Shooting Fish in a BC Liberal Barrel- Part 26

Frankly I'm annoyed that this BS, non-story about Premier Clark "running a red light" has morphed into some sort of "scandal." Oh puhleeeeze people, like none of us have ever run a red light at 5 in the morning with no other traffic around. 

Now, an important part of this story is that Clark made the decision to engage in this traffic violation with the equivalent of a rabid pitbull accompanying her on her hockey Mom routine taking her son to an early morning practice. Said pitbull, a journalist, Jonathon Fowlie of the Vancouver Sun. From the original story, we can only presume Clark was aware and knew he was in the car with her and consented to his presence. 

See this is what worries me - A LOT. Yet again, when she didn't have handlers around to keep her on her speaking points and reign her in, she demonstrated terrible judgment at the worst possible time. How can the people of B.C. tolerate this anymore? We can't and we shouldn't. End of story. 

Then, the camel that made me have to write this tonight, was that Clark now has a new video ad - travelling in a car, called Ask Christy. One can only ask - what the hell are they thinking??



At times, [Clark and Hamish] seem more like sidekicks — siblings even — than they do mother and son. And especially so the morning when the two were on their way to Hamish’s goalie clinic.

“Let’s see you go through this red light,” Hamish challenged as they pulled up that morning, at 5:15 a.m., to an abandoned Vancouver intersection.

“I might. Don’t test me,” Clark replies.

“Yeah. Go ahead.”

“Should I?”

“There’s no one.”

“Would you go through? You shouldn’t because that would be breaking the law,” she says.

And with that the car has already sailed underneath the stale red stoplight and through the empty intersection.

“You always do that,” says Hamish.

Marcus Hondro, Digital Journal, Apr 28, 2013. 

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/349009#ixzz2S175hN67

Christy Clark's Many Faces
Huffington Post BC, 04/29/2013.

B.C. Liberal Leader Christy Clark is apologizing after running a red light with her son and a newspaper reporter in the car.

*******************************
Bonus round - Jane Sterk, doomed leader of the BC Green Party, was hilarious on the Jeff O'Neill Show today. 

Clark is riding low in the polls & MIA in Vancouver-Point Grey

Honestly, that few minutes I watched the debate were ones I can never get back. Ever. You can't either.

Did it do anything? It just annoyed me, frankly. It was not a stellar night for anyone, really, but especially bad for John Cummins and Jane Sterk. If there is a time to be articulate and clear about your party platform (and everything else you and your party stand for) it would be staring down the barrel of a camera to a bunch of potential voters.

I have to give Premier Clark some kudos though, she really is a kick@$$ debater, gunfighter and mudslinger. She has to know she doesn't have a hope in hell at this point, but she is still out there giving it her all. Good on her. She will have earned her Directorships, and what have you, by the time May 15, 2013 comes around.

I like how Adrian Dix tried to own his $hit in the whole memo thing. He has been bashed mercilessly for this and he copped to it straight up when asked about this in the debate tonight. He admitted he made a mistake (and it was a HUGE one), admitted he alone was responsible, and he did what most of us do after we #^$@ up, he learned some big lessons and moved forward. Hopefully trying to be a better person.

Latest Angus Reid Poll Not Good for BC Liberals

KEY FINDINGS

Voting Intention: BC NDP 45% (=), BC  Liberals 31% (+3), 

BC Conservatives 11% (-1), BC Greens 10% (-3)

Approval Ratings: Dix 45%, Sterk 32%, Clark 30%, Cummins 20%

Best Premier: Dix 32%, Clark 20%, Cummins 6%, Sterk 4%

59% (-2) think it is time for a change in government in British Columbia; 25% (+3) disagree

BC NDP support...Lower Mainland...46%

Interior.................................................41%

North...................................................54%

Vancouver island................................45%
_________

BC Liberal support. Lower Mainland...32%

Interior..................................................35%

North....................................................22%

Vancouver island.................................25%

_________
Gender voter intentions...

BC NDP.......Male..42%..Female...48%

BC Liberal.....Male..33%..Female...29%

The NDP lead in all age groups, and in all income levels except one, the real wealthy, but even there it`s a dead heat..

The Momentum Score..

Adrian Dix............-9

John Cummins....-15

Jane Sterk............+2

Christy Clark......-39

********************************

Has Christy Clark given up on Vancouver Point Grey?

Lev Jackson, April 29, 2013, Vancouver Beacon.  

While out for a stroll Saturday, Russ Batstone and his wife were shocked to see Christy Clark’s Vancouver Point Grey campaign office locked and dark.

“At one in the afternoon we walked by her campaign office and there wasn’t a single person there, the door was locked with a note on the door saying ‘we’re out, leave a message.’ Which I thought was rather extraordinary on a Saturday during election period,” he told Beacon News.

Pollster Eric Grenier and his website threehundredeight.com are projecting Vancouver Point Grey for the NDP with 50 per cent support, slightly higher than provincial support for leader Adrian Dix and his party. Clark is estimated to have 35 per cent support in the riding, while the Conservatives have 8.9 per cent and the Green Party has 3.4 per cent. The website cautions that the projections are not polls and are not necessarily an accurate reflection of current voting intentions in each riding.

See BC Election 2013: Vancouver Point-Grey likely to reject Christy Clark

The Hits Keep Coming: BC Liberal Desperation & Christy: The Multicultural Barbie

Geoff Olsen, Vancouver Courier, April 26, 2013.

Liberals’ Desperation Shows As Their Statements Insult British Columbians

By Harinder Mahil, The Link, April 27th, 2013.

The provincial campaign is into the second week and the Liberals are already showing signs of desperation. Their statements show they feel the people of British Columbia are too stupid to figure out the truth.

Premier Clark, when releasing her party’s election platform, stressed that if the Liberals are re-elected for a fourth term, her government “would hold the line on taxes and pay down provincial debt.” Who is she kidding?

The BC government’s website tells a different story.  According to documents released by the provincial government at the time it introduced the latest budget, British Columbia’s debt will increase to $62.7 billion in 2013-14, to $66.5 billion in 2014-15 and to $69.4 billion in 2015-16. This is according to the Liberals’ own budget documents. Does this seem like an effort to pay down the debt?

In the two years since Christy Clark became Premier, she has increased the government spending by 6.3% and has added $11 billion to the debt. She plans to add another $13 billion more to the government debt in the next 3 years.

