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January 27, 2004

In a conversation yesterday, a wise acquaintance of TDH Strategies commented that winning 77 out of 79 seats and forming government is the most glaring opportunity to consolidate power, regardless of the agenda being carried out.  The BC Liberal government, however, currently looks like a locomotive that has veered off the tracks entirely.

Mark Hume's description of the previous and current crop of Ministers as faceless clones has a ring of truth to it, even if the characterization is somewhat unfair.  The fact of the matter is that the BC Liberal government has failed to establish a real connection to the electorate, and new cabinet appointees such as Tom Christensen, the Minister of Education, or Pat Bell, the Minister of State and Mining, are unlikely to reverse this trend. 

The best outcome in the time leading up to the election will be error-free governance.  The more likely outcome, with an ongoing RCMP investigation and massive cuts still ahead, is more political turmoil.

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

"The Chinese community is very different from the Indo-Canadian community. ... The Chinese community are much more objective. No one can force them, or lure them, or cheat them into signing a membership form."  - Raymond Chan, January 27th, Vancouver Sun

Wow.  Things are getting vicious in the Richmond nomination battle between Joe Peschisolido, the sitting MP for Richmond, and Raymond Chan, the former MP for Richmond. 

With all the impropriety that has been brought to the public's attention regarding the federal Liberal party's membership management, the revelations in the linked story above are not such a surprise.

However, Raymond Chan's Chinese-Canadian Political Forum has done nothing short of encourage racial segregation and separation within the Richmond riding for the past year and a half.  This is addition to the fact that those recruited for this forum were also automatically signed up for a Liberal party membership without any discussion.

For Mr. Chan to attack Mr. Peschisolido on the fact that he is a former Alliance MP that crossed the floor would be acceptable.  If Mr. Chan chose to compare his record when he was Richmond's MP to Mr. Peschisolido's in his current term in office would also be fair game.  Roots in a community are also important in the representation of a riding, and so Mr. Chan's residency in Richmond for well over a decade in contrast to Mr. Peschisolido's parachuting in from Ontario would be a valid political point. 

But publicly pitting the Indo-Canadian community against the Chinese-Canadian community is the worst kind of politics imaginable.  This is the kind of irresponsible behaviour that leads to not only discrimination in our country, but also a healthy disdain for the political process.     

Raymond Chan should be ashamed of himself.

Comments? jonathan@tdhstrategies.com