Poor Town of Smithers. See here - http://hp.bccna.bc.ca/~aa056/November292006.pdf - for the Town's first response. If only they were as quick to put some public accountability in place as they are to refuse to do so. As Ms. Lee correctly points out, this refusal is appealable to the Commissioner for Information and Privacy, currently David Loukidelis. And so it will be done. The appeal documents are being drawn up as I write this and will go off to the Commissioner forthwith. I will post the appeal letter here.
There is lots wrong with this refusal and I will detail it in my next post. Read on...
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
and furthermore...
Wal-Mart Collapses
U.S. Cities and Towns
by Richard Freeman
During the last 20 years, Wal-Mart has moved into communities and destroyed them, wiping out stores, slashing the tax base, and turning downtown areas into ghost-towns. This is accomplished through Wal-Mart's policy of paying workers below subsistence wages, and importing goods that have been produced under slave-labor conditions overseas. Often, communities will even give Wal-Mart tax incentives, for the right to be destroyed.
the rest at: http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2003/3045walmart_iowa.html
U.S. Cities and Towns
by Richard Freeman
During the last 20 years, Wal-Mart has moved into communities and destroyed them, wiping out stores, slashing the tax base, and turning downtown areas into ghost-towns. This is accomplished through Wal-Mart's policy of paying workers below subsistence wages, and importing goods that have been produced under slave-labor conditions overseas. Often, communities will even give Wal-Mart tax incentives, for the right to be destroyed.
the rest at: http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2003/3045walmart_iowa.html
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Why not Wal-mart?
Wal-Mart Shaving Cited
(Vancouver Sun, Sat., Nov. 18, page D7)
Southfield, Mich. -- Managers at Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's
largest retailers, altered payroll records of hourly employees to
reduce their pay and required them to work off the clock, workers in
four U.S. states said in court filings. Wal-Mart pressured managers to
cut labour costs or risk losing their jobs and has ignored internal
warnings since 1989 that hourly employees weren't being paid for all
time worked, employees said this week in court papers filed in Nevada.
The workers, who seek to represent all Wal-Mart and Sam's Club hourly
employees in Nevada, Alaska, Delaware and South Dakota, asked a federal
judge to allow them to sue as a group. The suits are among 20 combined
in U.S. court claiming Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart engaged in
unlawful wage-shaving. The lawsuits, if granted class certification,
would be tried in the individual states.
(Vancouver Sun, Sat., Nov. 18, page D7)
Southfield, Mich. -- Managers at Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's
largest retailers, altered payroll records of hourly employees to
reduce their pay and required them to work off the clock, workers in
four U.S. states said in court filings. Wal-Mart pressured managers to
cut labour costs or risk losing their jobs and has ignored internal
warnings since 1989 that hourly employees weren't being paid for all
time worked, employees said this week in court papers filed in Nevada.
The workers, who seek to represent all Wal-Mart and Sam's Club hourly
employees in Nevada, Alaska, Delaware and South Dakota, asked a federal
judge to allow them to sue as a group. The suits are among 20 combined
in U.S. court claiming Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart engaged in
unlawful wage-shaving. The lawsuits, if granted class certification,
would be tried in the individual states.
Friday, November 17, 2006
finding out
OK, I'm fed up with ducking, squirming, evasion and truculence on the part of Smithers Council so here's what I've done to get the ball rolling. Go here to see the information request.
For those who don't know, The Freedom of Information Act requires public bodies to divulge any record in their "care or custody" on a written request. There are some exceptions for sensitive material and refusals, exorbitant fees and delays are all appealable to the Commissioner, currently David Loukidelis.
The Act is here and the Commissioner's web site can be found here.
The usual procedure for a reluctant public body (and yes, Virginia, the Town of Smithers is a public body) is to wait the full thirty working days and then request an extension. They may or may not get it, a disputed extension request goes to the Commissioner's office for adjudication. Usually they get the extension. Then they argue that their information is sooooo special that it must be one of the permitted exceptions. Another dogfight with the Commissioner's office. Then the fee question arises. Another dogfight.
I will document every step here and post every document for public information. If Council is going to be childish it will have to do so as publicly as I can manage.
In about ten days I will start putting up the recent rezoning documents from the (utterly useless) public hearing process. Stay tuned...
For those who don't know, The Freedom of Information Act requires public bodies to divulge any record in their "care or custody" on a written request. There are some exceptions for sensitive material and refusals, exorbitant fees and delays are all appealable to the Commissioner, currently David Loukidelis.
The Act is here and the Commissioner's web site can be found here.
The usual procedure for a reluctant public body (and yes, Virginia, the Town of Smithers is a public body) is to wait the full thirty working days and then request an extension. They may or may not get it, a disputed extension request goes to the Commissioner's office for adjudication. Usually they get the extension. Then they argue that their information is sooooo special that it must be one of the permitted exceptions. Another dogfight with the Commissioner's office. Then the fee question arises. Another dogfight.
I will document every step here and post every document for public information. If Council is going to be childish it will have to do so as publicly as I can manage.
In about ten days I will start putting up the recent rezoning documents from the (utterly useless) public hearing process. Stay tuned...
Is Walmart coming to Smithers?
Lots of people want to know and Smithers Council is being coy. This blog will try to document the process and results. There will be documents available and opinions expressed, both by Dave and by commenters. See the next post for the first document.
Dave
Dave
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