All posts by James W. Breckenridge

The State of the Water Address

Mr. Pizzuto’s state of the water supply letter raises several interesting points for consideration.

When council first proposed spending millions on installing individual household water meters, an astute citizen did the calculations and concluded that spending millions of dollars on water meters instead of investing the money in water delivery infrastructure made no sense economically and concluded the reason council was so gung-ho to put in water meters was as the first step to large increases in what citizens were paying for water.

Of course council was quick to issue assurances and promises that they were installing the water meters only for the purpose of more efficiency in managing the water resources, citing a water leak that had gone undetected for months under the old system that would be caught much sooner with the new water meters in place. Council trotted out their favourite defence: those citizens questioning the installation of water meters were ‘naysayers’, didn’t know what they were talking about and council would not be using the new metering system to change water billing from once a year or using the meters to limit the volume of water citizens could use or to implement large increases in the cost of water to residents.

Given council’s repeated demonstration of its lack of economic sense or consideration of the effect council’s actions have on taxpayer’s pocketbooks the matter has stood unresolved – until now.

Mr Pizzuto’s letter speaks of “over a resident’s average water needs” and “should be able to do so without paying high-use premiums”. Taken together with statements out of city hall about billing changing to several times a year and at least 50% increases in what citizens are billed for water this is yet further proof, for those who needed more demonstrated evidence, as to the worthlessness of assurances and promises made by Abbotsford City Council.

growth pays for itself” through Development Cost Charges (DCCs); while that is the theory behind the existence of Development Cost Charges, it is only true if a city uses the DCCs for infrastructure. When a city uses its Development Cost Charges as a funding source for day-to-day city operations, as Abbotsford’s city council does, who is paying for what (citizens or developers) becomes a matter of who is doing the accounting and how they do it.

It is the council practice of using Development Cost Charges to pay for day-to-day city operations and not strictly for infrastructure that is behind council’s desperate need to increase DCCs NOW. It is this desperate need that led to borrowing from Abbotsford’s future via the three year future tax holiday for developers who pony up DCCs now.

Given “Hence the watering restrictions that were implemented for July and August this year”; does anyone else finding it a little worrying that the city manager is seemingly unaware that water restrictions were imposed in Abbotsford beginning April 1st and not simply July and August, that it was the degree of the restrictions that was changed (or imposed) in July and August?

Just out of curiosity, while I agree that designing a water system based on one or two days of peak demand is neither financially or environmentally responsible, if we are speaking of only one or two days why were restrictions in place from April 1st and then tightened for 2 months. If we are speaking of only 1 or 2 days should not the length of watering restrictions be in terms of days and not months?

On the matter of the 2005 report and Mr. Pizzuto’s (and council’s) assertion that “The review showed that we would need to develop an interim source of water before our new major supply could be brought into service in 2015 – the target date for our new Stave Lake water supply to become active.

Only if you are spendthrift and improvident.

For prudent and financially responsible managers the report says that the new Stave Lake water needs to be brought on line before the 2015 target date in order to avoid the risk of water shortages and the increased costs to taxpayers through the need to develop expensive interim sources such as the Bevan Wells.

By moving up the date for bringing the new water supply on line, millions of dollars in savings would have been realized by eliminating the need for interim sources of water; the new water supply would be on line well before the city was in danger of running out of water or the need for strict water use rationing occurred; you avoid worries/questions about possible contamination in the Bevan Wells because of Mill Lakes industrial use history or of any possible negative effects on the jewel that is Mill Lake and it’s water table from pumping millions of litres of water out of that water table from under Mill Lake.

For the prudent and financially responsible having this report in hand in 2005 is a reason to focus on new water supply infrastructure.

It is only for the spendthrift and improvident that having this report in hand in 2005 means the need to spend millions on interim band-aid sources of water in order to put off investing in new water supply infrastructure so you can build ego projects with their massive cost overruns, need for millions of dollars in yearly subsidies and council’s final ego project – subsidizing the purchase of a professional hockey team for those privileged citizens favoured by Abbotsford city council.

After all as Mr. Pizzuto writes, Abbotsford has plenty of water – as long as we don’t use more than we have.

