The way I see it Dan the socialist

is that the people in the know start educating the ones who are apathetic. Get out there and show them what their apathy is bringing them.

Like you, I don't like the way the NDP is operated these days either. In fact until they pull up their socks I won't be contributing my meager pension pay to them.

What should be happening is that a new Party should have formed by now. One that will do the bidding of the people who pay their wages. One who will attempt to tear down what this present pack of liars has done to our railway, the ferries, BC hydro, the fish farming, MSP,slave wages, and a list of other things that used to operate in this province without putting major hardships on the people.
As far as James goes like Campbell she leads a party. She unlike Campbell appears to be non confrontational. Which sometimes could be a good thing. But not against a juvenile control freak like Campbell.And a party that appears to be very afraid of ejecting his ass out into the street, Where he may learn a thing or two about life.

I see a lot of dissing about Moe Sahota on the net but I never see the reasons. And even knowing why some people would be upset, those reasons pale in comparison to a convicted drunk driver who wouldn't do the right thing and step down. Then by the looks of it has tried to stomp on every citizen in this province and grind them into the ground.

So we either vote NDP to take our Province back, vote Green who don't yet, in my view, have a real platform, start a new party, or if you like vote Liberal where you will only get further behind.
JMHO

a minorty government

forced to make coalitions and constantly shifting deals is too busy to really get on with raping the citizenry.

It's ALWAYS worth voting.

Apathy precedes rebellion

That's the problem, Dan - most of us have given up. We recognize that this government is corrupt and resistant (to put it mildly) to serving the people as it's supposed to. Campbell is there for the money and the power, that's it. Period.

We've spent a long, tiring decade trying to fight this dictator and we have completely and utterly failed on every account (except for selling off the Coquihalla - we were successful with that but it took a full 95% of the population of BC to rise up before King Campbell backed down). Fighting when you know you're going to lose gets exhausting after a while so no wonder most of us have given up. I have never missed a vote since the day I turned eighteen but guess what? I don't see the point in voting next election time. There is literally nobody worthy to vote for. For the first time in my voting life, I have lost interest.

Maybe we need to take a different tact: starting putting some serious pressure on the NDP to get rid of their leader. Otherwise this manipulative, sociopathic creep will be back in for another four years. And I think the BC collective is going to start getting really hostile if that happens.

off topic

Did we just have a federal budget?
Where is the Tyee follow up?

Another reason to create a

Another reason to create a big deficit is so it gives them a reason to sell off BC assets. Maybe more choice crown land, another part of BC Hydro......? Just like Flaherty is saying he's going to do with Federal property.

Very interesting

A shot in the dark...Political shennanigans costing the taxpayers $100 million dollars....

or second guessing the HST as political death!

I suspect it`s a little of both.

Fantastic Will!

The most incomprehensible

The most incomprehensible part of these Reform/Conservative Party policies is: What are they trying to achieve? In whose service?

Why do they keep on calling themselves "Liberal" or "Conservative", why not just go for the time honoured name of "Fascist", and be done with it ?

A new party is a hopeless cause. It has been tried many times in the past years and they all fell by the roadside. I'm not happy about Layton either. He can't speak, has no policies and his TV debate with Harper during the last elections was a disaster.

Ed Deak.

Way to go Will!

I am not surprised that they would want to delay the receipt of funds to suit them even though it will cost the taxpayer. When a government is run by liars, anything goes. Makes you wonder when Bill Good will get outraged.

Bill Good is too busy romanticizing the Owelimpics!

And Monte Paulsen says squat about what Will turned up!

@ Freebear

You are absoluetly correct,in listening to the Monday morning Quarterback show on cknw today..Monte Paulson mentioned absolutely zip..

We now know why Bill Teileman was replaced and Monte Paulson put in..

Monte Paulson sounds like a WEAK Norman Spectre...Basically Monte is bland, not one word about all the cuts, not one word about the great Will McMartin stories..

Today the Norman Specter replacement,this woman from City Caucas.com....Went on a rant about Healthcare spending is unsustainable, and Monte Paulson agreed, no mention that less GDP spending is spent on health today then a decade ago..

