(Seriously, the Libs don't like government paying for post-secondary education, and think it's OK for students to graduate with tens of thousands of dollars of debt. The NDP also don't like government paying for post-secondary education, and think it's OK for students to graduate with tens of thousands of dollars of debt. Except interest free.)
Yamamoto. Thornthwaite. Do either of these people excite you? And if not, can you name the Green or NDP candidates running against them?
(OK: NDP candidate Michael Charrois and Green Party candidate Joshua Johnson are both looking to unseat Jane Thornthwaite. Green Party candidate Richard Warrington and NDP candidate Bowinn Ma are trying to defeat Naomi Yamamoto.)
And of course, Ralph Sultan, fighting off NDPer Mehdi Russel and Green Michael Markwick.
I'm betting on a very low voter turnout this time, because the NDP is putting people to sleep, because it's already a forgone conclusion that the Liberals will win again, and because the majority of voters can't see any real difference between the two big parties.
We're halfway through the campaign, and I don't think one person has started a conversation with me about the election. This is not a good thing.
47 comments:
I spent Sunday afternoon in VGH emergency with my wife. She is ok, but the experience has shown me how absolutely unprepared we are for the baby boomers and addicted people. The wait from check-in was three hours to see a nurse, and the state of the people in Emerge was pretty awful. There were barely conscious addicts, elderly people waiting in every nook and cranny, and dialysis patients who were now spending several hours each day in the hospital for their treatment. Plus, there were 7-10 Paramedics stuck waiting at any given time. I know the nurses have been sounding the alarm over the state of our hospitals, but nobody listens because they are also asking for more wages and the public has become cynical.
On the same afternoon, a friend who has been caring for her dying father for the last month had to admit him to the hospital probably for the last time. They were so full, including hallways, that she spent one of her last nights with her dad in the hospital jail cell.
Our medical system is not strong enough to handle the coming onslaught of seniors and we are all going to suffer. The BC Libs and NDP are talking about bridge tolls, LNG, site C, and corporate donations... while our hospitals are dying.
Haven't seen a single sign or heard a peep from my local Green or NDP candidates.
Ok. So it has been pretty quiet. I did get an auto email from Jane Thornthwaite but it seems to have found its way out the trash bin. My bad.
Does anyone believe this MLA deserves reelection?
If so please enlighten us as to why. We need help with our voting choices.
I mean even Jane, if she is reading this, would be a welcome voice.
I think this election has an interesting theme.
The NDP tend to target specific groups for additional benefits (child care, homeless, unions etc) and the general economic health of the province is a consequence of the extra spending freed up by these distribution of these goodies.
The Libs and the Greens tend to target bigger picture overall economic (and with the Greens environmental) health of the province and the benefits to individuals trickle down once the finances are stablilized in accordance with their very different views.
As I am a net payer and not a recipient of the NDP handouts and I prefer the bigger picture, I will likely vote for one of the latter parties but not yet sure which one. Waiting for tonight's debate.
I was standing outside the Lynn Valley Library yesterday and overheard a group of college aged kids (Three guys and a girl) talking about politics. They were all Argyle students who went to school with the green party candidate Joshua Johnson. They talked about how cool it was that someone their age was running and how weird it was to see the name of someone they know on the signs throughout the community. The conversation paused and one guy said so are you going to vote for him? They laughed and said no way. No reason was given.
I have never voted green, and will never vote for the NDP, but I am struggling with what to do with the BC Liberals. I like Jane Thornthwaite, she is a hard worker, and compared to the other politicians locally she does a good job of communications. I also like Christy Clark generally, but I think they have done a terrible job of managing the courts, the hospitals, MCFD, and ICBC.
If the Greens had a credible candidate like Jim Stephenson, they would probably be getting my vote, but I will probably vote for Jane.
Courts, hospitals, children and family development, ICBC.
The only one of these things that isn't a guaranteed quagmire, demanding more resources from somewhere is ICBC.
The libs drain ICBC as if it were a specialized tax revenue engine. Of course we of senior years remember that a past NDP government (remember Joy McPhail and her ilk ) created this socialist dream. Now it is there to be a tool for abuse by each new government and its usefulness in that regard is about to be expanded.
I refer to the Transportation Plan of the Mayors' Council (-Translink). Since the referendum failed to produce funding for same, and the people have said no, the council will now move on to Plan B and 'screw the people, we know best'. I refer to 'Road Pricing' which our District Mayor ( Richard Walton ) has long touted as the way to avoid disaster. Road pricing...it comes in a number of forms, but the one that the Council favours is GPS tracking of every vehicle followed by a monthly bill for use of the roads you have already paid to build.
