Bridal Falls??? Mudslide: A Longer Drive from Kelowna to Vancouver June 29, 2011 by one hour

Maybe it was the whirlwind two day trip from Vancouver to Kelowna and back again that made me more attentive to my surroundings.   No time for leisure driving.  Before I left the Lower Mainland though, I read Bill Tieleman's blog where a blogger said that the "YES to Extinguish HST" advertising had been removed from Kelowna's city boulevards, but as I was leaving that Okanagan valley town yesterday, there were plenty of signs along Harvey Street and TWO along the eastbound traffic lane of  the Coquihalla Highway.

Kelowna does have restrictions on signage, but NOT when it comes to Elections whether it be Federal, Provincial, or Municipal (including School Trustees et al)

SECTION 2 – SIGNS
2.1 Exemptions from Permits
2.1.1 The following signs are exempt from obtaining a permit as required under the City of Kelowna Sign Bylaw No.8235 provided they comply with all the regulations of this Bylaw:
a) election signs on public or private property each with a maximum sign area of 1.50 m² and a maximum height of 1.8 m, subject to their removal within four (4) days following the election;
b) election event signs on public or private property to a maximum of 2 signs per frontage, each with a maximum sign area of 3.0m2 or to a maximum height of 2.5m.       Kelowna

I thought I would get back to some serious driving, not being distracted by signage, when my eyes dropped to the deck of the recently-completed-on-time-on-budget-Shadow-Tolled-P3-William-Bennett-Bridge-of-2008 over Okanagan Lake where I expected to see the deck of the bridge as pristine as a newly poured concrete surface.  However, it has so many cracked lines, someone (Highway or Concessionaire) took the liberty to highlight every one of them in fluorescent orange paint, it left me wondering if I was going to make it from one side to the other.

The public has been told that the bridge is under an iron clad 35 year concessionaire Shadow Toll contract that ensures that the taxpayers of British Columbia will not be on the hook for repairs or maintenance..... if we were..... then we would be paying for it twice...duh.... once to build it, second time to repair it.

So what's up with the bridge's decrepit looking condition?  Can the BC Highways department give us an inkling, because it looked so battered, I thought I was driving over the Pattullo Bridge linking New Westminister with Surrey, and its been around since the late 1930's, when it too was built as a make work project...... sounds like the Port Mann Bridge Project of the 2010's but that's another story for here.

Another make work project was the Coquihalla Highway which was designed to tie in with Expo 86 in Vancouver (1986), which has been exposed to extreme weather conditions of too hot and way too cold, and yet the P3 bridge that leads motorist across the Okanagan Lake, opened to traffic by a former Premier, dedicated to another former Premier a mere three years ago, pales in comparison to the Coq.

Was the concrete for the bridge deck surface poured in poor weather conditions just to beat the bell that the BC Liberals wanted to ring to prove how successful a P3 project could be for a mere $125 million?

Is it going to cost another $125 million?

Here are some Photos of the bridge construction, in the MOST inclement of weather for February, 2008, we call it the dead of winter in the Province of British Columbia.... not for the Lower Mainland though where it rains most of the time.  Deck being poured in April on 2008 (see photo link above for more)

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By 11:00am we saw a hastily erected Highway sign at the top of the longgggg steeeeeep hill down to Hope, that indicated it wasn't going to be a five hour drive from Kelowna to Vancouver anymore.  All it said was that the Trans Canada Highway west of Hope was shut down till further notice.

No inkling of why the road was closed.   Last week the TCH was restricted in the same area because of two semi tractor trailers leaving the highway (not mentioned on Metro Vancouver news - Interior news people did cover it).... what if the slide had happened THEN, when all the traffic was jammed into that stoppage?


I had already made my mind up to take a quiet ride along Highway #7 to Mission, what I found instead, were motor vehicles of all sizes and descriptions, at what is normally not the one of British Columbia's worst highway choked places in the Province.  Things were working out right for this trip, then it all came to a stop.   Eastbound traffic was backed up from the TCH at Bridal Falls to almost four Kilometres back west when we finally made it to the Highway 1.   The Six o'clock news on CBC Television said the backup from Bridal Falls was 12 Kilometres !!!  Even with all of the news breaking activities, whether it was radio, which was our main staple in the car, or television when we reached home, all reports were very vague.  It turns out Google Earth had the answer.

Yellow marker far left marks the spot

On the way up to Kelowna I did notice that there were signs posted along the highway indicating that the Bridge to Mission was restricted to 5500Kg.... was it lifted when the slide covered the highway, because from the reports I heard, truckers were being encouraged to use the Mission bridge.

