Central Okanagan loses $3.6 million budgeted for school maintenance. Vernon SD 22 to lose $ 1,684,021

Monday, August 31st, 2009 | 5:00 pm By Adrian Nieoczym Kelowna.com:

Okanagan schools will have to make do with less maintenance and could see job losses, after the the provincial government cancelled $110 million worth of annual facility grants it gives to B.C. schools.For the Central Okanagan School District, that means a loss of $3.6 million for the 2009/10 school year. The grants, which the government has handed out on top of school districts’ core funding since 1988, cover “those types of ongoing maintenance issues that have to do with keeping the buildings in good repair, keeping them hygenic, keeping them clean, keeping them safe,” said Rolli Cacchioni, chairman of the Central Okanagan Board of Education

Don Quixote Note:
Annual Facility Grant For 2008/09
Each year, school districts receive funds for renovation that will extend the
useful life of district facilities. A school district's Annual Facility Grant is
calculated using a formula based on student enrolment and the average age
of a district's school buildings.

22 Vernon $ 1,684,021
83 North Okanagan-Shuswap $ 1,633,954

Provincial Total 110,743,750

Ontario cleans house at problem-prone OLG

CBC NEWS: Monday, August 31, 2009

Finance Minister Dwight Duncan has cleaned house at the problem-plagued Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. The troubled agency's entire board of directors has been replaced and Kelly McDougald has been removed as CEO. Duncan says he's also asked the province's auditor general to review expense practices at the gaming corporation, which runs Ontario's lotteries and casinos.

The move comes after the government found questionable expense claims filed by executives going back years. They included the cancellation of a deposit on a Florida condo by Michael Sharland, the OLG's former vice-president of security and surveillance who took a paid leave of absence in 2007. Another OLG executive charged the agency nearly $500 for a nanny so that she could attend meetings during a four-month period in 2006.Other senior staff billed the agency for small items like a $7 pen refill, a $1.12 cloth grocery bag and a $30 car wash.Duncan released two years' worth of expense claims filed by OLG executives and senior staff.

He says the OLG board has been temporarily filled by senior bureaucrats until a new board is selected.It's the second Ontario government agency to get a major overhaul in the last few months.eHealth Ontario CEO Sarah Kramer and board chairman Dr. Alan Hudson left the troubled agency following shocking spending excesses by consultants and executives.

Arts groups angry as B.C. government slashes funding 'People will be laid off,' arts organizers warn

Ian Austin, The ProvinceAugust 31, 2009

Arts groups are hot under the collar as the provincial budget nears and the B.C. Liberals turn down long-promised grants because of financial pressures. The artistic organizations say they were promised three years of grants — and spent the money because they had guarantees in writing — only to have the B.C. Liberal government pull funding as it prepares for a multibillion-dollar budget deficit announcement Tuesday in Victoria.“The heat in this room is the heat of anger,” said NDP MLA Spencer Herbert, addressing a standing-room-plus crowd in his sweltering constituency headquarters Sunday.“This will cost us economically, artistically and socially.“The government lied to people, they lied to arts groups.“The government is stealing money from charities — that’s the only way we can see this.”

Herbert and the arts community are now referring to last week as Black Friday, when many arts groups received government letters telling them their grants had been cancelled.They say this flies in the face of a three-year promise by government to continue funding the groups through lottery grants.Katrina Dunn, artistic director of the Touchstone Theatre — which ironically is offering a season of productions entitled Made in B.C. — said her group faces a huge deficit with the government’s decision to cancel a grant it had promised.“We’re facing our largest deficit in 35 years — shows will be cancelled, people will be laid off,” said Dunn, who said the government gave written assurances their grant would be renewed.

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Check Out Vernon's and other local communities direct access and bingo grants at: (which ones are at risk for 2009-2010 ??)

2008/09 Full Report (by community) [XLS]

2007/08 Full Report (by community) [XLS]

2006/07 Full Report (by community) [XLS]

Premier to overhaul Ontario Lottery as spending scandal brews

KAREN HOWLETT TORONTO — Globe and Mail Last Monday, Aug. 31:

The chairman of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. plans to resign as early as today in a pre-emptive strike by the McGuinty government aimed at heading off a potential scandal over lavish spending on travel and entertaining, sources say. Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan is expected to announce that Michael Gough, a former long-term lawyer at Toronto law firm Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, is resigning as chairman, according to sources close to the situation. The departure of Mr. Gough raises questions about other members on the lottery corporation's board. One source said the government was looking at whether to replace the entire board, and talks were still under way last night.Mr. Gough, appointed chairman in March, 2006, could not be reached for comment yesterday. Bev Topping, one of five directors of OLG, declined to comment when reached at home last night. (more)

Bumper crop for apple growers

Don Plant 2009-08-31 Kelowna Daily Courier:

Mother Nature has been generous to apple lovers this year. Growers are getting ready to harvest one of the best-quality crops in years this week. Karma Gill, who has farmed in East Kelowna for 20 years, says he‘s never seen a crop this good. “We have no bugs. All the apples are clear,” he said Sunday. “The colour is very good, pollination was very good. It‘s very good for cold storage.”
The volume should be high as well. Despite severe hail damage in the Vernon area this summer, the Okanagan Valley is expected to produce up to 3.8 million boxes of apples, said Joe Sardinha, president of the B.C. Fruit Growers Association. “That‘s quite impressive considering we‘ve seen a loss of acreage (due to) a lot of vineyards, sometimes at the expense of apple orchards,” he said Sunday. The sunny weather has been excellent, growers say – a big improvement from last year, when skies were cloudier and pollination was a problem. Low apple prices didn‘t help. It‘s too early to say how much growers will collect from this year‘s harvest. Washington has the capacity to produce 110 million boxes or more, and the overall U.S. crop could be 10 per cent more than 2008, Sardinha said. Unless consumer demand rises, depressed prices are a possibility.

Even so, the move to high-density apple trees has given many Valley growers an advantage. They get more packable fruit from each acre, largely because the overgrown canopy of old-style trees shades apples close to the ground. “You get uniform sunlight-interception. The fruit is good from top to bottom,” Sardinha said. “You get a Christmas-tree shape instead of an umbrella canopy, which shades the lower limbs.”

A dry season presented an added challenge this year. Water restrictions in several areas of the Valley meant growers had to cut back their irrigation. In Southeast Kelowna, a prime apple-growing region, orchardists had to get by with 20 per cent less water. Gill said he wonders how the industry would absorb another drought next year. When it comes to water, he said fruit growers should get preference over newer residential subdivisions. “Farmers need water first,” he said. “Then the city should think about new subdivisions.” It‘s possible the Okanagan has reached a tipping point – a balance between water demands from orchards and residential users, Sardinha said. He‘s worried cities will approve new urban development when water resources are tapped out. “Unless you find ways to increase capacity, the amount of water is finite,” he said. Most farmers facing restrictions got through the season without too much trouble, said Hank Markgraf, a grower in East Kelowna. They had to change their watering schedule and watch the weather closely. “They need to shut it off when it rains. They have to lengthen their irrigation cycle during the spring, when it doesn‘t dry out as quickly,” he said. “If we do go into a low season next year, we‘ll have a 20 per cent reduction again.” The timing of this year‘s harvest is about the same as last year. Pickers have begun removing fruit in Oliver and Osoyoos. Full production in the Central Okanagan should begin next weekend.

