FINES FOR LANDLORD BOON TO RENTERS
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PIER PARK A NEW ‘CROWN JEWEL’?
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A LITTLE GEOCACHE JOURNEY, ANYONE?
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FRIDAY
APRIL 6 2012
www.newwestnewsleader.com
Some familiar radio personalities now call New Westminster home. Are local politicaians safe? See Page A5
Julian debates budget for 13 hours Reads tweets, emails of citizens in House Wanda Chow wchow@newwestnewsleader.com
MARIO BARTEL/NEWSLEADER
Rodger Konkle gets a kiss from his 11-year-old golden lab Isla. The pair have been volunteering at the Union Gospel Mission in New West for four years.
When it’s worth going to the dogs Mario Bartel photo@newwestnewsleader.com
It took a wrong turn for Rodger Konkle to get on the right path. Konkle was walking down Sixth Street to his home from an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting when he got confused and turned too soon. He was on Clarkson Street and by the time he realized his mistake, he was in front of the Union Gospel Mission. A lineup of people waiting to get in for lunch stretched down the sidewalk. He wandered in and never left. “I had no purpose in my life,” says Konkle of that dark time. “I didn’t
care if I got up in the morning.” He decided to apply for a volunteer position. When he hadn’t heard back after six weeks, he felt like giving up. “When you’re an alcoholic, you feel like you’re not acceptable to other people,” says Konkle, a government worker who ¿lled the void in his days created by retirement with alcohol. “We often feel we’re not good enough to do something.” But his application had simply been misplaced. After he enquired he was told to come in the very next day and tie on an apron. He did. That was four years ago.
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But the UGM didn’t get just one dedicated volunteer when Konkle signed on, they got two. That’s because Konkle brings his friendly golden lab, Isla. At ¿rst it was just more convenient; he could tie her to the fence across the street, beneath the shelter of the SkyTrain guideway overhead, and visit with her during breaks. But, he soon discovered, he wasn’t the only one who enjoyed his dog’s company. Some of the mission’s patrons would sit with her on the curb to give her a scratch or even pour out their
heart to the attentive pooch. “Some guests won’t talk to you or me, but they’ll talk to Isla,” says Konkle. “When you talk to a dog, you know your story won’t be repeated.” Once he came out and found Isla gone. Frantic and panicked, he scoured the area looking for her. He found his beloved pooch sitting on a bench outside the Eighth Street SkyTrain station beside a fellow who’d decided to take her for a walk. Instead of being angry, Konkle struck up a conversation. Please see ISLA, A4
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It wasn’t quite a ¿libuster on par with Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, but when it was all over, Burnaby-New Westminster MP Peter Julian was winning praise on the Twittersphere for giving ordinary Canadians a voice in Parliament. For 13 hours over two-and-a-half days starting March 30, the New Democrat MP spoke during the budget debate-inprinciple. The rule is that either the leader of the of¿cial Opposition or the Opposition’s ¿nance critic—in this case, Julian—is allowed unlimited time to respond to the government’s budget. Julian’s speech comprised in large part of citizens’ tweets, emails and Facebook posts expressing concerns about the budget. “That was really the point to be able to say directly to government, here’s what Canadians are saying.” Please see ‘IT WAS’, A3