Happy Friday.....now everyone let's put on a happy face and say something nice. I will be first. Spring is here and I am doing some gardening.

MPs join forces to deny audit of their spending

OTTAWA - Parliament's secretive, all-party management board has slammed the door on Auditor General Sheila Fraser's request to examine MPs' expenses.

The Board of Internal Economy issued a rare news release Thursday stating the proposed audit "would go beyond the scope of the auditor general's mandate."

Fraser — best known to Canadians as the bean counter who blew the lid off the Liberal sponsorship scandal in 2004 — asked almost a full year ago if her office could conduct a "performance audit" on $533 million of annual spending by both the House of Commons and Senate.

Recent examinations of politicians' spending habits in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Britain have exposed some sensational examples of waste and greed.

But Fraser has maintained she is not on a "witch hunt" and that her audits are "there to help improve management processes."

The board — which includes MPs from all four parties, with Commons Speaker Peter Milliken as chairman — declined. The board, which deliberates in secret, stated there are already sufficient "control mechanisms" in place.

"All past audits have resulted in an unqualified audit opinion, which is the optimal situation," said the release.

Access-to-information laws don't apply to MP budgets and their expenses are subject to financial audits that don't show exactly where the money goes.

http://fe1.ca.news.a1.b.yahoo.com/s/capress/100513/national/mp_expenses_hidden

I think the time is now to decide what we're going to do about George Street. I hate the idea of the city spending more money on the downtown, but the whole downtown revitalization focus seems to be centered on George street and the city is about to make huge commitments to how George street will look in the future with the PG hotel development, the Keg, the Norgate building ect ect....

George Street has some serious issues.

One major one is that at the time of Alexander Mackenzie that was the river bed of the Nechako channel... almost could be again one day if the gravel was to shift in just the right way. Its dead center on the lowest channel through the downtown for any future flood. Clearly this rules out underground parking greatly hindering density value.

Issue number two is that as George Street is currently constituted it is like a narrow dark canyon... even with two story buildings. No amount of tearing down canopies, putting them back up, and tearing them down again is going to change that. Clearly being a North-South oriented street it requires more width if it is to have the light of day shine into its dank corners and burn away the grime that it seems doomed to be known for.

We all know that the city is already the largest land owner. We know that the federal government has brown zone dollars and it can be argued that George street is the most significant high profile brown zone in the province... surely a major remake of George street should be eligible for Brown zone dollars?

The opportunity as I see it is to remake George street now before developments are directed that way. We should thank our lucky stars George street is currently so pathetic that no one has already invested into it. Of the highest priority I think is to significantly widen the whole street to a divided boulevard style that signifies the cultural center for the city. To do this I think all the buildings on the west side of the street between the current George street curb and the back ally to the west should be knocked down. It could be an eminent domain issue, but I'm sure not many people would oppose it. Its maybe the only worthwhile eminent domain issue in the north of the province.

If you are going to take the wrecking ball in it makes sense to do the whole side of the street all at once for cost efficiencies. The city already owns the PG Hotel currently... Joes parking lot is empty... and all in between are 90 year old two story wood buildings of little value... all the junkiest collections of buildings within 300km.

What would be nice is if we had a divided four lane George Street that had a grass divider with parking stalls on both sides of both directions. A wide green belt of sun lite street scape leading up to the cenotaph and city hall. At high noon the whole place would be in the sun shine for street festivals that could use one side of the boulevard (ie farmers market) without effecting traffic.

If the new police station was built where the Norgate building is (that the city owns), then the police would be walking distance from most of the downtime crime spots and equally close to the city as a whole as the currently planned location. Future protests would then have a large area to march on city hall and if rioting over taxes to pay for this broke out, then the police would be right next door. Restaurants along the whole stretch would then be open to the light of day and would have plenty of street parking available. Higher density commercial developments could then be directed towards Victoria street where the land can facilitate underground parking, and George Street could orient towards the entertainment district with the police station close by for efficiencies?

