Ask Not For Whom The Bell Tolls....

AllTheMeetingsNotQuite
RememberedVille

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Update, lunchtime Wednesday, at bottom of post...

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Yesterday, we noted that CKNW's Sean Leslie had elicited a comment from Jobs Minister Pat Bell that he couldn't remember meeting the fine fellows who are now claiming that he, Mr. Bell, promised them that he would get them on the shortlist for a bit of BC Liberal government largesse in Prince George where Bell is one of the local MLAs.

Of course, given that at least one of those fine fellows had donated a good chunk of money to Mr. Bell and his BC Liberal Party, we immediately wondered how long it would be before that comment of not remembering would come back to haunt the good Mr. Bell.

Well...

It only took a few hours, because last night the VSun's Jonathan Fowlie had a very good follow-up piece up with all kinds of interesting investigatory stuff in it including the following tidbits:

...(Premier Christy) Clark’s defence (of Mr. Bell) came after a businessman who has donated more than $120,000 to the (BC Liberal) party (since 2006) accused Bell of bad faith. Brian Fehr also said that Bell subsequently adjusted the terms of a bid document to favour Fehr’s proposal.

Fehr, whose company was among the unsuccessful bidders for the $25-million Wood Innovation and Design Centre, said Bell promised to ensure that his company would make the shortlist of three companies if Fehr could build a project that was more substantial than what was called for in the bidding...

{snippety doo-dah}

...Fehr said that in a meeting with Bell, he offered to help out by involving private-sector money, and to build a more impressive building than what was contemplated in the bid.

“He committed to me that if I would do that — purchase the land off (Prince George businessman) Dan McLaren — that he would make sure we got shortlisted and then you could have what they call an alternative method in the bid,” he said.

“He absolutely promised me that he would get me shortlisted.”...

{snippety doodle-dandy}

...Documents show that Fehr’s company, The Bid Group, paid McLaren’s company a $150,0000 deposit for the land during the bid process, but was not shortlisted.

On Tuesday, Fehr said Bell was apologetic after the final three companies were announced at the end of last year, and offered to rework the final process of the bid in a way that would allow disqualified companies to vie for a part of the project.

“He tried to amend Partnerships B.C. proposal structure, for sure,” said Fehr. “He had his fingers way too close into it.”

The project’s request for proposals — issued after Fehr’s company was excluded — added a requirement that the winning bidder work with the private sector to develop and build another project on adjacent land.

The government suspended the bidding process at the end of last year after receiving complaints about the added requirement. The controversial element was removed before the bid was allowed to continue...

{snippety doodle-dandier}

...In a written statement, deputy minister Dave Byng said the private sector criteria “was added in an effort to realize an increased overall potential benefit of this project for downtown Prince George. A project that incorporates additional land or buildings would have increased the iconic status of the development.

“On Dec. 14, 2012, the private sector component of the RFP was removed as a result of concern from the three (short-listed) proponents that expansion to the scope of the project would make it unlikely to continue to meet set project timelines,” he added.

Bell has denied the allegations of misconduct, saying he never made any promises to anyone about the bidding process...


Hmmmm....

Don't know about you, but I sure am looking forward to hearing the latest from the Kruegernator on this one, especially more about that sudden insertion of the additional 'private sector criteria' after the short list had been announced.

Please help us out Mr Krueger, because, of course, we are all unmitigated morons now.

And if you could do it before pink shirt day ends, that would be most appreciated.

After all, it would be downright mean, not to mention churlish, if you were to keep us waiting.

OK?


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There's an interesting extra tidbit here that might give those with a penchant for crazy conspiracy theories a teeny-tiny adrenal squeeze....Mr. Fowlie also tells us that one of those fine BC Liberal faithful folks who are upset with the Minister, Mr McLaren, actually ran against Mr. Bell for the party nomination in the watershed year of 2001....Mr. McLaren also publicly supported the Birdman in the latest party leadership campaign...
As noted in the original CBC report from yesterday morning, Mr. Fowlie also elicits quotes from the so-called fairness advisor indicating that, in the end, she found the bidding process to be on the up-and-up...However, she also made it clear that Mr. Fehr and friends complaints were outside her mandate...Thus, when you hear the Wizards crank up the wurlitzer on this aspect of the story be sure to recognize it for the red herring that it is...
Update: Gordon Hogg decides to step of the Kruegernator's Crazy Train...

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What, Exactly, Is An 'Unmitigated Moron' Anyway?

