Which one is more believable: "Victoria's worst kept secret" - Mr. Brown 1863 - 1883 or "Victoria's worst kept secret" - Mr. Brown 2001 - 2011

After writing a Rambling 4:23am email to close friend, Laila Yuile, it was suggested that it be converted to a Post with a title like this:

"Lucid ramblings to a friend at 4:00am"

I checked the internet for the word ....... LUCID  Hmmmmm:

"Showing ability to think clearly, esp. in the intervals between periods of confusion or insanity."

 Insanity, eh.

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I crawled back into bed at six .....  that's when the final POST Title jumped into my thoughts, and as it turned out, it was based upon Martyn Brown's very own type-set written note published in the Province:  

"Victoria's worst kept secrets"

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I thought that the current Mr. Brown was initially writing about that "other Victoria's worst kept secrets as in Queen Victoria and Mr. Brown (1863 - 1883) .... but the current Mr. Brown (2001 - 2011) was writing about the BC Liberal Government, in Victoria, that couldn't keep secrets.


Actually, if it hadn't been for Cassidy Olivier of the Province, Mr. Brown probably wouldn't have written, into the Public domain, his version of  ... "Victoria's worst kept secrets".

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As to the email's content this morning to close friend Laila Yuile, it started out like this, by once again reviewing Mr. Brown's first paragraph:

...... Last week's excellent expose` by The Province highlighted one of Victoria's worst kept secrets: namely, that political staffers working for MLAs sometimes do partisan work that does not easily square with the Government's Code of Conduct for public servants. - Martyn Brown - former Chief of Staff to Gordon Campbell

Mr. Brown is not talking about the BC NDP, they haven't been the government for the past eleven years.  As to "does not easily square", it means it's doable, as long as there is a bottomless pit of taxpayer money, on the cheap, to pay for $64 million worth of partisan advertising that is designed to catapult Christy Clark into her First Mandate, instead of being a mere CareTaker.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

How is it though, at the BC Rail Trial that a Witness called by the Special Prosecutor, responded mostly with   ...."I don't remember"  "I don't Recall"...... and still manged to bob and weave his way through two layers of lawyers for the defendants (Basi and Virk) during cross examination..... . Why would a witness go to the extent of proving, rather ably, that he had the tenacity, the ability to cut himself off from reality by saying he never read newspapers, nor listened to the radio or watched television during the trial.... he didn't even know a BC Liberal Minister had resigned over the HST ..... .  No wonder he repeated and repeated.... I don't remember, I don't recall    he didn't intertwine himself with the news media, until now.

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Since the trial, since being removed as the Chief of Staff and shunted over to be a Deputy Minister for Gordon Campbell's, and both were terminated, he has become an author of an e-book this year on how the BC Liberal could have done their jobs better, and then lately he has had two "editorial" pieces published, with the last one this past Tuesday.

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When Mr. Brown writes about the "Worst kept secrets", does that mean that he knows of more secrets, ones that are only "badly" kept?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From personal experience, You and Me, we do have a tendency to become overloaded with information, and that's what Martyn Brown claimed during his Testimony when he was called upon by the Special Prosecutor, what's-his-face, Bernardino.

But..........


On Tuesday, Mr. Brown wasn't writing about hypothetical situations though, he could only write upon his OWN knowledge base, what little there is .... in that, it was HIS political staffers, working for MLAs where they sometimes did partisan work.  If he were to point his finger at the Opposition or the Conservative Party (temporary foreign worker John van Dongen excluded), he would be taken to task, because the onus would be on him to PROVE otherwise.

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Strange, in the past two days, no one from the BC Liberal government, or the BC Liberal Party, have jumped up an down, publicly, to DISAGREE with Mr. Brown's take on the partisan "duties" of staff.  Could it be that Mr. Brown is not alone in the knowledge of "Victoria's worst kept secret"?  If the secrets have not been kept, then there must be a whole whack of BC Liberals who are party to the knowledge.  Their minds haven't been shredded.... yet.  Amazing!

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Do we really have to wait on the sidelines while the Auditor General of BC, MLA John van Dongen and possibly the next Government to be formed, before we get the answers as to what really went down at BC Rail, and of course the BC Liberals actions within?

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The Defendants were never given a chance to take the Stand in their own Defense.....and because of that, they can never be accused of pulling a "Gillian Guess ......... Obstruction of Justice", whereas a Royal Commission will have the authority to extract the answers that were given in Court to see if they don't tally with what we now know, or will know if....... the BC Liberals lose in 2013.

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The last paragraph in Mr. Brown's Editorial:

"Here’s the rub. There is currently no real legal means for fully preventing the abuse of taxpayers’ money for inappropriate political purposes by either MLAs or by their legislative staff." - Martyn Brown the Province November 27, 2012

Yes, there is that rub.  What is left out of the statement above, sort of, is that the statement is skewed because it's so easy to jump to the conclusion to NOT include the Premier of the Province.

Premier Gordon Campbell was a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) and one part of his large legislative staff, was none other than Mr. Brown.

In his own words, Mr. Brown's blanket statement would include the "Chief of Staff", where "political staffers working for MLAs sometimes do partisan work"........

