Get a grip Rafe

I read Corky Evan's pamphlet on why we need a moratorium on private power development in BC and laughed. Fortis delivers private power to his own home, yet Corky claimed allowing private operators to develop hydroelectric power was a new thing we needed to think over. The generating facilities serving the West Kootenays have been in private hands for 100 years.

We're selling the water Corky claimed, but if you have ever looked at a contract, the province leases the right to generate to you, and you pay for the right off the top, before expenses and any calculation of profit. Then you pay the province again, taxes on income if you make any.

It isn't green power says Corky, who are we kidding here? Run of the river power isn't green? What kind of gibberish is this? Compared to what?

I have noticed you aren't incorporating what is known about climate into your thinking Rafe. The Liberal win was "terrible" for "the environment" as if the fundamental underpinning of river ecology is not the climate.

Many are saying this is the historic moment for climate, that this will be seen to have been the decisive moment for civilization: are we going to start turning away from energy that emits greenhouse gases, or are we going to hand down to our descendants a problem we have let grow so large they won't be able to fix it.

No matter what else they've done, the Liberals have enacted the most aggressive policy to date on climate yet seen in North America, and your dear Carole James was doing her best to torpedo the effort. What happens to politicians who try to implement carbon taxes is watched carefully, worldwide, and the Liberals have pulled it off, they've put one in, suffered the worst kind of insincere posturing from the NDP as they attacked looking to pick up rural votes, and survived.

You should think about where that water you're so concerned about in the rivers comes from. Its the atmosphere. Any ecosystem is an expression of the climate, and if the climate changes, so does the ecosystem, including your rivers. The entire climate system of Earth is about to be shuffled up and it won't be going from point A to point B, some new climate. We are about to enter a period of constant change in climate, with consequences spelled out by the Toronto Changing Atmosphere conference more than twenty years ago as consequences that "could only be exceeded by global nuclear war", it is hitting the fan now, and what you've got to say is the terrible thing is that a government was elected in BC that chose as one of its platform planks that we should face this issue and do something about it.

Self-flagellation not deserved

Rafe: You and I agreed that, if we failed in our goals, we would always blame ourselves for not having done enough. Wrongo, My Friend. There is no way, under Queensbury rules, that 'nice', or 'logic', or 'ethics and accountability' can ever win out in BC politics. Not over people who, on the one hand would scream bloody murder about an NDP candidate under investigation, but on the other have no trouble casting a 2,500 majority for a candidate who is under RCMP investigation.
What we can do one day - with Alex perhaps - is cry out our sorrows over a 'cuppa' for a province lost.
As for STV? You and I have nothing to be ashamed of. Much to my surprise and chagrin, the responsibility for our loss of the only fallback position to a Liberal win, falls squarely on the shoulders of Messrs. Schreck and Tieleman and those of like mind.

The environment

You had to go mention that as its a tear jerker for sure as de-regulation is no longer a requirement but a law to doing business in this province. Its also wonderful of course just like everything else in the land of milk and honey and something tells me there is going to be a whole lot of crying going on and its got Liberal attached to it. But then Liberal voters asked for it so what can they say, nothing. We like the abuse? Kinda like a being in a bad relationship where the old man is a boozer and he beats the crap out of you, and your loyal anyways. Fear + ignorance = liberal voter.

grub

You should go over to Bill's site at
http://billtieleman.blogspot.com/

and tell him that.

By the way, nice seeing you post again, been a long time.

maybe treating us as stupid wasn't a good idea afterall

I'm going to go out on a limb here & suggest that one possible reason why there wasn't much traction with the anti-IPP / anti-renewable energy approach was that certain, uh, spokespeople treated the audience like morons. It's amazing how screaming one-liners instead of honestly addressing the issue somehow alienated folks with operable levels of critical thinking skills.

If I hear "they're selling our rivers" or "they're exporting our power to the US" or "BC Hydro owes a gabillion dollars" one more time I'm going to jump out of my window.

I hate being maliciously mislead, and the attitude of "we're treating them like morons for their own good" just doesn't cut it from any part of the political spectrum. And yes, I'm a lifelong NDP supporter... who almost voted elsewhere this time. I'm also a life-long environmentalist who does more for the world by breakfast than most, yet I'm embarrassed by the utterly banal manner in which ecological threats are being mis-portrayed these days. No wonder people are cynical.

A simpler STV?

Why do we have to vote for MP's? Why not just vote for a Party?
Parties would then be assigned a number of Members of Parliament based on their percentage of the vote.
Those seats would be filled from ranked, public, MP Candidate Lists maintained by each Party.
Individual Ridings could still be represented in many ways. One way would be for Ridings to be assigned an MP by the Party with the majority in that Riding. When sufficient MPs are not available for this, the Riding's winning Party would assign a (non-voting) Representative who would represent that Riding within the Party caucus.

campbells got what it takes...

to take what you`ve got! and he has very rich and powerful friends,some of them buy ink in 500 gallon containers and all of it is used to print nice things about him.add to that the canwest global and corus support board of trade ,fraser institute and on and on.we can now look forward to getting our noses rubbed in it.I have a lot more appreciation for carol james now that i can see how decent she really is and campbell just comes off as the lying sleaseball he always was.

Rafe....

"I travelled the entire province except the Peace River and I can't begin to count the speeches and other happenings. "

Don't you realise you were preaching to the choir, Rafe?

A man of your achievements should retire gracefully.

wild salmon

If BC wants wild salmon, which I highly doubt at this point, they had better do something about it themselves, because they should not expect people to keep fighting this battle if they are going to elect Campbell over and over.

When asked to apply the laws of Canada to fish farms he locked the doors to Canada Place so a petition signed by 14,000 people would not clutter his desk, and BC said yup, that's the guy for us.

I really can't help you.

Rafe is totally off base!

Although I respect Rafe for his service to the people of BC from 1975-81, and his service as a radio promoter, I think that he is way off base now.

How can anyone, who vehemently opposed the NDP, turn around and betray his political past by crawling into bed with the enemy.

It's Rafe's type that disillusioned people hate the most. Rafe is nothing more and nothing less than an Ujjal Dosanjh style turncoat. He has about as much political credibility as Brian Mulroney.

How dare Rafe become a traitor to free enterprise. I can not stand anyone who wants to fight freedom, capitalism, and democracy. Rafe's attacks on fish farms, independent power producers, the First Past the Post System, Gordon Campbell makes me doubt his health and well being.

Rafe has had a distinguished career. He should step aside and let someone with better credibility handle the difficult issues that someone of his age can not possibly handle.

Like Gordon Gibson and Allan Fotheringham, Rafe's time has passed.

I would like to thank him for his past service to the people of BC, and would strongly urge him to step aside and let his former free enterprise colleagues carry on with governing this province as we see fit.

Socialism is dead. It always has been, and always will be.

Why did Rafe run against them in 1975 and 1979? Was he a closet Commie all this time?

When he vehemently opposed the Charlottetown Accord in 1992, was he really trying to undermine the government with a socialist revolution? Why was he so opposed to his betters?

When he endorsed the BC-STV campaign, what were his real motives?

The mind baffles!

I wish Rafe all the best in retirement. He truly deserves it.

He should let us in the free enterprise coalition do anything that we want. He didn't stop us when he was a Socred cabinet minster back from 1975-81. Why should he do so now?

Enough Griping and Carping

Gordon Campbell can only do what we allow him to do. It is not a four year dictatorship if we are actively involved.

Is your MLA a Liberal? Then make it perfectly clear that, if policies contrary to the public good of BC are being enacted, you will spend your time making sure you will fight tooth, nail and pocketbook to get that MLA out if they do not serve your interests. Party whip be damned. If enough MLAs knock on Gordo's door, policies will be changed. Especially if there is a threat of a "REAL" investigation to BC Rail.

Go to a store to buy stuff? Ask the proprietor if they support the BC Liberals. If so, tell them you will take your business elsewhere.

Join the associations (tax deductible charities) that seek to sell out BC and make your voice heard. Join the Suzuki Foundation and yell and scream as to why they "rolled" on private power to the detriment of BCers and the salmon.

C'mon folks. Get off your @ss and stop singing to the choir. We have heard it all before. Start griping and carping to the people that support Gordo and tell them you will not do business with them.

In a few years time, Gordo is going to be as well liked as Glen C. was near the end.

Gidget

You call Rafe a turncoat but so was our Mayor who was NDP till 4 months ago and then ran for the liberals. This after he didn't fight the closuure of our hospital and operating rooms. They were among the busiest in BC. The hospital was built by the people of this town with their own money.Closed no more emergency, just a joke of urgent care. The equipment the town paid for gone , shipped to Nanaimo and Duncan. When Graham Bruce was our MLA he snuck into town so quietly no one knew he was here. As a socred he didn't represent the people as a teflon liberal he was tainted so bad he lost. He never said a word and ignored the riding and lost.

fish farms

Knowledge Network ran an excellent documentary tonight about Alexandra Morton and her efforts to stop fish farms. The fact that these operations are so blatantly wrong and we can do nothing about them is beyond the pale. This all ties in with the election yesterday of a group of people who do not give a damn for this province and it's people.

I sat and watched some of the Mulroney inquiry and it occurred to me I then had to leave the house and go and vote for another lying, cheating individual and had to choose the lesser of the evils on the ballot.

We have to up the revolution and get out there and let it be known that we will make the decisions that affect BC. Those elected officials have got to realize we want and are demanding a democratic society and they are going to deliver it. A lot of noise has to be made and hopefully it will motivate the large numbers who chose not to vote either due to their lack of understanding of politics or their just plain dumb and dumber brains and attitudes.

