Nanaimo Parks Dedication Bylaw

It would appear that Nanaimo now has a bylaw that will better protect our city parks, passed at Monday’s council meeting. I have been pushing for something like this for a few years, every time parks would come up at council, as prior to this bylaw a simple rezoning application could have been approved by council to rezone an area from park allowing use for development purposes. This bylaw is especially good for some of our largest parks, in general all parks, but there is one flaw.

According to the community charter, section 30, a motion could be moved to remove a dedication if adopted with approval of the electors. Approval of electors, that’s you and me folk, sounds good doesn’t it. The flaw, I’m getting to it, arises through how this approval is handled.

There are two means to gain this approval (see sections 85/86 of community charter);
1) Through referendum, which requires a majority of those voting;
2) Through alternative Approval Process (AAP), the number of elector responses received is less than 10% of the number of electors of the area to which the approval process applies.

The FLAW; in short 10% of voters would have to sign the approved form to have the rezoning squashed.

Governments use the AAP because it requires a huge amount of work and vast number of committed volunteers to gather the approx 6600 signatures, in Nanaimo, to defeat what is being proposed. The most recent example being the proposal to borrow $22million for the $65million dollar Water Treatment Plant in Nanaimo, only 3 people, me included, actually signed the approved petition form.

Why only three? Simply because the onus is not on government to spread the word about the process but on those opposed, resulting by and large in the failure of the opposition. The AAP, I have written other posts regarding the AAP, is in short the most likely means for government to pass things without the voice of the people being heard.

When elected to council I will be looking into the possibility of eliminating the AAP as a means of “Elector Approval”.

October 3rd Agenda City Council pgs 165 - 176
Community Charter Table of Contents
Section 30 Reservation and Dedication of Municipal PropertyDivision 2 sections 84 - 86 pertain Approval of Electors

BC Federation of Labour - HST

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

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

HST Referendum

The time for the referendum on the Harmonized Sales Tax draws closer and soon folk will have to make a choice. All I know is that for me this tax seems to have taken any disposable income, which I have always had little, and leaves me living paycheck to paycheck. For lower income folk the rebate might be enticing but think about it, when has the government, any government given back more than you paid. Yes for people on Income assistance this might be true, but for the vast majority it isn't.

This pretty much says it as to where I stand.

Have added a pile of links to news stories and letters below.

Letter D/N
June 25
HST will not help business create jobs

Bulletin
June 11
HST forums wrap up in Nanaimo
Scroll down in the story and you will notice links to other HST related storeys.

Province
June 7
BC Government risks backlash from HST ads

The following links are from a simple search, HST Nanaimo, on www.Canada.com
For any of the news storeys copy and paste the title into Google and click on the result that has daily news in the URL, that way you will get to see the comments made on the story.

The HST will cost us plenty if it is rescinded

Vote call should have frozen HST rebate

High-profile ads are used to push B.C. HST plan

Liberal's HST 'bribe' isn't fooling anyone

More questions than answers about the HST

Use head, not heart to vote

Common sense can be dictated by dollars

Restaurant owners claim the HST is hurting business

HST helps big and small business

Consumption tax beats income tax every time

Get rid of the Liberals along with the HST

Nanaimo posties still on picket line

Developers say the HST causing construction dip
Taxes are the price we pay for civilized society

HST is a beneficial and modern tax policy

Seniors weigh pros and cons of HST

HST forces 'little guys' to bail out B.C. business

Misinformation clouds tax issue

More on Water Treatment in Nanaimo

More links to storys and letters below as well as to the City of Nanaimo's Water information page. Just sent the following letter to the editor in;

Okay, so it would appear that the City of Nanaimo will likely be forced by VIHA, a.k.a. 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?

Despite what Councillor Holdom and Mayor Ruttan say, a referendum on the long term borrowing of over 20 million dollars 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 towards the treatment plant which serves our over 80,000 citizens.

The point I am trying to make is 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.

Letters D/N:

Dr. Murray Fyfe, The Daily News
Published: Friday, June 24, 2011
Water quality rules apply to entire province

By Dan Appell, The Daily News June 23, 2011
First save the money then build the plant

Editorial:

The Daily News
Published: Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Water project referendum is just absurd

News Storys:

Council must comply with regulations
Derek Spalding, The Daily News
Published: Friday, June 24, 2011
Nanaimo drinking water may not be as safe as people think

Pair absent from decision to approve public vote on borrowing $22.5 million want to reconsider decision
Derek Spalding, The Daily News
Published: Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Councillor condemns water referendum as nonsensical

Water treatment plant makes up biggest chunk of Nanaimo's construction costs

By Derek Spalding, The Daily News June 21, 2011
New buildings will cost city 85 million
This story seems to be inaccessible through the daily news website so any comments made cannot be seem.

