The Christy Clark Team: Let the Spending Begin! #bcpoli #canpoli

New BC Liberal Cabinet, same old Sneaky BS!

Even before they were sworn in, the new Christy Clark Government signed an order in cabinet giving raises to some of their highest ranking insider bureaucrats!

This sneaky act comes at at time when not only did they promise transparency but as Clark was publicly telling then to watch spending.

She obviously speaks out of both sides of her mouth.

I can only imagine the reaction of the teachers when they are told to shut up , sign the 10 year contract and that there is no money for salary increases or the seniors who have to cough up the new user fee for the wheelchairs to pay for these raises.

Where on earth is the BCNDP while all this is going on? Are they not the opposition?

Given their disastrous results in the election ( they were supposed to win the polls said), you would think they would be all over this.

Unless of course they are busy licking their wounds!

BC Politics: The Week Ahead! #bcpoli #canpoli

Will somebody please step aside so I can call a by-election.

The first week of June is shaping up to be an interesting week in BC politics what with the official election results being finalized on June 5.

Premier Christy Clark has some interesting choices to make given she has said that she will name a cabinet later this week ( June 7) and decide what riding she wants to run in to attempt to get entry in the house. Astute political junkies will recall Clark lost her seat in the recent provincial election this past May 14th.

The most likely day for her to call the by-election would be Thursday June 6. Given Clark’s penchant for photo ops that day also happens to coincide with the 69th anniversary of DDay and would make a wonderful opportunity for her to call the election and claim in her heart she is a DDay vet.

She has to win this and of course she will. They will choose the easiest possible seat to run her in despite all the bravado from the NDP about running a candidate against them. (Actually they don’t all say that just some of them).

It is rumoured to be Fort Langley Aldergrove where current MLA Rich Coleman is purporting to be offering to step down. If true, Coleman will still have Peter Fassbender on the inside to watch over things while he gets ready to run for the leadership when Clark is dumped.

What about the BC Conservatives? That decision has not been made yet and will probably be made at an upcoming board meeting later this week. My take, shockingly, is that we should respect the mandate that the premier and her party have received from the people. That means I don’t think we should run a candidate. The party has a wonderful chance to hold this government accountable over the next few years. The NDP won’t,they will be to busy looking for ways to dump Dix and rebuild their own party.

The Premier has demonstrated over the past 2 years that while she is a good campaigner she is a terrible governor. ( Her pipeline announcement this week is an example of that,declaring opposition to the project even though all the tests haven’t been done)

You can bet at some point down the road the Premier and her team will come on board with the pipeline. It will happen about the same time as they come to the realization their balanced budget ( 2013 edition) is not really balanced and they need the revenue to save face. ( How do you spell HST anybody?)

For Clark, The bigger minefield lies with the choosing of her new cabinet. Usually the cabinet that is chosen gives you an idea of which direction the government is going.

In this case I would think that even though Clark has won a majority, the party will keep her on a short leash.( Remember she still has no seat and is a left leaning liberal in a caucus full of right leaning conservatives).

Think also to various gaffes Clark has made over the past few months. She ran a red light that was disclosed during the election. Caucus member and MLA Moira Stilwell spoke up against this. Stillwell is one of the brightest MLAs the party has. What will become of her?

Gordon Hogg took on Rich Coleman over the mess during the botched casino affair. What will happen to Him?

How many of the new MLA’s will be content to thank their lucky stars Adrian Dix and crew screwed up so badly and they got elected.

What if Clark decides to follow her Liberal ways and take the government even more left?( Remember they now agree with the NDP on the pipeline) What will become of the Conservative hopefuls in that BC Liberal Caucus?

Those who are not thrilled can always take out membership in the 8:01 club can’t they?

The week ahead in BC Politics is shaping up to be very interesting and the decisions made will shape the province for the next 4.5 years. ( Assuming the next election is in the fall to allow for proper budget debate)

Stay tuned, I will be here to dissect the different events as they unfold and thank you for reading!

The BC Liberals: One of the First Things they should do! #bcpoli #canpoli #@christyclark

Official Party Status?

Now that the numbers are settling in and the future looks fixed for the next 4.5 years with a BC Liberal majority (I say looks because this is BC and things can change in a heartbeat) what should the BC Liberals do?

They should run out and find a safe BC Liberal seat for their leader to run and try to regain entry into the legislature with right?

Not necessarily because there is no guarantee that she would win or that a new MLA in a safe seat would want to step down. (Do you really think Andrew Wilkinson or Gordon Hogg would want to fall on their sword for Clark?)

I think one of the first things they should do, now that the Green party of BC has won a seat, is to grant them official party status. It’s within the rules of the house to do that and would be the nice thing to do right?

Yes but they should do it but not because it’s nice or right, right. The BC Liberals should grant official party status because it would all but guarantee them election victory in 2017.

How?

If you believe as a lot of people do that the Green vote split caused the NDP to lose a number of seats they should have won, then granting them that status will allow them to get even stronger and split the vote in even more seats in the future.

