LAST-DITCH EFFORT TO SAVE PUB
page
8
THREE KEYS TO RENOVATION
page
9
11
Wednesday, March 18, 2015 NewsLeader AX
DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN FOR REBELS
page
WEDNESDAY
MARCH 18 2015 www.burnabynewsleader.com
Protector pole looking for a permanent home on Burnaby Mountain. Page A3
Shootings may be connected to Surrey incidents Shots fired on Sixth street Thursday
Getting answers on transit vote Referendum Questions is a Black Press series exploring issues related to the Metro Vancouver transit and transportation referendum. Voters must mail in ballots by May 29 on whether they support the addition of a 0.5 per cent sales tax in the region, called the Congestion Improvement Tax, to fund billions of dollars worth of upgrades. Read more in this series on our website.
Referendum question: How much will the sales tax increase cost? Jeff Nagel Black Press
The Yes and No sides use very different estimates of what the extra 0.5 per cent Congestion Improvement Tax will cost the typical family. The Mayors’ Council pegs the per household cost of the sales tax hike
Burnaby’s SOLD Expert!
LESTER LIN
at an average of $125 per year based on statistics on spending patterns and how much the province now collects in PST from the region. It says the increase works out to 35 cents a day, and the extra tax would be $3 on a $600 new sofa or $150 on a $30,000 car. The No side’s Jordan Bateman rejects the $125 figure and estimates a real household cost of $258 a year. His estimate – from simply dividing the $250 million to be raised each
Cash buyers for older homes, lot value. CALL TODAY!
604-722-2211
Top 1% of All REALTORS® in Greater Vancouver
www.lesterlin.ca | info@lesterlin.ca
City Realty
year by the number of households in the region – assumes every new tax dollar paid by businesses would be downloaded to their customers through higher prices. That’s flawed, because some of the sales tax paid by Metro Vancouver businesses is on products exported elsewhere to be bought by customers who don’t live in the region. Some is charged on business-tobusiness transactions. Please see REFERENDUM QUESTION, A5
We’ ve e xpa nded
o ur
Nando’s Kingsway 4334 Kingsway
coop!
RCMP and other Lower Mainland police detachments are trying to determine if there is a possible connection between reports of shots fired Thursday night in southeast Burnaby and a string of shootings in Surrey last week. Burnaby Staff Sgt. Major John Buis confirmed Friday police received several 911 calls before 10 p.m. Thursday about multiple shots fired on Sixth Street between 16th and 18th avenues. Police found numerous shell casings at the scene but no damaged vehicles or victims. As of Monday, that status had not changed nor had a connection between the six shootings in Surrey been made. Friday morning, investigators were canvassing hospitals to see if anyone had been injured at the time gun shots were heard being fired. “We are very aware of what’s been going on in the Lower Mainland,” Buis said. “We want to see if there is a connection.” RCMP is asking anyone with information to call Burnaby RCMP at 604294-7922.