Loving the CWGs.

Good morning everyone. Just wondering where the story on volunteers’ jackets went?
I think it was rather inappropriate for a group to ask the volunteers to give those for the needy. They have volunteered their time and in some cases, much more to help out in the games, to make them a big success for everyone involved. To ask them to give up the one thing that will be a souvenir for them and identify them in the community for their service, was a little much, I thought.
Perhaps if the homeless wanted winter jackets, they might have thought of volunteering some of their time too.
Besides that, if you give something to someone, it is usually not appreciated nearly as much as rather giving them the opportunity to earn that thing for themselves. Then they value it more.
Other than that, I hope this last of the games goes well for everyone. I think this province and this town has done quite well in them.
Congratulations to everyone involved.

Be responsible pet owners. Letting your dogs sit outside all day barking isn’t fun for your neighbors. If you hear your dog barking away then let them inside. Your shift working neighbors will appreciate it.

What a great winter we have had. A warm January, snow for the winter games and mostly sunny for the last weeks – brilliant! People are smiling and friendly, what more could you ask for?

I seen on the news last night the they are asking the athletes to donate their sleeping bags as well as the coats.

Mercenary, if you figure out how to get them to do that let me know, animal control and bylaws aren’t thelpful

First of all they are suggesting that volunteers donate their jackets, they are not saying they have too. Also as far as the athletes they are suggesting that they donate their sleeping bags but again they do not have to.
Think about it this way if the jackets are never going to be worn again and the volunteer does not have the sentimental connection to the jacket then they may want to donate it to someone in need. The same goes for the sleeping bags the athletes were given during their stay. It is all up to the individuals donating and no one else. Why such a debate?

Incessantly barking dogs is my pet peeve of the week, too. Have talked to my neighbors the owners of 3 dogs whose dogs bark all day long at every thing that moves and imagined things too. Animal control did absolutely nothing – I’ve called a few times. We’re at our wits end too!

I think it is a debate because donating to charity is a very personal choice and to make the suggestion that a volunteer donate their CWG coat can really make some people feel pressured, and perhaps takes away from the pride they feel wearing it in the future, because somehow they now feel as though they are viewed as less than charitable for keeping it! I donate to charity, it is a personal choice, and now this is would make it very public and everyone will know I chose not to donate my CWG coat. Even if I donate in other ways and, it is nobody’s business but my own, there can still be a weight felt from judgment of others. It is unfair to put this on the volunteers. Just my opinion.

so now our wonderful Lieberal gov’t proposes to take away or have ICBC not renew driver’s licences for unpaid student loans.
Most certainly another one of Christie’s families first policies.

Very we’ll put northern spirit.

I do think it is up to ones personal choice what they do , maybe it is the best jacket some of these volunteers had in years , and I am sure some will be happy to wear it again . If you want charity , then contact our useless government and see what you will get.

Thank you for a very good job on the CWG. A great job by the organizers and definitely the volunteers. Thank you for putting us on the map for future events.

Posted on Friday, February 27, 2015 @ 7:46 AM by Resident

so now our wonderful Lieberal gov’t proposes to take away or have ICBC not renew driver’s licences for unpaid student loans.

———

That is a most excellent idea! Driving is a privilege, not a right. If you can afford to keep a vehicle you can surely afford to repay your loans.

Our Gov’t is a BULLy.. they have soooo much tied to ICBC . Think ICBC lost focus on their mandate. Get rid of the buggers and Christy.. People are struggling enough with all the increases of life that they don’t need ICBC to add to their misery.

With this website’s propensity to focus on the details and minutiae of city hall management (and I don’t mean that as a negative observation) I’m surprised there hasn’t been a single post about Bill Gaal’s departure as Director of Public Works.

Many people can’t work, or get to work, without a driver’s license. Taking away their driver’s license will not only punish them severely but will make it impossible for them to repay their student loans. Therefore conditioning driver’s licenses on repayment of student loans is a terrible idea.

I am a right winger, but giving the government that much power over the lives is too much power and it can lead to further erosion to feedom.

