This is not the first time Kevin Falcon has been front and center rapping the Premier over the Financial knuckles and the “leaked” memo is more than likely directed towards Premier Christy Clark and all her photo-optic financial announcements.
This might also explain Transportation Minister Blair Lekstrom not wanting to discuss tolling costs for the Port Mann Bridge.
But make no mistake about it, this is yet another shot across the bow of the lame duck leadership of Premier Christy Clark.
Combine that with recent poll results showing Clark no longer out performs her party and you gotta wonder how long before things get really ugly!
How much longer before Christy Clark is shown the door?
What do you think, will the caucus get rid of her or will it be the electorate in May 2013?
In one corner you have Geoff ( I declare war on the car and lean-to the far left ) Meggs versus George ( I am in the center and would have made a good leader) Heyman.
This nomination will be worth watching for a lot of reasons:
Will Adrian come out and support buddy Geoff sending a message he like his friends and that the party is veering left?
Will he support George and send a centrist message to the voting public?
Will Meggs if he wins immediately resign his municipal Councillors seat?
Will Mayor Moonbeam get involved and demonstrate a win for Meggs means bicycle lanes across the province? ( Maybe they will put one up one the Pat Bay Highway from the ferry terminal to the legislature for Meggs to peddle his way to work?)
Will George learn the hard way that even though he thinks he is going to win there will be a busload of last-minute membership sign ups for Meggs enabling him to defeat from the jaws of certain victory?
Will Adrian sit squarely on the fence,support neither of them and still profess to be a leader?
What do you think,will this race define the BCNDP?
Stephanie Cadieux: It’s Okay I didn’t know what I was talking about!
“She said that was not explained to the public when she called for an end to the bonus program last fall, because she was unclear how it all worked at the time.”
The above is a statement from Social Development Minister Stephanie Cadieux explaining why the bonuses were simply not taken away from Community Living Executives last fall and instead rolled into their pay packets as raises.
Most people are screaming that it is disgusting that Senior Executives were rewarded after being involved in a scandal and rightly so.
I find it even more incomprehensible to me that this Minister shot her mouth off without knowing how the process worked!
Incomprehensible but not surprising as this is a trait of Christy Clark and her Ministers, namely talking first and thinking second!
I solemnly swear to be the best Follower I can be because I don’t have a clue how to Lead. I will do so until I am shown the door and told to Get Out of the way!
Nice I headline to start today’s blog. I didn’t make that up either.( As in just like the headline I didn’t make up yesterday if you are new to my blog).
It comes via a friend from Thomas Paine one of the founding fathers of the gold ole USA and can be found in his paper ” The Crisis”
It is a fitting metaphor that political writers use when political leaders are in over their head and decide to be followers rather than leaders.
Our current and soon to be deposed Premier Christy Clark finds herself in a “Crisis” of her own making in that rather than doing the things she promised to do when she ran to be the leader she chose to be a follower of her people in Cabinet.
These would be the same people who created the mess that she had the opportunity to show leadership on when she first became Premier un-elect.
So now, as the quote says she will likely be told to get out of the way.
Over the next days and weeks there will be countless discussions on the Liberal brand both federally and with the British Colombian election eleven months away provincially.
Lots will be said about who will want to run for the Federal Liberals when the question should probably be what will the eventual winner actually be leading.
Here in BC the discussion will be centered around the BC Liberals changing their name, Christy Clark’s leadership and the horror of a Dix led NDP win.
Prompted by Michael Smyth’s eight handy hints for Clark, I thought I would kick off discussion today with a look at the hints and reasons why Clark and the Liberals are doomed to lose.
Smyth’s article presupposes that people ( like MLA van Dongen and volunteer campaign workers like me) are malcontents because we left the party.
Nothing could be further than the truth.
I left because I had enough. I heard a Campbell speech in 1999 that started with I want to be Premier because I want BC to be a place my kids can grow up in,work here and live here.
In 2009 Campbell made a speech at his nomination that said I want to be Premier to build a province that my Grandchildren can live here and work here.
Same Speech 10 years later meant to me they had done nothing in the first 10 years of their mandate.
What life the BC Liberal party had for me died that night.
That combined with HST,Basi Virk etc. was and is a party that I no longer wanted to be associated with.
For John,the BC liberal Brand died later,but died it did.
When he left( that took courage), as you have heard van Dongen says countless times, it was because he wanted open honest accountable government. He has added that he wants to work in a government that both he and the electorate can trust.
This is not happening now and will not happen under the BC Liberals, Clark and the smoke and mirrors of a name change now.
People like John and I want to build a better BC that all of us can be proud of and that includes the people we elect to government.
We can’t do it under the Liberals and we cant do it with the same people under a different name.
People do not trust her government and they won’t no matter what she does between now and next May.
Scaling back her holidays to 4 weeks as Bob Plecas suggests probably throws most British Columbians for a loop as well. Lets face it,when most people start a new job they only get 2 weeks after year one.
Add to that, the more times she is snapped smiling at summer barbeques the more her poll results will drop. With the house out, people will just assume she is on one long summer vacation.
