All Christy's chickens

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21

[quote=“Crazy Train”]
My biggest issue with the Liberal government is that they have broken election promises. Public sector cuts, HST. Probably the medicine that we needed but I’m not a big fan of how it all went down. If they had done it further into their term with fair explanations rather than outright lying I would have been okay with it. [/quote]

I agree with you for the most part. The deception of voters prior to the election in 2009 was a bit much. It would have been far better if they had included public sector cuts and the HST in their election platform and given voters a heads-up.
I am very curious to see what happens in May.

22

your right Glen Clark was cleared but didn’t the judge call him inept for not noticing the person that did him that favor at his cabin was also bidding for a casino license, it is funny how you don’t mention the felony that Adrian Dix did. after all we are talking about leadership here and that part of Dix’s life is fair game. Sure he apologized but that doesn’t clear him from the felony, and yes it is a felony under the law to tamper with evidence. now if he was charged prosecuted and served whatever the judge gave him then his apologies on that would be more legitimate, otherwise he is just another politician that probably didn’t get what they deserve when they are caught red handed in the cookie jar. so if you are just voting for the party and not the candidate then you have a choice of Christy Clark with inept handlers, or Adrian Dix who commited a felony and didn’t get charged for it. if you are voting based on your local candidate then up here we have Jennifer Rice who is against LNG projects, maybe because of GHG, who knows if that is the reason, and whatever candidate for the Liberals or greens or conservatives, so you have to really ask yourself who will help us with jobs, high paying jobs, which would more then likely be high paying union jobs with LNG development

23

I won’t vote NDP if Joanna Larson runs as an Independent. She is the best candidate for MLA on the North Coast in my opinion. Joanna will get my vote. Interesting times indeed. :smile:

24

[quote=“hitest”]

I won’t vote NDP if Joanna Larson runs as an Independent. She is the best candidate for MLA on the North Coast in my opinion. Joanna will get my vote. Interesting times indeed. :smile:[/quote]

I hope that Joanna Larson runs as an Independent. Without that it looks like this is going to be a pretty sorry excuse for an election campaign locally. Agree with her or not, she is not afraid to express her views about issues. That might encourage Ms Rice to be a bit more forthcoming about what she and/or her party thinks, particularly about issues like LNG and other developments that are important not only locally but to the province as well.

I checked out Ms Rice’s twitter feed, which presents some nice photos on various subjects but no substance worth mentioning. There was nice weather, for instance, for the ground breaking ceremony for the utilities corridor at Ridley - okay, glad to know that - but a thought or two about what the future may hold for this Port city would have also been welcome.

twitter.com/JenniferRice6/status … 68/photo/1

It was also nice to see that a yummy cake was served at the opening for the North Coast Transition House, but could not a bit more be offered by a candidate for a party that historically has made social policy the centre piece of its’ program, other than that it is a much need facility?

twitter.com/JenniferRice6/status … 76/photo/1

I suppose her campaign team would in reply encourage patience and reassurance that all will be revealed in due course, but how long does that drag on for and what’s really the point of a total news embargo? That doesn’t seem to be in keeping with the populist image or aspirations of the NDP. I don’t recall Gary Coons being afraid to offer some thoughts or perspective about the questions of the day. That’s a reason why - party politics aside - he’s been a pretty good MLA.

This time around, though, it’s like the local NDP will release information on a strictly need to know basis and the voter, it seems, does not need to know.

Some people say that Ms Larson should not run because that would split the NDP vote. A recent Black Press editorial, after giving us a history lesson in “Politics 101”- thank you ever so much - goes so far as to warn of what could happen when the “Christy Clark juggernaut” gets rolling, with dire predictions about “the right-wing taking the lions share of the vote”.

The wheels fell off Christy’s panzer corps quite a while ago, and anyone who thinks that she will be rolling into this town to be greeted by throngs of roaring supporters is dreaming. Liberal faithful and die-hards will be keeping their heads down this time around.

The election here is not going to be like last time. Say what you will, but Herb Pond was a strong candidate, not least of all because he was never afraid to step up to the mic and offer some thoughts on whatever issues seemed to be topical. This time around, with each passing week that the local Liberals fail to offer up a sacrificial candidate for the electoral slaughter that will surely befall their party this May, their chances of even having much of a presence in the campaign - forget about the possibility of winning - is becoming increasingly remote.

Another difference is that the Greens ran a pretty decent campaign last time, very much focused on issues, which was to their credit. Their vote was not huge, but it wasn’t insignificant either. With each passing week that they fail to offer a candidate - to challenge one of their own in a way - the likelihood of them injecting some meaningful debate into the campaign also grows fainter.

