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Friday, April 13, 2012 South Delta Leader
Readerpoll Do you think the Vancouver Canucks have what it takes to win the Stanley Cup this year?
VOTE ONLINE southdeltaleader.com Last week, we asked: Do you think Delta should host an upcoming B.C. Summer Games?
yes 66% no 33% Start
a conversation.
LETTERS Resiliency in art It's amazing that we have the resiliency as human beings to be like the Phoenix and rise from the ashes (Inspiring art, South Delta Leader April 6, 2012). I t o o, h a d a n e a r- d e a t h experience; spent two months in hospital, a month of which I have
Supporting the Massey Tunnel
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Recent letters to the editor and comments by yourself maligning the George Massey Tunnel as being a disgrace, antiquated and inadequate requires a reply. I arr ived in Ladner after crossing the Fraser River on the Delta Princess ferry boat with my father George Massey, my first mother Doris and my sister Doreen (Kushnir) in November 1936. One of my father's first comments was, "Why isn't there a tunnel here?" My father pursued the idea of a better means to cross the Fraser River from the time he arrived and with the support of the Ladner and Richmond communities they were able to convince the provincial government a tunnel was the best means of crossing the Fraser River. A company called Christiani & Nielsen Corporation designed the tunnel with a capacity of 12 million automobiles per year at normal distribution, with a maxiumum capacity at any one
behind the scenes
Publisher Mary Kemmis
Editor Philip Raphael
publisher@southdeltaleader.com editor@southdeltaleader.com
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During last year's Stanley Cup playoffs, Tsawwassen had a visit by a hockey fan decked out in a 'Green Man' costume who gave a thumbs up on the Canucks chances. The hometown team suffered a disappointing loss to the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARD 2011
Jim Kinnear file photo
Comment online. Share your thoughts.
no memory of; had a major fire in our apartment building and luckily didn't lose anything; dealt with my sister's breast cancer, and just recently dealt with the suicide of a dear talented friend I truly loved. It would've been easy to curl up in a fetal position and just go into a depression. I chose, like Bev (Mantovani), to fight. I am so looking forward to
her passionate interpretation of her inspiring story and to Garett's (Campbell-Wilson) wonderful artistry. Thank you for the interesting article as it gives one pause to reflect on one's own life and to realize that the time is now to do the things one really wants to do.
time of about 2,500 vehicles per hour in each direction. The tunnel currently carries 21,864 vehicles daily, which equals close to 8 million cars annually, well within it's designed capacity. So where is the problem? Much of the present congestion is during rush hour on the north side of the tunnel at No. 5 and Steveston Highway were they merge, with little or no storage capacity for vehicles waiting to enter Highway 99. And as you enter Oak Street Bridge you come to a complete halt where you meet the intersection at 70th Ave. How to improve these situations without great cost and disruption of the residential and business community? For one you could improve the lighting by lining the tunnel with the white ceramic tile as was originally designed and re-route heavy truck traffic to the South Delta Perimeter Road as soon as it's completed. Building the tunnel opened a door that changed Delta for better, or worse, into what it is
today. It may be considered an eyesore and derelict by some today, but if the tunnel had never opened, none of the people or the developments mentioned above would exist in Delta. There is no question that what has taken place in Delta by the senior levels of goverment should have given the people of Delta greater consideration for their livability and the preservation of the ecosystem around them. Building yet another bridge or tunnel across the Fraser River would not be the answer, as it would only take up more farmland on both sides of the river, do more damage to Burns Bog and not solve the real problem. We need better planning, that does not require everyone to use their vehicles to get to work, and the senior governments to remember that people and their surroundings are as as important as the economic development that they wish to pursue.
Advertising Jane Ilott 604.948.3640 ext.127 jane@southdeltaleader.com Jenelle Julien 604.948.3640 ext. 121 jenelle@southdeltaleader.com Creative Sarah Kelloway ads@southdeltaleader.com
Rosemarie Hurst, Delta
Douglas Massey, Delta
Reporter Christine Lyon 604.948.3640 ext.126 reporter@southdeltaleader.com Distribution 604.948.3640 ext 125 circulation2@southdeltaleader.com Classifieds 604.575.5555
Copyright and property rights subsist in all display advertising and other material appearing in the South Delta Leader. If, in the Publisher's opinion, an error is made that materially affects the value of the ad to the advertiser, a corrected advertisement will be inserted upon demand without further charge. Make good insertions are not granted on minor errors which do not lessen the value of the advertisement. Notice of error is required before second insertion. Opinions expressed in columns and letters to the Editor are not necessarily shared by the Publisher. The South Delta Leader is a member of the British Columbia Press Council, a self-regulatory body governing the province’s newspaper industry. The council considers complaints from the public about the conduct of member newspapers. Directors oversee the mediation of complaints, with input from both the newspaper and the complaint holder. If talking with the editor or publisher does not resolve your complaint about coverage or story treatment, you may contact the B.C. Press Council. Your written concern, with documentation, should be sent to B.C. Press Council, 201 Selby St., Nanaimo, B.C. V9R 2R2. For information, phone 888-687-2213 or go to www.bcpresscouncil.org.
EDITORIAL
Paying a steep price It got more expensive to live in British Columbia on April 1 and that’s no April Fools joke. Hydro now costs about seven per cent more annually. It also costs 4.15 per cent more to travel on a ferry. And drivers now have to cough up another two cents a litre for gas to help pay for the new Evergreen SkyTrain line to Coquitlam. Add those increases to our already expensive cost of living and it is becoming more and more difficult to afford being a British Columbian. Even more so in Metro Vancouver. According to the Royal Bank’s most recent housing affordability report, released in March, the cost of owning a detached bungalow in Metro Vancouver consumes 86 per cent of a household’s pre-tax income. That compares to 52.2 per cent in Toronto, 40.1 per cent in Montreal and 32.8 per cent in Edmonton. Those costs include mortgage payments, utilities and property taxes. One only has to compare real estate listings in those various cities to see what that means in real terms. For the price of a shoebox-sized one bedroom condo in Metro Vancouver, one could live in a detached character home in a good neighbourhood in Toronto or Montreal or a palatial five bedroom house with an expansive yard and a pool in Edmonton. And it’s not like our wages are better to make up for the expense of living here. In February, 2012, the average hourly wage in British Columbia for workers 15 years and over was $23.77. That’s 38 cents less an hour than the average wage for Ontario workers, $2.42 less than the Alberta average, and only slightly more than workers in Saskatchewan and Newfoundland get paid. The average British Columbian carries a debt of $155,500. That’s a little less than Albertans, but more than double the debt of Atlantic Canadians and Quebeckers. It seems living in paradise comes with a steep price. —Burnaby News Leader