British Columbia`s Blathering Windbag

The human toadstool, insert speaking points and blather, wind her up and get out of the way, does this woman have no shame, minister of education while education was systematically gutted, a short stint as minister of (public trough doling)  transportation, and now known as our legal genius, our Attorney General no less, are you Kidding me!

Shirley the stunned will stand up, lie and spin, the ultimate excuse maker, my question is...Why does BC`s media give this wench a free pass time after time, I wrote months ago that the BC/Ottawa RCMP contract negotiations were a mere ploy, I specifically cited the Kevin Falcon failed and predetermined HST negotiations with Ottawa, now Shirley Bond stands naked and exposed(cover your eyes) before BC`s municipalities, a blathering lying windbag, not only are costs going up but the RCMP. an organization that`s badly tarnished in the eye`s of the public, not only are costs going up to cities and towns but wage increases too, in-fact retroactive wage increases are being applied to that contract, when every BC public sector body is being forced to accept zeros, Federally at a time when the CBC, food inspectors, environmental protections are being gutted the RCMP seem immune, let me be clear, my issue isn`t with the pay of officers, the issue is negotiating a contract where our so-called smartest legal mind(in Government) is doing our bidding, and this is the best she can come up with, nothing! To hear Shirley Bond is "shocked and awed" over these revelations so soon after the ink dried comes as no surprise?

Shirley windhag Bond lied about not knowing of wage increases coming to the RCMP, either that or her mind was too simple for the task...

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Toews told Bond the pay raises should not have come as a surprise because they were discussed with the provinces.

“There was a phone call with my staff about a year ago when they said that you should be prepared to anticipate wage increases,” Bond said. “But that was the extent of the discussion. At no point did it come back to us for input on the type of package that would be going to the federal Treasury Board.”

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Grandstanding, blathering, useless, a full-blown scam foisted on the BC Public, the talk in the news by Shirley Windbag about being tough negotiators, the vacant BC threat in the 11th hour of creating our own provincial force, a threat of whimsical proportion, BC could never create its own force in the 11th hour, and what of the over-priced RCMP building in Surrey, a $300 million dollar project that has ballooned to over $1.2 billion dollars, what would become of that building....The RCMP were never ever going to leave..
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A contract to build the new facility was signed in April, 2010 with a private partner, Green Timbers Accommodation Partners, for a fixed cost of $966 million. It was originally estimated that it would cost about $300 million, and Langley City Mayor Peter Fassbender, who has been on the negotiating team, said costs could rise to $1.2 billion.

Another potential cost on the horizon involves labour costs. The RCMP is non-union, but there has been a move underway to unionize the force. If that were to happen, RCMP members could start receiving overtime. Given court delays and understaffing in large detachments like Surrey, this could add significant costs.

Surrey has said repeatedly that it wants to keep the RCMP, and the working relationship between the city and the Surrey RCMP detachment is excellent. Assistant Commissioner Fraser MacRae, commanding officer of Surrey RCMP, works well with the political and administrative leaders of the city.
Surrey has invested in RCMP facilities, such as the new building built to house the Guildford/Fleetwood policing precinct, and a large expansion of the main detachment building was recently completed.

Surrey also likes having a large RCMP presence, as the RCMP will always deal with federal policing matters like border issues and immigration cases – and there are plenty of cases on both fronts in Surrey.

Surrey is reluctant to set up its own police force, although that would likely be a possibility if the RCMP contract is not extended. The province doesn’t seem to have much of a Plan B at present.

 Peace Arch News - COLUMN: Surrey has vested interest in RCMP contract squabble

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So there you have it, that above article was written in October 2011, not only did the Peace Arch news mention the 1.2 $billion dollar plus building but they specifically mentioned RCMP wages, and it also mentioned that BC had NO PLAN B....A little old newspaper in a column mentions wage increases but BC`s negotiators are oblivious..Come on!

So what we have is Shirley Windbag Bond flexing imaginary muscles, BC had no back up plan, Surrey had committed to building state of the art RCMP buildings before the negotiations, and all the phony fanfare from the BC Harper Christy Clark party, and just what exactly did Shirley Bond deliver, from what I gather, nothing..

It was all a smoke show, pure political bullshit designed to fool a gullible electorate, at a time of the IAN Bush ghost stories, Monty Robinson and many many other RCMP horror stories, at no time in history of BC have the cops been so-distrusted then at that time, BC was cracking down and negotiating...Yea, sure we were ...Costs for smaller municipalities are going up, costs for larger municipalities are going up, RCMP wages are going up, last year, this year and the next three years, the force may also go union in the future which will entail even more costs....

