Thirty metres below the surface, engulfed by kilometres of ocean and fish and other sea life is where Ashleigh Boyd feels comfortable.


Unlocking the secrets under local waters


Solitude in the wilderness is still available in B.C., between holiday weekends when demand peaks at B.C.'s most popular parks.
Foreign visitors and those on package tours are a small fraction of the demand for B.C. Parks campgrounds around the province, but B.C. resident campers are still using a few tricks to get spaces for high-demand parks.
Some have protested the use of online reservations by motorhome tour operators who sell them as part of a package for tourists.
"Our provincial campsites are not products to be sold, they belong to the people of B.C.," Green Party leader Andrew Weaver said this week.
Environment Minister Mary Polak told Black Press numbers are being tracked for the current year, and the proportions haven't changed much. In 2015, fewer than one per cent of reservable B.C. Parks spaces were booked by tour operators, who also use private camping facilities.
Three quarters of reservations are from within B.C. The second highest share is from Alberta at 14 per cent, the U.S. accounts for 3.6 per cent, the rest of Canada 2.8 per cent, and all European countries combined are 6.6 per cent of the total.
The BC Parks system has 10,700 camping spaces in total, and 5,600 are reservable, to manage demand for the most popular spots.
First-come, first-served sites are kept out of the reservation system in some popular locations to accommodate travellers who drop in along the road. For high-demand periods like the recent Canada Day weekend, savvy campers work the reservation system.
At Golden Ears Provincial Park, one group booked for two weeks as soon as the 90-day eligibility window opened, then dropped the first week, giving them the coveted Canada Day weekend dates before they were generally available.
"Every year we look to change things to keep people from cheating, and every year they find new ways," Polak said. "Really the only answer is going to be finding a way to expand the number of sites that we have available."
It's shaping up as a record year for the Discover Camping reservation service, with 92,000 bookings so far this year.
B.C. Parks has added four new sites for this summer. Reservations can be made for Garibaldi Provincial Park in the Whistler area, Ruckle Provincial Park on Saltspring Island, Okanagan Falls Provincial Park, Inland Lake Provincial Park near Powell River and Dry Gulch Provincial Park near Radium Hot Springs.

Provincial campsite rush mostly B.C. residents


Few BC Parks bookings going to commercial operators, solution is more campsite spaces, Environment Minister Mary Polak says


The union representing most workers at Canada Post has issued a 72-hour notice of job action as it tries to bargain a collective agreement with the Crown corporation.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers says the notice spells out what actions it is planning, but stops short of a full-blown walkout.
CUPW national president Mike Palecek says Canada Post forced the labour disruption by refusing to accept a request from the federal labour minister to continue negotiations with the help of a special mediator.
But a spokesman for the agency says that's not the case.
The union's strike mandate was set to expire at midnight.
The two sides have been in negotiations for more than nine months but are far apart on key issues including pay equity for rural carriers and proposed changes to the Canada Post pension plan.
The Canadian Press

Postal union issues strike notice after it says Canada Post refused special mediator


Notice means delivery could be cancelled as early as Monday


Students return to public school next week, with changes to curriculum and some provincial exams.
Students are returning to class next week in most of B.C.'s public schools, with enrolment expected to be up province-wide for the second year running.
Education Minister Mike Bernier says early forecasts show about 529,000 students, an increase of 2,900 from last year. But that increase is centred on fast-growing school districts, while many rural areas continue to struggle with declining student numbers.
Among changes that parents and students will see this year is a new curriculum in place up to Grade 9, with a test year for changes in the senior grades. Bernier said the new emphasis on collaboration and communication skills does not mean a watering down of the basic skills, and is designed to improve students' ability to work at modern jobs.
Report cards are to continue this school year, but the ministry is reviewing its system with an eye to providing more frequent updates. Parents are being consulted on the changes, Bernier said.
Foundation Skills Assessment tests in grades four and seven are also continuing after years of protests from teacher unions, but that program is also being examined for possible changes. FSA tests will be "enhanced" but not eliminated, Bernier said.
Provincial exams continue for graduates in math and English, but science and social studies will now be assessed at a classroom level rather than school-wide tests, Bernier said.
The ministry provided a series of top-ups to education funding this year, for bus service and to keep selected rural schools from closing. Applications are still being taken for a transportation fund until Sept. 30, requiring districts to drop across-the-board school bus fees to qualify.
Districts may still charge transportation fees for international students or those from outside a school catchment area.
NDP leader John Horgan highlighted the crowding in Surrey school district, where 7,000 students remain in portables despite an expansion program. The NDP says the B.C. government's claim of record per-student funding ignores a reduction of education funding as a share of the provincial economy.
"Since 2001, the B.C. Liberals have dragged public education funding in this province from the second best in Canada to the second worst," Horgan said.

B.C. school enrolment up for second year


Some urban districts struggle with overcrowding, special funds for declining rural schools, bus service to take effect


Revelstoke dam on the Columbia River is due to have a sixth water turbine added, but Site C is BC Hydro's priority today.
BC Hydro is going ahead with its planned four per cent rate increase this year and deferring more debt to future years as it revises its electricity demand forecast downward.
The provincially-owned utility has not asked for an increase in its government-imposed rate plan despite a revised demand forecast with $3.5 billion less revenue over the next 10 years. BC Hydro has filed a three-year plan with the B.C. Utilities Commission that would increase rates four, 3.5 and three per cent in the next three years. The four per cent increase is already showing up on customer bills as an interim increase.
With the Site C dam on the Peace River and other upgrades amounting to $2 billion a year, the plan includes additional deferred debt until 2023, when Site C is due to be completed. BC Hydro CEO Jessica McDonald said the long-term nature of capital projects means its capital cost savings don't start until the next decade.
BC Hydro has also cut some of its familiar Power Smart activities, such as the fridge buy-back plan and incentives for energy efficient light bulbs.
McDonald said BC Hydro is seeing lower revenues due to two warm winters and downturns in mining and forest products. It still projects growing overall demand as population and economic growth continue.
NDP energy critic Adrian Dix said the new deferred debt represents roughly $500 for each of BC Hydro's two million customers, and it is a political move to get the B.C. Liberal government past next year's election.
The 10-year rates plan imposed by Energy Minister Bill Bennett in 2013 overstated demand to justify the construction of Site C, and translates to a 28 per cent rate increase. It allows the utilities commission to regain control over approving customer rates by 2020, after five years of political direction.
Dix said with the new demand forecast and commodity prices expected to remain low, BC Hydro should have added a sixth turbine to its Revelstoke dam for $450 million before embarking on the $9 billion Site C project.


Four per cent rate hike already in effect, more to come as BC Hydro looks for savings to offset slow industrial demand


ICBC wants to increase basic auto insurance rates by 4.9 per cent – the fifth straight annual increase – as it continues to grapple with rising numbers of crashes, claims and dramatically increasing costs.
The typical driver will pay $3.50 a month or $42 a year more for basic insurance if the hike is approved.
But the corporation is also raising optional rates by 2.8 per cent so the average customer who buys both basic and optional insurance with ICBC will see their insurance bill rise $5 a month, or $60 a year.
ICBC CEO Mark Blucher said the basic rate hike would have been much worse – 15.5 per cent translating into a $130 annual premium increase – had the province not approved another major transfer of $472 million from the optional to the basic side of operations.
A compounding factor has been the long decline of interest rates, which result in less investment income revenue to ICBC.
"These external pressures have really created a perfect storm and it's a really significant challenge for the organization," Blucher said in an interview Thursday.
ICBC had raised rates 5.5 per cent a year ago, and the province's rate smoothing policy requires the annual change be within 1.5 per cent of the previous year's increase.
The number of crashes has climbed 15 per cent in two years and damage claims are up 11 per cent.
Vehicles are increasingly reliant on technology and expensive materials that have become more costly in recent years as the loonie sagged against the U.S. dollar.
Despite much safer vehicles, injury claims have soared to $2.4 billion, up 60 per cent from $1.5 billion in 2008.
"We've seen no evidence that these strong trends are abating," Blucher said. "In fact, if anything, they're continuing to escalate going forward."
Blucher also noted there are more cars on the road in B.C. today – 3.1 million up from 2.8 million in 2011 – and people are driving more because of cheaper gas, contributing to more accidents, particularly in densifying urban areas.
And he pointed to personal injury lawyers as an aggravating cause of ICBC's spiralling claims costs.
"B.C. is the only province in Canada where you can sue another motorist for even a minor traffic accident," Blucher said, noting an increase in lawyer-represented claims and advertising by injury law firms.
Internal operating costs have been cut by $186 million a year, and ICBC is counting on more savings ahead, through its modernization program, by more aggressively combatting insurance fraud and from a hoped-for drop in distracted driving as motorists respond to stiffer penalties.
But transfers from the optional side to bolster the basic side will likely be needed for the foreseeable future, Blucher said, because basic premiums can't keep up with rising costs.
In a surprise move, the B.C. government will this year forgo extracting its usual $160-million annual dividend from ICBC's optional side into general revenue.
"Forgoing the dividend this particular year is one strategy amongst a litany of others we're employing to get that basic trate increase down," Transportation Minister Todd Stone said.
Stone said the $514 million the province has transferred out of ICBC in dividends since 2012 is small compared to the $1.4 billion over the same period that has been shifted from the competitive optional side to basic to apply downward pressure on basic rates.
The minister would not say if the government would permanently give up the ICBC dividend.
Adrian DIx, the NDP critic for ICBC, said the dividends to government have exceeded $1.2 billion since 2010 and predicted they'll resume after next year's election because the BC Liberals are "addicted" to using ICBC as a "profit centre."
Dix said the reliance on shifting huge amounts of capital from optional to basic raises troubling questions.
"Next year they've got to find that $472 million," Dix said. "What they've done is create a disaster at ICBC and their only hope is to deceive the voters until after the election."
He said ICBC's new move to hire more claims staff underscores problems with completing the computer modernization that was supposed to make operations more efficient.
"The transformation project has taken longer than World War 2 and is not close to finished."
ICBC's basic rates rose 11.2 per cent in 2012 and at least five per cent every year since.
The new rate hike is subject to B.C. Utilities Commission approval.
ICBC Rate Pressure Charts

