Liberal Party.

[steven lloyd]

Good one Glacier. Another good read here also by Martyn Brown – this one published in the Province and previously posted in the Political Arena Forum (worth reviewing here as well). It seems the time of the Liberal Party is imminently winding down – sadly long past its expiry time but to the ultimate long term benefit of us all we can hope it will happen nonetheless.

NDP will likely win because Dix is listening

Some in the mainstream media feasted on The Province's shocking revelation Friday that the B.C. Federation of Labour openly supports the NDP and is contributing ideas to their election platform. Scoop! Front-page news, supported by an 11-page summary that divulged Big Labour's secret strategy developed by thousands of union "insiders" who met behind closed doors.

Seems the unions still want to elect an NDP government. Who knew? There you have it: irrefutable proof that Adrian Dix is in Jim Sinclair's pocket. Or as the B.C. Liberal campaign director Mike McDonald put it, "[Dix] tried to fool people that he was a moderate with a modest agenda . . . he just got busted."

Stupid me. I still tend to believe Mr. Dix when he says that he will raise corporate taxes a hair, possibly increase personal income taxes on those earning upwards of $150,000 to $200,000 a year and tinker with the Labour Code and employment and workplace safety standards in ways that will cause little widespread consternation.

What is more fascinating and most unnerving to the governing party is Dix's cleverly unhidden agenda. The real scoop is this: Dix and the NDP are not just winning over the wallets of many so-called "free enterprisers," they are also winning over their respect, their qualified trust and their good will to help as appropriate in developing better public policies, come what may. Which is to say, it is not just the B.C. Fed and all of the other "usual suspects" that are shaping the NDP's platform; voices for positive change also hail from the most unlikely quarters. In boardrooms, ballrooms and backrooms across B.C., many people who never previously supported the NDP are now speaking directly to Dix and company to be heard as they prepare their platform.

What really worries the NDP's frustrated critics is that Dix is actually listening in ways that are melting down the partisan suppositions, dispositions and misconceptions that fuel partisan fear and activism by preventing any potential for constructive engagement and discourse. Although he makes no bones about his ideological leanings, Dix is showing his smarts by taking the exact opposite course that Premier Christy Clark has chosen. He is learning to lead by listening openly to business and other community leaders who have much to say, teach and share when they are invited to meet. If it's a schtick, it's working, particularly for women voters, nearly 75 per cent of whom are now smiling back at Clark and saying, "no thanks" to her party.

Many British Columbians are tired of the polarized, partisan politics that has defined our "winner take all" approach to government. They want to believe that this time, just maybe, there is hope for new dialogue and a new meeting of the minds with whomever forms the next government. Currently, the odds are 10 to one that will be the NDP.

Forget about the pictures juxtaposing Dix's image with Sinclair's angry mug. Focus instead on the more surprising images of all those business leaders walking boldly by the cameras, or clapping politely in unison, as they come to listen and speak with the likely premier-in-waiting and his senior team at each major speech and unprecedented NDP fundraiser.

Most of them are not attending those luncheons and soirees to simply ingratiate themselves with the man who stands to form the next government. Some are, no doubt. For the most part, they are daring to show their interest in Dix, if not their support, for one overarching reason: they just want to build a better B.C. Many of those new NDP donors are also just tired of the eternal pendulum swings every time the government changes and the mindless militancy that creates more problems than it solves.

In today's global economy the structural challenges we face are so much greater than our capacity to answer them in isolation. The opportunities for social progress and sustainable economic growth similarly demand our collective input, effort and attention.

Those business types who are talking behind closed doors with the NDP are trying to open new doors that governments past and present locked shut. They are willing to lay down their guard, reach out for new relationships and work cooperatively and constructively with their ideological opposites in ways that are long overdue, no thanks to the likes of me or Dix, when we each served as senior advisers to our former bosses.

