Long time supporter of trans rights all of my adult life, I am 75. I do not, however, think the minors should have any treatment that has or may have long term side effects. The minimum age for starting transition should be 18, at the least. Think, this is the age when teens are in grade 12.
There are many things teens are not allowed to do. We must not forget that the teen brain is still developing.
Rustad and his enablers must be smoking some crazy shit if they think this is good for his party or, like, democracy. Conservatives in BC (as in most provinces) need a sizable mass of centrist voters if they are to manage majorities or even functional minorities. And right now we desperately need greater breadth and depth all along the political spectrum, not more fringe bullshit and plays from the would-be authoritarian handbook.
Politics in BC has always been weird. You have, to put it indelicately, a lot of weird people with odd belief systems in BC. Both on the left and the right. The culture is so individualistic that it's a wonder that political parties even exist
I’m sure the NDP would love nothing more than to have the conservatives implode but what about all those voters who chose to vote Conservative in the last provincial election and almost were able to oust the NDP. Do you think those voters are going to go away and leave the NDP to continue their run to provincial ruin?
This isn't surprising - small/fringe party hurdles to sudden relevance, and struggles with a huge number of new supporters, a dramatically enlarged caucus, and an inexperienced leader. That was the story of the federal NDP after the 2011 Orange Crush. It buckled under the strain, and experienced a steady series of setbacks leading to loss of official party status this spring.
Rustad was the beneficiary of lightning in a bottle: a desire for an alternative to the NDP government combined with a collapse of the BC Liberals. He's now dealing with the same struggles as every right of center party in Canada, with an energized and determined populist wing pushing positions that don't play well with the general electorate. Probably the best case for the BC Conservatives would be a replay of the rise of the BC Liberals in the late '90s: Gordon Wilson took them from a fringe party to supplant the collapsing Social Credit Party, but it took a new leader in Gordon Campbell to pull the party together and lead them to victory. Rustad needs to be replaced with a leader with stronger political talent who can pull together the disparate factions before they fly apart.
> with an energized and determined populist wing pushing positions that don't play well with the general electorate.
Right of centre parties need to distinguish between positions that don't play well with the general electorate and positions that DO play well with the general electorate, but are incorrectly portrayed in most media as not popular. It's the difference between "aksshually residential schools all good" and "don't keep the flag at half mast for half a year while declaring Canada a genocidal state".
And the trans issue is one of those issues. Most British Columbians don't actually think "trans-women" are actually women, (because they're not) and that comes with a host of policy implications. "Don't sterilize minors" is a lot more popular with voters than Mr. Shaw suggests and that's a "phobic" position. (It's a position of child-protection.) Similarly, cutting off funding to a women's rape-crisis centre because they insisted that trans-identifying males could not be volunteers is seen by most British Columbians and a terrible attack on women... because it is. It's a deeply misogynistic thing to do and shame on the city of Vancouver for having done it. A conservative party isn't going to go wrong taking pro-woman and pro-child policies.
At the same time, most British Columbians also don't like a-holes and *REALLY* don't like being associated with a-holes, so Mr. Rustad and any conservative party wanting to protect children could easily be fatally undermined by a loud and angry staff member tossing gratuitous insults. It is vital for anyone wanting to lead a conservative party to be able to walk that line of defending science, women's rights and children and also rejecting the nastiness that our neighbours to the south seem to want to make into their entire national identity.
Sorry Rob. Just don't by into your view of Rustad. What he is going through right now is what I call just growing pains. He had to basically forge a party out of nothing and I think he is a good guy. I'm sticking with him. While I was shocked by Sturko's actions, I have worked with people who were just impossible to work with in the past and I think she fills the bill.
BC politics has always been a pit of crap. The person(s) who manage to return BC politics to a normal level of sanity and productivity for long-term will deserve a Nobel price in Economics, or some other society-related subject.
OneBC “railing against trans rights”?
What rights was OneBC “railing” against? The rights of a minor to medically transition?
That is not “a right”. It is child abuse.