Oh hell, they'll never make me get a GPS tracker. Well... yes they will and they will use ICBC to do it. See... the fine print on your insurance policy will read "Your mandatory government issued insurance policy is void if you drive without a GPS transponder installed ( at your cost of course)".
Now would you imagine Greens, NDP, or Liberals as the most likely to implement this egregious erosion of your privacy and freedom of movement? That's partly what will help me decide about who to vote for.
Me? I'm undecided but probably I'm voting strategically as voting FOR any of the parties is distasteful. The strategy is "elect a minority government". Didn't work last time, but hope springs eternal.
Minority governments don't tend to last longer than two years, so that is not the kind of economic environment I want.
Oh hell, they'll never make me get a GPS tracker. Well... yes they will and they will use ICBC to do it. See... the fine print on your insurance policy will read "Your mandatory government issued insurance policy is void if you drive without a GPS transponder installed ( at your cost of course)"
Actually there are already insurance companies all over the US who "offer" a "discount" to customers who allow their driving habits to be tracked like this.
Or, as I see it, charge extra of you decide that your privacy matters to you.
Besides, any recent car is already collecting all manner of data as you drive, and in a pinch some lawyer will know how to get their hands on it.
Yes Barry, there is a 'crash dump' in new cars that is available after an accident, but that isn't the same as government wirelessly reading my car's location on demand, then invisibly determining an amount to charge me based on time of day and location. And that's what the GPS transponder version of road pricing is. Now I may actually WANT a service that knows where my car is. I could buy that and that's fine. It isn't the same as legislating that data over to government data collectors (or abusers).
They could also install readers like exist on the Port Mann bridge on key roadways which is a bit less intrusive, but still not private at all.
Then road and bridge tolls it is. Gotta keep the paranoid happy.
Ok 7:54. I have 50 plus years paying road taxes. A piece of what is out their was paid for by me and I think belongs to me. Now I am willing to rent that back to new drivers and cyclists and any of those with less than 50 years of paying to build what we have, but I am not willing to pay to drive on my road.
I'm willing to pay to go over the Port Mann because it is new infrastructure and when it is paid for, the tolling should end just as it did on the Lions Gate Bridge.
Yea that little 'administrative' concrete building on the North end of LG bridge was a part of the old toll booth on the Lions Gate. Wisely, and fairly, it was closed when no longer necessary.
This was caught by CBC in North vancouver
https://www.facebook.com/VancouverCBC/videos/1349485405089010/
You want to vote for that. go ahead. I certainly won't.
what is wrong with you people? Have you no memories?
Have you not noticed how many schools were closed in North Vancouver?
and how many classes cutback (illegally) according to the Federal Supreme Court of Canada.
We as taxpayers were paying for the lawsuit that Christy insisted on fighting over and over until it reached the Federal Gov't. The judge made a decision within 10 minutes to tell her she has to pay back 1Billion dollars to the school system for teachers and classrooms.
We will again be paying for this with our taxes.
Are you happy sitting on a stretcher in a hall when you need treatment at Lions Gate?
I happen to have a lot of bad allergies (idopathic allergic reactions due to presribed medication) and found I had to be watched in the hallway because there were no beds, later I was hooked up to an EKG because the allergy reaction was that bad. Would you like to be in my shoes? It could easily be you from any accident or health issue.
Does the north vancouver ridings want to be the last Liberal seats so we have absolutely no representation in the goverment?
Most all other ridings are now voting NDP. What are you afraid of? Our earth has already been burned and scorched - it can only get better.
Are you really listening to the sheer propoganda from a party that has lied so much to this point?
Is North Vancouver, all of us, sitting around complacent because they are used to paying higher and higher fuel, insurance, hydro, and general tax rates?
Just because you have a roof over your head does not mean you are not paying for all the screw-ups this govt. has done. No other govt has been so corrupt ever, nor has put us on the hook for BILLIONS.
Imperial Mining got off with paying $1,000 fine for the Polley Lake disaster, and we as taxpayers are on the hook to clean up $40 Million dollars of damages.
$1 Billion to restore the classrooms back to what they were 16 years ago - yes this govt is responsible for this and the province no matter what has to pay it back to restore to that level.
We are being forced to subsidize the hydro for the LNG plants. They will never turn a profit. Site C will cost us Billions and won't ever have a profit. Hydro rates on the market have not changed in over 10 years.