Those citizens who had hoped that Mr. Pizzuto’s arrival as city manager would result in more prudent and financially responsible decision making and behaviour must be disappointed by this evidence that council found, not prudence and fiscal acumen buta city manager in tune with ‘Abbotsford city council think’.

Still, while not necessarily helpful, Mr. Pizzuto’s letter – trepidation inducing and disheartening as it may be – is informative

Is? Or is not?

You’re not paranoid if the Universe really is out to get you.

I stood there contemplating the recycled brown envelope sitting atop the pile of mail before my door as if it were a King Cobra poised to strike; filled with foreboding that the contents of the envelop would reveal the next act in the Universe’s attempt to afflict my Life, my very Self, with chaos, panic and catastrophe.

The first law of Buddhism states: Life is difficult. The laws of probability mean these difficulties are not going to fall at evenly spaced and predictable points in time; that there will be periods where these difficulties clump so that the road of life is full of potholes and where, if the bird of paradise were to fly into your life – it would be to deposit his digestive waste product on your head.

This reality applies to the Outside world and, for those of us living with mental illness, the Inside world as well.

Where life gets INTERESTING, in an inauspicious way, is where – when – the roads of life in both the Outside and the Inside worlds are full of potholes.

When this happens dealing with the obstacles in the Outside world is made far more difficult by the anxiety, panic, depression, obsessive/compulsive behaviours and negative thoughts raging in one’s mind.

And while the potholes in the Inside world are driven by events/thoughts taking place in your mind, the events taking place in the Outside world can trigger or reinforce (or both) events/thoughts occurring in one’s Inside world, one’s Mind. When the events in the Outside world reinforce the events/thoughts, the potholes, of the Inside world the situation can become truly devastating.

Your car fails Aircare – anxiety, panic, depression explode and you find yourself in bed with the covers pulled over ones head. A state that makes it very difficult to get the car repaired. With the car crisis hanging over one’s head, dealing with the anxiety, panic and depression becomes a challenge of climbing Mt. Everest proportions.

From time to time, the depression I live with comes to intrude into my life and my head. With self-knowledge, knowledge, skills and tools acquired in seeking recovery and wellness I have, when depression has decided to pay a visit, been able to move back into recovery, balance, serenity and wellness in a timely manner.

This spring, the potholes in the Outside world reinforced the potholes in my Inside world, resulting in not just Mr. Depression staying free but setting freeing his playmates anxiety, depression, obsessive/compulsive and negative thoughts.

Chaos, panic and order were (are) warring in my mind. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately I have put in the hard work needed to gain the self-knowledge, knowledge, skills and tools to enter battle with Mr. Depression and his playmates.

Fortunate in that I did not crash and burn; Unfortunate in that the harsh reality of the mental health system is that crashing and burning is the fast track to getting access to the help needed to prevail in one’s struggle to deal with the chaos wrecked upon one’s Inside world by mental illness.

If the BC Liberal government wishes to insist that wait times for medical care for medical procedures such as knee surgery are a matter of efficient scheduling and efficient use of resources I can live with that. I have a friend who faced a wait to get his knee operation and while it caused pain and inconvenience he survived the delay and is currently struggling with the healing process.

However in the matter of delays in accessing the mental health services needed, it is not a matter of efficient scheduling and use of resources but of rationing. The difference lying in the fact that the consequences of not being able to access mental health NOW are so often dire, even disastrous or deadly.

Unless it is a matter of self harm or harm to others one faces months of waiting to get access to the rationed mental health services currently available.

As painful and uncomfortable as life may be it is, at least right now, far too interesting and filled with battles to fight (rationing of mental health care for one) to give serious contemplation to suicide. And as satisfying as it may be to contemplate the justice to be found in the harming of politicians, it is against my personal code of behavior.

Leaving me to struggle back to wellness; seeking to balance the challenges in the worlds Inside and Outside; to surf the tsunami in order to avoid being overwhelmed, crashing and burning.

Because of the feelings of powerlessness and frustration engendered in dealing with the bureaucracy that is the Ministry of Housing and Social Development (AKA Social Assistance) any interaction with this Ministry brings on heavy duty anxiety and puts me on the constant edge of panic.

