Or not ! I watched, I laughed, I noticed how much he was swallowing and at one point I’m pretty sure I saw some spit on his lip he seemed so… anxious? Sure, that’s a good word. Anxiously hoping the people of BC will willingly grab for the crumbs he tossed out there.
That’s all I have to say about that, so let me share with you this letter I received from a reader who was so angry, this email was the result – and she is professional woman who does not generally one for swearing :
Dear Laila,
Did you see that speech?
What a lying sack of crap with mushrooms growing out of it.
Bribe, bribe, bribe. The cuts and education commitments should have happened because it is the
right f******g thing to do, not because his popularity rating is dropping like an anvil.
I am spitting mad. Does he really take us for whores? That we will like him because he is going to us a 15% discount for being screwed?
He won’t allow his coffers to go without that loss of taxpayer revenue so what area will he increase to off set the bribe?
How could he not know about the economic melt down, that supposedly came as a surprise to him? I knew something awful was going to happen in the fall of 2006, and I don’t have a fleet of advisors that hold MBA’s (likely the arseholes who thought up the subprime b***s**t).
Still no mention about raising the min wage.
Telling singles mothers that he was raised by a single Mum. How tough it was for his Mum to raise 4 kids on a secretary’s salary. If that memory was as strong as he spouts than a commitment to protect kids would have been evident long before now.( there would be ) More housing for low income parents. More subsidies for kids wanting to be involved in sports.
You know, Premier we laugh at folks like you who try to tell us that you come from where we are right now.
History just reminds of the path one used to walk. It is void of the hunger pains, and the emotion associated with panic on what to do next. Your struggling Mum likely hid from you what kept her up at night. She likely hid from you the sacrifices she made so that you could have a treat once a month.
YOU HAVE NO IDEA what single Mum’s go through.
No, I am truly sorry, Premier. You have spent the majority of your term catering to business at the expense of everything else. The same big businesses who, with your help, have bloated their profit margins. Retail prices have increased. Rents have increased.
Businesses have earned historical record profits and why shouldn’t they when wages have not kept pace for 2 decades.Nope, sorry-he has to go and be a great example to the rest of them.
Bye-Bye Birdie.
Wow. Brava !!
On that note, I am happy to report that I am busy confirming and researching new developments in the Sea to Sky shadow toll story that are taking a bit longer than hoped, due to time changes, etc. but that I did receive a further statement from the MOT last night( yes, last night) who replied to the following email:
Sent: Wednesday, October 27, 2010 05:37 PM
To: Crebo, David PAB:EX
Subject: RE: Comment or statement from the minister or yourself.
Dave,
Thank you for the speedy reply, but can you explain why Macquarie, a member of S2S, and party to the agreement, among others – whom I have documentation for and have confirmed the source of the information – have repeatedly used the Sea to Sky as a case example with Shadow tolls as a highlight of the payment arrangements ?
Subject: Re: Comment or statement from the minister or yourself.
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2010 20:54:07 -0700
From: David.Crebo@gov.bc.ca
To: lailayuile@live.com
I can’t speak for your source, Laila, so best for him/her to explain themselves. What I can confirm unequivocally though, is that there are no shadow tolls on the S2S. Further, every detail about the payments to the concessionaire are in the agreement that’s posted publicly, and has been reviewed by the OAG.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
So, of course I have sent off an email asking where – since the mot states all the details are in that publicly posted agreement – I can find the annex’s referred to in the agreement, that are not, and have not been attached to that agreement posted on their site.
Stay tuned…. Clearly, the MOT is being evasive and have not answered my question about Macquarie. They are making this about semantics. More later as international time differences allow me to continue…
Westcoast Views with Laila Yuile 
Hehehe (laughing at myself here)
There I sat through several commercials honestly believing Crooked Mouth (the Scotts meaning of Campbell) was going to come back on and actually tell the viewers something, silly me.
The drum he did beat though and it sounded like a our funeral dirge was P-R-I-V-A-T-I-S-A-T-I-O-N!
