New poll has BC Liberals ahead of NDP by 11 points

Check out the data from this recently released poll

http://erg.environics.net/media_room/default.asp?aID=700

Doug Routley and his NDP family secrets

Current Position: Running for re-election as NDP MLA in Nanaimo-North Cowichan

Past Positions: A near invisible MLA, Routley was appointed as the apprenticeship critic by Carole James. When Routley ran in 2005, Ladysmith Mayor Rob Hutchins supported him. After four years of watching Routley as MLA, Hutchins is now running against him as a BC Liberal.

Family Connections: Routley was a supporter of Clark-era MLA Jan Pullinger. Pullinger is returning the favour by managing Routley’s campaign this time around.

Family Secrets: Routley was part of an RCMP probe last summer, a fact that Carole James kept close to her vest.

Michael Sather and his NDP family secrets

Current Position: Running for re-election as MLA in Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows

Past Positions: Sather recently ran to become Mayor for Maple Ridge where he finished a distant third. He was an assistant to NDP MLA Bill Hartley during the 1990s and has also worked for NDP Members of Parliament.

Family Connections: Sather has had trouble getting along with his political family. In 2007, he took a principled position that angered his boss and was suspended from caucus.

Family Secrets: In 2008, Sather ran for Mayor in Maple Ridge, promising that if he won, he would resign as MLA. He didn’t win, and now decided to run for MLA again and support such progressive policies as getting rid of the carbon tax.

NDP missing the bus on apprentices

The NDP campaign continues to make things up as they go along, distorting numbers and misrepresenting the facts. This week they hit on a topic very close to our hearts by claiming to support apprenticeship training. At ICBA, we sponsor about 1,600 apprentices and are very familiar with how things work in trades training.

After a bunch of misinformation from Carole James, the BC Liberals clarified the facts:

- There are currently 47,000 registered apprentices in BC, which is nearly three times the number from 2001 when the NDP were in charge of the Province.

- The BC Liberals have increased funding for trades training by 42 per cent since 2001. The NDP voted against every increase.

- The BC Liberals created the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA) so that skilled workers can have their credentials recognized in other provinces and can work freely in BC or Alberta. Carole James and the NDP voted against the agreement and continue to oppose breaking down barriers that restrict skilled workers.

-The BC Liberals introduced the $90-million BC Training Tax Credit to help employers and apprentices cover the cost of their training. The NDP voted against this program.

In their election platform, the BC Liberals promise to double the BC Training Tax Credit program, whereas the NDP Platform only commits to strike a task force, without providing any tangible support for apprentices.

We have said repeatedly that in the current economic situation many construction workers who had put off education because of the previous boom in jobs are now turning their attention to training and upgrading skills. In fact, we called for governments to bring in more incentives for retraining to help workers improve their future hiring prospects and productivity by going back to school. Good to know the Liberals understand this.

Carole James and the NDP. Wrong party, wrong leader, wrong time.

Jaynie Clark and her NDP family secrets

Current Position: NDP candidate in Burnaby-Lougheed.

Past Positions: One of four Directors at the BCGEU.

Family Connections: Another one of Carole James’ star union recruits, Clark works closely with her fellow BCGEU Director and NDP President Jeff Fox. She is part of the record number of union-connected candidates that Carole James has brought onto her team.

Family Secrets: Clark managed the campaign of federal NDP candidate Bill Siksay and is a staunch supporter of Jack Layton.

Bill Routley and his NDP family secrets

Current Position: NDP candidate in Cowichan Valley

Past Positions: President of IWA local 1-80.

Family Connections: One of the best connected union bosses in BC, Routley has been a major supporter of NDP MP Jean Crowder, MLA’s Leonard Krog, John Horgan and Doug Routley.

Family Secrets: For one, Bill Routley is not related to MLA Doug Routley, who is running for the NDP in Nanaimo-North Cowichan. On the NDP profile page, a full of seven of his ten accomplishments are union related. So much for the “new NDP.”

Mable Elmore and her NDP family secrets

Current Position: NDP candidate in Vancouver-Kensington

Past Positions: Elmore got her start as a Federation of Labour Regional Political Coordinator during Jim Sinclair's term as president. She is also an activist in CAW local 111, and an active member of stopwar.ca

Family Connections: Elmore is a proud member of the NDP’s “Socialist Caucus,” a group of people who think that the rest of the NDP are not socialist enough. 24 hrs columnist and NDP activist Bill Tieleman is one her biggest fans.

Family Secrets: Why does Elmore have the shortest “official biography” of any candidate on the NDP website? There is nothing about this or this.