But building industry body says the seasonally adjusted plunge could be a simply a ‘blip’

Brian Morton
Sun

The value of building permits issued by B.C. municipalities dropped by a seasonally adjusted 15.5 per cent in October from September, while the national average increased by two per cent, Statistics Canada reported Monday.

The value of permits issued in Vancouver took an even bigger drop — 18 per cent — while Abbotsford in the Fraser Valley recorded a whopping 32.8-per-cent decline.

That compares with increases of 12.1 per cent in Toronto and 5.8 per cent in Montreal. Ontario reported an average 6.6-per-cent gain ,while Quebec saw a 0.9-per-cent increase.

Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association chief executive officer Peter Simpson said that the B.C. drop appears to be a one-month blip and that there’s nothing yet to indicate a trend.

“There are no alarm bells just yet,” Simpson said in an interview. “We’re seeing a slowdown [of visitors] at the home sites, but it’s likely because of the season, not the market. But if it [the drop in permits] continues to the end of February, then we’ll have to reassess it.”

Simpson noted that from January to the end of October, housing starts were up 22 per cent in B.C. over the same 10 months in 2003.

He also said there there was a huge surge in housing permits this summer, as developers tried to beat a deadline for higher development fees imposed by the city of Vancouver.

“And [Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.] predicted that for the entire 2004 there would be 16,600 starts. By the end of October, we’ve reached 16,350. So we’ll be over that prediction and CMHC predicts that in 2005, B.C. will be the only province to record an increase in housing starts.”

As well, Simpson said, the housing supply is still tight in the Lower Mainland, “with very limited inventory out there that’s not sold.”

According to the Statistics Canada survey, the value of construction permits across Canada increased for the first time in four months in October in the wake of strong demand for new single-family dwellings in the housing sector. Municipalities issued $4.6 billion in building permits, up two per cent from September, after three consecutive monthly declines.

The survey noted that on a year-to-date basis, municipalities issued $45.5 billion of permits, up eight per cent over the first 10 months of 2003.

Vancouver recorded a 34.4-per- cent increase in the value of building permits from January to October 2004 over the first 10 months of 2003.

In B.C. as a whole, the value of residential building permits dropped 3.6 per cent, and non-residential dropped 47.9 per cent.

In dollar terms, B.C. posted the most significant decline in October for residential permits, from $479 million to $462 million. B.C. also recorded the largest decrease in dollars in non-residential construction.

However, from January to October, B.C. recorded an increase in the value of building permits by 25.8 per cent, to $6.6 billion, over the same period last year.

Residential permits in B.C. rose 35 per cent to $4.98 billion over the same period, while non-residential permits rose 4.1 per cent to $1.64 billion.

The survey noted that the metropolitan areas of Vancouver and Montreal recorded the largest increases (in dollars) on a year-to-date basis, “in both cases because of a feverish demand for new dwellings.”

The survey said that between January and October, the value of permits issued for single-family dwellings in Canada totalled $20.4 billion, up 12.8 per cent from the same period in 2003.

The value of commercial permits in Canada fell 0.6 per cent to $881 million, the second straight monthly decline. The biggest drop was in B.C., where commercial permits plunged 45 per cent.

Regionally, Edmonton recorded the strongest increase in non-residential permits of all metropolitan areas (up 128.7 per cent to $88 million). However, 15 metropolitan areas recorded monthly declines, with the largest drop in Vancouver.

Etienne Saint-Pierre, of Statistics Canada’s investment and capital stock division, agreed in an interview that October might just be a blip for B.C. He also said that the sharp drop in non-residential permits may not be that significant.

Saint-Pierre said that the total value of permits for October in B.C. was $552.9 million — up from 2003’s average of $532.9 million per month. “The level (of permits) remains high and the B.C. economy is doing well.”

Monday’s survey follows reports from Credit Union Central of B.C. last week that B.C.’s hot housing market has cooled more quickly than expected, which should hold sales, housing starts and the Lower Mainland’s average prices below 2004’s torrid highs throughout 2005.

Credit Union Central chief economist Helmut Pastrick said with October property sales in the Lower Mainland down 30 per cent from the March peak, he believes the market is going through an adjustment, but not an outright correction.

