PLATO: “In a city of good men, people would probably vie with each other in order not to rule.”

PLATO: "In a city of good men, people would
probably vie with each other not to rule"

It's interesting to see the top search that are directing traffic to the Conservative Thoughts blog.  Four of them of course are on the latest trouble for the BC Liberals with FosterGate  and Auditor General John Doyle in the news -- and the one of direct interest to people here in Kamloops with Peter Sharp seeking BC Conservative nomination in the South Thompson riding.

#5  eric foster
#4  BC Liberals
#3  auditor general 2013 john doyle
#2  peter sharp kamloops

and the #1 search phrase is; eric foster constituency assistant

In the case of BC Liberal Vernon - Monashee MLA Eric Foster, his participation, and role in John Doyle not being renewed for another term in his role as Auditor General, is going to be in the news for some time.

Today, BC Conservative Party leader John Cummins had more to ask about the situation.  Here is just part of a news release from the BC Conservative Party today:

Why did renovations in 2009 to BC Liberal MLA Eric Foster's Vernon constituency office cost B.C. taxpayers almost half the assessed value of the land and building combined? John Cummins, leader of the BC Conservatives, asked today.

Cummins also questioned whether Foster knew that the building was owned by the family of a long-time BC Liberal financial donor -- and political appointee to the Agricultural Land Commission.

"We all know of Mr. Foster's recent bad judgement when he continued as chair of the special legislative committee which terminated the appointment of John Doyle as Auditor General, after Mr. Doyle had critically examined renovation expenses at Mr. Foster's constituency office," said Cummins.

A Globe and Mail story on Monday included this quote; it seems a fitting way to wrap this up today.  This story ended with:
Plato had it right: He said that the greatest punishment for being unwilling to rule is being ruled by someone worse than oneself. This is what makes people of good character step forward. “In a city of good men,” Plato mused, people would “probably vie with each other in order not to rule.”

I'm Alan Forseth ... in Kamloops

Foster’s excuse, that he “didn’t know” about the letter, would then seem questionable would it not?

BC Liberal MLA Eric Foster; "I didn't know"

Let's look at this a little more closely:

In the news story ... "Auditor general cited chair of committee seeking to replace him - John Doyle raised concerns over $78,000 renovation of Liberal MLA’s constituency office" ... Eric Fosters says that when the issue over his Constituency Association office came up again in October, he (Foster) said he, "... re-sent the conflict commissioner’s letter to legislative staff."

Here's a rather interesting observation, that perhaps BC Liberal MLA Eric Foster would like to give us clarity on:

The timeline doesn’t make sense.  Why would he resubmit his same info again in October, if he wasn’t aware of the letter that would have been part of the AG’s recommendations?

Here's another observation, and MLA Foster is welcome to correct me if I am wrong in my thinking on this:

I would think that when attending committee meetings, the attending members would NOT see material simply dumped in their laps when they arrive.  Would it not be safe to believe that any material, to be discussed, would always be sent out beforehand.  That way, committee members would have the time to give the material they are discussing, careful and thoughtful consideration. 

They WOULD want to look it over beforehand, and come prepared ... wouldn't they??

Foster’s excuse, that he “didn’t know” about the letter, would then seem to be questionable.

Shouldn't his office have received the material beforehand?

I sure hope that in the interest of good decisions being made by our elected officials, there is indeed consideration of important information to be decided on, ahead of meetings where those decisions are being made.

All of that then, calls in to question what BC Liberal MLA Eric Foster did know ... and when.

I'm Alan Forseth in Kamloops, with the thoughts, and more questions, of one conservative.

Questions -- Questions -- and MORE QUESTIONS about BC Liberal MLA Eric Foster, and the decision NOT to reappoint Auditor General John Doyle

Here's what Victoria Times Colonist writer Les Leyne says, "Liberal MLA Eric Foster is clear on one point — he had no idea while sitting in judgment on auditor general John Doyle’s fate that Doyle’s team had rapped his office earlier for not submitting receipts for a constituency-office renovation." 

