Breaking News !
Councilor Larry McNabb has taken steps to make the Bank of Canada redundant.In his report to Mayor & Council for their special meeting of May 17,2010 he is able to tell the bank that the current rate of inflation is 2.2% , and furthur that inflation “is expected to increase to 2.5% in the near future.” Despite reports by Statistics Canada that inflation in March was 1.4%, and the country’s leading economists anticipate a rise to 1.7% in April, the Councilor is able to refute these figures.What is also an amazing accomplishment is his expectation that inflation will soon increase to 2.5%, when no one else in the country will have this information until it is published on May 21. Do we have a potential Nobel prize winner in economics on our doorstep?
Wayne Schulstad
Posts and Comments on Nanaimo Governance 
We may not have a potential Nobel prize winner in economics, but we have a counciller who has provided the employees’ union negotiator with an interesting aside, if necessary, in any coming negotiations: “A member of council has acknowledged that inflation will rise by over 2% in coming months, so how can you expect us to consider an offer of (whatever) percent, which would mean that our members would be, in effect, taking a salary *cut*?”
Interestingly,I thought of the point you are making.Of course McNabb doesn’t write any of the reports he signs,they are produced by staff.I would be surprised if he even reads them and more surprised if he understood them.But he does sign them,and therefore has to accept responsibility for their content.There was another occasion late last year when he signed a report that unequivocally recommended that the Centennial Museum building be demolished,yet stated in a Council meeting that it did not.It’s time for some changes Wendy.
As you say,this matter of staff and/or Council going around predicting inflation rates will be tucked away in the notebooks of the professional C.U.P.E.labour negotiators.Good for staff,bad for the taxpayer.
When forecasting budgets, governments often ho higher than expected in projecting inflation rates to stay within the expected trends.
If anyone can make it an exact science we would not need to forecast budgets, we could give the actual costs that are planned for the future, but if Larry does have a crystal ball, someone should tell him it has a crack in it ;)
(governments often *go* higher than expected)
Too bad Councilor McNabb,you will not be getting the Nobel prize in economics this year after all.The annual inflation figures were announced today and they are lower than what you forecast,a lot lower in fact.For the Province of B.C. the inflation for April (annualized) was 1% and for March 0.5%.So much for your figure of 2.2% ,but hey whats a percent here or there.You have already announced an average 3% annual increase for recreation user fees and rentals for the period Sept.1,2010 to Aug.31,2013 and you certainly don’t want the facts to get in your way when it comes to annual increases,whether it be for fees or for employee wages and benefits.Oh and another detail we know from the City’s finance department,in a response they provided to a question asked on their ‘Budget Forum’, is that published inflation figures don’t apply to the City of Nanaimo.And that’s a good thing because it gives the City Manager all the justification he needs to provide salary increases to his staff that are routinely much greater than the actual inflation rate.Perhaps Mr.Kenning should get the prize for a new Nobel category : How To Best Transfer Wealth From The Taxpayer To City Of Nanaimo Employees.Congradulations Al,you win.