"“He’s taken us through pine beetle battles and from the softwood lumber agreement "

And he's lost them all. Yes, good choice

"burgeoning industries of today"? What would they be?

"He’s taken us through pine beetle battles and from the softwood lumber agreement to the burgeoning industries of today such as wood pellet as well as other sustainable and alternative energy sources.”

Geothermal???? Wind????? Solar?????

Yup .... he's done lots on those ..... why it was only yesterday when .......

oh... wait ..... that was not him..... that was that visiting Swede guy...

Great something else for him to !^!#$!#$ up and hide the actual facts

I would assume that this committee job for Big Dick will increase his golden pension. The Canadian Taxpayers Assoc. says that Mr. Harris will be in line for a $118,668 a year pension at the end of 2010. Not bad for an invisible man.

You guys sound like a bunch of whining losers. You have tried to beat Harris for six elections now..... and you've lost every time.

He has been representing us for more than 15 years...

The people that have been voting for him are the winners....

I looked it up and Harris got over 55 percent of the vote last election...what does that tell you.....and he just keeps getting stronger...


Get over it....you lost...stop the whining.

Harris will represent us until HE decides to retire.....you will have nothing to do with him retiring...

You guys are alomost comical with all your whining....you lost...Harris won...again.

Get over it.

um, i don't think anyone's disputing that the guy won a bunch of elections 'gimmeabreak'. we know he won, that's why he's there. you're more than a little repetitive on that note. however, i think the posters here are wondering what good harris has ever brought to pg, and the fact that he is a completely useless backbencher. if you can help me out and lay down a few clear benefits he's brought to our little area of canada, please do so.

and your 'us vs. them' attitude is so old. i'd bet most of the posters on this site (and on this story) reckon themselves to be fairly conservative. not me, but i don't have a problem with that. you obviously do.

wining doesn't make a politician good or bad. politics aside isn't this the same guy who said he hadn't read any of the softwood agreement with the USA but the prime minister told him it was good for prince george and that was good enough for him? or something to that effect.

if so wil he be told what is good for the PG area or will he be a feee thinker????

time will tell

"mikmak" and "eastcoaster"

You dont get the point....

55 percent of the voters in Harris' riding recognized what he has done for the area and they voted for him....

45 percent of the voters either didn't recognize his work or were politically unable to vote for him.

Last time I looked..55 percent was a pretty big majority by Canada's political standards.

If you failed to recognize what Harris has delivered to this riding, or didn't want to, that's your choice or problem.

Fact is...Harris won...you lost..

Again...get over it

I seen the invisible Dick Harris on CTV yesterday (first sighting in years)... a clip of him hollering out in the House that Ignatieff is an illegitimate Canadian because he worked in the United States... as the conservative response to Ignatieff's questions on the budget.... Wasn't representing my concerns I was thinking.

gimmabreak ......

I think you also do not get the point, federally the right wing has this seat, easy as that. Anyone lucky enough to put their name in a hat gets to sit in that seat. This is not a swing riding.

Please remember the history.

He was a member of the Reform Party of Canada as well as the Canadian Alliance. If either one of those parties were still alive, he likely would no longer have the seat.

As it happens, those parties decided to take over the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. Thus, the single right of centre party effectively created a governing role for themselves since the centre and two left wing parties now find themselves in the same situation as the separate Reform and PC parties did, difficutly in getting voted in as government.

Harris was voted in with a Reform Party sweep of BC in 1993, when the Reform got 24 seats, the most of any province, the Liberals 6 and the NDP 2 with the PC getting zip. It was essentially a regional party, (Alberta and BC) much like the Bloc Québécois

Winning the local seat has had absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the person as an MP occupying the local seat.

As far as the Conservatives' popularity goes, I would look at other alternatives if there were any. The other parties barely even try come election time.

BTW, getting a position in cabinet has a lot to do with the perceived and known ability of an individual to take on that position. I realize there are other factors that come into play, but the two representatives from this neck of the woods have not gotten the nod from their parties to take on such responsibilities.

Simple facts of life and too bad for us.

Remember, we did have a Federal Minister of the Crown from here, Frank Oberle, Minister of Sate for Science and Technology, Minister of Science, Minister of State for Forestry and finally Forest Minister. He was elected in 1972 and retired in 1993.

His son is now the Solicitor General in Alberta.

I looked it up and Harris got over 55 percent of the vote last election...what does that tell you.....and he just keeps getting stronger...

This sure tells us a lot . If I remember correctly only 47% of eligible voters voted during the last election. The other 53% stayed home as they had a vision of where our politicians are going. And its not getting any better
Cheers

Here is another way of looking at Harris winning all those seats for all those years,"Gimmeabreak".While Dick Harris was easily winning his riding for all those years,his "Party",was losing the elections.Does this make the people who voted in a non-governing MP,winners or losers in the big scheme of things.Hmmm,something to sit down and think about for awhile,however,we will never know,as we can't go back and change the past.

Right on, retired. People say they want 'change', but when more than half don't even vote, it says that most people are happy with the status quo. It makes no sense.

The majority has no place to put their vote IMO. That in large part explains why people don't vote. That said those that don't vote, or vote for the wrong party still have the same right to be represented as those that voted for the winning party.

"when more than half don't even vote, it says that most people are happy with the status quo"

And how exactly do you reach that conclusion?

I can just as easily reach the conclusion that there are many people who hold the belief that when there is no one to vote for that you can bend your belief, that it is better to be true to yourself than being a hypocrite.

The notion that one has to vote is total nonesense. A no vote fot everyone is still a vote.

However, I think that there is a better way to show that disgust with the system. Go in to vote and spoil the ballot. It shows that people were not lazy, they were thinking about voting, but given that "none of the above" was a better vote, that is who they voted.

Not only do those people who did not vote have a right to be reperesented, the MP has a duty to represent everyone equally.

You have to wonder what the outcome would be in a federal and provincial election if everyone would could vote,actually did?
It has been said that voter apathy is a politicians best friend and, considering some of the deadbeats who have been sucking out of the public trough for years,there might be some truth to it.
We have quite a varity of politicians who somehow manage to always get re-elected without ever having done very much.
There is no doubt a strong voter turnout in the 65-70 perecnt range would have some pretty dramatic results!
Neither the federal or our provincial government will ever win any prizes for brains or integrity and maybe,just maybe,that will encourage more to get out and vote next time!
Bad government is what happens when we don't bother to exercise our democratic right!