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

Why don't we have enough Highway Department personnel looking after the Bridal Falls area.... because they're too busy with projects like this one, the Port Mann Bridge Project.  This photo is near Boundary Road, in Burnaby looking East

A Vancouver Riot 2011 sequel: Who can forget/remember BC Liberal MLA Attorney General Wally Opall's BILL 16 -- 2006 APOLOGY ACT?

I thought the BC Liberal Apology Act of 2006 was brought in so that politicians could use it as an excuse, in case they erred in something unique, like imposing a harmonized sales tax without first asking our permission.

Upon reflection though, of this past week and a half writings in the News Media and on the Internet, covering the Vancouver Riot of 2011, and the ensuing tearful.... apologies from those caught on film (digital photos), maybe the apologists' former employers, and team players, have been a wee bit premature in firing them..

Effect of apology on liability

2 (1) An apology made by or on behalf of a person in connection with any matter

(a) does not constitute an express or implied admission of fault or liability by the person in connection with that matter,

(b) does not constitute a confirmation of a cause of action in relation to that matter for the purposes of section 5 of the Limitation Act,     - see Note below in Red

(c) does not, despite any wording to the contrary in any contract of insurance and despite any other enactment, void, impair or otherwise affect any insurance coverage that is available, or that would, but for the apology, be available, to the person in connection with that matter, and

(d) must not be taken into account in any determination of fault or liability in connection with that matter.   SNIP

For clarification, in regards to  British Columbia - Section 3 (5) of the BC Limitation Act sets 6 years as the limit for debt.


 AND

NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release 2006AG0011-000281 March 28, 2006	Ministry of Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Multiculturalism
APOLOGY ACT PROMOTES DISPUTE RESOLUTION

VICTORIA – Corporations, governments and individuals will soon be able to offer a sincere apology as part of their dispute resolution process without fear of legal liability, thanks to new legislation being tabled today, said Attorney General Wally Oppal.

“There are times when an apology is very important and appropriate but the legal implications have long been uncertain,” said Oppal. “The Apology Act is designed to promote the early and mutually beneficial resolution of disputes by allowing parties to express honest regret or remorse by removing concerns that an apology amounts to an admission of liability or could void provisions of an insurance policy.”  SNIP

More info:   British Columbia's Apology Act: Sorry no longer the hardest word in law



More info:   http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5327851

Will the HST secrecy envelop make it to Elections BC without it being stolen?

Update way down at the bottom.

Lower Mainland voters will be the last in British Columbia to receive their HST secrecy envelop, and just maybe that's a blessing in defeating Identity Theft in its tracks.   Why?




"HST Referendum Voting Package Ballot and Instructions"

includes:

Envelop A is the Secrecy Envelop

Envelop B is the Certification Envelop

Envelop C is the Mailing Envelop coloured Yellow.... should stand out


If we were to have a regular vote, going to a Voting Place where the Premier could do another photo shoot,
our identities wouldn't be be at risk, but this bargain basement method that Elections BC has come up with is a direct threat to our Privacy and our Families well being!

The back side of Envelop B MUST contain your:

First Name   Middle Name(s)  Last Name

Birth Date   Last 8 digits of S.I.N.   BC Driver's License Number   Phone

Previous Name      Email Address

Home Address      Mailing Address    (if different than your home address)


Being of sound mind and Body, would you, voters who weren't given an opportunity in 2009 to vote NO against the BC Liberals and their hidden HST agenda, now dare to mail off your HST decision in 2011 by  voting YES to extinguish the HST?

The Certification envelop has more information on it than any other voting process known thus far.   Did the Acting Chief Electoral Officer come up with this all by himself, or did he have help?

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

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

Update: June 30, 2011  1:36pm


From Elections BC website:

"HSTRefVP.pdf                                         30-Jun-2011 14:24"

How is it that the date time stamp on an Elections BC document is an hour AHEAD than the time right now?

Has Elections BC been farmed out to a place where Mountain Time zone is in effect:

Perhaps Alberta?  or  somewhere in BC where they enjoy knowing Federal Elections results before others in BC, like in Charlie Lake, Cranbrook, Dawson Creek , Fairmont Hot Springs, Fort St. John, Golden, etc.  

HST referendum dates extended

By Jonathan Fowlie, Vancouver Sun June 30, 2011 1:02 PM

0000000000000000000000000000000000000

* Timeline extended: Ballot must be received by Elections BC, a Service BC Centre or an Elections BC Collection Centre before 4:30 p.m. on Friday, August 5, 2011. - Elections BC

http://www.servicebc.gov.bc.ca/locations/

60 Communities all told in the map above.  There's many that are not mentioned on the map, therefore no Service BC Centres.   For example, if you live in Keremos (Boundary-Similkameen Electoral District) you have to put your trust in Canada Post when dealing with the Provincial government or Elections BC, because its a long way to drive over to Penticton or Oliver just to deliver your HST Ballot.

