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Tick takes down family
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A family is devastated by Lyme disease. And adding their woes is the fact that no doctor but one in B.C. will recognize their diagnosis.
The Richmond private club proved to be a tough golf trek when the CN Women’s Pro Tour opened its 2010 season with a 36-hole tournament.
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Protesters paddle for Sockeye Past rivals all swim in the same direction in defense of salmon
Anti-HST rally: low turnout BY NELSON BENNETT
nbennett@richmond-news.com
Over the years, Conservative MP John Cummins and Ernie Crey of the Sto:lo First Nation have traded shots over native fishing issues. Cummins has accused Sto:lo fishermen — particularly Cheam band members — of poaching and black market sales of food fish. But in a display of solidarity Friday, Crey and Cummins stood together on the deck of a seine boat owned by Erling Olsen of Richmond for a common cause: Fighting fish farms, which they believe are primarily responsible for the decimation of Fraser River salmon stocks. Crey and Cummins (the MP for Delta-Richmond East) left Steveston Friday aboard the 80-foot Pacific Viking, to shepherd a 26-foot canoe filled with young paddlers, the youngest a 13-year-old boy, to Vancouver Island, where they joined Alexandra Morton — the Jane Goodall of fish — on the lawn of the B.C. Legislature to lobby the B.C. government to put curbs on fish farming. “When it comes to saving wild salmon, I think I’m pretty much on the same side as John,” said Crey, who is the fisheries advisor for the Sto:lo Tribal Council. “We’re here in support of Alexandra Morton and the good work she’s been doing,” said Cummins. “I think the government should listen and take heed of the message that we all are concerned about wild salmon.” The Pacific Viking accompanied Elena Edwards and her canoe for safety reasons. Edwards and eight other paddlers left Hope on April 28.
Bill Vander Zalm was in Richmond Sunday to rally his anti-HST troops. The former Social Credit premier says more than 300 people signed the Fight HST petition, which calls on the B.C. government to repeal the harmonized tax. The tax officially goes into effect July 1, which is also Vander Zalm’s deadline to get at least 10 per cent of the electorate in all 85 electoral districts in B.C. to sign the petition for it to have legal force. Vander Zalm’s team is aiming for 15 per cent in each electoral district. His anti-HST fighters are having better luck in rural ridings than in Lower Mainland municipalities like Richmond. “It is low,” he said of the numbers in Richmond. “Richmond was slower getting going than other places.” The campaign is half way to getting 15 per cent signed up in Richmond Centre, and not quite 50 per cent in Richmond East and Richmond-Steveston. Elsewhere, the campaign has already reached at least 10 per cent in 56 of B.C.’s 85 provincial electoral districts. Vander Zalm said hitting those targets is proving toughest in Richmond, see Petition page 4
nbennett@richmond-news.com
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A group of fish farm opponents, above, made a stop at Garry Point Park on their way from Hope to Victoria to protest fish farms. They arrived in Steveston Thursday (May 6) and stayed overnight, feted by a local group of supporters. When Edwards heard Morton was walking from the north tip of Vancouver Island to Victoria to lobby against fish farms, she wanted to help and organized a canoe trip. Since leaving Hope, her group has collected hundreds of signatures on a petition calling for change. “It’s been incredible the amount of people who come down to the river to show their support,” Edwards said. The trip from the mouth of the Fraser River to Sydney on Vancouver Island is about 112 kilometres and involves crossing a wide stretch of open water. When Crey heard about the
venture, he called Cummins, who arranged for Olsen to accompany them on his 80-foot seine boat. Olsen has been fishing Fraser River sockeye since 1958. He has seen fluctuations over the years in salmon stocks but has never witnessed anything like what happened last year, when a return predicted to be 10 million ended up at just 1.3 million. “I’ve never seen a whole run disappear like that for no reason,” he said. “That’s the highest drop in history, I would say.” There are numerous theories for the decline of salmon stocks over the years. But there is a growing consensus among native, commercial and sport fishermen that Morton’s research
Canoe trip leader Elena Edwards, unites past rivals Ernie Crey (left) of the Sto:lo First Nation and MP John Cummins. demonstrates sea lice and other diseases from fish farms are the primary cause of high mortality rates in wild salmon stocks. “I agree 100 per cent with see Reid page 4
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