Today, a poll from Mario Canseco’s Research Co. reported, “The governing New Democratic Party (NDP) is the top choice in British Columbia’s current political landscape…”
This might explain why some scribblers in the Press Gallery are focused on rebuilding the BC Liberal brand.
In the preceding article, I examined Rob Shaw’s attempt to show Speaker Darryl Plecas and whistleblowers were the problem at the Legislature, not the disgraced Clerk who played fast and loose with public funds and public assets.
Wednesday, it was Vaughn Palmer’s turn to engage — as Lew Edwardson might say — in a shameful display of Liberal tire pumping.
The columnist misconstrued Premier Horgan’s comment about lower mainland Mayors supporting a Fraser River tunnel solution. Palmer seems to prefer the Liberals’ high level bridge proposal. It would destroy considerable prime farmland but provide profit opportunities for Liberal developer friends like the Beedie and Illich families.
Palmer judged the Premier harshly, ending ended his column with this gem:
Horgan did not know what he was talking about.
The Press Gallery elder may have been coordinating with Andrew Wilkinson. As the Postmedia column appeared, the Liberal leader was citing Palmer as a road building authority in the Legislature. An amusing exchange followed:
Hon. J. Horgan: I appreciate that the member has got more time on his hands, perhaps, than I do, and he can look at Vaughn Palmer, noted engineer and road-builder, and extrapolate all he wants...
A. Wilkinson: Well, we’re happy to talk about another project, and that’s, of course, the subject of today’s newspaper column — yet another blunder in the Ministry of Transportation, where the Premier seems to have decided unilaterally just to blow apart his Transportation Ministry’s expertise, to ignore his minister and to just unilaterally decide he’s a civil engineer and he’s decided the best way to get across the Fraser River.
Hon. J. Horgan: Again, referring to the venerable engineer from the Vancouver Sun. That impulse, as the member called it, was at an announcement at the Jimmy Pattison centre in Surrey, announcing a new T3 MRI machine, the most high-tech MRI machine in British Columbia…
In the course of that press conference, a camera person — because networks rarely send reporters these days because they’re so busy — asked me what my views were on the new view of the mayor’s council, which was unanimous support for a tunnel.
What I said at that time was that this was good news because we had unanimity on a mode of getting to the biggest congestion problem in that part of the Lower Mainland.
I thought that was good news. I celebrated that — that the mayors had come together. I met later in the day with the new mayor of Delta. I’m very excited about his desire to work with his neighbours in Richmond and other parts of the Lower Mainland to get a positive outcome for the travelling public.
…I celebrated the fact of unanimity. I was not doing engineering decisions. If you want to blow that out of proportion, or the Vancouver Sun wants to blow it out of proportion, fill your boots.
Categories: Transportation
in-sights.ca 
Tsawwassen Mills Mall.
Another mega mall, parking nightmare I shall avoid like the plague.
I have lived in Burnaby for 38 years and have set foot in Metrotown Mall exactly once when I had to pick someone up…
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Noncon, you and I may be famous for things we’ve never done! I’ve never been to McDonald’s, Starbucks or Hawaii. Or the Metrotown Mall either.
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A second tunnel makes sense. Its why they built the first one, when we had WAC Bennett. If I remember correctly the Glen Clark government had plans for a second tunnel.
when I look at that road from the port out to White Rock, it was like they ran through every farm they could. My thoughts at the time was to ensure the land could not be farmed and could be taken out of the ALR and then the real money would roll in for the developers. All of that land between the tunnel and White Rock, in housing. Guess that isn’t going to happen. Just hope Horgan gets that tunnel to the point of “no return”.
When I first saw the Tswassen Mills mall being built, I thought perhaps because there isn’t a lot of land which isn’t in the ALR to build something that size and it has become a destination mall, but at the time I thought, upp, they’re going to build housing out here, from white rock to the tunnel. Now we get two tunnels for a lot less money and save the farm land. Besides, that land is all flood plan and building housing on it would come back to bite the tax payers, not the developers.
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I watched the B.C. Liberals on Thursday May 30 in the legislature. I was embarrassed as a BC resident, it all seemed very childish. The puppets all played their roles, some better than others as they read the same statement. Coralee Oakes definitely receives the Grammy for her performance. This is now a part of B.C. history. I wonder how they will feel about in 10 years time?
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“I examined Rob Shaw’s attempt to show Speaker Darryl Plecas and whistleblowers were the problem at the Legislature, not the disgraced Clerk who played fast and loose with public funds and public assets….”
