Sunshine Tax

Graph from Strategicthoughts.com indicates BC wage earners have lost ground under the Campbell Liberals.

The last four years have been hard on BC wage earners as their incomes have been hit hard as a result of the economy in our province. Changes to employment standards and labour law has made it easier for employers to hire more part time employees and pay lower wages.

In the Okanagan we are used to hearing about the sunshine tax, meaning employees here have to accept low wages as a result of the great place they live in. Many employers here and elsewhere in BC have become experts in denying legal rights of their employees.

I came across one major employer that does not allow the required 30 minute break for an eight hour shift. Employees are expected to sign a payslip each day indicating they took the break.

This kind of intimidation (sunshine tax) has occurred for years here in the Okanagan. What is different today is the increased difficulty placed on employees and the employment standards branch to enforce the law. With staffing cuts and loss of enforcement powers employers have the employees over the barrel.

We have two economies in the Okanagan, one for them and one for us. Read more on loss of earnings under the Campbell Liberals at strategicthoughts.com.

Easy Rider?

Werner Schmidt - Reformer Quits

Update: March 27, 2005 ` Werner takes one last shot against gay and lesbian constituents.

Update: March 25, 2005 ~ Egale Link to Werner Schmidt's voting record on marriage issues and gay rights.

Campaign for Life has quoted Schmidt with saying in 1997, "(he) would consider resigning rather than vote against his pro-life beliefs..."

Earlier this year, MP Schmidt introduced a Bill proclaiming a stat holiday entitled "Family Day" to held in February of each year. Given the MP's record of voting against gay rights and same-sex marriage I wanted to know if he excluded gay families from Family Day. Here is his reply..

Subject: Family Day
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 17:03:25 -0500
From: "Schmidt, Werner - Riding 1B"
To: caribookidca@yahoo.ca

Dear Mr. Barnes:

In reply to your letter of February 15, please allow me to quote from a statement I made in the House of Commons on Monday, February 21, 2005.

"Today I wish to emphasize something which we all have in common. It knows no definition. At its best it is a source of strength, respect, cooperation, compassion. It has more value than money or status or success. It is that thing which weaves together people who become communities that become a nation. It is family."

Thank you very much for writing and I trust that this answers your question about inclusion of your family.

Yours truly
Werner Schmidt, MP

WS/jl

-------------------------------------

I am satisfied the MP did not exclude my gay family from his bill.

Werner was also mentioned in today's Kelowna Cap News Editorial as having refused to opt in to the federal MP's Pension, if this is true, then Werner is indeed a rare breed in the former Alliance reform group. ----------------

Werner Schmidt Calling It Quits
Kelowna Conservative MP Werner Schmidt is calling it quits.

The Member of Parliament for Kelowna-Lake Country announced Thursday that he will not be seeking re-election.

Schmidt a social conservative, known for his strong support for Christian values was elected October 25, 1993. (see update above)

Lorne Mayencourt haymaker

"It’s a brutal little stop-motion animation that takes you through the past four years of B.C. politics (a.k.a. “the tinfoil era”) in six minutes. About as subtle as a Lorne Mayencourt haymaker." - One Damn Thing After Another

Gordon Campbell "the Punisher" at Wal-Mart?

Wal-Mart t-shirt has Gordo Pic!

Its true, this shirt was for sale. See what happens when you go away for a couple of days! My blogging colleagues, The Gazetteer, Have you had enough yet? , Polite Company and Bad for BC all found this Marvelous T-shirt.

Into the centre of the Heartlands

A trip home

I have been further into the heartlands this week, up to the Cariboo country where the Liberals are worried. This area has always been a good area for Liberals and socreds, folks there will however vote for the person over the party. Case in point was David Zirnhelt. Zirnhelt took the riding three times, the last two being squeakers, but he took it.

Many folks up there look to Victoria to deliver, they expect their MLA to get their message through and to deliver. As I walked the streets in this small city, the kind of place the Campbell Liberals deleveloped the "heartlands" moniker for, I found out just how much trouble Campbell flag bearer Walt Cobb is in. As I was greeted, there was an air of enthusiasm for change. Granted most I spoke too were NDP supporters, they were however pretty keen on their chances of upsetting Walt Cobb.

Cobb was Mayor of Williams Lake for a few terms and a city councilors, local business man and an advocate for people with disabilities. He choose the right time to enter to political frey and left the municipal farm team to join the Big league in Victoria in 2001.

Many locals knew you could run just about anyone for the Liberals in 2001 and win. Again, most of us thought Walt would at the very least not be a hindrance. We did not expect him in Cabinet, but he was a local boy, who cared about local issues and people.