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Just a bit of research for now …
NEW HST OFFICE
BC Government New Release to inform us little people.
http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2009-2013/2010FIN0060-001335.htm
Here’s who’s heading it up: Tom Syer
A couple of notes:
January 2007
Announcement Syer leaving and to where:
In an email sent to friends and colleagues, Mr. Syer wrote that he’ll be taking over from Neil Sweeney as the Western Canada public affairs director for Labatt Breweries of Canada Ltd. Mr. Sweeney, who was once deputy chief of staff to the premier, recently became the company’s corporate affairs vice-president.
And back to the Basi Virk Corruption Trial:
Stacking radio phone calls
Also included in McCullough’s allegations Monday were statements:
That in a Nov. 28, 2003, call intercepted by RCMP between Basi and Mike McDonald “they are looking for an e-mail regarding Ms. James’s comments. Mike thinks Gary should take a crack at Carole because it was around the budget. Tom — I believe that is Syer from the premier’s office — is going to talk to Robert,” McCullough said.
That Tom Syer was Premier Campbell’s issues management director at the time.
And:
Independent Power Producers of British Columbia (IPPBC Organization)
OPERATING COMMITTEES
Regulatory:
…
Tom Syer
Operating Committee Chairs (that are not Councillors or Directors):
TransComm: Co-Chair Bruce Ripley, Plutonic Power Corp
PacComm: Chair: Doug McClelland, NaiKun Wind Energy Corp. Vice Chair: Tom Syer Plutonic Power Corp.
…
Public Affairs:
Doug McClelland (Chair)
Craig Aspinall (Vice Chair)
Tom Syer (Vice Chair)
Steve Davis
Tom Syer
…
http://citizenship.geblogs.com/respecting-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples/
Tom Syer
Director of First Nations and Corporate Relations, Plutonic Power Corporation
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Taxes bad, tax cuts bad, cuts bad, services bad. Big bad business bad and evil and selfish, prices and costs up, my wages not going up.
Thank goodness the Liberals won the election… at least BC will enjoy a couple more strong years until this popular unrest takes over and we manage to elect a “common guy” like Rob Ford.
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politicians, experts, government, private business, economists, stockbrokers, “paper pushers”, lawyers, accountants, statisticians, academics, elites – they’re all sleazy and crooked! listen to the common people !!!
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Hi Laila, not sure if you already have this or not…but here’s another source talking about the shadow tolls on the Sea to Sky:
“What Do Clients Want from Engineering Consultants”
An Infrastructure Investor’s Perspective
Clement Yuen
Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Limited
From: fidic05_WS2_yeun.pdf
Sea-to-Sky Highway Improvement Project
British Columbia, Canada
Project Highlights
– An existing 2-lane undivided highway between Vancouver and
Whistler, a ski resort and site for the 2010 Winter Olympics
– Highway requires improvements by adding extra lanes. Total
investment: approximately C$600-650 million
– DBFO project with 25 years concession period (shadow toll)Engineering Innovations
– Some sections of the highway are located in mountainous
terrain. Innovative lane widening schemes were developed to
comply with improvement requirements within tight site constraints.
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Perhaps this is a bit mean but it’s a comment on my article: Which services should be eliminated to pay for the income tax cut.
http://northerninsights.blogspot.com/2010/10/which-services-should-be-eliminated-to.html
I remember those tough days on the University Endowment Lands of west Point Grey. It has been a core area of poverty for a long time, still unchanged. Campbell’s father, a medical doctor and Assistant Dean of UBC’s Faculty of Medicine died when Gordon was entering high school. In those days, I think doctors and university professors lived in near poverty and could barely support families. Life was so tough that, five years later, Gordon could not even attend UBC, where his family resided. He was forced to flee to New Hampshire and attend Dartmouth, a private Ivy League university more than 200 years old. I don’t know what tuition was in the sixties but annual student costs are a touch over $52,000 today for a single student.
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Billy…. I felt like I was Charlie Brown listening to his teacher in the old cartoon specials.. blahblahblahblah….
Curt wins the award for clearly demontrating the premise the BC Liberals live by : ” It’s not what you know, but who you know. ” Good work Curt!
