Poverty in BC

The two links below are to recent reports on Poverty in BC. When you look at the stats try and imagine how Nanaimo's stats would be at least double the overall stats for BC. We have one of the highest unemployment rates in the country and if one goes by some existing poverty measures easily half the population would have the distinction of living in poverty.

Click on the link below to access the 2010 BC Child Poverty Report Card. The Stats are from 2009, the latest available, and show that BC has had the highest Child Poverty rates in Canada for 8 years in a row, from the year the Liberal Government took power 2001. If 2010 & 2011 stats were available I have no doubt what-so-ever that this would be the 10th year in a row.
First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition
http://www.firstcallbc.org/
“Children and youth must receive a first call on society's resources because we value them as children and youth and because they are our future.”

Click on the link below to access a video and the written report regarding the cost of poverty in BC.
BC Poverty Reduction
http://www.bcpovertyreduction.ca/

BC Federation of Labour - HST

From the BC Fed. "Last week we released a simple and clear video: Stickman Explains the HST Honestly "

HST Stick Cartoons

Ya gotta check these out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfABlfLqdyM&feature=BFa&list=ULVGwYU5y9GRU&index=1

I am totally amused by the government ads that are on the radio, while they are not really outright lying the way they are framed seems to imply people are stupid enough to believe them. The latest goes something like this; Vote YES to go back to 12% GST plus PST, Vote NO for 10% HST. Actually stupidity aside I think many will believe the ads simply because they do not want to actually check out the facts.

HST shenanigans

July 6 Daily News:
Fight HST organizer says signs have been sabotaged

I actually had a couple YES signs in my yard much like the one below, also below are pictures of the doctored sign, and on Saturday while mowing the lawn noticed thay had gone missing. The next day I e-mailed for more signs and got a call explaining that the person who had placed them had driven by on Saturday and saw that the sign on Nocol St. had been doctored so he stopped and took it down, the one on Needham was not even there.

He had originally thought I might have done it but after talking to me we figured that whomever is doctoring the signs likely took the one off Needham and doctored it then replaced the one on Nicol St. with it. As can be seen this was not a hack job but professionally made decals used to replace specific sections of Yes Extinguiosh the HST signs. While one has to admire the initiative on their part they should be aware that the RCMP are investigating.





Again in case it is not clear where I stand:

MORE on HST:

It's tough to find anyone in Nanaimo voting to keep the tax
Walter Cordery, The Daily News
Published: Thursday, July 07, 2011
Sentiment towards HST, referendum is largely negative

EDITORIAL
Don't waste HST ballot on protest vote

If you wish to read the many letters etc. published in the Daily News regarding the HST go to: Canada.com search HST Nanaimo

For letters and stories in the Nanaimo News Bulletin go to: Nanaimo News Bulletin search HST

Non-Referendum

Another letter in the D/N today Offer residents choice in water treatment issue . This is really an issue people should latch on to but I am afraid that there is a lack of interest in pursuing the Alternate Approval requirement of gathering over 6 thousand signatures on petitions to defeat it.

The bulletin printed my last letter Referendum needed on water borrowing on Saturday and did a pretty good job with editing. Attaching link as well as text as for some reason, at least I believe it is still so, after a while the link no longer works. Text:

Re: No referendum on water borrowing, June 30.
OK, so it would appear the City of Nanaimo will likely be forced by VIHA and the province to move forward with a water treatment facility.

If, in fact, this is a given, and it is provincially mandated, then shouldn’t the province contribute at a minimum one-third of the costs?

A referendum on the long-term borrowing of more than $20 million by the taxpayers of Nanaimo is necessary and steamrolling borrowing through by the alternate approval process is not an option.

Why is a referendum necessary? For the simple fact that it gives all voting citizens the right to choose if borrowing is the best way to pay for the treatment plant.
Reserve funds in city coffers certainly exist and if also taken from other department streams should be able to pay for this without borrowing.

Instead of putting $16 million to a new City Hall annex, used by a few hundred employees, put that money toward the treatment plant which serves our more than 80,000 citizens.

Let the citizens decide through referendum whether we borrow.
If they say no, then look at other options and get it done. After all, 60,000 voters must carry some weight with the provincial and federal government and they would certainly carry weight municipally.

Here also are a couple of stories from the Bulletin
Council reverses water referendum plans, approves alternate approval process
Editorial: Referendum a better option

Letters July 5th:

Council has no trust in publics decision Jim Taylor
Referendum would allow for democracy Ron Bolin
Taxpayers deserve say on spending Gary Korpan Interesting seeing our former mayor writting about this. It was he who after all tried the same alternate approval process, which did fail, to acquire a parcel of land from the RDN to be brought into City limits for the Cable Bay project.