The BC Liberal HST Tele Town Hall call schedule is coming to ........ town, or an area, or a district, but not a riding.

Usually when the provincial politicians communicate with their constituents, they do it by ridings, but oh no, not this time around, not when its really something important where they claim that they want to listen to what the public has to say on the HST. 

The way the BC Liberals are orchestrating this Tele Town Hall meeting I'm surprised that Elections BC hasn't stepped in.
  
The BC Liberal government is cherry-picking who should be listened to because they haven't defined who will be called.  All that Premier Christy Clark's BC Liberal Government has said is that everyone who is a voter will be called.

There are 79 ridings in British Columbia, but the Finance Minister and the Transportation Minister have chosen to break up the whole of BC into 12 segments.  There are two million, nine hundred and forty-eight thousand, one hundred and seventy five (2,948,175) eligible voters in those 79 ridings/12 segments. There's no guarantee that every voter in British Columbia will receive that all important opportunity to be heard on the HST, as claimed by the government.

Hands up as to who lives in these three ........ communities..... areas..... which have been lumped into one segment.

"Mid Island/North Island and Southern Coast" is NOT a Riding, its not even being defined by the BC Liberals as to whom they are calling.  What is the Southern Coast?  Is it part of the Lower Mainland (Metro Vancouver) or part of Vancouver Island, east or west?

Mid Island should be listed between item 29 and 30 and it isn't.
North Island is item 35
Southern Coast be between items 56 and 57 and it isn't.

Peace River?  there's TWO distinct ridings

Surrey?  there's SEVEN ridings

Kootenay? there's an east and a west


Richmond(3)/South Delta(2) and the North Shore (4)  (ridings) Nine ridings altogether, with five south of Vancouver and four north of Vancouver.

Could it be that these "ridings" are all BC Liberal strongholds?


Riding information above is from Elections BC

Tele Town Hall grouping is not listed anywhere by the BC Government as to what they consist of.

Telephone town hall call schedule

Tuesday, April 26 – Mid Island/North Island and Southern Coast

Time: 7 p.m.

Wednesday, April 27 – Peace River 

Defined: A river in Canada that flows from northern British Columbia to the Slave River in Alberta

Time: 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday, April 27 – Surrey

Defined: Surrey is a Canadian city in the province of British Columbia, Canada, that lies within the Metro Vancouver district of British Columbia. It is the province's second-largest city by population after the city of Vancouver

Time: 7:15

Thursday, April 28 – Kootenay

Time 6:30 p.m./7:30 p.m. MT

Thursday, April 28 – Richmond/South Delta and the North Shore

Time: 7:15 p.m.

Tuesday, May 3 – Southern Interior

Time: 6:45 p.m.

Tuesday, May 3 – Victoria

Time: 7:15 p.m.

Wednesday, May 4 – Northern Interior and North Coast

Time: 6:45 p.m.

Wednesday, May 4 – Burnaby, Port Coquitlam, New Westminster, Coquitlam

Time: 7:15 p.m.

Monday, May 9 – Okanagan

Time: 6:45 p.m.

Monday, May 9 – Fraser Valley

Time: 7:15 p.m.

BC Liberals couldn't face the public during an election to talk about the the HST, now we're paying for a Tele-Town Hall Meeting and we'll still not see the MLAs/Ministers responsible.

Why is the new Finance Minister splitting the costs of a tele-town hall meeting, on the Harmonized Sales Tax aka HST, between Finance and Transportation and Infrastructure......(overblown budgets for the Sea to Sky Highway Improvement Project, Port Mann Bridge, South Fraser Perimeter Road, Kelowna Bridge).

If there were more Ministries involved, would Kevin Falcon split the pot even more, just to make it appear that the cost to the public wasn't so much for the two ministries?

Former Finance Minister Colin Hansen proved he couldn't introduce the HST alone, even with the help of former Premier Gordon Campbell.  Its one big pot that the the money is drawn from, so what's the problem with the finances in Victoria?   What next, a Concessionaire agreement to run a Tele-Town-Hall Meeting?

Are the BC Liberals so short of our tax dollars that they couldn't come out and face us at a real town hall meeting? Just last year, they shipped a full "public gallery", via Lear Jets, to the Peace River area just to announce a new dam in Blair Lekstrom's riding when the whole thing could have been done down here in Vancouver via a Dam Tele-Town Hall meeting. 

This time around, two Ministers will be squirreled away in the War Room in downtown Vancouver with their Deputy Ministers and fellow Ministers waiting for the single questions, then probably debate amongst themselves before one is chosen to give an answer.  Town Hall questioners will never see, or even know just how many there are of each other.  They won't even know if the questions are being culled so that the best questions are sidelined, never to be heard by others in the public "room".   This set up of a town hall meeting is starting to sound more and more like another Basi/Virk trial.

This is a total waste of tax payers dollars designed solely by this new BC Liberal Administration to save their sorry asses while Christy Clark is running for a seat in the BC Legislature for Vancouver-Point Grey.

