Stupidity

The NDP staffers are as always making sure the soconlibs will win again.

They need to be fired--everyone.

Party is wrong.

Nicholas is doing the right thing. Why were the other candidates not offended by such a repugnant request?

Way to go Simons

You knew the rules going in but I guess you can't resist doing whatever it takes to attack the party.

Is there ANYTHING about the NDP you agree with?

the meaning of the word privacy

C’mon Frank there is lots of attributes that the NDP has, but this is not one of them. Giving up one’s privacy has nothing to do with running for office.
As has been stated previously this is offensive in the extreme. The real question should be which idiot thinks this shit up in the backroom? Find out who thought this idea up and dump them plain and simple. I have never read such nonsense. The NDP constantly finds ways to defeat itself and exclude itself from the running…..

pianosaurus rex

I agree its seemingly a stupid rule, but I can see why they brought it in. In the past there seems to have been a case of people forgetting little things like embarrassing videos and pictures of themselves that were on the internet.

Anyway, that's not the point. The point is Nicholas was a member of the party when they adopted the rule, was he not? Its not like he ran for the leadership and then the party decided on this policy. He knew about it before he made that decision.

So, why now? I think its because the Liberal leadership is over, the NDP leadership race will be getting more attention and now would be a great time to attack the NDP which I would not be surprised to discover is what Nicholas majored in at university. Perhaps that's why he doesn't want to give up his passwords, we'd find out he's a Liberal plant.

I'm joking about that last part by the way.

Privacy.

"The NDP's nomination process required candidates to give the party any passwords for social media websites."

It seems absolutely amazing that the NDP doesn't trust it's own candidates but has to check out their friends and relationships.

Does it also want to see any letters written to, and received from, friends and acquaintances too?

If the tories pulled this stunt the outrage would be front page news.

There's a Big Brother up there somewhere.

Facebook has become a sort-of e-mail system for many people. Shouldn't that be private in Canada? Many people also use their same passwords for e-mail and for social networks, so the NDP is asking for access to all Hotmail or GMail too, or do they promise to not look at that?

What does Michael Geist think about this?

r'man

Good luck working at a company and telling them your email is private. You may think no one sees what you write but its all there and nothing is stopping the guy in charge of the server from having a boo if he or she so chooses. Its not like its never happened.

Of course that's the corporate world and I know you don't hold them accountable for anything.

Many people won't even use email for that reason, look at Ken Dobell and the BC Rail trial. He said don't put anything in email because its all backed up and can be looked at via FOI requests.

Not on your life

I don't care who you work for, what you do, or what situation you're in--there is ABSOLUTELY no reason (EVER) to do this...it is absolutely ridiculous to even ask this!?!

With all due respect to Billy S: something is rotten in the state of the NDP..!

Frank

So it's just 'company' or 'NDP-Party' social-networking stuff is it?

Because my spouse, who works for a company, certainly doesn't share their passwords on their personal accounts - or their personal e-mail.

Privacy

Privacy. There is no such thing anymore. Sorry Nicholas, you are the best, but no one is interested in morals anymore. You should run as an Independent. You have too much integrity for the NDP.

HYperbole at face value

Seriously: no such thing as privacy..?

Been reading too much Orwell and Huxley in the evenings..?

Levett's Law: Any declarative statement immediately begins gathering evidence to its contrary.

So, dis-prove my point PRr: who am I..?

Oh Really!

Twitter, Facebook© and other so-called 'social media' are private?

I don't think so - you want to use these lame ass facilities to boost your image and underline your cred - don't be surprised that a party which has been burned before by these bullshit issues would have concerns about what someone might not be revealing.

Something which can come back and bite you.

Don't want your private peccadilloes and skeletons out in the public sphere?

Stay the hell out of public life and turn down the public's nickel.

GWest: ah, more hyperbole...

The so-called new media are not new media in regards to privacy, rather new technologies where the same old rules apply.

These media can--in FACT--be 'private'...its called editing.

I'm on both, and you'd never be able to gather anything other than what you could get from the white pages from them.

I wish many of you out there who don't seem to understand the mediums would stop commenting upon them as if you do.

