High-profile police reform activist Julie Berg is said to be considering running for a provincial New Democrat nomination, possibly in Premier Gordon Campbell's riding of Vancouver-Point Grey. And, according to the rumour mill, discussions are already underway between party hierarchs and the Vancouver fashion designer. The articulate Ms. Berg first made headlines in the winter of 2003 when she alleged Constable David Bruce-Thomas beat her brother to death in a back alley. An internal investigation cleared the constable but the police complaint commission is currently reviewing the matter. Ms. Berg, who has become an advocate for overhauling the commission, could pose a significant threat to the Liberals should she decide to run, forcing Premier Campbell to spend more time in his riding during the election.
Berg may have designs on the premier's riding
January 12, 2005
Only in BC and an interesting possibility - Liberals win - Campbell looses. She has my vote!
It could be a very entertaining match to watch. The moral women crusader versus the immoral male politician.
I wonder how much money the Vancouver Policemens Union will donate to her campaign?
Bring her on! She'll be no challenge for him.
Tell me this is NOT the same person who complained about the police arrest after her brother died running form a botched home invasion robbery attempt ?
It's the one and the same person
SOMETIMES THE BEST MAN FOR THE JOB IS A WOMAN!!
Well, we finally have a woman with "balls", and it's about time!
Julie Berg appears to be stepping up to the plate to give "Old Gordo" a run for his money!
It shouldn't take much to get rid of this idiot, after the mess he has made in this province.
I know who I will be voting for and words of wisdom for all British Columbians...
Please remove your heads from your rear ends and rid yourself of this self-righteous ass.
(This is to the idiot, whos perfect summary, lacking the facts- opinion, of Julie Berg and her Brothers unjustly murder by a vancouver police officer)
He wasnt running from the police he was detained, while in custudy, beaten to death, KILLED. So before you share you ignorant opinion of a storey you oviously no nothing of- check your own personnal issues before typing.
What if your "ndpforever" ass was caught running from your own grow operation?- as an officer of the law do I beat you to death with the but of my gun?
Hope your not a police officer.
With Love,
Me
I think Julie is a supurb women for the job. You got my vote Julie!!!!!!
So Julie's brother was not running from a botched attempted home invasion robbery but rather a "grow up" instead ? I didn't realize this was the case. Was it his grow op or were they doing one of the "rip off" another grow-op routines ?
It does not matter whether he was running from his own grow-op, another persons grow-op, or if he was running from the bogey-man. He was detained, and while in police custody, he mysteriously died due to a vicious beating. Well, not so mysteriously, as it will probably turn out. I don't particularly care for Ms. Berg's over-the-top way of getting her opinions heard (and until something concrete is ascertained, they are only opinions), but she's done a fantastic job of forcing justice for her brothers death. She can take Gordon on, I think; moreover, she actually has a purpose to entering the race, something I think Campbell will be lacking come April.
Julie Berg might be an interesting candidate for the NDP, but not in that riding. Even if it means the Premier may have to spend an extra day or two in the riding he is still going to win and she will be thrust into obscurity. Premier's ground and campaign team in WPG are experienced pros who have been volunteering for him for years and the riding is not going to run out of funds. In addition, the BC Liberals are not going to treat the riding like a done deal, in the '01 campaign the Premier had one of the best ground campaigns of any candidate.
If the NDP actually is negotiating with Julie Berg, why is it that they want to run her in a riding where she will get a lot of headlines but no real chance to win barring a miracle. I would think that Julie would be a great candidate and even electable for the NDP in another riding. I wonder what the NDP's motives are in putting her there?
Hey, Polkaroo - the NDP had held this seat before and I believe we can hold it again. Every seat that the NDP takes will be valuable, so its unlikely that the party leadership would squander a star candidate in a hopeless race. Jim Green got 43% of the vote in 1996 (against Campbell's 49%)and Julie has a lot more profile then Jim had at the time. In 2001, Campbell placed 48 out of 77 Liberals for percentage of the vote. Not exactly a stellar performance. Green and NDP candidates with no profile or resources still managed to achieve a combined vote of 40%. And all of this was before Maui and before Campbell started breaking campaign promises (privatizing BC Rail is just one of many examples). I say Berg not only has a chance, but will be an excellent speaker on a very important issue: improving government accountability. If she runs, I believe she will win. Go Julie!
