The AG Firing Fiasco (ctd)...The Curmudgeon Strikes Back!

SmearThis!
CumminsResurfacingVille


Looks like the BC Con Party has decided to make an issue of the Eric Foster constituency office matter.

Interestingly, it's not so much the conflict of Mr. Foster's continuing as the chair of the legislative committee that fired AG John Doyle AFTER Doyle had first fingered Foster for his 'office' dealings that the Cons are fussing about.

Instead, it's the nature of the rental and the renovations themselves that the Cons are focusing on.

Richard Rolke, in the Vernon Morning Star, has the story:

...The B.C. Conservatives have raised concerns about (Vernon BC Liberal Party MLA) Foster leasing his 31st Avenue office from relatives of his constituency assistant.

“It is imperative that Mr. Foster answer these serious and legitimate questions (that were later dismissed by conflict commissioner Paul Fraser) at the earliest opportunity,” said John Cummins, Conservative leader...

{snippety doo-dah}

...The Conservatives have also raised questions about $67,000 in renovations to the building.

“The leasing market at the time was extremely depressed and there were numerous reasonably priced office spaces available that didn’t require tens of thousands of dollars in repairs and renovations,” said Scott Anderson, local Conservative candidate.

Foster says the office was shelled-in at the time of the lease and needed to be completed.

“The price was right. I wanted to be on the ground floor and the parkade is across the street,” he (Foster) said.

“I didn’t look at anything that didn’t require substantial renovations. It’s a reasonable amount of money for what was done.”...

{snippety doodle-dandy}

...Questions were recently raised about Foster chairing a committee that decided not to retain B.C. auditor general John Doyle. Doyle had issued a letter stating that documentation for Foster’s renovations were not complete.

Foster has stated he did not know about Doyle’s letter and believes the focus on his office lease and renovations are politically motivated.

“It’s an attempt to discredit me because I chair a committee. It’s strictly character assassination,” he said...

Sure thing Mr. Foster.

Only looking at offices that need substantial renovations is a standard operating procedure.

However, regardless all that, what I find particularly interesting here is the real-politick of the situation. 

Because, don't forget, this is Con Country that we are talking about here.

Which means that a substantial percentage of folks in the Vernon/North Okanagan area  may not view a 'Liberal' who has been singled out, rightly or wrongly, as a minor-league grifter, in a favorable light come May.

Which has me wondering if, perhaps, the well-orchestrated political destruction of Mr. Cummins and his party that took place last fall may have come a wee bit too soon for the Wizards behind the Christy Party's Curtains. 

Not that CC4BC can't raise the money to mount a two-fronted smear machine over the next few weeks and months.

But.

Still...

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Regarding the Auditor General Firing Fiasco itself, I explain why any fix is up to us, here, and also try to convince you why you might want to consider signing a very reasonable petition....here.

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