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WEDNESDAY
November 3, 2010
20
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Minimum wage hike receives support Coquitlam Coun. Lou Sekora’s notice of motion to increase B.C.’s minimum wage received unanimous endorsement Monday, coinciding with the ninth anniversary of the province’s minimum wage freeze. Although some around the council table argued against debating matters that fall out of the municipal jurisdiction, all of them got behind writing a letter to the B.C. government asking for the $6 hourly training wage to be abolished, and for the minimum wage to be increased to $10 from $8. “I never thought I’d ever see the day where a child in British Columbia can go to bed hungry. That is something … I cannot stomach it. It makes me sick to my stomach that some child in British Columbia is going to bed hungry because of the minimum wage,” Sekora said. B.C.’s minimum wage is currently the lowest in Canada, and the amount has remained unchanged since 2001. B.C. is followed by Newfoundland, with a rate of $8.70 an hour, while at $10.25 per hour, Ontario’s minimum wage rate is the highest nationally. A single parent herself, Coun. Mae Reid seconded Sekora’s motion based on the fact that even a $10-per-hour minimum wage would severely impact a family’s finances. “This is actually an embarrassing thing to have to ask any government, to raise a wage in British Columbia just so that people can afford to go back and forth to work and at least put one meal a day on the table,” she said. Aside from raising the minimum wage by $2 an hour, Sekora is also looking to get rid of the 500-hour training CONT. ON PAGE 3, see MINIMUM.
Paul vanPeenen/NOW
OPEN HOUSE: Rafiullah Alokozai reads from the Qur’an, part of the theme of this year’s Masjid Al-Hidayah and Islamic Cultural Centre open house, entitled “The Qur’an: God’s True Word?” Activities will include tours, food samples, calligraphy displays, Islamic art exhibits and henna painting. The free event will also feature a 30-minute presentation about the Qur’an plus a question-and-answer session. The open house is Sunday, Nov. 7 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 2626 Kingsway Ave. in PoCo. For more information, visit www.islam-canada.com or call 604-945-1885.
Shelter debate turns nasty
Police attend Coquitlam City Hall as angry residents shout at council members Stories by John Kurucz jkurucz@thenownews.com Editor’s note: This story contains language that some readers may find offensive. “The crackheads will be in the park with their needles and sh*t like that. I’ll leave a bucket of needles right by your door, too. Don’t you worry.” “Are you going to pay for my house as well, when the property value goes down? I want top dollar for that, too.” “Remember, I’ve got your address. I’ll find you.” Those threats exemplified the chaotic mood in Coquitlam council chambers Monday, as about 200 residents packed in to voice their opposition to a proposed homeless shelter in the city’s Westwood
neighbourhood. At issue was the first reading of a rezoning process for land at 3030 Gordon Ave., where a 30-person transitional house and commercial facility is being proposed. In what was a roughly 20-minute long exchange, council members rarely got more than a minute worth of speaking in before heated comments began raining down from the viewing gallery. The situation reached such a fevered pitch that Mayor Richard Stewart requested a “discreet” RCMP presence outside the council chambers in response to threats being uttered towards him and other councillors. As soon as councillors entered the chambers at 7 p.m., Hoy Street resident Garry Badour began voicing his displeasure. “We don’t want a transition house,” he said. “We want a safe neighbourhood.” Stewart took the unusual step of addressing the
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standing-room-only audience before the meeting began, stressing that audience outbursts and applause go against council meeting procedures. It didn’t matter. “Put it next to your house,” Badour countered. It was much the same as clerk Jay Gilbert read the rezoning item from the council agenda. Badour said, “We’re opposed to that. We want to end it now.” Coun. Mae Reid, chair of the city’s land use committee, tried to explain that passing the first reading of a rezoning application allows members of the public a forum to voice their views on the topic. Council eventually unanimously passed first reading, allowing a public hearing to go ahead. “When we get something that’s this contentious, the fairest thing we can do is move it to all the CONTINUED ON PAGE 4, see MAYOR SAYS.