Yes, I agree that student loans need to be paid. I also believe that taking away their ability to drive their own vehicle legally will detriment long term employment. And become a contribution to our economy.

There has to be a better mechanism.

I am sure this only applies to people making no attempt to repay their student loans, otherwise no one with a student loan could have insurance! So I would have to agree with Axman…

To those who feel the government is too hard on delinquent borrowers, keep in mind: IT IS YOURS AND MY MONEY that these people are hoarding and not wanting to repay! While I am critical of many of the functions that ICBC now serves, this is one I support.
To the borrowers: PAY BACK what you owe. I am not that generous that I feel that I willingly support your tardiness. My taxes are high enough now!
Furthermore, just because the government sees it OK for other financial waste is no excuse or reason for these debts to remain unpaid!

I think more people should watch the BC budget debate in the house now to see what is realy going on. Very few MLAs sitting in house on the Liberal side that should be there. When the Liberals are asked a question
the general response does not pertain to the question that was asked.
It resembles ‘rich spoiled children’ who are not accountable for their actions.

I agree with you, billposer! There was a time when a family member had no drivers license; but needed to work. Getting them to work was a serious problem.
linking all unpaid student loans, etc through ICBC is just plain WRONG!!

so now our wonderful Lieberal gov’t proposes to take away or have ICBC not renew driver’s licences for unpaid student loans.
*********************************************************************************

If Germany can scrap post secondary tuition fees why can’t BC?? You’d think a country rich in natural resources…should be able to keep up with progressive policies like this from Germany?

Huh! It’s wrong for people to be accountable! You are just plain WRONG

First, not one to follow conspiracy theories, but many posters have been saying for years, that when the winter games come, the city will do a great job of plowing – and it turned out to be true!!!! I don’t think there’s been a flake on the road for the whole two weeks – fantastic job city of PG, now why can’t you do that all winter (tongue in cheek post if not obvious)

On ICBC and student loans. A student loan can’t be discharged in a bankruptcy for 10 years – so, if a student is in serious financial difficulty, and can’t declare bankruptcy, this seems a harsh punishment for being on hard times. I say, if you reinstate that a student loan can be included in a bankruptcy, then any student not paying, is not paying because they don’t want to or else they would go bankrupt, and sure, withhold their driver’s license. Man, I’m right leaning too, but this is just plain cruel. I suggest what the Liberals might want to do, is force secondary institutions to be more honest about the job prospects of certain degrees, and perhaps, if a certain degree has poor job prospects, that it not even be eligible for student loans.

BTW – saw a CWG volunteer this morning and said “hey buddy, can you spare a jacket” he didn’t laugh.

Posted on Friday, February 27, 2015 @ 9:41 AM by ntkr14

I agree with you, billposer! There was a time when a family member had no drivers license; but needed to work. Getting them to work was a serious problem.
linking all unpaid student loans, etc through ICBC is just plain WRONG!!

——–

I think you’ve misunderstood the plan. So long as you’re working on repaying your student loan they won’t deny you a license. If however, you’ve decided you’re just not going to bother paying it back then they will deny you a license.

It’s really not difficult to negotiate a repayment plan with your lender that works for both parties. Banks don’t want to see you default.

Instead of doing this to students, how about going after dead beat parents that do not pay child support. I have known a lot of students over time that have gone the student loan route that did not get any support from certain parents that do not live up to their responsibility when the student was growing up. They learned from the parents Phhh I can get away with it.

Make it more affordable for continuing education. When professors etc. get
$75-$ 100.00 an hour minimum plus all the benefits and perks, no wonder the students rack up a bill.

Canada was once rated the top country for education – we have dropped dramatically over the years.

As mentioned in another comment Germany is now leading. I remember when many German students would come to Canada for education. Not anymore…..

Oh yes I forgot… remember all those stories the old timers give “well when I went to school I had to walk ten miles……”. ;)

I too had problems with getting a student to College due to no bus service etc out where I live. Thank goodness he was smart enough to behave the first five years with this damn graduated licencing.

What happened to garnishing wages. Also how do they collect from the out of province debtors?

