Votes were tallied late Friday, April 7, for the referendum on the University of British Columbia campus, wherein students were asked if they supported their union in a BDS campaign – and the answer was no. The “no” vote numbered 1,513 while 1,396 students voted “yes” to “boycotting products and divesting from companies that support Israeli war crimes, illegal occupation and the oppression of Palestinians.”
It was the second time in two years that a BDS referendum on campus was defeated and Rabbi Philip Bregman, executive director of Hillel BC, said he was thrilled. “In all honesty, this referendum is nothing more than a call for the elimination of the state of Israel,” he noted. “We had students from all over the university, Jewish and non-Jewish, join in the fight against this, and what’s important is that this was a clearly made statement.”
Bregman said the “yes” side had started out with 1,000 votes in their pocket because they had needed 1,000 signatures to make the referendum possible in the first place. “In the final analysis, they didn’t have enough votes, and they didn’t make quorum because only 5.5% of the students voted. In order for the referendum to pass, they needed votes from eight percent of the student body, over 4,300 votes in their favour, and they had to beat the ‘no’ side,” he explained. “They got neither.”
Stephen Gaerber, board chair of Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, praised the work of Hillel BC, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and StandWithUs Canada. “Kol hakavod to the students and student leaders who worked so hard to make the truth evident to the student body and achieve this positive outcome,” he said in a press release issued April 9. “Their efforts were instrumental in helping maintain a welcoming and inclusive campus environment for everyone.”
Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net. This article was originally published by CJN.
Community leaders are looking to the future of the Dr. Irving and Phyliss Snider Campus for Jewish Seniors – the Louis Brier Home and Hospital and the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Residence – with the realization that the aging buildings no longer support current standards and processes for delivery of health-care practices, technology and equipment. It’s been two years since the planning began, and the redevelopment committee is considering two options for the makeup of a new campus.
The first and preferred option involves relocating from the current four-acre property to the site of a new Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. By developing a mixed-use centre, its recreational and cultural programs and services would enhance healthcare and long-term care for seniors. It would also mean shared construction and operating costs.
The second option is to build stand-alone facilities for the seniors campus on a site close to the JCCGV. This would be smaller in size and design and entail a potentially shorter time frame for rebuilding, while maintaining proximity to the JCCGV for collaborative, intergenerational planning.
At the helm of the seniors campus is chief executive officer David Keselman. “Redevelopment is important because we are reaching the end of our ability – both [in terms of] infrastructure and operationally – to deliver care that is consistent with current and future healthcare delivery trends,” he said.
“There’s a push to keep seniors at home longer today, which means that, when they eventually require long-term services, they will be more fragile and require a higher intensity of services,” he continued. “But, whenever they need that care, this is the only Jewish healthcare delivery organization in B.C. and there’s nothing else unless you want to cross the U.S. border. It’s extremely important that the community supports this and that the government realizes that, for Jewish people, there’s nowhere else to go if they want to preserve their culture, customs and way of living.”
Rozanne Kipnes, a real estate development consultant with Tamarix Developments, was on the board of the Louis Brier for years and has been contracted to help secure a site, its legal structure and some financing opportunities. The big difference between the campus being planned and the current model, she said, is that the older model is based on a tendency to isolate seniors.
“The way we deliver care today is not the way it’s delivered in other countries around the world,” she explained. “We want to reengage and integrate seniors with the community, not isolate them. The government has seen this model tested in other communities and other countries and they’ve noted that when seniors’ long-term care is handled this way – with an integration of health and social needs – there’s a better quality of life for everybody and less burden on families.”
Kipnes noted that the Jewish community’s founding families “blessed” today’s community with land assets that can be leveraged “to support the redevelopment of an urban seniors care, health, wellness and cultural hub within the historical precinct of the Jewish community. We are hopeful it will also provide legacy operating and capital fund replacement to support collaborations going forward.”
Neither Kipnes nor Keselman would comment on the value of the land or the estimated costs of constructing a new campus. Kipnes said that how the land gets “leveraged” is all part of the discussion, and pivotal to that discussion will be how the City of Vancouver zones the land – for low-, medium- or high-density residential construction.
Right now, the volunteer redevelopment board is engaged in discussions, focus groups, market analyses and donor outreach. A study is underway to explore the number of units that will be required for residents of the campus, the current and future health services models of care and the facilities needed to support them. The study’s completion is expected by next month.
Whatever option is chosen, Kipnes said a new campus is at least eight years from reality. “If we’re successful in this endeavour as a community, it will be the largest community endeavour we’ve ever undertaken,” she said. “It’s well worth the collaboration and patience this project requires because the end will very much justify the means. On a new campus, we envision families from across the community reengaged and reunited. We see children with their grandparents engaging in activities between the JCC and the Louis Brier, combined with a host of other Jewish community agencies. A mixed-use project like this is very complicated and requires much more collaboration at all levels of the Jewish community. But it’s very doable.”
Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net. This article was originally published by CJN.
The main issues that were brought up at the Affordability Summit. (image by annaleekornelsen.com)
Vancouver is in the throes of an affordability crisis. It’s in the news, provincial politicians are talking about it as they campaign for the upcoming election, the city is implementing new taxes, but does anyone have the solution?
The Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver decided it would seek some answers. On March 29, the first-ever Federation-sponsored Affordability Summit took place at Temple Sholom. Attended by more than 60 individuals, including New Democratic Party members of the legislature Selina Robinson and George Heyman, the goal was to give direction to Federation’s planning around affordability and being Jewish in Vancouver.
The evening, introduced by Temple Sholom Associate Rabbi Carey Brown, raised the pressing issue about why the Jewish community needs to deal with affordability beyond the basic human issues.
“This evening stemmed from the awareness that we all feel affordability impacting the sustainability our community,” she said. The other reality, she said, is that as Jews become more geographically dispersed, they are no longer near Jewish infrastructure like synagogues, day schools and the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, so their participation in the community diminishes.
Participation in Jewish programming and activities is expensive in itself. Jewish community professionals are seeing a rise in requests for assistance for schools, summer camps and JCCGV activities. This also raises issues about the long-term sustainability of the community’s institutions if families cannot afford to live near enough to use them.
The event’s keynote speaker, Richard Fruchter, executive director of the Jewish Family Service Agency, addressed affordable housing, food security and a steep rise in demand for food banks, and raised some suggestions for solutions, including universal childcare, affordable transit and some novel taxation changes.
A graphic summary of the speakers’ main points at the summit. (image by annaleekornelsen.com)
Eric Fefer, chair of the Tikva Housing Society board, said his organization is in the process of expanding the number of subsidized housing units in its portfolio, with 10 new units called Storeys (Diamond Residences) opening this summer in Richmond.
Starting this fall, applications will be accepted for the Ben and Esther Dayson Residences, a project Tikva Housing is undertaking in conjunction with Vancouver Community Land Trust. The development will include 32 townhomes and apartments of two, three and four bedrooms. These homes, in the River District of south Vancouver, are expected to be available for occupancy in summer 2018.
These new homes will provide families with subsidized housing in the vicinity of Jewish amenities, but Fefer acknowledged this increased supply doesn’t begin to touch demand.
Following the event’s main session, breakout groups convened to discuss topics in greater depth. In addition to issues of food security and housing, affordable childcare advocate Gyda Chud presented solutions for universal childcare. A session on Jewish education was led by Daniel Held, executive director of the Julia and Henry Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Education in Toronto. He shared insights into the efficiencies Toronto is seeking in their Jewish education system to lower the cost of Jewish day school.
The Jewish education session was an example of using the experience of a community like Toronto’s, with greater breadth and depth of experience than ours, to identify ways to be more inclusive and to reduce costs so more Jewish children can access what Held referred to as “high impact Jewish education experiences.”
