The Asian Star September 5 2015

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Issue 32

Saturday, September 5, 2015

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2 i Saturday, September 5, 2015

Local

Sikh leaders in Canada & USA blame conversions, drugs for declining population

From page 1 ily businesses, the youth has sunk in drugs.

So what do you expect from drug addicts?” asked Toronto-based Sikh leader Nachhattar Singh Chohan. Chohan, who heads the Indian Trucking Association in Canada, said: “Yes, migration from Punjab to the West is

lings. “Finally, drugs are taking their toll on the Punjab youth. The drugs are reported to be causing impotence amongst boys, resulting in fewer births,” Sanghera said.

Los Angeles-based Bhai Satpal Singh Kohli, the ambassador of Sikh Dharma in Western Hemisphere, said the Sikh population is declining because people are “not adhering to the Sikh code of conduct and leaving Sikhism to join various ‘deras’ due to poor leadership and discrimination against Dalits and poor Sikhs in Punjab.”

He too said Sikhs were migrating for better opportunities. “Moreover, the trend is that Sikhs are increasingly marrying out of their religion. So the majority of their children now end up not being Sikhs,” he added.

Kohli welcomes the directive of the Akal Takht jathedar to each Sikh family to have four children.

“But more importantly, Sikhs need not select family planning for a male child and stop female foeticide.” Yuba city-based Jasbir Kang blames the destruction of the economy of rural Punjab for the migration of Sikhs to foreign lands.

“Events and after-affects of 1984 had serious impact on the Sikh psyche... Sikhs never committed suicides until the last two decades. People have lost their pride and self-respect,” Kang said.

He added that Sikhs are conWe’ve been serving newcomers to The TD New to Canada package verting to other religions as the clergy has failed to address the Canada for more than 100 years. can give you the financial foundation “issues of caste divisions, drug you need to make your dreams a reality. abuse and failure the issues of gender gap. If moms lose respect Beginning the exciting new life you’ve dreamed of in Canada for faith, then children will not can be overwhelming, so we’ve made banking in Canada simple.

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Education, said: “The turbulence of the 80s impacted average Sikh family dependent on agrarian economy. Political mishandling of For details in the language you prefer, economic and social issues, and militancy in the 80s and its supvisit a branch or tdcanadatrust.com/beginhere pression by security forces added to the woes of Punjab. These have 1You must meet the eligibility requirements and provide the required identification to qualify for the New to Canada Package. We reserve the right to change, extend or withdraw this offer at any time. 2Unlimited Chequing Account or had a direct impact on the average All-Inclusive Chequing Account (the “New Chequing Account”) must be opened in order to waive the monthly account fee. The monthly account fee will only be waived for the first 6 months that the New Chequing Account is open and is limited Sikh family.” to one account per person and the type of chequing account cannot change during the 6-month period. The monthly account fee waiver only applies to the regular/pro-rated monthly fee; all other fees will continue to apply. If the minimum monthly balance is maintained in the New Chequing Account in any given month during the first 6 months that the account is open and the monthly account fee is not charged, no monthly account fee waiver will be applied for that month.

Singh said the lack of oppor3Applicant must meet all TD credit granting criteria to be eligible for a TD Credit Card. For complete details, please visit your local TD branch. 4Visa Direct fee refund offer is only available with the opening of an Unlimited Chequing Account tunities have also pushed young or All-Inclusive Banking Plan, and is limited to (1) one account per person, and (2) one Visa Direct transfer fee per month for the first six calendar months that the account is open. The transfer fee will be debited from customer’s account and then credited to the same account in the same currency. The credit will be processed by the 15th day of the month following the date on which the eligible transfer occurred if the account has not been closed. Customer will not receive any other Sikhs to try their luck elsewhere in notification of the credit. We may amend or cancel the offer at any time. No other applicable fees or costs will be refunded. We will rebate the most expensive Visa Direct transfer fee that occurred in the applicable month. If customer is sending the world, even if it means selling money in a currency other than that of the originating account, a foreign exchange conversion will occur. Customer will be advised of the rate used for the conversion prior to completing the transaction, and we may earn revenue on the conversion.

Regular account transaction fees may also apply. While recipients will not incur any charges for receiving funds through Visa Direct, they should check with their own financial institutions for any costs associated with the use of their Visa cards. off valuable assets and facing mi5Savings Account bonus offer only applies to a TD Every Day Savings Account, a TD High Interest Savings Account or a TD ePremium Savings Account that is opened on or before the day the New Chequing Account was opened. Bonus offer is gratory restrictions in many Westlimited to 1 savings account per person and the type of savings account cannot change during the Offer Period. The bonus rate is in addition to the posted rate on the savings account and will be applied to the savings account commencing no ern countries. later than 10 business days after the New Chequing Account was opened and will be effective for 6 months thereafter (“Offer Period”). Regular posted interest rates will apply after the end of the Offer Period. Bonus interest will be calculated one reason. But the bigger factor is that people are abandoning Sikhism and joining various ‘deras’ in Punjab. The SGPC has failed the Sikhs.” Vancouver-based community activist Balwant Sanghera said: “First and foremost reason for declining Sikh population is the

migration from Punjab to the West. Second, there is growing awareness to have smaller families.” Shrinking land holdings in Punjab are also forcing people to have fewer children to avoid further division of land among sib-

“It was a new country but it very quickly felt like home.”

separately and paid monthly. Interest rates are subject to change without notice. ®The TD logo and other trade-marks are the property of The Toronto-Dominion Bank.

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Issue 32 Saturday, September 5, 2015

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Page

Real reasons why little Alan drowned

ittle Alan,3, his 5 year old brother, Galib, and their mother, Rehama Kurdi,35,. were buried on Friday in the Martyrs’ Cemetery in Kobani, a mainly Kurdish town in northern Syria near the Turkish border. But let’s hope the plight of Kurdish, and other refugees, from Syria, and elsewhere, is not buried along with these three who were trying to escape the terror of ISIL and the hell that is Syria. When the image of little Alan lying face down on a Turkish beach as waves washed over him first made the rounds earlier this week, most of humanity was heart broken.

Everyone has a little boy like that, more or less, somewhere in their extended family.

T

he surprise windstorm that bashed the most densely populated areas of British Columbia on Saturday and created the largest single outage in BC Hydro’s history was largely unforeseen until it was almost upon Metro Vancouver. Although Hydro was prepared for heavy rainfall and perhaps even flash flooding over the weekend, it had little warning that high winds — with some gusts as high as 115 km/h — were imminent, said Wayne Martell, BC Hydro’s regional manager of distribution. Even as exhausted repair crews struggled to reconnect the last 36,000 customers of more than 525,000 who lost power in a rolling cascade of failures, Martell Continued on page 6

Sikh leaders in Canada & USA blame conversions, drugs for declining population

S

Tel: 604-591-5423

ikh leaders in North America blame conversions, drugs and migration for the decline in the growth rate of Sikh population in India from 1.9 percent to 1.7 percent as per the 2011 census. “While Punjab leaders are promoting their family Continued on page 2

Aylan Kurdi and his older brother, Galib

Then someone started a rumor that the Canadian government had rejected their refugee claims and request for a visa to come to Canada. The rumor was fuelled further by emotional statements made by Alan’s aunt (his father’s sister) who lives in Vancouver. She later clarified that Alan’s family’s application had never been submitted to the Canadian government. That, in fact, her elder brother’s (Alan’s uncle) application for group sponsored refugee was submitted and returned as incomplete.

Continued on page 4

BC Hydro failed miserably

Major windstorm last week uprooted many trees and left thousand without power in Metro Vancouver last weekend. Photo: Chandra Bodalia

J

Jimmy Snuka, former pro wrestler, charged in cold case homicide

immy (Superfly) Snuka, a professional wrestling star in the 1980s, was charged on Tuesday with third degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in the 1983 death of his girlfriend, prosecutors said.

Snuka, 72, of Camden County, New Jersey, was charged in the death of Nancy ArgentiContinued on page 6

4 i Saturday, September 5, 2015 Continued on page 3

OPINION

Real reasons why little Alan drowned

That did not stop the “blame everything on Harper” group.

The main culprits in this tragedy, after ISIL and Syria, are the United Nations and the Turkish government.

The United Nations does not designate fleeing Kurds (the community that Alan and his family belongs to) as “refugees” – mainly because the Turkish government, along with the

Iraqi and Syrian governments look at Kurds as rebels, whichever country they may come from.

So Turks do not issue them exit visas and United Nations, fearful of the Turkish government, does not designate them as “refugees.”

And the Canadian and other Western governments are compelled by United Nations resolution to first accept as refugees those who have been designated as refugees by the high and mighty United Nations - in other words UN designated refugees.

But the Turkish government, while not willing to grant exit visas to countless Syrian and Kurdish refugees, also does not want them staying in refugee camps in Turkey. So they turn a blind eye and urge these refugees (economic migrants and real refugees) to make a dangerous crossing over a strip of water from Turkey to the Greek Island of Kos in flimsy boats and then on to the West. They go from Kos onto the Greek mainland, then on to Macedonia and from there to Hungary and catch trains from Hungary to get to Germany, Austria, United Kingdom, etc in search of a better life. These dangerous trips are managed by human smugglers – for a price.

This is the reason why little Alan came to be lying face down on a Turkish coastline.

Facing persecution from ISIL and Syrians as well as Turks, they had no choice but to make the dangerous trip from Turkey to Greece because they could not be designated as refugees by the United Nations and because they Turkey would not grant them an exit visa.

For this tragedy not to be repeated three things have to happen.

First, ISIL and other similar Islamic terror groups have to be defeated. And they have to be defeated by Western powers because Arab and Muslim countries in that region do not have the guts to fight ISIL. They would much rather stand on the sidelines and watch thousands of little Alans die and then blame the West. Second, the United Nations has to take a stronger stand and designate people who are refugees as refugees – without fear of reprisals form countries like Turkey.

Continued on page 6

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Saturday, September 5, 2015 i 5

6 i Saturday, September 5, 2015 From page 1

LOCAL

BC Hydro failed

tell said Monday some early lessons have emerged. Hydro will now likely change its weather analytics to try to better predict events that could affect its service reliability, he said.

“One of the things we’re looking at is how we can get some better weather analytics, more dedicated to the utility business,” he said.

Martell, who has worked for Hydro for nearly 43 years, said he’s never seen such an attack on the company’s system. “This one, at 525,000 customer impacts, is just out of this world for me.” The six weeks of rolling storms in 2006, including one that flattened parts of Stanley Park, left more people without power, he said. Hydro is also accustomed to getting power back on within 24 hours, even with major winter outages that can leave up to 150,000 people without power.

But Saturday’s windstorm and outages — nearly 2,000 incident reports between Vancouver Island to the west, Sunshine Coast to the north and Hope to the east — quickly overwhelmed Hydro’s capabilities. The winds were so severe that they not only blew down trees and branches across hundreds of the 25,000-volt distribution lines that feed houses,

but also 25 important 60,000-volt transmission lines feeding a number of substations. At one point, key substations in North Vancouver, Langley and Surrey were all offline.

“We kind of started to see it almost everywhere at once. It started off with a couple thousand, 15,000, 20,000, and then very quickly it rose up to the significant numbers of where we saw, within four hours, we were up to over 400,000 customers without service.”

What worries Martell now is that he’s seeing a change in the kind of weather events that can disrupt the region’s power.

“We’re starting to see weather we’ve never seen before, patterns that are not as predictable as what people who have been around a long time get used to seeing. We have good weather service information. This unpredictable stuff that is coming along that is causing a lot of trouble, not just for us, is very difficult to anticipate,” he said.

Martell isn’t the only one thinking that way.

Sadhu Johnston, Vancouver’s deputy city manager, views the windstorm as just one weather event in a summer that has “climate change” written all over it.

Sikh leaders in Canada & USA blame conversions, drugs for declining population

From page 1

ily businesses, the youth has sunk in drugs.

So what do you expect from drug addicts?” asked Toronto-based Sikh leader Nachhattar Singh Chohan. Chohan, who heads the Indian Trucking Association in Canada, said: “Yes, migration from Punjab to the West is one reason. But the bigger factor is that people are abandoning Sikhism and joining various ‘deras’ in Punjab. The SGPC has failed the Sikhs.” Vancouver-based community activist Balwant Sanghera said: “First and foremost reason for declining Sikh population is the migration from Punjab to the West. Second, there is growing awareness to have smaller families.” Shrinking land holdings in Punjab are also forcing people to have fewer children to avoid further division of land among siblings. “Finally, drugs are taking their toll on the Punjab youth. The drugs are reported to be causing impotence amongst boys, resulting in fewer births,” Sanghera said.

Los Angeles-based Bhai Satpal Singh Kohli, the ambassador of Sikh Dharma in Western Hemisphere, said the Sikh population is declining because people are “not adhering to the Sikh code of conduct and leaving Sikhism to join various ‘deras’ due to poor leadership and discrimination against Dalits and poor Sikhs in Punjab.” He too said Sikhs were migrating for better opportunities. “Moreover, the trend

is that Sikhs are increasingly marrying out of their religion. So the majority of their children now end up not being Sikhs,” he added.

Kohli welcomes the directive of the Akal Takht jathedar to each Sikh family to have four children. “But more importantly, Sikhs need not select family planning for a male child and stop female foeticide.”

Yuba city-based Jasbir Kang blames the destruction of the economy of rural Punjab for the migration of Sikhs to foreign lands.

“Events and after-affects of 1984 had serious impact on the Sikh psyche... Sikhs never committed suicides until the last two decades.

People have lost their pride and self-respect,” Kang said. He added that Sikhs are converting to other religions as the clergy has failed to address the “issues of caste divisions, drug abuse and failure the issues of gender gap. If moms lose respect for faith, then children will not follow it either. We are at a crossroads”.

Washington-based Sikh leader Rajwant Singh, who heads the Sikh Council on Religion and Education, said: “The turbulence of the 80s impacted average Sikh family dependent on agrarian economy. Political mishandling of economic and social issues, and militancy in the 80s and its suppression by security forces added to the woes of Punjab. These have had a direct impact on the average Sikh family.”

Haryana’s Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar was honored in Surrey with a reception.

Jimmy Snuka, former pro wrestler, charged in cold case homicide From page 1

no, 23, who was found dying of head injuries in a motel room they shared in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin told a news conference.

