” Message: Hi: I listened to you on John McComb’s program yesterday….after studying all the reports on the HST, we determined that if all the economists suggested it was good for the province, we should put our personal feelings against Christy Clark and the Liberals aside.
We voted to keep the HST.
After listening to you, we have had second thoughts and our old seething feelings of anger have risen once again.
>
> I wrote to elections BC this morning to ask how we can change our vote since we already mailed in the ballots. I also have written to Christy Clark to protest about the “retreat” she and her party members (along with some family members) took to Harrison last week. I got a generic response on the party line and was irritated to receive such a vague response. I have since written to request a complete breakdown of the expenses of this unnecessary expense to the taxpayers. What did it cost us to change from Gordon Campbell to Christy Clark – the hiring of her new staff and firing of his staff and their pensions, etc? And, translink now need to tax us more for the Evergreen Line – why don’t we get the money back from Basi and Virk? Thanks….maybe you could look into the excess “feeding from the public trough”. For many years I worked at a facility where politicians rented our meeting rooms and held their meetings….complete with breakfast, lunch, snacks…why do we have to
> pay to feed them? Most working people in BC have to pay for their own lunch!
I asked if I could publish this letter, since it speaks to so much of the frustration people feel about our new premier and the old players from Campbells era, and she replied with a Yes, and the following response:
I read just today that Translink issued $5,000.00 worth of free transit passes to the ministers during the Minister’s Confernce last week…I have mixed feelings about that. Wouldn’t it be nice if Translink issued free bus passes to all seniors in BC? We just spent three weeks in Scotland and there seniors, from age 60, receive a free life-time pass. A lovely way to thank and reward our seniors who hav paid into the tax system for so many years.
Thank you. I will continue to watch your fine work.Sincerely,( name withheld upon request)ps: I have had no response from elections Canada or Christy Clark’s office.
Westcoast Views with Laila Yuile 
Hi Laila,
Sorry I missed you on CKNW – can’t easily (at this time) get to net, to follow you in time.
Ships laden with raw logs [and jobs] are going out to China (with even more reduced stumpage) – My sources say three ships a day out of Port Alberni alone – loaded on factory ships -apparently travelling saw mills – saw dust dumped in ocean…Finished lumber is unloaded in China. [ Will try to confirm this from more sources]
It’s worst than we thought. Goddam the Pusher Man.
O
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I know the raw logs have been going out of Port Alberni for some time, there are rallys on Youtube and protests going back to 2008, but this is the first I have heard of the factory ships angle. If you can confirm this, would be interesting for sure.
Anyone else know of this?
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If the HST is extinguished then the $1.6 billion dollars received from the Federal government as an incentive to harmonize the tax will be a debt owed by British Columbians. If the Feds make BC repay the debt – who pays for the new prison?
http://summerlandbc.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/impending-okanagan-prison-announcement/
Brookfield?
http://summerlandbc.wordpress.com/2011/07/24/surprise-over-prison-deal-re-surrey-pre-trial/
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Tough+crime+good+profits/5142236/story.html
Or the Federal Government?
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=a64ebd74-2c6b-441f-b090-648d6ce2f178&k=81575ViewUpdated
Stockwell Day denies the Private Prison agenda: “Bloc Quebecois MP Real Menard said Day had given himself some wiggle room, if he wanted it, to look at privatization.”… “Other panel members named by Day include Clarence Louie-Oliver, chief of the Osoyoos First Nation in British Columbia…”…
A link to the Edmonton Journal article http://www.vancouversun.com/shackled+with+private+prison+experiment/5155277/story.html doesn’t mention the dismal failure of Ontario’s private prison – the first private prison in Canada – that was tunned back to the province in 2006 http://www.priscillajudd.ca/thexpress/?p=2090
“Canada’s only privately run jail, in Penetanguishene, Ont., will return to public control on Saturday after a performance evaluation found a public jail of equivalent size had better security, prisoner health care, and reduced repeat offender rates.”
http://www.prisonjustice.ca/starkravenarticles/CNCC_public_1106.html
A better question to ask is this:
Why should the province pay for the more prisoner’s caused by the Federal “tough on crime” agenda? With crime rates dropping – are we trying to lock up unreported criminals for their unreported crimes?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourcommunity/2010/08/your-comments-stockwell-day-and-unreported-crimes.html
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Harper needs his gulags, in case the Canadian people rebel against him. He is very afraid, the anger of the other country’s, will spill into Canada. Don’t kid yourselves. The police at the G20 had their orders from Harper. The police would not have behaved like that, on their own initiative. Harper was flexing his muscles.
He knows, well over half of Canadian citizens, did not want him as P.M. And since Harper gave his partner in crime Campbell, the cushy job as High Commissioner to England…He has many more enemies. Harper has embarrassed Canadians, far too many times. Sending a criminal, such as Campbell to Britain, is the granddaddy of all, of Harper’s stupidity. If anybody belongs in Harper’s gulag’s, it”s himself and Campbell, for treason.
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