Betty quitting?

In an interview with CKNW radio, Betty Hinton reveals she is suffering from health problems and will not run for re election if the Conservative throne speech is defeated this month.
While we are unimpressed by her record as MP and we hope she is not re elected, we do not take any pleasure from the possibility that Ms Hinton has health issues. We wish her a quick and full recovery.

Cited article published Oct 10, 2007
Copyright © 2007 AM980 CKNW

Election dysfunction

On October 7th, Betty Hinton told Kamloops This Week "she has received no instructions from Ottawa to be ready for an election." Two days earlier, on October 5th, senior Conservative party organizers informed the Globe and Mail they had "told candidates in a conference call yesterday" that the other parties would find the Throne Speech "absolutely unacceptable."
The Conservatives want an election and their candidates know it. The question is whether Betty Hinton is being untruthful, or is simply out of the loop.

Cited article by Markus Ermisch
Published October 7, 2007
Copyright © 2007 Kamloops This Week

Cited article by Gloria Galloway and Brian Laghi
Published October 5, 2007
© Copyright 2007 CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc.

Veterans Affairs doesn't live up to promise

In February, the parliamentary committee on Veterans Affairs released a report calling for the federal government to create a veterans ombudsman to handle problems faced by our veterans – including the 228 Canadians who have so far been wounded in Afghanistan (which does not include those who might face psychological problems.) At that time our own MP, Betty Hinton, who is also parliamentary secretary to the veterans affairs minister, described the office of the ombudsman as a "heavy hammer" to uphold the Veterans Bill of Rights.
Now, the Toronto Star reports that
...the transparent and accountable process Canadians have demanded and government has promised in creating the office has been virtually non-existent .... [t]he ombudsman's office will not be legislated, nor will it have the necessary robust powers of investigation, such as the power to subpoena documents and witnesses, take testimony under oath or enter any relevant premises as required.
Just another half-filled promise. It's unfortunate that the victims in this case are our nation's best and bravest.

Cited article by Sean Bruyea
Published September 21, 2007
© Copyright Toronto Star 1996-2007

"That should be good enough for you."

In her latest On the Run column, Daily News city editor Susan Duncan gives us a snapshot of our MP's typical behaviour. During a lunch in which she tries to ask Betty Hinton about her current residence in Vernon (outside the riding she represents).
So, yes, she has a home in Kamloops. But she doesn't live in it. Is there any proof she has this home? No. Except this:
"I told you I have. That should be good enough for you."
Really? We were also told the Conservatives would:

• give us a universal patient wait-times guarantee (not a half-baked plan to reduce lineups for one type of surgery per province)

• improve government accountability (not appoint Conservative friends and allies to every position possible)

• reduce the tax burden on Canadians (instead of lowering the GST and leaving the income tax system grossly unfair)

• improve child care (do we even have to say anything?)

• come up with a real plan to tackle climate change (not shuffle environment ministers and graphic designs with no real effect)

We cannot accept this kind of "good enough" attitude from our government or from the person we pay $166,000 to represent our interests and concerns. The sooner we kick her out, the better.

Cited editorial by Susan Duncan
Published 19 August, 2007
© Copyright The Daily News in Kamloops

Notice

The Why-Betty-Lives-in-Vernon contest has been cancelled due to the obstructive tactics of this blog's political opponents. We apologize to the majority of our readers who are interested in constructive discussion.

She's still not in cabinet ...

... but it's never stopped her pretending she is.

Kamloops and region left unrepresented

The Daily News reports that the Conservative government's Canada-B.C. Mountain Pine Beetle Advisory Board, despite the recent addition of five more members, still has no representatives from the Southern Interior. We offer a selection of quotes that cover the issue nicely.

Gary Lunn (federal natural resources minister): "[The committee] has broad representation from all areas of the province affected by the mountain pine beetle infestation.”
Alyson Robb (Conservative caucus relations director): "There's no rhyme or reason that there wasn't anyone chosen from Kamloops."
Terry Lake (Kamloops mayor): “We were not given any information about [the board] or asked for any expression of interest to participate.”
Peter Milobar (TNRD chair): "[There's] nobody from the southern Interior whatsoever .... I'm a little worried."
Betty Hinton (Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo MP, Conservative): "Could not be reached for comment." (Daily News)

Sound familiar?

Cited article by Jason Hewlett
Published Friday, 3 August 2007
© Copyright The Daily News in Kamloops

Thank you, Betty!

There are times when even your least favourite politician comes through. Wednesday was one of those days, when Betty Hinton joined federal natural resources minister Gary Lunn to announce $6.6 million in funding for the expansion of Kamloops Airport.
The Conservative government deserves its due for doing what the people of Kamloops have been asking for over two years. There has been inaction, there has been stalling, there have been excuses; but it has finally happened.
Thank you, Betty. You have done something for us.

Hinton pushes stickers, faces criticism

Instead of finally extending the Veterans Independence benefits as promised, instead of finally appointing a Veterans Ombudsman as promised, instead of securing funding for the pine beetle crisis or the Kamloops Airport expansion, Betty Hinton has decided the best use of her taxpayer-funded time on the job -- according to the Kamloops Daily News -- is to persuade Kamloops City Council to place "Support the Troops" stickers on City vehicles. This comes after Toronto's government managed to raise an uproar by doing the same thing.
As Mayor Terry Lake said in response, “[T]his should be an individual choice whether people want to put a decal on their vehicle. I don’t think it should be mandated by any organization or government. It politicizes a very personal choice."
Indeed, many local residents' vehicles already have these troop-support decals on them without help from the City. Meanwhile, Kamloops is one of few Canadian cities to offer free parking to cars with veterans' license plates.
B.C. political blog The Galloping Beaver responds with excellent commentary on what this situation says about Betty. Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo Voters for Change offers you some selected quotes about our M.P. from there:

• useless as a bald snow tire on the Roger's Pass in January and dumber than a manhole cover
• watched nationally for her next gaffe
• incapable of independent thought
• a demonstration of the "big C" conservative need for authority figures and centralized control. Reduce independent thinking to a minimum. Follow the leader. That's what makes Hinton and her particular ilk comfortable. No need to think things through; somebody will do that for you.

We couldn't have said it better ourselves.

Cited article by Michele Young
Published July 17, 2007
© Copyright The Daily News in Kamloops

Cited post by Dave
Published July 17, 2007
thegallopingbeaver.blogspot.com

Friday the 13th: Tyee bashes Betty

The popular B.C. political blog, The Tyee, was kind enough enough to mention Betty Hinton yesterday. Unfortunately for Betty, it wasn't very positive:

. . . the other way to get headlines when you're not in cabinet is to pretend that, in fact, you are. That's the strategy Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo MP Betty Hinton tried in February.

Hinton made the claim in an interview with Kamloops This Week's Markus Ermish [sic]. But when the NDP's Jean Crowder brought it up in the House, Hinton denied everything and even demanded an apology.

Unfortunately for the veteran interior politician, Ermish had his interview taped.

The incident led columnist Dale Bass to pen a scathing editorial about Hinton's performance.

"Our local MP is rapidly becoming as valuable to the Conservative government as Hedy Fry was to the Liberals during her Ku-Klux-Klan-cross-burnings-in-Prince-George phase," he wrote.

He [sic] went on to say "[S]he goes through local constituency office staff like some losing NFL teams go through coaches," and she is "becoming a public embarrassment to her own party in Parliament."

Ouch.

After being exposed by local papers, the Globe and Mail, Macleans magazine, and The Tyee, our elected federal representative is a joke to the entire country.

Cited article by Tom Barrett and Richard Warnica
Published July 12, 2007
thetyee.ca (c) 2003-2007

More beetle trouble for Betty

In a right on the money editorial today, the Williams Lake Tribune drew attention to federal inaction on the pine beetle crisis:
"If only a B.C. Conservative would stand up the way Nova Scotian MP Bill Casey did last week, and demand his government live up to its commitments to British Columbia.
Will Dick Harris or Betty Hinton or Jay Hill publicly demand their government wake up on this issue?"

Cited editorial unsigned
Published June 12, 2007
Copyright © 2007 Williams Lake Tribune

When will they give a damn?

In today's editorial, the Kamloops Daily News asked why the federal government still hasn't indicated that it cares about the situation faced by local homeowners with many pine beetle-infested trees.
"The feds just don't get it on the pine beetle issue. Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn ... and his government colleagues, including MP Betty Hinton, deserve no credit whatsoever for their refusal to come to the aid of homeowners."
The city of Kamloops has coughed up $400,000 to fund the removal assistance program this year, and the federal government matched about half. But they're refusing to fund it any further than August, even though the pine beetle crisis will continue to get worse.

Cited editorial unsigned
Published June 8, 2007
© Copyright The Daily News in Kamloops

"Pretty immediate"

The story of the Veterans Independence Program continues (see below). Betty admits in Kamloops This Week that this is a "major issue" and something the Conservatives "promised we will do."
According to the article, "Hinton said the Conservatives could enact the changes immediately, ut she said her government has chosen to instead examine the program .... there are three prongs to that review process."
This is pretty transparent. They could do the right thing and extend the benefits to widows as they promised. Instead, they're stalling. Betty's justification: "this is pretty immediate."
No wonder she's down in the polls today.