Hmmmmm

He can't remember what took place before the raid on the BC Legislature and he has no recollection of what took place afterwards, but....

It must be great to stand up on a Daily newspaper soapbox in Vancouver, and talk about current affairs and yet seemingly turn a blind eye as to what happened under his watch when the Main players of David Basi, Bobby Virk and Aneal Basi were toasted by the Press for seven long years.

It was bad enough for some, to lose their memory of what took place inside the Hallowed Halls of the BC Legislature Premier's Office, to then have a Director for BC Rail, who had no trouble, whatsoever,  defending his position, his actions, of  the Government of Gordon Campbell who told them that the selling off of BC Rail was best for the Province.  Yeah sure.

Mr. Brown, writes this:

Last week's excellent expose` by The Province highlighted one of Victoria's worst kept secrets: namely, that political staffers working for MLAs sometimes do partisan work that does not easily square with the Government's Code of Conduct for public servants.

Hmmmm.  Did someone other than Mr. Brown Ghost Write his column today, because, during Disclosure that led up to the BC Rail Trial, there were allegations being made about the shenanigans that were taking place between the BC Liberals and their ....... Political Staffers, like David Basi and Bobby Virk.  Their discussion took place on "Government Resources and Equipment" and was duly recorded by the RCMP!

Aneal Basi got off as part of the Six Million Dollar Guilty Plea bargain which was settled in October of 2010.             ........ Two years ago, if you're still counting.

Take a look at Bill Tieleman's writings on WireTaps between a Minister and one of the two that pled guilty, to understand that there was a whole lot of allegations being made of Partisan politics going on within the last ten years.    In "the old days", 2003/2004, the BC Liberal Party was using OIC appointees, within the BC Legislature, to create political dirty tricks....... like this:

Reichert, the defence alleges, had conversations with Basi about political dirty tricks, hired Basi through the party for $20,000 to conduct "media monitoring" work and that RCMP wire taps heard Basi and Reichert discussing radio show appearances by Premier Gordon Campbell. - Bill Tielman

If you don't recall who "Reichert" is,  check out Bill Tieleman's Railgate, A to Z  .   Don't look under "S" for Stone, you have to Look under the Letter "R" for  "Kelly REICHERT. B.C. Liberal Party executive director." 


Question is, would the former Chief of Staff have approached the Editors of the Province back then, to  congratulate the newspaper, and their intrepid reporter Cassidy Olivier (if he was old enough), for his "excellent 2003 expose`" of  Caucus staff  (Dave Basi and Bobby Virk)?     Probably NOT.

Mr. Brown in the Province:

Last week’s excellent exposé by The Province highlighted one of Victoria’s worst kept secrets: namely, that political staffers working for MLAs sometimes do partisan work that does not easily square with the government’s Code of Conduct for public servants.

In this case, taxpayer-funded resources were inappropriately used to create BC Liberal party websites attacking Adrian Dix and the NDP. It was a story that ironically broke as the NDP caucus was posting its own very partisan (but appropriate) You Tube video slamming the government for its highly political and wasteful advertising campaign.

Here’s the rub. There is currently no real legal means for fully preventing the abuse of taxpayers’ money for inappropriate political purposes by either MLAs or by their legislative staff. - Martyn Brown  the Province  November 27, 2012

Snip

 Martyn Brown, the author of the ebook, Towards A New Government In British Columbia, was former premier Gordon Campbell’s long-serving chief of staff and a former deputy minister of tourism, trade and investment.

It is petty, partisan, politics, and a lack of political will to change.

Snip

In light of what happened during the BC Rail raid on the Legislature the Government of Gordon Campbell, the Premier, and/or his Chief of Staff, should have immediately taken steps to ensure that there WAS the "legal means to fully prevent abuse of TAXPAYERS' money for inappropriate political purposes".


If they had, a small circle of wayward OIC appointees wouldn't be feeling the wrath of the Public today.

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While David Basi was being paid to be an OIC Appointee to the BC Liberal Government of Gordon Campbell, it was alleged that he was being paid .........  $20,000 by a former Executive Director for the BC Liberal Party for something called "Media Monitoring".

Could it be, that the story written by Cassidy Olivier, has a final chapter, yet to be revealed........ by the BC NDP Opposition Caucus Researchers......?

Don Millar???? Oh you mean that $10,000 a Month Don

Don't waste your valuable time looking for the hiring of Don Millar, we did, last week when the news broke about Christy Clark's dark dungeon OIC appointees were caught using Government Equipment and Resources to run  personal ATTACK websites against the Leader of the Opposition, Aridan Dix (ATTACK ADS I) AND  John Cummins (ATTACK ADS II).

