Norm Letnick - BC Liberal

[Russell - Winfield]

*spam removed, please post in appropriate thread/Jo*

[issueman]

So...

What does anyone know about the issue of:

Norm Letnick's son and his use of affordable housing??

[Russell - Winfield]

I'm not concerned if Norm Letnik's son resides in an affordable housing complex, if that is indeed the case. I think the bigger issue and question in this election is " do we want our children living in subsidized housing or an affordable housing complex, because they can't find full-time quality employment, or start up and operate a profitable business in our community, and strive to live up to their full potential", "that's the key issue in this election".
Norm Letnik's BC Liberals promised us a Golden Decade. Here in rural Lake Country, Glenmore and Rutland we've been shut right out. Norm Letnik and his BC Liberal friends in the lower Mission,were Norm lives and plays, have a new $50 Million dollar 2010 Olympics swimming pool in their backyard, that Kelowna Lake Country taxpayers are paying for.
Here in Lake Country, no affordable housing for seniors, no recreational infrastructure for our children, new rural Liberal school bus user fees to attend public schools. In Rutland and area the same, new rural Liberal school bus user fees, and the cancellation of funding for single mothers affordale housing units. In Glemore, Magic Estates, Wilden and Dilworth, no Senior Secondary High School for K10,11 & 12 high school student, instead new Liberal school bus user fees in this area, no recreation facilities for greater North Glenmore, no transit services up Clifton Road thru to Magic estates and Wilden estates. Yes, after 4 terms of BC Liberal representation in the Glenmore area specific, Glenmore's infrastructure and taxpayer bragging rights are the City of Kelowna-BC Liberal Dump, how nice and pleasant! No Golden Decade in Kelowna Lake Country, just a bag of Liberal fool's gold, plus Gold-Plated MLA Salaries and Pensions, Gold-Plated record high Provincial Debt, Gold-Plated Olympic cost overuns, and now a not so gold-plated provincial economic deficit. I think the choice is abundantly clear on May 12th, the last thing Lake Country-Kelowna needs is another scripted Gordon Campbell Liberal MLA and supporter in Victoria,

[Freefalling]

I'm not concerned if Norm Letnik's son resides in an affordable housing complex, if that is indeed the case. I think the bigger issue and question in this election is " do we want our children living in subsidized housing or an affordable housing complex, because they can't find full-time quality employment, or start up and operate a profitable business in our community, and strive to live up to their full potential", "that's the key issue in this election".
Norm Letnik's BC Liberals promised us a Golden Decade. Here in rural Lake Country, Glenmore and Rutland we've been shut right out. Norm Letnik and his BC Liberal friends in the lower Mission,were Norm lives and plays, have a new $50 Million dollar 2010 Olympics swimming pool in their backyard, that Kelowna Lake Country taxpayers are paying for.
Here in Lake Country, no affordable housing for seniors, no recreational infrastructure for our children, new rural Liberal school bus user fees to attend public schools. In Rutland and area the same, new rural Liberal school bus user fees, and the cancellation of funding for single mothers affordale housing units. In Glemore, Magic Estates, Wilden and Dilworth, no Senior Secondary High School for K10,11 & 12 high school student, instead new Liberal school bus user fees in this area, no recreation facilities for greater North Glenmore, no transit services up Clifton Road thru to Magic estates and Wilden estates. Yes, after 4 terms of BC Liberal representation in the Glenmore area specific, Glenmore's infrastructure and taxpayer bragging rights are the City of Kelowna-BC Liberal Dump, how nice and pleasant! No Golden Decade in Kelowna Lake Country, just a bag of Liberal fool's gold, plus Gold-Plated MLA Salaries and Pensions, Gold-Plated record high Provincial Debt, Gold-Plated Olympic cost overuns, and now a not so gold-plated provincial economic deficit. I think the choice is abundantly clear on May 12th, the last thing Lake Country-Kelowna needs is another scripted Gordon Campbell Liberal MLA and supporter in Victoria,

By the way, did you not notice the multi-million dollar UBCO, the new main street in Winfield and the highway expansion in Joe Riche all in Kelowna Lake-Country? Boo-hoo, we don't have a swimming pool but we have more roads and a prime post-secondary institution. Some priorities you have!

