Campbell has to go..

[Glacier]

Steven,

So quick question; if the Carbon tax was removed tomorrow; do you really think it would make a lick of a difference in your scenario ?

The CBC news lady said that rumour has it that Campbell is supposedly going to drop the carbon tax before the election.

[Symbonite]

And you may like to know that when Gawd Gordo Zilla was in Kelowna for the the opening of Bennett Bridge I got my chance to look him in the eye and say...

"BECAUSE OF YOU I GOT MY HOURS CUT BACK BY HALF" right to his face.

He stepped back and cast his beady little eyes about in absolute terror. Something like this :eyeballspin:

:discodance: Ya, he's gotta go.

I would have done that too...step back because again he was in Crackhead park. if someone come ranting and raving like mad out of the blue then I would think of my personal safety.

[steven lloyd]

Steven, So quick question; if the Carbon tax was removed tomorrow; do you really think it would make a lick of a difference in your scenario?

The quick answer (gotta get ready to go) for people in the north is yes. We have to drive. Driving less is not an option. We haven’t changed our driving habits because of the carbon tax and buses and skytrain is not an option. We also have to heat our homes. If anything, the carbon tax is forcing some to start burning wood for heat, which as you know, produces even more carbon. We don’t drive less because of the carbon tax. We just pay more, and people up here are getting real sick of paying for Vancouver’s infrastructure and some ten day party for the rich and elite.

Anyways, leaving town later this afternoon for work. Gonna fly :o) Talk to you later.

[NAB]

Makes one wonder who is "really" running this province huh?
Nab

B.C.'s lobbying watchdog asked to probe nine allegations in past 12 months
Jonathan Fowlie, Vancouver Sun
Published: Wednesday, October 08, 2008
VICTORIA - The watchdog who investigates lobbying in British Columbia has been asked to probe nine allegations of wrongdoing in just the past 12 months, The Vancouver Sun has learned.

Ranging from a complaint against two environmental groups to a case where a lobbyist was found to have registered late, the recent complaints all allege people have been trying to influence government decision-makers without properly disclosing their activities.

Four of the nine cases have been widely reported in the media, while the other five have not.

Only two have been fully resolved.

The revelation sheds light on the number of cases being reviewed through a law the government has acknowledged to be flawed. It also comes on a day when the oversight of lobbyists in B.C. remained in doubt.

On Tuesday, registrar of lobbyists David Loukidelis said he will not accept any new cases because he lacks the proper powers to investigate or impose sanctions.

Speaking in Victoria on Wednesday, Attorney-General Wally Oppal acknowledged the Lobbyists Registration Act needs to be changed, but refused to give details on when his government will take action.

"I have made no secret of the fact that I think the act needs to be changed," Oppal said, adding issues about the act "began to arise about a year and a half ago."

But Oppal said it is not as simple as it appears to introduce new legislation, especially given the range of other priorities facing the government.

"Can I say this is more important that health care, this is more important than education or climate change and all the other legislative matters that are on the calendar?" he asked, denying suggestions that new legislation could have been passed if the government had not cancelled a fall session of the legislature.

Edit to add: further quote: Loukidelis has refused to comment publicly on the matter.

On Wednesday, however, his office told The Sun it has received 11 complaints since the existing act came into effect in 2001, nine of which were lodged within the last 12 months.

On Wednesday, Loukidelis released a letter he sent directly to Oppal on Monday, urging him to change the lobbying law "at the earliest opportunity, in order to provide mechanisms for compliance oversight."

In that letter, Loukidelis called for a number of changes that would:

n Provide the registrar specific powers to conduct investigations.

n Enable the registrar to levy sanctions.

n Require public officials to verify that a lobbyist is registered.



Full article: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news ... d5f7bf19f7

[NAB]

Well, on the national scene the Carbon Tax is dead, and now Dion has graciously committed to work with the other party's to focus and cooperate on the economy, and put aside his grand schemes related to the environment.

