BC Today, Aug. 14: WorkSafeBC report into wildfire fighter's death | B.C. Conservatives' poll surge

good afternoon and thank you for joining us 19-year-old Devon Gail was killed by a tree that fell on her while she was fighting a wildfire outside of Revel Stoke last summer now a work safe BC report into her death says there are glaring gaps in safety protocols at BC Wildfire service and what is behind the Surge and support for the BC conservative party we'll hear about the party's sharp rise in popularity across the province I'm Amy Bell in for Michelle Elliot and this is [Music] today and thank you so much for joining us on radio TV and live stream and you can call us now on our top story what is your reaction to the worksafe BC report following the death of a young Wildfire fighter last year and what supports are needed to keep wildfire Fighters safe in the future our number is 604 669 3733 you can also call 1 1800 825 5950 or hit pounds 690 or you can always email us BCT toay cbc.ca while the head of the BC Wildfire service is responding to that work safe BC report it follows an investigation into the death of 19-year-old Devon Gail who died when she was struck by a burning cedar tree that fell on her while she was fighting a fire outside of Revel Stoke worksafe BC says dangerous tree assessments were not conducted even though other members of the crew raised concerns and the report outlines a culture of normalizing risk and that safety Protocols are modified in the field which doesn't which don't comply with regulations David Greer is the executive director with the BC Wildfire service he says he accepts the findings of the report but that the nature of the work is challenging and is difficult to control we accept all all the all the things that were in the report um that came out it's very detailed it's very black and white and of course there's a lot of nuances um when you're out there uh in the bush fighting fire we don't you know as an organization don't pin blame on certain individuals at certain times of things and there's safety protocols in place and there's policies in place and it's they're looked at and how they're applied that is a that is a big thing and it's it's something that we're very keenly uh working on and and that's really quite a mission of mine is is how you show up as a leader how you show up um for your people um and to demonstrate safety and to listen to people um that may not be as experienced as you um it may not be as comfortable out there they see things that you don't see um if you've been out there for a long time and you start to normalize your environment that was David Greer the executive director with the BC Wildfire service he was speaking with cbc's Daybreak South today the CBC obtained this report through a freedom of information request so let us know what is your reaction to uh the work safe BC report what supports should be in place to keep firefighters safe call us now at 1800 825 5950 604 669 3733 p690 on your cell phone you can email us BCT toay cbc.ca would especially love to hear from you if you do have experience as a wildfire fighter now for more on this story we're joined by CBC Daybreak South host Chris Walker hi Chris how are you hi Amy thanks for having me oh no thanks for joining us uh Chris what are some of the key findings of this report well Amy this report found failures up and down the BC Wildfire service from on the ground that day all the way up the chain to leadership and into the very culture of the organization as you heard so first we have to keep in mind that this is a dangerous job and it happens in very challenging environments and by very brave people right but and so things can and do go wrong but this is still at the end of the day a workplace and the more dangerous the workplace the more closely the rules need to be followed and on that day fighting that fire the basic safety protocols were not followed nobody did an an initial assessment two different firefighters at the site raised concerns about the very cedar tree that eventually killed Devon Gail one of them suggested that a no work Zone be established around that tree no further safety assessment was done the firefighter's concerns were uh not exactly ignored but kind of dismissed or downplayed supervisors basically just said you know keep your heads up and a number firefighters on that crew did not have the required safety training the required experience all of this contravenes policies and procedures and mandatory regulations now nobody saw this accident happen they heard the tree crack Devon was pinned under it and died and two other firefighters were hurt trying to rescue her and as you mentioned it is a you know the more dangerous the job the the greater the risk but it it does seem that if there is such a extremely high level of danger that that every every box would be checked um you know before you Advanced into that and I know that this report focus is the death of of Devon Gail but maybe what did the report find in respect to you know broader more systematic issues within BC Wildfire service because Devon's death wasn't the only um wildfire related um death last year for for for people in BC well this report outlines that firefighters had long-standing safety concerns specifically about dangerous trees that were brought to management both in the fire service and at the ministry concerns that were brushed aside the report found a culture of minimizing safety concerns on safety protocols it says quote the normalization of risk has been Justified within the culture and safety procedures are not being followed uh it goes on to say there's a well-known and documented history of systemic compliance challenges and that it's a threat to worker health and safety and that both the Wildfire service and