I did NOT see one story about a commitment to public safety and protection

Yesterday I was led to write the blog story, “YOU'RE RIGHT CHRISTY … those are things most British Columbians support”.   I wrote it because despite everything they say, the real story about crime and protection is that Christy Clark really has NO commitment to it.  Truthfully, it seems everyone -- BUT the BC Liberal Party -- questions their commitment to public protection from criminals and thugs.  

Are you aware of IntegrityBC??    Integrity BC is not some cover for the NDP or the BC Conservative Party … or any other political group.  They are, as they say, “… a non-partisan, non-profit organization working with citizens, volunteers, activists and political parties to promote, lobby, pressure, advocate and demand: integrity and accountability in BC.”

They have no axe to grind directly against any political party … they simply want to have a government that is more accountable to the people of our province.  It seems however they too are wondering and questioning the priorities of this government. 

Here is a post they had online this morning on their Facebook page:  

This headline last week caught our attention for a fast back-of-the-envelope calculation.  The BC Liberal government paid $6-million for Dave Basi's and Bobby Virk's legal bill in the BC Rail trial, even though they plead guilty. BC sheriffs earn $48,055 per year (contract ending 2010 at $26.31/h). For $6 million, the Liberal government could hire 60 full-time sheriffs for two years or 24 provincial court judges for a year to help clear the backlog in BC courts.

Well if the media, and non-partisan groups, are questioning their commitment, surely to goodness the website for the BC Liberal Party would be filled with comments and news from Premier Christy Clark, and the Attorney General, about what they are doing. 

If they do, I was NOT able to find them.

Their webpage “In the News” has all kinds of glowing things about the party … along with a ‘liberal’ sprinkling of negative comments about NDP leader Adrian Dix … and BC Conservative Party leader John Cummins.

Let’s see … here are some of the headlines from stories they have posted there:

Premier Christy Clark and Our Ship Building Contract … hmmm I distinctly recall the Prime Minister saying that the contract would be awarded ONLY on merit.  So what exactly was it that she did to help our BC ship builders get this contract??

BC targets innovation, job creation and training.  Ah Yes … I remember that week.  It was Christy Clark’s photo-op tour of the province where she re-announced a number of things that former Premier Gordon Campbell had previously indicated they would be doing. 

BC maps future growth through international education and skills training.  This too was part of the BC photo-ops tour.  Touching down in Kamloops, she announced that her government was going to improve the numbers of foreign students coming to the province to get university educations.  Making it at Thompson Rivers University was an interesting choice however as the university has had double digit growth in that area year after year.

BC Hydro to cut proposed rate increase in half following government review.  Well that certainly gave the government the opportunity to look good.  Meantime the auditor general is concerned that fancy foot work by the government is allowing BC Hydro to hid millions and millions in debt.   It also masks the fact that government has allowed for a climate in BC Hydro that allows executives to reward themselves with HUGE bonuses for non-existent profits.

Well, I’m into August and still NO news stories in their own Liberal Party website about what they are doing around crime prevention.  Let’s look a bit deeper …

Fiscal prudence leads to lower deficit by over $1-billion.  Oh I love a good story … and here’s one from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.  “BC’s Liberal government was elected on a platform of fiscal responsibility and started off well. Between 2001 and 2004, government spending hovered around $30 billion per year… in 2005 spending restraint started to fly out the window  … spending rose steadily to $40 billion in 2009 and is expected to hit $42 billion in 2011 … could send the debt to almost $60 billion by 2013, practically double its 2006 level.”

Party Gains Strength in Numbers, Membership Nearly Triples.  This was leading up to the election of a new party leader.  I remember someone signed up the entire Kamloops Blazers hockey team (they didn’t know they had however) … and even cats were getting into the act taking out memberships in the party.

You can check for yourself if you like … however I did NOT see one news story on their website about a commitment to public protection.   By contrast, BC Conservative Party policies (page 11), under the heading of “PUBLIC SAFETY AND JUSTICE”, indicate a commitment to the following:

• Strengthening legislation to streamline our justice system to promote timely access to the justice for all individuals, families and businesses …
• Ensuring the rights of victims of crime take precedence over those of criminals …
• strengthening legislation requiring compensation from convicted persons to the victims of crime …
• reviewing and modifying the mandate of the British Columbia Humans Rights Tribunal to ensure the rights and privileges of all citizens are protected
• Reviewing and improving the operations of all of the courts with the purpose of reducing the costs of, and delays in, the justice system … 
• Have legally binding arbitration made available in civil disputes as an alternative to the adversarial court system …
• Require young offenders to participate in crime prevention courses and others measures designed to prevent re-offending … 
• introduce initiatives for family maintenance enforcement to achieve improved compliance with maintenance and visitation orders in family related matters …

I’ll leave it to you then, to decide how important the issues of policing, public safety, and the court system are to the current Liberal government in Victoria … and to the members and leadership of the BC Conservative Party.

I’m Alan Forseth in Kamloops … with the thoughts of one conservative.


FOLLOW UP:
Since writing the story above, have received a media release from the BC Conservative Party ..."Premier Clark must come clean on which parts of the federal crime bill she does not support"

You can click HERE to read the release.