Gordon Campbell - his record is profitable for his friends

"Anyone who spent 26 years in public office deserves some level of praise.  Going beyond that for Gordon Campbell -- offering thanks for his public service -- is a challenge." - The Daily News Canada.com

Gordon Campbell and I have a mutual dislike for each other.  It goes back to my days as an Executive Assistant in the BC NDP government in the 1990's.  I was a political appointee and he was the newly elected leader of the BC Liberals.  Campbell may not remember our short and brief encounters in the Cariboo or in Victoria.  I do as its not that often I come face to face with someone that instantly goes from a cheery smile to a forced, albeit unsuccessful new smile that says, "who let that little socialist fag near me".

Campbell never really had a lot of public support.  People voted for the party over him.  Few people were "warm" to him.  He was a politician that always had two faces.  The one he showed you as you met with him and the other when he walked away from you.  The HEU know this well.  Before the 2001 election, Campbell met with the HEU, was interviewed by their newsletter.  He told them a contract was a contract, he would abide by any union contracts in place.

It did not take Campbell long to show his other face once he became Premier.  Campbell introduced new laws, including Bill 29, that stripped away many of the rights and benefits in the very union contracts he promised to honour only 13 months before.  Workers making $14 to $18 an hour were laid off and sometimes offered their job back at $10 to $12 an hour.  The BC Liberal Government was taken to court by the HEU, BCGEU and other unions.  The case fianlly made its way to the Supreme Court of Canada, where the court declared the government had violated the workers rights.  

"The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that sections of Bill 29, the Health and Social Services Delivery Improvement Act, violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  In a groundbreaking ruling extending the freedom of association provision of the Charter to include the right to free collective bargaining, the Court struck down key provisions of the 2002 law that restricted and gutted the bargaining rights of health care workers."  - BCGEU Press release July 2007

Campbell of course did not stop breaking promises with just unions.  He went on to break one of his biggest promises.  In the 1996 election it was thought the BCNDP would be wiped out by the newly elected leader of the Liberals, Gordon Campbell.

That was before he announced that a BC Liberal government would sell BC Rail.  People in BC were pretty happy owning Canada's third largest railway.  They liked the idea you could catch a passenger train from North Vancouver to the 108 Mile Resort or too Prince George.

They also liked the historic Royal Hudson which ironically was bought by the Dave Barrett NDP government in 1974 and completely restored and in service from Vancouver to Squamish in the same year.

Campbell lost the election in 1996.  His supporters in the BIG business community were pissed off at him.  Campbell learned his lesson.  In the 2001 election, he promised to keep BC Rail.  It was not for sale.  That promise lasted about two years.  In 2003 Campbell and the BC Liberals sold the Railway to CN for $1 billion.  It was a steal for CN.  The railway made the provincial government between 30 and 50 million a year in profits.  It was also responsive to local issues and local businesses.   It had an excellent relationship with its customers and local communities.

So why did the Liberals sell off BC rail if it was so good for BC?  I suspect it had to do with the relationship Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals had with the Chairman of the Board of CN Rail, David McLean.  McLean was behind a group of business people that encouraged Campbell to run for the leadership of the BC Liberal Party.  He helped fund-raise for Campbell and gave generously himself.

In 2002, that's the year before BC Rail is handed to CN, McLean made donations of $36,075 on behalf of, you guessed it, CN Rail to the BC Liberals.  In 2004 McLean and or his family and companies gave over $20,000 to the BC Liberals.  That's almost $60,000 to the BC Liberals from one person.  Did McLean have anything to to gain by encouraging and funding Campbell's BC Liberal leadership campaign?  Was McLean instrumental in Campbell's promise during the 1996 election to sell off BC Rail? 

I will do more on Campbell's legacy soon.  I haven't even mentioned Campbell's joyride in Hawaii yet...

