Another CN Rail Incident On Our BC Rail Line

Sources have told me of a CN train incident on the BC Rail Line at Mile 64.

CN Rail apparently has been told to use patrols in the mountainous areas of this line but have quietly removed these patrols and put more lives in jeopardy.
The reason for these patrols is mainly to advise engineers in advance of rock or other obstructions on the line. There are also electric fences in place which trip an alarm to warn of danger. These fences do not always set warnings.
Picture if you will a huge boulder careening down a mountainside. These boulders are most times very large but can still bounce as they go. CN was warned of this scenario but chose to remove the patrols anyway.
Now picture a loaded train which takes miles to stop rounding a curve and there is a house sized boulder on the track. No warning, no time to stop Crash.
Further to this incident where lives were put at risk people are put at risk of there employment by being threatened to do as they are told. This is the type of management that has been given control of our Rail Line.
Damn the lives , get the shareholders there money.

As of yesterday morning Sunday September 20, 2009 orders went out to re-introduce the manned patrols from North Van to Kelly Lake, which is just south of Clinton and is the approximate northern boundary of the mountainous area. Effective immediately.

So I see three main questions here:
1: how are these people getting away with putting peoples lives in danger?
2: where is the Transportation board on these obvious breach of rules?
3: why aren't the mainstream media publishing this story? They were certainly not lax in crucifying Glen Clark.

Does the drop in Revenue by about 1.5 Billion have anything to do with this incident?

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Update: Tuesday September 22,2009. Still no reporting by the biased Mainstream Media in BC.

Hansen's New Spin On The HST

"We have to do what's right, not necessarily what's popular," he said on speaking the other day of the HST.

Firstly Mr Finance minister what is good about transferring the tax load to the voters from the manufacturers.
This is a value added tax the will see a further increase in what the consumer pays for goods not previously covered in Provincial Taxes.

Secondly. What gives you the right to impose this tax. You have no mandate.

And finally for you and "Mr. Better Suited To Manage the Economy" when in the last nine years have you done anything that was right for the people of BC.

All you have ever done is give away our Province, tear up contracts, and Give away revenues when giving away our Railroad.

Get Out And Protest

Today is the day. At approximately 12 noon all over BC they will be protesting the latest lie by the Campbell administration.

This is an opportunity even for the apathetic voters in the last election to change what Campbell is doing.

It's your life people.

I will be at the 100 Mile House rally today.

Anti HST Rallies in the Cariboo

Saturday September 19th 2009 is your day to redeem yourself for not voting.

As most people know by now the Campbell government has lied to the people again. How Bad is the Record? Well as far as I can figure out they have lied to the people 100% of the time since being elected in 2001.
THE ONLY WAY TO STOP THIS MADMAN IN VICTORIA IS TO RALLY LIKE THIS.

So tomorrow in the Cariboo we have a chance to help set things right.
Rally in 100 Mile House will start at approximately 12 Noon as I imagine will the rest.
Please attend if you can.

100 Mile House organizer: Janet Derepentigny
EMAIL: downtime123@gmail.com
Location: 100 Mile Gear Garage
175 Hwy 97
(across from Tim Hortons)

Prince George organizer: Mike Summers
EMAIL: votemike@telus.net
LOCATION: Pat Bell, MLA office - Central

Williams Lake organizer: Dave Ligertwood
EMAIL: dligert@hotmail.com
LOCATION: TBA

Quesnel organizer: Martin Eastman
EMAIL: eastman.martin7@gmail.com
LOCATION: Kitchant Street, Quesnel

The website http://www.fighthst.com has more info.
If anyone has information on the location of the Williams Lake Rally location, please let me know and I will post it here.