Vancouver Riot 2011: Paparazzi or News Media Professional photographers, above and beyond the Riot Act

Premier Christy Clark preening in front of the photographers at a Vancouver-Point Grey Voting Place within 50 Metres -  don't get me going on that one.   Elections BC said it was Okay by them.

But this riot in downtown Vancouver:

 Canada's Criminal Code:

Unlawful Assemblies and Riots

Snip

67. A person who is

(a) a justice, mayor or sheriff, or the lawful deputy of a mayor or sheriff,

(b) a warden or deputy warden of a prison, or

(c) the institutional head of a penitentiary, as those expressions are defined in subsection 2(1) of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, or that person’s deputy,

who receives notice that, at any place within the jurisdiction of the person, twelve or more persons are unlawfully and riotously assembled together shall go to that place and, after approaching as near as is safe, if the person is satisfied that a riot is in progress, shall command silence and thereupon make or cause to be made in a loud voice (Public Address system carried on a horse) a proclamation in the following words or to the like effect:

Her Majesty the Queen charges and commands all persons being assembled immediately to disperse and peaceably to depart to their habitations or to their lawful business on the pain of being guilty of an offence for which, on conviction, they may be sentenced to imprisonment for life. GOD SAVE THE QUEEN.

• R.S., 1985, c. C-46, s. 67;

• 1994, c. 44, s. 5.

Accreditation of the news people once again rears its head here. I understand, don't agree, how the Main Stream Media has an ability to take their tape recorders with them into a Court of Law.... so that they can verify their stories with the recordings, but nowhere have I found that the MSM photographers have the right to participate with the Police during a riot.  Whether its walking the line with the police or standing off to one side and ALLOW someone to break the law, they're no more than the gawkers who stood by and did nothing.

Will there be another Riot in Vancouver, probably not, especially since all these photos and video have surfaced on the internet.

There's plenty of photos of professional photographers being caught taking photos of rioters kicking in glass doors and panes, but once the Riot Act had been voiced by the Vancouver Police Department, would things have quieted down more quickly if the professional photographers had dispersed and peaceably departed to their habitations?  Would the rioters have stopped preening in front of the cameras held by the professional photographers?

At the far end of the line of police officers on horseback, there is one police officer on foot, and next to him is a professional photographer..... captured here by another professional photographer, on foot.  How come?

National Post  3rd photo down in this link
Globe and Mail slide 13
=================================================================

Was this barricade leaning, on edge, through the broken window?  Rioters used the barricade to physically smash up downtown Vancouver.  Was it used a second time, by photo, to drive the message home to the Editors?

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

Couldn't this photographer see the potential for danger happening to the public here?  There were Good citizens among the rioters who stepped up and tried to stop the damage.  Professional photographers took their best shots.  That's their job.

Its 2011 and Within 90 days of being sworn in as Premier, Christy Clark will ....... forget all about her New Era of Accountatility

Does anyone remember the New Era of Accountability document that the BC Liberals used to springboard itself into government in 2001?

How about the hooks, the lines, and the sinkers of broken promises that happened during the "90 days" and after, like the non-Sale of BC Rail?

Scrap photo radar in British Columbia      Check

 And now we have "photo radar" cameras back in British Columbia?

Establish a fixed election date under the BC Constitution Act, to ensure provincial elections must be held on a fixed date every fourth year, or immediately if any government loses a confidence vote in the Legislature.    Check

Premier Christy Clark could have had HER mandate this Spring if she allowed her members of the legislature to vote Yes to extinguishing the Harmonized Sales Tax.  MLAs losing their confidence, and bingo, there would be an election in September.  As it is, Christy Clark, who co-authored the New Era document, is just going to call a snap election in September because she WANTS to have an expensive, unnecessary illegal election.  At least that's the way it looks. Whatever happened to the New Era in Accountability?

 ......We want to cut your taxes and put more money back in your pocket, because when you work hard, you should be able to get ahead.  You should keep more of every dollar you earn and government should take less. That’s the best way to stimulate investment, job creation and a thriving economy that can sustain the revenue growth needed to pay for crucial public services like health care and education. Money is always far more powerful in your hands than it is when government spends it. .. - Gordon Muir Campbell  - New Era

And along came the need, after looking at a "radar" screen, for the government of Gordon Muir Campbell to take money out of our pockets, because we do WORK hard, and we were getting ahead.  Whatever happened to "government should take less"?  Having money IN our pocket meant that we were going to pay for CRUCIAL public services like health care and education.   Money, El Gordo and Christy said, is far more powerful in OUR hands than when its in government hands, because all that governments does is spend it.

