Len's Perspective

Tipping

2012-01-19T18:53:00.000-08:00

2012/01/19

The restaurant industry will face tougher economic times by setting their interact machines with an automatic 15% tipping fee.
This is not to say that the employees are not worth this, however the tip should be a consumers decision not the employer.
Eating out becomes a very expensive proposition for an average family.
Consider the bill will be approxmately 30% higher than the menue price, a considerable mark up. 15% tip and 12%hst.
Remember the Liberals are not set to remove the HST until 2013 over a year from now.

BC Place

2011-11-26T18:21:00.000-08:00

2011/11/26

Our liberal government spent $560 millions on a new roof for BC Place. After spending all this money the roof leaks. Just in time for the Grey Cup.
What a waste of money, considering the government wouldn't give the Bleodel conservatory one million for much needed repairs.
It's time for the government to go.

Marijuana

2011-11-25T17:19:00.000-08:00

Nov.25,2011

The mayors of Vancouver have finally come out of the closet and are in favour of legalizing marijuane.
What a novel idea, it's about time. Legalize it, control it and tax it, no sweeter words have ever been said.
Yet our attorney general says it's not even on the back burner. How ignorant.
I urge that all who are in favour to write their MLA and the attorney general and TELL them to put it on the agenda.
Lets once again show them who is boss, just as we did with the HST.

2011-10-03T20:50:00.000-07:00

The BC legislature, the laziest in the country, (they only sat 24 times last session), today returned tot the house.
One of the standout items was the creation of a new holiday in February, called family day.
As we all know a leagl holiday costs the economy millions of dollars in lost productivity, not to mention the cost of the celebration paid for by our tax dollars.
These tax dollars could be used on social programs to help the poor and seniors.
The first holiday is slated to start in 2013, it is no coincidence that the next provincial election is due in 2013.
The reason given by the premier is that industry is hurting and needs time to adjust to this holiday.
What a bunch of "crock" The HST which was voted out could be removed immediatly, however it was delayed until 2013.
All the premier is doing is padding the coffers for election goodies.
I guess the new MO is kill the economy and get re-elected at all costs.

2011-09-24T11:46:00.000-07:00

Ever see and hear the commercial "must drink more milk", well for me it's must remember to bring camera on walks.
Since we moved back to the BC rain forest, the jewel of the North we have come accross deers and does in abundance.
Yet again on our morning walk we came face to face with a buck, no more than 20 feet away.
"must bring camera"

2011-08-28T11:15:00.000-07:00

The results of the HST referendum are finally in. The people of BC decided to reject the HST.

As the New Democratic Party says it is a victory for the people.

The government in power says that now they will need to cut back services in order to pay back the $1.6 billion to the federal government received as an advance on this tax structure.

There is only one word for this "BULL".

The government rackes in billions of dollars with their casino and lottery operations.

And why should the "little" people pay. This tax was brought in for big business and they have been lining their pockects for the las t two years.

In my view it's big business that should be taxed at a higher rate to recoup this, after all their claim of creating new jobs never materialized.

US in economic turmoil

2011-08-08T18:38:00.002-07:00

The US credit rating has been downgraded by Standard and Poors.

The markets reacted to this.

I am appalled by Obama's and the US arrogance and saying they will not let this deter them and they will "overcome"

Wake up Mr. President you are not an island on your own, your power is diminishing and the US will collapse.

The US cannot go on imposing their will on other countries, many a dynasty has collapsed because of their arrogance, learn from history before it is to late.

2011-08-08T18:38:00.001-07:00

2011-07-19T16:05:00.000-07:00

BC's finance minister claims that the deficit is smaller than predicted.

He notes that for nine months of the fiscal year the HST was in effect, therefore crediting the HST in part for this "good" news.

Does he not realize that we all know that politicians inflate their budget figures.

Can he guarantee that the HST is the "motivator" for this?

The unemployment figure dropped slightly, this may be due to regular employment cycles.

Vote YES to extinguish the HST.

More HST goodies

2011-07-13T18:42:00.000-07:00

This is in response to a letter in the Terrace Standard from a Joe Sawchuk of Duncan BC.

We should count ourselves fortunate that we have the opportunity to hold the politicians accountable throughout their mandate not just at election time.

Only five provinces have the HST, and two have only had the HST for a year. (BC and Ontario)

The HST was brought in on the basis it would make us more competative and create jobs.

The three provinces that have had the HST prior to BC and Ontario are Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. These provinces have higher unemployment than BC and Ontario.

At June 2011 the unemployment fogures for the provinces that have the HST are Newfoundland 12.3%, Nova Scotia 8.7% and New Brunswick 9.6%.

BC has a 7.3% unemployment rate aand Ontario 7.7%.

In fact if you look at June 2010 prior to BC instituting the HST. The unemployment rate were as follows: Newfoundland 14.6%, Nova Scotia 8.8% and New Brunswick 9.2% compared to BC at 7.8%.

