Cyclists Are People Too!

My husband has been a cyclist for a number of years. He, like many others started cycling for his own reasons but in his endeavour to become fit, he has experienced a lot of hateful people on the road and on paths. He has even been hit by a car.  

He began cycling for physical rehabilitation. He has disc degeneration in his lower spine. For six years, the only way doctors dealt with it was to put him on various types of addictive pain killers and nerve drugs. He was even told by one neurologist that every day he woke up still walking would be the best day of rest of his life. Finally, he received spinal surgery that did work to some degree but not 100%. He's off all the drugs which is nice and now he cycles to make sure he doesn't suffer the same pain as before. He now, however suffers something different. As a cyclist, he's treated like a non-person and we don't understand why.

To be clear, my husband and I are not avid cyclists that insist everyone should get on a bicycle, that cars are not required, that cycling is more environmental and so forth. If you chose to cycle, go for it, we'll even help you. If you don't, that's cool too. The choice is yours.  Just please respect those who choose it as their mode of transportation or method to get healthier or what-have-you.

It's not just drivers that treat my husband like a non-person, it's also police. When he was hit by the car, my husband was riding legally. He was stopped at a red light and when it went green, he was riding straight through. A car turning left turned directly into him. He was wearing bright orange and white and he's 6'2” tall. How do you miss that? Off his bike he kind of stands out. Anyway, my husband was stupid and didn't let me call an ambulance, instead having me bring him to the Urgent Care Centre.  When we got to the Urgent Care Centre, they didn't take his injuries too seriously. They gave him a muscle relaxant and sent us on our way. When we reported this incident to the police, they brushed him off and asked “well really, how much damage could have been done?”

Okay, my first problem with this is, my husband was hit by a car. If a pedestrian were hit by a car, this would have been taken a little more seriously but he's a cyclist so they went straight to potential damage. Second, the wheel on his commuting bike is $300. That'll give you an idea of how much the bike is worth. I don't even want to get into the cost of his road bike. SO, why was he brushed off? Oh right, because for some reason cyclists aren't taken seriously and a bicycle, any bicycle no matter how much they're worth are considered worthless. Bikes range from the $120 you can get anywhere to the high end built to specifications $10,000+ that you have to special order and both ends of the spectrum are treated the same. That's not right. The insurance company that has to replace the bike might have something to say about that.

In Chestermere, I had two separate incidents at two separate times. The first one was on a nice sunny day. I was wearing a white helmet and a white and light blue jersey. A woman driving a minivan hit me with her passenger side mirror and sent me flying into the ditch. When my husband caught up to her and banged on her window, she was startled but opened it. He asked her what she had against me and she didn't know what he was talking about. She had no idea she clipped me. I was fine but still, my heart was going about 300 bpm. I know, I was wearing a heart monitor. Do people have a blind spot for cyclists?

The second incident was less dramatic. Riding through Chestermere again, I maintained 30km/h. I was in the playground zone and a line of cars decided to pass me, that is until the cop following the line put on his lights and the cop off to the side put on his lights. They let me continue on but the line of cars, the entire line that passed me had to stop. From what I understand, they were ticketed for speeding and passing in a playground zone. The reason I know that is because I was with three other cyclists and one of the people following heard what was going on as they caught up to me.

A friend of my husband had a couple of incidents of his own. One day, after work he went to get on his bike to head home. Like my husband’s, his bike is a decent bike, not a bike-shaped object, and someone had changed out all of his good components for cheap ones. The only thing he had to say was the thieves were at least polite enough to leave him his ride home. A few weeks later he was in a bike lane on 10th Street and a car came into the bike lane and he jumped off his bike just in time to watch his front wheel end up under the car. The driver stopped and said “oh, I didn't see you. I was trying to cut off the bike behind you.” The cyclist phoned 911 but they didn't take him seriously because he was only a cyclist and wasn't hurt.

In England, a woman hit a cyclist then bragged about it on twitter. Her tweet read “Definitely knocked a cyclist off earlier - I have right of way he doesn't even pay road tax! #bloodycyclists. ” I don't know what the laws are in England so I can only reference from what I know here.  Cyclists have the right to be on most roads. Deerfoot Trail, I believe is the only road bicycles aren't permitted. What made this woman think she's so special that she could not only hit and run but tweet about it and move forward with her day?  To watch her subsequent interview, she's more sorry about the tweet than about hitting the cyclist. I get the impression she'd take the tweet back more because her career suffered damage, not because she hit a person with her car and left the scene. If she didn't leave, this tweet wouldn't be half as bad. Have your opinion, dislike whoever you want, but a hit and run then saying something like this makes the hit appear deliberate.

