Dear Santa; please bring Democracy back to Canada!

Shocked and stunned by special perks for mayor Green. Personalized snow removal and sanding of her parking space at city hall. The rest of the staff and others trudge through the snow to their workspaces just like the rest of us. But NO, not her. She’s the queen. City streets staff must come by, hand shovel, then sand her personal parking space. Come on now, this must stop ASAP.

Yeahhhh what happened to the plows yesterday??? Hyways were atrocious, seemed none of the city streets were plowed, downtown and College heights.. Maybe they used up the budget plowing when there was hardly any snow on the ground

I live in College Heights and our main streets were plowed in the early AM. They need it again now though and I can actually hear them somewhere nearby.

they will either be out this morning side by side blocking the morning commuters or wait until it thaws and then hit the road

Basically there is NO way everyone will ever be happy with the snow removal ;)

Happy Friday all

I know it’s not in the Holiday Spirit, but I couldn’t help but smile at the guy who normally parks his logging truck illegally on O’Grady road when he got stuck in a snow bank trying to pull into his ‘parking spot’.

I’m really happy about our snow removal… but I live in Vernon and we have NO snow.!

Oh yeahhhhhh….. LOL….

Ok so I actually do miss the sunny winter days in PG… nothing can compare.

Have a great day all.

What’s with all the different birds in the area, first it was robins up until a week ago then flock of seagulls flew by and then a half dozen white swans flying overhead. Either their lost or it’s going to be an early spring.

billyinpg—-yesterday morning I plowed through CH and the hyway to get to work dntn.. After work, it was still the same.. Not sure what street you live on, maybe one of the city councilors live on yer street…hehehe Actually, my car handled pretty good. Thank god for winter tires..

Last minute Craft Fair at CN Centre this weekend uh.. seen it in paper.. Wonder who is putting it on..

As long as the City only plows my street when it NEEDS plowing, I have no problem with snow removal. I have no problem with our policing either, except for the huge price we have to pay for it. It would be interesting to see how much we pay out for stress leave, sick days, travel time etc.

“Huizhi Li, who works at HD Mining’s Murray River project in northern B.C., has sent a letter to the Canadian Human Rights Commission that says leaflets and the content on union’s website are likely to create contempt for Chinese people.”Quote from CBC.
CANADA WAKE UP.

Pat Bell, MLA, Minister of Jobs…temporary foreign workers’ jobs, of course.

One of the biggest if not the biggest expense of a municipality or a government is the wage and benefits packages for it’s employees. As we come to the end of another year and as we start to contemplate yet another tax increase for 2013, a few articles and editorials have come across my desk this week. Some food for thought!

Municipal spending lets public workers strike gold:
http://digital.theprovince.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

B.C. municipalities must get their fiscal priorities straight:

http://digital.theprovince.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

Yet another one

http://digital.theprovince.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

The following Financial Post article details how well off “retired” teachers in Ontario are when compared to private sector retirees”. I’m sure that our BC Teachers can’t be too far behind.

http://business.financialpost.com/2012/12/12/the-best-rrsp-money-can-buy/

As Christmas draws near and many in the private sector struggle to pay their monthly bills let alone shop for Christmas, the only gift that I want is for our Public Sector Unions to stop whining about how hard done by their members are.

To quote Meisner “I’m Hart Guy and that’s one man’s opinion”

“One of the biggest if not the biggest expense of a municipality or a government is the wage and benefits packages for it’s employees.”

I’ll go one step further and state that it is all public sector wages and benefits that are pushing our country into bankruptcy. It’s long past the time we need to curtail the gravy train that is the civil service. We cannot sustain a system that has so many people at the public pay trough.

“the only gift that I want is for our Public Sector Unions to stop whining about how hard done by their members are.”
I would be happy with that too… chances of it actually happening are zero lol

Happy Friday all, drive safe.