 

BACKGROUNDER

2011FIN0034-000435 April 21, 2011

Ministry of Finance Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure

Provincewide tele-town halls on the HST begin April 26

VICTORIA – Minister of Finance Kevin Falcon and Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Blair Lekstrom are inviting the public to participate in a series of regionally based telephone town halls around the province.

The town halls are designed to ensure that all British Columbians have an opportunity to offer suggestions on how the HST can be improved.

Town halls start April 26 * and will be hosted by Falcon and Lekstrom. This is a unique opportunity to talk directly with the government ministers leading the HST engagement process.

How to participate in an HST tele-town hall

 SNIP

Once you have stated your question, the operator will return you to the call so you can continue to listen to the town hall until it is your turn to ask the minister your question.

Listen carefully and when the minister is ready, your line will be opened, the moderator will prompt you and you can ask your question.

After you’ve asked your question, your line will be muted and you can listen to the minister’s response and the remainder of the town hall.

 

Conducting a Tele-Town Hall Event

On the day of your event, you will receive a Control Sheet with detailed instructions for conducting your Tele-Town Hall. The Control Sheet will include a unique ID and password for you to login to a simple web interface used to control the event through your web browser (such as Internet Explorer or Firefox). In addition, the Control Sheet will provide you with the contact information for your operator, the member of the Tele-Town Hall staff who is assigned to initiate the dialing process and monitor your event. When the event begins, our system will dial out to the list of households you submit. Every person who answers the phone will be played your pre-recorded Introductory Message that functions as an automated operator inviting each household to remain on the phone to participate in a Tele-Town Hall with the "star" Speaker. Participants will be automatically connected to a live event in progress until the dialing process is complete. If a participant wishes to pose a question, he/she can press "zero" on his/her phone keypad in order to enter the queue to ask the Speaker a question. You can optionally use Call Screeners (members of your staff) who can speak with callers first before placing them in line to talk with the Speaker. The Speaker will then use the web browser to control the event by "allowing" and "disallowing" participants to ask their questions live on the conference.

Ever since Christy had that front page photo in the Vancouver Province newspaper......

Why are these provincial leaders smiling?   Oh, it was taken on Wednesday, not Thursday evening after the 5 -0 shutout by the Chicago Blackhawks.

The reason that the Blackhawks have won the last two games, is because its either that, or clean out their lockers.  Whereas the Canucks are still sitting on a cushion of three games won, and they only need one game to finish off the series.

As to Christy's mega watt smile disappearing if the Canucks lose another game, and another game, it all depends on the Canucks.   Has there ever been a photograph taken of Christy when she isn't smiling?  YES, at those darn Cabinet Meetings.

================================================================

The 21st of April 2011 is not a Friday but the BC Liberal government is treating it as though it were a Friday because here is another one of those late breaking Press Releases, on a Thursday and a start of a four day weekend.  Bury it deep!:

April 21, 2011

Provincewide tele-town halls on the HST begin April 26

VICTORIA – Minister of Finance Kevin Falcon and Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Blair Lekstrom are inviting the public to participate in a series of regionally based telephone town halls around the province.

 SNIP

Telephone town hall call schedule

Tuesday, April 26 – Mid Island/North Island and Southern Coast

Time: 7 p.m.

Wednesday, April 27 – Peace River

Time: 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday, April 27 – Surrey

Time: 7:15

Thursday, April 28 – Kootenay

Time 6:30 p.m./7:30 p.m. MT

Thursday, April 28 – Richmond/South Delta and the North Shore

Time: 7:15 p.m.

Tuesday, May 3 – Southern Interior

Time: 6:45 p.m.

Tuesday, May 3 – Victoria

Time: 7:15 p.m.

Wednesday, May 4 – Northern Interior and North Coast

Time: 6:45 p.m.

Wednesday, May 4 – Burnaby, Port Coquitlam, New Westminster, Coquitlam

Time: 7:15 p.m.

Monday, May 9 – Okanagan

Time: 6:45 p.m.

Monday, May 9 – Fraser Valley

Time: 7:15 p.m.

Thursday, May 12 – Vancouver

Time: 6:45 p.m.

Notes:

·         Calls for May 3, 4, 9 and 12 may be moved based on Canucks games.

·         Additional day of May 10 currently being held in case calls need to be adjusted.

 Its the NOTES section, and it involves the Canucks games, if they are still in the run for the Stanley Cup all bets are off on when, exactly, these town hall meetings will be taking place

Why are taxpayers paying Premier Christy Campbell full time to run to be an MLA?

“She has a very busy schedule that would not be the case for any other candidate. Having said that, she has made this a priority and she has certainly made it a priority to be in the riding campaigning every time she can and lately that has worked out to be just about every day.”- Colin Hansen - Campaign Manager for Christy Clark - Globe and Mail

According to Elections BC: Guide for Candidates Page 13

"Candidates are entitled to a leave without pay from their employment during the campaign."

"Mr. Hansen’s Vancouver-Quilchena riding is alongside Vancouver-Point Grey, he has previously come into the riding during provincial elections to help former premier Gordon Campbell’s re-election bids. For that reason, he said he knows many of the volunteers in the riding so has been able to easily work with them now." - Ian Bailiey - Globe and Mail

Candidate Christy daily agenda remains a Provincial state secret, but there are other ways of knowing where the Candidate is while being paid as a Premier.

