Friday, Sept. 15, 2023 edition - Joti's farewell—for now

Friday, Sept. 15, 2023 | ☀️ High 25C

Good morning!

Today is Joti’s last day before going off on parental leave. I vividly remember the day she joined our team—the day the Nooksack River flooded Sumas Prairie. We were a little busy, to say the least, and Joti immediately leapt into action despite, if I recall correctly, not even having an email address set up. She’ll be a great mom and we’ll miss her dearly.

Meanwhile, it’s also been one of those weeks in Abbotsford politics that happen every five years or so. Everybody gets a little mad while pretending they are totally not at all mad. I’ve spoken to MLA Bruce Banman and BC United leader Kevin Falcon for both the story you saw yesterday and the one in today’s agenda section.

There were other aspects that didn’t make it in that piece either. So in our members section, I’ve included fascinating parts of each conversation, wherein I ask Banman if he’s an opportunist, and Falcon if the departure of Banman—and those have gone before him—have ever prompted him to rethink how his party operates. You can become a member here. In our Saturday roundup and behind-the-scenes newsletter for members, I’ll write about how a piece like Thursday’s comes together over a few hours. Thanks for all the support.

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WORTH KNOWING

🌤 Local forecast: Langley | Chilliwack | Abbotsford | Hope

⚠️ Here’s the current smoke forecast / Check the BC Wildfire Dashboard here

🚘 Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google, and find DriveBC’s latest updates.

NEWS

Joti’s favourite FVC stories

Joti writes: As a journalist you get to be a life-long learner—that, at least to me, is the appeal of the profession.

Today’s my final day before I head off on parental leave.

During my time at The Current I’ve had the opportunity to write about subjects I had some knowledge about and others where I knew very little. The great thing about reporting for FVC is getting to explore and write about how issues facing a community relate to the region at large.

I would like to think our work helps to foster a greater sense of community by providing people of different cultures, ethnicities, religions, nationalities, and more information to understand one another a little better—that’s the hope anyway.

As I go off to learn about a whole new subject—parenthood—here are five of my favourite stories from the last two years.

Need to know

❎ Harrison Hot Springs will elect a new councillor this weekend; a Q&A with candidates can be found here [Agassiz-Harrison Observer]

👉 An infamous Chilliwack gangster was sentenced to seven years in prison for dealing drugs—though he received credit for five years served [Chilliwack Progress]

🔥 Much of BC’s coast endured its hottest August in more than a century [North Shore News]

👉 The killing of two people in the Chilliwack River Valley may be linked to a neighbour dispute [CTV]

🏎 A woman was arrested after allegedly brandishing a gun while swerving through highway traffic in Abbotsford [Abbotsford News]

⚖ Carson Crimeni was given the equivalent of 13 MDMA doses the day he died, a judge heard during the sentencing of the 14-year-old’s drug dealer [Langley Advance Times]

🍺 Hope Brewing Co., a Hope U-brew business, is closing [Facebook]

⚖ The Nelson man who killed an off-duty Abbotsford police officer with a skateboard will be sentenced in December [Nelson Star]

🚑 A crash on 200 Street in Langley left one person with serious injuries [Langley Advance Times]

SPONSORED BY IDS VANCOUVER 2023

The design show of the year opens next week!

The Interior Design Show presented by Miele opens its doors on Sept. 21 with a stellar lineup of designers and design experiences waiting for you. Use code IDSVAN2023 for a 10% discount. See design icons such as Lynda Reeves on the Caesarstone stage. Shop the show at the District where you can buy directly from the makers. Join the IDS Party, with exciting installations and great music!

The Agenda

Falcon says whipped votes an excuse

BC United leader Kevin Falcon says the party’s whipping of votes is a weak excuse for Bruce Banman to leave the party.

Banman joined the BC Conservatives Wednesday, becoming the third consecutive BC United/BC Liberal MLA to leave the party. You can read our in-depth story on Abbotsford South’s history of floor-crossing here. In an interview Wednesday with The Current, Banman said he didn’t like being told how to vote by party leadership.

But Falcon—the party’s leader—told The Current Thursday that there is a reason for the lock-step votes Banman was referring to.

“Very regularly, the NDP will introduce motions in the house that have no meaning other than to be used as a wedge issue to try and create division within the opposition caucus,” he said. “What we typically do is we ignore them by not treating them seriously and just approving whatever they put forward because it’s meaningless. We discuss that in caucus, we have a good debate about it, and then everyone agrees ‘Yeah, that’s the way to go.’ And then we go in and do it.”

Falcon said that Banman has used one of those votes as an excuse to leave the party.

Falcon spoke about Banman’s desire for more room to speak his mind, saying “many of the things Bruce would like to say are, frankly, pretty outrageous.”

In The Current’s interview with Banman Wednesday, the main policy he spoke of involved the carbon tax. On that topic, Banman took a relatively mild position, suggesting that there should be a discussion about whether to have the tax or potentially change it.

Severe drought continues; rivers much lower than normal.

The Chilliwack River remains at record low levels for this time of year, while the Fraser and Harrison rivers are also far lower than normal.

A day of moderate rain earlier this month hasn’t been enough to alleviate the intense drought across southwestern British Columbia. The region remains at Drought Level 5, the highest level, according to the British Columbia Drought Information Portal. Rivers throughout southern BC remain far lower than normal. At Hope, the Fraser River is more than a metre lower than normal for mid-September, with approximately half the normal flow for this time of year.

SPONSORED BY BREWHALLA

Brewhalla is coming to Chilliwack!