++++++
I particularly love the feigned “outrage” of the BC Liberals at the thought of Plecas copying ALL govt legislature hard drives…..then again .
If the BC Liberals got a little sloppy and only “Double Deleted” rather than “Triple Deleted” their emails….. the damning information might still be on their harddrive……
Now their outrage is beginning to make sense.
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“Yawn” Palmer, “Disbelief” Baldry, wa-a-a-a-ay past their “Due Date’
Several years ago when Christy was still ‘Preem” and she was asked what she thought a bridge over the Fraser would cost Without hesitation, she immediately answered “$3 Billion” and my curiosity became aroused knowing that Ms Clark has a hard time counting to 10 let alone 3 billion.
So much for the bid process. Even if the actual cost was $1.5 Billion why let another $1.5 billion slip through your fingers when the Premier has stated “it will cost $3 billion”
I’m surprised Christy hasnt ended up on the Deas crossing planning committee for one of the major builders.
Perhaps the road builders association have moved their focus from “temporary” political leaders to more permanent MSM lickspittles like Palmer and Baldry….?
When they finally ( thankfully) retire they will possibly find a job as PR advisors for one of the companies bidding on the tunnel.
After all Jas Johal has led the way for LNG promoters..
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The Road builders Association are desperately wanting new highway contracts but highways are rather thin gruel these days, the big money is on platinum plated mega projects like the proposed 10 lane bridge across the Fraser.
Notwithstanding the fact that the only reason that this bridge was proposed in the first place was to allow Cape Max tankers and colliers to load unstable Bracken oil and very dirty Montana coal at Surrey Port.
The bridge would remove the concrete dike (tunnel) to allow these mega ships up the Fraser. The reason to load USA coal and oil was because the BN&SF would have direct access and not pay a “wheelage” fee, using what remains of the BCR, the Super Port Railway.
But huge costs and ecological damage will prevent the massive ships plying the Fraser, so the need for the bridge has disappeared.
Enter the road buolder’s Association and their campaign through the Liberals, most noticeably Jas Johal and Ian Paton,
A new crossing must entail a coherent transportation plan including another crossing of the North Arm and no such planning exists.
Enter noted road builder Vague Palmer, demonstrating that he is well past his best by date.
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Kennylad, despite what you’re hearing at NW, there are some right-wingers on Harvey Oberfeld’s blog who call it “CKNDP,” LOL!
I guess NW execs would take that as a sign that they’re offering balanced ‘journalism.’
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I don’t follow his blog but I may check it out one day. i know of him and he has a really super good reputation as a top journalist from his history.
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I like the blog. Don’t agree with every thing Harvey writes, on Keeping It Real, but he does offer a perspective. Some of the commenters have some “interesting” takes on things.
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Did any one listen to the conversation between Vaughn Palmer and Simi Sara on CKNW this morning between 6 and 7? She’s sadly filling in for Jon McComb. I say come back Jon. And soon please.
Her and Palmer both sounded completely out to lunch about Plecus and his heroic efforts. It sounded like Palmer was saying Mary Polack’s note taking about Plecus’s statements calling Beverly Mcclachlin stupid was the truth. Could she not fudge her own note taking? Simi Sara didn’t even question it for god’s sake! No challenging whatsoever.
It makes me sick what’s happened and is happening to that once top station. After all the Liberals hate Plecus to no end. And then to top it off Palmer began to question and talk about whether the Liberal members should take their files home etc. And to make matters worse Sara seemed to just go along with Palmer on the things he was saying so easily. Holy Smokes.
No hard opinion forming there from what i can tell. Not even a word about this information and files and computers and what’s on them, may just be owned by the public and that they have a right to know, or even what Plecus is doing for integrity and holding the legislature to account for the people. Not a god darn word about the public realm in this. What a shit show.
Anyways listen back on CKNW Audio Vault and playback. I’m mostly done with that station. The good side of Broadcast Journalism, Journalism in general is being tarnished so badly and it makes me sad. Mike Smythe filling for Simi’s show yesterday at least had the decency to say no matter what Plecus was finding wrong doing because of what he was doing, where as Keith Baldrey seemed to be saying that a couple negative call in’s were a reflection of a tide turning against Plecus. Seriously. WTF !! Because of that? Where’s the polling.
Yes and the Rob Shaw stuff was a real turn off too. Oh lord where’s it all going? Down the toilet?
