This database contains salary information for more than 70,000 of the highest paid public servants in B.C. The fifth installment of The Sun’s public sector database offers the most up-to-date data available. To see a list of the highest paid staff at a particular workplace, choose a sector first, then an agency, then press “Submit”.

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/public-sector-salaries/basic.html

Interesting post Charles!

When Adrian Dix was running for the leadership of the NDP, he stated that one of the things that he wanted to do was address the inequalities that exist within our province. I thought that was an interesting statement, so I attempted to ask him about this statement. I suggested that there seemed to be more and mores reports that indicated that public sector wage and benefits packages were 130% to 140% of what they were in the private sector. This caused me to wonder how Mr. Dix would address this inequality.

Would he freeze public sector wage and benefit packages until the private sector wage and benefits packages caught up, or would he roll back excessive public sector wage and benefits packages?

I sent him 2 separate emails and then a 3rd request for an answer through his Facebook account. It has been several months since Adrian Dix ran for and was elected leader of the NDP and to date, I have not had an response to my question.

I gave up on Adrian Dix answering my question and have now recently asked the same question of our two local NDP candidates, Bobby Deepak and Sherry Ogasawara. So far, I haven’t heard back from either of them!

So, now my question is…..does Adrian Dix and the NDP really want to deal with the inequalities that exist within our province or are public sector wage and benefits packages sacred and off the table?

Skilled trades make significantly less in government positions than they do in the private sector….should they all get $10/hr raises?

Isn’t it funny how hart guy assumes ‘inequities’ means public sector wages? Maybe he was referring to hunting licences? Or education opportunities? Rapid transit for the north perhaps..

Nope he meant public sector wages and benefits. Far above the private sector and they don’t have to worry about economic downturns Seems like some inequality to me….

If your not happy in your current low paying job…you could always apply for one of the cushy high paying positions your always whining about. :-). You might have to go back to school though, but it would be worth it….

Very good point Jim13135. Most people probably don’t clue into the fact that many of those jobs would require that you be a lawyer, scientist, engineer, accountant, doctor, etc. Are there some people who are overpaid in the public service? Absolutely! Are there some people who are underpaid? Absolutely! Do you need more details to see if people on a “top wage earners in the government” list are making a reasonable wage given their education and/or expertise? Absolutely!

Happy Friday folks! I’m off to Quebec to sample the many culinary treats from one of the local sugar shacks in the area. The maple syrup is running and that means a very yummy and large breakfast, LOL.

No what Dix meant was the inequality in wages and benefits between provinces for the public sector. He would like to see BC’s public sector the highest paid in Canada.

Yes little Johnny if you want to earn a better wage stay in school or get a job in the oily patch! I heard a rumour that you can make a 100k a year in the oily patch making beds in camp.

Soooo! How much are Bell & Bond and the gang of liars going to get for a golden handshake?

The previous government’s losers also got the same golden handshakes, remember? All of them, except for the two who won re-election.

Hart Guy, you put your finger on something worthwhile! If they don’t answer your inquiries you got them up a tree. I had the same experience with J. Hill when my snail mail letters were totally ignored. Both Bell and Bond were good respondents although of little help.

As Monty Python said: Embarrassed silence and nothing but a stifled f*rt!

Perhaps Hart Guy and others could post the address where we can see a list of the top wage earners in the private sector. How can we possibly compare public sector wages to private sector wages without having both. He presumes, without any evidence, that public sector wages are out in front of those in the private sector and I would like to know what information he obtained which showed that. Cherry picking particular people in particular jobs surely can’t be it, can it?

Have a wonderful, safe weekend everyone!
Please try to remember the REASON behind this time of year.

Chocolate Bunnies ?

Brought to you by Cadbury!

I shake my head at some of the decisions made by Stephen Harper and his henchmen.

The Conservatives close down the Kitsilano Coast Guard Base due to budget cuts, endangering lives because the Richmond hovercraft is an extra 30 minutes away in response time. Cost savings = $700,000 per year.

This week, Stephen Harper personally welcomes two pandas from China that our tax dollars are renting for 10 years at a rate of $1 million dollars per year.

Putting lives at risk to save money is a good gamble in Harper’s eyes, but we’ve got Pandas!!

Side story…. I think it absolutely appalling that Harper felt the need to personally welcome to panda bears instead of meeting the Cree youth who walked from Whapmagoostui, Que to Ottawa for several weeks.

Cadbury?? Phhhhtt! Lindt my friend. Lindt! Anything else is just a “chocolaty” coating.

:-)

You see I was told that Bond was a good MLA. A strong MLA.

One shocker in the public salary database was that the city paid the fire chief $261,348.00 in 2011. He is #15 in terms of salary out of 9856 people employed by local government in this province.

This is more than twice the money paid to the fire chief in comparable cities of Kamloops, Kelowna or Nanaimo.

What does this guy do that deserves > $20k a month?

Read This Blog or the Puppy and Kitten Get It

http://www.oftwominds.com/blogmar13/blackmail3-13.html

A millionaire for a fire chief, hmm interesting.

I see that a familiar name is in the news on the island for publishing a racist letter in the Namaimo local rag.

One more reason the city is a better place since Nicolson left. Good Riddance!

—————————————-

If you want to see something spooky go to Namie Japan on google earth street view and “drive” around. It is a town that was evacuated shortly after the nuclear power plant exploded and has been vacant ever since.