Host government Share of Casino Revenue Vernon, Kamloops, Kelowna, Penticton

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Routine patrol finds flaps of heroin

by Castanet Staff - Story: 49194 Aug 30, 2009 / 4:00 pm

A routine patrol resulted in the discovery of several packages of heroin being found in the possession of a North Okanagan man. Earlier this month, an RCMP officer was doing a routine patrol of the downtown Vernon area when he noticed the driver of a small car swerve. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says the driver seemed very concerned the officer observed him. “The vehicle was checked a short distance away and the officer quickly learned that the license plate on the car did not belong to it. The driver could not produce his driver’s license and to add to the driver’s problems, when he was asked to step from his vehicle, the officer observed several neatly folded pieces of paper on the floor,” says Molendyk. He says the folded paper turned out to be nine flaps, or nine packages, of heroin. “The 44-year-old man, a Salmon Arm area resident, was arrested and is expected to appear in court at a later date to answer to the charges.”

Kelowna alternate approval process a sham?

Ron Seymour 2009-08-30 Kelowna Daily Courier:

If the aim of the alternate approval process is to get things approved, it works perfectly. But city councillors know that many Kelowna residents believe the AAP is a sneaky device that‘s used, in the words of Coun. Luke Stack, when the city wants to pull the wool over the eyes of voters. So there was broad support among councillors last week when Mayor Sharon Shepherd suggested staff prepare a report on other options that might one day be used to get voter approval for contentious projects.

Shepherd doesn‘t like the AAP because she says it promotes “negativity,” in that projects must be sent to referendum if they‘re opposed by at least 10 per cent of the city‘s 92,000 voters. But the reality is that the outcome of the AAP is always positive, at least from the city‘s perspective. Since 2001, AAP‘s have been used 36 times, and not once has there been anywhere near enough signatures on petitions to send the project in question to a referendum.In fact, in two-thirds of the cases, there wasn‘t a single signature returned on a petition. The projects that have attracted zero opposition range from various leasing arrangements at the airport, to a lease for a restaurateur at Guisachan House, to an agreement with private property owners covering the operation of the lagoons in Waterfront Park. The most controversial AAP was for the H2O pool and leisure facility at the Mission sportsfields. A total of 4,521 people were opposed to construction of the $45-million complex, but that was still several thousand short of the number of signatures that would have sent the project to a referendum.

Prior to 2004, the number of signatures required to trigger a referendum was five per cent of a community‘s eligible voters.The Liberal government raised that to 10 per cent, in large part because of concerns from elected representatives in smaller communities that it was too easy for opponents of various projects to gather signatures from five per cent of voters. Also in 2004, the government narrowed the scope of municipal initiatives that were subject to either a referendum or AAP. The AAP itself is a device of relatively recent vintage, dating back to the late 1990s, when it was introduced as the counter-petition process by the NDP government.

Stevie and Gordie Improve Tax Revenues for their Impoverished Governments

Online gaming will keep money in the province

Courier-IslanderAugust 28, 2009

It makes sense to provide British Columbians with a secure, regulated online gaming alternative, where the revenues can benefit all residents.Last year, British Columbians supported offshore, unregulated internet gambling sites to the tune of $87 million - and that's a conservative estimate.And with each dollar that left the province, a lost opportunity went with it - money that could have stayed here to support charitable programs and community services across BC.And with each dollar that left the province, a lost opportunity went with it - money that could have stayed here to support charitable programs and community services across BC.

At BCLC, we think the time has come to explore a secure and regulated online alternative. Simply put, if British Columbians wish to gamble online, we'd like them to do it as customers of BCLC. It only makes sense. Gaming online is growing at a rate of 20 per cent a year. Globally, the industry is worth a staggering $12 billion a year. Like the music and mainstream media industries, the internet is irrevocably changing our business. Ignoring this change, or hoping it goes away, is not a realistic or intelligent option. Since 2004, BCLC has offered our customers online gaming entertainment through PlayNow.com. Not only has it become one of the most highly regulated and secure parts of our business, it's also become one of our most successful. And while our customers clearly like PlayNow.com, they want more variety. They want online opportunities to play the kind of games already offered in BC gaming facilities.

Furthermore, they see what the approximately 2000 offshore gambling companies are offering in the online space and wonder why they have to leave Canada (in the digital sense) to enjoy a gaming experience they would rather enjoy here, on PlayNow.com, one of the world's most secure online gaming platforms. Our customers want us to be competitive. To sustain their loyalty, not to mention diversify our business to help secure the future of gaming revenues for the entire province, we need to respond. We must go where the customer is.

That's why last week, BCLC announced its intention to include casino style games like blackjack, roulette and poker on PlayNow.com by March, 2010. This will be the first online offering of its kind in both Canada and North America. We are also taking the step to allow online customers to set their own weekly deposit limit. Research shows that when players make a conscious choice to gamble within a set amount they are more likely to do so. Online gaming, as with all gaming activities, requires that both player and service providers encourage and engage in responsible play. At BCLC, we are committed to doing our part.

We have seamlessly integrated responsible gaming services and measures into all our products, no matter where they are played or purchased - at the lottery retailer, gaming facility or online. At PlayNow.com, for example, all play is restricted to residents of British Columbia, 19 years of age or older. All identities are verified. All information is secure and transactions are monitored. Players can clearly see how long they've played, how much they've wagered and the odds of winning for any game. These features present British Columbians with a secure, regulated environment that meets or exceeds all internationally recognized responsible gambling standards. It's something that many of our new competitors in the online gaming world do not offer. But it's something British Columbians can expect as a minimum on PlayNow.com.

We are confident we can offer a competitive online gambling option to British Columbians in a responsible way. Even though some might view this as a bold move, we view as the right move, at the right time. Online gambling is a reality. So let's make sure that British Columbians have a trusted, secure option to choose from. And let's keep our money in BC.

Michael Graydon, President & CEO, BCLC

Tough times

Web posted on Friday, 28 August 2009 CHBC VIDEO

Many Okanagan charitable organizations are feeling the financial squeeze of the Campbell government.

Welcome to Gordie's Team !

Parties Planned for Olympic Torch

Written by Peter McIntyre Friday, 28 August 2009 12:42107.5 KISSFM:

Vernon, Coldstream and other North Okanagan communities have received provincial funding to help stage events connected to the Olympic Torch Relay early in the new year.The grants include $40,000 for a winter carnival event in Vernon (expected to be in Polson Park) including First Nations singers and dancers, ice sculptures and a celebration ice palace.Coldstream will get $8,000 for a community lunch, including the the Kalamalka Highlanders, and a Kalamalka High School Band concert.

Elsewhere, $8,000 goes to Enderby and District Chamber of Commerce for a pep-rally and premier of the new Enderby Anthem.... $8,000 for live entertainment, community bonfire, and fireworks in the City of Armstrong...... $8,000 for a First Nations ceremonial dance, school performers, lanterns, and local entertainment in the District of Sicamous.... and $8,000 for five locations in each of the Olympic colours along the route, a high school band and dance group, and community entertainment in the Township of Spallumcheen. The events will take place January 26, 2010 when the Olympic Torch Run comes through the North Okanagan

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Castanet Poll: As at 10:19 AM Aug 29

Poll Results

Question: Would you spend $40,000 on something other than a party to greet the Olympic flame?