Over 30 countries around the world have fully public [tuition free] post secondary education, like Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Iran, Sweden and Morocco.

It is time that Canada came into the mainstream and quit charging tuition and putting our young people under this oppressive debt load.

Nothing new here:

don’t pay your Home Taxes, take away your House

don’t make your Car Payment, take away your Car

don’t pay your Mortgage , take away your House

all this is cruel but Fact.

You took out the Loan and promised to pay it back, this is just another Way to enforce your Promise to pay it back. So tell me why you hate ICBC, to you have to many unpaid Tickets , or you think you pay to much for same ?

“If Germany can scrap post secondary tuition fees why can’t BC?? You’d think a country rich in natural resources…should be able to keep up with progressive policies like this from Germany?”

B.C. is not a country, of course! It is however almost 4 times as large as Germany in area, though. B.C. has only about 5% of the population of Germany. So there are not nearly as many taxpayers to pay into the pot. For its size and population B.C. residents are also supporting an enormous government apparatus which gets to reach into the pot first, in wages, salaries and benefits.

Therefore, apples and oranges.

I dislike ICBC because it’s mandatory, we have no choice. ICBC charges good drivers MORE for compulsory insurance than private insurance companies…so we have to pay 2 insurance bills instead of 1, or pay over $500 more per year for insurance. ICBC insurance premiums shouldn’t be going towards highway and intersection improvements….that is what we pay gasoline tax for, so ICBC rates are artificially inflated to supplement the govts highways budgets.

There are lots of reasons to dislike ICBC, but nothing they couldn’t fix if they chose too.

Jim , I’d say pricing Canada’s best and brightest out of the education industrial complex is immoral . It is also just plain stupid . Norway has offered free education for anyone in the world . All one needs is the aptitude and high enough test scores . How can they do this ? Unlike canada ,Norway does not have the lowest royalties in the world . Now crusty wants to dumb our kids down even more to get them down to her level .

If Morocco can scrap post secondary tuition fees why can’t BC or Canada?? You’d think a country rich in natural resources…should be able to keep up with progressive policies like this from Morocco? Not to mention Algeria and Cuba…..
countries that many consider to be third world are far more progressive than we are on the issue of post secondary tuition fees.

tarnfeather; Go to search site button. Click on it. Put in Bill Gaal, you will see the stories on him , including one that says he retired and the date of that departure.
He retired, can you make some sort of story beyond that.

Wow opened my city utility bill this morning. First thing came to mind, is P.G.really an affordable place to live?

What is happening with the news from earlier this week about human remains that were found West of town? Why has there been no update? With all the missing persons in this area, this may bring closure to their loved ones. Why is there no updates on this?

Re student loans. They can sell their fancy cars and pay towards their loans.

Jim13136, check out what those countries pay for income tax and the average wage plus cost of house and car.. Some over %70.. Are you willing to pay that so kids can go to post secondary free? I know I am not.

Hei Jimmy, Let us not forget the endless line of individuals and groups who have their hands out to government demanding, yes – demanding, funding for their respective projects – weird or otherwise – that are in absolute need of financial support.
No amount of natural resources can or will support all of these demands, particularly when sooooo many insist these resources are to remain on the stump and/or in the ground.
Education has always remained a priority as has health but with an almost out-of-control health cost system, we had better start to pay attention to ALL actual needs instead of the illusive wants. My pocket is nearly MT!

Firstly people assume that charitable organizations will fall all over themselves to get the winter games jackets, or sleeping bags. Not really. There is a cleaning cost involved, and then they would be given away so in effect it costs time and money to accept these donations.

Furthermore if they cant get rid of them then they have to keep them in storage, and his takes up space that could be used for stuff that actually moves.

There would be approx. 2400 sleeping bags if they were all donated, so unless they were sent overseas who would use them. Same thing applies to the volunteer jackets. Not likely there are enough people in need to take the number of jackets donated.

Now on another note. There were beautiful scarves that were designed by the person who designed the medals for the games. These scarves are only available to athletes and dignitaries as far as I know, and could not be bought by your average joe. So, how come there is no talk of giving these scarves to charity. Hmmmmm. Do I detect a double standard,.

