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BC Ferries' Spin Plan Exposed
Secret strategy to control public debate as company went private.
Memo fretted about citizens' backlash.
The British Columbia government knew the public might not like its plans to restructure B.C. Ferries, but it had a plan that relied on working with "trusted reporters" and friends of the B.C. Liberals to sell the idea.
"Communications regarding the restructuring will be a significant challenge," observed the 33-page communications plan, every page of which is marked "confidential" in large letters.
Dated Nov. 12, 2002, the document is identified as the sixth draft for the plan, and says B.C. Ferries and the Transportation Ministry developed it together. "We expect this announcement will attract high profile and sustained media interest, fuelled by controversy generated by opponents," the plan said.
Three weeks later, during an open cabinet meeting, then Transportation Minister Judith Reid, would announce a major restructuring of B.C. Ferries, reinventing the 40-year-old crown corporation as a private company.
The government would still own the new company, B.C. Ferry Services Ltd., but the yet to be fulfilled long term plan involved contracting out the routes and running the company more like an airport authority. Keep in mind that airport authorities don't usually own and operate planes.
NDP ferry critic Gary Coons said Premier Gordon Campbell made the changes to the ferry system without debate in the legislature or public debate or scrutiny. "He gathers together his 'Kool-Aid' drinkers to push the privatization and sell off our marine highway," Coons wrote in an e-mail. "A small piece of secrecy is lifted with his ferry 'communications plan.'"
Public concern expected
An appendix to the strategy details the things the public might dislike about the change. There would be "public concern about steep increases in fares and cuts in service," it said.
"British Columbians are proud of and feel a sense of ownership in the ferry service," it added. And there would be "Public concerns about foreign ownership, especially by a U.S. company," a concern for which the spinners were yet to come up with a planned response.
And then there was the question of accountability: "Concerns that an independent BCFS will no longer be accountable to ferry users and the voting public at large." At least in the old days the public knew who to blame when something went wrong.
The planners did, however, have a list of arguments in favour of the restructuring. In the wake of the "fast ferries fiasco," there was a sense change was needed. "Status quo from both a financial and service level perspective is unsustainable. Something has to be done."
The public would like that the move gets debt off the government books, they figured, and they would use the credibility of David Emerson, then chair of the B.C. Ferries board, to sell the idea. Finding some other way to fund the ferries would be acceptable, they thought. "Given the choice, the public would prefer taxpayers' money be spent on health care & education and the ferry system obtains alternative sources of finance."
The planning was also happening with plenty of lead time, another advantage. "We have the time to reassure and build support (allay fears) before the announcement."
Proactive communications
The plan the strategists developed called for a "sustained commitment to proactive communications" and broke out tactics for six different audiences: the media, third-party supporters, detractors, external stakeholders, internal audiences and MLAs.
It included this goal: "Obtain editorial board support from The Vancouver Sun, The Times Colonist, The Province, Nanaimo Daily News and the Prince Rupert Daily News."
Emerson would be the primary spokesperson, it said, and they would "Use other Board members, in particular Mark Cullen, Tom Harris and Maureen Macarenko, to support David Emerson by serving as spokespeople in their areas." The premier, transportation minister, MLAs for coastal constituencies and B.C. Ferries executives would also be briefed and given "media training" on the issue.
The day of the announcement the plan would be to "Proactively contact target media immediately after the Open Cabinet meeting to set up interviews for David Emerson and other Board members." They would "Educate media opinion leaders and key reporters on the restructuring in an effort to gain supportive coverage."
The plan called for arranging interviews for reporters with non-government people who supported the restructuring: "Provide media with names of supportive third party spokespeople so they are sought out for comment."
In the days that followed, they would "Use editorial board and media interviews to sustain the media coverage and continue to frame the story over the 10 day period following the announcement."
Even before the announcement, the communicators would be preparing the public for what was coming. "Leading up to announcement, arrange for David Emerson and other Board members to 'publicly muse' through briefings with trusted reporters about the Wright Report findings and the challenges facing BC Ferries."
Emerson and B.C. Ferries board members were to "place calls to key media" in the two weeks ahead of the announcement.
Trusted reporters
On Dec. 7, 2002, Times Colonist columnist Les Leyne had a front page story about the restructuring.
Targeted to Sell BC Ferries' Message
Specific politicians, business people, academics sought to endorse private move.
Besides working with trusted reporters, the strategists planned to get help from supporters selling the idea that taking BC Ferries private was a good thing. "Obtain strong, ongoing support in the media and other public venues from tourism groups, the trucking association, the BC & Yukon Hotel Association, BCAA and mayors of coastal communities, to ensure media coverage is balanced and more positive."
It even named names of people likely to be supportive, and in many cases identified who would contact them. Communications consultant Jim Hoggan was to do some of the contacting. So were board chair Emerson and board members Tom Harris and Peter Armstrong.
Sean Holman, who also received a copy of the communications plan, last week reported that one of those supporters was new B.C. Ferries board member Steve Smith.
Mohann Jawl, identified as a "Saanich developer," is on the list. The Tyee reported in December, by the way, that the ferry company has struck a real estate deal with a Jawl family business. The company will sell its headquarters to the Jawls, then lease part of a building the Jawls are now developing. BC Ferries also agreed to advance $25 million to the Jawls.
Others to be contacted to help B.C. Ferries included Victoria radio station owner Mel Cooper, grocery store owner Alex Campbell Sr., Paul Landry from the B.C. Trucking Association, Trace Acres from the B.C. Automobile Association and tourism promoters Don Monsour, Rod Harris, Dave Petryk and Lorne Whyte. Report writer Fred Wright, UBC transportation professor Bill Waters, SFU's Lindsay Meredith and UBC's Michael Goldberg were on the list.
Mayors were also expected to help out: Alan Lowe in Victoria, Frank Leonard in Saanich, Gary Korpan in Nanaimo, Bruce Milne in Sechelt, Ron Wood in West Vancouver, Lois Jackson in Delta and Don Scott in Prince Rupert.
–Andrew MacLeod
The story was written several days ahead of the announcement, and yet Leyne had many of the government's key messages:
-"B.C. Ferries will sail away from direct provincial government control and be run by a new authority as part of plans to be announced Monday," he wrote. "Regular, modest B.C. ferry fare increases over the next several years will also be announced by Transportation Minister Judith Reid."
-"The new operating body will be modelled after successful airport authorities. It will run the fleet and terminals on a much more commercial basis, sources familiar with the plans have confirmed."
- "Modelled on the mall approach many airports have taken, particularly Vancouver, expect to see various commercial enterprises with a strong B.C. identity spring up to take advantage of the thousands of people held captive in ferry parking lots during the peak season."
-"The model for the new approach is the Vancouver Airport Authority. . . The same man who oversaw that change -- David Emerson, head of Canfor Ltd. -- has been chairman of the board at B.C. Ferries for the past 15 months."
-"Although there will be no sell-off of assets or privatization of routes, B.C. Ferries will also adopt a policy of being open to offers from any private companies who may express an interest in creating new services within the system."
-"The new authority is expected to get full power to set the fares, independent from government. Sources said that historically, politicians have modified every single tariff change proposed by the corporation."
-"Sources say the remodelling of the Crown corporation's relationship to government will follow some -- but not all -- of the recommendations last year by consultant Fred Wright, who reviewed the corporation and recommended major changes.
-"After looking at how ferry systems all over the world are operated, Wright concluded: 'The private sector can do it better.'"
-"Liberal caucus members briefed on the new approach say they are pleased about the plan. And some are also pleased that after months of controversial changes, Monday will mark the third week in a row the Liberal cabinet has opted for a milder, middle course."
