Today is Pink Shirt Day in Canada. All across the country young people will don pink shirts to send a message to stop bullying. The time has come for all of us to redouble our efforts to stop bullying by getting involved.

Bullying is rampant in Canada. Research suggests that between 20 per cent and 60 per cent of Canadian students are bullied, with younger students more likely to be bullied than older ones. Depending on the age group, up to 40 per cent say they have bullied a fellow student.

Thousands of kids are picked on, insulted, beat up and called derogatory names each day for anything perceived as being "different." Bullied victims are between two and nine times more likely to consider suicide, more than 14 per cent of high school students have considered suicide, seven per cent have attempted it and 4,400 take their own lives in the United States alone each year.

Pink Shirt Day began in September 2007 at Central Kings high school in Cambridge, N.S., when a ninth grader arrived wearing a pink polo shirt. He was bullied mercilessly by a group of 12th graders who told him if he ever wore a pink shirt again he'd pay for it. When two seniors, David Shepherd and Travis Price, got wind of what happened, they had an idea. They purchased 50 pink shirts and tank-tops and sent out messages inviting as many kids as possible to wear them to school. Not only did they easily distribute the shirts, but almost 300 students showed up dressed in pink, some from head to toe. One of the bullies saw the sea of pink and threw a trash can in protest, but as Shepherd would say later, not a peep was heard from the bullies after that day. The story was picked up by the national media and later overseas as well. Today there are schools around the world that hold annual Pink Shirt Days, all because two Canadian Grade 12 students decided to step up and lead.

But five years later we desperately need more people to step up, and not just one day a year. If you're a parent, teacher or friend, you can watch for signs that indicate a child is being bullied: depression, changes in sleeping or eating habits, loss of interest in previously enjoyable activities, social withdrawal or negative self-talk such as "I wish I were dead." Be vigilant. Inquire. Let them know you care. Encourage them to tell adults. And of course, intervene when you see or hear any behaviour that belittles another. You don't have to be a parent, or hold a position of leadership such as a teacher, to intervene. Any-one can stop it.

One element of bullying that we don't talk enough about is the need for parents of teens who do the bullying to take responsibility. After some recent suicides, I have heard stories of the bullies posting comments and even showing up at funerals to say how glad they are about the suicide. Where are the parents of these kids?

We tend to think of bullying as physical acts, but much of bullying today is more subtle and carried out through social media, increasingly with girls as much as boys. Parents need to look for ANY sign of lack of tolerance in their own children - we need to check it, deal with it, even if it seems harmless, because it is NOT harmless.

This is not just "kids being kids" and this permissive attitude among parents is part of the problem.

When I was a teen, I bullied a kid once and when my mother caught wind of it she read me the riot act. It never happened again.

Pink Shirt Day is a reason for Canadian pride as there are Pink Shirt Days in many parts of the world, including the United States, because two of our best decided to act. But the problem is still growing and it is time for a national campaign to end it. Norway had such a national campaign, significantly reducing bullying.

Edmund Burke once said, "All that is required for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing." The con-verse is also true: All that is required to change things is for more of us - parents, teens and bystanders - to step up, speak up, and let our voices be heard.

John Izzo is the author of Stepping Up: How Taking Responsibility Changes Everything.

OTTAWA — Canadian housing prices were flat or falling in the last quarter of 2011, according to the Teranet-National Bank house price index released Wednesday.

Home prices fell in December by 0.2 per cent from the previous month, the second straight monthly decline following two consecutive months of flat prices, National Bank senior economist Marc Pinsonneault wrote in his monthly report.

The index was up 6.8 per cent from December 2010, though the year-over-year advance had slowed somewhat from the 7.1 per cent gain posted in November.

Home prices fell in December in nearly half of the 11 markets included in the survey, including Victoria, Ottawa-Gatineau, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. "For Ottawa-Gatineau, Vancouver and Victoria it was the third consecutive decline, and for Toronto it was the second," Pinsonneault said. Prices in Edmonton were flat, while prices rose in Quebec City, Winnipeg, Hamilton, Calgary and Halifax.

The year-over-year gains in Toronto, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Hamilton and Quebec City all exceeded the national average. While the year-to-year price differences varied widely, "December was the first month since September 2010 in which all 11 metropolitan markets showed prices up from 12 months earlier."

Meanwhile, Pinsonneault said the Canadian Real Estate Association has determined market conditions are generally balanced across Canada, "the exceptions were tight markets in Toronto, Hamilton, Winnipeg and —suddenly — Halifax, and buyers' markets in Vancouver and Victoria."

Postmedia News

The 23-year-old apprentice electrician and paramedic with B.C. Ambulance Service had settled on his two-bedroom home at a project called Outlook, but only learned earlier in the day about a new bonus for first-time buyers announced in Tuesday's provincial budget.