Good point re the scarves!

Here’s another idea…

How about asking the US food companies to donate food to those in need??? How about those non local food trucks? How about they donate food to those who are hungry?

Or, how about the hotels? Perhaps a donation of shelter, or blankets, or a hot drink.

How about asking those who are making $$$, and making off like bandits from this event to donate their time, effort, resources to those in need, instead of the VOLUNTEERS.

How about we STOP volunteering other people’s resources, time, money, jackets etc etc etc etc. It seems that people are all to willing to suggest that someone else make contributions to some favorite cause, but in most cases fail to put their own skin in the game.
As for the so called “FREE EDUCATION” debate….honestly you have to realize that their is no such thing. If the students acquiring the education are not paying for it directly it is you and I the TAXPAYERS of this province and country that are paying for it.
I for one vote to keep my taxes lower, and those funds in my account working for me and my retirement. Let those that want an education invest in themselves, just like I did!

I agree totally Givemore. The homeless can help out if they want jackets.

“So long as you’re working on repaying your student loan they won’t deny you a license. If however, you’ve decided you’re just not going to bother paying it back then they will deny you a license.”

The articles I have read about this proposal do not say this. (As far as I can tell, the bill has not yet been introduced.) They say that those who are delinquent for a year will have their driver’s license suspended. That may include some who have just decided not to pay, but it will also include people who are not paying because they don’t have enough income.

If the plan were restricted to people who have chosen not to pay, and if there were reasonable criteria for making that determination, it wouldn’t be so bad. But, in cases in which you can prove that people have sufficient funds and have decided not to pay, most likely other more direct means will be available, such as garnishment of wages.

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-women-tops-outerwear/prince-george/genuine-olympic-jacket/1030458247?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

Genuine Olympic Jacket

Date Listed 27-Feb-15
Price
$100.00
Address Prince George, BC V2L 5A5
For Sale By Owner
Official volunteer jacket. Genuine Hudsons Bay article.womens XL in excellent condition. (barely used) $100. pls text or call 778 890 1919

Regarding the use of ICBC as an enforcer for student debt, the key point from my view is the perversion of our Canadian justice system. Our courts have due process and means to collect on bad debts. However, the government would have to follow the rules and prove the former students were in default and have the means to repay.

The proposed revisions would allow a bureaucrat to impose a guilty verdict and sentence on ‘Citizen former student”. The recourse would be for the student to then take the government to court to prove the government erred in their process.

When is this government going to start following proper process and respect the judicial rights of the average citizen. When does this judicial work around stop? Fund the and use the civil court system and be done with it.

Posted on Friday, February 27, 2015 @ 1:51 PM by billposer

The articles I have read about this proposal do not say this. (As far as I can tell, the bill has not yet been introduced.) They say that those who are delinquent for a year will have their driver’s license suspended. That may include some who have just decided not to pay, but it will also include people who are not paying because they don’t have enough income.

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This is from the Vancouver Sun story:

“The “refuse-to-issue” provision would apply to students whose loan accounts have been out of good standing for more than a year, according to the Ministry of Finance, and anyone facing a refusal must be given 30 days notice and a chance to provide information that they cannot make their payments due to financial hardship.”

So it’s not just 1 year = no license. You have the opportunity to state your case.

ICBC, who remembers when it was just a insurance company ?

ICBC will not be taking or confiscating any licenses, they will simply not allow a license to be re-issued or renewed until the debt is satisfied (paid off), or a payment arrangement made with the debtor and the debt holder, in this case student loans.

The reasoning for this action is that the traditional economic sectors of fishing, farming, mining and forestry have been in decline and the only viable industries in BC are tourism and education.

Has no one noticed that the only benefit of having the requirement to possess a current Short Term Occupation Certificate is an explosion of facilities providing that training. It basically costs an industrial worker about a thousand dollars every three years.

If having current safety tickets were actually that important, then employers should be on the hook to ensure current credentials be maintained by new and existing employees.