the ministry were aware of these challenges and aware that these risk assessments were not being done consistently now this morning I did talk as you said earlier to the chief of the BC Wildfire service David GRE the executive director here's what he said about the culture as a senior member you you notice the big your intuition you have a different intuition you notice the big thing so you notice that the sky looks kind of funny and you go we got to get out of here and and maybe a rookie will go I don't understand you say no I I know that you know the wind's blowing the wrong way the sky doesn't look right the newer person recognizes the smaller things that as a veteran that you may have forgot about because you just normalized that and so there's that whole exchange of information relationship that needs to be needs to happen and that's leadership and that's culture and that's what we're really driving here so the thing is though Amy that doesn't really tell us a lot about why this culture exists at the BC Wildfire service and how specifically it might be changed right and you know I should note that the previous executive director Rob schwitzer who was in charge when this happened was recently promoted to assistant Deputy Minister and the head of firefighter safety based in Revel Stoke is still in his job despite these many failures under his watch so it doesn't really appear that anyone in leadership has been held accountable for these failures and in fact that lack of accountability within the fire service that their internal reviews often justify these risks and normalize these risks that itself is highlighted as a contributing factor to the culture here yeah and when I I read the the report earlier that was surprising to me as as sort of a a a blank not a blanket excuse but an explanation that that this is just the nature of of the job and this is the culture that's always existed Devin Gail was just 19 when she was killed and in the report it does spe specify that it was unclear whether or not her and other young um firefighters had received that proper uh young and and new worker health and safety orientation did you get any sense from speaking with David Greer that more in-depth training will be you know mandated and provided for newer crew members instead of relying on that passage of of knowledge Yeah well yeah the short answer is yes but I should be clear that Devon Gail herself was actually quite experienced this was her third season despite being only 19 this was her third season you're right in in the bush there were two other firefighters on that crew who were less experienced and so yes we understand that these changes for young firefighters that that's already happening and in fact it was underway before the current fire season even began uh the dangerous tree training is now mandatory there's a new course for new recruits about dangerous trees and in fact they pulled Crews off some of the lines early this year to ensure that time was available for all of these training re requirements to be completed but again you know if there's a culture of minimizing risk and normalizing risk all the all all the regulations in the world won't change that culture so there is a thought though that because there's now full-time Wildfire service year round that there that that culture may change with the professionalization and the full-time nature of the Wildfire service okay Chris I'm just going to pause so we can get a few uh calls in from our audience we'll we'll go to um John in Vancouver hi John oh hi there I just was um I I was a first responder at one time and I guess I'm speaking from my observing the way things are been handled communication is very poor um during the fire um I was evacuated um not evacuated for almost two months in a fire zone um then last year I was evacuated 4 days late because they went oops sorry about that um so the the people that are on the receiving in EN code decode here aren't getting their safety concerns addressed properly and then when we look on the TV or the computer and you see somebody that is just out of high school in charge of telling you what to do and what's going on and they're speaking from their home confidence goes right out the window it's like what do these guys know and there's no experience and I'm I'm going to say this just on closing I'm not here to criticize what's been done not really what I'm trying to do is say look you got to go forward with better communication I mean cell towers are down and people are running around from one Province to the other and going oh we got to go back now guys now you do that to seniors you're going to add so much stress to them I'm a senior and I just know that as an observer and somebody who was a first responder this could be done better and don't worry about making your you oh don't make us look bad that's hey that's you that's not us and that's not the people that are working under you do you have fire safety boots for instance is there a code for fire safety boots do you know that the safety boots that they sell now a lot of them are garbage they put the green thing on there how did they get through to being a safety boot if they're not safety boots you know and that that's that's your shoes for walking on fire so do they have the adequate protection even right you want everything to sort of be looked at you guys figure that out because next time around is coming right on the heels of this time round John I I I thank you for your your thoughts and and your look at things uh and it is a a fair point that these these even the most you know minor issues such as the the the boots that they're walking into these fires with need to be safe before that next problem occurs Peter in White Rock joins us now hi Peter thanks for calling in thank