Let me start by saying this, if Vancouver Island was a B.C. Liberal riding stronghold, if the BC Liberals needed Vancouver island ridings in their political camp to form Government ferry fares would be half the current price or even less..
Second, everything blathered by the BC Liberals on BC Ferries is a lie....Gordon Campbell lied, David Hahn lied and Christy Clark repeated those BC Ferry lies on radio, and the liefest continues today...
Below is factual, below is actual radio transcript I received from the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council after I filed a formal complaint against Christy Clark and CKNW...Christy Clark was found guilty and was forced to retract her on air statements..
Christy Clark`s on CKNW and her opening statement on BC Ferries and David Hahn,,
________________
The Christy Clark show ....The transcript.....Christy Clark`s words...
Clark "How much of a difference has his leadership made at BC Ferries?
It`s a company that now delivers a half a billion dollars in profit back to you and I !{sic} the taxpayers and don`t forget, we didn`t start making this profit until after David Hahn took over and started cleaning it up.
So how much is that worth to you? And to me, the people who pay taxes in this Province?
Yes, we could cut David Hahn`s pay. We could save the corporation maybe a hundred, two hundred, maybe three hundred grand a year. And then when he leaves and is replaced by somebody who`s willing to work for less, how much profit will there be left for the taxpayer to garner?
Would we be earning four hundred million instead of five? Three hundred million insted of five? Maybe we`d be earning the same amount. The fact is no one knows. But are you willing to take that risk? Are you willing to risk hundreds of millions in profits to save perhaps a couple of hundred thousand dollars in salary?
The fact is that leadership really does matter.
And in the case of BCFerries, it`s pretty easy to argue David Hahn`s leadership in particular has made a very, very big difference. Is he overpaid?
I don`t know. I `m not really sure what the job is worth.
But I do know that five hundred million dollars in profit back to you and I {sic} the taxpayer, is a pretty good deal.
What do you think...604-280-9898...*9898 on your cell.
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That was Christy Clark`s opening statement, then this blogger was first up on the phone lines at cknw, I attempted to straighten out Christy Clark and her lies, she wouldn`t budge, she stayed on message defending David Hahn and the BC Liberals.....Have a listen(read) to that conversation..
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Clark- "Hi Brian"
Brian-.Hi Christy, you know, I don`t know where you get your facts from, but you know BC Ferries has a $1.4 billion dollar capital debt. In the last fiscal reported quarter, April, May and june of this year, they didn`t even make enough money to cover their operating expenses and interest payments, which is fifty million dollar per year on their capital debt. Plus the Province subsidizes BC Ferries to the tune of almost two hundred million dollars a year. Where do you get this $500 million dollar profit amount from?
Clark--They, they return that to the taxpayer. It is on, you can find it in public accounts.
Brian--Yea, well, I suggest that you do a little more scanning and talk to Gary Coons, uh the, ferry critic....Because BC Ferries is in, is right now, is in a financial disaster.uh!
Clark-but they don`t have a fi, they don`t have a capital debt, though. Brian, because
Brian--Yes they do!..$1.4 billion dollars!
Clark-No, hold on, hold on, listen, listen, listen! listen. They don`t have a capital debt. though, because of David Hahn. They have a capital debt largely because we spent so much money on the fast ferries that there was no money left over to actually look after the ferries that were going to work in british Columbia. They had to build new ferries.
Brian--No, your wrong on that. Christy, because when Hahn took over, all the debt that BC Ferries had was retired by the Province. Hahn came in there was a clean slate. And this $1.4 billion dollar debt has been gathered up since Hahn has been at the-
Clark-But he, but, Brian, my point is he came in with BC Ferries that were, a fleet that was, in such a bad state of dis-repair, I mean, some of the ferries were, I think, thirty or forty years old
Brian-Christy-
Clark-They had to be upgraded
Brian-No, no no
Clark-and there was no money to do it because it had been misspent in previous years. That money for the fast ferries should have gone into upgrading the fleet over those years.
