What Judges Want- Episode 4- Brandi Guild

Wallace Sosa was a Brazilian TV host and crime reporter who always managed to arrive at a murder scene before the police. Cameras rolling, exclusive footage, and sky high ratings. But how was he always in the right place at the perfect time? Was his inside information more inside than he wanted to let on? I'm Kathleen Goldtar and this week on Crime Story, we dig into the story of Wallace Sosa's killer ratings. Find us wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC podcast. Hello, I'm Katherine Marlo and this is Vancouver Island, the BC Politics Edition. It is our final political episode of this season because our panel is taking the summer off. Although they may reappear on occasion if there is big news and of course we still have our Thursday news episodes coming out every week so make sure you're following us in the podcast app of your choice so that everything shows up automatically in your feed and I should bring in Gregor Kregi who is here with us always to talk politics. Hello, Gregor. Hi Katherine. Now they're taking the summer off-ish because you never know there might be big political news that we want to bring them back but they're doing it because the MLAs have headed out on the barbecue circuit. The barbecue circuit is itself and called the other Gladhanding barbecue circuit. It's one of those ideas, not that I imagine myself as a politician but it's one of those ideas that if I imagine myself as a politician it just exhausts me. I mean barbecue's are great but can you imagine walking around hundreds of people smiling, making conversation for a minute and then pivoting and anyway, you know, bless them. The politicians have got to do it. I'm just thankful I don't have to do it. It was actually interesting hearing Adam Olson who is a former MLA talk about how exhausting it is and talk about how important it is to actually this week where the ledge actually closed last week. It's really important to block this first week of summer off on your calendar so that you can recoup a little bit before you have to go. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Because otherwise he said when you get back in the fall session, you feel like you haven't had a break at all. So yeah, so Sparrow thought for the politicians that needed we break before barbecue season, but yeah, the barbecue is will be firing up soon. It sounds like. Yeah. And Carolyn Finley, not an MLA but I imagine will be quite active on the barbecue circuit. She is the brand new leader of the BC conservative party. Yeah. And as a former federal conservative MP and cabinet minister under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, she's been to a few barbecues herself. Yeah. And some Stampede Pancake Breakfast. Probably. Stampede Pancake Breakfast and all the rest of it. And yeah, a seasoned political hand federally, but now she's got her work cut out for her as she's the new BC conservative leader. You talk a lot about her and what will come of her and you also briefly talk about FIFA and the World Cup, which was also an interesting thing. We've got the for now total costs and you asked each of the panelists to weigh in on whether they think these really are the final total costs. Exactly. And yeah, there was this may not surprise listeners, but there is a bit of expectation that perhaps the final costs will go even higher still. Yeah. So we talked about that in the barbecue circuit, but we did start off with a new BC conservative leader, Carrie Lynn Fendley. So what am I fighting for? I'm fighting for nothing less than the future of British Columbia our way of life. Mine is a grand vision of fundamental change. Our homes, our individual rights, our properties, our at stake. We need hope and prosperity. As Minister of National Revenue, I oversaw lower taxes, red tape cuts, and a return to surplus from the worst recession since the 1930s. We can do this in British Columbia. Our province will become strong, good paying jobs, modern infrastructure, resource wealth, and opportunity that has been blocked by the NDP. We can be a powerhouse in our nation, a powerhouse no longer denied by eastern and global elites, predatory for in nations and our own constitution. Carrie Lynn Fendley, the new leader of the BC Conservatives, almost as soon as she stepped down from the podium, political analysts were speculating whether her populist style might alienate the centrist wing of the BC Conservative Party. And her weekly political panel is here to address this in other topics in BC politics. Adam Olson, a former Green Party MLA, and a member of the SART Lib nation. Andrew Reeve, a former BC Liberal Deputy Director of Communications, and senior consultant at Ernst Cliff, and Elizabeth Cull, a former NDP Cabinet Minister in BC. Good morning to all three of you. Morning. Okay, so Carrie Lynn Fendley, the new BC Conservative leader, Andrew, what do you make of the results and Carrie Lynn Fendley coming out on top? Yeah, I mean, last week I was chatting with my fellow panelists and we said that it was basically going to come down to someone from that true blue conservative wing of the party, which was either former of Fendley, and then someone that was straddling the middle, which was Caroline Elliott. It was always destined to be that way. The people that were more on the left of that, the Ian Black and the Peter Milibars of the world, just didn't have the support to kind of get there. So we were right on that, but we didn't realize exactly how close it was going to be. This came down to 2%, it was 180 points, which when you drill into the spreadsheet that the party has published, it's 60 votes. Carrie Lynn Fendley won by 60 votes in the very end. That's how tight this was. So what the focus is going for it has to be party and caucus unity. You're looking, you're coming in with the thinnest of margins of victory. 