CHILLIWACK TIMES THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2013
News
Wacky weather goes to extremes BY PAUL J. HENDERSON phenderson@chilliwacktimes.com
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ast year Chilliwack residents experienced a 48 degree celsius (C) swing in temperature extremes, the wettest June since 1981 and the driest August and September on record. The weather story in 2012 in Chilliwack was one of extremes, but mostly on the high end. With 10 high temperature records and only one low one, the average mercury reading for the year was 0.36 C above normal, according to Environment Canada volunteer weather observer Roger Pannett. Those temperatures continued the general warming trend that started in 1986, Pannett said in his year-end weather report. “On 14 days hot maximum temperatures in excess of 30 C occurred, above the average seven days for the 11th consecutive year, a trend never previously observed,” Pannett wrote. A year ago, however, things were chilly and Chilliwack hit a low for the year of -14 C plus wind chill on Jan. 18. Pannett said 2012 featured the coldest and wettest June since 1981, adding to the highest precipitation numbers since 1997. Four 24-hour rainfall records were broken in 2012, including the 13.1 millimetres (mm) on July 23, statistically the day that is usually the driest of the year. After that summer dump of rain, Chilliwack had 80 straight days with minimal rainfall, making August and September the driest since local records were started in 1879. At 178 days, it rained almost every other day in 2012, up from the 30-year average of 161 days. There were also 32 days of snow, up from the 18-day average.
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It was a wild year for weather in 2012 as Chilliwack saw just one low temperature record set but an amazing 10 high temperature marks recorded.
More fallout from tax cheat case
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Chilliwack man’s “hare-brained” tax evasion scheme has left an Ottawa dentist and his wife in personal and professional ruin. Clarke and Mary Margaret Webster believed that taxes were unconstitutional and that the federal government created a parallel legal system based on the Hollywood movie The Matrix that allowed them to opt out from paying them. On Monday, those beliefs landed the couple on house arrest, facing a $342,407 tax bill that will likely cost them their home. Clarke Webster, a 63-year-old Ottawa dentist and grandfather, admitted to failing to declare income from his dental practice over a six-year period beginning in 2004, the same year he became a follower of Chilliwack-resident Russ Porisky, and his Paradigm tax evasion scheme. His wife failed to declare income from
her position as his office manager over a similar, five-year period. Both renounced their beliefs Monday in the “spurious” Paradigm scheme — declaring it preposterous, contemptuous of the rule of law and aimed solely at evading taxes — after pleading guilty to tax evasion. Porisky was the brains behind Paradigm Education Group, which taught followers that taxes are unconstitutional and that taxing a human being’s labour is a confiscation of property and, therefore, against the Canadian Bill of Rights. Through books, pamphlets, CDs, seminars and the Internet, the group taught that the federal government set up a parallel legal system in order to overcome the constitutional problems with taxation. Much like in the movie The Matrix, citizens “awaken” to the fact that this parallel taxation system was created and learn how to withdraw from it and declare no tax owing. Court heard the Websters paid more
than $31,200 to “educator” Lee Williams to learn how to succeed in the scheme. The money paid to Williams was roughly seven to 10 per cent of what they “saved” by not filing taxes. Williams then passed a percentage on to Porisky, who has already been sentenced to four years in prison. Porisky is appealing both his sentence and his conviction. Williams is currently serving a five-year prison sentence. His wife, Ottawa-area dentist Tanya Kovaluk, received 2½ years after herself evading nearly a million dollars in taxes while aiding Williams. The Websters were handed the minimum fine, equal to the amount of tax they refused to pay. Clarke Webster was fined $273, 811; Mary Margaret Webster received a $78,596 fine. Clarke Webster received a one-year conditional sentence and Mary Margaret received six months. Half will be spent under house arrest. The conditional sentences will be followed by 27 months’ probation.
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