Remember these concepts? http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IwgfwdBQlpw/S0-36a4sJ8I/AAAAAAAAA08/YGITqVALH_Y/s640/loose%2Blips.jpg&imgrefurl=http://drwolffe.blogspot.com/2010/01/funny-story-loose-lips-sink-ships.html&usg=__Xf44D55LJE9HTZrN1dzGyoB6L5c=&h=640&w=481&sz=55&hl=en&start=21&zoom=1&tbnid=RPSl8CNRsptxzM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=93&ei=SG1wTdGaMY60sAPh3aHACw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dloose%2Blips%2Bsink%2Bships%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D544%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C253&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=288&vpy=305&dur=358&hovh=124&hovw=93&tx=88&ty=55&oei=OW1wTa7xOI2gsQOAkOXOCw&page=2&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:21&biw=1024&bih=544

Or this?

http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://bp2.blogger.com/_OjCMkUOyiiU/SH44BVnJ8wI/AAAAAAAABEA/bMZCG3P1g4s/s400/carlesstalk.jpg&imgrefurl=http://wesayso-propaganda.blogspot.com/&usg=__ZPYz93uKAxfFNI20ts_CZKUZgVk=&h=400&w=278&sz=40&hl=en&start=21&zoom=1&tbnid=5-QM_s_DOsgfEM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=86&ei=SG1wTdGaMY60sAPh3aHACw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dloose%2Blips%2Bsink%2Bships%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D544%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C253&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=486&vpy=168&dur=136&hovh=269&hovw=187&tx=111&ty=204&oei=OW1wTa7xOI2gsQOAkOXOCw&page=2&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:21&biw=1024&bih=544

Hardly new, my friends....

r'man

I hate to tell you this if you and your wife thought your

email account was totally private, but that's not the case. I'm not saying the guy in charge of the company email is reading it, but it can be read.

wcullen

"it is absolutely ridiculous to even ask this!?!"

So why did Nicholas choose to run for the leadership of the party when he knew that was the policy? And why wait till now to complain about it?

Frank

You can steam open my letters to and from my friends too. Has it come to that? I thought that sort of thing only happened in police states.

Nicholas

Perhaps if Nicholas had spent more time at the party policy meetings and less time demanding Carole James to resign he might have heard about the rules.

I have an idea

If Nicholas wins the leadership he can change the rule.

So by all means vote for him r'man, that'll give him 2 votes.

Or....

he could believe in the fundamental and original mandate and--heaven forbid--want to bring the party back on track (at least in this one issue) and into the 21st century...?

...are you as equally inflexible on Christy or Lekstrom's quitting for fundamental and ideological issues (whether we would vote for Republicans or not isn't the issue).

Ya kinda gotta realize that colouring within the lines all the time just because so-and-so policy says so might be a problem in and of itself....

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)

Although, I doubt we're to worry about Darth Vader type evil here....

Why Stop There.

Get your own NSA going.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency

Some people use cell phones and texting, they might even be using encryption devices. The prices for those are coming down too, you know.

of course

I'm looking at the Hahn article and then this one and wondering why this one is far more active and--tragically--far less important....

....ah, crap.....Huxley may have been right after all....dammit

Wish the rest of the NDP had his integrity and courage

He questioned James's leadership and now she's gone and he's willing to run for office to fix what he saw was broken. But the party expects quietly submitting to (and hence tacitly condoning) invasive security on oneself and one's friends. Nicolas is willing to call schenanigans. Sounds like he's got some integrity to me.

I'd rather have leaders who are interested in doing their job well, even at a personal cost, than doing it poorly in exchange for more power.

Yet some people think it's a sin to "question the wisdom of the party;" we should shun dialogue and innovation in exchange for... what? Groupthink and an illusion of ideological unity that fools no-one?

Amy and wcullen

Last I heard Nicholas wasn't forced to join the NDP at gunpoint. If you think he was let me know.

Otherwise I can't see why he doesn't start the "Nicholas" party. He'd finally have a leader and policies he agrees with.