The Truth About Campbells Lies On The BC Rail Giveaway

I came across this article by Barry O'Niell while searching out another project on BC Rail. This man had great forsite when he wrote the article . I wonder how the PAB will spin this. From CUPE BC By Barry O’Neill NDP leader Carol James is right to call for an election on the BC Rail sale. And she is right to agree with her predecessor about Gordon Campbell’s inability to tell the truth. The premier says that our railway has lost $860 million. The truth: BC Rail has paid $137.7 million in dividends to its shareholders – the citizens of British Columbia – over the past 15 years. In 1999 they paid out $40 million. The $860 million is a writedown or reassessment of the value of the company and has not affected its profitability at all. There is no cost to the taxpayers of a writedown, and it hasn’t affected BC Rail’s profitability. Campbell says BC Rail is $500 million in debt. The truth: Yes, BC Rail is $500 million in debt. They are in debt because they bought assets, just like you would likely be in debt if you bought a car. CN Rail, which just bought BC Rail, is financing the purchase with debt. It has about $6 billion of it. B.C. taxpayers don’t finance BC Rail’s debt. The interest on it is paid by BC Rail as an expense each year. The dividend, or profit, comes after the interest is paid. The debt does not show up in B.C.’s public accounts. And to put it in perspective, B.C.’s total debt is $36.5 billion. In fact, B.C. taxpayers will be paying more in taxes after the sale, because they will not be getting the annual dividend that BC Rail has been paying. Campbell: The B.C. government is getting “$1 billion in cash”. The truth: The first $500 million will pay off the BC Rail debt. The government will get the other half, but only if Canada Customs and Revenue Authority agrees that it can transfer BC Rail’s past losses and debt to CN. If not, taxpayers will have to indemnify CN to the tune of about $250 million. If they do agree, CN will get the tax writeoffs, which will mean that they don’t have to pay, in their own estimates, $250 million in taxes, of which $10 million would have gone to BC. Therefore, there is a potential $10 million loss in taxes to British Columbians. Campbell: Selling BC Rail could give rail line municipalities tax payments of $8.3 million a year compared to the $1.8 million paid now as an annual grant in lieu of taxes. The truth: The Liberals promised to give municipalities the right to tax Crown corporations. If they had kept that promise, the municipalities would have had the right to the $8.3 million in taxes without selling BC Rail. Campbell: The sell-off is a great deal that will increase investment. The truth: CN, in pitching the deal to financial market analysts, says the company will begin recovering its investment by disposing of “redundant assets”. That means selling 35 per cent of the locomotives, 15 per cent of the rail cars, closure of rail yards in North Vancouver and Squamish, and the merger of the two yards in Prince George. There will be a 35 per cent reduction in the workforce. Campbell: Promised he would not privatize BC Rail. Bill Clinton: Said he didn’t have sex with Monica Lewinsky.

For All You Pensioners

A friend who doesn't usually get politically involved has sent me this equation

Canada Pensions... For those who never received this email.

Only in Canada

* In Canada, instead of applying for Old Age Pension, you should rather apply for the Status of Refugee.

* It IS interesting to know that the federal Government of Canada allows :

• A monthly pension of : $1,890.00 to a simple refugee
• plus : 580.00 in social aid

==========

• A grand total of : $2,470.00 monthly

X 12 months

==========

$28,920.00 annual income

· By comparison, the Old Age Pension of a senior citizen who has contributed to the development of Our Beautiful Big Country during 40 or 50 years, CANNOT receive more than :

• Amount/month $1,012.00 in Old Age Pension and Guaranteed Income Supplement

X 12 months

============

$12,144.00 annual income

• A difference of : $16,776.00 per year

* Perhaps our senior citizens should ask for the Status of Refugees instead of applying for Old Age Pension.

. * AN INCREDIBLE NONSENSE !!!
BECAUSE IT IS THEM,
OUR CANADIAN SENIORS CITIZENS, WHO HAVE ACTUALLY PAID !

I have also heard that the government in Ottawa is clawing back on the Old Age Security Pensions. I'm looking into that now.Please let me know if you are aware of any cases where a pension has been reduced. Pensions are not reduced if the cost of living drops. It can only happen if your income increases beyond certain thresholds.

Another WCB Horror Story

One of the stories that is being hidden from us by the MSM is that of the changing legislation to the Compensation Act. Our friend Eyes Wide Open(Powell River Persuader) has a personal story at The Straight Goods I know first hand that this is not a isolated incident. Since 2001 the WCB has become a tool for business. They use it under the new legislation to refuse paying people injured on the job.
You see if someone has a compensable injury at your workplace then the rates paid to WCB by your company go up. If they can keep you working then they have a lower rate. And if you can't return to work at your old job,WCB tells you to work elsewhere. Thus keeping their payments down.

This story is a good read and shows the callousness of the staff at the WCB. In part this staff can't be totally blamed because they work at the discretion of their managers. I say totally because they could stand up and be counted. Do it as a group.

Premiers Management of BC's Economy

"The fire had grown to 18,557 hectares, larger than the entire municipality of Whistler, as of Monday afternoon. It is so large it will burn until the winter, said fire information officer Gwen Eamer."

The Kelly Creek fire in the South Cariboo near Clinton (very close to where we live) is burning out of control.

In advance of the budget today I have been wondering how much more mismanagement of our economy will the liberals set upon us before the people wake up.

Last year when the Martin Mars bomber contract was cancelled I wondered what would happen if all hell broke loose in the forests. I need not wonder any more. Our firefighters are stretched to the limit and I submit that the firefighting budget has crumpled.

Had these bombers still been in BC we would not be in the situation we are now. And most certainly the money now being pumped into these fires would be far less than it is.

The reasoning is simple. One drop from these aircraft can extinguish about 4 acres at a time. So when the fires are discovered there is a very good possibility of getting them under control at an early stage.
Instead we are left with a couple of small craft to fight a losing battle. And now we find that the current fire at Kelly Creek will burn until winter adding more costs to the Firefighting in this province.

I fail to see, Mr Campbell, where you have managed our economy very well in this case.