Bc's confusing politics

I believe that many voters in BC are faced with a difficult choice in the next provincial elections. We have a choice from among three political parties, the ruling Liberal party, the NDP and the  untested Conservative party. The polls show that the Liberal party is no longer the popular choice of the majority of voters. The NDP are  by far the leaders in the polls. The Conservatives are led by a man of unknown quality formerly active in the Federal government.
Should I vote for the NDP who brought economic disaster during their previous terms in office. Is Adrian Dix  any better than previous leaders of the NDP with a policy of tax and spend? Is he a radical social democrat? Can Christie Clark regain the confidence of BC voters?
This is the dilemma that I face as a voter in the next Provincial elections.

Environmentalists/scaremongers

When I hear the outcry from environmentalists about the proposed pipeline to Kitimat, I wonder what is behind this outburst to protect the environment.These protectors of nature do not seem to be individuals voicing their own convinced opinions, but rather people with a lot of money behind them. What about the number of working men who cannot find jobs? For them this project would open the door to employment. What about the economy of our country that needs in the present economic downturn a means to bring about an upturn?

Environmentalists talk about accidents that could cause disasters to our pristine waters. Do they remember what happened in the second world war?

How many ships were torpedoed by German u-boats in the English Channel, in the Atlantic ocean and the Mediterranean? Yet, tourists still enjoy the beauty of the beaches of the English coast, the magnificent coastline of Normandy and the numerous Mediterranean resorts. Hundreds of ships sank with their cargo of oil, but nature seems to have its own way of repairing the damage.

Occupation Vancouver

What message did the occupiers send out to us in Vancouver? It is certainly not very clear whether they knew themselves what they wanted to tell us. We did hear in a garbled way that they were protesting the economic inequalities that exist in our society. But did they present any solution to these inequalities? I cannot remember any solution presented by the occupiers.What we saw was people camping on the steps of the Art Gallery and being fed and cared for free of charge. I wonder if they were there because they had nothing better to do. Were these the people who received welfare, but were not looking for work?

The reaction of the Mayor of Vancouver was in it self questionable. While the majority of the population were becoming incensed by the lengthy occupation of the Art gallery,the Mayor was in no hurry to end the occupation. Since the municipal elections were about to take place, did he see this as an opportunity to gain votes?

BC Mayors vote for gas tax increase

How little imagination do the BC Mayors show about financing the needs of Translink and building the Evergreeen line. Don't they realize that any increase in the price of gas brings about a corresponding increase in the cost of living. Families in BC are already finding it hard to find the resources to pay for the high cost of food and housing in this province. BC is the most expensive province in Canada.

Isn't there anything else that can be taxed to bring in the funds needed for public transportation?This is the only place in the world where you can walk on to a skytrain without showing that you have paid the required fare. I have been in Paris, London, Barcelona, Montreal and New York,and in all these cities I had to show that I bought a ticket before I could get on public transport.

What else can be taxed ? I suggest that we tax luxury items such as liquor, tobacco and other items that cause disease and conduct that leads to crime. We recently saw the effects of liquor during the hockey cup final. Why don't the Mayors suggest an extra tax on tickets to view these events?

Smart meters beneficial to whom?

Smart meters will cost the BC taxpayer $930 million up front. BC hydro claims that they are safe and will save you money. There is no proof that these meters that emit wireless radiation are safe.

David Carpenter, director of the University of Albany's Institute of health and the Environment, says there is evidence that the exposure to radiofrequency radiation at elevated levels for long periods of time increases the risk of cancer and damage to the nervous system.

Why is the BC government still insisting on this misuse of public funds for something that is of no benefit to the BC taxpayer.? What is certain is that they are benefiting a select group of BC Liberal Party-connected insiders who have been awarded lucrative smart meter contracts.

Former BC Hydro engineer and two term Vision Vancouver councillor, George Chow, questions this program. He does not see how typical residential users will benefit from these meters. The Union of BC Municipalities is also urging the government to suspend this project.

