Zippy Campbell: The Declining Days of the Empire

Photo: Darryl Dyck, Reuters

The Beginning of the End for Gordon Campbell

Adrian MacNair, National Post, August 10, 2010.

Excerpts:

The B.C. Liberal Party won its third consecutive majority government in an election only a short 15 months ago, garnering 49 seats in the Victoria Legislature with a popular vote of 46%. In that election the B.C. NDP came in second with 42% of the popular vote, giving them 35 seats, but ultimately no ability to control any legislation being passed by the governing Liberals.

Though the NDP were powerless to stop the passage of the Harmonized Sales Tax into law in early May, several polls have shown that as many of four out of five British Columbians do not like the tax, and it has hurt the Liberal Party badly. What a difference 15 months can make.

A new Angus Reid poll conducted for the Vancouver Sun, took a random sampling of 800 British Columbians in July, and asked what party they would support if an election were held tomorrow. Liberal support has tumbled to 27%, nearly 20 points below their previous electoral result, while the NDP has surged to 48%. Even the Green Party and the B.C. Conservative Party have picked up momentum on the raw and visceral dislike for the HST, improving to 13% and 6%, respectively.

The poll also asked the hypothetical question of whether they would still support the same choices if embattled Premier Gordon Campbell, whose approval rating was 28% according to a poll conducted by The Mustel Group in May, were to resign and a new leader take his place.

This is significant, since it means that not only is Mr.Campbell damaged goods for the party, but he has done perhaps irreparable damage to the party itself. Even tossing the party leader overboard may not be enough to save the ship at this point.

The Liberals have shown surprising resiliency over their nine years in power, despite numerous scandals, controversies and bad press. The implementation of the carbon tax in 2008, for instance, at a time when gasoline prices were at a historic high worldwide, was not enough to remove them from power...

When it was revealed a few short months after the 2009 election that Premier Campbell’s lowball estimate of a $495-million deficit “max” was actually $2.7-billion, the leader took a huge hit on his credibility. And when it was announced that the province would be receiving a $1.6-billion “transitional” payment from Ottawa that was factored into the projected deficit, many critics called this the “Fudge-it Budget 2,” after the former NDP premier Glen Clark.

Now, 14 years later, it is Gordon Campbell who is under pressure to resign for the good of the party, following his own Fudge-It Budget. But it must be said that support for the leader has evaporated mostly because of his obstinate refusal to back down from the HST, despite a grassroots petition initiative to repeal it that secured 700,000 signatures between April and July. The HST, which has been characterized as a $2-billion tax shift from corporations to consumers even by former finance minister Carole Taylor, has shown early signs of damaging the rebounding B.C. real estate market.

The Angus Reid poll shows that in a breakdown of results by region, gender, age and income, the Liberals trail the NDP in every category but one: those who earn over $100,000 a year still support the Liberals by a margin of two percentage points.

Even if Mr.Campbell doesn’t voluntarily step aside as the clear obstacle to his party’s future electoral fortunes, he may quite well lose his seat in the legislature come November. The same group that launched the successful HST petition will be looking to begin a recall campaign, which by B.C. elections law cannot begin until 18 months following the previous general election. If Mr. Campbell is unseated from his Vancouver-Point Grey riding, you can be sure that the internal pressure from his party to step aside will become almost overwhelming.

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The party and current posse are so tainted and there are so many skeletons falling out of the closets, it's gotta be regime change, or the Liberals will truly become the Socreds. It's the slowest falling upon the sword ever - year after year. Scandal, mismanagement and controversy, with so much more sure to come. You can only plug a hole in a dam for so long. And we here on the street, the vanquished, so to speak, are being taxed out of a decent life, with BC's resources and assets being given to the Corporation as plunder for the victors.

Interesting Times Ahead: How Low can the BC Liberals Go?

Isn't this a hoot? Apparently the BC Liberals are doing so bad at the polls that even if Walking Eagle (who is so full of B.S. he can't fly) was replaced by more popular, appealing and charismatic leaders the party would still be behind the NDP, a party whose "leader" is pretty much invisible and a party that doesn't really have much in the way of a platform, or strategy to actually get elected. hahahaha

HST Damage Mounts

One month into the HST, how are things adding up for all of you? I know my wallet is lighter and I'm definitely watching how I spend my money more, as are others I know. People on fixed, or low incomes - seniors, families, the poor will be really struggling more and more each month.

Someone I know recently had a five day stay at a hotel. They paid $72.85 in HST on the room. $5.40 HST on daily parking. HST on food, and on anything else purchased.

Premier Campbell & Minister Hanson, can you remind us all how the HST is going to balance out again?

Fall Recall

The Fall should be damn interesting, as the anti-HST folks should have no problem springing into action with an easy recall of some of the Liberal MLA's. They've done their homework and know which ridings are the most vulnerable.

Lekstrom saw the writing on the wall and jumped the sinking ship first. When more people sign the petition than voted for you, as a MLA , it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out your days might be numbered in a most public, humbling and embarrassing way. There is some karma coming for the ostrich and possum crowd.
Can't wait for the mayhem, should be interesting to see.

As more and more businesses start feeling the pinch from the HST and the general economic downturn, look to them to start complaining louder. I would also guess there will be some real rancor between businesses that are losing and the BC Liberal corporate supporters and cheerleaders (I guess donations to the Liberals come with a price tag after all).

But the question of the day remains, what will be left of BC by the time of the next election? And what state will things be in? The Liberals have a lot of work left to be done to sell off BC's precious resources and assets.

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Replacing Campbell Would help Liberals But Not Save Them, Poll Says
Party led by Carole Taylor or Dianne Watts would be more popular, but would still lose to NDP
CHAD SKELTON, Vancouver Sun August 6, 2010

Angus Reid Public Opinion surveyed 800 British Columbians in late July and asked them which party they would support if an election was held tomorrow.