"are you as equally inflexible on Christy or Lekstrom's quitting for fundamental and ideological issues"

What's your point? Why would I care why they quit? Why would I care if Nicholas quit?

"Ya kinda gotta realize that colouring within the lines all the time just because so-and-so policy says so might be a problem in and of itself...."

I should have remembered that when I was asked to have an RCMP background check done before I could coach little girl's baseball. Could have said no and called the Sun and Province and told them the League was living in the stone age and that this was the 21st century.

Headline writer, get real

"Will Simons' passwords block his chance to lead NDP?"

What chance?

Whoa dude yourself

Maybe YOU should do a little more research into what Facebook founder and factotum Mark Zuckerberg had to say about privacy:
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg told a live audience on January 8 2010 that '...if he were to create Facebook again today, user information would by default be public, not private as it was for years until the company changed dramatically in December.'

Fact is, you and Nick Simons and the r/man may not like it but if you've got something to hide getting into politics, leading a political party, holding public office, tweeting (or twating or whatever you call it), using company email - and your own email for that matter (especially if it's gmail) isn't a very good way to have a 'private' life at all.

Tough: You want to represent me - I want to know everything about you before I make a decision.

We've had too many liars and cheats and backroom card sharps dealing from the bottom of the deck to their friends and business buddies already.

Dirty little secrets in your past?

Own up to them and I'll consider giving you a second chance - try to hide them and you're a liability leading the party I vote for.

I know BC Liberals don't give a shit about that kind of thing - after all they've just elected a leader who says she's "attended" three institutions of higher learning but won't 'disclose' whether she actually has a degree from any of them.

Lets leave that kind of bullshit artist in the BC Liberal party where they belong.

Deal?

Simons never stood a chance of leading and still doesn't

He seems to be genuinely enjoying the limelight though, content to damage the party yet again. Clearly not a clue how party politics works, he is more of a liability than Dana, by far.

No brainier

This kind of thing is long overdue.

The second you run for any office and you are left of wing, someone on the right will pay somebody else to investigate every facet of your life,right back to high school.

This kind of thing happens in every election and it's a shame, but the NDP has to be prepared for it.

The solution to the problem is simple; if you a candidate on the left just let someone look at any problems that might stem from anything you've done in the past including stupid pictures posted to facebook and get a short,funny explanation ready when the MSM stick a microphone in your face.

It's sad people have to do this kind of thing to fight the dirty politics of the right.

Horgan Agrees with Simons

Ian Bailey is reporting today in the Globe that John Horgan agrees with Nicholas Simons. "I support Nicholas." said Horgan.

Horgan was able to the conform with the draconian invasive policy because he doesn't have a personal Facebook page.

Nicholas Simons points out that he worked as a social worker and said that he has a long history of working with people in vulnerable situations who have contacted him and fears that by giving up his codes he could be compromising their privacy.

Simons makes a good point. Not only that. By refusing to allow any party bureaucrat access to personal communications between himself and his clients he reassures his clients that in the future any dealings with him have a level of integrity they expect. Anything less would close that relationship immediately. (Think of press reporters that refuse to disclose their sources and sometimes go to jail for it.)

Farnworth also says that he is elected leader that he is, "committed to reviewing this practice".

It seems clear that this embarrassing policy will soon be repealed.

Isn't "friending" enough?

The NDP's request is way overboard. If they're concerned about what a Google search would turn up, just do a Google search!

It would be reasonable to have a candidate accept a "friend" request on Facebook or whatever, to see what a potential candidate has been saying to his or her circle of friends. Anything beyond that is treading on private conversations. It's like rifling through someone's office files.

Requiring passwords would give away not just private conversations but enables anyone with such access to impersonate the account owner. That could enable all sorts of dirty tricks. I'm not suggesting that the NDP would stoop to this, but just exactly why is it they need to "own" these accounts?

Nick is not a new guy with

Nick is not a new guy with the party. he has been a MLA for two terms, so if he had any mud clinging to him, by now it would be known. Stick to your guns Nick and if they bounce you as a candidate for leader, it shows just how worried the executive are about something sticking to a candidate. Go investigate the executive to see how they like it.

