[quote=“Pantagruel”]
I have often wondered how much more federal and provincial help we would have gotten over the years had we had the brains to vote for the party that gets elected. [/quote]
You just have to look at the term of Bill “I promise the mill will open” Belsey.
Almost every measure I can think of was worse with him as the MLA. Because he basically sat in the back benches and was ignored. Then he went on to work for the Chinese government didn’t he? And they sued the city of Prince Rupert?[/quote]
Yes, Bill did go work for a Chinese company, and yes, the company did sue the City. However, what Bill Belsey he did as a private consultant really does not have any bearing on my contention that it helps if your MLA or MP is part of the ruling party.
Bill was the MLA from 2001 to 2005. Gordon Campbell was the premier. Campbell got elected on a platform of fiscal austerity. Probably not the best time to go asking for handouts. Unfortunately, Campbell also got an impaired charge during this period. Subsequently, some of the nastiest invective about this sorry episode came from Prince Rupert. Frankly, do you really think that if you piss in my cornflakes at breakfast, I am going to help you later in the day?
So, I do not think that selecting Bill Belsey as the example to demonstrate that my suggestion that it helps to be on the winning side is baseless. If it does not really matter who wins, and which side you are on, when the economic pie is distributed, why do people, unions, and corporations make political donations?
well if you want to know what Belsey did for his riding, lets see hmmmmmmmmm Container port comes to mind, oh wait Nathan took credit for that even though it was a liberal port board, liberal provincial government and liberal federal government that pushed for it, what else did we get under a liberal federal government when we had Iona as our MP, Ridley terminal and the new grain elevator, what did we get with an NDP provincial government, bankrupt Mill, $100 million dollars put into it while it was owned by the taxpayers and then it still went broke. when the liberals took over the mill owed city taxes for a few years while under the NDP and never paid. yep NDP sure helped us at least Gordon and belsey gave us the container port.
To this day, I never understand how the most ineffective local politician ended up becoming the MLA for North Coast.
[quote=“Pantagruel”]Prince Rupert has a long history of voting for the losing party - both federally and provincially.
I have often wondered how much more federal and provincial help we would have gotten over the years had we had the brains to vote for the party that gets elected.
It seems that it is the prevailing ethos of this area to vote for the NDP despite their inability to deliver anything of consequence.
Thank God for our geography! (well on the other hand the NDP are a bunch of “godless socialists” so perhaps that it is inappropriate too?)[/quote]
Don’t blame me. I didn’t vote for Nathan Cullen, and it was my first time voting in this federal riding. lol
