Wants back on the gravy train
So Ben Stewart wants to once again “serve” the citizens of West Kelowna and our province (Herald, Aug. 2). When Mr. Stewart stepped down to offer his seat to Christy Clark, as expected he got a nice little reward. Stewart was named B.C.’s Special Representative in Asia in October of 2013. Not quite as magnanimous or lucrative as Gordon Campbell's appointment to London as Canada's High Commissioner for the U.K. and Ireland, but pretty cheery nonetheless.
Stewart stepped down from this cushy appointment in December of 2016. The former Premier and Teresa Wat, the then Minister of International Trade and Asia Pacific Strategy and Multiculturalism, lauded Stewart for so successfully representing the interests of British Columbians. In reality this was nothing more than an all expenses paid opportunity for Mr Stewart to vacation in Beijing for the little over three year duration of his posting with the B.C. taxpayer footing the bill of course.
From 2014-2016, in addition to a total of $1,028,700 for Special Representative Stewart's salary and other expenses, he was also supported by eight full-time staff from a Chinese consulting firm which further cost B.C. taxpayers over $2 million a year. So did spending these many millions of British Columbians' tax dollars represent our province's best interest?
Over the last number of years the Chinese political leadership in aspiring to realize the Confucist-inspired “Chinese Dream” has raised over 600 million citizens out from rural poverty into the country's middle class. Let that sink in, over 600 million people!
Trade representatives from Portugal have adroitly seized the opportunity to secure significant exports of Portuguese wines to China to meet the demands of this new burgeoning urban economy. It is concerning, especially given Mr. Stewart's connections to and knowledge of our own B.C. wine industry, that in his three year junket to Beijing he could not at least set in motion discussions for the export of our local wines to China. That would certainly be in the best interests of our economy.
Now Ben Stewart wants to jump back aboard the gravy train to Victoria.
(Sources: National Observer, Vancouver Sun, Province of B.C., Vinex market.) Brian Gray
Penticton