BC Liberals Quietly Announce LDB Shortlist
Saturday, July 21, 2012 @ 5:47 AM
Prince George, B.C. – The government of Premier Christy Clark has created a shortlist of proponents to enter the next stage of evaluation for the proposed sale of the Liquor Distribution Branch’s warehousing and distribution services.
The government considered six proposals in response to the Negotiated Request for Proposals (NRFP) to contract for the LDB’s warehousing and distribution services.
Based on the six submissions received, the evaluation committee shortlisted four companies. They are (in alphabetical order):
· ContainerWorld Forwarding Services Inc.
· Exel Canada Ltd.
· Kuehne + Nagel Ltd.
· Metro Supply Chain Group Inc.
The NRFP contained a provision for up to the three top-ranked proposals. There was a tie for the third spot, so four proponents will now continue through the process with an opportunity to refine their proposals.
The NRFP evaluation committee will determine which of these refined proposals best meets government’s objectives, and in the event it is established a better service delivery model can be achieved, will announce the successful company in October 2012. A services agreement would then be negotiated with the successful company by March 2013, just before the next provincial election in May.
The proposed privatization has created a great deal of controversy. The NDP wants to know why the government would want to sell off the service when no business case for the sale has been presented. As well, provincial lobbyist and Clark confidant Patrick Kinsella is believed to have close ties with one of the four shortlisted proponents.
The government says a fairness monitor is overseeing and working with the NRFP evaluation committee to ensure the process is conducted in a manner that is fair to all parties. At the end of the process, the fairness monitor will prepare a summary report, which will be made publicly available.
Comments
My money is on Exel.
The government doesn’t need to be in the liquor distribution business.
culture … it is literally your money. In the last 5 years the average profit, money going into the coffers of the province is 477 million dollars. If the agreement being proposed is for less than that, this deal will result in money out of the taxpayers pocket. You can check the annual reports for the LDB by going to their website
http://www.bcliquorstores.com/annual-report
Raises the question “Why sell an operation that has returned 2.3 billion dollars in profit, 477 million per year, over the last five years?”
In addition, I don’t think BC’ers are going to quit drinking enmasse so this cash flow should continue well into the future.
The government still sets pricing, regardless of whether they are in the distribution game or not.
“The government doesn’t need to be in the liquor distribution business.”
The Liberals told us that same line about Private Power, BC ferries, BC Rail and beer and wine sales. All that happens is that Liberal insiders grab the brass ring, and the workers get shafted. If you have the intestinal fortitude to buy your booze from the private sellers, take a good look at the people who work there. That’s what $12/hr looks like. Johnny Belt if you have no shame, your a worse person than the rest of us. The Liberals are done, this is the last corrupt act of a corrupt government.
If they do this I hope the NDP cancels the agreement, the Liberals no longer have the mandate of the people and they know it.
How soon after liquor distribution is privatized will the winning contractor eliminate the routes that are not as profitable? Small, out of the way places will be unprofitable to deliver to at the same rates as the bigger centres. Will there be some guarantee that these clients will still receive the same level of service at the same cost?
No problem getting booze in Podunk, Alberta.
“The government doesn’t need to be in the liquor distribution business.”
^^^^^^
This.
I might support privatization if it meant the elimination of the monopoly, but in this case they’re keeping the monopoly and renting it out to a private party. This reeks of the Liberals doing favours for their buddies. There’s no reason we shouldn’t just open up the liquor business and obtain the benefits of competition.
herbster: “If you have the intestinal fortitude to buy your booze from the private sellers, take a good look at the people who work there. That’s what $12/hr looks like. Johnny Belt if you have no shame, your a worse person than the rest of us.”
Oh give it up already. If you think that only highly paid and benefitted government union workers have the capability to sell liquor, then you’re farther off the deep end than I thought. You might favour big government services, benefits, wages, and pensions, but at the end of the day, we can’t sustain it all.
“Raises the question “Why sell an operation that has returned 2.3 billion dollars in profit, 477 million per year, over the last five years?””
Those profits would look better in the hands of friends of our govt.
The loss of good paying and benefited govt jobs and 477 million a year in govt profits, (taxpayers money) in exchange for minimum wage non benefited jobs and the 477 million a year, (taxpayers money) into the hands of private interests is ridiculous and anyone that can’t see that is brain dead.
477 million a year in profits, that would make these jobs a wee bit more than self sustaining hey Johnny?
This is blatant open corruption. Look Christy Clark has not had to answer once for her husbands involvement in privatizing BC Rail costing towns like Mackenzie their industry. She has no mandate from the people of BC, was not elected premier just rather the leader of the party with the most seats after an election, and even then she would not answer questions on the sale of BC Rail (of which she was intimately involved), nor will she answer questions on the ransom paid to the political insiders that were on trial.
Now we have the same joker behind the BC Rail sell out behind the scenes working privatization of the BC Liqueur Distribution Board and its $500 million dollar a year monopoly profits.
People should have gone to jail for the BC Rail sell off… that these same people are now out to grab the LDB prior to any election just shows the true corrupt monopoly capitalist motives of the BC liberals.