Smart meters is the dumbest idea from this government, a $1-billion waste of money with no benefit to the BC taxpayer.

Unfair taxation

Taxation is usually based on income. The more you earn the higher your rate of taxation. The imposition of the HST in British Columbia is the attempt by the Provincial government to change this method of taxation. Instead of taxing income, taxation will be based on consumption of goods. Taxation will be moved from the wealthiest, and spread over the whole population regardless on how much you earn. Politicians can thus claim that they are lowering taxes on corporations and rich individuals, by making even the poorest section of society subject to taxation on everything that they consume. They claim that the tax savings on rich corporations and individuals will lead to the creation of more jobs.

Are we to believe that wealthy corporations and individuals will use the new found profits for the benefit of society instead of paying out their savings in taxes to themselves and stockholders? There is no proof that the adoption of the HST in other provinces has led to the creation of new jobs.

The HST is an unjust tax that spreads taxation from the richest to the poorest.

Example of too little spending on Seniors

I am working with a group of seniors called the "expansion Committee", who are worried about the current overcrowding in the Cameron Seniors Centre. I have studied the historical reason for this current lack of sufficient space in the building. This study has led me to believe that the local authority responsible for this Seniors Centre and three other centres has not given the financial funding that this centre should have received from the very beginning.

This Seniors Centre was not the product of planning by the city planners. It came about by the work of some senior women, who were convinced that Cameron needed a Seniors Centre. Their hard work resulted, as their numbers grew, in recognition by Victoria of their efforts, by approving

a constitution and Charter. At first, they operated in a room that the Recreation Centre did not need, and today they occupy the entire upper floor of this centre.

The seniors have kept on growing in number, and can now count about 1000 members. In fact the

modifications to the Rec centre have been made by the seniors funding 1/3 of the cost of these

improvements. Now they need more than a few modifications to the building, if their activities are not to stagnate. They are presenting a petition to the City of Burnaby to expand the building.

If you , my blog readers, can use whatever influence you have to help these seniors get what

they want from from the Burnaby City Council, I ask you to do so.

New Premier with new promises

This evening BC Liberals chose Christy Clark as their new leader and Premier. She speaks of a new beginning in BC, with an emphasis on "family". But Gordon Campbell's old guard still surround her, and will they welcome change? She will have to be very strong willed to resist their influence.

When she speaks about family, I hope that she remembers that grandparents(SENIORS) are

the foundation on which families are built. Gordon Campbell was not very kind to seniors in this province. When she goes to the polls in the next election, she will have to convince seniors that she is different, and this really a new beginning for the Liberal party.

Seniors ballroom dance group

This evening I attended the Chinese New Year session of the Cameron seniors ballroom dance group. It was a brave attempt by Lisje to organize a dinner for her group of sixty at the lowest possible price of $5 each. That she managed to provide a plate for everyone is to be applauded. If anyone complains, I would say to them that they got more than they paid for. It was interesting to see the organization of the group. She has a great number of willing volunteers. there were glitches that were not their fault. Some outlets in the kitchen did not supply the necessary power for the rice cookers in the small kitchenette whose equipment needs to be overhauled. The more up to date kitchen equipment was in the room rented to the Baptist church.

This is another example of the lack of space in this Seniors Centre. Seniors have to curtail their activities to manage with the limited space at their disposal.

BC leaderless political parties

The political scenario in BC is a very interesting one at the moment. Some people may even find it very amusing. We have the two main political parties in the provincial government without aleader. Both leaders, Gordon Campbell of the Liberal party and Carole James of the NDP party resigned shortly one after the other. Gordon Campbell recognized his unpopularity with the BC people, and Carole James was pushed out by 13 dissidents in her own party.

We now have a number of politicians contesting the empty leaders' seats. On the NDP side we

have the spectacle of a party at odds with its own constitution the demands that one of the three top posts in the party be occupied by a woman. On the Liberal side, we have ex-ministers of the Gordon Cambell government, disclaiming having had any part in the sale of BC Rail.

