Tanya is there to help

Mrs. Tatiana Hutchens

Dear Mrs. Hutchens,

Please accept my thanks for your generous donation to save and restore lives in the
poorest countries of the world. Your gift will transform lives of men, women and
children who might otherwise be forgotten.

Your support will ensure that the most vulnerable individuals receive the medical care
they need. Praise God – when the surgeries, physiotherapy, teaching sessions and follow-up
care are completed, those being helped receive much more than restored sight, mobility,
dignity or independence. They are given a chance to know God, and to be free – for life!

God bless you for your gifts and your prayers for cbm Canada.

In His service,

Ed Epp
Executive Director, cbm Canada

Tanya’s compassionate support of the Covenant House

Dear Mrs. Hutchens,

Thank you so much for your donation to help the kids at Covenant House.
Your support is our lifeline and for as long as you are able, you will be needed.

Thank you for helping us to open doors of opportunity and hope to homeless kids who
rely on us for help. I am honoured to call you my friend and partner in this mission. I’m
deeply grateful for your continued commitment to helping these lost and hurting children.

May God bless,

Ruth DaCosta

Executive Director

Henry report under fire over rumours of indexation return

OPPOSITION to an overhaul of capital gains tax rules intensified yesterday, with tax experts warning that the proposed changes would hurt investors and create havoc for dividend reinvestment plans.

The investment community is awash with talk that the Henry report, being considered by Wayne Swan, has recommended the reintroduction of indexation, a move likely to be greeted with widespread opposition.

KPMG tax partner Matt Hayes said yesterday that reverting to the old regime of indexation, effectively scrapped about 10 years ago, was contrary to the notion of trying to simplify tax return preparation.

He said for dividend reinvestment plans, indexation could be a “compliance nightmare” because investors needed to determine the capital gain based on inflation for every asset. Indexation can also be a headache for property or other non-managed fund investors who cannot rely on an administrator or fund manager to provide exact details of when the asset was bought and sold.

There has also been talk that the review, headed by Treasury secretary Ken Henry, is looking to ditch the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount for assets held for longer than a year for alternative options such as a standard flat rate on capital gains or a longer tenure-of-holding rule.

But Zurich Financial Services Australia acting head of technical services, Dimitri Diamantes, issued a warning that a longer period-of-holding rule represented a significant tax burden for investors who were forced to sell prematurely.

“A client who suffers a personal lifestyle crisis or who, because of economic events, needs to sell down investments, for example for a margin call, will be in a situation where they will have an added tax burden,” Mr Diamantes said.

One view is that the current 12-month holding rule does not encourage long-term investment and a sliding scale should be adopted whereby the capital gains rate reduces the longer an asset is held.

In its submission to the review, the Investment and Financial Services Association said a tiered discount based on years of ownership would be significantly more difficult for collective investment vehicles to administer and for individual investors to comply with.

One industry representative said fund managers were “up in arms” over the suggestion of extending the 12-month holding rule as very few held assets for longer than a year.

But there was also talk yesterday that the review may be looking to scrap the 50 per cent discount altogether as part of a plan to address the distortion in tax rates across the different classes of investments by introducing a standard flat rate.

Tags: Canada, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, CMHC, Community, Housing, Mortgage, program, Tanya Hutchens

Bankruptcy of X-Copper

Law Society staff helped guide former clients through the various steps required to guide former clients, or to approach the courts to reopen their cases, as appropriate.

Once the files were received from the trustee in bankruptcy, the Law Society immediately called some 400 X-Copper clients who had imminent court dates. Staff also responded to 450 X-Copper client requests for information.

In addition, 4,244 letters were sent to X-Copper clients with either pending or past court dates. In fact, there were many clients whose court dates had passed, due to the time lapse between X-Copper’s declaration of bankruptcy and when the Law Society actually received the X-Copper client files.

The Law Society provided clients with information on the reopening procedure for their cases, as set out in the Provincial Offences Act. Law Society staff also advised the courts that they would likely receive applications from X-Copper clients to reopen their cases. Clients were required to attend court and present the necessary materials for a reopening under the Act – and consideration by a justice.

