Analysis of Alberta election

The Daily Twigg  Vol. 1 No. 42  Apr. 30, 2012

B.C. Politics Trendwatch
Alberta's confounding election result
holds big lessons for B.C.'s parties too

By John Twigg

With the benefit of hindsight and the analyses of others I think I can say now what really happened in that weird Alberta provincial election in which Premier Alison Redford and the Progressive Conservatives confounded the pundits and pollsters by winning another large majority while the upstart Wildrose Alliance Party snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

It may be a bit late to be doing such analysis (the election was on April 23) but it's still important because some key aspects could well be repeated and/or avoided by several parties and players in British Columbia's general election scheduled for May 14, 2013 - and anyway lots of other media and pundits are still discussing the matter too.

In short, WRAP leader Danielle Smith blew it because in her inexperience she let herself become infected by the arrogance of Premier Stephen Harper and his majority Conservative government, many of whose members were openly backing WRAP candidates following Harper's unusual move to remove his ban on federal Tories engaging in provincial politics, which he did partly because so many of his Alberta colleagues wanted to support WRAP's hard-c conservative platform and partly because in the B.C. byelections on April 19 Harper and his colleagues realized or decided that the best or only way to stop a future New Democratic Party government was to support the coalition called B.C. Liberal Party and not support the upstart hard-c conservative party called B.C. Conservative Party.

Got all that? The party names may change from province to province but the ideological songs remain the same: paramount!

Many analysts with vested interests have been quick to conclude that the Alberta election turned on a dime due mainly to their own issues, so the environmental activists claim the key issue was Smith's arrogant complete denial of global warming and other related issues including her party leaflets sneering at "environmental extremists".

Similarly, gay activists claimed the key issue was the late-in-campaign revelations that a WRAP candidate who was also a pastor had claimed in a posted sermon that homosexuals would be punished by eternal torment in the lake of fire, which Smith vainly tried to defend as his right to say as a pastor even though politically it is stupid and scripturally it is wrong. (The punishment stated in the Bible in Rev. 21:8 is not eternal torment but is a so-called second death in a lake of fire and that is the same merciful quick death that billions of other non-homosexual sinners including false preachers will get, as opposed to qualifying for eternal life. There is some eternal torment mentioned in Revelation 14 but it will apply only to those humans who choose to worship a yet-to-be-seen beast power who will rise up in rebellion against God.)

But even those two hot-button issues were not the only main factors in WRAP's defeat, and Smith herself also cited poorly-explained plans for a provincial police force, a provincial pension plan, conscience rights and approaches to oil industry pollution. Plus there were other issues too such as fiddling with Medicare and planning to scrap the Human Rights Commission that contributed to an apparent turnaround by voters in the last few days of the campaign.

So how did Wildrose build up such a large lead in early opinion polls and then apparently squander it all in the latter days? Well after 11 consecutive majority governments for the Progressive Conservatives and their choice of a very moderate new leader (who happened to be a woman) there was understandably some desire for regime change, especially because there were questions about some mismanaged issues - and then out of the south there came a new reform movement (all puns intended!) espousing a form of populist conservatism that felt and sounded a lot like the Harper Conservatives' mantras and though the party had only a handful of candidates with elected experience they had several skilled backroom advisers and a photogenic leader who looked and sounded more than a bit like American Sarah Palin (though as journalist Andrew Nikiforuk pointed out Smith was only a pale imitation and showed none of Palin's willingness to challenge authorities such as Palin did in sometimes fighting the oil industry in Alaska).

The media soon got a hold of the story and suddenly a juggernaut was born: out of nowhere an upstart party was going to win a large majority - if the polls were to be believed, and why not when dozens of different polls all found more or less the same thing. But apparently almost everyone overlooked the fact found afterwards by Angus Reid pollsters that an amazing 39% of voters decided their choices in the last three days.

Though Wildrose started strongly, once the campaign reached the stage of all-candidates and leaders debates the wheels began getting wobbly under WRAP's cart and by voting day they had simply fallen off; their momentum was gone.

Reports suggest the beginning of the decline was Smith's failure to more firmly deal with the clearly anti-homosexual candidate; to her credit (in the eyes of some pundits such as Andrew Coyne and Michael Den Tandt) she did defend the right of free speech for theologians but to her debit she failed to convince Albertans that under her leadership there would be zero tolerance of discrimination or abuse of human rights. Then that controversy was quickly followed by one in which a WRAP candidate claimed he had an advantage because he was a white guy running against visible minorities, which she also mishandled by treating too lightly, mainly dismissing it as a mis-speak by a rookie politician.

The turning point though appeared to be the main leaders debate on the evening of Thursday April 19 before a live audience in the CBC's Edmonton studios - which is about as left-leaning as one can get in Alberta and sure enough featured a mob booing and almost wanting to lynch Smith because she dared to doubt the supposed science of global warming though she did advocate measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which NDP leader Brian Mason ridiculed with outrage while the urban audience cheered.

It didn't help that in the final days of the campaign Smith seemed to tour aimlessly by bus in a bubble through Conservative strongholds while the national media, especially the Toronto Globe and Mail, threw numerous smears at her, such as on April 21 with columnists Margaret Wente citing "a party full of bigots and climate-change deniers" and Jeffrey Simpson warning of plans "to build 'firewalls' around the province" - i.e. threats to cut off equalization payments.

Other notable media slams included a Den Tandt column on April 19 headlined "Wildrose win wouldn't be as scary as some say" and Simpson on April 20 headlined "Nothing's rosy for climate if Wildrose wins".

Also notable in retrospect was the Globe's edition of Saturday April 14 which featured a nasty profile of Smith topped by an unflattering photo and accompanied by brief profiles of some candidates including one of journalist Link Byfield that unfairly smeared him as anti-Semitic.

So now we can more clearly see that what happened in the Alberta election was this: an upstart conservative movement developed an overly-simplistic platform that appealed to lots of people but once the mainstream media exposed the flaws in it a large proportion of voters went to the more moderate incumbent in order to stop them.

In the end the Progressive Conservatives won 61 seats with 44% of the votes, Wildrose won only 17 seats with 34%, the Liberals 5 seats with about 10% and the New Democrats 4 seats (up two to regain official party status) with 10%.

That was a big turnaround from early in the campaign when several pollsters had Wildrose at about 45% and the PCs at only 31%, though that apparently ignored a reality that there was a very large undecided and that campaign tactics could still swing many voters.

The turnout was up sharply to 57% too, the highest since 1993, which further suggests that many Alberta voters were stampeded into stopping Wildrose, which is especially reflected in the realtive weakness of the Liberal and NDP results.

It should also be noted that PC leader Alison Redford is a very red Tory, a politically-correct lawyer who won the party leadership with the assistance of flocks of teachers who joined simply to support her bid. Though she was criticized for being too liberal, that proved to be her greatest strength.

So while some headlines referred to Redford extending a 41-year dynasty, really it was a regime change inside the province's natural governing party, or Alberta's version of a free-enterprise coalition. And though Redford denied her win was due to strategic voting, that is exactly what happened: hordes of moderate people voted for a moderate regime called Progressive Conservative in order to thwart a radical conservative party.

Implications for B.C. politics

The implications of that result for B.C. politics could be huge, especially warning that the B.C. Conservative Party led by John Cummins will not have any success unless and until it too turns "red Tory" and eschews the Bible-thumping fundamentalism of some of its progenitors. It certainly is valid for its supporters to personally hold theologically-based principles but trying to use politics to impose them on society as a whole is simply a no-go non-starter, which also was somewhat reflected in the recent byelections.

But there's also a big lesson for B.C. Premier Christy Clark and her B.C. Liberal Party, namely that trying to masquerade as more conservative than the Conservatives is futile and really her and their best chance lies in the middle, building a big tent that will appeal to moderates of both left and right. That is what Redford did and look what it produced!

So Clark needs to do more like her first act in office: raise the minimum wage after a ridiculous, crazy and unconscionable 10-year freeze by her predecessor, and less pandering to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his big-oil politics.

As for B.C.'s New Democrats, there should be lessons too, including that campaign tactics are still critical, and that having a moderate platform attractive to a broad range of voters is essential to avoiding a stop-them stampede by voters. And that they should be prepared to quickly counter smears from the mainstream media, especially out-of-province ones.

"We were focused on delivering a positive constructive plan that made sense to the people of Alberta to build our future,” Redford said on election night, and that's something all parties should emulate.

And let there be lessons for the pollsters too, some of whom seemed to get caught up in a game of being first to accurately predict an outlandish result, and some of whom went too far in predicting what the numbers would produce. Remember the surveys measure "if an election was held today" not in the election still several weeks away.

It is all too easy and tempting to make rash predictions, such as I did with a hope that the Canucks would win round one in five games, but when pollsters are dealing with the public interest they should be more cautious and circumspect, and not forget to report the undecided numbers too.

Finally, let's not overlook the impact of new media such as Twitter and Facebook, which are making the dissemination of information ever more rapid and wider. Even though many voters are still not involved in social media, those who are tend to be opinion leaders and they need to be cultivated like a special crop.
 