AllTheFeetThatFit
MouthsAgapeVille


The latest from the Kruegernator, via the MoCo:

B.C. Liberal MLA Kevin Krueger isn’t backing down on critical comments he made in an email to the B.C. Conservative Party.

The email relates to a B.C. Conservative Party news release in which the party called Jobs Minister Pat Bell “an unmitigated disaster.” The party also called for Bell to be suspended over allegations he made inappropriate promises to a land developer.

Krueger, the Kamloops-South Thompson MLA, called those involved in the release "unmitigated morons.”

The email goes on to say, “Pat Bell is beloved in Prince George, for good reason. There is not one of you scum worthy to tie his shoes — nor tall enough.” The letter closes by saying, “What idiots you are.”...


Hmmmm....

Is it umitigatedly moronic for a Minister responsible for a roof to take a call from a party insider who demands he (i.e. the Minister) spend $500 million of the public's money to make his (i.e. the Insider's) friends, colleagues and business partners from Vegas happy?



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Of course, what is really moronic here, at least from the point of view of the Wizards of Snooklandia, is the fact that this kind of stunt just might start a backlash that kicks the Curmudgeon and his Cons back up into the low teens...If that happens I reckon the Wizards will be able to deliver seats in the high single digits, max...

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This Day In Snookland...What Will The Wizards Do If The HST Still Exists On April 2nd?

YouCan'tFoolAnyOfThePeople
AllOfTheTimeVille


What am I going on about this time?

Well, in a recent column the VSun's Vaughn Palmer made it abundantly clear that, after a whole lot of foot-dragging by the Snooklandians, the vast majority of the businesses in the province aren't ready for the switch back to the PST scheduled for (yes, seriously) April Fool's Day:

For B.C. Liberals hoping for an end to their government’s self-inflicted miseries with the harmonized sales tax, the latest news out of the Ministry of Finance is not encouraging.

The ministry reckons that some 130,000 retailers need to register to begin collecting the provincial sales tax by April 1, the day that the province is scheduled to phase out the HST and return to the old tax regime.

But only about 30,000 have signed up since registrations began in January. The remaining 100,000 or so have just five weeks left in which to do so before the seven-per-cent provincial levy takes effect...


Now.

Who, exactly, was responsible for all that foot-dragging...

And just where is the Birdman these days anyway?


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But seriously....What will the Wizards do if they're still on the hook for the HST well into the election campaign?...Maybe start up a smear machine operation against the ghost of the Dave Barrett regime blaming it for all that evil, wretched excess of a written record of what actually went on the legislature that is Hansard?...Either that or, perhaps, really crank up the wurlitzer to blame a then eight-year old Adrian Dix for sneaking on a plane to Moscow (sans ticket, of course!) and impersonating one of the young Russian figure skaters so that he could sneak onto the ice to drop the rose stem that caused Phil Esposito to take that tumble during the pre-game introductions late in the summer of 1972?

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My (So-Called) Science Geek Life...

SuspendingAll

AnimationVille

Mostly, I do the gardening in the lab these days. 

Which means I grow cells. 

It's a fiddly and mindless business at the same time.

At the moment we're getting pretty deep into a collaboration where we need a whole bunch of different cell lines to be on the go simultaneously.

The thing is, when we're not using them we freeze the cells in these big tanks of liquid nitrogen. 

And this afternoon I dug up a stock vial that was frozen back in 1999 by one of the first undergrads I trained in my lab.

The cells came up quite nicely from the freeze and were they were already down on the plate and starting to stick to each via their molecular velcro (the modulation of which is something we work on) when I left for home.

As for that kid who froze that vial of cells way back when?

Well... She's long gone,

But she is a lifer in the science geek business now.

Guess that's at least partially my fault.

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You Want Pineapples...

...You Got 'Em.

Courtesy of the MoCo's Johanna Wagstaffe on the Twittmachine as a way of explaining all the rain that's boarding a direct, jetstream-powered flight to Lotusland this very minute.


(it's also the excuse I'm using for leaving my bike in the garage on Thursday and Friday)


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And while on the subject of the MoCo and useful stuff...Here's a good example why making voluminous publicly available data searchable/filterable is super-duper useful.


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This Day In Snookland (ctd)...Does The 'Mandate' Explain It?

There'sNoResignation
LikeASuddenResignationVille


The denials, quite a few of them non-denial denials actually, are flying fast and furious from both the mandateless (not)Premier and her soon to be (not)Jobs Minister regarding this Prince George Wood Centre thing.