15% of voters didn't even bother casting a ballot for either of the two. They dropped off early on because it's a ranked ballot. So you're inheriting a party where you've got that much support. You have to bring people together. I noticed that Carrie Lynn Fendley put out a social media post this morning highlighting Peter Milibar and saying she'd had one-on-one meetings with all of her MLA's. So clearly that focus on trying to keep that party together is the top priority for her. She was sort of an unexpected winner from a lot of people's view. They thought Carrie Lynn Fendley had had it. Carrie Lynn raised $1.5 million, which is more than any leadership but Canada has raised in any party in the history of this province. That's huge. But if you look at it, her vote was very concentrated in Metro Vancouver and the Vancouver area. If you look at the people that voted for her in that first ballot, if all of them gave the maximum donation, she'd be over a million dollars right there. So it shows that where you're raising the money doesn't necessarily translate into the votes because of the weighted riding system where you have to win votes in the cootneys and the interior on the island. And that's what Carolyn Fendley did. She had a very geographically diverse victory. Adam, what's your take on Carrie Lynn Fendley's victory? And what do you think it means for the BC political landscape? Well, we are going to have the hard-right brand of politics playing out in the legislature, you know, I guess, for the foreseeable future. I mean, I guess I take a question whether or not it's the true blue conservatives as Andrew frame them. I grew up with a different brand of conservatism, I think, maybe. More of a progressive conservatism in this country is what we're used to. This is a new type of conservatism. If you want to even call it that, it's a different brand of politics that is very conspiratorial in nature. And I think that Carolyn Fendley and her husband, who's an MLA-brandt-tapman, have shown themselves to be very driven by conspiracy, at least if you just follow their own social media and the way that they frame the issues as they see it. So I think that we're going to see much more of that being mainstreamed, even though they might even push back on whether or not that's, don't say mainstream around it. But I'm concerned because I don't think that that represents the vast majority of British Columbians. I'm concerned because it seems like both on the right and on the left. And we were talking about this coming in both on the right and the left. A very small group of voters, of very engaged people is driving the narrative and that if the leaders don't feel that they're losing that group, then they become more and more radicalized in trying to keep that sentiment. We're seeing it in Alberta. We're now seeing it here in BC. So I think that it's going to be, I want to say it's an interesting time. It's a bit of a scary time, I think, from my perspective. But I think that's where we're headed, unfortunately. Elizabeth, what do you make of Carolyn Fendley's success here? And what do you think it'll be for the NDP government? Well, with Carolyn Fendley, I think Adam's right. I think we are headed into a scary time, probably a very divisive time. What I'm going to be watching for in terms of her leadership is whether she can pivot from the very divisive, very far right wing campaign she ran, which appealed to her base, to something that typically has formed government in British Columbia, which is that sort of center right coalition that we've seen come into power off and on over the years. And I think, you know, when you think about actually what happened in the last election, 40% of the federal election, 40% of British Columbia's voted liberal. And that tells me a lot about where most people are in terms of their political. They're in the center, your maybe center left center right, but they're not on the extremes in either case. So she's make a decision whether she's going to continue to satisfy her base. And we know from what they've been doing inside the party, and also when we look at Alberta, what the base can do to control their leaders, make sure that they stay true to the cause that they have, or whether she wants to govern. And if she wants to govern, she's gonna have to find some way to appeal to the majority of voters who are not on the extreme right. What it means for the NDP, I mean, I see this sort of double-barrelled here. I mean, it's a bit of a gift, because if there's some party that is super extreme and it will keep some of our voters that are unhappy with the NDP, with the NDP, because it's better to go with the devil you know than to take on something else. But I also think it's a challenge for the NDP. The NDP has got to focus. Because I've