VANCOUVER—“It’s my opinion, I’m Bill Good,” the broadcaster’s familiar voice has signed off daily over the Vancouver airwaves for nearly three years.
Now, listeners of News 1130 and B.C. residents far and wide are hearing more from the award-winning veteran broadcaster — who’s also wearing a different hat as the voice of a new anti-electoral-reform campaign.
His appearance in automated robocalls and radio advertisements on the controversial issue, at the same time he continues his daily radio column, has raised eyebrows among media ethics commenters.
Good, who offers a “no holds barred” Minute With Bill Good spot on the city’s “only 24-hour live news radio station,” appears in a campaign launched this month that’s raising alarms against the B.C. New Democrats’ upcoming referendum on whether to replace the current electoral system with a form of proportional representation.
The referendum, planned for this fall and a key tenet of the minority NDP’s governing pact with the Greens, has sparked allegations from opponents that it’s “rigged” in favour of the NDP and Greens,, and rekindled reformers’ hopes of having legislature seats better reflect the popular vote.
On Friday afternoon, the province announced that Elections B.C. would select one proponent for each of two sides to recieve $500,000 each for campaigning, and imposed a $200,000 advertising spending cap for each.
Several users on Twitter have reported receiving automated robocalls to their landlines this week, in which Good identifies himself and criticizes the province’s approach; the same audio recording has been advertised on News 1130 (CKWX) and other media outlets, several of which Good once worked at. His radio spot still appears daily on News 1130.
The anti-proportional representation ads start with: “Hi, I’m Bill Good,” he says in his distinctive radio voice, “here on behalf of FairReferendum.com.”
It’s the same message the Star recorded after phoning the online listed number of FairReferendum.com, and its director, former Canadian Forest Products Ltd. CEO Jim Shepard.
“British Columbians deserve a referendum process that is transparent, free of bias and that doesn’t favour a particular outcome,” Good continued. “The question, potential outcomes of the vote, and the definition of a binding result must be clear to British Columbians.”
READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE AT THE TORONTO STAR REGIONAL NEWS WEBSITE
Lets see. The NDP backed by the enviro king Andy Weaver push for a referendum on proportional
representation. David Eby runs to the cloak room and puts on his unbiased referendum designer hat. He comes up with two convoluted questions and a mail in ballot. If only 5 % of eligible voters mail in ballots the democratic process will be changed accordingly. Eby Horgan and Weaver have cooked up the most one sided question ever posed to British Columbians. Its a sham and a scam.
Bill Goods ethics are not the problem in this particular farce
BTW Andy Weaver is opposed to site c dam . Andy Weaver opposed removing tolls. Andy Weaver is opposed to LNG development. Andy Weaver is opposed to pipelines. Andy Weaver has managed to live with all Horgans lack of enviro ethics. WHY? Because Horgan has promised a lop sided referendum questioned designed to greatly favor the outcome that will allow Andys fringe party to hang onto power.
Nice buzz 13!
Thankfully, we have a well-respected British Columbian starting to put some balance in this vitally-important issue for B.C.
My read is that the NDP/Greens have already stacked the deck in their favor, and are uneasy about the likes of Good and Jim Shephard stepping into the ring to provide opinions that many of us support.
Quite the puppet-show involving Horgan and Weaver.
13
Great Post !!
You nailed it, I hope Voters all over B.C. listen to what you have pointed out.
13
BTW – I think it is very important that you repeat your very insightful analysis and second Post up the page on a few other Blogs in B.C., Tax Payers/Voters need to think very seriously about what you pointed out.
This is going to be one big fight .. we have to get everyone on side to get Eby to make it one question. We did not like the idea before, and surely it will be the same this time, but only with the one question.
Back when B.C. had the STV ballot vote in what 2009 was it I was sold on supporting this ideal of proportional representation. Being at the time a bit of a centre- left, social type activist I felt that this would have given B.C. better representation and politics. THANKFULLY the vote for STV failed.
Proportional representation is much like socialism/communism, it’s sold as a utopian ideal of fairness and equality in government, but in reality it would be a mess and more unjust, unfair, with never ending elections and the often toxic mixing of various parties to gain a governing majority. Small, activist parties may likely be the tail that wags the dog in such a system. It will likely mean activist governance rather than good governance, more government in our lives and economy not less. More bureaucracy, more wasted or useless spending to buy votes. We will see many more failed governments and election, after election, after election. So again up front proportional representation and the government it gives, may seem good and a utopian dream but in reality it will be 100% opposite.
Imagine groups funded by assholes like Soros, fueled by Anti-fa, BLM, and a crap load B.S. faux environmentalist and/or open boarders shite, aka: modern communist groups manipulating activist type smaller political parties to be heaped into these toxic coalitions where activist policies will rule the day and see us not having good, not better or MY GOD MAYBE LESS GOVERNMENT! We see snippets of this crap with current first past the post minority government here in B.C. where the NDP bends at the for 3 freaking Green (21st century Communists) MLA’s to hold onto power.
Proportional rep will see the happening 100% of the time, if not so the government will fall and we will have another election and another and another etc. NO WAY!
Our current system is far from perfect but it works more often than not well enough and voters can hold government to account every 4 years.
What I’d vote for is a change to a republican type government like in the USA as I feel that works better and brings more accountability to any government as messy, silly, bureaucratic as representative politics can be.
If the NDP, the Greens and other leftist political parties favor proportional representation for elections, that’s reason enough to oppose it.
If Bill Good is going to be a posterboy for defeating PR that is very good for them. As much as the guy drove me crazy trying to be fair by continually sitting on the fence on issues he was a stand-up guy and tried his best to get both sides of the story, something that is lacking with the current batch of radio talkers.
As for PR why are we voting for it again? It wont go away and the PR proponents keep on resurrecting the vote. There should be a 15-20 gap between votes of this type. If guys like Horgan and Weaver are going to bamboozle the public and make it a kangaroo vote it must be bad.
Thanks Bill.
I care less about the ethics of all this, though I do care somewhat, than I do about one more irritating robocall interrupting the World Cup…sheesh…
Bill NWO Good?
Bill “Bilderberg? What is that? I have never heard of Bilderberg before?????? (10 years ago) Good – journalist of 40 years never knew who the Bilderberg Group was
Bill………”Pay a 15% FEE for your house so you can buy food to the mortgage scammers” Good
Bill “The economy is booming because Joe Fortes is chalk full of Drug Dealers, Money Launderers and Tax Cheats” Good
Bill Good and any version of him you want Richard is fine with me. As long as Teilman Good and Ujal defeat the proportional rep group
13
CanaDUHHHHHHHH…..is run by Bolchevik Marxists…….ALL of CanaDUHHHH……so until this cancer type invasion of CAnaDUHHHHHHHH is dealt with it does not matter what system we have….
WHY do you think President Trump was elected? Its the same the world over……Bolshevik/Marxists have BOUGHT their way into everything……
Richard, it seems to me that the first past the post lends itself to a much more free market type of government. So if your worried about a cancer type system vote against proportional representation.
What an unholy triumvirate! Bill Tielman, an unrepentant socialist nutbar, Ujjal Dosange-a hyporcritical, self-serving pol and the biggest political butt kisser in broadcast history Bill Good-the Peter Principle Personified. And I have to side with them!
@Bud. LOL.