Seems there is more to the flood story in Brisbane than meets the eye.
The Australian reports that a flood study in 1999 made alarming findings that major flooding could occur in areas built up since the 1974 floods, and made predictions that future flooding would be one to two meters higher than anticipated in the town’s plan.
It is alleged that the report was covered up by State and Local governments more interested in seeing development in low lying areas.
As we count down the end of 2010, we need to ask ourselves, what’s changed? The BC Liberals are still pillaging us while the MSM provide cover. The NDP are busy dragging defeat from the jaws of victory again……, the alarmists are still trying to convince us that AGW is happening, and that it justifies turning our democracy into a fascist dictatorship with them in charge. So…….. on the surface, not much has changed………
Actually, much has changed. 2010 has been the year of awakening. From a largely apathetic populace that has typically ignored politics and government between elections, less than a year after an election, comes a roar of protest! We are mad as Hell, and we aren’t going to take it any more!
Those of us old enough to remember the days of Social Credit, are snickering to ourselves over good old Bill Vander Zalm’s resurrection as the champion of the people! What many of us knew for years is surprising for many, but Bill IS one of the good guys, and does have the smarts to know when to stand up for principle.
While the HST is just the catalyst, it is an accumulation of corruption that is turning the tide. As much as Campbell’s sycophants in the media have tried to hide it, the BC Rail mess is the story behind the story. Starting there, the 3Ps, the Olympics spending, the Sea to Sky shadow tolls, (thanks to Laila!), the cracked cement on the Golden Ears Bridge, (just so Campbell could have it open early), the HST bait and switch, the Port Mann magic money shuffle, the MULT-MILLION DOLLAR CONSOLATION PRIZES on the South Fraser Perimeter Road, (thanks to Laila again!), and the last straw, the ‘TWO WEEK TAX CUT!’ have our emotions going through the gamut from anger all the way to disgust without passing GO or collecting $200.
What needs to happen? First, we need to look at what’s standing right in front of us, ready to hit us over the head, the fact that letting politicians have unfettered power to do what they want, and to reward their friends at our expense has to stop! If 2010 has been the year of awakening, 2011 has to be the year of the people defining the future of this Province, and electing a government that is going to put the people first, and do what government is meant to do, which is to meet the needs, (rather than the wants), of the present and future populations as a whole, not just the handful that voted them in.
With the two major parties in such disarray, and not much chance of dragging their support up out of the low twenties in the polls, we are at a turning point. We need to band the disenchanted together as a cohesive force, create a platform to run on, and either create a party to run with, or drag an existing party to our viewpoint via a membership drive and policy convention. In our spare time, we can keep digging up facts until we can supply our existing politicians with orange jumpsuits.
Campbell must be proud! In less than a decade, he has turned one of the finest places on earth into a third world Hell-hole, with drug gangs shooting each other on the streets and in the restaurants and clubs, the police have turned into jack-booted thugs that beat and tazer law abiding citizens while hiding from the real criminals, and taxes have destroyed the economy to the point that most people are living lives of quiet desperation.
It’s now reached the point that anyone willing to stand up and ask questions is liable to be attacked, either physically, as Laila Yuile found out on Friday night, or with the full might of innuendo, or threats of lawfare, as Alex Tsakumis is getting from Cristy Clark supporters.
Funnily enough, none of this is resonating with voters. What IS starting to resonate, is that so many in Government, both Provincially, and in Local Government, are acting as if they are above the law. From the ‘Sale’ of BC Rail, the trading off our roads and bridges for short term cash-flow, the sneaking around with shadow tolls, the firing of civil servants who dare to defend the law and due process, to using the Courts to break the will and resources of anyone willing to stand up for what is right, as ‘Enemies of the State’.
Democracy is a flawed system that allows corrupt politicians to cater to the wants of the people at the expense of their needs, and to take from the industrious and give to the indolent. Throughout the history of democracies, the checks and balances were maintained by Grand Juries having the power to investigate wherever they felt a need to, and could force corrupt politicians to face justice. Grand Juries ended in Canada in 1984, and this has led to the situation we face today.
The real power behind the Crown has pushed Campbell to the point that he has had to draw back the curtain and show the people who is actually pulling his strings. It is obvious that Campbell and his government have sold their souls to the hedge funds in exchange for power.
As the world’s economy grinds to a rolling roadblock, the commitments Campbell made to the power brokers cannot be met without drastically increasing taxes, hence the
Horribly Stifling Tax.
