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Friday, February 4, 2011
About Us THE NOW is published by the Coquitlam Now, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. Our offices are located at 201A-3430 Brighton Avenue, Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 3H4
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Publisher Brad Alden Editor Leneen Robb Assistant Editor Simone Blais Sports Editor Dan Olson
The NOW COQUITLAM, PORT COQUITLAM, PORT MOODY, ANMORE AND BELCARRA
Opinion
editorial@thenownews.com
Video evidence looks bad, but don’t judge yet
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et another police incident, caught on tape, seems to have taken the tarnish off the badge. I appreciate and understand the passion and outrage felt by the public over the way a driver in Kelowna was handled during the conclusion of a vehicle stop. I know the overwhelming majority of the citizens in our community support the police, whether they wear a municipal or RCMP patch on their shoulders. However, incidents like this will make even the staunchest supporters of police question their support. I was asked my opinion, by my neighbour, about the video showing an RCMP member kicking the driver in the head. I tried to explain to him that as horrible as the video evidence is, it
I also hope the police constable who is would be unfair to speculate without going through this ordeal can heal. the complete information and details. I believe the RCMP, feeling the I, too, found the video very disturbsting from a rash of negaing, but I have been in tive police-related events, this line of work too long are doing all they can to to make a snap decision restore public confidence based on one piece of eviand trust. dence, regardless of how There are some in our upsetting it appears. When society who believe that it comes to highly charged the police have too much events — where emotion, power and influence. This instead of common sense argument is aided by the and sound investigation, Off the Cuff new and stricter drinking is the driving influence Const. Bill Kim and driving laws. — the concept of fair proBut remember that pubcess can be distorted. lic outrage over senseless I hope the driver and deaths at the hands of drunk drivers, those around him affected by this teras well as the work of MADD and other rible incident can heal both physically agencies, is behind the new laws. and emotionally and find vindication.
Reporters John Kurucz, Jennifer McFee
Our View
Photographer Paul vanPeenen
So many questions
Advertising Sales Manager Catherine Ackerman
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ots of questions need to be answered in light of the sickening slaughter of 100 sled dogs in Whistler. Besides moral concerns regarding how anyone could order an employee to do this and how any employee could follow through are questions such as: • Why did WorkSafeBC not report this incident to authorities? When possible criminal behaviour is involved, reporting should be mandatory and immediate. • What was the SPCA’s role in this situation? • Why are there so many loopholes in Canada’s anti-cruelty laws? Attempts have been made for years to strengthen these laws and bring them into line with public views. Maybe this incident will be the one that forces politicians to act. • If sled dogs are killed when they’re no longer “needed,” should this activity be outlawed? What do you think should be done? Vote in our online poll at www.thenownews.com.
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Perspective
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••• Members of the Port Moody Police Department would like to express our deepest condolences to the members of the Toronto Police Service, who lost a valued member of their department last month. Sgt. Ryan Russell, an 11-year veteran, was killed on duty when he was hit by a stolen snowplow. He will be greatly missed by his colleagues and the community he policed. His wife, Christine, said her husband looked up to his father, who was a retired Toronto police officer. She also said she found great comfort when she looked at their two-yearold son, Nolan, because she saw so much of Ryan in him. Until next time.
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Why think when you can study celebs?
figures doing everyday things such as adjusting their ver wonder what the Jonas brothers do when wedgies or arguing with neighbours. they’re not being chased by hysterical girls? As a result, heavily photographed stars have made Are you simply dying to learn the secrets their lack of fondness for the paparazzi quite apparbehind Robert Pattinson’s obscure showering ritual ent. But upon further reflection, are paparazzi of the or Justin Bieber’s growth deficiencies? Or perhaps world really scum of the earth — as celebs would you’re pondering an important question that has like us to believe — or are they simply misunderconsumed the best of intellectual minds: Are Ryan stood? Perhaps paparazzi are actually Reynolds and Sandra Bullock really no valuable members of society and need to more than friends? be appreciated. Well, fellow commoners, worry no Unconvinced? Let me help you with more. The answers to such burning, vital that. inquiries can be unearthed amidst the Let’s start with the obvious: Paparazzi glossy pages of celebrity-oriented periand their corresponding tabloids provide odicals. The hunger to gain knowledge vastly amusing news coverage. of intimate occurrences in celebrities’ For instance, unless you been living lives — from what panties they sleep in My Generation under a rock this past month (in which to what restaurants they eat in — has become a widespread malady. Gone are Asrar Ahmed-Flores case I apologize), then you’ve been bombarded with headlines of Prince William the days when, you know, we actually and Kate Middleton’s impending marhad lives of our own. riage. Behind the emergence of such media frenzies are Ever since they announced their engagement, camera-wielding people dubbed “paparazzi.” The I’ve come across titles such as “Her Majesty Chokes term became popular following the release of La on Dentures while KM Celebrates!” or “Decking it Dolce Vita, an Italian film in which one of the charOut at Buckingham Palace!” The ultimate remedy acters was a photographer named Paparazzo (which to gloominess is to flip through a tabloid magazine. translates to the buzzing noise mosquitoes make). Your brain cells will pop and soon you’ll forget your Subsequently adopted by pop culture media, paplife’s woes. arazzo became paparazzi and now there is a whole But the benefits don’t stop there. Just days after profession dedicated to a very special kind of candid Kate Middleton and Prince William announced their photography. future nuptials, women went wild by ordering repThat is to say, blurry snapshots that depict public
licas of the dress Middleton wore to her engagement announcement at St. James Palace. In all likelihood, designers for Issa, the Londonbased fashion label that created Middleton’s dress, are now raking in the dough and planning their early retirement. Such fantastic profits in a time of economic crappiness are due, I think, to paparazzi coverage of the royals, which has made them wellliked and relatable (er, as relatable as a future king and queen may be). And If I’m not mistaken, the saying goes: “True friends stick with you through good times and bad.” Don’t these wise words apply to paparazzi as well? After all, they were literally there when Britney Spears was dominating the music scene, and they were there when she opted for baldness during her well-documented 2007 meltdown. Doesn’t that prove that paparazzi are merely misunderstood citizens with honourable intentions? Britney must think so, since she shacked up with one of them. Anyhow, the way I see it, paparazzi have given us the ultimate gift — comic relief from days spent thinking. Who wants to read material that makes you think too much when you’ve spent all day thinking all those thoughts and surely don’t want to think some more? I rest my case. Asrar Ahmed-Flores is a Grade 12 student at Dr. Charles Best Secondary.