The Affordability Summit’s results were recorded by each breakout group moderator and then graphically represented by a talented artist who integrated the ideas for the group to see. Each group produced a few suggestions and this information will be used by the Federation’s planning council to help inform the way forward.
For more information on how to become engaged in activities surrounding affordability in Vancouver, contact Shelley Rivkin, vice-president, planning, allocations and community affairs at Jewish Federation at [email protected] or 604-257-5192.
Michelle Dodekis a freelance writer living in Vancouver and the president of the Hebrew Free Loan Association.
T-Jex after-school supplementary program is a partnership between Schara Tzedeck Synagogue and Shalhevet Girls High School, where the older students mentor the younger. (photo from Shalhevet)
When friends approached Gila Ross several years ago to start a new Hebrew school in Vancouver, Ross turned for inspiration to a program she had previously run in Calgary for college students, refitting it for children.
The program, T-Jex – the Jewish Experience – is built around mentorship and is based out of Schara Tzedeck Synagogue. Vancouver’s Orthodox Shalhevet Girls High School (grades 8 to 12) sends carefully selected mentor volunteers to T-Jex to work one-on-one with students or in groups of two or three. The mentors work predominantly on building Hebrew-language skills with the children. Children also learn as a class with Ross, who is the main teacher and program director, and takes the lead teaching Jewish values, holidays and Torah study.
T-Jex, now in its fifth year, involves about 10 students a year. “It is an amazing opportunity,” Rivka Abramchik, principal of Shalhevet, told the Jewish Independent. “A big part of the Shalhevet curriculum, and the goals we set for our students during the five years they are with us, is to stand up and take leadership. This is an opportunity to take responsibility, to learn the concept of giving back to the community.”
She added, “The girls get to really see how one person can make a meaningful impact. T-Jex so beautifully intertwines with the desire the girls have to be part of Jewish continuity and gives them a chance to give in a way which also gives to the girls themselves. It’s a big commitment – to give up 90 to 130 minutes on a Tuesday afternoon is give up a lot of time for these girls. You would think teenagers would be reluctant but, actually, the idea of teaching a child, students get more inspired than you might think. We have repeats every year.”
Ross gives a presentation at Shalhevet annually to introduce the program to the school’s new students. The importance of committing for a whole year is stressed, as is the importance of engagement, motivation and responsibility.
“I really enjoy working with the kids at T-Jex,” said Grade 11 student Hadassa Estrin. “The gratifying feeling you get when you see them learning about their heritage is so special … like nothing else I’ve ever experienced.”
“Most of our students have been coming from word of mouth, from all over Vancouver and from across the Jewish spectrum,” said Ross. “They have heard from others that kids enjoy coming.”
Ross started a Facebook group for Jewish moms a year or so ago, which has become a virtual community. The group has also helped spread word about the Hebrew school.
Ross, who has six kids of her own, is the youth director at Schara Tzedeck, where she has spearheaded the synagogue’s Families That Give social action projects. She also teaches at Torah High, an after-school program, and works with her husband, Rabbi Samuel Ross, the director of Vancouver National Conference of Synagogue Youth.
“The most wonderful thing to see,” said Ross, “is the students wanting to be here and having fun. To see them take joy in learning and Jewish activities is what it’s all about.”
Matthew Gindinis a freelance journalist, writer and lecturer. He writes regularly for the Forward and All That Is Interesting, and has been published in Religion Dispatches, Situate Magazine, Tikkun and elsewhere. He can be found on Medium and Twitter.
This August, JCC Camp Shalom will also take place at Burquest Jewish Community Centre. (photo from JCC Camp Shalom)
The Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver’s JCC Camp Shalom for children and youth living in the Metro Vancouver area is coming to Burquest Jewish Community Centre Aug. 21 to Sept. 1.
