Welcome to Kitimat, the latest victim of Gordon Campbell`s forestry policies

Well my friends, this story is big, nobody wants to talk about it,at least the government doesn`t want to talk about it, Eurocan mill in Kitimat is caput,534 workers lose their jobs,the jobs aren`t coming back, with all the spinoff jobs in this town of 9000 people we are talking about a death blow to Kitimat...1/3 of the jobs will disappear.

I tell you, I would like to shove a BC made 2x4 with a red mitten on the end of it up Gordon Campbell`s ass....I`m being kind, this makes over 50 mills closed since Campbell took the steering wheel, while watching question period, watching Pat Bell squirm,and in a subsequent Vancouver Sun story Pat Bell gets the award for outstanding stupidity.

What might I be talking about, well....Pat Bell is using the mill closure to try and shove the enbridge pipeline through to Kitimat and LNG terminal, well....Bell states that this would be good for Kitimat....

But, except for construction the pipeline and LNG terminal when completed would provide 30 full time jobs for Kitimat! And Pat Bell goes on to say that perhaps some Chinese buyers might want to purchase the mill, Pat Bell has thrown his hands up and conceded defeat on forestry in BC.

So as Kitimat follows the same path as all the other dead towns in the hurtland, and just why is this happening, why are BC mills closing, because Campbell has let a few big players have everything,small mills can`t get fiber, but lets be clear, new mills are opening, they are opening in Russia and China. (Lets start here with Pat Bell conceding defeat in forestry) http://www.vancouversun.com/business/West+Fraser+Kitimat+mill/2157792/story.html

Like I say, Pat bell is denying these workers any support,denying transitional money,retraining money, all denied to these workers, the 130 million dollar fund from Ottawa(that Campbell contributed nothing to) has been exhausted,so these workers if their smart will leave town before their EI money expires, this mill will not re-open.

I was reading opinion 250 and they know their forestry over there, here is a simple explanation as to why our mills are closing.

Eureocan closing-A blow to the entire north By Ben Meisner(thursday,october 29.2009 03.45 am

It is the most severe blow that the city of Kitimat could have ever received.

535 people will get their walking papers at the end of January,and Eureocan pulp will cease to exist in that city.

Eurocan is the second largest industrial contributor of taxes to the city,and with that payroll is a very important part of the well being of that community.

It is a blow that Kitimat will have a hard time surviving.

What caused it? Several things, first, there is an ever increasing competition for pulp and paper from third world countries who can produce the product much cheaper than we can in Canada.That will continue to be an ongoing problem in the industry and it is a problem that the three mills in Prince George face.

Eureocan was not getting sufficient chips to enable it to operate efficiently, bearing in mind that the port of Prince Rupert has been the area from which a lot of raw logs,are being exported. There are ships full of product heading out of country to be milled overseas and there is little that either Eurocan,the province or for that matter the federal government could do about it. The logs are,for the most part,being exported by first nations in the area.They are coming from private land handed over by the province in lands claims.The province has no say where these logs go.

In the past, mills operating in the Terrace area were supplying the company with chips, the only chips being received by Eurocan in recent months have been full sized raw logs. You cannot compete trying to operate in this manner.

While Terrace has been gradually poaching people and business away from Kitimat,the closing of the mill will deal a death blow to both communities.

The claim that the recession is all but over are hollow words indeed when it comes to the reality of what is happening around us. The problem is however that municipalities such as Prince George seem to be having a hard time getting their minds around what is really happening in the community.

I`m Meisner and that`s one man`s opinion.(And I personally thank you for your accurate opinion) http://www.opinion250.com/blog/view/14422/7/eurocan+closing++-+a+blow+to+the+entire+north There are some good comments after his story

Now I have done a lot of fact checking, lets talk straight goods.....The USA went through a housing boom from 2002 through 2006....BC went through a housing boom during those same years, but what happened? During a housing boom we lost 40 mills and 25000 forestry jobs,and that was before the RECESSION hit in 2008.......

So are there any among you who actually believe that forestry will make a comeback, even if the USA starts another building boom we already know that it means no Canadian jobs!

Look, as you know I am not a rocket scientist but, one thing is perfectly clear, raw log exports are up 1600% since the Campbell Liberals took over in 2001.....Giant tracts of tree farm licences/forest have been illegally converted into private lands, and.....Here is the deal on private lands whether they be first nations or the big three forestry giants, we have no say over the export of raw logs from these private lands, that`s what the big forestry companies wanted and Campbell obliged, because as you know we can restrict the export of raw logs from Crown land(Too bad no one is logging crown land).

I have some shocking numbers to show you, they come from many sources, but all the numbers are confirmed by BEN Parfitt (The best expert in the field)

Log exports,wood waste and job impacts (coastal BC only)

This next link is to Ben Partiff`s research,this guy is a BC hero, he speaks the truth, it`s a short two page story loaded with the facts,no spin just facts, he has an alarming chart,I don`t want to spoil your read but here`s a little teaser...Log exports from the coast...in 2004/2005 -3.2 million cubic meters........Log exports 2005/2006---3.8 million cubic meters.....Log exports 2006/2007---4.7 milion cubic meters.. You get the picture...Here is the link,short/to the point,and accurate... http://www.cep.ca/campaigns/take_back_our_forests/files/fact_sheet_forestry_b_c_e.pdf

Source: Table excepted from "wood waste on the BC coast" by Ben Parfitt ...The data base can accessed at ... http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hva/hbs/index.htm



So my friends, do we need to be rocket scientists to put two and two together, every year raw log exports are up and every year we lose more mortgage paying jobs, Pat Bell has been crowing about exports to China being up,well ....If you count low grade Cants(logs that have been debarked and two sides cut) These low grade cants are sent to China where they are milled, planed, dried, three layers of value added done in China and.....It gives China a fiber supply for the rapidly expanding Chinese pulp industry.



You see folks, Russia has added export tariffs on raw logs, forestry giants are setting up mills in Russia....China because of floods,de-forestation has stopped cutting down their trees, so the Russians are getting the big picture,China has figured out the value of keeping their forest intact but out here in Bizzarro world Gordon Campbell doesn`t give a dam....In fact.....If you recall last year the Campbell GANG spent over a million dollars on a forestry roundtable.............

No they didn`t actually build any table or use any wood but....



What did this panel of Campbell appointees come up with to SAVE BC forestry.....The best and the brightest and what we got as a NEW forest policy was (BILL 9 ....Wood first)

Now before I get into bill 9 let me remind you of the other Campbell forestry schemes....:Forest for tomorrow:.....:The forest re-vitalization plan:......I have my own name for Campbell`s forestry idea`s...."The forestry devastation plan .....Forests will be gone by tomorrow"



But seriously folks, lets discuss Bill 9......It`s a whole 2 pages long, and it states in section

1 .."The purpose of this act is to facilitate a culture of wood by requiring the use of wood as the primary building material in all new provincially funded buildings in a manner consistent with the BC building code"

Section 2)" In order to promote the use of wood in provincially funded buildings,the minister MAY do the following"

That`s it folks, that is the work of the 1 million dollar forestry roundtable....That is what`s supposed to SAVE the industry....Well my friends, before I let you go let me point out a few things that aren`t in Bill 9....No where in the bill does it state that BC MILLED wood must be used,for as you know most of the lumber on BC store shelves gets milled in China or washington state...not BC.......And the bill states that the MINISTER MAY...not will, not must...A useless bill of two pages that talks about a culture of wood and the minister may recommend using wood from (somewhere) for government funded projects. (My friends,please read bill 9...please try not to laugh while your reading this fluff bill that will do nothing, it`s a short bill, it will take you 1 minute to read the whole bill,let me know what you think of bill 9 in comments) here is the link to bill 9 http://www.leg.bc.ca/39th1st/1st_read/gov09-1.htm

Our rivers have been sold, our forests have been given away, our pride, our past, our history has been shredded by Gordon Campbell, everything that he touches falls apart, forestry my friends is officially dead in BC, the jobs aren`t coming back under Campbell, the only way it will come back is by restricting raw log exports and by doing value added milling along with specialty products.....But as you know Campbell only cares about the big corporate donors to his party.

Big forestry and Gordon Campbell have built their own coffin, may they all go to hell together, and the wood for the coffin came from BC logs milled in China.

The Straight Goods
Cheers -Eyes Wide Open

Thunderbolt and Kerfoot

Pretty snazzy looking joint, built and completed in 2008 the new Montreal soccer stadium is fabulous,how much 300 million..200 million...not even close,price...under 50 million dollars.

