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Post by Low Light Mike on Jan 27, 2011 11:01:17 GMT -8
More after-the-fact highlights of the BCFS board minutes:
2007: - This was the year that the NorAd was rushed into service, that the Super-C project was underway, the I-Sky was in-progress and Departure Bay improvements were being planned.
- Sept.2007 meeting mentioned that further upgrades are required to the NorAd and would be done over the next 3 refits.
- a new "Ferry Academy" was mentioned. I have no idea what this was about.
- Nov.2007 meeting mentioned that BCFS was looking at purchasing an existing drop-trailer service that operates between "Fraser Surrey Docks" and Duke Point (I'm thinking this would have been Van Isle Barge, and the purchase obviously didn't happen).
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jan 27, 2011 11:41:43 GMT -8
More after-the-fact highlights of the BCFS board minutes: 2006: - Feb.2006: budget overage on John Atlantic Burr project reported. - Feb.2006: replacement strategy for the 3 northern vessels discussed, with Provincial Treasury approval expected in mid March 2006.....(we look back at this very ironic timing) - Feb.2006: Intermediate ferry project discussed re unsatisfactory tank & simulation tests, and the option to redesign the ship with a different propulsion system. - March 2006: motion approved to invest $3.8million in BCF Captive Insurance Company, in light of the Queen of the North sinking. I don't understand the purpose of this money-transfer or the purpose of the captive insurance company regarding the QotN matter. - June 2006: - proposed purchase of MV Sonia discussed. - June 2006: - 2005/06 executive bonus plan payments will be adjusted "to reflect the seriousness of the Queen of the North incident". - July 4, 2006: - Sonia purchase approved. - August 2006: - NorEx contract with FSG Shipyard approved, including option for 1 additional NorEx clone.
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Post by Northern Exploration on Jan 28, 2011 11:14:32 GMT -8
With the current histronics and spoiled child behaviour of the region concerning air rights, I would be pleasantly surprized if a Canadian company was signed to do anything like manage a ferry service. But this isn't current news. This is a 2008 happening, and things may have been different then. I was a bit tongue in cheek and conjecturing, but funds started being reallocated to high visiblity projects as early as the beginning of 2009 (the new massive airport for example.) So it is quite possible it was slowed when the development of the Palm and World projects slowed. The dispute with Canada has been simmering for quite a few years at various levels reaching the boiling point last year.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jan 29, 2011 18:45:57 GMT -8
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jan 29, 2011 18:50:50 GMT -8
As far as outstanding FOI requests that have piqued my interest, this one has some potential:
- I'm not getting my hopes up regarding specifics in the response, but it is a future unknown that lots of us here are interested in.
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Post by Nickfro on Feb 2, 2011 16:21:41 GMT -8
Something related to both BCFS WIFI and FOI, so I have chosen to post it here... [/b] By CHAD SKELTON, VANCOUVER SUN, February 2, 2011 Ferry riders using BC Ferries free WiFi service are out of luck if they want to buy condoms online or research where to get an abortion. That's because BC Ferries online web filters are designed to block any websites in the category of "sex education and abortion", along with those for sites like pornography, hate speech and piracy. The existence of the filters was revealed Wednesday when BC Ferries released a number of documents about its WiFi service in response to a Freedom of Information request. One of the things the requester asked for was a list of websites or website categories that are blocked by BC Ferries wireless service. The list of blocked content categories includes typical filtered items like "child porn", "hate speech", "illegal activities" and "non-sexual nudity" along with bandwidth-hogging content like "streaming media" and "file transfer services". The Sun left a message for BC Ferries asking why it decided to include on that list sites about abortion, a legal medical service, and sex education, a part of the B.C. curriculum. As of 3:45 p.m., the ferry corporation had not responded.[/size][/quote] Link to article HERE.The online article shows a picture of the Queen of Esquimalt. ;D
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Post by Dane on Feb 3, 2011 18:15:51 GMT -8
Well thank goodness.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Feb 3, 2011 18:26:49 GMT -8
for what ? (for $10, I'll teach you how to quote a post. ;D)
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Post by Scott (Former Account) on Feb 3, 2011 21:48:59 GMT -8
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Post by Scott on Feb 3, 2011 23:49:32 GMT -8
Bill Good had David Hahn on his show this morning regarding the Internet restrictions. The callers were mixed in their opinion. According to Mr. Hahn, the filtering software is basically off-the-shelf... it's not BC Ferries that has come up with the restrictions. The Internet in the kids section of the Burnaby Library is restricted (I checked their website - I didn't find out by accident!) and I'm sure it's the same in many other public places where free web access is available. I haven't heard anyone complain about restrictions in those places.