Yes

998

No

524

You voted Yes

Total Votes: 1522

Mounties didn't propose manure spreading, city manager says

Dan Ferguson - Surrey North Delta Leader Published: August 27, 2009 10:00 AM

The Surrey RCMP did not propose using smelly chicken manure to drive away homeless people from a Whalley neighbourhood, Surrey's Deputy City Manager Dan Bottrill said Thursday."The idea came from the city," Bottrill told The Leader."RCMP had nothing to do with it."Bottrill said a city staffer, who he did not name, came up with the notion and decided to go ahead without having it reviewed by more senior managers. He said an investigation was conducted after the August 14 dumping at the Front Room drop-in centre in the 10600-block of 135A Street and a second vacant lot about a block away, just west of the Surrey Food Bank on 135 Street.City crews removed the manure from the front room site on Saturday, Bottrill said, and the manure on the second site was taken out a few days later.

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Original Story: Cleaning up: City removes chicken dung dumped to deter homeless

Vander Zalm will speak at a dinner meeting at Vernon’s Schubert Centre today at 6:30 p.m

To purchase tickets for today’s dinner meeting, call 545-4350.

Nunavut RCMP set up tactical emergency team

August 26, 2009 CBC NEWS:

The RCMP in Nunavut are creating a tactical emergency containment team that will respond to dangerous situations beyond the scope of what local police officers can do alone.Fourteen Nunavut officers will be tasked with controlling emergency situations, such as armed standoffs and hostage-takings, in their initial hours until a high-level RCMP emergency response team can be flown in from Ottawa. The emergency containment team in Nunavut will be the first of its kind in Canada, said Supt. Steve McVarnock, the RCMP's commanding officer in the territory. "We're the first in the country that are going to get it," McVarnock said Tuesday."They'll learn a lot from this experience up here so they can fine tune it for other divisions, but other divisions are moving in the same direction."

The RCMP's high-level emergency response team has been sent to Nunavut before to assist with emergencies, but it can take up to 12 hours for the squad to be flown up from Ottawa.McVarnock said that's why the police force is setting up a Nunavut-based intermediate group, which can contain dangerous situations while the high-level team is on its way. The 14 officers selected for the containment team will begin a a 10-day course on Sept. 7, with experts coming up from Ottawa to train them. After the course is finished, the team will train two days a month, McVarnock said."Half of the team that are going to be trained are Iqaluit members, but the other half are going to be from outlying areas in some of our larger communities, like Cambridge Bay, Kugluktuk, Baker Lake," he said. "So if something breaks over there, we have a small group of people already trained that can at least get the logistics set up while we bring in the rest of the containment from Iqaluit on the police plane. So at least we have some expertise spread out throughout the division."

McVarnock said the Nunavut emergency containment team plans to work as much as possible with Nunavummiut and with Inuit RCMP members who are trained in immediate crisis negotiations.He added that he hopes to have a fully trained high-level emergency response team based in the territory someday.About 99 per cent of emergency police situations are resolved through negotiations, he said.

Budget axe falls down on literacy programs

August 27, 2009 6:00 PM Kelowna Capital News:

Literacy B.C.’s Read Line and Literacy Directory programs have lost their $60,000 funding due to ministry of education cutbacks.“Thousands of British Columbians each year use these services to connect with educational programs in their areas,” said Judy Cavanagh, executive director of Literacy B.C, “Literacy B.C. will run the B.C. Literacy Directory and the Read Line for as long as we can, but without funding, our inability to operate this service will have consequences.”

Cavanagh said in 2005, the provincial government announced the golden goal of becoming the most literate jurisdiction on the continent. Just four years later, key literacy funding is being cut, Cavanagh said, even though literacy services are more important than ever during an economic downturn. “In order to find a new job, many people need to upgrade their skills. The programs offer a simple way to connect people with the services they need to succeed. Cutting funding to these tools just does not make sense.”

The literacy directory (www.literacybc.ca/directory) is a website where people can find programs to improve reading, writing and English language skills in their regions. The read line, 1-888-732-3234, is a confidential, toll-free hotline where anyone can get personalized assistance with finding a literacy program. Cavanagh said friends or family use the service on behalf of someone who struggles to read, or volunteers call looking for a way to make a difference to literacy.

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Don Quixote Note: The Junction Literacy Centre of Vernon also gets support from The Province of British Columbia through the following Ministries:

• Children and Family Development
• Education
• Employment & Income Assistance

Could this support also be in jeopardy ???

Doer to be Canada's next ambassador to U.S.

CBC NEWS:

Manitoba Premier Gary Doer will be introduced as Canada's next ambassador to the United States during a visit to Ottawa Friday, CBC News has learned.Prime Minister Stephen Harper is scheduled to meet with Doer at 9:30 a.m. ET. Doer announced Thursday that he would be stepping down as the NDP premier of Manitoba after 10 years in the job. He didn't say what his future would hold, but joked: "I'm not going to be watching soaps."

Michael Wilson has held the ambassador's post since March 2006. If Doer goes end up with the Washington job, he would be following the career path of former New Brunswick premier Frank McKenna. The Liberal politician also stepped down on his 10th anniversary of becoming premier, and then went on to represent Canada in the United States.

Compost Facility Causing Stink

Written by Peter McIntyre Thursday, 27 August 2009 15:20

Hundreds of residents still have questions about a proposed animal waste composting facility in the North Okanagan community of Grindrod.More than 200 people packed a five hour meeting put on by the Agriculture Ministry, concerned the type of composting bags that will be used, will be harmful to public health and the environment.Concerned residents' spokesperson Karen Dittloff says the ministry reps didn't address the issues."A lot of them weren't answered completely or to the satisfaction of the residents so the area residents are very frustrated. They very clearly stated no to this facility and they (ministry) just don't seem to be listening."

Dittloff says the province is looking at composting nine million pounds of animal waste each year, using it as farm fertilizer."This compost is proposed to be spread in Grindrod on either side of the Shuswap River, on rental and owned land. It's very high in E-coli, and we're concerned it will get into the watershed and also people's wells."Land owner Dave Robertson says the facility on Monks Road is legal and won't pollute the Shuswap River.

An 1,100 name petition opposed to the facility has been given to Shuswap MLA George Abbott.There's no word when the province will make a decision.

DVA takes to the streets with mural tours

Vernon Morning Star:

There’s an opportunity for you to explore 25 murals that depict the history, culture, scenery and folklore that made Vernon what it is today. The Downtown Vernon Association holds an evening mural tour today at 5:30 p.m. plus regular tours at 9 a.m. and 11a.m. until today. The tours are $7 per person, while self-guided tours (with audio set) are also available for $3, Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Group tours are available through the association.For more information about the tours or to book a space, call the DVA office at 542-5851. All tours leave from old train station — 4-3101-29th St.

HST draws wrath of Zalm

Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: August 27, 2009 6:00 PM

A former premier is urging rank-and-file British Columbians to rile up in protest over the HST.Bill Vander Zalm has hit the highways of the province to fight against the harmonized sales tax being implemented by the Liberal government July 1, 2010.“When 90 per cent of people are against something, how can the government proceed?” said Vander Zalm who will speak at a dinner meeting at Vernon’s Schubert Centre today at 6:30 p.m.A combined provincial sales tax and federal goods and services tax will result in an additional seven per cent levy on a number of items currently exempt from the PST. The total tax will be 12 per cent.“I’m against it because it’s been poorly presented. People had been told there wouldn’t be such a tax,” said Vander Zalm of the Liberals’ former policy.A number of industries, including tourism and restaurants, have expressed concern that the tax will drive customers away and affect their bottom line.