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/04/27/redfords-debt-to-albertas-left

http://ezralevant.com/2012/04/the-undertaker-alberta-premier.html

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/gary_mason/bcs-christy-clark-the-political-chameleon/article2416691/

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/so-happy-yet-so-restless-in-alberta/article2406959/?utm_medium=Feeds:%20RSS/Atom&utm_source=Opinions&utm_content=2406959

http://www.angus-reid.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/2012.04.27_Election_AB.pdf

http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2012/04/25/Reading-Albertas-Election/?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=250412

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/taking-a-lesson-from-alberta-clark-edges-back-to-the-centre/article2413225/

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/04/19/wildrose-leader-booed-during-alberta-leaders-debate-for-doubting-climate-change-science/

http://politicsrespun.org/2012/04/deconstructing-the-wildrose-effect/

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/wildrose-party-set-for-sweeping-majority-latest-poll-shows/article2410297/

B.C. climate plan a corrupt boondoggle

The Daily Twigg  Vol. 1 No. 41  April 21, 2012

Campbell's political climate initiative decaying
as media scrutiny reveals a corrupt boondoggle

By John Twigg

The large block of text below is a complete copy of an article I wrote in early March for the Commonsense Canadian website on the then-new provincial budget's treatment of B.C.'s gas tax, the now-controversial Pacific Carbon Trust and the overall Western Climate Initiative.

The article is still on the Commonsense website but it is difficult to find, possibly due in part to one reader who took it to be an unwarranted attack on the sacrosanct carbon tax and therefore a de facto denial of global warming, when really it was an early and realistic look at how a flawed tax and flawed cap-and-trade system was imposed on the province and its consumers and polluters by a politician (former Premier Gordon Campbell) who was desperately pandering for votes in the run-up to the 2009 provincial general election.

It is being republished here and now in response to an excellent in-depth analysis of the flaws in the Pacific Carbon Trust by Gordon Hoekstra in today's Vancouver Sun, which can be viewed here: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/todays-paper/Carbon+credibility/6497264/story.html .

It is interesting to note that Hoekstra's article includes a passage in which Simon Fraser University economist Mark Jaccard says part of the PCT system is bogus, which is the same word that Independent MLA Bob Simpson used in my earlier article below - but Jaccard's initial reaction to my article was virulently negative, apparently because my article supposedly wrongly denies that global warming is an urgent crisis and Jaccard is a member of the renowned (or others say infamous) International Panel on Climate Change which believes the Earth is rapidly passing a tipping point to disaster and only drastic action will save the world from a climatic climactic cataclysm.

Well for the record I believe that reasonable actions should be taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to reduce societal and economic dependencies on non-renewable and polluting carbon-based fuels but I do not believe those actions need to be done in a panic and at great cost, merely in a practical manner commensurate with other threats to society (like reducing salt use in fast-food restaurants, reducing germs in hospitals etc.).

I also believe in climate variability more than in global warming, because there also is mounting evidence that global warming is slowing down (the polar bears are thriving, not dying) and it still could prove to be merely a cyclical blip, and even if warming does persist it could still be addressed in the next 50 to 100 years (e.g. by building dykes in the Fraser Delta), not to mention that many aspects of global warming would be positive too (e.g. boosting food production and lowering heating costs in northern regions).

Another problem is that the human contribution to the causes of global warming has been greatly over-exaggerated by some players with vested interests, and they have tended to try to bully rival scientists and contrarian opinionists into silence.

For example, do you know what percentage of the atmosphere is now composed of CO2? Few people do: it's about 0.0387% or 387 parts per million, which is up about 2 ppm in the last decade and up about 100 ppm since the industrial revolution but is still miniscule. And how much of that is due to natural contributions of carbon into the atmosphere (e.g. volcanoes and swamps)? About 97%, leaving only 3% of that 0.038% as human-caused or "anthropogenic global warming" - according to the latest summary on Wikipedia (which ratio is in approximate accord with other sources but is still being studied and so could be subject to change).

Yes many scientists will argue that any extra is too much and that the proportions in the atmosphere are fragile, and maybe so, but common sense argues that miniscule changes should not be considered a crisis especially when there also are benefits, so that is why some deniers call proponents "alarmists". Not to mention that economic and social dysfunctions leading to a Bible-prophesied nuclear war is a much larger and more urgent threat to the survival of mankind than the climate variability is, or at least should be considered so.

Indeed if one studies Bible prophecies diligently one will discern that unfulfilled prophecies are coming true so rapidly now that that is the issue that really should be at the top of the agenda for the United Nations [e.g. the entry of Germany directly into Syrian civil unrest is a harbinger of a war between the King of the South (Iran) and the King of the North (Europe led by Germany) described in Daniel 11:40] but instead of trying to deal with that what the world has been duped into fixating on is a false crisis about the climate for which little can be done anyway.

And please don't get me wrong: I support carbon-replacement and pollution-reduction strategies, provided they're sensible and doable and are cost-effective (e.g. scrubbing carbon out of coal-fired generating plant emissions and out of natural gas processing plant emissions), but such remediations need to be seen in a broader and more realistic perspective.

Sun article skewers B.C.'s waning climate program

To bring the matter closer to home, the Hoekstra article is a superb and well-deserved skewering of Campbell's politically-driven climate initiative which now reportedly has stalled due to economic concerns and the "waning political will on the part of new B.C. Premier Christy Clark." Not to mention that most other provinces and states have since withdrawn from the Western Climate Initiative.

To put it in a nutshell, Campbell unilaterally bullied into place a cap-and-trade system that was not sufficiently accountable or transparent, that provided millions of dollars to large corporations that tended to also be large donors to the B.C. Liberal Party and for projects that should not have been eligible for subsidies because they were being planned before the Pacific Carbon Trust was announced, which Simpson told Hoekstra was "a shell game" and which Simpson told me was benefiting mainly partisan donors, and which I say were also benefiting his political friends and insiders. 

But it was and still is even worse than that because at the same time Campbell's system was actually taxing hospitals and school districts for their carbon emissions, which means he was deliberately underfunding school classrooms and denying (or reducing by rationing) health care for people in order to generate money that could be given to his corporate backers. Another example of how he has blood on his hands.

And worst of all was how he cooked up all of that as part of a strategy to fraudulently win the provincial election in 2009, which also featured him illegitimately and probably knowingly misrepresenting the condition of the province's finances before and during the election campaign (e.g. see Auditor General's criticism of deferral accounts hidden inside B.C. Hydro).

Hoekstra apparently has a series of articles coming and it will be fascinating to see what else he reveals. Perhaps he will address the many flaws in the carbon tax that B.C. Conservative Party leader John Cummins says would be the first thing removed if he became Premier (the whole tax, not only the flaws).

Yes there could and arguably should be some taxes on carbon-based fuels in order to encourage consumers and businesses to switch to better fuels, but the plan Campbell forced upon the province was mainly penalties on people and businesses who had no viable alternatives and thus was a crude tax grab masquerading as a leading-edge social good.

When looked at that way it was a really disgusting initiative and that is one more good reason why 70% of voters in the two recent byelections voted against the Campbell-Clark regime.

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Review of B.C.'s Dysfunctional Carbon Tax Aims for Repairs in 2013 Pre-election Budget

From the Commonsense Canadian Written by John Twigg Friday, 02 March 2012 10:30

British Columbia's controversial and widely misunderstood carbon tax will soon be subjected to a comprehensive review with the results likely to be revealed in next year's budget, just in time for the tax to become another pre-election political football to be kicked around by voters and political parties in the run-up to the May 14, 2013 voting day.
B.C. Finance Minister Kevin Falcon announced the move in his 2012-13 budget speech, and a few more details were provided in budget documents, but there are still no details on who will do the review and only a few bits are known about how and when, namely that citizens will have the opportunity to make written submissions to the Minister of Finance and that "changes will be considered as part of the 2013 Budget process" (which usually begins in earnest in the Fall and leads to formal announcements in the February budget). Further details of the review were to be posted on the Ministry's website: http://www.gov.bc.ca/ca/fin/.

Though that move is thus open to many partisan political manipulations, such as the B.C. Liberal Party potentially trying to use it to portray the B.C. New Democrats as anti-job if they oppose any changes, Falcon made it clear that there also are numerous practical considerations about the carbon tax that need to be reviewed, notably providing some early relief to the export-oriented agriculture and greenhouse industries but possibly including other areas related to air emissions and climate change such as the Pacific Carbon Trust, a Crown corporation seen by many as dysfunctional because it taxes hospitals and schools among other flaws.

The carbon tax is now applied to fossil fuels and other combustibles based on their equivalent carbon dioxide emissions and generates roughly $1 billion a year which is applied to a variety of tax expenditures to make it ostensibly revenue neutral to government. It began on July 1, 2008 at $10 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) - i.e. less than a year before the 2009 provincial election that also featured the HST fiasco - and grew by $5 annual increments but will now be capped when it reaches $30 per tonne on July 1, 2012 or about 6.7 cents per litre of gasoline.

"The review will cover all aspects of the carbon tax, including revenue neutrality," said a discussion paper in the budget documents, which is a reference to the revenues being dedicated to pay for a 5% cut in personal income taxes ($218 million in 2011-12), the low-income climate action tax credit ($188 million), a corporate income tax cut ($381 million), a small business tax cut ($220 million) and several other boutique-type tax cuts and credits needing to be pulled in as the revenues rise (e.g. this year the new childrens' arts and sports tax credits and the Seniors' Home Renovation Tax Credit were added).

Curiously the carbon tax expenditures of $1.15 billion in 2011/12 exceeded the revenues of $960 million by $192 million but in years ahead the revenues are expected to grow and exceed the expenditures so new subsidies from the carbon tax are being targeted to science and film incentives to maintain an increasingly-farcical revenue-neutral balance, as Independent MLA Bob Simpson (Cariboo North) pointed out in an interview.

