Firefighters Get A Taste Of Irene In New York

When some Burnaby firefighters went to New York to participate in the 2011 World

Police and Fire Games, they didnt expect to be in the bulls-eye of hurricane Irene. Nor did they expect to see Times Square, usually abuzz with people, empty enough to play street hockey on a Saturday night. Lets just say it wasnt your average visit to the Big Apple.

Officials evacuated low lying parts of the city, forcing some 370,000 people to head for shelters or elsewhere. The subway system was shut down and all of the shows on Broadway went dark. When it was all over 1.5 million people were without power and parts of the city, notably Battery Park and along the waterfront were flooded out.

Most of the Burnaby firefighters chose to wait out the storm at the Marriot Marquis, the host hotel in Times Square. Michael Stengel, the general manager advised that the hotel is one of the safest places in the city, having bomb-proof glass and steel and concrete construction that could well withstand the high winds. But some of the team decided to go down to Times Square before the storm hit and play a bit of hockey. All the firefighters were asked to stay around the area in case they were needed to help out.

Some events were rescheduled and others, like the dragon boat race, triathlon and the road race were cancelled because of Irene. Some 17,000 WPFG athletes were in town to participate. A few came from as far away as Iceland. It is the first time that WPFG games had to cancel any of its sporting events.

HST Tax Decision Due August 26th

This coming Friday will be decision day concerning the controversial Harmonized Sales Tax, or HST. The 12 percent tax went into effect over a year ago, the brainchild or former premier Gordon Campbell. Basically they took the two separate taxes, the Federal Tax and the Provincial Tax and rolled them into one. The thing is, more goods and services were subject to the tax.

Voting was done by a mail in ballot, with an estimated 1.6 million sending in ballots. The winning side must have at least 50 percent of the votes cast. At this point officials believe the referendum is too close to call. If the vote is too close, the Chief Electoral Officer will ask for a recount.

Premier Christy Clark, a Liberal, is in favor of the tax and in fact came up with some fixes to make it more palatable. If the tax passes, then that might mean she would call an early election rather than wait for the scheduled one in 2013. Conversely, if the tax is defeated, that would put the New Democrat party in a more favorable light. Adrian Dix, their leader would find his position in the legislature strengthened.

Public policy issues have been set aside for nearly a year because of the controversy. Win or lose, the government has its work cut out for the next while catching up on items that did not get accomplished and implementing whatever changes the voters decide.

by: Shaun C

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