How it works in BC (#2)

The following was the BC Ferries edition, published on April 02, 2012, but can easily be applied to the new BC Hydro situation where the government is asking we, the taxpayers, to bear the burden of a 26% increase in our electricity rates.
BC Hydro, through the mismanagement of the BC Liberal Government, and the people chosen to run BC Hydro, are now paying $130 per kilowatt hour to the Private Power Producers that Gordon Campbell installed in sweetheart deals, when all experts say the price should be $20 per khr. And did you know that $17 of every hundred BC Hydro takes in goes for 'dividends' to the BC Liberal government! Surely it is a TAX increase!

 Reprinted from April 02, 2012 but easily applies to the present situation.This is Gordon Campbell's legacy and we are wondering, again, who got paid off to implement these P3 deals that are now sinking the once finest public utility in North America?

We expect, once more that the 26% is only a ploy and that they truly want, say 12%, and that Christy Clark will follow her mentor's ideas and step in to 'save' us. Thereby taking accolades for 'protecting' us poor BC taxpayers. 
A lot of people when considering these P3 power projects are saying, ' I told you so."
This is how it works in BC ...........
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday, 2 April 2012

Here's how it works in BC

The Victoria Parliament Buildings at midnight. A meeting in the janitor's closet between two men ... both are wearing grey fedoras and black trenchcoats, with Groucho Marx glasses and fake mustaches. They are whispering ....

BC Ferries guy - We need a price increase of about four percent to cover our next years bonuses and payouts to executives for great service to the people.
BC Liberal guy - Listen, we always gotta consider the backlash to fare increases. Uh, lose the cigar, would you?
BC Ferries guy - Backlash?  That was only because David was making a million a year and the ridership didn't like it? 
BC Liberal guy - David?  
BC Ferries guy - David Hahn.The last CEO of BC Ferries.
(BC Liberal guy slits open the door and peaks out. No sound from the eerie marble hallway) 
BC Liberal guy - Oh yeah. The guy who was in charge when that ferry sank.
BC Ferries guy - Um, we don't talk about that one, okay?
BC Liberal guy - Well, he took the spotlight off Gordo's salary and pensions.
BC Ferries guy - Gordo who?

BC Liberal guy - Gordon Campbell, the ex Premier who we hid in England.
BC Ferries guy - Oh, I heard about that. The Gordon's gin guy, we toast him with tumblers. What about our fare increase?
BC Liberal guy - No prob. What 'll we say you need it for? Gas? 
BC Ferries guy - Well diesel, that's what we use. The boats were made in Germany, you know, not BC.  Easier to disseminate the money off shore ... if you know what I mean.  (it is so black neither sees the other's wink) Hey, careful where you nudge, eh?
 

BC Liberal guy - Okay, sure, okay. (pause) Well this is how it works here in BC. You come out publicly and ask for, say a 15% increase, we'll have Christy step in and say she's looking after families and only give you like, 4.8%.
BC Ferries guy - What's the .8 percent for?
BC Liberal guy - You'll be in charge of the money, yeah?
(silence in the blackness)

BC Liberal guy - Win win for all of us.

BC Ferries guy - Lose lose for ferry riders though. (snicker) Say, who's this Christy anyways?
BC Liberal guy - New boss lady, Christy Campbell, er, I mean Clark. Oops, Freudian slip .... (a tremble in his voice) Sheez, I could get sent to East Vancouver for that.

BC Ferries guy - Oh yeah, I remember, Clark is the BC Rail woman.
BC Liberal guy - Shhh. We don't talk about that one and we don't remember stuff either. (he worriedly puts his ear to the slit and listens carefully) Psst! If anyone comes just grab a broom and start sweeping.
BC Ferries guy - You'll get this through before any elections or anything though, right?
BC Liberal guy - Done. Even before the secret RCMP contract. Say, you haven't seen BC Hydro guy, have you?

BC Ferries guy - I think I saw him in the gardener's tool shed siphoning gas out of a lawn mower. Hey, wanna grab a burger? I know an underground MacDonald's that stays open after midnight.
BC Liberal guy - Sheez, here in Victoria? Does everyone do illegal stuff now? Okay, but let's leave one at a time.
BC Ferries guy -You couldn't go as a British Harpo, could you?