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Post by Dane on Feb 5, 2011 11:54:43 GMT -8
for what ? (for $10, I'll teach you how to quote a post. ;D) For $20 I will show you the post above mine.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Feb 5, 2011 14:27:42 GMT -8
ok then. your response was so brief that i didnt really know what it referred to.
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Quatchi
Voyager
Engineering Officer - CCG
Posts: 930
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Post by Quatchi on Feb 5, 2011 21:29:52 GMT -8
The whole filtering thing makes sense to me, a parent can control what their child looks at directly, but they have no control over what the child see's on another persons screen as they wander by. Also, uhm, like has been said before its a free service, BCF has the right to block whatever the heck they want, the government blocks all kinds of stuff in schools and any government building.
Cheers,
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,175
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Post by Neil on Feb 7, 2011 11:25:04 GMT -8
Say what you will about David Hahn, the guy is always on his game, and you'd better have your bases covered if you're going to lob him a slowball.
On the burgeoning FOI requests and the costs of replying to them, the Vancouver Sun's Vaughn Palmer writes:
Hahn also took a swipe at The Sun on the issue of costs. I mentioned a case where the paper had asked for a sizable release of information and ferries had fired back with a bill on the order of $12,000.
Would Hahn consider waiving that levy in the interest of making the information available to the public?
"No."
Why not?
"We have to look at what is Postmedia, the owner of the Vancouver Sun. They're owned by Golden Tree Asset Management, which is a Wall Street hedge fund...I don't know why people that ride on B.C. Ferries should be subsidizing a Wall Street hedge fund. They bought and own Postmedia. It's fine that they do that. If you go to the Postmedia webpage, they'll tell you that their mission is to maximize the return to the shareholders...I don't see why we would ever want to give money to them, period."
Have to admit, I love that one.
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Quatchi
Voyager
Engineering Officer - CCG
Posts: 930
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Post by Quatchi on Feb 7, 2011 13:15:29 GMT -8
I like David Hahn, seems like a great guy. Id really like to meet him, you know hard-ars to hard-ars.
I like the no BS approach he takes.
Cheers,
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Nick
Voyager
Chief Engineer - Queen of Richmond
Posts: 2,078
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Post by Nick on Feb 7, 2011 15:49:32 GMT -8
Say what you will about David Hahn, the guy is always on his game, and you'd better have your bases covered if you're going to lob him a slowball. On the burgeoning FOI requests and the costs of replying to them, the Vancouver Sun's Vaughn Palmer writes: Hahn also took a swipe at The Sun on the issue of costs. I mentioned a case where the paper had asked for a sizable release of information and ferries had fired back with a bill on the order of $12,000.
Would Hahn consider waiving that levy in the interest of making the information available to the public?
"No."
Why not?
"We have to look at what is Postmedia, the owner of the Vancouver Sun. They're owned by Golden Tree Asset Management, which is a Wall Street hedge fund...I don't know why people that ride on B.C. Ferries should be subsidizing a Wall Street hedge fund. They bought and own Postmedia. It's fine that they do that. If you go to the Postmedia webpage, they'll tell you that their mission is to maximize the return to the shareholders...I don't see why we would ever want to give money to them, period." Have to admit, I love that one. I saw this interview when it aired on Voice of BC. Have to say, I laughed pretty hard when I heard his reply. The more I see and hear Hahn interviewed, the more I appreciate his straight-forwardness and no-nonsense approach to responding to questions. I'm actually starting to like the guy.
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Post by Dane on Feb 7, 2011 18:43:51 GMT -8
It's cool that you guys like his "straight forwardness" however openess and transparency is far more important to me, and that includes being open to the media. BCFS is spitting in the face of the freedom of information provisions in BC (if not only in spirit), and his "hard line" off topic replies just seem to cover up the betrayal that BCFS is further attempting to propogate against the tax payer.
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Post by Northern Exploration on Feb 8, 2011 9:40:11 GMT -8
The people I have always enjoyed working with the most and have had the most satisfying business outcomes, have been with no-nonsense, blunt and clear "leaders" like Hahn. You don't have to agree with them, can be direct back, and you always know where you stand. You get on with getting on, and accomplish so much more.
The politician types who see which way the wind is blowing before they make a policy or decision are horrible. You never know where you stand and they can turn on you in a moment notice if they think it is expediant.