Liberal candidate Mike de Jong, Finance Minister in Christy Clark’s cabinet, unveiled a flashy roadside sign in Delta called the “Spend-o-Meter”. The Liberals say that this will keep a running tally of numbers professing to show the escalating cost of NDP campaign promises.

The NDP has stated again and again that it will pay for the commitments through tax hikes, spending shifts and running a deficit for three years.

The record shows that the Liberals have run five consecutive budget deficits leading to a current “balanced” budget that polls suggest the public does not believe is really balanced.

Liberal leader Christy Clark stated this week that the international bond rating agencies verified her last budget as balanced and are concerned about an NDP government. It turns out that the none of the bond agencies have said anything like this. Helmut Pastrick, the chief economist of Central Credit Union advised the CBC that Moody’s and other credit rating agencies examine budget projections, but do not verify them as balanced or not balanced.

In fact, Moody’s has given B.C. a “negative” credit outlook, and has blamed the province’s recent accumulation of debt under the B.C. Liberals.

The Liberals know that they have a credibility problem as the people of BC do not believe them. They are making things up to bolster their claim that the latest BC budget introduced by them is balanced.

The Liberals statements and tactics in fact reinforce voters’ lack of trust and desire for change.

Harinder Mahil is a human rights activist active in the Indo-Canadian community. He is a director of the Dr. Hari Sharma Foundation and can be contacted at hmahil@telus.net.

BC Liberals, Still Lagging in the Polls & 29,000 Forestry & Sector Jobs Gone under BC Liberals

                            The BC Liberals: Jobs. Families. Tuna Melts.   

Better numbers for BC Liberals, but NDP well in front 

VANCOUVER/CKNW (AM980)
Sean Leslie, 4/26/2013.

A slight uptick for the BC Liberals in the latest poll by Angus Reid public opinion, but the NDP remains firmly in the lead.

The survey of 812 people gives the NDP 45 per-cent support, unchanged since mid-April, while the Liberals are up three points to 31 per-cent.

The BC Conservatives are at 11 per-cent and the Greens at ten. But the poll also shows 59 per-cent of British Columbians believe it's time for a change in government.

The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 per-cent, 19 times out of 20.
*****************
What is the point of this "story"? 

Thanks to CKNW for your faux attack on Adrian Dix, more ammunition for BC Liberal's poor performance on jobs in BC. 

CKNW Election Fact-Checker: Dix and forestry job losses
VANCOUVER/CKNW (AM980),4/25/2013

CKNW Election Fact-Checker:

During an appearance on the Bill Good Show on CKNW, NDP Leader Adrian Dix stated under the BC Liberals, forestry had lost 30 thousand jobs over the last ten years.

BC lost 11, 427 jobs in the forestry and logging sector from March 2003 to March 2013. Canada lost 30, 000 jobs in forestry over the same time period.

However, accounting for jobs in lumber and paper manufacturing as well as in forestry, BC lost 29, 000 jobs from 2002 to 2012.

New Campaign Slogan - BC Liberals: Racing BC Workers to the Bottom

Hmmmm, this:

Have you seen the new BC Liberal ad with Christy sitting around the kitchen table with a bunch of Moms and a girl. Like any of us believe that's a common occurrence, except when someone's trying to woo the "woman" demographic, an important vote which she's terminally bottomed out. 

Or the Truth? 

B.C.’s annual wage increases trail national average: StatsCan

By Joannah Connolly Thu Apr 25, 2013.

B.C. wages rose 2% in February this year compared with February 2012 – more than 50% less than the national average increase of 3.1%, according to Statistics Canada data released this morning.

B.C. ranked second lowest of the provinces in terms of year-over-year non-farm payroll increases in February, with only New Brunswick averaging lower increases at 1.3%.

The province with the highest average pay raise was Alberta at 4.5%, followed by Saskatchewan at 3.8%.
Across Canada, the construction sector enjoyed the highest pay increases at 4.6%, followed by public administration at 4.3%.

The industry that suffered the most was accommodation and food services, which was the only sector identified as seeing a drop in average wages, down 0.4% year over year.

jconnolly@biv.com
@jconnolly_biv

Say Anything: BC Liberal Election Strategy

More signs of how out of touch, or desperate, Premier Clark is to give voters the illusion she is listening and her government might do something to ease their financial burdens, the ones that were imposed by none other than her own government. 

I hope the voters of Surrey are listening to what she says about why they are on the hook for this (see below). I'm pretty sure Mary Polak (who is the most ridiculous choice for a Minister of Transportation most of us could ever conceive of) must be pissed that her boss isn't backing her up. No matter what people might think of either dim bulb, as a leader, if you're not on the same page as your own people, that is a very clear indication that you are a leader only by title and you do not have the support of those below you. That is as good as a death certificate. 

This photo-op/media spin is also a perfect example of the bafflegab the BC Liberals have perfected. If you read what she says and listen to her statements, there isn't a single, concrete thing. It's all smoke and mirrors and might be's. 

For instance, the "planned Prosperity Fund" "can be used to pay down" any number of large BC Liberal-incurred debts. Go to the Leader to hear audio files of both the Premier and Polak and what they have to say about it all. 

Premier eyes toll cut, insists voters can veto transit funding

By Jeff Nagel - Surrey North Delta Leader, April 19, 2013.

Premier Christy Clark is dangling the possibility of an early reduction in tolls on the Port Mann Bridge while contradicting her transportation minister's claim a referendum on TransLink funding would raise taxes for transit one way or another.

In a Black Press interview Friday, Clark said a planned Prosperity Fund, raised from expected liquefied natural gas royalties, can be used to pay down not just the provincial debt, but also the Port Mann/Highway 1 project debt, allowing an early cut in tolls.

"As we can afford to, we want to reduce those tolls," Clark said. "Once we've paid off the debt on the Port Mann Bridge, those tolls can go down pretty substantially."

Asked how that squares with past statements that funds benefitting Metro Vancouverites must be raised within the region, Clark said provincial debt would have "first call" on the fund, but it can also be used against BC Ferries, BC Hydro and Port Mann debt.

Clark also refused to endorse a statement by Transportation Minister Mary Polak that a regional referendum would force Metro voters to choose from revenue options for TransLink, not let them veto them all.

