Here is why parties should not stay in power too long...

They think that a mail-out a smear campaign should be paid for by tax-payers.

The whole point of tax-payer funded mail-outs is to allow MPs to communicate with their constituents about important matters, and smearing a new opposition leader  for his youth or apparent lack of experience, doesn't seem to be to be one of them.

It is interesting that the main point of attack seems to be that he is a teacher. Mislabelled as a drama teacher- though he mostly taught math and french and it is doubtful there was a family more steeped in politics than Trudeau's from both his father and mother's side.

Anyway would it be so bad to have a PM who was a teacher?

I thought I would look at the professions of our previous PM's from Sir John A. MacDonald onwards:

Lawyer
Contractor and Editor
Lawyer
Lawyer and Educator
Lawyer
Editor
Doctor
Lawyer
Lawyer
Lawyer
Lawyer
Lawyer and Editor and Civil Servant
Lawyer
Lawyer and Educator
Lawyer
Lawyer
Diplomat and Professor
Lawyer and Professor
Lawyer
Lawyer and Corporate Executive
Lawyer
Lawyer
Businessman and Lawyer
Economist and Lecturer

Seems like one profession may be a bit over-represented and others need to get a foothold.


PS- away for the week-end, though I will put up the numbers this evening.  We will be back to RE next week.

Another interruption...

As you know what real gets my gall is the Government trying to cut sweat deals out of our pocket for their media cronies.

The Harper Government are masters of this ruse. They keep trying it...and we fought back. Remember when they tried to bank-roll the Canwest/ Global network of the Aspers which was floundering as they were sooo biased. We stood strong and they backed down.

Well now here goes another attempt. I wont go into details but just paste the e-mail I got from Avaaz which is a progressive organization well worth joining IMHO. If you do not want to subsidize a right-wing corporate elitist outfit, now is the time to say so.

For those of you who will point at the CBC and Knowledge Network as examples of our subsidies at work. Thank goodness for them- is all I can say... or we would be fed a constant diet of US sit-coms and reality shows...no proper news, no analysis of Canadian events, no Nature of Things, no programs which the advertisers will take offence to.

Our great media which was so biased and right wing they called one of the greatest Canadian ever, taliban Jack, funny how they pulled the article off line now.

Anyway here it is:

Dear friends, 

On Monday, a CRTC hearing will consider whether Canadians want to subsidize Sun News or "Fox News North"- a media outlet set up with the help of a top Harper crony. Both Sun News and Avaaz will appear before the hearing. We won this battle last time, but now Sun News has worked nonstop building a petition of 53,000 people over the course of months. Let's blow that out of the water in just days, with double that number saying no to paying for crony-media that corrupts our news and poisons our democracy:

In days, the CRTC could decide whether Canadians should be forced to pay for Sun News or 'Fox News North'. Both Avaaz and Sun News have been asked to appear at the hearing, and Sun News has built a petition of 53,000 over months. We have just a few days to blow it out of the water.

After Harper and his top spin doctor Kory Teneycke met secretly with Rupert Murdoch, Teneycke was involved in modelling Sun News after Murdoch's Fox News, the political propaganda network that has poisoned U.S. politics. It's Canadian crony-media -- run by a political crony, pushing a political agenda, and now seeking to be funded by a government handout, asking the CRTC to force it onto our basic cable packages.

Sun News have been pushing their petition non-stop for months. If we can double it in a few days, it will send a powerful signal to the CRTC about where Canadians stand -- click below to sign and share this email with everyone who cares about Canadian democracy:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_fox_news_north_2013_crtc_2/?bCRrJab&v=24555

The CRTC is the government agency that implements and enforces Canada's broadcasting laws. Among other things, it has the power to require all Canadian cable providers to carry certain channels. But it rarely does this because it would prefer to let consumers choose what channels they want. Canadians aren't choosing to pay for Sun News, and it's losing millions of dollars. So Sun is asking the CRTC to order all cable providers to carry Sun News and pass the cost on to us -- even if we don't want it!

