Dear Mrs. Hutchens,

We don’t often stop to think about it, but it’s the small things that really make life
complete – losing ourselves in a book, cooking a good meal, spending time with friends
and family. To me, these are some of the experiences that are at the heart of life.

Thanks to your support, CNIB has been able to help people who are blind or
partially sighted from across Canada build the skills to enjoy those simple, everyday
experiences – with practical training on everything from cooking to finding a job
to using a computer.

I’m writing you now with the hope that you’ll consider continuing your
support today.

Your gift of just $25 or $30 today can help provide much-needed services like
emotional support, computer training or one-on-one lessons in using a white cane.

To understand just how powerful your gift can be, you don’t need to look
any further than the life of Tamara.

Tamara is a confident 25-year-old who leads an independent, on-the-go life. By day,
she works from home, doing customer- service for a home electronics company. And-
by night, she takes public transit downtown to night school where she studies
marketing communications.

In her free time, Tamara volunteers at a local organization for artists with disabilities.
She’s also on a dragon boating team, and loves to sing jazz, shop, cook and do pilates.

And if it weren’t for her white cane, you’d probably never realize she’s been blind
since she was a baby.

“Sometimes I have to convince people that I really am blind,” she says….

But we need your help to do that.

So please, right now while it’s fresh in your mind, make a gift to CNIB to help people
with vision loss find the independence that Tamara has found – and that we all deserve.
We can’t continue to provide these important services without your help.

Thank you for your generous support. With your help, we can create lasting and widespread
change for people who are blind or partially sighted,

Sincerely,

John M. Rafferty
President and CEO

P.S. If you or your family should ever need us, we’ll be here for you. So please give as
generously as you can.

Dear Mrs. Hutchens,

Thank you so much for your loving gifts, chosen from our “Gifts of LIFE”
catalogue. Through gifts like yours, children will walk, go to school, play with friends, see a
mother’s face for the first time – parents and families will receive the tools they need to grow
their own food.

For your reference, below I’ve included a list of the gifts of LIFE that you ordered. I’ve
also enclosed a card to match each gift you gave. I hope they remind you of the ways you’ve
set children and families free … for life!

Together in His service,

Ed Epp
Executive Director, cbm Canada

You were part of Canada’s Olympic success and I’m writing to say thank you.

Wasn’t it wonderful, seeing how Canada’s athletes captured the world’s attention? When
Alexandre Bilodeau made history and won the first Gold medal on Canadian soil, he also won
the heart of every Canadian.

Time and time again, the crowd held its breath until that final second when the cheering
erupted on site and in homes allover the country. With every spectacular performance and every
medal won, Canadians celebrated a love of sport and love of our country.

Now that the 2010 Olympic Winter Games are over, I’d like to thank you for standing
with our athletes. When Canadians began this journey in 2004, the goal was to nurture our
athletes and build a world-class team. With your help we’ve done just that.

In fact we’re all so grateful for your support leading up to Vancouver that I’m sending
you a certificate of appreciation. It’s suitable for framing so why not proudly display it at home
or in your office? Whenever you look at it I hope you’ll remember how much your generosity
means as we start to support a new generation of athletes.

Thanks to you, Canada’s Olympic Team was stronger than ever in Vancouver. But
that’s not the end of the story. Right now, our athletes are already training for the London
2012 Summer Olympic Games and the next Olympic Winter Games in 2014 in Sochi, Russia.

Now, through the Canadian Olympic Foundation you can continue to contribute to our
Canadian athletes’ success. I’d like to invite you to join the High Performance Monthly Giving
Program by making a monthly gift of $20.12. But of course, you can choose whatever monthly
amount you’d like to give.

By giving even a small amount each month, you can help ensure there is stable funding
in place for top coaching, world-class facilities and ongoing support so that Canada’s athletes can….

The prospect of increased federal and state regulation and taxes has been particularly disruptive to the hiring plans of small- and medium-sized businesses, which have historically generated about two-thirds of the nation’s jobs.

“I don’t really see the private sector hiring much in the next few months,” says Brian Bethune, an economist at Global Insight. “For the small-business sector there is just too much uncertainty about what happens beyond 2010.”

