Council Meeting, November 8, 2010 - Budget highlights.

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Selected Articles - Morning Star News

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Council Meeting, November 8 and 9, 2010

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Kalamalka Lake Road closure reminder.

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Notice of Road closure -- Kalamalka Lake Road!

KPR will be working on the trestle over Kal road at husband Road. The work will require that the road be closed from 7am to 7pm on Saturday and Sunday this weekend. The detours will be inconvenient – either Aberdeen or Hwy 97. Notices have gone in the paper and will be played on the local radio stations over the weekend starting Friday. Emergency services and transit have been notified. Also there will be a series of warning signs posted at strategic locations to provide timely notice to motorists. We are in the process of our final review of the traffic management plan submitted by KPR.

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Alphabetic order may decide kids' surnames in Spain

Thu Nov 4, 7:56 AM

MADRID (AFP) - A new law in Spain could lead to a boom in children whose main family names start with the letter 'A'.
Until now, Spanish kids have carried both parents' surnames -- their fathers' always in first place and their mothers' in second. In every day use, many people give only the first surname.

But legislation submitted to parliament on Wednesday would give mothers equal rights to fathers in deciding which parent's surname goes first.

If they can't agree, it will be alphabetic order that decides.

"Names like Abad or Alvarez have a promising future in Spain," said the conservative daily ABC.

"For others like Zurbano or Zamora, survival will be more complicated."

The leading centre-left daily El Pais said the Spanish government simply wanted to extend the principle of equality to the symbolic social realm of family names.

The legislation will be examined by the Justice Commission of the parliament's lower house until November 10 for possible amendments. It could be two years before it comes into force.

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B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell steps down

Wednesday, November 3, 2010 | 11:51 AM PT

CBC News

B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell announced his resignation on Wednesday morning in Vancouver. B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell announced his resignation on Wednesday morning in Vancouver. (CBC)

B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell is stepping down and has asked his party to hold a leadership convention.

The premier's leadership of the B.C. Liberal Party had been under attack since his introduction of the HST and there were rumours he had lost the support of a significant portion of his cabinet in recent weeks.

Campbell made the announcement during a surprise news conference on Wednesday morning in Vancouver, accompanied by his wife and children.

The news comes amid reports that several Liberal MLAs were planning on calling for Campbell to step down at an upcoming caucus meeting.

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Photo Gallery -- Deer in their winter coats. Courtesy: Debbie Gibson.

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Canada Reports Huge Jump in Immigration - The Borovitz Report

November 3, 2010

Over 55,000,000 Requests for Citizenship Since Tuesday Night

OTTAWA (The Borowitz Report) - Canadian immigration officials have reported a huge increase in the number of requests for Canadian citizenship in the past twenty-four hours, with over fifty-five million such inquiries pouring in since late Tuesday night.

Of those fifty-five million requests, well over 99.99% of them came from U.S. citizens, with a particularly large number coming from residents of Florida and Kentucky.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said that he was “flabbergasted” by the fifty-five-million-plus requests for Canadian citizenship, adding that it was difficult to pinpoint the precise reasons for the staggering increase.

“My only theory is that after the 2010 winter Olympics, the sport of curling is finally starting to catch on,” he said.

He cautioned, however, that it is impossible to know exactly what is sparking the sudden interest in America’s frozen neighbor to the north: “People answering our immigration hotline say that it is hard to understand many of the American callers because they are sobbing uncontrollably.”

In other news, responding to last night’s election returns, Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) told reporters, “I’m so stoked I just turned the tanning bed up to eleven.”

But former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin struck a more somber note, saying that despite several key victories, “it was a tough night for Tea Party voters because it involved so much math.”

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Another half billion well spent!

New BC Place roof can't close in rain!

Monday, November 1, 2010 | 4:11 PM PT

CBC News

Construction continues on the $450-million renovation of BC Place, including the new retractable roof. Construction continues on the $450-million renovation of BC Place, including the new retractable roof. (BC Place)

The half-a-billion dollar retractable roof on BC Place Stadium will not be able to close in the rain when it is completed next September, CBC News has learned.

Howard Crosley, the general manager of BC Place, said the operators will have to make a decision to open or close the roof based on the weather reports, but they won't necessarily be able to close it if they make the wrong call.

"The way the roof actually works, it's a gathering material that comes into the centre and because of that, if it's raining or high winds, we won't be able to open or close it," he said.

When it is finished, the roof will be the largest cable-supported retractable roof in the world and will take about 20 minutes to open and close, according to officials. But fans will stay dry no matter what because the 55,000 seats in the stadium are covered by a fixed section of the fabric roof, Crosley said.