In 2010, tens of thousands of us banded together and helped stop "Fox News North" from getting a similar deal -- even contributing to Harper's aide, Kory Teneycke, resigning as head of the network! But then, the network sneakily hired him back and now they are launching a similar application, hoping we won't speak up while they try and recoup their $17 million in losses from our pockets!

Fox News fuels hate. While constantly claiming to be “fair and balanced,” it has allowed hysterical anchors like Glenn Beck to compare President Obama to "Hitler." Bill O’Reilly, another anchor, has threatened to boycott Canada, and Anne Coulter has said on its network that Canada is lucky the US allows it to "exist on the same continent.” The network has cunningly fuelled the tea party movement in the US, a mobilisation of the fringe right with members who threaten violence upon its opponents and wear guns to political rallies.

This is a fight for the soul of Canadian democracy. Our media is not perfect, but a ‘news’ network that slavishly serves a political agenda through mass manipulation and fear threatens the fabric of our democratic society.  And while such a network has the right to offer its views, it doesn't have a right to demand we subsidize it.

Canadians don't like watching "Fox News North", which is why they are losing millions and need a sweet government deal to survive. But we can stop the CRTC from taking money from our pockets to pay for right-wing news. Click below to stand with Avaaz's representative at the live hearing and help us build a big enough call to hammer home our best legal arguments:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_fox_news_north_2013_crtc_2/?bCRrJab&v=24555

"Fox News North" threatens to make the country we love look more like the U.S. Thankfully, the CRTC and their public process stands in the way -- let's use this chance to be heard and stop Sun News's grab for our dollars for good.

With hope,

Jeremy, Ari, Emma, Ricken, Mélanie, Laryn and the entire Avaaz team

SOURCES

Sun News Must-Carry Application: CRTC Sounds Skeptical About News Network's Bid (Huffington Post)
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/04/23/sun-news-crtc-hearings_n_3141932.html

Sun News On Basic Cable? CRTC Opens Hearings As Channel's Losses Widen (Huffington Post)
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/04/23/sun-news-basic-cable-crtc_n_3133898.html

Hating the Jew, hating the ‘gypsy’ (National Post)
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/09/25/bernie-m-farber-et-al-hating-the-jew-hating-the-gypsy/

Sun News Network viewership lags on first anniversary, controversies continue (Canadian Press)
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/04/18/sun-news-network-turns-first-anniversary_n_1433521.html

Sun Media breaches Code of Ethics (Canadian Broadcast Standards Council - CBSC)
http://www.cbsc.ca/english/decisions/2012/120613.php

Investigation into alleged racist comments against blacks (CBSC)
http://www.cbsc.ca/english/decisions/2012/120620.php

Warning: This column contains scary Sun News scenes unsuitable for some readers (Globe and Mail)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/television/warning-this-column-contains-scary-sun-news-scenes-unsuitable-for-some-readers/article5215962/

Engagement Party

This past weekend, I had the honor of helping put together an engagement party for a very sweet friend's nephew. It wasn't supposed to be at her house originally, so when I got the call, we had to put all crafty gears into over drive.

I had her email me a few pictures of things she wanted to see at the party and ran with it.

I'll provide some of the details, but I'm going to let the pictures do most of the talking.

This little sign was at the base of the stairs as you walked up to the front porch. It's made of balsa wood. The sign was stained and hand painted with their names and the date of their wedding.

 In the front entrance, there was an heirloom Bible for guests to sign or highlight their favorite verse along with photos of the bride and groom when they were children.

The gift table

Aren't the flower arrangements beautiful? I love hydrangeas and blue mason jars...you can never go wrong with either of those:o)

There was additional seating outside.

 Here are the center pieces for the tables. Battery operated votives and tea lights were life savers for this outdoor affair.

This was the drink station. I thought it was pretty lucky that we share the same last initial...The mother of the groom made the little flags for the paper straws. I wish I had taken a closer shot of them. They were adorable. 

