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.

Innovative solutions from Betty

From today's Kamloops Daily News:

Lobby for tax hike, MP tells protesters

MP Betty Hinton told a group of women protesting inadequate child care Thursday that they should pressure the province to raise taxes if they want services improved.

Need we say more? Canada's New Government at its best.

Cited article unattributed
Published May 9, 2007
© Copyright The Daily News in Kamloops

Photo Credit Dave Eagles/Kamloops This Week
Copyright © 2007 Kamloops This Week

Shabby campaign tactics begin

The Daily News reported today that one of Betty Hinton's taxpayer-funded assistants bought the www.michaelcrawford.ca domain name, clearly in order to prevent the NDP candidate from setting up a normal campaign website. Kevin Skrepnek, a recent arrival in Kamloops barely out of high school works at Hinton's constituency office and is paid by Parliament, not the Conservatives.
Skrepnek's blog, skrepnek.blogspot.com, includes doctored images of prominent Canadian politicians and cartoons with racist overtones.
Crawford is demanding return of the domain and says he has grounds to file a complaint with the Canadian Internet Registration Authority.
Betty, who belongs to a Party that ran on a law-and-order platform, will obviously stop at nothing to sabotage her opponents by any means.

Cited article unattributed
Published March 7, 2007
© Copyright The Daily News in Kamloops