Only 27 per cent of those surveyed picked the Liberals, well behind the NDP at 48 per cent. The Greens picked up 13-per-cent support and the B.C. Conservatives six per cent.

The Liberals, who beat the NDP 46-42 in the May 2009 election, have trailed in opinion polls ever since, largely due to public anger over the introduction of the harmonized sales tax.

The Liberals hit bottom in early July, when an Angus Reid poll put them at just 23-per-cent support — slightly above the 21 per cent the NDP received in the 2001 election, when it was reduced to two seats.

The poll results reveal how deeply unpopular Campbell has become.

Three-quarters of those surveyed said they disapprove of the job the premier is doing. And two-thirds said their opinion of Campbell has worsened in the past three months. Only two per cent said it has improved.

We're Drowning in Taxes, Tolls & BC Liberal Hubris: How the Citizens of BC Find our Incomes Dwindling Away to Nothing

Dear Mr. Campbell:

Regular Joe Jason Cox wrote to the premier: And The Province got him a response

I just finished watching the news and see that we will be paying a toll on the new Port Mann Bridge.

I am so tired that at every turn in this province I have to pay for something -- and not just a little bit but a lot.

The majority of the population of B.C. is close to my tax bracket -- and NOT yours -- and we are so pounded with paying in this province for everything that there is rarely enough to enjoy. You have helped make it hard to live here in my province.

There is a user fee for everything, parking fees are unacceptable, tolls, property taxes, HST, the overall price of everything, and still you do not even raise the minimum wage?

How do you think we all make it? Do you even care? You grin and give out empty promises and do the exact thing all politicians do -- screw the working man.

I have often discussed with other folks how we all would gladly pay our share if we could actually see how much this province brings in, total! Then we would like to see where it goes!

I have never understood how one of the richest nations on the planet can charge its people so much money for everything. You all are clearly doing something wrong. You have sold so much of B.C. to outside interests it makes me sick to my stomach for what you've done to my child's future.

I don't know if you ever started out in politics to really change things and perhaps you did for folks with money, but you have done nothing for me and the rest of my British Columbian friends.

Change needs to be made.

I will do my best to write, email, call and personally talk to anyone who is ready to ignite change. We desperately need it. I expect the usual political, positive-spin email or letter back without any apology as per usual. You just don't care.

Yours Truly,

Jason Cox

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The Response: I know that many feel like Jason, which sickens me too much to repeat here.

You Can't Mediate Stupidity & Incompetence: MCFD's Real Problem

Oh all the hullabaloo, it's easy to lose track of the trees in the forest but I will help bring focus back.

All of this nonsense about MCFD refusing to release cabinet documents to the Representative for Children & Youth, which has now landed in BC's Supreme Court, costing taxpayers thousands of dollars that could have been spent on BC's kids. Make no mistake, this whole debacle, the latest in BC's child welfare system, had it's start with MCFD's Deputy Minister Lesley Du Toit. Her incompetence is legendary now, as is her lack of results and the FACT that the child welfare system has never been in worse shape.

Her refusal to meet with the Representative and the unprofessional secrecy and lack of accountability as a BC public servant in one of the most important Ministries in BC is at the heart of this whole dispute. This is a person who Gordon Campbell personally selected to eviscerate the child welfare system, which is being done cut by painful cut. That is what she is here to do, with her excessive salary (what bonus did she pull in each year since 2006), with her $2000 per MONTH "living allowance" and with a total absence of transparency, or accountability. And then she will go home. She will leave BC's child welfare system as a pale shadow of what it once was. She will return to her homeland, leaving a generation of kids as collateral damage to the ideology of the BC Liberals cut, privatize, deregulate, decentralize, ASD mantra.

Let's face it, if any one of us caused problems on the scale that this DM has, we would have been canned before you could blink an eye. Yet she rolls from screw up to failure year after year, yet, she manages to keep her overpriced job. Why? Why do our taxpayer dollars go to keep this person on BC's payroll?

Enough is enough. It's time for a major "change effort" and "transformation" of the leadership of MCFD.

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Premier has high hopes for Hughes
BEIJING/CKNW(AM980)
Sean Leslie |
5/19/2010

Premier Gordon Campbell is hoping former Judge Ted Hughes can sort out a dispute with the Child and Youth Representative over access to Cabinet documents.

Speaking from Beijing, China, Campbell said he welcomed Hughes' offer to act as a mediator, "I think this is a great opportunity for us to do what we were trying to do all along, which is provide the rep with the information she needed while protecting Cabinet confidentiality. I think both of those things are important and in the public interest. But we have consistently provided the rep with all the information she needs and to have Mr. Hughes come forward and say this is something that he can help us with, I think that's a great solution."

Hughes wrote an open letter to the Premier this week calling on him to take leadership on the issue of child protection.

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BC Children's Rep Wins Court Decision
CBC News. May 19 2010.

BC Backs Down in Youth Watchdog Fight
CBC News. May 19 2010.

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Let's Make a Deal: See Minister Polak talk her way around this one.
Public Eye Online. May 19 2010

The government has accepted former conflict of interest commissioner Ted Hughes offer to mediate a dispute between the children and youth representative and the ministry of children and family development. Mr. Hughes - who recommended the creation of the representative's office in 2006 - made that offer in a letter sent to Gordon Campbell yesterday. In the letter, he asked the premier to withdraw legislation would strip the representative of her unrestricted legal right to cabinet documents...

Ted Hughes Letter to Premier Campbell
Posted on Public Eye Online.

