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Church hosts ‘Justice for José’ dinner
Relaxing in the Pool with ‘Shadow’
By MONIQUE TAMMINGA Aldergrove Star
DAN FERGUSON PHOTO
“Shadow” the grizzly bear enjoys a dunk with an apple to snack on Saturday afternoon at the Greater Vancouver Zoo. Shadow was an orphan cub brought to the zoo many years ago by the wildlife service. The zoo will celebrate its 45th anniversary on Saturday, Aug. 22.
Zoo celebrates 45th anniversary By DAN FERGUSON Aldergrove Star
The Greater Vancouver Zoo in Aldergrove will celebrate its 45th anniversary on Saturday (Aug. 22). From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. the zoo at 5048 - 264th St. will feature a finger painting and coloring contest, face painting, a scavenger hunt, bouncy castle, obstacle course, giant slide, children performers and more. All activities will take place in the main
picnic area, which is in the centre of the zoo across from the baboon and jaguar enclosures. A birthday cake will be served at noon. The 120-acre site opened as the Vancouver Game Farm on August 20, 1970. It was operated as a family business by Pat Hines and his wife Ann, then their daughter Eleanor and husband Hugh Oakes until it was sold to new owners in 1991.
The Game Farm then became known as the Greater Vancouver Zoological Centre, adding new animal enclosures, the miniature train, picnic park and other features. In 1999, the name changed again to the Greater Vancouver Zoo. The zoo website says the “focus for the future is on further enhancements to our animal care management, animal enclosures, conservation efforts, education and all environmental aspects.”
It has been one year and 10 months since Langley resident José Figueroa found sanctuary inside the Walnut Grove Lutheran church. In June, he had to miss his son José Jr.’s graduation. He’s missed birthday parties for his children, Christmases at home and much more, while he’s been stuck inside the security of the church and away from Canadian Border and Security Officers, who he says are waiting nearby to deport him to El Salvador. With legal bills mounting as Figueroa fights to stay in Canada, the church is holding a “Justice for José” solidarity potluck dinner on Thursday, Aug. 20. Figueroa is urging the community to come out and support his family. Special guest Robert Graham, a singer from Toronto who wrote the song, ‘You are Welcomed Here’ for the international ‘We are José’ campaign, will be there performing the song and spending a couple days with him at the church. It was last July that a Federal Court judge ruled his deportation decision should be re-reviewed by a different immigration agent in Ottawa after seeing obvious flaws in the original decision to deport Figueroa, based on his affiliation with the FMLN party during his country’s civil war. The FMLN is not on Canada’s list of terrorist groups, and is now the current governing body of El Salvador. Yet, that judge provided no timeline for the review to take place so, 13 months later, Figueroa is no closer to hearing when his case will be looked at again. “It is very tiring, everybody in the family is being affected by the lack of a solution to this problem,” Figueroa said. “But we keep going until the ministers decide to do the right thing, keep the family together and end this injustice.” With the federal election now in full swing, Figueroa believes his case won’t be looked at again until the dust settles after the election in October. To learn more go to the We Are José Facebook page. He was joined inside the church earlier this year by the Juhasz family, a mother and her two teen boys who are facing deportation back to Hungary. José Figueroa found sanctuary inside a Langley church 22 months ago and continues to appeal decision to deport him to El Salvador.
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