BC Ferries, Gordon Campbell`s ATM machine

Well friends, this whole BC Ferries debacle really did get under my skin, and, the more I dig,the more I probe the messier it becomes,just like an onion, the BC Ferry corporation saga gets stinkier after each layer of skin has been removed.

First off, money and finance aren`t my expertise, I have examined the facts, or at least the one`s I can get my hands on and I have come to the conclusion that malfeasance has taken place. I did a little digging through the Hansard library and I ran across some very troubling finds.

After 2001 when Gordon Campbell swept to power in a blow out, as you know there were only two NDP MLAs as opposition, and to their credit they did an admirable job, imagine those two trying to be critics in all the different ministries, the workload, and with the BC Rail scandal in full bloom, not to mention how freedom of information dried up, corporations like BC Ferries became hidden from public view and scrutiny, but having said that,to their credit Joy McPhail and Jenny Kwan were almost as effective as the 35 NDP MLAs we have today.

Back on may 3/2004 during estimate debates for the ministry of transportation I discovered some very interesting details, Joy McPhail was debating,asking questions of Kevin Falcon, Joy spent a great deal of time trying to unravel the BC Rail deal only to have road block after road block thrown in her face, I`m not going into BC Rail on this post but in this Hansard library Joy McPhail canvassed information on BC Ferries, I`m going to paraphrase some of the dialogue but I will leave the link for you to explore at your own leisure.

Joy McPhail was upset that during estimates debates there was no one from BC Ferries, to which Falcon was unsympathetic, Joy asked why....Falcon responded...It`s a separate entity,a private corporation....To which Joy McPhail put on the record...."The BC Ferry deal is structured like the BC Rail deal, troubling, are BC Ferries a big secret, a secret organization"

And Joey went on to ask about the 75,000 plus preferred shares, she also asked about the debenture, or what she described as underwriting, Falcon responded to the debenture as a "Investment" and stated the term is a three year payback with interest.......Joy McPhail also complained about no annual report for BC Ferries was available for 2002/2003......and here in this particular debate the annual report for 2003/2004 hasn`t been released either, Kevin Falcon said several times that the government would get her the reports "Sometime" (read the exchange here) http://www.leg.bc.ca/hansard/37th5th/h40503p.htm Check out page number 10798 and beyond....or 1905 marker on the right hand side of page and beyond.

Now this was may 3rd 2004......Shortly after the session ended and on may 27/2004 BC Ferries paid off their debenture....They paid the province 427,701,000 and 25.879,191 in interest for a grand total of 453,580,191......plus another 6 million in interest(guaranteed return on the shares) on the 75 thousand non voting shares the province was issued, for a grand total of about 460 million $ Dollars.

Now Joy McPhail was close, but I think she missed what was really going on here, Gordon Campbell had a huge majority and no two ndp MLAs were going to stand in his way, he knew they couldn`t dedicate the resources to sniff out the scam, and along with a complicit media who approved and looked the other way, their reporting stopped,investigations were frozen, whatever Gordon Campbell was up too was not their concern, so lets dig a little deeper into the numbers.

Gordon Campbell had ran two deficits in a row, the sale of BC Rail was about done and BC Ferries was sold to someone, so many have talked about did we actually get paid for selling BC Rail, I`m not sure, but if we did the money went into general revenue somewhere, but back on ferries.

Three weeks after the may 3/2004 Hansard debate ...BC Ferries paid off the debenture plus interest to the province, the total paid to the province was about 460 $ million dollars, BC Ferries paid off the debenture 2 years earlier than Falcon said they would in estimate debates......But from everything I have read, no where can I see what BC Ferries did with this money except this.......They gave it to the province and put the debt on BC Ferries balance sheet.

I have looked at revenue summaries for the province for the years 2003/2004 and 2004/2005 and nowhere do I see an accounting of this money, it certainly isn`t a stand alone line item, it might be lumped into the line item....(Return from investments)....... http://www.bcbudget.gov.bc.ca/2004/est/Estimated_Revenue_by_Source.html

and nothing here http://www.bcbudget.gov.bc.ca/2004/est/Schedule_M.html

So as for this debenture that BC Ferries paid back to the province, nowhere do I see that BC Ferries did anything with the money but give it to the province, so now, BC Ferries has a long term debt of 1.4 $ billion dollars or so,to which 460 odd million was funneled to the province and general revenue....And the province after running back to back deficits have found a way to spike the revenue totals for that year, along with the BC Rail money....His budget numbers were artificially juiced upwards, it made Campbell look better going into the 2005 election.

So lets see if we got this figured out, we lost BC Rail and BC Ferries ......We lost BC Rail because Campbell needed money and his friends needed gifts, after back to back to back deficits Gordon Campbell needed surpluses to look good going into the election, so he sold BC Rail and sold BC Ferries......BC Ferries had it`s old debt retired, Gordon Campbell gave BC Ferries a debenture (a promise to pay back whatever BC Ferries borrows) BC Ferries uses the debenture to borrow money to the tune of near half a billion $dollars to which Gordon Campbell puts in the 2004/2005 budget along with BC Rail money to boost his pre-election budget numbers.

As a result of this misguided use of our assets we no longer have BC Rail and BC Ferries is sitting on a enormous debt of 1.4$ billion dollars and from everything I have studied 500$ million of the BC Ferry debt went into general revenue for the Campbell government.

And the only way to pull it off was to make BC Ferries unaccountable, un FOI able....A Quasi private company that is funneling money to the province while racking up debt,all be it,some of the debt was for vessels......And, the governing model that Gordon Campbell set up to run this Quasi ATM machine has run wild....They appoint whomever they like to the ferry commission and Hahn and company set the pay levels and Campbell can`t do anything about because .

If the truth comes from a whistleblower....(In my opinion) along with BC Rail and what we really happened with BC Ferries ....What we should be talking about is an immediate arrest of Gordon Campbell along with charges of breach of public trust.

The question is this,why would we semi -quasi privatize BC Ferries, make it un FOI able, accountable to no one, and why would we give them a debenture,which Kevin Falcon Describes as a "Investment" ....and, BC Ferries pays it back in one year instead of three, along with a 7%interest payment (25 million) tacked on, and BC Ferries didn`t make any profit to pay off the debenture, the money was borrowed,but borrowed for who? And for all of the effort what did BC Ferries gain by acquiring a near 500 $ dollar debenture and paying it off a year later?

What other possible reason to go this route? The BC government could have borrowed money way cheaper than BC Ferries,and ultimately we,the tax payer are on the hook for BC Ferry debt, this arrangement, the debenture,big interest over one year for your own company,........................now this year, and another big deficit and were selling our tax sovereignty and screwing everyone with the HST....A 1.6 $ billion dollar screw job!

The Straight Goods

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

The Great Divide

My perspective on the convention.

Well Brian and I are back, good to smell the fresh air up in Garden Bay, anyways, as you know I made a secret visit to the NDP convention, we were there saturday for Carole`s speech and we did get a chance to talk to Carole James as well as Gary Coons....Nicholas Simon.....Bruce Raulston.....Herbert Spencer....and I had a real good chat with John Horgan.....in fact if not for Vaughn Palmer sniffing around , looking for a story no doubt, well, we didn`t want to take up too much of John Horgan`s time.

After finding a great parking spot 1/2 block from the Bayshore hotel, brian and I walked into the Bayshore hotel around 10.00 Am saturday, not knowing where to go and not wanting to miss Carole`s speech....Well, I always have a feel for the action spot so we went in,turned left a wiggle right and lo n behold there was Carole James 1 minute before her speech waiting to walk the walk, well we couldn`t resist, we introduced ourselves, shook hands,smiled and wished her luck......And of course I still hadn`t registered,ooops....oh well.

Anyways, I have to say that Carole looked marvelous,she was real upbeat,her face was glowing, maybe she was calm,maybe the 14 point lead she holds over Gordon Campbell has buoyed her spirit but whatever it was she never ever looked physically better than she did this saturday morning, anyways a minute later Carole was on the stage to address the crowd, Brian and I picked a good spot and went to work, looking for crowd response,peoples faces, whisperers, the speech.....Carole started out strong,pointing out the glaring and obvious lies that Gordon Campbell spun during the election,but, those were pretty easy targets, heck Tommy the deaf dumb and blind kid from the pinball wizard could of hit those lies out of the park, Carole,physically was glowing on stage, she made a few wise crack jokes about Campbell`s inner cabinet, again,easy targets for a laugh, a minute or two on education and health issues which is clearly Carole`s best subject, Carole James dominates on social issues.

