Latest news with #Rustad
Hamilton Spectator
3 days ago
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
B.C. Tories say NDP government should have fallen because of blurred Zoom screen
VICTORIA - If it were up to B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad, British Columbians would have found themselves at the start of an election campaign Thursday — because of a blurred Zoom screen. Rustad says Speaker Raj Chouhan shouldn't have counted an online vote on Wednesday night by Rick Glumac, minister of state for trade, arguing the blurred background of his screen violated the legislature's prohibition against virtual backgrounds. The vote on the government's Bill 14 was a confidence vote — and without Glumac's vote, or the tiebreaker cast by Chouhan, Rustad says the Opposition would have won 46 to 45. But B.C. NDP house leader Mike Farnworth says Glumac was clearly sitting in a room, with his face visible. He says that blurring the background of a room is an established practice and it's not the same as using a virtual background. Farnworth says a true example of a virtual background would be a member of the Opposition 'sitting on a beach with half a coconut, with an umbrella in it, and palm trees' and that the complaint about Glumac is 'nonsense.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 29, 2025.
Toronto Star
3 days ago
- Politics
- Toronto Star
B.C. Tories say NDP government should have fallen because of blurred Zoom screen
VICTORIA - If it were up to B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad, British Columbians would have found themselves at the start of an election campaign Thursday — because of a blurred Zoom screen. Rustad says Speaker Raj Chouhan shouldn't have counted an online vote on Wednesday night by Rick Glumac, minister of state for trade, arguing the blurred background of his screen violated the legislature's prohibition against virtual backgrounds.
Winnipeg Free Press
3 days ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
B.C. Tories say NDP government should have fallen because of blurred Zoom screen
VICTORIA – If it were up to B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad, British Columbians would have found themselves at the start of an election campaign Thursday — because of a blurred Zoom screen. Rustad says Speaker Raj Chouhan shouldn't have counted an online vote on Wednesday night by Rick Glumac, minister of state for trade, arguing the blurred background of his screen violated the legislature's prohibition against virtual backgrounds. The vote on the government's Bill 14 was a confidence vote — and without Glumac's vote, or the tiebreaker cast by Chouhan, Rustad says the Opposition would have won 46 to 45. But B.C. NDP house leader Mike Farnworth says Glumac was clearly sitting in a room, with his face visible. He says that blurring the background of a room is an established practice and it's not the same as using a virtual background. Farnworth says a true example of a virtual background would be a member of the Opposition 'sitting on a beach with half a coconut, with an umbrella in it, and palm trees' and that the complaint about Glumac is 'nonsense.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 29, 2025.
Hamilton Spectator
5 days ago
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
B.C.‘s chief electoral officer pushes against ‘false narratives' in 2024 vote
VICTORIA - British Columbia's chief electoral officer has issued a report he says pushes back against 'false narratives' about the 2024 provincial election, as the Opposition BC Conservatives continue to call for an independent review. Anton Boegman said the Oct. 19 provincial election happened during a 'much more challenging' information environment than previous elections. 'Our social media team detected many false online narratives that questioned the integrity of the process,' he said, adding that many of those posts came from outside of British Columbia, including Alberta and Ontario. But Boegman said his office did not track from which part of the political spectrum the posts emerged. He said the online misinformation 'peaked' on Oct. 28 when Elections BC completed the final vote count, when 'normally social media commentary peaks on election day.' Boegman said the falsehoods included claims about many non-citizens voting, widespread multiple voting and extensive fraudulent use of mail-in voting. But he said B.C. had 'well-established and proven processes' to keep elections secure, adding that all voters must affirm their eligibility, including citizenship before registering and voting. He said Elections BC received five complaints about non-Canadians potentially voting, and another 10 non-Canadians attempting to register to vote. 'So that's 15 out of 2.1 million voters that have voted,' he said, adding that his office was investigating the cases. Officials prevent multiple voting by checking voters off lists, and people voting by mail must meet identity and integrity standards, he added. Boegman acknowledged October's election faced challenges and he accepted responsibility for human-caused errors including uncounted and unreported ballots that prompted a partial recount in the riding of Prince George-Mackenzie. 'Elections are messy, to use a word,' he said, and while all election officials receive training, they make mistakes. 'We saw that obviously in our election in the mistakes that were made. We were able to correct them ... and we were transparent about that.' Boegman said the errors did not affect the final results, with Premier David Eby's NDP winning a single-seat majority, but B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad said a 'number of errors' put the results in question. 'Now, the election process is what it is,' Rustad said. 