There is a loophole as to how someone may be hired via an untendered contract, which is okay, if it's an emergency like this:

.....The exceptions are laid out in the government's Core Policy and Procedures Manual. The first is when the ministry concerned can prove that only one contractor is qualified for the work. The second is when there is an "unforeseeable emergency, and the required goods, services or construction could not be obtained by a competitive process". ....... Source:  The Straight By Russ Francis, November 3, 2005

Core Policy and Procedure Manual": Procurement #4:(which requires you to search for "emergency"

Ministries may directly acquire goods and services when an unforeseen emergency exists. Emergency Purchase Orders (EPOs) must only be used to meet extraordinary deadlines that have pre-empted the ability to access the normal acquisition processes for goods and services (e.g., CSAs, SSBC's distribution centres, requisitions to Procurement Services Branch). Ministries must limit the authority to issue EPOs to designated positions with appropriate signing authority. Where the appropriate ministry authority determines that it is essential to proceed, a written explanation of the need for an EPO must be kept on record.

Don Millar's hiring, was an "Emergency" (background from various sources):

Public Eye Online

Public Eye Online II

hstjobs.ca

Smart Tax Alliance 

"Reception Point Consulting Inc."

This next link, via Open Information contains all of the information regarding an FOI request made by the Province, the newspaper.   If you're a novice to Open Information, you somehow have to know the EXACT date that the FOI was produced..... because they don't operate their database the same way as the excepted method that the Internet search giants use like Google, or Yahoo(?), or Bing

FOI Request - GCP-2012-00187
FOI Request link to Open Information

The above Request link, lists off the contract details between the GCPE occupying whole 4th floor of 617 Government Street, Victoria, which is just across the Street from Christy Clark's Office.  The document is 50 Pages long, is not accessible by using the Search program within.... because all of the documents provided are IMAGES... the same tactic that was used by the BC Liberal Government during the BC Rail Trial.  The Dobell Doctrine.


Don E. Millar's "Reception Point Consulting Inc." headquarters was three blocks away from the Premier's Downtown Vancouver Office... just a minor detail, not of any importance, you have to live somewhere, why not Coal Harbour.

Within the Contract there are TWO addresses for Reception Point Consulting Inc.:
Suite 604 - 1233 West Cordova Street, Vancouver and TH14 - 1233 West Cordova Street, Vancouver.

Pacific Gazetteer has TWO Posts on Don Millar, which gives you an insight as to what others are writing:   Christy Clark To People....."Budget? Me Don't Need No Stinkin' (Office) Budget!"
And this one is TWO.

FTI Consulting "Don Millar" BC Liberals

LinkedIn for Don Millar 

He is a professional storyteller who helps clients develop and execute multi-media communications campaigns to achieve their objectives.

In order of Appearance in the Province newspaper article written by Cassidy Olivier:

Blair Phelps

Thomas Marshall

Don Millar

Spencer Sproule

Mike Wilson

Primrose Carson

Ben James

Entering their names into LinkedIn, we come up with "Viewers of this profile also viewed..."
which means that the names above could have connections within the realm of Politics. You may not know there names, but "others" know of the possibilities, and POOF, there they are.

These "others" are anonymous, but they do have a keen sense of curiosity, probably the Press or a Political Party, looking for the "new hierarchy" of the BC Liberals Party and/or BC Liberal Government since Gordon Campbell's inner circle was dissolved by Christy Clark, and her utilizing $2.7 million dollars from the Public's Treasury.


Going back to the list above, and using that up to date LinkedIn data, for each individual. .... LOL LinkedIn for  Christy Clark, the lady with her finger, supposedly, on the pulse of her government, or rather a finger in every pie, from the Top down, to the BC Liberal Constituency Ridings, may be the exception to the rule.  Remember when she was acclaimed as the Leader of the BC Liberal Party, someone in the Press pointed out that she hadn't paid a dime into the Election Chest for HER Party.
She "quickly" plopped down $550 on April 11, 2012 and eight days later, April 19, 2012, another $100.  Source:  Elections BC FRPC.  Talk about supporting the Party Christy, especially when potential candidates have been out drumming up new support for a dying political party, and you dump the chosen ones.

 As it is, she still hasn't got around to changing her LinkedIn account to reflect her current place of employment.  She still has Radio station CKNW as her employer.



LinkedIn is an open format resume where anyone may read the basics, AND if you sign up with LinkedIn you get to see the whole ball of wax of someone else's RESUME.

To get the background on the "players" who dreamed up the ATTACK ADS, we refer you back to Cassidy Olivier at the Province newspaper, and of course you could go to Open Information to source out any FOI's that the News Media were looking for, or "others".

 From LinkedIn of those named by Cassidy Olivier and the Province, in order of the bit players who's only "award" was a slap on the wrist......, think of another infraction, from the Premier Bill Bennett era, handled afterwards, much more seriously for what they were:   Socred's Dirty Tricks Scandal. Check out Keeping it Real ..... written by Harvey Oberfeld


Blair Phelps

Thomas Marshall

Don Millar

Spencer Sproule 
  which is an odd one because it says that he WORKS for the Prime Minister (Canada) AND did so with the Premier of British Columbia.

Mike Wilson

Prim Carson   Primrose Carson II

Ben James   Ben James II

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This next bit, not in regard to Don Millar but it just happened to be the next result in line, which is a BONUS and should be taken in context of the previous Post from the BBC.  Could it be that the BC NDP requested it, and then the News Media picked up on it?:

FOI Request - GCP-2012-00041
The employment contract, including, term, pay and benefits for Dimitri Pantazopoulos, ADM of Trade and Federal Provincial Relations; All records related to that position including org charts, job desc...