Four years ago, a collaboration between JCC Camp Shalom and the Aleph in the Tri-Cities group began with the support of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver. This made it possible for children living in regional communities to attend JCC Camp Shalom in Vancouver.
This year, thanks to a grant from the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Vancouver, JCC Camp Shalom will venture into the Tri-Cities and run its first outreach session of the summer camp at the Burquest Jewish Community Centre.
This camp will look and feel just like JCC Camp Shalom: Jewish exploration and an Israel connection, while celebrating Canada 150; fieldtrips in nature and an overnight camping trip are included as well. The outreach camp also has free bus transportation and rates matching other camps in the area. Israeli and Jewish families living in Burnaby, New Westminster, the Tri-Cities (Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody) and beyond will be able to register their children ages 5-13 for one or two weeks of full-day camp. Registration opens May 5.
“This summer, we are finally going to have an outreach Camp
Shalom on our doorstep within our hometown!” said Yossi Dagan of the Aleph in the Tri-Cities group, who has been part of the project since its inception.
“As a community member living in the Tri-Cities, I am so excited to be able to send my children to a Jewish day camp so close to home,” said Tammy King, mother of three and program coordinator for Burquest. “For the first time, they will be able to participate in Jewish programming, learn about Israel and meet other Jewish kids their own age. This is definitely an exciting opportunity for Jewish families living outside of Vancouver.”
The ribbon-cutting at the launch of the Canadian Jewish Experience exhibit. From left to right: Dr. Mark Kristmanson of the National Capital Commission; Supreme Court Justice Michael J. Moldaver; Ottawa Police Chief Charles Bordeleau; Rabbi Reuven Bulka of Machzikei Hadas Synagogue; Catherine Bélanger, widow of the late member of Parliament Mauril Bélanger; Tova Lynch of CJE; Linda Kerzner of Jewish Federation of Ottawa; and Cantor Daniel Benlolo of Congregation Kehilat Beth Israel. (photo from CJE)
A new exhibit opened in Ottawa on April 2, to mark the contribution of Jews to Canada and to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Confederation. The Canadian Jewish Experience: A Tribute to Canada 150 is on display in the lobby of 30 Metcalfe St., just two blocks from Parliament Hill, and is open to the public daily from 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
The Canadian Jewish Experience is composed of specially created, bilingual exhibit panels illustrating nine major themes, such as contributions in war and diplomacy, public service, human rights, business growth, arts, culture and sport. A traveling version of the CJE exhibit will be available for display in other cities in Canada.
A parallel website has also been created to present more detailed information about the CJE exhibit topics and about many extraordinary Canadians. The website will provide information about venues for the lecture series and locations where the traveling exhibit can be viewed.
The Canadian Jewish Experience will also present a speaker series to highlight the contributions of Jewish Canadians to the development of Canada.
CJE has produced a special exhibit panel called Remembering Louis Rasminsky, which describes the work of Rasminsky, who was the first-ever Jewish person to be governor of the Bank of Canada. This will be on display at the Bank of Canada headquarters in Ottawa.
At the exhibit opening, CJE committee head Tova Lynch thanked donors from across Canada for the financial assistance they provided. In particular, she acknowledged its major donors: the Asper Foundation and Bel-Fran Charitable Foundation (Samuel and Frances Belzberg) from Vancouver.
“The CJE is an example of the tremendous love which Canadians have for our country,” Lynch added, praising the National Capital Commission for its cooperation. “Through our partnership with the National Capital Commission, CJE has an excellent downtown facility at the centre of events celebrating Canada’s 150th birthday.”
Lynch also noted, “Excitement is building as we approach Canada Day 2017. CJE will tell Canada’s Jewish story to many thousands of visitors to Ottawa in 2017.”
She pointed out that “Jewish Canadians have played a key role in all facets of life in Canada. Their accomplishments reflect the challenges and successes experienced by Canada in its first 150 years.”