When people perceive Hahn as arrogant, due to his firmness and bluntness, my thinking is so what, even if he is full of himself. As long as it doesn't reach the hubris level or extreme selfcenteredness. Much, much worse is to deal with a business person who is unclear in their thinking and fearful to move ahead due to a deep seated lack of confidence and bad estimation of their abilities.
While warm fuzzies in business are a nice bonus, they often have little to do with success and accomplishing goals. Sometimes you personally like people the most, who are just nice, but the biggest business dweebs. Vice versa, while liking someone makes doing business easier, the best and most gratifying results can come from working with people, who at times are harder to get along with.
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Post by Nickfro on Feb 8, 2011 14:39:59 GMT -8
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,175
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Post by Neil on Feb 8, 2011 17:39:51 GMT -8
It's cool that you guys like his "straight forwardness" however openess and transparency is far more important to me, and that includes being open to the media. BCFS is spitting in the face of the freedom of information provisions in BC (if not only in spirit), and his "hard line" off topic replies just seem to cover up the betrayal that BCFS is further attempting to propogate against the tax payer. It's very important to me to be thought of as cool, so I'm gratified by your comment. Still, I don't see a contradiction in having a grudging admiration for someone's candour while at the same time recognizing that they might not always have the greatest enthusiasm for corporate transparency, particularly in regard to demands for information that at times borders on frivolous. There's no doubt that BC Ferries was dragged kicking and screaming into the FOI process. Hahn has never made any secret of his contempt for government oversight of business, or of government being involved in business enterprises, and his negative attitude extends into being forced to respond to public enquiry into what he sees as the company's domain, especially when it might be at the expense of BC Ferries. He was told by the Liberals to run BC Ferries as a private company, and he is very much a private enterprise guy. That's just who he is, and while I've got nothing but contempt for what the Liberals have made BC Ferries into, he's done a pretty good job of carrying out his mandate. That may be damning with faint praise. In any event, if you read the Coastal Ferry Act or the ferry services contract, there is not one word in either about BC Ferries needing to pursue business practises that respond to the needs of the people that they serve. That mentality seems to have extended into their attitude toward FOI. Should that surprise anyone? While people have criticized the amount BC Ferries has been charging for FOI reports, as well as the timing of releases, I haven't heard a lot of criticism about requests not being properly addressed. It was pretty cynical posting the respones publicly at the same time as the inquiring parties got them, but at least it made the reports available to everyone, and I'm not sure BC Ferries was obliged to do that. Now they're being criticized for only leaving them online for three months. In a week where the company is also being slammed for not allowing people to plan their abortions online while on a ferry, it seems BC Ferries can do nothing right.
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Post by Dane on Feb 9, 2011 15:15:36 GMT -8
It's cool that you guys like his "straight forwardness" however openess and transparency is far more important to me, and that includes being open to the media. BCFS is spitting in the face of the freedom of information provisions in BC (if not only in spirit), and his "hard line" off topic replies just seem to cover up the betrayal that BCFS is further attempting to propogate against the tax payer. It's very important to me to be thought of as cool, so I'm gratified by your comment. Still, I don't see a contradiction in having a grudging admiration for someone's candour while at the same time recognizing that they might not always have the greatest enthusiasm for corporate transparency, particularly in regard to demands for information that at times borders on frivolous. I wasn't really addressing you, but I also wasn't being specific either so here we are. Agree with your post.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Feb 18, 2011 12:29:07 GMT -8
Here are a couple of odd FOI requests from yesterday: --------------
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Post by lmtengs on Feb 18, 2011 15:48:08 GMT -8
Would that online BCF E-Card be the 'Christmas Card' that they might be requesting?
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Post by Scott (Former Account) on Feb 18, 2011 16:45:44 GMT -8
Would that online BCF E-Card be the 'Christmas Card' that they might be requesting? No.
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,175
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Post by Neil on Mar 3, 2011 15:26:23 GMT -8
Well, what a surprise. The BC government likes David Hahn's cynical devotion to 'transparency', and is considering adopting the same immediate public release of all FOI responses, so as to dampen the media's enthusiasm for getting scoops. The Tyee article also quotes Christy Clark, while on the campaign trail, as saying that while timely release of FOI responses has it's advantages, the work and initiative of reporters should be respected. We'll see. There is a link in this Tyee article to a longer version of the story, about eleven pages, with more quotes from David Hahn. thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2011/03/03/DavidHahnFOI/
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