The inaugural Brewhalla Chilliwack will take place at Watson Glen Park on Oct. 7 from 12 to 6pm. Sample craft beverages from 30+ vendors, try out a new food truck, listen to some live music, and challenge your friends to some activities. We can't wait to cheers you 🍻

Things to do

🛠 Repair Cafe: The Mission Library is hosting a Repair Cafe Saturday, Sept. 16. Bring your broken items, including household and mechanical devices, computers, jewelry, tools for sharpening, bicycles, or clothing for repair. Details online.

😋 Taste of Abby: The Taste of Abby Fall Food Festival returns this month. Events included a guided tour of Circle Farm Tour participants on Saturday, a culinary showcase on Monday, and a pickleball and pints event on Tuesday. Full schedule here.

✈️ History lesson: Learn about the Battle of Britain at Langley’s Canadian Museum of Flight during a day remembrance Saturday, Sept. 16. Details online.

🏃‍♀️ Terry Fox Run: The Agassiz-Harrison Terry Fox Run will take place Sunday, Sept. 17. Mayors of both towns will kick off the event at the Harrison Mills Plaza. Details and donations accepted online.

Members get access to our full weekly events list. Learn how to become a member here.

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On Wednesday and Thursday, I had interviews with both Abbotsford South MLA Bruce Banman, and BC United leader Kevin Falcon. Not all of those made it into the two stories I’ve written.

So here are a couple questions I put to each, and their responses.

Bruce Banman, 2:12 pm, Wednesday

FVC: In April, you seemed, from your public statements, pretty enthusiastic about [BC United’s] new direction. But I've seen online, some people suggest that the polls [which show BC United support plummeting and the BC Conservatives rising] may be giving MLAs—not just yourself, but others—some worries and could have had a role in your decision and maybe other decisions other politicians are making. Did the state of the electorate play a role in your decision?

Banman: First of all, I had made the decision prior to seeing the polls. But all that did was reaffirm that I was on the right path. Those polls are a flash shot—it could totally change for the next polls. There’s only one real poll that matters and that’s on election day, and I will get to find out on that day whether or not this is the right move and whether or not the electorate embraces the change that I made. That’s a democracy. But I think the polls are an indicator of where people are. But there’s an awful lot of factors in these polls that may or may not be accurate. I go back to my major [reason to join the BC Conservatives] was so that I have the ability to be an advocate in a more open way for the people of this riding.

FVC: Some people would describe this move, or your political career in general—as potentially being of somebody who is—someone who is favourably inclined would say it’s an accumulation of savvy political decisions; somebody who maybe has another mindset might say there are opportunistic tendencies there. Where do you see yourself in terms of what’s driven your political career? And what would you say to somebody who might say this is an opportunistic decision?

Banman: I would encourage them to come and read some of the comments. Rocking the boat is never a for-sure thing. Some of my colleagues: I know I’m off the Christmas list forever. There are those that think that I—you know, Kevin used the word “betrayal.” There are those that say this is the end of my political career. I never got into this to be a career politician and I stand by that. The public gets a chance to decide whether this is a move they embrace or that they don’t. [Banman laughed ruefully] It’s pretty easy when you’re standing on the sidelines as to whether it’s the right move or not. But I’ll tell you from this side, sitting in the middle of it, all bets are off and that’s OK.

Kevin Falcon, 9:49 am, Thursday

FVC: This is now the third MLA from Abbotsford South specifically to leave the party, and all three have expressed when they left that they have certain issues with not necessarily policymaking, but how the party is run. Have these departures—any of them or the things said by those leaving—have you taken that feedback and incorporated into how you see parties like BC United should be run?

Falcon: I was speaking to Bruce’s former volunteer board members in his riding, and we jokingly said it must be something in the water. But the reality is we will go and find an outstanding candidate to replace Bruce. We have a very strong riding, lots of support, lots of money in the bank account, and we’ll look forward to putting a new candidate in place who in the next election will win back, or win that seat and replace Bruce Banman. And he’ll be consigned to the history books as the other ones were.

FVC: Right, but do these make you rethink the direction that the party has taken?

Falcon: No, not at all. Politics is a team sport and that means that you win as a team or you lose as a team. And sometimes there are people that just don’t know how to work as part of a group. That happens occasionally. I don’t spend a lot of time worried about that kind of politics. I worry about reducing taxes for British Columbians, making our streets safer for British Columbians and reversing a lot of the disastrous decisions the NDP has made that has caused us to be the most unaffordable place in North America.

FVC: Right, but if I’m playing on my soccer team, and my goalie keeps quitting on my team, I’d start questioning whether we need to do something different, in either who we’re choosing as goalies, or how we’re protecting/treating those goalies. Have you considered any of that feedback or incorporated that into how you are bringing—I think you have called it—renewal to the party?

Falcon: Oh, ya, no, of course you always think about that. But at the end of the day, like any organization, you all work together, you all come up with a plan, and then you execute on that plan. And what you can’t do is you can’t have somebody that says, ‘Well, I get what the plan is, I’ve just decided I’m going to go in a totally different direction than the entire group, including myself, all agreed on. That creates a real problem. So at some point you try to work with that person as best you can. You try to rationalize with them and work with them and do everything you can to mentor them and help them along. But sometimes, for reasons that are sometimes just inexplicable, they decide to go in a different direction. And you just have to accept that. I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about all the reasons and rationale for Bruce Banman leaving, but I think it’ll probably be more apparent to the public in the coming months.