A government amendment seeking to strip the children and youth representative of her unrestricted legal right to access cabinet documents would "strike a negative blow to the heart" of efforts to restore confidence to British Columbia's child welfare system. That's the assessment of Ted Hughes, whose 2006 review of that system recommended the creation of that office, which is presently held by Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond. In a letter delivered to the legislature today and addressed to Premier Gordon Campbell, Mr. Hughes called on him to withdraw that amendment - or, at the very least, wait until the next sitting of the legislature to pass it. In doing so, the former conflict of interest commissioner expressed hope the differences between the government and the representative's office could be resolved through mediation. Mr. Hughes also weighed-in on children and family development deputy minister Lesley du Toit's troubled relationship with Ms. Turpel-Lafond.

According to his letter, "this unfortunate and unacceptable relationship is standing in the way of the full repair of the child welfare system of this province which my Report was intended to achieve." Again, Mr. Hughes suggest mediation as a solution - offering his services to help resolve that dispute at no cost to the government. And he encouraged the premier to "take a leadership rule in such an initiative." The following is a complete copy of Mr. Hughes's letter.

Deputy Premier Allan Seckel's Letter to Ted Hughes

Chickens Coming Home to Roost: BC Liberals Continue to Unravel

Update to the many scandals, skeletons and scalawags who've been written of so fondly in previous posts.

Any comments on your government picks Premier Gordon (I blew 0.149) Campbell? Or, Minister (Squeaky-Clean-Right-Now) De Jong?

What's that? Oh yeah, it's before the courts so you can't comment.

Remember this:

At one point she Twittered, "Those B.C. wines are the best."

B.C. Liberal Jane Thornthwaite - North Vancouver-Seymour MLA

Update: Just check out Thornthwaite's sheer arrogance when questioned as to the charges. Ask yourself, if she isn't embarrassed at her poor judgment, her actions and being charged with a criminal offense as a member of our Legislature, what the hell is wrong with her?

See for yourself what this BC Liberal MLA is all about when caught by Public Eye Online. Only question that remains, when can we expect her resignation because this is a poke in the eye of the people of BC?

MLA charged with drunk driving need not resign seat, premier says

From BC Premier Fined for Drunk Driving

"British Columbia's premier was fined $913 US (about $1,350 Cdn) Monday after pleading no contest to a drunk driving charge in Hawaii. The premier was also ordered to take part in a 14-hour substance abuse program, and undergo an assessment for alcoholism."

From Campbell Alcohol Level Nearly Twice the Limit

British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell's blood-alcohol content was almost twice the legal limit when he was arrested for impaired driving last Friday.

The premier told reporters Wednesday that he just received the results of the breathalyzer test, and found that they were 0.149. The legal limit is 0.08 (80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood).

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Breaking News:

Impaired Driving Charge against Liberal MLA Approved
Jeff Beamish, Vancouver Sun. April 28, 2010.

A special prosecutor has approved impaired driving charges against Liberal MLA Jane Ann Thornthwaite, the Criminal Justice Branch of the ministry of attorney-general announced today.

Independent Special Prosecutor Mark Jetté approved a charge of operating a motor vehicle while having a blood alcohol level over 80 milligrams in 100 millilitres of blood.

Her first appearance is scheduled for May 12, in North Vancouver provincial court.

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What does improperly mean, exactly? How was it improper, or why? What will come of this?

Farmland Boundary Changes Improper: ALC

CBC News. Wednesday, April 28, 2010

B.C.'s Agricultural Land Commission has concluded that 66 parcels of land in Chilliwack were taken out of the Agricultural Land Reserve improperly between 1991 and 2009, CBC News has learned.

Les was mayor of Chilliwack between 1987 and 1999.

One of the boundary adjustments that the commission has deemed "inconsistent" with existing regulations included land Les allegedly owned through a numbered company, according to the review.

"I am aware of the report," Les told CBC News in Victoria Wednesday. "But until the Special Prosecutor is finished his work, I am not commenting."

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It should read Plea, not Verdict. It's an important distinction.

Not much can be said about this case due to Associate Chief Justice Anne MacKenzie's publication ban on this case. It's sad that in BC and Canada we are being kept in the dark about a case that is in the public's interest to know about. This involves our government, our resources, our assets and the future of our province. Why the secrecy and whose interests does it serve?

Basi, Virk Corruption Trial set for May 17 After Not-Guilty Verdicts Entered

Three men entered formal not guilty pleas Wednesday in B.C. Supreme Court to corruption and money laundering charges related to the sale of Crown-owned BC Rail to CN Rail.

Former B.C. government ministerial aides Dave Basi and Bob Virk are charged with fraud and breach of trust. Basi's cousin, Aneal Basi, is accused of money laundering.

Associate Chief Justice Anne MacKenzie set a jury trial date for May 17 in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver. It is scheduled for six weeks. A pre-trial conference will be held May 3.

The charges stem from an RCMP raid on the B.C. legislature in 2003.

lpynn@vancouversun.com

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

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Gary Collins and Judith Reid among 44 witnesses scheduled to take the stand at BC Rail trial

Two former B.C. government ministers are on a list of nearly four dozen high-profile witnesses slated to testify when the oft-stalled legislature raid trial finally gets underway later this month."

Basi and Bobby Virk are charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes over allegations they accepted money and other benefits in exchange for leaking information about the $1-billion sale of Crown-owned BC Rail to Canadian National Railway (TSX:CNR).

Basi worked for then-finance minister Gary Collins, while Virk worked for then-transportation minister Judith Reid.

Former employees of lobby firm Pilothouse Public Affairs Group, Brian Kieran and Erik Bornman, are also on the list of witnesses and are expected to give key testimony.

Premier Gordon Campbell's chief political strategist, Martin Brown, and his former deputy ministers, Brenda Eaton and Ken Dobell, are also on the witness list read to prospective jurors on Wednesday. So are CN Rail CEO Claude Mongeau, former CP Rail CEO Bob Ritchie and OmniTrax executives.