Problem with ten years, of any government, no matter the length of time, they double the debt. Social Credit Party ended their spending spree at $17 Billion, NDP government of ten years left us at $34 Billion, now Christy's BC Liberals are close to $60 billion, which means, I suppose, that its time for a new government.

Why is our provincial debt headed towards $60 BILLION dollars, when the BC Liberals promised not to send us into further debt just like the BC NDP did?



We could ask the former Finance Minister Colin Hansen, seeing as how he played a major part in getting us to the $60 Billion question on Debt in British Columbia, but before we go there, how about this, his Letter to the Editor on Why the HST, Why now?:

Question: Is this just another tax grab?

No. The revenue generated from the HST will be about the same as the revenue projected from the current PST system.

This shift from PST to HST will not be any kind of a “windfall” of revenue to the Provincial coffers. The $1.6 billion in one-time money that the federal government will transfer to us will help fund needed health care and education programs as we deal with the collapse of our provincial government revenues.

Aside from that, the PST revenues and the HST revenues are about the same.

Aside from that,     the BC Liberal government was in a Deficit position before they went into the 2009 election

Red Mitten Premier Gordon Campbell could have offered VPD the use of ICBC facial-recognition technology in the aftermath of the 2010 Riot, but didn't.

What's this you say, a riot in downtown Vancouver in 2010, during the Olympics.  Not True.   The last riot that happened in Vancouver was in 1994.

Vancouver has had THREE riots.

Two directly related to a loss in Hockey in Game 7s, seventeen years apart; one related to the 2010 Winter Olympics within two nights of the event opening.   The last two riots happened less than year and a half from each other, and they were both a result of black clad (hooded)(balaclava) individuals being the instigators. 

The CBC, in its extended coverage of the Wednesday night riot, had Peter Mansbridge referring to the hooligans as the "Black Bloc".

Wouldn't it be interesting to see if the 2009 ICBC facial-technology could be used to compare the hooligans from 2010 to the hooligans of 2011?   They'd be easy to find, they're wearing masks, and the only thing that VPD needs via ICBC is this:

Link to images

Masks that are held tight across the face, still reveal the necessary components that make the identification possible.   In other words, those that attacked the Hudson Bay Company on Wednesday night, in all likelihood, were repeat offenders from 2010, something that the Courts should be apprised of when deciding upon the consequences that should be served by the rioters.

 Its not like those rioters from 1994 came here for a repeat performance, win or lose.   I'd say that last year's riot perps came back for the electronic goods, big time.    London Drugs sustained over a Million Dollars in damages to property and stolen electronic gear.


15 cars were destroyed by the rioters on June 15, 2011, which means, OUR insurance rates are going UP!

ICBC facial technology has been around for over two years:

ICBC camera led police to government files breach

Saturday, December 05, 2009

.......Exactly one week later, on Feb. 13, Richard Ernest Wainwright walked into an ICBC customer centre to renew his licence and pose for a new photograph, according to the information police used to obtain a search warrant.
A short time later, ICBC’s facial-recognition software matched his picture to an expired learner’s licence in the name of Richard Ernest Perran, the documents say.
ICBC’s special investigations unit was alerted and a special constable “physically compared the photographs of Richard Ernest Perran to Richard Ernest Wainwright and felt that both driver record photographs were of the same person,” the search warrant documents show. ........           Times Colonist

  

ICBC offers facial-recognition technology to Vancouver police’s riot investigation

“Subject to receipt of a court order, the corporation’s facial-recognition technology will be able to support the identification of suspects,” states a news release issued today (June 17) by Premier Christy Clark’s office." - By Stephen Hui, June 17, 2011  Straight.com

In two consecutive years, under the watch of the BC Liberals, the provincial government has let us down.   The technology to catch these guys has been hoarded by ICBC.   Why?   Why didn't Premier Gordon Campbell throw down his gauntlet of red mittens and launch ICBC against last year's criminals?  Why wait for a year to go by to stop these guys in their tracks?


For those of our immediate community, or those from overseas, if you have any photographs from 2010, pass them onto the VPD.


In 2010 the police were prepared for orderly protesters to the Olympics, the hooligans gained a foothold, and seven were charged.  This year, there was a much smaller police contingent, and the hooligans went for their targets within the Georgia and Granville Street intersection, but the police made over 100 arrests that night, and more charges are pending.

 update   June 25th, 2011

Planning a crime? Your driver's licence could be star witness against you

 

By Gillian Shaw, Vancouver Sun June 25, 2011

When ICBC took the photo for your driver's licence, did anyone mention it could end up being scanned to see if you committed a crime?

