Lunney quits Conservatives !!

http://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/politics/b-c-mp-james-lunney-leaving-conservative-caucus-1.2305940

The full text of Lunney's statement:

Leaders of the faith community were in Ottawa on March 25th to express their alarm at increasing and unprecedented attempts to stifle freedom of religion, conscience and expression in Canada.

They identify deliberate attempts to suppress a Christian world-view from professional and economic opportunity in law, medicine, and academia. I share these concerns. I believe the same is true in the realm of politics at senior levels.

In the past month a few words exchanged on social media, words like: science, managing assumptions and theory or fact related to (macro) evolution. My remarks were inflated by media, blended with other unrelated but alleged heretical statements and became a top story on national media creating a firestorm of criticism and condemnation. Since two other politicians in Ontario and Alberta were targeted during the same period, it is clear that any politician or candidate of faith is going to be subjected to the same public scrutiny in coming elections.

In a society normally proud of embracing difference, the role of the media and partisan politics in inciting social bigotry and intolerance should be questioned. Such ignorance and bigotry cloaked in defence of science is as repugnant as bigotry of any other origin. It is based in a false construct from another century and is a flagrant violation of a society that is multicultural, multi-racial and multi faith and strives to be accepting of differences.

Today I am announcing that I have asked the speaker to assign me a seat as an independent MP. I will seek an opportunity to address the House in defence of my beliefs and the concerns of my faith community.

I am withdrawing from the CPC caucus voluntarily; the decision is entirely my own. Given the circling trolls, I do not intend to entangle the most multi-racial, multicultural and multi-faith caucus in parliamentary history in my decision to defend my beliefs.

have no intentions of betraying my promise to my constituents and will continue to vote alongside my colleagues in the Conservative caucus.

Freedom of Religion is foundational to democracy; if we don’t get that right, it always leads to persecution.

Saanich District Spying on Mayor Atwell

http://www.kelownanow.com/watercooler/news/news/Provincial/15/03/30/Saanich_Mayor_Proved_Right_About_Spying

March 24 2015 Council Meeting Update on Watermetergate

Highlights: Council turned down the request from the Resorts to keep water rates at winter levels this summer.
-all hotel meters have now been replaced
-water rates have been based on data from faulty meters and will be reviewed sometime in 2015
-once the meters had been changed there was additional sewer and water revenue of $111,250 in 2014
-One account had been under billed since 2004, others for at least five years
-Councillors Thicke and McMaster  questioned as to how this could go on for so long without being noticed ?

Watermetergate Scandal Update at Council Meeting Tomorrow

The Watermetergate Scandal will be the subject of a staff report at the council meeting tomorrow.Meeting starts at 10 am.Please plan to attend. I hope to have further information posted after the meeting.

Water Rates article from 2011

 Given that we have some extremely high water rates and some users have been getting a portion of their water for free I thought I would repost this guest editorial from nearly five years ago.......many people have wondered if faulty water meter data was used in formulating Tofino's water rates.......

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Guest Editorial on Tofino Water Rates by Jackie Windh

Confirmed: Tofino water rates highest in country, and residents pay more than businesses.

It is confirmed: Tofino water rates are the highest in the country, and residents do pay more per unit volume than businesses.

Well, I knew that already.

Two years ago I presented a huge whack of data (using the District’s own numbers as well as researching those from other communities) as council was reviewing water rates and voting in a new rate structure. I volunteered a huge amount of time and analytical expertise hoping that the information that I presented would help our council with their decision-making process, and to advocate for fair water rates, where residents (who use water to support life) pay less (or at least the same, and not more) than businesses (who use water for profit-making activities and can write off their water bills at tax time).

But council ignored the data and analysis that I presented, and so did most of the people in this town. Even though being silent costs you hundreds or possibly up to a thousand extra dollars every year.