Full background check on party presidents?

How would Moe react to having the same requirements placed on him? Surely the party presidency is an important and public enough position that we should expect the same standards as for leader!

BINGO!

Firstly, NDP candidate for Vancouver-False Creek Ray Lam got into trouble with posting "inappropriate" photos on his "personal" Facebook page.

All NDP party brass has to do is "friend" Nick Simons FB page (he probably only has his MLA page and not a personal page), and the NDP can see every photo, every comment that Simons has ever made. End of story.

And Simons can simply attend at NDP HQ, log-in, and show NDP brass every tweet that he has made on Twitter. Simple as that.

And NDP brass can scrutinize Youtube for any inappropriate videos that he has made, without Simons assistance. That's where Dana Larsen and his other cohort got into trouble.

FWIW, these guys never ran for office before - OTOH Simons is now a 2-term MLA.

If Simons had made any inappropriate remarks, photos, or videos they would have surfaced a long time ago.

BTW, the agreed terms of service/usage for both FB and Twitter do not permit the divulging of passwords. That's a no-no.

Sounds like more NDP "social-engineering".

Nice try

It doesn't matter what label you want to put in it, the fact is the time for Nicholas to complain about the policy was when it was discussed and decided upon. At the very least he could have said something before he ran for party leader, saying he would like to run but this "terrible" policy was holding him back.

He did neither and no matter how much you guys want to keep spinning this the fact is Nicholas waited till he could inflict maximum media damage on the NDP.

Well done Nick, you're a hero.

Frank

Admit it. NDP party brass ain't the sharpest knives in the drawer either. :D

Yawn!

Norman Farrell's short comment is about the only thing relevant here. Along with Dana that should be about all that needs to be said.

Luke

"NDP party brass ain't the sharpest knives in the drawer either"

Considering that a third of your membership couldn't vote due to an incompetent party brass I'll wait for you to concede that first.

I've already said I don't care for the policy but I understand why they adopted it and I know Nicholas was an MLA and could have voiced his concerns then and even said then he would refuse to run if that policy was adopted.

In an organization you join voluntarily sometimes you have to work with others in the group instead of demanding special rules for yourself all the time.

Why I am a BCLiberal...

Stunts like this. Seriously.

This is a pattern of anti-freedom BCNDP antics... from human rights commissions that bullied a regional BC mayor in the 1990s... to going after pro-life protestors... to picking on Premier-Elect Christy Clark for going to her son's playoff game... and of course this. Only the BCLiberals have a chance of stopping the BCNDP and only the BCLiberals have an albeit imperfect commitment to liberty.

BTW, the BCNDP party is to issue a ruling today, so no YouTube YET. The sortie was stood down on the HMCS Christy Clark right on the flight deck thanks to a CKNW hail.

That said: Many BCLiberals stand with Nick Simons from when he first raised the issue in late December to now. The thing is... I think only smart, cranial Nick could stop my hero from winning a general election because he'd expose our flaws and engineer a solution to take advantage of our vulnerabilities while being cool enough to sell it to the public.

I hope the BCNDP doesn't realize the next election hinges on this ruling today... seriously.

Skeletons in your closet?

The NDP organization always seem to be short of money and volunteers, so maybe this rule was a way to save some of that manpower drain?

We have so many outlets for our thoughts and pictures that it takes a good investigator to check them all --- and that equals money!

A good many people have dreams of running for public office, but are smart enough to know that some past indiscretion would surface sooner or later.

May I suggest that perhaps Simon has realized that his past could backfire?

Maybe this "issue" is a face-saving way to withdraw?

Draconion policy, NDP will lose members over this

I'm all for thorough vetting of candidates, but demanding passwords into their virtual "bedrooms" is not the way to do it. Furthermore, if the NDP is aiming to bring new, enthusiastic young (Facebook/Twitter Generation) blood into the party to run in elections, demanding social media passwords from candidates is not the way to do it. This just sends the wrong message on so many levels and the party will pay for this misguided policy.

I'm equally worried about the implications of this precedent. Today, a political party demanding full social media disclosure; tomorrow another party does it; the after that an employer. It's a slippery slope I don't want to go down.

