7 posts tagged “gordon campbell”

There's not much doubt that the B.C. Liberals will win the next election, but John van Dongen's essentially forced resignation shows a lapse in judgement on the part of Gordon Campbell and his team.

B.C. solicitor general resigns over speeding tickets
Delayed resignation reflects poorly on premier, says NDP leader
Last Updated: Monday, April 27, 2009 | 1:00 PM PT

British Columbia's top law enforcement official has resigned from the provincial cabinet following revelations that his driver's licence has been suspended for excessive speeding, adding a new twist to the provincial election campaign.

Solicitor General and Minister of Public Safety John van Dongen announced his cabinet resignation in a statement released Monday morning, but said he will continue to run as the B.C. Liberal Party candidate for Abbotsford South in the May 12 election.

The problem here is that van Dongen's infractions related to his responsibilities. As the minister responsible for ICBC and driving safety, he should have resigned by choice the moment a court of law took away his driver's licence. If he'd been (for example) the Environment minister...well, that would show terrible judgement but not create a conflict with his responsibilities and a resignation might be an option.

Ten lanes. Sheesh.

There's an upside to this, if you want to look at it that way. Two lanes will be dedicated bus lanes. These aren't HOV lanes these are bus lanes. I'm not sure if there's going to be an HOV lane as well. There should be.

That's the upside. The current Port Mann bridge is too narrow to provided dedicated transit. It's three lanes each way. The new bridge at five lanes each way could actually be defined as adding HOV and Transit capacity only: three lanes for all traffice, one 24 hour HOV only lane and one bus lane only. The new bridge creates the ability to finally provide mass transit with dedicated road space to the Fraser Valley.

But sheesh. 10 lanes, with a budget that's just growing and growing. I hope this goes well.

New 10-lane bridge to replace Port Mann
BY KELLY SINOSKI, VANCOUVER SUN, FEBRUARY 4, 2009

_METRO VANCOUVER--_The provincial government has scrapped its plan to twin the Port Mann Bridge in favour of building a new 10-lane crossing over the Fraser River, at a cost of $3.3 billion.

Premier Gordon Campbell said the new bridge, which will be built to accommodate rapid bus service, expanded cycling and pedestrian lanes and a possible light rail line, will ease congestion clogging the crossing and commuter delays by about one-third.

it might be prudent to ask why the premier of the province is announcing a reduction in fares. (It's possible that this Globe & Mail story is factually inaccurate.)

B.C. to accelerate income tax cuts
PATRICK BRETHOUR
October 22, 2008 at 9:32 PM EDT

VANCOUVER -- British Columbia will accelerate income tax cuts to cushion the blow from the economic slowdown, Premier Gordon Campbell announced minutes ago in a province-wide televised address.

Income tax cuts slated to take effect this coming January will come into effect immediately - and be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2008 - handing B.C. residents an unexpected windfall as the holiday retail season approaches.

The announcement was part of a 10-point plan announced by Mr. Campbell last night, which also include accelerated tax cuts for businesses and a temporary cut in ferry fares.

Missed, in my reading of the initial coverage of the toll situation on Highway 1, was Gordon Campbell's announcement that tolls on the Port Mann would be imposed for 35 years.

This is, of course, a meaningless announcement. By the time that 35 year agreement is up, the average person voting in today's election will be in their seventies, and the promise will be long forgotten. Gordon Campbell will be 95, and won't have to answer for an changes to that decision.

I recall seeing a documentary about the Lion's Gate Bridge which talked about Vancouver City Council providing a 60 year timeline for the removal of the road through Stanley Park. I wish I could find the reference, but even if I did I wouldn't fall for it.

I'm not opposed to tolls, incidentally. I think the Port Mann should be tolled. I'm not a fan of artificial promises, and I'm somewhat amazed that the news media has been letting this one slide.

Gordon Campbell today announced at the Union of B.C. Municipalities meeting tolls would be removed from the Coquihalla Highway as of 13:00hrs today. The Vancouver Sun provides sufficiently pedantic coverage.

The logic is pretty obvious here: the new Port Mann bridge is going to be tolled, which means this effectively just moves the toll farther up the highway. The route from Vancouver to the Interior will only be toll free for a short period of time. The Lougheed Highway provides an alternate, probably permanently toll free route to the Coquihalla but from Vancouver it adds quite a bit of time: for most people, it's not practical.

The obvious question though, is what happened to the 2003 plan of privatizing the Coquihalla. At the time, Transportation Minister Judith Reed explained the decision by saying that:

"As the 17-year-old highway ages, maintenance and rehabilitation costs will grow. These improvements must be made in a way that ensures the 81 per cent of users from outside the southern Interior pay the largest share, and benefits frequent travellers - especially local residents.

The government--the same government--at the time insisted that privatization was the only way to keep the Coquihalla running effectively into the future. There was just no other way.

The government press release is archived here but I've excerpted it after the break in case that URL changes.

read more...

The things you learn when you pay attention.

It was time for the annual chain change on my daily commuter bike, and when I wondered why the bill seemed smaller than I thought it should be, I learned that in British Columbia:

You do not charge your customer PST when you sell replacement parts. 

which means I'm going to be paying closer attention to bills in the future. A nice little incentive provided by the Campbell government.

In what appears to be an attempt to remove all meaning whatsoever from the term university, the Campbell government has announced the eight university in just over a week.

Emily Carr to become university
Name change recognizes what the Vancouver art institute is already, president says
MARSHA LEDERMAN, April 29, 2008 at 4:26 AM EDT
VANCOUVER -- From the comic strip sensation For Better or For Worse to Generation X to First Nations masks made out of Nikes, graduates of the Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design have made significant contributions to popular culture - not to mention serious art.

Now the school can boast an achievement of its own: It will be granted university status to become the Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECUAD)
...
Last week, the B.C. government announced it would grant university status to Capilano College, Kwantlen University College, Malaspina University-College and the University College of the Fraser Valley.

My personal favourite announcement was Capilano College. The Premier's own commissioned report recommended against this change, based on the fact that both Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia were too closely situated. Despite this recommendation, Premier Campbell designated Capilano a university.

The Premier's sister is on the board of the college. Think that had anything to do with it?

Pretty soon, there won't be any colleges left, and there sure won't be any value in a university degree earned in British Columbia.