Headlines
- NDP Climate Change Accountability Act Passes
- Kash Heed Liberal Scandal Getting Stranger and Stranger
- Tory MP Named in Massive Bank Fraud
- The Real Peter Mackay on Afghanistan
- Tories Use Dirty Tricks To Pass Columbia Treaty
- BC Bands Launch Class-Action Over Salmon
- Harper Pension Consultation In Secret
- Canadians Disapprove of Harper, Ignatief, Like Layton
- WHat We Don't Know About ACTA
- NDP Wins BC By-Election
- Canada - Highest Priced, Slowest Speed Internet
- Leonard Krog, Jean Crowder Attend Labour Rally
- Jean Crowder Nominated Nanaimo Cowichan
- Globe & Mail - Vindicates NDP
- Stop The HST
- BC Liberals Continue To Lose Credibility Gap on Railgate Email
- Libs Break Ranks on HST
- Ten Reasons You Should Have Voted NDP
- You, Me, and the SPP
- BC Has Canada's Worst Child Poverty
- Our NDP MLAs
- Our NDP MP
NDP MP Yvon Godin To Introduce Bill To Ban School Use of 15 Passenger Vans
Seven members of the Bathurst High School basketball team and the wife of the coach, who was also a teacher at the school, were killed after their 15-passenger vehicle collided with a truck on a snow-covered highway just outside of their hometown on Jan. 12, 2008.
Within days of the accident, New Brunswick banned the use of the vans by schools.
Isabel Haines
The Nanaimo, Duncan & District Labour Council has written local MPs and MLAs asking that the use of the vehicles, already banned in many American states and some Canadian Provinces be banned for transporting students.The U.S. National Traffic Safety Board says 15-passenger vans handling characteristics change when fully loaded, that fully loaded 15-passenger vans are 40% more likely to roll then fully loaded mini-vans, and that sudden vehicle maneuvers could increase the propensity to roll over.
To review the original story, please click here
New Democrat climate change bill passes House of Commons
Wed 05 May 2010
OTTAWA – Today, the New Democrat Climate Change Accountability Act (Bill C-311) passed its final vote in the House of Commons by a vote of 149 to 136.
“It is a great day for Canada as we finally have a blueprint for greening our future,” said New Democrat Leader Jack Layton. “We would not be here without the thousands of Canadians who called and wrote to their Members of Parliament, pushing them to finally adopt meaningful climate-change legislation.”
“It’s been a lot of work with a lot of ups and downs,” said Bruce Hyer (Thunder Bay–Superior North), who introduced the bill in the House. “But finally Canada will be on its way to having clear regulations and frameworks for fighting climate change. We can at least hold our heads up high in the international community.”
C-311 is the country’s only federal climate-change legislation and will make the government accountable to Canadians for action on climate change through regular reporting on measures to achieve firm targets.
How the Climate Change Accountability Act Works
1 Cuts greenhouse gas emissions – 25% below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80% by 2050
2 Mandates the government to set regulations that ensure targets are met
3 Punishes polluters who break regulations
4 Ensures government accountability with publicized 5 year target plans
5 Establishes independent reviews to ensure government measures reach targets
Kash Heed Liberal Scandal Gets Stranger and Stranger.
First, we have a really close election in a seat with a large Chinese community.
Second, just before the election a scurrilous leaflet is circulated falsely accusing the NDP of being in favour of heroin and prostitution and large inheritance taxes, all issues the Chinese community strongly opposes.
Third, none of those sending the leaflet identify themselves.
Fourth, Kash Heed, the Liberal candidate, narrowly wins the election.
When a special prosecutor is chosen to get to the bottom of this scandal, the lawyer chosen by the government is one who donated $1000 to Kash Heed's election campaign. This Liberal supporter sees nothing wrong with overseeing the investigation of the Liberal candidate.
The so-called "independent" lawyer now finds that while Mr Heeds Campaign Manager organized the leaflets, and Mr Heed's Financial Agent failed to declare the spending on the leaflets, Mr Heed knew nothing about the leaflets, about who paid for them, or who caused them to be sent.
The whole mess smells to high heaven. It appears none of the Liberals involved
- the candidate, the campaign manager, the financial agent, or the special prosecutor has any sense of right and wrong.
Today, just twelve hours after he was reappointed solictor-general Mr. Heed resigned again citing the apparent lack of independence of the "special" prosecutor who "cleared" him. He has not, however, resigned his seat, although Elections BC might yet force him to do so.
Calgary Tory MP Accused in Massive Bank Fraud
The Bank of Montreal is accusing Calgary Conservative MP Devinder Shory of having participated in what is believed to be Canada's largest mortgage fraud.
Court documents allege Shory, a lawyer, executed legal transactions that misrepresented the true mortgage owner of at least five Calgary properties.
The
bank is suing lawyers, mortgage brokers and
four of its
own employees, and says it was the victim of a sophisticated
mortgage fraud that generated at least $140
million, about $70 million of which was for phoney mortgages.
The bank has sued 17 lawyers, including Shory, and claims they were either directly involved in the scheme or did not perform their due diligence as lawyers. The bank says Shory was one of several lawyers who were involved in the "fraudulent scheme of the Malik Group."
Devinder Shory
The bank claims the Malik group identified properties to be used in the fraudulent scheme and, "in the majority of instances, these were entire apartments or condominium complexes." The Malik group and lenders then found people to become "straw buyers" who were promised 3 to 8 thousand dollars to apply for very inflated mortgages to the bank.
The bank says the Malik group then produced phoney proof of assets for the "straw buyers" to qualify for inflated mortgages. Shory and the other lawyers arranged for the mortgage proceeds to close the original vendor and to pay the excess proceeds to the solicitor for the vendor. Often both the vendors and the solicitors for the vendors were members of, or associated with, the Malik Group."Investigators found Shory acted in at least five straw-buyer cases. The bank obtained Shory's trust account ledger. It shows he ran more than $3.7 million through an account that the bank has linked to the fraud. The documents show Shory did not disclose to the bank that he was involved in a transaction involving a straw buyer.
An affidavit sworn by Paul Hitchcock, the bank's head of security, refers to an April 19, 2007, letter from Shory to another lawyer, discussing a skip transfer.
"We confirm that this is a skip transfer, as such, we will be passing trust conditions imposed on us by the actual vendor's solicitor and will confirm undertakings based upon undertaking received from actual vendor's solicitor," the affidavit says.
The bank claims Shory had a legal duty to disclose this skip transfer or side deal because it's a precursor of fraud.
Shory was elected in the riding of Calgary Northeast in 2008, more than a year after his alleged involvement in the mortgage scheme.
Ironically, Shory just posted an article on his website, entitled Conservatives Stand Up For Victims of White Collar Crime.The Real Peter Mackay on Afghanistan
Conservatives used dirty tricks to force 1st vote on Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement
Mon 19 Apr 2010
OTTAWA – NDP International Trade Critic Peter Julian (Burnaby-New Westminster) denounced the dirty tricks Conservatives used to force the first vote on Bill C-2, the controversial implementing legislation of the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.
“Bill C-2 was not on the government agenda last Friday. The Conservatives keep forgetting they are a minority government and must understand that dirty tricks undermine what’s left of their credibility and trust. Their unprecedented parliamentary maneuver is another example of their unwillingness to legislate in a transparent, democratic fashion and work co-operatively as Canadians expect of them,” said Julian.
On Friday April 16, the Conservative government forced a motion through Parliament which shuts down debate on Bill C-2, sending it to the Standing Committee on International Trade. The Conservative government wants to expedite the Committee’s review of Bill C-2 with the support of Liberal members of the committee.
“The
government is pushing Bill C-2 at a highly inappropriate time,
when free and fair elections are not possible in Colombia. An
international pre-electoral observation mission just reported
compelling evidence that elections in Colombia are compromised because
of interference from illegal armed groups. In addition, the
Liberal
critic for international Trade Scott Brison is proposing an amendment
to Bill C-2 which would let the Colombian government report on its own
human rights. Rigorous committee hearings will be needed to study these
serious issues,” stressed Julian.
Reports from independent and credible human rights, labour and civil society groups have consistently exposed the Colombian government’s links to illegal armed groups, and the role of the military in the murders of thousands of trade unionists, community leaders, and activists. Reports say that 48 trade unionists were murdered in Colombia last year alone. In the previous parliament, the Standing Committee on International Trade recommended that Canada not proceed with a trade agreement with Colombia until an independent human rights impact assessment of the deal is conducted.
A similar free trade deal between the US and Colombia has been held up since 2007 by concerned American legislators. The European Union, the UK, and many European governments have also voiced concerns about the ongoing abuses in Colombia.
“With 60 per cent of global trade-unionist murders occurring in Colombia, why are the Conservatives so eager to reward, with a privileged trade relationship, a regime continuously cited for human rights violations? This is a betrayal of basic Canadian values.”