LICENCE TO BUILD:

The value of building permits issued by Canadian municipalities rose by two per cent from September to October. Here’s a sampling of the changes in major Canadian metropolitan areas:
VALUE OF BUILDING PERMITS, % CHANGE SEPT. TO OCT. 2004
Vancouver: –18%
Calgary: –2.4%

Edmonton: +23.2%

Saskatoon: +20%

Winnipeg: –32.6%

Toronto: +12.1%

Montreal: +5.8%
 
   

© The Vancouver Sun 2004

ETHAN BARON
Province

Just because the cheque’s in the mail doesn’t mean you’re going to get it. If you ask Jacqueline Iverson of Port Coquitlam she’ll tell you the cheque may vanish, never to be seen again. Ask Patricia Towler of Vancouver and she’ll tell you the cheque may be found stained and grubby in some guy’s pocket.
Across the Lower Mainland, throughout B.C.and all around Canada, mail theft has become the new frontier in stealing, feeding the massive trend of identity theft,perpetrated in many cases by crystal meth addicts who can stay up for days snatching mail and crunching names and numbers on a computer.
And along with the financial losses and the headaches comes anger, most of it directed at Canada Post.
   “I’m really upset,”said Iverson.“It’s a Crown corporation. We’re paying our taxes to pay these people and they don’t seem to care. I want them to do something about this.”
The Iversons’mail has gone missing since August from their Canada Post multi-address “superbox” down the street. She’s just had to cancel her credit card, because the statement never showed up. When she and her husband didn’t check their box for six days, they opened it and found it empty.
“There was not a flyer, there was absolutely nothing,” she said. “My husband was waiting for a birthday card from his grandmother that was sent, we never received that, and it had a cheque in it.”
She told Canada Post they wanted to pick up all their mail from the post office,but were told they’d be charged $3 a week for that service.
“I said, “How can you charge me $3 a week when I’m not even getting my mail right now?’ They said to me all they’re responsible for is getting it to that box — after that it’s not their responsibility.”
Chilliwack’s mail-theft problem provides a case study in postal pilfering and identity interception.
“These yahoos,they’re on meth,they will go days without sleeping and, of course, they’re out stealing to feed their habit,”said Staff-Sgt.Gerry Falk of the Upper Fraser Valley RCMP.
Once they’ve gleaned cheques,cash and personal information from the stolen envelopes, the thieves go to work at a computer, piecing together an identity.
“If they know a particular address, they can start profiling that particular person,” said Upper Fraser RCMP Sgt. Ron Angell. “They actually use computers and keep all that information. Amongst themselves they share this information. They get all this information and they start cross-referencing it.”
Once they have enough information compiled,they can apply for credit in someone else’s name or sell the profile to another criminal, he said.
Chilliwack’s mail thieves were using replica keys, made in jail, to get into Canada Post superboxes and drop boxes,said Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon MP Chuck Strahl, himself a victim of mail theft.
“Someone steals your identity,whatever it might be, in British Columbia, they sell it to a guy in Manitoba who puts it together and offloads it to another guy in Ontario, who uses a credit card in Montreal.
“Successful prosecutions are few and far between.Who would you deal with? The Quebec police, the RCMP, the OPP, or what, Vancouver city police?”
Arrests of several meth addicts, along with community education on postal security and Canada Post’s lock changes on mailboxes have put a huge dent in Chilliwack’s mail theft, Falk said.
In Vancouver, Towler’s problems started this summer.
“I had a period of two full weeks when I didn’t receive one piece of mail,” she said. She left a note for the postie asking if mail had been coming.“The note back was,‘Oh, yes, I’ve been delivering it every day.”’
On two occasions when she did receive her mail, it contained letters, one from Vancouver police and one from Canada Post, saying police had found her mail on people they’d stopped. Her letter from city police included a $25-insurance cheque she’d never received,now grubby and water-stained.
“The only advice that Canada Post gave us was empty your box every day, but we do. By the time we get home from work it’s gone.”
Towler is now paying extra to have her mail sent to her work address.
   [email protected]
How to protect your mail
Some tips from Canada Post:
Pick up mail soon after delivery, deposit it close to mail pickup and don’t deposit anything after the day’s last pickup.
When on holiday, get someone to collect your mail or pay Canada Post to keep it at the post office.
Don’t send cash in the mail.
Drop off sensitive items at the post office.
If you get mail for someone else, write “wrong address”on it and put it in a Canada Post red mailbox.
Don’t let strangers into your building.
Notify the strata council or building management if your building’s box appears nonsecure.