Saskatchewan rejected the HST in 1991. The unemployment rate for Saskatchewan in June 2010 was 5.5% and June 2011 4.9%

The HST came in to creaqte jobs, yet the provinces with the HST have a much higher rate of unemployment than BC and Ontario, and the province that rejected the HST has the lowest unemployment rate in the country.So why do the provinces with HST have higher unem,ployment when the HST is supposed to create employment?

YES TO EXTINGUISH THE HST

2011-07-07T17:57:00.000-07:00

As the voting gets closer so do the ads from big business trying to convince the people of BC that the HST is good for them and the province.

Of course big business such as the forest industry wants to keep the HST. They are saving millions on the backs of the little people.

Remember the claims of more jobs, better health care etc.

The HST has been around for a full year now. Are we seeing significant job increases and better health care? not in my view.

The government again has capitulated to big business.

Now they are trying to scare us by saying we would need to pay back the $1.6 billion to the federal government. It is them (big business) who should be paying this, I'm sure they have put more than this in their pockets since the HST inception.

Vote YES to extinguish the HST

HST & the forest industry

2011-07-05T12:28:00.000-07:00

The forest industry supports the HST. Go figure!

Of course they support it. It's them and the Federal government that supported it.

DO NOT GET FOOLED.

The provincial government could have adjusted the stumpage or changed the industries tax structure.

The Liberals took the easy way out, by accepting a "bribe" from the federal government and shifted the taxes to the consumer.

The consumer will in the long run pay more.

VOTE YES TO EXTINGUISH THE HST. before this non neutral tax "kills" the consumer and generates more unemployment and poverty.

That's the true end results of the HST.

HST Debate

2011-06-30T08:41:00.000-07:00

Premier Christy Clark will not engage in a debate with the opposition leader Adrian Dix.

What does this mean?

In my opinion it means that the premier cannot defend her position at keeping the HST.

The Liberal government knows that they made a big mistake when they implemented the HST and do not know how to reverse the damage done. Why else would they renegotiate the agreement with the federal government to reduce the rate?

What other surprises does this government have for the people of British Columbia?

The Liberals are spending an enormous amount of money trying to convince us to keep this regressive tax.

The HST in the long term means we will lose our sovereignty, lose control of our finances and have high unemployment as in the maritime provinces.

High Commissioner to Great Britain

2011-06-23T17:27:00.000-07:00

Former premier of B.C. Gordon Campbell has been named High Commissioner to Great Britain.

I wonder how this politically motivated appointment came about?

I wonder if the inplimentation of the HST as anything to do with it?

Remember the HST is a federal initiative.

Premier brings in HST without warning

Premier faces backlash and resigns

Premier becomes High Commissioner to Britain

Form your own conclusion, just an opinion.

Canadian Postal Dispute

2011-06-23T09:14:00.000-07:00

23/06/2011

The postal dispute has been on just over a week and already our elected federal officials want to intervene.

What a bunch of "hogwash"

Let the process take it's course for a while. I am not saying let it drag on, however give the process a chamce.

The loss of service in todays society has minimal effect, as most mail is third class advertising.

Most residents of this type of mail thrash it. So why the rush to bring on an imposed settlement, mostly one that is less than the last offer from the employer.

The postal service is no longer viewed as an essential service by most people.

With the internet and courier service, is it not better to let free enterprise take over the service?

The government in it's infinite wisdom feels that it has all the solutions and needs to protect us from daily disruptions in our lives.

Hockey is over, what now?

2011-06-21T09:52:00.000-07:00

June 21,2011

Well hockey is over, the Canucks run to the Stanley Cup ended in a loss and the big bad Bruins took the cup to Boston. The Canucks gave us a fantastic season and a great playoff run. Next year the cup will return to Vancouver.

Now it's time to enjoy summer activities, and we went camping for a couple of days, not too far just to check out the camper and make a list of the things we forgot.

Better make that check list.

Had a good time even the dog enjoyed herself, although she did need a couple of good brushing when we got back.

Don't forget to check out my comments on the HST.

HST, lost of sovereignty

2011-06-14T12:33:00.000-07:00

Loss of sovereignty

It was interesting to hear Christy Clark talking about the HST this morning, claiming her big achievement at reducing the HST from 12% to 10%. Typical politician.

Did everyone catch the following. The federal government agreed to the reduction. In other words the Federal government now controls our taxes.

We are now the Federal governments puppet in our own province.

Our elected officials sold us out to the "Feds"

Once again the people of BC have been held to pay for government mismanagement.

Don't believe all those ads from the provincial government.

Remember the Atlantic provinces have had the HST for years and have the highest unemployment in the country, so much for job creation.

