Day 1 of the Journey

Kids and Nana at home, we are off to Europe!

Arrived in Vancouver late Monday afternoon,  for our flight to Germany on Tuesday.  Went downtown Vancouver to take in the Canucks game 3 in front of CBC Vancouver on Georgia.  Also checked out the Olympic torch that was lit for the Canucks. 

Green Initiative

I would like to propose a green initiative for residents of BC that use ICBC to insure their motor vehicles.

The Initiative

Allow BC residents to utilize multi-plate for a second vehicle to promote less carbon emissions, lower carbon footprint, reduce gas consumption, increase room on the road, and enhance the economy.

The second vehicle must meet the following standards to qualify:

• vehicle must be rated at less than 6 liters per 100 KM by the manufacturer

• must meet Canadian safety guidelines

• can only be driven by the insured driver of the first vehicle

The insurance on the initial vehicle will be the maximum coverage on the second vehicle.

The Cost

There will be a one time registration and plating fee as the the vehicles will carry a M – Designation to show multi-plate vehicle.

The Mechanics – How it will Work

The owner of a less than fuel efficient vehicle now has incentive to purchase a second vehicle that meets the green standards. They will not only improve the environment by burning less gas for their commute, typically use less room on the road and in parking, improve the economy by BC residents purchasing a second car/motorbike. There will also be benefit in changing the mindset of people that want to drive large vehicles that do not serve a purpose.

Can this be done

Currently ICBC already offers this service to persons with collector cars. So in effect this program is easy to adopt. It is win - win for everyone.

The Calculations

The following scenarios provide the proof:

Scenario A: Jack drives 5 days a week to work, 15 km each way for a total of 30 km each day. His Ford F350 uses 15 litres per 100 km. In 52 weeks he will commute to work 7,800 km and use 1,170 liters. If Jack were able to utilize the new Green multi-plate he would be driving a commuter that uses 5 litres per 100 km. Over the year he would use 390 litres. A savings of 780 litres, at 1.26 per litre, it amounts to $982 over the year in gas savings alone. Less carbon emissions, more room on the road and increase in business activity in BC for people buying new cars/motorbikes. The other benefit is changing the mindset on people more willing to drive smaller vehicles.

One might say, why does Jack not just buy the green car without the incentive. The simple reason is that ICBC takes away any benefit Jack may see. Currently Jack would have to insure a second vehicle at a cost of over $1,000 per year.

Jack needs his truck for pulling his trailer for camping, taking all the hockey gear to his kids games that he coaches and so on.

Jack loves his truck and wants to keep it, but he is more than willing to drive a green car on his daily commute.

Scenario B: Jane drives her Chevy Yukon 5 days a week to work, 25 km each way for a total of 50 km each day. Her Yukon averages uses 10 litres per 100 km. In 52 weeks she will commute to work 13,000 km and use 1,300 liters. If Jane were able to utilize the new Green multi-plate she would be driving a commuter that uses 5 litres per 100 km. Over the year she would use 650 litres. A savings of 650 litres, at 1.26 per litre, it amounts to $819 over the year in gas savings alone. Less carbon emissions, more room on the road and increase in business activity in BC for people buying new cars. The other benefit is changing the mindset on people more willing to drive smaller cars.

One might say, why does Jane not just buy the green car without the incentive. The simple reason is that ICBC takes away any benefit Jane may see. Currently Jane would have to insure a second vehicle at a cost of over $1,000 per year.

Jane needs her Yukon to ferry her kids and their gear around. The Yukon provides the family the room they need on trips and makes the family feel safer.

Jane loves her SUV and wants to keep it, but she is more than willing to drive a green M car on his daily commute.

The Benefits and the Winners

Jack and Jane – winners because they save around $1,000 per year in fuel costs.

Car/Motorbike Dealers – winners as they will be selling more Green M cars/motorbikes.

Manufacturers – winners as sales increase.

Canadians – more jobs, less carbon emissions, changed mindset, safer roads.

ICBC will likely resist the initiative at first as they may see it as a loss of revenue. The reality is that no one driver can drive more than one vehicle at any one time. The driver could technically transfer the insurance everyday and ICBC would be fine with that, but they would admin fee any savings into a black hole. So essentially they are willing to do it but just not the economical way and they already do it with the collector car multi-plate.

Fresh and Healthy Smoothie

Just thought we would share how our Vitamix can turn whole fruit into a great drink. This morning we used a whole orange, kiwi, apple, stawberry yogurt, 100% pure OJ, and some homemade plum jam.

We used the fruits peel and all.  To see the health benefits check this link.

Hope you have a great day and would love to see and hear your great healthy tips.

Kelowna RCMP and Airport Security

The recent incident in Kelowna with an RCMP officer videotaped kicking a man that seems to be complying with directions being given is deeply troubling for the average citizen of this country. We live in Canada, we don't expect our policeman to be all Hollywood, where you kick the guy in the face and ask questions later. The link to the video is here for you to see... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-IDF9hzvug

Another recent video showing an abuse of power on a Canadian. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_mfYURz6qo

Yet another story of abuse of power where an 82 year old woman was humiliated at the Calgary airport. http://www.calgarysun.com/news/alberta/2011/01/14/16883431.html

Where has our society come to when the people we are paying to protect us use that power to abuse our basic rights, humiliate us, and use bodily force to beat us.

These are the people we pay to serve and protect us.

We need to go back to where the police are here to protect us, not where we need protection from them and I believe it needs to come from the top. The people of Canada need to change out the policy makers and policy implementers at the top of this chain of command.

We are all being treated like criminals before we ever see the courthouse. At the airport they have extensive search procedures that really amount to nothing other than abuse of our basic rights. Now they are using scanners that not only pose health risks, but humiliate our very dignity.

We need to as a people send a clear message to the policy makers that we have had enough, no longer will we accept the abuse of our basic human rights. We will no longer let you hide behind that this is all for our protection. I could provide you a list of examples where we have seen the lies used to manipulate but I am sure it is not necessary.

We need to go back to where it is instilled into the police officer that they are being paid to protect and serve. They are not there to generate revenue for ICBC, not there to enforce HOV infractions, and where force should be the last resort. Change the mentality, stop saying you are on the Force, try the mindset where you say you are a servant of the people.

At the airport, look for drugs and use the metal detectors, get some dogs for the drugs and train the people to interact with common decency.

No more scanners and pat downs, if you are going to pat someone down, you better have good cause.

It is easy to change when there is a will. Change comes when it meets Need.

There is always a way to make us more safe as they say, but at what cost. If that is their logic, why not have us strip down to nothing and have us probed or maybe it will come to that unless we act now.

Had enough, if so have you called, emailed or written your MLA.  If you need their address I can help you find it. The power rests with us, not them, we just choose to leave it in the hands of those that believe they have a right to it. They do NOT.

All spelling and grammatical errors are intentional and inserted for comedic relief.