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LangleyAdvance
Road safety ideas stalled
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Safety on 16th Avenue will come by a longer road than expected – if at all.
Local Tory vying
News
Man sought, again
Public pressure worked once before when the police were hunting for a man Warrants were issued wanted in a 2007 hit for Mario Guy Martel. and run. Now the Langley RCMP has put out a statement once again looking for Mario Guy Martel for failing to show up in court. The court case stems from an incident in Willoughby. On Aug. 3, 2007, a motorcyclist was seriously injured in a bizarre accident. • More online
Community
Help the critters
The fourth annual Critter Care Walkathon is Sept. 30. Critter Care Wildlife Society takes in animals from around the province to raise and rehabilitate so they can be returned to the wild. The non-profit society does not receive tax dollars to do this work and relies on public generosity to operate. The wildlife centre costs $625,000 per year to operate • More online
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LangleyAdvance.com
by Bob Groeneveld editor@langleyadvance.com
Heather Colpitts/Langley Advance
Dog days of late summer
About 1,500 COPE union members at ICBC held a one-day strike on Sept. 18, as they press for a new contract. Workers at the ICBC Claim Centre in Willowbrook were out on the streets, with one lucky pup able to spend time walking with the local strikers. COPE said job action will escalate until a settlement is reached.
Councils
Tide rising against shark Should the Langleys ban shark fin soup? by Heather Colpitts and Bob Groeneveld news@langleyadvance.com
Debate steamed up over whether Langley City and Township should join other municipalities in banning shark fin soup at local restaurants. Langley City and Township debated the issues Sept. 17 during their regular council meetings. Anthony Marr urged City council, in his capacity with the Vancouver Animal Defense League, to bring in a shark fin ban. “I believe I speak for the majority of Chinese people both in Langley and in Canada,” Marr said. He said the soup is a status symbol and the fins have no taste, but the way the fins are obtained is cruel. Fins are often cut from live sharks which are then dumped back into the ocean to die. He said a conservative estimate is that 30 million sharks are killed each
2 0 1 2
year, but others suggest ning but the federal level the number is greater than is the slowest. 100 million. “There is nothing that “There is a cruelty and can move faster than a morality issue Canadians municipal ban,” Marr said. have to deal with,” Marr He likened the ban to said. previous conservation He said there are those efforts to make the public arguing to allow shark fin more aware about bear soup and who call oppongallbladder, rhino horn, ents racist but allowing and other animal parts. the harvest of sharks to Hall wondered why such continue will “make the a popular product couldn’t Chinese reputation forever be farmed the way salmon mud.” is farmed. Marr explained One third of the 450 that the rest of the shark shark species are endanhas little value compared gered or threatened and to the fins (70 cents per an American DNA study pound versus $700 per found that about 65 per pound respectively) and cent of shark fins served farming isn’t feasible. in soup were from endanCoun. Rosemary Wallace gered species, he said. had recently asked coun“We have identified two cil to consider a ban and or three council [restau“There is a cruelty and awaits a rants] in staff report morality issue.” each of the on the Anthony Marr Township issue. and City” Langley that serve Township shark fin soup, Marr said. Councillor Charlie Fox got Coun. Dave Hall noted marginal support when that fisheries is a federal he introduced his motion issue. Marr explained that calling for a ban on shark all levels of government fins “and related products” are being asked to do what Sept. 17. continued on page A12… they can to stop shark fin-
Charlie Fox thought his call to improve traffic safety on 16th Avenue would have an easy ride through Township council. But the councillor’s motion encountered some unexpected bumps in the road on Monday night, and eventually stalled in procedural wrangling. Fox was concerned about increasing traffic problems on the South Langley through-road – a number of them over the years resulting in deadly collisions, including the most recent double-fatal crash between 200th and 208th Streets on Sept. 13. He asked Township council to approach stakeholders in the TransLink-operated road to try and determine why there are more serious crashes on the stretch through Langley than in the neighbouring municipalities that it also traverses – and to find solutions. Fox’s list included police, ICBC, TransLink, and the City of Surrey, among others. The first bump in the road for Fox’s motion came from Coun. David Davis, who suggested that the problems be studied locally before sending a request for involvement by Surrey. Fox agreed to a friendly Charlie Fox amendment to his motion to Township councillor meet Davis’s concerns. But other councillors weighed in with further issues. Coun. Bob Long wanted to “clarify what we want” before approaching anyone else. Coun. Grant Ward took exception to Fox’s entire motion, which he felt was “all wrong from start to finish… this whole motion should be scrapped.” Coun. Steve Ferguson was concerned about expenses that might be incurred in upgrading the 16th Avenue, especially if the road was widened. Ferguson, who like Fox lives in the vicinity of 16th, agreed that the road has is share of problems: “As soon as we hear emergency vehicles,” he said, “we know it’s 16th.” In the end, Fox’s motion was referred to Township staff for study, with only Fox and Coun. Michelle Sparrow opposed. Fox could not contain his exasperation after the vote was concluded. “I’m really frustrated,” he told his council colleagues. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing at this council table.” Referring to a previous motion calling for 16th Avenue safety upgrades, which was defeated when he brought to the table, Fox said, “We wouldn’t be in this situation if you had passed my motion five years ago.” He charged that those outside of the area don’t understand how the frustration caused by the dangerous road is causing it to be more dangerous.
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Township
LangleyAdvance
The BC Conservatives hold their annual powwow at the Langley Events Centre Saturday. BC Conservative Party director-at-large Al Siebring announced a slate of candidates for the Party Board. It is comprised of Al Siebring, president (Duncan), Jim Sutherland, vicepresident (Kelowna), Lambert Leung, treasurer (Richmond), and Linda Bellamy, secretary (Langley). • More online
| Thursday, September 20, 2012 |
19459 Langley Bypass, Surrey
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