Turbulent waves at Public session on ferries

It probably was a case of preaching to the converted but last weeks public forum on ferry usage in British Columbia was well received by some very angry north coast residents.

MLA Gary Coons brought his traveling forum to Prince Rupert last Wednesday, allowing local residents to express their concerns and in many cases indignation at the state of the ferries and the government’s hands off attitude to an important coastal resource.

The Daily News highlighted some of the commentary in its front page story in Monday’s paper.

FERRY USERS ANGRY AS COST OF GETTING AROUND SPIRALS UP

By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Monday, January 21, 2008

Pages one and three

The discrimination against rural ferry-dependent communities that have a "marine highway" was the key focus of a meeting in Prince Rupert Wednesday evening.

About 40 people attended the 'Fight Ferry Fares' meeting hosted by North Coast MLA Gary Coons. Coons has been touring rural communities gathering comments on the failure of the marine highway system for the past month.

"The major concern was the fairness and equity to those on minor routes versus the major routes," said Coons.

B.C. Ferries was privatized under Bill 18, the Coastal Ferry Act, by the Liberals in 2001.
The bill cut up the marine highway system and segregated the major routes from the minor routes.

It was decided that major routes, or non-subsidized routes, would no longer be allowed to subsidize minor routes. Now, minor routes are facing a user-pay system in order to reduce the contributions being made by the provincial government, without any reference to the impacts this decision might have on rural communities, which produce much of the province's economic activities.

"We need to be on the same equity level as the other routes, a 'highway equivalency' should be looked at," said Coons.

Those at the meeting reflected the concern expressed last year by the directors of the Skeena Queen Charlotte Regional District, that new ships and terminal improvements are necessary but the costs are being borne by routes and are a real hit to smaller communities.

Coons said it angers people when they compare the vital ferry system to the support received by other forms of provincial transportation, such as highways and public transit.

"Ferries must be recognized as our Marine Highway and be in the same light as other Transportation projects with appropriate funding," said Coons.

"We all pay for the road to Whistler, the bridge infrastructure in Vancouver and Kelowna. Vessels and major upgrades need to be born by all British Columbians."

Recent fuel surcharges have also been higher on rural routes and the only watchdog for the ferry system, the B.C. Ferry Commissioner, is only responsible for the financial sustainability of the corporation, not the public's interest.

Given that the Coastal Ferry Act was introduced with minimal public consultation and minimal debate in the legislature all in less than 24 hours, people at the meeting said it is time to amend the legislation to include public consultation with those that rely and depend on ferries.

"Residents and businesses in ferry-dependent communities contribute to public transportation through gas taxes, sales taxes, rural provincial property taxes, income taxes and regional district transit levies," said Coons.

"They expect fair and equitable treatment and their government to support their transportation needs as it supports public transportation needs throughout the province."

The fuel that makes your government run!

They like their pizza, doughnuts and coffee in Victoria, the CBC website has released some of the uh, highlights of governmental spending in BC last year. Taken from the report of the Office of the Comptroller General, the unusual items ordered on the public dime make for a particularly unhealthy food group if ever there were one.

It was a year which saw the pizza industry find 128,000 delivered to its coffers from late night snacking, where 19,000 dollars worth of doughnuts were nibbled on and 51,ooo dollars worth of Starbucks coffee helped to keep our government operating.

Considering the diet of governmental recourse, it all gives us cause to wonder if perhaps Homer Simpson might not be the perfect MLA?


$128,000 for pizza: Frivolous or valid? NDP asks
B.C. finance minister says all charges are scrutinized, legitimate
Last Updated: Wednesday, July 18, 2007 9:17 AM PT
CBC News

The B.C. government spent $128,000 for takeout pizza, nearly $19,000 for doughnuts and more than $51,000 for Starbucks coffee last year, the NDP says.

It's all there, New Democrat MLA Guy Gentner said Tuesday, in the list of credit card billings released last week as part of the government's public accounts.

'We have a pattern of releasing all of the purchase card information to the public so that anyone can … ensure taxpayer dollars are not being misspent.'— Finance Minister Carole Taylor
"So you look at these expenses," Gentner said. "Are they frivolous expenses? Are they part of business? Perhaps."

The 1,221 page list includes charges for fast food and fine dining, flowers, balloons, greeting cards, even some liquor. And page after page of travel bookings.

"When you're … the Ministry of Income Assistance and … the deputy ministers have a penchant for fine Asian food, meanwhile your clients are diving in dumpsters at Main and Hastings — it's a double standard," Gentner said.