Falcon gave assurances that the government will still "continue moving forward with other components of our Climate Action Plan" such as the LiveSmart home retrofits program, tax incentives for buyers of "clean" or electric cars, and subsidies to help convert heavy-duty vehicle fleets to natural gas, all of which appear to be healthy on-going programs.

However that list of surviving initiatives strangely omitted mention of the government's also-controversial Pacific Carbon Trust corporation which separately runs a carbon offsets program that public-sector entities are required to participate in and which is seen by Simpson and many other observers as a costly misuse and waste of taxpayer dollars (e.g. taxing school districts and hospitals that are already in financial distress).

"We remain committed to addressing climate change. However, four years in, the revenue-neutral B.C. Carbon Tax remains the only one of its kind in North America," Falcon said in the Budget speech, noting that the rate increase on July 1 is the last one scheduled which makes now "a good time to pause and examine how the carbon tax is affecting our economic competitiveness." The budget tax measures legislation includes an amendment to clarify that the carbon tax will continue beyond June 30, 2013 but will be capped at $30 per tonne.

In the budget lockup and subsequent media appearances Falcon reiterated his pride in the government's leadership on the carbon tax and noted that putting a price on carbon is necessary if you want to address climate change but since no other provinces have followed and the Obama administration has backed off it has become necessary to review B.C.'s plans and probably make some changes, possibly including to the Pacific Carbon Trust.

"Keeping parts of the Pacific Carbon Trust would reinforce our role as leaders on the environment front and I don't want to give that up," Falcon said on Vaughn Palmer's Voice of B.C. show on Shaw TV (viewable online), suggesting changes could be rolled out "in coming months" - but also hinting that Falcon looks upon the whole policy area as a battleground in partisan politics too.

That also hints that a structural change could emerge too in which the carbon tax revenues would be redirected towards Pacific Carbon Trust activities, perhaps replacing the monies now paid in by school districts, health authorities and local governments - even becoming a subsidy for urban transit as Metro Vancouver officials have been recently seeking.

Falcon seemed to avoid such ideas and instead repeatedly focused on the carbon tax impacts on agriculture in general and on greenhouses in particular, noting they will be hit hard when the Harmonized Sales Tax is removed and replaced by the Provincial Sales Tax on April 1 next year so removing the carbon tax would help them survive and remain competitive in export markets, a promise welcomed by Independent MLA Vicki Huntington of Delta South in recent remarks in the Legislature.

Meanwhile Agriculture Minister Don McRae said the government has been working closely with greenhouse operators to create an environment that supports growth and in the weeks ahead will work to that end to provide carbon tax relief.

That precedent of reforming what some have seen as an untouchable sacred cow could help start a number of other carbon and climate policy reforms, many of which will be welcomed by critics such as MLA Simpson and B.C. Conservative Party leader John Cummins and some of which will be regretted by environmental activists, with the B.C. New Democrats so far remaining more or less silent, probably because they suffered in the 2009 election from having a confused policy on the carbon tax.

Cummins stands out by stating that the carbon tax will be the first tax eliminated by a B.C. Conservative government, when he spoke to a post-budget lunch meeting of the Surrey Board of Trade, apparently believing that such a tax cut would create jobs, but his only suggestion so far for replacing the tax revenue has been spending cuts by government, which is nonsensical if one looks at the size of government as a proportion of GDP as was done recently on the Tyee website by pundit Will McMartin, revealing that the Campbell regime has already cut government to the bone.

Nonetheless there is a widespread view especially among fiscal and political conservatives that the carbon tax and its related programs such as the Pacific Carbon Trust have become a confusing mish-mash of contradictory and perverse concepts that kill commerce and services and fail to achieve their supposed goal of combatting global warming or climate change.

When you go online to research the B.C. government's climate program you find a blinding montage of pretty photos and padded rosters and not many details or numbers until maybe the end of a document if at all. And as Simpson in particular complains, the Pacific Carbon Trust is not open to legislature or public purview even though it is a Crown corporation, the Legislature is exempt and some entities are taxed twice, such as health authorities paying both carbon tax and emissions charges.

That suggests part of the reasons for Falcon's somewhat unexpected foray into carbon tax and climate policy is to do some political damage control, to make some changes that will mollify such criticisms before they become a political albatross for the Liberals in the 2013 election campaign.

In fact there are still quite a few good things happening in this policy area too, such as energy retrofits of public-sector buildings and private homes, and projects such as the Carbon Offset Aggregation Co-operative of Prince George which on Feb. 24 received $2 million from Environment Minister Terry Lake to help heavy equipment operators and trucking companies retrofit their vehicles' engines to lower their carbon emissions (though social program advocates could argue that that money would have been better spent on something like addressing child poverty or on home care to help keep seniors out of more costly institutions).

But what you also find, as Simpson pointed out in an interview, is that beneficiaries of such energy-efficiency handouts have an amazingly high rate of also being donors to the B.C. Liberal Party, which ratio he estimated at 95%, and that some of the projects being subsidized might have been done anyway and so should not be considered as incremental for climate purposes.

Simpson interestingly has become such an expert in the whole area that he was singled out for praise by Falcon on the Shaw cable show but that didn't stop Simpson from calling the Liberals' various climate programs "bizarre" and "goofy" and "confusing" and "unfair" and even "totally bogus".

That latter epithet was regarding the government's initial decision and continuing policy to apply the carbon tax to consumers and public-sector entities but to exempt carbon-intensive industries such as cement plants and natural gas scrubbers, the latter venting methane into the atmosphere comprising about 20% of the province's total emissions but none of which are subject to a climate tax, and about half of that is now coming from fracked shale gas. Another large source of emissions not being taxed is landfills (i.e. garbage dumps).

B.C. Green Party leader Jane Sterk also drew a connection between climate policy and party politics, surmising that if the government does choose to appoint an outside committee to review the carbon tax (as it has done in other policy areas such as tax reform) then most of the members will be donors to the B.C. Liberals and oriented towards business and industry.

Sterk also shares some skepticism about what the government wants out of the process and what will be done versus what should be done, whether it is to redesign a better carbon tax (which could be done without a review) or merely tweak the system to make it better understood and more acceptable.

"I expect the review will recommend scrapping the tax because other jurisdictions have not followed suit and to rely instead on joining the group of jurisdictions committed to cap and trade," she said, or it could reduce the tax by half to reflect the reality of it being uncompetitive but still demonstrate some commitment to climate change.

She also predicted the carbon tax will be a key issue in the next election campaign, with the Liberals possibly promising to eliminate the tax if re-elected but also trying to trap the New Democrats similar to what happened in 2009 when the NDP wanted to "axe the tax" but have since swung around to supporting it. However the New Democrats have been silent on the issue of late and did not respond to requests for a comment for this article.

Sterk believes the carbon tax was poorly designed and has become regressive for low-income people and she says the Pacific Carbon Trust needs to be improved but she still wants to retain the carbon tax, hike it to $50 a tonne and keep raising it, and apply it to large emitters while directing some proceeds to transit, rail, biking and pedestrians.

"Our policy on the carbon tax needs to be seen in terms of our overall policy which is to move to regionally self-sufficient and resilient economies," she said, linking climate change to food security, job creation, health and social and community well-being.

Sierra Club BC executive director George Heyman said the government’s announcement of the carbon tax review sends the wrong signal at a critical time when scientists say we need immediate action to slow global warming.

“Real climate leadership requires long-term commitment, not a one-time gesture,” said Heyman, surmising that the government is definitely looking for a way to get out of the carbon tax either fully or partially.
“This is a government that, at one point, showed leadership on pricing carbon. What they’re saying now is: `We expected everyone to follow us and they didn’t so we’re going to back out of it.’”

Heyman said there should be a systematic expansion of carbon tax coverage to all B.C. sources of carbon emissions but B.C.'s natural gas strategy alone will make it all but impossible to meet the province's legislated carbon reduction targets, and that the Liberals are not prepared to be honest about the need to develop a low-carbon economy that can assure sustainable, jobs-intensive employment for future generations.

Simpson also believes the government should put a tax on industrial process emissions and with no cap-and-trade on the horizon that the proceeds should go first to Pacific Carbon Trust and then to general revenues, with changes made to PCT, which now gets most of its revenues from the public sector even though it produces less than one per cent of total emissions.

He said the government's clawback of money given to public agencies such as school and hospital boards is a complete distortion of tax policy and a wrong thing to do when those agencies do not have taxing powers, and that is further distorted because those entities have to pay $25 a tonne for offsets when their market value is only about $4 a tonne.

He noted there are numerous unfair aspects in the system, such as the school districts getting rebates when others don't, and the health authorities being double-taxed with the carbon tax on the fuels they use and a $25 per tonne charge on emissions.

"To me the issue is we have a finance minister who has never been enamored of the carbon tax ... and now is saying enough is enough," said Simpson, explaining that the Liberal caucus was caught unawares when former premier Gordon Campbell suddenly "got religion" on the need for a carbon tax to address climate change and though the original intent in 2008 was to change behaviours there has been little evidence of that and meanwhile many people in rural areas complain they are being taxed on things they have no choice about.

Simpson said the Liberal government now seems to be after three things, an end to the revenue-neutral nonsense and an easier way to find valid projects to invest in, an end to further increments in the tax, and some relief for sectors being damaged such as agriculture and possibly log truckers.