The only reason WE AS HOMEOWNERS AND RENTERS pay more is because we are subsidizing the power for the Corporations to build these plants because without us paying for them, Private industry would walk away because it was a bad business decision that will not turn profits.
So if you think NDP is subsidizing things take a second look. Don't think you aren't getting fleeced.
Also in 2014 Christy made an agreement, written contract, with China to allow for foreign temporary workers for any of the foreign businesses to get wage expense breaks. Since they are foreigners they are not subject to our minimum wage requirements. This also means a lot of temporary work that would normally be done by BC taxpaying people, won't.
So the remainder of suckers, who think they aren't being affected, in the province will continue to have to pay moree taxes, as well as taxes towards unemployed or under employed in BC.
(If the unemployed or underemployed BC workers don't make enough money - your taxes will go towards propping their income up). They in turn don't get full employment because a temporary foreign worker is getting paid (does not pay taxes to BC).
But if you want to keep your head in the sand, remember this. North Vancouver has been terrible for this many times. Sleep at the wheel and vote for a party that is going down -
Be the one of the few ridings with no power as we did not vote the party that got in. So when we do want something, or need something, do you think the government is going to care as much about the areas that did not vote them in?
check out twitter #IamLinda, there are a lot of others too.
#IamLinda because having taxpayers pay for Imperial Mining's mess of toxins at Mount Polley is unforgivable.
Don't think you can sit on your butt and the government will take care of your interests. Even if you are sitting on your butt - you are quietly getting more and more fleeced through your taxes from some really bad, huge dollar business decisions, what you are subsidizing.
When things dont make a profit - business will not continue with a project without making a profit. These projects are all stinkers and you will continue to be fleeced, even if you feel safe sitting in that armchair at home.
Don't forget we had to raise a referendum to even get HST repealed.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Takingitbackmybc/ - these have bonafide links to news sources
This would affect us if one bear in a hundred... The Kinder Morgan placement of extra storage tanks in Burnaby - risks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOyceZiLF-Y
chances of explosions because of shortcuts.
Very informative, interesting video (care about your own backyard, cause it could be burning soon...)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOyceZiLF-Y
This is what concerns that experienced people from the oil industry have.
re how KinderMorgan is having more storage tanks in Burnaby, and oil pipeline running under Metro Vancouver.
Not about oil spills, global warming, or native rights.
this is about the danger to the surrounding area.
Safety is ALARP - As low as resonably possible which in oil patcher workers terms is
"one bear in a hundred bites"
Not often, but not uncommon for bad fires/explosions,
That is why most intelligent governments ensure these storage tanks are not in highly populated areas to reduce deaths and devastation.
BTW, Christy could face yet another Supreme Court slapdown, because she gave away BC Province's legal right for an independent environmental assessment before Feds okayed it.
this is about safety for the greater vancouver region.
“Mayor Derek Corrigan on the Kinder Morgan Pipeline”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4S7z...
If the Liberals get in better be prepared for substandard care should you need, or family members near and dear, need to live in care.
It is a pattern that all of our elderly care homes licences are being given to foreign businesses. these business have multiple owners overseas that no one can get in touch with, and will only hold up to 49% so they are totally off the hook for accountability should someone die from negligence.
http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/chinese-firm-given-licences-to-run-seniors-homes-including-7-on-island-1.10972801
this is only the beginning of privatization and this is what it will look like.
coming to your taxpayer pocket soon...
https://www.desmog.ca/2017/03/28/british-columbians-saddled-40-million-clean-bill-imperial-metals-escapes-criminal-charges
https://thetyee.ca/Views/2005/04/20/CampbellMisledPublic/ Propagsnda painted the NDP as costing a lot of money. Was just a lot of P.R. and B.S.
Liberals moved ahead in the Ipsos polls this morning.
Looks like we've attracted a paid shill to our little neighborhood blog. This kind of angry support pushes me back to the Liberals... You're not helping Keikilala.
There really is no debate about how expensive the NDP was in BC, jobs left, people left. I am open to the possibility that they have learned from their job-killing mistakes, but had the NDP simply stuck with the Hospitals, and Emergency Services mantra they would be better off.
How do you tell the difference between a paid shill vs. an enthusiastic supporter, working to express their opinion?
www.huffingtonpost.ca/zarah-tinholt/christy-clark_b_16314340.html Sadly truth rarely gets out to Liberal bought & paid for mainstream media.Totally incompetent Christy
As for me being paid, I am on disability.