So when I got the letter from the Ministry containing the forms for my doctor and myself to fill out to renew my PPMB status …. Well on top of everything else that was going on it was too much, to overwhelming, and I found myself literally not capable of dealing with this matter on top of everything else I was already dealing with.

Rather than giving up, crawling into bed and pulling the covers over my head and letting my life crash and burn in hope of getting help to deal with the chaos (Inside and Outside) as I SO wanted to do, I dragged myself down to the local Ministry office and explained the circumstances – struggling with my mental health and to avoid a meltdown – and that I was not capable of getting the forms in as scheduled.

I was told there was an extension and that I now needed to get the forms completed and submitted in August. So I focused on holding my head together while I dealt with the potholes in my Outside world one by one.

Careful budgeting, fiscal discipline, creativity, having been a good tenant (I got to remain as a tenant when the home I rent in was sold and my landlords changed) etc. allowed me to fill the potholes one by one.

I was making good progress when my car failed Aircare at the end of June. My quality of life is dependent on having the car as it allows me to be involved in the community and issues, to work part time (buses do not run in Abbotsford at 1:30 AM) and be able to afford my rent, to access the food resources in the community.

I came frightening close to the mental, emotional and life meltdown I was, and continue to struggle to avoid.

One of the best things I have learned in my journey of recovery is how to be a friend. As a result of this I have not just friends but good friends.

It was funding from a very good friend that allowed for car repairs and the passing of Aircare which permitted me to turn my attention to dealing with the final Outside pothole – the forms for the Ministry. Once I had dealt with this last curve ball the Universe had thrown at me, I could turn my attention to dealing with the potholes Inside – or so I thought.

The Universe however had another curve ball to throw.

When you do something that should put positive karma in your karma account – giving a friend a ride to a weekly program they wanted to take but needed a ride to – and a negative outcome occurs – your exhaust pipe is knocked off as a result of the steep incline of the driveway – it is understandable if one begins to feel that the Universe is really out to get you.

Control, deep breathing, talking myself out of the urge to floor it and let the chips, and the exhaust system, land where they may enabled me to hold it together long enough to call another friend, then carefully drive over to Grumpy’s Garage and get the muffler repaired after 9 PM at night.

When no new potholes developed in the week that followed I was able to get the PPMB forms filled out and submitted.

Achieving this required not giving in to the panic that tried to erupt each time I phoned to make a doctor’s appointment. Doctor’s offices are busy places and every time I phoned I ended up on hold listening to Muzak and hanging up as panic tried to erupt. Friends are beautiful things to have as another friend took (dragged) me up to the doctor’s office to make an appointment and back to keep the appointment.

Closed eyes and a focus on breathing let me remain in the waiting room and the examination room and avoid giving in to the flight urge; permitting me to have the needed form filled out by the doctor which allowed me to deliver the forms before the end of August deadline.

As I began to considered how I would deal with the potholes of the Inside world, the simmering cauldron of anxiety, panic and negative thought patterns kept the question ‘what is going to be the next Outside pothole to appear’ intruding into my head.

It was these negative though patterns about a new Outside pothole that had me standing there contemplating that envelope containing the notice of deposit from the Ministry as though it was a King Cobra. With the Ministry’s ability to devastate one’s life I ‘knew’ that what was in that envelope would reveal not simply a pothole, but an Empire State Building sized sinkhole.

It was only the fact that if I left it there I would see it and be reminded of the perceived looming disaster that had me picking up the mail and carrying it inside. Where another mental struggle ensued as the urge to hide the envelope from sight warred with the knowledge that if it was a sinkhole it needed to be dealt with ASAP.

Teetering back and forth, pro and con until I could slice the envelope open and look at the notice of deposit and …

… found the notice of deposit in the amount of $96 instead of the normal $630 (approx.), leaving me short $504 for rent, raising the specter of being homeless once again. Resulting in me struggling not to close the blinds, crawl into bed, pull the covers over my head and stay there as Life collapsed around me.

Instead, a good set of wellness tools had me going out for an evening meal, then joining some friends for coffee and making my regular evening swim to avoid sitting there allowing anxiety and panic to take over.

