Never would you find a more fitting quotation to apply to our newly unelected Premier’s cabinet appointments. Just because everything is different, doesn’t mean anything has actually changed at all.
I, like many others, watched the live feed of yesterday’s undemocratic proceedings, and I say undemocratic because in this rare instance, democracy has not yet reared her lovely head. There is nothing democratic about swearing-in a leader that has not been duly selected by vote of the people, and if anything, Ms.Clarks glowing expression throughout the ceremony smacked of smug regard in the faces of those who bode her no good will.
However smug she is now, she would do well to enjoy her time in the big chair and take as many photos as possibly to sit and bitterly reminisce over in the cold, dark days of certain defeat. Defeat, because in choosing her cabinet she has effectively terminated whatever chance she may have had in showing cynical British Columbians that she is any different from Campbell at all.
Where to start? Appointing the privatization king, Kevin Falcon, to finance minister and deputy premier was the hail Mary of all mistakes. Falcon, who so proudly pointed out endlessly on his leadership campaign that big business is his best friend, will prove a big barrier to the Liberals winning any election based on the overwhelming public perception that he is Campbell incarnate. If he runs the ministry of finance like he ran the ministry of transportation, we can look forward to a heavy push towards privatising services across the board, as well as a strong surge of P3 projects in entirely new and possibly untested venues. Family first values? Not with this Falcon. He is well-known for stating that he prefers China’s undemocratic methods of forcing projects on people without having to deal with things like public consultation! And we know he loves the HST, so good luck with that one.
And what possibly can I say about Rich Coleman except that he’s been around the Liberal block so many times he’s gone a little past his expiry date and should have been left on the back shelf like sour milk. Remember, it was under Coleman’s watch that 10 jails, 24 courthouses and the Vancouver pre-trial were closed.He was also the minister that rejected calls for a public inquiry into the death of Frank Paul – not once, but twice, first in 2001, and again in 2004. Toss in some issues with the BCLC …. and it’s clear Christy’s choices again leave the people of BC lacking.
Where I find Ms. Clarks mindset for her families first agenda so troubling is to have allowed Mary Polak to stay in cabinet at all, appointed to Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation. This woman is so clearly unqualified to handle any position of authority with regards to decisions that directly affect humans of any age, that she too should have been shelved on the sour milk shelf with Rich Coleman. Seriously. She leaves the ministry of children and families with a black cloud of shame over her head for failing the vulnerable and special needs children of our province, a horrific mark on her, and on the Liberals who instead of addressing what they have done wrong, will deflect and make some ridiculous statement about how much money they have put towards families. Is Polak the right choice to steer Aboriginal issues in this province, a segment of our population that is plagued with addiction, poverty and youth depression and suicides? Never.
What I find so interesting is that Christy is facing a variety of difficult challenges in the province, challenges that mean balancing economic hardships with environmental concerns that have been blatantly ignored by Campbell’s government. In appointing so many of the same key players with the same values Campbell demonstrated – ” friends take care of friends” – Christy has revealed her stunning lack of depth in understanding the electorate in the province she is now deemed with running. Does she not get that people don’t want to hear or see Patrick Kinsella’s name in connection with yet another premier? Does she not care that we find it repugnant that she has chosen people working with Enbridge and SNC- Lavelin to head up her transition team? Maybe not, after all this is the premier who loves Manswers…
Clearly, contrary to her claims, Ms. Clark did not listen to the people of BC while working as a talk show host on CKNW, because if she did she would have some inkling that her future as premier is bleak and short. Being a mom does not make you a better premier, but being a person with integrity does. By refusing to discuss the documented proof of her involvement with key players in the sale of BC rail, by refusing to call even the most limited inquiry into the payment of Basi and Virks legal fees, she has effectively killed her own claims to creating an open and transparent government, a contradiction in terms to her own actions she will not be able to back out of at the polls.
As opportunistic as the rest, she has surrounded herself with corporate players and backroom manipulators rivalling the worst -or best- of Campbell’s era, signalling that her hockey mom, families first persona is just that. And considering how Ms. Clark has bought and paid for a good part of Vancouver’s media,( including CTV’s Chris Olsen ‘ On your side’, who is obviously no longer on your side, after all ) – I suspect she has already anticipated the need to create the biggest PR team in BC history to create a bed of roses out of her pile of dung.
Westcoast Views with Laila Yuile 
I love the sour milk comparison! Plus I wonder what these media will do when the Liberals are voted out in the next election, go back to giving the “unbiased” news ?
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Well, if ever a statement was true, it’s this one. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
To Christy, the BCR is old news, been there done that, we are moving on. She is already ignoring the BC citizens request.
Christy says, the HST is here to stay. The fact BC has lost over 40,000 jobs in the last three months, seems to alarm everyone, other than Campbell and Christy. She is for families first? The HST has harmed BC families, more than any other tax ever known. BC has fared the worst, than all the western provinces, because of the HST. The HST was designed to benefit big business, and for them only. You would have to be all kinds of a fool, not to see, how badly the HST has damaged this province. Campbell handed our BC HST to Harper. How in the hell can the HST benefit the BC people, by giving it to Harper. BC is a province of natural resources, the HST is just a scam, to benefit large corporations.
