This Day In Clarkland...Does The Canadian Taxpayer's Federation Have A Selective Lens?

 

OnceInTheRolodex
AlwaysInTheRolodexVille


Have you ever wondered how and why certain fine folks always pop up in Lotuslandian proMedia commenting on all things body politic?

Me too.

One of those fine folks is Mr. Jordan Batemen of the Canadian Taxpayer's Federation, British Columbia Division.

And yesterday Charlie Smith of the Georgia Straight was surprised that Mr. Bateman had not yet commented on Bob Mackin's recent reports on our fine Premier's latest bouts of private jetsetting:

Where's Jordan Bateman?

That's a question some taxpayers might want to ask in the wake of the Air Christy scandal.

Bateman, the loquacious B.C. director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, has not spoken out about a growing controversy over Premier Christy Clark's use of private planes to fly to Kelowna.

There's nothing on the Canadian Taxpayers Federation website and nothing on Bateman's Twitter account...


Please note that Mr. Bateman's above pictured tweet came out after Mr. Smith's piece was posted on the GStraight website.

Mr. Batemen also tweeted that Mr. Smith should... "(A)sk @bobmackin (the guy who broke the story) if I go easy on the Liberals. Such nonsense." 

Additionally, the good Mr. Bateman helpfully linked to an older 2011 Vancouver story by Mr. Mackin wherein the CTF director was quoted thusly:

..."B.C. was a leader in the country by stopping the use the of government jets, but obviously charter flights are a loophole to get around that," said Canadian Taxpayers Federation B.C. director Jordan Bateman. When you're running a $3.1 billion deficit this year, you need to take a hard look at every single expense...


Now that sure is the kind of devastating condemnation of government spending (or proposed spending) that Mr. Batemen is so well known for.

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Later in his piece, after explaining that the public doesn't know who funds the fine folks at the CTF and their work, Mr. Smith of the GStraight noted that the someone who currently works closely with Mr. Bateman has often had close ties to the BC Liberal Party generally and their current leader, the frequent private airline flyer herself, Ms. Clark, specifically:

Last year, the Straight reported that the Canadian Taxpayers Federation had retained former B.C. Liberal government communications director Brian Bonney as a fundraiser. Bonney is also a former director of operations with the B.C. Liberals.

Morever, Bonney is a long-time political ally of the premier dating back to her days as the MLA for Port Moody-Burnaby Mountain. He supported her leadership campaign, too.

Bonney was also at the heart of the 2013 ethnic-gate scandal. In this instance, the party repaid $70,000 to the provincial treasury for work that he had done for the B.C. Liberals while working as a government employee.

Bonney and another B.C. Liberal operative were each subsequently charged with three offences under the Election Act...


Hmmmmmm...

Mr. Bateman is working with Bonney at the CTF in the here and now?

Hang on a second.

I seem to remember something back in the mists of time about how that particular fine pair of super-fine civic-minded folks may have ever worked on the same project in the past.

But, just to make sure I'm not mistaken how about we punch up their names in this little F-Troop blog's search bar....

Gosh.

Look what fell-out the other end, from ancient times (i.e. 2008):

Turf toe is a nasty little condition, indeed.

Because it afflicts players, most often professionals, that spend days on end running around on that fake grass called 'AstroTurf'.

Which brings us to a breathless bit of 'he said/she said journalism' from Mary Frances Hill in today's Vancouver Sun:

VANCOUVER - More bridges and lanes are needed over the Fraser River to ease transportation problems, says a report by a group of six residents who live south of the Fraser.

The group, called Get Moving B.C., has drawn criticism from environmental groups, which say it is made up of Liberals masquerading as a grassroots group.......

Now pro-pols and industry associations that masquerade as grassroots groups in an effort to move move public opinion in a pre-determined way are often called 'AstroTurf' because they are fake.

And this group has the look of the 'Turf about it, as was noted previously by journalist (ie. not an "environmental group") Sean Holman in May of 2007:

When last we reported on on our good friend Brian Bonney, he had abruptly resigned as the operations director for the provincial Liberals. But just because he isn't on the party payroll anymore, doesn't mean Mr. Bonney isn't still toiling away in the backrooms on behalf of the Campbell administration. For example, yesterday, in an email sent to industry members, BC Trucking Association communications coordinator Sandra Azanchi encouraged them to support Get Moving BC, "a non-profit, grassroots organization composed of individuals, businesses and organizations in the Greater Vancouver area advocating a balanced, efficient, and sustainable transportation infrastructure." And who should they contact for more information about this pro-Gateway Program group? Well, if you guessed Mr. Bonney, you'd be right!

Last month, The Georgia Straight's Matthew Burrows also reported on Fort Langley-Aldergrove Liberal constituency association vice-president Jordan Bateman and former Port Moody-Burke Mountain election candidate Greg Moore's involvement with Get Moving BC. As our astute readers know, Mr. Moore is a regional organizer for the (B.C. Liberal) party......

But that was a long time ago, so I guess maybe the toes have healed and the fine folks at 'Get Moving B.C.' have decided to make a dash for the goal line one more time.

However, to give the V.Sun reporter Ms. Hill her due, especially because that lede quoted above may have been 'he said/she saided-up' by an editor, she does tell us the following about the afore-mentioned Mr. Bateman:

Get Moving B.C. spokesman Jordan Bateman said the report is aimed at arming voters with knowledge of transportation issues so they can question candidates before the Oct. 14 federal election. "It's important we find out which of the federal parties have a vision to build B.C." 

Bateman is a Langley township councillor with strong ties to the B.C. Liberals. He served as vice-president of Housing and Social Development Minister Rich Coleman's Fort Langley-Aldergrove riding association and was communications director of Coleman's last re-election campaign.

Which I can't fuss about too much because, regardless his political affiliations, Mr. Batemen has shown that he is heavily involved in the Langley Township community, both as a councillor and as a citizen, as is demonstrated by his long running, informative, and mostly pretty well-informed blog.

But, aside from all that, here's the thing about 'Get Moving B.C." that I find almost laughable in the extreme taken, again, directly from Ms. Hill's VSun piece:

Bateman described his organization as an "ad-hoc" group of six residents living south of the Fraser, with a variety of political stripes. However, he said the group can call on about 100 supporters when they are needed.


All of which has me thinking...

Isn't it curious that Mr. Bateman and the BC division CTF have had so little (i.e. absolutely nothing as far as I can tell as of Monday Feb 29/16 @ noon) to say about the recent financial problems of the Port Mann Ice Bomb bridge consortium?


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For the record...A post-piece Twittmachine exchange between Mr. Smith and Mr. Aaron Wudrick the director of the CTF, Federal Division.
And did you catch that little bit at the end of that old piece from MF Hill of the VSun from days of yore quoted above...Six residents?...That sure was some grass roots group that everyone concerned could see for miles and miles and miles, eh?


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