A roster of the public agencies and what they're emitting and paying to invest in offsets shows a total of about 800,000 tonnes and offsets worth $18.2 million. It can be viewed in the appendix at:

• http://www.livesmartbc.ca/government/carbon_neutral/index.html
• http://www.livesmartbc.ca/attachments/carbon_neutral_action_reports/CarbonNeutralBC-transformingBCpublicsector.pdf

In any case the carbon tax review could and probably should be seen as an opportunity to make some changes that are progressive and constructive, which is the gist of an op-ed article published Feb. 28 in the Vancouver Sun by Ian Bruce of the David Suzuki Foundation, Matt Horne of the Pembina Institute and Merran Smith of Tides Canada.

After citing international examples of how carbon taxes have stimulated green industries and prosperous economies, they conclude that B.C. also could have a win-win solution for the environment and the economy.

"Communities could see new investment and jobs, a balanced transportation system, reduced traffic congestion, cleaner air, more green spaces, energy savings, and, best of all, a better quality of life. But only if we demand it," they wrote, urging people to participate in the review proces
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The following two items are unedited news releases from the stated sources:

PRINCE GEORGE - Environment Minister Terry Lake announced $2 million in funding for the Prince George-based Carbon Offset Aggregation Cooperative (COAC).

This first-of-a-kind program helps heavy equipment operators and trucking companies to lower their carbon emissions.

COAC is a marketing cooperative that provides a framework for owners of heavy equipment and trucks to reduce operating costs and create, aggregate and sell carbon offsets that are produced through a reduction in diesel consumption.

The funding is essential seed money that will help COAC provide more members with low-interest loans to retrofit their heavy duty diesel trucks and equipment to increase fuel efficiency, save money and reduce carbon emissions. Currently, 33 units (trucks and equipment) have been retrofitted. Installation has been completed on the first truck fleet of six units and COAC expects to install another 24 in the near future.

This funding is expected to provide financing to retrofit 100 units per month, resulting in emission reductions of approximately 13,400 tonnes over the first three years. With every 1,000 litres of diesel saved, approximately three tonnes of carbon dioxide will be diverted from the atmosphere. One truck operating for 250 days a year can use up to 300 litres per day and will emit approximately 200 tonnes of carbon annually.

The cooperative provides financing to member businesses for modifications of existing vehicles and machinery that use fossil fuels (diesel). Operators will also receive driver-awareness training that will lead to even more energy efficiencies and GHG reductions that will save them money.
To learn about the first company to participate in the COAC program, visit: http://www.bcjobsplan.ca/ourprogress/b-c-heavy-equipment-company-goes-green/
These reductions in fuel consumption and GHGs emitted will produce carbon offsets, which are then aggregated and sold, transferred or traded by COAC. The proceeds of the sales are returned to the member as a dividend. The offsets are sold as made-in-B.C. greenhouse gas offsets.

This is part of a suite of B.C. Clean Transportation programs and follows on the heels of the Clean Energy Vehicle Program and BC SCRAP-IT funding, which the Province announced in November 2011.

Quotes:

Terry Lake, Minister of Environment:

This co-op demonstrates that being environmentally responsible can save companies money. It also shows how our Climate Action Plan benefits rural communities by helping business owners save money, reduce emissions and participate in a program that benefits B.C. families and helps create jobs.

Shirley Bond, MLA Prince George-Valemount:

This made-in-the-North program will reduce emissions and help heavy-duty vehicle operators increase their fuel efficiency. Congratulations to everyone who worked so hard to create this unique program.

Pat Bell, MLA Prince George-Mackenzie:

COAC is showing some real innovation with this program, and it shows how British Columbia is a leader in developing innovative solutions to lower GHG emissions.

Mary Anne Arcand, COAC chair:

This kind of support from government sends a clear signal that it is serious about addressing climate change, and supportive of industry's initiative to be innovative and engaged at the ground level.

COAC member representative Doug Pugh:

Having the funding to help smaller operators like me get on the program makes it possible for everybody to do their part in reducing fuel consumption and emissions.

Quick Facts:

• COAC currently represents 25 member companies provincewide.
• Collectively, the companies consume more than 58-million litres of diesel annually.
• The program helps business owners overcome the technological and financial barriers to making carbon-reduction changes to their operations.
• The purpose is to provide a fuel-efficiency and carbon-reduction program for owners of heavy equipment and long- and short-haul trucks to reduce operating costs, aggregate and transfer, trade or sell carbon offsets.
• COAC expects the average savings from these measures to range from 10 to 15 per cent annually.

Learn More:

BC Newsroom - Ministry of Environment: http://www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca/ministries/environment-1/

Carbon Offset Aggregation Cooperative (COAC): www.carbonoffsetcooperative.org

Contact:

Suntanu Dalal
Communications Officer
Ministry of Environment
250 387-9745

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Heyman sees budget as threat to water:
Eliminating regulations for B.C.’s expanding mining projects will jeopardize water and wildlife and lead to increased community concern and conflict, Sierra Club BC Executive Director George Heyman warned today following the B.C. budget.

“British Columbians are increasingly concerned about secure access to clean water, but this budget fast-tracks mining projects while cutting regulatory provisions that clearly exist to protect the public interest,” said Heyman. “There is no vision here for a sustainable economy that protects our environmental assets; instead we have more raw resource extraction with reduced public interest protection.”

Government’s public affairs bureau budget – at $26 million – is now three times as big as the budget for B.C.’s environmental assessment office, which has been frozen at $8.75 million despite a significant leap in proposed mining and energy projects.

“There appears to be plenty of money for the government to spin its message, but no increased funding for environmental assessment.  New mine proposals around the province, and the environmentally questionable practice of natural gas fracking, cry out for strong measures that guarantee public and community health,” said Heyman.

“The government will spend $24 million in reducing the turnaround time for mineral exploration permits, but not a penny more to ensure robust environmental assessment capacity,” Heyman said. “With the Fish Lake debacle, we saw B.C.’s environmental assessment process green-light a mine that was later scathingly rejected by the federal environment minister. And now the B.C. government wants to make it even easier for mining companies to engage in controversial road-building and drilling that will only lead to community conflict and economic uncertainty around the province.”

Ramifications of NDP byelection wins

The Daily Twigg  Vol. 1 No. 40  April 20, 2012

B.C. Politics Trendwatch

NDP's strong campaign wins both byelections,
Liberals relieved to be ahead of Conservatives

By John Twigg

The results of the two B.C. byelections are now widely known but the debate about what they mean will go on for months and possibly all the way to the next provincial election in May next year.

The B.C. New Democrats' wins in both Port Moody and Chilliwack were breakthroughs notable in their own right but perhaps more significant to the long-term political trends in the province was the contest between the B.C. Liberal Party and B.C. Conservative Party, which some have tried to portray as merely a "split" of the so-called free-enterprise vote but which really is something a lot more complex than that.

To get right to it, the Liberals finished a clear second in both constituencies, with about 30 per cent of the votes in a mere 40% turnout of voters, which is a bit better than what they had been getting in recent opinion polls, and quite a bit better than the 15% the Conservatives got in Port Moody and the 25% they got in Chilliwack.

Calls to oust Clark may ease

That should be enough to quieten some calls for the immediate ouster of Liberal Premier Christy Clark but to keep her job until the new year she probably will have to engineer a party name change in the fall and implement a major policy reform package in the February budget aimed at assuaging the thousands of Liberal supporters who for various reasons have defected to the New Democrats and Conservatives.

B.C. Conservative Party leader John Cummins claimed to be "quite pleased" with the results, about 25% in Chilliwack and 15% in Port Moody, given that the party's campaign team was starting from scratch, got outspent five-to-one and didn't have enough volunteers to get its vote out, and he pledged to be more competitive and ready in the provincial election. He also noted that the votes confirmed poll findings that his party is a serious contender.

Clark and other Liberal apologists were quick to cite the Conservatives' vote-splitting but Cummins was having none of it and the vote results tend to support him: NDP candidate Joe Trasolini in Port Moody-Coquitlam pulled in a surprising 54% per cent, which means the popular ex-mayor would have won in a two-way race too, while in Chilliwack the NDP's hard-working Gwen O'Mahony won with a solid 41% while Conservative John Martin scored a solid 25%, many of which were anti-Liberal protest votes, so if Mahony had been in a two-way race against a Liberal she probably would have still won.

Dix says positive campaign helped NDP

As NDP leader Adrian Dix noted in post-election comments, some 70% of voters sent a message against the Liberals in the byelections and he's looking forward to seeing that repeated in the next provincial election.

"We had the best candidate(s) and we ran a positive campaign and I think people responded to that," said Dix, perhaps downplaying the impact of his party sending many outside volunteers into the two campaigns and overlooking the reality that the main trend at work was the decaying of the Liberal support, some of which declined to vote, some of which went to the NDP and some of which went Conservative.

A good example of that was Conservative candidate Christine Clarke in Port Moody, who in the 2009 election was a volunteer worker for successful Liberal candidate Iain Black, who last year resigned as MLA to take a job with the Vancouver Board of Trade.

The New Democrats by contrast not only held onto to all of their support (roughly 35% in 2009) they also pulled all of it out to vote plus they pulled a few defectors from the Liberals plus they probably drew some former B.C. Green Party support too because that party chose to not run candidates, while the Cummins Conservatives have been taking in droves of Liberals fed up with Liberal shenanigans, notably Abbotsford South MLA John van Dongen who crossed the floor of the Legislature early in the campaign, which helped boost the Conservatives' profile and credibility.

