Christy Clark and the Fire Fighting Budget

[Glacier]

So I'm reading the "news" on Castanet, and almost fell off my chair when I read the Premier's comments about the fire fighting budget.

“What we do with the budget is look at, I think, a rolling five or six-year average. We take that average and we plug it into the budget. But we always know if it goes over the set budget amount, we spend what we need to.”

There are so many things wrong with that article to bother mentioning, but that quote just takes the cake. In 2001, the NDP government allocated $85.7 million to fight forest fires in B.C., and here we are 14 years later and the Premier is shocked that the government's $63 million budget has long since been used up? What world does she live in?

Let's just look back five years, and see what Colin Hansen was saying about the budget:

Citing the unpredictability of forest-fire seasons, Hansen said the province budgets only for the minimum cost of getting firefighting resources in place and then pours as much money into firefighting as the season requires.

"We have the authority to spend as much as necessary without a vote of the legislature," Hansen said. "The base costs that we have are for things like the contracts we put in place to have forest firefighters and equipment on standby even if there wasn't a single fire to break out."

How come the media won't call her out for being completely wrong (or her own party for that matter)? They seem more interested in hyping up the fire season than they do about investigating the truthfulness of political statements.

[LoneWolf_53]

Something to ponder on..............

There's literally hundreds if not thousands of reporters, opposition politicians, and armchair experts, looking at and dissecting every move Clark makes, and yes she is the Premier, but do you seriously think any one person, her or anyone else, has the capability to memorize every detail and important function/aspect of every ministry in the Province, along with all that entails, and be able to give a precise accurate response, to spur of the moment questions from media that could relate to any topic?

I highly doubt it, just as I highly doubt anyone on here can, though to read some of the posts, one is led to believe they could do so without question.

I bet most would have a hard enough time, keeping on top of their own personal affairs, let alone those, as well as, the running of a province.

If you read the above post with just a bit of an open mind, I can actually see where her response was an attempt to basically say the same thing Hansen said, though it just didn't come across quite the same way.

I'd challenge you or anyone else to demonstrate you can do better. Run for the office and if elected get back to us after a year or two, and see if in that time you haven't been caught off guard by the media, simply to wake up next morning, and read a headline that's galaxies away from what you were trying to convey.

Most don't even have the guts to run for office, knowing full well the public scrutiny that accompanies the job, yet it doesn't stop them from picking away day after day, looking to find fault in any corner they can.

Little wonder it's hard to find good politicians, given that most in their right mind wouldn't want the job.

[steven lloyd]

Little wonder it's hard to find good politicians, given that most in their right mind wouldn't want the job.

I don’t know about finding good politicians - its electing them that seems to be the problem. Can’t say how Ujjal Dosanjh would have turned out as our premier had he been elected after Glen Clark, but I do know our electorate didn’t want to hear someone tell them that the government couldn’t maintain services, pay down debt and reduce taxes. Nope. Gordon Campbell said he could do all that. Remember “health care where and when you need it” (LOLOLOL) We have barely begun paying for his lies and fiscal mismanagement. I have absolutely no sympathy for lying and malfeasant politicians, and I don’t have much more sympathy for the sheeple who keep making excuses for them. Stephen Harper, for example, is a proven liar. It will be interesting to see how Justin Trudeau’s strategy of being honest regarding deficits serves him in this next federal election.

[LoneWolf_53]

^^ I think you're missing my point.

My point is if you had thousands of people watching you in your job, I'm pretty sure that between them all, they could find some stuff to make a story out of too, and I'm not suggesting a flattering one either.

Not sure how Harper wound up in this, but as far as I'm concerned he's passed his best before date.

[steven lloyd]

My point is if you had thousands of people watching you in your job, I'm pretty sure that between them all, they could find some stuff to make a story out of too, and I'm not suggesting a flattering one either.

