The Week - July 2

Raising the bar

If you received a pay raise in 2008, perhaps you are among the list of lucky public sector executives who took home more money last year, even as the economy headed for the tank.

At the University of Victoria, president David Turpin got $7,917.69 more than he did in 2007, bringing his total compensation (including benefits, pension and allowances) to $479,753.31. Vice-president academic Jamie Cassels got $23,488.31 more than he did last year, while UVic’s vice-president operations Gayle Gorrill made an extra $11,648.81.

Over at the Vancouver Island Health Authority, departing Chief Operating Officer Mike Conroy made $35,007 more than a year before. However, his boss, VIHA president and CEO Howard Waldner, appears to have received $2,768 less compensation than he did in 2007, down to a paltry $414,657.

And while the province’s public education system may be crumbling, the provincial government pays its axemen well. School District 61 superintendent John Gaiptman made $188,618 in 2007/08, while his right-hand-man, secretary-treasurer George Ambeault made $154,080.

Security’s shadow

Morocccan-born Montrealer Adil Charkaoui was in Victoria last week as part of a cross-Canada speaking tour calling on the Canadian government to abolish the Security Certificate legislation that saw him imprisoned for 21 months without charge or trial on suspicion of connections to terrorism.

Although onerous conditions on his freedom have gradually been reduced through two Supreme Court of Canada decisions and other legal battles, Charkaoui is still required to wear an ankle-bracelet GPS system so the government can track his whereabouts at all times.

Alluding to a man he met in prison who was paid in cigarettes by other convicts to swat mosquitoes while they played cards—so the man stood by the window to let mosquitoes in—Charkaoui says North America’s intelligence services create their own raisons d’être. “If there are no mosquitoes, then they will make people into mosquitoes,” he says.

Among his many strange encounters with agents from the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service, Charkaoui told the tale of a visit by agents to the pizza shop he co-owned with his father shortly after 9/11. They wanted to know, “Where is Osama bin Laden?”

Charkaoui says he told the agents bin Laden was tired and was taking a nap in the back room.

Good box on brink

A program that brings fresh Island-grown produce to families from James Bay to Port Renfrew is in danger of ending the service if it can’t come up with $7,000 real quick.

The Good Food Box is a decade-old service that facilitates the delivery of fresh fruits and vegetables, principally to low-income clients, through Victoria’s neighbourhood houses and community kitchens.

When the program started, it was delivering a dozen boxes a month, a number that has now grown to 400, and continues to rise amid the current economic downturn and rising price of fresh garden goods at the grocery store.

However, a major backer of the $24,000-a-year volunteer-driven program recently pulled its support, citing its own financial troubles, leaving the Good Food Box without core funding.

Coordinator Sushil Saini says for many low-income CRD residents, the Good Food Box is their only source of fresh fruits and veg.

“Most of the produce in grocery stores is too expensive because you’re not just paying the farmer, you’re paying all the operating costs that come with the grocery business. With us, all you’re paying for is your produce and you’re buying it directly from the farmer and the farmer gets 100 percent of the money.”

The Good Food Box offers its service to clients at a monthly fee of $5, $10 or $15.

So if you’ve got a spare $7,000 to get the program through to year’s end, drop Saini a line at sushilsaini@shaw.ca.

Conference costs

When Monday was perusing the City of Victoria’s 2007 public bodies report, a stand-out feature was the expenses racked up by Victoria Conference Centre employees VCC senior account executive Evelyn O’Connor led the charges that year, billing taxpayers $42,975 for job-related expenses. Susan Elrick was a close second at $33,229.56.

Information released under freedom of information shows the lengths our city goes to to woo conference clients.

Elrick’s expense account shows trips to New Orleans, Chicago, Washington, Bangkok and a sales trip to Frankfurt where the hotel bill totalled $2,572.08.

VCC client service supervisor David Boleszczuk’s expense records show the price of wining and dining prospective conference clients. One item, “client meeting-Starbucks,” shows a bill of $120.14. Another item, “Dinner with Clients,” shows a bill for $590.59.