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For Premier Campbell, unsavoury questions pile up.
Now silent on BC Rail deal, Campbell boasted of it in 2003.
As I write this, I'm coming to the end of a long road trip where I've been speaking to groups about the Campbell government's energy policy, which bids fair to permanently lay waste to 600 to 700 of our rivers and streams in this wonderful province of ours.
In fact, tomorrow evening I will do my seventh speech in six days, 10 in the past two weeks. During those days, I've had time to reflect on just what makes this premier such a destroyer of our unique environment.
When Gordon Campbell was leader of the opposition, I was up to my eyeballs fighting Alcan over Kemano II, or as they preferred to call it, the Kemano Completion Project. He wanted to know more about this matter so he came to my radio studio and looked at my material. He was with me for half a day whereupon he pronounced himself opposed.
Some time afterwards I asked him what had made him take that position and he related to me that he had seen a billboard showing sockeye salmon going into the Adams River to spawn and he didn't want his kids deprived of this wonder. I was impressed.
It surprised me when he became premier and almost immediately took the moratorium off Atlantic salmon fish farms.
Questions about our salmon
The issue at that time was the huge escapements of farmed salmon and the question was whether or not they might establish themselves in our rivers and streams. The premier was deaf to the entreaties of many of us who asked that he bring back the moratorium and apply the "precautionary principle" before anything further was done. Taking him at his word, I assumed that he cared for our environment.
Then, in 2003 or thereabouts, a lady named Alexandra Morton from the Broughton Archipelago, on the mainland opposite Port McNeil on Vancouver Island, came upon the scene. Though not a fish biologist, she was a scientist and had come the Broughton to study whales. At the suggestion of some nearby First Nations people, she tested young pink and some chum salmon and warned that sea lice from fish farms situated on their migration paths were slaughtering them.
The then minister responsible, John Van Dongen, wouldn't listen.
Neither did the premier who asked me to do a paper for him. Again, taking him at his word that he cared for the outdoors and our salmon, I did it. I collated all the scientific evidence available and it made an irrefutable case that Morton was right. He never acknowledged my work, let alone thanked me for it.
Questions about BC Hydro and our rivers
The more the evidence piled up, the more licenses were granted. When a legislative committee and then a commission under John Fraser, appointed by Campbell, confirmed Alexandra Morton's findings, the Campbell government issued more licences and expanded others.
Now we have the Campbell's 2002 Energy Policy, which mirrors the recommendations of Alcan. BC Hydro is no longer allowed to bring in new sources of energy. That must be done by the private sector, which is being allowed to stake rivers like old-time prospectors staked claims for gold. These private firms then will divert "their" rivers, often through tunnels up to 20 kilometres in length, thus reducing the flow in portions of the river bed by up to 95 per cent.
Questions about sweetheart deals
BC Hydro must pay huge contracts for this private power, often twice as much as they can get on the market. All this is done, we're told, to meet imminent power needs in the province. I will simply deal with the claim by observing that the National Energy Board, which vets export of energy, says B.C. is in most years an exporter of power.
Here is the insidious part. Even if B.C. did need new power, they would not be getting it from private operations for this reason: you cannot store electrical power in quantity, it must be used as it is created. You can, and BC Hydro does, "store" power by storing water in reservoirs behind dams but private projects have little or no ability to do that. Thus, private power, for the most part, can only be generated during the spring run-off when there's enough water to make their generators work.
That happens to be the very time BC Hydro's reservoirs are full so that they can't use the private power!
This means that all private power produced for the foreseeable future will be for export. We have, then, a BC Hydro unable to bring in new energy sources, strangled at this writing with $30 billion dollars in sweetheart deals with the private companies, no longer able to contribute millions of dollars to the public treasury, large companies making the power and sending their profits to their shareholders.
Questions about backroom dealings
Last year BC Hydro gave the public treasury about $500 million for schools, hospitals and the like. Now that money is going out of the province. Everywhere I go people ask the same question. Why?
The people look at the Basi-Virk "Railgate" court case and see the disappointing Attorney General Wally "Stonewally" Oppal refusing to answer questions about documents being disclosed. The premier does the same on the specious argument that the documents emerging from the trial are sub judice (before the courts).
There were the huge fees paid to Ken Dobell who was in a clear conflict of interest. We all read daily about the money that Liberal backroom boy Patrick Kinsella apparently got for consulting for the purchasers of BC Rail and the private power moguls while advising the government.
Last week Sean Holman and Mark Hume, in the Globe and Mail, laid l'affaire Kinsella bare before the public. If this isn't sleaze, what the devil is? And people, not surprisingly, ask: What the hell's going on here?"
They reflect on the fact that Gordon Campbell ran for office as a man who loved our precious fish and promised never to give up BC Hydro or BC Rail. People see money that used to come to us now goes to foreign shareholders and they ask again: What gives?
Questions about the smell in the air
How can any decent taxpayer look at all these goings on and not say in Hamlet's words "there's something rotten in the state of Denmark".
That doesn't make it so, I agree, but the air is odoriferous.
What I do say to Mr Campbell is this:
Your dealings with the sale of BC Rail.
The clear attack on BC Hydro.
The favouritism towards fish farmers and private power moguls (especially after posing as an environmentalist and defender of our Crown Corporations).
The conflicts of interest and huge fees paid to favourites.
All of this is bound to make ordinary British Columbians ask: Mr Campbell, just what the hell IS going on here?
Related Tyee stories:
![[Tyee]](http://thetyee.cachefly.net/ui/img/ico_fishie.png){kind=small}
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Campbellwearsatutu
4 years ago
I like it Rafe.........
It`s almost enough to make me break out in a chorus of expletives......
No need,I will give the moderaters a break..........
I will post,again,the names of the BC Liberal insiders who now have Lucrative directerships with Plutonic Power,great work from Sean Holman(why the NDP don`t hire em is beyond me)
Remember,Plutonic power has only been a company for 4 years,so to have Gordon Campbell`s ex-chief of staff on Plutonic`s payroll, smells,smells real bed,...........
here is da link
http://www.publicpowerbc.ca/insiders-move-ipp-industry
and for good measure,the import/export debate claified!
http://www.sqwalk.com/bc2009/001560.html
Frank
4 years ago
Rafe
You forgot to mention that its all the NDPs fault for wanting more female candidates or for opposing Marc Jaccard's flawed view of economics.
You see, people on this forum say all the time how much they have to vote Liberal because the NDP opposes Liberal policies so its actually the NDPs fault that Campbell gets elected, not theirs.
Its a brave new world Rafe and whatever Campbell does can always be excused by finding some fault with the NDP.
Frank
4 years ago
Blame James
And let us not forget the Greens. They who hate the NDP more than the Campbell Liberals and spend most of their time on these boards giving Campbell a free ride.
DJT
4 years ago
"All of this is bound to
"All of this is bound to make British Columbian's ask: Mr. Campbell, just what the hell is going on here"?
To which CanWest replies, "Nothing, everything is great, nothing to see here, all is rosy". Therein lies, imo, a large part of the problem.
Dan the socialist
4 years ago
Most of the public either
Most of the public either does not know nor cares about what Raife wrote unfortunately.
They watch Pravda err Global news at 6 and take it as Gospel and do not seek out other news services.
But they still hear the bad about the NDP and this is partly why Ipredict El Gordo will win even a larger majority next month and the other part is the NDP have a poor leader.
Grumpy
4 years ago
The real trouble is ......................
............. Carole James and the NDP have failed to connect with the people. From what I can gather, the backroom boys & girls have not passed the 1980's (strange weed?) and continue to fight battles long forgotten.
Carole James is a nice person but completely politically inept.
Now enter Gordo, the land developer/confidence trickster, whose lexicon doesn't include honesty. His dictum is simple "If you donate to the Liberal party, you get a piece of the action."
This means BC is being raped by all sorts of evil people, sucking the last shekel from the taxpayer in doing so as well.
Liberals think the taxpayer are suckers.
How did we get into this fiasco? Simple, the NDP hierarchy have, learned nothing and they remember nothing and are set about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Here we have one of the most evil of men destroying the province for 'evil lucre' and we have a wet noodle leading the opposition.
God help us, all is lost!
NicS
4 years ago
Carbon Tax Shell Game
Many enviros and their groups have attacked the NDP with their stance against the "Liberal Carbon Tax". Yet we all know, even those that support this most disingenuous ploy to garnish votes, that the Liberals may have won that battle. These enviros/NDPers are voting for the Liberals because they think GC is a sincere man, and how can you argue with that.
To me it is looking like another 4 years of social and environmental destruction thanks to the likes of David Suzuki and other enviros support of GC's Carbon Tax.
I know the history of the NDP and it shows me over 70 years of care for our society and our environment, maybe not always perfect, but a far cry from the Liberals total disregard for anything but greed and profit.
Over the next 4 weeks, we need more groups and individuals like Greenpeace standing up for the NDP, if we want to end this reign of Campbell the agreeable facist.
Frank
4 years ago
Grumpy
"Liberals think the taxpayer are suckers."
They are.
"How did we get into this fiasco? Simple, the NDP hierarchy have, learned nothing and they remember nothing and are set about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory."
Replace "NDP hierarchy" with "the people" and you get the real problem.
Don't blame the NDP, that just lets people blame their poor decision making on others. Let the blame lie where it should, at the feet of people that vote for the current gov't.
There's no law that says the NDP have to be perfect or people are forced to vote Liberal. If the people don't want the Libs or the NDP they're free to form new parties and vote for them.
At the end of the day the people get the gov't they deserve. Trying to blame the NDP for that is ridiculous.
VivianLea Doubt
4 years ago
Government we deserve
I don't think one can discount that under the current system only a proportion get the government they deserve - not a majority.
Skywalker
4 years ago
Rafe, only one more thing...
...apologies to Denmark. Well done.
As for Grumpy, I wouldn't be too hard on him. One also expects the opposition to be able to read public opinion rather than simply wait for the liberals to implode at the last minute. The NDP waited for Campbell to lose the election in 2005 and it did not happen. Let's hope that the same strategy will not be used this time.
Janie Jones
4 years ago
The Beat Goes On
Donald McInnes told Bill Good that the reason that BC Hydro can't develop RoR is because the government wants them to focus on Site C, refurbishing their vintage assets and also because we the people of BC lack the entrepreneurial zeal and intellectual capacity to do it ourselves. We need GE, heavy equipment operators from Quebec, carpenters from the Maritimes and a shady bunch of Liberals turned Plutonic Power to directors to borrow money using us as co-signers to make a pile of money doing it for us.
I am reminded of when the Libs crumbled BC Hydro into three different pieces - transmission lines, electrical generation facilities and financial/clerical, which they then awarded to the Bermuda-based giant sleazy offshore corporation-formerly-known-as-Arthur-Anderson scandal & corruption-ridden Accenture.
Three months after their contract, which gives a shadowy international criminal (convicted!) organization an enormous amount of the BC public's capital to play with, in Jan of 2003, every single mother I knew and many others, myself included, received threatening letters from Accenture demanding deposits in excess of four months average hydro bill within ten days of receiving the letter or their power would be cut off in the middle of the winter without further notice. Their crime? They had been late paying their hydro bills in the past, especially around Christmas.
This was extremely stressful for many of these women. The ones who were on social assistance were able to get the Ministry to transfer the funds to Accenture and thus taking a huge chunk of taxpayer money from their budget and transferring it offshore for a period of at least one year, if bills were thenceforth not paid on time. The working mothers had no choice, they had to raise that money somehow. As did I, over $700 as I recall.
This heartless demand, a policy that Hydro had never practiced in the past, was written in a very threatening tone. It was pretty much extortion.
Janie Jones
4 years ago
Beat Cont. On
It's true, James may be a nice lady but she is totally ineffective as a leader and I find her stand on the aboriginal title issue that "we live as two unequal peoples on stolen land" does not take into consideration the civil rights of people who have been born and raised in BC for generations and many of whom, myself included (Croatan), have First Nations ancestors themselves.
What is being proposed for the Indian Bands is to organize them on a corporate model and then hire people to manage them as oligarchic revenue generating entities.
The St'at'imc Runner is ostensibly a publication of the Lil'wat Tribal Council and recently covered some of the situations that have arisen from the signing of the Tsawwassen treaty. According to Bertha Williams of the TFN in its April edition:
"There's so much behind the scenes that nobody ever hears about. My property is now designated and zoned for band housing. I don't want it for that, I want it for my kids future. People just the other side of me are zoned for for light industrial/commercial development. This is not just my property, it's my sisters' and brothers'. My family has had this 60 acres handed down generation by generation. It's partly zoned for roadways. There's nothing I can do about it. The community votes for what it wants and I can either sell out or have my house expropriated - that's the long shot. The Tsawwassen First Nation is untouchable. The easement for the highway goes right into my house."
Williams actually travelled to Geneva in Febuary to ask the Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to "look into the process by which the Tsawwassen Final Agreement was ratified, and has asked Canada to cooperate with the investigaion." She also says the community was not fully informed. Mike deJong insists they were.
Hmm . . . maybe it's time that non-card carrying BC natives started working on a presentation to take to
Geneva ourselves.
Campbellwearsatutu
4 years ago
What a load of sad sacks.........
The NDP are going to win the election,I guarantee that result.........
1200 votes in 11 ridings in 2005.......
Thats what the difference was from getting rid of Campbell in the last election....
If Canwest had played it square it would of been a NDP landslide......
Rafe has been packing halls and community centers all this province,Rafe`s voice,Rafe`s message,for every 1000 people he talks to represents messaging 10s of thousands....
Who listens,hears,and gets the message,everybody,this issue is huge,Dan(the socialist)you don`t know what the LLLLLLL your talking about,you have one line only........
Carole James is bad..........WOW,really DEEP.
Carole James whipped Campbell in the last debate and she will pummell Campbell in the next debate.
BCers of all stripes have "ran" into Campbell`s ploicies over the last 8 years and they are in disgust,scared,and wanting change........
If Carole James had major newspapers and major TV pounding her message over the last 8 years Campbell would be run out of town.
For those of you who KNIT PICK Carole James about this n that and more details and to be tougher on this or that........
Carole James must appear to be centrist,even the same on many issues,....
Rafe, I would like to personaly thank you for your dedication,you deserve a medal of honour,I hear your message,my neighbors hear your message and by god all of BC hears your message.
For now,at this time in BCs history,Carole James must do and say anything to get elected...........
For until a new party gets their hands on the steering wheel,they will be unable to change directions.
Cheers-EYES WIDE OPEN
Campbellwearsatutu
4 years ago
From the Straight.....
The platform
The message
http://www.straight.com/article-213937/here-are-15-intriguing-promises-carole-jamess-ndp-platform?
How many photo-ops for Campbell in the last month? 100--200?
Peolpe don`t like the man,79% of all voters,including Liberals,say that Gordon Campbell is "NOT HONEST or TRUSTWORTHY"
After 8 years,what more need be said?
Campbellwearsatutu
4 years ago
Carole James on CKNW
Carole James was on CKNW today at 8.30 am on the Bill Good show today,Bill tried to rattle her,Carole handled Bill Good`s obvious disdain for her like a champion.....
Here is the link to the audio vault....
Cue up 8.00 am/monday13th.....fast forward to 8.32 am
http://www.cknw.com/stationshared/audiovault.aspx
Worrywart
4 years ago
Lying 101
Gordon Campbell is a liar. He is not just a liar, he is a simple liar. He say's A and then does not A. If any one of my friends lied to me as Gordo has lied to all of us, I would no longer associate with such an individual. However, when a Premier lies incessantly, he remains in the position and is actually protected by the mainstream press, who ignore his lies.
Gordon Campbell has used his lies to sell out the precious resources, and thereby reduce the standard of living, of 99% of BC citizens.
superjudge
4 years ago
it's time...
I wish citizens in BC could wake up and see what is really happening to this province. We need to take this province back from big business and corporate elites. Let's take to the streets Thailand style...
Fiat lux
4 years ago
I wonder how some people can
I wonder how some people can call Ms.James "inept" etc. when we've had the most inept. imcompetent and corrupt government at least within my 53 years as a BC voter?
How could anybody be worse?
Ed Deak.
Name
4 years ago
Right on, Rafe!
Thank you for getting out there and telling it like it is!
Railgate and the Kinsella scandal has shown us how the Premier and his gang operate and who they are working for.
And it's now clear to all who wish to see that IPPs are the next great scam on the agenda.
We need to stop them now by working with all the alternative parties - NDP, Conservatives and Greens - and by working smart to ensure that at the very least we deny Campbell another majority, with BC's energy future as a top order of business for the next government to address.
superjudge
4 years ago
Online Forum
If anybody wants to join an online forum discussing issues pertaining to the election, Kelowna's Castanet website has a good one going. If you want to set some El Gordo worshippers straight, this is the place to do it. You well have to register as usual.
http://forums.castanet.net/viewforum.php?f=54
Wilfred Laurier
4 years ago
The Greens Can't be so bad..
"And let us not forget the Greens"
The Greens can't be so bad. They even advertise on this site.
I am awaiting the day the Tyee runs a story critical of the NDP. Not holding my breath on that one.
Skywalker
4 years ago
Fiat Lux
I don't think Campbell is inept. He is very successful in that he is deceitful and corrupt and follows a particular neocon agenda. The fact that he manages that with a bunch of puppets in his caucus and a cheerleading media does not alter the fact that he does it well.
What some of us are saying is that James is nice, very likely honest and moral but does not do politics well. The election is therefore closer than it should be. It is a very risky game the NDP hierarchy are playing at the public's expense. For the NDP inner circle it is nothing more than Jobs and power.
If James wins she will have a chance to prove that she can handle her "handlers" but right now she has a big job. If she loses, then she moves on, pehaps a ride into the sunset, but we are stuck with another four years of Campbell after four years we should have been spared.
Skywalker
4 years ago
Wilf
When the Greens are migrating to Campbell it is a good sign that they are a spent force. There is no point in wasting time on them. This fight is between the Campbell "Liberals", who are liberals in name only, and the James NDP, who are now more liberal than they ever were.
A tough choice for someone on the left. Choosing between political philosophies that created the mess the world is in is not the ideal.
Campbellwearsatutu
4 years ago
Wilfred.......
In case you haven`t noticed,the NDP haven`t been in power in 7 years 11 months and 29 days........
You will have to wait a couple of months before stories come out critizing the NDP(after they are goverment)
Unless you think the highest poverty level in Canada for 6 straight years,a 400% rise in homelessness since 2001...and the most dramatic job losses in BCs history since the 30s is the fault of the NDP?
And don`t forget the extinction of BCs wild Salmon!
