WEBVTT
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Election season is upon us again.
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The signs are coming out, the sleeves are being rolled up, somewhere a communications team is explaining to a grown adult how to look natural while buying groceries.
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And for the next month, politicians will discover an extraordinary passion for listening.
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Some may even allow it to interrupt their talking.
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British Columbia votes on October 24th.
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And here at Nuanced, we intend to make the time between now and then count.
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Today, we're going to talk about this election, the questions every party should have to answer, and the standards we're setting for ourselves as we cover it.
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We're going to talk about your money, your home, your health, indigenous rights, economic opportunity, and the province we want our children to inherit.
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And we're going to start with the elephant in the room.
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In my view, David Eby calling an election now is incredibly opportunistic.
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His government won a majority in 2024.
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There were roughly two years remaining before the next scheduled election, and this call arrives while his political opponents are struggling to organize themselves.
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You can understand the strategy without pretending you haven't noticed it.
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If your opponent is still trying to find their shoes, that is a very convenient moment to announce the race has begun.
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Premier David Eby has pointed to Donald Trump and the trade war as reasons British Columbia needs a renewed mandate.
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And those are serious concerns.
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But voters are entitled to ask what a new mandate would allow him to do that he couldn't do with the majority he already had.
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And that deserves an answer.
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At the same time, I agree with the underlying democratic principle.
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The authority to govern comes from the people.
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And we can criticize the timing, we can criticize the expense, the political calculation, we can ask whether this serves the public interest.
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Seeking the public's judgment, however, is something we should take seriously and welcome the opportunity to exercise anytime it comes.
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The premier gets to make his case, British Columbians get to decide whether they believe it.
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And if someone calls an election expecting an easy endorsement, the electorate is under absolutely no obligation to cooperate.
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And I think that's the beautiful part of all of this.
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In 2024, when this show was still called the Bigger Than Me podcast, we interviewed David Eby, John Rustad, Sonia Fersnell, and Kevin Falcon.
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That period changed how I understood the role this show could play.
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We saw growth, but we also saw an appetite for conversations that people want information explained to themselves and gave us room to ask the next question.
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Because the next question is often where you learn something.
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The opening answer might be polished, practiced, approved by several people who are all on the same navy blue blazer.
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But then you ask, how would that work?
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What would it cost?
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Why hasn't it happened already?
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What would you do if your approach failed?
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Now we're getting somewhere.
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Since then, the audience has continued to grow.
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We've had opportunities to sit down with more prominent guests, explore more difficult issues, and reach people who might never have encountered one another's perspective otherwise.
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And I'm incredibly grateful for that.
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I also understand that with a bigger platform brings a bigger obligation.
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A famous guest can get someone to click.
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A useful conversation gives them a reason to stay and a reason to trust us the next time.
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We have listeners who are MLAs, mayors, city counselors, business owners, frontline workers, parents, and people trying to understand what is happening around them while keeping their own lives together.
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And your time matters.
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If you spend an hour with us, I want you to leave better equipped than when you arrived, better equipped to assess a promise, to recognize an evasion, to ask a candidate something they cannot answer with a lawn sign.
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And here's what I believe: better conversations can produce better questions.
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Better questions make it harder for weak answers to survive.
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And when candidates know people are listening carefully, there is more pressure on them to prepare, explain themselves, and follow through.
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That doesn't guarantee good government, but it improves the conditions for it.
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And the reverse matters too.
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When we reward slogans, excuse evasions, and treat every criticism of our preferred party as an attack on ourselves, we contribute to the lowering of those standards.
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Eventually, we get a campaign full of people saying absolutely nothing with tremendous conviction.
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I think British Columbians deserve considerably more than that in this election and in every election.
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So I want to remind you of our principles.
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Nuanced is built on five principles.
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Election season is when those principles need to mean something more.
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The first is maturity.
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We will make jokes, clearly, but the consequences of these decisions are serious and we will treat them that way.
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I enjoy the UFC.
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I understand the appeal of watching two people try to finish each other.
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I would just like a different standard for deciding who manages our hospitals than that.
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An interview can be challenging without becoming a shouting match.
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A guest can be treated respectfully while being asked a question they would very much prefer to avoid.
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Our second principle has been steelmanning.
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Before we critique a position, we should be able to explain the strongest reasonable argument for it.
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Someone who supports public investment may be worried about people falling through the cracks.
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Someone who wants spending restraint may be worried about whether those services will remain affordable.
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Someone who prioritizes environmental protection may be thinking about risks that will outlast all of us.
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And those concerns deserve to be understood.
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Then the proposed solutions deserve to be tested.
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If you can only defeat the stupidest version of an argument, you haven't done much to help our audience.
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Third, controversy with integrity.
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We will discuss Stripa, Aboriginal title, private property, taxes, healthcare reform, the costs of environmental policy, and the costs of environmental damage.
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We will go where the stakes justify going, and we will do the preparation those subjects absolutely deserve.
