Web posted on Thursday, 30 April 2009 CHBC VIDEO
A Vernon Elementary has been closed after a grade three student contracts the H1N1 swine flu.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
The lowdown on P3 projects
The BC Liberals say that partnering with private companies on major infrastructure projects, like Abbotsford Hospital or the Canada Line, has saved taxpayers millions. These P3 projects, also known as public-private partnerships, are created when a private company finances, builds, and operates a project -- with taxpayers then making payments to the company for several decades in return for them bankrolling it. This compares with the traditional model of infrastructure project where a company just builds the project while the government finances and operates it. The Liberals say all P3 projects they've initiated have been built on time and on budget.
Nine such projects have already been completed and seven are under construction in B.C. Forensic accountant Ron Parks, who was hired by the Canadian Union of Public Employees to review the government's P3 policy, has concerns. "The budgets are too high and they're on time, but there's no reason why any project can't be on time if there's an incentive," Parks said. Parks has experience looking critically at government policy having previously investigated the Bingogate scandal that brought down NDP premier Mike Harcourt. The forensic accountant was brought in to crunch the numbers for the P3s to see if they really save money for taxpayers. He believes his research says no. Part of the problem, he found, was the cost of financing these mega projects. "The government can borrow at rates that are significantly lower than the private sector," he said. "Why saddle a future generation with more than we have to, and if P3s are doing that they're not really a success story."
According to government reports that compare the P3 cost to what it would have cost under a traditional model, the BC Liberals say P3s have saved taxpayers $340 million. The Liberals say P3s allow the private sector to carry the risk, but companies add that risk into the pricetag for taxpayers. They continue to be committed to P3s when they make business sense. And they have the qualified support of University of British Columbia economist Dr. Tom Ross of the Sauder School of Business. "There's an increasing consensus developing that P3s for roads make a lot of sense," he said. "P3s for more complicated projects like health facilities could be more problematic, because what is a hospital going to look like in 25 years?" Many observers say it's just too early to declare P3s a success or a failure.
The NDP position is it would pursue government financing of new projects rather than P3s. Interestingly, the Liberals wanted the new Port Mann to be a P3 but the company couldn't get financing. So the Campbell government took over that project. And even though it's no longer a P3, the Liberals announced during the election campaign that it would finish early and be cheaper because of government financing.
For the full report on P3s by forensic accountant Ron Parks, click here.
For the B.C. government's report on P3s, click here.
Candidates face tough questions
Published: April 30, 2009 6:00 PM Roger Knox - Vernon Morning Star
As both a veteran and a 17-year retired school board trustee, Lumby’s George McQueen has fought his share of battles and been faced with making some tough decisions. So, at a Vernon-Monashee all-candidates forum at the White Valley Community Centre in Lumby Wednesday, McQueen asked five of the six candidates perhaps the most poignant and straightest question of all during the two-hour event. “If push came to shove, which would you choose: your party’s policies, your constituents’ views, or your conscience?” asked McQueen, a question that generated some gasps among the 50 people in attendance.
“Gee, are there going to be any tough questions?” chuckled Vernon’s Mark Olsen, NDP hopeful, who had the task of being the first to answer. “Hopefully, they would all line up, but I like to believe I’m of the opinion that I would go with my conscience if it was for the benefit of the constituency.” Eric Foster, the Liberal candidate and Lumby mayor, said at the end of the day, there’s only way to go and that’s with his conscience. Lumby’s Huguette Allen, representing the Green Party, said if she was elected, she would make sure there was constant dialogue with the constituents. “The easy answer is to do what the constituents want, that’s who I work for if elected, but how do I know it’s what all the constituents want?” said Allen. Conservative and Refed Party representatives Dean Skoreyko and R.J. Busch, respectively, both said they would go with the views of their constituents.“So, the consensus is, the party’s out and conscience is in?” asked McQueen, to which the majority of candidates nodded. Independent Gordon Campbell was not at the forum, which was hosted by the Lumby Chamber of Commerce.
The candidates were given a chance to introduce themselves before answering four prepared questions from the chamber, dealing with such topics as taxes, building a road to Lumby from Silver Star Mountain Resort and the single transferable vote referendum on May 12. The question, though, that generated the most heat was a question that hit close to home with several of the candidates and those in the crowd. The quintet was asked where they and their party stand on the new meat processing regulations that have shut down many small farms in the riding. “Scrap it. Get rid of it,” answered Skoreyko, who is a Coldstream resident. “There’s only one party in favour of it and that’s the government that’s in place. Why was this regulation event put in place to begin with? It’s a ridiculous policy and we would scrap it right now.” Foster believes the policy was put in place by his party to ensure food safety. “If we don’t have our meat inspected, we can’t ship it across the line,” said Foster, in reference to exporting meat to the United States. “However, there are obviously some serious concerns for small producers and, if elected, I will take those concerns to Victoria.” Busch grew up on a farm where cows, pigs and chickens were slaughtered regularly.“For a lot of people in this area, this is their livelihood,” said Busch, who lives in Coldstream. “For those who have to shut everything down, they have nothing to leave for their children. Why was this brought in without talking to the people it affects?” Olsen called the meat regulations a “lose-lose-lose situation for everybody,” while Allen put the blame on the federal government for taking away food safety from Health Canada in 1996.
Questions from the floor dealt with such topics as the rising cost of land, education and the future of children, development, affordable and seniors housing for Lumby and where candidates stood on the paramedics strike across the province. Seven striking paramedics peacefully greeted forum-goers at the door, handing out strike information leaflets, and held up signs saying “Save Our Paramedics” during the forum.
There are two upcoming chances to talk to Vernon-Monashee candidates about issues during the election. One public forum will be held Monday at 7 p.m. at the Vernon Performing Arts Centre, while Vernon Women In Business will host a luncheon forum on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. at the Schubert Centre.The cost for the WIB luncheon forum is $16 for non-members. Call 503-7856 for more information.
Little interest in slot machine rules
Published: April 30, 2009 6:00 PM Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star
Apparently Vernonites don’t have an issue with how many slot machines are in the city. The City of Vernon held a public hearing Monday on a proposed bylaw that would increase the number of slot machines from 300 to 400. But no members of the public provided input on the plan. “More people were concerned about the relocation of the casino and the actual numbers aren’t a concern,” said Coun. Bob Spiers. The bylaw would also only permit 10 gaming tables in Vernon. Last fall, the previous council established a limit of 300 slot machines in Vernon, although the B.C. Lottery Corporation and Lake City Casinos wanted 400 for the new casino opening soon on Anderson Way. City officials have previously stated that even with the bylaw limiting slot machines to 300, Lake City Casinos could still have 400 because the devices were shown in designs submitted to the city.
But that would make the operation legally non-conforming under bylaw, something BCLC is not used to being in for the slot machines it owns. Coun. Jack Gilroy believes the current rules treat the casino unfairly because BCLC and Lake City Casino have met all of the necessary planning requirements. “They built the building for that size and if people don’t go, they will have to deal with it (too many machines),” he said. Gilroy also insists that more slot machines will be financially beneficial for the city because it receives 10 per cent of net casino revenue under legislation. Gilroy wasn’t surprised that there wasn’t any public opposition to increasing the number of slot machines at Monday’s hearing. “We’ve had all the public hearings and done our due diligence,” he said. Some members of the former council had hoped that restricting the number of slot machines would force Lake City Casinos to provide money for a social responsibility fund, but the company declined to do so. Now that the public hearing has been held, council must consider final adoption of the bylaw.
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Lack of protest speaks volumes Editorial Morning Star April 30:
The public has spoken. Or perhaps, a more apt description, is the public hasn’t spoken. Therefore the issue should be laid to rest. The City of Vernon held a public hearing Monday on a proposed bylaw that would increase the number of slot machines allowed in the city from 300 to 400. And nobody showed up to speak about the plan. That’s because the public knows this has been a council-generated tempest in a teapot that really didn’t involve the public in the first place. It was actually the former council that backtracked on the number of slot machines after 400 of the machines were shown in designs for the soon-to-open new facility by Lake City Casino to the city. Following that, the previous council created a bylaw establishing a limit of 300 slot machines that was an attempt to leverage more money for a social responsibility fund.
No matter how well intentioned the tactic may have been at the time, it wasn’t fair or business-like, nor did it achieve its goal. Although the casino could open and be non-conforming to the 300-machine bylaw, that is less than ideal for Lake City and the B.C. Lottery Corporation. “We’ve had all the public hearings and done our due diligence,” said Coun. Jack Gilroy, who quarterbacked the new bylaw and wasn’t surprised by the lack of public opposition to making things right. Now that the public hearing, or perhaps lack of hearing is more accurate, is completed, council can consider final adoption of the bylaw. Please, council, also consider it a done deal.
Councillor takes another shot at budget
Published: April 30, 2009 6:00 PM Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star
A Vernon politician claims the city’s 2009 budget ignores the wishes of the public. Coun. Bob Spiers told his colleagues Monday that not enough time was spent looking at the business plan, and that there was “limited and selected” staff response to input garnered at a public meeting. “There were 70 or 80 people there and we spent five minutes talking about it,” he said. “There was no debate on the business tax ratio.” And Spiers continued to slam the process when he was approached by the media. “I wouldn’t say it was a sham but the input came so late in the process that mind’s had been made up and councillors were battling budget fatigue,” he said.
The tax increase for an average assessed home is 1.99 per cent but Spiers says it will be considerably higher for many homes because of a shift in fire protection taxation and land (not just improvements) being levied for firefighting services. “We’ve come out with a budget that I can’t support,” said Spiers, adding that residents can get a better idea of their tax rate by going to the city website. “They can see how the budget and tax base we changed affects them.”
