The Solid Waste Collection and Disposal Bylaw, Bylaw No. 07/043, could use improvement. There was some good discussion geared toward making the bylaw smarter.
Discussion
Common Misconceptions
"The municipal garbage collection service has no problems. If something isn't broken, don't fix it." False. If that were true, then there would also be no problem with allowing competition. The fact is that in this world, nothing is perfect and there is always room for improvement.
"People who opt out of the municipal garbage collection service will contribute to more litter." False.
The people who litter irresponsibly will continue to do so, and there is ample existing legislation to counter this behaviour.
The conscientious, responsible people among us will continue to manage their own garbage effectively, the difference being that the extent to which they are able to do so would not be needlessly limited by infringements upon their financial liberties.
Additional Rationale
Whether garbage is personally removed or a third-party contractor is engaged, the annual garbage collection needs of the average household may be serviced at a fraction of the cost that the municipality is currently charging. Whether the service is contracted or not, the same provincial transportation legislation with respect to ensuring that loads are properly secured, to which the municipal waste collection assets are subject, would continue to apply.
Allowing competition in this area will cause the municipal funds to be more efficiently allocated, and will incentivize the hard work of responsible people to make the community better.
Some municipalities, such as Toronto, allow residents to opt out of the waste-collection service. Others, such as Calgary, have lower rates than the RMWB. This is not an uncommon concern across the country.
In Toronto, owners of apartments, condos, and non-residential buildings may permanently opt-out, while there is up to a 6-month annual opt-out allowed for houses for such reasons as vacation, renovations or construction.
Hello, I'm Phil Osborne, I've enjoyed living here since 2009. Thanks for having me!
This evening, with warmer weather and spring clean-ups on the way, I'd like to look at an important aspect of the municipal garbage collection and recycling program. I'll start with an example situation, then ask a question related to this problem. I will then explore the rationale on how this situation could be resolved, by reading a proposed bylaw. I will just be requesting that this presentation be accepted as information at this time.
First, consider two hypothetical neighbours:
Conscientious Charlie doesn't generate a lot of garbage. He might put his bins out a few times per year.
Conscientious Charlie being studious.
Merve the Slob, on the other hand, who lives right next door to Charlie, generates so much garbage that one bin per week is simply not enough. His bin is constantly overflowing.
Merve, taking a break from cleaning his yard.
Typical appearance of Merve's bin, when he has time to put it out.
And yet, both of these individuals on either extreme pay the same amount for the municipal waste collection service.
Why should Conscientious Charlie have to subsidize Merve the Slob?
Here is a proposed bylaw to fix this situation:
WHEREAS the Municipal Government Act allows municipalities to collect monies by implementing various taxes or fees defined in bylaws
WHEREAS to uphold the image of integrity in government, it is important for all legislation that is used to order society to be as equitable and fair as possible
WHEREAS it is important for government at every level to remain accountable to the citizens who finance it
WHEREAS there are residents who already pay municipal property taxes who do not require solid waste collection on a weekly basis
WHEREAS some residents could use more than one garbage bin per week, and it is not fair for residents who generate less garbage to be subsidizing those who generate a lot of garbage
WHEREAS ethical accounting practices warrant billing only for those services that are required
WHEREAS the municipal utility bill should properly include only those items that are related to water billing
WHEREAS all municipal departments should strive for continuous improvement in all areas
WHEREAS feedback from residents is a valuable input to the delivery of top-quality services that people are happy to pay for
Therefore, be it resolved that conscientious residents who did not request and who do not require the municipal garbage and recycle bins collection service reserve the right to opt out of this service, being able to collect and deliver their own garbage and recycling to the landfill on an smarter as-needed basis, and with greater efficiency and economy than the municipal department is able.
Bylaw No. 07/043, being the Solid Waste Collection and Disposal Bylaw, having been ammended by this bylaw, will allow such conscientious residents to arrange a time for an agent or employee of the municipal waste services department to retrieve the municipal bins. The associated address will then be removed from the collection route, and the corresponding line item deleted from the water bill.
This concludes my presentation. Are there any questions?
Every person who is born on Canadian soil is an indigenous Canadian, regardless of ethnicity. The term "indigenous" is often capitalized and used as a racist political wedge to disenfranchise native Canadians, to decrease their care for one another, and to distract them from making decisions that will protect the land and resources for the enjoyment and benefit of all Canadians for generations to come.
Presentation Transcript
The document titled "United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples" is referenced in the agenda, item 6.3. Because the titular term "indigenous" is purposely left undefined, the entire document is open to subjective, ambiguous, or wholly arbitrary political interpretations, divorced from facts and reality. Any endorsement of it as a "framework for reconciliation" is disingenuous and will create tears in the fabric of Canadian society.
The reality is that Canada is a sovereign nation, and anyone born on its land is an indigenous Canadian citizen, with rights and freedoms as a native Canadian citizen that are guaranteed by our Constitution. Using the word indigenous in a way that excludes the majority of indigenous Canadians on the basis of their culture or ethnicity by relying on a foreign document is not only patently racist and divisive, it is clearly an orchestrated attack by globalists on the sovereignty of Canada.
Indigenous Canadians have an ethnicity, ancestry, language, or culture that may be a mix of English, French, Scottish, Ukrainian, Russian, Cree, Ojibwe, Dene, or any of several other ethnicities. The list is not exhaustive! All of the so-called "first nations" peoples are, in fact, descended from various groups of Asians who migrated over the Beringian land bridge that existed a few thousand years ago. These Asian settlers and colonists warred, made treaties, and interbred among themselves as all humans have done throughout history. The addition of Europeans to the fray in the few hundreds of years prior to the founding of the Dominion of Canada in no way detracts from the indigenousness of any native-born Canadian today.
Asian colinists at camp in Beringia, circa 2200 BC
All Canadian citizens have a shared heritage that is multicultural and can be celebrated as such. I encourage all native leaders among us, regardless of their ethnicity, to take seriously their Canadian citizenship and to set good examples for those who look to them for guidance. The only logical way for Canada to forgive itself and be reconciled for the past wrongs perpetrated on its own citizens is for all native Canadians to stand on guard together. One way to do this is to commemorate the past in a respectful, factual manner.
Abandoning shoes and other items to deteriorate, subject to the Canadian elements, all manner of pedestrian litter, and blown-in leaves for months on public steps is not the best way to accomplish this. If call to action number 82 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is to be adopted, even though Fort McMurray is not the capital city of Alberta, then let a memorial constructed of more durable materials, such as reinforced concrete or stone, be placed in a prominent area such as the Jubilee plaza, or in the park planned for along the Clearwater River. A bronze plaque should be affixed so that all passersby may be well-informed and give pause to the bittersweet history of Canada.
A putrid bouquet adorns public steps, surrounded by debris and abandoned footwear
Resources
Treaty 8 Text Exerpt
AND WHEREAS, the said Commissioners have proceeded to negotiate a treaty with the Cree, Beaver, Chipewyan and other Indians, inhabiting the district hereinafter defined and described, and the same has been agreed upon and concluded by the respective bands at the dates mentioned hereunder, the said Indians DO HEREBY CEDE, RELEASE, SURRENDER AND YIELD UP to the Government of the Dominion of Canada, for Her Majesty the Queen and Her successors for ever, all their rights, titles and privileges whatsoever, to the lands included within the following limits, that is to say:
Commencing at the source of the main branch of the Red Deer River in Alberta, thence due west to the central range of the Rocky Mountains, thence northwesterly along the said range to the point where it intersects the 60th parallel of north latitude, thence east along said parallel to the point where it intersects Hay River, thence northeasterly down said river to the south shore of Great Slave Lake, thence along the said shore northeasterly (and including such rights to the islands in said lakes as the Indians mentioned in the treaty may possess), and thence easterly and northeasterly along the south shores of Christie's Bay and McLeod's Bay to old Fort Reliance near the mouth of Lockhart's River, thence southeasterly in a straight line to and including Black Lake, thence southwesterly up the stream from Cree Lake, thence including said lake southwesterly along the height of land between the Athabasca and Churchill Rivers to where it intersects the northern boundary of Treaty Six, and along the said boundary easterly, northerly and southwesterly, to the place of commencement .
AND ALSO the said Indian rights, titles and privileges whatsoever to all other lands wherever situated in the Northwest Territories, British Columbia, or in any other portion of the Dominion of Canada.
TO HAVE AND TO HOLD the same to Her Majesty the Queen and Her successors for ever.
...
The Chipewyan and Cree Indians of Fort McMurray and the country thereabouts, having met at Fort McMurray, on this fourth day of August, in this present year 1899, Her Majesty's Commissioner, James Andrew Joseph McKenna, Esquire, and having had explained to them the terms of the Treaty unto which the Chief and Headmen of the Indians of Lesser Slave Lake and adjacent country set their hands on the twenty-first day of June, in the year herein first above written, do join in the cession made by the said Treaty and agree to adhere to the terms thereof in consideration of the undertakings made therein.
Osborne was the second of thirteen candidates who filed nomination papers with the returning officer, and was top contender for a seat, with ~1800 votes. Strategies for future elections include recruitment of volunteers for campaign activities such as
Fort McMurray policing could use some improvement, with a greater focus on de-escalation and education in the majority of police interactions with the public. Too many recruits, fresh from Depot and hailing from eastern Canada, may not even have a sound grasp of the English language. They spend their initial 5-year contract here before taking their hard-earned policing experience out of the community. This is a diservice to the residents of Fort McMurray.
Cora restaurant grand opening 2015 October 18. Free meals were provided to several unwitting police officers with cooperation of store owners by pre-paid gift cards.
