Opinion

Test Your Baloney Detector

Should you bite on what BC Lib leader hopefuls are serving? Take this quiz!

By Will McMartin, 10 Jan 2011, TheTyee.ca

Phoney Baloney

Ten years in the making?

Text size:

Rate this:

Login/Register

Related

The BC Liberal leadership contest is heating up as the new year begins. All six candidates are stumping the province, "listening" to the people and making a slew of promises.

Should British Columbians believe any of these hopefuls as they vow to make the government more accountable, open and honest?

Five months from now the BC Liberals will mark the 10-year anniversary of their historic, May 2001 election to government. And that means we have a decade's worth of promises and activities to look at to determine if the BC Liberal party and its leadership candidates can be trusted.

This exclusive Tyee quiz will assist readers in that task.

LOOKING OUT FOR TAXPAYERS

1. The job the leadership candidates seek is that of premier. In 2001, when Gordon Campbell became British Columbia's 34th premier, his taxpayer-funded, take-home pay added up to $123,120. That was 4.5 times greater than B.C.'s per capita personal income, which then stood at $27,076 per annum.

By 2009, after eight years of BC Liberal government, per capita personal income had increased to $35,196 -- up an even 30 per cent.

Over the same period, Campbell's annual earnings:

A. Fell by 71.4 per cent -- to $35,196. ("It wouldn't be fair if I made more than my constituents," the premier declared in a famous speech than won praise from both his supporters and political opponents.)

B. Rose by 30 per cent. ("My pay should not rise at a rate faster than it does for the people who elected me," said Campbell.)

C. Soared by 68.5 per cent.

AVOIDING APPEARANCE OF CONFLICT

2. One of the most important tasks facing a B.C. premier is to appoint people to vital public posts, such as the Executive Council and Crown corporations' boards of directors.

In Feb. 2008, then-Finance Minister Carole Taylor said that the BC Liberal government would abolish the corporation capital tax on large financial institutions, thereby saving the country's biggest banks, trusts and insurance companies about $100 million annually.

Ten months later, effective Dec. 22, Taylor resigned her seat and quit politics. How many days after her retirement did she accept an appointment to the board of directors of one of Canada's biggest banks?

A. 248 days.

B. None. Given that the government had effectively killed B.C.'s tax on banks, Taylor refused the appointment because she didn't want even a smidgeon of a hint of an apparent conflict of interest.

C. The whole question is based on a faulty premise. Taylor is so virtuous that in Feb. 2008 she actually refused to introduce or support the BC Liberals' abolition of the corporation capital tax on banks. That's because her husband, Art Phillips, was then in the process of selling his interest in a financial services firm for millions of dollars of bank stock.

3. Vancouver lawyer Jonathan Drance was appointed to the board of directors at BC Hydro and Power Authority on May 8, 2008. His compensation over the next two years added up to nearly $84,000.

How many board of director meetings in that time period did Drance have to leave so as to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest over his and his law firm's involvement with Independent Power Producers?

A. None.

B. All of them.

C. Five

KEEPING THEIR WORD

4. The BC Liberal 2001 election platform -- A New Era for British Columbia: A Vision for Hope & Prosperity for the next decade and beyond -- pledged to "stop the expansion of gambling..." (page 26).

In 2000/01, the fiscal year that ended just before the BC Liberals won election to government, there were 2,399 slot machines in the province. How many slot machines did B.C. have at the end of the latest fiscal period, 2009/10?

A. 2,399 (the same number as in 2000/01, because the BC Liberals have honoured their commitment to stop the expansion of gambling).

B. About 2,700 (a slight increase, but just to keep pace with population growth -- the BC Liberals have kept their word).

C. 9,438.

5. Gambling revenues at the BC Lottery Corporation totaled almost $1.5 billion in 2000/01, a third of which (nearly $500,000) was derived from casino revenues. The comparable numbers in the latest fiscal year, 2009/10, were:

A. Roughly the same (because the BC Liberals wouldn't break their solemn pledge to stop the expansion of gambling).

B. Slightly higher (a teensy increase merely to keep pace with population growth and inflation -- the BC Liberals generally kept their word).

