City taxpayers left holding the bag as Vision politicians look for greener pastures
Just over six months ago, Park Commissioner Constance Barnes was re-elected by Vancouver voters for another three-year term. This week we found out that, in addition to her current political job, she also wants to become the new MLA for Vancouver-False Creek.
Effective May 2013, Barnes would collect $101,859 for being an MLA as well as her modest park commissioner salary.
Not surprisingly, her plans to double dip have been met with a healthy dose of skepticism.
NPA Park Commissioner Melissa De Genova denounced this as nothing more than political opportunism. She also claims that if Barnes were to trigger a byelection, taxpayers would be on the hook for up to $1 million.
“For months Constance Barnes has been hinting at a move into provincial politics, so I am not at all surprised at today's announcement,” says De Genova. “However, Ms. Barnes has stated that she feels she can carry on as a commissioner and be a candidate for provincial politics. I disagree.”
De Genova is right to argue her colleague should step down from the Park Board once she wins the NDP nomination. However, Barnes is unrepentant. She claims there will be no problem juggling both a provincial and civic gig.
To defend her actions, Barnes cites Gordon Campbell’s example to help make her case.
In 1993, Campbell was nearing the end of his third term as Mayor of Vancouver. He decided to make the leap into provincial politics and run for leader of the BC Liberal Party. After winning, he chose not to quit his civic post and run out his term.
What Barnes fails to mention is that even if Campbell had resigned as mayor, it wouldn’t have triggered a byelection since byelections cannot legally be held during a general election year.
It makes more sense for Barnes to follow Mayor Gregor Robertson, the leader of her own party. After his successful campaign to become the Vision Vancouver mayoral candidate, Robertson faced relentless media pressure. In the end, he was forced to quit his MLA job.
How can we prevent this from happening? Perhaps it’s time for civic political parties to place a deposit with the elections office. If someone bails within a year, the party pays. Not only would this help protect taxpayers, it may force civic political parties to better vet their candidates before putting their names on the ballot.
- post by Daniel
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Is there any wonder that we citizens have become cynical over the ethics of our politicians?
Interesting idea. Would individual candidates also be required to put this money in trust? How much money are we thinking about here. Would the deposit go to pay for a by election if a person passed away or was otherwise incapcitated? There could be some concern that this move would favour larger parties with bigger budgets and make civic politics even more dominated by large developers.
I sent her e-mail stating the odds of her winning at 80 to 1, she won because of a small group of voters in Vancouver Elections, but on the bigger Provincial picture her Vision Vancouver policies will not cut it. Vision Vancouver Wing Nut Party
Boy the NPA drums are out in a coordinated effort on this one.
First, there is no reason other than personal choice for a municipal politician to resign their seat unless they actually win the provincial seat. Barnes is running in a Liberal held seat so her election is far from certain, notwithstanding that Liberal support is in free fall. Good for the Mayor for having resigned his seat to run for mayor but that was a personal decision. Forcing politicians to do so, however, narrows the field to the wealthy who can afford to be without a job for a year.
Two: A byelection is not absolutely a certainty. If a quorum at parks board is not affected, a by-election can be forgone. NPA may want to be careful what they wish for since generally in a one to one election with Vision, if past history is any guide they will lose. They are almost as tarnished a brand as the BC Liberals.
Fontaine’s proposed solution of a deposit from political parties only works if municipal politicians are forced to resing their seats as soon as they announce they are running for provincial (or federal office). I would love to see if such a law stood up to constitutional muster. In any event, such a law would work against municipal politicians moving to provincial politics which in my view would be a bad thing. Municipal politics is and should continue to be a source of candidates for higher office, notwithstanding the collection of name callers on this site.
So Daniel, IMHO, you and deGenova and Klassen and the rest of the NPA are wrong on this as you are on most things. But keep trying.
“Municipal politics is and should continue to be a source of candidates for higher office.”
Is part of our problem the notion (fact?) that cities are seen as junior partners? I would love to see our politics inverted so that the municipal became the senior level of government. (I know, I live in an alternate reality.)
