Political Junkie

John Weston, the Conservative Member of Parliament for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country issued a written apology to Liberal opponent Daniel D. Veniez for his campaign’s distribution of "misleading" material relating to Veniez’s role as President and Chief Executive Officer of Skeena Cellulose Inc. 

I was part of a powerful forum “Pensions at Risk” hosted by MP Libby Davies a couple of weeks ago. There were speakers from COSCO the Coalition of Senior Citizen Organizations, CARP, the National Union of Public Employees, journalist Bill Tieleman, and myself.

The auditorium was a full, but I don’t think anyone was under 54. We were all discussing the changes proposed in the budget to change the Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement system but as we talked it became clear that this is part of a much more serious dismembering of the Canada that once made us proud to be Canadians.

This is part of a political attack on Canada, the concept of universality and our wonderful social programs: pensions, education, health care, welfare and housing which have been available to everyone from coast to coast to coast.

Not sure, but it looks like Premier Christy Clark is getting more media shy by the week.  Today she chose the quiet of the weekend to announce changes to her cabinet. 

The Provincial government's website annouced today that Clark appointed. John Yap, as Minister of State for Multiculturalism. Yap currently serves as the chair of the Immigration Task Force, a committee examining the current system of economic immigration to Canada.

 Clark also appointed Moira Stilwell, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health with a specific focus on health care innovation. Stilwell has worked as a radiologist and nuclear medicine physician at B.C. Women's Hospital, St. Paul's, Surrey Memorial and Abbotsford Regional hospitals.

5:00 p.m. EST -- Martin Singh finished off the day's speeches, telling delegates about both his past and his hopes for the future.

Throughout the campaign, many dismissed Singh as an inexperienced candidate with no chance of winning. But during his speech his core group of supporters, including his wife and three children, stood near the stage, chanting his name with the same ferocity other candidates got.

Martin Singh called for a nation-wide pharmacare plan

The Nova Scotia businessman began his 20-minute time slot with a cartoon video explaining why he, a white Nova Scotian with Anglo-Saxon roots, was a Sikh. 

He said he had found the religion in high school, married an Indian woman and was now an active member of the Sikh community.