ICBC seeks 4.9 per cent basic rate hike as crashes, costs climb


$60 a year increase for most drivers once optional auto insurance increase is included


Eileen Zheng donated a kidney to her mother Wei and is encouraging other people to register as organ donors.
When Eileen Zheng wanted to donate one of her kidneys to her mother, family members were at first concerned about the effect of the procedure on both of them.
But five weeks after the surgery, Wei Zheng was recovering from polycystic kidney disease after seven years on kidney dialysis, and Eileen was logging up to 65 km a day on her bicycle. And a year later, Eileen is preparing to ride across Canada to encourage more people to support organ transplants.
"I want to raise awareness, so more people are willing to register after seeing that I'm healthy after donating an organ," Eileen said at a ceremony at the B.C. legislature to launch the bid Monday. "We're hoping to raise at least 1,000 more organ donors compared to last year, and around $75,000 for the Canadian Transplant Association, for the life-saving work they do."
She has three and a half months to make the journey, starting with a Terry Fox-inspired dip of her bike wheel in the Pacific before heading east towards St. Johns, Newfoundland. Eileen's ride is called Gift From Within has a website where people can link to organ donor registration sites in each province, and her route stops and updates will be posted.
There are more than 45,000 people currently waiting for organ donations across Canada. B.C. residents can check their registration status or sign up to become a donor here.

Cross-Canada ride to encourage organ donation


Gift From Within aims to register 1,000 more registered donors and raise money for the Canadian Transplant Association


Stephen Colbert records an episode of his U.S. comedy show from Vancouver during the 2010 Olympics, expressing amazement about the lack of igloos in February. Expo 86 and the Olympics were designed to put Vancouver on the world map, and it seems to have worked.
With a bit of grumbling behind the scenes, our 85 MLAs have trekked back to Victoria this week to deal with an emergency summer legislature sitting.
The stated purpose of this brief session is to comply with a demand from Vancouver city council for the ability to impose additional property tax on vacant residential properties.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, a former NDP MLA who likes to direct provincial affairs when he isn’t issuing instructions to Ottawa on pipeline policy, should be careful what he wishes for. B.C. Finance Minister Mike de Jong was happy to drop this hot potato in his lap, and now Vancouver city hall can try to determine who’s vacationing for a few months and who’s holding an investment property while living somewhere else.
When NDP leader John Horgan began calling for a “speculation tax” of 1.5 per cent on “offshore” investments, de Jong cited a Vancouver survey that showed the number of vacant properties in the city was declining, even as prices were climbing rapidly.
Horgan argues that Metro Vancouver is in the grip of a housing “bubble” that must be caused by foreign money.
“If wages have been stagnant for a decade, which they have, where is the revenue coming from to inflate these prices?” Horgan said last week. “It’s coming from somewhere else. And that’s not sustainable over the long term.”
Another point likely to be made repeatedly this week is that the province stopped collecting citizenship and residency data on real estate purchases back in the late 1990s. De Jong changed that this spring and with great fanfare rolled out the first three weeks of sales data from June.
They showed that only three per cent of purchases of B.C. residential real estate were from foreign buyers, mostly from China. They were concentrated in Metro Vancouver, and accounted for about five per cent of the total value, which suggests they were for higher-end properties.
This was assailed from all sides. Not a big enough sample size, doesn’t prove anything, etc.
(De Jong abruptly announced on Monday that they were imposing a 15 per cent additional property transfer tax on foreign buyers. On Tuesday he released another few weeks of foreign buyer data.)
We have one of those situations I call coffee shop consensus. Everybody “knows” it’s Chinese money pouring into B.C., and that many homes are being left empty, even if the actual evidence doesn’t show that.
Seattle has a similar problem with real estate in choice locations, by the way. Down there, the coffee shop consensus seems to be that it’s those darn San Francisco and Silicon Valley grillionaires who are driving up prices beyond the reach of working folks.
Blaming foreigners is a great narrative. We saw the same thing with B.C. campgrounds. Utter nonsense, but it has “truthiness,” as U.S. comedian Stephen Colbert says. Truthiness comes from the gut, not the brain.
In a recent radio interview with CKNW’s combative talk show host John McComb, de Jong put forward another theory. He mentioned that the aim of hosting Expo 86 and the 2010 Winter Olympics was to put Vancouver on the global map, and it seems to have worked.
Whistler has worked as a world destination too, as galling as it may be to those who insist these were all costly failures.
The real estate boom has had ripple effects in Victoria and other urban centres, with bidding wars for choice homes.
And it’s beginning to reverse a long trend of depopulation from small communities and rural areas, as people are forced to look for something they can afford.
And it’s produced an urban building boom, including the rental market. There are worse problems to have.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca Twitter: @tomfletcherbc

BC VIEWS: Housing ‘crisis’ decades in the making


Expo 86, and later the Vancouver Olympics, were designed to put B.C. and Vancouver on the world map


Daycare spaces are in short supply in some areas of B.C. and costs are high.
More than 1,800 new child care spaces should be under construction by this fall, with the latest round of financing from the B.C. government.
New or expanded facilities in 30 communities have been selected from funding applications received in January, said Children and Family Development Minister Stephanie Cadieux. The $11.3 million budget for this year is the third phase of a child care expansion project funded by the ministry.
The province's goal is to have construction underway by September.
"It will vary somewhat from provider to provider, depending on whether they are building a facility from the ground up with this money, or whether they are adding to an existing facility," Cadieux said.
Projects in the Lower Mainland include six sites in Surrey, two each in Abbotsford, Langley and Coquitlam and one each in Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, Burnaby, Delta and Squamish.
On Vancouver Island, funding goes to three projects in Duncan and one each in Nanaimo, Victoria, Comox, Port Hardy and Tofino.
In the B.C. Interior, three projects are approved for Kelowna, two in Penticton, and one each in Naramata, Castlegar, Cranbrook, Enderby, Princeton, Houston, Kamloops, Merritt, Vanderhoof and Dawson Creek.
For a full list of facilities and number of spaces, see backgrounder here.
The ministry has posted a new child care map on its website to help parents locate facilities here.
The province provides child care subsidies to qualified low-income parents, and covers about 15 per cent of daycare operating costs. But the cost of land and operations drives the price of child care up to $1,400 per month or more in urban areas. Cadieux said the province is working with municipalities to review regulations.
"We're looking at the restrictions we put on child care providers in terms of outdoor space, in terms of sun access," she said. "We want to make sure that child care is safe and that we have quality, but we also want to make sure that we're not creating a situation that is unreasonable."

Child care spaces funded for 30 BC communities


1,800 new spaces in 30 communities to start construction this fall, minister Stephanie Cadieux says


Almost a year after B.C. farm weddings were banned due to a crackdown on agricultural land use rules, the B.C. government has clarified what commercial activities are allowed on farmland.
Farmers can host up to 10 commercial weddings, concerts or non-agricultural events per year without a permit from the Agricultural Land Commission. Farmers can take payment to host a wedding or other event as long as no more than 150 guests attend and a list of conditions are met, according to regulations that took effect Tuesday.
To qualify, event hosts must provide all parking on the farm rather than along roads, with no permanent parking lots or structures, and the event must end in less than 24 hours. For more than 10 events a year or exceeding 150 guests, properties with farm tax status must apply to the ALC for a permit.
The new regulation also clarifies ALC policies to allow, with no permit, farm tours and demonstrations, hayrides, corn mazes, pumpkin patch tours, harvest and Christmas fairs and special occasion events to promote farm products.
Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick said the regulation requiring farms to generate at least 50 per cent of its revenue from farm products is also scrapped, after consultation in the past year suggested the new rules instead.
The crackdown on farm weddings came last fall, when the ALC issued stop-work orders to B.C. farms including the Fraser Valley, Kelowna and Vancouver Island.
The restriction came after the province expanded farm uses to allow breweries and distilleries to operate on protected farmland with the same rules used to permit wineries. The rules allowed for processing of farm crops into products such as juice or jam for commercial sale.


No permit required for weddings, festivals on farms if fewer than 150 people attend, says Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick


Courses offer loaner equipment and training in casting and proper fish handling.
Children aged five to 15 can take advantage of fishing instruction sessions being held around the province by the Freshwater Fisheries Society of B.C. this summer.
The Learn to Fish program has been running since 2006. It provides loaned fishing gear as well as instruction on how to cast and retrieve, identify different fish species, handle fish properly and fish ethically within the regulations.
Locations and registration information for Learn to Fish courses is available here.
The Freshwater Fisheries Society of B.C. is financed by revenue from B.C. fishing licence sales.
A sample of the instruction videos available on the society website:

Free fishing lessons for kids [with video]


Learn to Fish program offers instruction and loaner equipment to help children aged 5 to 15 catch a trout


Using a backdrop of new construction in Victoria, Finance Minister Mike de Jong and Premier Christy Clark announce a new property transfer tax on foreign buyers that took effect this week.
The lights came back on in the B.C. legislature last week to reveal the government’s sudden decision to impose a 15 per cent tax on foreign property purchases in Metro Vancouver.
This came after months of government refusal to intervene in a heated urban market in ways that might devalue properties for people whose homes represent a large chunk of their life savings.
It remains to be seen whether this large wrench applied to the problem will cool the market, or trigger declining property values as similar efforts have done in other major cities. The extent of the ripple effect on B.C. communities outside Metro Vancouver is also something that will be closely watched.
Premier Christy Clark and Finance Minister Mike de Jong announced the tax with a week’s notice, leaving realtors and developers scrambling to close deals before thousands more in property transfer tax was imposed on foreign buyers.
This dramatic intervention was based on less than five weeks of information on the nationality of buyers. Early results showed foreign buyers represented five per cent of Metro Vancouver real estate sales. Another two weeks of data showed a spike to nearly 10 per cent, and suddenly the big wrench came out.
Housing Minister Rich Coleman acknowledged that the surprise tax left the real estate industry “taken aback and a bit grumpy.” They worried foreign buyers might back out of deals after sellers have bought another home. They also fear that the tax might pop the real estate bubble, causing a rapid reversal of the long sellers’ market that has taken on a life and a psychology of its own.
One thing is certain. The province’s windfall from the property transfer tax can only grow even further as foreign buyers pay up.
The size of this windfall was shown in the government’s audited public accounts for the 2015-16 fiscal year, which de Jong released just days before announcing the new real estate tax.
The property transfer tax has been a cash cow for the province since Bill Vander Zalm introduced it in the 1980s, and by 2015-16 it had reached about $1.5 billion. For comparison purposes, that’s almost twice as much as total provincial revenue from the forest industry.
The current B.C. budget had forecast that property transfer tax revenues would decline this year and next year. The public accounts showed that for 2015-16, the government took in $468 million more than expected, meaning real estate accounted for most of the provincial surplus.
How much more is raked in by the new transfer tax on foreign buyers remains to be seen, but it will be substantial. And Coleman allows that he has been developing “a really cool plan” to use that money to improve the housing situation for lower-income people.
A couple of weeks ago I described the clamour of urban protesters demanding that governments build thousands of units of social housing. Coleman has long rejected the idea of social housing projects that create clusters of poverty, and he assured me last week that isn’t going to change.
B.C. has 20,000 low-income households getting a rent subsidy today, and Coleman suggested that will be increasing. He’ll be announcing new measures in September to stimulate construction of new rental housing.
It remains to be seen how that will work as well. But it gives the B.C. government lots more money to spend in an election year.
This is the latest of a string of Clark’s election-year fixes. I’ll look at some others in a future column.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca Twitter: @tomfletcherbc

BC VIEWS: Real estate tax increases windfall


Finance Minister Mike de Jong found an extra half billion from property transfer tax last year, with much more to come


Re: Harper-style ads carry on in B.C. (BC Views, May 21).
The sad truth about the advertising for trades training is that there are not jobs for apprentices in their field.
My granddaughter is in month five of the six-month Camosun College trades training program to start her career as an electrician. Not only is no one hiring now, but no one from the class that finished in December 2015 has been able to get hired as an apprentice.
This is a tragic reminder of the many university grads in the 1970s and '80s who could not find employment other than the service industry or a temporary social services grant that paid $100 per week so you could qualify for pogey. Crushing the hopes of these young people is cruel.
I wonder how many apprentices B.C. would have if ferries were built here instead of in Poland.
Ronald Schlosberg, Victoria


Pre-apprentice graduates are having trouble finding work after training in B.C. schools, grandparent says


This photo was posted to the City of Victoria's Twitter feed Thursday night around 8:30 p.m.
A reclusive reptile that has been living in a storm drain below the streets of Victoria now has a new home.
A tweet posted Thursday night by the City of Victoria shows a city worker holding the snake.
Officials haven't said how it was coaxed out of the drain, but the tweet said it would be turned over to animal control officers.
When it was spotted in the drain during routine maintenance last week, experts said it appeared to be a nearly two-metre long harmless corn snake, but a closer look at the photo released Thursday night shows it may be a boa constrictor.
It originally rebuffed all efforts at capture, including a heated tube and offerings of dead mice, because it was shedding its skin.
Officials didn't want to harm it or tear up the street, so the pipe was sealed until the moulting was complete and the snake was more co-operative.
(CFAX)
The Canadian Press

Elusive snake finally coaxed out of drain pipe under Victoria street


Officials don't say how they captured the snake, which will be turned over to animal control.


BC Ferries sailings have been busier this year, thanks in part to strong tourist traffic and no net fare increase.
BC Ferries plans to continue its campaign of price promotions this fall and next spring in an effort to maintain increased passenger and vehicle traffic.
First-quarter results for the Crown corporation show passenger traffic up 2.5 per cent and vehicle loads up 5.1 per cent for the three months ended June 30, compared with the same period in 2015.
Buoyed by a strong tourist year for B.C. and no net fare increase, BC Ferries carried 5.3 million passengers and 2.1 million vehicles in April, May and June. The 1.9 per cent average fare hike was erased by a reduced fuel surcharge due to long-term contracts for cheaper diesel fuel.
Helped by reduced operating costs and higher retail sales from terminals and on-board gift shops, net earnings were $27 million for the quarter, up from $18.8 million in the same period last year. Revenues were up 4.9 per cent to $219 million, while costs for the quarter went up 1.5 per cent to $178.6 million.
BC Ferries CEO Mike Corrigan released the first-quarter results at the corporation's annual meeting in Victoria, where he also announced that unspecified pricing promotions will be offered this fall and next spring. This year BC Ferries has been offering discounts on over-length vehicles pulling boats or travel trailers.
Corrigan also announced he will be stepping down as CEO at the end of the fiscal year next March. He was promoted in 2012 to replace former CEO David Hahn, and presided over a controversial service review that saw sailings reduced on money-losing routes.
Transportation Minister Todd Stone praised Corrigan for reducing operating costs and embracing new technology, including three new medium-sized ferries using liquefied natural gas fuel that have been built in Poland.
LNG retrofits are also scheduled for the Spirit of B.C. and the Spirit of Vancouver Island, the workhorses of the main Tswassen-to-Vancouver Island route.
Corrigan's term also saw the first cable ferry in the BC Ferries fleet, the Baynes Sound Connector to Denman Island. Stone said the cable ferry cut fuel costs by half.

More discounts coming as BC Ferries traffic rises


Vehicle traffic up 5% with no net fare increase and discounts offered for vehicles pulling boats and travel trailers


Premier Christy Clark and her ministers aren't concerned about a backlash or downturn in B.C.'s hot urban real estate market from their sudden decision to impose a 15 per cent tax on foreign buyers in Metro Vancouver.
Housing Minister Rich Coleman said Wednesday the development industry was "taken aback and a bit grumpy" after Premier Christy Clark announced Monday that the new tax takes effect Aug. 2.
Clark confirmed Wednesday that there would be no exemptions to the new tax for real estate sales that were signed but not registered before the deadline. That includes pre-sold condos that were purchased before construction, if they are going to buyers who are not citizens or permanent residents of Canada.
Finance Minister Mike de Jong said tax changes are generally done on short notice, and the government expected there would be some cancelled sales as a result. But the purpose of the tax was to discourage foreign sales and replace them with sales to B.C. residents, he said.
"Part of it relates to the fact that properties going on the market are being scooped up so quickly." de Jong said. "This disruption, this change is taking place in a market where there is incredibly strong domestic demand."
The government intends to put the revenue from the foreign buyer tax into a housing affordability fund, but Coleman said there will be no return to government directly building social housing projects.
New initiatives will be announced in September, with incentives for builders to create more rental housing. The province already provides rent subsidies to 20,000 families to keep them in market housing, and that approach has better results than concentrating low-income people in government housing, Coleman said.

Government shrugs off foreign real estate fallout


Construction industry disruption expected as new tax threatens deals, says Finance Minister Mike de Jong


B.C. has 300 seniors' care facilities, and residents and their loved ones are to be surveyed on conditions.
More than 250 volunteers have signed up to compile a survey of seniors in residential care, and B.C.'s Seniors Advocate is looking for more.
The 27,000 seniors living in 300 residential care facilities around the province are being asked about their experience with care home staff, the quality of food, privacy, medications and other conditions.
It's the first comprehensive survey done in B.C., to measure resident satisfaction and provide a "roadmap" for improvements, said Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie.
Interviews will be conducted in person by trained volunteers, and a matching mail-out survey will be sent to each resident's most frequent visitor.
The project is seeking volunteers with a range of professional backgrounds, ages and ethnicities. To apply as a volunteer, visit www.surveybcseniors.org or call the Office of the Seniors Advocate at 1-877-952-3181.


Volunteers to ask seniors about staff, food, privacy, medications and other conditions in residential care