Here is just one such denial, reported by CKNW's Sean Leslie:

...Media reports indicate two local businessmen filed a complaint alleging (Jobs Minister Pat) Bell tried to improperly influence the bidding process (for the Wood Centre) after promising they would be on the short list for the final contract.

Bell denies the claim. "There was never any promises made by me or anyone else in our government in fact there was a process followed, it's an arms-length process that's being managed by a project board. There was a complaint made to an individual who's been assigned with monitoring this process. She's reported out and suggested that the process should be completed and the tender awarded."...


But here's the thing.

According to the original CBC News report this morning it is not the 'process' itself that is at issue but rather what was done (or not) prior to that process being initiated. One can only wonder if that distinction explains the following, also form the original CBC report:

...(The lawyer monitoring the fairness of the bidding process, Jane) Shackell’s report, however, found the bidding process had been conducted fairly. But she also acknowledged that there were concerns raised by (the complainants) McLaren and Fehr that didn't fall within her mandate to investigate...


You see where I'm coming from now?


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Another little tidbit in Mr. Leslie's report....Mr. Bell said that he 'can't remember' meeting the complainants...Sure thing...After all, why would Mr. Bell meet with a couple of fine fellows who have donated, again according to the original CBC report, approximately $125,000 to his political party since 2006...
And,  I'm telling you....Whenever I hear there is another fairness advisor/monitor watching over a Campbell/Clark government bidding process, my cultish ears sure do perk up...Why?....Well....You know....


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The Rumours Of COPE's Demise Have Been (Only Somewhat) Greatly Exaggerated.

DoingTheRightThing

AlwaysIsVille.

Stumbled upon a COPEish-type blog the other day.

It's called Vanopolis, and there is some good stuff there.

What follows is from a good post from David Chudnovsky about the fallow Little Mountain lands in the center of Vancouver where 234 families used to live in affordable housing before their homes were knocked down more than three years ago:

...If the developer were simply making application for a market development of 1500 units they would have to make 300 of them “affordable”. So that’s what they should be required to do at Little Mountain. If the Holborn development plan is approved then about 300 of the market units need to be “affordable”.

And that means that at the new Little Mountain, 234 replacement social housing units plus 300 new “affordable” units – that’s 534 - need to be provided. And added to that, the Adjacent Area should have a minimum of 20% affordable units as well. Anything less doesn’t comply with the city (of Vancouver)’s policy on affordability...

Personally, I think this is one of those 'get out of the budge-box paradox' type issues for the Dippers.

Specifically, I think they should go to the wall on this one and make it clear that they are willing to go pretty damned close to revenue neutral to help build another False Creek South on that site where the development is truly mixed such that everyone on the socioeconomic ladder can live and thrive there.

After all, if we can spend more than half-a-billion dollars on that stupid magic carpet atop BC Place for no good reason at all, we can afford to do the right thing for British Columbians of all stripes at Little Mountain.

And make the developers (reasonably) happy too.

And the construction workers also.

Not to mention real living and breathing familes.

OK?

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And I know, I know, I know!... That the CoV is a major player here as well...And that it is complicated...And all of that...But, don't forget that the land has not yet been sold by the Province given that is, according to the Wizards of Snooklandia,  part of the selling of crown assets still to come...

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This Day In Snookland...Another One?..Seriously?!

There'sNoResignation
LikeASuddenResignationVille

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Please note: There is a follow-up to this post....Here.

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At the time the resignation was announced we really did wonder.

Honest we did.

But, still, despite the fact his health problem was diagnosed last fall, we were willing to give one of the fine folks who was at the original 'BC Rail's Going Private' MLAs' meeting with Gordon Campbell in early 2002, Mr. Pat Bell, a break.

Of course, now there's this, from the MoCo:

A CBC News investigation has uncovered serious allegations against the B.C. government and provincial Jobs Minister Pat Bell related to the proposed Wood Innovation and Design Centre project in Prince George.

Bell and the government are accused of promising to influence what was supposed to be an independent bid process in favour of two developers with ties to the B.C. Liberal party.

The allegations are contained in a written complaint filed last November by two Prince George businessmen and submitted to Jane Shackell, the lawyer charged with overseeing the fairness of the bid process...

{snippety doo-dah}

...But the minister insists that everything was handled properly.

"I'm very comfortable with it," Bell told CBC News.

He also said that, in any case, he was not in a position to make any deals ahead of time, as the complaint alleges.

"To be clear, I do not sit on the project board nor have any authority over it. I would not and could not offer that type of offer to anyone."...

