In this episode of Nonpartisan Hacks, Joel Grenz and Sean Wood sit down with Mayor Nicole Minions of Comox to talk about leadership at the municipal level, and how governing really works when you move from being one vote at the table to chairing the meeting.

Minions reflects on becoming mayor by acclamation in 2022 under extraordinary circumstances, what surprised her most about the role, and why “mayoring” is less about power and more about facilitation, decorum, and trust. From public hearings with hundreds of residents to regional collaboration across the Comox Valley, the conversation digs into the skills that separate functional councils from dysfunctional ones.

Recorded in Sean’s kitchen (fresh bread included) the discussion ranges from core services and infrastructure financing to Bee City designations, asset management, working with opposition MLAs and MPs, and why most of the mayor’s real work happens far from the spotlight.

Listen in for:

• What actually changes when you become mayor
• Why facilitation matters more than force at the council table
• How to run public hearings without letting them derail
• The difference between core services and the “extra” 10–20% that signals values
• Why good governance is often invisible until it fails

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Find all our episodes at nonpartisanhacks.com and drop us a line.

Joel Grenz and Sean Wood sit down with Donna Hais, longtime community leader, business executive, and chair of the Fair Care Alliance, to unpack how advocacy really works inside complex municipal, provincial, and federal systems.

Recorded in Nanaimo, just steps from the regional hospital at the centre of Fair Care’s work, the conversation uses healthcare as a case study to explore something bigger: how communities organize, how governments actually hear messages, and why meaningful change only happens when voices are aligned across institutions.

Hais draws on years of experience spanning chambers of commerce, port governance, hospital foundations, and grassroots advocacy to explain why isolated pressure fails, how to build credibility across political cycles, and what it takes to speak the language of government without becoming partisan. The discussion moves from relationship-building and message discipline to media strategy, professional risk, and why persistence, not outrage, moves billion-dollar decisions.

🎧 Listen in for:

• Why advocacy fails when it happens in isolation
• How grassroots organizations build one message across many institutions
• What it means to “speak government” without losing community values
• Why non-partisan advocacy lasts longer than election cycles
• The role of media, lobbying, and public pressure in sustaining momentum

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Find all our episodes at nonpartisanhacks.com and drop us a line.

Lessons on leadership inside British Columbia politics after 20 years in the Legislature.

Joel Grenz and Sean Wood sit down with former Conservative Party of BC leader and longtime MLA John Rustad for a wide-ranging conversation on leadership, governance, and the forces reshaping provincial politics. Rustad reflects on serving under multiple leaders, the rise and collapse of centre-right coalitions, and why he believes conviction matters more than triangulation in today’s polarized political landscape.

From cabinet decision-making and the growing power of the premier’s office, to affordability, productivity, reconciliation, and the hollowing out of the middle class, Rustad offers his unfiltered reflections and thoughts on where he believes British Columbia has gone off track.

🎧 Listen in for:

• Rustad's leadership takeaways from Campbell to Eby
• The fall of the BC Liberals and the rise of the BC Conservatives
• Why affordability can’t be fixed without productivity and wage growth
• Rustad’s case for “economic reconciliation” and why the current approach is failing

👉 Subscribe, rate, and review on your favourite podcast platform.

Find all our episodes at nonpartisanhacks.com and drop us a line.