so, if you find yourself looking for something to read, why not go look at the archives, or Best of ?

I’ve got some cooking to do for dinner. Coming from a European family, nothing says I love you more than feeding someone the things they love, and in this house, that means caramel flattened whole roasted, crispy skinned chicken( yes, I love the skin best!), roasted winter veg, some gorgeous homemade bread that will torture all the neighbours while it is baking…… and last but not least, caramel apple pie…. time’s a wasting, so back to the kitchen!

 Be well everyone!

It get’s even better.

 B.C. comptroller-general Cheryl Wenezenki-Yolland released a report today, on the affairs and status of Translink and BC Ferries. The Sun has the full story HERE.

Among her findings:

TransLink is plagued by “significant operational issues” and has not done enough to manage its finances

(Remember, TransLink CEO Tom Prendergast just  announced his resignation, and will be leaving for a big,cushy job in New York yesterday)

…president David Hahn’s compensation last year was more than double that at larger public sector bodies. Executive bonuses also were easier to attain than auditors would have expected…

The board’s compensation is also “excessive,” with a retainer that is three to five times higher than permitted at B.C. Crown corporations…

The auditors’ concerns were compounded, they said, by the fact that the board decides its own pay scale, and approves executive salary without proper accountability.

Heck! Decide your own pay and show no accountability for it?  Where do we sign up?

No wonder we never have any bloody ferries running properly on long weekends and holidays.

I feel a storm brewing…and it’s not going to be a short one.

We have BC paramedics being forced back to work by a government minister so unscrupulous that he would sell off surgery spots - most likely in violation of the Canada Health Act – while thousands off people are waiting for surgery and treatment.

We have BC steelworkers who are angered by the provinces decision to award the BC place retractable roof contract to an out of province firm.

We have health care workers who are screaming at the latest move by Fraser Health to cut back even more services and staff, putting both patients and staff at risk.

And whatever you do, don’t forget about the HandyDart employees who are currently on strike in a labour dispute with their employer, MVT Canadian Bus Inc. – a subsidiary of MV Transportation Inc.

I received a letter from a HandyDart  worker last night, who has given me permission to publish it, and I think that these workers deserve some credit. Driving a HandyDart bus is not like driving a regular bus. The patients are often very ill, infirm, disabled or otherwise unable to use the regular transit system to get to treatments or appointments.  As such, the passengers require a lot of special care and treatment,not only with loading and unloading, but with timeliness of pick-up and drop-offs.  The decision to strike was not made lightly because of these customers, but at the same time, the workers must stand up for their positions.

Here is what one employee has to say:

Dear Laila:

I am a HandyDART employee.  I have almost 15 years invested in helping keeping the clients moving.  I have been a driver, a trainer, a booking clerk and a scheduler.  Each job requires hard work and dedication to helping with the transportation needs of the clients.  

 We were happy in our work and the clients were happy with HandyDART until MVT came to Canada.  Ever since MVT took over, the service has gone downhill.  

 The unrealistic expectations of MVT have created a system that is constantly running late, having passengers on board for far too long and often getting clients late to their appointments.

The seamless system they promised still has many passengers having to deal with transfers and being forced to travel at times they don’t want.

 MVT wants to contract out my job.  MVT doesn’t want to guarantee I will get full time hours, even though I am a full time permanent employee.

MVT does not want us to have a pension plan. 

MVT is trying to make money off the backs of Canadian taxpayers while at the same time trying to take away the livelihood of some Canadian workers. 

HandyDART is a taxpayer-funded custom public transportation system.

MVT is an American for Profit Company….where do you think Canadian tax dollars are going?   The USA; that’s where.  

 We need a swift resolution to the labour dispute so that our clients can resume going to their programs and appointments and the workers can get back to doing the jobs they love. 

MVT seems determined to squeeze every penny from the Canadians they can at the expense of you and me, the Canadian tax payer, HandyDART rider and HandyDART worker.

