theleftcoast.ca

Chemtrails a product of...

theleftcoast.ca — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:02:22 -0700

While out walking have you ever looked up at the sky and seen the trails of clouds that stream out behind airplanes flying overhead? Some would have you believe these are the result of commercial aircraft flying overhead; others would have you believe they are "chemtrails" which are the purposeful result of some mysterious government project to do some mysterious stuff to the people of the world.

Interestingly, in 1996 the chemtrail theory (conspiracy?) really took flight. It was then that the United States Air Force was accused of spraying the US population with mysterious substances from aircraft "generating unusual contrail patterns". ...

Mikhail Lennikov Wins Broadening Party Support

theleftcoast.ca — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:33:46 -0700

From the desk of Peter Julian, MP for Burnaby-New Westminster:

35 MPs now co-sign Peter Julian’s letter calling upon the government to halt deportation

OTTAWA– Support for Mikhail Lennikov continues to grow. An additional 13 Members of Parliament signed a multiparty letter to the Minister of Public Safety Peter Van Loan and Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenney, urging them to rescind the deportation order of Mikhail Lennikov to Russia. This brings the total number of MPs backing the campaign to allow Mikhail Lennikov to stay in Canada to 36.

“There is a growing consensus that the government is ...

Poll result; Fish farms adversely impacting wild salmon stocks

theleftcoast.ca — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 08:03:27 -0700

Here is an interesting poll result from Neil Cameron of the Courier Islander. Neil says that their usual polls garner 100 to 200 responses. Obviously the issue of fish farms attracts a much larger audience.

The question posed by the Courier Islander was, "Do you think fish farms are adversely affecting stocks of wild pacific salmon? The results:

Yes - 4,709
No - 1,032

Clearly this is an issue that motivates people to respond. Perhaps the follow up question should have been, "and do you care enough about our wild Pacific salmon to do something about it."

Ignatieff and Harper continue coalition government

theleftcoast.ca — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:34:23 -0700

The Great Coalition lives. Michael Ignatieff and Stephen Harper have concluded their private little meetings and agreed to continue their Coalition government thus avoiding a summer election.

Apparently the Liberals will once again, for the 72nd time, support the Harper Conservatives in this coming Friday's confidence vote inorder to keep their coaltion government alive and well.

Margaret McDiarmid newest Minister of Education

theleftcoast.ca — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 07:53:11 -0700

When an anonymous bureaucrat in the Ministry of Education heard that the newest BC Liberal to be appointed to the Ministry of Education was Doctor Margaret McDiarmid he said, "Thankfully we now have a doctor in charge of our Ministry because public education is currently on life support."

Kevin Falcon newest Minister of Health

theleftcoast.ca — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:11:00 -0700

Gordon Wilson, past leader of the BC Liberals and Minister of Finance in the Glen Clark NDP government waxing philosophic on Gordon Campbell's appointment of Kevin Falcon to the Ministry of Health;

"The Falcon has had his wings clipped."

Conservative Cabinet Ministers Raitt and Aglukkaq Meet

theleftcoast.ca — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:24:42 -0700

What we would do to be a fly on the wall of the next Conservative caucus meeting when the sometimes forgetful Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt and Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq sit across the table from one another!

According to an audio recording obtained by the Halifax Chronicle Herald, Raitt called the medical isotopes crisis a "sexy" problem that she wanted the credit for solving and then went on to question her colleague Aglukkaq's ability to handle "hot" issues. Should be a very interesting caucus meeting.

BC Stimulus Package because "Every job counts"

theleftcoast.ca — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 07:53:59 -0700

One of those classic government signs has recently sprouted in front of the Justice Institute in New Westminster. The sign describes the coming revitalization of the Justice Institute building and trumpets the government's economic stimulus initiative. The tag line at the bottom of the sign says, "Because every job counts".

Interesting how now every job counts to the government. Why did those jobs not count for the marine workers? Why did the BC Liberals ship the hundreds of family-supporting jobs out of the country when every job counts?

Why is it that when the BC Liberals were looking for timbers to support ...

Electric cars get the green light in Coquitlam

theleftcoast.ca — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 11:17:07 -0700

On Monday, June 1st, Coquitlam City Council gave the drivers of electric cars the green light to travel on city streets. However, unlike gasoline powered vehicles, the drivers of electric powered cars will be required to respect the posted speed limits on city streets and not exceed 50kmh. The electric cars will also be limited to driving in the right-hand lane unless overtaking another vehicle or turning left.