He is originally from Fiji. Martin said on Tuesday he reopened the case last year after receiving a letter from Argentino’s sister. The Allentown Morning Call reported the decision came after they published a previously unreleased autopsy report that labeled the death of the New York woman a homicide. The newspaper said it found the report, which the Lehigh County District Attorney’s office had refused to release, in an archived file from a federal lawsuit filed against Snuka by Argen-

tino’s family in 1985. Snuka, a native of Fiji, was a World Wrestling Federation star along with wrestlers Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper and Andre the Giant. He was known for climbing to the top rope and diving onto the chest of a prone opponent. “Jimmy Snuka was one of the most popular figures in the WWF in the early to mid 1980s,” said Dean Dixon, host of HIACTalkRadio.com, an online channel devoted to professional wrestling. “He had a one-of-a-kind wild man look.” Snuka could not be reached immediately for comment. He was released after posting 10 per cent of a $100,000 US bond set by a judge. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 21.

Real reasons why little Alan drowned From page 4

Third, despite so far being gutless and just full of empty talk, Arab and Islamic nations for once have to stand up to ISIL and fight them to the end. Lastly, each country should treat any sympathizers or supporters of ISIL as the worst of any criminals and punish them accordingly. This will stop tragedies like little Allan’s form being repeated. But don’t hold your breath! It may never happen because it makes too much sense and there is too much at stake for international players at the geopolitical level. Abdullah Kurdi, the boys’ father,

wept as he watched Alan’s tiny body being placed into a coffin. It was afterwards lowered into the ground, along with those of his brother Galib, 5, and their mother Reham, 35, in the Martyrs’ Cemetery in Kobani, a mainly Kurdish town in northern Syria near the Turkish border.

“I want Arab governments — not European countries — to see [what happened to] my children, and because of them to help people,” he told reporters earlier at the border crossing as ambulances ferried the three bodies from Turkey into Syria.

OPINION

Saturday, September 5, 2015 i 7

Canadian living could be bad for immigrants’ hearts: study A new study has found that recent immigrants have a 30 per cent lower rate of major heart problems, such as heart attacks and strokes, than long-term residents, but that gap shrinks the longer they spend in Canada.

While newcomers are known to have better health than the general population because they must pass rigid health screening, Dr. Jack Tu, lead author of the study, says “part of it can be explained by most immigrant groups having lower rates of smoking and obesity than Canadian-born individuals.�

But after 10 years in Canada, and some of the negative impacts of Western culture, like fast-food and cigarettes, that “healthy immigrant effect� diminishes, the study shows.

While recent East Asian immigrants, predominantly Chinese, had the lowest incidence of major heart problems overall (2.4 in men and 1.1 in women per 1,000 person-years), South Asian immigrants from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Guyana had the highest rates, at 8.9 in men and 3.6 in women.

However, after 10 years in Canada, the rates among East Asians increased by 40 per cent for men and 60 per cent for women, said the study released by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in the American Heart Association journal Circulation on Monday. “East Asians — Chinese from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan — are the most sensitive to the acculturation of Western culture. The overall incidence rate of the other (ethnic) groups is only up by 10 per cent after 10 years,� said Tu, a cardiologist at the Sunnybrook Schulich Heart Centre. Tu said the study identified a “strong association� between the overall prevalence of traditional cardiac risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol in the

various ethnic groups and incidents of heart disease and other conditions. “There’s a fair amount of differences in their individual risks but not all,� said Tu, who is also the Canada Research Chair in Health Services Research at the University of Toronto. Using information from nine population-based health databases, researchers examined the 10-year incidence of major cardiovascular events, such as heart attack, stroke, angioplasty, bypass surgery and cardiovascular death, of more than 800,000 first-generation immigrant adults who settled in Ontario in 1985 or later. The study is the biggest and most ethnically diverse look at heart disease in immigrants to Canada to date.

It examined the health trends and patterns across age groups, sex and major ethnic groups of people from more than 200 countries, and compared the results to a group of more than 5 million long-term Ontario residents, who were predominantly white and born in Canada.

This is the first time it has been possible for us to study the frequency of heart attacks and strokes with this level of detail in our immigrant population,� Tu said.

Other key findings of the study:he rate of heart attacks and strokes varies drastically among the eight different ethnic communities studied, but the differences diminish the more time they spend in Canada.

While 5.6 per 1,000 immigrant adult males and 2.4 of females had major heart problems, long-term Ontarians had a rate of 8.1 for men and 3.4 for women. Among immigrant men, East Asians had the lowest rate of heart disease, followed by black, white-Western European, Southeast Asian, Latin American, West Asian/Arab, white-Eastern European and South Asian.

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LOCAL

8 i Saturday, September 5, 2015

Canada doing all it can to help refugees, says PM Harper

P

rime Minister Stephen Harper decried the recent drowning of three-year-old Syrian refugee Alan Kurdi as a “heart-wrenching” tragedy Thursday, but insist-

ed Canada’s refugee system is not to blame.

Surrounded by Conservative supporters at the Fruiticana warehouse in Surrey, Harper emphasized Canada is doing its part for asylum seekers by being the largest humanitarian donor per capita and having “one of the most generous refugee systems in the world.”

He also reiterated his pledge to accept more refugees, but noted that for every successful asylum seeker, millions more are left behind and more needs to be done to “fight the root cause of this problem: the escalating violence in war-torn countries like Syria and Iraq.

“Refugee policy alone is not remotely the solution to this problem,” he said.

“It’s on a scale far, far beyond that.”

Canada will continue doing everything it can, he added, saying it is part of the military coalition fighting the Islamic State but noted “most countries simply are not doing their part.”

“I don’t need to tell you what we saw was a tragedy. What I need to tell you is that it was far worse than that,” Harper said. “As a prime minister I have been to refugee camps in Jordan and Iraq.

I’ve seen tens of thousands of people in these desperate circumstances . . . and it’s getting worse.”

Harper said the death of Alan, along with his five-year-old brother and mother, brought a tear to his eye, and the government was investigating what happened.

“We could drive ourselves crazy with grief if we look at the millions of people who are in danger . . . obviously we’re doing what we can to help.

Our view has been on refugees we should do what we’re doing and should be doing more.

We have to stop the awful violence directed at them.”

Canada has contributed six CF-18 fighter jets and 69 special forces soldiers training Kurdish fighters to the international coalition fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The war planes are also bombing ISIL positions in Syria.

A planned announcement on rapid transit funding for Surrey was suddenly postponed Thursday as the Conservative campaign scrambled to respond to the tragic Canadian connection to the Syrian refugee crisis.

Harper’s visit to Surrey was his first since the campaign began. It was aimed at shoring up the party’s fortunes in the Lower Mainland, where there are three-way races in several key ridings. Both NDP leader Tom Mulcair and Liberal leader Justin Trudeau have already been here.

Harper had been expected to promise money for a light rail transit project for the city, a major local issue for the half-a-million people who commute to Vancouver and the surrounding area each day.

The day was to begin with a photo op at a cargo terminal — the region’s ports are a major economic driver. The RCMP had already secured the area and the stanchions were in place to corral the media when word came that the event was cancelled as Harper huddled with advisers to discuss a response to the refugee situation

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LOCAL

Saturday, September 5, 2015 i 9

Aunt of Alan Kurdi, drowned Syrian boy, did not apply to sponsor family in Canada

T

‘There is one thing should be done, to end the war,’ woman says after relatives drown seeking refuge

he aunt of the Syrian boy whose body washed up on a Turkish beach says that while she had desperately tried to bring his family to Canada, no formal application to sponsor them as refugees was made on their behalf as had been previously reported.

Alan Kurdi, 3, his brother Galib, 5, and their mother, Rehana, were among a dozen Syrian refugees who died when their boat capsized between Turkey and the Greek island of Kos. The father, Abdullah Kurdi, survived.

“They didn’t deserve to die,” Abdullah Kurdi’s sister, Tima Kurdi, told reporters in Coquitlam on Thursday, saying the family was trying to find a better life.

(Stories that appeared earlier Thursday published different versions of the boys’ names. Tima Kurdi said the Turkish government misspelled them.

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Innocent neighbour shot dead in gang war in Abbotsford Police say it’s time for Abbotsford parents to stop protecting those involved in a violent conflict that resulted in the fatal shooting of a 74-year-old innocent bystander Wednesday night.

And Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun said the murder of the man, who lived next door to a targeted house on Promontory Court, should be the “wake-up call” that ends a vicious feud between two groups that has gone on for 18 months.

“Some people know who these people are,” Braun said at a news conference. “And I implore them to come forward and help the police get to the bottom of this because enough is enough.”

Staff Sgt. Jennifer Pound of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said the victim was standing behind a gate in his side yard in the 3500-block of Promontory Court when shots rang out about 7:15 Wednesday night.

Several hit the targeted house, which police have visited several times during the lengthy dispute.

Continued on page 11

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10 i Saturday, September 5, 2015

LOCAL

Widespread power outage was largest in BC Hydro history

An estimated 710,000 customers, or 50 per cent of BC Hydro customers, lost power following Saturday’s powerful windstorm.

A

power outage that affected hundreds of thousands of residents across the South Coast following a powerful windstorm Saturday is believed to be the largest outage in BC Hydro history, the utility company said Tuesday.

An estimated 710,000 customers, or 50 per

on Saturday, according to BC Hydro.

The company said it spent $15.4 million working to restore power following the

2006 storm. It’s unclear how much recovery efforts following Saturday’s storm will cost.

BC Hydro said the vast majority of its customers, more than 705,000, had their power restored within 72 hours following the weekend storm.

Since Saturday, BC Hydro said it has received 1,800 “trouble calls” related to the storm. The utility company typically responds to about 2,000 calls in a month across the province.

cent of BC Hydro’s 1.4 million customers, across Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island lost power after winds up to 80 kilometres per hour ripped through the region, toppling trees and bringing down power lines, according to BC Hydro.

On Tuesday, the company said Saturday’s gusts caused significantly more damage than the last powerful windstorm to hammer Metro Vancouver on Dec. 11, 2006. That storm saw 120 kilometres-per-hour winds cripple Stanley Park, bringing down thousands of trees and sparking a landslide over the park’s famed seawall.

At the peak of the 2006 storm, 240,300 customers were left without power, compared to 400,000

Innocent neighbour shot dead in gang war

From page 9

According to some media reports, a 19-year-old named Parmvir Chahil lives in the targeted house. He was charged in July with uttering threats and possessing a weapon for dangerous purposes and is due in Abbotsford Provincial Court on Sept. 10.

The shooter or shooters were in a dark SUV and wouldn’t have seen the retired neighbour Ping Shun Au from the street.

Au’s extended family is devastated by the senseless slaying.

His daughter-in-law could barely speak through her tears Friday.

“He was my father-in-law. He was very nice,” she said before breaking down completely.

Pound said Au was “a family man, a true victim in all senses of the word. He got caught up in this outside of his own residence. This is just a really unfortunate example of what this violence can create. There is a devastated family left behind to grieve this with a lot of questions that they are not going to get answered for some time.”

Both Pound and Abbotsford Police Const. Ian

MacDonald said it’s time for parents of the youth involved in the conflict to cooperate with police.

“We need parents to step up. And I hope that this tragic incident serves as a watershed moment,” MacDonald said. “This should be where the community says that’s it, no more stonewalling. No more silence.

This is where we do something about it.”

There are 25 to 30 on each side, MacDonald said, ranging in age from 15 to 25. Some are hard-core gangsters involved in the drug trade. Others are kids caught up in the feud.

There have been more than 60 police incidents since it started — some minor like property damage or rumbles. But there have also been arsons, six shootings, a serious stabbing and now two murders.

On Oct. 2, 2014, Harwindip Baringh, 18, was shot to death not far from Wednesday’s shooting. No one has been charged. Court documents obtained earlier by The Sun described him as associated to the “Chahil crime group” — a rival of the Dhaliwal crime group.

“There are a lot of cross-currents to it,” MacDonald said of the conflict.

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NDP would boost CPP within six months of forming government, Mulcair pledges An NDP government would work with the provinces to bolster Canadians’ retirement security rather than charting a course alone and saddling future generations with massive social and economic debts, Tom Mulcair promised Thursday.

The NDP leader vowed to convene a first ministers’ meeting within six months of taking office to come up with a plan and timetable for expanding the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans.

Business and labour leaders would also be consulted, he said.

“I’m not going to decide in advance what the results of those consultations is — that’s (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper’s approach, it’s not mine,” Mulcair said when asked what changes he proposed to make and what they would cost.

“Provinces like Ontario and P.E.I. have already put proposals on the table — we’re going to take those ideas seriously,” he said at a campaign stop in Toronto’s Little Italy.

“I’m going to ensure that an NDP government respects provincial solutions that are already in place.”

Saturday, September 5, 2015 i 11

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12 i Saturday, September 5, 2015

LOCAL

Cyclist dead after collision in Surrey

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man has died after he was hit by a motorist and thrown from his bicycle, Thursday night in Surrey, B.C., according to Surrey RCMP. The crash happened just after 10 p.m. on 108 Avenue at 142 Street. A neighbour, who declined to give her name, said she went outside after a car alarm began sounding on 108 Avenue.

She found a man lying on the road about 30 metres from the intersection where the cyclist is believed to have been struck.

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A seriously damaged bicycle could be seen a distance down the road. A Ford Escape with a smashed windshield and major damage to its front end could be seen a little further down 108 Avenue. The neighbour said the cyclist was unresponsive with his eyes open when she began administering first aid.

Paramedics with the B.C. Ambulance Service arrived and tried to resuscitate the man. He was taken to hospital, but couldn’t be saved, according to Surrey RCMP. Police said the driver of the Ford Escape, a Surrey resident, is cooperating with their investigation.

Education minister announces new curriculum for B.C. schools this fall

new curriculum for B.C. schools this fall that will allow more flexibility for students and will better prepare them for the future, B.C.’s new education minister said Tuesday.

“This curriculum was created by teachers for teachers,” Education Minister Mike Bernier told reporters during a news conference in Vancouver.

“We want to make sure when we send our kids out the door and off to school, they get the best education possible,” said the minister, who noted he has five children – the oldest is 28 and the youngest is entering Grade 12 in public school in Dawson Creek.

The new curriculum will keep the basics of reading, writing and math, Bernier said, but will allow students more flexibility to pursue their interests, passions and explore innovative technology.

The new style of personalized learning is expected to focus more on collaboration and critical thinking to prepare students for success at university.

“The world is changing,” Bernier said, adding that the next five years of labour peace will provide stability for the new curriculum

to be implemented over a three-year period.

He said while school enrolment is generally declining across B.C., it is increasing in districts such as Surrey and more foreign students want to attend B.C. schools to obtain their high school diploma to prepare for university.

“We generally support the change with curriculum revisions,” Jim Iker, president of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation, said Tuesday.

More than 100 teachers were “heavily involved in shaping the curriculum, but it is a government initiative,” he said.

