Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Dryden and the guy riding the bench

Billy Cunningham, star Liberal candidate from the 2004 election and current candidate in Burnaby-Douglas, is bringing NHL legend and former leadership candidate Ken Dryden to Burnaby tomorrow to make hay over childcare at a childcare centre near Metrotown.

Maybe the old goalie will teach Cunningham a thing or two about how to get elected or even inspire him to grow a playoff beard to make him look a bit older.

9 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Maybe teach Billy Boy a bit of geography.

If the childcare centre is south of Grange, it's not in his riding.

4/10/2007 11:11 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

According to the media advisory, the Burnaby Family Life Institute location that Cunningham and Dryden are visiting is one block East of Sussex, so it literally is across the street from the riding. I'm not sure the families that use the drop-in facilities are terribly concerned where the riding boundaries are, but are more concerned about the Harper cuts in federal funding for the programs that BFLI deliver ....

4/11/2007 10:15 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sounds like more political opportunism to me.

The federal Liberals were supposed to start a daycare programme in 2000 and never did.

4/11/2007 10:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

yeah but when they finally got one going Siksay and Julian voted to get rid of it.

4/12/2007 2:25 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

They got rid of something that didn't really exist, except on paper.

The federal Liberals were too busy on Adscam to focus on a real daycare programme.

4/12/2007 2:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"They got rid of something that didn't really exist, except on paper."

Ummm.... only if the "paper" you are referring to is the $5 billion dollars in funding agreements that the federal Liberal government had with EVERY province in Canada. Or, do you mean it didn't really exist in Burnaby? Hmmm.... doesn't sound like the people in the following article agree with you:


Child-care cuts raise fear

John Kurucz

Local child-care workers and parents alike are preparing for the worst in light of the Conservative government's plan to cut $5 billion in child-care funding over the next five years.

The Tory government is looking to eliminate the plan set forth by the previous minority Liberal government, one that would have transferred $5 billion to the provinces and territories for early learning and child care. The Conservative government has instead established a taxable annual family allowance of $1,200 per child under the age of six.

The cancellation of those funds affects B.C. to the tune of $455 million. The planned federal cuts are slated to go into effect on March 31, 2007 and the provincial government has committed funding until June 2007.

The Burnaby Association for Community Inclusion, and parents with children at each of its five child-care centres, will absorb the brunt of those cuts.

"This is a very scary situation for us," said the association's co-executive director, Richard Faucher.

The Burnaby-based non-profit organization works with children, youth and adults with developmental disabilities, providing services such as infant development, child care, adult day programs and advocacy.

The association stands to lose about $200,000 a year, money that is vital for covering operational costs such as paying staff, rent, upkeep and utility payments.

The worst-case scenario is that each of the five childcare centres will be forced to shut its doors. At the very least, rates and waitlists will skyrocket.

Close to 130 children and families who use the five centres will be affected by the cuts, but the problem runs deeper.

"There's such an urgent need for quality child care in Burnaby that we have 120 families on the waitlist," said Carol Broomhall, the association's manager of communications and resource development. "This is such a huge issue from so many different perspectives. It affects the health of our children and women contributing in the work force. This is about the future leaders of our country."

Critics of the Tory plan argue that it flies in the face of Canada's public health care system and that $1,200 per year is nowhere near the amount needed to help offset child care costs.

Aside from children, women in particular will be affected by the proposed cuts.

"It's typically women who stay at home with their children if a family doesn't have access to the proper care," Broomhall said. "These cuts will have a ripple effect on business and women in the labour force."

The province also stands to lose out on $16 million in federal money that is allocated towards helping children with developmental disabilities. Those funds normally go toward support staffing and child development consultants, and Broomhall said 10 to 15 per cent of kids at the five centres would be affected.

4/12/2007 2:48 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Why would anyone wish a playoff beard on Billy Boy?

Egads, it's bad enough having to look at Harry Bloy even without him having a playoff beard.

Let's keep Burnaby beautiful and put this playoff beard on Bill Cunningham idea where it belongs.

In the industrial area of the Big Bend in an old dump.

4/12/2007 5:59 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good article on the dryden visit in the Burnaby Now: http://www.burnabynow.com/issues07/042207/news/042207nn6.html

4/14/2007 9:23 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

If after two tries, Billy Boy can't figure out what it takes to win the riding, Dryden would be
wasting his time.

The net result of Bill having a playoff beard would be a two time loser with a badly attempted playoff beard.

4/16/2007 2:30 PM  

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