City of Nanaimo – Water Treatment info
http://www.nanaimo.ca/EN/main/departments/Engineering-Public-Works/13038/WaterQualityTreatment.html

Water Treatment: To Be or Not To Be

Letters and newspaper storys regarding the Water Treatment Plant and upcoming referendum during the municipal election in November.

The biggest question is do we really need a 65 Million Dollar Water Treatment Plant? Also what would VIHA really do if the city decided not to build one? If VIHA revokes the city's water permit would that mean the City no longer can provide water to its citizens? I personally think not and council should have the cohones to say NO and accept the consequences.

Another pertinent issue in this is why did the Feds and Province not commit to a three way split on the costs and how can we get them to do so if we go forward with the project.

I belong to a group called Vancouver Island Water Watch Coalition and will endeavour to gather more information. www.vancouverislandwaterwatchcoalition.ca

Couple comments of mine below in red.

LETTERS

Ron Bolin, The Daily News
Published: Friday, June 17, 2011
Council was right to choose referendum

Gordon W. Fuller, The Daily News
Published: Saturday, June 18, 2011
People need answers about treatment plant

Gary Joseph Chandler, The Daily News
Published: Saturday, June 18, 2011
Pay for water plant now, not in future

Don’t really know what to make of this one. On the one hand it seems like he is for the borrowing and then states he will be voting no to the borrowing.

NEWS STORIES

Derek Spalding, The Daily News
Published: Thursday, June 16, 2011
Not borrowing for water plan will mean much higher rates

Derek Spalding, The Daily News
Published: Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Health authority is forcing the city to upgrade water treatment; council must decide how to pay for it
Voters will decide on $22.5million loan for new water plant

EDITORIAL

The Daily News
Published: Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Water project referendum not necessary

BULLETIN

By Toby Gorman - Nanaimo News BulletinPublished: June 14, 2011 5:00 PM
Nanaimo plans referendum on 22.5 million loan for water treatment facility

Toby Gorman - Nanaimo News BulletinPublished: June 18, 2011 6:00 AM
More expensive projects loom for Nanaimo

An interesting story considering Oliver Woods Community Centre, briefly mentioned, is just a couple years old. If I recall correctly it has already had to have some deficiencies with leaky windows dealt with.

Published: June 16, 2011 8:00 AM
Editorial: City spending need thought

Referendum: Borrowing to build Water Treatment Facility

This issue just cropped up at a recent council meeting. Originally City Staff wanted to use the Alternative Approval Process; 10% of voters, over 6000, would have to vote against the borrowing in order for it to be defeated. This process sucks as even if one were not to vote either way it would be assumed as a vote for.

Fortunately council voted in favour of sending it to Referendum: simple majority of those voting on the issue determines whether the City borrows tyhe money or not.

Sent the following letter today:

I really have to question not only the rationale of borrowing money for but of the water treatment plant itself. Do we really need this plant; is a water treatment plant really the only option? Is it in fact a necessary piece of infrastructure? Is the city only proposing the building of a water treatment plant because the Vancouver Island Health Authority has told us we must?

How many other cities have been TOLD to build water treatment plants by VIHA and how many of these are complying? In the last 10 or 20 years how many water advisory notices have gone out to residents of the City of Nanaimo and how many of these have been boil water advisories?

If these plants are so necessary then why are higher levels of government not funding the total package instead of expecting the citizens of Nanaimo to come up with 73% of the cost? What is the penalty if we do not follow the mandate of VIHA?

I will readily admit to being an activist but ‘Cranky’ I think not. I believe there are many questions that need answers. I also believe the taxpayers of Nanaimo deserve straight answers to these questions and not the bafflegab we are used to getting from the powers that be.

Poverty in Nanaimo

The following is a bit long. It is a presentation I have done in schools and elsewhere which I update each year.