OH REALLY??

Eric Foster’s Constituency office in Vernon seems to be pretty basic and very small -- as you can see from this screen shot of Google street level.  Now I'm no carpenter, but one would think that $78,000, or is it $67,000, would practically build a brand new building of this type. 

That's probably one reason why Auditor General John Doyle's office sent up red flags, and:

" ... questioned a $78,000 bill for renovations in Foster’s constituency office in 2009 that was “paid without an appropriate level of review for reasonableness and without adequate supporting documentation,” said the letter.  Foster’s staff only provided a spreadsheet showing $67,000 in work, without invoices or details, auditors noted."

It would seem that Eric is acting like a cornered rat, and acting on the old adage that the best defense is a good offense as we can see in a Globe and Mail story; "MLA Eric Foster demands probe into audit leak"

It is interesting (sadly perhaps) that he’s claiming the renovation expenditures are a “non-issue.”

Maybe that's also why Finance Minister Mike de Jong offered a boat anchor to his caucus colleague.  This news story from the Globe and Mail also says the De Jong had;

... little sympathy, saying the public should have access to details of how MLAs spend public money. “I have long spoken for the need for more transparency and increased public accountability for the dollars that are spent by MLAs and cabinet ministers,”

Again ... Liberal MLA Eric Fosters claims the renovation expenditures are a “non-issue.” 

 

WHAT DO YOU THINK? 

He certainly hasn’t substantiated that beyond a sloppy spreadsheet.  According to Les Leyne’s second op-ed, “sources say” that receipts were eventually submitted, but I’d sure like to see them.  I think BC voters also deserve to see them.

SHARP: "I have made BC, and in particular Kamloops, my home ... I have no more desire to live in a cesspool of pollution, or a scared landscaped, than anyone else."

BC Conservative Party nominee candidate Peter Sharp

Today's Conservative Thoughts blog post is a guest piece from Kamloops South Thompson BC Conservative nominee candidate Peter Sharp.  He writes in response to an article by Kamloops City Councilor Donovan Cavers:

My friend  and Kamloops City Councilor, Donovan Cavers, is concerned about the prospect of the proposed Ajax Mine falling off the radar in Kamloops, stating: 

 

"If, as it seems likely, a decision on the Aberdeen mine falls after the provincial election, will it receive the full and thoughtful examination it warrants during the writ period? Or, will brief responses such as, “I can’t comment as the process is underway,” or “Our party supports the health and prosperity of all Kamloops citizens” and similar “soft” answers echo forum after forum? Perhaps the only firm responses will come from B.C. Conservative candidates cheering the project on, “Full steam ahead!”

You can read his full opinion piece, "Will Ajax be lost in election politics?" by CLICKING HERE.

 

Donovan -- you should indeed be worried we will get more of the same wishy-washy talk from both the BC Liberals and the NDP on the prospect of ANY kind of resource development. They refuse to take any kind of stand for fear of backlash from one side or the other.

The BC Conservatives on the other hand have been very clear ... "Yes -- full steam ahead" with developments that will create well-paying family supporting jobs -- and NEW jobs for our young people desperately looking for something other than low minimum pay entry level jobs.

Its NOT development at any cost however. 

Article3.1.1 of our policy states that we will ... "Enact all legislation in accordance with the concept of economic growth and job creation being most effectively driven through private enterprise as the engine of the economy."

We have, what we believe to be, a balance approach to job creation and long term protection of the environment. Article 7 of our Environmental policy begins by stating:

"We recognize that BC’s diverse environmental assets are the envy of much of the world and should be preserved and protected, and that environmental and fiscal sustainability and optimization should be the hallmark of a government’s policy. To ensure this, our government will work with the public, landowners, involved business interests and other stakeholder groups."

It goes on to state, among other things, that we WILL:

I hope you have enjoyed taking a look back at the stories that spurred the most interest in 2012

Over the past couple of days I have been looking back at the stories / blog posts from 2012 that held the most interests -- the ones which were read the most.