I would think the city could buy the buildings on the west side of George street for under $10 million if the PG Hotel is any indication. Tear them all down at once, and put in the new infrastructure for the next 100 years in its place while the existing street stays open. $20 million (on the high side) total cost I would guess could do it... huge amount of money, but when one considers the cost of extra frills we don't need like a $100 million for a police station or a performing arts center... or $45 million for an airport industrial road we have no need for... and if the feds can kick in brown zone dollars to clean up the blight of 90 year old run down slum buildings on the west side of George... it could transform the downtown in more ways than anything else we could do.

I just think if the city insiders have plans to build something on the site of the old PG Hotel, then its a huge massive long term mistake... an opportunity lost to make George street a real big city boulevard of the future... we will forever be stuck with the 1800's style downtown we have now.

I think the wood innovation center should go up at the university for the synergies it would have up there enabling future success for the university, while George street should be widened so as to enable the downtown to open up to a vehicle and pedestrian friendly entertainment experience.

I see it as a major cross roads for this city what happens with the PG Hotel and George street in general. It would appear the time is now to make a bold move that is transparent, free enterprise oriented, and transformational for an area of the city that has long dragged us down. It would be interesting to hear 'why not'?

Cheers, that's my thought this morning, and I'm sticking to it :)

Charles that's very interesting. Thanks for the heads up. A half a billion dollars is a lot of money for perks for sure... would be nice to see how its broken down.

cost of crude oil has dropped $12 a barrel over that last two weeks....I haven't noticed any drop of price at the pumps.
I guess they are going to use the excuse that the oil spill in the gulf is raising the cost at the pump...

The cost of oil may be down now BCRacer,but by mid-summer it will be right out of sight!
At some point,the oil companies are going to use all the turmoil in the oil industry to their advantage!
Up it goes!

My comment has nothing to do w/ the above posts but...WTF is up with all the garbage in this city!!!???? Like really? STOP F*&^%ing littering, it's disgusting! OR if you are driving with SHIT in the back of your truck make sure it's tied down. With all the garbage on the side of Foothills I'm guessing that people are on their way to the landfill...I wonder what they think when they get there and there is nothing in their truck...Good lord lets use some common sense people and quit being such pigs!

In reference to MPs not wanting to be audited about their expenses...

A question for Dick and Jay. Why so secretive? What have you got to hide? It's our money your are spending, not yours. If you wish to spend your swag frivolously that is your business, but your expenses that we pay for, that is ours business.

Open up the books all you MPs, your just making it worse for yourselves.

Happy Friday All!!

Most of the garbage on FOOTHILLS is the result of it flying out of the cities own garbage trucks. If I had a dollar for each time I saw it with my own eyes, I would be riche! :}

I think something should be done about city hall and their habit of raising the taxes every year. This year so that industry can have a break. Instead of buying up property down town and giving themselves raises they should practice tightening the belt a little more. That is just my opinion.

Have a Good Weekend!

I could not agree more Pylot Project!
Over the years,we have allowed our politicians to create a pretty comfortable little world for themselves,simply because most times, we are just not paying attention!
Why should any of them not have to account for every dime of the publics money that they spend??
The fact that they are fighting against an audit should be telling us something!
They would have us believe that politics in such a tough job!
That is complete bullsh**t!
It's a great life,and once in the door,they have it made for life.
I have never seen politician retire poor.
Never!

Opinionated, I'm with you. Have fun gardening this weekend. I have a ton of stuff to do as well, but want to take a walk on one of our cities many trails. That is such a simple pleasure to me.

Being outside rocks!

You might not realize it, but our Canadian government is working on pushing through legislation which will be akin to the American DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) WITHOUT ANY INPUT from Canadian citizens. The whole purpose of this is to appease US interests. Stephen Harper is effectively saying, "Your voice doesn't matter Canadian, we're going to do what the Americans tell us in just 5 weeks."

Why does this concern you? If you've ever converted a DVD you bought to play on your iPod, media center PC, phone, etc... or used software to make a legal backup copy of a DVD you've bought, or downloaded a TV show off the internet, taken apart a video game system, or many other things, you are potentially a criminal!