I can go on and on about accidents involving cyclists all over the place but there is another article that makes their own points and it's a good read. This article also talks about how police don't take cyclists seriously or even justify crimes against cyclists.  Take a read, it’s worth it.

Sending a Message - What do drivers learn from bicycle accidents?

A couple of the arguments I've heard against cyclists is that they pay no taxes or insurance. These are easy arguments to debunk, at least from my husband's perspective and many others as well. We own two vehicles and two properties. Oh ya, and he works and owns a business. That's a lot of taxes and insurance that he pays. Next!

There are arguments that bikes need to decide whether they are vehicles or not. According to Alberta Transportation, a bicycle that is being ridden is a vehicle. A cyclist must follow the rules of the road like drivers of other vehicles. A bike should never be ridden on the sidewalk. It's not legal unless the person is 14 or under. Do you know how many times a “cyclist” has tried to mow me down when I'm on a sidewalk? I'm not talking the double wide sidewalks but a regular sidewalk. I don't care if kids are on sidewalks, I mean adults that should know better and the best part is, they get angry at me and really, it's in the name, sideWALK.  Cyclists are guilty for deciding if they’re vehicles or not as well, so read the rules.  On the road, bicycles are vehicles.  Be predictable, responsible and respectful.

Also, there are some bike paths next to roads and there are some good points and not so good points to these. The speed limit on a bike path is 20 km/h. I know cyclists that maintain 25km/h and above. That means they'd be speeding on the path and for this, one can get a ticket. The road is more appropriate for these cyclists. So then why do drivers yell at cyclists to get on the sidewalk or bike path when the cyclist is appropriately on the road?

Pedestrians need to respect the paths as well. There are some dedicated paths for walkers and joggers and some marked for bikes. A cyclist can get ticketed for riding on the dedicated walking path but walkers and joggers don't get ticketed for walking on the cycling path. This is a double standard that needs to be fixed. Either these paths are dedicated or they're not and ticketing just cyclists is discrimination.  It would be like ticketing only Mustang drivers because to buy that car means you obviously speed.  Not only that, it's as rude to walk on the dedicated bicycle path as it is to cycle on the walking path. Multi-use paths, well we all have to get along. Even when I ride on those I get frustrated then think to myself “suck it up Buttercup, you chose this route!” (Don't any of you call me Buttercup or it's on!)

Alberta Transportation - Driver’s Guide - Cyclist Section

Cycling in Calgary - The City of Calgary’s site is pretty good.  Take a look.

Currently in Calgary, there is an increased problem with bike theft and vandalism. My husband's commuting bike was vandalized twice and several bikes were actually stolen from a secure parking lot. It's taken a while, but now the building has security guards down in the “secure” parking lot.  We found out after all this that there are no cameras.  The people who park their cars down here must be so pleased.  The secure parking lot is now a little more secure. I hope it works. Baby steps and all that.

In one article about these bike thefts, it says “invest in a decent bike lock.” That didn't stop the vandalism or the theft of the good bike parts I talked about. Somehow, a cyclist is supposed to protect all the parts that are (somewhat) easily removable. That's not exactly an easy proposition. The only way to guarantee that when you're away from home, is to have a box to lock your bike in. That's not realistic. If something is removable, there is very little you can do to keep it on your bike, and there are a lot of removable pieces on a bike. Maybe if people can bring their bikes up to their office... no. Building managers would hate that.

Looking at various comments about bike theft, people are saying things like “instead of getting a new bike, ride a used bike...” or “People with too much money and wanting to show off with outrageously priced bikes combined with the greed of others, things like this happen...” Does that go for cars, homes, clothing? Say I want that new tablet I've been eyeing? Can we have anything new and awesome, or is it all showing off? There is a purpose to that multi-thousand dollar bike and just because someone doesn't understand why a person would pay for it doesn't make it showy or pretentious. But then again, we could live in a gray world, have the same hairstyle, no tattoos or piercings, drive the same cars and have no definition in our lives. That's what I always think when someone goes off about something expensive, not just bikes. I wonder how much these same people paid for their smart phone? A line from a book I read a long time ago comes to mind when thinking about people who complain about the “excessive” price of an item. “You're broke, aren't you.”