Not only is the Obama administration seeking to push through major overhauls of energy and health care policy, it is also expected to impose dozens of new workplace rules and raise income taxes.

As Washington and Wall Street grow increasingly restless about the unusually slow pace of job creation and the risk of a so-called jobless recovery, key business groups have begun to bang the drum more loudly.

In reporting that its small business optimism index fell for the second straight month in December, the National Federation of Independent Business Tuesday said members’ No. 2 reason for not expanding payrolls was the prospect of government policy initiatives.

Twelve percent said it was not a good time to expand because of the political environment. Over the next three months, 15 percent said they plan to reduce employment, while eight percent plan to create new jobs.

“We’re hearing it more and more from our membership,” says Bill Rys, the NFIB’s tax counsel. “At the federal level, there’s uncertainty about tax rates, health care costs, energy costs. You also have what’s going on at the state and local levels, with new fees and taxes. They’re reluctant to jump back in.”

Rys says the effect has been more pronounced in the past few months, perhaps mirroring the legislative progress of the massive health care reform bill, the highly-publicized Copenhagen climate change conference and new EPA rules on carbon emissions, as well as the approach of 2010, when the near decade-long Bush administration tax cuts are expected to expire.

The NFIB has some 350,000 members with an average size of eight to ten employees.

Much like the severity of the recession, the degree of potential government change is a historic first for many business owners.

“When they went into business this isn’t something they considered,” says Rys.

This is what people should remember President Bush for.

On my orders, the United States military has begun strikes against al-Qaida terrorist training camps and military installations of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

These carefully targeted actions are designed to disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations and to attack the military capability of the Taliban regime.

We are joined in this operation by our staunch friend, Great Britain. Other close friends, including Canada, Australia, Germany and France, have pledged forces as the operation unfolds. More than 40 countries in the Middle East, Africa, Europe and across Asia have granted air transit or landing rights. Many more have shared intelligence. We are supported by the collective will of the world.

More than two weeks ago, I gave Taliban leaders a series of clear and specific demands: Close terrorist training camps. Hand over leaders of the al-Qaida network, and return all foreign nationals, including American citizens unjustly detained in your country.

None of these demands were met. And now, the Taliban will pay a price.

By destroying camps and disrupting communications, we will make it more difficult for the terror network to train new recruits and coordinate their evil plans.

Initially, the terrorists may burrow deeper into caves and other entrenched hiding places. Our military action is also designed to clear the way for sustained, comprehensive and relentless operations to drive them out and bring them to justice.

At the same time, the oppressed people of Afghanistan will know the generosity of America and our allies. As we strike military targets, we will also drop food, medicine and supplies to the starving and suffering men and women and children of Afghanistan.

The United States of America is a friend to the Afghan people, and we are the friends of almost a billion worldwide who practice the Islamic faith.

The United States of America is an enemy of those who aid terrorists and of the barbaric criminals who profane a great religion by committing murder in its name.

This military action is a part of our campaign against terrorism, another front in a war that has already been joined through diplomacy, intelligence, the freezing of financial assets and the arrests of known terrorists by law enforcement agents in 38 countries.

Given the nature and reach of our enemies, we will win this conflict by the patient accumulation of successes, by meeting a series of challenges with determination and will and purpose.

Today we focus on Afghanistan, but the battle is broader. Every nation has a choice to make. In this conflict, there is no neutral ground. If any government sponsors the outlaws and killers of innocents, they have become outlaws and murderers themselves. And they will take that lonely path at their own peril.

I’m speaking to you today from the Treaty Room of the White House, a place where American presidents have worked for peace.

We’re a peaceful nation. Yet, as we have learned, so suddenly and so tragically, there can be no peace in a world of sudden terror. In the face of today’s new threat, the only way to pursue peace is to pursue those who threaten it.

We did not ask for this mission, but we will fulfill it.

It is time now for us to come to a realization that our country is made up of many diverse backgrounds and different religions. We are ready now for a separation between church and state.

The American Jewish Congress is a national organization committed to the vigorous enforcement of the First Amendment provision requiring separation of church and state. The First Amendment provides “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” This provision — often called the establishment clause — forbids the government from performing or aiding in the performance of a religious function.

