what an idiot. Noted that none of the comments are positive about Clarke. That in itself is very interesting.
Premier Christy Clark & the BC Liberals are both toast - so what happens now? (Thread #3)
Wed, 2013-05-08 21:08
#352
Wed, 2013-05-08 21:46
#353
It probably does not come as a surprise that if Christy loses the election, there will be a movement to remove her led by the business community and some high ranking Liberals. However, it is already fairly well organized with button saying "801" already made, according to Global TV News. The 801 refers to the the time 8:01 - in other words, one minute after the polls close, the plan is to initiate the campaign to remove Christy because, in the view of the campaign organizers, Christy, a federal Liberal, is not politically conservative enough. This will be further compounded by her losing the election. In other words, the attacks on her leadership will start immediately, if she does not quickly resign. The 801 plan is to unite for one to two years behind an interim leader, then pick a new more conservative leader.
http://globalnews.ca/news/546966/exclusive-movement-underway-within-bc-l...
Wed, 2013-05-08 21:59
#354
Global News rleased today the Basi-Virk agreement that resulted in taxpayers spending $6 million on their court costs despite the fact that the agreement says that the money must be paid back if they were found gulity.
Wed, 2013-05-08 22:22
#355
After Jagrup Brar, NDP MLA for Surrey-Fleetwood, praised Cuba's health care, education and social systems the Liberals accused Brar of being "communist-infatuated." Can you say Joe McCarthy?
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/b-c-liberals-accuse-ndp-m...
Wed, 2013-05-08 23:06
#356
yeah, the Liberals are red baiting. Isn't it funny how Conservatives like to paint a picture of Liberals (think federally) that Libs are socialists, communists and so on. And in turn, the Liberals act shocked and dismayed by this red brush stroke and respond with righteious indignation.
Now here in BC we have Liberal operatives, with campaign team composed of federal libs, using the same tactic. That's why I don't see any difference in those parties: cons/Libs, same party with a different head.
Libs whine and cry about dirty campaigns but they also are masters of it.
Wed, 2013-05-08 23:49
#357
I attended the all candidates meeting for the Prince George-Mackenzie riding this week. Not surprisingly, I found that the candidates with the least to lose had the most refreshing and bold comments. Deepak and Morris were stale, as all mainstream politicians get to be. Deepak was in attack mode which, to me, was unbecoming and unnecessary. I really wanted to hear more about him and what he stands for, not about the Liberals. His focus seems to be on industry and labour in the north, and he sounded unprepared and trite on questions such as support for transition houses for women, and hunting, fishing and wildlife concerns.
I approached this election with the conclusion that the NDP is no longer going to automatically get my vote. I think the party has gone stale and gives us little to vote for. Honestly, with the exception of the constant and annoying harping on their "Carbon Tax" proposal, the Green candidate most closely resonated with my own values. I would really like to see the Greens get some seats this election - for many reasons, not the least of which is to give the established parties a nice little wake-the-fuck-up slap.
However, do I think this particular Green candidate will best represent the riding? Probably not. And the NDP are outspokenly anti-Enbridge and pro-local economies, and this, for me, is likely why I'll be voting strategically here.
Thu, 2013-05-09 00:14
#358
Vancouver has the highest child poverty rate among large cities in the country according to a World Vision report called Poverty at Your Doorstep. As noted in an earlier post, BC has the second highest child poverty rate in the country with 2/3 of these children located in Metro Vancouver. Since Vancouver is one of the most expensive cities in the world in which to live, this is hardly surprising.
http://www.worldvision.ca/ABOUTUS/Media%20Centre/Documents/Poverty%20at%...
Dealing with this problem will be one of the major tasks facing a NDP government.
Thu, 2013-05-09 00:20
#359
I voted.
Thu, 2013-05-09 00:40
#360
Voted for Jenny. Hoping she gets upwards of 70% this time :-)
Thu, 2013-05-09 01:03
#361
Here is some more information on the "801" movement within the Liberal party which plans to overthrow Christy and replace her with a more conservative leader if she does not win the election.
http://globalnews.ca/news/547164/extra-q-a-with-jas-johal-on-the-801-mov...