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In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act. - George Orwell

BC Liberals Suck Campaign to Stop the HST: MLA's who Vote for it End their Political Careers

“Aside from the deceitful way Gordon Campbell imposed the HST on British Columbians and the government's falsehoods about it since, consider [B.C. Liberal MLA Don] McRae's grasp of economics...

“[The HST] takes cash away from working families, who by spending it, would drive economic activity. In other words, one thing the HST absolutely doesn't do is ‘reflect the changing economy.’ It actually makes things worse.

“Is Mr. McRae pulling your leg - or is his understanding of economics really that sketchy?”

- Kim Pollock (letter to the Comox Valley Record), March 25, 2010

The BC Liberals intend to do the housekeeping and then bring in the Hey Sucka Tax (HST) here in Beautiful BC. We have a narrow window to have that plan scuttled. The plan is simple and strategic because there is so much momentum building. Make no mistake, this tax will cost the citizens of BC millions. Most of us have seen our budgets stretched and our buying power and standards of living are dropping as the costs of just basics keeps rising. Every one of us has seen our grocery, heat, hydro, gas and just basic living going up with no end in sight to that.April 1st saw even more increases to our basic living expenses.

Add on the HST which will apply to so many other things and we will all be feeling it. Small and medium businesses will also feel it, particularly restaurants as people will have no choice but to look for ways to cut their expenses. Leisure and luxury spending will simply have to be reduced. We are a nation that is crippling itself by our spending on credit and illusionary money. When the HST comes in, our real world spending is going to take a hit, as are the many businesses that will be impacted by this cruel tax.

Let's work together to stop the BC Liberals from bringing in the HST.

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Campbell's HST Illusion

David Schreck. March 8 2010

Finance Minister Colin Hansen was almost laughed out of the room when he told reporters that money from the HST would be earmarked for health care.

On March 6th, Vancouver Sun columnist Vaughn Palmer wrote: "By the end of this week, even Hansen was admitting that the move to link the HST to health care was mainly an exercise in public relations."

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"’Of two things you can be certain -death and taxes.’ -Benjamin Franklin
“As forward-thinking as he was, inventor Ben likely never imagined death would be taxed.

“B.C. residents are a scant 3 1/2 months away from the implementation of the harmonized sales tax -the dreaded HST -and, yes, death is included on the provincial government's hit list.”
- Greater Vancouver Home Builders Association CEO Peter Simpson (Vancouver Sun), March 20, 2010

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On July 1 the BC Liberals plan to "go live" with their plan which will combine the five per cent federal GST with the seven per cent provincial sales tax and saddle us with a 12 per cent tax " harmonized" tax on hundreds of goods and services previously only subject to the five per cent GST. We cannot afford to let that happen.

On April 6 this begins, it runs to July 5 2010. The Petition requires 300,000 signatures are needed to meet the minimum threshold, 400,000 in total to be on the safe side -- in all 85 provincial ridings.

HST Initiative Petition

An initiative to end the harmonized sales tax (HST). Elections BC.

The purpose of the initiative draft Bill is to declare that the agreement between the federal government and the British Columbia government to establish a harmonized sales tax (HST) is not in effect. The draft Bill would reinstate the 7% provincial sales tax (PST) with the same exemptions as were in effect as of June 30, 2010 and establish the provincial sales tax as the only sales tax in British Columbia for the purposes of raising provincial revenue. The draft Bill proposes that it be effective retroactively to June 30, 2010. The Bill also proposes that the provincial share of HST revenues received between June 30, 2010 and the date of Royal Assent of the Bill that exceeds what would be collected under the PST rules as of June 30, 2010 would be reimbursed to British Columbians on a per capita basis.

William Vander Zalm

Website: www.fightHST.com

HST Extinguishment Act

Public Notice - Recall and Initiative Act
Advertisement - Know the Rules

Media Obligations for Initiative Petitions and Votes
Recall and Initiative Act

You can register or confirm your registration with Elections BC by going on-line to http://elections.bc.ca or calling (250) 387-5305 or toll free 1-800-661-8683

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Here are some ways to get involved in stopping the HST:

Voting Record & the Election

Contact your MLA and ensure that they know that how they vote on bringing in the HST will determine whether they will continue to have a career in politics. Ensure that they are aware their voting record on the HST will be made public and that by voting for the HST, this will be considered a vote against their constituents and businesses in their riding.

Ensure that they are aware that in the next election all efforts will be made to ensure that voters in their ridings are aware of their betrayal in voting for the HST. Tell them that they can no longer be trusted to put voters ahead of their political party and masters. Therefore, they can no longer claim to represent the voters in their riding and the people of BC.

Any BC MLA that votes in favour of bringing in the HST has brought an end to their political career. As citizens, we can't do much to stop them from proceeding once they return to private life, but what we can do is shun them as the backstabbing ne'er-do-wells that they are. Their names should be mud forever more as traitors to the people of BC.

It's put up or shut up time for the citizens of BC. We must use the tools we have at our disposal - OUR VOTE being one of the most important. Politicians under this regime have been engulfed in a sea of corruption. Anyone associated with the BC Liberals is tainted and their stench emanates outward. We must use democracy to send a message to this current mess of politicians and to those who plan to run in the future. The message is simple - if you betray and harm the people in BC, you will be removed from politics and your good name and reputation will be destroyed.

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Find your MLA's contact information here.

Here is where you can find the voting record of MLA's.