What kind of negotiator excludes pay raises and their implications, one that never negotiated anything, for in-fact the Harper version of the Federal Government told British Columbia in no uncertain terms that there was the deal, take it or leave it, Shirley Bond delivered nothing, as did Kevin Falcon when he negotiated to no avail the horrific BC HST betrayal, ...Think of Falcon`s negotiating prowess, we are stuck with the HST that the BC Liberals foisted on us...From July 2010 to April 2013..3 years of a 5 year deal sees BCers paying $billions in extra taxes each year and still we as a province have to payback the entire $1.6 billion dollar bribe...Falcon delivered nothing, and in-fact the BC Government is plotting such ruthless tactics in taxation that we will never be free of the HST, the rumor mill is abuzz with stories of a contemplated permanent new entertainment and meals tax, call it an HST replacement tax, all through the ministry of finance trickery taxes are being developed to maintain the corporate largesse tax holiday...

Why has the media failed to hound Christy Clark, complicated new tax rules for homebuilders were developed, certain areas there is no HST, vacation properties outside of greater Victoria and Vancouver are now HST free, all designed to appease the grumbling homebuilders, winners and losers chosen, yet Christy Clark`s Harper controlled Government couldn`t remove a little tax from the price of meals, or domestic flights, all too complicated for BC`s finance ministry....Yet they can deliver these rules for people buying second homes, vacation properties and the like.
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"To help support workers and communities in B.C. that depend on residential recreational development, purchasers of new secondary vacation or recreational homes outside the Greater Vancouver and Capital regional districts priced up to $850,000 will now be eligible to claim a provincial grant of up to $42,500 effective April 1, 2012."

• B.C.’s portion of the HST will no longer apply to newly built homes where construction begins on or after April 1, 2013. Builders will once again pay seven per cent PST on their building materials. On average, about two per cent of the home’s final price will again be embedded PST.
• The temporary housing transition measures will be in place for two years, until March 31, 2015. The tax only applies to homes where construction begins before the transition date and ownership and possession occur after.
• The temporary housing transition tax and the temporary housing transition rebates will be administered by the Canada Revenue Agency on behalf of B.C. The Province is administering the grant for new secondary vacation and recreational homes.

For newly built homes where construction begins before April 1, 2013, but ownership and possession occur after, purchasers will not pay the seven per cent provincial portion of the HST. Instead, purchasers will pay a temporary, transitional provincial tax of two per cent on the full house price. This ensures equitable treatment among purchasers and will help mitigate distortive market behaviour. Builders will receive temporary housing transition rebates to offset PST on materials to help prevent double-taxation on homebuyers.

• Average amount of embedded sales tax in newly built homes under PST: two per cent.
• Tax paid by purchasers on an $850,000-newly built home after HST rebate: two per cent.
• Tax rate on a newly built home during transition: two per cent.
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  "For newly built homes where construction begins before April 1, 2013, but ownership and possession occur after, purchasers will not pay the seven per cent provincial portion of the HST. Instead, purchasers will pay a temporary, transitional provincial tax of two per cent on the full house price. This ensures equitable treatment among purchasers and will help mitigate distortive market behaviour. Builders will receive temporary housing transition rebates to offset PST on materials to help prevent double-taxation on homebuyers.
  
  Average amount of embedded sales tax in newly built homes under PST: two per cent"
   The Straight Goods: BC Budget and Transitional Rules, Under the Microsope of the Persuader and Mom
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You see there never was an HST negotiation with Ottawa, Falcon and his ilk love the HST, the tax is still here, and again, from the rumor mill, Christy Clark has surrounded herself with Harper`s hand-picked deputies and through them Harper is calling the shots, not Christy puppet Clark, the polls are dismal for the BC Liberals and if the next election is already lost, if the next election is lost to the NDP there is no point in doing anything to appease the voters, new tax changes to be legislated in next spring`s budget will nullify any changes to the reverting back to the pst/gst...In other words the BC Liberals and or John Cummins(ask him, ask his candidates) have no intention of removing the HST, at least not completely, both parties endorse it.

Why has no one asked, they can craft fancy homebuilding HST transitional rules for people buying homes, eer, I mean second homes and vacation property but they can`t remove $2 dollars from a pizza for your average Joe...Where`s Einstein when you need him...

How could we ever have had success negotiating out of the HST when Kevin Falcon said things like this through out the negotiations with Ottawa...