Vander Zalm also suggests that a recession is the wrong time to be increasing taxes.“People are being asked to cut back and there will be a terrific imposition on people,” he said, adding that the HST transfers money to big business.“To tax the guy with the lunch box and direct it to business doesn’t make sense.”

And the former Social Credit premier doesn’t believe the argument that the HST only became an issue after the May provincial election.“To do anything with the federal government takes months,” he said.“It would have cost them the election so I understand why they didn’t bring it up.”

That is a theory dismissed by Eric Foster, Liberal MLA for Vernon-Monashee.“It wasn’t on the radar for the minister of finance,” said Foster of the Liberals’ previous opposition to the HST.But Foster says the situation changed when the federal government eased up on its rules.“When we learned there was a made-in-B.C. formula, it became more palatable,” said Foster.

Vander Zalm believes there is only one force behind the new levy.“They need money and they see money coming from the federal government,” he said of the $1.6 billion Ottawa will transfer to B.C. for accepting the HST.“The Olympics will make the need even greater. There will be a big debt with the Olympics. I’m not against taxes but they need to manage better.”

To purchase tickets for today’s dinner meeting, call 545-4350.

Compost plan draws crowd

Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: August 27, 2009 6:00 PM

Extreme differences of opinion are driving the debate around a proposed animal waste composting facility in Grindrod. A large crowd jammed into Grindrod Elementary Wednesday to debate the plan for a Monks Road farm.“Our fears about health and the environment are apparent after this meeting,” said Karen Dittloff, spokeswoman for a group of concerned citizens.Dittloff doesn’t believe there was sufficient evidence from government officials that composting is safe, and that monitoring will be sufficient. “They fumbled around. They weren’t even sure of their own regulations,” she said.If the facility is approved by the Ministry of Agriculture, the waste would be collected from slaughterhouses and retail stores, and the compost would be spread on the farm as fertilizer.Some residents claim waterways and adjacent land could be contaminated by waste containing antibiotics. They are also concerned about animal attractants and odours coming from the facility.

Dittloff says the five-hour meeting was poorly handled.“They did allow some people to voice their concerns but there was little time for questions,” she said.However, the applicant for the facility defends the process. “There is a group of people who don’t want to hear anything. The issues were addressed and there will be no pollution,” said Dave Robertson, who owns the farm.“There is no reason to hold the project up. The guys on the government team thought it went well.”Robertson says there were also people present who support the facility and believe it is essential for agricultural operations.“We have to do something with waste. We can’t keep sweeping it out of the province.”

But opinions are so split, that both sides can’t agree on how many people were in attendance.Dittloff insists there were more than 200 people present, but Robertson claims there were between 150 and 160, with many of them from out of town.“There were probably only 50 people from Grindrod that will be affected directly or indirectly,” he said.The Ministry of Agriculture is expected to decide later this year on the future of the proposal, but that may still not be the end of the matter.Opponents to the plant are trying to raise money for legal action.“We are looking at pursuing that if a decision is made for the facility to go ahead. But we hope the government will listen to the residents,” said Dittloff.

Campbell Will Seek Fourth Term

Written by 107.5 Kiss FM Thursday, 27 August 2009 15:09

Premier Gordon Campbell says he'll seek a fourth term when he runs for re-election in 2013.Campbell says there are some challenging and important things he wants to do for B-C to build on some of the government's successes.

Campbell has been premier since 2001.There's been some speculation he may consider leaving politics after B.C. hosts the 2010 Winter Olympics.

PM unveils slate of Senate appointees

09_08_27 - Backgrounder - Senate Appointments

Garage fire is really grass fire

by Castanet Staff - Aug 27, 2009 / 11:45 am

Fire crews responding to a garage fire Wednesday in Enderby discovered that they actually had a "grass" fire on their hands. The fire, which broke out in the garage in the 200 block of Old Salmon Arm Road, was ignited by faulty electrical wiring that was being used to supply a grow-op housed in the structure, says RCMP spokesman Gordon Molendyk. The fire damaged the garage and destroyed most of the 100 or so marijuana plants that were under cultivation. A 29-year-old woman was taken into custody at the scene and is expected to face charges at a later date. A second person seen leaving the scene has not been located, Molendyk says.Police also obtained and executed a warrant on the adjoining house and found several bags of dried marijuana, Molendyk says.

New Boat Plant Opens

Glen Morrison Thursday, 27 August 2009 107.5 KISSFM:

A North Okanagan manufacturer is about to open it's new, consolidated, 52 thousand square foot plant. Harbercraft, maker of aluminum boats, will have the grand opening September first after over a year's building.WestWinn group president Byron Bolton says it's not just an expansion.He tells KISS FM, "The operation was consolidated from two other facilities, one just across the street, and two buildings and one operation in Sylvan Lake Alberta that's basically been moved to Alberta." Bolton says they're running with about 80 staff at the plant on eight acres of land at the north end of Swan Lake.

Harbercraft's website says it's the number one aluminum boat in Canada. The website says the company originated on the shores of the Niagara River, where the original founders, the Harber family, started manufacturing car top aluminum boats in 1959. With growth and sales demand from major department stores, a second manufacturing plant was built in the 70s near Vernon.

B.C. to defend tax stand in next provincial budget

Thu Aug. 27 2009 04:18:31 CTV B.C.:

VICTORIA — After taking a severe beating over plans to introduce the harmonized sales tax, the B.C. government will defend its tax stand in next Tuesday's provincial budget.Finance Minister Colin Hansen says the budget will contain examples of how the HST impacts seniors, low-income earners and others in the province. The minister says the budget charts and graphs may surprise some people because they will show how some will end up saving money because of the HST. He concedes that there will be higher cost for some purchases, pointing out that if a person bought a hamburger the cost would rise, but a beer with the burger will cost less because alcohol taxes will drop.

Harper to appoint new Senators

Reports say Prime Minister Harper is about to fill up to nine Senate vacancies with some of his closest Conservative supporters.

Can you guess which ones are the Political Senators and which ones actually work for a living. (No truth to rumours that Harper will appoint Dany Heatley of the Ottawa Senators -who wants to be traded- to the upper chamber.)

The Senate is said to be " The Chamber of sober second thought"

Who let the pigs in
 ? (oink, oink, oink, oink )

Ottawa city debtors listed online

CBC NEWS Thursday, August 27, 2009 | 9:09 AM ET

A confidential list of people and companies who owe money to the City of Ottawa was unintentionally posted online Wednesday. The city's access to information and privacy office must now conduct an investigation and submit a report to Ontario's information and privacy commissioner, as the information involved is protected under provincial privacy law.

The 19 companies and 376 individuals listed owe the city a total of more than $200,000, which the city has been unable to collect and plans to write off. The list, clearly marked "confidential," was posted on the City of Ottawa's public website Wednesday afternoon, attached to an item on the agenda for the Sept. 1 corporate services committee meeting, which has since been cancelled. Someone noticed the breach and contacted Ontario's information and privacy commissioner, who contacted the city. Later Wednesday afternoon, the list and the entire meeting agenda were removed from the city's website. Someone noticed the breach and contacted Ontario's information and privacy commissioner, who contacted the city. Later Wednesday afternoon, the list and the entire meeting agenda were removed from the city's website. In a memo to Ottawa's mayor and city council late Wednesday, city clerk Rick O'Connor said the breach was the result of "human error in his office. "He said everyone on the list will be notified of the breach if the city is able to track them down.

