Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC and the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC. This week, Mike and Geoff welcome Interim Leader of the BC Conservatives, Trevor Halford. Together, they dig into the upcoming leadership race, if the party is ready for a snap election, and how the Conservatives envision reconciliation if they succeed in repealing DRIPA. In the Strategy Suite, Geoff and Mike review th...

Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC. Mike, Geoff… and Kate(!) preside over the Hotel Pacifico Holiday Extravaganza. Political observers Justin McElroy and Richard Zussman look back on the main political stories of the year and politicians to watch. Former BC Premier Mike Harcourt drops in to talk about the year that was and looks ahead to 2026. Hot on his heels is former BC Premier Christy Clark w...

Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC. Mike & Geoff are joined by press gallery legend Vaughn Palmer to review the BC politics landscape. Topics include the Cowichan ruling, transparency and secrecy, the issues to watch in 2026, and a tour of BC’s political parties and their prospects. In Strategy Suite, Geoff and Mike unveil the “12 Substacks of Christmas”. Given that they don’t do math good, ...

Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC, and Port of Vancouver. Mike & Geoff conduct an "exit interview" with former BC Conservative leader John Rustad. Fresh from his decision to step down last week, Rustad reflects on the meteoric rise of his party, almost taking power in 2024, and the rocky road he has traveled since then. He makes it clear he has more to say and do as MLA and discusses his stand on ...

Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC. This week, Mike and Geoff welcome Alberta’s 19th Premier, the Honourable Danielle Smith, to Hotel Pacifico. Premier Smith makes her case for a bitumen pipeline to the West Coast. She outlines the MOU she signed with Prime Minister Carney, Alberta-BC relations, how Alberta plans to work with BC First Nations, and her vision for how a sovereign Alberta can exist within a uni...

Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC, and Port of Vancouver. Mike & Geoff interview BC business leader Ryan Beedie (CEO, Beedie) to discuss the state of BC’s economy, views on the real estate market, mining, BC politics, and his Beedie Luminaries initiative that provides scholarships to BC students. In the Strategy Suite, Mike & Geoff dish it out on the BC-Alberta-Canada oil pipeline debate, discuss ...

Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC, and Port of Vancouver. Mike and Geoff welcome back Global BC’s outgoing legislative correspondent Richard Zussman as he sets sail for new horizons. Richard reflects on his time at the Legislature covering the major stories of the past decade and answers some short snappers on the personalities that stood out. In the Strategy Suite, Mike and Geoff welcome former BC Liberal comm...

Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC, BC Dairy and Port of Vancouver. With Mike away, Geoff will play. And with the B.C. NDP’s convention coming up this weekend, Geoff welcomes NDP veteran Raj Sihota for a deep dive. Leadership review coming? Snap election? Then two sharp-eyed Leg reporters , CBC’s Katie Derosa and CP’s Wolfgang Depner, join Geoff to tell us what they’re seeing in the strife-torn Opposition, with d...

Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC, BC Dairy and Port of Vancouver. This week, Mike and Geoff leave no Stone unturned - Todd Stone, that is. The CEO of the Association for Mineral Exploration (AMEBC) and former BC Liberal/United MLA for Kamloops-South Thompson checks into Hotel Pacifico for a one-year “wellness check” since leaving politics. The three dig into modern mineral exploration in BC, what it’s like...

Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC, BCGEU, BC Dairy and Port of Vancouver. This week, a special guest returns to the hotel – the 37th Premier of British Columbia, Hon. David Eby. Geoff and Mike talk with the Premier about the year that was and what’s changed since the 2024 election. They discuss challenges with the deficit and resourcing in healthcare, how BC is following Ontario’s lead with a new ad campaign targ...

Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC, BCGEU, BC Dairy and Port of Vancouver. This week, Geoff and Mike welcome Tamara Vrooman, CEO of YVR, Chancellor of SFU, and former Deputy Minister of BC’s Finance Ministry. Together, they discuss YVR’s role in trade, the increasing role of air cargo, and what BC needs to do to attract investment and get on track. In the Strategy Suite, Mike and Geoff analyze t...

Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC, BCGEU, BC Dairy and Port of Vancouver. This week, things are a little different at Hotel Pacifico. Mike and Geoff kick off with Cheryl Oates and Erika Barootes of Alberta’s “The Discourse” pod to unpack the escalating pipeline battle between Danielle Smith and David Eby, bringing perspectives from either side of the Rockies. Later, Geoff and Mike welcome George Abbott, lo...

Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC, and BCGEU. This week, Geoff and Mike welcome veteran journalist and author Rod Mickleburgh, co-author of “John Horgan: In His Own Words”, which was formally launched this week. Together, they reflect on Premier Horgan’s career and legacy, as well as the candid thoughts he shared while working on the memoir in his final year. In the Strategy Suite, Mike and Geoff are...

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....

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 topi...

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 leadersh...

Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC, and BCGEU. This week we welcome 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, headed up BC’s biggest health care union before moving into politics where she confr...

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 arith...

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 ...

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 cau...