The expanded version goes something like this, and they only managed to find TWO pages:

Information Release

FOI Request - GCP-2012-00041

Applicant Type: Political Party
Ministry: Labour, Citizens' Services and Open Government
Fees paid by applicant: $0.00
Publication Date: March 19, 2012
The employment contract, including, term, pay and benefits for Dimitri Pantazopoulos, ADM of Trade and Federal Provincial Relations; All records related to that position including org charts, job descriptions, calendar records, meeting records, briefing records, Information Bulletins, Points to note, talking points, Qs and As, and communications between and among GCPE/ Office of the Premier/ Minister's office personnel of any kind (letters, emails text messages, pin messages, BBM messages, and phone logs). Timeframe is January 10 to March 1, 2012.

Download

Letters:

• D9815412A_Response_Letter_GCP-2012-00041.PDF (0.1MB)

Files:

• D9815312A_Response_Package_GCP-2012-00041.PDF (0.5MB)

Did Christy use the Public's Treasury to Sucker Punch the Job Training Initative for the BC LIberal Party's election team..... and Ed Mayne said "it" as it is!

 
In the Leadership Race for the BC Liberal Party, which Christy Clark won, would any of the other candidates be facing the same ...... challenges .... of optics today?

It would appear the BEST one for the BC Liberal Party's GOOD fortunes ..... no baggage.... had the ability to clearly foresee the future of how damaging backroom deals are, and not just during the Leadership race, but afterwards too, like in the recent "run-up" of nominations for Abbotsford.

Could it possibly be that Ed Mayne, the first Candidate to bow out,  is a prophet? Was Mayne able to see the mind-meld going on between Rich Coleman and Mike de Jong as to who would get their singular nod from the TOP down, and not from the Constituencies UP.

As Laila writes it  "the saga continues".

Here's Ed Mayne, with a straight shooting Quote from the hip: 

“People are tired of the old political systems of back room deals and from the premier’s office down, dictation of policy,” he said. “I think people want to see it from the constituencies up, and we’re not seeing that.”  -  By Yolande Cole, January 4, 2011,  Straight.Com

Thank You Ed.

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Since the "leadership race, there appears to have been a new door installed at the "sick culture" Victoria branch office, a revolving hiring and firing door which wasn't missed by the Opposition.

From BC Hansard on "Debates,  Wednesday, June 1, 2011, Afternoon Sitting,Volume 24, Number 3"

A. Dix: It's one thing to say it; it's another thing to do it — right? So the Premier had unfettered access and spent $2.7 million firing people, not giving them other places but firing them, so there's a big payout — $2.7 million. She had unfettered access to hire anyone she wanted, and she did. So the question is: how did she do? What's the report out? How did she reflect her own diversity goals when she had unfettered access to hire anyone she wanted? How did she do? 

Hon. C. Clark: As I said, we are working on it. We have a lot of progress yet to make on this. It's an issue that I'm very, very much alive to. I absolutely am committed to making sure that our public service reflects the community that we serve.........

Premier Christy Clark's inner Office hiring and firing seems to speak to the Public of her inability to keep those individuals close at hand.  They're not being paid chump change, they're being paid big bucks out of the British Columbia Treasury just so the Premier can shove her back-of-the-pack-political-party to new heights.  As it is, her only foreseeable destination is being decimated at the polls in May of 2013. 

But what if her original game plan for the top three hirings, of Mike McDonald, Dimitri Pantazopoulos and Ken Boessenkool, was planned from the outset?  That they were hired as "temporary foreign workers" first to have them hired using Treasury monies, to then move on to form an election Team, in preparation for the May 2013 Election.   How else to bring them into the fold when two of them were working in Ottawa?  It would certainly set the tone as to who was running the show, inside and out by first having them re-locating to the West coast from the East Coast. 

Her inner circle has had many tinkerings, recorded in a BBC Post from January 12, 2012:

Office of the Premier executive branch (January 2012)
 MDM Key Contact List
Victoria Office

1 Mike McDonald (chief of staff) Ken Boessenkool

2 Dimitri Pantazopoulos (principal secretary) Mike McDonald
3 Kim Haakstad (deputy chief of staff, operations)

4 Shane Mills (director of communications)Feb 2011 Sara MacIntyre

4A Shane Mills (Director of Issues Management)

Doug Brown (manager, communications and issues management)

Spencer Sproule (Senior Issues Management Coordinator)

5 Dimitri Pantazopoulos (senior advisor)

6 Trevor Halford (senior communications coordinator)

10A Rebecca Scott (communications officer and deputy press secretary)
Barindar Bhullar (Senior Outreach Coordinator)

7 Stacie Diey (communications coordinator)
8 Jessica Hodge (executive assistant to the premier) Gabe Garfunkel
9 Jennifer Chalmers (executive assistant to the chief of staff)

 Vancouver Office

10 Chris Olsen (press secretary)

11 Jim Sheppard (Senior Policy Advisor)

12 Pamela Martin (Director of Outreach)

13 May Lee (Administrative Coordinator)

14 Katherine Bergen (Events Cooridnator)

15 Virginia Bremmer (Exec. Recept. & Admin. Support)

 Another, more recent Post as of September 25, 2012 where Ken Boessenkool had to be replaced by Dan Doyle.

