Bye bye BCLDB, or not?

[NAB]

Exactly. And so far I have seen nothing to suggest that the retail part of the public entity is to be privatized, even though it seems the BCGEU continually tries to suggest that is part of the package. .....and with much more efficient distribution than they have had in the past they may become even more profitable.

Nab

[Captain Awesome]

Perhaps Captain

http://dontdroppublicliquor.ca/

I actually checked it out. Not the most informative website by far, and doesn't address my question at all.

[Urbane]

Exactly. And so far I have seen nothing to suggest that the retail part of the public entity is to be privatized, even though it seems the BCGEU continually tries to suggest that is part of the package. .....and with much more efficient distribution than they have had in the past they may become even more profitable.

Nab

Bingo.

[Urbane]

Exactly. And so far I have seen nothing to suggest that the retail part of the public entity is to be privatized, even though it seems the BCGEU continually tries to suggest that is part of the package. .....and with much more efficient distribution than they have had in the past they may become even more profitable.

Nab

Bingo.

[steven lloyd]

I actually checked it out. Not the most informative website by far, and doesn't address my question at all.

Actually it did Captain, and seems to indicate you're correct:

Over the last five years the LDB produced $4.3 billion in provincial income. Last year alone the LDB contributed $890 million to help pay for public services such as health, education, highways and seniors care.

The mix of rural agency stores, privately operated neighbourhood stores and government stores with consistent province-wide pricing, all supported by central LDB distribution, works well for consumers and all British Columbians.

[my5cents]

I believe (and it's only my opinion), they were linked together to present them both as money-generating entities while in fact only one of them makes money, the other one is simply infrastructure. So, in a crafty and very carefully worded way, they lumped them together to create an illusion that the asset in fact is making money - while it is the retail operation is making money.

Well thought out CA. It's a well known fact that there are many large business operations who are searching the world trying to buy up endeavors that don't make money. In this case they've been lobbying the government to sell this off for years.

or... are you going to say that the government is so inefficient that they don't make a cent distributing the liquor, but a private company will come in and for the same cost be able to make money ? Because if they can't,,, the alternative is,,,,, higher prices. That's what we need !

We are seeing some of he private liquor stores stating that they don't want the warehousing to be sold off. Why ??

They sold it off in Alberta and what did the prices do there ??

[NAB]

Just so we don't lose sight of the bigger picture.... and the players involved.


Liquor warehousing privatization plan could spark East Van real estate boom

East Broadway BCLDB site redevelopment expected to anchor office and other commercial expansion

The British Columbia government's plan to privatize liquor warehousing and distribution is expected to kickstart a massive redevelopment in East Vancouver.

The 300,000-square-foot BC Liquor Distribution Branch (BCLDB) warehouse and retail store at 3150 East Broadway sits right in the middle of what city hall calls the Grandview Boundary Industrial Area, near both the Rupert and Renfrew stations on SkyTrain's Millennium Line.

According to the City of Vancouver property registry, the BCLDB land is valued at $21.414 million. The government's request for proposals may take another month or two, according to a government spokesman who refused to be named.

"You've got four or five different owners in that immediate vicinity who are contemplating significant additions to that current office stock, upwards of half a million to a million square feet which will likely be phased in and subject to pre-lease commitments," said Darrell Hurst, principal of Avison Young Commercial Real Estate. "That site that currently houses the Liquor Distribution Branch is likely to be viewed in the same way. It's under-densified, it's a prime piece of property, it'll have a tremendous amount of attention and attraction from the investment community and people looking at those types of opportunities."

The sixth and seventh buildings of the eight-building, 17-acre Broadway Tech Centre are nearing completion adjacent to the Renfrew station. Broadway Tech tenants include Aker Solutions, the BC Ambulance Service, BC Lottery Corp., HSBC Bank of Canada and Nintendo of Canada. Owner BC Investment Management Corp. ( http://www.bcimc.com/ ) and development/management/lease company Bentall Kennedy are already eyeing expansion with a proposed five-building complex at 3030 East Broadway, just across Lillooet Street from LDB.

Pacific Capital Real Estate Group's Renfrew Business Centre Phase I opened in 2009 anchored by the Art Institute. Phase II is a proposed seven-storey, 170,000-square-foot office building targeted for a 2014 opening at 12th and Renfrew.

Hurst said industrial and light-industrial users can't support the land values.

The area was developed in the 1950s as an industrial park with rail service and access to Highway 1. The warehouse's I-2 zoning allows industrial, service and high-tech use, which has intensified since the Millennium Line opened in 2002. City hall's 2008 area plan foresees worker population increasing to 14,000 from 4,000. •

http://www.biv.com/article/20120306/BIV ... t-van-real

[Captain Awesome]

Well thought out CA. It's a well known fact that there are many large business operations who are searching the world trying to buy up endeavors that don't make money. In this case they've been lobbying the government to sell this off for years.

