Newsroon – Chad Dashly
The veteran defenseman’s departure leaves a significant gap in Vancouver’s defence and sparks emotional reactions among supporters.Newsroom
Tyler Myers Trade to Dallas Leaves Canucks Fans Heartbroken
Key Takeaways
• The Vancouver Canucks have traded veteran defenseman Tyler Myers to the Dallas Stars.
• Myers was a steady presence on the Canucks’ blue line for several seasons.
• Fans are reacting emotionally to the departure of a respected veteran leader.
• Dallas gains an experienced defenseman capable of playing heavy minutes.
• The trade raises questions about Vancouver’s defensive stability moving forward.
The Deep Dive
The Tyler Myers trade is now official, and the reaction from Vancouver Canucks fans has been swift and emotional. After several seasons anchoring the team’s defence, the towering 6-foot-8 veteran defenseman is heading south to join the Dallas Stars.
For Vancouver supporters, the move feels like more than just a routine NHL transaction. Myers had become one of the team’s most recognizable and dependable figures on the blue line. While he was never known for flashy offensive numbers, his value to the team often showed up in quieter but equally important ways.
During his time with the Canucks, Myers developed a reputation as a steady defensive presence. When games tightened and pressure mounted, he was often the player tasked with stabilizing the defensive zone. Blocking shots, battling along the boards, and making smart positional plays became hallmarks of his style.
In a league where highlight-reel moments often dominate headlines, Myers built his reputation on consistency. Night after night, he delivered the kind of reliable performance that coaches value and teammates depend on.
His size also made him one of the most physically imposing defenders on the roster. At 6-foot-8, Myers was difficult for opposing forwards to navigate in front of the net or along the boards. That presence helped give Vancouver a defensive edge in key situations.
But Myers’ role extended beyond what happened on the ice. Inside the locker room, he was widely viewed as a veteran voice and mentor. Younger players benefited from his experience, particularly those adjusting to the pace and pressure of the NHL.
Players developing within Vancouver’s defensive core often looked to Myers as an example of how to manage difficult moments during games. His calm demeanour and veteran awareness helped steady the team during stretches when defensive mistakes could easily snowball.
For Dallas, the acquisition represents a significant addition to their defensive depth. The Stars gain a player capable of logging major minutes while contributing leadership and playoff experience. Teams preparing for deep postseason runs often prioritize exactly the kind of reliability Myers brings.
His ability to play in multiple defensive situations—whether penalty killing, late-game defensive shifts, or matchup assignments—gives Dallas a valuable option as they look to strengthen their roster for the stretch ahead.
Meanwhile, Vancouver faces the challenge of replacing not just Myers’ ice time but also the stability he brought to the lineup.
Why It Matters
The Tyler Myers trade highlights the delicate balance NHL teams face between building for the future and maintaining stability in the present.
For the Canucks, moving a veteran defenseman creates both risk and opportunity. Younger players may now receive increased responsibility on the blue line, potentially accelerating their development. However, losing a reliable defensive presence can also expose gaps in experience during high-pressure moments.
Veteran leadership is often an undervalued component of successful teams. Players like Myers provide composure during difficult stretches of the season and help younger teammates navigate the demands of the NHL schedule.
That influence becomes especially noticeable once it’s gone.
From Dallas’ perspective, the move could prove strategically important. Teams with postseason aspirations frequently seek experienced defenders capable of stabilizing their lineup during the grind of playoff hockey.
If Myers continues to deliver the dependable defensive play he showed in Vancouver, his presence could strengthen Dallas’ chances of making a deeper playoff run.
For Canucks fans, however, the trade represents the end of an era defined by quiet reliability. Myers may not have been the flashiest player on the roster, but his consistency and leadership left a lasting impression on both teammates and supporters.
As he begins the next chapter of his career in Dallas, Vancouver will now look to its emerging core to step forward and fill the void left behind.

The Last ‘Spring Forward’ for British Columbia

As Canadians across the country prepare to nudge their clocks forward one hour this Sunday, residents of British Columbia are doing so with a unique sense of finality. Premier David Eby confirmed this week that the province is moving forward with a long-awaited plan to adopt permanent, year-round daylight saving time. The move marks the end of a decades-long debate in the Pacific province, effectively terminating the biannual ritual of ‘springing forward’ and ‘falling back’ that has governed Canadian life for generations.

