Well I can't imagine they have many resources left for British Columbia, a province they took for granted in the last election and probably will again. With all of their proposed tax cuts, on top of the Liberal-proposed (and Conservative-endorsed) $30 billion tax cut program, and all of their promises to honour the many groundbreaking commitments the Martin government has made such as the New Deal for Cities and Communities, where will they get the money from to provide the solid and consistent infrastructure, advanced education and health care investment British Columbia truly needs?

Paul Martin and his BC team understand British Columbia, they have demonstrated the political will necessary to go to bat for our province in Ottawa, and I'm supremely confident they'll continue to do so.

The Conservatives' Made-in-Ottawa Agenda for British Columbia just won't fly. British Columbians are tired of being told what to think and what they want by Harper's Conservatives, and the fact that they are apparently don't even trust their own grassroots BC members to provide ideas on what grassroots British Columbians want and need from their government is just plain odd.

"... party executive director and former Vancouver Island lawyer Mike Donison, ... "

Would that be Mike Donison the once-upon-a-time UVic student Liberal, protege of Bob Plecas and predecessor to Colin Hansen?

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I'm sure the Conservatives Made-in-Calgary Agenda will be a real treat.

Maybe it will quote Conservative Candidate Daryl Reid, former head of Focus on the Family Canada saying "Let's outlaw abortion!".

or Conservative Candidate Cindy Silver, the former head of the Christian Legal Fellowship of Canada saying, "Homosexuality is wrong!".

or Conservative Candidate John Weston, who proudly trumpets his opposition to the treaty process on his candidate web site saying, "Land claims, schmland claims!".

or Conservative Candidate Phil Eidsvik, former head of the fisheries survival coaltion saying (and this is a real quote!) "The Nisga'a Treaty is the worst sort of Alabama-style rascism".

Now that would be a Made-in-Calgary-Agenda that actually reflected the truth!

Billy,

Can you help me find the "Land claims, schmland claims!" on Weston's website?

Bob

Tongue-in-cheek Bob, tongue-in-cheek. But happy reading on the Weston web site regardless.

As is typical of Billy's rants, he's, once again, full of s--t.

Of all the quotes he's posted above, only Reid's (who I agree should not be a candidate) is accurate. Silver said that homosecuality is wrong "for some people", so her comment is taken totally out of context. She was describing what others felt during a speech I attended. We have shown that Billy lied about the Weston comment, like the Liberal drive by BS shooter that that our mental midget Billy really is, and as for Eidsvik's comment, that too was part of a response to one of the chief aboriginal negotiators who said, without protest from the media, Billy, the loonie left etc., that as long as "white people are (were) involved in the (effing)process, nothing will get accomplished". Although Eidsvik's comment was awkwardly put, what he clearly meant was that the "white people" referred to in his comment were being marginalized (to put it mildly). Was his comment a stretch, sure it was, but it wasn't what little Billy reported certainly.

Sorry Billy boy, (almost) every time you post, everyone's BS meter goes into the red zone.....

Braeden Caley, if this is the same Braeden “the informed Young Liberal” that had an article published in 24 H, please stop spouting PMO talking points - be it in 24 H or on this website. Rather you are an uninformed tool that is buying into Scott “pass me the beer and popcorn” Reid’s crap that he pushes out to young impressionable minds like yours.

Furthermore, you should not throw stones when you live in a glass house. Maybe look at your own MP, Raymond, and the couple of scandals he had over the last two months. How do you justify yourself for voting and supporting such a corrupt government? Please tell me how do you vote for somebody who steels from tax payers to fund his ESL schools in China?

We'll see soon enough how much "Paul Martin and his BC team understand British Columbia", as Braeden Cayley (or should I say Mark Marissen and Liberal HQ talking points?) puts it.

If Paul Martin is so in tune with B.C., then why is his party only competitive in a dozen ridings or so, all in the Lower Mainland or on Vancouver Island? Seems to me the Liberal appeal is isolated in a third of the Province. Compare that to the NDP and Conservatives who are competitive all across British Columbia.

British Columbians are sick and tired of a Paul Martin Liberal government that insults parents by questioning their ability to decide what's best for their own children. Enjoy sitting in opposition, Braeden - it's time for a time out.

Once again, the Grit and Tory spokespeople here have immediately gotten down and dirty, with talk of racism and various sex and morals tidbits. Whatever it takes, according to US style pollsters and campaign consultants, to titillate and polarize voters without yielding to them any real control over the policy substance of government. That must be held onto very tightly, according to all the Tom D'Aquino types.

Now, in the middle of all this US style "culture war" stuff, will no one answer my enquiry about Mike Donison?

Mack, you are deluding yourself if you think that all the parties are competitive everywhere. Look at Van East, or Victoria, or nanaimo Cowichan, or van Centre or Van South, or surrey north....doesn't look like the Cons have a hope in those ridings. Each party has a grasp on a different segment of the province..thats how partisan politics work.

As for the Liberal document that will come out this year, I remember that they set up a forum for regular people to come out and give their input in different places all over BC. How many other parties make the effort to invite participation from non-members. Thats good public policy, because it considers many viewpoints, not just the partisan opinions of the Conservative War Room.

