Sell the damn thing. Prince Rupert is a huge ponzi scheme.
Sell it. No government, at any level, should be in business.
so i guess you think we should sell the coal terminal too then eh
Yes.
Soooo,
the City should sell the airport, the sewers, the roads, the Digby ferry, the fire department, garbage collection, or just the businesses that might be profitable ?
[quote=“leroy”]
Soooo,
the City should sell the airport, the sewers, the roads, the Digby ferry, the fire department, garbage collection, or just the businesses that might be profitable ?[/quote]
Those are all mandatory services that are not profitable and that you would expect your taxes to pay for. Your taxes should not be used to prop up a for profit phone company.
[quote=“leroy”]
the City should sell the airport, the sewers, the roads, the Digby ferry, the fire department, garbage collection, or just the businesses that might be profitable ?[/quote]
Using that kind of logic, I suppose you think that the city should start buying restaurants and gas stations and video stores?
I mean that’s what the city did when it bought a cable company and started competing with private enterprise. So why not buy a fast food franchise (KFC for example) and start competing? Is that how you want your tax dollars risked?
[quote=“jesus”]
Soooo,
the City should sell the airport, the sewers, the roads, the Digby ferry, the fire department, garbage collection, or just the businesses that might be profitable ?
Those are all mandatory services that are not profitable and that you would expect your taxes to pay for. Your taxes should not be used to prop up a for profit phone company.[/quote]
I don’t buy into the logic that gov can only back money losers, the banks and the corporations see municipal services and gov services as a profit making enterprises, this is why the move to privatization of our resources is such a hot topic in some circles,
The Libs gave away BC Hydo, BC Rail etc, etc and are in the process of gibing away BC Ferries if there a way to make it profitable
[quote=“leroy”]
I don’t buy into the logic that gov can only back money losers, the banks and the corporations see municipal services and gov services as a profit making enterprises, this is why the move to privatization of our resources is such a hot topic in some circles,
The Libs gave away BC Hydo, BC Rail etc, etc and are in the process of gibing away BC Ferries if there a way to make it profitable[/quote]
It becomes profitable because you and I still pay the same or more for the service only they provide less. So yes for private enterprise road maintenance is profitable only due to the fact our roads are less maintained and our costs are up.
Just look at the service levels bc ferries provides for the very high new fares as a perfect example. You can twist however you want. We should not be giving private enterprise our tax dollars.
Either the government provides the service we are paying for or we cut taxes and let private companies find a way to monetize the service. Obviously this is oversimplified but there is no reason for a broke municipal government to continually prop up a failing phone company with your tax dollars.
Sell 51% and use the money for new police and fire dept buildings, that way you still have revenue because nobody will buy 49% and have no control. You will probably get better services with a new owner, especially if the new owner is Telus, Rogers or Shaw. Just a thought.
City should control (where possible) industry that is vital to the City’s survival. City should focus on infrastructure. City should be drastically limiting funding to charity groups and special interest groups. City and government should retain control and ownership of Ridley Coal.
Citywest is not vital to the City’s survival. CityWest should be sold. Besides, now CityWest Management is trying to deny the very people who own the company proper wage grids, pension compensation and are generally trying to strong arm the workers (citizens of Prince Rupert) with a rather hardlined, slave-labor type mentallity. First priority should be to fire the entire Management team that okayed the bargaining approach.
[quote=“MeepMeepZoom”]City should control (where possible) industry that is vital to the City’s survival. City should focus on infrastructure. City should be drastically limiting funding to charity groups and special interest groups. City and government should retain control and ownership of Ridley Coal.
Citywest is not vital to the City’s survival. CityWest should be sold. Besides, now CityWest Management is trying to deny the very people who own the company proper wage grids, pension compensation and are generally trying to strong arm the workers (citizens of Prince Rupert) with a rather hardlined, slave-labor type mentallity. First priority should be to fire the entire Management team that okayed the bargaining approach.[/quote]
Slave labour? a bit over the top one would think…
[quote=“jesus”]
[quote=“MeepMeepZoom”]City should control (where possible) industry that is vital to the City’s survival. City should focus on infrastructure. City should be drastically limiting funding to charity groups and special interest groups. City and government should retain control and ownership of Ridley Coal.
Citywest is not vital to the City’s survival. CityWest should be sold. Besides, now CityWest Management is trying to deny the very people who own the company proper wage grids, pension compensation and are generally trying to strong arm the workers (citizens of Prince Rupert) with a rather hardlined, slave-labor type mentallity. First priority should be to fire the entire Management team that okayed the bargaining approach.[/quote]
Slave labour? a bit over the top one would think…[/quote]
Why criticize by halves? 
[quote=“MeepMeepZoom”]City should control (where possible) industry that is vital to the City’s survival. City should focus on infrastructure. City should be drastically limiting funding to charity groups and special interest groups. City and government should retain control and ownership of Ridley Coal.
Citywest is not vital to the City’s survival. CityWest should be sold. Besides, now CityWest Management is trying to deny the very people who own the company proper wage grids, pension compensation and are generally trying to strong arm the workers (citizens of Prince Rupert) with a rather hardlined, slave-labor type mentallity. First priority should be to fire the entire Management team that okayed the bargaining approach.[/quote]
Seriously?
[quote=“Moresby”]
[quote=“MeepMeepZoom”]City should control (where possible) industry that is vital to the City’s survival. City should focus on infrastructure. City should be drastically limiting funding to charity groups and special interest groups. City and government should retain control and ownership of Ridley Coal.
Citywest is not vital to the City’s survival. CityWest should be sold. Besides, now CityWest Management is trying to deny the very people who own the company proper wage grids, pension compensation and are generally trying to strong arm the workers (citizens of Prince Rupert) with a rather hardlined, slave-labor type mentallity. First priority should be to fire the entire Management team that okayed the bargaining approach.[/quote]
Seriously?[/quote]
Which part are you inquiring about? The slave-labor-type mentallity is worded a bit strong, but I have a different perspective of employers who strong arm and are general assholes to their employees to save $10 so they can afford a latte everyday. If you’re question the validity of the comments re: denying wage grids etc there is another thread where I posted the Union’s views on the bargaining approach by CityWest.
So i imagine you wouldn’t be in favour of nationalizing the banks ?
So i imagine you wouldn’t be in favour of nationalizing the banks ?
Correct.
If you were to examine this through pure economics, the facts are this:
Citywest is known for it’s poor internet speeds. And it’s in an isolated area where it doesn’t face much in the way of competition. What is their motivation to change? People in PR have little choice but to subscribe to their services. It’s not a monopoly, but it’s uncomfortably close to it.
So the fix is one of two options. Bring in a strong competitor. Or sell the company to someone who can give what the people want in the way of modern broadband speeds and still turn a profit.
As long as you feed Citywest with your business, it will be business as usual. You’re rolling over and looking the other way. The city takes this as permission to carry on as is.
Now, the city is financed by what? Your taxes. If you pay taxes and the city owns the internet access, shouldn’t you be getting that for free anyway??? Maybe it’s time to just WiFi the whole area and include it on your tax bill? Those who want a premium speed can pay extra.
x
[quote=“DHCollins”] It’s not a monopoly, but it’s uncomfortably close to it.
[/quote]
CityWest is the only ISP in town…so I would say it is a monopoly.