More silence on the fish farms

As Alexandra Morton writes weekly letters to the Federal fisheries minister and Gordon they keep ignoring her.
Following is an excerpt from her latest letter to Shae and Campbell:

"Premier Campbell 13,094 people have signed letters to you on this issue but there remains confusion over your position on salmon farms. You have suggested on your website that you do not intend to attempt to regain control of fish farms following my constitutional challenge which removed salmon farms to the Federal government. However, you have joined the Norwegian fish farm corporation Marine Harvest in their appeal challenging this BC Supreme Court decision. Your actions contradict your words."

The arrogance is overwhelming. I can only suspect that they are delaying action until after the provincial election in hopes that Campbell will get re elected

Campbells Health Care

I was going to do my own piece on this but the 100 Mile House Free Press has published a very good article on what is happening in the Cariboo.

By Joan Silver - 100 Mile House Free Press

Doctors in 100 Mile House say they are at a crisis point; they want to deliver babies in this community but are unable to.

A press release signed by the seven local doctors who provide obstetric services states that Interior Health announced an abrupt end to delivery services in January 2009, surprising expectant moms and their doctors who were not consulted.

“Although initially we had no explanation for them (patients), it now appears to us that we are facing a long-term termination, or at least a severe curtailment, of delivery services,” reads the release.

It goes on to say that the centralization of hospital administration and services that began eight years ago “has gone wrong when decisions about health care in our community of 100 Mile are taken by administrators in other centres with little attention to the input of the physicians or the people of 100 Mile House.”...[snip]

The release cites medical evidence that emphasizes the advantages of women delivering in their own community.

The doctors are asking the various provincial candidates in Cariboo-Chilcotin what they might do to resolve the impasse.

Dr. Jonathan Slater, Interior Health’s medical director for the Thompson-Cariboo-Shuswap region, said IH appreciates these concerns and the health unit met with the physicians last week to discuss how a safe, consistent, quality obstetrics program can be provided for maternity patients in 100 Mile House.

They intend to continue the process and have a meeting planned for next month.

Slater said the service was suspended earlier this year (for a period of 3 months...gary e)

due to staffing challenges, particularly for operating room nurses.

“The challenges we’ve experienced with the obstetrical program this past year underscore the complexity involved in providing a consistent and safe service to our community. If even one link is missing, we have to temporarily suspend the program to ensure the service is safe and sustainable for maternity patients and their babies,” he said.

Slater said their focus has to be on providing a safe service for moms and babies and, at the present time, they don’t have the required nursing component plus the fact that the on-call anesthetist will be away in June. He said the obstetrics program also needs the support of a consistent emergency room service available when needed and IH continues to discuss this priority issue with physicians.[..snip]end.

As in everything else in this province it's being delayed. Most likely until after the election when Premier Photo-Op won't do a god damn thing about it.

Now for those who don't know the geography of the area, the nearest hospital is in Williams Lake. One hundred Kilometers away. The next closest is Royal Inland in Kamloops 190 kilometers away. And that's if you live in 100 Mile. There are many subdivisions in the outlying areas which put people another 1/2 hour or more away.

Patients are being sent to Williams Lake. They may not be ambulatory when they leave but what happens when the baby decides he's coming. Nothing on earth is going to stop him/her. There also is an added expense not covered under BC Med. That is housing while in the Puddle. There is no place for the husband to stay that won't add to an already stretched budget. I won't even get into fuel costs. Carbon Tax.

And today I saw a Premier Photo-Op campaign ad where he espoused how wonderful his centralizing program is. How wonderful it was that they are building a new hospital in Prince George. 300 plus kilometers away. How good there system is and how it is helping people.

I maintain that this is to garner votes in an area where he knows he is going to lose. All the while at the expense and endangerment of women and children where hospitals are available in more remote areas.

Campbell Liberals in a Nutshell

David Schreck says it all:

It doesn't matter what the issue is, the standard of accountability is: if you re-elect Campbell you've approved of everything he's done and given a blank cheque for more of the same

Exactly. If you notice all the campaign adds he is playing on how good he thinks he is. There are no promises to correct his blunders. No promises to do any real fixing of the unemployment. He is just full of inferences. It's what he is not telling us that we should be worrying us.When he mentions something like Forestry Unemployment it's like he actually believes his policies didn't cause the problem and he may fix it. Crap. And if his past practices are anything to look at, then whatever he promises he will do the exact opposite.

Evidence of BC Rail Privatization Prior to 1987

From Take Back the Power

In 1987, a how-to of sorts on privatizing the business units within BC Hydro was developed by the up-and-coming private sector champion, David Emerson. Writing as a member of the provincial government’s “Private Sector Task Force on Privatization,” Emerson’s report identified likely “candidates” for privatization.

Included in the list are the now sold: Rail and Gas Divisions and those pegged as “extremely controversial” such as the Hydro-electrical Group. There was even a recommendation around the yet-to-be-built, Site C, Dam. Emerson and the privacy czars of the day considered Site C “a good opportunity for the private sector.”