"If voters don't want it, we're not going to impose it on them," Clark insisted.

Polak indicated Thursday there would not be a none-of-the-above option in the referendum – the outcome would have to result in new revenue for TransLink and it was just a matter of voters choosing from a menu of tools.

"We don't know what the referendum question will look like yet," Clark said, adding the province will work with TransLink to design it.

"I'm sure one of the options is going to be a status quo option. And the status quo option is the same thing as not approving any new funding."

She said she hopes proposals to finance TransLink will arise that are affordable and win public support because improved transit is needed in Metro Vancouver.

Questioned about frustration in Surrey about bearing the brunt of bridge tolls, the premier said the new Port Mann Bridge also benefits Surrey more than other areas, citing reduced commute times.

"We found a way to get it done," she said. "For people in Surrey, that's the most important part – that it got done."

On the Liberals' promise to replace the Massey Tunnel, Clark wouldn't say if the new bridge or tunnel will be tolled.

"I don't know what it will look like at the end," she said. "But the provincial tolling policy will apply." That policy is the one that allows tolls only on new infrastructure and only when there's a free reasonable alternative.

Currently the Pattullo Bridge is the free alternative to the Port Mann, but critics say the concept would become ridiculous if either a rebuilt Pattullo or Deas crossing is tolled as well.

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts has repeatedly called for "fair tolling" reforms and all Metro Vancouver mayors want a hard look at road pricing.

The provincial policy bars such changes and the premier said she has no plans to alter it.

"This whole idea… that we should be putting a toll on just about every road, just about every bridge, whether it's new, whether it's old – I just don't agree with that," Clark said.

"I don't agree that people should be paying tolls on infrastructure that was built 30, 40 years ago."

Much Ado about Nothing: BC Liberals desperately grasping at air

This "story" shows you how absolutely desperate Premier Clark and her foolish campaign people are getting when they are quite literally trying to spin a non-issue into an attack story. 

The BC Liberals have been spending money like drunken sailors on shore leave for months. Don't forget, they didn't have a shred of conscience when spending over $15 million of taxpayers funds, and a  few more million in donations to the party, to attack and slam Adrian Dix, over the past couple of months. 

In spite of this negative campaigning, it's not working at all. Clark and the party keep sinking in the polls, and most importantly, with voters, including people from their own camp. While Dix and his party keep rising. Oooops!

Here is an apparently "offensive" part of this letter:

“It is our hope that you will adopt a balanced approach to your support in the lead up to the election in May,” it states. “I am asking your organization to make a contribution in the range of $5,000 now to show your commitment to a balanced approach to government.”

What's really sickening about this though is that the BC NDP hasn't done anything out of the ordinary, or in any way unsavoury, or wrong. They wrote a letter asking the business community to donate to their party. Shocking, isn't it? 

Spinning this as creating an "enemies list" is pure manipulation of the most pathological and vile, a perfect reflection of the values and conduct of what the BC Liberal party has come to embody over the last decade. 

Beyond that, I hope the NDP are consulting with legal counsel as to whether the BC Liberals have engaged in defamation toward Ms. O'Brien, because their comments go way beyond criticism and fair comment into a much more serious realm where her personal character is being publically attacked and maligned over and over by the BC Liberal party. 

The other thing I would comment on is this must be a really boring election, because the bellicose, dated, old white man journalist club have jumped right into the leaking boat with the BC Liberals to make this non-issue a story. Since when is taking hat in hand to any potential donors during an election a real news story? Maybe it's time to retire folks. If you can't recognize a real story anymore, you're way past your best buy date. 

**********************************************
Fundraising letter prompts Liberal call for firing of New Democrat provincial secretary
VANCOUVER/CKNW (AM980)
Martin MacMahon, 4/20/2013.


BC's premier is hitting out at an NDP letter sent to Liberal supporters in the business community.  
Christy Clark says the NDP's fundraising letter to businesses which have previously supported the Liberal party was out of line.

"I just think it's wrong for any political party to decide that they want to send that kind of letter. Because it sounds to me like what they're doing -- we haven't even finished this election and they're already drawing up an enemies list."

The Liberals are also calling for the NDP to sack its provincial secretary Jan O'Brien and have labelled the letter 'blackmail.'  

Provincial NDP leader Adrian Dix says his party did nothing wrong by simply approaching Liberal supporters.

"The Liberal party raises the vast majority of its money from corporations and certainly, we've sought to raise some and had some success before."

Dix strongly denies that his party is trying to force them into donating to the NDP.

"But if anyone is concerned about it I would be happy to talk to them because there is absolutely, absolutely no intent as suggested by the Liberal party or others.''    

The provincial election is on May 14.

Paradoxical Advertising: Premier Clark's Disapproval Rating Skyrockets as the party shovels $$$ into ads

Poll: 65 percent disapprove of Christy Clark

Clark's attempts to appeal to all sectors make some question her sincerity.

by Bill Tieleman

"For every person who says they dislike her because she's too casual, there is another person who dislikes her because she is too formal."
- Angus Reid pollster Mario Canseco on Christy Clark

How do we dislike BC Premier Christy Clark? Let me count the ways. Because with a 65 percent personal disapproval rating in a poll last month, a 20 percent gap behind the front running New Democrats and only 16 percent saying she would make the best premier after two years on the job, Clark is obviously not Miss Congeniality to British Columbians.


Some media pundits have professed it to be a mystery why Clark has gone from the BC Liberals' charismatic champion to a lackluster leader. But there's a room full of obvious clues, some that we saw on her half-hour Sunday TV infomercial.

Clark has proven to be a political chameleon who will say and do anything to get votes, with breathtaking arrogance. Like telling an audience celebrating Philippine Independence Day last year that: "In my heart, I am Filipina." Really?

Other stunts include becoming pals with former Reform Party leader Preston Manning, even attending his "conservative family reunion," a gathering of the kind of people Clark used to denounce as dinosaurs on her former CKNW radio talk show.

Or on TV Sunday claiming that since her father left their family debt free, how could she leave BC with a debt? And the word "debt" kept getting repeated through the show. Yet the BC Liberals are on their way to doubling the provincial debt since 2001, from $33.8 billion to $66.3 billion in 2015! But who cares about facts?