It would allow Premier Clark to further distance herself from Gordon Campbell who refused the BCNDP Official party status after they were thrashed in the polls and reduced to 2 seats in 2001.( This staement assumes that Clark does not get 801’d by her own party even though she won an election)

Thirdly and just as important; is that this election was one the NDP should have won, not just because of the polls but because of all the scandals and mayhem caused by the Liberal party. It was BCNDP’s to lose and lose they did.

Furthermore, with the rise of the Green party, this election was probably the NDP’s best and last chance to win an election in this province.

Granting first party status to the Greens would make the turmoil that was seen in the NDP with the beheading of Carol James seem like a walk in the park.

That turmoil, if you believe the BCNDP is a provincial arm of their Federal party, would also extend itself into the next federal election in 2015.

That would benefit either of the forces in the BC Liberals, Conservative or Liberal.

Extending an olive branch to the Greens and granting them first party status would be a win win for a party who likes quick wins.

Moe Sihota and Christy Clark: Two Bollywood Actors Who Deserve Each Other! #bcpoli #bcndp #election2013

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One One hand you have a premier who undoubtedly thinks that in her heart she is a Bollywood actress and on the other hand you have a simpleton NDPer who after his party slams the BC Liberals for the sham that is known as the “faux” Bollywood awards, cozys up right next to her proving once and for all he ( Moe Sihota) is politically inept .

Of course Sihota is no garden variety NDPer, he is the President and he should know better.

This is also no climb up the IQ scale for Clark as she once again demonstrates that she is clueless as she hitches herself up to Sihota and his checkered past.

Lets be clear, this is not a case of two parties working together, this picture is an example of the kind of rank opportunism that both Clark and Sihota are famous for.

If Adrian Dix and his team had been thinking election 2013 would be a cake walk, Sihota linking himself up with the Faux Premier at the Faux Bollywood awards will remind the public how similar and sleazy these two parties are.

It’s just another reason why it’s time for a change as the two so called main parties continue to show a mirror image of themselves.

Kinda makes the BC Conservatives and the Green Party look appealing doesn’t it?

The election is a little over a week away and already the fun has begun. Stay tuned.

Updated:The Globe and Mail Alienates Their Readers Once Again! #bcpoli #webelieveinbc #election2013

More Shoddy Journalism from Canada’s National Newspaper.

29% of Liberal Voters have had enough of their own party so says today’s release of an Angus Reid Poll.

The Angus Reid poll says that if an election were held today 47% would vote for the BCNDP and 31% would vote for the BC Liberals.It goes on to say that the Conservatives and Greens polled?

It doesn’t..

In a slap in the face to those voters and readers who might vote Green or Conservative the Globe doesn’t even bother to tell you what they polled.

Writer Hume says that the poll is based on decided voters. So just what percentage of voters polled were decided? undecided?

Who knows ( other than Angus Reid) because the Globe certainly didn’t share that fact.

Nope the Globe doesn’t think those numbers are important enough to share with it’s readers.

The Globe used to live and die by it’s mantra “Well Written,Well Read”

Not Anymore.

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Updated: The Poll

Adrian Dix: New Angus Reid Poll Proves He is in the Right Role! #bcpoli #bccp #canpoli

Adrian Dix: The Best Opposition Leader!

Today’s released Angus Reid poll shows Adrian Dix at the top of the list ( tied with Nova Scotia Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil) as the best opposition leader.

Perhaps then since Dix has played the role so well he should be returned there after the next election to continue.

After all if you are good at something you should play to your strengths, correct?

In the who would make the best premier list Brad Wall finished first while Ontario’s Dalton McGuinty
finished last.

This is after McGuinty saw the writing on the wall and announced his resignation.

That would therefore imply that our Premier, Christy Clark,who finished second last would actually be the last once McGuinty leaves.

What should she do?

BC Election 2013: The Main Issue

It’s Leadership,Stupid!

I have been listening to discussions a lot lately about what issue or issues the BC 2013 election will be fought over.

One pundit says the economy ( I guess that’s fashionable since James Carville coined the phrase ‘it’s the Economy Stupid!”),another says the election will be fought over BC Rail,another says it will be all about getting rid of the BC Liberals.

Some people even say that this election will revolve around the environment or post secondary education.

What about fracking?

One thing they all seem to agree on is that the government should be framing the ballot box issue.

In truth and in fact they are all wrong.

These are not issues they are files within a mandate.

Elections are about Leadership!

You don’t vote on the economy you vote on who best to lead you through a rough patch or who to lead and manage a good economy.

BC Rail? You are not voting on that, you are voting on who best to lead the legislature to make sure that never happens again?

The environment? Post secondary education? Those are not issues; the issue is who best to lead the province in the right direction and manage those two files.

The pipeline? Just another file. You vote on who best to handle the file.

The Government frames the issue right?