Revolution in BC

Are you ready for the first major revolution in Canada since Trudeau came to Parliament Hill Canada? BC is in the middle of a terrible fire season and its not just trees that are burning. The BC Liberals are falling faster than folks taking a bungee jump off the Naniamo bridge. The funny aspect to this is that the Liberals choose to dive off the bridge with additional weight attached. Some people could have told them that the weight would make it impossible to bounce back but they knew better.

The Liberals friends in Big Business told them it was worth it. After all they, big business would reap almost $1.9 billion in extra profits if it were to happen. It was the least the Liberals could do for them after receiving in excess of $400,000 in donations from the the big boys. Oddly enough, the rest of us will pay $1.8 billion more. It would have been easier for the Libs to stick their hands into our pockets, purses, wallets and piggy banks and then hand it over to big business. No they felt they needed to tell us we would all be better off with the new tax.

The amazing thing about this is that The Libs likely would not be plunging head first to bedrock, were it not for the fact thye mislead, I mean lied, to the people of BC in the first place. They waited until after they were safely elected to put the sting in place. We're talking HST. The HST they stated they were not thinking about before they election when asked. The HST they had planned to implement, the minute they were re-elected to a majority government.

Of course the majority government might not have been so big were they honest about the budget. You know the BC Liberals have won a ton of elections simply by saying the NDP would spend us into a deep hole. So they lied about the deficit in 2009. They said it would be $495 million. Again, safely elected, they show the budget deficit was really almost four times that amount. I have to look it up, but I dare say the BC Liberals have beat the NDP in the area of debt growth. Biggest deficits in BC history.

Back to the HST, seems to me the Libs have one choice for survival. Dump the tax. Now they are not likely to do that. Big Business would punish them beyond our imaginations. No they will continue. At least some of them will continue. The rest will be recalled or in fear of recall, will abandon the Liberal party. They will form a rump party in the Legislature, pretend they never liked the idea and we will see the rise of the Social Credit party again, to keep the Socialists from getting through the gates again.

My bet on the first MLA to be recalled... Donna Barnett of the Cariboo (Williams Lake and 100 Mile House). She can resign as a Liberal, but in her case, the people have another MLA in waiting, he's NDP but most people know him as a Wyse man!

HST sets off a storm in the heart of LibCon BC

Here I am in the heart of Gordon Campbell voting folks, Kelowna BC,  three of the whitest ridings in all of Canada, where over 40% of voters are over 55.  Being from Toronto these days, I haven't seen this many white people since I dared walk through parts of Rosedale.  BC Liberals consistently poll 55% plus on a election day and the NDP 30%. 

To top off all the white folks living here, you have churches everywhere, its full of Sunday Christians.  This is a city that still "Leaves it to Beaver or Bennett." and thinks Brian Mulroney was a socialist. 

I gave you some background so you might understand an absolutely bizarre situation.  These people have never once dared vote for the CCF or NDP since 1945.  I managed a campaign here and we got 32%.  That was a huge vote.  The socialists are at the gates!

The anti-HST petition has been extremely successful here.  So much so that almost 30% of registered voters have signed the petition.  8700 people in all.  The other two Kelowna ridings are virtually identical in support for the petition.  If Gordon Campbell loses here, he is losing everywhere and Liberals that won for the first time in the last election are sweating bullets.  Can you blame them.  They ran in the birthplace of Social Credit, the home of former BC Premiers (Daddy) WAC Bennett and (baby) Bill Bennett.  The toughest thing for them was winning the nomination, the rest was a cake walk to Victoria. 

The petition, the first of its kind in Canada, is proving to be a big equalizer. People are mad about being lied to in the election, "We're not planning to implement the HST" to the actual tax that will see more people paying more taxes.  Restuarants will see bills go up 7%.  Home renos up 7%.  In fact many things previously exempt will be taxed.

The Liberals have brought a storm of biblical proportions upon the land, this time Liberals will be the ones turned into pillars of salt. 

Just what could the Campbell government do?

What will happen if the BC Liberals feel they are going in the tank next election?  Will big business and the other wealthy Libcon financiers suggest a big time fire sale.  Its no secret the big business in the province want to get rid of some nuisances as they see them to unfettered markets. 