Brian--Christy, I have been riding the ferries for thirty years. The, the Langdale run, the island, there are no more sailings than there ever was {sic} The schedule`s been the same for three decades on the Sunshine coast. Uh, they sunk a ferry under Hahn...The fast ferries were a bad design and, and is at issue, but, that the fast ferries had nothing to do with maintenance of the fleet-
Clark-YES!
Brian-Or money taken away from ferries-
Clark-Of course it did!
Brian-No it didn`t!
Clark-Of course it did, all those years-
Brian-Look at the convention center--
Clark-All of, oh, come on! Leave the convention center out of this! That`s, that`s crazy. The money that went into the fast ferries was diverted from BC Ferries budget and it shoud have gone into replacing the ancient archaic, old fleet. And it didn`t! That`s why there`s a capital debt at BC ferries. Make no doubt. There is absolutely no doubt about that. The convention center doesn`t have a whole lot to do with that Brian." ____________________________________________________________________________________________
And with that the conversation and Christy liefest ended.....Now let me add a few points, after her show I sent Christy the financial`s for BC Ferries, PDF files, BC Ferries annual audits, I sent her a dozen stories and asked her to retract, she ignored me and I warned her that I was filing a complaint to the CBSC...And I did....And...
And on November 26/2009 at 2:57 PM Christy Clark retracted, sort of....Christy Clark clarified and said, on air..
Clark said-
"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"
______
BC Ferries, let`s talk ridership and economic activity, the BC Liberals went $500 million dollars over budget on the convention center, they had a $450 million dollar budget and the final price tag was near $1 billion dollars, and yet the convention center loses $millions of dollars every year, the Government doesn`t raise convention fees to make it profitable because that would cause companies to take their convention business elsewhere, the BC Liberals when confronted on this issue make the claim that the convention center generates economic activity, therefor the losses are acceptable...
What generates more economic activity, the convention center or BC Ferries...Easy, BC Ferries generates $billions and $billions in economic activity, it blows the convention center away, cheap ferry fares would spur way more tourism, hotel stays, restaurants and recreational activities and those who travel on BC Ferries, besides buying goods, momentos and gifts, besides all of that Vancouver island is huge, a huge highway covered island, a highway full of cars buying fuels, buying gasoline..
Everyone who pays taxes in British Columbia is paying for highways in Fort Nelson, paying for the kicking horse canyon bridge, paying for potholes to be fixed, repaving, re-marking highway lane dividing lines, everyone pays...
The Georgia Straight, no potholes get paved or filled in, not line painting, no water maintenance..
Yes, I pay for road paving in Fort Nelson, so do you, no one in the province has to pay a dime in British Columbia for maintenance on the roads BC Ferries traverse...(The ocean)
I never use skytrain, my mother has never used skytrain, most homeowners and car drivers never use skytrain yet...
Yet my mother has paid $tens of thousands of dollars to Translink, the bill is on her property taxes, on her hydro bill, she and all fuel buyers are giving Translink 17 cents per litre, everytime you fill up with gas in the GVRD you are handing money over to Translink..And Translink still wants more money..
I hear phone callers calling in saying they have to pay tolls to cross a bridge, $2.50 each way, or if you like..$5.00 dollars for a round trip..if they round trip 5 days a week, 20 days per month the cost is $100.00...And it doesn`t matter if you have 1 person or 10 persons in your car, that toll stays the same...
A round trip to Vancouver island for a lone driver in a regular car is $150.00...if there was 5 passengers in that car the round trip cost is $270.00.....
The announced service cuts will backfire, the cutting of senior discounts will backfire, ridership will continue to fall and so will the viability of Vancouver island businesses..
Successful businesses hire employees, pay taxes, the multiplier affect, ...
I won`t venture into the slot machine decision right now except to say this..