As you know the provincial government have lost their minds,I wrote earlier in the year about the new retractable roof being cancelled,the price last spring...365 million dollars...6 months later a new price of 458 million dollars to put a retractable roof on a outdated dinosaur..Now don`t get me wrong,if we had surpluses maybe but with multi billion dollars deficits we have to be out of our minds...First off, it`s being advertised as being ready for grey cup 2011...

Well my friends, a football fan I am but what are the odds that a 458 million$ retractable roof would be opened up in mid-winter in Vancouver? Even if it isn`t raining don`t you think it would be cold outside? Come on in to our dome and we will freeze your butt off by opening the roof? Besides 12 soccer dates would the retractable roof gather up more events? Would a big rock band hold a outdoor/indoor concert? The sound sucks at BC place stadium, would we hold extra boat or RV shows.....I think not....And what about the grass, if we are going to have an open air soccer stadium we have to have real grass, do we tear out the concrete floor,add drainage and sod, how does the grass grow? Leave the roof open, what about birds flying in, what shape would the grass be in mid-winter for a grey cup? Would having artificial turf in a retractable roof building be super tacky?...I think so.(have a look here at Safeco field in Seattle,brand new,retractable roof,cost ...about 600 million in total) http://www.ballparks.com/baseball/american/seabpk.htm

And a beautiful facility it is.....There is more gobbily goop related to this project,Pavco..The company that runs BC Place state that they will save 3 million per year on energy,because they won`t have to keep the roof pressurized,well hmmm, first off I don`t believe that number and there is no way to access it,secondly there must be a cost in opening and closing a massive retractable structure and,there must be a cost when you open up the roof in mid-winter for a grey cup game and let all the heat out,plus....There is always moving parts that require maintenance when your talking massive retractable.

Now the terms of the bid and cost are confidential and even in estimate debates no numbers are being released but.....There are some thing that we do know, firstly,the roof won`t be paid off for 40 years,that`s right 40 years, some land will be sold adjacent to BC place to help pay for this but who knows what`s going to happen in real estate,good luck with the 1.5 billion olympic village....Anyways, we can do some simple math,BC Ferries owes 1.4 billion and just interest payments are 50 million per year,so the carrying costs on 458 million will probably be in the range of 15 million to 20 million per year,so this roof after 40 years of carrying charges will probably cost in excess of 1 billion$ dollars!

But two things have got me really riled on this subject,firstly how the media laps it up, secondly,where the hell is the NDP,......Gordon Campbell is a proven lawbreaker and proven liar and he couldn`t run a lemonade stand but damn it already, the NDP are worried about offending a few thousand cheap soccer fans by coming out railing against the retractable boondoggle, what a bunch of losers, what votes would they lose? a few votes on commercial drive,how many votes would they gain across the province,do you think they care in Kitimat, the 534 workers at the Timber west Urocan mill who were just told their fired,do they care,or how about in MacKenzie,or Trail or Powell river....Take a goddamm stand NDP...

Which brings me to Kerfoot, Here this man who owns land behind water street in Vancouver,all he needs is the Port of Vancouver to sell him/Trade him 1.5 hectares of waterfront land and he would build a brand new soccer stadium that would cost the taxpayers nothing! The port of Vancouver would give up nothing,they would still have the rail easement in perpetuity(forever).....By the way, inside renovations to the interior of BC place stadium will cost 104 million by the times the 2010 Owelimpics are here, the retractable roof...558 million,and that`s before they even started,you know that number will rise by hundreds of millions and the government will still say it`s on time on budget, and here are some more costs you might not be familiar with....BC place will lose over a years worth of bookings during construction,what might that cost be? And there`s more,the BC Lions and whitecaps will play at empire stadium until the roof get finished,well my friends,Pavco is on the hook for 30.000 seats,outhouses and a temporary shelter at empire stadium(what`s left of empire stadium)that will cost probably tens of millions more and for what.....

To have the most expensive roof on top of an old outdated stadium, and to bear that cost when Mr .Kerfoot states, 1.5 hectares of land and I will build a beautiful soccer/event stadium at no cost to the taxpayer.....

Someone needs to come to their senses,the port of Vancouver, the province, or a pitchfork wielding mob called BC taxpayers!(read about Kerfoot here) http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/sports/story.html?id=a278cc78-2d8e-48df-93e3-1a3946518800

The Straight Goods

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

BC..."The greatest place on earth"....you mean bizzarro land

These liberals,sorry about my absence,where do I start,I have a few stories I need to weigh in on,lets start with healthcare, Andrew MaCleod over at the Tyee reported this story but it needs more scrutinizing.

I have been watching the legislature looking for BC Liberal malfeasance and it`s everywhere,watching Falcon trying to explain in question period how great this is, what I`m talking about is 800 surgeries or more being done on people from Saskatchewan, mainly knee and other elective surgeries, well my friends,I have nothing against the fine people of Regina, it`s a beautiful province, but, like most Canadian provinces the eldery are numerous, all regions of Canada are fighting healthcare costs and waiting list....

But how is it we can cancel 10000 surgeries and still squeeze in 800 surgeries or more from Saskatchewan? Falcon states that "we will get paid for the procedures plus charge a premium therefor there will be a small profit which will in the end allow the health authorities to perform more surgeries on BCers".....HUH, bafflegab.

This might seem like a nothing little story but the implications are severe, lets go over a few facts, perhaps the NDP and whoever their leader is can ask a few more questions.

First off, we do have private health clinics in BC that do these procedures, we as a province PAY these private clinics to do procedures for a price, so how come Saskatchewan is buying surgeries from the BC public health facilities rather than buy them from our private for profit clinics?

So there is but one logical answer, the government/health authorities are doing surigical procedures for a cheaper price, undercutting the private clinic, two questions, first off, how come we as a province will pay a premium to private clinics and allow people to jump the line and secondly how come people from Saskatechewan are allowed(through their government) to pay a premium and jump the line,a line that is in BC?

Are you following me, for a premium operations are being done for people out of province,and yet......BCers don`t have that option, can Mrs or MR. Kasnavitch offer to pay a premium to jump the line? NO

So here we are expanding the waitlists,the waitlist of people who paid for these services are being told to Fock OFF because Regina is paying a premium! Bizzarro world, John Horgan is right(NDPmla from Juan de Fuca)....That`s what he said to Falcon.

But I want you all to think about this very slippery slope,Regina,Ontario,Alberta....Who`s next, lets go over a few more facts,first off,if you cancel 10000 surgeries or 20000 surgeries but you have skilled hands that are idle,these surgeons and cutters will leave and go to where they can make more money,that`s one issue, another issue is scarier, we funnel more and more money into healthcare but more and more services are being sold to other provinces or countries, so meanwhile the waitlists in BC grow and grow and our hospitals and clinics are filled to capacity doing procedures for a premium for other provinces, look folks,I`m glad people are getting surgeries but not at the expense of seniors in BC who paid for the hospitals, just look at the big picture, there are 300 million people to the south of us who are going for a healthcare change, Asian countries,there are lots of people with lots of money that could overwhelm our BC taxpayer health facilities, 400 per year...4000 per year....20000 per year.(Read Andrew Macleod here) http://thetyee.ca/News/2009/10/29/SugarySale/

Look my friends,Kevin Falcon was brought in to steal our services,to take away from seniors, you ain`t seen nothing yet,personally I would like to stuff a bar of pumice soap down Falcon`s mouth with the help of my fist,if you think these cuts will be reversed or improved next year your dreaming,how much more can they take from our healthcare, we are second to last on GDP to healthcare spending,we are last in the nation on spending on seniors`s care, lowest minimum wage, highest rate of child poverty, are you and the media going to stay silent and watch our healthcare get dismantled? Or are you going to join me in distracting the torch relay?

The Straight Goods

Unintended Consequences

Bill 16.....The BC government in an attempt to pander to the public has decided to ban body armour, good luck with that eh!

Now before you jump all over me lets lay out some undisputed facts, first off, under the Campbell regime gangs in BC have flourished,there was an estimate 12 gangs in BC in 2000 now in 2009 there are an estimated 96 active gangs operating with impunity in BC, I of course blame Gordon Campbell for much of this because as you know and I have written on this...paticularly in my story (BC. A crime story) you can read it here

http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.com/2009/09/british-columbia-crime-story.html

Gordon Cambell in his first destructive term closed 25 courthouses and 9 prisons,he downloaded the criminals onto the streets,a free-for-all mentality resulted,police threw their hands up and just watched it all unfold,we are paying a heavy price today for the Campbell assault upon the BC justice system.

