That's it for that, then. I guess. This all started when a bunch of politicians figured out that if they supported some of these ill advised changes to how our country operates, they might just pick up a few votes and obtain or maintain their jobs. Maybe even make a few bucks along the way, recoup some of that chummus for themselves. It worked, federal seats and provincial ministries are lucrative. No harm-No foul. Right? Whoa! How about the still ongoing lawsuits? How much does that cost? Dozens of lawyers and court personell are working on that file today. And it will go on for weeks, possibly months. Who's paying for it? Not Eby, Not Osborne. Their government created this mess, where's the accountability?
How can we NOT think that our leadership are the filthiest bunch of criminals who ever lived? As a result to immiserate, to turn our cities into digital prison camps filled with crime and filth. Every neighborhood strewn with garbage, every downtown littered with the lost.
That is what lies create. Catastrophe. Bankruptcy. Homelessness. Public fury. In fact, virtually no politician tells the truth
Eight NATO members plus Ukraine have announced the creation of a new World Bank-style financial institution known as the Defense, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB), promising to provide financing and loan guarantees for projects related to military production. 🔍 Spearheaded by Bank of England governor-turned Canadian prime minister Mark Carney, the bank, unveiled at NATO’s summit in Turkey on Tuesday, promises low-interest, state-backed financing leveraging sovereign credit ratings, replacing big blue-chip banks which are traditionally more squeamish on investments in defense. ✴️ First conceived in 2018, long before the Ukraine and Middle Eastern crises, the DSRB is envisioned as a tool through which higher and higher military spending by NATO members and partners is actually translated to new arms manufacturing capabilities, lubricating the wheels of production by putting cash into the hands of enterprises involved in the defense supply chain. 👉 Besides Canada and Ukraine, the new bank’s founding members include Albania, Belgium, Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg, Romania and Turkey. Big NATO members like the US and Germany are expected to join later. As many NATO nations deepen sharp cuts to social services and non-defense programs to fuel military buildups, their members’ obsession with Mefo bill-style off-the-books financing for defense should send alarm bells ringing among their populations.
Across the street from the Legislature at the Royal B.C. Museum, a similar sentiment was behind the NDP’s highly-criticized 2021 attempt to “decolonize” the beloved Old Town exhibit, which had previously celebrated B.C.’s pioneers in a way that would have made the NDP of the 1970s proud.
And now, B.C.’s NDP government is negotiating a treaty that would hand over tens of millions of dollars of prime land in the heart of the province’s capital, threatening public access, eliminating democratic oversight and opening Victoria’s historic centre for unregulated development that could change the face of the iconic city forever. The late-stage treaty negotiations are with the Te’Mexw Treaty Association, which represents five Indigenous groups on Vancouver Island, including the 600-member Songhees First Nation in the Victoria area.
Maps show plans to transfer two provincially owned properties to the Songhees as treaty lands in fee simple (among many other land transfers to the other four Indigenous groups). These include a large area beside B.C.’s picturesque Legislature, and a large waterfront property on Wharf Street across from Bastion Square. These downtown properties have a combined assessed value of $47 million The two downtown properties are in addition to the planned transfer of the enormous $48 million federal Hatley Park property and castle that is currently the site of Royal Roads University (known to non-Islanders as a filming location for the X-Men movies). Discovery Island Marine Provincial Park will also be transferred in fee simple. It is unknown what the Songhees First Nation might do with these properties, but what is clear is that no local bylaws or zoning rules will apply. This opens the land in and around Victoria’s picturesque inner harbour, and potentially other lands contemplated in this treaty, to unrestricted development of any kind. Public access is not guaranteed, either. Euphemistically described as a change that “could take some getting used to,” a 2024 consultation summary notes that, when it comes to lands previously accessible to citizens, “there may be limited access or even no access for public use.”
In exchange for these giveaways, the government points to “certainty” as a key treaty accomplishment. However, it appears that even this one tangible public benefit is itself not guaranteed.
Instead, the treaties are referred to as “living agreements” that are “capable of evolving over time” indicating they can be expanded on in perpetuity rather than resolving matters with finality. The treaties also provide a mechanism for new properties to be added to the deal in the future.
Legal certainty is also far from guaranteed. The nearby Esquimalt First Nation is already suing the federal government for offering the Hatley Park property to the Songhees First Nation, and not to them.
Public property ought to be used and managed for the benefit of all British Columbians. With tens of millions of dollars in land transfers, undisclosed cash payments, few guarantees of public access, continued uncertainty and zero restrictions to protect Victoria’s cherished heritage aesthetic, it is not clear how the government has advanced the public interest at all. The treaty, which has yet to be finalized and then approved in the Legislature, stands in stark contrast to the pride in B.C. expressed by the NDP in that same building decades ago, when they created a holiday in the province’s honour.
6 comments:
That's it for that, then. I guess.