Yes, to be fair I wouldn’t want the job either. I do have to wonder what motivates some to seek the position. I have always found complete straightforward honesty and the willingness to be completely accountable has served me best in my work, and actually keeps things more simple. I can’t imagine performing in a position where those two qualities wouldn’t serve me.

[lesliepaul]

Yes, to be fair I wouldn’t want the job either. I do have to wonder what motivates some to seek the position. I have always found complete straightforward honesty and the willingness to be completely accountable has served me best in my work, and actually keeps things more simple. I can’t imagine performing in a position where those two qualities wouldn’t serve me.

What motivates them???? I'll take a wild stab at this.......MONEY.....AS IN LINING THEIR OWN POCKETS. Remember that the their first goal is to win the first term (foot in the door). While in this first term......do not answer any questions and do as I am told by my leader. Lie convincingly to the general public if put on the spot to buy some time. Do not raise any suspicions about your own incompetence during your first term. Survive first term and your chances at term two are pretty good. Win term two and you have "won the JACKPOT". Six figure pension for life. THATS MOTIVATION!

Our Premier and Kelowna's illustrious Mayor have something in common.......attending school and coming away from these higher educations with ZERO, ZILCH, NOTHING to show for it. They both feel that being able to shoot your mouth off should line their pockets. Its too late to stop Clark from the windfall but our Mayor is another story.

[LoneWolf_53]

^^ Then run for office and show us how you can do better.

Anyone can sit at a computer and nitpick day and night, but when push comes to shove can you do better?

As to the six figure income, big flipp'n whoopie, if that that's the only motivation then it would be smarter to run for an executive position with the BCTF given that they all make over six figures and do bupkiss to earn it.

What's more, is except for the one at the very top, the rest of them aren't even under any scrutiny.

[Glacier]

If you read the above post with just a bit of an open mind, I can actually see where her response was an attempt to basically say the same thing Hansen said, though it just didn't come across quite the same way.

Possibly so, but it is interesting that as soon as the Liberals came into power they slashed the budget even though they never cut spending. This seems rather bizarre to me. Here we are 14 years later, and the budget is still less than it was under the NDP even though the actual costs (labour, etc.) has gone up.

[jamapple]

^^ Then run for office and show us how you can do better.

Anyone can sit at a computer and nitpick day and night, but when push comes to shove can you do better?

As to the six figure income, big flipp'n whoopie, if that that's the only motivation then it would be smarter to run for an executive position with the BCTF given that they all make over six figures and do bupkiss to earn it.

What's more, is except for the one at the very top, the rest of them aren't even under any scrutiny.

Sorry, but I have to agree with lesliepaul to a certain degree. A question was asked, What motivates people to do it? And the answer was money, and for alot of them, I agree. *bleep* motivation, but you simply can't dreny there are many in public office who are strictly in it for the money, perks, and pensions.

Same can be said for teachers. Some really great ones, and others we all know from experience are really not there for the education of our kids. Everyone had "that" teacher, or knew of a few while their kids were going through the system.

[maryjane48]

^^ Then run for office and show us how you can do better.

Anyone can sit at a computer and nitpick day and night, but when push comes to shove can you do better?

As to the six figure income, big flipp'n whoopie, if that that's the only motivation then it would be smarter to run for an executive position with the BCTF given that they all make over six figures and do bupkiss to earn it.

What's more, is except for the one at the very top, the rest of them aren't even under any scrutiny.

lol you must have a crush on crusty

[Rosemary1]

Hopefully after this year the province will realize it needs to boost its fire fighting budget . While fires and their severity are somewhat unpredictable from year to year, we know there will be some and the more equipment and trained personnel that is available will help reduce the risk and loss of life, homes and damage to the environment.

[tntj]

Hopefully after this year the province will realize it needs to boost its fire fighting budget . While fires and their severity are somewhat unpredictable from year to year, we know there will be some and the more equipment and trained personnel that is available will help reduce the risk and loss of life, homes and damage to the environment.

We had the money..And the equipment...we used both...your problem with that is ???