The party’s over, but there won’t be a hangover March 3, 2010
Posted by admin in : Fernie , add a commentAn Olympic hangover can last for years, if not generations. Just ask some other host cities and countries.
Beijing’s half-billion-dollar Birds Nest, the spaceship-like stadium at the centre of the 2008 Olympics, has yet to find a real use. It’s now serving as a winter amusement park. They might make it into a mall.
Athens’ 2004 Games left a crippling debt, the tipping point that pushed Greece into its current financial crisis. Its billion-dollar venues are hardly used.
In 2000, Sydney held one of the best Olympics ever. But when the party was over, they found there was little use for the stadium and that there was a billion-dollar-plus debt, too.
Let’s not forget Montreal, host of the 1976 Games that left the city in a debt that took a quarter of a century to pay down.
They still don’t know how to make money out of the Olympic Stadium — the Big Owe.
A common thread in all the examples above is these were cities that held the Summer Olympics, a truly mega event that often spins its way into financial disaster.
For a while Vancouver’s business leaders considered hosting a Summer Games, too, in conjunction with Seattle.
Luckily, some perspective prevailed. We bid for the other Olympics, the Winter Games, which are smaller and carry much less financial risk.
In fact, it’s starting to look like the 2010 Games just might offer up a new model for holding a Games, proving a Winter Olympics can be an economic catalyst.
We’ll have to wait years to measure what the precise spinoffs of these Games are. In the meantime, we now have to face some sobering economic news in the provincial budget today. Deep cuts are expected to be part of the plan to rebalance the provincial government’s deficit spending.
But what seems clear is there won’t be any serious Olympic hangover in economic terms. Instead, these Games have set a new standard — with limited construction cost over-runs contained early on — on how to leverage the Winter Olympics as an urban development model for a mid-size city, as Vancouver is.
Most Olympic host cities and countries expend most of their energy on winning a bid, building costly venues and then holding the Games.
Much less attention has usually gone into the so-called legacy of an Olympics.
But Vancouver’s Olympic Organizing Committee, and the provincial government, spent energy on the legacy question from the start, seeing the Games as a catalyst for public infrastructure projects and policy initiatives that will endure.
We’ve got the Canada Line, built on time and ahead of schedule. Linking Richmond, Vancouver and the International Airport, it is as significant as the SkyTrains that were built for Expo 86 that helped shape Metro Vancouver’s growth.
There’s the Sea to Sky Highway, creating a safer and faster highway from Whistler to Vancouver.
Whistler may be a well-known resort, but it has never had the publicity it has received during these Olympics.
Once the financial woes of Intrawest are sorted out, the highway is likely to bring about another boost in tourism and more resort development along the corridor.
The $900-million Vancouver Convention Centre, once a controversy for coming in at double its budget, is now clearly an anchor for Vancouver’s convention trade.
Thanks to the Olympics, any question about Vancouver being able to host a major event, where tens of thousands of conventioneers come to town, has been laid to rest.
What we don’t appear to have are any white elephants. Even the $178-million Richmond oval, which was about $100 million more than first forecast, is seen as a community centre and new riverfront focus for future development.
Finally, the Olympics have given first nations unprecedented profile in modern British Columbia.
One thousand people an hour moved through their pavilion. They have taken a key role in all official aspects of the Games and their message is clear: first nations are now woven into the future economic development of British Columbia and, more importantly, most of those aboriginal leaders are keen to do business.
Winter Games have historically been seen as the tiny Olympics.
Vancouver has shown that, in fact, they can be huge.
By Miro Cernetig
mcernetig@vancouversun.com
Bail Your MLA out of Jail Fundraiser February 23, 2010
Posted by admin in : Fernie , add a commentOur MLA Bill Bennett has volunteered to be a “MOST WANTED” for the Fernie Rotary Club’s Jail ‘n Bail fundraising project with proceeds going to the Fernie Food Bank. Bill will be arrested during Griz Days in Fernie, March 5 – 7th, and his bail has been posted at $5,000!
Your support of Bill’s efforts to set a new MOST WANTED fundraising record of $5,000 for the Fernie Rotary Club’s community projects will be most welcome!
To make a pledge to help bail Kootenay Bill out of jail and to contribute to a very worthwhile community initiative, contact our constituency office in Cranbrook at 250-417-6022 or reply to this email at jennifer.osmar@leg.bc.ca.
