Spotlight feature:
Ken Galanchuk
Winnipeg, Manitoba
From the Court
to the Court Room

By Scott Taylor

Ken Galanchuk

Ken Galanchuk remembers the old playground like it was yesterday. He used to ride his bicycle halfway across town just to practice at the old black-topped court beside Sisler High School.

Today, few young basketball players would look forward to practicing outside. But for a kid like Galanchuk, who just couldn’t get enough of the game, that old court felt like home.

“I was playing midget hockey at the time and just going into Grade 10,” said Galanchuk, 70, one of the most recent inductees into Manitoba’s prestigious Sports Hall of Fame.

“But Vic Pruden and Jim Downey were the basketball coaches at old Isaac Newton High School. Coach Pruden and Coach Downey would hold spring workouts outdoors on that court. I liked basketball and thought it would be great to go across town and learn from the best coaches. Vic taught me how to shoot.

“I lived on Inkster between Parr and MacKenzie and I’d walk to Sisler every day to go to school just to have Vic as my coach. I’d get on my bike and ride to that old court just to practice shooting with Vic.

“You know, I got picked to be on the Canadian Olympic Team because of my defense and the ability I had to shut down my friend Freddie Ingaldson (Canada’s greatest player of the 50s and early 60s), but it didn’t hurt that I was a pretty good shooter, too, I owe a lot of that to Vic and his coaching.”

John Galanchuk was a hard-working man from Ukraine who wanted nothing more from his son than to get a good Canadian education.

John had no interest in basketball or any other silly North American games. As it was for most immigrant families who arrived on Canada’s shores to give their children a better life, so it was for John and Minnie Galanchuk: Their son Kenneth was going to get a good education.

“My dad was a painter and he worked hard,” said Ken with a smile. “When I was in university, he wanted me to quit playing basketball and concentrate on my studies, but my mom convinced him to let me play. I made him a promise that if I got one year – 1963 – to pursue basketball, I would quit and go back to school full-time. So he let me go to Lethbridge and play for the Lethbridge Broders, the Canadian senior champions.

“It was a great year, but I didn’t quite give it up entirely after that.”

Good thing, too. If Ken Galanchuk had quit prematurely, Manitoba would have been deprived of one of the greatest basketball players in its history, a man who was already a member of the Manitoba Basketball Hall of Fame when he was formally inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame on Nov. 6.

Galanchuk was honored along with three other athletes, golfer Jo-Anne Lindsay, Blue Bomber lineman Frank Rigney and baseball player Shane Moffatt. There were also two builders inducted—Christine O’Connor (soccer) and George Phillips (multi-sport) – and two teams: the 1984 Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the 1966-67 Team Manitoba Canoe Team.

For Galanchuk, the honor was a surprise, but certainly not without merit. The former Court of Queen’s Bench judge had a remarkable career on the basketball court.

He was typical of Canadian basketball players in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He was a top midget hockey player when he learned that the two coaches at Isaac Newton School, Jim Downey and Vic Pruden, were holding spring basketball workouts.

So Galanchuk, a solid natural athlete, attended the workouts and because of Pruden and Downey, he learned to play the game.

In 1957, with Pruden as his coach, he played guard and was captain of the Isaac Newton High School juvenile team that won both the city and provincial championships. He was also named to the post-season all-star team.

In ’58, he was captain of the Sisler High School team that won both the city and provincial championships. In the city championship playoff game against Daniel Mac, he scored 44 points. In 1998, that Sisler team was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame after finishing the season 33-1. Galanchuk was an all-star in every league and tournament the team played in.

In 1959, Galanchuk played for both the University of Manitoba Bisons junior varsity and varsity teams. He was a junior varsity all-star and led the Junior League in scoring.

In 1960, he decided to play for the IPAC Buffaloes in the Junior Men’s League and was not only selected to the all-star team but also played on the team that won the Manitoba, Thunder Bay and Saskatchewan Championships.

Those days with Downey and Pruden at Isaac Newton and Sisler led to a remarkable career that reached its pinnacle during a six-month period between December of 1962 and May of 1963 when he left law school at the University of Manitoba to play in Lethbridge.

By day, he worked at Broders Cannery in Lethbridge and at night played and practiced with the Lethbridge Broders, the team with whom he won a Canadian senior championship and represented Canada at a major international tournament in the Philippines in late 1962, at the 1963 Pan Am Games in Sao Paulo and at the 1963 World Basketball Championships in Rio de Janeiro.

“In December of ’62, I was playing with the IPAC Buffaloes in the Winnipeg Senior Men’s League,” Galanchuk recalled. “We lost to Lethbridge at the Western Canadians and they asked me if I would play for them at the Nationals.

