Province bucks up for Trafalgar playground

Nelson’s Trafalgar Middle School will receive $50,000 in provincial funding for a new playground. It’s one of 44 schools around the province benefitting from an $8 million fund. The Ministry of Education asked school districts to identify public elementary and middle schools that didn’t have, but wanted, playgrounds. Trafalgar is the only beneficiary in the Kootenay Lake school district.

Cities ‘not afraid’ to drop RCMP over costs

BC cities are again threatening to abandon the RCMP if Ottawa won’t bend in negotiations underway to renew the force’s contract. Alberta and Saskatchewan signed a new 20-year RCMP contract that delivers none of the cost-control measures B.C. municipalities have been demanding. BC other provinces and territories – are to look at the alternative, which would be forming their own provincial forces. Ottawa has suggested it could increase its subsidy from 10 to 30 per cent for officers who serve on integrated regional policing teams, but not for the bulk of detachments where the 90-10 split would still apply in larger cities.

Nation’s municipal leaders meeting in Nelson

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ (FCM) national Board of Directors met in Nelson starting Wednesday, September 7th. The 75-member Board discussed municipal priorities including the development of a federal long-term infrastructure plan and the upcoming federal budget.  FCM’s Board of Directors comprises elected municipal officials and affiliate members from all regions and various-sized communities throughout Canada.

Big renos set for Taghum Hall

Organizers are hoping they’ll be able to do more programming at the Taghum Hall starting next Spring. That’s when $225,000 worth of renovations should be complete.  The building has been there since the turn of the century, with additions that weren’t constructed well and weren’t up to code.  Recently a building inspector told them they were going to have to hire a structural engineer; they then discovered that a lot of work needed to be done.  Funding for the project came from the CBT and federal gas tax money.

Jobs and economic diversification rise to the fore in tour

Joyce Murray, Liberal MP and Critic for Small Business and Tourism, Asia-Pacific Gateway, and Western Economic Diversification, held a meeting September 7th with community leaders from Nelson, Castlegar, Trail, and the Queens Bay area to discuss key local issues relating to economic diversification and jobs.  Murray consulted with municipal and business representatives about the concrete ways a federal government could strengthen small and medium-sized business to help diversify regional economies.  She said the government should partner in supporting rural jobs and stability by investing in critical infrastructure, as well as skills and apprenticeship strategies, to capitalize on opportunities in the Kootenays.  She will be using the feedback she received to advocate for small business and tourism across Canada as Parliament resumes later this month.

Columbia Power supports Selkirk Grads

Columbia Power Corporation (Columbia Power) supported Selkirk College graduates by providing summer employment opportunities at their Castlegar office.  Providing employment opportunities for Selkirk College graduates is an excellent opportunity for Columbia Power and provides practical experience for students to build on their education.

British Columbians worried about student debt levels

British Columbia’s record high student debt is a concern for the majority of its citizens, according to a new poll. Released by Ipsos and commissioned by the Federation of Post Secondary Educators of BC (FPSE) and the Canadian Federation of Students-BC (CFS-BC), the poll said university and college education in BC is a debt sentence.
Highlights of the poll include:
•    92% of British Columbians think that high tuition fees are making it difficult for low-income families to participate in post-secondary education
•    87% want tuition fees frozen or reduced in BC
•    Only 33% of British Columbians approve of the BC Liberals’ handling of post-secondary education issues
•    This poll shows that the people of BC want affordable education in BC to be a priority
•    At $27,000 after a four-year program, student debt in BC has never been higher. BC ranks dead-last among the provinces in grants and other student aid disbursements.

Canadians living paycheque to paycheque

Most Canadians are living paycheque to paycheque and would be in financial difficulty if their pay was even one week late, a new survey suggests.
•    A poll commissioned by the Canadian Payroll Association found that 57% of respondents couldn’t deal with a one-week delay in their pay. The figure jumped to 63 % among workers between 18 and 34 years old.  For single parents, it jumped to 74%.
•    Almost three quarters of respondents said they have saved less than a quarter of their retirement savings goal.
•    71% of the respondents are over the age of 35, with the bulk in their main saving years between 35 and 54.
•    As a result, 40% of respondents said they will likely now retire later than they had originally planned. In 40% of those cases, the main reason cited was not saving enough for retirement.
•    While 60% of respondents said they were trying to be better savers, a full 40% said they were not trying to save any more.

Help wanted, welcome sign

All 10 provinces posted more online help-wanted ads in July, pushing the Conference Board of Canada’s help-wanted index to an all-time high. The board reported that its index, which tracks new online job listings, rose eight points in July to 127.3, with the gains in June and July more than offsetting losses in April and May. The continuing upward trend suggests we should see further employment gains in the coming months.

Stalled job growth signals US economy is on the brink of new slump

WASHINGTON — American employers are creating fewer jobs than they were at the onset of the Great Recession, evidence of a crisis of business confidence that has the world’s largest economy teetering on the edge of another downturn.

Kootenay News is a regular feature of Kootenay Career Development Society.