FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 2010 THE TIMES
Upfront O P I N I O N
8 • LETTERS 9 • CLASSIFIEDS 33 • SPORTS 41
Grow-op offences jump 130%
Briefly Mission man stabbed A 28-year-old Mission man was hospitalized after being stabbed in the torso and leg Monday night in downtown Vancouver. Const. Lindsey Houghton with the Vancouver Police Department said in a release that the incident involved a fight or altercation of some kind and occurred near Robson and Thurlow streets around 10 p.m. The victim managed to walk several blocks, reaching the courthouse near Smithe and Howe streets, where ambulance attendants treated him and transported him to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Police have no one in custody, and Houghton said there is no description of the suspects since the victim is not co-operating with police.
Fast town hall tonight Member of Parliament Ed Fast hosts a town hall meeting tonight to hear from constituents on how best to ensure the ongoing strength of Canada’s retirement income system. Input from the meeting will go to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, who will continue work on retirement income and pension issues at the next meeting of federal, provincial and territorial finance ministers, Fast said in a release. “We have a strong pension system in Canada, but there is still much work to be done to ensure that present and future retirees will be able to sustain a comfortable retirement.” The Conservative government also has online consultations at www.fin.gc.ca. The meeting takes place at 7 p.m. tonight at Garden Park Tower, 2825 Clearbrook Rd., Abbotsford. Contact Fast’s office at 604-557-7888. -STAFF REPORTER
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“The kids, the girls are
Drugs lead to gangs: police
going to school – they don’t have to spend four
RAFE ARNOTT RArnott@abbotsfordtimes.com
hours a day hauling water – and when the girls are
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getting educated, the society changes. Educating girls, it’s the key to ending poverty.” – Randall Peters
– RAFE ARNOTT/TIMES
Randall Peters brought his daughter Tessa, 12, to Ehopia with him during filming of a documentary on girls and women who haul water to for hours every day just to survive.
The water daughter difference
Film makes an emotional connection for Abby’s upcoming Run for Water CHRISTINA TOTH CToth@abbotsfordtimes.com
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hen TV producer Randall Peters took his 12-year-old daughter Tessa to Ethiopia in February, he thought it would be a great lesson for her to see how people in other parts of the world live. Peters, who hosts the television program P3 on Joy TV, brought her along to participate in a documentary on Ethiopians girls and women who haul water back to their villages every day. He’s also one of the founders, along with Ken Baerg, of the Abbotsford-based Run for Water non-profit campaign, which raises money for Hope International, which in turn helps Ethiopian villagers tap into a safe water source. His daughter Tessa’s role was to shadow one of the young girls, Tayo. “Tayo’s life is completely defined by the quest for water,” said Peters.
skinny,” said Tessa. They continued on foot, scrambling over rocks downhill to the water hole. “It was all mucky and nasty, and it smelled like cow manure. People were “They make a three-hour round trip standing in it, passing up the containeveryday [on foot] in the blazing heat. ers,” said Tessa. She hoisted a container They carry the water in these old jerry and while it didn’t seem heavy at first, cans, they’re 44 pounds [when filled the heat and steep trail quickly wore with water]. My daughher down. ter couldn’t even pick up “It was so hot and so the can, let alone carry it “It was so hot and so tiring. It was like the back.” Grouse Grind. I was tiring. It was like the The group had traveled dying but it was so norto a remote mud hut vil- Grouse Grind. I was mal for them,” she said. lage of 5,000 people in the Seeing the deep povBanke district, where they dying but it was so erty and primitive living met Tayo. The girls fetch conditions had a prothe water while the boys normal for them.” found impact on this stay in the village. Tayo all-Canadian girl used to has never been to school. modern Western com– Tessa Peters after Ethiopia During the six-month forts. dry season, the girls and “I didn’t realise how women walk to the nearimportant clean water est river, about 90 minutes away, to was in people’s lives. I can get clean scoop stagnant water out of a shallow water whenever I want. We use so much pool dug into the dry river bed. of it and we never even think about it.” “We drove a ways because it was so see ETHIOPIA, page A13 far, but then the road became really
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bbotsford police worked on 95 per cent more grow-op related cases in 2 0 0 9 c o m p a re d t o 2 0 0 8 as part of their efforts to crack down on gangs and drugs, according to a report released by the depar tment. Numbers, APD spokesperson Const. Ian MacDonald said, that reflect the increased workload the department’s drug section is taking on. “In 2008, the drug enforcement unit did less oversight and mentoring, but they made that part of their mandate in ’09, and I think that speaks specifically to our identification of the connection between drugs and gangs,” he said. MacDonald said the math on the issue is simple; drugs lead police to gang members. “We identified [the link] as a much-needed priority for us and that’s why you see that spike in workload.” APD statistics show drug arrests rose by eight per cent between 2008 and 2009, with a 24 per cent increase in controlled drugs and substance act offences in the same time period. Production offences rose 130 per cent, trafficking climbed by 19 per cent and charges for possession increased by 14 per cent, results, MacDonald said, that didn’t just come from more than routine, prudent paperwork. “It includes kicking in doors, but it also includes intelligence gathering, and assistance on drug-related files from patrol… we have to be actively involved if we’re going to effectively target gangsters,” he said.
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