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BC's Treasury has been footing the bill for whimsical partisan reasons for far too long, like the notorious one that Campbell and Hanson dreamed up, the lame excuse that the HST was like, you know, "NOT ON MY RADAR".  Check out Norman Farrell's Northern Insight ".... either Campbell and Hansen and support staff were thoroughly incompetent or they were flat-out liars."


Gordon Campbell wasn't the first leader of a political party to nail the lowest single-digit in the category of popularity, but he was a Double recipient of another single-digit, a salute raised by the Public in response to his failed promise that our income taxes were to be cut, which was delayed on his Exit plan and eventually ended up being still-born, which brought Campbell to bend his knee and yield to his inner ambassador charms via a call-to-arms on prime time television to keep the Socialist Horde out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Christy steps in with a massive infusion of partisan paid advertising, by the BC Treasury .... nowhere near being restricted like that which was written into law in Ontario:

The McGuinty Liberal government's Government Advertisement Act, passed in 2004 and in force as of 2006, eliminates public funding for advertisements whose primary objective is "to promote the partisan political interests of the governing party  Page 7 of 14

 In Vaughn Palmer's column on Friday:   "Liberals' $15-million job ads campaign hidden deep in contingency funding."

All part of a dramatic spike in advertising outlays by the Liberals.  For the last year under Gordon Campbell, the government spent $17.5 million for all categories of advertising and publications.  In Clark's first year, the tally was $35.5 million, a near doubling.

The sooner Christy leaves the Office of the Premier of British Columbia........ call a snap election Christy because your political fortunes are in a tail-spin!

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Today, in another Vaughn Palmer Column, there's this:

 ......What actually happened is that the party sent two emissaries to pressure Gill to vacate Abbotsford South. Coleman played the good cop, visiting Gill at his home and urging him to switch to neighbouring Abbotsford-Mission, where Liberal Randy Hawes was retiring.

When Coleman's sweet talk failed to persuade Gill, along came regional director Brian Burley, who told Gill party headquarters would not permit him to run in South and his only choice was Mission.  .....

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Here's a finely honed Post by Norman Farrell correcting CBC's Stephen Smart's take on the Angus Reid poll of how the BC Liberals are now the best in the West:

Smart's 5pm news report today was egregious. He suggested the current Angus Reid poll indicates an important shift that gives new hope to BC Liberals. The claim was misleading and not backed up by fact.

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Final POST-it-NOTE:  Who sits upon the Treasury Board, representing the interests of the Premier and the  BC Liberal Party?  Well, for a start, the two movers and shakers for John van Dongen's Riding of Abbotsford et al.   Outgoing MLAs Colin Hansen and John Les too.  What is interesting is that when an MLA says they are not going to be running for re-election, the Premier cuts them out..... however, in this case, Christy has left Hansen and Les in place, Pity.

Treasury Board:  Mike de Jong (Chair), Shirley Bond (Vice-Chair), Ida Chong, Rich Coleman, Pat Bell, Terry Lake, Ben Stewart, Colin Hansen, John Les, John Rustad, Doug Horne, Pat Pimm

BC Liberal Minister Ida Chong is promoting Temporary Foreign Workers

Ida Chong's boss (her "employer", the same "employer" who accepted her Chief of Staff's resignation)   christy clark says yes to temporary foreign workers

Ministry of Regional Economic and Skills Development

February 2011

On Page 3: Ida Chong:

The Ministry’s role is to identify the needs of our present and future economies so we can focus the energies and expertise of our training partners to deliver high quality post-secondary education and skills training. As well, the Ministry will help attract immigrants, temporary foreign workers and international students to live, study and work in B.C., which will help us to meet current and future workforce needs. The Ministry will support new immigrants to successfully settle and integrate into
welcoming and inclusive communities, supporting multiculturalism in our diverse society. We will also continue to help expand regional economies by increasing regional economic development by diversifying economies, and helping B.C.’s communities respond to the social, economic and environmental effects that can impact their future success.  

 And Chong goes on:

The Ministry of Regional Economic and Skills Development 2011/12 – 2013/14 Service Plan was prepared under my direction in accordance with the Budget Transparency and Accountability Act. I am accountable for the basis on which the plan has been prepared and for achieving the specific objectives in that plan.

Honourable Ida Chong, FCGA
Minister of Regional Economic and Skills Development
Minister Responsible for Multiculturalism
February 3, 2011 

Snip

Immigrants and newcomers are critical to the economic and social prosperity of our province. The Ministry actively attracts and recruits immigrants and temporary foreign workers with in-demand skills and entrepreneurial potential. The Ministry supports new immigrants once they arrive through English as a Second Language training, skills upgrading, qualifications recognition and settlement assistance programs.  Source:  Page 6 of  http://www.aspect.bc.ca/userfiles/file/publicfiles/resd.pdf

Page 20

Immigration is critical to sustaining B.C.’s population and economic growth. From now until 2019, immigrants are needed to fill one third of 1.126 million job openings in B.C..

