NEWS 3
Silver Creek in trouble
COMMUNITY 11
Q&A with DPAC chair
FAMILY TIES 18
Outdoor fun for small folks
5
THINGS TO DO THIS WEEKEND FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2016
LOCAL NEWS – LOCAL MATTERS
There’s more at Burnabynow.com
SEE PAGE 13
SHE’S AMERICAN– HE’S CANADIAN
It’s Trump versus Clinton in Burnaby Couple wants locals to weigh in on U.S. election By Jeremy Deutsch
jdeutsch@burnabynow.com
The quiet corner of Moreland Drive in Burnaby is probably one of the last places you might expect to see the battle for the White House playing out. But much like the 2016 race down south between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, this isn’t a typical year. On the nicely manicured front lawn of Jennifer April and Michael Matich’s Burnaby home is a mini-election of sorts.The couple has erected a ballot and campaign signs for both candidates in the American presidential election. And they want locals to weigh in on the race. “We care about what Canada cares about, so that’s why we decided to do that.We want to know, what do Canadians feel about American politics,” April told the NOW. The story of how all this came about is a perfect example of international relations. April, who is American, met her husband, a Burnaby resident and Canadian, on a cruise in 2007, and by 2009 she had moved up to B.C. as a permanent resident. Then just a few weeks back, the couple was in Delaware to sell April’s home, when they got the idea for the mock ballot and picked up some election signs along the way. She said the idea start-
ELECTION FEVER: Jennifer April, who is American, and her Canadian husband Michael Matich have started a mock U.S. election by posting ballots for interested
residents to fill out on the front lawn of their Burnaby home. So far, Democrat Hillary Clinton is way out in front of Republican candidate Donald Trump . PHOTOS CORNELIA NAYLOR
ed out as a bit of a joke, but within hours of putting up the ballots last week, people were coming by and marking their choices, even though it doesn’t count. And based on the early results, Burnaby is Clinton country. A quick count this week showed the Democrat and former First Lady way out in front of the Republican businessman by a margin of six to one. The couple is actually surprised how many votes Clinton has received so far. While her Canadian husband won’t get to vote in the U.S. election just less than two months away,
April will get to do the real thing by absentee ballot. So far, the American hasn’t made up her mind and is waiting to see how things shake out before deciding. “I’m tired of the attack ads, I want to hear their plan, what is their strategy and how are they going to fix things,” she said. “I’m very concerned about America and I always will be. I’m worried about what happens to them and my vote matters.” April admitted if Bernie Sanders, who was Clinton’s Democratic primary challenger, had been the candidate, he would have re-
ceived her vote. “The whole world is watching and it’s almost embarrassing that people don’t like either one of them (Clinton and Trump),” she said. As for the front yard vote, April’s pretty confident Clinton will take this battle, and the actual election too. The couple also plans to leave the ballot up until election night. And if someone decides to steal one of the campaign signs, she’ll just get more to take their place. COMMENT ON THIS AT
Burnabynow.com
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