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Your source for local news, sports, weather and entertainment. www.thenownews.com
Election hopefuls begin campaigns Simone Blais and Alfie Lau editorial@thenownews.com And they’re off. Local MPs and federal party candidates have hit the streets and officially kicked off their campaigns, which will culminate in Canadians heading to the polls May 2 after the Conservative government failed on a non-confidence motion 156-145 in Parliament last week. Prime Minister Stephen Harper met with Gov. Gen. David Johnston Saturday, and the writ to dissolve Parliament was dropped that morning for the official start to Canada’s 41st federal election. For sitting MPs, it was a race against time to get back to the Tri-Cities and begin the campaign. Port Moody-WestwoodPort Coquitlam incumbent MP James Moore said Friday it had been an interesting week to try to wrap his head around. “Last week we were coming into the budget. It’s a pretty mainstream budget that we put in front of the House of Commons,” the Conservative MP said, adding that there were budget items like volunteer firefighter tax credits and municipalities benefiting from the gas tax fund. “There were good things for the Tri-Cities, good things for Canadians in the budget, but it wasn’t about the budget. “This is about them opportunistically calling a campaign because they think they might have an advantage. I just think Canadians are going to be put off by the opportunism of all of them: the Liberals, the Bloc and the NDP.” New Westminster CONT. ON PAGE 4, see LIBERALS.
Paul vanPeenen/NOW
WILD LIFE: Anmore artist Daniel Taylor is helping to save endangered species in Africa by capturing their images on canvas. See story, Page 11.
Austin Heights residents speak out While some favour increased densification, others fear highrises in the area Simone Blais sblais@thenownews.com Coquitlam council will decide in a week whether the sky’s the limit for the Austin Heights neighbourhood. A public hearing on the neighbourhood plan was held Monday at City Hall, where a handful of residents came out to voice their views on the city’s vision for the area. Part of that vision includes a series of highrise towers in addition to the redevelopment of Austin Avenue between Blue Mountain Street and Gatensbury Avenue to offer a more pedestrianfriendly commercial experience. That has some neighbours eyeing the sky with a sinking feeling.
“Where one highrise goes up, more inevitably follow,” Ken Laroy said, adding that he moved to the neighbourhood in 1979 “because of the character of the area.” Council passed first reading of the bylaw on Feb. 21, and referred the matter to Monday’s public hearing to offer residents a chance to give input. The city began the neighbourhood plan in 2008, to update general land use and service strategies when considering development proposals. The plan calls for a high-density, mixed-use commercial core along Austin Avenue, as well as the introduction of small-scale housing choices in the area bounded by Rochester Avenue, Blue Mountain Street, Foster Avenue and Linton Street. Draft policies were presented during a public open house in January. Four hundred people attended and 94 comment sheets were received. City staff reported
in February that a 69-per-cent majority of respondents supported the plan to introduce higher-density mixed uses, while 14 per cent were against the idea of highrises. Twelve per cent wanted to see building heights kept to less than 10 storeys, while five per cent hoped the area could stay the same. “All the neighbours in that area don’t want density,” Don Chorley said. “You should be listening to people in the neighbourhood, rather than developers, because they’re the ones who have live with it. “I pass by the corridor of towers in Burnaby, and they’re so ugly.” Some warned against seeking NewPort Villagestyle development that becomes congested with traffic rather than offering free-flowing pedestrian access. CONTINUED ON PAGE 5, see COQUITLAM MLA.