"The HST was good policy rolled out badly.....It`s foolish returning to an archaic old clunker of a tax in the PST/GST"

It`s quite clear to anyone who looks at it, we don`t have a British Columbia controlled provincial Government, we have a Stephen Harper controlled provincial Government, Gordon Campbell and his brother Michael Campbell along with spineless Liberal MLAs sold out to Harper, Gordon Campbell has long since fled Canada with his ill-gotten loot and Smiley face Christy Clark was recruited to keep in place Harper`s policies....What are these Liberals  calling themselves now, the "Free Enterprise Party"...Free for who, not the average taxpayer, not for families, students, the poor, a regressive tax, but there was one silver lining... As you know when the HST came in the price of expensive luxury vehicles went down, rich cats could save $10 to 20K per new car, yet private used car sale`s costs went up 5%, and corporations pay no sales tax still, 4 years of reward while consumers pay.... Kevin Falcon claims it`s too complicated to change the tax rate on a cash register at McDonalds, 3 years to remove that tax....Are you kidding me

Shirley Windbag Bond, the ultimate word twisting babblerdoctor went on the Sean Leslie show(Saturday past) where she received T-ball questions from the jellied one Sean Leslie..Bond expressed shock and dismay over the RCMP wage increases and then she blathered out news of whopper sized savings, only these alleged savings are but vague faint verbal illusions..

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A surprise pay raise for RCMP contracts in B.C. could be offset by sweeping nation-wide cost reductions that could reach $195 million, but details of such savings have yet to be released

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Shirley Bond stated on air that she knew nothing of any wage increases, including retroactive wage increases, but in her same breath Wind-hag Bond claimed she called Vic Toews who explained to her that there were going to be unspecified savings that will offset these wage increases...

Oh Shirley Bond, how dare you insult the BC Public with blather about "unspecified savings"...These tough, ongoing negotiations BC was supposedly having with Ottawa, yet Shirley Bond knew of no wage increase, These marathon sessions, face to face, niggling out the little details and Shirley Bond calls Vic Toews after the wages are revealed and chief negotiator Shirley Windbag Bond is satisfied and reassured by Toews because of some "unspecified savings"

Yet those cost savings are nowhere to be found in the contract, because if they were, Vic Toews would have no reason to explain it to our negotiator, verbally I mean..Are there no written details, nothing,....Yet..When, after, yikes..That`s negotiating.,.

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B .C. Minister of Justice and Attorney General Shirley Bond said she was just as surprised by the announcement, but she immediately contacted the federal government and has been reassured the estimated cost savings will reduce the impact of those wage hikes

Bond contacted federal Public Safety Minister Vic Toews after she learned about the pay raise, which was made by the Treasury Board and included in the federal budget.

 She was assured that the RCMP budget will see about $195 million in savings across the country.
 
“All of us are encouraged by the ministers office that there are two sides to the equation,” Bond said.

 “When you take the package in its totality, there’s potential for this to have very little, if any, impact on municipalities.”

Toews told Bond the pay raises should not have come as a surprise because they were discussed with the provinces. 


“There was a phone call with my staff about a year ago when they said that you should be prepared to anticipate wage increases,” Bond said. “But that was the extent of the discussion. At no point did it come back to us for input on the type of package that would be going to the federal Treasury Board.”

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How is it Shirley Bond forgot about wage increases, the point I`m making, Vic Toews mentioned wage increases, there was no reason to delve deeper in that discussion on a Federal level, other provinces like Alberta had already signed on the dotted line and BC was getting the same deal as everyone else, that`s the bottom line, there never was a negotiation period!

Because what deal did BC Receive that was different?

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I think it’s important we get the facts. I understand the concern of the municipalities. I’m concerned too,” she said.

 “But I’m encouraged by [Toews’] statement. There are other considerations than just wage increases.” 

 The funding formula for the RCMP remains the same as the old contract.


Municipalities with more than 15,000 people pay 90 per cent of the contract, while the province picks up the remainder of the bill. Smaller communities between 5,000 and 15,000 people pay a 70-30 split.
B.C. is home to 9,500 RCMP officers and civilian employees — more than any other province in Canada.

Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/business/Surprise+salary+increase+RCMP+could+offset+cost+reductions/6425767/story.html#ixzz1rZljw5Xd

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Shirley Bond is encouraged by Vic Toews statement, oh goody for us...

A statement, after blathering on and on about tough negotiations we had zero say over wage increases, zero say over anything, the cost to towns and cities are going up and Windbag Bond is telling BCers she is "encouraged" about "potential"  savings, not a thing in the contract but she is "reassured by a STATEMENT"....Where is the contract language, contract language on wages, cost sharing, contract talk on these mythical savings because surely if there were savings, negotiated savings different from other provinces we would have heard as much..But we heard nary a peep..

We have an open-mouthed windbag blathering about being reassured by a statement, this a whole 2 weeks after BC signed the same deal every other province did...

And where is the media to call out our provincial Government for these sham negotiations,  perhaps Shirley  Bond could point out the differences between the RCMP contracts between provinces...Ahh, but then the media might have to admit it`s been had..

Hook, Line, and Sinker.

Welcome to British Columbia, home of the BC Stephen Harper Provincial Government..

The Straight Goods

Cheers Eyes Wide Open