Laila has it right, nothing has changed. Christy is no different from Campbell. BC people will still live in a dictatorship regime.
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And an MP had this to say:
“It’s the same old group that is standing there. These fellows and ladies that accepted positions in that cabinet are the same people that sat there and said nothing when Gordon Campbell lied about selling off BC Rail, when he brought in the HST, when he rammed these “run-of-the-river” hydro projects down our throats. They sat there and said nothing, content to be quiet so they could remain in Cabinet. I don’t expect they’re going to be any different now.”
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It’s like a bad dream where Sarah Palin had a clone made to try out how the “I’m a hockey mom, this means I am a highly qualified leader!” ideology works within a democracy.
Christo would do well to remember that not a single BC citizen, outside of the Liberal party, voted her into her current office….. and even many within the Liberal party did not want her…. The ice is thin, yet already she is stomping.
!
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The “hockey mom” comparison is a good one! I would imagine the lipstick shade would be about the same too.
Nothing has changed, nothing will change – except the speed at which what is left of BC will be destroyed.
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Laila,
A brilliant analysis of the future with Christy as the lead puppet for the forces that wish to sell and destroy the few remaining pieces of our beloved province. She (they) have to be turfed in the next election if we have any chance to recover from the savagery and corruption of the past 10 years of corporate rule.
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The extent of her commitment to families is limited to the WORD “families”. As the sports player brandishes his sponsor’s product during every interview and names it as many times as he can fit it in, so goes Christy with that word. Watch her speeches and quotes…Yesterday she was telling Harper how businesses and families need to turn Fish Lake into a tailings pond.
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A couple of things …
Having an unelected individual in government has been done before by none other than Jean Chretien when he was prime minister. Liberals will be liberals. Jean Chretien brought two unelected people into cabinet; Stephane Dion was the most well-known of the two. We complained then about such a flagrant disregard for democracy, but it did not get us anywhere.
The article and comments are all about complaining about the system, the people who run it – the Liberals, and the problems. The reason the Liberals are in office is because the NDP were thrown out of office because of the corruption, scandals, and mess they made of the province. There is no mention of scandals and wrongdoing by the NDP before the Liberals, or similar conduct by the Socreds.
Big, successful parties are funded by big, successful business.
We need to look for ways to control those who govern. Direct democracy as offered by the BC Refed Party is what is needed, not tinkering with election dates, and supposed free votes and all that nonsense.
Where are you Laila when voters need alternatives?
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Independent. I think we need less party politics and more independents to balance both the governing and opposition.
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That smug look on her face really made me want to remove it…..you weren’t elected by British Columbians Christy! And want to bet you won’t be?
And Rich Coleman playing the tough guy with BC Hydro…what a joke. The same guy who sat in the same Cabinet that forced Hydro into the position it’s in.
Falcon saying with a straight face that he wants to control government spending….OMG! Is it me, or do all these people live on a different planet than I do?
We need an election FAST!
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Christy is trying to win brownie points. She is raising the minimum wage in increments. Campbell should have raised the minimum wages years ago. I am afraid the raise in wages, will be very hard on restaurants and small businesses. Their costs of goods for their businesses, have gone a lot higher, because of the HST. BC has 900 more business that have closed their doors, because of the HST. Even my hairdresser said, her products have gone up. But to raise her prices, she knows people can’t afford it. She is closing next month. It’s the HST, that is doing all of the damage. People just don’t have the money to support our small business owners, nor our favorite restaurants.
I agree with cherylb. What a farce. Where were those ministers, when Campbell was cramming all of his b.s. down our throats? Campbell thieved everything he laid his hands on. He sold our assets and resources. The theft of our BCR, and, the theft and sale of our rivers. Where did that money go? The BCR real estate, was worth a fortune. Who all filled their pockets, from our stolen assets?
Christy and her useless BC Liberal ministers, will never win another election in BC. Unless Christy clears up, Campbell’s corrupt sale of the BCR, and the HST rip off, there are too many of us, who will keep these unjust, corrupt actions of Campbell and the BC Liberals, right on-a-going, every day of our lives.
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Campbell lied twice, to win two different elections. I am now very sorry Carol James didn’t win the last election. She would have been a hell of a lot better than, Campbell and his crime family.
I really don’t know how to vote, for the next election. I certainly won’t vote Liberal. It is true, the Liberal ministers didn’t lift a finger to put a stop to, Campbell’s crimes against the people. In my mind, I still remember Christy, calling the people who opposed Campbell, the Taliban.
I do like Horgan, and would vote for him. However, I will probably vote for the party, that is nearest to knocking the Liberals out of office. Never in my life have I ever seen, such blatant corruption in a political party, as the BC Liberals.
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Laila says: ” I think we need less party politics and more independents to balance both the governing and opposition.”
I think we need politicians that raise and discuss issues, not attack each other.
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The emperor has new clothes or the emperor has somebody new?
Crusty increasing the min wage and kicking out the predator isn’t going to put a new face on the Lieberals.
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