Using the Premier's own website containing her Latest Twitter Feeds, it shows MLA Candidate Christy campaigning in the Vancouver-Point Grey riding just like Her Campaign Chair claims.

<----------------------------------------------->

And the Premier's facts on just when we get to vote on the HST is just a little out of date!

This "latest" Fast Facts on the HST is dated August 26, 2010 as a link from Premier Christy Clark website here at the bottom right hand corner.

Fact is, Elections BC has the correct information on when our Mail-out ballots must be received by the Non-Partisan entity:

before 4:30 p.m., Friday, July 22, 2011

NUCLEAR POWER PLANT DISMANTLED, 1986, by 200 worker at Shippingport, PA. under ideal conditions. Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant working conditions are far from ideal

April 18, 2011 UPDATE at bottom

NUCLEAR POWER PLANT DISMANTLED

By LINDSEY GRUSON

Published: November 25, 1986

The New York Times

SHIPPINGPORT, Pa.— PIECE by laborious piece, about 200 workers here are taking apart a nuclear power plant in a project that could affect the price of electricity throughout the country and the financial health of most major utilities.

In the process, the Shippingport Atomic Power Station, the world's first commercial nuclear generating facility, has become a radioactive classroom, a demonstration of the technological and economic feasibility of what is sometimes called ''nuclear power's missing link.''

Disassembling the reactor is a milestone in the atomic age - ''the capstone of the nuclear fuel cycle,'' said Cynthia Pollock, a researcher for Worldwatch, a nonprofit institute that studies the use of resources and energy. ''Most people have never thought about the idea that nuclear plants wear out - far less that they're contaminated. You can't just let plants sit forever.''

When the work is finished, the plant's seven-acre site on the south bank of the Ohio River 25 miles northwest of Pittsburgh is to be restored to a grassy knoll suitable for any purpose including, say, a playground or a school.

SNIP

Bechtel International, the construction company, recently bid $104 million to disassemble a new, never used and therefore uncontaminated plant in Zwentendorf, Austria. Both critics and proponents of nuclear power acknowledge it will be much more expensive to take apart contaminated plants.

Many states have started pressing utilities to set aside millions of dollars to finance the dismantling of their plants. But how much the utilities should set aside and who should provide the money are hotly debated.
Utilities now have three options for retiring reactors: mothballing, entombing and dismantling. Non-nuclear power plants can be demolished as cheaply and easily as any other structure. But large portions of nuclear plants become contaminated by radioactivity, which lasts for centuries. They therefore require careful treatment, even after they are retired.

Mothballing involves removing the fuel as well as guarding the structures and monitoring radiation. Initially, it is quite cheap. Since the plant remains radioactive for centuries, however, the continuing security and monitoring could make it more expensive than the other options, according to a study by the Atomic Industrial Forum, a lobbying group for the industry. In addition, it just postpones dismantling until a later day.

Entombment entails removing the fuel and covering the structure in a thick mantle of concrete. This is the option selected by the Soviet Union for the reactor destroyed in the Chernobyl accident. Entombment has many of the same advantages as mothballing, but the process exposes more workers to radiation. Since the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has not approved entombment as a long-term decommissioning option, it is a temporary solution.

Dismantling retired nuclear plants immediately eliminates the need for long-term security and maintenance and frees the site for other uses, possibly including new reactors to replace the worn-out ones.

On the other hand, dismantling is costly in the short run and involves the highest occupational exposure to radiation. Shippingport's interior walls, for instance, are covered with yellow stickers whose bright red propeller symbols denote danger from radiation. 

SNIP

Google search for Shippingport Station Decommissioning Project 

Shippingport Station Decommissioning Project

Hallam Nuclear Power Facility
Pique Nuclear Power Facility
Bonus
Elk River
Peach Bottom
Los Alamos Molten Plutonium Reactor Experiment
SRE (Sodium)  Editorial

Google search for  Los Alamos molten plutonium reactor experiment

Decommissioning the Los Alamos Molten Plutonium Reactor Experiment

The $98 million (1985 estimate) cleanup of Shippingport has been used as an example of a successful reactor decommissioning by proponents of nuclear power. However, critics point out that Shippingport was smaller than most commercial nuclear power plants; most reactors in the United States are about 1,000 MWe, while Shippingport was only 60 MWe. -Wikipedia

-------------------------------------

   UPDATE     A Link and a Comment from cacone

http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Magazines/Bulletin/Bull206/20604642428.pdf

"...... less than about 400MWe in the above study"



"I wonder how much of this is still true...  -  cacone"

-----------------------------------------------------------

Fukushima Daiichi
Unit 1
- 439 MWe BWR, 1971

Unit 2
- 760 MWe BWR, 1974

Unit 3
- 760 MWe BWR, 1976

Unit 4
- 760 MWe BWR, 1978

Unit 5
- 760 MWe BWR, 1978

Unit 6
- 1067 MWe BWR, 1979


Fukushima Daini
Unit 1
- 1067 MWe BWR, 1982

Unit 2
- 1067 MWe BWR, 1984

Unit 3
- 1067 MWe BWR, 1985

Unit 4
- 1067 MWe BWR, 1987

Vancouver 125 years old, brings back memories, captured in photos of old and new paintings today

The Vancouver Sun, H section, Saturday, April 16, 2011

One of the icons of Vancouver restaurant history, the Aristocratic stands open for business at the corner of Granville and Broadway (south west corner) on September 25, 1951.  The eatery, now only a memory, was among several Aristocratics around the city.