'Radically revamped'
Others also reported the government's line. Also on Dec. 7, the Vancouver Sun's Craig McInnes had the story: "Ferry relaunch Monday: Remake of B.C. system follows Wright's review."
He wrote that Emerson was involved: "The B.C. Liberal government hopes that by following the Vancouver airport model, the ferry system can raise the money it needs for new ships and foreshore improvements and that people will be at least willing, if not happy, to pay more for a better experience."
Jason Proctor at The Province had a story on Dec. 8, still a day ahead of the government's announcement: "B.C. Ferries is set to launch a radically revamped service tomorrow, modelling the Crown corporation's future on the operations of the Vancouver International Airport Authority. Insiders say the changes will mean better service at higher prices."
Following the announcement, there were numerous stories, but the Nanaimo Daily News' boosterism stands out. The paper's Valerie Wilson wrote stories with the following headlines: "New course charted to keep ferries afloat"; "...Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce backs new B.C. Ferry Authority"; "...B.C. Ferries gets thumbs up from local MLA, Tourism Nanaimo"; "...Reid pumped about changes"; and "...commuter lauds changes to ferries."
And here's Vancouver Sun columnist Vaughn Palmer's warier conclusion: "The revised ferry corporation would be hard pressed to deliver a worse performance than its predecessor over the past decade. And perhaps a quasi-private corporation will be more capable at bettering service and generating revenues. But I doubt whether any but the most easily-amused travellers will ever look forward to spending more time in a BC Ferries terminal."
Ulterior motives
"Everybody uses everybody," Leyne said this week after hearing the government planned to work with "trusted reporters" on the announcement. "To learn they had a fairly sophisticated media campaign going doesn't cause me to fall over in a faint because we get used all the time."
He made the observation during a week when stories explored how the government tries to set the news agenda by keeping reporters busy and where press gallery reporters received gifts from the B.C. Pharmacy Association.
Leyne, who later wrote columns that were more sceptical about the B.C. Ferries restructuring, said he didn't recall talking with Emerson about the changes and wasn't sure who gave him the tip, but that it would be normal for someone to plant the seed of a story they wanted told.
"People don't just come up and give you something of their own volition for no good reason," he said. "There are usually ulterior motives involved."
More than six years after the restructuring, the changes continue to run their course. Recent Tyee reporting has shown fares are up, but earnings and the number of riders are down. The latest attempt to contract out routes failed. The company has taken on $1.2 billion in long-term debt and bought several new vessels that use much more fuel than the ships they replaced.
Related Tyee stories:
- BC Ferries losing money faster, ridership down
- BC's German Ferries May Be Lemons
Heavy fuel use, noise, vibration and air-sucking propellers said to be problems. - Hahn attacks Tyee's BC Ferries "gas guzzlers" story
![[Tyee]](http://thetyee.cachefly.net/ui/img/ico_fishie.png){kind=small}
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- Conservative MP says he might vote against budget, then 'clarifies' his position
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- The Gem of Canadian Science that Harper Killed
- Who Mowed Down the Premier?
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- 'A Gut Feeling'
- Sexism Tinges Criticism of Teachers' Job Action
- Bias in BC's Pesticide Decision? Follow the Bouncing Verbs
- Why Blackberry's Embrace of HTML5 Is Good Karma
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- Now Is the Time to Talk up Big Ideas
- The Ethics of Addiction Studies
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- Student groups file court challenge against Quebec protest law
- ...while on the streets, pirates and ninjas put aside mutual animosity to join student protests
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verso
3 years ago
another great article
As it's been said before, it's not what the MSM is reporting, it's what they're not reporting.
Kudos to the Tyee (and Tieleman and MacLeod) for some great reporting this week.
How much longer will Canwest ignore these revelations? Whatever credibility they had left is fading fast...
jimmy_laroux
3 years ago
EXCEPTIONAL ARTICLE!
It's fascinating to read about this media campaign from the inside out. Particularly interesting was their intention to use of "trusted reporters" to spread the right story.
Les Leyne is a journalist, or pretends to be. The most fundamental aspect of his job is to seek the truth and investigate as far as possible for his stories (leave no stone unturned, etc.), especially when it comes to something the government tells him. He is admitting not only that he failed in this task, but also that he is not too concerned about it. "We get fooled all of the time, ho hum."
Frank
3 years ago
The plan
"The planners did, however, have a list of arguments in favour of the restructuring. In the wake of the "fast ferries fiasco," there was a sense change was needed"
So the Fast Ferry "controversy" was manufactured so as to create a perceived crisis in the ferry system and make people willing to accept privatization.
Kind of a local version of Naomi Klein's "Disaster Capitalism".
And of course CanWest editorial support was counted on to sell it.
Luke Skywalker
3 years ago
BC Ferries...
Huhhhhhhh???? Foreign ownership???? How does that jive with the actual:
No kidding. Too much political interference with BC Ferries over the years resulting in some nasty financial decisions. Frankly, I've always preferred the quasi-independent YVR business model myself.
And that about says it all.
Frank
3 years ago
Sweet, nice work if you can get it
"Mohann Jawl, identified as a "Saanich developer," is on the list. The Tyee reported in December, by the way, that the ferry company has struck a real estate deal with a Jawl family business. The company will sell its headquarters to the Jawls, then lease part of a building the Jawls are now developing. BC Ferries also agreed to advance $25 million to the Jawls."
EDITED FOR LEGAL CONCERNS -- TYEE MODERATOR
sunshine coast girl
3 years ago
Contradictions and untruths abound....
Fallacy -"B.C. Ferries will sail away from direct provincial government control and be run by a new authority as part of plans to be announced Monday," he wrote. "Regular, modest B.C. ferry fare increases over the next several years will also be announced by Transportation Minister Judith Reid." Les Leyne.
Reality - An appendix to the strategy details the things the public might dislike about the change. There would be "public concern about steep increases in fares and cuts in service," it said.
Fallacy - The public would like that the move gets debt off the government books, they figured, and they would use the credibility of David Emerson, then chair of the B.C. Ferries board, to sell the idea.
Reality - The company has taken on $1.2 billion in long-term debt and bought several new vessels that use much more fuel than the ships they replaced.
Fallacy -"After looking at how ferry systems all over the world are operated, Wright concluded: 'The private sector can do it better.'"
Fallacy - And here's Vancouver Sun columnist Vaughn Palmer's warier conclusion: "The revised ferry corporation would be hard pressed to deliver a worse performance than its predecessor over the past decade. And perhaps a quasi-private corporation will be more capable at bettering service and generating revenues.
Reality - More than six years after the restructuring, the changes continue to run their course. Recent Tyee reporting has shown fares are up, but earnings and the number of riders are down.
And, I might add, they definitely have turned in a worse performance than their predecessor, and definitely have not been more capable of bettering service or generating revenues.
SharingIsGood
3 years ago
US ownership worries
Luke asks:
"Huhhhhhhh???? Foreign ownership???? How does that jive with the actual:"
It's really quite simple. The manipulative privatizing Campbell crowd would have sold to a US company if they could have found a buyer, Luke. Part of the reason for "privatizing" it was to make it easier to sell it to whomever they wanted at a later time. I don't know why I answer your questions at times, Luke. You generally go off topic and you don't seem to answer my questions.
Well, it it certainly looks like Vaughn Palmer is the in really trusted reporter bag for the Campbell crowd. It is very uncommon for that hack to say anything bad about the Liberals. I think Palmer picks and chooses his time to be a little critical of the Libs so as to put up a front of being free from bias. I can't wait until CanWest goes belly up. Their reporters and their columnists do little but blow hot air already exhaled by the Fraser Institute, Harper and Campbell.
Luke Skywalker
3 years ago
Frank...
