Calgary couple find their ‘Zen’ through axe throwing, compete in world championships

MONTREAL – Pasquale Monaco says he’s debating whether to keep renting out the two-bedroom basement apartment of the Montreal building he owns after it was flooded — again — in August, when the remnants of tropical storm Debby sent four feet of water rushing into the space.

Monaco says the basement of the five-unit building in the St-Leonard borough has been flooded eight times in the last five years, including five times with more than three feet of water.

“I don’t feel right renting it to anyone because I already know that down the line they’re going to lose everything they have,” he said in a phone interview.

Last week, in comments to Montrealers whose homes had been flooded, a member of the city’s executive committee said that living in basement apartments may eventually become a thing of the past — at least in some places.

“I think that in the future we won’t be able to have any more housing in the basement,” Maja Vodanovic, responsible for waterworks at the city, told a council meeting.

While Montreal’s mayor later said that any bylaws limiting basement apartments would apply only to new construction in specific flood-prone areas, some experts and insurers are saying it’s time to have a conversation on where and whether below-ground dwelling is feasible as extreme rainfall events become more common.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada recently described the Aug. 9-10 flooding caused by the remnants of Debby as the costliest severe weather event in Quebec’s history, surpassing the 1998 Ice Storm, with an estimated $2.5 billion in insured damage.

A large number of the 75,000 personal property claims stemming from Debby were due to basement flooding, Craig Stewart, a vice-president with the insurance bureau, said in a phone interview.

“It’s fair to say that basement flooding has cost in the hundreds of millions or even billions in certain years across Canada,” he said.

Flooding, which can occur from rain, rising rivers or sewer backups, can be both costly and dangerous, he said. Mould, destroyed flooring and drywall, and even damage to a home’s structure can occur. Floods can also ruin belongings and be fatal, he added.

As those events become more frequent, he said some insurance companies are limiting coverage, raising prices for flood insurance in areas deemed at higher risk, or declining to offer it altogether.

“Increasingly those situations are becoming uninsurable,” he said, adding, “We think that taking a careful look at where people are allowed to live in basements is prudent.”

Joanna Eyquem, managing director of climate resilient infrastructure for the University of Waterloo-based Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, says flooding is happening as climate change brings more episodes of “short duration, very intense rainfall” that cannot be handled by urban drainage systems.

She said several things can be done, including updating sewer systems, building retention ponds and working with homeowners to ensure their drainage systems are strong. Another solution is to try to “work with nature” to create spaces that absorb water and send less of it into sewers, as Montreal is doing with its network of so-called “sponge” parks and streets, Eyquem said.

However, she said it makes sense for homeowners in places that flood frequently, sometimes because their homes are built in low-lying areas or above paved-over former rivers, to reconsider living or keeping valuables there.

At the city council meeting, a series of St-Leonard residents asked Vodanovic and Mayor Valérie Plante why the city wasn’t doing more to stop the flooding, including by building retention basins or enlarging sewer collectors. One citizen, who said he had four basement tenants, said his street floods twice a year.

“In November it will flood again, I don’t know what to do anymore,” said the man, adding he was going to stop renting his basement.

Vodanovic said that while the city is updating its sewers and its drainage, it would take 10 or 20 years to complete the job, “and even that would not solve the problem of flooding with 150 millimetres in one day,” she said.

Gonzalo Lizarralde, a professor at Université de Montréal, said it’s theoretically possible to build watertight basements, as well as massive sewer infrastructures that significantly lower the risk of flooding. However, he said the cost to build and maintain such structures is a major factor.

“Everything is possible,” he said. “The problem is, how feasible with limited resources and with real-life conditions is it to do it?”

Monaco says the city hasn’t made an effort to fix the problem. He points out that losing basement apartments — usually among the most affordable options — also represents a cost for a city struggling with a housing crisis, and suggested that more people will end up homeless if they disappear.

“Maybe there’ll be more people (camping) on Notre-Dame Street,” he said. “Maybe then they’ll react.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2024.

VANCOUVER – British Columbia’s New Democrats and the B.C. Conservatives are set to take their election tours to Metro Vancouver cities today as the campaign enters its second day.

John Rustad’s B.C. Conservatives are scheduled to be in Surrey, with David Eby’s New Democrats focusing on Metro Vancouver.