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The fourth is openness.
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We will hear from people across the political spectrum.
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We will also remain open to discovering that something we believed was incomplete or wrong.
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And that includes me.
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I have opinions and you will hear them.
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I'll explain why I hold them, and I expect those opinions to face scrutiny too.
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Being nonpartisan means a party doesn't get permanent ownership of my judgment.
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Agreement on an issue doesn't purchase agreement on the next.
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The final principle we follow is responsibility.
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We owe you accuracy, context, and honest distinctions between what we know, what we think, and what remains uncertain.
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An allegation is not a finding.
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A forecast is not a result.
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An announcement is not a completed project.
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And when we make a factual error, we need to correct it clearly and quickly.
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We won't manufacture equal criticism just to look balanced.
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If one claim is supported and another isn't, we should say so.
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Fairness means applying a consistent standard even when the results are inconvenient to everybody's favorite party.
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Those are the principles.
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And here is what they ask us to follow up with.
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For DRIPA, Aboriginal title, and certainty, we need a clear answer on the future of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.
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The law requires the provincial government, in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous peoples, to take measures to bring provincial laws into alignment with the UN Declaration.
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It also provides for agreements involving joint decision making or indigenous consent in specified circumstances.
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Those are consequential choices about how government works.
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If a party wants to keep the law, they need to explain how it's going to be implemented.
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If it wants amendments, they need to identify them.
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If it wants to repeal them, they have to explain what follows next.
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And to be honest about this, Aboriginal and treaty rights have constitutional protections under Section 35.
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Repealing a provincial statute would not erase the underlying constitutional foundation.
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So nobody gets to sell us a magic switch.
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We need to hear how leaders would protect private property rights while lawfully addressing Aboriginal title.
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What is their negotiation strategy?
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What protections do they propose for affected homeowners?
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How will they involve First Nations?
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And what happens while litigation continues.
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Saying you will appeal a decision tells us one thing about your legal strategy.
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It does not tell us your entire governing plan.
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As chief of Chihuahua First Nation, I care about whether these discussions lead to stronger communities, functioning infrastructure, opportunity, and relationships people can depend on.
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I also care about a family who worked for decades to buy a home and now wants clear answers about its security.
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Both deserve to be heard without having their concerns turned into a caricature.
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Certainty must mean something practical.
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Who makes the decision?
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What process applies?
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How long should it take?
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How are rights respected?
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How are disputes resolved?
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Investors need answers.
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First Nations need answers.
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Municipalities and homeowners need answers.
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And if your explanation creates more confusion every time you give it, we need to keep asking.
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On public finances and economic confidence, we need to talk about the budget.
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The province's September financial update projects a deficit of approximately$13.8 billion for 2026-2027.
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And that's a forecast rather than a final audited result, but it gives you the scale of the challenge.
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These candidates are asking to manage a multi-billion dollar budget through public revenues and borrowing.
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We should conduct the interview accordingly.
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You wouldn't hand someone your debit card because they looked confident beside an excavator.
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We need to know how each party plans to improve the province's financial position and strengthen its credit worthiness.
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What is the path for spending, revenue, and debt?
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Which assumptions depend on economic growth?
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What happens if that growth doesn't arrive?
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A government budget differs from a household budget.
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Borrowing can support valuable long-term investments and downturn can justify temporary deficits.
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But governments still face borrowing costs and limits on what they can sustain.
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So if you promise cuts, identify them and their consequences.
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If you promise spending, identify the funding and expected results.
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If you promise both lower taxes and better services, show us the numbers and how they fit together.
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We'll find efficiencies is a starting point for a conversation.
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Somewhere after that, we need a noun, a number, and a date.
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And we should ask how British Columbia becomes a place where people want to build businesses and careers?
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Which provincial taxes discourage productive investment?
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Could we change them?
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What would the cost in the short term be?
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How would we assess whether the change actually worked?
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Do permitting process have clear requirements and reliable timelines?
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Can an entrepreneur understand the rules without hiring someone whose full-time job is to understand the rules?
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Economic confidence grows when people see a credible path forward.
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A slogan about being open for business is considerably less useful if the application is still waiting for someone to open their email.
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And on affordability, this is where people's lives get impacted.
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Affordability has become one of those words that gets repeated so often it risks losing contact with real life.
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So let's put it back in the real world.
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Food in the fridge should be a minimum expectation.
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A stable home should be achievable.
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Raising children should leave room for something beyond financial panic.
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And a vacation, some time away with your family, should be a reasonable aspiration.
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I'm talking about the ability to create memories, visit relatives, take your kids somewhere, and come home without spending the next year recovering financially.
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The Canadian dream needs to be offered to people more than successfully renewed line of credit.
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Provincial governments don't control every grocery price, interest rate, or international shock.
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That's exactly why leaders should identify the levers they actually control and explain what using them would accomplish.
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How will they help incomes go further?
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How will they improve conditions for better paying work?