Jamie Bacon, independent soldiers, dragons, asian gangs,indo gangs, and of course hell`s angels....Well my friends, these entities have no problem in finding/importing/exporting...Cocaine...Heroin...club drugs......Marijuana....and guns...Glocs...Semi automatics....assault rifles...even grenades and bombs....So the Campbell government thinks banning body armour to people with criminal records is going to stop gang bangers from wearing it, what a joke, you can`t charge people with wearing body armour, no crown or judge is going to be able to charge someone with wearing armour,the loop-holes are everywhere...It was a gift...I didn`t know it was armour, I`ve owned it for years....And my friends, gangs import millions in coke/heroin/guns ....These gang members could be jailed for years if their caught for these offences,has the law worked? Who goes to jail in Canada? So who in their right mind thinks this will have any effect on gangs?

All this law will do is punish people in the business and force the sale of armour underground...And come on.....A gang member will merely ask a recruit or wanna-be recruit to buy the armour for him or her, find somone without a criminal record to buy these items.

More unintended consequences, a half dozen years ago or so the province allowed vending machines in schools throughout BC....I for one was against putting vending machines in schools,my reason had to do with making schools become dependent upon the revenue generated by these machines, and guess what? that`s exactly what happened, while watching the new PRIVATE NEWS STATION.....CHEK TV...The employees bought it,and such refreshing news it is now that Canwest and leonard Asper can`t control them...Anyways.

While watching CHEK news two days ago there was a little story about the vending machines, this paticular school was making 18 to 20 thousand dollars per year on their vending machines, this money was put back in the school for sports,improvements,school outings..etc etc etc...

Well,last year...Another one of the Campbell government`s hair brained nanny state ideas was implemented...And that idea was ......No more junk food in vending machines,no chocolate bars,no more pepsi and coke, no more greasy chips,now the machines are filled with granola bars,dried fruit,trail mix,you know,healthy food,and what do the kids think? Well...Lets talk about unintended consequences, the revenue has vanished, from 20K a year in revenue with junk food to less than 2k in the last year,hardly worth having the machines in the schools....And guess what, CHEK tv interviewed the kids and showed footage of students running,rushing in swarms at recess and lunch to the nearest gas station or 7/11 to load up on what the school was depriving these kids ,snickers,kit kats,300 ounce slurpees...Chips, fruity tooty`s, You can`t regulate common sense.

"You can lead a horse to water but you can`t make it drink"

Is this what we`re doing in the legislature,wasting time,writing useless legislation,unenforcable legislation, like balanced budget laws that are broken every year,illegal gag laws, laws to kick in your door to remove graffiti,idling bylaws, smoking outside near a doorway,meanwhile you can go shoot crank legally,and now there`s talk about legal crack smoking rooms.

The Straight Goods

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

Allegations,more allegations and law suits

I read stories from around the world,I look for them,but, usually they just find me, excuse me for being a little lazy tonight, no long post, just a couple of stories that make me go hmmm.

Lets start from CNBC news world, you all have heard of Bernie Maddoff, the guy that ran a massive ponzi scheme/fraud, it`s reported that he fleeced 65 billion from investors, some people got wiped out,bankrupt, but most of those high fliers can afford to take the hit,that doesn`t make it right but...

What has puzzled me the most about the Maddoff case is this, how did he get away with it for so long? Surely someone was watching,well,apparently some very reputable firms looked at Bernie Maddoff....

Does anyone remember the Enron scam,remember Arthor Anderson accounting that facilitated the scam,a reputable accounting firm,yea right, you might recall the head honcho`s of Arthor Anderson ordered all Enron documents shredded when the shit hit the fan,they knew,and of course the BC government and AA are quite cosy,so don`t think it doesn`t happen...

Well,that`s not where this story is going, have you ever heard of KPMG....A giant in the world of audits, and the Campbell GANG has KPMG do all kinds of accounting,accounting on government run projects and services, well guess what?

Victims of Bernie Maddoff are filing charges against KPMG (and others like JP Morgan) because, apparently KPMG did audits on Bernie Maddoff and found no irregularities!

Well my friends, as you know Bernie Maddoff never made even one trade,it was a massive ponzi scheme,no paperwork, no paperwork on trades,nothing, so how does one of the world`s biggest auditing firms audit Bernie Maddoff(more than once) and continue to give it the two thumbs up? Does that give you any confidence on the auditing they did for the Campbell Gang?(read about the law suit here)KPMG has done dozens of audits for Campbell

http://www.cnbc.com/id/33406393

And in case you thought I was being harsh against the olympics and the endless scandals and frauds you might want to read this....Olympic bid guaranteed to Bejiing for supporting Rogge(head of the IOC)....You see folks, the head of the IOC get 4 year terms, and guess what, Rogge was just elected to serve another four year term,I wonder what deal Rio De Janeiro made to get the bid? Perhaps a deal similar to the one Bejiing made......Makes you wonder what side deals were made for Vancouver to win the bid....FOOD FOR THOUGHT (read about the ex-Chinese minister for sport and what he said about the pre-arranged deal for Bejiing to be awarded the games,here, all Rogge wanted was the presidency)

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/economy/ap/retired-chinese-sports-official-describes-deal-making-over-beijings-bid-for-2008-olympics-64975757.html

You see folks, you,me, we are nothing but collateral damage, these crooks,con-men,governments, they don`t care,the corruption is on the top rung of the ladder,.......

Time to light the bottom of the ladder on fire and burn them out.

The Straight Goods

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

Kevin Falcon and the BC Liberals assist suicide

Kevin (boo hoo) Falcon and the BC Liberals have crossed another line, as you know a year and a bit ago Kevin Falcon was upset over being stuck in traffic when a person was being talked down from jumping off the lions gate bridge, and today I learned that the BC Liberals are making decisions that will kill people!

Besides cutting mental health services on Vancouver island, besides cutting thousands of surgeries on Vancouver island, and besides putting the public at risk by withholding critical reports from the CDC about infectious outbreaks at Nanaimo general hospital, the next line the Gordon Campbell Liberals is crossing will cause needless death, no spin, just the straight goods.

What am I talking about? Well listen up, it`s called a "Crisis line"....And what do these crisis lines do, your daughters,your sons,your brothers and sisters call these lines when they are desperate,when they are ready to take their own lives,when they are contemplating suicide, teenagers call them for various reasons, these crisis line save lives....And guess what.?

As of March 2010, right after the 7 billion$ dollar olympic games, their funding on Vancouver island is being chopped, there is definitive proof that these crisis lines save lives, there are 6 crisis lines for the entire island, these 6 crisis lines are familiar with each region of the island, they direct people to the needed services, these island crisis line track and monitor the people who called them, these crisis lines are familiar with the towns they serve,they can relate, the people who man these lines are community based, the people who man the lines are familiar with individual people,and can direct people to the nearest support service, these people who man these lines can direct emergency services in a blink of an eye to where the distraught people are,who they are, the operators can tell police/fire/ambulance who the people`s names are!

But.....As of march 2010 the funding is gone and the service provided by 6 crisis lines for the entirety of Vancouver island is being replaced by a 1-800-generic phone number!

Say what you want, these cuts will cost lives, a few chippy dollars saved...But in the long-run it will cost lives and save nothing!

Your a son-of-a-bitch Campbell, and as for Falcon, he will feel the heat for eternity when he goes south,the sooner the better!(read the exchange in question period (today) between Kevin Falcon and the NDP, you will hear the questions,but as for answers, Falcon is only able to talk about the 90s...SHAMEFUL)http://www.leg.bc.ca/hansard/39th1st/H91019y.htm

Scroll down to...."Funding for crisis lines on Vancouver island" just past the 1405 marker on the right hand side of the page.

The Straight Goods

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

Will someone please send BC ferries a lifeline

A pending financial disaster is on the horizon for BC ferries, interest payments on a 1.4 billion$ capital debt is going to sink them.





A failed privatization, well, that`s not quite correct, BC ferries is on the verge of financial failure but as for it being privatized, is it ? I mean really, there is but one shareholder of BC ferries, US, the province, there is no private money floating around this sinking corporation. From all the investigating that I and others have done the only conclusion that I or any intelligent person can arrive at is.......The only reason BC Ferries was so-called privatized was to either hide debt from the public or to ultimately bankrupt BC Ferries, but that begs the question, if and when BC ferries goes bankrupt who would buy it? The only way it can turn a profit is to either jack-up the price of fares or cancel all of the runs that aren`t profitable.

Lets examine for a moment those two options, BC Ferries since they were privatized have continually jacked up prices and the result of that has been a steady decline in the ridership, it`s what I call ....Raising prices to the point of diminishing returns, and...That other option of cancelling non-profitable runs will be death blow to the gulf islands and the north.



First off, every highway,road, say like the sea to sky highway that has just had a 1 billion$ dollar upgrade done to it (part of a 3.5 billion$contract) gets subsidized through fuel and taxes, why should BC ferries and our marine highway be treated any different? I`m going to share some financial numbers from BC Ferries that I got from Hansard debates on the ministry of transportation but first I would like to say that BC Ferries as a private company is doomed to failure, and, the ridership rose significantly during rate specials on runs, all runs and times that rate specials didn`t apply were down in ridership from previous years but mid-week specials with reduced fares had increases in ridership, which proves beyond a shadow of a doubt the theory of pricing to the point of diminishing returns.



First off, if BC Ferries was part of the government they would be able to borrow money cheaper, you see folks, because BC Ferries is a so-called private company they have a credit rate of...(A)...but as part of the BC government they would get a credit rating of Triple AAA.....On a 1.4 billion$ dollar capital debt that adds up to millions per year in extra finance charges to BC Ferries.

Lets go over a few shocking numbers...Two years ago BC ferries has a DEBT to EQUITY ratio of 4 to 1 (4 times the amount of debt to 1 part Equity) and as of the end of the last fiscal year that had risen to 5 parts debt to 1 part equity, thats shocking, that can`t go on...

In 2008 interest payments accounted to 46% of earnings---In 2009 interest payments accounted to 87% of earnings--Up 51% in one year.



Lets dig a little deeper into the numbers---In 2001 BC Ferries had 38 vessels and 47 terminals and 273 managers......In 2008 BC Ferries had ..Still 38 vessels and 47 terminals and 450 managers....In 2001 BC Ferries carried 21 million passengers and 7.9 million cars.....In 2008 BC ferries carried 21 million passengers and 8.5 million cars.

Lets examine that shall we, under privatization the amount of managers working for BC Ferries has almost doubled yet the amount of passengers carried remained flat, although the amount of cars have risen slightly (6%)...Hardly earth shattering numbers under David Hahn.



Although to add....The 2009 numbers have fallen badly, lets examine them ....First lets look at the staggering interest payments on their capital debt...In 2008 the interest payments on their debt was 33 million$ dollars....The interest payments on their debt in 2009 has risen to 50 million$ dollars.

Lets look at the last quarter results for 2009 (April/May/June) The interest payment was more than earnings ...In fact, BC Ferries went in the red by 3.6 million$ dollars, in other words the interest payments on their massive debt has now overwhelmed earning capacity....YIKES,that`s all I can say is YIKES!

Here are another few things that are disturbing, first off, BC Ferries as a Quasi/Private company means we can`t FOI them..(Freedom of information)...And in a 2006 report by our courageous Auditor General John Doyle (who continually does great work only to be slagged by the province) ..Anyways..The Auditor General found it troubling that .



The ferry commissioner, the ferry authority,the independent regulator and the authorities board of directors are all paid by BC Ferries, Say what, in other words, the people who are charged with holding BC Ferries to task over safety and the public interest all get PAID by BC Ferries......

Well, that is a problem, those who are in charge of regulations and safety should never be put in a position where the company it`s charged with protecting the public from control the purse strings! (You can read the exchange between Gary Coons(NDP from north island) and Shirley Bond(School closer now minister of transportation) in Hansard here..Check out from pages 1029 to 1036 ) http://www.leg.bc.ca/hansard/39th1st/H91006p.htm



BC Ferries are in so much trouble that now they are going to inconvenience thousands of people all over Vancouver island and people trying to get there by cancelling sailings from Horseshoe bay to Nanaimo and return ..Starting from a few days ago continuing until the spring of 2010, although the runs will be put back on for the olympics,Figures, the skys the limit for the olympics, anyways, all of that inconvenience to save an estimated 450.000.00$ thousand on fuel, because you see folks,it`s only fuel that will be saved because the crew will be aboard getting paid, and according the Mz Marshall from BC Ferries, they will do routine maintenance and cleaning, please,if anyone rides on that vessel on the earlier run(because the crew will still make two runs each day) please let me know if it`s extra clean!(you can read what the mayor of Nanaimo has to say about the cancelled runs here)

http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=51da5074-e0ba-4dec-bb60-578fa1a59787

And there were requests from Nanaimo and others to the Province and to Shirely Bond to intervene to keep the sailings, of course Shirey Bond is a useless bitch and as for the government well, Bond said.."We won`t intervene over politics" Which is a lie because the province did intervene last fall over sailing cuts and fare pricing, well,that was with an election on the horizon,no such immediate pressure for the LIAR and LAW breaker Gordon Campbell.(Read about the request for the province to intervene here) http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=005d4e64-083f-4efc-8eff-2aa092b46b16

Gordon Campbell couldn`t run a lemonade stand.

The Straight Goods

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

VICTORY for Powell river,Port Alberni,Campbell river and Cowichan

Finally a good news story, Catalyst loses it`s court battle, they have to pay their tax bill, ALL of their tax bill.

This little story might not mean much to most of you but the implications were serious, here`s a little background on this court case, Catalyst, a pulp company who has operations in Powell river,Port Alberni,Cowichan and Campbell river, out of the blue last spring they decided they wern`t going to pay 80% of their municipal tax bill, amongst the four towns Catalyst owed 92 million$ in tax, what Catalyst did was give each town 6 million$ and told the towns to shove it, that`s all your getting, the 68$ million dollar shortfall would have had devastating effects on those towns.

First off, for those not paying attention small town BC has been hurting for years, 40000 forestry jobs have vanished, a direct result of Gordon Campbell`s forestry policies, if Catalyst had won this court case residential taxpayers in these towns would have seen their tax rate double, people in these towns can`t afford that, these towns are already having to deal with townfolks cutting back on their spending.

A little more background, Gordon Campbell cut the school tax portion of industries tax bill in half last year, towns have been lowering rates to try and help these industries, and, as you know as of july 2010 these industries will be paying NOT ONE DIME in PST....That burden my friends will be falling on the public,falling on the little guy, but obviously these gifts,including vast tracts of land that used to belong to the people before the Campbell GANG illegally gave them away was not enough, anyways, so Catalyst puts a gun to the heads of these towns and said "SUE US".......Well, we did,we won,so pay up, I of course expect these companies to appeal the ruling, not because they will win but because that`s just the way these companies operate.

The implications of this ruling was huge, I don`t know if you are aware of this but if Catalyst had won this case every industrial business throughout BC would be in court, none of them would pay their bill and every town would be in trouble.

The reason I was so pissed at Catalyst for doing this is.......It`s not like Powell river or Port Alberni sprung a NEW giant tax bill on these companies, the tax rate has been in effect forever, Catalyst knew what their bill was, Catalyst of course made the case that ....Boo hoo, we`re not making any money, business is in the dumps....To which I say this ---Hello Catalyst,you want to play, tell you what, we`ll cut your taxes in half when you don`t make much money but when you have boom years we are going to double your tax bill, and if you have a really big year we will triple it! Can you imagine, does Joe public get to tell the tax man,get lost,I lost my job, here`s 20% of my tax bill, or people who had their investments decimated, can they say,hey,sorry man, I`m hurting, take a hike,sue me.(Read about the Catalyst court case they lost here)http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Catalyst+loses+court+fight+with+coastal+towns+over+refusing+taxes/2111810/story.html

Bit by bit, layer by layer, the corporation is taking Canada apart, Stagnant wages, closures,threats, and the biggest one, outsourcing to slave labour countries, I`m not saying that the workers in these countries are actually slaves, but, there is no way we will ever be able to compete when these workers are paid a couple of dollars a day to work, forget the spin about modernizing,productivity,efficiencies, those are nothing but code words for ..Cheap labour and outsourcing, if Catalyst closes shop or goes bankrupt so be it, better now than later, the time has come people, every year the corporation and their compensation get greedier and greedier,pay less and less and demand more kickbacks, either we take back our country or give it away, you know where I stand, and you?

The Straight Goods

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

30 million for bonuses announced on the same day John Furlong pleads for companies to lend employees for free

When ever I think I can`t get anymore outraged along comes another story like this.

You know, it boggles my mind, thursday at the Vancouver board of trade John Furlong made a passionate plea for companies to lend employees to Vanoc, Furlong went on and on about how these employees will remember the experience for the rest of their lives, Furlong added, "and when your employees return they will be better people for it. ....Is that so John Furlong, first of John Furlong, we the taxpayers are already on the hook for billions of dollars for a sporting event we can`t afford to go to, Gordon Campbell is LENDING you 1500 government employees on the public dime.

And it gets better, in the last 6 months alone, we were lied to during the election, we were lied to about the HST, we were lied to about the 4 billion$ dollar deficit, a 800% increase in the deficit that Campbell said would be" 495 million,not a penny more"...Campbell lied about the massive cuts to education, health, Campbell has broken the moral contract and stole gaming revenue, Campbell has dumped on the Autistic children, cut funding for Special olympics, school sports,cuts to the arts, lets just say that Campbell has cut everything,well, not quite everything...