Join the Facebook group:

Petition against HST in BC!! | Facebook

Grassroots & Community Action

• Make sure you are up to date for the voter's list with Elections BC so you can VOTE TO END THE HST!!!
• Set up your own blog, or group in your area against the HST
• Inform citizens of the potential costs of the HST
• Provide your contacts with information about how to contact their MLA to register their opinions prior to the vote to bring in the HST.
• Organize, or attend rallies against the HST
• Contact all of your elected officials - MLA's, city council's, MP's
• Bring resolutions to your city council's and ask them to pass a resolution in support of stopping the HST from being passed

Tweet a BC Liberal : Vote Against the HST

Restaurants:

Say No to a Meal Tax - No HST - Sign their Petition

Open Letter to Premier Campbell and Finance Minister Hansen

Dear Premier Campbell and Finance Minister Hansen:

Over the past few weeks, nearly 200,000 British Columbians have signed petitions in restaurants and on-line at nomealtax.ca, voicing their strong opposition to a new 7% tax on restaurant meals. Many have also shared their views.

Business, Industry and Other Leaders

• Lobby your contacts in government and MLA's and ensure they are aware of the potential costs to business operations and the risks of voting for bringing in the HST.
• Inform yourselves, your membership and networks of the voting record of MLA's on bringing in the HST.
• Ensure that your contacts in government and industry organizations and lobbyists ensure that MLA's are aware that their voting record on the HST will lead to the loss the support from your sector, that your group and individuals in business will no longer contribute donations to political parties, or individuals running for office.

Safety first for BC's Abused & Neglected Kids: I call B.$.

In this great video by Public Eye Online of a very unnerved Minister Mary Polak (Child & Family Development) explaining why MCFD is no longer setting targets and providing an accounting of how many children and families are cycling through MCFD and not getting the interventions and support they really need.

From Safety First @ Public Eye Online

• Rate of re-occurrence of child abuse and neglect increased from 16.9 percent in 2004/05 to 20.4 percent as of December 2009.
• The ministry has now dumped that performance measure from its service plan.
• Strong, Safe and Supported, the ministry's massive and poorly understood effort to overhaul the way children are protected in this province.[Ed. Or not, as the case might be.]
  
• None of those new measures deal with child safety outcomes.
• British Columbians can still find out about the rate in a separate document posted online, among several other measurements not included in the service plan.
• The ministry has abandoned setting public targets for reducing the recurrence of child abuse and neglect.
• Eight years after the tragic death of a two-year-oldtriggered a now four-year-old independent review of British Columbia's child protection system, one has to wonder what that says about the direction that department is headed in.

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If the service plan has to have a limited amount of bullets for some stupid reason then I would respectfully state that THE most important thing MCFD could do is fulfill it's bloody mandate - PROTECTING children and youth, ensuring their SAFETY to the best of their ability and providing children and families with the resources, SUPPORTS and tools they require to be okay.

The service plan is NOT what should guide MCFD, the Child, Family & Community Services Act should. Maybe Minister Polak and Ms. Du Toit should read it sometime, since it is supposed to be the legislated mandate of the Ministry. Here's some Coles notes:

Guiding principles

2 This Act must be interpreted and administered so that the safety and well-being of children are the paramount considerations and in accordance with the following principles:

(a) children are entitled to be protected from abuse, neglect and harm or threat of harm;

Best interests of child

4 (1) Where there is a reference in this Act to the best interests of a child, all relevant factors must be considered in determining the child's best interests, including for example:

(a) the child's safety;

(b) the child's physical and emotional needs and level of development;

(c) the importance of continuity in the child's care;

(d) the quality of the relationship the child has with a parent or other person and the effect of maintaining that relationship;

(e) the child's cultural, racial, linguistic and religious heritage;

(f) the child's views;

(g) the effect on the child if there is delay in making a decision.

(2) If the child is an aboriginal child, the importance of preserving the child's cultural identity must be considered in determining the child's best interests.

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They are doing away with the statistics because they are decimating the child welfare system even further and they wouldn't want to capture that in stats. That does not make for good photo, or video ops.

It will be blatantly obvious though, so many kids are being left at-risk and with the financial situation more families are in crisis and vulnerable which increase stress and other factors that contribute to abuse and neglect.

How can a government not even care who gets hurt?
It all comes down to values. Transparency, openness and accountability are pretty important ones to me. We owe it to our kids to do all we can to decrease the number of kids who are abused and neglected.

If we can't even do that, our society has been completely degraded and is entirely negligent in meeting the basic human rights of it's most vulnerable citizens. And that cannot be allowed to continue, nor tolerated in our society and province.

Reasons #37 & #38 People Hate Politicians: They Speak & They Mess with $hit when they Shouldn't

You know, politicians get a really bad rap, but clearly, some deserve it and sometimes there are those rare moments when citizens get to see them at their worst, or when they are being the most politiciany and their true colours come shining through.

Watch for that here: The Ministry of Hair Splitting
Public Eye Online.

Last week, the ministry of children and family development's top bureaucrat told MLAs she's "never refused" to meet with the government's independent child protection watchdog, despite having recently rebuffed the watchdog's request for a briefing. But the bureaucrat's political boss, Mary Polak, didn't find any fault with Lesley du Toit's contention because, according to her, there's a difference between a meeting and briefing.

Continue reading The ministry of hair splitting.

By Sean Holman | Posted in Provincial | Comments (4)
Tagged: children and family development, children and youth representative, Lesley du Toit, Mark Polak, Mary Ellen-Turpel Lafond

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"Stilwell told the Straight by phone it was “likely” that the CHP party platform advocated the recriminalization of homosexuality while she was at the helm, but that this fact had “gone out” of her head in 2010."

Advocate Romi Chandra furious at Heather Stilwell selection to the board of the B.C. College of Social Workers

A Collegial Atmosphere?
Public Eye Online.

An outspoken social conservative will be overseeing the new body responsible for one of the province's most liberal professions - social workers. Children and Family Development Minister Mary Polak quietly appointed Heather Stilwell to the B.C. College of Social Workers's board of directors effective January 1. Ms. Stilwell, who was reportedly the minister's mentor when the two were Surrey school trustees, has impressive list of social conservative credentials including being leader of the federal Christian Heritage Party and the provincial Family Coalition Party.

She was also president of the anti-abortion Pro-Life Society of B.C. and the Alliance for Life Canada, as well as being a board member and western regional coordinator for Campaign Life.

As a school trustee, she supported limiting sex education and opposed condom machines and books featuring same-sex parents.

Minister Polak's predecessor Tom Christensen introduced the legislation that created the college in 2008. The college is charged with registering social workers, developing practice standards and investigating complaints about members of the profession.

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Mary Polak: Appointment flips bird
Langley Advance. Published: Friday, February 12, 2010.

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From the BC Association of Social Workers:

Dear Minister Polak:

I am writing at the request of several of our members who have expressed considerable concern over your recent appointment of Heather Stilwell to the board of the BC College of Social Workers.

We acknowledge that Ms. Stilwell brings valued administrative and legislative experience to the BCCSW Board through her past service on the Surrey School board. However, as you are likely aware, many social workers have reacted very strongly to Ms. Stilwell’s appointment, citing her publicly stated positions on homosexuality, abortion and other issues which they believe run contrary to social work values. They question why someone whose views differ so radically from deeply-held social work principles was selected to be a public appointee to a college of social workers. These principles are made clear in our Canadian Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics:

• Social workers respect the unique worth and inherent dignity of all people and uphold human rights.

• Social workers uphold each person’s right to self-determination, consistent with that person’s capacity and with the rights of others.

• Social workers respect the diversity among individuals in Canadian society and the right of individuals to their unique beliefs consistent with the rights of others.

Read the whole letter from Pam Miller, President of the BCASW here.

Laws are for Suckers, Not for BC Liberals: Please Drink & Drive

At one point she Twittered, "Those B.C. wines are the best."

B.C. Liberal Jane Thornthwaite - North Vancouver-Seymour MLA

Doesn't it just do us proud as citizens of BC and Canadians?

We really have learned from your own drunk driving episode (the one we know about) Mr. Campbell. What a load of B.S. Of Course "the Right Honourable" Gordon (I've only had a few martoonis, occifer) Campbell is front and centre. Golly gee, cut the l'il lady some slack. We can all grow from our mistakes. Excuse me while I retch.

Clearly, since the plague of BC Liberal politicians who've been in office operate on a different moral comp@$$ than the rest of us who don't want our KIDS to grow up thinking that it is normal for people to drink & drive (or our politicians) then it's time for some new laws in BC.

1. If you are a sitting MLA and you are charged with a Criminal Code violation, you will have been deemed to be suspended from caucus and the Legislature.

2. If you are a sitting MLA and you are convicted of a Criminal Code violation you shall automatically resign as a member of the Legislature and a by-election must be held as soon as practicable in your riding.

You will not be eligible for the usual perks for MLA's. No education/re-training funding, no gentle glide back into private life. Hell NO! When any of us get busted for something illegal, we are FIRED! Or quit.

We shouldn't have to explain this, but apparently we do. When you breach your Oath, when you lose your personal and political integrity and sustain criminal conviction while in political office, you no longer have the right, nor should have the benefits of represent the people of BC. Or the government. You have failed your constituents, you have brought dishonour to your party and government and beyond.

One last thought, or question, who is paying Ms. Thornthwaite's legal bills?

MLA reveals she is facing drunk driving charges
CKNW.

B.C. MLA rebuffs calls to step down
CBC News.

B.C. Liberal Jane Thornthwaite has no plans to step down while she faces impaired driving charges and Premier Gordon Campbell agrees that the North Vancouver-Seymour MLA should stay on the job.

A government spokesman said she allegedly recorded a .11 blood-alcohol level in a breathalyzer test. The legal limit is .08.
Premier will not ask MLA to resign
VANCOUVER/CKNW (AM980)
Dan Burritt | Email news tips to Dan
2/24/2010

Premier Gordon Campbell said Jane Thornthwaite will not be asked to resign as an MLA - nor should she. "No, she should not, I don't think," said Campbell.

Campbell said he would have hoped everyone would learn from his drunk driving arrest in Hawaii in 2003.

He said he told Thornthwaite she made a mistake and it is not something anyone would expect to happen.

"I understand how that stays with you for the rest of your life. It's something that she's going to have to live with, and she's going to have to earn the trust of her constituents as she goes ahead."

Campbell said the message remains, do not drink and drive.

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For Immediate Release - Jan. 10, 2003
Office of the Premier

I have made a serious mistake, and I want to apologize to everyone including my family, my colleagues and the people of British Columbia.

Last night, I was returning home from dinner with friends, and the Maui police pulled me over. I was arrested and charged with driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol. I do not intend to contest the charge.

I will make myself available to the media Sunday, Jan. 12, at 3 p.m. at a location to be determined.

Gordon Campbell
Premier

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Judging Campbell by Campbell's standards
by Vaughn Palmer, Vancouver Sun, Saturday, January 11, 2003

He has not taken the position, as some of his supporters hastened to do
Friday, that a person who stands accused should remain in office until
after their day in court.

On the contrary. He has argued repeatedly that, in the public interest,the presumption of innocence has to take second place to the need to protect the integrity of the office.

(Ed.: Once in power, that translates to: Rules & laws - bah, those are for other people, not me, or my friends.)

"I'm trying to be quite explicit about this," Mr. Campbell declared. "When the conflict commissioner decides there is enough to carry out an investigation, I think that everyone would be better served if they stepped aside during the investigation."

And if he were premier? "If I were being investigated, I think that [stepping aside] would be a reasonable position for me to take -- yes."

Drunk driving is a serious, dangerous, criminal offence. Drunk driving by a premier is arrogant disregard for the safety of others compounded with reckless disregard for one's own reputation and political career.

It puts a whole new colouration on those jokes about Mr. Campbell being a control freak and a micromanager, as one Liberal supporter observed Friday afternoon.