Since 2003, when the Crown corporation was quasi privatized, BC Ferries' fares have gone up by about 70 per cent on the major routes between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland and by 80 per cent on the minor routes, according to a chart on the ferry commissioner's own website.
As the ridership declines, BC Ferries considers charging more from the few remaining passengers. These are the elite brainy people who run our province for huge salaries. 


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Is this also a direct result of choosing to pay California 750 million dollars because they sued us and we backed down from a winning case?
Didn't you expect more from your politicians and management of YOUR resources?

You laugh or cry, either way, YOU are getting screwed by your corrupt government. 



 

Bill Vander Zalm

Always a free thinker, he might still be ahead of all the other politicians .... watch this ....






Times, they are a changin'. Interesting, huh? And the truth too.

Here we go again all over again.

Is this deja vu vu vu? 

It's your money folks, you've given Christy the ability to continue spending it on her friends. 

Go here - - -  Post Election Severance Pay

Same old same old.
Would we know without the Freedom of Information Act?

And that's not all folks - - - Quick Wins Scandal Docs

Power for free?

You see what happened, was that the BC Liberal government, under Gordon Campbell and Christy Clark, decided that British Columbia people were not good enough any longer to run BC Hydro. So they farmed out deals to their friends and 'partners' to let foreigners come into BC and run things. Just like they did with BC Ferries. The P3 power projects are now acknowledged to be costing the people of BC billions in cozy contracts that Campbell put into effect for whoever those guys were.

So it happened in BC Hydro. Powerex became a subsidiary corporation to sell our power to other places, California being one of them. So they had a power problem in California. And they owed us like 270 million for power. And the California power utilities who mismanaged their own power set-up didn't want to pay. So they said we were charging too much for our power and sued us for 3.2 BILLION! So we fought it a bit, but everyone in other countries knows Canadians are wimps. And will capitulate to whomever is frowning at us. They know we'll say we're sorry.

Now along comes Bill Bennett, the BC Liberal who was once kicked out of cabinet, (he behaves now, cabinet is lucrative) to tell us how good this payout to the California power corporations is for us. (actually their attorney general has his pocket open down there too) 

straight faced too

And with a totally straight face, Bennett said, "This was an extremely difficult decision to come to but a very necessary decision to protect British Columbia taxpayers ... "
Sheez, you'd hate to see what he'd do if a bear was chasing us! The taxpayers of BC need protection FROM the BC Liberals.
Bennett added, "It's actually irresponsible to not settle this with the opportunity we've got." Opportunity? OMG has he been mesmerized? Hypnotised? Brainwashed? Threatened with water-boarding?

And worse, is that they are trying to deny that as a result of this mismanagement, our BC Hydro rates will be rising. YOUR rates.

Now I know that if I had a small business, and someone stiffed me like this, any future contracts, IF there were any, would have all kinds of caveats built in. Starting with stopping ALL power from British Columbia to California until a deal favorable to BCers was established. Let them get their power elsewhere and see what happens when LA has another brown-out because they couldn't manage it themselves.

Powerex CEO Teresa Conway said that the deal was important to preserve BC Hydro's business relationship with the California market, which has generated $3.5 billion in revenue over the years. How many years? And could it have generated 6 billion if we weren't being screwed? 

And this all has to be approved by FERC, the US Federal Energy Review Board. Stop laughing. Hey fellows, would you like 750 million US dollars? The Canadians will give it to us. Noooo. Yes! Okaaaay then!

It never ends folks, we lost control of BC Ferries and the BC shipbuilding industry. P3 power brokers are stiffing us. Our raw logs go to foreign mills so they get the value added profits instead of BC lumber mills. Our once fabulous wild salmon runs are becoming extinct because of foreign owned fish farms. Even our pure water is siphoned into Nestle bottles for free who then charge us for our own water! 

How many slaps in the face can you take?


Oh, by the way, come up with more cash for your heat this winter, California needs more air conditioners.


Evidently we will stand in an endless line to say we're sorry. 
"Next! Have you been slapped yet?"
"No."
SMACK! "There you go."
"Thank you. I'm sorry."

 

BC Hydro - at the sign of the double-cross

New methods at Tony's old house.

