I went to a Burnaby Board of Trade lunch today that featured presentations by Jock Finlayson, vice president, Business Council of BC; Jack Belhouse, director of planning, City of Burnaby; and Mary Cue, vice president, Anthem Properties Group.
It appears Burnaby is booming. All of the presenters were very positive about the business outlook for 2004 and possibly 2005, mentioning an ongoing low-interest environment, lower taxes, and booming real estate development. The main point of concern was the rising Canadian dollar.
While all this development is going on, including areas near Byrne Creek where I volunteer as a streamkeeper, Belhouse proudly pointed out that 25% of Burnaby is park space. While I'm all for business, and am happy that the economic outlook appears to be improving, I hope we keep our parks too. They are a huge factor in our quality of life.