WHAT is happening over at Christy Clark Central?? Staff are coming and going;
well actually they mostly seem to be coming… and the cost of staffing and running
the Premiers office is soaring.
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| Premier Clark -- Is she praying for a miracle? |
It seems that many rank and file members of the BC Liberals are
wondering if they are on the Titanic or not ... and time will certainly tell – especially
if she losses both of the upcoming by-elections, which I predict she will.
Any way … as usual it’s been another busy week on the political front,
with many stories that made headlines.
Here are some of the stories that you may have missed, or might like to have a refresher on:
… the terms also insisted that if the province abandoned its side of
the deal — harmonization — the full amount of the transition funding would have
to be paid back … such agreements are common in federal-provincial relations
and Ottawa was not about to step onto the slippery slope of letting a province
walk away from its obligations …
… concluded that there is an exciting opportunity for BC in the
emerging bioeconomy … potential of this new economy is huge ($170 billion for
bioenergy, $200 billion for bioproducts) and BC has some of the best fiber
resources to feed it. The job potential of this sector is also great …
… Flagging in the polls, and with just 16 months to go before the next
election, Premier Christy Clark has replaced her chief of staff… In a news
release issued before Clark's official announcement Thursday, BC Conservative
leader John Cummins attacked the appointment.
"Premier Clark has appointed an Albertan super-lobbyist as her
chief of staff," Cummins said in a statement…
… the health authority is charging people for the bathing program, it
didn't even pay for the tub in the first place, rather had it donated by the
Lions Club . . . surely the IHA could cough up some cash for a new tub and lift
to serve that area of Kamloops … but we doubt that will happen…
Sometimes liberals think business should be kinder or nicer or
something like that ... I've never had that illusion...It's up to the
government in my judgment to make decisions on the basis of the public good,
it's not up to business," Clark says. "Business has got a job to do,
that's to create profits and jobs and everything else that goes with it. It's
government's job to deal with all the public policy issues…
" ... he will never know what it’s like to get near the end of the
month with no money left and have to forgo food for the sake of kids who need
it more ... there is no one who knows that better than New Democrats ... in
2004, Liberal MLA Lorne Mayencourt decided to spend a week living on the
streets of Vancouver. The move was derided by NDP MLAs at the time as a
shameless stunt by someone deciding to play “tourist” in the Downtown
Eastside..."
… UFV professor and former Times columnist John Martin will be
acclaimed next week as the BC Conservative Party's (BCCP) candidate for the
Chilliwack-Hope by-election … Chilliwack-Hope MLA Barry Penner said in November
he would step down in the new year, a move that means Premier Christy Clark
must call a by-election within six months …
“… Adrian Dix is firmly against the project, arguing the potential for
a catastrophic oil spill is not worth the risk. Conservative Leader John Cummins
supports the project and wants to speed it up, saying B.C. needs the jobs and
money … Christy Clark is stuck in the middle, refusing to take a position at
all …”
... If you're sure you know what the best policy is, you don't need to
experiment. You already know the answer ... don't want responsibility for the
policy to be decentralized because it's much easier and more efficient to get
one government to implement the correct policy everywhere ... Only when you
accept that you don't know everything does experimentation make sense. And only
then is the case for decentralization strongest ..."
… created a 10-year database that doesn’t exist anywhere else. But it
hasn’t exactly been flattering, a sign that it has been kept free of political
interference. Premier Christy Clark’s
recent decision to replace the Progress Board has sparked another round of
political blame-storming…
… the BCGEU master contract is one of 180 separate public sector
contracts … 60 have been resolved. Another few dozen have frameworks for
agreement in place … government doesn't want any wildly divergent outcomes
… it will come down to how badly each
side wants to settle…
And here’s another look at the same story
… nearly a quarter million public-sector employees in British Columbia
are negotiating contracts with the government this year … could be chaos on the
labour front … unions calling for wage hikes will be pitting themselves against
a government that has said it will not negotiate for contracts that will cost
taxpayers more money …
… for all Clark’s hopes, she’s more likely to spend the year dogged by
the legacy of her predecessor combined with a growing sense of her own failure
to make a fresh start….
… it has truly been an honour and a privilege to work with all members
of the legislature on behalf of British Columbians since 1996,” he wrote in his
resignation letter to Speaker Bill Barisoff. “I won’t forget it …
… possibility of losing an upcoming by-election in Chilliwack to the BC
Conservatives, the BC Liberals sought out a prospective candidate with
conservative bona fides of his own … even presuming that the provincial
Liberals do nominate a candidate whose conservative credentials are beyond
reproach … still be running against a rising sentiment that the government
needs to be sent a message it has betrayed its right-of-centre base …
… the government is internally forecasting what Falcon characterized as
a "conservative" two-per-cent GDP growth rate. The minister said the
main bright spot for B.C. is its export market, which has bucked expectations …
… BC will have five years to pay back the money … Ottawa has agreed not
to charge any interest … extended repayment schedule will save BC debt interest
costs that would otherwise have been incurred had the province had to pay back
the full amount right away…
… provincial government increased gaming grant funding to $135 million
annually in order to restore funding
to service groups that had their funding
eliminated in 2008 …
… a better word would be “looting.” For the last decade, the provincial
government has systematically wrested control of gaming grants away from
charities and non-profits — the proceeds of which came from the province’s
gambling industry. The reason was greed. Gambling became the government’s cash
cow…
… Christy refuses to state her
position on the pipeline, which Cummins enthusiastically supports. "It's a failure of leadership,"
Cummins said, adding he believes many B.C. Liberals who want the jobs and
investment from the pipeline will now flock to his Conservatives as a result…
I’m Alan Forseth in Kamloops. Bye
for now … have a great weekend!
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