BC POLITICS … the week that just was

Christmas is fast approaching … but before it does, I will still have one more week, maybe two, of political stories that made the news in BC.  Let’s jump right in starting with more news of John Martins bid to be the BC Conservative candidate in Chilliwack Hope …

Good to see John Martin running (Letter to Editor)

… one only has to view … the Legislature to become repulsed with this Christy Clark government (I believe that the recent decision of Barry Penner, who has a reputable reputation, acknowledged by all parties, was his intent to distance himself from it and resign). There is light in this sordid tunnel of two traditional parties each …  involved in corruption, dishonesty, lack of integrity  … arrogance and denial

Justice system’s weak third leg

Auditor General John Doyle released his latest report on corrections … You have likely heard about the overflowing B.C. jail system, where even segregation inmates are now being doubled up … as Doyle’s report sets out, nine out of 10 convicted adult offenders aren’t in custody. They’re on house arrest or probation, many with court-ordered conditions to report their whereabouts, stay away from their victims, stay sober and complete various rehabilitation programs … many are violent … currently 24,000 of them, an all-time high … an increase of 28 per cent in the past six years.

Conservative leader calls for sped-up review process on Enbridge pipeline

… recommends that only Canadians should be allowed to testify at those hearings, not outside interest groups.  "Canadians should be heard, but these hearings cannot go on indefinitely. Most importantly no one group or community should have a veto on the development of a project that is so important to British Columbia … stated he appreciates the concerns of local communities, and that stringent regulations must be in place to ensure the project “is done in an environmentally safe and secure manner … blasts the provincial Liberal government for not making its support of the project clear ...

How do we live our life, based on the risks that are presented to us?

Let’s make decisions on whether to proceed, or not proceed, based on real facts.

I was asked the following question by someone yesterday:

One wonders how members of the North Coast fishing industry feel about John Cummins championing a program that would see regular traffic of crude-oil supertankers through their fishing grounds.

I can't claim to know the mind and thoughts of John Cummins, or fishermen on the North Coast, for that matter.  

I don’t speak for the BC Conservative Party … I’m a member just like any other … although I do hold a position as a representative for the party in the Kamloops area.  That’s just my way of saying I think like a small “c” conservative – and what I write are my own thoughts.  So here we go … in answer to that question.

I have said on many occasions that the prosperity, and well-being, of British Columbia depends on the high paying wealth generating resource based jobs (on the land and in the water).

That said … I am NOT in favor of resource development for the sake of $$ … nor am I in favor of NO development because there may be the slightest possible chance of an environmental accident.

Every day our own life is a series of possibilities that rank from a high probability --- to little or no chance of ever possibly happening.  So what do we do about the ones with little or no chance, and how do we live our life based on the risks that are presented to us?

Should we simply stay in bed because we MAY be hit by a bus?

Should we never leave the house because there is a chance we could be hit by lightning?

Should we not drive our car because we may get in an accident -- or cause one ourselves?

Me and my 1986 Yamaha 750 Maxim "X"

I ride a motorcycle for about 8 months of the year – I love the feeling I have when I do. 

I am a careful rider, however those driving cars can at times be distracted and not pay close attention (or see) people riding motorcycle’s.  That is why we have a greater chance of being rear-ended … or hit by someone making a left turn in front of us. 

Do I stop riding my motorcycle because of that?

Real people are involved. Real solutions are needed … not just more talk.

Past and Present ... the First Nations people
of British Columbia.  What is their future?

Type in the search term “first nations reserve problems” with Google, and immediately there are literally hundreds of thousands of results that come up.   

Titles of websites, news stories, studies, editorial commentaries and more … and they include these words and headlines …

• Urban First Nations Population Also Struggle With Poverty, Illness, and Hunger …
• MD says First Nations must find ways to curb alcohol use …
• First Nations water problems persist …
• Improving education on reserves …
• Suicide among Canada’s First Nation population …  
• First Nations on reserve have a rate of diabetes three to five times higher …
• First Nations struggling with governance problems …  
• The need to deal with the problems of on-reserve housing has been well documented 
• Sending cash to reserves no solution for deep-rooted problems …
• An Indian Industry has emerged amid the wreckage of many Canadian reserves …

And the Canadian Mental Health Association has these damming words to say:

Misleading the public isn't the same as lying … but it sure comes close

BC New Democratic Party leader Adrian Dix

"I'm going to be bold," he (Adrian Dix) told the NDP convention in Vancouver.  "But I'm going to be modest in my agenda, recognizing that we cannot accomplish everything in the first term of government."

Vancouver Province opinion writer, Michael Smyth, called that ...  “confident, or overconfident”.   

Smyth then went on to say that, “… before Dix starts campaigning for a second term in office, he's under increasing pressure to say what he would do in the first one, and how he would pay for it. How much would that cost? He didn't say, though he repeated a promise to hike corporate taxes to help pay for it.”

Many of them are among the creative ways MPs have found to accuse their opponents of lying

Apparently there are 106 things that MP’s cannot say in our Canadian Parliament … that information from iPolitics, by way of my nephew Steve. 

According to the Speaker’s office, Beauchesne’s Rules & Forms of the House of Commons of Canada, 6th edition (1989) contains the most recent summary of insults, insinuations, epithets and allegations that have been made in Parliament over the years and ruled to be “unparliamentarily language” – a list that runs more than four pages.