I urge you to let all Canadians know about this coming violation of our rights and freedoms. The Canadian Coalition for Electronic Rights has a website and a handy letter generator which can be used to send a letter to your MP regarding this very, very important issue.

You can go directly to the online letter generator by going here:

http://www.ccer.ca/letter-wizard-enter/

You can learn more about the issues at hand by going here:

http://www.ccer.ca/canadian-copyright-reform/dear-canada-your-voices-dont-really-matter-canadian-dmca-in-6-weeks-regards-stephen-harper/

This is of utmost importance and deserves it's own story on sites like opinion250. I urge you to inform everyone you know about this bill and what is at stake.

"Why does this concern you? If you've ever converted a DVD you bought to play on your iPod, media center PC, phone, etc... or used software to make a legal backup copy of a DVD you've bought, or downloaded a TV show off the internet, taken apart a video game system, or many other things, you are potentially a criminal!"

Taken apart a video game system? You mean, so you can install a mod chip which allows the owner to play illegally copied video games? Um, that is a criminal activity as far as I know.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Features/2010/05/13/13935601.html

U.S. drug war has met none of its goals

I'm with she' on the garbage issue, and have a burning question; why do ignorant boobs throw their fast food garbage out the car window onto the street? My guess?
By the time they are finished consuming the garbage that is the fast food it disgusts them to the point that they have to get it out of the vehicle immediately. Because a litterer like this is also bone idle and lazy, they are incapable of seeking out the nearest trash can to dump their garbage into. This species is closely related to the ones who allow garbage to fall out of their pickup trucks.
Two different occasions last week alone on the Hart Highway, full bags of household garbage presumably flew off the back of a pickup, because the contents were scattered for quite a ways along the shoulder and ditch. Disgusting.
metalman.

Downtown PG?

I believe the problem is not a lack of a nice new building, or trees planted on a sidewalk. or taxes.

Why don't you want to walk the streets of downtown? Its the people... Its the ghosts from broken homes.

These people are dead. They died at the first needle, at the first bottle. They died when there parents left to abuse. And they died again when they discovered downtown PG.

And we have provided a place for them. Concentrated them. Sheltered and feed them. Food, free paraphernalia, counseling, "health" care. All within walking distance. All within downtown PG.

What’s to come? Look to the south, to the American Midwest, where methamphetamine has gutted their civilization. There’s your crystal ball.

Its all about the people.

What’s to be done? Control of addiction first. Addiction is an animal that tears good things down. Improvement is not possible while addiction grips our population.

We can't realistically expect to cure an addict; we can however have success in preventing them. People need to be taught how to be human, how to love their children. To stop the cycles we need to teach how to be a parent and also how to be a child.

Baby boomers: think of other generations. Government respond to your needs above all else and you care little about the generations behind you. You scream for roads and healthcare at the cost of so many of the services that you enjoyed in your youth and middle age. It was these social services that kept the tides of degradation at bay and now you discard them.

So take the long view, and stick with it. Control the infiltration of hard drugs. Focus on the children. Maintain our society.

What good are glittering towers on George Street if every ally, nook and doorway is a testament to human misery?

MrPG,

"Taken apart a video game system? You mean, so you can install a mod chip which allows the owner to play illegally copied video games? Um, that is a criminal activity as far as I know."

It's not a criminal activity to modify a games console yet, and it never should be.

There are legitimate reasons for modifying a game console besides software piracy. You are legally allowed to make a backup copy of games and software you have purchased. If you have small children, it makes sense to be able to play a backup copy of a disc and keep your original in a safe place so when little fingers drop, scratch or damage a disc you have the ability to continue on without buying a whole new copy. However, without modifying a game console there is no way to play backups.

Also, many people modify game systems so they can run their own home brew software on it. This kind of activity would become illegal, even though you supposedly own the system.

To put it in perspective, it's like facing jail time or a fine for modifying your Ford F150 and throwing in a a Vortec V8 instead of a Triton V8. It's like facing jail time for putting a programmable chip in your car to bypass factory settings for timing, bypassing the governor, etc...