Cyclists need to be taken more seriously and need to be treated like everyone else. I almost feel like I have to start some kind of “equality” campaign. Cyclists Are People Too! Their bikes are actually things worth money and cyclists love their bikes like you love your iphone/ps3/car! Cyclists are actual living breathing people! They could be your husband, or wife. They could even be your own child! You don't know it but your neighbour could be a closet cyclist. You're best friend could be a cyclist. It's too often that I read how a cyclist has to justify their existence.

In all seriousness, the injustice towards cyclists is confusing. It's too often that I read about cyclists being killed on highways because someone ran them down. Cyclists don't get taken seriously when their bike is stolen or damaged. However, when the cyclist is at fault, justice should be comparable to his crime.

I am a cyclist but I don't ride as much as many others. In general, when I'm with cyclists, I'm the support driver. We're in the beginnings of building a team for the purpose of teaching and training. The cyclists for whom I drive ride for charity marathons. Being that I'm responsible for carrying water, Gatorade, tools, a bike rack, first aid stuff, I don't ride with them. This stuff would be way too heavy and I'm just a girl.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not an activist and I don't want to sound all activist-like. I really just want to make sure my husband is safe when he's riding his bike. I don't want him and our infant team to be one of these “5 people hit on the highway in Alberta” headlines. I'd like cyclists and drivers to get along and be respectful towards each other. I don't want another story of “before you got here, someone threw a bottle out his car window at us... again.” Please know cyclists are out there and are respectful taxpaying, insurance paying guys like my husband. Also know that when they're not cyclists, they're drivers or pedestrians, they are actual people under those helmets. Trust me, I get how you can mistake them for non-people. I've taken enough photos at marathons to think they're all one person wearing different jerseys, or better yet... clones!

No, not clones, can't think that way... CYCLISTS ARE PEOPLE TOO!

The $52... $104 Million Question?

So the City did it. They took our money citing the flood as the reason. I am unimpressed. I am impressed with Big Red but not Calgary City Council in general. Once Alderman Colley-Urquhart heard from us in Ward 13, she changed her tune about what should be done with the money. Who knew? We have a representative who listens! Exciting stuff.

I am seriously starting to feel Mayor Nenshi sees himself as Prince John and we his subjects. We are nothing but dollars signs to him, so why not tax us to death. The flood was nothing but a God send of money in the bank, gold to take from his subjects and a reason to raise next year's taxes beyond his forecast. It seems the decision has already been made that next year's tax break, if there is one, is going straight into the city coffers. Why not, last year's did. How much is that now? $90 million? $100 million that the city has taken from us? I would prefer the province no longer goes through the city for taxes. I know it's for their convenience, not mine.

I, like everyone else, knows the flood was unprecedented but that's what the emergency fund is for. The province has said they'll help pay for flood damages. The federal government has said, they'll help pay for flood damages, so why does the city need to keep money the province has allocated back to us? There is absolutely no reason for it especially since the city intercepted it long before the flood ever happened. How did this become “flood money” all of a sudden? As I've heard so many times before, it rained, use the rainy day fund.

Mayor Nenshi, it appears, wants to replenish the rainy day fund before it's spent. City Council doesn't even know how much of the city's rainy day fund will be spent. Not only that, it's not even known exactly how much flood recovery will cost. You know, the stuff the provincial and federal governments said they'd cover. Even if the city's rainy day fund has to be tapped, it's supposed to get replenished from future taxation, not current or in this case, past taxation. It's not like “oh look, we've been hit by a hurricane, use 100% rainy day fund AND increase taxes to fill it back up tomorrow.” We don't expect another emergency that quickly, that's why it's called an emergency.

If this is how the City of Calgary has decided to operate, this worries me. In essence they have raised taxes due to an emergency. What happens in the next emergency?  There will be a next one. Will they have an emergency session, find some law that states they can raise our taxes effective immediately and we're hooped? The province won't always provide the city with our money as a windfall.

With the farcical poll that was held, Mayor Nenshi says “the results don't add up to a whole lot.” I beg your pardon? 5 simple questions, click here, get simple answers. “Give it back” got the most votes. Why, why, why does that need a lot of thought? What I see is Mayor Nenshi trying to reframe the poll into “keep it for city hall.” But that doesn't matter anymore, city council has already voted to keep it.