Pylot, i absolutely agree. Lindt is the way to go.

“the Cree youth who walked from Whapmagoostui, Que to Ottawa for several weeks”. Was the walk to bring attention to the lack of financial transparency to the reserves, and the fiefdom type government band chiefs and councils have over the bands?

Everything is closed today eh.

Nope! Everything is open today except for government offices and anyone in the private sector who chooses to close. But most places it’s business as usual.

Brix chocolate from “The Hudson Bay” wins them all!

There was a story here the other day about gas prices and the topic of boycotting was raised. Which got me to thinking about the stores in this town that I currently boycott. Which stores do you avoid and why?

I know people that won’t eat at Wendy’s in PG. Myself, that cute red-head has convinced me that once in a while, I need to be face deep in a baconater.

Lonesome sparrow, you should really investigate your facts before you get on here and spout off. A little digging and you would have discovered the salary paid that year was for the fire chief that retired, hence was a base salary plus payouts for overtime etc accrued over a 30 year career. That one year is not indicative of what the fire chief is currently paid, which you also could have found out. It’s much better though to hide behind anonymity and post comments meant to incite! Great job…

Monday is April first. The day we all been waiting for. On Monday the HST is to be EXTINGUISHED. It’s about time. 2 years after taxpayers won the referendum. Will be great to see no HST. These LIE-berals are finished too along with theur HST. Only another 6 weeks left of them. I bet they get booted out of all 85 ridings. The same 85 ridings that we won in the referendum. The LIE-berals will be completely EXTINGUISHED. May 15 we will get another new start, just like we all will on monday. I am going out for a cheese burger even if only to Mcdonalds just to get one with no HST. It’s been 4 years for me never eating in a restaurant in BC. I am really looking forward to it. And also looking forward to not have to drive so far to shop any more. If the exemptions are in fact back in place I will stop shopping in HST free places. In the 4 years of HST here I payed almost nothing to them here. I went out of my way to shop where I could get things without HST. Every item that had HST I would have on my shopping list. Toilet paper. cigarettes, building materials, new tires on my truck, repairs, snack food chocolate bars every single thing you can think of I bought those items in Grande Prairie. I went there quite a few times in 4 years. I know I saved hundreds and hundreds of dollars. I shopped for my friends and neighbors so that usually paid my gas. But what ever even if it cost me more it was the personal satisfaction of not paying HST. It is call matter of principal. I know that most sheeple today do not have principals. They are happy to just bend over for gordon. Not me. Soon the LIE-berals will be EXTINGUISHED along side their rip off HST. Thank you so much to Bill and all the canvassers that made April 1st a reality. We been getting screwed long enough now.

I did a bit of sorting of the 2011 list of published salaries for PG City. Yes, the figures are not for 2012.

There were 56 who made over $100,000/year.

The total paid out to those was $6,657,608

The average salary for that group was $118,886

21 of those making over $100,000 are people working in fire services. That is 37% of staff making over $100,000
The total salary for the fire staff was $2,514,697

The average salary of that group was $119,747

I am not sure how many of those 21 actually get close to buildings to physically fight fires and put their lives at risk. The lowest paid seem to be the 8 Fire Captains in the list of those making over $100,000.

This is huge money you guys are talking about. These families are doing very well indeed. I’m sure they work hard. I would too for that amount of cash a year. Safe to say they make close to 10 grand a month. I wonder where their money is spent. I think a person could pay off a nice home, truck, car. all paid off. Trips all over the planet, a few trips a year on that kind of salary. I wouldn’t mind 10 grand myself. I’m not asking for a lone. I want to be given 10 grand because the folks that make this kind of money won’t miss it. It’s like dropping ten bucks on the ground.

Number4

City of PG numbers not mine.

Makes one wonder how much unused vacation time that the city has on it’s books.

They should copy the common practice used in the private sector- bank for only one year and then it is used or paid out except under extreme circumstances.

Gus does that include overtime?

Charles: the Data Base is an Eye Opener , no Wonder Taxes are so high and so little gets done, to much Money spent on Admin and so little left for Services . How many Potholes you can fill for 260000 ?

I used to have lots of worms in my garden, and could get them without trouble every time I went fishing.

Then Harper got elected, and now I cant find any worms. It must be his fault because the worms were there before he got elected.

All Politicians, Civil Servants, and Government workers in Canada are over paid.

There is absolutely no sense in comparing them to private salaries, because, Duhhhhh. They are Government workers and are paid through tax dollars from the private sector.

In other words we have to earn the money to pay for the Government. If it was the other way around we would all starve to death.

Here is the same analysis for Kamloops

There were 33 who made over $100,000/year. (59% of the number in PG)

The total paid out to those was $3,856,753

The average salary for that group was $116,871

13 of those making over $100,000 are people working in fire services. Kamloops has 62% of PG fire services staff making over $100,000
The total salary for the over $100,000 fire staff was $1,403,469

The average salary of that group was $107,959

“Gus does that include overtime?”

Yes. Overtime typically means poor management to me.

Also, I realized that the $260,000+ would be a payout for vacation time or time off in lieu of overtime, etc.

The edict that such time needs to be taken within a year has gone out in most places of work some decades ago, both private and public. Working in that fashion is no different than letting infrastucture go without a regular preventative maintenance program.

