Based on no follow-through by the Chinese, we can presume that the “Iron Lady” is leading an enforcement team.

:-)

We might not have students from China because, unlike the rest of BC, our water is fluoridated.
China does not fluoridate their water, but happily sells their industrial waste -hydrofluorosilicic acid – to North America so that we can put it in our drinking water.

I agree, Mr, Meisner. I’d like more information as to how this trip will financially benefit Prince George. It seems like a waste of taxpayers money otherwise.

Isn’t there a way to get rid of these idiots before there term is up?

A number of years ago Mayor Kinsley attended the World Winter Cities Association of Mayors conference in China.

On checking who attended this conference from North America I determined that the Mayor of Anchorage Alaska, and the Mayor of Prince George were the only attendents from Nth America. Hmmmmmmmm.

The same thing applies to this trip. Why are not Mayors and Councillors from every City in Canada heading for China??? Could it be because it is nothing more than a waste of money and a waste of time?????

A few months ago our illustrious Premier Christy Clark said that her goal was to increase International Students to BC Universitys by 50%. Has our Mayor and Council had any discussion with the Premier, to ensure they are not duplicating efforts???

“I’d like more information as to how this trip will financially benefit Prince George”

Once upon a time there was a fellow by the name of Nixon; Tricky Dickie for short. He decided that he would visit tone of the USA’s enemy nations at the time, China.

He came back, ping pong paddle in hand. So, the USA went from gun boat diplomacy to ping ball diplomacy. Thus was started the modern version of cultural exchanges.

City twinning, sisterships, brotherhoods, partners in crime …… whatever one names them were intended to be cultural exchanges in the hopes of understanding other cultures more and perhaps a little better in the hopes of getting along better.

The notion that this was potentially good for the economy of the cities involved or the countries or the world was something I think came later in the day.

Of course, these days we really do not give a chit about getting along anymore. We are in the midst of an economic takeover war fought by corporations with public money supporting their every endeavour. When they talk about helping the sick and the homeless, they are talking about the sick and homeless corporations needing a helping hand.

As KPMG would tell us, and Kevin as well – “show me the money”.

Hey, maybe we could get some hacker to go online and cancel their plane tickets!! Wouldn’t that be fun!

We have to let this go. If we dont we will end up juist being a bunch of frusterated taxpayer not much different then those who are ruling our lives The only recoures is at the next municipal election. Or will it be forgotten by then.

Will we hav another candidate for mayor with a large bank roll
Cheers

Gus: “We are in the midst of an economic takeover war fought by corporations with public money…..”
Absolutely hit the nail on the head.
We are also in the midst of a global war being fought by the Chinese. Not a military war, but an economic war. And boy are they winning at a rapid pace. They are buying up resources, land bases etc at an incredible pace. They are also making countries around the world dependent upon them to some extent or another. Look at where the BC lumber (what there is of it) is going. Look at what is slowly happening with global oil resources.
Thing is, once they have so many corporations and nations dependent upon them, they can win the war by pulling the rug out from under our feet. Then who carries the debt of countries like, oh, Uncle Sam? Just a thought.
Retired 02. Granted we don’t need things eating away at us like a cancer. But if we let it go, the scenario will be repeated over and over again. What it will take is an issue taking us to the tipping point, and then people will get off their butts and become involved in visible protest.
We know it can be done. The dyke backlash was an example of people saying enough is enough.
It’s still astonishing though how this council fails to see the ridiculousness of this trip.

Majority of our lumber goes to the USA and then to Japan. Chinese lumber exports are starting to decline.

China has been buying our coal, copper concentrate, pulp and paper, scrap metal, wheat, etc; etc;, for years, so whats the big deal.

Why is our Mayor and company so enamoured by China? Why would we want to be twinned with a city in China? Tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs left Canada and the USA for China because they don’t care for their environment and how much they pay their workers. Their human rights are appalling, does Mayor Green remember the “Tiananmen Square” massacre of 1989? China is stealing jobs from under our noses as they send thousand of workers to work their mine, which is located basically in our back yard. If we don’t have enough skilled workers in Canada to mine coal, then we should be getting those workers from our neighbours to the south. A stronger American economy makes for a stronger and free Canada and Canadian economy.

Our mayor and council have lost their way. They have forgotten their true mission, which was to try and make the world of Prince George British Columbia a better place to live in. Should they be given a chance to redeem themselves? Or will we shuffle the cards and hope for a better draw?
metalman.