Presentation: Poverty & Food
Gord Fuller - 2010

The enemy is not poverty sickness and disease. The enemy is a set of institutions and interests that are advantaged by clienthood, that need dependency, masked by service. We are in a struggle against clienthood. We must reallocate the power, authority, and legitimacy that have been stolen by the great institutions of society. We must commit ourselves to the reallocation of power to the people we serve so that we no longer will need to serve. (McKnight, J. The Careless Society: Community and Its’ Counterfeits [1995]).

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Poverty pimp
Is a label used to convey that an individual or group is benefiting unduly by acting as an intermediary on behalf of the poor. The term is used to suggest that "poverty pimps" profit from their attempts to alleviate the misfortune of others, and therefore do not really wish poverty to be eliminated permanently as it is not in their own interest for this to happen. Poverty pimps gain a higher quality of existence from exploiting the poverty of others.
True poverty pimps are worse than just those who live off of helping others. They are the ones who perpetuate poverty in order to keep their job. They add more bureaucracy in order to expand their programs and their power. They provide just enough of a service to keep clients coming back. They are the firms who purposely overcharge and pad the bills, wasting money supposedly given to help the poor. Poverty pimps are the workers and administrators who keep expanding the public and private social services system, thereby expanding their job and salary opportunities. They contribute more money to keep the cycle eternal. They are the ones who make the system so challenging that you practically need a college degree to navigate it, causing many poor people to opt out of the system and often into the street.

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If the poor weren't so conveniently invisible, maybe we'd come to our moral senses and devise a national strategy for eliminating poverty. Imagine yourself in a state of constant dread. That's poverty.
David Olive – Toronto Star

--------------
Presentation:

If profit was eliminated as a factor, great steps in the alleviation of poverty would begin to truly occur.

Poverty is not a choice but a reality for many. The greatest poverty is not the homeless or the panhandler but that which you don’t see. It is the working poor, the unemployed, seniors, students and the many children in families that are struggling to make end meet.

The past 8 years saw an economic boom then recession and in the last year the start of recovery. Despite this Unemployment is rising, 9% in Nanaimo, as are the numbers of people receiving income assistance, 75% in the last year.

During the boom prices for real-estate increased with many rental properties being converted for sale. The downside of the burgeoning economy and rise of real-estate values is that these are also the very things that can contribute to increased poverty. These polar opposites have simply furthered the widening the gap between the financially able and financially challenged.

Low income has been recognized as the single most significant indicator of health status, putting adults and children at a higher risk of poor physical and mental health, involvement in crime, and unemployment. Most low-income families have gross incomes that are thousands of dollars below the poverty line and most are headed by a person in the labour force, they are commonly known as the working poor. Part of the problem is inadequate hours of work, 1 in 5 jobs are part time, and inadequate pay, BC has the lowest minimum wage set at $8.00 per hour.

Canada's food banks association notes that the predominant users of food banks are working people who complain of not being able to obtain more than 25 hours of work per week from any given employer. Many of the Homeless across Canada are working but simply don’t make enough to pay for accommodation and food.

British Columbia has had the highest child poverty rates in Canada 7 years running; one of every four children in BC lives in poverty. The vast majority of poor children in BC (67.6%) live in families with some earned income, but not enough to get them over the poverty line. Approximately 98,000 families are living in poverty in BC. with 90% of single -parent families headed by women. In BC the number of clients receiving income assistance and expected to work increased by 52% from September 2008 to September 2009; the number of dependent children in families receiving assistance increased by more than 20% over the same period.

In Nanaimo 31%, 20512, of the over 66,000 people to file tax returns have an income of less than $15,000, $18,900 being one established low income cut off determinant of poverty for a single person. 49% make below 25,000 per year.
The numbers of individuals and families making under $10,000, the under employed, those receiving income assistance, as well as many Old Age Pensioners, has remained stagnant over the past 10 years at approximately 15%.

Close to 13,000 people, excluding children, approximately 15% of the total population live on income assistance in Nanaimo. With over 5000 single employable people on income assistance living on approximately $7000 dollars per year, as well as those on disability and families on assistance, you begin to see just how extensive poverty is in Nanaimo. Income assistance is too low to pay rent and buy healthy food, shelter and food costs consume an unreasonable proportion of the income.