BC Aboriginal Bands Launch Class-Action Suit
Four small BC Aboriginal Bands, the Kwicksutaineuk/Ah-Kwa-Mish First Nations have applied to the Supreme Court of BC to allow them to launch a class-action suit against the federal and provincial governments. They plan to convince the courts that government has so badly mismanaged the fish-farming industry that native rights have been violated.
Chief Bob Chamberlin says wild salmon are vanishing from the waters of the Broughton Archipelago. Because they have virtually no economy in their villages, wild salmon are vital for their survival.
The bands complain there are 29 open pen fish farms in the Broughton Archipelago and blame them for causing sea lice epidemics and other problems. The bands want the fish farms to be forced to move to closed containment systems, and want farms moved away from migration routes so penned fish do not spread lice to young, wild salmon swimming past.
In their statement of claim, the bands say the manner in which the government has regulated salmon aquaculture “has caused a serious and material decline in the wild salmon stocks within the Broughton Archipelago, which may result in the extinction of some salmon runs.”
The bands allege government has failed “to prevent or adequately manage the concentration of parasites, including sea lice, at the salmon farms and the transmission of those parasites from the salmon farms to wild salmon.”
If class-action certification is granted, other bands in B.C. will be offered a chance to join the case.
Harper Government Hides Pension
Discussions
Jean Crowder, MP, thanked the Nanaimo, Duncan, and District Labour Council for sending her our brief on Financial Literacy NDDLC Brief re Financial Literacy and then noted that the government's approach has been taking in either not including people who should be at the table or not telling people when a meeting will be held. She included a link to the CEP press release re the pension sessions - and said, "interestingly they are not tying (as you point out) these two processes together - financial literacy and pensions. And we have been quite critical of the financial literacy process anyway."
CEP re Gov't Secrecy on Pensions
CBC Polls Say Canadians Unhappy Harper, Ignatief
The CBC has announced that an EKOS shows more than one half of Canadians disapprove of the job that Prime Minister Harper has been doing, and 48% disapprove of the Job Liberal Leader Michael Ignatief is doing. Jack Layton, Leader of the NDP of Canada, was the only leader in the poll whose approval rating outstripped his disapproval rating, with 40 % saying he's doing a good job and only 29 % disapproving.For the complete story go to CBC Polls Show Disapproval
What We Don’t Know About ACTA
The anti-counterfeiting treaty, which could radically rewrite the rules of internet use, is being negotiated behind closed doors.
In an article published in Mark February 16, Charlie Angus, NDP MP for Timmins James Bay, noted that the latest round of negotiations for the Anti-Counterfeiting Treaty Agreement has just wrapped up under a heavy veil of secrecy. The treaty, which could radically rewrite the rules of internet use, has been in the works for three years now, yet the details of the talks have been veiled in secrecy. For details of the treaty and its dangers, click on What we don't know about ACTA
Finn Donelly Wins For NDP in BC
In
preliminary counts for today's New Westminster-Coquitlam bye-election,
NDP Candidate Finn Donelly won handily with almost half of the votes
cast. The "invisible" Conservative candidate, who refused to appear at
all candidate meetings came in second, followed by the Liberal and
Green candidates. | Party | Candidate | Votes | % OF Votes |
| Conservative | Diana Dilworth | 8,753 | 35.8 |
| NDP | Fin Donelly | 12,129 | 49.6 |
| Green Party | Rebecca Helps | 1,046 | 4.3 |
| Liberal | Ken Beck Lee | 2,514 | 10.3 |
| Total # Valid Votes | 24,442 |
In Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley, Mark Austin, NDP, came in second to Conservative Scott Armstrong, but beat the Liberals and the Greens.
In Quebec, in Hochelaga, the Bloq Quebecois took the riding with 8,972 votes, followed by the NDP with 3,421, the Liberals with 2,510, the Conservative with 1,774 and the Greens with 579 votes.
In Montmagny--L'Islet--Kamouraska--Rivière-du-Loup the Conservatives took a seat from the B.Q.
Canada Has Highest Priced - and Slowest Speed Internet
Says NDP Digital Issues Critic Charlie Angus
Mon 19 Oct 2009
Ottawa – Canada has gone from world leader to world laggard in terms of digital access and its citizens are paying the price, says New Democrat MP Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay).