So, as already asked, what is the level of liability of payments that the City has?

“There is absolutely no sense in comparing them to private salaries”

Come on …. try Canfor as an example. Upper management, the professionals … and then on the manufacturing floor with the union wages.

We are not comparing to the fast food industry.

Off topic but I was just checking out the situation in North Korea. A couple of sources. Not just the far far left CBC. Seems junior there is getting very bold. If by perchance Yingyangyong, the capital was turned into a parking lot of glass, does one suppose the labour camps will be shut down due to the cheque writing machine being melted. The prisoners in them, I suspect would kinda hold a grudge against their jailors. Could ae generations with that to let bygones be bygones. I expect to wake up one morning and hear that Mr. Kimchi and all his big hatted pals were vapourized. Then the survivors lives and their stomachs will be fuller. War is hell! So I heard.

I looked at the the payments to the top 56 city staff in Kamloops. I think it is fair to say that PG payments are 10% higher than Kamloops.

There is the 10% saving that the Mayor was looking for. Work on it for the next 5 years!!!!!

Mattyc, You said a few weeks ago that you are retired and never collected welfare in your life, that you have enough money to last your life time. I guess you did good under the Liberal government. Now get a job repairing the parking meters that you posted on how to disable and please not under the table. Now that the HST is going you should be happy to pay PST.

Mattyc:

Very interesting post. I can only assume that you have ensured you do not access any of the provincial benefits that your local taxes pay for. Principal is one thing, but morals and ethics are also very important to alot of us.

I hope that you are not disappointed when you shop in BC (if and when you ever do) after April 1st. Those clothes, tires, etc will not have HST, but they will have GST & PST which will be the same amount, just shown separately on your receipt. Can only guess you will take your business across the border again. Perhaps you should consider earning your income over there too. Not right that you should have the privilege of living in BC without contributing to the local economy. Just my HO.

Happy Easter everyone.

“the situation in North Korea”

Remember, we call such actions of the new leader an expectation of entitlement.

He expects he is entitled to carry on from where his father left off.

Pro cannabis should quit smoking for a while, seems to be clouding his mind. Sure some nice rich guy is just waiting to hand over ten grand to you. Think of the weed you could buy with that much cash.
You think ten grand is like ten dollars to a person making ten thousand a month? Better roll another number or maybe get a job.

mattyc…. I have enough money to last me the rest of my life. If I die tomorrow.

Retired senior I am very happy to pay PST. That was afterall what I (and most other voters) voted for in 2009. We were blindsided by this HST right after the election. Do you recall that event retired senior? I do not collect welfare nor have I used any health care in this province since around 1980 something.

And for you VMT. Read what I said to retired senior. We the taxpayers of BC voted in 2009 for the liberals because gordon said there was No HST on the radar. Do you recall that VMT? Or did you happen to just convieniently forget that fact? I am happy to pay PST. I voted for that in fact. So your guess is wrong in this case VMT. I will gladly shop here again IF the exemptions are back to the way WE THE TAXPAYER voted for back in 2009. What’s so hard to figure out about that? Sometimes principals are more important over ethics. ANd why should any taxpayer show ethics anyways with the example being demonstrated in victoria by the LIE-berals. What is this do as I say not as I do. Well screw them. ALL IE-berals will be EXTIGUISHED MAY 14. That’smostly because of the HST. Remember mulroney??????????

The million bucks a month we are paying in interest on the city debt could certainly go a long way to fixing our roads ! Just saying….. It’s only $1,500.00 per person.

During the last election our debt (so I was told) amounted to $111 million bucks. That $111 million bucks divided by twelve months amounts to um, ah, er, hmmm, by gosh, you’re right. Or close enough to be right. That million bucks you mentioned, is that just the interest and no principle? Charge cards say at the bottom “if you make the minimum payment you will have this paid off in 56 years”. In PGs case it could be 560 years given the amount.In closing it sounds like this city is dealing with Money Mart when it comes to financing loans.

PG could declare bankruptcy, get a new charge card and fix our roads. Yeah, that’s the ticket.

First consider interest rates have not gone up in a couple years.

Debt repayment charges 2010= 11.37 million
Debt repayment charges 2011= 12.099 million

It is taking more to service the debt so the debt is growing. What happens when interest rates go back to traditional levels of say 5-6%. We better start growing our population fast. Or we could do what cities in the U.S. are doing. Slash all the pension plans in half. That is inevitable.

Posted by: mattyc on August 17 2012 11:09 AM
I am self employed in the home reno business. I am always busy. I work for cash. There is no shortage of people that want to pay cash for jobs done. So yes I do work.

Retired or hiding from the tax man?

Who needs or likes a parking meter?
If I have to go shopping, I go there, were I do not have to pay for parking.
It will kill all the business downtown if they will start installing meters.
And how much will it cost to install those meters. Will take a long time for the city, to make a profit on that. Unless they have the 1.2 Million sitting on an account – and do not know, what to do with it.
But maybe they should fix the potholes with that money.
Happy Easter to everybody!

The new rules set in this budget will take care of Mattyc. His next client reports him and gets his renos for free.

axman, there are not any stores that I boycott right now but I do go on short-term runs of boycotting when I do not get decent service at a place.

My family and I tend to not buy food from the chain restaurants because we do not like spending good money on food that is average e.g. Boston Pizza, Red Robin, etc.

