Surrey Board of Trade wants transportation, health care, education and PST improvements in 2014 BC Budget

The Surrey Board of Trade spoke to the BC Government’s Standing Committee of Finance today at the Sheraton Hotel in Surrey. In preparation for the 2014 BC Budget, the Surrey Board of Trade spoke on their priorities, which included addressing funding disparities to transportation, health care and education in Surrey and the South Fraser Region.

With respect to Taxation “We find one of the most worrisome situations is that BC is at the top of the provincial list of “Marginal Effective Tax Rates in Canada”, said Anita Huberman CEO Surrey Board of Trade.

The Surrey Board of Trade said that in a tougher fiscal environment the solution to create a better economy is not achieved through increasing taxes. “Hold back on the tax and the increased economy will return that and more to the government in the end.  It’s much more sustainable because it will encourage new investment in our economy”, said Anita Huberman, CEO Surrey Board of Trade.

The Surrey Board of Trade wants to see the recommendations of the BC Government’s Expert Panel on Tax, specifically on administrative improvements to the PST, to be implemented.

In the area of transportation, the expense of the referendum and the quality of the results from the referendum were highlights.

In the area of health care, improvements to Surrey Memorial Hospital, and the development of the Pattison Centre have been wonderful, but it is still far short of what this region deserves and requires. The Surrey Board of Trade’s initial research indicates that despite there being a million people in Surrey and the South Fraser, per capita funding for Fraser Health is still 50% below funding levels of the rest of the province.

In the area of education, the Surrey Board of Trade wants a tripling of funding for Kwantlen! Right now, Kwantlen Polytechnic University and Simon Fraser University-Surrey together can offer only 12.7 post-secondary spaces for every 100 people 18-24 years-old in our region. The rest of B.C. receives almost 4 times that level of access, with 48.7 spaces for every 100 young adults.

The Surrey Board of Trade urged the Ministry of Finance to implement additional funding and pointed out that it is the responsibility of our elected representatives to provide at least equal funding to Surrey and the South Fraser region-the source of the lion’s share of our province’s future workforce. “And this workforce must be properly prepared to undertake the challenge if we are to grow our economy!” 

For the full copy of the presentation go to www.businessinsurrey.com 

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Anita Patil Huberman, CEO, Surrey Board of Trade
An Accredited Chamber of Commerce with Distinction from the Chamber Accreditation Council of Canada
Direct: 604-634-0342
Cell: 604-340-3899
www.businessinsurrey.com

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SWEA; Swedish Crayfish Party Sep. 2013

Crayfish Party on Friday, September 27

SWEA's and the Swedish Cultural Society are organizing the year's crayfish. The crayfish party, which is open for ALL (including men, non-Swedes and non-SWEA members) promises an abundance of crayfish, live entertainment by the band Nine Noah and raffle with squeaky prices.

Tickets
Please note that only pre-sale case, the notification is made ​​by Wednesday 25 September. The price is $ 45 for ticket picked up at the Scandinavian Community Centre by Wednesday 25 September. At biljettuthämtning in the door is the price $ 50.

A good deedevent SWEA supports UBC's scholarship ($ 3,000) to be awarded to a student at UBC who are able to continue their language study in Sweden.

Childin need of child care for the evening? Contact us no later than Friday 20 September at vancouver@swea.org

TransportDriving and alcohol are not a good combination. Skytrain and bus, carpooling with other guests or taxi calls. A Safe Alternative asaride.com  and  Operation Red Nose  operationnezrouge.com  may be at a cost to drive home your car if you prefer to drive to the crayfish party.

Volunteers WantedAre you interested in helping out during the evening, please contact us at vancouver@swea.org

Swedish CrayfiSep. 2013sh Party.

Video of Port Metro Press Conference on Fraser Surrey Docks' Direct Tran...

PRESS ROOM  Re Coal Transportation via BNSF Railroad date: [posted] 15 Sep 2013..  www.whiterockreporter.com/category/interviews   johanpublisher@gmail.com
THIS IS ALL ABOUT OUR ENVIRONMENT AND IT IS A SOCIAL ISSUE RE HEALTH AND PUBLIC COMFORT AND SAFETY - WELLNESS.

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FREE Groundwater 4 NESTLE Extracted in HOPE BC. Why Nestle Doesn't Pay

Free Groundwater for Nestle is One of many Corporate Give-aways of water in BC

Posted by Sheila Muxlow 464.20wc on August 16, 2013 · Flag

It has been a whirlwind week of media outcry since Dan Fumano of the Province newspaper broke the story that Nestle - the world's largest food corporation - has been taking more than 260 million litres of water from BC's ground water for free. 

Despite the fact that Nestle never applied for a license to access the water and is draining the size of a small lake each year, they are not breaking the law. In fact Nestle's operation is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to industries that are taking advantage of BC's outdated water laws. Beyond bottled water, industries like mining, agriculture and natural gas fracking are able to tap into BC's ground water without paying a cent to the public coffers.

With National media attention on Nestle in Hope, BC - in the heart of our home waters - we have an opportunity to lead the way on reforms to how this precious water is valued.

Will you help us win this? Please support us now by signing up to volunteer or providing us with a donation.

BC's water is governed by an archaic piece of legislation crafted in 1909. In addition to the lack of ground water regulation, the BC Water Act provides no assurances for water to be protected for the needs of local residents nor the environment.

In fact the BC Water Act issues priority of water use based on a First In Time, First In Right aka "FITFIR" basis. This means that if a company laid claim to water for a mining operation in 1950, and then later a municipality accessed the same water source in 1960, the mining operation would have priority in the times of a water dispute. Furthermore there is no recognition of Aboriginal Rights & Title when it comes to water, adding to the tensions between First Nations and the BC Government.

It is time to bring our water management policies into the 21st century. At the WaterWealth Project we have been building support for an overhaul of the BC Water Act, but we need your help to get it done!

Using practices of community engagement we are working with local residents to understand the value of our home waters while addressing the threats that are draining on our water wealth. Through educational events like Lunch & Learns, and outreach activities using political theatre we are working to keep the issue of water visible.

We are committed to building capacity at a community level, meeting with decision makers and bolstering expertise on the ground supported by science and traditional knowledge to enable more local control over decisions that impact on water.

Using the WaterWealth Declaration we are building a constituency of people to show to provincial decision makers that they need to prioritize the protection of water. Sign and share now if you haven't yet already!

So please, if you share our vision to end the corporate-give aways of water and ensure our home waters are valued and stewarded as they should be, than please support us now bysigning up to volunteer or providing us with a donation.

Together we can do this!

Your contact: Sheila@waterwealthproject.com            

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