There is a reason that May you live in interesting times is considered to be the first of three curses of increasing severity – May the government be aware of you and May you find what you are looking for being the other two.

Which suggests it may well be wise for me to keep the old proverb warning one to Be careful what you wish for you just might get it in mind.

Still there is appeal in the thought of the ministries that are, in theory at least, there to help not hinder being helpful and the hope for less interesting and more boredom in my life to afford some quiet time for finding my way back to wellness.

It is at times like this, when the urge to retreat into denial and bed with the covers over my head refusing to come out that I come closest to understanding the lure of alcohol or drugs (legal or illegal) as a way to cope with or escape the mental stress and pain living can inflict on one’s mind and soul.

Postscript:

Wednesday night was mostly sleepless, with what sleep did occur not being restful – occurring as it did when I drifted off from time to time as I sat focused on writing about what was occurring. Writing being the diversionary tactic I chose to focus my mind on something to keep anxiety and panic from exploding.

Having succeeded in keeping the anxiety and panic relatively controlled the struggle moved to not retreating to bed, denial and avoidance through procrastination. The internal debate was long enough that I nearly missed lunch, having chosen lunch as the first step in getting to the Ministry’s office to deal with the matter.

After lunch I took advantage of the opportunity to share the situation with a friend, allowing me to calm and center myself to the point where I could proceed to the Ministry’s Abbotsford office. Where, because the day before was cheque issue day, I joined the line outside the doors of the office.

Knowing that I would face a long time in line I had brought what I had written the night before with me to edit as my choice of diversionary tactic to focus my mind on something to once again keep anxiety and panic from exploding.

By the time I finished editing what I had written I was left with only a manageably short period of time alone in my head with my thoughts before getting to speak to a worker.

With my Serenity worry stone firmly grasped in my hand as an aid in not letting the panic and trembling get out of hand, I explained the situation to the worker who checked my file and told me that the PPMB paperwork was in process and I would have an adjusting cheque in my hands by Tuesday.

I really appreciated his calm politeness and the understanding he showed of how panicking the situation was to me. Laughing when I looked at him after his telling me not to worry, as two of the multiple barriers I deal with are anxiety and panic.

The reality I live with is that until I have the cheque and September’s rent paid I will have to deal with anxiety. Having been told I would have a cheque that would allow me to pay September’s rent by Tuesday will, or at least should, avoid anxiety turning into panic.

Perhaps more importantly, the knowledge that having succeeded in getting the PPMB renewal forms in will result in being able to pay September’s rent will permit me to avoid self sabotaging or destructive behavior between now and the point in time that September’s rent is in the hands of my landlord.

It does seem to be probable that the Universe is not out to get me and that anxiety, panic and depression make me a little Paranoid when they are running loose in my brain without adequate adult supervision.

Still, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that there isn’t an invisible demon about to eat your face.

The reality I live with is that anxiety, panic and depression can always find something as a focus upon which to base negative thoughts of impending doom and catastrophizing upon.

Why the smile Mr. Mayor?

The smile on the face of Shape Properties president John Horton is understandable, but considering what this photo-op cost Abbotsford’s taxpayers what does Abbotsford Mayor George Peary have to smile about?

But then consideration of what effect their actions will have on taxpayers or their pocketbooks has never been a priority for Abbotsford’s mayor, councilors or city staff.

Admittedly this photo-op is costing the taxpayers of Abbotsford less than the photo-ops involving the Abbotsford Entertainment Sports Complex did; but the tax holiday giving rise to this photo-op may well be the council misjudgement that pushes the City of Abbotsford over the edge and sends it freefalling down into the abyss of financial crisis, perhaps even insolvency.

We are talking about a tax holiday (tax break) that works out to three years of $0.00 taxes on what is to be the largest shopping centre built in B.C. over the past 30 years.

We are also talking about a cost that is undoubtedly considered information taxpayers don’t need to know and information to be kept behind closed doors by our current mayor and council. One can hope that the new mayor and council (November 2011) will recognize this type of information as information those who pay the cost of decisions such as making the tax holiday/break that was suppose to attract new development retroactive to development already in the pipeline are entitled to know.