Stanley Cup Playoffs

2011-06-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

June 14,2011

It's down to the wire.
Will Vancouver prevail or will the big bad Bruins post an upset?
EA sports predicts a home at home series with the canucks winning.
Tomorrow will tell the tale.
It's been a hard hitting series and both sides are bruised and battered

More HST

2011-06-09T17:20:00.000-07:00

09/06/2011

The government says the HST will create more jobs

NOTE: Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have had the HST for years, and yet unemployment is among the highest in Canada. Paper theory does not always work in the real world.

The HST is NOT revenue neutral, there is no such thing. Why would the government move to a different tax if no new revenues are raised?? Think about it!!!

The HST fuels an underground economy.

The HST reduces consumer consumption, and we know, all economist say to put more money in the hands of consumers to increase spending and create jobs. The HST takes money away from consumers therefore losing jobs.

The HST is a loss of provincial sovereignty, and this is the start of putting your economy in the hands of the federal government with no guarantee of fair transfer payments.

THE HST MUST BE CRUSHED

HST money from the Federal Government

2011-06-08T12:28:00.000-07:00

08/06/2011

Now that we know that the provincial government can change their tax rates to raise or lower revenues, why did we go to the HST and receive $1.6 billion from the federal government?

In my opinion this all started when we got the Olympics and I have no doubt that the liberal government had already decided to have the HST after the Olympics.

In my view the $1.6 billion was to pay off the Olympics. The minister in charge was only a signing off authority with no "real" powers to approve John Furlongs extravagant spending on the Olympics. Why else would the books show a break even point at the end, when other Olympics showed deficits?

I believe that the HST was in the works when we were awarded the Olympics, not at the beginning of the Olympics nor as they say in the post Olympic budget.

The HST's $1.6 billion was a quick fix to a short term fiasco that the people of BC will pay for, for the next century.

Len Lovering

HST in BC

2011-06-08T08:49:00.000-07:00

June 08, 2011

The referendum on the HST in BC is nearing.

The new government ads are trying to sway the people of BC to vote to keep the HST, with a promise to reduce the provincial portion of the HST to 10%.

This reduction is in two phases one point reduction in 2012 and another point reduction in 2014 with a transitional payment at the end of the year of $175.00 for children under 18 and senior and low income earners.

To offset this reduction they will raise the corporate tax from 10% to 12%.

Sounds good, right.

The agreement with the federal government was for a five year period, which coincidentally matches the reduction in tax proposed by the liberal government.

If the liberals can change the rate while we have an agreement with the federal government why did they agree to the HST when all they needed to do was change our own tax rates?

Corporations will now face a 2% increase in taxation.

It was the corporations who pushed for the HST. What do you think the reaction of the corporations will be?

We sold out to the federal government with the HST, how do you think the Harper government will react to this manipulation?

Remember, the corporations run the government, not the government.

It only goes to prove that all the liberals were doing was shift the tax burden.

The liberals with the stroke of a pen legitimized deficit budgeting when we suffered a downturn in the economy. I haven't seen any mention of changing the legislation to balanced budgets. Yes the liberals say they will balance the budget by 2014, but what is stopping them from running deficit budgets as long as they are in power.

Remember they said no HST and a year later we had the HST.

In my view Christy Clark is Gordon Campbell, no change at all, same old "shame" old.

Do not fall for this, vote YES to get rid of the HST, for an election and put another party in power.

Len Lovering

2010-12-24T10:54:00.001-08:00

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

2010-12-01T18:08:00.000-08:00

B.C.'s next government is in question.
Carol James leadership is on the brink of collapsing. The only NDP member to be elected in the Liberal sweep three elections ago has withdrawn her support of the leader.
Carol James has options open to her. She can banish all dissidents from caucus, which means throwing out most of her elected members, she can remain as leader and refuse to sign candidates' papers running in the next election, or she can resign as leader of the party.
Whatever her decision Carol James political career is effectively over.
I cannot see any way that the NDP can win the next election with Carol James as leader.
The Liberals after their leadership convention will gain some support, however it will not be enough to gain majority support. We will be faced with a minority government even though the election is still two years away.
What B.C. needs is a third alternative, a party who will follow the will of the people and not party principles.The party's principle can be support the will of the people. (isn't that a novel idea)
Maybe what we need is to vote independent members in, not political parties and that way
we can recall the member, he/she will not be able to hide behind party platforms.

2010-11-07T00:17:00.000-07:00

Dan Brown's: The Lost Symbol
Once again Dan Brown has captivated me with his writing skills.
Every chapter I read, I wanted to read more and more.
Robert Langdon is again put to the test.
The end is reviting, a most enjoyable read.
Can't wait for his next novel.

2010-09-27T11:29:00.000-07:00

On Global morning news today , the Premier of British Columbia said he has not lied about the HST. His body language betrayed his words.
His Liberal government took a $1.6 billion dollar "bribe" from the federal government to pay for the winter Olympics.
Now that these funds are used up, the government is again strapped for money. Be prepared for more tax increases, most of which will be hidden.