THE WEDNESDAY
CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARD 2012
TRI-CITY NEWS James Park’s 100th
Acting season ends
SEE LIFE, PAGE 16
SEE ARTS, PAGE 34
JUNE 13, 2012 www.tricitynews.com
INSIDE Tom Fletcher/10 Letters/11 Good Read17 Sports/38
Shelter in PoCo gets green light Temporary church shelter wins despite residential disapproval Gary McKenna THE TRI-CITY NEWS
DIANE STRANDBERG/THE TRI-CITY NEWS
Hannah Tvergyak, Mitch Howey (left), and Aarman Bondar, Grade 10 students, are participating in the COAST program, an outdoor education program that has taught leadership, environmental and outdoor skills to students for a decade. See story on page 3.
A temporary homeless shelter will operate out of Grace Church on Kingsway Avenue next winter after council voted in favour of moving ahead with the initiative despite opposition from area residents. The majority of people who spoke at a public input session on Monday said they would be opposed to the shelter, which they believe will increase crime and reduce property values in the neighbourhood. But council voted in favour of al- WRIGHT lowing the initiative to operate on a six-month trial basis. That means the Hope For Freedom Society, which will operate the shelter, will have to come back next year to receive another temporary use permit for the facility. Coun. Michael Wright said forcing the society to come back to council will allow the city to gauge the impact on the neighbourhood before making a decision for the 2013-2014 winter shelter program. He also added that many of the fears expressed by residents were overstated. “I have seen many controversial public hearings,” he said. “In many cases the fears that have been expressed never actually materialize. I am hoping this is one case where they do not materialize.” see CRIME CRIME,, page 4
Endangered status sought Council backs last-minute appeal to get Riverview on endangered list By Janis Warren THE TRI-CITY NEWS
Coquitlam city council this week added its voice to the chorus of supporters who want to see Riverview Hospital on a top 10 list of the country’s most endangered historic sites. On Monday, city council unanimously voted to back the bid by the Riverview Horticultural Centre Society (RHCS),
which last week — and after the deadline had passed — rushed to submit its application for the mental-health facility to be included on the 2012 Heritage Canada Foundation list of endangered places. Councillors Craig Hodge and Neal Nicholson, chair and vice-chair of the city’s Riverview lands advisory committee, said foundation officials are now sifting through the paperwork from dozens of groups across Canada. And they pressed Coquitlam council to make an on-the-spot decision to write a letter immediately to help the society rather than wait the usual two weeks for a notice of motion — a move that bristled
several council members who felt blindsided by the sudden call to action. “With this sort of thing, you piss me off,” Coun. Terry O’Neill said, commenting on the lack of background information available to council before voting on the topic. Coun. Brent Asmundson also criticized Hodge and Nicholson for the way the issue was handled. Dropping it on council’s lap at the last minute, he said, shows “not a lot of respect” for the people elected to represent the community. see GETTING GETTING,, page 3
Port Moody was once the gateway for migrant Chinese workers who helped build the CPR. For the story, see page 20.