It's interesting the Carol James has stated there will be no further privization in BC if the NDP wins but that all current contracts will be kept in place. I say cancel every one of them and fast before we lose billions on these shady deals. Send these companies packing back to the US

I hear you KWL however Gordo made sure to sign LONG term contracts that I’m sure would be very costly to overturn. I would dearly love to see every single program Gordo has outsourced be brought back in house if a Carole James government formed office, however I think the costs would be very prohibitive. Knowing Gordo, I’m sure if we were able to have a look at all those secretive long term contracts in detail they would be “boobied trapped” with huge costing, escape clauses built in to protect his corporate buddies from new governments.

I personally feel that powerful greedy corporations have access to way too much personal info these days, why increase that? I also feel that the corporate entity is the biggest threat to my (and every other persons) personal privacy today. I think George Orwell had it right, except that it should have been about very powerful corporations prying into our lives rather than big governments. Data collected by credible governments is and should be for the purpose of programs and benefits for all of its citizens. NOT corporate profiling. This info should be guarded by governments with the utmost trust and security to protect its citizens from corporate prying eyes!

Look at the info EDS has access to now….

Provincial Revenue

B.C. government is contracting with EAS Advanced Solutions Inc., a subsidiary of EDS Canada which is a subsidiary of EDS International, an American corporation, to provide access to all its records. Services include account management, billing, payment processing, and collections.

Gives access to confidential financial and personal information of many British Columbians:

driver's licence records, vehicle registration information, insurance information

- income assistance and student loan applications

- medical information (all MSP billing history)

- ambulance (where you were picked up and driven to)

- SIN

- birthdate

- address (current and historical list of address from opening of any account to present)

- personal property and asset information

- credit information

- liabilities (who you owe money to currently and in the past, how much, monthly payments, credit card numbers)

- bank account #s

- if you are an owner (or otherwise) of a company

- place of employment (current and historical)

- your income and sources of income (EI, etc.)

- income of your spouse or common law partner

- amount of child support payment you receive or pay

- amount of child tax benefit and/or GST you receive

- your monthly expenses (rent, mortgage, how much you spend on food, telephone, cable, utilities, bus passes, car loan, child care, clothing)

- stocks, bonds, RRSPs

- BC Online:

- Personal Property Reg.

- Site Registry

- Corporate Registry

- BC Assessment

- Land Titles

- Rural Property Tax

- Home Owner Grant (current and history of houses or property owned)

- Skip Trace Unit (BC Hydro uses to search out of province driver's licence in Canada or U.S.)

- Equifax (all credit information; an inquiry by Provincial Revenue does not show up in Equifax history sent to individual)

Again, let’s not forget Gordon Campbell’s long term goal for British Columbia is very deep integration with the States and corporate conservative Alberta. He is first and foremost an American Republican who hates Canada/BC and its predominantly Liberal ways. His brother Mike Campbell is the exact same way. In fact, I would argue he is the architect behind many of Gordon Campbell’s policies. Just listen to his contempt for Canadian (Trudeau, Douglas, Pearson) Type Liberal values whenever he is on the air at CKNW or in his column in the Vancouver Sun.

Gordon Campbell ($Mike$ Campbell with lipstick and high heels on, waving the pom poms) wants a borderless economic zone with the States and those American Republican loving corporate Albertans, where raw materials, goods and services can flow freely in any direction. THIS IS A PROVINCE BEING RUN BY THE CAMPBELL BROTHERS AND THEIR AMERICAN REPUBLICAN IDEOLOGY AND CONNOT BE TRUSTED TO RUN THIS PROVICE FOR 4 MORE YEARS! We are being sold out here people. WAKE UP!!!!!!!

Can you feel the corporate noose tighten by the Campbell hangmen?

Oh, and this just in……

B.C. privatizes computer servicing

Canadian Press

December 3, 2004

VICTORIA -- The British Columbia government has signed a technology outsourcing deal with IBM Canada that will see 170 provincial employees offered jobs with the computer services company.

"This project is about better service for British Columbians," Management Services Minister Joyce Murray said in a release posted Friday on the provincial government's website.

"It will keep government's computer operations up-to-date and running in a smooth, businesslike manner."

Under the 10-year agreement, Murray said the province will generate $80 million in savings. IBM Canada subsidiary ISM Canada, based in Regina, will supply hardware, software and technology services for 29,000 computer workstations across the province.

Meanwhile, two subcontractors, B.C.-based Tecnet and Microserve, will also provide field support and asset management services and protections will be in place to ensure there's no access by contractors to personal information.

The company said the government employees who do the work that is being outsourced have been offered jobs with ISM Canada and will receive similar wages and benefits if they transfer.

Friday's deal is part of a technology outsourcing trend by many provincial governments and companies as they try to cut costs.

Last month, B.C.'s Ministry of Provincial Revenue announced a 10-year, $572-million agreement with U.S.-based computer services giant EDS to consolidate revenue management for the government.

Under that deal, EDS will be responsible for non-tax account maintenance, non-tax collections, information technology delivery and billing, remittance and payments.

EDS will also build a revenue management system to streamline and simplify customer service, improve personal privacy and financial collections.

If the Liberals were really serious about privatizing they'd privatize government. Who needs elections and political parties? Interested applicants could simply hire police and a huge group of lawyers. These companies could advertise for which government we would prefer. Competing governments could "duke it out" in the private market for the right to educate, provide medical care and all those other messy government services. The populace could pay for these. Ultimate disagreements would naturally result in minor gang wars, but that would be a small price to pay for the wonderful efficiencies, savings, and freedoms of choice that would accrue to a grateful population of consumers. I can see it all now. My kids would attend Wal-Mart High School, Shopper's Drug Mart would provide medical care, and Ford or GM could take over the highways. What bliss! (Just kidding. . .)

I hate to break it you all but business is responsible for the quality of life you currently enjoy. Government should control a small percentage of the province not all of it. If the private sector can do a better job for cheaper, Why not? I know you guys like wasting money, but if you can save money in one area in order to improve in another area, Why not? Lets face it Government does not have unlimited resources, although you seem to think it does. If less money goes to areas of waste it can then be reallocated into areas of more concern such as the delivery of health care and education. My bet is this is what the NDP planned all along. They realized that tough choices needed to be made in order to stabilize the province financially (every other province did it in the 90’s except for BC), yet they didn’t take any action. They waited for the Liberals to come and make the changes(they knew their loss in the last election was inevitable). The NDP will not reverse any of the Liberals decisions because they know that for the most part they were made out of necessity not choice. If the NDP gets elected and rolls back a large part of these so called “draconian” cuts, I will admit that I’m wrong. But you will see that the NDP is just spewing out a bunch of rhetoric and all these so called “draconian” things that the Liberals have done will stay in place. Let’s face it “It would cost to much to reverse those decisions” is an empty argument because as we all know the NDP does not care about wasting the taxpayers’ money. They will not reverse these decisions because they know it would create huge deficits and send our steadily improving economy into a tailspin. They would then have to dramatically raise taxes, which would then push investment out of our province and we would be quickly faced with a similar situation as we did in the 90’s. From then on we would be forever known as a have not province. But I guess that doesn’t matter when you’re living out of the public trough.

The problem with privatization is the profit factor. These companies have to make money somehow and usually that involves cutting corners, laying off employees, paying employees low wages etc. etc. So, in the end the taxpayer who uses these services gets crappy results anyway. Then to find out just what has gone wrong an expensive tax payer funded audit takes place, we find out the private company is biling us for millions while actually not fullfilling their contractual obligations and the contracted will be terminated with a big sweet payout. Now, just exactly how does this end up being any cheaper than if the public sector did it?

Jim,

you are right that we will have to wait to see what the NDP government will do. BC already did make the "tough choices" in the 80s with Bill Bennett's government and created an ever deepening recession. Privatizing increases costs with profits paid to corporations instead of paying decent wages to their workers. Governments do not have unlimited resources, so we need to elect an NDP government to reduces these costs by getting rid of as many of these contracts as possible and also putting BC workers back to work.

There has been a large drop in the growth of jobs in BC due to BC Liberal policies. See www.strategicthoughts.ca for the real data, and do not accept the nonsense that the BC Liberals have fabricated. And also, Jim, the BC Liberals have made it that we, in BC, have more money coming in as a have-not province since Campbell has made things so much worse. Also, I have repeatedly heard that Gordon Campbell is not entirely satisified with the $2 Billion surplus and that he is planning to go to Ottawa to ask for more money for road and infrastructure building. I last heard Campbell say this on 1130Am yesterday (Dec 2). It just sound to me that Campbell is a greedy cretin.

am i the only one that feels ilke Al Capone and the boys are running the province? huge expansion of gambling and boooze, vast sell offs to what seems to be corrupt overseers of what were once public institutions the co. that is now in charge of your municiple pensions is over 50% owned by a major casino operator in the province, at least under the n.d.p. you got the f.o.i to find out if any shady dealing were taking place now of course information of public assets is now being tabled to us in the form of those happy commercials isn't it?corporations give millions to this government for paybacks later re- fish farms but you'll never see any of that in tha mainstream media, this is just another appalling example of the cororate agenda that is taking place in b.c god help us

Jim states, " The NDP will not reverse any of the Liberals decisions because they know that for the most part they were made out of necessity not choice." There's a huge difference between a government that "wants" to end the privatizing of services and its "ability" to. The Liberals have most probably created long term contracts that CANNOT be broken without huge penalties...so even if the NDP "wanted" to end them, they can't, so I don't see how the NDP "planned it all along"...it's a Liberal booby trap to screw an incoming progressive government...shameful, but that's the slimey world of politics in BC. Remember that the right-wing parties that speak so loudly about fiscal responsibility are the worst for putting us in debt! Also remember that the NDP had two balanced budgets in a row in a decade of global recession. It is the Canwest cronies and the Fraser Institute that continue to spread the lies and demonize the working class if they want to improve their lot in life...pretend if you want to, but the Liberals have not done much at all to improve the lives and economy for 90% of BC's people and it will be up to us to deny them on May 17, the rest of their scheme to sell off BC.

The only thing that this company was willing to learn from past mistakes was how to make a bigger profit. BC is in serious trouble.

Being a socialist spin-doctor must be the easiest gig going. You can manipulate data, spew misinformation, and whatever else and the socialist hordes, much like some type of cult, will buy into it lock stock and barrel. Schreck’s last graph that supposedly tried to prove that people never left the province under the NDP was a complete joke – you only had to look directly at the curve ad the years he conveniently did not mention to see the roller coaster drop in migration. Have a look at his latest graph – in particular the black line that Schreck refers to as “the long term trend (an exponential curve fitted to the data)” Schreck then claims that seasonally adjusted employment was always above the trend in the 90’s and below the trend during the “New Era” Have a look at this idiots line – and where it curves the greatest – quess when ? During the 90’s – Scheck deliberately curves the line downwards to keep his inept NDP government above that “trend” Now look at the New Era where he curves the very end up like a ski jump just to make the Lib’s fall below his self created crap. Schreck also conveniently ignores the most obvious fact at the end of his graph, Employment in BC today is the highest since at least 1976 – as far back as Schreck’s graph dares to go. Even the CBC reported accurately yesterday that our Province has record employment going on. As always people like Shcreck look to spin the socialist misinformation campaign. I suppose next the CBC will be accused of being part of the biased media conspiracy. Schreck is a joke.

I find it interesting that tearing up contracts with Multi-National Corporations is supposedly a difficult and expensive no-no. Yet Gordo, the Ferret et. al. had no problem tearing up contracts with unionized workers in British Columbia. But why be surprised, we should know there are two sets of rules - one for the corporate elite and another for the rest of us.

Mr. Lehay/Collins: I will be glad when you are no longer my MLA, I can't wait till Mr. Happy Planet beats you next May. It is also pretty easy to be a right wing Government in this Province and get away with distortions and outright lies when you have a complient lap dog media to back you up.

I can tell you this, if things are so great in this province why is it there are so many people out on the streets? Why is it I can put out a 6 pack of empties in my alley and they are gone in less than 15 minutes? Why is it that 5000 people lined up for the chance to be on call for the Longshoremen last month?

Higest employment levels since the 1970's? Yeah right. There may be job opportunities out there but they are all low paying crap jobs. Where are good long term careers? Those jobs are scarce Mr. Lehay/Collins.

The reason why unemployment levels are where they are is because so many people are no longer part of the system. Factor in these people and I bet we have an unemployment/underemployment rate closer in the range of 10-15%, something not to be too proud of.

No matter how I look at Mr.Schreck’s graph I see more jobs today in BC, but that is not the problem. The problem is that we have fewer jobs that people can actually make a living on. Sure the Liberals can say everything has gone up, jobs, retail, housing, blah, blah, but you need a decent income to afford all of those things. Union jobs pay the wages required to raise a family. Problem is paying decent wages comes out of profit, and the real problem in BC is that Campbell is on a mission to destroy organized labor, and doing a good job of it. The NDP leadership needs to stand tall and represent Union interest for the greater good of the people of BC. Business does not deserve to be at the table, if Carole James cannot firmly understand that than we will continue to get screwed by the corporations. Organized Labor is about people. Corporations are about profit. Let’ focus on the real issues and not stupid graph’s about seasonal employment that will do nothing to see workers get a fair wage for the sweat of their backs currently being exploited by greedy corporations that will pink slip you at the first chance some CEO did not get his million dollar bonus.

Mr. Lehay, I suspect you are pimping here for someone, but that aside, why is it that most economists are saying the job creation in BC is so bad because most of it is part time, minimum wage stuff. Surely you don't take any pride in allowing employers to rip off employees with your so-called $6-an-hour "training wage". Your attack on Schreck sounds like sour grapes and a desparation bid to try to put your spin on more bad news for BC. BTW, why is it your government will go to any length to give away the farm to foriegn contractors in perpetuity, yet you have no qualms about ripping up valid labour contracts. Speaking of that desparation, I guess it's getting a bit scary for you former Socreds who put all your faith in the drunk driver to win again in 2004. That's only a little over 5 months away and he's very unpopular.

Funny how the Liberals tore up labour contracts as others have stated above, but now say the are obligated to fullfill certain gambling contracts put in place by the NDP. They fullfill contracts that will benefit their business buddies but not contracts that help out the working class. Nice.

to KWL...Exactly !

Here is the thing with gambling, I can appreciate that much like smoking and drinking, it is something that people are always going to do. And I would rather see people gamble here in BC instead of the Skagit Valley Casino across the line, so I don’t really have a problem with more of it, if it keeps the dollars here. My problem is that Casino’s make millions of dollars in profits, the municipalities get millions with their take, and of course the Province gets the lion share of the mega millions, but once again – what does the lowly casino employee, get for a wage ? Next to nothing. If everyone is making millions why cannot the Casino employees get a fair share too?

Look at the front page of the Sun today, sure we have a low unemployment rate but we actually lost 22 600 full time jobs! We made gains in part time employment. So say someone is working 8 hours a week, that technically makes them employed. The Liberals will be pumping this one though for all it's worth.

I totally agree with Mr. Lehay - Schreck is a joke - a bad joke. Funny, I thought it was the buddies of the former administration who were convicted. ------ Then again, that's the thing about Schreck and his crowd, they couldn't even run a good working class bingo game.

"long term contracts"? What long term contracts?; if Gordo can tear up union contracts without as much as a by-your-leave, I say the NEW government, after May 2005, should tear up ALL contracts with these sleaze-bag US, European corporations and some of our own home-grown variety (BC Ferries Corp. comes to mind) and let 'em sue. We don't get it, do we?, We hand out golden parachutes to their corporate execs, who may have as much as five years left on their lucrative contracts and don't bat an eyelash; yet, when it comes to hard-won union conditions and wages, we let 'em walk all over us. Contracts "sacrosanct"? I don't think so!

Government can do what ever it wants! - See Dave Zirnheld, NDP Socialist 1991-2001 - RIP

You beat me to it KWL; I noticed that headline this morning at Famous Foods, I then meandered down an aisle and was confronted with a shelf of (yummy looking but...)$5 loaves of bread. FIVE DOLLARS!! "Ah yes," I mused, "Part-time jobs, most of which pay $8 an hour, so one can work an hour for a loaf of bread." Whatever.

Mr. Lahey, aka gary colon feret, I thought I kicked your skanky butt in the last thread badly enough, surely you don't want me to do it AGAIN, in front of all these people. You can always tell when someone like schreck is being effective, by the pathetic eagerness of mutts such as yourself and jean spinette, to attack them. The main point of schreck's TEXTUAL argument is that the new figures from the bc liars on employment growth are as USUAL, both cherry picked and misleading. If unemployment figures CONSTRUCTED AND MANUFACTURED by the bc liars show unemployment down in bc it's a SURE BET, that the figures have been FUDGED BY EITHER BORROWING OR LEAVING OUT STATISTICS FROM ANOTHER YEAR, or hell, who knows with these albert einstein's of creative book keeping, even from decades before. Shreck's essential point is that the bc liars are no longer even tracking people who have given up looking for work, IN PART BECAUSE OF THE GUTTING OF THE VERY GOVERNMENT AGENCIES THAT TRACK SUCH THINGS.

On another, and as usual ignored note, I wonder how many poor people lost their children, their homes, even their lives under these heartless regressive reforms, thrown as more swill to the corporate PIGS who least need them. Excellent work and reporting by kaybertoss.

beyond hope , you hit the nail on the head gambling, booze and now discussing prostitution. el Gordo and his cronies will leave no vice untouched.If they can possibly make a dime from human misery and call it good fiscal management, then it will be offered up to the pals......

Translation Welfare good - Work Bad!

BC, the Part-time Province. Now specializes in part-time jobs. (Jobs that were once full time.) Part-time pay. (Pay that was once a decent wage.) Part of a railway.(Have the tracks, no train , no profits.) Part of a ferry system ( not sure what part we still own). BC Hydro (partly gone). Part-time legislature ( departed to fight Surrey by-election in October and never returned), part-time premier, generally in hiding except before elections,( otherwise in Alberta, Texas or Hawaii,) certainly not in legislature but not missed since refuses to answer most questions when there, private medical info de"parted" for US, and a media that reports and headlines only part of the story. Headline should have read: "22,600 Full Time Jobs Lost - Traded for Spare Parts."