Thu, 2013-05-09 03:42
#362
Here is some more information on the "801" movement within the Liberal party which plans to overthrow Christy and replace her with a more conservative leader if she does not win the election.
http://globalnews.ca/news/547164/extra-q-a-with-jas-johal-on-the-801-mov...
They won't need to lift a finger. Surely when she loses her seat she will resign.
Thu, 2013-05-09 08:18
#363
In terms of momentum, having a fresh & active "remove Clarke" campaign in the last week of the election would dampen numbers for the Libs.
Thu, 2013-05-09 11:34
#364
It is a deliberate strategy to increase the Liberal support. They are looking to get former Liberal voters who might be thinking of voting Conservative to vote for the Liberal candidate in their riding by promising to throw Christy under the bus.
It will be interesting though because it is a very dangerous strategy and could in fact back fire and result in more of their soft supporters staying home.
I think it means that the Liberals' internal polls are not as rosy as the ones published by their buddies in the MSM.
Thu, 2013-05-09 20:52
#365
Another issue that has reappeared today in a new format comes from court testimony regarding the use of Chinese temporary foreign workers for the proposed HD Mining's coal mine in northeast BC.
The diary of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) employee William MacLean was entered as evidence in the Federal Court challenge brought forward by a number of B.C. unions that are trying to terminate the Harper government’s granting of 201 permits for HD Mining’s coal mine project. The April 13, 2012 diary entry says HRSDC employee Lisa Smith “ 'was receiving calls daily from (the) Province of B.C. and CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada) regarding status of files.' ...
New Democratic Party labour critic Shane Simpson said Wednesday the documents suggest a contradiction. Clark and the Liberal government were 'actively promoting this program quietly, and pushing for decisions with federal government bureaucrats on the one hand, while on the other hand the leader of the party is saying: there’s nothing to see here, this program has nothing to do with us,’ Simpson said.
Alexis Pavlich, a spokesman for federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, said there was 'absolutely' no political pressure on the department to expedite the TFW permits.
B.C. Jobs Minister Pat Bell couldn’t be reached for comment, but the ministry released a statement by email. 'As with any major investment that brings jobs and revenue to British Columbia, the government worked with the company to identify and address challenges that could impede their project,' the statement said. 'At no time did government officials pressure HRSDC employees to approve HD Mining’s application for temporary foreign workers. This decision was made by the federal government; it is a decision that is solely within their purview.' ”
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/metro/Federal+provincial+officials+appl...
The court evidence contradicts Chirsty's and the Liberals' statements that they had nothing to do with the approval of the temporary foreign workers and could be used to raise the question with the public 'If they are lying about this, can you trust anything Christy and the Liberals say?' It also can be used to point out their failure to protect jobs for Canadians.
Thu, 2013-05-09 21:24
#366
In an earlier post (#345), I discussed Adrian Dix's determination to demand that Harper get back into serious negotiations with BC First Nations.
Journalist Vaughn Palmer today argued that Harper would "probably want to establish that an NDP government was not conceding a veto to First Nations over resource development. Also that B.C. was not simply sheltering behind the need to consult and accommodate as a way of blocking access to the country's West Coast ports for products (bitumen, thermal coal) that the New Democrats don't much like.
If Dix were seeking anything more than a respectful hearing from Harper, he'd have to be prepared to compromise himself. Not likely would the federal government agree to pour more resources into treaty settlements without a genuine partnership on resource exports that would benefit the whole country."
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Harper+will+likely+have+agenda+trea...
However, if Harper does follow such a strategy, and refuse to negotiate unless the Dix government capitulated on pipeline and other natural resource issues which First Nations oppose, it could backfire. It could cause problems for him in BC in the 2015 federal election because even the business sector wants some kind of settlement of this issue so that it can know how First Nations land claims would affect their investment possibilities and the likelihood of First Nations civil disobedience if they once again had their rights overridden.
Thu, 2013-05-09 22:14
#367
The broadcast consortium that organized the BC provincial election debate has accsued the Liberals of violating says the footage used in the latest Liberal attack ad on YouTube is copyrighted, and that all political parties involved in the debate promised not to use it for partisan purposes.
