Thursday February 9, 2012 (Vol. 37 No. 12)
V O I C E
O F
W H I T E
R O C K
A N D
S O U T H
Little person, big dreams: Ten-year-old Ethan Burge may be small in stature, but his lofty goals and enduring perseverance are what truly define him. see page 11
S U R R E Y
w w w. p e a c e a r c h n e w s . c o m
Canine conundrum for city as it assesses public pet policy
No support for dogs on the promenade Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
A suggestion to allow dogs on White Rock’s promenade west of the pier from Sept. 15 to May 15 didn’t make it past the gate at Monday’s council meeting. The motion by Coun. Helen Fathers – posed following a delegation asking council to make the city, and particularly the promenade, more dog-friendly – received no support from other members of council, preventing the suggestion from even being discussed.
“No seconder – the motion’s lost,” Mayor Wayne Baldwin proclaimed. Disappointment with the result was audible from the approximately two dozen residents who turned out to the meeting hoping council would see fit to relax its dog rules on the waterfront. But it hasn’t lessened the resolve of those determined to improve access for owners. “Not giving up, not at all,” Mike Armstrong told Peace Arch News Wednesday. Armstrong, representing DOG White
Rock, presented to council the case for access. He told the politicians the issue was “not a yes or no question,” but about accommodating the estimated 40 per cent of White Rock residents who have dogs, as well as those who visit the city with their fourlegged friends. Citing statistics from cities that have added off-leash parks and other amenities for dog owners, Armstrong said benefits of such a move for White Rock would include improved tourism, increased revenue, less
poop and reduced crime. Armstrong noted the city’s existing bylaw – which director of planning and development services Paul Stanton described as “ambiguous and poorly written” – allows dogs on the grassy area east of the pier, to Cypress Street. Armstrong proposed that council move the allowable area – which Baldwin quipped was only legally accessible to dogs if they were brought in by boat or plane – to a less-populated stretch of waterfront west of the pier. see page 4
Population booms
Growth spurt for Surrey Jeff Nagel Black Press
Surrey and Port Moody were the fastest growing cities in Metro Vancouver in the 2011 Census, spurring the region’s population to grow rapidly. Double-digit growth was also recorded in Burnaby, Langley Township, New Westminster, Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge, according to data released Wednesday. Surrey’s population grew 18.6 per cent to 468,251, an increase of more than 73,000 since the previous count in 2006. Only Port Moody’s rate of growth was faster, climbing 19.9 per cent to 32,975 – this despite Port Moody city council’s decision a few years ago to restrict further development until the Evergreen Line SkyTrain extension is built. The City of Vancouver gained about 25,000 residents, or 4.4 per cent over the five-year period, to 603,502. Burnaby added 10.1 per cent to reach a population of 223,218 and is the Lower Mainland’s third-largest city after Vancouver and Surrey. see page 4
Tracy Holmes photo
From left, Myoshin Kate McCandless, Father Edwin Kulling, Suman Sharma, Mohammad Afzal Mirza and Sukvinder Kaur Vinning share views.
Keeping the faiths together for peace Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
An effort to promote love through sharing the beauties of different religions drew more than 200 people to Star of the Sea Community Centre Monday. “This was to create understanding of different religions,” Mohammad Aslam Shad, regional president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (AMC), said of the World Religions Conference. “There are more commonalities than there are differences.” Featuring a panel of religious scholars
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representing five faiths – Buddhism (Myoshin Kate McCandless), Christianity (Father Edwin Kulling), Hindu (Suman Sharma), Islamic (Mohammad Afzal Mirza) and Sikhism (Sukvinder Kaur Vinning) – the conference was themed “Reconciling Existence of God and Human Suffering.” The event’s roots date back 116 years to when the first forum was organized by AMC. Today in B.C., about two dozen are held each year. Following a chance for each panelist to give their perspective on the theme, questions from the audience ranged from whether
suffering is simply a part of the evolutionary process, to “Is it possible for a murderer to get into heaven in your religion?” To the latter, Sharma said the cause must be considered first; Mirza said it depends whether the subject can be reformed. In Christianity, “there is no unforgiven sin,” Kulling said. “But… the person has to repent.” Shad said the exercise was a healthy one. “There can be no peace among the nations without having peace among the religions and there can be no peace in the religions without having dialogue,” he said.
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