A familiar name will be missing from the ballot when Lake Country voters go to the polls this October.
Mayor James Baker has decided not to run again and is instead calling an end to his 33-year involvement in local government.
“I think we’ve got lots of things done but it’s time to get somebody else in there,” Baker, 80, said in an interview Wednesday.
“I still enjoy the job, but there’s other things I would like to do as well, like spend more time with grandchildren.”
Baker has been mayor of Lake Country since 2005, winning re-election four times. He was also a town councillor from the time of the town’s incorporation in 1995 until 2000. In the 1980s and early ’90s, he represented the area as an elected member of the Central Okanagan regional district board.
Baker taught anthropology and archeology at the post-secondary level from 1974 until 2000. He still takes an interest in the fields, and is often called upon by former students who are now professors to give guest lectures.
Lake Country, with a population of about 15,000, has become one of the most desirable places to live in the Okanagan and its average single-family home price of $866,000 is the highest in the Valley.
At a meeting Tuesday, town council began giving initial consideration to a 2022 municipal budget that calls for a tax hike of 4.85%. Only one member of the community addressed council on the proposed budget.
“I’m hoping that silence is consent but it may just be that people figure there’s no point complaining because we don’t listen,” Baker said.
“But we do listen and we do try to get as much input as we can from the community before we make the budget.”
The consultation period continues for several months before council makes a final decision on the budget in March, Baker said. It’s possible the municipal tax hike could be increased slightly if council opts for fix-ups to deteriorated sections of Camp Road and Davidson Road, he said.
Baker says his decision to retire from politics isn’t related to his age. “I think I’m still as alert as I ever was though I do have people saying I never was that alert,” he said with a laugh.
He has told his council colleagues of his decision to retire from politics and he expects one or several of them will try for the top job in October.
“I’ve enjoyed all the councils I’ve been on, but I really think this has been one of our best,” he said.
“We have different points of view and good discussions, but we all respect one another and get along to get things done,” he said.
“I’ve told each of them I think they would make an excellent mayor, but please don’t all of you run. We need your council experience.”
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
