Chilliwack Hypocrite John Martin Joins the Sinking BC Liberals to Help Bail Water Out of a Water-Logged Hull–But with John Cummins’ Cursed Bucket
I received a phone call last night from a member of the mainstream press.
“Smitty’s on to something…he says BC Liberal sources are telling him it’s big news tomorrow and it’s got something to do with the BC Conservatives; a possible defection.”
I almost burst out laughing. This, on the day a poll was released showing Adrian Dix and the BC NDP with a commanding lead and Christy’s numbers plummeting further (particularly among women!!!), along with John Cummins, leader of the BC Jesus Party circumnavigating the toilet bowl.
“Where,” I said, “is the announcement going to be?”
As soon a she said “Chilliwack” I knew it had to be former Chilliwack by-election train-wreck, John Martin. All sorts of names were being bandied about, including Chuck Strahl, or Sacha Peter (who was Martin’s campaign manager–but I spoke to him by phone and he denied wanting to cross “into Liberal hell” or that he knew anything about Martin wanting to go). The tip off was that Martin wasn’t returning his phone calls. I’m sorry, I just couldn’t be bothered to do a ‘Breaking News’ piece on a has-been leaving a half-submerged ship to a life-raft with three holes in it, trying to hit dry land five hundred nautical miles away.
Nevertheless, Martin, a good enough writer, and decent lecturer, spent the entire by-election campaign earlier this year, absolutely ripping the BC Liberals to shreds. He went after no one with more fire or gusto than Christy Clark herself!
He sent me a note, well-before I knew of him, and asked if I would speak to his class. He called my work on BC Rail, and specifically Clark herself, “courageous” and “an inspiration.”
And now, he’s willing to follow her??? LMAO! THIS was the big announcement that had Deputy Premier Rich Coleman huffing and puffing to Bill Good at 11:45am this morning??? LOL!
“Well, I do think it’s a big story, Bill.”
LOL! I’m still laughing every time I think about it. It is a big story alright, the BC Conservatives can count one less backstabber in their midst.
But here’s the crux of the matter: Who’s more the desperate hypocrite? Martin, after telling us that Christy is running a corrupt government and that the BC Liberals should be removed from office, or Clark and her cabal of cheap shot artists and manipulators, that are so frantic, anguished and aching to take in someone, who, until yesterday, hammered them into thin paste???
It’s unbelievable that the BC Liberals are so desperate, so without an agenda, so vacant of decent candidates, that they would take in Martin, who ran a disappointing campaign and even inside Chilliwack is a meaningless pick.
That they need to stoop this low demonstrates their fortunes. Not good.
In a related matter, the Supreme Court of Canada has today announced that prostitutes…oh nevermind…
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Speaking of candidates, after the announcement this morning by Vancouver-Quilchena’s Colin Hansen that he is no longer running, two prominent names appear to have some momentum in replacing him.
One, is ever-popular former Vancouver Parks Commissioner Ian Robertson.
Robertson, a soft-’c’ Conservative (red Tory), is a highly affable, very strong networker and solid campaigner. He would be a true ‘star-candidate’ for the BC Liberals. The first one they’d be able to claim.
The other is well-respected lawyer Andrew Wilkinson.
He is a federal Liberal, but from the other side of the party than Christy Clark. The good side. He’s an old guard Grit, with tremendous credentials in the BC Liberal Party, having worked with Gordon Campbell, and he’s backed by long-time campaign titan and powerbroker Doug Leung–another plus in Wilkinson’s cap. In addition, his charity work and leadership skills are legendary. A highly likeable fellow, indeed, and he’d be another in the ‘star-candidate’ category.
Either one of these men would make very compelling candidates. The BC Conservatives will NOT split any votes on the center-right in Quilchena, if either of these guys wins. But they both present an interesting dilemma for Christy. Know why? Because neither of them particularly likes her.
Wilkinson’s federal Liberal pedigree plants him in the Chick Turner mold (even though he supported Chretien, too); real Liberals (remember them?), establishment ones. People who cared about the country and didn’t ever care if Paul Martin and Brian Mulroney chummed around. That brand was ANNIHILATED by Clark and her ex-husband, the ever-destructive Mark Marrisen, who delivered both the utterly feckless Paul Martin and terminally useless Stephane Dion–and, in the process, ruined the Liberal Party of Canada to the point where it’s current influence, if administered an enema, could be reduced into the head of a thimble.
