Ian Gartshore

All three levels of government have contributed to these growing problems. 1. Federal: Cancellation of tax breaks for rental construction in the 1970’s. Cancellation of building affordable housing Allowing housing to become an investment (see more on this, below)  2. Provincial: Cancellation of building affordable housing Social assistance (including for disabled persons) has not kept up to the cost of housing. Not even close Until recently: a lack of building standards that reduce the cost of heating a home (poor insulation, single clear pane windows, drafty homes cost a lot more to heat) Lack of adequate assistance for relationships in distress leads to separations, spousal abuse, broken families, alcohol and drug abuse and homelessness The high cost of transportation dependent on owning cars Lack of illness-prevention strategies, leading to loss of income and a taxed health-care system 3. Municipal: The desire to accommodate the single occupancy motor vehicle dr...

You will undoubtedly know that I am unhappy with your decision to not fund the Nanaimo Recycling Exchange’s new facility. I understand that your legal counsel advised you that you cannot donate money to a non-profit entity that is competing with for-profit companies, and that if you could donate it would require a plebiscite. I can fully appreciate your desire to save the taxpayer’s money. You wish to be both responsible and legal. This is good and right. What I wish to now bring to your attention are the premises (assumptions) that appear to have led to your decision. I believe these premises have no basis in fact; hence (if I am correct) your decision is not the result of legal counsel nor is it the most responsible one. I will outline what I believe are your incorrect premises here and provide more detail later on. I appreciate that you are given a lot of reading to do. Premise #1: The other recyclers are accomplishing what the NRE had been doing. Even if they knew ho...

May 24th Fuel Truck closes Malahat for most of a day I have followed provincial politics for longer than the E&N railway became an issue, and I have consistently heard from NDP candidates on Vancouver Island that investing in this railway is a high priority, including Mr. Horgan when campaigning last year. With the support of the Greens how could this solution to our transportation woes seem to have derailed?  Recently, once again, the Malahat highway was closed for a lengthy period of time –making a complete mess of travel plans for thousands, increasing the risk of accidents, missed appointments and more. I have been delayed multiple times on that stretch of highway, including to my mother’s funeral (I made it in time). Some people complain that getting the E&N railway back into full operation is expensive. Hardly. The entire length would cost only double of the single overpass now under construction at McKenzie Road in Victoria. Contrast this to the cost of b...

Let’s compare how the corporate non-profit “Regional Recycling” (RR, the more recent brand name for the federally incorporated Encorp) and the Nanaimo Recycling Exchange (NRE) go about their "business." Firstly, the local RR depots are privately owned. They are licenced by the federally incorporated not-for-profit Encorp. So how are they funded? Encorp : Especially in the earlier days, when Encorp's “Return-it” was only a bottle depot, they were given the eco-fees generated whenever someone purchased a bottled beverage. They got to keep 100% of those deposits, even when the container was not given to them for a refund. They amassed large sums of our money ($43 million at its peak). They still get to keep these public funds. In the last year they reported (2016) about three-quarters of all of their income came from the eco-fees charged to us. The rest comes from selling the recyclables and other income. Click here for that information. The NRE has very...

Transportation No book about reducing our waste, simplifying our lives and creating more joy is complete without raising this subject –particularly in North America. Three of the most important subjects in our modern society –food/water, energy production & transmission and transportation have the largest impacts on both us and Mother Earth. And, all three are necessary. Of these three, transportation injures and kills the most people directly (through accidents) and indirectly (via air pollution). Yet travel is extremely important. Let’s take a look at the history of travel and what we can do to improve it. People have always travelled, by water-craft, walking/jogging and the use of animals (dog sleds and riding animals such as horses, camels, elephants, etc.) for all of human history. In our modern world travel is far more crucial because food, raw materials and products are often shipped thousands of kilometres to their destinations. Developed countries, and increasin...