No one here is advocating not working Binette, in fact the contrary. We are advocating full time, decent paying jobs so we can all enjoy the fruits of our labour. Find me one istance in this thread where anyone has implied welfare is good work is bad, I challenge you.

Lynn, you've summed it up nicely! We truly are a part time, part pay province.

Actually Swift, you get to me far more than Schreck does. In Schreck’s defense, the guy is a former politician, and like all former politician’s they like to remember themselves for being more than they really were. Besides, if you’re in Schreck’s shoes, you were part of a regime that going by the record of the voters, the one true statistic that he cannot hide from, manipulate or blame on a media conspiracy, was the worst government in the history of British Columbia, as no other government in history was smitten from the face of the legislature the likes of which Screck’s and his inept NDP cronies were. Even the socialist hordes abandoned them. So, if your not lucky enough to get a political appointment like Harcourt, or a real job like Glen Clarke, what else can you do? Start your own website and try to re-write history and pretend that really nothing bad happened under the NDP in the 90’s, really it was all good, but a vast media conspiracy took them from Government. The really funny part Lewis, is that people like you actually buy into it. Maybe you should convince Schreck to run again and you can be his campaign manager, I have no doubt that BC voters would see what an economic godsend you two would be.

Rewind yourself Lynn, the headlines are the exactly the same as yesteryear - it's just a bigger shovel. --- In answer to your inquiry - See lweis swfti Tyee agent.

Here is the US we call it Maximus costs, minimus service. Obviously the your Government never did any due diligence.

And how would you know?

OH! THIS IS FAR TASTIER THAN I REALIZED! Get this brothers and sisters, and this is a direct quote from the Canwest Vancouver Sun Website (FREE TO ACCESS ON THIS PARTICULAR TOPIC): "The number of FULL TIME JOBS IN THE PROVINCE DECREASED BY 22,600, an increase of 23,800 PART-TIME JOBS "OFFSET" THIS LOSS..." THE BC LIARS AND THE VANCOUVER SCUM ARE BRAGGING IN SIX POINT TYPE ABOUT THE BC LIAR'S LOSING 22,600 FULL TIME JOBS. And for anyone who thinks part time training wage employment "OFFSETS," the loss of full time well paying jobs, stay away from people who would like to sell you florida real estate or bridges in brooklyn. I wonder just how many of this new part time work was temporary, lasting as little as a day, probably at companies like mr lahey's. Of course with "the most open and accountable government in bc ever" it now takes money and months of waiting to retrieve this once easily available information.

Translation Welfare good - Work Bad!

Gee Lewis, do you think what the Sun said is true about all of those part time jobs? Or is it still all right wing media conspiracy? Funny how you are so quick to quote than Sun when it fits your own partisan perspective, and yet when not, suddenly it is all inaccurate biased right wing reporting. More hypocrisy from the socialist hordes.

Gee, mr lahey, ol' ferret, I suppose according to you showing glen clark's picture thousands of times for months when the RCMP raided his house and john daly just "happened" to be in the neighborhood had nothing to do with the ndp wipeout. Of course clark was found innocent, unlike our CONVICTED OF DRUNK driving premier. But then canwrest tried hide that little jail cell photo of our smiling backstabber on page 2, didn't they? Gordon Campbell had a GIFT going into the last election that would have enabled howdy doody to wipe out the opposition, as every child in bc knows. Once again the ndp record was 2 balanced budgets, and a billion and a half dollar surplus, not gained to the disadvantage of disabled children and sick, little old ladies. Think of the last vancouver civic election, when NO MATTER HOW MANY CHEAP LIES THE SUN PRINTED THE BC LIBERAL FARM TEAM THE NPA GOT WIPED OUT. And you know, mr lahey, although it undoubtedly comes as a surprise to you: people don't LIKE two faced, back stabbing, manufacturers of artificial crises, and unending, spurious manufactured good news like our pathetic excuse for a premier.

Yikes!

Double Yikes! Sister Lynn.

Hmmm....more excuses Swift. Blame the media it's all their fault that Glen Clark needed a new deck for his summer cabin at Twin Lakes. Blame everyone else and take no responsibility for your own actions; typical NDP dogma. After all, the NDP is perfect and the only reason why the BC cannot see that is because of the vast media conspiracy, Right Swift ? I hope Schreck is proud to have influenced people like you Lewis, as you will be his eternal legacy to our province.

Is the above really your idea of an effective rebuttal, mr lahey?? I think you've, like your television namesake and our premier, been drinkin' too much again. Heh, heh, heh, the bc liars and canwest bragging about 23,000 well payinf FULL time jobs LOST! It's gonna be a SHORT NEW ERA. Can the class action lawsuits be far behind? Oh well, mr lahey, perhaps you can get your old job of trailer park supervisor back. If not, as your buddy randy would tell you, there's all kinds of jobs in bc's number one growth industry under gordon backstabber: the sex trade industry. As a corporate whore you have a natural talent that shouldn't be wasted. Bon appetit!

Mr. Collins Lahey why do you hate the working class so much? Remember, it's the working class who help the upper classes get rich. Something too many people like yourself at the top seem to forget.

Hate to say it Collins Lahey but it was the media who brought down the NDP. I remember seeing Keith Baldry on BCVT every day slagging the NDP over one small thing or another. Where the hell is he now? It's been a virtual love fest for the last 3.5 years and when the Sun finally reports something like today's report of 22 000 lost full time jobs it's the least they can do to make up for the last 3.5 years of disgusting sycophantic reporting.

Big freaking deal about Clark's sundeck. Compared to what the Liberals are doing it's nothing. We've got RCMP raids over the BC rail deal, investigations into the Ministry of Fisheries who alerted Stolt about possible environmental investigations, a drunk premiere, broken promises, broken contracts, the selling off of public assets, secret backroom deals between the Government and mostly American corporations. Shall I go on? Does this Government have the best interests of British Columbians at heart? I think not.

It appears I have been unfair to the bc liars. As well as creating thousands of new, no doubt full time jobs in bc's sex trade, they have also created literally THOUSANDS OF FULL TIME DUMPSTER DIVING, AND DRUG DEALING JOBS AMONG BC'S UNEMPLOYED YOUTH! How could I have been so blind? The liars have as well created a BURGENING GARAGE AND STREET SALE INDUSTRY IN BC, PERHAPS BY THEIR EXAMPLE OF THE GARAGE SALE OF BC CROWN CORPORATIONS. Oh, happy, happy, happy....

randy, er um, jean, are you trying to get welfare?

Privitization might be a good thing if jobs and profits are kept in BC. However, some of the jobs will be kept, most will go south, incrimentally. The profit for those companys will go south too. In the animal world, the parallel to BC is the snail, infected with parasites. They actually control its brain to make it come out into the open and get devoured by a bird. (USA is the bird, BC is the snail). AND you are the immune system! Can you get rid of the pesky brain parasites? May 17th Up to the task? EDS is taking over some government services too. Check out their competence at this link http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/26/dwp_network_outage/ Up grade 7 computers and ACCIDENTLY nuke 60,000 other computers. I kid u not! Heaven help us.

We are paying to much.Taxes ,credit card and bank charges.Canadian's love to be shafted by Our prov. and feds. govt. Seems to be consumers have again taken the back seat to the larger corperations banks credit card interest.Liberial gov. must go may17.05 Im very tired of this time,I never voted for the concertive's but thats what we got...fake Liberials...never make that mistake again or my children...Gord get a real job maybe a ontario employer like wsi bljc.

For obvious reasons, members of the Shreck team needn't worry about brain parasites. ----- >

Gordo is certainly taking care of his future. He is out there daily diligently giving out lucrative contracts, making many new and lasting friendships. Increasing his networth, planning a retirement in Bermuda and creating his own little world known as the Business Bubble. Americans just happen to be playing a big role in this. After all, Canadians are just to stupid and incompetent to handle these contracts. There is just to much social conscience here. Take them down south were slavery is alive and well. $6.00 and hour is lots and we should all be grateful. Yep, the sun just shines wherever Gordo goes. No wonder Jim and Jean want to be so near and dear to him. And if they are loyal enough, perhaps he may throw them a bone or two!

Maybe so! but show me the actual evidence. You are entirely wrong in your sterotyping. Not all liberals (off-center or not), agree with the Premier's plan.

Then if Liberals in Gordo's party disagree with him why don't they step up and? It seems to me it's Collins and Gordo's party all the way, they are controlling all the shots, the rest of them are sitting back fearful of the Campbell wrath. Do they not fear losing in May? Why not break away from Campbell and take a more centrist approach, admit they made mistakes.

Because they need privatization to balance the books and destroy organized labor, the real agenda of Gordo. My issue is not the privacy information fear-mongering, heck anyone with a credit card already has more information out there than what government has. My beef is that people will be doing the same job as someone else only for less money. The reduced wages does not get given back to the consumer it instead ends up as profit so some CEO can make 2 million a year instead of a paltry 1.4 million. Why do more people not see the attack on organized labor is really an attack on people? Why spend all this time playing other games and asking to invite business to the table? Business already owns the table they do not want to give up half so the workers can join in. The NDP leadership needs to take a hard stand against corporations and abandon this pandering to the business community nonsense before it is too late. Am I the only one who thinks this ?

The Liberals are not in the slightest bit afraid of losing in May. Forget about the "hard stand", business is here to stay, and you should learn to live with it - and hopefully help to control it. ---- (The last thing Abby Hoffman did before he committed suicide was to pay his taxes!_

If the Liberals are not afraid of losing then why the feel good BC is doing great ad bombardment? They are afraid of losing no question. What is your point that Hoffman paid taxes before he died?

I don't agree with the ads, but if I had to guess, I'd say it was part of the fixed long-term plan for re-election purposes. (same old, same old) ---- My point about Hoffman? Goverment always wins. ----- However, in the end neither the Premier or his finance minister has total control. The greatest fear of many British Columbian's is that Lweis will write another maniacal e-novel. Yikes!

Crucial point overlooked, Binette. Nothing wrong with government, that's why we pay taxes so that government will manage "our" contributions by providing much needed services. There is an important distinction to be addressed in the upcoming election... No government in the history of this province has acted so blatantly against the interests of it's people, with such cavalier disregard of so many. That is the real issue, the continually unreported on one... whether this government has become an enemy of the people of this province.

(And for the record, Binette, I'm not an NDP or a union member but I was born in this province and no one, of any political stripe, should be allowed to treat this province as just another piece of real estate and it's people as mere chattel to be exploited).

Look who is CEO of Maximus and Daon. A Mr. Grissen. Daon is the company that set in place the fingerprinting program for England. Daon is based in West Virginia. Can you say FBI/CIA boys and girls. Both Maximus and Daon plus many others sit on the advisory for technical services for homeland security. All of this information is available on the net. I have included the link in case anyone wishes to persue it further. Read and weep, boys and girls,we are being netted in the big brother net. http://www.itaa.org/es/about.cfm

Jean, your tiny little taxcut -the one the size of your little pinhead, and your nonexistent social conscience, and missing sense of basic human decency- is GOING TO BE THE NEXT TO GET SNATCHED BACK, should bcers be IDIOPTIC ENOUGH TO REELECT THE BC LIARS WHO ARE NOW COLLUDING WITh THE VANCOUVER SUN TO BRAG ABOUT HAVING LOST 22,600 full paying jobs. According to the bc liars, and mindless, little backstabbing shills like yourself, this somehow rates as an accomplishment, along with the 6.1% unemployment rate which the article quickly goes on to state, THAT DESPITE THE MISLEADING SIX-POINT HEADLINE IS ONLY BECAUSE SO MANY HAVE GIVEN UP LOOKING FOR WORK. This piece of neoliberal SWILL masquerading as newspaper repotage goes on to claim that the loss of 22,600 FULL TIME WELL PAYING JOBS IS SOMEHOW "OFFSET," by the creation of 23,800 PART-TIMe LOW PAYING JOBS, NO DOUBT FROM GIVING AWAY THE DECENT PAYING WORK IN THE WORST PLACE. Jean, you are to productive, intelligent debate as a big mac is to a cordon blue meal. Shouldn't yoube cowering under mr lehay, you cowardly little two faced piece of nothing?

Thank you for your point of view. However, no crucial point was overlooked. Please rewind Lynn, I have never said there is nothing "wrong with government". - - Moreover, If you want blatant! examples of actions of past administrations against the people's interest you might start with the expensive Bob William's left-over piece of real estate meal near the Surrey Mall. ------( May I please ask what relevance your having been born in this province is, and how have you been personally affected over the past three years by this particular administration that you obviously count as your enemy?)

I can tell you how I have been personally affected by these crooks. First my tuition at UBC went up 75% in less than two years. Now, as a public servant I will be seeing 0% wage increase indefinitely because as Gordon Campbell said to me in an email, the Government just can't afford to give public servants any sort of wage increase even though he gave Liberal PR staff a $10 000 wage increase. Now my medical records will be kept under watch by a Canadian subsidiary of an American company with ties to the Pentagon. On my way to work I am seeing more and more homeless people. I wathched a relative get hired by an American company for a job, only to be layed off after a year. I am now watching this relative struggle to get by and find any meaningful employment.

I don't have the details on the layoff your relative, so I can't comment. However as I understand it you were a student at UBC and you are now a public servant. I would say your quite lucky - I don't like the medical records thing either and hopefully it can be turned around. I doubt if it actually saves money anyway.

Jean "yikes " Binette". Everything pales in comparison to the present government's "real estate mentality" maxed to the nth degree. They haven't left a stone unturned... their policy is location, location, location. Even toppled St. Mary's hospital to the gods of wheeling and dealing. As for the relevance of being born and growing up in a certain place, it was meant as a simple statement of one who has lived in a place long enough to sense what has really been lost. I'm sure there are many others who have lived here longer and those who have arrived later who now share in that the same feeling of loss, of a province and a land put at risk of losing itself.

A question for you, Mr. Binette: What are the accomplishments of the BCliberals that have made the lives of all British Columbians better?

Oh, don't get me wrong I do consider myself lucky. My point being is that many of us in this province have been affected by Liberal policies, some more so than others. I don't think the well off though have suffered too badly under Campbell. What I resent the most is the sell off of public assets and I don't like this privatization thing at all. As Lynn asks, what policies of the Liberals have helped average British Columbians?

Yes, little mr spinette, name one policy of the bc liberals that has helped the average british columbian..

Allofus lefties should give a dollar to the NDP for every bitter word we have typed here. Then Carole will be able to fund a campaign and actually win. Without her getting some kind of charisma injection I don't see things turning around in May. BC is not that smart. Interesting story though and invigorating shouting match.

It's not likely the "well-off" will suffer under any administration and many in the province were similarly affected by NDP policies, so in my view that is not relevant. (I can give you several names of "well off socialists" if that would help). I also am not crazy for privatization, and I think that in the long term we will most likely be worse off. --- However, you should know that the HEU has been very successful at re-certifying some hospitals lately, and I'm sure they will be back in full force, with or without a new administration. ---- In my mother's case I can positively tell you she is much better off in her seniors care home than before, but like most of her fellow residents doesn't know about it anyway.

Again, Mr. Binette, glad your mother's doing well but many seniors have been put through the wringer under privatization. Our local newspaper contained a number of articles of seniors being sent out of town, separated from their spouses, not to mention what families were put through as they never knew whether the senior residences of their parents and grandparents were going to be closed and their loved ones re-located. Locally under privatization the rate sky-rocketed, and local health workers lost thei jobs.

I have no intention of debating this issue with you once again, the privatization of senior homes was an assault on seniors and a cruel one at that. Presently, every motel or apartment complex floundering locally is re-jigging itself with a wheelchair ramp and calling themselves senior care. So far, Mr. Binette your list of BCliberal successes is negligible to non-existent.

Good things that the Gordon Campbell and the Liberals have done? For starters they lowered taxes and for one segment of my clientele in particular teachers and sawmill workers, they now have more to spend (and do) at my business. The Province gave municipalities 100% of the traffic revenue back, where I live that means more officers are being hired. Under the NDP we had photo radar with the money going to Victoria. Hard to believe but true the NDP did NOT fund one extra doctor seat during the whole bloody regime. Can you imagine two terms and no extra doctors provided for, small wonder you cannot find a doctor these days. Campbell has doubled the amount of doctors being trained in BC today, I know as doing this made work for my customers up in Prince George. Speaking of doctors, they make more money now as well, and they also like to spend it, so that has also been good for business. In fact my business has never been better, I have been able to move to a better location, have hired more staff, and my wife can now afford to work part time as well and spend more time with the family. On that note we just took our 3 year old to the new Ready, Set, Learn program – it was a great experience for her, one that the NDP government never offered in schools before (because they could not afford to). We also move a fair amount of product around the Province and I must say the amount of roadwork going on has never been better, You hardly saw any road work where I live under the former NDP, Of course our opposition MLA was a BC Liberal. The Auditor General’s Report (if you believe in such things) says that our next budget will be the first ever in BC using GAAP accounting – something superior to “fudget budgets” like we had before. We also have new schools, several new assisted living complexes going up, and housing and construction beyond belief. Personally business has been so good we were able to upgrade our family home, and have watched our equity climb more in the last two years than it did under the last five of the NDP. I could go on, and on, and on. For me, my family, my customers and my friends, BC today truly is the best place to live, to play and to work. I have no idea what planet the NDP is on.

This is the statistic that could say a lot: annual median salary. Where has this gone in BC during the BC Liberal's reign? If the average person is better off today that would prove it. The annual median salary in BC should be going up relative to other provinces if things are so good. Replacing a well paid, full-time position with a lower paying, part-time one is not an equal trade off in my book. I hope those that discount Schreck's statistics can do some homework and make me a graph of this. Hehe!

Just for you Chirs. B.C. Leads Country in Wage Rate B.C. has the highest percentage of people earning $16 or more an hour in Canada. Nearly one million, or 57.2%, of employees in B.C. earn $16 or more per hour - the amount Statistics Canada says will support a family of four in an urban centre. In addition, since 2001 B.C. has had the largest percentage increase in jobs in Canada. (Ministry of Skills Development and Labour, July 6, 2004)

Can you please back up that those numbers Mr. Trailer Park Supervisor, some links would be great. Until then I and many others will file them under g.