TORONTO – Few Canadian television events qualify as a momentous occasion for the nation, but Saturday's Tragically Hip concert promises to be special.
It seems like much of the country will be tuned into CBC's live broadcast of "The Tragically Hip: A National Celebration" from Kingston, Ont., when factoring in home screenings and community viewing parties.
Yet how many people will watch is anybody's guess at this point.
"This is an unprecedented event for us," said Jennifer Dettman, CBC's executive director of unscripted content.
The sentiment is true on many levels, she adds.
The last stop on the Hip's "Man Machine Poem" tour is widely expected to be their final performance, as lead singer Gord Downie is facing terminal brain cancer. After tickets to the tour sold out within minutes, fans launched a campaign urging the CBC to carry the band's Kingston show as a live TV event.
Dettman wouldn't speak to the contract negotiations that led to the Hip agreeing to the broadcast.
"CBC made both a competitive and financially responsible offer to acquire the broadcast rights, and we're thrilled to be able to offer this national celebration to as many Canadians as possible," she said.
The concert won't just be on the main CBC network, it will also be broadcast through various other platforms such as CBC Radio One, the CBC website and its YouTube and Facebook channels.
With so many viewing options, that will make it tough to capture how many eyes and ears are focused on the Hip this Saturday.
That's where ratings agency Numeris comes in. The Toronto-based company tracks viewership figures by using meters and viewing diaries prepared by a panel of Canadians representative of the population.
Their data shows that most huge audience draws are typically live programming, led by major sporting events.
The Super Bowl is the biggest TV event nearly every year â€” drawing about six million to eight million viewers in recent years â€” while a handful of other annual celebrations like the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes and Grammys are perennial favourites too.
The gold medal game of the men's hockey tournament at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics is considered to be the most-watched broadcast ever in Canada. It drew 16.6 million viewers, according to data from Numeris, about double the number of people who tune into most Super Bowls.
Those kinds of numbers will be hard to beat, even for a rock band with as much Canadian clout as the Hip.
Numeris spokesman Tom Jenks wouldn't guess how many viewers will tune into the CBC broadcast, but acknowledges it'll probably be a pretty big number.
The agency said it will be counting every public screening â€” from restaurants to movie theatres to community viewing parties â€” and each person streaming the concert on their phone. Viewers who playback the show on their DVRs within seven days will also be included in the final numbers.
"Our system captures all viewing," Jenks said.
Potentially driving those numbers higher is the decision make the Hip's concert a one-time broadcast, with no encore presentation and no availability on on-demand platforms.
"Our goal was to bring the experience of this live concert to Canadians in that moment," Dettman said.
"I'm sure the band will figure out what they will want to do with the concert afterwards."
She said the goal is to give all Canadians the same "crescendo" feeling that will ripple through the arena in Kingston.
"Our goal is to bring the experience ... to as many Canadians as we can," she said.
"The idea that we're all together experiencing this moment at the same time is really special."
Follow @dfriend on Twitter.
David Friend, The Canadian Press

Televised Tragically Hip show an 'unprecedented event:' CBC


Whether it's home screenings or community viewing parties, much of Canada will be tuning in for iconic rock band's final bow


VANCOUVER – It took 100-year-old Indian runner Man Kaur almost a minute and a half to complete the 100-metre race, but she never broke her stride.
And when she finally crossed the finish line at the Americas Masters Games in Vancouver, her competitors – many of them two decades younger – were there to cheer her on.
Her son and fellow athletes say Kaur's energy and drive to compete has become an inspiration to participants in the unique international event for athletes over 30.
Kaur began running at age 93 at the suggestion of her son, 78-year-old Gurdev Singh, who also competes in the Masters Games and says he knew she could become a star in her age category.
She has won more than 20 medals, including snatching three golds this week as she is the only competitor in the category for women over 100.
If you're wondering whether she holds the elusive secret to a long life, Kaur says unfortunately it's what you might expect – a good diet and lots of exercise.
The Canadian Press

VIDEO: 100-year-old woman from India runs 100-metre at masters games in Vancouver


Centenarian Mana Kaur, who started running at age 93, crosses 100-metre finish line in Americas Masters Games


Doug Kelly, chair of the B.C. First Nations Health Council
With patients in urban areas having difficulty finding a family doctor, the situation in rural B.C. is going from bad to worse, MLAs on the province's health committee were told Monday.
Ed Staples, a member of the B.C. Health Coalition, described his efforts to improve the situation in Princeton, a community of about 5,000 people that four years ago was down to one doctor providing on-call service.
Princeton now has four full-time doctors and two nurse practitioners, but there are still people who can't find a doctor in the region, including Penticton an hour and a half away. A recent search of the College of Physicians and Surgeons website turned up the nearest doctor accepting patients in Courtney on Vancouver Island, Staples said.
Health Match BC, the province's web portal for recruiting doctors, nurses and other health professionals, currently has more than 400 general practitioner vacancies, with 37 communities seeking 85 doctors. The result is "bidding wars" between communities to offer incentives to relocating doctors, and foreign doctors using a rural community as an entry point before relocating to the Lower Mainland, he said.
The B.C. government has announced its latest videoconferencing service for health care, linking psychiatrists with young people in Cranbrook. The service is available twice a month at the local Children and Family Development office, supplementing visits by specialists in communities such as Cranbrook and Princeton. Health Minister Terry Lake says video conferencing and electronic health records are a key part of the solution for reaching patients across B.C.
Doug Kelly, chair of the B.C. First Nations Health Council, told the committee of an Abbotsford doctor who travels to Carrier Sekani territory around Prince George for part of his practice, in a pilot project with Northern Health.
Kelly said video links and nurse practitioners are part of the solution to delivering rural and remote care, but the main obstacle is the business model for doctors that has them cycling through as many as 20 patients an hour to bill enough to cover their office overhead.
Committee members were also reminded that graduating doctors are increasingly reluctant to take on the demands of family practice, especially in smaller communities where they may find themselves on call around the clock.

Video links grow as rural health care shrinks


Small communities have more than 400 doctor vacancies, with 'telehealth' and visiting specialists filling gaps


Toronto MP Carolyn Bennett is sworn in as Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, November 2015.
The federal government’s National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls is preparing to get underway in September.
With five commissioners led by B.C. judge Marion Buller and a budget that has swelled by a third to $54 million before it even starts, this inquiry has one big advantage over all the previous studies of Canada’s intractable problems of poverty and violence in aboriginal communities.
In this case, the politicians all agree what the outcome is going to be. They’ve been saying so for months, since the Justin Trudeau government got elected on this and other passionate, if questionable, promises.
Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, a member of the We Wai Kai Nation on the B.C. coast, a former Crown prosecutor and chair of the B.C. Treaty Commission, announced the terms of reference last week. She stressed that the inquiry will not attempt to retry cold cases, but to examine the “root causes” of the high numbers of missing and murdered women.
Next up was Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett, who has no doubt at all what those “root causes” are: racism, sexism and the lingering effects of colonialism. Bennett has been meeting steadily with grieving families since being appointed, and now accepts that racist, indifferent cops are the main “root cause.”
Bennett explained this conclusion from New York in April, while attending a “Women of the World” summit. It’s an “uneven application of justice,” she told The Globe and Mail, a phrase we’ll hear again and again.
“You end up with people who have been told it’s an overdose, or a suicide or an accident,” Bennett said.
RCMP have reported close to 1,200 unsolved cases of murdered or missing indigenous women since 1980, a figure that Bennett scoffs at. What’s her evidence? She’s talked to families, and knows it’s “way more” than that.
One of the previous inquiries was by a United Nations official, James Anaya, in 2014. He noted the alarming statistics of education outcome and violent offences against women, and referred to 660 cases documented by the Native Women’s Association of Canada. He also described being besieged by demands for a national inquiry, as he went through the stacks of studies that have already been done.
“Since 1996,” Anaya wrote in his UN report, “there have been at least 29 official inquiries and reports dealing with aspects of this issue, which have resulted in over 500 recommendations for action.”
As the latest inquiry was being launched, Perry Bellegarde, the current Assembly of First Nations national chief, recited Bennett’s speaking points about the conclusions it will reach.
Bellegarde told CTV the problem is vastly under-reported because “…oh, it’s an accidental death. Oh, it’s a suicide.” Then he called for more money for housing and other programs via the failed Indian Act system.
There are several glaring factors that apparently will not be discussed, because they fall outside the politically correct boundaries of this pre-determined narrative.
One is the even more alarming number of aboriginal men and boys who are victims of violent crime.
Another is the rate of domestic abuse reported by indigenous women, which Statistics Canada estimated this year at about 10 per cent of their population. That’s three times the national average, but it was not mentioned amid the demands for justice at the inquiry.
Another key issue that is forbidden from discussion is the social and economic viability of remote communities. Some of them haven’t been able to maintain clean water and safe housing, much less education and employment, despite billions in spending every year.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca Twitter: @tomfletcherbc

BC VIEWS: Missing women inquiry pre-determined


Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett's position boils down to blaming racist, indifferent cops


OTTAWA – Contract talks continue between Canada Post and its largest union, but neither side is hinting as to whether any progress has been made.
A federally appointed mediator has been meeting with the two sides since Friday to try to reach a deal.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers says if there is no deal by midnight, it would begin job action on Monday by having its members refusing to work overtime on a rotating basis, starting in Alberta and the Northwest Territories.
CUPW served 72 hour strike notice Thursday night, accusing Canada Post of forcing a labour disruption by refusing to bargain in good faith.
The two sides have been deadlocked for months on the issues of pay scales for rural letter carriers and proposed changes to pensions for future employees.
A CUPW news release says the initial job action will cause little disruption to Canada Post customers and that its members will still be delivering mail every day.
The Canadian Press

Postal workers union give details of job action if no deal is reached Sunday


Talks continue, with rotating overtime ban set to begin Monday if no agreement by midnight Sunday


B.C. Day, on Monday, Aug. 1, is an opportunity to celebrate this spectacular province. See how well you know British Columbia.

B.C. DAY TRIVIA QUIZ: How much do you know about British Columbia?