I had a lot of helpers in putting this together, and it wouldn't have happened without all of their help. 

I was so grateful to be apart of making this sweet little couple feel extra special and I wish them great joy and happiness in the years ahead! 

Wash, Rinse, Repeat-Free Bathroom Printables

Here are the bathroom printables I promised. I have wanted to use the old phrase from the back of a shampoo bottle "wash, rinse, repeat" for quite some time now, but I was waiting for the right fonts to come along. I have fallen in love with all of the chalkboard fonts available. I think they are so fun, and they look really cool. 

I found exactly what I was looking for at A Nest of Posies, and played around with the fonts until I got the prints just right. I am so excited with the results, and happy to share. They are set to print as a 5x7. 

To download each print, just click on the names below.

Wash

Rinse

Repeat

Enjoy:o)

To see the full bathroom reveal, click here

Partying Here:
Six Sister's Stuff

What's up in the Okanagan?

Not a lot...except for MOI.

High MOIs based on the latest March numbers.

Central Okanagan has a sales inventory ratio of 10.02%. ie 10.02% of the houses listed got sold...or a MOI of 10

Shushwap/Revelstoke has a sales/inventory ratio of 4%. MOI is 25

North Okanagan 7%. MOI is  14.

Now for the Ok sales grind to a halt in late fall and winter. We are however coming into peak buying season, so if the MOIs do not drop down soon, I would expect even more pressure on their market.

The sales are well down from last March as you can read from the rather sombre President's comments. The only thing that saved them from critically high MOIs was the fact that inventory declined 5% from last March.

Cottage Style Kids' Bathroom

Last Saturday, while the hubs was hard at work in the backyard, I was wasting the day away indoors. It dawned on me that I have started SEVERAL projects over the last few months, and haven't finished ANY of them. 

I decided that since hubs was working so hard, I probably should get with it, and do something myself:o) So, I finally finished the kids' bathroom.

Our kids' wipe their little paws all over the walls, and leave the paw prints behind. We needed a solution where we wouldn't be using a Magic Eraser on our walls every other day.

I had noticed a lot of magazines using horizontal boards as a wall treatment, and I knew that would be the perfect solution to our dilemma. 

I happened to be in Lowes one day, and these boards were marked down significantly...and in my van they went!

 I have gotten the hubs do so many wood working projects over the last 10 years, that he has gotten really proficient at it;o) Mad skills I tell ya.

He's not a fan of miter cuts, but he did a fantastic job in this bathroom!

There is a lot of storage space in this Jack and Jill bath. This closet was only holding towels, so I decided to make it into a little nook for taking shoes off. 

 It was full of wire shelving, so we had to rip those out and patch a lot of holes. I really like how cute it turned out. The fabric for the seat cushion and curtain came from Hobby Lobby. The basket was a Marshall's purchase.

I found this cute little hook at Hobby Lobby. They were 50% off this week, so it was around $4. This is where the kids hang their towel while taking a shower. Notice that awesome mitered corner?...mad skills..I'm telling ya, mad skills;o)

 I spray painted this coat rack a metallic silver, and now it serves as a towel rack.

The art work is something I came up with. I'll share how I did it in my next post, so stay tuned!

I'm so glad to be able to check this bathroom off the list. Now to finish S.R.'s quilt, and the playroom!!

Whole Wheat Cheeseburger Pie with Bacon

Since we are on this health kick, I have been using whole wheat flour instead of white flour. It wasn't easy at first, but there are actually some really tasty recipes out there using whole wheat. S.R. calls it the "brown flour," and turns her nose up at it every time I use it. The funny thing is, she gobbles it right up:o)

I was looking for something different to do with hamburger meat over the weekend, and remembered a recipe off of the Bisquick box, Cheeseburger Pie. I wondered to myself if it would be as good using whole wheat. 

I felt it was worth a try, and put my math skills to the test...trying to figure out the correct ratios and ingredients, and came up with a recipe that was a crowd pleaser :o)

Cheeseburger Pie with Bacon
Adapted from the Bisquick Recipe

1 lb of ground beef

1 small onion, chopped finely

2 T butter

1/2 ts salt

1/8 ts ground black pepper

1 c shredded cheddar cheese

2 eggs

1 c milk

1/2 c whole wheat flour

3/4 ts baking powder

1/4 ts salt

2 T cold butter

3 slices of cooked bacon crumbled

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare pie plate. I use butter to create a non-stick surface. Not a real fan of non-stick spray. In a skillet on medium high heat, melt 2 T of butter. Cook onion until it is translucent. Add ground beef, salt, and pepper. Cook until browned. While meat is cooking, use a pastry blender to blend cold butter into the flour, baking powder, and salt. The mixture should look like small peas when you are finished. Whisk in eggs, milk, and cheese. Once the meat is cooked all the way through, drain off any grease. Place meat mixture in pie plate first. Then pour the cheese batter over the meat mixture. Lastly sprinkle the cooked bacon on top. Place pie plate on a shallow baking sheet to catch any drippings. Bake for 25 minutes, or until cooked all the way through.

This was a delicious meal, and very filling. I'm so glad that I was able to use the whole wheat flour in this recipe! Another step in the right direction:o) 

Royal Bank

Royal bank is in a PR catastrophe. It wants to outsource the IT Dept to an off-shore company and wants those who will be fired to train those who will take over!

Of course record profits never stops a company from looking for new ways to cut costs, but this one may have been a step too far. I suspect the Royal sees the end of the RE/HELOC/CHMC feeding frenzy, and is looking for some quick savings to try and shore up earnings. The executive suite have a lot of  their compensation tied to the earnings and stock price. 

The CEO owns $33 Million of shares in the company and the rest of the executive suite isn't hurting:

Summary total compensation table

G.M. Nixon

President and Chief Executive Officer 

2009- $12 Million 2010 $11.8 Million 2011 $$11.1 Million and 2012 $12.6 Million

J.R. Fukakusa

Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Financial Officer 

2009 $4.4Million 2010 $3.4Million 2011 $4.5Million

D.I. McKay

Group Head, Canadian Banking 

2009 $3.6 Million 2010 $4.3 Million 2011 $4.8 Million

A.D. McGregor

Co-Group Head, RBC Capital Markets 

2009 $12.9 Million 2010 $10 Million 2011 $8.2 Million

M.A. Standish

Co-Group Head, RBC Capital Markets 
2009 $14 Million 2010 $10.3 Million 2011 $8.3 Million

This does not include severance or pension benefits which will run into many Millions for each of the above.

A few things that I find interesting:

The CEO is not even the most highest paid executive. It is always the head of trading that garners the biggest pay-cheques. In fact there may be RBC traders that make even more that these folks and are not on the reporting list.

In 2009, the executives got the highest pay 12 + 4.4 + 3.6 + 12.9 + 14 = $46.9 Million for the five of them. You remember 2009, the year of the fiscal crisis. 

That was the year that the Government came to the rescue of the big banks, big time. Interest rates where slashed, and CMHC was doubled (I believe late 2008) allowing banks to pass off risk to the tax-payer, and portfolios of consumer debt were purchased to free up bank funds.

SO...while $47 Million is not a huge sum in the self-entitled corporate world, were a single US CEO will pay himself that much in a bad year, the Canadian banks are different. 

Public policy is changed so that they CAN make huge profits, even if that means the risk is moved off their balance sheets to that of the Government (ie us!), so they have some degree of social responsibility. That means not pushing debt to the degree that Canadians are in trouble. It also means not going for the cheapest option at every turn, if it effects the incomes of ordinary employees. I would say they have failed in both capacities.

If things are THAT bad at the bank, how about the capping everyone's salary and benefits at say $3 Million. I mean that is a good chunk of money, unless you are trying to build a dynasty. Then the recipients of pink slips might feel less violated. 

BTW the way all the Executive suites justify their income, is to say.."we have 76,000 employees and so we run highly complex organizations"

For comparison:

The PM of Canada earns about $317 K

The President of the US $450K

The Head of the Salvation Army $130K

Fraser Valley

Summary 

20% less sales than last March

11% less listings than last March

3% less inventory than last March

MOI  is  8.4

Benchmark, the number that keeps on giving...  up a fraction of a % for SFH and Apartments and DOWN 1.7% for attached.

I suspect the criticism of the cannot-go-down-benchmark must have reached the Top brass. 

The President says in his statement..“Inventory levels are not as high as they need to be to put significant downward pressure on prices of the benchmark, or ‘typical’ home. These are homes that have characteristics most common to houses in a given community."

Hmm..with an MOI of 8.4 and sales 70% of the typical March I would suspect there is some downward price pressure. Any Fraser Valley readers out there wanting to comment on what they have seen?

The details are here.

Who has the money to buy?

Lots do!

The median Van West home is a cool $2 Million now. There is a misconception that only wealthy Chinese or those with 'hot' off-shore money can afford these prices.

There are lots of people locally who have an income big enough, say $700K, to be able to afford buying even at these lofty levels.

Some are business owners, but many are professionals who may even be paid by the tax-payer. Eg while the average doctor makes a lot less than this, I hear from my medical buddies (and in fact you can check on-line) that some Cardiologists , Opthalmologists and skin docs are well into this bracket. 

There are many high prices lawyers in this range too, and I am sure the lawyers who got to take the tax-payers largesse in this case and never get audited are in the exclusive club.

In fact the top producing Realtors probably have membership too and there are quite a few stock-brokers who run large 'books', pushing them easily to this level.

My point is there is enough local money power to keep buyers coming in alongside our off-shore arrivals. Not enough however to eat into the 7-8 MOI.

And don't even get me started on some of the over-paid padding that goes on in parts the corporate world. 

This has little to do with RE but humor me please, I lost a good chunk of money on it...

Yellow Media....

The CEO Marc Tellier is leaving after 12 years. He will get a $4.3 Million package, and $450,000/ year retirement pay on top of that when he turns 65 (he is 45 now). Last year his salary and bonus added up to over $1.4 Million. So he is a wealthy man.

Ok you say that's not a big deal. 

A CEO is God's anointed on this earth, they walk on water or at least they think they do, and the Rogers and TD CEOs who are retiring will likely get 4-5X MORE than this guy. 

Also compared with some US or European CEOs who rape their companies, this is loose change!

However I was a share-holder in Yellow media, and I know what happened. Since 2002, Yellow Media has seen it's share-price decimated from several dollars to a few cents. Even the BNN staff reporting it yesterday could hardly contain their shock and amazement at the package.

The Chairman put out a semi-apologetic news release saying they had to pay it per the contract that was signed at the time. There was apparently no clause that stated..'if share-holders are completely whipped, abused and trodden into the dirt, then no severance will be payable to you Mr CEO."

I have a better idea...why don't the Board of Directors who agreed to the contract and the lawyers who advised the company dig into their deeep pockets and pay it themselves.

As for Mr Tellier, this sums it up best. 

Healthy Lunch Round Up

We have made a conscious effort to be healthier this year. We have jumped on the "whole foods" bandwagon and have been buying more organic and sticking to what we call "God foods." Foods that come from the earth and not from a manufacturing plant loaded with nasty, bad-for-you chemicals. We haven't completely knocked out all the junk, but I would say we are 85% there.

I'm so glad that we decided to do this before the kids were older. They are completely on board with the change in our diet. 

It makes my heart swell with pride when they ask for an apple or grapes for an afternoon snack instead of fruit snacks or some other form of junk food.

Their school lunches have had a makeover as well, and I have been sharing them on Facebook.

Since everyone isn't on Facebook...shocking, I know;o)... I thought I would share what the kids have been taking in their lunch boxes.

