Friday, September 8, 2017

John Horgan, British Columbia`s Next Premier


The below post goes way back to 2011....pay special attention to the second to last paragraph....what I wrote over 6 years ago about John Horgan....I wrote this..

"You were born to lead, you have a rare quality that can`t be manufactured, it`s a gift, use it, you have a unique karma, you don`t know it yet but you will be premier of British Columbia."(Grant G in 2011)




let's just say I had a vision...and there are more visions from me awaiting...Premier Horgan and i haven't always seen eye to eye...but we always found common ground...


Congratulations John Horgan....


(April 8th/2014....I wrote the first bit below immediately after Adrian Dix`s stunning failure in our provincial election...Grant G)


May 14th/2013..This is a repost from the time of the B.C. NDP leadership campaign..
 I have no words right now, congratulations to the BC Liberals, I won`t be posting for a while, anyone needing to contact me can email...All I can say is, we couldn`t win with the honest Carole James, and I knew back when I posted this story, we couldn`t win with Adrian Dix`s baggage, not with a corrupt media...If John Horgan was elected leader at that time, we would have a NDP Government today...

Adrian Dix, I think you are a good man inside, however, you must resign, John Horgan is my pick as new leader, he was my pick 2 years ago.....I suggest all NDPers read this post below, written 2 plus years ago(April 13th/2011)...Faithful readers like Leah and CherylB knew like I did...Adrian Dix was toxic, many left my comment thread after Adrian was elected leader, because I was prepared to give Dix a chance...

They were right, I was wrong, with a corrupt media we need the best to win, Adrian Dix was not that man, and it isn`t personal, it`s logical

My condolences to the people of British Columbia.

May 14th/2013

_______________________________________________


After I wrote that above statement, a short while later John Horgan and I had a little talk....I called John Horgan out, challenged him to get off his ass, slap the party and carry us to victory as only he can....I had a few commenters and contributors get testy with me for being so direct...Here was my open letter to John Horgan .........written on October 18th/2013.....

_________________

Open Letter To John Horgan

(This is a copy of the letter I sent to John Horgan earlier today)


Thanks for the heads up notice?....You know John..Adrian Dix and the NDP owe everyone in British Columbia an apology

John....Like it or not you are the only real choice we the people have...Yet I know, actually, I feel your predicament...The NDP at present is lost, no message, not knowing what message to even present to the public, the economy is so fucked up, there are no instant cures, LNG will be a bust, the gravy is leaving the movie industry, forestry is in a mid-term to long term mess, our fisheries are collapsing, so here stands the NDP..

Scared, no message, Brian Topp and his buddy Ken Boesenkool threw the last election...Robin Austin is panting like a puppy dog on the LNG file, while Adrian Dix speaks like he is wearing dishwashing gloves, as to not tarnish his skin...Soft/bland milktoast speak.


OK, so you are worried you can`t make a difference, you have no answers, not prepared for the big fight, maybe you have health issues..

John Horgan, maybe you aren`t the big picture guy, no great dreams, the movement where sustainability and reason rule the day can be led by someone else...

The NDP is laying on the ground bleeding, dying, no vision...SO WHAT THE HELL, DUST OFF YOUR JACKET AND GRAB YOUR PENSION..

LET THE LIBERALS RULE FOREVER, ...

Say hello to your family for me....And tell them, the task before the NDP and John Horgan was too difficult.....I and the party decided to quit..





Four years until an election, and we don`t even have an opposition..

(P.S. .....Mr. Horgan, telling the truth about our B.C. economy and near future no matter how frightening IS the path to victory...

It is never too late, you can change your mind)


Good Day..

Grant G


My letter to Mr. Horgan was rather snarky.....We 4 million losers in B.C. deserve to speak to the NDP in stark, and snark terms.



http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.ca/2013/10/open-letter-to-john-horgan.html
_______________________
The reason why this writer lit a fire under John Horgan, Horgan has the right stuff, our best speaker, a winner, straight talker, fast sharp wit, a man who will take nu guff......
John Horgan.....The next premier of British Columbia.......Grant G April 8th/2014...


 April 13th/2011


 Born To Lead, The Honourable John Horgan

Written by Grant G...