What is your purpose on cknw Monte?

OK,you are getting paid,does Bill Good tell you what you can or can`t say?

How many topics are off limits to you, no mention of toxic air in Prince George,no mention of the sham BC Budget...Besides doting about the Olympics AGAIN..What did you really contribute today?NOTHING...ZIP...NADA not a darn thing.

http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.com/2010/03/gordon-campbell-turned-his-back-to.html

You could of mentioned the biggest story going on in BC right now,but no...Those damn olympic protesters...And planting the thought in BCers minds that if SOCHI Russia fails to get their olympics prepared it will come back to BC in 4 years...

Yea right, it has never happened in Olympic history..EVER...Despite Christy Clark last week blathering that it has happened before on 2 occasions...She cited "Lake Placid"

And when I sent her proof that it never happened..The silence from her was "Deafening"

Sheesh

The voters may be tired.....

....but that doesn't rule out ignorance. There is a reason why political parties don't haul out their "big guns" until just a few weeks before an election. Voters are notorious for remembering only the latest headline. Campbell has two full years to do the dirty deeds with complete immunity.

Solution?

Great article...

But, I'm not sure how many of us in our busy, crammed lives will actually do anything about it except anonymously pontificate a bit here. Personally, I think it would be great to have a quick, little, EASY TO EMPLOY 'call to action' at the end of a well researched and articulated article like this. Possibly this would help your readers' precious time be spent trying to change the status-quo rather than simply reading about it. As it is, I feel some good ideas are getting claustrophobic in these little blue boxes due to lack of time, not will. Something to think about. With thanks –

Fiscal Snake Oil Salesman!

Where are the fiscal conservatives now?

Speak up!

a dichotomy

If you think Carole James is bad....try Gordon Campbell. Oh, yes, we did...three times.

Mr.Hansen comments

was watching bc legislature on channel 59 and got so upset at the liberals and their stupidity, found myself screaming at them! Canadians and democracy!, it is ignorance and having no real knowledge of the political philosophy's is just waiting for men like Campbell and Hansen have teir way with us. We have men that don't like women in politics, women as leaders are really bad news for some. I for one will always vote for the NDP no matter who the leader is because I do have a political philosophy and that is the government is responsible to the people that they represent first before any government, federal or provincial and they need to listen and not do what we are against, like the HST. Personally I think the liberals are F####ing P##s and wish they would all go away and never return and that dumb face Harper to join them.

Scare them straight, just vote!

If at least 80% of those eligable to vote in BC would actually vote, it would likely impact politicians to the point they might stop pulling these tricks. As it stands now, the message they get is that no one cares, or at least not enough of us care.

Another set-up

An important article.

Thanks for expanding on the revelations made in the previous Tyee articles.

Quote:"The Campbell Liberals, therefore, believe that the federal HST monies are not required now, less than a year after the last general election. They are required later, closer to the next electoral contest. It's a political calculation, not a fiscal decision, that is motivating Victoria to seek to delay Ottawa's transition funding." End of Quote.

In reality then - a sly circuitous route to the tune of at least 75 million dollars of our money is being recklessly toyed with to, in effect, benefit the next BCLiberal campaign by setting up the dominoes so that they intentionally fall in their favour -

Does that mean that by asking the old question: "who benefits?" it becomes clear that this is, in reality, a deceptive shuffle that acts as a kind of invisible "funding" for the next BCLiberal electoral campaign?

( A very good idea presented by Wendy Bradley in the comment above as well.)

we need an effective opposition

Dan the socialist says we need a Gary Doer or Jack Layton at the head of the BC NDP. No, what we need is a socialistic and environmentally sustainable-type of leader pf the New Democrats--not just Liberal Lite. We want something way different than what we've had for the last decade plus. We need to have a clear choice of someone and programs to vote FOR.

Freebar asked where the

Freebar asked where the fiscal conservatives are now?

They're doing very well.

Maggie thatcher screwed up the British economy and lives happily every after.

