Pier Park overPass could have ramPs
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Projects being studied to death
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new vote likely on tax hike
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wednesday
August 29 2012 www.newwestnewsleader.com
taylor gatenby, 14, and 13-year-old emily lowry from New West enjoy a ride on the twin Flip during the Fair at the Pne. see page 15
Turning the Fraser into a classroom Learning about local sustainability from the province’s longest waterway grant granger
ggranger@newwestnewsleader.com
The prospect of a 25-day trip canoe trip down the Fraser River from one end to the other didn’t faze Brittany Coulter. She wasn’t even afraid of the infamous Hell’s Gate, which scared the heck out of Simon Fraser on his original journey. “That was my favourite part. It was exciting to see the power of the river,” said Coulter, 21, on Friday as the Sustainable Living Leadership (SLLP) program put on by the Rivershed Society of BC made a lunch stop at the Fraser River Discovery Centre at the Westminster Quay. “I love camping. We were digging pits for campfires, and sleeping under the stars. It was amazing. There were full blankets of stars where there was no city pollution. It coulter was gorgeous. It was reconnecting with the land, feeling that connection and feeling a part of it and not being a bystander. We’d drink water from the tributaries and we were picking and eating berries.” The genesis for the expedition came in 2000 when Fin Donnelly, who is now the MP for New WestminsterCoquitlam and Port Moody, swam the length of the Fraser River for the second time. He said to the man who accompanied him in a kayak, Sharman Learie, “wouldn’t it be amazing to get a program to have an experience that I just had.” “Yes, it would,” came the reply. But they decided it might be a better idea canoeing down the river instead of swimming it like Donnelly, who swam competitively for Simon Fraser University. The first expedition was in 2002, and this year’s was the ninth journey (it was stopped for two years). This year’s group of seven will make it 74 graduates that will be looking to make change in their communities, said Donnelly. “It’s one of the greatest salmon rivers in the world. It’s got significance to the province environmentally, historically, transportation-wise, culturally and of course economically. The river plays a huge role in B.C.,” said Donnelly, who accompanied the group on the trip that wrapped up Sunday in Vancouver. “It’s a floating photo contributed classroom. It’s a great classroom, and it’s a great way to members of the sustainable living l eadership Program expedition, a brainchild of new westminstergauge progress [on sustainability].” coquitlam and Port moody mP Fin donnelly and sponsored by the rivershed society of b.c., pushes off from Please see leArning, A9
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NWMHA president responds to upset parents Suspended coach elected to executive New Westminster Minor Hockey Association, which elected a coach suspended for a year as first vice-president, has sent a letter to parents saying the organization’s executive believes in forgiveness. President Rob Nasato’s letter said the two coaches who fought at a bantam C playoff game last spring were suspended six games by the Pacific Coast Amateur Hockey Association, but then NWMHA president Ross Young increased the suspensions to one year from coaching. Nasato, however, noted the suspensions did not exclude either coach from seeking election to the executive. At the association’s annual general meeting in April, one of the coaches, Kevin O’Quinn was nominated and elected by acclamation as first vice president. The position is responsible for fundraising and the grievance Please see minor, A2