cougar

This was probably the refueling stop to fly her to Guantanamo. :-)

Yep. that is exactly what they do; a treatment like she is a criminal; but two weeks detention? Give me a break! Those are idiots!

Argus, you keep stirring the pot any way you can, thanks. Yes, it may be difficult to believe, but many of those people from what you and Trump might consider "shitty countries" actually had a better home back there, more friends and a more fulfilling life. Canada was portrayed to them as this land of opportunity waiting for them with open arms where they can earn big money and prosper. It comes as a surprise, or rather a shock to them what the reality is. Do not blame them. Blame your government for continuing to bring more of them here any way they can, so they can expand the resource sector with cheap labor and continue the onslaught on the Canadian environment and wildlife for their own gains. Take a look at what people have built in the past in those countries and what kind of sheds for cattle we keep erecting here in Canada trying to sell them for a million a piece and look no further.

Didn't vote as I do not care. I will never vote conservative. Pretty soon I will not vote at all unless I am allowed to vote with a semi-automatic.

Good to know that. But the moment one decides to sell,. that means the primary residence has become a secondary residence. I hope one is allowed to buy a new place before selling the old one, as who would one to live at a hotel in the meantime.

And how the heck do you get internet there? Joking aside, I do not think one can live survival style anywhere anymore. It will not be long before the loggers show up and ask you to move out, or the miners, or the oil and gas folks. They fly helicopters left and right over here, on the weekends too, always on the lookout what they can pillage and plunder and sell to China.

Correct. I have been paying the same property tax amount over the past 5 years although they managed to raise the value of land 5 times in this period. But in each statement they say that the assessment value is "one of the factors" property taxes are based on. Anyways, I am tired of their shenanigans, so I will bring them to explain what exactly they are trying to do as the valuation they have done makes very little sense. Don't we pay tax on capital gains on the disposal of a property? (This is another can of worms, when we have to factor in inflation in the equation)

My property is not a mansion; it is a townhouse - comfortable for a single family and that is about it. Value for similar place as well as apartments is on the rise , in my opinion, due to the inability of young families to buy a detached house where the price will be two or three times what they can afford. It is not that the "value" has increased; it is just that people have been squeezed further into debt and into a tighter corner. At one point this whole real estate thing will blow up in our faces. For now, I will press my case with BC assessment and have my increases reversed.

No, I pay one sum which has 3 components - property tax, interest and principle. The interest is locked for 5 years (just renewed), so if I do not pay more each month after a property tax hike, I imagine my amortization period will increase, which also means I will be paying interest on the property tax increase portion. Again the main question is "What is value and did the VALUE of the old house increase?" My take is, if I did not renovate the house or put two more floors on top the existing structure, there is no way in hell the value increased by 54% in 1 year! Same with the land. You can only grow that many tomatoes per square meter, or have that many people live on it. The more people you put in, the less the value for each one is, so overall, there is no value increase.

I received a property assess statement last week for a small strata lot I have; well, on paper as I am still paying it off. They tell me that the value of my lot went up by 54% since last year!!! What is even more bizarre they tell me the land doubled in value, but with strata lots, the land is actually strata or common property. The only land in possession is the patch on which the house sits. Compared the old value of land of my lot with similar size lots to the west, south and east , and even before the increase they recommend for next yer, my land is valued 5 times more than any other similar lot around. I will get the BC Assessment office on that, I am sure, but the more interesting question to me is this: WHAT IS VALUE AND DOES THE VALUE OF A HOUSE ACTUALLY INCREASE? When I phoned the assessment office, they were quick to point out the LNG project starting in Northwest BC as the reason for the increase. Yes, yes.........but actually no, I would say. Value is something that I, as a consumer can determine. If in 2012 I could go to a spot on the river and catch 3 chinook salmon on a fly, I could not even fish for them in 2018 and this year I could not get any either! If I could go up north and come across only a couple of vehicles, in the past 2 years there have been scores of vehicles, noise and disturbance in the past 2 years. If in 2015 I could go to Mt Elizabeth and have an enjoyable day, My trip of 2019 can be described as a stressful industrial experience (already documented this one with pictures in another thread). So the value of my place to me has actually decreased. When they bring all pipeline workers to double the population, stress, traffic and pollution the value will drop even further. But the way our corrupt system sees it, one can ask for more money, as there are more people but not enough houses built at this point. This means , whoever is put between a rock and hard place will either be willing to pay more/month on accommodation or take a mortgage over a longer period of time, for smaller and smaller units. Not only that, but instead of having one person in a 1 bedroom apartment with the "increase in value", you will see three of 4 people living in the same space. Of course, if you are not selling, the net effect to you is an increase in property taxes on speculation values and the delight (to the foolish) that they have somehow become richer overnight without the need to do anything more. Since wages do not double in a single year (mine will not), whoever pays a mortgage will have a greater chunk go towards taxes and less go towards the principle in this way either extending the amortization period or having to pay higher amounts each month.

