Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!

[flamingfingers]

FAMILIES FIRST!! Premier photo op is spending millions upon untold millions of OUR tax dollars patting the ChristyLiberals on the back for the stupendous (rather, stupid) job they are (not) doing. Bring on the Chinese miners! Jobs! Jobs for them, and now more families have jobs.. only it is NOT BC families:

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

No celebration of contract to foreign ship builder

Do you use electricity, live in a space that attracts property tax, purchase motor fuel or pay fees to park your chariot or ride transit after after actually paying a fare? Well, if you do any of those things, you're putting money in the bank accounts of TransLink.

However, while the transit agency is eager to put its hands into each and every one of our pockets, it's not so keen on spending that money in British Columbia. Spending that might create jobs, as in shipyards that may or may not, eventually, someday, build navy ships, if F35's don't empty the armed forces budgets first.

The Seabus vessels have been cost effective successes and long-time symbols of west coast industrial capability but the TransLink board decided to hire Damen Shipyards Group of The Netherlands to build a replacement vessel, at a cost of $25 million. That price is 75% more than original cost of the locally built MV Burrard Beaver, price adjusted for inflation. Also, there was no announcement about fuelling the new SeaBus with natural gas, something that should have be a no-brainer in this gas-rich province. Norwegian operators are not reticent about using this fuel. Read Reinventing the wheel, timidly.

After the TransLink decision, I did note the failure of Premier Photo-Op and her Jobs Plan entourage to hold a celebration of the award of an actual contract to build an actual ship, in the Netherlands. She was more than willing to take credit for possible BC shipyard spending by the federal government so why not the same for spending of the transit agency created by her administration.

Once, the SeaBus vessels were proof of BC's design and manufacturing prowess. The all-aluminum catamarans were the first of their kind anywhere in the world. Each of the two ships cost $3.7 million in 1976, $14.25 million in today's dollars. Transit officials came here from all over to examine this highly efficient people mover.

Perhaps because it was an initiative of the Dave Barrett government, a Vancouver Sun columnist called the SeaBus project "a great civil service boondoggle." However, no boondoggle, the entire project has been undeniably successful and 25 years passed before a vessel missed a single day of service. Operators claimed 99.993% reliability. Despite 35 years of service MV Burrard Beaver continues dependable operations day after day hauling thousands of passengers in comfort and safety.

The TransLink board is populated entirely by affluent dilettantes, who don't worry about where next month's rent money is coming from. Jobs? Most of the directors are collecting remuneration from numerous sources, many of them funded by taxpayers. Too bad there is so little commitment to creating employment for British Columbia trades people.

Here is a list of TransLink diectors, not exactly representative of the community it allegedly serves. Note the absence of people representing labour, community groups or, gasp, transit users.
• Nancy Olewiler, board chair - faculty member, Simon Fraser University;
• James Bruce, board vice-chair - investment manager;
• Robin Chakrabarti, investment manager;
• Rick Christiaanse, GM at Glentel, wireless retailer;
• Lorraine Cunningham, ship broker, agent and itinerant board member;
• John Dawson, accountant and investment manager;
• Barry Forbes, credit union CEO;
• Sarah Goodman, VP Tides Canada;
• Howard Nemtin, real estate developer;
• Don Rose, lawyer specialized in resource industries;
• Marcella Szel, former CNR VP, another itinerant board member.

ETA link: http://northerninsights.blogspot.ca/

[Captain Awesome]

Here is a list of TransLink diectors, not exactly representative of the community it allegedly serves. Note the absence of people representing labour, community groups or, gasp, transit users.

That one is rather humorous.

[logicalview]

*off-topic/Jo*

[Dash5]

Here is a list of TransLink diectors, not exactly representative of the community it allegedly serves. Note the absence of people representing labour, community groups or, gasp, transit users.

Do you find that boards of directors are typically representative of the communities they serve? Don't think I've seen many that could be classified as such, especially ones that control organizations with budgets exceeding a billion dollars a year.