Unfortunate to see Bruce resign. He has brought a working man's perspective to major projects and has a vision for the future.

Thank you Bruce, for giving so much. Go back to your business, and make it florish.

Good visionary for the north. Good luck in the future.

I have adifferent spin on Mr Sutherland. Its amazing how these guys hate socialism and here hes been spending tax dollars on his pet projects for five years. Hope he gets a job in then real world.
Cheers

Actually, Retired

He owns and operates a successful business, where he assumes the risks, and employs people and makes a profit for taking a risk.

What other option do we have to look after tax payers money.... A school teacher who has no idea how the money gets in the coffers. Thats almost as bad as having union leader run our province.

Actually He spoke

What do school teachers or union leaders have to do with the Northernm initiatives development fund a 135 million dollar fund set up by the liberal government using tax dollars to try and boost the economy in our region.

What ever became of free enterprise where an individual a private company or who ever but not our government put foreword a business plan use "THEIR" money to produce a product make some cash and pay wages to people and contribute to our society.

Thats one of the problems that we face today is that government is forever trying to fix the economy with tax dollars. It scews the economy and we are no longer providing incentitve for a free enterprose society to drive the economy which we have basterdize by not being socialist or a free enterprise society.

Do you understand that He Spoke? And I dont care what Mr Sutherland does after hours that hss affair.
Cheers

Retired, I'm afraid you just don't get it

People like Bruce Sutherland and others associated with NDIT have made huge personal sacrifices of both time and money to lend their business expertise to the organization (NDIT) and countless businesses seeking advice and yes, funding for what they think is a project or business that will be successful.

I would hazard a guess to say that if any business proposal passes the due dilligence of NDIT, they are most assured to be successful. This means hiring employees, investing in equipment or infrastructure, and developing new technologies. ALL of this of course contributes to the economy.

The businesses and the employees also pay taxes and contribute to the social structure of our society in an even more meaningful way because they are working and can afford to participate in many more ways.

NDIT has an much envied record of being able to "leaverage" any government funding most times more than 5 to 1 or more. This is real good business.

When taxpayers money is spent or invested wisely to enhance the regional economy....that is a good thing.

Under Bruce Sutherlands leadership,NDIT have a proven track record of excellent investing....and that is a very good thing.

So Retired...while you may hold an ideological distaste for "capitalism at work". I would suggest that your comments regarding Bruce Sutherland are way off base.

Retired said:

"I have adifferent spin on Mr Sutherland."

That is allowed.

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"Its amazing how these guys.... "

These guys? The ones with NDI? Business people in general? Who are "these" guys?

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".... hate socialism."

they do? Does it say that in the article? Have you spoken to "these guys", or perhaps. more specifically, to Bruce Sutherland? What did he or "these guys" say that led you to conclude that they HATE socialism?

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"and here hes been spending tax dollars on his pet projects for five years."

NDI is not a private business. They are not HIS pet projects alone, if they are pet projects to him. HE has one vote. They are NDI's pet projects. HE speaks for NDI and if he did not personally agree with one, but the rest of the group did, he would still have to speak for the group.

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"Hope he gets a job in then real world."
I think he has a job, as you probably know. This "real world" that you speak of. Tell us a little more about it. It sound interesting. I am just wondering what makes it "REAL" and the rest of the world "UNREAL".

btw, I do know about a socialist world. I also know about a capitalist world. In my world, both of them are ideals which do not exist in the REAL world, but merely in written theoretical worlds. The REAL world tht I observe has a bit of both, and sometimes so places luck out and have the best of both rather than the worst of both.

I would like to think that the Bruce Sutherland I know has been making sure that we have the best of both, otherwise he would not have been working with NDI and CNC, both of which use money coming from private individuals and private organizations for public purposes.
The Burce Sutherland I know

gimmieabreak wrote: "NDIT has an much envied record of being able to "leaverage" any government funding most times more than 5 to 1 or more. This is real good business."

Welllllll .... be carefull now. How often has the leveraging been with other public rather than private money? $11million to YXS did not exactly involve any private money. Money that goes to painting a community arena does not exactly leverage private money rather than the public money of the community.

It has a community funding arm and a business incentive funding arm.

The community funding money is primarily being spent for municipal support with little leveraging of private funds. Look at the programs carefully. Look at the Board carefully.

The business incentives could be seen as leveraging private money.

As far as I am concerned, when I vote for a Political Party, and if that Party is elected to Government, then it is the responsibility of the Government to run the Province, and handle the money.

This business of setting up organizations such as NDTI, and giving them the say over how my tax dollars are going to be spent, or to whom this money is going to be given to,. or loaned to, is BS.

I never voted for Bruce Sutherland, nor any members of his board, nor did I vote for any of the people who run the Airport Authority and tax me every time I board a plane. Who the hell are these people to assess a tax on me???? Where is the Governmentf??? This is a complete abdication of responsibility by the Government, and also leaves it open to all sorts of abuses.

We have the same problem with BC Transit. They can tax the people in the Greater Vancouver area to get funds to run the Transit system. BC Ferries can raise the fares if they need more money. ICBC with 9 Billion dollars in reserve can up my insurance rates because they (supposedly) need more money.

In the meantime we increase the size of Government, and they continue to increase their salaries, and continue to download their work and responsibilities to the Psuedo Organizations.

If the Philosophy of downloading responsibilities is such a great idea, then we should down load the whole bloody works of them, and conract out the business of Government.

The money for the Airport Runway Expansion was $11 Million from the Federal Government, $11 Million from the Provincial Government, and $11 Million loaned to the Airport Authority by NDTI to be paid back with interest pegged to the rate of inflation.

Now its pretty obvious that the money loaned by the NDTI came from the sale of BC Rail, so in essence it is Provincial Government money, kited through NDTI to the Airport Authority in the guise of a loan. (Which can be renegotiated). To make this fiasco a little more interesting the Airport Authority borrowed $3 Million from the Airport Improvement Fee money to be paid back with funds that supposedly will be generated by the expansion of the Airport Runway etc;. Dont hold your breath on that one.

Now to make this all the more moronic, the Airport is owned lock, stock, and barrel, by the Federal Government, and leased to the Airport Authority, which is made up of a bunch of locals. So in essence we now have a situation where the Province has put $25 Million dollars into an Airport that is owned by the Federal Government.

So you can see just how screwed up our Governments are getting to be, and this is only the tip of the iceburg.

Another fiasco is BC Hydro, and its subsidiary PowerEx, and BC Transmission Corp., and all the private power generation that feeds into BCTC. I dont even want to try and sort out all that BS., suffice to say if it was touched by the Liberal Government, then it turned brown.