Art Jones Photo, from the Vancouver Public Library special collections No. 81669

I remember this intersection well, my family's home was two and half blocks away.  One thing that is not mentioned in the Vancouver Sun on page H1, is that on the North East corner of Broadway and Granville there was another Aristocratic, a drive-in, somewhat like the WhiteSpot.   Too bad we didn't have a Google Streetview back then.

At Fir (one block west of Granville) and Broadway was a baseball stadium (North East corner all the way to Eighth Avenue)(Vancouver Center Park).  This was the predecessor to Little Mountain's Nat Bailey Stadium.  Rumour has it that Nat Bailey sold his first hot dog at the stadium at Broadway and Fir.

Four doors to the south of the Aristocratic, shown in this morning's newspaper, was the Ingledew shoe store which had the latest technology to make sure that the shoe was the right fit for their customers, young and old.

From the photo below you can see that the X-Ray machine was a well thought out design, where the customer would be encouraged to lean against it so that he could see his own feet inside his yet to be purchased high-priced leather shoes.  The saleman, lucky fellow, had the golden opportunity to see the same results, day in, day out, without lifting a fingers to test the distance of the customer's toe to the shoe's toe.

For some strange reason, the X-Ray machine was removed, should have been outlawed.  Don't know whether it was the WAC Bennett Provincial government, the City of Vancouver Health Inspectors, or the shoe Industry at large that finally woke up to the fact of the harmful effects of X-Ray while seeing the results in REAL-TIME (fluoroscopy).

The radiation hazards associated with shoe fitting x-ray units were recognized as early as 1950. The machines were often out of adjustment and were constructed so radiation leaked into the surrounding area.

<====================================>

The Vancouver Public Library has all sorts of photographs of our most livable city in the world, but here's another source, a local artist, Tom Carter.

Tom continues to capture new ideas from the photographs that he has collected over many years, by bringing them back to life in his paintings, especially under the weather conditions that we all so adore here.   Rainy, Saturday night where Theatre Row  is lit up with neon lights. 

The center painting below is the same Aristocratic's, at Broadway and Granville (South West corner), not sure if the photo to the left is inside the Aristocratic, but it looks just about right.

http://www.tomcartergallery.com/index.html

 Make sure your speakers are on.  Tom has captured not only the colour of Vancouver at night, but the sound as well.

"I love the urban environment - a fascinating cross section
of society where people in very different situations must
interact. Cities may also be where loneliness is felt more
acutely.
My art explores themes of isolation versus inclusion – how
we fit into the world and society. I tend to set my subjects
in other eras which, besides satisfying my historical interest,
reveals elements that are timeless – truths do not change.
Although there might be cold and turbulence in my work,
all of my settings have a sanctuary, a place of warmth and
respite. We, as the viewer, have the option of going inside
but we choose not to; we stand outside observing."
- Tom Carter

Tom's painting are hanging at the Baron Gallery in Gastown:
Intersections - paintings by Tom Carter

Wednesday to Saturday                          Noon till Six pm

Who else can remember this, the construction of the Granville Bridge?   One of the finishing touches was that the city of Vancouver had a merry-go-round, and a ferris wheel too, for the opening ceremonies, in the area where the south bound bridge traffic would exit onto Fir Street and Fourth Avenue.

39°19'19.40"N 141°54'56.47"E Google answers my question: Is Google doing a satellite fly over devastated Japan?

Google has been visiting my blog, so too have many other visitors, but its Google's ability to swing their satellite cameras around from outer space that allows us, to see what the Earthquake, and the Tsunami even more so, has done to Japan's shattered eastern coastline.

Visitors to this blog will recognize the harbour to the left from an earlier post of mine.  To the far right, near the bottom, is a town that was harder hit.

These GPS coordinates     39°19'19.40"N 141°54'56.47"E    is for a town called Hakozaki, where only five weeks ago it was more than a viable town, it had........... a lot more that the 250 residents that lived to walk away.   Now its down to 50 people living in four houses.  ......... Not homes, a home would mean that it's a livable place, to raise a family.


A resident of Vancouver, "fled" the most livable city in the world four days ago, and went to her parents home on the outskirts of Kamaishi, where their house was just high enough so that the Tsunami wasn't able to reach them.

The Tsunami reached far enough though, to ensure that they have no water, no electricity, no heat of any kind, and yet here is what Masumi had to say in her email today:



"Day before yesterday, I visited the town called `Hakozaki, Kamaishi`.
You can see most of the houses are gone. (Masumi's photos below)
The road was broken so a couple of hundred people were moved to
shelter by helicopters.

But still around 50 people are in 4 houses.
Most of the people lost everything.