Las Vegas learned a long time ago..
They offer airfare and hotels for next to nothing, they learned that the most important thing for profits is to get their customers to Las Vegas, without that you lose..in other words, Las Vegas businesses subsidize tourist`s air flight tickets to and from Las Vegas..And Reno...It makes good business sense.
BC Ferries should receive a portion of gas taxes as a reliable revenue source..
BC Liberals, starting with Gordon Campbell have committed crimes with BC Ferries, committed financial fraud and now becuase of political vindictiveness and the fact that Vancouver island and coastal communities are NDP and Green party territory they will not relent..
And..
BC Liberals couldn`t run a peanut stand..
http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.ca/2011/07/premier-gordon-butterfly-campbells.html
http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.ca/2009/11/bc-ferries-gordon-campbells-atm-machine.html
http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.ca/2010/12/christy-clark-spins-and-lies-on-her.html
Christy Clucking Clark, the premier, a dunce, a school dropout...
Families First eh Christy Clark....YEA!
The Straight Goods
Cheers Eyes Wide Open
15 comments:
Thanks for bumping this issue back into the presenting reality.
I missed all the double-dealing the first time around; but I think you've revealed the fraud for me now.
So let me see if I've got this straight:
1) after a underhanded frame-up using the tv media, scampbell comes to power in 2001 and cuts corpoate/income taxes, scandering a $1.6B surplus.
2) large deficits follow
3) BCRail is sold off to major liberal donor, davey maclean and his moneyed chums
4)next, they shift BC Ferries off the government books, while assuming the standing debt, thereby clearing the slate and concealing BC ferries from any real oversight.
5) then BC ferries hires hahn at a million dollars a year, while also taking on a massively expensive corporate management structure
6) BC Ferries then take a $500m loan (+10%/yr.) from foriegn financiers. and pass the money to the government, allowing for a balanced budget on the government side, while forcing BC Ferries to take on a huge debt at outrageous interest.
7) coincidentally BC Ferries has to go further into debt to purchase new boats from an overseas supllier.
8) As result, fares rise steeply and ridership declines accordingly. This poor performance precipitates further losses and requires more government subsidies.
9) The general decline in government revenues also forces significant cuts in services, as well as an increase in user fees and licensing costs.
10) the scampbells also lie about not imposing an HST before the 2009 election; only to quickly do that very thing upon winning that same election.
11) there's also the opaque sell-off of BC Gas in 2005
12) Massive P3 building projects, including a new roof for BC Place, the Convention Centre, the Canada Line, and facilities for 2010 Olympics.
13) Gambling revenue goes increasingly to general revenue instead of charities
Is that about it
You got most of it right Jon Ghun..
except you missed the BC Liberals have blood on their hands..They killed people with dirty outsourced non-cleaned hospitals..
Hurt children in need.
attacked workers, injured workers, bankrupted BC Hydro..Created a massive structure deficit..
I could write for hours on their sins..
And the media plays along with the sham..
@Anon 5:15 pm...
Sorry, your comment wasn`t posted because I asked for no more mention of that blogger.
This site is about real issues, yes opinion oriented but based on the facts as known..
We don`t write fake conversations under the pretense that it was real at this site.
Besides, go ask the "fake" why he never writes about Harper`s misdeeds.
Good Day
Anon 5:15 pm...One more thing..
The conversation attributed to Christy Clark in this posting, that was and is a REAL conversation, not a figment of one`s imagination. that transcript in this posting was sent to me by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council.
and Christy Clark`s on air retraction, as lame as it was, is real too..
Good Day
Did you see Norman Farrells post? WTF
http://northerninsights.blogspot.ca/2013/11/the-bc-ferry-crisis-is-political-one.html
Right, I apologize for forgetting about the tearing up of the HEU contract, and the underfunding of health and social services and education. To say nothing of the devastation being wrecked at bC Hydro.
