HistoryVille
Vaughn Palmer's latest tells the tale of how one very, very fine former BC Liberal Party Finance Minister, Mike de Jong, is not going to run for Kevin Falcon's Soccer Party in the upcoming provincial election.
Mostly the column slowly circles the likely possibility that Mr de Jong, who once tried to soften his image by baking cookies on the Tubez long before Doug Ford's minions got the idea, will instead run federally for Mr. Poilievre.
In the process, the Dean of the legislative press gallery takes a wobbly walk down fiscal memory lane:
...De Jong was finance minister in the last B.C. Liberal government. He has taken some heat within his own party for leaving behind a sizable budget surplus for the New Democrats to spend.
He makes no apologies: “The biggest criticism I seem to get is that I was too stingy or too careful with public dollars. I’ll take that criticism because when COVID did hit, B.C. was in better shape with its finances than any other province in the country.”...
Hmmmm....
With the help of the late, great Dermod Travis, I remember things a wee bit differently when it comes to the strategy that the good Mr. de Jong used to generate his 'surplus'.
The following is from a post written in 2016:
Never mind that 4 percent MSP increase removal for 2017 thingy that the Clarklandians have bamboozled the Lotuslandian proMedia into focussing on over the past few news cycles (Ooooooh! Look! Shiny!!!)...
Because Dermod Travis of Integrity BC has instead noted the fee-for service gouging that has been going on during the entirety of the years of Clarklandia:
Moving out from individuals to the entirety of the British Columbian citizenry, the prediction by Cookie Dough Mike and his minions is that MSP will bring in a collectively regressive $2,549,000,000 this fiscal year (see pg 127).
Now....
First: No other government in Canada hauls in money in this completely non-progressive way.
Second: Take away that $2.5B gouge/regressive pretend-it's-not-a-tax and Cookie Dough's new prediction of a $1.9B surplus is completely gone.
Yes...
I do have archives and I'm going to use 'em.
______
And, still herding after all these years, the Keef weighs in on the same story.
.
11 comments:
Don’t forget the fire sale sell off of properties and buildings to insiders and friends. The proceeds of which were used to “balance” the budget.
I can't wait RossK because you have such a great database
For example, MSP, going back to 2005
https://pacificgazette.blogspot.com/search?q=msp
Another list on a different topic ... ?q=falcon
https://pacificgazette.blogspot.com/search?q=falcon
Mike de Jong
https://pacificgazette.blogspot.com/search?q=de jong
Fudge(cookie)-It Budget
Palmer says de Jong uses words like “fun” and “joy” to describe his years in the legislature.
Wasn’t fun nor joy for the health researchers that were fired and had careers ruined due to the disgraceful witch hunt and improper firings that were engineered right under the watchful eyes of minister de Jong. That witch hunt and one of the firings contributed to the suicide of Rod MacIsaac, according to the coroner.
Wasn’t any fun nor joy for anyone outside of the B.C. Liberals and their cronies and corporate masters when de Jong presided as Attorney General over the illegal interference in a criminal trial that cost taxpayers $6.4 million and brought the justice system into disrepute.
Wasn’t fun nor joy for seniors or the disabled and disadvantaged in this province when de Jong had his hands on the purse strings that could have helped them out instead of sacrificing them to fake balanced budgets.
Nor was it fun or joy for citizens to discover through a public inquiry that the annual reports de Jong submitted to the Legislature about illegal gambling when he was minister responsible for gaming didn’t reflect actuality.
Not that Palmer or Baldrey noticed through all the convivial laughter.
Be grateful you have never had Mike as your MLA. He’s been mine for over 30 years. Like the rest of his Conservative fellows here in the Valley the level of service his office provided his often needful constituents has been lower than the first plop in freshly constructed two-holer. I wish him the best in his federal dream. Perhaps he will at long last win the Loyal Order of the FOAD.
As long as Falcon is heading the Socred/B.C.Liberal/B.C. United party, the party isn't going anywhere. People who make their livings as politicians aren't keen to loose the perks and salary so with the B.C. Conservatives now looking like they might be able to do something, some of those who are not running for the B.C. United, don't be surprised if they're running for the B.C. Conservatives.