Then Carole touches ever so briefly on the environment, and....and not even once did she talk about the dire straight of our wild Salmon stock, and most of her environment talk was about sustainably developing it, she was very weak on what Campbell has done to our environment but more importantly she was was even weaker in not denouncing the things Campbell is trying to push through, such as the Enbridge pipeline,offshore oi n gas....and more big run of river projects and again,nothing on moving fish farms onto land...Clearly the last half of her speech was geared towards big industry ,in fact to me it seemed she was signalling to big business that it will be business as usual under a NDP government, now as for the jokes early in her speech, I personally don`t think any of the lies and deceptions from the Gordon Campbell government are laughing matters, to me the speech didn`t show enough hatred towards the Liberals, laughter, laughter gives the impression that you forget the sins and are prepared to move on, sort like oh well, there are far too many betrayals this time around to have considered jokes, our (Brian and I) over-all impression was of wasted "opportunity" for Carole, there wasn`t enough red meat for the left, the new direction Carole Jame`s seems to be taking is Trying to please everyone, unfortunately in my opinion when you try to please everyone you end up pleasing no one!

After her speech I quicky loaded up on a extra large grande coffee from the Starbuck`s coffee shop inside the Bayshore Lobby.....What the hell is a Grande anyway?...I pointed to the largest cup...a few sips, a little surveillance, yes....The targets came out of the big room, I didn`t want to talk in a crowd, I needed one on one, I wanted to ask some questions, I wanted to see what impressions flowed from the speech, I wanted some answers, forthright answers, I can smell a lie a mile away, I wanted their body language to talk, and it did.

Well ...Bruce Raulston was my first post speech Victim, unfortunately Bruce is a wet noodle noodle in person as well as on T.V. but never the less he gave me his ear, Nicolas Simons was next and he was very personable, he was pleased to meet Brian and told me he was getting rave reviews from people whom have read my blog,who the heck is Grant G... I think I blushed, but underneath Nicolas was tense,edgy.... on to Herbert Spencer, he certainly has a unique room presence, when he talks you can`t help but listen and be impressed, but.....He`s young, I told him that he is a rising star and in 10 years he could be a provincial superstar, he minces no words, a real good find for the NDP...Gary Coons, I was waiting to Catch Mr. Coons, I wanted to talk ferries, Brian enjoyed informing gary Coons about the Christy Clark retraction, Gary laughed, and I spent a little time with my ferry data from my last post, in fact,Gary Coons was impressed and actually had my data I sent to him before I left Garden Bay,he pulled it up on his Blackberry ....He told me he gave it to their finance people to look at, unfortunately he hadn`t thoroughly studied it before heading to the show, being convention weekend and all,I`ll forgive him . And last but not least John Horgan, absolutely charming, a real down to earth man that can communicate with anyone, John was thrilled to meet Brian from Garden Bay, he laughed,he went on to say that every time they announce Brian from Garden Bay on the cutting ledge he would smile, he said Brian you make my day, in fact Brian and John talked about their conversation they had on the Sean Leslie show, John Horgan,apparently has been reading my blog, he had kind words, in fact John got talking about estimate debates with Blair Leckstrom and was pointing out some glaring problems and giveaways, John Horgan was still fighting for our rivers,fish, and economic security,for John Horgan,just because the election has come and gone there is no reason to let up,what`s right is right. I of course finished a few of his sentences just to let him know that I in fact watched every hour of estimate debates, he was impressed, as he said,who watches estimate debates? Anyways, we would have talked and talked if it wasn`t for Vaughn Palmer crashing our chat.

I didn`t even notice who it was at first squeezing into our conversation, anyways John Horgan said send me your pertinent data, so we turned to leave when Bitter Brian said, hey it`s Vaughn, I let them reminisce, I`m not quite sure if Vaughn was impressed with Brian or worried that Brian was going to thump him,after all, they have got into many a heated battle on the radio, but it ended peaceful with handshake and.....Of course Brian had to rub it in to Vaughn about making Christy Clark retract (as pitiful as her retraction was) and I reminded Vaughn Palmer if he ever needs story ideas,check out The Straight Goods it`s always loaded with dynamite, he had a chuckle,Anyways, in talking to this cast of characters one thing stuck out like a sore thumb, the party is divided, more than one MLA I talked to said...."What was with that speech" I gave them my impression of the speech, one MLA told me, of course we want business but not corporate giveaways, we can`t condone most of the deals that have been done, we can`t endorse corporate sellouts at our`s and the environment`s expense, I won`t name names but clearly there are internal challengers to Carole Jame`s leadership, like Bill Teileman advocating shifting stronger to the left, more health, better cheaper education,raising wages and worker protections with a real tough environmental policy in effect, and there are others who believes the swing to the right or more centrist position is the way to go.

In my opinion,for all it`s worth, the swing to the left is where the party should go, target seniors,youth and workers, big industry big business has more money but less people, if the NDP go soft with wage and worker issues and look the other way with environmental issues that will surely alienate the left and soft green voter, and truly,do any of you out there think that big business won`t turn on the NDP harshly just like the Canwest Global media machine and others do on the run up to the election?

I think a little different, big business and industry have had their way in this province for sometime,time for the left to win for a few years, better wages, better seniors care, more education resources, a concentrated effort to save our wild salmon, a stop to private power,slow the corporate gold rush and restore "true" public oversight.....We have had 9 years plus of "Yin".....Time to even it up with a healthy dose of "Yang"

The Straight Goods

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

CKNW and Christy Clark--Amatuers exposed

Update to the Christy Clark Saga....

Well my friends,after being ignored by all the head honcho`s at CKNW and ignored by Christy Clark I got my retraction, but, it was a pathetic retraction,vague and deceptive, obviously Christy Clark and cknw adhere to the BC Liberal motto.."When we can`t win we cheat"

At about 12.57 pm on cknw , a retraction(sort of) took place, and of course nobody from CKNW informed me that this retraction was coming, my friend bitter Brian alerted me to this two-bit retraction ....Here is what Christy Clark said today at 12.57 pm.

"On november 10...I noted that ferries delivered 1/2 a billion $dollars in profit to the province,that`s not accurate it to call it profit,that`s not the way they book it,but according to Debra Marshall 489,809,000, was returned to the province"

You can hear Christy Clark`s pathetic,vague,deceptive retraction here,cue up november 26/2009/ 12.00pm......fast forward to about 12.57 ish http://www.cknw.com/other/audiovault.html

Of course I was very upset and called CKNW and gave a little rant, I asked Christy Clark through the fellow who answered the phone at cknw to send me this data,to which I was told by this fellow that I already had it!...Well I didn`t have that information,I didn`t know where the information was, so as I fumed and huffed and hung the phone up,I took a deep breath,relaxed and......... I started thinking outside the box, Christy Clark said...During her low brow retraction that according to Debra Marshall......And I got thinking,if Christy Clark got something from Debra marshall maybe I can get the same data from Debra Marshall(BC Ferries spokeswoman)...Well I didn`t expect to get anything,considering BC Ferries is a Quasi private corporation and not subject to FOI (freedom of information) requests....Well, you know my motto, persistent digging and never say never.

So I called Debra Marshall,left a message on her voice mail, I was expecting to be ignored but lo and behold a short while later Debra marshall (BC ferries spokeswoman) called me back, she was very nice,friendly and professional and she gave me a short verbal explanation and....Drum roll please....She sent me the data

Here is the complete letter from Debra Marshall at BC Ferries to me.

" The government used to own the controlling interest in BC Ferries, which had a book value of $503,178,000.

On April 2,2003, the government issued BC Ferries a debenture for $427,701,000, which BC Ferries promised to pay in cash.

In addition,at that time,the government was issued 75,477 non-voting preferred shares in BC Ferries,valued at $1000 per share.

On may 27,2004, BC Ferries paid the debenture of $427,701,000 to the government.BC Ferries had also paid the government interest on the debenture of $25,879,191.49.

For the government`s preferred shares, BC Ferries pays an 8% dividend per year of $6,038,160. We`ve paid that annually for six years for a total of $36,228,960.

In summary,BC Ferries has paid the province $489,809,000."

____________________________________________________________________________________

Well isn`t that interesting, first off,I not sure it`s even legal to do what Gordon Campbell did with BC Ferries.

1. The government sold BC Ferries to someone---Who? Ourselves
2. How can Gordon Campbell give our crown corporation away to ourselves and have BC Ferries BORROW money and give the money to the province in Cash.
3. Did Gordon Campbell put this money into general revenue?
4. BC Ferries said it gave the province 75,477 non-voting shares,how many shares were actually produced, and...Who owns BC Ferries? Who owns the voting shares?I don`t think that even if we wanted to bring BC Ferries back into government as a crown corporation that we can!
5. How can the government give away something we own, then get paid back by ourselves,was this just a ploy to raise nearly 1/2 a billion $dollars for the government books?
6. How is it possible,BC Ferries has been getting subsidies from Ottawa and the province of BC..In fact this years subsidy to BC Ferries from the government of BC is going to be 171 $ million dollars!
7. If we were to bring BC Ferries back into government control would we have to pay 1 $ billion dollars plus? Would we have to buy all the debt and bonds
8. Pay special attention to the first paragraph in the letter I received from Debra Marshall........."The government (used) to own the controlling interest in BC Ferries" SNIP.
9. Which begs the question, if the Campbell government "Used to to own controlling interest in BC Ferries" Who the hell DOES OWN CONTROLLING INTEREST of BC Ferries?

