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KAMLOOPS THIS WEEK THURSDAY
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30 CENTS AT NEWSSTANDS
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KTW
DECEMBER 31, 2015 | Volume 28 No. 157
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? BC Hydro, ICBC, MSP
fees rising in 2016
This week, we look back at some of the stories and newsmakers of 2015 and years previous
TOM FLETCHER
BLACK PRESS
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
KTW FILE PHOTO
Bishop David Monroe blesses Deacon Paul Simms as he is ordained a priest at this 2012 ceremony. After being attacked in 2010, Monroe is busy doing the church’s work.
AFTER THE ATTACK, BUSY AS EVER
TIM PETRUK
STAFF REPORTER
tim@kamloopsthisweek.com
More than five years after he was viciously attacked by a man suffering religious delusions, the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kamloops says things are completely back to normal — and busy.
On Oct. 22, 2010, Bishop David Monroe was left with head injuries and lacerations after being attacked by John Bandura. At the time, Monroe was at Sacred Heart Cathedral preparing for a wedding. He answered the rectory doorbell at about 10 p.m. and was attacked. See BISHOP, A4
BISHOP MONROE
Medical Services Plan premiums, electricity bills and vehicle insurance rates will be increasing in 2016, reviving criticism of the B.C. government’s constant boast about keeping taxes low. As of tomorrow, MSP premiums rise from $144 to $150 for a family of three earning more than $30,000 a year. For a single person in the same income group, the rate goes from $72 to $75, with decreased rates for lower incomes down to $22,000 a year, where premiums drop to zero. B.C. is now the only province in Canada with a health-care fee — and it has risen about 40 per cent since 2010. Premier Christy Clark has defended the fee as a signal to citizens about the enormous cost of providing health care. BC Hydro rates have been politically dictated since Clark and Energy Minister Bill Bennett intervened to cap rate increases in 2013. Hydro rates jumped six per cent after the 2013 election and are capped at no more than four per cent for 2015 and 2016, after which Bennett has promised to return rate-setting authority to the independent B.C. Utilities Commission (BCUC). Insurance Corporation of B.C. basic vehicle insurance went up by 5.5 per cent on Nov. 1, an increase still subject to review by the BCUC. That works out to an increase of $3.70 per month for the average driver. ICBC had proposed the maximum 6.7 per cent increase to cover increasing costs of personal injury claims and
fraud, but the province gave it permission for a one-time transfer of $450 million from its optional-insurance business to subsidize the basic rate. In a year-end interview, NDP Leader John Horgan stopped short of promising to eliminate MSP premiums, but he called it a “regressive tax” that would be part of a broad review of B.C. taxation fairness if he wins the 2017 election. The Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation (CTF) said people who benefit from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s promised middle-class tax cut will see most of those savings eaten up by provincial and municipal tax increases. Trudeau vowed to reduce the federal income-tax bracket between $45,282 and $90,563 to 20.5 per cent from 22 per cent and increase the rate for income over $200,000 to 33 per cent from 29 per cent. The change would provide up to $2,000 in tax relief for middle-income earners, with dual-income households benefiting most, according to CTF federal director Aaron Wudrick. Municipal property taxes are expected to increase across the province in 2016, with local councils preparing to set budgets for the new fiscal year that starts on April 1. Port Alberni has proposed a seven per cent increase, and the CTF says it hasn’t found any B.C. municipalities yet that propose to freeze or lower property tax rates. Kamloops has averaged an annual two per cent property-tax hike in the past decade.
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