Eby spent Saturday criss-crossing the Lower Mainland with stops in Richmond, North Vancouver, Langley and Burnaby.

Rustad was on Vancouver Island Saturday night after opening his campaign in the morning at Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau was campaigning in her Victoria riding.

Voting day is Oct. 19.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

The Oct. 19 election in British Columbia will feature new electoral districts that increase the number of seats in the legislature from 87 to 93. Here is a look at some of the new seats:

Vancouver

The biggest change in Vancouver is the creation of three seats from an area largely covered by Vancouver-False Creek and Vancouver-Fairview in the last election. The new ridings are Vancouver-Yaletown, Vancouver-South Granville and Vancouver-Little Mountain.

The NDP took both previous seats in 2020, with Economic Development Minister Brenda Bailey now standing in Vancouver-South Granville. Bailey’s current seat, Vancouver-False Creek, was won by the BC Liberals, now BC United, in 2009, 2013 and 2017. The other incumbent, Environment Minister George Heyman in Vancouver-Fairview, will not run.

The candidate list for the three new seats are littered with familiar names in Vancouver municipal politics. The NDP is represented by Coun. Christine Boyle in Vancouver-Little Mountain, while the B.C. Conservatives are running with former park board commissioner and mayoral candidate John Coupar. The Conservatives have also named former councillor Melissa De Genova as the candidate in Vancouver-Yaletown.

Burnaby/New Westminster

The area’s seat count rises from five to six, with Burnaby-New Westminster created from surrounding Burnaby-Edmonds, New Westminster and Burnaby-Lougheed. Borders were also shuffled and all districts received new names except Burnaby North.

The NDP took all five seats comfortably in 2020 and the party has done well there in recent years. All but one of the incumbents, Burnaby-Lougheed’s Katrina Chen, are running for re-election including Speaker Raj Chouhan and cabinet ministers Jennifer Whiteside and Anne Kang.

Surrey

Surrey gains one seat, Surrey-Serpentine River, but also sees drastic changes to its district boundaries. Surrey-Green Timbers and Surrey-Whalley have been reorganized into two new ridings, Surrey City Centre and Surrey North.

Surrey-Serpentine River was created from parts of nearby districts, including Surrey-Cloverdale, Surrey-Panorama and Surrey-Fleetwood.

The NDP won seven of nine Surrey-area seats in 2020, picking up Surrey-Cloverdale that had historically favoured the BC Liberals. Most incumbent NDP candidates are running for re-election, but Surrey-Newton’s Harry Bains and Surrey-Whalley’s Bruce Ralston, both cabinet ministers, will not run.

Notable candidates include former Surrey mayor Linda Hepner running for the Conservatives in Surrey-Serpentine River and high-profile BC United defector Elenore Sturko standing as a B.C. Conservative in Surrey-Cloverdale.

Langley

Langley saw its two seats in the 2020 election divided into three with the creation of Langley-Willowbrook, Langley-Walnut Grove and Langley-Abbotsford.

The NDP scored a major victory here in 2020, winning both seats that had been held by the BC Liberals for decades. Both incumbents return and are joined by former federal Liberal MP John Aldag who will run in Langley-Abbotsford. He resigned from Parliament in May to run in the provincial election for the NDP.

Other candidates include Langley Township Coun. Misty vanPopta running for the Conservatives in Langley-Walnut Grove.

Langford

Greater Victoria’s additional seat comes in the suburb of Langford, where Langford-Highlands was carved out mostly from Langford-Juan de Fuca, with the rest of that district renamed Juan de Fuca-Malahat for this fall’s election.

The area is considered an NDP stronghold, with Langford-Juan de Fuca held by former premier John Horgan from 2009 to 2023.

Kelowna

A new electoral district, Kelowna Centre, was created from parts of three surrounding ridings: Kelowna-Mission, Kelowna West and Kelowna-Lake Country.

The latter two have also been renamed West Kelowna-Peachland and Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream to reflect other boundary changes.

The area was traditionally a stronghold for the BC Liberals, which won all three seats comfortably in 2020. But none of the incumbents are running this year. The most high-profile candidate in the four Kelowna-area seats is Gavin Dew, who’s running for the B.C. Conservatives in Kelowna-Mission. Dew ran for the leadership of the BC Liberals in 2022.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.