Our appearance at this hearing today arises from our concern that Proclamation 60 (both alone and together with Board Rule 5) abrogates the establishment clause in three fundamental ways. The first constitutional deficiency lies in the Proclamation’s glaring omission of any reference to the Darwinian theory of evolution. The second constitutional deficiency lies in the Board Rule’s requirement that evolution be singled out for a special negative treatment not required in connection with the teaching of any other scientific theory. The third constitutional deficiency arises from the fact that the proposed textbook standards allow for the teaching of scientific creationism. Despite attempts to describe scientific creationism as scientific theory, it is our position that scientific creationism is a religious theory and that, therefore, the First Amendment’s establishment clause prohibits its being taught as science in public school classes.

It seems apparent that, in establishing the proposed textbook standards, the intent of the State Board of Education has been to avoid conflict with a particular religious doctrine and to allow for the inclusion of religious theory in the science curriculum. The United States Supreme Court has made clear that the approach employed by Proclamation 60 is unconstitutional. In 1968, in a case titled Epperson vs Arkansas, an Arkansas biology teacher asked the Supreme Court to declare void a state statute which prohibited the teaching of evolution and which prohibited the selection, adoption or use of textbooks teaching that doctrine. The Supreme Court held that the statute was unconstitutional. In its opinion the Supreme Court stated:

“The First Amendment’s prohibition is absolute. It forbids alike the preference of a religious doctrine or the prohibition of a theory which is deemed antagonistic to a particular dogma.”

Under the standards so clearly articulated by the Supreme Court, Proclamation 60 and Board Rule 5, as presently written, fail to satisfy the constitutional requirement of separation of church and state. In order to comply with the applicable constitutional provisions, the proclamation and board rule should be revised in three ways. First, evolution should be clearly included in the science curriculum. Second, evolution should be taught as are all scientific theories and should not be singled out for special negative comment. Finally, the proposed textbook standards should make clear that scientific creationism is not to be taught as scientific theory. Rather, because there is no constitutional objection to teaching about religion, public school teachers should simply tell their students, when evolution is taught, that there are certain religious groups whose members do not accept the Darwinian theory and advise them to consult with their parents or religious advisers for further guidance on the subject.

The American Jewish Congress believes that this approach is not only fully consistent with the Constitution but is also an effective means by which to resolve objections to the teaching of evolution.

Should the Board of Education fail to take the steps necessary to make the Proclamation constitutional, then the result could lead to textbooks which do not meet constitutional standards. And that mistake would be a costly one to the taxpayers.

Testimony in behalf of the American Jewish Congress by spokes person Nina Cortell before the Texas State Board of Education, responding to Proclamation 60, setting forth specific content rules for biology and science textbooks to be adopted in 1984.

“Chief Judge Stansfield was passionate about making his court accessible and he was very good about getting people to share his passion,” said Turriff. “This is a very big loss for British Columbia.”

Stansfield continued to work until his death despite his illness and had been scheduled to meet with the Law Society’s access to justice committee on Thursday. He was a man who invited people to call him by his first name, Turriff said. “He was known among his judicial colleagues as ‘Hugh the Good’ and he was loved by everyone.”

Tim McGee, the law society’s chief executive officer, said Stansfield was dedicated to educating the public about the legal system and was the main speaker at the Law Society’s most recent Media and the Courts workshop in Victoria.

“He was the kind of man who would also take the time to talk to law society staff about the courts and the law,” said McGee, adding he was well regarded by the media. Turriff and McGee extended the Law Society’s condolences to Stansfield’s wife Jo-Ann and sons Colin, David, Patrick and Matthew.

A service will be held in the Great Hall at Robson Square at 9 a.m. on Thursday, June 4, 2009.

The Law Society of BC was incorporated in 1884 and is the governing body of the legal profession in BC. Under the provisions of the Legal Profession Act, the Law Society is responsible for the licensing, professional conduct and discipline of the more than 11,000 lawyers in BC.

New home construction activity in Hamilton this year will decline by 29 per cent to 2,500 starts before trending back up six per cent in 2010. A slowing economy and more choice in the resale market will dampen construction. Increases in residential construction in 2010 will also be tempered by the transition to the new sales tax on housing.
Tanya Hutchens says, although starts are expected to be down for all home types, single- detached starts especially will put a damper on total starts. Less than half of the new home starts through to 2010 will be single-detached homes.
Townhouse and condominium apartment starts will continue trending upward, especially since the condominium lifestyle is becoming more popular among all household types. A recently constructed, high-end condominium apartment building in Hamilton Mountain is one step toward fulfilling the lifestyle demands of some households, including the downsizing baby boomer generation.
By sub-market, approximately half of the starts will be in Burlington, with the remainder sparsely distributed across the rest of the CMA. Fewer starts in the new home market indicate that builders and buyers alike are hesitant to make a move in an uncertain economy.
Builders continue to focus on completing and selling current inventory while holding off on future projects. Starts for the year to-date are down 31 per cent while projects under construction are up by the same proportion, suggesting a shift in resources from new starts to ongoing projects. More than a third of the projects under construction are of condominium townhouses and apartments in Burlington In Brantford, single-detached home prices fell three and a half per cent to $282,000 for the first quarter of 2009.
Year to date, total starts are on par with last year’s level, and single-detached home starts have nearly tripled in the City of Brantford. However, this trend will likely taper off throughout this year due to the high number of unsold new homes. There were 116 unsold units at the end of the first quarter of 2009, all of which were single-detached homes and townhouses.
Considering the current economic conditions, some buyers in Brantford may be more inclined to look for a home in the relatively less expensive resale market. An increase in the supply of unabsorbed homes will depress the average price this year and builders may put off starting new projects until the completed units are sold. 360 new home starts are forecast for 2009 and 380 starts for 2010.
The New Housing Price Index – an index which captures the changes over time in builders’ selling prices of new homes of constant quality – started to plateau last year. More recently, home prices have started to fall in several sub-markets across the CMA, though the rate of decrease has been less than in the resale market.
Prices continued to rise in the more expensive home markets of Ancaster and Burlington, where half of the homes were absorbed. This indicates that there are still buyers who are looking for upscale homes, while taking advantage of the low mortgage rate. Should economic conditions stabilize, buying in expensive submarkets could be brought forward in advance of the introduction of the harmonized sales tax.

Sources and Acquisition of Investment Property

Real estate markets in most countries are not as organized or efficient as markets for other, more liquid investment instruments. Individual properties are unique to themselves and not directly interchangeable, which presents a major challenge to an investor seeking to evaluate prices and investment opportunities. For this reason, locating properties in which to invest can involve substantial work and competition among investors to purchase individual properties may be highly variable depending on knowledge of availability. Information asymmetries are commonplace in real estate markets. This increases transactional risk, but also provides many opportunities for investors to obtain properties at bargain prices. Real estate investors typically use a variety of appraisal techniques to determine the value of properties prior to purchase.

Typical sources of investment properties include:

Market listings (through a Multiple Listing Service or Commercial Information Exchange)
Real estate agents
Wholesalers (such as bank real estate owned departments and public agencies)
Public auction (foreclosure sales, estate sales, etc.)
Private sales
Once an investment property has been located, and preliminary due diligence (investigation and verification of the condition and status of the property) completed, the investor will have to negotiate a sale price and sale terms with the seller, then execute a contract for sale. Most investors employ real estate agents and real estate attorneys to assist with the acquisition process, as it can be quite complex and improperly executed transactions can be very costly. During the acquisition of a property, an investor will typically make a formal offer to buy including payment of “earnest money” to the seller at the start of negotiation to reserve the investor’s rights to complete the transaction if price and terms can be satisfactorily negotiated. This earnest money may or may not be refundable, and is considered to be a signal of the seriousness of the investor to purchase. The terms of the offer will also usually include a number of contingencies which allow the investor time to complete due diligence and obtain financing among other requirements prior to final purchase. Within the contingency period, the investor usually has the right to rescind the offer with no penalty and obtain a refund of earnest money deposits. Once contingencies have expired, rescinding the offer will usually require forfeit of earnest money deposits and may involve other penalties as well.