I am suggesting that the only real reason for all these requirement is to build a training industry on the backs of the employed.

Go Go Government!!

“As for the so called “FREE EDUCATION” debate….honestly you have to realize that their is no such thing. If the students acquiring the education are not paying for it directly it is you and I the TAXPAYERS of this province and country that are paying for it.

I for one vote to keep my taxes lower, and those funds in my account working for me and my retirement. Let those that want an education invest in themselves, just like I did!”

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

I also paid for my own education, but I’d have no issue with my tax dollars going to the education system to help others ESPECIALLY if it’s for programs that are linked to job shortages or areas that are critical to the advancement of the country (sciences, medicine, etc.).

IMHO, the more people we have in Canada with higher levels of education, the more competitive we’ll be in the global market, the more investment we we attract, the more jobs we will create and the more taxes we will bring in to help fund the programs that I and others will need to rely on as citizens of the country.

Other thing about free post secondary education.. The more degrees people have the less they are worth. When everyone has a degree that is when you have doctors and lawyers driving taxi in their home country as there are not enough jobs for,the degrees.

Things must be good in this town. The taxi’s are parked in front of $350,000 homes.

The taxi driver probably lives in the basement. I doubt that he owns the home.

I agree with anotherside. We have a court system, and we should use it. It is the Government that is finding ways to get around the very system that they are responsible for.

Personally I think this Liberal Government is incompetent and is making all these various changes, etc;, because they do not have the intelligence, or intestinal fortitude to do he job correctly.

In other words, this Government is a **joke**. Might I add a **bad joke**

That is the point Palopu. You also assume the fellow driving the taxi couldn’t afford a home. We are in Canada and things must be good. I’ll bet you that fellow driving the taxi owns 8 houses just like it.

You could be right Digitus Impudicus. He could own eight houses just like it, and still live in the basement.

Excellent post anotherside. How does one keep a government in check when it wants to short cut the checks and balances of the constitutional system?

Crowd funding for class action lawsuits maybe? I think it really undermines a governments credibility when they even go there in their ideas for enforcement. It seems to me the BC liberals are hell bent on destroying the idea of due process.

As for tuition and student loans. This money is not tax dollars, but rather student loans are fiat currency printed into existence by government. Similar to how they print money to buy depressed assets from the banks.

So if we inflate the currency already for banks to print money, then why not some social credit for education. It would be the fairest way to distribute the cost of an educated society across the broad spectrum of the economy.

Those who invest or do business in the economy benefit from the free enterprise concept of having a well educated work force that is an equal opportunity meritocracy enabling business to compete on their business operations, rather than ability to poach or manipulate human resources in an environment of scarcity.

Eagleone:-“As for tuition and student loans. This money is not tax dollars, but rather student loans are fiat currency printed into existence by government. Similar to how they print money to buy depressed assets from the banks.”
————————————————————————–
Nonsense. Student loan money is provided by the banks and guaranteed by the Provincial government as to its repayment. If the student defaults the taxpayer is on the hook. The ‘government’ (Dominion) has not printed ‘fiat currency’ since before the formation of the Bank of Canada, which took over note issue exclusively from it, and, later, the private banks.

Students receiving student loans are not handed ‘cash’ in any case when their loan is approved. The banker says to them the same as he says to anyone else receiving a loan from him, “The money is in your account.” And it is. Since every bank loan creates a bank deposit to a bank account. Otherwise the ‘bookkeeping’ wouldn’t work.

The Promissory Note signed by the borrower is the banker’s Asset. The Deposit to the borrower’s account, that he has just created ‘out of nothing’, (because the terms of the loan agreement spelled out in the Promissory Note didn’t exist before the two parties to that contract agreed to them), is his Liability. His books balance, and new ‘money’ has been created. And neither the government, nor the Bank of Canada, had to ‘print’ anything. When the student, or any other borrower, repays what he has borrowed, that deposit is destroyed. The overlap of loan maturities and dynamic nature of the whole process allows for the banks to receive payment for the financial services they provide in the form of interest.