Liberal support decays due to HST

So why is the Liberal vote decaying? Interestingly interviews with exiting voters by CKNW's Shane Woodford revealed that the hated Harmonized Sales Tax was still sparking a backlash, but more generally the protest votes seemed to be against the Liberals' perceived arrogance and corruption and mismanagement of too many major issues, such as the corrupted giveaway of B.C. Rail, deconstruction of the Agricultural Land Reserve and several questionable moves involving B.C. Hydro and other Crown agencies (not to mention that the Auditor General found that former premier Gordon Campbell had illegitimately cooked the province's financial books prior to the 2009 election campaign).

Though Clark as Premier has had more than a year to turn around such problems, the opinion polls and now the byelection results prove that she has so far failed to do so, and if her party had finished third in both byelections she probably would have been ousted by August, but now it seems she will be given a few more months to try to restore the so-called free-enterprise coalition that has governed B.C. for about 50 of the last 65 years. A major test will be a major fundraising dinner in June which is critical to the party's pre-election fundraising.

Clark statement cites vote-splitting

Clark watched the results from her Vancouver office then issued the following statement: "Voters know that by-elections are not about changing government. It’s never been clearer that only a unified free enterprise coalition can defeat the NDP. That’s why we are focused on strengthening our coalition so that in the next general election voters will have a clear choice between the free enterprise coalition and the NDP. A choice between higher income taxes, reckless government spending and runaway debt or our free enterprise coalition that is keeping taxes low, restraining government spending and keeping our economy growing with jobs for B.C. families."

Cummins however was having none of that: "The Liberals have their heads in the sand - people are walking away from them in droves. The Liberals say we are vote-splitting but we offer the best hope for the so-called free-enterprise vote," he said.

"We're on the way up and they're on the way down and I think that will continue . . . we expect to do well when more people understand what we're all about," he continued, dismissing any thought of a merger with "a discredited organization like the Liberals."

"The B.C. Conservative Party are a sort of brand without any policy - they are NOT the federal Conservative Party," said former Liberal communications official Mike Morton in an interview on CKNW, which further focused on the byelections' message that it showed the B.C. Conservatives also have a lot of work to do before they will be able to offer voters a viable alternative to the NDP, which under Dix is trying to appear as moderate and non-threatening as possible despite its sometimes radical policies and activists in its ranks (e.g, gender quotas for candidates, opposition to resource projects, etc.).

Fall sitting of Leg to be dropped?

One other notable impact of the byelections could be the cancellation of possible plans for a fall sitting of the legislature, because the defection of only four more MLAs would deprive the Clark Liberals of their majority.

The two byelection wins give the NDP 36 seats while there are 3 Independents (one being van Dongen) and now 46 Liberals, one of whom is Speaker. Thus if three Liberals defected the Speaker could have to vote to break a tie, and if four defected it wouldn't matter what the Speaker did, except maybe to advise the Lieutenant Governor to stay near a phone in case he was needed to trigger an election or - gasp! - give Dix a chance to govern instead!!

That probably won't happen but there is talk of several other Liberal MLAs considering defecting depending on the byelections and other matters and the way to thwart that is to simply not let the Legislature sit in the fall.

While a fall sitting is not a necessity nor even a tradition, it often has been used when governments want to introduce policy shifts for consideration by the public and special interest groups, which appears to fit Clark's plans for introducing a new policy direction prior to the next election.

So I was intrigued when Liberal MLA Ralph Sultan (West Vancouver - Capilano) tweeted after the Sun Run that he was looking forward to a six-week run of the Legislature (with one week off) and then "prorogation" - meaning the formal ending of the Session.  I sent him an email wondering whether he meant to say adjournment but he did not reply.

There is a bit of an anomaly insofar as the current sitting was not a new session but merely was a continuation of a session begun last fall as a sort of new policy direction by Clark, which is why there was no Throne Speech this year, and which could be why the sitting and the session will de facto end at the end of May (though technically the formal prorogation usually doesn't happen until the morning before a new one starts).

Another wild card in the deck is the possibility that the Legislature might have to be called back in August in order to force striking teachers back to work, and/or possibly to deal with other pending public-sector labour disputes.

Anyway, the byelection results gave the Dix New Democrats a boost, they gave Clark and the Liberals a warning and a bit of time to make repairs and reparations and they give the Cummins Conservatives a clear message that they need to work both harder and smarter if they're going to become a serious option in the next election.

So really there's no big deal, B.C.'s turbulent politics is merely unfolding as it should.

Bloy's smear of Dix was deliberate

The Daily Twigg  Vol. 1  No. 39   April 17, 2012 (updated Apr 18)

Bloy's blunder was a deliberate start
of a long-running campaign of smears

By John Twigg

I'm still officially on hiatus pending a restructuring of my newsletters, blogs and website, but I'd feel remiss for not putting out there my two-bits worth on the Harry Bloy story, because it is even worse than the mainstream media have implied.

Though the mainstream media portrayed Liberal MLA Harry Bloy's shocking smears of NDP leader Adrian Dix in the Legislature Monday as merely a personal blunder, there is lots of evidence to suggest it was the opening salvo in what will become an incessant bombardment of character assassinations against Dix in particular and possibly others too as the passing months approach next year's provincial election (on May 14, 2013).

Nonetheless Dix announced in the Legislature Tuesday (April 17) that he had received a personal apology from Bloy in a phone call and that he (Dix) had accepted it as genuine, apparently as part of his desire to raise the level of politics in the province and to stay away from personal attacks, which drew a fair amount of quick praise for Dix plus a few suggestions his real hope is to avoid future questions about his own past personal problems.

That's probably a naive hope on Dix's part because the systematic use of attack ads is now de rigeur in North American politics and his backdated-memo incident is still common fodder for pundits and bloggers, but it also was a lost opportunity for Dix and/or his NDP colleagues to expose some of the shenanigans behind such attacks because Bloy's outburst would have been an easy target for questions. 

In fact the unusual timing of Bloy's remarks - in the midst of a debate on smart meters early Monday morning - suggests it was deliberately chosen as a test for opinion pollsters prior to the intensely-watched byelections Thursday in Port Moody - Coquitlam and Chilliwack - Hope.

Who scripted Bloy's smear?

So the question is, who put Harry Bloy, the hapless MLA for Burnaby-Lougheed, up to such a drive-by smear?

We know pollsters for all three competing parties already have a very good idea of what voting intentions are now in both ridings, where the high interest is reflected in the record turnouts for advance polls, but now after Bloy's outburst the Liberal strategists will be able to see and hear and even quantify what effects Bloy's outburst had on voting behaviour, if any (e.g. causing some people to simply stay home, which may be one of the goals).

That means the lessons learned by Liberal strategists from the by-election campaigns in general and Bloy's impact in particular can and will be applied in the run-up to the provincial election, and judging from the federal Conservative Party's successful rebranding and smearing of successive leaders of the opposing federal Liberal Party we can expect similar things here in B.C. too.

That's especially so since we've seen in the two byelections how the B.C. Liberal Party has become merely a puppet of the Harper Conservatives, especially with former Conservative MP Chuck Strahl serving as campaign chair for Liberal candidate Laurie Throness in Chilliwack; that's partly because Throness was Strahl's ministerial aide for many years but also because the Harper Cons are openly supporting a strategic alliance with the B.C. Liberals in order to try to stop the godless and dangerous socialists from gaining power even though the rising B.C. Conservative Party is ideologically closer to them.

Such political cynicism is odious to a lot of people, including some few ethical liberals, but the people behind it don't care because for them it's only about preserving their own power and money interests, and keeping their spots at the head of the trough.

What evidence is there, you ask? Well if you watched the Hansard video of Bloy's shocking remarks you might notice him glancing down from time to time, which led me and at least one other journalist to wonder on Twitter whether he was reading from notes.

Video shows Bloy using notes

And when I reviewed the video it was evident that Bloy was reading from the left-hand page on his lectern when he was talking about smart meters and from the right-hand page when he was slagging Dix - which clearly suggests he had notes and thus was not merely going too far in the heat of debate.

You can watch and read a transcript of the incident on B.C. Legislature Hansard or for a video click here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/04/16/bc-harry-bloy-apology.html


Though NDP House Leader John Horgan on Bill Good's show Tuesday morning said it seemed as if the MLAs sitting around Bloy were shocked by his performance he (Horgan) still insisted it was a deliberate and with-intent smear, noting that Bloy knows parliamentary procedure better than most members because he was for many years a chair of committees.

"The only reason that Mr. Bloy stood in the legislature today was to smear Adrian Dix," Horgan told reporters, without having to remind them that statements made in the legislature are exempt from libel laws, and that news media enjoy a "qualified privilege" in being able to repeat them.

The scripting of Bloy seemed to continue in the hallway when he told reporters he had spoken in heated debate and withdrawn the remarks and that's all he was going to say, which was nonsense except that it was enough for him to avoid a lawsuit for libel.

“In the heat of debate, many things are said,” Bloy told reporters. “I stood up in the House and withdrew the remarks.” - which also sounded like a memorized line.

It should be noted too that Bloy is a long-serving MLA who was the only caucus member to support Christy Clark for Premier and once he did make it into her cabinet he soon proved so incompetent that he had to be removed from a senior ministry (Children and Families) to a junior one (Multiculturalism) and then from that one too, after which she announced that he would not be seeking re-election.

So Bloy was an ideal sort of sacrifice: his pensions are secure, he's not running again and his reputation for being dumb is so entrenched that most mainstream media could report his remarks without worrying whether they were deliberate and scripted by others.

