the new BC First party

So apparently there is a new political party in British Columbia just forming. Bad news for the BC Liberals as they believe it would siphon votes away from them. Which is the reason liberal hacks Keith Baldrey and Vaughn Palmer have already gone into high gear and started ridiculing the BC First Party.
On the Bill Good show recently, the quiescent Good allowed them to go after the BC First Party, even though the party is barely out of the crib. Good's way of subtle and tacit support of Gordon Campbell. (he thinks we don't notice) The duo proceded to go back 20 years to quote bad stuff about anyone they thought might threaten the reign of their leader. And of course they always scoff and chuckle at any efforts of Bill Vander Zalm as being a joke, in spite of his perpetual popularity.
Evidently Chris Delaney of HST referendum organizational fame is now associated with BC First. The Baldmer pair got him too, for being associated with too many teams over the years. But the Zalm, with his sunshine smile gets the media attention. Simple to some but ominous clouds on Gordon Campbell's horizon.

So what does the BC First Party have in mind? What SHOULD they have in mind? How does it get a start? And is it a backlash groundswell in spite of media denigration?
Usually in provincial elections, the clever back-room-Liberal-boys set the agenda, and the NDP falls right into their trap every time, ending up defending their own actions of years ago while none of the real issues that face British Columbians get consideration or even media time.
I have always said I would vote for the first party that states they will work on behalf of British Columbians first.

So what are MY issues?
The Enbridge pipeline for starters. Have you looked at the route? Across BC to Kitimat. This is a non starter if you get a map out. Look at the location and the narrow channels and many islands from the sea to the city. Check out Kitimat and ask yourself if you really want huge oil tankers navigating through a vulnerable BC wilderness? Exxon still has not paid their debt in Alaska. It is not if a tanker goes astray and spills, but when!
The party I vote for will have to address this concern. And what benefit British Columbians will really get from this export of Alberta oil to China?


Fish Farms. Does anyone still believe there is a benefit for British Columbians from these foreign owned (mostly from Norway) farms producing Atlantic salmon? Nobody in BC will eat the tasteless, pesticide laden, coloured with pigment, injected with hormones product. Even back in Norway these companies can't farm at sea, they must do it inland! So why don't WE have the same criteria to protect our fabulous wild salmon? Do you believe the Norwegians care about our fish? These are the folks still 'harvesting' whales! And the argument about threatening our own salmon and the lice problem is well documented if you care. And the Americans have just approved Frankensalmon, (Google it) it's only a matter of time until those Genetic Modifications appear in our waters! The only thing I want with the letters GM is a car!
My vote goes to the party that says these guys are outa here! Norway is close enough already.

Private Run-of-the-River power projects. Mr Campbell once told us he would not sell BC Hydro. However he is effectively by-passing it. No one answers the question of how this private power gets distributed and to who and at what real cost? It was been said that they will sell their power to BC Hydro. But at world rates? Why? And it has also been said that there is a time limit on the contracts, after which these foreign owned power producers can sell their power to California, for instance, no matter how badly WE might need it! Independent means just that. No one will clarify these contracts. Guys like Baldrey and Palmer dance around the issue. Gordon Campbell won't even talk about it. And it IS an issue when someone comes into OUR home and uses OUR resources for their private gain!
Sort of like someone coming into YOUR kitchen to bake bread for sale to others but YOU don't even get a loaf!
I'll vote for the party that says there will be restrictions on contracts to sell private power. It is still a licence to print money for them, but we need to control it closely.

In the case of BC Hydro, we have always had trusted and talented British Columbians running this resource. Until Gordon Campbell. And they ran it well, developing it into the jewel of BC. Would you be content to lose it? I think not. We lost our very own railroad because it didn't produce scads of money? Is money what we are all about now? The present government sold something that didn't belong to them.

And there are smaller issues with me. The government is always complaining about money. Yet it seems to me that in the case of trying to sell off our liquor control branch, and encouraging private liquor stores, we lost a huge volume of cash income for the province.
When we as the government sold ALL the liquor, we realized the benefit of the profit on EVERY bottle of liquor sold going into the coffers of BC. Now with the proliferation of private liquor stores, that profit goes into private pockets. A net loss for ourselves. And a smaller income for whatever projects we need to do. Seems counterproductive to me, even backward.

The powers that be keep telling us that these private corporations will go away if we don't give them what they want. Okay, but someone else will come next. We know it but the Campbell mentality seems to think not.
We need a new party that treasures our province. And negotiates from strength, not weakness. A party that promises it will build ships here for OUR people to benefit, not elsewhere for corporations and their shareholders! A party that promises to put BC first over private or secret considerations.
YOU are the shareholder here. YOU own the resources of this province. They should be in the public trust as assets for the future of OUR people, not foreigners. And guarded carefully and zealously. We are being raped and pillaged by private interests from outside of our borders. It is time to stop the invaders and send them packing. Contracts for British Columbia projects need to go to British Columbians first!
This is OUR home. Protect it. My vote will always go to the benefit of BC first! That is MY agenda, and the back room boys cannot distract me from it!

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