Glen Clark Appointment To CANFOR Board No Help To NDP

Monday, April 20, 2009 03:45 AM

As the date for the provincial election inches closer, the latest announcement from the CANFOR Corporation nominating former NDP Premier Glen Clark to the Board of Directors of Canfor does little to help the fortunes of Carole James the present leader of the New Democrats.

Jim Pattison, tightening his grip on the board of Canfor, nominated Clark who is almost guaranteed to get a seat on the board given that there are only nine nominations.

Pattison now holds 30.7 % of the common shares, having replaced the Bentley families as the company’s major shareholder.

Clark has worked his way up in the corporation and now holds the post as executive vice president.

All of this may sit well with Clark, but in the eyes of the NDP, who at one point operated under the direction of Clark as the head of the NDP and Premier, it is not openly viewed as being of any benefit to a party trying to shake his image.

It is interesting that Clark is viewed by industry as being the person who wreaked havoc on the forest industry with his policies in the forest sector. Now the NDP are trying to gain political ground by criticizing the present Liberal Government over their forest policy.

If Clark still holds any interest in the fortunes of the NDP, he isn’t showing it, or conversely Canfor doesn’t care about what any political party thinks, they are in survival mode and Clark is simply a spoke in the wheel.

I’m Meisner and that’s one man’s opinion.

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Posted on Monday, April 20, 2009 03:45 AM in Views by Ben Meisner

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Comments

Posted by: diplomat on April 20 2009 6:39 AM

Mr. Clark went to work for Mr. Pattison very soon after he left political life. We have to see if Mr. Clark will actually a member of the board of directors.

Another NDP ex-expremier is Mr. Ujjal Dosangh who has successfully moved on to greener pastures - those of the federal Liberals.

Congratulations are in order. Business is business.

Posted by: diplomat on April 20 2009 6:42 AM

We have to see if Mr. Clark will actually become a member of the board of directors.

"Clark has worked his way up in the corporation and now holds the post as executive vice president."

Is it Pattison or Clark who holds that post?

Posted by: socredible on April 20 2009 7:47 AM

Maybe Ben's talking about Pattison's organization, diplomat, not Canfor itself. Clark has probably become an executive vice-president there. He was in charge of the sign rental division.

Stranger things have happened. Former Alberta Premier Manning, whose so-called Social Credit government was literally at war with the Canadian chartered banks for much of the time it was in office, and whose son, Preston, as leader of the federal Reform Party, made an 'elected' Senate one of his top priorities, accepted a directorship of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and an 'appointment' to the Senate, after retiring as Premier.

The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Posted by: diplomat on April 20 2009 8:35 AM

That makes sense, socredible! Thanks!

On the lighter side: I remember union leader Jack Munroe being interviewed by a reporter some time after he had been appointed to the board of directors of BC Ferries.

When asked an in-depth question about some aspect of BC Ferries he said something to the effect that he wouldn't know as he doesn't know the difference between a row boat and a ferry boat!

Still has me chuckling today! Down to earth, for sure!

Posted by: Palopu on April 20 2009 9:32 AM

Winston Churchill supposedly said.

**If your not a socialist at age 20 you have no heart, if your still a socialist at age 40 you have no brain**

Maybe Glen Clark has moved on. In any event he was offered a job by Jim Pattison after he was Premier of the Province of BC. He was abandoned by his political cronies, and by his union supporters.

Pattison apparently said that he gave Glen Clark a job, because he could.

Posted by: frankgeorgeson on April 20 2009 9:57 AM

Any wonder why I don't trust politicians or union leaders?

Who to vote for? At least the right wing people seem to stay put.

Frank

Posted by: swingline on April 20 2009 12:36 PM

It's misleading to say "Clark has worked his way up in the corporation and now holds the post as executive vice president" without saying what "corporation" is being referred to. It leads us to believe you're talking about Canfor Corp, when actually Clark is the executive VP of the Jim Pattison Group.

Posted by: socredible on April 20 2009 1:00 PM

That was my understanding of his position, too, swingline. Clark, like everybody else who's ever held the job, made lots of mistakes as Premier. But he wasn't necessarily 'wrong' all the time.

While I did not then, and do not now, agree with the way the Nishga Treaty was imposed, nor with Clark's use of David Suzuki and Jack Munro to try to "sell" it to us, I do remember reading an article in one of the newspapers written by Clark himself where he made a particularly good and very well-reasoned argument "for" that Treaty. I think maybe he was somewhat of a victim of the same kind of handling by his "handlers" within the NDP as Bill Bennett was when he led the Socreds.

The odd time when Bill Bennett was given a chance to speak "from the heart" he came across far better than when Norman Spector and other imports from Ontario's "Big Blue Machine" that were "handling " him were keeping him on a short leash.

Posted by: macadoo on April 20 2009 7:09 PM

To say that Canfor doesn't care about what any political party thinks,that they are in survival mode is an understatement. The contract that they have put forward (with no room to negotiate)to the union members, clarify where their coming from!!

Posted by: Truth on April 21 2009 2:00 AM

It could help them. Few party members promote socialism for its own sake. The current party is rooted in people who believe in good regulation rather than the no regulation policies of the Liberals and federal Conservatives.

Strident Libs are all elitists and narcisists. That shoe fits. Libs are standoffish and snooty. Many, like the convicted drunk, Gordon Campbell, were born with a silver spoon in their mouths. Liberals are detached from 95% of the people in this province. They are incapable of delivering representative government because they are self-absorbed, like preening peacocks.

Posted by: socredible on April 21 2009 8:07 AM

I doubt it will have any effect at all on the fortunes of the NDP at the polls.

Canfor, as Ben said, is "in survival mode". They'll have to deal with whatever government we elect. Which, right now, is probably one of the least of their concerns.

"Finance" will dictate what will be done, not "government", nor "labour unions", nor the Canfor Board of Directors, with or without Glen Clark.

(If the current downturn continues indefinitely, all four might welcome a 'socialist' takeover. Or, if the Liberals are re-elected, "government" loan guarantees. The shareholders would likely get more for their shares in a government buyout than they would on the stock market. The "book value" of Pattison's Canfor shares are probably well in excess of what he acquired them for. And "government loan guarantees" would similarly boost the stock price.)

More likely than not Canfor's more concerned right now about how long their bankers will continue to provide them with credit while the red ink is still flowing in their financial statements.

Perhaps Glenn Clark can help them there, since the whole concept of bank loan financing is based on 'confidence', and he did quite a con job with his "fudgit budget" once before! (Not that it really mattered ~ a "Balanced Budget" in regards to a "government" is a complete fallacy anyways.)