What about the "twinky" factor?

BC Federation of Labour President Jim Sinclair is very worried that we are "in danger of becoming a province where medicare dies." According to a piece in Kamloops This Week, Sinclair criticizes the BC Liberals $10 million Conversation on Health as wasted effort stating that, "Within the public system we can fix this. If we don't fix it at all, it will start to crumble."

He's half right!

Despite the fact that health care funding has been increased again, this time by another 7.3% up to a staggering $13.1 billion annually, Sinclair seems to continue to advocate for more spending claiming that this is the only way to prevent those nasty private health-care clinics from taking over. Not surprisingly, he makes no mention of any remote possibility that we may in fact be the greatest threat to "What Canadians are proud of - a public health-care system..."

Interesting... Has Mr. Sinclair or anyone else within the BC Fed ever even considered the faint possibility that were it not for our own bad habits, we may not need health-care (public or private) as much? Lets consider this first deadly sin... Obesity.

According to a study conducted by GPI Atlantic in 2005, direct health-care costs due to obesity were estimated at an incredible $380 million. Right now 1 in 4 of our children are considered to be over weight and obesity in children has doubled over the past 10 years.

Not convinced?

How about this one... Tobacco use. While British Columbia has the lowest rate of tobacco use in the country, about 6000 people in this province will die this year, due to tobacco related illness. Health-care costs associated with the treatment of tobacco use... approximately $1.25 billion per year! But wait,
To round of these three mortal evils we end with Sedentary Lifestyle. This is the result for those of us content to sit and watch the world go by from the comfort of our couches and recliners (usually with a cigarette in one hand and a bag of chips in the other). Physical inactivity is a proven major contributor to such wonderful things as coronary artery disease, stroke, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, colon cancer, breast cancer and osteoporosis. 38% of British Columbian's are not active enough to achieve any of the benefits associated with active lifestyle... and what does our laziness cost the province (or us) each year in terms of health care? About $573 million!

Has anyone been keeping up with the math so far?

Jim Sinclair, by ignoring our own contributions seems to be saying that this is OK and that the solution to saving a system that is in big trouble is to continue to throw money at it. The fact is that so much money has been thrown at health care lately that much of it isn't even sticking anymore. He cites overflowing hospitals and long surgery wait lists as proof that we need to spend more less we become overrun by private health-care clinics, but I can't help but think that Jim Sinclair, the BC Federation of Labour and many other critics of the Conversation on Health have somehow missed the most important piece to the puzzle.

Our public health-care system is indeed crumbling, but its not because of private health-care. Its crumbling because we've all dog-piled on top of it and we're too heavy and out of breath to get off.

its tough I know...



Sometimes my job can be pretty darn difficult! I know that I am not the only one out there with challenges to face everyday, wondering how I can possibly face another day without cracking under the shear pressure of it all, but today was a particularly tough one for me so I thought I'd use this space to tell a few people about it and try to gather as much sympathy as I can find. (yes I know where to find sympathy in the dictionary)

The job was to scope out Grouse Mountain's Munday Alpine Snowshoe Park in preparation for the upcoming 9th annual Snowshoe Classic taking place on Saturday February 10th. (Visit http://www.grousemountain.com/ for more information or to register for the race) I needed to see the 5 and 10 km courses to determine the best places to put course marshalls and first aid attendants to ensure that racers stay on course and that any injured racers are treated quickly.

The Munday Alpine Snowshoe park consists of approximately 10km of trails that take snowshoers of all abilities out to the north of Grouse Mountain's peak and into country that offers what is arguably some of the most spectacular scenery on the North Shore. All of this about 15 minutes from downtown Vancouver!

I hope that you enjoy these pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them and in case my boss happens to read this, I'm joking about the tough job stuff. If anyone is looking for a low-impact way to get some great exercise and experience Vancouver and the North Shore at its most magnificent, I highly recommend that you check out Grouse Mountain's Munday Alpine Snowshoe Park. If you do, keep in mind that (believe it or not) not every day looks like this one so you should be prepared, tell someone where you are going and when you'll be back and come equipped with the following (minimum) equipment:

1. Sturdy hiking boots.
2. Wind and water resistant jacket.
3. toque and gloves.
4. Clothing that is appropriate to changing winter conditions.
5. Headlamp.
6. Change of clothes.
7. Gators.
9. Water and snacks.

Most importantly, don't forget your camera.

The Chudnovsky "Tour de pot-hole" 2007

Sorry, but this one was just way too incredible for me to leave alone. The fact that David Chudnovsky has garnered so much attention from it (admittedly as I contribute myself) takes ridiculous to an entirely new level. This only helps reinforce my opinion that our current government is doing a pretty good job.

Last week NDP MLA and transportation critic David Chudnovsky enlisted the help of a friend with a 4x4 to embark on what I'm sure will go down in the BC political history books as the most significant fact finding mission ever taken on by any party in opposition. The purpose of this noble and lofty mission...to count potholes along a stretch of provincially maintained highway. Chudnovsky and friend took two days to travel highways between Vancouver and Prince George and returned with this earth-shattering report. Along the way they found some 670 potholes, 90 significant pools of water and 400 damaged or buried signs.

I'm not kidding!

As most of us are painfully aware, we are in the midst of a winter that has thrown what may be some of the worst weather that we've seen in a decade. Weather that, while extremely bad for things like Stanley Park trees and California fruits and vegetables, has been ideal in producing a bumper crop of potholes in blacktop patches everywhere. In fact, as Chudnovsky fails to mention, potholes are abundant everywhere including city and municipally maintained roads, public and private parking lots and many of our own private driveways. There are probably 50 potholes on Renfrew Street (near my house) between 1st Avenue and Hastings and there is one particularly nasty teeth chattering pothole in North Vancouver on Capilano Road that I manage to hit nearly every day. The point you ask...potholes are an unavoidable part of winter, especially an unusually cold winter like the one that we are in right now. Go to Walter Schultz's blog in the links at the right for some great information on how potholes are formed.

Vancouver-Hastings own NDP MLA and environment critic Shane Simpson must have been tossing in his sleep in absolute turmoil over Chudnovsky's decision to consider pothole counting over the impact that his two-day trip may have had towards global warming. But I have a suggestion as to how similar trips can be justified in the future (it is supposed to freeze again this weekend, meaning more potholes are inevitable). The next time that David Chudnovsky or any other citizen concerned with the increasing number of potholes decides to embark on a mission to count them, I suggest that he (or they) throw a few bags of cold patch into the back of their vehicle. This will serve a couple of purposes first, the added weight will help with traction on those slippery winter roads and second, once the pothole has been counted it can be filled. This will provide a great service to all of the travellers that follow and it will make an otherwise ridiculous and unnecessary trip useful.

flavour of the week?

It seems like energy and the environment get this distinction this week. Not a bad thing considering how important both of these are, or at least should be. The unfortunate part about this particular story is that probably, had we paid more attention to these things sooner (even before the 90's when Glen Clark called environmentalists the "enemy" of BC) we may not be in the position that we are today. Arguably, one of the most significant arguments bringing energy and the environment to the forefront this time is the Liberals proposal to build two coal-fired generating plants in British Columbia. This is something never before considered in the province, or at least that's what NDP environment critic Shane Simpson will tell you if asked. Shane Simpson is against coal-fired energy in BC.

So what do you think? On the face of it I would say that the answer seems quite clear. Coal has been around for thousands of years and it has a nasty reputation as a dirty source of energy that contributes to a number of environmental and health problems like acid rain, greenhouse gas emissions, the spread of toxic chemicals like mercury and an increase in respiratory illnesses like asthma.

Given what we know about coal and the seemingly negative footprint that its use leaves, if your with Mr. Simpson and against burning coal in our province then one has to ask how we could possibly consider selling our coal to the rest of the world. Especially since we know that BC coal is being turned into energy in other countries. In fact, approximately 70% of the worlds coal production is used to generate 40% of all energy while 12% is used to produce 70% of the worlds steel. World-wide, the largest producers and consumers of coal are the United States, China, Australia, India, South Africa and Russia. Canada uses relatively little of its coal to produce energy at 18%, compared to the United States which uses about 3/4 of its produced coal to generate 56% of its energy.

This makes coal a very important commodity for British Columbia as we produce some 25 million tonnes of coal per year (2001 figures) valued at an impressive $1.5 billion. The coal industry in our province, in 2001, employed 6000 people and put about $18 million into the provincial purse. It would seem to me that the production of coal is relatively important to us then which places those of us concerned about global warming in a bit of a dilemma.