The Jewish connection to Canada dates back to the mid-1700s. “The first Jewish Canadians arrived more than 100 years before Confederation,” noted Senator Linda Frum. “We’ve been here for a quarter of a millennium, but many Canadians don’t know the role we’ve played to make our country strong and vibrant. The Canadian Jewish Experience will help to change that.”
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said that the national capital is the appropriate home for the Canadian Jewish Experience. “In 2017, Ottawa will be at the centre of celebrating Canada’s 150th birthday and Jewish people have played a key role in all facets of life in the city. In fact, their accomplishments here reflect all the themes of the Canadian Jewish Experience, including being elected mayor.”
Other Jewish leaders and organizations who have assisted the Canadian Jewish Experience project include Victor Rabinovitch, former president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Museum of Civilization (now the Canadian Museum of History); the leaders of Jewish federations across Canada; and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. CJE is also supported by members of Parliament from all federal parties, Senator Frum, former senator Jerry Grafstein and Rabbi Dr. Reuven Bulka. Sandra Morton Weizman of Calgary is the curator of the CJE exhibit and virtual exhibit.
A malaria vaccine based on stabilized proteins could circumvent today’s problems. (photo from wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il)
Despite decades of malaria research, the disease still afflicts hundreds of millions and kills around half a million people each year – most of them children in tropical regions.
Part of the problem is that the malaria parasite is a shape-shifter, making it hard to target. But another part of the problem is that even the parasite’s proteins that could be used as vaccines are unstable at tropical temperatures and require complicated, expensive cellular systems to produce them in large quantities. Unfortunately, the vaccines are most needed in areas where refrigeration is lacking and funds to buy vaccines are scarce. A new approach developed at the Weizmann Institute of Science, recently reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, could, in the future, lead to an inexpensive malaria vaccine that can be stored at room temperature.
The RH5 protein is one of the malaria parasite’s proteins that has been tested for use as a vaccine. This protein is used by the parasite to anchor itself to the red blood cells it infects. Using the protein as a vaccine alerts the immune system to the threat without causing disease, thus enabling it to mount a rapid response when the disease strikes, and to disrupt the parasite’s cycle of infection.
Research student Adi Goldenzweig and Dr. Sarel Fleishman of the institute’s biomolecular sciences department decided to use the computer-based protein design tools they have been developing in Fleishman’s lab to improve the usefulness of this protein.
Based on software they have been creating for stabilizing protein structures, Goldenzweig developed a new way of “programming” proteins used in vaccines against infectious diseases. Such proteins, because they are under constant attack by the immune system, tend to mutate from generation to generation. So, the program she developed uses all the known information on different configurations of the protein sequence in different versions of the parasite. “The parasite deceives the immune system by mutating its surface proteins,” she explained. “Paradoxically, the better the parasite is at evading the immune system, the more clues it leaves for us to use in designing a successful artificial protein.”
The researchers sent the programmed artificial protein to a group in Oxford that specializes in developing malaria vaccines. This group, led by Prof. Matthew Higgins and Simon Draper, soon had good news: the results showed that, in contrast with the natural ones, the programmed protein can be produced in simple, inexpensive cell cultures, and in large quantities. This could significantly lower production costs. In addition, it is stable at temperatures of up to 50°C, so it won’t need refrigeration. Best of all, in animal trials, the proteins provoked a protective immune response.
“The method Adi developed is really general,” said Fleishman. “It has succeeded where others have failed and, because it is so easy to use, it might be applied to emerging infectious diseases like Zika or Ebola, when quick action can stop an epidemic from developing.”
Fleishman and his group are currently using their method to test a different strategy for treating malaria, based on targeting the RH5 protein itself and blocking its ability to mediate the contact between the parasite and human red blood cells.
For more on the research being conducted at the Weizmann Institute, visit wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il.