WATER THERAPY? Mountain professionals learn quickly to avoid public tubs

ROBIN SUMMERFIELD
Province

One season working at a remote heli-skiing lodge in the Rockies and you learn the golden rules of survival pretty quickly.
Wear your avalanche transceiver, always ski with a buddy and avoid the hot tub.
We staffers never took chances, especially when it came to the hot, massaging,invigorating waters of the Jet Master.
With 44 international guests flying into our remote mountain home each week, we rarely dipped in after Day 2 of their arrival. After that 48-hour mark, the freshly changed water didn’t seem so fresh to us.
Yes,the hot tub is hard to resist after a day of hard skiing and boarding. But think about this next time you feel like a little water therapy: You could be relaxing in skin soup.
Hot tubbing sounds great in theory and, to be fair, chemicals do zap a lot of the nasties swimming around with you.However,hitting the spa can sometimes be a dicey proposition on both the cleanliness and, as some research shows, the health front.
In an improperly cared-for hot tub, taking that dip could mean marinating in fecal matter, sloughed skin, body oil, hair, soap film, dirt and other bodily fluids left behind during hottub escapades. (Use your imagination.)
Hot-tubbing women are twice as likely to miscarry in early pregnancy compared to those who abstained, a study published in the November 2003 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology found.
Despite the reported risks, our hottub-lovin’ days aren’t numbered.
Back on and then off the slopes,hitting the hot water is as much a skiing and boarding tradition as incessantly complaining or raving about the conditions.
“It’s always been a part of après-ski when the muscles are sore,” says Big White and Silver Star spokesman Steve Threndyle in Kelowna.
At the Okanagan resorts, condos, duplexes and triplexes with the big tubs are hot renters.
“There is something decadent about having it in your suite.It really appeals to people,” he says. The tubs are tops for relaxation and great for parents, who use the hot waters as sedatives for their keyed-up kids, Threndyle surmises. “It’s alluring to a lot of people.” Yes,the powerful,massaging jets feel fabulous on those spent skiing and boarding muscles. Just know the waters you’re dipping into and who you’re dipping in with.
   You’re soaking in it
Cloudy water could mean a clogged or worn-out filter or “activities”by children.
Skin irritation could mean bacteria-laden slime, or a buildup of gases.
Scum or tub ring could mean buildup of body oils, lotion residues or worn out filters.

 

TransLink directors vote 8-4 in favour after raucous debate

William Boei
Sun

TransLink gave final approval Wednesday to the controversial Richmond-Airport-Vancouver rapid transit line, which is slated to begin construction next year and planned for completion by late 2009 in time for the 2010 Olympic Games.

After twice rejecting the $1.72-billion project and conditionally approving it in a third vote, TransLink directors gave it a final “yes” by an 8-4 margin.

“I think we’ve done the right thing,” Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell said after a raucous debate that saw some TransLink directors calling others unethical and Campbell apparently getting furiously angry with his Pitt Meadows counterpart, Don MacLean.

“I think that 100 years from now this will be seen as visionary,” Mayor Campbell said.

In Victoria, Premier Gordon Campbell predicted RAV will make Vancouver a more livable city in the future.

“It’s going to take 10 lanes of traffic out of the commute,” the premier said. “It’s going to take hundreds of thousands of pounds of pollutants out of the airshed. It’s going to move people faster around the region.”

However, some directors and transit lobbyists feared the RAV line will drain money from the bus fleet and other transportation priorities.

“I’ve been trying to kill this blood-sucking vampire for some time, unsuccessfully,” Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan said, conceding that his long battle against the project was finally lost.

The RAV line will run from Vancouver‘s Waterfront Station under the downtown, False Creek and Cambie Street as far south as 63rd Avenue, where it will emerge to run on an elevated concrete guideway similar to SkyTrain’s. It will cross a new bridge over the Fraser River and split into two branches at Bridgeport, one to Richmond Centre and the other to the airport.

It will be built and operated by a consortium headed by

Montreal-based engineering and construction giant SNC-Lavalin.

Construction is expected to begin late next year and take five years, for a completion date in late 2009 — in time for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. SNC-Lavalin will then operate the line for 25 years.

TransLink will collect the fares and give the operator annual performance payments.

The $1.72-billion budget is to be covered by $450 million from the federal government; $300 million each from TransLink and the airport authority; $300 million originally promised by the provincial government plus $63 million added by Victoria this week; $206 million from SNC-Lavalin, and $101 million in additional revenue TransLink says it can drum up from the line’s operations.

The fate of the project has hung in the balance since last spring, putting immense pressure on TransLink directors.

North Vancouver City Mayor Barbara Sharp, who cast one of two swing votes that finally guaranteed the project, said she found a threatening note on her car after one contentious board meeting this summer.

Sharp said she knows who left the note, but has decided to take no action.

The vote was closer than it sounds. If the swing votes — cast by Sharp and Vancouver Coun. Raymond Louie — had gone the other way, the vote would have been lost on a 6-6 tie and the RAV line would have been condemned to death for a third and final time.

Premier Campbell said taxpayers will not be asked to contribute anything more to the project.

“That’s it, kaputski, done,” he said. “That’s one of the great advantages of this deal. Any overruns are going to be picked up by the private sector.”

But Corrigan and other opponents emphasized that TransLink will bear the cost of any ridership shortfalls on the new line and argued that its projected daily ridership of 100,000 people is unrealistic. About 40,000 people a day now commute by bus through the Cambie corridor.