This sounds like a ponzi scheme, Gordon Campbell gave away our crown corporation, then BC Ferries borrowed money(I believe from Germany) and paid that to Gordon Campbell.Don`t you see what`s going on here? Gordon Campbell GAVE AWAY bc ferries,removed their debt,which allowed BC Ferries to take the debenture that Gordon Campbell gave them and raise money for Gordon Campbell`s 2004/2005 budget, and,this NEW DEBT that BC Ferries acquired was off of Gordon Campbell`s provincial books! It`s a classic ponzi scheme.

This whole deal stinks....I have to unclutter my brain a little,if there are any accountants out there I would appreciate clarification.......I don`t even think the NDP are aware of this arrangement,it`s news to me.

Now as for Christy Clark and CKNW......They lost,bitter brian and I won, that`s why there was this pathetic,vague retraction, CKNW and Christy Clark acted rudely,unprofessional,shady....Just like the Campbell government, no class, just big bullies who are accountable to no one, I don`t believe that what Christy Clark said at 12.57 pm today was actually a retraction,it was dishonest in spirit. And this borrowed money (that Christy Clark is hinting was some form of profit) was returned in 2004,what a shameful display of dishonesty! Because this money returned to the province wasn`t PROFIT, it was money the new owners of BC Ferries raised from borrowing and bond issuances,and of course they were able to do that because Gordon Campbell gave BC Ferries a debenture(A debenture is a guarantee,usually from government that no matter what happens,the government will guarantee repayment to the lender), Christy can spin all she wants,BC ferries made after operating expenses and interest payments ....(2008--37 $million)-----(2009--9 $ million)

Here is a little more detail about this debenture, why would Gordon Campbell give BC Ferries a debenture? Because ultimately we,the taxpayer are on the hook for this money, and, BC ferries can`t borrow money as cheaply as the province of BC.....

So the only reason this was done is this.....Gordon Campbell`s 2004 government received $400 plus million from BC Ferries that was put into,I assume, general revenue and the bill is on BC Ferries books! .....Does that make any sense to you,it`s the only plausible explanation.....So again I ask, who owns BC Ferries? Because the owners of BC Ferries paid the province of BC this money for something.

But I am grateful that Christy Clark did what she did today, because if Christy Clark would have given a quick honest retraction I would never got my hands on this wild information!.....More to come.

The saga started here,I posted this first story here on november 10 http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.com/2009/11/david-podmore-man-of-lieseer-half.html And I provided more clarification here with this post http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.com/2009/11/christy-clark-unplugged.html

The Straight Goods

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

These would have made better olympic torches

Ha HA....This story made my day, the olympic flame has gone out a dozen times so far on the torch run.

The great Bombardier company, the company that makes our skytrains (that always breakdown) also make the olympic torches, Bombardier claims the design is fine,the amount of breakdowns are in a acceptable range....HA HA.

Vanoc and Canada can`t get anything right.......There is more reliability in my old zippo lighter than these spliffy shaped Bombardier torches. (read about it here) http://www.theprovince.com/Cold+windy+weather+extinguishes+Olympic+torch/2262097/story.html

The Straight Goods

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

Christy Clark unplugged

Just a little update, no response from JJ Johnstone(cknw station manager) yet,or Christy Clark or anyone from cknw.

Apparently JJ is in Toronto, maybe he has gone to the CBSC to plead his and Christy Clark`s case, the CBSC has ordered cknw to hold onto the master tape of Christy`s broadcast of november 10/2009.....And the CBSC has sent me information regarding my complaint against cknw and Christy Clark.

CKNW was given 21 days to respond to me,and if their response is not satisfactory,I can request the CBSC decide the matter, there is a code of ethics that all broadcasters must follow, article 7...has to do with corrections,when there is a glaring error or LIE made by a broadcaster or their employee the normal thing to do is...The broadcaster must quickly make a public retraction.

Maybe cknw think by ignoring me that this will go away,It won`t,I won`t

You see folks,bitter brian was correct, and I heard the broadcast live,and I had just written a post on BC Ferries financial woes so all the FACTS were fresh in my mind. Now maybe you think I`m being harsh, but.........I immediately after Bitter Brian`s phone call to Christy Clark started sending the facts to Christy Clark`s email address at cknw, I sent her my story first...No response back to me...I then sent her the BC Ferries annual report with all the financial statements,not my statements but stated facts from BC Ferries ....no response back....I then sent her Andrew Macleod`s story from the HOOK at the Tyee....no response.....I then sent her Hansard with the page numbers highlighted with all the pertinent data.....no response.....And just in case my information wasn`t getting through I sent the data to all the radio staff at cknw and even office staff....no response...And,I have sent many items in the past to cknw and have had many return responses back,but not this time!

At this time(november 10/2009) I wasn`t angry, I was polite in my emails, I said in more than one of them "Hey Christy, look,just say your information on BC Ferries profit was wrong, and regular caller Brian from Garden Bay was right"

But the "Silence from Christy Clark and CKNW was Deafening"

And I still kept my cool, I looked up the code of ethics for broadcasting and sent that to Christy and CKNW....no response.....I then sent another Email saying if you don`t respond to me I am going to file a formal complaint.....no response and the rest is history.

I have listened to the cknw audio vault over and over again just to make sure I wasn`t mistaken,I`m not...Christy said over and over again that the great one David Hahn was returning 1/2 billion dollars in PROFIT to the province...And she said under David Hahn that BC Ferries was returning 500 million dollars to the province in PROFIT....Now if Christy was only out a little bit,like say a hundred million, even 200 million out I wouldn`t be getting too upset but...in 2008 BC Ferries made 37.1 million and in 2009 BC Ferries made 9 million dollars...That is a WHOPPER of a LIE, she must have made Gordon Campbell and Colin Hansen proud with her tall tales!

Here is the data from BC Ferries annual report.

Financial and operational overview

This section provides an overview of our financial and operational performance over the last three years.Year ended march 31 (In $millions)---------------- 2009---------- 2008

Total revenue ---------------681.8 ----------640.7

Expenses --------------------624.2------------ 569.6

Earnings from operations-- 57.6-------------- 71.1

Interest and other---------- 48.6---------------34.0

_________________________________________________________

Net earnings ______________9.0__________ 37.1

_________________________________________________________

Total Assets of March 31___ 2009_________ 2008

_______________________1.841.9________ 1.550.5

___________________________________________________________

Total long term financial liabilities

_________________________1.369.0_________ 1.059.5

____________________________________________________________

Cash dividends____________ 6.0____________ 6.0

____________________________________________________________

(And this statement followed from BC Ferries in this annual report.)

"Our earnings from operations in fiscal 2009 were $13.5 million lower than in in fiscal 2008 as expected,these reductions reflect increased amortization and financing costs as a result of new capital assets entering service,as we near the completion of our fleet renewal program for our major and northern routes.

Our ridership has been negatively impacted by current economic conditions.The negative revenue impact of this lower passenger and vehicle traffic was largely offset by reductions in operating expenses from previously planned levels.

Net earnings in fiscal 2008 were $11.7 million lower than net earnings before extraordinary gain in the previous year.In fiscal 2007 we recorded an extraordinary gain of $61.3 million as a result of insurance proceeds from the loss of the Queen of the North."

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Laughable, that`s what I think of Christy Clark`s assertions,Laughable and, I find the part in the statement about "Extraordinary gain" over the sinking of the Queen of the North Laughable,A Gain? What about the replacement cost,clean up costs,legal fees,settlements...Oh Yea,extraordinary gains...When pigs fly!

(Listen to the audio vault here) http://www.cknw.com/other/audiovault.html Cue up november 10/2009/ 12.00 pm...Fast forward to 12.37 pm.

The Straight Goods

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

Monte Paulson....Turncoat,sell out, Bill Good`s puppy

First off, I would like to wish Bill Teileman good luck,now down to business.

So here we have Monte Paulson,the "new" monday morning quarterback, the first thing I noticed is there was no fanfare from Bill Good or Norman Spector in saying goodbye to Bill Teileman, anyways,it didn`t take long to see the new format in full bloom, I have one thing to say...Disgusting,untrue, pandering,Monte Paulson....Yip yip yip,did I do "good" ....Did I,did I....Yip yip yip.

