Author: Susan Paterson

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Debate heats up in the Legislature over salaries after release of Comptroller General’s report.

The House resumed yesterday after a week long break and the top story was the salary of BC Ferries CEO David Hahn. The report generating the intense debate was requested by the Transportation Minister Shirely Bond but she will not be taking any immediate action.

“…the person who requested the review, B.C. Transportation Minister Shirley Bond, said she’s not ready yet to make any changes.

“BCFS executive compensation was significantly higher than that paid by several larger public sector entities,” said British Columbia’s comptroller general Cheryl Wenezenki-Yolland in the 97-page Report on Review of Transportation Governance Models.

“For example, the Chief Executive Officer’s (CEO) total 2008/09 compensation was more than double that of the larger public sector comparators,” it said. “We also found that the performance measures and targets used to determine the incentive bonuses for executives made the bonuses easier to attain than we would have expected.”

In July, B.C. Ferries revealed CEO David Hahn last year made over $1 million and four more executives each made around $500,000. ”

Read the full story from the Tyee.

Read the full  report:  Report on Review of Transportation Governance models

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News

Lisbon Treaty signed

Read the NY Times article here

From the NYT: ” The signing raises the prospect of an empowered Europe with an enhanced global stature. The treaty, which may go into effect as early as Dec. 1, creates a permanent presidential post and sets up a more powerful foreign policy chief supported by a network of diplomats around the world. It seeks to make an increasingly unwieldy bloc more workable by putting in place a new voting system, which reflects countries’ population size, while reducing the number of areas where one country alone can block a proposal. It also gives more power to the directly elected European Parliament.

The rulebook the treaty replaces was out of date, created before the bloc began to expand broadly across Europe; it has taken in 12 new nations since 2004.

Some leaders, including President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, insisted there could be no significant further enlargement of the European Union without the Lisbon Treaty in effect.”

You can read more about the Treaty of Lisbon on the Europa site.

The Treaty at a glance.

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News Online Resource (Free)

New report from Asia Foundation: Afghanistan in 2009.

The Asia Foundation has released its  fifth
survey of the Afghan people -
Afghanistan in 2009: a survey of the Afghan people.
From the Asia Foundation website: "Aiming to provide 
the Afghan citizenry,policy makers and influential actors in 
government, civil society, and
the international community with useful, actionable information, 
the 2009 Survey of the Afghan People is a comprehensive assessment
of national perception in key policy areas. These areas include: 
security, economy, governance, democratic values, and women and society. 
The 2009 fieldwork was conducted during June 17-July 6, 
prior to the August 20 elections, and builds upon previous surveys 
conducted in 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2008. 
Its value can be found in its rigorous methodology and
reliable consistency in measuring public perceptions on a range of
crucial issues each year."
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Uncategorized

New WHO report examines health risks

“Global life expectancy could be increased by nearly five years by

addressing five factors affecting health – childhood underweight, unsafe sex,

alcohol use, lack of safe water, sanitation and hygiene, and high blood

pressure, according to a report published by WHO today.”

Read the story from the Vancouver Sun here

WHO news release

Link to index page – GLOBAL HEALTH RISKS: Mortality and burden of disease attributable to selected major risks

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News Online Resource (Free)

2009 Eurostat Regional Yearbook now available

The Yearbook presents a statistical portrait of life in the regions of the European Union’s member states, candidate countries and the EFTA countries. A broad set of regional data is presented on the following themes: population, European cities, labour market, gross domestic product, household accounts, structural business statistics, information society, science, technology and innovation, education, tourism and agriculture. Available in 2 parts.

Part 1

Part 2

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Online Resource (Free) Print Resource

New report: Hidden Costs of Energy: Unpriced Consequences of Energy Production and Use

From National Academies Press website: “Hidden Costs of Energy defines and evaluates key external costs and benefits that are associated with the production, distribution, and use of energy, but not reflected in market prices. In aggregate, the damage estimates presented here are substantial, and reflect damages from air pollution associated with electricity generation, motor vehicle transportation, and heat generation. The book also considers other effects not quantified in dollar amounts, such as damages from climate change, effects of some air pollutants such as mercury, and risks to national security.

While not a comprehensive guide to policy, this analysis indicates that major initiatives to further reduce other emissions, improve energy efficiency, or shift to a cleaner electricity-generating mix could substantially reduce the damages of external effects. A first step in minimizing the adverse consequences of new energy technologies is to better understand these external effects and damages. Hidden Costs of Energy will therefore be a vital informational tool for government policy makers, scientists, and economists in even the earliest stages of research and development on energy technologies.”

For full report (available on the National Academies website)  scroll down towards the bottom of the page.

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News

Update on BC Treaty Commission – Common Table Report released

After 16 years of negotiations, the BC Treaty Commission asks Harper to step in – article from Globe and Mail.

The BC Treaty Commission’s annual report for 2009 is available online.

On October 13, 2009, the BC Treaty Commission released the  Common Table Report, which captures the 13 days of discussions in 2008 among the governments of Canada and British Columbia and more than 60 First Nations. Included are 21 opportunities the parties agreed to explore further to move treaty negotiations forward.

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Book of Odds

The Book of Odds is an online statistical encyclopedia which will launch October 14, 2009.  Although not specifically  about government publications the topics do include statistics about politics as well as health, accidents, and relationships.  Here are some examples:

  • The average American is more likely to live without ever visiting a dentist than to live without a TV in her home.
  • A married man is about as likely to cheat on his wife as he is to experience a flight delay.

From the New York Times:  “The Book of Odds is a searchable online database of “odds statements,” the probabilities of everyday life. You can search it by keyword or by the odds themselves— for instance, how many things stand a 1 in 142 chance of happening to to you. As a special treat for Freakonomics readers, you can try the beta version of the site by clicking here and entering the username “brownian” and password “motion.”… Some of the items you’ll find include:

Read the full NYT article here

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News Website

The U.S. Federal Register(2000-09) now available in XML.

From the US GOVDOC Listserv:
The White House, U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) and the National
Archives' Office of the Federal Register (OFR)
achieved a breakthrough in making Government information available
and usable by the public.
GPO converted the text of the Federal Register (2000-2009) into XML
and placed it online in numerous Federal Government portals, which include:
This project began when President Barack Obama challenged Federal agencies
to create a more open and transparent Government.
GPO's Federal Digital System (FDsys), a world-class information management
system for Federal publications, is instrumental
in enabling this enhanced capability for the Federal Register.

The change supplements the official publishing formats with XML,
a form of text that can be manipulated in virtually limitless
ways with digital applications.
For example, people who want to know about the workings of the
Executive branch of the Federal Government
no longer need to sift through the Federal Register in its
traditional Department-by-Department and Agency-by-Agency format.
This new format will allow applications to be developed that
will support user needs and can
rearrange the Federal Register's contents in personalized
ways to match their particular interests.
It will be possible, for example, to download the Federal
Register and easily see what proposed actions
might affect one's community or region, or what actions
might have an impact on one's profession or business interests.

Link to the Federal Register Bulk Data
Repository
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News

Report: Hospital beds could run out in 15 states if 35% of Americans get H1N1

Read the news story from Docuticker and the full report is from Trust for American’s Health.

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