Not sure if that quote is hyperbole, gaslighting or deliberate misinformation, but you can put me in the ‘disappointed’ column.
See Genspect Canada.
Long time supporter of trans rights all of my adult life, I am 75. I do not, however, think the minors should have any treatment that has or may have long term side effects. The minimum age for starting transition should be 18, at the least. Think, this is the age when teens are in grade 12.
There are many things teens are not allowed to do. We must not forget that the teen brain is still developing.
To transition is a very serious undertaking.
Rustad and his enablers must be smoking some crazy shit if they think this is good for his party or, like, democracy. Conservatives in BC (as in most provinces) need a sizable mass of centrist voters if they are to manage majorities or even functional minorities. And right now we desperately need greater breadth and depth all along the political spectrum, not more fringe bullshit and plays from the would-be authoritarian handbook.
Politics in BC has always been weird. You have, to put it indelicately, a lot of weird people with odd belief systems in BC. Both on the left and the right. The culture is so individualistic that it's a wonder that political parties even exist
I’m sure the NDP would love nothing more than to have the conservatives implode but what about all those voters who chose to vote Conservative in the last provincial election and almost were able to oust the NDP. Do you think those voters are going to go away and leave the NDP to continue their run to provincial ruin?
This isn't surprising - small/fringe party hurdles to sudden relevance, and struggles with a huge number of new supporters, a dramatically enlarged caucus, and an inexperienced leader. That was the story of the federal NDP after the 2011 Orange Crush. It buckled under the strain, and experienced a steady series of setbacks leading to loss of official party status this spring.
Rustad was the beneficiary of lightning in a bottle: a desire for an alternative to the NDP government combined with a collapse of the BC Liberals. He's now dealing with the same struggles as every right of center party in Canada, with an energized and determined populist wing pushing positions that don't play well with the general electorate. Probably the best case for the BC Conservatives would be a replay of the rise of the BC Liberals in the late '90s: Gordon Wilson took them from a fringe party to supplant the collapsing Social Credit Party, but it took a new leader in Gordon Campbell to pull the party together and lead them to victory. Rustad needs to be replaced with a leader with stronger political talent who can pull together the disparate factions before they fly apart.
> with an energized and determined populist wing pushing positions that don't play well with the general electorate.
Right of centre parties need to distinguish between positions that don't play well with the general electorate and positions that DO play well with the general electorate, but are incorrectly portrayed in most media as not popular. It's the difference between "aksshually residential schools all good" and "don't keep the flag at half mast for half a year while declaring Canada a genocidal state".
And the trans issue is one of those issues. Most British Columbians don't actually think "trans-women" are actually women, (because they're not) and that comes with a host of policy implications. "Don't sterilize minors" is a lot more popular with voters than Mr. Shaw suggests and that's a "phobic" position. (It's a position of child-protection.) Similarly, cutting off funding to a women's rape-crisis centre because they insisted that trans-identifying males could not be volunteers is seen by most British Columbians and a terrible attack on women... because it is. It's a deeply misogynistic thing to do and shame on the city of Vancouver for having done it. A conservative party isn't going to go wrong taking pro-woman and pro-child policies.
At the same time, most British Columbians also don't like a-holes and *REALLY* don't like being associated with a-holes, so Mr. Rustad and any conservative party wanting to protect children could easily be fatally undermined by a loud and angry staff member tossing gratuitous insults. It is vital for anyone wanting to lead a conservative party to be able to walk that line of defending science, women's rights and children and also rejecting the nastiness that our neighbours to the south seem to want to make into their entire national identity.
Sorry Rob. Just don't by into your view of Rustad. What he is going through right now is what I call just growing pains. He had to basically forge a party out of nothing and I think he is a good guy. I'm sticking with him. While I was shocked by Sturko's actions, I have worked with people who were just impossible to work with in the past and I think she fills the bill.
BC politics has always been a pit of crap. The person(s) who manage to return BC politics to a normal level of sanity and productivity for long-term will deserve a Nobel price in Economics, or some other society-related subject.