Harmonized sales tax is ‘just wrong,’ Vander Zalm says

Adrian Nieoczym Kelowna.com: Thursday, August 27th, 2009 | 6:00 am

Bill Vander Zalm, the colourful former Social Credit premier, is back in the spotlight as he kicks political dust on the current government over it’s planned harmonized sales tax. And tomorrow, he will bring his show to Kelowna. “Everybody is concentrating, as they always do, on Vancouver and Victoria. Nobody thinks of Kelowna, the most important city in the whole province,” Vander Zalm told Kelowna.com about why he is coming here as part of his anti-HST campaign. “I’m hoping to at least make people aware of what we are getting into.”

Vander Zalm’s attempt to defeat the HST is admittedly a long shot. He wants to use B.C.’s Recall and Initiative Act to force the government to hold a referendum on the tax.However, the act has never been successfully used, as forcing a referendum requires 10 per cent of registered voters in every single riding, to sign a petition.But Vander Zalm thinks this is just the sort of issue that could get British Columbians to rise up against their government.“A poll that was done at the very beginning of all this said 85 per cent plus of the people were upset. Now it’s probably up well over 90 per cent are upset with this tax. They don’t want any part of it,” he said.The Ipsos Reid poll released Aug. 6, two weeks after the HST was announced, found that not only do 85 per cent of British Columbians oppose the new tax but 71 per cent “strongly oppose” it.As well, 87 per cent said they expect the tax to have a negative impact on their pocket book, with 51 per cent expecting a “very negative impact.” The survey of 720 adults is considered accurate to within plus or minus 3.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Vander Zalm is spending the next few weeks trying to drum up support around B.C. for his campaign. Tomorrow he will be at Moxie’s Classic Grill, 1730 Cooper Road, for a public luncheon from noon until 1:30 p.m.

Crown Loss Widens on Charges for ‘Ill-Timed’ Growth

By Robert Fenner Aug. 27 (Bloomberg)

Crown Ltd.’s second-half loss widened after Australia’s biggest casino owner wrote down its stakes in five North American operators bought just as the worst recession since the 1930s hit. Crown’s net loss was A$788 million ($651 million) in the six months ended June, compared with a loss of A$76 million a year earlier. The result was derived by subtracting first-half earnings from the record A$1.2 billion full-year loss the Melbourne-based company reported today. Chairman James Packer led a $3 billion expansion into North American since 2006, a move Chief Executive Officer Rowen Craigie described today as “ill-timed.” Gambling on the Las Vegas Strip slumped 15 percent in the 12 months ended June, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, with Crown writing down the value of four investments to zero. The charges end “a disastrous chapter in Crown’s history,” Jenny Owen, an analyst at Citigroup Inc., said in a note to clients today. “The indigestion from the foray into U.S. gaming will persist,” said Owen, who rates the stock “hold.”

Crown cut 88 percent off the value of its investment in Cannery Casino Resorts LLC and wrote off its holdings in Stations Casinos, Harrah’s Entertainment Inc, Canada’s Gateway Casino Income Fund and Fontainebleau Resorts LLC.

Rise Sold

Wed, 2009-08-26 09:02.Betty Selin - Vernon 105.7 SUNFM:

Few details about the sale, but confirmation today that a deal has been reached to purchase the Rise in Vernon.Marshall McLeod with Vancouver commercial real estate firm CB Richard Ellis says, the deal was reached on Friday but couldn't reveal any details under a confidentiality agreement. While the selling price and buyer haven't been revealed, SunFM has learned the offer for the golf course and development is in the sixty five million dollar range.

The 735 acre Bella Vista resort had been listed for sale since October for an undisclosed price.CEO Leona Snider says it's expected the sale will close in early December. She says the buyer is a Canadian and US Partnership.

Premier Gordon Campbell responds to accusations his administration lied about the introduction of the harmonized sales tax and blowing its budget deficit target.

Packer buyback of ConsMedia to foil Stokes

Nick Tabakoff | August 27, 2009 The Australian: (excerpt below):

JAMES Packer's massive restructure of his empire will escalate today when his listed Crown gaming group unveils writedowns of $1.5 billion as part of a scorched earth policy on its troubled US casino assets.

The Australian understands most of Crown's US assets will be written down to zero, in a move that could be a precursor to a bid by Mr Packer to privatise the stockmarket-listed company.The move will come less than 24 hours after Mr Packer's listed media group, Consolidated Media, announced a 10 per cent share buyback immediately after dumping its entire 26 per cent stake in online job ads group Seek, raising $441 million. The buyback, announced well after the close of trade last night, is seen as a move to block a takeover bid by Kerry Stokes's Seven Network.

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The company has already valued its stake in another North American casino group, Gateway, at zero. But the status of a loan of $166m by Crown to Gateway is also believed to be under scrutiny.

Whistler will spend $500k to prettify itself for Games

By Clare Ogilvie, The ProvinceAugust 26, 2009 7:49 AM

The resort town is spending $500,000 to make itself pretty for the 2010 Olympics.The municipal Look and Feel Program will give Whistler new light displays and Olympic-themed banners."I believe it will absolutely help to transform Whistler," said Keith Bennett, general manager of resort experience.Bennett said the look of Whistler will change, particularly around Creekside, the medals plaza and the media centre. "You will get a real sense that something is different and that look will flow right through the village."

The money will come out of the hotel tax tourists pay to stay in the resort. Most of the banners will not have the Olympic rings on them and will feature Whistler's name prominently."In the future, we will put these banners back up again in celebration of the [Winter] Games and to celebrate [Olympic] games in the future," said Bennett.

Vancouver is spending $650,000 on banners for the Games. They will go up Jan. 4.

Council must resist playing favourites

Published: August 18, 2009 6:00 PM Penticton Western News Editorial:

The question of whether council should pay more for services and contracts if it benefits local business stood front and centre Monday when it awarded a $19.74 million contract to a Kelowna company ahead of Greyback Construction, whose bid came in almost $500,000 higher. The discussion revealed that Penticton council received a lot of pressure from the local business community (but not Greyback itself apparently) to tender the contract locally. While council resisted this pressure in awarding the contract to the lowest bid, we get the sense that it did so with clenched teeth. Saying no to a local company whose roots run deep throughout the community is not an easy thing. Yet we wonder how they would feel if the City of Kelowna were to tell a Penticton company that they could not bid on contract because it is not local. The issue certainly confirms the old adage that all politics is local and we suspect that few would have complained if the city had gone with Greyback, especially during this current economic climate. But the stakes involved in this decision were much higher than they might appear.

Several members of this council — starting with Mayor Dan Ashton — have long records of insisting on fiscal prudence. Council also began their current term with the reputation of being business savvy. It also had to consider the legal ramifications of the decision. So this question involved nothing less than council’s credibility as the custodian of the city’s finances. Any deviation from this responsibility would have raised serious questions about council’s fiduciary duty. Its reputation (whether rightly or wrongly) has already suffered in recent months with every financial update from the South Okanagan Events Centre. While it cannot control some of the factors, which have caused the facility to under-perform, it can control the awarding of city contracts. In that sense, it must be ruthless in awarding the contract to the lowest tender (assuming it meets all the qualifications) regardless of its home base. This is not just good business, but good politics in the long run, even if it ruffles some feathers.