When confronted with this, the Liberals said their lawyer said they had the right to use the material but moved the ad to another YouTube location.
http://bc.ctvnews.ca/bc-liberals-accused-of-copyright-infringement-1.127...
Thu, 2013-05-09 22:26
#368
Kim Haakstad, who resigned as Clark’s deputy chief of staff in March because she was one of the principal designers of the LIberals' controversial ethnic outreach memo that almost cost Christy her job,is now a volunteer in the Clark Point-Grey campaign office since the start of the election.
http://www.theprovince.com/news/Ethnicgate+Haakstad+back+Liberal+volunte...
Thu, 2013-05-09 23:09
#369
The Georgia Straight has picked candidates in various Metro ridingd. Lots of NDP a few Greens and a few Independents. Not a single Liberal or Conservative in its picks. Its election coerage has been very good.
Party leaders have received most of the attention in the provincial election campaign, but as the Straight Slate reveals, there are some outstanding candidates who have flown under the media’s radar.
http://www.straight.com/news/379781/straight-slate-2013-bc-provincial-el...
Fri, 2013-05-10 08:45
#370
Where's the Vision for Clean Green Jobs? (thetyee.ca)
"Christy Clark is just this huge contradiction to me," Jaccard said. On the one hand she's talking about creating jobs and eliminating debt for our children and grandchildren. On the other she's championing development of a "toxic" resource that will increase global warming and degrade the environment for those future generations, he said."Why would you want those jobs?" he asked. A government could create jobs mining plutonium, producing heroin or building land mines, but it shouldn't, he said. "For me, it's the wrong kind of job creation."
Time for a bold green jobs plan for B.C. (vancouversun.com)
Fri, 2013-05-10 12:31
#371
Catchfire
[L]imiting our consideration to just the NDP and the Liberals won't cut it. We British Columbians must "think globally" while we vote locally. It is time for us to embrace the Green Party.
No one is perfect, but a brief look at the party's platform makes it clear how the Greens got their name. They alone in the electoral field support raising the carbon tax, and they are the ones most consistently opposed to oil pipelines. On natural gas, the Greens provide a lone voice of skepticism towards LNG and propose a moratorium on new gas developments. They even go so far as to endorse relocalization and to question our current economic model of perpetual growth.
On non-environmental issues, the Greens favour the creation of a Guaranteed Livable Income as a means of poverty elimination, ensuring that no one in B.C. falls below the Statistics Canada low-income cut-off. This would amount to a major raise for those on welfare or disability, while at the same time reducing administrative costs by combining all social assistance programs into one. The Greens also propose a living wage for public sector employees, a phase-out of B.C.'s regressive MSP premiums, and a drastic reduction in post-secondary tuition fees. They support an end to drug prohibition (which is, strictly speaking, a matter of federal jurisdiction, but provinces do have the freedom to set their own policing priorities). And more than any other party, the Greens are committed to a deepening of democracy through free votes in the Legislature, campaign finance reform, electoral reform, and an expanded use of citizens' assemblies.
So why vote Green? Why vote for a party that is not Liberal or NDP, not one of the two main contenders? A party with a reputation for being marginal, minor league, no more than a protest vote? Simply put: because the Greens have the strongest policies on the issues that matter most.
Fri, 2013-05-10 14:45
#372
Circumstantial evidence for the connection between the large funding provided by the pharmaceutical firms and the retail pharmacies to the Liberal party and the Liberal government's cut in funding and denial of access to key health data to the Therapeutics Initiative is growing. As described in post #344, the Therapeutics Initiative was established during the NDP Harcourt government at the UBC in order to act as independent agent in the evaluation of pharmaceutical drugs. It has been credited with saving both lives and money in B.C. by providing doctors and pharmacists with up-to-date, evidence-based information on whether prescription drug were effective, what their side effects were, and whether a cheaper alternative would have the same effect.
The Liberal government used a pharmaceutical industry-dominated committee to cut TI funding and then suspended its activity completely, claiming that seven employees improperly shared the health data of some BCers with researchers. Five of the fired employees are suing the government for wrongful dismissal. The Liberals now refuse to discuss the issue because it is before the courts - the same strategy they used with BC Rail.