Hmmm; I don’t recall the tax holiday/break being retroactive as part of either the discussion or motion when mayor and council approved Jay Teichroeb’s dubious plan to use three years of $0.00 property taxes (spread over five years) to get developers to develop in Abbotsford by providing compensation to offset the barriers that were preventing their building in Abbotsford.

Although with Highway 1, a border crossing, an international airport and metro Vancouver just a short drive down Highway 1 it would seem that Abbotsford has much to offer developers – outside of its city council’s behaviour.

Still, it was predictable that Shape Properties and other developers who had projects in various stages of development would seek the same freebie that council was using to overcome developers reluctance to locate in Abbotsford and that council would find itself making their tax concessions/holidays/breaks retroactive for any developer that had not already made a significant investment in an Abbotsford development.

After all, leverage is all on the side of any developer with nothing (or close to nothing) invested and at stake in a development in Abbotsford. In those circumstances either developers would get the tax holiday/break or put their development(s) on hold; leaving council either to concede the tax holiday/break or lose those DCCs.

And while developers who have to much invested in a project not to complete the project canbe denied the tax holiday/break – what effect does denying a developer in that position the tax holiday/break have on that developer building any future development in Abbotsford?

The costs of making the tax holiday/breaks retroactive are only one facet of the can of worms council opened with its decision to grant holidays/breaks to satisfy its addiction to Development Cost Charges to finance Abbotsford City Hall’s spendthrift ways.

What the tax holiday/break does is to pull development into a current fiscal year from future years. At some point you simply run out of projects, or have a seriously reduced number of projects, that can be pulled from the future into your current fiscal year; also at some point pulling projects into your current fiscal year from the future will leave you without any projects in some future year (or years) – leaving the city without any Development Cost Charges (or at best significantly reduced DCCs) in that year (or years).

Similarly, when you end the tax holiday/break it leaves you in a vacuum of no, or significantly reduced, DCCs.

Either way the tax holiday/break is only a short term fix which creates longer term financial difficulties.

But the worst facet of city staff and council’s tax holiday/break decision is the extremely negative consequences the tax holiday/break will have on future city property tax revenue flows.

By giving future tax holidays/breaks for DCC cash now, council is borrowing from the future to fund council’s lack of planning and fiscal discipline in the current year. While this may save council from the consequences of its lack of fiscal discipline THIS year, it deals with this year’s problems not by addressing them but by pushing the reckoning into (near) future years.

The major consequences of city staff and council’s tax holiday/break are: forcing the city to grant retroactive tax holidays/breaks for projects that were already on the drawing board; pulling development out of the future into the current year with the result that in a near future year (or years) the city’s DCC revenue will suffer a significant reduction; the property tax reductions used to pull revenue into the current year to permit council to avoid, for this year, the consequences of council’s lack of planning and fiscal discipline will result in a significant reduction of property tax revenue flows in near (and not so near) future years; the developments that occur as a result of the tax breaks will, as they come online over future years require water, sewer and other city infrastructure that are inadequate to service the city’s current needs.

Council’s tax holiday/break ‘solution’ is going to require major infrastructure investments to provide services to the developments while at the same time the tax holiday/break ‘solution’ reduces the revenue flows of the city making it necessary to cut the city’s operating budget to match reduced revenues and raises the question of how much property taxes and debt will have to rise to fund city operations and the required infrastructure investments.

Tax breaks for DCCs now …live for today and ignore the future while digging the financial hole the city is in ever deeper.

Leaving citizens wondering ‘where are we going and why are we in this hand-basket’?

City Council Priorities

Surely G.H. Chandler is not suggesting that water, roads, sewage, facility fees that are affordable for families and the average citizen are more important than Abbotsford city council’s ego projects?

How could G.H. Chandler possibly expect council to put the needs of Abbotsford’s taxpayers, the need for significant investments in water delivery and other infrastructure for the City of Abbotsford, ahead of the need of council to assuage their ego’s?

With Chilliwack having the Prospera Centre and the WHA Bruins hockey team; with Langley building their Event Centre for the BCHL Langley Chiefs (after Abbotsford Council sent the Chiefs on down the road) – how could Abbotsford city councillors be expected to hold their heads up proudly unless they built the AESC and acquired a hockey team, whatever the cost to taxpayers?

