UPDATE MONDAY - One BC Liberal cabinet minister DID resign his post.
One BC Liberal candidate should quit the election.
One BC Liberal candidate should quit the election.
UPDATE - Breaking news at 10:45 a.m. Monday - John van Dongen has bowed to public pressure and resigned his position as Solicitor General.
Here is van Dongen's statement, followed by the original blog posting:
"Over the weekend I have reflected on my actions. I have heard from those who have rightly criticized my driving record that has undermined their confidence in my role as Solicitor General.
I do understand how my conduct in this respect has reflected poorly on the credibility of the office.
In no way do I wish to allow my actions to distract from the tremendous work and ongoing contributions of the people who are working so hard to build confidence in our law enforcement system and in our efforts to improve public safety, particularly surrounding gangs and gun violence.
I have worked hard as Solicitor General.
Over the course of the last year, I have met with people who have lost family members because of speeding and other illegal driving behaviour. I have let them down and I have let down my constituents who depend on me to set the highest public example. For that I am deeply sorry. ...
As I stated last week, I fully recognize the importance of public safety and compliance with the laws of our roads. I apologize to those I have let down with these latest actions, and it remains my hope that the public will continue to have confidence in the office of the Solicitor General."
ORIGINAL POSTING FRIDAY APRIL 24:
Just another quiet Friday afternoon in the BC election.
Solicitor General John van Dongen - the province's cabinet minister in charge of law enforcement - the top cop - got stopped by the cops one time too many for speeding and has lost his license to drive for four months.
Van Dongen, the Abbotsford-Clayburn MLA, should have been fired from cabinet immediately but wasn't, not by this morally-challenged premier.
Despite the fact that van Dongen was caught twice excessively speeding - in one case going over 120 kilometres an hour in an 80 km zone - Campbell actually praised the pedal to the metal minister.
“I take my hat off to John for bringing this forward and we have taken the actions that are appropriate," Campbell told reporters this afternoon. “[Mr. van Dongen has] come forward and says he wants to be open about this. He's carrying on with his responsibilities as solicitor-general because obviously we've got a major initiative to go after a lot of the gangs in British Columbia."
Yes the next time a gangland hit takes place, the perpetrators will have to think twice if they see a pickup truck with a BC Liberals bumper sticker careening towards them a breakneck speed!
It could be John "Speedy Justice" van Dongen!
The solicitor general, who was responsible for ICBC until this afternoon, when Campbell removed it from his portfolio, is still in charge of law enforcement in BC.
This despite van Dongen's own admission that he has a “history of speeding.” Sadly, he cannot recall how many speeding tickets he has collected during his 43 years of driving.
Then there's Marc Dalton, the Liberal candidate in Mission-Maple Ridge and his homophobic hollering.
In a 1996 e-mail discovered by Spencer Herbert, the NDP MLA for Vancouver Burrard who himself is gay, Dalton makes clear his apparent disgust with homosexuality.
Dalton: “I believe homosexuality is a moral issue. There are other moral issues that large segments of our society do not see eye to eye: gambling, abortion, adultery, pornography. I believe that homosexuality fits in this category.”
Well, I'm betting - oops - guessing that Dalton must not realize that the BC Liberals have dramatically expanded gambling, or that former BC Liberal MLA Lorne Mayencourt was also openly gay.
And Campbell is prepared to let Dalton continue his candidacy despite the comments.
"I think the campaign is still about British Columbians asking themselves the question about who's best to get us through these challenging times, and get us out on the other side in the strongest possible position,” Campbell told reporters.
Others may just wonder why we are speeding towards incompetence, intolerance and an incomprehensible lack of principles.
.
38 comments:
CBC also broke the story today that BC Liberal Jesse McClinton was charged with drunk driving in 2006.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/bcvotes2009/story/2009/04/24/bc-election-candidate-conduct.html
He says it was only a "youthful indescretion" and will not step aside.
So I suppose it'll be the taxpayer who will be on the hook for the cost of chauffeuring "Speedy Gonzalez" van Dongen around and about...
In this morning's Times-Colonist it states that McClinton also pleaded quilty to three charges of driving without reasonable care and attention on May 25, 2007 and that the Liberal candidate in Vancouver West End, Laura McDiarmid, "has a long list of driving offenses, including 10 speeding tickets, one for excessive speeding and one for driving without reasonable consideration."
Apparently some of El Gordo's candidates are following their leader's example. At one time they were called "Limosine Liberals" because of their eltist demeanor - now we learn it is because some of them have to be driven around because of public safety and legal issues.