“We went on to play as the Canadian National Team at an international tournament in the Philippines and lost the gold medal game to the United States. It was quite an experience. We all met Ferdinand Marcos, but he was the reason that this tournament was just an invitational tournament and not the World Championship as it was supposed to be. That’s because he refused to allow Visas to be issued to the Russians and the Yugoslavs and wouldn’t let them in the country.

“So he invites us to this international tournament with Spain, Puerto Rico, Japan, China, Mexico, the Philippines, the United States and us. And he sets it up so the Philippines would meet the United States in the final, but I guess he didn’t expect us to be very good because we played the Philippines in the first game.

“Well, we beat them pretty good and went on to beat Spain and Mexico to reach the final against the United States. They Americans throttled us, but it was a great experience and I remember having a pretty good game. I had no problem coming home with the silver medal.”

In March of 1963, Galanchuk led the Broders to the Canadian Senior Championship and as a result of his outstanding play, he was selected to play with Canada’s National Team in two more international tournaments that year. In April of 1963 he played in the Pan American Games in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and in May, he represented our country at the World Basketball Championships in Rio de Janeiro.

“When I came back home after the World Championships, I fulfilled my promise to my father,” Galanchuk said. “I enrolled at Law School at the U of M and told him I was finished with basketball.

“Although my mom knew better. I’d sneak out at night to play for the IPAC Buffaloes and we not only won the 1964 Manitoba Championship and the Western Canadian Championship, but lost to a team from Toronto in the final of the National Championships.

“By then, my dad had figured it out, but I think my mom had softened him up. He wasn’t completely happy about it, but I was doing pretty well in school, so he went along with it.”

In 1967, while playing for Winnipeg’s Madison Chimneys team, Galanchuk had one more shot at the National Senior Championship, but lost to the Vancouver IGA team in the Canadian final.

He finally gave up the game in 1967 and made his father proud. He graduated with a law degree from the University of Manitoba and after practicing the profession for the next 24 years, was named a Federal Court of Queen’s Bench Judge in 1991. He also served three terms as a Winnipeg City Councilor and from 1974-77 was a director of the Winnipeg Jets Hockey Club.

“I was lucky to have great coaches,” he said. “From Mr. Downey and Vic Pruden, to Jimmy Bulloch and Bid Fraser at the U of M and Freddie Ingaldson at IPAC. When you’re fortunate enough to have great coaches like I did, you can go a long way.”

(Read more in the Nov 30 - Dec 19/2010 issue of Senior Scope)

Fraud Prevention:

Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre launches its new website!

It’s estimated that between $10 and $30 billion dollars are lost each year to frauds in Canada, a figure comparable to drug trafficking revenues. Shockingly, only 5% of people who’ve been victimized ever report it – most don’t think it will help.

The Canadian Anti Fraud Centre (CAFC) is hoping to change that. Originally known as PhoneBusters, the CAFC is a combined effort of the RCMP, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and the Competition Bureau. Since its inception in 1993, the CAFC has grown to become Canada’s one-stop-shop for fraud reporting. To serve you better, the organization has just launched its new website.

Each year, the CAFC receives tens of thousands of calls and e-mail messages from consumers all across Canada and the USA. The Centre’s intake unit is staffed by anti-fraud specialists who help callers protect themselves from being victimized by identity crimes and other fraud schemes.

The CAFC also has a team of intelligence analysts who turn collected fraud information into intelligence reports, which are then disseminated to Canadian law enforcement agencies across the country. This information acts like a kind of map, showing investigators in one province how frauds they're working on are connected to frauds taking place in other parts of the country – or in other parts of the world. This kind of information sharing enables police officers to crack complex cases and ultimately make arrests.

The CAFC is not an investigative agency – if you’re a fraud victim, you must contact your local police force if you want the crime investigated. However, if you want to help shut down the organized crime groups responsible for the most lucrative, large-scale frauds, contacting the CAFC is the key. The more people who report, the greater the chance of shutting down the criminals responsible for scams.

“We need to dispel the myth that fraud isn’t a serious problem. Today’s frauds are increasingly sophisticated and the impact can be devastating for individuals, families, and businesses. We encourage Canadians to be informed and remain vigilant. Prevention through public education and awareness greatly contributes to the fight against fraud. No one deserves to be a victim.” said RCMP Assistant Commissioner Stephen White, Director General of Financial Crime.

Please visit the Canadian Anti Fraud Centre’s new website for the latest on emerging fraud trends, advice on protecting yourself, and victim’s guides that will help you recover from fraud loss. See the new look at: www.antifraudcentre.ca

Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Media Relations
613-993-2999

(Read more in the Nov 30 - Dec 19/2010 issue of Senior Scope)

Financial Planning:

Principal Residence Exemption – Vacation Properties

BRIAN G. KONRAD CFP, Financial Consultant

The principal residence exemption allows you to exempt from taxation some or all of the capital gains that you realize when you sell a home that qualifies as a “principal residence” – a potentially significant tax savings.

