does not rely on floor crossersand rule changes and other parties for stability," said Wilkinson.

"If the Greens and NDP say they can bring stable government, they have to do it from within their own resources."

The first order of business for the legislature when it is recalled on June 22 will be to find a speaker.

Wilkinson would not say whether Liberals have been told not to stand for the job, but if the party does want to continue, governing convention is they will put forward a speaker.

But the Liberals have indicated that if they are defeated in a confidence motion the Speaker would resign leaving it up to the NDP or Green MLAs to run for the position and thereby creating the possibility of regular 43-43 vote splits.

"There are threats the Speaker may resign, again unheard of, because if you check the standing orders the Speaker of this house is to be elected for the term of the parliament," said Weaver.

"The only reason in this case would be partisan and the position is not supposed to be partisan ... the premier is afraid to let go and she is distracting and creating mischief."

Weaver says the "mischief" Clark is creating extends to thelegislature not reconvening until next week, and her desire that the Throne Speech be debated in full.

"What we are concerned is that the Liberals are making mischief with their delays and distractions rather than facing the people and having a change in government."

With files from The Canadian Press

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BC Liberals say they won't have someone serve as Speaker in NDP government if they lose power - CBC.ca

By Berber Jin

After Trump announced Americas withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords on June 1, fear and concern dominated my social media newsfeeds. Many Stanford students shared New York Times articles warning of the dangers of climate change, and how Trumps decision to pull out threatened the future of the planet. On the day of Trumps announcement, the Times top four or five articles dealt with the ramifications of the deal. Such warnings were predictable, and as a regular Times reader myself, I initially shared similar sentiments. Other liberal news outlets followed suit.

So, I was shocked when, upon venturing to Fox News website, I was confronted with a very different headline: US aircraft carriers join Japanese forces off North Korean coast for military training. There were no fancy infographics about the melting Antarctic ice shelfonly a photo of naval warships conducting military exercises. In fact, you couldnt find any mention of the Paris Accords until you scrolled down the homepage.

Upon further perusal of conservative-leaning news sitesfrom Breitbart to the National ReviewI found coverage of Paris to be nowhere near the magnitude of the New York Times. Yet in the few articles that did cover the event, I found no hint of the warming denialism that liberals seem to believe of every conservative in the country. Instead, I found much more reasoned analyses of the situation than the Huffington Posts TRUMP TO PLANET: DROP DEAD headline, laughably complemented with a photo of planet Earth being consumed by flames.

Considering that the global market towards renewables is becoming more and more competitive, coupled with China and India rapidly adopting cleaning energy economies that would have met the Paris standards regardless of the agreement itself, many conservatives dont treat warming as the big issue. Instead, they see the violation of US sovereignty as the biggest issue in the climate agreement. I read convincing arguments that the Paris Accords placed an undue burden on America, forcing us to stifle economic growth in exchange for only a marginal reduction in US pollution.

Not for the first time, I found it was the right who had covered the issue fairly and reasonably, while the left leaned towards sensationalism.

Though Stanford students like to think of themselves as critical thinkersand deride Trumps tens of millions of supporters as hopelessly brainwashedour reaction to Paris suggests we should restrain our condescension.

The values of liberal ideologytreating global warming as a moral absolute, global citizenry and cosmopolitanism, and intellectual superiorityprevented and blinded us from seeing the Paris pullout as the rest of America did. For most US citizens, patriotism, national integrity, and financial stability matter more than transborder commitments to environmental morals.

These Americans rightly saw Paris not as a crucial fight against global warming, but as an agreement that hurt the country to no global gain.

Of course, differences in values can be healthy: when acknowledge and treated seriously, they can lead to important dialogue over pressing public policy issues. Yet in 2017, we have reached a new and dangerous extreme: we have become so convicted in the truth of liberalism that weve become unable to recognize such differing values. Instead of identifying and evaluating the drastically different approaches to the Paris Deal, we jumped to condemnations of the stupid, uneducated conservativea group of warming deniers who are supposedly anti-science and anti-progress.

Stanfords conviction in liberal ideology as ultimate truthand of any alternative value system as backwards or bigotedblinds us. Perhaps if the populist right were a minority with rapidly disappearing relevance on the national stage, such blindness wouldnt matter. Yet they are precisely the oppositeTrump conservatives control our country now, and they have a vision for America that fundamentally conflicts with our way of life.

This is not going to be another plea for empathy for flyover-country conservatives. The entire debate over whether to condemn or empathize with these voters is part of the problem. We continue to treat Trump supporters as a species to be analyzed behind the walls of academia. They are, to us, harmless: poor, backwards, white-lashing, and hopelessly brainwashed.