After eight years, Campbell has developed the same malaise as that pack of baloney still sitting in the back of your fridge. It’s still baloney, but you try to ignore it, and you put the jar of mayonnaise and the dill pickles in front of it to hide it. The back of your mind says you have to get rid of it, and you will eventually.
Ian
Saturday, May 2nd, The Vancouver Sun Decision 2009 Brought us this Article,
Parties Failing to Connect With Voters, Poll Reveals
VANCOUVER — Leaders of British Columbia’s three major political parties have failed to connect with voters during the provincial election so far, a new Ipsos Reid poll has found.
Coming as the campaign approaches the halfway point, the poll finds that both New Democratic Party Leader Carole James and Liberal leader Gordon Campbell have turned off more voters than they’ve inspired.
In the poll, 37 per cent of voters said the campaign has so far lower their impression of James and the NDP, while 34 per cent said the same of Campbell and the Liberals.
Headed with an image of Campbell and Marc Dalton, the Liberal Candidate in Maple Ridge-Mission, the article goes on to quote from pollster Kyle Braid of Ipsos Reid-
“Clearly, none of them are resonating yet,” said Kyle Braid, vice president of Ipsos Reid.
“Whatever the campaigns have been talking about has not been something that has moved voters.”
You will find substantially similar stories in all the ‘Mainstream Media’, and all are desperately trying to confine the election to the three major parties. Conspicuously absent are the smaller parties and independents. Neither the Sun or the Province newspapers, plus Global or CTV television have mentioned any of the Reform BC candidates in stories, or especially in their supposed ‘comprehensive’ candidates databases.
This is in direct contradiction of the local papers, that still understand that their business is news, not attempting to sway public opinion.
Reform BC believes there is a better way for government to serve the people, and the more the Mainstream Media, Wikipedia, pollsters and pundits try to stick their fingers in their ears and go “Ya Ya Ya” the faster this prevarication will be noticed by the average voter.
Ian
Carole James has decided to target ‘renovictions‘ this time.
So, in one fell swoop, she’d stagnate housing quality, put renovators out of work, and increase the hardship in the forest industry. Add in that the assessed values of the buildings will go down, and tax revenues will fall as well.
Many renovations are to increase the energy efficiency of units, and there are Federal Grants available for some improvements. This really sounds like a win-win for adding misery to tenants!
Voters are being inundated with emails from Enough is Enough, demanding action on crime. The site wants you to contact your candidates and demand action on crime. Interestingly, they have only a small handful of candidates listed, and as a candidate who is actually strong on crime and policing, I contacted them last week and asked to have my name added to the list. I’ve gotten a bunch of emails from them, but no name on the list.
I phoned their contact Kieth Roy this morning, to find that the organization has embraced the same thinking that is holding back the policing in B.C. This list isn’t going to be updated until they’ve completed an Excel spread sheet of all the candidates, and then update the site, possibly even before the election is over! This type of bureaucratic thinking is exactly what’s wrong with the governance of our Province and the local governments.
As I pointed out at the All Candidates meeting, using local or regional policing following the New York community Policing model or COMSTAT, CRIME COMMITTED TODAY GETS DEALT WITH TODAY, NOT NEXT MONTH AFTER THE STATS ARE IN.
Ian Vaughan
Election 2009 is becoming the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ Election.
Lorrie Goldstein, in the Winnipeg Sun–
In British Columbia, where they’ve just kicked off a provincial election campaign, the opposition New Democrats are promising to scrap the ruling Liberals’ carbon tax and replace it with a cap-and-trade market to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fight global warming.
Environmental groups like the David Suzuki Foundation have come out in favour of the Liberals and against the NDP.
To paraphrase Kate McMillan at smalldeadanimals.com, when Liberal B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell and David Suzuki fight with NDP Leader Carole James over whether carbon taxes or cap-and-trade will save the planet, you’re supposed to pray for an asteroid, not pick a favourite.
Taxpayers should hide their wallets.
Recent news has the BC Liberals raising business taxes, and the BC NDP wanting to lower business taxes!
While these items appear odd, there is a simple explanation. Both the Liberals and the NDP have fallen into the trap of becoming populous, and having lost sight of their platforms and principles, and have nothing left but to play to the polls. As Trudeau found out, holding a finger up into the wind is a lot easier than actually coming up with principled solutions and demonstrating leadership, but won’t serve the needs of present and future populations.
Ian Vaughan in Maple Ridge 