If during your lifetime, you and your spouse together have only ever owned one personal-use home at a time, you will usually be able to exempt all the capital gains on those sequentially-owned homes. However, if you and your spouse ever owned two personal-use homes during the same period – e.g. your “city home” and your “vacation home”, then at least some of the capital gains on one of those homes will eventually be subject to taxation. When you sell the first home, you must decide whether you will designate it as your principal residence and exempt the capital gains on that first home, or whether you will pay the capital gains taxes on that sale so that you will be able to fully exempt the gains on your second home when you eventually sell it. This decision could be one of the most significant financial decisions you will make.

Definition and Rules

Tax legislation defines a “principal residence” as an accommodation owned by a taxpayer (either solely or jointly), and ordinarily inhabited by the taxpayer, the taxpayer’s spouse or common-law partner, former spouse or common-law partner, or child. Whether a property was “ordinarily inhabited” in a given year is determined based on the facts of each case, but generally a property need only be inhabited for a short period of time in the year to meet the test. For example, you would be considered to ordinarily inhabit your vacation home even if you only used it during your annual vacations, as long as the vacation home was not primarily an income-producing (rental) property to you.

There are many types of properties that could qualify as a principal residence including a house, an apartment, a cottage, a mobile home, a trailer, a houseboat, a farm, or a share in a co-operative housing corporation. For farms, the principal residence generally will be deemed to include the first 1/2 hectare of land on which the property is situated, and in certain cases can include surrounding land in excess of 1/2 hectare.

You can only designate one property as your “principal residence” for any given year, even if you own more than one property that could qualify. Also, you must share that designation with your spouse or commonlaw partner and your children under the age of 18. (Prior to 1982, spouses could “double up” on the principal residence exemption.)

You don’t have to designate any property as your principal residence until you sell a property and want to claim the exemption. In order to designate the property as your principal residence you should attach Form T2091(IND), Designation of a Property as a Principal Residence by an Individual (Other Than a Personal Trust) to your income tax return for that year. In situations when you were deemed to have disposed of the residence because you died, your legal representative must complete
a T1255, Designation of a Property as a Principal Residence by the Legal Representative of a Deceased Individual and attach it to your terminal tax return. However, these forms must only be attached to your tax returns when you have a taxable capital gain to report. In Quebec, you must attach Form TP/274 even if the capital gain is entirely exempt.

If you own two homes during the same period that could qualify for the principal residence exemption, then at least some of the capital gains on one of those homes will be subject to taxation. When you decide to sell the first home, you must decide whether the principal residence exemption should be used on that home. To make that decision, you will need to estimate:

• the number of years you will continue to own and occupy the second home, and

• the future capital gain on the second home.

Figure 1. shows the principal residence exemption formula.

Click image for larger view

Example

Anne and Henry are married, and they own two homes that could qualify as “principal residences” for all years of ownership – i.e. their “city home” and their “vacation home”. They purchased the city home 10 years ago and the vacation home 5 years ago. Their marginal tax rate, now and in the future, is and will be 40%.

Anne and Henry are selling the vacation home today, and will realize a capital gain of $100,000. They will not be buying a replacement vacation home, but will continue to own their city home. They expect to continue to live in the city home for a further 10 years, and when they sell it in 10 years time, they expect to realize a capital gain of $250,000.

They have two choices.

Choice #1

They could designate the vacation home as their principal residence for 4 of the 5 years they owned it, meaning that when they sell the city home, they will at most be able to designate it as their principal residence for 16 of the 20 years they will have owned it.

On the vacation home sale, the exempt portion of the capital gain will = [$100,000 * (4 + 1)/5] = $100,000, meaning they will have a tax bill of $0.

On the city home sale 10 years from now, the exempt portion of the capital gain will = [$250,000 * (16 + 1)/20] = $212,500, meaning they will have a tax bill of ($250,000-$212,500) * 50% * 40% = $7,500.

Choice #2

They could designate the vacation home as their principal residence for 0 of the 5 years they owned it, meaning that when they sell the city home, they will be able to designate it as their principal residence for all 20 of the years they will have owned it.

On the vacation home sale, they will have a tax bill of $50,000 * 40% = $20,000.

On the city home sale 10 years from now, the exempt portion of the capital gain will = [$250,000 * (19 + 1)/20] = $250,000, meaning they will have a tax bill of $0.

In other words, it is a choice between Pay $0 in taxes today and $7,500 in taxes 10 years from now,

or

Pay $20,000 in taxes today and $0 in taxes 10 years from now.

In this case, it makes sense to use the principal residence exemption on the vacation home for 4 years of ownership. But if they expected that they might sell the city home sooner, or for a higher capital gain, it might have made sense to “save” the exemption
to use it against the city home.