Damn! When I step back and take it all in, it sure looks the mob came in and took over BC.
Consider the following:
1)They gained control of the top levels of the provincial media (under denis skulsky; fazil millar, palmer;corus/bill good;canned west/baldrey; smart at the cbc, wendy cox ( farrell collins' wife) and numerous other highly conflicted bit players).
2)Obviously got the reins on the provincial government (through scampbell/crispy clarke/geoff plante/gary farrell collins/judith reid/falcon/ and stone wally oppal).
3) They effectively managed the top rcmp brass via kevin debruyckere (brother-in-law of B.C. liberal party executive director kelly reichert.)/giuliano zaccardelli /ex-mountie, richie coleman/ andrew cowen? ravinder (rob) dosanjh.
4)They brought the provincial administration to heel (martyn brown/loukedelis/chris trumpy/ george copely/ jessica mcdonald and her husband, caucus communications director for the bc liberals, mike mcdonald/ alan seckel/ paul taylor
5)They reined supreme in the courts through patrick domn and berardino and annie mackenzie.
6) They also employed powerful fixers--like patty kinsella/dave basi/mark marissen/david anderson/brian kieran/ken dobell--who all went to work keeping the ducks all in row and coordinating with the corporate bosses like peter brown, david maclean, richard lee, milan ilach, and terry hui.
7)As well, they employed women collaborators--crsipy, jane bird, laura dauphinee, chompy chong, carole taylor, and others--mostly to run cover for the "G"reat builders working inside the temple (or should i say, lodge). Wink/wink.
Damn! This had to have been a coordinated criminal enterprise orchestrated by a band brothers, who felt secure behind some sort of code of silence and loyalty oath.
What's worse is that they've succeeded so far and show no signs of letting up any time soon.
Yes, I saw Norms post and he is absolutely correct, those are some of the crimes the BC Liberals have committed with BC Ferries.
As written here many many times, BC Ferries could save $10s of millions every year if they were returned to crown corporation status.(They would get the best interest rate possible, not the 8% to 10% they are paying on their debt as a quasi corp, crown corp rate would be 4%..Do the math, they would save a tonne of money every year)
However, that interest payment scam was not by accident, BC Ferries pays interest to German Banks every year, interst on a debt that will never be reduced.
BC Ferries pays what I call..A minimum payment on a credit card..
They will pay that minimum payment forever without reducing their debt.
Farrell does some good stuff with charts and graphs.
Cheers
Very good Mr. Ghun..
I give you an A+
But..They haven`t got away with anything..Gordon Campbell has to live in a foreign country and the cupboard was left bare for Christy Clark..
It is true that no one has been punished(yet)..
But..imagine having to live the rest of your life looking behind you, watching for shadows..
Karma..
and, by the way..Christy Clark, she isn`t smart enough to devise anything, she gets handed a script by her handlers and they pray she doesn`t mess up her lame talking points.
Cheers
It's fine to get your approval of my analysis; but i really intended to put it out there so that we can begin trying to find a way to get past this abysmal state we find ourselves being put in.
Apart from being heartened by people like you, Ross K., and Norm Farrell, I am starting to despair at the people's apathy and aboulia.
This crime gang in government and their decade-long spree has to be stopped right now; but how are we going to do it when they've formed a $indicate that has taken total control of the levers of power?
Now I understand that crispy is just a front for the dark forces hiding behind her. By putting up that front, however, they are left to continue their dirty work with little scrutiny (present company excepted).
I think we're going to have forge a new coalition of those opposing any part of this on-going disaster in government. And then, we're going to have to start taking the fight to them, rather than waiting passively until they rob once more.
Anyway, keep up the good work. It makes a difference.
Cheers.
All I can do, all you can and others can do is put the information in as many places as possible..
Times, the people, are a changin, the boomers are dying in droves and every other generation after them is becoming computer literate, meaning they will find the truth.
