Fireplace Memories And Trembling Hands

 Written by Grant G

Silence of the keyboard, over a week since I wrote anything, at times there is nothing to say, words need not be spoken or written, and this friends was one of those weeks..

My dad in recent years looked forward to fire`s warm embrace, tired achy muscles needing nothing but the comfort of a living room fire, dad was mesmerized as orange embers danced to a crackling log medley, a cup of hot tea and the movie of the week, I don`t think I really understood at the time exactly how much pleasure dad received from life`s simplest pleasures, the word contentment comes to mind..

With nervous hands I lit a second living room fire in recent days, cold gray skies and the need of a warm blanket forced my trembling hands into a match strike, eighteen months of personal terror, eighteen months of cobwebs taking over our woodshed, there is no logical reason to fear fire, or to dance in the rain, in time, in time it gets easier, so I`m told...Dad embraced fire`s warm kiss and never ran from his fears while my hands were still quivering over the thought of fire starting, how can simple black and white divides cause one such painful soul searching, seeing father sitting next to Mom drinking hot tea, both enjoying one of life`s simple pleasures, that being fireplace heat on a cold wintry night brought me comfort too..

Heathenology..

Christy Clark made an appearance on February 6th to discuss her open religion, her faith, her belief in the bible, she talked for ten minutes and took questions for thirty minutes more, many were puzzled as to why Christy would engage in religionpolitics, that answer was simple, rumour has it there were votes available, Clark is searching under bushes, in ditches, looking high and low, far and wide, let no political votes go unapproached, Christy is praying for spiritual intervention, praying for drought, for locusts, Christy Clark is praying for political opponents to vanish from the face of the earth, Clark is praying for her biggest fear to vanish..That fear being people seeing what Christy Clark herself sees when she looks in the mirror...Not a devout reflection but a deviant thespian, a bad actress spouting fake lines in a BC made soap opera..

  She frets not over balancing the budget and she isn`t concerned by not creating jobs, she doesn`t fear the plight of the weakest among us, like the 11 year old boy in ministerial care who was tasered, nor does Christy Clark fear her inability to speak fluent English or inability to direct a thoughtful path forward,  Christy Clark`s biggest fear is the mirror, a mirror that reflects back the painful honest truth, 

Our outgoing BC Liberal Government can best be described as a wounded animal, a dangerous backed in a corner wounded wild animal..

A political party laying on the ground, bleeding from every orifice, arms flailing, legs thrashing around violently, a lifeless soulless entity left with nothing but harsh partisan words, brackish spittle and harmless bluster, the call to arms to party faithful goes unanswered, there are however a few in our midst who are willing to kindle a farewell fire, including my trembling hands..

I wonder if Christy Clark prayed for a rosy labour market report, 16,000 more jobs vanished in BC last month, since the 1 year mark of her well advertised and self promotional BC Liberal jobs plans the results are in..1200 hundred fewer jobs today then there were a year ago, an abject failure, or perhaps Christy Clark`s jobs plan was actually hatched and designed to curry media favour, that being favour in the executive boardrooms and advertising departments, perhaps Pat Bell should look to the trend lines from month to month rather than to espouse historical revisionist rhetoric, for according to jobs minister Pat Bell everything is higher today than that of the 90`s..Can you speak Mandarin Mr. Bell? or just jibberish?

To light a match,  to spark the kindling, I see the faces of long lost feline friends who comforted my tortured soul, I see my family members burning in a sea of flames, I also see my Dad embracing orange heat, rubbing his tired arms, sipping his hot tea while reminiscing the past with his faithful life partner, mom and dad`s grandchildren tales lit up not only each other`s eyes but the room itself and it`s those thoughts that will ultimately prevail not the unwarranted guilt of memory, of consciousness, of loss, of the past, of not being able to change the past, of living with the consequences of fate...

Enbridge has no world class marine oil spill clean up plan, that will come after approval of the project, those needling pesky little details again, Enbridge has no details of how it will cross 800 BC river and streams, just approve the project and they`ll get back to us, every geo(rockslide area) hazard, oil spill clean up plan, river crossing details, financial liability, every issue after 1 year of Enbridge hearings still remain unanswered, Enbridge officials time and time again fall back to a tiresome refrain..

"Just rubber-stamp and approve the project and details will follow"..

The Enbridge project is over, they like Christy Clark and her party apparatchik are both on temporary life-support, both will fail, both will fall, Christy Clark and the Liberals will die a swift death while Enbridge and one trick-pony Stephen Harper will slowly suffocate, the NEB Joint Review Panel has no choice but to not approve northern Gateway, when Stephen Treason Harper over steps his authority and mandate, when Harper tries to push through his Tar Sand insanity agenda his grip on power will fade too, those signs are already here...Senator Brazeau is a casualty and a sign of Harper`s future, Justin Trudeau destroyed Brazeau in the fighting ring, beaten, mentally wounded, a thug whipped into submission, a thug that represents everything Stephen Harper, a crude brute whose beatdown laid by the hands of Justin Trudeau, mentally Brazeau never recovered, between Thomas Mulcair and Justin Trudeau and Stephen Harper`s dying political base one need only look south to the Republican party to see Stephen Harper`s future, bleak, weak and quickly forgotten...The mirror will be unfriendly to both Stephen Harper and Christy Clark, neither can run away or hide from their biggest fears, that being themselves..