Undoubtedly G.H. Chandler (or other voters) will be pleased to know that their hard earned tax dollars are not going to support the Calgary Flames since Calgary does not own the Heat.

No the millions of dollars of taxpayer funded subsidies go into the pockets of those favoured local citizens who make up the ownership group of the Abbotsford Heat. And why should the ownership group of the Heat be expected to assume any of the risk of owning an AHL team when Abbotsford’s city council is willing to make the taxpayers of Abbotsford liable for all the risk?

Think how embarrassing it would have been for city council if they hadn’t put the taxpayers of Abbotsford on the hook for $57 million and therefore had no hockey team, leaving city council with an embarrassingly empty arena. Is G.H. Chandler daring to suggesting that saving the taxpayers $million$ of dollars in yearly operating costs and subsidies to the Heat ownership should have been a higher priority for city council than saving face?

Is it reasonable to expect council to feel that solid management, prudent planning and financially sound behaviour are higher priorities than ego projects?

Pshaw. If council made a priority of solid management, prudent planning and financially sound behaviour the city would not be at its current risk of insolvency or running out of water and there would be no need for city council and staff to be offering bribes in a desperate bid to get developers to build in Abbotsford.

Of Politics and Media

While I share Mr. Evans disdain for what traditional, mainstream media has become and the unacceptable way it purports to report the news as well as his disdain for what politics and politicians have become, I believe he has failed to address the root cause of the problems and challenges we as a country, a society, as Canadians and as individual human beings are facing.\


Indeed, I would assert that not only did Mr. Evans fail to address the root cause but that this root runs throughout his letters (1, 2) from first paragraph to last. Without getting to the root issue all the tinkering you do with media or politics is pointless.


I would argue that the root, the core of our problems lies not in our democracy but in ourselves. There is nothing wrong with our democracy except it involves people – us.


Mr. Evans is clearly upset with what is taking place with Mission Hospital, changes that are clearly being driven by budget considerations and limitations. Yet Mr. Evans wants to cut the extra $300 million that the province will collect from the HST this year and next and that the government has (for reasons of politics) pledged to spend on health care.


How does Mr. Evans propose the provincial government raise $300 million to replace this shortfall? Or what budget cuts does Mr. Evans suggest to offset the lost $300 million – closing Mission Hospital entirely? Or is it someone else’s Hospital Mr. Evans proposes to close?


Citing the same mythical ‘savings’ to be obtained by better management etc as the politicians do is not acceptable. What specific action(s) does Mr. Evans propose to offset the $300 million in forgone HST revenue for the provincial government?


Further if Mr. Evans and other anti-HST supporters have their way they will force the province to repay $1.124 billion to Ottawa from this year’s budget and forgo the final payment from Ottawa of $475 million in 2011’s budget.


How do Mr. Evans, Mr. Vander Zalm, the NDP and the other HST opponents want to offset this $1.6 billion? What taxes and fees will they raise and what programs will they cut?  You might also want to consider that most of this 1.6 billion came out of the pockets of non-BC Canadians but the full $1.6 billion cost that results from not implementing the HST as agreed with Ottawa, will come out of BC taxpayers pockets or from reduced funding for health care, education etc in BC.


This, typical, behaviour is why I say that there is nothing wrong with democracy and that until we, people, are willing to change our behaviour all the tinkering with systems in the world will accomplish nothing because the true cause, citizens behaviour, will remain unchanged.
We demand more services at the same time we refuse to pay for them or even demand we pay less than we did for a lesser level of services.


If you cut back the days you worked from 5 days to 3 days would you expect, or could you reasonably demand, to receive the same level of pay? Of course not, it would be irrational to expect to work 40% less and not receive 40% less pay.


Yet people are constantly seen on the news demanding school boards bear the expense of keeping open underutilized schools, as thought there was no cost associated with keeping all those schools open.


Have you ever heard those demanding that schools be kept open to say ‘we want our school kept open; we know it costs money and we will pay the extra costs associated with keeping the schools open’?


