Dear Ms. James
Leader of the Provincial  NDP and Opposition in the B C legislature.
 
I received this email and immediately thought that there must be a reason that you and the NDP  our BC opposition in the legislature and therefore the watchdogs of government have been silent on this issue.  
Or is it that you and the NDP do not have the ear of the MSM in a province so thoroughly disgusted with its government, and so you decided no action at all is best for your party and the people of BC. 
Does this mean you agree with the Liberals actions?
Does this mean it is OK with you for the Liberals to control Elections BC which is supposed to be impartial?

Subject: Re: Elections BC

Rafe here – 
I received this in the mail and while I can’t vouch for its accuracy, it raises very serious concerns that must be answered and dealt with.
>I have worked at Elections B.C. on and off for many years…since the 1980’s…retired now. I am friends with a number of people who still work there. Elections is a (was a) non-partisan office…it says so on the door. And I know from experience that the measures taken to live up to that were total at every level particularly during the tenure of Harry Neufeld (CEO) and Linda Johnson (the Deputy Chief Electoral Officer). Linda knows the Elections Act inside and out…an extremely knowledgeable and competent person who has been with Elections for 28 years..the last 19 of them as Deputy CEO. The appointment of Craig James to replace Harry was a mystery. He has no experience with Elections or the Election Act yet here he is…the CEO. (It is now clear he was hired to “clean house”). James called a staff meeting at EBC and said that he had come from the Legislature and a meeting with officials there and Vaughn Palmer (why him?)….he announced that it was Linda’s last day. The staff was stunned. Could this have anything to do with the fact that the Liberals spent $780,000 on brochures to sell the HST and then weren’t allowed to send them out because they hadn’t followed the rules in the Election Act and Linda told them so? This is obviously a revenge firing. The time line is revealing. What is truly amazing is that there is was no reporting of this in mainstream media. This is outrageous. This Liberal government is corrupt and ruthless…if I didn’t know this before I sure do now. It is a mystery to me why the NDP have not picked up on this abuse of power by the Liberals and demanded an investigation and let the public know how despicable this is. This is BC’s democratic process being dismantled to suit the governing Liberal Party. The silence in the mainstream media is deafening. Craig James is “restructuring” Elections BC at the behest of the Liberals…so much for being non-partisan. The Legislative Committee asked Elections BC for advice on the HST mess. The Liberals didn’t want the Deputy Chief Electoral Office answering questions about a referendum..like how much would it cost..who decides on the wording etc. Linda J got fired before she could answer this…James conveniently went to Africa the next day after the Committee met and wanted to ask this. He doesn’t know anyway.
>

 
Ms. James, ordinary people are fed up and want to know what they can do to get our politicians at all levels to listen to us.  They do not believe you are interested in what we have to say, and so far you are proving that to be true.
 
Campbell sits there with his stupid little drunk’s smile and manipulates you, the legislative process and the courts, selling off or destroying the commons set up so carefully over the years, and what do you do for the people to stop that?
 
He has absolutely no interest in what the people want, never has and never will.  His contempt of all the people of BC is astounding and yet we hear nothing of value from you.
 
Are you just waiting for Bill Vander Zalm and the people of BC to do your work for you?
 
How is that a private person who is no longer in politics can do so much for the people of BC whilst you who are there in the thick of things can do so little?
 
You are part of the scene.
You have the power to do things. 
Yes you do damn it.
Do you not have the will?
 
Anyway, I believe that because of your lack of action on so many issues you will face stiffer opposition from the BC Refed party than the so called Fiberal party in the next election, and I for one am very seriously thinking of running in this next provincial election for them or as an independent. The Refeds are for the people to control the provincial, and eventually federal governments, not the corporations, unions and special interest groups that run things now.
 
I may be old but my grand children deserve better than the shambolic mess we have in our governments today. If you younger people who are already there will not deal with it, then old foggies like me must re-gird our loins and step in again.
 
 
Jeremy Arney