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Northern
www.northernsentinel.com
Volume 57 No. 18
Kitimat remains affordable Cameron Orr Kitimat remains as the most affordable community in Northern B.C. when it comes to home ownership, according to the Housing Affordability Study for Northern BC. The report was prepared for the BC Northern Real Estate Board by Rory S. Conroy, and showed affordability among Northern B.C. communities which saw 75 of more home sales for 2011. According to the affordability index, using the median community income from the 2006 census — which for Kitimat was $84,979 for all family types — Kitimat homeowners spend 15.3 per cent of pre-tax income on home ownership. 100 Mile House meanwhile hangs on to its title as least affordable community, despite much improvement from 2008. There residents spend 46.7 per cent of their pre-tax income on their home. According to the report it’s the cost of homes in each community and the varying median income which accounts for the different costs of homeownership. In the cast of 100 Mile House the report explained that the low affordability is the result of low reported incomes in the 2006 Census. This latest report casts a positive light on Northern B.C. living — that is, the region that includes the regional districts of Cariboo, Bulkley Nechako, Fraser Fort George, Skeena Queen Charlotte, Kitimat-Stikine, Peace River and Northern Rockies. The report seeks to mark the distinction of living in the north versus living in the apparent urban money sink of Vancouver. There, over 90 per cent of pre-tax median income goes into home ownership. The northern B.C. affordability report uses the same methodology used by the Royal Bank of Canada for their RBC Financial Group Housing Affordability Index. RBC’s own report called British Columbia the least affordable province in Canada. Based on the six year trend for Kitimat, the community has been the most affordable in the region. In 2008, affordability was at its lowest at approximately 21 per cent of income to the home. Kitimat’s 2008 level was just a slice more affordable than Mackenzie’s current affordability at approximately 22 per cent. Mackenzie saw the largest decrease in affordability for 2011, mainly blamed on a sharp rise in house prices — up 23.5 per cent over 2010. Continued on page 2
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
1.34 INCLUDES TAX
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Chief is a resident pooch of the Kitimat animal shelter. The Looking for Love Animal Shelter Society presented their final report to Kitimat council at their last meeting. Read more on page 5. Cameron Orr
College campus not closing Cameron Orr Northwest Community College (NWCC) President Denise Henning assured Kitimat Council that the local campus would not be shutting its doors. “Our campus in Kitimat is not closing, it is going to continue going forward,” said Henning at a presenting at the April 16 council meeting. That’s not to say that the campus will be business as usual. She and Dave O’Leary, vice president of institutional advancement, spoke to councillors about a plan to grow place-based learning and development of what their call a Learning Centre model. The pilot for that model is being run out of the District of Houston this year and has programs based in other college campuses, even ones in Ontario, delivering programs and local faculty act as learning coaches for students. He used a Water Quality Assessment
program for an example and a town may only have two students enrolled. Set ups like this allow them to run the program despite locally low enrolments. Development of that program will mean the creation of an advisory committee of interested citizens and Henning is hoping to have that running by August to start offering programs in September. She said NWCC will continue to work with the Kitimat Valley Institute to make sure programs complement what KVI offers rather than competes. Meanwhile the college is still being tight-lipped on layoffs at the campus. The Sentinel sent an information request to the college however the reply was that news of layoffs wasn’t being offered at the time. “We will not be releasing any lay off details until each impacted employee has had an opportunity to consider their options and exercise their rights,” the college wrote in a statement.
The Kitimat college campus will not be closing. The college is facing a tough financial position with a $1.6 million deficit for the 2011/12 fiscal year and forecasting a $2 million deficit for the following fiscal year if adjustments aren’t made. The NWCC has an annual operating budget of $30.5 million.
Councillor wants KMP Hiring Policy Clarified...page 3