L E T   'E R   R I P !!!

Ok I shall start the ball rolling as I have been waiting several days to post this. When is the NDP going to take down their signs? The Bond/ Bell team were out on Wednesday taking down their's. I know that there are some sour grapes over the results but why are they that sour? The public has spoken and the best man won.

Three cheers for our two very hard working candidates that will keep BC strong!

Now would the loosers please go pick up your signs?

Happy Friday!

I've noticed that also. I thought they were the responsible type that took care of the community. I suppose its cheap when its only talk. So how strong the NDP Candidates are.

Election signs are to be removed the first working day after an election. If they are not, they can be removed by Minister of Highways staff, and the sign owners can be billed for the cost.

Palopu, Ok, lets order MoH staff to remove the signs, also order the city of PG to do the same. They had no problems plucking them into the ground.

Swine flu in our jails. Hmmmm must have come in with all the illegal drugs from Mexico.

It's all about candidates. The NDP struggeled in PG because of the candidates. Who are they.... I had never heard of them before the election. no name candidates with no track record.

Why cant the city not repair the major road damage at the Domano and Gladstone intersection by the store (that cars are driving ito opposing lanes to get around) but they are able to able to send a crew to paint lines right beside it? It boggles the mind.

Driver peeves
with the long weekend here and the RCMP on a ticket rampage I would like to mention another type of hazardous driver.

When turning right, do not veer left or vice versa.
My god, not only is that annoying, but also confusing to all other drivers and with that very dangerous. You are not driving a tractor with a fifty foot reefer.
If you are not able to navigate a right angle turn on a two lane road, please stop driving.

Drift slight in the direction you intend to turn and allow following traffic to safely continue on the side you are not turning towards. It is so simple even the NDP could do it!

Pot hole repair this year is absolutely horrible. When is the city going to get the required repairs done? A new mayor and council members were elected with the hopes they would follow through on their promise of fixing the roads. It would seem this new group is worse at getting the roads repaired than the old ex-councillors.
At the corner of Davis and Ospika a new approach to pot hole repair is underway. 1/2 of a pot hole was filled in and tamped. Several pot holes were left with nothing done. It is absolutely criminal for the city managers to not do their jobs prpoerly. Maybe it is time to contract out the repair and management of city roads. Atleast then something could be done if the contractor does not live to expectations.
Now is time for these councillors and the new mayor to realize roads are a priority and all these grand headline grabbing projects like downtown, PAC, community energy system, new RCMP station, are way down the list of priorities for the average tax paying citizen.
City council needs to realize the average citizen can not continue to afford excessive tax increases just to pay for the dreams of city council.

Another great editorial cartoon from Bruce Mackinnon, the best in the business.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/toon.php

The city should change signs at the pine centre ramp and highway 16. The pine centre ramp should be changed to a merge and highway 97 and 16 should be changed to a yield. Because thats what everyone thinks they are right now. People (see) the signs and drive accordingly or you'll be run into the ditch.

That's a pet peeve of mine too Loki... like when people are turning left onto a 2-lane street, and end up in the far right lane. Accidents waiting to happen!

I have always noticed on this site how a group of people consider private enterprise is the cats meow to everything. Eh gas price increase before the long weekend-private enterprise. The financial mess the world is in mainly a result of government oversite taken away from financial institutions read private enterprise.

People keep complaining about the size of government, its that size to give oversite to private enterprise.

A conctract crew to do potholes on a tendered contract is a good idea. Competition always brings out the best in people. The direct award for the pine beetle clean-up should be tendered as well.

No Muckermike... I cannot agree that "competition always brings out the best in people"... more often than not, competition brings out the "worse" in people.

You want an example, you say??

Religion... Politics... Cheerleading... Bridgebuilding... Hockey...


Peace. :-)

V.

Proper modern automated 21st century pot hole patching equipment would bring out the best not only in the pothole repair crews but it would also be best for this city.

A pothole patching machine can repair many more potholes in one single workshift and the repairs last a lot longer, in some cases several times as long as the old *beat it with the flat side of the shovel* method.

I have sent (a couple of years ago) information about the latest available equipment to those in charge who perhaps were unaware of the fact that it exists and that it is in use in major cities in Canada, in a climate as cold or colder than Prince George.

They also did not know that the Amphibex existed until a private citizen alerted Mr. Meisner who passed the info on to the city officials.

Perhaps Mr. Meisner would be able to get some attention.

Ordinary citizens are routinely ignored or get excuses when it comes to totally deteriorated streets, for instance.

The competitive bid process in BC:
Bid it low enough to get the job even though any average Joe could see that it is not enough to do the job completely or adequate quality.
Then when it is half done, requisition the full required amount to complete it.
Explain that due to unforeseen increases in costs even though price increases and inflation has been pretty much a steady rate for the last 50 years.
There is no way that a contract for the materials could be negotiated before work begins, because that would take proper planning and forethought.

Diplomat, yeah saw that pothole patching machine. Its pretty neat way to fix it. One machine working for 30 weeks can do a lot of patching. What is it going to cost us, if a contractor under took as a three year contract, maybe a million dollars total. As a tax payer, I think it is worth a shot. I think most tax payer wouldn't mind it if the PAC became 25 seat smaller.

Loki, you have no idea how the world works. The competitive bid system is what builds most public building.

You put in a price, if you run the job well, you make a profit. You run the job poorly, you loose everything you own. That is the contracting world. If the consultant representing the owner makes a mistake, than the owner pays for it.

Campbell, the first premier in a quarter-century to win three majorities in a row

I don't think Campbell won, it's the people under him working on local issues that won. They can continue to do a good job and for those that lost, you should have done your job.
Now if we could just vote on a new leader for the liberals. What do you do if you want a certain party in but the leader of the party to run the province?

PICK A NEW LEADER ALREADY

No, Loki is right. There is no way that you can say that successful bidders never go cap-in-hand to the government partway through the project, using the excuses mentioned by Loki. By this point, the contractor knows the public just wants the project done already, and it is difficult to change the contractor partway, so the contractor can hold the government hostage. It's disgusting, and makes the whole bidding process a farce.

I agree with you that we should give this pothole machine a try though.

see Olympic village cost overruns.
see any infrastructure project in the last couple of decades.

I know how the bid process is supposed to work. It is as you describe.
Reality is how I describe it.

Loki and He spoke:

In the 50's the government used to use a system called cost plus. They paid the supported cost of building the project plus a pre-agreed mark-up. There was no incentive to minimize costs, infact the exact opposite. Old timers tell stories about the contractor buying new Cats and having them driven off the delivery truck into a swamp. They get 110% anyway, so what the hell. The result is the current system. Its also not true that the lowest bidder automatically wins. The lowest bidder that the government thinks can actually complete the project is choosen. A rule of thumb is eliminate the top 20% and the bottom 20% and then make a decision based on reputation.

"If the consultant representing the owner makes a mistake, than the owner pays for it."

This isnt entirely true either. The shell company set up by the bidder to complete the project fails. Often it has minimal assets and no personal guarantees in place. Read: The owner doesnt pay. There is generally some kind of performance bond in place however its not usually a huge amount. The reason it has to be kept small is because a huge performance bonus means very few companies can do the job which means no competition which means higher prices.

Like democracy, the Provincial Liberals, the Federal Conservatives and about another million things on this planet, its not a good option, just the best one we have.

BiBC:
So your saying that I am correct then?
We are being bent over a barrel on public projects by accepting the best of the middle of the pack, then having to pay for "over runs".

Gordo didn't win anything! What did he get, something like 40 to 45% of the popular vote and almost half the population didn't vote. Does not sound like a win to me. People always complain about the NDP and they are right, the libs make the NDP look like rank amateurs in ripoffs, scandals and deceit.

We didn't have an election; it was Canwest-Coup2. Stonewally was re-elected in spite of his brazen use of office to Obstruct Justice. He and the rest of the Lib klepto-mob were elected because they coloured the malfeasants as ersatz victims of NDP attack ads.

Canwest knows that a government should have to defend its record, but they knew they would have to smear the NDP in order to keep honest politicians out of office.

It was Canwest who engineered the witch-hunt against Glen Clark, in the first Coup. Their manipulation reduced the NDP to 2 MLAs.