We visited one of those houses.

This house is built on the hill more than 100 years ago and 14 people
are in one house. No electric and water. So they use water from the
mountain.

There are quite a lot of places like this.

We brought vegetables, batteries, soap etc in more than 10 big boxes,
which were donated by a lot of people and company from various places
of Japan.

We will visit again next week."

Copy 39°19'19.40"N 141°54'56.47"E into Google Earth

Public Dialogues Fund aka Christy's gets $500,000; BC Government gets $700,000; Opponents get $250,000; Proponents get $250,000 for the HST debate

UPDATE
April 15, 2011       At HSTINBC.CA/ people are recorded asking a question and the replies from the government's PAB department are coming back, not in voice responses, but in a billboard/slide format; and too quickly to be read before the next slide is presented.   Slide-Sleight of hand, perhaps.

Question: Who is "OUR" if Our is being compared to BC and the National averages for 2010?

Possible Answer:   An Ontario Public Affairs company

http://www.hstinbc.ca/

April 14, 2011

$1.7 million announced for HST referendum public engagement

VICTORIA—Government will provide $1.7 million in funding to ensure that well-informed public engagement on the Harmonized Sales Tax occurs across the province in advance of the referendum, Attorney General Barry Penner announced.

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release 2011AG0006-000386 April 14, 2011

Ministry of Attorney General

$1.7 million announced for HST referendum public engagement

VICTORIA—Government will provide $1.7 million in funding to ensure that well-informed public engagement on the Harmonized Sales Tax occurs across the province in advance of the referendum, Attorney General Barry Penner announced today.

Under the plan government will:

·         Provide a total of $500,000 for the “yes” and “no” sides, subject to conditions on the appropriate use of public funding and accountability for spending.

·         Create a Public Dialogues Fund of $500,000 to be independently managed by the province’s public universities, colleges and institutes to hold informative public dialogues in advance of the referendum.

·         Produce and send a comprehensive voter’s guide to every home in British Columbia with information on the referendum including statements provided directly by the main “yes” and “no” groups, a summary of the independent panel report on the HST, and other information to help inform voters about the referendum ballot. The cost of this guide is approximately $700,000.

In order to ensure a fair process for allocating public funding and mediate any disputes over the format and locations for the public dialogues, the Honourable Stephen Owen, QC, PC has been appointed as an independent funding decision-maker. Owen, a former B.C. Ombudsman, is acting in a personal capacity utilizing his extensive background in public engagement and mediation. He will make public funding allocation decisions for both sides as well as finalizing an appropriate format and locations for the public dialogues.

The public universities, colleges and institutes will engage a project manager to be accountable for managing and executing the public engagement program.

Terms of reference for the independent funding decision-maker are attached in the backgrounder.

Quotes:

Attorney General Barry Penner

“We have heard very clearly that British Columbians want fact-based information on the referendum. The provision of public funding for “yes” and “no” sides, along with independently-run public dialogues and a voter’s guide, will ensure a thorough and thoughtful debate about returning to both the PST and GST sales tax system or keeping the single HST.”

“We also understand that there continues to be considerable confusion and poor information about the HST, as well as what it means to go back to both the PST and GST. In addition to this public dialogue funding, government will also continue to provide fact-based information to voters in order to ensure we have as informed a referendum as possible.”

Learn More:

For more information about the HST referendum, visit: www.hstinbc.ca

Contact:

Matt Gordon

Communications Director

Ministry of Finance

250 896-4923

Connect with the Province of B.C. at www.gov.bc.ca/connect

BACKGROUNDER

British Columbia HST (Harmonized Sales Tax ) Referendum Regulation

Appointment as “Referendum Funding Decision Maker” for Funding of Proponent and Opponent Representatives

The British Columbia government has approved an ex gratia payment amount of $500,000 to fund the proponents and opponents in connection with the referendum to be conducted in June 2011 under HST (Harmonized Sales Tax) Referendum Regulation, BC Reg 126/2011 (“Referendum”), with funds to be distributed equally, on the conditions set out in this letter, as follows:

·         $250,000 to one or more groups or organizations (“Yes” side Proponent) approved by you, as the Proponent supporting the vote in favour of returning to the PST/GST and

·         $250,000 to one or more groups or organizations (“No” side Proponent) approved by you as the Proponent in favour of retaining the HST.

You have kindly agreed, at the government’s request and with no compensation for your duties, to perform the role, as Referendum Funding Decision Maker (RFDM), of deciding which groups are to receive funds, directing government accordingly, and overseeing the distribution and management of funds according to your direction.  The overall goal is to ensure that measures are in place to ensure that the funds are used solely for expenses appropriately incurred by groups in promoting the particular voting position for which the funds have been provided.

The distribution of funds will therefore be applied by the exercise of your discretion, which you have confirmed will be exercised in accordance with the following terms of reference.

ETC

aka

SNIP

Schoenborn: Why didn't Premier Christy Clark appoint a new BC Review Board too?

#2 UPDATE Thursday April 21, 2011    "child killer Allan Schoenborn escorted day passes was overturned today after Schoenborn's lawyer told the panel he no longer wants them." 