Fire department bolsters its ranks

Kathy Michaels - Penticton Western News Published: August 20, 2009 6:00 PM

Dollars Penticton council diverted toward the fire department have now brought staffing levels to a more desirable level. Last week fire chief Wayne Williams put the city’s $200,000 to use and pulled four firefighters from the pool of auxiliary staff and offered them full-time positions. They will start training Aug. 26, and be fully integrated into the department by Sept. 2.“That brings us to 32 suppression firefighters,” explained Williams, adding “it’s a move in the right direction.”

Penticton’s fire department has been staffed at below-ideal levels for some time, and several reports supporting an increase in staffing levels were brought to council over the years.Those reports explained that provincial guidelines, which suggest a minimum of four firefighters to be on scene before they can enter a burning building. That includes one firefighter to control the water supply, and another to act as safety while the final two enter the building.

Penticton’s two halls were staffed with a minimum of two firefighters at all times. That meant when one hall was responding to a call, the first personnel on scene had to wait for a truck to arrive from the second hall before anyone could enter the building.With the increased funding, and subsequent hiring, Williams explained that they will be closer to getting a four-man engine at each of the city’s two fire halls.“The goal right now is to try and better our response time, to meet the Worksafe B.C. regulations to provide enough manpower on scene quickly to have adequate manning on scene,” he said.Now that the hiring is done, Williams is trying to work out shifts so there are six firefighters on staff. “It will be nice once they are all up and running,” said Williams, who in earlier reports to council noted that the department would like to add two more members in 2015 and 2016.

New extra cost sunk pontoon project

by Rob Turner - Aug 26, 2009 / 5:00 am Castanet

SNC Lavalin might have been persuaded to wait for the outcome of Kelowna's attempts to use the old bridge pontoons for a public breakwater, according to Mayor Sharon Shepherd. But only if Kelowna was willing to take on the bridge builder's additional costs for doing so, Shepherd says B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell's office told council in a letter. And that, council decided Monday, it was not prepared to do, so it passed a motion declaring its interest in reusing the pontoons to be officially at an end. Council had directed the mayor to write Campbell asking for his assistance in finding more time for the city to come up with approvals for the project several weeks ago. The city was about to fail to meet a deadline that SNC Lavalin had set for fulfilling its contractual obligations to dispose of the pontoons. "We did our best to make this project happen," Shepherd said in an interview following the council meeting. "Now it's time to move on."

New owner on the rise for resort

Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: August 25, 2009 7:00 PM

A large Vernon development could be under new ownership later this year.The Morning Star has learned that there is a tentative contract with investors wanting to purchase the 735-acre Rise resort on Bella Vista Road.“We have an accepted offer to purchase,” said Marshall MacLeod, a realtor with CB Richard Ellis in Vancouver.It was in October 2008 that the Rise was listed for sale at an undisclosed price. It includes low-density residential uses, resort commercial uses, a network of parks and trails and a championship golf course, but the winery and vineyard are not for sale.More than $14 million has been spent on the golf course and a total of $105 million in the resort community to date.

MacLeod is revealing little about the potential buyers.“It’s a combination of both U.S. and Canadian parties,” he said.Conditions regarding land titles and other legal issues must now be sorted out and it’s anticipated that the deal could be completed by early December.“We feel quite confident in the deal going through but there is a lot of work with a property this size,” said MacLeod.But this isn’t the first time that there have been potential purchasers waiting in the wings for the resort.In March, it was reported that the owners of The Rise were in negotiations with a party interested in acquiring the site, but no final deal materialized.

Since then, MacLeod says he has been busy handling inquiries.“During the last quarter, there has been significant interest,” he said.“That indicates that the economy is getting better and the big players are looking at opportunities.”In December 2008, The Rise was awarded protection from its lenders and creditors by the Supreme Court of B.C. using the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act for a period of nine months.

Grindrod plan goes before public

Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: August 25, 2009 7:00 PM

Emotions could be raw as a controversial issue goes before Grindrod residents today.The Ministry of Agriculture will hold a public meeting from 7 to 10 p.m. at Grindrod Elementary to discuss a proposed animal waste composting facility on Monks Road.Many residents are opposed, but the proponent insists there is a need for the plant and all efforts are being taken to ensure the integrity of the environment.“They say we will pollute the Shuswap River but we won’t,” said Dave Robertson, who owns the property.“There won’t be leachate from the site.”

Robertson says today’s meeting will be an opportunity for residents to find out more about the proposal and to get information from experts on animal waste composting.“What I’m doing is legal and better than burying them in the ground,” he said.If the facility is approved by the provincial government, the waste would be collected from slaughterhouses and retail stores, and the compost would be spread on the farm as fertilizer. However, some residents claim waterways and adjacent land could be contaminated by waste containing antibiotics. They are also concerned about animal attractants and odours coming from the facility.“This is show-down time,” said Karen Dittloff, spokeswoman for a group of concerned citizens, of the meeting.

But while she expects a large turnout, she is disappointed in the format established by the ministry.“They’re only allowing us 50 minutes to ask questions. Out of three hours, we get 50 minutes,” she said.“It could say that they don’t care what we have to say.”Dittloff says that the Splatsin First Nation is also concerned about the impact of the facility and it’s anticipated band representatives will be at the meeting.A 1,100-name petition opposing the proposal was recently presented to MLA George Abbott.

Employment Insurance beneficiaries increased by 199 per cent this year

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 | 2:43 pm By Kathy Michaels Kelowna.com

Economists may be calling an end to the recession, but it will be some time until the turnaround is noticed by the numerous Kelowna residents who have found themselves unemployed over the last year.Statistics Canada released its monthly figures on Employment Insurance beneficiaries today, reporting that 3,740 locals found themselves in need of EI this June.That number marks a rise of 199 per cent since last June when beneficiary numbers for this city sat at 1,250.

According to Stats Canada’s Dominique Pérusse, the employment market took its biggest hits in October of last year — a trend that is consistent across the country.“In the Thompson Okanagan region, employment went down in construction, manufacturing, accommodation and food services and trade, both retail and wholesale,” she said.

While Kelowna is the worst hit Okanagan city, both Vernon and Penticton have also reported casualties to the stagnating economy.This June, Vernon had 1,400 residents receiving benefits, compared to 520 from the year before. Penticton also took a significant jump, as there were 1,090 beneficiaries this year compared to 390 a year ago.

B.C. Solicitor General details ban on cell phone use

CTV B.C.:

British Columbia's Solicitor General Kash Heed has announced plans to impose a three-part ban on cell phone use for drivers.Heed spoke to reporters Tuesday after Gordon Campbell's throne speech, which marked the opening of the 39th session of parliament.

The proposed legislation will recommend a complete ban on cell phone use while driving, Heed said, with an exception for experienced drivers using hands-free devices. A complete ban on text messaging will also be imposed. New drivers in the graduated licensing program will be barred from using all use, including handheld devices, hands-free devices and any form of text messaging.

Six other provinces already have legislation restricting cell phone use in place. On August 12, Alberta announced it was developing legislation that was not limited to phone use, focusing instead on any distracting electronic device used in cars.

Rise Sold?