They should be. Gordon Campbell ( no matter what you think of him) was very good at framing the leadership issue. He won three elections. He also left when he realised he could no longer frame this as his issue.

Today the government is no longer setting the pace on the main issue for the upcoming general election.

If you believe the polls the BCNDP are framing the issue of leadership for the government.

Adrian Dix is waging a very calculated and to this point successful campaign showing himself to be the best leader.

He is including everybody in the discussion and is not afraid to release bits of his platform.

A case in point: His recent speech at the Vancouver Board of Trade. he told a largely pro business audience that if successful in the election he would raise corporate taxes back to levels of 2008.

He is showing extreme confidence and speaks with out emotion.

He lays claim to wanting to do politics differently and backs it up with statements like” If the Federal government changes their mind and does not close the Vancouver Coast Guard I will be the first one to issue a press release applauding the government and that decision.

Contrast that with the premier who, when asked on a radio show ( Bill Good to give credit where it’s due),to comment on the polls showing the women’s vote is going to the NDP said after a few callers phoned in, it’s early,people are not paying attention and I plan to run on my record.

What the premier should have said was’ those polls are on me, I am the leader and I have seven months to work hard and prove that I am the right person for the job.

So as of right now the she is right, she will be running on her record.It is a record of not taking simple leadership of a simple question.

Likewise the optics from the recent BC Conservative AGM and dissident fiasco were not good for the party and when contrasted against the backdrop of Adrian Dix’s handling of George’s Heyman’s position on fracking ( George is entitled to his opinion we welcome discussion here) once again gave the voting public something to compare them to.

There are seven months to go until the election.

To be successful the BCNDP needs to continue what they are doing, the other parties have to catch up.

What do you think will happen?

George Heyman is your new Dipper Candidate for Vancouver- Fairview.

I am keeping my eye on you Adrian!

George Heyman was won the nomination as the BCNDP Candidate for Vancouver Fairview leaving city councilor Geoff Meggs either on city council or searching for a new seat.

This is good news for Vancouver taxpayers who just saved $1 million on the cost of a by-election assuming he does what he says and stays on council.

Most pundits had predicted this nomination would go the other way.

Both are excellent candidates and I am sure that George will represent the BCNDP well.

In fact George will probably keep Adrian Dix on his toes in that he would make an excellent leader himself.

Congratulations George!

NDP Candidate Raj Hundal Steps Aside-Why?

Sunday’s Loser to get Surrey-Tynehead?

Hard working BCNDP Candidate Raj Hundal has stepped aside and shut down his bid to become the MLA for Surrey-Tynehead.

Hundal as you might recall won the nomination back in July of 2011.

Up until earlier this week Hundal was one of the more active BCNDP hopefuls on Twitter and Facebook.

Interestingly enough all of Hundal’s social media accounts were shut down soon after the announcement.

Her has yet to make a personal comment.

The press release made a reference to the old stand by ‘personal reasons”.

The timing is interesting in that the BCNDP is having a nomination meeting this weekend between two so-called heavy weight candidates Geoff Meggs and George Heyman in the vacant seat of Vancouver-Fairview.

It is rumored that both men are cabinet material.

It has been said that the BCNDP will find a seat for the candidate who loses on Sunday.

Could it be that they found a seat and asked Hundal to step aside?

If that’s case what’s in it for Hundal?

What do you think?

Adrian Dix: When He talks YOU should be Listening!

Dix: There’s a sucker born every minute!

Adrian Dix has been doing a lot of talking in public lately and if the latest polls are to be believed at this point not many of the voting public are paying much attention.

It may be that it is not close enough to an election and nobody cares but it is time to listen because this is platform stuff that the electorate will be voting on.

One week ago Mr.Dix spoke to the Vancouver Board of Trade and advised them that if elected premier he would raise corporate taxes back to 2008 levels.

This should be of concern to the average voter because an increase in corporate taxes will either result in a loss of jobs or at the very least result in frozen or decreased wages in the private sector.

It has to, there will be less money for companies to allocate for raises or benefits.

On the heels of that we see reports today that Dix told reporters after a speech to the Union of British Columbia Municipalities that he would repeal balanced budget law if elected premier .

Dix claimed the law as is was a joke.

While I agree that the Liberals have made a mockery of the law, the nice thing about forcing a government to go before the house with hat in hand to ask to run a deficit is at-least it goes on Hansard .

This forces both a record ,a vote and yes the house to be in session.

To allow any government in this day and age to run a deficit and tell you later is heresy.

With Dix ( he has a history of forging memos and fare-beating) and the BCNDP’s propensity to raise taxes without warning why would you want to give them this license.

There can be no more open blank cheque book style of government; we have seen how the Liberals have handled that. ( Look at the bad press this week with government begging for money for senate elections that have not yet been put to the house yet).

Remember the 1990″s and the BCNDP fudget budgets and recall Dix played a leading roll with that group too?

If anything the law should be tougher,not repealed.The voting public should demand it!

What about being open and accountable before spending our money?

What do you think?