Man, dude, it gets a helluva lot better than that.
Former NDP cabinet minister Bob Williams was appointed as head of the Crown Corporations Secretariat by the NDP government in the 1990's.
He was apparently aware, in his position, of BC Ferries' plan and timing of the new Duke Point Ferry terminal as well as BFTA's plan to extend Hwy 19 as an expressway right into the proposed Duke Point Ferry Terminal.
The BC Office of the Comptroller General investigated:
While the report is no longer available on line it certainly was not very favourable.
http://www.llbccat.leg.bc.ca/ipac20/ipac.jsp?index=BIB&term=235987#focus
Gotta love the holier than thou BC NDP... they were always trying to make a buck at the taxpayer's expense. :)
Luke Skywalker
3 years ago
BTW...
The RCMP also recommended criminal charges against Bob Williams as well as former BC NDP premier Dave Barrett regarding the NCHS swindle.
Yes, BC voters are just achin' to re-elect the BC NDP. NOT. :)
cghzd
3 years ago
yvr
WE all need more YVR's in our lives Luke, remember these are the people whose total and complete incompetence were probably 95% responsible for tazering a poor bastard to death because he couldn't speak English.
Nobody asked me if it was ok to sell off the major airports,our navigation system,Ports Canada and an host of other Government organizations over the last 10-15 years.
Nobody in YVR got their ass kicked for this
tazering debacle, nobody was responsible??
Same as BC Ferries sending one of their ships to the bottom. Nobody at the top was responsible or took on the responsibility an resigned.
The liberal/reform Campbell nutbars would have sold off the ferries but feared for their sorry asses if they did. Death by a thousand cuts is the Campbell motto.
EDITED FOR PERSONAL INSULTS -- TYEE MODERATOR
quarry bay
3 years ago
Lukie........
FOR THE LAST TIME, QUARRY BAY, PLEASE REFRAIN FROM PERSONAL INSULTS OF OTHER COMMENTERS, NO MATTER WHAT YOU MAY THINK OF THEIR IDEAS. THAT IS A CLEAR GUIDELING FOR TYEE COMMENT THREADS AND WE WILL BE FORCED TO BLOCK YOU IF YOU CONTINUE -- TYEE MODERATOR.
My nickname for Luke is so appropiate,children are taught lessons,through out life,lessoned are given,one lesson is 2 wrongs don`t make a right.
Yet little Lukie, probably 5' 2'' 130 lbs soaking wet, but mommy,billie hit me first.
Go to your room Lukie!
You are unreal,everything is fair game,you never defend anything on it`s merit or logic,you run to Palmer,I suppose it would of been Doer if he gad a ferry!Every bad decision for the BC tax payer you defend using some transgression from the past.
You must of had a miserable life Lukie,you mention political interference with the ferries,like there is no interference today?
A private would waste how much money painting olympic advertising on their boats,it doesn`t matter Lukie,Premier Carole James is bringing BC Ferries home,Hahn will be sent packing.
Les Leyne,a petty little man who can`t write,think,or produce anything legible or worth reading,Leyne`s best days are behind him...........
Canwest is going to go down,and the Palmer`s,Smyth`s, and the Leyne`s won`t get a second glance from the next big player.
It will be the Berner`s or or the Macleod`s or McMartin`s or holman or Beer`s or even the Quarry bay`s of the world,people who report,people with integrity who will be the future reporters,as for you Luke,your incapable of any writing,I hope you find yourself one day Lukie.
P.S. I didn`t intend to leave any Tyee columnists out,your all class acts in my world.
Cheers
Skywalker
3 years ago
Right on sunshine coast girl!
Articles like this are the reason I regularly read the Tyee. Also fun to read but only for entertainment is the Luke spin on any issue that does not put Campbell in a positive light. Watching him/her duck and weave is always good for a laugh.
Frank
3 years ago
US History Professor Luke
"Gotta love the holier than thou BC NDP."
Coming from you I vote this comment the "Most Hypocritical Comment" of the year.
lynn
3 years ago
Great article.
Imagine all the hundreds of pages of communication documents, all labelled "Confidential" in large letters, that it must have taken to sell off BC's finest public assets and resources...and all done under the perverse 1939ish guise of "re-structuring".
Quite the propaganda ministry that rules here.
With quite the fawning choir of reporters.
(The same shameless "communication" ruse is being used at present to...ahem...."re-structure" our rivers. The madness of that should tell us just how far their ugly psychology is prepared to go.)
jimmy_laroux
3 years ago
@ Luke Skywalker
You misunderstand. MacLeod is quoting the [i]government[i/] in regards to the public's possible concerns over foreign ownership. Try reading more carefully next time.
Grumpy
3 years ago
Gordo's credo.............
............sell it off, sell everything the BC owns off to Gordo's corporate friends.
Debate? Honesty? Integrity? Democracy? No, not here, not in the best place in the world. Gordo and his gangster friends have taken over the province and unless we, the people, get some moral fibre, all will be lost.
BC Ferries, BC Rail - Gordo doesn't give a damn. You donate to the Liberal party - you get a cut of the action.
RossK
3 years ago
What I Really Want To Know Is...
....Who are the 'untrusted' reporters?
That way I'll be sure to read them.
_____
Could Chris Montgomery be one, as was suggested by Kendyl Salcito in a Tyee piece from May 2006 written after the Queen of the North Sinking:
...."In the days just following the ferry sinking, Chris Montgomery, a Province reporter who has long led the pack in maritime news, broke stories about the Queen of the North's delayed decommission date and the inaccurate passenger manifests. But after Montgomery co-wrote a story claiming an RCMP investigation into possible criminal negligence by B.C. Ferries was underway, Hahn publicly took issue with the claim that B.C. Ferries was itself the target of the investigation. An RCMP representative told The Tyee the difference of opinion between Montgomery and Hahn is one of "semantics," though a criminal investigation can not be formally announced until the TSB issues its report, possibly years away.
In the meantime, B.C. Ferries no longer returns Montgomery's phone calls....."
.
North of Hope
3 years ago
Standing up to Campbell
Only one MLA stood up to the Oligarchy and that is Paul Nettelton. He was removed from the BC Liberals for standing up for what was right and against to Campbell concerning the sale of BC Hydro.
Grumpy
3 years ago
All CanWest/Global reporters..........
.........are trusted reporters. Bill Boring & Christie Clark on CORUS are another pair of trusted reporters.
Many years ago, Grumpy tried to get some reporters interested in a big story concerning Cambie St. Merchants along RAV. Nope - Nada - get lost was all Grumpy got, well fast forward 5 years and you have court action against TransLink and the city of Vancouver, on the very same subject, in mid March.
I will wager the same trusted reporters will no report on the story.
deeby
3 years ago
The Fast Ferry Controversy
Didn't they turn down an offer from Washington Marine Group, only to sell them to WMG at auction for 10% of the original offer. Coincidence...?
Jeffrey J.
3 years ago
History of Propaganda
A truly disturbing read. The extent to which Campbell's regime has become twisted and corrupt literally made me nauseous.
Many BC citizens will recall the definition of propaganda, defined thusly:
Propaganda is the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist.
—Garth S. Jowett and Victoria O'Donnell, Propaganda and Persuasion
It's history is well covered in Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda
Democracies are NOT supposed to become facist. But how far we have fallen.
History has repeatedly taught us to be wary of the early seeds of government power and control.
It's time for a change!
Great coverage!!!
HippyTreeMan
3 years ago
Nineteen eighty four
Orwell could not have done it better!This does not surprise me one bit after two terms of Gorgdo.When will the people of this province wake from this nightmare?May 12?Oh,and by the way Lukie go back to the hole you climbed out of!