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What relief reaches people who need it?
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What merely shifts the bill somewhere else?
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Housing needs that same discipline.
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How many homes would a policy help deliver?
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By when?
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Affordable to people earning what income?
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What infrastructure makes those homes possible?
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How will we support people who need subsidized housing while making it possible for working households to find homes without requiring extraordinary luck?
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Private construction, public investment, nonprofit housing, zoning fees, financing, and infrastructure all deserve serious examination.
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Each proposal should be judged on the problem it actually solves.
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And we have to ask a politically uncomfortable question.
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How do we make housing more affordable for young people while recognizing that many older people have built their retirement plans around their homes?
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A leader should explain how they would navigate that tension, telling buyers that prices will become affordable while assuring owners that values will rise forever requires an explanation longer than trust us.
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On healthcare, I want to push beyond the size of the spending announcement.
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Funding matters.
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Staff need to be paid, facilities need to operate, and equipment costs money.
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But the public deserves to understand what additional spending will deliver and what changes could make existing resources work better?
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How will patients get primary care sooner?
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How will wait times fall?
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What is the plan for retaining staff?
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Which administration tasks can be simplified?
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Where could better coordination prevent patients from being passed between services?
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Which changes have evidence behind them?
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And how will we measure the results?
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If a nurse loses time to an unnecessary process, fixing the process deserves attention.
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If a proposed cut makes it harder for that nurse to provide care, calling it an efficiency doesn't settle the argument.
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A hospital announcement is an important promise.
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A patient receiving timely care is the result we need.
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You cannot treat a patient with a rendering of a future building, even if the rendering contains a reassuring number of trees.
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We also need to have serious conversations about ecosystems that make British Columbia extraordinary.
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In my interview with David Suzuki, we discussed climate change, environmental protection, and indigenous knowledge.
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You don't have to agree with every position a guest holds to engage seriously with the questions they are raising.
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How do we protect watersheds, salmon habitat, forests, and biodiversity?
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How do we prepare communities for environmental risk?
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How do we assess a project's benefits, harms, and alternatives?
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Workers and resource communities deserve credible plans for their futures.
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Environmental commitments deserve measurable results.
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First Nations deserve to be heard on the opportunities and risks affecting their territories.
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If you propose a restriction, explain its effects and the transition you envision.
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If you propose development, explain the safeguards, oversight, and responsibility for cleanup.
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British Columbia's beauty cannot be just a background in a campaign advertisement.
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We need to know what governing choices will keep it that way.
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Over the coming months, we intend to speak with experts on housing, the economy, DRIPA, business growth, and the issues affecting your life.
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We will seek interviews with all party leaders to understand their vision for British Columbia and its place in Canada.
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An invitation doesn't guarantee an interview.
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We will tell you who participates, and we will prepare seriously for the people who do.
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The governing party will face questions about its record, opposition parties will face questions about whether their alternatives are credible and workable.
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We will ask what leaders believe, what they intend to do, and what they are prepared to be held accountable for.
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And we will leave room for honest uncertainty.
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A leader who says, I need to check that, should have the opportunity to return with an answer.
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Pretending to know something isn't a qualification for office.
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And that standard applies here too.
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Holding public office myself doesn't exempt me from it.
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I know how much easier it is to make a promise than to deliver it.
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That experience should sharpen my questions and my sense of responsibility.
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Our aim is to help you question your own candidates effectively.
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Ask them, what specifically will you change?
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What will it cost?
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How will you derive the authority to do it?
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What should we see as a result?
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And what evidence would make you reconsider?
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And ask one more.
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When would you be willing to disagree with your own party?
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Local representation should require more than forwarding head nods and talking points to a familiar postal code.
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These people are asking for authority over decisions that shape your family, your neighborhood, your livelihood, and the next generation.
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They should expect scrutiny proportionate to that responsibility.
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The conservatives We may see the NDP win a commanding majority.
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The Conservatives may surprise us again.
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The Greens may exercise significant influence, as they did under Andrew Weaver after the 2017 election.
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Independents and other parties may matter in ways that earlier conversations overlooked.
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We don't know the result.
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It belongs to you, the voters.
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Our ambition is to make this show a place people turn when they want to think carefully before making that decision.
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As I've put it before, we're not here to take sides, we're here to take over, to earn a place in your week, to become the conversation you send someone because it helped you understand an issue, to make preparation, fairness, and substantive follow-up questions something you expect whenever a politician sits down for an interview.
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The ambition comes with responsibility I regard as sacred, honoring the trust you place in us.
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Finally, I want to say something to the person listening who is tired, who hears election and thinks, again, more promises, more arguments, more people telling me everything will collapse unless their team wins.
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I understand.
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When someone says they avoid the news because it's depressing, I don't hear a person who needs a lecture.
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I hear someone who may already be carrying enough.
00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:52.000
You are allowed to protect your attention.
00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:58.240
You don't need to follow every clip, every press conference, or every opinion written.