So I hope that Ms Larson puts her name in and runs as an Independent. I’m not really a fan of her union, but if she runs I will probably give her my vote, such as it is, because she is the sort of person that isn’t afraid to stand up and be counted and take a position when that’s called for. That is important when electing someone, not just to vote in the legislature how the party tells them to vote, but to represent us as in the people who live in this often forgotten corner of the province and would like our issues to be heard down in Victoria on occasion. Joanna Larson would speak up, and that’s important.

And if she decides to run and fails, I have no doubt that, all else aside, she will have at least challenged Ms Rice to earn a seat in the legislature and the gold-plated pension that after two terms comes with it, and to offer something more than blue skies and yummy deserts (compliments to the cook by the way).

25

it is quite interesting reading about council’s approval for the snowbirds, especially Jennifer Rice’s comments. she stated she voted privately for not to fund the snowbirds but when it came to a public vote she voted for it, her reason was that even though she was against it she voted what the will of the ppl wanted. her spin doctors are already at work for her using the council meetings, in other words put in LNG for snowbirds and there is her spin on her stand against LNG

26

The only way I will vote for the NDP in this riding, is if the Liberals do not run a candidate here AND if Joanna Larson tries to run as an independent. Better to have someone representing our riding on the side of the governing party.

Can you imagine if the NDP win the election and we break trend and send an independent to the legislature…LOL…what a disgrace that would be.

So that is how my vote is going:

If Liberals run here, then I vote Liberal.
If no Liberals run and Joanna runs as an independent, then I will vote (with extreme disgust) NDP.
If only the greens run against the NDP here, then I will not vote as there is no need.

27

Well that was a pretty quick about face:

Having a government MLA is no magic solution, as I’m sure critics of Bill Belsey on this site and ex-pulp mill workers will attest. We need someone who will speak up about issues.

About all that was clear from Ms Rice’s interview with Bill Good yesterday was that she is concerned about the high price of Cheerios on Haida Gwaii, but when questioned she did not offer a solution.

Her comments about LNG were vague to say the least. There is a thorough article in North Coast Review entitled “A glimpse into the NDP’s LNG policy?” There were questions about the NDP’s position before the interview and they remain afterwords. There is a link to the podcast (Ms Rice’s interview started around 11:45). northcoastreview.blogspot.ca/201 … olicy.html

While Ms Rice seems to have the inside track on LNG - commenting that there are actually 10 proposals, not five as reported - she did not share much of her insight with the listeners. The conversation was quite tentative before she switched to talking about BC Ferries, but ended up, as Bill Good pointed out, seeming to disagree with Gary Coons, who knows quite a lot about that topic. Fortunately it was ‘time’s up’ and that was the end of the show.

The surprise to me was Mayor Dave MacDonald of Port Edward, who spoke well about LNG’s implications for education, youth and housing, and generally brought some genuine enthusiasm to the discussion. Such is the state of our provincial politics in this riding that It seems strange to hear someone who is actually looking forward to economic development and isn’t afraid to say so.

28

good for Joanna if she does run as an independent. but I ask you this question if she did win will she stay independent or switch to the NDP? after all she was a failed NDP candidate at the nomination so this is a valid question for her if she decides to run that is.

29

Is she allowed to join a political party after being elected as an independent? Or does their have to be a by-election held?

30

[quote=“bthedog”]

Is she allowed to join a political party after being elected as an independent? Or does their have to be a by-election held?[/quote]

The issue isn’t so much about party membership as it is about whether an MLA wants to join a party caucus in the legislature and whether the caucus and more particularly the party Leader want to accept them. Party membership and caucus membership are different issues.

For instance, when MLA Bob Simpson spoke out against Carol James’ leadership he was expelled from the NDP caucus and then sat as an Independent, but he was not expelled from the party. In fact, he retained the support of the NDP riding association in Cariboo North for quite some time. There was a final parting of the ways after Dix became Leader.

Another example is Vicki Huntington. After defeating Liberal cabinet minister Wally Oppal last election she could have joined the Liberal or NDP caucuses - apparently both talked to her - or she could have declared herself to be a Conservative, but she chose to remain an Independent.

In this election neither the Conservatives nor the Greens will be running candidates against her because both feel, for different reasons, that she has been doing a good job as an Independent. < delta-optimist.com/news/Delt … story.html >. The Greens also won’t be running a candidate against Simpson, perhaps because he is strong on forest policy. The point is that Independent MLAs can make positive contributions.

In an interview with the Georgia Straight, Huntington said that as an Independent she felt that her “integrity is intact” and “It’s amazing to see how people can ignore the obvious in a political party” < straight.com/article-552456/ … ndependent >.

What should be “obvious” is that neither the Liberals nor the NDP are particularly inspiring these days, both being mired in negativity and finger-pointing rather than presenting positive programs for the future. It’s really a question of voting for the lesser of two evils these days, which is sad to say. That is why I hope that Joanna Larson runs as an Independent.