“Municipal politics is and should continue to be a source of candidates for higher office.”
WRONG!
Voters do not hire them on the premise that they are, students working summer jobs, or seasonal workers picking berries.
If I would hire someone to do the job I need them to do, train them, rely on them only to tell me six months down the road that I was opnly a way of plumping up their resume, than screw them.
I give them no references. As far as I am concerned my reference for Barnes is: “she is an opportunistic liar, lazy and not qualified for what I hired her to do. Take care of our Parks. Employer be aware!”
Meggs and the rest… I am talking about you too!
I am truly sorry that for whatever reason you are so angry and bitter. Perhaps if you think slightly more positive thoughts, the future will look brighter. It seems every post of yours is filled with venom and hatred and, frankly, that reflects more on you that whoever you hurl your invective at. Come on, Mira, you can do it.☺
Pot meet kettle.
One other thought. Why not change the legislation so that the first person on the vote tally that did not get elected could be appointed to the remaining time?
I love the fact Barnes is staying to true to her NDP roots and considering the ‘double dipping’. After all, Layton and his wife were living in taxpayer subsidized housing when they were both collecting good monies and if I remember correctly reading an article in the Sun or Province at one point, so did Libby Davies.
Hands in the taxpayer pocket – all the time. It goes with the self entititled attitude.
So Daniel, maybe you can help my friend Max and me. Your article suggests that Ms. Barnes is going to remain as parks commissioner and, if she wins, as an MLA. You state: “This week we found out that, in addition to her current political job, she also wants to become the new MLA for Vancouver-False Creek.” That is what your follower Max appears to understand and clearly what the quoted sentence implies.
However, Daniel ole buddy, doesn’t that create a conundrum for you and the line the NPA is pushing. If she maintains both positions if elected, then there is no need for a by-election and the deGenova drum is of no consequence. She maintains her position as commissioner and if elected is also an MLA. It may be double dipping as by buddy Max suggests but it is not (wastefully according to you and deGenova) triggerting another election.
If she is going to resign as Parks Commissioner if elected as an MLA, then there is the issue of a byelection but no double dipping: she would not collect both her MLA and Commissioner salaries.
So which is it, dearest Daniel, was you sentence a scurrilous attempt to mislead (which misled poor old gullibe Max) or is she in fact planning to stay on in both. I know that other than your column I have seen your suggestion nowhere else. But then we know how the MSM are. Which is it Danny boy?
Thought of The Night
“Constance Barnes, QED”
ROTFLMAO!
Waltyss, I have to give it to you, this…
“She maintains her position as commissioner and if elected is also an MLA. It may be double dipping as by buddy Max suggests but it is not (wastefully according to you and deGenova) triggerting another election.”
… is monumental!
Proof 1
She maintains her position as Commissioner, despite being a walking disaster.
Proof 2
She also gets elected as an MLA, a position for which she will take all her insight and new found know-how.
Proof 3
She is now a Double -Dipper.
Interpretation:
She stays as Commissioner, and then take all her know-how to the MLA level. But we know that she sucks as Commisioner and she will implicitly suck further up the ladder. She will get paid for both. The taxpayers will be double screwed. And she can’t be acused she sucks as an MLA.
Double Jeopardy prevails!
See?
QED – Quod Erat Demonstrandum
(Latin for “Just you wait Henry Higgins, just you wait!”)
We live in Vancouver and this keeps us busy.
I have no idea what you are smokingGlissy, my friend. Whatever it is, it appears you have to have smoked the same thing to understand your posts.
I was not arguing that Ms. Barnes should double dip. In fact, I would have a great deal of trouble if she did. My point was that Mr. Fontaine in his keenness to attack her for running was trying to ride two ponies at the same time: that she was going to double dip and she was going to cause a by-election. If she double dips, no by-election is necessary.
I was also pointing out that other than Fontaine’s scurrilous implication that she was going to double dip, no-one else has suggested that she was going to.
Just typical city caucus nonsense.
As for whether she sucks as a park board commissioner, well a majority of the citizens of Vancouver disagree. Last time she topped the polls. And frankly, in a democracy I am content to go with the majority rather than bitter losers. Right, Daniel
I don’t have a problem with her running and holding her post. Parks board commissioners don’t have to quit their full-time “non-political” jobs to take on the role. Parks Board Commission is a part-time job at best.
Gregor’s case is not even a good comparison.
He was going from full-time job to full-time job.
Even John Kerry and John McCain did not step down as Senators to run for President.
If she wins she should undoubtedly have to give up the Park Board role. Not for the Park Board, but because the MLA job is a full time job.
So when a NPA or BC Liberal politician does something similar, will City Caucus call them out? Any mention of Lee Richardson in Calgary Centre and the cost of a federal by-election?
Also, while there is a legitimate issue here, what are you suggesting as an alternative/corrective? Force people to serve out their term of office? Not allow people to run for one political office if they hold another? I suppose that Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama shouldn’t have run for President as they were all sitting senators, right?
@Torgo:
Not sure what a bye-election in Calgary has to do with Vancouver, but okay.
You want to tell me that Meggs, Barnes and rumour the next is Bachas didn’t have any ‘thoughts’ of going for a Provincial seat?
Give me a break.
What I see them doing is covering their respective asses – if they don’t make it into Provincial politics they can cozy back to their little nest here.
To hell with the people.
With Vision backers like yourself, no wonder we have what we have in city hall.
Socialists – ready to spend other peoples money until it runs out.
I see Geoff Meggs plans on doing the same. Aren’t we lucky. Reading through some ‘tweets’, Sean over at the Mainlander pointed out that Meggs was a card carrying Communist member – double lucky for us.
Did anyone read the article in the Toronto Sun (I am sure other papers picked it up as well) NDP leader Mulcair wants Canada to be more like socialist France and has suggested that Canada should help fund the bail out of the European countires that can’t balance their own bloody books. Sure, let’s send billions of tax payer dollars over to those folks that are so ready to renege on their debt payments.
I mean, is Mulcair even aware of what is going on in France, Italy, Spain and good old Greece? What got them into the mess they are in, in th first place???
Lord help us if this is the best and brightest the NDP have to offer.
Max, I read somewhere that your hero Stephen Harper is a member of a neoNazi cell working to revive Hitler from one of his cells. I read it on the internet so it must be true.
What is beyond debate from reading your posts is that you are a gullible idiot.
To quote waltss “And frankly, in a democracy I am content to go with the majority rather than bitter losers.”
I see you will be the largest supporter of the federal Conservatives then?
You must immediately renounce your federal NDP membership then.
Kettle meet pot!
Well, Isaak, I am not a member of either the federal or provincial NDP and did not vote for them in the last election. I actually voted for the provincial Liberals but will not make that mistake again.
Nor did I vote for the Tories but I accept that under our system they won fair and square (even though a majority of Canadians do not support them; their “majority’ was just under 40%; today they are statistically tied with the NDP but so what) and are entitled to govern.
What becomes tiresome are the regulars on this site, including Glissy the hasheater, who accuse anyone they disagree with as being corrupt, stupid, a thief incompetent or the like.
The people serving in public office deserve our respect because they are making significant sacrifices to do what they are doing and are almost always doing so because they believe what they are doing is right.
Criticize them when you disagree, by all means. However the inane and childish name calling is more reflective of the lack of intelligence of Glissy the hasheater, Ned or Max or the demented Unger and their ilk. Rational debate is not part of their vocabulary and that appears to be a hallmark of this site.
Thought of The Night
“Waltzing With Wiki Waltyss.”
Look, I know what you’re saying, and I couldn’t be more sympathetic to your cause, but just because some people are laughing at you and call you names, it doesn’t mean that we have to go away mad, so Waltyss, all I’m saying is…
“I understand!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVkWONQeYcY
I want you to be happy, Waltyss! I really do. And, again… I understand!
We live in Vancouver and this keeps us busy.