“You and your children and your children’s children will be paying for this project for decades,” Corrigan told about 150 people who showed up at the Croatian Cultural Centre in East Vancouver to witness the final RAV debate.

Even without additional costs, the RAV line and other regional transportation projects are expected to add about $59 to the average homeowner’s property taxes, increasing the transit levy to about $145 per household. The RAV portion totals about $15 per year.

Corrigan predicted a tax revolt when those bills arrive in mailboxes, and said seniors on fixed incomes may be forced to sell their homes.

MacLean, who also opposed the RAV line, said its cost will prevent other transit projects from being built.

“If you’re from the North Shore, if you’re from Richmond, if you’re from Langley and think that it’s going to be your turn shortly, it isn’t going to happen,” he said. “This is sucking every bit of money out of the system.”

MacLean attacked directors who had previously called for a $1.35-billion cap on public money sunk into the RAV line, but then supported it even though the cap was exceeded.

He said those directors “should be held to account” and went on to note “there is a shortage of ethical politicians.”

Campbell blew up, his face red with anger. “I refuse to be referred to as unethical by the mayor of Pitt Meadows,” he said.

MacLean said he was talking about “politicians all over this country” who make spending decisions.

He apologized to any TransLink directors who were offended. Campbell said later he had talked to MacLean and the two had settled their differences.

“He’s a good guy and I like him,” the Vancouver mayor said.

Sharp and Louie, who both opposed the project earlier, said they had actually saved the RAV line by pushing through a motion forcing it to come back to TransLink for one more vote if it exceeded the $1.35-billion public spending cap.

They said they intended to give the board one more chance to pare the budget and come up with more revenue, and that’s what happened.

“I didn’t want to see a huge cost increase and lose control [of] the final decision,” Sharp said. “That motion is the only reason we’re even here today.”

Louie said the RAV line will be good for 100 years of service and will become a valuable revenue source for other transit projects once the 25-year operating contract with SNC-Lavalin expires.

“This is an opportunity we should not let slide away,” he said.

Also voting for the RAV line was Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie, who had threatened to oppose it when the winning bid included an elevated guideway through Richmond instead of the at-grade light-rail system Richmond preferred.

Brodie kept one more option open when the TransLink board agreed to let Richmond study whether the line could run along Minoru Boulevard instead of the planned route of No. 3 Road.

TransLink chairman and Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum and Surrey Coun. Marvin Hunt also voted for the RAV line, as did Langley City Mayor Marlene Grinnell.

New Westminster Mayor Wayne Wright voted against, saying, “I can’t support it. It’s overpriced.”

Vancouver Coun. David Cadman, also opposed, said there was too much secrecy in the procurement process because of the public-private partnership approach. He blamed the province.

“The provincial government has an interest in one thing and one thing only — a line to Richmond, and it must be a public-private partnership or there will be no money from the provincial government and no [provincial] assistance getting money from the federal government,” Cadman said.

Directors were not allowed to tell the public how much expense TransLink will shoulder to move existing trolley wires and add new ones along the Cambie corridor because of confidentiality, he said. Nor could they disclose how much the design and construction of new bus loops will cost.

As part of the budget-paring, TransLink also agreed to pay for the project’s operating insurance, and Cadman said that was “like insuring your neighbour’s car. We’re insuring something that we have no control over.”

Earlier, the TransLink board heard from about 30 members of the public, many of them members of lobby groups. They opposed the RAV line by a margin of about 10 to one.

One of them, Chris Spannos, told the board SNC-Lavalin is part of another consortium that manufactures ammunition for U.S. forces in Iraq. He wanted TransLink to tell SNC-Lavalin it should withdraw from that project or be disqualified from bidding on the RAV line.

Two Vancouver councillors, Anne Roberts and Fred Bass, also appeared before the board to oppose the RAV line, again highlighting a deep split in Vancouver‘s ruling Coalition of Progressive Electors.

“No matter how you slice and dice these figures, this project is over budget,” Roberts said.

“It’s not affordable, it never has been, and it doesn’t make sense.”

She said it will take money away from the bus system that is the backbone of Greater Vancouver’s transportation system.

So did Bass, who predicted the bus system will be weakened so much that many commuters will go back to driving to work.