Though it may pain some in the NDP who want no truck or trade with those who typically support other parties, my guess is Dix will be different if he forms the next government. Indeed, he seems prepared to accept help from across the spectrum, wherever he can get it, within limits that are no less applicable to his party faithful. Or maybe I'm just eternally naive and hopelessly idealistic in my increasingly ambivalent ideological mindset that is the product of learning the hard way how far from ideal our past approaches to government really are in best serving the public interest.

Martyn Brown, former premier Gordon Campbell's chief of staff and a former B.C. deputy minister of tourism, trade and investment, is the author of the ebook, Towards A New Government In British Columbia.

© Copyright (c) The Province


Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/news/will+li ... z2Ey3sxDJa

[Rwede]

Martyn Brown, the guy who scammed $416,191 from taxpayers with a shady deal to sever him from his bureaucrat's job and re-appoint him to a deputy minister's job.

But hey, all that malfeasance is forgiven if he says something bad about the government. He's a hero now. He ripped us off for $416,191 but that's all okay if he's a Dix lover now.

[NAB]

It's not unusual for senior public servants to qualify for severance when they lose their jobs.... to put Martyn Brown's situation in the context of the time... according to Kevin Falcon it was all on the up n up and according to the rules. Not that I understand why Brown would have got severance with this batch from a previous job when he had already been moved to a different job and replaced. My understanding is that he was terminated from a (supposedly) non-partisan public service job as Chief of Staff, and later selected for a partisan Deputy Minister's job. 2 entirely different things it would appear? Where's the "scam"?
Nab

""The B.C. government is paying more than $2.4 million in severance to a handful of ex-public servants let go when Premier Christy Clark took over the reins of government from Gordon Campbell.

As many new heads of government do, Clark dismissed a number of veteran public servants and political staff who had served the previous administration.

Martyn Brown, the former chief of staff to former B.C. premier Gordon Campbell, gets a severance payment of $416,000.(CBC) The B.C. finance ministry released a breakdown of severance payments in response to a request from CBC News.

At the top of the list is Allan Seckel, who was deputy minister to the premier and head of the provincial public service. His payout will total $550,000.

Martyn Brown, who was Campbell's chief of staff, moved to a deputy minister's job in the past year, but he's also due severance of $416,000.

Other big payouts went to Leslie du Toit, deputy minister of children and family development, who gets $337,000, and Ron Norman, who headed the Public Affiars Bureau, who receives $324,000.

Other severance recipients include:
Lara Dauphinee (Campbell's Deputy Chief of Staff) - $193,000.
Geoff Hanman - $118,000
Paul Taylor (Premier's Chief of Staff after Brown) - $114,000.
Dale Steeves (Premier's Communications Director) - $108,000.
Michael Harrison (ministerial assistant) - $76,000.
June Phillips - $73,000.
Christine Willows - $51,000.
Kathy Armstrong - $34,000.
Richard Davis - $33,000.

The total for the severance packages is $2,427,000.

The president of the B.C. Federation of Labour, Jim Sinclair, called the payouts "outrageous," and not in accordance with Clark's promises to B.C. families.

"I suppose when she said 'families first' she meant Allan Seckel's family and Martyn Brown's family," said Sinclair.

But B.C. Finance Minister Kevin Falcon said it's all within the rules.

"It's always a lot of money, of course," said Falcon. "But it's now done to new, more stringent rules."

Under the NDP governments of the 1990s, senior bureaucrats could collect up to 24 months pay in severance. That has been reduced to 18 months.""

[Rwede]

Under the NDP governments of the 1990s, senior bureaucrats could collect up to 24 months pay in severance. That has been reduced to 18 months.""


Says it all right there. The NDP gold-plated the employment contracts of their favourite bureaucrats, at great expense to the taxpayers. I'm glad some small measure has been taken by the BC Libs to mitigate the cost of NDP mismanagement to the taxpayers.

[NAB]

What was it under the Socreds?