Cheques are made payable to the Fernie Rotary Foundation and should be mailed or dropped off to the Constituency office address below. Charitable receipts will be issued for donations of $20 or more. Our deadline for donations is March 4th, 2010.
HST Best Thing Since Powder Sking January 18, 2010
Posted by admin in : Fernie , add a commentGood public policy often does not make for good politics. Such is the case with the forthcoming introduction of the new harmonized sales tax. Since the joint federal-provincial announcement last summer, much of the debate has focused on “political hay”, rather than on the “public policy” merits of the measure.
The HST is the best public policy initiative that the federal and provincial governments can take to improve the position of Northern British Columbia’s resource-based export industries. Here’s why.
By removing the PST now paid on business inputs, most sectors of the economy will become more competitive. Approximately 40 per cent of the PST is paid by businesses on goods and services which they purchase to run their operations - machinery, equipment, office supplies, furniture, energy, legal services, among many others. With the removal of the PST, businesses will be able to invest, grow, and create well-paid family-supporting jobs.
The paperwork burden associated with the administration of the two tax regimes (PST and GST) will decline. Currently, there are duplicate sets of tax rules, administrative authorities, and compliance requirements. Estimates place these savings at $150 million per year.
Many products will decline in price once the HST is fully implemented. Most businesses will receive a 12 per cent credit on the HST they pay. In a competitive market, these savings will flow to consumers as price reductions.
On a sector basis, the B.C. Ministry of Finance estimates $880 million in savings for construction, $210 million for transportation, $140 million for manufacturing, $140 million for forestry, and $80 million for mining and oil and gas per year. These industries form the backbone of the northern resource-based economy.
There is a lengthy list of exemptions from the HST including medical and dental services; child care services; long-term residential care; residential rent; legal aid services; most educational services; groceries; prescription drugs; medical and assistive devices; agricultural and fishing products; and, most financial services. Rebates will apply to municipalities, charities and non-profits, and new housing (new houses will be HST exempt up to $400,000 while homes over $400,000 will be eligible for a $20,000 HST rebate).
B.C. joins other provinces - except Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Prince Edward Island - who have an HST. On policy alignment grounds alone, B.C. has little choice but to follow suit, especially with Ontario’s adoption of the HST.
The provincial government will benefit from a $1.6 billion one-time payment which can be used to trim the provincial deficit and maintain hard-won gains in the province’s overall personal and business tax competitiveness and fiscal position.
While the TD Bank published a study in September suggesting prices will increase by 0.7 per cent across the board, another study on the experience in Atlantic Canada suggests that consumer prices, with few exceptions, fell by 0.8 - 0.9 per cent following the HST. At the same time, with the HST in place, annual investment in machinery and equipment rose 12.2 per cent above trend levels in Atlantic Canada.
It is not a stretch to say that the new HST is a “game changer” for British Columbia’s productivity and competitiveness.
Moving to an HST will reduce B.C.’s marginal effective tax rates on new business investment from 26.4 per cent to 15.7 per cent or a reduction of nearly 41 per cent.
British Columbia at 15.7 per cent will be more competitive than Alberta (16.6 per cent), the Canadian average (16.1per cent), United States average (34.4 per cent) and the average of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (21.9 per cent).
It is important to acknowledge that some service sectors - notably tourism and restaurants - may experience transitional challenges as the HST is implemented. There is a legitimate concern over “sticker shock” with the HST’s introduction, and the federal and provincial governments should find ways to ameliorate short-term impacts.
B.C. has emerged this decade as a highly tax competitive jurisdiction.
Improvements to the corporate income tax rate, the scheduled elimination of the small business income tax rate by 2012, the elimination of the capital tax, and significant reductions in personal income tax rates are making B.C. a more attractive place to invest, work, and live.
The move to an HST continues B.C.’s march from laggard to leader in tax competitiveness which will shore up the long-term prospects of our resource-based export industries.
More investment, more jobs, and a better standard of living for Northern British Columbians! Isn’t that something we can all get behind?
By Tim McEwan , Prince George Citizen
Federal Provincal Partnership In Elk VAlley November 24, 2009
Posted by admin in : Fernie , add a commentResidents from Fernie and Sparwood will benefit from federal and provincial infrastructure funding with a $7 million upgrade to Highway 3, announced today by Kootenay-Columbia MP Jim Abbott and Kootenay East MLA Bill Bennett. This project is just one example of both governments’ commitment to stimulating the British Columbia economy through the creation of jobs in our communities.
This project will create local jobs to construct passing lanes on Highway 3 in both directions between Hosmer and Olsen, improving time, safety, and convenience of drivers.
“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, our Government is getting shovels in the ground and flowing money faster to stimulate the economy and create jobs for British Columbians,” said Kootenay-Columbia MP Jim Abbott. “Working together with all levels of government, we can build the infrastructure that will help the economy to thrive now and in the future.”
“By adding passing lanes in this area of Highway 3, the many people who commute between Fernie and Sparwood-Elkford, will have a safe option to pass slower traffic,” said Kootenay East MLA Bill Bennett. “Residents of the Elk Valley have been asking for this for awhile as east-west traffic on Highway 3 has grown tremendously. It is gratifying to once again work jointly and constructively with MP Jim Abbott on getting this done for the benefit of all our constituents in the Elk Valley.”
The government of Canada will invest $3.5 million and British Columbia will contribute $3.5 million to invest up to $7 million in the project.
This project is one of 27 across the province that will break ground thanks to close to $180 million in joint federal and provincial funding. The Governments of Canada and British Columbia have taken steps to get shovels in the ground and to flow money faster for targeted infrastructure projects starting in the 2009 construction season.
The projects are funded under the Province’s three-year, $14-billion capital infrastructure program, which will create up to 88,000 jobs and help build vital public infrastructure in every region of B.C. To date, over $4.1 billion has already been announced for projects across British Columbia, which will create an estimated 26,000 jobs.
Harmonized Tax is Avenue to Provincial Trade October 21, 2009
Posted by admin in : Fernie , add a commentMuch has been said about sales tax harmonization in Canada. In each of the provinces where a provincial sales tax continues to exist, separate and apart from the goods and services tax, business groups and governments continue to review the merits of harmonization. But despite the similarities of those discussions, our voices remain distinctly regional, without recognizing the opportunity harmonization presents to stimulate the Canadian economy from coast to coast to coast.
That changed when chambers of commerce and boards of trade from across the country resoundingly endorsed sales tax harmonization at the recent Canadian Chamber of Commerce annual general meeting, encouraging the federal government to bring all remaining provinces on board.
The merits of harmonization have been well documented. The production side of the economy becomes virtually sales tax free when provincial sales taxes on business inputs join GST as qualifying for rebates. This lower cost of operating will encourage more firms to reinvest in their operations, increasing their productivity, creating more jobs, raising Canadians’ standard of living, and in many cases, rivaling their competitors by using savings to generate lower prices on their products and services. In a harmonized environment, business investment becomes more attractive, luring more domestic and international investors. On the collection side, businesses further save costs and time as they only need to collect one tax for government, not two. Remittances and audits become simpler. Governments also benefit from the simplification of tax collection.
In addition to all those well known arguments, though, one has been overlooked. Sales tax harmonization will, if applied across this vast country of ours, break down what is one of the many obstacles we have erected to doing business with each other.
It’s not often that an issue unifies us from sea to sea to sea. Ironically, this summer, another barrier to business has done just that. The “Buy American” clause imposed by the U.S. Congress has succeeded in uniting communities across Canada, and in fact voices from all walks of life, in a chorus of words against protectionism. This is just the latest effort, in fact, to reduce barriers at our border with our largest trading partner, the United States. For decades, Canadian groups, including many Chambers of Commerce, have studied the barriers, quantified the loss to our collective economies, sent letters and delegations, and lobbied vigorously with great support across Canada.
Canadians rail against any barriers imposed by the U.S. on trade between our two countries. And yet, in our own backyard, self-imposed barriers receive very little scrutiny. Sales tax harmonization will remove a significant obstacle to trade from one province to the next.
A single sales tax provides a chance to standardize the taxes applied to all goods and services, regardless of their size and shape; to treat consumers, no matter their purchase, the same; to consolidate the collection and auditing of a major source of tax revenue in the hands of one level of government, instead of a dozen; to simplify our tax policies so that a garment company from Ontario can sell its product to a retail chain in British Columbia within the same set of rules.
It’s an opportunity to get our own house in order.
Ontario and British Columbia have followed the leads of Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland, despite great opposition. Manitoba, Saskatchewan and P.E.I., where provincial sales taxes are applied, have an opportunity to follow.