Cited article by Markus Ermisch
Published May 9, 2007
© Copyright 2007 Kamloops This Week

Betty in the national media

The last time Betty Hinton got noticed by the national media it was in Maclean's magazine, in an article about how she claimed to be in Cabinet (she isn't). Now, the Globe and Mail mentions her ... for failing to keep a promise.
Joyce Carter is an 80-year-old widow who is demanding that Harper's Conservatives extend the Veterans Independence Program (VIP), a home-care system, to all widows of World War II and Korean war veterans. She is not doing this for herself -- she already receives the VIP, but widows whose husbands died before 1981 do not.
In June 2005, Harper's office as leader of the opposition wrote to Carter and told her a Conservative government would "immediately" extend the VIP to all the widows. It still has not happened.
Where does Betty come in? When she was veterans affairs critic, she also wrote to Carter and said:
"You may be interested to know that this was adopted as part of the Conservative Party of Canada's policy last March at our convention .... you are preaching to the converted. Unfortunately, until the Conservative Party forms the government, I am unable you change the regulations to extend VIP benefits to all veterans' widows."
Carter says two federal budgets later it hasn't happened yet. Betty's office directed calls to the veterans affairs department.

Cited article by Gloria Galloway
Published April 19, 2007
© Copyright 2007 CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc.

Betty and the Airport

During his visit to Kamloops a few days ago, Liberal leader Stephane Dion promised that he would act on the Kamloops Airport expansion funding.
According to Kamloops This Week, Betty says, "if it's such a good idea, why didn't the Liberal government fund this before?"
a) Dion has never been responsible for airport expansions
b) That's the past. This is the present and Betty and her party are not delivering
Why can't she take some basic responsibility instead of remembering what didn't happen years ago? The liberal record isn't the point. She hasn't delivered.

Cited article by Christopher Foulds
Published April 18, 2007
Copyright © 2007 Kamloops This Week

Betty & Gary

Mel Rothenburger's editorial in the Daily News today suggests some interesting things about Betty Hinton and her party. The editor describes his interview with minister of natural resources Gary Lunn who was visiting Kamloops this week.

"... we asked him whatever became of the City's $1.3 million application for pine beetle funding five or six months ago, the one that seemed so urgent at the time. The one MP Betty Hinton said she needed within a few days so she could take it to the minister. It was he said, a miscommunication. There was no fund to draw from, nothing to apply for, and therefore the application didn't technically exist." (bold added)

So, either the government isn't competent enough to know what does and doesn't exist, or Betty Hinton just made something up.

Cited editorial by Mel Rothenburger
Published Saturday, April 14
© Copyright The Daily News in Kamloops

Liberals re-nominate Sommerfeld

In the nomination meeting on Thursday April 12, local Liberals reelected Ken Sommerfeld to run in the next election. Sommerfeld, who got 25% of the vote in the last election, defeated Dr. Randy Patch.

Hinton's department in confusion

Veterans Affairs Canada is coming under fire over the ceremonies at the Vimy memorial in France. First a Radio-Canada reporter noticed that French language interpretive panels on the monument were full of really bad French, so VA Minister Greg Thompson (Betty Hinton's boss) promised he would have them removed.
Now David Thompson, the head organizer of a group of 3,600 students travelling from Canada to join the ceremonies, is saying Veterans Affairs backed down on an agreement to provide lunch for the students the day of the ceremony. The organizers now have to put together $33,000 dollars for lunches ... money that was going to buy souvenirs for the students. CBC says:

The students raised the money to pay for their travel and other costs on the trip. Taxpayers are paying for more than 100 government officials to attend the ceremony.

You can bet one of those officials,our very own MP, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs, is Betty Hinton.

Cited article by CBC News
Published April 5, 2007
Copyright © CBC 2007

KTW picks up on copyright infringement

The local news media has finally gotten around to covering the story of David Wise, the photographer, see post below, who had his photograph of Kamloops used without permission by Betty Hinton's office. Wise, whose photos have been bought by groups including Venture Kamloops and Harvard U., is asking for "up to $2000", the cost Hinton's office would have had to pay to legitimately use the picture.
Wise is clear he will sue if he is not paid, which is his right. The photograph license was clearly posted and will obviously be accepted in court if he sues.