Frustrating.
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I used to be a big reader of Vancouver and other Canadian newspapers. And I became a talk radio listener in my teens (KGO, first Les Crane, then Ira Blue).
Nowadays, I’m more likely to be exploring music memories on Spotify.
Instead of being p.o.’d, I’m soothed.
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Thankyou Norm. Good helpful advise for balancing out in the frustrating wackiness of it all.
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I think the Postmedia’s of the world do not realize people like us used to be their main consumers, we are interested and want to engage. It easy simple to see by following this blog that all parties have been subject to scrutiny here…..we are interested in the good for BC in general, not necessarily any particular Premier or party. They also do not seem to realize that we have influenced a lot of others to question what they used to think were reliable and balanced news sources……talk around the lunchroom table at work goes a long ways. I do not in the least feel bad for the loss of employment in the “news” sector. They brought it on themselves. Nary an investigation nor balanced report among the most televised or printed “journalists”. I wonder how it feels to have ones profession always referred to in quotation marks?……..and……..I find my cumulative monetary support for various online sources and bloggers surpasses what I used to pay for mainstream subscriptions. Did I mention the advertisers I boycott?
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Post Media and ilk is not an issue any more it belongs in China ,Russia, yes even North Korea take the lying Liberalcons with them. Why is the Feds funding these toilet tissue living in a block most tennants seniors most of the papers the janitors toss in the recycle even some body drops off the Sun & Province most times they are left sitting in the lobby also. Also listening the majority is very negative towards the Liberals. Names mentioned mostly starting with Campbell.Clark,Colman.De Jong,Reed.Bond,Stone,Polak.The worse of the Worse. But the whole party were corrupt never fear wilkinson is ready to try and get it back.New drink out campbell/clark on the rocks .
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Double standards for ‘RESPECT to Readers’:
NOTE TO READERS
In recognition of Easter, there will be no print edition of The Vancouver Sun on Monday. Please go to vancouversun.com or download our smartphone app for all the latest news.
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ah a walk down memory lane. playing my c.d.s in the vehicle makes for a happy life. in the vehicle which doesn’t have a c.d. player I turn to a radio station named “spice”. love the music and the information, I don’t understand, its in Punjabi. The music is fun, happy, what more could I want.
In B.C. there just isn’t much on the news of importance at all. Its all got a b.c.liebercon slant.
I do wonder why the “press” is so in love with the b.c. lieberals? you’d think they’d move on, seeing whose in the drivers seat now. of course it maybe they’re, b.c. lieberals and press, co dependents. if you have a look at addiction and co dependency ………
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Had a weak and stupid moment yesterday driving around town when I flipped the dial to CKNW. Yep, you guessed it; Mike Smyth too was kneading his hands, gnashing his teeth and flapping his gums on about that bridge/tunnel. I’m sure it isn’t a coincidence when those two keep beating a dead horse on the same day and oh my God, ‘ the end of the world is here’.
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I have to many weak and stupid moments listening to that station. Got to wean myself off like a bad drug.
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I guess Press Gallery bufoons rubbed shoulders too many times at the legislature and fuzzy feelings slipped in. Doesn’t it make ya wanna throw up.
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Contrast Palmer’s screed with this report on the same Horgan comments:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/massey-tunnel-expansion-1.5147749
It was possible to provide the facts without trashing Mr. Horgan or his motives.
Palmer chose not to. Then the hapless BC Liberal leader tried to weaponize the column and used it to publicly shoot himself in both feet.
Palmer and Wilkinson deserve each other. The public deserves neither.
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So sad that Mr. Horgan couldn’t have applied the same lens to decisions on LNG and Site C.
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John was very malleable for his union cronies. Taxpayers took a back seat.
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politics is about politics. Politicians are politicians. Some times people benefit from politics, sometimes they don’t. we all need to remember the first order of business for any politician is to stay in office. Now taking that into consideration, Horgan made the right decisions.
Lots of us don’t agree with site C, but it also made a lot of people happy, and they weren’t all the corporate types. Staying in office is a fine line you walk. In the end you need to decide who is going to do the best for you, over all. From my perspective, Horgan still wins. more funding for schools, new clinic in Nanaimo and Comox and boy do we need them. If I look at it from that perspective and many will, they don’t care if Horgan decided to build Site C and another one. Duncan get a new hospital and so does Surrey. Not happy about a lot of the NDP’s decisions, BUT we are better off than with the b.c. liebercons.
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