I don't think she stands a chance in that riding.
For the record I totally support the VPD in their efforts, and I think we spend way too much time crying about the criminals and not enough time giving credit to the police.
Read the facts http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/police/BergCase/
(and no i'm not a cop)
For your consideration:
- Jeff Berg wasn't a criminal, he was a suspect
- no charges were ever laid against Jeff Berg or his alleged accomplices
- that evidence of Jeff Berg's alleged criminal conduct was released 18 months after the incident
- that one cop was attempting to arrest four suspects without backup and crashed his car to detain the sustpects
- that the cop was more interested in arresting the suspects than determining whether or not the alleged victims were in trouble or required medical assistance
- when asked how Jeff Berg ended up in a horizontal position, the police officer "doesn't remember"
- that the VPD and not an independent body investigated the death of Jeff Berg
If you want the facts go to http://www.justiceforjeff.com/
I believe in being tough on criminals, but that's the job of the courts and the jails. Beating suspects is unacceptable. Because if the cops can beat Jeff Berg to death they can do it to anyone - even non-criminals like NDPNFG.
Pretty coincidental he just happened to be hanging out in the car with his buddies in an alley outside the site of a home invasion, with stocking masks, fake gun, and the sudden urge to leave as soon as the cops show up.
I don't worry about being "beat to death" by the police, John. There is a simple way to avoid these types of situations, namely not being involved in home invasions, grow op ripoffs, or other criminal activity.
Sounds pretty easy to me.
I just read the website "Read the facts" http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/police/BergCase/
Thank christ the VPD finally managed to catch the dirtballs who pull this kind of crap. That one single officer took on four criminals and made the arrest makes him a hero in my books.
Clearly his sister is a classic NDP candidate - pretend the crime never occurred (kind of like trying to pretend the 90's never happened) and blame government (in this case police) for someone not taking responsibility for their own actions, in this case being part of the worst form of criminal activity that there is, home invasion.
Does the NDP seriously think voters will support someone who criticize the over worked VPD in bringing a serious crime to a halt?
If there`s one Liberal that I`d love to see lose his seat, that would be Gordon Liar Campbell.
Parkhurst should know what constitutes lying - didn't Glenn Clarke tell all of the electorate in 1996 that the budget was balanced - got elected then admitted there were some problems with the figures
Clark wasn't lying...the numbers just ended up being different then he thought/hoped they were going to be (tongue firmly planted in cheek).
Funny that those of us who do not engage in home invasion robberies don't end up “accidentally” dead. What wonderful smut - Blame the VPD because your scumbag brother did not get away with his home invasion robbery. Typical NDP mindset.
That was the stupidest thing I've heard all week, ndpforever. Congratulations. What exactly about it is an NDP mindset? The part where someone who is beaten to death is considered murdered, or the part where you actually blame the person who committed murder? Either choice, I'll take.
Julie Berg definitely has the Aboriginal vote! She has supported the fight against the police commissioner and the justice systems indignancy regarding the death of Frank Paul. She would definitely be an asset to the mainstream populace as well as those who don't have a voice.
She is fearless, dedicated, knowledeable, and holds an unwavering confidence.
This is taking politics to the extreme. I miss the 30 day writ period. Fixed election dates are for the birds.
Kat;
Thank you for proving my point. She probably does have the aboriginal vote but last time I checked there were not a lot of first nations people living in Point Grey.
She can run, she will lose, and the NDP knows it, they are using her as a pawn to tie Campbell up during the campaign. She will get a lot of provincial coverage though, maybe that is all she wants.
I still say it would be great if Campbell loses his seat to Berg. By the way dmb ( does that mean dumb?), Glen Clark is not spelled Glenn Clark, and why "should " I know what constitutes lying? Compared to Campbell, Clark was an amateur.
sure parkhurst, you may like to see Campbell lose his seat, but this isn't fantasy land.
who cares how clark spells his name? He was probably one of the worst premiers to 'grace' this province.
You may not like Campbell but he is doing a wonderful job of bringing BC back to the envy of Canada.
Last time I looked, BC was almost totally reliant on the global economy. To say Gordo is responsible for the wonderful economy is unreal. He is making himself look good is by selling off assets he doesn't own. If he gets in again, I'm sure we won't have any assets left to sell in this province.ie. crown timber
ever think that maybe, just maybe, part of the problem with the forest industry in BC is that it is crown land? could that be part of the reason the rest of the world is more competitive than us - because we have a system that is broken?