How sad it is that today weeks before an election and Walt's career as an MLA is less than an even odds bet. Not so sad for Walt really but the people of the Cariboo. For the first time since 1975 there was no cabinet minister from the Cariboo. For the first time since 1975 no one from the Cariboo was in the inner circle of government.

Where was Walt Cobb...


• when the province eliminated the requirement of tenure holders to mill their wood in the community they took the logs from?


• when the government closed the Cariboo Forest Region?


• when the court house in 100 Mile House was closed?


• when the school that was closed in in Forest Grove?


• when the government changed the gaming funds distribution to local charities?


• when the Lytton Hospital was closed?


• when the government slashed staffing at the Ministry of Environment then eliminated the Ministry?


• when the Campbell government passed a 3.5 cents per litre tax on gasoline to pay for lower mainland infrastructure?

Unfortunately some nice guys cannot get the the job done. Walt should have stayed in municipal politics. That would have at least saved the people of the Laketown from current Wal-Mart schiller Mayor Rick Gibson.

The job is up for grabs and the people in the Cariboo will choose between the Campbell man and Charlie Wyse, a NEW New Democrat, former red tory, school teacher and budget guru for countless years on Williams Lake City Council.

Charlie can be a pretty dull guy, being the numbers kinda guy he is, the difference is Charlie knows how to deliver to his constituents, he knows what needs to be addressed and again unlike Walt Cobb, Charlie is building a list of things that have to be done and he will have a plan to deliver them.

I know these two men well, I worked with City Council as a community rep from a variety of groups from 1981 to 1992 and from 1992 - 1996 I worked for David Zirnhelt We accomplished a great deal in Williams Lake from 1992 - to 1996. While Mayor Walt attended anti NDP rallies, Charlie stayed back, plugging away at the issues, delivering!

Liberalized, The Tyee Report on BC under Gordon Campbell

Liberalized, The Tyee Report on BC under Gordon Campbell

The Tyee's new book on the Liberal reign in B.C. is still being written by Tyee regulars Barbara McLintock, Chris Tenove, Alisa Smith, Will McMartin and others, and will be published in March. But you can pre-order it and be amongst the first to get a copy.

Winnipeg's 1919 strike to be set to music

Major events in Canadian history involving labour are rarely dealt with in popular culture or in our history classes. The 1919 General strike in Winnipeg was major event in Canada's development into the nation we are today.

Here is CBC's story ...

WINNIPEG - A local producer will stage a musical based on Winnipeg's 1919 general strike.
Danny Schur is seeking investors for the show, called Strike!, which he expects to open May 26 at the Theatre in the Park .

Schur composed the music, wrote the script and has raised $100,000, but he needs an additional $200,000 to bring the show to the stage.

He has workshopped the show since 2003 and produced an earlier version of Strike! last summer. More here

see also:
Weekend reenactment reminds Winnipeg residents of the past

Winnipeg General strike : Douglas - Couldwell Foundation
Remembering the Winnipeg General Strike: CBC Archives
Essay - Winnipeg General Strike: CUPE
Lesson Plan: BCTF
Winnipeg General Strike 1919: Wikipedia

What happened to our wilderness park

BC Parks are under attack in BC. That is not an exaggeration. The Campbell Liberal Government plan to open our parks up to privately operated developments. Developments that will change the face of our Parks forever. All of this is being done without consultation.

Perhaps retired Minister of Resort Development Sandy Santori, now running a country club in Trail knew something the rest of us did not know. Maybe Patty Sahota, the new Minister of Resort Devlopment will be able to shed more light on this policy development. It would of course be keeping wth the Campbell Liberals pre-election promise to be the most open and accountable government ever.

Be honest here, do any of you think Gordon Campbell will let British Columbians know what his plans are? We could call the Ministry of Environment I guess, they would at least be consulted on the plans to develop businesses in our Parks. Whoops, Gordon Campbell thought of that ahead of time, there is no Ministry of Environment.

caterwauls blogger opens up the issue...

Who is deserting the SS Gordo

The SS Gordo is a term used by my blogging buddy at The Gazetteer referring to the Gordon Campbell Liberal Government.

All these folks leaving beg the question ...

Is the SS Gordo a s(t)inking ship?

