What I learned on a week of the Food Bank Diet

I’m trying to decide how to wrap up my day on this Friday, Dec. 7, but I’m pretty sure a good meal and a glass of Chardonnay will figure prominently. Since last Saturday, at the request of CBC radio, I’ve been on what I call the Food Bank Diet.

Today is their Food Bank Day, in which CBC studios all over the province raise funds and food for food banks. I was asked if I would be interested in living off a Food Bank hamper for a week, to which I agreed, but I figure up to but not including dinner tonight is close enough.

I began by getting a list of items from the Food Bank that are normally included in the monthly hamper provided to single clients. Some of it was already in the cupboard, so I made a stop at a grocery store and added the rest.

This is what’s included in the hamper: 1 tomato sauce/ pasta sauce, 1 dry soup, 1 small bag of rice, 1 can of beans, 1 can of meat/tuna/salmon, 3 cans of soup, 1 can of vegetables, 1 can of fruit, 1 small bag of dried pasta, 1 bag of cereal, 1 rice dish/Sidekicks, 1 KD.

That won’t get anyone through a month; I found that, by stretching things (for example, making two meals instead of one from a can of beans or soup), the hamper could likely last about 10 days. But then, it’s not expected to last a whole month; food bank clients provide the rest of their own food needs, helped out by twice-weekly offerings of perishable goods — bread, produce, pastries, etc. — from the Food Bank.

I allowed myself a loaf of bread and some greens in keeping with the perishable allotment and that definitely helped. But I wasn’t able to keep my meals totally in synch with the food available, and had to mix it up a bit, sometimes eating something for lunch or breakfast that would normally be reserved for dinner, and vice versa.

While the hampers are designed with the help of nutritionists, the non-perishables are pretty low in calories. My daily intake has easily been under 500 calories a day compared to the 2,000 a man of my age, weight, height and level of activity needs.

The result has been that I’ve dropped a few pounds. I was actually down five pounds until a couple of days ago, when one of them came back. Four or five pounds might sound pretty good to weight watchers, but I’ve been thin for the past while already so I can imagine the difficulty some hungry people have staying healthy.

What did I learn? A small insight into the challenges of not having enough food in the cupboard, and a re-affirmation of my admiration for those who make our amazing Food Bank possible, and for those who rely on it.

Thanks to CBC for inviting me to do this, and to Bernadette and Cori at the Food Bank for helping me set it up. I will toast you this evening when I uncork a fresh bottle of Chardonnay and enjoy a nice dinner.

Sharp’s candidacy adds interest to B.C. Tory nomination

Busy times in River City these days. I stopped by Gaglardi Square today for Peter Sharp’s announcement of his candidacy for the B.C. Conservative nomination in Kamloops-South Thompson.

Peter is a former council colleague and a personal friend of mine, and I know his work ethic, but I’ve seen nothing from the B.C. Conservatives and leader John Cummins to get excited about. Should he get the nomination, though, it will add interest to next spring’s election campaign. The Tories will have some catching up to do, with the Liberals’ Todd Stone going so far as to put his campaign vehicle in Saturday’s Santa Parade.

Great parade, by the way. Syd and I were judges again this year, judging the elves category (photo above is a winning entry by the Horse Barn and donkey refuge). It was a fun bunch of entries to review because of all the kids and animals on the floats. The youngsters clearly had a hand in the decorating of some of them, and it was great to see.

Last Thursday, I was honoured to present a bursary to journalism student Paige Kimberley at TRU’s awards ceremony in the gym. The format for this event is fantastic — just a couple of speeches, and then the donors make their presentations to the winners in groups at tables. Short and sweet, and lots of good feelings.

The bursary I presented to Paige is named the Mel Rothenburger Journalism Bursary and comes from The Daily News and Glacier Media Group. I couldn’t have received a better retirement gift than that, and as I joked on Thursday, it’s especially gratifying to have an award named after me while I’m still living and breathing.

Saturday night, on Daily News publisher Tim Shoults’ request, I did the honours in introducing Master of Ceremonies Jack Knox at the Rotary West’s Manhattan Nights fundraiser at the Colombo Hall.

Jack, of course, writes the Slightly Skewed humour column for The News once a week, but also writes several columns a week for the Victoria Times-Colonist. He’s a home-grown Kamloops guy (he once worked for The News as city editor) and has a hilarious sense of humour.