The show started with Monte,Spector and Good talking about the federal parties and...This quote from Monte Paulson..." The NDP never met a tax they didn`t like" really Monte,when was the last time the federal NDP were in power and raised taxes? And so the show proceeds,and at every turn,every thought Monte Paulson put out there for consumption was ..Yip yip yip...Ya ya ya..your right Norman,your right Bill,did I do "good" did I.....And the show proceeds with some more quotes from Monte Paulson about the provincial NDP " The NDP ran a terrible campaign" ...." The NDP are scary to business"...." The NDP need new candidates"...." The NDP need to rebuild".....and this "The HST was classic Campbell,bring out unpopular stuff early in the first term and by the time the next election rolls around their on top again".....And this quote from Monte Paulson .... classic yellow journalism...." Right after the provincial election a NDP MLA (anonymous) said to me, phew....Thank god we didn`t win the election,we were not ready to form government"

Not one word from Monte about any the Campbell shocks and nightmares,not one word about the 14 % percentage point lead by the NDP, not one word about anything anti Campbell,not one word about McGuinty dropping like a rock in Ontario over the HST,not one word of relevance from Monte Paulson,no clever remarks, no grand news from the federal Liberal convention in Whistler that Monte Paulson attended,not one word worthy of being put on the air......Nothing but PAP, yip yip yip,did I did I do "Good" Bill,did I,did I....

Classic Campbell eh Monte?.....Like slashing surgeries, 50 nurses laid off in the last week alone,MRI`s cancelled, school cuts,arts cuts,sports cuts, classic Campbell indeed...It`s too bad that people will sell their soul, sell their respect,sell out for a chance to be Bill Good`s lapdog and Norman Spector`s junior intern, perhaps that explains his "Not worthy of print" article in today`s Tyee! I would normally leave a link to the CKNW audio vault but in this case, spare yourself the dis-pleasure of hearing Monte Paulson "Panting like a puppy dog"

The Straight Goods

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

Tic Toc Tic Toc Tic Toc..Your time is coming Gordon Campbell

Well,here we go again, my hats off to Vicki Huntington of Delta South,she is fighting the SFPR and is opposed to gravel extraction from salmon bearing rivers,and as you know millions and millions of Sockeye salmon vanished, there are several runs of sockeye that leave the Fraser river..And, coincidentally the Sockeye salmon that went south after leaving the Fraser river were the fish that returned to spawn but,

The fish that went north, the fish that went north and had to pass through the "Gauntlet" of Atlantic salmon fish farms were the salmon that "vanished without a trace" of course Barry (The awesome one) is at a loss for words, at least coherent words!

Anyways, at a time when we should be doing all we can to protect salmon habitat why is Barry Penner and the Provincial (DICKtater) government allowing gravel extraction from the fraser, there is indisputable evidence that gravel removal doesn`t prevent floods, and coincidentally this gravel that is being removed is being used in.

In the SFPR (South fraser perimeter road), that`s right, regardless of all the studies that show the negative effect of gravel removal Gordon Campbell and Awesome Barry Penner carry on with their wave of destruction, and as for the SFPR, besides it going through the largest carbon sink in north America, endangering species, salmon, anyways,the anger of the public is escalating,Gordon Campbell`s time is....Tic Toc Tic Toc running out FAST.

And in case you haven`t heard, the David Suzuki foundation and Tzeporah Berman "Whose silence has been deafening" on Gateway project,fish farms, coal bed methane,GRAVEL EXTRACTION, these Focking green gurus who lambasted the NDP at the start of the last provincial election and put ALL their support behind Gordon Campbell well.(read about it here) http://www.publiceyeonline.com/archives/004499.html

We all knew it was about the money,Tzeporah Berman(forests ethics),James Hoggan(suzuki foundation chair) have been appointed to Gordon Campbell`s resource development team, the financial terms,well I`m digging out those numbers,but now we know why Tzeporah Berman and David Suzuki sold out the environment and pushed mammoth run of river projects and ignored all the other issues!.....Show me the money eh Berman! http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.com/2009/08/t-silence-from-david-suzuki-and.html

But people will only be pushed so far before they push back with avengence, and believe me,the people have spoken, the BC NDP has a 18 point lead over Gordon Campbell and his pathetic bunch of losers! And,unless those losers revolt they will be toast,forever hated in their communities, because none of them are standing up for their constituents, they are all avoiding emails, letters, they`re hiding from the public...Show your damn balls Liberal MLAs, or are you all as AWESOME as Barry Penner?(in fact,Barry penner is so awesome someone has dedicated a real funny,slagging website just about Barry Penner,have a look here) http://www.barrypennerisawesome.com/

And my friends,the anger is exploding, in fact if I had any advice for useless BC Liberal MLAs would be this.....Don`t show your face in public!, and, Gordon Campbell`s Liberals are so unpopular that yes,even Carole James could mop the floor with Gordon (Proven LIAR and LAWBREAKER)Campbell and...People send me items of interest, I received this little gem this morning,and I`m not saying that I agree with this tactic but, the anger towards Gordon Campbell is in full boil and people can`t help themselves,have a look at this link http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/van/rnr/1476525867.html

Tzeporah Berman,James Hoggan, enjoy the heat, you phony environmentalists couldn`t hold a candle to Alexandra Morton (My Hero)...Tzeporah Berman, you were always about yourself and your ego, now your about the money,as for James Hoggan...He was always about the money, I feel sad for David Suzuki, the man did good work(in the past) but his people in the foundation are nothing but two-faced environmental sell outs!

The Straight Goods

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

Meet the future in power generation

I first heard about this mini nuclear plant from Seth, a Tyee regular contributer, this little device will power 10,000 homes for seven years for about 300.00$ per year,per home, it`s the size of a garden shed and........It could well spell the end of Gordon Campbell`s private power disaster!

Look, I was skeptical at first, but the more I investigated the more I believe it`s the future of power generation, France gets all their power from nuclear energy as do many countries, anyways, this little plant has no moving parts, no big external heat, hyperion (The manufacturer) has orders for 100 units.....Hyperion expects to produce 4000 of these units between 2013 and 2023. Also,besides Hyperion, apparently Toshiba has a similar model coming out as well.

Thats enough power for 40 million homes, I`m going to leave you a couple of links,please read them and tell me what you think, first off, I don`t expect them ever to be in BC, not because of fear but because we have plenty of power presently online, but,these little plants will eliminate the need to run power lines across America, eliminate massive dams, and believe it or not, they purify water.

So please read the links and leave a comment. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/09/miniature-nuclear-reactors-los-alamos

And have a look here too. http://www.terrestrialenergy.org/

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The inside story,poor workers = See no evil

I have been thinking about this debit card scam and, the only conclusion I can come to is employees are involved!

I use debit card often, up in our little town and down in the big city, (I visit Maple Ridge and Burnaby monthly) the stores I frequent have debit pin pads that can`t go beyond the counter, there are employees waiting to hand me my receipt so how in the hell are these pin pads altered? I could see them possibly being completely swapped out for another,identical pin pad but.

I recognize the pin pads at the stores I frequent on the sunshine coast, they have markings, stickers, identifiable markings, and, if I can recognize the pin pads certainly employees can recognize their own pin pads.

This fraud is completely preventable....For example, how about putting small happy face sticker on the pad,a sticker that crosses the seam(where it opens) a simple happy face sticker or some other identifying marks on the pad that would immediately turn on a light bulb in the store clerks head! Of course the banks are aware of this type of fraud for years, an alarm,emergency shut down,all of these items have been available to the banks for years.

But this latest scam was of biblical proportions, dozens of debit card machines and millions of dollars and yet....I never heard of one person caught or chased off in attempting to tinker or alter a debit pad, and that begs the question....There is more going on here than meets the eye isn`t there?

Being a avid reader, there has been so many stories about people,con men that have stolen,defrauded,embezzled millions of dollars and when finally caught and sentenced they end up serving but a couple of years, so the penal system in Canada certainly isn`t a deterrent to these criminals.

Now I like to examine stories and I try to think outside of the box, here in BC, the most expensive province to live in with the lowest minimum wage,highest real estate prices in Canada and for the most part, young people even earning 10.00$ per hour are unable to rent anything! Nada,nothing, in fact a person needs to make 16.70 $ per hour to have even a chance at renting a decent place and having a few bucks left over spend, now I am no longer a teenager but I try to put myself in their shoes, working for peanuts, no money left over for living, car buying, entertainment, partying...

So if I was a young person today knowing that the justice system isn`t going to lock me up, and if some Armenian person,eastern European, or other recruited me for say....5.000.00$ to look the other way while they alter,manipulate, swap out the debit card pin pad.....Well, that would be very enticing.

The Employee, the recruitee.....It would be next to impossible to prove that they were a willing partner in this fraud, anyways, this fraud on this scale was done with the help of employees, and the more unaffordable, the more expensive this province becomes,the more Campbell taxes and raises costs to families the more of this type of activity will occur.

Could you imagine being a young person today with just a little education and the thought of trying to buy a 500.000.00$ dwelling, expensive car insurance,expensive food, HST, MSP..expensive beer, expensive tobacco, expensive rent, expensive transit, and you look at your pay cheque, 6.00$ starter wage or 8.00$ minimum wage , well it would certainly make me depressed and considering teenagers are depressed anyways well....You see folks, that`s why the underground economy is rampant in Europe, that`s why corruption in south America and Mexico and other third world countries is rampant because average people,workers, citizens.

Are being left in the dust,being sold out, left to twist in the wind and fend for themselves either by hook or by crook!

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Gordon Campbell`s HST gamble comes up snake eyes!

Yes indeed friends,we all know Gordon Campbell is a snake in the grass, but, the news is great, the McGuinty Liberals in Ontario are on the ropes, Tim Hudak and his Ontario Conservatives have come from 16 points behind McGuinty to pull even, McGuinty is in free-fall, and the Campbell Liberals are spiralling down the same toilet bowl.

(UPDATE to this post,another poll out today,Ipsos reid...Jack Layton`s federal NDP have surged 6 percentage points, according to Mr. Bricker of Ipsos reid,the reason Harper and Ignatief both lost ground to the NDP is......Anger Over the HST! You see folks, as I wrote in a previous post,all roads to victory go through an ANTI HST Platform...read about this latest federal Ipsos Reid poll here) http://www.theprovince.com/news/Federal+making+gains+Liberal+Tory+expense+Poll/2247668/story.html

Are the cracks forming in Campbell`s "rain,reign" of terror ? You betcha...In fact Norm Letnick(new BC Liberal from Kamloops) voted against bill 14 in the BC Legislature, no BC Liberal MLA in years has voted against a Campbell bill, and for a newbie to do that...Well, who`s next..Donna Barnett..Don McCrae....Stephanie Cadiuex...These new BC Liberal MLAs have a choice to make, either they fight for their political futures and revolt against Campbell or they will be one term politicians never to be heard from again.....My bet is they turn on Gordon Campbell(proven liar and lawbreaker)

Here is the story from Ontario....by LEE GREENBERG,The Ottawa Citizen(read the full story here) http://www.ottawacitizen.com/story_print.html?id=2233916&sponsor=

Here are a few highlights from his article.

• Nanos`s last poll,in may,had the liberals at 47 per cent support,16 points ahead of the tories.


• Successive scandals,a historic deficit and an unpopular new tax have taken a heavy toll on Ontario`s liberal government,according to a poll released tuesday,which shows support plummeting.


• The Nanos poll also shows premier McGuinty`s leadership numbers in free fall,sliding to 26.9 % popularity from 42.1% in may.


• According to Frank Hall,president of Holinshed research group inc....Hall released a poll tuesday showing 76% of respondents disagreed with the imposition of the HST"This is a decisive number," he said,adding respondents believe they can stop the tax.

So my friends, The Ontario liberals are in complete free fall,and, despite more and more exemptions being added,despite the 1000.00$ dollar bribe every family is getting as a rebate to help offset the HST,despite McGuinty spending every dollar and more of the HST bribe money from the federal government(4.3 billion $ dollars), despite all the spin doctoring from the Ontario Liberals the government is in desperation mode!

And my friends, the knives are being sharpened in Ontario, survival mode will kick in and defections,betrayal, and self serving survival will be the order of the day...The Hst will be stopped, trust me,these politicians don`t give a rats ass about you,me or anyone,they care about the money, all roads to political success go through an anti-HST platform.(read the Nanos poll here) http://www.nanosresearch.com/library/polls/POLONT-S09-T400.pdf

And my friends, the good news keeps coming, we had another poll just released today, a Mustel poll, and the numbers are great,and,remember this,Mustel poll(Evi Mustel,friend and ex-business partner of Joan Mcyntire(BC Liberal MLA) are always skewed towards the BC Liberals(IMO),so if the Mustel group has Campbell in free fall it really is bad news for all BC Liberals)

Gordon Campbell HST gamble is coming up snake eyes,there will be no olympic bounce, maybe in Richmond,Whistler or point Grey,but the Liberals are always strong there, no one from Kamloops,Vernon,the Comox valley, or most ridings in BC give a hoot about the olympics,and it won`t matter if we win 1 gold medal or 30 gold medals, and the cracks are already forming in the BC Liberal party, there are only closet liberals left, individual donations from real people have dried up, my secret sources have told me that at least 6 BC Liberals are going to vote against the HST, it`s called survival mode, it`s called..."I need a second term for a full pension"

Gordon Campbell, the LIAR is leaving the party within a year, reality is slowly sinking in, " I need a second term for a full pension"...."Why should I sacrifice my political future over Gordon Campbell when Campbell will be gone within a year!"

Yes indeed my friends, the BC Liberal knives are being sharpened, norm Letnick,Donna Barnett,Don McCrae, who will be the first BC Liberal MLA to Thrust the knife into Gordon Campbell`s back! (read the Mustel poll here) http://www.mustelgroup.com/pdf/20091120.pdf Lastly....As I reiterated in an earlier post,all successful political campaigns go through a ANTI HST Platform...Read it here http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.com/2009/11/race-is-on-which-federal-leader-will-be.html

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Translink`s spokeman Drew Snider says ; Drivers are unaware of where the golden ears bridge is;!

Well my friends, more laughter inducing statements from Translink.

Here`s the deal, fresh off the airwaves, Drew Snider, Translink`s spokesman stated there are 24,000 crossings per day on the golden ears bridge, and he can`t understand why drivers still line up and wait to use the decrepit old Port Mann bridge.....Drew Snider goes onto say "Drivers are creatures of habit and Translink hasn`t done a good enough job in letting drivers know where the golden ears bridge is and how it can improve their commute" and Drew Snider goes onto say....." It`s just like the Albion ferry,most drivers are unaware there was a ferry"

Well my friends, The Golden ears bridge is a financial boondoggle,by July 2010 Translink will lose 1 million per month on that bridge,by 2011 that number rises to 2 $ million per month in losses, by 2014 the Golden ears bridge will cost Translink 4 $ million per month.

But, the one thing Drew Snider said was true...."People are creatures of habit" In fact I would hazard to guess the reason for people avoiding the golden ears for but one reason..People,drivers,families, workers can`t afford 200.00$ a month, 2400.00$ dollars per year on tolls.....That`s a lot of money, 2 weeks pay...3 weeks...a month of pay for some workers!

Hey,but what do I know, maybe Translink needs to leave a trail of bread crumbs or footprints to lead drivers to the lost bridge! (read why the Golden ears bridge boondoggle will cost taxpayers a fortune here) http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.com/2009/09/kirk-lapointe-and-vancouver-sun-are.html And here

http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.com/2009/08/why-translink-is-going-broke-fast.html

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Conference board of Canada announces BC forestry will recover this year

Great news friends,the Conference board of Canada announces the recovery is on, Saskatchewan`s potash industry "expected to recover"....."Ontario will reap benefits from stimulus spending"...."Alberta will benefit from higher oil prices".....and "BC will lead the nation due to a comeback in the construction sector,recoveries in forestry and manufacturing,and hosting the 2010 games" !! (read the press release from the Conference board of Canada here) http://www.conferenceboard.ca/press/newsrelease/10-40.aspx

HA HA.....Well, can anyone say Wolf in Sheep`s clothing, I can remember the time before our last federal election, Stephen Harper stated that Canada was in great shape,no recession for Canada, no deficit, the "best and the brightest" forecasters were all in agreement and....

Pinch me please I need to be woken up...Fast forward to the present, this sunday our Giant Canadian debt clock will surpass half a trillion dollars, Yikes! And lets go back to may of this year,Gordon Campbell and Colin Hansen claimed..."The best and the brightest" BC economists and forecasters stated that BC will only have a tiny deficit, negligible job losses and we are almost immune from the recession....Pinch me again I need to be woken up...Fast forward to June and all of a sudden we had a 5 $ billion dollar deficit,job losses galore and deficits for at least 4 more years.

And my friends these were the "Best and the brightest" predictors, Alberta 7 billion $ debt..Ontario a 28 $ billion dollar deficit...Canada a 70 $ billion dollar deficit...BC a 5 $ billion dollar deficit, boy am I glad the "best and the brightest" didn`t predict a major deficit!

But what I wanted to talk about was the Conference Board of Canada. First off,who the hell are these people, who are the board members? Well, from looking at the names and who they work for one thing is for sure, they`re not economists,scholars, professors, what they are is a who`s who of corporate mouth pieces, including Paul taylor,ex ICBC CEO and now Naikun wind power CEO..bankers,representatives from De Beers jewelry, a whole bunch of people who have never seen hard times, a bunch of people who don`t have to tighten their belts, and why these people,this group are even given the time of day is beyond me, because I have looked at what they are predicting and I have come to the conclusion that they don`t know what their talking about!

