Legislative reforms needed, not extra hours
May 17, 2012Earlier this week Bob spoke on the motion to add an extra chamber in the Legislature to deal with the heavy load of legislation. Bob voted against the motion on the grounds that it was a last minute solution to a foreseeable problem. He argued that continue reading
So Many Bills, So Little Time
May 9, 2012Much attention is being paid to the federal budget bill and the limited time MPs have to debate that massive piece of legislation with its embedded changes to Canada’s environmental laws, but the same issues of time-limited debate and the undermining of the legislative process are continue reading
The Power of Independence
March 28, 2012The last day before the Legislature broke for spring break a cabinet minister was forced to resign his seat due to misconduct. The first day back after the break a former cabinet minister resigned from the Liberal caucus, claiming the Liberal Party has lost its integrity. continue reading
Political Firestorm
March 27, 2012The feeding frenzy in the hallways of the BC Legislature continued today as the media scrummed any Liberal MLA who was silly enough to pause and face the cameras and give a reaction to the defection of one of their colleagues to the BC Conservatives.
Don’t Walk Away From Democracy
March 14, 2012I fear that the “robocall” scandal rocking Ottawa will simply cause more voters to walk away from the political system in disgust. The majority of eligible voters have already walked away from the ballot box and young people, for the most part, have not bought into continue reading
Federal Liberal Party’s “Open” Leadership Vote Will Further Undermine Our Democracy
January 20, 2012There wasn’t much coverage of the Federal Liberal Party Convention’s decision to allow non-party members to vote for their leader next time around (maybe because it’ll be a moot point if Bob Rae gets anointed). However, there is a major, and very undemocratic, trap in the continue reading
Are You An Enemy of the State?
January 10, 2012Federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver, in an “Open Letter” to Canadians yesterday (January 9) effectively labelled anyone opposed to the Enbridge pipeline project an enemy of the state, sorry an enemy of the “Harper Government.” Ok, he only called them radical ideologues who were using continue reading
IntegrityBC’s Electoral Finance Reform petition
Election Finance Reform Petition: http://integritybc.ca/petition continue reading
Changing the Laws to Improve Democracy
December 8, 2011In Fall 2011 Bob introduced two Private Members’ Bills to improve our democracy in British Columbia.
The first Bill would remove big money from politics by restricting donations to candidates and political parties to registered British Columbia voters only, and caps those individual donations at $1000 continue reading
“Democracy’s Great. It’s the Politics I Hate”
In December 2011, a second Samara Democracy Report was released that explored motivations of non-voters. One of the main conclusions of that report was that many non-voters were turned off the system, not because of apathy or because they didn’t buy into democracy, but that their continue reading
Making My Expenses Public
December 7, 2011This week I started posting my travel expense reports on my website www.bobsimpsonmla.ca. The press immediately labeled this a challenge to all other MLAs to become more “transparent” and suggested I wouldn’t be very popular with my colleagues in the Legislature. I also got lots continue reading
Independent MLA Bob Simpson Makes Expenses Publicly Available
December 5, 2011The Independent MLA for Cariboo North has begun publishing copies of his travel expense claim forms on his website: http://bobsimpsonmla.ca/about-bob/bobs-expenses/
“Travel expenses are a legitimate part of doing business as an MLA and serving my constituents in Victoria when the Legislature is in session,” said Bob continue reading
Repeal the Balanced Budget Legislation
November 30, 2011What a difference a couple of weeks make. Two weeks ago the Minister of Finance stated he was determined to balance BC’s budget by 2013 as required by the law. This week, armed with a new financial update and weakening prospects for BC’s economy, the Minister continue reading
Step Up to the Ballot Box
November 9, 2011As I’ve written many times before, I think we’re living unsustainably (economically, socially and ecologically) and the only way we can reverse this situation is through a dramatic change in the way we’re governed. Hence, my humble attempt to change that dynamic by giving up a continue reading
Simpson Introduces Bill Banning Corporate and Union Donations
October 27, 2011Watch video of the introduction of this Bill here
Today in the Legislature, Bob Simpson, the Independent MLA for Cariboo North, tabled the Election Finance Amendment Act. The Bill restricts donations to candidates and political parties to registered British Columbia voters only, and caps those individual continue reading
Time to Get Big Money Out of BC Politics
The political corruption scandal in Quebec makes me wonder why BC’s own too intimate relationship between politicians and the corporations, unions and lobbyists that fund them hasn’t created a similar scandal here.
Something about the nature of the relationship between the corporatized media, corporate and union continue reading
MP Exit Interviews
October 25, 2011In 2011 Samara released four reports based on exit interviews of Canadian Members of Parliament from all political parties that offer interesting insight into the parliamentary experience and process.
From Samara: “In 2009 and 2010, a group from Samara partnered with the Canadian Association of Former continue reading
More on Politicians & Private Interests
October 13, 2011My weekly “Musings” are capped at 400 words (ok, I usually exceed that, but not but by much), that’s not a lot of space to explore what are often complex issues. For example, in this week’s Musing I touched on the issue of politicians pandering to continue reading
Time to End the Electioneering
September 7, 2011It’s a relief to have the uncertainty associated with the possibility of a snap election put to an end. But, I’m concerned that the leaders of BC’s main political parties won’t be able to rise above the petty partisanship that’s characterized their relationship to date.
The continue reading
Stay Active on Other Issues
August 31, 2011Twice now, the people of BC have had an opportunity to have their say on the HST. The first time, of course, was the very successful initiative petition which set up the referendum vote, the results of which were reported out last week. However, unlike the continue reading