Schmucks

Election Swine Fever

Wearing a thrift store Weyerhauser jacket
In solidarity with my union brethren
the schmucks!
working 37 years, buying toys
RVs, ATVs, holidays and such
packing it in, for a pension
to do more spending and consumption

Wearing my Yves St Laurent suit
In solidarity with my corporate brethren
the schmucks!
37 years of cover-up
in 100 per cent virgin wool
and fine dining in the Azores
packing it in, for retirement at 50
more spending and high-value consumption

Wearing jeans, a Cowichan hat and cotton flannel shirt
In solidarity with my green brethren
the schmucks! And saps!
eco-friendliness for decades
of whole-earthiness, while having kids
and making amends buying committed toilet paper
packing it in, for a week at Hollyhock
spent consumption

If pigs could fly, and politicians weep
And workers of the world united
In something less than greed
Or green greed, with a Cheshire grin

We’re quaking in our boots
(as ice shelves collapse)
by watching Canucks on ice
one flu over our cuckoo’s nest

Dr Alexander writes: "Gordon

Dr Alexander writes: "Gordon Campbell can only do what we allow him to do. It is not a four year dictatorship if we are actively involved."

You REALLY don't understand our current system of parliamentary democracy do you? "party whip be damned"?? In your wildest dreams maybe, but in the real world every single MLA who dares vote against his own party will immediately be removed from that party - and therefore lose a very lucrative position. TALK to the MLA? You assume they give a rats ass. All the MLA is there for is to make sure that the same message gets out.

With their control of the newspapers in this province (or rather, with the big-business newspapers being on the side of the most neo-con possible, that being the Liberals in this province), they don't ASK for public opinion, they CREATE it.

Quite effectively too, it seems.

Historically, the only way out of this kind of situation was a revolution. But in this case the sheep are mostly well fed, and well fed sheep rarely change the status quo, even if they're getting regularly fleeced.

Social Justice Always Possible

While I too am saddened to see Campbell 'won' after receiving 46% of the vote (less than 50% of the electorate voted, so he is ruling with less then 23% actual support), that by no means relieves us from our ethical responsibilities. Yes, North America's system of rule is highly undemocratic and favours the elites and rich.

But we're certainly not worse than Palestine, Afganistan, Haiti and South American regimes. But guess what? People in those countries still speak out, still seek justice, still push for social change. In BC, we have VAST opportunities to effect change.

Venues like the Tyee, freedom to organize, freedom to congregate, freedom to peacefully demonstrate, freedom to boycott, freedom to apply citizen pressure. In most regimes, people are arrested and killed for these activities. Here, we can still do them. And so we should keep using our democratic freedoms. Or risk losing them. Nobody ever said democratic progress was easy. The history of the 1930's is proof of what it took to improve peoples rights. Surely we can do the same again.

driftwolf....I have been around long enough

to agree to what you are saying.

I AM talking about a revolution. The government can only act if we allow them to act. They can only create public opinion if we let them create it.

What I am saying is that people should start getting a friggin BACKBONE.

Write one letter every week to Gordo and your MLA. One a week , every week.

Buy only wild salmon and tell the store that you will never buy farmed

Go to you lumber store and buy only BC sourced wood products

Find out who (in terms of business) is supporting your local MLA and, if your MLA is working for YOU, tell those enterprises that they will get your business and why. If the MLA is working against you, then tell those supporting businesses that they will not get your business and why.

Tell any of those so-called Eco foundations and the like that they can take a flying f* when it comes to your donation. You will give you donation to those that are truly working in your interest.

So, take a page from Rafe's book. Even if you are preaching to the choir, get off your a**. And cut Rafe some slack. He was part of the system and now he is fighting the system.

Business as usual is not working for the people (and ultimately businesses) of BC. And, thinking that it indeed is "a four year dictatorship and the the party whip commands all" is part of business as usual.

Just wait a year or two. Economic conditions will be such that the pitchfork-peasants will be at the gate, so to speak, and the party-whip, for example will have diddly-squat to say.

This is YOUR province. Start ACTING like an owner.

Jeffrey J.

You said what I wanted to say in much better way than I just did.

Well put J.

Right on Dr. Alexander

It bears repeating

"Find out who (in terms of business) is supporting your local MLA and, if your MLA is working for YOU, tell those enterprises that they will get your business and why. If the MLA is working against you, then tell those supporting businesses that they will not get your business and why.

Most of these folks think they are immune from any political backlash when they support a government that that screws the very very people they need to buy their goods and services. These are the same folks who argue against an increase in the minimum wage a moronic self-inflicted shot at their own profit margins.

For those who say they won't

For those who say they won't vote again try to figure it out. Don't vote, don't bitch.

The Greens are highly overrated. Their leader ended up in third place in our new riding. Her arguments were pretty shalow in lost of our minds. Maybe they need to sort out their priorities as well.

The STV failed. We can blame Shreck and Tielman but why not blame Andrew Petter who was senior to both the names mentioned, when in the NDP governments and guess what Andrew was supporting the Yes side of things.

Yes it hurst to see our province thundering down the same road Saint Gordo put us on when folks decided to punish Glenn Clark , even when he was no longer Premier. People really need a short course in election gimmics beofre entering the booth to mark their x. as many never bothered to show us as did show up.