I love it when people in political parties can only see the world through their respective orange, red, or blue coloured glasses. It doesn't matter what conservatives think about Conservatives and Liberals about Liberals. at the end of the day, those people will still be supporters. the opinions that matter are the ones that are not already party members. Kudos to the Libs for making the effort here.

You're all petulant children.

Adam - my point was that the Liberal Party's claim to be in touch with B.C. was rather dubious as they are the least competitive party province-wide. Their support is concentrated in very few ridings, whereas the NDP and Conservatives are competitive in all but a very few select ridings (some of which you mentioned).

Let's break it down - the Liberals are not competitive at all in any Interior ridings, period, whereas the Conservatives hold almost all these seats and the NDP enjoys healthy support.

The Island is a Conservative/NDP stronghold, with the Liberals having a shot at 1 or 2 Victoria ridings and not much else.

Greater Vancouver is the only place the Liberals can claim great support, and even there the NDP and Conservatives are competitive in most ridings - be it the Tories on the North Shore, Surrey and Richmond, or the NDP in Burnaby, Van Centre, and Surrey.

The bottom line is that the Liberals are viewed very poorly when it comes to parties that are 'in touch' with B.C voters, compared to the NDP and Conservatives.

Funny - they wrote the thing in the backroom. I notice you didnt mention any of their caucus or candidates. Are they just too stupid to map out an agenda?

The Liberals have had a bunch of policy conferences, including well over 1000 people from which to gather ideas on their next edition of the Made-in-BC Agenda.

I say Liberals yes Grassroots yes.

Tories no. Backroom boys out!!

Indeed. It's really just another example of Conservatives elsewhere trying to tell British Columbians how to think. We saw this last week with Rob Anders using tax dollars to send (to Richmond) a picture of an armed gunman accompanied by the survey question "Do you support homosexual sex marriage?" during an election period.

How dumb does Stephen Harper think we are?

All Liberal candidates and MPs seem to do is bring Ottawa's message to BC. Just look at Ujjal Dosanjh who continues to justify the ineffective and absurd handgun ban, which will do nothing to solve gun-related crime. Did Paul Martin and Ujjal consult British Columbians before they announced this ill-conceived policy? If they did, they would have realized several things:

1) Many British Columbians, especially those in the Interior, have a legitimate need for handguns. I am talking about trappers and prospectors who require protection from natural threats like grizzly bears.

2) Hand guns are already severely restricted in Canada. Rather than taking 500 000 handguns "off the streets", the Liberals will be taking 500 000 handguns out of safes of responsible, law-abiding citizens.

3) British Columbians have been urging the federal government for over a decade to get tough on crime and our pleas have fallen on deaf ears. This means mandatory minimum sentencing for violent and drug-related crime, truth-in-sentencing, and legislation that allows Crown prosecutors and judges to lock up dangerous offenders who have no chance at rehabilitation for good. The Liberals have had 12 years to get tough on crime and failed to do so - there's no reason to expect any different if they are re-elected.

It's time to elect people who will truly take the B.C. message to Ottawa - and it's clear that the Liberals aren't up to the task.

Once Again:

Sorry if I struck a nerve old chum. The quotes I posted aren't quotes. I used a little artistic license. The funny thing is it turns out they're pretty accurate!

The point I was making is that Harper's faux move to the middle is nothing more than a sham. Harper is not a middle-of-the-road politician. He's a neo-con. I don't respect politicians who pretend to beleive in things that they don;t actually believe in, which is exactly wjat Harper is doing right now.

Geez some of the M&M club fiberal spinners are freaking hilarious.

Billy I love you're quote of:

"The point I was making is that Harper's faux move to the middle is nothing more than a sham. Harper is not a middle-of-the-road politician. He's a neo-con. I don't respect politicians who pretend to beleive in things that they don;t actually believe in, which is exactly wjat Harper is doing right now."

This is coming from the Liberal party which is based on "pretending to believe in things that they don't actually beleive in", the Liberals will pretend to believe in just about anything as long as they think it will give them power.

For example the faux "handgun-ban" which is nothing but an attempt to keep Toronto seats from going the the NDP. Or the last minute move to tax cuts when the Liberals knew they were going to the polls early. The list of "pretend" beleifs in the pursuit of power is a long one.

Harper is hardly a radical neo-con.

At the big Tory convention in March 2005 at lovely Montreal the Tory party extremely moderated its various policies and positions at the behest of its members and its leadership to reflect the newly mergered party.

As a member of Reform, then CA and now Tory parties it is very clear that on a policy front the party has poured litres of water in its conservative wine. Such that there are no long any policies that any reasonable person could describe as "neo-con".

The only exception is the very clear policy on SSM, where the party wishes a true free vote on the subject to finally decide the issue. And even then if parliament decides to get rid of SSM they will replace it with an equal institution of civil unions and allow all previous SSM to remain married.

This is hardly extreme socon policy.