If the world economy is good, but the business climate in BC sucks, why would anyone invest here? The Liberals have improved the business climate in BC from the disastrous state it was put in during the '90's. That's as big a part of it as anything, but the left just doesn't seem to get that.
If it is such a good idea to sell off the assets
then maybe you should try it on a personal level, that is if you have any. See how far ahead renting gets you
ya just don't get it, do ya?
Great. another poverty pimp. Julie Berg will be destroyed by Campbell, but COPE could always use another poverty pimp.
It's quite interesting to view the comments on this subject from the prospective of the right. Far too little backing up of points and claims, simply visceral and reactionary comments based upon misconceptions, lies, exaggerations and ignorance of the way things such as the justice system work.
Julie Berg is an advocate for the basis of our legal system the fact that one is presumed innocent until proven guilty. That's reality not the simplistic "oh he looks guilty to me", "hyuck, hyuck" view. Hmm I wonder those of you who are bashing her do you actually support the presumption of innocence until proven guilty? Because I doubt it -- it's really not a hard prospect to grasp -- and frankly I don't see why you don't understand it.
But now that we've gotten that out of the way as someone who actually lives near this riding and spends some time in it she's the underdog. She's far from un-electable should she run for the nomination. Campbell's team won't take her lying down that's for sure, and one would think (although watching his decisions I doubt it) that he would have to spend some time in the riding. There are a lot of renters in this riding -- it's not all just rich people (a lot of people pretending they're rich too ;)).
Also the biggest money in Vancouver and more conservative voters are in Vancouver-Quilchena (Colin Hansen's riding a -- Liberal Lock). Kitsilano at least is somewhat open to a decent NDP candidate. And Point Grey isn't a Liberal Lock either, COPE did suprisingly well there during the previous municipal election (meaning she would need to present herself as reasonable/moderate and Campbell as a crazed right-winger insistant upon selling everything off). Furthermore should the Greens run a decently small-l liberal candidate they could siphon off more votes from Campbell than Berg.
All of this considered she's the underdog. But at the very least she'll tie down Liberal resources should she win the nomination, and she has a realistic shot at being an effective and strong MLA.
(Note the NDP held this seat in a by-election in 1989 till 96')
Ms.Berg of course has the right to run for any office,actions of in close relatives should have no bearing unless she decides so[the sins of the father should not visit the daughter sotospeak].
So she has decided to get face in the press over this situation.Not a good move i think,no sympathy from this quarter.
Why not consider privatizing more of the public sector? Is that not why the liberals wwere voted in to do?
Start with ICBC , then Education, then police, then parks and works,all the highly paid union sector jobs in the public sector.
That i thought was the mandate given the libs by the electorate.But like wimps the libs backed down again and again.
Get rid of the coddled public sector wage
takers, get private contractors on all distributions of public responsiblities,even the police.Then people would accept a private sector employee being charged and ajudicated for manslaughter.
The way it is now the blue wall descends on any criticism of any public sector employee,
usually resulting time off with pay!
Doesn't anyone else get the feeling that J. Berg was using the media to promote her fashion business and her public profile? While I regret that she had to go through all the problems related to her brother's death, those leather outfits had Gillian Guess tags all over them.
Not to be too unkind, but there are people who come across as genuinely interested in serving the public, and there are people like Ms. Berg who come across as serving their own interests.
Maybe she seems more transparent to me that to others. Dunno.
Mayor Larry Campbell has, as far as I know, been on the side of the VPD in the Berg case. I suspect the NDP will be too, and that Julie Berg won't be the candidate in Point Grey.
That said, there have been inquiries in both Manitoba and Saskatchewan into the way the justice system and the police treat Aboriginals. And there is always a need to review and improve the handling of citizen complaints against government agencies, including the police. The police don't like that, neither do the bureaucrats who wear suits rather than uniforms. It's a natural human instinct, after all, to reject criticism of one's performance from "outsiders".
Incidentally, "citizen complaints" includes complaints coming from citizens who are related to criminals or suspected criminals and criminals themselves. If I have been taken downtown for drunk driving, as though I were a common Premier, and end up being severely beaten in the jail, do I have no right to complain about the beating if the courts find me guilty on the drunk driving charge?