And while some funding has been set aside for helping teachers implement the new curriculum, Iker said he is still advocating for more funding.

He said the BCTF will have its first meeting next week with Bernier since he was appointed Education Minister on July 30, replacing Peter Fassbender.

“I’m hoping he will make a difference for public education in B.C.,” Iker said, adding he’s also hoping the government will rethink its request for $29 million in cuts to school districts.

LOCAL

RCMP alleges Port Coquitlam man evaded tollbridge fees by manipulating licence plate

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man who rigged a moving license plate on his car to evade tolls on the Golden Ears Bridge was caught by a sharp-eyed RCMP officer.In December last year, an off-duty officer with the Surrey RCMP Criminal Collision Investigation Team was driving towards Maple Ridge across the bridge from Langley.

The officer noted that the car didn’t seem to have a license plate, said Cpl. Scotty Schumann, spokesperson for the Surrey RCMP. “Officers are always looking for uninsured vehicles,” said Schumann.

“The officer was very surprised when he saw a valid B.C. license plate magically lift into place after they had passed the toll cameras.”

The officer took down the license plate number and started making inquiries.

Officers identified the registered owner, and later the driver of the car. Police followed the driver again and watched the plate drop

down to avoid the toll cameras, then spring back up again when the car was past them.

Police pulled the driver over and arrested the driver for fraud.

A search of the car turned up a cable system to manipulate the license plate.

Photos released by the Surrey RCMP show that a wire ran from the plate to the driver’s seat. The driver could pull on the plate to pull it up on a hinge.License plate Gregory Murray, a 49-year-old Port Coquitlam man, was charged with two counts of fraud under $5,000 on Aug. 6.

The car, a 1993 Geo Metro, has been seized, and police are applying to have it forfeited to the provincial government as offence-related property.

“This serves as a reminder to anyone actively trying to defeat the toll system that it is a criminal offence and that you could lose your vehicle and face charges,” said Schumann.

Convention centre to blame for Tourism Vancouver’s mounting debt: NDP

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he Vancouver hotel tax is going up 50 per cent on Tuesday to help pay for Tourism Vancouver’s increasing debt load from the new convention centre, NDP tourism critic David Eby said Monday.

He said the 50 per cent increase in the hotel tax – it’s going to three per cent from two per cent as of Sept.

1 – is expected to further raise the cost of Vancouver hotel rooms in a competitive market.

“I imagine you’re looking at an extra $1.50 on an average hotel room of $150 a night,” Eby said.

“Vancouver hotels are competing not just with Airbnb but other cities as well,” he said.

The original price of the new Vancouver Convention Centre next to Canada Place was $495 million but the final price tag was $883 million. It was completed in 2009 to serve as the broadcast centre for the 2010 Winter Olympics and effectively tripled the convention centre’s capacity.

“The convention centre went almost double over its original cost,” Eby said, adding Tourism Vancouver was asked to pitch in to cover some of the cost.

He said Tourism Vancouver now owes the province $112 million as of Dec. 31, 2014, an increase of about $2.7 million since 2013 and up from $97.5 million in 2010.

“Too much money is going to fund the debt,” Eby said, adding that the province is charging Tourism Vancouver 6.1 per cent interest, even though the province borrowed the money at four per cent.

“I think the province needs to reduce the debt [of Tourism Vancouver],” he said.

Tourism Vancouver president Ty Speer disagreed with Eby’s assertion that the hotel tax increase will be used to help pay for the debt from the convention centre.

According to a statement provided to Metro from the Ministry of Finance Monday,

Saturday, September 5, 2015 i 13

14 i Saturday, September 5, 2015

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If pension comes as lump sum, who will help you manage it?

hen people with a defined contribution pension scheme from their employer approach retirement, they are faced with a big financial dilemma.

The money they and their employer have been saving, sometimes for years, to prepare for this day is about to be handed over to them, often in a very large lump sum. They have to find a way to get an income stream from that money that will last the rest of their lives.

It’s a decision most people aren’t ready for.

“For the vast majority of people, this is the biggest financial decision of their lives, bigger than than buying their house or selling their house,” says John D’Agata, director of pension and benefits at McGill University. He says some retirees from McGill have $500,000 to $1 million in their plan.

“You’ve been doing something else all your life and it’s a steep learning curve. You

won’t necessarily have the knowledge to make such an important decision,” he said.

Retirees were expected to go to their bank or insurance company and negotiate a pension solution on their own. An annuity or life income fund (LIF) which provides them with a monthly income might be one option.

McGill has begun offering its retirees an alternative — a plan that is managed in the same way their pension savings were managed when they were working, but which offers them a way to withdraw a monthly income.

The advantage for retirees is much lower management fees than they’d pay for a LIF or RRSP/RIF at their bank or insurance company. “This could represent quite a significant savings relative to what they’d be able to get on their own,” D’Agata said.

McGill is not the only employer with a defined contribution pension thinking about providing an income stream in retirement for former employees.

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Four more mothers come forward to claim a stake in murdered millionaire Gang Yuan’s estate

ive women who including robbore children to bery, extortion slain millionaire Gang and kidnapYuan claim the West ping, and we Vancouver man’s offcould risk bespring could be endaning exposed to gered if they are named those terrible in paternity suits. things if our The mothers — four names were of whom live in China p u b l i s h e d .”

— came forward as a Gang Yuan’s dismembered body was found at a Yuan’s dismemresult of international West Vancouver home. bered body was media coverage of the case, including the discovered at a home in the exclusive Britgrisly dismemberment of Yuan’s body. The ish Properties residential area on May 2; women are pleading for anonymity in B.C. he was allegedly chopped into 100 pieces.

Supreme Court proceedings concerning His cousin’s husband, Li Zhao, has been Yuan’s estimated $50 million estate. “Even charged with second-degree murder. though the child is young, he is able to un- Yuan died without a will, sparking a sederstand a lot of things,” wrote the mother ries of court actions over the fate of of one infant boy, according to an affidavit. his estate, which is being administered “I am very worried that media exposure by his younger brother, Qiang Yuan. will make our lives dangerous. There is a lot The millionaire came to Canada in 2007 and of crime against rich people here in China, made his money through investments in Saskatchewan real estate and agriculture.

Canada added 12,000 jobs in August But jobless rates ticks up to 7% as more Canadians looked for work

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he Canadian economy added 12,000 jobs in August, but the unemployment rate ticked up to seven per cent as 40,000 more people were looking for work.

Prior to August, the unemployment rate had been steady since January, at 6.8 per cent. Over the past 12 months, Canada’s economy has added 193,000 jobs, Statistics Canada said in a release Friday.

August’s gain comes after a smaller one in July, which together represent the first back-to-back months of job gains since the price of oil started to crater last fall, Bank of Montreal noted.

‘Canada’s employment backdrop simply refuses to follow the recession script’- Doug Porter, BMO economist A consensus of economists polled

by Bloomberg ahead of the data’s release had been expecting a loss of about 5,000 jobs for the month.

Most of the jobs were full time, as the data agency said the economy added 54,400 full-time jobs.

That figure was slightly offset by a drop of 42,400 part-time positions.

The number of jobs didn’t increase steadily across the country, however.

Gains were concentrated in Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador, Manitoba and New Brunswick. There was little change in the other provinces.

Nor was it evenly distributed by industry.

In construction and manufacturing, there were fewer jobs during the month. Natural resources and education, meanwhile, experienced an increase.

The uptick in jobs comes on the heels of gross domestic product data earlier this week that showed Canada’s economy contracted for the first two quarters of the year — a benchmark that many economists consider to be a sign of a recession.

But buried in the bleak GDP number was the fact the economy expanded in June for the first time in five months.

Friday’s jobs number for August is good news for those championing the narrative that Canada’s economy is slowly recovering after having slowed down for the first half of 2015.

LOCAL

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Three arrested in Metro Vancouver ‘blessing’ scam

hree women have been arrested after a series of so-called “blessing” scams in Metro Vancouver that bilked at least four victims out of thousands of dollars worth of cash and jewelry. Hailan Lu, 53, Meizhan Pan, 57, and Rong Lin, 61, were arrested as they tried to board a plane at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, according to Vancouver Police. The women have been charged with extortion and fraud, and are in police custody awaiting transportation back to Vancouver for a court appearance.

Police believe the trio operated the scam in Metro Vancouver from mid-July to early August.

According to police, members of the group would tell their target that an evil spirit is following them, and that

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Drugs, money and weapons seized in Langley

hree Surrey men suspected of trying to sell drugs have been busted by Langley Mounties after they decided to smoke some pot outside their car loaded full of weapons and drugs.

It started innocuously enough.

Someone called to complain about three men smoking pot on 203 street near Fraser Highway, so an officer checked it out.

But a search of the car led to some disturbing findings.

“The most disturbing item obviously is the loaded .45 calibre semiautomatic,” says Corporal Holly Largy. “But also found in the vehicle is a switchblade and a set of brass knuckles that have a built-in taser so that when you punch somebody, they actually give them a jolt of power as well.”

Largy says the car also contained 100 bags of heroin, 100 bags of crack cocaine and

Mounties bust drug lab

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they need to bless the person’s money and jewelry in order to lift the curse.

Police said the victims are told to place all their money and jewelry in a bag to be blessed, at which point the valuables are stolen.

The bag is given back to the victim with instructions not to open it for several days and to not to tell family members, police said.

Four victims have come forward to police and reported being defrauded out of $10,000 to $20,000 in valuables.

Investigators believe there are more victims who have not yet reported the incidents to police.

Anyone who believes they or a family member may have been targeted is asked to contact Det. Const. Ivan DeSilva with the VPD Financial Crime Unit at 604-717-3459.

everal commercial-grade pill presses, coating and sorting machines and $35,000 were among the items seized

by Mounties from a drug lab in Burnaby in January.

The seizures followed a twomonth investigation by the RCMP’s Federal Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement and Response team launched in November 2014, after border service agents intercepted a pill press at the air cargo facility at Vancouver International Airport, according to the B.C. RCMP. Officers soon identified a drug lab operating in the 5900 block of 10th Avenue. It was believed the lab was producing counterfeit Oxycontin using fentanyl, the release noted.

Officers with the clandestine lab enforcement and response team executed a search warrant on Jan. 7, and along with the commercial grade pill presses and cash, seized colouring powders used in the produc-

H

Saturday, September 5, 2015 i 15

Calgary home sales plummet since last August

ome sales in Calgary dropped by 27 per cent last month compared to a year ago, according to the latest numbers from the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB).

Last August saw 2,250 homes change hands in Calgary compared to 1,644 this year.

Veteran Calgary real estate agent Gary Cronin says he’s not surprised by the numbers.

“In the last 60 days in particular it was a real quiet Calgary resale market, with transactions down about 30 per cent and starting to see some price pressure, especially in the higher categories,” he said.

The average price of a home in Calgary has also dipped from about $475,000 last year to about $466,000 this year — or by two per cent, CREB says.

Weak economy to continue trend CREB’s chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie says the real estate market in Calgary is not expected to improve anytime soon because of weak energy prices and the local job market.

“There should be some further downward pressure on the housing market. Ultimately the amount of pressure there’ll be on prices will depend when the energy sector does recover,” she said.

Lurie says the current real estate dip may last longer than previous lulls, but she says the numbers were worse in 2009.

Homes priced under $500,000 are still selling relatively well.

Lurie says it’s the luxury homes and apartments that are suffering.

Luxury market New listings in the $600,000-plus category are on the rise, but sales are down from last year. CREB says that price range represented about 18 per cent of sales compared with 20 per cent last year. “With more options in the higher-end of the market, sellers will need to consider their competition as well as their goals regarding a sell date,” said CREB president Corinne Lyall in a release.

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16 i Saturday, September 5, 2015

LOCAL

Surrey mom upset at City’ attempt to stop her kids playing urrey mom is upset after a neighjoin them, too, but it’s not loud at all.” basketball in their own backyard

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bour filed a noise complaint with the city about her kids playing basketball in their own backyard.

“What does the city want my kids to do if they can’t play in their own backyard?” asked Karamjit Toor.

“We know already the city’s troubles — violence and gangs — so where do my kids go if they can’t play in their own backyard with the gate closed?”

Toor is a mother of three who lives in a Newton home co-owned and shared with her cousin. Between the two, there are five kids, ranging from ages four to 12.

Their home has a fenced backyard that backs on to an alleyway, and on the other side of the alley is another row of homes.

Toor said the kids have spent much of the summer playing basketball in their yard, where there is a paved court and a net.

“Usually, when it’s not too sunny, then they go out and play,” Toor said. “Only the older ones like to play. The younger ones

“What does the city want my kids to do if they can’t play in their own backyard?” asked Karamjit Toor.

Toor said she hadn’t received any complaints and hadn’t been approached by any neighbours with concerns all summer.

But last week she received a letter in the mail from the City of Surrey, informing her a noise complaint had been filed against her family for “noise from basketball games” that were allegedly “creating a disturbance in the neighbourhood.”

No fine has been levied, although the one-page letter does detail the Surrey Noise Control Bylaw, and notes that anyone found to be in contravention or violation could be fined anywhere from $100 to $2,000 for each offence.

The letter says that if Toor feels there is incorrect information, she is welcome to contact the city’s bylaw office.

Toor said she’s left more than one voice mail at the phone number provided, but hasn’t yet heard back from the city.

“I didn’t even get any indication that they were mad at the kids for playing basketball — I just got the letter in the mail,” she told The Province. “Are people so petty that they will stop kids from playing?”

According to Surrey bylaws manager Jas Rehal, a bylaws officer is assigned to each complaint received. The officer would then speak with both parties, either by phone or during an in-person visit, to see if the complaint is valid and whether further steps need to be taken. Rehal couldn’t comment on why a letter would be the first notification Toor received about the complaint. “Our expectation is to take the time to find out the details,” said Rehal.

B.C. jobless rate stays the same, while Canada’s unemployment rate rises to 7% B.C.’s economy was unchanged in August compared with the previous month, while the province’s unemployment rate remained at six per cent, Statistics Canada said Friday.

The agency said B.C. added 3,000 jobs last month, mostly full-time positions.

The gains in full-time work were offset by losses in part-time employment.

Overall, the Canadian economy gained 12,000 jobs in August, bolstered by a gain in full-time employment, but more people were looking for work and the unemployment rate ticked higher for the first time in months.

Statistics Canada said the unemployment rate increased to 7.0 per cent for the month, up 0.2 from 6.8 per cent, where it had held steady for six consecutive months.

Economists had expected the economy to lose 4,500 jobs in August and the unemployment rate to remain at 6.8 per cent, according to Thomson Reuters.

The overall increase came as the number of full-time jobs grew by 54,400, offset in part by a drop of 42,400 part-time jobs.

The job numbers follow trade data earlier this week that were stronger than expected, adding strength to the case that the economy is improving after slipping into a recession in the first half of the year. StatsCan says the economy grew in June, raising hopes that the dip was short-lived and that the second half of the year would show growth.

The Bank of Canada has cut its key interest rate twice this year in an effort to provide a cushion for the economy, which has been hit hard by the slump in oil prices that began last year.

LOCAL

Saturday, September 5, 2015 i 17

Child porn probe in Alberta uncovers ‘extreme’ photos, video

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seven-month police investigation into child sexual exploitation has netted the arrest of eight Albertans — six of them from Calgary.

The operation focused on “high-level targets” that were sharing and distributing large collections of child sexual exploitation photos and videos, police in Calgary announced Tuesday.

“This is more than just photos of a kid in the bath. This is graphic sexual abuse, even torture, of children as young as infants,” said Det. Justin Brookes, who led the investigation by the Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit of the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT). Dubbed Operation ICE Storm II, the investigation uncovered more than 14 terabytes of data, which was analyzed by forensic technicians.

About 100,000 photos and videos of child exploitation were identified, an official said.

Brookes said it is challenging for police to keep up with the volume of child exploitation images on the internet, with investigations in his department up 40 per cent over the past four years.

“Sadly, the arrest of these eight offenders is a mere drop in the bucket,” he said.

“The reality is that child sexual abuse photos and videos are being shared at a growing rate in our communities.”

Investigators do not believe any of the victims are from Alberta, or that any handson offences took place in the province.

The seized images have been submitted to a database operated by the National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre for further investigation.

Man charged with sex assault of child after selling computer online

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n Abbotsford man has been charged with sexual assault of a child under 16 and making child pornography after selling a laptop computer online.

The new owner of the computer, which was bought through classified ads website Craigslist, found disturbing images on the computer and contacted Abbotsford police, which found images of sexual abuse of a child.

Police executed a search warrant last Friday at the home of the former owner of the laptop, Jonathan Grunwald, 52, who was charged with sex assault of a child under 16, sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, making child pornography and possession of child porn.

“Like a lot of other people charged, he wasn’t on police radar,” Abbotsford police spokesman Const. Ian MacDonald said Monday.

He said the B.C. child was identified and now is safe. Support has been established for the child and their family, he added.

Edmonton Family paid $85.000 to fortune tellers lift curse

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dmonton police are foreshadowing trouble after some people were duped by fraudulent astrologers and psychic readers into believing they were cursed with black magic or witchcraft.

Police say they’ve been getting complaints about such scams since April.

They say victims across Canada have paid between $2,000 and $15,000 to self-proclaimed fortune tellers.

In one case a family paid $85,000, but the fraudsters left the country and no arrests were made.

Investigators point to requests for upfront money to carry out healing rituals, or expensive plans to perform prayers, as signs of fraud.

Const. Harpreet Jhinjar, an Edmonton police spokesman, says in a release that it’s difficult to track the criminals, who often have visas and quickly disappear when they believe they could be caught.

“These fraudsters are experienced and have stolen money from a lot of people. It’s important to report incidents to police immediately so there is a higher chance of locating the suspects.”

Edmonton police and the Canada Border Service Agency are working together to find and remove the scammers from the country.

“Mera who matlab nahin tha!!” Bollywood actors Anupam Kher and Neena Gupta perform in the stage play at the Bell Centre in Surrey on August 30.

Photo: Chandra Bodalia

18 i Saturday, September 5, 2015

Saturday, August 29, 2015 i i 19 19 Saturday, September 5, 2015

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Toronto, Vancouver housing affordability deteriorates to ‘risky’ levels: RBC

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ising prices in Vancouver and Toronto pushed housing affordability closer to “risky levels” in the second quarter of 2015, according to a report from RBC. Lack of affordability in Vancouver is at a record level, according to RBC’s quarterly housing affordability report released Monday. It is approaching 1990 levels in Toronto, it says. In the rest of the country, housing affordability remains largely unchanged and homes have become slightly more affordable in parts of Quebec and Atlantic Canada, according to the report. The bank warns house hunters in Vancouver and Toronto to expect more of the same later this year, with the supply of homes remaining limited and prices in “acceleration mode.”

The problem is particularly acute for detached single-family homes, as demand continues to be high despite the rising prices.

“The fact that Vancouver’s affordability readings approach all-time highs for any market in Canada — albeit more so for single detached homes than condos — exerts little restraining effect on homebuyer demand at this stage. Given the current high degree of tightness in the market, further price acceleration and affordability deterioration are likely in the near future.”

Toronto is seeing double-digit price increases and huge demand, pushing it “closer to risky levels,” the housing report said.

“Affordability in Toronto is moving ever closer to the historically poor levels that prevailed in 1990, which may signal that risks are mounting because those were associated with a housing bubble at the time,” it said.

A strong labour market, a steady inflow of migrants and low interest rates are keeping the market buoyant for now.

RBC estimates about 80 per cent of the pre-tax median household income is needed to carry a mortgage in Vancouver at current prices and just under 60 per cent for housing in Toronto. Condo affordability in those cities is not deteriorating at the same rate because prices are being kept in check by new supply. In Toronto, especially, there has been a lot of new supply on the market for nearly five years, and that continued in early 2015, with the market flush with available units. “This means that there remain more reasonably priced housing options in today’s market, which was not the case in 1990,” said RBC’s report. RBC believes housing markets across Canada are generally healthy, with prices set to rise about 4.6 per cent this year. “Canada’s housing market is poised to post one of its better years on record in 2015 despite the Canadian economy being hit by a significant negative shock

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real estate / finance

Foreign buyers driving luxury real estate sales, Re/Max says In Toronto, Vancouver a luxury home is over $3M, a luxury condo over $1M

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oreign buyers are driving demand for luxury

homes priced at over $3 million in Vancouver and Toronto, according to a report today from Re/Max. In June 2015, there were 379 homes in that price range sold in Toronto, compared to 179 a year ago. In Greater Vancouver, 572 homes above $3 million were A luxury home in West Vancouver sold in the month, compared to 319 a year ago. The highest price paid for crease in luxury buyers in Montreal in the a Greater Vancouver property was $17.5 first seven months of the year, attracted by million. In Toronto and Vancouver, the the cheaper prices found in the city, Re/ average cost of a detached home is in Max said. About 340 homes in the $1-milexcess of $1 million and that is no lon- lion plus range sold in Montreal in June, ger considered a luxury price. Re/Max the company said, a 24 per cent increase brokers and agents reported luxury buy- from the previous year. More condos in ers, primarily from China, are typically the $1-million range families with children who Luxury condo- — considered a luxury are relocating to Canada to minium buyers tend price — are selling in live. “While there has been to be baby boom- Toronto, Vancouver and a lot of concern about forers who Montreal, the real estate eign investors in Canada’s are downsizing durfirm reported. Luxury housing market, we’re see- ing retirement. condominium buyers ing that the foreign buyers tend to be baby boomin our major luxury markets are living in ers who are downsizing during retirement. their properties,” said Gurinder Sandhu, Many spend part of their time in a second executive vice-president of Re/Max In- home or travelling and want something tegra Ontario-Atlantic Canada. He said lower-maintenance than a house, it rethe relative strength of the yuan, which ported. Of seven Canadian cities moniwasn’t devalued until mid-August, helped tored by Re/Max, only Calgary saw a demake most Canadian real estate afford- cline in sales of homes valued at over $1 able. There also has been a substantial in- million. About 517 such homes sold in June, a 28 per cent decline from last year.

BOLLYWOOD / FILM

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LOCAL

‘I am blaming the whole world for not helping the refugees enough’

was torn apart by civil war, eventually landing he boy on the beach had a name. Alan. in the border town of Kobane as ISIS militants Not Alayn, with a y, the way Turkish pressed to capture it. Finally the family fled to authorities spelled it, the way media Turkey where two sisters and another brother, reported it after his rag-doll body washed up Mohammed, had already sought refuge. Last on a Turkish beach. He was named Alan, af- year Tima travelled to Turkey. She was shocked ter his Canadian cousby how much her family and in. A name given like other refugees were suffera promise. This child ing. So she went from house would have a better life. to house using hand gestures But this child to communicate, and begged will have no life. for help, for mattresses and “I am not blaming blankets, for food and supthe Canadian governplies until she filled a whole Tima Kurdi ment,” said Tima Kurtruck. “It changed my life,” she di, through tears. “I am said. She went to the flea markets and bought blaming the whole world for not helping the clothing for Alan and his brother Ghalib, who refugees enough.” “The boy was our nephew,” died alongside him in the waters of the Aesaid Rocco Logozzo, who is married to Tima, gean Sea two nights ago. “I bought them so a Coquitlam hairdresser. She’s the mother of many clothes from the flea market in Turkey.” big Alan and auntie to little Alan. “Yesterday The clothes Alan was wearing when his body was going to start as a normal day. Then, this.” washed ashore, the red shirt and blue shorts, are Little Alan’s life was marked by turmoil. His now a flag for every child without a country. father, Abdullah, mother Rehanna, and broth“The only thing I regret is that I did not buy er Ghalib, moved from town to town as Syria

Children of Russian spies want Canadian citizenship

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he sons of two Russian “deep cov- has been a cornerstone of my identity.” er” spies are fighting to keep the But he has not lived in Canada since the Canadian citizenship they ac- age of one, when his parents, having esquired while their parents were living in tablished their Canadian legends, moved Toronto under assumed identities and to France and then Boston, where they besecretly working for Russian intelligence. came naturalized American citizens under their fake CanaAlexander and dian identities.

Timothy Vavilov, Russia has a long 21 and 25, are the record of sendchildren of Elena ing “illegals” to Vavilova and AnCanada and othdrey Bezrukov, er Western counRussian operatives tries. While living who were sent to seemingly ordiCanada to develnary lives, illegals op “legends” that embed themwould mask their selves in their spying activities in Timothy Vavilov, 25, left, and brother Alexander, host countries, the United States. 21, pictured in 2010. Their parents are spies who covertly advancThe parents came to Canada in the 1990s and took over the ing Moscow’s instole the iden- identities of dead Canadians. telligence needs. tities of Tracey The Vavilov brothers’ parents were outed Foley and Donald Heathfield, Canadias illegals during Operation Ghost Stoans who had died as infants. The couries, an FBI investigation that identified 10 ple maintained the fiction for two deRussian spies operating in the U.S. After cades until they were arrested in 2010 and sent back to Russia in a spy swap. pleading guilty, they were flown to VienThe brothers also returned to Russia at the na and traded for four Russians who had been imprisoned by Moscow for spying. time but are now claimThe Canadian governing they are Canadians, The Federal Court ment appears to have and they have taken the has not yet ruled on briefly slipped up, grantgovernment to court to Timothy Vavilov’s ing Alexander Vavilov a case.

But on Aug. 10, be recognized as such, it upheld study permit to attend arguing that since they the government’s the University of Toronto were born in Toronto decision to revoke in 2012. The permit was they have a right to citAlexander Vavilov’s later cancelled after offiizenship. “I am first and citizenship, ruling cials figured out he was foremost Canadian,” the son of Russian spies.

Timothy Vavilov, whom But the following year, the government Canadian intelligence accuses of being sent him a certificate of Canadian citia Russian operative, wrote in an affidazenship.

Passport Canada then agreed to vit. “I have lived for 20 years believing renew his passport but officials changed that I was Canadian and still believe I their minds.

The citizenship of both brotham Canadian, nothing can change that.” ers was revoked last year.

Citizenship and The younger brother wrote in his affidaImmigration Canada (CIC) sent them vit that his Canadian heritage was “an important part of who I am” and that he letters explaining that children born in introduced himself as a Canadian. “It is Canada to representatives of foreign govthe only culture I can associate with, and ernments were not eligible for citizenship.

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NDP wave in Quebec still surging

ne month into the campaign and more than one to go, it’s clear Quebec’s Orange Wave was no fluke. No, the NDP’s 2011 sweep of the province was what Quebecers wanted. And now, in a campaign that’s all about change, Quebecers are opting for continuity. A fluke, of course, is how the Bloc Québécois and the Liberals explained away the NDP’s haul of 59 of 75 Quebec seats. As the theory goes, Jack Layton tapped into the attraction Quebecers have shown for charismatic leaders, and once brought into the fold as Le bon Jack, the deal was sealed.

But Layton did not live long enough to lead the Official Opposition in the last Parliament. And, now, almost all polls suggest the NDP will keep its seats in Quebec or add more, increasing the count all the way up to 67.

So if not a one-off, what? The answer may have as much to do with Tom Mulcair’s NDP as it does with its rivals.

Enter the fray Ringing in first is anti-Harper sentiment. If the rest of the country is holding a referendum on the prime minister, Quebecers decided long ago. He’s just not their guy. Too English despite his successful efforts to speak French, too establishment for their contrarian streak, and too conservative to represent collective self-perception as social democrats, be it true or not.

And the feeling is mutual, so to

speak. Stephen Harper has formed successive governments, won a majority even, without Quebec, effectively unseating the province as traditional kingmaker, and cementing an uncomfortable truth for a province that tends to vote with and for power.

The Liberals, once the recipients of such favour, may well have taken a page from Harper’s book. The party organization decamped from Quebec when Justin Trudeau became leader, leaving its forces there diminished. And Trudeau’s lineage, a boon in some parts of the country, remains a handicap in Quebec, a reminder of resentment over his father’s handling of the patriation of the Constitution that coloured federal-provincial relations for years.

Which is where the Bloc comes in.

Or doesn’t, actually.

Brought down to four seats in 2011, the Bloc lost party status, then self-mutilated with the election of controversial leader Mario Beaulieu. Despite an initial surge, Gilles Duceppe’s last-minute return to the helm has done little to improve the party’s fortunes.

But the biggest clue to the Bloc’s predicament can be found in Quebec’s 2014 provincial election. The ousting of the PQ was read in many ways, but one incontrovertible explanation was ebbing sovereigntist sympathies, a loss that led many to speculate that separatism is a generational issue.

POLITICS

Will seniors ‘make the difference’ at the polls on election day?

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eniors. They’re an increasingly big group and they tend to show up on election day.

They’re the group of people aged 65 and older, who now account for nearly one in six members of the population, according to Statistics Canada.

In Windsor, Ont., this group comprises one in five residents.

That means local seniors loom even larger at the ballot box, as they make up nearly a quarter of the city’s voting-age population.