I believe that most people live by the old adage that he or she who lives in a glass house shouldn’t throw stones.
For the Clark government to throw stones at Dix will endanger what little bit of a glass house the Liberal team has left.
Clark has not shown leadership since she was chosen to be Premier by the Liberal Party. An example of which is her stance on the pipeline.
Whatever she decides to do with this now will look like an act of a desperate politician . ( She is)
Finally, the handy hints and most discussion regarding re-branding and the fate of the Liberal party in BC leaves out is this: Dix’s poll results could be rising because the left leaning liberals have left the Clark tent.
Every time she pretends to be a Conservative more lefties leave the Liberal party, driving her poll numbers down even further.
What’s ahead? Certain electoral defeat for Clark and her team.
Cue the Music! Dun Dun Du Dun Dun Da; you know the theme from Mission Impossible.
Jim Sheppard quit his $1 per yer job as Christy Clark’s economic adviser to start a support group for the inept Premier.
Firstly who cares and more importantly NOT EVEN TOM CRUISE CAN SAVE CHRISTY CLARK!
Things are that bad that advisers are leaving to start support groups and the election hasn’t even happened yet!
In fact you should be shocked that Sheppard leaving is the biggest news out of the leaders dinner.
Apparently 1700 people in attendance and all Clark and Sheppard could do was go hat in hand and beg them to join a support group.
Without rehashing everything my recent bonehead post,nothing will save Clark or the BC Liberals. Not even a name change.
Add to that the Filipna Folly from last weekend and Clark is toast.
If Mr.Sheppard thinks he can pull an end around on John Cummins people he doesn’t understand what is driving the BC Conservative and the people that support them.
It`s the same thing the electorate wants and Clark and crew can`t provide it.
So here it is: THE PUBLIC IS SICK AND TIRED WITH SLEAZE AND LACK OF FISCAL ACCOUNTABILITY!
Reaching out to the so-called invisible people who Sheppard referred to is akin to telling the electorate that the hidden elite will be enough to prop up Clark’s tired Leadership.
All the smoke and mirrors and BS will not save Clark and anybody associated with her government.
As Alex Tsakumis says your Premier is a dummy and as I consistently say your government is through.
Clark Shells out $67,000 to kick out new employee Chris Olsen!
Clark fumbles a simple answer to the question ” Did you smoke pot in high school”
Clark’s Forum Poll results show her and her party on the verge of being wiped out!
Clark brings in Family Day no matter what the cost to small business.
Clark and crew bonehead family day and have it on a different day than Alberta thereby forcing people to take a day off to visit family and spend the holiday with them.
Clark ducks Western Premiers meeting making BC the laughing stock of Western Canada.
Clark mishandles Catalyst file.
Clark gets upstaged by Brad Wall on the Mulcair Dutch Disease file.
Clark screws up the facts on the Hydro File.
Clark hires pollster and then ridicules him because results shows her and her government are inept.
Runners Up
Tommy Mulcair for the Dutch Disease comment
Pauline Marois because she’s Pauline Marois.
This Month Nobody can touch Christy Clark for the Coveted Bonehead of the month award!
Did I leave anything or anyone out?
Bonehead of the Month Christy Clark!
Is anyone more worthy?
FYI : With her Filipina in her heart she is out of the gate flying this month too!
Scared of the Western Premiers Meeting Christy Clark hides out with Richard Branson!
The big smoke screen, better known as L’affaire Branson gave the Chicken Premier Christy Clark something to hide behind as she evaded discussing energy with the Western Premiers.
As you may know by now, Clark sent in her place, her favorite whipping boy Minister Pat Bell.
You may recall Bell as the guy that took the heat for Telus Gate ( the scrapping of the Telus/BC Place stadium name deal) after Clark was not invited to a major jobs announcement.
To date now that the Premiers summit has been completed , I have not found one quote from him outlining what he brought to the table on behalf of leaderless BC.
So much for BC Having a voice on this vitally important issue!
Clark as you will recall has failed to take a position on the pipeline issue. Both BC Conservative Leader John Cummins ( for) and BC NDP leader Adrian Dix (against) have shown leadership on this issue.
Premier Christy cannot get her facts straight. This most recent gaffe relating to the 50% rate increase that BC Hydro was planning ( they weren’t) was another in a long line of gaffes and miscues in the year and a bit since her party screwed up and elected her to lead them.
It was especially embarrassing to hear Minister Rich Coleman on radio explaining that she had been corrected and further say yes she was wrong.
This is terrible to have a leader, a Premier to go continuously off message and screw up the facts.
What adds fuel to the fire is that she was responding to over ruling the BC Utilities Commission, a commission that the BC Liberals campaigned to promote in 2001. This will effectively kill off any hearing that would have happened in June. ( Cover up? )
I can’t imagine if you were a member of her caucus and were relying on her to save your career how you would feel.
No wonder they keep her hidden as often as they do.
It’s getting to the point that , whenever she makes an announcement , it safer to wait a day or so to make sure she got it right.