Well here we go, coming down to the wire in the NDP leadership contest, three men left standing, Adrian Dix, Mike Farnworth and John Horgan, three superstars in their own right, let`s break down the nuts and bolts and get into meat of things.....

Adrian Dix, a pit bull, antagonistic, aggressive and capable, however, unfortunately Adrian brings out visceral feelings in people, he`s a love em or hate em type guy and those who hate him really hate him, personally speaking if Adrian didn`t have two sets of baggage with him I might have considered voting for him, the first set is the infamous memo-gate, Dix back dated a memo to cover Glen Clark`s rear end and got caught, that wasn`t a mistake of spoken words it was planned and executed, the Liberals will key on that in election ads and it will hurt, actually it`s probably fatal, that would be hard enough to overcome by itself but when you add in the sack of cash separate from the stack of memberships Adrian dropped off at the deadline for new members, I`ve been told a few hundred of those ballots have been rejected...I suspect the BC Liberals would run an election ad like this....The caption, (A young Adrian Dix), they show a young Adrian sneaking into an office using white out on a document then return it to the file, then the next caption...(An older Adrian Dix)..They show a man with sacks of cash and stacks of memberships laughing and tee heeing, it would doom our party..But Adrian Dix would be a marvelous health minister.

 Mike Farnworth, a fine man, dedicated, friendly and boring, he calls himself the most electable, actually he`s most like Carole James, too much like Carole James for me, Farnworth talks tough but he portrays weakness and mushy policies, his policies are good on paper but verbally not, his next liability is his speaking, he`s not bad with a practiced script but on his feet he`s mister eer and umm on every other word, it comes across badly, at least in my eyes and ears it does, liability number three, he`s gay, a life long partner, I would like to stress that it doesn`t matter to me but it will matter to some, probably at least 5% percentage points will shun Farnsworth because he is gay, imagine trying to win with Christy Clark and her family values routine and favourable press with CKNW, CTV, Global, Vancouver sun and Province, you might think I am over playing that angle but you would be wrong, let me give you an example of what the media is prepared to do for Christy Clark, let`s call it a Professional set, a professional picture, her make-up is perfect, let`s say she`s wearing a hockey jersey and talks about her son Hamish and their love of the game of hockey and they splash that on the front page, the media wouldn`t run puff pieces like that would they?....Think again, take a gander at this, no need to read the story just check out the picture.

Shocking eh, look how the Province newspaper tries to connect Christy to canuck fever, what a staged picture, no bloody way was that was some media scrum photo, i`ll bet they took 50 shots from different angles and picked the best, the lighting was perfect, the story was syrupy drivel,  so that is what Farnworth is up against, Christy and family against alternative lifestyle Mike, just imagine what the likes of a Phil Hocstein could do with that, can you imagine what ads he would run, remember his tactics in Ida Chong`s riding, heck, that was a vicious attack ad on a recall campaign, just imagine in a general election and especially if it was a close contest... The BC Liberals muse about running a positive campaign, I`ll bet dollars to doughnuts that the next Provincial election will be the dirtiest campaign on record, Farnworth also has ties to bingo-gate, regular readers here know already about the Farnworth tapes Global news has in their possession, it`s video of Jas Johal running after Farnworth who ducks into a car and speeds away, it`s a pretty damning video, it can and would be spun to high heaven. We can`t afford to give any percentages away if we want to win.

Then we get to the Honourable John Horgan, the man has a way of drawing your attention, he`s a policy hawk, the best speaker of the three, he speaks in clear positive terms and his platform is solid and complete, no mushy middle, some have said he has a temper, I have never seen it, he`s answered all my requests for years now, he`s open, friendly, easy to access, he never dodges a question, Gordon Wilson recently did a hatchet job on Horgan citing his temper, if he had one 15 years ago I don`t know, I consider Horgan`s speaking and style as...Politely firm, the other advantage Horgan has is his memory, he can pull accurate stats and minute details from thin air at will, another big plus for John Horgan is no baggage, no memo gate, no bingo gate, no membership snafu, everywhere Horgan has gone he has won over the crowd and dominated the debates, I have heard from people all over this Province who never knew Horgan but after an hour or two hearing him speak he won them over, that folks is a quality that can`t be manufactured  either you are born with or not, ...... John Horgan has a pretty wife and she`s real folksy, two good sons, he`s also a bladder cancer surviver, he`s a fighter!....Horgan knows the value of public health care, his number one goal is to preserve public health....