Board votes 8-4 to go ahead with $1.72b project

Frank Luba
Province

A trimmed-down RAV line was approved yesterday, despite stiff opposition at a rancorous TransLink meeting. A crowd of about 200 people, mostly opposed to the already over-budget line, filled the Croatian Cultural Centre in Vancouver as directors voted 8-4 to go ahead. The 19.5-kilometre rail link from downtown Vancouver to the airport and Richmond, with a $1.72-billion price tag, is one of the most expensive projects in B.C.’s history. The board was also split over the project’s overall cost. While pro-RAV board members contend the recent decision to lengthen the amortization period from 20 to 30 years won’t affect the project’s overall price tag, anti-RAV forces argue the move will add a further $190 million in financing costs. TransLink chairman Doug McCallum said it’ll cost more to pay it off over a longer period but during that time TransLink will collect additional revenues, resulting in little significant difference. “It costs you more in the end but you also don’t have to come up with the capital,” McCallum said. “It’s too complicated to explain.” But anti-RAVer Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan said the $190 million increases the $1.72-billion price tag. He said the initial 20-year amortization period should have been kept. “I think it’s one of those quick fixes that came in because they were too far over budget on RAV and they had to find a way to balance the expenses against the capital they were spending,” Corrigan said. In favour were Surrey Mayor McCallum, Surrey Coun. Marvin Hunt, Langley City Mayor Marlene Grinnell, Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie, Coquitlam Mayor Jon Kingsbury, North Vancouver City Mayor Barbara Sharp, Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell and Vancouver Coun. Raymond Louie. Opposed were Vancouver Coun. David Cadman, Burnaby’s Corrigan, New Westminster Mayor Wayne Wright and Pitt Meadows Mayor Don MacLean. When the bid by SNC-Lavalin/Serco came in $343 million higher than budgeted, extra costs were transferred to TransLink, a station was dropped in Richmond and the B.C. government kicked in another $65 million. McCallum denied taxpayers are getting less and paying more. “I don’t agree with that,” he said. “I have said from Day 1 that the cost of it will come in between $1.5 [billion] and $1.7 billion. It has come in to that.” McCallum said the region will get “first-class mass transportation that’s environment-friendly.” “I think this region, being on the edge of the Asia economy boom, certainly needs that type of transportation or transit system that will allow people to get out of their cars and will allow our country to get along better,” he added Even as the debate wound down, both sides continued to fire salvos and spin their messages. Corrigan, an opponent of the secrecy-cloaked private-public partnership required by the province, noted the reworked RAV deal won’t include turnstiles at stations to stop fare evasion. But Campbell shot back: “This is an open process,” meaning items like turnstiles can be included and paid for through economic avenues yet to present themselves. “We simply won’t know [how],” he added. University of B.C. transportation and urban planning expert Michael Goldberg called it an “excellent” decision. “The single most important thing that’s needed to make it work is there’s got to be significant rezoning around every station, not just of RAV but of the Millennium Line and the Expo Line,” said Goldberg. – – – WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? – A final contract has yet to be signed by SNC-Lavalin/Serco and RAVCO, the TransLink subsidiary overseeing the project. TransLink chairman Doug McCallum said the deal will likely be signed in the spring. “We’ve already done some drilling and so forth, but we’ll start the majority of construction next year sometime,” said McCallum. – RAVCO will be TransLink’s watchdog on the project to ensure it stays on time and on budget. “We’ve got an agreement in the best-and-final-offer from SNC-Lavalin on the prices and so forth,” said McCallum. “That’s what we voted on today — $1.72 billion.” – Construction is to be completed by Nov. 30, 2009, so the line can be running before the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler beginning Feb. 12. © The Vancouver Province 2004

‘I think we have a fully financed project’: McCallum

Jonathan Fowlie
Sun

The proposed Richmond-Airport-Vancouver rapid-transit line is a hair’s-breadth away from being fully funded after the company bidding for the massive project knocked $42 million off its price tag, TransLink chairman Doug McCallum said Sunday.

“I think we have a fully financed project,” McCallum said, clearly satisfied at efforts to close a $106-million gap in funding.

The remaining money for the line is expected to be committed by the province in a meeting Tuesday.

McCallum said that to bring the cost of the system down, top employees from SNC-Lavalin/Serco — the group whose newly priced $1.72-billion bid will be put to a crucial vote by the TransLink board Wednesday — worked around the clock for close to eight days to find ways to make the project more efficient.

During this process, the company looked at minute details, McCallum said, trying to reduce waste and determine details such as exactly how much concrete will be used, and the exact curve of the rail at all points of the system.

McCallum added that beyond finding those efficiencies, SNC-Lavalin/Serco cut money out of its bid to allow the cost of the line to meet the level of money currently available.

SNC-Lavalin/Serco spokeswoman Zdenka Buric said she could not say specifically what the company had done until after the bid is officially accepted, but it has been “working diligently to close the gap.”

McCallum also said that, because the contract stipulates that any construction cost overruns will be paid for by SNC-Lavalin/Serco, the $1.72-billion figure is the final price of the RAV line.

“I think we have a good project for the region,” he said.