you um I'd like to look at the bigger picture just beyond boots and so on um and that's the the fact that as everybody knows um these kinds of horrible forest fires are increased because of global warming and then the Earth has had like theot hotest temperatures in thousands of years yeah forests are destroyed people lose their homes and of course even their lives at the same time we pay for those expenses but not the fossil fuel industry which is the one who profiting in the ter in terms of hundreds of billions of dollars uh on profit while they're destroying the Earth and cause not the Earth but destroying nature causing all these fires and apparently we give billions of dollars in subsidies to fil the fossil fuel industry but but the costs are externalized and we as human beings and as nature are stuck with it and I we really have to I think again look at this bigger picture and reassess everything we're doing if we're going to prevent forest fires not to mention deal with the the increasing threat of global warming the melting glaciers you know all of those horrible developments that are taking place right Peter thank you for for calling in uh always you know anytime I I think Chris you would probably agree we have these discussions about wild wildfires it does lend to that that sort of bigger picture at at what environmental factors have gone into this but um we we do want to focus just on the work safe um report and the wildfires um working conditions Amy if I can maybe I can address one of the the concerns of the previous caller who who talked about uh the communication with the public and I and David G kind of touched on this which is that these firefighters and the Wildfire service are under incredible public scrutiny and incredible public pressure absolutely while these fires are going on and the there may be criticisms about the external Communications that you know the public has with the firefighting service the BC Wildfire Service uh from Communications officers who are working you know maybe on Zoom but the Professional Service behind the scenes you know their communication is is really remarkable what we don't see happening behind the scenes so a lot goes right you know day in and day out on these fire lines that we'll never know about it doesn't diminish what has gone wrong in this particular case but sometimes the public doesn't have a full view necessarily of everything that's leading up to these events that you might see on television or or on the news a lot has happened you know behind the scenes to to make sure people are safe and these fires are are addressed in a timely matter to keep the public safe and you know there hasn't been a fire death in the public in years in this province um so that just you know it's important to keep that context in mind no and I I really appreciate that because that that that is the truth this was an incredibly tragic um event uh but every day you know during the Wildfire season we have so many dedicated people going out there and they are they're C coordinated they have each other's backs but obviously there are some cracks that unfortunately things could fall through uh Cody in Cranbrook joins us now thanks for joining us Cody hi thanks for having me what are your thoughts on on the report that was released today um I find it I find it interesting um I guess um specifically pointing blame at one uh like one organization or another I just wanted to say like I've uh I've run the G it I'm not a young man but I'm not a super old man I'm just 50 but um that's young I I started uh I started my career uh in forestry um moved on to the oil industry and then um into the construction industry and throughout all of them there has been both good and bad information and um influences around me I've had uh many friends seriously injured and and killed um throughout the different Industries and a lot of it I find comes down to the mentality of um you know being uh what's the term like hardcore so you know if you're a force firefighter which I did for a couple of years um these people take themselves very seriously they're um very fit well Tred um but there's still a mentality of being hardcore and getting the job done right um the oil industry was the same um I did uh oil in Alberta and that was a nightmare in the 90s um and then construction as well you know like uh the last 20 years of my life has been spent doing Timber Framing and construction and most of the companies I've worked for have been very good but um when it gets when it gets right down to it it's get up on the roof and get it done get the job done right at all cost and Cody do you find that that there's um you know sort of a negative connotation to complaining or to pointing out that something might not be safe absolutely absolutely and um uh you know it's like uh for a lot of companies um and different Industries it's about the bottom dollar right and it's not about the safety of the workers not that they want to not not that they want to see them get injured but in theory everybody's replaceable and I hate to say that but um and uh yeah lots of situations in construction where just get on the roof don't worry about the harness all right Cody thank and I just the last thing I want to say is just to all the young people or not just the young people but anybody is involved um with trades or industry that um could possibly result in physical harm you have the legal right to refuse dangerous work and don't be afraid to do it because um you know uh it's it's it's takes much less time and it's much less effort to put on a a harness on a roof or then to have um your partner having to care for you for the rest of your life CU you're in a wheelchair I just want all employees and and all workers to just remember that and and I want