Other stunts include:

• Clark's short shift for TV cameras as a diner "server,"
• her Vancouver Canucks jersey girl pose [jinxing our Stanley Cup run?],
• setting up Alberta Premier Alison Redford as the "bad girl" on the Enbridge Pipeline proposal, and
• Clark attacking the "sick culture in Victoria" — despite previously saying she loved the BC Legislature.

Or how about Clark, a perpetual federal Liberal Party member who worked in Ottawa for them, cozying up to Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper — even hiring several of his hard right ex-staff to make her look less Liberal?

Instead, Clark now denounces CKNW itself, criticizing several on-air hosts last year at a BC Liberal fundraiser for apparently not giving her an easier ride.

CKNW host Gord MacDonald wasn't going to take it anymore and he let Clark have it:

"We thought she was bright… she sounded articulate… and we all understood when she left radio to seek the premier's job after Gordon Campbell resigned. Boy, were we wrong. Now, she insults the CKNW listener. Nobody listens to CKNW anymore, right?" MacDonald broadcast on air last July.

"Yet again, Christy Clark showed on Saturday she's willing to say anything to anybody to get their vote. But speaking as one who clearly misjudged her talents as a politician, a word of warning. When times get tough, some people stay true to their word. Others, like Christy, don't," MacDonald concluded.

I had my own Clark experience at CKNW when she started guest hosting and I was making regular appearances and guest hosting also.

"You should stop attacking me," Clark told me in the studio off air one day, unhappy with my coverage of her role in the BC Legislature Raid case. "We're working on the same team now."

"No, we're not," I replied, rather astonished she would attempt such a blatant effort to influence my reporting.

Clark is dislikable for other reasons, with her condescending, self-righteous tone, singular inability to admit any personal mistakes and lack of vision for the province.

Take her "jobs plan" that incorrectly claimed last fall that BC was first in job creation in Canada when it was actually in sixth place — and has dropped further since then — without ever being corrected. No matter — she spent $15 million in taxpayer dollars to advertise the jobs plan and spread the misinformation just before an election.

Are there still other ways to dislike Clark? How about Clark's annoying habit of attempting to sound like a working class hero by deliberately dropping the "g" from words and sounding more like Larry the Cable Guy than Christy the Premier?

"What's needed here is a dose of humility and sort of asking for forgiveness," Hamish Telford, political science professor at Fraser Valley University Telford, told CKNW's Bill Good on Monday.

"And for this premier, humility does not come easily but I think it is important — this lack of humility is why often politicians get turfed out," he said. "Parties rarely win elections in Canada. Governments lose them."

And Clark leads a government headed for a humility lesson.

BC Liberal ICBC Slush Fund: Have the press been asking BC Liberal candidates & Premier Clark why their government has been bleeding BC taxpayers dry?

Liberals turned ICBC into cash cow, inflated premiums: report

By Nelson Bennett, Apr 15, 2013, Business in Vancouver.

A scathing report by the B.C. branch of the Consumers’ Association of Canada (CACBC) says the Liberal government turned ICBC into a cash cow that has driven insurance premiums higher in B.C. than they need to be.


“Over the last 10 years, the province’s adjustments to the insurance system have radically shifted B.C.’s public automobile insurance system from one that maximizes public good, to one that maximizes profitability, and these profits are shifting unfairly to provincial coffers,” said CACBC president Bruce Cran.

The B.C. government has milked the public insurer for $677 million since 2010, the report alleges.

“In effect, the province of British Columbia has created another way to unfairly tax some sectors of the public and without any representation or voice,” the report claims.

It adds, “Under the B.C. Liberals, the province has eroded almost all that is positive about B.C.’s unique public system in favour of creating a revenue stream for government as they experience falling revenues from their other cash cow, BC Hydro.”

The report also targets the tax the B.C. government charges on insurance premiums, stating it is the highest in Canada.

It makes 15 recommendations, including:

• shift from a revenue-driven to “consumer-focused” approach, focusing on loss prevention and road safety;
• allow ICBC to use profits to reduce premiums;
• lower the 4.4% insurance premium tax to pre-2004 levels, or scrap it altogether;
• remove ICBC from the Property and Casualty Insurance Compensation Corporation (PACICC), since, as a Crown agency, ICBC can never become insolvent, meaning the insurance is unnecessary.

nbennett@biv.com

@nbennett_biv

And Away We Go: BC Liberals galloping to the end of the road

Get ready for buckets of B.S. and gallons of big, empty promises, smoke & mirrors. That's all the BC Liberals have to offer now.

Premier promises strong economy in TV address
VANCOUVER/CKNW (AM980)
CKNW News Staff , 4/14/2013.


A strong economy and secure tomorrow under the BC Liberals.....or higher spending and uncertainty under the NDP.  

That was the message from Premier Christy Clark in a 30 minute province-wide address on Global TV tonight Sunday night. 

The premier also revealed she will roll out the Liberal's campaign platform in Vancouver Monday.

"I think you deserve to know exactly what I plan to do, and how I plan to do it.   So tomorrow, April 15th, I'm releasing our platform.   It's called Strong Economy, Secure Tomorrow...and when you look at the platform along with our balanced budget and the BC Jobs Plan you can see exactly where we plan to lead BC."

The BC Liberal Party paid for the airtime--unlike all those taxpayer-funded BC Jobs Plan ads you've been seeing for the last several months.

NDP MLA Carole James says there was nothing new in the premier's address -- and she says she thinks the public will have been disappointed in that.  

She says it was a commercial, with the premier looking to the past, and lacking in specifics.

"I think the public will have expected more.  For 30 minutes on television the people that I talked to certainly were expecting that they'd hear something of substance, and they heard anything but."

James and the New Democrats claim jobs have been lost since the Liberals brought in their Jobs Plan, that the budget hasn't been balanced, and that the debt has substantially increased.

BC Liberals Keep Playing the Same Tune: Cringeworthy performance managing taxpayer funds

Funny little election ad campaign that's started. 

Cringeworthy moments in BC politics   

BC no longer sees Liberals as sound money managers: poll

By Tom Barrett, April 12, 2013, The Tyee.

A new poll suggests that British Columbians believe the NDP by a two-to-one margin over the Liberal government when it comes to the state of B.C.'s finances.

The Angus Reid Public Opinion poll comes as Premier Christy Clark prepares to go on TV to talk up her government's economic performance in advance of the May 14 election. The half-hour infomercial, on the theme "Strong Economy. Secure Tomorrow," runs on Global Television at 7 p.m. Sunday.