As for Ian Robertson, I contacted him this morning between meetings in Whistler, and he had this to say.
“Alex, you’re putting me in a tough spot. I’m not ruling anything out yet, but there’s no question, I don’t like the direction the party took on the HST or is taking now. I got into politics to represent the wishes of the people and not the wishes of insiders. I hate that part of politics and I think the public does, too. I haven’t heard from the BC Liberals in awhile, but if they call again, that’s what I’ll be telling them. If they like it, great, but if they don’t; I have a wonderful job, two terrific boys, a really great marriage, and I’ll be super happy to continue doing what I love and spending time with Pam and the boys. Okay? Gotta go, take care.”
This should be interesting, as Quilchena is my home riding, I’ll take particular interest in this one.
couldn’t believe BCCP voted down a review (actually, I could!) yesterday. Talk about swallowing your political grenade for the leader!
I guess they prefer 70% optimist=glass full VS 30% pessimist=glass empty. So, with the recent defections et al; are Elley and White sitting on the back burner waiting for Cummins to release the Kraken. DAMN, with all 3 parties going off on tangents, it sure makes it impossible and confusing for average joe voter to pick a logical one!!
(WHOOPS, I meant one that will do the least amount of damage).
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At the risk offering a heretical viewpoint, it seems to me that the Libs. chance to gain more than just a handful of seats in the May election just took a huge step forward.
As the Cons. vote share goes down, the Libs. goes back up. We already saw this happening in the recent poll that had the Cons down to something like 16% and the Libs up to 32%. Every point drop for the Cons. is a point up for the Libs. If the Cons fall to single digits (increasingly looking likely) that could put the Libs. up to 40% and ensure a still respectable showing that would allow a base to rebuild — once the “Dump the Dummy” movement finally grows a pair.
The NDP is at about 49%, but a few points of that is above their norm and could be very squishy and could easily float back under the right circumstances. It might not all be over yet.
Cheers!
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An excellent analysis, but the inertia is still not enough to get the BC Liberals into striking distance.
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My struggle is, do I want the Liberals within striking distance? I do not think I could watch CC for 4 years if the Liberals (I will not say her) managed to pull it off. The only hope for the right to remain in control and wipe the slate clean was with the Conservatives and now that hope is gone. To clean the slate I may just not vote and let the NDP win.
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That, I fear, will be the only option left to principled right wing moderates and even centrists.
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The Liberals sure ruined BC Hydro. It may be bankrupted in the near future due to all the “dividends” the Liberals are taking to gut the Corporation! They are under calculating and misrepresenting BC’s true deficit with the money deferrals they utilized. Maybe the Liberals have a buyer for BC Hydro just like BC Rail and the LDB.?????
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Run to fail. Create the disease sell the cure.?failure strategy
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Not a chance. Too much damage on the BC Liberal end.
The NDP would have to drop considerably in the next few months by their own doing, and they are being very wise not to have that happen.
the BC Liberals will no doubt rise but they would still remain within the levels that will mean they will end up as Opposition.
They have an opportunity in front of them (not the nauseating parading around of Martin kind), and wil have to use it and build on it quickly.
It’s not a matter of them ending up as government, it’s more of how many seats they have in Opposition. The minimum amount they need is 10.
Biggest chance they will have is at Budget time.
Convention time? Forget it, it’s just a show and preaching to the choir.
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I quite agree.
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Dump the Dummy can’t happen too soon.
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I can assure you, it’s coming.
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John Van Dongan doesn’t come out of this with any grace….he looks like he is desparate for any seat to keep .
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That’s one opinion.
But not one that is representative of a majority.
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JVD’s new theme song…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgO_Gagj6OM
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Ain’t that the truth!
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I wonder if there are any bookies in this province taking bets on JVD boarding yet another less-than-seaworthy vessel before this is finally over. Gawd, I can hardly wait until the next installment.
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I think what he did is principled. Highly.
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While jumping off a sinking ship may be the smart thing to do, I’m not sure jumping off one sinking ship and onto another that is an old rust bucket — but still floating — qualifies as “principled” (although you might make the case that the “principled” thing to do is leave the party when you can’t get along with the leadership — but having done that twice, it does sort of make him look like “not a team player”).
Why did he jump on the Cons ship in the first place? Surely it is not like all that much has changed about the Cons. (other than their position in the polls) in the past 6 months. Surely he knew that they were led up front by Herman and the Troglydytes.