Many of them, such as “deliberately misstated the truth” or “intentional deceit” are among the creative ways MPs have found to accuse their opponents of lying. Others, such as “inspired by forty-rod whiskey” or “dim-witted saboteur” are rather biting observations on the character of other MPs.

In the end, though, it is up to the Speaker to decide whether language used in the House is “temperate and worthy of the place in which it is spoken” so a word that is acceptable in one context may not be in another.

Well by now you are probably wondering what those words are.  Wonder no more as they follow below.  As you read them, note the ones I have highlighted with italics --- those are one that I believe may be applicable to ‘some’ who hold elected office here in British Columbia.

That’s kind of like saying, "You should be grateful, I could have punched you in the nose, but I didn't."

The BC Government Newsroom released a story, on Sunday December 11^th, which was headlined; New residential care rates benefit low-income seniors

In this story they said that, “About a quarter of seniors in residential care in B.C. will now receive up to an additional $600 a year.”

The story continued that this was taking place as the result of “… the Province increasing the minimum monthly disposal income amount for residential care clients to accommodate a federal government supplement top-up of $50 … raising the minimum amount will allow low-income seniors to keep the new federal Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) increase … “

There was more to the story, but that is the real meat of it.  I have to say however, I honestly was confused about what exactly it was they were trying to say.  So I posed a question to others and asked:

Can someone correct me on this if I'm wrong?  I think what I read is that the "federal" government gave seniors an increase on pensions --- and Christy Clark's BC Liberals are trying to take credit because they didn't take it away by increasing "provincial taxes / fees"?

A friend (who would be knowledgeable in financial matters) responded fairly quickly by saying:

All other parties seem to me to have fostered “prostitution politics”

I got a reply back this morning about my post on Christy Clark’s Year-End Video.  At first the response I received made me laugh … a bit.   

That laugh however soon turned to sadness … but that then turned to hope.  Here is what a Richard, who is a new member of the BC Conservative Party, had to say:

Thanks Alan … I hope smaller government and reduced government spending will be the top priority of the BC Conservative party. All other parties seem to me to have fostered “prostitution politics” with deficit spending and huge government debt the result … Richard

I took a moment to look up the definitions of two words that Richard used … ‘prostitution’ and ‘politics’.  There are of course the basic definitions we would all be familiar with, however here are the two which I chose to use.

CHRISTY CLARK … open government gives us a sense of confidence that government is “working for us” rather than doing something “to us”

As part of her commitment to open government, Premier Christy Clark released a year-end video detailing the challenges, and successes, of the past year and a look at the year ahead. 

In her video, there were many things she covered and mentioned, beginning with “Open Government”.  Premiere Clark said there has been a lot of change in Victoria, in making government more open.  She went on to say that we will see more of it, as the changes hit, and as they start to be felt in communities around the province.

I guess the openness in communities must be the information community newspapers are releasing about persons charged with criminal offenses getting turned loose because of a shortage of court resources to have their trials proceed.   If not, maybe its news about the tens of thousands of dollars that schools and hospitals in our communities are having to pay to the Pacific Carbon Trust, so they can issue cheques to folks like Encana??

I wonder how that fits with another comment she made?   She said that open government gives us a sense of confidence that government is “working for us” rather than, "doing something to us”.

Protecting the environment, and sustainability, is more than simply siding with foreign funded so-called environmental protection groups

The Vancouver Sun had a story on the weekend’s anniversary celebrations for the NDP … and the plan’s Adrian Dix has to win the next election.   That aside, one of the things that stood out for me was the following comment he made:

“The differences on key issues of sustainability between ourselves and the [B.C.] Liberal Party and the [B.C.] Conservative Party have never been greater and the public perception that we’re different has never been less,” he told the convention.

“We have to change that by campaigning around issues of the environment and putting them in the context of jobs.”

Historic Wallachin Bridge over
the South Thompson River

Well there is more – MUCH MORE in fact -- to protecting the environment and to sustainability.  And what it does not mean is mean simply siding with foreign funded so-called environmental protection groups … funded by the likes of the Getty’s and Rockefellers. 

And as far as BC Conservative Party policy on the environment AND jobs; it just happens to actually be, in all probability, the most balanced of all parties in the province.

I’m a BC Conservative ... I believe in the protection of the environment that I live in … and why wouldn’t I?? 

I want it for selfish reasons of my own!  Those being my own enjoyment … that of my children … and my grand-children as well!

John Cummins and the BC Conservative Party are indeed, “moving prudently” … and I too believe “he’s right”

Late last week I wrote the following words:

Oh good grief ... why oh why did I ever even consider looking at something A___  T___ had written ... it has been months since "I" let him get my blood boiling. Argghhhh!  Is the reason he hates the BC Conservatives, almost as much as the NDP, because he didn't get a personal invitation to share all of his political acumen with the party??

One person posed the question, “Interesting point - I wonder if that is the case with him?”

Another said, “A___ passed his "best-before" date years ago.  Bitter, bitter man.”

Meantime, someone with an ounce (or is that a milligram?) of smarts, that wasn’t reading him, said, “What did he write this time?”

A___ T ___ wrote the following I said; "The problem is the continuing gong show that has become the BC Conservative Party. Missed opportunities on various issues lately and their mixed messaging on the by-elections has given rise to rumors that their ascension may have stalled..."

To which I responded, “It would be nice if he'd either say nothing at all, or look at the people making the decision and give them some credit for having some political smarts”.  Well a reply was not long in showing up that brought my blood pressure down a NOTCH OR TWO: