Open and Transparent Nomination processes? Not in BC Liberal Surrey #bcpoli #bcelection2017

Whatever happened to letting politicians win a nomination on their own merits?
Whatever happened to letting politicians win a nomination on their own merits?

There is lots of talk among the general population about how they want the election process to be open, transparent and accountable.

People want there politicians to vote their ( constituents ) wishes and open the process to them so that they can see it at work.

Seems to have gone on deaf ears here in BC Liberal Surrey and the nomination process.

If rumors are true the recent nomination ( acclimation) of Stephanie Cadieux was an appointment, Marvin Hunt is being moved to another riding to run under an acclimation and tonight or soon newcomer and Sukh Dhaliwal crony, Puneet Sanhar, will be introduced/acclaimed in another riding.

The latter event apparently because Sukh was to be acclaimed but changed his mind in case he lost.

Given that these are fairly safe BC Liberal seats I am sure there would have been great nomination clashes should the process have been open.

Whatever happened to attracting good people to run in a nomination process and winning on their own merits?

This could be one of several factors in play by the time the election rolls around and they could conceivably lose these seats.

Stay tuned…

Randy Rinaldo: BC Liberals and Rich Coleman do the right thing! #bcpoli #canpoli

Should he have known better? The voters will decide!
Should he have known better? The voters will decide!

I believe I am eminently qualified to render an opinion regarding this weeks latest Twitter gaffe by BC Liberal newly nominated candidate Randy Rinaldo.

Having been through the media gauntlet over the same issue in the 2013 provincial election and erring by firing them I can relate to the intensity of which the mainstream media will confront Campaign staff, managers , directors and candidates.

They play gotcha when a tweet or internet posting is discovered and then come at you to fire the candidate.

I erred and played their game and we fired a few candidates that we shouldn’t have.

What we should have done then and what Rich Coleman ( He was the spokesperson) did right was keep the candidate in place and let the voters decide whether tweeting is a serious enough offense to cast their candidate ( Rinaldo) aside.

Make no mistake about it.

This is a winnable seat for the BC Liberals. They only lost last time by 743 votes.

It took the courage of Coleman’s Conviction ( and the party’s) to stand by their candidate.

I applaud them for that.

We will see next year whether the voters agree.

Pigs at the Trough! Disgusting! #bcpoli #canpoli #LindaReid #BCSpeakeroftheHouse

Another BC Politician tarnishes Petunia’s Good name !

Here we go again.

Hot on the heels of the Jenny Kwan expense scandal comes BC Speaker of the House Linda Reid with her own rendition of the hit song ” It’s not wrong, it’s within the rules“.

When asked if she would do it again, did she say no?

No she said she would have the conversation with audits to see if the practice would remain the same!

She doesn’t get it!

The sense of entitlement is disgusting and both she and the people that put her in the job should be ashamed.

This is her second go around in the expense trough with the first being the $48,000 touch screen computer terminal.

Linda Reid should do the right thing and step down, resign and leave politics.

If she doesn’t her colleagues ought to shame her into leaving starting with the Premier.

This is a reflection on her government.

Does nobody in the provincial elected house take taxpayers money seriously?

When will it stop?

BC Liberals: The Court Rules Against Them What Next? #bcpoli #canpoli

Clark: I wish I could just wave my hands and make this all go away!

So where do both parties go next in wake of last weeks court ruling in favor of the teachers over the BC Liberal Government?

If you believe the leaderless NDP ( Horgan is still still thinking and although everybody is afraid to say it,Mike Farnworth would be a disaster) they want all cabinet documents relating to the case released for the public to read.

Of course if the BC Liberals took them up on that they might include cabinet documents from the last NDP government ramming through the un-debated contracts that the Liberals tore up that got us unto this mess.( they won’t try to hard to make this happen and should be careful what they wish for)

If you believe the government, through Minister Fassbender, they haven’t had time to review the decision ( not sleeping and reviewing it over and over in your nightmares not withstanding) and are trying to buy time.

They can’t just say yes we were wrong and write a check on behalf of the taxpayers, after-all our fearless Finance Minister Mike de Jong has been touring the province ( gimme a break) telling people the budget will be balanced albeit it will be razor thin ( gimme another break) as long as the heavens line up.

So stroking a 2 million cheque will throw a huge screw into those plans not just this year but down the road too. ( hiring teachers and adding portables will come at a higher cost than that)

So what’s left?

1) BC Liberals will lay low until after the budget. ( they will have help in that next week the federal government will bring down their budget and take up most news space).

2) File an appeal based again on the former NDP governments aforementioned legislation.( This has been central to the case up until this point anyway)

3) Expect no help from our fearless Premier ( assuming in her heart she’s not a teacher). Clark was the Education Minister in 2002 when the contracts were torn up.

4) Once again give the old family first agenda another swift kick after all the taxpayers will ultimately pay for all this incompetence from both parties.

Did I leave anything out?

Thousands Protest on Streets In Quebec, What about here in BC? #bcpoli #canpoli #bchydro

When is the BS going to Stop?

I get that thousands of people are protesting on the streets in Quebec over the secular charter, they should. They should also be screaming about the mess the Parti Quebecois made of their economy!

They are not.

Likewise here in BC.

The newly elected BC Liberal government has not learned a thing.

This week they are floating trial balloons of 26.4 % increases in Hydro costs . They also want to jam you $35 per month for opting out of the smart meter program.

They want you to think they are heroes when those increases come through at 19 or what ever incestuous number they all arrive at.

Meanwhile over at the BC Ferries the board gets fat increases and bonuses.

Privately people complain, but when are they going to do something about it?

We know you can; the HST movement proved that.

When will the people say enough is enough?

No Fall Sitting at the Legislature in Victoria, Renewal Movement Launched in the NDP! #bcpoli #canpoli

There will be no lights on here this fall!

To no ones shock and everyone’s dismay the legislature will remain closed this fall.

The reason : to get prepared for the smoke and mirrors that is known as the Budget. ( does that sound as hollow as the house is closed to allow the new ministers to get familiar with their files?)

Once again the taxpayers get ripped off as the BC Liberal machine avoids discussion and points the spot light squarely on Adrian Dix, Forward BC and the potential mayhem that will come out of the November NDP convention.

Dix will announce his future next week ( He’s done like dinner) while the so-called Forward BC Movement wants renewal but refuses to take a position on anything.

The movement, led by spokesperson Sage Aaron refuse to get into the leadership discussion of not only Dix but also the executive of the party.( See the archives today,Sept. 10,2013 of the Bill Good show for that discussion)

Although well-intentioned, to renew the party any movement will have to get involved in the leadership area, especially with the executive which is led by NDP dinosaur Moe Sihota.

The NDP has more than leadership troubles on the horizon. I would expect fund-raising to become an Achilles heel given all the money they got before they blew thew 20% lead in the polls.

No matter how the BC Liberals implode over the next few years ( they will) the business community will be in no hurry to fill up NDP coiffures again after all the money they wasted in the run up to the May election.

Like I said in my last post silly season is here!

It’s September and Silly Season Is Here! #bcpoli #canpoli

It’s Fall and all is calm but not for long. Silly season is here!

The kids are back at school and the columnists are back at work. So are the bloggers.

News and opinion goes to the forefront as the summer bids us adieu!

Political Insider will be there to follow all the breaking stories and provide opinion as to what is BS and what is not.

We will stay on top of Obama’s ( The US Mr.Dithers) and the war on Syria.

We will cover Pauline Marois as she tries to drive Prime Minister Harper and the Conservative government nuts(banquing anyone?).

Political insider will provide analysis from the BC Conservative AGM and what it means to BC.

We will discuss the fall sitting of the BC Legislature ( if there is one)

We will report from on the implosion of the Ontario Liberal Party.

You want analysis on the Federal Throne speech and what it means to the country? You will find it here.

The new riding boundaries? Look no further than Political Insider as we go inside the campaigns.

The impact of Adrian Dix flying the BCNDP coop and the search for a new leader; it will be here too! ( Christy Clark will have the house all to herself I can hardly wait; for in her heart she will be a ? stay tuned)

Silly season is here.