[Rwede]

You tell us. You're great at Googling up the cost of Christy's breakfast, but rather slow to find anything to defend your NDP.

Looking forward to your findings.

[maple leaf]

I agree that 24 months is way to much,and also 18 months is to much .They should have to be held to the same standards as the working class.

The B.C. Employment Standards Act does not remove an employer’s right to terminate an employee. The Act requires that employees who are terminated receive written notice or compensation based on length of service.

Compensation eligibility
An employee who is terminated may be eligible for compensation based on the following formula:

After three consecutive months of employment – one week’s pay;
After 12 consecutive months of employment – two weeks’ pay;
After three consecutive years – three weeks’ pay, plus one week’s pay for each additional year of employment to a maximum of eight weeks.
A week’s pay is calculated by:

Totalling the employee’s wages, excluding overtime, earned in the last eight weeks in which the employee worked normal or average hours; and
Dividing the total by eight.
The sale, lease or transfer of a business does not typically interrupt an employee’s period of continuous employment unless the employee has been terminated by the vendor employer.

No compensation required with working notice
No compensation is required if an employee is given advance written notice of termination equal to the number of weeks for which the employee is eligible. This notice must be in writing.

An employee can also be given a combination of written notice and compensation equal to the number of weeks of pay for which the employee is eligible.

An employee must be able to work during the notice period. If an employee is on vacation, leave, temporary layoff, strike or lockout, or unavailable for work due to medical reasons during the notice period, the employer must either suspend the notice period until the employee returns to work or pay that employee compensation in lieu of notice.

If employment continues after the notice period ends, the notice is of no effect.

Once written notice has been given, the employer may not alter any condition of employment, including the wage rate, without the employee’s written consent.

No notice or compensation required
Notice or compensation is not required if:

The employee has not completed three consecutive months of employment;
The employee quits or retires;
The employee is dismissed for just cause (see “Just Cause” factsheet);
The employee works on an on-call basis doing temporary assignments, which he or she can accept or reject;
The employee is employed for a definite term;
The employee is hired for specific work to be completed in 12 months or less;
It is impossible to perform the work because of some unforeseeable event or circumstance (other than bankruptcy, receivership or insolvency);
An employer whose principal business is construction employs the employee at one or more construction sites;
The employee refuses reasonable alternative employment;
The employee is a teacher employed by a board of school trustees.
If a definite term or specific work is extended for at least three months past its scheduled completion, the definite term and specific work exceptions described above do not apply.

[maple leaf]

Government talks the talk on jobs, but doesn't walk the walk


BY ROGER WATT, VANCOUVER SUN JANUARY 3, 2013



Re: Critics slam B.C. Liberal spending on job fairs, Dec. 28.

The government's betrayal of B.C.'s miners by allowing HD Mining to bring in Chinese labour for totally unsubstantiated reasons makes their pre-election job fairs quite ironic.

What with TransLink placing their order for the new SeaBus out of the province, it would seem that while all of our elected bodies spout hot air about creating jobs in B.C. to get (and stay) elected, their actions speak otherwise.

Roger Watt Vancouver

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun


Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/Gov ... z2GwNCZcOD

[flamingfingers]

How to spend $3 MILLION dollars the ChristyLiberal way:

Multi-million dollar B.C. jobs program has relocated just over 100 people

JUSTINE HUNTER
VICTORIA — The Globe and Mail
Published Thursday, Dec. 20 2012, 8:00 AM EST
Last updated Thursday, Dec. 20 2012, 12:57 PM EST

A $3-million B.C. government program designed to move unemployed workers in the south to jobs in the north has relocated just over 100 people to date – some as far “north” as Nanaimo, an island community west of Vancouver.

The program is designed to connect hard-to-employ workers with hard-to-fill construction jobs in northern communities. There were just three placements in September, 37 in October and 64 in November. Workers have been moved to communities from Prince Rupert to Houston, but the majority have gone to Fort St. John and Kelowna.