Here are a few things that could come under review for possible sale/garage sale pricing.

ICBC - There is already competition for the lucrative non-basic coverage.  This is the most profitable piece to the vehicle insurance business.  What's to stop Campbell and company from selling shares in ICBC or an auction to the highest bidder in a contest to compete with ICBC.

BC Lottery Corp.  -  Ontario has looked at selling off its lottery business, why not BC?


BC Place stadium would be a nice asset to sell if the government swallows the debt portion of the place.


St.Paul's Hospital - The Libs and Providence Health Care have been trying to find a way to move the hospital from the West end of Vancouver for years so they can sell the property to developers. Too bad for those that live in the West end but wouldn't they prefer a bunch more million dollar condos on Burrard street to an old hospital?

BC Hydro - The private sector has been vexed for years, missing out in tens of millions in energy dollar profits because BC Hydro produces and transmits its power to consumers.

The Agriculture Land Commission, weakened after Bill Bennett came to power and then more so under Campbell, could be tweaked some more to allow more growing of condos and big box stores.

That's the short list.  There are many more opportunities for the Campbell Libcons.  Imagine the possibilities if they they think they are going to royally tossed from office next election.

Campbell's HST - Liberal nightmare

Oh my, its going to happen. BC has recall and initiative legislation. The only place in Canada to have it, yet the bar is very high. The people are going to force Premier Campbell to hold a province wide referendum or a vote in the legislature on the HST.

Premier Campbell has made this initiative an easy sell. Bill VanderZalm is leading an effort to force the government to rescind its plan to harmonize the GST with the PST. People don't like it and are fighting back.

Fight HST campaign organizers say they have signed up the minimum 10% of registered voters in 72 ridings. That leaves 13 to go before July 5th for their petition to succeed.

BC Law didn't Fail to pay Heed

BC politics has become stranger than fiction over the last few years. It use to be Wacky, then his son Bill took over proving wacky can be mean as well.

Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals have taken things to new levels of deceit and utter disregard to democratic principles. The latest involves Kash Heed, Liberal star candidate in the 2009 election. Heed a former Vancouver Police Officer was named to cabinet as the Solicitor General. He resigned in April over an RCMP investigation into campaign illegalities done in Heed's name during the 2009 provincial election.

The whole story is here and here. It turns out the guy appointed by the government to investigate, works for a firm that has donated $17,000 to the BC Liberal Party over the last three years, including $1,000 to Mr. Heed himself. The Special prosecutor, Terrence Robertson knew this before he started yet still felt he could clear Heed of any wrong doing. Now perhaps Robertson was being honest here and did in fact find no evidence to implicate Mr. Heed. Then again, just what was he able to overlook and what was he unable to see.

Clearly this man should never have accepted the job. The BC Liberals and Gordon Campbell should have been aware of the connections between Mr. Robertson's firm and the BC Liberals financial successes. If they were aware of the financial largess from Mr. Robertson's firm, then it would appear they were asking, albeit indirectly, for someone that would be less harsh on Mr. Heed. Say it isn't so...

Now we here The Law Society of BC has announced it will investigate lawyer Terry Robertson. You can't make this up. As Red Rose would say "Pity, Only in BC you say."

I think I will start telling people here in Ontario, I am from Saskatchewan.

BC Liberal drinking and driving AGAIN

Whoops, Liberal MLA in BC caught in Police road check for drinking and driving.

What does Daddy Campbell do now?

Jane Thornthwaite was elected MLA for North Vancouver-Seymour in the 2009.

BC headed to 3 billion plus deficit!

BC headed to 3 billion plus deficit!

Yeppers, you read that right. Colin Hansen, BC's Robber Minister went into an election knowing the Province's projected deficit of $495 million was way out to lunch, yet he repeatedly said that the number was good.