No, but why hasn't the police forces of British Columbia purchased the same technology for their mug shots to be used in conjunction to surveillance footage for break and enters or other acts of crime? 

"End of the Universe" Not Science Fiction, in Burnaby, its on Byrne Road, just north of the Fraser River AND Big Bang Burger Heaven Bar

UPDATE July 12, 2011  at the bottom

We like to call it      End of the Universe... south end of Byrne Road in South Burnaby, industrial section of town.

Fraser Park Restaurant

4663 Byrne Road, #103
Burnaby, BC V5J3H6

Tel: (604) 433-7605

Google Search:
sci fi  End of the universe restaurant big bang burger bar Douglas Adams



Coffee is extra, refills aren't

49.193915,-122.997824

$7.50

Anton the Chef says:

Why is it that when we ask for a hamburger we get something that is made from beef?

If we ask for a Chicken Burger, we get a burger made from chicken.

If we ask for a Turkey Burger, we get a burger made from turkey.

If we ask for a Beef Burger, we get a burger made from beef.

At this restaurant, a Ham Burger is exactly that, HAM, with lots of mushrooms, lettuce, cheddar cheese, and tomatoes.

Yellow Awning

3 Episodes of: “Cooking with Anton”

“anton604” on youtube

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

Big Bang Burger Bar  ..............


That's Burger Heaven in NewWestminister, it can be seen from the Sky Train, and the Sky Train can be seen from the Burger Heaven.

From the Vancouver Province

Burger Heaven patrons want the HST out

Burger Heaven patrons don’t like the harmonized sales tax.
After a week’s worth of voting in the totally unscientific poll, 87 people want the HST thrown into the garbage, while 39 want to keep it.
The 10th Street eatery has had a lot of success over the years with its election polls.

Where's Whistler British Columbia? We have TWO!!!

Something isn't quite right here, in the Best Place on Earth, British Columbia..........  I was looking on the internet for the possibility that CN Rail had applied to discontinue a portion of the BC Rail line from its service area, but instead, I found a railway line that I didn't even know existed, especially so far North/West of the word North, as in "North Vancouver"   (see first map below).

I had to look at Google Map to get my bearings.

My  free hand line, coloured black, should have stopped near the top of the capitalized letter of "North", in North Vancouver to be the real Whistler on the map,      where the 2010 Winter Olympics took place.   According to Google Map, Whistler is 50.13N 122.95W

The railway map to their "Whistler" is located close to 50.60N 124.27W


Source for the map below shows train tracks going from North Vancouver (near Squamish???) to a town called "Whistler".....

The map, if it had included "Not To Scale", I could understand why "Whistler" was not where its suppose to be, but then other Place names mentioned on the map are equally off their marks, but not as much as Whistler.

If you take a straight edge and lay it carefully on your monitor, touch the capital letter in Kamloops and hit the northern edge of Texada Island, (long slender island with a much smaller island at its toe) you'll find Whistler. 

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

When I was inputting the data into this Google Map, below, I took the Departure point "A" from somewhere in downtown Vancouver, it should have been from North Vancouver, my apologies.    Arrival position of "B" is right on the money.

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

From Google Earth, in Terrain mode, this is "Whistler", the wrong one at 50.60N 124.27W, its marked with a yellow flag, middle, to the left in the photo.   Rough Terrain. Stunning, to say the least.

This terrain is one reason why the British Columbia Rail line cost so much money to build and maintain, and the second reason is because the BC Liberals put in a future obligation expense item, that never happened.


Note:
From "Whistler" to Lund, BC on the coast of Georgia Straight is 78.25 Kilometers, as the crow flies.
From "Whistler" to Williams Lake, interior, the Heartland, is 220.5 Kilometers, as the crow flies.
From "Whistler" to Whistler is 105.27 Kilometers as the crow flies.

Vancouver CBC Radio Canada has a killer of a "back lot", while the "front lot" has the Canucks playing hockey on the big outdoor screen.

We've all seen, courtesy of the Evening CBC news hour, how the Canuck fans are being treated to a big screen production of the Stanley Cup Finals.

There's two ways for the public to get into the CBC building, one is through the Canuck fans as they take up their "seats", then there's the other way, which is basically a U-turn by first going south-east, then make a left turn at the edge of the CBC building, go up the stairs, and then make another left turn at the end of the building again which brings us out to the other side from the front entrance.

Just traipse up the stairs and that's your second entrance to CBC Radio Canada, wheelchair entrance is to the right, up the ramp. 



There's a bench section Reserved for Employees of CBC Radio Canada, and the occasional visitor(s).   I say section, because the bench is covered way overhead by a glass roof.   The opposite side to where the bench is, is open to the sky and Vancouver weather.   Although, you could sit upon the bench, there's this one slight problem, if you're sensitive to the smell of cigarette smoke.......