If Mayor Nenshi actually cared what we thought, the money would have been put back into our bank accounts. It would never have been a question, but he doesn't care about us. Before the flood, it was all about the biggest, newest, shiniest project. How many hundreds of millions of dollars can be spent right now. City council would complain about how they have no money for infrastructure maintenance but that's okay, they'd just raise taxes next year. Now, it's about how quickly they can screw us and make us like it. I also didn't like the argument “well the previous council spent a billion dollars on their project!” So what? It has been time for fiscal responsibility for so long. City Council is borrowing money for projects as it is. We have to stop spending! Play catch up for a few years! No more $500 million dollar projects! We should not be spending on public art, ever, but especially when tapping into the rainy day fund for an emergency is a cause for concern. This is stupid.

I’ve also heard it said that taking this money IS giving it back to Calgarians by using it for maintenance, projects, flood recovery or what have you.  Then why not tax me at 100% and give me my daily rations, room and board.  Wait, I believe that was called Twentieth Century Motor Company.

I watched City Council for a short time and I was rather disturbed by some of the things the Aldermen were saying. Unfortunately, I didn't record who said what.

One alderman said we are a collective as a municipality. No, really, we're not. Yes, we all live in Calgary and speaking for infrastructure needs, we pay into the same pot and expect the city to do its job. Saying we're a collective makes it sound like we live in a communist dictatorship. I don't work in the best interest of some guy in north east Calgary. This is certainly not a reason to keep the refund the province meant for us.

Another Alderman did make the point that there is only one taxpayer, but then went on to say that the city can only tax property. This was the reason to take the $52 million. Again, no. He explained that after taxing property, they have to go with their hand out to the province and the federal government. And? Calgary is in Alberta which is in Canada and guess what, this one taxpayer has to pay municipal, provincial and federal taxes. I don't have a choice so saying that they have to steal my money in order that they don’t have to “beg” the province or the feds does not make me any happier. Hiking my property taxes 30% over the last 3 years really makes me unhappy, my bottom line doesn't like it. The city is still saying “please sir, I want some more!”  Then the so called experts say “people aren’t spending as much on goods and services.”  I wonder why?

If the city is so short on funds, maybe they should start running properly. I will repeat myself - fiscal responsibility - and there is a reason. No private company could run like this city runs, it would be out of business in no time. City council continually approves billion dollar projects, they borrow for the next huge project and each division gives themselves raises every year whether they deserve it or not - and they almost never deserve it. The only city workers that deserve it this year are emergency services. The Calgary First Responders did fantastically.

We need to restart plebiscites. If the city wants to do a $500 million project, do a real vote. They should never again do some poll that'll be outright ignored. When they do a vote, they need to include an honest cost/benefit and if the there are massive cost overruns, there needs to be an external investigation and audit as to why. It seems every project that runs through the government, there are massive cost overruns.  That needs to end. Again, no private enterprise can run like that. The project manager would be fired.  Things need to change.  No more stealing of our money, no more mismanagement of our money.  Enough is enough.

These last number of years should teach people something.  Don’t forget the last few years because of a couple of good weeks of leadership.  Don’t allow these politicians to continually steal, pillage and plunder from us.  Make them responsible.  Politicians, do your job.  You work for me, my neighbours, their neighbours.  You do not work for your own self interest.  My memory is long, your term is short.  Never forget, you only care about my opinion once every few years, but I show up, every single time, unlike your current power base.  

Calgary Property Tax Farce

I was initially going to write on the issues I have with the impending green bin fiasco that I see coming but I think I want to do something a little different. Not so much different but change my tactics because really, what's bothering me about the green/blue/black bins is not so much the bin but the lie.

In Calgary, we currently have a city council that does nothing to protect the taxpayer. This city council is quick to spend. They love their legacies, good or bad. The rebuild of 16th Avenue North is a good example.

Calgary has been my home most of my life but I moved away for a couple of years. During that time, 16th Avenue got torn apart. When I decided to visit, I learned (by driving down it) to stay off 16th. I had no idea why it was being torn up but friends were telling me it was to expand it and make it easier to get through the city. I thought “fantastic”! I used to go to Crescent Heights High School, so I used 16th a lot in my teenage years. Traffic has only gotten worse, go for it.

I move back to Calgary after four years and 16th Avenue is still under construction. My God this is taking awhile! The Brick closes, the dry cleaner moves under protest, but the construction moves forward. Awesome. Then, those planter boxes get put down the middle of the road. Traffic is as bad as ever, very little changes and the lights are synchronized to go red no matter how fast or slow you drive. I mean seriously, have you driven down 16th Avenue? I still avoid 16th Ave like its plague. So how many millions went into space for really big, ugly planter boxes?