everybody to stay safe and I I I appreciate those words we're just uh we're a bit tight on time but thank you Chris really brief before I I I do let you go what recommendations has work saafe BC made now so work saafe BC doesn't uh make recommendations they point out what what went wrong and why and whether or not internal regulations in the occupational health and safety act was followed in this there were six violations of that act that can result in fines I haven't yet been able to find if there were any fines levied in this case uh that those may or may not be forthcoming and then of course there could be private legal action filed up to two years after this incident but in terms of recommendations it is up to the employer the BC Wildfire service to draw lessons and Implement those changes all right we'll have to leave it there Chris really appreciate you taking time with us today thanks thanks for having me CBC Daybreak South host H Chris Walker it is 12:27 and you are listening and watching to BC today near the Fraser Canyon emergency Personnel have been deployed to an area of the na nahalat River after a landslide temporarily blocked the flow of water on Saturday night a local Resort operator recorded the moment it happened and he told the CBC what he saw no no way oh no way we were having our dinner watching this event happen um and we're high up on the other side of the river we're we're about 40 50 feet above the River on the other side so we were safe but it was such a dramatic event I'd never seen anything close to it in my life and there was like another tree falling another tree falling and you could hear a little bit of a rumble and then it water came and it was I would say 500 to 1,000 trees came out and then all this debris and dirt and rocks and uh it basically damned the entire theat latch River um which is when I became very concerned um and um but then the after about 25 minutes it the material stopped coming in the same Pace that it was coming it was slowing down more to its closer to its more Normal area of water which is very minimal water um this time of year and um and then the river broke through the dam um but it it it did raise the river 10 feet uh Upstream from us unsettling for us and it's becoming very personal because I feel that many other parts of the river valley are vulnerable to these rain events now because of the intensity of the fire that hit here and the steepness of our slopes um I think there's going to be more land slides in this area in the [Music] [Music] future I'm Amel filling in this week for Michelle Elliott and this is BC today we're on Radio 1 CBC television and live streaming on our website cbc.ca slbc YouTube at C CBC Vancouver and on the CBC News app and coming up in our second half we'll take a look at the sudden surge of support for the BC conservatives that's after the CBC news with Tim Winks good afternoon officials with the city of Vancouver say eight people were taken to hospital after an apartment fire in the Kitsilano neighborhood two were believed to be in serious condition the Vancouver Emergency Management agency says it's registered 20 of 38 displaced residents the cause of the fire is unknown and investigation is underway police in Metro Vancouver say five men have been charged after a major drug lab was dismantled RCMP say they began looking into the case in 2022 leading to the identification of people suspected of being involved in the production and trafficking of the drug MDMA and the BC Wildfire service say thunderstorms should bring some much needed moisture to the parts of the province where hundreds of fires are burning the that includes a destructive blaze in the coutney the service says that moisture will likely arrive in the Rocky Mountain trench in the Northeast as well as the southeast fire Center in the BC weather for the North Coast Cloudy with a Chance of light rain today and highs of 16 in the peace Smoky Skies today with a high of 24 in the central interior clearing this afternoon with highs to 24 as well for the boundary in cutney regions mainly sunny today with a high of 27 for the Okanagan and Southern interior there's a chance of showers this afternoon along with a risk of thunderstorms in a high of 29 and for Metro Vancouver Victoria and the Fraser Valley mostly sunny this afternoon with highs to 23 and now back to Amy Bell NBC today thank you very much Tim and we will have lots more on today's top stories on the afternoon shows in your region in Metro Vancouver here's what's coming up on the coast hi Amy B pury here sitting in for Gloria macareno you might notice that your for mood changes at different times of the year you may feel gloomy in Winter and pey in Spring well today on the show we will hear how our moral compass might also shift at different times in the year a UBC researcher says all of this may have implications for voters as well today BC's human rights commissioner is set to release a report about 10 key issues that will impact people around the province the commissioner Will Be Our Guest on the coast starts at 3:00 talk to you then B Prairie thank you so much you can hear on the coast on CBC Radio 1 and Metro Vancouver and anywhere on the CBC listen app [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] well we are a little over two months out from October's provincial election and a new Leisure poll this week suggests that the BC conservatives continue to gain support it found support for the governing NDP sits at about 42% with the conservatives narrowly behind at 39% meanwhile the conservatives have also surpassed the official opposition BC United in fundraising according to the party they've raised $1.1 million between April and June of this year so we want to hear from you why do you think support for the BC conservatives