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Wheels turn on PBS
Pooch provides therapy
Richmond wants to get in gear with a proposal to provide a Public Bike System (PBS) similar to the one used here by the Dutch during the Olympics.
Starr the Spaniel has helped emotionally wounded youth get through tough times. Counsellor credits her cuddly dog for helping her do her job.
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Canada Line at capacity? Hardie: ‘We’re not maxed’ BY NELSON BENNETT
nbennett@richmond-news.com
CHUNG CHOW/RICHMOND NEWS
Bird watchers were out in force all over the Lower Mainland hoping to catch a sight of birds returning on their annual migration. Susan Fallat from Squamish decided to do some bird-spotting at Garry Point Park while her husband was having surgery at Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver.
When the Canada Line was being built, TransLink and its partners were hoping to see rider numbers hit 100,000 per day by 2013. It’s already nearly there. And that’s a problem, says Gary Cross. The Richmond resident said the Richmond segment of the line is already running at capacity at peak times, while trains to Vancouver International Airport (YVR) are nearly empty. “It’s a $2 billion system. It’s brand new, and at times it’s actually uncomfortable to use. My wife takes the train to work every morning. She rarely, if ever, gets a seat,” Cross said. “There’s no doubt that the trains coming out of Richmond are very busy,” says TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie. “It happens on the Expo and Millennium lines as well.” The city centre area plan calls for the densification of the city core — something that is largely based on the Canada Line. But Cross fears the system is already at capacity and could therefore limit future growth. see Expansion page 6
Electrical safety bylaw ruled unconstitutional Brodie: ‘I’m sure with some adjustments we’ll be able to carry on ... it’s been quite an effective program.” A bylaw that helped the City of Richmond shut down 91 marijuana grow ops is being suspended due to concerns it may be unconstitutional. In a ruling last week, the Appeal Court of B.C. found the Safety Standards Act — a provincial statute that gives force to the city’s Electrical and Fire Safety Inspection bylaw — violates the Charter of Rights
and Freedoms by allowing for warrantless searches by municipal teams of fire and electrical inspectors looking for hazards related to marijuana grow operations. The court ruling was the result of a challenge of the City of Surrey’s Electrical and Fire Safety bylaw. Richmond’s bylaw is based on the same statute, so it is being temporarily suspended, according to city hall spokesperson Cynthia Lockrey. Mayor Malcolm Brodie thinks the bylaw
need not be scrapped — just fine tuned. “I’m sure with some adjustments we’ll be able to carry on,” he said. “We will be carrying on with it because it’s been quite an effective program.” Lee Jensen said he’s glad the courts have upheld citizens’ right to privacy. “I’m very happy about it because it (the bylaw) is intrusive,” he said. Jensen and his wife Fay were among the 100-plus Richmond citizens whose properties were searched but where no evidence of
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a grow op was found. Less than half of the homes searched in Richmond turned up any evidence of a grow op and its usual rewiring. The Safety Standards Act gave B.C. Hydro the legal authority to provide municipal governments personal information on power consumption. Spikes in electrical consumption can be an indicator of marijuana grow op. They can also be the sign of a hot tub or swimming pool. see Searches page 4
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BY NELSON BENNETT
nbennett@richmond-news.com