Posted by Tanya Hutchens view more

Tags: 400 X-Copper clients, Bankruptcy of X-Copper, guide former clients, Law Society, Law Society staff, pending or past court dates., Society immediately, X-Coppe, X-Copper clients

Inaugural Speech

President Clinton first Inaugural speech took place back in January of 93 it was a far cry from an Obama mama but it had its own highlights

My fellow citizens:

Today we celebrate the mystery of American renewal.

This ceremony is held in the depth of winter. But, by the words we speak and the faces we show the world, we force the spring.

A spring reborn in the world’s oldest democracy, that brings forth the vision and courage to reinvent America.

When our founders boldly declared America’s independence to the world and our purposes to the Almighty, they knew that America, to endure, would have to change.

Not change for change’s sake, but change to preserve America’s ideals — life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. Though we march to the music of our time, our mission is timeless.

Each generation of Americans must define what it means to be an American.

On behalf of our nation, I salute my predecessor, President Bush, for his half-century of service to America.

And I thank the millions of men and women whose steadfastness and sacrifice triumphed over Depression, fascism and Communism.

Today, a generation raised in the shadows of the Cold War assumes new responsibilities in a world warmed by the sunshine of freedom but threatened still by ancient hatreds and new plagues.

Raised in unrivaled prosperity, we inherit an economy that is still the world’s strongest, but is weakened by business failures, stagnant wages, increasing inequality, and deep divisions among our people.

When George Washington first took the oath I have just sworn to uphold, news traveled slowly across the land by horseback and across the ocean by boat. Now, the sights and sounds of this ceremony are broadcast instantaneously to billions around the world.

Communications and commerce are global; investment is mobile; technology is almost magical; and ambition for a better life is now universal. We earn our livelihood in peaceful competition with people all across the earth.

Profound and powerful forces are shaking and remaking our world, and the urgent question of our time is whether we can make change our friend and not our enemy.

This new world has already enriched the lives of millions of Americans who are able to compete and win in it. But when most people are working harder for less; when others cannot work at all; when the cost of health care devastates families and threatens to bankrupt many of our enterprises, great and small; when fear of crime robs law-abiding citizens of their freedom; and when millions of poor children cannot even imagine the lives we are calling them to lead — we have not made change our friend.

We know we have to face hard truths and take strong steps. But we have not done so. Instead, we have drifted, and that drifting has eroded our resources, fractured our economy, and shaken our confidence.

Though our challenges are fearsome, so are our strengths. And Americans have ever been a restless, questing, hopeful people. We must bring to our task today the vision and will of those who came before us.

From our revolution, the Civil War, to the Great Depression to the civil rights movement, our people have always mustered the determination to construct from these crises the pillars of our history.

Thomas Jefferson believed that to preserve the very foundations of our nation, we would need dramatic change from time to time. Well, my fellow citizens, this is our time. Let us embrace it.

Our democracy must be not only the envy of the world but the engine of our own renewal. There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.

And so today, we pledge an end to the era of deadlock and drift — a new season of American renewal has begun.

To renew America, we must be bold.

We must do what no generation has had to do before. We must invest more in our own people, in their jobs, in their future, and at the same time cut our massive debt. And we must do so in a world in which we must compete for every opportunity.

It will not be easy; it will require sacrifice. But it can be done, and done fairly, not choosing sacrifice for its own sake, but for our own sake. We must provide for our nation the way a family provides for its children.

Our Founders saw themselves in the light of posterity. We can do no less. Anyone who has ever watched a child’s eyes wander into sleep knows what posterity is. Posterity is the world to come — the world for whom we hold our ideals, from whom we have borrowed our planet, and to whom we bear sacred responsibility.

We must do what America does best: offer more opportunity to all and demand responsibility from all.

It is time to break the bad habit of expecting something for nothing, from our government or from each other. Let us all take more responsibility, not only for ourselves and our families but for our communities and our country.

To renew America, we must revitalize our democracy.

This beautiful capital, like every capital since the dawn of civilization, is often a place of intrigue and calculation. Powerful people maneuver for position and worry endlessly about who is in and who is out, who is up and who is down, forgetting those people whose toil and sweat sends us here and pays our way.