Lets breakdown their predictions, lets stick with their BC predictions. "Recoveries in manufacturing" first off, is BC even known as a manufacturing province? I don`t think so...Anyways, Electronic Arts EA --Has announced massive lay-offs in it`s Burnaby operation, Ebay laid off 700 workers in Burnaby, are those lay-offs in manufacturing, sort of, do we make cars or appliances in BC, clothes, are any of the products you buy made in BC? ...They are also predicting a recovery in construction? In fact it seems to me that Global,Canwest, CTV,all of them have been pimping the market, and yet,unemployment in Canada and more importantly in the USA is still rising, unemployment is at a 30 year high, 10.2 %.. A jobless recovery, and my friends, those job losses aren`t coming back, China has the ability to make all the goods Americans once made and at a cheaper price and the banks and credit/loan companies are no longer lending money to Americans on false equity..And I read this article today at CNBC that I would like to share with you. ( http://www.cnbc.com/id/34018204) "Why housing won`t recover"

Here it what they are predicting for south of the border.. "Housing starts are expected to have a steep decline due to government assisted home buying programs ending" ...."unemployment to rise to 11% through 2010" ..."Foreclosures still at record levels"......"the economy and job market didn`t rebound as predicted"...."unemployment expected to be above 10% even after 2010"....."still a glut of homes on the market"....Not a rosy forecast for housing south of the border,this is the new normal,and as I said earlier these jobs aren`t coming back,there has been a permanent shift in north America, there won`t be a job recovery,the jobs will be created in China and stay in China and the reason for that is simple.

Wall Street is back baby!....Record profits, record bonuses, bonuses this year may exceed the record of 162 billion paid in 2007, you see folks, the crisis is over, the markets stabilized,the big money boyz are making huge cash again,despite record high unemployment in the USA,despite record foreclosures, despite bankrupt governments,bankrupt states,local governments,despite record debt wall street is doing fine, its a focking miracle, wall street is making money hand over fist,who woulda thunk that! (read about how wall street is laughing all the way to the bailed out banks here) http://www.cnbc.com/id/34014989

Now back to the "best and the brightest" at the Conference board of Canada....They say that "Forestry is going to recover in BC " Imagine that, Housing starts in the USA is expected to fall off a cliff with declines due to high unemployment, record foreclosures,and a massive glut on the market and interest payments expected to start to rise this year by 1 to 2 percent...Perhaps the CBoC forgot that we lost over 40 mills while a USA and BC housing boom was going on...Perhaps the CBOC failed to notice the latest mill closure in Kitimat......

So who the hell does the Conference Board of Canada and their cheerleaders think they`re conning? Because the "best and the brightest" say so,are they ever right,if they keep predicting a recovery in forestry one of these years they might have it right,sheesh.

Here is what West Fraser Timber said in their latest press release "We expect financial results to come under heavy pressure due to continued weak markets,uncertainty in pricing" and this "the high Canadian dollar will hamper any recovery"....and "high US unemployment along with additional foreclosures and high inventory"

And what does Catalyst have to say...."We expect heavy pressure due to continued weak markets,and the negative effect of an escalating Canadian dollar"

So I find it amusing that the Conference board of Canada is predicting a recovery in BC forestry when all the BC forest companies are predicting a brutal year,low US housing starts,high unemployment,high US household debt but just like the Fraser institute governments bring out these reports from "the best and the brightest" in this case the conference board of Canada and say HEY....This must be true,the recovery is here because a group of who`s who are saying so!

Well my friends, they are wrong, Grant G says,forestry will worsen in BC this year,more mills will close,more raw logs will leave the province, housing will pick-up a bit until the HST arrives then housing starts will fall off a cliff,manufacturing in BC will not increase, high tech industry will continue to erode,as for tourism and the olympic bump it will not happen.

And lastly, if the media,if government wants to parade reports around from the conference board of Canada they should at least have enough class to tell us how accurate they were in the past, here is what the Conference board of Canada said in July 2008....Report titled..

Canadian outlook economic forecast:summer 2008

executive summary--july 2008,source:The conference board of Canada,16 pages

This quarterly economic forecast provides highlights of the Canadian outlook report,which presents the short-term national outlook.

Document highlights

• Data for the first quarter of 2008 was paradoxical in that growth in real gross domestic product(GDP) in the usa outperformed that in Canada.However,in terms of income,employment,and domestic demand growth,Canada remains in much better shape.
• A decline in exports,especially in the auto sector, will result in real GDP growth for Canada of only 1.7 percent this year, a full percentage point below the 2007 performance.Economic growth is expected to accelerate to 2.7 per cent in 2009,helped by a better trade performance and still strong domestic demand.
• The general rise in commodity prices may be here to stay.Seemingly insatiable global demand for raw materials,coupled with a recovery in forestry product prices,should keep prices elevated and shore up resource revenues and private investment.
• Luckily for manufacturers,the loonie seems to have stopped riding the coattails of energy prices.The Canadian dollar is expected to remain relatively stable over 2008 and 2009,just shy of parity.
• Surprise,surprise...despite the dire projections in the latest round of federal and provincial budgets,government revenues are, once again, growing more strongly than expected.However,at the regional level,results will be lopsided in favour of resourced energy-rich provinces. (you can read this report at the Conference Board of Canada here) http://sso.conferenceboard.ca/documents.aspx?did=2660

Lets examine their accuracy, Ontario..30 billion $ deficit..BC..5 $ billion...Alberta..7 billion..Canada ...70 $ billion

Resource and energy rich provinces to do best....Hmmm...Did we? Government revenue?..Forestry recovery?...In fact if I had to grade the Conference board of Canada 2008 summer report I would give it a big fat F..

"The best and the brightest" are again predicting a forestry recovery, housing recovery,manufacturing recovery,oil prices to rise, and yet unemployment highs rage on,consumer debt is at an all time high, a disaster south of the border, all world growth has been a result of government debt spending which is now ending, a jobless recovery......But have no fear,Paul Taylor and the Conference Board of Canada state..."The recovery is on"

Don`t you all feel re-assured now"

The Straight Goods

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

How much food is in your freezer Gordon Campbell?

Well my friends, time for a happy post.

1 Million Canadaians used the food bank in march of this year, food bank use is up a staggering 20% year over year.

According to the bank of Canada....The recession is Over

And the recession is over,investors,bankers, the big boyz have gotten back most of the money they lost when the financial markets crashed, summer in the Hamptons and winter in the Caymans will be back to normal, JP morgan and AIG bonuses have returned, well actually they never left, in fact,JP Morgan has put aside 80 $ billion dollars for bonuses this year, down a small tick from the 2006 bonus total...Now Barack Obama has displayed anger towards these bonuses,or has he?

There are two ways out for the players, half of the companies/banks that got bail-outs to avoid a hassle over bonuses raised salaries by 200 %... and then gave tiny bonuses,JP Morgan and AIG said...Go to hell,we signed agreements and we`re paying bonuses, and my friends they all use that same old argument.

"We have to pay well to attract the best and the brightest"........Everyone is using that line of argument, Gordon Campbell used that same argument to justify his pay raise and the massive pay raise to senior civil servants, including the 104.000.00$ raise to Jessicca Mac Donald bringing her pay package to 348.000.00$ per year plus expenses, Ontario Liberals say..."Look what they are paid in BC" So the Ontario Liberals raise their pay packages, then BC says " Look what they are paid in Ontario,we have to keep up or everyone of our best and brightest will leave"....HA HA....What a sick joke.

The best and the brightest that led Ontario to a 24 Billion dollar deficit and BC to a 5 $ billion dollar deficit and the bureaucrats in BC never even saw the deficit coming,well,according to Gordon Campbell and Colin Hansen nobody knew the deficit was coming,I guess we didn`t pay the best and the brightest enough money to buy new GLASSES! And, this "thing" this comparator game only works with politicians,it doesn`t work for regular workers or minimum wage..

Because as you know,our BC Paramedics are the lowest paid in Canada, BC minimum wage is the lowest in Canada, and quality results aren`t a factor in determining wages, here we are paying the CEO of BC Rail over half a million$ per year to run a short spur line with no rail cars, WOW,imagine what we would have to pay if they actually had trains! And then there is our 1 million $ dollar man,David Hahn....Who cares if the CEO of the Washington state ferries makes less than 200.000.00$ per year......David Hahn...Under his management BC ferries made a whopping 9 million dollars,after 150 $ million in taxpayer subsudies, I wonder what Ontario`s CEO of ferries makes..HA HA. Yes of course I`m being silly, David Hahn must be worth that kind of money, after all David Hahn has the ability to hypnotize Christy Clark and make her say anything,including Christy Clark saying BC Ferries made 500 $ million dollars in PROFIT, too bad it`s not true, every year the subsidy to BC Ferries goes up and any dribble of profit goes down....What is the going wage rate for radio talk show host hypnotist?

A jobless recovery,wages are falling,pensions are being gutted and meanwhile we keep importing toxic goods from China,goods made by slave labour, and Stephen Harper and Barack Obama because China is willing to buy up debt(Lend us money) both leaders are prepared to look the other way with human rights, dangerous goods,slave labour, environmental degradation, both leaders are willing to sell out future generations for a temporary fix...Yes indeed my friends, Thomas freidman was wrong ,the world isn`t flat,the world is round,covered in mountains and obstacles, there is no such thing as free trade, Ed Deak up at big Lake knows what he is talking about, giving away resources is a false economy.

