One is the Loneliest Number: BC Liberal Party Implosion

“There is such an anger and frustration out there a lot of [party] members are walking away. They don't want anything to do with the B.C. Liberals. They're just very, very upset with what's gone on right now.”
- Former Williams Lake mayor and B.C. Liberal nominee Scott Nelson (in the Vancouver Sun), Sept. 7, 2010

This week's song, One, is dedicated to Premier Campbell for all of his work on the HST.

What an extraordinary time of decline in the popularity of Premier Gordon Campbell. Headlines and news stories loudly trumpeting that Campbell now has the dubious distinction of having the lowest poll number, 12%, of any Premier in Canada and even apparently any leader around the world according to the news report on Global BC TV last night.

You're #1 at sucking Mr. Campbell, wooohooo!
We always knew this, it just took everyone else some time to catch up, including some of your party faithful.

It's very exciting to see some of the BC Liberal foot soldiers, starting to fight back and speak out publically and advocate for Campbell's resignation (and Hanson's in Bateman's case, at least initially).

People should not miss the importance of these actions - they demonstrate that the people who co-opted the BC Liberal party have become so unbelievably arrogant and out of touch they've even lost the faith, support and money of their own party members and cheerleaders. You know you're at the point of oblivion and well on the way to extinction when you're being attacked from inside the organism.

Some of these people, like Steve Forseth and Jordan Bateman are the future of this party and they are pissed that their party has been hijacked by the HST issue and by the likes of Campbell and co. who are destroying the party from within and without.

These henchmen and hacks are the future candidates, in the "paying their dues" time of their political careers. And they're angry because these savvy young Libs know, the BC Liberal brand is becoming mud with voters all across the Province and across the voting spectrum and age demographics. Lose, lose and lose any way you look at it.

Here, in no particular order, some of the evidence of the slow, painful and very welcome implosion of the BC Liberals:

Blair Lekstrom calls on Gordon Campbell to resign

By: Energeticcity.ca Staff

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

CTV British Columbia is reporting that South Peace MLA Blair Lekstrom is calling on Premier Gordon Campbell to step down.

"You hope that he knows when the time has come. I think, without question, most people would agree that the time has come to have a new premier," Lekstrom told CTV News.

Lekstrom resigned from the Liberal caucus earlier this year in protest over the HST and has been sitting as an independent MLA since.

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McKay Calls for Campbell to Resign

CFTK TV.

Former Bulkley Valley-Stikine MLA Dennis MacKay called on BC Premier Gordon Campbell to retire because of the HST.

MacKay says he's become increasingly disillusioned with the Liberals under Campbell, especially with the harmonized sales tax.

MacKay also says he supports former Liberal cabinet minister Blair Lekstrom who quit Campbell's cabinet and the Liberal caucus last June over the way the government was moving ahead with the HST despite widespread concerns among British Columbians.

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Premier Campbell should urgently consider Retirement for the good of the BC Liberal Party

Steve Forseth.

"I now find myself, with deep regret, having to join the ranks of Blair Lekstrom, Scott Nelson and Sheila Orr asking BC Premier Gordon Campbell to retire as Leader of the BC Liberal Party..."

For months now, I have tried to convince BC Liberals’ privately, via numerous emails/phone calls, that the provincial government’s communication strategy vis-a-vis the HST and the future of Gordon Campbell is woefully inadequate and needs to change before the voters’ stop listening to us as BC Liberals’.

Gordon Campbell no doubt retains the support of both the Caucus and Cabinet – after all, he is the “Boss”. However, he does not now have, in my view, the support of rank and file BC Liberal Party members’...

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B.C. Liberals try to quash party rebellions: HST Backlash: Members say Campbell has poisoned the party

By Michael Smyth, The Province, September 12, 2010.

Excerpts:

Party activists were determined to send Campbell, and the rest of the party brass, a pointed message: The premier has become such a reviled and politically toxic figure that his continued leadership of the Liberals threatens to send the reeling party over a cliff.

Reichert told the rebellious group they had no authority to call for Campbell's resignation and their resolution was out of order. The executive stuck it in his face by voting on it anyway, deciding unanimously to "receive, note and file" the resolution, recording the vote in the official minutes of the meeting.

"He [Kelly Reichert, executive director of the B.C. Liberal party] seemed very worried this was going to leak out to the media and it would embarrass the premier," Forseth said, adding the Liberal fixer pleaded for patience.

"He said Campbell could absorb the damage from the HST, so the next leader would not have to wear it," Forseth said. "But our worry is that it's too late for that. The longer Gordon Campbell stays, the worse it will get."

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A brilliant editorial by Joseph Roberts of Common Ground magazine is a must-read, but you will have to pick it up at your local library, health food store or elsewhere, as it's not online from what I can see. Here are excerpts below.

Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right: Harper and Campbell tried to harmonize their financial blunders

Two wrongs don't make a right, but this is how Harper and Campbell tried to harmonize their blunders so voters wouldn't notice, or find out.