'We accept it obviously going forward, but this needs to change, and quite frankly, the truth of this needs to come out.' Rustad added that he hoped a court case by Conservative candidate Honveer Singh Randhawa challenging the outcome in Surrey-Guildford would reveal some of the 'too many loopholes' in the system. Randhawa has challenged the 22-vote victory of New Democrat Garry Begg in Surrey-Guildford following a judicial recount in late 2024. Begg's seat gave the NDP its razor-thin majority, but Randhawa has claimed various irregularities. The B.C. Conservative Party is not taking part in the case. Boegman's report mentions the court challenge, noting B.C.'s Supreme Court has yet to hear Randhawa's application to invalidate Begg's election. Should the court rule in favour of Randhawa, a byelection would be held. Boegman said he 'does not want to presuppose' what is going to happen in court. 'We will report on it, depending upon the outcome of that process and the findings from that process,' he said. When asked about Rustad's other claims, Boegman said that he 'will leave the political discussion' to the politicians. 'I will stand by my assertion that the election ... was an accessible election, that it was free, fair and secure.' The report is the first volume in a series of reports into the Oct. 19 vote. It says 'administrative challenges' to the vote included the late withdrawal of the BC United party, extreme weather on voting day and human error. In Prince George-Mackenzie, election officials failed to count a ballot box containing 861 advance votes on election night. The report says the mistake was made after a single ballot was inserted into a box without being tabulated. The mistake was noted and election officials were instructed to reset the tabulator and re-insert all the ballots. However, the report says the instructions were followed incorrectly, and while the retabulated box was counted, a second box containing other advance votes was not. 'Our review determined that while there were contributing factors, the mistakes were a result of election official errors,' the report says of the uncounted box and other errors. It says contributing factors 'included the complexity of our electoral model and the reliance on manual processes for key parts of results reporting, the shortened time between initial count and final count, and the delay in completing a quality assurance report at (Elections BC) HQ.' 'These factors were exacerbated by the long working hours and extreme weather event on final voting day,' it says. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 27, 2025.
CBC
13-03-2025
- Politics
- CBC
B.C.'s Official Opposition introduces bill to prevent future time changes
Social Sharing Still sleepy from this week's time change? B.C's Official Opposition hopes to make political hay in the sunshine and has introduced a bill that calls for the immediate end to any future time changes in the province. The catch is getting the government to support it. "Let's get this implemented," said John Rustad as he rose in the legislature Thursday to introduce his bill: Interpretation (Uniform Pacific Time Zone) Amendment Act. "Let's end these time changes in British Columbian for people's health." Rustad told the house people in the province are done with twice-yearly time changes, citing consequences such as sleep deprivation, health issues, and car accidents. To drive home the urgency for a change, Rustad's party went further in its argument, saying the change could be part of the "elbows up," Canada-first approach in its trade war with the U.S. "This premier wants to wait for the U.S. before we make a decision about B.C. for B.C.," said Ward Stamer, MLA for Kamloops-North Thompson, during question period. "So, Mr. Speaker, how can the premier claim he is elbows up against becoming the 51st state while allowing the U.S. to dictate how we set our clocks?" WATCH: CBC News explains how 'elbows up' became a Canadian rallying cry: Why Canadians are saying 'Elbows Up' 2 days ago Duration 1:18 It's become a rallying cry against U.S. tariffs. But in hockey-loving Canada, the phrase also evokes memories of one of the game's greatest players: Saskatchewan-born Gordie Howe. Known to many as Mr. Hockey, he also earned the nickname Mr. Elbows. In 2019, more than 223,000 British Columbians voted on whether or not to stop switching clocks, with 93 per cent of participants voting in favour of a move to permanent daylight time. Switching to permanent standard time was not a voting option. The NDP government passed legislation to make the change, but with no firm timeline. Premier David Eby has said the change wouldn't be enacted until B.C.'s American neighbours — including Washington state, Oregon and California — did the same. In response to an inquiry before the time change on March 9, which questioned waiting on the U.S. due to the ongoing trade war, Eby said he would "ponder" expediting it. Rustad's motion doesn't appear to have sparked any urgency from the premier, though. "Trust me, I am as sympathetic as the next guy to kids that have trouble adjusting to time changes or pets or just waking up feeling like you're an hour behind. But in this moment, that is not government's No. 1 priority," he said Thursday. WATCH: CBC News explains the effects of twice-yearly clock changes: How the time change in B.C. affects your health 6 days ago Duration 1:55 While many people are resisting the change to daylight time, CBC reporter Tara Carman found regional differences to staying with one time zone, while SFU psychology professor Myriam Juda says the time change has a big impact on our health. Rustad said if the government supported his bill, it could be passed "in a day" and then quickly enacted. The first reading of the Interpretation (Uniform Pacific Time Zone) Amendment Act was passed in the legislature on Thursday and will now go to second reading.
