Margaret MacDiarmid was pushed onto the BCLDB platform by Christy Clark and Rich Coleman and the puppet masters behind them. Standing alone in the spotlight, the ironically named minister of open government is expected to justify the sale of British Columbia’s liquor distribution system to friends of powerful Liberal lobbyists.
Not having been involved until late in the process, MacDiarmid can only repeat talking points provided by the creators of this proposed private monopoly. That leads to logical breaks such as when she said that existing warehouses are not adequate for modern distribution methods then suggested that government would rent those same spaces to the new private operator.
Strange that a political party dying from an excess of voter scorn should work so hard to please the Progressive Group. That company behaves like a drunk swallowing hard from his last bottle of liquor, knowing there will soon be no more to drink. At least, they’ll take pleasure from one last swig.
Beyond Liberal partisans, it is hard to find people who think the BC Liberals are on the right track on this hurried privatization. Cynicism reigns. This amusement left in comments at a CBC news site reflects a common attitude:
“In the same manner as a double negative equals a positive do Cabinet Ministers in the BC Liberal Party believe that lieing about telling lies is the same as teliing the truth?”
Categories: BC Liberals, Privatization
in-sights.ca 
The BC Liberals are addicts sick from OD-ing on our tax dollars, don't care anymore who sees them wallowing in their moral squalor, can't quit if their lives depended on it, completely controlled by self-interested pimps and pushers who think all they have to do is turn them into pig food to get away clean. If this is their last fix, may's well make it a big one.
It's time the NDP announces loud and clear it will investigate every aspect of this crooked deal, get back the money and jail the thieves.
LikeLike
Me too! And same for BC Rail!
LikeLike
Totally agree!
LikeLike
LDB sale only became available once the BC Libs knew they had to repay Feds $1.6 billion HST implementation money; that was sometime around Aug 24th, 2011. Prior to that, every effort by Exel and lobbyists had been officially rebuffed. Ms MacDiarmid is not being completely truthful when she says the government had given consideration to LDB privatization prior to the loss of the HST vote in late August 2011. If they had won the HST referendum, would we still discussing an LDB sale?
LikeLike
I think Adrian Dix and the BCNDP are being very shrewd. Why let the cat out of the bag? Keep the BC Lib's guessing. Once the “hammer” falls and the enquiries begin…”nail them to wall!” Any BC Lib, who thinks that the litany of stupidity, they have fostered on this province will just go away, is only fooling themselves.
The true fool, whose ego knows no bounds, blindly walks into oblivion. The electorate has seen what you are and capable of. The BC Liberals are done!
Jail is “too” good for them. We do not need their type of governance, in this province again.
LikeLike
Would someone step up, denounce these clowns in public and have the “stones” to force an immeadiate election. The new jail in Kelowna, could have an entire tier dedicated to these so called “cabinet ministers and insiders”. This is not democracy, its a “perverse oligarchy”. Before the coming judicial enquiry or perhaps enquiries, I would suggest passports be seized and bank accounts be frozen. We do the same to foreign subversives and terrorists, “why not” to the worst “home grown” bunch of economic subversives, and those that seek to “subvert the democratic principles”, in addition to co-opting our taxpayer resources as well, in this province.
Think about it…what is the difference between a thieves that do their deed's in the dead of night, or the theives that hide behind “officialdom” and commit their “crimes' in the light of day? “Intent” is the measure of whether or not a crime has been committed. Surely, the BC Liberals have no “intention” of serving the public, but only “serving” their own self intrests.
LikeLike
Margaret McDiarmid should resign immediately. On Friday she appeared on Bill Good's show and misled the people of BC.
She stated that the decision to explore the potential sale of the distribution rights for the LDB was made before the emails brought forth by the NDP. If this were true then one must assume that Shirley Bond's reply to an Exel email was a fabrication. Bond states unequivocally that the government is not looking at privatising the distribution of liquor at this time.
BS is supposed to baffle brains, but in this case it seems that brains are being baffled by BS.
LikeLike
If anyone thinks McDermid has integrity after sitting as an MLA as long as she has, well think again. Of course she is going to say whatever they want her to say. She likes that position she has.
These people, after having been in office for more than 10 yrs, have a sense of entitlement. They think they are smarter than the voters, so we will believe what they say. Even if they don't think we will believe them, they don't care. They are playing a game. The game is they & their friends get as much as they can & the rest of us can go get stuffed.
I am sure some of the leiberals believe they are doing us all a public service. Some people do start to believe their own p.r.
