XPost: bc.politics, van.general, vic.general   
   From: 37%@ont.ca   
      
   Their 'right wingness' has them considering a change from the name "BC   
   Liberals".  I guess they   
   figure that Con game hasn't prevented their drop in the polls.  And if ever   
   anyone was in doubt   
   over the coziness between the rightwing bastards we have in power in Ottawa,   
   and the ones we   
   have here in BC, doing their bidding (never forget the HST), then this little   
   revelation should   
   put that doubt to rest. . . . . and explain why Christy Clark has started   
   attack ads - which   
   taxpayers are paying for - TWO YEARS before the provincial election.   
      
   ________________________________   
   BC Local News   January 12, 2012   
      
   Clark hires former Harper aide, lobbyist   
      
      
   VICTORIA – Premier Christy Clark has hired Ken Boessenkool, a former senior   
   advisor to Prime   
   Minister Stephen Harper, as her new chief of staff.   
      
      
      
   Boessenkool replaces Mike McDonald, who will remain in the premier's office as   
   principal   
   secretary, according to a statement released Thursday.   
      
      
      
   The previous principal secretary, Dimitri Pantazopoulos, a former Harper   
   pollster and policy   
   specialist for the Reform Party of Canada?, remains in the premier's office as   
   "a senior   
   advisor to the premier, continuing his focus on federal-provincial relations,   
   trade and policy   
   development," the statement said.   
      
      
      
   Boessenkool served briefly as campaign manager for Clark's leadership bid last   
   spring, but quit   
   after Harper's office insisted Boessenkool devote his efforts to his role in   
   the 2010 federal   
   Conservative election campaign.   
      
      
      
   In recent years Boessenkool has worked for consulting firms Hill and Knowlton   
   Canada and GCI   
   Group Canada. The federal lobbyist registry shows a long list of former   
   clients, including   
   pipeline company Enbridge Inc., oilsands producer Suncor Energy Inc., mining   
   giant Rio Tinto,   
   the Bank of Nova Scotia and TASER International Inc.   
      
      
      
   Boessenkool recently formed a group called the Alberta Blue Committee, devoted   
   to maintaining a   
   united right in a province where the upstart Wildrose Party has unsettled the   
   Progressive   
   Conservative dynasty.   
      
      
      
   B.C. Conservative leader John Cummins had a news release out criticizing the   
   appointment of the   
   "super-lobbyist" even before it was officially announced.   
      
      
      
   NDP house leader John Horgan had similar criticisms, saying Clark has had   
   several shuffles of   
   senior staff and is still making adjustments nearly a year after taking office.   
      
      
      
   It's the latest expansion the Premier's office since Clark took over from   
   Gordon Campbell. In   
   addition to reviving the principal secretary role, Clark has added former TV   
   anchor Pamela   
   Martin as public outreach director and a deputy press secretary.   
      
      
   *******************************************************   
   "We CAN look after each other better than we do today.   
   We CAN have a fiscally responsible government.   
   We CAN have a strong economy; greater equality; a clean environment.   
   We CAN be a force for peace in the world."                      - Jack Layton   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)