"Day passes for child killer Allan Schoenborn revoked" Vancouver Sun Chad Skelton

-----------------------------------------------

#1 Update Thursday ???? April 21, 2011 Premier Clark's Appointee list has been cut back from March 15, 2011 to March 21, 2011 on the Government website.  I don't know whether its because the word "Recent" isn't recent enough or

OFFICE OF THE PREMIER Gordon Campbell

June 10, 2009

Minister of State for Intergovernmental Relations

General Responsibilities

Cabinet operations
Corporate planning
Strategic policy and legislative priorities Intergovernmental relations

Till March 14, 2011 Morning


=======================================


OFFICE OF THE PREMIER  Christy Clark


March 14, 2011 Afternoon

General Responsibilities

* Cabinet operations
* Corporate planning
* Strategic policy and legislative priorities
* Intergovernmental Relations Secretariat
* Board Resourcing and Development Office

The Board Resourcing and Development Office is responsible for:

• establishing guidelines for all provincial appointments to agencies
• ensuring that all provincial appointments are made on the basis of merit following an open, transparent and consistent appointment process
• ensuring that appointees receive appropriate orientation and ongoing professional development with respect to agency governance issues"

Christy Clark won the BC Liberal Leadership race on February 26th 2011.
March 14th, 2011pm, Christy was sworn in as Premier of the BC Liberal Government.
On March 15, 2011 she started cleaning house at the BRDO, except for the BC Review Panel 

Tues. Mar 15, 2011 Christy Clark appointed
              3 Property Assessment Appeal Board members.
Sat. Mar 19, 2011 Christy Clark appointed
              1 BC Games Society Member
Mon. Mar 21, 2011 Christy Clark appointed
              2 Health Authority - Vancouver Island Members
Mon. Mar 21, 2011 Christy Clark appointed
              1 Health Authority - Vancouver Coastal Member
Mon. Mar 21, 2011 Christy Clark appointed
              2 Health Authority - Provincial Health Services Authority Members
Mon. Mar 21, 2011 Christy Clark appointed
              3 Health Authority - Northern Members
Mon. Mar 21, 2011 Christy Clark appointed
              4 Health Authority - Interior Members
Mon. Mar 21, 2011 Christy Clark appointed
              2 Health Authority - Fraser Members
Tues. Mar 29, 2011 Christy Clark appointed
              2 BC Health Services Purchasing Organization Members  G. Whitmarsh and J. Bethel
Wed. Mar 30, 2011 Christy Clark appointed
              2 BC Innovation Council Members
Thurs. Mar 31, 2011 Christy Clark appointed
              8 Columbia Basin Trust Trustees
Thurs. Mar 31, 2011 Christy Clark appointed
              3 BC Securities Commission Comisshes
Thurs. Mar 31, 2011 Christy Clark appointed
              2 BC Assessment Authority Officers
Thurs. Mar 31, 2011 Christy Clark appointed
              5 TILMA Members
Thurs. Mar 31, 2011 Christy clark appointed
              2 Accounting Policy Advisory Committee Members
Thurs. Mar 31, 2011 Christy Clark appointed
              1 Employment and Assistance Appeal Tribunal Commishes
Thurs. Mar 31, 2011Christy Clark appointed
              12 Emergency and Health Services Commission Commishes
Fri.  Apr 1, 2011 Christy Clark appointed
              3 Data Stewardship Committee Members
Sun. Apr 3, 2011 Christy Clark appointed
              33 Mental Health Review Board Members


But no one for the BC Review Panel.    If she had, would Schoenborn be going for his escorted coffee and a swim in the local pool?  

Premier Christy Clark says her government is for protecting the family.  This one instance of a loose cannon like Schoenborn being given free access to the community, after only serving three years for three murders, with an escort, says differently.

 ==========================================================

From the Vancouver Sun, in an EXCLUSIVE  Interview, they report that "The Chair of the B.C. Review Board announced Wednesday that another hearing will be held to reconsider the decision to allow child killer Allen Schoenborn escorted access to the community"

Can anyone explain why there should be an EXCLUSIVE story? Or more to the misleading point, why the headline reads "Review board to consider escorted day passes for child killer Schoenborn" in light of the fact that there were actually THREE children murdered.   The oldest was ten years of age.

Background on the BC Review Board composition is here

BC Review Board

The British Columbia Review Board is established under the Criminal Code of Canada. The Board conducts hearings to review and assess the mental condition and level of threat to the public posed by mentally disordered accused persons to determine whether they should be absolutely or conditionally discharged, or detained in a designated place of custody. Hearings must be held within either 45 or 90 days of a request and annually.

The Board...

...Composition

The Chair and members are appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council. The minimum number of appointees is five (under the Criminal Code) but it is advantageous to have a roster of least 15 - 20 members from around the Province, to ensure availability as required.

The Review Board has ongoing jurisdiction to hold hearings to make and review dispositions where individuals charged with offenses have been given verdicts of not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder or unfit to stand trial on account of mental disorder, by a court.

It is the responsibility of the Review Board to protect public safety while also safeguarding the rights and freedoms of mentally disordered persons who are alleged to have committed an offence.