The truly principled thing to do would have been to sit as an independent (after he jumped ship the first time). He jumped off the leaking Cons. ship only when it became clear it was not the conveyance likely to carry him to his re-election.
Cheers!
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Hi Alex,
My choice of metaphors above was completely what came to my mind in describing the situation.
I just clicked on the link above from ToneBone. Can’t stop laughing at the coincidence.
Cheers!
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Can you please provide us with the evidence to support your last statement??? vanDongen polled as well as ever regardless of which party he was sitting with. Please provide your evidence to the contrary.
I often have great difficulty with your comments, as they don’t seem anchored to the political realities at play.
(1) Leaving the BC Liberals was a highly principled thing to do. Clark is a corrupt leader. Those that remain must bear their own crosses.
(2) Leaving the BC Conservatives was an equally highly principled thing to do as the leader supports bigotry and rewards stupidity. After a measly 70% approval rating, you can include buttressing mediocrity to their half bag of nothingness.
(3) vanDongen raised the level of the BC Conservative game, and most certainly NOT the other way around. I’m not sure if that’s clear to you, but if it isn’t, let me be the first to help.
(4) You have clearly confused ‘strategy’ and ‘principle’. I think what you’re trying to say is that vanDongen should have sat as an independent. Hindsight being 20/20, if it proves to be an issue, it’ll be one the size of a wart. vanDongen is the ONLY politician right now that, at his own personal expense, is trying to get you specific answers about why the current Premier and her government are fighting thei rown Auditor General in court, to keep concealed an agreement, that should be readily available since that same Premier constantly reminds us of how open and transparent she is.
Start there. It’s not too complicated…
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Credit where credit is due…Cummins has within 24 hours improved his approval rating from 70% to 90+% of a smaller crowd.
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I really think if JVD had to do it over again knowing what he does he would have sat as an independent but you have to remember a party like the BCC needed credibility provided by JVD at a time where they actually could have won one seat on their own which would have been perceived by many as a growing party trending in the right direction.
Instead they fumbled the ball and fell flat on their face. So i really don’t see what other choice he would have as they didnt take the advantage he gave them.
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John van Dongen left the Liberal party because he couldnt stand the hypocracy of Christy Clark at the helm….
He then jumped into the Conservative party far too quickly (in my humble opinion) after leaving the Liberal party….
I’m sure he regretted it almost as soon as it was done.
His descision to leave the Conservatives seems to be solely due to John Cummins remaining as the Leader of the party.
Mr Van Dongen can recognize a “millstone” around a party’s neck faster than most and he used the leadership challenge as the final straw to leave again.
My only suggestion to Mr. van Dongen….
Run in the next election as an independant…. less lunatics to deal with……
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Astute observations and follow-up comments.
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AGT states:
“I often have great difficulty with your comments, as they don’t seem anchored to the political realities at play.”
Hi Alex,
You seem to disparage me whenever I say something outside of your stated views (or just delete my post). That’s no fun and does nothing to promote intelligent discussion. I like reading you, but don’t always agree with you. Fair enough?
I don’t tow the line for anyone and prefer to think independently and critically analyze the available evidence (9 years of university education and three degrees, plus a couple decades more making use of that training subsequently, kind of makes that a natural mindset).
I am fully in touch with “political realities”. I have absolutely no partisan leaning and would gladly vote for a competent, fiscally realistic (none in either of the two main parties, as far as I am concerned) and socially moderate Independent in a heartbeat. I would love to see a legislature with a dozen real Independents (or 85, but who is counting?)
Nor am I swayed in my feelings by the fact that a lone brave soul has put his face out in front of the BC Rail thing (either you or JVD). I call it as I see it, with no biases or partisan proclivities.
The point is: the Cons. were a mongrel bunch 6 months ago when JVD jumped ship. You knew that at the time (I think — I recall you writing the mess of them off after choosing Reed Elley as Prez. Although I admit to sharing your earlier hope that the Cons would supplant the Libs as a serious free enterprise party).
Rather than looking like a political whore (since you have used the same language in other contexts — when it suits your taste — I imagine this passes the censor test) jumping off a sinking ship and onto a Troglodyte infested barge, JVD should have sat as an Independent from Day 1. Would have saved him 6 months of fooling around with cave dwellers. His personal popularity is quite irrelevant — indeed, that it is so strong should have encouraged him to stay a “loose fish” (don’t know if you get that reference — it is a bit old) throughout this Legislature and run as an Independent in the next election.
