We're being invaded

Heh-heh, now that you mention it, he does. :smiley:

My political slant is to the left of center and it seems that yours is to the right so there is no way either of us can win this argument objectively. 
Also, I am friend with Coons and I am also friend with a former business associate of Belsey who phoned me from the Okanagan to tell me not to vote for him. I won’t elaborate on the reason but it was sufficient for me to question his integrity as a representative of the area.
The infamous quote about the Skeena pulp mill prior to his first election helped validate what my friend said. 

One would have to look at the accomplishments and efforts of Belsey during is mandate (factoring in the fact that he was in the government side) and compare them with Coons’ (factoring in the fact that he is in the opposition).

Being effective would be speaking for the whole constituency.  My impression of Belsey is that he was speaking  for a very select group( when he was speaking!).  Coons may be NDP but I don’t think he did things to destroy the business side of things.  He obviously is in favor of business practices that are socially responsible and more eco-friendly.  Belsey was part of a government that  created a lot of trouble because their majority was so overwhelming, they thought that they were untouchable.  A good MLA would have set some boundaries on this mandate.  A good MLA would not have been a sheep the whole time. 

Now , to be honest with you, I haven’t followed BC politics much lately for the simple fact that I don’t live there anymore.  But I was there when Coons got elected and I can tell you that he was a better choice than Belsey.  Of course, that’s my opinion and I’m obviously biased :wink:

A good politician is, hold on, first of all there is no such thing as a good politician, because if there was, they would care more about their country, and less about how much they tend to make, while in office, honestly, strip the clowns down to half their salary, and see who could/would care about this country. The day, that I see any politician travellin on a bus, just like the rest of us sad sorry sons of bitches, and not in personal jets, that we the people of this country pay for, is the day, that I might gain respect for any politician, they are mere lying, money hungry thieves, that are employed by the government. The Government of Canada, could care less about the tax payin man, or woman, as long as what we make goes to them.

Doctor’s make a lot of money–but that’s not why lots of them care about taking care of people. They make money not because it makes them care more, but because they are a select elite of the population and have had many years of training and many years of practice that justifies them being paid large amounts of money.

The same goes for being an MP or MLA. It takes a special and dedicated person to be an MLA no matter what your political affiliation is. They make lots of money because they’re forced to be away from home a lot, they have to work long days, and above all they take flack from all directions but the one they belong to.

Therefore, you are wrong.

By the way, before going on a rant make sure what you say is relavent to the thread. We’re talking about MLAs (Members of the Legislative Assembly) and therefore this thread is about the Government of British Columbia, not about the Government of Canada.

(And to add insult to injury, try one key to the right,)

I agree somewhat with you eccentric.  If we want good people representing us, we need to make the rewards adequate.  Of course, like everywhere, there is abuse of that system but lets hope that the good ones set good rules and that the bad ones get exposed and voted out.  But the good ones need to be rewarded.  How many of us would like to be in the public eye like they are?

As for hijacking threads, this thread was started to talk about the BC young liberals, not MLAs or MPs.  Hijacking threads may not be the best thing to do but it’s somewhat tolerated on htmf.  Sometimes, it’s kind of fun too.

I don’t want to be represented by someone who gets paid minimum wage.

I think about this every time I go through airport security (especially in the USA):  “Your safety and security brought to you by the lowest bidder.” 

That’s not how we should be treating our politicians, is it?  Do we want them to be the lowest paid people in town?

As for this thread being hijacked – it was about young Liberals and Bill Belsey.  For the record, Bill Belsey made a promise to me, directly and in person, that he later broke.  It wasn’t that he was a bad guy, I’m sure he’s a decent person.  It’s just that he wasn’t always aware of his own party’s policies and stands.  So he would make a promise that seemed reasonable to him, then later find out that his party had the exact opposite stand, and he would be forced to break it.

He sort of caught on to this by the last election.  I remember at the all-party debate at the PAC, whenever somebody would ask his opinion on a topic, he would flip to his Liberal Party binder and look up what his opinion should be.  It was so sad that he couldn’t think for himself, just in case he said something that might disagree with his party’s line.

Belsey chose his party over his constituents.  He was always in the position of apologizing and trying to explain why his party was right and the people he was trying to represent were wrong.  His loyalties were to his party, even when it did something that was bad for Rupert or bad for his constituents. 

Which is why he lost the election.

Unfortunately that seems to be the case with many elected officials. 

Nathan Cullen chose to follow the party lines regarding the Federal Gun Registry despite his election platform in which he adamantly opposed the registry itself.

During the 1990’s there was a recall campiagn initiated against former Skeena NDP MLA Helmut Giesbrecht.  The complaint was that he had been silent in the Legislature while his governments policies were contributing to the demise of Skeena Cellulose.  In addition to that he was silent during the Harcourt governments decision to scrap the Kemano Completion Project depsite the pleas of his constituents and the BC Utilities Commisions suggestion that the project was safe to proceed with a few changes.

I can’t remember the details at the moment but I seem to recall 1 or 2 Conservative MP’s getting cut by the party for not following party lines.

It’s too bad that our elected officials are in our riding representing Victoria and Ottawa rather than there representing their constituents.

Having said that, although I was and am disappointed at the Campbell Government for some of the lies and deceit that occured especially early on in their tenure.  I am generally pleased though at the direction in which the province is headed.  For many years the mining industry was stifled but is once again showing signs of promise as exploration is rampant around Northern BC.  I’m encouraged by the current state of the province although I’d like to see some of the surplus go back into re-instating cut programs.

If Campbell had paid the past Skeena taxes owing from the time that the province had control of the mill I’d bet that Belsey would still be our MLA today.  Tough position for Bill when his government would not rectify a problem that the people of this comminity are so passionate about.

The NDP supported the Liberal “temporary funding” for the gun registry and earned over $4 billion in budget influence, which benefited you and I ahead of corporate tax cuts.
I would have voted against Nathan if he’d stuck his ideological guns and helped cause the gov’t to fall and got ZERO influence.
That’s what politics is about, sometimes you postpone part A to achieve B in a big way.
I’m opposed to a long gun registry too, but in the overall scheme of what matters, it’s a secondary issue.

1.  Education
2.  Health care

Belsey represented the Liberal Party to Prince Rupert, not Prince Rupert to the Provincial Govt.
I worked for one of this man’s many failed business ventures and also saw first hand the iincompetence of Skeena engineering staff of which Bill was the Maintenance Manager.
As an employer he was a bully and it was made very clear to you that if you were willing to break the Collective agreement (and Provincial overtime laws) you could work as many hours you wanted (at straight time).
As maintenance manager at Skeena he stalled off the the suppliers of goods and services to the mill while mill owners were engineeering the bankruptcy.
I understand his final act at Skeena was to sell $750,000.00 worth of scaffolding (that did not belong to hiim or Skeena) to his buddy Dave  McGuigan for pennies. Does any one know the final outcome?
Knowing the man and his ethics is why I made my comments, as far as 10 hour days in Victoria, I would hope he did.

   

I agree with the point that you are trying to make.  That would apply to all parties and all representatives then including Bill Belsey.  Like you said, thats what politics is about. 

[quote]1.  Education
2.  Health care[/quote]

Exactly!  And childcare funding.

Right!  Forgot that one.