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Sign aims to raise awareness of killing of horses in Canada for human consumption Jeremy Deutsch jdeutsch@thenownews.com
Y
ou might have seen it while driving by on your way to work in Port Coquitlam. It’s a billboard with a couple of cute horses, but the message is anything but cuddly. Located at Lougheed Highway and Shaughnessy Street, the scrawling type reads, “It’s time for the horror to end … Stop slaughtering us.” The ad was inspired by a U.S.-based advocacy group called Angel Acres, which launched a similar ad campaign south of the border to stop the slaughter of horses in Canada for human consumption. The billboard, which was erected on Nov. 2, is just one of three in Canada and the only one in B.C. Charlotte Uhrich, who sponsored the sign with the support of the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition, said the location was chosen both because of it’s a high traffic area and the sign company, CBS Outdoor Canada, was the only one that would do it. The billboard is in support of an NDP private member’s bill in Parliament that would prohibit the importation or exportation of horses for slaughter for human consumption. “We need Canadians to know we’re slaughtering our companion animals in Canada and the meat is being sent for foreign dinner plates,” Uhrich told The NOW, noting there are four
Lisa King/NOW
This billboard in PoCo is one of three across Canada in support of a private member’s bill in Parliament. slaughter plants in Canada, two in Alberta and two in Quebec. The other two billboards are located in Ottawa and Calgary. So far, Uhrich said there hasn’t been any reaction to the billboard in B.C., but she noted an awareness campaign
is only just starting. But for just how long the billboard will stay up remains a question. Uhrich said the PoCo billboard was the most expensive of the three, adding she doesn’t have any big sponsors to help pay for the message.
The billboard costs $2,000 a month, and she doubted she could afford to keep the ad in the current location. According to CBS Outdoor Canada’s website, the company is a division of CBS Corp., a major broadcast network in the U.S.
Local MLAs release travel expenses jdeutsch@thenownews.com
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Jeremy Deutsch
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Friday, November 9, 2012
It isn’t always cheap carrying out the business of a provincial politician. But at least now taxpayers have a better idea of how much it actually costs their local MLA to be on the road. For the first time, the province’s legislative assembly has released the travel expenses for MLAs from the period of April 1 to Sept. 30, 2012. Of the four Tri-Cities MLAs, Coquitlam-Burke Mountain MLA Doug Horne topped the list, spending $22,851. The Liberal MLA spent $8,757 on accommodations in Victoria and $1,883 for a per diem. Members are paid a per diem of $61 while in Victoria on assembly business where
no receipts are required. Horne spent $1,595 on in-constituency travel and another $8,646 on general travel, which included $424 per diem. He spent another $1,546 on four trips for what is listed as accompanying person travel. Members are allowed up to 12 trips per fiscal year to be used by an accompanying person. Next was Port Coquitlam MLA Mike Farnworth, who spent a total of $16,767 on travel expenses during the reporting period. Those expenses included $6,000 on accommodations in Victoria and a per diem of $1,194, another $1,595 on in-constituency travel and $7,762 on general travel with $216 per diem. Port Moody-Coquitlam MLA Joe Trasolini, who was elected
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in mid April, spent $12,263 on travel expenses. The numbers include $6,000 on accommodations in Victoria and a per diem of $959, another $1,428 on inconstituency travel and $3,656 on general travel with $221 per diem. The most frugal was retiring Coquitlam-Maillardville MLA Diane Thorne, who spent $10,050 during the period, including $6,000 on Victoria accommodations and a per diem of $989. She also spent $1,595 on in-constituency travel, $893 on general travel with $185 per diem and $389 on accompanying person travel. The expenses were made public after a damning auditor general’s report, which found the books of the province’s legislature were a mess.
However, critics have suggested expenses aren’t detailed enough. For more than a year, Independent MLA Bob Simpson has been putting detailed expense reports on his website regularly. Trasolini said he expects at some point that will be the norm for all MLAs. “There is nothing there to hide. I would have no problem in showing everyone what my expenses are,” he said, adding he was surprised after being elected to find the reporting hadn’t been done previously. Trasolini argued any time public officials are using taxpayers’ money, the details should be made available to anybody. Horne said he hopes the release of travel expenses will help the public gain a better
understanding of MLA spending. “I’m a big believer in transparency and letting people know and understand how their money is being spent,” he said. However, the MLA questioned how much value there would be in offering more detailed reports, noting the time factor involved in doing so. “I think it’s good to find a place where it’s not onerous, that we are actually spending time on what the people are electing us to do, and that is to represent them,” he said, adding he hasn’t received a letter from a single constituent suggesting it’s an important issue. The legislature is expected to release office allowance expense reports in January.
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