Northern Beat Weekly
Plummeting popularity, a new party to light our way and a high-flying porcupine
Why hello there!
It’s not every week B.C. politics delivers a new political party, a porcupine joyride, and a premier plummeting in the polls, but here we are. Welcome to politics, where the energy minister now supports dredging the ocean but not building new pipelines, Interior Health’s CEO is clinging to her job like a barnacle on a ferry hull, and two ex-BC Conservatives have declared themselves the righteous saviours of a province they say has lost its moral compass. Say hello to OneBC, the legislature’s newest two-person startup with a mission to dismantle the “reconciliation industry” and bring back good old-fashioned paper ballots.
Meanwhile, Premier David Eby has discovered the cruel downside of Donald Trump: People can’t be scared forever. A new poll shows Eby’s approval rating sliding back to pre-election levels, suggesting voters may finally be realizing there’s questionable planning behind the big promises on housing, health care and affordability. It’s not quite panic time for the NDP, but the post-election honeymoon is definitely over.
Thanks for reading, and make sure you subscribe!
- Rob Shaw
Northern Beat Roundup
BC energy minister supports TMX expansion but no new pipeline
Energy Minister Adrian Dix rejects Alberta’s push for a new oil pipeline, saying the province only supports upgrading the capacity of the existing TMX pipeline and dredging Burrard Inlet to fill up tankers, and is tired of getting dragged into the national pipeline dispute. [Read more]
The Legislature
Interior health should fire retiring CEO instead, critic
Chaos at Kelowna General Hospital’s pediatric unit has local MLA Gavin Dew calling for changes at the top of Interior Health. Dew said IH CEO Susan Brown should resign or be fired immediately, instead of waiting six months for her scheduled retirement.
"It has become painfully clear that the current leadership of Interior Health has lost the confidence of both the people who work there and the people it is meant to serve,” Dew said this week. "We are in a crisis right now, and we cannot wait six months for change. A turnaround at Interior Health cannot happen without rebuilding trust and reopening communication with frontline healthcare workers."
Dew wrote Health Minister Josie Osborne asking her to remove Brown if she does not voluntarily depart early. But Osborne instead expressed public confidence in the leadership and board of Interior Health, suggesting it was unhelpful for Dew to attack individuals.
The Kelowna hospital’s pediatric ward closed May 26 for at least six weeks. A group of physicians banded together to release an open letter accusing Interior Health of failing to address the crisis, listen to solutions, or proactively take steps to avoid a dangerous shutdown. "We foresaw this shutdown and tried to prevent it. Now we need action and change,” read the open letter.
Brown has publicly stated she intends to serve her out her remaining term. Brown earned $403,817 last year.
Ex-Conservatives form new political party
B.C. has a brand new fourth political party! MLAs Dallas Brodie of Vancouver-Quilchena and Tara Armstrong of Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream banded together this week to register OneBC three months after abruptly exiting the BC Conservative Party.
Brodie was kicked out of caucus for mocking residential school survivors on a podcast and for repeated disrespectful behaviour towards the party leader and her MLA colleagues, according to several BC Conservative sources. Armstrong and Peace North MLA Jordan Kealy voluntarily left caucus in solidarity with Brodie. All three had been sitting as Independents until last week when OneBC was registered with Elections BC. Kealy did not join the new party, but said he’ll be monitoring its progress.
“When I realized that none of the other parties had the integrity or courage to make the bold changes we need to survive, I knew it was time to build something new,” said Brodie.
Only two MLAs are required to form a party in the legislature, under changes the NDP government made in 2017 to give the BC Greens party status as part of the confidence deal that kept the NDP in power. Previously, the threshold had been four MLAs.
The designation will give OneBC more than $440,000 in additional legislature funding for Brodie’s office, more than $100,000 per MLA in staff funding, the potential for an office in Vancouver, as well as salary top-ups similar to the two-person BC Green caucus. It will also have representation in question period and on committees.
The party issued early policy positions that include a 50 per cent income tax cut for incomes under $100,000, a focus on pro-family social policies, an end to the Indigenous “reconciliation industry,” private healthcare options and a return to paper-based, hand-counted, election ballots.
There are technically five credible political parties in the province, with CentreBC’s Karin Kirkpatrick having launched an alternative to the Conservatives earlier this spring. However, CentreBC does not have any MLAs and is not recognized in the legislature.
Eby’s performance dips in post-Trump tumble
BC Premier David Eby saw his popularity fall seven percentage points in a new poll this week from Angus Reid, part of what the public opinion firm calls the “post-tariff tension tumble.”
Angus Reid said the public appears to have set aside American tariffs as their top concern and returned to dissatisfaction over domestic issues like healthcare, housing, crime and cost-of-living.
Eby’s popularity now sits at 46 per cent in the lower half of premiers nationally. Wab Kinew, Tim Houston, Susan Holt, Danielle Smith and Scott Moe all have higher approval ratings, with Kinew leading the first ministers pack.
It is the same approval rating Eby had back in September 2024, just prior to the October provincial election when he came within one seat of losing his party’s majority.
The end of the Trump honeymoon for the Eby government could be a worrying sign for the NDP administration, which had few solutions to the key domestic issues in its election platform and has so far failed to articulate any plans to fix them since returning to office.
Rural Reads from Around the Web
Prickly stowaway flies from Mackenzie to the Okanagan
Did you hear the one about a porcupine named Mackenzie who climbed onto a plane in Mackenzie, BC, tucked under the pilot’s seat, poking her head out (scaring the bejeebers out of someone) after it landed in Kelowna? [Black Press]
Measles outbreak hits Northeast communities
Northern Health has confirmed multiple measles cases as part of an outbreak in the northern community of Wonowon. The health authority says cases have also been detected in Fort St. John. Measles is a highly contagious, serious airborne disease that has roared back to life in the United States, in particular, due to vaccine skepticism and low immunization rates. [CKPG]
Province begins studying replacement to Taylor Bridge
The aged Taylor Bridge in BC’s Peace Region could be getting a replacement — eventually. The province announced this week it would begin geotechnical studies to look at solutions and replacement options for the old bridge, which has been a sore point in the community for years. The geotechnical work won’t be complete until August 2026, but the issue has been raised frequently by northern MLAs in the legislature. [EnergeticCity.ca]
Canada’s biggest off-grid solar project in Anahim Lake breaks ground
The largest off-grid solar farm in the country, near Williams Lake and Bella Cool, began construction this week with an expected completion of October. The Anahim Lake Solar Project is geared toward reducing the use of diesel in remote communities, such as the Ulkatcho and Anahim Lake nations. [CKPG]
Bonus
Quote of the Week:
“"I think they'll have a very difficult time getting re-elected, because I think that spectrum of (potential) voters is becoming disenfranchised, and in all honesty, I think talk is cheap,” Jordan Kealy, Peace River North MLA on his two colleagues Dallas Brodie and Tara Armstrong forming the new OneBC party, which he did not join.
Closing
Your Take? Reply with your thoughts, and we may feature your response next week! [Email here]
Share & Subscribe: Forward this to a colleague, or sign up here!
Follow us on: [Twitter/X]
We’re also open to sponsorships! Get your company’s message in front of influential eyeballs from Victoria to Fort Nelson to Port Hardy to Trail. [Email: Fran@NorthernBeat.ca]