Thursday 30 August 2012

The All New BC Christy Liberals for 2013

The BC Provincial election is in May of 2013. Christy Clark has chosen her big guns for the epic battle. She found some under the back benches. Not ALL the BC Liberals deserted her, there were still some to pick from. (she was seen at KFC buying the Slim Pickens bucket.) So now all new for 2013, Christy presents the election ticket for prosperity in British Columbia!   Trust us.  We`re the BC Liberals!

BC Premiere, Christy Clark






Sure she looks dazed, but .. but a premier`s job is hard. (is that Basil Rathbone behind her) Look to the future, where you won't have to do anything but listen to what we tell you. We're for families and blueberries and PPPs and surrrprissses.

             Ministry of Labor and              Ministry of Wildlife            Ministry of Welfare
                  Beer Distribution                  and Whining                  and Inertia
                 Fred Waddle                      Eunice Shivver              Harvey Closetted


           Ministry of Finance               Ministry of Holograms        Ministry of Intimidation
              and Finagling                      and Mysteriums               and Tax Collection
                   Al Kida                          Havanna Marks                  Dawg Bailiff    

         Ministry of Health                  Ministry of Ethics                 Ministry of Forestry     
          and Hospitals                    and Crime Prevention             and Agonyculture
       Dr. I.O. Stranglelove              Kahuna Wakalulu                Olaf Bigwoody 

So there you have it, our pride and ploy ... er joy. We defy the NDP or the BC Conservatives to come up with a line-up of talent like this. (No that's not him, just looks similar) Elect us again and we`ll get right back to doing the same things to you all over again. 

Our new platform includes; 
- selling Vancouver Island to the Chinese so they won`t have so far to ship their toxic plastics and contaminated foods; 
- selling the water in our rivers in Public Private Partnerships to collect taxes on toilet flushes; 
- selling Rich Coleman to the Alberta Meat Packers Assoc. (testing for mad-cow first, of course); 
- tolling all the bridges everywhere including that lil wooden one by Second Beach in Stanley Park; (don`t laugh, they`ll pay when we let developers build condos on the west side of the park); 
- cutting taxes on the rich and making workers pay their fair share; 
- setting up a Defend ex Liberals fund for those who got caught and were persecuted unfairly; (or might get caught in the future); 
- fixing the HST before 2035;
- forgetting BC Rail once and for all; 
- making BC a have-not province for a sixth time, (the NDP only managed it once, we've done it five times!); 
- setting up a Junior Ministry advisory on Atlantic fish farm salmon and why growth hormones and coloring are good for you; 
- writing a new melody to the Fast Ferries chant; 
- yes, we`ll even adjust the minimum wage to $9.25 per hour! 

And remember, we don't do French here so Dix is NOT a ten!

All great reasons to return the BC Christy Party to POWER!




There`s lots more where this came from!



[Paid for by the Desperation Committee to re-elect any Liberal anywhere somehow]
 


 

Monday 6 August 2012

Public meetings

I went to a public meeting years ago. It was about how to move the bus loop from the Lost Lagoon area of Stanley Park, because the buses had to turn left across bridge traffic coming from Lions Gate and the North Shore. In rush hour traffic this was almost impossible. So they were looking for ideas and input. Or so I thought.

the existing route
This was their proposed plan. They would run the trolly buses west on Georgia and instead of turning left across rush hour traffic to the present loop (at that time) beside Lost Lagoon, they would instead go into Stanley Park, beside the old pedestrian overpass and park along Pipeline Road. Then to return would have to go beneath the causeway overpass to go along beside Lost Lagoon and enter the causeway traffic onto Georgia Street at Chilco to head East.

This plan seemed to me to be very expensive, as so much work would have to be done to allow trolleys to make the entrance and exit. And also drivers would have to take their breaks at night within Stanley Park.

So.
I came up with a plan that I thought solved all the problems. I drew up street maps to show how it would work on large white boards. This was my proposed plan:
Have the buses take the right lane just as soon as they pass the junction where Pender merges with Georgia Street, and crosses Cardero. Then they would turn right, from Georgia onto Denman, causing literally no traffic slow down in rush hour. There is an existing small parking area there for yacht clubs but would only take a little more space for a bus turnaround. No interference with traffic at all.

my bus route proposal
And the best part is exiting. The bus would proceed south on Denman and make a left turn with the traffic light onto Georgia again to go East. As 99% of all the traffic coming north on Denman is turning left onto Georgia to head for the Lions Gate Bridge, there would be no traffic tension at all! Any right turns off Denman would have no effect on buses.

The cost of doing this change would be to take a little more space from the existing grass area and perhaps the yacht parking lot to build the turn-around loop. A few poles for trolley wires, some new pavement and that's it! And people intending to go into Stanley Park would exit right onto the Seawall! And it was only yards away from the planned loop.

