Chautauqua 2016
Congratulations & many thanks to “Miss Melodie” Hull & her fine young ladies.
Congratulations on producing another successful Chautauqua on Sam Steele Saturday in the Studio/Stagedoor this year.
And thanks for all the time & effort spent planning, organizing & presenting the show which allowed so much local talent of all ages to perform, in costume, before a very warm audience, at times standing room only.
I look forward to CHAUTAUQUA 2017.
PS.The pies & refreshments alone, served by those fine young ladies, were worth going for.
Bud Abbott, Cranbrook
State of the Wildlife
I recently attended a meeting in Cranbrook where a presentation was given on the state of our fish and wildlife in BC, but more specifically, here in the East Kootenay. To say that it was depressing would be an understatement. First of all, the majority of attendees were seniors, like me, or, a more preferable term would be – experienced. It was reminiscent of the wildlife meetings we had back in the 80’s and 90’s, but with more of a grey color. Where were all the younger generation of stakeholders that are interested or care about the future of our wildlife and fish? We, the more seasoned crowd, have seen the heyday of wildlife populations here in the East Kootenay, and we also now see the blind closing.
The general thrust of the meeting indicated all things in decline – deer, elk, moose, mountain sheep and, most importantly, budgets, for those that are tasked with trying to keep those species from the precipice. Stats were presented, and tales were told – information that the attendees were all too well aware of – that the WILDerness of the East Kootenay has very little WILDlife left. If you wish to hear an elk bugle, your chances are better to hear that sound somewhere near Baker Street than in the top end of the Palliser River. The Defenders of Bears and the Defenders of Wolves have done a much better job of getting the attention of the media and government than the Defenders of Deer and the Defenders of Elk. Subsequently, those remaining ungulates have taken refuge in the streets or on the periphery of Cranbrook, Kimberley, Fernie, and so on. After all, their instincts as a species, is to survive. The compilation of grizzly bears, black bears, cougars, wolves and coyotes have taken their toll on the ungulates and they won’t stop eating just because we haven’t yet decided how to handle this situation.
Some of the general public states that we should just let nature take its’ course – OK, let’s just take a look at a couple of our National Parks and see how well the ungulates are faring there. In Banff now, this former refuge for the ungulates has also been broken down as once-wary wolves are now cruising through town looking for their next meal and picking off the odd pet – the backcountry elk are all gone. Last week a Banff wolf was put down because it was starting to eyeball tourists. When was the last time anyone saw a living, breathing elk driving through Kootenay National Park?? In Jasper, concerns are being raised about the drastic decline in moose populations – a study indicated that 75% of the moose calves were being eaten within the first 2 weeks of birth – that seems like a big number to me!
So, how do we stop the decline and restore some WILDlife back into the WILDerness? I am not a biologist nor would I ever claim to be, but, we can help those that I mentioned earlier who are responsible for the management of our resources by contacting our MLA, the Minister in charge, and/or even the Premier, and insist that they be provided the funding needed to manage our wildlife sensibly. Or, we can just sit back and hope for the best – after all, there is the Smithsonian Institution.
I prefer the thought of sitting there in the early morning hours around a backcountry camp, sipping on a coffee and being once-again regaled by the sound of distant elk bugles, rather than complete silence …
Wally Maluta,, Cranbrook
Law-Making
One of the major roles for Members of Parliament is to draft laws that impact all Canadians. The reality is that these laws come from a mix of politics and require a thorough understanding of the implications of what is being proposed. Let me explain:
A recent example was Bill C-223, An Act to establish the Canadian Organ Donor Registry, which proposed to coordinate and promote organ donations throughout Canada. This is a critical issue for some of my constituents and has my full support. Had Bill C-223 been approved at second reading, the next step was for it to be sent to the Standing Committee for Health for discussion and improvement. However, before it could get that far, it was voted down by the Liberal majority. Bill C-223 was proposed by a Conservative Member of Parliament, and similar bills have been proposed by the NDP in past Parliaments. Politics?
Another bill, C-239, provided an example of a situation in which understanding the details is critical to creating good public policy. Bill C-239, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (charitable gifts), proposed to increase the tax deduction an individual is entitled to when they make a donation to a registered charity. I have been a volunteer with, and a donor to, many charitable organizations, so from a political perspective, how could I not support this bill? As the old saying goes, the devil truly is in the details.
The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO), which undertakes independent analysis of the financial implications of proposed legislation, found that the implementation of Bill C-239 would cost the federal government $1.7 billion in 2016 and $1.9 billion in 2020. This raises the important question: Which social programs could be cut to make up for the loss in revenue?
The PBO also found that taxpayers who make more than $91,000 in taxable income would benefit the most from Bill C-239, since the only proposed constraint on giving was a donation ceiling of 75% of net income. In short, while implementing this bill would potentially help some charities who have wealthy donors, it would likely not be helpful to charities who rely on donations from the average Canadian, would be very costly to the federal treasury while mainly benefiting the wealthiest taxpayers, and could result in government withdrawal of important services to Canadians.
In the end, Bill C-239 was not supported by a majority of the Members of Parliament. I would like to see government find alternatives to help fund the amazing work being done in our communities by charities – without reducing the scope of the government’s delivery of services to the people of Kootenay–Columbia.
As you can see, law making is not easy, and nothing illustrates that better than Bill C-14, Medical Assistance in Dying. I will update you on it in a separate article once we see where it goes over the next two weeks.
Wayne Stetski, Member of Parliament, Kootenay–Columbia