While the Liberals' ability to manage the economy has traditionally been seen by voters as one of the party's strengths, the new poll suggests British Columbians no longer see the governing party as sound money managers.

In its recent budget, the Clark government promised a $197-million surplus. However, the Opposition New Democrats insist the province is heading for a $790-million deficit. When respondents were asked in the online poll which view they found more credible, 24 per cent said they favoured the Liberals.

Fifty per cent said they favoured the NDP. A further 26 per cent said they were unsure.

A remarkable 29 per cent of those who said they voted Liberal in the 2009 election said they found the NDP more credible on this question.

The poll was conducted Monday and Tuesday among 807 British Columbians. Angus Reid states a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20, for this sample. While online polls have been very successful at predicting recent elections, there is a methodological controversy surrounding the citing of margins of error for online polls.

Some experts hold that it is inappropriate to quote a margin of error for an online poll because participants in such polls are drawn from volunteer panels, rather than chosen at random from the general population. For more on this issue, see this story.

Doubling Down: Business knows who will be buttering the bread after May 14th

Corporate donations drift to NDP from major Liberal backers

Bob Mackin Mon Apr 8, 2013, Business in Vancouver.

Some of the business community's most significant BC Liberal backers have shifted their donations to the BC NDP ahead of the May provincial election.


The latest Elections BC reports reveal corporate donations to the NDP that were authorized by heavy-hitters such as Telus CEO Darren Entwistle, Canucks Sports and Entertainment principal Francesco Aquilini and David McLean, the chair of Canadian National and owner of Vancouver Film Studios.

The Liberals raised $10.1 million in 2012, half of which was from corporations. The NDP's $6.9 million take included $1 million from corporations. The Conservatives raised only $256,000, a fifth of which was from corporate sources.

The Liberals ($2,258,186) and NDP ($1,713,634.83) ended 2012 with surpluses, while the Conservatives reported a $15,870 deficit.

McLean's donations since 2005 total $264,987.50, and all but $9,100 were to the Liberals. He made two April 2012 donations totaling $10,850 to the Liberals through Canadian National Railway and one in the same month for $1,500 from Vancouver Film Studios. But on June 1 ($600) and Oct. 11 ($3,500) he donated via CN to the BC NDP. His Pacific Backlot Services and Vancouver Film Studios also donated $2,500 each on October 30 to the NDP.

The NDP have promised to hold a public inquiry into the 2003 sale of BC Rail to CN, should they come into power. Canadian Pacific Railway quit the tendering process because it alleged the B.C. government leaked insider information to CN.

NDP attorney general critic Leonard Krog said he had no idea McLean made a donation, but that it would make no difference whatsoever to the inquiry process.

"I have repeated, as has Adrian (Dix), over and over again, we are committed to a public inquiry into the sale of BC Rail," Krog told Business in Vancouver. "It's safe to say the essential question will be subject to lawyers in the ministry of the attorney general, all of those things over time. Yes, the optics are not overly helpful, but on the other hand I'm not surprised that various companies have, in fact individuals and powerful people, have given money to the NDP over the last year or two, many of them have attended various fundraisers."

Telus has previously donated more than $400,000 to the Liberals, according to the online database, which stretches back to 2005.

The telecom donated $35,700 in 2012, of which $12,050 went to the NDP. The principal officers for nine of the 11 Liberal donations are listed as lobbyists Kim Logan and David Cunningham. The biggest single donation was $11,130 to the Liberals on December 21, 2012. The corporate officer's names are not listed.
However, the officers for the four NDP donations are listed as Entwistle and Robert McFarlane, Telus' chief financial officer.

Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini gave $210,275 in 2012. Although the Liberals received the majority, he donated $102,500 to the NDP, including $100,000 on December 6. That was double his biggest donation to the Liberals of $50,000 on December 21.

Owners of the BC Lions David Braley ($6,800) and Whitecaps Greg Kerfoot ($7,750) only wrote cheques to the Liberals.

Another first time NDP donor was Brian Fehr, who made four donations, all to the NDP, totalling $58,500, from his BID Group and Nechako Construction. Fehr had donated $122,985 from 2005 to 2011 to the Liberals only, including $5,000 to Premier Christy Clark's leadership campaign.

Fehr claimed Minister Pat Bell promised him a spot on the shortlist for the controversial Prince George Wood Innovation and Design Centre project.

Encana Corporation gave $157,740, of which only $14,140 was to the NDP. The four NDP donations bear the name of Randy Eresmen, who was CEO until January, and chief financial officer Sherri Brillon. The Liberal donations have no names attached. Northern Gateway pipeline proponent Enbridge made $13,320 in donations, of which $6,300 went to the NDP. The NDP donations bear the name of Enbridge president John Carruthers and vice-president Roger Harris, who was a BC Liberal MLA from 2001 to 2005. The company's biggest single donation was $3,500 on October 4 to the NDP.

Although its president Peter Leitch donated $1,205 for the year to the Liberals, the Motion Picture Production Industry Association of B.C. donated $7,000 to the NDP on October 1.

Great Canadian Gaming made 11 donations worth $7,835, solely to the NDP, though vice-president Howard Blank made three totalling $1,315 to the Liberals. Prince George's Treasure Cove casino is listed as making two $10,000 donations to the NDP on the same day, December 12.

Progressive Strategies lobbyist Patrick Kinsella stayed loyal to the Liberals, donating $51,652 and nothing to the NDP. Kinsella sold his nearly $6 million Shaughnessy mansion in March, just over a year after buying a $1.15 million house in Scottsdale, Arizona. His colleague, Mark Jiles, donated $6,577 to the Liberals.

Dennis Chrismas, owner of ContainerWorld in Richmond, donated $1,250 to the Liberals last year. His biggest was $500 on February 29 – two days before he met with liquor minister Rich Coleman to discuss the announced privatization of the Liquor Distribution Branch's warehousing and distribution. ContainerWorld was among the four shortlisted bidders, but bidders were informed on September 28, just two business days before final presentations, that the privatization was cancelled.

SNC-Lavalin chair Gwyn Morgan donated $50,000 to the Liberals for the second consecutive year. Morgan put $10,000 into Clark's leadership campaign in 2011 and was on her transition team.

