Mailbag
Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows Times
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Money
Penny dropped over costs
Dear Editor, Yesterday, we said goodbye to the penny. For Canadian taxpayers, it simply doesn’t make sense to make cents anymore. Pennies sit idle in jars and coffee cans on our dressers and in our closets. They consume too much of our small business owners’ and retailers’ time for too little in return. And they cost too much for taxpayers – 1.6 cents per penny, to be exact. Taxpayers deserve better, and they are now getting better. As announced last year, the penny is be phased out, starting Feb. 4, when the Royal Canadian Mint ceased distributing them.
With this, Canadian taxpayers will save $11 million each and every year, as pennies are fully phased out. As part of this penny-less reality, Canada will move to a new “rounding” system – much as did Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, and the many other countries that have long-ago and successfully eliminated their penny. How will “rounding” work? Cash payments will need to adapt when pennies are not available. As time passes, businesses will simply not have pennies, and at the same time, customers will run out of pennies to pay with. To deal with this, the fed-
Employment
Mill jobs built families
Dear Editor, Thank you for a great article on the Hammond Mill, an employer that helped build this community. Jobs at the mill helped families plan futures, buy homes, and raise healthy and strong families. Jobs at the mill paid a livable wage so people could do those basic things. Currently, the BC Liberal government is spending millions of dollars touting its Jobs Plan, which Premier Christy Clark promised would make us number one in Canada. How’s that working for you, Ms. Premier? As of December 2012, we were the worst in the West at job creation, and the fourth best in Canada. And on yearover-year performance, B.C. actually comes in sixth. And how many of those jobs are minimum wage, parttime, no-benefits kinds of jobs? The unemployment rate when the Jobs Plan was announced was 6.8 per cent – the unemployment rate 14 months later is 6.8 per cent. Maybe this government should get busy creating livable jobs, rather than spending all that money on spin. Bob Goos, Maple Ridge
eral government is encouraging all businesses to round cash transactions. Moving to the “rounding” system means that cash payments should be rounded symmetrically, a successful practice that has become normal in countries that have eliminated their pennies. Symmetrical rounding means that final cash amounts (i.e. after tax) and the change owed: • ending in 1, 2, 6 and 7 cents are rounded down to the nearest 5-cent increment; • ending in 3, 4, 8, and 9 cents are rounded up to the nearest 5-cent increment; • ending in 0 and 5 cents remain unchanged. It’s important to remember that this will only affect payments in cash. That means debit cards, credit cards, payment cards, and cheques will not be impacted at all and will continue to be settled to the exact cent. Finally, the penny will retain its value indefinitely, meaning consumers can use pennies for cash transactions with businesses that choose to accept them, or cash them in at their local bank or credit union. Consumers and businesses with questions about rounding and looking for more information on the phasing out of the penny can turn to: fin.gc.ca/1cent/indexeng.asp or call toll-free 1-800-O-Canada (1-800-6226232). Randy Kamp, MP for Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge-Mission
Pitt Meadows
Council plays political game well
Dear Editor, Pitt Meadows City council members are showing they know how to play the game of politics. First, they blame their large percentage pay raises
on a volunteer citizen group that recommended said raises. No complaint from council, they just continue to fill their pockets and shift the blame. As for property taxes,
Federal politics
MPs widening racial divide
Dear Editor, I would like to know what Prime Minister Stephen Harper thinks of Senator Patrick Brazeau’s public comments at a Tory fundraising event last week, at which Brazeau criticized the Idle No More movement and Chief Theresa Spence’s fast. It’s fine if he disagrees with both, but to say, “I was sick two weeks ago. I had the flu and I lost five pounds. I look at Miss Spence when she started her hunger strike, and now?” I’m also curious about Harper’s response to Ottawa-area Conservative MP Royal Galipeau who, at the same fundraising event, talked about how he visited Spence in her teepee on Victoria Island: “I stood in the circle around Chief Spence. I noticed that manicure of hers. I tell you [my wife] can’t afford it.” Generally, you expect to hear comments like that from trolls in the social media, not elected and appointed officials, especially at official fundraisers. A prime minister who says or does nothing to put a stop to it is, in my opinion, encouraging the racial divide that has lately been rearing its ugly head in my country. For shame. We will remember, come 2015. Cheryl Baron, Maple Ridge
even if every resident of Pitt Meadows had signed the tax petition, Queen Walters and her supporters on council would probably continue ruling Pitt Meadows as they see fit. Now the Pitt Meadows Economic Development Corporation claims to bring 200 jobs to Pitt Meadows. Too bad the companies in question already have employees and are simply transferring their business sites here. So how many of the 200 jobs will go to Pitt Meadows residents? How long will it take for the PMEDC to generate new business taxes to cover its $250,000 annual cost? Lastly, Mayor Walters cast the deciding vote for both the City budget and for taking the land parcel north of the Lougheed Highway out of the Agricultural Land Reserve. Bravo, Mayor Walters. Archie Blankers, Pitt Meadows For more letters to the editor visit... www.mrtimes.com – Click on Opinion.
LETTERS POLICY: Copyright in letters and other materials submitted voluntarily to the Publisher and accepted for publication remains with the author, but the Publisher and its licensees may freely reproduce them in print, electronic, or other forms. Letters are also subject to editing for content and length. The Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows TIMES is a division of LMP Publication Limited Partnership.
A7
www.sd42.ca
SKILLED TRADES Information Session
Apprenticeship Programs offered in SD42 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm Wednesday, February 13, 2013 CAFETERIA Samuel Robertson Technical Secondary 10445 - 245 Street, Maple Ridge, BC
BCIT Y Y Y
Automotive Service Tech Electrician Metal Fabrication
Y Y
Carpentry Plumbing/Piping
Kwantlen
VCC Y Y Y
Culinary Arts/Cooking Cosmetology - Hairstyling Esthetics
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Integrated Trades
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Secondary School Apprenticeship Programs
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