Cheers!
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A much better comment than your earlier one..
Point being: I don’t care what your opinion is; I’ll delighted print it.
But it has to make sense. This one did. The previous one–not at all.
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It may have been principled, what JVD did .. I don’t doubt it, but a lot of the chat right now, and I can’t help but think it myself, is that he must have had a fairly good idea of what he was getting into. Perhaps he was banking on the notion that more positive change was on its way for the party, change of leadership, etc. Just thinking maybe it would have been better for him to sit as an independent when he left the Liberals.
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mr vanDongen did not keave because he is a opportunist. he left because he has integrity.
you need to look no further tan the actions or lack of actions by mr cummins.
mr cummins should have been at the bc rail court case ,he chose not to publicly support his only sitting mla in the house.
i hear that mr cummins was fearful of jvd becoming leader.
for jvd it was never about leadership it has been about integrity within a party.
mr cummins and ms clark appear to have the same leadership principles . and that is why jvd bailed.
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Well said Harry!
JVD tried for years to make a difference from within the LIEberals before he finally gave up on that bag of snakes.
I’m glad JVD didn’t waste a lot of precious time suffering fools in the den of vipers that make up the BCCP; these born-again zealots don’t deserve the presence of a principled man of integrity like JVD!
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What the hell is Van Dongen doing? Now he’s talking about giving the Liberals another look. He’s going to the Lib convention and might hook up with them again, IF Christy is turfed.
John you’re giving the impression of someone who is swaying in the breeze. I’ll join the BCCP is Cummins is gone. I’ll think about returning to the Liberals if Christy is gone.
Who do you want to be leader, John? Maybe John?
And, if you return to the Libs, what happens to your search for BC Rail truth?
My, my, some strange happenings in the past few days.
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My thoughts, almost exactly. But much briefer
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Here is where I blame the media…
I watched on twitter as many media… were misleading… the comments I saw stated that JVD would consider going back to Liberals.. BUT what was not emphasized was the rest of the comment
:ONLY if one Christy Clark WAS NOT the leader of the party..”
Many media only stated he would consider returning to Liberals.. big difference when you leave out the entire comment.
Certainly changes things doesn’t it.
Biased media should be ashamed of themselves.. sadly CKNW was one of the biggest offenders …
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Wether CC is gets turfed or not, for VanDongen to even think about returning to the Libs after listening to fat ass Coleman call him mentally unstable then the guy does indeed have mental problems along with zero credibility.
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I asked THREE members of the media scrum and tests NOT what he said. His comments were taken totally but of context.
vanDongen is ALONE in trying to get you the truth about the Basi-Virk settlement–AND USING HIS OWN FUNDS. He’s put YOUR children before HIS.
And you think he’s nuts?
Maybe he’s not the one with mental problems…
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I take exception to that last comment Alex. I clearly understand what JVD is doing and salute him, but when I still see it scrolling along the bottom of the CBC TV screen late last night that he is planning to attend the Liberal convention then is it not easy for the averge joe without the instant connections like yourself to think something isn’t right here ?
If it’s all BS then that’s great and I would dismiss any negative thoughts on him, but I’m going by what I’m seeing on news and what I was picking up on Twitter via what I thought were reputable sources. I came here first and never saw any of your posts saying the MSM were wrong and he’s not attending.
So ease off on attacking one of YOUR long term supporters, it was my opinion based on what most people were reading.
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I’M NOT ATTACKING YOU. It’s a fact: vanDongen would go back to a united center-right party–but one that WASN’T led by Christy.
That should be obvious.
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People rant about politicians who have no backbone and sit silently while their leader and the party apparatus betrays the public trust. Then when one does show us he has balls, our first instinct is to kick them.
I can’t see how anyone could read John van Dongen’s affidavit detailing his efforts to get answers from Gordon Campbell and the rest of cabinet about the BC Rail debacle before he left the party and suggest that his actions were unprincipled. Nor is paying for the court challenge out of his own pocket unprincipled.
Unprincipled are those that sit like spineless cowards while somebody like Christy Clark and the parasites that surround her, elected and otherwise, trash this province, its reputation, and its institutions.
