From newswire at news.bc.ndp.ca Thu Apr 6 13:33:04 2006 From: newswire at news.bc.ndp.ca (BC NDP Newswire) Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2006 12:33:04 -0800 Subject: [LabComm] Why won't Gordon Campbell answer these questions? Message-ID: Why won't Gordon Campbell answer these questions? April 6, 2006 Dear friend, This week, new information was revealed regarding the shocking police raid on the Legislature that occurred two years ago. The raid by the RCMP involving the offices of high-level political staffers in the ministries of Finance and Transportation raised a number of troubling questions. British Columbians deserved answers, but Mr. Campbell dismissed any suggestions that his government did anything wrong: "It was not about government," he said. "It was outside of government." But on Monday, the Supreme Court released information that makes it clear this disturbing case had everything to do with Mr. Campbell's government. The warrants released Monday revealed key Liberal appointees may have been involved in kick-backs from lobbyists in exchange for information relating to the sale of BC Rail. The same day the warrants were released, the Crown Prosecutor announced new charges were being laid. In addition to the investigation involving the role played by political staff in the BC Rail deal, new charges from the Crown allege David Basi accepted $50,000 from two developers in an apparent attempt to influence a decision by the Agricultural Land Commission. The new allegations point to a pattern of corruption and there are more questions than ever before. This week, the NDP pressed the BC Liberal government to answer some important questions: Rather than answer legitimate questions about the government and public accountability, the Premier chose to hide behind the court case. Mr. Campbell has always insisted that David Basi was a minor official with little influence. Mr. Basi was a key player in the Liberal Party, both federally and provincially. The new allegations suggest he may have exercised influence over other government ministries, and worked on important files like the sale of major public assets. The NDP asked many questions about the role of political staffers in the Campbell government. We asked about the rules governing how lobbyists interact with government, and whether or not the public interest is being served. We asked questions about government, not about the court case. The Campbell government refused to answer our questions. They refused to come clean. The NDP will continue to press the Liberals until British Columbians get the accountability they deserve from their government. Carole James
Leader
BC New Democrats To unsubscribe or change your settings go to: http://www.e-2ve6y.signup2.bc.ndp.ca/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From newswire at news.bc.ndp.ca Sat Apr 8 13:15:04 2006 From: newswire at news.bc.ndp.ca (BC NDP Newswire) Date: Sat, 8 Apr 2006 12:15:04 -0800 Subject: [LabComm] NDP News This Week -- Report on children confirms NDP concerns Message-ID: NDP News This Week -- Report on children confirms NDP concerns April 07, 2006 James calls on government to fully implement recommendations in the Hughes Report VICTORIA -- The findings of the Hughes Report are a victory for children, says Carole James, leader of the New Democrat Official Opposition. The report, released Friday morning, brings to the forefront the need in British Columbia to reinstate an independent officer of the Legislature to oversee the child welfare system. "The report confirms concerns the Opposition has been raising, and reinforces the need to serve B.C.'s most vulnerable children better," said James. "This report is good news for families and kids and provides the government with a road map to improve child protection." Among its 62 recommendations, the Hughes Report calls for the government to appoint a Representative for Children and Youth to monitor the child welfare system. This independent officer of the Legislature would report to an all-party Standing Committee, and be charged to advocate on behalf of individual children and families, monitor and report on trends in the system, and make ongoing recommendations. "The NDP has been calling on the government to bring back the independent Children's Commissioner for years," said James. "I am pleased that the Hughes Report has echoed that call." To read the rest of this story, click here. -------------- April 02, 2006 Political donations show wide support for NDP BURNABY -- On Monday, Elections BC will release the 2005 financial reports for the BC Liberals and the New Democrats, and once again the numbers show the NDP enjoys wide support by ordinary people while the Liberals remain dependent on corporate donations. In 2005, the BC NDP raised a total of $7.5 million. Of this amount, 69 per cent -- $5.2 million -- came in the form of donations from individual British Columbians. By contrast, only 20 per cent of the $13 million raised by the BC Liberals came from individual donations. Instead, the vast majority -- 77 per cent -- of their backing came from business. To read the rest of this story, click here. -30- To unsubscribe or change your settings go to: http://www.e-2ve6y.signup2.bc.ndp.ca/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From newswire at news.bc.ndp.ca Mon Apr 10 20:23:03 2006 From: newswire at news.bc.ndp.ca (BC NDP Newswire) Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2006 19:23:03 -0800 Subject: [LabComm] James offers Opposition support to fast-track implementation of Hughes' recommendations Message-ID: James offers Opposition support to fast-track implementation of Hughes' recommendations April 10, 2006 VICTORIA -- Carole James says the New Democrat caucus is ready to work with the government to see that all of the recommendations from the Hughes Report are implemented as quickly as possible. James, the Leader of the Official Opposition, sent a letter to Premier Gordon Campbell