Luke Skywalker
3 years ago
The NDP Spinmeisters...
Here no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. Now that's amazing!
http://www.timescolonist.com/News/Spinning+news+taxpayers+expense/1355800/story.html
Van Isle
3 years ago
My question to Les Leyne is;
My question to Les Leyne is; Knowing that you have been used and especially by those bandits in Victoria, don't you feel kinda dirty and want to take a shower?
G West
3 years ago
Guess you missed this, from McLeaod's article.
...the story was written several days ahead of the announcement, and yet Leyne had many of the government's key messages...
Leyne carries as much water for the BC Liberals in the Provincial Capital as Bill Good does in Vancouver.
Not a big surprise to see his controverted record as a 'reporter' show up in the current context with a further attempt to change the subject.
G West
3 years ago
erratum
That's MacLeod....sorry Andrew!
HippyTreeMan
3 years ago
Spinning Leyne
Lukie uses the same spin doctor the Libs use!Quote "the Liberals vastly enhanced it"that is the office Lukie was denigrating the NDP the starting.Quotes out of context do not further your point.Just exposes your pointy head!Liberal Apologist!!
Rod Smelser
3 years ago
Les Leyne
"Everybody uses everybody," Leyne said this week after hearing the government planned to work with "trusted reporters" on the announcement. "To learn they had a fairly sophisticated media campaign going doesn't cause me to fall over in a faint because we get used all the time."
"People don't just come up and give you something of their own volition for no good reason," he said. "There are usually ulterior motives involved."
I think these responses from Les Leyne are fair enough, as far as they go. In fact, I think it's a bit of a breakthrough for someone from the press gallery to admit there could be any flaws in the process at all!
But looking over his Dec 7 2002 piece I think there's a couple of things that stand out as being in the "used a bit too easily" department. There's a couple of key instances of argument by adjective, in some cases argument by noun if there's such a thing, in the first few paragraphs, the part everyone reads. I am thinking of expressions such as "Regular, modest B.C. ferry fare increases", "modelled after successful airport authorities", and "commercial enterprises with a strong B.C. identity". The choice of words here has been optimized from the POV of the BC Liberal Govt.
There's other pieces of wording later on that put things in a favourable light, such passages as "open to offers from any private companies ... new services", "independent from government", "remodelling of the Crown corporation's relationship", and my second best favourite, "Liberal cabinet has opted for a milder, middle course."
What's my total favourite? The descriptions of David Emerson and Fred Wright. Emerson is described as the "head of Canfor Ltd.", not as a DM in Bill Bennett's Govt during the Restraint Era.
Fred Wright? He's not described at all. As far as I can tell, Wright is an investment specialist in Vancouver, with no apparent or particular attachment to marine industries. If that is the case, think about how the press gallery would have treated Wright during the NDP years. He would have been described as an NDP patronage appointee selected by patronage czar John Pollard in spite of the fact that he has no knowledge of marine matters.
I wonder if Les is maybe more worried about this story than what he told MacLeod. Luke S. the lawyer has linked to Leyne's latest column in which he provides Luke with the inspiration to claim that modern BC taxpayer financed spin doctoring started with Glen Clark, and is related somehow to the Nisga'a Treaty, according to a Univ of Calgary Emeritus Prof.
Wait a minute? You don't suppose, ... the inspiration was flowing in the opposite direction, do you??? Now that would be interesting, wouldn't it?
Rod Smelser
3 years ago
Free Association
Luke S.
Three years ago Alberta professor Rick Ponting wrote a book ...
Doing a quick google on Ponting, it turns out he's an Emeritus Prof of Sociology from the University of Calgary who has done work for 30 years on the matter of public opinion towards Aboriginals in the rest of society, among non-Aboriginals. He was appointed to be the Anglican Church of Canada's representative on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, but I believe that commission has gone dormant.
So what's the free association? I just couldn't help but think of former British Columbia Attorney-General Stuart Douglas "Bud" Smith, who also had a position with the Anglican Church, working in the Cariboo with Aboriginal groups. I grant you, the association is weak to the tune of being pointless, but damn, there it is. It just popped up in my head. But isn't that what free association is always like?
Rod Smelser
3 years ago
Free Association
Luke S.
Three years ago Alberta professor Rick Ponting wrote a book ...
Doing a quick google on Ponting, it turns out he's an Emeritus Prof of Sociology from the University of Calgary who has done work for 30 years on the matter of public opinion towards Aboriginals in the rest of society, among non-Aboriginals. He was appointed to be the Anglican Church of Canada's representative on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, but I believe that commission has gone dormant.
So what's the free association? I just couldn't help but think of former British Columbia Attorney-General Stuart Douglas "Bud" Smith, who also had a position with the Anglican Church, working in the Cariboo with Aboriginal groups. I grant you, the association is weak to the tune of being pointless, but damn, there it is. It just popped up in my head. But isn't that what free association is always like?
Rod Smelser
3 years ago
Beats me
I don't know why the last item was posted twice.
Luke Skywalker
3 years ago
Rod...
Bill Tieleman was Glen Clark's former communications director and would have obviously been involved.
Some of Ponting's excerpts certainly jump out at me:
1. huge media monitoring campaign
2. the biggest effort outside the White House. ... "Leave no shot unanswered."
That has a certain Nixonian ring to it. ;)
seth
3 years ago
Automatic 7% fare increase GST
Why is it that the Canwest and its trusted reporters like Palmer never reported that the most immediate effect of the "privatization" was the 7% GST boon to Ottawa. BC taxpayers would have been incensed with their 7% fare increase, but nobody seems to be aware of it.
Rod Smelser
3 years ago
One Question for Andrew MacLeod
One thing isn't clear to me from your story. Who authored this strategy? Was it government staff in the Premier's Office or the Public Affairs Bureau? Or was a private company hired to put this strategy together?
Frank
3 years ago
Campbell's Propaganda Arm
"Liberals later took the concept and vastly enhanced it.
A Liberal communications plan surfaced in the legislature this week and it includes almost exactly the same message. "Every minister must answer each charge and opportunity."
The bureau has executive directors, directors and managers running an elaborate news operation that puts any media outlet in B.C. today to shame. One of the basic themes is to show progress. "Pictures, headlines, consistent messaging. Increased frequency, reach, and targeted communication . . . ."
Funny to think that in the current round of anxiety over the future of the media, it's the government that's stepping up to take over the job. Just keep in mind they're doing it on their terms, with your money."
Gee, I wonder if the Public Affairs Bureau has anyone assigned to the Tyee to make sure the anti-NDP position is always front and centre? Hmm... now who could it be...
quarry bay
3 years ago
Well this isn`t spin.......
Ferry fares are going up,jobs by the thousands have vanished on the islands(do to Gordon Campbell forestry practices)...
A pre-election GIFT from the Campbell goverment,crank up the ferry fares!
Here`s the story....
http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3c6cf151-6f5d-47a8-84c3-4ddd28d57bff
quarry bay
3 years ago
Fares going up.........
http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3c6cf151-6f5d-47a8-84c3-4ddd28d57bf7
Luke Skywalker
3 years ago
Hmmmmmmm...
Quarry Bay:
Frank:
Rod Smelser:
Frank:
Tyee posters certainly do provide for more humour than a comic book. Lottsa fun. :)
Hmmmmmmm...
Ad Personem Argument:
"the statement or argument at issue is dropped from consideration or is ignored, and the locutor's character or circumstances are used to influence opinion."
"Utilized when someone responding is not capable of factually disputing a statement and indicates weak intellectual ability." :)
Frank
3 years ago
Luke
LOL,
"Ad Personem Argument"
I guess that's what you call it when someone declares they're an expert on everything but never provide any evidence of such and instead attack the NDP for imagined crimes.