Sukh Dhaliwal, Christy Clark`s Indo-Canadian superstar, tax evasion and an early exit, BC Jobs plan, an abject failure, Enbridge hearings all but over, another poll showing Christy Clark and party stuck at 20% support, another poll confirming what we all know,...BC Hydro`s forecast service plan shows $billions in direct losses accruing to BC taxpayers, losses directly caused by Gordon Campbell`s policies..

Buy high and sell low, guarantee public dollar largesse to BC Liberal friendlies, John Calvert`s book "Liquid Gold" describes why and how we got here, how the BC Liberal betrayal is not only unraveling WAC Bennett`s vision of cheap public owned power, it has also transfered $billions in wealth from public hands to private interest hands, there is no shock, this day was destined to happen, actions of the past brought us here, cheerleaders Vaughn Palmer and Bill Good and Michael Smyth disgust me, they so promoted private IPP power deals, they bought into Gordon Campbell`s lies lock stock and barrel, they saw BC Liberal friends become wealthy beyond their dreams, and despite Calvert`s, despite Rafe Mair`s, mine and many many other voices warning of where we were going, we`re here, BC Hydro now in structural deficit, no longer is BC Hydro an asset, BC Hydro is a dying corpse, bleeding cash, can it be fixed, 2 options, give BC Hydro more money(read ratepayer) or go to court to bust ridiculous energy buying contracts, for years we informed readers, writers and other concerned citizens howled about the cost, the guarantees, the killing of fish, killing habitat, we called a spade a spade, the net/exporter/importer argument, the no-risk to taxpayers, the expertise, everyone of those lies perpetrated by our gutless media, and Vaughn Palmer and Bill Good have the unmitigated gall to defend the Campbell brother`s IPP actions, for shame..Billy Good talks about the "risk" IPPs took, wrong Billy Good, IPPs had 40 year guarantees, ..Vaughn Palmer now muses about how BCers and the incoming NDP Government are oh-so lucky that we have all this excess power, you know, all that expected need from LNG exporters, you see, from the lie about being a net importer years ago, the lie about BC Hydro lacking expertise, now the media`s lies have morphed into anticipated need for power by LNG exporters..

Wrong Vaughn, LNG exporters, if they get any Asian 40 year long-term gas buying contracts at lucrative prices matters not, for LNG exporters won`t pay the going contracted IPP rate, they will pay pennies on the dollars for that power, so even if LNG producers take it all, they won`t even pay the industrial rate, they want the power for free...BC Taxpayers will still lose $Billions per year on electricity sales, who knows for sure, but maybe, just maybe one day BC LNG exporters will pay enough royalties to the BC Government to pay for the IPP guaranteed contracts, I won`t be holding my breath, either way, no future rainbow for BC Hydro or taxpayer awaits, corporate welfare, the illusion continues, this will be a future media headline  LNG exporter pay BC royalties of $300 million..What won`t be said is...LNG exporters cost BC Hydro ratepayers $600 million per year...
This changing of the media`s IPP lies, Vaughn Palmer now musing of LNG electrical demand possibly developing in the future.....

Why can`t they(The Media) just admit it, say something like this..

"BC Liberals totally screw up BC Hydro, Idiotic moves,..... Blatant mismanagement, no oversight, .....Too many Gordon Campbell cabinet orders,... Lie after BC Hydro lie foisted on the public,....
 BC Hydro moves so stupid how could it not be corruption"...

Those should all be headlines for present and future BC Hydro stories, it`s unfortunate those weren`t headlines from the past, media failure personified..

Christy Clark, BC Jobs plan, IPPs, BC Hydro financial losses, job losses, scandal after scandal, BC Rail, HST, Enbridge, ...

We here at The Straight Goods feel no need to kick rabid dogs when they`re down or to pour salt in their festering open wounds, both Christy Clark and Stephen Harper will be gone, one sooner than the other, I might see the faces of my perished family dancing in the flames but I also see my Dad embracing Orange fiery warmth, I also see both parents satisfied with the knowledge they added to the betterment of society, content with their sired contributions to mother earth..

I`m not talking about BC Liberals or the Whigs anymore, one is gone the other going, both will be sad foot-notes of history soon to be forgotten, no need to talk of BC Liberals, they are now irrelevant..

Christy Clark and Stephen Harper...

The politics of the Past and the Fear of the Mirror.

I won`t fear the fire, trembles will fade..

I will however, always miss my family


The Straight Goods

Cheers Eyes Wide Open