Liberal MLAs not running this election

• John Wilson, Cariboo North;


• Reni Masi, Delta North;


• John Weisbeck, Kelowna-Lake Country;


• Lynn Stephens, Langley;


• Brian Kerr, Malahat-Juan de Fuca;


• Judith Reid, Nanaimo-Parksville;


• Karn Manhas, Port Coquitlam-Burke Mountain;


• Harold Long, Powell River-Sunshine Coast;


• Greg Halsey-Brandt, Richmond Centre;


• Val Anderson, Vancouver-Langara;


• Ted Nebbeling, West Vancouver-Garibaldi;


• Dave Chutter, Yale-Lillooet

Liberals Already Resigned Seat

• Gulzar Cheema, Surrey-Panorama Ridge;

Liberals Resigned From Caucus

• Paul Nettleton, Prince George-Omineca;


• Elayne Brenzinger, Surrey-Whalley

Liberal Cabinet Ministers that are not running

• Christy Clark, Port Moody-Westwood;


• Gary Collins, Vancouver-Fairview;


• Geoff Plant, Richmond-Steveston;


• Sandi Santori, West Kootenay-Boundary

Harper makes toast of his party

The Conservatives are toast. They just passed a definition of marriage that excludes same-sex couples and Harper says he will reopen star wars.

The Undoing of Stephen Harper and likely the Conservatives. Four years for Martin and the boys next election. Any bets?

A dad and son play chess on the beach at Kelowna's Rotary Beach on Okanagan Lake.

Gordon Campbell's Liberals running boiler rooms?

The Straight has uncovered what appears to be another unseemly Gordon Campbell Liberal party phone caper. Last week The Straight discovered the BC Liberals or a major supporter of the Liberals has been employing push-poll technics. This type of polling is really advertising for the political organization that is using it. The callers read out leading questions meant to show one party as good and the other as bad, to put it simply.

The "polling" (use the term polling with a grain of salt people) masquerade as a legitamete polling company. The person receiving the call is not told the caller is working for a political party. Elections BC states that this type of activity would be classed as advertsing if done during an election. Read more here.

Today the Straight is reporting another new developing voter contact scandal for the BC Liberals. The scandal is not so much in the voter contact but in the way the employees are being treated according to sources previously employed by Total Impact.

The Straight exposes the BC Liberals have contracted with people well known in BC Liberal backrooms to call voters in BC.

"Total Impact Communications Incorporated, owned at least in part by J.P. Shason, a long-time financial and political supporter and a personal friend of Premier Gordon Campbell. Shason is listed as the only director and officer for the company in corporate records." - The Straight

J.P. Shason was contracted by the BC Liberals to produce a controversial mail out from the Campbell Liberals using Legislative funds prior to the last election. The contract was for over $700,000.00 of taxpayer money.

Here is what The Straight has to say about the working conditions the BC Liberal's contractor subjects its workers too ...

"According to the discontented callers, 80 phoners work daily at Total Impact for $9 an hour in four-hour shifts in two “crap hole” rooms nicknamed “Echo” and “Foxtrot”. In total, about 200 to 300 individual callers are employed part-time and full-time and turnover is high. The phone room uses an expensive “predictive dialer” to maximize calling efficiency, but the computers being used to input the data are in poor condition and running on Windows 98 operating systems.

Total Impact may be in violation of government taxation and employment regulations because its callers, according to the sources, are told by the company that they are “independent contractors” and, therefore, no employment-insurance premiums, Canada Pension Plan or Workers Compensation Board contributions, or taxes are deducted from their paycheques.

Former B.C. Employment Standards Branch regional director Dave Ages told the straight thathaving done hundreds of investigations on independent contractors, there seems no doubt the phone-room callers are actually employees.

“From what you’ve told me and knowing about boiler-room operations, there’s no question they are employees, not independent contractors,” Ages said, adding that the phone-room workers are being denied the four-percent vacation pay that employees are entitled to, as well as possibly missing statutory holidays and overtime. "

Read more of Bill Tieleman's report at The Straight. The Straight reports that they will have more on this developing scandal next week.

You can find more on the BC Liberals, Gordon Campbell and the BC election using the technorati search box in the side bar to the right.

Mayencourt and Ann Coulter

The Straight in Vancouver today reports that a "vote for Mayencourt " ad was found on the the rabid right wing web space with Ann Coulter. Coulter is the "take no prisoners" mouth piece for the republican party.

Mayencourt did not put the ad there, Google uses a system that matchs ads with webspace content. Seems they know Lorne Mayencourt and the Gordon Campbell government. Read more here ...

I can hardly wait for the controversial Mary Polak, Lorne's homophobic friend and Liberal candidate in Langley to buy webspace, could SpongeBob Squarepants and Tinky Winky share the same World Wide Web ?

Use the search technorati search to the right on this blog to find more on Mayencourt, Polak and Gordon Campbell.