Any one of the current elected MLAs in this province could have taken the action (the court challenge at their own expense), but none except Mr. van Dongen did so. The New Democratic Party, despite making noises about getting to the bottom of the BC Rail affair, could have done so. It did not. The BC Conservative party could have done so, instead of paying Cummins $4K a month. It did not.
The unprincipled and bad team player that left the sinking ship (which he caused to leak) is sitting in London. Laughing at us.
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Wow, Lew!
You nailed it – wish I’d said that.
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Clark said: “Dog gone, John”.
Cummins said: “Glad your gone, John”.
Clark will say: “Stay gone, John”.
What will the voters in his riding say?
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With less money than God, John Van Dongen faces an opponent in court who has more money than God. Really, it is better one has deep sleep at night, rather than deep regret in the day.
The fact John Cummins could not do the math at his own press conference Saturday is not, nor should not be reason to question John Van Dongen’s commitment of his own money to serve the public’s good.
He is not a flake, neither a double minded man unstable in all his ways. I had opportunity to see behind the scenes, as did others, the egregious disrespect and borderline contempt expressed to MLA Van Dongen by some in the Conservative party.
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I for one am happy to see wackiness returning to BC politics. Things were far too sedate during the Campbell years
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Agree there. During the time of Mike Harcourt, politics was boring, a real snore. This after the rock ‘em sock ‘em bash ‘em into the boards
Canadian hockey style of politics that was legendary in the 1980s. It was boring during Campbell’s time too. Alot of announcements, but nothing exciting.
H-e-double hockey sticks, even the BC Liberal party is a bore! Nothing exciting to get into, since that stupid party micro-manages everything that has BC Liberal written on it.
It’s been said, there are two blood sports in Canada. Hockey and politics. Canadian politics is bad enough, but B.C. politics had a reputation of being the meanest, toughest, wackiest and most exciting in the country a real spectator sport.
The politics in the United States is boring compared to ours.
Get rested up for a wacko time starting in January.
Hopefully Canucks hockey will be back by then too.
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What has been a real eye opener for me are the comments being made by the BCCP faithful…
Vicious statements that are being made about JVD.. ironic how hypocritical the extreme religious right really are.. claiming everything in the name of God… but showing the most ungodly side of human nature.. media included.
Having the stupidity not to realize that putting it on social media where we can screenshot and keep for eternity.. seriously stupid..
I would never give them a vote after reading the comments made by the party faithful.
JVD has earned my respect…
Conservatives as they stand now… a huge joke.. amateur hour.
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they are now as relevant as the christian heritage party.
they could have taken the high road but chose not to
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Amen brother, amen. Praise the Lord that drives a blue Ford!
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http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/09/23/bc-van-dongen.html?cmp=rss
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Here’s a wild idea..
Wait for it… Wait.. for.. ittt..
John VanDongen crosses the floor to the NDP.
Far fetched, but Gordon Wilson crossed the floor to the NDP.
So who would be be pimping for John VanDongen now?
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Pure insanity.
Will never happen. I guarantee it.
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I think Mr. Van Dongen did the only thing he could do when he left the b.c. conversatives. He has had the support of his riding so there is no reason he could not run & be elected as an independant.
If politics is going to change in this province, it might be best if good candidates, you can’t find a party they are comfortable, run as independants. I realize Ms. Huntingdon has a lot of local support which helped her run & win as an independant, but I am sure more principaled people could do it also.
I can only conclude the /B.C. Conservative party is more interested in party politics than in becoming a party which could some day be elected as opposition. they just don’t get it. I gather they just want to “play” at politics & feel important in their own little pond but have no real interest in making a contribution to this province.
It certainly would keep things interesting & everyone on their toes if we had more independants.
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If you think we’re confused about who to vote for,check out Small Dead Animals, Sept.24 where Howard Stern interviews Obama supporters on his show. This election is going to affect us a lot more, than our own provincial, especially if Mr. Magnifico gets re-elected, and it is only 6 weeks away!
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Quite agreed.
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i agree that the U.S. economy has a huge impact on the people of BC larry.
i would like to point out though that if the BC liberals continue with the firesale of BC assets and massive user fees tacked on to everything and anything… BC may not have much of an economy to be wrecked by the american election.
we need to limit the damage the people elected in BC are doing to us first, then worry about whats going on elsewhere.
when the BC libs are shipping raw logs overseas and ignoring their own advisors at the cost of BC jobs, putting half billion dollar roofs on stadiums that are hardly used, and building half empty convention centers at another half billion in cost overruns alone… we need to fix whats wrong here first.
all these “legacy” projects have to be paid for and that comes from our economy one way or another.