Needless to say, he was a big hit, and so was the program of magic and dancing put together by the club.

Surefire method for keeping poppies firmly attached

I received several emails today in response to my Daily News column on the controversy over using Canada-flag pins and such to keep Remembrance poppies from falling off. Here’s a particularly helpful one:

Mel:

I happened to read your column on the Poppy during my lunch period.

Keeping the Poppy pinned to a piece of clothing has been an ongoing issue for many years.

I have forwarded to you a photo I took, of a trick I was shown several years ago to keep my Poppy from going astray and I have never lost one since.

You push the pin through a piece of your clothing – through the plastic edge of the Poppy and then back into your clothing.

Hopefully this will be of benefit to you and your readers.

Cheers,

Chuck McKenzie

Past Zone Commander

Central B.C.

The Royal Canadian Legion

Surprise ‘gift’ a thing of beauty, and ‘smart’ too!

Doesn’t she look grand in the setting sun?

We had a “break-in” of sorts at our place today. Nothing was taken.

I was in town all afternoon and when I got home I noticed the sprinklers hadn’t come on. The clock on the kitchen range was blinking. The Favourites menu on the TV had conked out. The microwave was on the fritz.

Then I found a note from the intruder on the front step. “A new smart meter was installed today,” it said. “You don’t need to do anything at all to activate the new meter. However, since the installation can involve a brief power interruption, you may need to reset some of your electronic devices.”

No kidding.

To be fair, a guy from Corix — the contract installer for B.C. Hydro — left a voice mail last week saying the last time they tried to install the new smart meter, the front gate was locked. They would be here again next Tuesday, he said, and would need the gate unlocked so they could get in.

I thought I detected just a hint of a lecture tone in the message. By today, I’d forgotten all about it and headed off to town, locking the gate as usual. The Corix guys were up to the challenge, climbing the fence and lugging the new meter the quarter mile to the pole where the old one was located, making the swap, and exiting with the old one.

“Sorry for any inconvenience,” said the door-hanger they dropped on the front mat. So we’re smart-metered now. And the whole thing was perfectly legal.

Sometimes I wonder about where our society is heading, when somebody who indirectly represents our government can come onto your property without permission while you’re away and give you something you didn’t ask for.

What does age have to do with Westsyde Road issue?

When people go on the defensive, they sometimes lose their focus. A few days ago, I asked an innocent question: should racing cyclists be banned from Westsyde Road?

Well, maybe not so innocent. That was the attention-getter. The subtext is this:

Road cyclists, especially in large groups, impede traffic. Sorry, but you do — you ride at around 35 kmh; automobiles drive that road at anywhere from 60 to 100 (Yes, many of them go way too fast — I’ve written about rural drivers before).

If a road has a paved shoulder, the cyclist can at least move further out of the way and make it safer for both him/herself and the driver. Westsyde Road is narrow, has many corners, and no paved shoulders (or no shoulders at all).

In my view, informal races that don’t have the benefit of enough signs, markers and traffic control increase the risk. When 10-year-old cyclists are sent speeding down such a road, I think it’s natural to raise concerns. And when cyclists insist on riding two or three abreast, that’s a problem.

In the various responses to my comments, I haven’t seen an acknowledgement of shared responsibility for working things out between cyclists and motorists. Instead, I’ve received invitations to take up road cycling, to stay off the road when cyclists are using it, and have been accused of being the problem.

Both online and off, I’ve been on the receiving end of some comments that disparage my views based on my age. The veiled message was unpleasant — you’re are old, go away.

Agism is a first cousin of racism. Suggesting that an opinion of someone older than you is not worthy isn’t far off from saying the same thing because he or she is black, brown, poor or gay.

Joe Dobson, in particular, has apologized for his comments, so let’s move on.

If anyone wants to actually defend the continued use of Westsyde Road for road racing in a way that addresses safety issues with practical answers, I’m up for the discussion.

Red faces all round on Doyle’s report on Legislature finances

B.C. MLAs haven’t been in a rush to talk about the embarrassment of Auditor General John Doyle’s report (discussed here on the weekend) on legislature bookkeeping, and no wonder.

“If the Legislative Assembly were a public company, it would be delisted,” Doyle wrote in his 17-page report.

And now it’s become an issue not simply of a committee with poor accounting habits in operating the legislature, but one of transparency in the expenses of individual politicians.

Damage control efforts have been minimal thus far, and the pain could spread beyond those who are running the shop in Victoria.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has weighed in. “That’s our money Doyle is talking about — taxes paid by British Columbians in good faith that they would be used efficiently, effectively and accountably,” the federation says in a media release.

“MLAs have no one to blame but themselves for this public spanking,” says the CTF, calling for release of detailed expense records.

The CTF then raises the spectre of past spending scandals involving the use of tax money to dredge castle moats in the U.K. and to buy video games in Nova Scotia. “Is this happening in B.C.?” demands the federation. “Who knows?”

That seems a bit much, since there’s no evidence of it happening here, but there’s plenty of evidence of shoddy bookkeeping. And, the level of disclosure by our politicians is wanting.

The requirements at both the federal and provincial levels are pretty scant. Some MLAs and MPs voluntarily give up more information about their expenses than they’re technically required to, but even then it often doesn’t amount to much.

Of the three levels of government, municipal politicians are the most transparent. The CTF points out that, in Toronto, the mayor and council post every receipt of every expense they charge to taxpayers.

“One can see, for example, that Mayor Rob Ford’s office spent $80.88 on three black ink cartridges on Aug. 9, 2011.”

It’s true civic politicians are subject to high standards of disclosure. Mind you, being too detailed can get you in trouble, too. I once submitted a receipt for a chocolate-chip muffin I bought at the Calgary Airport during a connection to Ottawa on City business.

In my mind, shelling out a couple of dollars for a muffin instead of 20 or 30 bucks for a steak-sandwich lunch demonstrated pretty good value for the taxpayer. Back home, however, some in the media wondered whether I was a cheapskate, turning in a receipt for a muffin instead of just paying for it myself. They probably made a good point.

The only party to come out swinging is the B.C. Conservatives, demanding Monday that Speaker Bill Barisoff, who also chairs the Legislative Assembly Management Committee, resign.

“Especially troubling is the disclosure that Speaker Barisoff specifically requested the auditor general to not examine the $119,000 annual constituency office allowance provided to each MLA,” said Conservative leader John Cummins.

As I mentioned in Saturday’s column, Doyle has pledged to do that audit later this year.

Given the fact the Conservatives don’t have any MLAs — with the exception of John Van Dongen who used to be a Liberal — to be embarrassed by the matter, it’s easy for them to be morally outraged.

Barisoff’s committee is scheduled to meet today to talk about Doyle’s report. Oh, to be a fly on the wall for that meeting.

Are North Shore parking meters key to new arts centre?

I was speaking to the Probus Club of Kamloops week before last on various civic matters, and the subject of a new performing arts centre naturally came up.

I was asked for my thoughts. I replied that, in my view, it should be the next priority in civic amenities. I also said it had a tough row to hoe — it’s been on the City’s agenda since shortly after the turn of the century and has yet to get past the talking stage.

There’s a significant body of opinion out there that translates to “not with my tax dollars, you don’t.”

Meaning there’s a good chance it would fail on the first referendum try, but it might succeed on a second. But it will never be approved unless the public has a clear vision in front of it as to what it will look like, what it will include, and where it will be built.

Another very interesting point was brought up at that meeting, one I’ve touched on before. The very existence of the Sagebrush Theatre is a barrier to a new centre.

One Probus member felt very strongly that we shouldn’t even be talking about a new Kamloops Centre for the Performing Arts. Rather, we should be thinking in terms of a new Kamloops Concert Hall.

That’s a valid point. Giving up on the concept of a joint drama-music venue would bring down the cost quite a bit.

So, let’s say it would cost $20 million instead of $30 million. Let’s be creative for a moment in figuring out the most painless way to pay for it.

Assume the Henry Grube property and its handsome acreage were gifted to the City in a partnership deal with the board of education. The existing building would, of course, be torn down.

Let’s say we’re now looking at $15 million left to be funded by taxpayers. Traditionally, such projects have been three-way partnerships between the City, the feds and the province.

Five million in local money doesn’t seem insurmountable. Further suppose an additional $1 million could be raised in corporate and private donations and naming rights.

Now we have $4 million. But, of course, the cost of borrowing is often as expensive as the principle.

If I’m reading City reports correctly, downtown parking brings in net revenues of around $200,000 a year through meters, tickets and permits after the cost of parking control is taken into consideration, Based on 800 meters, that’s about $250 a meter.

