A CLOSER LOOK 3
BUSINESS 11
From Syria to Burnaby
A modern take on liquor
ARTS 13
Arts Club at the ‘Bolt
5
THINGS TO DO THIS WEEKEND FRIDAY JANUARY 27, 2017
LOCAL NEWS – LOCAL MATTERS
There’s more at Burnabynow.com
SEE PAGE 15
Pushing back against a pricey prom Cornelia Naylor
cnaylor@burnabynow.com
It was a modest beginning, but a group of Alpha Secondary leadership students pushed back against the high price of prom last week. The group of Grade 10 and 12 students organized Promject, a sale of second-hand dresses, dress shirts and pants, shoes, ties and other accessories last week. The event drew about 25 people, six of whom walked away with dresses for less than $30, and the evening raised about $177 for Vancouver Rape Relief. “The Promject was quite successful considering it was the first year and my peers and I built it from the ground up,” said Claire Chateauneuf, one of five organizers. What set their event apart from other initiatives like the Cinderella Project, which is aimed at helping low-income students, was that it was aimed at all grads. “That’s one thing about our event, we didn’t want it to be like a pity party kind of thing.We just wanted it open to everyone,” said organizer Mariah Provencal. “Prom dresses are not affordable most of the time.They range from $200 to $1,000, and it’s ridiculous because we should be spending money on things that are a little more relevant, like saving up for school and stuff.” Opening the sale to all grads works Continued on page 8
REDO ON DUDS: From left, Promject organizers Alana Leung, Mariah Provencal, Nicolas Santarelli, Bryanna Prasad and Claire Chateauneuf show off some of the donations they received for their second-hand formal wear sale. PHOTO CORNELIA NAYLOR
HOMEOWNER GRANT CHANGES
Grant hike barely makes a difference
A city report says the new higher threshold for the homeowner grant impacted about one per cent of residences By Jeremy Deutsch
jdeutsch@burnabynow.com
While the province has increased the eligibility threshold for the homeowners grant, relieving some residents the stress of
not getting the tax break, a new report from the City of Burnaby suggests the measures didn’t go far enough. Earlier this month, the province’s finance minister announced changes to the grant that would increase
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the eligibility threshold by $400,000 to $1.6 million after another year of major increases to property values. But a report from the city’s financial committee finds the number of homeowners in Burnaby eligi-
ble for the grant will still drop in 2017, although only slightly. For 2017, 77.8 per cent of residential properties in Burnaby fall below the lower threshold compared to 78.7 per cent in 2016, ac-
cording to the report. While the report noted some households will benefit from the threshold increase, it does not provide the numbers for how many homes were able to keep their grants because of the
province’s changes. The target for the provincial government is for 91 per cent of all homes in B.C. to be eligible for the grant. But a closer look at the numbers indicates it’s Continued on page 8
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