And the total of $60 million in credit card charges is up from $52 million the previous year, he noted.

But Finance Minister Carole Taylor said all the charges are carefully scrutinized every month and are legitimate expenses.

"A number of the pizza charges — and I'm sure no one in the public would begrudge this — were for the firemen working on the fires that they were protecting our property and our lives and they have to be fed and taken care of when they're in the field," Taylor said.

The New Democrats will follow up with Freedom of Information requests to see if the government can justify all the expenses, Gentner said.

But Taylor said she welcomes the scrutiny.

"The system works well. We're very pleased that we have a pattern of releasing all of the purchase card information to the public so that anyone can ask the questions you're asking and ensure taxpayer dollars are not being misspent."

Three days, one night of raising the issues

The democratic process in BC provincial politics received a three day window of opportunity last week, as the NDP managed to turn a quick in and out session into three days of debate (well filibustering is more like it) on some of the issues facing the province.

As has been documented in the past, the provincial Liberals chose not to have a fall session this year. Giving the public the feeling that there wasn’t much in the way to discuss, as in the Governments opinion, things in the province are apparently going so well that everyone is happy.

Instead of the time honoured tradition of a Legislative session and debate in the Legislature, the mechanics of government will work through the Premiers office as well as that of the Governmental Ministries. Leaving us with little in the way of an accountability session to be provided for in the Legislature until at least the spring.

So with that in mind, you have to take your opportunities when they arise and the opposition did that last week, forcing the government to at least go through the motions of parliamentary procedure for a couple of days. More of an inconvenience than anything else, but at least they had to punch the time clock for a few days.

The Daily News highlighted the concerns of the local MLA Gary Coons in the Friday edition of the paper.

PLIGHT OF CANNERY WORKERS RAISED IN VICTORIA
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Friday, December 1, 2006
Page one

The recent abbreviated sitting in the legislature didn’t stop North Coast MLA Gary Coons from bringing the plight of local shoreworkers to the forefront.

“Our caucus was in the legislature for a rare sitting earlier this week and we gave the Gordon Campbell government a lesson in democracy,” said Coons. “The Liberals wanted to come to Victoria for a day and then sneak away without being asked any tough questions. Well, we didn’t let that happen, we didn’t let them just walk away.

“We kept them there for three days and through the one night. We forced this arrogant, uncaring government to listen to provincial and local issues and concerns that did not have the opportunity to be democratically discussed, due to Gordon Campbell’s decision to cancel the fall session.”

On Wed., Nov. 22, the MLA presented a petition and individual letters to the Minister of Finance — a total of 127 letters and more than 500 signatures. The petition calls on the government to raise welfare rates and index them to inflation, remove arbitrary barriers to accessing welfare, allow recipients to earn at least $500 per month before it is deducted from their welfare cheques, and to raise minimum wage to $10 per hour and abolish the $6 training wage.

When Coons was given the chance to speak again this Wednesday he brought the plight of local fish workers to the floor of the legislature again despite it being 12:30 in the morning.

“I recently submitted to the House 127 individual letters and over 500 signatures from my constituents in Prince Rupert. I have not had the opportunity to question where this government is heading for helping the most vulnerable,” he said.

“It is vital that Income Assistance rates be adequate to ensure recipients, who have no alternatives, are able to subsist above the poverty line without enduring undue hardship.

“Due to the horrendous fishing season on the North Coast, many are in need, and took to a “Dignity Campaign” asking assistance from this government.

“My constituents would have wanted me to bring up these, but unfortunately I could not.
“Why? Because this government refuses to sit and refuses to do the work of this House … they refer to it as ‘busy work’.”

The North Coast MLA called the government ‘uncaring’ and ‘arrogant’ for their response so far to the difficulties being faced by many shore workers.

Smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette!

BC will soon officially join the ranks of those provinces that have already knocked back the number of places one can step out for a cigarette anymore.

By 2008, smoking in most public places will be banned; the ban will take effect even sooner, in September as smoking will be banned on all school property both public and private.

The measures announced today at the BC Liberal party convention in Penticton, are all part of the provinces new plan to reduce the stress on the health care system and bring BC into line with similar regulations in Quebec and Ontario.

The province’s plans will bring what’s common in the larger cities out to the rural areas, which is a part of the province not necessarily given to change easily, even if it is for their own good.

Staking out a claim to the Northwest ridings

It’s a huge challenge facing the B. C. Electoral Boundaries Commission as they set about trying to re-configure the ridings of the Northwest to better reflect provincial guidelines for population/representation.