"Christy, we need to talk."
"Right now? I'm having an election celebration with my Kelowna family." 
"Yeah now, them reporters are startin' ta get close to findin' out what we did and ..."
"You came all the way from Vancouver?" 
"Don't worry, I took the long way, through Kamloops." 
"Any natural gas up there?"
"The car don't smell too good. Say, who are those tough lookin' guys, why are they at your dinner table with overcoats on? They look like Mafioso?"
"They're ethnics ... to counter the QuickWins scandal."
"Gangsters are ethnics now?"
"Never mind just follow me downstairs."
"To your basement? But I ..."

They plunge into the darkness.
"Shhh, wait a minute."
"Christy, it's so dark down here, I can't see a thing. I nearly tripped on those old wooden stairs."
"Wait till I find the light switch, we just bought this house from Tony Soprano, not sure where everything is yet."
"That's better. Kinda scary down here. But this is what I needed to tell y... "
"Shh! Wait till I turn the washing machine on."
"Mind if I toss in my jacket with your saris? Had it on since Point Grey."
Kachung. Kachung. Kachung. Kachung.
"I'll turn on the table saw and let it vibrate too, can't be too careful."
BZZZzzzzzZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzing!
"DAMN THAT'S NOISY, CHRISTY!"
"Don't put your fingers near it."
"So Madam Premiere, we gotta ..."
"Hold on, I'll tune in Bill Good on the radio, I told him to be extra loud when I knew you were coming here. And give me a hand starting the lawnmower."
Tug.... tug,     brrrraaaoooooorrrrrrrrrrrr! 
"Sheez, is this overkill?"
"Can't be too careful, they're all after me, you know."
"It's about this email, Mz Premier ..."   
"Sheez, you know we don't use emails anymore, don't you? Only talk in open parks."
"Sure but this is an old one."
"Let me see."

Silence as Christy reads the email in the dim light of the 10 watt oven bulb.
"I can fix this." 
Christy digs through a dusty tool drawer and finds an old Magic Marker.
"There."

From the office of the Premier           
Dear           and                     you too                       !!

If you think you can                                                                                    
                           because I have people who can fucking kill  you, or else. And       
                                                                                                           
 and theretofore you can                                 we                                                                                                                     to meet with                                          him/her and                           threaten                                     furthermore,
                                down, and pay him                          200000 dollars dollars.
                                                                                                                                                                   
Take the money out of           Bollywood                              account.
And give it to                                                                                    .  reach out       
                                                   outreach                                                                                        breach                                                       me retch.        
                                                               XX                                                                
Sincerly your Premiere Minster,
CC@                         .com
Christy (cleavage)  Clark

"Okay now? I got to go and blow out the candles."
"Sure, I'll stay down here till my jacket is ready."
"Okay but don't call anyone. You turned off your GPS didn't you? You heard about PRISM and the NSA."
"Sure I got the memo."
"And burned it, yes?"
"The NSA is tracking you?"
"No, but the NDP is ..... and I'm never sure about Rich."

"This is our new BC Liberal communication method if you have to write something down. You write the memo with lemon juice on onion skin paper. Just don't burn it when heating it up to read."
"You were a Cub Scout?"
"It came with my Dick Tracy ring."
"Okay Christy. Too bad about Tony Soprano being dead."
"Don't believe everything you see on TMZ."
"Wha?" 

IMHO

The NDP made a fatal error in their pursuit of governing the most vibrant province in Canada; They allowed those from across the Rockies to steer their efforts the wrong way. Namely Brian Topp. 
He came from the Jack Layton group and just tried to apply those campaign ideas without the charisma or history of a Jack Layton.
Dix allowed it all to happen too, as did those behind the NDP scenes, like Moe Sahota. 
Most British Columbians know that political people from Ontario and Quebec have no idea where the Prairies are, never mind anything behind that mountain chain. On their maps it only says, 'Here there be demons.'  They should have literally no input into the business of British Columbians.

Another part of the problem is that too many within the NDP are content with the jackal role of yipping and nipping at the heels of the real players. They are bound by ideology and cannot imagine a role other than being victims. A lot of those old hateful union types are still voicing a message of hate against the rich and powerful and management just for the chance to vent. The world has changed but they refuse to acknowledge it. 

There were thousands of British Columbians aligned with Adrian Dix at the beginning of the campaign. Dix had what they needed, which was at least a promise of integrity and honesty in dealing with the future of BC. And momentum. And he had the best roster ever of strong candidates who were moderate, competent and smart.

