Tuesday, February 3, 2009

HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM


On Saturday, I was sitting in the dining room having a snack with friends. The doorbell rings.

Oh, look, it's not Revenue Canada. Well, that's a start.

But it is a guy with an official looking document. What is this, the annual Are You Allergic to Peanuts Survey?

Close.

He's campaigning for Gordon Campbell and the Liberals. Will I be voting for him, them?

Not likely, son.

But if you vote for Carole James the world will fall in to mortal peril from now unto perdition.

Right. Got it. Have a nice day.

And therein exactly lies the problem.

Today, the Premier and his Finance Minister, Colin Hansen, announced that it's Deficit Financing. The days of Balanced Budgets are now the stuff of porch swings and Doris Day-Gordon MacRae musicals.

O.K.

No reasonable person can fault this province for being a part of the real world beset by massive economic downturns. No great shame in biting this distasteful bullet and getting on with the job at hand.

But therein lies the problem,

What, exactly, is the job at hand? And who best to do it?

My problem is this.

Neither Gordon Campbell nor Carole James, neither the Liberals nor the NDP can find the right balance.

Campbell has shown, day after day, a mean-spirited elitist pro-business, anti-small guy attitude in almost every choice made. He is after the Big Projects and the Truly Big Monuments. He seems finally a man with little heart or human kindness. Certainly, he has paid scant attention to those among us who have less and need a little more.

I cannot vote for him, and I will not.

So.

Take Carole James...please.

Is there anyone in the provincial NDP caucus, James included, who has the faintest idea of how to read a spread sheet? Have they ever sold shoes at The Bay or run their dad's coffee shop, let alone managed a large corporation or hired and fired large numbers of people?

I have lived in this sovereign state for over 40 years now and I have seen only two parties - The Right, who build roads and bridges; and The Left, who tax and spend.

Will we ever have a New Politician in these parts? Will he or she arrive before May 12th so that British Columbians might have someone and something to choose?

Not likely.

So how shall we vote?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Deficits-Smeficits ... I'm gonna start a bridge building company and get me some of that upcoming PORK!.

Anonymous said...

"So how shall we vote"? David, I have never missed voting, be it Municipal, Provincial or Federally in approximately 150 years, but today, like you, I am at a crossroads. Should I trot off and "reward" the inexcusable, or the incompetent, or should I sit on my hands? I have in the past given considerable thought to bowing out, but at the 11th hour gone to the Polls. This time? Well..... I just don't know. It is a sad commentary, but true.

Cheers

Anonymous said...

Right on! I'm afraid if Gordo and his band of brigands remain in power much longer, BC will cease to be a province as he will sell everything of value off to his friends.

Carole James is a nice lady, but a dreadful politician and even a corpse would be better.

So here lies the problem; vote for a truly evil person or a corpse?

I'm afraid I'm going to hold my nose and vote for a corpse, coz I've danced too much with the devil.

Anonymous said...

Anyone but the NeoCons, for all the reasons you listed and more. I'm not happy that the NDP hasn't announced a platform yet and when they do it will most likely have more to do with bashing the Liberals than leading us out of the wilderness.

I'll vote NDP anyhow as it's the beauracrats that run the government and to a great degree set policy, albeit unofficially. No new Minister in a cabinet portfolio can possibly pick up the reigns and run immediately first over the finish line. That can't happen, either now nor could it have in the prosperous past. No one is that core smart.

I believe the NDP have the best interests of more of us at heart than the cold callous Liberals and that's a proven fact. That coupled with a knowledgeable beauracracy will carry us through.

IMHO.

Anonymous said...

David, I agree with your opinion 100%. I have no faith in Gordon Campbell so what choice do I have?

Unlike Delta where there will be an independent running, where do I cast my vote?

Green Party?

Rhino Party?

Another frustrated voter,

Mark B.

NRF said...

I have been wandering in the political wilderness for some time. A former Liberal, driven away by the party’s intrinsic corruption, I distrust Harper’s coalition of the corporatocracy and the sectarian nanny wing.

The provincial conservatives, masquerading as the B.C. Liberal Party, lack the Christian evangelicals so worship Mammon instead of Jesus. Campbell’s minions serve corporations, real estate moguls and whatever group appeals now to the Great Leader.

The NDP with its tax and spend lolly grabbers ain’t the answer either. I spoiled ballots a few times – illegal, I know – but “none of the above” has never been an available choice.

Unless he contains the Basi Virk scandal and hides the real Olympic shortfalls until after the May election, Campbell’s final days may be on the horizon. That possibility should bring a few new recruits out of the NDP closets. Nobody boards a sinking ship but the Liberal troubles will encourage some new political players to join the opposition forces.

Where is Gordon Wilson anyway?

Anonymous said...

Anyone want to start a revolution/new political party?

dmc said...

12:25,
YES!

Anonymous said...

I agree it is time to change the guard.
And Carole James is NOT a viable alternative.

Let's hope for a decent Green candidate.