Yet the Fiberals will try yet again to paint the tories as crazy extreme socon rednecks just as they did with the Reform and CA that came before.

It is still early in the election and hopefully the electors will tire of the arrogance of the liberal elites who think parents will spend their cash on popcorn and beer rather than their kids.

As for the Tory BC platform I will be very interested to see what it contains. I will be equally curious to see what if any special policy the Liberal BC platform will contain.

The fact is that while most polls show a 3 way race in BC, the real races in BC will be between the NDP and the Tories (since the fiberals have just about all their support in Vancouver with pockets in a few other urban areas).

The liberals will not be moving very far from the 8 seats they currently have in BC, and I would wager that they lose rather than pick up seats in BC losing a few to the NDP and maybe a
couple to the Tories.

My fiberal BC predictions:

1. Victoria: clear loss
2. Esq: clear loss
3. North Van: loss/hold (perhaps a very tight win for tories but could go either way)
4. Van centre: loss/hold (perhaps a very tight win for ndp but could go either way)
5. Van kings: loss/hold (perhaps a very tight win for ndp but could go either way)
6. Richmond: hold
7. Van south: easy hold
8. Van quadra: easy hold

Thus only really 3 likely fiberals and there is not many seats the fiberals can pick up aside from 1-2 in surrey and maybe west van of those 3 perhaps they pick up 1.

So you have a potential of 4-10 fiberals in BC.

Cheers

Rick, ... a good analysis on those seats. I am nor sure I agree with you that Harper is not a rigid neoconservative ideologue. I think he's done a lot to try to mute that, but his day job for several years was with Colin Brown's laughably titled National Citizen's Coalition, a group that should be named the John Birch Society of Canada, Ltd.

Budd,

Thanks for you agreement wirth respect to the fiberal seat predictions.

As a dipper you would hopefully be beyond the stock "Harper" is evil/scary/crazy mantra of the fiberals. Which is how they will attempt to drive soft NDP voters to the Liberal fold in fear of evil Harper, (e.g. crazy Buzz has drunk from that Liberal kool-aid).

I am not saying that Harper is not a conservative, of course, he is. And he is a far cry from a mushy liberal.

What he is not is a "rigid neoconservative ideologue" by definition if he was he would not have moderated both his and his parties views/polcies.

The Tory party is a big tent party and has room from neo-cons/reganite/thatcherite types (like me) and also for socially liberal, progressive types like MP James Moore, Sen Pat Carney, and etc.

It will be interesting if the NDP and its supporters like yourself can hang on to the 16-19% of the vote you have been polling lately (you only got 15.7% in 2004). The liberals will try to fear monger your voters to them (yet again).

I think that the extent to which you can hang on to you vote and take the lefty fiberal vote will in large part determine if we have a minority Liberal or a minority Tory government come Jan 23.

Your best arguement is that from the NDP point of view the Libs and Tories are both wrong, so vote NDP and don't be worried about the Tories since you won't let them do "scary" things since the NDP will hold the balance of power in any minority gov whether lib or tory.

Or something like that.

I bet in the debates this week that Jack-o-Layton will focus all his fire on Martin and not talk about the tories (and vice versa for Harper).

Cheers

Rick,

Harper is about as stiff as they come and he is an ideolog - except when it serves his personal interest. He has just thrown billions at the voters because he thinks that is what it takes to win.

Harper is plain wrong.

Voters will except tax dollars being thrown at them if those programs are in the national interest and community building. In contrast, Harper's tax rearrangements are just that, tax adjustments without focus. L. faire tax shifting does not impress Canadian voters. They don't build community nor will Canadians necessarily agree they are in the national interest.

The CPC has hit a brick wall in the polls for a reason.

Harper has not thought through the platforms he is proposing nor how they might bounce off swing voters. He is demonstrating he does not understand Canadians and that he will use policy – crudely use policy – to try manipulate rather than improve how Canadians live.

Harper is politically incompetent.

Marky Mark and his dope smoking "campaign co-ordinators" are in for a surprise this time. I hear the Bassi Boys are running things in Surrey with a Bassi relative and Martin spoon helping out with Sukh Dhaliwal and Locke. NDP is strong and have some very good people working for them. Just remember the last provincial and most recent municipal election results and campaign organizing. Surrey will have 3 NDP seats and 1 Conservative.

i love surrey and i love surrey girls

"Silver said that homosecuality is wrong "for some people", so her comment is taken totally out of context. She was describing what others felt during a speech I attended."

Once Again you are wrong.

Cindy Silver "I happen to believe that homosexuality is wrong."

http://www.parl.gc.ca/35/2/parlbus/commbus/senate/com-e/LEGA-E/05EV-E.htm

"During the marriage trials, it become evident that EGALE and their partner groups for challenging marriage are not simply seeking equal benefits before and under the law, but are really seeking to ensure and expedite broad social approval for same-sex unions, and by implication for homosexual conduct. It is really this that is at the heart of the marriage challenge. It is an attempt to use the disciplinary power of language to exact change in people's beliefs and attitudes regarding the moral nature of homosexual conduct."

Cindy Silver April 1 2003 to House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice