Pubdate: Sun, 29 Apr 2012
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html
Website: http://www.theprovince.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Page: A9
Author: Jon Ferry

MARC EMERY'S SUGGESTIONS FROM PRISON TO BETTER B.C.

YAZOO CITY, Miss. - Marc Emery has 10 suggestions for improving life 
in British Columbia:

1. Eliminate the provincial income tax, lowering it to zero in thirds 
over three years.

2. Abolish the RCMP in the province. Establish a modest-sized 
provincial police force answerable to the provincial 
solicitor-general and attorney-general. B.C. will need far fewer cops 
and jails once you eliminate the illegal drug markets.

3. Base MLA selection based on a combination of preferential voting 
(first, second and third choices, etc., on each ballot) or a 
first-past-the-post system combined with proportional representation.

4. Make the referendum process in B.C. much more accessible by 
lowering the threshold of signatures required to four per cent of 
registered voters obtained over a 180-day period, with paid 
signature-gathering permitted.

5. Eliminate all provincial tax subsidies to business, including the 
entertainment industry.

6. Raise the royalties on resource extraction (lumber, oil and gas 
and mining) while reducing regulations.

7. Allow offshore oil and gas exploration.

8. Require all B.C. educational facilities to encourage students to 
become proficient in Chinese languages.

9. Get the B.C. government out of education, ending the "monolithic 
union influence," and set up a voucher system so parents can send 
children to a school of their choice in a vibrant marketplace with 
multiple options for both parents and teachers.

10. Reduce the number of people sent to prison by ending drug 
prohibition and so-called computer crimes and by making greater use 
of house arrest. Put violent people in cottages in remote locations 
with electronic monitoring, a garden where they can grow food and a 
limited library.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart