Members of the Port Edward Volunteer Fire Department and other Volunteer services received welcome news from Ottawa this week. That of a doubling of their allowable tax credit for their work in service to their communities
Those who volunteer their services for fire fighting and Search and Rescue work can now gain a bit more of a tax credit at tax time.
That as the Federal Government has announced that the Tax Credit for those community minded residents has now been doubled.
"In recognition of this, today the federal government announced that Budget 2024 will propose to double the Volunteer Firefighters Tax Credit and the Search and Rescue Volunteers Tax Credit.
This means the tax credit will increase from $3,000 to $6,000 for 2024 and subsequent tax years, saving volunteer firefighters up to $900 per year. This increase will particularly benefit rural communities where firefighters are most often volunteers and they are confronting increasingly more frequent wildfires due to climate change.
Over the next six years, this represents about $105 million in new support for volunteer firefighters and search and rescue volunteers across the country.
Today’s announcement also includes $166.2 million over five years in new funding in support of First Nations emergency management and preparedness. Recognizing that many First Nations communities are especially vulnerable to the impact of natural disasters, this investment will better support First Nations to protect their communities."
The MP's shout out to Northwest volunteers missed out on the District of Port Edward fire fighting component who will benefit from the new tax credits, while the note towards the Prince Rupert Department was somewhat misdirected, as that is a fully paid professional force and won't qualify for the tax credit measures.
Mr. Bachrach nd Vancouver Island MP Gord Johns also provided a video to celebrate the announcement.
The city's recent push on enforcement on nuisance properties made for a popular topic in the public discussion period at Monday's Prince Rupert City Council session
Monday's City Council session found the public comment period one where the city's recent work to expand on their enforcement of nuisance properties gained some feedback from the public.
As we noted earlier this week, the first exchange on the issue came from the owners of a property on Second Avenue West, who outlined some of their frustrations at the civic policy and in particular how the city delivers its notices towards those properties.
A second presentation to Council took on the topic in a different view, that of suggesting that some of the city's enforcement on nuisance housing stock may be working against their quest for more housing availability in the community.
The resident who has been in the community since 1976 provided some background on his own situation related to property ownership, noting how some financial challenges had led he and his family to fall behind on their own maintenance for their properties.
A situation that he suggested was exacerbated by the recent civic legislation and enforcement towards nuisance properties. His commentary observing how he had forwarded letters to the city noting how many of the homes in question towards those nuisance orders date back to the Second World War and currently have a range of pollutants.
As part of his commentary, while acknowledging that the clean up needs to be done, he offered up to council that the cost of that onus of clean up should not necessarily be totally on the property owners, highlighting the varying fees and challenges that they face for property remediation.
"We assume that these houses were built with a building permit and complied with the law at ttime. But the law says now it's not allowed ... take it to the garbage dump, but to take it to the garbage dump you have to pay special fees because it's got pollutants and you have a whole series of things to comply with.
It should be a difference between industrial and people with large mansion and small little houses ..."
For the most part his presentation was to seek out some solutions from City Council as to how individual property owners could address those challenges and how those financial burdens are impacting on the amount of housing stock available in the community.
Among his recommendations was that the city should bring together a number of stakeholders from the province to regional First Nations to develop modular housing, something he offered up would help to resolve some of the homeless issues in the community.
The City's councillors did not speak directly towards the overall presentation of earlier in the evening, during their own discussions of later in the session
But both Councillor Forster and Niesh did take some time to explore the theme of landfill costs and potential ways for residents to reduce those burdens.
The full presentation during the public discussion can be reviewed through the city's video archive page staring at the 16 minute mark, the Councillor's contributions to the themes can be reviewed at the 52 minute mark.
Largely the City doesn't have a place in the conversation and the taxpayers likely would frown on the idea of providing any financial assistance to individual property owners.
Particularly when it comes to taking care of the maintenance that they should be doing as part of their responsibilities as owners of property.
There may however, be some areas for a review, whether in landfill costs or the cost of other civic regulations where the municipality could offer some form relief, guidance, or advocacy to the province towards remediation when it comes to old housing stock to be returned to active use.
One of six signs installed by the Lax Kw'alaams Band along the Highway 16 corridor east of Prince Rupert (image from Lax Kw'alaams FB)
The Lax Kw'alaams Band has outlined the introduction of a new signage program, which has seen the Band placed six signs along the Highway 16 corridor to inform those who stop to read them of the history of the traditional territory of the 9 Allied Tribes of Lax Kw'alaams.
As part of their introduction to the project through Social media on Thursday, the Band Council outlined the details towards the placement of the signs and how they share oral history as part of the larger Ts'msyen territory.
The signs were stood up at rest stops along the lower Skeena watershed along Highway 16. These signs are unique in sharing adaawx (oral history) as a part of the larger Ts’msyen territory, stewarded by the 9 Allied Tribes of Lax Kw’alaams.
This project also promotes the Sm’algyax language (the language of the Ts’msyen) in the Skeena corridor, including Sm’algyax place names, plants, and animals.
Lax Kwa'alaams officials also note however, that some of the signs have been vandalized and that they will be taking steps to address that issue in the weeks ahead.
Despite the signage having overwhelming support by council, hereditary leadership and Lax Kw’alaams members alike, some of the signs have already been vandalized by unknown persons or stolen completely.
Lax Kw’alaams leadership wishes to assure the membership that the signs will be reinforced and replaced, and that the Lax Kw’alaams Band does not condone vandalism of any kind.
The Band Council also plans to create an online resource for the new signage to offer a chance for those that may not be able to view the signs along the Highway 16 corridor.
After a fairly quiet period on Social media over the last few weeks, North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice used her online platform to relay another Provincial program roll out this week.
This one related to Health Care and a new and hopefully improved way to match up doctors with the would be patients seeking them.
As the MLA outlines it, the new program will streamline the process of connecting doctors and Nurse practitioners who have space in their practice with the patients that are looking for primary health care.
However, as the Parliamentary Secretary for Rural Health does note, the new rollout won't fix the largest issue of the moment for health care; that being the lack of doctors available for the matchmaking, a situation particularly concerning in her constituency at the moment.
With a current doctor shortage in Prince Rupert only set to get worse this spring and summer before reinforcements eventually arrive, local residents will be in health care purgatory for a bit longer yet for the new and improved service to be of some use.
That brings an extra load on at the PRRH Emergency Department where waits in the lobby for those looking to see a doctor now are getting longer as residents seek out services of whatever doctor they can find on any given day.
Northern Health didn't offer up much help on the roll out for Ms. Rice yesterday, four hours after the MLA's update ... the Health Authority had one of their own, announcing once again that the Prince Rupert Regional Hospital would be closed overnight, that owing to the lack of physician coverage.
That closure which lasted until 8 AM this morning, was just the latest in what has been a string of mostly overnight closures through March and now into April.
When it comes to filling that physician coverage challenge, maybe Northern Health could make use of the new online program ...
The Revenue Canada deadline to file your taxes is fast approaching, with April 30th the date to ensure that your tax forms have been received by the Federal Tax office.
And if you have still to put the wrap on your work, Skeena Bulkley Valley MP, Taylor Bachrach, is here to lend a hand.
No, it's not likely that he'll be dropping by to put pencil to paper; but in your mail box in recent days has been a Tax Time Tutorial from the NDP Member of Parliament.
The fifteen page Booklet consists of information on preparing your taxes, background on Deductions, Credits and Expenses as well as notes on Charitable giving.
The booklet also has the addresses of organizations around the Northwest that can help you navigate the Revenue Canada taxation labyrinth.
In Prince Rupert, the Unemployed Action Centre at 818 - 3rd Avenue West offers Tax clinic assistance, call them at 250-627-1208 for more information.
If you haven't received one contact the MP's offices across the Northwest to see if they have any on hand for distribution. Mr. Bachrach also notes that the staff in his offices are ready to help should encounter any issues with the Canada Revenue Agency.
For those that like to get their information straight from he Source, the Federal Government offers tax filing assistance through the Federal website, the options available through that service can be explored here.
More notes on the work of the Skeena-Bulkley Valley from the House of Commons can be reviewed here.
The City of Prince Rupert has done a bit of promotion for their partners at ecotrust Canada, noting of the start of an Energy Savings Program for the North Coast area.
Tuesday the City made use of its Social Media stream to share word of the debut for the program for the Prince Rupert area which was announced that same day.
As ecotrust Canada explains it, The program is designed to address the pressing issue of high heating costs, discomfort and energy inefficiency
The Metlakatla First Nation is making its plans for the upcoming distribution of 100,000 dollars to each member of the First Nation that qualifies as part of the Claims Tribunal Settlement with the Federal Government.
To qualify for the distribution members had to have been on the Band list as of September 5, 2023. Funds for minors under the age of 19 will be held in trust until they reach that age.