Anyway, I got a very interesting comment on the old Tofino Residents blog today (where all of my old water articles and analyses are still posted). An independent group called WaterWatchBC has undertaken an analysis of water rates across Canada, and they have confirmed that:

- Tofino has the highest water rates in the country
- Tofino has the most complex water rate system (which is why our councillors don’t understand it)
- Tofino residents do pay more per volume than Tofino businesses


You can read my original article comparing Tofino’s water rates with those of other towns, with today’s comments by WaterWatchBC here:
http://tofinoresidents.wordpress.com/2009/09/16/lets-compare-tofinos-residential-and-commercial-rates-with-other-districts/You can read my analysis of how much residents pay relative to various business categories here:
http://tofinoresidents.wordpress.com/2009/08/02/new-proposed-water-rates-residents-will-still-pay-more/#more-100
You can read my article about how complicated our rates system is here:
http://tofinoresidents.wordpress.com/2009/08/09/more-complicated-rate-system/You can review WaterWatchBC’s ranking of water rates here:
http://theinnovationarena.com/water/(Look at their chart - a $311 water bill in Port Alberni, my new home town, would be a $1098 bill here in Tofino, for the exact same usage.)

There are also lots of other articles on the Tofino Residents site that I wrote over summer and fall 2009 about our water rates, if you are interested.

And, if anyone is wondering, I gave up on that website (tagline: For people who care about community) because no one else contributed to it. I’ll leave the info on it posted, though - just like all the tsunami info I am leaving up there for y’all too. Maybe some day you guys will start standing up and speaking out, and these things might be useful to you.

Council Agenda for Tuesday March 24,2015

Agenda

DISTRICT OF TOFINO REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING Council Chamber, Municipal Office March 24, 2015 at 10:00 AM AGENDA

1.

CALL MEETING TO ORDER

2.

ADOPTION OF AGENDA

3.

ADOPTION OF MINUTES

3.1

Minutes of the Regular Council Meeting held March 10, 2015 Recommendation: THAT the minutes of the regular Council meeting held March 10, 2015 be adopted. 2015-03-10 Regular Minutes

4.

BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

4.1

Presentation regarding water/sewer rates (Presentation from Financial Services) 2015-03-10 Resolution No. 69/15 re water and sewer rates 2015-03-04 Letter from West Coast Resort Association re Water Bills 2015-03-04 WCRA Copy of Water Consumption 3rd Quarter

5.

ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE MAYOR

6.

DELEGATIONS

6.1

Tsunami Detection Radar at Long Beach Airport - Teron Moore, Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) 2015-03-09 Delegation Request - ONC 2015-03-09 Letter from ONC re Tsunami Detection Radar

7.

CORRESPONDENCE FOR INFORMATION ONLY

7.1

Correspondence from Katherine Hasz regarding a crosswalk at Hellesen Dr. 2015-03-08 Letter from K. Hasz re crosswalk at Hellesen Dr.

8.

CORRESPONDENCE REQUIRING ACTION

		8.1	Correspondence from Mike Dauphinee regarding dog feces 2015-03-14 Letter from M. Dauphinee re dog feces
		8.2	Correspondence from George Patterson regarding provincial sculpture permit 2015-03-17 Letter from G. Patterson re sculpture permit

9.

TABLED ITEMS

10.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

11.

