Just goes to show the nasty little sprogs that collect around the surface of the BC Liberal swamp when you look at the smear campaign happening in Langley against someone who has proven time & time again she's not only a real hero, but someone who hasn't been afraid to pay the cost of serving the public interests and the good of the most vulnerable citizens in our province. And who is this stellar human being , well, it's Kathleen Stephany, who is running for the NDP in Langley. Geeze, she even teaches ethics (!!!!) at Douglas college, what a refreshing change of pace that would be in the BC government, but I can see how that wouldn't be embraced at this time just before the Emperors of Rome fall.
Just why do I think Ms. Stephany is a hero? Well, she's gone to bat for all of us and encountered the sharp point of the sword for crossing the BC Liberal government for doing so. Only someone who has been there can truly know the vicious, amoral and malignant way they attack those they perceive as their enemies and those they want to silence.
Stephany was one of the BC Coroners who blew the whistle on the hundreds and hundreds of BC children who died without the BC Liberal government ever investigating their deaths and learning from them, to not repeat the same mistakes again, or whether there was any sign that government might have even been implicated. What did we learn when she told the truth - we learned the BC Campbell Liberal government stopped ongoing Child Death investigations on dozens of children who were associated with the Ministry of Children & Family Development. After they fired and shut down the Children's Commission, we learned the BC government warehoused hundred of files of children who had died during their time as government.
The "955 Transition Files" of the former Children's Commission
– November 2006 Summary of the review completed by the BC Coroners Service Child Death Review Unit of “955 child death cases” that were reported to exist as either files pending an investigation or as electronic files within the Childrens Commission at the time that agency was disbanded in September 2002.
From her investigation of the death of tiny Savanah Hall, we learned that:
"In the course of nine months," Stephany said Friday, "she went from being this super healthy, well nourished child to being this starving, under-nourished, barely-surviving child."
Stephany told CBC News child welfare officials should have been concerned about the foster home.
*
Defending The Indefensible - Part II
Gazetteer.In 2005 Stephany also spoke up publically reporting that the Chief Coroner's office was not ordering inquests into medical related deaths due to possible medical mistakes, thus denying the public the information to be learned from examining medical care and practices in the Province.
Whistleblower urges more medical inquests | Straight.com
Charlie Smith. August 18, 2005.
***
2 Liberal MLA's Being Investigated by RCMP
BC Liberals Suck, Friday, December 19, 2008Rich Coleman & Mary Polak are being "investigated" within the Liberal party for their unregistered endorsement of a slate of Langley school board candidates in October's municipal elections.
Another part of the complaint is that it is alleged Langley council candidate Jordan Bateman (vice president of Coleman's riding association), received access to BC Liberal constituency membership lists, which contained the names,phone numbers and addresses of those in the riding.
From Bateman's website:
September 9, 2007
Jordan has been re-elected vice president of Rich Coleman's Fort Langley-Aldergrove BC Liberal constituency association.
Two B.C. cabinet ministers probed by RCMP
Complaint alleges their endorsements of civic candidates broke election rules
Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun. Published: Friday, December 19, 2008.
Two B.C. cabinet ministers, the Liberal Party of B.C. and a Langley parents' group are under investigation by RCMP after a complaint alleged that they violated sections of the Local Government Act during November's municipal election.
In a written complaint filed this week, Sonya Paterson also asked RCMP to investigate rumours that some candidates had access to Liberal constituency membership lists of mailing addresses and phone numbers.
"One of the township councillor candidates (Jordan Bateman) is the president of Rich Coleman's [constituency] executive," Paterson noted in her letter to RCMP Supt. Janice Armstrong.
****
Overpass: Ethics and law not always the same
Langley Advance. Published: Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Dear Editor,
I am writing in response to Jordan Bateman's rebuttal to my presentation on March 23 to Langley Township Council. As a researcher, I presented at that meeting that council should not take stock in a study which was poorly designed and gave skewed statistics about the feelings of Langley residents towards an overpass that will destroy hectares of some of the best farmland in the province.
As an ethics instructor, I talked about the appearance of a conflict of interest. Councillor Jordan Bateman received money from ALR commissioner John Tomlinson, a staunch B.C. Liberal with no farming experience, appointed to the ALR by the B.C. Liberals.
With a push from Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon, Bateman knew he had to vote in favour of the development-oriented overpass plan. Regardless of anyone's intentions, Mr. Bateman should not have voted on this issue.
It seems that, while none of the other presenters were required to disclose their presentations to Township staff before-hand, I was. I suppose that's why Mr. Bateman's response was so well prepared.
What I find interesting is that, in Mr. Bateman's response to my presentation, he stated that he took "great offence at the politically motivated suggestion that [he does] not abide by the laws of British Columbia."
On the first day of class, a co-instructor of mine always explains to the students that laws and ethics are not the same thing. Sometimes, laws are based on ethics, and sometimes they are not. I am left wondering why Mr. Bateman is thinking about the legality of his actions, and if he has even more to hide.