"They're just going to get pushed off the road" was Councillor Lou Sekora's comment on the "low speeds" that the electric vehicles are allowed to travel.

Interesting that the posted legal limit on the vast majority of Coquitlam ...

Does anybody really give a shit about the environment?

theleftcoast.ca — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:30:13 -0700

The question that was floated at The Left Coast's editorial board table was a little rude but still thought-provoking. The question was; does anybody really give a shit about the environment?

We had an opportunity today to rise above our city and admire it as it was bathed in the glorious sunsnshine. What we saw shocked us; the thick yellow smog that covered our city reminded us of the days we spent in Los Angeles. And that is where our question arose from. Does anybody really give a shit about the environment?

We considered government actions along with individual's reactions or changes in ...

Harper gets nasty and Conservative MP McLeod objects

theleftcoast.ca — Sun, 31 May 2009 16:37:05 -0700

It was interesting to see that even members of Stephen Harper's Conservative Party are speaking out about the negative smear campaign ads that their party has begun to run in high-rotation in television across Canada.

The Member of Parliament for Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo, Ms. Cathy McLeod told Kamloops This Week, "Unfortunately, it seems the tactics have success or otherwise they wouldn't do this — but again do I like it, no." The newspaper reports that Ms. McLeod “would prefer to take the political high road,” and instead “favours the political discourse to revolve around policy.”

Interesting indeed; you cannot help but wonder what ...

Welfare Statistics Show Campbell Liberals NOT Effective Managers of the Economy

theleftcoast.ca — Sat, 30 May 2009 10:08:26 -0700

During the recent provincial election the Campbell Liberals framed themselves as the political party most capable of managing the BC economy during the current economic crisis. Interesting that since the election has come and gone, statistics are coming to light that seem to show that the Campbell Liberals are not quite as effective at managing the economy as they have claimed to be.

Consider the fact that the data recently released by the Ministry of Housing and Social Development shows the "temporary assistance-expected to work" caseload increased by 52.9% between April 2008 and April 2009. The "expected to work-two parent families increased by a staggering ...

Golden Ears Bridge

theleftcoast.ca — Fri, 29 May 2009 07:52:27 -0700

TheLeftCoast is now on Twitter. As such, our postings are limited to a maximum of 140 characters. Now if you want a challenge, try and get to the essence of your message in 140 characters. The following is our most recent "Tweet" from Twitter;

It'll be fun to see how long it takes for the new Golden Ears bridge to plug with traffic. Hear the traffic report saying it is backed to...

You can search and then follow us on Twitter; theleftcoastca.

Vancity Management Reductions

theleftcoast.ca — Mon, 25 May 2009 07:56:17 -0700

For now we are done licking our wounds from the provincial election. We do not understand how British Columbians can vote for a government that demonstrates such utter contempt for the working families of BC, however, that is the choice the people have made and so we carry on with our work of providing informed and insightful commentary.

So the first order of business is Tamara Vrooman, the CEO of Vancity. Quite awhile ago we wrote a piece about Vrooman being brought in as the "axe-swinger" for Vancity. It was believed that the organization had become bloated with too many management-types syphoning ...

BC Election results

theleftcoast.ca — Wed, 13 May 2009 21:05:33 -0700

At the end of the night the Campbell Liberals received 46.11% of the popular vote for 49 seats compared to the BC New Democrats' 41.94% of the vote and 36 seats. Two ridings are not yet finalized, Delta South and the Cariboo-Chilcotin. Both of these seats are too close to call and will undergo mandatory recounts to finalize the decision.

BC—The worst record in Canada

theleftcoast.ca — Tue, 12 May 2009 08:08:24 -0700

Consider the following information before marking your ballot:

Child and family poverty

• Perhaps not surprisingly, BC happens to have the highest number of millionaires per capita than any other province. Yet at the same time, we have the highest rate of poverty. In 2006, BC reported the highest before-tax child poverty rate in the country at 21.9%, representing 181,000 low-income children in our province. This was the fifth year in a row that BC had the highest poverty rate and as Adrian Nieoczym points out, this was “despite years of strong economic growth… in the province.”

Sources: First ...