Frank, I sometimes wonder if the NDP told you jumping off a cliff was the progressive thing to do, you'd do it unflinchingly. You got a problem with Simons and his past musings on Carole James? Fine. But that doesn't mean you have to disagree with him on a really bad NDP policy, too.

I'm glad to read that Horgan is siding with moral reason on this one.

stop

stop this nonsense
how to lose members
and how not to attract youth is the result of this news

Right on, Frank

"Well done Nick, you're a hero."

Yes. He has morals and he wants to protect people in vulnerable situations who have contacted him and fears that by giving up his codes he could be compromising their privacy.

That's the way it should be.

Stop the foolishness

The Soclibs are trying their damnedest to work this thing up into a ''scandel''.

The Right are the guys that would use silly, trivial, crap in someones past to embarrass the NDP

They are causing the problem and the solution is to do preemptive background checks on every candidate that runs for the NDP

Everyone, yes even you, has done something foolish in their past.

Using this information to discredit well meaning people is really low but just what do you expect from a bunch of greaseballs.

The scandel is that the MSM uses these bits of fluff to damage the NDP.

it's clearly wrong to ask

it's clearly wrong to ask for this information.

I agree with others who say the NDP are killing themselves.

Premiere Clark, unless she does something egregious will be lead BC for years. And I signed up for the NDP to vote in this election.

It's like the NDP are simply the flip-side of Harper - the only difference whom they target for destruction, destitution and imprisonment.

How is demanding passwords for NDP bureaucrats to comb through your personal email and accounts any different than any other dictator wanting to go through your drawers, what TV you watch or what books you read?

So easy to tar them as dictators in next election.

warbler

"I sometimes wonder if the NDP told you jumping off a cliff was the progressive thing to do, you'd do it unflinchingly. "

Depends, how high a cliff are we talking about?

"You got a problem with Simons and his past musings on Carole James? Fine. But that doesn't mean you have to disagree with him on a really bad NDP policy, too."

The policy didn't get decided this week. If he had all that time to attack CJ, he had lots of time to fight the idea before it was adopted as policy.

Again, the NDP is a volunteer organization, no one is forced to abide by the rules the people in the NDP decide on for themselves.

r'man

"Yes. He has morals and he wants to protect people in vulnerable situations who have contacted him and fears that by giving up his codes he could be compromising their privacy."

Sure, because that's what NDP staff will do. They'll look at Nicholas' emails and go "holy shit" and send copies to the newspapers. If Nicholas thinks his fellow party members are that kind of people then why is he in it?

MichaelT

"Dictators" aren't looking at his email. Nicholas is the one running for the job as "dictator".

win on merits or personla reputation?

Frank I didn’t realize at the start of this thread that you were joking there….no problem…
To continue;

I can tell you if this fellow was a social worker by law he cannot give up those files; we had new privacy laws enacted in BC a while back…apparently the toughest in the nation.

I am in business and I can’t discuss client files in public with anyone except the client.

This is one of the problems in our society; discrimination.

“By forming an opinion not on a person merits, but on which group they are in, this forms the basis for discrimination.” That is from the 3 wise men in Albany…..

I am surprised at some of the hyperbole posted here by members; surprised, but expected I guess.

As far as I am concerned if someone can do the job properly, and responsibly, I don’t give a shit if they run around on weekends naked with a lampshade on their heads.

What is with all the puritanical, prissy- pants, milk and cookies, attitude from posters here? Like the nonsense of “if someone is going to run for office I have to know simply every little dark corner of their life?”

Get one yourself. A life that is…..

pianosaurus rex

"I can tell you if this fellow was a social worker by law he cannot give up those files"

Understood, but why not bring that up when the policy was being discussed instead of now?

"I don’t give a shit if they run around on weekends naked with a lampshade on their heads."

Unfortunately if the NDP selects you for leader and during a campaign videos show up of you running around naked on weekends with a lampshade on your head the NDP has just wasted a lot of money and time on your campaign.

P rex

I guess you've been in suspended animation for the past 20 years.