Reagan doubled the US national debt in his 8 years.
He's gone now, but his heritage lives on in a bankrupt USA.

Mulroney also doubled Canada's debt and then sold the country off to the corporate mafia, calling it "free trade" that earned him a string of directorships and a multimillion income.

Campbell's first action was to cut corporate taxes to the bone and then down to nothing. We now have the highest cost of living with the highest child poverty rate and lowest minimum wage in Canada and more tax cuts to banks to come.

Harper is also cutting taxes, while setting banners up all around with "Canada for sale" on them and the more of the country he sells, the higher the GDP and "growth", while a million line up at the foodbanks and thousands are homeless in the richest country on Earth even by World Bank figures.

And this is what "fiscal conservativism" is about.

Ed Deak.

I Very, Very Much Appreciate Mr. McMartin's Follow-Up, But....

...It is very, very important to note that, as Andrew MacLeod noted in his piece that was posted almost immediately after the budget was tabled, Finance Minister Hansen actually suggested that the Feds might have a hand in the delay.

Here, precisely, is what Mr. MacLeod wrote in his piece that Mr. McMartin linked to above:

....The documents also show that the province received $250 million of that compensation in 2009-2010, instead of the planned $750 million. The shift was because of the federal government's cash flow, said Hansen. “It's not something we have unilateral say over.”....

So.

Does this not give every single political reporter in this province carte blanche to demand that Mr. Hansen answer the following direct question, immediately:

"Minister Hansen, did you, or any member of your Ministry or your government, have a hand in the $500 million dollar deferral in federal compensation?"

Now.

Why is it in the interest of all British Columbians for political reporters to demand an answer to this question?

Because then, regardless his answer, the Minister will be on the record such that we will know, with certainty, where the blame lies if $75 million dollars of British Columbians money down the drain come Mar 25th.

.

We Need Accountable Government

Without that its like pirate season on the open seas as its a lawless land for some in very high places as their low down to their knees in black mud. We can blah, blah, blah about the bad state of affairs and how government did this and government did that but nothing comes of it. As long as the powers that be are not going to be held accountable then anything goes.
Now that is reality and something tells me British Columbinas aren't going to be to pleased when reality truly hits homes and its going to take more than their tax dollars being spent on advertissments telling them differently to change their minds. You have a government in power who will resort to anything to regain power and maintain it at all costs now isn't that a comforting thought when it comes to your futures and fortunes.

I enjoyed the article

It rings true of the Liberals and helps keep readers informed and that is priceless at a time when there is a great deal out there that banks on keeping British Columbians misinformed at least until after the next election.

Thanks Ed

Today on cknw Jack Mintz cited how consumers prices went down in price in Atlantic Canada when they brought in the hst...And that is sorta true..Prices fell roughly 1%....But..

Housing and services went up in price...But one more thing...

Jack Mintz failed to mention that the PST..and GST in Atlantic Canada was 19% if you combined the taxes...7% gst..12% pst.

But as an enticement to harmonize to a HST..the combined rate was dropped to 15%...over a 4% drop in the overall tax level, yet the consumer only saw a 1% decrease in costs on some items..

Jack Mintz failed to mention that difference,John Macolm failed to ask any questions,even the questions I emailed him..

BCers would be pleased if our HST meant a total tax level of 8%...

Jack Mintz was a fraud by not pointing that out..You can`t compare apples to oranges...

If I was a teacher grading Jack Mintz`s 18 page report..He would get a big fat F...for that ommission.

Also in 2008 Jack Mintz stated there would be 5 years of job losses in Ontario with the implementation of the HST,with job losses stabilizing in the fifth year..

He goes onto say..Wages after 10 years would be slightly less,mainly because of higher cost of consumer goods and services..

Nothing but a "snake oil salesman"

When BC has an opposition party,

I think I'll vote for them. Anybody heard when
we might get one ?