Still waiting to hear all the US History you learned in the faculty of commerce at UBC.
Luke Skywalker
3 years ago
Frank...
I feel like beating my head against the wall. :D
Have some more reading comprension:
Andrew MacLeod
3 years ago
Report Authors
Responding to Rod above, as noted in the story, all the report says about authorship is "B.C. Ferries and the Transportation Ministry developed it together."
It is also clear that communications consultant Jim Hoggan was involved at some level, as he was assigned to contact people who would speak in favour of the plan.
Frank
3 years ago
Self-Declared expert-on-US-History Luke
"Utilized when someone responding is not capable of factually disputing a statement and indicates weak intellectual ability."
Exactly what you provide here. You ignore the article, ignore everyone else's arguments and instead attack the NDP and any poster saying anything against the Liberals.
But like you say, you do it because you don't have any facts and so you resort to spin and distractions instead.
Rod Smelser
3 years ago
Thanks Andrew
It seems like a very ambitious and comprehensive plan. In my expereince, government public relations types normally stick to doing smaller tasks, preparing a press release, devising some media lines, arranging the minister's travel itinerary, etc., being for the most part reactive.
This kind of across the board assessment of the issue's upsides and downsides, identification of friendlies and hostiles, etc., seems to me like something new in the realm of communications strategy, at least on the part of permanent government staff. That's why I wondered if a private company had drafted this plan.
Luke Skywalker
3 years ago
Jim Hoggan - James Hoggan & Associates???
That's very interesting.
Former Glen Clark aide and Vision Vancouver councillor Geoff Meggs recommended (which was accepted by Vision Vancouver council) that James Hoggan & Associates be awarded a $60,000 contract for communications spin on the Olympic Village.
Small world.
Rod Smelser
3 years ago
Maybe Erin Airton will handle it
http://www.publiceyeonline.com/archives/000652.html
If James Hoggan and Associates is working on the Olympic Village file, maybe Erin Airton will handle it.
Skywalker
3 years ago
I think I got it.
The "sell off" or privatization of the ferry system and the subsequent spin with embedded journalists to avoid exposing the truth is all Glen Clark's fault. Yes Luke, I think I get your point. It is proven because somebody hired somebody with connections to the PR department of the government in the 90's. Come to think of it Campbell's drunk driving charge was all the fult of Glen as well. Proof might be they both like scotch.
deeby
3 years ago
It takes a lot of nerve...
...to deride people for using ad hominem devices while utilizing them oneself. Tu quoques Luke.
Are you taking part in a debate, or merely trolling? I suppose that doesn't matter if one's mission is to keep the signal-to-noise ratio high enough to discourage discussion.
G West
3 years ago
You Do like the auditor general, don't you luke?
Perhaps you missed the news; nice to see Andrew hasn't:
http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Housing/2009/03/05/DoyleHomeless/
G West
3 years ago
Perhaps just a few words from the Exec Summary
We found significant activity and resources being applied to homelessness issues but there is no provincial homelessness plan with clear goals and objectives.
However, the absence of clear goals
and objectives raises questions about whether the right breadth and ... When there are no clear goals or performance targets, accountability for results is missing.
Now, in the area of selling off the province, its assets and its resources, CEO government has very definite goals.
Perhaps the key to solving homelessness is to 'sell' the clients to a body like Kinder Morgan, CN, or Accenture...or maybe just put a spinner like Hahn in charge...Coleman seems incapable of dealing with the situarion...
sunshine coast girl
3 years ago
Forgive my ignorance...
None of us agreed to the BC Liberals selling off or privatizing ANY of our assets. In fact, they are elected to look after the province; not destroy it. So why can't we take them to court?
SharingIsGood
3 years ago
backwash on Liberal Ferries
Most of the coffee shops I know are already awash with the Liberal-friendly spin as presented by CanWest and Black Press. I have begun printing collections of Tyee, ViveleCanada etc. articles out in full colour that I place in clear acetone jackets. I label thecollections "The Real BC and Canada News (what you don't get to see on TV)" and distribute these to local coffee shops. Each week, I will put a new collection of articles in a new set of jackets and deliver them. Perhaps if you other Tyee readers would do a similar thing in your communities, we could get some true grass-roots democracy happening in this province. I always make sure that I include the authors' names, the dates and the address - http://thetyee.ca
freebear
3 years ago
Politics is Spin!
Politics is all about spin nowadays, so its no surprise there was a plan!
Just like there was a plan to avoid announcing we were in recession till the last minute!
Just like the 4 mounties have a plan for their 'spin' oh I mean notes!
leem
3 years ago
typical of all levels of all governments
since moving to bc 3 years ago, i'm always amused by the political ranting of some folks out here. cambell's government, clark's government, the bennett government, blah blah. harper's conservatives have been doing the same thing over the whole country, and they took over from martin and previous liberal pm's. selling off crown corps, land, forests, waterways- its the way of the new millenium, you'd think! yes, we have a right to take all of our "elected" officials to court over this tyranny and fascism, but try and find a judge who would hear that! actually, stevie harper and tony clement did have a suit brought against them, for selling out our country. did you ever hear about that??? technically, harper shouldn't have been able to participate in the last election, due to the proceedings.
this isn't even a selling out to the highest bidder-kind of deal; our country has been systematically sold off to buddies of those in current office. we used to refer to it as 'nepotism", but now its such common practice, you'd be hard pressed to find someone under 30 years old who has even heard of the word. Spt eLeventh was the same- create a problem from within your own government, sell the solution. hey, worked for hitler, too!
Boudicca
3 years ago
BC Ferries Contracts
The leasing of BC Ferries for 90 years is technically not a sale. What astounds me is that local coastal governments, ferry advisory committees, and the general public have not sued BC Ferries for their flagrant breach of contracts and the corporation's absolute disregard for those service contracts which stipulate the amount of fare increases and service levels.
Obviously journalists today--who may not want to dig into those lengthy tomes--and CanWest editors in particular (first hand experience) don't want those stories explored.
During the election prior to the "privitization" I told Adriane Carr--who was running provincially--that the Liberals were going to privitize the ferry's--but only silence emanated from the great Green Hope.
As a journalist, that "everbody uses everybody" tidbit, brought me nothing but grief.
You can bet your last dollar the Liberals monitor The Tyee.
SharingIsGood
3 years ago
Quarry Bay
If one goes here, one can see that of the first 50 comments, 48 were against the Liberals, 2 were for. That is huge in my books. Like you said, QB, it looks as if the BC people have finally had enough of Campbell's bunch of crooks. It sounds like a landslide to me.
SharingIsGood
3 years ago
QB here's that link I told you about (above)
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/03/04/bc-2010-olympic-recession.html#socialcomments
quarry bay
3 years ago
Sig.......
The people of BC reluctantly gave Gordon Campbell a second term,they gave him another chance,Gordon Campbell has been a DISMAL FAILURE on all ACCOUNTS,he will not get another chance.
Luke can spin,this election is over,the Liberals are done,one merely needs to look at the Gregor landslide victory,the Corrigan landslide victory,the BC bi-election landslide victory.
Don`t stop beating that drum Sig,Campbell will go into debt for 100s of millions trying to bribe towns and citizens,everyone/town will take our money,but it will backfire,even the hiring of hundreds of proffesional media spinners won`t help,it appears that Les Leyne is......
Pissed off for being outed as a PATSY to the BC Liberals,I am not a LES Leyne fan,but he is well worth the read today.....
Here is the link Sig,please read....
http://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/Spinning+news+taxpayers+expense/1355800/story.html
"Revenge is a dish best served cold"
SharingIsGood
3 years ago
Read les leyne
Not only is he mad about being outed, I think he's mad because the Libs are Twittering instead of spending tax-payer dollars on CanWest ads.
