Liberal Party.

[maple leaf]

^^^ The questions were put forth in above article put out by;
MEDIA CONTACT:
Kristy Fredericks
Director of Policy, Research & Communications
BC Conservative Party
604-530-1410
[email protected]

[flamingfingers]

Where is Eric Foster?? Why hasn't he answered these simple questions?

Press Release: BC CONSERVATIVE CANDIDATE SCOTT ANDERSON QUESTIONS BC LIBERAL ERIC FOSTER'S RENOVATION EXPENSES

Submitted by scottsa on Jan 11, 2013 - 02:44 PM

Scott Anderson, British Columbia Conservative Party candidate for Vernon-Monashee, is concerned about serious questions surrounding Vernon-Monashee MLA Eric Foster's constituency office renovations.

WireService.ca Press Release - Jan 11, 2013 - NR-110113CN

VERNON - Scott Anderson, British Columbia Conservative Party candidate for Vernon-Monashee, is concerned about serious questions surrounding Vernon-Monashee MLA Eric Foster's constituency office renovations.

According to Times Colonist reporter Les Leyne, Liberal MLA Eric Foster was the only MLA cited in a confidential management letter from Auditor General John Doyle's office. Mr. Foster was cited last year over inadequate documentation for a $67,000 renovation of his constituency office.[1]

"Other questions surrounding this issue have arisen, and Mr. Foster should clear them up as soon as possible to avoid a growing public perception that questionable actions may have been involved," said Anderson. "The citizens of Vernon-Monashee deserve answers, and I trust that Mr. Foster will supply those answers immediately."

Note to editor: All following numbered paragraphs can be taken as quotes from Scott Anderson

1. According to the BC Assessment office, the current assessed value of the land and office Mr. Foster is occupying at 3209 31st Avenue in Vernon is $187,100 as the following screen shot indicates. Can Mr. Foster explain why he received $67,000 for renovations on a four-year lease when standard leasing practice is for the landlord to pay for renovations and then reflect those renovations in the rent?

2. Can Mr. Foster explain why there is no record of a Vernon municipal building permit issued for renovations on the office building at 3209 31st Avenue within a date range of 1 January 2007 and 1 January 2011 - if the work was done in 2009? $67,000 worth of renovations on a building and land worth a mere $187,000 must have involved a major structural overhaul, and would certainly require a building permit.

3. Was Mr. Foster aware that his landlord Ravinder "Sid" Sidhu, husband of Mr. Foster's constituency assistant and presumably the recipient of the $67,000, was a long-time financial donor to the BC Liberals, and a long-standing BC Liberal appointee to the Agricultural Land Commission?

4. The office Mr. Foster leased, at 3209 31st Avenue Vernon, is very small and appears not to have undergone massive structural renovations. Exactly what renovations were undertaken? In view of these new revelations and because of the close family and Liberal Party connections between his long-time staff member and landlord, Mr. Foster should make his receipts public immediately to head off any perception of wrongdoing.

5. Can Mr. Foster explain why his initial request for renovation funds was $78,000 even though the undocumented spreadsheet he turned in only indicated $67,000? Why was the extra $11,000 originally included and why was it subsequently dropped?

6. Can Mr. Foster explain why he didn't lease a different office - one that didn't require extensive structural renovations? The leasing market at the time was extremely depressed - as it is today - and there were numerous reasonably priced office spaces available that didn't require tens of thousands of dollars in repairs and renovations.

7. Can Mr. Foster explain why he has now offered to repay the renovation costs?[2] If the renovation costs were subsequently cleared by the Ethics Commissioner, why is Mr. Foster volunteering to repay them now?

8. In view of the fact that the BC Liberals bill themselves as the party of responsible spending, and in view of the fact that the median annual income in the North Okanagan is somewhere around $35,000, can Mr. Foster explain why he believes $67,000 for office renovations is a responsible expenditure of taxpayer funds?

"I want to be very clear that I am not attacking Mr. Foster. I am asking questions that every constituent in Vernon-Monashee and every citizen of British Columbia deserves answers to," said Anderson. "Mr. Foster has refused to answer questions about his committee's decision to turf the Auditor General on the basis of committee privilege and the law, but there's no earthly reason why he can't answer the above questions and make the evidence public."

- 30 -
For more information:
Scott Anderson, BC Conservative Candidate, Vernon-Monashee
Facebook: Scott Anderson, Candidate, Vernon-Monashee
Twitter: Scott Anderson @AndersonforMLA
Telephone:1-866-800-9025
http://www.bcconservative.ca/
http://www.wireservice.ca/index.php?mod ... y&sid=9545

[NAB]

Where is the Vernon media? Why aren't they on Foster's case about this? They should be all over him like a cold sweat!

Does Vernon and area have an NDP candidate yet, or perhaps an independent candidate running against Foster?

Nab

[Alvis]

Where is the Vernon media? Why aren't they on Foster's case about this? They should be all over him like a cold sweat!

Does Vernon and area have an NDP candidate yet, or perhaps an independent candidate running against Foster?

Nab

Vernon is true blue right wing conservative territory. They could do anything and it would be OK as long as they flew the correct flag.
Foster is a scum bag and needs to go and NOT be repalced by another right wing BC Liberal or Conservative.

[flamingfingers]

Only info I can find is Mark Olsen but he seems to be under a bucket.. Scott Anderson seems to be pretty keen and as a Conservative has been asking Eric Foster some questions that Foster can't/won't answer. Hope Scott takes that riding!!

[sooperphreek]

i would lean to what i saw from someone else earlier. id like a clean slate and see a 72-2 drubbing like the ndp got so the liberals can shut up and take that feather out of their cap.

[Alvis]

Only info I can find is Mark Olsen but he seems to be under a bucket.. Scott Anderson seems to be pretty keen and as a Conservative has been asking Eric Foster some questions that Foster can't/won't answer. Hope Scott takes that riding!!

BC Conservative is just more of the same right wing crap. Hell most of the BC Conservativeparty is made up of BC Liberal ship jumpers. Careful what you wish for.

[Sn0man]

BC Conservative is just more of the same right wing crap. Hell most of the BC Conservativeparty is made up of BC Liberal ship jumpers. Careful what you wish for.

Like who?

[flamingfingers]

BC Conservative is just more of the same right wing crap. Hell most of the BC Conservativeparty is made up of BC Liberal ship jumpers. Careful what you wish for.

Oh I grant you that for sure, but the Cons have no hope in He** of being effective in government and I just want to see the riding go to anyone BUT the ChristyLiberal *bleep* Party.

[ScottSA]

As the BC Conservative candidate for Vernon-Monashee, I'm hoping to get answers from Mr. Foster on these renovation questions. I'm not sure why he isn't making his answers public, and I'm not sure why the local media have declined to pursue these questions.

I believe there are two primary issues in this office renovation scandal: A lack of judgement and a lack of fiscal responsibility.

Mr. Foster has shown a startling lack of judgement in leasing a building from a predominant local BC Liberal supporter who is married to his officer manager. How could he NOT have known that it would trigger a red flag with the Auditor General? Mr. Foster claims he was cleared by the Ethics Commissioner, but that's not the point - it never should have gone that far because it never should have happened.

More egregiously, Mr. Foster has shown galloping fiscal irresponsibility in using $67,000 of taxpayers' money to renovate an office that is currently worth a mere $187,100 - and presumably only valued at that price AFTER the extensive structural renovations that must have taken place. He claims it was hard to find another office space, but this was back in 2009 at the very height of the Great Recession, and reasonably priced office space was quite easy to find.

This sort of behaviour is unacceptable. It's the sort of thing that gives all politicians a bad name. Mr. Foster's defence seems to be "the system said I could," but that's part of the problem with this Liberal government. It's a government that's out of control and shrouded in secrecy, and if the system is to blame then the system should have been changed.

The BC Conservatives WILL change the system. We have enshrined strict conflict of interest guidelines in the party policy: "Establish an Independent Provincial Ethics Commissioner's office and institute strict conflict of interest guidelines for MLAs and all other government employees, including those of Crown corporations and other organizations owned, controlled or supported by the Government of British Columbia."

On top of that, our policy calls for ALL MLA's expenses to be published annually, so all the citizens of BC will know exactly where their money is going.

Further, watch for a news release from my colleague Tom Birch, BC Conservative candidate for the Shuswap - he will very soon be holding a news conference to unveil a cutting edge initiative he is pioneering that will allow all MLAs to be transparent and accountable in real time.

The Liberal's platform appears to be "vote for us because if you don't the NDP will win." The NDP's platform seems to be "vote for us because we're not the Liberals." I'm proud to say that our platform is to sweep away the cobwebs, open up government to the citizens, and bring real substantive change to the way politics is done in BC. I believe we stand a real chance of winning in Vernon-Monashee.

Scott Anderson

[sooperphreek]

how is a similar party philosophy to the liberals going to make the changes you speak of? thats like saying the liberals have done so many bad things but the conservatives will only do this many as painless as possible. i think it is long overdue for a swing of the pendulum. be patient and wait till everyone gets mad at the ndp and then the righties can choose which poison they want.

[ScottSA]

I guess you'd have read the last few paragraphs of what I wrote if you'd like the answer to that question.

[sooperphreek]

the problem with politics is that the ideal and the reality dont always line up. you can be as passionate as you want.....obama was - and he ran flat when he was actually "in the beast" of government. and i am confident you will be flat too if by some good fortune you are successful getting votes and a seat. you could even be a smart guy and a great guy like many say obama is. but it wont make you a good representative of the people or a good politician. the problem is that your one vote is not as effective in government as i feel direct democracy from all of us would be. and unfortunately until then we will end up with omnibus bills that get passed by the many single votes which would never succeed if they were voted on by the many individual votes.

[Alvis]

I guess you'd have read the last few paragraphs of what I wrote if you'd like the answer to that question.

Yeah, just like the BC Liberals brough about a "New Era" right?

So you're saying NOBODY in the BC COnservative Party are ex-BC Liberals? Want to go on record here buddy?

*cough*John van Dongen*cough*

[logicalview]

So you're saying NOBODY in the BC COnservative Party are ex-BC Liberals? Want to go on record here buddy?

*cough*John van Dongen*cough*

*cough*he resigned last September*cough*