The business area around Tranquille Road has about 200 to 250 parking spots. If paid parking were to be imposed on the North Shore, the revenue per meter should be higher than downtown because there would be little additional cost for control.

If the City floated a bond at five per cent for $4 million through the Municipal Finance Authority, the cost of borrowing would amount to only about $200,000 a year amortized over 15 to 20 years. Not including the principle, of course.

That $200,000 could almost be paid for with North Shore parking revenues.

Mel, what have you been smoking? Well, prove me wrong on my arithmetic. Then prove me wrong in thinking there’s got to be a way to get a new performing arts… er, concert hall.

What if pride parade had marched on main street?

These old legs have carried me along as an observer on many a march, walk, protest, rally, parade, call them what you will. Anti-Vietnam war, pro-pot, anti-racism, give peace a chance, cure cancer — even, on one occasion, a rampaging window-smashing mob.

Some are good, some bad, some silent, some rowdy.

Thursday’s pride parade was different than any of them, though the basic elements were the same — people walking and talking for a cause.

Create a crowd with an axe to grind and, often as not, something ugly lies just under the surface. Not this one.

The university is a friendly environment for such things. As TRU president Alan Shaver told them, universities are about “diversity” and incubating “new knowledge and understanding.”

He didn’t mention the LGBTQIA word, but his message was clear and supportive.  And there were plenty of others there to declare that “we are here and we are beautiful,” and to demand that “our voice must be invited to the table.”

There were no goofy, intentionally provocative costumes or behaviour — no studded leather or nudity — that characterize many big-city pride parades intended to antagonize the phobes.

This was a T-shirt, blue jeans and ball cap crowd. They held rainbow banners and carried signs with slogans like “Hearts not parts,” “Love is never wrong,” and “Come out of the closet, make room for more shoes.”

It’s impossible to know how many were straight and how many something else, but it was a fine thing to see and know that this wasn’t just some protest group with vested interests — it was a community of people, albeit mostly the TRU community, expressing its unity and acceptance with joy and gusto.

Supt. Yves Lacasse and a half dozen cops and some firefighters were there, too, not to keep watch but rather to offer a friendly presence.

Kamloops South NDPer Tom Friedman walked along; he wasn’t sure if he was there as a TRU prof or as a candidate but he did know he was there to support the event. I saw his Kamloops North running mate Kathy Kendall, too, and there was Coun. Donovan Cavers leaping onto a dumpster to get a better picture as the 300 participants walked past.

He and Nelly Dever carried the colours, as it were, for the rest of City council, most of whom opted to attend a regional district board meeting instead. I suppose the wheels of government must roll uninterrupted, but it would have been nice to have someone there in a mayoral capacity from at least one of the towns in the region, which is why alternates are appointed for RD duties.

It would have been nice, as well, if the organizers had provided 15 seconds of microphone time for a council rep to bring best wishes from City Hall, since council proclaimed April 5 as Kamloops Pride Day.

Cavers made that offer to the organizers but wasn’t taken up on it.

No matter. A parade hasn’t been that much fun since Santa Claus last rode down Victoria Street on the back of a tractor-trailer.

I wonder if it would have been different had they marched on main street instead of University Avenue. I wonder if the bigots would have come out of the shadows and spoiled it. I hope not — maybe they couldn’t have found parking.

Two golden opportunities to rescue democracy in Kamloops

We have two remarkable opportunities to rescue the democratic process in Kamloops.

One of them will come this afternoon; the other between now and election day Nov. 19.

The official results of the parkade counter petition — collected signatures minus those ruled invalid — are to be announced at today’s City council meeting.

Park the Lorne Street parkade and look for long-term solutions.

Mayor Peter Milobar has said that, assuming the counter-petition succeeds — and there’s every reason to expect it will — he will not support the City taking the parkade issue to a full referendum.

This is wise. For one thing, forcing the issue to a vote at a cost of around $90,000 wouldn’t do much for a politician’s popularity.

For another, this project is so divisive that no responsible mayor would want to prolong such a painful public debate.

Instead, he says, he would prefer a task force of City council to look into alternative sites.

He and council can do even better than that. Without community members, such a task force can’t be considered inclusive or consultative. Instead, they can set one up that goes beyond members of council and includes stakeholders.

