Editor, The News:
Re: All you can get, when you can (Open mic, April 17).
Mike Shields is correct: “patronage – a polite word – is endemic to every system of governance that has ever existed.”
So to hold up former NDP B.C. premier, Glen Clark as a paragon of principles is rich. A sun deck and a back-dated memo by a close colleague come to mind. After he resigned, Jimmy Pattison, an uber capitalist, gave him an opportunity for employment.
I assume the NDP is the third party choice in the next electioNn that Mr. Shields mentions.
He wrote, “We won’t be corrupt when it’s our turn.”
Let us recall the thousands of taxpayer dollars being funneled to NDP satellite office staff, or Bingogate, money raised by charity to fund the party. Or the NDP MLA’s $32,000 vacation charged to a charity, since paid back. This charity to assist the poor was spending on luxury travel and other perks and it was not uncommon to do so with $28 million per year in taxpayer dollars.
Then there was the fast ferries, with a $50 million dollar loss caused by breakdown in management and governance according to the auditor general.
The NDP managed a bit of “patronage” when they governed B.C. Just imagine if they ran the country.
Cherryl Katnich
Maple Ridge