Okay, I can deal, not a problem. I don’t own a home yet, I haven't noticed too much. Why does my rent keep increasing? I lived in Tofino FREAKIN' BC for God sake and I think this is nuts! I'm not kidding. I rented a house in Tofino for cheaper than my tiny apartment here in Calgary! I'm having serious issues with this.

I'm sorry, how much for an LRT expansion? I'm not going to hyperventilate. I'm... okay. I'm still standing. The world is a little fuzzy, I'm feeling a little woozy. What else is happening? Oh, that Glenmore upgrade thing? Well, that's cool, it's needed that for awhile. What else? There are how many construction projects this year? I did notice I can't drive anywhere without running headlong into construction. This is crazy even for Calgary.

Okay, I own a house now. That's nice. I find I'm paying a lot more attention to stuff. I don't know if that's better but I'm paying attention. A lot of stuff the city and province do give me a headache. The tunnel is one of them. It was suppose to replace Barlow but it follows Mcknight and Country Hills Blvd. and costs how much and ends where? Oh look, my property taxes just increased. That's why my rent kept increasing. You want to build 4 rec centres with money you don't have. Oh look, my property taxes increased. You introduced blue bins and black bins, with a fee... but my property taxes went up. How does that work? You can't control Calgary Transit or its costs so you now include them in my property taxes and now my property taxes increase. I'm seeing a trend that I don't like.

City Council says time and again that they're dead broke, no money for years to come. The province doesn't know what they have to give but you want to build a composting facility, so you are probably going to increase my property taxes. You want to build a new library with money you don't have, guess you want more of my money right. You have this fantastically fabulous idea for green bins, that will come with a fee but you're going to not only take the tax break the province gave me, you're going to increase my property taxes. OH, and you've already decided that next year's is at least a 6% increase.

Are you seeing a pattern? Are you happy with the pattern because I can certainly say, I'm not. I'm very unhappy with this pattern and I'm very concerned. Not only am I concerned, I'm angry. Why can this city council not control its spending. Why can it not stop spending? Why can it not get its fiscal house in order? This has to stop and it has to stop 5 years ago. There are only so many “only's” left in us. It's “only” $6/month. It's “only” $126/year. It's “only” 6%. It's “only” my hard earned money. It's “only” my husband's hard earned money. It's “only” my neighbour's hard earned money.

The effort of earning a living, the effort of earning nice things, the effort of putting food on the table does NOT give this city council a right to take it. Public art is about the stupidest thing I have ever heard. No public money should ever go to art! I'm sorry but I will stand by that and I'm a photographer.

I also don't like it when I read that Calgary has the lowest level of taxation across the country, so be happy with the increases. No, I will never be happy with increases unless I can agree with why I'm being taxed to death. When taxation is over 40%, I’ve got a problem with that. When the mayor is taking a tax break given to us by another level of government, and then tells us there is due process to potentially get it back, I’ve got a problem with that because Calgary city council interrupted due process in the first place.

As far as this $52 million is concerned, the province taxed it away from us, the province decided to give it back. The only thing the city did, was take it for the province. City council should have NO right to keep it once the province decides to give it back. It was NEVER theirs. Same with last year’s $40 million. The city made their budget, it should be their responsibility to stay within their spending means. They did not find $52 million laying around, it's not a windfall. It's theft, from either the provincial coffers or from us. Plain and simple.

The politician that puts the word “only” in front of an increase or dollar amount has immediately lost my respect. That politician certainly has no respect for me. Just because it's “only $$” to him, doesn't mean it's only $$ to someone else. That could be a meal for someone's children or a bus ticket to work. I put value into every dollar I have. There was a time I had very little. I'm by no means rich yet but I'm no longer poor. $126 could be groceries for a week for some family. My family used to be one of those. I can thankfully say I'm no longer in that boat but it's still my $126 to do with as I please. It's not City Council's to take out of my pocket because they've overspent and now they're screwed.

Mayor Nenshi does want to add some sort of municipal tax to keep up with the city council's out of control spending. He would like to put upon his subjects a tax of “only” 1% above GST or a gas tax or whatever else he had in mind. He does not wish these taxes put to a vote. We're being gouged enough though. As landowners, I want a Magna Carta signed!

Maybe we should be writing up a new Magna Carta. We have one but it's being ignored, so perhaps the Magna Carta 2013 is required. Our current “leaders” are certainly acting like Kings of the land so I don't see why not. We're certainly being treating like subjects. We're being taxed like subjects. When does the tax collector knock at my door to collect his gold? I won't be surprised when he shows up.

The Magna Carta was written to limit the powers of the King. City council and the province are way too liberal with our money. That’s because it's not theirs. I do want to limit the spending powers of the Federal government as well, but we can argue with them some other time. Governments should be worried about protecting us in various ways, not about their legacies. They should be worried about infrastructure, water & sewer, roads, not public art and bridges we never wanted. That bridge is less than 100 m from one and I can see another bridge not far on the other side. However I had to ride my bike 7 km to find one when I was at 17 St SE. I could have thought of another place that required a bridge, even an eyesore like that one. Governments should be worried about bylaws and how to enforce them, not shark fin soup bans. That's a federal deal in my opinion, if it's an issue at all in Canada.

If city council actually got its priorities in order, actually did what city council was suppose to do, we wouldn't have this spending problem. Our city council could, in theory have money. But they want to go the easy route, they'd rather continually increase taxes. They'd rather give themselves yearly raises and pat themselves on the back. Do you know who should vote whether they get a salary increase or not? Us. Even I would vote myself a salary raise - anyone would. Why not if you could? It's not their money, until it is.   

Enough useless spending.  Enough unwarranted salary increases.  Enough abusing taxpayers.  They seem to forget, there’s only one taxpayer for all levels of government.  Don’t say you respect the taxpayer, show it.  As far as I’m concerned, we’re being treated like ATM’s.  The wallet’s empty, time to make another withdrawal.  It’s “only” another twenty bucks.

Be Popular, Be Disrespectful

A couple of months ago, I gave up the news because I went from being passionate about my opinions to being angry about the decisions the governments are making.  MLA’s, MP’s, Aldermen and our “leaders” don't care about us.  They’re very good at pretending but in the end, it's all about their legacy.  The problem is the legacy they are leaving is not a good one.   However feeling personally insulted by one particular minister has caused me to write again.

Since when has it become okay to bash the rich?  It's been going on for a while, but since when is it okay?  Really, that's not what's bothering me right now.  The bashing has expanded beyond "the rich." The definition of "rich" is different for everyone anyway.  My husband was called rich by a very nice man a little while ago, and it was a man my husband helped.  

We're not yet rich but we are well off.  I call people who have their homes, all of their debts paid off and are still expanding their wealth rich, as well as people who have TONNES of money, own big businesses and the list goes on.  Others feel simply having a good "cushy" job makes you rich but I digress.

It seems now if you don't have a job that's "worth having" you are worth bashing.  If you live in the wrong place, you're worth bashing.  If you own the wrong vehicle, or OWN a vehicle, you're worth bashing.  If you don't donate to the right charity or don't donate every cent you make to charity, well... you get the idea.

But what got me on this topic is Alberta's Minister of Municipal Affairs, the "Honourable" Doug Griffiths.  His retort of "urban Albertans who sit in high-rise condos and don't necessarily contribute to the grassroots of this economy..." seems counter-intuitive.  He of all people bashed those who choose to live in cities. Why?  Because it's popular?  He's out to lunch!  Apparently us city dweller types who do in fact contribute a fair chunk to the economy of CANADA are no longer worthy and should pay more taxes.  I beg HIS pardon?!?!  He seems to have missed that part where it says Calgary contributed to 24% of Canada's economic growth with 3% of the population of Canada, or the entrepreneurship that comes out of the cities OR the sheer amount of taxes we unworthy city types do in fact pay.

My husband both runs a business and is an employee of another business... AT THE SAME TIME!  He's doing this successfully.  Sometimes it keeps him hopping but he enjoys it even though he acts as though his head is about to spin off his shoulders but in reality he wouldn't have it any other way. So, with the fact that he pays over 40% in taxes and owns a house in Calgary and an acreage north of Edmonton, is he unworthy?  There are so many people like him, hell, he works for some of them!

Why does our own government feel it okay to spout this tripe off?  The Minister of Municipal Affairs guarantees the provincial Tories will not get our vote again but Mr. Griffiths doesn't care, does he?  We don't matter.  We're only two - count them - 1, 2 votes.

Now, we are staunch conservatives, but our own conservative party isn't. They're big spenders and controllers of people.  They have a poor opinion of us and don't care what we have to say.  That is so obvious.  If they cared, our Ministers would NEVER say things like this.