Immigrants and newcomers do more than increase workforce numbers, they add to community renewal and innovation by contributing their ideas and energy to the social, civic and cultural fabric of the province’s communities and workplaces.

WelcomeBC, (FREE ENGLISH CLASSES) supported cut by Harper, the Canada-BC Immigration Agreement, brings together provincial policies, programs and services needed to attract, select and ultimately integrate immigrants and newcomers to B.C.. Integration is a two-way process: it involves commitment on the part of immigrants and newcomers to adapt to life in British Columbia, and on the part of British Columbians to welcome and adapt to new people and cultures.

With responsibility for multiculturalism, the Ministry, through EmbraceBC, inspires all community members, residents and sector leaders to welcome, accept and embrace difference, on both personal and institutional levels. The Ministry’s leadership towards inclusiveness and cultural diversity makes British Columbia a desirable place to live and a premier destination for new immigrants.

The province welcomes over 40,000 immigrants per year from 182 countries speaking 150 languages, one-third of whom are children and youth. Two-thirds come from the Asia Pacific Region. In addition, each year B.C. is a destination of choice for 120,000 temporary workers and international students.

By supporting immigrants and newcomers’ successful settlement and integration into communities, B.C. increases the economic, social and cultural contribution of immigrants and secures our reputation as an attractive and welcoming destination for all.

At any given point on the immigration pathway – from pre-arrival to full integration – WelcomeBC’s policies, programs and services touches all aspects of an immigrant’s life: education, literacy, health, justice, employment and all social services.

"Mother" of inventions, a b-b-b-baby.... my baby, my bagel holder, my bike rack, perfected

Update:  November 21, 2012   Couldn't believe our good luck today, the Canadian Department of National Defense came visiting, again, this time for:       3 hours 56 mins 9 secs   ... however, their interest seemed more to do with the 1964 Chevrolet Malibu than the Bagel Holder or the Bike Rack.  That's the pitfall when you click on one our links... we have it set up so that it opens in it's own Window so that you DON'T lose track of where you got the idea from in the first place.... HERE!

 **********************

Maybe the title is just a little bit over the top today, but, "Babies" come in many forms... like:

"how yah doing Baby!"

"this here Robin Egg Blue, 1964 Chevrolet Malibu, is my Baby"

"Oh what a cute Baby"   the real ones  "Kitchy Kitchy Koo"

With each, there are "growing" pains, achievements and dilemmas that need to be conquered, solved, but it's the latter Baby, that really challenges the mind to keep up with his daily developments.   Our family encourages the youngsters, the toddlers too, to do their fare share of the preparations for our meals. Salad making is a great treat because the vegetable seeds were planted by "them", weeded and watered by "them", harvested by "them", to then have "them" prepare the vegetables as a a salad..... or desserts like carrot cake, or COOKIES, gluten free cookies, vegan cookies.

There's the actual preparation, getting out the necessary mixing equipment, like Large spoons, Measuring Cups, large mixing pots, Sheets to cook the cookies upon, flour to be ground, or ground already.  Occasionally there's the BC version of a Mount Everest, not insurmountable, with the Baby crawling, not quite toddling, not quite ready to stand, but is quite ready to be propped up in the highchair while his older sibling, by four, knows all the ins and outs, of cooking...... and cleaning up by .... DOING THE DISHES.  It's better than being IN a bathtub, splashing around, keeps the children's attention too, while the adults daily chores are somewhat accomplished.

Real cookies are oh so more delightful than relying upon one's imagination of a sandbox cookie or the Internet's Cookie.


Each "proving ground" comes with it's own challenges.

Households have these cabinets with plenty of doors and cupboards, and there are numerous safety devices to keep the children out, doors and drawers locked.  However, in our household, there is one "invention" that .... is somewhat akin to the development of the Steam Engine.  We all "know" that James Watt "invented the steam engine", when if fact the Steam Engine was invented long before James Watt came along.  What Mr. Watts did, was PERFECT his Baby, by making the Steam engine much more efficient.

On a BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) documentary from 1978 there emerged The Connection,  John Burke was the narrator.  A Great series, it was HIS Baby.  In one of the series, it touched upon the motor engine, which has gone onto be such a great asset for the world today and possibly the demise of the world tomorrow ......   The point here is, where one Man invented his Baby, the Perfume bottle.... for spraying it unto one self, ..... Benz, as of Mercedes-Benz, saw it as something quite different, something that was missing from his Baby, perfecting the motor engine, with an atomizer      "perfume bottle = the carburetor" ......    think cars, think aircraft, think LawnMowers, think Tanks, think compressing LNG to be shipped out of Kitimat for China......with a motor.

We, here, in our household, have done something that is an improvement upon a product that has been around for years.  The Bagel Holder for slicing safely..... which one of us, not me, saw it as something that would allow the Crawler, the Toddler to be involved with cooking.... and not in a pinch.

