Comedian Steve Smith, better known as Red Green, is touring B.C. in September, reprising his popular TV series in which he fixes every conceivable problem with duct tape.
GreenB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 Not Old IB次元官网网址檓 RipeB次元官网网址� tour hits Chilliwack, Victoria, Nanaimo, Courtenay, Surrey, Vernon, Kelowna and Prince George.
His formula for deploying the handymanB次元官网网址檚 secret weapon has proven so popular that Premier Christy Clark may have been inspired. SheB次元官网网址檚 had quite a flurry of hasty repairs in the last few months. HereB次元官网网址檚 a recap.
The B.C. minimum wage was starting to lag behind other provinces, even after the overhaul it received in 2015, where annual increases are tied to inflation.
Like RedB次元官网网址檚 truck tires, there has been a lack of inflation, and a surge of government spending back east leaving B.C. in the dust. B.C.B次元官网网址檚 wage rose 20 cents last year and was set to go up by another whole dime this fall.
There was that familiar ripping sound in May as Clark and Jobs Minister Shirley Bond announced the September increase will be patched up to 40 cents, with another 40-cent increase next fall. Two wraps should hold it until after the election.
Remember the episode where Red taped two old Hyundai Ponies side by side to make a handymanB次元官网网址檚 Hummer? The school system has seen that kind of work in recent months.
The first roll was applied by Education Minister Mike Bernier when he announced in March that the ministryB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渇ix-it fundB次元官网网址� was going from $35 million to $40 million. Then in mid-May, he announced 80 successful projects. The B次元官网网址渇ix-it fundB次元官网网址� had fattened to $45 million, and Bernier was just getting his sleeves rolled up.
Hey school districts, remember the $25 million in B次元官网网址渁dministrative savingsB次元官网网址� the ministry demanded for the second year in a row? Now that youB次元官网网址檝e squeezed that from your budgets, BernierB次元官网网址檚 good news at the end of May was that the governmentB次元官网网址檚 giving it back to use for B次元官网网址渇ront line services for students.B次元官网网址�
One of those services could be B次元官网网址渕aintaining schools despite falling enrolment in certain regions,B次元官网网址� Bernier announced May 31, foreshadowing the next layer of repairs.
Sure enough, a B次元官网网址渞ural schools fundB次元官网网址� was rolled out on June 15. Clark and Cariboo North MLA Coralee Oakes made the announcement in Quesnel, where Kersley and Parkland elementary schools were going to close.
Also eligible for a special fund was Okanagan-Similkameen, where Osoyoos high school students were going to be bused a half hour to Oliver. This is hardly unusual in rural schooling around B.C., but these are swing ridings, you see.
Kootenay Lake district declined the opportunity to keep Yahk elementary open, with an anticipated fall enrolment of zero students. This all comes during the annual ritual combat between the ministry and Vancouver school board over keeping half-empty schools open.
Bernier had one more roll in his overalls. School bus service, one of those things jettisoned or saddled with hundreds of dollars in fees per student as districts scraped up those B次元官网网址渁dministrative savings,B次元官网网址� was selectively saved with another $15 million fund announced last week.
There have been a few other country fixes. TheyB次元官网网址檙e not going to ban weddings on farms any more, for instance.
That old jalopy in the back yard youB次元官网网址檝e been trying to soup up and get back on the road? Soon you can get a collector plate for that thing, which is perfect if you can only get it running once or twice a year.
To paraphrase Red, if the voters donB次元官网网址檛 find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca Twitter: @tomfletcherbc
