Wednesday April 6 2016
The
Leader
▲ Former Eagles play in Frozen Four 16 ▲ Robotics team is B.C. champion
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GUN FIRE EVERY THREE DAYS
▶ A TRIO OF SHOOTINGS FOLLOW A $4.5 MILLION DRUG SEIZURE
KEVIN DIAKIW
A Surrey councillor says residents are rightly concerned with the violence and rate of shootings in the city. Over the weekend and Monday, Surrey rang up its 29th, 30th and 31st shootings so far this year, a rate of one every three days. It’s more than twice the frequency of last spring, when a violent turf war over a dial-a-dope operation unfolded in Newton. On Monday, Surrey Coun. Tom Gill acknowledged the fears percolating in the community. “I think the comments that we are hearing from the community are well founded, they are wellbased, they are true, and I feel no different,” Gill said. He noted the 100 police officers hired by the city last year – 93 of which have arrived – is an unprecedented investment in policing. Despite the huge police presence, many residents say they are afraid to leave their homes in Newton because of the frequent gunfire in their neighborhood. At a Friday press conference, prior to the weekend shootings, police announced there had been 28 confirmed gunfire incidents as of April 1. Out of continued on page 3
▶ REC CENTRE RENOVATION COMPLETE Justin Miedema (right) eats cake Saturday with sons Kaison, 8, (left) and twins Jaden and Carter, 6, at the open house for the newly renovated North Delta Recreation Centre. The 28,000 square-foot expansion includes a new gymnasium, fitness centre, offices, meeting spaces, change rooms (including for the outdoor pool), playground and spaces for the North Delta Potters Guild and Watershed Artworks Society Gallery. BOAZ JOSEPH
FARE GATES CLOSE THIS WEEK ▶ ALL B.C. BUS PASS USERS WILL GET COMPASS CARDS
JEFF NAGEL
Low-income seniors and people with disabilities who have the provincially subsidized BC Bus Pass will also be issued a Compass card, giving them unlimited use of the Metro Vancouver transit system, even if they live outside the region. About 80,000 pass holders who live within the TransLink area previously got Compass cards that give them continued unlimited transit
access, but the provincial government says it is now mailing Compass cards to 18,000 other BC Bus Pass users who live elsewhere in B.C. Most of the use is expected to be by pass holders in outlying regions like the Fraser Valley or Vancouver Island who come to Metro for medical appointments or to visit family. Sunday’s announcement came as TransLink begins closing all fare gates this week, requiring Compass cards or tickets to board SkyTrain. Bus transfers and FareSavers no longer work. By Friday, all gates at the 50 SkyTrain and Seabus stations are to generally be kept closed, ending the practice in recent weeks of keeping one gate open at each station to ensure access for people with disabilities. TransLink has promised to instead staff most
of the stations at peak times and keep a gate open when staff can’t be present to assist those in specialized wheelchairs who can’t tap in themselves. Spokesperson Jennifer Morland said there may be larger numbers of stations with a gate left open at night when there are fewer staff on shift. This week marks the final step in the Compass card rollout, which went over budget and was repeatedly delayed due to performance problems. SkyTrain stations had been ungated since the original Expo Line opened in 1985, leading to recurring concerns over the years about fare continued on page 5