today, asking for a meeting this week to work out a timetable for the 62 recommendations of the report. James suggested the meeting should include herself, the Premier, the minister of Children of Families and Opposition Critic Adrian Dix. "It is time to act quickly to make the recommended changes," James wrote in her letter. "We are very pleased with the results of the B.C. Children and Youth Review. And we plan to work just as hard, in co-operation with the government, to see its recommendations implemented in full." The last four years have been marked by chaos caused by on-again, off-again restructuring and deep budget cuts. The Hughes Report called for stability in child protection services in British Columbia and it called on the government and the opposition to put aside partisan concerns and work together for the sake of at-risk children in this province. "We take our role as an opposition caucus very seriously," James said. "But we agree with Mr. Hughes that the needs of vulnerable children must take precedence over partisan politics. "We will do whatever we can to help ensure this thoughtful and important report is implemented in full as soon as possible." To unsubscribe or change your settings go to: http://www.e-2ve6y.signup2.bc.ndp.ca/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From newswire at news.bc.ndp.ca Thu Apr 27 19:33:04 2006 From: newswire at news.bc.ndp.ca (David Cubberley MLA) Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2006 18:33:04 -0800 Subject: [LabComm] Crisis? What Crisis? Message-ID: Crisis? What Crisis? April 27, 2006 Dear friend, British Columbians concerned about the state of our health care system have not been reassured by recent events. Two months ago, we learned that elderly couples around BC were being separated from their loved ones in their final days. The NDP team discovered several cases where seniors died, often alone, in facilities hours away from their homes and families. A few weeks ago, doctors at Vancouver General Hospital, tired of feeling powerless to help the people in their care, distributed a public letter. It warned that the emergency room could no longer provide safe, timely and appropriate emergency medical care. Just days ago, doctors at Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster distributed a similar letter. In it, they warned that people were dying on stretchers because of the overcrowding at their hospital. The crisis is not limited to Vancouver and New Westminster. Two weeks ago, in Nanaimo, a man suffering pneumonia died after waiting on a stretcher near a drafty door at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital for more than 7 hours. A week later, a woman who went to the same Nanaimo Hospital ER was told she had a sinus infection and sent home - when in fact she had a serious brain aneurysm. It's hard to believe this is happening in B.C. How did things get so bad? Here's the simple truth: the Liberals cut thousands of acute and long-term care beds over the last few years.
  • They broke their promise to add 5000 new long-term care beds. Instead, they shut down 2529 beds around BC, leaving seniors with no where to go but emergency rooms or facilities far from home.
  • They shut down almost 1300 acute care beds across the province. In New Westminster, where the Royal Columbian Hospital is now dangerously overcrowded, they cut 20 per cent of the total beds.
  • They demolished St Mary's Hospital, which used to deal with 35,000 patients and 11,000 surgical cases each year. All those patients have been dumped on the Royal Columbian. Meanwhile, there's a condo development going up at the site of St. Mary's.
We have a serious bed shortage. But the Campbell Liberals won't admit it. In the Legislature this week, Carole James, my colleagues and I have hammered the Campbell Liberals again and again with questions about how they plan to make our emergency rooms safe again. I've just returned from the latest Question Period and I still can't believe the response. The Liberals say they have no evidence that there is a problem. Doctors, community leaders and ordinary people have been desperately trying to make this government understand the gravity of our health care crisis since Gordon Campbell started cutting beds four years ago. Why aren't the Liberals listening? Don't they care about the suffering their cuts have caused? Gordon Campbell and the Liberals need to take responsibility. They need to admit there is a serious crisis in our emergency rooms. They need to admit it was wrong to close St, Mary's Hospital. They need to admit that it was a mistake to cut thousands of acute and long-term care beds across our province. And they need to replace the beds they cut. Now. But Gordon Campbell doesn't like to take responsibility for his mistakes. Even after an independent investigation found that his decision to cut hundreds of millions of dollars from programs protecting children at risk led to neglect and fatality, he refused to admit the error and apologize. It's time to make Gordon Campbell listen. I urge to you to take a few minutes to tell Mr. Campbell that he needs to replace the hospital beds he cut and reduce the dangerous backlog in our emergency rooms. Click here to visit the BC NDP Action Centre, where our letters-to-the-editor tools make it easy for you to make your voice heard in major and local newspapers. You can count on Carole James and the NDP team to keep the Campbell Liberals on the spot in the Legislature while ordinary British Columbians like yourself add their voices to the growing chorus of concern. After years of Liberal cuts, our health care system is in serious trouble. But it's not too late if people take action and tell Gordon Campbell it's time to start listening. Sincerely, David Cubberley
MLA for Saanich South
BC NDP Opposition Critic for Health Care To unsubscribe or change your settings go to: http://www.e-2ve6y.signup2.bc.ndp.ca/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: