Clark's $703 million could build homes, communities
Re: B.C. first-time buyers’ plan panned, Dec. 23
If Premier Christy Clark’s government believes that investing $703 million over the next three years is somehow going to benefit 42,000 households become homeowners, and in turn help grow the B.C. economy, I have to wonder what toxic substance members of her cabinet ingested before they came to such a decision.
Low-income families, seniors and people with disabilities have been screaming out of desperation for years to see more affordable housing projects built, while many middle-class income earners are paying exorbitant rents with very little saved up to buy homes that are so grossly expensive and over-priced that the potential benefits and gains from real estate are no longer a realistic option for anyone but the highest income earners and the super rich.
People need a clean, safe shelter to live in. For $703 million, I wonder how many homes could be built that would give both low-income and middle-class earners a mixed diverse community to live in, much like the national housing cooperative program that was cancelled in the 1980s and which was listed as the most successful housing strategy of its time. Leslie Benisz, Vancouver
Taxpayer-funded Liberal ads
If Premier Christy Clark calls the new home loan program her personal highlight during the coming election campaign, then we the taxpayers should remember the $15-million personal cost to us of these government ads on election day. These are not public information ads, but full-on election ads and should not be paid for by taxpayers. Brian Barnes, Steveston
Investing in rental property
Re: If you own apartments, get out while you still can, Opinion, Dec. 28
Larry Jacobson’s opinion that there’s no future in rental properties is nonsensical, based on the simple fact that Metro Vancouver has one of the lowest vacancy rates in North America. Half of the jobs in the Lower Mainland are low-paying service jobs — nobody owning rentals will ever have to worry about unoccupied units for decades to come. And with the ongoing housing crisis, governments are increasingly likely to offer incentives for the construction and maintenance of rental apartments.
Also, unlike real estate or the stock market, rental income is virtually immune from economic ups and downs. It’s a no-brainer!
Charles Leduc, Vancouver
U.S. betrays Israel
Re: Israeli settlements hard to justify, Letters, Dec. 29
You can hardly blame Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his scathing attack on the Obama administration after its refusal to veto the UN Security Council resolution last week that once again condemned Israel’s settlements in the West Bank. The ruling is the harshest the UN has ever passed during the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
It is nothing new for the UN to gang up on Israel. Indeed, this has been their consistent practice for over 60 years, ever since Israel was recognized as a sovereign state in 1948.
What is different this time is that Israel’s so-called “friend” abstained on the resolution rather than vetoing it. So the only country Israel can expect support from, shamefully betrays its best and most-trusted ally in the Middle East. Even more outrageous, Netanyahu says the Obama administration initiated the resolution, coordinated it and demanded it be passed. As despicable as this is, it is consistent with the troubled history of Israeli participation in the UN and the world body’s well-documented anti-Semitism. Gerald Hall, Nanoose Bay