[CarMa]

The multi-million dollar UBCO doesn't help if kids can't afford to attend.

Okanagan University College provided valid and effective degrees.... many nurses and teachers (among others I'm sure) got their degrees at OUC when tuition was affordable, before the Liberals brought in double-digit increases.

Freezing tuition, and even rolling it back, is the way to go, especially in this economic recession/depression. Saddling them with thousands of dollars in educational debt serves no one, except the banks.... it certainly won't stimulate the economy.

[Freefalling]

The multi-million dollar UBCO doesn't help if kids can't afford to attend.

Okanagan University College provided valid and effective degrees.... many nurses and teachers (among others I'm sure) got their degrees at OUC when tuition was affordable, before the Liberals brought in double-digit increases.

Freezing tuition, and even rolling it back, is the way to go, especially in this economic recession/depression. Saddling them with thousands of dollars in educational debt serves no one, except the banks.... it certainly won't stimulate the economy.

Good point, however, the college, at this point, is surprisingly either about the same or more expensive than UBCO in terms of tuition (I have been to both). I do agree that tuition is very high though either way, I am all for tuition caps. Does anybody know the BC Liberal/NDP/Green stance on putting caps on tuition?

[Miller's Angel]

First of all the candidate should know the problems that are most important to local voters. Remember the winning candidate must first do what is best for the province in this case even though they represent local interests. The health of the province has the most impact on a local area.
It does look very strange however to have an election of convenience where the candidates by and large don't live in the riding or they belong to two different ideologies.
As for STV there is no way I would support it, for the reason stated above. As a voter I support one
particular group and I will support only one candidate. This system provides for more than one belief. Personally I belive an election is really a civil war without guns and I would only vote one name on the ballot. It is called plumping

I 100% agree with you. Candidates should know the problems that are most important to local voters. This is why I read Norm's answers to the questions posted on the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce website. I felt after this that he did not whatsoever relate to average working person of the riding. I also felt that it was very vague and he didn't write the answer himself as it was cut and posted in different fonts and different point sizes.

As far as the STV vote - it's not a civil war, or a religion where you have to make one choice and stick with it and only it. I am partial to one party. I also feel that by voting for them sometimes my vote gets wasted as they have a lesser amount of votes. Therefore I'm forced to vote for the lesser of two evils that I don't want to vote for. With the STV I can still vote the way I want to and have a back up for the lesser of my two evils if my party doesn't succeed. You're obviously a liberal supporter and have never supported a minority group so you wouldn't understand how powerful this can be. For people like me it makes it worth voting again.

[Russell - Winfield]

*personal attack removed/Jo*

[damngrumpy]

A quick note to miller's angel actually I am not a liberal supporter, and I have voted for lesser parties I just believe that all candidates Norm or anyone else, should be elected by one person one vote. Voting for 8 candidates in a civic election is a far cry from voting for a provincial or federal
government. The result of stv should it win out, would eventually cause even more polarization
than before, It should be noted we had a similar system, from 1948 to 1952 and the first thing
WAC Bennett did was scrap it when he came to power. The result was political polarization became the order of the day from 1948 even until today. The parties simply encouraged their
supporters to plump, or mark only one name on the ballot. If you look carefully at the proposed
system there is a way to manipulate it and this could backfire on those who favor it.
Metro areas will benefit and those outside the lower mainland will have less of a voice than they do
now.

[Russell - Winfield]

*SPAM REMOVED/Jo*

[usquebaugh]

By the way, did you not notice the multi-million dollar UBCO, the new main street in Winfield and the highway expansion in Joe Riche all in Kelowna Lake-Country? Boo-hoo, we don't have a swimming pool but we have more roads and a prime post-secondary institution. Some priorities you have!

Much (but not all) of the OUC North Campus had already been built prior to the Liberals deciding to create UBC-O on that particular campus (and, yes, the negotiations were mostly one-sided, with the "transition" [read: hostile takeover] team consisting mainly of UBC Van people). Also, did you ever think of the support staff and professors whose lives changed dramatically? Consider the fact that UBC decided not to grandfather the pensions (that had been paid for decades into OUC) to those profs who stayed with UBC-O (some profs went to OC just to keep their retirement pensions!). It was a downright and dirty shame, which could have been avoided by providing OUC with its own university charter! That's something I'll never forgive the Liberals for.