“I hope they are coming here prepared,” said Lori Ackerman, mayor of Fort St. John, where the temperature was –22 on Wednesday. “The jobs are here. The only issue that would arise, [is] if they don’t have a place to stay and proper clothing.”

Ms. Ackerman was not told in advance that the “JobMatch” program has delivered 30 new workers to her community in recent weeks. Housing is tight and, without accommodation arranged in advance, newcomers getting off the bus in Fort St. John right now can expect to spend a couple of weeks in a homeless shelter.

Her community of 20,000 people is a great place to kick-start a career, Ms. Ackerman added, but she wants to see a plan to ensure that workers are arriving with the right skill sets, and that they are supported. “It’s not an easy place to work if you are not good with the cold,” she said.

To date, 20 of the 104 workers have not stuck with the job they were sent to do.
Jobs Minister Pat Bell said Wednesday it is too early to say if the program is a success.

“Typically, the individuals we are dealing with here are the most difficult to employ. So it’s not disappointing. We knew going into this it would take significant resources to make it work,” he said in an interview Wednesday. “Part of this program is making sure that they have housing arranged, that they have the clothes they need. Its very hands-on.” He said there has not been co-ordination with local governments because “we don’t want to stigmatize them, that’s why we try t o keep it low-key.”

He said he hopes to have 250 people placed by the spring.

Kelowna Mayor Walter Gray also was not aware that the program was delivering people to his city. “I’m happy that Kelowna is on the receiving end – it’s good for me to hear the program is alive and well,” he said in an interview. In his community, where the average age is eight years older than the Canadian average, there is a demographic void of workers between the ages of 20 and 30.

Although Kelowna has a reputation for a high cost of living, Mr. Gray said in fact there is is a healthy, 3-per-cent vacancy rate, and the bylaws have recently been changed to allow homeowners to rent secondary suites. “So these 31 people who came to Kelowna, came here because they could afford to live here,” he said.

Carole James, the New Democratic Party’s social development critic, said she welcomes the support for the chronically unemployed but questioned whether this program is the best way to target the issue.

“The concept isn’t bad, but I am certain there are people in Fort St. John and Dawson Creek who could use the support to help them get work in their community,” she said. “This government keeps rolling out these piecemeal programs, instead of a long-term plan. Let’s look at where the shortages are, and where do we need the skills training.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/bri ... le6593700/

[maple leaf]

BC Government 15 million dollar ad's still claim to be leading Canada in job creation.

Canada adds 40,000 jobs in December
by The Canadian Press - Story: 85400
Jan 4, 2013 / 8:47 am

The Canadian economy created 40,000 jobs in December -- all of it in full-time work -- and drove the unemployment rate to its lowest in four years, Statistics Canada said Friday.

Ontario accounted for about three-quarters of the jobs added across Canada in December and almost all of the other provinces either saw gains or stayed even. The only exception was Nova Scotia, which lost 5,000 jobs.

The federal agency said the national unemployment rate slipped by one-tenth of a percentage point to 7.1 per cent.

The results easily topped economist estimates for a gain of just 5,000 jobs nationally and an unemployment rate of 7.3 per cent.

"Canadian employment not only defied expectations in December, it also appears to be defying gravity," said Doug Porter, the Bank of Montreal's deputy chief economist.

"The Canadian labour market finished 2012 in fine fashion, posting solid job gains in four of the last five months and driving the jobless rate to its lowest ebb in four years."

Ontario accounted for about three-quarters of the Canadian jobs added in December and almost all of the other provinces either saw gains or stayed even. The only exception was Nova Scotia, which lost 5,000 jobs.

December saw 41,200 new full-time jobs added, while the number of part-time positions fell by 1,400.

Compared with a year earlier, Statistics Canada said there were 312,000 more jobs, all in full-time work.

