This Week in BC Politics … a News Wrap-up

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.

Barinder Sall guilty plea bargain in Kash Heed election overspending case: $15,000 fine, 1 year probation, 200 hours community service, no jail time

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 …

Les Leyne: Wallace's words ring true, 40 years on

… 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….

BC Hydro Spend-Today, Pay-Tomorrow Ripped by Auditor General

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 …

BC Liberals imploding under Premier Christy Clark's leadership and fears of impending doom

… 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.

Enjoy a few close friends; perhaps raise a family, but most of all enjoy life to the best of your ability

Over the past several weeks, what I call the OTHER 1%, have been protesting loudly about the so-called excesses of the rich … business … banks … power companies … and a host of others things and entities.  Rather than actually taking the time to help those in need directly, they are spending time in their tent cities as they ‘occupy’ this that community.

A perfect example of that was the nearly graduated nursing student in Kamloops.  Rather than complete her degree, and then perhaps go on to work for an organization like the New Life Mission, she chose to quit and withdraw from the program so she could protest corporate greed and the excesses of humanity.

How much sense does that make to you?

Yesterday the media had stories of how some in Vancouver planned to “occupy” a Catholic church in the middle of parishioner’s services on Sunday.  I would think that many of those parishioners have good and kind hearts, and who volunteer time and money to a number of charitable organizations that help people.

How much sense does ‘occupying’ their church make to you?

Oh and let’s take a look at some of those so-called greedy rich capitalists.  Lana Payne, the president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour, wrote and had an article in the Telegram, which calls itself ‘the people’s newspaper’.  The story is called, Shining a light on inequality and greed , and included a paragraph sub-titled “Deep pockets of the few”.  Here’s what she had to say:

This whole “Occupy this that and the other city” is a waste of time with no focus, often times bizarre ideas, and no hope for success

So what are those with focused beliefs and concepts on how to improve the lives of the 99% focused on today??  Here it is, fresh from the Vancouver Province newspaper:

Protesters advocate jailing Pope

Occupy the ... Vatican? Online campaign urges rush on Vancouver church

 “... Jail the Pope, Occupy the Vatican, Expel the Catholic church from our lands,” comes the none-too-subtle online call to arms, complete with a Photo-shopped image of the pope behind bars. “Join the worldwide Occupy the Vatican movement this Sunday Oct. 30….”

The people advocating this notion are louts and lowlife’s with NO concept of what it means to be a civilized member of humanity. 

They are bullies with no respect for others, and who have no idea of how to work with others to achieve their goals (or have them considered) in a way that is peaceful and respectful. The time to end this anarchy has come -- as the comments in the "Occupy the Vatican" story clearly shows.

Meantime, I think some of the people at Occupy Kamloops seriously need to re-think their priorities!

The beginnings, and reasons, for the Reform Party of Canada

Dear Preston Manning ...

In hearing what you had to say on the CBC TV news tonight, during your visit to BC with Christy Clark and the BC Liberals, it seems you have forgotten your populist roots ... the beginnings of the Reform Party of Canada ... and it's reason for coming into existence.

I became a member of the party in 1988, was on the board of the Kamloops constituency association, and worked on several election campaigns for our local candidates. Please take note of the following and see if they seem familiar to you. They are some of the reasons why I joined the party.

Sincerely,

Alan Forseth

Jim Pattison is a multimillionaire -- he obviously likes to make money -- so why the ban??

We live in a free society where free enterprise provides us with the businesses we can shop at, for the goods and services we require.   That said, we are also free to determine where we will shop, and spend our hard earned dollars.

I say this because Integrity BC is currently running a campaign called “Who Really Runs BC”.

The purpose of the campaign is to have the BC government, "... amend the province's electoral finance laws to ban donations by both big business and big unions to BC's political parties, to cap annual individual donations and to appoint a Citizens' Assembly to make binding recommendations on a host of additional reforms."

As they say on their website, “each of these steps will help restore accountability, transparency and integrity to BC politics, because by bringing the influence of big money to an end we can change BC politics – for the better."

Integrity BC is running advertising promoting the "Who Really Runs BC?” campaign, however the Jim Pattison sign company, one of the largest in the world, refuses to run it.  That campaign again is calling for a ban of donations by BOTH unions and business to political parties.

