Christy Clark cabinet announcement

CBC is reporting that North Vancouver-Lonsdale MLA Naomi Yamamoto has been named Minister of Advanced Education in the new Clark Cabinet.

No other North Shore MLAs have been included in the new Cabinet.

Will a New Liberal leader Change Anything For the North Shore?

(Late breaking News, it's Christy Clark, who really, really loves families. That's the kind of bold, innovative leadership that this province needs.)

While we wait for the moment when when one Liberal or another is anointed King of The Hill, perhaps we should also take time to ask what difference this will make to our town.

Municipal government does after all fall within the realm of Provincial control, as do many of the things with a decidedly local impact - building codes, environmental regulations, transit funding and policy, social programs. Circuses.

Each of these has a direct effect on how our cities are managed, and how our growing population will be serviced and supported. In some respects these are the areas of Provincial control that hit closest to home.

So dear readers, aside from the endless refrain of "I don't wanna pay taxes!", what real and lasting changes would like to see our new Leader embrace on the municipal level?

Christy Clark speaking at Parkgate February 1st

Christy will be in North Vancouver to meet members of the community and answer any questions you might have on her vision for the Province of British Columbia.

In 1996, she was elected to the British Columbia legislature where she distinguished herself as a passionate champion for families. This commitment continued when the Liberals formed government in 2001 and she was appointed Minister of Education and Deputy Premier.

Christy took a break from politics in 2005 to spend more time with her family. She quickly established herself as a columnist with the Vancouver Province newspaper and commentator on CTV Newsnet. In 2007, she began the “Christy Clark Show” on CKNW radio.

Date/Time: 7pm Tuesday February 1st

Location: Mary Hunter Hall, Parkgate Community Centre, 3625 Banff Court, North Vancouver

West Vancouver-Capilano MLA Ralph Sultan Endorses George Abbott

Ralph Sultan was on CKNW's Bill Good show this morning talking about the HST.  At the end of the interview, Good asked Sultan who he was supporting in the BC Liberal leadership race.  When asked why he was endorsing George Abbott's leadership bid he pointed to five criteria, but said it was the fact that Abbott has "met a payroll and run his own business...and in building character and common sense there is no better training."

“Ralph has been an outstanding representative for his constituents in West Vancouver-Capilano since 2001,” says George Abbott. “He has several decades of professional experience at the most senior levels of business in the resource and financial sectors. I’m honoured that he has chosen to provide me with his support.” 

The CKNW conversation can be heard through the radio's stations audio archive, when the question was asked at 9:27am:

http://www.corusradio.com/Shared/AudioVault/CKNWAMaudioVault.asp?VaultDate=20110124&VaultTime=09&mysubmit=Listen

Sultan joins 16 other BC Liberal Ministers and MLAs who have put their support behind George Abbott’s candidacy for Premier.

BC Liberal Leadership Candidate George Abbott during a visit to North Vancouver

Video footage from TheLeftCoast.ca at last night's visit to the Holiday Inn by George Abbott: