Bike Lanes

David Kinch

Bike Lanes

Feb 27 2018

The bike lane system should be expanded in Victoria. The planned system with two-way bike lanes on Pandora Avenue, Fort Street (between Cook and Wharf), Wharf Street (between Johnson street bridge and Government Street), Humboldt (between Government and Douglas), and one-way protected bike lanes on both sides of Coot Street (between Pandora and Pakington) is referred to as a “minimum grid” by city council.

This means that that we have not yet constructed the minimum amount of bike lanes for us to really start feeling the benefits.  After a real system of bike lanes is built, we will understand their usefulness and more young families will feel safe biking downtown.

The money being used on building the bike lanes comes from gas tax money as apposed to property tax.  This gas tax should be used to fund transportation alternatives. 

People who are buying gasoline are using cars, and cars cost the city much more than bikes.  Roads are more expensive than bike lanes; especially if the damage caused by vehicles is accounted for.  Cars are expensive and bad for the environment.

Cars are extremely helpful and vital but are overused inside the city.  Cars cause thousands of deaths every year in Canada.  Bikes are a safe and cheap option when a car is not necessary.

The push back from bike lanes is understandable.  Change is never easy to accept.  Investing in our future and planning for a city’s future needs is a tough sell to voters.

Folks in Vancouver had similar feeling towards their bike lane system.  Now, they love it.  We need to be an innovator and do what is best for our city and best for our environment.

This means more than a “minimum grid”.  We need to build a substantial system. Expanding outside of the downtown core will be cheaper per km than our original system.  The amount of new traffic lights and changes to road systems will be significantly less when installing bike lanes outside of the compact downtown core.

We need to expand our bike lane network for financial and practical reasons which will have great benefits for our city in the long term

Free Tuition

The Canadian Federation of Students says that eliminating student fees for post secondary education would be an “antidote to elitism” (Veitch, 2016). 

The CFS believes that removing fees altogether would give students from poor and working class backgrounds the same opportunities as children of bankers and lawyers (ibid). 

In reality, free tuition would help those who don’t need it and be a bad financial investment for Canadians.

Free tuition would help rich students more than poor students (Usher, 2014).   Students who come from poorer families are currently getting an extremely subsidised education through government grants and often large parts of their student loans are forgiven (ibid). Net tuition is already very close to free for certain students in certain situations (single parent, low income) when remissible loans, bursaries, and grants are considered (ibid).  A rich student, however, is not getting nearly as many subsidies in our current system and is paying much more for their education.  If all student fees were removed, rich students have much more to gain on an individual basis (ibid).

                Free tuition also runs the risk of attracting the wrong kind of students to post secondary education, from an economic investment standpoint.   High achieving students studying medicine or engineering are likely already in college (Lau, 2016).  Students preparing for a high paying career don’t mind graduating with student debt because they see it as an economic investment in their future (ibid).

Students considering studying subjects such as Theatre or History would have much more to gain if tuition was dropped.   The government would not see much of a financial return on the investment of sponsoring such degrees (ibid).

Forcing taxpayers to foot the bill for everyone’s tuition makes little sense financially.  Every year, Canadian employers are looking for more employees with diplomas or certificates as apposed to university degrees (Lau, 2016).   If getting a degree won’t necessarily help students earn a better living, blindly paying for all student’s education seems unwise.

Making something free, almost by definition, lowers its value.   Students would have much less financial pressure to graduate on time and start their careers if tuition was eliminated.  

The value of a dollar is relative, which is why our current system of highly subsiding education for those who need it works much better than eliminating tuition altogether. Universities are worthy of public spending, but that spending needs to be put in the right places and given to the right people.  Free tuition for all would likely be a very poor economic investment for the Canadian taxpayer.

List of References:

Lau, M. (2016, March 2). Why free tuition helps all the wrong students. Financial Post. Retrieved from:

http://business.financialpost.com/opinion/why-free-tuition-helps-all-the-wrong-students

Usher, A. (2014, November 4). Yet more reasons free tuition is a bad idea.  Higher Education Strategy                  Associates.  Retrieved from: http://higheredstrategy.com/yet-more-reasons-free-tuition-is-a-bad-idea/

Veight, P. (2016, November 6). Free Tuition: An antidote to elitism.  Retrieved from:  http://cfs-fcee.ca/free-tuition-an-antidote-to-elitism-blog/

Tweeting Execise

1.

a.The National Widget Company regretfully announces that it is forced to lay off 200 employees today. All employees have been given generous severance packages and will be hired back as soon as possible.

b.“We are saddened to announce our first major lay-offs in company history.  The NWC is doing everything in our power to bring these people back to work.” –Andy Bryce

c.Due to market forces,.the National Widget Company is forced to layoff 200 employees today.

2.

a. The National Widget Company is rehiring all laid off employees effective immediately!

b.We are happy to announce that ALL previously laid off employees are coming back to work at the NWC!!

c. The National Widget Company is happy to announce that all previously laid off employees will be back to work starting Monday!

3

a.NOW HIRING the NWC is adding a state-of-the art Widget factory in Regina! 

b.The National Widget Company is adding a new manufacturing facility in Regina

c. Now hiring professional Saskatchewanian widgeters!! NWC is opening a new manufacturing facility in Regina.

Camosun News

David Kinch

Camosun News

Jan 22 2018

I am constantly reading news reports. Almost all my news media comes from online articles.  I follow the Times Colonist, CHEK, CBC, CFAX, CTV Vancouver Island, Victoria News and many others on social media. That is my main source for local news.  I rely on catering my newsfeed to include links to reliable and up to date information on local, national and international news. I also listen to talk radio in my car (or when I am working at CFAX).    

We get a sense of the world around us from media.  Face to face communication is extremely vital, but F2F communication is effected through information gathered through traditional media. Just because many people don’t pay attention to news reports, they are still interacting with people who do.

Public relations are vital for Camosun.  Colleges need to put energy into sharing the important services they can provide for students and the interesting stories that happen at the school.  The cheapest way of doing that is through working with media organisations. 

Public relations also help local news companies understand what is going on at the college and in the community. If local news organisations have a better idea of what is happening in their community, they can do a better job. Local news helps with community building and can let people know that they have a voice.  

News Release, National Widget Company

NEWS RELEASE

January 15, 2017, 12:00 pm

National Widget Company Re-hires

The National Widget Company will re-hire all previously laid off employees, including 50 workers of their Victoria head office.  The 200 employees that were laid off across Canada, will be back to work in the following weeks.

 “We have sent recall notices to all employees who were laid off in June,” says NWC President Andy Bryce. “As a family-owned company, it was heartbreaking to lay off so many loyal people so we are thrilled to be offering employment to people we consider part of the family.”

New markets have caused widget sales to rise over the last few months. The NWC has shifted from serving traditional markets in the Middle East, to focusing on the new Chinese market.

Bryce says the NWC is the first company in the world to make a deal with the Chinese who need to install a widget into every new building in the country.

“The increase in sales has been unprecedented. We think this opportunity opens up enormous markets which will last for years.”  

The National Widget Company is the oldest widget manufacturer in Canada. It was established in 1888 by the great-grandfather of the current president. This makes it one of the oldest family run businesses in the country.

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For more information, Contact David Kinch at 250-666-6666