BC Place Stadium is run by the B.C. Pavilion Corporation, which is owned by the provincial government, and overseen by the Minister of Tourism.

The $565 million renovation to the stadium will be completed in the fall of 2011, well before the Grey Cup, which Vancouver is scheduled to stage Nov. 27, officials announced Monday.

The stadium will be the home field of the CFL's BC Lions and the Vancouver Whitecaps of Major League Soccer. Both teams will start their season at other locations but expect to end them at BC Place.

Both North American football and soccer are traditionally played in all weather conditions.

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Letters to the Editor -- Morning Star News

The following letter appeared in the Morning Star on October 31, 2010:

Water bill stirs up issues

Published: October 30, 2010 12:00 PM

Dear Coldstream officials. If I thought I might be successful by legally disputing the water bill I just received, I would withhold payment and do just that, but I am sure you have figured out how to legally milk your constituents before you raised the already high rates. I have enclosed payment in full so that you do not charge unfair interest on your already unfair charges.

I suggest you should consider, that you do not own the water flowing through theses pipes, but rather, provide a delivery service (like the gas people do) and yes, sometimes condition the water to a state where it is acceptable for drinking and showering (sometimes, although not reliably in recent history). With that perspective, I'm sure you would agree that the service you provide is worth but a fraction of the charge.

If water was a privately-managed service, there would be fair competition and pricing would be much lower. Private companies would not be allowed to "double dip." The water I use on my lawn flows back into Coldstream Creek and down to Kalamalka Lake, where you suck it up again and charge the rest of city residents. Water is a renewable resource and the lakes are full of it. This whole scarcity theme you promote is a self-serving methodology to attempt to justify huge charges.

As for the balance of services you purport to supply, such as fire protection, I will again remind you (as I do nearly every year) that I do not have a fire hydrant within 1,000 metres of my residence. The house has been there for 35 years, but I'm sure you'll get to it sometime. Meanwhile, as I am in a forest interface area, I will continue to sprinkle my lawns to keep the fire hazard down. Unfortunately, at your inflated water rates, I will probably not be able to keep up the practice.

Your inability to provide adequate water services has forced my family to pack water jugs from grocery stores for drinking and has cost me several hundred dollars per year in extra fire insurance charge, yet somehow you think you deserve a raise in pay for the water you do supply.

I do sympathize with council, though. I know you have had the unforeseen costs in water management and infrastructure. It's a shame you spent all your reserved funds on a new municipal hall a few years back (after we'd voted no on doing so). If that money hadn't been spent, perhaps you would have seen clear to reduce taxation during the current economic depression, knowing that many people are struggling just to keep their homes.

So please accept my $500 quarterly water payment and know that you have helped me immensely with my decision on the next municipal election. I will be voting for a wholesale change in leadership.

Geoff Wight

My personal response to Geoff Wight:

Thank you for your comments on your water bill. I was not thrilled with mine either: it amounted to $445. I accepted it since the costs are the consequence of the 2004 referendum for the borrowing of $35 million for water quality improvements and approved by the majority of voters.

Coldstream is not the manager of the utility: it is owned and operated by the Greater Vernon Water Utility through NORD. NORD directors ultimately set the rates.

The utility actually owns the water through water licenses granted by the Province. It’s not any different than the oil companies owning the oil the Province licensed to them or the timber companies owning timber licensed to them.

In order for you to receive acceptable quality drinking water much has to be done, including but not restricted to building a distribution system, treating the water and maintaining the system. There might be some adjustment to pricing but the total costs are in the ball-park.

As for privately managed water service: let me just point to the water you purchase in bottles and compare those prices to the prices you pay for your water service. There is no comparison. Private companies must make a profit, local governments are not allowed to.

If your irrigation water flows back to Coldstream Creek than you are using way too much water and that is part of the reason for your high water bill. If you don’t believe there is the risk of shortages, I am sure I cannot convince you. Some people believe all of our resources are limitless. I know it is not so.

Fire hydrants are installed annually but we cannot do them all at once. I am not sure where you live but if you petition Council with a number of your neighbours you might get a faster service.

The Municipal Hall was replaced by a previous Council. However, the money spent on the Municipal Hall would have nothing to do with the water budget. They are separate entities and the water utility would have no call on those funds.

This Council is trying to do the best for the community but if you think you can do a better job by all means, brush up on your facts and run in the next election. I, for one, try to base my decisions on facts.