Janie Jones
4 years ago
Campbellwearsatutu
Saying and doing anything to get elected is not a policy that resonates well with BC voters anymore.
Dr Alexander
4 years ago
Janie Jones.... you are half right
Saying and doing anything to get elected is a policy that resonates EXTREMELY well with the Canwest and N-Dubya crowd.
Wilfred Laurier
4 years ago
Quarry
I will repost your above comment on election night. But it is a done deal, right? Carole is 100% sure of landslide, correct?
BC Mary
4 years ago
First they came for BC Hydro ... then BC Rail ...
Remember when 3 valiant MLAs stood in the B.C. Legislature, battling Gordo's 76 BC Liberal government on the issue of why they were crippling BC Hydro in what looked like a betrayal of all that's holy - i.e., letting Accenture take control?
They didn't give up. Joy MacPhail (NDP), Jenny Kwan (NDP), and Paul Nettleton (Independent) kept asking, asking, asking: What's going on? Do you realize what you're doing? Even: Have you read the contract before you signed it?
To which the Energy Minister, Richard Neufeld, replied "No, I haven't read it. Ooops!"
Well, Oops! indeed.
Over at my place, I have posted quite a bit of the Hansard record of that Feb. 2003 battle ... because it wasn't long afterward that we could see the same kind of process re-enacted as BC Rail slid out of public ownership, too.
In fact, 28 Crown Corporations slipped out of public accountability at that time.
Read about it here: http://bctrialofbasi-virk.blogspot.com/
Then vote for whoever you believe can stop this piracy.
Thank you Rafe. Some things are just too important to be reduced to left-right-left-right nonsense. We'd all be better off united against this kind of treachery.
JStog
4 years ago
The Choices
Wilfred Laurier
The Tyee ran this cartoon in 2005.
British Columbians Haven't forgotten The BC NDP's Horrid Past.
seth
4 years ago
worse even
You keep using that 30 billion figure Rafe but those numbers are almost 8 months old. Gordo has been very busy signing Pirate contracts as insurance against an election loss - 40 billion would be closer. And of course if he gets elected that 40 billion will likely approach 80 billion by the time the next election rolls around.
With the projected cost of new generation power in the 1 to 2 cent per kwh range against the 12 cents average he's paying the Pirates, its possible almost the entire 80 billion will be lost. Worst financial disaster in Canadian history.
Of course the explanation for these fantastic risks becomes apparent when we note all the Liberal party hacks getting lucrative Pirate board of director appointments.
Campbellwearsatutu
4 years ago
Dr.Craig Orr...
Executive directer of the watershed watchdog group..........
Was on the Bill Good show between 11.00 am and 11.30 am..........
A very good piece on the ROR scam...on fishfarms killing salmon...and on Gordon Campbell privitizing our power and selling out BCers........
A very good 1/2 hour....Yes Rafe,the province is aware.......
cue up 11.00 am monday april 13th....da link to the audio vault
http://www.cknw.com/stationshared/audiovault.aspx
Campbellwearsatutu
4 years ago
Vancouversun.......
The message is loud and clear........
3 letters in todays Vancouversun.....All about Run of River/Thanks again Rafe....
http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/Shedding+some+light+powering/1490758/story.html
http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/Shedding+some+light+powering/1490759/story.html
http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/Shedding+some+light+powering/1490760/story.html
Frank
4 years ago
JStog
Good luck on ever finding a party to vote for.
Emakala
4 years ago
Saving the NDP
The guy who could have pulled the NDP's chess-nuts out of the fire, so to speak, just retired. And Corky knows I'm no fan or psychophant of his, but it's true.
Check out his last two speeches in Victoria. And weep..
Grumpy
4 years ago
If................
........... the judgment of Susan Heyes lawsuit comes down before or during the election, there are several very big bombshells that could cost Gordo a lot of votes in Vancouver as well the Fraser Valley.
We must remember the rump of 2 NDP seats after the Glenn Clark fiasco. A lot of people who worked very hard to bring proper transit planning to the region and right the wrongs of SkyTrain were given the boot and the finger as well.
Joy McPhail never understood this when she pleaded people to vote NDP.
The smell of the Millennium Line has turned to a vast stench with RAV and the truth will be a real embarrassment to Gordo, Falco, Birdo, and Dobello.
Do I again hear the treads of RCMP boots in government offices?
Skywalker
4 years ago
On the Cartoon.
Now you could run the same cartoon and just put Liberals where it says NDP and it would be five times as fitting. Which just proves how easily people are led by a partisan media and how easily people hang on to mythical perceptions making every excuse for the medias bias and how easily things can change. Who would have thought that Campbell's integrity would have been so tarnished in just 7 years. Wilf is the guy reading about "Clinical Signs and Diagnosis of Amnesia."
