tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35935973.post7849572589562777389..comments2023-07-25T02:39:44.615-07:00Comments on Bill Tieleman: Improving BC's Legislature and Democracy - a guest column by Michael GeogheganBill Tielemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03304971610140279157noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35935973.post-61940991723926505372009-05-24T13:46:05.790-07:002009-05-24T13:46:05.790-07:00Too bad for Mike Geoghegan, he broke the golden ru...Too bad for Mike Geoghegan, he broke the golden rule (never contradict Gordon) he's soon to be in the unemployment line with everyone else.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35935973.post-91785917242246734272009-05-23T11:57:57.662-07:002009-05-23T11:57:57.662-07:00Putting cabinet appointments to a caucus vote is a...Putting cabinet appointments to a caucus vote is a radical idea<br /><br />I love it. <br /><br />But what would the two Johns (Les and Van Dongen) think?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35935973.post-72398941217190509172009-05-22T14:18:59.085-07:002009-05-22T14:18:59.085-07:00Canwest's Stephen Hume denies that the last electi...Canwest's Stephen Hume denies that the last election was a Canwest Nuremberg Rally.<br /><br />http://www.vancouversun.com/News/media+helped+defeat+other+urban+legends/1619188/story.html<br /><br />BS. They coloured stories with the Libs' "strong government" shade. Further, they exploited fear by over-reporting gang violence - little of which touches the general public - to boost support for anti-crime rhetoric, as spewed by Stonewally and Kash Heed. Criticism of Oppal appears spiked. And Heed's $40,000 election handout from West Vancouver's reactionary city council, didn't make it past the blogs. His opponent, Gabriel Yiu, received all negative copy.<br />Canwest copy appeared somewhat like re-write of Public Affairs Bureau spew. <br /><br />Hume points out that the NDP won in some Canwest saturated areas. Big deal. The trick was to ride shotgun for the Lib juggernaut in general, and not to focus on individual particular candidates. Hence, the strategic mouthing of the "attack ad" bogie. Where are the Canwest mouthpieces on Harper's smears of Ignatieff? Yah, really impartial and objective. <br /><br />Canwest-Vancouver suppressed coverage of the Cambie fiasco and Basi-Virk obstructions, because they knew that those issues would kill the Libs in Vancouver.<br /><br />And who led the media-coup against Glen Clark? Prosecutors knew they had a junk case because Clark had a barter explanation for his conduct, but they didn't want to take media abuse by not joining the lynch mob. Results: the mud-slingers reduced the NDP to 2 seats in the next election. <br /><br />By the way, Canwest received 2 deferrals of principal payment calls from lenders. They owe $4,000,000,000 and ad revenues have been slashed. It is in their interest to have friendly government parties that advertise in their publications. Leonard Asper has already asked Harper to increase federal advertising. Watch for millions of our tax dollars to fund PAB hagiography for our convict Premier.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35935973.post-4369968782438026052009-05-22T14:04:19.602-07:002009-05-22T14:04:19.602-07:00Some folks might be upset with Teileman but that's...Some folks might be upset with Teileman but that's not earth shatterng. I for one am very upset at how the election went but its done. The small article from the Island newspaper mentioned by BC Mary was pretty good with the writer's opinions. If we all had the same opinions on all subjects , we would be living in a stange world. I seem to recall debates exist to bring out different points of view. Some you win ,some you don't. somebody once said that I am totally opposed to your position but will fight to the death to ensure you can have the opinion. so I didn't get the quote right, but that was the idea.DPLnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35935973.post-75145354331177166812009-05-22T11:03:52.119-07:002009-05-22T11:03:52.119-07:00Seems Bill underestimated how upset people are wit...Seems Bill underestimated how upset people are with his tactics. It's not easy to maintain a free speech blog and cordiality at the same time under those circumstances. I think Bill has done the right thing though by drawing the line on acceptable standards. Too bad it has come to this but that's what happens when you push too hard and offer no room for discussion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35935973.post-86487057133617126932009-05-21T21:27:46.044-07:002009-05-21T21:27:46.044-07:00Some really intriguing ideas were expressed in Mic...Some really intriguing ideas were expressed in Michaels article. Though I didn't think you could change the laws of senate appointment as he suggested, but for the most part the points