As a footnote on the Bill Good show, Ms Rice mentioned the PNCIMA marine planning process but could not remember what it stands for, which is ‘Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area initiative’. I think that she would do well by adopting Gary Coon’s speaking notes. PNCIMA was not one of his priority issues, which shouldn’t be surprising since as an MLA he has generally focused on matters that are within provincial jurisdiction.

31

there is no law preventing MLA’s to cross the floor and join the other party, no by election is necessary, liberal could cross the floor and become NDP, and vice versa, perfectly legit but morally wrong, or an Liberal or NDP becoming independent after being elected under one banner or the other which is more morally right, but a failed candidate for a nomination meeting running as an independent and winning then joining the former party perfectly legal but morally wrong.

32

I think it is important to note that Joanna has not officially started a campaign, that is, she is not running for election. Ms. Rice is running.

33

My, so much moralizing. I suspect that Adrian Dix would agree with you, although probably more for partisan reasons. Have you done an about face as well?

At one time it was wrong for women to run for office. Within the lifetimes of many of us it was wrong for aboriginal people to run for office (until 1960 federally). Those are just the more recent chapters in a list of what was once wrong.

A lot of us have moved beyond this preoccupation with political parties. Which was more haywire, the government of Glen Clark or the government of Christy Clark? It’s hard to say.

In a democracy if someone meets the legal qualifications to run they’re free to run for office. It doesn’t matter what party they belong to, used to belong to or whether they belong to any party at all. That’s the morality that the law enshrines.

34

I find all this speculation fascinating. Not only do we have an undeclared candidate running as an independent, she has now crossed the floor to join the party that didn’t choose her in the first place.

Anyway, while morally may not be the appropriate word, politicians who cross the floor can raise ethical issues. Probably the best example was David Emerson who was a cabinet minister in Paul Martin’s government. In 2006 he was reelected as a Liberal but before the government had even been sworn in he switched to the Conservatives to join the cabinet of Steven Harper’s new minority.

He argued that he could better serve BC by continuing the work he had done with the softwood dispute. As well, he
would be able to represent Vancouver at the cabinet table because the conservatives had been shut out there.

On the other hand he won in a riding where the
Conservatives were the third party coming in well behind the liberals and the NDP. Had he run as a Conservative
he likely would have lost.

There was plenty of discussion about whether he should have resigned so another election could determine if the constituents actually wanted to have a conservative representing them but that never happened.

35

I don’t care with one was more “haywire”, but I can tell you that one certainly has left the economy and future job prospects of this province in a MUCH better shape.

36

[quote=“DWhite”]I find all this speculation fascinating. Not only do we have an undeclared candidate running as an independent, she has now crossed the floor to join the party that didn’t choose her in the first place.
[/quote]

I don’t think the discussion about an Independent running here is entirely speculative. Last week there was an ad in Black Press from the elect Joanna Larson group, so it still seems to be a live issue.

[quote=“bthedog”]

I don’t care with one was more “haywire”, but I can tell you that one certainly has left the economy and future job prospects of this province in a MUCH better shape.[/quote]

The BC Liberals will be badly defeated in the next election because they’ve lost the trust of too many voters (which is not to say that the NDP is a whole lot better).

37

I am not disagreeing with this…the dishonesty about the HST sunk the Liberals (that is besides the point that the HST was a GREAT tax for this province, despite all the BS propaganda against it)…there is no denying that.

Despite that huge blunder, I think the Liberals have left the province in an excellent position economy wise and that is the basis for my vote…I trust the Liberals with the economy…just maybe not as much with other issues…but I have no trust in the NDP at all.

38

More of Christy’s lies and misdeeds are exposed:

alexgtsakumis.com/2013/03/19/exc … -fehr-spe/

39

I just heard today that we will have a Liberal candidate running in the next election on the North Coast. I won’t say who it is as I will allow the process to take place and allow this individual to announce themselves as the candidate when and how they choose. This individual has my respect and I will be voting Liberal.

40

[quote=“amieK”]More of Christy’s lies and misdeeds are exposed:

alexgtsakumis.com/2013/03/19/exc … -fehr-spe/[/quote]

This really should be called ‘A Day in the Life of Conservative Hack Alex Tsagumis’. It goes on and on, but seems to have something to do with the ‘scandal’ involving the two Liberal supporters who were NOT awarded the contract for the Wood Innovation & Design Centre in PG. They didn’t seem to understand that BC has competitive bidding processes.

I wonder how popular Tsakumis will be after the election when he starts regaling us with accounts of the lies, scandals and corruption of the NDP government of Premier Adrian Dix?