Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC.

BREAKING NEWS: Join Mike and Geoff for a special "Emergency Cabinet Shuffle Reaction" episode.

🏨🌄 Join Mike McDonald, Kate Hammer, and Geoff Meggs for insights and interviews covering the latest in B.C. politics.

Thank you for joining us on #HotelPacifico. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch conversations from Hotel Pacifico via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC.

🏨🌄 Mike and Geoff welcome Kim Haakstad, president and CEO of the Council of Forest Industries, to Hotel Pacifico. They discuss the troubling state of the industry, impacts of government policy, low harvest levels, and other factors leading to job losses and mill closures. Haakstad prescribes measures that will help get forestry on the comeback trail.

In the Strategy Suite, Mike and Geoff are joined by longtime public affairs advisor and media commentator Jess Ketchum. The trio touch on forestry, summer to do list for Premier Eby and John Rustad, crime and addiction, the politics of measles, and how one industry association is leaving no Stone unturned.

Join Mike McDonald, Kate Hammer, and Geoff Meggs for insights and interviews covering the latest in B.C. politics.

Thank you for joining us on #HotelPacifico. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch conversations from Hotel Pacifico via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC.

🏨🌄 North Island-Powell River Conservative MP Aaron Gunn joins Kate, Geoff, and Mike for a wide-ranging discussion that includes his Langford origins, the pathway he followed to become one of BC’s top political influencers in social media, the events that led to him reviving the BC Conservative Party, and his recent election as Member of Parliament.

In the strategy suite, the hosts return to the issue of BC Ferries buying made-in-China vessels, PM Carney’s embrace of oil pipelines, the Green leadership race taking shape, and the quiet process that is whispering “proportional representation”. Shhh. Don’t tell anyone.

Join Mike McDonald, Kate Hammer, and Geoff Meggs for insights and interviews covering the latest in B.C. politics.

Thank you for joining us on #HotelPacifico. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch conversations from Hotel Pacifico via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC, the Health Sciences Association of BC, and the British Columbia School Trustees Association.

🏨🌄 Kate and Mike interview First Nations leader and president of Nanwakolas Council Dallas Smith. Smith discusses the progress of reconciliation, Bill 14 and 15 and the importance of being “in the canoe”, the Great Bear Rainforest, and his work as an Indigenous advocate for salmon aquaculture. He closes with a reflection on Canada Day, honouring Kwakwaka’wakw artist Curtis Wilson who designed the iconic Canadian Indigenous flag.

In the Strategy Suite, Mike and Kate are joined by Duncan Wlodarczak, head of the federal Liberal wing in BC. The trio discuss the first LNG cargo leaving BC, Chrystia Freeland’s intervention on BC Ferries’ China-built vessels backed by federal financing, and is Mark Carney a progressive conservative? Geoff is away on the high seas this week.

Join Mike McDonald, Kate Hammer, and Geoff Meggs for insights and interviews covering the latest in B.C. politics.

Thank you for joining us on #HotelPacifico. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch conversations from Hotel Pacifico via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC, the Health Sciences Association of BC, and the British Columbia School Trustees Association.

🏨🌄 Kate, Mike, and Geoff were joined by Vancouver Kingsway MLA and Minister of Energy & Climate Solutions Adrian Dix for a long-form interview. The trio explored with Dix, a former NDP leader and 20-year veteran in the Legislature, the evolution of the NDP, how it emerged from a crushing defeat in 2001, where the party is at today, and the shifting non-NDP coalition. Dix discussed in general terms the challenges faced in health care and his agenda in the Energy ministry, including electricity, natural gas, and TMX. Dix concluded with some ‘light’ summertime reading recommendations.

In the shortened strategy suite, Kate, Mike, and Geoff touch on the Surrey extortions, the Air India tragedy, and BC Conservative drama including a “Clipping of the Week”.

Join Mike McDonald, Kate Hammer, and Geoff Meggs for insights and interviews covering the latest in B.C. politics.

Thank you for joining us on #HotelPacifico. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch conversations from Hotel Pacifico via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC and the Health Sciences Association of BC.

🏨🌄 Surrey’s Mayor Brenda Locke joins Kate, Geoff, and Mike to talk about meeting the needs of her growing city, specifically discussing gaps in health care delivery and school facilities. Locke also touches on policing in Surrey and recent extortions targeting Surrey businesses. The hosts ask the mayor on the future of regional governance, Surrey’s relationship with Vancouver, and Surrey as a key battleground in recent federal and provincial elections.

In the Strategy Suite, the hosts discuss BC Ferries building ships in China, the creation of the One Party, the mysterious Green leadership race, and a new entrant in the Vancouver mayoralty race. They cap off the episode with a callout to frequent Hotel Pacifico guests.

Join Mike McDonald, Kate Hammer, and Geoff Meggs for insights and interviews covering the latest in B.C. politics.

Thank you for joining us on #HotelPacifico. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch conversations from Hotel Pacifico via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC and the Health Sciences Association of BC.

🏨🌄 Geoff and Mike welcome Sean Holman to Hotel Pacifico. Holman, a former member of the BC press gallery and pioneer in online journalism, is now a professor in Environmental and Climate Journalism at UVIC and leading the Climate Disaster Project. He discusses the upcoming documentary drama, Eyes of the Beast. The hosts and Holman discuss the 2021 heat dome that killed hundreds in BC, the Lytton fire that destroyed the village, and how media and impacted residents are responding to climate-related disasters.

In the Strategy Suite, Geoff and Mike welcome Northern Beat’s Fran Yanor, who sits in for Kate. The trio discuss pipeline battles, LNG, the government’s announcement of involuntary care beds and how Fentanyl crisis is impacting rural BC, and how the Conservatives fared in the recent session.

Join Mike McDonald, Kate Hammer, and Geoff Meggs for insights and interviews covering the latest in B.C. politics.

Thank you for joining us on #HotelPacifico. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch conversations from Hotel Pacifico via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

Hotel Pacifico was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as FortisBC.

🏨🌄 Mike and Geoff welcome BC Conservative MLA Harman Bhangu (Langley-Abbotsford) to Hotel Pacifico. The first-term MLA discusses how the BC Conservative team is taking shape, his motivations for seeking office, and his priorities as Transportation critic.

Kate joins Strategy Suite from YVR, fresh off a six-hour flight. The trio discuss the First Ministers Meeting and whether Premier Eby should have ditched his Asia trade mission and been in the room with PM Carney and fellow premiers. They also turn their attention to the now-concluded legislative sitting and the recent report from the CEO of Elections BC on the 2024 vote. In the mini bar, the panic for PG hotel rooms in January surfaces.

Join Mike McDonald, Kate Hammer, and Geoff Meggs for insights and interviews covering the latest in B.C. politics.

Thank you for joining us on #HotelPacifico. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch conversations from Hotel Pacifico via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.