Sources of Investment Capital and Leverage

Real estate assets are typically very expensive in comparison to other widely-available investment instruments (such as stocks or bonds). Only rarely will real estate investors pay the entire amount of the purchase price of a property in cash. Usually, a large portion of the purchase price will be financed using some sort of financial instrument or debt, such as a mortgage loan collateralized by the property itself. The amount of the purchase price financed by debt is referred to as leverage. The amount financed by the investor’s own capital, through cash or other asset transfers, is referred to as equity. The ratio of leverage to total appraised value (often referred to as “LTV”, or loan to value for a conventional mortgage) is one mathematical measure of the risk an investor is taking by using leverage to finance the purchase of a property. Investors usually seek to decrease their equity requirements and increase their leverage, so that their return on investment (ROI) is maximized. Lenders and other financial institutions usually have minimum equity requirements for real estate investments they are being asked to finance, typically on the order of 20% of appraised value. Investors seeking low equity requirements may explore alternate financing arrangements as part of the purchase of a property (for instance, seller financing, seller subordination, private equity sources, etc.)

Some real estate investment organizations, such as real estate investment trusts (REITs) and some pension funds, have large enough capital reserves and investment strategies to allow 100% equity in the properties they purchase. This minimizes the risk which comes from leverage, but also limits potential ROI.

By leveraging the purchase of an investment property, the required periodic payments to service the debt create an ongoing (and sometimes large) negative cash flow beginning from the time of purchase. This is sometimes referred to as the carry cost or “carry” of the investment. To be successful, real estate investors must manage their cash flows to create enough positive income from the property to at least offset the carry costs.

Sources and Management of Cash Flows

A typical investment property generates cash flows to an investor in four general ways:

net operating income (NOI)
tax shelter offsets
equity build-up
capital appreciation
Net operating income, or NOI, is the sum of all positive cash flows from rents and other sources of ordinary income generated by a property, minus the sum of ongoing expenses, such as maintenance, utilities, fees, taxes, debt service payments, and other items of that nature. The ratio of NOI to the asset purchase price, expressed as a percentage, is called the capitalization rate, and is a common measure of the performance of an investment property.

Tax shelter offsets occur in one of three ways: depreciation (which may sometimes be accelerated), tax credits, and carryover losses which reduce tax liability charged against income from other sources. Some tax shelter benefits can be transferable, depending on the laws governing tax liability in the jurisdiction where the property is located. These can be sold to others for a cash return or other benefit.

Equity build-up is the increase in the investor’s equity ratio as the portion of debt service payments devoted to principal accrue over time. Equity build-up counts as a positive cash flow from the asset where the debt service payment is made out of income from the property, rather than from independent income sources.

Capital appreciation is the increase in market value of the asset over time, realized as a cash flow when the property is sold. Capital appreciation can be very unpredictable unless it is part of a development and improvement strategy. Purchase of a property for which the majority of the projected cash flows are expected from capital appreciation (prices going up) rather than other sources is considered speculation rather than investment. Brought to you by Tanya Hutchens. Enjoy!

The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation; Monique Smith, MPP for Nipissing, on behalf of the Honourable Jim Watson, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing; and George Jupp, Chair of the District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board, made the announcement today.

“The Government of Canada is committed to making affordable housing available in Ontario and across Canada for those who need it most,” said Minister Finley. “The creation of these new rental units here in East Ferris will provide seniors access to suitable, affordable housing that meets their specific needs.”

“There is a great need for affordable housing in our region,” said MPP Smith. “I am delighted that senior citizens in the Township of East Ferris will now have access to quality, affordable housing, while remaining close to their families and friends in the community.”

The $3.2 million Seniors Villa of East Ferris includes the 10-unit Corbeil Project and the 10-unit Astorville Project, providing affordable housing for low-income senior citizens.

The projects will receive annual affordability payments of $360,000 provided by the District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board.  Funding for the projects is complemented by municipal development fee waivers.

“The District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board is pleased to support the development of housing for seniors in East Ferris,” said Chair Jupp. “It is a Board priority to see that the housing needs of rural citizens are addressed.” Reviewed by Tanya Hutchens.