Horgan deplores attacks on personalities

Horgan of course deplored the attack on personality instead of debating policy that the Liberals and some key supports do, notably Philip Hochstein and his Independent Contractors and Businesses Association, but Horgan predicted it will continue and soon could be extended to B.C. Conservative Party leader John Cummins too, especially if his party was to win one of the byelections.

Other evidence of some kind of pre-planned and ongoing strategy include some tweets posted by the B.C. Liberal caucus research, notably one that quoted a 1999 opinion piece from the Toronto Globe and Mail that was critical of the then-NDP government's finances, which I tweeted was rather old and out of context - until I saw the Bloy flameout!

And I'm not the only one who sees a conspiracy here because Georgia Straight editor Charlie Smith just opined much the same thing too, especially regarding how the federal Conservatives had successfully "framed" their opponents federally in the last two elections, and that Clark as Premier recently hired former aides to Prime Minister Stephen Harper "who has turned gutter politics and character assassination into a political art form."

Note too that while Bloy soon withdrew his remarks and later apologized for them too, that only gave the mainstream media new excuses to repeat the libels, the worst of which insinuated that Dix may have stolen the engagement ring he gave to his wife much like former NDP MP Svend Robinson had done for his gay partner  - as well as accusations that Dix had lied and stolen public money.

Though Clark as Premier said she did not agree with Bloy's comments, she also did not (so far) suggest he be further disciplined, such as by evicting him from the Liberal caucus as Horgan suggested would be appropriate.

“It’s a pattern of behaviour that the Premier is leading. As disappointing and tepid as Mr. Bloy’s apology was, I would hope the Premier would have something to say about this when she returns to the capital,” said Horgan.

That was probably a reference to Clark's behaviour when Bloy resigned from cabinet in March after leaking a document to a constituent, in which she said Bloy did the right thing but it was not as bad as what Dix had done when he was an aide in an NDP government: "He did not forge a memo in an effort to try and derail an RCMP criminal investigation,” said Clark.

More recently the B.C. Liberals have been using Dix's problem with a missing transit ticket in their by-election campaign leaflets: “NDP leader Adrian Dix tried to hide his fare evasion but the police caught him red-handed. If he can’t be trusted to pay for transit, how can you trust him with your vote?”
That also echoes the tenor of Clark's campaign in the Vancouver–Point Grey by-election last year, which was extremely negative against her NDP opponent, David Eby, and against the NDP in general, probably reflecting the influence of her senior campaign adviser Patrick Kinsella, who has been a fixture behind anti-NDP campaigns in B.C. all the way back to 1975.

It also may be related to the unusually extensive damage to campaign signs in Chilliwack, in which mainly Conservative signs were destroyed, reflecting Liberal anger at the Conservatives for daring to split the free-enterprise vote.

Anyway, you can now safely bet that a lot more negative attack adds will be running in B.C. in the lead-up to the provincial election.

A key point to watch for is whether the B.C. Liberals also will get access to the federal Conservatives' vaunted database on voters, which appears to have been used in the voter-suppression or robo-calling scandal that has emerged from the last federal election. That is a very powerful too which has proven to be vulnerable to abuses.

It's now common knowledge that Harper, Strahl, Throness and Preston Manning are all members of the Alliance church (see Andrew Nikiforuk on the Tyee website for details), and Christy Clark also has flaunted her High Anglican religiosity from time to time, so that raises this question: why are such pious-sounding politicians so prone to using political dirty tricks?

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New warnings re smart meters

While I'm here I want to draw readers' attention to what some of the above fuss was about, namely the growing list of problems associated with the B.C. Liberal government's $1-billion program in which B.C. Hydro is forcing virtually all of its customers to accept so-called smart meters.

It's bad enough that that was done without prior approval of the B.C. Utilities Commission, and it's worse that various problems have emerged with such meters, including emissions, invasion of privacy and some inaccuracies, but now worst of all is emerging concerns that smart meters can be hacked and that raises the prospect of the entire electricity grid being sabotaged.

That may seem far-fetched to people quick to ridicule the tin-helmet crowd, but if you note that even the U.S. FBI is concerned about it perhaps you will realize it is a real threat here and now too. Here's a link:

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/fbi-finds-smart-meter-hacking-surprisingly-easy/

Canucks run reflects growth of B.C.

The Daily Twigg  Vol. 1 No. 38  April 11, 2012

Canucks could and should go all the way

By John Twigg

Though my newsletter broadcasting is in abeyance I can't resist putting my hockey playoffs prediction onto the record via this blog posting because this IS the year that the Vancouver Canucks could, should and WILL go all the way to winning the first Stanley Cup for the city in the modern era, not forgetting that the Vancouver Millionaires also did that rare feat in 1915.

The main reason that this year's vintage of the Canucks will "win it all" is because it's such a strongly team-oriented team.

There are no individual megastars on this team, no Gretzky or Mario or Crosby, but there IS a great group of far-above-average talents who have formed a sort of egalitarian juggernaut that can prevail against whatever storms arise against it.

The statistics argue that in terms of points they were the best team in the league two years in a row and they are the first team to do so in the age of free-agency and salary caps, as captain Henrik Sedin pointed out to the media, which subtly reminded everyone that he and his twin brother Daniel and more than a few other players, notably linemate Alex Burrows, left money on the table in their contract negotiations so team management could recruit some better supporting players for other positions and lesser lines.

People wonder why the Canucks reputedly are so hated in other hockey markets and by other teams and that's probably one of the top reasons: money.

Not only is the team one of the most financially successful now in the league, with more than 400 consecutive home regular-season sell-outs and huge licensing revenues, its star players (apart from goalie Roberto Luongo who already had a sweet long-term deal) dared to also undermine the NHL Players Association's bargaining strategy a bit by informally taking less money to stay than they might have got through individual free agency, which was a de facto collective sharing of the pay cap space.

That is a rarity in modern-day pro sports but it may have been aided by the unique situation of having two co-stars who are twin brothers who get along well not only on the ice but off too and so sign for equal salaries and produce about equally too, but such sharing is also something quite in keeping with British Columbia's occasional socio-political tradition of caring and sharing, of co-ops and trade unions and of other enlightened self-interests even seen in various political parties.

Interestingly the Canucks' unusual pay structure apparently had little adverse impact on the team's game results because a study found the Canucks finished seventh in the league with 1.71 points per $1 million or salary (see link below), which wasn't as efficient as low-budget over-achievers like the Blues, Preds, Senators and Coyotes but it was close to the venerable Rangers and Red Wings franchises and it was ahead of the Penguins, Blackhawks, Devils, Bruins, Flyers, Kings, Capitals and others, especially most other Canadian teams.

The Canucks' two-goalies story is quite interesting too and I think the defining moment of the season was on April 3 at home when the Canucks were down 4-2 to the playoff-hungry Anaheim Ducks when coach Alain Vigneault yanked Roberto Luongo in the second period and sent out backup Cory Schneider, who pitched a shutout while the team rallied to 4-4 then won it in a shootout, which two points were the difference in winning the President's Trophy for top team two years running.

It was a test of character that the team passed with flying colours and set them on a path to a long and deep run in the playoffs. And lest anyone doubt, they finished the season with a 3-0 shutout of Edmonton with Luongo back in top form in goal.

The team now has a huge luxury in the form of two #1 goalies, both in good form, plus it is very deep at defence, very deep at centre and able to play four strong lines even when a top player goes down with an injury, as was the case with Daniel Sedin out with a concussion in the last week or so.

The team has no floaters, no wackos or weirdos, no serious head cases and dozens of guys willing to block shots and all willing to play the kind of defensive two-way game that prevails in the playoffs.

"Most of these people are better people than they are players," said coach V in his season-end media conference, obviously quite pleased that the team still won the most points in the league even though some of the key players such as Kesler and Salo seemed to have been pacing themselves so they'd have more energy remaining for the playoffs.

Even when the scores are low they are a team that has been, is and will be a treat to watch and cheer for. Thank you all for a great season, regardless of how the playoffs go.

Oh yes - how will the playoffs go?? Well anything can happen, and God help us there be no serious injuries, but the differences could come from anywhere in the lineup on any given night, even Jannik Hansen on a good-looking third line and/or Manny Malhotra playing wing on a fourth line centered by tough-guy Byron Bitz!

The team will win more than its share of faceoffs, take fewer penalties and this year not be bullied by anyone, and when injuries do happen or if Luongo turns sour then the management deserves credit for stocking the team with many capable replacements - for a playoffs process that could take several months to complete!

I'm watching for big plays from the likes of Alex Burrows and Sami Salo (who at ages 31 and 37 are amongst the older leaders on the team) but I'm also expecting strong steady two-way play from centre Ryan Kesler and defenceman Dan Hamhuis - the latter one of the few B.C.-born players on the team and who quietly posted the sixth-best plus-minus among league defencemen, but overall I have great expectations which I believe are deservedly so now.

So let's say Canucks in five over the Kings and after that the series could go longer, like seven games in the Western final.

But you can never tell for sure in sports whereas in politics it is perhaps easier to know what will probably happen, but I have a hope and a feeling that this year's playoff run could become something great for the Province of British Columbia too.

Whereas last year Premier Christy Clark as a rookie was shooting her mouth off about the Canucks, this year she and Opposition leader Adrian Dix are more maturely restraining themselves so as to not energize the opponents, which is another good portent.

