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Les Leyne

Les Leyne

Les Leyne covers legislature sittings. He has written an opinion column since 1995 and was a political, municipal and general assignment reporter prior to that. He grew up in Qualicum Beach and worked on the West Shore and in Duncan prior to joining the Times Colonist.

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Recent Work by Les

Les Leyne: Latest episode confirms B.C. Conservatives' penchant for internal warfare

Les Leyne: Latest episode confirms B.C. Conservatives' penchant for internal warfare

Party members have a history of starting vicious internal arguments any time there’s more than one of them in a room
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Les Leyne: B.C. Conservatives are united — in their determination to blow their chance

Les Leyne: B.C. Conservatives are united — in their determination to blow their chance

Leader John Rustad says he sees ‘differences’ as a strength. By that weird measure, BC Conservatives were so strong this week, they looked ready to explode.
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Les Leyne: Despite province's 'all-front attack,' housing starts dropped last year

Les Leyne: Despite province's 'all-front attack,' housing starts dropped last year

It comes down to the fact that you can’t build houses if you can’t hire builders. And you can’t force the private sector to build if the financing doesn’t work.
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Les Leyne: Tariffs will ravage red-ink budget

Les Leyne: Tariffs will ravage red-ink budget

When tariffs slammed into place Tuesday, the immediate impact was to shred most of the forecasts in the budget before it was even introduced
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Les Leyne: Conservatives rally in Nanaimo, fight among selves but back Rustad

Les Leyne: Conservatives rally in Nanaimo, fight among selves but back Rustad

Delegates at the B.C. Conservative AGM spent the day rallying against the NDP government, but also got feisty among themselves.
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Les Leyne: Conservative critic forces new curbs on safe supply of drugs

Les Leyne: Conservative critic forces new curbs on safe supply of drugs

NDP Health Minister Josie Osborne announced a significant curtailment of the safe supply policy for dealing with opioid addiction — and it looks to be in direct response to concerns the Opposition started raising two years ago.
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Les Leyne: Throne speech on instant economic growth goes against the NDP grain

Les Leyne: Throne speech on instant economic growth goes against the NDP grain

The concept of patriotism eroded dramatically as the initial unity against COVID-19 started to fail, and as antipathy to the Trudeau government took hold. It’s back with a vengeance now.
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Les Leyne: Conservatives never seem to get along

Les Leyne: Conservatives never seem to get along

Maybe things will simmer down. But that’s what people hoped Mount St. Helen’s would do.
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Les Leyne: Horgan was the rare politician changed for the better by power

Les Leyne: Horgan was the rare politician changed for the better by power

An unfiltered heart-on-his-sleeve man, you could tell what he was thinking nearly every time he walked into a room — mostly common-sense ideas about making B.C. better, and doing the right thing
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Les Leyne: With slim majority, David Eby begins a balancing act

Les Leyne: With slim majority, David Eby begins a balancing act

“Public drug use and people struggling with mental health and severe addictions on our streets are a priority for British Columbians. I heard that loud and clear.”
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