Opinion

Dear Editor: Something we seem to be missing in the present dialogue on earthquake safety is how certain construction practices permitted by our local municipalities put us in danger.

If we ever need a reason to feel good that we live in Canada rather than America – in addition to obvious advantages like politeness and a national health care system – we need look no further than American gun culture.

My old boss always warned me about kids with guns. You can’t keep them from getting hold of guns, he’d say. There’s no escape. And he backed up his warning by keeping a couple of loaded weapons in his office at all times.

I’m going to leave the Seymour area for this month’s column and talk about an event in the western part of the District of North Vancouver.

It’s a hot topic around the water cooler these days: skyrocketing Lower Mainland property assessments. On the North Shore, typical single family homes are showing increases of between 15 and 25 per cent, according to area assessor Jason Grant with B.

Dear Editor: When city council approved the new official community plan in March 2015, a last-minute change added a special study area at the corner of Lonsdale Avenue and West 13th Street adjacent to city hall.

Dear Editor: Re: 2016 Assessments Going Up — Way Up , Dec. 13 news story.

“In the best interest of our customers, we have worked alongside government … to identify strategies to help lower both this year’s rate increase … and alleviate the expected ongoing pressure injury claims will continue to put on insurance rates …” –

Imagine starting 2016 with saving someone’s life. A real opportunity exists to do that, particularly among the local multicultural community, as an urgent search gets underway to find a stem cell donor match for Lynn Valley’s Nancy Taylor.

It has become as much a new year’s tradition as anything: the B.C. government’s annual news release that crows about how it keeps “taxes low for B.C. families.