Situated at Stanford, we believe that we are at the forefront of change, pushing the boundaries of science, technology, activism, and public service. In our naive hope for a world rid of dying white racists and brimming with artificial intelligence and automation, most of us see the recent populist surge as only a temporary setback. After all, the demographics of the electorate are inevitably shifting in the Democrats favorright?

What we fail to see, however, is that we are no longer revolutionaries at the forefront of history. As we sip our Coupa chai and engage in intellectual banter about feminism, we see ourselves as progressives debating ideas that are far ahead of our timeideas that will become an American, and eventually a global reality.

But maybe it is the Trump-loving middle Americas that are the true revolutionaries.

In a recent op-ed for the New Republic, Michael Tomasky spoke of todays conservative movement as vanguardist. It is certainly acting like one. They first seized an election that was supposed to mark the culmination of liberal hegemony. Now, they are amazingly taking back the intellectual monopoly that the educated elite has on contemporary discourse. Everyday Americans are no longer turning to the Paul Krugmans of the world for commentary on politics and policy. Instead, they turn to anti-intellectual intellectuals like Steve Bannon, Curtis Yarvin, and Milo Yiannopoulos.

And the vanguard is expanding its ranks with zestpulling away millions of establishment Obama supporters toward populism, and coaxing in disaffected liberals from Irving Kristol to David Mamet.

Meanwhile, we liberal anti-vanguards have, in the words of Tomasky, become defensive and distrustful. In response to the 2016 election, we clung ever more closely to political correctness, feminism, and intersectionalityideas that are no longer products of the grassroots resistance, but rather products of a disaffected ivory-tower academia, adopted by the elite Left that the rest of the country increasingly despises.

Such ideas are not hated because conservatives are bigoted and backwards. Instead, they are hated because they are taught from within the classrooms of Horace Mann and Harker, of Stanford and the Ivies. They are hated because they do not emerge from organic experience. Rather, they are only accessible to the families that pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for their children to receive an elite education.

I am not saying we should give away these values to accommodate a vision of America that we oppose. However, it is time for us to recognize that we are no longer the revolutionaries. We are instead the reactionaries, struggling to adapt to, and even recognize, a country that is very much fighting against the establishment citizenry of which we are all very much a part. We can no longer dismiss Trumps America with scorn or pity them as basket cases. Instead, we must recognize the true danger they pose, and widen the appeal of our vision of America.

The narrative of an out-of-touch elite growing increasingly defensive amidst an increasingly insurgent and upset populace is one that we should all be familiar with: it has sparked the worlds greatest political revolutions. We are, hopefully, far from this. Yet a shift in our frame of reference is long overdue.

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World on Fire? Liberals are the New Reactionaries - Stanford Review

As parliamentarians prepare for the summer break and Conservative Leader Andrew Scheersettles into his new job, polls suggest the Liberals retaineda comfortable lead over theirrivals in the last quarter, haltinga steep decline in support suffered earlier this year.

In polls conducted between March1 and May 31, the Liberals averaged 40.7 per cent support among decided voters, a slight increase over where the party stood in the previous quarter.

That should come as a relief to Justin Trudeau, whose party dropped 6.8 points in popular support during the winter.

(Red: Liberals, Blue: Conservatives, Orange: NDP, Green: Greens, Teal: Bloc Qubcois) (Natale Holdway)

The Liberals declinedfor the third consecutive quarter in British Columbia, the Prairies and Atlantic Canada, but arestill polling above their2015 federal election result largely due to the gains the partyhas held in Quebec.

The Conservatives trailedwith 30.3 per cent support as the leadership race was coming to an end, a drop of 1.5 points from the previous quarter. The party balanced gains in the Prairies and Atlantic Canada with losses in Alberta, Ontario and B.C., wherethe Conservatives are still polling significantly below 2015 levels.

The New Democrats, in the midst of a leadership race of their own and who have gained 4.3 points over the last two quarters, were up to 17.6 per cent, their best quarterly result since the last election.

The party was boosted by gains in B.C., Ontario and Quebec, though the NDP is still below its 2015 election result in that province.

The Greens and Bloc Qubcoisaveraged 5.3 and 4.8 per cent support, respectively.

While it is too early to know what Scheer's short-term impact on the Conservatives' polling numbers will be, a few surveys have provided some hints.

Scheer, a Saskatchewan MP who beat a crowded field to takethe leadership in May, was previously the House Speaker. The 38-year-old narrowly defeated Quebec MPMaxime Bernierin the contest to replace former prime minister Stephen Harper

A Mainstreet/Postmedia poll gave the Conservatives a two-point bump with Scheer as leader. A Forum Research poll showed the Conservatives down one point compared to where they stood in April.

Neither of these shifts wasstatistically significant.

