2 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, OCT.30, 2014 EDITOR EDMOND LU Cws Autonomy still far-fetched VANCOUVER HOMEOWNERS | 3,090 UNDER 24 7,975 5,879 3,855 3695 1991 1996 2001 2006 2011 EDMOND LU chart The number of Vancouverites under 24 who own houses doubled in the last 10 years. Young Vancouverites finding it diffi- cult to pay debts without parents’ help By SHANNON LYNCH espite a large portion of Vancou- verites under 30 owning proper- ty, several young homeowners said their wages aren’t enough to cover the cost of mortgages without help from their parents. Frances Bula, chair of the Langara journalism department, published an article in the Globe and Mail on Oct. 17 which claimed “about a third of people under 30 in the Lower Mainland own homes,” citing data from Statistics Canada and Urban Futures, a company specializing in housing forecasting. “Some young homeowners have be- come slightly evangelical about the need for others to realize it’s possible if they stop being so clueless about mon- ey,” wrote Bula. The number of homeowners in Van- couver under 24 has more than doubled since 1991 according to data from Ca- nadian Housing Observer. Vancouver real estate agent Anca Ardelean said some of her younger cli- ents get support. “For some, the parents are helping, flat-out,” she said. Kendall Moraski, 25, bought his Kitsilano apartment in January 2010 when he was going to UBC. Originally from Connecticut, Moraski has dual citizenship and said that since he didn’t go to “an expensive, out-of-state Ameri- can school,” most of the down pay- ment came from leftover money in his US college tu- ition fund. Moraski, who works full-time as an IT coordinator at Adler School of Professional Psy- chology, said his place is expensive. “All of my paycheque, if not most of it goes to the mortgage,” he said, adding that he needs his mom’s help. “With the mortgage, plus utilities and taxes, property taxes on top of that,” he said, “I wouldn’t be able to survive off of [just my paycheque].” Alex Chan, 31, and his wife bought a condo in Burnaby last November. He said that his parents gave him a “lump sum” instead of him getting a bank loan. Both Chan and his wife are accountants. He said that without his parents’ help, “half of our income would go to the mortgage.” Chan said even his company’s chief financial officer can’t afford a mort- gage here. “She has to sell the house because it’s too expensive,” he said. Home ownership might still be un- reachable for those without help. KENDALL MORAKSI IT coordinater, homeowner VIVIAN GHUI photo A panel of five key journalists spoke to more than 100 attendees at the Langara Journalism program’s 50th anniversary celebration event. Langara journalism program turns 50 Panelists included prominent figures from Canadian media such as CBC, Vancouver Sun and CKNW By VIVIAN CHUI telling important stories to the public according to panelists at the Langara Journalism program’s 50th anniversary celebration event, Jour- nalism: The Next 50 Years, at the CBC Broadcast Centre on Oct. 23. Moderated by Frances Bula, the de- partment chair of Langara journalism, the event featured Harold Munro (The Vancouver Sun), Alison Broddle (CBC/ Radio-Canada), Simi Sara (CKNW), Jane Armstrong (The Tyee), and Gary Mason (The Globe and Mail) discuss- ing the future of journalism. Harold Munro, editor-in-chief of The Vancouver Sun, envisions print, televi- sion and radio converging “because in Jim will always be about the end, it is all about great storytell- ing.” Journalists will play a significant role in curating the increasing amount of content available to readers, Munro said. He was also weary of the danger of over-filtering, causing readers to con- sume news in a “personalized universe that feeds our narrow worldview.” Alison Broddle, executive producer of news at CBC/Radio-Canada, echoed the sentiment. “You can get who, what, when, and where from hundreds of sources, but journalists will still always add the why,” said Broddle. Simi Sara, host of CKNW’s The Simi Sara Show, says it is journalists’ re- sponsibility to make important stories interesting to the public. “[Some] say you can’t do too much 66 politics, it bores people. I don’t buy that philosophy,” said Sara. We can Jane Armstrong, new editor-in-chief read of independent online magazine The the best Tyee, spoke of crowdfunding, where in- . dividuals contribute toa project viathe J ournal- Internet, and its role in “ensuring good ism from stories get told.” In the Netherlands, an entire media around the organization has been financed through crowdfunding, said Arm- world, but strong. “It has a kind of democratic ap- Who's cov- peal to me.” _ ering city Journalism educator Marc Edge said 9 the Internet is still missing local news. hall: “We can read the best journalism from around the world, but who’s cov- JOURNALISRi ering city hall?” INSTRUCTOR Students not point of focus Topics relevant to young voters still talked about despite not being directly addressed during debate By JAMES GOLDIE mayoral debate said the word “students”. The event, hosted by Langara Col- lege on Oct. 22, was the first all-candi- dates debate of Vancouver’s 2014 mu- nicipal election. It featured Mayor Gregor Robertson (Vision Vancouver), Meena Wong (Coalition of Progressive Electors), Kirk LaPointe (Non-Partisan Association) and independents Colin Shandler and Robert Kasting. Despite the debate’s location at a col- lege campus, only LaPointe actually mentioned students directly. During a discussion of public transit, LaPointe said that his party would make sure the proposed Broadway corridor sub- way is built. “We're also going to make sure there are other shorter-term solutions, in- cluding more buses on more routes, in order to get students back and forth in the city [during] rush hour,” he said. Sue Street, executive director of the Langara College Foundation, who or- ganized the debate, said she could not speak to whether or not the candidates sufficiently addressed students, how- ever, her office chose debate topics that would be relevant to both students and the general public. “We felt that [affordable housing] was definitely a topic students would be interested in,” she said. Street said her office felt that “cost and accessibil- ity” of transit would be of particular interest to the students in the audi- ence. Nolan Somers, in his first year of Langara’s criminal justice program, was one such student. He felt that al- though student voters may not have been referenced explicitly, the issues most relevant to them were still ad- dressed. “They also mentioned the minimum wage too, because we have to pay for our tuition somehow,” he said. Somers acknowledged that many students lack an interest in municipal politics. “I think it was a good thing we had the debate in Langara,” he said. “m hoping that people will start to take more interest in politics at every level.” 0: one candidate at last week’s JENNIFER OEHLER submitted Kirk LaPointe (NPA) with Mayor Gregor Robertson at the mayoral de- bate held at Langara.