Peace Arch News, August 30, 2012

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Thursday August 30, 2012 (Vol. 37 No. 70)

V O I C E

O F

W H I T E

R O C K

A N D

S O U T H

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

‘Boats’ launch: South Surrey singer Lydia Hol has adopted a bluegrass feel for her own brand of West Coast musical storytelling, showcased in an EP release concert Sept. 14 at Ocean Park Community Hall. see page 41

Surrey-Cloverdale MLA steps down as B.C.’s minister of finance and deputy premier

MLA Falcon says he won’t run in 2013 Tom Fletcher Black Press

After months of speculation about his political future, Finance Minister Kevin Falcon announced he is stepping down as finance minister and deputy premier and won’t run in the 2013 election. The Surrey-Cloverdale MLA told a news conference in Vancouver Wednesday that he has a second child on the way and wants to focus on his young family. The finance minister needs to be able to campaign on policy and spending decisions when the governing

party is preparing its budget for an prepare a budget and make taxation election, he said. and spending measures that he or “After almost 12 years in public life, she will be prepared to defend in the I wish to return to the private secupcoming election campaign.” tor in a yet-to-be-determined role,” The second-place finisher in the Falcon said. “Inevitably there will be 2011 BC Liberal party leadership those who will question the timing of race, Falcon was appointed finance my decision or why I would not stay minister by Premier Christy Clark. on as minister until the election. He has overseen the windup of the “Putting aside the timing associated harmonized sales tax, which batKevin Falcon with the newest addition to our famtered the government’s popularity ily in February, I genuinely believe the and pushed Gordon Campbell out premier requires a finance minister who will of the premier’s office.

Falcon’s February budget projects that the province will balance the books again after a string of deficits that was extended to this year by the repayment of a $1.6 billion transition fund from Ottawa for adopting the HST. After being rejected in a province-wide referendum, the tax comes to an end next spring, just as the province is preparing for a scheduled election in May 2013. In his resignation statement, Falcon praised Clark as a “great campaigner and communicator.” see page 4

Years of molestation

Bencze jailed Sheila Reynolds Black Press

Mojo working

Gord Goble photos

Members of popular Louisiana-style dance band Mojo Zydeco and former members of the long-inactive Blues Caboose combined forces to rattle the rafters at the Royal Canadian Legion Crescent Branch 240 Saturday to raise money for a new roof at Alexandra Neighborhood House’s hall. Clockwise from top: accordionist Sue Bains, Mojo leader Randy Schultz and drummer Martin Eade.

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Family and friends of a boy who was sexually assaulted by Surrey’s Ron Bencze cheered, gasped and broke down in tears when the former TV reporter was handed four years in a federal prison by a provincial court judge Tuesday. The Crown had asked for two to three years in jail – a suggested sentence Judge Robin Baird called “lenient” – while the defence wanted a conditional sentence between 18 months and two years. Bencze, wearing a burgundy dress Ron Bencze shirt and black tie, gave a small smile and a wave to his family members as he was led into custody by sheriffs. Last month, the 45-year-old pleaded guilty to molesting the boy, who is now a teen, between March 2003 and December 2010, when the child was between the ages of six and 14. see page 4

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