The Chilliwack
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Y O U R C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R • F O U N D E D I N 1 8 9 1 • W W W. T H E P R O G R E S S . C O M • W E D N E S D AY, F E B R U A R Y 1 7 , 2 0 1 6
New mortgage rules unlikely to be felt in Chilliwack
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MLA denies there is an ‘affordability crisis’ Jessica Peters The Progress
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Reece Howden CAN (Left) and Cornel Renn GER compete during the Men’s Ski Cross at the Hafjell Freepark at the Winter Youth Olympic Games, Lillehammer Norway, 15 February 2016. See story, page 24. For video of the race, find this story online at www.theprogress.com. PHOTO BY ARNT FOLVIK FOR YIS/IOC
Chilliwack River claims young angler Jennifer Feinberg The Progress A fisherman slipped and fell into the churning Chilliwack River on Valentine’s Day. Graeme Gordon Carswell, 21, of Delta, did not survive the incident, according to BC Coroners Service. He’d been fishing near the Alison Canyon pools with a friend. Carswell was swept several kilometres downriver by the current, going through the rapids. The young fisherman’s body was recovered on a gravel bar near Osborne Road. “He was unresponsive at the
time of rescue, and was transported to Chilliwack General Hospital,” said coroner Barb McLintock of BC Coroners Service. “Unfortunately, he could not be resuscitated.” RCMP, paramedics and Chilliwack Search and Rescue were called to the scene late Sunday afternoon. Screams were heard from shore when the angler fell into the blown-out river, according to witnesses. Sasha Harris said she called it in around four p.m. She’d seen a post on social media, and ran out to her backyard with her boyfriend to see if they could see
anything. “I called police when we spotted him and stayed at scene where he laid,” she wrote. “Very upsetting. My heart aches so bad today/ tonight with remorse, shock and hurt. ALS paramedics administered CPR at the riverside, and tried to revive him. “A huge thank you to the police, ambulance and search and rescue for doing all they could this evening for this man,” said the witness. Harris said she never would have gone out to look if she hadn’t seen a post about it. RCMP Victim Services was also
called to the scene. Chilliwack Search and Rescue launched two rafts to assist in the swift-water rescue attempt. The fisherman was wearing waders with a belt, said CSAR search manager Doug Fraser, which was something he did right. “That belt mechanism won’t prevent water from entering the waders but it will slow it down, and possibly give someone time to attempt to swim to shore.” The other thing he did right was to have a fishing companion with him. “That’s important because if Continued: CAUTION/ p6
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This week marked the start of new mortgage lending rules for all Canadians, with new down payment requirements for higherpriced homes. Starting Feb. 15, the Canada Mor tgage and Housing Corporation requires down payments of five per cent of the first $500,000 of the purchase price, and 10 per cent of any amount over $500,000. This is up from a previous requirement of five per cent for all mortgages. As always, CMHC will only offer mortgage loans below $1 million. The federal change is meant to protect homeowners from having too little equity in their home, forcing them to pay more in advance for higher-priced homes. But it could also limit some homebuyers in their options. In the Chilliwack area, there are currently about 100 residential properties listed over $500,000, with another 460 residential properties falling below that threshold. As for recently sold properties, the majority of home sales in Chilliwack were also below $500,000. The CMHC only offers mortgage loans under $1 million, and there are currently about 15 residential properties listed with local Realtors over that mark. The prices are in stark contrast to real estates prices in Vancouver and other urban centres to the west, where the cost of owning a home is so unattainable it’s created what some are calling an affordable housing crisis. On Monday, Chilliwack-Hope MLA Laurie Throness said that’s nonsense, considering there are