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Individual, Corporati &on & Trust Payrayroll, HST includiudingng Overseas & O& Offffshorshore Tax Issueax Issues Yang Tang Tang Tang ax Resolsolution Life's better with an agent Michelle Cooper Insurance & Financial Services 905.826.4900 www.michellecooper.ca Contact Me Insurance could be too expensive or not available if your house is in a risky flood zone area.flood zone area.f Climate change is a sig- nificant risk. For many of us, our larg-For many of us, our larg-F est asset is our house. To protect ourselves, we sim- ply buy insurance. But all that is changing. As a result of climate change, Ontario weather patterns have resulted in more floods. Several areas in the news include shoreline properties along the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence Riv- er, and some Muskoka com- munities. Listening to the weather reports it seems a "100-year flood" can occur severalflood" can occur severalf times in just a few years. An insurance company will assess the risk of finan- cial loss and set premiums accordingly. You want in- surance. They want profit. That will bring about changes that could hurt some homeowners. Insur- ance rates will rise signifi- cantly; in some cases your property may be uninsur- able. A lot of residential devel- opment has occurred on low lands that in hindsight should not have been devel- oped because of flood risk. Often these areas are in high demand because of the appeal of proximity to lakes, rivers or urban centers. If your neighbourhood is at risk of flood damage, that could hurt you financially. You might not be able to af-You might not be able to af-Y ford the financial cost of re-ford the financial cost of re-f pairing your house without insurance, or premiums be- come unaffordable. Flood risk is public infor- mation, so the value of your property will be less. Add in climate change to overde- velopment and you have the recipe for a perfect storm. Much land that has not been used for new develop- ment has been paved over. Plain and simple, there is no place for the water to go. Consider climate change issues. How can you protect your house? Where should you decide to own a house? Peter Watson, of Watson Investments MBA, CFP®, R.F.P., CIM®, FCSI offers a weekly financial planning column, Dollars & Sense. He can be contacted through www.watsonin- vestments.com. CLIMATE CHANGE A RISK TO ONTARIO HOMEOWNERS INCREASING CHANCES OF FLOODING COULD MEAN A SIGNIFICANT SPIKE TO YOUR INSURANCE PREMIUMS, WRITES PETER WATSON PETER WATSON Column Every time you look up at a celestial object in the night sky, it's like looking back into time. What you're seeing is not what the object looks like now but what it looked like when light first left it to reach your eye. That's be- cause of the incredible dis- tances in outer space and the speed of light is limited to about 300,000 km per sec- ond. This always boggles my mind. The further distant, the longer light takes to reach us and the further back in time we see it. The light from our closest celestialfrom our closest celestialf neighbour the Moon, takes 1.3 seconds, Mars takes about 3 minutes at its clos- est approach and the An- dromeda Galaxy takes an amazing 2.5 million years. Here are March stargaz- ing events, which are listed in the Hamilton Amateur Astronomers calendar. March 13 - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers meeting at McMaster Inno- vation Park, 175 Longwood Rd. S., Hamilton from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Free admis- sion, door prizes and every- body welcome. An optional food bank donation of non-food bank donation of non-f perishable goods is collect- ed and appreciated. Robert Godwin from Apogee books will discuss Apollo Stories. March 19 - The vernal equinox is the first day of spring. The Sun will be shining directly over the equator. Night and day are the same number of hours. March 23 - It will be one of the best times to see Mer- cury because it will be at its highest point above the morning horizon. Look for it low in the east before sun- rise. March 24 - It will be one of the best times to see Venus since it will be at itsVenus since it will be at itsV highest point above the eve- ning horizon. Look for it in the west after sunset. For more information, see the Hamilton Amateur Astronomers website at www.amateurastrono- my.org or call (905) 627- 4323. The club offers a basic astronomy course for mem- bers. Mario Carr is the club's director of publicity and can be reached at mario- carr@cogeco.ca. Twitter: @MarioCCarr. THE COSMIC TIME MACHINE OPINION LOOKING INTO OUTER SPACE IS ESSENTIALLY LIKE LOOKING INTO THE PAST, WRITES MARIO CARR MARIO CARR Column