OPINION: Just ignoring the issues doesn’t fix regional challenges
‘Just ignoring the issues doesn’t fix regional challenges,’ Times Colonist (Dec. 17, 2017), Response by Stan Bartlett to former MLA and CRD director Gary Holman column ‘Just being grumpy doesn’t…
COLUMN: Identity crisis at the CRD problematic for taxpayers
Editor’s Note: This column below appeared in the Times Colonist Nov. 17 and was responded to by Gary Holman, a former CRD director and MLA for Saanich North and the…
Service-sharing report pulls punches: Province urged to step into the ring with Dysfunction-by-the-Sea
Taxpayers feeling pick-pocketed by their municipalities aren’t likely to get quick relief or better services, now that the province released its study on integrating services and governance. The long-awaited Capital…
Is your council and municipality burning through property taxes?
10 Good Reasons to join Grumpy Taxpayer$ 1. Our approach works. We lead the opposition against the 2022 Commonwealth Games bid, what would have been an expensive $1.5 billion boondoggle.…
Government fees, levies and regulatory costs driving up Greater Victoria housing prices
Contributing to an affordable housing crisis Housing prices in Greater Victoria have more than doubled in the last decade, with the federal, provincial and municipal governments fueling much of this…
Urgent Memo to Provincial Election Candidates: Half a century on, CRD steeped in myths
Back in 1966, when colour television was first introduced to Canada, Montreal-born actor William Shatner debuted in the science fiction series Star Trek. There were fewer than 60,000 residents in…
Federal PILTs anchor municipal finances: Esquimalt, Metchosin, Colwood biggest beneficiaries
In 2015, federal payments in lieu of taxes in the Capital region totaled $29-million or 4.33 per cent of the total municipal revenues including surplus, according to Public Works Canada…
Tough 2017 municipal budget questions to ask your councillor
Better value for taxes urged by unflappable humanoids – This time of year you must have empathy for taxpayers, those unflappable humanoids who are normally florid-faced, calm, stoic, wiry, and…
Province must step up to the plate to improve integrity in local government
Local politics in BC is dirty, frighteningly dirty: Travis – VICTORIA – The province must become more involved in municipal affairs and address pressing issues to improve the integrity of…