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squiggy
Stooge Two
Joined: 09 Mar 2004
Posts: 3007
Location: Messing with the fabric of Video Game realities. I'll summon Shiva on you! I SWEAR!
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 Sat Feb 16, 2008 6:33 pm British Columbian Politics - Fascinating Human psychologies. |
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Ten years ago Gordon Campbell was leader of the 'liberal' party of British Columbia((The westernmost province of Canada, directly above Washington, below Alaska. Where the Olympics are being held in 2010.))
He routinely argued that government should have little role in a person's lives.
Then came the NDP Fast Ferry scandal.
And Mr. Campbell made a MAJOR Majority, his opposition initially having just 6 seats.
What this man has done to the province, many of us here disagree with.
But I will say this, for certain.
I admire the man's courage.
He has gone 360 on many things, because his beliefs have changed, and he realized he needed to do something to HELP this province.
Now, instead of seeing him in 'news broadcast rooms', he is regularly seen touring places like the Frozen-floodplains that used to be Prince George, or at PUBLIC press confrences, about the 2010 Olympics.
And he has made the government an integral part of many people's day to day lives - For the better.
Many people dislike the concept of the 2010 Olympics, because 'it is taking the money away from issues like homelessness and global warming.'
Those issues were brought up several years ago... but they aren't... something you can pin on Gordon Campbell anymore.
1) Gordon Campbell is Canada's leading premier in the fight against Climate change, he has the strongest plans in place to fight economical, AND Ecological downfalls in his province, and is implimenting them ALREADY.
2)
| The Province News Paper wrote: |
On Valentine's day, Premier Gordon Campbell, along with the minister responsible of housing, Rich Coleman, Mayor Sam Sullivan of Vancouver, and the Vancouver City Police Chief Jim Chu anounced that B.C. is buying six single-occupancy hotels to reduce homelessness in the Vancouver east-side.
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While the man has been notably flip-flop happy on things like education and health-care, including the somewhat infamous closure of St. Mary's hospital, which has LITERALLY thrown the Vancouver lower mainland's health systems down the toilets towards patient care, the man also has some very key points going for him.
1) The Olympics would not be comming to Vancouver without him. If it were up to the NDP, every business industry in British Columbia would be answering to a Union. From Starbucks, right up to CEOs.
2) Public Transportation would STILL be a joke. But under semi-careful guidance from Gordon Campbell, Translink, and BC Transit have been expanding services, and service areas by millions of dollars, kilometres, and riders.
3) While he may not be doing much, quickly, atleast, to handle the Drug abuse/homelessness problems plaguing Vancouver, he was instrumental in the 'clean needle exchange' program, the 'safe injection site' program, and has spent more money on low-income housing then any Premier in British Columbian, and CANADIAN history.
4) While he has had his flops, many people intend to re-elect his party, regardless of if he serves, because, despite certain issues, like the Delta Landfill expansion idea, or the Delta Power-line issue, he is a positive force in this Province. I intend to be one of those people.
Many people have issues with him, because he has cut health-care in his earlier years in office, and made medicare a little expensive, and his treatment of some industries, notably the logging industry, have been negative. But these are important things for society to understand.
What I'm about to say is going to sound rude, insensitive, and perhaps even a little sociopathic. And, for the first time, I will admit to being marginally hypocritical.
His treatment of the Medicare system is a good thing, in my books. This Province is almost overflowing with people who are ill with diseases that force them to not be able to contribute to society in general, and will not be curable in our lifetimes. Cutting medicare funding, so that unless you are native, or contributing to society, you can't afford them, to me, is quite simply weeding out the sick, while strengthening the heard. Some would argue this is partially hitler-like, however, some people perhaps would be better off if assisted suicide were legal.
As an example, there are several people who have a multi-million dollar a year caring cost requirement living in one of the hospitals. I won't say what they have, which hospital, or names, because well... it's kinda... illegal. And stuff.
But these people are incapable of serving society in any form.
I admit... this sounds hypocritical to those of you, who know the hell I've gone through, this past year and a half, after losing, and having to slowly regain the abillity to walk. However, I was in a wheelchair, with a cathoder bag replacing my bladder, and high on pain killers, and I STILL went to work. I firmly believe every able soul should be working. So perhaps Campbell's views on health care aren't so bad after all. While it's there to help people like me, to get back on our feet((I know, bad joke)), it isn't something that one should be forced to rely on. And now the Federal Government is in partial agreement, offering up several billion dollars for research and development labratories, trying to find permanent cures for many of these diseases, including 2 in British Columbia.
While many would argue that his plans are detrimental to society, here's a thought for you.
Over the past years, since he's been in office, unemployment rates have dropped 7.5% to just 3.5% total. That's lower then the Canadian average, and the second lowest in Canada.
And many of his plans to get tougher on crime have spawned mini-campaigns by smaller branches of government. Recently, for example, the Lower Mainland, consisting of nearly 20 municipalities, with several smaller villages, and many municipalities having multiple areas that practicaly run themselves, launched the first-ever-in-canada area wide Homicide/Gang related policing task force. No more jurisdictional issues.
Ontop of that, Vancouver's top cop launched a program to rid Vancouver of it's little criminal issue.
A little more background information here, it is a very common thing for municipalities in Ontario, or Quebec to issue what is known in lay-mans terms as a 'Do not return ever again' arrest warrant. Essentially, it's a warrant for a small offence against a large criminal they never want to see again.
If the crook is sent back, or comes back on thier' own, they will face the courts, of course, but the local municipality won't pick up the tab for it.
And most of these crooks end up in one of two places:
Calgary, Alberta
or the Vancouver Lower Mainland.
Many of them prefering the Lower Mainland, due to it's somewhat lucrative criminal industries, have recently been given quite a shock.
The Vancouver top cop launched what he called the 'Con-Air' program.
He's asking citizens to help anyway he can, including donating AIR MILES, or other reward miles to the program, to help fly these 'DNR' warrantees to thier' respective jurisdictions, and make them face the music.
Ontop of that, it has recently been passed into law, that the British Columbian Supreme court can legally bring someone to court on charges laid in other provinces.
In a sense, very slowly, they are tackling the massive crime issues here as well.
So while many people will be voting for whoever gets the NDP candidate election, because the current leader, who has just 40 of nearly 150 seats, is rarely seen or heard from... prominantly because the 'Liberal' party is stealing many of thier' ideas, and twisting them into better ones. It'd be rather hypocritcal of her to critize such well developped ideas, and she refuses to. So while many people will be checking off that "INSERT RANDOM NDP MORON HERE" checkbox, I'll be voting for the semi-devil we knew once, who has turned into, perhaps, the force that will help this province keep up in today's fast paced world.
-And that's my opinion. Many people are going to critize it, and I welcome it. Feel free. That's what this topic is here for. But just to warn you, I'm a little harsh, when defending my personal views. So be careful of what you target.
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