The new jobs were added in a month of much hand wringing over the so-called fiscal cliff in the United States and worries that if a budget deal was not reached Canada's largest trading partner could be tipped back into recession.


Photo: Contributed - Stats Canada
A last-minute deal this week has prevented taxes from rising on the middle class and the poor. However U.S. lawmakers still must wrangle over spending cuts and raising the country's debt ceiling.

Ontario led the way with a gain of 33,000 jobs in December, following a similar increase in November. Most of the other provinces posted gains or were little changed for the month.

Manitoba posted an increase of 5,200, Saskatchewan added 4,000 and Newfoundland and Labrador increased by 2,700.

Prince Edward Island added 1,300 jobs, while New Brunswick, Alberta, Quebec and British Columbia were little changed for the month.

The gains were made in the transportation and warehousing segment which added 22,000 jobs, while the construction industry gained 18,000 jobs.

Professional, scientific and technical services lost 42,000, while public administration dropped 13,000.

Meanwhile, the industrial product price index was down 0.3 per cent in November compared with October, mainly as a result of lower petroleum and coal prices.

The raw materials index fell 1.9 per cent on lower oil prices.

[steven lloyd]

How to spend $3 MILLION dollars the ChristyLiberal way:

Multi-million dollar B.C. jobs program has relocated just over 100 people

JUSTINE HUNTER
VICTORIA — The Globe and Mail
Published Thursday, Dec. 20 2012, 8:00 AM EST
Last updated Thursday, Dec. 20 2012, 12:57 PM EST

A $3-million B.C. government program designed to move unemployed workers in the south to jobs in the north has relocated just over 100 people to date – some as far “north” as Nanaimo, an island community west of Vancouver.

I hope some of that money was used to buy parkas for those brave and rugged settlers

[flamingfingers]

Budget? What Budget? We don't need no stinkin' BUDGET!!

Exclusive: BC Place renovation final costs were five times original budget
By Bob Mackin Fri Jan 4, 2013 2:00pm PST

The cost to renovate BC Place Stadium ended up five times higher than the figure B.C. Pavilion Corp.'s (PavCo) originally estimated, it has emerged – a much greater rise than the less-than-double budget increase previously reported.

"In order for BC Place to remain over the long term, major improvements and upgrading are necessary," wrote PavCo's then-chairman David Podmore in a confidential January 2008 letter to Vancouver's city manager Judy Rogers. "The scope of the rehabilitation project is in the order of $100 million, which includes replacement of the roof."

The government's first publicized budget for the project was $365 million, announced in January 2009. In August 2012, the government announced that the final price of the taxpayer-funded project was $514 million.

Podmore's letter, obtained via Freedom of Information by blogger Ian Reid, was written January 22, 2008, to ask for city council to agree in principle to 1.5 million square feet of new, mostly commercial, development on PavCo property surrounding the stadium. Revenue from the sale or lease of land was intended to help offset the cost of the stadium project.
The city council agreed to the amendments in 2008 but, in 2011, rejected a PavCo-supported proposal for Paragon Gaming to build Western Canada's biggest casino–hotel complex on leased land west side of the stadium.

"I think the public will be outraged, that they tried to claim up to the end that it was on time and on budget," NDP critic Spencer Chandra Herbert told Business in Vancouver. "They have still not provided any convincing business case – any business case, really – to show that the BC Place roof project was the best value for taxpayers."

Podmore resigned as chairman in September 2012, while PavCo continued talks with Paragon to build a smaller complex to house the existing Edgewater Casino licence.

After Gregor Robertson was sworn in as mayor in December 2008, city manager Rogers was fired, given a $571,000 severance and replaced by Penny Ballem.

The cost of renovation and application of a retractable roof more than doubled by April 2008, when a PavCo internal report pegged the cost at $253 million, but delayed the lion's share of work until after the 2010 Winter Olympics. The government announced the $365 million budget in January 2009, but it was increased to $563 million by year-end.