Dedication of the plaque, May 12, 1971, the bench??? no date

That device that looks like a Light Stand with a lid on it, to the right of the bench, isn't a Light Stand, its an ash tray.  When I first saw it today I thought it had a "peg leg" for a bird to perch upon, but upon closer inspection it turned out to be a spent butt.   Left me wondering if the person who put it there, had run out of steam, to push the cigarette all the way in, OR, he had struck upon a production idea for the News Hour this afternoon.  The instructions are quite clear, in both of our Official languages, English and French.......    PUSH IN and (I can't quite make it out in French)...  but you could check out Sylvain Bourdeau's website, and see what other nifty devices they have, at  http://ikkwit.com/   see comment section below.

Made in Canada, Quebec, by Ikkwit

 

Britain's Princess Margret, Queen Elizabeth's sister, spent most of her adult life smoking, big time, her niece,  Princess Anne, never touched the stuff, so why is it that the only bench in the whole wide empty space of the back lot is dominated by Smokers?
 

Presented by Princess Anne

David Grierson, Bruno Gerussi, Otto Lowy

BC Government has (future) Contractual Obligations on the Sea to Sky Highway. We were told it wasn't a penny more than $600 million, but its actually $1.016 Billion and counting!

PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
PUBLIC ACCOUNTS 2008/09
CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS—supplementary detail information—Continued
In Millions

Sea to Sky Highway P3..................... 76     51   52   51  51   735     1,016
Canada Line Rapid Transit (RAV)........ 11     19   19   19  19   501       588
Capital development agreements........... 606  229 187 116       1,138

(Shadow Tolls on Sea to Sky Highway P3 and the WR Bennett Bridge P3)

The above doesn't copy well from a pdf file and into a Blog/Website, but a photo?????, is sooooo much clearer.

Office of the Comptroller General - Public Accounts 2008 - 2009

http://www.fin.gov.bc.ca/ocg/pa/08_09/pa08_09.htm

Last item, at the bottom of the page, is:

Contractual Obligations - details of significant government contractual commitments, including service agreements, program delivery agreements, capital development agreements and operating and maintenance agreements.

Copy this link into your browser to see Contractual Obligations document:
http://www.fin.gov.bc.ca/ocg/pa/08_09/Contractual_Obligations.pdf

 

And before you leave, copy this into your browser as well:

coastal ferries services agreement

because I got curious about the over $8 billion owed by the government to Coast Ferries Services  AND the ensuing Amendments like this one:

In April 2003, the petitioner was transformed from a Crown Corporation into an independent, commercial organization under the Business Corporations Act, S.B.C 2002, c. 57. It is regulated by a 60 year binding agreement with the Province of British Columbia known as the Coastal Ferries Services Contract.

We all know what happened, maybe I shouldn't be saying We all know, because with the $6 million being paid out to Basi and Virk by the BC Liberal Government, We'll never know what happened at BC Rail.

However, we do know that BC Rail was sold off for 990 years.

 

Does the Contractual Obligation for Coastal Ferries initial 60 year have a clause that puts it on the same footing as BC Rail?

The Contract mandates an annual customer satisfaction tracking survey to measure and monitor customer needs and interests, including the overall safety of the operations.

Shadow tolled highways have a similar type of wording, one that is designed to ensure that the road is always open for business.

All that ribbon cutting during the 2011 Bye-Election in Vancouver Point Grey riding was an election expense advertising so says Elections BC

Kash Heed, we all remember MLA Kash Heed, who's campaign went off the rails during the 2009 Provincial Election, not of his own doing, but allegedly by a couple of campaign workers that ended up spending more money than his campaign was permitted to spend.

Could it be that in the recent Vancouver-Point Grey Riding Bye-Election the same thing has happened, again?

From Elections BC website there's this:

Guidelines on Communications During an Election Campaign

Purpose:

To provide information regarding advertising and other communication activities conducted during an election campaign period, including government communications.   - Elections BC

Snip

The cost of public events (groundbreakings, ribbon cuttings) and announcements held with the acquiescence or consent of a candidate during a campaign period may be considered election expenses for that candidate. Additionally, the cost of associated advertising could be considered election advertising. 

Examples of advertising that would be considered election advertising used to promote or oppose, directly or indirectly, the election of a candidate or a registered political party:

• advertising containing information that specifically promotes or opposes a candidate or registered political party;
• advertising specifically targeted to an electoral district in which an election is being conducted;
• advertising specifically designed to coincide with the campaign period; or
• a material increase in the normal volume of advertising, either generally or in relation to an electoral district, during a campaign period.  -  Elections BC

http://www.elections.bc.ca/docs/reg/commguidelines.htm    

02-Jun-2008 15:25   19K  

Document above includes this phone number to contact at Elections BC:
Phone: (250) 387-5305     The Chief Electoral Officer desk, no matter who he is.