It’s time we stopped talking about sales tax harmonization as if it were a matter merely of provincial interest, and started talking about it as an issue of national interest. And perhaps the same level of passion that’s applied to the fight against “Buy American,” could be applied to breaking down trade barriers in our own country so that we all find it easier to buy Canadian.
Len Crispino is president and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.
John Winter is president and CEO of the BC Chamber of Commerce.
Ogilvie explains Jumbo vote August 18, 2009
Posted by admin in : Fernie , add a commentKimberley Mayor Jim Ogilvie was one of the RDEK directors who voted yes to the motion to ask the province to designate Jumbo a resort municipality. Reaction to the controversial decision, both pro and con, has been fast and furious.
Ogilvie, who voted no on a similar resolution three years ago, explained the thought process that led him to changing the vote this time. “I’m looking at it from a point of view of fairness and jobs,” Ogilvie said. “The proponent has been in this process for a long, long time. 18 years. “He’s been told all along to do certain studies, which he’s done. The project has been endorsed by four different premiers.
“It has gone through just about every review imaginable, and a very strenuous environmental assessment. All of this work was handled through the province. The province has had control of this project.” Ogilvie also said that the jobs created cannot be discounted. “Our local economy was at one time resource based, but given the present state of the forest industry and construction industry, this is a good opportunity to put people back to work. We have to have taxes to pay for schools and highways.
“We are talking about a major international resort. We have to look at it as making the airport project viable.” Ogilvie also believes that rather than hurting Kimberley’s ski hill by pulling people away, Jumbo will help it. “If more people travel through our airport to go to the Jumbo resort then we have a better chance of latching on to them. Certainly a better chance than if they come in from the north and drive right past three or four other ski hills. “Plus Jumbo will be a different demographic than Kimberley Alpine Resort.”
Ogilvie also says that people have to remember that Jumbo is not a pristine wilderness area. “There are people in that area all the time. And the grizzly bear argument, well St. Mary’s Alpine, the south country, Elk Valley and White Swan, those are where the major grizzly populations are, not at the Jumbo glacier.”
Anti-HST voices off-key August 17, 2009
Posted by admin in : Fernie , add a commentThe opposition overture to Gordon Campbell’s Harmonized Sales Tax can be best described as discordant.
In spite of being out of tune - and equally out of touch - the usual bleaters have the volume fully cranked. In order of appearance, the NDP, in full uninformed voice, is literally drooling at the hope of seeing the HST do in Gordon Campbell’s Liberals the way the GST did in Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservatives.
Next in line the pundits, particularly those who flog fact-free opinion pieces as real reporting. They’re having a heyday predicting economic disaster and an absolute rout of the Liberals in the next provincial election.
On the other side and singing in tune with the harmonized tax, the Business Council of British Columbia, the CD Howe Institute, the B.C. Progress Board and the B.C. Forest industry. If you’re betting on the long-term HST review, go with the experts. The NDP and the Chicken-Little sky-is-falling press have been wrong too many times to be convincing.
On the HST, the Business Council says, “For anyone keen to see a more productive and globally competitive BC economy, this is welcome news.”
Analysts Ben Dachis and Alexandre Laurin of the CD Howe Institute say, “British Columbia has taken a step towards greater prosperity for its citizens with plans to harmonize its seven-per-cent PST with the federal goods and services tax.” The CD Howe analysts go on to say, “PST is an antiquated tax in today’s world of complex supply chains.”
So why the uproar? Like any new tax, the HST is seen as a grab. By way of a quick trip down memory lane, look at our experience with the GST. In spite of the fact that it replaced a 13.5 per-cent manufacturer’s sales tax, the seven-per-cent GST was seen as government-on-the-take when it was introduced in 1991. GST was a good idea with bad optics. The manufacturers sales tax was hidden and embedded in the product price, the GST was not. Consumers seem more adverse to tax transparency than to the actual amount they pay.
HST is not a tax grab, rather it’s a tax shift and on balance a beneficial one at that. Currently, BC businesses pay provincial sales tax on purchases made to operate their business. The Business Council says PST represents additional costs of $2 billion annually. Adoption of the HST would eliminate those PST charges as the province harmonized with the GST rebate base.
Andrew Sharpe, an analyst consulting to the BC Progress Board said, “Harmonizing the PST with the federal GST would do more to stimulate investment in the province than the complete abolition of the corporate income tax.”