Reagan's, Mulroney's, Thatcher's, Bush Sr's, Clinton's, Cretien's, Martin's and especially GW Bush's, Campbell's and Harper's house of cards has finally begun to crumble. Most of the public now knows it was all mostly smoke and mirrors. The uber-wealthy are not hurting in this tumble. Sadly, this is also part of the plan. Most of the ultra-wealthy will be able to pick up shattered companies, labour, and resources for pennies on the dollar. They will have more control over more of the world's wealth than ever before.
frenchy mcswede
3 years ago
BC Ferries and Media Corruption
I have just read today's Les Leyne column and it confirms my general impressions of him as a partisan hack -I'm trying to be kind here. Oh, yes, Canwest political columnists WILL criticize Campbell -just as long as they can spend at least two thirds of the article talking about something the NDP did 10 years that they did one tenth as much as much as the liberals, as if allowing a FEW aquaculture farms, or limited gambling is the exact moral equivalent of rolling out the red carpet for these industries, and as if giving them tax payer assetts at a fraction of their value is somehow a virtue. This is pattern used far past the point of nausea by Leyne and mostly, till recently, by Michael Smythe.
Leyne was once referred to as "Campbell's bum boy," by the raging grannies, and during the last provincial election wrote in a column that Campbell had raised welfare rates $100 "across the board," despite their having been a raise for persons with disabilities, ONLY. Concerned, as ridings are often won by a few hundred votes, I phoned the Times requesting that they remove this erroneous information -they refused to do so. I still have a paper copy of the article.
Today we have a NEW ferry scandal, as documented by Mr Mcleod, as the new german ferries have been a near disaster, have propellers mounted too high out of the water, so that they have caused small landslides from over vibration, are gas guzzlers, to say nothing for being responsible for sending a billion dollars worth of jobs, their economic spinoff, and the taxes derived thereof out of the country -more master economic planning from the liberals. I have ridden in the Spirit vessels built in BC numerous times and they sail very well into 60 mile an hour headwinds. However for Canwest, the liberal's ferry debacles are worthy of one day's coverage, while the fast ferries that at least provided jobs in BC, tax revenue, and which could have been salvaged, merit a decade of shrill condemnation form Canwest hacks...but then what can be expected, when the recent revelations from the legislature raid, the liberals being broke after three years of record revenues from high commodity prices merit not so much as a line.
Campbell's disastrous handling of the ferry file has hurt both tourism in BC and the island's economy and will no doubt cost him in the next election
Luke,since 90% of your posts are cut and paste, why not do all the cut and pasting in ONE post, AND ALL of your actual writing in HALF of another, this would both clean up these threads and leave you more time for grinding your teeth...
BC Mary
3 years ago
S.I.G.
What a beautiful, human way of sharing the news and re-building confidence in your communities.
Thanks for that happy image.
In passing ... TC today has an amazing Les Leyne column. It reads like a deathbed confession or something. He's explaining the Public Affairs Bureau: 223 fulltime staffers, tons of technical back-up, and a $28million budget.
But then he spoils it by whining, of course, it was Glen Clark who started it. Incorrigible. And I mean Leyne, not Glen.
frenchy mcswede
3 years ago
Wow, luke
Click the side bar article on the top right of the Tyee's front page -Recession may trim Olympic Benefits:BC Minister (ie Colin Hanson) and then read the article AND the comment section on the cbc bc news post. Out of a hundred or so posts following the article contempt is expressed again and again in all but a few posts, with many dire warnings for the liberals about the next provicial election. Unlike the anecdotal evidence very often posted by you, this informal survey shows that BC Liberal support is tanking...gee, luke I guess Mustel never polled any of these people...
quarry bay
3 years ago
Extra extra read all about it.....
Fresh off the newswire.......
WALLY OPPAL IS OFFICIALLY A SACRIFICIAL LAMB!
Wally Oppal because of plunging support as attorney general,and plunging support in his riding of Fraserview(he`s polling in the teens)
Will now be running in the lost riding of Delta south!
Gordon Campbell pleaded and begged Vicki Huntington to run for the Liberals in that riding,Vicki H said GET LOST....
Delta south(Power lines/SFPR/port expansion/BOG detruction/Land out of the Land reserve)Liberals are hated in Delta south,NO BC LIBERAL CAN WIN IN DELTA SOUTH.
So, Kash Heed is being parachuted into the Fraserview riding hoping to SALVAGE the RIDING(he won`t)...Kash Heed lives in Richmond,Fraserview won`t be happy about an appointed parachutee dropped in their lap.
This is a DESPERATE move by GORDON CAMPBELL to try and SAVE FRASERVIEW
This is happening because of the BLEAK BC LIBERAL INTERNAL POLLS
quarry bay
3 years ago
Meet Vicki Huntington.......
Meet the independent candidate who told Gordon Campbell where to go!.......
http://www2.canada.com/vancouversun.columnists/story.html?id=95cff157-4d46-40b1-9a75-c569644085ab
lynn
3 years ago
The "Private" Agenda of The Public Affairs Bureau
"Ironically, I began to understand how censorship worked in so-called free societies when I reported from totalitarian societies. During the 1970s I filmed secretly in Czechoslovakia, then a Stalinist dictatorship. I interviewed members of the dissident group Charter 77, including the novelist Zdener Urbanek, and this is what he told me. "In dictatorships we are more fortunate that you in the West in one respect. We believe nothing of what we read in the newspapers and nothing of what we watch on television, because we know its propaganda and lies. I like you in the West. We've learned to look behind the propaganda and to read between the lines, and like you, we know that the real truth is always subversive."
Vandana Shiva has called this subjugated knowledge. The great Irish muckraker Claud Cockburn got it right when he wrote, "Never believe anything until it's officially denied."
- John Pilger
quarry bay
3 years ago
Sacrificial Lamb
This story has been confirmed by Keith Baldrey.........
http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/soundoff/archive/2009/02/22/296822.aspx
Looks like some commenters last month called this result?
quarry bay
3 years ago
More sacrificial lamb.......
http://battlegroundbc.com/2009/02/22/wally-oppal-to-run-in-delta-south/
Fraserview riding dead,Delta south riding dead,chalk up two more NDP ridings
David Beers
3 years ago
SharingIsGood, Thanks!!!!
That's wonderful that you print out and distribute stories by The Tyee and other independent media you trust, SharingIsGood. Very much appreciated by all of us here.
David
SharingIsGood
3 years ago
You're welcome, David
If I were rich, David, I'd buy up some BC papers just so I could give the shares to you and the workers at those papers to run. Wouldn't that be fun!
SIG
Frank
3 years ago
"If I were rich,
"If I were rich, David"
Considering the falling price of CanWest shares SIG it might only take a few bucks each :)
Rod Smelser
3 years ago
lynn: An excellent post
Thanks for telling us about your experiences in Czechoslovakia. If the Czechs had known in those days about Fox News I wonder what they would have said?
Just to give you an idea of how badly misdirected our own people are in terms of North American media, I was told yesterday by a co-worker that the New York Times and CNN were just as guilty of what he called, I kid you not, "left wing bias" as Fox is of right wing bias. He wasn't kidding.
I had to wonder if he hadn't been, ... er, ... persuaded to this incredible view by Rachel Marsden or someone very much like her. And please don't think Rachel has no admirers left in Greater Vancouver and isn't trying to repair her image here:
http://www.the-peak.ca/article/3843
Note: This Peak piece by Dave Roberts is actually from last July. And there's no good blaming this kind of thing on big business, The Peak is a student newspaper.
lynn
3 years ago
Rod Smelser
Sorry, ....never been to Czechoslovakia...that excellent quote was from John Pilger.
