Month: March 2009
My “Universal Child Care Benefit” has evaporated to a parallel universe
Mar 9, 2009
I just got a letter from my daughter’s daycare that her monthly fees are going up again next month. They will now be $700. When she started at the daycare two and a half years ago, they were $600. So much for the Harper government’s much touted $100 per month child care benefit. Recall that… View Article
Nailing down homeless targets
Mar 9, 2009
Kudos to BC’s Auditor General for his report on homelessness last week. John Doyle’s report raised numerous concerns, including that the provincial government lacks solid numbers on how many homeless people there are in BC, who they are, and most importantly, he found that the province does not have a clear and comprehensive action plan,… View Article
Pining for some straight talk
Mar 6, 2009
BC Forests Minister Pat Bell grabbed plenty of headlines this week when he said that the threats posed to resource communities by the mountain pine beetle infestation may be overstated. Stories about a rapid deterioration in the quality of trees attacked by the beetles, Bell suggested, are wrong. In fact, the minister said, he expects… View Article
IWD commitments on my wish list
Mar 5, 2009
With International Women’s Day on the horizon this weekend, I’m looking for some commitments. Women are over-represented in low-wage work. So which party in the upcoming election will commit to an investment in BC’s social capital through a living wage policy for the public sector, including public contractors? Stimulating the local economy and adding to… View Article
And Another Thing About the Port Mann non-P3
Mar 4, 2009
Now that the government has abandoned private financing of the Port Mann, it’s time to make the bigger but equally sensible leap and abandon the concept of a cost recovery project toll. I’m all for tolling. Unless you are a fan of the queues inevitably created by what can only be described as our current… View Article
The Lawsuit
Mar 4, 2009
The Lawsuit A couple of weeks ago I wrote that Brian Day and his followers had launched a lawsuit against the province, alleging that, “in contravention of the value of individual choice,” the Medicare Protection Act restricts or prohibits patients from “accessing the private health care of their choice”. Day & Co. brazenly admit in… View Article
Memo to Colin Hansen: Time for forest industry reality check
Mar 2, 2009
If Finance Minister Colin Hansen’s budget forecasts are right, British Columbia’s battered forest industry is in for a modest recovery this coming fiscal year and a more robust recovery in 2010/2011. Gian Sandhu isn’t buying it. Owner of the Jackpine Group of Companies in Williams Lake, Sandhu was a leading light in British Columbia’s interior… View Article