Gyula Kiss
Councillor

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"Drunken captain of ship seized in Strait gets short prison term

By Chris Tucker/Peninsula Daily News

TACOMA -- Skippering a 590-foot freighter in the Strait of Juan de Fuca while legally drunk gets you 14 days in prison, six months of supervised release and a six-month ban from U.S. waters....(read more)

This article was presented by Paul Wilcox on his blog.

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Photos of the Highway 6 announcement and the Duteau Creek Water Treat ment Plant

Highway 6 announcements (photos by Councillor Besso).



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Duteau Creek Water Treatment Plant Opening Ceremonies (photos by Councillor Besso).

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Selected articles -- Morning Star News.

October 29, 2010



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October 31, 2010

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Highway 6 Upgrade Announced -- KISS FM

Written by Peter McIntyre Friday, 29 October 2010 11:14

A safety upgrade has been announced for a dangerous section of Highway 6 between Vernon and Lumby.

However, when the work will actually take place, is still unknown.

Vernon Monashee MLA Eric Foster says two kilometres of the highway between Ricardo and Grey Roads will be realigned, with the part by the Coldstream Ranch becoming a frontage road.

A new railway crossing will be constructed, and there will be improvements and left turn lanes added to the intersections of Grey, Kalamalka and Ricardo Roads.

The project will also provide wider shoulders for cycling and pedestrians and improve drainage and fish passage under the road.

Foster talked about the budget at the news conference at the Coldstream Ranch.

"Somewhere between 12 and 15 million dollars is the projected number right now. We're in the early stages, but that's the long term budgeting plan."

Crash records show there's been 119 reported accidents in that area over the last ten years, and local politicians have been lobbying the province for funding for, by some estimates, 20 years.

Foster says the planning and land acquisition is expected to take place in 2011, with construction to start possibly in 2012, and completion perhaps in 2014.

Foster says the windy section between Grey and Aberdeen roads, could be part of a future phase.

"You do the worst first, and this is certainly the worst part of the road, so we'll do that first, get it built, and start working on the next stuff."

Photo: MLA Eric Foster and Coldstream Mayor Jim Garlick unveil preliminary design of Highway 6 realignment at news conference at the Coldstream Ranch (P.McIntyre)

Click to enlarge and to see closer shot of realignment design.

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Duteau Creek Water Treatment Plant -- Official opening.

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For questions about the Treatment Plant please visit: Q_A

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Campbell's 15% Cut Gives 50% of Benefits to Just 20% with High Income.

October 27, 2010

The 15% tax reduction announced by Premier Campbell in his TV address is NOT a cut restricted to those making less than $72,000 per year; it is a tax cut for everyone on the first $72,000 of their income. That means that the 20% of taxpayers who make over $72,000 a year will get 50% of the total benefits. The total lost revenue is estimated by the Campbell government to be $568 million; those making over $72,000 a year will collectively reap $284 million per year in tax cuts. Once again Campbell has tried to make it look like he is helping the middle class, when the truth is he is helping higher income earners.

Those making less than $72,000 per year are 80% of all taxpayers, but 40% of all taxpayers have incomes so low that they don't pay any provincial income taxes, hence they won't benefit from Campbell's announcement. Another 40% of taxpayers pay some provincial tax, but not enough to get the full benefit that will be enjoyed by those in higher tax brackets.

Campbell's brief comments on education would be laughable if the problems facing children who are not ready for school weren't so severe. He acknowledged that after 10 years in power, 1 out of every 5 grade 4 students are not achieving basic skills expected for their grade level. He wants British Columbians to believe that like magic, that problem will be solved in the next 5 years, but he isn't saying how much it might cost or how it would be accomplished.

A quarter billion dollars that his tax cut will give to higher income families would go a long way towards addressing child poverty and children who are not ready for school. That is why announcing major tax policy four months before the next budget and without consultation has a very high opportunity cost. There are better and more equitable ways of spending that money than using it to try to buy a little popularity for Campbell. He's shown that he can't consult and isn't responsible enough to set the course for British Columbia.

He began his TV address with a rehash of why he imposed the HST, starting by saying that businesses wanted it. He failed to mention that it is a $2 billion per year (forever) tax shift from some businesses to all BC families. He failed to mention that there are winners and losers, let alone give examples from each group. Losers include the restaurant industry where data from Statistics Canada are already showing a drop in food sales. Losers also include any service business that is labour intensive, like hair stylists or gardeners. He can't prove his claims about benefits from the HST, yet most people can see the negative consequences of the hated tax.

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