Similarly Mr. Evans praised Mr. Vander Zalm for leading the anti-HST campaign, an action which Mr. Evans approves of; ignoring the facts that Mr. Vander Zalm’s actions are clearly political and that Mr. Vander Zalm is practicing the age old political technique of lying by omission.


If this were truly about what is best for the province Mr. Vander Zalm would be addressing the question(s) of where the money to repay or offset the $1.6 billion Ottawa paid BC to implement the HST will come from or where the $300 million to offset the extra funding for health care the HST would have put in the provincial coffers will be found. What fees or taxes do Mr. Vander Zalm, the NDP and the anti-HST campaign propose to raise or programs/funding will they cut to offset the nearly $2 billion dollars they want to rip out of the provincial budget this year and next?


As long as people will embrace a politician because they like or agree with what he/she says, forgetting that Mr. Vander Zalm was such a good Premier that under his leadership the Social Credit party ceased to exist and ignore such ‘minor’ points of reality as the cost and effects not implementing the HST will have on the BC budget, programs and the citizens of BC, things will not change no matter what tinkering is done with the system.


Examine Mr. Evans suggestion of term limits in support of which Mr. Evans states “If good enough for a U.S. President to be limited to two terms, I believe the same logic applies to Canada”. Ignoring, overlooking or not knowing that the two term limit set for presidents of the USA had nothing to do with logic or reason but was entirely a political decision in 1951 designed to prevent control of the White House by one party through another 4 term president like FDR.

“Enlightened and effective political reforms are needed …” Enlightened and effective in whose judgment? As Ralph Waldo Emerson said “One man’s justice is another’s injustice; one man’s beauty another’s ugliness; one man’s wisdom another’s folly.” What Mr. Evans regards as “Enlightened and effective” will be seen as censorship, unfair or oppression by others.

How differently humans can view the same things, seeing things as they interpret them, is underscored by Mr. Evans assertion that the fact the papers did not print all his letters is proof the papers are censoring him.

I am a prolific letter to the editor writer as is my friend Regina Dalton. Not all of our letters are printed but neither of us feels that, just because a letter is not printed we are being censored as neither of us has any expectation of having all our letters published in our local print media. It is unreasonable, given the space limitations and number of letters to the editor the papers receive, to expect all the letters one submits to be printed, particularly those letters that run over 250 words.

I am not arguing that the local papers never practice censorship, observation of their coverage of local issues evidences that they have biases and that those biases affect their reporting and the letters they choose to publish. What I am saying is that the failure to print every letter a person sends to the editor is not proof of censorship.

The fact that an unreasonable expectation, all someone’s letters get printed, is not met may simply be proof of a need to examine the assumptions one has made.

Mr. Evans calls for an “impartial, unbiased and completely factual media approach “ then proceeds to editorialize about the “unwise and harmful” HST failing to provide any facts to support his claim that the HST is “unwise and harmful”. He advocates holding the press to a standard he fails to hold himself to.

Mr. Evans calls for “Freedom of the Press” yet is upset that business exercised its right to freedom of the press to support the HST which Mr. Evans opposes. In order for it to be a truly free press it must be open to everyone, even those who disagree with us.

Mr. Evans needs to remember that Media is a business that needs to make a profit to continue its existence and that its ability to make a profit is tied to supplying a product there is a demand for.

Keep in the forefront of your mind the fact that news programs are now a major source of revenue for broadcasters in Canada and elsewhere.

In calling for changes in Canadian Media Mr. Evans has failed to take into consideration that ‘the media’ in Canada is currently in a state of massive change as a result of the market forces that resulted in the end of CanWest Global’s existence. The Media that existed just a few short months ago is not the Media that currently exists.

Media depends upon a market for its product to be able to finance its operations and ultimately its existence. People are the market and thus ultimately are responsible for the product delivered by Media. People heavily watched the first ‘reality television’ shows and the airwaves became saturated with ‘reality TV’ because the lower production costs of producing ‘reality television’ meant a higher contribution to Media’s bottom line.

FOX news in the US can be as blatantly biased to the ultra right because there is a market that will support that skewed a viewpoint because it wants to hear exactly what FOX is saying. This audience is not looking for what the facts are or reality is but to hear what they want to hear and have what they believe confirmed,

As in politics the ultimate responsibility for the state of the Media lies in the hands of the people. People get the Media they will accept.