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April 13, 2011

Office of the Premier

Premier Christy Clark calls byelection

VANCOUVER – Premier Christy Clark has called a byelection for the Vancouver-Point Grey electoral district for May 11, 2011.

The seat became vacant when Gordon Campbell resigned as MLA on March 15, 2011. 

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April 28, 2011

Office of the Premier Ministry of Health

Premier announces new home away fromhome for sick kids

VANCOUVER – Premier Christy Clark today announced $13.375 million towards a new Ronald McDonald House that will support British Columbian families who have a sick or disabled child needing to travel to Vancouver for treatment at BC Children’s Hospital.

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On May 3, 2011 the Premier announced FREE parking in Provincial Parks

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release 2011PREM0043-000479 May 3, 2011

Office of the Premier Ministry of Environment

Premier Christy Clark declares free parking in BC Parks

NORTH VANCOUVER – Premier Christy Clark and Environment Minister Terry Lake launched BC Parks centennial celebrations today by announcing that parking will now be free in all provincial parks to encourage families to take advantage of our world-class parks system.

“The parking meters are coming out and parking will be free, effective immediately, so that British Columbia’s parks are even more welcoming for families,” said Premier Clark. “Our parks not only contribute to a healthy lifestyle and protect our environment, they are important to our economy. More park visitors mean more tourism dollars and more jobs for rural British Columbians and we want to eliminate any barriers to using the parks.”

The Province also announced a $500,000 Community Legacy Program to support communities while they celebrate the BC Parks centennial. The funding will be used to improve parks across the province. Community groups can apply for up to $20,000 for projects such as trail enhancements, improvements that support recreational activities or conservation of a park’s ecology or cultural history. These projects will provide a lasting commemoration of BC Parks 100.

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May 5, 2011

Office of the Premier Ministry of Energy and Mines Minister Responsible for Housing

Premier Christy Clark announces new affordable housing

Vancouver – Premier Christy Clark today announced the Province will contribute $6.7 millionto build 30 new housing units at 8th Avenue and Vine Street in Vancouver that will offer seniors and people with physical disabilities a safe, accessible and affordable place to call home.

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May 9, 2011

Office of the Premier Ministry of Health

Premier Christy Clark announces freesupport to help smokers

VANCOUVER – Nicotine replacement therapies will be available to all British Columbian smokers at no cost and smoking cessation prescription drugs will be covered under PharmaCare, Premier Christy Clark announced today.

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March 16, 2011

Office of the Premier

Premier announces increase to minimum wage

VICTORIA - Premier Christy Clark today announced British Columbia’s minimum wage will increase in three stages to $10.25 by May 1, 2012 and the training wage will be eliminated, providing more support for B.C. workers and families in every region of the province.

“Raising the minimum wage and eliminating the training wage is a fair and reasonable step forward in putting families first and building our economy. This increase could mean more than $4,000 additional dollars annually for a full-time employee, providing more support to B.C. workers and the families who depend on them,” said Premier Clark. “Businesses told us they needed time to adjust to increases in the minimum wage and we’re pleased we’ve been able to provide that certainty to them through three predictable stages.”

The general minimum wage will increase on May 1, 2011 to $8.75 and be $10.25 per hour by May 2012.

As of May 1, 2011 the training wage is also repealed and all hourly-paid employees will be entitled to the general minimum wage regardless of how long they have been in the paid labour force.

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Anyone having access to press releases that happened during the Bye-Election, it would be greatly appreciated to Forward them to this blog, just to keep Elections BC up to date as they do their review of the expenses for the candidates involved.

It can't be said that Premier Gordon Campbell was a political dim wit..... even on the HST introduction.

This morning's Vancouver Sun Letters to the Editor page is filled with masses, voters, rage against the introduction of the HST, within a month of the BC Liberals winning their election in 2009.

It was these very same BC Liberals, after winning a landslide majority of MLAs in 2001 (77 to 2) that made the change to May 12th being the best time to have an election.

Spring Budgets are introduced to the Legislature in February without the full knowledge of what is ACTUALLY in the treasury coffers, but then LO and BEHOLD a shortage pops up two to three months later, and then the once proudly declared Throne Speech (written by the Premier/Finance Minister) is thrown into arrears.

No HST,   HST, no?, HST Yes!