The only other opponent to the budget has been Coun. Patrick Nicol, and the rest of the politicians defend their actions. “We debated and spent a lot of time on the budget. It’s a fair system,” said Coun. Shawn Lee. Lee also denies that council ignored the comments made by residents at the input session. “I heard it all,” he said. Lee and Councillors Jack Gilroy and Mary-Jo O’Keefe voted for third reading of the city’s tax rates bylaw Monday while Spiers and Nicol raised their hands against. Mayor Wayne Lippert and Coun. Buffy Baumbrough were absent.
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Don Quixote Note: The city's tax calculator has not yet been updated. You can figure out your City Taxes the old manual way by going to Update on City Taxes for 2009
Canada Pressured the US to Dilute Climate Action
Green Party Media Release:
OTTAWA--The Conservative government tried to dissuade California from climate action while telling the Canadian public it was going to follow the US lead. Letters posted by the Natural Resources Defence Council written by our Ambassador to the United States, the Hon. Michael Wilson and Natural Resources Minister, the Hon. Lisa Raitt, reveal the government’s intention to thwart international action on climate change. The letters, addressed to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, urge him not to proceed with California’s low carbon fuel standard --- one of California’s world leading measures to combat global warming.
“The Harper government has attempted to create the impression that weare working closely with the Obama Administration on continental climate action. This piece of fiction was already disputed by former TransAlta Vice President Bob Page in his comments on the National Round Table report,” said Elizabeth May, “Bob Page made it clear no US official with whom he spoke thinks that a cap and trade programme including Canada is on the works. Now we know that the Conservative government is actively trying to derail action in the United States.” The letters express concern that California’s low carbon fuel standard will prevent tars sands oil from being exported to California as well as potentially setting a standard that other states will attempt to
follow.
The letters also suggest the low carbon fuel standard could lead to unfavourable and discriminatory treatment of tar sands oil. The use of this language can be read as a subtle threat to invoke the North American Free Trade Agreement to challenge California’s regulation. Minister Raitt’s letter also attempts to mislead Governor Schwarzenegger by confusing Canada’s national emissions reduction target with improvements in the carbon intensity of tar sands
production, giving the impression that emissions from the tars sands will be reduced when they are expected to more than double.
-30-
Copies of the letters are available at
http://greenparty.ca/files/raitt_letter_lcfs.pdf
http://greenparty.ca/files/wilson_letter_lcfs.pdf
OTTAWA--The Conservative government tried to dissuade California from climate action while telling the Canadian public it was going to follow the US lead. Letters posted by the Natural Resources Defence Council written by our Ambassador to the United States, the Hon. Michael Wilson and Natural Resources Minister, the Hon. Lisa Raitt, reveal the government’s intention to thwart international action on climate change. The letters, addressed to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, urge him not to proceed with California’s low carbon fuel standard --- one of California’s world leading measures to combat global warming.
“The Harper government has attempted to create the impression that weare working closely with the Obama Administration on continental climate action. This piece of fiction was already disputed by former TransAlta Vice President Bob Page in his comments on the National Round Table report,” said Elizabeth May, “Bob Page made it clear no US official with whom he spoke thinks that a cap and trade programme including Canada is on the works. Now we know that the Conservative government is actively trying to derail action in the United States.” The letters express concern that California’s low carbon fuel standard will prevent tars sands oil from being exported to California as well as potentially setting a standard that other states will attempt to
follow.
The letters also suggest the low carbon fuel standard could lead to unfavourable and discriminatory treatment of tar sands oil. The use of this language can be read as a subtle threat to invoke the North American Free Trade Agreement to challenge California’s regulation. Minister Raitt’s letter also attempts to mislead Governor Schwarzenegger by confusing Canada’s national emissions reduction target with improvements in the carbon intensity of tar sands
production, giving the impression that emissions from the tars sands will be reduced when they are expected to more than double.
-30-
Copies of the letters are available at
http://greenparty.ca/files/raitt_letter_lcfs.pdf
http://greenparty.ca/files/wilson_letter_lcfs.pdf
Swine flu closes Vernon school
Roger Knox - Vernon Morning Star Published: April 30, 2009 4:00 PM
A Vernon elementary student has the Okanagan’s first case of the swine flu. As a result, Beairsto Elementary, where the unidentified student attends, has been closed for today and for all of next week. Dr. Andrew Larder, senior medical health officer for Interior Health Authority, announced via conference call late Thursday afternoon that IHA had its first lab-confirmed case of the swine influenza. “The symptoms were, again, as has been seen with the other cases in Canada, mild influenza-like illness,” said Larder. “There was no need for hospitalization and the person is recovering well from the infection.” The student had been back at school for a week after returning with family from a trip to Mexico, where the virus is believed to have originated perhaps in early March. Larder said IHA was informed of the Vernon case Wednesday night and worked closely with the school to plan its response to the case.The doctor added it was the Ministry of Education who made the decision to close the school for a week.
“We are advising parents and children who attend this school, as we are advising everybody else in this circumstance, that if they develop influenza symptoms, particularly fever and cough, that they isolate themselves and treat the symptoms at home,” said Larder. “They should have good respiratory etiquette, close their mouth when they cough or sneeze, and wash their hands frequently. Interior Health encourages everyone to wash their hands frequently and avoid touching their nose, mouth or hands with unwashed hands. Larder said parents of Beairsto students should monitor their children. “See if they develop symptoms, see if they begin running a fever, but we don’t know the extent of the risk associated with this case being in the school,” he said. “That’s one thing we will be keeping an eye on over the next week, to see what evidence there is that there may have been other cases associated with this.” Vernon School District superintendent Bob Peacock said the district will be keeping a close eye on the situation. “We’ll be in constant contact with Interior Health on where we’re going next,” said Peacock. The district has asked Beairsto’s staff members to stay away from the building today. The school is home to approximately 540 students and nearly 30 teachers and support staff.Larder said IHA is asking the school district to monitor its other schools and report a high number of absences, as they would during flu season.
Flu Case Closes Vernon School
Peter McIntyre Thursday, 30 April 2009 107.5 KISSFM:
B.C. health officials have decided to close a Vernon elementary school after a student was diagnosed with swine flu. Beairsto Elementary school will remain closed for a week. Officials say it's a precautionary step after a student at the 500-student French immersion school tested positive for the H1N1 influenza. They say the student had a mild case and is at home recovering well. School board chairman Bill Turanski tells KISS FM it involves a girl in grade 3, but he's not sure about the circumstances of how she got the illness.
Provincial Health Officer Perry Kendall says the swine flu in B.C. is similar to a seasonal flu at this point, and parents should take the normal precautions such as keeping sick children home from class. There are now 34 cases of swine flu across Canada, but all cases have been mild and there have been no deaths in this country.
Kendall goes on to say, At this point, the cases in British Columbia are all very similar to seasonal influenza," said Kendall. "The best thing parents and schools can do to protect children is to keep them home from school if they're sick and to continue taking common sense health precautions to combat the spread of the flu."
Schools and parents can take the following basic precautions to prevent the spread of influenza:
* Stay home when you're sick or have influenza symptoms;
* Avoid close contact with people who are sick;
* Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze and throw the tissue away immediately;
* If you don't have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve, not your hands;
* Clean your hands often with soap and warm water, or a gel- or alcohol-based hand cleanser;
* Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth; and
* Practice other good health habits.
Message to health minister: Stop the numbers game
Jeremy Tate and Marcy Cohen, Special to the Vancouver Sun
With an election on, it's no surprise that the provincial government is claiming success on everything from the environment to the economy. But one area where it hasn't earned bragging rights is seniors' care. The home and community health-care system that seniors and their families rely on is in serious decline, thanks to years of poorly planned restructuring and a failure to maintain (let alone enhance) access to key services as B.C.'s population ages. The most problematic area of all is long-term care -- often referred to as residential care or nursing homes.
Before its election in 2001, the government promised to build 5,000 new non-profit residential care beds within five years. Numbers obtained through a freedom of information request from the province's health authorities show that there are fewer residential care beds today than there were in 2001 -- 804 fewer, to be precise. What the province has done is build 4,393 new assisted-living units. Given that we have lost 804 residential care beds, this works out to 3,589 net new beds, all of which are assisted living. But that only makes sense if we assume residential care and assisted living are interchangeable. They aren't. Assisted living is for seniors who can live quite independently without 24-hour supervision. Residential care is appropriate for the frail elderly with "total care" needs and includes 24-hour nursing supervision. Assisted living is an important part of a continuum of home and community health care services -- but it is not a substitute for residential care beds.
Pressed by journalists last week, Health Minister George Abbott admitted the government has not built the promised residential care beds. However, he also claimed that our research - published earlier this month in a Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives study -- is not to be trusted. This is a bizarre accusation. Our bed numbers were obtained from the health authorities and verified with individual facilities. The Ministry of Health Services, in contrast, reports much higher numbers because it counts beds that have nothing to do with long-term care for seniors -- such as adult group homes, mental health facilities, supportive housing, etc. The misreporting of beds is something the minister should be called on to explain. This numbers game is a symptom of much deeper problems in our home and community health care system. The CCPA is not alone in drawing attention to these problems. The B.C. Medical Association, the auditor-general and the B.C. Care Providers Association have all raised concerns recently about the deteriorating state of seniors' care. Today, B.C. has the lowest access to residential care of any province other than New Brunswick (access means the number of beds per 1,000 seniors aged 75 and older.)
Access to home support has dropped since 2001 -- by a substantial 30 per cent (these are personal care services provided in seniors' homes, such as help with bathing and medications.). Access to home nursing also dropped, by 11 per cent. Only access to community rehabilitation has seen an increase, up 24 per cent. The province's way of dealing with inadequate service levels has been to limit eligibility to those seniors with higher-level needs. As a result, the vital prevention and early intervention role of home and community health care is undermined. The government's failure to maintain (let alone increase) access levels means many seniors have to rely on family members for care or simply go without. Too often, seniors living at home get access to the residential and other community health services they need only after being admitted to hospital. Being in hospital is hard on the frail elderly. It blocks beds that could be used by other patients who genuinely require acute care services. And it's extremely expensive.