Cited article by Markus Ermisch
Published April 1, 2007
© Copyright 2007 Kamloops This Week

From our colleagues

From our blogging colleagues at Kamloops Inside Out and City of Alleys ... new proof that Betty Hinton doesn't care about the law or other's rights.

• Kamloops Inside Out: Betty Hinton Accused of Copyright Violation
• City of Alleys: Betty Hinton vs. Intellectual Property

Have the Tories given up on Betty?

Federal minister Stockwell Day's decision to pull out of the Kamloops Conservatives fundraiser with only one day's notice should give Betty Hinton's constituents a reason to believe that the party has given up on this seat. Betty has been leaking support over the last few months, with events like her dishonesty over her position in government, this blog, and the Skrepnek controversy hurting her credibility – not to mention her continued inaction on issues that matter to the people who elected her.
We know that Stockwell Day would rather play a few rounds of golf and laugh it up with the Governor of Washington than speak in this riding ... especially when he knows that people will be protesting. Now we also know that the Tories aren't willing to risk anything for Betty ... she's a lost cause.

Call to action CANCELLED - Day chickens out

KTCVC has learned that Stockwell Day has pulled out of the Betty Hinton fundraiser at the last moment, leading to the whole event being called off. The rally against the budget at Forster's is cancelled.

Call to action: Day coming to town - UPDATE

Federal public safety minister Stockwell Day (and Penticton-area MP) will be doing a fundraiser with Betty Hinton at Forsters convention centre (in the Best Western) this Saturday at 5 PM. Dinner is $100 for non-Conservative members, but the speeches at 6 PM are only $5 at the door.
KTCVC has been informed that a number of local groups will be organizing a rally against the federal budget at Forster's, beginning at 4:30 PM on Saturday. The rally is open to all.

Big budget doesn't deliver for B.C.

There are only 17 MPs in the Conservative BC caucus ... you would think Betty Hinton could make her voice heard when it comes to creating the budget, but now we know they don't listen to her. Proof:
In his speech in parliament introducing Budget 2007, finance minister Jim Flaherty said: "From the majestic peaks of the Rocky Mountains to the rugged shores of Newfoundland and Labrador, many of the most beautiful places on earth are in Canada." Oops, guess he forgot about the other said of the Rockies ... us.
That's not the worst of it. The Vancouver Sun has a great article today on all the ways B.C. got left out in the cold by this budget that will raise government spending by 5.6%.
Last week for example, Premier Gordon Campbell said property values MUST NOT BE included in the new equalization formula. The Tories stuck them in anyway. What does that mean? It means that, because B.C. has very high property values right now, our equalization numbers will be skewed: so, if our economy ever slows down, we won't be able to get the federal transfer payments we need. As Campbell said:
"Anyone that says that your property values are in direct relation of your ability to pay doesn't frankly know a lot about what they're talking about ... property values in British Columbia went up by about 24 per cent last year. Peoples' ability to pay did not go up by 24 per cent last year."
Around now, B.C.ers' blood should be boiling at how little the federal Conservatives seem to care about us. As one MP put it, we've been "punished" by this budget.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is as mad as we are. CTF federal director John Williamson said "Canadian taxpayers were shortchanged on the issue of tax relief and will continue paying sky-high tax rates."
Ontario and Quebec, at the same time, are making billions and billions of dollars off this budget – because that's where Harper needs votes.
They don't care, folks. They don't care about B.C., they don't care about Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo, they don't care about us. They think we'll vote for Betty no matter what. Let's show them they're wrong.

Cited article by Peter O'Neil (with files from the Canadian Press)
Published March 20, 2007
© The Vancouver Sun 2007

This is the Conservative Party.

March 8 was International Women's Day, a day dedicated to recognizing the rights of women and the importance of women's issues. On that day while Betty Hinton was busy praising Minister Bev Oda's rearrangement of the Status of Women Canada budget (yes, Oda was the one who spent $5000 a day on limos during the Junos and removed the word "equality" from the Status of Women mandate), Kevin Skrepnek (see post titled Shabby campaign tactics begin), posted the following words on his profile at Facebook.com:

"I'm the baddest motherfucker of all time, the best singer, the best lookin' motherfucker- hold my drink, bitch."

Skrepnek's defenders rightly pointed out that this is a quote from comedian Dave Chappelle's TV show, but does that matter?
This came just after CFJC did a story on Skrepnek in which MP Betty Hinton defended his prior actions with the Michael Crawford site.
As of today Skrepnek's blog was gone from the Internet. Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo Voters for Change calls for Hinton to fire Skrepnek. He is an embarrassment to the community and to all young people.