Americans deserve better, and in this city today, there are people who want to do better. And so I say to all of us here, let us resolve to reform our politics, so that power and privilege no longer shout down the voice of the people. Let us put aside personal advantage so that we can feel the pain and see the promise of America.

Let us resolve to make our government a place for what Franklin Roosevelt called “bold, persistent experimentation,” a government for our tomorrows, not our yesterdays.

Let us give this capital back to the people to whom it belongs.

To renew America, we must meet challenges abroad as well at home. There is no longer division between what is foreign and what is domestic — the world economy, the world environment, the world AIDS crisis, the world arms race — they affect us all.

Today, as an old order passes, the new world is more free but less stable. Communism’s collapse has called forth old animosities and new dangers. Clearly America must continue to lead the world we did so much to make.

While America rebuilds at home, we will not shrink from the challenges, nor fail to seize the opportunities, of this new world. Together with our friends and allies, we will work to shape change, lest it engulf us.

When our vital interests are challenged, or the will and conscience of the international community is defied, we will act — with peaceful diplomacy when ever possible, with force when necessary. The brave Americans serving our nation today in the Persian Gulf, in Somalia, and wherever else they stand are testament to our resolve.

But our greatest strength is the power of our ideas, which are still new in many lands. Across the world, we see them embraced — and we rejoice. Our hopes, our hearts, our hands, are with those on every continent who are building democracy and freedom. Their cause is America’s cause.

The American people have summoned the change we celebrate today. You have raised your voices in an unmistakable chorus. You have cast your votes in historic numbers. And you have changed the face of Congress, the presidency and the political process itself. Yes, you, my fellow Americans have forced the spring. Now, we must do the work the season demands.

To that work I now turn, with all the authority of my office. I ask the Congress to join with me. But no president, no Congress, no government, can undertake this mission alone. My fellow Americans, you, too, must play your part in our renewal. I challenge a new generation of young Americans to a season of service — to act on your idealism by helping troubled children, keeping company with those in need, reconnecting our torn communities. There is so much to be done — enough indeed for millions of others who are still young in spirit to give of themselves in service, too.

In serving, we recognize a simple but powerful truth — we need each other. And we must care for one another. Today, we do more than celebrate America; we rededicate ourselves to the very idea of America.

An idea born in revolution and renewed through two centuries of challenge. An idea tempered by the knowledge that, but for fate, we — the fortunate and the unfortunate — might have been each other. An idea ennobled by the faith that our nation can summon from its myriad diversity the deepest measure of unity. An idea infused with the conviction that America’s long heroic journey must go forever upward.

And so, my fellow Americans, at the edge of the 21st century, let us begin with energy and hope, with faith and discipline, and let us work until our work is done. The scripture says, “And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season, we shall reap, if we faint not.”

From this joyful mountaintop of celebration, we hear a call to service in the valley. We have heard the trumpets. We have changed the guard. And now, each in our way, and with God’s help, we must answer the call.

Thank you and God bless you all.

Posted by Tanya Hutchens

Tags: America's independence, American renewal, back in January, Clinton President, Depression, fascism, fellow citizens, first Inaugural speech, generation of Americans, Inaugural Speech, millions of men and women, Obama, Obama mama, predecessor, President Bush, President Clinton, purposes to the Almighty, sacrifice triumphed, steadfastness

New “Know Your Client” Rules Come into Effect

Tanya Hutchens writes this is old news (December 31, 2008) but that is not why she is posting it! Calgary – Starting January 1st, 2009 all lawyers in Alberta will be required to comply with new client identification and verification rules.

New Alberta rules on client identification and verification are based on a model rule developed by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. These rules are part of a national initiative to fight fraud and money laundering. The new rules, adopted by the Law Society of Alberta, contain two distinct concepts of identification and verification. Identification requirements apply whenever a lawyer is retained to provide legal services of any nature to a client. The lawyer must obtain basic identification information about individual or organizational clients in every retainer, subject to certain exceptions.