What's Involved

The Chair serves full-time; and while the other appointments are part-time positions, they must be prepared to make a considerable time commitment to fulfilling their offices. The Review Board holds approximately 600 hearings per year, and any given member should be available to meet two to three times per month to conduct hearings. Some travel is required.

Fukushima Power plant Level 7 - same rating that Chernobyl reached with one reactor

Nuclear accident level raised to maximum

Japan's nuclear safety agency has raised the crisis level at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to 7, from the current 5.

The agency told reporters on Tuesday that large volumes of radioactive substances that could affect human health and the environment are being released in a wide area.

Level 7 is the highest rank on an international standard and equivalent to the severity recorded after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

But the agency said the volume of radiation from Fukushima is one-tenth that at Chernobyl.

The agency said its calculations show that 370-thousand terabecquerels of radioactive iodine 131 and cesium 137 have been released from the plant.

The nuclear safety commission, in a joint press conference with the agency, put the estimated leak at 630-thousand terabecquerels of both substances.

One terabecquerel is equivalent to one trillion becquerels. Both organizations say the leak constitutes a level-7 crisis.

Senior agency official Hidehiko Nishiyama said 29 people died of acute radiation exposure at Chernobyl but there are no fatal radiation casualties at Fukushima.

He added that at Chernobyl the nuclear reactor itself exploded in contrast to the Fukushima plant, which was damaged by hydrogen explosions. He said the reactors themselves retain their shape.

Nishiyama also said the upgrade does not affect the existing evacuation plan, which was made on the basis of the same radiation evaluation.

The agency is required to announce the severity of a crisis at a nuclear facility based on the international standard from zero up to 7 set by the International Nuclear Event Scale.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 13:09 +0900 (JST)

TEPCO president apologizes for level-7 crisis

The president of the operator of the quake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi power plant says he is taking the decision by the government's nuclear safety agency seriously.

Masataka Shimizu, the head of Tokyo Electric Power Company, released the comment on Tuesday after the agency raised the crisis level of the accident to 7, the worst on the international scale of nuclear incidents.

He said he is deeply sorry for causing trouble and concern to nearby residents and people in Fukushima Prefecture, as well as to the public.

Shimizu said he wants to resolve the ongoing accident as soon as possible, adding that his company is trying to cool the crippled reactors down and prevent the dispersion of radioactivity.
He also said the company is considering various possible ways and steps to contain the nuclear crisis.

He added that his company will make all-out efforts to resolve the problem in close cooperation with the government, related ministries and municipalities.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 20:15 +0900 (JST)

Shouldn't the company have been making an all-out effort from Day 1, not a MONTH later?

Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2002) 853 medals awarded to citizens of B.C.

 UPDATE May 23rd, 2011   The other Golden Jubilee link.

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My Blog has a SiteMeter program which shows that the Government of British Columbia has been hitting my site practically every day.  Didn't know why, until I realized that Premier Christy Clark's PAB have been rewriting the BC Liberal Government webpages of what happened during the three term HST enthusiast, Gordon Campbell.

I won't be upgrading my links, waste of time.  But, by leaving the links in place, it's plain to see just how much British Columbians tax dollars are being wasted today, by the "new" BC Liberal Party, just so the public won't confuse the Premierships of Christy Clark with that of Gordon Campbell.  And it isn't just this blog, the changes that the PAB are making, are rippling through the whole of the internet.



On a previous post I also happened to notice that Premier Christy Clark's PAB staff did a re-write on the last Chief of Staff for the HST Premier.   One day the bio was politically Partisan, the very next day it sounded more palatable for the public to read "Mr. Taylor received the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal".  (via the NEW PAB, Mr. Taylor's bio has totally disappeared from the government's websites).

For example:
On October 25, 2010 the last paragraph in Paul Taylor's Bio was this (Link is still good):

"The Chief of Staff is responsible for providing strategic support and advice to the Premier and Executive Council to advance government’s policy and legislative objectives." 

On October 26, 2010 the last paragraph in Paul Taylor's Bio was changed to this (The Link is now broken)(doesn't exist on the internet either):

"Paul Taylor was an Ambassador for Vancouver 2010 and a torch bearer in the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Torch Relay. In 2003, Mr. Taylor received the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal."   

For those readers who don't know the Background on the Medal:

Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2002)

The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal was created in 2002 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the ascension of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to the throne. The Medal was awarded to Canadians who have made outstanding and exemplary contributions to their communities or to Canada as a whole.
The award focuses both on the achievements of those people who, over the past 50 years, have helped create the Canada of today, and on the achievements of younger Canadians who are actively contributing to our future.
In order to ensure all regions of Canada were represented, various organizations were invited to propose candidates, including the federal, provincial and territorial levels of government; national professional, educational and cultural organizations; the military; the Royal Canadian Mounted Police; veterans’ groups; sports associations; and philanthropic and charitable bodies.
Description: a circular gold-plated bronze medal with a thin raised edge:

• on the obverse of which is an effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, wearing the King George IV State Diadem, circumscribed with QUEEN OF CANADA . REINE DU CANADA, and
• on the reverse of which is a large stylized maple leaf, with CANADA inscribed at the bottom, and 1952 and 2002 inscribed on either side of the Royal Cipher and Crown
• the Medal is worn suspended from a broad royal blue ribbon, with red outer stripes, and double white stripes with a red central stripe

In the description above: "In order to ensure all regions of Canada were represented, various organizations were invited to propose candidates........"  and here I thought the idea was that it would be these various organizations doing the proposing of candidates, not the other way around by including themselves when it comes to the BC Provincial level of Government.   Every MLA was awarded the medal, along with the Ministers' Deputy Ministers, such as the former short term Chief of Staff when he was the DM to the Finance Minister, Gary Collins.

