Did Vaughn Palmer Just Call Pamela Martin A 'Hack'?

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Why yes, I believe he did, in his latest column which focussed, as you might expect, on the Snooklandian Multicult-Memorandum:

VICTORIA — The date was Jan. 10, 2012 and Premier Christy Clark’s inner circle was hard at work on a strategy to capture the ethnic vote.

“Anecdotal reports suggest that some ethnic communities, particularly Chinese, feel that they are ignored by government between elections,” wrote the premier’s hand-picked deputy chief of staff Kim Haakstad in a confidential memo to key staffers in the government...

{snippety doo-dah}

The contents of the year-old document offered devastating insights into the way they do business inside the B.C. Liberal government. And it was leaked holus-bolus to the New Democrats, who tabled it in the legislature Wednesday to further salt the government’s wounds.

Reading through the passages highlighted by gleeful NDP researchers, one discovered that a goal of the strategy was to “build goodwill and political capital with target communities through simple and thoughtful actions to show ongoing care and concern.”

As for the means by which this might be accomplished, the premier’s office urged the pursuit of “quick wins,” for instance: “Identify and correct ‘historical wrongs,’ such as the Komagata Maru apology in the house.”

For some, the aforementioned apology, like the one the Liberals are planning to deliver for the Chinese head tax, represent long-overdue redress for genuinely wrong actions in the provincial past.

But for Haakstad and her little band of hacks — the distribution list included Clark staffers Pamela Martin, Barinder Bhullar and Lorne Mayencourt — the apologies were merely a vehicle for scoring a quick win with ethnic voters...

{snippety doodle-dandy}

.... (A) thorough reading underscored a more insidious element. The premier’s office proposed to combine the resources of the public service and the resources provided to MLAs to represent their constituents — both taxpayer funded — and bend them to the partisan purposes of the Liberal party...

If you haven't already, head on over to the VSun, the whole thing is well worth the read.

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Meanwhile, over at Ron Obvious headquarters, Gary Mason had this to say on the Twittmachine:

BC Prem Clark needs to condemn in strongest terms possible the actions of her dep chief of staff: re pathetic ethnic outreach memo#bcpoli
— Gary Mason (@garymasonglobe) February 28, 2013

A couple of things about that last one...

First, not so sure that will happen. After all, Ms. Clark's current Deputy Chief-Of-Staff, Ms. Kim Haakstad, who was also referred to by Mr. Palmer above, knows things...And Ms. Haakstad has met with people...Including people involved in Railgate...Heckfire, there is even a written record of some of those meetings.

Second, it is interesting that Mr. Mason is giving Ms. Clark an out on something this egregious when, just last weekend he called the NDP incompetent because their livestream of Mr. Dix' speech crashed, presumably because of all the traffic, the swell of which was likely increased by journos like Mr. Mason who were too lazy to go to the event in person.


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Mr. Palmer's column is really the good stuff, well-rounded, but with no hedging or punches pulled...There is something else important at play here...I know it shouldn't be this way, but this is an excellent example of how much impact a well-dropped bomb in question period can have on the local punditry...Why?....Well, I think it sets the wurlitzer spinning so quickly that the herd turns because they cannot ignore it/don't want to get mangled in its spokes...Or some such mixed-metaphor...


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