Can you imagine,more than a million Canadians using food banks, and....The Recession is Over.(Read about the spike in food bank usage here) http://www.theprovince.com/life/Canadians+turning+food+banks+record+numbers+2232484/story.html

So what am I talking about, I mentioned that this was a happy post,here`s the deal folks, we don`t live in China, we won`t be put down,we won`t be held down, Gordon Campbell,Stephen Harper, how much food do you have? What`s in your freezer? You might have steel shutters and cameras,you might have body guards and pit bulls but they won`t stop a hungry mob, and my friends,when your hungry go to the legislature in Victoria, knock on your BC Liberal MLAs door, ask for food at your local BC Liberal constituency office. Maybe,just maybe if every hungry person, every hungry child walked into Gordon Campbell`s office,his front yard,the legislature and asked for food. This is Canada, not Chinada, not Russanda, not Afcanada, Hunger will end in Canada, even if it means politicians feeding the hungry one at a time.

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The Woman`s ski jump trial wraps up today

As you know the fabulous fliers ....The womens ski jump team are in court today fighting for their Canadian charter rights,the right to compete at the 2010 olympic games,and,the trial wraps up today.

Well here`s the deal, neither side knows who will win,my money is on the jumpers,but will it make any difference even if they do win?

Why would I say that,two,no three reasons, reason number 1, even if the IOC /Vanoc loses, there still is one hire court they can appeal to,which means the IOC can run the clock out on these jumpers.

And,a spokesperson for Vanoc is already in damage control,while listening to cknw I heard the statement, well my friends, I have never heard so much bafflegab in my life,well actually everything connected to the BC Liberals/Vanoc and the IOC is Bafflegab in my opinion....But, this spokesperson said.

" The logistics of finding rooms in the athletes village will be a daunting task" and this

"With all the high tech equipment and preparations for broadcasting have been made,it would be next to impossible to make arrangements to broadcast the female jumpers"

Well my friends, lets break this down a little bit......We can put men on the moon,telescopes in space, cut steel with a water jet but we can`t find space for female jumpers in the athletes village?

And, I`m no rocket scientist but, don`t you think they will have high tech equipment and broadcasting hardware in place for the MENS SKI JUMPING, couldn`t they just keep the broadcasting equipment in place while the female jumpers perform?

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Update....Translink`s Canada Line to lose 21 $ million per year until 2025!

Hello my friends,just off the news wire,the Canada Line P3....Is and will be losing money,lots of money,until at least 2025....The comptroller general has made the case, and the funny thing is....Everyone said the Canada Line was a money loser...Including Macolm J....I don`t have much too add except,read my back story and read the story from today`s Province newspaper.

Here is the link to my story that was titled ..."Why Translink is going broke fast" ( http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.com/2009/08/why-translink-is-going-broke-fast.html)

And a real good read from the Province newspaper ( http://www.theprovince.com/news/Canada+Line+lose+millions+each+year+despite+strong+ridership/2213875/story.html)

Can anyone say....I told you so...Deja VU

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David Podmore, man of fibs...eer half truths

Well my friends,time for a BC Place retractable roof boondoggle update!

(Update to this post...november 11/2009)

My friends,Christy Clark has ignored all my requests,demands for a retraction,she is ignoring my many emails...I have formally filed a complaint with the CBSC(Canadian broadcast standards council) http://www.cbsc.ca/english/codes/rtnda.php#Article1

Here are a few of the sections from the code of radio ethics

Article 1) Broadcast journalists will inform the public in an accurate,comprehensive and manner about events and issues of importance.

Article 3) Broadcast journalists will present news and public affairs without distortion.

Article 7) --(Corrections)--Errors will be quickly acknowledged and publicly corrected.

I listen to cknw everyday, I don`t know why, Christy Clark has been reporting lies on the radio all week, Bill Good has been the master of throwing softball questions at his BC government guests. well.....lets start by exposing the Straight Goods.

Christy Clark today,was defending David Hahn`s 1 million$ salary, that`s okay but when Christy Clark starts lying,well....Christy Clark stated today, "BC Ferries before David Hahn took over neglected repairs and maintenance on the existing fleet because they spent 400 million on the fast ferries" .....Such a lie Christy Clark, ferry workers have to sign off on maintenance,Transport Canada has rules about running vessels that aren`t mechanically sound! Christie Clark made up that part of the story(lie) out of whole cloth......Christie Clark went onto say that BC ferries are soooo much better now than before, Christie Clark also said.

"BC ferries brings in 500$ million dollars per year to the province."

Another lie, this year the BC government gave BC Ferries a 170$ million dollar subsidy,and BC ferries have cancelled two runs between Nanaimo and horsheshoe bay every week night until spring,this in an effort to save 450.000.00$ on fuel.Would the province have to subsidize it`s own crown corporation to the tune of 170$ million dollars if it actually made money,500$ million worth of money, it doesn`t make sense,it`s a lie! Not only did she mention the 500 $ million dollar figure over and over again,she started yelling! And she stated

" A CEO who gets paid less than Hahn might only bring 400 $ million per year or 300 $ million per year to the province, are we prepared to take that chance"

The display was sickening,because it was nothing but a Christy Clark fibfest!

Well my friends, such lies, of course bitter brian from garden bay called Christy to set the facts straight,the facts about BC Ferries not making enough money in the last fiscal quarter to pay operating costs and interest payments on a 1.4 billion$ capital debt,when Christy Clark rudely kept talking over Bitter Brian---- Obviously Christy Clark had gotten her marching orders!

Well answer this Question Christy Clark...Why would BC Ferries cancel sailings to save 450.000.00$, and why would the province subsidize it`s own corporation to the tune 170$ million if BC Ferries made the 500$ million dollars you claim? You can`t answer that question because you are a LIAR Christie Clark(read about the fiscal shape of BC Ferries here) http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.com/2009/10/will-someone-please-send-bc-ferries.html

And perhaps you can point out exactly where this 500$ million in BC Ferries profit is Christy Clark,is it in last years fiscal report 2008/2009......Where Christy? Point it out to me.Well Christy Clark,it`s not in 2008/2009 is it?And it`s not in the 2009/2010 fiscal report,2009/2010 is in far worse shape than 2008/2009..Point it out to me Christie...Cmon, show your balls Christy... http://www.scribd.com/doc/20886475/Annual-Report-BC-Ferries-2008-2009

And perhaps Christy Clark,that report might be too difficult for you to understand,maybe a simple read is more to your liking..(here is what the Tyee reported on BC Ferry debt and their financial Sunami) http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Transportation/2009/06/18/FerryDebt/

And what did Andrew Macleod report in that story Christy Clark? Well according to Nelle Maxey(who has studied BC Ferries financial books for years) "In the last fiscal year BC Ferries paid 50.1 million$ in interest payments,almost as much as BC Ferries earned from all of it`s operations for the year (57.7 million$ dollars)"

Where is this 500 $ million in profit BC Ferries made Christy Clark? IT DOESN`T EXIST...I expect a RETRACTION Christy Clark, it`s called ethical broadcasting standards, deliberate deceptions......LIES ...I implore my readers to listen to Christy Clark freaking out,lying, being a BC Liberal pimp on cknw today..(here is the cknw audio vault) http://www.cknw.com/other/audiovault.html

Cue up november 10/2009 ...12.00 pm...the segment is from 12.35 pm to 1.00 pm.......and if you want to listen to Bill Good and david Podmore....cue up november 9/2009...8.00 am....The segment goes from 8.30 am to 9.30 am.

And just for good measure Christy Clark, everything that I said,besides having several confirmed sources,who should one believe, your fibbing little mouth or perhaps Hansard (everyone of my claims are backed up and confirmed by Shirley Bond during estimate debates for the ministry of transportation,along with Gary Coons NDP ferry critic) http://www.leg.bc.ca/hansard/39th1st/H91006p.htm Check out pages between 1029 to 1036 -Here is a little teaser from Hansard ...Gary Coons to Shirley bond (Question to the minister of transportation)

"If you look at the year end results,which was March 31/2009, net earnings in that year there is a 24 percent decline . It went from 37 million from 2008 to 9 million in 2009. Is the minister concerned about the drop in earnings with B.C. Ferries."

(To which Shirley Bond responded)

"Certainly,we`re concerned about dropping revenues.......etc etc" ( Just a teaser friends,I don`t know what to say, Christy Clark isn`t just wrong on one year,just the last 2 years alone she`s out a staggering ...491 $million and 463 $million for a total of 954 $ million)

(Game....Set....Match)

So that was today,yesterday on the Bill Good show....The guest was David Podmore,CEO of PAVCO (BC PLACE)....And what a shocking display it was, Podmore was there to defend the retractable roof(cost 600 million plus).....First off,the vaunted business plan Podmore said has "Still not been completed"....Really,no business plan yet you have announced this project....

