Archives for January 10, 2020

 

Bruce Ralston, Minister of Jobs, Trade and Technology, has issued the following statement on the release of Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey for December 2019:

“The December labour market report closes out the 2019 year showing a resilient economy in British Columbia despite uncertainty around the globe.

“Our province’s economy set the standard across Canada last year with the nation’s lowest unemployment, high GDP growth and strong wage increases.

“Investing in people paid off for British Columbians in 2019 with average wages increasing by $1.52 an hour, the highest wage growth in Canada. Since we formed government in July 2017, B.C. has created over 60,000 jobs and wages have increased by more than $3 an hour, improving the standard of living for British Columbians.

“Once again, B.C. had the lowest unemployment rate in Canada for the month of December, decreasing to 4.8%. British Columbia has held Canada’s lowest unemployment rate for 29 of the 30 months in which our government has been in power.

“Looking ahead, private forecasts expect B.C. to lead the country in economic growth again in 2020, thanks in part to the Province’s strong investments in infrastructure.”

 

Erica Esquieres was arrested by Richmond RCMP in Oliver and faces over 20 fraud and related charges. Fifteen of those charges originate in Richmond.

Richmond RCMP travelled more than 400 kilometres to the South Okanagan to arrest a woman wanted on multiple charges of fraud across the province.

Erica Esquieres, 26, has been a fugitive since July 2019 and is facing more than 26 charges, including 15 in Richmond.

The charges range from identity theft, forgery to credit card fraud, according to provincial court records.

According to the Mounties’ press release, a team of Richmond RCMP officers acted on several investigative tips before setting out to Oliver.

“Similar to historical excursions of the Mounties of old, tales of long treks across snow-covered landscapes tracking and arresting a fugitive on the run still holds true in present day,” reads the media release.

Esquieres was arrested on the morning of January 3rd near a home adjacent Tuc-el-Nuit Lake, in Oliver.

According to Sgt. Gene Hsieh, with Richmond RCMP’s organized crime unit, at the time of arrest, Esquieres remained “true to form” and attempted to deceive officers to avoid capture.

Hsieh added that officers on the arrest team were “quite familiar with Esquieres and her modus operandi.”

Esquieres is being held in Oliver pending a transfer to Richmond Friday and is scheduled to appear in Richmond Provincial Court that day.

“She was one of our most-wanted suspects. We were highly motivated in locating her whereabouts and ensuring she be returned to stand trial,” said Hsieh.

“Officers from our property crime unit and our economic crime unit made up the arrest team, and welcomed this chain of events to start off the New Year

Start

To start is to begin. Start is a barrier sometimes. Start feels impossible sometimes. Start is like the New Year resolution that just won’t settle down to something I can get enthused about. There  it is, to start needs some enthusiasm. Start is not a solitary pillar. Start needs supporting braces like big beams and guy wires in order to hold it up until the cement at its base can set. Start needn’t be a four letter word

What kind of cement do we need to ‘set’ the start into motion? I, for one, need to be at least a little bit confident that what I am proposing to start is going to be somehow ‘good’. I can start to make a cake or I can start a war. What I use to start each of those is different and the consequences are certainly different too. So some of those supporting braces need to convince me it will all be OK

There is the start and there is the starter. We can start lighting up the house for Christmas by starting the first candle by striking the first match by starting to walk toward the place we keep the matches etc. ‘Start’ is a beginning for sure, but where/when does it actually begin?. Somewhere, somehow, the seed of the idea that leads to the start, starts. So, how, exactly do we start things?

Some say the Universe was started at the moment of the Big Bang. Some say the Big Bang started at the speaking of  ‘the Word’. Some wonder about what happened before that? Part of the annoyance with the phrase ‘it is what it is’ may arise from a frustration about the true beginnings of whatever we are talking about. We like to know how/when things started. Do we really want to start a search into this?

We have many structures around the event we call the start. The start time is an example, as is the starting line or the starting gun. Fun thing is that whatever it is we are referring to had started a long time before. If it didn’t then the event would likely not occur. No preparation can equal no event. Then of course we have ‘surprises’, those seemingly spontaneous events that start all by themselves. But do they?

Joseph Seiler

Organic Composting Site Update

The board of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) has voted in favour of applying for a grant to construct an in-vessel organic food, yard and biosolid waste (waste water treatment sludge) composting facility near Campbell Mountain Landfill.

The RDOS board also supported a staff proposal to submit an application to the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) for exclusion of lands required for the facility, and to proceed with the land purchase once the land is compliant. “There are several advantages to building a composting facility near Campbell Mountain Landfill,” says RDOS chair Karla Kozakevich.

“The proposed facility will reduce costs, extend the life of the landfill, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and nuisance odours.” Previous studies estimate a curbside food collection program could potentially divert 26% of the total waste stream.

The primary advantages of the proposed program and location include: 

The cost of composting is less than adding to the landfill. 

Combining biosolid, food and yard waste in the same facility is shown to reduce costs compared to operating multiple sites. 

Diverting food waste furthers RDOS objectives to divert organics entering the landfill. 

Diverting food waste will help extend the life of the landfill and reduce lineups. 

New, locally-available food waste compost will be available for both agricultural and residential use. 

Compost is a valuable soil additive that helps trap moisture and conserve water. 

The construction of the composting facility will establish a strict odour control system and move the process away from neighbouring properties. 

A strict leachate management plan will also be established. 

Purchasing land to construct the composting facility is more cost effective and represents a net savings of well over $1M.

On September 19th, 2019 the RDOS board authorized staff to pursue a compost siting study. A number of recent events have increased the opportunity and urgency to establish a composting facility. Specifically, a new grant program has become available that could fund food waste diversion, and the proposed organics composting facility.