Saturday, August 9, 2008

Have They No Shame?


Apparently not.

Almost doubling the salaries of deputy ministers in the BC government seems a reasonable and appropriate action for Mr. Campbell.

Except that he tried to sneak this offense in under the cover of the opening of the Beijing Olympics.

Well, it isn't reasonable or appropriate to most of us.

Most glaring of all is the listed salary of one Leslie du Toit. She is the deputy children's minister. Her salary last year - and now about to climb considerably - is $234, 180.

This is a ministry that is utterly dysfunctional.

It is a department that is outright dangerous in its disregard for suffering children.

This is the ministry that, using the most sophist benchmarks unimaginable, is eager to cut off support for children who may have an IQ of 71 and therefore be way too smart for support.

Jim Sinclair points out that we have the lowest minimum wage in the country and that number has been on ice for over seven years.

Mike Farnworth says, "I don't know what planet the premier's living on, but it's not the one that the rest of us are. At a time when we're being hit by carbon gas-tax increases, high ferry cost increases, higher fuel increases, tolls on bridges, increased housing costs -- the premier's deputy gets an $105,000 increase? I'm supremely ticked off."

August 6 and August 9, 1945


Hiroshima.

Nagasaki.

Enough said.

One of the Great Show Biz Moments - Larry Parks as Jolson

Just the Facts, Ma'am


Light Rail Guy has left a new comment on your post "Bus service may be halved: TransLink":

Here are some facts that may further contribute to the TransLink fiasco.

- Expo Line rebuild + 10 km. extension in Surrey - $3 billion.

- Cost of SkyTrain to build - almost $200 million a km.

- Cost of Véléz Malaga (Spain) new LRT - $7 million a km.

- Cost of Canada Line subway - $2.5 billion+

- Capacity of Canada line subway as built - 15,000 persons per hour per direction.

- Cost of LRT on Arbutus Corridor - $20 million to $25 million a km.

- Capacity of LRT on Arbutus Corridor - 20,000 persons per hour per direction.

- Capacity promised with the SkyTrain Expo Line - 30,000 pphpd

- Capacity by contract, Millennium Line - 26,000

- Capacity of Expo Line, delivered - under 15,000 pphpd.

- Maximum capacity achieved by Hong Kong's Tuen Mun (at-grade) LRT - 25,000 pphpd.

- Estimated cost of a Vancouver to Steveston LRT (using the Arbutus Corridor) - $800 million.

- Operational costs of SkyTrain is about twice of that of LRT.

- Lifespan of LRT line before refurbishment 30 to 50 years.

- Lifespan of SkyTrain line before refurbishment - about 30 years.

Cities operating LRT - over 600

Cities operating SkyTrain - 5

It seems SkyTrain and its very high costs are strangling TransLink, yet we build more!