Oops, links didn’t seem to work the first try. Let’s try again!

http://digital.theprovince.com/epaper/showlink.aspx?bookmarkid=6HMVWMEGGO68&preview=article&linkid=6bf2c194-0863-4583-a3da-79493dddb739&pdaffid=QSPyJ%2bHCN%2bwa0NTjSlrXXQ%3d%3d

http://digital.theprovince.com/epaper/showlink.aspx?bookmarkid=MNJJHNRS3L83&preview=article&linkid=8e91626e-d932-429f-b29c-2cd367f4d735&pdaffid=QSPyJ%2bHCN%2bwa0NTjSlrXXQ%3d%3d

Did anyone see the CKPG news yesterday and the interview with Shari Green regarding raising the charges for building permits? According to Ms. Green, the “Core Review” suggests that building permits could be raised 40% – So our Mayor is good with that, comparing us with Kamloops and Kelowna,,, not only do we get to be governed by a Mayor that only 6969 people voted for, but by the “Core Review” which zero voted for…how do you like that folks :( – Oh by the way, I’m not a builder, or contractor etc., just a beleaguered PG tax payer..

See all the “Mental Midgets” are out early today! They just cannot wait til everybody is earning Chinese worker/slave wages. That way the economy can really take off.

By that comment obviously Denaljo is a public sector employee. Shouldnt you be earning our tax dollars and not playing on the internet? ;)

Well Mr. PG is closer to the Golf Coarse…I hope his expectations are’t too high..Green wants to get rid of them as well..

axman: “I’ll go one step further and state that it is all public sector wages and benefits that are pushing our country into bankruptcy. It’s long past the time we need to curtail the gravy train that is the civil service. We cannot sustain a system that has so many people at the public pay trough.”

I’ll second that. I was reading an article recently where it stated that the a federal employee costs taxpayers $114,000 on average each, if you factor in perks and benefits. No wonder the government is broke.

Yeahh I liked that article bout Mr. PG… Maybe City moved him over so they could get more bucks for the land due to a tree still standing that wasn’t infested with beetles… Orrrr maybe, he wanted to golf, or rollerblade.. I guess the land would be more valuable if the City Icon , Mr. PG was standing on it.

Notice to all silly people: Do Not drive down any cul de sac that hasn’t been plowed!
I’m getting grumpy having to push your little gas economy car out of the way! This is why all us residents of cul de sacs have 4×4’s. 4 in one day is too much to handle!

I wish the icty would start plowing sidewalks properly. Don’t let a missive ridge between street and sidewak for us to climb over. Odler people cant manage it, especially when stepping onto the road, which is coveredd in icy compact underneth the snow. Also the walk signal for the blind at 15 and Nicholson is only working in one direction and the city hasnt fixed it in three months. Its amazing someone hasnt been hit there.

regarding snow removal.I reside in RDFFG, the plowing is done by YRB and they have done not to bad a job so far. I had to go downtown on monday, (which I normally don’t do)Had a meeting in the area of Quebec and 4th ave. We had a snowfall the day before, the streets werent to bad untill I had to park on 4th ave. I was on the right side of 4th and were you park you vehicle against the curb there was at least 6″ of piled up snow.hard for my little car to manouver.I looked accross the street and the roadway was plowed clean to the curb. As posted before, perks for the mayor, no problem parking on the left side of 4th. Had to go back on wednesday and 4th ave was the same.

Posted by: Denaljo on December 14 2012 9:08 AM
See all the “Mental Midgets” are out early today! They just cannot wait til everybody is earning Chinese worker/slave wages. That way the economy can really take off.

——————-

People should be paid a fair wage and a benefit package based on what they do, not who they do it for.

raresense, show a little respect and common courtesy for the mayor. Maybe you don’t like the job she is doing but stil she is the mayor and by the way, she is not the first mayor to have a few little perks. I think this only shows respect for the mayor’s office.

“raresense, show a little respect and common courtesy for the mayor. Maybe you don’t like the job she is doing but stil she is the mayor and by the way, she is not the first mayor to have a few little perks. I think this only shows respect for the mayor’s office. “

I agree. I am not a big supporter of the mayor, but some of the disrespectful and rude comments by many of the posters on this site definitely are over the line.

speaking of snow removal

How all those quads plowing snow across the road on Kennedy crescent.
It creates perpendicular wind rows across the road which is a hazard to vehicles.
It’s not like they are trying not to leave a mess, just not in their driveway. They don’t car to do a good job on the road where they leave a mess and pile up the snow bank across the road from their drive way.