Right Side up, the Bagel Holder is a Bagel Holder

Upside Down, the Bagel Holder STOPS the drawer from closing, on fingers

 ~~~~~~~~~~~*********************~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Baby, is the perfection of the bicycle storage in the garage.   All those cars traveling with their bike racks firmly mounted in the trailer hitch, made me stop and think... where am I going to find a place in the garage to hang MY Bike rack carrier, when space within is already at a premium.  Takes up a lot of space, and then I would have to hang the bikes from hooks from the ceiling which is Nine Feet high.  There are always those moments when one goes Hmmmmm!  Like maybe a "Watts" or a "Benz", where they still own the patent, whereas I can't patent the idea, in this day and age of the internet, but it would be better if I just shared the idea.

What I wanted was just the right achievable height for lifting, horizontally.   One drawback, was the handle grip of the first bike against the wall, is fourteen inches long from the centre.  I wanted the bike as close as maybe the pedal... which didn't happen, the wall is made from 2 X 6.  I cut out a square of Gyproc,  ...... it's only a garage, not a living space.

As to the strength to hold the bike carrier in place, we "back framed" the wall and recreated the trailer hitch, out of sight, out of mind.  We added a 2 X 4, for added support, that is resting on the foundation.

The distance from the floor to the bottom of the wheel "hoops", is five feet, which leaves plenty of room to ... park a car's front hood, under, or as in our case, a table saw and it's outfeed table.

From a commercial point of view, one could make up a metal "cross" to fasten directly to the stud (vertically) and a horizontal bar to straddle the studs on either side, for stability from twisting..... oh, and weld the "trailer" hitch square tubing to the "Cross" dead centre.

 

Two Men held to a higher standard, one stayed in Abbotsford the other had to get out of "Dodge".

In the Vancouver Sun this morning, Page A16, there is an article written by Rochelle Baker.  It's about a wayward "Abbotsford police officer who was disciplined for paying for sex".   The Vancouver Sun, news media in general, do NOT give links to their sources, publicly-paid-for-sources. If they did, they would be the FIRST news media to do so...... and garner a market of the ever curious reading public.


SNIP

The officer ----- was not named in the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner's (OPPC) 2011 report released Tuesday  -----  committed the transgression on June 25, 2010.

SNIP

The officer was also ordered to attend john school, a program that educates those who purchase sex about the effects of exploiting females engaged in prostitution.  The officer also had to take additional ethics training and work under close supervision for a year.

SNIP

"As soon as we learned of it, we initiated the investigation and contacted the OPCC to oversee it and determine if there was any misconduct," said MacDonald.  The officer can not be named for privacy reasons because no criminal charges was laid, he said.

SNIP

So there you have it, a law officer, (and teachers), are held to a higher standard, enacted by the Government of BC, but a high flying Premier Office staff member, just walks away.  One set of remedial treatments is required of law enforcers (and teachers), while political Order in Council appointees walk free, less a job, simply because of the damaged optics of how the public would perceive a premier politician with the impending provincial election just around the corner on the Calendar.

There is one common thread, there's no mention of whether the victims were interviewed in either instances, therefore no criminal charges are laid against those who crossed the line.   The information presented to the Public via the OPCC is thorough, the same can't be said about Christy Clark's handling of her Chief of Staff "resignation".  Not a shred of the Incident is recorded!

For the Abbotsford Police Officer:

Substantiated Allegations
(Concluded between January 1stand December 31st, 2011)
Abbotsford Police Department
The officer while off duty attended a common bawdy house and paid money for sex.
Defaults: Discreditable Conduct
Date of Incident: June 25, 2010
Ordered Investigation – Request by Dept
OPCC File 2010-5659
o Attend and successfully complete an approved program designed to expose offenders to the impacts of exploiting females through prostitution;
o Attend and successfully complete approved ethics training;
o Suspended without pay for 2 days (20 hours); and
o Work under close supervision for a period of 1 year

If you're looking for this particular incident in the OPCC Annual Report for 2011  Page 43 of 58

If you're looking for all of the Annual Reports from the OPCC

There is this though, the Statistics pages:

5 of 58,  9 of 58,   31 of 58,  31  To  58

Page 35

2011  Alphabetically and Percentages of incidents to Population:

Abbotsford            92     Pop.  170,191   % of Pop.  .05 
Central Saanich     12     Pop.    15,936   % of Pop.  .08
OCABC                   0
Delta                     80    Pop.   99,863    % of Pop.  .08
Nelson                   16     Pop.  10,230    % of Pop.  .16
New Westminster  60     Pop.   65,976    % of Pop.  .09
Oak Bay                  5     Pop.   18,015    % of Pop.  .02
Port Moody            21     Pop.   32,975    % of Pop.  .06
Saanich                 61     Pop. 109,752     % of Pop.  .06
SCBCTAPS             73
Stl'atl'imx               1      Pop.     4,000    % of Pop.   .03
Vancouver          560      Pop.  603,502    % of Pop.   .09

Victoria              103      Pop.   80,032    % of Pop.   .13
West Vancouver    38      Pop.   44,000    % of Pop.   .08

Nelson and Victoria are the surpises, eh, but Abbotsford, since 2006 has increased by six fold, whereas Vancouver has "only" DOUBLED.

Note as to the ABC acronyms:

Organized Crime Agency of British Columbia (OCABC)