[Freefalling]

Much (but not all) of the OUC North Campus had already been built prior to the Liberals deciding to create UBC-O on that particular campus (and, yes, the negotiations were mostly one-sided, with the "transition" [read: hostile takeover] team consisting mainly of UBC Van people). Also, did you ever think of the support staff and professors whose lives changed dramatically? Consider the fact that UBC decided not to grandfather the pensions (that had been paid for decades into OUC) to those profs who stayed with UBC-O (some profs went to OC just to keep their retirement pensions!). It was a downright and dirty shame, which could have been avoided by providing OUC with its own university charter! That's something I'll never forgive the Liberals for.

Wow, I did not know that. I had some profs who voiced their opinions about the change from both institutions, and no, they were not good. I really do feel for those who were disrupted in the change. However, this is just stipulation as I don't know the details, maybe UBC had more funds to allocate to improve on the university that OUC just didn't have? Soon the UBC will have a new management and engineering building and a medical training program. I hope that this will keep the young people here, so that Kelowna's culture flourishes and does not stagnate. Beyond this, people do consider what name is on their degree, personally I chose UBC because of it's reputation, and when I found out I didn't have to move to Vancouver, I was very relieved, and so was my family.

If we want to keep our young people in Kelowna we need strong Academia. Most larger cities have a college (offering trades, diplomas and other shorter-term credentials). And a reputable university, specializing in degrees in engineering, science and the arts. The college and university, both serve their purposes well. If UBCO was not here, many young people would have had to move to Vancouver for their degrees, along with others her reside around here. Also, opening the UBC allowed the OC to develop it's programs, diplomas and colleges across the Okanagan, so that people could begin their education close to home (in Vernon, Pentiction etc.), than if they chose to get a degree, transfer to the UBC. I hope that offers some sort of explanation to your statement?

[usquebaugh]

I just wanted you to know that it hasn't been all sunshine and roses, and that many profs spent a rather tense year waiting for some of the details of the "arrangement" to be drawn up.

Also, did you know that Gordon Campbell was so fearful of the backlash of creating UBC-O that, in the late fall of 2004, he held his press conference for the official announcement around 7:30-8 am in the morning, and that prior to his announcement, they closed off the entrance to the Arts building (and they also curtained it off the night before, so no one knew what was going to take place in that small area). He really didn't want there to be any protesters around to disrupt his photo op....

It is really a slap in the face of those professors who had campaigned to turn Okanagan College into OUC by saying it was just easier for it to become UBC-O, rather than Okanagan University under a separate university charter. Easier does not always mean better!

[steven lloyd]

A lot of people worked very hard to create and deliver and stand alone university to Kelowna. Faculty there had already begun siginificant and exciting academic research - something that would have vaulted the city in terms of recognition and credibility. Campbell has friends linked to the boards of UBC, however, and a satelite campus provides UBC with a huge increase in funding (some of which I'm sure even makes its way to Kelowna). Don't expect any ground breaking research to be credited to any staff or faculty from an Okanaga campus though, and if your son or daughter graduated with one of those few OUC degrees I can appreciate their anger every time they have to explain to a potential employer what university their degree came from. Yup some pretty fancy buildings and a couple of roads and the Liberals were able to rip off and burn some of their strongest supporters. Ah, the irony.

[90Son]

Hello Norm, may I first congratulate you on a good showing at Tonights forum despite your spotty equipment. I used to volunteer at Creekside and can say their usually pretty good about such things, but apparently one slipt through.

As were no education questions allowing me to ask you these. As an 18 year old first time voter why sohould I vote for you and the BCLiberals? What will you do to ensure and improve the quality of post-secondary education? All levels of education in BC for that matter.


speaking of which the take over details in this thread are news breaking to me and my neighbour for the past 15 years taught at the old OUC and the new OC. I still believe UBC-O is one of the best things to happen to Kelowna. For onething. i know a lot more people willing to stay in the okanagan for their schooling rather than going to Vancouver, UVIC or out East.