Just a note Mr. Lahey, yes our wages have gone up according to Statscan by about 1.16% on average weekly earnings. Oh wow great news!!! Oh shit the consumer price index went up by 2.4% in the same period.

Here's the link bee-otch:

http://www.statcan.ca/english/Pgdb/indi02k.htm

Lahey crawl back to your trailer park and take your propoganda with you.

3 years old, and stuck in school already. Poor kid. Of course, it explains why you haven't got a clue at how degraded school services have become since the Campbell government got in.

What Mr. Lahey isn't saying is that under the BCliberals the average hourly wage in BC has not grown as fast as the Canadian average. From 1994-1998 the hourly wage rate grew faster than the Canadian average (how dismal!) and continued to grow at the same pace as the national average until slowing under "the erroneous, excruciating, new era" of the Campbell liberals.

Oh, webbster, you mean the teachers and sawmill workers STILL WORKING, the teachers not laid off to pay for the unproductive tasxcut for the rich that those making under 50 grand a year got clawed bxack, or the sawmill workers, hundreds of them in bc, who lost their sawmill jobs to appurtenancy?? GET IT STRAIGHT: THE BC LIARS LOST 22,600 FULL TIME JOBS IN THE LAST YEAR; EVERY PIECE OF BC LIBERAL GOOD NEWS HAS BEEN A MISLEADING CHERRY PICKED BIT OF FRASER INSTITUTE NEOMATH. THE BC BACKSTABBERS ARE AN ECONOMIC FAILURE, A SOCIAL FAILURE, AN ETHICAL FAILURE...they deserve not merely to be thrown out of office, as is becoming ever more likely, but charged in a court of law with betrayal of the public interest and trust...Webbster, we all know your planet, planet of the ideological idiots and the cheap, misleading advertising special effects, cheap, other than the fact the taxpayer's being paying for being lied to with his own money, and the "fudge-it" budget was certified as being balancred by the auditor general... wake up and smell the coffee and biscuits...

It is my personal belief that many of the "high wage" jobs the bc lieberals are fond of talking of are LABOUR READY, and LABOUR UNLIMITED JOBS, ie, jobs often lasting as little as one day, in which the victimized worker is paid $8 an hour and the labor contractor KEEPS $8. This then is the neoliberal idea of well paying construction job, in neoliberal math somehow the preceding is construed as a $16 an hour job, oh, if only the freedom of info act hadn't been gutted...we could find out how many of the new "high paying" jobs match my description...

Oh, and mr stupid, er, lahey, as I have explained dozens of times on the tyee ALREADY, the fastest percentage increase is a favorite gordon pimpstitute bit of neomath: IT'S THE FASTEST PERCETAGE INCREASE BECAUSE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT AN INCREASE IN AN ABYSMALLY LOW NUMBER, AND ANY INCREASE IN A LOW NUMBER SHOWS UP AS A GREATER PERCENTAGE INCREASE THAN THE SAME OR HIGHER INCREASE IN A HIGHER, HEALTHIER NUMBER, IN OTHER WORDS, when an economy is as unhealthy as bc's has been under the bc liars, ANY increase shows up high, AS A PERCENTAGE, but not as a real increase indicating a healthy economy! Simply fraser institute baffle -gab neomath: pure bullsh*t.

Good response from Webbster on a number of points. You have benefited from the BC Liberal government and some others certainly have. Can you also see who this government has not helped roughly 80% of the people in this province?

I like Jean Binette and his manner of responding to our comments. I certainly do not agree with everything that he is saying.

I read "Mr. Lahey" comments and see that he is not capable of reading a graph. If he is our Finance Minister, how the hell do we expect him to run this province? He cannot see that he has put BC so far in the hole that we have record equilization payments in 2004, while he continues to destroy social programs that those equilization payments were meant to fund!

www.strategicthoughts.ca is a an important source of information for NDP supporters. Schreck's comments there are based on rigorous analysis of real data, rather than the fabricated fairey tales of right-wing rhetoric which are always lacking in intellectual rigor.

Thanks for that Sue, and from a quick read of this forum it appears there is an obsession with all kinds of facts and figures, statistics you name it. I was disappointed with the disparaging comment made about the Ready, Set, Learn program my daughter attended. She was very excited too see in the big kids school, she also got to meet some great teachers, and all the other kids of a similar age who live in our neighborhood. She also got a book that she enjoys, and there was some good resource material for parents. I find it troubling that someone would be so negative about something that involves kids. Mind you, most everything I have read here has been negative. To be honest, I think many of the things I mentioned; more doctors finally being trained, more police being hired from traffic revenues going to municipalities instead of General revenue, much needed hi-way improvements, lower taxes for those who earn less, child literacy programs and all the like will benefit more than just 20% of the population as you have implied. Although I suspect someone will likely find some statisitc to indicate I am wrong. At any rate I appreciate your comments, and did pay a quick visit to the Strategic Thoughts website, it seems this is the source of the obsession with numbers, and from my perspective, there is so much more to life. I see good things happening in our province today, much as I see them in my own life, and the lives of my staff, my customers, my friends, you name it, that said I suppose there will always be those who look for the negative as well.

Yes Lynn I saw those stories too. I can only tell you what my lying eyes tell me. I can say for sure is that your information is wrong, continuing care rates have not skyrocketed, in fact they have barely gone up at all.(see the continuing care fees regulation for the facts). - I too am not interested in debating you - However, if it's any consolation they say that 47% of all statistics are useless and in the case of Mr. Lahey who claims that BC has the highest percentage of people making 16 dollars per hour - it would be interesting to know how many British Columbians work for far less than the amount Stats Canada reports will support a family of four in an urban centre. I can't imagine it's possible that a family of four could support a mortgage and survive in a meaningful way on $16 per hour in Vancouver. ( I suppose if you were lucky enough to have a government credit card you might not notice). It's those kinds of disparaging statistics that are hurting ordinary British Columbian's today, It's just too bad Lweis can't get his hatred under control.

thanks rcranium... but what really startles me is the fact that there is virtualy NO DEBATE on any significant goings on in this province about anything! its done thro an order in council or a news release thro the media, my reality is that i can't get health care where and when i need it the cost for many of day to day living has become more difficult in the last 3 yrs to any one who thinks that the n'dp will tax and spend what do think all these usuer fees are? if the righties want no contributions from unions to the ndp how about the same rules for the libs? stop your bloody corporate donations and see the real picture...

Jean Binette, you've backtracked so many times in this forum that you are beginning to sound rational. Or is it just that Lehay and Webbster are so off the wall trying not to appear as paid flacks for the drunk driver that you only seem like a moderate. If you hadn't expressed such personal animosity and petty vindictiveness against Carole James in The Tyee over the past year, I'd think you were a closet lefty.

Then you would be entirely wrong, I am an off-center Liberal, (card packing) - and I have never backtracked, you just weren't paying attention that's all. - Never! Never!, may I add NEVER!, Carole James, Arian Dix, Moe Sihota, Hairy Lali etc. etc.

HMMMM! Let's get this straight. Take a 20$ job, cut the salary 50%, government takes 50% the worker now gets 5$ to take home. How does that help the economy? 6$ training wage minus taxes equals 3$. How does that help the economy? HMMMM! HMMMMM! Company not AS profitable lay off empoyees, reduce service, etc. How does that help the economy? Who is the economic 'genius' that is pushing this agenda? To keep the 'best and brightest' in 'managing' business and government wages for these folks have to increase by remunerations that are obscene. Lahey, Jim and Jean probably receive handsome penisons from either the public purse (the one the elite mandarins and politicians set up for themselves) or gold plated CEO retirement funds as they seem to have a lot of time on their hands to slag any other point of view except their own in these postings. Now we have the CanWest Sun printing the scare tactic article in the weekend paper about how ALL the working folks in the US of A better take a wage cut or ALL the good jobs will end up in India and China for a THIRD or less. Big corporations are heading there to take advantage of cheap labour. Now we have Jimmy Patterson saying he is thinking of moving some of his businesses to the US because of the Canadian $ rise. Doesn't corporate caring just make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Note that the elite of our society are covering their butts by getting all they can before the 'crash' and just guess who they will stick with the bill? (It won't be Lehay, Jim, Jean or their ilk they have already got 'theirs.'

By way of further explanation. After the disaster of "Freedom 55" Schlock and his crowd during the entire 90's, the new administrators mistook the "huge" majority as a licence to "do whatever government wants", and promptly applied hard right rudder. With Carole James at the joy stick the system would soon become inverted or flat spin out of control. As an off-center liberal I would stop the excessive yaw by applying left rudder, center the joy stick and push forward on the elevator while reducing power, thereby returning to straight and level flight with a proper attitude on the horizon.

Burgess - So how do you know what I want?

The many faces of Jean Binette... Are you voting for Gordon Campbell's BC liberals? Or are you the moderate "pose" that is trying to win back liberal votes, once in, it's hard rudder right, fasten your seatbelts, for another bumpy ride once again under Gordo.

It's never bumpy in a spin and applying full left rudder or aileron would only increase the rotation and eventually exceed the capabilities of the airplane. I note you are conceding liberals will win again...

So, if I had a job that paid $16 an hour for 4 hours a week would I show up in that statistic? The only really good measure is annual median income and how that compares with the rest of Canada over time. Who could argue against that statistic? Curious how it seems to be missing from government propoganda.

Mr. Binette, I notice you use a lot of flight terminology. Close colleague of pilot Gary Farrell-Collins or the real thing, itself? Again, are you voting for Gordo or overthrowing him? Or is the whole BCliberalparty just jumping without a parachute?

Actually, I'm a pilot, (primarily on helicopters - they get it up quicker). I don't know Mr. Collins at all, and I most likely wouldn't fly with him unless I had dual controls installed. Contrary to the Tyee's opinion, not all liberals are bad and it's really none of your business who I vote for.. By the way Burgess, it's Jimmy Pattison - not Jimmy Patterson

Webbster, I don't doubt that you and your upper middle class and wealthy friends are seeing good things happening in BC: AFTER ALL YOU PEOPLE, UNLIKE LOW AND MODERATE INCOME EARNERS GOT TO KEEP YOUR TAXCUT. YOUR LARGE TAXCUT WAS BARELY TOUCHED BY USER FEES, SALES TAX HIKES ETc, ETC. That you can be proud of an econmy that LOST 22,600 FULL_TIME, WELL PAYING JOBS LAST YEAR IS YET ONE MORE MEASURE OF YOUR IGNORANCE AND HYPOCRISY. WAITING LISTS FOR SURGERY ARE UP 30% UNDER THE BC LIARS. BC RECEIVED EQUALIZATION PASYMENTS FOR THREE OUT OF FOUR YEARS OF BC LIBERAL REIGN, AND AS EVERYONE BUT LIARS AND SHILLS KNOW, EQUALIZATION PAYMENTS ARE GIVEN TO FAILED ECONOMIES, LIKE BC'S UNDER GORDON LIAR. DEBT GROWTH IS AT RECORD LEVELS IN A MERE 3 and one half years. But as long as you're doing fine, everything's swell. Right? You make me want to vomit. Too bad you lack even the courage to respond to my arguments, but are only interested in revelling in YOUR BLOOD SOAKED TAXCUT THAT'S DONE NOTHING FOR THE ECONOMY. You're a disgrace to decent people everywhere! Little jeanny spinette, as usual your arguments are too weak to even bother responding to. You seem to think uninformed bias equals reasoned debate. I feel sorry for any helicopter passenger of yours, if the spin on your roters is anything like the mindless, uninformed opinionated drool you disgrace tyee threads with. You are like a little tin man, following a yellow, gold-bricking road in OZ, BC, where the little pimp of a wizard behind the curtain is increasingly revealed as the backstabbing piece of nothing he always was...and where the roar proclaiming his nonexistent accomplishments is all sound and fury, a tale told by an media idiots, pimps and shills, signifying nothing...

There there Lweis

What's it like to sell out your grandchildren jean, for a taxcut as tiny as your miniscule little soul no doubt, you pathetic, creepy, two-faced little human stain...?

Jean Binette: You're right, it isn't my business who you vote for, but it is interesting how you refer to the BCliberals in a comment above as the "new administrators," never by party name, as if Campbell and the BCliberals had nothing to do with "hard right rudder." Then on the "Alberta Posse" thread you include a voluminous attack on David Schreck, in which you defend Gordon Campbell as "focusing on the problem and the cure" and continue to defend his government throughout. Talk about identity fraud!

And Mr. Binette, you may or may not be a heliocopter pilot, you've certainly got enough spin to be one but you're no liberal, just like the rest of your party, no matter what your card says...after all aren't you the guy who answers any comment suggesting the poor have been unfairly assaulted in this province with the ruthless, smug, quote: "translation: welfare good, work bad." Those kinds of insinuations about people on welfare must warm the cockles of your oh so liberal heart.

For Lweis, The bone chilling scream split the warm summer night in two, the first half being before the scream when it was fairly balmy and calm and pleasant for those who hadn't heard the scream at all, but not calm and balmy or even very nice for those who did hear the scream, discounting the little period of time during the actual scream itself when your ears may have been hearing it, but your brain wasn't reacting yet to let you know. --- Patricia E. Presutii, Lweston New York (1986 winner)

Lynn - Again you are entirely mistaken, I never once defended Gordon Campbell, the Premier.

Binette: "It seems to me Campbell is focusing on the problem and the cure." (Alberta Posse article in Tyee)

Lynn - please don't waste any more of your time. That comment was made in 2002 to your pal Shrcker and still stands today. - If you haven't yet figured it out - I don't agree with many of the Premier's methods and the size of his pill, although cyanide would be preferred over a return to the days of the "Gang of Six". By the way - your getting boring!

I agree...you,too ...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Thank you Jesus!

Jean: Blessed be the poor, remember that next time you try that lame "welfare good, work bad" attack on people on welfare. You can take off your helicopter pilot hat now, your public relations stint for the BCliberals is over for the day.

Yeesh! the 11th commandment.

out sourcing is good,it's the americian way. mr.campbell knows whats best for him,screw the rest.thats the americian way.

Perhaps Mr. Lahey would like to comment?

Heh, This is a very intersting take on things in Gordoville.

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives l BC Office Commentary l December 2, 2004

BC’s surplus of irony By Marc Lee

The Ministry of Finance’s second quarter update on the 2004/05 BC Budget deserves to be put in a museum as a wonderful example of the fine art of government spin. In case you have not seen the commercials on TV, the Ministry’s press release begins with four glowing paragraphs about the BC economy. According to Finance Minister Gary Collins, “BC is on the move."

The big move in the budget update, however, is in the sizable equalization payments coming to BC this year and next. While the government is implying that its big surplus equals a booming economy, it is a little embarrassing that equalization payments are playing such a prominent role.

It was just a couple of months ago that Minister Collins stated: “We are no longer a have-not province.” Yet, the second quarter update notes that in 2004/05 BC will get a record $721 million in equalization payments, plus $596 million next year.

These hefty cheques from Ottawa are in part due to a new federal-provincial equalization deal hammered out in October that sweetened the equalization pot with more cash. But the painful fact remains: BC is still a “have-not” province.

On top of this year’s equalization take, revised estimates for 2001/02 to 2003/04 also work in BC’s favour, and will provide an extra $259 million in “back equalization” payments. This is one-time money that will be booked in this year’s budget.

That BC is getting more equalization money than previously anticipated this year, next year, and for the past three years, is not exactly an endorsement of the government’s rose-coloured spin on the provincial economy. If the economy was as good as the province has been advertising, BC’s equalization payments should be going down not up.

What does this mean for the budget? Back in February, the government tabled a “balanced budget” for 2004/05 (actually a $200 million surplus if you count the forecast allowance). It was a seemingly tight fit, with $350 million in spending cuts brought in to balance revenues.

Flash forward to September’s first quarter report: BC’s surplus was estimated at $1.2 billion, well up from budget time because of surging resource royalties and property transfer taxes. Interestingly, personal income and sales taxes — the tax bases most connected to economic performance — have barely budged from budget time despite claims of a red-hot economy.

As of November’s second quarter report, the BC government appears to be sitting on a surplus of eye-popping proportions — $2.2 billion dollars worth if we roll in the forecast allowance.

In fact, the surplus is even bigger. The update does not count new money flowing out of September’s federal-provincial health care accord. According to the federal Ministry of Finance, BC will be getting an additional $279 million in 2004/05. So, up that surplus estimate to $2.5 billion.

Next year, it gets even better. New federal money for health care will boost BC’s bottom line by $411 million in 2005/06. And new federal money for early childhood education and childcare could add as much as $130 million.

To put the surplus into perspective, consider that ministries outside health care and education experienced a budget cut that puts them $1.9 billion below 2001/02 levels. These cuts hit hardest in areas such as social assistance and children and families.

BC’s surplus tells us that none of these cuts needed to happen. These ministry budgets could have simply been held in check, and the government would still have had a balanced budget or better this year.

Which brings us back to equalization. Equalization payments are for “have-not” provinces to spend on services that they could not otherwise provide. But the BC government has been cutting precisely those services, and will likely use higher equalization revenues to pay down provincial debt.

Equalization money cannot be cynically dismissed as “one-time” payments. The “one-time” payments are limited to the top-ups for 2001/02 to 2003/04. Surely, this $259 million could be used this year to buy a few MRI machines, to fund some seismic upgrading for schools, or to put a down payment on a provincial childcare program.

The fact of the matter is that the BC government is receiving large sums of money that are supposed to support programs. Equalization dollars should not go to debt reduction simply because the government does not feel like spending money on public services and programs. With provincial coffers overflowing, there is no excuse for withholding funds from those who are in need.

--

Marc Lee is an economist in the BC Office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. http://www.policyalternatives.ca

----

Shannon Daub, Communications Coordinator Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (BC) web: http://www.policyalternatives.ca tel: 604-801-5121, ext 226 fax: 604-801-5122 mail: 1400-207 West Hastings St, Vancouver, V6B 1H7 CAW3000

Perhaps Mr. Lahey would like to comment?

Yes mr lahey, perhaps you'd better, you see little jeanny spinette's not smart enough to comment. Ps, jeany, your last post to me about the ear piercing screams of your grandchildren telling you to get lost was an improvement over your usual maudlin drool... HEY, MR LAHEY, I CAN'T HEAR YOU...

Hurry , mr lahey, little jeanny's afraid, and the darkness is closing in all around him...

Oh my I just got it, Mr. Lahey and Jean Binette are the same person. Godammit I'm so naive!

Stats Can claims $16/hr (before taxes?) supports a family of four in an urban centre??!!

Stats Can is on crack, I'm sorry. Before I lost my job I was earning more than that working part-time and I was comfortable, but throw in a couple of kids and there's NO WAY!!!!!

Jean is in general a veritable cornucopia of curiously undissociated personalities, all of them gaseous windbags, a highly difficult proposition, because NONE of them have anything to say, tha geek. If you were being serious I don't think mr lahey's one of them, because mr lahey can at least mount an argument (and perhaps even jean for all I know -ha!) All kidding aside though, both twits and pipsqueeks aside, I would like to note more serious discussion in my next immanemt post.

So Jean what does a typo have to do with the main thrust anyway?

Thanks to Kathy W. for her second and as valuable post, -the article about equalization payments and the bc budget, garry collins etc, by mark lee. Putting the mark lee with shreck's last four posted columns, all on the same general topic, suggests a LOT of collusion between the bc and the federal liberals. Given the general ballot box stuffing by both parties, the rightwing takeover of the federal liberals, now concealed a lot by their minority government status, these, taken all together, suggest even greater degrees of collusion between these "liberal" cousins, way more than most think. An ominous situation when you have a toad like premier campbell and mr steamship billionaire so propping each other up.

I also believe that a class action lawsuit should be at least potentially possible if the bc liberals continue to deny those in need, while having a budgetary surplus GARNERED BOTH FROM THEIR ASSAULTS ON THE DISADVANTAGED AND THEIR VERIFIED EQUALIZATION PAYMENT STATUS OF BEING AN ECONOMIC FAILURE. DEBT REPAYAL, WHEN THEIR FAILED POLICIES HAVE LED TO SUCH A DRAMATIC INCREASE IN DEBT WOULD SEEM AS CRIMINALLY IRRESPONSIBLE AS THEIR EARLIER ASSAULT ON THE DISABLED, WHICH USED A CRISIS MANUFACTURED BY THEIR UNCAMPAINED-UPON TAX CUT FOR THE RICH AS ITS ETHICALLY INEXCUSABLE EXCUSE.

I think Marc Lee’s comments are pretty standard really. The NDP turned BC into a have not province, and with the Lib’s tax cuts and resulting record deficit added in the first two fiscal years added on top, BC was due for some serious coin ala transfer payment. What nobody saw coming was that the Feds elected to change the equalization funding formula and dumped some serious cash instead of the peanuts as was done in the past. Of course guru’s like Schreck try to pretend that all along they knew the Feds would do this back in the spring, even though at the time nobody knew who was going to win the upcoming federal election (where are all those Layton worshippers now?) so in reality nobody really knew squat, but why let that stand in the way of some good political spin? The really funny part does Marc Lee seriously think some MRI machines will not pop up in an election year? Some economist he is. And speaking of economists, here is what the real economists have to say about our 2005 economy; Royal Bank has risen our growth forecast form 3.6% to 4.0% TD Bank moves up from 3.1% to 4.1% Bank of Montreal also moves up from 3.1% to 3.5% and Scotiabank says upgrade from 3.0 % up to 3.2%. So every major financial institution says our 2005 economy is again on the rise, in fact Royal and the TD say we will be #1 in Canada while Bank of Montreal and Scotiabank say we will be #2. Of course I suppose all of the banks, much like the CBC, the rest of the mainstream media and whoever else is all part of the global conspiracy to undermine the NDP. After all we have David Schreck to tell us so.

Mr. Lahey, I don't think things are as rosy as all that, people can't eat economic growth unless they are part of it, and besides, inflation always throws a monkey wrench into the works. - Perhaps you could further comment on the real substance of importance in the article. "The fact of the matter is that the BC government is receiving large sums of money that are supposed to support programs. Equalization dollars should not go to debt reduction simply because the government does not feel like spending money on public services and programs. With provincial coffers overflowing, there is no excuse for withholding funds from those who are in need". --

Hmmm. I detect a slight shift in both character and voice, but I'll just let that slip for now...would that be growth forecast RATE, the royal bank etc has forecast, mr lahey, once again that ol' when you,ve got a pathetic rate of growth any increase looks good, AS A PERCENTAGE, but never as an actuality. REAL economic growth was 4.6%, the last year the ndp held office. The bc liars were also disastrous economic managers, and as such deserve crensure, but they're not likely to get it from you, are they mr. lahay? YOU got your taxcut. Perhaps you and jean should er, run away together, you know, like the real mr lahey and randy on trailer park, you both obviously have complex psycho-social, gender, edifice complexes to resolve...maybe the two of you could get in one of those iron john type encounter groups, good luck mr lahey and randy, damn! I mean mr lahey and jean....

THE AMOUNT OF MONEY TO BE GAINED BY BIG BUSINESS WITH THE OUTSOURCING OF GOOD JOBS THROUGH SO CALLED PRIVITIZATION AND THE WHOLESALE SELL OFF OF THIS PROVINCES ASSETS BY THE LIBERAL GOVT BEGS THE QUESTION OF WHERE DID THE GOVT GET THE MANDATE FOR SUCH FISCALLY AND SOCIALLY IRRESPOSIBLE POLICIES.COULD IT BE POSSIBLE THAT THE SAME PEOPLE WITH THIER SNOOTS IN THE PUBLIC TROUGHS ARE THE SAME PEOPLE ADVISING THIS BUNCH OF MISGUIDED AND MORALLY BANKRUPT NEO CONSERVITIVE LOONIES. WHAT ABOUT A RECALL CAMPAINE OR HAS THAT RIGHT BEEN REMOVED AS WELL. SURELY THE HAS NEVER IN THE HISTORY OF THIS PROVINCE BEEN A BETTER EXAMPLE OF THE GOVT NOT ACTING IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE PUBLIC ON ANY ISSUE. CAN WE REALLY AFFORD TO WAIT UNTIL MAY

Good question Binette, and surprisingly enough, debt was the one topic that the “respected” economist Marc Lee did not expand on. Given that the subject of the Liberals debt re-payment (I like how Marc uses the word reduction instead) was the “real substance” of his article it did seem odd of a respected economist to not give numbers on the other side of the fence to better pontificate his point. But hey, why sound less partisan? So here is what Marc Lee didn’t tell you about. If you go by the second quarterly report numbers just released our BC Debt will be $ 37 BILLION – while not as high as they had originally forecast (and the NDP had dearly hoped for), it is still the largest it has ever been in the history of the BC. We pay (those of us who pay taxes) $ 1.4 BILLION a year just in debt service charges alone. Just imagine how many MRI’s that would buy! Each and every year. So debt repayment is a serious concern in this Province. And make no mistake this is going to be a major election issue come May 17. Why do you think the Lib’s sent those mailers out ? Do we repay the debt (because you have to first repay it in order to reduce it)? or do we fund more social programs as Marc Lee says we should ? We know that Campbell and the Liberals want to see repayment. Where does Carole James stand on this issue? This is the real question that people want to know. Is she for the social program spending or is she against it? Or will she continue to play the game of sitting on the fence and say “both”. Much like how she plans to have both business and labor sitting at the table together (the bargaining table?) The sitting on the fence strategy did not work so well for a certain democratic senator, but hey, with the likes of Lali, Dix, Screck, Tielman, and “respected” economists like Marc Lee on your side, anything is possible.

In respect to your question Lewis, yes, I think it was made clear that I provided 2005 finical forecasts for BC from the four major financial institutions. While it was convenient of you to ignore the fact that they were all in agreement to increase the forecast, not to mention indicated that BC would either lead or have the second best economy in all of Canada in economic growth, you tell me that in the final year of the NDP economic growth was 4.6%. So your actually comparing the best that the NDP could do at the end of a two term (served to the bitter end I might add) Government. Going by the banks upgraded forecast, Campbell’s government has almost got there in the first term alone. Imagine how much higher it could grow if given a second? The really funny part? Carole James actually slammed ( a term the NDP spin doctors seem to have a particular appetite for) Collins for his forecasted estimate of 2.5%. So thanks to the great work of her advisors we now know that our Finance Minister is more CONSERVATIVE in his growth estimates than any of the big four banks. Hmmm…Maybe Carole thinks people don’t really like it when their Finance Ministers come in more conservative than the banks, risky institutions that they are.

I think your figures are yet more neoliberal garble speak, pimp talk, neomath, mr lahey. David schreck's figures show clearly that the entire economy of canada grew by 1.2%, and bc 's by only i.0%. Gary colon feret is a backstabbing liar who knew that BC was going to have an equalization payment of $800 MILLION COMING, BUT WHO CHOSE TO CONTINUE TO CUT $100 a month from the paychecks of single mothers on social assistance in BC, thereby continuing to ASSAULT INNOCENT CHILDREN OF THE POOR, for that's food right out of their mouths. The seventy million dolllar cut from the Ministry of Children and Families, was also heartlessly made anyway. It is very hard to understand a government that PRIDES ITSELF ON ATTACKING DISABLED CHILDREN, and developmentally disabled adults. The fact also remains, as the saturday sun tried to hide, BC LOST 22,600 FULL-TIME, WELL-PAYING JOBS LAST YEAR UNDER THE BC NEOLIBERALS -for every priveleged person whose standard of living has gone up, another six people's has gone down. The BC LIBERALS ARE A CANCEROUS PUSTULE ON THE CORPUS OF THE BODY POLITIC, and need to be EXCISED, and next may 17, they will be...ONLY GOVERNMENTS WHO ARE ECONOMIC FAILURES QUALIFY FOR EQUALIZATION PAYMENTS THREE YEARS OUT OF FOUR, AS THE BC BACKSTABBERS HAVE DONE....

Psssssst!!! Mr LAhey. the bc liberals are dismal economic failures, and I think your using the ol' PERCENTAGE GROWTH TRICK, if the bc libs qualify for equalization payments for 3 out of 4 years, they're as dismal a failure as your tweaked cherry-picked statistics, learn to acccept defeat like a man lahey, perhaps you and jean could maybe do the drums in the woods trick now, and then maybe hunt down a skunk and eat it raw, you know, the Iron John bit, you know you both want it....

Iron jean???

Translation: Banks good! Money good! Social Programs bad!

Here is the problems Swift, re-read your own post. You can visit the websites of all the major financial institutions online to access their financial reports – there you will see ALL of their upgraded financial forecasts for British Columbia. You will also see where they rank BC #1,#1,#2 and tied for #2 of all provinces in Canada. So you are seriously implying that the economists of the Royal Bank, TD Canada Trust. The Bank of Montreal, and Scotiabank are ALL wrong and David Scheck is right ? Should we anoint Schreck to the Holy Grail now? Are donations to his faith tax deductible? You then state the Finance Minister knew, even before the Federal election had occurred, that BC would get a record equalization windfall based on a new funding formula that was yet to be created as the new government had not yet got elected to create it ? Did Schreck sell you that crystal ball as well? Does he drive a 1981 DeLorean ? Who knew we had such an Oracle within the walls of the legislature in the 90’s. Who does he work for these days ?

Well Mr. Grinch...that is the question. Do we repay our debt? Do we fund social programs? Or do we sit on the fence and do nothing ala Carole James? So far she has says she will not re-open any schools, she will not cancel any privatization deals, she won’t raise taxes, but she will not decrease them either. So what exactly WILL Carole do? The polls seem to drop as the clock ticks while we wait to find out.

Aren't equalization payments like welfare for the provinces? You'd think the BC Liberals would be ashamed to accept it. Shouldn't they have worked harder? Don't they like to work? Why did they receive bonuses for such shoddy work, making BC into a have not province?

If they hadn't given that big tax cut to the rich, we wouldn't have to decide whether to put the money on the debt or not. We could have used it all on social programs for a better province. That tax cut was a really stupid idea. Who thought of that?

If they hadn't done that we wouldn't be a have not province and we wouldn't need more federal welfare this year. I thought things were supposed to be rosy but if the BC Liberal government is on welfare things must be getting worse. They must not like to work. This government must be really lazy.

Thanks for the explanation Mr. Lehay. --- As I understand it you give the finance minister credit for being more conservative than the conservatives. "we now know that our Finance Minister is more CONSERVATIVE in his growth estimates than any of the big four banks. Hmmm…" ----- Why would that be beneficial? Obviously underestimating a budget can be more damaging to the lower class than overestimating is to the upper class. i.e. our finance minister didn't believe the banks and forecast lower revenues, therefore social programs were cut back or held at bay. At the risk of putting a lonely idea in the head of Carole James - Are you seriously implying that the economists of the Royal Bank, TD Canada Trust. The Bank of Montreal, and Scotiabank are ALL wrong?

Jean / Lehay Before you get too excited about financial forecasts by the banks, you may want to look at the relatively tight correlation between a specific bank's optimism and the amount of money they receive in fees from the Provincial Government every year.

Giving an economic forecast by the banks that is rosy is to be expected when their Government is in power, especially this close to an election. Even the BCBC is getting in on the action.

So tell us about it innocent bystander, how much is it? and I'm not familiar with the BCBC, KWL which bank is that?

Well, M. Binette et Mr. Lahey, thank you for the statistics; do I serve those with a white or a red? Oh, wait a minute, I can't eat your numbers...perhaps that explains the anger and bitterness flooding out to you. More and more of us cannot swallow your numbers, with either white or red, though truthfully, tap water is all I can afford. Hunger will make a human pretty snippy. Have either of you ever been hungry or cold? If not, eat your stats. They're the closest you'll ever get to understanding poverty. Work good. Not enough work, not enough pay, not enough help, bad.

Joy MacPhail has said a number of times during legislative debate that the finance minister purposely low balled his budget estimates so that they could continue to cut social programs.

And very well said devil's advocate.

Jean:British Columbia Business Council, they are telling us they are hiring, as in you're hired, you're hired, you're hired, blah blah blah, I am so sick of these commercials. Good times for BC indeed.

I'm sick of them as well. - However, it's only the beginning. Do I sound like Mr. Lahey to you, or is it just that Lynn, Lynn, Lynn, and the devil's advocate (shcekc?) can't read?

Jean, Jean, Jean: We all know it's only the beginning. That's what most of us have been saying all along. If you've come late to the party, that's your problem. Your mean-spirited comments about people on welfare suggest it's the same old view with a more moderate, convenient mask. The Liberal party of BC was over the day Gordon Campbell took over. Hey, at least we weren't stupid enough to vote for him or his band of bandits.

Lynn, Lynn, Lynn don't waste our time.

Once again, mr lahey, idiot boy, YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT ABOUT AN EPHEMERAL FORECAST. A FORECAST, whereas the figures I gave YOU, are from events that actually OCCURRED. GET THE DIFFERENCE, DIMWIT?? The banks are owned by people who JUST LOVES THEIR UNEARNED, BLOOD-SOAKED 25% TAXCUT, AND NATURALLY THEY'RE GOING TO (AND DO) CRAWL UP THE BC LIAR'S BUTTS AT EVERY GIVEN OPPORTUNITY. I put as much trust in corporate institutions in BC as I would in a child-molester, asking me if he could babysit. The business community in bc has done itself a lot of harm under gordon backstabber, and is never going to be trusted by average british columbians again. The Chamberpot of Commerce, in particuliar has a great deal to answer for, for the DISGUSTING WAY they have sat back and applauded gordon thug's assaults on both ordinary people, on the most vulnerable and ON COMMUNITIES all over BC. They, the vancouver board of trade, and canwest media with it's reprehensible pimping for the views of the fraser institute will never again have the trust of any, except greedy, soulless subhumans, like yourself and binette.

Most pathetic, my lahey, are your desperate attacks on carole james; for you know that unlike gordon pimp, she stands for something, and also unlike campbell is unwilling to lie endlessly to get elected. I have never heard james say ANYWHERE she will not reopen schools, but some contracts are hard to break, especially under nafta, as the PIMPS selling out bc for nickels on the dollar know all too well. I do NOT trust a single canwest economist, whose tainted likes such as don cayo, and THE PREMIER'S OWN BROTHER, have been spewing endless neoliberal, fraser pimpstitute bilge about nonexistent economic triumphs for months now. The banks and their lies? Just ask your average canadian what they think of the banks and their rubbery ethics. The fact remains mr. lahey old simpleton, the bc backstabbers are an economic disaster who have lost 22,600 full time well paying jobs in the last year, bc is about eighth in real economic growth, the bc liberals and gary collins are lying about not knowing about the coming $800 million in equalization payments months ago, and chose to continue to attack single mothers and their children anyway with a $100 cut to their food allowance, attack the most vulnerable in the ministry of choldren and families anyway, and are still continuing to assault the disabled through the back door. We have a legislature that hardly ever meets, that goes out its way to stall real debate, when it does, and a caucus that seems comprised of 75 rubber stamp pimps for the fraser pimpstitute and the vancouver boatrd of trade. I can only hope for unending class action law suits once we get our hands on the FACTS about all the things they have done behind our backs, and WELFARE -the bc liars have created hindreds of FATCAT, OVERPAID POSITIONS FOR ADMINISTRATORS AND FOR PEOPLE THAT DO NOTHING BUT DESTROY JOBS, LIKE MOST OF THE HEALTH AUTHORITIES THEY'VE INSTALLED and like that pimp that gets $10,000 a month to promote the gambling the bc liars said they were going to limit to small town mayors, talk about graft and corruption!!....excellent posts from the REAL people on this thread....

The countdown had stalled a T minus 69 seconds when Desiree, the first female ape to go up in space, winked at me slyly and pouted her thick rubbery lips unmistakably - the first of many such advances during which would prove to be the longest, and most memorable , space voyage of my career. -- Martha Simpson, Glasonbury, Connecticut (1985 winner)

Ah, Jean, you remembered how we met!