Re: opposition

Netscape 2

Our political system renders any opposition as a toothless entity if one party has a majority. Yes they can raise issues and concerns about legislation etc., but if the governing party has a majority it all goes for naught. This is why our political system sucks. It has no real checks and balances. Adoption of the STV may have tempered things somewhat but that ship has sailed and I think the only way we will ever get a true democracy is if the political party joins the dinosaurs on the extinction list.

3Ps - BC's hidden debt - Will's next report?

Gabriel Yui at the str8 did an excellent report on the BC's Hidden debt. Hopefully Will will get on that one soon - specifically the IPP obligations.

http://www.straight.com/article-296582/vancouver/bc-liberal-budgets-hidden-debt-and-tax-hikes-threaten-economic-growth

Fighting the anti-HST with our money?

Isn't there something about the recall and initiative legislation which prevents the government from using taxpayer's money to fight against such a move. Now that VanderZalm has started the drive for signatures against the HST, the government uses our money to hire Jack Mintz to fight off Bill VanderZalm? Something is really rotten here. Perhaps Elections BC should investigate.

We must all fight to save our province

Yes, the NDP had a terrible campaign last election and that is because they are and hopefully were caught up in 'a blame game.' The tired slogan 'no more broken promises' is indicative of this. The NDP needs to actually say what they will do instead of the Liberals did this and that etc in order to get people to care and have faith in them.

The majority of people who didn't vote in the last election are young people. During the last election, I went around and asked young people in Vancouver if they were going to vote and they said "Why should we? All they do is fight and blame each other!" I don't 'blame' youth for not voting or caring when such political 'strategies' are being utilized by the opposition. Perhaps use the passive voice: "This has been done and this is what we are going to do to fix it." Don't name names. We all know. Ignore the liberals and all of their manipulative and insidious head-games and build confidence through a thoroughly thought out action plan WITHOUT BLAME. It doesn't matter.

As things are so desperate for the future of OUR HOME and our democracy, anyone who is discontented and knows what is going on MUST get involved BEYOND VOTING in order to stop this horrific dictatorship that is destroying and will continue to destroy our home unless all of us in the know do something about it.
I don't think it is possible to form another party in time that will be able to win. We need to all join the NDP, reform it, demand a new leader with charisma who can capture our imaginations and instill confidence. Someone who will tell the voters what has been done and what we will do to fix it.

Youth voters?

Any person who uses this excuse not to vote, ""Why should we? All they do is fight and blame each other!" has not a clue of how British Parliamentary democracy function and, is too bloody lazy to make an effort to understand the issues and what the parties are saying. That is how we got a bunch of folk who no longer believe it is necessary to tell the truth to the voter. A Democracy requires the voter to do more than put an 'X' on a ballot. It requires some time to refl;ect on the issues and what is being said. As far as I am concerned nobody should get away with making a statement like that. It just shows their willingness to remain ignorant. That is likely the problem with youth.

Charisma

The Left doesn't need to find a charismatic leader, the Right has managed perfectly well over the last 30 years at the federal and provincial levels without a charismatic leader.

What the Left should do is offer an alternative and be vocal about how its different. None of this BS about appealing to the "centrists". There's far more apathetic non-voters than there are centrists.

And lastly, when elected show that what it says in a campaign it can be trusted to do when in office.

We await the answer:

Let's help keep RossK's excellent (and still unanswered) question in the forefront of this issue:

Quote:

"Does this not give every single political reporter in this province carte blanche to demand that Mr. Hansen answer the following direct question, immediately:

"Minister Hansen, did you, or any member of your Ministry or your government, have a hand in the $500 million dollar deferral in federal compensation?"

Now.

Why is it in the interest of all British Columbians for political reporters to demand an answer to this question?

Because then, regardless his answer, the Minister will be on the record such that we will know, with certainty, where the blame lies if $75 million dollars of British Columbians money down the drain come Mar 25th."

End of Quote.

Surely, there is one investigative reporter left in this province to demand this crucial question be answered immediately by Mr. Hansen?.....and surely it is the obligation and duty of the Opposition to ask this question in OUR legislature on OUR behalf....and to continue demanding an answer of Mr. Hansen until one has been satisfactorily given.