On the economic front we have a BC Hydro problem, no one has more experience than John on electricity, he`s been energy critic for years and he was on the energy file in the 90s, only Horgan can clean up the BC Hydro disaster Gordon Campbell created, John is on the record as saying that every secret IPP power buying contract will be reviewed and if deemed not in the public interest they will be renegotiated no matter what, Horgan will peg the price to the spot market, no more power losses.

I know many of you may choose Dana Larsen, you may like Adrian, some like Farnworth, I like Horgan but for me it`s not about favorites it`s about winning the next election, we can`t afford as a Province to lose, BC is spiraling out of control under the BC liberals, I implore all NDP voters to vote with their heads and keep emotions out of the picture, whatever happens happens, we have one more chance, let`s get it right this time.

The list of Horgans endorsements is long..Nicholas Simons, Harry Lali, Dana Larsen(who is still in the race).The Corrigans, Kathy and Derick, Burnaby city council, Dan Miller, Shane Simpson, Robin Austin,   
 Gary Coons, Maurine Karagianis,Scott Fraser, Bill Routley, Claire Trevena, former MPs Bob Skelly, Ray Skelly, Jim Manly, Construction trades council executive Tom Sigurdson, former NDP cabinet ministers Elizabeth Cull, Ann Edwards, Paul Ramsey, BCGEU general secretary John Flyer, CUPE president Paul Faoro, economist John Summerville, and this endorsement..and many many more, he`s attracted both our union brothers and a little business, he has dissidents and superstars, Horgan has a way of attracting people from both sides, in fact even the BC Liberals showed Horgan respect in the house.

Anyway, I`m not easily won over but I`ll tell you what, I was so impressed with John Horgan years ago and he has gotten stronger, better, sharper, he so impressed me I wrote this story in January 2009, a full year before the NDP cleansing, Carole was still in charge, the NDP were united, I wrote a hypothetical story about John Horgan becoming the new NDP leader and I find it a bit of a coincidence, I dated my hypothetical story (authored by Vawn Pawmer).March/15/2010...I was only out a year, I also wrote this story as well, it was called, "Born to Lead" and again that was well before any NDP infighting, that story was dated March 11/2010...A year before the squabbling.

Maybe I knew something then, like a vision, John Horgan emailed me at the time about those two stories I wrote last year, he thanked me for them, he was very gracious but he told me over and over again,

"The job is filled and Carole James is our leader"

I respected his solid support of Carole James especially since at that time I was very critical of Carole James but I remember like it was yesterday, in our email conversation, I told the Honourable John Horgan....

You were born to lead, you have a rare quality that can`t be manufactured, it`s a gift, use it, you have a unique karma, you don`t know it yet but you will be premier of British Columbia.

And the man has answered all my questions I`ve asked of him ever since, he`s not in my riding but he still answered all my requests and promptly, not just automated responses but thorough responses with clear details, Horgan does not hide, he`s a straight shooter and I fully endorse him and I hope all you fellow NDP members will support John Too!



(P.S......Thank you Mike Farnworth for getting out of the way of the John Horgan Express..April 8th/2014....One more thing, from inside politics, BC Liberals are terrified of John Horgan...There was a planned coup by the BC Liberals, their plan
 was to have BC Liberal members on masse join the NDP party and vote for anyone but Horgan......More on that a little later..As of now, that BC Liberal plot has been dismantled in its tracks!......Grant G)


The Straight Goods

Cheers Eyes Wide Open

12 comments:

istvan said...

I hope that john can light a fire under some under performing mla's.
He should not be the only shining light.

Jon Ghun said...

Well, this is the first good news on the provincial scene in quite some time.

I'm not polishing any apple when I say that you were right all along: It's Horgan or Bust!

This is going to be the fight of lives. Dig in and never give up. We are going to prevail, and Horgan is going to lead us as the next Premier of BC.

Cheers.

Anonymous said...