In writing on April 28, 1987 about how to break up Hydro Emerson states: "the rail division is arguably too small to stand alone and here again, private sale or merger with another railway or transportation company appears feasible. Consideration should be given to merging Hydro Rail with BC Rail with the ultimate privatization decision focused on BC Rail and its augmented components."

So there it is. David Emerson one time Federal Liberal, who jumped ship to the Conservatives, planning 22 years ago to Privatize Hydro and in the process mentioning that BC Rail should ultimately be privatized.

But before any of this could be brought to fruition The NDP won an election. So all this was shelved. Until in 1996 Campbell stated he would privatize/sell BC Rail. Many think that this statement cost the Liberals the election that year. So in 2001 he did a complete 360 stating repeatedly that he would not sell the Railway.
Some of the chronology in the lead up to the sale has been published at Marys' Place with some excellent information from Paul Nettleton the onetime liberal who quit the party to become an independent over the decision to sell the rail.

Alexandra Mortons' Fish Farm Fight

The following letter was received in my gmail account today April 25 2009 Alexandra Morton has been frustrated in her requests to Ottawa to take action on the fish farms in BC.
Hello All:

The Federal government wants to know if Gordon Campbell intends to try and win back the right to regulate fish farms.

As it stands, Marine Harvest filed a “notice of appeal” and the Province joined in this appeal by filing an “appearance”. This is an ambiguous state of affairs. While Gordon Campbell has not publicly appealed my Constitutional Challenge, he has reserved the right to send lawyers to defend the Province’s right to regulate and site fish farms.

If the Province did not want salmon farms back, they would not have filed an “appearance.”

The Province has no responsibility to protect wild fish, the Federal Government does.

There is something you can do. Contact the Liberal MLA candidates running in this Provincial election and ask them what they will do if elected? Give up the right to regulate fish farms in the ocean, or fight to win this back. If they plan to give it up why have they filed an appearance in Marine Harvest’s appeal?

You can find the Liberal MLA emails at http://www.bcliberals.com/

This is very important.

Alexandra Morton

Previously, she had sent the following e-mail to the Federal Fisheries Minister and to Gordon Campbell.

Dear Fisheries Minister the Honourable Gail Shea and Premier Gordon Campbell:

12,018 people have signed a letter over the past month and half asking only that you apply the Fisheries Act to the salmon ocean feedlots in Canada and we still have not heard back.

The Fisheries Act is a powerful piece of Canadian legislation written to protect the extremely valuable wild fish populations of Canada. It is the law, not an optional course of action.

The letter is at www.adopt-a-fry.org The Letter.

We continue to stand-by,

Alexandra Morton

It's not surprising that Gordon Campbell treats the citizens of this province with contempt. But Ottawa? It begs the question is Harper in bed with Campbell or vise versa?
By this I mean are the two levels of government keeping this quiet and delaying the process until after the May 12 election. And for what reason? To stave off embarrassment? It certainly appears that way.

Write your MP's and MLA's. We need answers.

Child Poverty Under Campbell

Anyone watching the puffball election ads by Premier Photo-Op may notice that he brushes on child poverty.

He doesn't say he will do anything about it, but instead brushes over it as if he didn't cause the problems and may fix them.

Every ad he puts out says nothing but "you need to vote for me because I have a good record".

So for an indepth study on just how bad this fool is on Child Poverty I recommend reading what really happened under Campbells' watch at BC Liberals Suck

Carole James Vows Concrete Measures To Insure Integrity

From the BCNDP Newswire
"It's time to end insider corruption under Gordon Campbell"

North Vancouver - Carole James vowed to end BC Rail-style corruption with tough new laws to regulate lobbying and conflicts of interest.

"Gordon Campbell paid his top advisor Patrick Kinsella $300,000 to help sell off BC Rail in a deal tainted by corruption," James said today at the North Vancouver BC Rail yards.

"More than five years after the unprecedented police raid on the legislature, Campbell still refuses to answer questions about the largest political scandal in BC history," she said.

"Campbell has gone too far in rewarding friends and insiders. The NDP will clean up government and bring in tough rules to make sure that friends and insiders don't benefit from the sell-off of our public resources," said James.

She noted that in 2001, Gordon Campbell promised he wouldn't sell BC Rail.

"He broke that promise, and handed a public asset worth a billion dollars to his political friends and donors. The NDP will put an end to that," said James.

The NDP will strengthen conflict of interest legislation, close loopholes in the Lobbyist Registration Act, introduce tough new rules to restrict lobbyist influence over decision-makers and institute campaign finance reform to ensure that the public interest comes first. Carole James and the NDP are committed to a full public inquiry on BC Rail.

"If he's re-elected, Gordon Campbell will continue to give away our public resources and services to the benefit of his friends," said James.

"Together, we can stop him. Together, we can take back your BC."

Now while I have the chance I will search the MSN for this article.

BC Hydro Pays Corporate Welfare to ROR Projects

In a time when we have the highest unemployment rate in the country and thousands of homeless people, our government has given corporate welfare to the Run of the River projects.
If these outfits were truly run of the river they would not be allowed to alter streams and dig diverting 20km tunnels.