As a writing blogger, I come very close to the edge of what I can legally say without being charged with inciting violence or domestic terrorism..
I`m already on multiple watch lists, as are First Nations and probably you Mr. Ghun..
Corporations have corrupted the politicians...It will be a hard slog to root them out..
However, the most important thing to restore is the media..
Could you imagine if Ross K or Norman Farrell had free reign to write articles for the Vancouver Sun..For Global News..
The people would be at the legislature or at Christy Clark`s home with torches and pitchforks..
Lastly, there are many people and a few kin that are worried for my safety, worried the dark forces will snuff me and this venue out..
Well...
Rob Ford..Kash heed..Even the red-handed caught won`t resign anymore.
Cheers
Gambling considered as revenue source on BC Ferries
Pilot project would introduce slot machines on major ferry route
BY BRIAN MORTON AND MATTHEW ROBINSON, VANCOUVER SUN
http://www.vancouversun.com/story_print.html?id=9182068&sponsor=
.........
Vaughn Palmer: Ferry-riding seniors first in line for ‘tough decisions’
Subsidies: Next four-year cycle for ferry subsidies/service levels starts in 2016 and slots are a good bet as a revenue generator
BY VAUGHN PALMER, VANCOUVER SUN COLUMNIST
http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/Vaughn+Palmer+Ferry+riding+seniors+first+line+tough/9181913/story.html
............
B.C. announces cuts to ferry routes, no more free rides for seniors
BY ROB SHAW AND SANDRA MCCULLOCH, VICTORIA TIMES COLONIST
http://www.vancouversun.com/story_print.html?id=9180832&sponsor=
..............
Those MSM articles, not one of them tell the real story on BC Ferries..
I liken it too..
Telling the public that the Queen of the North is on the bottom of the ocean...And not telling the public why and how it got there.
Thanks
Once again the corporate media doing its worst by omitting and obfuscating what really matters.
Not a word about the massive debt taken on by the BC Ferries; or any mention of the huge burden of paying interest costs to carry it; neither the why or the wherefore of it being created in the first place. Nada. A complete friggin' blackout in article after article!
Maybe some of those pressitutes in that demonic black tower downtown could give the government stenography a rest and learn how to use a search engine. That wouldn't work, though, would it? Because then they'd have to find the courage in their cowardly little souls to actually write at least some of the truth about what matters; and that wouldn't do their so-called careers any damn good, would it?
And so little to nothing substantial gets said about the hugely expensive corporate governance structure that continues to drag down BC Ferries' financials, while these dozens of political hacks sit around offering absolutely no constructive leadership for the quasi-crown corp. going down fast.
And that ponce palmer might as well just quit with the pretence and go write press releases for the public affairs bureau. Seriously! The guy's not the dean of anything in the real world. He's holding down a job as submissive gate-keeper, and nothing more.
And sure, why not open up another portal to launder some more ill-gotten money, while adding to the addiction rates of the populace and topping up the coffers of this corrupted government. No constructive ideas or plans needed in this government. Nope!
Better not wonder about BC Ferries' employees enjoying unlimited free travel (and their spouses travelling 12 times a year one way). But those seniors in ndp ridings are going to have to pay up starting real soon; because that new minister, the righteous todd stone, says he "wasn't elected to avoid the hard decisions." Right? Right!
I'm shaking my head in disbelief at how bad this government is getting. They're going to take the province right over the abyss if they're not stopped.
@anon 10:35 pm...No need to be rude.
How do I know that conversation was fake?, because nobody remembers a conversation word for word that long, did he have a tape recorder?..Did he tell that person it was recorded?
That fake conversation was so full of racism, full of inner racism from one person.
No more on that please.
This post is about the scamming by the BC Liberals.
Good Day
Thanks for taking on real issues facing westcoasters, hard to believe media refusing to report on ferry debt.
Heard today on Goodly Bill show that 2 of those German built ferry boats never get used, unfreakinbelievable!
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