Everyone has a voice

I love the fact that everyone has a voice in a democracy, right from the grass roots party member, to the voter and finally all the people through their representative (MLA in BC).

That is why the report I read from the Times Colonist

http://www2.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=e5dd4c9d-c97c-4af1-9910-3208f7ebbb4b

about the member for Kamloops - South Thompson, Kevin Krueger is so disturbing to me. He was heckling and shouting down two other members as they tried to respond to the budget. It was so bad they had to stop talking several times each and Mr. Krueger continued until the last moment before he would have been ejected from the chamber.

If we try to block out the voice of any of our people, whether or not we agree, we cease to be a democracy and degenerate into schoolyard bullies. We need to listen to each other and work together. I hope that the member will reform his behaviour in the future and join the rest of us in a democratic society.

Balanced Budgets

In retrospect, tying MLAs salaries to a balanced budget may have been a bad idea. The result is not a balanced budget but just creative accounting. We have entered a parallel universe where a budget surplus can add billions to the debt.

How about making the tough decisions so we can shore up support for the most at risk segments of our society by cutting out the nice-to-haves.  I'm not saying it would have been easy but it would have been encouraging to have seen at least some effort made.

Step 1. Freeze MLA salaries so they can lead by example.

Step 2.  Reduce waste and look for efficiencies. The private sector has to do this, why does government think it is unnecessary?

Step 3. Encourage business instead of driving it away. That will expand our tax base and reduce the number of people who need assistance. Strategic tax cuts WILL increase revenue and decrease spending.

Step 4. Get serious with the backups in the courts, medical waits,  education shortfalls. People need to be safe, healthy and trained if we want them to participate in building our economy.

Choice: Isn't that what democracy is all about?

I had a great time yesterday in Salmon Arm meeting people and talking about governmental choices. There is a growing excitement with the BC Conservative Party and I met many people who have been waiting for this to be viable option.  Now it is and we are moving forward.

But I met another group of people; those who are disillusioned with government in general and I understand why.  We have made elections into a time when we vote AGAINST what we don't believe in but we never get a chance to vote FOR what we do believe in.

The BC Conservative Party is giving people who want to avoid the disaster of the nineties an option to vote FOR something rather than just going with the status quo and wishing we could have a different system. The disillusioned voters are sceptical, but I am looking forward to showing them that there is hope for better government.

The Shuswap is a wonderful place with great people. Thank you to all those I met yesterday for the time you took to tell me what you want from a responsible government. The BC Conservative Party is dedicated to engaging the people of BC and making this province all that it should be.

I am dedicated to the service of everyone living in the Shuswap.

Social programs

Every government should take care of its citizens as best as it can. However, out of a kind heart for hurting people, some parties promise unsustainable social programs that are doomed to fail after they have bankrupted the economy.  To finance medical services, senior care, social assistance or any other social program takes more than good intentions.  Greece had multiple social programs but now the money has run out and they have almost none.

Our social programs are like the cap on a 3 layered wall. The foundation is security (police and courts); the middle is infrastructure (roads, public transportation, ferries); and the top is employment (education, re-training). The wall encloses our economic garden. As the wall is enlarged, the social programs can be strengthened. Enlarging social programs without a base to support them is irresponsible and unsustainable.

In BC we have a strong core of medical and social programs that is the envy of the world, but there are problems that need to be corrected in what we already have. We must prioritize our spending to address these even if that means we have to work on some lower parts of the wall that are weak so that it can support the social programs that we need.

The BC Conservative party has a plan for sustainable social programs.

Carbon Tax

We must protect the environment because it is the house we live in and we can't just build another. The best science we have says that the main threat against our environment is carbon emissions that are causing global warming. So shouldn't we be in favour of the BC carbon tax as it will protect us from that?

An effective environmental approach has to discourage bad behaviour and encourage good behaviour. Our carbon tax does not change any of the behaviours it is aimed at.  People drive just as much and they still heat their homes, etc.  It also does nothing to encourage new behaviours. That is because all the money from the tax is put into the general fund.  Therefore, this is a tax grab and a sham.  It is called a 'carbon' tax just to make it acceptable. It is not environmentally helpful.

For a carbon tax to be valid, shouldn't the proceeds be used to subsidize environmentally friendly behaviours like high efficiency furnaces or hybrid cars or solar power, etc. This tax hasn't even planted a tree!

The BC Conservative Party is committed to the environment not using environmental buzz words as an excuse for hiding general taxes.

The Coldest Night of the Year

The Coldest Night of the Year is a walk in 18 Canadian cities to raise money for the homeless. Salmon Arm is the smallest of the participating cities. Even so, we have set a goal that is 50% higher than the average of the other participants.  I love how the people of Salmon Arm are generous, connected with each other and concerned about the needs in their community.

This is a great example of what we all should be doing. By participating in efforts to support those in need, local communities rise to the challenge of good citizenship.  It is the best defence for our members in need.  Too often in our culture we want to leave it all up to the government. Big government however cannot meet all our needs. Individual citizens must shoulder their responsibility. The role of government is primarily to clear the roadblocks to success, cheer on the people and come beside what they are already doing to support them.

Yes, we have a responsibility in government to address the critical needs of the most at risk segments of the population. There is a balance that the government must not ignore. But first and foremost the government should create an environment in which the citizens can succeed and then support what they have begun.

Thank you, Salmon Arm for leading in our province

http://coldestnightoftheyear.org/location/salmonarm

Take care of the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves

That is what my father used to tell me.  It was good advice back when the monthly budget was one or two hundred dollars. In government today however, due to the size of the budget, it is more apt to say, 'Take care of the Millions and the Billions will take care of themselves'. But that is exactly why waste is an easy trap to fall into to. We can allow millions to be treated like pennies and no one notices if they are spent wisely or not.

However, it is important to take extra care with the public coffers. Every dollar paid in taxes is given in trust.  The public in general may not have a good sense of how much a billion dollars is, but they know what a million dollars is. It is the cost of a home in Vancouver which takes a lifetime to pay off if you are one of the lucky ones who can afford living there at all.  So when the govenment is careless with its Million Dollar Pennies, people notice.

It makes them calloused to the political process. This is a day and age when we see our youth 'occuppying' because they don't believe the system works. We need a more people involved in government, not less. From the informed voters to party members and all the way up, we need to invite people into the discussion. We will not get there by ignoring gov't waste, no matter how small.

Why we all can have a voice in Goverment

 Many times I have heard people say that they don't believe they have a voice because the party they want to vote for doesn't have a chance of winning. This is a fallacy. It is a belief that if you do not elect your candidate then your vote was somehow wasted. This is simply not true.

The way that our democracy works is that everyone can join a party and have input into the local chapter to bring forward their ideas. In many parties you don't even have to be voting age before you can join and have a say. These ideas are debated and the best ones then get accepted and move up to a regional, provincial or federal level within the party where the debate continues. The best of those become party platform and policies. If a person's ideas do not rise to the top, they have the option to refine, reword and reapply those ideas until they do.

Then, in the election, the candidates all get to debate their platform and the ideas which started with the general public come back to that same public. The best ideas from one party will influence their opposition as everyone tries to come to terms with how to best meet the needs of society.  Whether or not your particular candidate wins does not change the fact that they helped to shape the debate.

Democracy is a system in which nobody gets what they want.  We negotiate in order to forge the best compromise we can.  If you want to have your way, you need to start a dictatorship or a monarchy and make sure you are in charge. If you want to be part of something greater, you need to join the party of your choice and get involved in the conversation.

Austerity Measures

We see how uncontrolled social spending has worked out in Europe. The Austerity Measures in Greece are just a small part of the pain that they are going through as they pay for the last decades of fiscal mismanagement.  Yet we don't seem to learn anything from it.  The NDP under Adrian Dix would like to charge headlong toward the same end.

We say we want responsible government and we should. However, to have that, we need to be responsible citizens. If we want to help the most at risk segments of our population, we need the rest of us to stop looking for the big government programs and allow the government to be fiscally responsible.  Greece is no longer able to help their citizens and that is where we will be if we don't get control of our spending now before it is too late.