B.C. Politics Thread

[Bob Long]

5 minutes ago, RupertKBD said:

Although I've been critical of the NDP many times over the years (and certainly after the Fast Ferries debacle) I have to point out that expecting the current NDP government to fail, just because the Glen Clark government shit the bed 25 years ago, it's not much different than expecting a late season collapse by the  Canucks, just because the 2006 team did....

 

Nothing has changed about the NDP views on development projects... In fact they are probably more left of centre now. I don't see why anyone would look at eby and think he's going to manage this well.

[RupertKBD]

7 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

Or a bridge 

 

No that would destroy whats special about island.

 

Agreed tho, more investment is a great idea.

 

 That would be quite the bridge. Powell River to Courtenay would make the most sense, I suppose, but that would be a 25 mile long bridge. No idea how much that would cost, but I'm guessing quite a bit.

 

Or you could go up Island to Campbell river and have a series of bridges, from CR to Quadra to Cortes and then over to the mainland....but I don't know.....are there any mainland roads that far up?

[RupertKBD]

2 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

Nothing has changed about the NDP views on development projects... In fact they are probably more left of centre now. I don't see why anyone would look at eby and think he's going to manage this well.

 

I have no idea whether they'll screw it up or not, but I'm not comfortable assuming they will based on some thing that happened over 2 decades ago, under the direction of different people.

[Bob Long]

1 minute ago, RupertKBD said:

 

 That would be quite the bridge. Powell River to Courtenay would make the most sense, I suppose, but that would be a 25 mile long bridge. No idea how much that would cost, but I'm guessing quite a bit.

 

Or you could go up Island to Campbell river and have a series of bridges, from CR to Quadra to Cortes and then over to the mainland....but I don't know.....are there any mainland roads that far up?

 

I don't know what the best route would be... But i think it would be disastrous for the island. 

 

They just need a better managed ferry system.

[Bob Long]

Just now, RupertKBD said:

 

I have no idea whether they'll screw it up or not, but I'm not comfortable assuming they will based on some thing that happened over 2 decades ago, under the direction of different people.

 

Like I said, same philosophy. 

[The Arrogant Worms]

The ferry system was fine until the Liberals(Socreds) privatized it.

 

They also ruined ICBC.

 

 

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

6 minutes ago, RupertKBD said:

That would be quite the bridge. Powell River to Courtenay would make the most sense, I suppose, but that would be a 25 mile long bridge. No idea how much that would cost, but I'm guessing quite a bit.

 

The Confederation Bridge is about 8 miles long.  It cost around $1.4 billion to build between 1993 and 1997.  Based on a conversion calculator, that $1.4bil of 1997 dollars would be around $2.7bil now, and extrapolating (as an estimate) to 3x the length would mean around $8bil, give or take a billion for scale.

 

Correspondingly, the fleet replacement / capital plan put forth by BC Ferries is $5.2 billion, for which the replacement of Queen class ferries with hybrids that @Bob Long seems to think will be a waste (but yet is unable to come up with a viable alternative) is just a part of.

 

I personally hope that local shipyards will put in successful bids and are able to deliver something that is of good quality, can be maintained and have parts readily available locally, and can provide good shipbuilding and maintenance jobs to help the local/provincial economy.  Looking at you, Seaspan.

[The Arrogant Worms]

Vaughn Palmer: Latest opinion poll likely to exacerbate troubles for B.C. United

https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/vaughn-palmer-latest-opinion-poll-likely-to-exacerbate-troubles-for-b-c-united

 

VICTORIA — B.C. United supporters had concerns about the party’s electoral prospects when opinion polls taken earlier this year showed them in a dead heat with the B.C. Conservatives.

 

Those anxieties will surely be exacerbated by a survey, released Monday, that show the party formerly known as the B.C. Liberals trailing the upstart Conservatives by nine percentage points

 

The Abacus online poll by the numbers: NDP 44 per cent, B.C. Conservatives 26, B.C. United 17, and the Greens down at nine.

 

The regional breakdowns also undercut a B.C. United argument against the Conservatives, that the party would split the centre-right vote in close contests, which woul help elect New Democrats.

