1026 replies to this topic

[spanky123]

The unemployment rate has increased again in December to 7.3%.

Most retailers I have spoekn to in the last week are saying that January has started off very weak.

[Bingo]

I wonder if people are spending more, or less for the holiday season, and are they racking up more household debt. The Bank of Canada seems to think debt is on the rise.

more:
Bank of Canada said household-debt is likely to deteriorate further and warns banks to use caution issuing consumer loans.

http://www.timescolo...l#ixzz17mfdLkrk

[spanky123]

Was walking downtown yesterday for the first time in about 6 months and I couldn't believe how many closed or for lease retail and office locations there were. Perhaps it is just a seasonal thing but sections of downtown looked like 1 in every 3 or 4 locations was closed or going out of business.

[rjag]

Was walking downtown yesterday for the first time in about 6 months and I couldn't believe how many closed or for lease retail and office locations there were. Perhaps it is just a seasonal thing but sections of downtown looked like 1 in every 3 or 4 locations was closed or going out of business.

We noticed that too, we were walking downtown on Sunday and walked from the harbour through Market Square and on to Capital Iron and were shocked at the number of empty stores.

[ZGsta]

We noticed that too, we were walking downtown on Sunday and walked from the harbour through Market Square and on to Capital Iron and were shocked at the number of empty stores.

Market Square's been a ghost town for ages, that's nothing new.

[Bingo]

Government belt-tightening to restrain economic growth: Conference Board

February 18, 2011, EST.

The Canadian Press
OTTAWA - The Conference Board of Canada is predicting that economic growth will be restrained this year as federal and provincial governments tighten their belts.


The think-tank's new provincial outlook says most of the provinces are finding it even harder than Ottawa to rein in deficits, so they plan to clamp down on spending. The board predicts only four provinces with significantly resource-based economies — Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Alberta — will post budgetary surpluses in 2011.

Others are expected to try and scale back unsustainable spending levels that were only made worse by stimulus packages introduced during the recession.

The Conference Board says the prospects for economic growth are strongest in Newfoundland and Saskatchewan, with 3.9 per cent and 3.6 per cent gains respectively. New Brunswick is predicted to produce the weakest economic growth at 1.3 per cent.

[spanky123]

Economists have been saying for months now that the "economic recovery" we have been seeing is primarily a result of Government stimulus spending flowing through the economy.

Not a suprise to hear then that when the spending stops the economy will fall back.

CNBC reported yesterday that the US Government had secretly asked the US' largest banks to model an 11% unemployment rate and a double dip recession as a stress test.

[Bingo]

It would appear that The Land Conservancy is still up to running a fragile operation, and this after just saving Madrona Farms.

"Saving"? Is anything really saved when it is mortgaged, and you can't pay your staff?

see todays TC story;

http://www.timescolo...9018/story.html

[Szeven]

50 workers, 2m in benefits, they each get 40k a year?

[spanky123]

"To save benefits staff get paid their salaries and then loan the money back to the TLC".

Great so staff get to pay taxes on money they may never see. I would think that EI would take a dim view of this if the intent is to simply protect those benefits.

I agree with Carol on this, it is unacceptable to ask employees to invest money back into the TLC. I suspect that raising donations to pay back wages is going to be an uphill battle.

[Bingo]

"To save benefits staff get paid their salaries and then loan the money back to the TLC".

Great so staff get to pay taxes on money they may never see. I would think that EI would take a dim view of this if the intent is to simply protect those benefits.

I agree with Carol on this, it is unacceptable to ask employees to invest money back into the TLC. I suspect that raising donations to pay back wages is going to be an uphill battle.

The Land Conservancy could save a lot of money by cutting back on their advertising budget. As a member I don't need to receive a colourful newsletter in the mail telling of all the great things TLC is doing or has done. I can find all that information on their website.

If you talk to people who make large donations to TLC, it is not necessarily the state of the economy that is causing donations to dry up.
Until they clean up their ongoing financial problems, you can expect more of the same.

see;
http://blog.conservancy.bc.ca/

http://blog.conserva...ial-statements/

[Schnook]

I hope the pro-amalgamation crowd realizes that this demonstrates one of the benefits of divided and limited government. Small, decentralized governments help prevent and control bad practices and the damage they cause, while good practices and ideas can easily be adopted by adjacent municipalities. Imagine if an amalgamated Victoria had been run the way Colwood has been! Think about that the next time someone starts complaining about 'fiefdoms'.

Did you see today's shocking letter in the Times-Colonist?

Victoria council faces financial reckoning (TC, 3-Mar)

[T]axpayers are on the hook for another $100,000 while council members hope and dream that other municipalities will come through. This additional $100,000 is going to come from the city's capital budget - a budget already strained by a funding shortfall of more than $10 million this year alone, and by $500 million over the long term. Our city is approaching a financial reckoning even without the cost of a sewage treatment plan. For a city councillor to criticize the willingness of other municipalities to chip in $700,000 and then say they could do a bottle drive and raise the money is insulting. That is one of the big differences between Victoria council and its neighbouring councils - fiscal prudence.