Providing effective community-based health care to seniors is not an impossible challenge. Adequate funding is an important part of the solution, but so is better coordination of services. A number of successful and innovative programs are in place in communities across B.C. These programs bring different care providers together to better coordinate, monitor and deliver care to the frail elderly. While these innovations hold much promise, they remain at the margins -- isolated pockets of excellence in the midst of a home and community care system that is largely in decline. If they are to make a difference, they will need to be scaled up and introduced provincewide.What we need in this election is not more hot air about bed numbers. We need leadership and a commitment to transparency, public consultation, good planning and increased access to seniors' care.
Jeremy Tate is a former director of health facilities planning at the Capital Regional District in Victoria. Marcy Cohen is a research associate with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
More Down Time For Tolko
Peter McIntyre Thursday, 30 April 2009 107.5 KISSFM
Employees at the Tolko sawmill in Armstrong are facing more time off, without pay. The Vernon based wood products company has announced a one week curtailment starting Monday, affecting 185 workers. Plant manager Pat Donnelly says it's due to a continued lack of demand, adding the slowdown will remove five million board feet from the marketplace.
Employees at the Tolko sawmill in Armstrong are facing more time off, without pay. The Vernon based wood products company has announced a one week curtailment starting Monday, affecting 185 workers. Plant manager Pat Donnelly says it's due to a continued lack of demand, adding the slowdown will remove five million board feet from the marketplace.
RURAL NORTH OKANAGAN GROUP TACKLES HIGH SPEED INTERNET ACCESS
April 29, 2009 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Rural North Okanagan, BC – If you live in Rural Lumby or Cherryville you may be noticing more Telus vehicles frequenting the countryside, and for Larry MacGregor that is very good news. "We’ve just been told that Telus will be upgrading the main trunk line between Lumby and Brenda Falls north of Cherryville making the main Telus line capable of full ADSL service”, said MacGregor, who added that the upgrade will be happening this summer and represents a giant step towards high-speed Internet being available to the rural areas around Lumby and Cherryville.
According to MacGregor the giant step is good, but the work is just beginning, “Now we have to convince Telus to upgrade the service infrastructure along the new line so that high speed can be delivered to households”.MacGregor is working with a handful of residents calling themselves the Rural Broadband Access Alliance for Lumby and Cherryville. The group has been working to convince Telus to expand the company’s high speed Internet service into the rural areas east of Vernon. The effort began as a one man campaign, and was driven by the frustrations caused by the slow speed of dial-up Internet service which renders any effective use of the Internet impossible.
“There’s had been rumours for the past ten years that the high speed infrastructure actually existed here, but wasn’t activated, so finally I just decided to start asking Telus whether this was true or not”, said MacGregor who owns Landslide Studios, a pottery studio on River Road. A small group of residents emerged to help MacGregor and to develop a strategy to convince the company to activate the service. “As it stands, if I try to send a photograph over the net, I press the “send button”, and go for coffee – maybe after two cups, I’ll come back and it might be finished sending – to understand just how slow it is, I can begin sending that photo to someone 10 km away, jump in my car, drive to their house, and get there before the photo arrives on their computer”. As it turns out many residents share in MacGregor’s frustration, so many in fact that there are now over 700 households on a petition requesting that Telus activate high speed service in the rural areas and has grown into one of the most important issues for residents. “The number of people signed up continues to grow daily. I think we’re all frustrated with the fact that the rest of the world seems to have access to wireless or high speed, and here we are in the third most populated region in BC and we’re still stuck in the dark ages”, says MacGregor. Presently, most of the outlying areas surrounding the Village of Lumby and all of Cherryville are without high speed Internet and rely on dial-up service or expensive satellite service.
Ken Jeannotte is part of a growing community of part-time area residents that see dial-up as hindering certain lifestyle decisions. “We operate a business in Vancouver and we would move our business to our property so that we could live full-time in rural Lumby, but dependable high speed Internet needs to be available in order for us to make that choice”, said Jeannotte. Jeannotte believes he is not alone, claiming that many business people he meets in his travels wanting the slower pace of a rural area would relocate, but they can’t run their business on a dial up connection. Allen Haworth another member of the group, describes the problematic conditions that exist in this part of the Okanagan. “Rural areas like this, that exist just beyond the suburbs are often too remote for companies like Telus to simply expand service from urban centres, and we’re not remote enough to take advantage of government subsidy programs”, he says. Haworth added, “The fact that properties are spread out over a large geographic area and often in valleys affected by transmission shadows means that wire is expensive to install, and wireless is either too costly or ineffective because of the lack of line-of-site transmission”. But according to the group, they believe, that shouldn’t hinder Telus from providing service.
“The argument is really an economic one – most of the residents here are long-time property owners and Telus customers. We estimate that over the past ten years alone, phone subscribers here have paid the company over $4 million in phone charges, and we think it’s time for Telus to reinvest in this subscription base. Presently, we can prove that if 60 percent of Telus phone subscribers added high speed to their accounts here, an additional $3 million over 10 years could be generated for the company in additional monthly subscription fees”, said Doug Jones another member of the group. According to MacGregor, the response from Telus has been very good so far, and with the news that the trunk line is being upgraded there seems to be a diligent effort to move forward. “This region needs to become a priority for Telus, we need to establish upgrading and activation timelines that are sooner than later. It’s really the most efficient and cost effective way for bringing high speed internet to rural Lumby and Cherryville - most rural residents out here are farmers or they are self-employed in forestry, tourism or in home-based businesses, and more and more they rely on the Internet for doing business,” added MacGregor. The group is still encouraging residents to sign the petition which will be available until May 9th. Petitions are available at: The Lumby Village Office, the NORD office, the Cherryville Emporium, Franks Store, Tutor Tech Computers, Top Video, Valley First Credit Union, Huberts and Lumby IDA Pharmacy.
As of 2007, Canada’s broadband Internet network spanned 63 per cent of communities and serves over 89 per cent of our population. While this is substantial coverage, it means that 3 million Canadians are still cut off from the modern economy due to lack of broadband Internet access. If left as is, it means that country-wide, hundreds of towns and regions in places like the North Okanagan will fall further and further behind as the broadband connected world develops without them. “The federal government wants to invest in broadband for rural areas particularly for communities that are too sparsely populated and too distant from urban cores for private broadband development to be profitable – but here, the private sector may be able to save taxpayers that cost simply by upgrading and activating the service”, says MacGregor. MacGregor points to a campaign promise from Prime Minister Stephen Harper who said, “We believe that the government needs to make completing the network a priority. Strong economic development across all regions, big or small, rural or urban, is crucial to Canada’s interests, and in today’s knowledge economy, that can’t happen without broadband Internet access”.
For more information contact Larry MacGregor at 250-547-6740.
Rural North Okanagan, BC – If you live in Rural Lumby or Cherryville you may be noticing more Telus vehicles frequenting the countryside, and for Larry MacGregor that is very good news. "We’ve just been told that Telus will be upgrading the main trunk line between Lumby and Brenda Falls north of Cherryville making the main Telus line capable of full ADSL service”, said MacGregor, who added that the upgrade will be happening this summer and represents a giant step towards high-speed Internet being available to the rural areas around Lumby and Cherryville.
According to MacGregor the giant step is good, but the work is just beginning, “Now we have to convince Telus to upgrade the service infrastructure along the new line so that high speed can be delivered to households”.MacGregor is working with a handful of residents calling themselves the Rural Broadband Access Alliance for Lumby and Cherryville. The group has been working to convince Telus to expand the company’s high speed Internet service into the rural areas east of Vernon. The effort began as a one man campaign, and was driven by the frustrations caused by the slow speed of dial-up Internet service which renders any effective use of the Internet impossible.
“There’s had been rumours for the past ten years that the high speed infrastructure actually existed here, but wasn’t activated, so finally I just decided to start asking Telus whether this was true or not”, said MacGregor who owns Landslide Studios, a pottery studio on River Road. A small group of residents emerged to help MacGregor and to develop a strategy to convince the company to activate the service. “As it stands, if I try to send a photograph over the net, I press the “send button”, and go for coffee – maybe after two cups, I’ll come back and it might be finished sending – to understand just how slow it is, I can begin sending that photo to someone 10 km away, jump in my car, drive to their house, and get there before the photo arrives on their computer”. As it turns out many residents share in MacGregor’s frustration, so many in fact that there are now over 700 households on a petition requesting that Telus activate high speed service in the rural areas and has grown into one of the most important issues for residents. “The number of people signed up continues to grow daily. I think we’re all frustrated with the fact that the rest of the world seems to have access to wireless or high speed, and here we are in the third most populated region in BC and we’re still stuck in the dark ages”, says MacGregor. Presently, most of the outlying areas surrounding the Village of Lumby and all of Cherryville are without high speed Internet and rely on dial-up service or expensive satellite service.
Ken Jeannotte is part of a growing community of part-time area residents that see dial-up as hindering certain lifestyle decisions. “We operate a business in Vancouver and we would move our business to our property so that we could live full-time in rural Lumby, but dependable high speed Internet needs to be available in order for us to make that choice”, said Jeannotte. Jeannotte believes he is not alone, claiming that many business people he meets in his travels wanting the slower pace of a rural area would relocate, but they can’t run their business on a dial up connection. Allen Haworth another member of the group, describes the problematic conditions that exist in this part of the Okanagan. “Rural areas like this, that exist just beyond the suburbs are often too remote for companies like Telus to simply expand service from urban centres, and we’re not remote enough to take advantage of government subsidy programs”, he says. Haworth added, “The fact that properties are spread out over a large geographic area and often in valleys affected by transmission shadows means that wire is expensive to install, and wireless is either too costly or ineffective because of the lack of line-of-site transmission”. But according to the group, they believe, that shouldn’t hinder Telus from providing service.
