Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC, and BCGEU.

Geoff and Mike welcome back Fran Yanor of Northern Beat for an extended Strategy Suite. Together, they analyze the key moments from last week’s UBCM: mayors taking the government to task on street disorder, the Green Party’s newly elected leader, and … ostriches? Plus, they discuss Premier Danielle Smith’s controversial plan to build a new pipeline to BC’s West Coast.

🏨🌄 Check into Hotel Pacifico for insights and interviews covering the latest in B.C. politics.

Thank you for joining us on #HotelPacifico. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch conversations from Hotel Pacifico via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

The sponsored ads contained in the podcast are the expressed views of the sponsor and not those of the publisher.

Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC, and BCGEU.

This week, polling expert and political strategist Dimitri Pantazopoulos returns to the Hotel Pacifico for a debrief on the Conservative leadership review. Along with Mike and Geoff, they discuss John Rustad’s future as leader of the Conservative Party and recap Elenore Sturko’s sudden departure from caucus.

In the Strategy Suite, Mike and Geoff discuss the topics taking centre stage at UBCM, including the Heritage Conservation Act, challenges facing the forestry sector, and how smaller communities are dealing with street disorder. They also cover the latest candidates in Vancouver’s mayoral race and provide updates on the races in New Westminster, Richmond, and Surrey.

🏨🌄 Check into Hotel Pacifico for insights and interviews covering the latest in B.C. politics.

Thank you for joining us on #HotelPacifico. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch conversations from Hotel Pacifico via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

The sponsored ads contained in the podcast are the expressed views of the sponsor and not those of the publisher.

Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from FortisBC.

In a special episode, Mike welcomes back frequent guest Global News reporter Richard Zussman to discuss the upcoming Union of BC Municipalities Convention and why it matters. They discuss the hot topics for mayors and councillors such as the Cowichan decision, Heritage Conservation Act, street disorder, and the natural resource economy. Mike and Richard squeeze in a few minutes on the ongoing B.C. Conservative leadership review with results expected shortly. Plus, the final days of the Green leadership battle.

🏨🌄 Check into Hotel Pacifico for insights and interviews covering the latest in B.C. politics.

Thank you for joining us on #HotelPacifico. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch conversations from Hotel Pacifico via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

The sponsored ads contained in the podcast are the expressed views of the sponsor and not those of the publisher.

Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC, and BCGEU.

This week, Geoff welcomes Judy Darcy, feminist, union leader and then cabinet minister, who got her start in politics infiltrating a beauty contest on behalf of the women’s movement. She went on to lead CUPE, Canada’s largest public sector union, negotiated with Premiers in most provinces, and headed BC’s biggest health care union before moving into BC politics where she confronted the fentanyl crisis and COVID. It’s all in her new autobiography, Leading from the Heart.

In Strategy Suite, Geoff, Kate, and Mike take a look at BC’s dismal finances and consider the turmoil inside all three parties in the Legislature. The hosts review David Eby’s supposed $450,000 contract with a comedian and Mike brings a Top 10 list of Eby jokes. Kate has an important announcement.

🏨🌄 Check into Hotel Pacifico for insights and interviews covering the latest in B.C. politics.

Thank you for joining us on #HotelPacifico. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch conversations from Hotel Pacifico via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

The sponsored ads contained in the podcast are the expressed views of the sponsor and not those of the publisher.

Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC, and BCGEU.

Mike & Geoff welcome Don Wright back to Hotel Pacifico. The former head of BC’s public service has unleashed his views on his substack, Blindingly Obvious. The hosts discuss Wright’s hot takes on how Canada’s immigration levels have come at a cost to the economy, jobs, and the housing market; how we can have our own values, but can’t have our own arithmetic; and how energy illiteracy could kill us.

In the Strategy Suite, Mike & Geoff discuss the latest Angus Reid numbers on Premier Eby’s approval rating, the Teck Anglo mining merger, Premier Eby’s pending trip to Ottawa, BCGEU labour action, and reverberations from the Cowichan decision.

🏨🌄 Check into Hotel Pacifico for insights and interviews covering the latest in B.C. politics.

Thank you for joining us on #HotelPacifico. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch conversations from Hotel Pacifico via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

The sponsored ads contained in the podcast are the expressed views of the sponsor and not those of the publisher.

Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC, and BCGEU.

Pollster and veteran campaigner Dimitri Pantazopoulos joins Mike for a rare 1:1 interview. He shares his perspective based on over three decades in national and provincial politics, including playing key roles in major political victories for Christy Clark, Stephen Harper, Jason Kenney, Andrew Wilkinson, and Doug Ford. Mike and Dimitri discuss how polling has changed over the past few decades, what it will take for the Conservatives to win federally, and what the BC Conservatives must do now to take their near win to a majority government in the next provincial election.

🏨🌄 Join Mike McDonald, Kate Hammer, and Geoff Meggs for insights and interviews covering the latest in B.C. politics.

Thank you for joining us on #HotelPacifico. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch conversations from Hotel Pacifico via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

The sponsored ads contained in the podcast are the expressed views of the sponsor and not those of the publisher.

Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC.

🏨🌄 Mike & Kate are joined by Skeena MLA Claire Rattée, a first-term MLA serving as the Conservative Mental Health & Addictions critic. Rattée discusses her background as someone who battled and overcame addiction, and her journey that led her to northern BC and into municipal, federal, and provincial politics. Discussion includes how the newish BC Conservative caucus is taking shape, her priorities as Mental Health & Addictions critics and how those issues hit home in her own riding, and the impact that LNG development has had on her home community of Kitimat and the region-at-large. They wrap with a reflection on tattoo art.

In the Strategy Suite, Mike and Kate welcome political strategist Nicole Brassard who helps put the cuss into discuss as they debate the prime minister’s elbows, the “Grand Bargain” put forward by Energy minister Adrian Dix in a recent Globe & Mail profile, and the new phenomena of partisan party labels being affixed to municipal politics.

Join Mike McDonald, Kate Hammer, and Geoff Meggs for insights and interviews covering the latest in B.C. politics.

Thank you for joining us on #HotelPacifico. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch conversations from Hotel Pacifico via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

The sponsored ads contained in the podcast are the expressed views of the sponsor and not those of the publisher.

Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC.

🏨🌄 Award-winning CBC Indigenous Affairs Reporter Wawmeesh Hamilton joins Kate and Mike to talk about his career and his indirect path to journalism, those who inspired him along the way, the evolution of Indigenous journalism, and reflections on the debate around the recent Cowichan decision.

In the strategy suite, Kate and Mike are joined by Richard Zussman from Global News. The trio do some housekeeping on recent viewer comments, a reckoning with a cat, and onto issues of the day including the Cowichan decision, recent BC fundraising results, the question of what direction West is – Brad West that is, and cap it off with a clipping of the week from a noted journalist-hiker.

Join Mike McDonald, Kate Hammer, and Geoff Meggs for insights and interviews covering the latest in B.C. politics.

Thank you for joining us on #HotelPacifico. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch conversations from Hotel Pacifico via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

The sponsored ads contained in the podcast are the expressed views of the sponsor and not those of the publisher.