Happy Holidays

Remember at this time of year to enjoy yourselves, however please be responsible and don't drink and drive.
Have a safe holiday.

Students financial literacy, worth reading

Canada is falling behind in educating its high school students in financial literacy, according to a non-profit agency that specializes in investor education

Students graduate from high school and face critical life decisions about taking on debt for higher education or choosing a career path without understanding basic financial concepts, says Tom Hamza, president of the Investor Education Fund, a group that educates students, parents and teachers.

“We’re well behind what we need to be, particularly considering the new kind of pressures people have when they get to the end of high school,” Hamza said in an interview with CBC’s Lang & O’Leary Exchange.
An IEF survey of Ontario parents found only 40 per cent believed their teen children were prepared to handle finances at the end of high school.
The vast majority of parents (84 per cent) thought financial literacy was important and most believed it should be taught in school.
“Half of them are teaching something at home, at same time they want schools to supplement that,” Hamza said.
About 70 per cent of the students surveyed also said they want to learn more about finances.
“If you look at high school students, there’s some basic numeracy that’s critical and it’s not just the numeracy of being able to do certain math equations. It’s an actual applied numeracy,” Hamza said.
“It’s not about creating a generation of investment bankers. It’s about having people able to understand what the major hurdles are in their financial lives – the basics of credit and debt and telephone bills and that sort of thing all the way to long-term expectations,” he said.
Hamza said his goal is to create a generation that can manage their debt and look at financial products and assess them realistically.
He is working with ministries of education across Canada to achieve this goal. Ontario introduced a financial component to its Grade 4-12 curriculum in 2012, working it into math, social studies and other classroom programs.
IEF offers free personal and professional development workshops for Ontario educators. The IEF was founded and is supported by the Ontario Securities Commission

Canada Post

Well it has finally happened.
Canada Post will be phasing out door to door delivery and opting for community boxes.
For those who grew up with these boxes, most new sub-divisions it is not seen as an inconvenience.
For those of us who get door to door will  need to adapt to a new system.
There will  also be a price increase for stamps.
Is this progress? We can learn from this and not make the same mistakes.
What Canada Post did, is the same mistake that most governments and some companies do.
They do not analyse the changes and look to the future.
They believe and continue to believe that to resolve a situation is to raise prices for the product whether it be taxes, services or goods.
This only fuels greater deficits as fewer and fewer people can afford their goods or services.
In Canada Posts situation, people moved more and more to the internet and social media, which also forced retailers to follow suit.
The answer is not to raise prices, although it is unavoidable to a certain degree, but to become more efficient and find innovative ways to conduct yours business.

Council meeting

I attended the council meeting of the 9th.
It was a long meeting, a good initiation for our newly elected councillor Barry Cunningham.
There were  three presentations
The first was an update from the Prince Rupert Port Authority given by Shaun Stevenson.
Some concerns expressed by Council were waterfront access, Rushbrook Trail and rail safety.
Mr. Stevenson said there are a lot of property issues to be resolved.
The City and Port are working to enhance commerce and community waterfront access.
A report was given by Tessa Gill from Pacific Northwest LNG.in short once all permits and environmental approvals have been given it will be a  four year construction project with operations to begin in 2018. They will have two information offices, one in Prince Rupert and one in Port Edward.
Of great concern from Council is the environmental impact.
LNG website if www.pacificnorthernlng.com
A presentation was given by Mr. Conrad Lewis of the Tribal Nations Tournament. In essence due to the earthquake on the day of the tournament some of their games were precluded to use the civic centre as an emergency shelter. The tournament resumed the next day however the tournament suffered a loss. Mr. Lewis is seeking a reduction in rent paid as the availability of the facilities were curtailed due to the emergency.
Crime stoppers was seeking a letter of support to obtain a $20,000.00 grant from the government.
They plan on opening a community garden in two 20x20 greenhouses located at Charles Hays.
The 2014 council meeting calendar has been approved and also the Acting Mayor schedule for 2014.
At question period Ms. Niesh addressed Council and requested that the speed limit in residential areas be reduced to 40kmh to reduce speeding, Councillor Cunningham said he didn't think that this was the answer. Ms Niesh second request was that all businesses have push button access for people with disabilities. Ms.Niesh  wanted to know about snow and ice clearing at vacant store fronts. There is a bylaw which can be enforced as all businesses must clear in front of their establishment.
Ms.Niesh also wanted to know what happened to the emergency sirens. The mayor informed her that the sirens were funded from the federal government and that funding had been removed many years ago.
Corinne Bomben gave her financial report. Of note in this report is the fire department requires a new Rescue truck which is 5 years past its replacement. The new truck is to be funded with short term financing with the MFA, and is expected to take 5 years to pay for.

Ferry Cuts

The provincial government is again trying to balance the budget on the backs of the most needy.
The ferry service on the North Coast is NOT a luxury but rather a necessity.
The Ferry service between the villages and the Queen Charlotte Islands is a vital link to the people of
Haida Gwai.
The ferry provides more than just a transport for people but also an economic link providing jobs and services for both the mainland and the islands.
With both Provincial and Federal governments looking to push gas and pipeline development in the North Coast to supply the Asian markets, why are they not working to increase and improve service.
It`s plain mismanagement and lack of planning on the governments part.
The removal of the discount for seniors shows that the government has no respect or regards for the people that built this great province.
I would urge all voters to write their MLA, and voice their objection.