ThanThePublicVille
The following is a tale that could only take place in a place that is still being ruled by the Clarklandians as they continue to ride the long tail of the Knotty Gordian...
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The tale begins with a private resource extractor that uses a public resource to generate a product with a retail value is $300,000,000.
After that, the story turns into a neo-liberal tax-based procedural when it is finally revealed to the public just how much a private extractor should reasonably be expected to pay the public for one of its resources?
You know, so that the public can then use part of the profits from the private sale of said resource to do things that do the public good.
Like, say, to pay for some special education support in public classrooms or expansions to public transit or new public mental healthcare initiatives or some such things.
Would $150,000,000 (i.e. 50%) be reasonable?
How about $30,000,000 (i.e. 10%)?
Or $3,000,000 (i.e. 1%)?
Or even $3,000 (i.e. 0.001%)?
Or, and this is the real number, $600.00 (i.e. 0.0002%)?
Well, actually, it was really $596, but whose going to quibble about a twoonie or two.
Anyway, that 0.0002% number means that that, no matter how you slice and/or sluice it, a private extractor, in this case a water bottler and seller, made a whole lot of profit from a public resource.
So.
Given all that, what is the explanation from the Clarklandian and former Knotty Gordian minister responsible?
Well, based on an excellent editorial in yesterday's Victoria Times Colonist at least, it is the following:
...According to Environment Minister Mary Polak, the reason for such a negligible price is that she refuses to engage in profiteering...
Gosh.
Is it any wonder that the public has so much difficulty paying for the things that are good for it around here?
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Hey!
Here's a thought...
Perhaps the Ms. Clark should call for a 'Reasonable Resource Extraction Renumeration' plebiscite to see what kind of 'Yes' response she would get from that one?
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Of course, I'm just joking about that last one....'Cause it will never happen...After all, whatever would the decidedly private and extracty wizards and patrons say if Ms. Clark were to even begin to think of such a thing?
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10 comments:
She refuses to engage in profiteering, on behalf of the people of BC.
Profiteering by some big foreign company is ok. I guess.
Hugh--
Precisely.
Is it possible that Ms. Polak is our very own private Milo Minderbinder?
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I remember the Christy quote when going after Dix on his "reasonable profit" quote during the election and she said" Mr Dix believes in reasonable profit ....i believe in Profit!.
Just not public profit, for all those liberal enablers keeping track. So not very many.
Thanks Jason--
Wonder how Ms. Clark feels about risks and who should take them/pay for them?
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20 pennies pay raise for min wage is not living wage for 100k plus in BC
230 million a year tax break for top 2 percent in BC is
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-04-06/americas-poor-spend-60-their-income-food-housing-proving-cpi-meaningless
Norm Farrell reported last week that BC's 2015 revenue from metals & minerals is only $83M but mining exploration tax credit is $104M. At least at 0.0002% (minus two twoonies) we’re making a profit on water. Ms. Polak will be unable to sleep at night knowing that the real unprofiteer is the Turdstormer, who uses our tax dollars to pay the extractors to take our free ore, while she charges usurious rates for water.
Lew--
'Ms. Polak The Usurious!'
That sure is some moniker.
Might even help folks forget the wasteful use of public funds on highly unprofitable stuff like, say...
...This.
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Breach of fuiciary duty?
Compromise of the political process?
Polak was pleased to sign off on the Narrows Inlet IPP on the Sunshine Coast....long after Bennett agreed that IPPs were high cost and of little or no benefit to taxpayers....of course Bennett then proceeded to sign off too....what is in the water (no pun intended) that these people drink?
what it makes me wonder is what are those b.c. liberals getting out of the deal.
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