So... do we immediately say no to coal-fired energy in the province? Given the information provided above I would have to say that the answer doesn't seem as simple anymore. In fact its a question that even many environmentalists struggle with as they acknowledge that the production of coal, especially in the developing world can't be easily stopped. The task then seems to be to create and adopt cleaner coal technologies (many exist already) that will allow us to utilize the worlds most abundant fossil fuel.

Should we be exploring cleaner energy alternatives like wind and solar power? Absolutely! However I don't think that we can or should completely discount the use of coal as a viable energy option, especially if the technology is present to reduce harmful emission and minimize the contribution that coal-fired energy has towards global warming.

Or we could just stop using energy!

the rant continues...

Sorry, but I'm not quite finished with the rant that I began a week ago. This is especially timely given recent press, the BC NDP's so-called report card on the environment and the Vancouver area opposition MLA's energy forum held last week at the Heritage Hall in Vancouver. What is one to get from all of the attention that the environment is getting lately? Global warming is a reality and its because of everything that everyone else is doing. At least that's how I read it.

I did read an interesting letter in yesterday's Vancouver Sun. Basically, in the view of the letter writer no one "gives a damn about global warming" or is able to see the connection between their cars and the environment. Not too far off I would say as last Friday I myself witnessed a couple sitting outside of my son's school in their idling mini-van. They were there for at least ten minutes... but then it was pretty cold out that day.

When it comes to the environment we are all hypocrites! As Environment Minister Penner said in a recent interview "individuals have a role to play" and in my view it has been the BC Liberals that have actually done the most for the environment lately as they have invested heavily in projects that encourage alternate transportation, created plans to address environmental issues today and in the future through tax incentives (among other things) and reduced greenhouse gases in the government by 24%. We blame our government for its contribution to global warming when in reality that contribution is ours. Its easy to blame because that negates us as individuals from having to do anything about it on our own. In reality nothing will change until we start to do something about the way that we manage our own houses.

Last Wednesday a friend of mine pointed out an article on the front of the Vancouver Sun. The heading read "US freeze means you'll pay more" and basically the story warns us of impending doom at the supermarket cash register thanks to the recent and unexpected freeze in California. Nearly 80% of some Californian crops have been wiped out thanks to obviously much colder than normal temperatures. Interestingly, as my friend points out the article didn't touch on some of the potential contributors that the purchase of foreign produce has toward global warming.

The extremely unusual weather that we (and California) have faced this past year will undoubtedly be linked somehow to the the poor state of the environment and global warming. California produce has been almost wiped out in part because of the market that has been created for it and the manner in which it reaches the world. While I am in full support of the BC Liberals Gateway Program (getting vehicles off of the road quicker still seems like a good idea to me), opponents fear that expansion of the south Fraser perimeter road will destroy the "lungs" of the lower mainland (Burns Bog). What they seem to fail to mention is that a large reason for this expansion is to improve the passage of freight, in other words all of those trucks carrying (among other things) California produce to the communities of British Columbia. There is one of those connections that the Sun letter writer alludes to.

Don't get me wrong. Although my family and I have made some significant changes in the way that we do things, we are far from perfect. Like the NDP opposition MLA's last Wednesday I admit that I also don't have the answers (they didn't exactly admit to that though) but certain things (like idling your van for ten minutes outside your kids school) do seem like common sense to me. Problem is that until we all see the common sense in the things that we are doing or not doing, the Sun letter writer will continue to be correct, except on one point. I believe that most of us really do "give a damn" about global warming, we're just in denial about the significance that our individual contribution has on it.

Environmental sustainability every ones responsibility

Well I guess the holiday season is truly over and its ,time for everyone to buckle down and get back to the very important tasks that will keep us busy until we do it all over again next year. Vancouver-Hastings own Shane Simpson has wasted no time in the new year grabbing at headlines. Most recently I see that he has come out in support of a survey released by the Sierra Club claiming that a staggering 82% of British Columbians want the province to enact legislation setting clear targets for green house gas emissions. I would say that the only surprising outcome of this survey is the number. You'd think that it would be more. But, considering that the Sierra Club has Victoria almost completely under water within the lifetimes of our grandchildren, I would take their survey results with a grain of salt. Shane Simpson, the NDP Environment Critic supports the survey results by saying that "British Columbians want action on climate change!" Action!!!