“The argument is really an economic one – most of the residents here are long-time property owners and Telus customers. We estimate that over the past ten years alone, phone subscribers here have paid the company over $4 million in phone charges, and we think it’s time for Telus to reinvest in this subscription base. Presently, we can prove that if 60 percent of Telus phone subscribers added high speed to their accounts here, an additional $3 million over 10 years could be generated for the company in additional monthly subscription fees”, said Doug Jones another member of the group. According to MacGregor, the response from Telus has been very good so far, and with the news that the trunk line is being upgraded there seems to be a diligent effort to move forward. “This region needs to become a priority for Telus, we need to establish upgrading and activation timelines that are sooner than later. It’s really the most efficient and cost effective way for bringing high speed internet to rural Lumby and Cherryville - most rural residents out here are farmers or they are self-employed in forestry, tourism or in home-based businesses, and more and more they rely on the Internet for doing business,” added MacGregor. The group is still encouraging residents to sign the petition which will be available until May 9th. Petitions are available at: The Lumby Village Office, the NORD office, the Cherryville Emporium, Franks Store, Tutor Tech Computers, Top Video, Valley First Credit Union, Huberts and Lumby IDA Pharmacy.
As of 2007, Canada’s broadband Internet network spanned 63 per cent of communities and serves over 89 per cent of our population. While this is substantial coverage, it means that 3 million Canadians are still cut off from the modern economy due to lack of broadband Internet access. If left as is, it means that country-wide, hundreds of towns and regions in places like the North Okanagan will fall further and further behind as the broadband connected world develops without them. “The federal government wants to invest in broadband for rural areas particularly for communities that are too sparsely populated and too distant from urban cores for private broadband development to be profitable – but here, the private sector may be able to save taxpayers that cost simply by upgrading and activating the service”, says MacGregor. MacGregor points to a campaign promise from Prime Minister Stephen Harper who said, “We believe that the government needs to make completing the network a priority. Strong economic development across all regions, big or small, rural or urban, is crucial to Canada’s interests, and in today’s knowledge economy, that can’t happen without broadband Internet access”.
For more information contact Larry MacGregor at 250-547-6740.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Guest honours academy
Published: April 18, 2009 12:00 PM Roger Knox - Vernon Morning Star
A special guest has been booked for a lunch date during the upcoming 10th annual RCMP Jean Minguy Memorial Youth Academy at the Vernon Army Camp. B.C. Lt.-Gov. Steven L. Point will attend the academy on Thursday, April 30. “His honour expressed an interest in our camp and he is passionate about youth,” said Vernon RCMP Supt. Steve McVarnock. “We extended an invitation to him, we had been hoping he could attend graduation but his schedule won’t permit it, so he’ll be here at lunch time for about an hour.” A special presentation similar to graduation is being prepared for Point’s visit. Youth academy participants will take part in a bed-making demonstration, as well as conducting physical training and drill demonstrations. Local dignitaries will also be on hand. “It’s quite an honour to receive the pleasure of his company,” said McVarnock. The 10th annual RCMP Jean Minguy Memorial Youth Academy will run the week of April 27 at the Vernon Army Camp. The week-long program is open to 40 Grade 11 and 12 students from throughout the Okanagan. During the camp, students experience a variety of activities that simulate RCMP depot training. The youth academy runs in conjunction with the Vernon School District’s career program. Upon completion, students receive school credits. The camp provides students with an introduction into a possible law enforcement career, either as a police officer, corrections worker, lawyer or sheriff.
Premier Met By Strikers
Peter McIntyre Wednesday, 29 April 2009 16:09 107.5 KISSFM:
There were almost as many protesters as Liberal supporters during Premier Gordon Campbell's campaign stop in Vernon. About 15 striking ambulance paramedics greeted Campbell as he made his way into Eric Foster's office. During one light-hearted exchange, a paramedic asked Campbell for a raise, at which point the Premier took a loonie out of his pocket and gave it to the man, saying in jest "don't spend it all in one place." The Premier was met by about 20 supporters inside the office, where he took part in media interviews during his brief stop. On his way out, Campbell met with the paramedics and told them, Health Minister George Abbott will be meeting with CUPE reps Thursday to put some ideas forward. "We're looking for ways to resolve this. The fact is we've resolved every public sector discussion and negotiation we've had since 2005. We should be able to do it with the paramedics as well. If people do it with a open mind and bargain in good faith, that should be able to happen"
Health Minister and Shuswap MLA George Abbott, who was travelling with the Premier, disagrees with suggestions his government won't deal with the issue until after the May 12 election. "It is challenging undoubtedly because government isn't in a position to revise or change mandate but I think there's some things we can usefully discuss and I'm hoping that something positive can come out of out meeting (Thursday) with Mr Strohmaier (CUPE rep for local 873)." The union is seeking a four per cent wage increase per year over seven years, while the government is proposing a one-year contract with a three per cent hike, plus signing bonuses.
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Trolling for votes Web posted on Wednesday, 29 April 2009 CHBC VIDEO
Gordon Campbell and the Liberals bring their election campaign to the Okanagan.
There were almost as many protesters as Liberal supporters during Premier Gordon Campbell's campaign stop in Vernon. About 15 striking ambulance paramedics greeted Campbell as he made his way into Eric Foster's office. During one light-hearted exchange, a paramedic asked Campbell for a raise, at which point the Premier took a loonie out of his pocket and gave it to the man, saying in jest "don't spend it all in one place." The Premier was met by about 20 supporters inside the office, where he took part in media interviews during his brief stop. On his way out, Campbell met with the paramedics and told them, Health Minister George Abbott will be meeting with CUPE reps Thursday to put some ideas forward. "We're looking for ways to resolve this. The fact is we've resolved every public sector discussion and negotiation we've had since 2005. We should be able to do it with the paramedics as well. If people do it with a open mind and bargain in good faith, that should be able to happen"
Health Minister and Shuswap MLA George Abbott, who was travelling with the Premier, disagrees with suggestions his government won't deal with the issue until after the May 12 election. "It is challenging undoubtedly because government isn't in a position to revise or change mandate but I think there's some things we can usefully discuss and I'm hoping that something positive can come out of out meeting (Thursday) with Mr Strohmaier (CUPE rep for local 873)." The union is seeking a four per cent wage increase per year over seven years, while the government is proposing a one-year contract with a three per cent hike, plus signing bonuses.
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Trolling for votes Web posted on Wednesday, 29 April 2009 CHBC VIDEO
Gordon Campbell and the Liberals bring their election campaign to the Okanagan.
Campbell Makes Vernon Stop
Peter McIntyre Tuesday, 28 April 2009 107.5 KISS FM:
BC's Premier and Liberal leader will be making a campaign stop in Vernon. Gordon Campbell will be at Liberal candidate Eric Foster's office on 34th Street from 3 to 3:30 Wednesday. Party officials say Campbell will speak with the local media and take part in a rally with Foster's supporters.
Campbell will also make stops in Revelstoke, Salmon Arm, and Kelowna. The Premier was last in Vernon in November to start construction on the new VJH hospital tower.
BC's Premier and Liberal leader will be making a campaign stop in Vernon. Gordon Campbell will be at Liberal candidate Eric Foster's office on 34th Street from 3 to 3:30 Wednesday. Party officials say Campbell will speak with the local media and take part in a rally with Foster's supporters.
Campbell will also make stops in Revelstoke, Salmon Arm, and Kelowna. The Premier was last in Vernon in November to start construction on the new VJH hospital tower.
Public Information Session Tonight
As per the Council resolution the following arrangements for a Public Information Session have been made:
Public Information Session: April 29 6:00 - 8:00 pm Paddlewheel Park Hall
Vernon Fire Rescue Service Business Plan
Public Information Session: April 29 6:00 - 8:00 pm Paddlewheel Park Hall
Vernon Fire Rescue Service Business Plan
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
City opposes new hours for club
Published: April 28, 2009 7:00 PM Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star
Opposition exists to a night club expanding its hours, but it may not be enough to prevent it from occurring. The City of Vernon will not support a bid from On The Roxx Show Lounge to change its start-time from 7 to 4 p.m. but council actually has very little say over the situation. The application is made to the provincial Liquor Control and Licensing Branch. “The liquor board does want input from the city but the final decision is with the liquor inspector,” said Dale Rintoul, city planner. As part of the process, the city surveyed adjacent businesses and property owners about the proposal. “All of the businesses in the area that responded don’t support the change in hours,” said Rintoul. Among the concerns from nearby businesses are noise, traffic and potentially intoxicated patrons.
In a letter to the city, On The Roxx owner Carman Zieman says he has made additions to the business, including a kitchen. “The reason for introducing the food service program to the business is to drive our intended full-line sports programming agenda,” he said. “We are committed to providing a safe and entertaining social venue, as our business record indicates with both the local police and liquor inspector.” Zieman says only televised sports events would be shown until 5:30 p.m. “Our intent is that neighbouring businesses would not be affected by the noise during their daily business hours while fulfilling our desire to attract an untapped area of our business,” he said. Despite Zieman’s assurances, Coun. Mary-Jo O’Keefe insists the concerns of the adjacent businesses must be taken into account particularly when many merchants are struggling during the recession. “A 4 p.m. opening would have a lot of effect on businesses,” she said.
Tired civic grounds rejuvenated
Published: April 28, 2009 7:00 PM Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star
A major facelift has been given the green light for Vernon’s civic grounds. Council has approved the preliminary design for the $530,000 Spirit Square project, which will go from city hall to 32nd Avenue, between the library and museum. “It’s got a nice vision to it,” said Coun. Patrick Nicol. It’s anticipated the work will go to tender June 15 and it will be completed by Nov. 1. It will include a large boulder water feature with a flume, gardens, seating areas and preservation of existing trees. Part of the plan is to increase the visibility of city hall. “For the casual visitor, city hall is tucked in to the back of the block,” said Bob Evans, with Site 360, a landscape architecture and engineering firm. The flag poles will be relocated and the fountain in front of city hall will be removed, while crumbling stairs and walls will be taken out. “You go to other cities and they have wide open spaces and lots of green spaces. It’s old and tired and we need to modernize,” said Coun. Jack Gilroy of the civic grounds constructed in 1967.