From left to right, Staff Sgt. Maya, Sgt. Noam and Brigadier General (Res.) Gila Klifi-Amir at a Friends of the Israel Defence Forces program April 3 in New York City. (photo by Shiryn Ghermezian)
Israel’s female soldiers seem to break barriers on a consistent basis. In January, new figures revealed that the number of women serving in combat roles in the Israel Defence Forces’ Homefront Command is up 38% this year. Last month, the IDF launched a pilot program in which women will be trained as tank operators for the first time.
Indeed, the Jewish state takes pride in being an oasis for gender equality in a Mideast region largely bereft of women’s rights, and this attitude extends to Israel’s military. At the same time, for a nation facing ever-present security threats both internally and on its borders, gender equality has its limits.
“The mission of the army is to protect and win. We need to understand that the mission of the army is not equal opportunity,” Brigadier General (Res.) Gila Klifi-Amir, who has had a 30-year career with the IDF and served as an adviser on women’s issues to the military’s chief of staff, said April 3 in New York City.
Klifi-Amir moderated a discussion with three female Israeli soldiers – Sgt. Noam, Staff Sgt. Maya and Staff Sgt. Y, whose full names were withheld for security reasons – in a program hosted by the Young Leadership Division of Friends of the Israel Defence Forces, a nonprofit whose mission is “to provide for education and well-being” of IDF soldiers.
The soldiers on the panel all told JNS.org they have never felt discrimination for being a woman in the military, and that their male counterparts treat them with respect. Y described the interactions as “very, very professional,” and Maya – who commands an infirmary at her battalion’s headquarters – explained, “We train with the guys, we do everything like them. Inside the unit, everything is the same.”
Israel is the world’s only country where military service is obligatory for women. From ages 18-26, women must serve two years in the military – with some exceptions, such as if they are pregnant. Today, 95% of the IDF’s positions are available to women, according to Klifi-Amir.
Yet “equal opportunity” does not exist in the purest sense, the soldiers said. Klifi-Amir told the crowd she does not believe all military positions should be open for women, depending on the mission. The physical training required for some military roles may be too grueling for a woman’s body, and the IDF is responsible for the life of each soldier, she said.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu meeting with Noble Energy executives in the Prime Minister’s Office on April 3. (photo from IGPO via Ashernet)
About 20 years ago, natural gas was found off the Mediterranean coast of Israel. Conservative estimates put the reserve at more than 40 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. It was found by U.S. company Noble Energy, which has invested more than $6 billion to develop these natural resources. Israel, Cyprus, Greece and Italy are now considering how a pipeline could be built by 2025, and they have signed a memorandum of understanding that will see the world’s longest under-sea natural gas pipeline. At an estimated cost of about $7 billion, the privately financed pipeline will run for some 2,200 kilometres. Turkey has also indicated an interest in being connected to the pipeline in the future.
עכשיו תורה של טורונטו להזיע: מחירי הנדל”ן בעיר הגדולה של קנדה לא מפסיקים לעלות (צילום: Benson Kua)
עד לאחרונה דיברו בקנדה על שוק הנדל”ן החים ביותר שנמצא באזור ונקובר. בחודשים האחרונים נראה שמחירי הנדל”ן בוונקובר קצת נרגעו לאור הטלת המס על זרים בהיקף חמישה עשר אחוז. ועתה כל העיניים מופנות אל אזור טורונטו, שבה מחירי הנדל”ן לא מפסיקים לעלות, וראשי ופרנסי העיר אובדים עצות ומזיעים.
מחירי הנדל”ן בישראל עלו ב-6.3 אחוזים בשנת 2016 ויש הרואים בכך עלייה משמעותית. אך לעומת זאת בטורנטו העיר הגדולה בקנדה והשלישית בגדולה כיום בצפון אמריקה (עם כשישה מליון תושבים), מחירי הנדל”ן עלו בשנה האחרונה בצורה משמעותית ומדאיגה של שלושים ושלושה אחוז. מדובר בעליית המחירים החדה מזה קרוב לשלושים שנה, כאשר מחיר של בית בממוצע באזור טורונטו עלה מכשבע מאות אלף דולר עד לכתשע מאות ועשרים אלף דולר כיום.