For a small city like Victoria, these numbers are terrifying - to be so mired in debt, so early in the cycle! The 2009 Annual Report doesn't corroborate, but a journalist doesn't toss out numbers without backup, surely.

Unfortunately, the writer leaps to the authorized conclusion:

The region has a dysfunctional governance framework, one incapable of dealing with regional issues effectively. Some form of regionalization is badly required if we are going to deal with regional priorities. Taxpayers - throughout the entire region - are being victimized by a broken system of governance. And municipal politicians who insist on guarding their own fiefdoms are a major part of the problem.

Anybody familiar with the unfolding credit crisis (especially the munis) knows there is no correlation between size or profile and fiscal responsibility. If those numbers above are true, we are witnessing the legacy of gross mismanagement. What kind of Council talks about megaprojects before such a shortfall? What smart, healthy municipality would dare amalgamate with such a bizarre, diseased neighbor?

Regards

[G-Man]

One hopes that an amalgamated council would attract a higher calibre of elected official.

[Mike K.]

Frank Leonard of Saanich would likely win by a tremendous margin. Leonard is to Saanich what Daley was to Chicago, and that's what other mayors of the region fear.

Not to say that Leonard is necessarily on the same level and has accomplished as much as Daley did, but Leonard knows his turf, cares for his turf, and the people love him. In Victoria and in other municipalities politicians are disposable because they fight for political turf and not for their community.

BTW, by-election hopeful Paul Brown, issued a press release calling for greater transparency at City Hall in light of the financial strains facing the taxpayers of Victoria.

[Schnook]

One hopes that an amalgamated council would attract a higher calibre of elected official.

Why?

Put differently, upon what would one base one's hopes? (What would make a bigger albatross any less an albatross <-- I know; this belongs on the Amalgamation thread.

[G-Man]

Yes this is off topic but does relate back to the economy. A larger pop base means that the elected officials are drawn from a larger pool, are meant to represent a larger group of people and are accountable to a larger group of people. Also due to demographics and political leanings a politician would have to satisfy a more diverse political base to get elected. The current CoV council would not be possible if the electorate included Oak Bay, Saanich and Esquimalt.

[Bernard]

Still not being really on topic..... One of our problems with local elections is that there are so many of them that the media is overloaded and simply does not do anything in depth to cover them. There are few venues and ways for candidates to reach the public they need through a mass media and not have to talk to many more people that can not vote for them.

[Schnook]

AAAAAGH. We aren't on the same wavelength at all.

The priority is the DEBT. They have got to deal with the DEBT before we fall down the same black hole that is destroying hundreds of broken American municipalities.

The riots are just starting. The trouble is just beginning. Western nations face a generational economic contraction like nobody has experienced in living memory, and Fortin wants to build a bridge, an LRT, a museum, a billion dollar sewer system -- WITH WHAT, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE - MORE DEBT???

Everybody needs to listen to the news and force themselves to PAY ATTENTION to the virus that is spreading from Rhode Island to Wisconsin to California to Florida to New Jersey to eventually every single state in the Union. People want to play ostrich and think it won't affect us. WELL GUESS WHAT, FOLKS - THIS MONSTER WILL TAKE A YEAR OR MAYBE EVEN TWO TO HIT VICTORIA, BUT IT'S COMING - LAYOFFS, LAYOFFS, LAYOFFS. Mayor and Council need to dispense with visions of sugarplums and get back to straightening out the books. The current path will pitch Victoria into BANKRUPTCY, AND THAT'S JUST EVIL.

Amalgamation sounds benign but would mean DISASTER at this juncture. Talk would immediately turn to more sugarplums: new City Hall, new Police, Fire, Emergency facilities, new offices, new equipment, uniforms, fleets, toys, BIGGER EMPIRE... AND WHO WILL PAY FOR IT WHEN THE TAX BASE IS EVAPORATING?

Let's talk about amalgamation WHEN THERE IS MONEY TO SPEND!

[davek]

...A larger pop base means that the elected officials are drawn from a larger pool, are meant to represent a larger group of people and are accountable to a larger group of people...

I have heard this before. If it were true, provincial politicians would be 'higher calibre' than municipal, and federal politicians would be the best of all. In practice, in a centralized government politicians are better able to disperse costs while concentrating benefits to key minorities who combine to keep their benefactor in office. Amalgamation would 'wither' the Victoria economy. (See what I did there?)

[G-Man]

^ What you say is true. Provincial politicians are generally better than muni politicians and Federal Politicians again one more step above. I may not agree with Michael Ignatief or Stephen Harper but I can recognize their intelligence and strategic thinking.

Not amalgamating is whithering the local economy