Of the $530,000, half is coming from the city and half from the provincial government. But the changes may not just stop there. City staff has been directed to review potential grants and other funding sources so the Civic Plaza project, between 30th and 31st streets and in front of the museum and library, can proceed this year. The projected price tag for this initiative is 670,000. The Civic Plaza would include a performance stage, a garden area and water features. Because the plaza could host events that draw large crowds, the fountain in front of the museum could be demolished. “It’s too large and in the wrong space,” said Evans. However, Nicol points out that people frequently sit along the fountain and read or eat their lunch and getting rid of it may be unpopular with residents.
Long-term, the consultants are calling for the 30th Street parking lot between city hall and the library to be replaced with grass and a public gathering area. That would have a price tag of $550,000 and no decision on that project has been made. “There would have to be a lot of studies from staff on where that parking would go,” said Gilroy. Beyond the $530,000 Spirit Square project, a $320,000 expansion of council chambers will proceed this year.
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Morning Star Editorial: Civic upgrades must be reviewed Published: April 28, 2009 7:00 PM
Anyone who visits Vernon city hall knows the first impressions aren’t spectacular. Paving bricks are broken, walls are falling apart and the actual building is hidden by a flag pole and plants. It’s not an appropriate image for a vibrant community. So the $530,000 Spirit Square refurbishment project — with a water feature, gardens and seating areas — is welcome. But why does the city want to spend $670,000 on a Civic Plaza project in front of the museum and library? Yes senior government grants are being sought, but it’s still taxpayers’ money. And what is wrong with the area along 32nd Avenue? There are several mature trees and places for people to sit and relax. What more is needed? Perhaps most disturbing is the consultants wanting to rip out the fountains constructed in 1967. Not only are they popular with residents in the summer, but they commemorate the centennial of our country.
The consultants claim the fountain by the museum prevents crowds from gathering for special events, but for the few times that may occur, is it necessary to rip out a landmark? And long-term plans for the civic grounds grow even more questionable when the consultants suggest replacing the parking lot behind the library with grass. Not only would precious parking be gone but the price tag would be $550,000. There is nothing wrong with fixing up the gateway to city hall as it’s the official face of the community, but the rest of the projects need to be placed on hold so costs can be reviewed and the public — not just select stakeholders — can be consulted.
Ringing the wrong number
Published: April 28, 2009 7:00 PM Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star
The fight over the Okanagan Landing fire hall has turned into an inferno as both sides plead for public support. Large ads have been taken out in this publication, brochures have hit mail boxes and letters to the editor are being churned out at a staggering pace. Both sides are also urging residents to attend a public input session May 7 and to contact the politicians directly. However, bending the ear of one elected official could prove challenging. A cell phone number for Coun. Bob Spiers — along with those for the rest of council — is included on a brochure produced by the Vernon Professional Firefighters Association. The problem is that Spiers has refused use of the city-owned Blackberry and all you will get when you dial the number is a busy tone. “It was sitting on my desk and I’ve actually turned it in,” said Spiers, who is extremely blunt as to why he doesn’t want to carry a cell around. “It’s a pain in the ass and I don’t want brain cancer. I just don’t like cell phones.”
Now it would be easy to classify Spiers as a Luddite but you know what happens when you assume something. Spiers operates an Internet blog where he provides tidbits gleaned from a variety of websites he cruises frequently and he does use the e-mail address the city has assigned to him. He is as technologically astute as they come, but he has his limits.
It should also be pointed out that Spiers isn’t the first council member to take this stand. “If I go out to my cabin, I’m not going to have a Blackberry on my hip,” said former councillor Barry Beardsell when the devices were first handed out in 2006. Beardsell was concerned about the costs involved — even though the Blackberrys were provided for free by the city’s cellular provider — and he insisted that he was already easily accessible. “I have Internet and e-mail at home and my office, a fax machine and a telephone,” he said. But of course not all politicians share that view and the only way to get a hold of some of them is through their Blackberry. In fact, the ability to access the Internet and send text messages has kept some officials tapping away during meetings that drag on and get too boring. Ultimately, I’m not sure who passed the erroneous contact information on to the firefighters union because it’s fairly well known within city circles that Spiers has not become addicted to Crackberry. Likely all of this can be labeled as a simple breakdown in bureaucratic communications but publishing a wrong number certainly won’t help the firefighters get their message out.
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Bob Spiers Note:
I'm sure the Firefighters took the e-mail address and phone number off the City's website so they are not to be faulted for using it. When I turned it my blackberry that cost about $45 per month I had the phone number changed to my home phone number. On that website the phone numbers and e-mail address for all Council Members are listed with the exception of the Mayor who only has his e-mail listed.
The wisecrack about cell phone use and brain cancer was how I unsuccessfully tried to scare my kids in to ever getting hooked on those infernal devices. And don't get me started on the use of cell phones when driving. As a life time pedestrian I will support any government that bans them from our streets.
Chamber Forum Cancelled
Peter McIntyre Tuesday, 28 April 2009 107.5 KISSFM:
One of the all candidate forums for the Vernon Monashee riding has been cancelled. And the reason may, or may not, be a surprise. The Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Vernon Association had planned to have the candidates answer questions at a luncheon Wednesday. However, a spokesperson with the chamber says the event was scrapped due to a lack of interest after not enough people registered. The next scheduled forum is Monday night at 7 at the Performing Arts Centre.
One of the all candidate forums for the Vernon Monashee riding has been cancelled. And the reason may, or may not, be a surprise. The Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Vernon Association had planned to have the candidates answer questions at a luncheon Wednesday. However, a spokesperson with the chamber says the event was scrapped due to a lack of interest after not enough people registered. The next scheduled forum is Monday night at 7 at the Performing Arts Centre.
God Bless Canadian Women
Terry had married a woman from Greece and bragged that he had told his wife she needed to do all the dishes and housework. He said that it took a couple days but on the third day he came home to a clean house and the dishes were all washed and put away.
Jimmie had married a woman from Italy. He bragged that he had given his wife orders that she was to do all the cleaning, dishes, and the cooking. He told them that the first day he didn't see any results, but the next day it was better. By the third day, his house was clean, the dishes were done, and he had a huge dinner on the table.
Richard had married a Canadian girl. He boasted that he told her that her duties were to keep the house cleaned, dishes washed, laundry and ironing twice a week, lawns mowed, windows cleaned and hot meals on the table for every meal. He said the first day he didn't see anything, the second day he didn't see anything, but by the third day most of the swelling had gone down and he could see a little out of his left eye, just enough to fix himself a bite to eat, load the dishwasher, and call a handyman.
Jimmie had married a woman from Italy. He bragged that he had given his wife orders that she was to do all the cleaning, dishes, and the cooking. He told them that the first day he didn't see any results, but the next day it was better. By the third day, his house was clean, the dishes were done, and he had a huge dinner on the table.
Richard had married a Canadian girl. He boasted that he told her that her duties were to keep the house cleaned, dishes washed, laundry and ironing twice a week, lawns mowed, windows cleaned and hot meals on the table for every meal. He said the first day he didn't see anything, the second day he didn't see anything, but by the third day most of the swelling had gone down and he could see a little out of his left eye, just enough to fix himself a bite to eat, load the dishwasher, and call a handyman.
Body Found At Shelter
107.5 KISSFM Peter McIntyre Tuesday, 28 April 2009
RCMP and the coroner are on the scene of Vernon's Gateway Shelter investigating the discovery of a body. Sargent Dave Evans confirms there is a deceased person at the site on 33rd Street, and more information may be released later today. There's no indication at this point if foul play was involved. Reports indicate it is a male body. The shelter opened last September, and provides 25 beds for homeless men and women.
RCMP and the coroner are on the scene of Vernon's Gateway Shelter investigating the discovery of a body. Sargent Dave Evans confirms there is a deceased person at the site on 33rd Street, and more information may be released later today. There's no indication at this point if foul play was involved. Reports indicate it is a male body. The shelter opened last September, and provides 25 beds for homeless men and women.
Spirit Square Proceeds
Peter McIntyre Tuesday, 28 April 2009 107.5 KISSFM:
A new community gathering space near Vernon city hall and the library has got the go ahead, but a second part of the project has been put on hold. The city is proceeding with plans for the Spirit Square costing a half million dollars with half of that coming from a provincial grant. Acting mayor Patrick Nicol says plans for a Civic Plaza, costing $670,000, will wait until grants or other funding sources are secured. "And if there is anything further to take place, there has to be a serious discussion on the budget item for the rest of the vision which is to grass-in areas, to retain boardwalks, and do a number of things." Nicol says the long term goal is to connect the civic complex buildings with Cenotaph Park, using a boardwalk.
A new community gathering space near Vernon city hall and the library has got the go ahead, but a second part of the project has been put on hold. The city is proceeding with plans for the Spirit Square costing a half million dollars with half of that coming from a provincial grant. Acting mayor Patrick Nicol says plans for a Civic Plaza, costing $670,000, will wait until grants or other funding sources are secured. "And if there is anything further to take place, there has to be a serious discussion on the budget item for the rest of the vision which is to grass-in areas, to retain boardwalks, and do a number of things." Nicol says the long term goal is to connect the civic complex buildings with Cenotaph Park, using a boardwalk.
Peter McIntyre Tuesday, 28 April 2009 107.5 KISSFM:
A Vernon councillor is disappointed public input on the city's new budget, wasn't given more weight. Bob Spiers says concerns about a change in the tax base drew more than 70 people to City Hall a few weeks ago, but had no effect on a majority of council. "And we spent five minutes talking about that, of which probably four and a half minutes were myself and Councillor Nicol trying to raise some debate on those questions. That really disappointed me." The rookie councillor who attended many budget and council meetings as a citizen, has some questions about the budget process. "I wouldn't say it's a sham but maybe what happened is the public's input came so late in the process, that minds had been made up. The budget had been decided on and councillors were probably battling budget fatigue." Spiers dismisses the city's claim of a 1.99 percent overall tax hike. He says the average home will pay 5.45 percent more, before the NORD reduction, but notes every house will be different.
