Health Care Hippocrates: our food is our medicine. p6
Sunshine kids scream for California. p14
THE NEws
Gardening The joy of winter camellias. p23
www.mapleridgenews.com Friday, november 23, 2012 · Serving Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows · est. 1978 · 604-467-1122 · 50¢
woman gets life sentence for stabbing Leah Marie Florence has served three years already by Robe r t M an ge lsdor f staff reporter
Colleen Flanagan/the newS
Ruskin Gas owner Hardeep Sidhu might have to close his station and general store because of lower prices in Silverdale.
Gas station losing price war Ruskin store on Metro border can’t compete with Fraser Regional neighbours by Phil M elnyc h u k staff reporter
E
ight years ago, when Hardeep Sidhu first bought the Ruskin gas station and general store and started selling gasoline, the price difference between Metro Vancouver and Mission, in the Fraser Valley Regional District, was about five cents a litre. But the gap has grown over the
last few years as the gas tax was hiked – to the point that Metro Vancouver’s transit taxes add 17 cents to a litre and the trickle of motorists crossing into Silverdale a few kilometres away in west Mission for lower prices, has grown into a flood that’s washing away Sidhu’s station on 287th Street and Lougheed Highway. “I used to have almost 12 employees, but now I have three or four. Now I’m thinking I’m going to close it because I’m losing money,” he said Wednesday. “I’m so far away, I don’t have any services.” Sidhu’s property is also on well water, which means the property
wouldn’t work for a fast food restaurant, which needs municipal water. “If I can’t do something, maybe I’m going to close it. Because there’s nothing else you can do in that location.” That could happen next spring, he added. Sidhu said he used to open 24 hours a day, then cut hours from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., then 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. as business dropped. The cash flow tells the same story. An average day now brings in about $500 in gas sales. It was 10 times that when he first bought the business.
Peter Hayes
Paul Hayes
Kim Hunter
Peter • Paul • Kim
604-467-0811 www.thehayesteam.ca
(except Fridays)
13359 - 236th St. Starting at
520,000 + HST
$
Independently owned & operated
See Gas, p13
Index
Beautifully Detailed Homes
Show Home Open Daily 1-4
If he closes, it’s unlikely he’ll sell the property after spending $800,000 installing tanks and gasoline pumps when he first purchased it. Sidhu also pays $36,000 yearly in property taxes, and has no transit and no water or sewer services, instead relying on septic tank and well water. The lack of Metro Vancouver water and sewer restricts any future development options. So far, Sidhu is at a loss at what to do. Wednesday he was charging $1.26.9 a litre for regular unleaded, while the competition across the border were asking $1.11.9.
Opinion health Care As we Age Acts of Faith Real estate Review Community Calendar Scoreboard
A Maple Ridge woman who stabbed her husband to death three years ago during a domestic dispute will spend a minimum of seven more years behind bars. Leah Marie Florence, 45, was convicted in May of the second degree murder of her husband Andrew Lynn Milne after a dispute on Nov. 3, 2009. Florence was at New Westminster Supreme Court for sentencing on Thursday, when Crown counsel agreed to the mandatory life sentence. With a minimum parole eligibility of 10 years served, Florence could be out of jail in as little as seven years. Florence has spent the past three years in custody at the Surrey Pretrial Centre. See Stabbing, p13
R
ed nose volunteer helping ensure roads are safe this holiday season. See story, p3
Clients Always Come First 6 6 17 19 23 35 41
NATHAN ISHERWOOD 604-250-8375
nathan@clientfirstmortgages.com
STEVE D’SOUZA 604-837-3185
steve@clientfirstmortgages.com
CLIENTFIRSTMORTGAGES.COM
ORIGIN HOME FINANCIAL PARTNERS