Category Archives: The Issues

Two Items making the news….

….Friday June 1st caught my attention.

First was the firing of BC Lottery Corp CEO Vic Poleschuck. It was refreshing to see someone earning an overly generous salary at taxpayer’s expense actually be held accountable for bad management, a lack of judgment and lying to the Minister and public about the real facts concerning BCLC.

Of course it leaves me wondering: in light of the fiasco of Centennial Pool; writing a letter to the public and signing the mayor name; the lies told about Plan A (e.g. – actual advertising was 250% higher than claimed); the reduction in city services; the reductions of maintenance at city facilities (and who knows what that will cost us in the longer term?); uneconomical, bad business practices; bungling management; not an iota of judgment; – just why is it that Mr. Guthrie, Mr. Theichroeb and Mr. Taylor are not packing their bags and heading off to join Mr. Poleschuck on the unemployment line?

The second news Item concerned the Vancouver Convention Center’s massive cost overrun – $300+ million and climbing. In fact this project may well run 100% over budget ending up with a price tag closer to a $billion$ than to the original contract price. The government is still unable to even guess at what the final price will be because it is still negotiating that with the Contractor, the contractor they signed the original contract with at half of what it will end up costing the taxpayers.

The reason this should be of interest or concern to Abbotsford’s beleaguered citizens is that the contractor is PCL. The hospital reasonably on budget is a P3. The convention center 100(+?)% over budget is government to PCL. The Abbotsford projects are – government to PCL.

Clearly PCL has the ability with government contracts to double the cost. We need someone to oversee the projects to ensure large cost overruns do not occur. This means City Hall’s demonstrated criteria for letting contracts, the lowest bid or being “nice guys” in not an appropriate way to make a choice to protect the citizens of Abbotsford interests.

On projects the size of Plan A we should expect to be paying $4 – $5 million to the company we choose to protect our interests (and pocket books) in overseeing the construction. You get what you pay for and paying less than this does not get you the oversight you need. The unreasonable bid council accepted for oversight gets you rubber stamping and potentially 100% cost overruns. Council needs to revisit their decision on the contract to oversee the construction in order to ensure proper construction oversight.

If they are building Plan A the least they could do is do it with sound business and management practices – and at least an iota of sound judgment and common sense.

The Wisdom of Yoda.

Do or do not. There is no try.

What does it say about us as a society that a science fiction fictional character reflects more common sense on the question of ending homelessness than our so-called leaders. We must make a choice about homelessness – either we end it or we don’t.

As Mr. Philip Mangano’s visit to Abbotsford makes clear, as evidenced by the experience of U.S. cities including some of similar size to Abbotsford, ending homelessness is a matter of our choice.

If we choose to end homelessness then the symptoms that come with homelessness will end and we will have nothing to bitch about; if we choose to not end homelessness then stop bitching about the symptoms – you chose to live with them.

In either case stop bitching. All our “trying” has accomplishing is nothing – except to waste the resources we could bring to bear on ending homelessness.

Do or do not. Choose.

MLAs should go on strike to see if we would miss them.

by Regina Dalton

Our local MLA Mike de Jong was on TV recently, calling NDP leader Carole James ‘hypocritical’ for her stand on the Liberals’ salary and pension bill.

The report also showed de Jong’s leader, Gordon Campbell, decrying ‘gold-plated pensions’ when he was opposition leader.

De Jong is a tad perplexed since James has cleverly managed to put the spotlight back where it belongs – on the greedy and hypocritical Liberals themselves.

Why can’t MLAs be like all other self-respecting workers and go on strike until we, as taxpayers, come up with a reasonable rate of increase for them?

Then we could find out whether we would actually miss them or not.

Festival of Fools

I see in news from Abbotsford City Hall that senior staff and council continues to rush, like a pack of lemmings, over the edge of catastrophe that their Plan A represents. It would appear they are determined to prove the old adage: “One man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes, but for real bona fide stupidity, there ain’t nothin’ can beat teamwork.”

The entire debacle has more in common with a Keystone Kops movie than with the thoughtful, careful planned capital building strategy the citizens of Abbotsford should be getting.

Except for humour, since the far reaching financial and delivery of services effects are straight out of a Shakespearian tragedy.

The Wisdom of Youth.

One of the most telling comments on homelessness that came out of Philip Mangano’s visit to Abbotsford was from someone not even in attendance.

In speaking to a planner I know after hearing Mr. Mangano’s experiences in successfully beginning to end homelessness, she related the wisdom passed on to her by her eight year old daughter. Previous to Mr. Mangano’s visit she, the planner that is, had been involved in the FVRD mayor’s forum on homelessness held about a year ago in Chilliwack. In explaining the trip to Abbotsford her daughter was informed we would be talking about homelessness.

Her daughter was amazed. Almost a year latter and we were still talking about homelessness – having taken no action to end the disgrace of homelessness. Year after year we keep talking and wringing our hands; year after year homelessness keeps growing.

Perhaps it is time we take the young lady’s advice: shut up, commit our will and ourselves to ending homelessness and putting our resources where our rhetoric is.