Sheldon Clare

The Legion supports the NPF’s request for an inquiry into this incident. The RCMP serves our country and must be treated with the respect it deserves.

The BC Conservatives debated the NDP’s bill to gut freedom of information (Bill 9) and make it harder for British Columbians to access information about their government. 

We kept going all night until 3 AM, when the NDP “forced closure” to end the debate at 3 AM and force the vote, we were just getting started and had hours more to say.

The NDP shut down the debate. 

A party that wants to hide information from the public shouldn’t surprise anyone when they also silence any opposition. 

Freedom of information and open debate are the cornerstone of democracy. The NDP is attacking both.

Basically, the NDP thought they'd trick the Conservatives by giving them all night to debate FOI bill, expecting Conservatives would eventually give up. Instead, Conservatives dug in and it was the NDP who gave up, invoking closure at 4am.

I hope NDP MLAs are proud tonight as they dismantle their own party’s FOI legacy. Here’s Mike Hartcourt in 1991: “We will bring in a freedom-of-information law, not an access-to-information law. I think that shows the difference between the New Democratic Party and the Social Credit government. They talk about access, and it’s almost a grudging word: we may give ‘access’ to citizens. We believe in freedom of information. It’s your information, the citizens’ information. It’s not our information.” Carole James in 2008: “We’ve seen freedom-of-information laws ignored and disdained by this Premier. We see new bureaucracies created with no oversight, little public accountability.” John Horgan in 2015: “I think all British Columbians should be concerned when their government hides things from them.” “The whole point of having access to information is so we can all make reasonable judgments about the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of our political leadership.” David Eby in 2026: ~shuts down debate to kill FOI at 3:41AM~

The Conservative Caucus of B.C. unequivocally opposes the NDP’s Bill 9, legislation that further restricts the public’s right to access information and weakens government transparency. This government continues to dodge accountability, shut down scrutiny, and concentrate more power in its own hands. That is why we introduced a hoist motion to suspend this bill for six months to allow for greater consultation. If the NDP wants to force this through the Legislature in the dark, we are prepared to debate it through the night and beyond. We will continue fighting for the people of British Columbia day in and day out.