he articulated highlight the broken parts of our governance succinctly. I also think that party based politicians determined how to manipulate or perhaps subvert democracy a long time a go. Michael offers us some effective methods of curtailing political parties dubious agendas that have little regard for ensuring the public trust. A good read, indeed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35935973.post-181652817772047222009-05-21T19:41:38.462-07:002009-05-21T19:41:38.462-07:00We no longer have democracy in Canada. We do have...We no longer have democracy in Canada. We do have a system that should have died with the dodo bird. We did have a chance to change but missed it. Not because the people of B.C.did not want change, but because democracy did not exist, and an unreasonable percentage was used as the bottom line. We did have a referendum to separate our Great nation and the bottom line there was 50 + 1. Further more, we have people, who as individuals, think they are far smarter then 180 + = - of their peers. And these same few convinced a lot of our citizens that we, as citizens of a Nation, are dumber then the Irish, Maltese, Australians, etc.So. now we live with the convict and his henchmen. Thank you - Jo5eyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35935973.post-6440799431544660572009-05-21T19:35:27.441-07:002009-05-21T19:35:27.441-07:00Getting different views is always a good thing. Pe...Getting different views is always a good thing. People who start to focus on only one way of doing things are talking to themselves. They mean well but nobody else listens. I have four grandkids of voting age, and they vote. In the federal event, one of them tried to vote on one of the islands close to Victoria. The old woman running the show told her she couldn't as it wasn't her riding. Too bad for the old witch trying to do a job she really coudn't handle, and the young woman from our family eared up to her height of about five foot one. She has a degree in history and teaches it. She has a pretty solid background in the voting system. She has travelled outside the country on a few trips so has opinions. Didn't make a fuss just wouldn't leave until she voted. All young people havn't tunded out the election process. so maybe there is hope for us all. I don't beleiev in referednda for Senators, actually I don't believe we need senators, there must be a better way.DPLnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35935973.post-86673328264541364022009-05-21T19:05:36.951-07:002009-05-21T19:05:36.951-07:00"Finally we need to make it much easier for refere..."Finally we need to make it much easier for referenda to happen here in BC. According to a recent Vancouver Sun poll 65% of British Columbians support the decriminalization of marijuana. So let’s have a vote on it."<br /><br />Yeah, I'm among that 65%, but how do you sell that to the federal powers in charge of the Criminal Code. Could it ever be possible for a province to have a different set of criminal laws from the rest of the country? This question applies to more than just legalization, of course.<br /><br />But your proposal raises the question of what's the NATIONAL level poll say on that; could a national-level referendum work? Or are the more conservative values in other provinces going to be able to override the wishes of a majority of the BC population? Bear in mind, also, that no other province is so affected by the marijuana industry as this one is, or by the impact of the ongoing war against it, and the resulting gang wars....<br /><br />Similarly, and more intriguingly (and perhaps more successful nationally) would be a referendum bringing in laws that would provide for greater enforcement of breaches of trust?....hmm and/or broken campaign promises, provided that those campaign promises were made in bad taith.<br /><br />For a while now I've also wondered about something like a primary system, where the party inner-circles are not in charge of their anointed leaders but the public has a say in who would be Premier or Leader of the Opposition. Too American-style for some people, maybe, but it WOULD get more people (hopefully) more interested. Also, a run-off election system like used in Europe, but seat-by-seat, to make sure that an MLA is supported by 50%+1 of a riding's electorate.....<br /><br />As for the apathy spoken of; no, it's antipathy.<br /><br />Getting young people involved....hmmm hard to do with a generation raised to be SELF-involved....Skookum1https://www.blogger.com/profile/02454267132163984177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35935973.post-8221421380941695222009-05-21T16:26:11.692-07:002009-05-21T16:26:11.692-07:00Thanks Mike. Your analysis is bang on as always!Thanks Mike. Your analysis is bang on as always!