Halloween is just around the corner … and as if right on time, there
have been some scary stories coming out of Victoria, and in the news media regarding
Christy Clark's BC Liberal party … about BC Hydro … and about the Teachers
College.
Here are some of the stories that made the news this week … and that
you may have missed.
BC Liberal MLA Kash Heed's 2009 election campaign manager Barinder Sall
avoided a jail sentence Friday afternoon but was fined $15,000, put on one
year's probation and ordered to perform 200 community service hours in the
Vancouver-Fraserview election overspending case. Sall admitted to six violations of the
Elections Act in a guilty plea bargain deal that saw serious Criminal Code
obstruction of justice charges dropped that could have seen him sentenced to up
to ten years in jail …
… he said: "There have been changes indeed in this chamber and ...
the House should know that the change which I appreciate most lies in the fact
that I now have a much easier time in caucus." Jeered about switching teams, he said he'd be
happy to let his constituents decide … after winning as a Socred with 52 per
cent of the vote, he ran in Oak Bay as a Conservative and won 52 per cent of
the vote again. Back to his debut as a
Conservative. Wallace said his new party's priority was to raise the standard
of living for the poor, the sick, the disabled and those on fixed incomes….
Doyle is worried that BC Hydro is using American-style accounting
practices to defer billions of dollars of debt to future years … neither the BC
Government nor BC Hydro seems to have a plan to pay down those deferred costs. Doyle says the government… is forcing BC Hydro
further and further into red ink, and it will come back to haunt future rate
payers … BC Hydro is using smoke and
mirrors to appear profitable, while actually pushing off costs into the future.
This is extremely troubling …
… they fear the surging strength of BC Conservative leader John Cummins
in traditionally safe seats, including in the Interior, Okanagan and North. Cummins is now at 12 per cent, up two points
since May …. Cummins is also creating a viable network of constituency
associations and attracting former Reform Party Members of Parliament to his
cause, with Jim Hart and Paul Forseth seeking nominations while Randy White
chairs a key election committee.
... Liberals are in a state of high anxiety over the emerging B.C.
Conservatives, whose ranks are stocked with several of Manning's former
colleagues in the House of Commons, including new party leader John Cummins …
as one prominent Liberal said this week, polling suggests that the
Conservatives are less a front for the old Reform party than an electoral
parking lot for those who are soured on the Liberal brand and not inclined to
vote NDP … challenge is to get them to give the Liberals a second look … otherwise
those folks will stay parked with the Conservatives...
…since the Liberals took power, deferrals have increased from $200
million to $2.2 billion, with a predicted $5 billion in deferrals by 2017. “This
money is going to have to be paid back. What taxpayers need to ask themselves
is how … it is becoming abundantly clear that ‘families first’ is simply a
slogan to buy votes for Premier Clark. Otherwise, why would her government
continue with such irresponsible policies that will leave future generations
paying for the Liberal government’s inability to act with prudence?”
While the B.C. government funds the K-12 education system in the
province, the teachers’ union effectively runs it. That is why, for decades now, the
conversation around education has focused almost exclusively on the wants and
wishes of teachers instead of the needs of those they are paid to teach….
Kamloops-South Thompson MLA, and co-chair of the Small Business
Roundtable, Kevin Krueger raised the idea Monday of asking Ottawa to collect
British Columbia’s provincial sales tax once the HST is gone.
The idea, he said, would be to retain some of the efficiencies from the
HST, while still honouring the promise to kill the HST. Krueger explained the proposal the following
way during an address to the Legislature …
B.C.'s health minister and Vancouver Coastal Health say a privacy
breach involving the surgical records of 450 people could happen again because
of the prevalence of health workers who use portable electronics. The private files, contained on a laptop
computer and USB drive, were lost by a resident at the Toronto airport in late
September. He did not report the loss to officials for 10 days….
When Christy Clark won the leadership of the B.C. Liberal Party,
members of her caucus gathered on the stage behind her to present a picture of
unassailable unity. It was a photo-op aimed to paper over the fact that only
one of the politicians on the podium with the new leader had supported her
campaign….
… the BCTF will control four of the nine seats on the Disciplinary and
Professional Conduct Board – and there is no guarantee that the other five will
be independent lay people – they will most likely be educators in some way or
another. “The Avison report made it
abundantly clear that the union’s interference with the BC College of Teachers
has put students – children – in a position where they may be abused or
improperly educated.” …..
The B.C. government is getting tougher with bad teachers, introducing
legislation Wednesday to make it easier to fire those who run afoul of
standards. Education Minister George
Abbott said he didn't expect the 41,000-member BC Teachers' Federation to send
him roses in response to the proposed legislation.
But he said he believes it signals the start of greater shared
responsibilities between teachers, the government and education
organizations. "It invites, I hope,
a more respectful relationship," he said. "I don't expect the BCTF to
boycott this. I am hoping that this will be the foundation for a better
relationship with them." …………
… growing mountain of evidence
that B.C. Hydro will one day flip a switch at head office and turn your new
smart meter into a miniature tax-collection machine. Hydro is maxing out its credit card with
something called "deferred expenses," … Hydro has taken $2.2 billion in costs off its
book - an amount set to explode to $5 billion by 2017. It's all hidden debt, and it all has to be
paid back by you and how do you think they're going to get that money out of
you? Let's put it this way: Forget about
smart meters frying your brain with microwaves. These things are going to fry
your wallet with "time-of-use" billing …
… Tyee took a look at how Christy Clark has gone from winning the
Liberal leadership to having a higher disapproval rating than her New Democrat
competitor Adrian Dix. Today, following
a four-week investigation that included background interviews with sources
who've been part of or close witness to Clark's ascent to power, we name the
six most influential politicos in the premier's inner circle….
That’s all for now. Have a great weekend, and I'll be back again on Monday.
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