REPORTS

		11.1	Tofino Event Strategy (Presentation by Maureen Douglas, Mobilize Strategies Inc., for Resort Municipality Initiative Services) Recommendation: THAT the Tofino Event Strategy 2015-2019 attached as Appendix 1 to the staff report “Tofino Event Strategy 2015-2019” dated the March 24, 2015 be adopted. 2015-03-24 RTC - Tofino Event Strategy 2015-2019 2015-03-24 RTC - Tofino Event Strategy (Appendix 1)
		11.2	Clayoquot Sound Community Theatre - License to Occupy (Report from Financial Services) Recommendation: THAT the License to Occupy attached as Appendix 1 to the staff report “Clayoquot Sound Community Theatre – License to Occupy” dated March 24, 2015, between the District of Tofino and the Clayoquot Sound Community Theatre Association be renewed for an additional 5 year term beginning October 9, 2015 and ending October 8, 2020. AND THAT the Mayor and Corporate Officer be authorized to execute the agreement. 2015-03-24 RTC Clayoquot Sound Community Theatre Lease 2015-03-24 RTC Clayoquot Sound Community Theatre Lease (Appendix 1)
		11.3	Parking-in-Lieu Amendment Bylaw No. 1176.02, 2015 (Report from Community Sustainability) Recommendation: THAT “Parking-In-Lieu Amendment Bylaw No. 1176.02, 2015” be introduced and read a first, second and third time. 2015-03-24 RTC Parking-in-Lieu Bylaw 1176.02 2015-03-24 RTC Parking In-Lieu Bylaw 1176.02 (Appendix 1)
		11.4	Federal Gas Tax Strategic Priorities Fund Application (Report from Public Works and Building Inspection) Recommendation: THAT staff be authorized to submit a grant application to the Federal Gas Tax Strategic Priorities Fund Capital Infrastructure Projects Stream in the amount of $1,223,219.49 to fund Barrs Mountain Reservoir and the Barrs Mountain Watermain Upgrades. 2015-03-24 RTC - Council Resolution - Federal Gas Tax Strategic Priorities Fund Application 2015-03-24 RTC - Federal Gas Tax Strategic Priorities Fund Application  (Appendix 1) 2015-03-24 RTC -  Federal Gas Tax Strategic Priorities Fund Application (Appendix 2)

12.

BYLAWS

13.

NEW BUSINESS

14.

15 MINUTE QUESTION PERIOD

15.

IN CAMERA THAT the meeting be closed to the public pursuant to sections 90(1)(a)(c)(e) & (g) of the Community Charter to discuss matters relating to •         personal information about an individual who holds a position as an officer, employee or agent •         employee relations •         the acquisition, disposition or expropriation of land or improvements •         litigation or potential litigation affecting the municipality

16.

RECONVENE FROM IN CAMERA MEETING

17.

ADJOURNMENT

Watermetergate Solution

If your BC Hydro meter malfunctions you are billed based on past consumption. The obvious solution is for the customers that were not charged the full amount for their water use to meet with the District and figure out what a fair repayment would be.
  For their part the District should review staff actions and reporting policies to make sure this doesn't happen again.
I'm sure that the customers that were under charged will want to preserve their good name in the community.

Watermetergate Scandal Update

I met with Bob Macpherson,the District of Tofino CAO to discuss the Watermetergate scandal today.This is what I learned:
The DOT Finance department alerted the Administration to the problems with the water billing in May of 2014.
 Two meters to resorts were showing only 10% of the actual water consumption. (click on above chart)
There were problems with other water meters showing less than actual consumption.
The water meters at all the major resorts and two fish plants have been changed.
Since the water meters have been changed there has been a $60,000 surplus accumulated in the operational reserve of the water system.
None of the resorts notified the District that they were being undercharged on their water consumption.
The District doesn't have an exact figure on potential losses but a review of water bills from the past decade or so should provide an approximation.A review of water bills should also give a timeline as to when the water meters began to malfunction.
Using the figures provided by the West Coast Resort Association the District of Tofino failed to account for approximately  2,411,861 gallons of water in one quarter alone !!!

Watermetergate !!

https://tofino.civicweb.net/FileStorage/0CE9BC3B90D24FA5BC871E9C829C6FC2-2015-03-04%20WCRA%20Copy%20of%20Water%20Consumption%203rd%20Quar.pdf

https://tofino.civicweb.net/FileStorage/EA133952380548AD90C2990F556084D5-2015-03-04%20Letter%20from%20West%20Coast%20Resort%20Associati.pdf

Sorry that the blog has been pretty quiet lately....I've been lazy.No excuse. Thanks to the many readers that have alerted me to the faulty water meter story. I'll have a full report later this afternoon.
The water meter issue is on links above



https://tofino.civicweb.net/document/42429/Regular%20Council%20-%2010%20Mar%202015%20-%20Agenda%20-%20Pdf.pdf?handle=4136FED7FE8D47ED9EED64C3FE760564

Wolf Attack at Wick Beach

http://bc.ctvnews.ca/mobile/wolves-drag-dog-off-tofino-beach-attack-another-as-family-watches-1.2276572