So jean binette is into cross-species erotomania! Indeed, I was beginning to suspect as much. My first clue was mr lahey...heh, heh.

Is there a liberal spin doctor/advisor by the name of lahey? When the NDP were in power we had the Asian Flu which cost the Forest Sector in B.C. a lot of jobs and may have been partly responsible for the closure of several pulp mills! The campbellites don't mention this little tidbit when praising our drunk while driving leader! We are in a housing boom which is the result of low interest rates and retiring baby boomers from outside the Province and Country coming here to cash in on our fair weather and for some cheap medical which I think will bite us on the ass in the not to distant future! What is going to happen to the new era economy when interest rates go up, the U.S. dollar dropping could have significant consequences on our economy and if you believe the Dec 6 Macleans story HIP DEEP IN HOCK Canadians are deep in debt with very little in the way of a safety net!

Unfortunately Desiree died long ago. On the upside, I was able to have her cloned. -----Apparently (at least according to yesterday's news) it is now possible to put brain cells in a dish and teach them how to fly an f22 ... That's a No-go! for lweis of course, because scientists only accept live brain cells.

I don't know whether Mr. Lahey is a spin doctor or not, I'm patiently waiting for his reply to my last. ----- Thanks for the explanation Mr. Lehay. As I understand it you give the finance minister credit for being more conservative than the conservatives. "we now know that our Finance Minister is more CONSERVATIVE in his growth estimates than any of the big four banks. Hmmm…" ----- Why??? would that be beneficial. Obviously underestimating a budget can be more damaging to the lower class than overestimating is to the upper class. i.e. our finance minister didn't believe the banks and forecast lower revenues, therefore social programs were cut back or held at bay. At the risk of putting a lonely idea in the head of Carole James - Are you seriously implying that the economists of the Royal Bank, TD Canada Trust. The Bank of Montreal, and Scotiabank are ALL wrong? - JB

And jean, DID you and Desiree, have any children, and was that child's name MR LAHEY?? Enquiring minds want to know...

I'm surprised that you were able to unscramble your name Lweis.

So jp do you really think the banks would dissagree with ferril they have him right where they want him! Didn't they fire one of their own for suggesting the tax cut might actually do more harm then good, turns out the guy was right and the masters of spin have been trying to sell us a bag of lies with our own tax money! It will be interesting to see where this new era goes when the interest rates go up a few points! Or more!

Sorry vick but I lost your entire begining train of thought. However, the Bank of Canada held interest rates in check today, and analysts are predicting another year of low rates, so don't hold your breath .

Jean, I've come up with a new web alter ego for you to use:Duhstoievsky. Ah, no jean, the banks wouldn't be influenced by a 25% REDUCTION ON TAXATION OF THEIR ENORMOUS PROFITS IN BC, gimmee a break wonderduh!

Whatever

Jean. To answer your question. The two banks that just won large contracts with the BC Government provided the highest forecasts. The two banks that were replaced now have the lowest forecasts. A year ago, the forecasts were reversed. Perhaps a coincidence. We all know now that some of the big 5 accounting firms cheated on audits and oversight in return for huge fees from their clients. We also know that many Wall St brokerages sold favourable analyst coverage in return for lucrative IPO deals. Why do you have such a hard time believing that banks would sell positive economic forecasts for hefty fees from Governments?

Mr. Swift, as predicted you quickly subscribed to the “bank conspiracy theory” as if to imply that economists of every national financial institutions in this country have nothing better to do than expose BC’s upgraded economic growth only to undermine Schreck and his self created “I should have been the greatest Canadian” fraud for the true sham that it really is. Odd that they didn’t offer the guy a real job, after all, he claims to have known the new Federal/Provincial equalization funding formula before a newly elected government was even elected to establish said formula. Pretty amazing guy, hard to believe Glen Clarke got snapped up in the private sector before he did. Maybe he is waiting for a warm and fuzzy political appointment like Harcourt. Where I come from, asking a politician where they stand on an important issue like debt repayment (reduction in socialspeak) vs. funding for social programs is asking where they stand on an important issue. Funny how you see asking for a position on an issue as a “desperate attack” when it comes to Carole James. Perhaps asking Carole where she stands on an issue is a desperate attack., you would like to think that anyone who likes to “slam” someone for taking a position might at least have one of their own. Maybe you can answer for Carole, is she for or against social spending? Furthermore Lewis you state “I have never heard james say ANYWHERE she will not reopen schools” Well Lewis, I have news for you, here is what CAROLE JAMES SAID ON AIR with Michael Smyth during a “Nightline” interview on Aug.31, 2004. First the question from Mike: "Okay, well, let me ask you about this one. I mean, you're a former president of the School Board Trustees of BC. You've been very critical of the Campbell government closing public schools in BC. Are you going to reopen all those schools?" > > Carole James: "No, it would be irresponsible for me to say that we're going to open a hundred schools that have been closed." > > Mike: "Well, isn't it irresponsible of you, then, to criticize him for doing it if you're not going to reverse it?" > So Lewis, do you still think asking for a position on any issue from Carole James is a “desperate attack”? If so, consider yourself lucky you did not hear the rest of this sorry interview. Maybe you would next like to hear Carole’s position on taxes from this interview, it is even more entertaining.

Innocent bystander - because as I understand it from Mr. Lahey, Mr. Collins doesn't rely on the numbers provided and prefers to take a "conservative" approach and I wonder why. -- You wrote: "The two banks that just won large contracts with the BC Government provided the highest forecasts. The two banks that were replaced now have the lowest forecasts. A year ago, the forecasts were reversed. Perhaps a coincidence." -- I think that is quite a stretch Does your conspiracy theory include the Central Bank as well? (if it were up to me, Arthur Anderson executives would all be languishing in solitaire on the Island of St. Helena instead of sending me my monthly hydro bill.). I would prefer to hear Mr. Lahey's reasonable explanation for the anomaly.

You shall know them by the company they keep. First, it was Accenture with its less than sterling record in the U.S.; now it is Maximus with a similar record. The Campbell government seems to have attraction for firms that have a history of ripping people off. But then, why should we be surprised.

You shall know them by the company they keep. First, it was Accenture with its less than sterling record in the U.S.; now it is Maximus with a similar record. The Campbell government seems to have attraction for firms that have a history of ripping people off. But then, why should we be surprised.

Mr. Lahey: Carole James said: "No, it would be irresponsible for me to say I would re-open a hundred schools that have been closed." Learn to read, Lahey, that in no way means she will not re-open some schools. Just not a hundred of them. You read with the same kind of convenient bias as you analyze numbers. For the record she said she will return BC Ferries to a Crown corporation as well and Mr. Hahn will be given his walking papers. If, somehow the deal your government made, of which the public knows very little, prevents her from doing that, of gaining back a BC asset that was given away with no public approval of the deal, then there are many British Columbians who would say lawsuits are in order for the whole lot of the BC liberals for grand theft of "our" province.

Your endless desperate and pathetic attacks on schreck leave me little doubt as to his effectiveness, mr lahey. Lynn has also provided you with an excellent rebuttal. Once again, stupid, I never mentioneed conspiracies ONCE. ALL you have to do is LOOK AT SIMPLE SELF-INTEREST, AND YOU KNOW THE BANKS ARE NOT ABOUT TO LOSE THEIR TOTALLY ECONOMICALLY UNJUSTIFIED 25% taxcut by CONTRADICTING THE BC LIARS. ONCE AGAIN, THE BC LIARS (AS I HAVE JUST SUCCESSFULLY POSTED IN THE A SOUND OFF POST ON THE UPCOMING MAY ELECTION, IN BOTH THE SUN AND PROVINCE, NOT IN THE REGULAR SOUND OFF SECTION OF THE SUN AND PROVINCE) THE BC BACKSTABBETRS LOST 22,600 WELL PAYING, FULL TIME JOBS LAST YEAR!!! AN ECONOMIC DISGRACE!! THEY ARE, OF COURSE, AN ETHICAL AND SOCIAL DISGRACE AS WELL, AND BOY! ARE THE LAWYERS GOING TO BE BUSY AFTER MAY 17, 2005!!! IT MAY NOT BE TOO LATE TO BEG FOR YOUR GRANDCHILDREN'S FORGIVENESS FOR SELLING THEM OUT FOR NICKLES, LAHEY, BUT I DOUBT IT.

Your endless desperate and pathetic attacks on schreck leave me little doubt as to his effectiveness, mr lahey. Lynn has also provided you with an excellent rebuttal. Once again, stupid, I never mentioneed conspiracies ONCE. ALL you have to do is LOOK AT SIMPLE SELF-INTEREST, AND YOU KNOW THE BANKS ARE NOT ABOUT TO LOSE THEIR TOTALLY ECONOMICALLY UNJUSTIFIED 25% taxcut by CONTRADICTING THE BC LIARS. ONCE AGAIN, THE BC LIARS (AS I HAVE JUST SUCCESSFULLY POSTED IN THE A SOUND OFF POST ON THE UPCOMING MAY ELECTION, IN BOTH THE SUN AND PROVINCE, NOT IN THE REGULAR SOUND OFF SECTION OF THE SUN AND PROVINCE) THE BC BACKSTABBETRS LOST 22,600 WELL PAYING, FULL TIME JOBS LAST YEAR!!! AN ECONOMIC DISGRACE!! THEY ARE, OF COURSE, AN ETHICAL AND SOCIAL DISGRACE AS WELL, AND BOY! ARE THE LAWYERS GOING TO BE BUSY AFTER MAY 17, 2005!!! IT MAY NOT BE TOO LATE TO BEG FOR YOUR GRANDCHILDREN'S FORGIVENESS FOR SELLING THEM OUT FOR NICKLES, LAHEY, BUT I DOUBT IT.

binette I was referring to David Bond the economist from HSBC Bank Canada who dared to raise concerns about the liberal economic policies and the drunk. He was fired two days later! Nice friends you and lehay have, he voiced these concerns at a vancouver board of trade conference no surprise they fired him he was a harsh critic of the NDP but that didn't save him!

lahey are you an employee of the liberal party or hired by them to spin their lies?

binette interest rates will go up, this year next year whatever, they will and when they do shit is going to happen, there will be a lot of hungry home builders, read the Macleans article, my point is gordo is not doing anything to create long term high paying jobs, we don't need any more part time mcjobs! I don't believe the liberals claims that b.c. is the best place to live, it used to be before expo, we have been paving paradise since!

You will have to forgive me Lynn, as I don’t wear left leaning bifocals for reading glasses. So for the sake of argument, let’s say that I did and interpreted Carole James comment "No, it would be irresponsible for me to say I would re-open a hundred schools that have been closed." Exactly as you did “that in no way means she will not re-open some schools. Just not a hundred of them” as you see it. So why then does Carole James not say “It would be irresponsible for me to re-open a hundred schools, however I will re-open some” or how about “It is irresponsible for me to re-open a hundred schools but I will re-open at least one” or how about “I will at least look into re-opening some schools” Could it be that as a former president of the School Board Trustees of BC that CAROLE JAMES is in fact aware that there ARE OVER 26,000 FEWER STUDENTS IN BC SINCE 2001? Could it possibly mean that Carole James understands that fewer students=fewer schools? You tell me Lynn as you seem to have a crystal clear understanding of what Carole James is really trying to say.

lahey are you an employee of the liberal party or hired by them to spin their lies? Why do we have 26,000 less students in b.c. since 2001 could it be that the new era crap isn't working for families and they are moving away making room for more retirees to buy condos from the drunks developer friends!

You will be happy to know that "Goverment can do what it wants", including kicking butt! ...

Gee, mr lahey, what do you wear rose colored MAGNIFYING GLASSES, in your desperate, but always futile searh to find ANYTHING, oh, please just ONE morally, ethically or socially redeeming FRAGMENT even, about the bc liars?? But it's always the same absolute black hole, papered over with cheap, half-smart lies. And wasn't it funney lahey, that the bc backstabbers found that so amny of those schools that had to be closed down were in smalltown bc and were attended BY YOUNG CHILDREN. And once again, the bc liars had THEIR FAVORITE TARGET TO PAY FOR THE TAXCUT FOR THE RICH: INNOCENT YOUNG CHILDREN. You inspire my gag reflex, mr. lahey. And Binette, GOVERNMENTS CAN AND HAVE BEEN SUED FOR ENDANGERING THE PUBLIC GOOD AND THE BC LIBERALS HAVE CREATED A HUGE NUMBER OF MULTIPLE INTERESTS IN SUCH A SUIT.

Vick, I am anything but a Liberal party staff member, or a government spin-doctor. In fact prior to this year I have never been a member of any political party in my life. I run a specialty transport business in the so called “heartlands” of BC (I hate that word to be honest) And for the first time ever in this Province, (I moved here from Alberta back in 1995) I see real fundamental change happening, and change that actually makes a positive difference in people’s lives. My business has never been better. My customers business has never been better. In fact there is so much going on we actually have to say “no” to new business. When the NDP was in power our fleet’s average age was 1993 vintage with 300+ miles on every rig. Today we run all new trucks. Thanks to all of the road improvements (something the NDP did nothing for) getting from A to B happens faster. So now I figure if a government has made my life better, I will in turn give back. So I have made it a personal responsibility to learn all that I can about government, and in turn educate people about what is really happening in our province to ensure that what happened under the NDP never occurs again. Your right about spin doctors and this is why I target David Schreck as he is the obvious source of spin. The real funny part is that nobody can deny (not even Schreck) that there are way more jobs in BC today and you would think that is good news for everyone, but not to the NDP. I will continue to make it my mission to expose the fraud and misinformation being used to influence weak-minded people like Lewis Swift by providing truthful and factual information at every opportunity. BC can never again afford to be corrupted and destroyed by the NDP.

You mean to tell me that you are giving back to Government by learning all about it because you feel they have done so much for you? Gag!

Just what road improvements are you referring to Mr. Lahay? How is it that the NDP was somehow responsible for your truck fleet being old? This is the most ridiculous statment I have read from you and you have said some ridiculous things. Lewis is right, you are wearing rose colored glasses, and the fraud and misinformation is being spewed by Campbell, CanWest, the BCBC, and you. Not Shreck. Funny how people forget that BC saw exponential growth in population throughout the 90's. People were moving here from all over Canada, not too converned about the NDP being in power. You are blind to reality.

Actually, Mr. Lahey during the NDP government, a new highway was built on Vancouver Island. More jobs in BC doesn`t mean much if they are low-paying, and that IS the case in BC. All the BC Liberals are doing is giving the so-called middle class a kick down the economic ladder a rung or two. I`ve been to Alberta, and don`t want to see it happen here with a liquor store with bars on every other block, and lots of low-paying jobs with little or no benefits. Low wages=low buying power=crappy economy. Thank you.

I drove all over BC this summer Mr. Lahey and I really am curious to know just what road improvements by the Liberals have helped to make your business more successful. I didn't see any road improvements. I did however drive up to Whistler on Monday and saw millions being pourd into the Sea to Sky for our two week 2010 party.

Well KWL, Here is how I got my introduction to the NDP in BC when I first moved here. We started out our business on the small size; a fleet of displaced former hi-ways vehicles bought at auction. All had gas guzzling 454’s in them. So we invested thousands of dollars converting this fleet to run on propane, and shortly after we did this, what did the NDP government decide to do? Apply provincial taxes on automotive propane (previously exempt to encourage people like me to invest in a cleaner, more energy efficient fuel source) So suddenly I was screwed. I was told by the NDP government that it was required to invest in more hi-way upgrades. Where did this money really go ? To general revenue in Victoria so they could pay excess millions on the Island hi-way project (read hiring Union labor) The NDP promised all kinds of things, new hi-ways, bridges, etc,etc but delivered zero. Than I watched Glen Clarke out and out lie about our provincial budget so he could get re-elected. If you actually did any research you would realize that Gordon Campbell is implementing budgets that actually use Generally Accepted Accounting Principles or GAAP for short, something that cannot be screwed over by “fudget budgets” and all the like. Under GAAP there will be more accountability so Joe taxpayer cannot be screwed over as he was under the NDP. The really interesting part, the NDP screwed every segment of the province. Just ask Lynn what government provided the largest wage increase for the BCTF ? It sure as hell wasn’t the NDP. Paul Ramsey gave them the big FU – of course there is the BCTF once again spending millions asking voters to support the NDP and trying to manipulate our kids in the process. Total BS. And where is Carole James to comment on all of this? Will she commit to re-open any of those closed down schools? Will she recommend we repay our debt or fund social programs? Will she take a stand on anything ? no she will continue to count on that mindless NDP vote that promises everything but delivers nothing except debt. Billions of dollars worth. Name any government in the history of our province that added more debt that the NDP ? You cannot. This is one area of growth where the NDP wins hands down.

I think Carole James is very careful with what she says and for good reason. No one knows the details of any deals the BC liberals have made. And that is what is most interesting, Mr.Lahey, shouldn't you be questioning the BCliberals about the deals they have made ? They are the government now, Mr. Lahey, not the NDP - why aren't you asking for the details of the BC Rail deal, the BC Ferries deal, the Olympics, Accenture, Maximus, EDS? These are the deals that have given our province away, these are the real betrayals of the people of this province.

As far, as Carole James not delivering any certain number on the schools, why should she - if I was going to manage anything I'd want to check details, circumstances, the real financial costs. I'd want to see the books, how all that money in Community Living destined for children in need disappeared under Gordo's brother-in-law's watch, but that's the point isn't it - it's all hidden. But hey, open the sealed envelope and maybe then we'd know where we're really at but until then I think you're asking the wrong person the wrong questions.

And as C. Parkhurst says the island highway was built under the NDP, what I see under the BCliberals is a patchwork job, as usual, a minimal effort. Why this government even took the Needles ferry away, though I think it may have been re-instated recently when Gordo's popularity plummeted. Not to mention the furor that is developing in my hometown over the upcoming total privatization of our ferries, where rates will soar, along with transport, freight, and food costs. Our town is burning with fury on this one, literally being held hostage.

