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Christy Clark’s Orgiastic iPadding

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Once again, BC’s top investigative journalist, Bob Mackin, uncovers the kind of waste only a government could love.

Scouring the FOI section of the government website, Bob unearths the FOI of “a political party” which reveals yet another outrage: iPad fever throughout govt, including the Premier herself.

Now, in the general scheme of things, a waste of tens of thousands (assuming some of the bureaucrats that have them, need them) isn’t budget breaking, but this is PRECISELY the kind of waste–when added to other such pockets of misuse, that plagues us. The FIRST thing I would do if ever elected to office is go through the bailiwick I’m responsible for and eliminate every bit of taxpayer abuse–because killing off your tax buck is the numero uno pastime for these scoundrels–regardless of party.

Notice how the govt hassles you when you owe even a small amount? Well, maybe if the BC Liberals were better with your money, they wouldn’t need to be so tough on you.

As one example: Frittering away on iPads when the courts are underfunded?! Brilliant!

Here’s Bob’s post.

____________________________

I’ll be back later today with the Suzanne Anton/Mike Klassen/ NPA piece (which will have you roaring in the aisles) and I’ll give you an exclusive look into how eternal meathead (and just generally very unkind man) Mike deJong is running the provincial government where this cameras-in-the-courts idiocy is concerned. It was always his baby and Ms. Clark and Ms. Bond are taking marching orders from him. He’s Christy’s real Deputy Premier. Trust me. And later today, you’ll see why.

See ya later–mid-afternoon.

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Author: Date: Wednesday, October 5, 2011 
Category Provincial · Tags

Comments

64 Responses to “Christy Clark’s Orgiastic iPadding”
  1. froth says:
    October 5, 2011 at 11:06 AM

    i am not too bothered by the proper use of technology if it makes people more productive.

    I am more worried about their proposed TV cameras in courtrooms ploy. Lame and ill-considered.

    and what about the waste that the new Brand will cause. jeez BC Christy .. what a load of BS

    Reply
    • AGT says:
      October 5, 2011 at 1:03 PM

      Well, I’m bothered by the clear waste! I don’t have an iPad (I dont buy the first or second generation of anything) and I bet I’m busier than most of those swivel servants. I use a MacBook Pro and an iPhone. More than enough and bloody well expensive enough!

      Reply
      • Smoking Halo says:
        October 5, 2011 at 2:24 PM

        Hear hear. And if the Prom Queen wants everyone to have tablets, why not just get Kindles? They do the job just as well for half the price.

        Or just stick with their Crackberries.

        Reply
        • AGT says:
          October 5, 2011 at 2:39 PM

          Great points.

          Reply
          • Chris says:
            October 5, 2011 at 5:25 PM

            For Christ’s sake and mine Alex! Enough slamming the public employees (swivel servants). You brush us all with the same stroke and that isn’t fair. I don’t run around saying all bloggers are fat (even if they claim to have slimmed down a bit)! :) I shouldn’t have to feel like I need to apologize when asked where I work.

            Reply
            • AGT says:
              October 5, 2011 at 5:46 PM

              1) Most bureaucrats ARE swivel servants. The get paid scads of moula to do what someone else might be doing for a fraction of the price and more efficiently. Don’t get me started on the experiences I’ve had with the FOI people alone at Stupid Hall–and that’s with the ones that don’t know me.
              2) No one was painting with a broad brush. Me thinks you need to reread my comment.
              3) I don’t CLAIM to have slimmed down–I HAVE slimmed down and considerably. New pictures soon. It was time.

              I think you’re too sensitive today.

              Reply
  2. Jay says:
    October 5, 2011 at 11:33 AM

    How is this justified let alone being allowed? I am very interested to know what the purpose of these are for government. Are these bribe gifts?

    Funny how we paid for someone to recieve 2 iPads…. I want one too, hehe….

    Reply
  3. Lew says:
    October 5, 2011 at 11:46 AM

    I wondered why Pammy didn’t get one, then realized Bill Good probably already gave her one for Christmas….

    Reply
  4. ROFLOL says:
    October 5, 2011 at 12:00 PM

    Maybe they’re so desperate, they’ll give an iPad for a vote…….sorta like one of McGuinty’s henchmen did in Ontario with the smokes for votes thing?

    Reply
  5. George says:
    October 5, 2011 at 1:11 PM

    I read this post by Bob this morning and what I found funny was the one Minister that was given 2 Ipads..