I have 4 children that have been ripped off by school system cutbacks
I have worked all my life until I became disabled.
I have volunteered for 4 different non-profit sports, as well as dance/theatre arts in North vancouver.
I have post secondary education, which I paid for myself, while working, while taking care of my children.
I have been a sandwich parent, fighting for care for my father in my own municipality when he developed TIAs (mini strokes) that caused dementia.
I have a Business Management, Purchasing, Insurance, Legal, and technological education and work background.
And, no I am not a shill, or a lazyass - just a concerned (business experienced and educated) citizen
https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2017/05/01/Rate-Increases-BC-Hydro-ICBC/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_content=050117-6&utm_campaign=editorial-0517
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/laura-miller-christy-clarks-new-campaign-chief-facing-charges/article31892570/
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/asian-pacific-business/no-canadian-hires-for-four-years-at-chinese-owned-bc-mine/article6281852/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=Referrer%3A%20Social%20Network%20%2F%20Media&utm_campaign=Shared%20Web%20Article%20Links This is how good Christy is for jobs for BC. she agreed to allowing foreign workers for temporary workers.
Re: Anonymous said...
Keikilala
There really is no debate about how expensive the NDP was in BC, jobs left, people left. I am open to the possibility that they have learned from their job-killing mistakes, but had the NDP simply stuck with the Hospitals, and Emergency Services mantra they would be better off.
Monday, May 01, 2017 5:09:00 pm
You are going to tell me you have any clue as to how irrelevant the NDP 16 years ago is with today?
At any rate let me clarify the facts for you since you have been so blown over with bought media that you believe the crap.
And as for jobs - jobs left and people left after Christy took over. The jobs went when it got too expensive for business to stay in town, unless it is ChiChi Nordstrums, Holt Refrew and the like. And letting the housing prices soar for so long because of overseas speculative investors. You do realize that in many areas of the Lower Mainland, 1 in 4 houses are vacant due to overseas speculators.
And if you check your facts you will find the so called increase is jobs is that service jobs have been split in half - 40 hr worker now 2 X 20 hour worker so they don't have to pay benefits. If you want an idependant source I can give you that.
As to when the last time NDP was in power, here are the FACTS:
https://thetyee.ca/Views/2005/04/20/CampbellMisledPublic/
This is adapted from Will McMartin’s chapter in Liberalized: The Tyee Report on British Columbia under Gordon Campbell’s Liberals.
The facts were plain to read in the transition binders that outgoing NDP Premier Ujjal Dosanjh gave Campbell right after the election. Those binders were obtained by this writer through a Freedom of Information request.
A surplus topping $1.5 billion. That is what the figures in the binder recorded for the fiscal year 2000-01, the last full fiscal year of NDP government.
In the third binder of seven, prepared by finance ministry bureaucrats, was an up-to-date accounting of provincial finances.
Among the details: The newly revised forecast of the consolidated revenue fund surplus was nearly $1.4 billion — an increase of $85 million over what was estimated in the NDP budget three months earlier. Net income for B.C.’s Crown corporations was now pegged at $185 million — a gain of $21 million. And since the ‘forecast allowance’ was not required, another $150 million automatically went to the bottom line. (The ‘forecast allowance’ is a cushion built into the annual budget not meant to be spent except under unforeseen circumstances.)
Consequently, the surplus in the overall summary accounts was a whopping $1.573 billion — a $256 million improvement from the NDP’s revised forecast for the previous year.
No ‘fudge’ This wasn’t “fudge-it budgeting.” British Columbia’s economy was firing on all cylinders. The public debt had been reduced, the budget was balanced, and the treasury filled to overflowing.
McMartin is a regular columnist for The Tyee, creator of The Tyee’s Battleground BC seat projection feature, and has consulted for various political parties.
