5 choices for the next speaker of the B.C. legislature

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      B.C.'s favourite political parlour game nowadays is guessing who will be the next speaker of the B.C. legislature.

      Here are my five top choices.

      I've also added explanations to justify each selection.

      1. Ralph Sultan (Liberal)

      The veteran West Vancouver-Capilano MLA just turned 84, and he won his fifth straight election with more than 57 percent of the vote. There's a reasonable chance that this is his last term.

      So if he runs for speaker and angers his B.C. Liberal colleagues, he won't be too concerned about the leader not signing his nomination papers before the next election.

      Why he should do it: The B.C. Liberals have consistently short-changed the North Shore by giving its MLAs the most minor cabinet portfolios or, in the case of Sultan, giving him a short stint as the minister of advanced education before the 2013 election. That's despite the North Shore consistently reelecting B.C. Liberals.

      If the former Harvard economics professor ran for speaker, this would hasten a challenge against Christy Clark's leadership, which would be in the best interests of his party. That's because as long as Clark remains head of the B.C. Liberals, they'll continue to get slaughtered in many areas of the seat-rich Lower Mainland.

      Clark has already alienated significant segments of the South Asian and Taiwanese communities, which cost her seats in Surrey and Burnaby.

      She has very little traction with Iranian Canadians and Filipino Canadians, which led to the defeat of Sultan's North Shore colleague, Naomi Yamamoto, in North Vancouver-Lonsdale.

      Clark also kept several of her most talented, qualified, and intelligent members of caucus—including Sultan—out of cabinet. This contributed to the party's poor showing on May 9.

      Were Sultan to run for speaker, it might be the catalyst for a Liberal leadership race to start bubbling.

      He's been called Ralph the Rebel by the Vancouver Sun's Rob Shaw. Here's Sultan's chance to prove that he's worthy of this title.

      Keep in mind that Clark's policies around natural resources and the Site C dam have held back the green economy, which is important to many North Shore residents. And she's not likely going to give up on her love for fossil fuels because her son's father (and major supporter) is a senior strategic adviser with Pacific Future Energy, which hopes to build an oil refinery in B.C.

      If Sultan were speaker, this would prevent the erosion of the reputation of the legislature in the eyes of the public. That's because the supposedly neutral speaker wouldn't constantly be casting tie-breaking votes, which will occur if a New Democrat or Green takes this position.

      That's a worthwhile legacy to leave.

      You can email Sultan here and let him know your thoughts.

      Marvin Hunt (seen with Vancouver councillor Andrea Reimer) could facilitate Kevin Falcon's return to provincial politics by becoming speaker of the B.C. legislature.
      Charlie Smith

      2. Marvin Hunt (B.C. Liberal)

      The Surrey-Cloverdale MLA spent more than two decades on Surrey city council before being elected to the B.C. legislature in 2013. He also chaired the Metro Vancouver board for several years, where he often made procedural rulings during debates between politicians.

      Hunt has been president of the Union of B.C. Municipalities and the Lower Mainland Municipal Association, and you don't rise to those positions without a certain amount of bipartisan support.

      He's probably not thrilled that the B.C. Liberals only won three of the nine constituencies in his beloved Surrey, which cost his party control of the government. He's far too diplomatic to criticize the performance of Clark's Surrey cabinet ministers, but there are times when he must have privately been shaking his head.

      The recent defeat of two of them, Amrik Virk and Peter Fassbender, suggests they were tone-deaf to the political impact of supporting Uber on the city's large Sikh community. 

      The third Surrey cabinet minister in the Clark government, Stephanie Cadieux, was constantly attracting negative headlines over the deaths of children and youths in government care.

      Cadieux also came under fire over their placement with questionable foster parents or in hotels.

      It didn't help the government's reputation when the former advocate for children and youth, Mary-Ellen Turpel Lafond, would regularly release damning reports about this. 

      It's hard to imagine that Hunt or former Surrey-White Rock MLA Gordon Hogg would have fared nearly as badly as that trio in cabinet, but they were never given a chance.

      Why he should do it: As in the case of Sultan, were Hunt to run for speaker, it could bring out the political knives for Clark. That would be welcomed by many of those who would prefer former finance minister Kevin Falcon to lead the party into the next election.

      Hunt is on the conservative side of the party, like Falcon. And Hunt represents Surrey-Cloverdale, which is Falcon's former constituency.

      So if Falcon ended up becoming party leader, Hunt could retire to spend time with his 16 grandchildren, giving this safe B.C. Liberal seat back to Falcon so he could return to the legislature.

      Sure, it would alienate the Clark faction, but what do they know about winning elections in Surrey? And these days, whoever wins Surrey is probably most likely to win control of the B.C. government. Hunt knows that better than anyone.

      You can email Hunt here and let him know your thoughts.

      Linda Reid might like the extra $52,000 that comes from being speaker of the legislature.

      3. Linda Reid (Liberal)

      She's been the speaker since 2011 and this could provide continuity.  Reid is also the longest-serving MLA, being first elected in 1991.

      However, Reid doesn't deserve to be at the top of the list after her husband, Sheldon, charged taxpayers $5,500 for a business-class airfare ticket to South Africa. Reid repaid this after the media got wind of the story.

      She also received unwanted publicity for spending $120,000 on office renovations, which included the installation of a touch-screen computer on her desk.

      Let's hope she's learned from these errors and if she's reelected as speaker, she will be more financially prudent in the future.

      Why she should do it: The job comes with a $52,940.92 stipend, which would enable her to buy a lot of airline tickets for family members.

      Shane Simpson could make NDP Leader John Horgan's life easier if he put his name forward to become speaker.
      Stephen Hui

      4. Shane Simpson (NDP)

      The Vancouver-Hastings MLA should be a strong contender for cabinet, but with seven other Vancouver NDP MLAs, not all of them are going to make the cut.

      Simpson is seen as less overtly partisan than many of his colleagues and therefore would probably be an excellent speaker of the legislature. Were he to put his name forward, it would likely be welcomed by MLAs on both sides of the house. 

      Why he should do it: If Simpson ran for speaker, it would mean that NDP Leader John Horgan could appoint four or five Vancouver cabinet ministers and only leave one or two with bruised feelings. Vancouver-Fraserview's George Chow will probably not get into cabinet, given that he's the only Vancouver MLA without experience in Victoria. But the other seven (Simpson, Spencer Chandra Herbert, Adrian Dix, David Eby, Mable Elmore, George Heyman, and Melanie Mark) could all plausibly be selected, given their record as MLAs. They're not all going to make it, though, because no provincial government can have seven cabinet ministers from Vancouver. 

      Raj Chouhan (right, with community activist Imtiaz Popat) would make history by becoming the first speaker of South Asian ancestry.
      Charlie Smith

      5. Raj Chouhan (NDP)

      The Burnaby-Edmonds MLA just won his fourth straight election and he has served as deputy speaker, so he knows what the job entails.  

      However, Chouhan is also Burnaby's only MLA with political experience in Victoria. And it might be better for Burnaby and his constituents if he were given a cabinet post, where he could have a strong impact on one of the most diverse areas of the province.

      Why he should do it: He would become the first speaker of Indian ancestry in B.C. history, which would score points for the NDP with a community that has long supported the party. Chouhan has spent most of his adult life promoting human rights. This would be an historic event and ensure that his political career would be remembered for years to come.

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