Olympic-Sized BC Liberal Recipe for Poverty & Homelessness

Homeless woman in Vancouver - Tyee.ca

"Housing Minister Rich Coleman said the government's offer was based on [Jean] Swanson's group [Carnegie Community Action Project] promoting their services to the community. She wanted to go further and do a bunch a stuff to criticize and go after different pieces of policy, which frankly didn't surprise me," Coleman said. "That organization hasn't supported anything, whether it be the [government's] purchase of the single-room occupancy hotels or the adding of services for people with mental health and addictions issues, or the housing we've built. There's never been a positive comment come out of them in all the time I've been minister since 2005."

Mike Howell, 12th & Cambie. Vancouver Courier
Published: Friday, February 05, 2010

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Coleman, don't piss on us and tell us it's raining. The BC Liberal Poverty Plan, the agenda of soulless neoCon despots the world over worked better and faster than they could have even dreamed. Your government has tragically and dramatically increased the number of homeless and poor children, adults and families in BC. Then yàll realized you had to quickly do something to bandaid it since the world was coming to visit for the bankruptcy event of 2010, er, the Olympics.

Anyone working in social services, on the frontlines and the marginalized classes will tell you that the BC Liberals have been the biggest Misery Merchants and Poverty Pimps in the history of BC. They have driven a generation of citizens in BC to the streets, to deep, abject unrelenting poverty. A little harsh, hard to swallow or prove. Not at all. It is the truth. It`s so distasteful to mention _that_ sometimes the unrelenting truth hurts and those who mete out the despair and pain for their own benefit don`t like being reminded of their hand in it.

Here is the BC Liberal Recipe for Poverty & Homelessness, which has driven the crisis of homelessness and deep poverty in BC over the last decade.

1. They assembled some of the most bloodthirsty, amoral and vicious ne'er do wells they could find (we don't need to name names, we all know who they are by now and they know it too) and they killed the BC Liberal party from within like a cancer, installing SoCreds and worse.

2. They came to government. Again and again. On lies, omissions, and grave, grave errors of voters lulled into believing the hype. Best Place on Earth - for those with money, sure. The poor and homeless don't vote, who cares.

3. They conducted their core reviews and then carried out massive funding cuts across all governmental Ministries and public sector organizations.

Result - The need to slash thousands from the welfare rolls. They wouldn't haggle over how they accomplished "the numbers."

4. They slashed 11% from the budget to the Child Protection Ministry and over time installed the most incompetent, amoral and overpaid senior bureaucrats in child welfare history in BC. From 2001 to 2010 BC has now had a generation of children and youth left unprotected, abused, neglected and many have been deprived of the basic necessities of life. They sped up booting youth out of care of to fend for themselves, putting them on youth agreements, or just plain slamming the door in the face of youth who came under their mandate to protect, shelter and care for.

Result - The next generation of homeless, ill-socialized and deprived and in survival mode from childhood.
BC has led Canada in child poverty for 6 years. In good times and bad. And the child welfare and family support systems have been sliced and diced with much more planned apres Olympics.

5. They hired and promoted from within those who would ensure that anyone who could be deprived of basic income assistance and disability status would be blocked from getting in the door in the first place. Sounds like rank paranoia, nope, the M.O. is to prevent citizens from accessing services, stop them at the front door, because once they have a foot in it, it's hard to get them out. The peon's may not get that, but that's why they make good peons, they are always in a state of fear, so they will do as they are told.

6. They quickly shut down local welfare offices, consolidating and laying off staff and moving to the call centre model.

7. They did away with disability caseloads, where some of the most marginalized, disabled and vulnerable people benefited from one caseworker who knew their situation, they didn't have to explain things to strangers over and over and get lost in the shuffle.

8. They introduced the arcane and diabolical phone tree system you need a PhD to use and you still can't get a hold of anyone, or leave a message. Good luck if you are an immigrant, have mental illness, Fetal Alcohol syndrome, developmental disabilities, addictions or have any conditions that may make it difficult to navigate the labyrinth.

Result - 75% of Homeless people counted around BC reported that they could not access basic income assistance, or shelter.

Up to 15,500 Homeless: Report
Tally of BC homeless by health profs far higher than housing minister's.

By Andrew MacLeod, 31 Jan 2008, TheTyee.ca

Housing and Support for Adults with Severe Addictions and/or Mental Illness in British Columbia ( 765 KB)(October, 2007).

9. They introduced the insane 23 page applications for individuals to apply for Persons with Disability status. They made those who already had PWD have these done, wonder how many lost disability as a result of not finding doctors and other "assessors" willing to sign on the dotted line. Or how many couldn`t find anyone to fill the paperwork out in the first place.

10. They narrowed the window of who is considered àvailable to work`
Result - people who are genuinely disabled and those who have chronic health conditions are disqualified from PWD and have time-limited benefits.

British Columbia. Office of the Ombudsman.
Last resort : improving fairness and accountability in British Columbia’s
Income Assistance Program.
(Public report no. 45 to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia)

BC`s Badly Broken Welfare System: BC Libs created 'overly complex' maze that kept needy off rolls: ombudsman
Andrew MacLeod, 13 Apr 2009, TheTyee.ca

`...release of Ombudsman Kim Carter's Last Resort, a 121-page report that found the welfare system is "overly complex" and not designed to meet the needs of the people applying for help. Kafkaesque bureaucracy was keeping people from getting assistance, she found.`

11. They decided that parents with children over 3 should be kicked off income assistance. Too bad if they don`t have any employment skills, or prospects or daycare. Oh yeah, they also introduced a child care application form which was several pages long and more complicated to fill out than a passport. And, parents had to find someone willing to sign off for them.

