Canada's annual inflation rate was 1.3 per cent in December. British Columbia's was 0.4%.
Don Quixote Note: Durning budget discussions I had noted that the Council Salary remuneration was adjusted each January according to the Canada CPI rate for the previous November. (i.e 1%).
I suggested that Council and the remuneration committee that is traditionally set up in the 3rd and last year of the Council's term to consider Council Remuneration might consider that B.C. CPI might be a better measurement to use.
Staff cautioned that there were numerous periods in the past where B.C. CPI was much greater than Canada's CPI. To test that assertion I went back to the online stats.
If you enlarge the table in this posting you can see that the year end figures from 2005 to 2009 (5 Years) show that the Canadian CPI was higher than the B.C. CPI at every year end. IN the last 2 years, only on 2 occaisions out of the 24 months did the B.C. CPI exceed the Canadian CPI.
http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/cpi.html
B.C. Graphs, Tables: November 2009
2 comments:
Thank you Councillor Spiers for taking it upon yourself to verify that information!
This tale cautions us about relying blindly on staff advice.
If staff is incorrect about something as easily checkable as the BC CPI versus the Canada CPI, what else might they be missing?
I know, I know, how about how much councillor remuneration has increased since meeting pay was added last year?
Considering Council already received a substantial raise in the past year, a ZERO PERCENT INCREASE would show some much-needed respect for the taxpayers.
Don Quixote: The 2010 budget for next years meeting Cost Stipend is $32,000 and it was decided that any unclaimed amount will not flow into general revenue but be paced in the Community Grants Accounts that are available to non-profits etc.(it will also be a separate line item in all future budgets)
It is up to each Councillor to decide whether they will claim for each meeting they attend. I have stated at open public meetings that I will not submit any such claims until the end of this term.
I could not get any indications of support to waive this year's CPI increase but in view of the Province deciding on a zero% increase for the next 2 years announced today, I will make another attempt to introduce a motion at either Thursday's or Fridays session.
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