always thought that bad opposition makes for bad government. If the former conservators under John Ruffstad didn't provide enough of an alternative platform, a coherent alternative platform to keep the NDP sharp. So that's, they're gonna have to get much better at that. And the other thing I wanted to just mention about her, Carolyn Finley, the economy is a big deal. And I worry about the policies that she's been promoting, particularly the anti-indigenous ones, ripping up JEPA, some of the other things that she's talking about in terms of removing environmental protections. We're gonna end up with a big fight in this province that is gonna make business investors look at B.C. and say, ah, no, not now. Well, wait till they sort it out because nobody wants to get into court battles over First Nations rights and all that kind of thing that comes out of ripping up DRIPA and the rest. So I think we're in for a rough ride for the next little while. Jacqueline Furland Smith, a 40-year-old former Canadian military trainer, moves to Costa Rica to follow her dreams. But in the summer of 2021, she vanishes without a trace. How can a woman just go missing and us put out all that effort to find her and she's still missing? I'm David Rigen and this is someone who knows something season 10, the Jacqueline Furland Smith case. Listen, add free on Amazon music. Well, Carolyn Finley will not be in the legislature for the next few months at least, and it doesn't matter for the next few months anyway because the spring session has wrapped up. Let me ask each of you what's ahead for the B.C. government this season now that the legislature, pardon me, the legislature session has wrapped up. There might be less attention on B.C. politics in the media. But Adam, what about government and opposition? What do they typically do once the ledge wraps up? The barbecue tour. It's reconnecting with you know, and I remember this moment well, you have a tension because you're exhausted from spending the last several weeks debating endlessly, seemingly endlessly, it's not endlessly. But debating long days in the legislature and your constituents are feeling a little anxious 'cause they haven't seen much of you and so they want you at events and usually if you haven't booked off that first week after session, it doesn't feel like by the time you get into the fall session that you've had any break at all. And so, you know, I think that MLAs are looking to probably pace themselves a little bit because the session is demanding. I think that the B.C. N.E.P. government has a big job ahead of them and I think the Greens have framed it as they were leaving the legislature that it's probably not should not be seen as much of a barbecue circuit for the government. There's a lot of work to do. And on First Nations and Indigenous rights, just following on from what Elizabeth said is that Premier E.B. and the N.E.P. had their own version of ripping up DRIP throughout the, they proposed to amend it or to pause it, which is a version of taking a big step back from it. And so there's now a number of weeks between the adjournment of the spring session and the opening of the fall session that David E.B. and his cabinet ministers have to figure out how they're going to relate with First Nations leaders. They're very, very strong in their relationships with the treaty, modern treaty First Nations. I think that there's many, many other First Nations that they have to figure out what their relationship is going to be. And these are going to be trying weeks as they try to thread the political needle and explain to British Columbians exactly what they feel the legal liability is that Premier E.B. was talking about when it came to the Declaration Act, very strongly articulating that there was a legal liability that we all carry. Because of it, was not very well described. And so now he has to get to work and that work starts next week. And we'll see how it pans out. Andrew, what work do you think should begin next week for the government and for opposition? Should this be a barbecue season or something else? - I think we're in for a very busy summer, actually, Gregor. July 1st is the deadline for the pipeline decision. That's coming up so you have the feds in Alberta and British Columbia all talking on that. That's going to be big news no matter which way it goes. And also, there's now a new leader of the conservatives, which means the NDP political machine is going to be kicking into high gear to try to define and set a narrative about Carolyn Finley. As will the response from the conservatives, they will be getting Carolyn Finley out to events across the province. They will be, if they're on their game, there will be a province-wide tour getting her, connecting with British Columbians, meeting with people, and they'll have an ad campaign that's going out there and really promoting her and trying to define her before the NDP can define her. So that will be busy all on the airwaves as well as at the barbecues across British Columbia. And we'll also have the added possibility of a bi-election, right? If someone, either Carolyn's own husband, steps down to help her out, or someone on that caucus, is willing to step down to vacate a seat for the leader, that gives David EB six months to call a bi-election. He has to decide whether or not get it done in the