Adrian Dix announced that he will reinstate funding for TI.
In an article entitled "B.C. Liberals a Favourite of Big Pharma", the Vancouver Sun notes that
"Drug companies and pharmacies donated nearly $600,000 to the B.C. Liberals over the past eight years — almost 14 times more than what was given to the NDP. ...
And many of those big Liberal donors — including Pfizer and Merck — are among the most active lobbyists who meet with politicians to speak about policy decisions. ...
In an email to The Sun Wednesday, Pfizer Canada spokesman Vincent Lamoureux did not answer a question about whether the drug company has ever raised concerns with the government about the Therapeutics Initiative, which has long been a thorn in the side of drug companies. ...
Pfizer has given $39,427 to the Liberals since 2005, and only $645 to the NDP, according to The Sun’s research. It is also an active lobbyist, indicating in the lobbyist registry it meets with health ministry staff to discuss Pfizer products being included in PharmaCare.
One of the seven fired health ministry workers, PhD student Roderick MacIsaac, was testing Pfizer’s smoking cessation drug Champix, which has been linked to health concerns and banned in some countries. MacIsaac was terminated three days before completing his contract with the government, and was found dead in December. The coroner is investigating his cause of death.
Two pharmaceutical-related businesses — Merck and Rx&D — were the 10th and 11th most active of the 376 organizations registered as of April 1 to lobby the provincial government.
Merck said it intended to contact government officials 178 times, with Health Minister Margaret MacDiarmid being the top target, and wanted to 'provide perspectives on policy changes which may impact access to innovative medicines,' according to the lobbyist registry. Merck Canada did not respond to an interview request by The Sun.
Rx&D — a lobby group that represents Canada’s largest pharmaceutical companies — intended 177 contacts with the government, with a focus on Premier Christy Clark.
Alan Cassels, a drug policy researcher at the University of Victoria, analyzed the political donations by pharmacies and drug companies as well and came up with similar numbers to The Sun’s. While the drug companies have been donating to the Liberals for years, the first donation to the NDP was in 2010, Cassels found. Cassels argues the firing of the seven ministry workers was mysterious, and that the Liberal government has undertaken a deliberate effort to sideline the Therapeutics Initiative. 'You only have to follow the money on that one. How much have they taken in campaign donations?” he said. “Most of the enterprise of drug policy research has ground to a halt in B.C.' ”
http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Liberals+favourite+pharma/8363549/sto...
This is another example of why the NDP proposed ban on corporate and union funding of political parties needs to be implemented immediately if they get into office.
Fri, 2013-05-10 17:44
#373
Journalist Vaughn Palmer today discussed the future of the leaders of all four parties following the election.
John Cummins, although having improved the BC Conservatives polling numbers compared to elections in the last 30 years, has engendered a bitter internal fight over leadership and his dictatorial style. He is unlikely to win the Langley riding in which he is running and, at 71, is unlikely to stay as leader if he is defeated. If he tried, he would almost certainly be challenged and probably removed from the leadership.
Although many acknowledge that Jane Sterk has run a much better campaign than in 2009, she is unlikely to defeat former NDP leader Carole James, who is highly popular in her Victoria-Beacon Hill riding. Sterk has announced that she will resign as leader if she does not win the riding. The most likely replacement is Andrew Weaver, especially if he wins his Oak Bay riding.
The "801" movement to remove Christy Clark already has buttons circulatiing with this number that indicates that one minute after the polls close at 8:00 PM the business and Liberal establishment insiders plan to start the removal process because Clark is not conservative enough for them. The plan is to choose an interim leader who runs the party for a year or two until a permanent leader is chosen. It looks as if the 801 movement is deliberately trying to sabotage Clark's campaign by distributing these buttons and by providing the media with information about their plan in order to help ensure that Clark does not win or even come close enough to be given another chance as leader.
"Her hold on the party leadership was already in doubt before the campaign got underway. There was much internal grumbling about everything from the nitwit ethnic outreach strategy that was cooked up in her office to the desperate election platform, grounded on things that won’t happen until after the 2017 election."
Can you say Kevin Falcon, who lost to Christy for the Liberal leadership by only a couple of points? This way he might avoid directly having to stab Clark in the back. The only chance Clark has of surviving is to win the election and her riding.
Altough Adrian Dix sits in the best position of all party leaders, if he were to lose an election where he had a 20% lead only a few weeks ago (which I think is highly unlikely with the latest May 8-9 Ipsos Reid poll showing the NDP ahead 43% to 37% of the Liberals with 10% for the Greens and 7% for the Cons), he would also probably soon be gone.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/bc-election/Vaughn+Palmer+Party+leaders...
Fri, 2013-05-10 18:54
#374
Oh the irony! I was driving along Canada Way yesterday afternoon in Burnaby travelling westbound when one of Kathy Corrigan's large lawn signs blew over and almost hit my car. I had to swerve to miss it. That was a bit scary.
Still a little shaken, I went to an advance poll and voted NDP (Dr. Jane Shin). Even when they try to kill me, I still vote NDP. 
Fri, 2013-05-10 19:07
#375
Another Liberal dirty trick - promoting Greens in ad to take NDP votes.
Fri, 2013-05-10 19:25
#376
Here is a great little video ad. The Liberals as the worst boyfriend ever.
It was produced by CUPE, pass it along.
Fri, 2013-05-10 19:30
#377
Was out shopping today and the radio was playing NDP fight back ads. No personal attacks but pointed statements about BC Rail and its $6 million dollar non trial and the Ethicmemo scandal and the HST and the $17 million in pre-election spending by the government for partisan ads.
I still think the 801 is a deliberate strategy to collapse the Conservative vote. Nobody needs a button to point out the obvious, that Christy will not be leader unless she wins the election.
Fri, 2013-05-10 21:02
#378
I still think the 801 is a deliberate strategy to collapse the Conservative vote. Nobody needs a button to point out the obvious, that Christy will not be leader unless she wins the election.
She may not even be leader *if* she wins the election. If they manage to eke out a close shave of a victory, what are the odds that she'll still have her seat in Point Grey?
Sat, 2013-05-11 09:40
#379
The dirty trick Liberal ad referred to in post #374 was a full page ad placed in the largest circulation Vancouver Island newspaper, the Victora Times-Colonist, in the region where the Greens are strongest. The ad asks 'Who is strong enough to stand up for B.C.?' in a large banner running across the top of the page. Below this is a Jane Sterk photo with the caption 'says no to Kinder Morgan, says no to Enbridge Northern Gateway, and says no to tanker traffic off our coast.' The ad also says both the NDP and Dix are 'flip-flopping.'
Dix answered the ad by saying that the Liberals will say and do anything to keep power.
" 'What the Liberals are saying is: 'Our path to get to power is for you to vote Green,' he said at a campaign event in Esquimalt.
'I say: The way to change the government, to get a new and better government, is to vote NDP.'
The New Democrats hold 10 of 14 seats on the Island, where the Green party has its best hope of a breakthrough next week."
http://www.vancouversun.com/Island+gets+attention/8371587/story.html
Dix is right. The Liberals are doing everything to keep power. However, this ad may backfire on them if the NDP can spread the word around the island and the province enough to make a difference. They should buy a full page ad in the Sunday Victoria Times Colonist showing this ad and explaining what the Liberals were up to in trying to increase the Green vote at the expense of the NDP by a phony ad. They could also say it shows how desperate they really are, especially on the island where they are in third place in the polls in some polls.
Sat, 2013-05-11 12:18
#380
The St'at'imc Chiefs Council of southwestern British Columbia intends to "embarass" the next provincial government as well as companies that are tresspassing on its traditional lands by blocking a railway line and a highway. The Council wants the new government to quickly deal with the February 7th judicial decision that the Douglas Trail Road, which crosses their traditional lands is a public highway. The First Nation opposed the legal action filed by a local resident that the road was a public highway. "At issue for the St'at'imc, though, are the Sea to Sky Highway, formally known as Highway 99, the Canadian National Railway line, and a Telus fibre-optic line. Representative from CN and the provincial government were unable to comment by publication."
In addition, the Lil'Wat and Squamish First Nations on Wednesday initiated a lawsuit involving the BC government's approval of Whistler, B.C.'s Official Community Plan. These First Nations want the BC Supreme Court to reject this plan because the government did not consult them about it. They claim that they a right to be consulted, due to their 'unextinguished aboriginal title and right' with regards to Crown lands covered by the plan.
http://www.vancouversun.com/touch/news/metro/First+Nation+threatens+acti...
The threatened blocade and the lawsuit show the importance of Adrian Dix's determination to make an attempt to start up negotiations with First Nations over land claims a top priority. Unfortunately, he also has to deal with Harper's Cons in trying to resolve these issues. I suspect that the new government will face more challenges of a similar nature from First Nations. Perhaps as the corporate sector is increasingly harmed by this, the Harper government may start focusing on this issue, although my hopes in this regard are quite limited.
Sat, 2013-05-11 14:12
#381
The NDP intends to reintroduce the requirement that children under 15 have a permit in order to work. This requirement was removed by the Liberals in 2003 and replaced with a letter of permission from parents giving consent that their child is allowed to work.
Christy Clark says she doesn't believe government should return to the policy of requiring permits for children under 15 to work, despite a recent rise in payout claims to children injured on the job. ... But the premier said the government should act to make sure every child under 15 who is working has parental permission to do so. She was reacting to a story in The Sun that indicated there have been 179 under-15 children injured on the job since the B.C. Liberal government changed child labour laws in 2003. ...
A study produced by First Call B.C., a coalition of children and youth advocate organizations showed that while 60 per cent of children surveyed started working at 14 or younger, only 24 per cent reported having parental consent.
Clark said she was troubled by the statistics, but not convinced the law should be reversed.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Decision+parents+Clark+says/8371593/sto...
Once again we see that the Liberals are more concerned about the interests of business than those of workers, even underage ones.
Sat, 2013-05-11 14:36
#382
The NDP has a new ad about the fact that BC has lost 44,000 private-sector jobs since the Liberals’ jobs plan started.
[quote]
British Columbians are paying the price for the Premier's failed jobs plan.
Statistics Canada reported yesterday that BC lost 10,800 more private sector jobs last month, bringing total private sector job losses since the Premier first introduced her failed jobs plan to 45,600.
Despite a $17 million ad campaign touting the Premier's jobs plan, the plan has delivered the worst performance on private sector jobs in Canada.
Today, the BC NDP launched the lost-jobs-o-meter, tallying the failed record of the BC Liberals on jobs.
To view go to
http://www.bcndp.ca/video/bc-liberal-lost-jobs-o-meter
[quote]
http://www.bcndp.ca/newsroom/reality-check-bc-liberals-lost-jobs-o-meter...
Sat, 2013-05-11 15:03
#383
Was out shopping today and the radio was playing NDP fight back ads. No personal attacks but pointed statements about BC Rail and its $6 million dollar non trial and the Ethicmemo scandal and the HST and the $17 million in pre-election spending by the government for partisan ads.
I still think the 801 is a deliberate strategy to collapse the Conservative vote. Nobody needs a button to point out the obvious, that Christy will not be leader unless she wins the election.
I think the Conservative vote has already collapsed, and the latest Angus Reid poll shows that the Conservative vote (6%) may be less than the gap between the NDP and the Liberals (9%). And the Green vote may not be as strong as they hope, although that will also be a function of not having candidates in every constituency.
Sat, 2013-05-11 16:21
#384
The collapse of the Conservatives is too bad but given the infighting all last year and the weak candidate field I guess it was inevitable. I am still counting on the NDP supporters being more engaged than the traditional Liberal/Socred supporters. However the Socreds like the Liberals were worse money mangers than the NDP and they ran many successful campaigns running against the myth of the incompetent leftists.
If you tell a lie often enough and have it repeated by the MSM for decades it becomes the truth for many people.
Sun, 2013-05-12 01:31
#385
Spencer Chandra Herbert, the NDP candidate for Vancouver–West End, which has the largest LGBT population in BC, has promised that his 2011 private member’s bill on transgender rights will be made part of the B.C. Human Rights Code under a NDP government.
http://www.straight.com/news/381001/spencer-chandra-herbert-eats-pizza-a...
Sun, 2013-05-12 15:15
#386
On May 9 UBC professor Tsur Somerville released a study that concludes that "relative fiscal management moderately better under the NDP than the BC Liberals" thereby debunking the biggest of the free enterprise party myths.
[quote]
Comparing average fiscal achievement numbers for the NDP governments in power in B.C. during the 1990s (under Mike Harcourt, Glen Clark, Dan Miller and Ujjal Dosanjh) with those for the Gordon Campbell and Christy Clark Liberals in power during the last decade, Somerville finds that the NDP record for fiscal management is "moderately better;" that aggregate employment growth under both parties was "relatively similar;" that the NDP record on limiting the size of the provincial debt was better; and, that the fiscal balance was more positive under the NDP.
(All of these assessments, Somerville emphasizes, are based on comparing B.C.'s performance with other provinces during the same periods.)
http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/2013/05/10/NDPFiscalManagement/
Mon, 2013-05-13 06:10
#387
Here are Alex G. Tsakumis' penultimate predictions:
NDP 58
Lib 21
Ind 5 !!!!
Gr 1
He has the NDP winning all but one seat in Vancouver, gaining False Ck, Langara and Pt Grey (from the Premier) as well as all but White Rock in Surrey.
It wins everything on the Island except Oak By-GH which goes Green.
He thinks the NDP will lose its by-election gain in Chilliwack-Hope but preserve its other gain in Pt Moody -Coquitlam.
Mon, 2013-05-13 08:39
#388
Nicky I think Alex is wrong about losing the Oak By-GH riding because such strong and known environmentalists endorsing the NDP.
Mon, 2013-05-13 10:20
#389
BC Liberal supporters have leaked to the Vancouver Sun the 2010 report of the the NDP's governing council on proposals for the 2013 platform. At the time Carole James was leader.
The report's proposals included: ending premiums for B.C.’s medical services plan, eliminating tuition fees at the B.C. universities and colleges, cutting funding to independent schools, providing public universal child care and early learning, reverting to government-run liquor outlets only, and nationalizing independent power producers.
Only a few suggestions from the document are reflected in the 2013 platform, including raising the minimum wage and apprenticeship-training initiatives. The party responded by saying that the NDP's policy is determined at conventions and the election platform is determined by the leader.
Dix has publicly ruled out several of these proposals.
On MSP premiums, Dix has repeatedly criticized the B.C. Liberals for increases, but has also noted the difficulty of rolling back a revenue source that brings more than $2 billion a year to the provincial budget.
The New Democrats have been sharply critical of the deals struck under the B.C. Liberals with independent power providers, and the party’s energy critic, John Horgan, has pledged to review those deals if the NDP wins the election. But Horgan and Dix have specifically ruled out breaking those or other contracts inherited from the Liberals.
Dix has repeatedly said that a first term of NDP government would maintain the current funding formula for independent schools, which in most cases provides per-pupil operating grants equal to 50 per cent of those given to public schools.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Leaked+paper+sheds+light+planning+proce...
For me, this shows some desperation on the part of the Liberals because most of the proposals would go over well with the public. The only way the Liberals might think they could benefit from leaking this if they attack the NDP for having a secret 'tax and spend' plan. Dix has anticipated this by avoiding the large cuts in revenues that a removal of MSP premiums would involve (although I would have preferred a move of the revenue to the progressive income tax from this regressive tax) and a loss of votes of parents with children in the religious independent schools (the parents of children in the independent schools of the wealthy rarely vote NDP).
Mon, 2013-05-13 10:52
#390
Apparently in response to the leaked 2010 report of the the NDP's governing council on proposals for the 2013 platform, NDP supporters let the Vancouver Sun know that the BC Liberal spokesman for Premier Christy Clark, Ben Chin, will face questions in the Ontario probe by Ontario's Standing Committee on Justice of the political scandal involving Premier Dalton McGuinty's decision to scrap gas plants planned for Mississauga and Oakville.
Chin is being called to testify because he helped TransCanada Energy, the company that was building the plants, communicate with the Premier's office while he was vice-president of communications for the Ontario Power Authority.
http://www.vancouversun.com/Liberal+spokesman+face+questions+Ontario+pro...
