James Ridge appointed VP, Enrollment/Services/Registrar at UBC

Career public servant to become UBC's next Registrar.

A career public servant has been appointed Associate Vice President, Enrollment Services/Registrar at the University of British Columbia.

James Ridge, Deputy City Manager at the City of Vancouver, will assume responsibilities for UBC student recruitment, admissions, financial assistance and other operational matters as well as serving as Secretary of the UBC Senate as mandated by the University Act.

"James Ridge brings a wealth of public sector knowledge and senior management experience to the university," said UBC President Stephen Toope, "and I believe his contributions to enhancing the UBC student experience will be substantial."

Ridge's public sector career began in 1982 with an eight-year stint in the Canadian Forces, where he attained the rank of Major. He became director of the Crime Control Commission of Ontario before taking on a series of licensing and planning positions with the City of Toronto, where he played a key role in municipal amalgamation, culminating in 2001 when he became CIO/Director of Information Technology. Prior to joining the City of Vancouver, Ridge was Chief Administrative Officer of the District of North Vancouver.

"His record of achieving outstanding team effectiveness and service is superbly fitted to building on current strengths and acting on the recommendations of Enrollment Services reviews at the Okanagan and Vancouver campuses," said Brian Sullivan, Vice President, Students, to whom Ridge reports.

"I am delighted for this unexpected opportunity and enthusiastic about doing my part to help UBC achieve its vision, particularly related to student success," Ridge said. "I know there will be lots to learn and I am grateful to be joining an accomplished team."
Ridge, who succeeds Brian Silzer, AVP and Registrar since 2002, will assume his duties on June 8.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009 10:35:00 AM

A Very Important Issue that Nobody Wants to Talk About

26 APRIL, 2009

DEPUTY LEADER CHALLENGES CHIEF PHILLIP TO DEBATE “RECOGNITION ACT”

PENTICTON – BC Conservative Deputy Leader and Candidate for MLA in Penticton, Chris Delaney, has issued a challenge to Union of BC Indian Chiefs Grand Chief, Stewart Phillip, to debate him on Gordon Campbell’s proposed Recognition and Reconciliation Act.

Delaney says the Act will recognize “Aboriginal Title” to all of BC. He says the Liberals plan to carve the province into thirty aboriginal ‘super’ territories that will have an effective veto over all resource and land development forever.

Phillip has accused Delaney of ‘fear-mongering’ and of being ‘misinformed’. Delaney responded by saying he is in good company.

“The normally pro-Liberal Vancouver Sun columnist, Vaughn Palmer, has warned the Recognition Act may be an extremely dangerous misstep . Vancouver Province columnist, Mike Smyth, has called the proposal ‘too radical’. Jock Finlayson of the BC Business Council has serious misgivings, as do the BC Chamber of Commerce. Constitutional lawyer Jeffrey Rustand says ‘Aboriginal Title’ will include private land. Native legal specialists Tom Isaac and Keith Clark say ‘there is a fundamental lack of understanding by the persons who drafted this paper for B.C. concerning the significance of recognizing aboriginal title throughout B.C.’”, said Delaney.

Party Leader, Wilf Hanni added, “Those are some pretty heavy hitters. They understand and are prepared to say what Mr. Phillip is not – that “title” can only mean one thing – outright ownership. He knows if he says that, British Columbians will not accept it. The only thing he fears is the truth.”

Hanni says his party will host a debate with Mr. Phillip where the issue can be discussed openly for all British Columbians to see and hear. That way, Phillip can state his case and allay any misconceptions he claims are being promoted. For his part, Delaney say he will be happy to present the facts and let British Columbians decide for themselves whether the Recognition Act is a good thing for BC or not.

“Any time you are giving people that much power, you must take it from someone else. That is the elephant in the room here. In a democracy, people must first be informed, and second give their consent to relinquishing that kind of power,” Delaney explained.

“I doubt British Columbians will want to give thirty unelected, unaccountable chiefs a veto over all of their interests in the land and resources of BC, but let’s let them decide that. Given that the Recognition Act only “recognizes” thirty aboriginal groups when BC has over 250 Bands all with their own chiefs, I’m not even sure all aboriginal groups will go for this power grab.”

“The only way to find out is to have the debate. You know where to reach me Stewart. I’m ready for this if you are,” challenged Delaney.