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Yes but, the neighbours to the south do have another alternative and it is a huge contrast to what they have now! What do we have? For the last oh, 2 or 3 years, Alex has done a Spartan job of warning us away from the Christie Clark gang that calls themselves Liberals. That leaves us 2 – 3 alternatives. The New Democratic Party, that will immediately increase carbon taxes and business taxes, corporate taxes, and etc., and they will be cheered on by the dorks at 12 and Cambie. If you want to see Elizabeth May shaking her dewlaps for the next 4 years, then vote Green. Then there is that unknown factor, that some seem to think will change access to abortion and SSM laws (despite the fact that they haven’t the authority to do so) but who appear conservative in fiscal matters. I mean, what have we got to lose?
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Just heard a comment about the Independent MLA in Delta, from a constituent. He said people very happy with her representation. What is the number required for “funding” in the legislature? I thought it was 4 or 5. I would vote for an Independent as I am now disenfranchised..can’t vote for Clark..can’t vote for Cummins now, because of his Bible thumping..can’t vote for Dix..
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Ken Boessenkool resigned. Any insight Alex?
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Go to my next post.
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Skidder, if I may be so bold, just when has Cummins been “thumping Bibles”? I have lived a long time, and have seen the demise of the Lord’s Day Laws and seen the diminution of Holy Matrimony and the rise of moral relativism and situation ethics, multiculturalism and human rights.
I have seen them all as negative aspects of modernism. Still, I have been able to live through these changes. It is not like the man or his party is calling for Sharia Law! So let us strike a match in the darkness and illuminate what is going on here. Would you deny a Jew public office because he considers himself one of the “Chosen” or an elect member of the People of the Book? Or what of Muslims, some of whom now hold office? Are atheists, who consider all Deist to be fools and idiots, the only ones acceptable for office?
So just what is it about John Cummins that makes him so reprehensible? What is so grating about the man’s personality that makes you despise him so? Know what I think Skidder? I think you’re a bigot of the worst order.
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You need 4 MLA’s for official party status, which entitles you to research funding, additional staff, etc. A party of independents seems like an oxymoron, but I guess caucus discipline would be pretty lax.
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Boessenkool resigns!!! over some “inappropriate incident”…..
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“Premier Christy Clark’s chief of staff Ken Boessenkool has resigned.”
Another rat jumps ship.
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Try as I might, I haven\t found another forum or board that has anywhere near the number of positive comments regarding JVD’s most recent flip-flop as this one does. The comments I’ve read so far are almost universally scathing and dismissive, very few people seem to think his latest adventure is anything more than blatant opportunism at it’s worst. As for me, the news that JVD plans to attend the Fib’s upcoming AGM seals that perception.
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Well, then, they’re idiots.
Mike Morton is a master of media manipulation. He’s got a whole team (that Dave Basi helped him assemble) who are involved.
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Boessenkool’s letter of resignation is actually dated Sunday, Sept 23rd. This development is plastered all over the government web site. Crispy has a news conference at 11 this morning re Boessenkool. No media questions permitted. Why not Christy?
Nice to know that Dan Doyle, the former BC Hydro chair, is now her Chief of Staff.
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I participated in the presser. No questions by phone allowed.
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AGT,
Just heard that Christy’s chief of staff, Ken Boessenkool has just resigned, stating that he feels he has let his family down. Apparently it is over an ‘incident’ that was not described in detail. Any idea what is going on? This looks like more bad news for Christy.
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Fondling a waitress in a cocktail bar.
Go read my new post.
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Open and transparent government and another example of what that means to clark…
I wonder how much we will be paying Boessenkool out for resigning, after an “incident” that won’t be commented on and from the description certainly appears to be some form of sexual harassment and although that may not be the case I will have to assume it is until further detail is provided.
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Also as an aside I think we need to graph the baffling incidents of stupidity per week since Clark took office because it sure seems that they are accelerating rapidly over her term.
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Just wondering what everyone thinks about this… is Christy crossing boundaries with the public’s right to know..again? What is being buried here? Privacy laws… really, we are his employers!