A lot of people never understood the HST from the get go.

The Liberals and their cronies did a good job on confusing the gullible.

The average cost to consumers in BC for the HST would run anywhere from $500.00 to $2200.00 annually depending on what you buy.

As an example those people who buy just one
(1) coffee a day at their favourite coffee shop, at $1.50 per coffee 365 days a year would pay $40.00 per year because of the HST . This is just the tip of the iceburg.

Business and Corporations saved $1.6 Billion a year because of the HST, this savings comes from consumers paying the tax that business and corporations used to pay. Not so hard to understand is it.

Lindt #1mmmmm

The liberals brought in hst to pay for the massive amount of services the people expect. You cant have all these services without taxes.
What scares me is the NDP has no proper
representation, just mud flinging.
The minute there in, same old crap.
They discourage industry, jobs fade away,
Christy Clarke did a good job of setting
out conditions to Endbridge. Economy is good here as well. There are new buildings going up all over the province of b.c.
I drove 1400 miles just last week and seen this. Everyone in our family will vote for the Liberals on voteing day.

“”The BC liberals brought us a huge carbon tax to heat your northern home in the winter or drive to work you pay a regressive tax on an essential commodity to fund corporate income tax cuts and corporate welfare.

The BC liberals collect more from regressive MSP premiums than they do from corporate income taxes… more from tuition than corporate income taxes… this is a taxation regime designed to monopolize the economy with the already made elites at the expense of any chance of opportunity or a true free enterprise system. Rather than nurture the free enterprise eco-systemic feed back loop of a healthy middle class society… the BC liberals have done their best to try and destroy an equal opportunity society by regressive strangulation. They are monopoly capitalists after all.

The BC liberals have no qualms about fracking in your back yard to turn a dime supplying China, and “”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

What an interesting post…far more interesting than how much our local firemen are paid.

IS it true? Is the Liberal government collecting more from msp premiums than corporate taxes??

Cheeseburgers will be cheaper monday. Only GST applies to restaurant meals.

As a side issue – for those who like to work under the table. A fellow told me the other day his daughter was diagnosed with MS and her drugs cost $1,600.00 a month. They pay the first $400.00 – for the year, and the BC government covers the rest. Where does it get the money from – us, who pay taxes. So, if you don’t pay taxes, your as much as saying anyone who needs a hand when life hits them with a hammer, they can get tossed under the bus for all you care. That father, and now me, are very appreciative of a system that steps up when someone really needs help.

I understand there is government waste, but it’s peanuts compared to the amount of services we do get, that are delivered well.

OH, and a good example of government waste is the Feds are considering whether or not they’re going to give Palestine another $300 million over the next 5 years. Correct me if I’m wrong, but, don’t we have a deficit – where do we get the money to give to them from?

Mattyc~~I don’t think you should feel bad about shopping where you can save a few of your hard earned dollars. Many of these people that are poo pooing you over avoiding the HST are the same ones that holiday in mexico or vegas [because it’s cheap] and then come home with duty free alcohol.

The liberals brought in hst to pay for the massive amount of services the people expect. You cant have all these services without taxes.

===========================================

Income tax, fuel surtax, hotel tax, environmental fee..icbc/hydro withdrawals…carbon tax..stumpage, corporate income tax, royalties, license fees….gaming revenues.

I fail to see how we are getting services without taxes???

So you pay HST on items that were PST exempt before.Did you track your $500.00 to $2,200 personally Palupo. If you had, you would know it is false. That is more expendable money than the average wage of an employed person in PG. $2,200 would require expendable money of $2,619.05 per month. Ain’t happening

Oh and the fact that you don’t pay HST on fuel which is one of the biggest expences further blows your number out of the water

Jim131315,

we pay tax’s because we use public services. I enjoy having roads, I enjoy having them plowed and maintained, I enjoy having a hospital near, I enjoy that an ambulance is available if needed, I like knowing the fire department is just down the road. Those are just a few of the services we take for granted. Its a good thing some of us buck up and pay for them. mattyc would rather screw his neighbors, then ask for a handout over the fence.

I pay more than my fair share of tax’s and if I chose to vacation outside the province and country, all the power to me. I have already paid my way.

He isn’t welcome were I live.

If you actually knew the difference between HST and GST + PST you would get the facts right.

What is worse the fellow collecting $40K in dividends [only income source] every year and not paying income tax…OR
a fellow working under the table making $40K a year doing renovations not paying any income tax??

If a fellow like Mattyc owns an incorporated company that does renovations then Mattyc is a shareholder. So consider this, if Matty doesn’t draw any salary from his company at all for the work he does but instead just declares a dividend of $10K per quarter…and just collects $40k a year in dividends….how much income tax does Matty pay…

So Gus says overtime equates to poor management.There is a fire in town, oops not paying overtime burn baby burn.

hydro tries a cap on overtime, lights go out, oh what to do, pay or leave the lights out?

Did you know that a company can buy up the worthless shares of a bankrupt company and use the tax losses that company still carries in their accounting records as a tax loss? Using this trick corporations can avoid paying income tax for a long time..

Is the little guy that is working under the table making ends meet all that bad in comparison?? At least he is working and not on welfare…..;-)….and the government will get their pound of flesh out of him one way or another…carbon tax, fees, pst etc etc

actually that should be “be able to recoup much of his HST expenses” Wrong wording by me, HST is not a write off.