Maude Barlow; Not Green, Not Public, Not for Us.

theleftcoast.ca — Mon, 11 May 2009 19:14:24 -0700

The following posting came to us from Maude Barlow. Somehting to think about before you head to the voting booth tomorrow.

With the arrival of spring, and as the BC coastal mountains begin to thaw, many will be watching rivers and creeks with more than just concern for swelling banks. With the rights to hundreds of rivers ‘out to tender’, private power corporations are submitting applications for a stake in the biggest resource pillage since the 1850s gold rush. But these are not the souls who put faith in one lucky strike to reward them with riches. Those applying to ...

BC Rivers and IPPs

theleftcoast.ca — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:47:55 -0700

Right now we do not have time to do more than paste this YouTube link into our page: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPuJfbS2qMY

Check it out to learn more before it is too late. The truth of just how "un-green"Gordon Campbell's platform is will shock you.

More than 50 grassroots organizations reject energy privatization policy

theleftcoast.ca — Fri, 08 May 2009 06:29:41 -0700

Environmental, indigenous, community and labour groups from BC are uniting against "run-of-the-river" private power projects. Interestingly, you do not see the Suzuki Foundation on the list (below). Just as interesting, is the fact that the Director of the Suzuki Foundation is James Hoggan, a Campbell Liberal supporter and financial backer.

Vancouver - Organizations and community groups from across the province have joined forces in a united front of opposition to the so-called "run of the river" private power projects or IPPs. Much has been made about the divide among environmental groups on the issue but grassroots opposition is very strong throughout BC ...

Points to ponder as you consider how “green” the provincial parties are

theleftcoast.ca — Fri, 08 May 2009 06:29:07 -0700

West Coast Environmental Law (WCEL) reviewed the platforms and found that the New Democrats' environmental platform was stronger than the BC Liberals’ in 6 out of 8 categories. The two parties tied in one category.

In particular, WCEL rated gave high marks to the NDP on fish farms, forest policy, species at risk, and toxins and pesticides.

Prominent BC environmentalists have also upped their criticism of IPPs and support for the NDP’s position at a press conference held on May 6.

Biologist Alexandra Morton: “I personally have always voted Green. But I feel partly responsible for Gordon Campbell getting ...

Jane Sterk not a "cranky NDPer"

theleftcoast.ca — Fri, 08 May 2009 06:28:23 -0700

B.C. Green party leader Jane Sterk, who voted for the Reform party in the 1993 federal election, said Wednesday that it's wrong to view her party's members as "just some group of cranky NDPers" who left the centre-left party.

Sterk said she has voted for Reform, the Conservatives and the Liberals, but never for the New Democrats.

The Green leader told the editorial board of The Vancouver Sun that she doesn't understand why many B.C. environmental activists continue to support the NDP, not her party.

Sterk also dismissed the suggestion that under the proportional representation model of ...

Mustel Poll shows New Democrats on surge

theleftcoast.ca — Thu, 07 May 2009 22:51:25 -0700

The latest Mustel poll shows the NDP have narrowed the gap (Mustel’s anyways) from 17 points to 9 in just three weeks. It appears that the momentum in this campaign is clearly with the New Democrats. The most recent Mustel poll shows the Campbell Liberals at 47% with their support base residing in the Metro suburbs. The New Democrats have climbed to 38% support with their strongest supports coming from Vancouver Island. Jane Sterk and the Greens remain at 12%.

Interesting to note that the BC Conservative Party has attracted 7% of the vote in the Southern Interior ...

John Cummins on Gordon Campbell

theleftcoast.ca — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:56:02 -0700

The following email message came to us from our colleague Rafe Mair.

John Cummins is the Conservative MP for Delta – Richmond East; he is a maverick constantly a thorn in the side of his party and its leadership. While normally federal MPs don’t speak out on provincial matters here John is speaking his mind as a British Columbian.

Please pass this on to your address book and ask them to do the same.

I am a free enterpriser, a federal Conservative with deep roots in the Reform movement.

I cannot support Gordon Campbell’s Liberals in ...

Advance Polls show steady turn out of voters

theleftcoast.ca — Thu, 07 May 2009 16:44:43 -0700

For those who like to read all sorts of ideas into these announcements, (it will be a long cold winter or the opposition party will benefit from a high turn out...) Elections BC has reported that BC voter turnout on the first day of advanced polls Wednesday took a significant jump from the opening day in 2005.

