Friday, March 25 , 2011 Hody Lye and Davis Balla challenge others to shave their heads this June in aid of families struggling financially because of childhood cancer.
Page A6
ary Annivers 1985-2010
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Drugs
Smuggling motivates policy shift A vehicle brought in for repairs at Fraser Regional Correctional Centre is now under investigation. by Damian Inwood
Postmedia Network Inc.
Brian Russell/TIMES
Shed fire spreads
Fire destroyed a shed and damaged a home on Meadowbrook Place on Thursday afternoon. Nobody was hurt in the blaze and fire fighters were able to quash the flames, preventing further damage to the house. Details online at www.mrtimes.com.
Federal government
Liberals ready for election
All three major parties have local candidates lined up for federal election. Maria Rantanen
mrantanent@mrtimes.com
Former school board trustee Mandeep Bhuller will run as the Liberal candidate should a federal election be called today. The Conservative government was expected to fall on Thursday on its budget. But with the budget vote pushed to next week, Friday’s motion of non-confidence on contempt charges is being predicted as the more likely tipping point. Bhuller said the priority of
the current government is not Canadians or Canadian families, using the economy as an excuse. “The key component of government, which should be compassion within the policy framework that they use, does not exist in the Harper minority (government),” he said. Bhuller said it’s time to have a more compassionate government, instead of the
Conservative government that is slowly diluting any social conscience from their platform. During challenging times, social programs are even more vital than ever to families, he added, and many of “The key the social programs component of exist in government… name only with should be “obsocompassion…” lete” Mandeep Bhuller funding envelopes. The Harper government came in talking about ethics, but now it looks like it’s “more like status quo,” Bhuller said.
The Liberals plan to have a non-confidence vote today and all three opposition parties are expected to support it, which will lead to an election most likely in May. The Liberal Party of Canada wants to from a majority government after the next election, and any talk of a coalition with the NDP is premature, Bhuller said. The NDP’s platform “has traditionally had a social conscious,” he said but the economic framework to fund their their proposed programs don’t work. “They don’t come with a credible financial explanation for all those wonderful things they subscribe to,” Bhuller said.
continued on page A24…
Jail guards at Fraser Regional Correctional Centre say a trailer may have been used as a “Trojan horse” to smuggle drugs, weapons, and cellphones into the jail. A spokesman for the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General confirmed this week that the Maple Ridge prison has now beefed up its policy “to prohibit public vehicles from being accepted into any on-site work programs.” Ridge Meadows RCMP said that an investigation was launched at the correctional centre on March 7. “We are working with B.C. Corrections on that investigation but it’s very active at this point, so I’m not going to comment any further on any details,” said Cpl. Alanna Dunlop. Postmedia Network Inc. received a tip that drugs, makeshift knives, Cpl. Alanna Dunlop cellphones, sterRidge Meadows RCMP oids, and steroid needles were hidden in the walls of a trailer that was brought into the jail, at the request of a private citizen, for inmates to repair. “We did have an investigation that was initiated on March 7, that sounds similar to what you’re alluding to,” said Dunlop. “We’re still working on it.” Inmates deliberately broke gym equipment and took it into the jail’s metal work shop, according to information given to Postmedia. There, the inmates removed the contraband then distributed it, said a guard, who refused to give his name.
continued on page A23…
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