Today is the final look back at 2012, and the #1 post which went online on May 4th

"David Loukidelis described what he called ... an unacceptable pattern of government-wide failure to respond to access requests in as timely a fashion as it should.”

This post started off saying:

The BC government today announced that Deputy Attorney General David Loukidelis will be leaving the government.  Loukidelis became the Deputy AG in January 2010 following a position as the Commissioner of the Freedom of Information Office.

A brief story in the Vancouver Sun this afternoon noted:
The announcement was made in an internal note sent Friday by John Dyble, deputy minister to Premier Christy Clark.

It’s in his role as the Freedom of Information Commissioner that David Loukidelis made news that many have likely forgotten.

For example someone made a request under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to the Royal B.C. Museum for a copy of the draft report, Loukidelis had to beg the government for more money to argue the case in court.

Writer Bill Tieleman, in a Strategic Thoughts piece from May 2004 asked:
What kind of independence does the Freedom of Information Commissioner have when he has to beg the Finance Committee for line item approval for specific investigations and legal opinions? The Campbell government has reduced an independent officer of the legislature to little more than a minor bureaucrat in one of many government ministries.

You can read the rest of this post by CLICKING HERE

Just as a follow-up, and in case you are wondering about the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, here is information directly from their website:

We are counting down to the #1 post -- today we look back at #5 down to #2

Today I'm continuing to take a look at the Top 10 commentaries which were most read here on the Conservative Thoughts blog.  We are counting down to the #1 post -- today we look back at #5 down to #2

The 5th most read blog post comes from October 11th, and it was entitled "Someone is pulling the strings from behind –and whoever they are – they are cowards for not showing their faces"

From July 4th comes the 4th most read post; "TwiddleDee, and Twiddle Dumb. That’s what we have with the BC Liberal Party, and the BC New Democrats"

The third most read story, "What they believe, and stand for, are the things that will guide them in government",  comes from April 26th

Some in the media and public believe that the BC Conservative Party has viewpoints that would be opposed by the majority of British Columbians, and has no clearly defined plans and ideas.  Given that, I thought that I would do a side by side comparison

.
And our last look back today will be the 2nd most read commentary from 2012.  It comes from January 16th, and was entitled, "Hiring Ken Boessenkool is for the partisan purpose of making the BC Liberal government look good" 

Is the Premiers Office a non-partisan part of the government of BC --- or is it an extension of the BC Liberal Party?  I ask this question because it is becoming increasing unclear what it’s exact 'political' purpose is.

That's all for today ... tomorrow we'll find out what the most read commentary was from 2012, on the Conservative Thought blog.

I'm Alan Forseth in Kamloops ... with a look back at the thoughts of one conservative.

The TOP 10 "Conservative Thoughts for the year 2012 -- beginning with #10 to #6

Over the next 3 days I will be presenting the most read commentaries that I posted on the Conservative Thoughts blog.

Today I'll begin by taking a fresh look at the posts counting down from #10 to #6.  Let's begin:

#10 ... "BC Liberal MLA Kevin Krueger should read these words; 'Vitriol' … extreme bitterness and hatred toward somebody or something" -- May 9th 

Two stories tied for the #9 spot ... they were: 

"If you decide to read on, make sure you have some Tylenol, and an antacid, handy" (April 30th)

And from October 6th: "All logic, reason, and unbiased comment,flies out the window when it comes to anything he writes and says about Cummins and the BC Conservative Party" 

#8  ... "We live in a democracy Kevin; that's how it works"  June 13th 

From March 2nd comes the #7 commentary of the year ... "The ineptitude of this government hurts people -- real people!"

And our final post today comes from March 10th.  It stand as the #6 most read post of the year ... "It may talk like a duck ... but it sure as heck doesn't walk like one" -- March 10th

Tomorrow we'll continue as we take a look at more of the Top 10 Conservative Thoughts posts, counting down from #5 to #2.

I'm Alan Forseth and Kamloops ... with the thoughts of one conservative.