Shredded Chicken, Organic Crackers, Celery with Peanut Butter, Strawberries, Grapes, and Homemade Cupcake(recipe to follow soon)

 Whole Wheat Pita with bananas and peanut butter, sliced apples, popcorn chips, and homemade Lara Bar(recipe to follow)

 Sliced turkey, organic crackers, homemade whole wheat bread sticks, almonds,  and tangerine

 Ham and Gouda sandwich, carrot sticks, tangerine, and organic trail mix

 Diced baked chicken, cubed mozzarella, homemade pumpkin and chocolate chip muffin, carrot sticks and strawberries

 Sliced turkey, almonds, carrots, organic crackers, homemade applesauce, and tangerine

 Homemade chicken nuggets(recipe to follow soon) sliced carrots, sliced cheese, and strawberries

 Whole Wheat Waffle with homemade peanut butter, zucchini muffins, crackers...etc.

Do you feel inspired to start making healthier lunches for your family?

Have you jumped on the whole foods bandwagon? What are your kids' favorites? As you can tell, we go through a lot carrots:o)

We also supplement our diets with a drink called Smart Mix. It's a nutritional drink that we have been taking since last November, and we are healthier than we have ever been. I am such a believer in this product, I decided to become a distributor for the company who produces it, Zija.

My kids ask for it every morning, and that is a huge relief, since I could never remember to give them their vitamins.

I have added a link on my side bar which takes you directly to my website to find out more about this amazing product line. It looks like this:

I am also going to be making a few changes here on the ole blog, and I will be discussing more health and nutrition along with the crafty stuff. This is a major part of who I am, and I would like to share that side as well. So I hope you'll stick around!!

Whistler Downhill Slalom

We know Whistler has been in bad shape for a long time. Americans left a long time ago, Chinese are not interested yet, and baby-boomer demographics are working against the lofty prices.

It is a great winter resort but there is no reason to pay $1000/foot to get a few two-by-fours there.

Well things have gone a lot further downhill than I had thought. MINUS 11% , 12% and 43% are the 5 year benchmark returns according to the REBGV stats for detached, attached and apartments.

The media has also woken up to the carnage:

Whistler real estate prices plummet up to 68 per cent from CTV (hat tip Sothseacompany on Vancouver condo)

Interesting that they go to Tsur Sommerville for analysis and commentary and explanation. Why the media go to the same few names baffles me. Did Tsur say Whistler is going to take a big fall? Maybe he did and I missed it and I stand to be corrected.

But if he didn't, THEN WHY GO TO HIM FOR ANALYSIS NOW??

If a guy didn't call the big fall, then how valid is his opinion? Much more valid to contact a David Madani or Garth Turner who have been calling for this, than the guys who have taken the other side IMVHO.

This is how it ends:

Whistler realtors told CTV News they’re seeing momentum in some areas, and Sommerville said there could be a resurgence in prices as the U.S. economy picks up steam.

“If we’re having this conversation in a year or two from now it would be a different dynamic,” he said. “We would be talking about Whistler’s recovery rather than Whistler being in the doldrums.”

OK Tsur, we will revisit this annually and see if your prediction is right and I for one am willing to eat humble pie if I am wrong.

Easter Outfits-Boy's Vest and Bow Tie

I shared with you guys the other day S.R.'s Easter dress, and today I wanted to give you a closer look at E's vest and bow tie.

This has to be the easiest thing to sew for little boys, and it looks so cute! 

I purchased the vest pattern last year when the kids' were in my uncle's wedding.

I lost the instructions somewhere in my craft closet, but thankfully found the right pattern pieces to make the vest..and to answer your question, yes, my craft closet is a disaster, and no, I never put anything away where it belongs. I work in total chaos;o)

 The fabric was purchased from Hobby Lobby. I bought 1 yard, and after using my coupon, it came in at just under $5. Not bad, eh?

The bow tie has velcro on the ends to keep it closed around the neck. 

I really need to do a tutorial on how to make a bow tie. You wouldn't believe how easy it is to make these things!!

 Little man loved this outfit, and it always makes me proud when they get excited about what I make for them:o)

Have a great day, and make sure to smile big;o)