Personally, I think the quote by Dalton has been misinterpreted. He has stated that homosexuality is a moral issue for society. He hasn't explicitly stated that he disagreed to it.
Maybe Laura McDiarmid could chauffeur van Dongen around while his licence is suspended?
The Canwest papers made a big deal about a very innocuous use of the word Zionist by Mable Elmore. This Dalton character has said things that could cause him to charged with committing a hate crime - and that's not all what about that homophobic monstrosity Mary Polak who is a Liberal MLA and whose claim to fame was trying to ban books from libraries in Surrey that showed gays and lesbians in a favourable light.
Why do you suppose the Canwest papers aren't demanding that Campbell completely purge these hateful people from his party once and for all???
Aw c'mon, Bill, Van Dongen only got a few speeding tickets. It's not like he's been arrested for drunk driving or something serious like that.
Dalton referred to homosexuality and pedophiles, rapists as moral issues and then did the sketchy apology about his e-mail being "misconstrued" if you found it offensive.
Van Dongen delayed taking responsibility for his behaviour (he is the minister responsible for Office of the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles and ICBC) and he also had his driver's license suspended. It's not just about tickets.
Liberal John Les is under police investigation so had to hand over to Van Dongen and now it's handed over to yet another Liberal. Stay tuned.
In the meantime, you do have McClinton charged with drunk driving who says it was when he was young (2 years ago!) and comments if only he had more money. He admitted to being drunk but I guess thinks he could have got off without taking responsibility.
McDiarmid who laughs while discussing her dangerous driving, speeding and 33 driving infractions.
Breaking the law, homophobia, what is immoral? What does it take for a Liberal candidate to step down?
On yeah, there is the guy who wrote the letter saying Campbell should resign.
There are two standards in British Columbia for criminal difficulties - one for the Li(e)berals and one for the the rest of us. Gordon is so contrite in his news clips re his Maui Wowi'. Boy are his 'spin Doctors' ever working overtime.
Ding Dong was on the front page of the Globe and Mail today . Gordo sure can pick some dandy folk for the Solicitor General gig.Of the last three only Coleman didn't get caught doing something wrong. John Les is still under police investigation so join the club van Dongen. Assorted stories went on to mention Moe Sihota and Flying Phil( just testing the curves in the road). Bring back photo radar and they might nab some more heavy foot MLa drivers who cant see to connect the numbers on the signs to the numbers on their speedometers. Gordo remined us this evening that he too had a driving event and had learned from that. I figure he learned it wasn't cool to get caught
Actually, Anon 9:54, Dalton called homosexuality (along with gambling, abortion, adultery and pornography) "moral issues that large segments of our society do not see eye to eye'. While, it is true, he never said which eye was his, he goes on to oppose the BCTF 'ram-rodding the homosexual motion' against the wishes of homophobes (sorry, 'great numbers of parents and teachers') in the district and province.
More interesting for me was the previous paragraph in which he points out 'behaviours and acts that most of us would NOT CONDONE: rape, robbery, assault, DRUNKEN DRIVING, pedophilia, incest and so on'. (Caps mine)
Imagine the moral dilemma faced by Mr. Dalton when he had to don 'construction drag' (hard hat and safety vest) and join a convicted drunk driver for a photo op (pointing at.... whatever) on the new Gateway project bridge!
BTW, for delicious irony, misspell 'Marc Dalton' with a 'k' in his first name on Google Images. Absolutely perfect for our Marc!
I wonder if he'll have trouble seeing 'eye to eye' with Laura McDiarmid should she be elected.
How about that Gordo, eh? He 'takes his hat off' for van Dongen 'bringing this forward'.
Mr. Integrity hid the news for a week. When confronted with the evidence by the CBC, he finally 'fessed up. On a Friday afternoon.
At about four o'clock.
That's what I call 'bringing it forward' with the best of them: shades of Gordo himself jetting off to Beijing while a junior government minion released the news of massive (up to 43%!) pay hikes for senior ministerial aides.
At, if memory serves, about four o'clock on a Friday afternoon.
Open and Transparent my ...!
Re: Marc Dalton
Dalton wanted to run for Stephen Harper's Conservatives in the last federal election but the Conservative Party Green Light Committee vetoed him as a candidate because of his views. It's remarkable that a candidate that Stephen Harper's team considered to extreme should be considered acceptable by Gordon Campbell's Liberals.
The Global Canwesties report nominal problems with NDP candidates in sombre tones; Lib contraversies warrant matter of fact minimization.
