A7-Suanday News, October 12, 1980

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Housing crisis to be eased

Dear Editor:

Was Angus Ree, North
Vancouver Capilano MLA.
serious when he suggested
recently that the solution to
the housing shortage and
upemployment§ in the
Vancouver area is to get
people to move away to
places hke Kamloops and
Fort St. John?

Is his government so
bereft of policy thar all it can
offer to solve our housing
and unemployment
problems ts the export of
50,000 people?

Where does Ree get his
information that Kamloops
and Fort St. John have a
surplus of jobs and = ac-

commodation?
Mr. Ree's = simptistic
“solution” would be

laughable if it weren't for the
fact that he represents the
party in office in Victona.
Mr. Ree says that
“housing should be left
strictly to the private sector”
and that the government
should not intervene. That's
precisely what his govern
ment has done all along and

that’s why we're in such a
“jackpot” today.

The need and demand
today 1 for affordable
housing. The private sector
has demonstrated = con-
clusively that it cannot and
will not fill this need.

The two main facets in the
cost of housing are land and
bigh interest rates. Mr. Ree
wants these decided by the
marketplace.

But the law of supply and
demand doesn't operate
freely in the housing
marketplace today. It has
been distorted by two factors
at least — the with-holdmg
of land from the market and
excessive interest rates.

Big developer
porations own  iiterally
thousands of lots im _ the
Lower Mainland which they
are keeping off the market to
keep the price up.

cor-

Secondly, municipal
governments, and the
provincial government too,
own thousands of lots that
they are keeping off the
market, and when they do

put them up for sale, it ts to
the highest bidder; such as
the land recently sold by the
provincial government at the
entrance of Mt. Seymour
Park.

As for the high mterest
rates on building loans, there
is nothing to prevent senior
governments from providing
low interest loams. As a
matter of fact, the federal
government does offer such
loans, night now, but most
municipalities are not takmep
advantage of them.

Mr. Ree says that he is
opposed to rent controls
because they are an “m-
terference”™ in the
marketplace. That statement
won't go down well with the
thousands of peopie being
gouged today by landlords
who are taking advantage of
the zero vacancy rate.

We need not less but more
rent controls in this province
to protect the ordmary
renter from = unscrupulous
explontaton.

I have clear recollections
that every te the forest or
mining industry got into

Can’‘t put a price on a

Dear Editor:

There are times m a
democracy when the in-
terests of the individual must
give way for the greatest
good for the greatest number
of people. Expropnation 1s
such a tame and where there
is perhaps no other course
open to government there is
a modicum of jyustiice hard as

wason the homeowner But.
when due to the tack of
foresight and planning a

KEEP IT SHORT

Readers’ totters on all topics
ase weicomed snd MAILBOX
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ble, subject only to space
limitations. To heip us print
YOUR letter while it's still time
ly. please keep it short and to
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than 200 words (about 20 lines
of average typing or 26 lines of
avorage handwriting)

All tetters must be signed and
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name must also be spelled oui
Cloarty in block letters Steect

nomde-piume will be used il
specially requested We
reserve the sight to ed)t iotters
tar brevity, taste and legality

Let. fea Gum you often The
adtdbess o Morth Shose News
1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North
Vancouwer 6 C VIM 7944

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When you necd professional advice and

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Deotesseonal Cheung your Graperten wil book

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CLEANERS ri
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cleaner Of your
tre:
Dwy CReraners

contt ve ne

Canmtymilnvety how

Council has failed to acquire
suitable property within the
immediate area while land
was still available at a
reasonable pnce. they do. as
in the case of the Noble
property on Hunter Street
commence cipropnation to
satisfy the needs of the Fire
Department. then one must
pause to reflect) The Fire
Chief says no other property
is suitable) the Council says
Wo ocannmot po clsewhere
because of the pnce What
they are saying in effect 1s,
“To hell with the home
owner, well take the piece
of the property we want and
thatis the end of it 7

Nothing ts sand of what
happens to the ruined
property that ws left) a nine

foot backyard and a twelve
foot wall up the side The
District just might be moved
to compassion and offer to
buy the whole property at
faa market pncee

What is a fair market price
three
lived?
price the
the happincss.
the sadness that madc it a
home A house is bricks and

for ao home where

genecrathons have
What

memao©nes

arc

mortar a home wo ycan of

borning and dying. of
struggle and hardship. of
victory and = success, of
laughter and of tears. What
is the price? There is none
and if these people are
forced out they should be
paid on that basis and not on

difficulties, the government
rushed m with tax con-
cessions and subsidies from
the public purse to help
them keep up their rate of
profit. Why doesn't it now
show the same concern for
people that it does for big
business?

The housing shortage can
be alleviated by two simple
steps, both of which can be
taken by government.

The first is for
municipalities and _ the
provincial povernment to
make land available at
nominal cost.

The second is for senior
govenments to provide low
interest loans to build af-
fordable housme.

Mr. Ree and the govern-
ment he represents have no
nght to shrug their shoulders
and tell people to get out.
They have a responsibility to
help provide affordabie
housing and should not shirk
that responsibility.

Ernie Crist
North Vancouver

home

the going price for a pile of
bricks and mortar and a few
square feet of dirt. These
people are not greedy. they
just don't want to sell their
home. What would you do?
C_F. Vagg

North Vancouver

Licensing of
Rec Centre opposed

Dear E-ditor

We would Ihe to ask the
residents bying within a sax
block the North
Vancouver Recreation
Centre at 23rd and Lonsdale.
ff they are aware that the
Recreatbon Commission has
been given “Approval m
Pnaciple™ by the local
councils to open a Class ~A~
heensed lounge, to scl
hquor by the eiass in the
Seymour room, which could
be open 14 hour a day. 7
days a week

radius of

Those woting to protest
should wnte to the following
address before October 15

Unapery
With rep din

cmt hem yee

CLEANING
kia

We take the worry out of Grapery cleaning

the general
laquor Control and
licensang Branch, P © Box
640, Victona, BC Vow
28

Resadents outside
the saz bloch arca wishing to
protest should
phone their respective
Mayor and Council
Richard
lbngworth
North Vancouver

Manager.

living

wric or

and Audricy

Joiner |

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matgzey, BC 3

3
(604) 533-9722

Pity shown for
show contestants

Dear Editor:

I couldn't help but feel
pity for the close to a
hundred people in costume
who begged and whimpered
in order to be selected for
the trading floor on “Let's
Make a Deal”.

It was a pathetic sight to
see people who were willing
to go to such extremes for
money and a chance to be
on television. Some had
been coming for days in the
hopes of being picked, only
to be ignored. Watching
grown people rant, rave and
then cry is a sad thing and it
makes one wonder about the
values of today’s society.

The production people's
attitude towards those who

tw apilano mall

MING WO

« OOK WARE

‘the Wond erful Wok’

had come for the show was
not impressive. They did not
seem to be concermed about

individuality, nor hurt
feelings.

The members of the
audience were’ herded

around as though they were
cattle (without the least bit
of consideration). It seemed
as though all that those who
were producing the show

‘were interested in, was the

show and, as emphasized by
Chuck, the announcer,
money.

A very sad reality has been
presented here, and that 1s
that people will do virtually
anything for money.
Scheherazade Jamal
North Vancouver

980-9213

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