John Meyer, the chair of the local CARP chapter in Windsor-Essex, said federal parties are well aware of the heft this group has at the polls.

“The vote is very strong from the senior population,” Meyer told CBC News in a recent telephone interview.

Case in point, the estimated general turnout in the last federal election was slightly more than 61 per cent. But three in four voters who were between the ages of 65 and 74 made their way to the polls in 2011. This was the highest rate of participation among seven demographic subgroups that Elections Canada analyzed last election.

A long-term trend Peter Loewen, an associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto, said this same trend has been apparent for decades.

“As a general, empirical regularity, people who are over 65 are voting at a greater rate than people who are under 65,” Loewen told CBC News in a telephone interview.

That reliable presence at the polls makes parties pay attention to their concerns, given the weight seniors carry as a group of voters.

Loewen said the federal parties and their leaders are clearly targeting these older voters, though they present their message in a way so that their intentions do not appear so explicit to voters. “’You never see politicians say: ‘We’re bringing in this policy because it gives seniors more than it gives people who are non-seniors,’” he said. “What they’ll say is to help seniors, we’ve brought in this policy.”

‘Seniors are one group’ Third-party groups are also eyeing the potential that seniors have at the polls.

NDP slams Harper for ‘presiding over Canada’s second recession in only seven years’

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TTAWA — Fresh data showing that Canada’s economy now meets the definition of a recession sent immediate ripples across the federal election campaign trail this morning.

Statistics Canada reported that the economy contracted at an annual pace of 0.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2015. It’s the second straight quarter of contraction, fitting the technical definition of a recession.

But Stephen Harper tried to find a silver lining — the Conservative leader seized on the agency’s finding that the economy began to bounce back in June as GDP grew by 0.5 per cent after shrinking over five straight months.

“Elsewhere there’s growth, and today one of the greatest monthly growths occurred in June, so it’s clear that the Canadian economy is growing,” the prime minister said in Burlington, Ont. where he pledged new support for Canadian manufacturers.

Harper said the Conservative plan of a balanced budget, low taxes and affordable investments was the best course for the country in the face of greater global problems.

If we change plans, we’ll have a permanent

recession like is occurring in many other countries “If we change plans, we’ll have a permanent recession like is occurring in many other countries. We’re on the right track,” the prime minister said.

But New Democrat candidate Andrew Thomson, a former Saskatchewan finance minister, says today’s numbers mean Conservative economic policies aren’t working.

“The forecast today confirms that Stephen Harper is presiding over Canada’s second recession in only seven years,” Thomson told a press conference in Ottawa, while NDP Leader Tom Mulcair was in British Columbia for events later in the day.

This is not about one day’s statistics “This is not about one day’s statistics,” he added.

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Trudeau doesn’t want pot sold at corner stores

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iberal Leader Justin Trudeau is ready to move on legalizing mar-

ijuana, but says he’s not comfortable with it being sold at local corner stores. “My focus is on making it more difficult for young people to access it, and at this point I don’t think that corner stores necessarily are rigorous enough in checking ID to make me comfortable with that as an option,” Trudeau told reporters in Quebec City on Wednesday. “But we are looking at ways to do it right.”

Earlier in the day Trudeau said during an interview with radio station FM93 Quebec that pot wouldn’t “necessarily” have to be sold through a state-run monopoly. Trudeau said legalization would make it tougher for minors to buy pot and would also keep the profits away from organized crime. The Liberal leader insists that any plans for the sale and

distribution of marijuana would have to involve the provinces, but he said that, if elected, a Liberal government could start taking action right away. “That’s something we look forward to taking up, but from the federal side of it, moving it to a place where it is controlled and regulated is something we will start doing immediately.”

The Liberal campaign said it could not elaborate on precisely what actions would be taken initially.

Not Trudeau’s focus Trudeau fielded more than half a dozen questions from reporters about his pot policy Wednesday, but clearly doesn’t want it to be a focal point during the election. He suggested the Liberals don’t have plans to roll out any marijuana-related policy during the campaign. “We will continue to answer questions on this, but the policies we’re putting forward are really focused on how we’re going to grow the economy and give the kind of future to Canadians that they deserve.”

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CLASSIFIEDS

Saturday, September 5, 2015

C JOBS Western door manufacturing Ltd. located at #109-8250 124Street, Surrey BC V3W 3X9, has an immediate vacancy of Carpenter. We design and manufacture high end solid wood exterior doors, solid wood interior doors and custom doors.

Full time permanent job position with wages of $25per hour.

35 to 40 hours per week.

Job Duties includes Read & interpret drawings & sketches to determine specifications; Estimate height, width, length, & other proportions; Measure, cut, shape, & assemble materials using woodworking machines, power tools and hand tools; Build exterior doors, interior doors, custom doors with jams; Install hardware such as hinges, handles, catches using hand tools and power tools; Repair doors & replace panels of doors.

Job requirement: High school with 2-3 years of experience.

Trade certificate will be considered as an asset. If interested send resumes by email at westerndoormanufacturing@gmail. com ------------- September 5, 2015 “Balwinder Singh Singhmaar, resident of 15095 92Ave, Surrey, BC V3R 5V8 has a vacancy for Inhome Child caregiver for infant child and 9 years old son. $10.25/ hrs, Full Time, 40 hrs/week. Applicant must have high school with

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JOBS minimum of 1 year of related experience within last 3 years or 6 months of full time training in caregiving. Job Duties includes Supervise and care for children, prepare formulas and change diaper of infant, feeding, bathing, dressing, prepare children for rest period, escort child to school, prepare and serve nutritious meal and snacks, accompany to and from activities & appointments, light housekeeping, laundry, maintain safe environment at home, keep record of day-to-day activities, health and progress of children.

Optional accomodation is available at no charge but this is not a condition of employment” -------------- August 13 2015 Jun13_155 Long Haul Truck Drivers Reqd. Sal:$23.00/hr, 40hr/wk, +1yr exp. & Class A 0r 1 license reqd., FT/PT Duties: Operate, drive straight or articulated trucks to transport goods & materials on local routes or over long distances.Plan trip logistics & obtain required documentation to transport goods.Perform pre-trip & post-trip inspection of vehicle systems.Record cargo information, hours of service, distance travelled & fuel consumption.May perform emergency roadside repairs. Lang: English.

Work at various location in Canada & USA. Contact: Balwinder

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JOBS

from Metro Transport ltd.12772 82nd Ave, Surrey, V3W 3G1 E-mail your resume at metro_transport@ yahoo.ca.

------------------------------Jun13_15

1 Optical Frame Fitter Reqd.

Sal: $22.00/hr, 40hr/wk, +1yrs exp. or certification reqd., FT/ PT Duties: Obtain specifications for eyeglasses or contact lenses from a prescription. Assist clients in selecting eyeglasses. Grinding & polishing of lenses. Cut & edge lenses & fit lenses into frames. May supervise or manage activities of other opticians. Lang: English. Location: 12841 96 Avenue, Surrey, BC, V3V 6V9 Contact: Imran from Eye See 2020 Optical at opt_eyesee@yahoo.ca.

------------------------------Jun 06_15 Dosa Corner Restaurant Ltd in Vancouver Looking to hire an authentic south indian chef .

This is a full time permanent position. $18.50/hr. 40hrs/week. Must have at least 3-5yrs experience in south indian cuisine & specialized knowledge in Dosas.

Duties include Prepare & cook meals.kitchen management. Plan menus & quality. Orders food supplies. Mail your resume to selvamm164@ gmail.com or apply by person at DosaCorner Vancouver. 110-8248 Fraser Street.

Vancouver. B.C.. V5X 3X6

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E JOBS

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Ph: 604-324-3672.

-----------------------------------Seamstress required Seamstress (Tailor) needed Foam & Décor is looking for Full Time or Part Time Seamstress ( tailor) for drapery in Surrey.

Salary will be provided @ 12 per hour. Please call 604-594-1882

S Matrimonial

Parents looking match for their Canadian 27 year old very handsome, jat sikh boy, 5’9”, sportsman, graduate , working in own business. Girl must be well cultured, educated, Canadian citizen or permanent resident .

Contact after 6pm 604-598-1987 - 778-387-1672

enced person, Mayuri Indian foods inc is looking Depending on experience salary to hire an Ethnic Food Cook in will be upto $21 per hr. with other Surrey BC. F/T & Perm.$17/hr. benefits. Call:604-729-6741 or Must have at least 2-3 yrs expe604-385-1558 rience in South Indian cuisine & ---------------------------specialized knowledge in Indian Transworld Security spicing. Duties: Prepare & Cook located at 2nd Floor, 5050, meals; Supervise Kitchen helpers; Kingsway, Burnaby BC V5H 4H2 Plan menus; Ensure quality & is looking for a Static Guard, determine food proportions; Static Guard Supervisor, Mobile Monitor & order food supplies; Supervisor and Field Manager.

Set up & oversee buffets; Manage These are permanent full-time kitchen operation. Mail resume positions. Static Guard pay rate or apply by person Mayuri indian is $13.00 per hour plus vacation cuisine , Unit 102A,12677 80th pay. You would be required to Ave., patrol industrial and commercial Surrey BC V3W 3A6 premises to prevent and detect Fax: 604-572-3281 signs of intrusion and ensure ------------------------------------English Classes for Adults To PLACE Register for classes YOUR September 2-8 AD IN THE For more information,Visit: www.

ASIAN STAR victoryesl.com Call: 604.755.7976 CLASSIFIEDS E-mail: victoryesl1@gmail.com Section ---------------------------Cook Require Curry junction Restaurant in Please White Rock need cook Call: immediately, This is a full time permanent position for a experi604-591-5423

COMMUNITY MOSAIC Seniors Club provides free activities for immigrant seniors age 55 and above. We also provide workshops and individual support on topics relevant to seniors. We run activities such as walking clubs, English conversation classes and field trips.

Come make new friends, practice English, get information and have fun!

Volunteer language support available in many languages. For more information, or to register, call: Burnaby South: 5902 Kingsway || 604 438 8214 Basic computer classes, English conversation circles, Persian calligraphy, DIY class Burnaby North: 2055 Rosser Avenue || 604 292 3907 English conversation circles, Taichi class Vancouver: 1720 Grant St || 604 254 9626 ext 273 English conversation circles, basic computer classes For the Vancouver location, there is priority for Permanent Residents.

-------------------------------------------Vedic Seniors Parivar Centre of Vedic Hindu Cultural Society Surrey invites South Asian Adults/ Senior members and also non members, even family members to come and watch the Bollywood Movie - MORNING WALK - on big screen free on August 23rd 2015 ( Sunday ) at 1.30 pm to 4.00 pm at Shanti Niketan hall of Lakshmi Narayan Hindu Temple 8321 - 140th street Surrey BC. A retired professor Anupam Kher experiences his morning walk changes his life forever, when he meets his once a classmate and friend Sharmila Tagore.

A beautiful and heart tugging tale of two families who are so different from one another, yet connected through a special bond. Light snacks and tea will be served during intermission.Please contact Surendra Handa Coordinator Tel. 604 - 507 - 9945 for further information.

------------------------------------Culture & Conversation Night August 27 MOSAIC Vancouver, 2nd floor, 1720 Grant St ‘ 604 254 9626 ext 488 Karen Legal Information Workshop: Employment Standards Learn about your rights in the workplace. Topics include: minimum wage, parental leave, working hours, statutory holidays, filing complaints as well as the rights of caregivers, employees and employers. There will be sample scenarios to explore.

August 30 1–3pm Our Lady of Mercy Parish, 7455 10th Ave, Burnaby Joy 604 438 8214 ext 211 --------------------------------------Vedic Seniors Parivar Centre of Vedic Hindu Cultural Society Surrey invites South Asian Adults/ Senior members and non members also to attend a Powerful Presentation - Exercise for a Healthy Life Style with a Focus on Healthy Heart by Monika Tsia Clinical Exercise Physiologist and Amy Sangha Physiotherapist both working for Fraser Health in Cardiac Rehablitation and Prevention Program at Jim Pattison Out Patient/ Surrey Hospital. They will explain Health related Fitness and will demonstrate you, how to perform different types of Exercise for Healthy

Life Style. Monika Tsia and Amy Sangha will answer all your questions about Health related Fitness. Tea and light snacks will be served after the Powerful Presentation. Please contact Surendra Handa Coordinator Tel. 604- 507- 9945 for further details.

------------------------------Vedic Seniors Parivar Centre of Vedic Hindu Cultural Society Surrey invites South Asian Adults/ Senior members and non members also to attend a Powerful Presentation - Exercise for a Healthy Life Style with a Focus on Healthy Heart by Monika Tsia Clinical Exercise Physiologist and Amy Sangha Physiotherapist both working for Fraser Health in Cardiac Rehablitation and Prevention Program at Jim Pattison Out Patient/ Surrey Hospital. They will explain Health related Fitness and will demonstrate you, how to perform different types of Exercise for Healthy Life Style. Monika Tsia and Amy Sangha will answer all your questions about Health related Fitness. Tea and light snacks will be served after the

Saturday, September 5, 2015

Powerful Presentation. Please contact Surendra Handa Coordinator Tel. 604- 507- 9945 for further details.

------------------------------------Vancouver’s 42nd Chariot Festival of India 11:30 to 1:00pm Sunday, August 9, at 2nd Beach in Stanley park, Vancouver --------------------------------------------Free Community Workshops & Activities August 1–16 English & Multilingual August 1: Powell St Festival August 8: Korean Cultural Heritage Festival August 27: Wood Boat Festival Meet up location will be confirmed upon registration 604 438 8214 --------------------------------------Vedic Seniors Parivar Centre of Vedic Hindu Cultural Society Surrey invites South Asian Adults, Senior members and also non members to come and attend Meditation for Anxieties ( Worries ) to retrieve your ‘’ Inner Child ‘’ so that you can become whole as a person and learn better self care, by Dr. Jaswant .

S . Bhopal a Psychiatrist, Physician &

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Spiritual Preceptor on August 2nd 2015 ( Sunday ) from 2.00 pm to 3.30 pm at Shanti Niketan hall of Lakshmi Narayan Hindu Temple 8321 - 140th Street Surrey BC. Please bring yoga Matt. with you, Dr. Jas Bhopal will answer all your questions about Meditation for your better self care after the Meditation. Tea and light Snacks will be served in the end. Please call Surendra Handa Coordinator Tel. 604- 507-9945 for further information.

--------------------------------------Free Multicultural Activities All are invited to Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society’s (PICS) wrap up event for “Many Faiths-One Common Thread” program funded by Inspirit Foundation on Friday July 24, 2015.