The workers are not the perpetrators of the current situation.  We are fighting to keep our jobs, keep our benefits, resume a pension plan that MVT took away, and earn a living wage. 

We need the public to put pressure on TransLink to find a resolution to this problem.  TransLink decided to award community a based service to an American company who has no interest in you, me or the community in which we live. 

Their only interests are statistics and money.

 Please. Help us to help you.

 Donna Rae

Clearly, there is a lot of discontent among many BC workers. Lay-offs, lack of job security, low pay… the list goes on. Non-unionized workers are having to slog it out as well, with hundreds of applicants all slogging it out for the same $8.00 an hour job.  The people can only take so much heat before the pot boils over, and I’ve heard more than a few suggestions of a general strike. I’ve heard other suggestions of boycotting companies and businesses that support the Liberal government.

 Throughout all of this, one thing is clear to me.

The people are speaking. Loudly.

The question is –  Will the government listen?

It’s Friday, and in my house  that means Show and Tell day in kindergarten. This requires a great amount of discussion on the part of my son while he decides what is going make the biggest impression on his little buddies. So far he’s ruled out the hamster, a fossil and the wood jet fighter we built together, but his large moon shell, the scar on his knee from his first bike wipe-out and my chunk of lava are still up for debate.

And myself? I need more coffee. A LOT more coffee…. ; )

Therefore,  you’ll have to check back later this morning for todays interesting look at yet another woeful tale of British Columbian $$’s being used to fatten up an American based company that is leaving local workers out in the cold.

You know what?

There is so much to talk about that is making my blood boil that I did not even need to turn the furnace on this morning. So, without the usual chatty preamble, I’m going to start with  the closure of 5 legal aid offices in B.C. 

That’s right, offices in Prince George, Surrey, Victoria, Kamloops and Kelowna are closing for good. The BC Legal services society says it is because of a shortage in funding- 54 people will be laid off as a result of the closures.

 What does Mike de Jong have to say about it all?Well, he blames it on the economic downturn…

What do the people who use these services have to say? Who knows, because  the Liberals don’t like to sully their kid shoes at street level talking to the average folk. Have you ever seen a Liberal out talking to real people when it doesn’t involve a photo-op? Nope, didn’t think so. But I’ll give you $50 if you can find one.

This is disgusting. Someone explain to me how it is that Gordon Campbell thinks it is totally fine to be paying for a bloody retractable roof on a facility that is likely going to be creating debt, rather than income,  and leave some of our most vulnerable people hanging without legal services?  And that roof isn’t even going to be keeping our taxpayers money in BC, because the major steel fabrication contract is going out of province.  Hey, to heck with keeping BC money in BC, let’s use all that property down there…. Always, always remember  Gordon Campbell’s roots as a real estate man and developer.

Speaking of the Liberals,where the heck is health minister,Kevin Falcon’s keeper?You know, those women with the black framed glasses the Liberals appear to buy in bulk,( glasses, not women!) who follow the ministers around and make sure they don’t say or do anything stupid? Seriously, this man needs to close his mouth. “ Close your mouth Kevin.”

 Just close it, and keep it closed, because every time you open it, you dig yourself, and the BC Liberals, an even bigger hole. First the Saskatchewan surgery ‘miscommunication’, now the back to work legislation you are trying to have passed to force the very hard-working BC Paramedics back into line with VANOC’s plan for the 2010 Olympics.

 It’s kind of laughable though- just read this excerpt from Hansard where the Falconator brings in this little bit of legislation:

Hon. K. Falcon: The Ambulance Services Collective Agreement Act is designed to bring an end to the current impasse between the Emergency and Health Services Commission and CUPE 873, the union representing ambulance paramedics and dispatchers in British Columbia.When B.C.’s paramedics began their job action on April 1, earlier this year, we sincerely hoped that a mutually agreeable settlement could be reached. Unfortunately, despite numerous attempts over the past seven months, the two sides have been unable to resolve their differences. The last offer made to the union was generous, given the difficult economic challenges we face as a province, and it is in keeping with what other public sector workers will receive in 2009-10. We value the work and services of B.C.’s 3,500 ambulance paramedics, and many of us have great relationships with individual paramedics across the province. However, we are concerned that the longer this dispute drags on, the higher the risk for patients, a risk we are no longer prepared to countenance. With the H1N1 pandemic impacting the acute care system and with the busy holiday season fast approaching, the public needs certainty that they’ll have the care they need in an emergency. It is time to move forward in the interests of all British Columbians. It is not a decision we have come to lightly.