I also voted for Horgan last time. We need someone that is willing to get in a fight and Horgan has that quality, just like Mulcair.
Go John!

Anonymous said...

Speaking as a BCNDP supporter; the leadership race was underwhelming and did nothing to inspire me.

When will the BCNDP act like a party that has something to say beyond the usual beating of the drum.

I wish them well, but I wonder how many others feel as I do?

James F said...

The sniping has started already:

Title: "Jenny Kwan says she's back at B.C. legislature after brief leave over audit scandal

Accompanying Photo Caption: The Vancouver-Mount Pleasant MLA bought a house near Kitsilano Secondary for $1.938 million late last year after separating from her husband, Dan Small.

>>>
She sidestepped questions on whether her family spending controversy has hurt her Opposition party’s ability to criticize the Liberal government on issues of poverty reduction and services for the Downtown Eastside.

Government auditors had flagged the trips for lavish expenses, including a hotel room in the United Kingdom that cost $884 per night, a $65 charge for flowers to the room, as well as alcohol and spa service in another instance.

The Disneyland trip for Kwan and her family included a room upgrade at the Grand Californian Hotel & Spa worth $2,695, which Kwan said her husband told her he had paid, but which actually had been billed back to the charity.
<<<

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Jenny+Kwan+says+back+legislature+after+brief+leave+over+audit+scandal/9719713/story.html

Jon Ghun said...

So von poncer is sharpening up the knives for Horgan, even though he hasn't, nor would he dare, ask a high-ranking bc liberal a hard question even if it meant preventing the end of the world.

>>>Here's his warning shot across the bow<<<

"The governing party paid its respects to the Opposition’s apparent next contender for the premier’s office (ie., Horgan) by sending out Energy Minister Bill Bennett to offer a preliminary assessment

“I like John Horgan personally,” he told reporters. “He’s a good politician.” Having faced him across the floor of the legislature on the energy file, Bennett also acknowledged that Horgan knows his stuff, albeit with the occasional blind spot.

But the challenge, he said, is “where does he stand” on specifics. Could Horgan name one proposed mine, port expansion, pipeline, power project or fossil fuel development that he supports without reservation?

British Columbians will have three years to find out. But clearly, the battle is joined.

http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/Vaughn+Palmer+John+Horgan+well+prepared+leadership/9716179/story.html

<<<<

This is going to be a no-holds barred slugfest, a war without the lead, and it's winner take all. The very existence of our province and country are at stake. This is not hyperbole: It's on for real from here on. And everybody in-play needs to get real serious fast, or get out of the way real quickly, because we're up against a very nasty bunch and they play to win at any cost. So we can't afford to lose. It's do or die. Horgan is our last shot. Grant is right about him--he's for real and wants to win. If we go down to defeat next time, it'll be the end of the province as we've known it, and i don't mean for the better.

Stay strong, good people; and let's do this.

Cheers.

Anonymous said...

I have no doubt the world is not in a state of equilibrium, but what is it; that makes you think the BCNDP is a beacon of morality and only they have the ability to right the wrongs of our province/country?

It seems to me outside forces have a much greater influence on our lives than local politics.

I will give some credence to local influence but there are much bigger dogs barking at our doors.

Trailblazer said...

I have the upmost respect for Horgan.
John has a huge uphill battle reforming the NDP from a party for the people of BC from a party of the Public sector Unions.

Kim said...

Thank you Grant G. for your dogged persistence over the years. I had that talk with John after the last election too, and I also urged him to run. Happy day today, still having moments of joyful tears.

Anonymous said...

I think he will do fine. Go John Horgan, NDP and Green colleagues, and good riddance BC liberals and Crispy Clark!

16 miserable years under the LINO party over at last!

e.a.f. said...

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

We get to celebrate 150 years and all the years prior the First Nations lived in this country!

We get to celebrate a new provincial government!

We got to bitch and complain about the previous government for the past 16 years and no one got shot, thrown in jail, etc. We are truly a remarkable country!

Anonymous said...

I watched the throne speech. The new government is off to a good start, I think. I like Mr. Horgan. He and his colleagues have a tough job ahead, but the seem competent and sincere. I feel hopeful for the first time in two decades.