What you get when you let the state start to dictate to the Media how, what, when, were or why they report is PRAVDA. Only by keeping the government as far away from the Media as possible can you have a free Media.

Allow the state to dictate to the media and you end up with FOX type news that reflects your views but has nothing to do with being an “impartial, unbiased and completely factual media approach”.

CanWest Global failed to offer a product that there was a lucrative enough market for, that people were interested in watching, to allow CanWest Global to survive. As a result of CanWest Global’s business plan its newspaper assets went to the unsecured creditors and the broadcast assets were purchased by Shaw.

The new owners of the newspapers must provide a product that people consider relevant to their needs or they too will fail.

Government interference via the CRTC is going to shield not only the television broadcasting assets acquired by Shaw from CanWest Global but the entire Canadian over the air broadcast industry from the market, forcing Canadians to subsidize this obsolete (as currently constituted) sunset industry until such time as a government with an understanding of the changes taking place in the field of information delivery is elected to Ottawa.

Aside: The author considers the Canadian over-the-air broadcast industry as it is currently a sunset industry since it came into being to rebroadcast foreign television signals to Canadians who had no other means to view these signals. Cable, then satellite and the phone system have all become alternatives for the delivery of television signals to Canadian households. Indeed most Canadians now receive their Canadian television signals together with foreign television signals by cable, satellite or the phone system.

Had the government not chosen to interfere the over the air television broadcast industry would have been forced to both rationalize and reinvent itself as was radio with the advent of television. In order to survive broadcasters would have been required to both innovate and provide material that attracted viewers.

The assets and broadcast licenses of the broadcasters who failed to adapt to these new market realities would provide the opportunity for local ownership as change driven by the failure of current broadcasters would enable new players to enter the broadcast arena.

It is tragically ironic that a Conservative government unwilling to invest in a national housing strategy or invest in reducing the increasing numbers of Canadian children living in poverty, is prepared not only to fund billion dollar bailouts for corporations but is willing and eager to not only shield a broadcast industry that is financially unviable (as a result of technological change) from the market but also happy to provide an unending stream of corporate welfare to broadcast corporations.

As a result of this artificial skewing of the market the information technology delivery industry in Canada will fall even further behind the rapid technological changes occurring in the field of information delivery and the generation of content for delivery to consumers taking place in other countries around the world.

The point being that the traditional media that Mr. Evans wants to impose rules to ensure an “impartial, unbiased and completely factual approach“ is in a state of flux and change as a result of changes in the market.

Newspapers will have to become relevant to readers or cease to exist. In order to do this they will need to provide information of use and interest to readers – or cease to exist.

Indeed it is the very type of government interference that Mr. Evans calls for that will protect broadcast television from being forced to become relevant to viewers or fall to the side and so provide for the entrance of new players into the Canadian television broadcast industry.

Driven by technology there is a new industry (industries?) of information and content generation and delivery emerging. Abbotsford Today, The Tyee, homelessinabbotsford.com are among the emerging ‘new media’ that provide news, alternative views and examination of issues to the public.

This commentary would not be printed by traditional media, not because of censorship but due to its length and the space constraints imposed upon traditional print media. Homelessinabbotsford.com or Abbotsford Today however, can expand as much as they need into cyberspace in order to publish what they considers of interest to their readers. This emerging new media will force the old media to become more relevant to readers/watchers – or cease to exist – with no interference required.

Like politics the problem of information comes down to people. The information is out there and available to those who want to know.

If you are unhappy with the quality of our local papers let the editors know and let advertisers know you will not be using their services or purchasing from them if they continue to support the status quo at our local papers.

The power to know and to encourage change in local papers, both lie in the hands of people. The question is are people willing to make the effort to acquire useful knowledge, differing viewpoints and to bring about change?

Whether media or politics the fault lies not in the systems but in ourselves. Tinkering with the political system or media will accomplish nothing – the information is available; we can vote for whom we choose – that people fail to do so is not a fault in our stars but in ourselves.

In the final analysis one does not ‘improve’ democracy or freedom of the press by decreasing democracy or freedom by imposing limitations.