is growing and are you planning to vote for the BC conservatives in the upcoming election call us at 1 1800 825 5950 604 669 3733 p690 on your cell phone and you can email BCT toay cbc.ca now for more on these developments we have with us Lawrence watt he is the director of The Early Edition program in Vancouver here hello Lawrence good afternoon so you've been speaking to to various experts and politicians about this story what's driving this support for BC conservatives M well it's first important to know that there's a convergence of factors the first thing you have going on here is that the NDP have been in power for about seven years now so it's not unusual for there to be some kind of fatigue with the government at this stage um there was this new polling done just this week from Le that found that housing Healthcare and the state of the economy are major issues that are top of mind for voters and you know for much of the last few decades it was BC United formerly the BC liberals that were seen as kind of the right-wing antidote when it comes to a party trying to look and Tackle these issues but the political landscape in this province began to change last year that's when BC United of course underwent a Rebrand leader Kevin Falcon tried some political Alchemy taking a well-known name a red BC liberal brand and replacing it with something new something untested not gold but pink and teal under the United AB absolutely and um meanwhile at the same time the BC conservatives appear to have benefited from the leadership style of John rustad this is an MLA who is not unfamiliar with government he has an extens extensive government portfolio he's been a former cabinet minister uh and now you also have a situation where there are five mlas in the legislature all of whom were formerly BC United uh the party also has a brand with of course Countrywide name recognition um we've heard about the surge of pv's feral conservatives so I I put this question to Mario cono president of re research Co I I asked him how much does the rise of Pier pov's conservatives have to do with what we're seeing with um John rustads BC conservative party looking into the data uh the level of support that we have right now in British Colombia for the federal conservatives uh it's usually closer to 50% and we've never had an election in this Century where the conservative option uh has been that high I think that definitely plays a role in the way people might be feeling um and it also plays a role in how some uninformed voters might be looking at things uh you know you're expecting the conservatives to be P Po's party and maybe you're not that well versed in the differences between Federal politics and BC politics um that is definitely part of it but it's a it's a name uh that certainly has more gravitz right now because of the way in which the federal conservatives have been polling not only in BC but across the country and there does seem to be that that blurring of the lines and and we've heard this idea before that the BC conservatives are really riding you know a wave of support for Pierre pv's Federal conservatives I I guess what more do we know about you know that connection between the two absolutely well the first thing that it's important to note is that these are independent organizations the BC conservative party is a different party than Pi pov's Federal conservative party but data from Angus the Angus read Institute back in April found that of those who support the federal conservatives in BC 56% say they are more likely to back the provincial conservatives over BC United in the upcoming fall election and on top of that there are many more connections as well of course we could be lazy and talk about the colors and The Branding and the logo depicting a big blue c um but you know Pierre POV and John rustad they also use very similar language they they use the phrase ax the tax when referring to the carbon tax uh when referring to supervised consumption sites they called these sites drug dens and another thing that's important to note is that last year elections BC received a request from the conservative party of BC to change its name on the ballot to conservative party that request was approved and it means that in the fall election when you go to vote if there's a Conservative candidate in your writing on the ballot it'll just say conservative party so I spoke to John rustad about this I asked him whether the party is benefiting from this Countrywide Blue Wave we're seeing in support for the Federal conservatives here is what John rustad told me I think certainly there is some benefit what's going on nationally uh but I would say that's also going on internationally in terms of people wanting change but one of the large factors is when you do polling in British Columbia one out of three people in British Columbia are thinking about leaving this province one out of two youth are thinking about leaving this province they don't see hope they don't see a future in British Columbia and I think that has more to do with the rise of the conservative party than anything because they're looking for change what are you hearing from from the opposition about this I'm I'm curious on their take yes so well when it comes to be United leader Kevin Falcon he still appears to be indefatigable he's on the campaign Trail just yesterday he unveiled a new election pledge promising a major income tax cut if elected and then I spoke to bcnp members I've been speaking uh with members from the party and they say it's important to take this trend seriously former NDP cabinet minister mosa Hoda told me that the first rule of politics is if you don't run scared you run second and what that means for the party is that it needs to continue communicating their message to voters but as things stand today there's two months to go the BC conservatives as we're discussing polling and and donations would suggest that support is surging for this party um you know they've come a long way when you compare to how things have been for them over the past half century they've been kind of in the political Wilderness on the outskirts of BC Politics the trends would suggest that could be about to change significantly in the fall I'll read you one email that we got it's says I wouldn't vote conservative if you paid me uh people be careful what you wish for the NDP is the only party that isn't funded by wealthy individuals and companies if they form a government don't say I didn't warn you so that's one there we go person that hasn't been swept up in the Blue Wave apparently not but um it's certainly very interesting and and yet again uh something unprecedented to Li through thanks so much for that Lawrence thank you we will be in touch with more on this I am sure that is the cbc's Lawrence watt he's also the director of The Early Edition program right here in Vancouver we would love to hear more from you why do you think support for the BC conservatives is growing and are you planning to vote for the BC conservatives or perhaps why you are not you can call us at 1 1800 825-5951 669 3733 p690 on your cell phone and email us BC today at CBC for more on this story we're now joined by heish tford an associate professor of political science at the University of the Fraser Valley good afternoon heish good afternoon Amy so are you surprised by this Surge and support for the for the BC conservatives well a little bit of course we we've been seeing this build up over the course of of months so where they're standing now is not a particular surprise but if uh if you'd asked me on July January 1 of this year right uh BC conservatives would be in this position I would say probably not so so it has been the story of of the Year here in British Columbia as Lawrence was saying there was a Confluence of events I think much of it starts with the unpopularity of of Justin Trudeau federally across the country right uh and the conservative wave that Pierre PV has managed to engineer in opposition to to Justin Trudeau but then there's some things internal to BC politics right I'm not sure BC conservatives would be here today we've talked about the name change of BC liberals to BC united we also have to remember that Kevin Falcon kicked John rustad out of the BC liberal BC United party uh John rustad then went over and became the leader of the BC conservatives then there was the defection of Bruce banman from abbotford to give that party official party status so we can talk about the effect of the name change but we can also wonder would BC conservatives be where they are today if Kevin Falcon had not kicked John rustad out of the party it's it's very difficult to know it is a you know it is it's not a perfect storm you don't want to call it that but there were so many factors and if any of those hadn't have happened we could have a very different outcome do you think that that on some level there there's that it's more personal than political after um after John was kicked out by Kevin Falcon oh there was a lot of personal uh part of it you know Kevin Falcon realized uh or thought that he realized that for BC United to come back he had to appeal to more middle- of the road more liberal-minded voters uh John Rad's position on climate change Kevin Falcon concluded was an anathema to outreaching to to more liberal-minded voters and that's why he went and then Bruce banman went and Kevin Falcon said good riddance um well he might be regretting how he handled those Personnel matters with within his party uh now but I think the other point that Lawrence made uh in fact John rustad I think made it in the clip that you just played is uh incumbent governments are struggling around the world we've come through a really difficult period over the last four years since the bcnp was last elected in the midst of a pandemic and that pandemic lasted much longer than anybody imagined and fatigued us uh and then coming out of the pandemic uh we had you know considerable economic problems the the inflation that was produced by the pandemic supply chain issues and other matters um as well as the dramatic rise in house prices during the pandemic and this has really impacted young people I think young people have been more impacted by the restrictions of the pandemic and of course more impacted by the rise of house prices um than than older voters it's just been a tough four years and so any government is going to be facing an uphill battle for reelection and and that was one of my my points to to get into with you is just how much of of an influence the younger votes are are having are they that attracted to to be conservatives well I think young voters globally are frustrated um and so they take it out on whoever is in power n DC that might be the NDP federally that's Justin Trudeau or we just saw in Britain they they took it out against the conservatives and elected a labor government um so so it's in a frustration with incumbents um and how uh incumbent governments have have handled uh these challenges over the last four or five years and you know as you mentioned we're seeing this this this shift right around you know the world there there is a symptom of of so many events that have that have happened over the last you know several years that people are wanting change and looking to blame whoever was in power how can the incumbents though um maybe appeal to those those younger Generations or those newer votes how can they sort of um you know shoulder the blame and or not shoulder the blame but sort of deflect some of that and and keep some younger ones or