Seamutt & Truth,
It's exactly this type lunatic ranting that stops people from taking the NDP seriously.
Keep up the good work!

I've got two beautiful tulips growing in a grassy area. I never planted them. Anyone have ideas how they got there?

The election is over!
We have what we have!
Quit with the propaganda and belly aching.
If you are so sure that the current elected government has ethical issues, then go down to Victoria and sit in the gallery. Maybe become a journalist so you can publish your findings and not just an opinion.
Also, join your favorite party and toss your hat in the ring for a candidacy in your riding.
We do need people to point out community needs. More than that we need people to step up and do something.
There are a lot of people on this site that appear to be intelligent.

4 more yrs of the libtards,child poverty highest in Canada here in BC WOW EH!!most of all this clown is a convicted DRUNK in another country WOW EH!!I think ya all should sit and smoke a fatty!!or 2
As for these Olympics,never wanted em in the first place,how are we going to benefit here in the north??we get a bridge WOW EH!we will end up paying for this for along time coming.Can't ya here that sucking sound,it's all going to Victoria.If not for resources in the north,all bridges would be tolled,transit rides would cost $10,and gas $5 a litre..Thanx..libtards 4 nuthin

To the certain individuals who turn left onto Ferry Ave. from the Highway to get to the Stupidstore. It is LEGAL to turn left on a green light. Not just when the arrow sign is flashing. What arrow? I din't even see the Indian. I once got out of my car and walked up to the person who didn't even venture into the intersection. I said, "It's not against the law to turn left on a green light" Her reply was that she was afraid to turn left on a green light. A safety conscious driver is a good driver. Right?

You guys want to talk about cost over runs; try the convention center in Vancouver, what was it, 400 million over? and how about the cost of security for the olympics? Enormous, and growing.
On another tack, more and more we are seeing this public private partnership b.s. it does not save the taxpayers any money in the long run, in fact it probably ends up costing more. It also effectively kills the competitive bid system because only a few elite players can compete for the privilege of designing and building a new Northern Sports center or Gateway retirement complex and the like.
metalman.

So much talk about the Olympics from anti-Liberals. Who remembers what party in power first pushed for the games?

Hint: It's the same party that bought those Fast Cats y'all so conveniently forget about when complaining about these Ferries the Liberals bought.

My NDP sign was promptly taken down and removed from lawn Thursday morning.

It's too bad some people find them so offensive and have to complain about something as insignificant as signs.

"Seamutt & Truth,
It's exactly this type lunatic ranting that stops people from taking the NDP seriously. Keep up the good work!"

Yes, please do! NDP: Never take any responsibility for anything they did and conveniently blame the media, the weather, the *stupid* voters, whatever.

The election is over, done with! If the NDP had gotten the votes that the Liberals got the NDP hags would be celebrating their victory now instead of casting aspersions at anything that moves.

Hasta la vista, baby!

Well, Rules are rules, and the NDP or the Julie Carew and Tobias Lawerence are too lazy to organize the troops to take down their signs. It is a good thing they did not get in. They would be another Dick Harris.... Oh that was too mean.

Rant what rant, all I said is the Libs make the NDP look like amateurs when it comes to doing the pooch. The Libs are professionals. For example look at this BC rail thing, just imagine if it was the NDP, that would have put a whole new definition on ranting.

People keep bringing up the fast cats. I always thought the Vancouver Island route was too short for that type of boat. But the whole idea was to revive the ship building industry but the libs didn't want anything to do with highly skilled good paying union jobs. They like slave wages.

The convention centre, grossly over budget but the libs and their supporters say thats okay because it will be a money maker anyhow. Well if the shipbuilding industry was allowed to continue it would have made money. But no we have to buy ferries off shore from a company that is heavely subsidized by its government. Yep real smart.

Good post seamutt

Okay, let's lighten this up a bit shall we?
What fun and wonderful plans do you have for this long weekend?

Fun thing?

We are baking a birthday cake and will be putting 190 candles on it to celebrate Queen Victoria's 1819 birthday and cook some wieners over the candles.

Hopefully we will not be shut down by the City for the wiener roast.

Wow Gus, that's a great example of culinary multi-tasking. You'll need a big cake for all those candles! LOL

anyone heard of two guys doing a bottle drive...they said they were with pgss rugby, but something didnt seem right...