All of the above is a snapshot of the business case to be made in favour of a harmonized sales tax. I could fill this page if I used the press release material from the various business-interest groups in support of the HST.
As well, CNC economics instructor Al Idiens offered an upbeat and accurate explanation of the change to HST in a July 27 Citizen story.
So where are the politicians, and in particular Premier Campbell in the HST debate? To date we’ve seen a Pat Bell comment and finance minister Colin Hansen has responded on a few occasions to the press.
On the other side, NDP supporter and political consultant Bill Tieleman has put a NO BC HST Facebook group in place and gathered 50,000 signatures. I’ve worked with Tielemen - on a different issue - and he’s good. The NDP have a petition out and at as of last week had 17,000 signatures opposing the HST.
Yet Gordon Campbell seems to be missing in action, in spite of the fact that his constituency, the B.C. business community, is largely on side with the tax transition to an HST. If HST is such a positive economic step, and all the evidence says it is, then why is he avoiding the issue?
He’s ducking the HST debate because there’s nothing in the fight for him. In all likelihood, Campbell will not be around for the next provincial election in 2013. Plus, once the harmonization tax package with Ottawa is signed, the HST omelette will be impossible to unscramble.
A year from now, HST will be in place. Two years from now, no one will remember the summer of our HST discontent and in the election of 2013, with two new provincial leaders in place it will be all but forgotten.
Still, if Gordon Campbell is so in favour of his harmonization plan, and it is a change whose time has come, it would be nice to see him join the choir.
Bruce Strachan is a former B.C. cabinet minister and Prince George city councillor. His column appears Thursdays. E-mail: brucestrachan1@shaw.ca
East Kootenay Forest Roads Benefit April 14, 2009
Posted by admin in : Fernie , add a commentEast Kootenay residents will benefit from $270,300 to improve
travel and safety conditions on several Forest Service roads (FSRs),
Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell, Community Development Minister
Kevin Krueger and Tourism, Culture and the Arts Minister Bill Bennett
announced today.
“These Forest Service road improvements will provide important
access to extensive recreation opportunities for British Columbians,”
said Bennett. “As an important draw for tourists who covet B.C.’s
backcountry, it’s critical to the local tourism economy that these
extensive roads are maintained.”
The maintenance will occur over approximately 356 kilometres of
Forest Service roads and the works include brushing, ditching, surface
grading and packing.
Gray Creek, Redding Creek, and St. Mary’s Lake FSRs provide a
more direct, but rugged, link between Kootenay Lake and Kimberley. Pilot
Bay FSR provides access from Highway 3A to Pilot Point Provincial Park,
on the shores of Kootenay Lake.
The Bugaboo and Spillimacheen North FSRs, near Spillimacheen on
the Columbia River, provide access to rural residences and numerous
recreation sites, including Bugaboo Provincial Park. The Horsethief and
Horsethief-Forster FSRs, near Radium, provide access to numerous
recreation sites.
The Findlay and Whitetail Lake FSR, west of Canal Flats, provide
access to a children’s camp and recreation sites. The Whiteswan Lake and
Lussier FSRs, east of Canal Flats, provide access to Whiteswan Lake
Provincial Park, Lussier Hot Springs and Top of the World Provincial
Park. The Bull River and Galbraith Creek FSRs, east of Cranbrook,
provide access to various recreation sites.
“We want to ensure that crucial Forest Service Roads that connect
rural communities, as well as parks and recreation areas, receive the
maintenance needed to keep those communities accessible,” said Bell.
“Communities in the Kootenays have told this government they value
the economic and social opportunities that come from having a stronger
road network. We listened and we are taking action to strengthen the
connection between isolated communities and city centres,” said Krueger.
“Whether it’s accessing health care, exploring new mineral opportunities
or opening new regions to tourism, the benefits of this investment will
strengthen the region as a whole.”
British Columbia’s 55,000-kilometre network of Forest Service
roads is bigger than the provincial highway system. As first announced
by Premier Campbell at the 2008 Union of B.C. Municipalities convention,
the Ministry of Forests and Range is providing $20 million to improve
travel conditions on Forest Service roads that serve as crucial
transportation links to rural communities and recreation sites. The
Province of British Columbia and the Government of Canada committed on
April 7, 2009 to a further $20 million in shared funding for additional
Forest Service road upgrades that will be announced in the coming
months.