South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Police Service (SCBCTAPS)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Depending on the circumstances of the complaint, there may be an opportunity to resolve the concerns informally or through the assistance of a  professional mediator.  Mediation, or informal resolution, is an alternative method to resolving a complaint and is often a more effective and efficient way of dealing with the issues.  Mediation is a completely confidential process where, if required, a professional neutral mediator helps citizens and officers talk and listen to each other.  Often informally resolving the complaint can be more satisfying for both parties as the best resolution to most problems is usually one worked out by the people involved.

Corruption in Quebec's crumbling Infrastructures: Has the rest of Canada been paying too much in Equalization Payments?

Sometimes it's difficult to keep track of the goings on in other provinces, Quebec is the one exception to the rule.   We've seen plenty of news clips of the padding and kickback on bids (iPolitics), shared with City officials and others, but there's this little .... question that we would ask:

 "Have Canadians, not living in Quebec, been contributing to that Province's Mafia's, and others well being?"


We should be saying NO, to any more equalization payments to Quebec, until they've opened up their financial records........ to the other Provinces..., or as John Robson, Parliamentary Bureau writes:

 SNIP

.... Equalization isn't the only federal transfer program to the provinces, of course. Ottawa hands out about $30 billion a year through the Canada Health Transfer and another $12 billion through the Canada Social Transfer to help provinces with various social programs, plus universities and colleges, plus a program to subsidize the territories and other weird side deals. But equalization is the main source of free money for the provinces to spend any way they like. And Quebec is pocketing the biggest share of it and still snarls.

 SNIP

.....This year alone, Quebec will take $7.4 billion from equalization while paying in just $2.9 billion. The $4.5 billion it gets free and clear certainly helps the provincial government spend $62.5 billion a year to buy votes with things like subsidized daycare and tuition. Without it, the deficit of debt-ridden Quebec would more than double.  - Toronto Sun August 20, 2012

  SNIP


Wikipedia   has a few words to say about equalization as well:

Quebec will receive the most from equalization payments in the 2012-2013 year.^[4]
However, per capita, PEI benefits the most. In the 2012-2013 year, the following provinces will receive equalization payments:^[4]

• Quebec ($7.391 billion)
• Ontario ($3.261 billion)
• Manitoba ($1.671 billion)
• New Brunswick ($1.495 billion)
• Nova Scotia ($1.268 billion)
• Prince Edward Island ($337 million)

The following provinces will not qualify for equalization payments in 2012-2013:^[4]

• Alberta

• Saskatchewan

• Newfoundland and Labrador

• British Columbia

Huff Post has a "nice" take on Quebec's Scandal too.....   and it's from today, November 14  2012

BC Cabinet Appointments, and Recindments, of two Adversaries in the sale of the Choo Choo thing (BC Rail)

Just imagine, going into your first Cabinet meeting in Victoria where no notes are to be taken, no Minutes are recorded and anything that is scribbled down is quickly shredded.  Oh, and one other minor detail, you're sworn to Secrecy not to reveal anything to an outsider. What would you do, as a Minister, to be able to Scrum with the Press?  Or, is it a one off thing, where the MA's (Ministerial Assistants) are constantly tugging at the elbows of their pin-striped Ministers who are ALL answerable to the Premier (Gordon and Christy)?


What if you, as a BC Liberal Minister, is forced to be grilled by the Press later?  Your story-line would have to remain constant, without one piece of extraneous material being thrown at you.  Do the MA's have a secret filing cabinet that they can refer back to, or have they truly shredded every document like in the Dobell Doctrine theory as proposed by The Gazetteer.


SNIP

..... The Liberals, headed by Mr. Campbell, had promised not to sell the railway during the election campaign in 2001. But in February 2003, the Campbell government followed the board's recommendation and announced a plan to sell the Crown-owned railway. The sale was announced in November 2003. One month later, an unprecedented raid on the provincial legislature was triggered in relation to the transaction. CP Rail publicly dropped out of the auction, complaining the process was unfair.  Source:  Globe and Mail

SNIP

SNIP

.... A former BC Rail board member has strongly rejected allegations from the railway's fired president that he was let go in 2001 because of opposition to a "failure strategy" by other executives to run the operation into the ground in order to strengthen the case for selling it.

"That's just absurd," Brian Kenning testified Wednesday, under cross-examination at the political corruption trial of three former ministerial aides. "He was terminated by the board for his personal conduct."  Source:  Globe and Mail

SNIP

 van Dongen's Appointment and Rescinding is straight forward, just as simple as 1, 2, 3 etc.

Whereas Clark's are double entries..... like this:

 Deputy Premier Christy Clark was there from the birth of the sale of BC Rail, and to the bitter end where the deal was accepted by the Federal Government Competition Bureau of Canada.  BC Rail's arranged marriage to CN Rail, was consummated April of 2004.

If you didn't take our advise last year, on visiting van Dongen's website, now's your chance, because the file has much, much more substance to it:

Briefs from van Dongen which includes a Glossary of code names used by the participants, for example, BC Rail was referred to the "Choo Choo thing":

 If you're looking for Christy Clark's Appointments