Oh John Les… you won’t be missed.

So here it is… Barry Penner’s last act as MLA Barry Penner: Sending in his official resignation with the help of his Petite Penner Protege.

It is telling that nobody has yet stepped up to wave the Liberal banner in Chilliwack-Hope.  Those are some The Environment-sized shoes to fill.

Thanks for everything, Barry. It’s been a lot of fun.

(…and I love that your office is decorated with pictures of yourself. It seems appropriate.)

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Well, Barry Penner, the public still has you for the rest of the year, so don’t sit back yet! I’m sure you have at least one more great photo-op in you, right? Just something for us to remember you by?

Oh well, if the recent history of Chilliwack representatives holds, MLA Fintry Penner should be sworn in shortly.

Barry Penner seems to be taking this whole ‘retirement’ thing a little too seriously. Look Barry, just because you are retiring from public life doesn’t mean you need to be moving in to a retirement community. You’re still young!

Of course, John Les is just tagging along as usual.

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“These solar panels are a tangible example of how we can take steps to meet our energy needs with a reduced impact on the environment,” Chilliwack-Hope MLA Barry Penner said. “B.C. is blessed with an array of renewable energy options, including wind, hydro and solar energy.” – Chilliwack Times

See? You can take the MLA out of the Environment Ministry, but you can’t take the Environment Minister out of the MLA. Going on about renewable energy and solar power and all that… it’s enough to bring tears to your eye. He may not be in charge of any BC-wide portfolios anymore (after fixing The Environment, Aboriginal Relations, and all crime in BC), but Barry Penner is sure to remain in the public eye, even if it is just in matters pertaining to the eastern Fraser Valley. So, Barry Penner is AWESOME will continue to be your best place to come for information about the best MLA for Chilliwack-Hope ever. I can’t promise frequent updates, but I’ll do what I can.

And of course, you will have noticed that this site has returned to ‘BPiA Classic’. I never really took to the uptight so-called ‘professional’ theme that’s been around here over the last little while.  This will always be BPiA to me.

Barry Penner, with his wife and daughter packing up his office. Notice that he still has the baby tucked under his arm. Totally doable, is all I’m saying. Especially for Barry Penner.

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What, you didn’t seriously think I’d go all John Les on you?

First, El Gordo left the big job over some minor misunderstanding and got shipped off to some other country by mistake (British Columbia… Britain… eh, close enough).

Then Chuck Strahl decided to step away from the Federal game for some reason and handed the keys over to Mini-Chuck (Don’t dent the riding, boy! And bring it back with a full tank of gas!).

And now Barry Penner leaves behind the life of glamour and wonder that is being a provincial MLA and cabinet minister in order to spend more time with his family (a bold move that no politician has ever dared consider before).

Now only one still stands…

So tune in tomorrow as “Barry Penner is AWESOME” dies and “John Les… ugh. I guess.” rises from the ashes!

You know what I love about this picture? No, it isn’t Barry Penner looking all official in front of a door and sign that look even more official. No, it’s not that the sign gives me the mental image of  Barry Penner spending his days at a desk in the middle of a Scrooge McDuck-style money vault. No, it’s that the picture was taken (according to the Government Flickr page) on August 16th… two days before Barry Penner announced he was stepping down. According to interviews, the tipping point for his decision came earlier this month, so he very likely knew that he would be stepping down as Attorney General while the photo was being taken in front of a gigantic golden ATTORNEY GENERAL sign.

But did he cancel the photo shoot? Did he ‘reschedule’ to a later day so as to keep his decision private but not waste the time taking pictures that would be relevant for only two days? Of course not. Because the world needs as any pictures of Barry Penner as it can possible get, and this… this is a good one.

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Okay, so Barry Penner wants to spend more time with his new daughter. Fine. I’ve certainly heard of worse reasons to quit a job. But the thing is… he doesn’t have to quit his job just to spend time with his kid. As he shows right there, a baby is the perfect accessory for today’s busy MLA, both classy and practical! He can just tuck little Fintry there under his arm, and go about his business as usual, MLA-ing all over the place. And knowing how much of a trend-setter Barry Penner is, pretty soon everyone in Victoria will be showing up for work with their offspring along for the ride.

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