Rafe and I are getting older and sort of like to think we will leave this place in better shape. But with Gordo at the wheel, watch out. That's the realy sad part.
I lie down to lick my wounds but will rise up again to fight on. I didn't write that but whomever did knew how it feels to lose.

DPL

The low voter turnout isn't a big surprise, its been falling almost everywhere over the last couple of decades as the older generations pass on.

A lot of people don't care for a two-party adversarial system, they simply tune it out. This isn't news, we all know that already.

Tielmann and Shreck on the other hand love it regardless of the effect its been having and don't want any change. They oppose STV and MMP and any other possible change. Bill T even opposed the NDP entering into a coalition but I guess that's beside the point. They want all or nothing.

Its all well and good for us to complain about the problems of the political system such as party discipline, the adversarial system, the corruption etc but until the system itself is changed none of that will ever get fixed. STV may not be perfect but it would have been here for only 12 years and would have given us a chance to test it out and see what we liked and didn't like. That chance is lost.

Bill T didn't single-handedly destroy democracy in BC, he's just an impediment to reversing the decline of it.

1917?

"Herd them into pens & give em their fodder."

You're not naive enough to still believe that the Bolshevik takeover of the Russian Empire was all about the poor little Russian proletariat are you? Or deluded enough to suggest that a Matvei Berman style GULAG concentration camp system into which tens of millions of innocent and unremembered Russians disappeared is the solution?

The carbon tax, which has proven to not decrease GHGs by one iota, is, like the spotted owl was, a red herring. It was very unwise of the NDP to use it as a campaign issue unless they were doing so to highlight its only function - to make the Liberals seem as it they were actually concerned for the environment and not just a gang of greedy political opportunists intent on using Indian bands to privatize BC's lands and resources to the same multinational giants into whose ownership the world is being increasingly concentrated.

There's no going back now.

Thanks for the poem, MJK.

Thanks for the poem, MJK.

Hacks

Tielmann and Gerry Scott and the worst kind NDP hacks that anyone can imagine. Add David Shreck into the mix and it is not hard to see why the NDP loses elections. All three are poster children for negativity with no alternative vision. Toss them, they deserve it and the NDP deserves it, too.

"Bill T didn't single-handedly destroy democracy in BC, he's just an impediment to reversing the decline of it."

Bill T is a master of self promotion. He uses his 24 column to shill for the NDP and then gets himself appointed as NDP campaign manager in Point Grey. This is not a volunteer position. He got PAID for it, and I am sure very handsomely. He got very handsomely paid by Glen Clark as his media coordinator and succeed in getting Glen turfed out of his own party and practically wiping his own party out.

Believe me, there are more hangers on and hacks in politics than anyone really realises. Just because they are NDP hangers on and hacks doesn't make thir failure more tolerable. It's time for a housecleaning at the NDP and Schreck and Tieleman should be the first on the list.

Voters' Futility Syndrome, and Thanks Alexandra Morton!

I'm in the same boat as several commenters here... I am seriously questioning whether to bother with voting again.

In a riding that is not a tight one, a person's vote is entirely useless. STV tried to address that with a form of proportionality, BC rejected it, and a pox on all of 'em.

Also, to Alexandra Morton: I thank you so much for what you've done (tried to do?) for the province and its inhabitants (people and fish).

I'm also deeply sorry that BC has officially jumped the rails and salmon extinction is now nearly assured.

Shame on BC...

We are all in the gutter,

There are some amzing posts here, but MJK takes my vote. Thanks for the poem - it is always good to hear between the lines.

Rafe, it's easy to see you've never really understood dippers, 'cause the NDP is on the losing side the majority of the time. Cheer up man! we have lived to fight another day.

Conceivably though, it's this very concept of 'fighting' that needs to be done away with. We are a collection of people with vasrly disparate views who face the biggest challenge of our lifetimes - global warming, the poverty of children, the homelessness on our streets, even the lack of poetry in our legislature - we must get energized and invigorated. Fighting is the essence of fiddling while Rome burns.

I suspect I could go on and on about the rally to the common cause - but we all know that people resonate to the genuine, the heartfelt, that which calls to a greater purpose. Poetry plays a part in that - eloquence even - but maybe also some thoughtful prose, of which there are examples here.

The province (the world) will be changed by the way we interact, not by the way we segregate ourselves.

to finish Oscar Wilde's line above...

but some of us are looking at the stars.

Political hacks, etc.

Wilfred Laurier says, "there are more hangers on and hacks in politics than anyone really realises."
And the BC Liberals have more than all the other parties combined. And the pay for them as well . But the BC Liberals also have the Public Affairs Branch of the Legislature working for them and the taxpayers of BC pay for them. Quite your whinning, your just being a sore winner.

True

"And the BC Liberals have more than all the other parties combined"

Perhaps this is true but they hangers on the Liberals have win them elections, not lose them.

Mel Lehman was a "sure thing" according to his self promoting campaign manager and lost by 2600 votes.

