Victor on "The Slide"

We can bet the photos of the Highway 99 slide are being studied by every country sending a team here for 2010. Try this. If the next winter Olympics were to be in the French Alps, and if the side of a mountain in France were to peel off and cover the highway with truck-sized boulders, BC folks would be bleating about the safety of our athletes and visitors.

If I were Gordo Carbo, I would pave the Duffy Lake Road and build the required bridges. Yep. Lots of money. But without a fully functional alternative highway, we look like idiots ploughing ahead on a one road plan.

VANOC has assured us that in the event of a slide. alternative air transportation will be found for athletes. Wonderful. So a family with 3rd degree burns could be stuck in Whistler, but the Luge team from Zimbabwe would have a chartered chopper at their disposal.

Remember, John Furlong's last job before being crowned as VANOC chief was as manager of the Arbutus Club. From Head waiter to Head Honcho of the Olympics.

As usual, BC has a competence problem.

Hysterical Comment Crashing Down on Us

Dateline 2010 - Location BC - 2010 Olympics cancelled because of unstable mountains on the 'Sea to Sky' highway route.

Highways Ministry spokesperson stated, "due to 5 years of continued blasting for new highway construction has rendered the 'Sea to Sky' highway unsafe for motor traffic."

VANOC spokesperson is quoted in saying, "VANOC is unable to refund Olympic tickets due to lack of funds."

IOC spokesperson is quoted as saying, "The IOC will sue the province of BC for the full cost of the 2010 fiasco and the 2 week moving of the event to Salt Lake City."

The provincial premier and highways minister are in seclusion in Hawaii.

CN Rail suing the BC provincial government for loss of the railway, a cost more than the original sale!

And the Olympic naysayers, "I told you so!"

An enquiry is scheduled to take place after the end of the Basi/Virk/CN Rail case is concluded, sometime in 2015.

Think the Opposite

What do you think when you see a headline that assures us that there will be "No tolls on contraversial highway, minister says?"

I'll tell you what I think.

Based entirely on past experience, I think that this is pretty much a gold solid guarantee that there will be tolls on the South Fraser Perimeter Road.

What Gulag are we in?

Vaughn Palmer continues today to put the wood to the Great ICBC Cover-Up.

Hiding behind transparently guffy legaleeeeze, the Liberal government refuses to inform the public
in any meaningful way about this disgraceful misuse of public monies.

ICBC and BC Ferries almost daily demonstrate the problem with basic or essential services being transformed int arms-length corporations.

On these matters, Premier Campbell has no legs on which to stand.

Good Luck 2010

This foto taken from The Province website is (add adjective here)...horrifying, amazing, chilling, scary, prophetic...

You can watch the Global video here, and read the coverage here.

O.K. Sorry.

Last week, I wrote in this space about Vancouver City Councilor Tim Stevenson's recommendation to council that money be spent on attracting lesbian tourists.

I criticized Stevenson for what I felt was a frivolous motion and for an idea I felt was best discussed with Tourism Vancouver.

Tim Stevenson phoned yesterday and gave me the background of this story, including the fact that this was, indeed, an initiative of Tourism Vancouver. The agency had already spent about $100,000 marketing to gay travelers, but had not spent any money targeting lesbian tourists in particular. It also had no more money in this year's budget to do so, and thus needed a council motion to add $25,000 for this expenditure.

O.K. Fair enough.

I appreciate Tim's call and the info and I apologize for a hit that may have been uncalled for.

Cheers.

Coming to Festival Vancouver Next Week - Bill Charlap