-30-

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Wilf Hanni, Leader, BC Conservative Party – (250) 426-9807

Chris Delaney, BC Conservative Party – (604) 880-4956

www.conservativesbc.com leader@conservativesbc.com

Shaking with disbelief

It might be 48 hour stale news from the front page of Friday's North Shore News but no one has commented or posted on it which surprises me a little. This is hot news from the race in N.V.-Lonsdale. Seems to me the image of a credit union is for the average person who may not be in favour of a donation to the B.C. Liberals. As a member of the North Shore Credit Union myself I share the same sentiment as Harris. Yamamoto's comment about the B.C. teachers union donating to the NDP as being similar is like comparing apples to oranges because Yamamoto was on the executive board of the North Shore Credit Union. I think the North Shore Credit Union is in conflict and the N.V. Liberals shouldn't have accepted the donation. It will be interesting to see if and how this plays out in favour of the NDP for the NV-Lonsdale race.

The following are some excerpts from the article;

THE North Shore Credit Union has come under fire from a North Vancouver NDP candidate for donating $7,500 to the B.C. Liberal Party at a time when one of its board members was seeking the Liberal nomination in North Vancouver.

The North Shore News reported Dec. 3 that chamber of commerce president Naomi Yamamoto -- now the Liberal candidate running against Harris -- was seeking the party's nomination in North Vancouver-Lonsdale. At the time, Yamamoto was a board member of the credit union.

Yamamoto said she doesn't see anything wrong with credit unions making political donations. "I don't think it's really any different from the B.C. teachers union who donate to the NDP," she said. "Not all their members support the NDP."

Harris, a longtime member of the North Shore Credit Union, said the credit union shouldn't be donating money to any political party. "I am shaking with disbelief," she said. "I feel incredibly betrayed."


http://www2.canada.com/northshorenews/news/story.html?id=ece04292-7e0a-4dd8-8de5-ec5da221abff

Try BC - STV for the Constituency of North Vancouver

This is an interesting try out of BC-STV as it applies to a hypothetical result for the constituency of North Vancouver. I encourage all bloggers to continue to engage in the First Past the Post/BC-STV debate and education of this issue. Below are the reults so far at http://www.trystv.ca/ Please give the voting system a try at the link below.

Happy Voting!

http://www.trystv.ca/

Final Round


20.1%
Jim Stephenson (Green)
55
(20.1%)
Ralph Sultan (Liberal)
82
(29.9%)
David Marley (Indep)
48
(17.7%)
Janice Harris (NDP)
55
(20.1%)
None of these
34
(12.3%)

Gary Hee -- B.C. Conservative Candidate in North Vancouver - Seymour

Gary is a 64-year-old husband, father of two, and grandfather of one. He is a resident of North Vancouver.

At UBC, Gary attended the Faculty of Science, majoring in computers. He is currently president of Paramount Computers LTD.

Gary is an honest, hard-working family man with an extensive knowledge of computers and software development. He is very community-minded and has been a block watch captain for many years. He is gifted in public relations.

If elected as your MLA, Gary will, among other things, work diligently toward improving hospital and education services.


Local Issues

- Gary will work to enhance employment opportunities in secondary Industry.

- Gary will work toward putting existing and closed School and Hospital resources to more efficient use.


Authorized by Financial Agent, Gary Hee (604) 904-9254.

North Vancouver - Seymour Green Candidate named?

A Vancouver software developer says he has been named as the Green Party's candidate in North Vancouver - Seymour for the May 12 election.

According to a Daniel Quinn, a Vancouver software developer, he was named as the candiate a few hours after he applied for the position via email.

Mr. Quinn moved to Vancouver from Toronto in the fall of 2007. A prolific blogger, his site has more than a thousand posts from the last six years.

Election Issue #3 - What will define the Agenda in 2009?

Okay, okay... "it's the economy stupid", "it's the economy stupid", "it's the economy stupid". I get it.

But is it? Some think the BC Libs have met their Fast Ferry-gate in the new Convention Centre. Some say governance-issues and leadership will define this election. What say you? (Just say it civilly please).

Methinks one of the issues in North Vancouver will be ROOKIES...lots of 'em!

Maybe not new to public life, but new to the Provincial Scene. What would possess anybody to campaign in order to leave North Vancouver most of the time, totally baffles me! But hey, if that's how you get your kicks, knock yourselves out!

Election Issue #2 - NV Lonsdale; #7 on the Watch List

It's official! According to The Province, NV Lonsdale is a battle-ground riding.

Harris, definitely a recognizable name... will that tip the scales to the NDP? The article raises a pertinent point though.. " voters may still bear a grudge for her handling of the 2005 mudslide".

Ms. Harris seems to have always "championed" environmental causes, but with Carol James committing to axe the carbon tax, will that leave Harris out in the woods?

Did she pick the right party here? Maybe she would have a better chance running for the first Green Party MLA-seat....?

Here's the question... "my Costco re-usable shopping bags have a plastic coating.... what tax will they get Janice?".

Election Issue #1 - District Redistribution

Welcome to coffee talk!