Given the reduction by SNC-Lavalin/Serco, the only missing piece of the funding puzzle is the $65-million contribution being considered by the province.

“I’m cautiously optimistic,” B.C. Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon said Sunday about the province coming up with that money.

Falcon will take a request to the provincial government’s treasury board Tuesday asking it to contribute the $65 million needed to finish the financial side of the RAV deal.

Falcon said Sunday he believes it will be easier to sell his colleagues on approving the funding now that the private sector has offered help.

“[The $42 million cut] demonstrates that everyone is doing their bit to try and manage down the $106-million gap,” he said, “and that goes a long way towards doing that.”

As details of the price reduction were made public on the weekend, however, so too were some of the concessions that had to be made earlier in the process to reduce the cost of the RAV line from SNC-Lavalin/Serco’s original bid price of $1.899 billion.

As a result of those cutbacks, the bid will no longer cover several elements, including: the replacement of selected areas of overhead trolley lines; 59 ticket vending machines and 38 ticket validating machines; and a police unit to operate on the RAV line.

While this off-loading helped to reduce RAV’s pricetag, some argue it simply hid the cost by shifting necessary services onto TransLink’s operating budget.

“As far as we’re concerned, what they’ve done is handed millions and millions of dollars off to TransLink from the RAV project, which means GVRD taxpayers lose again,” Don Toffaletto, chair of the Rethink RAV coalition, said Sunday.

“TransLink can’t afford this,” he said.

In response, McCallum said the items that have been cut from the original contract are things that logically should not actually be part of the pricetag for RAV.

“It’s not something where we will have to spend more money,” McCallum said. “What we have said is that those [elements that were cut] really don’t fit into this project.”

As an example, he pointed to the removal and replacement of overhead trolley infrastructure.

“We’ve just approved a new trolley building down in south Vancouver and we have our trolley buses coming in,” he said. “When you are looking at costs, we’re going to have to do that anyways, so why should it be part of [RAV]?”

But Toffaletto said TransLink would not have to incur these expenses if the RAV line was not being built, and even though there may be overlap with other parts of the TransLink system, the money should be included in the budget for RAV so people know the total cost.

Others continue to be upset about the cuts as well, including Coun. Harold Steves of Richmond, who is upset that the line will not go as far into Richmond as originally planned. He said it will effectively cut out the most densely populated portion of the area.

To bring awareness to the issue, Steves said he plans to join with others at about 2 p.m. today in a protest along the proposed line that will involve stopping a bus.

“I think the significance is to show where the line is going to end,” he said. “I don’t think anybody in Richmond knows that it’s not going the whole route.”

Steves and most other Richmond council members are opposed to the plan for the RAV line to be elevated along Richmond‘s No. 3 Road because they say it will be ugly and hurt business in the area. They will meet Ravco and TransLink today to discuss the issue.