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Don Quixote Note: You can go to Update on City Taxes for 2009
for the rates that you can use to calculate your City Taxes for your home or business. The City's calculator hopefully will be online shortly so your complete tax bill can be calculated.
A Vernon councillor is disappointed public input on the city's new budget, wasn't given more weight. Bob Spiers says concerns about a change in the tax base drew more than 70 people to City Hall a few weeks ago, but had no effect on a majority of council. "And we spent five minutes talking about that, of which probably four and a half minutes were myself and Councillor Nicol trying to raise some debate on those questions. That really disappointed me." The rookie councillor who attended many budget and council meetings as a citizen, has some questions about the budget process. "I wouldn't say it's a sham but maybe what happened is the public's input came so late in the process, that minds had been made up. The budget had been decided on and councillors were probably battling budget fatigue." Spiers dismisses the city's claim of a 1.99 percent overall tax hike. He says the average home will pay 5.45 percent more, before the NORD reduction, but notes every house will be different.
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Don Quixote Note: You can go to Update on City Taxes for 2009
for the rates that you can use to calculate your City Taxes for your home or business. The City's calculator hopefully will be online shortly so your complete tax bill can be calculated.
5th senior manager quits Vancouver City Hall
Another senior manager at Vancouver city hall has resigned. James Ridge, the deputy city manager at the City of Vancouver stepped down on Tuesday to become an associate vice-president at UBC. Ridge is the fifth senior manager at city hall to leave following the election of Mayor Gregor Robertson and a slate of Vision Vancouver party members to council last November. Ridge was reportedly only on the job for a little over two years and only recently took on additional responsibilities as the city's chief information officer. His new job at UBC starts on June 8. The first high-profile departure was Estelle Lo, the city's director of finance, who resigned in November due to a "personal matter," following revelations about financing problems with the Olympic Village development in the midst of the civic election. Lo was followed shortly by her former boss, veteran city manager Judy Roger, who was paid $572,000 severance when she left in December, after Robertson said he wanted a fresh start at the top of city hall. Other high level resignations have included Ray Holdgate, Vancouver's general manager of Olympic and Paralympic operations, Dave Rudberg, Vancouver's fire chief and Jody Andrews, the Olympic Village project manager.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Full of heart
Web posted on Monday, 27 April 2009 CHBC Video
A Vernon firefighter is a medical wonder as he returns to full duty with a new heart.
A Vernon firefighter is a medical wonder as he returns to full duty with a new heart.
Public safety minister downplays allegations of waste at RCMP
CBC NEWS: Monday, April 27, 2009
The federal public safety minister tried Monday to minimize the effects of apparent waste and duplication at the RCMP, which uses two incompatible computer systems — one for B.C. and another for the rest of the country — that cost taxpayers an extra $9 million a year. "So while it is not ideal horizontally and nationally, certainly from a local policing perspective, you can see why that particular arrangement would be seen as preferable," Peter Van Loan told the House during question period on Monday. "We're continuing to work on ways of integrating it overall." Internal documents obtained by the CBC under an Access to Information request revealed last week that the extra costs of running two RCMP computer systems to house data about criminal cases is "conservatively estimated" at more than $9 million a year. Development and rollout of the two systems cost the RCMP at least $105 million — about $41 million for the B.C. system dubbed PRIME and $64 million for the national system called PROS.
Ujjal Dosanjh, Liberal MP for the riding of Vancouver South, asked Van Loan what steps he'd take to end "this mismanagement and incompetence." "Again, the function the RCMP are playing in most of British Columbia is local policing. That is pursuant to a contract with the province of British Columbia," Van Loan said. "That province actually pays for 90 per cent of the costs of that policing. The federal government pays 10 per cent." The documents, however, showed at least $32 million of the $41 million for the B.C. system came from the federal Treasury Board.
Several officers had repeatedly warned senior management that the decision would cost a fortune and create major hurdles for sharing information across the RCMP, but the top brass decided to allow the separate B.C. system.The "loss of functionality" caused by the two systems "will not be defensible in any public accountability forum," Supt. Chuck Walker, head of RCMP operations systems, wrote in a Sept. 25, 2007, email obtained as part of the access request. "This is particularly true when one understands that there is absolutely no operational advantage to be gained by having the federal units remain on PRIME," he added. The two systems aren't integrated and must be accessed through a portal, making the RCMP the only major police service in Canada, possibly the world, to use two separate record management systems, the documents say. Records management systems allow officers to share information on cases by uploading photos, witness statements and other information that can then be accessed by Mounties across the system. In early 2003, the B.C. government ordered the RCMP, which is contracted to serve as the provincial police force, to get on board the PRIME system as part of a province-wide information sharing system among police forces. Then-RCMP commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli agreed, even though the RCMP was in the process of purchasing its own system.
By August 2004, the RCMP had deemed PRIME unsuitable for its purposes and began rolling out a national system dubbed PROS, made by Winnipeg's Niche Technology. By late 2005, PROS was being used by the RCMP outside B.C. at about 650 detachments, plus Interpol Ottawa and all National Security Investigation offices. Before that, the RCMP had operated under a national system called PIRS but needed to replace the outdated technology. Retired chief superintendent Gavin Berube said he was one of the first officers to raise a red flag about duplication in 1998, when he was an inspector working on finding a new system for the RCMP. But when he raised the issue at work, Berube says he became a persona non grata and was sent home for an extended period of paid leave. Among the documents obtained by CBC, a critical report written by Walker and sent to the federal Auditor General, says there are "major gaps" in PRIME that would be "impractical or extremely costly" to fix. The PRIME system, made by Ottawa-based Versaterm, is capable of operating in French. But the documents indicate the system used by Mounties in B.C. is operating solely in English, which may raise the question whether the federal police force is violating the Official Languages Act.
B.C. solicitor general resigns over speeding tickets
John van Dongen has resigned as B.C. solicitor general following revelations that he was suspended from driving for four months for excessive speeding, but he will continue to run as a B.C. Liberal candidate in the coming provincial election. "Over the course of the last year I have met with people who have lost family members because of speeding and other driving behaviour. I have let them down and I have let down my constituents, who depend on me to set the highest public example. For that I am deeply sorry," van Dongen said in a statement released Monday morning. News of the resignation comes in the middle of provincial election campaign, but van Dongen said he will continue to run as the B.C. Liberal Party candidate for Abbotsford South in the May 12 election. In an interview with CBC Radio on Friday afternoon, van Dongen said the prohibition was triggered by two cases of "excessive speeding" in the last 18 months on a Saanich highway in Victoria and on Highway 99.
Vancouver's $900M convention centre springs a leak
CBC NEWS:
A water leak at Vancouver's new convention centre has reportedly flooded two floors and forced 1,000 delegates of a Public Service Alliance convention out onto the street. One worker said the situation is bad and the damaged flooring may have to be replaced. In the meantime, convention delegates have been told to return to their hotels and come back at 2 p.m. PT for an update. Officials with the convention centre have yet to comment on the leak. The Vancouver Convention Centre was opened earlier this month at a cost of nearly $900 million, and is slated to be the main international press centre and broadcast facility during the upcoming 2010 Winter Games in February.
B.C. RCMP's separate computer system costs $9M extra per year
CBC NEWS:
The RCMP's use of two non-compatible computer systems to house data about criminal cases — one system in B.C. and another that serves the rest of Canada — is costing taxpayers millions of dollars extra every year, CBC News has learned. Internal documents obtained by the CBC under an Access to Information request reveal that the extra costs of running two computer systems is "conservatively estimated" at more than $9 million a year. Development and rollout of the two systems cost the RCMP at least $105 million — about $41 million for the B.C. system dubbed PRIME and $64 million for the national system called PROS.
Several officers had repeatedly warned senior management that the decision would cost a fortune and create major hurdles for sharing information across the RCMP, but the top brass decided to allow the separate B.C. system. The "loss of functionality" caused by the two systems "will not be defensible in any public accountability forum," Supt. Chuck Walker, head of RCMP operations systems, wrote in a Sept. 25, 2007, email obtained as part of the access request. "This is particularly true when one understands that there is absolutely no operational advantage to be gained by having the federal units remain on PRIME," he added. The two systems aren't integrated and must be accessed through a portal, making the RCMP the only major police service in Canada, possibly the world, to use two separate record management systems, the documents say. Records management systems allow officers to share information on cases by uploading photos, witness statements and other information that can then be accessed by Mounties across the system.
'You're duplicating everything'
In early 2003, the B.C. government ordered the RCMP, which is contracted to serve as the provincial police force, to get on board the PRIME system as part of a province-wide information sharing system among police forces. Then-RCMP commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli agreed, even though the RCMP was in the process of purchasing its own system. By August 2004, the RCMP had deemed PRIME unsuitable for its purposes and began rolling out a national system dubbed PROS, made by Winnipeg's Niche Technology. By late 2005, PROS was being used by the RCMP outside B.C. at about 650 detachments, plus Interpol Ottawa and all National Security Investigation offices. Before that, the RCMP had operated under a national system called PIRS but needed to replace the outdated technology. Retired chief superintendent Gavin Berube said he was one of the first officers to raise a red flag about duplication in 1998, when he was an inspector working on finding a new system for the RCMP. “The ideal system would be to reduce the number of systems to do policing, not to duplicate or create more systems than we need to," Berube told CBC News in Gatineau, Que. "The more systems you have, you're duplicating everything, increasing the risk for the money requirement. So, you have the situation you have now." But when he raised the issue at work, Berube says he became a persona non grata and was sent home for an extended period of paid leave.