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35935973.post-22846864433701743872009-05-21T15:10:35.423-07:002009-05-21T15:10:35.423-07:00The lesson here isn't so much one of political civ...The lesson here isn't so much one of political civility or tolerance, but one of non-partisanship. Everyone, regardless of political ideology, becomes a richer, more involved citizen through progressive democratic reform.<br /><br />Geoghegan makes a seemingly obvious, but no less relevant, point about the need to loosen up the referendum process. So rare they are, so difficult they are to get on a ballot. As such, referenda become something akin to holy privilege, rather than democratic right. This has to change. Democracy should be about greater grassroots power and more options.<br /><br />I likewise share Mike's doubts about forcing people to vote. This smacks a bit anti-democratic, and it misses the root causes of why apathy exists (currently at an all-time high in BC, says ANgus Reid) in the first place: an outdated, unfair FPTP system which allows the premier absolute power for four years.David St. Hubbinsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35935973.post-34497431644395181112009-05-21T14:09:45.850-07:002009-05-21T14:09:45.850-07:00Sorry, no Obamas on the horizon. I think that's th...Sorry, no Obamas on the horizon. I think that's the last thing we need - charisma is never as important as character.G Westhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09487763931438315174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35935973.post-17313778670594103712009-05-21T13:01:28.443-07:002009-05-21T13:01:28.443-07:00The issue with the political system in BC is the l...The issue with the political system in BC is the lack of young people involved. They simply do not care. All the written pieces about using new media to get the young voters out was nothing but bs.<br /><br />We need more vision, less gotcha journalism and a leader who can connect with the young voters of today.<br /><br />We need Obama!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35935973.post-55659912073189456852009-05-21T11:03:14.258-07:002009-05-21T11:03:14.258-07:00Thanks for that Bill - the fact you post the criti...Thanks for that Bill - the fact you post the critical material is a feather in your cap.<br /><br />I appreciate it...and I appreciate Michael's perspective too.<br /><br />I just don't think you're going to get reform when the levers of power (and the emasculation of the legislative body) is the sole prerogative of a government that gains its power in an all or nothing contest.<br /><br />That's the essential problem and the nub of what Michael says too – although I'm afraid we're dancing around on the head of a pin if we don't address the warts on a system which puts bullies in charge of the equipment of government just because one party gains a plurality of votes in a majority of ridings.<br /><br />There’s also the big issue of the illegitimacy of today’s so-called experts. If I were looking for a professional consultant I certainly wouldn’t have anyone on my short list with the record of poor management and compromised leadership of the average appointed deputy minister or ADM (in fact, in this government that goes applies even further down the food chain) among the so-called experts behind any of the parties in this province. And, sadly, I could pick some real dogs for my excluded list from advisors to a couple of ministers in the last NDP government too – just so my critics don’t get the idea that I’m only critical of the Campbell Hegemony.<br /><br />We need to start looking at the fundamentals of the way we do politics, and, we need to stop listening to the experts - they all have feet of clay. And Michael, don’t expect much from Stephen Harper or Michael Ignatieff either.<br /><br />The voter turnout in this election is about all the evidence I need to mount to buttress that assertion.G Westhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09487763931438315174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35935973.post-272243187630869902009-05-21T10:50:41.713-07:002009-05-21T10:50:41.713-07:00... that should be .com, not .ca
www.islandtides....... that should be .com, not .ca<br /><br /><B>www.islandtides.com</B>.BC Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16597928683019021273noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35935973.post-74782612885062203062009-05-21T10:48:03.617-07:002009-05-21T10:48:03.617-07:00The road ahead—new ideas for governmentBy Patrick ...<B>The road ahead—new ideas for government</B>By Patrick Brown<br />Island Tides newspaper, p.3<br />May 20, 2009<br /><br />Two lists—one about principles of government, the other about critical issues for BC in the coming years.<br /><br /><br />Some critical thinking to remind us of first principles. Recommended reading. <br /> <br /><br />www.islandtides.caBC Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16597928683019021273noreply@blogger.com