Will BC Liberal MLA Eric Foster confirm taxpayers of BC will be sinking over a quarter of a million dollars into a building that cost the owners $189,000 to buy?

BC Liberal MLA Eric Foster seems to have no concerns as to questionable spending of taxpayer dollars to renovate a constituency office he had JUST leased.  I am not surprised -- but all British Columbian's should be --- and they should know this is okay with BC Liberal Party hacks and elected officials.

Regardless ... the people should however have answers.

Why on earth would Eric Fosters lease a building, to be used as his Vernon- Monashee Constituency Association office, when tens of thousand of dollars were going to be needed to renovate that same building?

Why were the costs for this renovation submitted to the government with no paperwork accounting for what the money was spent on?

Why would he have leased a building requiring that kind of expensive renovation when office space was available that did not require anywhere near this kind of expense?

Can or will Eric Foster (or the BC Liberal government) confirm they approved renovations of $78,000 to be made on a building that had only been purchased for $189,000 -- just 4 days before the 2009 provincial election?

Will Eric Foster and his BC Liberal government confirm that the taxpayers of BC will indeed be sinking over a quarter of a million dollars (including the much higher costs of a new 4 year lease) in to a building that cost the owners $189,000 to buy?

Will Eric Foster confirm the owners of the building are indeed BC Liberal supporters?

NO HE WILL NOT ... instead, Eric Foster dismisses legitimate questions saying; "I think [the BC Conservatives would be well served to find out who owns buildings of other MLA's around the province, on both sides of the House."

"What I have … has depended on an enormous number of other people."

Scott Anderson, BC Conservative
member in Vernon Monashee

The other day I had a friend forward a piece that had been written by Scott Anderson, a member of the BC Conservative Party in the Vernon Monashee riding.  I thought what he’d had to say was great, and he agreed to let me share it with you today.  Here is what he had to say.

“Who here hates the poor?  This IS the BC Conservative party, isn't it?”

This stereotype is one we are going to be hearing more about as the election gets closer…how we conservatives hate the poor and love the rich. 

We'll hear about how if we win the election women will huddle on the street with hungry kids, the homeless will starve, and minorities will work in sweatshops run by our good buddies the ultra-rich, who will pay no taxes and cruise about town in limousines tossing bread crumbs to the hungry masses. 

It's complete nonsense, but some people actually believe it!

Now most of the arguments against expensive big government have to do with the cost of it - and it's true that we can't afford the socialism of 20th century Europe.  They can't afford it either, which is why Europe is in what amounts to a depression trying to pay for the mountain of debt they've built up over the last 60 years of socialism. 

But I want to talk about something else - something that we conservatives tend to let slide.  And that's the opposition's claim that in order to care about people, we need big government and big government programs.