Russia’s Wagner mercenary force boss threatens Bakhmut withdrawal - Al Jazeera English

The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary force threatens to withdraw his troops from the key battle for Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine as casualty rates mount while Ukraine’s military authorities say Russian forces have been unable to cut their supply routes to the front-line city.

Losses in Bakhmut are five times higher than necessary because of a lack of artillery ammunition, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an interview with Russian military blogger Semyon Pegov published on Saturday.

“Every day we have stacks of thousands of bodies that we put in coffins and send home,” Prigozhin said.

Prigozhin said he has written to Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu asking for ammunition as soon as possible.

“If the ammunition deficit is not replenished, we are forced – in order not to run like cowardly rats afterwards – to either withdraw or die,” he said.

The withdrawal of some fighters from Bakhmut would be likely, but he warned that this would mean the Russian front line would collapse elsewhere.

In an audio statement published on the Telegram messaging app account of his press service on Saturday evening, the Wagner boss said he had lost 94 fighters due to a lack of ammunition.

“It would have been five times fewer if we had more ammunition,” said Prigozhin, who has previously accused Russia’s regular armed forces of not giving his men the ammunition they need. He has also accused Russia’s top brass of betrayal.

A Ukrainian military spokesperson said on Saturday that Russian forces have been unable to cut off its supply lines to the Ukrainian defenders of Bakhmut.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington, DC-based think tank, reported the Wagner chief as stating that his forces have received 800 of the 4,000 shells per day that they had requested from Russia’s Ministry of Defence.

Prigozhin also said the long-awaited counteroffensive by Ukraine will begin before May 15 and he lamented that Russian forces are not hurrying to prepare for the expected onslaught, according to the institute.

“Prigozhin’s threat to withdraw from Bakhmut may also indicate that Prigozhin fears that the Russian positions in Bakhmut’s rear are vulnerable to counterattacks,” the institute said.

#Wagner Group financier Yevgeny #Prigozhin threatened to withdraw Wagner forces from #Bakhmut if the #Russian military command fails to provide more ammunition to Wagner mercenaries.

Our latest: https://t.co/4UQSbj7mpa pic.twitter.com/kpcff7iWDR

— ISW (@TheStudyofWar) April 29, 2023

‘Road of life’ to Bakhmut

Russian forces have been trying for 10 months to punch their way into the shattered remains of what was once a city of 70,000. The battle of attrition for Bakhmut has become known as the “meat grinder” due to its high casualty rates.

“For several weeks, the Russians have been talking about seizing the ‘road of life’ as well as about constant fire control over it,” Serhiy Cherevatyi, a spokesperson for Ukrainian troops in the east, said in an interview with the local news website Dzerkalo Tyzhnia.

“Yes, it is really difficult there, … [but] the defence forces have not allowed the Russians to cut off our logistics,” he said.

The “road of life” is a vital route between ruined Bakhmut and the nearby town of Chasiv Yar to the west, a distance of just more than 17km (10 miles).

The supply of provisions, weapons and ammunition is secured, Ukrainian forces were maintaining their positions along the road and engineers had already laid new roads to Bakhmut, Cherevatyi said.

“All this allows us to continue holding Bakhmut,” he said.

If Bakhmut fell, Chasiv Yar would probably be next to come under Russian attack, according to military analysts, although the city is on higher ground and Ukrainian forces are believed to have built defensive fortifications nearby.

Ukraine has pledged to defend Bakhmut, a city Russia sees as a stepping stone to attack other Ukrainian areas.

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Russia’s Wagner mercenary force boss threatens Bakhmut withdrawal - Al Jazeera English
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UFC Fight Night: Song vs Simon Results | Winner Interviews, Highlights And More From Las Vegas - UFC

Cody Durden defeats Charles Johnson by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Flyweights Cody Durden and Charles Johnson carried their pre-fight tensions into the Octagon on Saturday, engaging in a fast-paced grudge match on the prelims.

On the feet, Johnson showed smooth, fluid striking, but throughout the contest, Durden forced the issue with his wrestling, frequently dragging Johnson to the canvas, taking his back and forcing him to defend. But the heavy output on the canvas took its toll on Durden as well, and in the late stages of the second and early in the third, Johnson was able to out-work his rival on the feet. Durden finally got in on a takedown and back onto Johnson’s back with two minutes remaining, maintaining control of “InnerG” the rest of the way.

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Bus driver punched in the face in Vancouver, union calls for more security - Global News

The union representing Metro Vancouver transit operators is calling for better security, after a bus driver was punched in the face after finishing his shift this week.

Metro Vancouver Transit Police confirmed they were investigating an assault reported to have happened in the 200 block of Davie Street around 5:40 p.m. on Tuesday.

“The bus operator was walking towards Yaletown Station when the suspect approached him, made some remarks and then punched him once in the head before leaving the scene,” transit police Const. Amanda Steed said in an email.

“The bus operator sustained bruising and swelling to his face.”

2:04 Growing calls for more police resources to improve transit safety

Balbir Mann, president of Unifor Local 111, said the assailant made a racist comment before punching the driver. The driver is recovering, but is rattled, he added.

“He’s doing OK but he’s in a lot of pain and he’s mentally very disturbed by what has transpired,” Mann told Global News.

“He’s having a very tough time sleeping; he’s worried about future days when he’s going to get off shift. Maybe this guy’s waiting for him again.”

The incident comes after multiple high-profile assaults and a fatal stabbing on transit in recent weeks.

Mann said the union has been pressing for increased security on buses for years, along with the installation of plexiglass safety barriers on all transit vehicles.

6:08 Transit Police on recent violence and efforts made to keep passengers safe

The union also wants to see more police presence on key transit routes, particularly on Hastings Street and through Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

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“I think it’s the uniform that is the target right now, and our members are really deeply concerned about this,” he said.

“Our members are frustrated. They haven’t seen transit police on buses, they don’t see as much security on buses. I understand limited resources, but the bus system needs this right now.”

“Any assault on an employee is one too many, and will not be tolerated. We take each instance of assault on our operators seriously. Transit Police have increased their presence and specialty teams have been redeployed to frontline patrols, with additional resources also called in,” a TransLink spokesperson said in an email.

“Transit Police are also in the process of adding 24 new Community Safety Officers this year. These officers will serve as complementary resources to Transit Police and will have specialized training in mental health awareness, crisis de-escalation, legal studies, and community policing.”

Despite the recent high-profile violent incidents on transit, TransLink said the rate of assaults on operators was down 32 per cent per million last year. It said two thirds of its buses have been retrofitted to include safety barriers for drivers, with the rest of the fleet due to be completed by next year.

Transit police say the assault investigation remains open.

Anyone with information can contact Metro Vancouver Transit Police at 604.515.8302.

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Bus driver punched in the face in Vancouver, union calls for more security - Global News
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UFC Fight Night: Song vs Simon Results | Winner Interviews, Highlights And More From Las Vegas - UFC

Cody Durden defeats Charles Johnson by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Flyweights Cody Durden and Charles Johnson carried their pre-fight tensions into the Octagon on Saturday, engaging in a fast-paced grudge match on the prelims.

On the feet, Johnson showed smooth, fluid striking, but throughout the contest, Durden forced the issue with his wrestling, frequently dragging Johnson to the canvas, taking his back and forcing him to defend. But the heavy output on the canvas took its toll on Durden as well, and in the late stages of the second and early in the third, Johnson was able to out-work his rival on the feet. Durden finally got in on a takedown and back onto Johnson’s back with two minutes remaining, maintaining control of “InnerG” the rest of the way.

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Casino buy-ins worth millions traced to one man, investigation finds | CTV News - CTV News Toronto

An alleged money launderer racked up millions of dollars in transactions at several Toronto-area casinos, CTV News Toronto has learned.

Branavan Kanapathipillai's more than $4 million deposits and withdrawals over several years raised flags at various casinos, but it wasn't until last fall that a nearly $100,000 cash buy-in was seized in Niagara Falls -- and he apparently left the country, court documents obtained by CTV News Toronto say.

Branavan Kanapathipillai seen in a mug shot (Credit: Court documents).

His buy-ins were a significant portion of the total suspicious transactions reported across Ontario gaming facilities, which roared back from a pandemic low of $116 million to $372 million last year, records show.

Kanapathapillai’s apparent ease in depositing and withdrawing millions over the span of years shows that while casinos are reporting the transactions, those reports aren’t being acted on fast enough, said retired RCMP money laundering specialist Garry Clement.

• Watch Jon Woodward's full investigation in the player above

“It’s a terrible thing to say, but it’s open season for individuals like this,” Clement said in an interview this week, saying that casinos need to do more than file reports — they must also take steps to keep the individual out.

“These seem pretty obvious. There’s more to this than just gambling,” he said.

Kanapathipillai is not charged with any crime in relation to these transactions, and could not be reached by CTV News Toronto. He didn’t show up at a Newmarket courthouse this week to lay claim to the cash seized from him during a buy-in at Niagara Fallsview Casino last fall, a sign that Ontario authorities may keep that money.

That buy-in was flagged by the cashier as a suspicious transaction. Kanapathipillai claimed he was gambling with the proceeds of a third mortgage.

The OPP instead seized the cash, the documents say, alleging he was in league with a loan shark. Officers alleged in court that Kanapathipillai had multiple drivers licenses, bank accounts, and aliases, and a two-decade history of fraud and other convictions.

An affidavit filed in court indicated that the $100,000 may have been the tip of the iceberg, mapping hundreds of transaction reports at casinos or banks connected to him in the past 12 years adding up to $11 million.

Among them was a $182,000 deposit at Fallsview Casino in 2015. In 2016, Kanapathipillai presented $80,000 at Casino Rama, separated into eight bundles worth $10,000 each, the documents say.

At One Toronto Gaming, which operates Casino Woodbine, Pickering Casino Resort, Great Blue Heron Casino and Hotel, and Casino Ajax, their anti-money laundering unit had documented 120 transactions totalling more than $3 million in 2021 and 2022.

On July 1, 2022, Pickering Casino reported $824,000 in 10 transactions, with the source of cash unclear, and with more than 100 transactions that were “not related to any significant gaming activity. The majority of his transactions were casino gaming chip purchases and redemptions,” the affidavit says.

“Records obtained from a production order relating to Kanapathipillai’s TD Bank accounts indicate a history of Kanapathipillai depositing a large amount into his account and then making multiple cash withdraws via both the teller and the ABM,” the affidavit says.

"His withdrawal and financial transaction patterns were consistent with money laundering techniques that I have observed as an investigator," wrote Det. Constable Vic Jetvic in the affidavit.

Suspicious transactions on the rise

Figures released to CTV News Toronto through a Freedom of Information request show the number of suspicious transactions plummeted from $334 million in 2019 to $134 million in 2020, as the pandemic shuttered casinos.

In 2021, the total suspicious transactions fell still further, to $116 million. But as the pandemic waned and casinos reopened, the suspicious transaction totals roared back to an even higher figure: $372 million.

Those figures are a sign that the casinos are logging suspicious buy-ins, which is a tool that can be used by law enforcement for investigations, said Tony Bitonti of Ontario Lottery and Gaming (OLG).

And three new casinos were opened in 2022, which may also be adding to the total of suspicious transaction reports: Cascades Casino North Bay, Playtime Casino Wasage Beach and Pickering Casino Resort.

“Given the rigour of anti-money laundering controls, these new gaming sites would result in an increase in the number of reports generated under the anti-money laundering compliance program,” Bitonti said.

“OLG supports law enforcement efforts as needed and collaborates with federal and provincial regulators on a shared commitment to integrity and anti-money laundering,” he said.

Clement said the figures may show a problem similar in scale to what British Columbia had, with bags of cash laundered in government-licensed casinos, taking money from the province’s illicit drug market and putting it into real property that a government report found inflated housing prices in the province.

“Ontario needed to do the same thing. A real deep dive into how serious the problem is here in Ontario. I can tell you from personal experience that Vancouver pales in comparison to what’s going on in Ontario,” he said.

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Our mortgage payments went up to more than $3,300 a month - Maclean's

“It felt like our lives were moving in the right direction. But back home, interest rates were rising.” (Photograph by Morgan Gilbert)

In the summer of 2020, I was living in a three-bedroom house in Coquitlam, B.C., with my parents, my brother and my partner, Curtis. The rent was $3,000 a month, and split between all of us, it was affordable: Curtis and I only paid $250 each. It was nice living with family, but by that point, we’d done it for three years and were nearing the end of our 20s. In August, Curtis and I started to think about buying a place of our own. We wanted to start a family and adopt a dog, which we couldn’t do as renters.

We started saving up for a down payment, with a goal of setting aside $50,000. Curtis is a heavy-duty mechanic and I work as a coordinator at Simon Fraser University. Together, we earn a combined $165,000—a solid income for a young couple. Luckily, Curtis had been putting away money in his RRSPs for about a decade—a total of $40,000—which gave us a good head start.

In January of 2021, we started house-hunting in suburbs east of Vancouver. Our budget was around $550,000 and our bank approved us for a $700,000 mortgage. We were looking for a spacious apartment or townhouse between Burnaby and Langley where Curtis and I work, respectively. We hoped the extra bedrooms could be used to host family and guests, and one day, serve as our kids’ bedrooms.

