According to the Globe and Mail, CTV is set to report the federal government is considering raising the minimum down payment for homebuyers and reducing the amortization period due to fears in the capital consumers are taking on too much debt.
In an interview with CTV Question Period set to air next week, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says the changes are being considered for those consumers “who are taking on obligations that they will not be able to handle in the future when the interest rates do rise.”
While he doesn’t specify what the specific changes will be he indicates the size of the downpayment will be a “higher figure” than its current five per cent and the amortization period to “something less” than the current 35 years.
Instead of meddling with the minimum downpayment, Ottawa should consider ways of making homeownership more affordable by making the interest paid tax deductible. Flaherty has previously said they wouldn’t do this because Canadians already enjoy tax savings on their principle residence as the gains on the sale are tax free.
Alternately they should give incentives to cities to privatize services like garbage collection in order to help reduce property taxes.
Both measures would make homeownership more affordable instead of making it harder for first-time homebuyers to purchase a home.
There is no mistaking a good wife sitting beside her champion of lost causes aka the 2009-2010 Detroit Pistons. I’m pretty sure K-star bought these tickets for Mike, a life-long Detroit Pistons fan. Good on her! For the record, it’s mostly Katherine’s mannerisms that helped me pick them out on the TV. Mike is pretty much robotic so it’s not as easy to spot him
Like anyone that has a marketing or advertising component to their job, finding the right way to break through the clutter and make your message memorable is one of the toughest goals to achieve. I picked up Powerlines by Steve Cone with the hope that it might offer some formula or tips on how to create great powerlines for use in my marketing/advertising copy.
To be clear, Cone defines Powerlines as “a compelling story about an event, person, place, product, or a part of human nature that has lasting impact. Sometimes these lines are just a few words, sometimes several sentences, and once in a great while, must one word.” This definition in itself is not very powerline-ish but it is a definition … just one that I couldn’t remember off the top of my head and had to go look up just now. He also says powerlines must “ring true” and they should not overreach.
I like books that have lots of great examples and then actions you can take immediately to start enacting the change the book is advocating. Powerlines has lots of great examples but I didn’t find the tips came early enough in the book. Either I’m not seeing them or they just aren’t there. He had tidbits here and there but he didn’t dedicate as much text to steps you can take to improve the powerlines you create.Read More
Part of my current responsibilities at work – one that I particularly enjoy – is managing the student newspaper. I’m not the editor, my job is to hire and train the students who work on it, make sure the files get to the printer, ensure everyone gets paid and other administrative duties.
One of the biggest challenges we face at the newspaper is recruiting and retaining volunteer writers. I’ve been studying reward systems from a consumer perspective (e.g. how to use programs like Air Miles to encourage customer behaviour) for a few years but haven’t thought of a specific strategy for employees.
The idea popped into my head this past summer and I sought out a book I could learn from. that’s where Steve Kerr’s Reward Systems: Does Yours Measure Up? came into play.
Steve Kerr has been the Chief Learning Officer and managing director at Goldman Sachs and before that spent time as GE’s CLO heading up their prestigious Crotonville corporate university. Read More
The other day, Google Docs just wouldn’t load for me. I have no idea what was happening or why I couldn’t log on. It was very frustrating.
I searched and searched and at the end of the day, the only tip that worked for me was clearing my cache. Someone else suggested deleting all Google related cookies
Clearing my cache magically worked. I simply cleared the cache, quit and restarted the browser and there were no more problems.
I’ve been wanting to read this particular book for a really long time. I picked it up and it sat on my shelf for well over six months before I made my way though my list of other books I had committed to myself to read.
I’m a big fan of Starbucks and the way they make you feel when you buy product there. In fact I like the way they make you feel even when you don’t buy product there.
I’ve been working with a friend on their parent’s company Web site and one of the users asked if there was a solution to a common problem: inserting multiple images into a blog post or page at one time. WordPress’ image inserting abilities only let you insert one image at a time or use the gallery function. Neither works very well if you want to insert several larger images into a post.
I’ve tried several solutions but just came across David Frank’s Fast Image Insert plugin. He has the same frustration so he created this plugin that allows you to insert several images at once into the same post or page.
A friend of mine e-mailed me about a play she’ll be performing in at her church called Stand. It will be performed on Sunday November 29 at 6 p.m..
According to my friend, it contains mature themes and it would be best to get a sitter for the little ones. I asked her but no response on whether or not this means there will be nudity.
The play is happening at Global Kingdom Ministries, 1250 Markham Road in Scarborough (2 lights south of the 401, on the west side, just past the McDonalds).
If you’d like to go, contact me and I’ll help you get some tickets.
The Raps lost the game but Joey Graham did get a MASSIVE dunk on Carlos Delfino. He doesn’t have mad hops like Vince Carter but he’s athletic and uses his strength to take it hard to the rim here.