Wow George, I don’t have all the solutions,and I certainly don’t hear any from you in this comment, but since you clearly support what the Liberals have done so far, how about addressing that 100 reasons Gordon Campbell should go list? Because that is his true record, as is the Liberals since they chose him as their leader, and it sure as hell isn’t working and looking positive to me. That tax cut is just an example of giving us our own money back, and frankly, it’s quite insulting.
Oh, just read your second comment there, George. Are you in that group, or are you simply Bill Good, because frankly you sound just like him!!!
Hi Leah, my friend : ) , or should I say my friendly neighbourhood sleuth,
Thank you for sending this one my way, yes, another fine and sourced, example of those shadow tolls Dave Crebo says unequivocably do not exist on the sea to sky…lol…. Speaking of which, I did get yet another reply from Dave late yesterday and emailed him my list of questions, which I am sure will come in handy for the bombshell of a post coming Sunday night/ Monday morning – that is all I can say about that!
That is too funny Norman.Should we be handing out sandwiches and warm socks?? Cashmere of course, nothing but the best for those softly pedicured tootsies, right? ( no offense to any readers out that way..lol )
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“That tax cut is just an example of giving us our own money back, and frankly, it’s quite insulting. ”
Income tax cuts are progressive – they give the taxpayer the most choice on what to do with the money, and it attracts more people to BC, esp talented workforces.
“Returning your money” would be cancelling the HST, and would be stupid.
It’s macroeconomics and I know the public 1) misunderstands it 2) doesn’t care about it 3) is against any of it appears to hurts them 4) is prone to ignoring the less visible benefits (because they think they deserve it eg. oh they’re just returning my money)
But it’s how jurisdictions and countries are run in the capitalist global economy. HST = significant increase in global competitiveness, but because the benefits of that aren’t directly visible, the public discounts it and opts to moan about their own tough times, always looking for someone to blame for their economic situation.
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Liala, The “speech” was designed tp put us into a hypnotic trance while Crooked-mouth droned on to mask his message pf privatisation: foreign investment
I will now count to three and snap my fingers iand you will awaken with a renewed energy to have Campbell plunge to .o5 approval rating
1
2
3
SNAP!
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Broke my specs and goofed up on the spelling of your name
A thousand pardons
“Billy”
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George:
Income taxes are progressive. Income tax cuts such as this are regressive. 50% of the tax cut goes to the top 20% of earners. At least not the top 5%. but still, the benefit goes to higher incomes.
The Campbell government is moving away from progressive taxes. It is an undeniable policy.
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Yes Norm, 50% of the tax cut goes to the top 20% of earners.
Guess why?
Maybe it’s because 50% of income tax is paid by the top 20% of earners ???
WHOA what a concept!
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Everybody likes to point at the “rich” and how they don’t have to worry about taxes, how they can afford them, how they can buy technology to avoid taxes, how they can change their lifestyles to adjust, or even how they evade taxes.
But the fact is 50% of the tax cut goes to top 20% of earners simply because 50% of income tax comes from the top 20% of earners.
You know those >40% tax rates for all income above 100k? That’s a big chunk of the province’s revenue, for stuff like health care and education for everyone.
There is so much complaining based on notions like taxes not applying to the rich, and how the rich don’t deserve the money they earn, or the careers they build, and the integral part of society they are. The perfect world would have no rich people, right? I guess if everyone had a part-time job paying minimum wage, then Campbell would have to raise the minimum wage …!
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George, you apparently disagree on the value of progressive taxes. You are entitled.
Tax shelters, avoidance and evasion are not the usual strategies of people earning $3,000 or $4,000 a month.
Are you happy with public servants earning half to a million a year, collecting multiple pensions, expense accounts higher than an average person’s wage, severance packages of six and seven figures? My grandfather was Chief Forest Ranger of the Fraser Valley long ago. He earned barely more than the people he hired but he explained to me that was ok; his other rewards came from job security and the satisfaction of serving the public.
Canada is headed in the direction of Mexico. Fifty per cent of the population there lives in abject poverty and much of the country’s wealth resides with the top five families. Carlos Slim, world’s richest man, a Mexican, has wealth equivalent to over 5% of the nation’s GNP. The divide is so huge, democracy so corrupt, that the country hovers on the brink of widespread civil war.