It isn’t just Prince George council…it is happening everywhere with city councils and mayors.
Problem is,they are getting away with it.
Obviously,they have learned well from their provincial and federal role models.
In the case of Pat Bell, throwing money in the pot…that’s called “election survival”.
They get pretty good at it after being re-elected time and time again.
Elected once…elected for life…actually accomplshing much is not the point, I suppose.
Out west,John Rustad is a master at that…but this past year with the animosity directed at the Clark government,we are hearing something more and more.
What do these people really do for us,considering what they are paid?
If we look at the political mess the B.C.Liberals have created here in B.C…not much, would be the only answer that makes any sense.

Hang on to your hats. Scary Sheri just began her rain of power that has gone to her head. This is only the start. She will never pay any attention to the voters unless you come with a pocket full of money for her next campaign. Wait because we have only seen the start of her not giving one hoot about the tax payer or the voter. We still need a 4×4 to get down our street.

It’s amazing when you start to search how China has screwed other countries they have dealing with, it becomes very clear. Money talks, but only for so long. They like to walk in throw a little cash around here and there, tie up supply sources and then do nothing. It’s a confidence scheme, nothing new other than the players. It’s a communist country with an atrocious track record for human rights and wage parody.

Chinese workers for B.C. mines, sure at the peanut wages these folks will be working for, of course no sane minded professional B.C. miner would work for those wages and in very questionable working conditions. There is noting high tech about the process of removing coal or any minerals for that matter, however the safety and the means of removing it is what’s in question here.

China is just a hungry selfish communist monster, screw the people, it’s all about the country. People come and go they are replaceable, let them breed or not, it’s the parties decision not the individuals. Our markets are flooded with cheaply made Chinese crap, most of which is manufactured from Canadian outlawed materials. Just pouring into our terminals at a rate that Canada Customs can’t keep up with searching it all.

So why the focus on an over populated, communist country that has delusions of capitalism (post Hong Kong take over from Britain). Can any of you remember how the west coast was flooded with purchases of property by off shore investors looking to jump away from the Chinese take over of Hong Kong? Sure, they knew what was coming and they wanted to steer clear of it at all costs. Enter the costly homes of Vancouver.

Money is good when it’s used correctly. However we are seeing too much investment from China (fawned investment, they always change there minds later on, search it and see). Why not look at trading with a democratic country that we can build a real relationship with? Seriously the Chinese track record sucks, the deal is signed and a half hour later you’re hungry again, sound familiar?

Australia and the US will not allow Chinese manufactured switch gear or routers to be used in their national defense networks due to the fact that some of the Chinese gear has been found to contain hidden routing programs to scan and forward classified information. In Australia there is a policy in place preventing any Chinese firms from purchasing telecommunications firms just for security reasons. Seriously what does our Mayor expect from such dealings with China?

Good post, Professional. In addition to all the crap we buy from China, I am stunned by how much of our food is prepared/packaged in China and India….read the labels people. Articles in mainstream media have exposed the lack of control/rules with food we eat every day, I think the majority just assume we are eating north American at the very least.

The only way to enforce change is with where we spend our money; as they say it talks. I encourage people to be aware, be informed, make ethical decisions on where to spend your bucks…start local and go out from there. Check labels, pay a little more for quality. Support businesses that support their workers and community. Make ethics count/pay!

In the end, it is our insatiable penchant for the cheapest sh*t and too much of it, for rock bottom prices that is a major part of the world’s problems, IMO.

“Articles in mainstream media have exposed the lack of control/rules with food we eat every day”

Kind of poor timing for a post like that, wouldn’t you say? I mean with the stuff going on at the slaughter house in Alberta one has to be careful where one points fingers.

I would have thought that there were enough people who would have remembered the dreaded words “made in Japan” on goods …. and then they had the audacity to sell us cars too!!!!!

Gus – You have to admit that at least the stuff “Made in Japan” had some quality to it. The Japanese methodology was to automate the production of goods, Henry Ford’s assembly line on steroids if that sounds better. The Japanese just knew how to put it out there with efficiency while maintaining quality. They learned how to teach that process to the North American worker, be efficient and productive at the same time.

The Chinese methodology is screw the people, it’s for the betterment of the country. (This is in keeping with the communist theology of the state over the masses).

When you are comparing apples and oranges you compare them to themselves. Japan is no where near the same as China. China just wants to take as cheaply as possible all be it at the cost of its people. Should I point out the “head tax” the Chinese company is charging to bring worker to it’s coal mine in B.C., so that’s fair huh? How many times do we need to yell and scream at our elected officials before someone wakes up?

Things are going to hell in a hand basket; we need to start saying “NO” a lot more than we do. But the question is “who’s” got the guts to do that in political office??