Sure thing Mr. Bell.

But how come you didn't offer up any jokes about greasy burgers and fries on this one?


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All Quiet On The Great Coast Guard Base Swindle Front...

TheCostOfEverything
TheValueOfNothingVille


I'm pretty sure all concerned are thinking they've passed through the spokes of the spinning newscycle wheel pretty much unscathed*...

Because today there is, essentially, nothing in the public prints.

Official lines bought?

Evasions ignored?

Public bamboozlement complete?

Maybe....

In the meantime, Paul Sullivan had a take not dissimilar to ours in the Metro newsish-thingy yesterday, right down to the three dot trail usage:

So …

What’s going on here? Is there a secret land deal? Does Stephen Harper like Newfoundland better than Vancouver? Why is the H(arper) G(overnment) so adamant about saving $700,000 a year, when it thinks nothing of spending anywhere from $75-$150 million for a single fighter jet?

You could buy the entire fleet of coast guard Zodiacs for $150 million and still have enough left over to spend the $1 million needed to transport the prime minister’s bulletproof limo to India, a nation which apparently can’t be trusted to have sufficiently advanced bulletproof technology.

When there are too many explanations, there aren’t any. It is said you can tell a politician is lying when his or her lips move.

On this one, no one’s even stopping to take a breath.

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*Except, perhaps,  for poor Wai Young.


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The Great Coast Guard Base Swindle (ctd)...Feds Finger Clark Gov't

AllTheCrownLandThatFits
Who'sZoomingWhoVille


The Feds came right out and said it today....

Katie Webb had the story in The Metro:

...DFO spokeswoman Erin Filliter clarified Monday that the DFO property referenced in the (leaked) memo (that caused all the kerfuffle late last week) is a vacant lot in West Vancouver, not the Coast Guard station.

She explained that while DFO owns the building, the (Kits Coast Guard base) land is owned by the province.

It has been leased to Transport Canada since 1964 under a land reserve agreement, which means the Coast Guard has been able to run its operations there for free.

Filliter said the ball is completely in the province’s court about what to do next with the site, and that the federal government will not gain any revenue from its closure...


Hmmmm....

But, as Ian Reid wondered on the Twittmachine....

How come we haven't seen that list of provincial 'crown' assets that are supposed to be sold off in the next year?

What's that you say?

The Wizards of Snooklandia are now on the record saying they want the base re-opened.

Sure thing.

But ask yourself this...

Why, exactly, did the Feds decide to close the base months early (with a provincial election looming)?


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This Day In Snookland (ctd)...Is It Time To Start Dissing AReid Again?

AllTheTrackingThatFits
PolloramallamalamadingdongVille

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Update: I goofed initially, and missed the fact that the Dippers are now winning even among the well-off...That is a major turn around compared to the last time Angus Reid was in the field a month ago...I mean, if they've lost the Creme-Belt...What's left for the BCL?

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The latest poll from Angus Reid is out and, despite doing their best to fly the misdirection high-wire with their fantasy throne speech and bogus budget, the Wizards have not moved things one inch.

In my opinion the story is told in two figures from the AReid report.

First, the tracker...Notice that, as we have pointed out before, now that the Cons have been destroyed there really is nowhere for the Snooklandians to get more votes from. As such, they have now flatlined and they have NOT taken away any support from the Dippers:

Second, the major demos....Again, the Snooklandians are getting their gong rung in every single category...And that even includes that last one (the well-off) which is a major turn of events since the last AR Poll (Ppdate: please note that I originally bamboozled myself on that 100K+ category, because in the last poll the numbers were 51 to 34 in favour of the BCL....Seriously)

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Now...I'm pretty sure that, in the war room, the Snooklandians and their smear merchants are taking satisfaction from the fact that they have, indeed, managed to drive down Mr. Dix' approval rating a little...But, in my opinion, that should actually worry them because if all that negative crap hasn't actually moved the numbers that matter....Well... they really and truly just might be doomed...
And, unlike some other of the Lotuslandian pro-media members, who yesterday complained about the Dipper livestream problems, kudos to Mark Hume of  the Globe for actually doing his job and going to hear Mr. Dix speak (and take questions from reporters afterwards) as well as going to hear Ms. Clark speak on Saturday (and run away from reporters afterwards)...

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The Great Coast Guard Base Swindle (ctd)...Land Ownership.

There'sNoLand
LikeCrownLandVille

So.