Damn good post seamutt!

Good post, Seamutt. And lets not forget that the price the Campbell Liberals got when they sold the three FastCats at auction was substantially less than they were offered for them shortly before in a private sale. Such brilliance from a Premier who's got a MBA degree, and a group that are supposed to be so business oriented.

Even former Premier Vander Zalm questioned why there was no effort made to fix the mechanical problems with them first, before peddling them off for a song.

Since their sale left the travelling public subject to lengthly multi-sailing waits during BC Ferries busiest season. And even if the FastCats were going to be replaced, it was going to take a fair bit of lead time to secure something better.

It is true that there were many mistakes made in that whole shipbuilding program. And the NDP has no one to blame for them but themselves. And it has been a costly lesson. Politically for them, and financially for us. Though that latter has been compounded by the narrow-mindedness of the mob that succeeded them in office. Gone are the days when BC Ferries priority was providing "service" to the travelling public.

The NDP would've been far wiser to have had one ship built first, and identified the technical problems that are bound to show up with anything new and untried. Rather than building three at once, and compounding any design failures.

But at least they were BUILT IN BC! The work and wages stayed HERE. The shipyards, their suppliers, their employees, all paid a multiplicity of taxes here on every dollar that they earned, and then some.

What did we get back in taxes, or any other way, from the Germans when the new "Weinerschnitzel class" tubs were made there?

More sales of large chunks of 'recreational' Chilcotin real estate to absentee European landlords at inflated prices? And larger future property tax bills for our own legitimate, working ranchers as a result?

What else would we expect from a 'land-pimp' Premier who sees every rise in price as a sign of prosperity? Rather than what it really is to the general public that always ends up being disadvantaged because of it ~ straight infation.

'Land Pimp' I'm not familiar with that catchy adjective but but it can't be good when it's referring to Campbell. I like it.

Did you know that child custody is a statutory privilege, and not a right? And that a parent who kidnaps a child from the other parent, with a custody order, is at liberty to do so?

http://www.theprovince.com/news/bars+from+seeing+daughter/1598719/story.html

Actually, custody rights are inherent and statutes only apply when there is dispute either between parents, on sole or shared issues, or where the state intervenes in cases of child abuse or neglect. In the case above, a Quebec man was granted sole custody and his ex kidnapped the child and fled to BC. The child ran away from the mother and reported the kidnapping to cops. Typically, our worthless slugs refused service because there was no Canada-wide warrant, and the child was put under public guardianship. The man flew to BC to pursue Kidnapping charges and asset custody rights, only to have cops refuse to recognize inherent rights (a Quebec warrant and custody order is evidence in a criminal matter, even where there is no civil jurisdiction). Cops refuse to consider same as evidence, and they have chosen to serve as Accessories After the Fact to Kidnapping.

Because the Kidnapper pursued custody in BC, the PG is refusing to allow the father to see his child, until he spends another $15,000 to fight for his parental rights. If the other parent faced a BC charge for Kidnapping, then he could claim the child by default. In effect, a man who has done nothing wrong, has been stripped of both custody and visitation rights because the wild animals that we pay for protective surrogacy, are concocting "civil" import fictions so that those lazy, worthless slugs can evade criminal work.

Again, custody rights are NON-STATUTORY; statutes only enforce protective legislation or serve as a civil dispute settlement means. Statutes are tools and not clubs to bash the innocent. IT IS A CRIME TO EVADE SERVICE TO A KIDNAPPING COMPLAINT, WHERE SAME IS FOUNDED ON AN INHERENT RIGHT CLAIM. Cops are not our social masters; they are the hired help. And if those slime sotted slugs do not cease to act in statutory insubordination, then the army should be brought in to bring them to the justice against which they wage war.

Imorg and Chilko-putz: you should feel disgust when you look in the mirror. Wearing a police uniform is like carrying a disease. I plan to work 24-7-365 to suck your 45 for 25 pensions dry. You thought you could get away with the YVR atrocity; think again you neo-nazi scumbags.

It is time for the public to rise up in defence of our constitutional liberties, in face of the usurpatious parasites who both suck our financial blood and act to void our hard won freedoms.