Lynn, I will give you credit for providing an honest answer, however trying to make excuses for Carole James lack of a serious stance on fundamental issues under the guise of needing “details, circumstances, the real financial costs” is at best lame. From a philosophical standpoint you either fundamentally agree or disagree with certain issues. Likewise, if you are a true leader, you get the goods and make your decision accordingly. To answer your question regarding the details of the BC Rail deal, the BC Ferries deal, the Olympics, Accenture, Maximus, and EDS. To be honest, for the most part I could care less. BC Rail ? Where I live we have never heard of BC Rail and it means didly. BC Ferries? The NDP spent $ 450 million and delivered nothing. Iam all for new ferries. To me something is seriously screwy when we can get ferries for $ $130-$180 million (I have yet to pin this figure down) less from Germany than we can from an American company building the boats in BC. (and China too but that is another story). Why can the bloody Germans build these boats for so much cheaper than we can in our own backyard? 2010 ? The NDP stated the ball rolling, and the Liberals have kept it rolling. Let’s make the best of the situation and welcome the opportunity. Accenture, Maximus, EDS? Hey, if it means that the phone is not busy for a change when you call I will support it. More so if it means someone cannot go on strike and hold the taxpayers hostage is the demands are not met. You still have yet to answer my question on where the BCTF members got the largest raise in the past 10 years – Was it the NDP or the Liberals ?

Mr. Lahey claims that the media is not biased. Here is what Dirk Meissner wrote today as a part of his story and it was not a quote from Gary Collins or any other politician. The quote is totally biased and totally nonsense since it has been the BC Liberals that have driven this province to the bottom:

"Return a Liberal government that took British Columbia from the bottom of the country to the top in four years or vote for the New Democrats who have a record that includes plunging the province from the top to the bottom in a decade."

Tell us what the BCTF answer is mr lahey! :) The BC Liberals did not give a pay increase to the BCTF. The BC Liberals were there for the last contract, but they refused to provide the funds for the pay increase. So the answer could *not* be the BC Liberals. The pay increased was funded by squeezing the life out of the public school system.

groan just what we need in b.c. another albertan come to save us all from the evil socialists, well screw you pal I am from this province, many generations a northerner living in the south for now, where the hell is all this road construction taking place, on the routes leading from alberta into b.c.? The only trucking business booming right now in the north is the one hauling bug wood to mills and for export to china, that is only going to last a few years before the bugs wipe out the pine forests, ten at the most then what, I don't see gordo doing anything long term except putting on another circus to sell real estate to retiring boomers, what will that do for the b.c. interior. Where are all these jobs give me an example of jobs created that are not either service jobs the result of low interest rates ie selling houses to retirees coming here from alberta east and the states or the ones in the north east where you have to go to alberta to get hired! You have been here since 95 and you are an expert on b.c. politics give me a frigging break. if it wasn't for the transfer payment windfall collins would be up the creek! I am so sick of people like you coming here and telling us how wonderful the right wing is, well if it is so great what the hell are you doing here why aren't you in alberta! You guys were starving in the eighties into the mid nineties, coming here in droves to screw locals out of a job! btw you should like the term heartlands as it is an american term and you right wing albertans are pretty pro american, at least the ones I know are! I think you are working for gordo he is real big on hiring albertans, the ones that think like him and his brother micky! Wasn't gordo educated in the states! We had the right wing in power before and we annihilated them, so they raided the liberal party and they will get it again it might take a while but gordo will probably go down as one of the most hated politicians in our history and hopefully all the albertans he has brought in will leave!

lakey you don't know what you are talking about, the island highway was just mentioned in the news as being one of the few mega projects to ever be done on time and on budjet get your facts straight!

Well Vick, fear not for I am going to leave the Tyee as you have requested. You and the likes of Swift, Lynn (and others) can save your good riddance attacks for after I am gone. The one upside is that come May 17, 2005 this nonsense will all be over, and finally we will know the future of our province. Of course we can still continue to blame the government for all that is wrong with society, and personally I wish the NDP all of the best, After all, should the NDP get in, we know that wait lists will be solved, poverty will be gone, the economy will really take off, labor and business will work in harmony, schools will re-open, tuition will be forever be frozen, fish farms will be a thing of the past, wages will soar, Countries from far and wide will spend millions upon millions to buy BC built Ferries, investors will be jumping up and down to spend more money here, part time jobs will be a thing of the fast. Full time jobs paying Union wages will grow like mosquitoes in burns bog, and governments will never again place partisan advertising. All will be well, just as it was during the 90’s.

I don't blame you at all for leaving the Tyee Mr. Lahey. I'm sure that a sonic boom in the economy would occur if some smart entrepreneur were to snap up one or two of our defunct pulp mills and turn them to producing a 4.5 inch paper roll long enough to print the posts of Lweis, Lynn (and others). In fact it would probably stretch far enough out for you to be able to use it at your home in the Martian Heartland's. (That must be where your from if you think things are so rosy). I'm sure your company is doing just fine, but what about your drivers? I can tell you that I know of many in the Trucking Industry who work for less than peanuts. However before you go, I would appreciate an answer to the question you previously missed (or avoided). What makes Mr. Collins so smart that he can deliberately ignore the forecasts of the bank experts? I previously wrote "Obviously underestimating a budget can be more damaging to the lower class than overestimating is to the upper class."

Okay Binette, just for you, being that you seem to posses the ability to state your point of view without having to launch into a personal attack with each and every post. Every year Government develops a budget and in turn allocates funds to every Ministry. In turn each ministry funds existing and new programs, including one-time funding announcements, etc,etc. Much like your household budget you have bills and costs of living – if you spend more than you earn you are in trouble – the same applies to Government. For Government income is really revenues from the taxpayer in the form of taxes, fees, levies, etc,etc If your economy is going to grow it means that you will have more revenue (money) to spend – in turn you can commit that money to more programs – for example the funding increase for persons with a disability (the largest in the Province’s history I might add) cost taxpayers roughly $ 55 Million. The more money you have, the more you can spend. But here is the catch; the economy can be an amazingly volatile animal. So if suddenly things take a downturn the growth will decline and there will be less revenue. Let’s say for sake of example the American’s got tired of constantly being slagged by Canadians so they added some more protectionist policies at the border that hugely affected the Canadian economy and dramatically reduced economic growth– the Government in turn would get significantly less revenue – but if they have funding commitments for something like the$ 55 million increase for persons with a disability and they do not have the revenue to meet expenses, Government ends up having to borrow the money and add to the Debt as was done under the NDP – The DEBT grows an in the case of the former NDP Government where it grew by just under $ 17 Billion dollars – now we have to pay $ 1.4 BILLION a year just to service that debt. That $ 1.4 Billion eats into revenue that could be spent on other programs, as we get nothing in return from paying interest. So why is it a good thing to be conservative with your growth estimates? Kind of like income tax time – would you rather discover that you have a extra money left over at the end of the year? Or would you rather discover that you owe a bunch of money and have to go and get a loan to pay those taxes instead? Overly optimistic economic growth leads to funding commitments that cannot be met, this in turn leads to borrowing that leads to debt that leads to interest payments on debt that leads to deprived funding from other areas. Remember the fudget budget? It was based an overly optimistic estimate economic growth rates (that were proven to be known to be wrong in advance) that ultimately helped get the party blown out – so it is also dangerous to the politicians as well.

Mr. Lahey, although I don't agree with the things you say, I don't think you should leave the Tyee. I don't think we should encourage anyone who does not agree with us to leave the Tyee.

Lahey, I'm just amazed you can operate a fairly large trucking company, keep abreast of every sylable uttered by Carole James, delve into the BC ferry manufacturing industry and know what costs it would estimate to do the work the German (unionized) firms have been given when our locals weren't even allowed to bid, but that you conveniently miss the reality that the courts threw your so-called fuggit-budget charges into the trash heap where they came from or that it was the NDP that last presented a fully audited balanced budget. I mean you're truly amazing. I too live in the so-called "heartland", but unlike you I fully understand the Interior has lost a valuable resource with the giveaway of BC Rail to CN. Of course, as a trucking magnate, I suppose you really don't appreciate any competition, especially when it pays its workers decent union wages. That's just not the Albertan style, is it Lahey? Tell me Lahey, would you hire someone who was found weaving down a highway late at night in a state of total inebriation? I suspect if the person is a right-winger or works for real cheap, you'd have him on the payroll in a flash. Any chance of learning the name of your trucking outfit, so I can avoid your rigs when I'm out navagating the potholes and and trying to ignore the political signs touting Campbell and company at every patch job on our wonderful state-of-the-art road systems? By the way, are you supportive of the Liberal's failed (for now) efforts to up the tolls on the Coquihalla highway? But you know what really puzzles me is that you left that safe bastion of "free-enterprize" we refer to as Texas north in 1995 smack-dab in the middle of the NDP's reign of power? Your a walking-talking contradiction.

Allan - The Premier's drunk driving epsisode all by itself is irrelevant. As I said in the very beginning Carole James barely has any life experience at all and the fact that she would even mention her heritage smacks of "no-shoes Dosangism" politics.

Allan point to a good reason why Lahey shouldn't leave the Tyee, he provides so much ammunition. I'd like to know too why one would leave a free enterprise nirvana and come to BC right in the middle of an NDP administration. I'd also like to know what he thinks of the failed plan to privatize the Coquihalla.

Again many thanks Mr. Lahey, but the long economics 101 lesson doesn't help answer the question. On the one hand you rightly complain "so you are seriously implying that the economists of the Royal Bank, TD Canada Trust. The Bank of Montreal, and Scotiabank are ALL wrong and David Scheck is right?" - On the other hand you praise the finance minister for being wrong. Wouldn't it be more practicable to simply rely on the bank experts for those particular numbers rather than taxing the gray matter? - (how does the finance minister estimate the "economy", with a dartboard?) If I were preparing a budget, I would add up the knowable and the unknowable would be covered by the contingency fund. In this case the finance minister was wrong and ended up being too conservative in his estimates, and some people may have gone hungry or overtaxed. If the finance minister was optimistically incorrect in his estimates for the first half, what assurances do we have that he has tamed the "amazingly volatile animal" for the third and fourth quarters? (apparently we are now handing out millions of dollars in promises out of the contingency fund and we are only halfway through the period). Can he assure us that we won't discover we owe a bunch of money at the end of the year and have to borrow to cover an unexpected shortfall in loan payments? --- To boil the cabbage down, I mean what special knowledge makes him so amazing that he can ignore the advice of the experts when it comes to the economy?

KWL, I don't have any problem with him continuing to feed us easy punts. I simply wish he would quit churning out the Liberal talking points as it gets tediously repetitive and pathetically obvious. Actually, he was part of quite a trend of Albertans who were coming here during the NDP era looking for a better life than they were living under Ralph Klein's radicals even with all those billions in convenient oil money. Maybe he just didn't realize you've got to grease the wheel when dealing with these free-enterprisers, but obviously he has learned how to be nice to Gordo, thus his kudos for the liar's manipulations.

Same old - same old

The german economy that you are so happy to see a half billion dollars given AWAY To, mr lahey, has both the strongest unions, the strongest social programs, and the one of the strongest economies in the world. I don't doubt that you salivated over YOUR FILTHY TAXCUT COVERED WITH THE BLOOD OF THE DISADVANTAGED, either, mr pimp. If the bc liars get reelected YOUR SOCIAL PROGRAMS, PIMP, LIKE AFFORDABLE INSURANCE FOR YOUR TRUCKS, affordable hydro and affordable medicare will be gone forever. You have not successfully rebutted a single argument of the left since you stumbled onto the tyee with the help of your little pimp, friend, binette, who is too much of a coward to fight his own battles, who has to resort to cut and pasting my comments,whenever he loses an argument, which is pretty much always. If both of your grandchildren haven't spat in your faces yet, it's only because they haven't yet realized how badly you've sold them out, and for how little. Were it not for your luck with oil resources, lahey, alberta would be even more of a toilet than it is now!

Double Yikes!

lahey it is personal, your friend gordo is hurting a lot of people who have worked all their lives to support their families, lose their jobs because of the softwood lumber dispute run out of ei and now after two years they are cut off welfare. They are to old to get a decent job because they worked in the forestry sector making a decent wage and they were mostly union! Their homes are now worth nothing they can't sell them anyway and gordo gives forest companies the right to haul wood out of the area to maximise profit, (mostly foreign) don't be surprised that people don't like you when you support gordo specially when you are from out of province trying to stuff your ideaology down our throats. B.C. used to be the best place on earth not any more, btw the feds refused to give the NDP their transfer payments when they wouldn't give people welfare unless they lived in the province for six months. This was done because klein and harris were giving welfare people one way tickets to B.C. to collect welfare here! The feds forced the NDP to back off! We got screwed again!

vick makes a very good point. Campbell has not only shown little compassion for the poor through his mean-spirited policies but as vick says he and his government have caused so many others to lose all that they have worked for over the years. These were people who had a decent wage and a hard-earned fulfilling life in BC who have now been reduced to poverty. That is one of the real tragedies of privatization and the continual assaults by this government against working men and working women in this province.

Rather than address poverty, the BCliberals have created more of it. Ask anyone who works in a food bank or a thrift shop in this province. The number of people who now rely on them are soaring.

Same old - same old!

Not to mention the Liberals have cut funding for the buddy program at lower mainland rec centers. Now that's low. Not only did this help immigrant kids stay away from gangs but it also gave them friendships and mentors. Shame on Campbell for cutting this program.

Yes, KWL everybody knows. Can we move forward?

How can we move forward with a Government that wants to move backwards?

Easy - just don't wait for them, tell them what you want, instead of just complaining. Then if you don't like the answer, ask them why not? You should know that they work for us. -- Right now I want to know what makes our Finance Minister so smart that he can ignore the economy, (at least according to Mr. Lahey.)

Believe me Binette, I have told many in this Liberal Government what I want and the problem is none of them listen. When you write to MLA's you get less than a 50% response rate and when they do respond it's usually very vague and it's usually to say the letter will be forwarded to someone else. My MLA, Gary Collins replied only once out of maybe 10 times. I do know they work for us, the question is do they know that they work for us?

So give me a clear example of what you want, and we'll see what can be done.

How 'bout crawlin up your butt, till you disappear, jean? And the good news IS, you're already halfway there.

Lweis -- do you always go to the toilet before you wake up!

my mla is absolutely useless, a complete waste of skin! I know what I want create lot term jobs that will benefit us as a society, train our kids in the trades if this is what they want so they can compete in the rest of the world instead of dismantling one of the best apprenticehip programs in the country! If they want to work on any of the big projects in alberta they have to have a red seal or they work in a sweat shop! Make the companies working in the north east hire out of b.c. instead of alberta and require b.c. tickets or red seals instead of allowing welders to use an alberta ticket to weld in b.c. for example our tickets are useless outside of b.c.! Stop privatising and turning our personal information over to american companies like maximus and last but not least I would like to see campbell get what he has been doing to the less fortunate in our society! Oh yeh and send that american running b.c. ferries packing! So binnette will this be enough to get you started? Yeh right!

Of course it is vick, but I will need to know what kind of long term jobs you are referring to that will benefit us as a society, and the name of your own completely useless waste of skin mla would be helpful..

how about value added jobs in our forest sector keep the wood here and promote manufacturing of furniture particle board laminates for a start! Instead of making a deal with china to giving them the jobs, we should not be exporting our forests to benefit another nation! Short term gain for long term pain! It is my opinion that 90% of these liberals are absolutely useless, they don't listen to their constituents and they are doing what most don't want them to do, to try and keep their jobs they spend their time telling us how bad the ndp were well if picking the lesser of two evils I will go with the ndp thanks as I don't want gordo and little brother micky to sell b.c. to the highest bidder!

Well that's pretty clear. Out of the 10% of liberal mla's who in your opinion are not absolutely useless, which would you say is the least useless? and does the list include your own mla?

Whats your point? My mla is one of the worst!

Well is he the worst? And what's his name.

As the resident right wing nut job I certainly appreciated some of your comments – it’s nice to see that not all of the socialist hordes are so “mean spirited”. To answer a few of your questions…Why did I move to BC? By accident really. My wife at the time was a civic lawyer who I discovered was having an affair with a co-worker so while the divorce was underway I took a week off and while enroute to Vancouver I stopped in the so called “heartlands” and met a guy who was interested in starting up a business similar to the one I was working for in Alberta. I didn’t know didly about politics although I did vote for Klein (and proudly I might add) long story short we started up the company and I never left. Thoughts on the Coquihalla privatization plan? One of my all time favorite “stupid politician tricks” I will leave it at that. As to Mr. Lewis “bloodsoaked” Swift – I think you ask the most valid question of them all “The german economy that you are so happy to see a half billion dollars given AWAY To, mr lahey, has both the strongest unions, the strongest social programs, and the one of the strongest economies in the world” - I agree Lewis so why can’t we build these boats cheaper in our own backyard? And don’t kind yourselves, the Washington Marine Group did submit a tender – it was over 900 pages long. And on that note how come the Washington Marine Parent Company Seaspan builds all of it’s vessel in Korea instead of the BC Yard that it owns? And lynn I am still waiting for the answer as to who gave the BCTF more money was it the NDP or the Liberal government. Or let me rephrase, who gave the BCTF more of our taxdollars – the NDP or the Liberals?

So how about my question Mr. Lahey? I need to go to bed soon.

I had a chance to reflect on my brief time spent here at the Tyee and how I would summarize it. In a word; Interesting. It is looking at things from a different political perspective and one that says little positive about the other. What is more interesting is that outside of the Tyee, in the real world, you could find yourself sitting in a movie theatre sitting right next to a Lewis Swfit, a lynn or a Mr.Lahey and you would never know it. It makes one appreciate the opportunity to exchange viewpoints in an anonymous but candid way. But I also wonder do we really get anywhere? Let’s think about the statement of Lewis “The german economy that you are so happy to see a half billion dollars given AWAY To, mr lahey, has both the strongest unions, the strongest social programs, and the one of the strongest economies in the world” Lewis is correct and there is no good reason why we cannot do this in British Columbia. But we have to be willing to admit that the only way an industry can survive on the International market is to be able to build it better or at the very least cheaper, to be price competitive. Hating the world because we all love a good deal when it comes to spending our own hard earned dollars is reality not a myth, and it’s time we accepted that. So how do we get more competitive in BC ? This is the question we should be asking and try something more insightful for an answer than simply “throw half a billion tax dollars at it. “ If you really like that approach I have some Bombardier shares I would love to sell you. I realize this does not answer your question Binette, I suppose I was looking for a few answers myself.