NO LIES:
#1 RE NDP Casinogate
In March 1999, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police executed a search warrant and searched the Clark household.[4] The media was tipped off about the raid and television news showed live, primetime coverage of the shocked premier pacing inside his house (with his children and wife) while the search was conducted. Two weeks later the RCMP conducted a search of the Premier's Office.[5] The subsequent investigation spawned intense coverage by the media.[6] However, subsequent coverage also exposed numerous inaccuracies in the way the story was initially portrayed, with some critics alleging a media or RCMP conspiracy to smear him for ideological reasons.[7]
Clark resigned suddenly on the night of August 21, 1999, following allegations that he had accepted favours (in the form of free renovations worth $10,000, WHICH IT WAS FOUND HE ACTUALLY PAID FOR) from Dimitrios Pilarinos in return for approving a casino application.[8] He was later formally charged with committing breach of trust, a criminal offence.[9] Clark was acquitted of all criminal charges by the Supreme Court of British Columbia on August 29, 2002,[9] with Justice Elizabeth Bennett ruling that there was no evidence that he had actually done anything illegal but Clark had unwisely left himself open to a perception of unethical behaviour,.[10]
After political life Jimmy Pattison snapped him up. (article from 2009) www.vancouversun.com/news/staff-blogs/funny-things-happen-when-glen-clark-meets-jimmy-pattison
Check to see if you are a still a disbeliever: https://www.jimpattison.com/about/leadership/
Glen Clark is currently employed as PRESIDENT AND COO of the Jim Pattison Group[1] and president of The News Group North America.
Jim Pattison Group is Canada’s largest privately held company[1] and, in a recent survey by the Financial Post, The Jim Pattison Group was ranked as Canada’s 62nd largest company. Jim Pattison, a Vancouver-based entrepreneur is the Chairman, President, CEO, and sole owner of the Jim Pattison Group. The Jim Pattison Group has more than 39,000 employees, and annual sales of $8.4 billion. With investments in Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Europe, Asia and Australia, The Jim Pattison Group is involved in a wide variety of industries including TV and radio stations, automotive dealerships, grocery store chains, magazine distribution, food service specialty packaging, advertising, real estate development, fishing, forest products, financial services, and entertainment.
Just because you have social consideration does not mean you make bad business decisions: www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/billionaire-businessman-jim-pattison-gives-75-million-to-new-vancouver-hospital/article34465951/
On the other hand, Christy has had multiple $10,000 a plate dinners to bend her ear. She didn't dine these people for free, and they did not pay $10,000 to just see her smile. Her day in court is coming up - she delayed it until after May 9th, what a surprise. www.nationalobserver.com/2017/04/13/news/bc-supreme-court-review-christy-clarks-ethics-few-days-election
Glen Clark was cleared of this so called (mostly Media Scandal) in Court, unlike Christy.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/did-the-ndp-really-spark-a-decade-of-decline-as-liberals-claim-1.4085394
#2 PacifiCat or Fast ferry scandal
To revitalize shipbuilding industry, Clark undertook the B.C. fast ferries initiative, which was designed to upgrade the existing Ferries fleet as well as jump start the shipbuilding industry in Vancouver. Although the ferries were produced, the project had massive cost overruns,long delays, and the ferries were never able to function up to expectations.
This is how the Liberals work:
After a change in leadership, the new Premier of BC, Ujjal Dosanjh, placed the ferries up for sale. A subsequent election virtually eliminated the New Democratic Party from the legislature.
Gordon Campbell, Liberal Premier of BC then auctioned off the PacifiCat fleet on March 24, 2003 for $19.4 million ($6.5 million/vessel) to Washington Marine Group.
Controversy was revealed the same company, which is a prominent financial backer of the Liberal Party,offered $60 million for the vessels prior to auction.
The Philippines were prepared to pay as much as $88 million.[3]
In September 2005, the media reported that the Washington Marine Group reps of WMG expressed interest in operating service,they are actively searching for suitable applications for the FastFerries from Downtown Vanc to a point on Vancouver Island. On December 16, 2005 WMG confirmed that it is considering putting the ferries into service from North Van to Duke Point (near Nanaimo) to compete with the BC Ferries routes.
However a sweeter deal popped up for them and as of July 2009 the ferries have been sold for use in the United Arab Emirates for $50 million, Washington Marine Group making a tidy $30.6 Million profit. No wonder they are a huge contributor to the Liberals.
http://discoveralltheworld.com/index.php?topic=7750.0;wap2 sold for $50M.
https://www.pressreader.com/canada/times-colonist/20150215/281736972887341
HOWEVER Compare $400 Million loss to LIBERALS Site C. (who is the goat now?)
A lot of money has been spent — estimated $1.5 to $2 billion, & another $2 billion committed in contracts. That’s less than half the budgeted $8.8-billion cost. https://thetyee.ca/News/2017/03/15/Site-C-No-Return/
FIRSTLY: the power isn’t needed provincially
SECONDLY: BC Hydro hasn’t yet signed on any buyers, Eliesen says.
So there isn’t a reliable revenue source to make a return on the investment. “Selling the power at spot prices can’t justify the huge expense. We will end up with a stranded asset, a white elephant.”
Swain agrees, saying that spot market power sales, worth an average $30 per megawatt hour, don’t justify spending any more than $2 billion.
“My back of the envelope arithmetic shows that this project, which will cost $9 billion, has a net-present value of about $2 billion. So at any point up to the irrevocable commitment of $7 billion, we’d be better off stopping,” Swain says.
“If you take the only sales that are available as far as we can see, and multiply that by 5,100 gigawatt hours (Site C’s projected capacity), that gives you the revenue side of your equation,” he says. “Then you figure out what it costs, and even if you accept the insane financing package that BC Hydro and the government have put forward — that is, a 70-year amortization at three per cent — you’re still a big time loser.”
IMPORTANTLY BC Hydro is already carrying an unprecedented $18 billion in debt. That will increase by almost 50 per cent when Site C is completed. CUSTOMERS WILL HAVE TO COVER HUGE INTEREST COSTS AND HYDRO’S DEBT COULD RESULT IN A CREDIT RATING DOWNGRADE FOR THE PROVINCE, INCREASING INTEREST COSTS FOR ALL PROVINCIAL BORROWING.
“The only solution is a massive increase in electricity rates. Major jobs will be lost,” Eliesen says. “There’s no question: when you have a massive increase in electricity rates, businesses leave the country.”
HIGHER TAXES: Swain predicts, “People are going to wind up paying for a stranded asset through their taxes for years and years to come. Hydro will not have the financial capacity to pay it, so it will fall to the guarantors of their debt, that is, the TAXPAYERS.”
FINALLY, large dams almost always go over budget. Manitoba Hydro’s Keeyask dam is 34 per cent over budget; Newfoundland’s Muskrat Falls project costs have almost doubled to $11.2 billion. The geotechnical challenges at Site C almost guarantee budget overruns, according to Eliesen. So don't be surprised if your hydro bill starts to exceed the cost of your rent.
The NDP ran the province into the ground last time around and they would do it again. The other provinces with NDP govt's are accumulating debt at an outrageous pace. The NDP gave the unions ridiculous wage increases before their last defeat saddling taxpayers with their legacy.
I actually voted for them the first time around but after that fiasco I'll vote Green before I ever vote NDP again.
Check your facts. NDP left with one of the biggest surpluses the province ever had.
True to their spots, Liberals have always been about sucking up to big money, giving contracts to businesses and then having us as taxpayers subsidize the shortfalls through increases in our utilities and taxes. In turn the businesses give ridiculous amounts of money so the Liberals can advertise more, and sell themselves as the answer, in the meantime we get fleeced. It was their press that spun the deficit story. It was actually Gordon Campbell that blew the budget.
The NDP has nothing to do with Union wages. Union wages are negotiated with the business they are employed by. In the 70s there was a lot of unions. there are not so many unions now. In the 70s the economy was good, a lot of unions loud and stupid. It took quite a few years until unions realized they can price themselves out of a job.
Businesses like Weston Bakeries said, heck no, we can't, we won't and they moved out of BC and that was the end of work for them.
This happened quite a few times (amazingly how many times) until most of the unions smartened up and realized you don't bite the hand that feeds you. Businesses need to make a profit to be able to grow, buy equipment, do repairs, be able to sell their product at a low enough price that someone would buy it, etc.
Then the 80's had the oil and forestry demand slumped when demand dropped and we had a recession. Lots of companies like Mac Blo closed a lot of forestry jobs, and invested their money in different businesses so they could make a profit.
I remember I was (finished a computer programming and systems analysis diploma) to start a job in the computer library department and when I went to start the job, the manager and the department was gone. They had been let go without notice.
One Business that was to be sold off was Harmac Mill. The smart union members of Harmac got together and bought the Mill and they run it themselves. This is their pulp mill and they still own and run it, decades later - www.harmacpacific.com/employment.php
www.harmacpacific.com/environment.php
No one is living in history so why on earth would you think people that are younger, think younger & have lived in a totally different work environment would act in a way that was back in an employment stone age. Glen Clark (ex NDP Premier) is the President and Chief Operations Officer of Pattison Group - only Jimmy himself is in a higher position as Chairmand and CEO - $8.4 Billion in sales and running international businesses.
There is one thing true however. Land is finite. As all the third world countries have been tearing theirs up, overbuilding, overcrowding -the more our land is valuable. Apples are like $12.00 each in Japan. It is pretty well the same in Hong Kong and Guangzhou (Canton).
