My pockets aren't that deep.

Earlier this week, our esteemed leaders sprung a new tax on us. Oh, sure, they said it will rejuvenate the economy but really it's just a poke in the eye for most British Columbians and virtually all tourists. What they are doing is "harmonizing" the provincial sales tax (PST, 7%) with the federal goods and services tax (GST, 5%). This harmonized sales tax (HST) will take effect next July 1st, post the glorious Olympic Games of course. While it makes some sense for those who have to collect the tax, it is problematic to blend two different systems. Here's just a few things that will be more expensive under the new tax (currently exempt from PST, they will be subject to the full 12% HST):

GOODS

• Residential fuels (electricity, natural gas) and heating.
• Basic cable TV and residential phones.
• All food products (only basic groceries will remain exempt under new tax).
• Non-prescription medication.
• Vitamins and dietary supplements.
• Bicycles.
• School supplies (books will continue to be exempt).
• Magazines and newspapers.
• Work-related safety equipment.
• Safety helmets, life jackets, first-aid kits.
• Smoke detectors and fire extinguishers.
• Energy conservation equipment (e.g., insulation, solar power equipment).

SERVICES

• Personal services such as hair care.
• Dry cleaning.
• Repair services for household appliances.
• Household maintenance such as renovations and painting.
• Real estate fees.
• Membership fees for health clubs.
• Movie and theatre tickets.
• Funeral services.
• Professional services such as accounting and home care.
• Airline fares within Canada.

All household energy prices have increased significantly in the past five years anyway; an added 7% on that item alone will be a huge burden for the average family but that is only one item on the list. Add up just the ones you can't avoid and it's going to get ugly uglier around here.

Thanks a lot Gordo.

Sunday night grumbles...

Grumble #1. There's an ad running in high rotation right now about climate change, paid for by LiveSmart BC. In the ad the woman states that,

"We just don't have the minus thirty, minus forty winters like we used to and that's what we need to get rid of the pine beetles. Everybody needs to do their part."

And I want to know what, exactly, I can do to make sure that Prince George gets a minus forty winter. (Oh, I know, there's a long domino effect implied but I really, really resent the oversimplification.)

Grumble #2. Yesterday I went downtown to try and pick up a gift card for our niece from Lululemon. I circled the area twice looking for parking -- there was none available on the street and the parkade on lower Yates was full with a 6 car lineup. The new furniture store across from the parkade was lined up out the door; they were actually letting just one or two people in at a time. I finally found somewhere to park on Fisgard, two and a half blocks away from our destination. Every store we passed was crowded and we had to wait in line to purchase the gift card. There is no way you can convince me that our economy is in the sh*tter.

Now, you kids, get off my lawwwwn!

CopyWRONG legislation....

Canada's leaders have bent over, yet again, in the face of pressure from American industry -- this time it's the RIAA . Jim Prentice, Minister of Industry, plans to introduce legislation that would allow for creepy digital rights management (DRM) technologies to infiltrate Canada.

DRM sucks. Plain and simple.

Lots of Canadians are already up in arms and have started complaining, protesting, and imploring their MPs to think twice before screwing over the average consumer. Michael Geist has a great post on the subject -- The Canadian DMCA: What you can do -- that includes links to MPs addresses and other ways you can join the fight. I wrote a letter to my MP which I cribbed from the Online Rights Canada action pages.

Victoria's two sides

Victoria's_two_sides
Originally uploaded by triviaqueen

Despite all the pretty waterfront, expensive real estate and four star hotels, Victoria is hiding a dirty little secret.... and it's not very good at hiding it either.

Last night, after a long walk along the West Bay Walkway, we arrived at the big rocky outcrop just steps from million-dollar condos and the Delta Ocean Point Hotel. This mess was on the other side of a little wall -- needle cases, syringes, broken glass and empty beer cases. Nearby there were also half-eaten dry instant noodle soup bowls, cigarette packages, newspaper and other garbage.

I was with my daughter and I had to tell her to watch where she was stepping because of the paraphernalia and refuse. While she stood still, I took three quick photos and we left. My immediate worry was her safety, but looking at it now, I worry that with one good wave, that crap is in our ocean.

