Saul Bellow, “Open discussion of many major public questions has for some time now been taboo”

On Monday the Kamloops News ran a story, “Liberal-turned-Conservative beats drum in Kamloops” about BC Conservative MLA John Van Dongen dropping by for a visit with members and guest at a get-together and Bar-B-Que.

It certainly generated a lot of comments, many of which were the poisoned kind.  It led me to Google quotes on character assassination.  Here is one I found:

"Open discussion of many major public questions has for some time now been taboo.  We can’t open our mouths without being denounced as racists, misogynists, supremacists, imperialists or fascists.  As for the media, they stand ready to trash anyone so designated."

~~ Saul Bellow (1915-2005) Canadian author and Nobel Prize winner for Literature

Sadly it seems, some would rather attempt to shout down those who have a differing opinion; some are closed minded, and others simply have no interest in a civil discussion of ideas.

Here are just a few of the exchanges I had regarding this story

Petosa:
The Liberal Crime Family is the same stripe as the Conservative Crime Family. They should all be in Jail stripes.

ME:
Petosa ... I tend to let most comments slide of my back, this however is not one that will go unanswered.

The BC Conservative Party is NOTHING LIKE the Liberals, which is why it continues to grow and gain new members.  We are people from all walks of life, all backgrounds, and all ages, that are working to provide a real alternative to the government we have had during the past decade.

Your comment, which tars all BC Conservative members, is disrespectful and uncalled for.  IF you would care to have a serious discussion, and talk about the realities of our party, I would have no problem meeting with you over a coffee.

CLBC ... Creating Lies, Bedlam, and Chaos

The letters “C”, “L”,”B”, and “C” used to stand for Community Living British Columbia … now, more aptly; they should stand for Creating Lies, Bedlam, and Chaos.

Last Fall, British Columbians were rightly outraged that Executives of Community Living BC were receiving huge bonuses, while at the same time the agency was cutting back on services.  So what did the Liberal government say they would do? 

BC Premier Christy Clark

Christy Clark said, and led us to believe, they had ordered an end to the bonuses.  As we now all know, they waited for 6 or 7 months, and then rolled the ‘bonuses’ into the pay of these same CLBC executives.

Was that honest or truthful?  Not according to Jordan Bateman, of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation:
"Whether implicitly or between the lines, we were led to believe last fall that the bonus structure was gone. I think most taxpayers thought that meant that money was going to go back into front-line CLBC services where it belongs, and yet now we find out that really nothing's changed, just the way the executives get this money has been altered."

Still, Christy Clark insists that we have it all wrong … that we don’t understand … and that the opposition coming from the BC Conservative Party, the NDP, and the advocacy groups like Moms on the Move, have it all wrong ... and that some are deliberately misrepresenting the facts.

Christy … there is only ONE group misleading the province … that is the BC Liberal party.

DON’T tell us we don’t know the facts!

The grey skies in Kamloops, and a brief shower, didn't dampen our spirits

What a great time this afternoon, at the Kamloops North and South Thompson Constituency Associations Get-Together and Bar-B-Que, at Juniper Ridge Park.

It’s too bad the sun waited till we were wrapping things, before making an appearance, but the grey skies and a brief shower didn't dampen our spirits.

Nearly 4 dozen members and guests came out and had the opportunity to meet, and speak one on one, with BC Conservative MLA John van Dongen.

Also joining us was Tom Birch, nominee candidate in the Shuswap riding, and Maria Dobi who ran as a candidate in Kamloops South Thompson, for the BC Conservatives, in the last provincial election.

We'd especially like to thank four of our guests who joined the party today ... welcome Hazel, Lorna, Marisa, and Bill!

We hope you can join us … and bring along a guest

You Are Invited …

BC Conservative Party
MLA John van Dongen

The Kamloops North and South Thompson, BC Conservative Party Constituency Associations, invite you to join them at a Get-Together and Bar-B-Que for members and guests on Sunday June 24^th.

PLEASE NOTE ... DUE TO FLOODING IN RIVERSIDE PARK WE HAVE MOVED LOCATIONS.

Our Get-Together and Bar-B-Que will now take place in the playground area of Juniper Ridge Park, located at the top of Highland Drive (off of Valleyview Drive or the East Trans-Canada Highway in Kamloops).

We'll be there between 4 and 7pm -- just watch for the signs.

BC Conservative MLA John Van Dongen will be our guest, and he’ll be taking the time to meet and visit with us, talk about the party, and answer any questions you may have.

We'll be grilling up hamburgers and hotdogs, and we’ll also have chips and soft drinks on hand.

We hope you can join us … and feel free to bring along a guest

Please RSVP to:
Alan at (250) 374-6196

Ed at (250) 372-7222

Don’t forget to bring your lawn chair

ACCOUNTABLE? … OPEN? … HONEST? … FAIR?

Last year we heard horror stories of individuals and families, who desperately needed services from Community Living BC, that were being turned away. 

There was however money for executive to get BIG bonuses.

