1) Christy Clark Mismanages the Economy – Increasing debt, deficits – Selling off public property – Creating budgetary dependency on raw resource extraction while spending away the proceeds when they should be saved and invested for future generations.
If the resources of a nation are to be used, they should increase the wealth of the nation. Development can be a responsible and cautious conversion of underground wealth to above ground wealth. Underground wealth should be used to supply domestic industries, entered into a strategic stockpile, or saved and invested in a sovereign wealth fund. In this way the wealth of the nation increases over time. However the current ruling neo-liberal school of thought forces us to shovel as much wealth out the door as soon as possible at the lowest prices. Any revenues generated are spent on current consumption/ operating costs. Neo-liberal economic theory puts the interests of multinational corporate profits over the objective of national wealth/ development/ power. The Communist Chinese dictatorship is taking advantage of the failed economic ideology of Western Neo-liberalism in order to corrupt and interfere in our internal affairs. Any political party that gives away our sovereignty to foreign dictators is a puppet of foreign powers and a danger to the peace. The two headed liberal/conservative movement are the same beast. In the interest of national security, all liberal/conservative candidates should be booted from office as soon as possible. We the people demand a world of non-violence and compassion, and we demand that any trade, investment, or business operations be conducted according to the highest of human rights standards. Hight standards, whereby business, government, and society in general is a place where people love one another, and whereby truth and respect takes precedence over greed and self interest.
Why Isn't Christy Clark More Popular?“BC Liberals are on their way to doubling the provincial debt since 2001, from $33.8 billion to $66.3 billion in 2015!”
The Era of Tax Cut Stupidity that Starved BCElection year, BC's small projected surplus depends on asset sales and optimismSelling off property to pay the bills, selling off non-renewable resources for a piece of what they are worth, does that sound like strategic fiscal management to you?
Oil riches wasted discredit the 'Calgary School.' But a proven path to prosperity exists.“Norway produces roughly the same amount of oil as Alberta, yet this tiny nation has managed to salt away over $600 billion in accumulated oil wealth in a sovereign wealth fund that now amounts to more than one per cent of global equity markets.
Norway has no public debt, full employment and fully-funded social programs that Canadians would drool over. Norwegians enjoy free university tuition, universal day care and 25 days of paid holidays per year. Per capita spending on healthcare is thirty per cent higher in Norway; funding for arts and culture is more than three times higher than Canada.”
Why can't neo-liberal economics (conservative/liberal) ever balance the budget?your government pays too much of its road, education, and hospital bills with finite and volatile hydrocarbon revenue.
“ must "redirect the revenues gained from the sale of resources away from the government's budget and toward saving," ”
" "As we noted previously this is the solution to the problem of energy price volatility that has been successfully employed by energy-rich Norway... ”
2) Christy Clark Supports FIPAPremier Clark Supports Canada-China Trade Deal, Abandons BC's Constitutional Rights Rafe Mair
1. “It applies to trade agreements between Canada and China and, thanks to the premier, BC as well.
2. It is, like NAFTA, a treaty that for practical reasons, is all but unbreakable for 31 years.
3. It gives China the ability to obtain huge damages if we don’t perform our side of any deal and to sue for them in her own courts
4. This agreement has not been debated in Parliament nor in the Legislature of BC
5. It won’t be debated in Parliament or the BC Legislature because both the Prime Minister and Premier Clark don’t think they need the agreement of our legislative bodies
6. Without any question, this treaty will impact upon the Province of British Columbia and could cost us hundreds of millions of dollars
7. It seriously compromises the constitutional rights BC has under Section 92 of the Constitution Act (1982)”
“We live in a federation where both the federal government and the provinces have legal, inviolable rights. This is the glue that holds the nation together.”
“On the pipelines/tankers specifically there are a number of areas where BC has the absolute right to make conditions or ban them outright. Premier Clark, in her disastrous statement, has, on the face of it, estopped BC from exercising our rights. “Estopped” means that she has taken a position upon which another has acted and can no longer exercise the rights she signed away.”
“In short, by agreeing to this treaty, she has, for the length of the contract, surrendered our right to exercise our constitutional rights.”
“We have, then, given our constitutional rights away without any consultation with the people who lose these powers. It’s been called “economic treason” and I agree.”
The Rush to Ratify: BC Rejected International Investment Deal in '98 and Should Do So Again
3) Christy Clark Supports Pipelines, TankersThe Economics of Oil Pipelines and SupertankersRobyn Allan
“The debate about oil pipelines and supertankers is not about economic benefit stacked against environmental cost to see if the risk is worth it.
That’s a false dichotomy. It’s developed by oil interests to pit ordinary Canadians against ordinary Canadians.”
“ The energy strategy in Canada is about multinational oil companies and national oil companies of foreign governments reaping vast financial gain and market power versus economic and environmental cost for the rest of us.
I am going to discuss the oil industry and how two pipeline projects—Enbridge’s Northern Gateway and Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain twining—fit into the oil sector’s strategy for Canada.
The costs of these pipeline proposals come in many forms.