Last August, the provincial government said the completed project cost $514 million, but has refused to disclose the size of its payment to Telus for supplying telecommunications and technology goods and services. A $35-40 million naming rights sponsorship agreement with Telus was cancelled last February by the government, and the government has since awarded Telus a conciliatory telecoms deal.

"[The news of the original budget] floored me," Chandra Herbert said. "I had both the Minister [Pat Bell] and David Podmore criticize me publicly for saying the Liberals had gone massively over budget when I was referring to going from $365 million to over $500 million, when little did I know."

One of the most complex stadium renovations in history was prompted by the January 5, 2007, rip and collapse of the original, inflated fabric roof. The roof was not heated during the cold, snowy morning. A sudden spike in air pressure caused an avalanche of snow, ice and slush that cut through a panel on the west side of the roof. It was patched and reinflated two weeks later.

http://www.biv.com/article/20130104/BIV ... s-original

[flamingfingers]

"Give us a hard time? We'll fix you."

Another travesty in a litany of travesties:

BC Libs fire troublesome Auditor General
Posted on January 6, 2013 by Ian
BC’s Auditor General John Doyle

The Sun and the Province are reporting tonight that the BC Liberals appear to be firing BC’s strong Auditor General, John Doyle.

Oh wait I mean to say in the obscuring way the Liberals do, they plan to fail to reappoint BC’s strong Auditor General, John Doyle

That’s the John Doyle who’s taking the government to court over the BC Liberals refusal to hand over documents that reveal crucial details about the $6 million of public money they paid out to halt the BC Rail trial.

Clearly the BC Liberal government is willing to go to the end of the earth to continue the cover-up of the BC Rail deal.

It’s the John Doyle who called Speaker Bill Barisoff and the Liberal dominated committee that runs the legislature for their child like accounting processes.

The Liberals got caught on that one and they hate Doyle for holding them accountable for the way their Speaker runs the legislature.

It’s the same John Doyle that reported that the budget deficit was likely hundreds of millions higher than Finance Minister Mike de Jong falsely reported.

So they’re gunning Doyle before he can report out on their imaginary February budget.

In other words it the same John Doyle who has been holding this government to account since his appointment in 2007.

The committee overseeing the reappointment is made up of three Liberals and two New Democrats. According to the Province newspaper Committee member John Les said he ”could not comment on why Doyle was not reappointed or which committee members wanted to see him go, but said it was not unusual for a government to have a “somewhat adversarial” relationship with the Auditor General”.

I call *bleep*. I’m told that the vote split down party lines with New Democrats favouring Doyle’s reappointment following his strong performance in the final interview stage.

The Liberals on the committee wanted Doyle gone, no doubt following orders from the Liberal caucus and the Premier’s office.

This government has no shame. When accountability raises its ugly head their first and only instinct is to shoot.

Now their intentions are clear: fire Doyle and hire a docile good old boy in an expedited process before the election call.

My advice to the NDP? Stall like heck, defeat the government and reverse this disastrous decision that goes completely against the public interest.

This is the biggest sign to date of how corrupt this government is. If this doesn’t tell you that you can’t believe a single thing this government says, nothing will.

Read the comments here:
http://therealstory.ca/

[Logitack]

*shaking my head*

is there nothing these liberals wont do to hide their corruption....i guess not....typical

[maple leaf]

Regarding article above.^^^

“The evil hate the light – the light of goodness that shows them up, the light of scrutiny that exposes them, the light of truth that penetrates their deception. Rather than blissfully lacking a sense of morality, like the sociopath, they are continually engaged in sweeping the evidence of their evil under the rug of their own consciousness."
The quote is from People of the Lieby M. Scott Peck

Sounds just like this Liberal government on all fronts.Silensing the voice of John Doyle, further shows the contempt this government shows for BC and that is unacceptable.Time to vote them out of Victoria using the only option available.