The BC NDP remains committed to expanding fossil fuel production. In BC, the industry paid millions of dollars to lobbyists and politicians. The rate of return on that investment was just a touch more than most of us get when we deposit a few dollars in a chartered bank or credit union.
Readers may tire of reports on BC Hydro but the more I examine this public utility, the more convinced I am that citizens of BC are victims of massive financial deception.
BC’s Minister of Energy said in mid October that the $7.9 billion budget for Site C had been examined by top international experts and was assuredly “reliable.” Two months later, Premier Clark revealed the dam budget had jumped to $8.5 billion. Days passed and when project approval was announced, the budget had jumped to $8.775 billion. Once again, the British Columbia Liberals demonstrate practiced mendacity. They are consistent though since mega-projects of the past five years typically doubled between first announcement and completion but were invariably pronounced to be on-time and on-budget. The mantra will be used again…
By slanting news or withholding information, media affect what a large segment of the public knows or does not know about public affairs. If groups profit improperly through actions of government, rewards can be immense but, if the looters control media, they can act in the shadows. The checks and balances within a democracy are distorted if media becomes a subsidiary of vested interests. Accurate public discourse is discouraged or impossible.
The British Columbia Liberal 2001 election platform had 37 references promising improved democracy, increased accountability or more open government. Its 2013 platform had none, because the party had lost interest in the goals, not because they had been attained. If ever any party strayed far from principles that first got it elected government, it is the one led today by Christy Clark. If you doubt my assertion, read through A New Era for British Columbia. That document was prepared by Gordon Campbell and his associates. Some will believe that it was a pack of lies from the start. Others would argue — excepting the page 9 promise to “not sell or privatize BC Rail” — that the Liberal Party started with good intentions and lost its way, corrupted by wealth and power…
Conflict of Interest Commissioner has been unable to answer questions posed by journalist Bob Mackin. Of course, Fraser has only a handful of staff members to assist him so communicating with inquiring reporters is nigh impossible. When one man has only a single Executive Co-ordinator, one Executive Administrative Assistant, one Legal Officer and a single research assistant and faces one, two, even three formal opinions to be issued each year, some time saving moves are required.
During their tenure, BC Liberals declared increases in private power purchases and aggressive expansion of BC Hydro assets were needed to meet growing demands by consumers. After 2005, electricity sales mocked that claim. So, the politicians asserted a need to serve North America by supplying clean energy. Others were better equipped to apply new technologies and they didn’t believe BC’s river damaging energy was particularly green. The goal changed again, to powering a trillion dollar LNG industry that would add $9 billion a year to the public treasury. When that was revealed as fantasy, Liberals suggested BC could provide clean energy to enable Albertans to harvest dirty energy from bituminous sands. Recently, Christy Clark said the Site C dam was needed to flood the Peace River valley as a measure to prevent flooding of the Peace River valley. The Premier needed a new justification for building the dam after it became clear that plans to sell to Alberta were as realistic as paying off provincial debt with natural gas revenue.
“Will I obliterate the national debt? [long pause] Sure, why not?” Remember Christy Clark’s promises of a debt-free BC enabled through wealth created by natural gas production? Reality is much different, revealed in Finance Ministry documents that provide this information.
A perfect storm in Toronto and Vancouver housing markets, “a mixture of rising home prices, foreign money laundering, and an unregulated sub-prime lending system most Canadians don’t even know exists.”
When fortunate people cannot afford a low rung on the property ladder, the situation must change. Christy Clark and Rich Coleman may regularly shake hands with the province’s most wealthy residents but, the ground upon which they stand has grown dangerously unstable.
This item, written by my eldest son, was first published in June 2014. He refers to a labour dispute and its central issues may be in the news again later in 2016. The Supreme Court […]
We’ve known for a while that Christy Clark mixes religion and politics. Shortly before the 2013 election, she campaigned before an evangelical group at the private Vancouver Club and in 2015, Clark’s Government gifted […]
Andrew MacLeod of The Tyee spoke to Premier Clark in December 2012. This is part of their conversation: The Tyee: I have a detail question for you. Gordon Campbell while he was […]
After the Campbell Liberals were elected in 2001, influences of special business interests grew rapidly. Under Christina Clark’s leadership, non-renewable resource companies wield great political power and they use it to minimize […]
Before the last election, Premier Clark justified BC Hydro rate increases as a “common sense decision” that would enable the private/public utility to pay off the billions in its deferred accounts. “People […]
To begin BC’s LNG saga we have Martyn Brown’s declaration that the LNG deal is a disaster. That’s not enough to alert BC that there’s a problem? How about multiple fraud, theft and money laundering investigations in France, Switzerland, the UK, the US, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, and either Abu Dhabi or Dubai?…
Liberal pals in corporate media can be counted on to repeat socialist disaster myths from the nineties but they go strangely silent when BC Liberals promote foreign owned socialist enterprises. They are hostile to public enterprise when the owner is British Columbia but BC Liberals show unbounded enthusiasm for investing borrowed money in ventures owned by undemocratic and corrupt foreign governments. That might make sense if there was to be a certain flow of significant economic benefits and a commitment to clean renewable energy. Perhaps it is because Premier Clark and Minister Coleman prefer deeds done in the shadows, particularly if the shadows are overseas.
In the government’s sale disposition of BC Rail, there are compelling indicators of massive fraud. Even worse, senior provincial officials interfered with investigation and prosecution of these crimes. Having directed the asset disposal […]
The Globe and Mail, courtesy of Justine Hunter and Ian Bailey, provides a fawning profile of Christy Clark, complete with this unchallenged quote, “There is a lot of appetite … for a […]
Yes, I fully agree with this summary. I am also reminded of, what seemed to be, the suspect (and possibly…
Thanks, good summary of the fiasco. Mr Eby will likely resign his seat when the new leader is in place,…
Yes, a predictable loss... though it was interesting to see the Conservatives also attracting fewer votes than last time. I…
I was hoping for a minority government with the Greens holding the balance, but sadly that did not materialize.
Foot dragging? Know of anywhere with a huge coastline, lakes and rivers, lots of tourists wanting to sightsee, lots of…