I sure hope city bylaw services do their job and takes a look up there today.

cheese

JohnnyBelt, you don’t seem to have a hard time disrepecting other people so why can’t we do that with the mayor. I know her personally and have all the right to my opinions, which are not favourable. She would get my respect if she were a nice person. What’s that old saying? Oh yeah, you have to earn respect, it doesn’t just come with the job.

For all the posts about public sector employees, I’m with you. I have been very unhappy with what the City employees are paid and get for benefits and perks for a long time. The core review should be looking at that.

I hear ya about living in a cul-de-sac. I too live in one and even though it is half-way up a hill and the grader, who does a great job on the hill, just can’t seem to make the circle around our cul-de-sac. It just doesn’t seem efficient to me to come back at another time to scrape the cul-de-sac.

I agree JB – The office of the Mayor should be respected, even by Ms. Green, like the saying goes, respect is earned not presumed.

Good point Loki – I do use a quad and I guarentee the street is in better shape after Im done. Where we live (rural) its not just the quads, its anybody, trucks, tractors whatever. One guy on North Kelly road seems to be afraid of falling in the ditch as he pushes all of his snow across into the northbound lane. If the graders are not out he narrows the road by a good half lane sometimes.

I don’t believe that Ms. Green is earning respect therefore I don’t have to give it. As a fellow human I respect her right on this planet but as a mayor, well, it must be earned by making good decisions and acting as a true leader.

^^^Agree with you bornandbred. Respect must be earned. In order to get respect walk the talk……so far I have not seen it….

Clean the city hall parking area like any other parking area in this town. Also while they are at it, employees can pay for parking like the rest.

I lost respect for Mayor Green when there was conflict of interest in regards to the Haldi Road fiasco, the BBK Fiasco and the core review…..

raresense: All the streets around city hall were plowed FIRST last night.
Frankly, I don’t think they merit that kind of privilege.

What I would like to know is what the plows, graders and loaders are doing between 3:30 in the afternoon and 11:00pm at night?
Another thing I’d like to know is how, whoever is responible for administering the streets management, still has that job?

sarahsmith70: that isn’t the only intersection where the lights aren’t working properly. Try 5th and Tabor, 5th and Ahbau, 15th and Ospika, 18th and Ospika, Westwood and Massey, Ferry and Recreational Pl. I’m sure there are a couple I missed here but it seems that nearly all the ones with camera sensors are not working as they should. The city doesn’t care at all about that it seems.

Thoughts are going out to everyone that has lost lived ones in Connecticut shooting. Horrible tragedy.

What a whiny spoiled bunch we are living in this
Great city and great country. I love it here, and while far from perfect (like 100% of every city) I am proud of where I live. The things some people keep crying about – including false accusations, incorrect or incomplete information, and overblown “problems” is disheartening when you think about how much we DO have in this city and how decent a life the majority of people have.

I’m in a very “keep things in perspective” mood after reading about the school shooting today. There are no words to express the horror.

born: “JohnnyBelt, you don’t seem to have a hard time disrepecting other people so why can’t we do that with the mayor. I know her personally and have all the right to my opinions, which are not favourable. She would get my respect if she were a nice person. What’s that old saying? Oh yeah, you have to earn respect, it doesn’t just come with the job.”

Knowing her personally doesn’t give you or anyone the right to the personal attacks and downright rude comments that I’ve seen, I don’t care who you are.

Also, you seem to be confusing ‘disageement’ with ‘disrespect’. Look them up.

Nice post Lenny. I too love it here in Prince George, especially on days like today. I hope that everyone can take a moment to enjoy some time outside and de-stress for all that holiday shopping.

Lenny, you are so right in that we need to keep things in perspective in light of what happened today with the school shooting. Really everyday we need to keep it in perspective and be thankful for that that we have.

Wonder what Gail Vaz-Oxlade would charge the City to look over their finances? She could have them complete a series of challenges, set up a debt repayment schedule and allot money to the jars. No more money left in the jar, no more spending.

Was it good for you too?