If you weren't you might have noticed that the people the NDP are fighting in elections will use anything and everything against NDP candidates...and they do it with the help and complicity of the media.

I don't want to know every dark corner of anyone's life - but I sure as hell don't want Ms Clark bringing up something in the middle of an election campaign that will work against the really important project of getting rid of a corrupt and useless government in this province.

I think you're the one who needs to wake up and smell the roses.

You don't take a knife into a gun fight and a gun fight is what it's going to take to rid this province of the current pestilence in power in Victoria.

What might not bother you will thoroughly piss off a lot of folks who actually vote in elections.

Make a note of it,
please.

spin away Frank, spin

[OFFENSIVE COMMENT DIRECTED AT ANOTHER COMMENTER REMOVED HERE...]

Please give me your passwords - I promise no one else will see them, I promise.

[...AND HERE. -MODERATOR.]

MichaelT

If I was running for the leadership of the NDP and the NDP wanted to make sure I wasn't a former member of the KKK or having a relationship with a 14 year old before taking out bank loans to fund my campaign I would hand over my passwords.

If you on the other hand want to give money away to someone you don't know by all means send me whatever you can afford and I promise to do "what's right" with it.

PayPal is fine by the way.

Breaching?

Many online sites state specifically in their Terms of Service that you are not permitted to disclose your password to any other party.

I like courage more than roses

Frank; can’t argue with much of what you state; my point was that image nowadays seems to have become more important than substance……..

Gun fight? You’re kidding me right G, West? So a few weeks back we have the same poster advocating for a no weapons in our society and now we are headed for a gun fight?

We also have the same poster claiming that the NDP never wins an election here in BC a while ago and now some of that perception has changed too according to the mindset now.

I can tell you all this with a degree of certainty; if it ever really came down to it, and I mean really girding up the loins and going to the barricades the VERY LAST PEOPLE ON EARTH I would find there is the posters here on the TYEE. You would all be hiding in the damn bushes.

Anyone want to “walk like an Egyptian” yet in BC or Canada? Let me know because I have been at the ready for a generation.

But not here; you all want the same old political shell game where one side creates “optics” that they are somehow different than any other side. And the politicians in these parties jump from party to party like them have some loyalty; give me a break ok?

What is the end result to blind loyalties of political parties; what does this get you but more of the same nonsense forced upon yourselves by the big three or one of them; it is a tired old game that 48% of us in BC no longer participate in.

Thank God, there are still people in the world like Mr. Clooney

These kind of invasive.... and priggish policies come from a place of weakness rather than strength.

There seems to be only two settings for political parties in BC: They are either 'left' running scared, checking the rear view mirror every second..... or they are damn 'right' fascist bullies that never look back.

Hardly, the best of options.

And then there is that breath of fresh air...clearly one of the US's best exports...

Take it away, George:

"Clooney, 49, said a smart political campaigner would "start from the beginning by saying, 'I did it all. I drank the bong water.....he says he can't be the President of the United States because he has "f**ked too many chicks and did too many drugs, and that's the truth...."

"Start from the beginning by saying, 'I did it all. I drank the bong water. Now... let's talk about issues."

but I never drank the bong water!

True, wasn't my style. There are a few things in my past I am not terribly proud of, but in any event, they are not on facebook. Although no doubt there is a bit of silliness on my profile...but not the point, I can delete anything I do not like. However, I do not control what other people message me, and it should be noted that more people use facebook messaging than use email.The NDP will most certainly not win in the court of public opinion on this one - but what's new?
Frank and G West, your points about the motivation of the candidate are taken...

What a tempest in a teapot.

Christy won't talk about her involvement in BC Rail but that's OK with the same folks trying to give legs to an issue that isn't worth debating. Listen up folks, Nick isn't going anywhere! There is no story here it is all Liberal self-serving twaddle.

What's going on here?

This so-called story is now going viral on twitter all day.

--------------------------------
British Columbia's privacy commissioner is launching an investigation into the provincial New Democrats' policy demanding social media passwords from potential leadership candidates.

Commissioner Elizabeth Denham says she's concerned the practice may run afoul of the province's privacy legislation.