So getting dividends on after tax $ is a problem now? He can’t draw 25% dividends, he will lose in an audit.

Jim13135 Matty would pay through his corporation $6,242.00 in taxes.

The corporation would have to earn $46,242. It would pay tax at the BC small business rate of 13.5% .135 X 46,242.00 = $6,242.00. After it pays it’s taxes, it would have $40,000 left over, which Matty could receive as a dividend, which you are almost correct, he would pay $600.00 in personal taxes – assuming it’s his only source of income – because he get’s a credit for the taxes the corporation already paid.

If Matty earns $46,242.00 under the table – he pays no taxes.

If he earns $46,242.00 as a wage earner – excluding CPP and EI – he would pay $7,405.27 in taxes.

So there is definitely a tax advantage to flowing dividends through a corporation – but it’s not completely tax free. The federal government in the budget is reducing the dividend tax credit because of this very scenario so that it’s indifferent which way you go.

mattyc you remind me of the guy who always shows up at the bar for a drink but never takes out his money but when money left over has hand out for his share

Jim 13135 – on the utilization of non-capital losses – it’s not so easy. You have to acquire a corporation that is similar to what you do. So a bank can’t acquire a bankrupt forest company. A profitable forest company has to acquire an unprofitable forest company.

And keep in mind, the unprofitable forest company lost all it’s shareholder and creditors money. So what usually happens, is the acquiring corporation pays the shareholders/creditors something for their tax losses because they have value to them.

Then they have to go through the expensive process of amalgamation to utilize those losses.

So it’s not like they hand someone a $1.00 and never pay taxes again. Sometimes it’s a company they actually owned, that lost a ton of money that they lent it, and they amalgamate to be able to take advantage of the loss. That was the intent of the law.

But, in the budget, the Fed’s are making it even tighter as to when this can be done because of abuse. But economically, the theory is sound.

AA~he couldn’t recoup his personal hst expenses…..only the corporate hst.

Cougs~~why would dividends on after tax dollars be a problem? Dividends are a distribution to share holders of corporate profits after taxes are paid.

Each shareholder must report the dividend income, and how they are taxed upon those dividends will depend upon their particular set of circumstances…..

I was just pointing out that if dividends are your only source of income that you can pay $0.00 income tax on approximately $40,000 of income.

It’s not illegal, it’s just arranging your affairs to minimize the amount of income tax you are legally required to pay. ;-)

ski50~~not bad!!

So how does it work if the $40,000 of dividend income is derived from shares he inherited years ago…or perhaps was gifted?? He wouldn’t personally be paying any income tax through the corporation??

He would only pay $600 income tax?? And he doesn’t even have to get his fingers dirty??

This bothers me….a person living on a disability pension would pay more income tax than that…..So would most pensioners…..and this hypothetical shareholder may never have even worked a day in his life to have gotten into this position…..an inequity that the NDP may be looking at??

@ onemansthoughts:

According to the fraser institute your hst was to be revenue neutral. You do remember that? Only problem there was we peons were expected to pick up the tab for about $1.6 billion that would be shed by corporations.
And yes I have paid a shitload of various taxes and will continue to until the day I die so please no rant about me avoiding taxes or anything as silly.
As for voting for christy and her liberals? What a colossal waste of time and energy. They’re done. Come May 14th 2013 we get to stick a fork in them. I don’t expect great things from the next government or the one after that. I look at voting them off the island as necessary as changing your socks/underwear once in a while.

Then he would have only paid $600.00 if he was lucky enough that someone gave him shares that had cash in the company to give him the money. But the company that was given to him, did pay taxes on the income to have the $40,000 in teh bank. And why would someone give you a company with $40,000 cash in the bank???

And if they did, there would be a deemed disposition on the shares at fair market value, and the guy giving the shares would have to pay tax on the deemed capital gain – assuming they were related.

But you could be just as annoyed at someone who inherits a million dollars from their parents. Their parents worked all their life, paid taxes on their earnings, saved the money, and then the kids get it for no better reason than being their kids. Those kids won’t pay a penny of taxes on the million they receive. But they will pay taxes on the income earned on the million.

The only way you can avoid paying tax – is – work under the table – collect welfare – or don’t earn more than about $12,000.00 a year. Otherwise, somehow, some way, income tax will be paid. Oh, or be a government minister with a tax free allowance – sorry – forgot that one.

So bonneville, how much did you pay towards my health coverage and govt benefits this last year? I suspect at your minimum wage level it probably wasn’t near the level my family has been paying. ;-)

It’s your sense of entitlement that is amazing……you pay peanuts while we pay for enhanced services [read private] and you mistakenly believe your entitled to benefit from our payments???

matty’s up to his old tricks I see. He doesn’t have a leg to stand on, yet he keeps on going.

Boycotts… interesting topic. I think people like to use the word, but most of them are all talk. If everyone who said they boycotted Wendy’s (for example) actually did, they would have closed down a long time ago.

And then there’s the old favorite, the HST. Yes, it’s gone for now. But it might be back in the future. Don’t count it out. Ontario has one, and PEI just started one.

The people of BC were more conncerned about being outraged about how it was brought in, and didn’t educate themselves. Not untypical of BC voters. Now we all get to pay to bring it back. No, life will not be cheaper after April 1st.