And of course there is the riot question, which I would be remiss to not mention, but here I have a good feeling too. Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson sounded well on top of the file when he was interviewed on CKNW and if a few hotheads do try to spark another riot I predict they will quickly be shut down not only by police but by citizens and hockey fans too.

It's a hard and often cruel world out there but it's stuff like this that illustrates we as a Province may be growing up, which is reflected as well in the Grey Cup won at home by the Lions and now the Whitecaps contending in Major League Soccer too.

What was once the farthest-flung and last outpost in the British Empire is now a significant centre of society and commerce in a continental and global context and to prove it we have a dominant hockey franchise and some other good sports teams too.

So Go Canucks! eh.

http://vancouver.openfile.ca/blog/curator-blog/curated-news/2012/canucks-spent-171m-every-point-year-bmo-report

New plans for Twigg newsletters

The Daily Twigg Vol. 1 No. 37  April 5, 2012

Newsletter will go on hiatus
while new format is created

By John Twigg

This will be the last issue of The Daily Twigg, at least for a while, and as I just heard said on the Masters broadcast, that may be a good thing.

I began publishing this title back in late December with the idea of trying it for three months to see if it would fly; it was intended to be similar to newsletters that I have issued thousands of times over the last 25 (!) years, focussed as usual on B.C. politics but also sometimes poking into other areas too, especially business, economics, sports and other matters that might be au courant in the hot media and/or befitting my move back to Vancouver.

What it evolved into was an opinion column broadcast to several hundred opinion leaders and occasionally republished by other media, and half way through those three months it also became a posted blog too, but its content evolved into a focus almost solely on politics in general and on the decline and disintegration of the B.C. Liberal Party government in particular (and deservedly so because that is a huge story which I deliberately encouraged).

It has been a tumultuous time in politics, not only provincially with John van Dongen's jump to the rising B.C. Conservative Party but also nationally with the revelation of the Pierre Poutine voter suppression conspiracy (which perhaps could or should invalidate the last federal election) and Thomas Mulcair's dramatic regime-changing win of the federal NDP leadership (which could grow into some kind of a hopefully-positive populist revolution in Canada).

Globally it has been a crazy time too, featuring the financial crisis in Europe, revolutions in Libya and Egypt, the U.S. Presidential primaries, an impending regime change in China and alas the perpetuation of unsolved conspiracies involving terrorism and massive financial crimes, the gross gory details of which are only just now beginning to leak out into the light of day, such as who held that bulge of financial puts placed in days shortly before 9/11 (which were [deliberately?] ignored by the official 9/11 commission but which have been revealed in a YouTube video and detailed in other online sources).

The criminal media manipulations by the Murdoch empire which were exposed in Britain are only the tip of one octopus's tentacle in a network of octopii buried inside governments and industries around the world, using such things as snuff porn to blackmail politicians and judges and other key people like bankers and police into overlooking or even doing evil deeds - and I regret that I have been unable so far to simplify and explain all that to my readers but those who care to can dare to look at the Abel Danger and waterwarcrimes websites, which are unrelated but which both contain some local aspects of what are obviously global conspiracies.

To try to put it briefly, there IS a global conspiracy of evil forces out there who are trying not only to enrich themselves and increase their political controls but also even to thwart God's plans for mankind, which strategies include using exaggerated scares about global warming in order to drive up oil prices, bankrupt national economies and drive the world down into a hellish third world war. (For example, you should know that Libya was the major supplier of oil to powerful Germany and to debt-burdened and corrupted Italy, which could make Europe more dangerously dependent on Iranian oil.)

And please don't assume that such things don't affect us much here in lovely British Columbia because as mentioned there are numerous local connections to it, and the previous and present provincial government regimes seem more intent on continuing to cover up possible links to it such as the real goings on around Piggy's Palace than in righting wrongs and truly governing in the public interest, such as by probing the crooked sale of B.C. Rail and the dubious dispositions of other Crown assets.

That of course is news you didn't read much about in your daily paper or see on the evening TV news, which is partly why I thought I should try to restart my newsletters. So when I return from a break I will have a new format in which a suite of blogs will each focus on different subjects. There also will be fewer broadcasts except to those who request direct deliveries, and one of those will be a revived B.C. Politics Trendwatch, which will carry a modest subscription price and will focus on opinion polls and other game-changers in the run-up to the 2013 provincial election. 

I learned some lessons in the last three months too, beginning with a newfound admiration for Vaughn Palmer's ability to turn out top-quality stuff five days a week, and featuring my recent discovery of the powers of Twitter, which proved to be a profound source of breaking news tips and links to other useful cutting-edge information, such as recently finding a link in #bcpoli to an Andrew Nikiforuk column in the Tyee on politics and religion which is essential to understanding the motivations of Prime Minister Stephen Harper (his narrow religious beliefs appear to color his policy choices).

And my lessons ended with the difficult realization that I shouldn't do all-night working sessions to try to digest all of that information and still get a new issue out too, because that can produce some stupid brain-cramp errors.

In the first case I misread a statistical table and used a wrong set of numbers, which when it was pointed out caused me to quickly publish an abject apology to Premier Christy Clark for my allegation that she had deliberately used a misleading statistic in order to promote the supposed success of her job creation plans. But that apology turned out to have been premature because when I did dig further into the numbers I realized that that was in fact exactly what she had done, namely twist statistics to claim progress on job creation when it was not really true, but I had merely used the wrong data to prove it. So my first mistake was to use a wrong number and then that was compounded when I too-quickly apologized for it.

The second mistake was more troubling, because late one night after finishing a decent analysis of the political ramifications in and after the latest opinion poll I tossed in a paragraph about Clark's problems perhaps being compounded because her House Leader and cabinet enforcer Rich Coleman was supposedly being probed anew by the Auditor General over a land deal done when he was Minister of Forests. But alas I failed to notice that the news item I had found in a Google search (or was it a Twitter link?) was from 2008. Damn! Another apology.

That was all the more troubling to me because it lent credence to a very nasty criticism of me by prominent blogger Alex Tsakumis about my reporting of the John van Dongen jump, which criticism was somewhat unfair and exaggerated but in the circumstances of the Coleman mistake could not be rebutted. Briefly, he said I said that he had been the arranger of van Dongen's meeting with B.C. Conservative leader John Cummins which led to the jump but in fact I only said it was possible he was the go-between because his blog postings indicated he had been in close communications with both of them, but I subsequently learned the go-between was someone else (a mutual friend who played a minor role). Nonetheless Tsakumis was correct in complaining that I should have called him first to check on it before publishing his name, and I am sorry now that I didn't do that, but it too was another adverse result of late-night writing to a deadline that did not exist.

Subsequent to that I got blamed again for supposedly revealing that van Dongen was the alleged source of leaks from the B.C. Liberal caucus, which I never did report or even hint at, but in Coleman's post-jump rage he lashed out at everyone and especially at Tsakumis for which I wrongly caught some more blame. Stuff like that happens in political journalism, and that I can take. But I never alleged or even suggested that van Dongen had been a leaker.

Through all of those kerfuffles on very edgy issues I was pleased that several hundred people continued to receive my newsletters and in three months only about five people asked to be unsubscribed and only one of those was due to the Coleman mistake. And meanwhile several old colleagues kindly wrote to assure me that such mistakes happen to everyone and that the important thing is to quickly correct the record and move on.

Anyway, I am going to try now to take a break from publishing for a while, which will be very difficult for me because journalism and writing goes back at least three generations on both sides of my family and I've been doing it for about 50 years now, so if an urge does strike me to write something soon I'll post it on the blog and tweet an advisory.

If you'd like to ensure you continue receiving direct broadcasts of my new stuff, please send me an email. Meanwhile, have a happy holiday, which is about God's plans for mankind whether you observe it as Passover or Easter. If you'd like to study some scripture, look at Exodus 24:7 !

Tories rise as Liberals fall

The Daily Twigg  Vol. 1 No. 36  April 3, 2012

B.C. Politics Trendwatch
Clark Liberals fall into a low tie
with surging B.C. Conservatives

By John Twigg

The mainstream media have already covered the story of the latest B.C. opinion poll in some detail so I won't repeat the basic numbers here but in some ways that coverage has become the main story anyway, though a few of the more subtle key stats still tell big stories too.

The media coverage being the main message became apparent when Angus Reid on Monday morning posted the results of their latest poll and news of the new party rankings spread like wildfire through social media and topped most mainstream media newscasts right through to the evening TV news.

It wasn't that the New Democrats were the big story because their support was up only 1% to 43% among decided voters and was very similar to recent findings by all other pollsters.

No, the big story was the steep declines in support for the B.C. Liberal Party in general, down 5 points to only 23%, and for Premier Christy Clark in particular, whose approval rating fell 8 points to only 32% and whose preferred-premier score fell 5 points to a lowly 17%, which probably signals the end of her career in B.C. politics and may portend the end of the B.C. Liberal Party too.

That was the lowest showing for the Liberals since July 2010 after former premier Gordon Campbell had forced in the hated Harmonized Sales Tax, which led to his resignation, a divisive leadership contest and then Clark's succession in March last year.

Pollster sees humongous collapse

"This is humongous . . . one of the biggest collapses we've ever seen," said Angus Reid pollster Mario Canseco, citing factors such as only 15% of women voters now supporting Clark even though she has been pushing a so-called families-first policy agenda.

"You have to wonder whether voters have just tuned the Liberals out," said Global TV's Keith Baldrey, who over decades has specialized in analyzing polls and noted the latest numbers would produce "a cakewalk for the NDP in the next election."