In the first of several issue-related posts, I thought we might start by discussing how Elections BC has redistributed the electoral districts this year to bring the total up to 85. As far as I can tell, this doesn't mean additional representation for our North Shore ridings (Is Sea to Sky new?), but they did "jiggle the lines a bit".... Hurt you? Help you? No big whup. Discuss.

Talk amongst yourselves. (I'm getting verklempt).

Free-for-All

Let's have a post where everybody should raise all concerns, no matter what subject! As Ernie Crist used to say, "Politics is everything, and everything is politics." I know that has been tried before on this little blog, however, let's try it again.

A few gentle suggestions:

When responding to a comment, usually an Anon, refer to the time frame.

No holes barred, except that I will be monitoring this post today at least every two hours so don't get too crazy. And please don't show up ZED guy/gal, you are boring!

Green Candidate has big picture approach. Michelle Corcos to run in North Vancouver-Lonsdale

This bios/platform of the NVL Green Party Candidate article was buried in the middle of today's NSNews.

Jessica Barrett, North Shore NewsPublished: Wednesday, April 08, 2009

For acupuncture graduate Michelle Corcos, politics is a lot like the human body: it should be addressed holistically.

The young mother of a nine-month-old son was recently acclaimed to represent the Green Party of B.C. in North Vancouver-Lonsdale in the May 12 provincial election.
"It's about thinking about society as a whole," Corcos said of her approach to politics.
"The way the Green party looks at things is that everything is together. When you do health, you have to think about the families at the same time who are going through crisis. . . . There are social issues that are attached to it as well."
Originally from Montreal, Corcos has lived in British Columbia since 2003. A long-time Green supporter, she became officially involved in the party about a month after arriving in the province. "Realizing my hunger for political discussions, I contacted the Green Party through the candidate in my riding and joined up with the Greens in Vancouver Quadra," she said.
Although she is now a candidate, Corcos said she doesn't view herself as an individual politician but an extension of the Green Party team. "I consider myself a Green party volunteer. I'm dedicated to the Green party cause and everything the party stands for," she said.
The party is open to left- and right-wing methodology, Corcos said, which can help to create balance in government -- an important tool in combating major issues, such as the economic downturn.
"In the end it's all about balance, and the recession is not a bad thing. It's a time to reflect and look at the past, see if there are mistakes and build better for the future. . . . Especially right now, if we want to restructure and get green jobs going, this is the time to do it."
Corcos said competing in an historically Liberal riding doesn't faze her. "My objective in this campaign is to get the grassroots going, get the people who are Green excited about being Green and identify these people," she said.
Corcos is hopeful some of the excitement over the election of American president Barack Obama will rub off in North Vancouver. "I'm hoping that with what happened in politics in the States, people are going to follow their hearts and vote Green. I think there are a lot of Greens in the riding, it's just that people have been voting strategically," she said.
Liberal candidate Naomi Yamamoto, NDP Candidate Janice Harris and B.C. Conservative Ian Mcleod are also competing for the riding's provincial seat.
© North Shore News 2009

Kash Heed to run for Liberals in Vancouver-Fraserview

The Vancouver Sun announces that Kash Heed will be running for the Liberals in Vancouver-Fraserview:

VICTORIA — Former West Vancouver police chief Kash Heed will announce this week he’s running as a Liberal candidate in the riding of Vancouver-Fraserview, The Vancouver Sun has learned.

The announcement gives Premier Gordon Campbell a significant boost on the issue of gang violence throughout the Lower Mainland, and adds a star candidate to the B.C. Liberal Party slate just days before the official campaign begins next Tuesday.

As development increases, quality of life suffers

Following was published in yesterday's Vancouver Sun and although Mr. McFee is talking about Langley, it is totally relevant to the District of North Vancouver:

Re: Surrey's plan will put green in coffers, Westcoast Homes, March 28.

Peter Simpson wildly overstates his case for reduced development cost charges. Even after large increases in charges a few years ago, planners say that residential development loses money for communities; i.e. taxpayers have heavily subsidized developers for years.

Over the last 20 years, my taxes in Langley have gone up faster than the rate of inflation. Many here believe that the "benefits of development" have not compensated for the reduced quality of life development has caused, including traffic, flooding, crowding, and lost of trees and green spaces.

What Vancouver has done and what Langley is considering is to ask developers to share in the windfall profits realized when council rezones properties for increased density. One would think that a community-minded developer (and a community-minded Greater Vancouver Home Builders Association) would be more than willing to share those profits in a fair and equitable manner.

The alternative is for the community to continue to subsidize developers. The developers' coffers are what will "see the green" from Surrey's plan. Benefits to the community must be substantially increased to create a fair and equitable relationship between developers and the community.

Doug McFee, Langley