As I said it depends on what you spend your money on,.

There were approx. 110 items that were exempt from the PST before the Liberals started their con job. Once the HST came in we had to pay 7% on the exempted items.

As an example. Restaurant meals were exempt and you now pay 7%. So if you and your family go to a restaurant once a week and spend $60.00, you would end up paying $218.00 per year extra because of the HST.

Theatre tickets/Movies/Concert tickets, would cost you another $72.00. per annum

Yearly golf dues for two, would add over $140.00.

Hockey tickets for two. (Assume 36 games) would add $70.00.

Sooooooo. We are already at $500.00 per year and we haven’t even started.

Throw in tax on Cable TV, Non-prescription meds, Telephone, Internet, Hair cuts, Bus Fares, Taxi Fares, Airline Tickets, Music lessons, Vitamins, School supplies, Campgrounds, RV Parks, Animal feed, Veterinarian, Real Estate fees, Bicycles, Accounting, Legal fees, Funeral services, Helmets, Life jackets, First aid kits, etc; etc; etc;, and it adds up pretty fast.

The HST replaced the tax paid by business and corporations, which ensured that the Government received the same amount of money, and business and corporations received a huge tax break.

There was little if any additional revenue generated for Government services so the argument that we needed this tax to provide services is a bogus argument.

This was a tax shift from business and corporations to consumers.

Why some people cannot understand is beyond believe,. What the hell do they teach people these days.???

To Johnny Belt
So they never should have brought in the HST. in the first place, then they would not have to spend now our tax money to bring back the old system.
That is pure waste of tax payers money for nothing.
And why did Gordon lied about it? That’s why we are paying now – becdause Gordon lied.

Jim, your credibility was already shot without crawling into bed with the village idiot.

You think the BC Liberals would get in if he had told us that Ottawa wants to implement a new tax? How many in the BC Liberals knew about this new tax system? I see Bond has put up signs in a Victoria Street window. Can Bond do the work. Will it matter if her party doesn’t form the next government?

It’s a user tax Palopu! The best tax there is! The more you use the more you pay and that includes the rich. If you can afford to eat out once a week and play golf then pay you should!

Do you all really think the price of burgers is going to drop? If I was a shop owner I would keep the prices the same. The extra dough will keep me in coffee while I fill out my PST forms.

Ralph Klein has died at the age of 70. One of Canada’s greatest leaders leaves us.

Lol no comments on this.

If you actually checked some of what you said like golf, you would see the price dropped 7 % so the rate stayed the same. This is in fact true of many items. So if you take your family budget year over year and shopped in any fiscally responsible way you would see it did not go up 7% but was on par with inflation.

Palopu, what you and others fail to understand is that businesses everywhere are paying for the switch back to the PST/GST. Not to mention that the PST/GST costs more to administrate.

Those costs are not eaten by businesses, but passed onto consumers. That’s right, you and me.

Just because you can’t see it on your receipt does not mean you are not paying more.

So…….. go ahead, and keep believing the fantasy that life will get cheaper after April 1st. It won’t.

suzier: “To Johnny Belt
So they never should have brought in the HST. in the first place, then they would not have to spend now our tax money to bring back the old system.
That is pure waste of tax payers money for nothing.
And why did Gordon lied about it? That’s why we are paying now – becdause Gordon lied.”

Typical anti-HST line of thinking. People were hung up on how it was brought in and how could they stick it to the government, let alone the fact that the HST was a better system and it would be at 10% by now. Nice job, BC voters!

Wow Jim what an assumption you make about my far from minimum wage income, and what a way to deflect my point. You want to defend crazy matty and all that does is make me think you two are a lot alike. How can you defend someone like that unless you do the sane things. You make no sense, which is par for most of your dribble . I doubt your family pays more then mine and as for sense of entitlement you again don’t know of what you speak. Being as I actually pay my income tax, unlike your little friend matty and as a result feel perfectly entitled to use the health care system or any of the other services my thousands of dollars of income tax paid for. You two have the matching tinfoil hat set.

At this point as Chris Hadfield zipps past us at 18 thousand miles an hour. I’m just so glad to be alive in free nation to witness such a great moment in history. The rest as they say is just trivial.

“it would be at 10% by now”

On more things than were taxed under the pst system.

Now business can start paying the 1.6 billion a year once again that they had removed from their tax plates by the wonderful Liberals and shoved up the butt’s of us taxpayers.

So yes, nice job BC voters.

Bonneville….:-). Is your tax pain bigger than mine? I doubt it but you never know. You probably drive a mini van too…..:-)

How about Carbon taxes?? Who is getting their grubhooks into all this carbon tax money that is being collected off us hard working taxpayers?? They must be collecting millions and millions…..

Quebec collects 40% of ei payments and Duecepe the separest who will collect millions in his fiberal pension is complaining Quebec should get more and he is getting paid for that wine.

Carbon tax scam where there has been no global warming for twenty years now, right Todd hbow do you explain that fact?

No global warming for twenty years? See! The tax works!

You are just about funny Jim, not that it matters but why would you assume I drive a mini van? And what possible difference would it make? But I’ll match you on this one…I’ll bet you drive a four wheel drive truck, complete with gun rack and balls hanging on the hitch:} by the way, I have a choice of vehicles at my disposal. All bought and paid for after paying my share of taxes.

