Municipal: Movie produ uctions too much for Pitt Meadows village. 3
Arts: High-flying acrobat acrobats take stage. 17
Spor Sports: Field hocke hockey spark sparks inter interest. 2 21 We d n es d ay, O c to b e r 14, 2015 ¡ mapleridgenews.com ¡ est. 1978 ¡ (office) 604-467-1122 ¡ (de li ve r y) 6 0 4 - 4 6 6 - 6 3 9 7
Tim Fitzgerald/THE NEWS
Dr. Bhupinder Johar won $30,000 in damages in the case.
Vet wins human rights complaint
Neil Corbett/THE NEWS
NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, as part of a cross-Canada tour, stopped by local candidate Bob D’Eith’s campaign office on Thanksgiving Monday.
By Neil Corbett ncorbett@mapleridgenews.com
A Maple Ridge veterinarian, after winning a decade-long human rights case, says justice has finally been done. Thirteen Indo-Canadian veterinarians who were offering low cost services were subject to “systemic discrimination� by the B.C. Veterinary Medical Association between 2002 and 2006, a B.C. Human Rights Tribunal has ruled. One of the complainants, Dr. Bhupinder Johar of the Haney Animal Hospital, won $30,000 in damages in the case. But it’s not about money, he said – he spent almost 10 times that amount in legal fees. “This money is peanuts,� said Johar. “We were relieved to have justice. That’s what we were saying – that they were discriminating against us – that we were right.� Johar ran afoul of the vets professional association by offering spay and neutering at discounted rates of $50 or $60, he said. See Vet, 10
Mulcair rallies in Ridge NDP expects close race with Conservatives By Neil Corbett ncorbett@mapleridgenews.com
N
DP Leader Tom Mulcair made a campaign stop at the Maple Ridge riding office of local candidate Bob D’Eith early on Monday, in the last week of the federal election race. “I’m thrilled that Tom Mulcair is with us today, to kick off the most important week in our campaign,� said D’Eith, NDP candidate in Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge. Flanked by supporters waving orange octagonal signs that read “Stop Harper,� Mulcair hammered the point that “only the NDP can defeat
Neil Corbett/THE NEWS
Mulcair poses with young supporter Julian Wiggins at the office of local NDP candidate Bob D’Eith. the Conservatives.� The opposition leader said if his party can pick up 35 seats, it can
GOOD MORNINGS START WITH S
GREAT EGGS
A&W 22805 Lougheed Hwy • A&W Haney Place Mall • A&W 20468 Lougheed Hwy • A&W Fremont Village Dr, PoCo
bring down the Harper government. The Liberals, he said, need to gain 100 to bring change to Ottawa – although recent polls show the Liberals with more public support than the NDP nationwide. At the dissolution of Parliament, the NDP had 95 seats, the Liberals with 36 and Conservatives 159. Mulcair talked about fighting climate change, protecting health care and creating jobs. He promised to repeal Bill C-51, provide $15 per day child care and “make corporations pay their fair share.� “Health care, child care, pharmacare, Mulcair,� his supporters cheered. Mulcair promised $5.2 billion in new infrastructure investment for the Lower Mainland to “support crucial projects like the Surrey light
rail transit and the Broadway SkyTrain extension in Vancouver.� Mulcair also said he will not honour the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal signed between 12 Pacific Rim countries. He said the prime minister negotiated a poor deal, just weeks before the election. “He walked into a negotiating session holding a pair of deuces and he thought he was going to bluff his way through. Everybody saw him coming, he got played for a chump, he’s giving up Canadian jobs in the manufacturing sector, he’s lowering wages, he’s making it more expensive to buy your prescription drugs, he’s hurting the security of your privacy information – I am absolutely not bound by Stephen Harper’s secret deal.� See NDP, 5
With windshield replacement,
FREE
t 8*1&34 t */5&3*03 $-&"/ t 3&/5"- $"3 When You Mention This Ad.
%FXEOFZ 5SVOL 3E . 3 604-466-4225