Carole James has had two chances to become Premier of BC. In spite of the low popularity of Gordon Campbell, who recently announced that he will be stepping down as premier of BC, she has been unable to increase her own popularity in the polls.She has not shown the dynamism that a leader of the opposition should have. What new ideas has she brought to the BC political scene ?If the Liberals are able to find a new leader who has projected the kind of personality that Carole James lacks, I predict that the BC NDP will remain an opposition party in 2013.

Speaking to people, whom I would think would be strong supporters of the NDP, I hear the words: "I may not vote for the Liberals, but I will not give my vote to the NDP, as long as Carole James is their leader." These are women to whom I am speaking. You would think that they would support another woman. But they tell me that Carole James does not project the dynamism that they expect of a political leader.

The truth about the BC Rail Sale

Will the public ever know the truth about the sale of the BC Rail? The abrupt end of the trial of Mr Basi and Mr Virk with a guilty plea and a ridiculous sentence of two years minus a day home incarceration leaves more questions than aneswers.Gordon Campbell apparently thinks that the public has no right to obtain these answers, although it is the taxpayer who ultimately pays the bill.In his usual haughty way he places all the blameon on these two ministerial aides,who were hired by his own chief of staff, Martyn Brown. Like Pilate, he washes his hands, and passes sentence on the two aides appointed by his own government and placed in the ministries of Finance and Transportation.
After the police raided the legislative offices of Mr Basi and Mr Virk in December
2003, it became clear that the fous of the investigation was on the BC Rail.Why did the Liberal government go ahead with trhe sale? They cancelled he pproposed saleof a BC Rail subdivision, but went ahead with the main sale. There seems to be a real
contradiction here. Is it possible that CN Rail was already selected to win the bidding for BC Rail? There were repeated allegations made in court by the defence that the "fix was in" for CN Rail to win the 2003 bidding . .the abrupt end of the trial means that the truth of that claim will not be tested.
The Liberals do not wish to have their part in this sordid affair revealed.

BC Rail outcome

After seven years of investigation, the two ministerial assistants charged by the RCMP, ended trheir trial by pleading guilty to two counts

Chilean miners real rescuers

In all the news reports about the the rescue of the 33 Chilean miners, little or nothing was said about the people who worked behind the scenes to bring the miners back to the surface. There were many pictures of the Chilean President embracing the miners as they came out of the rescue capsule. The billionaire President, who also owns the TV station qwas the central figure of all the pictures.
What about Albert Iturra, the psychologist, who cared for the mental welfare of the trapped miners or Andres Llarena, the naval commander and physsician, who was at the mine since August 24, advisingon the care of the miners while underground.There were other rescuers,such as, Patricio Robiero, an expert in hostile environment and rescue zones, who served in Iraq between 2006 qnd 2008.There weere also Andre Sougarret, the Civil engineerwho was ccalled in by the Chilean state mining conglomerate to coordinatethe rescue operation. Jeff Hart, the drill operator from Denver, Colorado, whose drill broke through to the miners.Not tobe forgotten are Laurence Golborne and Dr Jean Ramagloni.The former, a mining engineer may make a bid for THE Presidency in the next elections.
I had to go to a British newspaper, the Telegraph, to get this information.

The Questionable HST

Now that Van der Zalm has shown to this government of Gordon Campbell how unpopular the HST is, the Liberals have been forced to hold a referendum on the issue in September 2011. Does it take a year to know the opinion of BC voters? I certainly do not think so. This is a delaying tactic on the part of the Campbell government. He hopes that a year will give him time to show by devious arguments and the use of the media that he is right and the rest of the BC population is wrong. Gordon Campbell is well schooled in Macchiavellian politics.
If our Premier is so right about the benefits of the HST to the economy, why have only three of the ten provinces adopted the HST? Tell us Why, Mr. Premier. Has he considered the fact that the ordinary working man feels that he is being taxed up to the neck? Not too long ago , the Liberal government introduced with much self applause the Carbon tax, following the example of Governor Schwartznegger, the leader of a now bankrupt California state. No other Canadian province followed the example of Gordon Campbell. Why, Mr Premier? Or is it that they see you as a Moses leading our province into deep waters that will not part?
I suggest that this Liberal government got us into waters where they could'nt swim
when they staged the Winter Olympics. We are now like Montreal after they held the
Olympics, and like Greece we also needed a handout to keep our noses above water.
Whither are you leading us, our BC Moses?

Racism Quebec style

In 1969, I flew from Manchester to Montreal to take up a position for which I had been interviewed in London. My professor at Manchester University had tried to dissuade me from going. He had known students who had gone to Canada, and found themselves in a static work environment unable to move up in their careers. I thought that it might be different for me, since I spoke French fluently which might be a point in my favour in this French speaking province of Canada.
It did not take long for me to realize that speaking French that I had learned in France would not be a point in my favour. I found it extremely difficult to adapt to and understand Quebec French. I was immediately categorized as being English, and socially part of Quebec English society. The door to French Quebec society was slammed in my face.
I arrived in Montreal in the midst of the FLQ crisis. The British High Commisioner, Cross, had been kidnapped, and a Provincial minister, Pierre Laporte, was executed by the FlQ. I discovered that there was professional jealousy by English Canadians against imports like myself, as they considiered that we were taking away their jobs. I was unacceptable to the Quebec French and also to the English Quebecers.
I tried to find a way to become part of Quebec society by becoming a member of the Quebec Liberal party, but found that I was only allowed to be a member as a show front that they were not anti-English. Since I lived in Quebec for thirty years, I had a lot of time to unearth the Quebec racist style.

Demise of British empire not white man's ascendancy

The history of the demise of the British empire is well documented, but the ability of the white Englishman to maintain his hold on the education and cultural growth of his ex-colonial subjects has no place in the history books. The genius of the white man is that he saw the advantages of the Catholic Church's method of evangelizing by setting up missionary schools whose students eventually entered the fold of the church.
The British colonial rulers laid down the rules for graduating by making the Cambridge university responsible for granting the school leaving certificates that opened the doors to a university education in Britain. Although they had relinquished their political clout, they still held a decisive role over the minds and future of the young. It was only in the sixties that West African ex-colonies began to throw off the educational yoke by creating the West African examinations council.
The same method prevailed when the colonies began to create their own universities. They could not grant degrees except through academic ties to a British university. Even the appointment of staff was done through a inter-university office in London.
So, when I decided to try to find an academic appointment the dice was loaded against me.
I will never forget my first interview in this office in London. The most voluble interviewer seemede to think that reading the Peloponnesian wars of Thucydides was more important than my expertise in Greek tragedy. Of course, his object was to give the appointment to one of his white young students. Today, I would know how to answer him, but then I was just a green young man.