The 300 million dollar gift to profitable banks wasn`t cut, 100s of million in gifts to the highly profitable oil and gas sector hasn`t been cut, 6000 surgeries have been cancelled, seniors in care homes are getting shafted with massive increases in costs to their care,lets face it Gordon Campbell and Colin Hansen have lied their faces off,in fact all the liberals have lied their faces off......Are you getting the picture yet John Furlong?

What else just in the last couple of weeks, Gordon Campbell is appealing the gag law at our expense, well Campbell, I WON`T SHUT THE HELL UP.....Bill 13, Campbell is giving authority to security squads to smash the doors down to our homes to remove signs or anything the IOC or Vanoc doesn`t like,a total illegal bill that wouldn`t stand up in court, and guess what,if they bust down your door you will have to pay all the costs and you can get fined up to 10.000.00$ per day, that`s right,per day.....Hey folks, are you getting into the olympic spirit yet....

Well maybe this will get you revved up, streets being closed for months,seawall being closed at the end of the month, the Richmond dyke trail being closed, no parking, don`t forget that John Furlong wants you to stop working through the olympics and or work the graveyard shift,really John, yesterday the Nanaimo to horseshoe bay run has been cancelled, 2 sailings a night are cancelled, yet there will be a ferry on standby in case of a rockslide on the 3.5 billion dollar sea to sky highway upgrade, MSP premiums are going up January 1st.....Feeling sporty yet?

So anyways, the 1500 hundred employees that the province is lending to Vanoc will cost the taxpayers 45 million minimum, so why am I doing all this grumbling, tonight while perusing through our local newspaper I ran across this little story in the Vancouver sun...30 million dollars for bonuses for Vanoc employees! Say what.

That`s right, there is 30 million$ dollars being put aside for bonuses for Vanoc employees, in reading the story, if the bonus money was equally shared amongst all the Vanoc employees it works out to 23.000.00$ for each employee! Well, we know it won`t be spread around evenly but that`s not the issue, the issue is that Vanoc and the IOC are a bunch of goddam thieves

Further to the story, a spokesman for Vanoc said " The money isn`t taxpayer money, it`s private money from ticket sales and sponsorship money" Well if that doesn`t beat all, and when Mary Mcneil(minister for sport and the olympics) was asked about this bonus money she said "NO comment" Really, is that so,master blaster Campbell wouldn`t allow you to speak,go figure, well she doesn`t need to speak,the insult to taxpayers speaks volumes, well the spokesperson for Vanoc had more to say, he went on to say " Typically employees leave the olympics before they are over at a rate of 10%" And he said "We wanted to assure our employees in this tough economic times, we didn`t want them to worry about getting a job before the olympics are over" Really? Is that true, tens and tens of thousands have lost their jobs and your worried about these employees leaving for a better gig?

So all this happened on the same day that John Furlong was PLEADING to companies at the Vancouver board of trade to pay their employees to work for Vanoc, .....Well, how many employees could they hire with 30$ million dollars? How many of you out there have ever gotten a 23.000.00$ bonus for a couple of years paid work? How many of you have gotten a 3000.00$ bonus? Like I said before folks, John Furlong with his calm pleasant voice but his pockets are full of shit balls, are you getting stoked about the olympics yet?(read about the bonuses here)

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/2010wintergames/Vanoc+staff+million+Olympic+bonuses/2108155/story.html

(Update to this story) While listening to CKNW today I couldn`t believe the hatchet job Bill Good,Christie Clark and John Macolm did on this story, the NDP spoke out against the bonuses, first off, the issues of these bonuses to me are neither a NDP or Liberal issue, but anyways, all three of these radio hosts were trying to say, the NDP are hypocritical,the NDP want to tear up a contract with the Vanoc employees, John Macolm said " such hypocrisy,the NDP were upset about tearing up the HEU contract but they would tear the bonus contract up" and he said " The NDP after two years of donating their pay raises to charity they are now keeping the pay raise" and then Macolm read an e mail, the email mentioned the 1500 government employees that we the taxpayers are "lending" to Vanoc at a cost of roughly 40 million$ dollars that we the taxpayers are on the hook for, to which John Macolm responded....."those are volunteers"

Well, John Macolm, let me lay out a few facts for you, you comparing Gordon Campbell tearing up the HEU contract after he promised not to in the 2001 election is a little different, actually it`s a lot different, the result of that contract being torn up was not 9000 workers losing bonuses, 9000 workers(who don`t get bonuses) were fired...I repeat fired...of course they had their jobs offered back to them at half the price, from 15.00$ to 18.00$ per hour they were offered their jobs back at 8.00$ to 10.00$ per hour. And as for comparing these bonuses to the pay raises for MLAs that the Campbell government rammed down their throats with HIS majority is nothing but dishonest. I guess the Campbell GANG is so desperate for anything to try and bash the NDP with, nice try CKNW, your fooling no one!

The Straight Goods

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

The HST surprises just keep coming

Well here we go again, the Campbell Liberals have quietly put out some more trash today, maybe they thought the unveiling of the recycled metal olympic medals would distract people from hearing about this.

Well have no fear my friends,I got the straight goods fresh from the government web site on the HST, these little goodies were hidden in a section called transitional rules..Everyday more and more things are coming out about the HST, and I found a couple of more goodies that I would like to tell you about.

The first one doesn`t effect most people but I am going to throw it out there, if a company/corporation sells someone a shopping mall in January 2010 but the buyer doesn`t receive that mall until august of 2010 the HST WILL APPLY, so from what I gather is the HST is going to apply to the sale of commercial buildings,real-estate and businesses, gee, I wonder if the big boys are aware of that little nugget

This second one effects many people and BUSINESSES, the HST will apply to the lease of cars and trucks to individuals and businesses, I wonder if the people in the leasing business are aware of that?

This section on TRANSITIONAL RULES was just released today, it has many sections, for example if you buy a ticket in may of 2010 for a hockey game that takes place in october 2010 the HST WILL APPLY.....If you buy airplane tickets before july 2010 and the flight is after july of 2010 the HST WILL be applied(Read more details here)

http://www.sbr.gov.bc.ca/documents_library/shared_documents/HST/HST_General_Transitional_Rules_Notice.pdf

Listen up folks, if you pay for year long or lifetime memberships in January 2010..6 months before the HST goes into effect the HST WILL apply to MOST of that membership.If you buy a dishwasher BEFORE july 2010 but the installer can`t install it until after july 2010 the HST will apply.

First off, how can any transitional rules be enforced or be considered legal when the legislation hasn`t been brought to the legislature yet? If Campbell wants transitional rules for the HST he should of brought the legislation forward in the fall/2009 legislative session, this is putting the cart before the horse.

The Straight Goods

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

Corruption,E health, BC Rail and Carrier lumber?

What am I missing, this E health scandal is perplexing, the part about corruption isn`t perplexing, the part that is perplexing is why does it cost so much money?

A rocket scientist I am not but, what the hell is going on, a cheap cell phone camera can take a picture and be sent around the world in seconds, so this E health scandal needs to be unwound, why can`t a paramedic,either in the ambulance or in a medi-vac helicopter or a doctor or surgeon wanting advice or whatever send a picture with a glorified cell phone camera with a zoom lens be so difficult?

And as for putting people`s medical records on E file,why is it so difficult and expensive, is it because no one can read a doctors handwriting, I can understand how a bunch of old doctors would balk at changing over but not the new blood, to me the only difficult part of E health is security but surely there are current systems available that can be used to protect the information, have a bonded person transcribe peoples medical record on to E file or scan the documents,how hard can it be? Even with different languages computers can translate in a blink, look, I am not saying one way or another if I am in favour of E health I`m just saying why is it a problem, people bank on line, SIN numbers on line, we are advanced enough to blow up the moon or send un-manned ship to the outer reaches of the universe.......