00:21:58.480 --> 00:22:04.480
But I hope you will reserve some attention for the decisions that shape your future.
00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:16.160
Learn about the issues that affect your household, hear a serious argument from someone you disagree with, ask a question, check an answer, and make a plan to vote.
00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:19.200
Democracy asks us to participate.
00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:23.839
It doesn't require us to remain permanently furious.
00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:31.519
And remember how much it took for people to develop the possibility of voting.
00:22:31.839 --> 00:22:41.519
People defended democratic freedoms, organized for voting rights, challenged exclusion, and demanded a voice in decisions made about them.
00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:47.839
Here in British Columbia, Indigenous people were broadly enfranchised provincially in 1949.
00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:51.119
That history is still within living memory.
00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:57.759
As an Indigenous person, I cannot talk about democracy as though everyone has always welcomed it.
00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:01.680
Some of our families had to fight to be included.
00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:07.359
That makes the responsibility of participation deeply meaningful to me.
00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:11.119
You come from people who endured difficulties.
00:23:11.359 --> 00:23:12.799
You may never fully know.
00:23:13.119 --> 00:23:20.559
Many worked, sacrificed, persevered, so the next generation could have the opportunity that they didn't.
00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:26.000
One way to honor that is to take your own voice seriously.
00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:34.480
We have the ability to question powerful people openly, choose our representatives, and change the government peacefully.
00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:39.359
There are people around the world who risk their freedom for those opportunities.
00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:41.440
And our system has flaws.
00:23:41.759 --> 00:23:44.000
We should discuss them and improve it.
00:23:44.240 --> 00:23:48.079
We should also recognize the value of what is in our hands.
00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:54.880
And if you're here because you want to understand more before you vote, give yourself credit for that.
00:23:55.200 --> 00:23:57.200
Curiosity takes effort.
00:23:57.440 --> 00:24:02.720
So does being willing to discover that your first impression may have been incorrect.
00:24:03.039 --> 00:24:05.680
We're honored to be a part of that process.
00:24:05.920 --> 00:24:08.799
We will bring the preparation for that.
00:24:09.039 --> 00:24:10.960
We will bring follow-up questions.
00:24:11.119 --> 00:24:19.839
We will bring our principles into the room, including when keeping them cost us an easy clip or a comfortable conversation.
00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:26.240
And we will continue asking for a clear account of the future these leaders want you to authorize.
00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:32.960
Because the campaign promise should be specific enough that a year from now you can ask, did you do it?
00:24:33.119 --> 00:24:34.960
Did you follow through?
00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:39.680
This election will end, but the consequences will remain.
00:24:39.920 --> 00:24:42.400
So let's take the opportunity seriously.
00:24:42.559 --> 00:24:47.359
Let's demand answers worthy of the responsibilities these candidates are seeking.
00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:56.079
And let's remember that the people asking for power are accountable to the people being asked to grant it.
00:24:56.319 --> 00:24:58.559
Welcome to election season.
00:24:58.799 --> 00:25:01.519
Let's make them answer the question.
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.000
Election season is upon us again.
00:00:02.160 --> 00:00:11.519
The signs are coming out, the sleeves are being rolled up, somewhere a communications team is explaining to a grown adult how to look natural while buying groceries.
00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:17.760
And for the next month, politicians will discover an extraordinary passion for listening.
00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:21.280
Some may even allow it to interrupt their talking.
00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:24.800
British Columbia votes on October 24th.
00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:29.679
And here at Nuanced, we intend to make the time between now and then count.
00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:40.000
Today, we're going to talk about this election, the questions every party should have to answer, and the standards we're setting for ourselves as we cover it.
00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:50.159
We're going to talk about your money, your home, your health, indigenous rights, economic opportunity, and the province we want our children to inherit.
00:00:50.479 --> 00:00:53.600
And we're going to start with the elephant in the room.
00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:59.679
In my view, David Eby calling an election now is incredibly opportunistic.
00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:02.560
His government won a majority in 2024.
00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:11.840
There were roughly two years remaining before the next scheduled election, and this call arrives while his political opponents are struggling to organize themselves.
00:01:12.079 --> 00:01:16.319
You can understand the strategy without pretending you haven't noticed it.
00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:23.439
If your opponent is still trying to find their shoes, that is a very convenient moment to announce the race has begun.
00:01:24.799 --> 00:01:31.680
Premier David Eby has pointed to Donald Trump and the trade war as reasons British Columbia needs a renewed mandate.
00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:33.599
And those are serious concerns.
00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:42.000
But voters are entitled to ask what a new mandate would allow him to do that he couldn't do with the majority he already had.
00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:43.760
And that deserves an answer.
00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:48.400
At the same time, I agree with the underlying democratic principle.
00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:52.400
The authority to govern comes from the people.
00:01:52.640 --> 00:02:00.959
And we can criticize the timing, we can criticize the expense, the political calculation, we can ask whether this serves the public interest.
00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:10.400
Seeking the public's judgment, however, is something we should take seriously and welcome the opportunity to exercise anytime it comes.
00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:16.560
The premier gets to make his case, British Columbians get to decide whether they believe it.
00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:26.080
And if someone calls an election expecting an easy endorsement, the electorate is under absolutely no obligation to cooperate.
00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:30.479
And I think that's the beautiful part of all of this.
00:02:32.080 --> 00:02:40.639
In 2024, when this show was still called the Bigger Than Me podcast, we interviewed David Eby, John Rustad, Sonia Fersnell, and Kevin Falcon.
00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:44.800
That period changed how I understood the role this show could play.
00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:55.599
We saw growth, but we also saw an appetite for conversations that people want information explained to themselves and gave us room to ask the next question.
00:02:55.759 --> 00:02:59.199
Because the next question is often where you learn something.
00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:07.120
The opening answer might be polished, practiced, approved by several people who are all on the same navy blue blazer.
00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:10.319
But then you ask, how would that work?
00:03:10.639 --> 00:03:12.000
What would it cost?
00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:14.400
Why hasn't it happened already?
00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:18.240
What would you do if your approach failed?
00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:20.319
Now we're getting somewhere.
00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:23.759
Since then, the audience has continued to grow.
00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:34.879
We've had opportunities to sit down with more prominent guests, explore more difficult issues, and reach people who might never have encountered one another's perspective otherwise.
00:03:35.120 --> 00:03:37.520
And I'm incredibly grateful for that.
00:03:37.759 --> 00:03:42.319
I also understand that with a bigger platform brings a bigger obligation.
00:03:42.560 --> 00:03:45.280
A famous guest can get someone to click.
00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:51.599
A useful conversation gives them a reason to stay and a reason to trust us the next time.
00:03:52.000 --> 00:04:04.560
We have listeners who are MLAs, mayors, city counselors, business owners, frontline workers, parents, and people trying to understand what is happening around them while keeping their own lives together.
00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:06.159
And your time matters.
00:04:06.479 --> 00:04:20.560
If you spend an hour with us, I want you to leave better equipped than when you arrived, better equipped to assess a promise, to recognize an evasion, to ask a candidate something they cannot answer with a lawn sign.
00:04:21.360 --> 00:04:25.360
And here's what I believe: better conversations can produce better questions.
00:04:25.519 --> 00:04:29.040
Better questions make it harder for weak answers to survive.
00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:37.759
And when candidates know people are listening carefully, there is more pressure on them to prepare, explain themselves, and follow through.
00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:43.279
That doesn't guarantee good government, but it improves the conditions for it.
00:04:43.519 --> 00:04:45.279
And the reverse matters too.
00:04:45.519 --> 00:04:56.000
When we reward slogans, excuse evasions, and treat every criticism of our preferred party as an attack on ourselves, we contribute to the lowering of those standards.
00:04:56.240 --> 00:05:03.360
Eventually, we get a campaign full of people saying absolutely nothing with tremendous conviction.
00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:11.279
I think British Columbians deserve considerably more than that in this election and in every election.
00:05:11.519 --> 00:05:13.600
So I want to remind you of our principles.
00:05:13.920 --> 00:05:17.120
Nuanced is built on five principles.
00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:21.519
Election season is when those principles need to mean something more.
00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:24.560
The first is maturity.
00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:32.800
We will make jokes, clearly, but the consequences of these decisions are serious and we will treat them that way.
00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:35.199
I enjoy the UFC.
00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:39.360
I understand the appeal of watching two people try to finish each other.
00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:44.800
I would just like a different standard for deciding who manages our hospitals than that.
00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:50.160
An interview can be challenging without becoming a shouting match.
00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:56.800
A guest can be treated respectfully while being asked a question they would very much prefer to avoid.
00:05:57.040 --> 00:06:00.079
Our second principle has been steelmanning.
00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:07.519
Before we critique a position, we should be able to explain the strongest reasonable argument for it.
00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:14.399
Someone who supports public investment may be worried about people falling through the cracks.
00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:20.800
Someone who wants spending restraint may be worried about whether those services will remain affordable.
00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:27.839
Someone who prioritizes environmental protection may be thinking about risks that will outlast all of us.
00:06:28.879 --> 00:06:32.079
And those concerns deserve to be understood.
00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:35.600
Then the proposed solutions deserve to be tested.
00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:43.279
If you can only defeat the stupidest version of an argument, you haven't done much to help our audience.
00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:47.600
Third, controversy with integrity.
00:06:47.920 --> 00:06:59.040
We will discuss Stripa, Aboriginal title, private property, taxes, healthcare reform, the costs of environmental policy, and the costs of environmental damage.
00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:07.839
We will go where the stakes justify going, and we will do the preparation those subjects absolutely deserve.
00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:11.199
The fourth is openness.
00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:15.680
We will hear from people across the political spectrum.
