8 Tuesday, May 15, 2012 Ladysmith Chemainus Chronicle
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Three cheers for Mini World Cup
“It could not have gone any better.” Mike Rankin, Page 1
C
all me a slave to the all-mighty pun, but I sure get a kick out of watching a good soccer match. And this weekend, I wasn’t alone as thousands gathered in Ladysmith to participate in the 2012 Mini World Cup. In two days, roughly 1,000 kids played 198 games of soccer on six local fields. Take a moment to stop and think about that. It was estimated that approximately 3,000 people came to Ladysmith for the Mini World Cup over a twoday period. It doesn’t really take a rocket scientist to see the potential local spinoffs from an event of that size. So often we talk [and even argue!] about revenue generation — about ways to support our local businesses and make Ladysmith a destination, not a drive-thru on the way to Nanaimo or the South Island. And then there are groups like the Mid-Isle Soccer Club, who quietly go in and get the job done. Granted, they didn’t do it alone. The success of this weekend is also owed to the countless volunteers, the energy and enthusiasm of the players, the businesses and organizations who stepped up to the plate and the town’s staff for donating their time and resources. What I saw was people coming together in a positive environment for a positive cause with positive economic benefits for our town. And all in the name of good sportsmanship and fun. It doesn’t get any better than that. Three cheers to the Mid-Isle Soccer Club and everyone who played a part in last weekend’s Mini World Cup. — Niomi Pearson
Question of the Week
Will you stay in Ladysmith for the Victoria Day long weekend? Vote online at www.ladysmithchronicle.com. This web poll is informal, not scientific. It reflects opinions of website visitors who voluntarily participate. Results may not represent the opinions of the public as a whole. Black Press is not responsible for the statistical accuracy of opinions expressed here. Results from last week’s question Are you planning to take in any of the Mini World Cup this weekend? Yes 13% No 86% The Ladysmith-Chemainus Chronicle is a member of the British Columbia Press Council, a self-regulatory body governing the province’s newspaper industry. The council considers complaints from the public about the conduct of member newspapers. Directors oversee the mediation of complaints, with input from both the newspaper and the complaint holder. If talking with the editor or publisher does not resolve your complaint about coverage or story treatment, you may contact the B.C. Press Council. Your written concern, with documentation, should be sent to B.C. Press Council, 201 Selby Street, Nanaimo, B.C., V9R-2R2. For information phone 1-888-687-2213 or go to www.bcpresscouncil.org.
BC Ferries fleet sails into storm BC Views
by Tom Fletcher
T
he B.C. government has rolled out its plan to reform BC Ferries, continuing the structural and cultural shift that started when the Crown corporation was quasi-privatized in the early years of B.C. Liberal rule. Politically, there is a lot at stake here. Premier Christy Clark’s year-long “families first” routine boils down to two projects — reining in rate increases at BC Hydro and BC Ferries. For weeks, Transportation Minister Blair Lekstrom has been signaling there is bad news to come. Sparring with the NDP in question period, he has bluntly and repeatedly said the days of fully-staffed vessels sailing with a third [or less] of their capacity are coming to an end. Tabling legislation to give the ferry commissioner new powers over service levels as well as fares, Lekstrom revealed $80 million worth of sugar to help the tough
medicine go down over the next four years. That’s on top of the $150 million annual subsidy. Quadra Island politician Jim Abram was first out with the predictable view of the Gulf Islands elite, dismissing this sum as paltry. It’s difficult to capture how self-centred and insulting this is, but I’ll try. Consider that the B.C. transportation ministry spent $460 million last year on highway operations. That’s for the province’s entire vast, weather-battered road network. This year’s operating subsidy to coastal ferries is approaching $200 million, nearly half of that. And increasingly, it goes to subsidize getaways for those who choose isolation for its own sake. Basic financial information also exposes the falsity of NDP ferry critic Garry Coons’ one-note critique. It’s part of the highway system, he constantly says, comparing empty ferries with empty roads while ignoring the mandatory ferry staff and other costs.
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This fiscal-fantasy policy implies another huge increase in subsidy, much of it a transfer from working people to the idle rich who can afford Gulf Islands real estate. A key legislative change will allow BC Ferries to use revenues from its profitable main routes to subsidize little-used runs. This would be even more important if those revenues hadn’t been squandered. And no, I’m not talking about the “fast ferries.” The story is detailed in Head On!, a 2004 book by former B.C. deputy highways minister R.G. Harvey. He describes how the Mike Harcourt government completed the “gross error” of building a new terminal at Duke Point. This run was to take truck and other traffic from congested Horseshoe Bay to the mid-Island from Tsawwassen. An alternative route from Richmond to Gabriola Island, with bridges to Vancouver Island, had been quietly scuttled after the
W.A.C. Bennett government was defeated by the NDP’s Dave Barrett in 1972. On a map, it’s clear this would have been the shortest route. Harvey says it would have cut travel time by half and likely replaced the congested Horseshoe Bay dock. But Barrett would have had to tell his Nanaimo ferry union supporters that they were losing half their work hours. Ts a w w a s s e n t o D u k e Point is 65 kilometres, compared to 54 kilometres from Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay. A ferry worker’s shift includes two round trips and loading time. On the Duke Point run, this meant at least eight and a half hours, “thus ensuring the crew at least one hour at double time daily and often more,” Harvey writes. “Later, it became a scheduled overtime route.” Something to keep in mind as Adrian Dix and his crew of union bosses prepare to take the helm. Tom Fletcher is legislative reporter and columnist for Black Press newspapers.
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