12. With the Olympics coming on rapidly, the visions of public disorder, homelessness and poverty downtown had to be dealt with, so The BC Liberals slashed funding to affordable housing and then began a buying spree of buildings in the Downtown Eastside that are already housing people. They`ve funded temporary shelters.

What they are doing too little of is building affordable housing outside of the DTES and around BC and doing more to create longer-term solutions to cockroach and bedbug hotels, chaos and housing instability for a significant and ever-increasing number of BC citizens. I think we will see what their real commitment is to the people of BC once the big tents are all packed up and gone. I shudder to think of what is coming. Enjoy the Games. Reality will be upon us all too soon.

What Secrets do the BC Liberals have to Hide? Suspension of Access to Information & Privacy Investigations in BC

Foul demons be gone! What more do we have to put up with? On the eve of the Olympics more madness from our government, which seems to be adrift of a captain and rapidly heading for the rocks.

What a mockery this loathsome BC Liberal regime makes of even a pretense of fairness and of valuing the rights, dignity and respect for people of BC. They are an insult to freedom and liberty to the citizens of our province.

The man most in the know of the secrets and risks to the BC government, David Loukedelis, the so-called "independent officer" [aka BC Liberal appointee] who was the Commissioner of the Office of Information & Privacy Commission (OIPC) has just scored a gig as Deputy Minister of the Attorney General. The AG, home of the Justice Branch, the lawyers who protect the government from accounting for their employees gross lapses and errors and sometimes criminal acts. Boy, if one were suspicious one might think this had been coming for awhile, Loukedelis has been remarkably benign in this most important role. What secrets does Mr. Loukedelis bring to his new post, you bet there will be many.

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2nd B.C. public servant fired for welfare privacy breach
CBC News

In April, the RCMP found files on 1,400 social assistance clients in the home of a government worker, but it took the government seven months to notify those whose confidential files were involved.

Loukidelis's investigation is one of several taking place into the security breach that has already led to the firing of two civil servants, one of whom reportedly had a criminal record for credit card fraud and counterfeiting at the time he was hired.

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This resignation and appointment and how it has all been handled stinks to high heaven. If you look at a Ministry of Children & Families, they've had numerous changes of useless and clueless figure-heads. The delegations of it's employees didn't cease because some new idiot was on the way out and a new one in. The day-to-day work and mandate did not cease while the new lamb to the slaughter was briefed on the file by those whose jobs it is to carry on business and mandate while the political nonsense carries on. People can't possibly think it's that the elected ones (many of whom have little to no experience doing anything of much use) or Liberal appointees (Order in Council) who are really bringing the brains, elbow grease and know-how to the table??? Is anyone that naive?

Installed into the position in 1999, he has weathered the changing of the guard time and time again. Since the entire BC government is run out of Premier Gordon Campbell's office (which explains A LOT), there is no way that Mr. Loukedelis left the one position and was appointed a Deputy Minister (Order in Council) without that happening through the Premier himself. No competent, moral, or ethical government, or administration would make this set of decisions and leave the Commission without a delegated leader (in this case a Commissioner) unless it served the government's political purposes.

The government of BC, the BC Liberal government, is operating outside the laws of natural justice and the people of BC must do something about this before everything that matters to us is stripped by these banana republic corpo-demons.

Commissioner David Loukidelis' letter of resignation (19 Jan. 2010)
I hereby resign, effective today, as Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia.

DOCUMENT: Mary Carlson letter (PDF)

Privacy Official Sounds 'Urgent' Alarm
CBC News. January 22, 2010.

Work at the office of B.C.'s Information and Privacy Commission in Victoria is reported to have ground to a halt after the commissioner resigned suddenly this week.

Privacy Commissioner David Loukidelis resigned unexpectedly Wednesday to take a job as deputy attorney general.

Commission executive director Mary Carlson circulated a letter labelled "extremely urgent" at the B.C. legislature Friday calling for a quick resolution of the situation.

The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner is independent from government and monitors and enforces British Columbia's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and Personal Information Protection Act.

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How B.C.'s Government Tracks, Stalls Muckrakers

A deeper look at how Liberals track FOI-filing reporters reveals the methods, the spins, and how the reporter herself ended up on the list.

By Ann Rees, 3 Apr 2004, TheTyee.ca

But confidential "Advice to Minister" notes show the FOI process in B.C. has been twisted to serve as a communications tool, which allows government to scrutinize the FOI activities of law-abiding citizens who intend to hold it accountable.

The 65 communications notes obtained under FOI show spin doctors, using a sophisticated surveillance system, routinely track and review potentially-damaging requests.

All requests from media, anyone working for the Opposition, lobby groups, and others, who might use records to embarrass government, are automatically flagged as "sensitive" on the government-wide database.

Records deemed politically dangerous are reviewed by Liberal spin doctors prior to releasing them to the requester.

In addition, troublesome requesters are often identified by name and brought to the attention of the minister responsible, a breach of privacy protections in the Act.

And the entire exercise has the blessing of cabinet ministers, and the Office of the Premier through its Public Affairs Bureau (PAB) which designed and operates the communications FOI surveillance system.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Privacy and Information Commissioner launched an investigation following complaints from several requesters, including this reporter, who were identified in the confidential communications notes.

Not only did the ministry track requests which I had filed to MCFD directly, it also tracked related FOI requests which I had submitted to Regional Health Authorities which operate separate FOI systems - logging my legal activities across different levels of government and flagging them to the attention of the Minister.

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The “10 steps” that any would-be dictator must go through to close down an open society:

1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy.
2. Create secret prisons where torture takes place.
3. Develop a thug caste or paramilitary force not answerable to the people.
4. Set up an internal surveillance system.
5. Harass citizens’ groups and rights organizations.
6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release.
7. Target key individuals.
8. Control the press.
9. Declare all dissent to be treason.
10. Suspend the rule of law.