Anyone who has ever been involved in marketing knows that no matter what you're selling, price is important. When prices keep increasing there comes a tipping point at which sales will go down, and so will net revenue.

That's the problem with BC Ferries – fares have increased beyond the level which people are prepared to pay, and thus fewer of them are using the ferry services. The numbers certainly back up that argument.

About three years ago when I broached this topic with the man who is now the new boss at BC Ferries, he did not accept that the tipping point had been reached or passed.

The recommendations from B.C. Ferries commissioner Gord Macatee are something the provincial government should pay careful attention to. He stressed that there's an urgent need to reverse any further decline in ridership.

Macatee also had a number of other recommendations, including the backwards approach of the BC Ferries reservation system and the focus on moving vehicles rather than people. That's where the idea of a foot passenger service comes into the picture, something the city of Nanaimo has been pushing for years.

The reservation system has been wrong since the day it was introduced. It's being used as a revenue generator rather than improving the efficiency of the ferry system. A free reservations system would distribute traffic more efficiently and assist the travelling public in knowing when to arrive at the terminals.

As far as a passenger-only service, BC Ferries has always treated that idea as competition with itself. Moving foot traffic to smaller vessels could lessen the frequency of having large vehicle ferries with their greater operating costs.

Instead of being closed to idea, BC Ferries needs to look at options for creating a better and lower costs service for its users. 

The report sets out a good prescription for what's ailing the ferry system. We can only hope the government acts positively and quickly on these recommendations.

This month marks the second anniversary of the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti, killing 316,000 people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless in abject poverty.

Ordinary citizens and governments from around the world pledged $4.6 BILLION dollars in aid. The United Nations says to date only 43 percent of those relief funds have been disbursed and more than 500,000 Haitians still remain homeless. It could be at least 10 years before the country sees any noticeable recovery.

A watchdog group says part of the problem is that charities spent a considerable amount of money on soaring rents, board members' salaries, over-priced supplies and imported personnel.

Therein lies part of the problem. Well-intentioned charitable organizations are, in fact, giant business conglomerates. A researcher at the Centre for Economic Policy Research says a lot of good work was done; a lot just wasn't responding to real needs. Millions was spent on advertising campaigns telling people to wash their hands . . . when there was no soap or water.

Some of that good work includes removing half of the debris caused by the toppling of hundreds of buildings, creating 300,000 temporary jobs and helping more than 1,000 families return home. Half a million people remain in packed dismal tents, amid violence and disease.

The American Red Cross, which received about $486 million in donations, instead of constructing more transitional residences, the Red Cross is building permanent homes and repairing damaged ones.

Oxfam is rebuilding inner-city neighborhoods and rural areas outside Port-au-Prince.

The Red Cross and Oxfam have excellent track records, but it's more difficult to track the dozens and dozens of groups and organizations that sprang up immediately after the disaster. Where most of that money went will probably never be known. It's a good reminder that when it comes to donations, give to organizations that you know.

http://tinyurl.com/6wd847e

What could possibly be one of the biggest stories of the year is getting relatively little coverage.

A US coast guard icebreaker escorted a Russian oil tanker through the frozen Bering Sea to bring much-needed fuel to Nome, Alaska.

The story has been reported, although very sparingly, because of the news media's preoccupation with the global warming agenda. They would still have us believe that the polar ice cap is melting and that doomsday is on its way.

Therefore the fact that Alaska is having one of its coldest winters on record doesn't jibe with that story, so it would be embarrassing to talk about it.

This comes at a time when the U.S. Coast Guard has been testifying in Washington that it needs more icebreakers – the U.S. has only one left that is operational. But chances are slim that the government will cater to that need, they continue to bury their head in the snow because such an expenditure would put a further lie to the global warming agenda.

Why talk about the coldest winter on record when the polar ice cap is supposed to be melting?

That agenda, and the attached carbon-offset scam, has become one of the biggest cash cows of government. It's a huge tax source. They can't afford to let it go, even though the evidence is overwhelming that it's a farce.

It's taken the provinces a while, but they are finally acknowledging seniors, especially when it comes to health care costs.

When I was publishing seniors newspapers it was hard getting anyone to recognize the growing influence of the Baby Boom generation.

Now it's here, and provincial governments are finally opening their eyes to this issue. The BC government, in particular, is focussing on the impact of our province's disproportionate number of seniors on health care costs. Chronic care – that's heart and cancer issues – illnesses related to seniors – are using up the major portion of treatment costs.

When Ottawa decided to allocate funding based on population alone, BC quickly recognized that because of our ever-growing seniors population we're going to be particularly hard hit.

Alberta is a good example of the opposite – many of its people move to BC in retirement, so Alberta is not impacted the same way.
It's going to be an ongoing issue for federal-provincial relations. It's great to see Premier Christy Clark recognizing that we have unique challenges.

Some people may see equal distribution of federal funding as the fair way, but there's a solid argument in favour of our province's stance. We can't afford to let this slip from our grasp.

http://tinyurl.com/839d2po

The people in our legal industry are making a lot of noise these days, and it comes with a familiar message – they want more money.

They blame funding shortages from government for the problems with our court system. Many cases are being thrown out because they can't provide timely court dates for the accused.

Lawyers should look in the mirror in the morning and ask what the real problem is – too much lawyering and not enough justice in our court system.

All their delays and remands are what plugs up the system, and the judges, who all came from the legal profession, are playing along with the game.

When there is a client who is obviously guilty of a crime, they should not waste court time trying to get that client off, but to see that justice is done.

We don't have a justice system any more, we have a legal system, and the legal profession has to shoulder the blame. It should not be about money but about doing a better job with the resources at hand.

http://tinyurl.com/6luye39