And it wasn't only how the Liberals fell but also that the upstart B.C. Conservative Party gained too - all the way into a tie with the Liberals at 23%! That was up 4 points from the previous poll in January and also was in line with most other polls except the recent Mustel Group poll which had the Liberals still within striking distance of the NDP and clearly above the Conservatives. [And BTW that confirms my previous analysis of the Mustel findings, namely that they were a bit old and had the Liberals too high and the Tories too low.]

Furthermore the Conservatives under leader John Cummins have even moved into first place in the B.C. Interior, with 32%, followed by the NDP at 30% and only 26% for the Liberals in what was once their stronghold.

"I'm convinced that by the time the next election rolls around it will be a close two-way race between the B.C. Conservative Party and the NDP," Cummins told CKNW while apparently on his way to a party meeting in Vernon, echoing his previous claims that he intends to make them the main free-enterprise alternative to the NDP in the next provincial election (scheduled for May 14, 2013).

Elley surprised by rapid success

"I think the universe is unfolding as it should," added party president Reed Elley in a statement exclusively for The Daily Twigg. "We always thought that there would be a time when we would overtake the Liberals in the opinion polls. What is startling is that it has happened so soon."

"If this keeps up by the time the election rolls around, we will be in a solid position to be the only party which could prevent the NDP from forming government," he said, echoing comments by Cummins last Monday (March 26) after Liberal backbencher John van Dongen not only resigned from caucus but shocked everyone by instantly joining the B.C. Conservative Party too.

"What a difference a year makes," said Elley, apparently referring to when a group of former federal Conservative politicians took over the party (apparently from a group involving Bill Vander Zalm and Chris Delaney), installed Cummins as leader and began getting serious about building an organization from scratch.

Interestingly Canseco's posted analysis also took a year-long view: "Over the past 12 months, the New Democrats have slowly but steadily gained five points, and have seen (leader Adrian) Dix become both the preferred premier and the leader with the highest approval rating. In the same period, the BC Liberals have seen their support among decided voters drop by 20 points - going from first place to a tie for second - while the BC Conservatives have improved their standing by 18 points."

Liberals facing a leadership crisis

"The Liberals are losing half their votes from the last election," Canseco told one outlet, suggesting it could create a leadership crisis in the Liberal party, which of course they already have had at least since van Dongen left with a flame of vitriol against the Liberals' record in general and at Clark's performance in particular; he thus became the Conservatives' first sitting MLA though technically he sits as an Independent until the party can get three more members to achieve official party status.

Scuttlebutt such as comments to an Abbotsford paper by former MP Randy White suggest that more defections from the Liberal caucus are already planned to happen later this year and logic suggests they will happen well in time to give the party official status in the Legislature next spring and thus a seat in the televised leaders debate prior to voting day.

Van Dongen's jump was a pivotal move that shocked many people and it apparently also affected the results of the poll, which was an online sampling of 800 people done on March 29 and 30 carrying a variance of 3.5%.

Also influential on the poll would have been the ugly ways that Liberal House leader Rich Coleman reacted to the switch, with cheap character assassinations of van Dongen that van Dongen in a call-in to CKNW said were obviously intended to intimidate other backbenchers reportedly thinking similar thoughts of leaving caucus.

And the disingenuous ways that Clark responded the next day to van Dongen's move probably further alienated many people, because she repeatedly insisted that B.C. voters still had only two choices, free enterprise with the Liberals or socialism under the NDP, when as the new poll showed they already had decided to have three choices (and more if smaller parties are included, as they should be, notably the B.C. Green Party, which came in at 8%).

So the big message in the Angus Reid poll was that clearly there is now a three-way race in B.C. politics, but if Clark continues to cling to power in apparent denial of what's really going on around her then it could soon become a two-way race between the NDP and Conservatives, with her Liberals playing third fiddle much like how the corrupt and decaying Social Credit Party government fell to a pathetic third-place finish in the 1991 election (which for those who cannot remember that far back ended up 51 NDP, 17 Liberal and 7 Socred).

Some major media outlets no longer flatter Clark

Even more significant now is how some of the major media seem to be turning against Clark and her government too, though others are still treating her with some respect perhaps for the sake of the office she still holds.

Most notable was the Province newspaper which (at least in the online version Monday night) had a headline saying "B.C. Liberals collapse: Poll shows mass exodus to provincial Conservative party" and that was accompanied by a photo of Clark apparently taken last Tuesday that showed her scowling and with a cold sore clearly visible on her lower lip (which may explain why she was nowhere to be found on Monday after van Dongen jumped).

Similarly CTV Vancouver's newscasts at 5 and 6 p.m. featured video of Clark running through a downtown hotel's backroom corridors trying to evade questions about the latest poll, and when she was caught up to she not-credibly claimed she hadn't seen the poll numbers yet and so couldn't and wouldn't comment on them until she had seen them, which suggests she and all of her staff no longer have access to their handheld devices, or that she was lying.

In fairness it does require a bit of study time to analyze all of the poll numbers, but there's no degree required to understand the fall of the Liberals and the rise of the Conservatives. While the poll found the NDP holding on to 87% of its 2009 voters the Liberals have retained only 51% and roughly two-thirds of the departees are going to the Conservatives and one-third to the NDP.

Clark makes partisan appeal at business lunch

Interestingly Clark's lunchtime speech to about 800 people at an Urban Development Institute event was unusually partisan, perhaps even inappropriately so, and her direct appeal for support in order to save free enterprise made it obvious that Clark is in a panic about her political predicaments.

“I can't do it alone, my team can't do it alone. We need everyone in this room today,” she said, claiming an NDP government would increase the deficit and raise taxes.

Clark claimed she knew the job would be difficult and she admitted she has faced some challenges and will face more before the next election but she insisted it will still come down to a simple two-way fight.

“The choice is going to be between a government that looks after their money, that respects taxpayers, that decides it wants to support a thriving private sector ... or ... a government that will do the opposite,” she claimed, agreeing with the merits of shrinking the gap between rich and poor but that the way to do that is not by punishing those who are successful.

Though Clark reportedly did not mention the B.C. Conservative Party in her speech, the danger of vote-splitting was raised by prominent property marketer Bob Rennie who told the crowd that a vote for the Conservatives would be a vote for the NDP so "We have to get behind the Liberal party right now...".

Clark's appearance at the influential UDI meeting was part of what appears to be a deliberate strategy of news management related to propping up the party's image during the Port Moody and Chilliwack byelection campaigns, as if she realizes poor results for the Liberals in them could hasten her demise.

Clark's itinerary full of photo opps

Thus Clark's government last week appeared to rush an announcement of a go-ahead for the long-delayed Jumbo Glacier resort development near Invermere even though it is strongly opposed by local interests and yesterday morning she re-announced a number of components in the multi-billion-dollar Gateway transportation program initiated by Campbell, the details of which were obviously provided in advance to the Vancouver Sun which made it the main front-page story in Monday's paper.

Clark is thus still counting on using job creation as her main trump card in the next provincial election but as NDP transportation critic Harry Bains pointed out the announcements were so vague that it wasn't clear how much money if any was new or simply re-announcements of old commitments.
He said that while private-sector investments are welcome there has been no leadership from the government on direct job creation.

That jobs conundrum coincidentally was highlighted in the Province paper on Monday in a guest column by Ben Parfitt regarding the shortage of raw logs for local mills even will log exports have been allowed to soar, which can be viewed at
http://www.theprovince.com/Guest+column+strategy+stop+export+logs+jobs/6396108/story.html.

That issue popped up indirectly in the Angus Reid poll too, which showed that the economy is still by far the most important issue but at 24% it was down 3 points and health at 19% was down 2 points while leadership was up 5 points to 12% and education was up 5 points to 10% - all of which sort of reverbate of Clark's failures in office.

While Clark may talk a lot about job creation and follow an itinerary of photo opps that feature job-creation themes, what she is delivering now is a sort of worn-out screed that most B.C. voters just are not buying.

Since it is unlikely she will change her tunes and tones anytime soon, the next likelihood is she will be ousted, perhaps by a cabal of business leaders soon after the byelection results.


But another looming question is what kind of a platform the B.C. Conservative Party will put together for the election campaign, especially whether the right-wing social conservatives such as White will impose a sort of tough-on-crime get-a-job theme or whether populists such as Cummins and to some extent van Dongen will go for a more broad-based approach.

While the Cummins Conservatives have so far had success by being simply not the other guys, the time will soon arrive when they will have to do some policy advocacy too and that probably is when new polls will be really telling.


Links of note

Angus Reid poll results
http://www.angus-reid.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/2012.04.02_Politics_BC.pdf

Blogger Ian Reid raises BC Rail questions
http://therealstory.ca/2012-03-28/bc-liberals/are-van-dongens-bc-rail-questions-real

T-C's Iain Hunter responds to Geoff Plant on Basi-Virk deal
http://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/Rail+deal+still+causing+discomfort/6393717/story.html

Schreck finds source of historic GDP stats
http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/StatisticsBySubject/Economy/EconomicAccounts/BCGDPMarketPricesFinalDomesticDemand.aspx

Detailed analysis of federal NDP voting stats
http://www.punditsguide.ca/2012/04/cullen-narrowly-won-convention-but-mulcair-victory-already-assured/

Unflattering photo of Christy Clark
Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/news/Liberals+collapse+Poll+shows+mass+exodus+provincial+Conservative+party/6399190/story.html#ixzz1qx1yuWji