1. A Pond ad in the newspaper has preached “ending the negativity”. But when I visited a local B + W store this afternoon, the cashier showed me a truly obnoxious rant against Gary Coons, who will “raise the cost of your beer $3.00…blah, blah, blah”. The layout and messaging were clearly in the land of attack ranting. The flyer was released by the Pond campaign, and the store owner was clearly expecting the employee to hand it out to every customer. How do we reconcile the two conflicting messages without concluding that the Pond campaign will simply say whatever it takes to win…truth, consequences, and veracity be damned?
Major media outlets (Sun, Globeandmail, etc. with others to follow) have “endorsed” Campbell. Surprising no-one, since they are also major campaign contributers. To quote RossK at the Gazetteer: “Sheesh”. Whatever happened to objective journalism? Assuming I have ever experienced it, I miss it. Laughably, the Vancouver Sun praised the Liberal record as having been scandal free “with a couple of minor exceptions”.
The major polling firms are all releasing their last polls. Angus Reid and Robbins Research have the province in a statistical dead heat. Mustel and Ipsos have a single digit lead for the Liberals. Who are we to believe? And how can anyone recommend strategic voting? Nevermind the erosion of democracy that is involved; the polls are erratic at best. To use polls as a recommendation for a decision is a fickle and dangerous thing. What if you bet on the wrong guy?
So what does this all mean here in Prince Rupert? My opinion is…pay attention to the issues, never mind the spin, everybody who cares even a little needs to vote, and with any luck the informed voters will outnumber the brainwashed ones.
Bought a beer at (that unnamed, clearly pro-Liberal pseudo-luxury) hotel lately? They’ve been messing with your beer for years. The authorizing signatory of the offending flyer, in fact, is an associate of unsaid hotel. It will still be cheaper at the B and W store, and the voters the ad is aimed at probably don’t go to this hotel anyway.
On reflection, that’s (mostly) tongue in cheek. I defend the right of businesses to make a profit, because (despite the opinion of one of my right wing friends), I’m not a communist. The electoral issues, however, aren’t tongue in cheek. They matter, and I stand by my first comment.
The $3.00 a case story was concocted by the mixologists at the The Alliance of Beverage Licensees. The real story is that the NDP want to cut their DISCOUNT from 16% to 10%. The number also reflects that B + W stores would no longer be authorized to pay the second lowest minimum wage in country. The Liberal campaign takes the rant into the realm of the bizarre by calling this a ‘beer tax’. I don’t think that this nonsense speaks well of the Pond campaign or the “unnamed, clearly pro-Liberal pseudo-luxury hotel” that I sometimes pass by on my way to the $7 buffet at the Casino. I also think that the Pond signs at the entrance to the unnamed hotel are a bit tacky.
Losing their discount combined with a higher minimum wage is what will raise the price of a six pack. The NDP knows this, which is where the idea of a beer tax came from.
I’m still curious what the NDP has to say to small business owners who will have to cut staff or shorten ours of operation as a result of the proposed minimum wage increase.
I think it’s hilarious that Herb Pond is saying the NDP will raise taxes, and that’s supposed to scare people?
Herb Pond raised taxes as mayor. Including small business taxes. To record levels.
Thanks for the tax bill Herb!
I’m not sure about the NDP platform, but they included some sort of tax holiday for small business didn’t they?
Repeat it with me: Herb Pond Raised taxes! Herb Pond Raised Taxes! Herb Pond Raised Taxes!
Herb Pond also supports the carbon tax, doesn’t he? How much does that add to your already high tax burden? Who in Prince Rupert supports Herb Pond’s carbon tax? Show of hands?
Why do utilities in Prince Rupert cost twice as much as in Terrace? Herb Pond!
If the Liberals are so worried about Liquor prices, why did they raise the liquor tax in 2003, 2006, 2008, and in 2009?
The Liberals do. As do the Greens–they even want to increase it so it’s more of a deterrent. So do the David Suzuki Foundation, Pembina Institute and ForestEthics. I think it’s becoming clearer and clearer that the NDP are alone on a rock in the middle of the sea when it comes to their job-killing environmental policies.
Sorry–forgot you said just Prince Rupert. The Liberals support the tax, the Greens support the tax, the NDP don’t—for the most part. People not aligned to a party are obviously wild cards.
When you vote remember a few key points. Vote for a party that will support your family interests: a robust health care system and an educational system that will meet the needs of all children.
I voted for Gary on Thursday because he is representing my interests very well in Victoria.
Herb Pond is not interested in any of the issues that are important to my family.
For a media outlet to officially endorse one candidate or party over another is obscene. Really, how can you possibly trust anything they say about the candidate/party they support and, for that matter, the ones they don’t support?? It casts doubt on their entire coverage, not only during the election but after the election, especially if their candidate wins, when they might turn a blind eye on any wrongdoings.
I always take anything written in the major media outlets with a grain of salt. Agreed. It is very wrong for a supposedly objective news organization to publicly endorse a candidate.
The beauty of the market place is that the most competitive will survive and prosper. They will figure out ways to be more efficient, improve customer focus and offer more differentiated products (eg products not sold by LCB). Some B + W store owners might, for instance, get behind the cash register and sell some product themselves like so many Ma and Pa businesses do. Handing out election propoganda is not good use of staff time and does not build customer loyalty. Some may fall by the way side and instead of dining at the “unnamed, clearly pro-Liberal pseudo-luxury hotel” may have to try the $7 buffet at the Casino. That is how our free enterprise system works.
