Letters to The Vancouver Sun, March 3, 2020: The property insurance fiasco – Deja vu all over again
Credit to Author: Carolyn Soltau| Date: Tue, 03 Mar 2020 02:00:28 +0000
First, we had the leaky condo fiasco. Now, we have the property insurance fiasco. Is this because of the way condos are marketed? It used to be that most apartment buildings were built for rentals. Now, most are built for re-sale. Builders no longer need to worry about the longevity of a building. Once the construction is finished, the onus is on the buyer to keep the building in good repair. The builder takes his profit and walks away.
Of course, selling a new-built is easier if the strata fees are reasonable, but over time and with normal wear and tear these will need to increase, leaving the owners with either higher fee increases, or repairs that are not undertaken in a timely fashion. When upkeep is delayed, problems escalate.
Enter insurance companies. Deja vu all over again.
Pam Clark, Surrey
Re: Ladner hospice to lose B.C. funding for banning medically assisted dying
It’s disturbing to see the government trying to impose MAiD on the Delta Hospice. They should provide reasonable accommodation such as transfer of care across the street to the local hospital. Many patients who attend this location are precisely looking at that haven where they can feel welcome. In Quebec, for instance, governments have respected hospice’s rights to decide whether to offer MAiD in their premises or not. Similar situations can be found across the border.
Section 1553 of the Affordable Care Act is explicit: “Any state or local government or health care provider that receives federal financial assistance under this Act … may not discriminate against an individual or institutional health care entity because the entity does not provide any health care item or service that causes, or assists in causing, the death of any individual, such as by assisted suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing.”
That, I call Freedom.
Rene Leiva, MD CM, CCFP (Palliative Care and Care of the Elderly), Ottawa
Re: ‘Empty storefront tax’? Vancouver councillors, staff look at retail vacancies
Of the myriad challenges facing neighbourhood stores, such as changing shopping habits, rising wages and insurance rates, to name a few, by far the most crippling is exploding property taxes linked to highest and best-use of commercial land. This notion has been widely reported by various media. To suggest that the answer to a problem rooted in high taxes is another tax is totally absurd. Except in some cases where properties are left empty awaiting permits or rezoning, filling rentable space is the very model of the real estate business.
Empty storefronts benefit no one and is the unfortunate result after all efforts to retain tenants have been exhausted. I write to caution against a new tax knowing that government never sees a tax it doesn’t like.
Frederick Kwong, Vancouver
Re: The puzzle of the high-end gender pay gap
I am a research scientist who has worked on a part-time basis since my first child was born. This decision has come with financial difficulties, but I know that my vocation as a mother is as valuable, if not more valuable, than my vocation as a scientist. The researchers cited in the article, “The puzzle of the high-end wage gap”, do indeed seem puzzled that women continue to prioritize family responsibilities over career. They cite evidence that even generous government policies such as those in Nordic countries fail to compel many women to prioritize career over family and reduce the wage gap. They argue that biases within society compel women to be “hindered” by family responsibilities and that women must be saved from this bad choice.
What the researchers fail to recognize is that many women freely choose to prioritize family because they truly value motherhood and the joy of sacrifice in the service of others. We do not want government or society to tell us that our value cannot be found in motherhood but can only be found in a successful, well-paying career. We are often told that we need to get back to work. We are already working! Motherhood is a valuable and, unfortunately, undervalued vocation.
Suzana Kovacic, Burnaby
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