In August 2021, after seeing more than 20 homes, we bought a three-bed, three-bath townhouse in Pitt Meadows for $631,000. We could either go with a variable mortgage at 1.35 per cent or a fixed mortgage at 2.1 per cent. Our mortgage broker and financial adviser both suggested we go with the variable rate. They were convinced that interest rates would stay low: they hadn’t spiked in 25 years, and Tiff Macklem, the governor of the Bank of Canada, said himself that interest rates would stay low for “a long time.” We decided on a variable mortgage at 1.35 per cent, which started at $2,421 a month.

READ: My mortgage payments rose almost $2,000 in a year

Things started off well for us. To save money, we did home renovations ourselves: we replaced carpets with vinyl; painted the ceilings, stairs, window frames, doors and cabinets; replaced the lights; installed new baseboards, fire detectors and a kitchen backsplash. The renovations cost us less than $10,000—Curtis got a discount on paint and other supplies through work. When it came to daily spending, we didn’t track our expenses or set a budget. We ate out a couple of times a week. We took our family out to the movies once a month, which usually cost $150, between dinner, tickets and snacks. Curtis and I both played in a spring hockey league, paying $500 each, and Curtis regularly brewed beer, spending about $50 a month on supplies.

In June of 2022, Curtis and I took a trip to Greece, where he proposed. It felt like our lives were moving in the right direction, but back home, interest rates were rising. We were told by our financial adviser that rates would go up by 0.25 per cent, but the jumps were much higher—by June, rates were already up by one per cent. We were frustrated with our advisers and terrified that our mortgage would spiral out of control.

By October, our payments rose to $3,229 a month. Curtis and I worried about our financial future. We travelled a lot in our 20s, backpacking in Europe, attending a wedding in Australia, watching Cirque du Soleil in Vegas. But now we had to question whether we could even afford to travel, given how much of our paycheque was going toward the mortgage. What if this gets out of control and we lose the house? We were on our own—our family couldn’t afford to bail us out if we needed it. We started wondering what our lives would be like as house-poor parents, unable to afford sports or extracurriculars for future kids. We wanted to start a family, but spending an extra $800 a month—or $9,600 a year—on mortgage payments was pretty much obliterating those plans. It was a tough pill to swallow.

I wasn’t eating or sleeping properly. I constantly checked the mortgage rates, read financial news and listened to podcasts on Canadian economics. It was all I could talk about with friends and family. Curtis was a lot more laid-back than me. If it came down to it, he figured he could use his handyman skills—operating heavy-duty machinery or painting homes—to earn some extra cash.

In December, Curtis and I decided to switch to a fixed rate, at 5.14 per cent, for about $3,340 a month for the next five years. We needed to put a stop to the anxiousness we felt, even if rates began to drop the next day. In early 2022, the Bank of Canada held the interest rate steady at 4.5 per cent, pretty much right after we switched to a fixed rate. Either way, we were happy to have a bit of stability.

RELATED: My mortgage is about to go up by at least $1,000 a month

We’ve had to curb our spending significantly. We buy our groceries wholesale and often in bulk, and try to buy used clothes and furniture. I used to drive to work three days a week but it was costing me $500 a month on gas and insurance, so now I take two buses and a Skytrain. A friend moved into one of our extra bedrooms and pays us $550 a month. We’re much stricter about our budgeting. At the start of the month, we use our first paycheques to pay off our property tax, internet, electricity and other bills along with half of our mortgage. Our second paycheques go toward the rest of the mortgage, savings and a little bit of personal spending. We each spend about $150 a month, which I normally put toward home appliances, gifts or leisure activities. Before, we spent between $300 and $400 a month each on ourselves. Instead of jetting off to Greece, we’ll be doing a lot more camping in B.C., at sites like Cultus Lake and Porteau Cove, this year. My father renovated an old sailboat, which we’ll take over to Victoria and up around Vancouver Island this summer.

Our goal is to save $20,000 before starting a family, to supplement my maternity leave and Curtis’s paternity leave. But because so much of our money goes toward our mortgage, we’ve only saved about $5,000. It’ll take another year of saving to get to our mark. We wanted to get married in 2024, but those plans have been pushed back indefinitely.

It feels like we did everything right—saved up for a down payment, pursued stable careers, purchased a home, did the renovations ourselves. And yet we can barely afford to start a family. Our lives completely revolve around our mortgage.

---

—As told to Mathew Silver

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Brampton pizza scam victim who lost more than $4K speaks out - Yahoo Canada Sports

Samjhana Shrestha, right, and her husband, Arjun, are out more than $4,300 after falling victim to a pizza delivery scam that three GTA police forces have now issued public warnings about. One month after the March incident, Shrestha said she hasn't gotten her money back or heard of any breakthroughs in the case. (Laura Pedersen/CBC - image credit)

A Brampton mother says her family has taken a major financial hit after falling victim to a pizza delivery scam.

Samjhana Shrestha said she thought she was doing a nice thing when a teenager approached her in a grocery store parking lot and asked her to pay for their pizza delivery with her debit card. The teen told her the Domino's driver wouldn't accept the cash they had.

She did, and took the teen's cash in exchange, only to later realize she was the victim of an elaborate fraud. The scammers behind it cleared some $4,300 out of her chequing account.

Shrestha, who recently gave birth to her second child, said the loss means her family is out "big money."

"The cost of formula is going up. The interest of mortgage is going high. All of the things are going up … you can imagine how hard this is for us," she told CBC Toronto.

Shrestha filed a report with Peel Regional Police and with Scotiabank, but she's no better off more than a month after the incident. Meanwhile, three Greater Toronto Area police forces have issued public warnings about the same scam in recent weeks, though there have been no arrests.

Even Domino's is now issuing warnings so people can protect themselves from being duped.

Shrestha said she's going public with her story in hope that it will prevent others from going through the same thing as she did.

Victim still unsure how fraudsters did it

Shrestha's ordeal began on March 22 at around 7:30 p.m. in a Fortinos parking lot off Quarry Edge Drive.

The teenager said she could keep his $20 bill if she could pay for the pizza with her card.

She initially tried to pay for the pizza with her credit card, but the man posing as a delivery driver, who she said looked to be in his 30s, told her it wouldn't work and asked if she could use debit, instead.

Unfortunately for her, she did.

The point-of-sale machine she was handed looked normal, she said, but the tap feature didn't work. Shrestha is still unsure how the fraud happened from here.

She said she remembers inserting her card and said she was holding it for the entire time she used her pin number.

But somehow, the two men were able to get her pin and she was given a similar card that wasn't hers.

Laura Pedersen/CBC

The next morning she was checking her online accounts (Shrestha said she does routine checks because she's concerned about online scams) and was floored to see that her account had been emptied.

"I checked my account and I saw there's no money. I was shocked," she said.

She immediately filed a police complaint with Peel Regional Police.

Since then, she said she hasn't been given an update, although the service tweeted about the scam on April 18.

Peel police told CBC Toronto they don't have any suspect information to share at this time, but their investigation is ongoing.

Bank hasn't refunded money

The bank, meanwhile, hasn't refunded Shrestha's family.

In a letter dated April 2, Scotiabank wrote: "We are unable to find any indication that your ScotiaCard was compromised. As a result, you are responsible for these transaction(s), which will remain debited to your Scotiabank account."

The letter continues to recommend Shrestha contact the police.

CBC Toronto followed up with Scotiabank about Shrestha's case this week. The bank said it wouldn't comment on a specific incident but that it "takes fraud cases very seriously and will work with the victims toward a resolution."

Shrestha said the bank has agreed to reopen the file, but she is still out $4,342.60.

Domino's Canada said its delivery drivers are always able to take cash.

Further, the chain said, its drivers wear their full uniform — including a hat — and have been trained to never ask someone other than the intended recipient to pay for a pie.

"Domino's Canada is working with local law enforcement to find the individuals associated with the crime," it said in a statement.

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Dan Fumano: Taller, denser, faster: Vancouver city council backs more 'non-compliant' housing proposals - Vancouver Sun

Opinion: Vancouver's city council seems keen to keep pushing ahead major mixed-use developments, even ones that don't quite fit with all established policies. And they want to pick up the pace.

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The Louis Brier Home & Hospital in Vancouver on April 27. Photo by Arlen Redekop /PNG

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Vancouver city council this week green-lit mixed-use developments significantly bigger that what local zoning would normally allow, again signalling to city staff — and the city at large — their desire to go bigger and faster on housing.

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City staff presented two separate projects, both on South Oak Street, to council through a new program for proposals that are “non-compliant” with existing plans and policies, but may align with council priorities and offer significant public benefits.

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These two projects, staff said, would “significantly deviate in height and density from the Cambie Corridor Plan” — with towers of up to 30 storeys — but would also include a long-term care facility, seniors’ housing, child care, ground-floor commercial space, social housing, condos and rental homes. The mayor and council weren’t considering any final approvals this week on these projects, but staff recommended they move ahead through an “enhanced rezoning” process.

