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Sunday, January 30, 2011
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Ambleside redesign plans begin Tessa Holloway
tholloway@nsnews.com
WEST Vancouver will leave it up to residents to decide just how much density can go on the cityowned properties in the 1300block of Marine Drive and 1500block of Fulton Avenue.
Just one caveat, however: the more density, the more money for a new combined police and fire station, improved public space and arts spaces. The redevelopment is planned to fund the new “public safety building,” which will be built to survive an earthquake, and other community amenities as part of the AmblesideNOW revitalization plan timed to begin sometime near the municipality’s 100th birthday on March 15, 2012. “Public consultation will determine what gets built and when as the project moves forward,” said Bob Sokol, director of planning for the municipality. A series of meetings will begin with an open house at the community centre on the evening of Feb. 15, although the exact details haven’t been planned. A new website, www.amblesidenow.ca, has been launched and will include details on all the meetings in February and March. Sokol said multi-family residential and commercial space is planned, but nothing else has been decided, including the phasing and when shovels will be in the ground. “If See Ambleside page 5
NEWS photo Mike Wakefield
Zip it
SEYCOVE secondary students Michelle Heeps (left), Hayley Swanlund and Gillian Curtis take the Vow of Silence Thursday. Almost 200 students signed up to take part in the 24-hour experience designed to help teens to reflect on the lack of rights of children in so many countries around the globe.
Bill C-575 wants bands’ books open
Kerry Blackadar
kblackadar@nsnews.com
WHEN the Canadian Taxpayers Federation released “jaw-dropping” salary figures for First Nations chiefs and councils in November, the criticism that followed didn’t come as a surprise, but as a disappointment for Jody Wilson-Raybould, B.C. regional chief of the Assembly of First Nations. “The figures being put out by the Canadian Taxpayer Federation are just simply not the case,” said Wilson-Raybould on Thursday, noting that recent internal studies conducted by the assembly found
Private member’s bill would allow non-natives to track federal funds
this province’s chiefs bring in an average of only $36,000 per year. Assembly figures sharply contrast those released by the taxpayers federation, who claimed that “over 600 Native politicians in Canada are earning a taxable equivalent of over $100,000” and “approximately 50 reserve politicians were paid more than the prime minister in 2008-09.” Like Wilson-Raybould, Chief Ian Campbell of the Squamish Nation believes the federation’s numbers are “totally distorted.”
Campbell said he views the CTF’s report as nothing more than a smear campaign, noting its release has led to alarmist assumptions that perpetuate the misconception that First Nations are not accountable — an issue that has gained greater attention as of late with the introduction of Bill C-575, the First Nations Financial Transparency Act. The private member’s bill, proposed by Conservative MP Kelly Block in the fall of 2010, calls for greater transparency of federal funds flowing to First Nations officials in the form of grants, contributions and allowances. If passed, First Nations communities across the nation would be legally required to publicly disclose See Squamish page 3
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