According
to a recent report by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC),
Canada has fallen, under the Conservative government, to 20th place in
terms of speed and 25th out of 26th terms of affordability among
industrialized countries.“Canadians are paying some of the highest costs for some of the lowest speeds. A small cabal of cable giants have been allowed to squeeze out competition and slow down innovation while dinging the consumer for third-rate service.”
Angus says Canada is being left behind because a hands-off policy towards a small group of cable giants who control the Canadian market.
“The Harper Conservatives have no vision for a digital future. The United Sates is enshrining net neutrality principles as a fundamental principle for economic restructuring. The Europeans are setting benchmarks for open access to high speed. Meanwhile, the Conservatives are giving the cable giants a free pass to gouge consumers.”
New Democrat Industry Critic Brian Masse (Windsor West) says the Conservatives' lack of vision means Canada’s competitive base is being undermined.
“If we are going to compete on the world stage, we need to ensure that all Canadians and all region have access to affordable high speed internet. The Conservatives simply don’t understand the basic principles that need to be in place in order to develop a digital strategy that will take us forward instead of backwards.”
Leonard Krog, MLA, Jean Crowder, MP Attend Rally
On October 16 NDP MLA Leonard Krog and NDP MP Jean Crowder were at the Unite Here! Local 40 Rally at the Nanaimo Coast Bastion Hotel. They were there to express their support for the workers that still do not have a collective agreement.
Speaking during the rally, Crowder noted that many NDP functions have been held at Coast Hotels because they are union hotels.
She pledged to do whatever she could to help, including taking NDP related business away from Coast Hotels as soon as the union asked them to.
Jean
Crowder Nominated as Nanaimo Cowichan Candidate
The Eagle's Hall in Ladysmith was filled with NDP supporters on Friday, September 25th as Jean Crowder was nominated as the NDP candidate for Member of Parliament in the next federal election, whenever it comes.
She
was first nominated by Diana Elliott, (shown at left) who spoke about
Jean's honesty and directness, as well as of her support for First
Nations, including her sponsorship and subsequent enactment of
"Jordan's Law", calling on governments at the Federal and Provincial
levels to always put the welfare of children first, ahead of
bureaucratic disputes about who was funding their care. 
Yana Stratemeyer-Trinczek (at right) was Jean's second nominator. A fourth year University student, she remarked on Jean's approachability and wisdom, saying her personal involvement in the political system was inspired by Jean.
Jean began her speech by thanking the executive and members for all their support. She also told the audience that no, she does not know when the next federal election will be called, either, but she gave a number of possible scenarions when it might happen this year.
The first opportunity will come, she said, between October 1 and October 7, when the Liberals have an opportunity to propose a motion of non-confidence. The Liberals, who see that their support numbers are falling rapidly in the polls, are apparently looking to the Bloc and the NDP to save their bacon, while appearing to standup to the Conservatives (for the first time this year - ed).
The second opportunity will come when the Employment Insurance Bill (C 50), passes reading at second stage. The third opportunity will come when the E.I. Bill comes out of committee, and the fourth opportunity will come between October 27 and November 16, when the Liberals again have an opportunity to propose a non-confidence motion.
All in all, she said it will be a month of high stakes risks. The NDP, she said, does not have confidence in the government, but the E.I. Bill, although not adressing the needs of forest workers in BC, will assist more than 190,000 Canadians presently out of work.
After the E.I. Bill is out of committee, it is unlikely that the NDP will bring down Parliament on a Liberal motion, but will look at each motion on a case-by-case basis. Meanwhile, she said, the Conservatives are desperately trying to manipulate Parliament to have an election and blame the opposition parties for the election. They'll do it by creating a situation where the opposition parties will be forced to vote against the government, and thus call an election.
Heritage Minister James Moore has been quoted as saying there will be an election before Christmas. If he does, said Crowder, we have an able election planning committee, we have signs, and we have funds for a campaign, and we're in a good position in Nanaimo-Cowichan.
Jean Crowder, MP Nanaimo-Cowichan
Crowder
went on to say that when she first considered running for Parliament, a
mentor told her she had to answer three questions for the electorate to
consider her. One was Who am I?, the second was Why Am I Running?, and the third was Why Should You Elect Me?
She went on to say she's recently become a grandmother. When she looked at Ben and Gabriel, she felt completely different - she realized she had to take responsibility for how we walk on this planet. We have to ensure that people have enough to eat, that they have safe, warm and comfortable housing, and enough income to live in dignity.