With this, my faith is lost in our government.  My husband wrote a letter to the Minister of Municipal Affairs.  Read it, I think you'll like it.  Please write your own.  Our ministers MUST know how you feel or at least get the idea that we are paying attention and what they are doing and saying are unacceptable.


James McCullough, CGA
*** ********* ***** SW
Calgary, AB  T2* ***

March 7th, 2013

Honourable Doug Griffiths
Minister of Municipal Affairs
#104 Legislature Building
10800 – 97 Ave.
Edmonton, AB  T5K 2B6

Dear Sir:

It has been brought to my attention the comment that you made in the legislature yesterday about “…urban Albertans who sit in high-rise condos and don’t necessarily contribute to the grassroots of this economy.”  I feel as a small business owner in Alberta who provides corporate-level accounting and controllership functions that this is meant as a personal insult to all working Albertans, not just the group you intended to single out.

The economy of this excellent province is driven by an entrepreneurial attitude undertaken by residents of all walks of life, from the gentleman I know who started a gutter cleaning business, to the gentleman who runs one of the top 50 fastest growing companies in Alberta.  Both of these men – and their businesses – are clients of mine.  Your comment, which appears to be based in the popular media notion of “rich-bashing” diminishes not only my own accomplishments, but since both of these people live in Calgary, you are tarring their accomplishments as well.

For a publicly elected official to fan the flames of economic discontent as you have is unacceptable.  As the Minister of Municipal Affairs, you represent all municipalities, not merely the ones that you have selected for your own personal agenda.

Please approach your statements with more respect in mind for all Albertans.

Sincerely,



James McCullough, CGA


Please write your own letter.  Here is some contact information.  Put it on paper, sign your name to it.  It’s hard to ignore us when our MLA’s are inundated by real mail instead of email.

Honourable Doug Griffiths
Legislature Office
#104 Legislature Building
10800-97 Avenue
Edmonton, AB
Canada T5K 2B6
Phone: 780-427-3744
Fax: 780-422-9550
To call toll-free within Alberta, please dial 310-0000.

Alberta Municipal Affairs
Communications Branch
18th floor, Commerce Place
10155-102 Street
Edmonton, AB
T5J 4L4
Canada

Constituency Office
#201, 1006 - 4 Avenue
Wainwright, AB
Canada T9W 2R3
Phone: (780) 842-6177
Fax: (780) 842-3171

Government Insanity

Both the municipal and provincial government seem to be suffering some kind of political insanity. Both levels of government feel they can think for the entire population whether they've been voted in or not. Not only that, they are making self serving decisions and then saying they are in the best interest of the people.

Let's start with Calgary Council. The airport tunnel is approved, fluoride is taken out of the water (even though it was put in through plebiscite), Calgary Transit is included on property taxes, illegal squatters couldn't be removed using legal methods, cycling is becoming a priority over snow removal, and this is for starters. The newest mayor makes popular decisions that suit him, forces through others as he sees fit, and bullies until he gets his way for the rest. All this is done in the best interest of Calgarians without actually consulting us.

Now, let's not forget about provincial insanity. Laws are forced through AFTER the very same laws are deemed unconstitutional in another province, a “sin tax” is being considered to increase money for the government (let’s just play with the idea of religion and politics as bedfellows), they want to force anti-smoking laws through AFTER taxing the cigarettes and it looks like the unelected premier isn't done yet. How this insanity even started in a country that calls itself a democracy is beyond me. The first set of self-important laws were put through using “power of closure”. Why? Because our new mother - I mean unelected Premier - knows what's best for Albertans and is obviously clairvoyant; she doesn't even need to ask first.

Is this how we want to run?

I believe one or two of these projects should have gone to plebiscite as they affect all of us but because the affected politicians didn't think we'd vote in their favour, plebiscite didn't happen. Instead, they said a plebiscite was too expensive and forced their pet projects through themselves. As for the other projects, they needed more analysis but again, the affected politicians felt this wouldn't be in their personal best interest so again, the pet project was forced through, avoiding the due process around which our democracy is designed. Why is this happening more often? How do we stop it?

I can think of one reason this has started. The politicians seem to think that our bank accounts are an infinite resource. If they start to run out of money, just raise taxes and begin the next multi-billion dollar project, no problem. Not only that, they increase vehicle registration, business registration, animal licensing, and so on.  That's more money for them that we have no choice but to pay. The problem is, even for those of us that can afford it, it's becoming cumbersome.