C. Dramatically higher, with casino revenues alone soaring by 168 per cent.

6. George Abbott has promised that if he becomes premier, his government will convene "regular regional caucus meetings in communities across B.C." Christy Clark has vowed to hold "12 town hall meetings a year... to hear directly from British Columbians."

It's all reminiscent of a pledge in the New Era document -- known by insiders as "NED" -- to "create the most open, democratic and accountable government in Canada." A key component of that promise was to "hold open Cabinet meetings at least once a month... televised and broadcast live on the Internet" (page 30).

How many open cabinet meetings did Gordon Campbell's BC Liberal government hold between their 2001 election victory and the end of 2010?

A. 115 (one every month, just as NED promised).

B. 32.

C. None.

7. One of the highest-profile promises in NED was to "not sell or privatize BC Rail" (page 9). Yet on Nov. 25, 2003, Gordon Campbell announced the privatization of BC Rail, sold to CN Rail for $1 billion.

Almost exactly two months later, following the resignation of Judith Reid as minister of transportation, Campbell named Kevin Falcon to that post. Responding to questions in the legislature on May 5, 2004, Falcon described BC Rail as "a railway that was losing money year after year after year."

How many years did BC Rail lose money before the BC Liberals privatized it?

A. None. BC Rail actually was a profitable company -- it did not have operating losses.

B. A whole bunch of years. Too many to count.

C. Three.

8. On that same date Falcon also claimed that BC Rail's debt-servicing costs were an intolerable burden on B.C. taxpayers. "The $38 million last year that we paid in interest costs on the half-a-billion dollars in debt that BC Rail carries will no longer have to be paid," he told the House.

"That's $30 million that taxpayers can now invest in health care, in education and in other options that British Columbians have recognized as a priority here in this province."

What were the annual interest costs borne by B.C. taxpayers as a result of BC Rail's operating losses?

A. More than $30 million every year, just as Falcon said.

B. Nothing. BC Rail was a commercial, "self-supported" Crown corporation, and so taxpayers contributed nothing to its debt charges.

C. Nothing. BC Rail did not have any operating losses.

FISCAL ACUMEN

9. On June 6 and July 30, 2001, the newly-elected BC Liberal government unveiled tax cuts totalling more than $2 billion annually. Christy Clark, the freshly-appointed minister of education, wasn't concerned about a loss of revenues for her department, however.

"In every jurisdiction where personal income tax cuts have been tried, they've worked," she told the legislature on Aug. 2, 2001. "It's meant more revenue to government from personal income taxes. That's what we are going to create in British Columbia."

How much "more revenue" did the BC Liberals' personal income tax (PIT) cuts produce over the last decade?

A. Oodles. PIT revenues more than doubled under the BC Liberals.

B. A little bit more. PIT receipts have increased along with population growth and inflation.

C. None. Victoria's PIT revenues not only have failed to keep pace either with population growth or inflation over the decade, they've actually declined in real terms. As a consequence, the province today has less to spend on education and other programs than it had back in 2001.

10. On Feb. 14, 2002, George Abbott, then minister of community, aboriginal and women's services, delivered the following lecture on the perils of deficits and debt.

"Only in British Columbia over the decade of the 1990s did we see a provincial administration that... because of their inability to come to grips with the situation they faced, to do the right thing. That was to get their spending under control, to get deficits under control and to begin to reverse the very destructive piling up of debt that continuously robs our social programs in British Columbia."

He concluded: "... you can't keep piling up deficit after deficit, building the debt, seeing more and more costs for borrowing, and hope to preserve intact all of the programs that exist across government."

According to the latest BC Liberal budget, the province's debt at the end of the 2012/13 fiscal year will be:

A. Much lower than it was in May 2001. The BC Liberals' tax cuts and other fiscal policies have worked miracles.

B. At about the same level as when the BC Liberals' first won election to government.

C. Higher by 65.3 per cent. If the BC Liberals complete their current term in office, they'll have added an average of $1.8 billion annually to the province's debt.