It is in quotes with his name attributed to it at the bottom of the quote.
I remember The Peak from my student days at SFU. As for Rachel Marsden, the less said, the better.
Rod Smelser
3 years ago
lynn: Misunderstood
I thought it was only the second paragraph being attributed to Pilger! Sorry.
As for Marsden, the less said the better? To some degree. But there are still well-known professors at SFU who vociferously took her side in 1997 and to this day have not felt the slightest need to apologize for or even explain their incredible actions.
I very strongly suspect that some of them, even more than Marsden herself, are behind last July's laughable puff piece in The Peak.
doggone
3 years ago
I don't know but I've been told
Last night we arrived back to YVR from a month away in U.K. and Turkey. Touchdown about on time: 4:55 local. We assume we will be able to get home to Vancouver Island reasonably promptly since we have been ferried about in other countries (often with no understanding of the local language although most Turks spoke fairly reasonable English).
After attempting to catch a float plane we hired a taxi to Tsawwassen and stood in line OUTSIDE the terminal to purchase tickets.
OK! The terminal is under renovation.
But none of the (hopefully well paid) think tank planners could figure out how to put the ticket booths in the endless corridors that ferry customers are granted entry to once they get their boarding pass in their frozen hands?
Only in Canada
PS: we got home before midnight
happy
3 years ago
What a shocking article
Politicians playing politics. Who would have ever thought that would happen in BC?
Only the Liberals could sink that low.
But never mind that! Lets get back to those earthqauke-inducing foundation-cracking tarsands-sucking mini-me Bismarks. Shouldn't there be lawsuits by homeowners devestated by the damage to thier houses by now? You'd think so. Unless...
Say, has anybody ever visited the Ferry Workers website? They used to display the Queen of the North as the Flagship of thier Union. Guess what Class they show now. Galling isn't it. The Fed might want to have a talk with them.
On that QOTN topic, seeing as how Transport Canada and the Justice system have let us down, and if the RCMP doesn't eventually lay any charges, then I demand the next Provincial government, whoever they are, implement a full Public Inquiry into the cause of the disaster. Two innocent people are dead.
I think we can all agree on that one, right?
G West
3 years ago
Great Idea Happy
As long as we also have a full public inquiry into the management of BC Ferries; the sale of BC Rail and the BASI/VIRK Campbell cabinet connections; the destruction of the forest industry; the sell out of BC's interests to TILMA forces and the failure of the government to address homelessness and the plight of senior care....among other things.
Care to add to the list anyone?
tresfun
3 years ago
Hollowing Out our Common Good
I am not saying Gordon Campbell is homophobic - but look at what he has done to the Ferries!!! Pulease!!!
Why hollow-out a public good - surely the people of BC should look at this critically at election time. We deserve better - better government and better ferry service. It's a road for goodness sakes - maybe let-them-eat-cake Gordo doesn't know that not everyone flies to Victoria???
Thanks for the great reporting!!
happy
3 years ago
Better idea West
Gosh, thats an awful lot of Public Inquiries you want. I can't help but think that only the Legal profession would think thats a great idea.
I've got a better plan. Since we are having an election is a couple of months we can save a whole ferryboatload of cash, and let the Public rule on those issues all at once!
Direct Democracy. Who needs lawyers.
SharingIsGood
3 years ago
"let the Public rule"
On the surface your idea has some merit, as we are in the midst of a nasty recession, if not a depression, Happy. However, an uninformed public will makes uninformed decisions.
The bulk of these Tyee stories don't make it to the mainstream media, yet the bulk of the population counts on that media for its information. The MSM has been letting the public down and democracy has been taking the hit.
Further, much of what has been happening in regards to the issues that GWest has mentioned, might involve criminal activity/conspiracy. If that is the case, the public deserves justice and politicians, as keepers of the public purse and the public trust, should be held to the highest accountability standards. A member of the public caught burglarizing a Point Grey politician's home would most likely be prosecuted. Therefore it would only be fair that a Point Grey politician be scrutinized and prosecuted if he were found to be burglarizing the public's home.
happy
3 years ago
Greetings SIG
Respectfully...
In my opinion - the reson most (not all) of the articles printed here don't make the MSM is simple. They are embellished hear-say not rooted in fact.
This series on the new ferries is a prime example. You may notice I keep going back to the reports of alledged cracked house foundations. Histerical! Yet Tyee readers lap it up. Who looks uninformed and manipulated now SIG?
Secondly - the other "maybe criminal" issues that you and West allude to are Policy decisions made by the democratically elected Government in power. If any laws are being broken why isn't the NDP telling us. Lets just start with West's first one. The Management of BD Ferries. What alledged activity is occuring, may I ask, that warrants a Public Inquiry?
Sorry, no embellished hear-say or innuendo accepted, or how everybody hates Gordo, if you wish to respond.
Lets keep er on topic
G West
3 years ago
Ummm Happy - Criminal
Don't think so.
Maybe you should read that post of mine again - you're the one suggesting something 'criminal' went on relative to the Queen of the North's sinking...
As for hearsay and unfounded ad hominem, suggesting there's a link between the pictorial content of a union website
(and the unfortunate death of two people that David Hahn wasn't even aware of for several hours after the sinking - although he did have enough presence of mind to start spinning by calling his good buddy Keith Baldrey in the middle of the night) seems to me to be indulging in a lot more than just 'hearsay'.
As for the election being a good way to solve these issues - I don't think we have an actual functioning democracy now...the only way we're ever getting to the bottom of these issues is by turfing out the people who are responsible for them.
I hope the people of British Columbia understand what kind of a future their children are in for if they choose another 4 years of the CEO.
SharingIsGood
3 years ago
ferries spin plan
Happy, my biggest beef with the main stream media is their bias for the Liberals.
Imagine if you will, that the NDP had created a quas-company called the BC Ferry Corporation for which taxpayers were still on the hook for keeping afloat. Imagine that the NDP brought in a high priced foreigner to run BC Ferries. The imagine that they looked over valid plans to make the Fast Cat ferries perfectly useful, but chose to sell them for less than one-third their value as scrap. Suppose further, that the NDP decided to purchase new ferries from a state-subsidized German company after not even asking BC shipyards to submit bids. Now imagine that that NDP government refused to answer questions about the cost, the efficiency, and the running of the bogus ferry corporation.
Further, not only do they not answer questions, they are directed by the party leadership to attack the other party when cornered. Imagine what the Liberal-friendly MainStream Media would have done to the NDP if the current shoes were on the other feet. Geez, we are still hearing about a bloody deck that an unscrupulous neighbour built (for a trusting neighbour) and then tried to claim he received special favours for this. Though the Deck and the Fast Cats were front page news for months and months, we barely hear a mention of the 1/2 billion over-run of the convention centre; the probable illegal sale for less than its value (considering tax breaks and accounting fees etc.) of money-making BC Rail to CN, a huge Liberal supporter through its executives; the awarding of millions in contracts for jobs formerly going to BC employees to national and international corporations like Accenture and Oracle; hundreds of employees and hundreds of millions going to public relations expenditures. The list goes on and on, Happy. The mainstream media ought to be holding Campbell's feet to the fire on page one and in its lead TV News stories, but it refuses. It is not that the mainstream media is not aware, it more that it seems to have become a branch of the Liberal/Reform party.
gomer
3 years ago
"and the beat goes on"
http://www.canada.com/bumped+from+ferry/1299983/story.html
quarry bay
3 years ago
Cmon Happy
Happy,the issue is the spin game,I have no doubt there are problems with the new ferries,are the stories being exaggerated?Perhaps.
