Category Archives: The Issues

Consider, Municipal

Growing Hunger in Abbotsford

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I got an email from a friend about a friend of hers who had lost his job. With the economy in the shape it is he had been unable and is unlikely in the immediate future to find another job. Like so many people he was living paycheque to paycheque with no savings and now found himself looking at not only hunger, but also facing the very real prospect of homelessness.

For someone who had always been able to buy food and pay his rent it was a frightening, yet very real possibility.

Because searching for information about being homeless in Abbotsford turns up www.homelessinabbotsford.com I have been getting emails from people struggling with the prospect of homelessness etc in Abbotsford.

I had a conversation earlier tonight about a friend’s wife who was getting reduced hours at work. Fortunately for her he was still employed so that although they faced reduced income, his wife was not facing homelessness. Unlike the third party in the conversation who would be facing homelessness if she did not get more hours of work than scheduled.

With the economy in the shape it is and thousands of Canadians losing their jobs we face the potential of a tidal wave of new homeless on our streets. Even if they are fortunate and manage to hold onto their accommodations these Canadians will find themselves without money for food and thus hungry.

At the Chamber of Commerce’s recent breakfast it was noted that there were 6,000 people helped by the Abbotsford Food Bank. 6000 people needing the food bank to eat; a number that just keeps rising ever higher. Worse, 2,000 of that number were children.

We know that the Abbotsford Food Bank raises the bulk of its funds for the year during the Christmas Season. We also know that during this past Season fund raising targets were being missed, in some cases by a wide margin. News reports informed us that in the months leading up to Christmas donations of food and funds to food banks were significantly lower than the levels needed to meet the growing demand on food banks.

Which has me wondering what the current state of the Abbotsford Food Bank is and how this next year, which threatens to be one of quickly increasing need, is shaping up?

I suspect the food and funding levels are poor at best with bad, perhaps very bad, being the most likely levels. It does not matter how hard the people at the Food Bank work, the levels depend on the community.

So what are we, the community of Abbotsford, going to do about hunger and hungry children in our city, our community?

Bury our heads in the sand? Let self interest rule as it has recently? Send adults and children to bed hungry?

Or will we do whatever is necessary to make sure the shelves of the Food Bank are stocked so that people do not suffer hunger?

The choice is yours Abbotsford. Choose.

Municipal

Nice of the Chamber of Commerce to step up.

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I read with interest the letter from David D. Hull concerning the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce and its board of directors’ position on Plan A.

It is unfortunate that Monday January 19th 2009 is one of the days council has chosen not to be taking care of business as this is a matter they need to move on quickly to ensure it’s inclusion in the city budget they are drawing up.

Given Mr. Hull and the Chamber of Commerce’s “unwavering belief” that all 3 Plan A projects will make Abbotsford “a fantastic place to conduct business”, council must recognize the $benefits$ that will accrue to Abbotsford businesses from these projects.

In light of the breadth of the business $benefits$ cited by city council and other staunch supporters of these projects the business taxes levied on these $benefits$ should to be spread widely over the business community, rather than limited to the hospitality industry via room rental and meal taxes as is the case in Vancouver to pay for the Vancouver convention centre ensuring that businesses gaining $benefits$ from these projects, contribute to the costs of the projects in a manner reflective of the $benefits$ they will receive.

With two of the projects already open and the third scheduled to be open before the City’s new fiscal year begins, council needs to act promptly to ensure these $benefits$ are appropriately recognized and taxed; reducing the impact of debt repayment for capital costs and cost overruns, interest payments and the yearly operating expenses on ordinary taxpayers gaining no benefits from the Plan A projects.

It is fortunate Mr. Hull and his board of directors brought the matter to the public’s attention at this time as it permits council to include a tax reflecting the Plan A $benefits$ to business in the budget for the next fiscal year.

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The Times

Friday, January 16, 2009

EDITOR, THE TIMES:
The Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce board of directors passed a resolution at their December board meeting to vociferously and enthusiastically support local efforts to secure an American Hockey League franchise for Abbotsford.