Standing Up to Gordo

Please remember when Gordo et al. were attacking the public sector unions, the BCTF finally said enough and stood up to them. They went on strike and they were supported by other public sector unions and the public in general. Gordo and his gang backed down and contracts were negotiated.
We can stand up to these thugs and stop them if we become united.
Jeffrey J. and Dr Alexander can help in this cause and maybe save the province.

Spare us from the Gullible Voter

Some of you may have seen this before but I think it's now apropos.

In the '60s we had already benefited for many years in this wonderful province. There was a story going around then which I will attempt to bring up to date or even a few years into the future - let's say 2015: (by this time "global Warming" has produced some dastardly cold winters in B.C.)
Hunter: "This time last year I shot a moose and it almost killed me."
Wannabe hunter: "The Moose?"
H: "No, the weather. It was up on the Chilcotin Plateau and while I gutted and cleaned the carcass a blizzard blew in and the temperature dropped like a stone. Couldn't see your hand in front of your face even if it was getting frostbite. Two miles to the pickup and the ATV wouldn't start.”
W: "So what did ya do?"
H: "The moose was laying there and still warm so I opened up the rib cage and crawled inside. Actually fell asleep for a few hours. When I woke up the blizzard was over but the moose was frozen solid. There was no way I could force the ribcage enough to get out."
W: "Then how did you get out?"
H: "I did some thinkin' and when I got to the memory of voting for the Campbell Liberals in 2009 I felt so small I crawled out the hole under the tail."

Bill Tieleman responds

The very first comment in this thread from "grub" - which I have just now seen - suggests that David Schreck and I from NO STV had "everything to lose" if STV were implemented.

That's laughable. David is retired and my communications and strategy business would not be affected in the least - except that it might double or triple if I got into the backroom wheeling and dealing that is standard practice in Ireland under STV.

STV proponents have to acknowledge the problems in Ireland and Malta instead of complain every time they are brought up - the fact is that in Ireland politicians cut deals within their parties and with other politicians in other parties to gain electoral support.

Party discipline in Ireland is ironclad - even abstain on a vote as a member of the Dail and you are thrown out of your party!

"Grub" also suggests that I am rejecting pro-STV comments on my blog - http://billtieleman.blogspot.com/
- absolutely not true as anyone who goes there can see!

I have had to reject a couple that were so personally insulting for no purpose and were defamatory - and I will continue to do so. All intelligent comments, including those vehemently disagreeing, are welcome as always.

Overall, the reality is that the more British Columbians learned about STV the more determined they were to reject it.

NO STV gave them that opportunity and as a result the 58% support STV had in 2005, when voters still knew little about it, dramatically shifted to 61% opposition despite the YES for STV side outspending NO STV by at least $200,000 and having 5000 volunteers, including those brought in from Ontario.

disagree, Bill

"Overall, the reality is that the more British Columbians learned about STV the more determined they were to reject it."

Really? I have been unable to identify many people in my fairly wide, politically sophisticated circle who comprehensively understand STV.
There are any number of conclusions to draw from the results, but the fact that voters rejected STV because they diligently examined it is not one I would draw.

Stuart

We love you Rafe ,
Stuart here from CJSF radio saying that yourself and Save our Rivers could not have done more to
Bring this critical issue to the forefront. The day before the election I received an NDP flyer in the mailbox with “Stop the Privatization of our rivers as the first talking point”. In other words you managed to get this topic to the top of the opposition’s agenda.
So let’s deconstruct the results, to win the NDP had to hold all seats plus pick up 10 new ones which is a hard task in any election. The NDP made gains in all regions and lost many close battles, even in places that are traditional Liberal territory. The province is very split, The percentage of the vote gives the Liberals 46.02 , NDP 42.06, Greens 8.1 . So despite what CanWest Global says Gordon Campbell does not have a strong mandate (as he will discover if he goes ahead with these river projects)
The sad reality about our current democracy
1) We have a critically low voter turnout (only around 50% of the people actually voted)
When you think about that it kind of makes you shudder, 23-24% of the population can rule with impunity over the rest of us.
So what happened and what do we do to move forward, people are simply ill informed to the issues and have lost all sense of community.
We first have to claim a holy war on CanWest Global (now a penny stock and vulnerable) and CBC news which was more like a PR agency for the Liberals than a public broadcaster. All the work people did was simply washed away by these agencies that did not bother to report on so many critical issues, people still don’t understand the river projects and what they mean and think the BC Liberals are perceived to be green due to a 2 penny carbon tax, this is an incredible feat of propaganda, we need to face the fact that the media is corrupt and is the enemy of progress.
How can we fight back against our corrupt and dangerous media? If you get angry, don’t get angry at the ill informed apathetic public; get angry at the corrupt messenger that makes them that way.