The first big error occurred when the Conservatives cut the GST from 7% to 5%, which gutted the Feds’ profitable margin for tax collection... The Feds were short of money and not wanting to look stupid, they couldn't just say, “Sorry, we screwed up and we need to put the GST back to 7%, or maybe even eight or 9% to make up for the lost tax revenues.”

They came up with a new tax scheme called the Harmonized Sales Tax. They would pitch it to the provinces and offer them an incentive in the form of transition funding (some call it a bribe).

BC was reeling from the Olympic debt hangover even though MLA’s wages just kept going up. [Ed. And the salaries of senior bureaucrats.] But they wouldn't let the voters know they had blown their budget. It would have been political suicide before the election to tell voters they would be bringing in a new tax (i.e. hiders make liars).

More than 700,000 voters in BC have signed the anti-HST petition and they want better governance. Voters do not like taxation without representation, as was the case when BC's HST was rammed through by an order in Council rather than being fully debated in the legislature. Voters want democracy. They are standing their ground through the process of referendum and if that does not provide relief, then through recall of MLA's.

Two wrongs don't make a right but it does make for strange bedfellows. The provincial Liberal/Conservatives and the federal Conservatives/Liberals have taken each other as dancing partners to distract the voters from seniors fiscally lame screw-ups. Simply put, the Feds are in debt so they take our tax money and give it to the province. Likewise, the province is in debt so intakes are provincial tax money and gives it to the Feds.

This dance of debt continues until the music stops. It is not this writer's intention to have Tweedledee or Tweedledum run our government, but whichever parties are elected, the citizens of our land should be treated with honesty, fairness and provided full disclosure. This is currently not the case and it is up to the citizens to make it so.

One by One: BC Liberals Will Resign or Fall, It's Their Choice

"The fact of the matter is it wasn’t on our radar. We didn’t engage in any discussions. I wasn’t thinking about it until after the election.”

- Premier Gordon Campbell (The World Today, CKNW), Aug. 7, 2009

Lies Always Lead to More Lies

Remember back when we were young and many of us experimented with telling little lies, most of the time, when caught, we pled "I don't know why" when asked to fess up to our lies. Invariably, someone either pointed it out to us, or we learned for ourselves that our desperation not to be caught for our original lie led to the next lie, which led on to the next one and so on. The HST is like that for the BC Liberals and most particularly, Colin Hansen, doomed Minister of Finance and Premier Gordon Campbell of the rapidly sinking BC Liberal party.

"The harmonized sales tax was not on our radar. We said it was not part of our election platform and it wasn't."

- Finance Minister Colin Hansen (Times Colonist), July 28, 2009

On March 12, 2009 a briefing note was prepared by senior staffers of the Finance Ministry for the Minister, Colin Hansen on the potential impacts of the HST. This was immediately preceding the election.

It's impossible to recap the media storm swirling around about the disclosures of government documents, such as briefing notes to Hanson and Campbell which are incontrovertible proof, smoking guns even, that heading into the last election the BC Liberals not only knew HST was looming on the horizon, but they also had clear opinions that the HST had the significant potential to harm BC's economy and citizens. Senior bureaucrats, the guys paid to research and think (yes that does happen in government) also informed these elected officials it would likely be at least five years before any improvements would be seen to BC's economy if the HST were to be brought in.

Directly quoted, the briefing note stated:

“There are also studies showing potential short-term economic costs. Given current economic conditions, this could be a concern.”

“The [C.D. Howe] study suggests that it may take five or more years before the impact on [gross domestic product] is positive and even longer for real wages and job numbers to recover.”

Carole James, Opposition leader of the BC NDP, having her say in a guest column in the Province, stated:

"Incredibly, the finance minister claims he never read the HST briefing note. How is it possible that the finance minister failed to read a briefing note prepared for him on what is arguably the single-biggest policy decision of the B.C. Liberal administration?

Either he's not being straight with the public or he's incompetent. And as the finance minister points fingers at anyone but his own government, the B.C. Liberals have left British Columbians adrift. And that's the worst part of this whole mess."

Hanson & Campbell Must Resign

Unlike Jordan (pulled-back-in-line) Bateman, Coleman's Langley Liberal lackey, I won't apologize, or retract this - Colin Hanson must resign. There is no other course of action. He has so profoundly compromised his own integrity as an elected official, a politician and as a human being that he cannot continue to sit in Victoria, or anywhere else.

How must the voters of Vancouver-Quilchena feel? They put this man into office in May 2009. Now they know he lied directly to them during the last election? The evidence continues to mount that Hanson has told more and more lies, to cover up the original lie. He simply is no longer fit and cannot be allowed to continue to represent the people of that riding or the people of BC.

If Hanson does not resign, once November comes, the people of Vancouver-Quilchena must remove him from office by recall. Start sharpening your pencils people. You met the bar for the HST petition, the egregious actions of your sitting MLA cannot go unpunished because he has made a mockery of your trust in him as your elected political representative and the more he spreads his own "misinformation" the more he mocks every single one of you who voted for him. He also seriously continues to damage the very electoral process and political system.

It's people like Colin Hanson and Gordon Campbell who have led to mass cynicism, mistrust (putting it mildly) and a vast disconnect of legions of voters from the electoral system and democracy in BC. We would condemn these kinds of actions of political elites in other countries, this continuing offense to democracy cannot be tolerated or allowed in our own waning civil society.

In January 2009 Premier Gordon Campbell received a briefing note on the HST before he went to the Council of the Federation (of Canadian premiers) meeting.

When you lay down with dogs, you get up with fleas

I've said it before and I will say it again, how low will BC Liberal MLA's allow themselves to go as they cling to this fetid and bloated carcass of the BC Liberal party? How much of their own personal integrity and ethics of what is right and wrong are they willing to degrade and sacrifice for this party and it's corrupt and incompetent ways? What cost are these BC Liberals willing to tolerate to their own families? If there is anyone I feel bad for in all of this it is the families of these people, because the cost of the shameful and disgraceful behaviour of these public officials is also born by their families too. Aren't politicians capable of thinking about that anymore?

Open Message to the BC Liberal MLA's

Take a moment to learn from Blair Lekstrom, who now sits as an Independent in the BC Legislature. He saw the writing on the wall over the HST. It might not be classy and pure self-interest and survival, but he knew that if more people signed the anti-HST petition than voted for him, it was only a matter of time before he'd be thrown out of office in disgrace.

All you Liberal MLA's better start crunching the numbers, because come November, all of those people who signed the anti-HST petition and I bet a lot more people will be lining up to sign for your recall as the fall out from the HST costs us.

The anti-HST petition machine have got the numbers and they're going to pick you off, one, by one. They know the weakest links in the chain. As many of you MLA backbenchers know, or those stuck with bad portfolios (such as Mary Polak) know, you're just grist for the mill. You helped bring money into the party coffers, maybe a few other things, but other than that, you sit and do nothing, or worse, you've sat by silently while life became a whole lot more expensive and difficult for your constituents.

It isn't a stretch to say that over the last decade in BC, the quality of life for many has been degraded by the BC Liberals governance and administration. Selling off our assets and resources to multi-nationals who take the profits out of the province. And there hasn't been a damn thing citizens, or voters could do about any of it.

But the HST is the tipping point. People are angry and scared, because their paycheques, or pensions, or incomes are not going nearly as far as they did before all of these increased taxes. Life has gotten a whole lot harder for too many for some of you Liberals to survive your own government and party.

So, it's time for the line to be divided in the sand. Liberals MLA's who've sat there quietly while this was all going down better make some big decisions. Will you go down with the party, or will you pull a Lekstrom and fight for your own survival?

You have little to lose by backing away from a dying party and much, much to lose continuing on. You be the judge, but know this - citizens and voters in your ridings will be watching your every move and many more who voted for you in 2009 will be ready to kick you out in disgrace in November 2010.What do you think life will be like for you after that?

Citizen Power

If anything, one of the biggest lessons being learned across Canada by the anti-HST petition is that citizens have power in the face of an arrogant, incompetent and uncaring government. Naysayers said it couldn't be done. They were proved wrong with resounding support to scrap the HST.

For the first time in Canadian history, citizens launched a successful anti-government petition, which was upheld by the courts. The power of citizens can no longer be underestimated. It is what will bring this BC Liberal government down. I look forward to that day, because the BC Liberals have Sucked from day one and they have cheapened and worsened the lives of many for the benefit of a few. That isn't our BC and it's time to reclaim it back from the scoundrels, scalawags and ne'er-do-wells.

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HST Briefing Memo: Hansen & Campbell Caught Red Handed

Rafe Mair, The Common Sense Canadian, Sept. 2, 2010

Colin Hansen, our Finance Minister, not only isn't telling the truth about the HST situation, he is a sniveling, cringing coward to boot. Be a Man, Hansen! Own up, level with people! You look like the kid with chocolate all over his face denying to his Mom that he pinched the chocolate bar as the store keeper alleged.

If you cannot be honest, at least stand up and admit it!

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Liberals HST Woes go from Bad to Worse

Michael Smyth, The Province, September 3, 2010

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There's a lot of misinformation out there VICTORIA/CKNW(AM980) Sean Leslie | Email news tips to Sean 9/3/2010 Finance Minister Colin Hansen says he's not surprised that a new poll shows two thirds of British Columbians feel the HST has cost them money. Hansen says the survey by Angus Reid Public Opinion confirms many people have some bad information about the tax, "63 per-cent think that their cell phone bills went up, which they didn't. 61 per-cent think that adult clothing got more expensive because of the HST. That's not true. And what was really surprising is that 76 per-cent thought that basic groceries would be subject to the HST, and of course they're exempt." Hansen complains the Government wanted to correct that misinformation in a mail-out to British Columbians that Elections BC rejected during the Bill Vander Zalm ANTI-HST petition campaign.

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.