Written by Peter McIntyre Tuesday, 25 August 2009 14:22

One of Vernon's biggest resorts could have a new owner by the end of the year.A purchaser has signed a contract to buy the Rise located on 735 acres in the Bella Vista area.Realtor Marshall MacLeod from Vancouver based CB Richard Ellis says the deal is scheduled to be completed by December, but the buyer's name and selling price are not being disclosed.The housing development and golf course were put on the market last November by the Okanagan Hills Development Corporation due to the economic slowdown.

Throne speech: Crown corp. reviews; civil servant wage freezes; cell phone restrictions for driver

Speech from the Throne

Lindsay Kines and Rob Shaw, Times ColonistAugust 25, 2009 3:01 PM

Victoria, B.C. - B.C. Ferries’ president David Hahn won’t be the only executive having to justify his salary in the coming months.The B.C. government served notice in its throne speech today that all Crown corporations, health authorities and boards of education will face sweeping reviews similar to those now underway at B.C. Ferries and TransLink.Facing the worst recession in 27 years, the government said the Crown reviews will look for ways to cut administration costs and could prompt government to scrap some agencies and deliver the services through front-line ministries. In a direct shot at B.C. Ferries and TransLink, the government also hinted that it may have to bring in legislation to protect the public money invested in those quasi-independent authorities. “Public funding devoted to public transit and ferry services should not be use to subsidize unreasonably high compensation levels or administrative costs,” the speech said.B.C. Ferries five top officials earn more than $3 million a year, the ferry corporation disclosed in July. Ferries CEO David Hahn collects more than $1 million, including incentives and bonuses. B.C. Ferries’s 13 board of directors are also paid handsomely, receiving $48,000 annually and $1,500 a day extra when they physically attend a meeting.

The speech prefaced its tough talk about Crown agencies with a grim description of government finances, which have been “decimated” by falling revenues. “We have been hit by seismic economic shifts that were unpredictable and brutally deceiving in their speed and force,’ the speech said. “They rocked our province, hurt our industries, and have left thousands of workers worried or unemployed.” The government then spent two pages of the speech defending its decision to bring in a harmonized sales tax. The controversial tax will cut business costs by $2 billion a year, and $1.6 billion from the federal government in transition funding will help protect health and education services, the government said.

Elsewhere in the speech, the government also promised to:

•Introduce all-day kindergarten for five-year-olds in September 2010

•Restrict cell-phone use by drivers

•Deny welfare to anyone in B.C. with an outstanding warrant from another province

•Bring in a new bill of rights for seniors living in residential care facilities.

•And strengthen the law that regulates lobbyists.

The government also reiterated its plan to freeze public sector wages.

“As long as we are mired in deficits, there is simply no money available for public sector wage increases,” the speech said.

Surrey, B.C., probing who hatched chicken manure scheme

Tuesday, August 25, 2009 | 6:09 AM PT CBC NEWS

Chicken manure spread on city property in Surrey, B.C., is causing a stink at city hall following allegations that city crews left the manure to prevent the homeless from loitering. Chicken manure was left on the grass, along sidewalks and in an empty city-owned lot beside the Front Room, a busy resource centre for the homeless on 135a Street in North Surrey. "You got all this staff here at the Front Room trying to save lives. They can't even sit out here and talk to the clients, try to guide them to the right place when all that smell is around," said Front Room counsellor Tim Tabor. "It's just inhuman. How would they like it in their yard?" said Tabor, who added witnesses saw Surrey city workers for spreading the manure.Acting Surrey mayor Barinder Rasode did not deny it was municipal employees who did the deed but she said the order was not given by city council or the mayor.

An investigation is underway into whether bylaw officers and RCMP initiated the plan, Rasode said."A part of our understanding [is] that it may have been the city's law enforcement agency, which are the bylaw officers, in conjunction with maybe a local officer at the [RCMP] office," Rasode told CBC News.Rasode said that following the complaints, the manure was removed over the weekend.

Mayor seeking alternative alternate

Ron Seymour 2009-08-25 Kelowna Daily Courier:

Alternatives to the so-called alternative approval process will be considered by Kelowna city council. Mayor Sharon Shepherd on Monday won council‘s backing for her suggestion to have staff propose other ways the public‘s input might be solicited on controversial topics. Shepherd mentioned that a statistically valid opinion poll and use of an electronic voting process might be tried somewhere down the road, if the provincial government can be persuaded to change the applicable legislation. Under the alternative approval process, a contentious city project must be put to a referendum if 10 per cent of voters, or 9,200 people, sign petitions asking for such a vote.

On several occasions, Shepherd has decried what she sees as the underlying “negativity” of the AAP, in that it is a tool used by people who are against a specific project. The only current alternative to the AAP is a referendum, which city officials have rarely used, most often citing the cost of $70,000. “There must be some other solutions out there” for getting public input, Coun. Charlie Hodge said. But Coun. Andre Blanleil pointed out that it is fairly rare for a city proposal to attract anywhere near the number of signatures that came in on the recent pontoons-to-pier idea. Just over 3,000 people signed the petitions, far below the number that would have been necessary to put the now-abandoned idea to a referendum. Most city projects that require the use of either a referendum or the AAP to get voter assent draw no signatures, or very few. Such projects typically relate to infrastructure upgrades, such as new water intake pipes or enhancements to the sewage treatment plant. “Most of the ones we‘ve done, we never hear from anybody,” Blanleil said. Council will bring a report back to council suggesting alternative public input

Reading into budget cuts

J.P. Squire 2009-08-25 Kelowna daily Courier:

With two-thirds of their budget year already gone, public libraries across the province still don‘t know how much they will receive in provincial grants, just that it will be less. Ironically, the economic woes which are causing funding cuts are also attracting more patrons, many of them who can‘t afford to buy books and other resources anymore. According to a B.C. Government and Service Employees‘ Union news release, Education Minister Margaret McDiamid quietly revealed a 22 per cent – or $4-million – cut in the libraries‘ $17.6-million 2008-09 budget last Thursday. A Ministry of Education spokesman said that the $9.7 million in per-capita operating grants will be maintained. So will funding of six library federations, provincial library associations, Literacy Equity and One Card programs. But targeted grants will be reduced or eliminated. The province‘s contribution to overall library funding will decline to seven per cent of libraries‘ total revenue from nine per cent, he said, but funding has increased by 60 per cent from the $8.5 million in 2001-02 when the Liberals came to power. “The ministry is committed to working closely with the B.C. Library Trustees‘ Association to ensure that rural libraries, especially those with small population bases, are supported,” said the spokesman.

The Okanagan Regional Library has still heard nothing but “gossip,” said executive director Lesley Dieno. “We saw that news and we were a little worried, (but) we don‘t know that the whole amount (22 per cent) is going to be cut from the grants,” Dieno said. “We‘re thinking probably not because we think some of the reduction will be at the provincial level,” Dieno said. The ORL receives $1.2 million from the province: a $1-million operating grant, plus a series of small targeted grants to bring in guest authors, for example. The grants represent eight per cent of ORL revenue. “When these recessions hit, we just get busier and busier. It‘s weird. People show up that you haven‘t seen for five years: ’Oh, I‘m back. I can‘t afford to buy books any more‘ or “I gave up my computer‘ or ’My computer broke down and I didn‘t have enough money to fix it so here I am again,”‘ she said.

