The rats are fleeing the SS Campbell one by one

Some very interesting developments,but lets go to January 2009.



Chris Trumpy,a long serving top accountant in financing,well as you know Gordon Campbell and Colin Hansen lied their faces off about the state of our BC books, they CLUNG to the numbers Chris Trumpy signed off on in January,those numbers were predicting a 495$ million deficit,and as you know the deficit was actually 4 billion$(Campbell claims 2.8 billion but remember 1 billion was applied from the HST bribe to the debt plus massive cuts to arts/sports/schools/health), but the funny thing is with the budget Chris Trumpy signed off on was, for the first time Chris Trumpy didn`t allow a forecast allowance and.....Immediately after signing off on that budget he shocked everyone and suddenly retired, and as you know if Trumpy didn`t resign he would have had to of updated his forecast before the election,and of course Campbell and Hansen lied up to and through the election and then suddenly after the election they claimed 3 billion$ vanished over two months!



Jessica MacDonald..Now there was another shocker,the young,sorta attractive deputy Premier out of the blue resigns, well my friends, from what I read she was well liked and performed her duties well, and despite the decisions she made you must remember she had to toe the line,Campbell is a control freak, Jessica MacDonald`s job was managing the public service work force and public relations,and from rumours that were flying around many people/insiders were surprised with her rise through the ranks,and,18 months ago Jessica MacDonald got a massive pay raise,her wage went up by 104.000.00$ per year to a yearly total of 348.000.00$ plus the usual expense account, now apparently Jessica MacDonald felt so guilty about her pay raise she didn`t take it,that may or may not be true and her pension is probably based on that amount but it`s not her fault,who wouldn`t take money,,,ah but I digress, so why out of the blue did she resign?



Could it be that Jessica MacDonald wasn`t prepared to be Campbell`s hatchet man? Why did Chris Trumpy,a well respected deputy finance minister resign, and resign after no forecast allowance and before the Biggest fudget budget deficit in BC history, makes you think doesn`t it?



So yesterday Bob Elton CEO of BC Hydro is moving to the board of directors and into a "innovative unit" at BC Hydro,he is no longer CEO, now you have to remember that Bob Elton has basically gone along with Gordon Campbell`s whims,and it was Campbell who appointed him because as you know Bob Elton has only been CEO for 6 years,so why is Bob Elton running away, could it have something to do with the financial books,could it have something to do with reviews being done at all crown corporations? Or perhaps it`s another one of the rats fleeing the sinking SS Campbell?



Which brings me to todays shocker ...Tom Prendergast CEO of Translink is leaving,gone,caput,and as you know Tom Prendergast has only been here for 18 months,he was the head of the New York subway system before he came to Translink, now lets be clear,Translink is a disaster that`s going broke, the province has continued to download responsibilities of the ministry of transportation upon Translink but without providing funding,Falcon created a disaster with this Transit governance model without a funding source,basically Falcon and Campbell tried to create this taxing beast known as Translink to take and take from you without any accountability,with bridges,overpasses,paving,maintenance of bridges,road building,those items shouldn`t be in Translink they should be in the ministry of transportation.



Anyways,I have spoken to Tom Prendergast twice,and both times I spoke to him and asked questions of him he answered me honestly, Tom Prendergast didn`t build Translink,but, he was honest,he was honest about the money required to build more skytrain,honest about needing funding sources and,he was honest and didn`t mince words,he said without a committed funding source nothing else would be built, I don`t think Campbell enjoyed having a CEO who didn`t bow to him or agree to lie to the public, and as you know that Translink is broke,the council of mayors just a few days ago agreed to give Translink the minimum funding, 150 million a year, which means as far as transit is concerned the only thing happening is the status quo...Translink had three funding requests...#1)150 million more money per year for the status quo----#2)300 million per year annually for extra buses south of the fraser and expanded Surrey buses---Funding plan #3) 450 million$ extra funding annually for skytrain expansion(evergreen line) and expanded bus service.



Well my friends, the mayors only agreed to the minimum funding 130$ million in annual funding.(read about the mayors decision here) http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/2010wintergames/Metro+Vancouver+mayors+vote+extra+million+Translink/2138234/story.html



So Tom Prendergast doesn`t want to waste his time on a broke transit sytem and more importantly he won`t be Campbell`s spin doctor so Prendergast is fleeing the sinking SS Campbell with all the other rats.And of course there is that other pesky thing going on,there are reviews going on at BC ferries and Translink being done by the Comptroller general Cheryl Wenezenki-Yolland,(read about what BC ferries and Translink think about being reviewed here) http://www.vancouversun.com/newsTranslink+ferry+costs+undergo+huge+review/1839815/story.html



Now that report from the comptroller general has been completed,it was completed last week and apparently the government doesn`t want to release it,I wonder why? I wonder if these reports have anything to do with Tom Prendergast suddenly resigning (and by the way, Tom Prendergast was paid more money with Translink then he was paid the New York subway system when he worked there two years ago) We will never know for sure,but I suspect Tom Prendergast`s hands were tied and he wasn`t going to stay quiet so he left.(read about Shirley Bond not sharing the results of the Comptroller general report on Ferries and Translink here,apparently the report was completed sept 30th) http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Transportation/2009/11/02/BondsBypass/

My Friends,in my opinion the SS Campbell is taking on water,the rats are fleeing,some smart competent people are leaving,the Head of Finance..GONE...Head of the public service..GONE...Head of BC Hydro..GONE...Head of Translink..GONE..Now remember,all of these people were appointed by Campbell...Who will be the next rat to leave the SS Campbell?Rumour has it they can`t give away Liberal memberships away to the Public,party donations are nil from people,Liberal MLA`s are reported to be in almost hiding in their own ridings, apparently your more likely to see a spotted owl then a BC Liberal MLA in public!


The Straight Goods
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