"I heard about it on the radio this morning," said Guemas-Bonell, who takes possession of his 1,220-square-foot home, which he purchased for $295,000, in March.

"This is a huge plus for me," added Guemas-Bonell, referring to a temporary BC FirstTime New Home Buyers' Bonus that will be in effect until March 31, 2013 and is worth up to $10,000. "I was going ahead with the deal before, so this is a nice surprise.

"For a lot of people in my category, the hardest part is getting a down payment," said Guemas-Bonell, who will likely put the extra money onto his mortgage when he gets the tax refund.

"My down payment is $15,000, so it will add up to about 10 per cent of the cost [of the home], which almost doubles my down payment."

But Guemas-Bonell, by buying in Langley, is also part of a buyers' group that industry analysts say stands to get the best bang for its buck with the new tax credit.

Outlying municipalities like Langley, Surrey or Pitt Meadows, where homes are cheaper and buyers can have less money, will fare better, according to a marketing firm that sells condos and townhomes largely to first-time buyers.

"[The bonus] is specifically targeted at first-time buyers and it would make a bigger difference for [Fraser] Valley buyers because it's a bigger percentage of the purchase price," said Cristy Edmonds, vice-president of Fifth Avenue Real Estate Marketing Ltd.

"It would likely be less in Vancouver because in Vancouver you're buying a more expensive property and you're probably making more money to buy that more expensive property."

Michael Ferreira of Urban Analytics Inc., which conducts research for residential developers, agreed that the new bonus - a one-time refundable personal tax credit equal to five per cent of the purchase price of the home to a maximum of $10,000 - will provide a "bigger bang for your buck in the Valley" as a percentage of savings.

Ferreira said most new homeowners in Metro Vancouver will get the full $10,000 credit, which at five per cent is equivalent to a minimum down payment on properties up to $200,000 (for properties over $200,000, it's a percentage of the minimum down payment). In the city of Vancouver, he said, the average price of a 600-square-foot, one-bedroom condo in a concrete building - a typical purchase for first-time buyers - would sell for about $400,000.

With the $10,000 bonus, that's equivalent to 2.5 per cent of the purchase price.

In Burnaby and Richmond, the same unit would sell for $350,000, or 2.9 per cent of the price; in Surrey for $250,000, or four per cent; and in Port Coquitlam for $240,000, or 4.2 per cent.

"I think it's the outlying suburbs that will benefit the most from this."

The bonus declines based on net income starting at $150,000, reducing to zero for single buyers earning more than $200,000 and $250,000 for couples and is based on new-home purchases.

While the bonus is not expected to set the real estate world on fire, it's being seen as an extra incentive for new home buyers to get off the fence and buy their first home.

In Metro Vancouver, that's usually a two-bedroom townhome or a one-bedroom or one-bedroom-and-den condo, with a premium of $150,000 to $200,000 in Vancouver as opposed to Surrey or Langley.

Edmonds, whose firm is marketing homes in Surrey, Langley, Port Coquitlam and Vancouver, said about 60 per cent of their sales are now to first-time buyers and that their townhomes in Langley and Surrey are in the $300,000to$350,000 range with condos in the $150,000-to-$250,000 range. A similar condo at their Commercial Drive project goes for about $350,000, she added. All are wood-frame buildings.

"I think this will get a lot of people coming out and looking again who had put off their decision," she added. "With interest rates lower, it's another added incentive.

"Ten thousand dollars on a $350,000 [home] is a significant amount when you consider that most buyers are buying with five per cent down. They could put [the money] into the mortgage or they could turn it into an RRSP and get a further tax reduction.

Scott Brown, senior vice-president, Colliers International, said he anticipates many developers will move their construction dates up to take advantage of the new tax bonus.

"We're seeing the Panther Group working to accelerate the construction schedule [on The Flats on Georgia, a Vancouver condo project] to ensure they're completed by March 2013, so [customers] are eligible for the rebate."

VANCOUVER -- While home sales in Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley dipped at the start of 2012, other regions across B.C. heated up, according to the British Columbia Real Estate Association.

The number of houses sold in the Vancouver region through Multiple Listing Service was down 13.4 per cent in January from the same month last year, the industry group said Wednesday.

In addition, the average price of a Vancouver home declined slightly, from $762,562 in January 2011 to $752,380 this year — a difference of 1.3 per cent.

In the Fraser Valley, sales dipped by 3.1 per cent during the same time period. However, prices rose 6.4 per cent from an average of $441,544 last year to $469,635 in 2012.

Meanwhile, B.C.’s northwest and northeast regions, Kamloops and Victoria saw sales gains of more than 10 per cent.

The biggest jump occurred in B.C.’s northwest region, where the average house price increased 14.2 per cent — from $214,357 to $244,872 — in the 12 months from January 2011.