    I remember when Gregor tried this at city hall some time back…I would be very interested to see the cell phone and internet charges for these devices and time of day usage.

    Reply
  6. james says:
    October 5, 2011 at 2:21 PM

    They already have crackberries and everyone at the director level and above does too. You gotta see all the bureaucrats walking around with their crackberries being all important. It’s absolutely hilarious.

    Reply
    • AGT says:
      October 5, 2011 at 2:40 PM

      Maybe she could get Chad Pederson one.

      And a brain….

      Reply
      • Chris says:
        October 5, 2011 at 5:33 PM

        James you are on to something. I remember being far more productive in the days of four part memos and pay phones. Oh wait, no I wasn’t. JEEZUS people. I am just as anti Queen Christy as anyone around here, but this is no big deal. At least not as big a deal as everyone wants to make it out to be.

        Reply
  7. Seymour Forest says:
    October 5, 2011 at 2:35 PM

    iPad – sheesh. If they’re going to give out such things, why not help Canadian Blackberry and buy Playbooks, which interlink with Blackberries.

    No one uses Underwood typewriters anymore.. Much cheaper to use to write a policy brief with.

    Then there was calling a number downtown for that fundraiser by knowing where the holes were for what number on the rotary phone..

    Reply
  8. harry lawson says:
    October 5, 2011 at 2:45 PM

    look on the bright side, in a year they will be at crown assets disposal , and then we all can afford one

    Reply
    • AGT says:
      October 5, 2011 at 2:53 PM

      LOL!

      Reply
      • Seymour Forest says:
        October 6, 2011 at 2:20 PM

        What would be at crown assets disposal? the politicians?

        Afford one, who would want one? They are difficult to operate, parts are hard to come by, hard to get started, and never run the way they were designed for upkeep is expensive and there’s a very short warranty that isn’t worth the paper its written on.

        Of course like government vehicles, you wouldn’t want one because those who use them, run the shit out of them.

        Reply
  9. VanIsle says:
    October 5, 2011 at 4:39 PM

    Tell me about it when owing them money. When my MSP bill was $3 short by accident the phone was ringing off the hook and they were demanding the $3 and next month’s payment several weeks ahead of the due date. It’s outright harrassment by the so called “family’s” government medical payment goons.

    By the sounds of the Twitterverse today, Christy’s attack on Dix for being “an angry man” when he was asking how much RiotTV was going to cost showed how out of her league she is, and of course no answer for Dix.

    Reply
  10. NuxFan says:
    October 5, 2011 at 4:41 PM

    While many of you see these devices as toys, they can indeed be very useful and important tools for our politicians.
    I asked my local MLA over the weekend whether an iPad was necessary for his job. He said that whenever a policy manual/binder or any other briefing is sent to him, it is always couriered ($$$$).
    These iPads will save the government TONS of money, replacing their dependence on expensive couriers.
    This time, I actually support Christy’s spending decision.

    Reply
  11. OOrt field says:
    October 5, 2011 at 4:49 PM

    Aren’t I pads cheaper than laptops?

    And what’s with the thinking that blackberrys are some sort of executive perk? My plumber has one and so do most service people. We treat them like any other tool in our pouches.

    Just saying.

    Reply
    • AGT says:
      October 5, 2011 at 5:48 PM

      You’re plumber doesn’t work for the taxpayer and isn’t accountable to anyone except himself and his contract for the day.

      I’d like to know if these gadgets are necessary for these pampered assholes, or not.

      Reply
    • The High Commissioner of the Office of the Smoking Halo says:
      October 5, 2011 at 6:40 PM

      An iPad runs about six or seven hundred bucks a pop. You can get a decent PC laptop for around five bones.

      And a Kindle is, what, $200? A friend of mine has one for when he travels. Much more handy than the iPad because the Kindle has some functions that the iPad doesn’t.

      Reply
    • kootcoot says:
      October 6, 2011 at 9:41 AM

      “Aren’t I pads cheaper than laptops?”

      No they ARE NOT – one can score a NEW HP/toshiba/dell windows notebook with a 2-3 Ghz processor, about a third of a terabyte HD storage, and 3 gigs of RAM for about 1/2 the price of an iPad. The windows(or linux) based notebook is NOT proprietarily locked into Apple apps or iPad service providers and can hook up to dial-up, dsl, sattelite or pretty well any other imaginable service yet invented.

