Taking the CFIB pledge

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business is having a news conference at 10:15 a.m. this morning in downtown Vancouver to unveil their first wave of civic politicians taking the CFIB's fiscal-responsibility pledge.
The event will feature sitting politicians, and is timed to coincide with the UBCM convention taking place in Vancouver this week.
I'm been in constant contact with the CFIB on this important issue, and will be attending the event, although I won't be part of the official first batch of pledge-takers. My turn comes later.
As designed by the CFIB, the Pledge enshrines three principles for the term ahead:
1) Property Tax Fairness – by committing to reduce the gap between what commercial property and residential property owners pay, you would be committing to help create conditions that enable small businesses in your community to thrive.
2) Reasonable Spending – by committing to keep operating spending increases reasonable, ie, at or below the level of population growth and inflation or the rate of growth in disposable income, you are giving yourself the fiscal room to reduce taxes and fees, not increase them.
3) Transparency, Openness and Accountability – by supporting in principle, the creation of a Municipal Auditor General for BC, you are building on and enhancing your already existing systems of financial reporting, and standing to benefit from the best practices identified through performance audits.
Great stuff, and exactly what the times are calling for. More evidence of the timeliness can certainly be found in Jon Ferry's column in this morning's Province.