Do you think anyone really believes this is about Swine flu?  Or the holiday season?

Does any one single British Columbian have a concern that the BC paramedics are going to leave them hanging when they call 911? Not a chance.

This is about the games, pure and simple. The pressure was on from VANOC, as evidenced by a letter released by the paramedics union Tuesday that says:

“If we are unable to obtain that guarantee (through either settlement of the strike or legislated ‘detente’ for the Games), then Vanoc will be required to initiate alternative contingency plans to avoid cancellation of the Games,”

We all know this is NOT about H1N1. This is not about tired management filling in, nor is it about damaged equipment. This is about forcing these men and women back to work to go along with the grand Olympic plan. Wouldn’t do to have all these paramedics walking around at the venues wearing the STRIKE signs, would it? Too inconvenient for you to answer all the questions from the international press about why this has been going on for so long. 

 There is no reason this should have happened, except the governments lack of concern for the fair treatment of these workers.  Carol James and the NDP will not be supporting this legislation and will vote no.

What it comes down to is this. Gordon Campbell and his team of fiberals have never been in touch with regular British Columbians. They have no clue what it means to choose between eating and paying your rent. They have no clue what it means to rely on resources in the community to make ends meet, or deal with issues affecting your life.  And they certainly have no clue as to what it means to be a paramedic, or to have to rely on one to save your life.

 Watch this video and find out why the paramedics are striking. We have to stand behind these men and women as British Columbians,  so head on over to http://www.saveourparamedics.com/index.php to find out what you can do, and how you can help.

Also in that Hansard transcript, is the exchange between Carol James, Minister of Community and Rural Development,Bill Bennett and Forests Minister,  Pat Bill, in which Carol asks them what the Liberal government plans to do to help the people of Kitimat, where some 500+ workers will be left in the cold as Eurocan closes its mill.

 Here is a breakdown of the questions that were asked and the answers that were given:

• Will the B.C. Liberal government give Kitimat $2 million dollars in transitional funding as was done before the election for Fort St. James and Mackenzie? No.
  
• Will the B.C. Liberal government reopen the Community Development Trust in order to give workers access to early retirement options? No.
  
• Why has the B.C. Liberal government refused to put together a provincial strategy to protect forest jobs in the wake of more than 50 mill closures and 25,000 jobs lost? No answer.

I’ll tell you why the liberals don’t want to help the people of Kitimat, and why they won’t. I supect it has a lot to do with their plans with Enbridge, and those bloody oil-tankers they plan to traipse up and down our coast, and to China: http://lailayuile.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/support-divided-for-enbridge-northern-pipeline-and-the-resulting-oil-tanker-traffic-along-sensitive-bc-coastlines/

Funny how despite ” Tough economic times”, the Liberals can come up with a half a BILLION dollars for a fancy new roof on BC Place in just a few weeks, yet they keep making cuts to everything else.. In the interest of saving the Libs some money, I thought I would come up with a new slogan for them.Here it is:

Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals.

We like to say ” Tough economic times” – a lot.

You see something like this, courtesy of Neal Hall, the Vancouver Sun:

The Mountie who repeatedly Tasered Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver’s airport two years ago has filed a libel lawsuit against the CBC.

The legal action by Constable Kwesi Millington claims that CBC’s coverage of the incident since Nov. 4, 2007 has caused him to suffer “serious embarrassment and distress” and has caused him “public ridicule.”

Millington claims CBC’s coverage has “seriously injured” his reputation, causing him to seek punitive and aggravated damages against the CBC

Makes it seem like he’s the victim in all of this, no?

 I have no sympathy for the ” serious embarrassment and distress “, or the ” public ridicule” caused by the media coverage of the horrible and tragic death of Robert Dziekanski, Cst. Millington.

None.

I guess you would have preferred that everyone shut up and pretend it never happened.

So.

These are my questions:

How much money, exactly, will it take to ease Cst. Millingtons embarressment and distress, and restore his tarnished reputation?

    ~ and~

What legal recourse does the deceased, Robert Dziekanski have, to recover the remainder of his life ?

Imagine my surprise when I saw a new incoming link this afternoon, from none other than Alex G. Tsakumis! 

Yes,I checked it out and it appears to be true – Alex has joined the blogosphere ! (as explained in this link, it is partly to “  refute the incredible lies which pass for “truth” or “news” in the blogosphere, that often never receive a well-earned rebuttal (and in some cases a well-deserved beating).”

Might get interesting over there. And here ! Ah well, it’s been a long time since I had a worthy debate. Or a cigar…

Come on, I know you are curious. Go take a look, and perhaps add him to your blogroll. So much easier than tracking down a paper.

http://alexgtsakumis.com/

Will we ever see a similar headline here in British Columbia?

Quebec police say they have arrested at least 10 people linked to the province’s construction industry.

News of the arrests follows a recent announcement by the Quebec government about the creation of a special squad to crack down on corruption involving the construction sector and public officials.

Read the  rest of the details HERE.

If you could all see me trying to work at home sometimes, the fantasy some people have of being a writer would be shattered completely. Sure, there are moments of proud glory, but for the most part it’s just like any other job. Except,sometimes I do it with one snotty child sitting on my lap, and the other laying on the couch whimpering, or at least that is how it has been going in this house for the last week, since H1N1 came to visit.

It all started when my daughter unknowingly passed on an unconfirmed case of  H1N1 to her little brother – the five-year old. Unconfirmed because most doctors are no longer testing unless you are in a high risk group, or are hospitalized, neither of which the kids were. It is assumed that if your symptoms fit the criteria for H1N1, that you have it.

 5 hours after her weekly visit, ’The Flu’ hit her with the force of a ton of bricks. I capitalized that because this virus deserves some respect. In all my years of parenting, none of my kids have had a flu like this one.

She told me later, that it literally happened so fast, she nearly fell into her bed, and was subsequently quarantined in the cesspool of germs her  dorm room  had become -  for a week. My first thought when I heard how sick she was, was one of fear. She’s a young healthy girl, but this flu sounded different. My second thought was the realization that we had all been exposed to her during the very contagious time….

I called her everyday, and questioned her only to get weak, one word answers that took forever to come. Every motherly bone in my body ached to go and take care of her, but I couldn’t.  The director of health services on campus called her and implemented their H1N1 strategy by sending a package to her room with Lysol disinfectant wipes, face masks, single use thermometers and tissues. Soup and ginger ale were dropped off at her door by some kid( who I am sure) must have run like hell to wash his or her hands after doing so. And with good reason : her fever was dangerously high for days, her body wracked in pain and her eyes pounding as she coughed up her lungs. Not something you want to tangle with.

I kept hoping that, by some twist of fate, neither of the little kids were incubating that virus, but one morning my 5-year-old didn’t get up before dawn like he usually does, and when I checked on him, he was lying in his bed, burning up and crying softly to himself.

As any parent knows, there is nothing more heartbreaking – or pathetic- than a young child who is severely ill. Having doctored all of my children through every childhood illness, at nearly every age, I immediately put out  the order for ginger ale, Gatorade and crackers. I carried him downstairs to the couch, tucked him in, took a deep breath and told him it was time to take his medicine.

Well. The munchkin suddenly peered up over the loveseat at me like a small troll, and his beady eyes were all scrunched up with the meanest face I’ve ever seen.

” NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Not the medicine!! NO NO No! I hate it!!!!”

Even after 4 kids, I’ve never understand what the deal is about kids and medicine. 

It’s not like  junior Tylenol tastes bad- I actually ate a grape one and it tasted like a sweet tart!  So what’s the hassle about? Fighting cough syrup I can see, because the stuff even makes me shudder, but two little pills that dissolve on your tongue? Come on! Geez, my son is lucky he didn’t have my parents, because their cure for everything was those little pink baby aspirin that we now know can give kids an ailment worse than a fever, and the Buckley’s bottle.

Yes, Buckley’s. Whoever invented that had no taste buds whatsoever. I swear the only reason that stuff works is because the fear of taking it more than once cures you instantly. But back to the little guy and his aversion to anything medicinal. This flu hit both my kids like a ton of bricks and hit them hard.

There was no gradual onset- one minute you are fine, and the next you down on the couch feeling like death. His fever, like my daughters, was dangerously high and needed to be brought down as fast as possible, so there I was, Junior Grape Meltable Tylenol in hand, sitting beside a child who – despite being very ill – was kicking, screaming and covering his mouth with both hands.

I told him to take the pills. He shook his head no and tried to make a run for it. I told him to take the pills or I would get the OTHER kind of medicine for fevers( acetaminophen suppositories that parents can use when children are throwing up and can’t keep anything down). His eyes got even wider at that thought, and he finally took his hands off his mouth – making this weird growling noise the entire time.

It took my son a full thirty minutes to eat two junior Tylenol that melt on your tongue. He would take a little tiny nibble, then writhe in contortions as he yelled ” Yuck Yuck Yuck!”, every single time. It was all wasted on me, a mother of 4. He forgets I’ve seen everything a kid can throw at you.I’ve cleaned  mountain biking road rash on my teenage son’s leg that would make an army medic weak in the knees, the entire tiime he was twitching and biting on a piece of cloth.( a strip of flesh 8 inches long was scraped off and still hanging by a thread, and the resulting ’trench’ was packed with grit and twigs). I’ve removed bugs from ears and I’ve perfected the art of getting medicine into an unwilling child, as taught to me by a nurse at children’s hospital once. Now those nurses can get anything done on a screaming child.

And this little performance occurred every four hours for the entire time he has been ill. And, it continued with his doses of Tamiflu prescribed by the doctor because his symptoms have been so severe.( which, by the way, was free, even though I have extended medical. The government pays for it for patients who are actively ill with H1N1)

Thankfully, for whatever reason I have not become ill, nor has Rowan, who at 16 months is very vulnerable. He’s sweeping the floor with a broom as I write this, and every so often comes over to show me, saying ” Dere. Do! Do!” in a proud little voice.

As for my kindergartener who has now missed quite a bit of school, he’s sitting on the couch watching old Loony tunes, trying to wrap his head around the fact that I watched the same ones as kid. As if  I lived in caveman days or something. His fever is beginning to ease, and he’s eating a  little again -  a good thing considering he lost so much weight during this flu that his butt has disappeared and he looks like a scarecrow. And he gave an even better fight this morning when I gave him his dose of Tamiflu,so I know things are looking up.

When the stories about H1N1 first came out, of course many people freaked out. Death by flu- how horrible! What most people failed to realise is that every year many people do die from the regular flu, or complications thereof. Having said that, I spoke with my doctor yesterday and we are all planning to get both flu shots as soon as my son is completely well. That is , if the BC government isn’t still busy giving them to private clinics, which alarms me because it smacks of collusion and Americanized medical care.  

As for me, I’m exhausted as parents usually are when kids are severely ill. Getting up to check on him in the night, holding him, worrying, and then trying to squeeze in my writing here and there at weird and ungodly hours. But isn’t that the life of a parent? We do what we must, because we have to.

I still wouldn’t have it any other way…