This all started when a bunch of politicians figured out that if they supported some of these ill advised changes to how our country operates, they might just pick up a few votes and obtain or maintain their jobs. Maybe even make a few bucks along the way, recoup some of that chummus for themselves. It worked, federal seats and provincial ministries are lucrative.
No harm-No foul. Right?
Whoa! How about the still ongoing lawsuits? How much does that cost? Dozens of lawyers and court personell are working on that file today. And it will go on for weeks, possibly months. Who's paying for it? Not Eby, Not Osborne. Their government created this mess, where's the accountability?
10 million out the window..... https://toronto.citynews.ca/2026/05/31/landmark-indigenous-languages-office-under-audit-10m-spent-hosting-conference/
The entire western world is seething with hatred of the governing class.
How can we NOT think that our leadership are the filthiest bunch of criminals who ever lived? As a result to immiserate, to turn our cities into digital prison camps filled with crime and filth. Every neighborhood strewn with garbage, every downtown littered with the lost.
That is what lies create. Catastrophe. Bankruptcy. Homelessness. Public fury. In fact, virtually no politician tells the truth
Your tax dollars at work:
Eight NATO members plus Ukraine have announced the creation of a new World Bank-style financial institution known as the Defense, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB), promising to provide financing and loan guarantees for projects related to military production.
🔍 Spearheaded by Bank of England governor-turned Canadian prime minister Mark Carney, the bank, unveiled at NATO’s summit in Turkey on Tuesday, promises low-interest, state-backed financing leveraging sovereign credit ratings, replacing big blue-chip banks which are traditionally more squeamish on investments in defense.
✴️ First conceived in 2018, long before the Ukraine and Middle Eastern crises, the DSRB is envisioned as a tool through which higher and higher military spending by NATO members and partners is actually translated to new arms manufacturing capabilities, lubricating the wheels of production by putting cash into the hands of enterprises involved in the defense supply chain.
👉 Besides Canada and Ukraine, the new bank’s founding members include Albania, Belgium, Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg, Romania and Turkey. Big NATO members like the US and Germany are expected to join later.
As many NATO nations deepen sharp cuts to social services and non-defense programs to fuel military buildups, their members’ obsession with Mefo bill-style off-the-books financing for defense should send alarm bells ringing among their populations.
Across the street from the Legislature at the Royal B.C. Museum, a similar sentiment was behind the NDP’s highly-criticized 2021 attempt to “decolonize” the beloved Old Town exhibit, which had previously celebrated B.C.’s pioneers in a way that would have made the NDP of the 1970s proud.
And now, B.C.’s NDP government is negotiating a treaty that would hand over tens of millions of dollars of prime land in the heart of the province’s capital, threatening public access, eliminating democratic oversight and opening Victoria’s historic centre for unregulated development that could change the face of the iconic city forever.
The late-stage treaty negotiations are with the Te’Mexw Treaty Association, which represents five Indigenous groups on Vancouver Island, including the 600-member Songhees First Nation in the Victoria area.
Maps show plans to transfer two provincially owned properties to the Songhees as treaty lands in fee simple (among many other land transfers to the other four Indigenous groups). These include a large area beside B.C.’s picturesque Legislature, and a large waterfront property on Wharf Street across from Bastion Square. These downtown properties have a combined assessed value of $47 million
The two downtown properties are in addition to the planned transfer of the enormous $48 million federal Hatley Park property and castle that is currently the site of Royal Roads University (known to non-Islanders as a filming location for the X-Men movies). Discovery Island Marine Provincial Park will also be transferred in fee simple.
It is unknown what the Songhees First Nation might do with these properties, but what is clear is that no local bylaws or zoning rules will apply. This opens the land in and around Victoria’s picturesque inner harbour, and potentially other lands contemplated in this treaty, to unrestricted development of any kind.
Public access is not guaranteed, either. Euphemistically described as a change that “could take some getting used to,” a 2024 consultation summary notes that, when it comes to lands previously accessible to citizens, “there may be limited access or even no access for public use.”
In exchange for these giveaways, the government points to “certainty” as a key treaty accomplishment. However, it appears that even this one tangible public benefit is itself not guaranteed.
Instead, the treaties are referred to as “living agreements” that are “capable of evolving over time” indicating they can be expanded on in perpetuity rather than resolving matters with finality. The treaties also provide a mechanism for new properties to be added to the deal in the future.
Legal certainty is also far from guaranteed. The nearby Esquimalt First Nation is already suing the federal government for offering the Hatley Park property to the Songhees First Nation, and not to them.
Public property ought to be used and managed for the benefit of all British Columbians. With tens of millions of dollars in land transfers, undisclosed cash payments, few guarantees of public access, continued uncertainty and zero restrictions to protect Victoria’s cherished heritage aesthetic, it is not clear how the government has advanced the public interest at all.
The treaty, which has yet to be finalized and then approved in the Legislature, stands in stark contrast to the pride in B.C. expressed by the NDP in that same building decades ago, when they created a holiday in the province’s honour.
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