BMackin@biv.com
@bobmackin

BC's Own Pinocchio: You Can't Fool Any of the People Anymore

The only confusion that exists is when she's asked to explain herself. Voters are far past the point of being fooled and pouring money into more air time does nothing but waste meager funds. 

A tweet by the Premier about TOIFA causes confusion
Vancouver/CKNW (AM980), 4/7/2013.

A tweet by the Premier about the Times Of India Film  Awards show has led to some confusion.  The morning after the show, Christy Clark tweeted '400 million people were watching TOIFA last night'.  But eight hours before the event began, Clark aknowledged she knew the event would not be broadcast for at least another month. Reporter: "It is going to be broadcast like a month after.  Any  concerns about that?   Christy Clark:  "I don't, I don't" The head of media for TOIFA, Laura Ballance, confirms the event will be aired by Sony at an unknown later date, "any of these awards shows, what they'll do is re-purpose it down into a TV package and then they'll advertise when that's going to be on and promote it the weeks to come.  I don't have an exact date but I imagine we'll get one very, very soon." She adds Sony's global entertainment reach is 400 million people.  CKNW reached out to the Premier's office today about her tweet, we have not heard back. ********************************* Premier uses media....to sidestep media VANCOUVER/CKNW (AM980) Shane Woodford, 4/8/2013 The Premier says in buying 30 minutes of TV time this Sunday, she wants to use the media to get around the media. Christy Clark says too often news outlets filter her message. "I think communicating through the media is different from communicating directly to people, I mean clearly it is. The intention with setting side a half hour of time is to communicate, talk to people directly and let them make a decision based on all of the content, unfiltered, talking to people about where I stand on the issues so it is a different process than talking through the media." Clark says the party is paying for the airtime, and questions on the price should be directed to the Liberal Party. The BC Liberal Party in an email says the cost for the thirty minutes of airtime is "around 100-thousand dollars."

So much for the BC Liberal Jobs Plan: Unemployment is on the rise under Christy Clark

Jobs down, unemployment up in B.C. and nationwide: StatsCan

By Emma Crawford Fri Apr 5, 2013, Business in Vancouver. 

B.C.’s unemployment rate rose 0.7 percentage points to 7.0% in March compared with the previous month, according to Statistics Canada data released this morning.

Employment in the province declined by 15,000 jobs, which offsets most of February’s increase of 19,800 jobs.

March’s Labour Force Survey shows that unemployment in B.C. remains lower than average. Nationwide, the rate increased by 0.2 percentage points to 7.2% and there was a loss of 55,000 full-time jobs – the lowest single-month increase since 2009.

The Canadian dollar fell nearly a whole cent against its U.S. counterpart on the news this morning, and the TSX opened at a near-four-month low.

Compared with March 2012, the unemployment rates in both Canada and B.C. remained the same.

The lowest unemployment rates were found in:

• Saskatchewan (3.9%, up 0.1 percentage point from February);
• Alberta (4.8%, an increase of 0.3 percentage points); and
• Manitoba (5.0%, up 0.1 percentage point).

Newfoundland and Labrador had the highest unemployment at 12.3%.

ecrawford@biv.com
@EmmaCrawfordBIV

Battle for Abbotsford Digging up the Dirt: Behind the Scenes Wheelin' & Dealin'

In all the years your faithful scribe has been writing about the misadventures of the dastardly BC Liberals Mike De Jong has been squeaky clean. Heading into the May 14th election, cue allegations (from his chief rival's camp) that he may somehow be involved in some community infrastructure deals in his fair city of Abbotsford. 

Methinks this one has some legs and people are starting to talk. Wonder if the Auditor General has a role in investigating the funding of these kind of multi-level governmental and public projects, which also involves a major non-profit society? Since it will apparently involve provincial funds it sure seems like someone needs to be taking a much closer look at these projects.  

MLA Mike De Jong’s Involvement With YMCA Proposal Questioned

By Vince Dimanno, April 5, 2013, Abbotsford Today. 

The controversial YMCA project, under consideration by Abbotsford City Council for a gift of $17 million, is one single project to be built on the old MSA Hospital grounds. Many other projects are planned for that area and some of them will proceed with the help of Provincial funding. Abbotsford Today has received multiple and separate reports that Finance Minister Mike de Jong has been attempting to influence the outcome of City Council’s decision by suppressing opposition to the YMCA grant.

Rumours of conflict of interest and backroom deals have plagued this already controversial project which will see the City of Abbotsford give the YMCA 50% of the capital costs of the construction of a recreation facility on the former MSA Hospital grounds. That amount, approximately $17 million, is $5 million more than Abbotsford currently has in its bank accounts.

Last fall, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the YMCA and the City of Abbotsford laying out their future relationship. However, citizens have spoken up in protest of this monetary gift and support for the project seems to be fading.

In addition to the YMCA Recreation Centre planned for the site, a number of other projects have been designated. They include market housing and medical care related facilities. Some of these projects will be built with the help of Provincial funding.

Sources have informed Abbotsford Today that Minister of Finance, Mike de Jong, has approached one, or more, of these groups. He has allegedly stated that if the YMCA does not receive Abbotsford tax dollars and therefore proceed on schedule, the funding for these other groups may go to another City instead of being awarded here in Abbotsford. He allegedly advised one group not to speak out against the YMCA project or risk their own funding.

Abbotsford Today has been unable to find out what interest Mr. De Jong has in the YMCA project, nor why he would allegedly undertake to influence the outcome of its funding. Repeated attempts to contact Minister De Jong have not yielded any comment even though we made him aware of the topic and timing of this article.

Editors Note:
This article was written by Vince Dimanno. It should be disclosed that Mr. Dimanno is working on Independent Candidate Moe Gill’s campaign. Mr. Gill is contesting the election in Mike de Jong’s Abbotsford West riding.  Abbotsford Today received this information and our first duty is to our readers and the citizens of Abbotsford. Mr. Dimanno explicitly chose to write this article so that questions about his connection to Mr. Gill can be answered openly and any conflict of interest allegations answered. Abbotsford Today is a member of the press and as such we have an obligation to report information such as that contained in this article. Mr. Dimanno will also act as the media contact for questions about this article.