Re: Tree spikers cling to Lelu Island (B.C. Views, July 20).
Tom Fletcher seems to believe protecting salmon is not only bad, but dishonest. He suggests it’s an effort to cover up an international plot to kill B.C.’s oil and gas opportunities and Alberta’s oilsands.
His column falsely asserts that, along with other groups, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has “poured money into anti-LNG campaigns in B.C., as they funded opposition to oilsands development before them. Indeed, the record suggests the long project to establish what environmental front groups named the Great Bear Rainforest was a strategy to stop hydrocarbon exports from western Canada, even as U.S. sources ramped up production.”
The foundation’s Wild Salmon Ecosystems Initiative supports groups working to ensure that all factors – social, environmental and economic – are fairly respected in development decisions. It does not fund efforts to stop oil and gas development.
Salmon support a huge economy that provides jobs, social and cultural benefits. And, in British Columbia, unlike many other parts of North America, we still have a chance to keep most salmon watersheds intact. This is why the foundation supports the efforts of communities to protect these fish. This means ensuring that scientific evidence is fully addressed in project development, including siting decisions.
We are proud supporters of the Great Bear Rainforest, not because we are “anti” anything else, but because this is a unique region. Like the Amazon and the Great Barrier Reef, it is recognized by experts around the globe as one of the planet’s most important and unique natural wonders.
It is a region that deserved to be protected on its own merits – a fact so clear that federal, provincial and First Nation governments came together with industry and environmental groups to ensure it would be. To portray this impressive collaboration as an anti-oil and gas does a disservice to the broad array of Canadians and First Nations that prioritized its preservation.
The Moore Foundation supported this as part of our commitment to assist groups that seek to protect wild salmon habitats along the West Coast. People, issues, organizations and funds cross the Canada-U.S. border all the time. There isn’t anything unusual about Canadian environmental groups requesting and receiving donations from international foundations that share the same environmental goals.
Ivan Thompson, B.C. Program Officer, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Vancouver

LETTER: U.S. foundations protecting salmon


Representative of Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation says it doesn't support efforts to stop oil and gas development


The B.C. government has approved a master development plan for a new year-round ski resort in the Cariboo Mountains west of Valemount.
Valemount Glacier Destination Resort is a $175 million project led by Oberto Oberti, who designed the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort near Golden and the controversial Jumbo Glacier Resort proposal west of Invermere.
The Valemount plan includes lifts and gondolas that would carry skiers and sight-seers to the summits of Mount Pierre Elliott Trudeau and Mount Arthur Meighen. Its vertical drop of 2,050 metres would be higher than Whistler-Blackcomb and the largest in North America.
"There are very few places in the world, and none in North America, where you go and ride a lift to the very top and the glacier is below you," said Jill Bodkin, a director of the company.
Valemount is a remote community of about 1,000 residents near the Alberta border east of Prince George. The region is west of Jasper National Park, which attracts visitors from around the world.
On the project's website, Oberti says people will travel to Switzerland for this kind of mountain resort experience, so a three-hour drive from Prince George isn't an obstacle to success.
Valemount Mayor Jeanette Townsend called the master plan approval "exciting news." She said the community attracts visitors who stay there to avoid the expensive accommodation in Jasper and the resort will take it to the next level.
Chief Nathan Matthew of the Simpcw First Nation said his community has been involved since the beginning, and he sees the project as an important economic development for the northern part of Simpcw's traditional territory.

B.C. approves Valemount glacier resort plan


Designer of Kicking Horse and Jumbo resorts gets approval to proceed with $175 million project east of Prince George


A routine check-up at the hospital has turned into a nightmare for a Prince Rupert woman.
A month-and-a-half after having an endoscopy to inspect her nose and throat, Joan Dudoward received a letter from Northern Health stating that the endoscope used at the Prince Rupert Regional Hospital was not cleaned properly.
From April until the end of June 2016, the endoscope, which is a flexible tube with a light and a camera used in nonsurgical procedures, was being cleaned with the wrong cleaning solution to disinfect the equipment. There were 104 patients affected and Dudoward was one of them.
“I was majorly stressed out,” she said in an exclusive interview with the Northern View. “I'm a cancer survivor. I try to keep my health up for my mom, I'm a caregiver for a 95-year-old woman.”
Dudoward had gone to the Prince Rupert hospital for an endoscopy on June 29 at 3:30 p.m. after complaining to her physician about reoccurring plugged ears and a sore throat. She received the letter from Northern Health on Aug.24, which stated the error did not impact the diagnostic outcome of the tests and the process error has been corrected.
The letter also states that the BC Centre for Disease Control has been consulted and “the risk of a patient being exposed to a virus as a result of this process error is extremely low.” The contact number for the director of acute care services is offered in case she has any other questions or concerns. Dudoward has many.
She called to find out why the instrument wasn't cleaned, what had happened and how many people had gone through the procedure before and after her. “She said she's not permitted to tell me anything about this,” was the response Dudoward said she received.
The vice-president of medicine for the Northern Health authority, Dr. Ronald Chapman, was quick to respond to media inquiries and stressed the importance of transparency. He said, based on previous experience, once they realized the mistake had occurred they consulted the BC Centre for Disease Control as well as the Northern Health infectious disease specialist in Prince George.
“The risk for the patient is extremely low. We're not concerned that it will at all have any negative impact on their health,” Dr. Chapman said. He added that it's Northern Health's policy to make patients aware even if the risk to them is low. “We believe it's important to be open with those patients and to be fairly transparent so at least they are aware of the mistake. In this case, we don't recommend any particular follow up or tests for the patients.”
This type of process error has happened before, Dr. Chapman confirmed. Not with the same scope, but he said there are many different endoscopes used and each are made by different manufacturers that have various recommendations on how to clean the equipment.
“The health sector is run by human beings and it's fairly complex. If mistakes do happen what we encourage our staff to do is to make management aware so they can learn from that experience,” he said. “I'm happy to say where those mistakes have happened in our environment, a process has been put in place and we haven't had any repetitions after some of those learning experiences.”
For the 104 patients that were affected by this incident, Dr. Chapman said their general practitioners have been notified and if they have any questions they can speak to them and the infectious disease specialist. They can also contact Northern Health's Patient Care Quality Officeto register a complaint.
For Dudoward, who had a bone marrow transplant in 2011 to battle leukemia, she is concerned and has already scheduled a meeting with her physician in early September.
“I'm thinking that my body is not going to be able to fight off infection like I was able to before the cancer because chemo takes a lot out of your body so this is like a bomb exploding in my life,” she said.

VIDEO: Prince Rupert woman treated with unclean medical equipment, Northern Health, B.C. Centre for Disease Control confirms more than a hundred affected


Two months after having an endoscopy Joan Dudoward received a letter telling her that the endoscope used was not cleaned properly.


It may be sunny and hot outside but the ice is in and hockey is back.
The Victoria Royals held the first day of their main training camp for the 2016-17 season this morning at the Save On Foods Memorial Centre.
Head coach Dave Lowry and his staff were running drills on the ice through the morning. Familiar faces on the ice for the first session included goalie Griffen Outhouse and Jack Walker.
The Royals' first pre-season game will be September 2 in Kamloops against the Blazers with their first home pre-season game September 10 against the Vancouver Giants.
They kick off their season at home Friday, September 23 against the Prince George Cougars.

Victoria Royals back on the ice for training camp


The Victoria Royals held the first day of their main training camp for the 2016-17 Western Hockey League season


Jordan Bateman, Canadian Taxpayers' Federation
The B.C. government is hearing objections from businesses and individuals faced with increasing Canada Pension Plan contributions in the coming years, and is the last province needed to ratify the increase.
Instead of joining other provinces in meeting the federal government's July deadline to adopt the change, the B.C. government launched a consultation phase expected to run through August. And they are getting push-back on a plan that would increase payroll deductions and employer contributions starting in 2019.
Jordan Bateman, B.C. director of the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation, said he's receiving hundreds of responses to his call to supporters to make their views known to the B.C. government. Most concerned are employers who would pay higher contributions for each of their employees.
Employer and employee contributions are to go up from the current 4.95 per cent of earnings to 5.95 per cent by 2023. For each employee earning $54,900, the employer contribution goes up $7 to $8 per month in each of the first five years of the phase-in.
"Obviously, lots of people are concerned about having to pay more," Bateman said. "But the interesting ones are the small business owners who talk about just how close to the edge they are financially."
B.C. Finance Minister Mike de Jong joined other provinces in agreeing in principle to the expansion in June. Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau said he is concerned about the decline in workplace pension plans and wants the CPP to move from replacing one quarter of employment income to one third by 2025.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business surveyed its members nation-wide when the CPP plan was announced, and more than 80 per cent wanted consultation and a delay of implementation. Morneau has indicated he plans to table legislation this fall.
B.C.'s refusal to sign on could derail the federal plan, but it shows little intention of doing so.
"British Columbia is committed to engaging with stakeholders in advance of ratifying the agreement in principle," said the statement from de Jong's office announcing the consultation.
The province's consultation website and feedback address can be found here.


B.C. stands in the way of Justin Trudeau government's plan to hike Canada Pension Plan contributions, but likely not for long


Premier Christy Clark and Environment Minister Mary Polak plug in an electric car at an announcement of the government's latest climate change plan in Richmond Aug. 19.
A B.C. Liberal operative was out with the online spin hours before Premier Christy Clark confirmed the much-leaked news in a Friday afternoon announcement at an obscure location in Richmond.
The, er, freeze is continuing for B.C.’s ground-breaking, world-saving carbon tax, which hasn’t changed since before Clark was elected in 2013.
The spin was Olympic-themed, with a picture labeled to show B.C. as a swimmer far out in the lead in the pool, to symbolize that it’s the other provinces that need to catch up in the race to save the planet.
Clark has been saying that for years, and there is merit to it. Even without a tax on “process emissions” such as from cement kilns, B.C.’s carbon tax encourages imports of non-taxed cement from the U.S. and China.
Alberta business professor Andrew Leach, who advised the Stephen Harper and then Rachel Notley governments on greenhouse gas policies, summed up the problem this way.
“Until the rest of the world has policies that impose similar cost, you’re not actually reducing emissions to the extent you think,” Leach said. “You’re just displacing the emissions and the economic activity to other jurisdictions.”
Alberta is moving to join B.C. with a modest carbon tax, but the NDP government plans to spend the proceeds rather than return them in income tax as B.C. has done. And Washington state and most of the rest of the world have no carbon tax as such, so their businesses benefit from B.C.’s “climate leadership.”
B.C.’s foreign-funded eco-radical community was, needless to say, appalled. The Pembina Institute’s Matt Horne and career protesters Tzeporah Berman and Merran Smith were named to the premier’s advisory committee last year, along with business, academic and aboriginal representatives.
They concluded that increases to B.C.’s broad-based tax on carbon fuels should resume its upward march in 2018.
Other committee members, including the mayors of Surrey, Comox and Burns Lake, were not heard from. Public discussion on this issue is now reduced to a staged conflict between those who demand a holy war on deadly carbon dioxide “pollution,” and those who don’t care if their grandchildren perish in a hell-fire of fossil fuel use.
We’ve just come off another El Nino year, like the hot year of 1998. Regular readers will recall the last time I discussed this topic was this spring, where I questioned the premier’s dire warnings of another horrendous forest fire season.
What followed has been one of the slowest forest fire seasons in the last decade, although dry conditions have finally emerged this month. Climate predictions, like next week’s weather forecast, are less than consistent.
I am regularly sent messages calling me a “climate change denier,” the nonsense term that continues to be used by federal Environment Minister Catharine McKenna among many others. I know of no one who denies that climate is always changing, at times dramatically.
If you wish to believe that paying an extra seven cents a litre for gasoline in B.C. is helping to slow the very gradual increase in temperatures we’re seeing in the northern hemisphere, you are free to do so.
You may even be persuaded to take a government subsidy and buy an expensive, short-range electric car. Me, I’m off to Prince Rupert and Revelstoke pretty soon, so I’ll stick with my little four-cylinder gas sipper for now.
Hydro-powered B.C. represents a small fraction of the less than two per cent Canada contributes to global greenhouse gas emissions. We’re not the problem, and no, the world is not looking to us for guidance.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca Twitter: @tomfletcherbc