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After city planning staff presented the two projects Wednesday, and described all the ways they break with existing plans and policies, not only did council unanimously vote to advance both, but also expressed a desire to see the process unfold quickly.

The first project is the proposed redevelopment of the non-profit-owned Louis Brier Home & Hospital property at the northwest corner of Oak and 41st streets, which has for decades provided seniors care and assisted living housing, largely serving the Jewish community. The redevelopment proposal envisions buildings of six, eight, 20, 28 and 30 storeys, in a part of the Cambie Corridor Plan that was expected to consist of low-rise and “lower mid-rise” buildings, as well as one taller building of up to 20 storeys.

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Rozanne Kipnes, a development consultant on the Louis Brier redevelopment, said that since the Cambie Corridor Plan was approved in 2018, “the city has evolved and the needs have only gotten greater.”

“The density we have earmarked for the project is what makes the project financially viable,” with the support of municipal, provincial and non-profit partners, Kipnes said. “We’re in the business of doing good work, that’s what we do. We’re a non-profit.”

Immediately north of Louis Brier is a property called Shawn Oaks, which currently has 72 strata units in 11 buildings built in 1969. The redevelopment proposes towers of 28 and 23 storeys, and “significantly exceeds” heights and densities under the existing plan, which would normally contemplate a single tower of up to 16 storeys.

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The two adjacent projects were considered together by council Wednesday but are separate properties with separate owners. But proponents of both projects — one non-profit and the other a private landowner — expressed support for each other.

Michael Mortensen of Livable City Planning, a development consultant for Shawn Oaks, addressed council Wednesday and raised the fact that earlier that same day their own housing department staff presented an update telling them “Vancouver is lagging in social housing approvals.”

The Shawn Oaks’ proposal, from Landmark Premiere Properties, would include 400 to 450 condos and 180 family oriented social housing units — which Mortensen pointed out was more than 13 per cent of the total social housing units approved across the whole city last year.

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“At no cost to the taxpayer, this is a market-driven, below market housing solution,” Mortensen said.

Proponents of both projects asked council to amend the staff report to speed up the process, and several councillors questioned chief planner Theresa O’Donnell as to how they could make that happen. O’Donnell, as well, said staff see the benefits of both projects, despite their non-compliance with current policies, and expressed a desire to compress timelines where possible.

Anat Gogo, executive director of the Tikva Housing Society, the operator of 90 units of social housing proposed for the Brier redevelopment, said: “We just need to see this project going through, without any further delays.”

Tikva currently operates six buildings housing 254 residents, 60 of whom are seniors, Gogo said, “but we are always mindful,” she said, of the 208 seniors and 71 families with children on their waiting list.

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“It feels very discouraging. Because we’re celebrating our successes, and we just acquired another property. But the numbers on the wait-list just keep outpacing our capacity to house folks,” Gogo said. “We’re barely scraping the need.”

Both non-compliant projects were advanced to council through a process endorsed by the previous council, informed by motions from ABC Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung and former mayor Kennedy Stewart. The process was designed to bring proposals to council for consideration that don’t comply with policies that might be outdated or not meeting the current council’s priorities.

Four such inquiries have made it to council so far for decision, and all were approved. Council also green-lit another major proposal, for the redevelopment of the 800-block of Granville Street, proceeding outside the program without staff’s recommendation, and the Army & Navy redevelopment in the Downtown Eastside will soon aim to do the same.

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Meanwhile, this council seems be keen to keep pushing such projects ahead, even ones that don’t quite fit with all established policies.

dfumano@postmedia.com

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   Plan to build single-family home on nine-foot-wide Vancouver lot rejected by city

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   Douglas Todd: Developers build housing to maximize profits, not to help affordability

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Dan Fumano: Taller, denser, faster: Vancouver city council backs more 'non-compliant' housing proposals - Vancouver Sun
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Our mortgage payments went up to more than $3,300 a month - Maclean's

“It felt like our lives were moving in the right direction. But back home, interest rates were rising.” (Photograph by Pitt Meadows.)

In the summer of 2020, I was living in a three-bedroom house in Coquitlam, B.C., with my parents, my brother and my partner, Curtis. The rent was $3,000 a month, and split between all of us, it was affordable: Curtis and I only paid $250 each. It was nice living with family, but by that point, we’d done it for three years and were nearing the end of our 20s. In August, Curtis and I started to think about buying a place of our own. We wanted to start a family and adopt a dog, which we couldn’t do as renters.

