Lions’ prospect to play for Rams page 18
Arts 2010 0 at ry the gallery page 20
Friday July 2, 2010 20 0 Serving Surrey and North Delta www.surreyleader.com
No appeal in SkyTrain murder case
Death: Inevitable. In n Harmonized Sales TTax: Not necessarily
Pre-booked funerals surged to beat HST
Mother o other of Matthew M Martins calls it a ‘hard ard pill to swallow’
by Dan an n Ferguson usson ON WEDNESDAY E EDNESDAY afternoon, Sandra n ns-Toner was preparing to retrieve Martins-Toner her mu murdered urdered son’s neck chain and crucifi fix from the New Westminster fix courthouse h house evidence room. t tthew’s property is being returned Matthew’s to her because the Crown prosecutor’s office has h decided against appealing the acquittal tttal of Katherine Quinn, the woman e with second-degree murder in ed charged ly 2, 2005 slaying. the July Martins-Toner r rtins-Toner was informed of the decision last week. On Tuesday, she retrieved Matthew’s wallet, house key and cellphone p from the police li who h iinvestii gated the murder. “You’re finally home,� she said as she stored the possessions in a drawer. Sandra “It’s a hard pill to Martins-Toner swallow,� the grieving mother said of the decision against an appeal. “But I can’t let it eat away at me.� There simply were not enough grounds to mount a legal challenge of the acquittal, she was told by prosecutors. “We’ve basically had to come to grips with that,� she said. “There’s nothing we can do.�
by Jeff Nagel SOME B.C. residentss are taking grim satisfaction in the knowl-
Yes, he can dance But can Surrey’s Alex Wong win a popular television contest? See story, page 5
peace without their passing being subject to edge they’ll rest in p Harmonized Sales Tax. the 12-per-cent Har rm They’ve dodged the th h HST by pre-booking their own funerals ahead of the July 1 eff e ective date. “We estimate ther there’s r been about a 40-per-cent increase in pre-arranging people pre-arrangin n their own funerals,� said Justin Schultz, Funeral Services Association of B.C. president of the Fun n own Valley View Funeral Home in Surrey He’s seen it at his o those and says most of tho o booking are perfectly healthy folk – far themselves of the service. from availing thems s “It’s people trying tryin n to get ahead of the simple,� Schultz said. HST – plain and ssi The switch to the th h HST means a typical $10,000 $10 000 funeral f l costs co $700 more because of the extra seven per cent in added tax – funerals had only been subject to GST but not provincial sales tax. Nobody had to die or even pre-pay in full to avoid the HST on funerals. Justin Schultz Schultz said customers merely had to sign a contract committing to a payment schedule and make a deposit before July 1. Patricia Enair, a Surrey-based anti-HST petition organizer, said she knows people who have pre-booked funerals as well as other residents – especially seniors – who pre-paid for other services or stocked up on supplies like vitamins that are no longer PST-exempt. Several dry cleaners in the region also reported being busier than usual in late June. An Ipsos Reid survey found 70 per cent of B.C. residents say they’ll dine out less often because of the HST and 61 per cent
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