What are they? Here’s the top 10:
1. Decades of higher oil prices for Canadian consumers and businesses across the country;
2. Lost opportunity to add value, create meaningful jobs and control environmental standards here at home;
3. Hollowing out of the oil sector as raw bitumen exports take precedence over upgrading and refining;
4. Twice the number of pipelines and almost double the tanker traffic to move diluted bitumen as compared to upgraded bitumen;
5. As soon as Northern Gateway and Trans Mountain are approved, more pipeline capacity will be requested;
6. Rapidly rising exchange rates along with rising diluted bitumen oil prices, impacting other sectors of our economy and our ability to export;
7. Continued reliance on foreign, higher priced oil imports through eastern Canada;
8. A growing dependence on foreign condensate imports through western Canada;
9. Crowding out of BC’s legitimate and vibrant economic activity; and
10. Supernatural British Columbia becomes a Supertanker terminal for Alberta. ”
Bitumen’s Deep Discount Deception and Canada’s Pipeline Mania: An Economic and Financial Analysis“1)Western Canadian unconventional heavy (WCS) and light crude (SCO) oil experienced normal differentials as compared to WTI in 2012.
2)The majority of oil sands supply comes from producers who are also integrated downstream operators and they make up the difference in the second step–the WTI to Brent spread–in their refinery margins.
3)It is effectively Canadian consumers and businesses that are price-gouged at the pumps. We pay petroleum product prices as if all Canadian crude oil was purchased by refineries at Brent prices–as if we imported all our crude oil from foreign markets.
4)The “supply glut” in Cushing, Oklahoma was largely industry induced and much of it was anticipated. It is expected to be sorted out within the next year, or so, as companies solve their technical difficulties with refinery and pipeline capacity expansions. This throughput realignment will occur without approval of the three bitumen export pipelines.”
The day after the release of Bitumen’s Deep Discount Deception, CIBC World Markets released a short report claiming losses from the double discount. I contacted CIBC to request their underlying analysis. Unfortunately CIBC will not be transparent or accountable for their calculations and refused to discuss their figures or the shortcomings in their methodology. I have addressed the recent claims in an article published in the Tyee “Oil Sands Money ‘Left on the Table’ and More Myths”.
Oil Sands 'Money Left on the Table' and More Myths“Economist Robyn Allan on why Canadian petro fortunes aren't hurt by lack of pipelines.”
“Petro industry's interests aren't Canada's, The 'opportunity loss' myth”
Calgary fundraiser for BC Liberals to support oil sands agenda" More than 100 business elites are expected to attend a private fundraiser Thursday night for Christy Clark's B.C. Liberals -- in Calgary. "
Canada's Petro Lobbyists Grow Faster than Pipelines"Oil and pipeline companies, including seven of the world's largest corporations, have intensified their lobbying efforts in Ottawa over the last four years and held 2,733 meetings with public officials."
Rafe Mair: All I Want for Christmas Is a May election that puts in power true defenders of BC's natural bounty. “To me the dominant issue before all others going into May's provincial election is the environment. Fiscal fudge-ups can be fixed as can most bad policy. But environmental damage -- be it due to fish farms, pipelines, tankers, Site C or loss of agricultural land -- is, to all intents and purposes, permanent.”
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Opposition Statement on Government support of pipelines:
This isn’t the first time the BC Liberals have failed to act in the public interest. When it came time to stand up for our province in the Enbridge pipeline review process, they passed the buck to Ottawa – over 4000 kilometres away from the people the project will directly affect.
Only you and your neighbours can truly understand the environmental and economic devastation a major oil spill might bring to your community.
4) Christy Clark backs Temporary Foreign Workers Program, HD MiningHD misled saying it needed Chinese specialists for 'long wall' mining" The company said it intended to use the so-called long-wall technique to harvest coal from its Murray River mine and insisted the Chinese workers were needed for their specialties in the use of it."
"But according to documents obtained by the union, HD Mining's application to the B.C. Ministry of Natural Resource Operations in June 2011 shows during a two-year bulk sample collection period the company had no plan to employ the long-wall technique. "
“After winning a court decision to have resumes of 300 Canadians who applied for the positions handed over to them, unions have accused the company of turning down fully qualified Canadians for the jobs.”
“Unions began their fight against the company on the basis that Canadian resources should be used to create jobs for Canadians”" The case has been an open pit of controversy since it was discovered by the United Steelworkers union the company had listed Mandarin as a language requirement in job advertisements.
Labour groups contested that was done to eliminate Canadian candidates so the company could be granted Labour Market Opinions supporting their case for foreign miners for smaller wages. "
Steelworkers Allege BC Importer of Chinese Miners Tied to Deadly Accidents“Dehau Mines linked to Shandong energy group, whose subsidiaries had five disasters killing nearly 200 workers”
HD Mining's Biggest Backer Is Mysterious, Say Steelworkers“It also questions the backgrounds of some of the people involved in the company, such as the company's chief consultant Ye Qing, referring to him as "as high-level an insider as one might hope to become within the Chinese Communist Party."
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The government is not serving the people, it is time for a replacement. Patriots Vote.