Well, before you get all smart *bleep* on me, consider the cost that goes into it on govt side and RFP process in which said business would charge the govt to do the same thing and benefits it would bring, along with lesser involvement, competitive bidding, less exposure, and less liabilities.

or... are you going to say that the government is so inefficient that they don't make a cent distributing the liquor, but a private company will come in and for the same cost be able to make money ?

I'm quire certain that a private company can come in and run the distribution for less money it is costing the govt right now to run it - with a bouquet of benefits this model presents - without comprising the actual money-making operation of retailing.

[NAB]

BTW. Note that the CEO of bcIMC mentioned above is Doug Pearce..

The two highest paid public servants in British Columbia — whose combined pay was more than $1.5 million in 2010 — work in a building in Victoria that doesn’t even have a sign identifying the business.

Although the B.C. Investment Management Corp. — which goes by the stylized acronym bcIMC — is not in the limelight, three of its top executives were among the 10 highest paid public employees in the province, according The Vancouver Sun’s fourth annual salary database.

The bcIMC argues its executives are not even public servants as the government does not have a say in the firm’s activities and doesn’t pay their salaries.

The corporation — much like a Crown corporation — was created by provincial law. The B.C. government appoints three of the seven directors on the board. The other four are appointed by the major public pension plans in B.C. (Edit: who are Teachers' Pension Board of Trustees, Public Service Pension Board of Trustees, Municipal Pension Board of Trustees , and College
Pension Board of Trustees.)

Instead of coming directly from government coffers, the investment firm’s high-level pay cheques come from the profits generated by managing $90 billion in provincial pension funds and other assets such as insurance funds.

In 2010, bcIMC CEO and chief investment officer Doug Pearce was paid $948,419, making him the highest paid public servant in the province.

Pearce was also the No. 1 paid public servant in 2008 and came in at No. 2 in 2009, when BC Ferries CEO David Hahn was No. 1 with pay of $984,249.

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Pe ... story.html

[flamingfingers]

Now that you mentioned bcIMC, Nab, I found this rather interesting:

Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Comparing investment returns WA & BC

My earlier article pointed out the vast difference in overhead costs for government investment agencies in British Columbia and Washington State. One of our readers asked:

"How did our group do compared to the Washington group. Is our investment strategy so much better they deserve more money?"

A quick review of agency reports provides the information that follows:

Victoria, B.C., July 26, 2011

"British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (bcIMC) today announced that it recorded a one-year annual return of 10.8 per cent, net of fees, for combined pension plans in the 2011 fiscal year. This exceeds a combined benchmark of 9.7 per cent and provides over $685 million in additional value, net of all investment management fees."

Message from the Chair, Washington State Investment Board, 2011, page 6

"...Now, after enduring the world’s most daunting financial crisis in recent history, I find myself once again reporting remarkable results for the CTF, which ended FY 2011 with a 21.1 percent rate of return. That is just two basis points shy of the high watermark of four years ago when this country was on the brink of nose diving into a pit of economic decline, loss, volatility, and uncertainty..."

Ouch! Apparently spending three times as much on senior executives does not guarantee better results.

Here is a list of bcIMC investments valued over $100 million as at March 31, 2011. These represent a little less than half of bcIMC's complete portfolio. Apparently, there is little regard for making ethical investments. Among other questionable choices, you'll find British American Tobacco, a company that boasts of selling its products in 180 markets around the world.

Look here for the table:

http://northerninsights.blogspot.ca/

[NAB]

Well, I was just trying to connect the dots to one of the major players in the area of the LDB warehouse property to be disposed of. Seems a bit hypocritical to me that 80% of their practice have to do with the $90 billion in provincial public sector pension funds and other assets such as insurance funds, that the organization was formed in 1999 (presumably by the previous NDP government), and we now have the public sector unions complaining about privatizing a few hundred jobs on the distribution side of the government booze monopoly.

Nab

[Urbane]

While we're connecting the dots let's not forget to draw a line from the dots representing the unions to the dots totally opposed to privatizing anything anywhere anytime.

[NAB]

While we're connecting the dots let's not forget to draw a line from the dots representing the unions to the dots totally opposed to privatizing anything anywhere anytime.

Fine, but it doesn't alter the fact that public sector pension plans (mainly unions) stand to potentially be one of the significant beneficiaries of this privatization.

Nab

[flamingfingers]

While we're connecting the dots let's not forget to draw a line from the dots representing the unions to the dots totally opposed to privatizing anything anywhere anytime.

Unions mean NOTHING to this band of Liberal robbers. Legislation trumps everything to them.

[steven lloyd]

While we're connecting the dots let's not forget to draw a line from the dots representing the unions to the dots totally opposed to privatizing anything anywhere anytime.

But not to be confused with people not saying quite that and just jumping to erroneous assumptions as the excuse-making for this government continues to get weaker and weaker.