We started saving up for a down payment, with a goal of setting aside $50,000. Curtis is a heavy-duty mechanic and I work as a coordinator at Simon Fraser University. Together, we earn a combined $165,000—a solid income for a young couple. Luckily, Curtis had been putting away money in his RRSPs for about a decade—a total of $40,000—which gave us a good head start.

In January of 2021, we started house-hunting in suburbs east of Vancouver. Our budget was around $550,000 and our bank approved us for a $700,000 mortgage. We were looking for a spacious apartment or townhouse between Burnaby and Langley where Curtis and I work, respectively. We hoped the extra bedrooms could be used to host family and guests, and one day, serve as our kids’ bedrooms.

In August 2021, after seeing more than 20 homes, we bought a three-bed, three-bath townhouse in Pitt Meadows for $631,000. We could either go with a variable mortgage at 1.35 per cent or a fixed mortgage at 2.1 per cent. Our mortgage broker and financial adviser both suggested we go with the variable rate. They were convinced that interest rates would stay low: they hadn’t spiked in 25 years, and Tiff Macklem, the governor of the Bank of Canada, said himself that interest rates would stay low for “a long time.” We decided on a variable mortgage at 1.35 per cent, which started at $2,421 a month.

READ: My mortgage payments rose almost $2,000 in a year

Things started off well for us. To save money, we did home renovations ourselves: we replaced carpets with vinyl; painted the ceilings, stairs, window frames, doors and cabinets; replaced the lights; installed new baseboards, fire detectors and a kitchen backsplash. The renovations cost us less than $10,000—Curtis got a discount on paint and other supplies through work. When it came to daily spending, we didn’t track our expenses or set a budget. We ate out a couple of times a week. We took our family out to the movies once a month, which usually cost $150, between dinner, tickets and snacks. Curtis and I both played in a spring hockey league, paying $500 each, and Curtis regularly brewed beer, spending about $50 a month on supplies.

In June of 2022, Curtis and I took a trip to Greece, where he proposed. It felt like our lives were moving in the right direction, but back home, interest rates were rising. We were told by our financial adviser that rates would go up by 0.25 per cent, but the jumps were much higher—by June, rates were already up by one per cent. We were frustrated with our advisers and terrified that our mortgage would spiral out of control.

By October, our payments rose to $3,229 a month. Curtis and I worried about our financial future. We travelled a lot in our 20s, backpacking in Europe, attending a wedding in Australia, watching Cirque du Soleil in Vegas. But now we had to question whether we could even afford to travel, given how much of our paycheque was going toward the mortgage. What if this gets out of control and we lose the house? We were on our own—our family couldn’t afford to bail us out if we needed it. We started wondering what our lives would be like as house-poor parents, unable to afford sports or extracurriculars for future kids. We wanted to start a family, but spending an extra $800 a month—or $9,600 a year—on mortgage payments was pretty much obliterating those plans. It was a tough pill to swallow.

I wasn’t eating or sleeping properly. I constantly checked the mortgage rates, read financial news and listened to podcasts on Canadian economics. It was all I could talk about with friends and family. Curtis was a lot more laid-back than me. If it came down to it, he figured he could use his handyman skills—operating heavy-duty machinery or painting homes—to earn some extra cash.

In December, Curtis and I decided to switch to a fixed rate, at 5.14 per cent, for about $3,340 a month for the next five years. We needed to put a stop to the anxiousness we felt, even if rates began to drop the next day. In early 2022, the Bank of Canada held the interest rate steady at 4.5 per cent, pretty much right after we switched to a fixed rate. Either way, we were happy to have a bit of stability.

RELATED: My mortgage is about to go up by at least $1,000 a month

We’ve had to curb our spending significantly. We buy our groceries wholesale and often in bulk, and try to buy used clothes and furniture. I used to drive to work three days a week but it was costing me $500 a month on gas and insurance, so now I take two buses and a Skytrain. A friend moved into one of our extra bedrooms and pays us $550 a month. We’re much stricter about our budgeting. At the start of the month, we use our first paycheques to pay off our property tax, internet, electricity and other bills along with half of our mortgage. Our second paycheques go toward the rest of the mortgage, savings and a little bit of personal spending. We each spend about $150 a month, which I normally put toward home appliances, gifts or leisure activities. Before, we spent between $300 and $400 a month each on ourselves. Instead of jetting off to Greece, we’ll be doing a lot more camping in B.C., at sites like Cultus Lake and Porteau Cove, this year. My father renovated an old sailboat, which we’ll take over to Victoria and up around Vancouver Island this summer.