Now Gordon Campbell better come out of his den and face a similar reality on BC's behalf. He is not immune to the same fate as Dion if he persists in this Carbon Tax folly.

Nab

[Al Czervic]

I agree Nabs,

Even though I support Carbon Taxes; it is pretty clear thta the majority does not. Interesting if Campbell responds are not.

[Captain Awesome]

Of course the Captain’s got an awesome plan for that.

Hey hey, I didn't say nothing Mr. Two University Degrees.

[NAB]

I agree Nabs,

Even though I support Carbon Taxes; it is pretty clear thta the majority does not. Interesting if Campbell responds are not.

Ya know Al, as an aside it occurs to me that we now have municipal and school board elections just around the corner. We have become used to 'them' spending and increasing taxes as a result. Dare we hope that the candidates offering themselves up will address their economic plans, debt, and budgets also as a top priority?

Just like every other level of government, the municipalities have to contribute to the belt tightening too, in anticipation that senior governments may not only be tighter with distribution of funds for the forseeable future, ....but may also look to download some of their expenses to the local property tax payer.

Nab

[NAB]

One of Campbell's mouth pieces ((MLA Ralph Sultan, West Vancouver-Capilano, writes (whines?)): (Quote)...

""It is too bad that Mr. Dion, fighting to gain ground in a Federal election campaign, had to come along and confuse the issue further in B.C., since – let’s face it – the electorate is struggling to come to terms with our carbon tax.

Finance Minister Taylor’s assertion that any increase in gasoline taxes is matched dollar for dollar by tax cuts elsewhere, has been met with puzzlement if not disbelief. But in fact, that’s the law!

When this tax was first being considered, months and months ago, nobody foresaw the imminent 30 per cent increase in gasoline prices. So the Government is being blamed for the global supply and demand imbalance in automobile fuels.

Well, Ralph, nobody ever said politics would be easy!

*******************************************

...got news for you Ralph. No one, at least that I know of, is blaming the Government for "the global supply and demand imbalance in automobile fuels". Mainly because it is a figment of your imagination and doesn't exist in reality (but it makes a good old (but worn out) excuse huh?).

Time to quit sounding like a parrot and tell us what you really think. Either that or retire like you should have long ago. Your Carbon Tax grab is a huge mistake and con game (IMO), just as Dion's was.

[steven lloyd]

Another reason wee have to get rid of Campbell:

Opposition grows to river hydro projects

By Molly McNulty
Published: October 14, 2008 11:00 PM

Rafe Mair, who took part in the campaign which resulted in stopping run-of-river projects just north of Vancouver earlier this year, says these kinds of project (smaller-scale generators to generate hydro power by using northwest river systems) pose lots of problems.

“If the government won’t change, we will change the government...if the Liberals get in... the rivers that are dammed are gone forever,” says Mair. “I am prepared to run the risk of the NDP slowing the economy...that is something you can fix.” he said. We won’t, however, be able to recoup what we lose from Gordon Campbell’s ideological agenda of privatization.

Mair claims the privately-owned nature of run-of-river projects and the lack of power that municipalities have in regulating them is trouble. He predicts B.C. Hydro will run huge debts by being forced to buy run-of-river power at a price set by the government and, as a result, it will be sold off by Premier Gordon Campbell. Ultimately, not only will the public lose control of a public resource (our rivers) but will also end up paying inflated prices for electricity.

“I’ve been looking around for an answer (private run-of-rivers)...this is the first time I’ve seen a debate where there’s been no other side that makes sense,” says Mair. “Campbell with those right wing theories, they don’t believe that any public owned corporation can do as good as a private corporation.”

There are more than 500 active water license applications for run-of-river projects in the province.
Typically, a run-of-river project diverts water from a river through a low elevation dam and sends it through an enclosed pipe, which delivers the water to hydraulic turbines. The water is then returned to the river through a tailrace which is the downstream part of a dam.