The decision is rooted in both public health and overwhelming popular demand. Premier Eby highlighted the practical disruptions caused by the shift, noting that children and pets do not recognize the arbitrary change in time, leading to lost sleep for parents and increased stress for families. “When we change our clocks twice a year, it creates all kinds of problems,” Eby stated during the announcement. Beyond mere inconvenience, the Premier pointed to a spike in car accidents and a general decline in public well-being as primary drivers for the policy shift.

A History of Public Mandate and Political Stalling

British Columbia’s road to permanent daylight time has been long. In 2019, the province conducted one of the most successful public consultations in its history, with a staggering 93 per cent of the 223,000 respondents indicating they wanted to scrap the time change. While former premier John Horgan attempted to implement the change several times, the province initially hesitated, hoping to maintain alignment with southern neighbors in Washington, Oregon, and California.

However, B.C. has now decided to lead the charge. This bold move highlights a growing frustration with what political scientists call a ‘collective action problem.’ Peter Graefe, a political scientist at McMaster University, suggests that many jurisdictions are waiting for a leader to prove that the transition can be seamless. “Maybe it does take one place to move and it will have some impact in having other places saying, ‘Look, the sky didn’t fall, maybe we’ll try it as well,’” Graefe noted.

The Eastern Gridlock: Ontario and Quebec

In Central Canada, the situation is more complex. The Ontario legislature passed a bill in November 2020 that would end the time change, but with a significant caveat: the law only triggers if Quebec and New York State follow suit. This interdependence is driven by the need for economic and logistical synchronization, particularly regarding the stock markets and cross-border trade. Premier Doug Ford has expressed an openness to ending the practice, stating that Ontario will “eventually” stick with daylight saving time to stay in step with the rest of North America, but for now, the province remains in a holding pattern.

Quebec has similarly signaled that while they recognize the public desire to end the time change, no immediate legislative action is planned. Government officials in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Manitoba have also confirmed they are not currently pursuing a change, citing the need for regional alignment to avoid creating a patchwork of time zones that could disrupt travel and commerce.

The Prairie Divide

The debate remains particularly contentious in Alberta. In a 2021 municipal referendum, Albertans narrowly voted to keep the biannual change, with the ‘stay’ side winning by fewer than 3,000 votes. Despite this, the government led by Danielle Smith is re-examining the issue. Finance Minister Nate Horner recently suggested that the conversation is “probably coming towards us” again, as the government weighs the impact on airline schedules and professional sports against the potential health benefits.

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek, however, has expressed skepticism about reopening the debate, suggesting that the narrow victory in 2021 should stand as a settled matter so that the government can focus on more pressing economic priorities.

The Biological Cost of Shifting Time

While the political debate focuses on trade and convenience, health experts are sounding the alarm on the biological toll of the time change. Rebecca Robillard, co-chair of the Canadian Sleep Research Consortium, argues that the issue is far more significant than losing a single hour of sleep. “It actually disrupts the alignment between the biological clock and the natural cycle of the sun,” she explained. This misalignment affects hormone release, insulin regulation, and metabolism.

Robillard points to a chilling list of ramifications associated with the time shift, including increased rates of stroke, heart attacks, mood swings, and even pregnancy complications. From a clinical perspective, the sudden shift forces the body into a state of ‘social jetlag’ that can take weeks to resolve.

The Counter-Argument: The Need for Morning Light

Despite the momentum for permanent daylight saving time, some experts warn of the downsides of year-round DST—specifically the loss of morning light in the winter. Patricia Lakin-Thomas, a professor at York University, notes that our circadian clocks are reset by morning light. Under permanent daylight saving time, some parts of Canada would not see the sun rise until nearly 10:00 a.m. in the middle of winter.

“Everybody loves the idea when you first announce it… but in the winter, we just hate it,” Lakin-Thomas warned. She argues that standard time is actually better for human health because it aligns more closely with the solar cycle, providing the morning light necessary to speed up our internal clocks and keep us in sync with the 24-hour day. As British Columbia embarks on this legislative experiment, the rest of the country—and the scientific community—will be watching closely to see if the benefits truly outweigh the costs.

Opinion News Room Chad Dashly

BC Conservatives narrow the leadership field to nine — and the real contest is about discipline

Opinion

VANCOUVER — The Conservative Party of B.C.’s Leadership Election Organizing Committee (LEOC) has closed its application window and approved nine contestants to move to the next phase of the leadership race: Bruce Banman, Harman Bhangu, Iain Black, Caroline Elliott, Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Yuri Fulmer, Warren Hamm, Darrell Jones, and Peter Milobar.