2008 Before-Tax Low-Income Cut-Offs for a city the size of Nanaimo were as follows; a family of 1 -$18,900, 2 - $23,600, 3 - $29,000, 4 - $35,200 and increasing by approximately $5,000 per person. Low income cut-offs (LICOs) are by far Statistics Canada’s most established and widely recognized approach to estimating low income. In short, a LICO is an income threshold below which a family will likely devote a larger share of its income on the necessities of food, shelter and clothing than the average family

As the price of real-estate rose many apartments have been converted to condominiums, many rooming houses converted back to single family, and many of the secondary suites in homes, used to help pay mortgages, are being rented at ever increasing rates due to larger mortgages.

Approximately 53 percent of renters, as well as many low-income homeowners in Nanaimo, are paying far more than 30 percent of their income towards rent, 30% being a determinant of poverty. Of those living on pensions or income assistance the percentage of income towards rent rises to more than 50%.

The most significant barrier to healthy eating is inadequate income. Once fixed costs such as shelter and utilities are met there may be little money left for food.

Food and shelter costs have increased significantly over the past decade, while income assistance rates have remained virtually unchanged and minimum wage has not increased. Not all residents of British Columbia have enough money to purchase healthy food. In urban centres the high cost of housing leaves little money left for food and many people with low income face challenges purchasing healthy foods.

Income-related food security is an important health issue in Canada and is a key social determinant of health. People with inadequate incomes are far less likely than those with higher incomes to enjoy diets that are consistent with healthy eating. Less is spent on food and they eat fewer servings of fruit, vegetables and milk products. They are also more likely to suffer illness than Canadians with higher incomes.

Ultimately in order to address poverty we must address the high cost of housing and ensure adequate income above poverty levels. Municipally we must adopt a proactive stance with respect to advocacy on poverty issues at the Provincial and Federal levels.

What can the BC government do to alleviate poverty and ensure that more British Columbians have enough money to purchase healthy food?
• Raising income assistance rates to account for the actual cost of healthy food and safe housing and indexing rates to the cost of living
• Raising the minimum wage to a level that supports an individual working full-time, full-year with an income above Statistics Canada low-income cut-off in a major urban centre
• Supporting a wide range of initiatives, including working with Federal & Municipal authorities, to ensure all British Columbians have access to safe and affordable housing
• Supporting initiatives that increase access to healthy food for all British Columbians, especially those living in rural and remote communities, or for whom access to food is difficult
• Building a system of high quality, affordable, accessible child care

LINKS:
http://www.dietitians.ca/resources/resourcesearch.asp?fn=view&contentid=1944

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/75f0002m/75f0002m2009002-eng.pdf

Nanaimo:
http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/data/dd/facsheet/CF231.pdf
When mentioning Income Assistance more often than not it only includes basic not disability etc.

http://www.nanaimo.ca/assets/Departments/Economic~Development/Why~Nanaimo/CommunityProfile.pdf

This one is interesting but the stats are for 2006 and prior
http://www.nanaimo.ca/assets/Departments/Economic~Development/Sectors/2010%20Profile%20of%20Demographic%20and%20Economic%20Trends%20-%20Nanaimo.pdf

BC STATS Good source for all over BC and a number of subject areas as well as community profiles.
http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/pubs/pr_compr.asp

MORE LIBERAL CUTS

The Liberal Government, Conservatives in disguise, of British Columbia has sunk to an even new low for them. This latest story in the Nanaimo Daily News, Children’s meal program latest grant funding cut , shows just how low the Liberals are willing to sink.

Please, if you are as disgusted as I am with the ongoing cuts affecting the disenfranchized and poor of our province follow this link and let all members of government know BC MLA's .

Letter to editor Sent March 26
All sarcasm aside the latest word of cuts to the hot meal program for teen’s and low-income parents run by Little Ferns Early Learning Centre infuriate me. Here is the province with the highest child poverty rates in Canada and the Liberal Government is cutting the budgets of many of the very programs that help alleviate child poverty.

Cuts in funding to programs like this not only affect the families that through the availability of the daycare and meal program are able to pursue employment or education. Existing community meal programs and food banks will also shoulder the burden of increased need and yet you can bet there will be no corresponding funding to match.

Honestly, I do not know how members of this government can sleep at night. What is even worse is I have little doubt they will come up with some inane excuse to rationalize what they are doing.

If this isn't bad enough there is really no compelling reason for members of the government to give a rats ass about the effects of their decisions. Conscience aside they can sleep tight knowing that even if they don’t regain power in the next election most will receive juicy little pensions provided in part by those very people they seem to care so little about.

Published March 27
Funding cuts to youth group are truly appalling