Of course most sensible and reasonable people want to see measures taken to protect the environment. For us, our grandchildren and their grandchildren. My problem with this is not that I disagree that we all must become better stewards of the environment, but I question the stance that both the Sierra Club and the BC NDP have taken and I think that their decision to target the provincial government, while politically expedient, really ignores the biggest group of offenders.

There can be no doubt that governments, at all levels, must begin to consider and implement environmentally sustainable practices into all aspects of their planning processes, no one is arguing that, but I question just how much the 82% of people identified by the Sierra Club are doing to make a difference in their own parts of the world. I'm sorry, but blaming government is just too easy and, in my view blaming anyone is not an acceptable method of problem solving. Collectively, we are the ones destroying the environment! We have created the demand for more energy, we have made choices as to the cars we want to drive, we are the ones consuming at increasing and alarming rates and we are the ones throwing our junk out the window as we collectively call the environment someone else's problem. (Using an example that is close to my own crusade, Canadians throw away 50 billion cigarette butts annually) We choose to blame our government because we can't fess up to the fact that we are not a part of the problem, we are the problem! All 82% of us.

Shane Simpson accuses the BC Liberals of having an "absolutely atrocious record on climate change." He says that "We should be long past arguing that climate change is an issue worth discussing, we should be working on getting some real results." He's right, this is exactly what all of us should be doing but we need to start this discussion at the ground level with our friends and families. That said Mr. Simpson's view that the BC Liberals aren't concerned about or aren't doing enough to protect the environment is dead wrong. Here are just a few of the positive things that have occurred in this province within the past year:

• $40 million committed to the creation of bike paths, walkways and greenways over the next 4 years with the Green Cities Project.
• Increased incentives to help local governments make the move toward the use of hybrid vehicles.
• A promise to ensure that all new vehicles leased or purchased by the provincial government will be hybrids by the year 2007.
• Further incentives to encourage individuals to purchase hybrid cars and trucks.
• $2 million committed directly toward bicycle infrastructure in various communities throughout the province.
• $10 million set aside for the development of the worlds first fleet of hydrogen powered buses.

So then the question remains, where was Shane Simpson when all of these environmentally positive plans were announced? Where was the Sierra Club? What was this 82% of the population doing and where were the press releases from the opposition saying "These are great ideas and we support them?" Shane Simpson says that "Sustainable development is extremely important to British Columbians" and I agree, but lets not lose sight of the fact that while we have a responsibility to hold our governments accountable to our environment, we also have a certain responsibility to make sure that we are being held accountable.

taking advantage of another snow day...





This past Thursday (after a particularly hectic Wednesday drive home) I decided to take advantage of the 14th major storm to hit the Lower Mainland this winter and I took the day off of work. Rather than contribute to the mayhem that the unexpected snowfall seemed to have created, I took the opportunity to spend the day with my 3 year old Jack. After we dropped his brother off at kindergarten, we spent the day exploring Vancouver-Hastings on foot and we had a blast (albeit a cold one).

I woke up that morning with BC Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon on the radio encouraging those motorists that didn't have the luxury of staying home (like me) to at least make sure that their tires were suitable for the conditions and that their gas tanks were full before heading out. Seems like common sense to me (admittedly I'm probably pretty close to needing new tires myself), but pretty good advise none-the-less.


So... In keeping with my current theme of promoting emergency preparedness in the home (I've talked in past posts about the importance of a plan and given some ideas for emergency kits in the home), Minister Falcon's advise reminds me that a good plan should extend beyond our houses. Given the bizarre, record breaking weather that we've been faced with in 2006 and the beginning of 2007 it may be wise to consider keeping a bit more than good tires and full gas tanks with our cars. In ours, we've stashed a small rubbermaid container under the seat that contains:

1. A first aid kit.
2. A few simple tools (adjustable wrenches, screwdriver, pliers etc.)
3. A couple of fleece blankets.
4. Water.
5. A flashlight.
6. Non-perishable snacks (granola bars).


We also have a couple of bags of sand, spare containers of oil, window washer fluid and other things that could become necessities, that will hopefully ensure that we are ready for most potential situations. Your car kit doesn't have to be complicated and it doesn't have to take up a lot of space. It can be tailored to suit the type of driving and distances that you have to travel, but keep in mind that even the shortest trips could turn into major excursions depending on what Mother Nature decides to throw at us next.


Hopefully we will never need to use the stuff that we've packed in an emergency, but I feel better knowing that it is there.