© The Vancouver Sun 2004

Province

Once upon a time the TransLink board went shopping.They chose a company called SNC-Lavalin to build us a shiny new RAV Line.The Olympics were coming. All was right in the world.
Suddenly the plotline of our story takes a turn.We hear that the “best and final offer” from SNC-Lavalin (our private “partner”) is going to cost $106 million more than was originally proposed and that, despite the huge increase in the purchase price, we will have one less station in Richmond and there will be no direct connection between the Waterfront Station and the cruise ship terminal.
The drama continues as the RAV proposal goes to a “do-or-die” vote of the TransLink board Wednesday. If you believe that the fourth Translink vote on RAV will be the last, please raise your hand.
This has become a horror story for the people of the Lower Mainland. It’s time to scrap the current RAV line concept once and for all.
   Derek Wong, Maple Ridge
End gridlock. Say “yes” to RAV
Not moving ahead with the rapid transit line would be the most expensive decision the City of Richmond and the TransLink Board could make.The price tag will only increase as time goes on.
The level of funding from the federal government is unprecedented. I wouldn’t count on the feds leaving that money on the table for future projects,particularly when we can’t even come to an agreement on how we are going to spend it.
The cost of having more vehicles on the road will be measured in loss of productivity, traffic congestion and, most importantly, deteriorating air quality and health impacts. But we all know that the main reason for the hold-up is that it’s not aesthetically pleasing.
It’s time for the city of Richmond and TransLink board to end the political gridlock and let this project move forward.
   Dean Beauvais, Richmond
Elevated RAV is the way to go
The Richmond councillors who are against an elevated RAV line along No. 3 Road need to come to terms with reality. The councillors believe an at-grade system would be more suitable for the area.I work No. 3 is bad at the best of times, an at-grade line would result in a dangerous traffic nightmare that would see trains crashing into cars and people. Proof of this can be found in Calgary where several people die each year as a result of collisions with their LRT. How many cars crash into the SkyTrain each year? None. How many business people complain about SkyTrain hurting their business? None.
   The people of Richmond have been surveyed and most of them are in favour of an elevated line, that’s what they should get.
   Paul Jones, Delta
Fast ferry fiasco, part two
The bid for the Olympics 2010 has been won. What’s the hurry? I believe in rapid transit as a solution to the increased traffic and congestion in the Lower Mainland but the RAV project is a fast ferry fiasco all over again — with the price tag being triple that of the fast ferries. The RAV plan has had serious problems from the beginning. To proceed at this time,with all this uncertainty, would be folly.
   Gerry Weeks, Burnaby
Arthur Laing fiasco, part two
I hope that Richmond City Council will not block this RAV project like they blocked the original proposal for the Arthur Laing Bridge years ago.
The connection to Richmond was eventually made,but it was an indirect connection because the bridge could not be redesigned.
Gridlock now occurs each rushhour because of that original bad decision! An elevated RAV on No. 3 Road is much better than no rapid transit to Richmond for years!
   Donald Allen,Vancouver
Transport needs are great
As a commuter from Maple Ridge to Langley, I am nowhere near the RAV line. However, I will benefit greatly from the new Golden Ears Bridge at 200th Street crossing the Fraser River. Isn’t the essence of a regional transportation plan ensuring that all areas of Greater Vancouver have their needs met?
No one can disagree that rapid transit to Richmond and YVR is long overdue.I may not benefit from the RAV Line but they need it, just as I need the bridge to Langley.
   Iain Nicol, Maple Ridge
Richmond deserves a line
Now that the bid price for the RAV line has been announced I find it interesting that so many people say the project is already over budget. At this stage I would say that it is better for the selected bidder to publish the true cost in advance of construction. If steel and concrete prices have inflated,this fact should be included and reflected in the initial bid price.
Among others, Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan states that this may become another fast ferry fiasco. However, he fails to mention that the fast ferries were constructed for more than $450 million and sold by the government for a little over 10 cents on the dollar back to the initial builders Seaspan. Furthermore, they remain tied up at the North Shore docks.
Basically, the B.C. taxpayer paid 450 million for an experiment that failed. For Corrigan to compare it with the RAV line, which is based upon proven technology and which will help to alleviate traffic gridlock in the Lower Mainland for generations to come, is unfair.
He is using the projected cost for the RAV line as an excuse to oppose
   . I find it strange that he never opposed the building of the Millennium line through Burnaby.
Vancouver needs a modern transportation infrastructure and we have to be prepared to pay for it.
   B. Barden, North Vancouver
My autistic son should be home
   My autistic son has had partial treatment funding since April,2003 and he has made measurable gains in that time.
   He currently lives in a group home but we love him and want him back home. It would be a huge taxpayer saving. I would much prefer treatment over custodial care.
I match the $500 per month partial funding for Lovaas-style ABA therapy every month and our son is getting more out of life now.I know
   can be done much more cost effectively to include medical Lovaas treatment at home.
   Susan Burns, Maple Ridge
George W. can go to Halifax
   So George W. Bush is afraid to address Parliament when he visits Canada this week because he might be “booed.” How pathetic, even the Cowardly Lion displayed more courage. And this from a selfdeclared “War President.”
   Alex Boivin Vancouver

Radiofrequency energy waves correct a common problem

Pamela Fayerman
Sun

Fifty-five-year-old Burnaby realtor Eric Wan should be able to read this newspaper article about himself today without reading glasses, for the first time in years, following a brief and painless procedure Wednesday morning at a Vancouver clinic.

VisionMed is the first eye care facility in Canada to offer the three-minute, $1,500 NearVision procedure for presybyopia, a condition that half of Canada’s 10 million baby boomers are now experiencing and the other half will eventually experience, due to the aging process that affects the eye’s ability to focus on words and numbers at close range.

Wan said he was frustrated with being so dependent on reading glasses. “I am looking at a computer and at contracts all the time in my job. It is awkward with reading glasses and I wanted to get away from them. Now I can give them to my wife,” he said gleefully, minutes after the procedure took place at VisionMed on West Georgia.

(VisionMed, a subsidiary of Family Vision Care Ltd., has another clinic in Edmonton that is not yet offering the procedure.)

Demonstrating the technique to a news media audience, Vancouver ophthalmologist Dr. Francis Law first anesthetized Wan’s eye with drops, then used a lid speculum to hold it open.

Using a probe powered by radiofrequency energy, Law applied it in a circular fashion to eight points around the periphery of Wan’s cornea. The radiofrequency energy waves shrink the corneal tissue to cause a reshaping, or increased curvature of the eye.