So Bill Good lobs softballs and pumps up David Podmore.....Here is little background on Podmore....The 980$ million convention center that Ken Dobell was over seeing,well after 400$ million spent and only a half finished convention center the province brought in David Podmore to get the project on track, well, almost 500$ million later the convention center was complete, did David Podmore save us any money? Who knows, why am I bringing this up? Because Bill Good stated and David Podmore confirmed that " David Podmore was paid nothing to oversee that project" Podmore went onto say that he did it to give back to the community,well.....It gets better, David Podmore and Bill Good went onto say " David Podmore you won`t be paid to oversee the roof replacement on BC Place", "yes that`s correct"

Well,lets examine that shall we, what is your salary from the BC crown corporation known as Pavco.....Drum roll please.......550.000.00$ per year, my oh my,what a humanitarian you are David Podmore, hmmm, working for nothing, 550.000.00$ thousand per year worth of nothing.....Bill Good,that is shameful,half truths with no divulging of those facts, and Podmore had no answers about everything for the BC Place roof being outsourced to China/Washington state and Quebec......And David Podmore when asked about Kerfoot building a waterfront stadium Podmore answered " Well a waterfront stadium would be very expensive" SNIP......Well who cares how much a waterfront stadium costs,it`s private money, no taxpayer money involved,of course Bill Good let that slide,and one can only wonder how Podmore could possibly know how much Kerfoot`s stadium would cost.....Another really intense interview Bill Good, yea,you got your marching orders eh billy(lapdog) Good.

Which brings me back to the lack of a business plan for BC Place and today`s hot story off the news wire, the province has asked for companies to bid on a temporary stadium with seating for at least 30,000 people,concessions,bathrooms, field and.....The seats must be covered with a roof,and all this of course is temporary,and none of this money has been accounted for,this will be a direct cost, and a year plus worth of events cancelled at BC Place,no events there until after the roof is completed,not on the books yet, the temporary structure,not on the books yet.....

(Let me be perfectly clear,we need a new soccer/football stadium,not a refurbishment of the dinosaur known as BC Place, the waterfront would be great,so would Surrey or Delta,hell,even building a new stadium at the old empire stadium would be good,but when we have a private landowner willing to build a state of the art stadium without one dime of taxpayer money, well, what are we waiting for?)

Kerfoot`s the man.....Unless,unless Kerfoot isn`t in Campbell`s back pocket,that`s why this has happened, check out my post "Thunderbolt and Kerfoot" ( http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.com/2009/10/thunder-bolt-and-kerfoot.html) Look at what got built in Montreal for under 50$ million,just imagine what an honest builder could erect with say...300$ million....The BC Place roof is a scam, money laundering I suspect.

This government is a joke,and lastly, you see folks, David Podmore states he won`t be paid for overseeing the roof replacement,but, there will be NO EVENTS at BC PLACE until the roof is finished and.....Podmore will still collect his 550.000.00 per year plus bonuses,shame on your half truths David Podmore,shame on you Bill Good and you too Christie Clark.

The Straight Goods

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

Protesters,prepare to meet LRad,sonic cannon

Fresh off the news wire,the Vancouver police have purchased the "lethal" crowd control device and they claim it has nothing to do with the olympics!

You know, I am just about at my breaking point, how can they continue to lie to us,con us, look friends, we all know the bill authorizing the removal of street people is olympic related,we all know the new provincial authority given to bi-law officers to kick your door down was olympic related,we also know the paramedics were ordered back to work (even though they never left work) because of the olympics.

But, just tell us the god damn truth, I am so sick of John Furlong with his rah rah rah, hand on his heart,the olympic spirit, fock his olympic spirit, this five ring circus is costing us billions with no benefit to average BCers, with absolutely no benefit to BCers east and north of Hope.

So the Vancouver police have gone out and bought a L Rad sonic kaboom cannon and they claim it has nothing to do with the olympics,bullshit, let`s have a look at this lethal cannon.

The Lrad, blasts out a sound wave,a high pitched sound wave of 146 DB(decibels) and the Lrad can cause death, it definitely causes hearing damage,permanent hearing damage,and it also impairs people`s vision, now this relatively new device hasn`t been used that much but, lets have a look where this device has been used.

Camp Bucca(Iraq).....Fallujah(Baghdad)...At the 2004 republican convention...Tbilisi (Georgia) ....It was also used by the sea vessel..Seaborne spirit to fend off pirates,and it worked.

The Vancouver police say, "The purchasing of this device has nothing to do with the olympics" A bald faced lie! (you can read about the LRad here) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Range_Acoustic_Device

My advice to olympic protesters, bring metal shields on masse,because apparently the sound wave can be directed back to the source.

My friends, these confidential agreements between the IOC and the Province and the cities of Whistler/Vancouver and Richmond need to be exposed,yes,there was a referendum on having the olympics but nobody told Vancouverites that their rights were going to be tossed out the window,my friends,this device was purchased but for one reason, to blast olympic protesters off the street....Well, let the law suits fly, anyone who gets blasted with this sonic gun I suggest you sue, even in Bejiing they didn`t have sonic guns,but here? In Canada,shocking!

And David Eby has some excellent points about this military assault weapon ( http://davideby.blogspot.com/2009/11/vpd-media-lines-on-lrad-sonic-gun-fail.html)

You are a gutless Gregor Robertson, and I thought no one could be as bad as the NPA, I guess I was wrong Mr Happy Planet! (More on this story over at Great aunt Bertha`s place) http://eclecticeccentricity.blogspot.com/ Thanks GAB

The Straight Goods

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

The race is on, which federal leader will be the first to denounce the HST

Good news my friends,slippery Jack Layton is forcing the issue on the HST, Stephen Harpers wants his majority,Michael Ignatief wants to bring voters back the the grits,Jack Layton wants to become the official opposition,so what is the good news ? Well my friends, all roads the federal leaders want to travel go through an ANTI/HST platform!
(Updated November 10th/2009) Well my friends,fresh off the news wire,Ian Black minister in charge of trying to sell the HST appeared today at the BURNABY BOARD of TRADE and.......He was scheduled to speak for 20 minutes then answer questions....Well, Ian Black talked for 40 minutes and answered NO QUESTIONS......And the members are furious,their questions wern`t answered,Ian Black told the crowd at the BB of Trade that.....Members can write their questions on the HST on paper and he will eventually answer them!......When hell freezes over.

This is getting very interesting my friends, the HST debate is heating up Canada wide, the NDP government in Nova Scotia(the first ever NDP government in Nova Scotia) are starting to exempt many items form their existing HST tax, the tax they have had since 1997. The fine people of Ontario are ratcheting up the NO HST debate, the federal NDP will vote against the HST in the house of commons, in other words,Slippery Jack Layton has caused a major stir, and...

Gordon Campbell`s worst nightmare is about to come true, Stephen Harper is trying to distance himself from the HST,but he can`t hide,and....Stephen Harper wants oh so bad to get his majority, well his majority hinges on the HST, because, if Stephen Harper denounces and rejects the HST he will get his majority!

Bring on Iggy, the federal Liberals are in deep doo-doo, their at the lowest level in over a century, Michael Ignatief is desperately looking for an issue to breathe life into his federal Liberal party,well....He`s been getting a lot of heat about the HST, will he vote against the HST in the house of commons? I think he will, because,if Iggy votes for taxing BCers and Ontarions he will be cutting his own throat!

as for Jack Layton, lets be perfectly clear, the federal NDP are not going to win the next federal election but.....Jack Layton is going to run on a anti HST platform! Say what you want about Jack, I don`t care if you call Jack a hypocrite or a sleazy politician, Slippery Jack Layton knows a winning issue,and anti HST is the biggest winning issue the federal NDP have ever had!

So here`s the deal folks, everyday more and more people/business/industry/the public are coming out against the HST, everyday the federal Liberals are getting weaker, everyday Stephen Harper dreams about a majority,either Michael Ignatief or Stephen Harper will be the first to run on an Anti HST platform, in fact I could see all three federal parties running on a anti/HST platform, and there is that little issue about Quebec wanting 2.6 billion of back money over the HST...(read about Quebec wanting 2.6 billion here) http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.com/2009/10/quebec-wants-26-billion-for.html

My friends, the day is coming soon, the federal leaders are going to have to take a stance on the HST, Gordon Campbell is living in fear, who will be the first federal leader to dump on the HST, Iggy? Harper? I suspect it will be Stephen Harper to do an about face on the HST, but it matters not, Iggy wont bring back the federal Liberals without denouncing the HST, Harper won`t get his majority without denouncing the HST, and my friends, no matter what, the HST has killed off Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals whether the HST goes through or not!(read more about the HST and Jack Layton here,a good report by Monte Paulson over at the Tyee) http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Federal-Politics/2009/11/06/NDP-to-vote-against-NST-bribe-funds-layton/

So who will reach for the "Brass Ring" first ?

The Straight Goods

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open