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The most inspired sports story of 2013
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A look back at headlines in 2013
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They’re out in the cold
Between homes:
Kate Watson and her adoptive mother are searching for a new house after leaving their former residence, shown here, in midDecember due to concerns about health and safety.
Stefania Seccia staff reporter
After having issues with their rental home in Burnaby, a mother and daughter found themselves homeless during the holidays. Kate Watson, 59, and her adoptive mother, Alexi Rainier, 76, first moved to North Burnaby in September, but after countless issues with the house, the landlord and the pair mutually agreed the women would move out on Dec. 16. However, Watson, Rainier and their two pekingese dogs are having a tough time finding a reasonable deal for a safe and clean house in an “overpriced market.” “We could be much, much better for sure,” Watson told the NOW. “We’re in a real crisis right now. It has been, and continues to be, a devastating situation for us.” The two women moved to the city from West Vancouver so Watson could start her own business, but with constant renovations happening to their rented house and health concerns – she was unable to do so. “It’s a community issue, but really it goes beyond that,” she said about her situation. “It raises a lot of stuff about tenancy and people with varying views on who’s fairly represented and not fairly represented in the way the Tenancy Act and the residential tenancy board are put together.”
Jason Lang/ burnaby now
Watson said she never felt comfortable enough to unpack in the home because of the renovations. She started to notice things going wrong when her mother’s already spotty health – she has mobility and asthmatic issues – began to deteriorate. “Everybody wasn’t feeling well in that place,” she said, “myself and the animals.” Watson said there were two bad experiences in particular during the nearly three months they lived there. One time, Watson said she found black mould in her room
and reported it to the landlord. “We know the dangers of black mould, as you’re breathing that in,” she said. “(My mom’s) a Second World War survivor, originally from Holland, she suffered there. It just makes things worse.” The landlord put bleach on the areas where the mould was when they weren’t home but did not ventilate the area, Watson noted, and when they returned home, the 76-year-old lost consciousness and ended up in an emergency room. The other time there was a problem, was
when the landlord turned on their heat and the walls in the kitchen heated up, melting food in their cupboards. Watson said they always had the heat turned off, even during the coldest months of the year, because whenever it was on, there would be a burning rubber smell. “It’s been an ongoing saga,” she said. “We view it as a very sick house. It should’ve been a tear-down.” She also said the home had “suspect” wiring issues, as well. Tenants Page 4
Former KGB agent offered ticket to Russia Jennifer Moreau staff reporter
The Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association offered former Burnaby resident Mikhail Lennikov a Christmas gift this year – a one-way ticket back Vladivostok, Russia.
The civil liberties organization does not want Lennikov, a former KGB officer, in Canada. Lennikov was ordered deported on June 3, 2009, but on June 2, he took sanctuary in Vancouver’s First Lutheran Church, where he has been living ever since. “We don’t want KGB men in Canada,”
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said Roman Zakaluzny, the association’s chairman. “We don’t understand why the CBSA (Canadian Border Services Agency) has failed to do what it was ordered to do more than four years ago.” The Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association takes issue with the concept of sanctuary, which is often used as a
last resort for asylum seekers who have exhausted all legal options. While sanctuary is not a legally enshrined right, Canadian authorities have not gone into the church to remove Lennikov and enforce his deportation order. “There is no right of sanctuary. This man Lennikov Page 4
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