PETER SHARP: "This begins Day #1 as the BC Conservative candidate for Kamloops South Thompson"

Last night BC Conservatives, in Kamloops South Thompson, elected Peter Sharp to represent them in this Mays Provincial General Election.

Those of you in other areas of the province, or who may have been unable to attend last night meeting, missed a great meeting, and hearing the words of Peter. 

He has given me permission to print them for you and they follow.  First though, I thought I would share with you what he had to say online this morning:



Step one in seeking the nomination -- filling out the BC
Conservative Party nomination forms (42 pages!)

"This begins Day #1 as the BC Conservative candidate for Kamloops South Thompson. And it begins with news from a new Ipsos Reid poll that shows 24% of voters are now less likely to vote for the BC Liberals following release of the new budget. BONUS!"

Now, here is Peter's speech from last night.

Good evening fellow Conservatives, honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen, and fellow nominee candidate Maria Dobi ...

 

My name is Peter Sharp and tonight I hope to become your candidate, for the BC Conservative Party, in our Kamloops South Thompson Riding.  Then with your support, encouragement, and assistance -- to become your MLA following the May General Election. 

 

About a month ago, BC Liberal MLA Terry Lake was quoted as saying:  “What we do see, as we get closer to election, is that people are understanding what the BC Conservatives are all about….”

 

My hope is that the Voters of our great province do indeed come to understand what we, as BC Conservatives are all about and what we believe in ... and what we hope to bring to the political stage in British Columbia.

 

Terry Lake tossed a generalized statement out -- one, which implied there is something to fear from the BC Conservatives.   He knows that his implied statement is completely without truth ... and the backroom manipulators of the BC Liberal Party know that as well.

 

In fact ... because WE BELIEVE IN BC ... and the people of BC ... I am proud to say that our beliefs, principles and policies differ greatly from the BC Liberal Party.

 

WE - as BC Conservatives - believe in clearly defined public policies and programs that are affordable, effective, and accountable to each one of you here tonight.  And I too believe that each and every British Columbian is entitled to full knowledge of all services government provides ... AND what they cost.

 

After all ... how else can we know if we are getting good value?

 

WE -- as BC Conservatives --  believe that our provincial government must operate with the highest standards of integrity and transparency.  And we as BC Conservatives also believe that governments at all levels -- including at the municipal level -- are responsible to serve and respect all individuals and their families. 

 

Peter Sharp speaking with members of
the media at the announcement he would
seek the Kamloops South nomination

As an elected councillor with the City of Kamloops, I have firsthand experience in knowing why our elected representatives should first and foremost represent your interests.

 

As a retired RCMP officer with 30 years of experience, I too believe in the BC Conservative Party's policy of law and order that focuses on the rights of victims ... and the protection of the public.

 

We as BC Conservatives have our feet planted in reality.  We need to have smaller government ... we need to encourage new enterprise.  Leadership at all levels (from teachers in the classroom -- to elected officials in Victoria) MUST encourage our youth ... parents ...  employees in the workplace ... and business leaders to dream big dreams.  We need to once again strive towards excellence and prosperity. 

 

These are not just motherhood statements ... these are statements that I too -- WITH YOU -- believe in.

 

If I have the opportunity to be your elected representative for the BC Conservative Party…. I will hold my party accountable to create an environment where good government and prosperity can be achieved.

Madame Premier … what do you have to say?

Statistics Canada has released its latest Jobs Report for May.  That report shows that employment across the country is staying stable, however the largest reason for that may be the continued growth of jobs in Alberta and Saskatchewan, along with the province of Quebec.

So how did we fare in Western Canada? 

Alberta had an increase in employment with 9,800 net new jobs; their unemployment rate now stands at just 4.5 percent ... Manitoba basically remained the same as they went from from 5.3% to 5.1% ... and Saskatchewan still has the lowest unemployment rate in Canada at 4.1 percent.

And how do things look here in British Columbia? 

Bits and Bits, from here and there, as we end this week

The following comments, from a city councilor in Northern BC, should be required reading for those seeking to represent us – at whatever level of government.

1) Being elected to represent citizens of ( XYZ ) is a privilege, not a right.
2) Even if I feel strong about it, what does the majority of ( XYZ ) think about it.

3) We work as a group to move the city forward, but were each elected for our own separate reasons.

From a CBC News story:

It’s not unusual for a politician to stroll through the halls of the B.C. legislature, but when it’s new B.C. Conservative party leader John Cummins, it turns a few heads.  Cummins, recently an MP and not yet elected as an MLA, was attending the first working day of the new legislative session as an observer.

"I think it was important to be here for the first couple of days," Cummins said.  The Conservatives have steadily grown in popular support since Cummins took the helm of the revived party in May.  "Everywhere we go, people are interested in what we have to say," Cummins said.

From BC Auditor General John Doyle’s summary report:

“My audit opinion for the 2010/11 fiscal year contains one audit reservation, indicating that the financial statements are not in compliance with Canadian generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). This is one of the three audit reservations that featured in my 2009/10 opinion."

Now available … “HST Math for Dummies”

Yesterday in the Vancouver Sun, columnist Don Cayo had a brief story entitled “The HST’s total impact on BC prices well under 1%”.  The following two paragraphs are the story in its entirety:

What might he be saying? Perhaps,"I think
the effect of the HST will be about this much"

The impact varies according to your income and spending habits, but for the average British Columbian the impact of the HST has been less, according to a just-released study, than most experts predicted. And much, much less than many of the tax's critics have claimed.

Jon Kesselman, the Canada Research Chair in Pubic Finance and Simon Fraser University, has calculated the overall impact on the price of consumer purchases at 0.6 per cent, based on StatsCan data on price changes and spending patterns, and factoring in inflation.

I guess perhaps columnists for the Vancouver Sun make enough money they can just kiss off any increase the provincial government decides to throw at us.  Stating that the impact of the HST has only amounted to an increase of .6% of course does make it sound very small … but let’s look at this in “real” dollars and cents.