The Jim Pattison Group has $7.2 billion in sales, and employs 33,000 people in 455 locations.  Jim Pattison is a multimillionaire -- he obviously likes to make money -- so why the ban??

My warm and fuzzy 'feel good because I'm saving the environment' is just not happening

Here we go again ...  yesterday I blogged another story on the Carbon Tax and Pacific Carbon Trust.

Today in the Victoria Times Colonist newspaper we have more on the insanity of this scheme, perpetrated on the public by the BC Liberal government.   The story, “Public-sector tax pays private-sector benefits -- Industry must fund its share if the carbon tax is to really pay its way” is by Independent MLA Bob Simpson

We were told --- promised actually -- that this tax would help us to reduce our carbon footprint.  Well it’s not working.  The only thing it’s reducing is the amount of money going into budgets for health care and our children’s education.

My warm and fuzzy 'feel good because I'm saving the environment' is just not happening.

Where are you David Suzuki??  I need you to restore my sense (not real or actual) belief that the taxes and fees, imposed on me, are actually helping to save the environment. 

I’m Alan Forseth in Kamloops; today with the brief thoughts of one conservative on this round ball we call planet earth.

A look back at BC’s Carbon Tax – and the Pacific Carbon Trust

I rarely find anyone that has much good to say about the BC Carbon Tax ... or Pacific Carbon Trust … well with the exception of Kevin Krueger's cross-town buddy here in Kamloops … the Minister of the Environment, Terry Lake.

In fact, since the tax was introduced by then Finance Minster Carole Taylor, not many have had anything good to say about the tax or the trust.

Don't take my word for it.  Here’s the proof in the words of many journalists and editorial writers from across BC, Canada, and even the United States ... as well as from BC Conservative Party leader John Cummins.

B.C. Introduces Carbon Tax (Vancouver Sun -- February 22, 2008)
VICTORIA -- Driving and other fuel-dependent activities are about to get more expensive as British Columbia becomes the first jurisdiction in North America to introduce a consumer-based carbon tax….

NDP backtracks on carbon tax  (CBC News – June 12^th, 2009)

BC New Democrats are backing away from their opposition to the government's carbon tax and their call for an immediate moratorium on independent power projects (IPPs).   Premier Gordon Campbell couldn't be more pleased by the decision announced by NDP Leader Carole James on Thursday.  "I think Ms. James is now trying to repair a party that was badly damaged by the fact they were expedient instead of principled," the premier said Friday….

B.C. carbon tax jumps more than 1 cent (CBC News – July 1^st, 2010)

The HST is not the only new levy that B.C. residents start paying Thursday.  The province's carbon tax on gasoline and other fuels also goes up more than one cent per litre, meaning higher prices at the pump, at home and elsewhere, according to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.  "Keep in mind that almost everything that we purchase, from food to clothing, is transported by trucks," said federation spokeswoman Maureen Bader. "And businesses will also be passing that cost increase down." ……

Can't Trust Dix -- Perhaps. But we do know we CAN'T trust the BC Liberals.

My what a surprise --- we have more attack ads from the BC Liberals -- who as many are well aware would have a very hard time standing on their own record. 
 
After all, let's just have a quick reminder as we take a trip down memory lane ... the HST ... the sale of BC Rail ... huge pensions for government execs ... bigger and bigger government debt ... the Basi - Virk trial ... etc).  

Christy Clark's BC Liberals are steadily losing support, and continuing to attack others with misleading facts and figures.  Regrettably, this will only result in a public that thinks, and cares, even less of the whole political system. 

Shame on you Christy!!

Click HERE for the latest attack campaign from the BC Liberals.

It’s a simple idea that seems to me like it should work ---so why is it not in place??

John Ferry of the Vancouver Province asks, “Who is our school system really serving?”

It’s a good question, and many British Columbians, with children in the school system, continually ask the same question.

Why do teachers and the BC Teachers College have so much say over the education system, rather than the Ministry and Administrators??

How is it that teachers have so much say over class size, composition, etc??  That doesn’t happen in any other workplace that I am aware of.

Now before anyone goes on a rant saying that I hate teachers, I have had, and still have, children in the education system … and they’ve had some really great teachers ... and a close family member is also a teacher.