Regional Optimist
The Battlefords, Thursday, July 21, 2016 - Page 5
www.newsoptimist.ca
Realty house shopping show turns me into a communist
Take care around the river: Samborski Staff Monday evening, Mayor Ian Hamilton proclaimed July 17 to 23 National Drowning Prevention Week in North Battleford with words of caution from Director of Leisure Services Bill Samborski. In addition to encouraging people to make smart choices around lakes and swimming pools, Samborski also pointed to the North Saskatchewan River and the low levels that may fool people into thinking it’s safer than it is. “The river bottom always changes,” he said. The water may appear shallow, but there are holes that move around. He also said the river bank changes every year. “Where you could walk last year doesn’t mean you can walk this year,” said Samborski. “We’ve been so fortunate in and around our community in that regard, if anything I’d just like to put people on a higher alert because of that.”
rom
the top of
the pile By Brian Zinchuk
Saskatchewan Weekly Newspapers
Association 2012 Columnist of the Year Apartment Toronto. It’s episode summary reads: “A father and daughter team up to buy a property they can share in Toronto’s downtown core. Their budget is around the $10 million mark, and realtor Jay Egan is confident he can find them something that fulfills their wish list. They are looking for a view to kill, space to party and an open concept. The three properties they tour include a private infinity pool, a free Rolls Royce and 360-degree view of the city. Mark and Julia are spoiled for choice.” They are from Vancouver. Dad works in the mining business and wants a condo in Toronto for when he travels there for business. (Mom is not to be seen, and presumably this is no longer a nuclear family). Daughter is attending university in Toronto and needs some place to live. My numbers are a little fuzzy, but essentially the three properties were around $6 million, $9.5 million and $13 million. The middle one was in the Toronto Trump Tower. Yes, that one. They chose the $13 million one, because going $3 million over a $10
million budget apparently wasn’t an issue. Watching this pampered daughter go through these properties is what made my blood boil. Dad? Sure, I get it. He put his time in, he made his millions. But she’s a freaking university student, one who will now go to class in the included Rolls Royce limo. I was incensed, to say the least. Oh, wouldn’t it be great to have a view of Toronto through an infinity pool on an upper floor? When I was in university, there were times when I didn’t know if I would have the $21 I needed to buy my next bottle of lifesustaining insulin. When my sister finally graduated nursing, my mom was so tapped out, the dress she bought to wear for convocation cost $12 at Sears bargain centre. It made me think of the communist revolution in Russia. Marxism and communism came about, in large part, because the proletariat, i.e. working slobs, could not believe nor tolerate the excesses of the bourgeoisie who owned the factories and mines. It is clear that condo-buying dad, in this
case, was the ultimate example of the bourgeoisie. What had this pretty girl in high heels and pencil skirt done with herself to justify being presented with a $13 million condo? What could she have done? What course could she possibly take that would allow her to earn enough to cover just the property taxes in the years after she graduates? Oh, wait, daddy’s rich. Must be pampered, you know. Watching this, I thought, “Now I get what all the fuss was about regarding the one-percenters a few years ago.” As I stay up regularly until 2 a.m., working to keep my struggling business afloat in addition to my regular job, I now understand what jealous rage those communist revolutionaries must have had. Can you imagine a peasant serf walking into the gilded halls of St. Petersburg? This is about the same thing. There’s only so much privilege a man can take, and I think Buying the View just crossed that line. — Brian Zinchuk is editor of Pipeline News. He can be reached at brian. zinchuk@sasktel.net.
Last week’s News-Optimist online poll: Canada Post wants to change its defined benefit pension plan to a defined contribution plan. The latter means new postal workers wouldn’t have a set pension amount. What do you think? • If this goes through, it’s only a matter of time for the rest of Canada’s public employees. 9% • Why should the public sector have a guaranteed pension amount? Most in the private sector don’t. 20% • Defined benefit pension plans for corporations such as Canada Post are no longer sustainable. It’s all about dollars and cents. 14% • Everyone deserves a good pension. Those who have one shouldn’t lose out because others haven’t. 57%
This week’s News-Optimist online poll: Did you drink the water in North Battleford last week? • Yes • No
Weekend Sales Team Karen McMillan 306-441-2224
Gregg Sheppard 306-441-7242
1541 - 100th Street
Phone 306-445-5555 or 306-445-6666
SERVING THE COMMUNITY
The other day my wife, Michelle, started watching yet another realty show. You know, the ones where they look at three homes, then buy one. Next to zero in production costs, yet highly addictive to the viewers. The most recent one is Buying the View. Instead of being on HGTV (Home and Garden Television), which makes sense, this is yet another show of this variety on W Network. I used to think W stood for women, but these days it’s more like what ideas we can steal from HGTV. Buying the View takes the House Hunters template and cranks it up a few notches. The idea is very, very rich people buying very expensive homes, with a view (Duh!). Lots of people like to dream of life on the other side of the one per cent equation. That’s why we buy lottery tickets, isn’t it? Well, this show pretty much put me over the edge. I would consider myself to be a fairly conservative, right-wing capitalist sort of guy. I have my own business. My philosophy is basically this: my luck gets better the harder I work. So I understand that if you are successful at what you do (and when I am, I’ll let you know), you should be rewarded. Episode 5 of the first season was called Luxe
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