Democracy and opportunity for all are requisites of a civil society.
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Awesome Norm, as usual, George sounds like he might be Dubya – you know the guy that was born on third base and thought he had hit a triple. Your comparison to Mexico is so apt, it hurts! Unless the direction changes, people will eventually become desperate and desperate people do desperate things.
Quite awhile ago the Gord stopped feeling very safe in my part of the world. The last time i know of that he went to Castlegar even the mayor didn’t know he was coming until he had left. If you see a platoon that looks like troopers from the Empire in Star Wars in the Kootenays, look in the middle of them and you might see a white haired, nervous, prevaricating adulterer!
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Well I have seen first hand platoons of troops and police everywhere in Mexico. Even small towns that have been peaceful have streets sprinkled with uniformed people carrying machine guns. Pedestrians must be watchful for trucks loaded with armed troops.
Don’t be fooled by American media reports that Mexico is merely suffering violence among drug traffickers, like Vancouver but escalated. Its economy has grown and will soon be among the largest nations. Imagine being 8th largest wealth producer in the world and still having more than half the population at risk of dying from starvation or disease. The Fraser Institute would love the privatization Mexico has done. Pemex, the national oil company, would have been privatized too but that move would have started the revolution.
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Your mention of Mexico is misleading. By the facts, Canada is nowhere near Mexico in terms of income inequality. Compare the Gini indices: Sweden 25, EU 31, Canada 32, China 42, USA 45, Mexico 48, Brazil 57.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coefficient#Gini_coefficient_of_income_distributions
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_equality
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Pay attention to trends, boy, trends.
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George,how about the people who don’t make the 30 or 40 K.They get nothing!
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George.
I have a question for you – Who do you think has benefited the most from the tax cuts on capital gains in this country since the year 2000? In fact, tax cuts benefit the richest 1% of Canadians – the same folks who, as often as not, are the ones WITH capital gains. And those capital gains – how much of those suckers are taxed – bingo – 50%. The rest is tax free buddy – I’d like such a deal on my income.
Cry me a river George – the only people who’ll have any ‘choices’ as a result of Campbell’s tax cuts are the people who buy Jags, Mercs and BMWs…the same fucking car dealer types who make the idiotic suggestion that progressive taxation is a bad thing.
Give your head a shake. And while you’re at it, please, explain to me why there are income caps on payroll taxes so that the tax paid by your rich buddies – the guys and gals who make over the threshold income for both EI and CPP – and therefore pay an infinitesimal share of the freight for the social programs those levies support.
What you’re supporting -with the suggestion that you don’t like progressive taxes – is the idea that the rich will continue to eat the poor and the middle class at a more alarming rate. A fair tax system promotes social equality and decent public services – as long as the biggest share of tax cuts go to the richest families there will be growing inequality in this country – at the same time that corporations and the people who hold equity in them – pay a smaller and smaller share of the freight.
We should pay taxes with pride – it’s the cost of a decent society and the price we pay for education, good health and a future – Warren Buffett knows this – how come YOU don’t?
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The new Lake Okanagan Floating Bridge has shadow tolls. In fact Part 1 of Schedule 10 uses the Phrase “Traffic Volume Payments” in that regard determined by a complex derivative formula. Furthermore:
___________________________
“The Concessionaire will count all Motor Vehicles using the Concession Highway during the Enhanced Service Period.”
“The Concessionaire will calculate and report to the Province the Traffic Volume Payments annually in arrears, the first calculation to be made within 30 days of the expiry
of the first Contract Year of the Enhanced Service Period.” ____________________________
Click to access olc-Schedule%2010%20%20Payments.pdf
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Excellent work Todd- this is one of the projects I am going to be talking about in my follow up Sunday night – and there are others, but lets keep them in the hat for everyone else for now, ok? It all goes together in and interesting way….
If anyone has other details they think are important to go along with this story, or has some inside information, feel free to email me through the contact page above, which goes directly to my secure email address !!
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