With greenhouses, extra dwarf fruit trees, you can pretty well grow anything anywhere. Our province is very pretty & wild in a lot of areas. Very wealthy people come here to go on extreme vacations, climb mountains, hike, canoe, heliski, wildlife watching, - we need to look at what people will pay more money for a do that, not sink money into things that are no longer in high demand.
It is pointless to spend billions of Dollars tearing up the land when the product will be pretty well worthless. This is aggravated when if the projects go through that the provincial government will have to give power to the Business Owners for cheaper than it is worth. That means you and me will be paying the difference. In some parts of Ontario now, it isn't unheard of for people to be paying over $600 a month for Hydro http://www.torontosun.com/2016/10/28/5-ontario-hydro-bills-compared-rural-bills-in-the-hundreds-while-toronto-brothers-pay-100.
I like the ideology of the Green party but I think they are tainted by the Liberals. This isn't the first time Gordon Weaver split the vote.
I would like to see an NDP and Greens coalition, but that is not the way in went in 2013 when the Greens split the vote. Liberals got in.
Weaver already said he could see himself working with the Liberals.
Rob Faris's comments -In this current campaign he claims we constituents should look at his track record. His record is that he voted for the 2013 and 2014 BC Liberal government budgets that raised BC Ferries fares and cut coastal service, and raised rates of BC Hydro, ICBC, and Medical Service premiums . These increased costs of public services have greatly added to the unaffordability of BC life which many citizens have had to grapple with over the past four years.
Mr Weaver provided three reasons why he voted for the regressive BC Liberal budgets that made life less affordable not only in his own Island riding but also across the province.
First, he claimed that the “the motion on which I voted was deemed to be a confidence motion in the government. Were the motion to fail (for example in the case of a minority government), we would be heading into another general election.” Yet this concern was irrelevant as the government was elected with a handy majority and there was absolutely no chance of the motion failing!
Second he stated that “ the BC Liberals proposed the same budget prior to the election and got re-elected. BC voters had an opportunity to elect another party but chose to re-elect the Liberals for four more years. I felt it was important to support British Columbians in this regard.” But 70% of those Oak Bay – Gordon Head citizens who voted, voted against the Liberals and their pre-election budget – and the Green policy book says Green MLA’s will represent the views of their constituents!
Finally, he concluded that” I feel I better serve the constituents of Oak Bay-Gordon Head and the citizens of BC by supporting the overall budget, thereby showing confidence in the newly elected government, while continuing to raise concerns about the aspects I find troublesome.”
Increased BC Ferries fares that harmed Island and coastal communities, and major increases in BC Hydro, ICBC and Medical Service Premiums were not “troublesome” to Mr. Weaver? They certainly were “troublesome” for many pensioners, and the growing numbers of British Columbians who joined the working poor!
Mr. Weaver went on the next year,2014, to vote for the regressive BC Liberal budget that once again increased ferry, hydro, ICBC and MSP rates and cut the capacity of government to monitor environmental standards, and inadequately funded an already over-strained health care system!
Mr Weaver is accountable to those of us in his riding – and now to British Columbians as Green party leader – for his record of voting confidence for two long years in a BC Liberal government that not only increased a growing financial burden on hard working citizens but also on numerous occasions rejected the NDP bills to ban both corporate and union donations while massive donations from both foreign and Alberta corporations to the Liberal party have increased.
The "check your facts" and "The NDP has nothing to do with Union wages" comments are rich.
All Provincial public sector employees, Union or not, fall under the authority of the Provincial gov't. Period.
The NDP accepts huge Union campaign contributions. The NDP is obliged to their contributors.
You check your facts.
www.nytimes.com/2017/05/02/world/canada/british-columbias-business-temptation-an-opaque-array-of-tax-breaks.html Liberals selling BC as a tax haven for the globalelite to park investment here but not have to contribute.
https://thetyee.ca/News/2017/05/01/Green-Votes-Clark-Victory/
Prominent eco-activist Tzeporah Berman fears that a rise in Green Party support in the provincial election could return Premier Christy Clark and the BC Liberals to power, which she says would be a disaster for climate change and environmental policy in BC.
The activist, who became famous in the early 1990s as one of the leaders of logging blockades in Clayoquot Sound, also criticized eco-icon David Suzuki for endorsing the Greens over the NDP in this election.
“I think his endorsement is dangerous and shortsighted because, like it or not, support for the Greens could very well help to ensure another four years of Christy Clark,” said Berman. “I was surprised because an NDP government would be a huge leap forward on climate change, protecting our coast from increased tanker traffic, ending grizzly hunting and more.”