 

In the North and Interior, the B.C. Conservatives were statistically tied with the NDP. Arguably, in those ridings, third-place B.C. United is the party whose also-ran status threatens to tip seats to the NDP.

[luckylager]

11 minutes ago, RupertKBD said:

 

 That would be quite the bridge. Powell River to Courtenay would make the most sense, I suppose, but that would be a 25 mile long bridge. No idea how much that would cost, but I'm guessing quite a bit.

 

Or you could go up Island to Campbell river and have a series of bridges, from CR to Quadra to Cortes and then over to the mainland....but I don't know.....are there any mainland roads that far up?

Not really. I mean, Powell River. Then you gotta take two ferries to get to Vancouver unless they blast a highway over or through the coast Mountains to the Sea to Sky highway.. 

[Bob Long]

Just now, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

 

The Confederation Bridge is about 8 miles long.  It cost around $1.4 billion to build between 1993 and 1997.  Based on a conversion calculator, that $1.4bil of 1997 dollars would be around $2.7bil now, and extrapolating (as an estimate) to 3x the length would mean around $8bil, give or take a billion for scale.

 

Correspondingly, the fleet replacement / capital plan put forth by BC Ferries is $5.2 billion, for which the replacement of Queen class ferries with hybrids that @Bob Long seems to think will be a waste (but yet is unable to come up with a viable alternative) is just a part of.

 

didn't say they were a waste, just don't trust the NDP to manage the process. 

 

I mean look at the debacle of just putting in a better route for the Massey tunnel. Cool blacked out business case they presented.  

 

 

Just now, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

I personally hope that local shipyards will put in successful bids and are able to deliver something that is of good quality, can be maintained and have parts readily available locally, and can provide good shipbuilding and maintenance jobs to help the local/provincial economy.  Looking at you, Seaspan.

 

wasn't that the idea last time?

[The Arrogant Worms]

Why Vancouver Island will never get a bridge to the Mainland

https://www.capitaldaily.ca/news/bridge-fixed-link-vancouver-island-salish-sea

 

Why a long, long bridge (or tunnel) from Vancouver to Victoria won’t work

https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/opinion/bridge-tunnel-victoria-vancouver-1942941

[The Arrogant Worms]

6 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

didn't say they were a waste, just don't trust the NDP to manage the process. 

 

I mean look at the debacle of just putting in a better route for the Massey tunnel. Cool blacked out business case they presented.  

 

 

 

wasn't that the idea last time?

I belive last time the BC shipyards were too busy with other contracts they had to put in many bid.  I may be wrong but I thought I read that.

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

3 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

didn't say they were a waste, just don't trust the NDP to manage the process. 

 

I mean look at the debacle of just putting in a better route for the Massey tunnel. Cool blacked out business case they presented.  

 

Not like the BC Liberals did any better.  I'll get to that in a bit.

 

I'm in favour of a replacement tunnel, and I don't think a bridge would have been an appropriate replacement for the area.  Noise concerns and lack of snow planning (looking at the PMB and AFB with their snow bombs) make a bridge an awful option for that area.  I firmly believe the BC Liberals were too one-track minded about pushing through a bridge option (perhaps lots of patronage money to give to their buddy buddies?) that they really weren't willing to go with the better option of a tunnel (noise containment, better protection from inclement weather allowing for more consistent movement of goods).

 

9 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

wasn't that the idea last time?

 

You mean when the BC Liberals decided instead to buy from the Germans for the Coastal class ferries?  

[Bob Long]

3 minutes ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

 

Not like the BC Liberals did any better.  I'll get to that in a bit.

 

I'm in favour of a replacement tunnel, and I don't think a bridge would have been an appropriate replacement for the area.  Noise concerns and lack of snow planning (looking at the PMB and AFB with their snow bombs) make a bridge an awful option for that area.  I firmly believe the BC Liberals were too one-track minded about pushing through a bridge option (perhaps lots of patronage money to give to their buddy buddies?) that they really weren't willing to go with the better option of a tunnel (noise containment, better protection from inclement weather allowing for more consistent movement of goods).