Typically, only one eye needs to be done and Law said the procedure will not compromise the treated eye’s ability to see objects in the distance.

The NearVision CK (conductive keratoplasty) technique received approval from government authorities in the U.S. and Canada earlier this year for presbyopia. Dr. Michael Melenchuk, chief executive officer of VisionMed, hailed it for its potential to allow aging baby boomers “to turn back the clock on their eyes.”

But he acknowledged the procedure does not provide permanent results and patients may need less costly “enhancements” three to five years later.

Referring to a two-year clinical trial of 150 patients led by Stanford University doctors, Melenchuk said 98 per cent of participants could see newspaper and magazine print without reading glasses after the procedure while 87 per cent could read names and numbers in the phonebook.

There were no serious, sight-threatening events reported in the clinical trial, he said.

The procedure is recommended for those over age 40 who have excellent eye health and require glasses only for reading, not distance, Melenchuk said

VisionMed has invested more than $100,000 in the technology and he expects a 10- to 12-per-cent return on investment.

© The Vancouver Sun 2004

PORT: Houston sees

Improvements needed to road, rail and port facilities to cope with booming China trade

Bruce Constantineau
Sun

Congestion at the Port of Vancouver threatens to scare business thousands of miles away to the U.S. Eastern seaboard, Vancouver Port Authority president Gordon Houston said Tuesday.

He said some port customers are considering longer “all-water” routes to bring products from Asia to North America, using either the Suez or Panama canals to reach ports like New York and New Jersey in order to avoid delays in Vancouver, even though the Asia-Vancouver voyage is several days shorter.

It hasn’t happened yet, Houston stressed in an interview, but the fact it’s even being considered should concern everyone in the B.C. port community.

“If we don’t get the road and rail infrastructure and our own infrastructure in place, that all-water route starts to look very attractive,” he said after a speech to the Vancouver Board of Trade.

Congestion at Vancouver’s port facilities has become a major issue as port business booms as a result of huge increases in trans-Pacific shipping traffic. Houston said the total volume of trade with China shipped through Vancouver has increased by 56 per cent in the past year, with lumber exports climbing 46 per cent and sulphur exports rising by 63 per cent.

Growth in Asia-Pacific trade will provide a huge stimulus to future economic growth in B.C. but the province has to be ready, he said. The port and its business partners plan to spend $1.4 billion to triple the port’s container terminal capacity by 2020 and Houston said major capital investments are also needed to boost capacity in the region’s road and rail networks.

“If we build it, they will come,” he said in his speech. “But if we cannot accommodate their growth, we will be left behind as they seek other gateways.”

Houston headed a 25-person trade mission to Asia this month and he came back with a newfound respect for the “incredible dynamism” driving that continent’s economic growth.

“Until you have seen these things first-hand, and experienced the energy that drives these contemporary Asian economies, it’s all just a bunch of numbers,” he said. “The people in Asia are hell-bent on business and I believe the growth we’re seeing today will not slow down or flatten out in the foreseeable future. If anything, it will increase.”

The provincial government will release a report next month on plans to develop a provincewide ports strategy to get the greatest benefit from Asia-Pacific trade but ports are a federal responsibility and Houston noted the federal government does not have a national strategy to optimize Canada‘s trade relationship with China.

“Unless we have a national vision of what we’re trying to achieve, we’re not going to make it,” he said.

Greater Vancouver Regional District officials have expressed concerns over the Port of Vancouver‘s expansion plans, fearing air quality will be threatened by increases in marine traffic while congested road and rail networks will be under even more pressure.

A joint Canada-U.S. study recently forecast that marine traffic emissions would surpass air pollutants from motor vehicles in the Georgia Basin and Puget Sound regions by 2010.

GVRD chairman Marvin Hunt said district officials want the region to receive a special designation that would force marine vessels to use more expensive, cleaner-burning fuels but Houston said it would be unrealistic to force that on the industry overnight.

“It’s going to take the GVRD 50 to 70 years to change the system to get cleaner sewage and the shipping community is no different,” he said. “Ships last about 20 years and it will take them 20 years to change the engines so they can use better fuel with better burning capabilities.

“Ship engines weigh 150 tonnes and cost tens of millions of dollars. You don’t just throw that away.”

Houston said urban congestion in Vancouver has made it extremely difficult for port industry officials to find the land necessary to develop new infrastructure. We still use rail corridors that were developed in 1910 and those constraints have to be lifted, he said.

“Vancouver has become a society that loves to live on the waterfront but people don’t want to see anything when they get there,” Houston said. “It’s a very difficult position for us. People who live on the waterfront here have a responsibility to that farmer in Saskatchewan [who has to get his wheat to market].”

© The Vancouver Sun 2004