Downtown PG?

I believe the problem is not a lack of a nice new building, or trees planted on a sidewalk. or taxes.

Why don't you want to walk the streets of downtown? Its the people... Its the ghosts from broken homes.

These people are dead. They died at the first needle, at the first bottle. They died when there parents left to abuse. And they died again when they discovered downtown PG.

And we have provided a place for them. Concentrated them. Sheltered and feed them. Food, free paraphernalia, counseling, "health" care. All within walking distance. All within downtown PG.

What’s to come? Look to the south, to the American Midwest, where methamphetamine has gutted their civilization. There’s your crystal ball.

Its all about the people.

What’s to be done? Control of addiction first. Addiction is an animal that tears good things down. Improvement is not possible while addiction grips our population.

We can't realistically expect to cure an addict; we can however have success in preventing them. People need to be taught how to be human, how to love their children. To stop the cycles we need to teach how to be a parent and also how to be a child.

Baby boomers: think of other generations. Government respond to your needs above all else and you care little about the generations behind you. You scream for roads and healthcare at the cost of so many of the services that you enjoyed in your youth and middle age. It was these social services that kept the tides of degradation at bay and now you discard them.

So take the long view, and stick with it. Control the infiltration of hard drugs. Focus on the children. Maintain our society.

What good are glittering towers on George Street if every ally, nook and doorway is a testament to human misery?

Long time reader - first time poster:

I have finally decided to provide my opinion on the always controversial "War on Drugs" and the (recent) reported marijuana busts.

You CANNOT disturb the supply of drugs, you MUST disrupt the demand.

It is simple economics.

Take for instance, with all these recent busts, it will mainly serve to disrupt the supply, and drive up prices. These higher prices will then provide incentives for 'others' to start growing because the profits are so lucrative. To try and fight "the war" by messing with the supply is futile and a waste of resources.

I don't necessarily have the answer to the problem, that is, fixing the demand - but I do know that the trying to win by removing the supply is ludicrous.

"There are legitimate reasons for modifying a game console besides software piracy. You are legally allowed to make a backup copy of games and software you have purchased."

But if you're being realistic, 95% of people modding a video game system is for piracy purposes and that's why the majority do it. I don't think the legislators are concerned about people making copies of their own stuff for their own use. Blame the pirates for this proposed legislation.

Also, there are laws in place which restrict what's called 'reverse engineering' which is in essence stealing technology.

"To put it in perspective, it's like facing jail time or a fine for modifying your Ford F150 and throwing in a a Vortec V8 instead of a Triton V8. "

No it's not. Not even close, but nice try. If you're modding your own truck, it's not the same as installing a mod chip in a video game system which allows you to play pirated video games. There is no parallel there.

MrPG,

"But if you're being realistic, 95% of people modding a video game system is for piracy purposes and that's why the majority do it."

95% of statistics are made up. You can't say how many people modify or change their systems with intent to pirate, because stats like that are not kept. You can't treat everyone like a criminal because some people misuse, or you may as well outright ban alcohol, firearms, sex, etc...

"Also, there are laws in place which restrict what's called 'reverse engineering' which is in essence stealing technology."

Reverse engineering amounts to taking something apart and figuring out how it works without documentation or instructions. If it were not for reverse engineering, most of the good OBDII diagnostics for your vehicle would provide little useful diagnostic information because the major auto manufactures use their own internal codes which have to be ... REVERSE ENGINEERED so a mechanic can get the info from the vehicles on board computer and not leave you stuck having to go to a dealer to turn off a check engine light.

"No it's not. Not even close, but nice try. If you're modding your own truck, it's not the same as installing a mod chip in a video game system which allows you to play pirated video games. There is no parallel there."

It's completely the same. If you own your truck, you are free to modify it any way you want. If you own a games console, DVD player, Bluray player, purchased software, music and movies, (this isn't just limited to video games!), you should be free to modify what you have bought in any way you want without being called a criminal for doing so.