ANSWERS

1. C. The 2009/10 public accounts show (see pages 7 and 9 here) that Campbell last year took home $90,962 as premier, another $101,859 as MLA for Vancouver-Point Grey, plus $14,673 in capital city living allowance -- for a total of $207,494. (This amount does not include about $65,000 taxpayers contributed last year alone to Campbell's post-government pension.)

Thanks to legislation the BC Liberals enacted in 2007, Campbell's annual income has increased from 4.5 times greater than that of the average British Columbian, to 5.9 times greater.

The 2007 legislation also provides the soon-to-be ex-premier with a life-long, taxpayer-financed pension of approximately $135,000 per annum.

2. A. Taylor's appointment to the board of directors of the TD Bank Financial Group was announced on Aug. 27, 2009.

As finance minister, Taylor told the legislature on Feb. 19, 2008 that the government was abolishing the corporation capital tax on large financial institutions. Two days later, on Feb. 21, the Royal Bank of Canada announced that it had concluded a share-swap arrangement to purchase Phillips, Hager and North Investment Management Ltd., a Vancouver-based firm founded in 1964 by Art Phillips, Taylor's husband. Taylor's 2007 financial disclosure statements shows that Phillips owned two per cent of PH&N's shares.

According to the CBC, the Royal Bank's purchase provided PH&N shareholders with "a total of 27 million RBC shares." Based on a pre-deal closing price of $50.39, the CBC put the value of the purchase swap at $1.36 billion. That valuation suggests that Phillips (who owned two per cent of PH&N's shares), received Royal Bank stock worth about $27.2 million.

In 2008, Taylor's financial disclosure form no longer showed her husband as owning equity in PH&N. Instead, an unspecified equity position in the Royal Bank was listed under 'Shares in Public Corporations.'

3. B. BC Hydro issued a Clean Power Call on June 1, 2008, 34 days after Drance was appointed to the Crown's board of directors. On May 19, 2010, under questioning in the legislature by NDP MLAs John Horgan and Bruce Ralston, Lekstrom admitted that "the Clean Power Call was a standing item on every agenda" at the directors' meetings.

Ralston asked: "... did Mr. Drance then recuse himself from every meeting of the board?" Lekstrom: "Yes, Mr. Drance did excuse himself."

He added: "Mr. Drance did recuse himself at every discussion this (the Clean Power Call) took place, but he attended the board meetings. ...he never once remained to deal with anything to deal with this clean power call."

In 2008/09 and 2009/10, BC Hydro ratepayers paid Drance $40,000 and $43,875 for his part-time participation on the board of directors. That puts his two-year total (see page 62 here and page 44 here) at a sweet $83,875.

4. C. From a total of $269 million a decade ago, slot machine revenues under the BC Liberal government skyrocketed more than four fold in 2008/09 to above $1.3 billion. The recent recession caused a decline in 2009/10 to $955 million, still more than triple the figure from when the BC Liberals took power and promised to stop the expansion of gambling.

5. C. From 2000/01 to 2009/10, total gambling revenues at the Lottery Corp. rose from $1.483 billion to $2.517 billion. Over the same period, casino receipts increased from about $492 million to $1.322 billion. Casino income has grown from one third of the Crown corporation's total revenues to more than half (52.5 per cent).

6. B. The Campbell government held seven "open cabinet" meetings in 2001; 10 in 2002; eight in 2003; six in 2004; and just one in 2005. The BC Liberals' last open cabinet meeting was on Jan. 26, 2005.

That suggests that Abbott's promise of "regular regional caucus meetings" and Clark's pledge for monthly "town hall meetings" are likely to be short-lived.

7. A. BC Rail recorded operating profits in each and every year from 1978 through to its sale in 2003 -- 25 straight years. From its profits over that period (see here), the Crown corporation paid to the government dividends -- to pay for health, education and other public programs -- totaling $137.7 million.