Premier Redford and Mayor Nenshi are both falling for it. They both want to increase taxes for their pet projects that are in our best interests AND they want to keep the economy moving forward. I'm not quite sure how that works though. How do we pay for all the tax and licensing increases and still get all the little extras we all enjoy... like booze for example, and then pay for a cab home? I ask again, how do we stop them from increasing all these taxes, make the insane government more accountable, and force the government out of this insanity and into efficiency?

It's obvious that the various levels of governments are on a spending spree. They need to change their methods and ideas and they need to realize that there is only one taxpayer in the end and we're getting tired. At this point, I'm asking for, begging for efficiency in government. Put a halt to new projects, fix the old ones that are falling down, maintain what's there. Stop the insanity!

Stop Kicking the World, Work With It

Fish and Loaves

I lived in Tofino, BC for almost 4 years. What you have to understand about Tofino is, it's not a cheap place to live. In fact, things are extremely expensive.

My husband worked for Creative Salmon Company Ltd., and I worked first for CIBC, and then for myself as a business consultant. We ran the local archery club until we left so we got to know a good number of people in the community. In that time we saw that there were very few services for people in need, but we didn't know what to do about it. We still had the big city mentality coming from Calgary. In both of our minds, you need lots of people close by for such services - it would never happen in Tofino. We always heard “well, what you have to understand is, Tofino is different.” Apparently my friend Jenn didn't think so. Before we moved back to Calgary, she was telling me she wanted to open a soup kitchen.

After I left, it still took some time but she finally got up the energy, resources and courage to put this soup kitchen together. She had some long time local residents willing to help her push forward and put this soup kitchen idea into action. Her husband also provided her encouragement.

I remember when she was first trying to get the soup kitchen started, there were a few setbacks. She kept moving forward, maybe at times a little slower than she wanted, but forward nonetheless. Then *YAY* in September 2007 it was finally a reality.

Now Fish and Loaves receives food donations from various local establishments of day old bread and pastries, as well as other food. They also receive some cash donations from their church, and some individuals, to buy what they require and to pay rent on the space they use once a week. This is a big deal because even this was hard to acquire at first. The local businesses didn't believe in the soup kitchen so wouldn’t donate to it at the outset.

When Fish and Loaves started, maybe 2 people would show up (if any) but that was fine. Jenn and the few others that were there at the beginning knew it would be a slow start. Now there can be upwards of 50 people at the weekly lunch. Today when I was at Fish and Loaves, there were about 20 people being served and the local elementary school was involved. A grade 1 class prepared the soup (which was quite tasty and filling) and a grade 5/6 class served and cleaned up afterwards. They were a very eager bunch! When I was eating, I barely got my last bite out and the children took my bowl away. They were really enjoying themselves. They also looked like they had fun cleaning up afterwards. They cleared all tables, then folded them up and put them away. It was fun to watch.

Jenn just told me earlier this week, she ran into a couple of people who used to frequent Fish and Loaves but don't anymore. She asked why and they answered it did what it needed to. At the time, they were able to get food when they were hungry. They took the donations available to them as needed and once they were on their feet, they stopped using the service. What more can Jenn ask for?

When I see Occupy Wall Street in the news or go downtown and see Occupy Calgary in my home city, my friend Jenn is who I think of. Instead of screaming that the system doesn't work, she decided to put her energy into helping those who need it. From what I understand, and have read and researched about the Occupy movement, they want the entire system changed to benefit those who need it the most and take away from those who have the most. I don't understand that attitude. No, Jenn and her husband are not in the top 1% nor is she in the bottom % but she still chose to put her energy into helping others. She and the other volunteers of Fish and Loaves could have very been “occupiers” but they instead put their energy into something productive and very beneficial to Tofino.

 So as far as “occupiers” are concerned, instead of squatting and screaming Charter rights, why don't they volunteer for one of the many organizations that already exist in Calgary? They can start up their own non-profit organization. It is an involved process but as Jenn can tell them, well worth the energy and effort.

Look, it's Jenn!

Squatting in a public park protesting some such thing that no one can fathom proves nothing. Yelling “I can stay here because the Charter says I can” proves even less. Go out and actually make the changes. The “occupiers” need to change where their energy is being put. Just because they want something to change, doesn't mean it's going to happen. Either go to the effort and find out how to put bills through readings to change law - or better yet - help people who need it. It doesn't matter which but stop trying to kick the world. You'll only break your foot.