Mon, 2013-05-13 17:06
#391
If the BC NDP get elected, maybe they should pass a law limiting voting to those in elementary and secondary school. (At the bottom of the page, there is a section, called BC Election Controversial Candidates, with the second one title Mischa Popoff (former Conservative candidate in Boundary-Similkameen will not be Bullied if you click on it - a great laugh if you haven't already seen it.)
If school children could vote, the New Democrats would have swept into power long ago in British Columbia, where students buck the national trend in mock elections.
While actual voters elected Liberal governments in 2005 and 2009, kids across the province favoured the NDP in parallel elections, which ran alongside the real one and involved thousands of students from Grade 1 through high school.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/05/12/bc-election-2013-students_n_3263...
Mon, 2013-05-13 18:25
#392
The BC Liberal member of the power panel on Power and Politics claimed that the 2011 NDP's governing council on proposals for the 2013 platform (referred to in post #389), many of which were not included in the platform, is the actual NDP platform for this election. She said the Liberals are spreading the word on this so that voters realize what the real NDP agenda is and that they are the old 'tax and spend' NDP. Any lie in a storm.
Mon, 2013-05-13 19:07
#393
Catchfire
I hope North Report drops back in soon to give us his thoughts and predictions.
Mon, 2013-05-13 20:54
#394
The BC Liberal member of the power panel on Power and Politics claimed that the 2011 NDP's governing council on proposals for the 2013 platform (referred to in post #389), many of which were not included in the platform, is the actual NDP platform for this election. She said the Liberals are spreading the word on this so that voters realize what the real NDP agenda is and that they are the old 'tax and spend' NDP. Any lie in a storm.
Laughable really. I don't think many of these are even in policy.
Mon, 2013-05-13 22:43
#395
Here is the Tyee's predictions for all 85 ridings in the province. If you click on a particular riding name you will get a much more detailed description and explanation for their prediction than given on the summary page of all 85 ridings.
Mon, 2013-05-13 22:53
#396
A lot of those ideas the NDP considered for its platform but didn't implement are actually quite popular ideas. I doubt this will have a huge impact.
Tue, 2013-05-14 01:49
#397
The following website has profiles of the candidates and local issues for the three Abbotsford ridings.
Tue, 2013-05-14 04:24
#398
Left Turn
Tonights BC election coverage on CBC tv was night and day between The National and the local CBC news.
The National did their BC Election coverage as one story, and clearly presented Dix as the frontrunner. Christy Clark was presented as down but not out, which is still not really telling the truth, but it's a far cry from the outright BC Liberal boosterism on the Vancouver CBC tv news.
The CBC News Vancouver split their election coverage into two stories. The first was focused on Christy Clark and the BC Liberals, and while they did acknowledge that the Liberals are in a tough fight, they also claimed that the Liberals could win. Then they ran a second story about Dix and the NDP, where they said that the NDP is in a tough fight, no mention of Dix's frontrunner status.
Clearly the Vancouver CBC news department, is shilling for the BC Liberals. The National cbc news department, by contrast, is more open to telling the truth about the BC election. The obvious differences are that the national CBC news department is based out of Toronto, and broadcasts to the whole country which, outside of BC, have no direct stake in the election; whereas the CBC Vancouver news department only broadcasts to BCers who have a direct stake in the election, and that CBC Vancouver's news staff themselves have a direct stake in the election.
Tue, 2013-05-14 13:02
#399
There are too many ridings of which I have little knowledge so I decided to cite several sites that make predictions.
http://bciconcoclast.blogspot.ca/p/my-prediction-of-2013-election.html
http://alexgtsakumis.com/2013/05/12/tsakumis-predictions-for-british-col...
http://bc2013.com/2013/05/13/final-election-prediction-ndp-59-bcl-21-con...
Wed, 2013-05-15 01:42
#400
So how did this one go again?
Wed, 2013-05-15 01:57
#401
Christy ClarkBC Liberal Party 6,986 44.36%
David EbyBC NDP 7,226 45.89%
129/147 polls
Eby 240 vote lead