Aug
31
By Denise Savoie, Victoria MP
When Canadians think of Victoria, the image that often comes to mind is of our beautiful Inner Harbour - and there is no time like summertime to enjoy it with friends and family and visitors.
Like many of you, if I am not on the water - paddling or swimming - I love being on the waterfront. And like tens of thousands of people, I would not have been anywhere but the Inner Harbour Aug. 1 for our 21st Annual Symphony Splash. Volunteers, many from the James Bay community, once again made it all possible and I salute them!
Another favourite harbour-centred event this summer was the Victoria Dragon Boat Festival. Not only does hosting such a major athletic event build civic pride, but the Festival's Lights of Courage Lantern Campaign also brings us together as a community as we support loved ones among us touched by cancer. I will take the message about the spirit of this festival to Ottawa this fall, where I will continue to urge the government to support our NDP Bill C-526 to improve medical EI benefits so that people can live with dignity while they focus on recovering from fights with serious illness.
I know that many of you are concerned about the state of our harbour and its future. That is why the next in a series of rotating art shows in my constituency office is called Our Living Harbour. The show will depict the harbour as it is: a place of natural beauty and community gathering, of economic activity and of vulnerable ecology. I hope you will be able to join me for the opening on Sept. 18, 3-5 p.m., to view the work of local artists and informally discuss how we may work together for our harbour's health.
I am already excited to see many of you at the 6th Annual James Bay Art Walk, Sept. 11 and 12. Artists and paddlers, workers and volunteers, young and young-at-heart, members of the James Bay community all: you really know how to have fun and you take your part in the stewardship of our harbour seriously. It is indeed a privilege to represent you.
I wish the Conservative government in Ottawa took as seriously its part in the stewardship of our country. As I write, the government is refusing to reverse its profoundly flawed decision to discontinue the long-form census questionnaire and replace it with a voluntary survey. Statistics Canada has estimated that the proposed changes could cost taxpayers an extra $30 million dollars and since 1991 the privacy commissioner has received only 50 privacy complaints related to the census.
Among other things, the census acts as a tool for civil society groups and parliamentarians to hold government to account, so perhaps the Conservative government is looking for a way to avoid this scrutiny. The mandatory long-form census provides reliable and essential data on the labour force, education, income, immigrants and disabilities, and a detailed look at each region's demographic, economic and cultural fabric. This information allows policy-makers and service-providers to plan effectively and ensure that resources are allocated wisely.
The Capital Regional District noted that major decisions regarding wastewater treatment plants, affordable housing and new hospitals rely on this data. The Greater Victoria Community Indicators Network, a coalition of 18 community partners on southern Vancouver Island, argues that the voluntary nature of the new survey will create gaps between jurisdictions and will skew the results for some population subgroups, especially those who are most vulnerable and least likely to fill out the survey.
Citizens and civil society groups have voiced their objections to the government's decision and this fall New Democrats will carry that message to the House of Commons. Until then, enjoy the harbour and all the other gems around James Bay while the warm weather lasts. I do hope to see many of you at the Art Walk, if not before then at the James Bay Market.