The ORL‘s finance committee is scheduled to meet at the headquarters “to go through everything” either at the end of the week or early next week in advance of the board meeting on Sept. 16. “But we won‘t be able to make any final decisions about things, of course, until the board meeting. And even then, if we don‘t know the actual cuts and where they are until the end of September, we won‘t have a final idea of the budget at all in September and we‘re going to have to wait until the November meeting (Nov. 18).”Dieno thinks there will some cuts to targeted grants, but the board doesn‘t budget for some grants that it has applied for until they are approved. “I think they are trying their darnedest not to cut the big stuff because it is so integrated into library budgets,” she said. “If some of the smaller libraries in the province lose that operating grant, then they can‘t operate at all. I think we‘re not going to have as hard a time with this as some of the small libraries in the small communities that aren‘t part of a big system,” she added. “I‘m not saying it‘s going to be easy, but we can all support each other. We‘re big enough that we can do that. If you‘re in a system, it sure makes things a lot easier.” The fiscal year for public libraries is Jan. 1-Dec. 31 unlike the province which operates April 1-March 31. Funding announcements for the current year have come as early as June, but occasionally not until September. The ORL has about 240 employees and operates 29 branches from Revelstoke to Osoyoos.

Online gambling: B.C.'s billion-dollar gift horse

Gary Mason Last updated on Monday, Aug. 24, 2009 GLOBE and Mail:

In government, one never says never. Which is why politicians should always be careful about proclaiming war on potential revenue streams. A couple of years ago, the minister in charge of policing in B.C. said he was out to eradicate online gambling. But then one day, Rich Coleman switched portfolios and was suddenly overseeing gaming, a huge government revenue producer. So when Mr. Coleman announced last week that the B.C. Lottery Corp. was increasing the limit for betting on its PlayNow website to $9,999 a week per person – up from $120 – it provoked great yelps of protest, both from the anti-gambling crowd and from those whose job it is to berate elected officials who talk out of both sides of their mouths.

Personally, I can't get too worked up about what the lottery corporation is doing. Victoria needs money desperately. The lottery injects more than $1-billion a year into the provincial treasury. The government likes to say that most of that money goes into health care and education, because it sounds better. The truth is, it goes into general revenue and so you can say it pays for anything you like.But a billion bucks is a billion bucks. Would we prefer the government to shut down lotteries and increase our taxes to make up for the billion-dollar shortfall? That might make some feel better, but it wouldn't stop people from buying lottery tickets. They'd just buy them somewhere else and another government would get the revenue instead.

British Columbians spend an estimated $87-million a year on online gambling sites – mostly poker – outside the province. By increasing the betting limits and introducing a poker product of its own, the B.C. government is trying to get a piece of the action. What does the B.C. Lottery Corp. have to offer to compete with these no-limit online poker games? Security for one thing. You can count on a) getting your winnings and b) assurance that any credit card information you give out isn't going to be misused. That won't be enough to deter many from continuing to gamble at popular sites such as Full Tilt Poker or Absolute Poker, but some will try the B.C. Lottery game out once it's operational next spring. (For now, it is offering a lottery game with a poker theme, outcome predetermined).

Now, the reason that lotteries set the limit at $9,999 instead of $10,000 is another matter altogether. And if anything should be raising eyebrows, it is this. You see, any bets over $10,000 have to be reported to Fintrac, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada. It investigates money-laundering, and online poker is a popular way to launder proceeds of crime. Michael Graydon, president of the lottery corporation, told me he set the limit at $9,999 because the corporation didn't want to have to file reports to Fintrac. He also said that at limits below $10,000, there are “almost non-existent levels of money laundering.” A more cynical person might suggest that a limit of $10,000 would also scare away potential customers, especially those of the shadier variety. At $9,999, those people have much less to be worried about.

Gambling is like booze. Governments tried to prohibit it, and when that didn't work, they decided to make money by regulating the industry. That's what's going on with gambling now.The fact is, billions are being generated through gambling. A recent report by Merrill Lynch predicts online gambling will bring in $528-billion worldwide by 2015. Governments everywhere are struggling with the temptation that pool of money presents. A few years ago, the U.S. government outlawed Internet gambling by making it illegal for banks or credit card companies to process payments to online gambling operations. Mostly, what the government was doing was blocking online competitors from poaching gamblers from state-run lotteries. But now the United States is rethinking its position.

You see, Washington is cash-strapped too. And it's estimated that taxes raised from licensed online gambling operations could generate an additional $50-billion annually for the U.S. Treasury. The gross profit from online betting in Europe is thought to be about $5-billion a year. That's why Sweden, Austria and Italy – where, coincidentally, a winning ticket in the state lottery this past weekend earned a lucky player a staggering 146.9 million euros – decided to get in the game. In fact, B.C.'s jump into online poker is modelled on what those three countries have done. Gambling is here to stay. So governments might as well play a role in regulating it as much as possible and raking in much-needed revenue from it at the same time.

Top Mountie takes total immersion approach to Nunavut

Nunavut News Online:
Steve McVarnock, with his predecessor C/Supt. Marty Cheliak

NEWS: Nunavut August 05, 2009 - 9:58 am Nunatsiaq Online:

For the first couple of months of his tenure, Steve McVarnock will be a travelling man.The new commander of RCMP’s V Division, sworn in late last month, says his new job as Nunavut’s top police officer is to get out and meet as many people as possible, in as many places as possible.

McVarnock said he’s been travelling throughout Nunavut since his first day on the job, June 12, meeting community leaders and rank and file Mounties. By the end of July he’d been to eight Nunavut communities.“I want to have all the detachments visited in the next four weeks,” he said.But when McVarnock gets home, he’ll likely see even more demand for face time.

The Northern Ireland-born, 28-year veteran takes over from Chief Supt. Marty Cheliak, seen by some as aloof, and whose regime faced criticism for not doing enough to combat Iqaluit’s growing drug problem, even though the division commander’s role makes him responsible for policing across the territory. One of those critics is Iqaluit city councillor Allen Hayward. Two years ago Hayward accused the RCMP of “not being very helpful” in tackling the city’s drug problems.But he’s more optimistic after the change of command.“There were a lot of pressing problems that were never addressed in Iqaluit and seeing this guy [McVarnock] immediately have some kind of impact, it shows to officials and the general public who called for action that something can get done,” Hayward said.

One of McVarnock’s first acts was to engineer Take Back The Night, a show of force by police, bylaw and liquor enforcement officers that included roadblocks and visits to bars.McVarnock won’t criticize his predecessor and says it was as much about “operational readiness” and getting Mounties working together, which is especially important given the recent high turnover of officers. “Basically it’s just to serve notice that we are here and we will do our jobs,” he said. Ssuch events serve as a reminder to criminals that someone’s watching. “This new leaf being turned over will help everyone, from the beat cop to the general public.”

McVarnock, who has served in several detachments around the North for about nine years, including a stint in Iqaluit back in 1982, said he also wants to boost the number of Inuit who work for the RCMP. That means more “gun-and-badge” officers, but also dispatch staff and community constables. He said V Division also wants to hire more frontline, Inuktitut-speaking workers in larger communities outside of the three regional hubs of Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay. McVarnock also said eight of the 16 vacant officers positions have recently been filled and that the divisions was looking at ways to entice more officers to come and stay north, though he wouldn’t go into details.“When we start an initiative, we don’t want to start it to fail,” he said.