00:07:15.839 --> 00:07:21.839
We will also remain open to discovering that something we believed was incomplete or wrong.
00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:23.680
And that includes me.
00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:26.720
I have opinions and you will hear them.
00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:32.800
I'll explain why I hold them, and I expect those opinions to face scrutiny too.
00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:38.000
Being nonpartisan means a party doesn't get permanent ownership of my judgment.
00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:42.560
Agreement on an issue doesn't purchase agreement on the next.
00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:46.720
The final principle we follow is responsibility.
00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:56.160
We owe you accuracy, context, and honest distinctions between what we know, what we think, and what remains uncertain.
00:07:56.399 --> 00:07:58.480
An allegation is not a finding.
00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:00.399
A forecast is not a result.
00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:04.480
An announcement is not a completed project.
00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:10.399
And when we make a factual error, we need to correct it clearly and quickly.
00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:14.399
We won't manufacture equal criticism just to look balanced.
00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:18.319
If one claim is supported and another isn't, we should say so.
00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:25.759
Fairness means applying a consistent standard even when the results are inconvenient to everybody's favorite party.
00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:28.560
Those are the principles.
00:08:29.279 --> 00:08:34.399
And here is what they ask us to follow up with.
00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:44.080
For DRIPA, Aboriginal title, and certainty, we need a clear answer on the future of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.
00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:54.879
The law requires the provincial government, in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous peoples, to take measures to bring provincial laws into alignment with the UN Declaration.
00:08:55.120 --> 00:09:03.120
It also provides for agreements involving joint decision making or indigenous consent in specified circumstances.
00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:07.919
Those are consequential choices about how government works.
00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:13.440
If a party wants to keep the law, they need to explain how it's going to be implemented.
00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:16.399
If it wants amendments, they need to identify them.
00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:21.039
If it wants to repeal them, they have to explain what follows next.
00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:27.919
And to be honest about this, Aboriginal and treaty rights have constitutional protections under Section 35.
00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:34.000
Repealing a provincial statute would not erase the underlying constitutional foundation.
00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:37.519
So nobody gets to sell us a magic switch.
00:09:37.759 --> 00:09:43.919
We need to hear how leaders would protect private property rights while lawfully addressing Aboriginal title.
00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:46.159
What is their negotiation strategy?
00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:49.279
What protections do they propose for affected homeowners?
00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:51.120
How will they involve First Nations?
00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:54.080
And what happens while litigation continues.
00:09:54.320 --> 00:09:59.519
Saying you will appeal a decision tells us one thing about your legal strategy.
00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:03.120
It does not tell us your entire governing plan.
00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:14.399
As chief of Chihuahua First Nation, I care about whether these discussions lead to stronger communities, functioning infrastructure, opportunity, and relationships people can depend on.
00:10:14.639 --> 00:10:22.639
I also care about a family who worked for decades to buy a home and now wants clear answers about its security.
00:10:22.879 --> 00:10:28.080
Both deserve to be heard without having their concerns turned into a caricature.
00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:31.440
Certainty must mean something practical.
00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:33.039
Who makes the decision?
00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:34.720
What process applies?
00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:36.320
How long should it take?
00:10:36.559 --> 00:10:38.159
How are rights respected?
00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:40.559
How are disputes resolved?
00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:42.720
Investors need answers.
00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:45.120
First Nations need answers.
00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:49.039
Municipalities and homeowners need answers.
00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:56.000
And if your explanation creates more confusion every time you give it, we need to keep asking.
00:10:57.200 --> 00:11:03.120
On public finances and economic confidence, we need to talk about the budget.
00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:13.120
The province's September financial update projects a deficit of approximately$13.8 billion for 2026-2027.
00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:19.679
And that's a forecast rather than a final audited result, but it gives you the scale of the challenge.
00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:27.679
These candidates are asking to manage a multi-billion dollar budget through public revenues and borrowing.
00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:30.799
We should conduct the interview accordingly.
00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:37.120
You wouldn't hand someone your debit card because they looked confident beside an excavator.
00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:45.360
We need to know how each party plans to improve the province's financial position and strengthen its credit worthiness.
00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:49.279
What is the path for spending, revenue, and debt?
00:11:49.519 --> 00:11:52.320
Which assumptions depend on economic growth?
00:11:52.480 --> 00:11:55.600
What happens if that growth doesn't arrive?
00:11:55.919 --> 00:11:59.120
A government budget differs from a household budget.
00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:05.519
Borrowing can support valuable long-term investments and downturn can justify temporary deficits.
00:12:05.679 --> 00:12:10.639
But governments still face borrowing costs and limits on what they can sustain.
00:12:10.960 --> 00:12:16.080
So if you promise cuts, identify them and their consequences.
00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:21.840
If you promise spending, identify the funding and expected results.
00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:29.200
If you promise both lower taxes and better services, show us the numbers and how they fit together.
00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:33.759
We'll find efficiencies is a starting point for a conversation.
