Serving Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Anmore and Belcarra since 1984
WEDNESDAY June 13, 2012
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Coquitlam’s Ruky Abdulai closes in on an Olympic team spot.
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Budget becomes battle of wills Brent Richter editorial@thenownews.com New WestminsterCoquitlam MP Fin Donnelly says he and the rest of Parliament’s Opposition MPs will be using every means at their disposal to make changes to the Conservatives’ proposed budget before it passes. That may include a marathon session of up to 30 hours of continuous voting in the House of Commons on a series of amendments proposed by opposition parties. The Conservative’s omnibus budget bill, C-38, has drawn criticism for packing in changes to more than 70 pieces of legislation, many of which have nothing to do with the federal budget. “This is their hidden agenda. This is what they were hoping Canadians would not find out. The whole reason they’re going through a budget implementation bill is because they want to hide these major changes, which they couldn’t get done as a minority. They want to do it all in one poison pill,” Donnelly said in an interview from Ottawa. “The number of changes that they’re going to make in this one bill is breathtaking. It’s completely undemocratic. Each one of these deserves to be studied in their own right.” The House is expected to begin voting on a series of 67 to 159 changes to the budget on Wednesday evening. MPs can fit about seven votes in per hour, meaning the amendment process will be a battle of wills between the parties. Donnelly said there is some CONT. ON PAGE 8, see OPPOSITION.
Jennifer Gauthier/NOW
NOT YOUR REGULAR TEDDY BEAR: Parade goers were greeted by riders, rollers and walkers of all types during Sunday’s Grande Parade in Coquitlam. The Teddy Bear procession marched down Pinetree Way into Town Centre park, where the Teddy Bear picnic took place.
PoCo approves temporary shelter Public hearing attracts support, arguments against homeless shelter at PoCo church Brent Richter editorial@thenownews.com Northside Grace Church in Port Coquitlam will be allowed to operate a temporary homeless shelter this winter. Port Coquitlam council voted 4-2 in favour of granting a temporary use permit to the Hope For Freedom Society to operate the 30-bed shelter at the church at 2606 Kingsway Ave. after an impassioned public hearing on the matter Monday night. Once up and running in October, the church will allow clients to come in at 9:30 p.m. and stay until 7 a.m. The meeting heard pleas from residents of nearby condos to reject the bid for a shelter, arguing that the area already has too many issues with drugs and crime related to homelessness; that putting a homeless shelter there would encourage more loitering on nearby streets and draw in homeless people from
around the Lower Mainland. Others argued that shelter clients being removed at 7 a.m. would put women walking to the West Coast Express station at risk. But the majority of council members agreed that the HFFS had a good track record when it came to homeless services in the Tri-Cities, and that the city had a duty to help its homeless population. Mayor Greg Moore said HFFS deserves part of the credit for the dramatic drop in number of homeless people counted in the Tri-Cities, which fell from 215 in 2008 to 48 in 2011. Moore added that if the HFFS or the church are not able to keep to a good neighbour agreement with the city, the permit can be revoked. “I have faith that this is the right thing to do, but if it isn’t, I also have assurances for myself that we have some backups to be able to pull it away if it doesn’t work,” he said. Coun. Michael Wright said much of the opposition seemed to be based on “fear mongering” that had been blown out of proportion and that most homeless
people were no different or more dangerous than anyone in the council chamber. Couns. Dean Washington and Glenn Pollock, who both voted against the shelter, cited the lack of a bus service to get residents into the shelter at night and away from the neighbourhood in the morning to prevent loitering in their opposition. “You can’t convince me that they’re not going to loiter in that area,” Pollock said, referring to the nearby streets, wooded area along the river and nearby bottle depot. “I’ve asked for some assurances and I haven’t gotten any from Hope for Freedom.” The shelter had several supporters speak at the meeting, including many shelter volunteers and local clergy members, though detractors pointed out that none of them live near the Grace Church. HFFS director Rob Thiessen said Tuesday that there is nothing he can say to assuage the fears of nearby residents, adding that opposition to homeless CONTINUED ON PAGE 8, see SHELTER.