New road maintenance funding is the latest in a series of
initiatives to improve safety on Forest Service roads, which include the
establishment of radio protocols, speed enforcement through expanded use
of radar guns, and the expansion of the Vehicle Identification Plates
Program.
The Political Question of Wages March 19, 2009
Posted by admin in : Fernie , add a commentCarole James used her weekend provincial council to once again promote her
policies on minimum wage. The problem is that she continues to only tell
half the story.
* The fact is, our plan based on low taxes, high job creation and programs
to help our most vulnerable has actually created nearly 375,000 new jobs and
record-low unemployment rates for everyone including youth. Meanwhile, her
scheme would put tens of thousands of people out of work and crush small
business under new costs. Here are the facts:
* The average wage in B.C. today is over $22 an hour — the third highest in
Canada and two-and-a-half times the minimum wage. The average youth wage is
over $13 an hour, one-and-a-half times the minimum wage.
* According to StatsCan, the number of people earning minimum wage is
actually decreasing — from 6% in 2001 to 2.7% in 2008, the second lowest
proportion in Canada. Nearly two-thirds of those individuals today are under
the age of 25, and a very large number of those individuals attend school as
well as work.
* Recent research suggests a 25% increase to minimum wage as Carole James
suggests could cost small business $450 million a year and result in the
loss of up to 50,000 jobs at a time when our workers need more jobs, not
less.
* Finally, Carole James conveniently forgets that she voted against tax
relief and new programs that actually give money BACK to our lowest income
families, including:
- Multiple reductions to personal income taxes, making them the lowest in
B.C. for everyone earning up to $116,000, with 250,000 of the lowest income
earners now paying no income taxes at all. For a family of four earning
$30,000 a year, that’s nearly $1,000 a year in savings.
- Changes to MSP premiums now means that 215,000 families have their
premiums reduced from 2001 levels, and Fair Pharmacare lowered costs for
280,000 people, saving lower-income families hundreds of dollars a year.
- The new Rental Supplement Program is giving rental subsidies to over 7,700
families of up to $765 a month for a lower-income family of four (nearly
$9,200 a year) — a program that the NDP rejected as “a gift to landlords.”
- Enhancements to programs such as the childcare subsidy, where a single
parent of two kids under age 6 earning up to $38,000 a year will see their
annual subsidy double to over $14,200 a year (a nearly $7,000 a year
increase)
The bottom line — Carole James’s plan will undo all of our progress that
has actually put MORE money into people’s pockets, while also putting
unsustainable new costs on small business that will kill jobs. That’s simply
reckless and irresponsible.
K-12 Education March 10, 2009
Posted by admin in : Fernie , 1 comment so farLet me make one thing clear: “I like and respect teachers!” I have a brother and sister-in law who are teachers. I was a substitute teacher during university and enrolled in McArthur Teachers College before choosing to work in the fishing lodge industry full time. My comments here are not critical of good teachers who are worth their weight in gold, but of their militant, partisan union.
The BCTF has been shovelling its member’s money off the back of a truck for several weeks now, saying we don’t care about children or education. They hope to influence the provincial election in May and frankly they seem to subscribe to the old saying that if you repeat a lie often enough, some people will believe it. So, with no disrespect to hard working teachers, here are some facts:
• B.C. has the highest budget ever [$5.68 billion].
• K – 12 education budget has increased by nearly $1.2 billion - 23%.
• We’ve invested $3.1 billion in renovations, maintenance and new schools.
• Our legislation states that the maximum class size for kindergarten is 22 students; for Grades 1-3 is 24 students; Grades 4-7 classes with more than 30 students require the consent of the teacher; and Grades 8-12 classes with more than 30 students require consultation with the teacher.
• All 60 school districts in B.C. have complied with class size legislation and government will continue to monitor class sizes throughout the province and work with parents, students, teachers and school districts to ensure balanced class size and composition.
• 95% of B.C. classrooms have 30 or fewer students.
• 99% of B.C. classrooms have 32 or fewer students.
• The number of classes in B.C. with more than 30 students has decreased by nearly 64%.
• Enrolment has declined by about 50,000 students.
• Yes, some schools have closed because it makes more sense to spend education dollars on students in the classroom than on keeping half empty schools open.
• I helped get the Sparwood high school replaced and I will help get Mount Baker in Cranbrook replaced.
The system is not perfect and will always need improvement. We are making progress, but the continued partisan, biased propaganda of the BCTF does not help students