A good balance might be three councilors, one representative of the Kamloops Voters Society (as the sponsor of the counter petition), one from the Kamloops Central Business Association, one from an environmental group and one citizen at large.

The terms of reference should go beyond parkade sites to include a holistic strategy for reducing the need for cars in the downtown core.

But here’s the key — rescind the Lorne Street borrowing bylaw and direct that the task force be set up as the first orders of business today; then and only then have the report on the counter-petition results read. After all, at this point the numbers are a technicality; the undeniable fact is that this is an unpopular project.

Wouldn’t that be a fine piece of leadership?

The second opportunity is up to the voters of Kamloops. There have been many negative comments about some of the mayoral candidates since nominations closed last Friday.

In my own initial response, I suggested that Brian Alexander might not be a particularly appealing candidate for mayor, and that Gordon Chow isn’t a serious contender.

I’ve also heard it said that the lineup for councillor seats isn’t inspiring, either.

It’s true that the past records of candidates are an important part of the consideration when people vote. It’s of note what they’ve accomplished, what they’ve done and what they’ve said a year ago, three months ago, and last week.

But we also need to listen to what they’ve got to tell us between now and Nov. 19. They’ve come forward because they feel they have something to offer our community, to assure that we have a choice.

I’ve always believed that the “characters” who sometimes run for office are an affirmation that we are a true democracy, that anyone can grow up to be prime minister, or premier or mayor.

A small part of me forgot that when I was putting together my thoughts for Saturday’s column. If we give the candidates, all of them, a fair chance to be heard, minus snap judgments, we respect the system and do justice to our city and to ourselves.

New City Hall watchdog not popular with civic politicians

Cabinet minister Ida Chong got a rough reception on plan for municipal auditor general.

At 8:55 this morning, after a continental breakfast at the Vancouver Convention Centre and an address by opposition leader Adrian Dix, municipal politicians will tackle the thorny issue of a new provincial overseer.

They’ll have lots to chew on as they digest their Corn Flakes and toast — Premier Christy Clark’s government wants to legislate a new position to keep an eye on the books at City Halls throughout the province.

If an information session with Community Development Minister Ida Chong on Tuesday is any indication, the idea is in for a rough ride on the floor of today’s policy session at the Union of B.C. Municipalities annual convention.

Mayors and councillors lambasted the proposal which, by the way, has the support of the B.C. Chamber of Commerce, an organization that has long had misgivings about the level of municipal spending and taxation on business.

News reports quoted Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan as telling Chong the plan for a municipal auditor general is “a foolish waste of money.”

Coun. Marg Spina, who was there for the session with Chong, told me yesterday there are widespread suspicions among delegates that the Clark Liberals are engaging in “attention deflection,” and that details are thin on what an MAG’s office would cost, what it would do and who it would report to.

She expects to vote against the idea today unless she hears ”something compelling” in favour of it.

Today’s discussion will centre on a UBCM executive policy paper that raises questions about the need for such a position. It notes that the Province’s proposal is based on a “lack of (mandatory) performance auditing in the local government system” that has been citied as “a weakness in that system.”

But, says the paper, the “weakness” may be more perception that reality. It frets about the notion that the MAG might be charged with reviewing policy decisions of local government such as taxation or even services and programs.

Indeed, the B.C. Chamber, which encouraged the Liberals to bring in the MAG concept, states in its own policies that part of the office’s mandate should be “to ensure an independent review of municipal programs, spending, community plans and services.”

In between all the heckling on Tuesday, Chong tried to reassure delegates that the new watchdog wouldn’t be sticking his or her nose in where it doesn’t belong. She said the MAG would look at “values-for-money” issues and more efficient ways of delivering services, but its recommendations won’t be binding.

So why are civic leaders so worried? For one thing, it took decades for the provincial government to even recognize on paper that municipalities are a level of government rather than simple serfs to Victoria, and they don’t want to go backwards.

For another, the provincial government has a pretty lousy record when it comes to spending and to transparency, and has little to teach City councils on those matters.

As Burnaby’s Mayor Corrigan put it, “Municipalities are the most effective, most transparent of governments. We already have an annual audit, we’re required to have a balanced budget, most of us have internal auditing systems.”

Nevertheless, Clark is more likely than not to put the MAG in effect, no matter what the UBCM decides, because it will play well with a public that is sceptical of all government spending at any level.