Powell River, with an average price of $209,636, recorded the least expensive homes in the province­ — a figure down 1.2 per cent ($212,078) over January 2011.

Cameron Muir, chief economist with the BCREA, said consumer demand driven by low mortgage interest rates saw modest improvements in January from a year ago, despite a decline in provincial sales activity.

Across Canada, home sales were down 4.5 per cent in January from the same month one year earlier, while the number of newly listed homes edged down 1.4 per cent.

“This marks the first monthly decline in national activity since August 2011 and the biggest monthly decline since July 2010,” the Canadian Real Estate Association stated.

“The monthly decline reversed a string of monthly increases over the closing months of last year, and returned national activity to where it stood at the end of the third quarter of 2011.

January’s sales declines were led by Greater Toronto and Montreal, as well as a softening in other major centres such as Greater Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Ottawa.

Still, unadjusted sales last month were up four per cent from January 2011 and were even with the five- and 10-year averages for January sales, it said.

“The national housing market is stabilizing and remains well balanced,” said CREA president Gary Morse.

“That said, forecasts for economic and job growth going forward vary widely for different parts of the country, suggesting a possible continuation of a softening trend in some markets, as well as the potential that demand will pick up based on strong fundamentals in others.”

CANBERRA - Zurich has topped Tokyo to become the world's most expensive city, as surging currencies push up the cost of living in countries like Switzerland and Australia, a survey showed on Tuesday.

Vancouver overtook U.S. cities to become the most expensive in North America, ranked 37th in the world. Los Angeles was the most expensive U.S. city - equal 42nd with Shanghai - while New York came in 47th.

The Swiss Franc's allure as a safe haven for investors moving their funds out of Euro zone nations propelled Zurich to the top spot from fifth last year, while Geneva came in third.

Five Australian cities made it into the top 20, led by Sydney and Melbourne in seventh and eighth places, according to The Worldwide Cost of Living survey, carried out by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

"Exchange rates have been the greatest influence for the Australian cost of living, with the Australian dollar seeing its value to the U.S. dollar double in a decade," said survey editor Jon Copestake in a statement.

The survey of 130 cities worldwide compares more than 400 individual prices across 160 products, including food, clothing, transport, rents and private schools.

Asian cities moved up the ranking, with Singapore gaining one place to 9th spot and Seoul climbing nine places to 27th.

Asia was also home to some of the cheapest cities. Three of the four cheapest were in the Indian subcontinent: New Delhi and Mumbai in India, and Karachi in Pakistan, which was the cheapest of cities surveyed.

Reporting By Maggie Lu YueYang; Editing by Richard Pullin

British Columbia's population continues to grow rapidly, with new residents preferring urban metropolitan areas rather than rural centres.

And while Metro Vancouver is still taking its share of the growth, Squamish and Chilliwack metropolitan areas saw the biggest gains in population between 2006 and 2011, according to Statistics Canada.

Richmond’s population has grown by 9.2 per cent in that time. The city’s population now stands at 190,473, which means 1,473.5 people living per square kilometre.

The latest Census figures show B.C.'s population increased by seven per cent between 2006-2011, pushing the population to 4.4 million, and making B.C. the second fastest growing province next to Alberta. The Western provinces welcomed 30.7 per cent of Canada's population growth for the five-year period, for the first time surpassing that of the Atlantic provinces and Quebec combined (306 per cent).

Canada's population grew by 5.9 per cent in the five-year period to 33.5 million. The growth credited to the rise to immigrants, is the highest of the G8 nations.

In B.C., the Squamish metropolitan area posted the strongest growth at 14. 6 per cent, followed by Chilliwack at 11.9 per cent and Kelowna at 10 per cent and Metro Vancouver at 9.6 per cent. On the other end of the scale, Prince Rupert and Williams Lake were among the cities with the biggest population declines.

Peter Liang, a spokesman for Statistics Canada, noted the populations are different for individual cities. Langford, near Victoria, for instance, posted the strongest population gain at 30.1 per cent, followed by Lake Country in Kelowna, Port Moody (19.9 per cent) and Surrey at 18.6 per cent. Pitt Meadows was at 13.5 per cent, while cities like New Westminster, Burnaby, Langley, Coquitlam and Maple Ridge saw a 10-12 per cent increase.

The city of Vancouver's growth rate was at 4.4 per cent - with most of the new population settling downtown, Mt. Pleasant and Fairview.

Meanwhile, some areas of Surrey, Langley and Port Moody and Coquitlam posted population growth of more than 100 per cent between 2006 and 2011 , according to the results. In Surrey's Clayton area, the population more than tripled from 4,132 to 14,034, while a section of Port Moody saw its population grow from 1,276 to 3,684 since 2006.