8. B. and C. Trick question. Like BC Hydro and Power Authority, the Insurance Corporation of BC, the Liquor Distribution Branch and the BC Lottery Corporation, BC Rail was a "self-supported" commercial Crown corporation. Such Crowns, according to the 2009/10 public accounts, are those that "generate sufficient revenues to cover interest costs and repay principal and may pay dividends to the province."

("Taxpayer-supported" debt is that which requires "operating or debt service subsidies from the provincial government." At the end of fiscal 2009/10, B.C.'s taxpayer-supported debt stood at just over $30 billion -- or 72 per cent of the province's total debt -- while self-supported debt stood at just under $11.9 billion -- 28 per cent.)

BC Rail's self-supported debt, moreover, was not the result of operating losses, but arose from the corporation's purchase of new assets to diversify its operations.

9. C. British Columbia's personal income tax receipts totalled $5.963 billion in 2000/01 (before the BC Liberals implemented their first round of tax cuts), but came to just $5.529 billion in 2009/10. That's an actual decline (see Table A2 here) of $434 million -- notwithstanding population growth and inflation.

As a proportion of the provincial economy, Victoria's total taxation revenues between 2000/01 and 2009/10 have collapsed from 10.9 per cent of GDP, to just 9.1 per cent.

10. C. British Columbia's total provincial debt at the end of 2000/01 was $33.788 billion. By the end of 2012/13 it is expected (see Table 1.22 on page 44 here) to hit $55.862 billion -- an increase of $22.074 billion (or more than $1.8 billion annually since the BC Liberals took power).

As a proportion of B.C.'s economy, the total provincial debt will have increased over the period from 25.7 per cent of GDP, to 25.9 per cent. [Tyee]

Tyee contributing editor Will McMartin is a veteran political advisor and analyst. Read his previous columns here.

26 Comments:

Login or register to post comments

  • RickW

    1 year ago

    On #1, I chose "A"

    And because the taxpayers of BC only respect large salaries for their leaders, they immediately lost respect for Campbell, causing him to put in his resignation........

  • crh

    1 year ago

    How can we debate liars?

    How can we debate liars? With no crediblilty within the Liberal party, I cannot accept anything they say. Nothing. Talk all you want, Falcon, Clark and company, I cannot believe a word of it!

    You can't debate with a liar.

  • Frank

    1 year ago

    Will McMartin

    "By the end of 2012/13 it is expected (see Table 1.22 on page 44 here) to hit $55.862 billion"

    I assume that doesn't include all the payments to P3s we're on the hook for for the next few decades?

  • freebear

    1 year ago

    Let them eat Baloney!

    Its all the 'unwashed' can afford eh Gordo!

    Seriously it has been a 'Golden Decade' of lies and deceit; oh and the colour of Gordo's parachute!

  • Darin

    1 year ago

    heads in the sand

    Will,

    I enjoy reading your articles. I only wish more Liberal members would get their heads out of the sand, and read your articles. There are not enough questions being asked by the members of the Liberal Party to the candidates. I am frustrated to hear rhetoric about open and accountable Government, but as you mentioned, we heard it in 2001. These candidates were all part of that Government. What is really going to be different. I have proposed a "truth or consequence" policy to be adopted by the new Premier. If he/she does not fulfill the promises of an election campaign within two years of the new mandate, then the Lieutenant Governor is to call an election. The Leaders of the Parties would have signed an pledge to give the LG this mandate.

    There has to be accountability to Government. In an election, each Party should have atleast 5 - 10 major platform policies that they are relying on to have the voters elect them. This policy platform would constitute "promises" and would be included in the pledge signed by the Leader. If the Government fails to fulfill their platform...goodbye...no waiting for recall campaign. Enough is enough.

    There has to be a rewriting of the conflict of interest laws....Carole Taylor and her husband...yuk.

    I really hoped the "new generation of leadership" by Kevin Falcon was going to actually mean something. So far, it just seems to mean that he is going to use social media to engage the public.

    Where's the beef? I am really dismayed that so many just give lip service to transparent and accountable Government.