Don't check out my statement, because you would have to watch Keith and Co to do it. Really, part of Keith's income derives from his wife's executive work for the Campbell government. There is no way that his impartiality would be affected by that.
David Schreck reminds us about the "petal to the metal" news releases about speeding by Ding Dong.Even provides a link for us to the news release. He mentioned the comments by V.Palmer as well. about double standards by the Cammpell crew. Gordo is on the CBC radio news at 8:30 Am today( Sunday) talking about youth and making the proper choices about drinking and driving. Too bad he didn't think of that himself before he ended up in the drunk tank. The issues of double standards are starting to stick.
the voters in BC are not giving much weight to issues of integrity and morality in our politicians. How else would you explain so many still intending to vote for Gordo and his crew? It is simply to much effort to go around living with these personal attributes.
Shame.
The timing of the van Dongen announcement and all the other driving-type stuff that has popped up over the last couple of days really makes me wonder if, perhaps, the scaling of the RLam Facebook Wall was a pre-emptive innoculation.
Seem far-fetched?
Sure.
But why, then, did the BC Lib braintrust temporarily pull M. McNeil's website from theirs immediately after her hit-and-run wurlitzering of the Lam story?
.
Supt. Norm Gaumont, RCMP B.C. Traffic Services, was probably aware on March 6, 2009 that Solicitor General van Dongen, had at least one speeding ticket, or possibly the second one as well, but here they are standing side by side in a photograph "looking at a wrecked vehicle displayed at the intersection camera announcement."
High impact crashes are preceeded by high speed drivers. You'd think after seeing the results of one such accident, the Minister would have made the hard choice then, to stop speeding, or given up his Public Safety responsibility as well.
Photo courtesy of the BC Provincial Government's
Media Room – Honourable John van Dongen
March 6, 2009RED-LIGHT CAMERAS UPGRADED, EXPANDED TO SAVE LIVES
"Check Against Delivery""Three pages of Speaking notes"
"We’ll dramatically cut down on the time it takes to process a ticket, which is currently
three to five weeks."
SNIP
"Thank you for being part of the solution."
- John van Dongen
Question: How many speeding tickets did Van Dongen receive?
Question: Did he pay the fines?
Question: Was his license suspended for other, more serious infractions?
Comment: It is my experience that the motor vehicle department does nor suspend ones drivers license for a mere speeding ticket; nor two or three.
I believe the license is suspended for "driving without due care and attention or dangerous driving.
I would think there are far more serious driving infractions that the Van Dongen and the prem wish to hide.
He should resign; not from being the Solicitor General, but from the election all together.
Dalton's email was 15 years ago. 15 years ago my opinion of homosexuality was different than it is today. For example I support gay marriage today and would have laughed at the idea 15 years ago. The question I have is whether he still agrees with that email or not. If today he says something like "that was 15 years ago and I was ignorant at the time but have grown a lot since and see things completely differently" then there should be no problem, and anyone who disagrees is either being unfair or playing politics
Office of Public Safety and Solicitor GeneralsHmmm.
van Dongen may have given up his Solicitor General portfolio because ICBC was inside it but the Motor Vehicle department is part of Public Safety to which Mr. van Dongen is still in control....or is it simply a matter of the website administrator not having tweaked all of the sites over which Mr. van Dongen once controlled?
Just how much, in tax dollars, has this one man's private life infringed upon the public?
As to the delay in Mr. van Dongen reporting his license having been suspended, that probably didn't take place because there is a "grace" period of 7 days before anything needs to be done officially.
From ICBC website:
"The Review Process
You have seven days from the date you received the Notice of Driving Prohibition to request the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles to review the prohibition....SNIP"
I think you'll find that the actions were NOT initiated by the Solicitor General OR his Office...they were run, as is everything this government does, from the office of the CEO.
Our so-called green Premier would be wise to provide them with smart cars that have maximum speeds of 80kph.
I'm glad these idiots are still running for office. It improves the opposition parties' chances of winning in those districts.
If speed limit signs and the dangers associated with excessive speeding aren't enough keep these candidates in line, then why should we expect them to not drive without a license?
There is no doubt in my mind that King Gordo decided this item wasn't about to go away. Small chat in his office and Ding Dong stepped aside. The riding he runs in will probrably elect him regardless. My gosh John Les is still running too. The Liberals can sure pick strange candidates. The folks in that neck of the woods will vote for anything other than NDP so Gordo and Ding Dong arn't too worried, at least not yet. I hope this event comes back to bite Van Dongenand maybe soemone will see him low flying on some highway
John Van Dongen's Ticket Numbers
Vancouver/CKNW/AM 980
4/27/2009
The B-C Liberals are now admitting the total number of tickets former Solicitor General John Van Dongen has chalked up.
