Good morning and welcome to your edition of Sunrise. |
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Back injuries from Whistler's bobsled ride have happened at steady rate: report
Two passengers of the "bobsleigh sport experience" in Whistler — the only ride of its kind in Canada — have suffered back injuries in the past year caused by seat ergonomics and compression forces, says a Technical Safety B.C. report.
By the numbers: There have been seven confirmed broken backs on the Whistler Sliding Centre's ride since 2012, according to the report released this month.
• The centre's website says visitors can experience what it's like to "slide like an Olympian," as trained pilots take them through twists and turns at speeds of 125 km/h. Passengers are asked before they ride to confirm they do not have any heart conditions and that they have not had any previous head, neck or back injuries. They also must meet certain age, height and other requirements.
What they're saying: “They compare it to a roller-coaster. But in a roller-coaster, the G-force isn’t sustained, you get weightlessness. ... The G-force on the bobsled is constant," a passenger injured in February told the safety authority.
You should know: The report concludes that while ride assessments determined the ride was safe for public use, they did not identify risks associated with ergonomics. So when injuries began to occur, the response was focused on filtering out patron vulnerabilities, rather than understanding and mitigating ride risks.
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Buyer of Whistler home, stuck with $127,000 vacancy tax bill, sues U.S. sellers
An American couple is facing a lawsuit after they sold their $17 million house in Whistler without paying their federal vacancy tax bill for 2022, the first year the tax became law, according to a lawsuit.
Mark and Shauna Trieb, travel bloggers who live in Dallas, Texas, sold the property to Wilson Weizin (Weixing) Cui through a contract signed on Sept. 5, 2022, according to a case filed in B.C. Supreme Court.
The sale completed on Jan. 18, 2023, with Cui’s purchase of all of the shares of a holding company through which the Triebs owned the property, according to documents filed in court. They were sole directors and shareholders of the company, it said.
The sale contract included a warranty that the Triebs’ holding company had paid all taxes, but Cui said it hadn’t, leaving him to pay $127,910 under the federal government’s underused housing tax for non-resident owners, it said.
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• Surrey RCMP announced one of its largest drug seizures on Wednesday, uncovering massive quantities of illicit drugs, firearms, and vehicles through a months-long investigation targeting a criminal group in Metro Vancouver. Three men were arrested, and the bust, which included 80 pounds of fentanyl and six firearms, comes as the RCMP prepares to transfer policing duties to the Surrey Police Service on November 29.
• Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim announced Wednesday that a press conference will be held this morning at 8 a.m. to outline the city’s proposed takeover of the Vancouver Park Board, a plan supported by local Indigenous leaders but opposed by most current board members. The update will include progress on governance changes, the transition of temporary parks to permanent status, and cost-saving measures, ahead of a formal report to council on November 27.
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“My statements represent a grave slur on his personal and professional integrity and have caused him and his family considerable distress and embarrassment.
“I now accept my error in publishing the statements and recognize the considerable damage they have done to Mr. Cheema.” |
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Ian Brackett and Mark Goodman: Slamming the brakes on rental housing development
When a local government adopts a new land use policy, it would be reasonable to think it has been financially tested and, on some level, offers a viable path to creating the type of housing it purports to allow.
After all, what would be the point of spending time and scarce staff resources on plans that are unlikely to work or will ultimately hinder progress?
Unfortunately, this logic doesn’t prevail in Metro Vancouver. Too often we find ourselves gifted with new policies that are entirely unfeasible, or that actually reduce the viability of building in areas that were previously designated for growth.
Consider, for example, the city of Vancouver’s response to B.C.’s new Transit-Oriented Development Areas legislation.
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More Metro Vancouver seniors seeking work, non-profit reports
Mission Possible, a Downtown Eastside non-profit for help in rejoining the workforce, has seen a 165 per cent increase in applications compared with 2023, the number of seniors in need have also exploded.
Context: Mission Possible provides tech training, resume preparation and coaching, and opportunities for work experience through two social enterprises. One of them is MP Neighbours, which provides security for neighbourhoods and events. The other is MP Maintenance, which provides groundskeeping, landscaping, pressure washing and other building services. • Many seniors are facing homelessness. According to the 2023 Vancouver Homeless Count, 21 per cent are seniors, and nearly half of those, or 47 per cent, are facing homelessness for the first time. The top reason for housing loss cited was insufficient income.
• A 2023 Deloitte report showed that 55 per cent of near-retiree households will have to make lifestyle compromises to avoid outliving their savings, and 31 per cent of retirees will be dependent entirely on public retirement income such as CPP.
What they're saying: “We’ve had an increasing number of seniors and retired people coming to us for help because they just can’t make ends meet,” said Matt Smedley, Mission Possible’s executive director.
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THE NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD |
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