Only an administrative burden: RCMPAmong the documents obtained by CBC, a critical report written by Walker and sent to the federal Auditor General, says there are "major gaps" in PRIME that would be "impractical or extremely costly" to fix. The PRIME system, made by Ottawa-based Versaterm, is capable of operating in French. But the documents indicate the system used by Mounties in B.C. is operating solely in English, which may raise the question whether the federal police force is violating the Official Languages Act. RCMP assistant commissioner Francois Bidal defended the use of dual systems, saying while it may cause an "additional administrative burden" it doesn't affect the safety of officers or the public."I think it's a challenge. I don't think it's a problem," he told CBC News. Bidal said that using the two record management systems is no different than checking the dozens of other systems by local and provincial police forces that the Mounties have access to. "I'm telling you that the hurdle is no different there than it is accessing that information from any other policing agency," said Bidal. He wouldn't comment on the costs of the two systems, saying he wasn't sure what the pricetag was.
Transition on Hold
Starlee Speers - Vernon 105.7 Sun FM
A plan to build 14 affordable housing units for women in Vernon has been put on hold. Annette Sharkey with the Social Planning council says the property on PV road couldn't be re-zoned for what they were hoping to build. She says they've determined that it's too small. Sharkey says they'd like to find a larger piece of land so they can build up to thirty units. She says transition housing for women has been identified as a top priority in the city.
Tax Rates online for City of Vernon.
April 27 Agenda - 211Kb
Agenda Package - 12.6MB
On page 260 of the Agenda Package are the rates for the 2009 tax year.
The rates for School Taxes are not yet available but you can use above rates to compare your taxes for the City's Portion, NORD, Library and Hospital.
Agenda Package - 12.6MB
On page 260 of the Agenda Package are the rates for the 2009 tax year.
The rates for School Taxes are not yet available but you can use above rates to compare your taxes for the City's Portion, NORD, Library and Hospital.
Spirit Funding
Peter McIntyre Monday, 27 April 2009 06:16 107.5 KISSFM:
The City of Vernon is facing a funding dilemma over construction of a community project.The city has secured a half million dollars to go ahead with the Spirit Square, a community gathering space between City Hall and the library. The funding includes a 250-thousand dollar grant from the province. However, staff are recommending the city also proceed with a Civic Plaza which would add to the space, and address structural problems at City Hall. That would add another 670-thousand to the cost, which has not been budgeted for. City council will discuss funding sources---which could include applying for grants or scaling back the project--- at today's committee of the whole meeting.
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Don Quixote Note: Committee of the Whole Meetings (COW) are open to the public and usually start at 8:40AM on the same day as the regular Council meeting.
Update on City Taxes for 2009
I had originally posted a Cheatsheet for 2009 taxes. There I had posted mill rates for both Residential and Business taxes for the City's portion of taxes in 2009.
The Rates bylaw received 3 readings at April 14 Council Meeting and will probably received final reading at the Next Council meeting. The Mill rate Changes from my original cheetsheet are fractionally higher and were the result of using the final assessments totals for 2009 that were reduced slightly from 2008 assessments totals. (despite the Provincial freeze. ) This does NOT figure out your School taxes, Nord Taxes, Hospital taxes or Library and taxes for MFA and BC assessment or any specified areas taxes which all appeared on your 2008 tax bill. (Rates will be finalized at next council meeting)
To calculate your city taxes for residential purposes:
2.51913 times your total property assessment divided by 1000. PLUS
.0048 times your total improvements only divided by 1000.
To calculate your city taxes for business purposes:
7.6865 times your total property assessment divided by 1000. PLUS
.0146 times your total improvements only divided by 1000.
For example a Residential property assessed at $546,000 with land valued at $232,000 and improvements at $314,000 would have the following City Taxes:
2.51913 x 546,000/1000 = $1375.44 PLUS
.0048 x 314,000/1000 = $1.51
TOTAL City Taxes 2009 = $1376.95
In 2008 this property paid $1,356.33 in City Taxes
This is a 1.52 % Increase for THIS PROPERTY. ($20.62)
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Tax Caveat:
Every property is effected by the tax rates in a different manner and is dependent usually on the amount that its assessment is up as compared to the average assessment increase. As the Province froze assessments this year (in most cases) this should not be a major factor in this years calculation . The major difference this year is how much Land you have in comparison to the average Land component of the average property. (The average 2008 $418,676 property has 35.78% Land and 64.22% Improvements) As fire taxes will now be charged on Land also your taxes will rise or fall dependent on your deviation from the average.
------------------------
The City will be posting a tax calculator on their website so you can compare your tax increase or decrease. Until then the foregoing manual calculation method will have to suffice.
The Rates bylaw received 3 readings at April 14 Council Meeting and will probably received final reading at the Next Council meeting. The Mill rate Changes from my original cheetsheet are fractionally higher and were the result of using the final assessments totals for 2009 that were reduced slightly from 2008 assessments totals. (despite the Provincial freeze. ) This does NOT figure out your School taxes, Nord Taxes, Hospital taxes or Library and taxes for MFA and BC assessment or any specified areas taxes which all appeared on your 2008 tax bill. (Rates will be finalized at next council meeting)
To calculate your city taxes for residential purposes:
2.51913 times your total property assessment divided by 1000. PLUS
.0048 times your total improvements only divided by 1000.
To calculate your city taxes for business purposes:
7.6865 times your total property assessment divided by 1000. PLUS
.0146 times your total improvements only divided by 1000.
- Compare it to your 2008 tax bill for the sections "General City taxes AND Fire Protection (Add the two totals together to get 2008 taxes)
- The difference is how much the City Part of your taxes will go up or down for 2009.
For example a Residential property assessed at $546,000 with land valued at $232,000 and improvements at $314,000 would have the following City Taxes:
2.51913 x 546,000/1000 = $1375.44 PLUS
.0048 x 314,000/1000 = $1.51
TOTAL City Taxes 2009 = $1376.95
In 2008 this property paid $1,356.33 in City Taxes
This is a 1.52 % Increase for THIS PROPERTY. ($20.62)
------------------------------
Tax Caveat:
Every property is effected by the tax rates in a different manner and is dependent usually on the amount that its assessment is up as compared to the average assessment increase. As the Province froze assessments this year (in most cases) this should not be a major factor in this years calculation . The major difference this year is how much Land you have in comparison to the average Land component of the average property. (The average 2008 $418,676 property has 35.78% Land and 64.22% Improvements) As fire taxes will now be charged on Land also your taxes will rise or fall dependent on your deviation from the average.
------------------------
The City will be posting a tax calculator on their website so you can compare your tax increase or decrease. Until then the foregoing manual calculation method will have to suffice.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Vernon woman missing
RCMP are asking for the public's help finding a missing Vernon woman. 59 year old Marilyn Snowball has not been seen or heard from since the afternoon of Saturday April 25th. Snowball drives a grey 1987 Toyota Corolla - BC license MRC 888 Anyone who happens to see Snowball or her vehicle are asked to call Vernon RCMP immediately at 250-545-7171.
Provincial response to Varying Tax Rates
Below is a UBCM Resolution from the 2008 session that was passed and sent to the Provincial Government. (Their reply also follows.)
B18 - VARYING TAX RATES
WHEREAS the Community Charter allows for the establishment of different tax rates for raising municipal revenue from each property class;
AND WHEREAS there is no legislative provision to allow municipalities to impose separate tax rates for each of land and improvements;
AND WHEREAS the current system of property taxation provides little or no incentive for property owners to make significant improvements to their property or provide municipalities the opportunity to reduce the impact of sudden fluctuations in property values by adjusting the tax rates for either land or improvements:
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Province amend Section 197 of the Community Charter to allow municipalities to have the flexibility of levying separate tax rates for each of land and improvements for each property class.
RESPONSE: Ministry of Community Development
While the variable tax rate system does not currently allow municipalities to set differing property tax rates for Land and Improvements, there are other mechanisms available through the Community Charter and Regulations. Section 216 of the Community Charter, Local Service Taxes, allows costs to be recovered through taxes imposed on land, on improvements, or on both.
Municipalities may also use tools such as the revitalization tax exemption provisions found in section 226 of the Community Charter, or assessment averaging and phasing as described in the Assessment Averaging and Phasing Regulation, B.C. Reg. 370/2003, to encourage property owners to make significant improvements to their property.
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Don Quixote Note: This is rather ironic in that Vernon had the right to set the tax base for Fire Suppression etc. through the use of the two specified areas that have been in existence since 1993. Although Vernon Council has moved MOST of the fire costs out of these specified areas into general taxation and has consequently changed the base from IMPROVEMENTS ONLY to LAND AND Improvements, the two specified areas remained and taxes are still been collected at a rather low mill rate of .0048 per $1000 of assessment for residential and .0146 for business. (Based on improvements only)
B18 - VARYING TAX RATES
WHEREAS the Community Charter allows for the establishment of different tax rates for raising municipal revenue from each property class;
AND WHEREAS there is no legislative provision to allow municipalities to impose separate tax rates for each of land and improvements;
AND WHEREAS the current system of property taxation provides little or no incentive for property owners to make significant improvements to their property or provide municipalities the opportunity to reduce the impact of sudden fluctuations in property values by adjusting the tax rates for either land or improvements:
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Province amend Section 197 of the Community Charter to allow municipalities to have the flexibility of levying separate tax rates for each of land and improvements for each property class.
RESPONSE: Ministry of Community Development
While the variable tax rate system does not currently allow municipalities to set differing property tax rates for Land and Improvements, there are other mechanisms available through the Community Charter and Regulations. Section 216 of the Community Charter, Local Service Taxes, allows costs to be recovered through taxes imposed on land, on improvements, or on both.
Municipalities may also use tools such as the revitalization tax exemption provisions found in section 226 of the Community Charter, or assessment averaging and phasing as described in the Assessment Averaging and Phasing Regulation, B.C. Reg. 370/2003, to encourage property owners to make significant improvements to their property.