Stuart

Cont..
1) Support media democracy by supporting the independent media that actually does a great job. Kudos to thetyee, Georgia Straight, CJSF Radio 90.1 FM, Co-op Radio 102.7 FM, The Common Ground Magazine and others. Support them by getting as many people as you can to switch to them over from the corporate media.
2) Discredit the corporate media by pointing out there bias articles to as many people as you know, or point out what they are not telling the public.
3) Use the courts, be a pain in the ass, listen and file complaints with the CRTC, you may not win but you cause them to spend money they don’t have.
4) Boycott, contact advertisers and let them know your spreading petitions to boycott any business advertising on certain networks.
5) Protest and agitate as Jim Hightower puts it. An agitator," is the center post in a washing machine that gets all the dirt out."
6) Call into the call in shows, pretend you support the Government when they screen he call and they will put you on, use different names at pay phones, when you get on call them on their partisanship. You may get only a few seconds but imagine if hundreds did this daily.,
Make life hard for the corporate media as they have made life hard on us.

The next work is harder, reach out to your communities and create a space for dialogue like Save our rivers did. Keep it going, we need to build community and not just a month before the election. We need to organize the poor and working class who have given up on voting or any change. The rich always vote.
And lastly where the hell is labor, yes many did help on campaigns like Cope 378, what was missing was the big protests to gain public attention, Gordo purchased labor peace and many in labor may have voted for him, lets reenergize a quiet labor movement.
Thanks Rafe we love you, you have inspired 4 years of upcoming excitement, don’t worry no river goes without a mighty fight. You have laid the kindling.

Apologies to Bill Tieleman

I incorrectly stated that Bill Tieleman was no longer accepting comments on his blog. My mistake; I didn't wait long enough for my comment to appear.

Sorry, Bill.

If you'll pardon just one more STV go-around. I fell into using Bill's terminology and labeled myself as pro-STV. OK, yes, I voted for STV, but I agree with Tieleman and Schreck; it's a very flawed system. I couldn't believe it when the CA presented it to the public.

What I am is ANTI-FPP. STV may be crap, but FPP is crappier. For me, it's as simple as that.

Gordo gave us an opportunity to alter the system. One of the few things I'll praise him for. And we missed an opportunity.

Too bad!

Thanks Rafe

I'd just like to congratulate you on your many insightful articles and the wonderful effort you put forth in this election. Perhaps if the rest of us (and I definitely include myself) had tried a little harder we would not be faced with another four years of the expropriation of our rights and freedoms by the neocon gangsters/banksters/fraudsters which surely awaits us.
Incidentally, this massive theft is not local to BC, just look at what is happening in America, Iceland, Eastern Europe and many other parts of the world.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/
We are so screwed...

What were Rafe's true motives?

I can't believe all of these negative comments from all of the pinkos out there.

I thought that Communism died?

I can't stand the treasons that you people ensue.

Get over the fact that my BC Liberal vote won here in Vancouver-Quilchena! My vote won, and yours didn't!

Do you really think that people care about useless issues such as the environment? To an extent yes. That is why I thought it was so brilliant to bring in a carbon tax that was opposed by the NDP and supported by the Greens and various groups of ecoterrorists and rabid environmentalistic quacks such as "Dr." David Suzuki.

The BC Liberals, under Gordon Campbell, are utterly undefeatable. The government can, and should, do anything that it pleases to do. The Campbell government succeeded on dividing you lefties to the far hilt!

The same tactics will work in 2013!

At least BC Liberals were not tainted with the scandals that the NDP had, such as candidates smoking marijuana, exposing themselves naked in front of young women, posting nude pictures of themselves on facebook, etc.

The BC Liberals ran a fair and clean campaign. They have an open and honest team that will carry British Columbia, the Best Place On Earth, forward.

Leftism is dead. Admit it.

Rafe Mair sold his soul to the NDP, and he lost big time on May 12th!

I am proud of how the BC election went on May 12th.

The sides of moral righteousness prevailed. The legions of hell and damnation were abated.

The socialist hordes were kept at the gates.

WAC Bennett, like his son William Richards Bennett, would be extremely proud of Gordon Campbell and his legacy of fiscal prudence, economic stewardship, and open government.

Self Promotion

"David is retired and my communications and strategy business would not be affected in the least"

So, Bill, how much did you get paid to sink Mel Lehman's campaign? I note the NDP loss was significantly greater than in 2005. How do you account for this and do you think your party will be so gullible to pay you again?

Gidget

Loved your satire.

More please....lots more - haven't seen anything so enervating here since God's child stopped posting.

More of the same

Once again, one political party has ALL the power, even though most people voted against them.

Once again, most MLAs "represent" mostly people who voted against them, and most people are "represented" by people they voted against.

And apparently, all this is OK with most people in BC.

It's not OK with me, and I'm not going to stop saying so.

"The BC Liberals ran a fair

"The BC Liberals ran a fair and clean campaign. They have an open and honest team that will carry British Columbia, the Best Place On Earth, forward."