even attract new younger voters I think the first thing they have to do is demonstrate empathy demonstrate that they are actually hearing those concerns and and are concerned about those matters as well and doing that convincingly what doesn't work is saying well we're doing better than other places um well sure maybe we're doing better than Britain and Germany uh but that doesn't help us pay bills here in British Columbia right um so they they can't deflect in that kind of way so they really have to demonstrate an authentic empathy uh and then uh um you know point out the things that they have been doing but more importantly now the things that they are going to do to make the situation better for for all British Colombians but in particular British Colombians who are struggling under these challenges hey M I'm just going to take in a couple of calls from our audience that we've received I'll go first to Eric and chilek hi Eric hello how are you I'm doing great what are your thoughts on today's um subject well first I just want to say hello to Professor Telford it's been a couple years since I was in one of his classes I'm glad you guys can reconnect yeah I appreciated my time with the University of the Fraser Valley um but around that time uh this was all probably pre 2016 I worked on about 30 different elections provincially municipally federally Schoolboard everything and mostly the Western provinces of Canada I think we share a long border with the United States and there's a lot of pros and cons to that potentially um I think young people nowadays especially are using social media more than ever before I think we have a federal government that's been in power for some time now and there people are looking potentially for other options which is why Pierre paau ever is probably G Gathering some steam that way I've been watching him since 2008 personally um I've also been watching the last time I knocked on Election which was a number of years ago now everybody in has an opinion on Trump and I think the provincial conservatives right now are kind of capitalizing on a lot of that sort of stuff going on right now I think parties are looking more globally and internationally I mean back and forth between Canada United States when it comes to a lot of these things we've seen Pro before in provincial elections before that the conservative party has looked like they were going to gain some momentum before the election and then what happened um I think as early as like 2015 16 17 18 somewhere in there you know the conservatives just didn't produce any seats none so I don't know necessarily how much this is going to affect things I think this personally this is a bit of a blip right now for them uh I encourage more democracy personally I don't necessarily like two-party system three-party systems myself but um I don't know if this is going to translate into anything long term I'm always watching um even though I don't spend as much time knocking on doors and asking people for their opinions anymore Fair but I I do think it's uh I do think it's it's probably more shortsighted than longterm and I I I think the BCIT United party will probably pivot before the election to some extent and you know this will become more less of an issue than it is all right Eric really appreciate that perspective you you you have a lot of experience and that's not something I've really heard um brought up too much hey M how do you feel about that do you think that this could just be um you know as as Eric called a bit of a blip and not a long-term trajectory that they can maintain well I think that's the question you know has be have BC conservatives Peak too early can they sustain the momentum they've generated this year right through to election day through the rigors of of the election campaign uh through the the televised debates and the other things that are going to happen between now and and election day um I'm beginning to think that this might be more than than a blip if we if we look at BC political history through much of the 20th century from 1950 to 19 1990 uh the center right was dominated by the social credit party it imploded in the 1990s and Gordon Campbell was in the right place at the right time to project the BC liberals as that new center right vehicle and it was the dominant center right party for some 20 or 25 years and would it might might now be be eclipsed by by BC conservatives that might BC conservatives going forward might be the new vehicle for the center right uh in in the province yet to be determined uh but it's beginning to look uh like uh we may see this sort of transition again on the center right of our party system in British Columbia okay uh we'll bring in Barry now from cin Valley hi Barry welcome to BC today hey thanks appreciate uh you taking my call yeah and what did you have on your mind well you know I've been listening to your comments from your your your speakers and all that stuff and I think one of the greatest things that we need to realize in today's world it doesn't matter whether we've got a liberal party an NDP party a conservative party people need to really start to understand that when someone stands up on a Podium and makes a commitment as a leader on behalf of whatever party it may be they have to be held accountable and I think that our youth and whoever needs to vote has to really lean into hold people accountable we do it in our corporate world we do it in our families we hold each other accountable for what we say and it just seems like in today's world no matter what is going on no one seems to care about holding the party in power or any party to what they're saying they're going to do and whether it's the media whether it's do the media that supports them or manipulate the narrative today when