Thursday, December 31, 2009
Mungall Makes Nelson's Newsmaker of the Year
What an honour! Full story at http://www.nelsondailynews.com/article/20091231/NELSON0101/312319999/-1/NELSON01/mungall-wins#art_comments
NEW DEMOCRATS CALL ON B.C. LIBERALS TO MAKE NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS TO STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
New Democrat MLAs want the B.C. Liberal government to head into the new year with a commitment to stopping violence against women and children.
“We think that today is a perfect day for the B.C. Liberals to make a New Year’s resolution to do their part to end domestic violence,” said New Democrat MLA for Nelson-Creston Michelle Mungall, chair of the Official Opposition Women’s Caucus.
“To start with, the government must restore the $1.2 million they plan to cut from transition houses and victim services,” said Mungall. “The B.C. Liberals reversed the cut announced for 2009 when New Democrats stood with community groups and local governments against the proposed cuts, but so far they still plan to slash this funding in 2010.
“New Democrats also successfully fought to have funding restored to the New Westminster Domestic Violence Response Team, but their funding extension runs out in March, showing that the B.C. Liberals just won’t commit to solutions to end domestic violence,” Mungall said.
Since forming government in 2001, the B.C. Liberals have watered down policies designed to protect women suffering from domestic violence abuse, fallen short on providing the resources to investigate the murders and missing women on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and the Highway of Tears, and failed to act on recommendations stemming from the Oak Bay murder-suicide of the Lee family in 2007.
“The B.C. Liberals have ignored the recommendations put forward by the Representative for Children and Youth regarding this tragic and preventable event, saying they wanted to wait for the coroner’s inquest to be complete,” said Maurine Karagianis, New Democrat critic for Children and Family Development. “Well, the coroner has now made several recommendations too, but the B.C. Liberals have yet to commit to any of them.
“We are calling on the government to make a New Year’s resolution to take action on these recommendations – especially the coroner’s call to establish regional and provincial domestic violence response units. Fully funding dedicated domestic violence courts would also go a long way to protecting women and children from family violence,” said Karagianis, MLA for Esquimalt-Royal Roads.
Langley RCMP and a dedicated Crown prosecutor for domestic violence were involved in a highly successful pilot project that showed how police, Crown prosecutors and community groups can work together to protect women and children facing abuse. Despite being viewed as a model for successfully navigating domestic violence cases, the B.C. Liberals eliminated funding for the program.
“There are several concrete steps that the B.C. Liberals could take to end violence against women and children in British Columbia, but they refuse to act,” said Mungall. “New Democrats would restore funding to women’s centres that can offer counseling, referral and other frontline services to women in need across the province and restore funding to vital legal aid services. The B.C. Liberals should resolve to take a hard look at the direction they’ve taken and the consequences to women across British Columbia.”
“We think that today is a perfect day for the B.C. Liberals to make a New Year’s resolution to do their part to end domestic violence,” said New Democrat MLA for Nelson-Creston Michelle Mungall, chair of the Official Opposition Women’s Caucus.
“To start with, the government must restore the $1.2 million they plan to cut from transition houses and victim services,” said Mungall. “The B.C. Liberals reversed the cut announced for 2009 when New Democrats stood with community groups and local governments against the proposed cuts, but so far they still plan to slash this funding in 2010.
“New Democrats also successfully fought to have funding restored to the New Westminster Domestic Violence Response Team, but their funding extension runs out in March, showing that the B.C. Liberals just won’t commit to solutions to end domestic violence,” Mungall said.
Since forming government in 2001, the B.C. Liberals have watered down policies designed to protect women suffering from domestic violence abuse, fallen short on providing the resources to investigate the murders and missing women on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and the Highway of Tears, and failed to act on recommendations stemming from the Oak Bay murder-suicide of the Lee family in 2007.
“The B.C. Liberals have ignored the recommendations put forward by the Representative for Children and Youth regarding this tragic and preventable event, saying they wanted to wait for the coroner’s inquest to be complete,” said Maurine Karagianis, New Democrat critic for Children and Family Development. “Well, the coroner has now made several recommendations too, but the B.C. Liberals have yet to commit to any of them.
“We are calling on the government to make a New Year’s resolution to take action on these recommendations – especially the coroner’s call to establish regional and provincial domestic violence response units. Fully funding dedicated domestic violence courts would also go a long way to protecting women and children from family violence,” said Karagianis, MLA for Esquimalt-Royal Roads.
Langley RCMP and a dedicated Crown prosecutor for domestic violence were involved in a highly successful pilot project that showed how police, Crown prosecutors and community groups can work together to protect women and children facing abuse. Despite being viewed as a model for successfully navigating domestic violence cases, the B.C. Liberals eliminated funding for the program.
“There are several concrete steps that the B.C. Liberals could take to end violence against women and children in British Columbia, but they refuse to act,” said Mungall. “New Democrats would restore funding to women’s centres that can offer counseling, referral and other frontline services to women in need across the province and restore funding to vital legal aid services. The B.C. Liberals should resolve to take a hard look at the direction they’ve taken and the consequences to women across British Columbia.”
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
MUNGALL LAUNCHES GREEN POWERED WEBSITE
Michelle Mungall Shows Off Green Powered Web Pages to Local High School Students.
On Monday December 14th, Michelle Mungall introduced her new website www.michellemungall.com to an audience of students in the theatre of L.V. Roger Secondary School.
The website, which is Green Hosted, is designed as a tool to guide constituents through what their MLA can do for them and to help them connect with services of local and governmental agencies.
“The new website is stored on web servers run by a carbon neutral company. That means the company purchases renewable energy certificates that offset the carbon emissions generated by all of their business activities. This is one of the many ways I actively reduce my carbon footprint,” says Mungall.
Designed by Brian Chard of Brian Chard Design, the site contains pages that are both informative and entertaining. “There’s a wealth of information on there,” says Mungall. “You can find out about anything from information on BC’s Medical Services Plan to the Creston Valley Food Action Coalition.”
And be sure to watch the video, specially prepared by Mungall, which gives you an all access tour of the Legislative Buildings in Victoria.
On Monday December 14th, Michelle Mungall introduced her new website www.michellemungall.com to an audience of students in the theatre of L.V. Roger Secondary School.
The website, which is Green Hosted, is designed as a tool to guide constituents through what their MLA can do for them and to help them connect with services of local and governmental agencies.
“The new website is stored on web servers run by a carbon neutral company. That means the company purchases renewable energy certificates that offset the carbon emissions generated by all of their business activities. This is one of the many ways I actively reduce my carbon footprint,” says Mungall.
Designed by Brian Chard of Brian Chard Design, the site contains pages that are both informative and entertaining. “There’s a wealth of information on there,” says Mungall. “You can find out about anything from information on BC’s Medical Services Plan to the Creston Valley Food Action Coalition.”
And be sure to watch the video, specially prepared by Mungall, which gives you an all access tour of the Legislative Buildings in Victoria.
See the article in the Nelson Daily News here: http://www.nelsondailynews.com/article/20091217/NELSON0101/312179994/MUNGALL-LAUNCHES-NEW-WEBSITE-WITH-FOCUS-ON-YOUTH
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
What's going on with Waneta Dam --our regional asset?
In Question Period on November 19, Opposition Critic for Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources John Horgan was joined by Kootenay West MLA Katrine Conroy as they sought the Liberals’ rationale for the most recent deal between BC Hydro and Teck Cominco.
Teck Comino was looking to cover its financial losses by selling assets –a typical decision in these tough economic times. BC Hydro took $825 million of ratepayers’ money to buy one third of the Waneta Dam. Yet the dam, experts say, was only worth $500 million.
This happened right under the noses of Columbia Power Corporation, as they were never given the opportunity to bid on a dam for which they have the expansion rights. In addition, the surplus power being generated by Teck Cominco was already being sold to BC Hydro, so they didn’t buy the dam to get the power.
Our question to the Minister was why shut out CPC and pay more than market value for power that BC Hydro is already getting. Does the local community wants BC Hydro to own the dam? That can’t be it because Katrine Conroy pointed out that the Mayor of Trail, the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary, the United Steelworkers, and people from throughout the region have been making presentations to the BC Utilities Commission against this sale to BC Hydro.
An interesting fact in all of this is that Teck Cominco contributed $664,000 to the BC Liberal Party.
Watch the video of the questions at November 19, 2009 ~ Question Period: B.C. Hydro purchase agreement for portion of Waneta dam
Teck Comino was looking to cover its financial losses by selling assets –a typical decision in these tough economic times. BC Hydro took $825 million of ratepayers’ money to buy one third of the Waneta Dam. Yet the dam, experts say, was only worth $500 million.
This happened right under the noses of Columbia Power Corporation, as they were never given the opportunity to bid on a dam for which they have the expansion rights. In addition, the surplus power being generated by Teck Cominco was already being sold to BC Hydro, so they didn’t buy the dam to get the power.
Our question to the Minister was why shut out CPC and pay more than market value for power that BC Hydro is already getting. Does the local community wants BC Hydro to own the dam? That can’t be it because Katrine Conroy pointed out that the Mayor of Trail, the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary, the United Steelworkers, and people from throughout the region have been making presentations to the BC Utilities Commission against this sale to BC Hydro.
An interesting fact in all of this is that Teck Cominco contributed $664,000 to the BC Liberal Party.
Watch the video of the questions at November 19, 2009 ~ Question Period: B.C. Hydro purchase agreement for portion of Waneta dam
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