So kick off your shoes, roll up a joint ( we’ll cover that too) and chill. ( Imagine the boy who would be PM might not be allowed into the US now that he has admitted blunting!)

Political Insider will have all this and more as we speed our way to Christmas and the New Year.

Thanks for reading and have a great fall!

Can a Leopard Change It’s Spots? #bcpoli #canpoli #barfbucket

Disclaimer: This blog post in no way is meant to tarnish the reputation of the leopards of the world!

Can a leopard change it’s spots?

In BC the leopard is the species known as the BC Liberal Party.

As you may know the Christy Clark Today’s BC Liberal’s ( the name pf the party depends upon the polling of Clark’s leadership rating) recruited all-star candidate from Langley Amrik Virk to run on their behalf in the recent provincial election.

It seems that Virk is now carrying on the BC Liberal tradition of scandalistic behavior as word now comes that he was more than likely aware of some harassment going on at Kwantlen College that had one of the employees so stressed out that she kept a barf bucket handy for use after interactions with the President.

I can only imagine the work-out that employee’s barf bucket got when Virk was named Advanced Education Minister in the so called New Christy Clark Cabinet.

Clark, as is par for her course, is no where to be found during this episode and has issued no statement about the affair.

That in itself probably speaks volumes about whether Virk was complicit in this.

Should it turn out that Virk knew about this and did nothing, this would not only be a black mark against the new minister but also against the RCMP who used to employ him as a police officer in a force whose image has already been tarnished by other purported cases of harassment and associated cover ups therein.

Given that Virk, Clark and Company still have over four years left on their new mandate, we should all join that employee and purchase barf buckets.

With the scandal potential of this government and its leader, I am sure they will get lots of use!

BC Liberals Miss Their Budget Target; Let the BS Begin! #bcpoli #canpoli

Mary Polak : Do you ever know how to BS Mike you even had me going for a moment!

Back in the day (2009) Gordon Campbell misrepresented ( goofed,screwed up,lied your choice) about the deficit during the 2009 election.

That was the election that brought us the HST and cost Carol James her job as NDP leader.

Eventually that error, lie or goof-up cost Campbell his job as well.

Move ahead now 4 years to today when the New (lol) Christy Clark government presented a financial update and reported they missed their target by more than $175 million.

It could have been worse they said but for the new spending controls introduced halfway through the year.

This speaks volumes for the likelihood that their budget that they sailed on during the election will actually balance.

In the business world the executive and CEO who reported that would have been sent on their merry way but in the government world this crew was rewarded with a new 4 year term. ( likely 4.5 year term in the election is moved to the fall to allow for budget debate.

The most hilarious statement out of all of this comes from NDPer Mike Farnworth who went on the record and said he was concerned about rising debt.

Where were you during the election Mike? Why didn’t you and Adrian bring that little tidbit up then?

Once again this gaffe will cause an NDP leader to lose his job simply because it illustrates that glaring hole in their election campaign, namely they didn’t hammer the Christy Clark Today’s BC Liberals over their record.

Only in B.C can one party lie,err, mislead, or goof up ( your choice) and the leader of the other party get fired over it.

Political Insider Calls By-Election in Favor of Christy Clark! #bcpoli #canpoli

The BC Hydro File will quickly wipe the smile of of Clark’s face!

With 35% of the polls reporting and Christy Clark getting 61% of the vote, I think we can safely say that the by-election is over and now the province can get down to the business of watching Clark govern.

She’s got some fancy dancing to do given the hefty increases that are purported to be in the works on the BC Hydro file.

It should not be a tough task for her and Minister Bennet.

As has been reported over and over ad nauseum during the waste of taxpayers money known as the by-election: It only takes Clark 5 minutes to get familiar with a file.

She’ll need every second of that 5 minutes because that’s the file that will cause the government and by extension the taxpayers the big headaches over the next few years,

Get ready because the increases are coming courtesy of the just voted in Clark and the BC Liberal-Bc Hydro deferral accounts.

Stay tuned!