It's all pretty much academic, any way, lahey, for the ndp are now extremely likely to toss gordon backstabber back into the primordial neoliberal slime he oozed from. I just caught CBC's POLITICAL PANEL: Gloria Macarenko, Rafe Mair, and Moe Sihota discussing what the latest political poll means for the ndp and the bc liberals -the latest poll (which I suspect to already have a proliberal bias) shows 44% support for the liberals, 41% for the ndp. BEAR IN MIND THE NDP VOTE IS FAR MORE EFFICENT, BEING SPREAD OVER MOST BC RIDINGS EXCEPT A FEW; LIBERAL SUPPORT IS FAR MORE UNEVEN -THAT'S HOW THE NDP BEAT THE LIBERALS IN 1996 ALL THEIR SUPPORT IS CONCENTRATED IN FAR FEWER RIDINGS!

Rafe Mair, who has been saying for months the ndp would lose, now concedes they could very easily win. Sihota also points out how much the ethnic community -who campbell has alienated, by program cuts to multicultural funding, and many other issues as the surrey byelection proved-and also the native community who can affect elections and who are largely highly annoyed with gordon liar,could also count.AND THE LIARS ARE TRYING TO RELECT A BACKSTABBING DRUNKEN PIMP, WHO SEEMS TO GET OFF ATTACKING DISABLED CHILDREN WITH A 62% DISAPPROVAL RATING. Sihota also mentioned a favorite lewis swift strategy, ie, continually ask voters: "WHAT'S GORDON LIAR'S SECRET AGENDA THIS TIME? There's less than six months LEFT, in the new era folks, can't you hear the clock...tick-tock, tick-tock.

Very little green vote splitting in the 44, 41% figures, as well...

There is a popular phrase from back in the 70's that is perfectly suited for this occasion. Mr. Lahey, "What a cop out!". I suppose we are all overtaxed, but if you find some answers let me know, in the meantime, goodnight - I'll see you in lweis dreams.

Okay Binetter here is what I want let's see you get it done. All I ask of the Liberals is to stop selling us out. Stop privatizing the hell out of the province, start treating workers with respect and stop all of these senseless cuts, especially to the poor and disabled. Encouraging business in the province is great but do it in an environmentally friendly manner. And for once, start listening to constituents more, and the small business owners, instead of the Boards of Trade and CEO's of corps.

Jean Binette: Another major slip-up. Home office really has to train you guys better. They don't pay you for this do you? eg.Binette: "So give me a clear example of what you want and we'll see what can be done" "We'll?", Mr. Helicopter Pilot? What "we" are you referring to? The multi-personality "Mr. Binette goes to Washington", sorry wrong movie, Mr. Binette goes to Victoria. He flies there on his own spin. The helicopter guy must have friends in high places.

Then there's Mr. Lahey, the transport guy who is absolutely fascinated with economics ad infinitum. The Actor's Studio must be green with envy. Do you use "the method" or just keep changing your hats?

Under the bcliberals, we would never have a shipbuilding industry because our premier hires guys like spinmeister Rod Love who is quoted as saying: "We have to squish labor like a bug." He forgets squished bugs can't build anything. That's why lewis is right in making the connection between the strong unions and social programs in Germany. No squished bugs but strong shipbuilders, instead. We should offer our own people the same opportunities instead of working against them.

.Mr. Lahey, I'm going to answer your BCTF question this way, you count the pennies however you want. I'll count the real educational profits and the real educational losses. Here's just a few of the news releases from the BCTF over the past few years. There are a lot more. Starting in 2002: BCTF will grieve unfair pay cut imposed on Cariboo-Chilcotin teachers/Teachers condemn government cuts/ Teachers to charge government and employers with unfair labour practices/Teachers are furious after Liberals gut collective agreements and wipe out protection for quality of education/Representaive assembly plans future directions after Liberlas impose a legislated contract/Liberals lied about funding for teachers' contract/Funding formula designed to let Liberals off the hook for cuts/Budget 2002 betrays Liberal promises to put students first/Bill 34: The Minister fiddles while school system burns/Hearing begins to gut teachers' contracts befor September 1/Teachers congratulate Coquitlam trustees for passing vote of non-confidence in BC Liberals/Liberals renege on funding for technology in schools/Funding cuts result in larger, more complex classes/One year after Bill 27 and 28, students' learning conditions worsen/Budget 2003 affords no protection from the funding crisis in BCschools/Liberal education policies rip the heart out of 90 rural communities/Teachers abhor child Liberal child labour law/Liberals politicize the College of Teachers, remove teachers' role as self-governing professionals/BCTF launches constitutional challenge to Liberals' takeover of Teachers College/Education Ministry advertising attempts to mislead parents and public/Vast majority of teachers revoke fees for undemocratic College of Teacher/ Liberal changes will make child labour laws the weakest in Canada/School libraries are threatened despite poweful evidence they're key to student achievement/Canadian teachers support BC colleagues in dispute over "Christy's College"/Arbitrator's ruling quashed: Teachers contract should not have been gutted, court rules/Politically aapointed college draws deepest outrage from teacher reps/Liberal impose provisions already quashed by Supreme Court/Selling our public places:Teachers host seminar on commercialization of schools/On National School Library Day, teaachers urge government to undo it's damage to literacy programs/Exposure of secret privatization plan demands answers from government/

Due to underfunding, 113 schools have been closed and 2,500 teaching positons have been cut.

The Scums latest on the Ipsos Reid poll.........

http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversu n/news/story.html?id=d780cf2c-40f2-4b96-a4a8-6ad12ddfaa58

Gee I wonder who Ipsos reid is routing for in the next provincial election?

"With a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points 19 times out of 20, the poll of 800 voters means the gap between the two parties is statistically insignificant. "If I am looking at this from the Liberals' perspective, it's got to be pretty frustrating," said Kyle Braid, vice-president of Ipsos-Reid.

"Their numbers are all starting to move in the right direction, especially on the economy, but they still can't shake the NDP.

"It just looks like some voters are asking for quite a bit more than an improved economy," Braid said."

They just don't seem to get it. Typical Corporate MAGGOTS!!!!!!!!

Maybe the voters are wondering where all these jobs are, tell a lie over and over and still no one believes it, imagine that!

Ok count me as one who flew over the cuckoo's nest, I'm the Premier, and obviously I will need to send in a team of Psychiatrists who will offer free electrocutions - It's after 5 and I really need a martini! - a.k.a - GC

Well, if you're thre premier jean, why not look through your daddy's notes on the subject, and follow his sterling example...

22,600 fulltime, well apying jobs lost by gordon filth and the bc rubberstamp backstabbers last year, and now they're using your TAX DOLLAR TO LIE TO YOU ABOUT THEIR NONEXISTENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS...AS to the damage done, the phoney manufactured crises -only a court of law will suffice.

Mr. Lahey says he's going to leave. We're interesting, but we keep quoting facts and figures at him, and he prefers generalisations and ad hominem arguments. That said, I hope he will reconsider. I always enjoy his posts. He is clearly trying to defend sincerely held views, and resents the emotionalism he finds here. Especially lewis' gutfelt outrage which he expresses so clearly throughout these threads.

Mr. Lahey, I share your concerns, and I would venture that, expressed slightly differently, most here would share with you the principles and hopes and fears on which your concerns are based. But not your eagerness to believe the things we are being asked to swallow by this latest batch of politicians here. The points people are trying to illustrate for you here are mostly ones that they feel we have all been lied to about. The BC Rail deal was a series of lies, which no-one can deny. Our money, our property, our government. No right to lie, and no reason to either, unless there was premeditated knowledge of some wrongdoing. One example.

Another is lewis' twenty-odd thousand crummy jobs replacing thirty-odd thousand better ones. More lies there. Why?

You stand your ground well, sir. I have a feeling that you say what you believe. If you ever start facing the evidence and argument you are being offered here, you might have your eyes opened and your mind changed a little bit. Or maybe, if you research your figures and facts well enough, you could persuade some here. But not if you stop coming around.

You inspire a sharp rigor and level of research in these threads which is all good. I hope you stay. Grow a little thicker skin, don't take it too personally, hang around a while. You're good for us, and we might be good for you.

By the way, I share your discomfort at that horrid phrase, 'the Heartland'. For me, it echoes way too strongly of that European nightmare slogan "Ein Reich, Ein Volk, Ein Vaterland". It gives me the willies.

Seconded

But only up to the last paragraph, we don't have that kind of goverment and it's highly offensive to a specific group Please retract it if you didn't mean to say it. That's important.

Your information was wrong about Maximus Inc, they were kicked out of 12 States Once you read this all States will totally realize the corruption of Maximus Inc. Dr. Anthony W. Laine 21 Dover Street Toms River, New Jersey 08753 This book is dedicated to the countless millions of men, women and children abused by Maximus Inc. on a daily basis. Some know it and some do not, because Maximus Inc. of McLean, Virginia has been awarded all Federal/State Government contracts. For child welfare, child support, Medicaid, Medicare, student loans, probation departments, social security, etc. The average American Citizen does not know this, and in reality, Maximus Inc. is a ”Shadow Government". Maximus Inc. has a division that gives seminars and courses to corporations on how to " Outsource America". They are the "Kingpin" behind the" Outsourcing of America". Maximus Inc. has set up offices in India, Egypt, etc. for this. Maximus Inc. got these contracts by Local, State, National, and International Officials taking bribes, payoff, and kickbacks from Maximus Inc. Maximus Inc. officials are paying off Officials, and this is graft and corruption. Maximus, Inc. 11419 Sunset Hills Rd. Reston, VA 2019-5207. Not only does Maximus Inc. steal monies from American Citizens on a daily basis, but also countless millions of good hard working American Citizens are without their jobs due to Maximus Inc. showing corporations on how to outsource the American jobs to foreign markets. Maximus Inc. overseas offices have daily briefings to foreign governments, and corporations on outsourcing of American jobs to their countries. Maximus Inc. is the “arranger” of the Outsourcing of American jobs. Maximus Inc. a Government Contractor is making sure that all children will be left behind. Maximus Inc. is responsible for child support, child welfare, Medicaid, Medicare, social security, student loans, probation divisions, etc. The problem here is that the massive fraud, conspiracy to defraud, and other criminal activities by Maximus Inc. leave these children with nothing. Just because they are poor, does that mean that a criminal organization like Maximus Inc can exploit them? The poorest of the poor being exploited by Maximus Inc. We have fraud here that the likes of it will never happen again, and Maximus Inc. makes Alfonso Capone look like a choirboy. Maximus Inc. employees are stealing Medicare, Medicaid, child support, child welfare monies etc. Maximus Inc employees are blackmailing the poorest of the poor so that they can get their child welfare checks? Maximus Inc. employees are sexually abusing clients so that they can get their child welfare checks? Maximus Inc. hiring persons without background checks for caseworkers. One caseworker was a convicted forger, with an arrest record that included kidnapping, battery, and impersonating a police officer. Maximus Inc hired him while he was on parole. He blackmailed child welfare clients into giving him monies or he would cut off their benefits. Maximus Inc. hired one caseworker that pushed his clients to help him sell drugs, and another who told women they would lose their benefits unless they had sex with him and her children were present at the time. Maximus Inc. hired sexual predators as caseworkers who pressured their clients for sex. Maximus Inc. employees were extorting monies under blackmail from women on child welfare/child support, and these employees were sexually abusing these women. In addition, they wanted these women to prostitute themselves on the streets. They were also getting these women pregnant after they were blackmailed into having sex. Maximus Inc. massive theft of monies from child welfare, child support, Medicaid, Medicare, social security, etc. Wire fraud, bank fraud, theft of States monies etc. Maximus Inc theft of client’s monies and diverting the monies to other bank accounts so that clients do not get any monies. How do these women pay their rents, and other bills? Children go without food and other necessary things in life. Blatant fraud. Maximus Inc steals welfare funds, and they overlook the victims of this crime. Maximus Inc. steals monies from impoverished mothers, children and people with disabilities who sought assistance and were illegally turned away, sanctioned, and terminated. Maximus Inc. has so many formal gender or racial discrimination lawsuits filed against it to be unbelievable. Maximus Inc has corporate malpractice, including inadequate and poor provision of services; misappropriation of funds, cronyism, and other financial irregularities; and discriminatory practices at company offices. Maximus Inc. used welfare funds intended for the poor to pay consultants who gave campaign contribution advice and solicited new business for the firm. Maximus Inc. spends child welfare monies lavishly on themselves, and they were illegally denying eligible families cash assistance, childcare assistance, fact-findings, exemptions from work requirements, and even food stamps. So that they can steal the monies.

Care to comment Mr. Lahey?

Thanks for your comments, bailey. I miss our old chats, sometimes, but my hot temper is the reason I thought it best to terminate them, so as not to draw others in, too much. Ever hear from effle? Hope she's doing all right. ls

Dear Jean, I will retract it willingly if you think it was meant to insult somebody in particular. It wasn't. In it's own time and place, that slogan was used to persuade an innocent people to allow those not so innocent among them to start down a path that led to horror.

That type of ad, designed to appeal to the most mindless patriotism, is cynical and creepy and it just gives me the willies. The reasons why I love this place are based in the realities of it. The people, the country, the way we are together. It doesn't mean I'm blind to the fact that there are crooks and fools in the world, and that given half a chance the crooks will blind you with lies and slogans while they rob you, while their victims will believe the lies and open their pockets, trusting people to be as honest as they are themselves.

Truly a horrifying story, Dr Laine. But not one that surprises me too much as I read a similar story in Harpers Magazine a few months ago, detailing the abuse of the american prison system, by another large corporation with the contract for medical services in the american prison system, possibly the corporation was maximus, memory fails me. Essentially the article laid out how this corporation refused to spend allotted money, even for antibiotics, but simply pocketed the funds instead. how occurences such as refusing to treat the bites of poisonous spiders to save money was commonplace, resulting in prisioner amputations and even death. Numerous other deaths, WITH A DIRECT LINK TO FAILURE TO PROVIDE MEDICAL TREATMENT OR EVEN ATTENTION WAS ALSO DETAILED. The accountability under the contracts signed: ZERO. The prison abuse almost souinds like a test run for what maximus is doing now. If you can prove your contentions, Dr Laine, why not try submitting an article to The Tyee?

These then, are the sort of SCUM, gordon backstabber is so eagerly selling the province to. Interesting item in today's Vancouver Sun, the HIGHEST LEVEL OF AGREEMENT ON ANY ELECTION ISSUE TESTED SO FAR BY IPSOS READ, AT A FULL 63% OF ALL VOTERS, AND AMAZINGLY, 36% OF BC LIBERAL SUPPORTERS IS: "YOU CAN'T TRUST GORDON CAMPBELL AND THE BC LIARS TO KEEP THEIR PROMISES." All the ndp really needs to do now (although they'll be doing much more) is to keep raising the ol' lewis swift/ moe sihota favorite: "WHAT IS THE BC LIBERAL'S SECRET AGENDA THIS TIME???" Subtexts: hydro gone, ICBC GIVEN AWAY, rates of near $5 grand a year for car insurance, as in new brunswick, and oh, mr lahey, INCREDIBLY HIGHER INSURANCE RATES FOR LICENCED TRUCKERS AND TRUCKING COMPANIES LIKE YOURS, and all kinds of freebies to that american corporations, at the expense of fools like you, mr lahey...mr lahey, are you in that 36% of gorsdon campbell supporters that DON'T trust the little pimp, either??? I'm not even gonna mention gordon backstabbers personal disapproval rate of 64%, why bother, heh, heh.....Care to comment, mr binette?

It's not what I think that it's important, it's what you think. The reality is if what you say is true, the slogan "Ein Reich, Ein Volk, Ein Vaterland" couldn't possibly remind you of this era. Do you intend on calling liberals Nazis. I hope not. On the other hand. crooks is another story altogether. You decide. (I don't like the phrase because I think it's Hokey!)

Yep, mr lahey, I imagine ol' gordo has got lots of favors left to do for CN, wonder how many of those favors you'll be paying for, in the unlikely event he gets elected...heh, heh....

Actually neoliberal economics and fascism share MANY CORE VALUES: both emphathize attacking the weak, total lack of accountability or conscience, both nauseatingly fond of "the end justifies the means" argument etc, etc. There have been eloquent and productive essays in Harpers, Adbusters and other forums, as to this line of argument, and also, just now, from me...

Yes of course lewis, you the Man!

I wrote the Book entitled Broken Trust the Rape and Plunder of Social Programs by Maximus Inc. Every payoff, kickback, bribe etc. is in the book and all names. No one could believe what Maximus Inc. can do. Will send it to them Dr. Anthony W. Laine 21 Dover Street Toms River, New Jersey 08753 732-736-0339 908-783-5273 November 10, 2004 The President of the United States President George W. Bush The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave Washington, DC 20500 Subject: Mr. President you promised the American Public that no “child would be left behind”. Maximus Inc. a United States Government Contractor is making sure that all children will be left behind. Maximus Inc. has compiled a disturbing and largely hidden record of financial waste and human neglect. Maximus Inc. does misappropriation of funds, cronyism, and other financial irregularities. Governor Jeb Bush of Florida was one of the smart ones, he told Maximus Inc. to get out of his State for their fraud, corruption, and their abuses. Dear Mr. President, Maximus Inc. a Government Contractor is making sure that all children will be left behind. Maximus Inc. is responsible for child support, child welfare, Medicaid, Medicare, social security, student loans, probation division, etc. The problem here is that the massive fraud, conspiracy to defraud, and other criminal activities by Maximus Inc. leave these children with nothing. Just because they are poor, does that mean that a Criminal Organization like Maximus Inc can exploit them? The poorest of the poor being exploited by Maximus Inc. We have fraud here that the likes of it will never happen again, and Maximus Inc. makes Alfonso Capone look like a choirboy. Mr. President I swear to by the blood of Jesus Christ, that everything that you will read in this letter to you Sir is the truth. You may prove this in one second by having one of your Aides to call. Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Special Agent Richard R. Tylenda 11 Centre Place Newark, New Jersey 07102 (973) 792-3000 I went to FBI Special Agent Richard R. Tylenda, on this Maximus Inc matter, and he has all of the evidence. I am a Scientist with every award the United States, and International Governments can give a person. The Criminal activities by Maximus Inc. are, and the Maximus Inc.CEO knew about all of this and did nothing: Maximus Inc. acted abusively toward human-services clients families with mentally disabled relatives in State institutions were contacted by Maximus Inc., and given as few as 10 days to hand over complicated financial data, with the threat that loved ones would be kicked out. Also being rude, and abusive to persons on child welfare, child support, Medicare, Medicaid, etc. The way that Maximus Inc. treats persons is unbelievable to say the least. Maximus Inc. hiring persons without background checks for caseworkers. One caseworker was a convicted forger, with an arrest record that included kidnapping, battery, and impersonating a police officer. Maximus Inc hired him while he was on parole. He blackmailed child welfare clients into giving him monies or he would cut off their benefits. Maximus Inc. hired one caseworker that pushed his clients to help him sell drugs, and another who told women they would lose their benefits unless they had sex with him and her children were present at the time. Maximus Inc. hired sexual predators as caseworkers who pressured their clients for sex. Maximus Inc. employees were extorting monies under blackmail from women on child welfare/child support, and these employees were sexually abusing these women. In addition, they wanted these women to prostitute themselves on the streets. They were also getting these women pregnant after they were blackmailed into having sex. Where do these women get justice, and their honor and dignity back? Just because they are poor, does that mean that a Criminal Organization like Maximus Inc can exploit them? Maximus Inc. massive theft of monies from child welfare, child support, Medicaid, Medicare, social security, etc. Wire fraud, bank fraud, theft of States monies etc. In my case Maximus Inc. tried to extort monies saying my ex-wife who I had not seen in over twenty years had a child by me, Maximus Inc. wanted prenatal bills, hospital bills, and child support for (18) years. I proved that I had not seen here in over (20) years. In addition, she could not have a child as her tubes were tied (7) years before this. Extortion by Maximus Inc. Now Maximus Inc. says that I owe arrearages, with a Court Order on a Court and County that does not exist. Maximus Inc. forged documents in my case. Maximus Inc creates arrearages to keeps a person paying even after the children are of legal age. Women coming out of the woodwork claiming I am the father, pure "blatant fraud" by Maximus Inc. Extortion by Maximus Inc. Maximus Inc. does IRS Intercepts on persons who do not owe any monies, and they keep these monies. Local, State, National, and International Officials taking bribes, payoff, and kickbacks from Maximus Inc. to get contracts. Maximus Inc using massive child welfare monies for parties, golf, cruises, and anything else you can believe. Unbelievable that the children are suffering while Maximus Inc official’s party and play on the monies for children. Maximus Inc. creating child support cases against men just to jack up their numbers, and these men never knew the women involved. Extortion by Maximus Inc. Also putting liens on persons who never owed child support. The best one yet Mr. President was a very old man dying in a hospice, and Maximus Inc. putting liens on everything that he owned for child support. Extortion by Maximus Inc. Maximus Inc. encourages the hiring of family and friends, calling it an effective way to lure and keep talent. Cronyism. Maximus Inc. bleeds Welfare Programs dry for every cent that they can. Maximus Inc theft of client’s monies and diverting the monies to other bank accounts so that clients do not get any monies. How do these women pay their rents, and other bills? Children go without food and other necessary things in life. Blatant fraud. Maximus Inc. has so many formal gender or racial discrimination lawsuits filed against it to be unbelievable. Maximus Inc has corporate malpractice, including inadequate and poor provision of services; misappropriation of funds, cronyism, and other financial irregularities; and discriminatory practices at company offices. Maximus Inc. proposals contain lies, including its claim to be the leader for criminal nonsupport cases. In fact, the company’s attorneys haven’t handled a single case of criminal non-support. Maximus Inc. caseworkers lie on a daily basis. They say that persons are “deadbeat fathers” when in fact that these persons are paying faithfully because they are under a court order. The child support monies come out of the persons check however, the monies just disappear. There are thousands of complaints from people dependent on Maximus Inc. services, and the State Agencies do not do anything because they do not want to hear it. Child care for working welfare recipients were not paid, and bills submitted by childcare providers were over 30 days late in being paid. Daycare centers were confronted with decisions about turning away children, and parents trying to contact Maximus Inc. encountered “telephone-system collapse.” Maximus Inc. used welfare funds intended for the poor to pay consultants who gave campaign contribution advice and solicited new business for the firm. Maximus Inc. spends child welfare funds seeking contracts in other states, and for millions of dollars in advertising itself as the “Great One” this is corruption, and massive fraud to the poor. Maximus Inc steals welfare funds, and they overlook the victims of this crime. Maximus Inc. steals monies from impoverished mothers, children and people with disabilities who sought assistance and were illegally turned away, sanctioned, and terminated. Maximus Inc. spends child welfare monies lavishly on themselves, and they were illegally denying eligible families cash assistance, childcare assistance, fact-findings, exemptions from work requirements, and even food stamps. So that they can steal the monies. Maximus Inc. spent $184,000.00 of welfare monies for their own promotional items, and publicity to advertise their company logo. Fraud beyond all belief. Maximus Inc. blackmails States after they receive contracts from the States. Because Maximus Inc. threatens to pull out. The States do not have adequate provisions in its contract with Maximus Inc. to prevent Maximus Inc. from simply walking away from the position nor do the States have a back up plan to provide the child-care services it is obligated to offer. Maximus Inc. ability to obtain such a large increase is particularly troubling given that its initial bid claims it could operate at half the cost of the only other bidder. This is a case where initial cost estimates were dramatically low, and where the State apparently found itself dissatisfied with Maximus Inc. performance, but still vulnerable to its pricing demands. Maximus Inc. can have an IRS Intercept put against a person, revocation of a passport, and driver’s license. This is dead wrong, because Maximus Inc. does not have to prove a thing. In addition, they can have you in Court in a “New York heart beat” and they do not have to prove a thing. They can ruin your credit in a moment. This is very wrong. In my case, I filed a RICO lawsuit against Maximus Inc in the United States District Court in New Jersey. Every excuse known is why they will not show. Even in Ocean County Superior Court in Toms River, New Jersey, they have every excuse known why I cannot present any evidence. Maximus Inc. in the State of Florida raped the States treasury. They promised everything and delivered nothing. Governor Jeb Bush of Florida was one of the smart ones, he told Maximus Inc. to get out of his State for their fraud, corruption, and their abuses. Mr. President I ask for a Federal Grand Jury on Maximus Inc., and the immediate termination of all Local, State, National, and International contracts. I ask for an Oversight on all Welfare Programs, child support etc., and I ask that the Inspector Generals look at everything. Maximus is also known for buying influence in State Capitols and on Capitol Hill. Also Maximus Inc. bought trucking firms with the monies stolen from Federal Programs and I want these trucking firms seized as assets. The Lobbyists are undermining the democratic character of public service by placing private companies with far less accountability than our own government in charge of people's lives. Maximus Inc.’s misuse of welfare funds and other rapacious conduct is beyond belief. Maximus Inc. is inefficient, inept, uses improper behavior, and questionable practices. Mr. President why should we give private corporations the sovereign right to decide who receives benefits and who goes hungry? “No sweet angel of Jesus should be left behind”. They are victims of the theft of monies by Maximus Inc. that was meant for them. The privatization of welfare services has resulted in numerous examples of the erosion of services by Maximus Inc. Maximus Inc. is accountable to their shareholders, not to the United States Government, States, and the communities they are hired to serve. Their real job is to make money for the people who own them, not to provide services for the people who need them. Thank you Mr. President. Respectfully yours, Dr. Anthony W. Laine Cc: FBI Special Agent Richard R. Tylenda, Mr. Joseph Ottino Esquire, Maximus Inc., Governor Bredesen-Governor of Tennessee, and other State Governors, State Attorney Generals, Media, Securities and Exchange Commission, New York Stock Exchange, Ms. Virginia Lodge-DHS Commissioner of Tennessee, Jefferson Consulting Group, United States Attorney Christopher J. Christie, United States Attorney Edward H. Kubo Jr., Sterns and Weinroth-Ms. Karen A Confoy Esquire, Ms. Devonne Moore-Maximus Inc. Clinton, TN., Prime Minister of Australia, Prime Minister of Canada, Mr. Roger F. Gay, Mr. Glenn Sacks, etc.

Dr. Lane, sorry, I lost track. Was that Maximus or our current provincial government you were writing about above?

Or is this you? ------ ... 1/13/2004, Emotional Maturity, Dr. Anthony W. Laine. 1/9/2004, The Sweet Loving Arms of Jesus, Dr. Anthony W. Laine. ... 7/31/2003, Purity Of Life ...www.allthingsspiritual.com/aura/gallery

Dr Laine, please try either a tyee submission or just an email to the georgia straight, a vancouver weekly magazine, if your allegations can be raised effectively with enough people, it could help return a progressive provincial government to power in the next election! Email www.straight.com/ -As allan says, the current provincial government shares a lot of ideological and ethical similarities with Maximus...

Because someone's religious binette, doesn't neccesarily make them unreliable...as for being a gordon campbell supporter, well, there really is NO excuse...

Whats your point bennite?

APPARENTLY Dr. Laine was a Kook VICK.

so you like the idea of an american company having access to your personal and confidential info, considering the patriot act and all, I like many canadians am very concerned about our sovereignty, you don't seem to care as long as your bottom line is ok! I don't know if the man is a kook or not, but I will not judge him on his religous convictions! I am not sure about you tho...

Nope vick - I don't like the american thing at all, that's one matter that needs my MLA's full explanation for sure - and the President of the United States is probably offering the Doctor a tour of the main kook house as we speak. (I can guarantee you that I am more canadian than most...)

if you are so canadian why do you support a government that is selling our assets to american interests? This is the one issue I can not forgive gordo for, or supporters like you and the reason I spend my time on the tyee! Btw I hear the times colonist has a real feel good full page interview of the drunk with nice touchy feely pictures! I won't buy it so I will have to go to the local library and check it out!

I don't support selling off our assets and there are more liberals than one who don't. You could help prevent it, but not by standing out in the rain shouting drunk everytime you get frustrated.

by supporting the DRUNK you support all of his policies, maximus got what they wanted and we got screwed, he still hired an american to run b.c. ferries to only mention a few so what have you accomplished by blaming everything on the ndp! gordo good ndp bad crap!

Please vick you'll wake Lewis. Why do you keep referring to the Premier as a drunk? (also, I heard that Glen Clark has a portrait of Jimmy hanging in his office.)

Mr. Binette, name all the BCliberal MLAs who stood up in the legislature and protested the selling off of our information to Maximus,EDS and the like. Give us their names and the constituencies they represent. This premier, these BCliberal MLAs, and this BCliberal government have sold this province out. NO ONE ELSE, they alone turned policy into a garage sale of our provincial assets. This is the legacy of the BCliberals. A treasonable offence in many British Columbians eyes.

And Carole James , if you're listening, this is the issue that will defeat the BCliberals. They can't reverse it, they can't deny it,and they did it. NO ONE ELSE. Like vick, there are many British Columbians that find it an unforgiveable betrayal of the people of this province.. This BCliberal government should be banned from even thinking of running for government in this province again. And if papers, like the colonist, want to participate in the treachery, go ahead. Sell your soul along with the liberals. But as far as respect as a newspaper, as far as a free press, as far as impartiality, dream on...

"THE SAFE PROVINCE ACT." RULES:

BloodTest the filthy little liar, gordon backstabber, once every day to see if his alcohol consumption for thta day has again tested out AT A PITCHER AND A HALF OF MARTINIS AND TWO BOTTLES OF WINE. REMEMBER, we have only his WORD he's quit drinking and we all know what THAT'S WORTH.

Psychologically profile the premier, Murray Coell, Gary Colon, and Geoff Plant weekly to verify that each one of these people SHOWS EVERY SINGLE CHARACTERISTIC OF THE PSYCHOPATH ie, the unwiilingness to tell the truth, callous indifference to those negatively affected by their actions, a homocidal unwillingness to reverse course on 5 times over discredited policies, no matter how many vulnerable and innocent people get hurt.

RECOURSE: Sue each and everyone of these backstabbinbg pieces of human garbage for gross betrayal of the public trust by the deliberate manufacture of an artificial crisis. Seizure of personal assetts, fines and disbanding of the BC BACKSTABBERS!

if charged for driving while under the influence of alchohol, you are considered... So binny you don't like the american thing eh well you can't be too upset or you woudn't be on thetyee defending your pal gordo now would you!

Let me finish your sentence vick - a "drunk-driver" ....

once a drunk...Anyway getting into a vehicle and driving while under the influence of alchohol is hardly the kind of choice one would expect a premier to make and don't give me that crap about everyone having a bad day and deserving a second chance! Tell that to the victims of drunk drivers! If he wasn't a right wing premier the media would have hung him out to dry! Can you imagine the outcry if clark drove while drinking, and rightfully so! Not a responsible thing to do, we expect our premiers to show a little more class! So is it jinny or binny?

so binny if you don't like the american thing why are you on thetyee defending the guy? Why spend your time making all these posts are you a working guy gal doing your job for gordo?

Stop vick - before you flunk the I.Q. test!

like you binny! Why can't you answer a simple question?

uhris H, 12/12/2004 5:46:40 PM, writes: Binette, I have communicated with my Liberal MLA several times. He promised me that there wouldn't be any widespread school closures or teacher layoffs; he blamed that forecast on the media and big labour. He also told me that my daughter would benefit from any changes they made to the school act. Guess what ... over 100 school closures, 2500 less teachers, and my daughter had 22 children in her kindergarten class with no support for the children with special needs in it. How could I vote for him next election. He lied to me. It seems you aren't imnwarrantedCpressed with your Liberal MLA either, so will you be voting for him? Good question Chris, even though it has already been asked and answered several times over. -- I have not communicated with my Liberal MLA at all because he never promised me a rose garden. However, my impression is that he hasn't done much other than pick up his paycheck with regularity. But the question was, will I vote for him? My answer is yes!, because sadly he would still be the best candidate in my riding and to do otherwise would be suicidal. I can't even fathom how any candidate for election would remotely consider handing the checkbook back to Sihota and company. -- I don't know much about the school system so I can't know for sure if your Liberal MLA lied to you, but if he did, then in that case I would inform him I expect much more and I would rely on and support other informed party members like yourself to point to his shortcomings. (and I would cut off his subscription to Michael Smythe) I mean, can you possibly imagine the damage that would ensue with a Carole James government with members of the original "Gang of Six" at the remote controls from the Cayman Islands. Business both large and small would be aghast! The eastern media would die laughing. My question for you is, are you prepared to take that chance? Jean Binette, 12/13/2004 11:03:42 AM, writes: Please vick you'll wake Lewis. Why do you keep referring to the Premier as a drunk? (also, I heard that Glen Clark has a portrait of Jimmy hanging in his office.) I told you not to wake him! - let me finish your sentence vick - a "drunk-driver". So why intimate he is a drunk? It doesn't seem like fair comment. I'm not protecting him, just wondering why? I mean if it's because you can't stand the sight of him, I could understand, because I used to get the same nauseous feeling whenever I saw the last premier on TV. that's the problem you open your mouth and no comes out What was the question? - Getting into a vehicle and driving drunk is hardly the kind of choice expected of anyone. Shall we castrate all drunk drivers, or just the Premier? Hear this vick, I'm not defending anyone, it's you who is making unwarranted accusations, and as far as the "American thing" goes I already said I don't approve. Do you have a problem with that?

What was the question? - Getting into a vehicle and driving drunk is hardly the kind of choice expected of anyone. Shall we castrate all drunk drivers, or just the Premier? Hear this vick, I'm not defending anyone, it's you who is making unwarranted accusations, and as far as the "American thing" goes I already said I don't approve. Do you have a problem with that?

the question binnette is if you don't like the american thing why are you on thetyee defending the guy?

Asked and anwered (see above.)

Asked and answered (see above.)

you serious, I don't have time to go through that mess!

No vick - just the part that says I'm not defending anyone.

do I have to dig through your posts to prove otherwise, seems to me you are defending your pal gordo by attacking the ndp, good policies and bad, they were far from perfect but the lesser of the two evils by far in my opinion, read Mr McMartins story yet, the one about Premier shuts his cabinet?

I already said I'm not defending anyone and I already described the liberals as the "lessor of the two evils long ago, and that's why Greens should join up. It seems to me that you support Sihota. I haven't read the story. Why don't you just answer my question, shall we castrate all drunk drivers or just the Premier?

Well we CAN'T CASTRATE YOU, jean, it's too late...your backstabbing coewardice has done the job for us, already...

Hey, jean, your buddy, gary colon, has just resigned! What's HE afraid of, jean?

thats obvious, your pal should have been forced to step down for driving while drunk, as a society we should be helping people with addictions providing them with adequate facilities to clean up and sober up, a decent place to live while they get their act together and the opportunity for a decent paying job! Instead of cutting back and leaving families in danger! Probably save us a lot of money in the long run. I feel a little threatened by all drunk drivers when in a vehicle with my family! We have to get away from the old systen of law it is a cash cow for far to many people in our society, repeat offenders are good for business so we don't take care of them! Did you see that story in the globe about adult children, it was actually about your pal, a person raised in an alchoholic environment can get pretty sick, read up on it binny, I did! Scary stuff!

Well vick according to my cousin Alfred Binet, your final IQ score comes in at 32, which means your voting for Moe and are too stupid for anyone to pay attention to - sigh!

getting frustrated binny?

another day closer to may 17 ,another weasel squirms into his crimial hole.Boy will I miss that voice...

I thought Desiree was your cousin, jean....

Thanks Carlos Bud, you have proven that intelligent life still exists at the Tyee. - and Jim who wrote "And Lewis I don't even need to respond to your immature back talk. I know 5 year olds who make more mature statements than you". --

Besides....you'd no doubt lose the argument.

where are the words about abby hoffman? supposed to be an article about him.