LikeLike
Campbell twice lied to be re-elected. The BCR wasn't for sale, Christy and the BC Liberals were right there, when Campbell thieved and corruptly sold our BC Railroad. Our mills, raw logs, and mines, Campbell gave to Communist China. He sold our BC rivers for hydro dams, that have destroyed the eco systems, and our BC hydro. Harper and Campbell's filthy diseased fish farms, are killing our wild Salmon.
The HST wasn't on Campbell's radar either. Nor do I forget Harper's part, in the destruction of BC. Campbell forgot to tell the BC citizens, he works for Harper. Christy kept up with, Campbell's lies, deceit, corruption, thefts, dirty tactics, greed, and dirty politics. Christy even had one of Harper's henchmen working for her…Boessenkool, who lobbies for Enbridge.
In Canada we have traitors, committing treason. In Canada, corrupt politicians are rewarded. Lies and deceit are just another routine day, in Canada.
LikeLike
The give-away of B.C. must stop!! this sham of a govt has given away the store lock stock and barrel, what is left to govern? I am constanly hearing about how the n.d.p. have no plan… Im curious to see whats left for the citizens of bc after 11 years of liberal give-aways, Im afraid we will not know whats left in the cupboard until after they are gone..
Unelected and unaccountable christy clark,
..stand up for bc Ms clark, not your golf buddies or photo op pals we the people of bc seem to have no voice loud enough for our elected reps to hear
they do what they want in the interest of themselves only..
Norm I haven,t heard much of the Jumbo project/give-away is that too a done deal?
LikeLike
Maggie thinks that if she plays their (CC and Coleman) tune, she is doing her job well and preserving her image. The thought of representing her voting public? Nowhere to be found.
What is wrong with this picture? One thing for sure, repeat votes at election time and sending these same idiots to be in charge.
LikeLike
Hi Norm, your first sentence sums it up;
“Margaret MacDiarmid was pushed onto the BCLDB platform by Christy Clark and Rich Coleman and the puppet masters behind them”
If Ms. Macdiarmid had any trace of ethics and proprietary she would have told those appalling people to get their message out themselves. Or maybe she is content to be viewed as just another moral basket case liberal prepared to watch our province hit the skids and do nothing about it.
LikeLike
If I was Adrian Dix, I would let it be known that if and when elected, he would retroactively making the sale of the LDB illegal and make severe penalties for the guilty parties. For sitting politicians, forfeiture of their pension plans and minimum of 5 years in jail. For others, $1 million fines and 5 years in jail.
I would think the demand to sell the LDB would disappear overnight.
LikeLike
Re: Talking points. I thought that was Shirley Bond on CKNW. Why? Because, she always says “Let me be clear…”We have aleays been clear…”. Poor Margaret.
Well, we found out that we couldn't trust the Liberals because they introduced HST right after an election when they said, they wouldn't before the elction.
Now, they vow to privatize the LDB monoply when they said they wouldn't and weren't interested. But since no election falls between, logic says we can't trust them at any time!
LikeLike
While I have always shuddered at the audacity and evil-seeming agenda of the BC Liberals, I am trying to imagine what it must be like to be a MLA, cabinet minister, or the unelected premier herself at this time. After more than a decade of media collusion, ineffective legal and judicial oversight (to provide the checks our democracy requires), an ineffective opposition party, and an unassuming and uninformed voting public seduced by superficial 'tax cuts' (replaced with service charges, tolls, premiums, and then the carbon and Harmonized Sales Tax) and the Olympics . . . suddenly there is no quelling the anger and shame of the masses! Having been sold out (or sold off–illegally!) on every per-election promise and with every ministry in tatters, even the media can no longer help them spin or distract people from the truth about their hospitals, schools, courts, police, railroads, bridges, convention centers, stadium roof, liquor distribution, Evergreen line, communication directors, Telus Garden, BCHydro-gate, Smart meters,Enbridge, by-election defeats, BCLC, BC Ferries, .. Oh, these must be sober and humiliating times for Liberal MLAs who have not been accountable or transparent for a long, long time.
LikeLike
“In the same manner as a double negative equals a positive do Cabinet Ministers in the BC Liberal Party believe that lieing about telling lies is the same as teliing the truth?”
I think you are right Norm, they honestly believe that. The present government has little respect for the intelligence of BC's electorate. They honestly believe we will be thinking of the product of their comments and be happy with a positive answer, not a summation that effectively doubles the problem.
-1 + -1 = -2
LikeLike