Pietro, Pietro, Pietro... Mondee?

It looks like Mondee Redman is going to be taking on Richard T. Lee in Burnaby North this May.

Until her narrow 300-odd vote loss in 2005, Redman was a Burnaby Citizens' school trustee. For the past three elections Lee has faced off against Pietro Calendino, losing in 1996 before winning in 2001 and 2005.

Provincial pols begin to Twitter

Last month, the Vancouver Sun got on the case of Gordon Campbell for starting a Twitter page and then losing interest. The Premier seems to be getting back into it over the last week. Now Carole James has joined up. The provincial Green Party seems to be the one suffering from Campbell's old problem of having nothing to text.

The federal election started to see the development of the use of Twitter by political parties and the fight over the federal economic update between the Conservatives and the opposition coalition got the Canadian public texting on Twitter in large numbers, but work still needs to be done by Canada politicians and political parties to break through on Twitter in large numbers. Until then, Twitter in Canada will be dominated by the tech savvy, heavy cell phone texters, and journalists.

Shuffling the deck

The Campbell cabinet was downsized earlier this week.

Unlike Premier Campbell's first term, the last minute shuffle did not see a Burnaby MLA get bumped up to cabinet. Last time Patty Sahota was promoted to cabinet but the increased profile did not save her from defeat.

With a slim majority, the Liberals either feel safe in their three Burnaby seats or have chosen to write a Burnaby riding or two off in an effort to get the 43 they need to retain their majority.

It ain't easy voting Green

The Burnaby Now is reporting G. Bruce Friesen is going to be running in Burnaby-Deer Lake, the riding formerly known as Burnaby-Willingdon.

Friesen will be up against tw0-term incumbent BC Liberal John Nuraney and former Burnaby Citizens' Association school board chair Kathy Corrigan. This should be a tight race between the Liberals and NDP as the Campbell government will want to hold onto everything it has and the NDP see the seat as a big win in what tends to be a bellwether riding.

The Green Party has likely gotten it wrong again. The party that is now led by the extremely low profile Jane Sterk needs to focus on a few key issues - being the voice of the environment, progressive change, and an alternative to politics as usual.

Instead, they have a candidate who is best known for writing partisan letters to the local paper. For years, Friesen has railed against the BCA at city hall. Maybe the new politics for the Green Party is to be like the old parties that are able to win seats. Divisive partisan politics should make the next few months interesting in the newly named district.

Public Safety for Burnaby Tories

The Burnaby-Douglas Conservatives are out of the gate quick in 2009 raising money.

This week they have Minister of Public Safety and new Senator Yonah Martin joining "candidate of record" Ronald Leung for a fundraiser at the Burnaby Mountain Golf Course.

Maybe we will be getting another trip to the polls sooner rather than later.

Snow

We've had it for the better part of a month and we seem to be dealing with it as well if not better than most other municipalities.

This is an open thread for your comments on winter conditions in Burnaby.