BC Liberal Fire Sale: Following the taxpayer money trail

B.C. Liberals hiding $800M budget deficit, says NDP

NDP finance critic questions revenue projections and sale of assets

CBC News, Apr 4, 2013.

The B.C. NDP says the B.C. Liberal government is deliberately hiding a deficit close to $800 million this fiscal year.

In February, Liberal Finance Minister Mike de Jong tabled a lean budget, forecasting a $197 million surplus in 2013/14, and a $211 million surplus in 2014/15.

The budget also included speculative revenues from natural gas royalties and asset sales.

But at a news conference on Thursday, NDP finance critic Bruce Ralston said he estimates the actual deficit to be $790 million for the 2013/14 fiscal year and $847 million for 2014/15.

"It's the real Liberal deficit, it's their refusal to be honest and open about expenditure growth and asset sales in this budget," he said. "Neither number is a real number."

Ralston also said he rejects the Liberal's projections for expenditure growth and the prospects of asset sales, but didn't say what his party's budget would look like if they formed a government.

"The Liberal budget projects only 0.8 per cent growth in expenditures for the coming year," said Ralston, in a statement released on Thursday.

"But average growth over the Liberals’ term in office has been 3.2 per cent. Either the Liberals have understated expenditures dramatically, or they are planning a massive wave of secret post-election cuts to critical services for British Columbians."

Ralston also questioned why the Liberals booked $475 million this year and a further $150 million next year for the sale of public assets, even though not a single sale has been confirmed.

"They’re counting on the sale of more assets in one year than the government has sold in the last ten years combined, and they’re booking the money before the sales have been made," said Ralston.

"It's not realistic, and it’s not prudent fiscal planning."

The NDP is expected to release their budget platform on April 17.

#BCLiberalFail #257 - BC Taxpayers on the Hook for Cost of the Times of India Film Awards

Mackin is doing awesome work these days leading up to the defeat of the BC Liberals. 

                                             The Beatles-While My Guitar Gently Weeps 

Times of India Film Awards failed to land big-bucks Canadian sponsor

Bob Mackin, April 3, 2013, Business in Vancouver. 

A lead time of 10 weeks meant the Times of India Film Awards was unable to sign a big Canadian sponsor, according to a marketing adviser hired for the taxpayer-funded, inaugural Bollywood awards.


Score Marketing president Garnet Nelson was contracted by BCCL International Events Private Ltd., the event-organizing arm of the Times of India Group, to assist in the hunt for sponsors. The awards were announced January 22 – just 72 days before the three-day event.

Nelson’s credits include arranging Honda’s title sponsorship of the Celebration of Light fireworks and Pepsi and Budweiser sponsor/supply deals for BC Place stadium. He admitted that potential TOIFA sponsors shied away because of the tight timeline.

“Our primary objective was to ensure that TOIFA organizers clearly understood the domestic (Canadian and regional) sponsorship realities, challenges and opportunities – while also helping TOIFA to gauge national brand interest,” Nelson told Business in Vancouver.

“While reaching out to gauge potential brand interest in TOIFA, we found that there was solid interest in TOIFA and the event’s target demographic; however, as expected, given the short timeline most major brands already had their Q2 2013 sponsorship budgets and related resources already well locked down.”
Nelson said smaller, local businesses were “more nimble” with sponsorship decisions.

Developer Thind Properties, whose projects include Skyway Tower, Metro One, Metro Two and Casa d’Oro, signed on as the Canadian presenting sponsor. Other domestic sponsors include Verka Foods, Gagan Foods, Fruiticana grocery and Nanak Foods.

A roster of 20 media partners included Postmedia’s Vancouver Sun and Province, Shaw, Global BC, Red 93.1 FM and the Indo-Canadian Voice.

Two days before the event, Indian underwear giant Luxcozi’s logo was posted on the TOIFA website as the title sponsor.

BIV obtained sponsorship and hospitality brochures that offered packages for $10,000, $25,000 and $50,000. BCCL required full payment in advance. The top-priced “Diamond Supporter” package comprised 67 tickets to all events, including four important tickets, four VIP tickets and 15 general tickets to the April 6 awards.

Eight tickets to the April 5 TOIFA film screening at Strawberry Hills were also to be included. However, the event at the Surrey Cineplex was cancelled, to the disappointment of the Surrey Board of Trade.

Diamond package purchasers were to receive logo presence in ethnic and mainstream media and on event posters, mention in the TOIFA website and social media, recognition at all venues and full-page ad inserts in program brochures.

The 22-page partnership offering estimated paid and earned ethnic media integration would be worth $10 million, with a local audience of 50,000-plus attendees and broadcast and online reach of a minimum 1 million.

“Exclusive, ‘money can’t buy’ VIP hosting opportunities, multiple sponsor representation, consumer contests, film screenings and much more,” said the document of what would be included. “Government, stakeholder and high net worth client engagement opportunities; High brand visibility and overall ‘brand affiliation’ positioning.

“Limitless opportunities, customized to suit business objectives,” it ended.

No rate sheet was included in the copy BIV obtained.

BMackin@biv.com
@bobmackin

Winnable Ridings Dwindling for BC Liberals: Keep Up the Good Work, Christy

Alex T. is on a hilarious roll with this one. Just about died laughing about Susan Anton. I don't understand why she thinks she still has a career in politics. How sad is it that she is considered a "star candidate" for the BC Liberals. Why else would Premier Clark show up for her announcement & the photo ops? 

For those who don't know Anton, she was a former Vancouver city councilor turned mayoral candidate who had the rest of her NPA hopefuls team campaigning and going on TV without her. It was all very odd. Result = NPA wiped off the municipal map in the last election. It all just reeked of NOT A TEAM PLAYER! And/or, her own team didn't like her enough to campaign together, you know, like people who are all running for the same party. 

Sign of the Times? BC Liberal Dip Below 15 Seat Mark!

Alex Tsakumis, April 1, 2013. 

... It’s getting even worse for the BC Liberals. No wonder they’re tossing Christy from their logo. Their internal polling is showing a dead-on correlation between her plummeting ratings and the fall of previously “close” or winnable ridings.

Here are some internal points of concern–just in the Vancouvers, oh, and one surprise…from the Bible Belt!