Seems the deficit number was good for one thing only, the re-election of Gordon Campbell and his team of con artists. We don't have all the numbers yet but it won't be long before we do. A new budget is coming down in a few weeks.

We know now that Hansen must have known the budget target was not going to be met because Welfare numbers were soaring. In fact welfare numbers were going so high, the public relations Bureau (read govt PR hacks) told Social Services it could not post welfare numbers until after the election. That's bad news on two fronts. First the province is paying out more money and second the province is not getting any tax revenue from the people it is paying welfare too.

Next we have The Robber Minister telling the media today that income tax revenue is down a billion and royalties and stumpage are down another billion give or take a couple 100 million. Add to that the 400 million spent on Forest fires and we easily have a 3 billion plus deficit.

Then there are the Olympic costs that we haven't seen yet. Surely they will come in way over budget. The Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre expansion has come in at double the original cost estimates. All I can say is that its a good thing these Liberals can mange money so well. Imagine what it would be like if they were worse at it than they tell us they are?

Now the fun stuff. It seems Robber Minister got a call from the big Robber Minister in Ottawa right after the election. The Ottawa Robber Minister had the BC Robber Minister over the barrel. See, Ottawa knew BC was in big financial doo-doo. So according to Gordon Campbell Ottawa said, "Hey BC, here is 1.5 billion buckaroos (that's what Harper calls dollars), bet you can use that right now." Harper was right of course and the deal was so easy, all BC had to do was sign onto a new tax.

You know most of the story after that. The HST is coming as a result of either a quick urgent decision that would not allow for public consultations and or the result of outright lying during the election. The BC Campbell Libcons in their effort to "Keep BC Strong" brought in a big new tax on the spur of the moment or they negotiated it for some time and felt voters didn't need to bother with it until after they voted.

BC, guess what?
You have been
Hoodwinked, Sucker-punched and Tattooed.

see also...

NO BC HST

Raphael Alexander: The dog ate my reason for introducing the HST

One Way We Can Say 'No!' to the HST

Ontario sleeps, BC Boils

Biggest Tax Shift in BC History: Why Did Campbell Do It?

HST opponents launch campaign to stop the tax

Critic says Tourism BC's closure a matter of control

Sometimes you can re-invent yourself

Sometimes you can re-invent yourself

Bill VanderZalm to the rescue... What? You're kidding right?

all I can add is Campbell LIBcons are really screwing up when this happens...

Ontario sleeps, BC Boils

Ontario sleeps, BC Boils

Have Ontario folks simply accepted that the HST (GST and RST) is a done deal? Out in BC considerable effort is being made to do something to stop The BC Liberal government from moving ahead with the Harper Strangling Tax (HST).

In Ontario, the Progressive Conservatives said they will change it if elected. The NDP have rolled out a petition. Neither effort is gaining much headway. Its as if McGuinty knows we're a bunch of saps and even if we don't like it, what the heck are you going to do about it? Queens Park has decided!

Lots of things are going to cost more, yet the McGuintyGovernment can't or won't tell us how much and what will be costing more. They have released some info on increased costs, things like heating fuel, electricity, gasoline, tobacco, taxi fares, lawyers' fees, haircuts will be taxed at 13 per cent instead of five. Then there are funerals and maintenance work on condominiums not on the Ontario government released effects which will go up in price. Home renovations are going to be hit with the new tax as will almost anything defined as a service.

If you go to the PC sponsored petition site, they have listed things scheduled to cost more including, camp fees, propane, kids dance lessons, summer camps, coffee, magazines and fast food.

Now the NDP have a little more info on what will cost more under the planned HST. You can sign petition there to voice your disapproval of the unfair tax.

Why all the lack of motivation here in Ontario? The Progressive Conservatives have a Facebook group opposed to what they are calling the DST, Dalton Sales Tax. The group has only 532 members! Whats up with that?

The NDP Facebook group is doing better with some 1459 members. That's a far cry from the almost 100,000 members opposed to the HST in BC on Facebook.

