Friday, October 28, 2016

This Friday In Clarklandian Document Dump Land...The Milburn Report.

YouCanSmellTheirGarbageComingFrom
MilesAwayVille


Yup.

That's right!

As predicted, the good Mr. Bernier has released the Milburn report/audit.

And, as you may have already guessed, it really was, at least in part, about real estate and school closures.

From the Liam Britten's early report published on the MoCo's newsthingy:

..."Stability has been put at risk by overstaffing compared to other school districts, labour agreements driving additional call-out, duplication and idle time and a failure to use surplus real estate like the Kingsgate Mall to set a new path for fiscal sustainability."

Milburn wrote even passing a balanced budget this year will not address underlying issues because of the VSB suspending school-closure consultations...

Gosh.

Does that mean that Minister Bernier should immediately fire the appointed overseer who has made it very clear that school closures are not currently on the table for her either?


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I'll be back with more later after I shove sharp sticks in my eyes and force myself to read the entire thing.

A thing, you will recall, that the good Minister said had helped convince him that he just had to fire the Vancouver School Board the very day they planned to capitulate and approve a balanced budget.

(even though the orders were drawn up to fire the board BEFORE he received a draft copy of 'the thing')

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And, speaking of the MoCo...Look what bullshite this way comes?...I mean, seriously, did the CBC just hire MikeyMike without our knowing it?



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8 comments:

Unknown said...

Interesting that they bring up the Kingsgate Mall as an example of financial mis-management by the VSB. As I recall, the VSB is leasing space in this mall to the Beedie Group. I think that means they are receiving "revenue" from the lessee, who has long coveted this mall as an integral part of their urban development plans for Vancouver. And it just so happens that they are generous BC Liberal Party donors. Now the BC Liberal bureaucrat that has replaced these trustees now has the authority to sell this mall to a Liberal donor

RossK said...

Mark--

Most interesting, indeed.

On all three counts.

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Anonymous said...

Wouldn't expect anything less from this government and their backers. Follow the money.

RS said...

The Beady-eyed Corp must be wringing their hands, throwing high fives, patting each other on the back, and salivating all at the same time.

sd said...

Meanwhile students with special needs,mental health issues, living in poverty across this province are being sacrificed.I didn't retire early but really couldn't teach another year. I had to leave it was just too hard after the last 15 years. I wonder how many dedicated professionals are considering leaving teaching?

RossK said...

sd--

And, what with the longterm cronic underfunding for those that need our help most, it's not hard to understand why some folks go looking for the 'private' alternative.


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Lew said...

There doesn’t appear to be anything in Milburn’s report that should have surprised the Minister of Education or his staff had they been fulfilling their oversight role on a regular basis. The report appears to be an attempt to make it appear as though Bernier was shocked to discover what was going on and he had no option but to fire the Board.

The terms of reference on page one make no mention of Milburn being tasked with determining whether the minister should or should not decide to dismiss a school board, and his ruminations on page three are therefore gratuitous. He states, “However, the terms of reference for this review go beyond the question of non-compliance as a basis for the Lieutenant Governor in Council to consider intervention under section 172(1)(c) of the School Act.” Why would he make that statement? The terms of reference “go beyond the question” because they don’t contemplate it. And neither do any of his recommendations. But it’s clear that it was a key goal of his review because he actually states it has equal importance to providing an action plan for the Minister through which he may enable the VSB to rectify and strengthen their approach to governance and oversight of the district.

He was asked to do a forensic audit of the of the trustee’s expenses. Which means looking for criminal acts. He apparently found none. Anything else was known by the Minister beforehand, including the purported reason for terminating the Board, which he admits in his report was going to be imminently rectified by the Board without any action by the Minister in any case. This is a hatchet job. Pure and simple.

I note that after Mr. Milburn retired he was employed by none other than Peter Fassbender to help the Capital Regional District develop a detailed sewage plan. And when he retired the Victoria Times Colonist called him one of “two key deputy ministers who brought the B.C. Liberals’ liquefied natural gas vision to the brink of reality.”

His report is as close to the brink of reality as the BC Liberals’ LNG vision and the CRD sewage solution.

RossK said...

Thanks very much for both the analysis and the 'reality check' Lew.


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