OK, have you tried to live on $9/hour at today's prices? Might work if you are at school and Mommy and Daddy are paying for the roof over your head, food and hydro bills. Otherwise you will soon join the tent of the homeless in the park.

Canada is a purely importing nation as well, save for some domestic agriculture and farming.

Can't believe 50% of the voters (so far) here think they can live and prosper on $9/hour or less. What a screwed up bunch of forum members we are.

ho-ho-ho The USA is the greatest moral compass; the war mongers of the past 40 years. Who else started a war other than them, and if ever there was a conflict did they not try to immediately put their finger into it? Our decision may in fact be the correct one this time. Zimbabwe, eh, why not, what's wrong with them?

No need. Keep spreading misinformation around.

Show me those factory workers in Canada working 40+ hours/week who can live in a big house, buy all gizmos, raise a family and go on a nice vacation every year! You must be delusional. I have been across Canada and in one short period of my life I was tossed around a number of companies. I remember coming across a 20 year old girl at a Dog Food plant in Ontario who was so happy she was finally given a full time position at the stinky disgusting place, after working there for over 3 years. Wages? I doubt she made it up to $20/hour even today. You think those people manage to buy a large house in Toronto and go on vacation to Hawaii every year? Gee's

Finally we are getting somewhere. I also find that comparing our "quality" of life to theirs will be equally meaningless. Too many factors to consider and even within one family you may have members who have better lives than other family members. Overall I think we are getting complacent believing we are doing great, while in reality most of us have boring lives revolving around work, paying bills and generally being slaves to the government, monopolists and other capitalist interests.

Yes, the country is broken and nobody cares. In this political forum alone there are 5-6 people writing only and about 60% of the posts are from Dougie93 who doesn't even live in Canada or like Canada. What a broken place!

You seem to forget that most supplies to Canada from China go through BC. Alberta and the rest of Canada will have a bigger problem with being cut off than BC will ever have.

I wasn't going to China; neither do I miss any of its 1.4 billion residents. The point made is that they survive on $3/hour about the same way as many Canadians survive on $15/hour. Then apparently they have enough rich people to influence the real estate market in Vancouver and other big cities and enough money to make their population continue to grow. Can we agree on this at least?

So you haven't been to China, just as I thought. You read articles on the web and believe them.

So even back in 1817 they recognized a person was entitled to 8 hours of recreation and 8 hours of rest a day. Where do we stand today? Those working at minimum wage often need to work two shifts just to make ends meet. In my environment, employees put in up to 72 hours / week , but most often the number is around 60. That is the only way for them to get ahead.

By importing products manufactured in China, our government endorses this type of production! And to be honest I am not shocked. I have seem terrible places in Canada too.

Have you been to China yourself? Those 24 people in a 3 bedroom apartment is a joke. Look at those high rises in the picture. Do you really believe that the elevators or the piping in those buildings will run with 24 people per unit???? And what are we so proud of in this country? Who can afford a place of their own in Vancouver or Toronto? Oh , wait a minute, it is only those same poor Chinese. I would say, look at how much time you spend working, how much time you have left to enjoy life and what you can do with what you make. Then the quality of food and the quality of your environment. Again, I would say that the Yuan must be artificially deflated so work can go to China.

I am not in the government to create problems for you, buddy. I lack any power to make any change, so I can only laugh when you see me as a problem.