On one of my searches via Google, I used "Don Bell Mayor Golden Jubilee" as key words, several Mayors turned up as being recipients, not the rest of Council members though unless they belong to another grouping.   Next up in the search was Gary Collins and then every Minister from 2002.


The Comptroller General put out the word for nominations from within the ranks of public servants.

"The Office of the Comptroller General was seeking nominations for the Commemorative Medal for The Queen's Golden Jubilee. This medal was created on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of the Queen's accession to the Throne as Queen of Canada and only 853 medals will be awarded to citizens of B.C.- six of these are available to public servants in the Ministry of Finance.

We are seeking nominations from you for government employees who have made an outstanding achievement or given exemplary service (either within/outside of government).

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so if you know of someone deserving of this recognition, please contact me immediately for further information (package) and a nomination form.

Criteria:

To be eligible to receive the medal, a person must:

* be a Canadian citizen, not necessarily resident in Canada at the time of awarding

* have made a significant contribution to Canada or to a particular province, territory, region
or community within Canada, or have made an outstanding achievement abroad that brings credit to Canada and

* have been alive on February 6, 2002, the fiftieth anniversary for Her Majesty's accession to
the throne.

Guidelines:

* the recipients should be exemplary B.C. Public Servants whose service and achievements extend over a period of years

* recipients' names and who selected them will be part of the public record

Public Record????

I thought that the easiest way to find out who the other Recipients of the Golden Jubilee Medal were, would to be to use the the keywords of "Golden Jubilee Medal" along with other words like "Chief of Staff".   Mr. Taylor's bio popped up, on my blog too, then I found two hits, one titled  211 names, then second one a Toastmaster congratulations to one of their own, but nowhere could I find one list that covered all 853 medals, nor those who selected them, or possibly each other in the case of the MLAs.   There is, of course the Governor General list, but to use that database you have to know the name of the Recipient or just take a wild guess.  I tried, using names of my various neighbours, nothing.   I finally did it (Golden Jubilee) by just looking for everyone who was a recipient and living in the Province of British Columbia and skipping the given names section.

Under the Premiership of Gordon Campbell, 853 medals were awarded, however the Governor General database lists 4,644 British Columbians recipients

Here's one from Gordon Campbell's Executive Council biographies and Mr. Falcon doesn't mention the Medal, only Minister Coleman does (and Its interesting-to-note-that-the-photo-of-Premier-Christy-Clark is now attached to this document and she wasn't even an MLA, or Premier, when this Executive Council was assembled)

"HON. KEVIN FALCON

MINISTER OF HEALTH SERVICES

Kevin Falcon was first elected in 2001 to represent the riding of Surrey-Cloverdale, and was re-elected in 2005 and 2009. He initially served as minister of state for deregulation.

He previously served as Minister of Transportation since January 26, 2004, overseeing a capital program that included the Kicking Horse Canyon, the Sea-to-Sky Highway and the William R. Bennett Bridge, among many others.

Minister Falcon's leadership recently earned him recognition in Vancouver Magazine’s annual ranking of the city’s 50 most influential leaders.

Before his election to the Legislative Assembly in 2001, he was president of Access Group, a corporate communications firm he founded in 1998. He has also worked in the real estate development industry and was vice-president of Northwest Investment Properties. He received his bachelor of arts degree from Simon Fraser University, and his real estate education at the University of British Columbia."

 Kevin Falcon 2002 recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal with the Governor General

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Plaque recognizes and immortalizes Sea to Sky workers

Premier Campbell thanks workers for four years of hard work

""The commemorative plaque we unveil today includes the names of 2,124 people who were involved in the six years of planning, engineering, design and construction of the vastly improved Sea to Sky highway from West Vancouver to Whistler," said Campbell in front of about 100 who turned up on the sunny afternoon."


"Campbell said if the highway was awarded recognition, the workers should be as well."We decided it was time to recognize workers – one of the things we want is for this to be lasting," he said. "It's the workers of British Columbia that are actually here not just on beautiful days like this…but the really crummy days, the rotten days, the days when you really wish you weren't here."Within a year, this will just be the road, but remember this – in 50 years, if you want to, you'll be able to drive along that road and say to your kids and your grandkids 'I did this' and you'll be able to prove it.""  

50 years, the same criteria for the Golden Jubilee Medal of 2002 and nine years later the public can't find one place on the provincial government internet highway website that lists off all 853 recipients ...... let alone the other 3,791 medal recipients in British Columbia and who selected them, for the public record.