The program is to inspire pluralism among young Canadians (ages 18-30) of different spiritual, religious and secular beliefs. Apart from a delightful multicultural dinner there will be fun activities for all.

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Saturday, September 5, 2015

Business / Finance

Canadian greenhouse gas emissions from electricity cut by 22% in 5 years

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he electrical generating sector reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 5.8 per cent in 2014 and 22 per cent over the past five years, according to the Canadian Electricity Association’s annual report.

The sector also decreased its emissions of nitrogen oxide, sulphur dioxide and mercury because of new technology to clean up emissions, the report said.

The shutdown of Ontario’s coal-fired plants contributed significantly to the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and was “one of the largest climate change initiatives ever undertaken in North America,” the association said in its report.

It estimates 45 tonnes of carbon-dioxide-equivalent emissions were eliminated

by time Ontario Power Generation finished closing the Nanticoke plant in 2014.

The association, which represents both private-sector generators and public utilities across Canada (excluding Quebec Hydro), estimates the industry is now responsible for about 12 per cent of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The reduction in emissions reflects a shift in the sources of power in Canada. There was 8.8 per cent less coal generation and 3.5 per cent less hydro in 2014 than in 2013.

The amount of nuclear generation is up 8.1 per cent, and renewable generation from sources other than hydro are up 6.9 per cent.

There was also a significant improvement in energy conservation, which reduced the need for new generation sources.

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Vancouver housing affordability could get even worse: RBC

he latest forecast for housing affordability in Metro Vancouver is as grim as the return to grey skies.

Vancouver became even less affordable at a faster rate than anywhere else in Canada in the second quarter of 2015, according to a RBC Economics housing affordability report released Monday.

The report measures affordability as the percentage of pre-tax income required to cover the costs of a home. For a Vancouver bungalow, that increased to a whopping 88.6 per cent compared to 71.4 per cent across B.C. and 59.4 per cent in Toronto, Canada’s second least affordable city.

That’s nowhere near affordable based on Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s standard of spending no more than 30 per cent of income on housing.

And affordability is expected to get even worse as buyers continue to snap up homes

despite the soaring prices. Resale activity was up in Metro Vancouver, Victoria and the Fraser Valley, according to RBC. “Vancouver’s housing affordability readings are nearing the worst levels ever recorded in Canada, but this is still not reining in buyer demand at all,” RBC chief economist Craig Wright said in a news release.

“Further price acceleration and affordability deterioration are even very likely in the near term,” Wright said.

Vancouver’s “extreme situation” is to blame for the poor affordability rates in B.C. as a whole, according to RBC data, which the bank has been collecting since 1985. Elsewhere in Canada, however, affordability has remained fairly stable for the past five years.

Local politicians are trying to make affordable housing a federal election. The Liberals, the Green Party and the NDP have promised some sort of national housing strategy, but the Conservatives don’t think it’s necessary.

Alberta deficit forecast at $5.9B as province feels impact of low oil prices

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he effect of low oil prices is starting to make an impact on Alberta finances, according to the province’s first-quarter update released Monday, and it could get worse.

A steep drop in the price of West Texas Intermediate crude in August is prompting finance officials to revise their estimates for the rest of the fiscal year.

Rachel Notley’s NDP government is forecasting to end the year with a $5.9-billion deficit, $814 million more than forecast in the March 2015 budget, which was introduced but never passed by the previous Progressive Conservative government.

However, this forecast was finalized on July 30 before the price of WTI crude started dropping well below the $57.94 US a barrel average in April, May and June.

“It is clear that the revenues have dipped even further in these past weeks,” said Finance Minister Joe Ceci. “If current conditions continue, the final deficit will be in the range of $6.5 billion.”

Ceci said he will look for new sources of revenue, but ruled out the introduction of a provincial sales tax. He has told each minis-

try to look for items to trim from their budgets. However, he said the government will not cut essential services or fire thousands of public workers like teachers and doctors.

Ceci said the NDP inherited a bad situation from its predecessors.

“The previous conservative governments weren’t able to balance Alberta’s budget in five of the last six years when oil was averaging about $90 a barrel,” he said.

“They failed to diversify the economy, failed to ensure that those that could were paying their fair share and failed to save for a rainy day.”

Wildrose finance critic Derek Fildebrandt criticized the government for implementing tax increases that he says are hurting the economy but will only bring in $497 million.

He said the NDP is being unrealistic by basing its budget on oil staying at $55 a barrel for the rest of the year.

“Banking on an extra $700 million in extra royalties is without question, optimistic,” he said.

Fildebrandt acknowledged the NDP inherited Alberta’s financial problems but said they have to stop blaming the previous government.

Business / Finance

Recession confirmed as Canada’s GDP shrank in 2nd quarter

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anada’s economy expanded in June but declined by 0.1 per cent for the second quarter as a whole, meeting the bar of what is legally defined as a recession.

The economy expanded by 0.5 per cent in June, Statistics Canada said.

But that slight monthly uptick wasn’t enough to offset the contraction in the previous two months, which means for the second quarter as a whole, the economy shrank.

The economy also shrank in the first quarter, which means Canada’s economy has met the bare minimum required before a recession is declared — two consecutive quarters of decline.

On an annualized basis, the economy shrank by 0.5 per cent in the April-to-June period, after contracting at an 0.8-per-cent annual pace in the first three months of 2015.

For comparison purposes, the U.S. economy expanded by 3.7 per cent during the same period, the data agency noted.

The numbers bring an end to what had been a contentious issue during the current federal election campaign.

While most economists would agree that a recession is a more complex beast than merely pegging it to two quarters of negative growth, most agree it’s as good a place to start as any.

Indeed, the federal government’s recent legislation on balanced budgets defines a recession as “a period of at least two consecutive quarters of negative growth in real gross domestic product for Canada, as reported by Statistics Canada.”

“With StatsCan making it official that we did have two consecutive quar-

ters of declining GDP, the recession bugs will be chattering,” Bank of Montreal economist Doug Porter noted.

But while the quarter numbers were down, the data hinted at growth towards the end that may have carried into the current third quarter.

The service sector expanded by 0.6 per cent between April and June, for example, which helped offset a decline in goods-producing industries like oil and gas, and manufacturing.

While the resource sector continued its slide, shrinking by 4.5 per cent in the quarter, other industries expanded, including the public sector, wholesale trade and real estate agents, where economic activity expanded by a whopping 9.9 per cent.

Households also spent more during the quarter.

Consumption increased 0.6 per cent in the second quarter, following a 0.1 gain in the first quarter.

Add it all up and Tuesday’s data suggests “there was a recession,” TD Bank economist Randall Bartlett said. “In our view, it was a very very mild one in the first half of 2015, but that’s behind us now and all indications point to a positive growing economy for the rest of the year.”

Other pundits took a less rosy view.

“With exports still struggling and business investment falling in response to the fallout in the energy sector, hopes for a sustained rebound beginning in the second half of the year look misplaced,” Capital Economics’ David Madani said, noting that despite a drastically lower Canadian dollar, Canada only exported 0.4 per cent more in the quarter. And that figure follows two straight quarters of decline.

Penn West Petroleum, ConocoPhillips Canada slash hundreds of jobs

A

lmost 1,000 energy-sectors jobs are disappearing, mostly in Calgary, as two major oil and gas players announced plans today to scale back operations because of the low price of crude.

ConocoPhillips Canada confirmed to CBC News it will reduce its workforce by about 15 per cent — 400 employees and 100 contractors.

“We informed people yesterday [Monday], but the vast majority of the actual reductions will occur by mid- October.

The majority of the reductions in Canada will be in our Calgary office,” said its communications director, Rob Evans.

Penn West Petroleum Ltd. also announced a major reduction in its workforce.

About 400 full-time employees and contractors — most of them working at company headquarters in Calgary – are being let go.

Most of the job cuts are effective immediately and the rest will be complete by the end of this year, the company said Tuesday.

The jobs represent 35 per cent of the total workforce at Penn West, a prominent mid-sized oil and gas producer.

Chris Dumanowski, 48, laid off from his position as a field operations manager, found some comfort in the news: He’ll have more time for home-improvement projects.

“It’s a little bit depressing for sure,” he said.

“It’s a pretty tough market in the oil and gas industry right now. It’ll definitely be a tough go.”

The workforce reduction is part of

Penn West’s response to a recent decline in oil prices. It’s also suspending dividend payments to its shareholders after its next payment in October and reducing compensation for its board of directors.

It has also identified a further $75 million of capital spending that will be put off, reducing this year’s capital budget to $500 million — a 40 per cent reduction from its original plan to spend $840 million in 2015.

There have been significant job losses in the last two years at Penn West, with the workforce dropping from 2,350 employees in June 2013 to fewer than 1,000. The company has also faced legal challenges from investors after accounting irregularities were discovered last year.

In March ConocoPhillips announced it was cutting seven per cent of its Canadian staff — about 200 jobs.

University of Calgary energy economist Michal Moore says he expects there will be more oilpatch layoffs this fall.

“The long term picture is — at least over the next 18 months or so — is pretty bleak. And the companies are hunkering down trying to make sure they can survive that period,” he said.

New focus for Penn West For next year, Penn West will aim to keep

its capital spending within cash flow generated from operations, with a focus on its light oil properties in the Viking and Cardium shale formations in Western Canada.

The company has scheduled a morning conference to brief analysts, starting at 8 a.m. MT.

Saturday, September 5, 2015

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PUNJAB

Badals’ ‘conflict of interest’ echoes in HC

T

wo months after the business interests of the Badals came under the judicial scanner with an anonymous writer questioning the permissibility of elected representatives owning commercial ventures, the issue echoed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court once again.

As the case came up for resumed hearing, amicus curiae or the friend of the court, advocate HC Arora, made it clear that he intended to file a petition in public interest exclusively on the issue of “conflict of interest” arising out of “substantial shares of Orbit Aviations and other private transport companies owned

by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal”.

Arora also requested the Division Bench of Justice Satish Kumar Mittal and Justice Mahavir Singh Chauhan to relieve of his responsibility as the amicus curiae for enabling him to file a separate PIL.

The request came after the Bench made tentative verbal observation that the PIL was required to be confined to the cause of incident, adequacy of compensation paid to the victim’s family and ways to stop recurrence of such incidents. The Bench appeared to be of considered view that the issue of “conflict of interest” may be raised only through a separate PIL and not by enlarging the scope of the existing PIL. The Bench asserted: “HC Arora, who has been appointed as amicus curiae, requests that he may be relieved from the case. Ordered accordingly”. The Bench observed that the state should maintain record, specifying the antecedents of drivers.

The court also asked the advocate-general to discuss the issue with the Transport Department to make police verification mandatory for bus staff.

Sikhs vote to elect new gurdwara leaders in US

A

fter facing years of internal power struggles and a court ruling, members of the Sikh community have voted to elect new leaders of one of the largest gurdwaras in the US. A total of 6,802 registered voters queued outside the San Jose gurdwara in California on Sunday, Mercury News reported. The election was ordered by a superior court judge to resolve the issue between two Sikh factions with different agendas. “The people are showing up to speak their minds again. This is a good day for everyone here,” Summan Tersen Singh, an applied materials technician, was quoted as saying.

The incumbent steering commit-

tee promised continued growth and prosperity, while the challenging committee sought votes on the assurances of honesty and accountability in matters of finance and governance.

Each faction projected 21 candidates for a new steering committee while two others ran as independent.

“Everybody can see what we have done and they like it,” Pritam Singh Grewal, a steering committee candidate, was quoted as saying.

The incumbent steering committee wants to build an elder-care facility, funeral home and Sikh heritage park and a path around the sprawling complex in the Evergreen Valley hills, the report said.

WW-II veteran’s pension battle continues from Canada

W

hile Army veterans are on chain “Santa Singh’s father served during the hunger strike to fight for One First World War. Thus, it is a unique case of Rank, One Pension (OROP), a honour for two generations to represent the 95-year-old former Risaldar, settled in Can- country in something great. But you can see ada, has been struggling to get his pension how the country treats a living legend,” says arrears released for the past five decades.

Sandhu. Santa Singh’s father Nidhan Singh Santa Singh represented the 8 Caval- was in the 15 Sikh and had served in Flanry during the Second World War in Libya ders in Belgium during the First World War. (North Africa). A retired Army officer is now “Without pension, you can well imagine how fighting his case, writing to every he would have spent those initial Army unit and branch to ensure years. Almost 10 years of that time that the veteran soldier gets his was spent in jail and fighting a legal dues before it is too late. “Santa battle in Canada as Santa Singh was Singh was enrolled in the Army charged with murder. But his penon September 24, 1937 and transsion had stopped before all of that ferred to the pension establishhappened,” he said. Santa Singh Tatment on September 30, 1964 after lay is fighting his case through letters 28 years of service. However after with the Defence Ministry for the a few months, his pension stopped Risaldar Santa past five decades to get his pension and he has not been able to get it released, which initially was Rs102.

Singh Tatlay from April 1, 1965 till date,” says Now settled in Canada and nearing Colonel GS Sandhu (retd). “I have written 100 years of age, the Second World War vetreminders for the release of pension to var- eran says he wants to die with dignity. Post ious Army Chiefs, Defence Ministers and retirement, Santa Singh moved to Canada even the Prime Minister many times. We get where he was implicated in a murder case replies that one or the other Army unit will and served a jail sentence of 10 years from release the amount soon, but nothing has 1976 to 1986. been done so far,” he said.

Punjab cane farmers paralyse traffic for 7 hrs Road and rail traffic remained paralysed in the region as thousands of farmers from across the state squatted on the Jalandhar-Phagwara national highway near Rama Mandi and Dhanowali railway crossing for more than seven hours today. The farmers had been protesting the alleged government inaction over a raw deal meted out to cane growers by millers by not disbursing their Rs 250-crore dues last year and announcing to shut down their mills in the coming season. The protest ended after Cane Commissioner Ranjit Singh and Director Agriculture Mangal Singh Sandhu gave a written assurance to them on their demands, including getting their pending payments cleared for 2014-15, getting all sugar mills started by November 15 and getting entire sugarcane produce lifted by mills in time. The protest was held under the banners of Pagri Sambhal Jatta, Doaba Kisan Sangharsh Committee and Punjab Potato Growers Association. Farmers had started assembling here since 7 am. They pegged huge tents, set up a public address system and blocked one side of the highway around 9.30 am. They then sat on the railway crossing and announced that no train would be allowed to cross that point. The agitating farmers, each one of them carrying a banner using sugarcane as flagstaff, were spread out on a 2-km stretch of the road. While the road traffic was diverted from Rama Mandi Chowk

A

Farmers block National Highway near Dhanowali village to cooperative mills. The farmers who have their dues pending with private millers are the real sufferers.” Pagri Sambhal Jatta convener Kamalpreet Singh said they held a similar protest at the Mukerian railway crossing on August 20. At that time also, the administration had given them a written assurance, but it failed to honour its promise. “Instead, they got an FIR registered against all participating farmers. We hope we will not meet the same fate again,” he said.