Christy Clark is the only outsider, who was not in Gordon Campbell's government when he resigned. I do not believe that Ms Clark had any part in the sale of BC Rail. It is quite clear that she supports a referendum on the HST in June, earlier than the September referendum supported by her political opponents. She is the only one who has taken up a clear-cut position. PersonallyI would give my support to her in her quest for the leadership of the BC Liberals.

Too little spending on Seniors Centres

Demographic studies show that in the next 9 to 12 years seniors in BC will grow from 14 % of the

population to 23% of the total population. Yet the majority of Seniors Centres were built at

least 30 years ago to accomodate a senior population that numbered about 10% of the BC

population. Centres for seniors are being squeezed and as a result activities for seniors are

unable to expand for lack of physical space.

Our local governments, who are the major players in creating Seniors Centres, have neglected

spending enough, in response to the growth in the senior population. Their excuse is lack of funds.They must realize that they cannot sit back, and hope that some miracle will occur to

help them cope with a burgeoning senior population who will be quite different from the older

generation. Younger seniors will be healthier, better educated, and their financial situation

will be superior to older seniors. They will need more activities corresponding to their better

health. The days when seniors will be happy sitting down playing card games are over.Local

governments had better wake up to the more active needs of younger seniors.

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.

Surviving in a racist society

I was born in a British colony. As a child I was led to believe that the white man was superior to the non-white. At least, everything that I saw convinced me that this was true. The white man enjoyed wealth, position in society, the best paying jobs, was among the ruling class and lived in bigger houses with servants to tend to his needs. If you were born white you did not have to struggle to get a good education, you did not have to get good grades at school, but you had the pick of the best jobs in government and industry. This is what the colonial system was about,jobs for the boys.
When I went to Ireland and England to further my education in universities, I discovered that non-whites in these societies were not considered any different. The only difference was that it was not thought to be in good taste to openly vaunt the white man's superiority. Even in academic circles you were not given an open door to relations between students. You could go so far but no further especially in friendships with female students.
After I completed my first degree, and decided to change universities, and go to London, I discovered that although I had graduated first in my class, I had been denied a post-graduate scholarship on the grounds that I was not an Irish citizen.I do not remember ever meeting a non-white Irish citizen. On completing my post-graduate degree, the dissertation for which was awarded the distinction of being permitted to be published under the name of the university, I began my search for
a position on the teaching staff of a university. I was hopeful that I could lecture in the University College of the West Indies in Jamaica, since I was born on one of these islands. I soon realized that the white man had a decisive role even there.
I will continue my tale about my search for an academic position in my next blog.

The Religious right in Canadian politics

The July, 2010, issue of the Quebec French magazine, l'Actualite, published an article reviewing the book, The Armageddon factor, written by the journalist, Marci McDonald. The title of the article is Stephen Harper and the religious right. This article is written in French by Chantal Hebert. I am a subscriber to this magazine, and what the reviewer said about the contents of the book piqued my interest.
We have heard a great deal about the religious right's hold on the Republican party and its influence on the policies of George W. Bush. What I didn't realize was that it also controls so many of the decisions of the federal Conservative party in Ottawa. However, I wanted first to test the truth of the statements made by Marci McDonald.
I found articles in Canpalnet Ottawa showing that since 2006 the Government of Canada has "deliberately set out to silence the voices of organizations or individuals who raise concerns about government policies or disagree with government positions." There has been a definite pro-Israel policy in the attitude of this government in its silence about the actions of the Israeli army in its bombing of a UN school and other UN locations in Gaza, its recent attack on a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza, actions condemned by other UN representatives but not by Canada. In his recent visit Mr. Netanyahu described Canada as Israel's friend.
Most recently, at the G20 meeting in Toronto, Canada was foremost in its aid to developing countries for maternal health, but the power of the religious right was demonstrated by the proviso that no portion of this aid was to be used for abortions. Is the Prime Minister becoming more and more the hostage of the religious militants in his party?
It seems that the author is correct in stating that the "Canadian religious right has never been so well placed to influence the political federal life".