The Abbotsford chamber has been a staunch supporter of all three Plan A projects with the unwavering belief that an improvement to the quality of life in Abbotsford will make our city a great place to live. A great place to live is a fantastic place to conduct business.


The addition of an AHL franchise in our city would be a fantastic addition to the sporting and entertainment landscape.
We are confident that an AHL team in Abbotsford would not be to the detriment of other hockey leagues in the area, but in fact an important asset.


An AHL team would raise the awareness and appreciation of semi pro and junior league hockey and will in fact grow the overall market.
David D. Hull
Executive Director
Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce

Federal

You call that consulting? I call it insulting.

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You’re the federal Finance Minister; the world economy is in meltdown mode; the Canadian economy is in reverse, showing no inclination to stop edging closer and closer to the precipice where recession plunges into depression; you have come to the west coast for consultation and input on the economy and you go to … West Vancouver?

The only way he could have held his consultation somewhere less in touch with the economic reality that 80 – 90% of Canadians face in their daily lives in the actual working world would have been to hold it on Jimmy Patterson’s yacht. However, that would have left no room for the press and thus press coverage.

Why is it that when politicians want to consult on or discuss the economy they never seek the advice or opinion of the people who are most affected by the economic policies of governments? Probably because they will be given advice and opinions they do not want to hear, much less have to act on it.

For instance Employment Insurance. You currently have to wait 45 days to start collecting EI. With so many working Canadians living pay cheque to pay cheque as a result of the government policies that continue to swell the ranks of the working poor how are you expected to survive 45 days?

With the economy in free fall and shedding jobs by the tens of thousands how are the unemployed to find employment before their EI benefits run out? Add in those trapped on Welfare because there are no jobs for them in this economy plus the fact that welfare payments are not sufficient to pay rent or live on and the country is facing the possibility of a tidal wave of homeless.

That is not what the government wants to hear or to have to act on. No our governments abhor having to spend money on the welfare of the poor, those who have or will lose their jobs and the working poor; preferring to spend nothing to insure the welfare of these citizens. No welfare spending should be reserved for corporations and the wealthy.

The federal government has for years been abandoning its duty of care to address the welfare of the ordinary citizen; but let big corporations like the automobile industry need welfare and the feds happily rush to hand over billions – on top of the billions of dollars of corporate welfare paid to the car companies over prior decades.

We have already started to hear the hue and cry for tax cuts to stimulate the economy, a course of action that has been a favourite of governments over the years. Yes we will cut taxes to make the rich richer; but put money into the hands of the poor or ordinary income earner – can’t do that – even if these are the groups that will spend the money and stimulate the economy.

Listening and watching Mr. Harper and his finance minister Mr. Flaherty it is looking more and more as though the fact Canadian voters denied the Conservatives a majority and Mr. Harper having been forced to prorogue parliament is a massive stroke of luck for ordinary Canadians.

Not only is Mr. Harper required to work with the other parties, but the events leading up to the Governor General proroguing parliament rudely and extremely effectively reminded Mr. Harper of the need to consult and work with the other parties in parliament.

One of the things that Mr. Flaherty and Mr. Harper don’t want to hear but need to actually pay attention to in deciding on policy is that the economic disaster we find ourselves teetering on is a result of the actions and policies of governments over past 2 – 3 decades.

Continuing to operate in the same way is only going to continue to give rise to more of the same economic problems; in other words if government keeps on doing what it has been doing we are going to continue to get what we have been getting.

Personally I have no desire to keep on getting the economic outcomes that we are facing currently, do you?

It is time to tell Mr. Harper we have had enough of the insanity of doing the same thing over and over, basing policy on the same operating philosophies, hoping that one of these times the outcome will be different.

No more corporate welfare; no more welfare for the rich; it is time that government paid attention to the welfare of ordinary Canadians.