Our goal is to save $20,000 before starting a family, to supplement my maternity leave and Curtis’s paternity leave. But because so much of our money goes toward our mortgage, we’ve only saved about $5,000. It’ll take another year of saving to get to our mark. We wanted to get married in 2024, but those plans have been pushed back indefinitely.

It feels like we did everything right—saved up for a down payment, pursued stable careers, purchased a home, did the renovations ourselves. And yet we can barely afford to start a family. Our lives completely revolve around our mortgage.

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—As told to Mathew Silver

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Cost of homemade cheese sandwich soars by more than a third - bbc.com

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By Lora Jones & Nicu Calcea

Business reporters, BBC News

The cost of a homemade cheese sandwich has jumped by over a third in one year, according to research for the BBC.

The price of two slices of white bread, a serving of butter and mature cheddar has risen to 40p, up 37% over a year.

Prices of sandwich fillings including chicken, eggs and ham at supermarkets have soared, while the cost of bread has also risen, the figures suggest.

Food prices have been pushed up by extreme weather, the war in Ukraine, and outbreaks of avian and swine flu.

One father said he had already switched his two children from packed lunches to school dinners at £2.45 a head in a bid to save money.

"Everything was going up - ingredients, the cost of cooking, so it's all something we had to take into account," Ritesh Thakker from Hounslow said.

"It's been really tough, especially the cost of fresh food and vegetables going up," he added, with the family often having to make trips to two or three shops to find the best deals in the face of increasing food and energy bills.

The figures come as food prices continue to soar, rising at their fastest rate in 45 years.

Pano Christou, the boss of Pret A Manger, told the BBC that he thought there was still "a bit more time to go" before food inflation peaks.

• Five ways to save money on packed lunches

Retail research firm Assosia analysed the average price of popular items that make up a packed lunch across Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons and Lidl as well as Aldi click-and-collect. The data included prices from the grocers' standard ranges before any promotions were applied, and is based on online prices for the four biggest supermarkets.

Assosia looked at the cost of white and wholemeal bread, as well as popular sandwich fillings covering a mix of dietary requirements - including cheese, cheese and ham, tuna mayonnaise, egg and cress and ham salad - and compared the prices seen in April with the same month last year.

The BBC then worked out the price per portion using suggested serving sizes. A cheese and ham sandwich on white bread saw the biggest rise, jumping by 18p, while the tuna mayo option saw the smallest increase of just 5p.

The price of a medium loaf of own-label wholemeal or white bread rose by more than 40%, the figures show. They now stand at 86p and 84p respectively.

The price of fresh vegetables such as a whole cucumber or an iceberg lettuce has also gone up by more than 50% in the past 12 months, partly due to extreme weather hitting harvests abroad earlier this year.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine - one of the world's biggest exporters of wheat and other grains - has also disrupted some supply chains.

Outbreaks of avian and swine flu have also affected supplies and mean the cost of eggs, bacon and ham has shot up too.

Fighting price rises

Matt Raynor, chairman of wholesale sandwich supplier Raynor Foods, oversees an operation that includes 300 employees and produces about half a million sandwiches a week.

According to the British Sandwich Association (BSA), three billion sandwiches are purchased from UK retail or catering outlets each year.

But Mr Raynor says that labour shortages, exacerbated by Brexit, and wage increases have meant that he has had to put up prices.

Raynor Foods

He estimates that the company's wage bill has gone up by at least 20% in the past two years, with more staff now joining from India or China, rather than Eastern Europe, due to increased red tape.

And, of course, extra costs get passed on to its customers, which include the likes of hospitals, shops, schools and airlines.

"If we hadn't done that, we wouldn't be here," Mr Raynor says. "There's not one company out there who could have swallowed all these increases."

While some wholesale food prices have started to fall, it usually takes some time before that feeds through to the supermarket shelves.

Bigger retailers are expected to start passing on savings to consumers in the next few months but the only item in Assosia's figures that fell in price was an own-label bunch of organic bananas.

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BBC analysis has found that even the meal deal has gone up in price across many major outlets, with the cheapest generally available deal now £3.50 at Sainsbury's.

But industry body the British Retail Consortium recently said that it expects bigger supermarkets will start passing on savings to consumers soon, potentially easing some of the pressure on households.

Related Topics

• Inflation
• Cost of living
• Food

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