summer when perhaps people are not paying as much attention. There will be less profile, especially if it's like an easy seat. Like, say, John Rasta decides to retire and it's in the Chaco Lakes. Like, okay, you send Carolyn Finley up to in the Chaco Lakes for a while and she's kind of out of the way and you just have your bi-election that she's going to win anyways and just sort of check that box, right? Could do that. Or you can choose to drag it out. John Horgon likes to drag it out all the way right to the very end for six months and then call the bi-election. So we'll see what happens, but yeah, there could easily be a bi-election this summer and perhaps some other MLAs might take that opportunity to step down as well. - Elizabeth, what would you be watching for from the government and opposition in the off season here? - Well, I think the government needs to take some time to refocus. I mean, after you've been in power for a decade, it's really hard to win another election after that. And one of the challenges I've always found as a new Democrat, particularly going to conventions or being involved in party politics, is that there are so many things that we think we should be doing. And now, this is not the time to have the A to Z list of things that new Democrats are going to accomplish in the next decade or the next firm. They need to focus on the things that people are really concerned about and the problem with that is the things that come up all the time, what are people concerned about now? It's cost of living, jobs, somewhat the environment, but it's healthcare. And those are things that are really, really hard to solve. You can't just throw money at it or change a policy here or there and have it all fixed. But I think what the NDP needs to do is to reduce its agenda to some extent, focus on things that really resonate with the people who are likely to vote for them or who we consider voting for them. And listen, don't talk, listen, get out there, use the summer to talk to a lot of different groups, not only party people, but all kinds of groups about what it is that's concerning them and what they think their government should be doing for them. And then regroup after that. - We've got a couple of minutes left. Let's return to a previous topic for a quick go round from all three of you world cup, the FIFA World Cup coming to Vancouver seven games and we had an updated cost estimate. It will cost BC taxpayers, we're told, up to $729 million. I want to hear from all three of you, your thoughts on this cost estimate will it go higher? Adam, can you start us off on that $729 million? - $104 million for the beautiful, for each beautiful game. It's played in Vancouver. Look, I think that that now might be the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful game as much as we possibly can, but always be remembering that we have partnered with FIFA. And FIFA is an organization and I think that I want to just give voice to a comment and a quote that was Chris McBride, the executive director of the spinal cord injury BC said it best. FIFA is really good at extracting resources from host communities, but not so good at finding ways to help them give back to them. And I think that it's, this would be a moment to enjoy the soccer that's gonna be played across North America and I think a lot of people are soccer fans, me included, but it's always to remember the kind of organization that FIFA is, the human rights violations that are pretty well documented and that's an unfortunate side of this tournament that we've got ourselves into. - Elizabeth, what are your thoughts on the cost? - Well, I'd be surprised if they come in even at the latest estimate. they're gonna be higher than you. than that and there's all kinds of hidden costs that we're not factoring into that. Disoccurating of people in Vancouver and the other events that are pushed off out of being able to be held in Vancouver. That's a hit on our economy and on our social fabric to some extent. We've made the decision. We're going with it. I agree with that and we might as well just enjoy what's happening. But I think there will be the morning after effect. We'll all wake up with a headache and think why did we do this? Is this the best place of our money? Could we have used that 700 million doing something else? Will we really get the tourism payback? I'm not sure. Andrew, final 30 seconds to you. Yeah, I'm a soccer fan. I'm looking forward to it. My advice to folks is to enjoy the party while it is. We don't get the bill ahead of time. Let's have some fun while it's here in British Columbia. Then we can argue about the bill once we've got it. Unfortunately, that's the timeline that we're facing. I know a lot of small businesses in Vancouver are hoping that the added revenues and the restaurants are excited. Let's hope that there are some real tangible benefits for some BC small businesses. Thank you, too, Gregor. As always, for speaking to all of our panelists and thanks to Adam and Elizabeth and Andrew. As I said before, they are taking a break for now because the MLAs are not doing any legislating right now. But I will be back with a new episode of This is Vancouver Island on Thursday. I'm Catherine Marlow, thanks to Gregor Craigie and Sterling Aferd for their help with the politics episode. I'll be back in a few days.