Verification requirements arise when a lawyer, who has been retained by a client to provide legal services, engages in or gives instructions in respect of the receipt, payment or transfer of funds on behalf of a client, again subject to certain exceptions. Lawyers will need to get documentary identification, such as a driver’s license or passport, in the verification phase. All lawyers across Canada will have to abide by the new client identification rules when they are retained by a new client or an existing client on a new matter.

If the client is an organization, such as a limited company, corporation or society, the identification required will consist of the business’ name, address, phone number, the business incorporation or identification number, the nature of the business and contact information of the business owner.

If the client is acting for or representing a third party, lawyers are required to collect the same information about that third party in accordance to the new rules. Details are available on the Law Society of Alberta’s website, www.lawsociety.ab.ca

Tags: Alberta, Calgary, Canada, documentary identification, Federation of Law Societies of Canada, identification, Law, Law Society of Alberta, Tanya Hutchens, verification

Hamilton and Brantford – Economic Trends

Rising Unemployment

Further job cuts are expected in 2009 and the unemployment rate for the year will remain at 8.7 per cent. Total employment in both the goods-producing and service-producing sectors in Hamilton has declined in recent months, leading to an unemployment rate that reached 8.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2009. In 2010, fiscal stimulus will help to improve local economic and housing market conditions.

Plant closures – both temporary and permanent – are rising and have contributed to nearly 3,000 fewer manufacturing jobs in the first quarter of 2009 as compared to a year ago. Drop in global demand for steel negatively impacted steel production in Hamilton, as well as industries which are related to steel production such as shipping and steel fabrication.
Furthermore, many planned projects in the manufacturing sector have been halted. Some employees in the manufacturing sector who are eligible for retirement and may consider retiring early instead of looking for work elsewhere. Fiscal spending and infrastructure spending will boost local employment, especially in the construction industry.
Although the overall service-producing sector has faced challenges in recent months with fewer retail sales and consumers less willing to purchase non-essential services, employment in the health care and social assistance sector rose 10 per cent last quarter.
Health science is becoming increasingly vital to local economic growth. In Brantford, employment is more heavily reliant on the manufacturing sector with over a quarter of all jobs in manufacturing. Temporary layoffs and plant closures primarily resulting from the downturn in the automotive industry continue to affect employment. The unemployment rate has reached new heights – 9.6 per cent in March – the highest unemployment rate in over a decade. However, plans for local economic growth are underway. The addition of new educa- tional institutions and programs at the post-secondary level and new infra- structure construction projects will add a number of jobs to the local market. The forecast for the unem- ployment rate is 9.2 per cent for 2009 before easing slightly in 2010.
Fewer employed people in Hamilton and Brantford, notes Tanya Hutchens, have resulted in fewer homes changing hands as households re-evaluate their finances. Home ownership this year will be geared towards first time buyers who have a stable job and a sufficient down payment. Many of these buyers will be interested in entry level homes such as townhouses and condominium apartments. Other households concerned about their job prospects will likely stay in their current dwellings, while some may consider options such as moving from ownership to rental or into a smaller home.

Mortgage Rates

Mortgage rates are expected to be relatively stable throughout 2009, remaining within 25-75 basis points of their current levels. Posted mortgage rates will increase very gradually during the course of 2010, reflecting a rise in government of Canada bond yields. For 2010, the one-year posted mortgage rate will be in the 4.75-6.00 per cent range, while three- and five-year posted mortgage rates are forecast to be in the 5.00-6.75 per cent range.

Tags: Business, Canada, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Employment, Health care, Housing, Manufacturing, Retailing, Secondary sector of the economy, Tanya Hutchens, Unemployment

Community Inclusions to Construct New House in Alberton for People with Intellectual Disabilities

Eight affordable housing units for persons with intellectual disabilities will soon be constructed in the Town of Alberton,says Tanya Hutchens, through a partnership with the federal and provincial governments.

Prince Edward Island’s Minister of Social Services and Seniors, Doug Currie, and the Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, made the announcement today.