I'm sure PP is looking for candidates who can get elected and de Jong most likely has been in talks with PP. They both have the same mean streak in them when it comes to defunding services people need.
Lew is quite correct regarding those who weren't having "fun" during the Socred/Lieberal reign of error and terror. People relying on Disability payments didn't have enough money to get by. I'm sure deJong was having fun. He got his nice pay cheque with benefits and perks. As I recall MLAs were receiving $12K a year for housing even if they lived in Victoria. During the same time single custodial parents,on Disability had to get along on that amount if they had one child. Any child support payments were clawed back nickel for nickel. Christie at the time said the province needed the money. ($14M a year) at the time the most likely spent more on advertising. I'm sure de Jong had "fun" if he was living it up like Christie was. Lets see she and Pammie had a room service breakfast in Asia, somewhere, and the bill was $700 and change. Upp those were the good old days for those at the public trough.
So if you see any former B.C. United types running for the federal conservatives, be careful what you wish for. PP talks a lot about "fixing" things and not wasting money. I see it as a repeat, but on a national level, of the Socred, B.C. Lieberal, B.C. United years. Much of what we see today, homelessness, drug overdoses,lack of medical staff etc. started during the 3 name party's reign. Doctors aren't produced by magic. Its about 7 years of education.
Wonder if Ding Dong will walk with the convoy knuckleheads?
The problem with the "Bird", is that us "Boomers" remember the utterly corrupted Liberal Party and the foul fowls within.
The "Have you had enough" man is as stale as week old bread and is beginning to molder.
The stench of the BC Rail give away has now tippled any attempt to use the railway to mitigate climate change and global warming. (not talked about much but railways are playing a big part in fighting climate change and global warming, except, er, Canada.
DeJong, reminds me of an educated Trumper (as rare as hens teeth) only wishing to increase his taxpayer paid pension plan, will now run federally.
Alas, another provincial election with no one to vote for and now a federal election with no one to vote fore - god, say it ain't so!
Stealth taxes, a BC Liberal specialty. I seem to recall near the end, they bled ICBC nearly dry in order to back fill some budgets. Many people would also argue that the carbon tax that Campbell brought in was the exact same thing, with greenwash.
As the United , Liberal, Social Credit, Conservatives would say..
You can fool someone some of the time.
You can fool someone most of the time.
Most of the time you can fool someone.
I can fool someone to vote for me!
GarFish has it right!
The ULSCC tax by stealth.
Sadly the current NDP have not changed much.
The current NDP are stealth Liberals .
The current ULSCC are stealth reformers!
The left no longer exists.
TB
Amen Trailblazer, indeed the NDP are stealth Liberals and the left no longer exists!
Eby is just another NDP technocrat, with absolutely no connection to the common folk and continues the NDP's (stealth Liberal) rape of the taxpayer.
$11 billion plus to extend the Expo and Millennium Lines a mere 21.7 km, means the NDP do what that have done in the past, rob monies from health and education to fund their prestige line.
(Could be a lot more on that subject in the near future)
Eby's well timed photo-ops and his well crafted 10 second sound bites are public consumption for the next election. it's not the "bird", he is afraid of, rather the anti-vaxer, anti-climate changers in the Conservatives who are making BC United a dead bird like its leader.
You cannot tax yourself out of global warming, yet the NDP grossly increase the bureaucracy to chase paper on unworkable programs such as the speculation tax (elder abuse on steroids, according to my local Councillor), or the foolish flipping tax which from last night's news affects a mere 400 houses in BC!
Nope it is hate the elderly, hate the people, hate reality taxes that just may have Eby pull a "Skelly" in the next election.
Provincially I am voting Green, because, they have the new ideas.
By the way, Metro Vancouver (another Soviet style bureaucracy) and the provincial government are doing away with little wood fires in fireplaces because of pollution, but they are omitting mention of the massive forest fires and slash burning fires, because they are natural. Sorry they are not as most are man made.
In government's eyes, like a battered spouse, the more you hurt them, the more they love you; so the the more and higher taxes and the taking away of simple pleasures, such as a nice wood fire on a cold evening, the more people will support government.
Question: Isn't that what is Trump is doing?
Post a Comment