So why has Ontario spent 1 billion$ dollars and have nothing to show for it? Yes, it`s a Ontario Liberal government behind that scandal and we have our own scandal in BC and yes,as you know we have a government that claim to be liberals,is that the common denominator? I have a question about our E health scandal, not who stole what,not who billed what, my question is who authorized hiring a senior manager for the Fraser Health Authority who has a criminal record for fraud and gave him authority to OK invoices,billing,and untendered contracts?(read about the Ontario Liberal government 1 billion$ fraud waste here)http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2009/10/07/ehealth-auditor.html

James Taylor who has a criminal record for fraud,who hired him,on what grounds, what was on his resume?(read Michael Smyth`s take on it here)

http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/columnists/story.html?id=3be52bb1-3dd3-4229-8c76-faa2a2094fdc and another Michael column on the BC E-health scandal

http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/columnists/story.html?id=f4d02f1a-66a9-416d-8655-22a4b3224d5a

But what I really wanted to talk about is Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, you may know them as Keith (the apologist) Baldrey and Vaughn ( The con) Palmer....Why am I picking on those clowns,because they are both pathetic,lets start with Keith Baldrey, his story today in the Burnaby now, more garbage,Baldrey was talking about the E health corruption but not very loudly, here are a few quotes from his column....."Only allegations-not evidence-are involved" excuse me Keith! You don`t even ask the question of who hired this fraudster....And I love this next statement from Keith Baldrey...."BC auditor general John Doyle is now reviewing the E health file,which should provide some relief" Really Keith, first off the Auditor General isn`t investigating criminal charges or looking to assign blame,John Doyle(auditor general) will be reporting on how to improve oversight,nothing more,nothing less, and Mr.Baldrey, lets look at what at what the auditor general has investigated in the past, John Doyle reported on what WAS an olympic expense and we all know what happened there,Gordon Campbell,Colin Hansen and all the Bc Liberals said that John Doyle was wrong,Mr Doyle investigated the illegal forest give-aways in which he said they weren`t in the public interest, and the government did what about that report? Not a damn thing......And still from Baldrey,this statement...."I don`t expect any cabinet ministers to resign" really Keith, you mean like Gordon Campbell resigning for drinking and driving,or lying over and over again, what a shocker Keith....and then there is this statement that Baldrey finishes his column with "This scandal will run its course eventually" really Keith, you mean like BC Rail, or the forest give-away, or how about the John Les land fraud case, those scandals are still running,what an apologist you are Keith( read Baldrey`s column in the Burnaby now here)http://www2.canada.com/burnabynow/news/community/story.html?id=be6afdbd-0080-4769-9361-dfef83b63a61

Now lets quickly talk about Vaughn(The Con) Palmer, look folks, Vaughn is really tricky, he dumps on the Liberals for a nano-second but you know who`s writing his pay cheque and Vaughn always goes back to defending the liar and law breaker Gordon Campbell, let me fill you in on the "Palmer technique" what Palmer does for those not paying attention is this, if Vaughn writes a phony column about the government not funding something here is what he does, Vaughn says...The campbell government funded a 100 million here and 78 million there and invested 500 million here and Campbell did this and that and then Campbell spent 700 million on this so why he won`t spend 5 million on this project is a mystery, that folks is the Vaughn Palmer pattern,I have seen it over and over again, he pretends to slag the government but he does it by advertising 50 so-called good things the government has done.

So what has Vaughn Palmer written about this week, lets examine the latest "Palmer Technique" yesterday Vaughn Palmer Column was about BC Rail, the title of his column is "Government making thorough search doing `everything possible` in hunt ,on BC Rail e-mail, judge ......Vaughn cites many quotes from the departed judge Bennett on how the Campbell government has made a herculean effort to scour the world for BC Rail documents, when we all know that the Campbell "GANG" has obfuscated,delayed and stalled, 6 years and counting and Palmer alludes to the government making this huge effort to find e-mails,and he does this by merely quoting the departed judge Bennett.....(read Vaughn Palmer`s column from yesterday here) http://www.vancouversun.com/columnists/Government+making+thorough+search/2095557/story.html

That was yesterday, and guess what? It gets even better today. The title of Vaughn(The con) Palmer`s column today is "Defence in BC Rail case gathers ammo for civil action" and lets examine the "Palmer Technique" again....The whole column despite the title is about how corrupt the NDP were,he goes on and on about hidden documents from the 90s (before everything was on e-file) over the Carrier lumber case,I`m not going to get into that case,there was some shenanigans going on but no big business benefitted,no corporations benefitted,the carrier lumber case happened over trying to appease first nation`s, so Vaughn goes on and on about the carrier lumber case in the 90s, no-where is BC Rail even mentioned until the very end of the column.....

Here is a quote from Vaughn Palmer at the very end of the column " and if the defendants(Virk and Basi) win the criminal case as they fully expect to do,then they are preparing to launch the mother of all civil suits for wrongful prosecution"

Well Vaughn(Tweedle Dee) Palmer, you mean a civil suit like the one the HEU won against Campbell for tearing up their contract, which resulted in millions in legal fees that the tax-payer had to pay and a 90$ million dollar settlement? Or like the civil suit launched by Susan Heyes for destroying her business over the Canada line con? Or teachers suing the province, gag laws, or groups threatening to sue Campbell for cutting funding for groups with three year funding agreements(the government backed off on that one) ...I mean who the hell isn`t suing the Campbell government.......

So here Vaughn Palmer is worried about two low paid staffers suing the government or the RCMP or the crown, really Vaughn? And just how much would these staffers win? Lost wages and a little bit of punitive damages? They aren`t locked up, people who were wrongly convicted and jailed for decades only get a few million, so how much would the "mother of all civil suits cost" Vaughn, 5 million maybe, how much are the legal fees for this smoke show so far? 70 million? 100 million? Well Vaughn....You mean Vaughn Palmer the HEU contract tearing wasn`t a bigger deal? (read Vaughn Palmers column from today here)http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Defence+Rail+case+gathers+ammo+expected+civil+action/2099773/story.html

So there you have it, I wanted to expose the "Palmer Technique" pay close attention to his tricky style,he uses it over and over again, he puts Campbell on a pedestal first then lowers him a wee little bit, he pretends to slag the Campbell government but he uses most of the column wailing away at the NDP and at the end he gives Campbell a wee,tiny little kick, his technique is well crafted,subliminal messaging,nice try Vaughn Palmer, with friends like you who needs enemies.

The Straight Goods

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

From traffic to parking to weather Vanoc controls everything

Let the games begin, I`m not going to go into heavy details on the transportation plan but I would like to highlight a few specific items that I think are disgusting and I have but one and only one thing I am happy about.

Before I start lets talk about the millennium sky train line...Guess what,for some unknown reason the millennium line is broken down in the last few hours, technical experts are busy trying to figure out why it`s not working, good luck with that....Skytrain is unreliable, I used to travel on skytrain everyday and it`s always breaking down,especially after the first heavy snowfalls or cold snaps.

I don`t know why the seawall near false creek will be out of bounds as of november 1st, I guess they don`t want PEOPLE,average people to be visible from the olympic village.....Also there is a new bike path and area to lock up your bike and Vanoc wants people to get around on bicycles in Vancouver,hmmm, I wonder if they are going to plow the snow from the bike paths and you know it NEVER rains in Vancouver in february..HA HA

All homeless people will be removed that are living under our bridges, who knew? imagine that,the greatest place on earth and people are living under bridges,huh, it must be for the view! Another one I find upsetting is the Richmond dyke trail will be closed to the public from february through to march, I don`t know why, I guess the security goon squad is worried about BCers going down to the dyke trail with their rocket launchers and blowing up aircraft......

Another one I find amusing is, Vanoc states that if there is a rock slide or road closure on the sea to sky highway BC ferries will transport olympic vehicles,athletes and spectators to Squamish by ferry...Hmmm, well we have no spare ferries as you know, this last long week-end was an unmitigated disaster for ferry travellers, I wonder which ferry will get yanked from it`s normal route if needed? Why some of the roads are being closed for months for a three week event is puzzling, I am of the opinion that Vanoc and the IOC are doing this for one reason,because they can, you see folks, every town,city, country that capitulates sets the precedent for the next IOC victim, every olympic forward is getting worse and worse, any town the bitches gets told, hey,Bejiing cooperated,Vancouver cooperated so shut up and tow the line, we are unfortunately falling victim to this because of all the weak knee,ed countries before us.