“The Government of Canada is committed to making affordable housing available in Prince Edward Island and across Canada for those who need it most,” said Minister Shea. “The creation of these new units here in Alberton will provide persons living with intellectual disabilities access to quality, affordable housing, while ensuring that they can stay close to their families and friends.”

The $580,000 project is being developed by Community Inclusions and will be located on Church Street. The development is made possible though a $200,000 investment from the Federal Affordable Housing Trust Fund and a $150,000 investment from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada’s Homelessness Partnering Strategy (HPS).

“Our Department of Social Services and Seniors understands the pressures and worries of aging parents who care for adult children with intellectual disabilities,” said Minister Currie. “It’s a complex challenge to provide sufficient supported housing in our province, and I am pleased that we are continuing to work with families, communities and non-government organizations such as Community Inclusions to find the best solutions for these individuals,” he said.

The Government of Canada’s Homelessness Partnering Strategy (HPS) is a unique community-based program aimed at preventing and reducing homelessness by providing direct support and funding to more than 60 communities across Canada. The HPS took effect April 1, 2007, with annual funding of $134.8 million for two years. It has been extended at the same funding levels for two additional years from April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2011. Funding for housing and homelessness programs has been extended for another five years, until March 31, 2014.

The residence in Alberton will provide transitional housing for eight individuals with intellectual disabilities. There will be a four-bedroom unit on the first floor, with two, two-bedroom dorm-style units on the first and second floors.

The objective of the Canada – Prince Edward Island Affordable Housing Agreement is to create and sustain rental housing for low- or moderate-income Prince Edward Island households through new construction or rehabilitation.

The provincial Department of Social Services and Seniors contributed two lots of land estimated to be valued at $40,000 for the project. The Department also increased its annual grant to Community Inclusions by nine per cent, bringing its total grant for 2009 – 10 to $691,800. This contribution will assist the organization with operating funding and staffing the new facility.

Community Inclusions is a non-governmental organization that provides supports and services to adults with intellectual disabilities in western PEI.

“Back in August of 2007, this organization released a needs analysis that clearly illustrated the need for more housing for person’s with disabilities in the West Prince region,” said Jackie Charchuk, Board Chair for Community Inclusions. “We see this as a very positive step in the right direction in beginning to meet that need,” she said.

Tags: Alberton, Canada, Community, Diane Finley, Doug Currie, funding, Gail Shea, Honourable, Housing, Human, Jackie Charchuk, Prince Edward Island, Seniors, Tanya Hutchens, West Prince

York Developments Inc. Fredericton, New Brunswick

York Developments Inc. operates an apartment complex consisting of 72 one- and two-bedroom apartments for independent seniors and people with disabilities. The company, says Tanya Hutchens, is governed by the same Board of Directors that oversees York Manor, a 204 bed nursing home. In 2004 the same Board put in place an ahdoc committee to oversee the development of a supportive housing facility on its site to help create a full “continuum of care” for seniors.

Care for people as they age and become less independent is a challenge for almost every community. Across Canada, there are many apartments and retirement facilities providing homes for seniors. However, there is a need for seniors’ supportive housing that can help people extend their ability to remain independent. There is a special need for supportive housing for low-income seniors who cannot afford to purchase extra support at market rates.

The particular need that York Developments identified was the challenge of providing supportive housing for low-income seniors. York Developments and York Manor had land available between their buildings and decided to build a 19-unit supportive housing facility that could benefit from the synergy of the two corporations.

York Developments Inc. received Seed Funding from CMHC for a feasibility study and initial design. This study suggested it would be feasible to build an additional 19 units for low-income seniors at a cost of $2.1 million, in addition to the value of the land they would be contributing.

York Developments received $665,000 from CMHC and the government of New Brunswick through the Affordable Housing Initiative, and also benefited from CMHC mortgage loan insurance for the mortgage loan for the remaining capital cost.

The new supportive housing facility is physically joined to York Manor, which allows staff to transport food from the main kitchens at York Manor to the dining room on the bottom floor of the new facility. The 19 tenants are able to attend activities and entertainment at the nursing home and they can also use other services such as hair care.