NOW, in a story yesterday in the Victoria Times Colonist we hear that Christy Clark’s BC Liberals have decided that:

 ... Senior executives at Community Living B.C. are getting pay raises to make up for a government decision last year to eliminate their performance bonuses, the Times Colonist has learned. Social Development Minister Stephanie Cadieux confirmed Monday that the money senior managers previously earned as bonuses is simply being rolled into their base pay...

In another story in the Vancouver Sun, they went further to say that:
The three vice-presidents who previously earned up to 10 per cent of their base salary in bonuses will get a permanent 9.66 per cent increase in salary once pension contributions are included. The actual increase in base pay is 8.6 per cent or $11,871.

Directors and managers, who previously earned bonuses of up to five per cent of base pay, will get hikes of 4.96 per cent and 4.93 per cent including pension contributions. The increase in base pay for managers is 4.4 per cent or $3,659, while directors will get an extra 4.43 per cent or $4,736.

"I think it's a poke in the eye for taxpayers," said Jordan Bateman of the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation.

Last Fall, the BC Community Living Action Group (BCLAG) was telling us that:

• The BC government was wasting $1,000 / day as Community Living BC (CLBC) refused to approve group home placements
• That the wait list figures being presented by CLBC were totally unreliable and that an external review of CLBC’s mandate and operations was needed
• That the one-time $6 million in new funding was inadequate to stem BC’s community living crisis, and that what was really needed and required, to stem the community living crisis was $70 million

Faith Bodnar, the Executive Director of the BC Community Living Action Group stated that …  … the situation is as desperate as anything she has ever seen. Disabled individuals are being re-evaluated and stripped of services, at the same time as others are moved out of their group homes.  

Some people will simply want those seeking political office, to say the things they want to hear

Here's a question for you ... "Who do you think wants to find out about what the BC Conservatives stand for, and how we would govern?" 

Well off the top of my head, the easy answer would be, “People that are small ‘c’ conservatives” … but who are those people?  The problem is, how do we know who those people are?  I certainly can’t tell by looking at them.  

With that in mind, I decided to send out an email to some of the people who, last Fall, let their names stand for elected office in the Kamloops area.

Here is part of the message I sent:

Because of a commitment by BC Conservatives to provide a common sense alternative, to the New Democrats and the BC Liberals, I have gone from being a member of the party ... to working with others to create Constituency Associations for both Kamloops riding's ... to also become the Regional Director for the Kamloops, Thompson, Fraser Nicola area. 

Last year you let your name stand to become an elected representative on Kamloops City Council.  That tells me you are interested in, and sincere about, the well-being of our community ... and our province.  With that in mind, you may be interested in taking a look at the policy document for the BC Conservative Party.

If you would like to find out more about what our party stands for, I'd also like to encourage you to look over the information you’ll find at http://www.bcconservative.ca/what-we-stand-for. You can also read a piece I was asked to submit, on why I believe people can and should support the BC Conservative Party, which ran in Kamloops This Week on May 29th.

I believe that the BC Conservative Party is one that can and will be both fiscally responsible, and have a social conscience.  That is why I support the party, and why am working to its continued growth in our city.

Thank you for your time; please feel free to contact me if you would care to discuss party policy on any issues you feel of importance to the people of BC ……

One of the people, I sent this message to, replied by saying:

Bring back the Eco-energy program and you'd have my support. I look forward in reading your platform more closely.

Regards…

Well this is it … post #500 on the Conservative Thoughts blog

Well this is it … post #500 on the Conservative Thoughts blog.  This blog first went online on December 20^th, 2010 … the first two posts were stories on the Board of Directors for the Kamloops South Thompson Constituency Association … and Kamloops North.  That was a year and a half ago.

Since then, I have written dozens of stories on John Cummins, Christy Clark, and Adrian Dix … along with dozens of stories on the BC Conservative Party, the Liberals, and the NDP.  Rather than look at those stories however, I thought I’d take a quick look though at some of the ‘topics’ that have received the great number of mentions during that time.

Here’s five of the topics that, in looking back, were mentioned and featured the most:

The HST … mentioned in 48 stories … including this one; “Now maybe we have what could be the real reason why it is taking so long to end the HST”

The Carbon Tax … mentioned in 39 stories.  Here’s just one of them; “In my honest opinion this program was poorly thought out, poorly implemented, and it definitely unfairly impacts the people of BC … depending on where they live”

BC Hydro … it was mentioned in 37 stories.  Here’s one you might remember; “BC Hydro used to say, ‘The power belongs to us’. If that’s the case, how come we don’t have a say?”

BC Rail … it was mentioned in 25 stories, generally referring to the Basi / Virk case, as this one did.   “The report Krog and Bond were referring to was just about future indemnity on legal costs”

Health Care … mentioned in 25 stories, including this one with regards to a bathing tub that IHA was shamed into repairing; “And this is something to be proud of?”

Finally, I thought it would interesting to take a fresh look at the ten most read posts, out of the 500 written to date.  Starting with number ten, here they are: