Time for another edition of B.C.’s Monday Morning Quarterback—five things we’re thinking about this week. 

1. The Province’s Jon Ferry says road pricing is nothing more than “code for yet another tax grab.” Two huge concerns (besides the obvious foolishness of hitting cash-strapped families even harder) come to mind. First, in a province where people are chafing about smart meters, why do mayors think drivers will be open to allowing government to track where they drive? Second, are they really trying to solve the problem of tying taxes to vehicle gas purchases by now tying taxes to vehicle use? Won’t TransLink have the same revenue problem again?

2. Are B.C. teachers laying the foundation to negotiate to get paid during summer break? The BCTF’s magazine has an article this month whining that summer is a layoff, not a break:

We do not get 11 or 12 weeks of vacation per year. We get 3 weeks—3 weeks that we cannot alter. We also live through an 8-week annual period of lay-off (unemployment if you will). We need to take control of the language, we need to tell people that our summers are not a vacation; they are a 2-month period of lay-off without pay, 2 months we must save for all year, every year of our entire career.

Sounds to me like the BCTF wants members to be paid during the summer—that would immediately increase teachers’ pay by 20 per cent.

Don’t worry, though, BCTF president Susan Lambert has a great way to pay for that:

The plan should be financed by an increase in taxes, restoring some of the taxes that were chopped when the BC Liberals came to office.

But it’s all about the kids, right?

3. A provincial staffer is being probed after claiming $118,000 in expenses without proper receipts for 118 of his or her 157 claims. This is a huge concern, and one we’ll keep an eye on.

4. Harvey Oberfeld has a great piece lashing Vision Vancouver for wanting to remove parking along Stanley Park’s Pipeline Road—which will cut off huge portions of the park for elderly and mobility-challenged residents. Of course, it will probably pass, as Vision Vancouver has proven itself incapable of saying no to any cyclist any time.

5. Gerry Nicholls knows who to thank for MP pension reform. Just doin’ our job, sir.