The argument that the costs from Business and Corporations would be passed on to us the consumers is pure unadulterated BS.

80% of what is manufactured or produced in BC ex exported to foreign countries. Ie; Lumber, pulp and paper, ingots, copper concentrates, ore, logs, etc; etc;.

So JohnyBelt. Explain to me how these costs are being passed back to consumers, when the product it sold out of the Country.

Fact of the matter is the exporting companies get HST tax credits to write off their inputs, and therefore pay no HST, and end up with a $1.6 Billion dollar tax break. The Government taxes the consumer to make up for its shortfall in revenue.

Bottom line. You are being taken to the cleaners by big business, corporations, and the Liberal Government, and you (even after three years) have not been able to figure it out.

They got the elevator. YOU got the shaft

MP salaries going up by 1.6 per cent

By Michael Woods, Postmedia News March 29, 2013 6:46 PM

MP salaries going up by 1.6 per cent

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s salary will increase to $320,400, an increase of nearly $5,000.

OTTAWA – Canada’s members of Parliament are getting a raise for the first time in four years.

Speaker of the House Andrew Scheer sent a memo to members of Parliament on Thursday, just before they returned to their constituencies, informing them their pay will increase by 1.6 per cent in the 2013-14 fiscal year.

That means the base annual salary for all MPs will jump to $160,200, an increase of nearly $2,500, effective April 1.

It’s the first pay increase for MPs since 2009. In 2010, under the Expenditure Restraint Act, the government froze MPs’ salaries through the 2012-13 fiscal year. It was an austerity measure, as well as a symbolic gesture by elected officials as Canadians dealt with the fallout from the recession.

As a result, MPs have earned a base annual salary of just under $158,000 since 2009.

With the new pay hike, the salaries paid to members who have additional responsibilities — such as cabinet ministers, whips, parliamentary secretaries, committee chairs and others — will also increase.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s salary will increase to $320,400, an increase of nearly $5,000. Speaker Scheer, Opposition Leader Tom Mulcair and cabinet ministers will see their pay jump to $236,900, a $3,600 increase.

And the new leader of the Liberal Party will earn $214,700, a $3,300 increase.

Scheer’s memo says members’ pay is adjusted each year “based on the index of the average percentage increase in base-rate wages for a calendar year in Canada resulting from major settlements negotiated in the private sector.”

Gregory Thomas, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, decried the timing of the memo, which was sent on a Thursday before a long weekend and the start of a two-week break in House proceedings.

“It underlines the suspicion that taxpayers have of all politicians from all parties, because we cynically expect government to put out bad news like this … right before a holiday, when it’s inconvenient for everyone.”

“It’s contemptuous of taxpayers and electors,” he added. “There’s just no excuse for it.”

He said modest increases to adjust for the cost of living are less bothersome, though, than years of no change followed by massive pay hikes.

He also noted that the government hasn’t hit the deficit projections they made when the freeze was instituted.

“They haven’t come close to hitting their own targets, but they decided to forgo the wage freeze and give themselves a raise,” he said.

However, MPs aren’t expected to experience long-term financial gain, due to changes to parliamentary pension rules.

The federal government announced last fall it is overhauling the parliamentary pension plan – including tripling MP contributions and increasing retirement age – after the next election.

Currently, MPs contribute about $11,000 a year each into their own pensions — around 14 per cent of the $76,000 in total annual contributions — while taxpayers cover the remaining $65,000 for each parliamentary pension. But under the changes, MPs will eventually have to contribute 50 per cent to their pensions; about $39,000 by 2017.

Liberal MP John McKay said MPs are “their own worst enemies, and don’t stand up for themselves” when it comes to their pay.

MPs work 70 to 80 hours a week, making sacrifices in their personal and family lives, said McKay, who represents the riding of Scarborough – Guildwood. Many of them forgo higher-paying private sector jobs to do so.

“Anybody who goes into politics doesn’t go into it for the money,” he said. “If you are in it for the money, you should think about doing something else.”

mwoods@postmedia.com

twitter.com/michaelrwoods
© Copyright (c) Postmedia News

Original source article: MP salaries going up by 1.6 per cent

Read more: http://www.canada.com/salaries+going+cent/8171311/story.html#ixzz2OylU0vk6

The BC government gave 25 million to build a state of art wooden 6 storey building in Prince George which at one time was going to be 140 million. They just gave Vancouver to have an award show 12 million for Bollywood Where are they Getting fhe money.
PG gets the thumbs down again

JB:”People were hung up on how it was brought in and how could they stick it to the government,…”

Good on them! I myself got “hung up” on how it was brought in, namely by deception.

I enjoyed expressing my displeasure and disgust by voting to have it removed! The real good news is that there are still a lot of people around who have the cojones to stand up against this kind of deception and don’t just accept anything that comes from a government as if it was the gospel truth – to be accepted as such without questioning! That goes for all aspects of life, including taxes, food and water!

How much faith must one have in governments if they keep defrauding us? Zero, in my opinion.

Wow Jim what an assumption you make about my far from minimum wage income, and what a way to deflect my point. You want to defend crazy matty and all that does is make me think you two are a lot alike. How can you defend someone like that unless you do the sane things.

=======•============•=•===========================••••••

Your missing the point Bonnie. At least he is working and spending. :-)

That is why they have sales taxes, so they can capture some of this underground money. I think they should capture a little more of that money leaving the country too.