someone stands up as a leader makes a comment they have to be held accountable to what they're saying because we as voters hopefully can take people at their word when they make a comment when someone can speak on a Podium say whatever they want to say for maybe those that don't understand and get elected and then not follow through quite frankly that's very detrimental to our society moving forward in a positive way Barry thank you for that do you do you think we've sort of reached a point um you know wi with politic that everybody does have to take things with a with a grain of salt that you know you necessarily can't trust that whoever is up there is telling the truth you're running for the highest off I I would look at it a different way um I think we can always point to politicians who have failed to keep a promise okay um multiple promises Justin Trudeau campaigned for example on electoral reform he didn't follow through on that sort of tried but but didn't ultimately succeed in do doing it so all politicians have failed promises uh we all know that I tend to take politicians at their word after 10 years nothing has really surprised me about Justin Trudeau Justin Trudeau has done what I thought Justin Trudeau would do okay just as Steven Harper did what Steven Harper I thought Steven Harper would do we have an NDP government that has behaved like an NDP government and if we have a switch in British Columbia if if the BC conservatives can build on this momentum and and pull it out um I I think I have a fairly good idea of what a BC government under John rustad would look like um so so I would encourage people to to listen very carefully um and and uh rather than voting against somebody sort of say okay uh if we vote for them what is this person like and and what is their General Outlook like and how might they govern because by and large they follow through on who they are and you obviously um you know come up with a considerable well more um expertise and experience with politics than you know perhaps your average person uh but do you feel that that's something many a trap many people do fall into is is voting against a candidate as opposed to to for and that you know as you said I I I'm sort of reading between the lines it it might be easy to figure out what a BC conservative government will look like if they come into power I think there's a couple of traps people might fall into one is voting against um a party just because they are fed up with it and are not paying too much attention to the other or um you know people do um if they're if they're voting on a single uh issue or a couple of issues and they say oh I'm voting for that person for this reason and then they don't follow through on it right um then of course they they are going to to be let down so so I don't think we should seize on on one issue one promise so much as a a leader and a part sort of General disposition what direction are they going to take us because that is likely the direction they will take us all right we have time for one more quick call and this one goes to Moren in pton hi Moren Hi how are you well how are you I'm I'm surviving okay um I can't vote for the conservatives basically because of climate change okay and I they were in um power for so many years they did nothing with the forest and I look at between panon and Vancouver you look at the dead trees sitting there and all they're doing is causing fire and why aren't we putting the forestry workers back to work replanting and cutting down the dent trees I thank you for that point uh Moren and and heish you know it's true that there are just some topics that that people hold so dear to their hearts that that they are not going to ever vote for a party that they saw um you know being detrimental and and for her she won't vote conservative because she feels they never did enough for the environment is that quite common people take that hard stance and can't be swayed and we are running short of time I do apologize yes and you know the top issues are going to be the economy the cost of living health care but I do think climate change is going to emerge as a significant issue there I think we're going to see quite Stark divisions uh between BC conservatives and the other parties on that issue of climate change and uh and and we will see if if BC conservatives can sustain their M momentum after the criticisms they endure on that issue hey m i I appreciate talking to you so much you have such a wealth of knowledge and it's uh just a very interesting time in the political landscape thank you Amy it's been great talking to you as well all right you take care that is haish tford associate professor of political science at the University of the Fraser Valley and we do have time just for a couple of emails that we received on this topic James writes I'll vote for NDP I think they do a lot of good for the province in many areas I would never vote for conservative I think Pierre PV is like a reprint of trump and the provincial election isn't much different it would be bad news for BC and Canada I just wish the greens and NDP would team up and Doug writes why so much support for the conservatives answer maybe so much Lying by the NDP as well as incumbent fatigue will I vote for the conservatives absolutely not since no conservative party in history has ever done more good than harm every conservative government in increases the debt while cutting Social spending and Rich folks taxes so absolutely Noy thank you all for all of your emails and comments on all of the various topics that we had for today and of course we welcome you to still reply or send us emails on these topics throughout the day BC today at cbc.ca that is our show for today thank you so much for calling in and joining the discussion [Music]