Nanaimo Anchoring Fees !

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Brent Swain

... Nanaimo is policed by RCMP, the mounties, Canada's national embarrassment and teflon Mafia, paid for largely by the federal government to whom we pay or GST and fuel taxes ...

Nanaimo is policed, under contract, by the RCMP; for which the residents of Nanaimo pay.
Municipalities in BC, like Nanaimo, tax their residents a Police Tax, similar to how School-Tax is taxed, and then remitted by the Municipalities to the Province. BC then takes that, and pays the RCMP.

It’s becoming very clear that you (don’t believe that) you derive any benefit from the city of Nanaimo.
Why do you stay?

[Brent Swain]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Nanaimo is policed, under contract, by the RCMP; for which the residents of Nanaimo pay.
Municipalities in BC, like Nanaimo, tax their residents a Police Tax, similar to how School-Tax is taxed, and then remitted by the Municipalities to the Province. BC then takes that, and pays the RCMP.

It’s becoming very clear that you (don’t believe that) you derive any benefit from the city of Nanaimo.
Why do you stay?

I don't . I only drop by there to visit friends, and get some printing done.
. Friends there don't have options. We have an obligation to defend each others freedoms, if we value our own. What I am most concerned about is the precedent it sets for charging fees for the use of ones own anchor elsewhere in BC in ever increasing numbers of harbours. Many cruisers are like frogs in a pan of water who won't notice the heat being turned up until they are boiled. I can see the heat coming .It is the thin edge of the wedge which, if unchallenged, will eventually lead to eliminating living aboard as a lifestyle option on most of the coast. All who love the cruising lifestyle have an obligation to push back by boycotting Nanaimo waterfront businesses, as far as practical.
Many have tried to talk to them, over several years . It was a total waste of time . Bullies have no conscience, and only seek ways to use whatever you say to empower themselves. The only thing they are capable of understanding is power. Consumer power of cruisers is the only communication they will comprehend.
Neville Chamberlain's answer to dealing with Hitler was "Don't oppose him . Just don't go to Germany." How well would that have worked, with 20-20 hindsight?

[Stillraining]

I will repeat...RUN FOR CITY COUNSOUL...change only occurs from the inside.

I have always measured a man buy what he is willing to do about something not how loudly he complains about it

[delmarrey]

Some want to be leaders to meet their ego needs - to validate their own sense of significance or importance. Some may want to be leaders to obtain the recognition of others. Some want leadership because they like to control and influence others - they like power. Others like the money. These reasons are all inadequate.

There are other reasons also - which are of secondary importance. It has been stated and taught that an organization never rises above the level of the leadership. So if we care about the quality of people in our organizations, we have to be interested in leadership. The fact is that a team of people united in purpose under effective leadership can do far more than any of them could as an individual, and even more than the sum total of the parts. Good leadership results in effectiveness, and that should concern us if we have a heart for mankind.

We should aspire to leadership, the question is how to be the best leaders we can be. We also need to know what leadership is, where leadership is established and when leadership should be exercised.

And some are just apathetic! We need two kinds of acquaintances, one to complain to, while we boast to the others.

"The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself."
- Oscar Wilde |

[Pelagic]

Gee and I always thought a leader was that tough and resilient bond between the hook and the rest of the fishing line…… wait…maybe we are talking about the same thing?...

[Brent Swain]

Gord
Would you by any chance be a cop, or other agent of big brother? You sure sound like one.
Gord
If you discover Gangrene in your little toenail, ignore it. It's only a little toenail and you have 9 spares. If it spreads, ignore it, what's a couple of toenails?
The freedoms of the cruising lifestyle is under threat by "Bureaucratic Gangrene.
I remember a CBC radio program on their "Ideas " program in sept 2006 about " The Canadian Clearances" which compared the policy, according to one former cabinet minister , supported by all political parties in Canada , of forcing rural Canadians off the land and into the cities, to leave the land free for unchallenged resource extraction. It may still be available in CBC radio archives. What we are seeing is the coastal marine version of that policy.
There is zero chance of a city councilor getting elected in a real estate industry run city like Nanaimo, given the opposition of cruisers to anyone defending the cruising lifestyle, as clearly shown on this site. Even if he were elected there is zero chance of one councilor having any influence over the interests of the real estate industry in forcing every last Canadian to pay welfare to them.
In the south of England, you barely get your anchor down before some parasite is alongside demanding payment. Wouldn't that make BC a better place to cruise?
Why should live aboards feel guilty about not paying goon squads who threaten to abuse them, and limit their freedom of choice in lifestyles? Reminds me of third world countries, where they execute a man, then bill his family for the bullet.
Thank god we have a progressive tax system. As anyone's environmental footprint is clearly measured by how much money they spend, can there be anything more hippocritical than landlubbers laying a guilt trip on boaters who have a tiny fraction the environmental footprint that their own lifestyle has, over environmental issues?
Is anyone dense enough to actually believe that the sewage from 100,000 people, treated by secondary treatment described here is less than that from a half dozen boats in winter, when most of them use composters, dumped ashore, anyway?
Change comes from economic pressure of a boycott to show them the amount of money cruisers spend.
A rivalry between Vancouver and Nanaimo for the $millions cruisers spend would definitely be in the best interests of cruisers. The starting point would be a major shift from Nanaimo to Vancouver by northbound cruisers this coming summer.

[Brent Swain]

If someone in Nanaimo wants to take a mold off the composter head I made, build them out of fibreglass and make them available to boaters, I would be happy to sell them one, and give them any other info they need. They can be built for under $100, which earns one $30 per hour building them. They fit the standard 5 gallon plastic bucket which are available everywhere, for free. This brings the composter much closer to within reach ,than a $1300 airhead.
Nanaimo Harbour Nazis don't like them ? Tough ****. They have absolutely no jurisdiction over anything which doesn't k leave your boat. Solids can be bagged and dumped in a dumpster, buried deep in the bush ,where the trees love it,or put in a ice cream bucket and mailed to the harbour Nazis. I'm not suggesting anyone do the latter, but it wouldn't surprise me if someone, or possibly many, did. It would surprise me more if nobody did.
One, who lived aboard many years in Nanaimo, suggested that, when they come alongside to ask about your holding tank, just say " While we are on the subject I thought you might like to deal with this." Then dump it in their boat. They did ask for it.

[jdoe71]

I think Brent makes some good points. Governments in this country, at all levels, are continuously intruding more and more into the lives of people. More and more laws, less and less freedom. I venture to say that 95% of the population on this continent would be unable to survive without government intervention and assistance. Those of us who have taken pains to be able to look after ourselves without the constant intrusion of government dislike the Big Brother style of government intensely. This issue is just another example and Brent is right, it quite likely is the thin edge of the wedge.

Did they not just fight this battle in Florida and cruisers won? Isn't the issue much the same?

[Stillraining]

Once again you have good points Brent..Change comes slow..this hatched plan of theirs is not an off the cuff idea..it has matured over many years.

Yes getting elected would probably be difficult yourself any time soon...so the better plan might be to organize and get behind a councilmen who is sympathetic to this topic or someone thinking of running who will challenge this thought process...or rally other powerful figures within the provence to come to your side of the argument table.

It may take several years to form a loud enough voice "on land" to restear this shipwreck..but that's the way its done...

If you win this battle outright it will rear its head again someday regardless..that is no reason for apathy on our part I will agree...so there has to be a compromise between both entities for any long term solution..you are going to have to come up with a proposal that is workable for both sides.

Is it really about just money as you seem to think?..I say that is only half of it...there has been complaints of eyesores and unbecoming behavior as well I will bet toward boats anchored out...rather those complaints are legit or not matters not...All that is needed to have say your dog ownership rights in a town challenged is your neighbor calling and compiling to authorities about said dog...That is the Risk of living within society which your bay most definitely is.

It sucks that we have gotten to the point were we almost need to own our own individual Law practices to wade through life anymore...but the idle busybodies have and will always see to it we have some battle over freedom to fight...it seems to be their civic duty to strip all others of what our founding fathers risked all and tried to escape in the first place.

The only sound advice I can give you is to stop the slanderous references toward the ones who you will be trying to reef in their sails though..few if any will hear the other words you speak...and no argument has ever been won with the technique..

[GordMay]

Nope, I’m not a cop, nor any “establishment” type; but, neither am I a hysterical conspiracy theorist.

I suggest that you do a little study on the philosophy and effective tactics of radical change.

“Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals” ~ by Saul D. Alinsky

Rules for Radicals

Rules for Radicals

The Radical Academy has some great on-line resources:
The Politics Resource Center: Classic Texts Online

[Brent Swain]

I still believe that 60% of the usual summer crowd bypassing Nanaimo for alternatives would bring the pressure of commercial interests , who have a lot of clout, to bear on the Bureaucrats, and empire builders.
Yes there were people who abused anchoring in Nanaimo. One left his boats on a park beach for months. They are long gone. So make a law saying you are not allowed to park on the beach for more than a short time. No problem. Some uninhabited junk was abandoned there. So make a law that applies to abandoned junk and leaves the responsible boaters and liveaboards alone. This was suggested to them during their request for input. All such input was ignored. They just went thru the motions to cover their asses legally, then did what they had planned, before any input. What they had planned was to use the abuses of a couple of irresponsible people as an excuse to attack all anchored boaters, at the request of of the real estate industry.
Another unrelated example of bureaucratic gangrene was, in a ten year period the number of bureaucrats and administrators in BC schools went up by 600% while the number of teachers didn't go up by one . Harbour bureaucrats operate the same way . Many people who work in government tell me that all government departments work the same way, as do many corporations. When they ask cruisers to foot the bill, then it's time for cruisers to push back . Every dollar spent in Nanaimo is a vote for such restrictions on out freedom , for their economic benefit. Don't vote for them. It's that simple.Many friends who used to stop in Nanaimo, are now passing it by.

[delmarrey]

I hear all this talk of public services. That's funny! I've been to Nanaimo 4 times now and have not been able to find a dinghy dock. The marinas are all secured with gates.

I usually anchor over by the ferry entrance (Departure Bay). I anchored opposite the down town once but didn't really like the shallow depth or how close all the boats were to each other.

So, where can one tie up a dinghy to go ashore if one wanted?
And where is the fuel dock? I heard there was only one but never seen it.

[michaelmrc]

i have never found a dedicated dinghy dock myself but the fuel dock is directly across from the dinghy dock pub i believe its an esso station. located adjacent to the government dock.

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by michaelmrc

i have never found a dedicated dinghy dock myself but the fuel dock is directly across from the dinghy dock pub i believe its an esso station. located adjacent to the government dock.

That is the location of the fuel dock; it is a Petro Can. It is on the Nanaimo Port Authority Docks which are not secure. Lots of folks from Protection bring their boats over. The Cameron Island docks are secure.

[Stillraining]

Originally Posted by Brent Swain

What they had planned was to use the abuses of a couple of irresponsible people as an excuse to attack all anchored boaters, at the request of of the real estate industry.

Yep that's how it works...the few bad apples analogy...look at the Gun initiatives..they are all about the guns as the problem not the criminals that use them...mine haven't hurt anybody.