Sikh man named ‘Australian of the Day’ for feeding homeless

n Indian-origin Sikh migrant driver in Australia has been named ‘Australian of the Day’ for feeding the homeless in Darwin for the past three years. Tejinder Pal Singh has dedicated the last Sunday of the month to feed the poor and homeless locals of northern Darwin after he finishes his shift as a cabbie. He cooks up 30 kilogrammes of Indian cuisine to feed the

A

via Cantonment and Talhan village routes, about 12 trains remained stranded at various nearby stations. The Amritsar-bound Shatabdi also remained stuck at Phagwara. Dilbagh Singh Happy, a cane grower from Gunopur village in Gurdaspur, said, “The Mukerian sugar mill authorities have not cleared my payment of around Rs 4 lakh since December last. The government has made payment

homeless after his night shift. The free lunch that Singh offers comprises chickpeas, rice and vegetarian curry. “I do something for homeless people, so they get more energy so they’re happy. My religion says 10 per cent of income goes toward needy and poor people - no matter (whether) they belong to your religion or any religion,” Singh was quoted as saying by local media.

ASI booked on rape charge

case of rape has been registered against an Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) at the police station in which he is posted.

According to reports, the case was registered on the complaint of a woman living in Kumbra village in Sector 68 here.

ASI Balbir Singh was investigating a compliant lodged by the woman against her husband and in-laws for alleged-

ly beating her up and demanding dowry.

The woman had alleged that the ASI used to visit her during the course of the investigations and allegedly raped her.

The woman had earlier complained to the Senior Suprintendent of Police (SSP). A probe was conducted into the rape charge against the police official. The inquiry officer had recommended the registration of a case.

INDIA

Saturday, September 5, 2015

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Sheena Bora murder: Cops quiz Peter for 12 hrs, compare answers with wife’s

T

he Khar police questioned former Star India CEO Peter Mukerjea for nearly 12 hours in the Sheena Bora murder case on Wednesday. He will be called again on Thursday. Peter is the husband of Indrani Mukerjea, with whom he co-founded INX Media. Indrani was arrested on August 25 for the alleged murder of her daughter Sheena.

Peter, accompanied by his elder brother Gautam Mukerjea, arrived at Khar police station at 10.30am and left at 10.45pm.

While one police team questioned him, another carried out a search at his flat in Worli and took away some documents and a laptop. He was given a break in the afternoon.

Police officials close to the investigation said Peter was

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28 i

Saturday, September 5, 2015

6 i Saturday - April 4, 2015

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INDIAfOOD

Saturday, September 5, 2015

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Modi to address rally in Chandigarh on Sept 11

rime Minister Narendra Modi will address a public rally in Chandigarh on September 11.

Punjab BJP chief Kamal Sharma tweeted tonight. Earlier in the day, a communication was sent to BJP president Amit Shah by the local unit, inviting Modi to address a rally here. On the same day, Modi is already scheduled to attend three functions—inauguration of the new terminal of the Chandigarh International Airport, PGI convocation and handing over keys to allottees of the Chandigarh Housing Board flats in Sector 63 here.

The venue of the rally will either be Sec-

tor 25 rally ground or Sector 34 exhibition ground. Apparently taking a cue from Prime Minister’s rally at Faridabad on September 6 on the occasion of inauguration of Faridabad Metro, the Chandigarh unit requested the PM to address a rally here on September 11. The theme of the rally will be “Swachh Chandigarh”. This would be the first rally to be addressed by Modi in Chandigarh after the formation of the BJP government at the Centre. He had made a symbolic appearance at Panchkula on the swearing in of the first BJP government in Haryana on October 26, 2014.

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INDIA

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NRI

Bobby Jindal warns of immigrant ‘invasion’

R

epublican presidential candidate Bobby Jindal, son of immigrant parents from India, says that immigrants who do not adopt American values represent an “invasion”.

“Immigration without integration is not immigration; it’s invasion, he told ABC Sunday when asked about tough stances against illegal immigration taken by Republican front-runner Donald Trump and other party candidates.

“Look, as a child of immigrants, my parents have never taken this country for granted,” said the Louisiana governor who was born in the US three months after his pregnant mother came from India.

“Every single day they are grateful to live in the greatest country in the history of the world. And I think this election is largely about the idea and the idea of America is slipping away in front of us,” Jindal said.

“When it comes to immigration policy, what

I’ve experienced and seen is that a smart immigration policy makes our country stronger; a dumb one makes us weaker. We’ve got a dumb one today,” he said.

“Yes, we need to secure our border. Stop talking about it. I think we need to insist that folks who come here come here legally, learn English, adopt our values, roll up our sleeves and get to work.”Pressed on what he meant by “adopt our values,” Jindal, who is currently 13th among 17 Republican candidates polling an average of 1.8 percent votes, said that the US must avoid what has happened in some European countries.

“You’ve got second-, third-generation immigrants that don’t consider themselves part of those [European] societies, those cultures. We in our country shouldn’t be giving freedoms to people who want to undermine the freedom for other people,” he said.

Indian-origin man pleads not guilty in 1999 murder case in US

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EW YORK: A 37-year-old Indian-origin man, who was once one of “America’s Most Wanted” for a 1999 murder of a man, has pleaded not guilty to the crime.

Balkumar Singh was arrested in Trinidad in March after 16 years on the run in the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Abzal Khan outside a suburban New York wedding. He pleaded not guilty to murder, assault, weapons and other charges and was ordered held without bail during his court appearance here earlier this month. He was not represented by an attorney; a judge said a court-appointed attorney would represent him at his next court appearance, a report in CBS News said.

Singh, however, apologised during his arraignment on August 17 in a Long Island courthouse. “I’m sorry for the pain I caused the family,” Singh said before his arraignment in Nassau county court. Singh was featured on “America’s Most Wanted” in 2009.

The report said Singh got into an argument while attending a June 1999 wedding in Hicksville. They say Singh fired numerous times outside the wedding hall, killing Khan and injuring another man. Court documents indicate the assault charges involve the wounding of a second man.

A New York Times article at the time of the shooting said police believed the gunman had asked a girl to dance and argued with her date. Later, the gunman was waiting outside, and as the wedding guests left the party, he opened fire. Khan, of Queens, died of chest wounds while the second man was shot in the leg. Acting district attorney Madeline Singas said Singh used numerous aliases while on the run and might have spent time in Canada and Guyana.

She said he was arrested in Trinidad in March after authorities were tipped off to his whereabouts; he apparently was homeless and living on the streets.

Unions strike over Modi labour reforms Workers across India on Wednesday staged a day-long strike to protest at the economic policies of the government.

They say the “pro-business” policies of the Narendra Modi-led BJP government will put their jobs at risk and hurt ordinary people.

The unions are demanding the government drop plans to sell off stakes in staterun companies and change labour laws.

Response to the strike has been mixed. Some banks closed and public transport was disrupted.

Reports say some 150 million workers - mainly in banking, manufacturing, construction and coal mining industries - be-

E

Manipur violence kills eight

ight people have been killed in clashes between the police and protesters over tribal rights laws in the north-eastern Indian state of Manipur, officials say. More than 30 people have been injured in violence, which began on Monday.

Angry mobs have set the houses of six local lawmakers on fire. Curfew has been imposed in some districts. The unrest has been triggered by three controversial bills aimed at

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giving more rights to indigenous groups.

The federal government has called the situation “very tense” and offered to send soldiers to defuse the situation. The violence erupted late on Monday when three people were allegedly killed in police firing after a mob attempted to attack and torch a police station in the Churachandpur district, reports say.

Five others died after a strike called by an indigenous students group to protest the

US backs India’s bid for UNSC seat

S Ambassador to India Richard Verma today affirmed his country’s support to India’s aspiration for a permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Verma, addressing mediapersons at the end of his two-day familiarisation tour here, said: “The US strongly supports India for a permanent representation in the UN.” On reports that the US had not lent its backing to India’s

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longing to 10 major unions are expected to stay away from work on Wednesday.

The strike appears to have hit public transport, with long queues of commuters and school children seen at a bus stops in many cities, including the capital, Delhi. Many passengers were also stranded at railway stations and airports.

A large number of schools and businesses were shut in the states of West Bengal and Kerala, where unions enjoy significant clout, and public transport was disrupted, reports said.

Modi won in a landslide at the general election last year, promising to revive a

claim for the UNSC seat, the US Ambassador said such reports were not based on facts and held no truth. “I want to clarify it once and for all that the US supports India’s claim for the UNSC seat,” he said. Verma, however, added: “It is a long and complicated process to reform the UN. But we are working hard on it.” He also mentioned US’ support and backing to India as an emerging global power in all forums.--------------------

Govt set to notify One Rank One Pension based on own formula

he government is likely to notify the ‘One Rank, One Pension’ (OROP) scheme, but as per its own definition. This could possibly include a compensation for soldiers retiring before age of 40 and a fixed tenure for revision of pensions to equalise them as per ranks and years of service. It will take into account the very basic criteria that the pensioners get compensated

for having “sticking their neck out” for defending the country and don’t feel let down.

The Bihar Assembly elections are also driving the government to finalise the OROP. Today another meeting was held on the matter to bridge the gaps.

The government formula was listed out by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

India, Australia to hold naval exercise from Sept 11 India and Australia today announced the first Navy-to-Navy bilateral maritime exercise to be held from September 11.

The two countries will also conduct a joint air force exercise that will have other countries also.

The naval exercise will involve multiple ship visits and maritime assets from both the countries. It will be a “submarine hunting exercise”. India conducts such high-level bilateral exercise with the US, Russia, France and the UK. The exercise will foster interoperability and cooperation between both nations and further contribute to maritime security.

India and Australia are both interested in keeping South China Sea free for navigation. The decision was announced tonight after a ministerial meeting between Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his Australian counterpart Kevin Andrews here tonight. Andrews is on a fourday visit to India from August 31.

Today the visiting minister held talks with Parrikar. It was followed by delegation-level talks to discuss issues of shared strategic interest and the current state of the bilateral defence relationship between the two countries. After the talks the two

FIJI

Fijian Chiefs signed an agreement to form a separate Christian state in the West

C

hiefs were among those who ignored legal advice and signed the Mereoni (Oni) Kirwin document calling for the return of Fiji to the chiefs, it has been revealed.

Suva lawyer Adi Litia Qionibaravi made the disclosure in an email to the ACS Old Girls Association to set the record straight about social media claims that she was Ms Kirwin’s point of contact here.

Her close associates say the claims are part of a smear campaign by some involved in the SODELPA controversy to discredit her. Adi Litia is a senior SODELPA member who has given legal advice to the party.

She has drawn up proposed amendments to SODELPA’s constitution to be discussed at the party’s annual general meeting in Suva on Saturday.

These amendments would strengthen the role of party president Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu.

Adi Litia denied any part in the formation of the so-called Christian Sovereign States.

Adi Litia said in the email: “Ladies, I can only conclude that the desperate attempts to link my name to the formation of the Ra and Nadroga Sovereign Christian States, have been made by some who are trying to save themselves from arrest over the sedition incidents in Ra and Nadroga. The Truth Shall Prevail,” she said.

“I would like to confirm with you all that I had never accompanied Mereoni Kirwin to the Ra nor the Nadroga chiefs wherein their Christian States were formed. I was never a party to persuading or misleading the chiefs to form their own separate Christian States.

“Nevertheless, I feel for the way these chiefs have been treated and you may also be aware that a fellow old girl, Vucu Gavidi, is part of the chiefs arrested in Nadroga.

“We can only hope and trust that the Fiji Human Rights Commission can investigate the breaches of their human rights and to seek redress on their behalf. “At a meeting, where Mereoni Kirwin had briefed the chiefs of her intentions,

Chaudhry to continue as leader of FLP

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ahendra Chaudhry remains leader of the Fiji Labour Party, quashing speculation of a change in leadership at the party’s annual delegates’ conference in Lautoka yesterday.

He confirmed that the issue had been discussed by the party, whose management urged him to continue leadership.

“This was discussed because I had put it to the conference to also look at leadership,” he said.

“I’ve led the party now for 25 years of its 30 years but this has largely been because of the coups.

“When we got into government in 1999, we were out within a year by a coup and of course if we had been allowed to con-

I in fact had advised the chiefs that some of the matters raised were very sensitive issues and that just as the colonial Government after cession had strongly resisted the dissident chiefs of the interior Viti Levu, I had advised in everyone’s presence that the Chiefs needed to express wisdom and foresight and that they needed to be careful that they themselves do not bring the total demise of the chiefly system forever in Fiji. Despite this advice, the chiefs at the meeting still signed.” She did not name the chiefs. It is believed that Ms Kirwin used the signed document as the basis for the setting up of the so-called Christian Sovereign states in Ra, Nadroga and Navosa.

Good News!

Saturday, September 5, 2015 i 31

Good News!

tinue, I probably would have gone out of politics in 2009 after doing two terms.

“That was my original wish. And having become prime minister for the first term, I would have probably had a go at it again for a second term, but then the coup happened.

“And we can’t just leave everything and retire — it’s not the time to retire.

“It’s the time to get back to democracy.”

Mr Chaudhry said party members decided it was not the time for change in leadership but for consolidation.

The delegates’ conference at Sea Breeze Hotel in Lautoka was attended by representatives from FLP branches around the country.

Good News!

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Third student dies from paraquat poisoning

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he third student who attempted to commit suicide early this week passed away at the CWMH this morning. One passed away yesterday at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital. Ash-

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neel Aswin Lal passed away at the PICU Ward at 9.30am yestedray.

This means all three students now have passed away after drinking paraquat early this week.

Meanwhile a post-mortem on the first student who passed away Ayush Ashial Kumar revealed that he died due to paraquat poisoning.

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32 i Saturday, September 5, 2015

Gov’t stopped supporting terror group to avoid terror tag Pakistan

backed away from supporting Harakat-ul-Ansar terror group which it used as a proxy against India in the late 90s fearing that its backing would land it on the US list of “State Sponsors of Terrorism”, according to recently declassified CIA documents.