The issue here is not piracy, but rights.

Pojeb_sa: you may own the hardware, but you do not own any software. All software is licensed, even open source is a licensing scheme. There is no transfer of ownership.

In this case, MRpg is correct. It has always been legal to make backup copies of all your portable media, including music, movies, and software. As much as I hate DRM, this is being implemented due to rampant abuse. You are not a true gamer until you have modded you console.

Stuffing a competing brand engine into a specific branded vehicle is nothing like it. It is more like modding your vehicle to accept homebrew fuel. Regulations are in place to inhibit this activity due to the danger of explosion and other catastrophic failures. The manufacturers don't want you messing with their gear for the same reason. An enthusiast with a soldering gun can inadvertently cause a lot of damage, not just locally, but also on their distributed systems.

pojeb: "It's completely the same. If you own your truck, you are free to modify it any way you want. If you own a games console, DVD player, Bluray player, purchased software, music and movies, (this isn't just limited to video games!), you should be free to modify what you have bought in any way you want without being called a criminal for doing so."

If you can't or refuse to understand the difference between modding a truck and a video game system and the implications of each, I don't know what else to tell you.

---------

You believe that the majority of people mod video game systems for completely legitimate purposes? Yes, wink-wink nudge-nudge, I'm sure that's exactly what everyone is doing.

"The issue here is not piracy, but rights."

If it wasn't for rampant piracy, this wouldn't be an issue.

Why are there so many people at the controls of motor vehicles that do not notice or care what is going on around them? The way that some people change lanes or turn left or right with little or no warning is just plain ignorant, plus some of them are utilizing a hand held communication device while they are inexpertly herding their minivan/crossover/land yacht.

Watch out for motorcycles please.
Look twice-save a life.
metalman.

Has there been any news on the Chad Berry court trial?

MrPG - you are probably correct that a majoriy of "modders" are doing so in order to play pirated games.

However - the key here is that a law banning modification of consoles to stop piracy is intrusive, ineffective and unacceptable. There are already suitable laws against copyright infringement, we don't need peripheral laws that stifle the use of private equipment.

Many of these consoles are basically high powered computers, and modding them unlocks the capability for installation of linux, windows and other "homebrew" software. There is no reason to make this action illegal, and that needs to be take into account if a law like this written.

"However - the key here is that a law banning modification of consoles to stop piracy is intrusive, ineffective and unacceptable. There are already suitable laws against copyright infringement, we don't need peripheral laws that stifle the use of private equipment. "

In essence, I agree. However, since the majority of the modding of consoles is done for illegal purposes resulting in millions of dollars in losses, I guess the legislators see this as a necessary next step since the honour system has failed so far.

It's no different than manfacturers putting copy protection measures on DVD's and games. Since mod chips can bypass the copy protection, that's what has the software makers and movie distributors in a twist.

Betcha Ralph Goodale will be moderately surprised when he gets a thank you letter from the Taliban. Hey, Ralph, what yer doing is perceived as a sign of weakness to those folks in Afghanistan. Doncha know?

Hey Verballabel, think Chad Berry's still playing footsie with the justice system from the Hilton on the Hill, check out the Provincial Court list, have to read it daily but you can get his next date.
http://www.ag.gov.bc.ca/courts/court-lists/index.htm

Don't think he's gonna be seeing the light of day for a while, lawyers probably trying to do a deal, setting a trial date, or talking Goofy into pleading guilty....

I read with disgust the stories that Home Depot and the Great Canadian Superstore have been ripping the public off for more than a year. Apparently they have been charging PST on items they shouldn't have. Just a mistake says Home depot. All fixed now. If you want a refund just bring in your sales receipts. Ya right. I'm sure everyone has saved these receipts for the past year and a half. When I get the feeling that I'm being scammed, I get more than a little PO'd. I for one will not give my hard earned money to any business that's known to be scamming their customers. Goodbye Home Depot and Superstore. It's been a hoot shopping at your stores and paying taxes that I should not have. Does anyone know where I could obtain a list that details what is PST taxable and what isn't?