I first realized we had criminals operating in our government when they made the BC Hydro deal with Accenture immediately after the huge accounting scandal at Aurthor Anderson where their global operations were shut down for corrupt reporting standards that enabled companies committing the ‘revenue trading’ scheme they invented which allowed companies to claim revenue from a contract trade up front while expensing its other side over 30-years thereby skewing the reality of profits as reported ala Enron, Global Crossing, Worldcom, 360 Networks, and yes even BC Rail via Accenture (which is why were weren’t paid $400 million owed by California). Prior to Aurthor Anderson being shut down by American regulators the top brass anticipating the gig being up folded tent and started Accenture… the BC liberals then gave them a half billion dollar contract to control BC Hydro billing… some would say as a cover for them under a crown corporation to continue with their same corrupt practices and rebuilt a tainted corporate image.
When you have a government that ‘privatizes’ monopoly public sector revenue streams to the most notoriously corrupt organizations, then one has to realize the organization does not represent the will of the people, it does not in any way represent free enterprise, and the only thing it does represent is corrupt monopolistic corporations that are mostly foreign owned.
An election should have been called immediate after the HST fraud that forced the last premier out of office. Anything this government does now it doesn’t have a mandate for and should be considered a crime against democracy.
IMO Patrick Kinsella should be banned from politics. He should not be allowed to donate from any company he controls, nor should he be allowed to lobby his poison pills. All the more reason why no union or corporation should be allowed to make political donations in a democracy.
opps it was BC Hydro not paid by California for the $400 million in revenue accrued through fixing the electricity rates with expensive and illegal revenue trading swaps. Not BC Rail….
Dragon: “The loss of good paying and benefited govt jobs and 477 million a year in govt profits, (taxpayers money) in exchange for minimum wage non benefited jobs and the 477 million a year, (taxpayers money) into the hands of private interests is ridiculous and anyone that can’t see that is brain dead.”
It is already in private interests just about everywhere except BC. Sorry if a few of you can’t face reality. The inconvenient truth is that there is no need for the government to distribute liquor.
Dragon: “477 million a year in profits, that would make these jobs a wee bit more than self sustaining hey Johnny?”
Here’s someone who’s unclear on the concept. The 477 million is not for the exclusive use and upkeep of the liquor distribution branch and its employees. It goes to other such crazy things like healthcare and education.
After they (hopefully) shut down government liquor stores, the government will still make that profit on sales because they set prices.
An excellent post Dragon.
JohnnyBelt, there is no need to change the status quo except to give another Liberal friend another chance for huge profits.
I just hope we can get rid of this gov’t before they sell off the whole province.
“Randy Hawes is one of the few Liberal MLAs whoâs had the guts to speak up and criticize his own government, like when he slammed his colleagues over the Community Living B.C. fiasco.
Now heâs calling on the government to end the secrecy around the decision to privatize the provinceâs liquor-distribution system in the face of a possible pre-election backlash by voters.”
http://www.theprovince.com/opinion/Randy+Hawes+seeks+clarity+amid+brutal+optics+liquor+distribution/6955019/story.html
karman: “JohnnyBelt, there is no need to change the status quo “
Yup. You NDP’ers keep on thinking that way. Hey, maybe while we keep government jobs in liquor distribution, how about we open up government cigarette and lottery ticket stores as well? Not a bad idea! Everyone can have a high paying job courtesy of the government.
Not too sure what you consider a high paying job, JohnnyBelt
The Liberals seem to me that they have a very select few who get the really high paying jobs, like David Hahn.
I am going to support the NDP this time. You can blindly support the Liberals, but I can’t see how anyone who is thinking can support this gov’t.
Here are a couple of sites for some interesting comments.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zem281DkCyU&feature=fvwrel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90RzlUjE_Lo&feature=related
karman: “I am going to support the NDP this time. You can blindly support the Liberals, but I can’t see how anyone who is thinking can support this gov’t.”
I have never said that the current government is perfect. I think Christy Clark has been a disaster. However, this isn’t about that. It’s about doing what makes sense. You can blindly support the NDP if you want, but I remember what they did in the 90’s. They’ll never get my vote.
In the 90’s, the NDP had some problems but they overcame them. They left office with more than a billion dollars in surplus. Since then the BC Liberals have run this province into the ground and we have record deficits. Even Campbell’s attempt at green-washing with the carbon tax is a failure. It is just a tax grab, it does nothing to help the environment. After instituting this tax, the BC Liberals gave tax breaks to the companies getting gas in BC by hydro-fracking. This is the dirtiest way to get fuel next to the tar sands and they get tax breaks. The BC Liberals have got to go. JohnnyBelt should make an attempt to do some research and try to be objective.
astro: “After instituting this tax, the BC Liberals gave tax breaks to the companies getting gas in BC by hydro-fracking.”
Yes, much of that gas from hydraulic fracturing (not hydro-fracking) probably heats your home and where you work (if you work, which is doubtful).
astro: “In the 90’s, the NDP had some problems but they overcame them. They left office with more than a billion dollars in surplus. “
Objective… ok, let’s see… the NDP were so loved and did such a good job that in 2001 they were voted down to 2 seats in the legislature. Good show.
An excellent post astro.
(if you work, which is doubtful).
What an absolutely classless post JohnnyBelt.
Take off your NDP-coloured glasses and look at the world karman. You might see something.
Comments for this article are closed.