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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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

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How does effective chairing turn a room full of strong opinions into real decisions? Joel Grenz and Sean Wood sit down with Nanaimo councillor and former Regional District of Nanaimo board chair Tyler Brown to unpack what it really takes to run meetings that work, keep a 19-member board aligned, and steer governance without theatrics, gavels, or power plays.

Brown traces how Nanaimo moved from national-news dysfunction to a functional council, why “righting the ship” was only the beginning, and how the real work of a chair happens long before the meeting starts. He breaks down staff–council dynamics, the pressures elected officials actually face, and why healthy governance depends on clarity, preparation, and a steady hand.

🎧 Listen in for:

• Why meetings fail and the quiet work that prevents them from going sideways
• How to prepare for decisions when information is incomplete and emotions are high
• What effective chairs do behind the scenes to keep debates productive
• How councils can respect staff roles without surrendering decision-making
• Why public anger escalates and how to set ground rules that protect everyone’s voice
• Where B.C.’s Local Government Act falls short and why modernization matters for communities

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What happens when short-term politics collides with long-term obligations?

Joel Grenz and Sean Wood sit down with former MLA Adam Olsen to break down what the Cowichan Tribes decision actually means for British Columbia and why the province keeps deferring the same structural problems.

The conversation traces the pattern: governments chasing headlines, grant cycles built for ribbon-cutting, and a land system held together by avoidance. Olsen lays out how exclusion shaped B.C.’s foundations, why litigation produces lose-lose outcomes, and what responsible negotiation should look like when title is already established in law.

🎧 Listen in for:

• How four-year (at most!) political cycles block long-term governance
• Why B.C.’s funding model for municipalities and First Nations is structurally unsound
• What the Cowichan ruling clarifies about title and why appeals won’t settle it
• What a depoliticized, whole-of-government approach to reconciliation requires

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

What’s the difference between shaming people and shaming harmful behaviour?

Parksville councillors Joel Grenz and Sean Wood take on one of the trickiest words in modern politics: stigma.

From anti-smoking campaigns and seatbelts to vaping, littering, and impaired driving, this episode explores how culture and policy have worked together to steer society, using stigma as a tool for good.

And with B.C.’s legislature debating whether schools should promote stigma against drug use, the conversation turns to where compassion ends and accountability begins.

🎧 Listen in for:

• Why stigma isn’t always the villain it’s made out to be
• How shaming actions (not people) changed public behaviour... from smoking to drunk driving
• The fine line between compassion and consequence in addiction policy
• Bill M 213 and what both sides of the aisle might be missing
• How governments can use culture—not just legislation—to drive change

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

From street disorder and involuntary care to a record-setting provincial deficit and party leadership reviews, this year’s UBCM had no shortage of debate …or drama.

Hosts Joel Grenz and Sean Wood sit down on the deck (yes, with fingerless gloves) to unpack the biggest stories and sessions from the 2025 Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Victoria.

They dig into the shifting tone on addiction and public safety, Premier David Eby’s acknowledgement of policy missteps, and the growing conversation around stability, leadership, and what “compassionate” policy really means.

🎧 Listen in for:

• The evolving debate on decriminalization, hypoxia and involuntary care
• B.C.’s record deficit and what it means for services
• Advocacy wins (and a resolution about resolutions)
• #bcpoli plot twists, from new party leaders to a mid-speech heckler

👉 Catch this wrap-up episode and revisit our UBCM interviews with Pete Fry, Jeff Ferrier, and Rob Shaw at nonpartisanhacks.com.

What separates functional government from frustrated government?

In this special episode recorded amongst the hustle and bustle of the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Victoria, hosts Joel Grenz and Sean Wood sit down with political reporter Rob Shaw (CHEK News, Business in Vancouver, Political Capital) to explore what makes governments succeed or stumble.

From the tension between local and provincial priorities to the challenge of maintaining trust in an age of cynicism, Shaw shares insights from years of covering B.C. politics and the people behind it.

🎧 Listen in for:

• What separates a successful government from a face-plant one
• The shifting tone in B.C. communities and at UBCM
• How local governments can build leverage and unity
• The evolving relationship between reporters and power
• Why authenticity matters more than ever in politics and journalism

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

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