To be clear, I did not accuse Mr. Bateman of acting illegally, I just told him why voting on the issue would be unethical. He was right, however, about my speech being politically motivated. My motivation was to represent the voices of hard-working citizens of Langley, and the farmers that are so integral to our food supply. It's the kind of politics that are unfortunately missing from the B.C. Liberal agenda.
Politics should be about listening to voices of residents and making decisions that work for everyone, not just the friends and donors of politicians.
Kathleen Stephany, Langley
© Langley Advance 2009
A councillor and would-be MLA squared off in a new disagreement.
Matthew Claxton, Langley Advance. Published: Tuesday, March 31, 2009.
Excerpts:The source of the most recent political fight is a four-year-old article Bateman wrote that mentioned Stephany, who was a 2005 Green Party provincial candidate.
She accused the provincial Liberals of using the old article to smear her as a "loser candidate."
"That's kind of a form of slander," Stephany said, noting the party is considering legal action.
"We are in the process of doing that," she said.
At the March 23 council meeting, Stephany was one of eight speakers opposed to the Mufford/Glover overpass and road route. She said there was a conflict of interest because Bateman had accepted campaign contributions from John Tomlinson, an Agricultural Land Commission member. Tomlinson will be one of three panelists who will vote, likely next month, on whether to allow the overpass to proceed through the Agricultural Land Reserve.
Bateman said there was no conflict, and said he would consider legal action.
Stephany, who teaches ethics in the Douglas College nursing program, said the conflict is ethical, not legal.
Stephany is running in the Langley riding against sitting Liberal MLA Mary Polak. Bateman is a member of Fort Langley-Aldergrove Liberal MLA Rich Coleman's riding association.
No Electioneering Charges Against Polak, Coleman
By Janet Steffenhagen .
No charges will be laid against two provincial cabinet ministers who publicly endorsed several school trustee candidates prior to the November municipal election, the Langley Advance reports.
RCMP Cpl Peter Thiessen told the newspaper there are no grounds to support allegations that Mary Polak and Rich Coleman - both of whom are Langley MLAs - violated the Local Government Act with their campaigning.
Police began their investigation following a complaint from former trustee Sonya Paterson.
"If this is the decision that they've come to, so be it," Paterson is quoted as saying. "There's still the public perception out there."
Polak and Coleman endorsed Steve Burton, Alison McVeigh, Rod Ross, Hattie Hogeterp and Kari Medos in newspaper advertisements. The first three were elected but they lost control of the board to what the newspaper calls "anti-middle-schoolers".
The sponsor of the ads was a group called Parents for Independent Trustees.
Thiessen told the newspaper that other aspects of the complaint are still under investigation. Read the full story here.
**MLAs won't be charged
The RCMP has closed an inquiry over Langley MLAs and an ad during the school board elections.
Matthew Claxton, Langley Advance. Published: Tuesday, March 31, 2009.
There will be no charges against Langley's MLAs over their controversial endorsement of several school trustees during the 2008 municipal elections.
There are no grounds to support allegations that Langley MLA Mary Polak and Fort Langley-Aldergrove MLA Rich Coleman violated the Local Government Act, said RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Peter Thiessen.
RCMP E Division's commercial crime section and the Langley detachment reviewed a complaint laid by Sonya Paterson, formerly a school trustee.
Other aspects of the complaint are still being evaluated, Thiessen said.
He couldn't give extensive details, noting that, so far, there were "only allegations" being looked into. Other individuals or agencies are also involved.
Voters of Langley, it's time to ask yourselves, what records do your current Langley MLA's have serving the interests of the public, of handling their time in government? What track record do they have of doing the right thing for a broad range of citizens and for those who have no voice, those who don't contribute to the BC Liberal donation coffers?
As far as I can see, Polak has been a snooze and hasn't seemed to accomplish a damn thing in office. Coleman has bungled pretty much every file (Ministry) he's been on and had more than one investigation against him, while in office. Don't ya just love Mounties investigating former Mounties. Once sworn a Mountie, always a Mountie, or something like that.
"Before his election to the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Coleman ran a real estate management and consulting company. He is also a former member of the RCMP and a security specialist."
B.C. Auditor General's report: Removing Private Land from Tree Farm Licences 6, 19 & 25 (pdf)
B.C.'s Auditor General John Doyle has condemned former forests minister Rich Coleman for allowing a forestry company to remove land from three tree farm licences for residential development, citing the possibilities of conflicts of interest and insider trading by government staff.
The report, released Wednesday in Victoria, said Coleman's decision to remove private forest lands from three tree farm licences (TFLs) on southern Vancouver Island was made without sufficient regard for the public interest.
*********************************************Kathleen Stephany: "I believe that my greatest asset is my capacity to care about people from all walks of life. Elect me as your MLA and I will use my passion for making a difference as the driving force behind every action that I take and I will work whole heartedly to do what needs to be done."
1 comment:
Strata owners should visit the blog at www.strataadvocate.ca for strata issues most media seem to ignore. The BC Liberal track record on these issues is atrocious.
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