Nanos Research, which conducts a four-week rolling poll, published new numbers on Tuesday with half of the sample dating from after Scheer's leadership win. It put the Conservatives at 30.5 per cent, up from the 28.6 per cent Nanos pegged the party at just before Scheer took over.

But the sample still contains pre-Scheer data. More polls will be needed before Scheer's impact if any can be adequately judged.

Polls by Mainstreet and the Angus Reid Institute (ARI), however, suggest Scheer has work to do to become better known. Fully 63 per cent of respondents in Mainstreet's poll were not familiar with Scheer or were not sure of their opinion of him, while ARI put the number of Canadians who have either not heard of Scheer or who were only familiar with his name at 75 per cent.

Since the last quarter, the Liberals suffered their steepest declines in Quebec and Atlantic Canada.

The Liberals led with 42.4 per cent support in Quebec, down 2.3 points from the last quarter but still up almost seven points from the last election.

The NDP, at 19.2 per cent, was still six points below its election performance (the NDP-to-Liberal swing in Quebec remains the largest anywhere in the country) but has gained 4.9 points over the last two quarters.

At 19.7 per cent, the Bloc is polling narrowly above its 2015 election result. The party gained 1.5 points since the last quarter, suggesting new leader Martine Ouellet might have had only a small positive impact on the party's fortunes.

The Liberals dropped 7.5 points over three consecutive quarters in Atlantic Canada, falling to 54.7 per cent. The Conservatives, who picked up 5.5points over that time, were up to 24 per cent.

The Conservatives were down over three points in both B.C. and Alberta in the last quarter drops that a new Western Canadian leader may help to reverse.

The Conservatives were down to 24.4 per cent in B.C., putting them still well below their 2015 election result in the province.

The Liberals dropped for the third consecutive quarter in B.C. to 37.8 per cent (down 8.4 points over that time).

The New Democrats, at 25.8 per cent, gained 7.4 points over the last two quarters, perhaps buoyed by the provincial NDP'srecent success in B.C.

The Conservatives were down 3.3 points in Alberta to 56.7 per cent. The Liberals were over 30 points back at 26.3 per cent.

In Saskatchewan and Manitoba, the Conservatives gained for the third consecutive quarter to hit 43 per cent, followed by the Liberals at 32.6 per cent. The party has dropped 9.9 points over the last three quarters in the two provinces.

The Liberals led in Ontario with 43.9 per cent, followed by the Conservatives at 34.2 per cent. Compared to the previous quarter, the margin between the two parties widened by over four points.

But while the Liberals and Conservatives have been wobbling back-and-forth in the province, the New Democrats have made gains in three consecutive quarters, up 4.5 points over that period to hit 16.4 per cent nearly matching their 2015 election result in Ontario.

Altogether, the numbers suggest that the Liberals would have been able to secure another majority government in an election held in the last three months. In all likelihood, it would have been an expanded majority primarily thanks to inroads in Quebec at the expense of the NDP.

But the Conservatives would have held their own, roughly matching their 2015 result. If former interim leader Rona Ambrosewas hoping to "do no harm" before she handed the party off to her successor, she was successful. Any new Conservative gains or losses from here on out will be Scheer's alone.

These quarterly poll averages are based on the results of 14national and regional public opinion polls conducted between March 1 and May 31 2017 by eightdifferent pollsters, interviewing just under 23,000 Canadian adults using a variety of methodologies, including online panels, interactive voice response and telephone interviews.

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Liberals lead quarterly poll report as Andrew Scheer looks to boost Conservatives - CBC.ca

The new B.C. minister responsible for TransLink has announced an about-face on his party's stance on Metro Vancouver transit funding.

Sam Sullivan says if Metro Vancouver mayors want a new transit funding mechanism like a regional sales tax, a referendum will no longer be required.

"What has changed? It's called 'an election,'" Sullivan told On The Coast host Stephen Quinn.

"We just hollowed out in the urban areas of Vancouver. [Premier Christy Clark] heard that message loud and clear.

"She approached me, asked my opinion on where we went wrong, how we could repair this relationship both with the municipal governments and the voters and the urban areas. I said the most symbolic thing we could do, for a start, is get rid of this referendum requirement."

Sullivan says now that he is minister for the time being getting more transit in Metro Vancouver will be a top priority.

The Liberals insisted on the necessity fora referendum for new transit funding during the 2013 election, as well as during the run-up to the unsuccessful transit referendum in 2015 and even just months ago, during the 2017 election, whenClark reiterated her commitment to one during the leaders' radio debate.

"The NDP have said that they want to give the mayors the right be able to to hike people's taxes: vehicle levy, sales tax, who knows what it would be?" she said.

"We are still committed to making sure that if there is any new revenue source required from cities for TransLink, we will go to a referendum on that. We won't just let them hike taxes."

