British Columbia Tag

28 Jul 2021 A Win for Freedom of Expression in British Columbia

Posted at 12:58h in Fundamental Freedoms 0 Comments

In December 2017, Grace Chapel booked a venue owned by the city of New Westminster to hold a youth conference. The theme, drawn from Romans 3:14, was “Let God Be True” or “LGBT.” Their posters used this theme surrounded by rainbow colouring and understandably drew the notice of a member of the public who emailed the city concerned that they were hosting an anti-LGBTQ event. The day after receiving the email, the city cancelled just one month prior to the event. In response, Grace Chapel asked the BC courts to review...

20 Jul 2021 British Columbia’s Sesquicentennial: What’s Special About British Columbia?

Posted at 12:57h in Blog, Politics 0 Comments

0 Likes

Sesquicentennial. Now that’s a word you don’t hear every day. Sesquicentennial is the celebration of the 150th anniversary of something. Depending on your age and your interest in political history, you might remember some recent sesquicentennials. On July 1, 2017, Canada celebrated its 150th anniversary, complete with fireworks, festivities, and a hockey rink on Parliament Hill (upon which, to many Canadians’ chagrin, no hockey was actually played). British Columbia also has celebrated some sesquicentennials in recent years. One can make a strong case that there are three dates that mark British Columbia’s...

18 Jun 2021 Respecting Seniors Beyond Senior’s Week

Posted at 11:25h in Blog, Elder Care 0 Comments

3 Likes

The first week in June every year is Senior’s Week in British Columbia. As proclaimed by the province, one of the purposes of Senior’s Week is to recognize that “seniors are a diverse population within a society that supports its members throughout the life continuum, and recognizes individual rights to dignity, respect, autonomy, and choice.” This recognition is more important now than at any time since the proclamation of this week almost two decades ago. In the past 15 months, our most vulnerable seniors living in long-term care homes across the...

22 Apr 2021 The Government of British Columbia’s Priorities for 2021

Posted at 15:08h in Politics 0 Comments

4 Likes

On April 13, the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, Janet Austin, delivered the government’s annual Speech from the Throne and, a week later, British Columbia’s Finance Minister, Selina Robinson, presented the annual provincial budget. Both documents lay out the government’s priorities for the legislative year. In their Speech from the Throne and budget, the NDP government re-committed themselves to the pragmatic style of government that has characterized their administration over the past four years. It is clear that the provincial government and Christians prioritize very different issues. There were no announcements in...

21 Jan 2021 Constitutionality of Worship Service Restrictions Challenged in British Columbia

Posted at 11:59h in Fundamental Freedoms 0 Comments

5 Likes

A petition filed by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms on behalf of a variety of individuals challenges the British Columbian Public Health Orders that prohibit all in-person worship services. The names of the petitioners are not published to avoid undue attention, but it includes several pastors of churches currently gathering despite the restrictions. The petitioners are asking the Court for a declaration that the Orders forbidding gathering for worship are an unjustifiable infringement of Charter guaranteed freedoms and therefore should be set aside. There are also eight separate $2,300...

19 Jan 2021 Vernon City Council Supports Designating Worship as Essential

Posted at 16:58h in Action Story, Fundamental Freedoms 0 Comments

3 Likes

Last week, the Vernon city council voted to write a letter to the provincial government, urging them to consider worship services to be essential services. The essential nature of worship is a characteristic that many Reformed Christians across Canada have come to understand while wrestling with public health orders prohibiting in-person worship services. This particular action by the Vernon city council was prompted by a Reformed Christian who decided that writing to the provincial authorities wasn’t enough. This person went further, bringing this issue to the attention of municipal Councillor Anderson. This...

23 Nov 2020 A Response to BC’s Ban on Worship Services

Posted at 18:20h in Blog, Fundamental Freedoms 0 Comments

1 Like

Last week, the BC provincial government issued a swath of new COVID-related restrictions, including a complete ban on worship services. These restrictions will be in effect for the next two weeks at a minimum and may be (will likely be, in my opinion) extended by Dr. Bonnie Henry if the trajectory of cases continues to increase. These new restrictions are deeply disappointing for a number of reasons. I had the privilege of discussing these restrictions on the radio on CKNW last week, and I’ll revisit and expand on some of the...

13 Nov 2020 Inviting Your MLA to a Feast

Posted at 17:44h in Blog, Politics 0 Comments

0 Likes

The votes are tallied. The final results are in. British Columbia’s MLAs have officially been elected or re-elected. Now is the time to begin building relationships! So how do I build relationships? Building relationships requires work and patience. And, in some cases, a feast. (Intrigued? Keep reading.) A number of years ago ARPA developed a 12-Step Action Plan to guide you in building a relationship of trust and respect with your local government official. This plan outlines one step for every month in the calendar year that you can take to foster that...

06 Nov 2020 What if British Columbia and Canada were governed by students?

Posted at 15:11h in Blog, Education, Politics 0 Comments

0 Likes

Imagine a parallel universe in which British Columbia and all of Canada were ruled not by adults, but by students. Two weeks ago, British Columbians went to the polls to elect a new provincial government. A little over a year ago, Canadians also elected a new federal government. We all know the outcomes: the BC NDP won a solid majority at the provincial level, with the BC Liberals bleeding seats and BC Greens maintaining their support. At the federal level, the Liberals won a minority government. The Conservatives formed the official...

25 Oct 2020 Fear God and Honour the Emperor: The Results of the 2020 BC Election

Posted at 02:05h in Blog, Politics 0 Comments

1 Like

According to the preliminary results of the 2020 British Columbia, the BC NDP has won a major electoral victory. The NDP is projected to win 55 of British Columbia’s 87 seats. Of the five electoral victories for the BC NDP, this election gave the party a larger margin of victory than in the 1996 and 2017 and a smaller margin of victory compared to 1972 and 1991 elections. However, these are just preliminary results. Elections BC issued almost 725,000 mail-in ballots, or about 20% of all total votes, that remain to...

British Columbia Tag

28 Jul 2021 A Win for Freedom of Expression in British Columbia

20 Jul 2021 British Columbia’s Sesquicentennial: What’s Special About British Columbia?

18 Jun 2021 Respecting Seniors Beyond Senior’s Week

22 Apr 2021 The Government of British Columbia’s Priorities for 2021

21 Jan 2021 Constitutionality of Worship Service Restrictions Challenged in British Columbia

19 Jan 2021 Vernon City Council Supports Designating Worship as Essential

23 Nov 2020 A Response to BC’s Ban on Worship Services

13 Nov 2020 Inviting Your MLA to a Feast

06 Nov 2020 What if British Columbia and Canada were governed by students?

25 Oct 2020 Fear God and Honour the Emperor: The Results of the 2020 BC Election

Search 2,000+ Articles