Agree wholeheartedly, Lenny, PG has been good to me and my large immediate and extended family – and that is precisely what makes our city, province and country quality of life worth fighting for and speaking out against everything and anything that jeopardizes it remaining so, for all of our grandchildren as opposed to just certain people’s grandchildren.

to the Union bashers, blah, blah, blah, won’t be happy till everyone is making ten bucks an hour…let’s race to the bottom everyone and as your small and medium sized businesses close down, one after the other including everything from restaurants, to car lots cause no one has any disposable income…well, we can all sit at the bottom of the barrel, peering up at the one percent, hold hands and sing Kumbaya

Respect is most definitely earned and not a given, I don’t care who you are. I have more respect for my bank teller than our local Mayor. Here’s a tip: lead by example and practice what you preach, avoid hidden agendas and paybacks to your supporters, on my dime and my time. PS: there is a huge difference between confidence & leadership and arrogance. She will go out with the reputation she has earned.

Finally, most absolutely, our collective hearts go out to our American neighbours and especially to the wee victims and their families. I cannot imagine such an utterly horrific tragedy. They don’t have to be our own children, to not grieve them.

Hear hear…bcnorth250!

“Wonder what Gail Vaz-Oxlade would charge the City to look over their finances?”

No kidding! I would love to see her reaction as someone tried to explain things like the District Energy System and China trips to her.

Days like today the scenery around PG is fantastic. Its this time of year that makes PG a great place to live.

Just wanted to say the meteor shower last night was really something. Mostly I’ve only ever seen meteors that streak across the ski not really changing color. Last night however I saw them like never before dropping like fireworks in brilliant explosions of red, blue and green… it was amazing the ones I saw anyways. I heard we still might see more tonight so good luck all… :)

As for the mayor I think she is arrogant and lacks proper consideration that is required for a position like hers. I stated so prior to the election and must say I saw this coming… not sure how so many people could ignore her performance on council… maybe some of us were too hard on Dan and gave her an opening to come in with lots of cash and buy the position. Hopefully for the sake of PG we have a better choice next time around.

Also just like to say with what is going on with the provincial liberals, the federal conservatives, and locally at city hall… we really do have a democratic deficit and our country is run by those who are in it for personal greed and easily bought off by the money crowd… I really hope that will change in the years ahead and we can find a way to improve the system.

Eagleone do you live in the City? I was just wondering as I find that with all the new lights in town I no longer can see the stars or northern lights, so I would like to know where to go to see meteors.

Okay, Stillsmokin, your comment about seeing a ‘last minute craft fair’ at CN Centre this weekend–Details as you know them- cause I looked in the Thursday Citizen and saw nuthin.

Any body know about this, no advertising, no customers!!!!

So, all I see happening at CN Centre this weekend is Cougars hockey x 2.
I do believe the ‘craft fair’ is a wild goose chase. At least in my eyes.

A lot of misinformation and one sided information about the F35 fighter. The accusation cost is about 9 billion, more than and less than others. The 40 billion or so is over 42 years well that is all the operating costs which would be the same for any other fighter.

Over 42 years the CBC will cost us more and bilingualism twice as much.

Oh don’t forget the lib’s cancelled a helicopter contract only because of politics costing us 500 million. The sad thing is those helicopters where bought anyhow. Notice the liberal media ignoring the above information.

That HB mining outfit is quite a company, interesting having a Chinese worker sue the union. Wonder what rights he could stand up for back home?

To sjm….. That Craft fair was in today’s paper. on Sat/Sun

Respect is what is sorely missing in our society. Respect for our elders. Respect for people in positions of authority. Respect for ourselves. Respect for our property. Respect for others property. Respect for those who have a different opinion than ourselves.

Mayor Sheri Green was elected Mayor of our city. It is important that we show respect for the position she holds. You don’t have to like her or like what she says or does, but I think it is important to respect the office of Mayor. That includes shoveling her parking spot in my opinion.

This years booby prize goes to….

http://www.globalsaskatoon.com/complaint+filed+over+saskatoon+transit+buses+displaying+merry+christmas/6442771925/story.html

https://www.facebook.com/amgsolo

She could shovel the spot herself. Like my mom used to say “good excercise”.

Servant, respect has to be earned and most of all returned. Trip to China is the as rubbing your nose in you know what.

Time to go out and enjoy time with my children. My heart goes out to the parents in the USA that lost their children today and to the rest of the people in that area. What a waste of beautiful life.

I, for one, am thankful that I live here in PG and not there in CT. I am thankful for all that I have and that includes being able to post comments on this website.

