Archives for October 11, 2020

Over the last year the Town of Oliver has engaged business owners, residents, students, and other stakeholders to create a roadmap to improve the local economy in our Town. All the effort and engagement paid off as the Town now has a completed Grow Oliver! Local Economic Development Strategy in place and priority actions are underway.

COVID-19 emerged as the final draft was being prepared in the spring. In response, actions and priorities were updated within Grow Oliver to reflect the impacts of COVID-19 on Oliver’s economy, while ensuring support is in place for a post-pandemic recovery of local businesses and jobs.

“The Grow Oliver strategy is a tool to encourage shopping local in our community”, said Mayor Johansen. “I encourage residents to get involved and participate, this is a great way to support independent businesses who are the backbone of our community’s economic stability, local businesses need our support more than ever”.

A Grow Oliver Committee is in place and it is a working group with representation from key businesses, planning groups and organizations with a passion for Oliver and an interest in community economic development. This includes representation from Oliver Tourism Association, Oliver Osoyoos Winery Association, and the South Okanagan Chamber of Commerce.

Currently the South Okanagan Chamber is being tasked with the Grow Oliver Coordinator position and is working on the top identified priorities which include a Shop Local campaign and creating a one stop resource for people, entrepreneurs and businesses looking to start up and grow their business in Oliver.

Greg Sol, President of the South Okanagan Chamber shared that “The Town’s plans mesh well with the priorities of our Chamber and we are thankful to be working together with the Committee and greater business community to deliver on the Grow Oliver economic development strategies. Making business support and development a priority is vital right now for all of us”.

Growing a strong and vibrant community cannot be done alone. Everyone is encouraged to get involved and participate. Look for the Grow Oliver magnets, signage and BINGO cards and think local first. Supporting local businesses and services is crucial in these times of COVID-19 economic recovery and Oliver’s long-term revitalization. More information on the Town’s COVID-19 response and Local Economic Development Strategy can be found on the town website www.oliver.ca.

Source: Randy Houle, Director of Development Services

FAMILY GATHERINGS                                                        

It seems ages since we could enjoy big family gatherings.  The sort of get-togethers where new babies are first seen by all the family and older children are hugged and told how much they have grown.  Great uncles and aging aunties, that rarely visit, dust off their finery and make the effort to travel to the event, bringing an aura of mothballs clinging to their seldom worn “good” clothes.

There is usually one of the married children who owns the biggest home so this is where the meeting of the clan will be held.  Anyone who can find a place to sleep, stays at the main house, distant relatives are put in hotels and there is usually one member of the family who rolls up in a camper and parks in the driveway.

It is almost always the eldest daughter who takes control of the entire planning of the event, she plans the sleeping accommodation, meals and entertainment, and prays for good weather so most of the meals can be eaten outside.  She is in charge of menu planning and usually fields out various dishes for others to bring, to include them in part of the “main dinner”.  Her siblings may resent her organising their part in the affair, but go along with it, rather than argue.

Seating arrangements take the most planning, senior members of the family are seated by priority of their importance in the lineage.  Great grandparents usually are cosseted and given comfy chairs, where they can have easy access and elbow room.  |Next come mom and dad, they are also given good seats but mom, usually insists on having easy access to the kitchen, so she can help.  The fact that her married children have everything under control is of no consideration, she has always been in charge of the kitchen and finds it hard to not be involved.

There is nearly always a “children’s  table”  which is definitely a place where no self respecting teenager feels they belong, however newer in-laws and younger siblings are sat where ever there is a space and have to make the best of it.

The selection of chairs is weird and wonderful and is a bit of a lottery.  The home has six dining chairs, given, of course to the older generation.  Bedroom chairs, piano benches, patio furniture and even a step stool are utilized for the meal.  One of my weirdest dinners was spent tottering on the highest perch of the step stool while my neighbour sat at a low piano bench, so I was able to see right over his head.  I towered over the table while his chin was almost resting on his plate.

Dining family style is great if you are seated at the end of the table however, if you are stuck in the middle you spend most of the meal passing dishes of food back forth to the other diners.  If you are lucky, you can help yourself as food goes back and forth but a relaxing experience it certainly is not.  Trying to field questions from seldom seen relatives, while anxiously keeping an eye on your offspring, who are squabbling at the other table, is difficult.  One of your children is flicking peas at his sibling and you just know that a full blown food fight is brewing.  However, you can’t reach them to give a warning, so quietly gesture to your mate, who is nearer to the kids, but ignoring your facial gestures to sort out his children.

Hopefully, someone else’s child will be admonished for bad behaviour and you are able to give warning grimaces to your kid while attention is focussed on the wrong doer.  Just when you think the problem is solved, one of your children manages to upset the gravy boat onto someone else’s lap, so you have to disturb four other people to climb out from your spot, while you deal with the situation.

Yes family get-togethers can certainly be stress filled but, even so how nice it will be when, once again, we can gather with all our relatives and celebrate the joy of being part of a family.

Whether or not you want to believe it, taxes in Canada are going to go up and you should start planning for that inevitable now. There is no way our government can do anything but raise taxes with the massive spending that they’ve undertaken the past few years. Even the parliamentary budget office called tax hikes “unavoidable”. Before the global pandemic, the spending was already far more than we could afford. But now, with a projected deficit of $340 billion (which will likely increase) for 2020, it’s gotten completely out of control. So, what steps should you consider doing today to prepare for these increased taxes?

1) Trigger Capital Gains – Currently only 50 per cent of capital gains are taxable but it is very likely that the government will increase this “inclusion rate” to 75 per cent next year. With that in mind, anyone who may be selling an asset that would realize capital gains may want to do so before Dec 31, so the lower tax rate is used.

2) Hold on to Capital Losses – If you are carrying forward capital losses and planned to use them to offset capital gains this year, you may be better off to hold on to them and use them once the capital gains rate increases for larger savings if you expect to have capital gains next year or beyond.

3) Carry Forward RRSP Contributions – Much like the capital loss idea above, if you have past RRSP contributions that you’re carrying forward and/or are making RRSP contributions this year, consider holding off using these deductions until the tax rates go up for bigger savings.

4) Use an Estate Freeze – An estate freeze is the process of taking assets that you own today (most commonly a business) and freezing them at their current value so that you’d pay taxes based on today’s value at death. The tax on the future growth of those assets can be passed down to multiple children to defer it and possibly spread it out.

5) Prescribed Rate Loans – For families with taxable investment income, splitting income with a spouse via a prescribed rate loan can save taxes. To do so, you would loan your spouse money to invest and charge the prescribed interest rate (only one percent as of July 1) on that loan. The investment income would then be taxable in your spouse’s hands instead of your own.

6) Leave Canada… While I hope that we don’t see a large exodus of high-income earners and business owners, some will inevitably choose to leave if we keep on this path. The latest proposed “wealth tax” outlined in the throne speech will make the wealthy consider just that. If you do choose to leave, you’d want to do so before the increased taxes take effect since Canada is one of the few countries that charges a “departure tax” and that figure will likely significantly rise soon.
If any of the above strategies might work for you, make sure to allow ample time to put them into effect before the end of this year. Doing so could save you a lot of extra taxes down the road. Remember that everyone’s situation is unique so speak to your Certified Financial Planner to help you make the best choice for you!

This column is brought to you by Michelle Weisheit CFP, IG Wealth Management and presents general information only and is not a solicitation to buy or sell any investments. Please contact your own advisor for specific advice about your situation.

All of Town or Oliver

All of Area C – Rural Oliver

2 items per home

place out by 7 am

only furniture,  mattresses and large appliances