The conversation is now closed Too Too Funny
David Amos<david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com> | Tue, Jan 2, 2024 at 7:27 PM |
| To: brock.wilson@cbc.ca, ccpa@policyalternatives.ca, "Jacques.Poitras" <Jacques.Poitras@cbc.ca>, media@policyalternatives.ca, Lana.Payne@unifor.org, hosni.zaouali@adaptika.tech, "Bill.Hogan" <Bill.Hogan@gnb.ca>, "Robert. Jones" <Robert.Jones@cbc.ca>, tbanks@apm.ca, ccccaadmin@upei.ca, premier <premier@gov.pe.ca>, stephen.brun@cbc.ca, Blaine.Higgs@gnb.ca, "pierre.poilievre" <pierre.poilievre@parl.gc.ca>, pm <pm@pm.gc.ca>, PREMIER <PREMIER@gov.ns.ca>, premier <premier@ontario.ca>, Office of the Premier <scott.moe@gov.sk.ca>, premier <premier@gov.nl.ca>, premier <premier@gov.bc.ca>, premier <premier@leg.gov.mb.ca>, premier <premier@gov.nt.ca>, premier <premier@gov.yk.ca>, premier <premier@gov.ab.ca>, mcu <mcu@justice.gc.ca> | |
| Cc: jrath <jrath@rathandcompany.com>, chris.scott@whistlestoptruckstop.ca, Jason Lavigne <jason@yellowhead.vote>, art@streetchurch.ca, ccoc4freedom@protonmail.com, ask@cbc.ca | |
https://davidraymondamos3. Tuesday 2 January 2024 P.E.I. developer Tim Banks to make controversial property at Point Deroche his home | |
Higgs won't rule out reviving controversial education plans if re-elected
Premier says recent recommendations aren’t enough to fix ‘mess’ in anglophone schools
Premier Blaine Higgs is not ruling out reviving some controversial ideas to overhaul French immersion and weaken the powers of district education councils if he wins a new mandate in a provincial election this year.
Higgs said in an interview with CBC News that he is still concerned about problems in the anglophone school system and isn't sure recommendations in a recent report — which his government accepted and will implement — go far enough.
"I don't know what needs to happen, but our education system in anglophone New Brunswick is a mess," he said, citing examples of teachers and students being physically attacked.
"We have a problem. We have a problem in academic achievement. … We have a problem — which I talked a lot about and I know I've been criticized about it — but the fact that we cannot produce bilingual graduates, I think, is a huge failure of the province."
The government announced in the fall of 2022 that it would replace French immersion with a new second-language program for all anglophone students.
Higgs said he wanted all high school graduates in Canada's only officially bilingual province to have at least a conversational level of French.
But after a wave of angry public meetings and questions about the new model the government was proposing, the idea was dropped.
The government also abandoned legislation that would have weakened the decision-making powers of the four anglophone district education councils, putting them further under provincial authority.
Higgs said he wants to "come back to a program" that will get the results he is looking for.
"So maybe we can agree on what the results should be and then the teachers tell me what we need to do achieve them," he said.
The
Higgs government previously tried to replace French immersion in 2022,
but was met with fierce public backlash at public meetings. (Ed Hunter/CBC)
That appeared to be on track at the end of November, when Education Minister Bill Hogan released a report, drafted in partnership with the New Brunswick Teachers' Association, and accepted all its recommendations for long-term changes to the school system.
They included a "balancing" of class sizes to support students with extra learning needs while minimizing the potential disruptions for other students.
It also advocated "holding students accountable" for academic work by rethinking the practice of moving students up a grade level for social reasons even if their marks fall short.
Higgs said the report was "part of" the solution but "it needs to be more than that."
Education Minister Bill Hogan released a report in November on long-term changes to the education system. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
"It isn't for me to define it, but … let's not pretend all is well in our schools."
In the year-end interview, the premier wouldn't say whether he's considering an early election call in the spring, rather than waiting for the officially scheduled date of Oct. 21.
He also wouldn't say whether, if he wins a new term this year, it would be his last campaign or if he'd run again in 2028.
"You know, one of these elections will be my last one," he said. "I guess I could say that."
Higgs said a new mandate wouldn't lead him to change his governing style, an approach that some PC MLAs have criticized for bypassing input from ministers and MLAs.
Higgs wouldn't rule out an early election call before the planned fall 2024 election date. (CBC)
"I am who I am," Higgs said. "I'm not trying to be anything different."
The premier said he also wants to keep working on improving the health-care system, including making it easier for patients facing long waits for tests or procedures in their local hospitals to get it done at another hospital with a shorter wait list.
"Why is it so hard? Because the system's not managed as a whole," the premier said.
That's why the government announced a new "Health System Collaboration Council" in May to co-ordinate service delivery between hospitals and between the two regional health authorities.
"That overall co-ordination will be a challenge. I don't deny that at all," he said. "But is it the right thing for patients? Absolutely."
Higgs said individual hospitals may resist the change because of a history of each facility and its doctors wanting a full suite of services there — something he wants to overcome to improve delivery overall.
"We don't need everything everywhere but we need something somewhere," he said.
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Canada's highest-paid CEOs make 246x the average worker, says new report
Report author calls inflation a contributing factor in the widening pay gap between workers and executives
It was another record-breaking year for Canada's richest CEOs.
In one work day, and less than a half hour into the new year — 27 minutes to be exact — Canada's 100 highest-paid CEOs will have already earned the average worker's annual salary, according to a new study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
It translates to roughly $60,600 by 9:27 a.m. on Jan. 2, if you include Monday as a paid holiday, according to the report.
The CCPA, an Ottawa-based think-tank that focuses on social, economic and environmental issues, found that the 100 best-paid CEOs in Canada now make 246 times what the typical worker earns. That number breaks last year's record of 243 times the average worker's pay.
"The 100 CEOs, who are overwhelmingly male, got paid an average of $14.9 million in 2022. This amount surpasses their previously record-breaking pay of $14.3 million in 2021 and sets a new all-time high in our data series," said David Macdonald, a senior economist at the CCPA and the report's author.
Lana Payne, the national president of Unifor, Canada's largest private sector union, calls the report "enraging."
"We've seen CEO pay increase consistently over the last number of years to a point now where it's the highest it's been ... And at the same time we have these CEOs and the employer clubs that they're part of lobbying every single day and fighting tooth and nail to make sure that we don't have better labour laws in this country," she said.
How one CEO tries to keep things on an 'even scale'
Not all CEOs, however, are paid such large amounts of money. Hosni Zaouali, the CEO of ConnectED Labs, a Toronto-based technology company, has a specific formula that he said he follows to ensure his pay and his employees' pay are on an "even scale."
He said the highest salary at his company is "never 10 times higher than the lowest salary."
Hosni
Zaouali, the CEO of ConnectED Labs, says the highest salary at his
company is never more than '10 times higher than the lowest salary.' (CBC)
"It means that if the company shows success, operational success and financial success, it's not only thanks to the CEO, it's also thanks to everybody, including the lowest salary in the company. So we make sure that everybody gets compensated accordingly," he said.
Zaouali said it's "very important that the lowest salary is not too far from the highest salary in our company to keep everybody energized and everybody motivated."
While base salary is an important factor when considering CEO wealth, it doesn't provide a full picture of their total compensation, according to the CCPA report.
A 'story about inflation'
Like last year's report, which CBC News also covered, part of the explanation for the large increases in CEO pay is linked to inflation, Macdonald said.
"This is largely a story about inflation ... CEOs are paid primarily through bonuses, and those bonuses are based on things like revenue and profits. When revenue and profit goes through the roof due to inflation, bonuses go through the roof."
Macdonald said despite this, salaries for average workers are often not keeping up with inflation.
"In 2022, the average worker in Canada got an average pay raise of $1,800, or three per cent. But prices went up by 6.8 per cent in 2022, meaning workers took a real pay cut of almost four per cent compared to 2021."
In comparison, the top 100 CEOs saw an average pay raise of $623,000, or 4.4 per cent in 2022, according to the report.
One economist said studies like the one presented by the CCPA are "flawed."
"The only way you can arrive at this conclusion is that you're comparing oranges with apples," said Vincent Geloso, an assistant professor of economics at George Mason University in Virginia.
Geloso said reports like this fail to include other forms of employee compensation like benefits.
"People get more fringe benefits in the form of insurance, in the form of flexible hours. Things that employers pay for but aren't considered compensation. When you include them, and you include that instead of wages alone, you're getting a completely different portrait."
In a 2020 report for the Fraser Insitute, a Canadian think-tank promoting private sector solutions, Geloso also argues that CEOs are paid for possessing unique skill sets that are increasingly in demand.
"Today you find CEOs who have a larger share of PhDs and MAs and MSCs and STEMs. So they're in harder sciences and harder domains, so there's greater levels of skill in terms of pure knowledge."
Addressing the gap
Lana Payne, the union leader, thinks governments can help reduce growing inequality. She supports measures such as improving and expanding access to collective bargaining rights for workers, raising the minimum wage and ensuring people have guaranteed hours of work.
"I think the challenge is that more work needs to be done on a number of fronts to make sure that workers are not falling behind," said Payne, who believes these measures could reduce what she calls the "inequality gap."
Improving
and expanding access to collective bargaining rights for workers,
improving minimum wages, and making sure people have guaranteed hours of
work are some of the things Lana Payne, the national president of
Unifor, says could contain what she calls the 'inequality gap.' (CBC)
The CCPA report also makes several suggestions for reducing the pay gap. The group suggests: introducing higher top marginal tax brackets, removing corporate tax deductability for compensation over $1 million, introducing a wealth tax on the rich and increasing the capital gains inclusion rate (making CEOs pay more taxes on the money they make selling stocks).
"We've seen the active closure of the stock option deduction in 2021 as well as new higher income tax brackets in 2016. So this is something where we've seen a lot of debate particularly in other areas like a new wealth tax," said Macdonald.
- How has inflation and the high cost of living impacted you? Tell us your story in an email to ask@cbc.ca
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“Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment.” Albert Einstein
David Amos<david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com> | Tue, Jan 2, 2024 at 6:05 PM |
| To: tbanks@apm.ca, ccccaadmin@upei.ca, premier <premier@gov.pe.ca>, stephen.brun@cbc.ca, Blaine.Higgs@gnb.ca, "pierre.poilievre" <pierre.poilievre@parl.gc.ca>, pm <pm@pm.gc.ca>, PREMIER <PREMIER@gov.ns.ca>, premier <premier@ontario.ca>, Office of the Premier <scott.moe@gov.sk.ca>, premier <premier@gov.nl.ca>, premier <premier@gov.bc.ca>, premier <premier@leg.gov.mb.ca>, premier <premier@gov.nt.ca>, premier <premier@gov.yk.ca>, premier <premier@gov.ab.ca>, mcu <mcu@justice.gc.ca> | |
| Cc: jrath <jrath@rathandcompany.com>, chris.scott@whistlestoptruckstop.ca, Jason Lavigne <jason@yellowhead.vote>, art@streetchurch.ca | |
P.E.I. developer Tim Banks to make controversial property at Point Deroche his home
Will the stone seawall at the North Shore site remain? 'Of course it will,' says Banks
Two properties totalling more than 60 acres on Prince Edward Island's North Shore, including the controversial development at Point Deroche, now have a new owner.
Well-known Island developer Tim Banks, the CEO of APM Group, had his purchase of the land approved by the provincial cabinet on Dec. 19.
The properties just west of French Village total 64 acres and include the residential complex that's currently under construction at 251 Kelpie Lane.
Banks said he plans to use the Point Deroche property as his private residence.
A
report from the UPEI-based Canadian Centre for Climate Change and
Adaptation, released in December, raised concerns about the
effectiveness of stone seawalls like the one built at the 251 Kelpie
Lane in Point Deroche. (Shane Hennessey/CBC)
"It's half-built now. We're tightening it up for the winter, going to finish it next spring and move into it. And it's as simple as that," he said.
"It's a nice property. I don't need to explain it. We're going to move into it as our primary residence."
Seawall was eye of a storm
Public concern over the stone armouring installed on the beach adjacent to the Point Deroche house led to questions in the P.E.I. legislature, and eventually a report by the UPEI-based Canadian Centre for Climate Change and Adaptation that recommended sweeping changes in how the province manages its coastlines.
Tonnes of rock were installed down to the high-tide mark to protect the property from erosion, although that impeded public access to the beach.
The construction sparked widespread outrage among Islanders citing environmental concerns related to the stone armouring.
This
site plan shows the proposed five-structure residential project at the
end of Kelpie Lane, including the seawall (along top). (Province of P.E.I.)
The report commissioned by the province raised concerns about the effectiveness of stone seawalls, saying they can fulfil their purpose of protecting the property immediately behind them, but at the same time could lead to additional erosion to the properties on either side of such projects.
Banks was direct when asked if the rock wall would remain in place at his new home.
"Of course it will," he said. "[They're] very effective. It's better than a lot of other options. We're in the engineering business; we know very well that it's sustainable."
'It doesn't make it any more OK'
Bryson Guptill is an avid hiker who has been critical of the Point Deroche development, especially the seawall.
Now that the property is in new hands, he's doubling down on his insistence that the wall should be removed.
'It
doesn't make it any more OK than it was previously,' avid hiker Bryson
Guptill says of Tim Banks buying the half-built residential complex at
Point Deroche. Guptill says environmental concerns about the development
remain. (Wayne Thibodeau/CBC)
"It doesn't make it any more OK than it was previously," Guptill said of an Islander buying the land from its out-of-province owner.
"The two primary concerns are that the main building — there are five buildings involved — is closer to the bank than what is allowed in the regulations. It's about 50 feet from the bank instead of 75 allowed in the regulations. The second thing is that the armour stone shore protection is essentially on the public beach."
Though Banks will use the Point Deroche property as his own residence, he said he plans to donate the majority of the land back to the province in order to protect wetlands in the area.
Officials with the P.E.I. government confirm discussions are underway on that front.
'We're
going to use it as a private residence. It's our business and no one
else’s,' says Island developer Tim Banks about his purchase. (Kerry Campbell/CBC)
"We feel it's a very important thing to do," Banks said. "We just feel that with the acquisition of the property… there is a significant portion of that land that could be designated as wetlands and it's a lot easier to give it to the province than have it managed by ourselves."
As for the furor that has surrounded the property, the developer said he's not concerned about whether that will continue when construction resumes in the spring.
"I can't predict what people are going to do," Banks said. "We're going to use it as a private residence. It's our business and no one else's."
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With files from Wayne Thibodeau
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