I presented this plan to all concerned at a meeting in the Denman Auditorium. The room was crowded and after I had finished, almost everyone who heard it agreed that it was an excellent and smooth way to go without causing an expensive taxpayer outlay.

As the meeting concluded, the city engineers in charge decided to recap what they heard at the meeting. They said they heard that everyone liked the ideas of the city to have the buses go into Stanley Park. The crowd roared their disagreement. Mostly stunned at such a conclusion. Many people asked how they could have heard that when their proposal had been booed at the time! Many people were members of Friends of Stanley Park and had paid close attention. So the panel simply thanked us and left.

A few years later they rebuilt the the whole causeway overpass to allow the installation of trolley wires and height for the large buses to get under.  It was opened in 2003 and I have no idea how much it cost.

The point of all this is to suggest that public hearings are nothing more than public relations exercises that have little purpose and NO effect on the pre-embedded plans that corporations want to do. And they know that they can say whatever they like afterward without contradiction. I am not saying my plan was the ultimate, other speakers had other ideas. I am saying that they just didn't care what people thought. It was a predetermined 'go ahead' long before any public input was called for.

Keep this in mind if you attend any public hearings on the Enbridge or Kinder-Morgan pipeline proposals.


(pics from Google Earth, click to enlarge)

Sunday 5 August 2012

BC Day

The British Columbia Day Act was first introduced to the Legislative Assembly in 1974 by the NDP Government. The aim of the Bill was to create a statutory holiday on the first Monday in August to recognize the pioneers in the province. The act gained royal assent in 1996.
There are a number of symbols of British Columbia. These include the Steller's Jay, the Pacific Dogwood, jade, the Western Red Cedar and the provincial tartan. Two important symbols of British Columbia are the flag and the coat of arms.

Our province is huge, 944,735 square kilometres (364,800 sq mi). Larger than Washington, Oregon and California combined! Most of which is mountains, rivers, lakes and grasslands that can offer solitude or success if one works for it.  Splendor sine occasu has been our motto - "Splendour without Diminishment." And Tourism BC sells it as Supernatural British Columbia! The bottom edge of BC is perhaps the last remaining population center that has unexplored wilderness within a hundred miles to the north.
Our Fraser River travels over 1,375 kilometres (854 mi) through glacial mountain ranges and secluded valleys to empty 800,000 gallons (3550 cubic litres) of fresh water per minute into the sea at Vancouver.
Lytton is often the hottest place in Canada and the Vaseux Lake region of the Okanagan has the only arid biotic zone (desert) in Canada! While our North becomes Robert Service country and can be the coldest in Canada. Our regional variety is wonderful. You can often drive northward in your car without seeing another human for hours yet a wonderfully healthy wildlife abounds.
Our Capital, Victoria, continues to be a little bit of pleasantly quaint, 'Jolly Old' past. While Vancouver symbolizes the future and has become the envy of the world.

The pioneering spirit has always been strong in BC since the many hardy explorers and gold rushers traveled to our interior, seeking wealth or land or the fortune of settlement. Some walked over mountains and traversed rivers after gold or silver or exploration. Loaded mule trains once went North daily full of hard tack, miner's picks and dreams and even included imported camels at one time as pack animals for the prospectors. And when BC needed to join Canada, the railroad building was blasting through solid rock cliffs and gorges and progress was measured in months and sometimes by lives lost. Only men of inner strength and sturdy character need apply. The weathered reminders of homesteads abound in BC, softly settling into history. And the Indian names remain, the Caribou, the Chilcootin and the Kootenays. The true wild west was here too when our grasslands were full of cattle and ranchers riding their range. The Douglas Lake Cattle Company was once the world's biggest ranch! Our lumber industries took advantage of vast coastal forests.
Today we have cosmopolitan cities of vibrant people full of industry, high tech and promise on our southern borders, to the enchanting loneliness of our north and our seacoast fjords with rugged folks content in their solitude and independence. There is something for everyone in BC. 

BC Social Credit governments established BC Ferries and we once had more ships in BC than the Canadian Navy. The old BC Electric company became BC Hydro and guaranteed perpetual power for British Columbians. BC Rail was the result of taking over the Pacific Great Eastern Railway and was begun to open up our sparse interior and offer service to the people of small towns. BC was growing, exciting and proud.

The present population of BC is a marvelous mix. Not a melting pot, but a mosaic of varied cultures who have arrived on our shores seeking peace and prosperity. And contribute to the interesting diversity of our society. We should all be thankful that we do live in a land of plenty, with freedom and hospitality and the ability to follow any pursuit we wish.

Today that pioneering spirit is still active, with modern British Columbians ready willing and able to continue making our province great and progressive into the 21st century.
But it is a heritage that must be carefully guarded and shepherded into the years ahead with the interests of BC and our people first and foremost.
We are a vibrant, industrious and intelligent people who can continue to exploit the promise of the future and build our province into a supernatural place of pride and opportunity.
Join in, all are welcome.



Happy BC Day!