One of the reasons that the CN Centre, Coliseum, Swimming Pools, Northern Sports Centre, all lose money is because the good people of Prince George who want all these facilities do not support them.

I suggest that if 1000 citizens and a large number of business;s supported these facilities, we would not have these huge deficits each year. Lets quit spending millions and millions in the casino, and start to spend this money to support these facilities.

Question:::With the huge export of LNG to China and other destinations, will this kill off the pellet plant business. For those who do not know, the pellets that are shipped from this area for export, are used to generate electricity. Because of the huge influx of natural gas, will the use of pellets be discontinued??

Just askin.

bcnorth250, in regards to your comment:

“to the Union bashers, blah, blah, blah, won’t be happy till everyone is making ten bucks an hour…let’s race to the bottom everyone and as your small and medium sized businesses close down, one after the other including everything from restaurants, to car lots cause no one has any disposable income…well, we can all sit at the bottom of the barrel, peering up at the one percent, hold hands and sing Kumbaya”,

I’d like to suggest that you take a moment to review the current City of Prince George Job Postings where you will find the following positions:

RCMP Casual Clerical Positions, starting at $24.49 per hour, with potential to participate in the City’s benefits plan.

Bylaw Compliance Assistant, Regular Part-Time, starting at $26.55 per hour.

Cleaner, Irregular Part-Time – CN Centre, starting at $25.37 per hour.

Court Administrator, Regular Part-Time – Police Support Services, starting at $28.35 per hour.

Transcriptionist, Regular Full-Time – Police Support Services, starting at $24.49 per hour.

All of these positions are entry level or slightly above entry level.

Please tell me who in the private sector earns these kinds of wages and who can afford to pay these kinds of wages.

The next time that you drive your new vehicle to a restaurant for dinner, I hope that you notice us poor small business owners, self-employed people and other’s not employed on our glorious public sector driving our old vehicles to our workplace in an attempt to earn enough money to pay the ever increasing taxes required to meet the never ending demand for wage increases from our public sector workers!

We, the ones sitting at the bottom of your barrel are quite sick of the self-righteous, holier-than-thou attitudes of Unions and union workers in this city, province and country.

Sadly bcnorht250, you haven’t got a freaking clue!!

What is going on with diesel prices in this town??? If it’s being caused by a lack of supply maybe Canada should get into the refining business.

bcnorth250 is among a small group that post here that have a greater clue than most.

Who in the private sector employs Bylaw Compliance Assistants, Court Administrators, Transcriptionists and RCMP Casual Clerical staff?

hart guy so if we get rid of unions all will be roses hey. Nice rose coloured glasses you got there.

Dragonmaster, take a minute or two to review the positions that I mentioned. As I said, these are lower level, entry level positions requiring basic office/admin qualifications. A Transcriptionist position is a typist! The Court Administrator does office work including filing and other duties, the RCMP Casual Clerical Staff position provides clerical support. The Cleaner position at CN Centre does cleaning and other related entry level work. Nothing special here with any of these positions and certainly absolutely nothing here to justify the ridiculous compensation packages that are being paid!!

Seamutt, I’m not saying get rid of unions, I’m just suggesting that our unionized public sector unions stop their constant complaining about how hard done by their members are!!! I’m tired of paying taxes to provide high incomes to people that have no appreciation for how well off they are! Unions were a necessity in days gone by, but today the only thing that the union is truly concerned about is getting more people unionized so that they can collect more union dues! It’s time that the labour organizations of this city, province and country realize that the well is quickly running dry!! It’s time that we had a government that was willing to stand up to the ongoing demands of big labour. Enough is enough!

Seamutt, you may think that I have rose coloured glasses. Even through these glasses, I am able to see that our over-compensated and over-bloated public sector needs a major shake-up. Perhaps if you took of your blinders, you might be able to see that as well!

This pathetic public sector sense of entitlement has got to come to an end!

Dragonmaster, seamutt and bcnorth123, I have to ask…

If you are all union members, as I suspect that your are, do you all shop locally, supporting your local business owners? Or, are you like everyone else, prowling the aisles at Walmart looking for the absolutely lowest price that you can get, even if it means buying products produced in China??

If you own anything or have anything in your home, anything at all that is produced in China and sold in Walmart, then you really need to take a good long look in the mirror. What you will see looking back at you is a hypocrite!