Just who does own that chunk of land that the suddenly closed (because, after all, February is spring in Vancouver) Kits Coast Guard base sits on.

Well.

I guess it depends on which jurisdiction is actually wearing the tiara on this one, but according to the Feds' own publicly-available website there is no indication that they don't...

And remember...

It's the 'bundling' that likely counts here.

And, maybe, (just maybe?) the trading away of claims to land a little further farther west?


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Dipper Livestream Goes Down...Ron Obvious Has Hissyfit.

There'sAClub
AndYou'reNotInItVille


Yes.

That's right...Adrian Dix gave a speech today, and the room was filled to bursting with real live people.

Rumour has it that the intertubes' pipes were filled to bursting as well, with people that wanted to get online and see what was happening.

Regardless, the stream crashed.

Which led to said hissyfit:

How long did BCNDP have to get livestream organized and it's not working while leader speaks? BC NDP, 1 incompetent step at a time. #bcpoli
— Gary Mason (@garymasonglobe) February 24, 2013

Meanwhile, the fact that Mr. Dix stood afterwards and took reporters questions while Ms. Clark, just yesterday, ran away from same after her speech is pretty much ignored.

@ianabailey @garymasonglobe #bclibs didn't livestream & Premier ran from media, no questions taken #bcpoli #Change4Better
— David Schreck (@StrategicThghts) February 24, 2013

Surprised?


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You know, this kind of codswallop (K. Baldrey got in on the act too)  sure does remind me of what happened back in 2009 when Mr. Campbell successfully got away with pretending to be the 'environment' candidate against Ms. James, which was greatly aided, at least in the Press-Gang's mind, by.....This.


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This Day In Snookland...Vizzini Was A Watercarrier Too?

YouKeepOnUsingThatWord
IDoNotThinkItMeansWhatYouSayItMeansVille


First.... Mr. Norman Spector, drawing on real experts using real projections (really!) to carry a little water for the Wizards...

Second.... A citizen who has been paying attention calls him Mr. Spector on it...

Third... Mr. Spector goes full metal Vizzini on said citizen...

That is all.

Except, just in case you have forgotten it...

...This.


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The Great Coast Guard Base Swindle...What The 'Memo' Says.

There'sNoBlueprintLike
TheHighCommissioner'sBlueprintVille


Now.

It is still not entirely clear that  the 'memo' first mentioned by Jas Johal and Peter Meiszner of Global on Friday and, apparently, leaked by Jim Sinclair, actually refers to the Kits Coast Guard Base land.

But the timing is mighty suspicious (and does not quite jibe with the previously announced timing of how the other Jericho stuff farther west was supposed to go down).

And with that in mind...

Sam Cooper, of the The Province, gives us a little more of the text of the 'memo':

...The federal memo...{snippety doo-dah}... obtained by the Sunday Province, says agencies have "presented the First Nation equity proposal for the Jericho Beach, Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and RCMP site," in a land negotiation that the government wants to wrap up by May or June 2013.

"This proposal unlocks the value of these properties for the economic benefit of all parties . . . [and the negotiation must establish] a joint-venture agreement between First Nations and Canada Lands Company which will capture the nature of the partnership," says the memo, which does not identify the First Nations involved. Canada Lands Co. is an agency that acquires sites deemed as "surplus properties" no longer needed by government, in order to transfer sale proceeds to the federal treasury...


Look.

We here in Lotusland have seen this 'unlocking of the value' gambit before.

Specifically, it was a grift run by the current High Commisioner of Great Britain, Mr. Gordon Campbell, when he and a bagman ran a little misdirection that led to a billion dollar play that involved the giving away of a chunk of Pacific Spirit Park's heart. 

The thing is, back then, in the case of the Park, the misdirection involved a golf course that had to be 'saved'.

In this case, if the deal really is going down on the end of Kits Point, it was a Coast Guard base that had to be 'killed'.

But, then again, when the potential bonanza for developers is billions....

Well, what does a little faux 'saving' and one true 'killing' really matter when it comes to the public trust?

****

Meanwhile, the federal Minister responsible for (allegedly) turning Public Works private, Ms. Rona Ambrose, was in Lotusland this weekend telling anybody who would listen that it was actually the Coast Guard's decision, or based on their advice, or all such a longtime ago, or some such pretzellian logistical nightmarish thing:

..."Well, my understanding is that was a decision that was made some time ago and everyone in the region was aware of it, and of course this was on the advice of the Coast Guard," she (Ambrose) said...

Sheesh.

No.

Super sheesh.

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