Elections BC reported that 83,676 voters took advantage of the advanced polls Wednesday, up from 54,497 on the first day of early voting in the 2005 provincial election. Advance polls are for those who can’t vote on May 12 or would like to avoid election-day ...

Campbell's response to striking paramedics not amusing

theleftcoast.ca — Wed, 06 May 2009 07:33:50 -0700

Gordon Campbell continues his smug, patronizing and arrogant campaign tour with a stop in Vernon, BC.

While Campbell was on an election stop in Vernon, a striking paramedic asked Campbell how BC's ambulance paramedics could feed their families. Campbell tossed a loonie at a paramedic outside a Liberal candidate’s office advising him “don’t spend it all in one place.” The paramedic replied “thanks a lot, that’s half-an-hour’s pay for me.” B.C. ambulance paramedics get only $2/hr for on-call standby. The exchange was captured by a local radio station.

Health Services Minister George Abbott insists Premier Gordon Campbell’s interaction with striking paramedics in Vernon ...

Private liquor stores not passing along their discount

theleftcoast.ca — Tue, 05 May 2009 07:11:06 -0700

It is interesting to note that private liquor stores in Victoria are charging consumers up to 35 per cent more than at public liquor stores.

The price review of 17 private outlets in the provincial capital was carried out at the end of April by the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union, which represents workers at public liquor stores.

Click here to go to the full study:http://www.bcgeu.ca/Victoria_private_liquor_stores_charge_up_to_35_percent_more

Of the 102 price comparisons made in the survey (six products x 17 private stores):

95 prices were higher than the public store price;
19 prices were greater than 25 per ...

Campbell continues his patronizing, smug, sexist behaviour

theleftcoast.ca — Tue, 05 May 2009 07:10:40 -0700

During Sunday's live debate, Campbell responded to a question from James on his crime platform, by saying: “I think, Ms. James, you should understand — I know this is a big job, and it’s hard to get a handle on it.”

This patronizing comment reminded us of the controversy that erupted back in the early years of Campbell's grip on power. Does anybody else remember Elayne Brenzinger, the former Liberal MLA who later ran for the Democratic Reform B.C. Party (after unceremoniously leaving Campbell's Liberal party)? She was one of the first MLAs to learn that in caucus you couldn't stand up and challenge him because the consequences were swift ...

James the clear winner of the leaders' debate

theleftcoast.ca — Mon, 04 May 2009 08:00:35 -0700

The pundits seem to have come to consensus over who won the BC leaders' debate:

"She was the clear winner."
- Michael Smyth, CKNW Radio after the debate

"NDP's Carole James delivers a spellbinding performance in leaders' debate.
"It wasn't a fair fight. NDP Leader Carole James showed up at the televised
debate prepared, rehearsed, and camera-ready.

"Premier Gordon Campbell, on the other hand, looked stiff, uncomfortable,
and evasive a lot of the time. And Green Leader Jane Sterk, while
well-briefed on the facts and on policies, sometimes stumbled in her
delivery.

"The verdict? A knockout victory for the NDP's ...

Campbell on the hurt in rural BC

theleftcoast.ca — Sun, 03 May 2009 19:27:47 -0700

Campbell claimed that rural BC has benfited from the Campbell Liberals reign. The truth of the matter is that rural BC has suffered for eight years under Gordon Campbell. For example, 71 hospitals were downgraded, downsized or closed in rural BC under Campbell's watch.

Campbell claimed that the recent start of one Canfor mill in BC's forest sector is the sign of a turnaround.

He did not have anything to say to the other 34,000 people who have lost their jobs have been lost in the forest industry - 25,000 in the last two years alone. The result is more pain ...

Campbell on the giveaway of BC rivers

theleftcoast.ca — Sun, 03 May 2009 19:15:45 -0700

Campbell says that his Liberals are not giving away BC's rivers?

Well the truth is that the BC Liberals have sold the water rights to 120 BC rivers and waterways. Over 550 more water license applications are in process. In addition to the 135 water licenses approved by the province, another 68 projects are ready to be approved. And hundreds more applications are moving forward.

Even after their 30-40 year contracts end, private firms, not British Columbians, own the generating plants, and they retain first dibs on the rights of water, and are free to sell the power to ...