--------------------
Don Quixote Note: This is rather ironic in that Vernon had the right to set the tax base for Fire Suppression etc. through the use of the two specified areas that have been in existence since 1993. Although Vernon Council has moved MOST of the fire costs out of these specified areas into general taxation and has consequently changed the base from IMPROVEMENTS ONLY to LAND AND Improvements, the two specified areas remained and taxes are still been collected at a rather low mill rate of .0048 per $1000 of assessment for residential and .0146 for business. (Based on improvements only)
4 cases of swine flu confirmed in Nova Scotia, 2 in B.C.
CBC NEWS: Sunday, April 26, 2009 11:02 AM PT
Nova Scotia and British Columbia have confirmed cases of swine flu, while new cases of the infection have been found in New York City, as health officials around the world test for a virus linked to a more serious outbreak in Mexico. Nova Scotia's chief public health officer, Dr. Robert Strang, said Sunday the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg confirmed late Saturday that four young people in the province are recovering from "relatively mild" cases of the disease.
Strang said the four are between the ages of 12 and 18 and all attend a private school in the Windsor area of Nova Scotia. They had been part of a group of students who were on a school trip to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula in early April, Dr. Gaynor Watson-Creed, medical officer of health for Capital Health, told reporters. B.C.'s Centre for Disease Control on Sunday confirmed cases of swine flu involving two people from the province who recently returned from Mexico.
Ambulance Paramedics Website
SAVE B.C. Ambulance Paramedics
Through years of under funding and neglect, the British Columbia Ambulance Service (BCAS) has gone from a world leader in pre-hospital emergency care, to a system in peril.
As BC Paramedics wages have fallen behind other emergency services in BC, the system now faces difficulties recruiting and retaining these valued professionals.
In all but the metropolitan areas of BC, most paramedics are working for an unreasonable rate of $2/hr. The average Paramedic must work at this rate for an average of 5 years before gaining full time status, and thus a full hourly wage.
This increasing shortage of ambulances, paramedics and related infrastructure stress the system resulting in longer response times, paramedic burnout and ultimately jeopardizes the ability to provide the world class ambulance services that British Columbian's deserve.
SaveOurParamedics.com is one way the Ambulance Paramedics of BC are standing up for the equal rights of ALL Paramedics in British Columbia.
9 new RCMP auxiliaries graduate in Kelowna
Ron Seymour 2009-04-26 Kelowna Courier:
Part-time Kelowna jailer Jennifer Paquette will diversify her law enforcement experience by serving as a volunteer police officer. Paquette, 26, was one of nine people who graduated Saturday from the RCMP‘s auxiliary constable training program. “I work part time down at the city cells, and I thought I‘d come out from behind the scenes a little bit,” Paquette said with a laugh after the graduation ceremony. The new recruits will join the 51 other auxiliary constables who work alongside the full-time members at the Kelowna detachment. Supt. Bill McKinnon paid tribute to the auxiliary constables‘ willingness to serve their community. “Volunteerism is as much a Canadian tradition as the RCMP is a Canadian institution,” McKinnon said. “You are now part of the Kelowna detachment family.”
Volunteers had to complete 160 hours of training, covering everything from the Criminal Code to traffic enforcement, conflict management and arrest techniques. There‘s also a fair amount of hands-on, physical work. “They‘ve been Tasered, pepper-sprayed and engaged in a mock knife fight,” said course instructor Kerry Solinski, a reservist police officer. Auxiliary officers do not carry a gun, and they always work alongside full-time RCMP members. Some people join the auxiliary force to get a taste of policing, to see if they want to make it their career. In the past five years, about 20 auxiliary constables have gone on to train at the RCMP depot in Regina. “Serving as an auxiliary helped boost my confidence 100 times going into the (full-time training) program,” said Zak Koftinoff, who has just graduated from the depot and will begin working at the RCMP detachment in South Surrey on Monday. Twenty-year-old Steven Clements, who served as spokesman for this year‘s class of graduating auxiliary members, also hopes to go on to a career with the national police force. “I like helping people and being called upon,” said Clements, who is currently working toward a science degree at UBC Okanagan.
For her part, Paquette will keep her part-time job at the city cells as well as another job, that of program co-ordinator for a homeless shelter, while volunteering as an auxiliary constable.“I‘m hoping to volunteer at least 200 hours in the next year,” Paquette said. “I think it‘ll be interesting and important work, and it‘s a way to give back to the community.”
Part-time Kelowna jailer Jennifer Paquette will diversify her law enforcement experience by serving as a volunteer police officer. Paquette, 26, was one of nine people who graduated Saturday from the RCMP‘s auxiliary constable training program. “I work part time down at the city cells, and I thought I‘d come out from behind the scenes a little bit,” Paquette said with a laugh after the graduation ceremony. The new recruits will join the 51 other auxiliary constables who work alongside the full-time members at the Kelowna detachment. Supt. Bill McKinnon paid tribute to the auxiliary constables‘ willingness to serve their community. “Volunteerism is as much a Canadian tradition as the RCMP is a Canadian institution,” McKinnon said. “You are now part of the Kelowna detachment family.”
Volunteers had to complete 160 hours of training, covering everything from the Criminal Code to traffic enforcement, conflict management and arrest techniques. There‘s also a fair amount of hands-on, physical work. “They‘ve been Tasered, pepper-sprayed and engaged in a mock knife fight,” said course instructor Kerry Solinski, a reservist police officer. Auxiliary officers do not carry a gun, and they always work alongside full-time RCMP members. Some people join the auxiliary force to get a taste of policing, to see if they want to make it their career. In the past five years, about 20 auxiliary constables have gone on to train at the RCMP depot in Regina. “Serving as an auxiliary helped boost my confidence 100 times going into the (full-time training) program,” said Zak Koftinoff, who has just graduated from the depot and will begin working at the RCMP detachment in South Surrey on Monday. Twenty-year-old Steven Clements, who served as spokesman for this year‘s class of graduating auxiliary members, also hopes to go on to a career with the national police force. “I like helping people and being called upon,” said Clements, who is currently working toward a science degree at UBC Okanagan.
For her part, Paquette will keep her part-time job at the city cells as well as another job, that of program co-ordinator for a homeless shelter, while volunteering as an auxiliary constable.“I‘m hoping to volunteer at least 200 hours in the next year,” Paquette said. “I think it‘ll be interesting and important work, and it‘s a way to give back to the community.”
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Firefighter proves he’s all heart
Published: April 25, 2009 12:00 PM Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star
Even when others had given up on him, Brian Parsons never doubted he would slide into his firefighter’s helmet, boots and jacket once again. And almost a year after undergoing a life-saving heart transplant, he defied the naysayers and returned to active duty at the Vernon fire hall. “Numerous doctors said to me that my firefighting career was over and I said, ‘I’d be back,’” said the 44-year-old. “It’s just me. If I set my mind to something, I do it.” A full-time city firefighter for six years, Parsons has always been a strong advocate of healthy living, working out at the gym six days a week. But his life was turned upside down in August 2006. “I developed a cough that wouldn’t go away. I thought it was just a summer cold,” he said. “But the doctors ran tests and it showed my heart was enlarged.” In fact, Parsons was extremely close to heart failure. As a result, he left the fire department in November 2006 and immediately began a strict regimen of drugs to try and correct the problem.
However, conditions worsened and by January 2008, he was added to the transplant list. “Once I was on the list, I was relieved. I embraced this and said, ‘Let’s do this,’” he said. “I always tried to remain positive. If you get negative you have two problems — the underlying condition and you’re depressed.” And he didn’t have to wait long as a heart was found and he was being operated on at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver on Feb. 22, 2008. Recovery began immediately and within a week he was back in the gym. “To be able to walk again and not be exhausted was a real milestone,” he said. His goal was to be back at the fire hall within six months but that timeline was delayed slightly when he developed a fluid build-up last July. But through treatment, that situation was alleviated and he took a fitness assessment March 28, 2009. The green light was given for him to return to work. “I love the job. Every day is different. I work with great people and they were so supportive. This is like a second family,” he said. “We’ve had some serious incidents in the community and to get back and help makes it all worthwhile.”
The assessment Parsons took simulated all of the physical pressures that a firefighter endures. “Mr. Parsons completed all of the job-related tasks successfully,” said Dr. Warren Warburton, associate professor at the University of B.C.’s cardiovascular physiology and rehabilitation laboratory, in a letter. “He was well above the minimum requirements for firefighter applicants and incumbents in each of the critical job simulation tasks. In fact, his scores on each of the timed events placed him in the excellent category for each event. Thus, he received the highest possible score for the firefighting specific tasks.” Parsons is only the second firefighter in North America to resume full duties after a heart transplant. “The test definitely told me I’m able to do the job. I don’t want to put myself at risk or anyone at risk.”
Parsons has the full support of Jeff Carlisle, Vernon’s fire chief. “If you look at the experts working with Brian, they have given him a clean bill of health. I rely on the experts in the field and I have no second thoughts at all,” said Carlisle. “It’s an extraordinary accomplishment. He serves as an inspiration for all of us.” The surgery has also meant that Parsons — who will be on anti-rejection drugs for the rest of his life — can enjoy his wife, three children and four grandchildren. “I’m able to watch them grow,” he said. Beyond regaining his life, the entire process has had other impacts on Parsons. “I wasn’t patient before but I had to be patient to see if the drugs would work. A lot of things that used to upset me are insignificant.” He has also become a strong advocate for people becoming organ donors and he thinks often of the young man whose heart he now has. “His mother sent me a letter and I know what he looked like. He was 25 years old and he looked a lot like I did when I was that age,” said Parsons. “I am very grateful. One person has to die so you can live.” He is now meeting with other potential heart transplant recipients and he is pleading with them to not give up. “If you believe you can do it and you are determined, you can go back to where you were. But it takes a lot of hard work,” he said.
Parsons will be officially welcomed back to the fire department during Monday’s Vernon city council meeting at 1:30 p.m.
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