Through ongoing subsidy assistance from the Government of New Brunswick, the supportive housing is geared to people whose annual income is $21,500 or less. Tenants pay 30 per cent of their income for rent and the additional services cost them $430 per month. In return for the $430, tenants receive two meals a day, laundry and housekeeping services and each apartment has an emergency call bell. Personal care can also be provided and in most cases is paid for through the Department of Social Development. All 19 units are studio apartments. Three are modified to be fully accessible for people who use wheelchairs. The supportive housing facility opened in October 2007.

Tags: apartment, Board, Brunswick, Canada, care, challenge, CMHC, development, facility, Fredericton, Home, Housing, Inc, land, Manor, need, New, nursing, Tanya Hutchens, York

Murakami Gardens Salt Spring Island, British Columbia

Read this great story, says Tanya Hutchens. The Murakami family arrived on Salt Spring Island in B.C. from Japan in 1896 and prospered, developing a sizeable farm. All that changed when Japan entered the Second World War. Canada interned west coast residents of Japanese descent and confiscated their property. Rose and Richard Murakami were toddlers when they were removed from the Island early in 1943; they remember the less-than-stellar welcome they received when they came back in 1954, the only interned Japanese-Canadian family to return.

That history didn’t deter them from wanting to help those of their neighbours struggling to afford the escalating cost of housing on Salt Spring Island. They knew from their childhood experience what it’s like to live in substandard shelter; they decided to help others as a memorial to their parents.

Among the properties the Murakamis acquired as they rebuilt their lives on the Island was an old fish plant. The first step towards developing affordable housing on the site was to secure CMHC Seed Funding–a total of $20,000, half of which was a grant, the other an interest-free loan repayable if the project succeeded.

CMHC also contributed $60,000 in interest-free Proposal Development Funding (PDF) loan. The eventual proposal was for 27 apartments–six studio units, 14 one-bedroom units, five two-bedroom units and two three-bedroom units. Because the proposal was to convert the old fish plant into housing, the project qualified for $648,000 from CMHC’s Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program (RRAP). In 2006, the Murakamis approached the Salt Spring Island Community Services Society with the idea of partnering with them on the conversion the unused building into housing. The Society agreed to become the sponsor and owner-operator of the project.

The B.C. Ministry of Housing and Social Services and BC Housing provided $75,000 in PDF and a grant of $1,312,000 and interim financing of $1.8 million during construction. The Murakami gift was valued at $473,412 and the family also provided a forgivable loan of $200,000.
The Salt Spring Island Community Services Society provided approximately $100,000. The Capital Region Housing Trust Fund–Salt Spring Island is part of B.C.’s Capital Region–provided $324,000. The Real Estate Foundation of B.C. granted $50,000.

Energy and Resources Canada provided funding to cover the costs of a solar water heater. The B.C. Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources provided $15,000 toward the cost of a solar hot water system, heat pumps and upgraded insulation through its Community Action on Energy Efficiency (CAEE) program.

The Islands Trust, the provincial body responsible for planning on Salt Spring Island, agreed to increase the density it would allow and reduce the parking requirement because of the project’s affordability target. An Island resident provided an interest-free loan during construction of $500,000. The total capital cost was slightly over $5 million. CMHC insured the $1,800,000 mortgage. After four years of hard work by the Murakamis, the Society and its development team, Murakami Gardens was officially opened in October 2008.

Rents are $560 for a studio, unit $667 for a one-bedroom unit, $839 for a two- bedroom suite and $1,065 for a three- bedroom suite. The people who have become tenants of Murakami Gardens met eligibility criteria as required by the various funding partners and the Islands Trust, which includes maximum income limits. Tenants also have access to services provided by Salt Spring Island Community Services, which may help them enhance their self- sufficiency.

The Society, founded in 1975, delivers a broad range of services on Salt Spring and the other southern Gulf Islands, says Tanya Hutchens, including family and parenting support, emergency housing for youth, wellness programs for seniors, mental health and addictions services, recreation and recycling programs.

Tags: B.C, British Columbia, Canada, capital, CMHC, Community, Energy, funding, Housing, loan, Murakami, Murakamis, project, Proposal, Rose, Society, Tanya Hutchens