00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:38.080
Somewhere after that, we need a noun, a number, and a date.
00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:45.519
And we should ask how British Columbia becomes a place where people want to build businesses and careers?
00:12:46.080 --> 00:12:49.519
Which provincial taxes discourage productive investment?
00:12:49.759 --> 00:12:51.039
Could we change them?
00:12:52.080 --> 00:12:55.200
What would the cost in the short term be?
00:12:55.440 --> 00:12:59.600
How would we assess whether the change actually worked?
00:12:59.919 --> 00:13:03.759
Do permitting process have clear requirements and reliable timelines?
00:13:03.919 --> 00:13:10.480
Can an entrepreneur understand the rules without hiring someone whose full-time job is to understand the rules?
00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:16.159
Economic confidence grows when people see a credible path forward.
00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:25.279
A slogan about being open for business is considerably less useful if the application is still waiting for someone to open their email.
00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:32.080
And on affordability, this is where people's lives get impacted.
00:13:32.240 --> 00:13:39.200
Affordability has become one of those words that gets repeated so often it risks losing contact with real life.
00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:41.679
So let's put it back in the real world.
00:13:41.919 --> 00:13:45.519
Food in the fridge should be a minimum expectation.
00:13:45.679 --> 00:13:47.919
A stable home should be achievable.
00:13:48.080 --> 00:13:52.480
Raising children should leave room for something beyond financial panic.
00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:58.960
And a vacation, some time away with your family, should be a reasonable aspiration.
00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:10.480
I'm talking about the ability to create memories, visit relatives, take your kids somewhere, and come home without spending the next year recovering financially.
00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:18.799
The Canadian dream needs to be offered to people more than successfully renewed line of credit.
00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:25.440
Provincial governments don't control every grocery price, interest rate, or international shock.
00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:33.440
That's exactly why leaders should identify the levers they actually control and explain what using them would accomplish.
00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:38.159
How will they help incomes go further?
00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:41.440
How will they improve conditions for better paying work?
00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:44.559
What relief reaches people who need it?
00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:48.159
What merely shifts the bill somewhere else?
00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:51.039
Housing needs that same discipline.
00:14:51.200 --> 00:14:54.159
How many homes would a policy help deliver?
00:14:54.399 --> 00:14:55.039
By when?
00:14:55.519 --> 00:14:58.720
Affordable to people earning what income?
00:14:58.960 --> 00:15:02.240
What infrastructure makes those homes possible?
00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:13.679
How will we support people who need subsidized housing while making it possible for working households to find homes without requiring extraordinary luck?
00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:21.840
Private construction, public investment, nonprofit housing, zoning fees, financing, and infrastructure all deserve serious examination.
00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:26.399
Each proposal should be judged on the problem it actually solves.
00:15:26.799 --> 00:15:30.320
And we have to ask a politically uncomfortable question.
00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:39.600
How do we make housing more affordable for young people while recognizing that many older people have built their retirement plans around their homes?
00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:52.559
A leader should explain how they would navigate that tension, telling buyers that prices will become affordable while assuring owners that values will rise forever requires an explanation longer than trust us.
00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:59.279
On healthcare, I want to push beyond the size of the spending announcement.
00:15:59.519 --> 00:16:00.639
Funding matters.
00:16:00.799 --> 00:16:06.399
Staff need to be paid, facilities need to operate, and equipment costs money.
00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:16.240
But the public deserves to understand what additional spending will deliver and what changes could make existing resources work better?
00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:19.519
How will patients get primary care sooner?
00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:21.120
How will wait times fall?
00:16:21.279 --> 00:16:23.039
What is the plan for retaining staff?
00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:25.600
Which administration tasks can be simplified?
00:16:25.759 --> 00:16:30.240
Where could better coordination prevent patients from being passed between services?
00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:33.440
Which changes have evidence behind them?
00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:37.120
And how will we measure the results?
00:16:37.759 --> 00:16:43.840
If a nurse loses time to an unnecessary process, fixing the process deserves attention.
00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:50.399
If a proposed cut makes it harder for that nurse to provide care, calling it an efficiency doesn't settle the argument.
00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:53.679
A hospital announcement is an important promise.
00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:57.120
A patient receiving timely care is the result we need.
00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:06.240
You cannot treat a patient with a rendering of a future building, even if the rendering contains a reassuring number of trees.
00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:14.319
We also need to have serious conversations about ecosystems that make British Columbia extraordinary.
00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:20.319
In my interview with David Suzuki, we discussed climate change, environmental protection, and indigenous knowledge.
00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:26.799
You don't have to agree with every position a guest holds to engage seriously with the questions they are raising.
00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:31.440
How do we protect watersheds, salmon habitat, forests, and biodiversity?
00:17:31.599 --> 00:17:34.799
How do we prepare communities for environmental risk?
00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:39.359
How do we assess a project's benefits, harms, and alternatives?
00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:43.759
Workers and resource communities deserve credible plans for their futures.
00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:47.119
Environmental commitments deserve measurable results.
00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:52.319
First Nations deserve to be heard on the opportunities and risks affecting their territories.
00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:57.839
If you propose a restriction, explain its effects and the transition you envision.
00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:03.039
If you propose development, explain the safeguards, oversight, and responsibility for cleanup.
00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:08.240
British Columbia's beauty cannot be just a background in a campaign advertisement.
00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:13.279
We need to know what governing choices will keep it that way.
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Over the coming months, we intend to speak with experts on housing, the economy, DRIPA, business growth, and the issues affecting your life.
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We will seek interviews with all party leaders to understand their vision for British Columbia and its place in Canada.
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An invitation doesn't guarantee an interview.
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We will tell you who participates, and we will prepare seriously for the people who do.
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The governing party will face questions about its record, opposition parties will face questions about whether their alternatives are credible and workable.
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We will ask what leaders believe, what they intend to do, and what they are prepared to be held accountable for.
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And we will leave room for honest uncertainty.
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A leader who says, I need to check that, should have the opportunity to return with an answer.
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Pretending to know something isn't a qualification for office.
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And that standard applies here too.
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Holding public office myself doesn't exempt me from it.
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I know how much easier it is to make a promise than to deliver it.
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That experience should sharpen my questions and my sense of responsibility.
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Our aim is to help you question your own candidates effectively.
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Ask them, what specifically will you change?
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What will it cost?
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How will you derive the authority to do it?
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What should we see as a result?
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And what evidence would make you reconsider?
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And ask one more.
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When would you be willing to disagree with your own party?
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Local representation should require more than forwarding head nods and talking points to a familiar postal code.
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These people are asking for authority over decisions that shape your family, your neighborhood, your livelihood, and the next generation.
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They should expect scrutiny proportionate to that responsibility.
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The conservatives We may see the NDP win a commanding majority.
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The Conservatives may surprise us again.
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The Greens may exercise significant influence, as they did under Andrew Weaver after the 2017 election.
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Independents and other parties may matter in ways that earlier conversations overlooked.
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We don't know the result.
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It belongs to you, the voters.
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Our ambition is to make this show a place people turn when they want to think carefully before making that decision.
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As I've put it before, we're not here to take sides, we're here to take over, to earn a place in your week, to become the conversation you send someone because it helped you understand an issue, to make preparation, fairness, and substantive follow-up questions something you expect whenever a politician sits down for an interview.
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The ambition comes with responsibility I regard as sacred, honoring the trust you place in us.
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Finally, I want to say something to the person listening who is tired, who hears election and thinks, again, more promises, more arguments, more people telling me everything will collapse unless their team wins.
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I understand.
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When someone says they avoid the news because it's depressing, I don't hear a person who needs a lecture.
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I hear someone who may already be carrying enough.
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You are allowed to protect your attention.
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You don't need to follow every clip, every press conference, or every opinion written.
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But I hope you will reserve some attention for the decisions that shape your future.
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Learn about the issues that affect your household, hear a serious argument from someone you disagree with, ask a question, check an answer, and make a plan to vote.
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Democracy asks us to participate.
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It doesn't require us to remain permanently furious.
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And remember how much it took for people to develop the possibility of voting.
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People defended democratic freedoms, organized for voting rights, challenged exclusion, and demanded a voice in decisions made about them.
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Here in British Columbia, Indigenous people were broadly enfranchised provincially in 1949.
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That history is still within living memory.
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As an Indigenous person, I cannot talk about democracy as though everyone has always welcomed it.
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Some of our families had to fight to be included.
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That makes the responsibility of participation deeply meaningful to me.
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You come from people who endured difficulties.
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You may never fully know.
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Many worked, sacrificed, persevered, so the next generation could have the opportunity that they didn't.
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One way to honor that is to take your own voice seriously.
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We have the ability to question powerful people openly, choose our representatives, and change the government peacefully.
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There are people around the world who risk their freedom for those opportunities.
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And our system has flaws.
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We should discuss them and improve it.
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We should also recognize the value of what is in our hands.
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And if you're here because you want to understand more before you vote, give yourself credit for that.
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Curiosity takes effort.
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So does being willing to discover that your first impression may have been incorrect.
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We're honored to be a part of that process.
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We will bring the preparation for that.
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We will bring follow-up questions.
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We will bring our principles into the room, including when keeping them cost us an easy clip or a comfortable conversation.
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And we will continue asking for a clear account of the future these leaders want you to authorize.
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Because the campaign promise should be specific enough that a year from now you can ask, did you do it?
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Did you follow through?
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This election will end, but the consequences will remain.
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So let's take the opportunity seriously.
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Let's demand answers worthy of the responsibilities these candidates are seeking.
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And let's remember that the people asking for power are accountable to the people being asked to grant it.
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Welcome to election season.
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Let's make them answer the question.