In its report of August 1996, the CIA acknowledges the role played by the Harakatul-Ansar (HUA) in a number of terrorist attacks inside Kashmir and other parts of India including the May 1996 blasts in Lajpat Nagar market in Delhi. Referring to some diplomatic reports, CIA said the Pakistan’s spy agency ISI provided “at least USD 30,000 - an possibly as much as USD 60,000 - per month” to HUA. A redacted version of the report ‘Harakat ul-Ansar: Increasing Threat to Western and Pakistani Interests’ was posted by the CIA on its website in June under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which is similar to India’s Right to Information Act.

US drone kills six suspected militants A unmanned US drone aircraft killed at least six suspected militants and wounded four others on Tuesday in a remote area of northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border, officials said. Pakistani security officials and tribal sources said attackers hit an suspected militant compound in Dattakhel, a village in North Waziristan, near the Afghan border. “The drone fired two missiles and struck a house which was believed to be in use of the foreign militants,” a local tribal leader said. He asked not to be identified for security reasons. American drone strikes have targeted al Qaeda and other Islamist militants in Pakistan’s northwestern border region for years.

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Former military ruler Musharraf could be back as head of his new party

ormer military dictator Pervez Musharraf could stage a political comeback as head of a new party combining all factions of the Muslim League except the ruling PML-N of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, ahead of local body elections.

Efforts have been intensified to form the party - United Muslim League - after uniting all factions of Muslim League except Sharif ’s PML-N. PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain yesterday held a meeting with 72-year-old Musharraf, head of All Pakistan Muslim League at his residence in Karachi and agreed to merge all factions except PML-N to form a “new look party”.

“I met with General Musharraf, PML-Functional chief Pir Pagara Sibghatullah Shah Rashidi and former Sindh chief minister

S

Author of the Constitution passed away

enior advocate of Supreme Court, former law minister and son of former Chief Minister of Sindh. A.H. Pirzada died in London hospital. He was one of the premier lawyers of Pakistan and the author of 1973’s new Constitution.

Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, a lawmaker and legal expert was alos one of the

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Syed Ghaus Ali Shah, who was once a close aide of Nawaz Sharif. They all are unanimous on formation of the United Muslim League,” Hussain told reporters. He said efforts are also on to take all those Muslim League leaders and workers on board who are not happy with the policies of the Sharif brothers - Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif.

The new party is likely to be formed before local body elections scheduled to be held by the end of the year.

There has been a feeling in all Muslim League factions except PML-N, that they should be united and form a new political force to challenge the PML-N and Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. They believe that under Musharraf ’s leadership all the Muslim League factions can perform well.

A.H. Pirzada

founding members of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), a democratic reformer, educationist and aide to former Prime Minister Z.A.Bhutto.

A.H. Pirzada also represented Bhutto’s murder case in court. Pirzada died on Sep 1st 2015 in Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, west of London.

First ever MPhil degree in Hindi awarded

or the first time in Pakistan’s history, a university has awarded an M.Phil degree in Hindi. Military-run National University of Modern Languages (NUML) here has become the first Pakistani university to award the degree. NUML student Shahin Zafar is the first student from a Pakistani university to receive an M.Phil degree in Hindi. Her

thesis, titled ‘Swatantryottra Hindi Upanyason Mein NasriChittran (1947-2000)’ was supervised by Professor Iftikhar Husain Arif and endorsed by the Higher Education Commission, Dawn News reported.

A university spokesperson was quoted as saying that due to dearth of Hindi experts in Pakistan, Zafar’s thesis was evaluated by two experts from India’s Aligarh Muslim University.

To keep China happy, Pakistan says it killed “almost all’’ Uighur Islamic militants Almost all members of the Uighur militant group the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) have been eliminated from Pakistan, the country’s president said on Wednesday during a visit to Beijing. China blames violent unrest in its far western region of Xinjiang on Islamist separatist groups like ETIM, who it says want to set up an independent state called East Turkestan and have bases in countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan. Many foreign experts, however, have questioned whether ETIM exists as the coherent group China claims it is. Meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Great Hall of the People, Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain said a recent anti-terror operation codenamed Zarb-e-Azb “has been successful in eradicating the terrorism from our country”.

“It has also been very helpful in eliminating the ETIM element from our country and I think almost all the ETIM people in our country have been eliminated. Maybe, if they are there, there should be very few,” Hussain said.

China and Pakistan are “iron brothers” and always help each other “with great zeal”, he added. Hussain is in China to attend a military parade marking the 70th end of World War Two in Asia.

Hundreds have died in violence in Xinjiang in the past few years, blamed

by Beijing on the militants. Rights groups say the real cause of the unrest is Chinese restrictions on the Islamic faith and culture of the Uighur people who call the region home.

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Fiat Chrysler-GM merger would lead to

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‘cataclysmic changes,’ but not in Canada

ergio Marchionne, the tenacious CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, is utterly convinced that a merger with General Motors Co. is in the best financial interests of both companies. If his plan ever comes to fruition it will undoubtedly mean job cuts and plant closures around the world, but it appears that little would change in Canada as the country’s shrinking auto sector continues to be buffeted by headwinds largely outside its control.

Marchionne fired another salvo in his determined push for auto-industry consolidation over the weekend, telling Automotive News that the logic of a tie-up between FCA and GM is “irrefutable.”

“We’re not talking about marginal improvement in margins. We’re talking about cataclysmic changes in performance, just huge,” he was quoted as saying.

“I’ve gone through product by product, plant by plant, area by area, and I’ve analyzed them all.”

He added that he made some “arbitrary” assumptions about which platforms and engines would survive a merger and came to the conclusion that the combined automaker would make US$28 billion to US$30 billion a year in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. (By comparison, FCA made 3.2 billion euros, or US$3.6 billion at current exchange rates, in 2014, while GM made US$6.5 billion.)

The improved profitability would result from cuts to overlapping products and other business areas, implying that a merger between FCA and GM would result in significant job cuts.

GM has dismissed the idea more than

once, and Marchionne told Automotive News that he’s never even met CEO Mary Barra, but he’s not letting that stop him.

“As long as he’s there, anything he wants is a possibility,” said Tony Faria, co-director of the University of Windsor’s Office of Automotive and Vehicle Research.

“I would give Sergio a chance to pull off anything that he really wants. He’s persistent and persuasive.” In Canada, the two companies employ about 20,000 people and operate six plants in southern Ontario, and Faria said this is unlike to change — at least not as a direct result of a merger. Other factors are far more likely to have an impact on the future of Canada’s auto sector, including labour negotiations scheduled for next year and growing competition for investment from Mexico. “I think the investment decisions for Canada will be made in advance of any hook-up — if a hook-up ever does occur — between General Motors and Fiat Chrysler,” Faria said. It’s also unlikely that a merger would affect labour relations in Canada, said Jerry Dias, president of Unifor, the union that represents Canadian blue-collar workers at the Detroit Three.

“Regardless of if there’s one less company, it’s not going to change the optics of what has to be accomplished,” Dias said.

“They will continue to try to whipsaw Canada against the United States and the United States against Canada, and they’ll continue to try to whipsaw us with Mexican labour rates … so I don’t see it changing the dynamics.” It’s a similar story on the retail side. Michael Hatch, chief economist at the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association, said dealership groups like AutoCanada Inc. will continue to consolidate the industry with or without a GM-FCA merger.

Saturday, September 5, 2015 i 33

Canadian auto sales stay strong in August

General Motors sees 12% jump, while Fiat Chrysler edges up 0.4%

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ew vehicle sales in Canada totalled 175,512 in August, up 2.2 per cent from 171,703 a year ago, extending a run of record sales fuelled mainly by light trucks.

According to industry sales numbers compiled by DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, light truck sales totalled 110,890 for August, up 10 per cent from 100,764 in August 2014. The gain in trucks wiped out the fall in car sales, which slipped to 64,622, down eight per cent from 70,939 a year ago. General Motors Co.’s Canadian sales jumped 12 per cent in August and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s edged up 0.4 per cent, while Ford sales slowed five per cent from the previous year. The mixed results from the biggest automakers reflected the usual slowdown in sales in the summer, when people are on vacation, albeit in a year when demand for new vehicles is strong. GM’s truck sales jumped 14.6 per cent and its car sales were up 3.2 per cent for a total of 24,653 vehicles sold in Canada, up from 22,111 a year earlier.

GM appears to have thrown off the taint of its massive recall campaign and won over drivers with a new crop of trucks with the GMC’s pickup truck sales up 28 per cent for the month. Chevrolet sales for the month of August were up 12 per cent driven by sales of the Malibu, Equinox, Traverse and Suburban. Fiat Chrysler sold 26,928 cars and trucks in August, up slightly from 26,825 a year earlier. Jeep sales rose 9.2 per cent, while Dodge brand truck sales were up 10.1 per cent, reflecting the strength of the truck segment. FCA’s Chrysler’s total car sales dropped 19 per cent to 2,036 vehicles.

Ford sold 26,581 cars and trucks in August, a 5 per cent decrease from 27,988 last year. But it was able to boost sales of the Canadian-built Edge by four per cent to 1,717 and the Ford Explorer by 59 per cent to 1,967. Its F-Series truck is also a winner, selling 11,206 vehicles. Toyota Canada Inc. sold 18,292 vehicles in August, a decrease of 1.1 per cent from the same period last year. However, it sold 12 per cent more TCI trucks, or 10,055 vehicles.

Jeep Cherokee SUVs part of windshield wiper recall in Canada Fiat Chrysler is recalling 206,668 Jeep Cherokee SUVs because the windshield wipers can stop working unexpectedly.

Cherokees from the 2014 model year are affected. There are 158,671 in the U.S., 18,366 in Canada and 3,582 in Mexico.

The rest were sold outside North America.

Fiat Chrysler says static buildup may occur if the wipers are used when it’s dry.

Static buildup can affect the module that powers the wipers and potentially disable them. The company says it’s not aware of any accidents or injuries related to the issue. Customers will be notified and dealers will repair the vehicles for free.

34 i Saturday, September 5, 2015

SOUTH ASIA

Bangladesh charges 5 Islamists over blogger’s murder

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ive militants of an al-Qaeda-linked Islamist group in Bangladesh were today charged with murder for hacking to death an atheist blogger who is among the four secular writers killed in brutal attacks this year. “We have submitted the chargesheet before the (Dhaka’s) chief metropolitan magistrate court on the blogger Washiqur Rahman’s killing...they all are members of (banned) Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT),” a police spokesman told reporters. He said two of the accused were now in jail to face trial in person while the three others were absconding and were to be tried in absentia unless they surrender or could be arrested. 27-year-old Rahman was hacked to death on March 30 when ABT militants attacked him with machetes.

Transgenders living near the place where the incident took place nabbed two of the killers and handed them over to police.

The two, who are in their mid 20s, were students of a madarsa in northeastern Chittagong. They later told police that their spir-

itual leader ordered them to kill the “atheist” blogger for his write-ups. Today’s development came two weeks after elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) said they arrested a Bangladeshi- origin British national and two others as suspected assassins of another two secular bloggers -- Avijit Roy and Ananta Bijoy Das -- who were killed earlier this year also by ABT militants. Roy, 45, a Bangladesh-born US citizen, was hacked to death on a street near an annual book fair venue in the capital in February this year while 33-year-old Das was killed in northeastern Sylhet in May. Another secular blogger Niloy Neel was killed earlier this month, the fourth murder of a blogger this year, after the hacking to death of Roy, Das and Rahman. The murders of secular bloggers sparked international outrage with the UN, the US and Britain expressing concern against shrinking space for free thought. Bloggers have said their slain friends wrote nothing which could hurt anyone in that way and extremists were trying to create space for themselves using religion.

Nepal fails to spend any of $4.1 billion donor money - even four months after the earthquake Two months after foreign countries and international agencies pledged $4.1 billion to help Nepal recover from its worst natural disaster, the government has yet to make arrangements to receive the money and has spent nothing on reconstruction.

The United Nations estimates almost three million survivors of twin earthquakes in April and May - around 10 percent of the

Himalayan nation’s population - need shelter, food and basic medical care, many in mountainous, hard-to-reach areas.

Govind Raj Pokharel, chief executive officer of the newly created National Reconstruction Authority, said the government was unlikely to start spending the money until October at the earliest because of delays in approving plans and concerns about starting building work in the monsoon season.

Cancer a major health risk in South Asia

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ancer is killing 1 in every 10 people in South East Asia region.

Eleven health ministers from the region and the World Health Organization are meeting in two weeks to deal with what they are calling “an important public health priority”. WHO says “it is a matter of serious concern that 72% of cancer deaths were among those aged below 70 years”.

Records show that in 2012, an estimated 1.7 million new cases and 1.2 million

deaths occurred due to cancers in the region.

WHO projects that by 2030, over 21 million people will be diagnosed and 13 million will die from cancer annually across the globe.

WHO SEARO chief Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh told TOI in an exclusive interview at the side lines of the Call to Action conference that the ministers will meet in Timor Leste to discuss increasing access to prevention, early detection and treatment of cervical cancer besides technical assistance to establish cancer surveillance and registries in Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar and Nepal.

It will also include capacity-building for palliative care in Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka and research and documentation on smokeless tobacco in high burden countries.

The countries will also discuss increasing access to quality and effective pain management and palliative care treatment including access to oral morphine. WHO said “The rising burden of cancer poses a threat to health and development in the region. Going forward, member states should take a comprehensive approach by prioritizing a continuum of prevention, early detection, treatment and palliative care services”.

A preparation paper for the meeting on September 7 says “among men, lung, colorectal and oral cancers are the most common, while breast, cervical and colorectal cancers are the leading cancers among females.

Tobacco (both smoked and smokeless) is the single most preventable cause of cancer.

In addition, other behaviour-related factors such as harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diet, overweight/obesity; environmental risk factors including air pollution and occupa-

Five protesters killed in new Nepal violence KATHMANDU: Nepali police shot dead at least four protesters and killed a fifth on Tuesday as demonstrators threw stones and petrol bombs, angry at a new planned constitution. The government and major political parties hope that the constitution, in the works for seven years, will provide much-needed political stability and bolster economic development in the Himalayan nation, which is still reeling from two devastating earthquakes that killed 8,900 people this year. Protesters in Nepal’s southern plains have been agitating for weeks against plans to divide the small area into several provinces, part of an overhaul envisaged under a federal constitution that politicians are now finalising. More than 20 people have died in protests since those plans were unveiled two weeks ago, with members of two large plains communities demanding greater autonomy under the charter.

Police official Kamal Singh Bam said police shot and killed four demonstrators in the town of Birjung in Parsa district, 60 km (40 miles) south of Kathmandu, when a police post was attacked with stones and petrol bombs. In a separate clash with police, a fifth demonstrator was killed in the neighbouring district of Bara, police official Lokendra Malla said, without giving details.

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36 i Saturday, September 5, 2015