Its a little disconcerting to see my new home province lacking any kind of fight to the coming of the Harper Strangling Tax. Maybe it's the fact that in BC you can recall a provincial MLA (MPP in Ontario). Maybe it is that in BC voters can put an initiative on a ballot.

Perhaps what is even more upsetting is that McGuinty and Campbell are being bought off by Harper. It certainly lends credence to the idea that any politician has a price and Harper is playing that game very well in two provinces he needs to win the next election.

To make matters even more muddy, NDP Premier of Manitoba Gary Doer is also looking at accepting the Harper government's bribe money.

The HST is a big tax shift. It will see government coffers grow and people paying more. David Schreck has a good article here on the issue at The Tyee.

I would put up the official Ontario government links to the change but they are a little hard to find. Try it yourself.

To follow the BC anti HST movement check in on Bill Tieleman's blog regularly.

Campbell and McGuinty

Campbell and McGuinty

Two premiers leading uninspiring governments decide to to take federal cash

Generally a cool thing to do, but not when it has this affect...

HST is bringing on recall talk in Canada's only Recall state.

Facebook anti HST site could lead to recall effort as they gather names

Only in BC, pity it can't happen in Ontario.

Campbell was told it would not be good

What would a BC Liberal do?

Its so blatant, even the mainstream media in BC had to point it out...

What would a convicted drunk Premier tell you before an election and do after the election?

h/t to Red Tory

Trail of Fears

Trail of Fears

Where will Gordo be today on the Trail Of Fears...

Beer, sex and fast cars in BC

Beer, sex and fast cars in BC

The BC election is on and the Liberals have an interesting variety of folks that make up its Candidate list. The list includes speeders, drunk drivers and gay - homo hating crusaders.

Mary Polack out in Langley is running quietly as a model of perfection, yet holds views widely felt to be outside the mainstream on gay rights. Polak who is infamous for her book banning days as chair of the Surrey School board also banned such groups as Planned parenthood from schools in her efforts to ensure high school kids would know nothing about condoms, preventing teenage pregnancies and safer sex.





Then there is John van Dongen, BC's solicitor-general, the top Cop in BC who recently said in media releases that there is no excuse for excessive speeding. His driver's licence was suspended for guess what, excessive speeding. As The province newspaper columnist Michael Smyth points out, these same Liberals demanded NDP cabinet minister Moe Sihota resign for excessive speeding tickets he incurred back in 1993.



Now to add to the speeding Liberal Cabinet woes, Bill Bennett, in the Kootenays was going to host a free beer party for one all. Free beer? That hasn't been allowed since it was determined to be a means of "buying" votes. It was canceled as soon as the media got wind of it. Seems the Liberals just can't buy a vote like they want too.





It gets worse, Liberal candidate Jesse McClinton admitted to a drunk driving charge in 2006. The charges were reduced after McClinton made a plea bargain and was convicted of driving without reasonable care and attention. Liberal leader Campbell also refused to resign several years ago when he was convicted of drunk driving in Hawaii and spent a night in jail as a result.


Finally, just to ensure that Mary Polack has more company in the homo hating caucus, the BC Liberals have chosen Marc Dalton in Maple Ridge. Dalton made his views on homosexuality known in an email. His views must have been well known to the federal Conservatives (who are experts at weeding out those that have said stuff about gay rights these days) as they rejected him as a candidate.

Perhaps Polak has friends in the provincial BC Liberal candidate selection committee.

“He’s a faggot. He deserved it,”

“He’s a faggot. He deserved it.”

It happens more often than society admits. A gay man gets bashed by a straight guy because the gay man is at the wrong place at the wrong time. The latest occurring in Vancouver in a popular gay bar.

A gay man was assaulted in the bar by a construction worker who apparently had come into the pub a few times to have a drink and lunch while working on a project near the bar. That gay man is now in hospital, clinging to life and survival likely meaning a severely diminished mental state.