This is exactly the problem. The Liberals really ran a campaign full of lies, dirty tricks, and corruption, but if you say the above often enough, people will begin to believe it. Look at the election results, we are again divided between the corporate elitists and the working class. Ridings where the socio economic ranking is high were taken by the liberals (neo cons- another misrepresentation), and poorer ridings were won by the NDP.
Give them four more years and BC, the Best Place on Earth, will be BC, the best place owned by others on Earth will be the title. We need to march in the streets about our rivers, our salmon, our land.
So no, the Liberals did not run a clean campaign, exactly the opposite, and lets see them fudge this budget again.
Rafe Mair was one of the best things about this election, along with the group he travelled with. We will continue to ask people to read the Tyee, and to work hard to get the message out.
I love British Columbia, but unfortunately, there are others who love B.C. as well, but for the wrong reasons. They are willing to bring her to her knees for profit, and we will just sit around shaking our heads and wondering what happened.

Our resources are so valuable that we need honest people to stand up for them, because our new government will only be willing to sell all of B.C. to the highest bidder. Four more years of worry and fear for me.

And again, this Liberal campaign was crooked, full of lies and a disgrace to democracy, but if the mainstream media pumps out the Liberal message that it was clean, the sheep will believe.

Gidget

Actually you may have missed their scandals but drunk driving, speeding constantly, using your position to buy ALR land and then removing it from the ALR and re-selling it for big profits do seem to me to also be scandals.

And of course there's a really really big scandal called BC Rail finally starting its way through the courts.

But of course if you think that's not as important as a kid grabbing a breast in facebook photo, well, we can only sigh.

Frank & fleetson,

You forget how absolutely disgusting the NDP was back in the 1990s.

Do you people not remember how the economy tanked?

Do you not remember all of the scandals and corruption?

What is wrong with profit? Nothing. The economy is going strong.

As as a fact, I hope the government scraps any notion of a minimum wage. The market should dictate environmental protection, employment standards, and wages. The government has no business in those fields what-so-ever!

Yes, I believe that the NDP's candidate (original) in Vancouver-False Creek was absolutely abhorrent. It shows how poor the NDP's candidate screening is. A young man molesting a young girl should never be laughed at. Appalling.

And what about the NDP's policy regarding affirmative action in selecting women as candidates? Absolutely disgusting!

Why am I so opposed to Rafe? Because he turned his back on freedom, democracy, free enterprise, and the right to earn a profit. He sold his soul, and he knows it. How dare a former Socred minister of the Crown become such a disgusting turn coat. I absolutely detest his present views. I respect his past, but believe that his age has hurt his memory and political views. I feel sorry for his, and strongly encourage him to fully retire.

The economy is doing okay. The 2010 games are just around the corner, and everything is doing fine here in BC.

I am proud of our slogan, "The Best Place on Earth"

The NDP and Greens hate that slogan, as they are unpatriotic and possibly traitors to this bright and beautiful province.

Most of us do not give a damn what happens to BC Hydro. The lights will still come on. It may cost a bit more, but life will carry on.

The left will still be badly divided, and we will continue to do for this province as we see fit.

One of the chief things that should happen, is that the government should go after organized labour as hard as possible. The BCGEU should be stripped of its power, banned and closed forever. Public servants work for the electors, and they should not have the right to collective bargaining.

The liquor stores should be privatized, and its overpaid workers should be let go.

The government could easily contract out most of its programs and services, as it should.

Fess up, the left lost and the right won.

Gidget

"You forget how absolutely disgusting the NDP was back in the 1990s."

I guess I do.

"Do you people not remember how the economy tanked?"

Nope, although I hear the NDP only created 392,000 jobs unlike the measly 320,000 created by the Liberals. I hear the NDP had higher growth too.

"Do you not remember all of the scandals and corruption?"

Just one, Bingo-gate. Which occurred before Harcourt even took office. Whereas how many have the Liberals had? 10? 15?

"What is wrong with profit? Nothing. The economy is going strong."

Sure, if you call negative growth, growth.

"As as a fact, I hope the government scraps any notion of a minimum wage. The market should dictate environmental protection, employment standards, and wages. The government has no business in those fields what-so-ever!"

LOL, I think that would be great if you Liberals said that out loud.

"Yes, I believe that the NDP's candidate (original) in Vancouver-False Creek was absolutely abhorrent. It shows how poor the NDP's candidate screening is. A young man molesting a young girl should never be laughed at. Appalling."

Who are we talking about and are you telling me you've never touched a breast in your life? Why does that not surprise me?

"And what about the NDP's policy regarding affirmative action in selecting women as candidates? Absolutely disgusting!"

The Liberals did the same thing, they just didn't say they were doing it. In the end though, they still made sure some women candidates were put in place and everyone in the party knew about it, as did some of us outside the party.

"The economy is doing okay. The 2010 games are just around the corner, and everything is doing fine here in BC."

Oh sure, negative growth and #1 in Canada in child poverty and job losses. Keep it up eh.

"The NDP and Greens hate that slogan, as they are unpatriotic and possibly traitors to this bright and beautiful province."

Is your bomb shelter fully stocked?

"Most of us do not give a damn what happens to BC Hydro."

I know.

"The left will still be badly divided, and we will continue to do for this province as we see fit."

Yep, you'll continue to help friends and insiders and let everyone else go to hell.

"Fess up, the left lost and the right won."

Is there someone here who hasn't heard about the election result? I didn't think so.

STV's failure

The last referendum for STV had the advantage that it was coming off the work of the Citizens' Assembly and the resultant public awareness. Since then, we've had almost four years of silence on the issue. Then, we're back in campaign mode and it's the traditional underdog battle: an underfunded but well-meaning pro-campaign against no campaign that is very well funded by all the business interests that benefit from the status quo (First past the post).

It does not help that so-called progressives like Bill Tielmann opposed it.

I have my share of doubts about STV and don't understand the dynamics of the Citizens' Assembly that led them to choose a system that only three other countries used. Why not a more widely-used proportional representation system? Was the pursuit of the best option the undoing of electoral reform?

One of my concerns about STV was the complexity of counting and tabulating votes would inevitably lead to using computers. Given some of the issues of possible tampering with voting machines in elections in the USA, I distrust a system reliant on computers to tabulate votes. Vancouver's optical scanning system still requires paper ballots that can be counted manually to confirm the vote count. However, there were reports of some voting machines in the USA which did not retain the original voting information, so there is no way to verify.

@ Bill Tieleman

Hey Bill, turnout dropped below 50%. Electoral reform was defeated and many are saying they won't participate any more so next election the turnout will go even lower.

Its not enough to tinker with the edges, its been obvious for over a decade that our democracy is in serious trouble. But the pundits have continued to pooh-pooh us bloggers and therefore nothing has changed.

I'll act like an 11 year old here and say, I told you so.

If the election system was a company it would be going broke as fast as Can-West but just like Leonard Asper you and Shreck keep insisting on business as usual.

Gidget

Have you added up all the costs of the various commitments and projects of the Campbell Liberals? As a neighbour pointed out, the total is at least $13 billion.

Just wait until mid 2010, when the Olympic glow has worn off and we have to start paying those bills, including all the carbon offsets schools and hospitals will have to buy to be carbon-neutral. We'll have a made-in-BC recession. And that's not even talking about budget cuts and pressure for rollbacks that will hit us before the end of this year!

Hey Gidget

You were doing better writing satire...Fact is, it's you who can't remember the 90s apparently.

Could you, for example, have a look at federal contributions to shared cost programs during that period...

I know it would require a little research, but you might actually learn something...and then you could get back to satire.

As a truth teller you're missing the boat.

@ gidget...

gidget asks, "Do you people not remember how the economy tanked?"

Gidget, do you not remember what was going on in global economics at that time? Similarly, before you praise the brilliance of Gordo Liberal goverance with respect to the economy, you might want to reflect on global economics during his period in office.

Do you really think he had something to do with the housing bubble in the USA and the frantic economic expansion in China? I hope you're not that blind.

Neither Glen Clark nor Gordon Campbell can/should be either blamed or praised for their steering of the economy. BC is but a bit player in a much larger game; our Premiers have no control over that game.

For example, during the most recent boom period, when China was buying everything we had to offer, it wouldn't have mattered what the minimum wage was; $10, $12, $15... the Chinese would have kept on buying and the corporations would have kept on making huge profits. BC (Canada) is a pawn in global economics...

why?

Dear Rafe,
STV - why was the name STV instead of the understandable "Proportional Representation"? - PR everyone can understand.

Alexandra Morton - That Campbell won again and is so ignorant about fish farming is almost too much to take. British Columbians will need to march in enormous numbers to have any impact on this government. Have you ever received an intelligent response from them? I have not - they ignore anyone who disagrees with their agenda.

I know: that we cannot give up; that Campbell and his cronies are not doing this for the benefit of their grandchildren (he was not true in his acceptance speech); that I cannot waste more of your time reading this message. I hope that you continue the fight - I will and I hope that Alex will too, best, Ed

WHAT ELECTION???

Much to my disappointment with the voters, I must say I am NOT surprised at the outcome.

Featuring the opposition on any campaign literature has to be the most useless and disgusting activity in ANY election, especially when real Life and Death issues are begging for answers. -

I have attended so called 'all candidates meetings' and found them to be stacked against the attendees in the public's seats. The candidates should sit at their table with pencil and paper and take notes of the comments from the public gallery and keep their MOUTHS SHUT, for all they ever say is: #1 old news or no news and: #2 lies and more lies, because their empty promises are just that: EMPTY!

Then they should communicate their notes to their leaders and have THEM answer any and all questions to the general population, with the real consequence of having to answer in a court of law, if they lied.

As far as the STV is concerned, not only did most people not understand, that a travesty as this election past, would not happen under STV, but the slip handed to electors for this purpose of deciding this issue was, to say the least, a planned deception. When one opened the slip, only the 'status quo' came to view, unless one was looking for the KNOWN alternative further within the folds. This is, what caused many people to make their mark in the 'first past the polls' slot and thus the STV's
"goose was cooked"!

Sad to say, but once more the decision fell on the side of "rottenness"!