1) Point Grey: The BC Liberals can forget this one–I’d argue they already have. David Eby is the next MLA from Vancouver Point-Grey. She hasn’t put together enough signatures, STILL (!!!), for candidate papers to be completed, has almost no one who carried Gordon across the goal line (in fact many have defected to Andrew Wilkinson in Quilchena) and can’t raise more than a few thousand dollars from previous campaign donors, who slam the phone down on those making her asks.

The kicker? She’s polling TWELVE points behind Eby. And dropping…

2) Vancouver – False Creek: Sam Sullivan is trailing Mark Toner by nine points. So much for the former mayors philosophical salons and local cache. In the youngest riding in the province–and the one with most condos, the NDP are running a superb candidate: Toner is young, fresh, energetic, well-spoken and affable. If this is the new NDP, it’ll balance off the paleolithic union-speak that will surely come at some point.

3) Vancouver – Fairview:  If Dr. Margaret McDiarmid hasn’t lost her shingle in the shuffle of doublespeak she’s foolishly committed to while a bumbling Minister in this government, then she should dust it off–she’ll need it after May. George Heyman is too far ahead to catch in a riding that should be much closer.

4) North Vancouver – Lonsdale: Also an NDP pick. Naomi Yamamoto is trailing in the polls, badly enough that the Mark Marissen/Bruce Clark/Mike McDonald brain trust is stumped as to what to do. The NDP candidate, Craig Keating, is running against type, and, is even hailed after twelve years on city council, as a “fiscal conservative.” Incredible!

5) Vancouver Quilchena: For the first time ever, the BC Liberals are ONLY ten points ahead of the NDP in the most secure riding in the province. Andrew Wilkinson will still win. The question will be by how much. It could show just how badly Christy Clark has killed the BC Liberal brand.

6) Vancouver Fraserview: You really have to hand it to Suzanne Anton’s people. At her announcement, who was front and center? Why, none other than Christy Clark herself. I guess they thought that would help. Bzzzzz! Wanna try for double jeopardy? The second she parachuted into the riding, they went from five points behind, to eleven. Polls before and after tell the story. Well done. Always a good move to have the worst premier in BC history announce the candidacy of a wax figurine with a voice that has feral cats covering their ears. Only to wonder why the sudden drop in the polls…

7) Vancouver Langara: This is devastating. Moira Stilwell may lose this seat. She’s polling six points behind. In riding-by-riding/poll-by-poll comparisons from last election, this is beyond devastating. Langara should be a sure win for a woman so over-qualified to be in public life. Then again, she’s still covering for Pat Bell and Shirley Bond–who tried to bully her into getting the Wood Center moving a little too quickly, when she was Minister responsible. Ye reaps what ye sows. Betcha if she came out swinging and ran as an independent she’d win. Oh well, too late.

Okay, here’s the bonus…

Rich Coleman hasn’t filed yet in Langley. As of last week he was still collecting signatures. His campaign launch is set for this Saturday April 6th. People are calling his office asking for signs and are being stalled. And yesterday I get this nugget from someone close to Coleman: “I’m not really sure they’ve ordered signs, Alex. He was actually thinking about not running a few weeks back. It’s pretty depressing around here. He backed Christy to the hilt and I think he really regrets it, particularly since she keeps screwing up. I don’t know what to tell you at this point other than, you were right: She’s killed us. If we had any chance before, she’s completely ruined our chances now. Everything she says is a joke; everything she touches goes to hell. She’s made Gord look good. I know her people will blame Gord after this is over, but, again, you were right, she killed this thing off on her own. All these scandals are the federal Liberal way of doing things. Mark (Marissen) has his hand in everything. So does her brother (Bruce). We don’t stand a chance, unless there’s a picture of you and Adrian Dix slow dancing. And even then, I think with your popularity, it might gain him seats.”

Part 2: "You have to question the premier’s judgment:" Christy keeps courting the ethnic vote

Cummins questions Clark-Dhaliwal appearance

By Bill Tieleman, News, Views, and Attitude – 24 hours, April 1, 2013.

Premier Christy Clark held an “inappropriate” meeting last week with a former BC Liberal candidate who faces six federal charges for failing to file corporate income tax returns, according to BC Conservative Party leader John Cummins.

On March 26, Clark appeared with Sukh Dhaliwal who resigned his Surrey-Panorama nomination Feb. 8 after it was learned he faced charges filed in Federal Court on Oct. 15, 2012, 24 hours has learned.
Cummins said Sunday that Clark, as premier, should not meet with Dhaliwal, a former federal Liberal MP, because his charges are still unresolved.

“You shouldn’t allow your office to be involved when someone is before the courts,” Cummins said in an exclusive interview. “Prudence suggests that until that matter is resolved the premier should not be involved – it’s inappropriate.”

The charges have not been heard in court and thus are unproven allegations by the federal prosecutor.
The photos on the Facebook page of Surrey’s Laxmi Narayan Mandir Hindu temple 24 hours was alerted to show Clark and Dhaliwal receiving blessings with Marvin Hunt, the new BC Liberal candidate in Surrey-Panorama.

The event seems a political appearance, with only BC Liberal candidates present and no New Democrat MLAs.  

“You have to question the premier’s judgment. That judgment is flawed, time after time,” Cummins said. “There’s just something that’s not quite right about it.”

Neither the BC Liberal Party, Dhaliwal nor Hunt responded to 24 hours requests for comment. 

Dhaliwal became the BC Liberal candidate on Oct. 31, but claims he only became aware in late November of charges laid Oct. 15 involving Genko Consultants Inc., a company of which he is president.

Clark’s willingness to take big political chances by being publicly seen with Dhaliwal is a clear sign that things are increasingly desperate for the party as the election nears.

Beating BC Liberals at their lame game: BC NDP strike back

Love the new NDP attack ad! What a great parody of the failing BC Liberal smear campaign. 

                                                Adrian Dix: Risky in a 90's kind of way   

NDP launches cheeky attack ad against its own leader
VANCOUVER/CKNW (AM980)
Martin MacMahon, 4/1/2013.

The BC New Democrats are lampooning the attack ads that have been thrown at their leader over the past few months with a TV ad of their own.

In the tongue-and-cheek commercial, Adrian Dix is labelled the “architect of the 90's,” responsible for Wayne Gretzky's retirement, the popularization of plaid shirts and the formation of the Spice Girls, among other abominations.

At the end, Dix himself appears, saying he approves this message, but asks someone off-camera if the filmmakers know it’s 2013.