As with most folks in the NDP you haven't figured out that business moves out of Provinces with NDP gov'ts. This diminishes employment, which decreases tax revenues, which makes the pie-in-the-sky special interest "free" giveaway programmes impossible to fund, so NDP govt's are forced load on the debt if they want to maintain increased benefits which destroys the long-term financial health of the Province, which hurts the very people the NDP are trying to cater to.
A vote for NDP is a vote for rising taxes, rising debt and rising unemployment.
ALL CANDIDATES MEETING TONIGHT
North Vancouver - Seymour candidates.
7:00-9:00 PM
where >>
Seymour United Churge
1200 Parkgate Avenue
North Vancouver
Your chance to ask your question.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/sarah-miller2/bc-liberals-social-deficit_b_16237268.html?ncid=engmodushpmg00000004
https://www.pressprogress.ca/two_thirds_of_christy_clark_official_taxpayer_funded_photo_ops_promoted_wealthy_bc_liberal_donors?utm_campaign=may8_17pp&utm_medium=email&utm_source=broadbent
https://www.facebook.com/CoastCast/videos/607311456142857/ re Splitting the Vote
I bet you're a ton of fun at parties.
Green Party campaign manager quit over Andrew Weaver’s bullying, bad policies
http://commonsensecanadian.ca/green-party-campaign-manager-quit-andrew-weavers-bullying-bad-policies/
His support for David Black’s proposed oil refinery in Kitimat, on the grounds that it would result in tankers carrying a less-destructive product than bitumen on the BC Coast. Lost on Weaver, apparently, was the fact that this would still require Tar Sands extraction, intense carbon emissions, and a bitumen pipeline crossing BC’s rugged northern landscape, much the same as Enbridge would have done.
Weaver’s grizzly hunt policy, which only requires that hunters pack their meat out (as if anyone actually hunts grizzlies for food!). This would likely stop foreign hunters, but do nothing to stem the larger resident hunt. Weaver’s position has been ridiculed by bear advocacy groups and leading biologists, including Chris Darimont, an associate professor at UVic. Addressing some of Weaver’s most absurd comments on the subject, Darimont recently told The Vancouver Sun, “He is not only on the wrong side of history on the grizzly hunt issue, but he is also ‘dead’ wrong.” Adds Grant, “Weaver’s position should have been, ‘We’re against it, period.'”
Weaver’s refusal to support wastewater treatment in Victoria.
Grant also points Weaver’s bewildering relationship with the Liberal Party, as other critics have done of late. When Weaver distanced himself from popular federal party leader Elizabeth May over the BDS controversy, he told the media, “I’ve got a lot of federal Liberals on my team who are members of the federal Liberal party but also members of the B.C. Green Party.” If distance is what he sought, that’s apparently what he got. One would expect May to be all over the BC campaign trail, rallying her federal Green supporters in key ridings where the Greens are vying for seats on May 9. Aside from a few campaign stops early on, there’s been barely any mention of the country’s brightest Green star.
Then there’s the overt Liberal support for the Greens – which last election meant pro-Green ads paid for by the Liberal campaign. This time around, it’s more subtle. There’s Judi Tyabji – wife of Liberal LNG booster Gordon Wilson and mother of Liberal candidate Mathew Wilson – working with the Powell River Chamber of Commerce to host Andrew Weaver in the very riding her son’s campaigning in, then extolling the Green leader’s virtues on facebook.
No one is feeling it now, but it has already happened in parts of Ontario....
When Christy does her wheelin n dealin with foreign investors (or international so they can say they are foreign) they get slacker rules - $1,000 enviro fine while BC taxpayers on hook for $40M, re Polley Lake.
Site C will cost 9Billion$ - they only can get $2Billion over decades. Like parts in Ontario - hydro was charged to the taxpaper at amounts like $600-$1000 mo, so that the province could subsidize the building of the capital project - guess what, for BC that is Site C.
So if you think your are comfortable and the result of this election won't affect your tiny part of the world guess again.
What were the goals of each party?
The Liberals to retain power.
The NDP to attain power.
The Greens to expand their seats.
Who achieved their goals?
The winner beyond their wildest dreams - the Greens.
The Liberals marginally achieved their goal.
The loser - the NDP.
Political uncertainty = another election in the offing.
The recount is on. There is a slim but non zero chance that we could end up with a razor thin majority government.
Maybe that would be the best thing. Everybody has to show up to work!
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