I'm running, she said, because I have the energy and good fortune to be able to take on this kind of work. We must create a sustainable planet, and we have a responsibility to leave it in better condition than we found it.
People should vote for me, said Crowder, because we need to hold politicians to account to deliver what they promised. And they should vote New Democrat because while not perfect - they have made mistakes - without the New Democrats we would not have public health care, we would not have the Canada Pension, or unemployment insurance.
She went on to note that recently the Globe and Mail, not a friend of the NDP, had run an editorial saying that on many issues, the NDP had been correct and were now vindicated on the employment insurance issue, on Afghanistan, on missile defence, opposition to foreign takeovers and their lead on the environment.
She closed by mentioning two things she's very proud of - getting Jordan's Principle passed and making June Canada's National Aboriginal History Month.
Our NDP MLAs
Clicking on the links below will give you information about each of the NDP MLAs that cover our area.
Leonard Krog, MLA
Doug Routley, MLA
Bill Routley, MLA
Our NDP MP
Clicking on the link below will take you to the NDP website for Jean Crowder, MP
Jean Crowder, MP
Peggy Nash elected New Democrat President
Sun 16 Aug 2009
HALIFAX – On Aug 16, Peggy Nash was elected President of the New Democratic Party of Canada today, vowing to dedicate herself to helping build a real political alternative for recession-weary Canadians.
Nash is a Canadian Auto Workers negotiator and the first woman union representative in major auto negotiations in North America. She is the recipient of two awards from the Sierra Club of Canada and speaks English, French and Spanish.
“I’m confident that Peggy is the right person to take our party to the next level,” said Layton. “Her breadth of experience, strength of character and bold vision will contribute greatly to our future success.”
Stop The HST
NDP
Leader Carole James says the New Democrats’ petition to stop the
Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) passed the 30,000 mark today in just two
weeks into the campaign.
“Over 30,000 people have signed the NDP petition to stop the HST,” said James. “Many more have signed hard copies of the petition at rallies as people across the province join the New Democrats in fighting this tax grab by Gordon Campbell. These numbers are indicative of the level of anger being felt by British Columbians over the Premier’s HST betrayal”
James says she’s heard an overwhelming amount of concern about this unfair new tax.
Stop The HST
B.C. Liberal Credibility Gap Grows as More Questions Arise Around Missing Emails
The disappearance of thousands of email records surrounding the B.C. Rail corruption case is making the B.C. Liberals’ credibility gap even wider, says our MLA, Leonard Korg
The court heard August 18 that emails most likely to contain specific information about the sale were precisely the ones that have not been found.
“It strains belief,” said New Democrat MLA Leonard Krog, the opposition critic for the Attorney General. “Emails after the sale are available. But emails from the critical period immediately before the sale of B.C. Rail, precisely those most likely to contain relevant and damning information, cannot be found.
More on this storyB.C. Liberals Continue to Break Rank on HST as Public Opposition Skyrockets
Colin Hansen and Gordon Campbell are facing even more dissent from their own colleagues for the ill-conceived HST. Meanwhile, public opinion polls demonstrate overwhelming opposition to the tax grab and election betrayal.B.C. Liberals from the past and present have already broken rank from Gordon Campbell and Colin Hansen, questioning their HST betrayal and ongoing lies about the timing of the decision and its impact on consumers.
Ten
Reasons You
Should Have Voted NDP
at the top of our news headlines on the left.
Ten Reasons To Vote NDP
You, Me, and the SPP
Well known local filmmaker Paul Manly has completed production of his new DVD, "You, Me And The SPP" in which he outlines the implications of the "Security & Prosperity Partnership" being imposed on Canada by the multinationals really running the country and their government lapdogs, The Liberals and Conservatives. To view an excerpt, please click on the link in our news headlines.
To see the You, Me and the SPP Trailer, or to order your own copy of the DVD, please go to the Link below.
Manly Media
Child poverty rates across Canada, which had declined under the NDP, have risen steadily every year, and we currently have the highest child poverty rate in Canada.
Community Partners
- AmnestyInternational
- BC Citizens For Public Power
- BC Federation of Labour
- BC Health Coalition
- BC Human Rights Coalition
- BC New Democratic Party
- BC Union Label
- Canadian Labour Congress
- Cent Vanc Island United Way
- Cowichan United Way
- Mid Island Health Coalition
- Nanaimo Affordable Housing
- Nanaimo Global Film Festival
- Protein For People
- Vancouver Is Water Watch
- Vancouver Is Water Watch