The task at hand is to examine how best to provide representation to the residents of the Northwest taking into account the geography of the region and how that impacts on the ability of an MLA to not only represent but gain access to his or her constituents.

The fear of the North coast is the possibility of a merger or redistribution with the Skeena riding, which could steer the riding’s issues closer to the interests of those inland and not necessarily reflecting those that might be important here.

It’s one of those decisions that could change an entire dynamic of a region, so expect there to be quite a bit of interest in the issue. With a population that has stagnated and in fact declined over the last ten years the status quo may be a hard sell, but with everyone and their dog projecting a surge in population for the North Coast as major projects come on line, one wonders if it’s wise to change the boundaries until a clearer picture of the future is in place.

It’s those factors and many others that will be put forward as the commission travels around the northwest. The Daily News examined the issue prior to their scheduled hearings in Prince Rupert on Tuesday night.

SPARSE RIDING PRESENTS CHALLENGE FOR TEAM
By James Vassallo
The Daily News
Monday, October 16, 2006
Pages One and Three

The B. C. Electoral Commission faces a “huge challenge” in balancing the need for fair representation with the small population of the province’s three Northwest ridings.

“Each MLA should represent about the same number of residents based on the provincial population divided by the number of electoral districts,” said Commissioner Stewart Ladyman. “The three districts we are speaking about all fall well below the provincial average which is currently about 54,000 people.

”While our geography makes B. C. the beautiful province it is, it’s also challenging to create equitable representation for all citizens.”

The situation becomes even more difficult on the North Coast. While the Bulkley Valley-Stikine has a population of between 30,000 and 32,000 and projections show modest growth to 2013, and Skeena is forecast to remain constant at around 31,000, the North Coast is projected to drop to 26,000 people by 2013 from a high of 32,000 in 1996. However, the possible amalgamation of the three ridings into two or some other change is not necessarily written in stone.

“In the last commission they had six electoral districts that qualified as very special circumstance,” said Ladyman. “We know that the Commission will no doubt have to consider (that).”

The Commission which has a public meeting in Rupert on Tuesday, Oct. 17 from 6:30-9:30 p. m. at the Crest, will also look at economic developments like the container port and other major Northwest projects that should bring more people to the area.

“We can take in some of those economic indicators which may increase the population, but it’s a very dicey thing” he said, noting that legally the Commission is bound largely by the 2006 Census numbers which will be released next spring. “We have to have some huge proof that those numbers will generate.

“We have somewhere around 26,000 in North Coast, just to get up to the 54,000… (it) would have to double in size. Are (people) predicting you’ll have that flow of people moving into your area between 2009 and 2013? We’ll listen to them.

The group also wants to hear from residents about what they feel the impacts will be if there are changes to the electoral boundaries.

“Our purpose… is to hear from the people of the area about the changes that are taking place in the population numbers as well as other factors such as history and access concerns that should be factored into the commission’s thinking,” he said.

“We believe the process we’ve designed for these public consultations will serve our goals of transparency, independence and accessibility.”

That being said, Ladyman notes 51 per cent of the population lives in the Greater Vancouver Regional District.

Most people in Southern B. C., say you’re not going to be adding seats in the North because that’s not where the population is,” he said, noting that the commission has the authority to expand the legislature from 79 to a maximum of 85 MLA’s. “Then, people in consultation are telling us that basically every time you add some in the Lower Mainland, you’re actually diluting the representation from rural British Columbia.

“It’s an interesting dichotomy we have to wrestle with.”

At last week’s council meeting, the city also agreed to send a delegation to the upcoming public meeting of the commission. The city is hoping Skeena-Queen Charlotte Regional District and Port Edward will join in to provide a united front in opposition to any plans that would see fewer elected representatives in the North.

A case of sampling too much of what they sell?

Tonight is awards night for the BC Liquor Distribution Branch, a gala affair at Government House in Victoria that recognizes the hard work that our liquor store employees provide in the line of duty.

The hope is that this years event goes down like a bottle of fine scotch, as opposed to last years festivities that ended up resembling something akin to the worst hooch ever concocted in a bath tub.

The Liquor Distribution Board has warned its employees to be on their best behaviour at the show, this after word got out that decorum, good taste and good manners were missing from the ranks of last years honorees and their fellow workers.

The CBC recounts some of the low lights of last years show and the hope that this year the event goes off without any similar incidents.

One would suggest that if they want the show to go off without a hitch, then they had best hide the hooch!