I want to know why sales tax on used vehicles is staying at 12%?? What else is there they are charging us 12% on??

Jim13135…The 12% on used vehicles was introduced to appease the car dealers (mainly the used car dealers) in BC when the HST was introduced. . They complained that they cannot compete with the the private car sales. So the government introduced the Tax on Designated Property (TDP) to even the playing field. The TDP is 12%.

They are keeping this in place to keep the playing field even between the private car sales and car dealerships.

This has nothing to do with the cash cow that private used car sales are to this province….ya right.

Hmmm, there’s so much to comment on, it’s too hard to choose.
1.Lindt! Obviously. 2. Mattyc, insanity is the only thing that comes to mind. 3.ProCannabis, do you even know who Ralph Klein was? 4. Jim13135, haha, balls hanging from your trailer hitch. A Dodge 3500?

estimates that keeping the tax will generate an $45 million in additional revenue for the province this year.

De Jong says that’s revenue the government can’t afford to give up.

“It’s a tax, and balancing the budget is not easy,”
They need the extra money – evben though we all thought, they go back to the old system. But they need badly our money to balance the budget.
And then some dreamers write here, we would have had by now only 10 % HST – LOL.

After reading all the comments, well some writers have a great problem.
For example – Bonneville – he likes to criticize and call writers names (matty-jim-cannabis) and he does not like it at all, when somebody criticizes him. And at the end he is almost wining, after finding out, that he makes 12.000 a year.

And finally
cherry1970cherry
Are you able to read? Scroll to the top and try reading –
No Bullying of other posters!

So whats your problem?
Friday free for all should be fun reading, but some take it too serious.
Try to relax and accept, that not everybody has the same opinion.

And finally
There sohould be no tax on any used item, no matter if it is a car, lawn tractor, snow blower or whatever
The government got already tax, when the item was new and got sold, so why paying tax 2, 3 or more times on the same item?

The U.S. is getting very close to a war with North Korea….the news today is not good!

Posted by: Jim13135 on March 29 2013 12:31 PM
Mattyc~~I don’t think you should feel bad about shopping where you can save a few of your hard earned dollars. Many of these people that are poo pooing you over avoiding the HST are the same ones that holiday in mexico or vegas [because it’s cheap] and then come home with duty free alcohol.

I don’t feel bad about it jim. Some a these HST lovers (I won’t mention any names) here even were saying I am now a criminal because I shop out of town. Now how moronic is that? As I said before I do it just for the principal. Much like cut off my nose despite my face. I aint afraid to do that. And I certainly don’t care if it costs more to do it. The feeling is almost uphoric when I see how much money HST really sucks from people like me or you. When I think of all the things that I refuse to do or purchase here it would make your eyes pop out. I do what I can to keep my money from gordon. I simply do not spend it here. And you got the other thing right about those who like free liquor. Then they bad mouth me. LOL LOL
You know i don’t buy alcohol. Another way to deny money to gordon. And I quit smoking too so they lost about 200 a month from me for that too now. So I will go on refusing to pay or play. Soon the LIE-berals will all be thrown out and then we can really celebrate jim. Thanks again to Bill and all the canvassers for the successful referendum.

The 12% tax on private sale of used vehicles may have been kept to appease the new car dealers.

However, when you trade in a car, the taxes paid are on the difference. So when the used car is resold, the taxes paid on it are essentially the remaining amount for the new vehicle.

Either way, that was a huge increase on the price of a private used vehicle, and I’m disapointed that it won’t be rescinded.

As far as the HST being 10% by now, where would they have gotten the money for the difference? From a larger deficit?

Yes I have found you can’t say to much these days. Yeah, North Korea is threatening war. I have been following for a while now. He is threatening to nuke the U.S. Nobody has been speaking of this. Instead we gab about treaties, bitumen pipelines and controversial politicians. Look at that nut case. He is starving his own people and believes in fairy tales.

What is there to say about N. Korea?? All we can do is watch and speculate on how many countries are going to back them if they decide to kill themselves by launching at the USA.

There is more, look at Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt and more….Israel and Palestine…

It’s a major war just waiting to break out.

Relax mon roll up another! North Korea doesn’t have a missle that could reach North Korea let alone the good ole US of A.

How many starving people are there in Canada? More than you think!

Go to bed get up in the morning and go another round at paying your taxes.

Mother Ship calling Mattyc: “Come in Mattyc”!

Mattyc, are you there? Come In Mattyc!

Mattyc, if you receive this message, please be aware that although you keep mentioning Gordon and how you are denying him any of your money, please note that Gordon hasn’t been around since March 14, 2011.

Mattyc, please respond. Mattyc, are you there? Come in Mattyc!!!

Palopu: “The argument that the costs from Business and Corporations would be passed on to us the consumers is pure unadulterated BS.”

Keep that dream alive, Palopu.

good night :-)

Oh, Happy Easter. :-)

Overtime for firefighters.

I thought there were enough staff on duty to fight fires at any given time. When there is a fire at shift change, then the change should be designed so that the incoming shift can take over from the outgoing shift.

Any process which is uninterruptable must be designed with such a shift change method.

It is dangerous for a shift to respond to a fire at the end of the shift, then continue to work for 4 hours to fight a major fire.