This process is being labelled as environmentally-friendly, and a green power solution, but Watershed Watch Salmon Society, a registered salmon charity, has come across some environmental issues. Watershed Watch executive director Craig Orr says that their research has found a lot of problems with the whole process of run-of-river. “What we’re finding is that there is a bit of a gold rush right now for putting these projects in place,” says Orr. “These projects are very large. These are not little benign projects that divert a little bit of water and don’t harm anything.”

Aaron Hill, a fish ecologist with Watershed Watch, completed an assessment report on projects in the Northwest this past spring. “There hasn’t been a rigourous evaluation of the accumulative impact of these projects,” says Hill. “The government only considers the impacts of the projects one by one, and often they are clustered. They need to have a development and planning process that is transparent, otherwise the region will end up with a huge scale of development without any planning.” Not only do the projects require the construction of dams, but with it, roads and transmission lines, he added. As for wildlife, grizzly bears, who are sensitive to the construction factors, and fish and other aquatic organisms are affected.

Mair says it will all come down to the B.C. general election in May 2009. “I coined this phrase, watershed election,” says Mair. “People of B.C. hopefully will decide what kind of a province they are after, one with 100 river products and a privatized BC Hydro, or one that keeps the environment under public power.”

[steven lloyd]

Of course the Captain’s got an awesome plan for that.

Hey hey, I didn't say nothing Mr. Two University Degrees.

Sorry Cap - I didn't appreciate the fact you might be having self-esteem issues.
I'll quit piclking on you. :127:

[NAB]

I see Campbell has Bill Clinton singing his praises over BC's carbon tax/environmental approach now. I would like to see Clinton try to sell it in his own state in the US LOL.

The only other words I have for him is to go back where you came from and mind your own freakin' business. I've had it up to here with things we now have to live with in Canada due to the mess that has been created by the US. And with your help I might add!

Nab

[steven lloyd]

I see Campbell has Bill Clinton singing his praises over BC's carbon tax/environmental approach now. I would like to see Clinton try to sell it in his own state in the US LOL. Nab

Ya, it's pretty easy to support something that's not costing you anything.

[NAB]

Posted on one web site today... think about it Mr. Campbell!

"<i>...if you support the concept of free markets it follows that you agree with the merits of placing a tax on actions that harm the environment as a fair way of curbing those actions</i>"

While I agree with those who reject the anthropogenic global warming (AGW) thesis, the above statement is an egregious failure of logic.

The placing of a tax for any purpose whatsoever is, inherently, a complete and utter rejection of the free market system.

By design, taxes do nothing but penalize the productive, on whom the poor and the bureaucrat depend.

**************************

KILL THE CARBON TAX! VOTE NDP!

Nab

[steven lloyd]

KILL THE CARBON TAX! VOTE NDP!

Nab

I have to agree Nabs. For more reasons than just the carbon tax I believe it is critical for us to remove the criminal Campbell and his lackies from power. Like many people, I do have concerns about what the NDP with an inexperienced leader might do to our economy. However, as Mare suggested, we will be able to fix that if required. We will not, however, regain control of our public resources if we continue to allow Herr Gordo to sell our province out from under our feet.

I would encourage people to do their own research on the likely effects of the independent run-of-river projects (unfortunately, it is people from the urban centers who have never been north of Kamloops who will likely return the megomaniac Campbell to power). The economic numbers do not make sense for us and in addition to killing hundreds of streams in the province and lining the province with hundreds of service roads and transmission line right-of-ways through our forests, the profits made from the generation of electricity will be leaving the province (in the past BC Hydro has contributed hundreds of millions to our government coffers) and we will ultimately end up paying much higher prices for our electricity than we are now. One Crown owned mega project would provide more employment, be much more cost-effective at producing cheaper electricity, and ultimately have less environmental impact. This is a lose-lose proposition for the people of BC, and Campbell is recklessly pursuing his agenda of privatization for nothing other than ideological belief.

WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO FIX WHAT CAMPBELL DESTROYS! VOTE NDP!