יש לזכור כשמשווים את מחירי הנדל”ן בין ישראל לקנדה את שערו של הדולר האמריקני. בעוד שבשנים האחרונות השקל הישראלי התחזק מאוד מול המטבע האמריקני, הדולר הקנדי באותה עת נחלש משמעותית. לכן עם משווים בין מחירי הנדל”ן בין שתי המדינות לפי שער הדולר האמריקני, הפער הוא הרבה יותר קטן לטובת קנדה.
לאור טרוף המחירים של הנדל”ן בטורונטו ראשי המערכת הפוליטית בעירייה ובמחוז אונטריו, מחפשים פתרון הולם שיצנן במקצת את השוק, ויאפשר לרבים יותר להיכנס אליו. הפתרון אם קיים הוא מסובך ביותר טוענים האנליסטים. ראש עיריית טורונטו, ג’ון טורי, אומר: “אני מאוד מודאג מהתיסכול של הדור הצעיר שמנסה כעת לרכוש דירות”. לדעת האנליסטים: “ללא התערבות משמעותית מצד הזרועות השונות של הממשל, מחירי הנדל”ן ימשיכו לטפס עוד ועוד באזור טורונטו, ואנו רואים את המשך המגמה הזו גם החודש (אפריל)”. אחת האפשרויות לנסות להרגיע את שוק הנדל”ן המקומי היא להטיל מס רוכשים זרים, בדיוק כפי שנעשה בוונקובר בחודש אוגוסט אשתקד. אך יש טוענים שמס כזה לא יעזור, לאור מחסור בהיצע של נדל”ן למרות שפרוייקטים רבים הולכים ונבנים ברחבי העיר, וכן יש לא מעט התחלות בנייה חדשות. יש משקיעים רבים שרוכשים נדל”ן בכמויות גדולות ומוכרים אותו כשהמחירים עולים. ונקובר סובלת מתופעה קשה זו שקשה מאוד להפסיקה וגם טורונטו נמצאת באותה סירה בעייתית.
יש שטוענים שמס בגובה חמישה עשור אחוז על זרים שמעוניינים לרכוש נדל”ן נחשב למס גבוה מאוד. אך לעומתם נציגי המפלגה הדמוקרטית החדשה שנערכת לבחירות במחוז בריטיש קולומביה, מציינים כי אם מפלגתם תקים את הממשלה הבאה, המס על הזרים אף יוכפל.
על טיפשות יושבים בכלא: גנב כספומט והסיע אותו על הטרקטור לעיני כל
כריסטופר הופלה בן העשרים ותשע מאדמונטון הוכיח שהוא גם גנב וגם טיפש. הופלה תכנן לגנוב כספומט ולברוח עימו אך מתברר שהוא התרשל.
הופלה נהג בטרקטור ועימו פרץ בשעות הבוקר המוקדמות לעסק שמעניק הלוואות, וממוקם בחנות בצפון העיר. לאחר שריסק את חזית החנות במסגרת המבצע, הוא העמיס את הכספומט שהיה בה על הכף הקדמית של הטרקטור, והחל לנוע מהמקום בנסיעה איטית. המשטרה שהוזעקה בינתיים לחנות שניזוקה קשה, מצאה במקום סימנים של רכב כבד. השוטרים הסתכלו החוצה וראו בקלות שטרקטור נעלם בסימטה הסמוכה. תוך דקות הם עצרו הופלה שנהג בטרקטור וכאמור בחזיתו על הכף היה מונח הכספומט הגלוי לכל. הוא יועמד לדין על עבירות של פריצה וגניבת רכוש. ועל טיפשותו הוא צפוי לשבת בכלא תקופה ארוכה. אולי שם ילמד לקח.