Party Spokesperson Shane Mills since he became Solicitor General, Van Dongen recieved two excessive speeding citations for travelling more than 40 kilometres per hour over the posted speed limit.
In the four years before he had the post, he recieved another 7 "regular" speeding tickets, bringing the total to 9.
The previous Sol General, John Les, had to resign as he has been involved in a two year investigation regarding a Chilliwack land deal. However when he asked his party executive whether he should run again they said yes. Now that's taking personal responsibility!
If my memory serves me right it took three years for the Sommers affair to be dealt with from the accusation by Gordon Gibson Sr. to the Minister' Sommer's sentencing. Now, in our modern "justice system" the only police raid on a legislature in the British Commonwealth (Dec.28, 2003) is in its sixth year without going to trial. If Campbell and company are returned it is - in my opinion - likely never to go to trial.
Does anyone know how many liberals have resigned,asked to quit or have been charged since the piss tank gordo has been in power? I'd say its close to 20% of his gang! When will the BC voters realize that he, and some of them are criminals. It is time for us to take back our province. Get the leader first, and the rest will fall. I'm amused how the 230 "spinners" in his office will handle all this crap.
The people of BC deserve the government which they elect.
What a relief, its over, but wait, isn't this "new" Solicitor General, a former RCMP officer, the same gentleman that was in the Solictior General shoes when the BC Rail raid hit the legistlative buildings over corruption charges by Basi, Virk and Basi?
Wasn't Rich Coleman the SG who advised the Speaker, the Finance Minister and the Premier of be ready for trouble during your Christmas vacations?
Check out BC Mary's "Legislature Raids blog.
May we have a comment from the new SG, and Public Safety, Minister on his thoughts of what is an acceptable threshhold of speeding tickets that an MLA should have before any notice is taken by their caucus members?
Premier Campbell has said that probably every British Columbian (driver) has received at least ONE.
LOL
And soon after the election, Van Dongen will receive another cabinet post from King Gordo, and everything will be back to normal.
Hardly a consequence for your actions is it?
Island Cynic
I resent my tax dollars being spent on PAB spin. Disgusting!
I'm told, by ususally reliable sources, that Coleman was chosen - rather than, say, the Attorney General, as interim Solicitor General because he did not have 'any skeleton's in his closet'. This seemed a curious thing to say about Coleman - given his own record - so I questioned the decision...
A clarification WAS provided: Coleman's DRIVING record is in better shape - that's all!!!
Now Rich Coleman is back as Solicitor General. Too bad the media and NDP have yet to discover that in his Housing Ministry employment, Coleman is restricting residency in publically owned buildings, based on data in the Corrections (CORNET) database that he began misusing in January 2003, after his RCMP colleagues faced embarassment over the Picton mass murder fiasco. Coleman - an ex cop with no administrative background - is turning the DTES into a police state. And Jenny Kwan - a one time criminologist for VPD - sees nothing wrong with that. There could major changes if the election goes as it appears to be going.
The Reaside Cartoon in the T/C today is priceless. Go check out his website. (It's at the polling booth and Ding Dong is waiting to get a ballot. The lady says, I know its you Mr Van Dongen but I need idetification. A BC drivers license would be fine.) Best picture I've ever seen of him.
As for Coleman he was in the house telling everyone how renatls stocks are low in BC , so the about to be changed Strata Act should require stratas to have rentals. Stratas have to abide y the legislation and it now requires a 3/4 vote by members to add or remove rental restrictions. Many choose to have no rentals, beyond rental to family, for the time during vacation , up to six months and the furniture of the owner has to be in the place. Hardship is another condition but even then the strata decides. And we thought we owned the places not that overstuffed ex cop
I cannot for the life of me grasp the support that Mr. van Dongen's constituents are offering up, one woman on the TV news says how it makes him more like the normal people who just make mistakes, who the heck gets that many speeding tickets in a lifetime let alone in a 7 year period. I have never received a speeding ticket, ever. Campbell is a filthy hypocrite with his own loaded weapon offense; Drunk driving is a CRIME. Don't even get me going on the lies that get him elected, how many people are dead now due to hospital and mental health cuts? The only benefits have gone to his already wealthy friends and supporters - I would welcome proof to the contrary. I just found your blog today in a fit of pique and have now added it to my regular reading. Thanks.
garenteed to be back in cabinet, if the liberals are re elected.
Post a Comment