Premier Christy Clark isn't going into next year's election with a promise to jack up Canada's only significant carbon tax


Cameras were the focus as 70 photographers from across B.C., including Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Kelowna and Nelson, competed in the fourth annual Next Generation BC Amateur Photographer of the Year Contest at the recent Abbotsford International Airshow.
Sponsored by London Drugs and Black Press Media, the contest took place Aug. 12-14, as participants captured their best air, crowd, static, and wildcard shots.
Photographers experienced close-up action at the airshow including Friday's twilight show, and earned the "hot-side" tour at the airshow where they shot exclusive aircraft including the F-35, CF-18, FA-18, Breitling Jet Team, the Snowbirds and more for a chance to win the title of B.C.'s next Amateur Photographer title.
Awarding categories also include The Best in-air photograph ($750 grand prize), The Best ground/static scene photograph ($500 prize),The Best crowd scene photograph ($250 prize ), The Best video submission ($500 prize) all courtesy of London Drugs and honorary acknowledgement for Best Wildcard entry.
For the People's Choice Award Winner, the time has arrived for the public to vote on their favourite photo and be entered for a chance to win BC Lions game tickets.
For voting and contest information, click here.

Voting open for People's Choice Amateur Photography Competition


Photographers from across the province competed in amateur competition


A totally spontaneous expression of gratitude breaks out for Premier Christy Clark and Cariboo North MLA Coralee Oakes at the Quesnel rodeo after a rural school fund was announced in June.
Comedian Steve Smith, better known as Red Green, is touring B.C. in September, reprising his popular TV series in which he fixes every conceivable problem with duct tape.
Green’s “I’m Not Old I’m Ripe” tour hits Chilliwack, Victoria, Nanaimo, Courtenay, Surrey, Vernon, Kelowna and Prince George.
His formula for deploying the handyman’s secret weapon has proven so popular that Premier Christy Clark may have been inspired. She’s had quite a flurry of hasty repairs in the last few months. Here’s a recap.
The B.C. minimum wage was starting to lag behind other provinces, even after the overhaul it received in 2015, where annual increases are tied to inflation.
Like Red’s truck tires, there has been a lack of inflation, and a surge of government spending back east leaving B.C. in the dust. B.C.’s wage rose 20 cents last year and was set to go up by another whole dime this fall.
There was that familiar ripping sound in May as Clark and Jobs Minister Shirley Bond announced the September increase will be patched up to 40 cents, with another 40-cent increase next fall. Two wraps should hold it until after the election.
Remember the episode where Red taped two old Hyundai Ponies side by side to make a handyman’s Hummer? The school system has seen that kind of work in recent months.
The first roll was applied by Education Minister Mike Bernier when he announced in March that the ministry’s “fix-it fund” was going from $35 million to $40 million. Then in mid-May, he announced 80 successful projects. The “fix-it fund” had fattened to $45 million, and Bernier was just getting his sleeves rolled up.
Hey school districts, remember the $25 million in “administrative savings” the ministry demanded for the second year in a row? Now that you’ve squeezed that from your budgets, Bernier’s good news at the end of May was that the government’s giving it back to use for “front line services for students.”
One of those services could be “maintaining schools despite falling enrolment in certain regions,” Bernier announced May 31, foreshadowing the next layer of repairs.
Sure enough, a “rural schools fund” was rolled out on June 15. Clark and Cariboo North MLA Coralee Oakes made the announcement in Quesnel, where Kersley and Parkland elementary schools were going to close.
Also eligible for a special fund was Okanagan-Similkameen, where Osoyoos high school students were going to be bused a half hour to Oliver. This is hardly unusual in rural schooling around B.C., but these are swing ridings, you see.
Kootenay Lake district declined the opportunity to keep Yahk elementary open, with an anticipated fall enrolment of zero students. This all comes during the annual ritual combat between the ministry and Vancouver school board over keeping half-empty schools open.
Bernier had one more roll in his overalls. School bus service, one of those things jettisoned or saddled with hundreds of dollars in fees per student as districts scraped up those “administrative savings,” was selectively saved with another $15 million fund announced last week.
There have been a few other country fixes. They’re not going to ban weddings on farms any more, for instance.
That old jalopy in the back yard you’ve been trying to soup up and get back on the road? Soon you can get a collector plate for that thing, which is perfect if you can only get it running once or twice a year.
To paraphrase Red, if the voters don’t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca Twitter: @tomfletcherbc

BC VIEWS: Premier Red Green’s fast fixes


Premier Christy Clark has pulled out the duct tape to fix up rural schools, school buses and the minimum wage


Monck Provincial Park at Nicola Lake. Campsites fill up on weekends, and not with foreign tourists.
Wealthy foreigners snapping up the best properties at premium prices, and then in some cases using them only in prime times.
Occupancy permits trading on classified websites, even rumours of resellers working the passing traffic like rock concert scalpers. The B.C. Liberal government maintains the problem is primarily a lack of supply, and vows to build more.
It’s B.C.’s other real estate crisis, campsite spaces. And mostly it is a summer-time media invention.
An urban radio station poll last week asked if there is something wrong with BC Parks’ online campsite reservation service, and more than 80 per cent of participants agreed there was.
They’re likely misinformed about what is wrong, especially if they’re going by the exaggerated or flat-out false information they’ve heard as this issue was inflated into a national story.
It got going just before the Canada Day long weekend, when popular campsites are always booked solid. Reports claimed European tourists were buying package tours that included BC Parks campground reservations, for which they were paying twice the selling price.
In our 24-hour, social media gossip swamp, this kind of thing gets out of hand quickly. A Salmon Arm company, Canadian Camping Adventures, was named in news reports as working with European travel agencies, buying reserved camp spots for $18 to $38 a night and reselling them for $70.
NDP and Green Party politicians jumped on the bandwagon, shocked that the people’s parks would be exploited like this. One problem: they’re not.
The Salmon Arm couple who built the tour business said the $70 figure comes from adding up all the hotel rooms, camp bookings and activities on the route and dividing by the number of days. The tours are designed around activities and private RV camping facilities, with BC Parks campgrounds often midweek stops along the way.
The business was besieged by threatening phone and email messages, and had to take its Facebook page down after it was inundated with abuse.
The environment ministry pulled together its latest statistics on use of the BC Parks online reservation system. Commercial tour operators account for less than one per cent of bookings, and many of their customers are from within B.C.
In fact, three quarters of all provincial campground reservations are from British Columbians, 14 per cent are Albertans, 2.8 per cent are from elsewhere in Canada and 3.6 per cent are from the U.S. The entire continent of Europe accounts for 6.6 per cent of bookings.
Considering that the B.C. government spends gobs of money on its “Super, Natural B.C.” ad campaign to market our great wilderness to the world, perhaps opposition critics could reacquaint themselves with reality before leaping for cheap media hits.
The reservation system shows plenty of spaces, even at the most popular BC Parks campsites. Weekends are scarcer, and holidays like the upcoming B.C. Day weekend are snapped up as soon as the 90-day window for booking campgrounds comes around.
One trick used by savvy B.C. campers when a long weekend approaches is to book a maximum two-week stay starting on their first day of eligibility, 90 days away. The second week stretches beyond the limit to the high-demand week that is not yet available for booking.
Then they cancel the first week, get a refund for it, and hold onto the coveted long weekend spot.
Environment Minister Mary Polak says creating more campsites in B.C. parks is the ultimate answer. Of course that will attract protests about paving paradise to put up a parking lot.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca Twitter: @tomfletcherbc

BC VIEWS: The great campground crisis explained


Are commercial operators scalping public campsites to foreign tourists and leaving B.C. folks out in the cold? Not exactly.


Guns seized from visitors entering Canada at the Huntington-Abbotsford border crossing, 2014.
Canadian Border Services Agency has seen a 116 per cent increase in the number of firearms seized in the Pacific Region in the first half of 2016.
With a 10 per cent increase also recorded in the Prairie region, the CBSA is working with U.S. officials on a firearms awareness campaign to remind Americans about restrictions on bringing guns into Canada.
"Attempting to smuggle firearms across the border can result in immediate forfeiture, hefty fines and even significant jail time," said Kim Scoville, CBSA's regional director general for the Prairie region.
Visitors entering the border inspection line should declare any firearms at their first opportunity. Border services officers will take possession of the weapon if it is declared, but the visitor has the option of shipping it back under CBSA supervision or surrendering it without prosecution.
The RCMP has procedures for visitors bringing firearms into Canada


Guns intercepted at Pacific region border crossings up 116 per cent compared to this time last year


In a frame from protesters' video, Donald Wesley Jr. walks through a geotechnical testing area on Lelu Island near Prince Rupert. 'We have a lot of spikes put on this island,' he says.
Amanda Stanley, “science program officer” for the Seattle-based Wilberforce Foundation, headed up to Prince Rupert a couple of weeks ago to check on one of her projects.
That would be the camp on Lelu Island where a splinter group of Tsimshian tribal members and supporters maintain an effort to blockade and disrupt testing required for an environmental permit application to construct a liquefied natural gas terminal.
Stanley tweeted a picture from the camp, looking past a Mohawk warrior flag at the coastline. “So inspired by these defenders of land, water and salmon,” she wrote.
Wilberforce, the California-based Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Hawaii-based Sustainable Fisheries Partnership and others have poured money into anti-LNG campaigns in B.C., as they funded opposition to oilsands development before them. Indeed, the record suggests the long project to establish what environmental front groups named the Great Bear Rainforest was a strategy to stop hydrocarbon exports from western Canada, even as U.S. sources ramped up production.
So what’s been going on at this “science program” on Lelu Island? Its own multi-media promotion material provides some glimpses, featuring sweeping allegations and efforts to block scientific evaluation with crude threats and intimidation.
A video series called “A Last Stand for Lelu” shows two self-styled warriors confronting drilling vessels. Their RCMP escort boat suggests these ships and habitat study crews had federal permits to conduct testing at the time.
[Watch video below.]
One man, identified as Donald Wesley Jr., walks the island with a rifle over his shoulder. Among his claims is that the drilling isn’t for testing, but is actually the start of construction on the Pacific Northwest LNG terminal, which still awaits a decision from the Trudeau cabinet.
Wesley says that since crews didn’t present permits to him personally, “they’re the radicals. They’re the extremists. They’re the terrorists.”
Then he describes his preparations.
“We have a lot of stuff on the island to keep [away] helicopters and drillers, the geotech drillers that want to come onto the island and start borehole testing,” he says. “We have a lot of spikes put on this island.”
OK, who’s the extremist?
The video series is co-produced by a fellow named Tamo Campos, identified as a representing “Beyond Boarding,” with a link to an expired website.
Campos came to prominence in B.C. protest circles during the recent oil pipeline standoff at Burnaby Mountain. He appeared with his grandfather David Suzuki and other well-known protesters in a carefully choreographed show of entering a court-ordered restraining zone and briefly being arrested.
Again, they were interfering with authorized scientific testing while attempting to create the impression for media of grassroots opposition.
Wesley, his father Donald Wesley Sr. and a supporter from Hartley Bay named Matthew Danes, claim to represent hereditary chiefs. In June, a dozen Tsimshian hereditary chiefs and elders issued a letter stating that Wesley Sr. “took it upon himself to occupy Lelu Island solely on his own accord” and doesn’t represent the community.
“We do not appreciate Mr. Wesley inviting environmental militants and outsiders into our territory without the respect and manners dictated by the protocols of our ayaawyx [laws],” they wrote.
The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office required Pacific Northwest LNG to consult with five aboriginal communities. The Metlakatla, Kitselas, Kitsumkalum and Gitxaala bands have benefit agreements for the project signed or in progress. The lone holdout, Lax Kw’alaams, elected a new council last fall that embraced the project with conditions.
And 40 Lax Kw’alaams students just graduated from pre-apprentice training sponsored by the provincial and federal governments and the UA Piping Industry College of B.C.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca Twitter: @tomfletcherbc
A LAST STAND FOR LELU - PART 7: Warriors from VoVo Productions on Vimeo.

BC VIEWS: Tree-spikers cling to Lelu Island


Who's behind Prince Rupert anti-LNG protest camp? A father, his son, and their U.S. foundation backers [WITH VIDEO]


Unionized workers at the Empress Hotel gave 72-hour notice of job action on Tuesday morning, right before the Labour Day long weekend.
The earliest a strike could begin is Thursday morning if a deal cannot be reached.
“The ‘new’ Empress has a dirty secret: the renovations have led to harm and stress on the people who work there,” Stu Shields with Unifor said in a statement.
He said staff are being forced to work overtime because they aren’t enough people on shift. Some have worked 60 days straight.
The hotel announced its renovation plans earlier this year, including in the popular Bengal Lounge.
“The renovations are incomplete if the staffing levels remain stuck in the past,” Shields said.
Uniform Local 4276 represents nearly 500 workers at the Empress, including those in housekeeping, groundskeeping, serving, engineering and guest relations.
More to come.

Empress Hotel workers give 72-hour strike notice


Workers could take job action as early as Thursday -- right before the Labour Day long weekend.


It may be sunny and hot outside but the ice is in and hockey is back.
The Victoria Royals held the first day of their main training camp for the 2016-17 season this morning at the Save On Foods Memorial Centre.
Head coach Dave Lowry and his staff were running drills on the ice through the morning. Familiar faces on the ice for the first session included goalie Griffen Outhouse and Jack Walker.
The Royals' first pre-season game will be September 2 in Kamloops against the Blazers with their first home pre-season game September 10 against the Vancouver Giants.
They kick off their season at home Friday, September 23 against the Prince George Cougars.

Victoria Royals back on the ice for training camp


The Victoria Royals held the first day of their main training camp for the 2016-17 Western Hockey League season


Prospective Pokemon trainers can officially download the mobile gaming sensation Pokemon Go in Canada as of Sunday afternoon.
The augmented-reality game launched in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Japan earlier this month.
But before Sunday, Canadians had to find workarounds to play the game north of the 49th parallel.
The game sends players into the real world to search for the mythical digital pocket monsters known as Pokemon, who appear onscreen when users hold up their smartphones in various locations at various times of the day.
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On Sunday afternoon, it was announced on the app's Twitter page that the game is available for download in Canada on Android and iOS devices.
But the app's servers overloaded in the hour after the announcement, and wannabe players had to wait a little longer before they could register an account.
The Canadian Press

Pokemon Go officially launches in Canada, virtual reality game crashes app's servers


Game that gets users out in real life with smartphones had required Canadians to find workarounds before Sunday


KINGSTON, Ont. â€” The Tragically Hip mixed fan favourites, newer songs and some politics on Saturday night during the final show of their "Man Machine Poem" tour.
Lead singer Gord Downie, who started the show wearing a metallic silver suit and hat with a "Jaws" T-shirt underneath, hugged and kissed his bandmates before they stepped on stage at the K-Rock Centre in the group's hometown of Kingston, Ont.
Minutes earlier, as the raucous sold-out crowd waited for the band to emerge, an impromptu rendition of O Canada broke out and a banner reading "Thank You Prime Minister Downie!" was passed around the arena.
The band immediately gave fans what they wanted to hear, starting their set with four straight hits from the classic album "Fully Completely:" opener "50 Mission Cap," followed by "Courage (for Hugh MacLennan)," "Wheat Kings" and "At the Hundredth Meridian."
The Hip then segued into their latest album "Man Machine Poem," with four tracks including the single "In a World Possessed by the Human Mind."
Before "Machine," Downie launched into one of his trademark onstage rants, calling out to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was in the crowd for the show. Trudeau's official photographer tweeted a photo of the prime minister and Downie embracing before the concert.
"Well, you know, prime minister Trudeau's got me, his work with First Nations. He's got everybody. He's going to take us where we need to go," Downie said from the stage.
"It's going to take us 100 years to figure out what the hell went on up there," he continued, "but it isn't cool and everybody knows that. It's really, really bad, but we're going to figure it out, you're going to figure it out."
Many anticipate this will be the band's final tour, given the recent news that Downie is battling terminal brain cancer.
Before performing the "Road Apples" song "Fiddler's Green," Downie seemed to reference the outpouring of support from fans in the wake of his diagnosis.
"Thank you, people, for keeping me pushing and keeping me pushing," he said, which prompted a "Gordie!" chant from the audience.
After playing 21 songs, Downie and his fellow bandmates â€” guitarists Rob Baker and Paul Langlois, bassist Gord Sinclair and drummer Johnny Fay â€” embraced and prepared to retire for a pre-encore break. Downie was left alone on stage to take in the roaring ovation.
After returning for a few more songs, Downie again spoke about his fondness for Trudeau.
"Thank you to the prime minister for coming to our show, it really means a lot to all of us," he said.
"We're in good hands, folks, real good hands. He cares about the people way up North, that we were trained our entire lives to ignore, trained our entire lives to hear not a word of what's going on up there. And what's going on up there ain't good. It's maybe worse than it's ever been, so it's not on the improve. (But) we're going to get it fixed and we got the guy to do it, to start, to help.
"Thank you everybody. Thanks for listening to that. Thanks for listening, period. Have a nice life."
David Friend, The Canadian Press

Downie calls out to Trudeau during Tragically Hip's final show of tour


Tragically Hip kick off tour's final show with fan favourites


Washington County Sheriff's deputies arrested a man in Afton Friday morning for an alleged assault.
Deputies responded to the 3200 block of St. Croix Trail South at approximately 6:45 a.m. after a caller said two women approached him and told him to call 911.
One of the women reportedly told the caller that the women were being held hostage, according to the dispatch call.
Deputies arrested an adult man after arriving to the scene in the downtown area of Afton.
The incident prompted a large police response because of initial dispatch information that the man had a firearm.
Commander Chéri Dexter, an investigator for the department, said the attorney's office is planning to file charges Monday.
The investigation is ongoing, she said.

Man arrested in Afton for possible hostage situation


Goodbody Stockbrokers is setting up a new investment banking division as it plots to win more business in the UK, where it has poached a senior executive from financial services group Canaccord Genuity.
The Irish brokerage, led by managing director Roy Barrett, set up a London office last year under a plan to move from being a local Irish broker to a sector specialist. The company has expanded its research coverage in recent years to include overseas companies in the gaming and leisure, construction materials, airlines and financial services sectors.
Its rival, Davy, has engaged in a similar strategy to lower its dependence on the Irish market as a series of companies have moved their main stock market listing to London from Dublin.
Under a plan communicated to staff on Tuesday, Goodbody has decided to merge its corporate finance and capital markets divisions into a new unit, called investment banking. This will be run by two co-heads, Stephen Donovan, currently head of capital markets, and Brian O’Kelly, head of corporate finance.
Goodbody has also hired Piers Coombs, currently head of Canaccord’s European equity capital markets, to take up a leading position by the end of the year in its London office as head of corporate business in the UK.
The appointment, together with the creation of an investment banking unit, is designed to position Goodbody to pitch for UK corporate brokerships and equity capital market mandates in future, Mr Barrett said.
A spokesman for Goodbody confirmed the contents of the email.
Recent transactions under Mr Coombs’ role at Canaccord include a £230 million (€270 million) equity raise by UK gambling software development company Playtech and online payments company Paysafe’s £450 million share sale last year.
Subsidiary
Meanwhile, Finbarr Griffin is set to become the new head of corporate finance at Goodbody. It is understood that Goodbody intends to wind up its incorporated subsidiary, Goodbody Corporate Finance, as the business is subsumed into the group.
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Following the overhaul, the group, which is 51 per cent owned by Kerry-based financial services group Fexco, will comprise three divisions: investment banking, wealth management and asset management.
The move comes a month after Mr Barrett told staff that there was no substance to industry speculation that Goodbody could be taken over by Investec.
Fexco acquired control of Goodbody in January 2011 from AIB, as the bank was selling off non-core assets in the wake of its Government bailout. At the time, Fexco took a 75 per cent stake, leaving staff and management at Goodbody with a 25 per cent holding. Staff and executives at the brokerage have since almost doubled their stake, after reaching incentive targets set at the time of the deal.

Goodbody plots UK market assault with new investment banking unit


Brokerage poaches Canaccord’s head of European equity capital markets, Piers Coombs


Software firm Datalex said its revenue and earnings grew in the first half of the year as the company continued to grow its business.
The company, which offers digital commerce and retail solutions for the travel industry, said its revenue rose 17 per cent to $24.4 million in the first six months of 2016, with platform revenue up 11 per cent to $11.8 million. Services revenue meanwhile grew by $2.5 million to $11.5 million as it deployed its products to more new customers and added new features for existing customers.
Profit after tax rose to $1.3 million, from $300,000 a year earlier.
Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose by 22 per cent to $4.6 million.
New deals
The company said the growth was driven by the contribution from US airline Jetblue, which went live last year, and a number of new Chinese carriers. During the six month period, the company extended its relationship with the Lufthansa Group of airlines, and began the deployment of its sixth customer in China. It also signed a deal with IBM to develop products in digital commerce and cognitive computing.
Operating costs rose 12 per cent to $23 million, driven mainly by a rise in costs for staff and contractors. Datalex is currently increasing its staff numbers, with plans to create 200 new positions by the end of next year.

Revenue at Datalex rises as tech firm expands business


Company has committed to creating 200 jobs by end of 2017


Crewlink Ireland, a company that provides cabin staff for Ryanair, returned to profit last year on the back of a sharp rise in turnover, recently-filed accounts show.
The firm, which says it has more than 5,000 crew members currently registered with the Irish airline, reported pre-tax profits of €64,159 in 2015 as against a €17,416 loss a year earlier.
Full-year turnover increased by nearly 27 per cent, from €55.1 million to €69.8 million. The company recorded an operating profit of €82,706 versus a €1,100 loss in the prior year.
Revenue attributed to geographic markets outside the Republic of Ireland amounted to just 1 per cent for the year, with the company reporting Irish-derived turnover of €69.3 million, up from €52.2 million in 2014. European revenues fell from €2.8 million to just €575,310.
Crewlink is based in the Southern Cross Business Park in Bray, Co Wicklow, and is owned by Frank Whelan and Judy Byrne by way of a company called Occam Management Ltd.
Recruitment days
The group, which holds regular recruitment days across Europe, offers six-week training courses that can cost up to €2,900 (excluding accommodation) with an option for costs to be deducted from employees’ salaries during the first year of employment.
During the year under review Crewlink had four administrative staff and an average of 3,107 staff under the category “other”. This marks an increase from 2,571 employees recorded a year earlier.
Employee-related costs totalled €67.5 million last year, up from €51.7 million in 2014. Wages and salaries totalled €58.2 million, and pension costs were €108,146. This compares with costs of €45.5 million and €83,706 respectively in the prior year.
Consolidated accounts for Occam Management for 2014 show a pre-tax profit of €493,122, up from €233,139 in 2013.
Although Crewlink describes itself as “the leading recruiter” for Ryanair, a second company, Dalmac, a company headquartered in Rush, Co Dublin, that is owned by Fingal Language Institute Ltd, refers to itself as “the official recruitment and training partner” for the airline.
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Fingal Language Institute, which is owned by Laura McCrudden and Ryan Moffat, had accumulated profits of €1.17 million in 2014.

Ryanair cabin staff supplier Crewlink returns to profit


Company back in the black after full-year turnover rises by nearly 27% to €69m


Lifeline, the private ambulance operator service owned by businessman David Hall, reported a €101,231 profit for the 12 months ending June 2015. This compares to a €436,412 loss the previous year, newly-filed abridged accounts show.
The company, recently involved in a high-profile court action involving employees, had net assets of €106,794, as against just €5,563 a year earlier.
Turnover rose to €4.3 million as against €4.1 million the year before, having halved between 2008 and 2014.
Established by David Hall in 1998, Lifeline is the largest private ambulance operator in the State with a fleet of 49 vehicles. Based in Leixlip, Co Kildare, the company employs 66 people.
Mr Hall is also founder of the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation (IMHO), which last year helped over 2,500 people to come to an arrangement with lenders over their debts.
HSE contract
Lifeline has a framework agreement with the Health Services Executive (HSE) through a service level contract for patient transport services. However, the company has previously taken legal proceedings against the HSE for alleged breaches of the agreement and Mr Hall told The Irish Times that additional proceedings were currently “on hold”.
Mr Hall said the return to profitability was partly due to better compliance with the Lifeline contract by the HSE.
“We won the tender to be the number-one provider nationally and that contract hasn’t been adhered too and, while it is not being fully complied with, there has been an improvement. If we don’t see further improvement though we will end up back in court,” he said.
“The need to injunct the HSE to comply with the contract is currently under review, as is seeking to recover monies not given under it, which were given to third parties.”
Mr Hall added that the turnaround was also due to him being back at the helm again. “I’m back running Lifeline again after being more focused on the mortgage stuff over the last couple of years, “ he said. “There has been a restructuring of the company and a better focus on how it is being run that has involved us looking at our cost base and so on.”
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Mr Hall and his wife Susan Wiseman Hall are listed as directors of Lifeline. Directors’ emoluments for the year ending June 2015 totalled €209,966, down from €217,817 a year earlier.
The accounts show Mr Hall previously provided a guarantee to the value of €377,000 for the company’s banking facilities.
Lifeline operates from a premises owned by Mr Hall, paying him rent in the year to the end of June 2015 of €116,379.
Future viability
The latest set of accounts said restrictive practices in the sector, the state of the economy and a decline in the number of people with private health cover were all concerns that threatened the viability of the company.
However, Mr Hall said that conditions generally had improved over the last year. “All health-related businesses were under pressure for a long time and I wasn’t around. I expect the 2016 accounts will post a higher profit than the 2015 ones. I’m back doing what I think I do well, which is running the business and we’ve acquired an additional 10 ambulances this calendar year and taken on 17 extra staff in the last number of months, so things are going the right way,” he said.
Two managers at Lifeline recently became the first employees in Ireland to win court protection under newly introduced whistleblower legislation.
The Circuit Court ruled late last month that Mick Dougan and Seán Clarke, who were made redundant after accusing Mr Hall of “serious wrongdoing” in a disclosure to the Revenue Commissioners, should continue to be paid until their unfair dismissal case is heard.
The men claimed in affidavits opened in court, that staff were paid mileage expenses in place of taxable pay and alleged they were subjected to bullying and harassment.

David Hall-owned ambulance service Lifeline back in rude health


Private ambulance operator service reports a €101,231 profit for year ending June 2015


Knight Frank is guiding €4 million for a period building and site in Ballsbridge with permission for a conversion into 12 apartments.
The property at 19 Pembroke Road in Dublin 4 is three-storey over basement with 853sq m (9,181sq ft) and was constructed circa 1830. Many of its original features are intact.
It is located on a site of 0.34 acres with mature gardens to the rear and off-street car-parking to the front for 15 cars.
At present the property is laid out in 11 apartments and three office units, and is being sold with vacant possession.
There is planning permission, granted in May, to refurbish the main building, demolish the side extension and construct 701sq m (7,545sq ft) of new accommodation. All of this would provide 12 apartments (10 two-beds, one one-bed and one one-bed plus study unit).
The site is zoned Z2 in the Dublin City Development Plan 2011-2017 to “protect and/or improve the amenities of residential conservation areas”. It is situated on the southern side of Pembroke Road between Wellington Road and Waterloo Road.
Ballsbridge village is within 700 metres while St Stephen’s Green is 1km away. Furthermore, Charlemont Luas stop is within 1.2km while the Dart at Lansdowne Road Station is 1km away.
Knight Frank says the property allows an incoming purchaser to either obtain instant rent roll through the letting of the existing accommodation or to enact the planning grant to provide top quality accommodation in this “high-end residential location”.

Ballsbridge mixed-use period building and site for €4m


Incoming purchaser has option of converting three-storey property into 12 apartments