    If your article was written about an NDP Government, would Kevin Falcon be heading a recall campaign as he did in 1999? I would be curious to have your compare the "issues" he detested in 1999 against the "socialist hoardes" to those issues of his own Government.

    Credibility is what I want...and to have that naive belief that our next Premier will
    introduce new reforms to rid our Government of future corruptive actions.

  • Skywalker

    1 year ago

    An Idea whose time has come

    Will McMartin for Premier. Excellent Will just keep em coming!

  • rantnic

    1 year ago

    A Falcon is a Raptor

    Once again Will McMartin is letting the facts get in the way of the "true" Liberal story. Some may feel that using the word "true" in the same sentence as "Liberal" is an oxymoron. This could not be further from the truth. We (the supporters of "Lord Campbell" and his band of merry "Disciples") all know that for the good of the "Party" whomever is made leader will follow the edicts from the "Higher Order". My vote must therefore go to Kevin Falcon because he did such a good job on the sale of BC Rail. I'm sure he will be just as able with the sale of BC Hydro. He is also the best one to have another stab at privatizing ICBC and the Liquor Distribution Branch. As long as there is not a full inquiry into the BC Rail scandle that includes the release of evidence seized by the RCMP, Mr Falcon has the best chance of becoming our next "Lord Premier". He is after all the closest thing to a "Campbell" we have.

  • Peter Dimitrov

    1 year ago

    Accountability and The Big Lie - Part One

    IMO, there can be little to no accountability to citizens by provincial or federal politicians unless we, the people, awaken from the BIG Lie that has been perpetrated by the media, the corporations and the oligarcy of political parties. The BIG Lie is that the institutional design of our parliamentary system is a democracy. The truth is that what we have is NOT a democracy.

    Now, why would I make such a seemingly outrageous statement. The principal that Montesquieu elucidated is still true in these modern times, namely: "Any man who has power is led to abuse it; he continues until he finds limits. So that one cannot abuse power, power must be checked by the arrangement of things."

    Few who are knowledgeable will disagree that there are three prime attributes of democracy: the representative principle, the elective principle, and the dividing principle of state power - these three make it possible for the people who are governed to elect, dismiss and control government, thereby preserving fundamental political and human rights freedoms of individuals and collectivities/groups.

    As I have written and spoke about many times over the past years, our system of governance is dysfunctional, is an outdated corrupted meme of governance, a colonial, authoritarian system, as outdated as windows 3.1 is in the modern computing world.

    Whilst there are several aspects that are dysfunctional, the worst, is that the executive power in a parliamentary democracy is completely immune to the demands of accountability. Regardless of which prevailing political party assume power, this is so.

  • Peter Dimitrov

    1 year ago

    Accountability and the Big Lie- Part Two

    On this continent many principles relating to the democratic exercise of power owes its genesis to the Mohawk system of governance, from there to the American federalists (Madison, Hamilton, Jay, who looked to European intellectuals such as Locke who elucidated about division of powers, Bolingbroke on the equilibrium of powers and Montesquieu on the balance of powers.

    In Canada/BC the executive branch of the Premier/Prime Minister and his Cabinet are not separate from the legislature, they are voting members of the Legislature who hold great sway over the Legislative authority of the Legislature, especially so, under the Party 'whip' system. Further the Executive branch has unchecked powers to appoint the Judicial branch of government and numerous other 'appointment' related powers.

    IMO, to create a more accountable functional form of democracy the people need to directly elect the Legislative members and the Executive of government separately - and those two branches of governance, along with the Judiciary must be kept so that checks and balances to the abuse of power by either of the three branches of state power can occur - now, in Canada there are few to none!
    The Executive does as it wills, Orders in Councils, appointments to tribunals and Judiciary, law rubber stamped by the Legislatures which the Executive controls throught the whipped party system.
    Finally, if we ever move to a Multi-Member Proportional Representation election system, based on a list - closed or open- the executive of the political parties will put together the list of party members for voters to decide upon - and then we will have moved ever more definitively to an oligarchy of parties - and democracy will be done like dinner. ---and the BC NDP lobbied against the STV voting system - which received some 58% support by citizens and correct me if wrong, BC NDP Party policy is supportive of the Mixed Member Pro-Rep system.

  • jimorsheryl

    1 year ago

    We are Kidding Ourselves

    The NDP, Liberals and Tories are ALL relics of a bygone age which unlike the dinosaurs they are have not had the good sense to crawl off into a tar pit someplace.
    If you think any of our 'leaders' are actually leading rather than simply being tossed about by global forces beyond their control you have been drinking your political parties Kool Aid too long.
    The LIBS will continue to pander to business, which incidentally can move to where they can make more money, like it or not. If you doubt that, why are 52% of our clothes coming from China? Don't we have good union clothing manufacturers right here in our own country?? That ship has left.
    NDP panders to big unions who keep sucking money out of joe averages pocket and giving it to CUPE protected employees who for the most part make at least 30% more than their private sector counterparts.
    There are fewer and fewer of us in the middle who can keep picking up the tab for either of them. In fact, clearly we haven't been picking up the tab at all, since we have a federal debt of over $500 billion and a provincial debt in the $50 billion range.
    The NDP as a party are incapable, the LIBS are incapable as are any other forms of the Socreds.
    If you want to keep encouraging these guys, they will keep putting on the same show over and over again.

  • freebear

    1 year ago

    Fishing with the lure of promises

    how many fooled 'fish' in the next election

  • morechatter

    1 year ago

    Looking out for taxpayers

    My baloney meter just went out of whack with the HST Tax, and the carbon tax all put upon the backs of the taxpayers during a recession while Chinese immigration keeps piling in. With steady job loses despite the HST tax in place it is safe to say big business is getting their money for nothing while the BC carbon tax cleans them out. Why a carbon tax during a recession with a barrel of oil out of control? No breaks for tax payers even if it is Canadian oil.
    BC the most expensive province to move to, poorest services, lowest wages and with a Liberal government that has the biggest liars there is.

  • Okanagan Orchardist

    1 year ago

    Never was any good at multiple choice..

    ...especially trick questions.
    Will, I think you should send this quiz (without the answers, of course) to our red-headed media expert in Victoria. It would be very interesting to see his answers.

  • Ernest Black

    1 year ago

    There is accountability

    It's called elections.

    Although adding jail terms, and forfeiture of all salaries and monies during the term of office would also be nice.

    Trouble is the US Rico act only pertains to criminal activities, and we have not yet established that lying and cheating while in office is a criminal activity.

    We should obviously vote them all back in, as at least we would know what we are getting.
    A bunch of lying, cheating, scumbags.

  • rvollo

    1 year ago

    Lies and the Liars that tell them

    Excellent article. I wish the main stream media would do the same.

  • technowhiz

    1 year ago

    Will somebody please buy the Liberals a calculator?

    It doesn't surprise me the Liberals give away a profitable railway and run a deficit SIX TIMES what Gordo projected...

    DAMN! ALL THOSE PESKY ZEROS! Let's see...
    $3.3 Billion is 3300 Millions, right? Well, divide those 3300 Millions by 200,000 trips per day (100,000 return trips), according to the Liberal government's figures, across Port Mann and you STILL get $33,000.00 PER VEHICLE...and the cosy little Ford Explorer will emit only 1600 times per passenger mile that a modern tram system will. That $3.3 Billion project will only sustain 200 kilometers of track and support FIVE times the commuters as opposed to the 40 km in the Gateway project...

    What? Me Worry?

    http://www.dcs.sala.ubc.ca/docs/sxd_frb_portmann_vs_lightrail_redux_sec.pdf

    PLEASE...Will someone buy the Liberals a calculator?

  • RickW

    1 year ago

    technowhiz

    The Libs are "calculating" just fine thank you very much! It's just that their "calculators" are not available to the average BCer......

  • MBCGA

    1 year ago

    Vote Green !

    Tired of the BC Liberals ? Lacking confidence in the BC NDP ?

