Four thoughts.
1) Why did John van Dongen wait a week before revealing his licence suspension to the premier and what does that say about his understanding of the seriousness of the suspension? (Though based on the many times he has condemned speeders - see Vaughn Palmer's column - van Dongen should be aware.)
2) Gordon Campbell's record continues to have an impact. He can't ask van Dongen to step down from cabinet for speeding when he kept the top job after driving drunk.
3) But, back in 1993 when Moe Sihota was racking up speeding tickets, the Liberals saw things differently. Gary Collins said Sihota should be out of cabinet (though the driving record was just one of the reasons he offered).
4) The Liberals also pressed Sihota to release his full driving record, which - after some misleading answers - he did. Van Dongen is refusing, a mistake which should give the issue a few extra days attention.
4) The suspension puts van Dongen in a small group of bad drivers. Out of 3.1 million drivers in B.C., only 25,000 a year lose their licences for speeding and other offences.
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5 comments:
I think the real story here would be his full record. Hard to believe with only two speeding tickets you get a suspension; more so if you are a Minister. I predict his record will get leaked and we will likely see a long history of speeding. If it was really only two tickets why not release the record?
Either way I don’t see this being much of an issue. Van Dongen will still get re-elected and in a few days the media will be on railing on the next Liberal or NDP candidate who said or did something stupid back in 1972.
Meanwhile the rest of us will continue to watch the Canucks stretch down the playoffs and shake our heads at all of this political nonsense. Does it ever end?
WP wrote: "Why did John van Dongen wait a week before revealing his licence suspension to the premier..."
How do we know when Gordon Campbell found out about van Dongen?
It's as simple as this. We are above the rules. They just don't matter to us. We have already done _exactly_ as we pleased for the last 8 years. We plan to continue doing that, because it works for us.
So, no, you can't see my driving record, or much of anything else either. And oh yah, we can't talk about it because it's before the courts.
I hate to be so cynical, but....
Given the timing and the one week wait, one has to really wonder if that scaling of that, admittedly low, RLam Facebook Photo Wall by the BC Liberal Party last weekend was done as pre-emptive media innoculation.
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His driving recod was seven speeding tickets before getting the soliciter General job and two excessive sppeding( 40 kms or more over limit) after getting the job. If you see him coming get off the road
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