TYRONE
4 years ago
Liberals-they are very liberal with the truth!
I, for one, am not ready to toss in the proverbial 'towel' and will make sure to go and vote. - As usual, I will be trying to vote the "ruling" party out, because they have continually abused the trust of all British Columbians, including myself. -
Sure, I really feel, that I do not have a good choice, but ANY choice other than liberal has got to be better than this corrupt bunch!
So, if any of you reading my comment think about saving what's left of our great outdoor rivers, now is the time to let all your friends know, just how important it is to go and vote the liberals out!
morechatter
4 years ago
Remember the last election
Well this one has an interesting twist and its definitely a plus for the NDP as unhappy Liberal supporters who feel cheated find the Conservatives a more likely choice this time around. As in the last election it was the NDP fighting over seats with the Greens and now we have a whole new turn of events as we have the Liberals fighting over seats with the Conservatives making the race a whole lot more interesting.
And Seth your right about it being closer to 80 billion as the premier and his entourage of sleaze strip this province of its oh so valuable resources and it will leave many into writing about corruption something to talk for sometime to come.
morechatter
4 years ago
And the Conservatives
How many seats do you think they will get because they are a hot topic and it goes like this, I'm not into that socalist agenda which in reality is more the middle, but the Conservatives now thats a very interesting party as MANY talk of taking their votes to a new camp. And it would not surprise me to see the Conservatives picking up seats as some believe as many as much as 12 to 13 seats may go the Conservative way. Nothing to Harp about but it sure could change the numbers the Liberals receive as its no longer going to be okay to blame it on the NDP because blaming it on the Conservatives now thats going to be a new twist to BC politics, a welcome one.
Conservatives are from Venue and the Liberals blow in the next election.
morechatter
4 years ago
Correction:
The Conservatives are from Venus and the Liberals blow in the next election.
Campbellwearsatutu
4 years ago
The muddy waters run deep--Part 1
Gordon Campbell,all he does is muddy the water.
I have some examples of this tactic.
Gordon Campbell closes 10 prisons and 24 courthouses then makes a big stink about the urgency of opening a prison in Burnaby.
Campbell with his cuts to social services and housing creates a homelessness disater in the province,now he has Coleman running aroud throwing money at it before an election.
He brings in a Carbon/gas tax and muddies the water,on one hand he calls the tax 600 million(for now)in goverment revenue,on the other hand he calls it 600 million in tax cuts? Can it possibly be both?What am I missing?What does it do?A guilt tax?
Marc Jaccard,the great Marc Jaccard,the author of the Campbell carbon/gas tax,Jaccard,states,on the radio,newspapers,for the carbon tax to work it has to be 10 to 20 times what it is now,so Jaccard wants fuel to cost 2.00$ to 3.00$ dollars per litre........
Sure,how many jobs will that cost? Price fuel so people can`t afford it,so Jaccard is on the record as saying " The carbon tax at this price level does nothing" am I missing something? Isn`t that like a pharmicist selling you medicine that doesn`t work? Marc Jaccard is saying to BCers that hey,the carbon tax is useless but it`s a great thing! Are people that stupid?
Campbell signs on to a Cap n Trade in april 2008,implementaion by 2012(no details released),the NDP have a Cap n Trade in their platform with implementation by 2011-2012,now comes Marc Jaccard with a "study" that states the NDP cap n trade will cost 60 thousand jobs by 2020,and Campbell uses this Jaccard paper/study in the press including radio and newspapers..
Just how can the media not ask why his cap n trade won`t cost jobs?Do they even know that we signed onto one in april 2008? Am I missing something?
8 of the last 11 years we have exported power but Campbell claims we are a net importer with a power shortage? Am I missing something?
Can the people be that dense? The media that dense?
Campbellwearsatutu
4 years ago
The Mud--part 2
Gordon Campbell campaigns in 2001 on a open/honesty platform,he also states he will honour collective agreements that were signed,claimed he wouldn`t sell BC Rail.
Well, after getting drink in Hawaii and gets busted for impared driving,returns to BC to tear up contracts and proceed to sell BC Rail,9000 15.00$ per hour workers get fired and get offered their jobs back at 9.00$ per hour.
The workers sue,well the BC Legislature gets raided by police,thousands of documents seized....
Many Liberals around the case quit office.
Meanwhile the streets fill with poor people,after squeaking out a victory in 2005--1500 votes in 11 ridings and he would of been gone.......
But with his mandate,he creates a power shortage myth and starts selling rivers,he gives away 400.000 hecters of forest land and expands fish farms,gambling, more broken promises.....
15000 homeless people,gangs shooting up the streets,what does Campbell do.....
He gives his freinds a big raise,25%,and himself a big raise, 2 years later he gives his freinds another 45% raise,he won`t raise the minimum wage,no he won`t.
Campbell states that these senior goverment raises are appropiate,a worker shortage,they are all leaving for the private secter......
All these experts,23% child poverty,leading Canada for 6 straight years,homeless people,gangs shooting up the streets,but Jessicca Macdonald,Gordon Campbell`s secretary(deputy) deserves her 104.000.00$ a year raise bringing her total salary to 348.000.00$ a year!
Gordon Campbell`s attorney general writes a gag law he knows is illegal,just shut the hell up!
Meanwhile our BC debt rises and rises,now the jobs are gone,not Jessicca MacDonald`s job,not the minimum wage jobs,the good jobs,forestry,mills,construction,their all gone,20 thousand jobs a month are gone,month after month........
Campbellwearsatutu
4 years ago
My tears--part 3
I know the minimum wage jobs are still here,I see them flipping burgers,cleaning tables,I see them lined up around the block at the hundreds of food banks,I see them sneaking on the skytrain because a monthly pass is 15% of the wage.
I see them,I see the homeless in my little town,the minimum wage won`t even pay the rent,could I work for minimum wage without food money,transit money,maybe,I don`t want to try....
I see seniors in the day time,scrimping,buying no name weiners at the store because they can`t afford to eat healthy,I don`t see them at night because they have turned their lights and heat off because they can`t afford that either,god help them if they get sick,there is no where to house them.
There is something wrong,who is better off,not the starving children,why can`t we at least have goverment stock food banks?
This isn`t my bc, starving children,dying salmon,seniors sitting in the dark,a homeless person in every other alcove,maybe Jessicca MacDonald has the answer,someone must have an answer.
Maybe Carole James has an answer,maybe Carole James will at least ask the question,what can we do?
First nations talk about a connection with the land,I have a connection with the land,no salmon anymore where I live,and that forest is now off limts and access to those rivers is now prohibited....
Whoose vision is that,not mine,not my ancesters,well,maybe these once clear eyes of mine are too clouded by my tears to have any vision left.
daveallen
4 years ago
MediaWatch Bias Scorecard LIB-0 NDP-2
I have today made a commitment to follow The TYEE "BC election reporting" up until the election on May 12.
My bias scorecard will be clearly a simple record of the read articles and their bias in a LIB vs NDP format as per the subject of this message.
This scoring is based on my opinion and does not reflect the opinion of anyone in my family, my company or the organizations which I belong to.
If anyone wants or needs to comment to me directly I am
Spam accepted, although not preferred.
G West
4 years ago
Still looking for an expanation daveallen
Are YOU playing hard to get?
And that material I provided on corruption, have you studied it yet - 'cause when you're done, I can provide a much longer list for your careful attention.
Anyone who doesn't have an honest bias against the incumbents in this province simply hasn't been paying attention.
daveallen
4 years ago
G West
I am just not that hard to contact.
Thanks
Frank
4 years ago
Bill T
I assume the MSM will now be calling the Campbell years BC's "dismal decade"?
Somehow I doubt that your facts will get by the pro-Liberal screening process.
G West
4 years ago
DaveAllen
As I posted on another thread - why would I respond to you privately - only YOU get to read those messages - we're into reaching as MANY pairs of eyes as possible.
I'll respond to your stuff, and question your inaccurate premises, here - where I know lots of folks read and enjoy the exchanges.
I already have enough neocons in my address book as it is. I don't need any more - their bias is the bane of the media now - my objective is to confront them where their prejudices and blatant self-interest will be shown up to the widest possible readership.
I don't care to send guys like you emails for the same reason I don't listen to CKNW.
morechatter
4 years ago
Take back the Carbon Tax
James says she wants to take back the tax, which is set to triple and will force business to raise their prices at a time when consumers are price consience also affecting BC's competitiveness. And its going to be a real killer on the low income as they find heating their homes impossible along with the higher prices being passed on to consumers especially in the grocery stores. Anyways here is the funny part as James talks about taking back the tax Liberals say James can't do that because the money is being used to keep this province going.
And what is being done for the environment? TILMA.
Anyways Campbell didn't need a carbon tax to get people to stop driving or visiting BC as his plans for an new era have just about wrapped it up as not only can people in this province not afford to drive their cars they can't afford to live and the traveler well they are looking for those deals. And there sure isn't any to be found here in BC thanks to Campbell's government as a industry worth hundreds of millions takes its business elsewhere.
I agree its difficult to take back taxes but at least stop them from trippling while finding ways to protect the environment that does not cause serious harm to its citizens and the economy. While passengers can't see the bonus of paying $5 to park their cars and $10 for the ride as the ride goes to the guy or gal without a car while drivers take to the highway.
morechatter
4 years ago
And Media Watch
Watch out for falling Liberals as we wouldn't want one to hit you on the head. Which I find interesting as there is little out their in terms of news as the media is filled with Liberal fluff as spins doctors take citizens for a ride.
Which is a good indicator that the election news is a hot topic with British Columbians along with the Tyee.
morechatter
4 years ago
Who Do You Believe?
Isn't that what it boils down to? Just think of it with Carol James at the helm. It will be nuts kids getting the education they need, workers making a livable wage, people off the street, human rights and watch dogs put back into place and an open and accountable government committed to the well being of the average citizens of this province? Whats Carol represent well she is the middle class, the hard working class who knows the struggles of working families and whats most important to them and their families its where you will find her.
Where does it start? With openness and accountability along with human rights put back into place and Civil Liberties fundamental to our Canadian Heritage and then if Government is up-to no good then Watch Out because they will be held accountable. As a Liberal public servant comes in different forms of ignorance which is a requirement as a blue haired lady with sagging boobs down to her knees came up and said,"Next" as I stood thinking are we doing Lonnie tunes. As we are all to aware these are key to a democratic government along with a free press.
Campbell promised but then closed the doors on issues important to British Colombians while pushing his agenda down the throats of the public as we all remember the only to democratic Rav deal where MEDIA(unbiased) pushed the issue 3 times until they got the answer they wanted and. Democratic?
A Free Press well how free can it be if British Colombians are paying billions to hear the Liberals spin of events? Which makes for interest with all the new found wealth in this province why are there so many poor? Thats what you get with the rich and greedy they don't like to pay their fair share while making sport of societies most vulnerable who don't stand a chance while dipping into the public treasury. And you wonder who brought down society was it the the rich or the poor?
Terrys_Hot
4 years ago
Gordo
When did Canada become part of the States because you seem too be hiring all of the Americans for CEOS of all government business such as the ferries and translink now there is a job translink screw the people and take the money for the CEOS pockets
Terrys_Hot
4 years ago
Hey Gordo
Go to Hawaii and get an impaired driving charge it is a criminal offence in Canada you shouldn't even be in office you should be behind bars..
Skywalker
4 years ago
Who made daveallen the unbiased adjudicator?
Somebody writes in and claims they will keep a score card of "biased" articles. What makes this guy more than just another liberal troll? Its a joke. He doesn't even deny his business connection and bias. I think I will start doing the same.
daveallen
4 years ago
I'm outta here, cowards.
As I discussed with Mr. Beers, who I respect and admire, this name-calling batch in the anonymous quagmire are just a waste of my time (and I suspect thiers).
You won't see me posting, or reading in the comment section, and I have a clear picture of which articles to read:
THE ONES THAT COVER BOTH SIDES OF AN ISSUE.
TTFN
Campbellwearsatutu
4 years ago
@ Daveallen
Crowd too tough here? Go ahead,keep score,but no one needs to see your scorecard.
Did you ever consider that a story that is true isn`t bias?
No premier in BC history has ever owned the media like Campbell.
You want bias,go listen to Bill Good,Christy Clark,Voice of BC,Vancouver sun,The Province,Times Colonist etc etc.
In fact,Gordon Campbell is a proven liar and Proven Lawbreaker!
How many ffffiiiinnnnggg photo-ops has Campbell had in the last month,100,200?
Everything Campbell says is distortion,and you can`t hack it,TOUGH,business man.....
Campbell spending tens of millions on ads,photo-ops,billions on deficit spending,rigged media,and he is still going to lose the election,and why is that?
Because people`s hair stands up on the back of their neck when they see or hear Campbell,no one believes him,no one believes the mustel poll,Campbell is a ego-maniac,gold medals with his name on them,Campbells name on all the campaign signs,Campbell has to pay people just to be his freind!
And along you come to the TYEE and start critizing truthful stories and posters......
How many god damn stories are in your business magazine promoting the NDP......
NONE,not a ffffiiinnngggg one!
What party will that magazine be supporting?
Don`t worry Dave,you will have plenty of time to criticize the NDP when they are elected goverment!
Cheers-EYES WIDE OPEN
freebear
4 years ago
Atta boy tutu!
Campbellwearsattutu your comments are right on and I shed tears too.
But damn I am voting ABC!
And STV just to force politicos to learn and think more than they currently do!
carfreed
4 years ago
BC votes
When I see all the automobiles being driven everywhere and anywhere, I doubt if enough BC
people care about rivers, the environment or any other matters except money and personal finances.
The only thing that would get people to vote for the NDP would be reaction to the carbon tax.
I heard them on the call ins after it was launched. They were mad.But then, the price of gas has gone down, so they might stay with the Liberals.
Rafe is doing a good job but he's aslo got some slick opposition.
I was at the Rally for the Butte. That was promising but Carole James has a way of alienating people and enviros will vote Green in many ridings since the Fed election showed that strategic voting didnot work. That will give the Libs a win.