There are a couple of more items I would like to share with you, there is a regular shuttle that takes people to Cypress bowl and another that takes people to Whistler, these shuttles have been around for a while and the idea of the shuttle is to offer people a way to get to the mountain to spend their hard earned money, the round trip to Cypress is currently 12.00$ and the shuttle to Whistler is 25.00$...That doesn`t include food,ski lift pass,it just a way to get people there,well guess what? As of January 4 the price is doubling to 24.00$ and 50.00$ respectively...According to Vanoc they need to double the price to get people to book ahead of time so they know how many extra shuttles they are going to need, HUH...Bafflegab, I don`t know what that statement means except this, In my opinion, they are doubling the price because they can...HA HA...Gouge away.....The last item I would like to bring up is this, the second narrows bridge and the lionsgate bridge will have only one lane going into Vancouver in the morning and only one lane going to the north shore in the afternoon...HA HA...I love it...I can`t wait for Gordon Campbell`s rich friends in west Vancouver to start squealing like PIGS ( I apologize to the ten voters who voted for the NDP in West Vancouver)

One last item to talk about, the Vancouver Sun had a story of the weather worries for the 2010 games but for some reason when I went to look for it, it had vanished,hmmm...But,have no fear, apparently Vanoc is working closely with Environment Canada and have staff working one on one to make sure they can control the weather..HA HA....That`s right folks, Vanoc has a weather controlling device,HA Ha....well all kidding aside, this winter our old friend El Nino is in the pacific ocean and has decided to attend the 2010 winter games and El Nino will be bringing it`s friend the pineapple express with it, warm wet weather,thats the long range forcast, there may be snow at Whistler but as for our local mountains Cypress and Seymour and Grouse,well,can you say bare spots..HA HA....As for environment Canada they have cut off communications as to long term weather forecasting,ssshh...They don`t want anyone to know,please faithful readers, dont tell anyone where you got the information,Vanoc might send a lightning bolt my way with their weather machine.(read about the weather forecast for 2010 here, I got the goods from the Seattle times)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009443185_bluebox10m.html#

The Straight Goods

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

Quebec wants 2.6 billion for implementing the HST in 1991

" What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive"

An interesting development on Ontario and BC going to the HST, as you know Ontario is receiving a 4.3 billion dollar bribe and BC is receiving a 1.6 billion dollar bribe to implement the HST and guess what? Quebec who received nothing to adopt the HST in 1991 now are demanding 2.6 billion dollars for adopting the HST, well, I have looked into this issue and I have come to the conclusion that Quebec IS entitled to that money!

Lets start with a little background,Quebec was the first province to adopt the HST, two important points, first off even though Quebec had the HST they never crowded out Ontario,in other words,the corporate world never fled to Quebec, headquarters didn`t move there, it had no effect on it`s neighbor Ontario, so the myth being told by Campbell and Hansen about being at a competitive disadvantage if Ontario goes HST and we don`t is false,first off, BC is a commodity/exporter of raw resources,raw logs,coal, ores etc etc, for a coal company or forestry or mining operation to move to Ontario from BC is laughable, because the amount of savings these companies would save is minuscule compared to the cost of moving to Ontario and having to ship the raw resources back to BC to then ship the products to Asia,because as you know most of BC`s raw resources go to Asia, the corporate world never fled to Atlantic Canada when they adopted the HST in 1997.......

Secondly, Quebec`s HST is different from the one being proposed for BC and Ontario, the difference is this, Quebec still has taxing autonomy, Quebec still collects all the tax and then they send Ottawa it`s share,unlike BC and Ontario, our version of the HST would see all the money go to Ottawa first,Ottawa would get first count of the money then send BC and Ontario it`s share, which brings up another slight problem for small business.....BC business would have to WAIT for the return of the tax,and in some cases this can create a real financial burden with cash flow concerns.(you can read some of the arguments from the Quebec parliament and how they are demanding the 2.6 billion$ dollars here) it`s near the top,right below the (1010) page symbol on the left side of the page.

http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=40&Ses=2&DocId=3842716

Lets touch on the Atlantic Canada HST that they adopted in 1997....First off they got 1 billion dollars to adopt the HST, and now the most important point, the provincial tax rate in New Foundland in 1997 was 12.7% and 12% in Nova Scotia, and the GST was 7% at that time...Well,as a carrot to Atlantic Canada to adopt the HST the eastern provinces got 4% and 4.7% respectively knocked off their provincial sales tax as a incentive to adopt! Well, that`s a completely different animal than what is happening in BC and Ontario....Where Atlantic Canada got taxes reduced by 4% and 4.7% BCers and Ontarians are getting a tax hit.

And the result of Atlantic Canada going to the HST was this,housing prices rose,the prices of many things rose,and,according to studies that consumer good eventually a number of consumer goods dropped in price by 1%.....That`s right, taxes were lowered by 4% and 4.7% and prices dropped by 1%....So you can imagine,well I can guarantee that prices in BC will do but one thing,prices will rise and, we will get whacked by having to pay taxes on hundreds of items that were PST exempt.Meanwhile Colin Hansen and Gordon Campbell and Michael Levy keep referencing the Atlantic Canada experience and how their prices dropped by 1% yet they always,every time forget to mention the most important part about how their taxes were lowered by 4% and 4.7%(read about the Atlantic Canada experience here)

http://www.timescolonist.com/health+HST+different/1875177/story.html

Stephen Harper was in BC today down at the port of Vancouver,he was asked about the federal government and why they were pushing provinces to adopt the HST, I found his response very telling, he said " The federal government isn`t pushing the HST on any province,the decision to adopt the HST is completely a provincial decision,it has nothing to do with the federal government"

Look folks,take the Harper statement for what it`s worth,but what I find interesting about Harper`s statement and other statements from the federal government is this....I have not heard the federal government once say, it`s the single greatest thing that provinces can do to help their economy,not once have they said we need to adopt the HST to be competitive around the world.

And, I find it funny,here we are in Canada with the strongest banks in the world, of the G20 group of countries we are in the best fiscal shape,most countries around the world envy Canada,so why would TOP DOG,why would Canada want to emulate these countries? Every argument Gordon Campbell and Colin Hansen have made regarding the HST is false, and,where is the legislation,where are the hard numbers? I expect,just like the carbon tax bill in 2008,it wasn`t debated in the legislature,it was rammed through the spring session in 2008 along with 6 other contentious bills in less than an hour,the same thing is going to happen in the spring session, the HST will be rammed through without debate.

And finally,back to the 2.6 billion$ dollars that Quebec wants for adopting the HST,the squeaky wheel gets the grease, it is going to be an election issue(whenever we have the next federal election) for Harper to gain in Quebec he will have to give them 2.6 billion$ dollars, if IGGY wants to garner votes in Quebec he will have to give Quebec the 2.6 billion, which makes the HST now a very interesting federal issue, expect the fireworks over the HST to escalate, if Iggy wants to gain votes in BC or Ontario he must offer to get rid of the HST,Jack Layton(who won`t win the election) is in the cat bird seat, he has made his stance on the HST well known,he`s strongly against it.....So what does Iggy do,what does Harper do....And we do have 4 federal bi-elections happening next month.This is going to be entertaining.

The Straight Goods

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

Criminal premier meets and greets criminal organization

Bill 13...A miscellaneous bill, or is it,from parking to illegal seizure,from breaking and entering to fines, the proven law breaker and proven liar Gordon Campbell has found his long lost and probably only friends and they are alive and well running the IOC.

An update from my last story, the bullies from the IOC have gone too far,a man by the name of Richard Giles, a sports fan,tourist and like everyone,a amateur photographer, Mr. Giles went to the 2008 summer games in Bejiing, nothing out of the ordinary, he went to participate in all the festivities related to the summer games, he took photos,he was allowed to take photos, anyways,when he got back Giles put his olympic photos on the photo sharing site Flickr, 293 photos he placed there, Mr. Giles hasn`t made one dime from his photos, but someone who used one of his photo`s to help promote a book he was writing has caused the BEAST,the IOC to put a cease and desist order against Giles.

Here is the deal, the IOC owns the words...Olympic...Games...2010.....etc etc .....And so if you snap a photo either indoors or outdoors you can`t profit from that picture, your only allowed to enjoy it privately, what about the paparazzi`s, what about the filming of Rodney King, etc etc....Who gave the IOC the right to prevent people from profiting if they happened to have taken a great picture? (read about Mr. Giles dilemma and the IOC beast here)

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/china/article/707868--olympics-take-aim-at-flickr



Now back to bill 13



Gordon Campbell,drunk driver,law breaker,proven liar, let me give you a little background, Campbell lied in his 2001 election campaign and sold BC Rail, he lied about honouring the HEU contract, BC Rail is still in court, the HEU went to the supreme court of Canada and despite the millions Campbell spent on lawyers he lost,the court ruled that the tearing up of the HEU contract was illegal, there was a 90 million$ dollar settlement, although, that didn`t help the people who lost their homes or committed suicide, this mass firing of 9000 mostly female workers was disgusting,the lowest paid employees in the public sector,hospital cleaners,care aides,home support workers......Gordon Campbell has been breaking laws and lying his face off for 9 years, he lied about the deficit,the HST,Colin Hansen lied, Campbell`s gag law was struck down strongly by the BC supreme court,now Gordon Campbell is spending millions of dollars appealing the court decision,you see folks,Campbell is deranged, he is mentally unstable,as you know Gordon Campbell`s dad committed suicide(he was allegedly a alcoholic)...Maybe it`s genetic,who knows for sure but Gordon Campbell is not well.