But there are countless others issues with over-whelming evidence that get deliberatly spun,for example FISH FARMS,even I bi-partisan committeee 2 years ago identified the major problems has been buried by Campbell.
The auditor general has just come out with a report slamming the goverment on the homelessness issue,Rich Coleman was on the Sean Leslie show yesterday calling the AGs report bunk!
The Auditor generals recent reports on the olympics,on the Vancouver island land giveaways,the land report PAT BELL literaly threatened the AG and called him out/Hansen and Campbell slammed the AG about his olympic costs report!
Seniors care/children`s care(hughes report)cambie merchants/BC rail and on and on,the point I am trying to make Happy is this......
When there is over-whelming evidence the story gets spun,the watchdog groups get attacked and get their budgets slashed,recent stories in the news which are quite relevant to this thread........
MLAs are muzzled/ Cadidates must sign oath of silence to get the nomination/How to avoid answering questions/and it is quite apparent that these plans are hatched on the back of one of the premiers envelope,then a concentrated effort to spin the story and shazam/ferries gone/shazam/rail gone/shazam/rivers gone/shazam/bc hydro gone/shazam/HEU gone..........
The Olympics went to a referendum to see if we would bid on them,and i like that process,there should of been referendums on selling of rivers/FISH FARMS/selling bc rail/privitizing BC ferries/ anyways.......
Happy,you have the appearnce of a intelligent man,my question to you and everyone, since you know that Campbell is a liar,a law breaker,a media spinner,a control freak,possibly deranged,has a criminal record for infractions AFTER he was elected,is being sued in a 1/2 dozen courts at any one time,why would you vote for him,or defend him? And he broke some other promises,goverment advertising he brought to a whole new level,golden parachute pensions,and financialy the province has never been in worse shape in it`s history!
happy
3 years ago
Good evening West, SIG, and Quarry
Too many points to respond to. I'll do my modest best...
First off - West. I'm not "suggesting" something criminal happened on the QOTN. I'm flat out STATING it. Refusing to explain how your actions led to a ship running into an island with subsequent loss of life, is as much evedence I, and any other sensible person, needs. If that isn't enough then why is the BCFMWU silent on the crew firings? Not a peep. Same with the Fed. Silence.
They just want this swept under the carpet more than anybody. With the exception of the fired crew members, who IMO, are getting away with Manslaughter.
For now.
Secondly - SIG. Now you are embellishing. BC shipyards were given as much opportunity to bid as any company. And Washington Marine Group, the only local company, did bid. It wasn't accepted. If it had been accepted SIG, it called for the bulk of fabrication to be done in CHINA. Did you know that? Do you think Chinese shipyards are not subsidized?
And why China? Because the local yards couldn't handle it. They are full with repair business, thier bread and butter. It would make no sense for them to kick that business out to ramp up for a large construction project which, when finished, is then phased out. We've seen this movie before. Never mind the Cats, how come a BC built ferry of ANY Class has never been sold outside of BC?
And finally Quarry - yes, the spin game abounds. I already noted that. Thats common to politicians of any stripe, you know that to be true. They ALL lie, I mean backpedal, have a change of heart, whatever. It's called Politics. Thats no excuse, it's the way it is. I don't pretend to have any answers for that one. All I do pretend to know, is that if the NDP returns to Government it would be more of the same, just with a different flavour. We've seen that movie before too.
Last point QB, we can debate whether the province is in the worst financial shape in its history till the tide comes in and goes out again, right? (I used to live on the waterfront too) Numbers can be moved from one balance sheet to another. The NDP was plenty good at that too. What I recall most of the 90's was that for the only time in my living memory BC experienced a net outflow of citizens who had given up. Too me that said it all. How could you voluntarilly leave BC for(shudder)... the ROC?
G West
3 years ago
That's what I thought
And that's why I can't take what you're saying seriously - nor can I accept the suggestion, which you've often made, that you're an honest broker only concerned with the truth.
People who really want answers and who serve the turth don't make those kinds of statements and draw those kinds of conclusions before the fact.
Fish-counter
3 years ago
BC Ferries - rotten to the core
Don't get me wrong; they provide exemplary service as a ferry fleet. As an example of open and transparent management, they are a disaster. More than two years after the Queen of the North was scuttled, there are no answers as to why. BC Ferries have maintained a wall of silence about the event, and the RCMP have taken no action against the two negligent officers who were supposed to be on duty.
Was the sinking an accident, or was an intentional act of malice? We simply don't know. It might have been a lover's tiff or an act of sabotage. Until we get answers, the Ferry Corp is open to any accusation, however absurd.
There is a need to air the truth and aportion the responsibility. It will not happen until David Hahn is replaced. Presumably THAT will not happen until the Campbell government is replaced. It sure tells me which way to vote.
G West
3 years ago
Fish-counter
Now THAT, I have no trouble agreeing with you about.
happy
3 years ago
At least I'm not in denial
Fish-counter I love you the way you blame Hahn and the RCMP for the "wall of silence" surrounding the sinking, yet you say nothing about the real wall of silence - the Union. That would be the same Union that counselled the employees to clam up and not cooperate with either the BCF internal report, nor Transport Canada.
So that both were forced to conclude Human Error was responsible for the accident.
It wasn't training, mechanical problem, weather, etc. It was the employees responsible for the safety of the passengers derelict in thier duty. The Corporation did all it could, it fired them for cause.
What more do you want from BCF? It's out of thier hands, only the RCMP can do anything now.
Thanks for giving me a good guffaw laugh West with that last sentence. I hope you have no mirrors in your house..
Rod Smelser
3 years ago
"The Corporation did all it could ... " to shift blame
happy
That would be the same Union that counselled the employees to clam up and not cooperate with either the BCF internal report, nor Transport Canada.
So that both were forced to conclude Human Error was responsible for the accident.
It wasn't training, mechanical problem, weather, etc. It was the employees responsible for the safety of the passengers derelict in thier duty. The Corporation did all it could, it fired them for cause.
happy, you know very well that the federal Transporation Safety Board report did in fact find fault with BC Ferries as regards training and procedures.
http://www.tetracom.ca/transtalk/?p=1885
And you're not unaware of the fact that BCFerries had a strategy to minimize its own liability by shifting blame to the individual employees. As Peter Richie explained when the civil suit by two of Gerald Foisy's daughters had to be settled out of court, "BC Ferries did not want a jury or the public to hear all the facts about what happened".
http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Queen+North+wrongful+death+trial+stalled+over+court+fees/1232119/story.html
BCFerries biggest backstop in all this was the BC Govt's high court fees. What's Wally Oppal's explanation for that? BCFerries biggest interference runners were BC Liberal Party members who've been circulating the prurient sex and pot story for three years in private conversations with members of the public. They interest in justice and safety? Zero!
happy
3 years ago
Nice try Ron
The minor training and procedure discrepancies found in the Official Reports had nothing to do with the ship not changing course now, did they.
This lawyer crap you posted about what happened POST sinking is not the issue here pal.
The issue is why the crew didn't keep a proper watch. Both TC and BCF agree a proper watch could not have been maintained or there is no way the ship could have gone fourteen minutes on the wrong course. They had three radars for crying out loud.
So seeing as how the crew members, under the advice of Union lawyers, refuse to tell us why they failed to maintain a proper watch, then a lot of people besides myself are left with only one conclusion -they have something to hide.
And now they are fired and still not talking. Yeah Ron, scapegoats obviously. Carole should make that wrongful firing an election issue, why don't you suggest it?
Hey, I can match your pot and sex hearsay with some of my own. I heard that too within a few days if the sinking, except I don't know any Liberal party members. It was told to me by a BCF employee
happy
3 years ago
Make that Rod
Apologize for getting your name wrong.
Inexcusable