Denham says she's already contacted the party, and she expects her investigation will take a few weeks.
-------------------------------

http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110304/bc_privacy_investigation_ndp_social_media_110304/20110304?hub=BritishColumbiaHome

Can we get back to the leadership campaign pleeze.

From CKNW's website

"Meanwhile, Vincent Gogolek with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Association says while he sympathizes with Simons, the party is not going too far with its demand.

"It also goes to sort of the judgement because this is stuff that they've posted themselves, things that they've put up, things that they've said, so it's the kind of thing that, it's not just what was there, but also, did you think it was a good idea to have that picture up where other people can see it?""

Frank

You, of course, know that the FIPA is heavily funded by the BC Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch of the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, as well as BC's largest financial institution, so we can be sure that they will be and are as always completely impartial. Maybe snooping's OK then.

Frank

It's headlines everywhere now. There's even a Tweet saying the NDP has backed down.

On Politics Respun it's front page:

http://politicsrespun.org/2011/03/privacy-integrity-passwords-and-the-bc-ndp/

Maybe Nicholas will make history. Tick, tock....

This Matter Now Is All Moot

This social media matter is now a moot point. Why?

After reading that CTV article linked above, it has now been confirmed that the photos on FB that took down Ray Lam as the NDP standard bearer in Vancouver-False Creek, during the 2009 election, weren't posted by him in the first place.

They were posted by someone else on someone else's FB page and Ray Lam was "tagged", which is FB lingo for having his name electronically posted on the pic.

So even if all 5 NDP leadership candidates are cleared by NDP social media vetting, that won't prevent another Ray Lam scenario happening four weeks from now.

All someone has to do is simply post a compromising/embarrassing pic of one of the 5 NDP leadership candidates on their own FB page, "tag" that NDP leadership candidate and.... bingo... the media feeding frenzy begins.

Motto of the story.... NOBODY is immune from FB embarrassments now or in the future. And I mean NOBODY!

Luke

By "confirmed" I assume you mean that's because Ray said so? Saying "its been confirmed" sounds like a large RCMP security investigation was launched to uncover the truth.

"NOBODY is immune from FB embarrassments now or in the future. And I mean NOBODY!"

The Liberals are. The media would never tell us anything bad about a Liberal leader such as that he's got a drinking problem and was a failure at business.

We have to find that stuff out much later and through alternative sources.

Frank

BTW, once a pic is "tagged" by someone on someone else's FB page, that photo also instantly appears on the "tagged" person's FB page (eg. Ray Lam).

I know. I've seen it happen numerous times.

To provide passwords or not to provide passwords.

Aah there's a vote getting issue. Whether the members will take a chance on having a controversial comment one day exposed to bite the party in the arse, or whether to get on soap box of privacy and individual rights and risk it all on a non entity named Nick.

Frank

You have a good analytical mind... but "Frank"ly you've engaged in too much spin over the past two days. :D

In any event, I wish to give a personal FB experience right here on the Tyee, which would have also exposed my own FB page. :D At the time, I was thinkin' "fer chrise sakes". :D

In any event, when I posted this link:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/49623913/BC-Liberal-Leadership-Actual-Votes

on this page:

http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2011/02/28/ChristyVictory/

the 5th post therien was mine with that accompanying link. The problem that caused me to sweat bullets was that the link, at the top right-hand corner, continued on to my FB page. Ouch! :D

Just press same now to see where it leads.

Fortunately enough, after 2 days the link was severed. The moral of this post is that anyone can get hood-winked on social media completely without their knowledge. ;)

Luke

You were "sweating bullets" over it? What did you think would happen? I'd hunt you down and egg your house or something?

The worst I'd do is leave a copy of Emil Ludwig's "Bismarck" on your front lawn as a warning :)

blood and iron...

Why am I not surprised?

This story w/ Nicholas Simons has caught fire with the establishment media... raising Nicholas' profile into the stratosphere... and now YouTube alongside such stars as Sean Holman & Mike Smyth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKwKEq31ySg

I'm with Lynn and Mary Sue

Running scared is exactly correct and Frank's spinning is indicative of the fear that forms the basis of the weakling-stategy we've had to endure for far too long.