"He’s a faggot. He deserved it," Lindsay Wincherauk alleges the man accused of punching 62-year-old Ritchie Dowrey in the face at The Fountainhead Pub Mar 13 told him after the alleged assault. - Xtra West

The crown still does not take these things seriously. The Attorney General for BC, Libcon Wally Oppal has so far refused to direct the crown to lay hate charges. The end result is the crown has decided to treat this as common assualt. An assualt that likely would not have happened had the victim not been gay.

Its pretty clear to me this event is a bashing motivated by hate. Its time the BC Libcon goverment took a good look at this and did the right thing. Its easy for the BC to pass hate crime laws, for the federal government to pass hate crime laws. Its another matter when we have to hold them accountable for enforcing those laws.

If you are in Vancouver on Synday, tomorrow, whatever your sexual orientation, step out and march in the west end and demand the government enforce the law as they said they would do when they poassed it.

Rally to take back OUR West End
Sunday, April 5
2pm, gather at east end of Nelson Park
March down Davie to Davie and Denman

The violence has to end! Gaybashings need to be treated as hate crimes.

Vancouver courts have heard five gaybashing trials in the last eight years. But the Crown has only sought a hate crime designation in one.

Come out to the rally. Spread the word. Call on the attorney general to seek hate crime designations for gaybashings.

It's time to stop the cycle of anti-gay violence. Enough is enough.

BC Rail Scandal

BC Rail Scandal

or is it the corruption of Gordon Campbell...

In 1996, the Liberals lost the election in BC. It was seen by many as theirs to lose. The drummed up scandal around Bingo and Premier Harcourt, a good honourable man that had nothing to do with the Bingo stuff, was forced to resign.

In 1996 the Gordon Campbell Libcons were promising to sell BC Rail. This did them in as the NDP held onto enough seats in the interior of BC to squeak out a majority government. The Liberals, having seen victory stolen from them, ran in 2001 against a further scandalized NDP government promised many things. First was that they would not sell BC Rail and second that they would honour contracts with health care workers.

In both cases the Liberals lied to voters. Most folks in BC are aware of the promises to honour workers contracts with government. That all ended soon. Rapid de-unionization of health care took place. The second broken promise saw BC Rail was turned over to CN Rail for a pittance, one billion dollars.

The LIBcons tried to tell us they were selling the rolling stock and operations, keeping the right of way so they were not in fact selling BC Rail. Well, it was a sale of the railway and although British Columbia remains the owner of the land and tracks that BC Rail uses, CN Rail has a 900 plus year lease on its use.

No British Columbian could be faulted for feeling they had been had. The Libcons had in fact taken great effort to deceive us.

So much for trusting the Libcons. It turns out that the Libcons were planning the sale of BC Rail prior to the 2003 and likely entered the 2001 election understanding they would sell BC rail.

Read more at Bill Tieleman's blog. He has been following this scandal for several years now and has the latest.

You will also find much more from Libcon exposer, The Gazetteer.

Gordon Campbell's broken promises

Gordon Campbell's broken promises

The BC Health Coalition needs your help in sending 5000 letters to Premier Campbell by April 14 - the day the provincial election campaign begins - demanding quality and accessible health care for seniors and people with disabilities!

The BC government has broken its promise to build 5,000 new not-for-profit residential care beds by 2006 and continues its drive towards private for-profit care despite clear evidence that for-profit facilities maintain lower patient-to-staff ratios and quality of care.

No more broken promises! Click here to send your letter NOW!

Another BC Liberal gets out

Another BC Liberal gets out

Liberal MLA Dan Jarvis (North Vancouver-Seymour) has announced he's not seeking re-election.

Late last year he had announced he wanted a 5th term prior to undergoing major heart surgery, if his health permitted it.

You may remember in 2005 Jarvis faced a nomination battle, seemingly encouraged by the Liberal party, from Cindy Silver who was the executive director of the Christian Legal Fellowship for two years in the 1990s and on staff at Focus on the Family.

Wishing him well in retirement and Carol James a new MLA on the North Shore.