      You folks down in the black hole by the coast where all our money goes would be startled to discover how many locations outside the Lower Vainland your iPad or iPhone would have NO BARS, depending on your service provider. If you are with rogers (who to begin with was the only provider for an uncracked iPhone), for example, forget about using your toy in most, if not all, of the Slocan Valley and I don’t know if it is even available in Nelson, Trail or Castlebush.

      Reply
      • AGT says:
        October 6, 2011 at 10:52 AM

        I’ve been to both Nelson and Trail with my iPhone and they work alright. But I agree there are blackout spots along either highway when we drive to Naramata every summer.

        Reply
    • james says:
      October 6, 2011 at 11:07 AM

      Can you explain to me why some beaurocrat who rides a desk and goes to “strategic meetings” all day needs a government provided cellphone that’s constantly used for personal use? I’d love to know. They already have a PC and craptop on their desk plus a desk phone why the need for a freaking ipad and crackberry too? We already know why. It’s to look important and I’ve seen these puffed up maroons walking around like they’re some kind of gods for years.

      Reply
  12. Heartlands Teacher says:
    October 5, 2011 at 6:25 PM

    Our school district this very thing last year.

    We have been in debt every year for the past 7, which has resulted in money being pulled out of schools, classrooms, and away from kids with special needs. Every year when I think that things can’t get any worse, they take more.

    So then our district administrators all got ipads last year to “embrace technology”.

    I use my laptop every day for instruction (it connects to a 7 year old projector and an interactive whiteboard that has been loaned to me by the company) I use it almost exclusively for work purposes. But I paid for it myself, as I did the one before it.

    The newer laptop does not interact with our server because the server is too old. It took over a month to get tech support so that I could access the wireless router in my room, print anything from it, and get it downgraded to Windows XP from Windows 7 so that it would work properly at school.

    How about some “trickle up” economics for a change? Funnel all the money into the classroom and we will see if there is any left over for the paper pushers and their ipads.

    Reply
    • AGT says:
      October 5, 2011 at 10:08 PM

      Sad, but easy to believe.

      Reply
      • Smoking Halo says:
        October 6, 2011 at 1:36 PM

        It;’s just like the crap that goes on here.

        My last PC at the back counter went up in smoke (literally, it cooked itself) and I had to steal the setup from a different desk because the IT guy doesn’t have time (nor will the company provide the funds) to fix it.

        It’s now a doorstop (not kidding).

        Reply
  13. Josef says:
    October 5, 2011 at 9:29 PM

    Even I think this is an outrage. All of these people can afford one for themselves. I’d recommend a netbook, such is my taste.

    Enuf already. No, not you Alex… to the minders reading this blahg on their gov’t-funded Ipad. What happened to “Think Like A Taxpayer”?

    Reply
  14. ∞² says:
    October 5, 2011 at 10:09 PM

    It seems much more personal playing solitaire on an iPad.

    Reply
  15. Vancouver Real Estate = Drug Money says:
    October 8, 2011 at 1:47 PM

    Vancouver Real Estate = Drug Money

    What Joe six pack in BC don’t know is that many of British Colombia’s companies and government offices are used as case studies on how not to do technology. At one time British Colombia was the test bed for communication technologies that would later become the default standards in the US. No longer. With a penchants to do what Charter Communications did in the USA

    http://www.seattlepi.com/default/article/Charter-executives-charged-with-fraud-1120173.php

    technology is simply used as a cover to move money into political parties bank accounts. In BC when the government does tech, look for the tax payer to get shafted. No matrix, to measure improvement, no reporting, and no accountability. Whether it be Blackberry BES rip offs, IPhones, or made up medical communication solutions, fraud is the business, theater is the media, and unemployment and economic sabotage is the result.

    We don’t need jewelry for improved communications we need accountability, measurable track-able improvements that are not simply made up numbers, on a whim and then input into an excel spreadsheet, to be displayed in a power point presentation. Further, crystal clear transparency in government conduct and business operations. Honesty is key, and that does not exist in British Colombia.

    The only thing growing in BC is crime and corruption.

    Data plans in British Colombia are 160% higher than your competition in the US. Over 10000% higher than your competition in China. You don’t need technology you need the ICAC to put criminals that are in public office and their supporters in jail.

    Reply
  16. Mack says:
    October 8, 2011 at 3:17 PM

    Ipads are rampant in many City Governments as well.

    Reply

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