But now, Sullivan says his party is interested in connecting with urban voters, especially with an election coming possibly sooner than four years from now.

"These will be values we are going to the voters with."

Listen to the full interview with Sam Sullivan:

Simon Fraser University political scientist David Moscrop says while the about-face could be viewed as cynical politics, it's also an example of the democratic system working.

"A party adjusted its policy because it's what people wanted."

But if Sullivan, a former Vancouver mayor, was the driving force for the change, it could speak to him taking on a more prominent role in the party.

His appointment as minister of community development and minister responsible for TransLink this week is his first time in cabinet.

Moscrop suspects this might be the first of several policies the Liberals rethink, as they look for a way to return to power in the event they lose a non-confidence voteat the end of June as expected.

Moscrop agrees an election could come sooner than expected, and the Liberals know they need to do better in Metro Vancouver.

"They became arrogant, out of touch. And now they've got some re-evaluation to do," he said.

"It could very well be that this is people saying, 'look, if youwant to govern again,this is the way it's gotta be. you're going to need Metro Vancouver.'"

With files from CBC Radio One's On The Coast

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BC Liberals drop referendum requirement for new transit funding - CBC.ca

Laura Miller has parted ways with the BC Liberals after an election result that appears set to force the party from power and several months before she is scheduled to stand trial in Ontario for charges related to that provinces gas-plant scandal.

Ms. Miller, who joined the BC Liberals just before the 2013 election and returned this year as campaign director, announced her departure on Twitter: I am moving on professionally and geographically.

She leaves as the party faces almost certain defeat in the legislature.

The May 9 election left her party, which has held power for 16 years, reduced to 43 seats. The NDP and the Greens, with a combined 44 seats, have reached a deal to topple the Liberals at the first opportunity. Premier Christy Clark appointed a new postelection cabinet this week, but acknowledges that in the wake of the election, she expects to lose a vote of confidence in the House later this month.

The Premier has not acknowledged the election result as a loss and her party said in a statement that Ms. Millers departure was always in the works: Laura signed on to see the party through the 2017 campaign, and now is transitioning out of her role as planned, a party official said in a statement.

Ms. Miller has become a controversial figure in Ontario and B.C.

She is scheduled to go to trial this fall in Ontario on a criminal charge of breach of trust stemming from the deletion of e-mails about the Ontario Liberals costly decision to cancel two gas plants before the 2011 election. Ms. Miller has said she plans to mount a vigorous defence and has raised nearly $80,000 through a crowdfunding campaign to pay her legal costs.

The charges prompted her to temporarily step away from her job as executive director of the BC Liberals in late 2015, but she returned last year in the lead-up to the election campaign.

Ms. Miller was at the centre of a mid-campaign gaffe this spring when the BC Liberals were forced to backtrack on her claim that a voter who tried to speak to Ms. Clark at a campaign event was an NDP plant. The citizen was brushed off by Ms. Clark after saying she wasnt voting for the Liberals, sparking a widespread social media backlash, with the hashtag #IAmLinda.

Ms. Clark has repeatedly expressed support for Ms. Miller and defended her conduct in the Ontario Liberal government, describing her as a person of the utmost integrity.

Ms. Millers departure comes as the Liberals prepare to recall the legislature on June 22, launching a process that is expected to lead to the defeat of the minority Liberal government.

While the Premier acknowledges the party is likely to lose, she has insisted her government must follow parliamentary conventions to the letter rather than hastening its own demise.

The Liberals initially suggested they would throw a wrench into the works by refusing to have any of their MLAs to stand as Speaker of the house as Parliamentary convention dictates.

Because the balance of power will be so precarious, the political party that gives up a member from their voting ranks will lose a critical advantage.

The Speaker can vote to break ties in the House, but it will be challenging to pass legislation if that becomes the routine requirement.

Now, Ms. Clark says her party will ensure a Speaker is in the chair as long as her party sits on the government benches. So as long as we are in government, we will ensure that theres a Speaker.

On Tuesday, Green Leader Andrew Weaver challenged Ms. Clark to not only ensure a Liberal sits in the Speakers chair, but he said that person should remain in the post even if the Liberals fall on a confidence vote.

It is entirely not tradition to have a Speaker resign. If they do that, she is playing politics and frankly I think the electorate will punish the BC Liberals for that, he said.

We are elected to put British Columbians first, not to put our political ambitions and careers first.

Andrew Wilkinson, a senior Liberal cabinet minister, said the problem of the Speaker is one that the NDP and the Greens should have figured out before they reached a pact to bring down his government.

They have to have a workable arrangement thats going to work for governance of British Columbia, and its becoming clear they havent thought this through.

Follow Justine Hunter on Twitter: @justine_hunter

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Campaign director Laura Miller stepping down from BC Liberals - The Globe and Mail