    Vote for the Green Party of BC ! Even if doing so doesn't dislodge the BC Liberals in one election, even if it helps an undeserving NDP come to power, or a somewhat more deserving NDP nonetheless fail to gain power, at least voting Green helps build real alternatives for future elections. A well-governed Province isn't achieved in a day, nor necessarily in a single election - it is instead a somewhat drawn-out process. Help get the process going by voting Green next time round !

    Michael Barkusky

  • sdgreen

    1 year ago

    NDP/Liberals = Much BS

    Both the NDP and the Liberals are so full of BS that they will never expuge themselves of the smell.

    We need a whole new group of people with new policies and solutions to consider.

    The NDP are still in the Dark Ages and the Liberals still think they are in the 1980's.

  • Cynic

    1 year ago

    Democracy, what a great

    Democracy, what a great idea! Too bad we don't have it, and the evidence shows that electoral democracy means nothing. I think I've arrived at the point where I might no longer vote. Indeed, a general boycott of the sham elections might really send the message: the system sucks, it's all corruption. Enough!

  • Terrys_Hot

    1 year ago

    Liberal Government

    The Liberal Government is out of control when Gordon Campbell was picked up for DUI in Hawaii he should have been booted out of office in Canada that is a criminal offense. Ever since that incident most of the Crown Corporations are run by Americans. Even Air Care is an Amercian company and all the money collected from us poor people is going across the line too make the Americans alittle richer at our expense. I hope the people of British Columbia show the Fiberals the door in the next election. All the Fiberals running except for Christy Clark stood right behind their leader and voted in the Hated Sales Tax (HST)and now hopefully we can get rid of that too.

  • happy

    1 year ago

    Terrys_Hot?

    You say most of the Crown Corporations are run by Americans. I just checked all these and not one single one is run by an American

    BC Assessment
    BC Housing
    BC Hydro and Power Authority
    BC Transit
    British Columbia Lottery Corporation
    Community Living BC
    Industry Training Authority
    Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC)
    Legal Services Society

    Are there more? I assume you were thinking of Hahn at BC Ferries, he's American, but BCF isn't technically a Crown Corporation.
    But it's still a government operation, especially in mindset, so I'll give you that one.

  • Skywalker

    1 year ago

    And BC Hydro is getting there

    The days of BC Hydro as a Crown Corp. are numbered. All this private power being purchased at inflated prices will soon mean that it will be a Crown Corp in name only. It will function as a private interest entity because the major source of hydro will be in private hands. What sources are in public hands will be supplying private industrial interests with cheap power while the rest of us taxpayers pay free market prices.

    My baloney meter has been registering in the red zone ever since Campbell and his machinery started churning out the stuff. It is now a lot worse than it ever was under the NDP. They didn't even register medium.

  • freebear

    1 year ago

    Gourmet Baloney being sold to us!

    Just like polishing a turd; baloney is still baloney however you dress it up!

  • Hugh

    1 year ago

    I figure per capita BC debt

    I figure per capita BC debt will go from $8,249 in 2001 to
    $11,683 in 2013.

    BC Population in 2001: 4,085,000.
    BC Population in 2010: 4,551,000.

    From:
    http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/data/pop/pop/BCQrtPop.asp

    Projected BC Population in 2013, based on increase of 75,000 per year:4,776,000.

    From the article:
    BC Debt in 2001: $33.7 Billion
    BC Debt in 2013 (projected): $55.8 Billion

  • rantnic

    1 year ago

    Vote Green?

    Why not vote "blue" or any other party that wants to jump on the band wagon. There are three parties in BC that support the idea of "Direct Democracy" which is the only way for us to overcome the "Partisan Party System" we now suffer under.

    Please have a good look at "Direct Democracy" which is nothing at all like the unworkable system used in California. The B.C. Refederation party (www.refedbc.com)
    has done the research into the successful (150 years) Swiss system of "Direct Democracy" and they explain it quite well on their web site. The other parties subscribing to "Direct Democracy" have generally followed the "Refed's research and are also worth having a look at. They are the BC First Party And the Heritage BC Party.

    • The discussion for this story is closed. No more comments can be added.