His fear compels him to be here constantly responding because his entire worldview is being exposed as fraudulent, provoking his constant reaction.

A little sympathy for him is in order, I suppose but certainly let us continue to speak out for the right of everyone to a private life not overseen by fundamentalist puritans.

Lawrence

"The party should stay the course on this password issue, they are right."

I agree, the party shouldn't always change their stance whenever the right-wing media attacks them on one thing or another.

If it wasn't Nicholas the media would be going after Dawn Black for attacking Christy a day after she was elected leader or something else.

Every week they bring up something else about the NDP hoping to stir people up and then sit back and watch the Left back down. I just don't think Fazil Mihlar, Michael Smythe, Gary Mason and Bill Good should be deciding what policies the NDP should be allowed to have.

Get real!

“..just exactly why is it they need to "own" these accounts?”

I, too, would like to know that. As it stands, the request raises all kinds of nasty implications. Does the party include people of dubious honor and integrity – people whom one needs to snoop all around in order to make sure no naughty shirt-tails are sticking out? The party just lost every shred of a chance it may have had for getting my vote, and for that I am heartily sorry, for the candidate in my riding, I have reason to believe, need no ‘vetting’ of his private doings. Nevertheless, he has aligned himself with this code of petty, sniveling suspiciousness. Sorry but I can’t fathom the stupidity of a party in implicitly smearing its own candidates! The notion that thought-police must be brought in in order to ensure that everyone is clean in thought, word, and deed, that such scrutiny might be prudent should not even be entertained! Do they not realize what it says about the party? They don’t believe their own people to be necessarily honorable and decent. Why should the electorate be willing to bank anything on them?

@dorothy

Hardly.

They've asked to look at these 'social network' files to ensure there's nothing the sleazeballs who constitute the BCLiberal Party might be able to access and use against NDP candidates.

No one is implying 'anything' about NDP candidates - the party is simply trying, as best it can, to ensure that the next election will be fought on substantive issues and not petty bullshit.

The people whose honour is being questioned are not NDP candidates.

It pays to know your enemy and in British Columbia, while the Campbell Liberals pay lip-service to 'respect' we all know that's not the way they fight elections.

What this says about the party is that our opponents will stoop to conquer - they have before and they will again.

Combating that kind of tactic requires something more than good will and a hearty smile.

I'm sure you remember Paul Reitsma? He was a BC Liberal too. And he's only one of the many who weren't afraid to throw mud....

There's a whole bunch of people here who don't understand

how FB works. This includes the dunderheads of the NDP who seem to think that they should have password access to a users FB account so they can check up on them. All they have to do is send a "friend" request. If the request is denied then you may have a case to be suspicious of that particular user.

There is absolutely no grounds for asking for the passwords. It does nothing but leave accounts exposed to anyone who may decide to tamper with them.

If such an account were bought and paid for by the party it may be a different story but these accounts are private and should remain so.

If a party member wishes to be stupid and not check their security setting then goes about emitting compromising utterances then let the chips fall where they may. That would be the case with any other media. I don't know why faux pas in FB should be any different.

It's simply called 'covering your ass'. If you don't do it you could be toast.

my dear snert

You're the one who apparently doesn't understand Facebook and 'social media' as a phenomenon; which isn't, for someone of your vintage, not all that hard to believe. The permanance of elements of one's past (as reflected in one's internet 'record'), whether you like or understand this or not, is something which is undeniable.

There is no such thing as PRIVACY on the internet.

It requires a somewhat more than passing understanding of cached copy of course but such knowledge (and an ability and willingness to use that knowledge for less than noble ends) is certainly within the grasp of the NDP's opponents in the political and media world.

Covering one's ass, as you put it, is an absolute necessity when one has an opponent without scruples.

It is not a question of stupidity - on the contrary - it is a question of understanding the nature of your opponent.

Anyone who 'trusts' a political foe (and often a political friend) in this day and age and especially in this province is in for a very rude awakening.

You can ask Carole James about that, if you've a mind to search for something a little more concrete.