For those who don't know how the Gordon Campbell government raped our Hydro and our rivers read John Calvert's report at Take Back the Power.

"The government also, ‘sweetened’ the package for private energy investors by including a provision in the most recent energy call for BC Hydro to reimburse power producers for the property taxes they pay on their power plants. And the price it pays private developers for their energy is now partially indexed to inflation."

Read the whole report and find out just how much this Campbell government has given away. Without any consultation with you or I.

NDP Rebuttal to Campbells' Spin Doctors

From the NDP website


Their own plan in tatters, desperate Campbell Liberals spread misinformation about New Democrats
April 12, 2009

With thousands of job losses proving that the B.C. Liberals' plan is failing working families, the Campbell government is resorting to desperate lies about Carole James' plan. Here are the facts:

On the carbon tax - Even though his own documents show the gas tax won't do much to help the environment, Gordon Campbell will triple his gas tax. The Liberals continue to repeat the falsehood that the NDP will impose a carbon tax.

Carole James, on the other hand, is proposing a cap-and-trade system like other leaders around the world, including US President Obama. This will bring in an estimated $250 million in revenue in 2011/2012. The government's own estimates, produced by Campbell advisor Marc Jaccard, suggest a charge of $450 million in 2012 with the Liberal plan. Unlike Gordon Campbell, Carole James will work with industry, workers, and communities in an open and transparent way to find a solution that works for everyone.

Small business tax relief - In addition to the one year tax holiday to help them through the recession, small business across the province will benefit from the cancellation of the Campbell gas tax.

On the minimum wage - Gordon Campbell has refused to give our lowest-paid workers a raise, even though he gave himself and his top advisors hefty pay hikes of up to 43%. Carole James will raise the minimum wage to help the hundreds of thousands of British Columbians who earn less than $10 an hour. B.C. has the worst rate of child poverty in the country and over half of those children come from households where at least one parent works full-time.

On the Green Bond - The Green Bond is a "first-of-its-kind" initiative in North America. And the B.C. Liberals are wrong: it was the Socreds who introduced the former B.C. bond initiative.

On the numbers - Our platform is fully costed. While the Campbell Liberals continue to waste taxpayers' money on pet projects, self-promoting ads, hundreds of spin doctors, and huge pay increases for their top advisors, we say that money should be directed to the programs British Columbians need and care about - like health care, and green infrastructure projects that will generate well paying jobs.

On balanced budget - With their unfunded tax break announced Tuesday costing 210 million, the Campbell Liberals will have a deficit in 2012, breaking their promise to balance budget that year.

On jobs - The NDP Green Bonds initiative alone would help create 15,000 jobs a year. Gordon Campbell has allowed over 30,000 jobs to be lost in the forestry industry alone during his two terms in office, and almost 100,000 jobs have been lost since the start of this year. The NDP has been clear that we will not cancel the Port Mann bridge, or cancel the softwood lumber agreement. The NDP has announced new support for tourism, agriculture, forestry and mining. These industries all face cuts in support under the Campbell plan - cuts that place more jobs at risk.end...

And I personally find Carole James to be far more honest than Gordon Campbell. He has not told the people of this province one truth since first being elected in 2001. In fact , I submit that anything he says you can bet the farm he will do the opposite.

Sub judice

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In law, sub judice, Latin for "under judgment," means that a particular case or matter is currently under trial or being considered by a judge or court. The term may be used synonymously with "the present case" or "the case at bar" by some lawyers.

In England and Wales, New Zealand, Australia, India, Pakistan and Canada it is generally considered inappropriate to comment publicly on cases sub judice, which can be an offence in itself, leading to contempt of court proceedings. This is particularly true in criminal cases, where publicly discussing cases sub judice may constitute interference with due process.

In the United States, there are First Amendment concerns about stifling the right of free speech which prevent such tight restrictions on comments sub judice. However, State Rules of Professional Conduct governing attorneys often place restrictions on the out-of-court statements an attorney may make regarding an ongoing case. Furthermore, there are still protections for criminal defendants, and those convicted in an atmosphere of a circus have had their convictions overturned for a fairer trial.

************************************* ************************************************************

Judicial abdication is not the remedy for an infringement of the sub judice rule, especially where serious accusations are made against the police and government leaders. Such accusations should be scrutinized by the judiciary in the public interest. The reckless remarks of politicians should not frustrate that process.

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And then there is this from Gary Mason's column in the Globe

"The sub judice rule made sense at a time in which trials were almost exclusively trials by jury and there was a feeling that comments made outside a trial might unduly influence jury members," said Alan Young, a professor at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto and a leading academic authority on the law in Canada.

"But now, 98 per cent of criminal cases are heard without a jury. The sub judice rule is a bit more of a historical relic than a political rule today.

"Politicians hide behind the sub judice rule," Mr. Young said in an interview. "That's why it won't be changed because it's a good sanctuary for the political actor. The reality is [sub judice] is not as significant as it used to be."