Bill 13-- Part 9--Section 77---subsections 31..32..33..34



And what are those sections...Gordon Campbell is giving city officials and other unknown officials the authority to enter your home with 24 hours notice,whether your home or not...to enter your home and take down advertising, graffiti, or anything these "entities" deem offensive....What is offensive? The Iranian flag?...A sudanese flag, a picture of Saddam Hussein....Osama bin Laden.....What about a sign saying I can`t afford a ticket to the games.....Etc Etc Etc...One man`s terrorist is another man`s freedom fighter...What is the definition of graffiti? I see graffiti all over the city,as far as I know graffiti isn`t graffiti if you paint or spray or draw the picture or words on your own private property,graffitti is defacing city or someone else`s property,not your own property.

Penalties---If they(the IOC-who-ever) enter your home,you the home owner have to pay all the associated costs---A fine of up to 10.000.00$ can be levied against you---And you can be jailed for up to 6 months!



The bill- bill 13 will be found to have illegal sections in it,the parking retroactive section,illegal...the sections to enter your home,illegal....the only problem is....There is not enough time to bring it before the courts to strike it down.



Lets set the record straight, there is already laws on the books about having offensive material displayed in your windows or on your property,but that law is this, municipalities can issue property owners a 14 day notice to remove the offending items and failure to do so can result in fines.

That`s the present law, and if you don`t believe this new power being granted in Vancouver/Richmond/and Whistler (because it`s only being used in those cities) is illegal think about this, the special power being granted to those towns is only for a three month period,that`s right folks, the law is only in effect for three months, if the law was fair,legal or justifiable it wouldn`t be for only three months.....The three month period will cover the olympics and it does one other thing,the fact that it is only for three months by the time it is challenged in court the law will have expired....Shazzam, no court case,no ruling because the law has ended.

So there you have it,Gordon Campbell and the IOC have been reunited, woman haters, infringer of human rights, two peas in a pod......One can only hope that Gordon Campbell follows the lead of his Dad,the sooner the better.(read about bill 13 here,check out part 9/sections 77/31..32..33..34)
http://www.leg.bc.ca/39th1st/1st_read/gov13-1.htm

The Straight Goods
Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

IOC,Vanoc and the BC Liberals,bullies,cultural thieves and bastards!

My recommendation to all BCers, avoid the olympics,peacefully protest the olympics,don`t go to the events,don`t buy any olympic clothing,souvenirs,stay out of Vancouver,stay home,watch the sporting events in your own town,support your local retailers and taverns, applaud the athletes but don`t feed the beast.

A very busy couple of days in the world of news, I have three stories rolled into one, and by the way,I fully expect to be questioned and harrassed by the 2010 goon squad(bring it on you bastards) over this story.

The IOC can see the writing on the wall, later this fall the BC Supreme court will rule in favour of the woman`s ski jump team and allow them to compete and participate in the 2010 winter games,fantastic,or is it? There is something wrong in BC, the courts, the law, morality,fair play, the rule and respect of the law and the judiciary is gone....Welcome to bizzarro world,the land of Gordon Campbell, a place in Canada where laws can be changed or ignored for a price,the IOC will ignore laws, the BC Liberals will rewrite any law on the books, the only criteria is to fill the BC Liberal coffers with donations or bribes.

A story in the Vancouver sun.....The IOC vows that no matter what the BC supreme court rules in regard to the woman`s ski jump teams they will NOT recognize the sport,say what?That`s right, no matter what the BC supreme court rules the IOC is telling the jumpers to go fly a kite....And it`s worse than that, the IOC knows they are going to lose and.....the IOC state that if the female ski jumpers are allowed to jump the IOC won`t recognize the event and will not hand out medals! Can you imagine, the best female ski jumpers in the world compete in an olympic event and the IOC is going to snub them by refusing to hand out medals, what an embarrassment to Canada,to Whistler, what a bunch of immature child-like bullies,na na na na na, you don`t get a medal.....And it gets better, a Mr Cobb of IOC Canada goes onto say that if the jumpers persist, if the court persists that the IOC will never,ever,ever,again allow Canada to hold an olympic games.

Well, I say blow out your ass IOC, don`t call us,we`ll call you, who needs you,your all a bunch of pretend royalty terrorizing innocent countries,stealing tax dollars,liars,human right infringers,your nothing but dinosaurs, you have turned a once great sporting event into legalized theft,corruption,cronyism,corporate crime organization that has been stomping on people`s right`s. (read about the IOC here)

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/2010wintergames/recognize+female+jumpers+matter+what+court+decides/2081582/story.html

Vanoc--Lets be clear, I think John Furlong is genuinely a nice person,a soft voice,a soft personality,all planned of course, because the job of John Furlong over the last couple of years was to drop piles of shit upon the public, day by day,month by month they roll out Furlong to shit in the BC public`s lap, the olympic village won`t have any social housing units, security from 175$ million to 1.2 billion$ dollars, you can`t work during the games,court houses are being shut down during the games,the justice system is being put on hold, all elective surgeries are cancelled during the olympics, people are going to be rounded up during the olympics(I suspect) Roads shut down,small airports around the province shut down,one by one John Furlong,the man who`s pockets are full of stink bombs ready to lob at BCers.....And besides threatening pizza joints who have the name olympic pizza for decades, now Vanoc is stealing from first nations in Cowichan.

The Cowichan sweater, Cowichan first nation`s have been knitting these sweaters for generations, so when the olympic/Vanoc clothing line was shown to the public last week lo n behold here are the Cowichan sweaters,well not quite,Cowichan sweater knock-offs, the same elk in front only slightly tweaked, the Cowichan first nation`s offered to knit originals but were denied, so did Vanoc offer the Cowichan band a piece of the money, no bloody way! A stipend, anything? Not a red cent, for the time being John Furlong and his sack of stinking shit balls has flown to Copenhagen to spend more of our tax dollars, I hope none of you line up to buy Chinese knitted knock-off Cowichan sweaters(shit balls not included)...(Read about the sweaters here) http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/10/07/bc-olympic-cowichan-sweater.html

Which brings me to those bastards,Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals,proven liars,proven law breakers and they continue to enact laws,make amendments that they know full well are illegal,everyone remembers Gordon Campbell tearing up the HEU contract and the subsequent firing of 9000 low paid hospital workers,the gag law has been appealed and will be struck down again in the courts but Campbell doesn`t care, you see folks,Gordon Campbell is a lying sack of garbage,a bully like the IOC, Campbell`s pockets are full of shit balls with the BC public`s name on it, there was a story from last spring, a man by the name of Dan Barbour sued UBC for parking tickets, he took the class action case to the BC supreme court, he won, the court ruled that UBC never had legal jurisdiction to write parking tickets, the BC supreme court said that UBC must pay-back over 5 million$ in tickets that they wrote over the course of over a decade.....Now the odds were that UBC would never have to repay most of this money but never the less Dan Barbour won and he was going to get his few bucks.........or will he? Bring on the proven liar and law breaker Gordon Campbell.

BILL 13--- Sections 8 through to sections 16(check out section 16 item(C) )......In this miscellaneous bill, The Liar,the law breaker Gordon Campbell has given universities the authorization to monitor,collect,charge for parking,the ability to tow,impound vehicles on university grounds/buildings etc etc....Now I don`t have a problem with that, give the schools the legal authority to collect and control parking but.........

What the immature bully Gordon Campbell has done is this.....He made bill 13 retro-active......That`s right,I don`t believe it`s even legal, Campbell has done an end run-around the supreme court of BC and made the ruling null and void, a bill going back 18 years into the past and giving carte-blanche retro-active authority to the university!....You have to be kidding right? I`m not kidding, a bill giving retro-active approval,18 years....That can`t be legal........

Under the legislation,previously issued tickets would still be valid,so universities would not have to provide refunds to the victors of the UBC lawsuit.

Sharon Matthews,Barbours lawyer,issued a statement on his behalf. "With one sweep of a pen,the government purports to take away the rights that Dan Barbour and the class members had to fight for in court" the statement said. "The result is that the BC government is protecting UBC from the consequences of UBC`s unlawful conduct....Retroactive legislation is bad legislation."

Robert Holmes,president of the BC civil liberties association,said the retroactice application of the law is "unconscionable." he went on to say "What kind of government would use their legislative power to do something like that after due process has been followed in a court system?" He asked. "They should be ashamed of themselves." (read about it here)

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Legislature+paves+issue+tickets/2079391/story.html

You can read bill 13 here.... http://www.leg.bc.ca/39th1st/1st_read/gov13-1.htm

The Campbell government has no shame, the law is dead in BC, the courts are dead in BC, Mike De Jong, Gordon Campbell,Wally Oppal, and the rest of the Gordon Campbell bootlickers can rot in hell......Recall must happen in BC....

The Straight Goods

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open