Premier won’t explain Chief of Staff resignation
Christy Clark says she can’t comment on why Ken Boessenkool has quit his position as her Chief of Staff because of privacy laws. Premier says she became aware of an “incident of concern” two weeks ago.
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the guy has a right to privacy. PERIOD.
if he had made the choose to fight this.. then it gets made public because he has made the choice to fight his dismissal.
afaik, their are no allegations of a criminal action , so no we do not have the right to know.
of course that does not mean i am curious… i just think we should afford people the same rights we expect.
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Not so fast. If he was fighting it, then and only then would some of the details need be kept secret. You’ve got it backwards. So that he wasn’t being condemned in the court of public opinion.
In this case, he’s a former staffer–not a bureaucrat. Either way, we should know the surface details and the timing is key. I contend that the Premier lied to the press this morning.
Let’s see.
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you have a point alex. but i question if anything should be made public unless he admits to what the inappropriate act was that he committed.
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Well, read his letter. He admits to it. He doesn’t give details, but he fully admits to it.
Here: http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/09/24/christy-clarks-chief-of-staff-ken-boessenkool-resigns-over-ambiguous-incident-of-concern/
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Boessenkool acted inappropriately and has resigned. Is that what happens when “Raindrops on roses…” starts playing on your Ipad during a strategy meeting?
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That’s funny.
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Off topic, but just to add to the drama of BC politics, Ken Boessenkool has resigned as Christy’s Chief of Staff saying
“Earlier this month I was involved in an incident where I acted inappropriately,” Boessenkool said in a statement released Monday.
“I was wrong, regretted my behaviour very much and immediately and unconditionally apologized.”
Clark said she has now named Dan Doyle, chair of BC Hydro as her new chief of staff.
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Christy+Clark+replaces+chief+staff+after+abruptly+resigns/7290807/story.html#ixzz27PjcV4Gw
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Christy+Clark+replaces+chief+staff+after+abruptly+resigns/7290807/story.html#ixzz27PjcV4Gw
Oh, what a gong show BC politics are!
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And now Boessunkoell resigns, what a frickin’ gong show. Nobody’s running this province (except into the ground).
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This just in from the Globe & Mail’s comments section re the surprise resignation of Mr. Popularity, Ken Boessenkool.
Editor’s Note: Comments have been closed on this story because an overwhelming number of readers were making offensive statements about other commenters and/or the individual or individuals mentioned in the story. That kind of behaviour is a breach of our commenting policy, and so the comment function has been turned off. We appreciate your understanding.
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If every riding had an independent candidate they would form government in May.
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so, looks like disaster #1 of this week for the libs is kenny boessenkool.
any bets on what the next one this week is?
gotta admit im curious what this guy did to get himself canned.
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Alex, here’s your words from April:
John Martin is a down-to-earth, no nonsense, reasonable man who makes a great candidate. He understands Chilliwack and its fine people. He earns my respect, and my heartiest endorsement.
http://alexgtsakumis.com/2012/04/10/breaking-news-tsakumis-endorses-conservative-john-martin-in-chilliwack-and-ndper-joe-trasolini-in-port-moody-by-elections/
Now you say Martin is a hyprocrite who ran a disappointing campaign?
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Oh Lord, there’s always one in every pile…
Pay attention, Collin, since I need to spoon feed you.
(1) That was an endorsement BEFORE the election. I had heard that he was running a less than acceptable campaign, but I liked what I’d heard with my own ears.
(2) For the same principled things he said while a candidate for the BC Conservatives, I’m delighted to be condemning him now. HE IS A FIRST CLASS HYPOCRITE! All the criticisms that he made were valid, now he’s going back on them. Pardon me, perhaps you’re right, he’s not just a hypocrite, he’s an ass.
(3) Does it not compute with you??? He was on the correct side of the issues, but now decides that he’s going to go stand with the most corrupt government in the history of BC. Oh wait, if that’s not enough for your pea, include the fact that he chooses to cross over on the eve of an election (it’s only eight months away) and looks every bit the shameless opportunist instead of principled warrior.
Get it? I’ll bet not…
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Winston Churchill. Started as a Tory, crossed the floor to become a Whig when his constituency “deselected” him, and then re-crossed the floor years later to become a Tory again.
As he himself said:” Anyone can rat, but it takes a certain ingenuity to re-rat.”
I’m not seeing the parallels here too well, and besides, BC isn’t at war with fascism – no this week anyway.
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