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ENTERTAINMENT 11
New future for rail line?
Gallery fun for kids, teens
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WEDNESDAY MAY 20, 2015
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LOCAL NEWS – LOCAL MATTERS
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A ROYAL TREAT:
The Zhu family posed with Queen Victoria during Monday’s celebrations at Burnaby Village Museum. Visitors were treated to birthday cupcakes, entertainment, and, of course, a chance to have their photos taken with Queen Victoria. For more photos of the fun, go to page 32 in today’s paper and www. burnabynow.com PHOTO JENNIFER GAUTHIER
Recall campaign mum on numbers Organizers of campaign say they’ve passed the halfway point to meet quota to trigger MLA Lee’s recall
By Jennifer Moreau
jmoreau@burnabynow.com
The campaign to recall Burnaby North MLA Richard Lee has passed the half-way point, but volunteers hoping to oust the local Liberal are staying mum on how many signatures they’ve collected so far. Jennifer Heighton, a Burnaby teacher and Coquitlam resident, would not release
numbers on signatures or volunteers, as the campaigners don’t want to tip off Lee’s supporters. “We don’t want to give the other side any strategy on how far we’ve come along,” Heighton said. “We’ve got a significant number, but we want to keep it to ourselves right now.” Heighton said the number of signatures and volunteers is growing.They must collect 16,494 signatures by June 15. After
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that, Elections B.C. has 42 days to verify the signatures, ensuring the people who signed were registered voters in the riding during the last provincial election. A successful campaign would trigger a by-election, and there’s nothing stopping Lee from running for the same seat he’s held since 2001. Recall volunteers expressed a number of concerns with Lee: B.C.’s high rates of child poverty, education funding, the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion, and the scandal surrounding the Burnaby Hospital consultation committee that turned out to be a Liberal plan to attract voters. Joanne Reid got involved because of her
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concerns about the pipeline. “He’s my MLA, and he’s supposed to represent me in the legislature,” she said. According to Reid, when she talked to Lee about the pipeline, he reiterated Christy Clark’s five conditions for B.C. to approve any major oil projects, and suggested Reid contact the Burnaby Lougheed MLA, since the pipeline was out of his riding. Meanwhile, for Lee, it’s business as usual. “I don’t worry too much,” he told the NOW. “I’m just doing my regular work. It’s up to the proponent to get the signatures.” When asked about the Kinder Morgan Continued on page 9
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