 

but the tunnel is more expensive. Oh well. 

 

 

3 minutes ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

 

You mean when the BC Liberals decided instead to buy from the Germans for the Coastal class ferries?  

 

again, who dropped the ball on the fast ferry design? 

[Bob Long]

6 minutes ago, The Arrogant Worms said:

I belive last time the BC shipyards were too busy with other contracts they had to put in many bid.  I may be wrong but I thought I read that.

 

sea span will likely also be too busy with federal contracts as well. 

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

18 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

but the tunnel is more expensive. Oh well. 

 

Except they tend to last longer.  Compared to a bridge, even if the initial construction cost would be higher, the overall life cycle is likely to result in lower costs in the long run (plus better longevity).

 

19 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

again, who dropped the ball on the fast ferry design? 

 

So as @RupertKBD pointed out, you're going to assume 1990s ideologue management is somehow going to persist in 2023?  

 

I'd like to think that the current iteration of the NDP has a bit of a "lesson learned" mentality from the last time they got booted out of government.  Further, instead of political hacks and union interests, I believe this current group are guided more by science, solution-finding, and pragmatism.

[luckylager]

27 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

sea span will likely also be too busy with federal contracts as well. 

Hire and train more canadians, or perhaps stream new immigrants this direction instead of setting them up for counter service at Tim Horton's 

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

Just now, luckylager said:

Hire and train more canadians, or perhaps stream new immigrants this direction instead of setting them up for counter service at Tim Horton's 

 

Nah, why bother when you can be self-defeatist and blame everything on the government of the day?  

[luckylager]

3 minutes ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

 

Nah, why bother when you can be self-defeatist and blame everything on the government of the day?  

You're going to get me started on how badly "we" fucked up by not nationalizing  our natural resources..

 

I'll see myself out

 

 

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

2 minutes ago, luckylager said:

You're going to get me started on how badly "we" fucked up by not nationalizing  our natural resources..

 

I'll see myself out

 

 

 

Maybe I should too.  Bitter and cranky isn't a good way to end a week. 

[Spur1]

15 minutes ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

 

Maybe I should too.  Bitter and cranky isn't a good way to end a week. 

That was most weeks before I retired. Didn’t get better until I got home and had a good dose of scotch. 

[Spur1]

1 hour ago, The Arrogant Worms said:

Why Vancouver Island will never get a bridge to the Mainland

https://www.capitaldaily.ca/news/bridge-fixed-link-vancouver-island-salish-sea

 

Why a long, long bridge (or tunnel) from Vancouver to Victoria won’t work

https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/opinion/bridge-tunnel-victoria-vancouver-1942941

So no bridge, no tunnel, no fast ferries.  How about a catapult. Flying cars, car carrying drones. 

[Bob Long]

1 hour ago, luckylager said:

Hire and train more canadians, or perhaps stream new immigrants this direction instead of setting them up for counter service at Tim Horton's 

 

Agreed in spirit, very hard to do. My BIL works with a supplier to sea span, it's really hard for them to hire skilled workers.

Edited December 9, 2023 by Bob Long

[bishopshodan]

I like that the BC NDP commited a bit of dough to this.

 

Trades are needed in a big way.

 

 

https://www.vicnews.com/news/new-trades-technology-school-adds-to-b-c-ndps-economic-plan-96839

The B.C. government is committing $136 million to build a new trades and technology centre at the B.C. Institute of Technology to close a skills gap that’s widening as baby boomers retire.

 

[luckylager]

1 minute ago, Bob Long said:

 

Agreed in spirit, very hard to do. My BIL works with a supplier to sea span, it's really hard for them to hire skilled workers.

 

Just now, bishopshodan said:

I like that the BC NDP commited a bit of dough to this.

 

Trades are needed in a big way.

 

 

https://www.vicnews.com/news/new-trades-technology-school-adds-to-b-c-ndps-economic-plan-96839

The B.C. government is committing $136 million to build a new trades and technology centre at the B.C. Institute of Technology to close a skills gap that’s widening as baby boomers retire.

 

Hm