But as the campaign heated up, those thousands were becoming disenchanted with the message. Yes, they all agreed with skills training and those messages, but what had turned them in the first place to the NDP was the atmosphere of greed, payoffs and corruption in the Liberal party. All those warnings about Run-of-the-River projects destroying once proud BC Hydro were starting to come true. BC Rail continued to linger and many were hopeful of a satisfying resolution. The billion dollar BC Film industry died under the Liberals watch. The constant scandals were tiresome and hurting everyone in BC except the insiders.

Christy's potential fight with the Northern Gateway pipeline through BC was only rhetoric. She knew all along that Harper will eventually push it through despite the wants of BCers, because it is for the benefit of Canada. (read Alberta) 

And Dix couldn't waver from his personal integrity. He needed the mud put right in his hand and told a direction to sling it! Then it was suddenly too late. Miss Cleavage had won and everybody was shocked. No one wanted to get muddy.

And we are left with the prospect of wondering what would have happened if people like John Horgan, Mike Farnworth, Leonard Krog, David Eby and Spencer Chandra-Herbert had been allowed into the fight. These are smart, bright, with-it and politically savvy people with lots of expertise and something to say about it and would not have allowed the Liberals to set the agenda. You cannot muzzle people with that kind of talent. 

So the NDP is again on the familiar road that leads to NextTime. It might be a ghost town by the time they get there. Those thousands of new people who thought about the NDP had good reason to fear for the province, are still frightened.
What ever steering committee the NDP has needs to be 'Made in BC'. They need to regroup, toss out the perpetual victims who are too comfortable in the role, elect a new leader, and go for it. 

Forget the mud though, start collecting sticks and stones, it's not mud wrestling, it's MMA without the fence.

Just sayin'.

Same old same old.

The protege has learned well from the Master. 
Christy Clark follows the Gordon Campbell tradition of the Liberal Party. Take liberties ASAP because they'll all forget it soon. And you can get on with enhancing your personal position.

Raises for all the political staff in the legislature while talking restraint. Well, they proved it works, didn't they? The voting public pays little attention to the workings of their government. Ministerial assistants, (now called Chiefs of Staff) get $10,000 raises! And the premier's CoS gets a $35,000 increase!

So no matter how much the actions seem to betray the faithful, what do they know? Blindness is not just in the eyes, but the mind! The raises are just the start as they all begin drooling at the next four years and imagine the personal gains many will accomplish. BC is open for business.
Sure.


I like this idea. All those rioters who were promised prosecution to the fullest extent of the law by Christy Clark, have now found out that the 'fullest extent' is just sort of an inconvenience. The police keep telling us about more charges. We've come to know that charges have little to do with sentencing.
A suspended sentence for everyone. Even those with restrictions are ignoring them. Get ready for the next party in Vancouver, it'll be a bash! Our judges have nothing to do with reality or protecting the public.

But thanks to the ICBC corporation and London Drugs who will sue the rioters civilly to recover some of the money they lost from vandals. There need to be more merchants going to the wall about this. ICBC paid out 5 million in claims for damaged or write-off cars, and London Drugs lost hundreds of thousands of dollars from theft after rioters bashed in their doors. And why should we the policy holders have increases in our premiums because of vandalism. 
It was bad enough to have the Liberal government actually steal money from ICBC coffers for their own mismanagement instead of allowing them to give us a break on our insurance. 
And at least Win Powell of London Drugs is going to go after some of the scum who robbed his store and got away with it in our so-called justice system.

This may mark a turning point in justice in Canada. We'll become more like the States where you can sue for anything, and at least get some satisfaction that you caused something to happen against the perps who make all our lives miserable and cause costs to rise. Good for you ICBC and London Drugs. No thanks to Christy Clark and her band of legal thieves full of rhetoric.

So what can we expect in the near future? Start with the film industry basically disappearing. Continue with the oil pipelines all being approved at whatever risk to the environment. Probably the selling off of more BC assets that those before us built so faithfully and proudly. 
And Christy Clark has the gall to place herself beside WAC Bennett? 

One day there will be nothing left to sell and the true cost to the BC taxpayer may be known. 

Maybe not if you keep being afraid and voting the same old criminals back into office.