Summary

As demonstrated, the principal residence exemption can result in significant tax savings if applied appropriately. For further information and advice please contact your Investors Group consultant.
__________________________________

BRIAN G. KONRAD CFP
Financial Consultant
brian.konrad@investorsgroup.com
(204) 489-4640 ext. 246
100-1345 WAVERLEY STREET
WINNIPEG, MB R3T 5Y6
1-888-205-4828

The Canada Education Savings Grant and Canada Learning This is specifically written and published by Investors Group and intended as a general source of information only, and is not intended as a solicitation to buy or sell specific investments, nor is it intended to provide legal advice. Clients should discuss their situation with their Investors Group Consultant for advice based on their specific circumstances.

™Trademark owned by IGM Financial Inc. and licensed to its subsidiary corporations.

“Principal Residence Exemption – vacation properties” ©2008 Investors Group Inc. (01/2008) MP1392

(Read more in the Nov 30 - Dec 19/2010 issue of Senior Scope)

The Unkindest Cut Of All:
A Senior's Thinning Hair

By Jamie Wayne

I'm way overdue for a haircut.

I should go today, but I won't.

I won't go tomorrow either.

Or the day after.

Or the day after that.

I'll delay it at least three weeks, maybe a year.

A decade, if I can get away with it. I always drag it out for as long as possible. I hate getting my hair cut.

The reason is simple: my hair is thinning.

Constantly.

It was thinning when I came up with the idea for this column.

It was thinning while I was writing it.

It was thinning while Kelly was editing it.

It was thinning as it was being laid out on the page.

It's thinning as you're reading it right now.

And after you're finished and you go on about your business checking out the other articles in the paper, my hair will go on about its business, thinning even more.

I say thinning, but that's just the politically correct term.

Truth is, it's flat out evaporating.

Before my very eyes.

Heck, David Copperfield couldn't make it disappear any faster.

Which brings me back to the premise of this column. When you have thinning hair, you avoid getting it cut for as long as you possibly can.

Your rationale is simple: why pay a professional to lop off what few measly follicles are left, when if you just give
it time, they'll inevitably disappear all on their own - for free.

It's not that simple, of course.

Seniors with thinning hair have to get their hair cut every once in awhile. We have no choice. When thinning hair gets long on an oldie it makes you look sloppy, unkempt, absent-minded professor-ish - and if you wait too long, you begin scaring the neighbour's dog.

And when the neighbour's dog thinks you're weird, the neighbour's call the Jerry Springer Show and recommend you as a topic.

So I go eventually.

To the barber's I mean, not to "Jerry, Jerry, Jerry."

But make no mistake, I go under duress. Or if it's to a salon, I go under a smock. (Get it duress, smock?)

Anyhow, you can feel all the energy sucked right out of the room when a senior with thinning hair enters a salon.

Not so when a young guy with a mane like Antonio Banderas sashays in.

The moment a Banderas clone arrives the sexy hairstylists fight over him like it was a 20-girl Battle Royale in Wrestlemania.

And then the lucky winner does the samba to a Gloria Esteban CD while cutting his hair - pausing occasionally to sigh and drool.

Meanwhile, the poor girl who draws the short straw and has to do mine, grumbles to herself all the way through, stopping only intermittently to hum Peggy Lee's "Is That All There is".

It's depressing.

What's more depressing is when she's done.

She always makes a big production over what my hair looks like from behind.

She gives me a gigantic mirror to hold and spins me around and around a few zillion times so I can get more angles of the back of my head than those 18 camera crews give you of the winning touchdown at the Grey Cup.

The only thing missing is slo-mo, instant replay and me getting doused with Gatorade when she's finished.

My hair looks good from behind, of course. Great, in fact. The back always looks great.

But who the heck ever looks at the back - except in a salon.

The rest of the world sees only the front.

And it's the front that's the problem.

And it was thinning when I slinked into the salon.

It was thinning while it was being shampooed.

It was thinning while it was being cut.

It was thinning while it was being blow-dried.

It was thinning while it was being styled.

And all that spinning around makes it thin twice as much.

I tell ya, I can't catch a break.

___________________________

Jamie, who lives in Toronto, is a sports and humour columnist and TV and radio personality who has entertained Canadians for more than 30 years.

He was also the creator, author and syndicator of the cartoon strip HOCKEY SCHTICK™ which appeared in more than 70 newspapers across Canada. And he is a singer/songwriter of original kids music. His critically acclaimed CD, WHEN I GROW UP, made it to number one on Galaxie radio.

A lifelong athlete, who played high school football, collegiate hockey and has run 11 marathons, he still jogs, plays shinny and practices Iyengar yoga.

(And for those who remember the comedy team of Wayne and Shuster, Johnny Wayne is his Dad.)

(Read more in the Nov 30 - Dec 19/2010 issue of Senior Scope)