I always complained about how can the Province go into election mode when the facts of just how much money is in the till is an unknown quantity.    It seems that every time one government is overthrown the incoming government says   STOP SPENDING THE MONEY    and then....... they find that what the outgoing government said during the election is not the truth, nowhere near the truth when it comes to money.

If elections were held in June.... low voter presence, vacations on their minds, who would win the youth vote.
If elections were held in September, every one would be here, so too would be the facts, which we should all have and not have some whimsical promise by the current government that everything is fine, just finding it afterwards is another thing.

We should have been told about the HST, but it was all in the timing, time to lie to voters and taxpayers of just how much money was available to spend.  Instead of a promised first time deficit for the Gordon Campbell, he was facing a $.5 billion position, and even that didn't disturb those who voted for the BC Liberals.

If the BC Liberals had told voters that the deficit was going to be $2.6 billion, up front, they probably would have still won the election, especially since we were just a year past the 2008 year recession, but then, the BC Liberals did lie about just how far THEY put us into debt.

The furor over the HST, its implementation, the bribing of taxpayers with their own monies, just to save the BC Liberals asses, not their ass, but the asses who were voted into represent the wishes of the voters, should be penalized for their lying cheating ways.

This was the First tax carrot, and it failed.

No matter which language Elections BC uses to show voters on the referendum, the ballot  remains the same, all in English.   If the voter's first and only language is NOT English, will they know how to vote properly based on their decisions after having listened to the Pros and Cons of the the issue of HST?   Will they have to have a translator in the voting booth to be told which line to tick or cross within the circles of Yes or No?









There are Seventeen different languages and this is the ballot that covers only one:

Vote Yes, to rid us of the HST.

Vote No, to keep the HST


Next election, will probably be called by Premier Christy Clark within two months of this date.   Their bookkeeping should be up to date, ask about how OUR finances are, before voting.   Better yet, ask them NOW before voting on the HST.

At precisely June 4, 2011, 11:21am the Seattle Police Department (Riot squad???) rolled into town to handle the crowds attending the Stanley Cup Finals....

UPDATE June 5, 2011

The Seattle Police Department ... Motorcycle team are here (June 4th, 2011) for the Hats Off Day in Burnaby.....

A really fun, annual event, Burnaby closes down a long stretch of Hastings Street, this time from Boundary Road to Gamma Avenue! A parade, street festivities, food galore, balloons, clowns, and much, much more takes over this busy thoroughfare, and it’s really a blast…
We will join the parade, which starts at 9 am, and we hope to see you there!

Which means that the cavalcade that I saw at 11:21am was........ empty, or late, or....definitely not here to assist, except to participate in the Hats Off Day in Burnaby.

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 A crowd of over 70,000 Canuck fans rejoiced in the streets of downtown Vancouver, without a riot happening.  YES!

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Vancouver's Chief of Police Jim Chu says that the city has learned from past experiences when the Canucks lost a game here, or there.    Why does the Seattle Police Department bus need to be escorted into our fair city on a Stanley Cup Finals game day at precisely 11:21am? Do they know something we don't know?

No traffic and yet there's a motorcycle officer at an intersection

Traffic Officer gives up and joins the cavalcade

Bike rack on the front for the Seattle Police Department in Vancouver

There's a lot of fossil fuel being used just to haul a bicycle around on the front bumper.  The police from south of the border could carry the bike(s) in the aisle, undercover too.

#3 IS Kevin Bieksa

Canada Post strikes before Elections BC mails out HST ballots, gee whiz, now what CC

Published 1 hour 7 minutes ago

Postal workers in Winnipeg were set to walk off the job at midnight Thursday, as the union began rotating strikes to press its contract demands.  TheStar.com

Amazingly, at exactly 16:54 today, June 2, 2011, Elections BC published three files on its website (somewhere):

Ref 2011 Cantonese 414K saved at 191%
Ref 2011 Punjabi  506K saved at 87%
Ref 2011 TaiwanMandarin saved at 197%

Altogether there are seventeen languages, including English, but for some reason Elections BC focused on these three for today (Thursday).

Cantonese

Punjabi

Taiwan Mandarin

What I haven't quite figured out is how Elections BC will rule on Advertising during the voting process that's to last a full month.   For General and Bye election voting of one day in length, theoretically, not even a prima donna candidate has the right to preen in front of the media within 100 metres of a voting booth, but rules are meant to be bent, for some.   Once we receive our ballots in the "mail", will those that haven't filled in their ballot be constantly bombarded with more advertising on the HST until the very last day?

If Canada Post employees go on strike country wide, will Elections BC call off the vote?   Will the advertising continue on, unabated?

PS     Post Script
      Metro Vancouver votes a week later than the rest of the province.

PPS   Post Post Script
    The bulk of the voters of British Columbia live in Metro Vancouver