Victoria has a drug problem, a growing homeless population and a housing crisis. Our downtown core is suffering for all of this. I don't believe the needle exchange has helped, and I don't believe that a safe injection site is the answer either. I think that we need to deal with the fact that our vacancy rate is almost zero; that our rents are on average far more than the average single income can afford; that there are not nearly enough services for the mentally ill; and that people -- especially families -- are growing more and more nervous about shopping or spending time downtown.

It's time that Victorians start pressuring the people who control the purse strings -- provincial and federal politicians need to get their heads out of their collective asses and deal with this array of social problems. We need to call for more treatment centres, more beds, more facilities -- whatever it takes to help people in need. We need to demand affordable rental housing, not rely on trickle-down economics of condo ownership; and we need to take back the downtown core.

I'm tired of feeling uncomfortable in my own city. I'm going to draft a letter to my MPs and MLAs; I'll post a copy when I've sent it.

On Paper it Seemed Reasonable...

So.... last night, the NBC comedies were all repeats, as was CSI. Instead, at 8:00 I watched NOVA, all about Typhoid Mary and then I went out, and CBC was running Ideas, part two in its series Organics Go Mainstream (one of those times where I turned off the van but wanted to sit in the parking lot for an extra 5 or 10 minutes, listening).

What I found fascinating about both was the complications that came from government intervention.

Mary Mallon was quarantined without the benefit of a trial (and when she finally won a trial, she lost, out of fear for public backlash). She later won her freedom, but disregarded the conditions of her release, setting off another outbreak and ending in her being quarantined for the remainder of her life. The interesting part was the ethical issues of the way the Public Health Department was able to completely ignore Mallon's most basic rights in the first place.

In the case of organics, the questions come in the debate around the certification of farms and foods. The biggest debate has been over synthetic additives to processed food (purists argue that by definition, processed is not organic). But the argument that struck a note with me was one farmer who refuses to be certified, although he follows very careful sustainable practices. One thing he does, though, would likely disqualify him from certification: when he buys additional feed corn for his livestock and poultry, he buys local first, "organic" second. And this may be the next battle for organics, because it also ties in to global warming initiatives to reduce one's carbon footprint -- if you are consciously shopping for organic food but it is being shipped 3,000 miles to your local heath food market, it kind of defeats its purpose.

Daylight "Savings" Fracas.

I really want to point fingers today.... so I am picking what I thought was an easy target, the change to the longer Daylight Savings time.

First and foremost, I blame Gorge W. Bush and his Congress for enacting the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Section 110 of which reads in part as follows:

(a) Amendment- Section 3(a) of the Uniform Time Act of 1966 (15 U.S.C. 260a(a)) is amended--

(1) by striking `first Sunday of April' and inserting `second Sunday of March'; and

(2) by striking `last Sunday of October' and inserting `first Sunday of November'.

(b) Effective Date- Subsection (a) shall take effect 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act or March 1, 2007, whichever is later.

But then it gets trickier. Who can I blame in Canada? I want to blame Stephen Harper and his Parliament, but nOOOoooo. According to this Info Sheet provided by the Library of Parliament, in Canada it is up to the Provinces and Territories to set their time (which makes sense since Saskatchewan does not participate, nor do some regions in BC or Quebec).

"Great!" I thought, "Another reason to point fingers at Gordon Campbell."

But I was wrong again. Apparently, in BC, it's the Attourney General who gets to make that call,

"The Attorney General is responsible for the Interpretation Act, which includes reference to time and is the authority under which Daylight Saving Time is prescribed in the province."

or at least that's what it says in this press release from last March. So who was the Attourney General last March? Same as now, Wally Oppal.

So, thank you Mr. Oppal. Thank you for bowing to useless pressure and promoting a useless measure which should have been abandoned long, long ago.

There is no conclusive proof that the change will in fact save much energy. The report that formed the basis for the Energy Policy Act of 2005 is a 2001 Staff Report from the California Energy Commission. Interestingly, the report suggests savings from Double DST -- in other words, move forward an hour in March 2007, then don't shift back, but move forward again in March 2008, then shift back in November 2008.... oh I am glad they didn't choose that boneheaded plan.