On paper, it’s just a list. In practice, it’s a stress test for a party that grew quickly, became the Official Opposition, then watched its leader resign after internal turmoil — and now has to prove it can behave like a government-in-waiting, not a protest movement with a bigger microphone.

A nine-person field usually signals energy. Here, it also signals a problem to solve.

Leadership races are supposed to be about ideas and direction. This one is also about whether the B.C. Conservatives can enforce basic internal standards without triggering another civil war.

The application requirements reported publicly — including a $5,000 entry fee and at least 250 member signatures from across the province — were designed to separate serious contenders from momentary internet fame. That’s not glamorous. It is, however, what grown-up parties do when they’ve learned that “anyone can run” eventually turns into “everyone can embarrass us.”

Two previously declared MLA candidates — Sheldon Clare and Steve Kooner — withdrew in the days leading up to the LEOC announcement, underscoring how much procedural gatekeeping and campaign organization now matter in a party that is trying to professionalize at speed.

Three lanes are emerging — and each comes with a risk

The approved slate naturally breaks into three broad lanes.

• The caucus lane: Banman, Bhangu, and Milobar bring elected credibility and day-to-day experience as the Official Opposition. The upside is obvious: they can plausibly argue they know what it takes to hold government to account and present as a premier-in-waiting. The downside is equally obvious: caucus politics can look like inside baseball to members who joined because they wanted something that didn’t feel like Victoria-as-usual.
• The established political lane: Iain Black and Kerry-Lynne Findlay bring recognizable résumés from past political eras. That can reassure donors and institutional conservatives who want competence over chaos. But it also invites the party’s internal critique that it could become “a rebrand” of an older coalition — the very charge some activists have levelled at conservative projects in B.C. for decades.
• The outsider lane: Elliott, Fulmer, Hamm, and Jones (from the public descriptions available so far) will likely frame themselves as builders, not lifers — and as the antidote to a political class that many voters distrust. Outsiders can win leadership races. They can also struggle to pivot from slogans to systems when they inherit a caucus, a budget, and a news cycle that punishes improvisation.

None of these lanes is “wrong.” The larger question is whether the party’s membership wants movement energy or governing readiness — and whether it can find a leader who credibly offers both.

The John Rustad hangover is real — and it will shape every ballot

It’s impossible to read this candidate list without the recent history hovering over it. Former leader John Rustad resigned on Dec. 4, 2025, after divisions over policy and personnel roiled the party, according to reporting at the time.

That matters because leadership elections aren’t held in a vacuum. They are a referendum on what members think went wrong — and a pre-emptive argument about what must never happen again.

If the membership believes Rustad’s departure was driven by a lack of internal discipline and process, they will lean toward candidates promising tighter message control, better candidate vetting, and fewer self-inflicted crises. If they believe the party’s internal fights were about “true conservatism” versus “electability,” the race becomes an ideological sorting exercise — one that could reward sharper rhetoric over steadier management.

May 30 is not the finish line — it’s the credibility deadline

The party says it will announce its new leader on May 30, 2026, at a leadership convention. Between now and then, the campaign will revolve around membership rules, voter eligibility, and organizational capacity — the unsexy mechanics that decide races long before convention day.

There’s also a strategic reality: as the Official Opposition, the B.C. Conservatives don’t have the luxury of treating this like an internal club election. The leader-in-waiting has to perform in public, under daily scrutiny, with a caucus that needs coherence and a province that expects seriousness.

Voters who don’t follow party mechanics will judge the outcome in simpler terms: does the new leader look like someone who could run a cabinet, manage a crisis, and keep a team together?

What should British Columbians watch for next?

Here are three tells that will matter more than bumper-sticker ideology:

• Who can unify without erasing differences: A leader who “wins” by humiliating other factions may inherit a party that never stops relitigating the race.
• Who can talk about B.C. problems with B.C. answers: Housing, cost of living, health care access, and public safety are where elections are won or lost — not on imported culture-war scripts.
• Who can pass the competence test: Policy depth, staffing judgment, and a willingness to say “no” to bad ideas are not optional for an opposition trying to look ready to govern.

The LEOC has done its part: close the application process, publish a clear slate, move the party forward. Now comes the harder work — proving that a fast-growing political operation can mature quickly enough to hold together, and credible enough to convince British Columbians it deserves the keys to government.