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Cruise the car show in Port Coquitlam ERADICATING HOGWEED
TC
57 animals seized / Local candidate makes waves / Trudeau on clean Senate
FRIDAY, AUG. 14, 2015 Your community. Your stories.
TRI-CITY
NEWS Gas prices stay high despite oil’s dive Jeff Nagel BlaCk Press
SARAH PAYNE/THE TRI-CITY NEWS
Coquitlam parks resource technician Shannon Wagner said many people mistake other plants, like the Queen Anne’s Lace, for giant hogweed, which has been largely eradicated in the Tri-Cities. For more, see page 14.
CAMPAIGN 2015
election is underway, but no signs until Sept. PM an exception in the Tri-Cities Sarah PayNe
The Tri-CiTy News
Just over a week into the federal election and the signs are few and far between, and it’s going to stay that way until midSeptember. Both Coquitlam and Port
Coquitlam prohibit signs from going up until 30 days before the election, while in Port Moody, candidates can start putting them up on public property once the election is officially declared. All three cities have detailed bylaws regulating specific sign locations for public property and measures to ensure public and traffic safety. Signage size and the number permitted per
candidate at each location are also tightly controlled. John Enright, Elections Canada spokesperson, said federal laws around election signage pertain mainly to financing and reporting. “There is very little mention in the Elections Act around placement,” he said, other than ensuring public safety. see SOME, page 12
TRAINING TIME
Jr. Mounties get taste of police officer training in Coq.: page 16
Gas prices remain stubbornly high despite the latest slide in crude oil prices and infuriated Lower Mainland motorists are feeling gouged yet again. Metro Vancouver gasoline is down only slightly from $1.40 a litre a year ago, while crude has plunged more than 50% from around $98 a barrel to less than $44 as of this week. It’s as if the widely heralded era of cheap energy has bypassed B.C. But petroleum industry analysts say it all boils down to supply and demand. Crude oil accounts for less than half of the end cost of a litre of gasoline, with government taxes and refining charges the other big factors. “I wish there was a simple explanation,” said Jason Parent of the Kent Marketing Group. “There isn’t much of a relationship on a day-to-day basis between crude oil and retail gasoline.” Expecting gas to move in lockstep with crude oil is somewhat akin to expecting house prices to follow lumber prices, without recognizing scarce land or an influx of buyers might have an influence. Parent said crude and gas prices can go in different directions for different reasons, and gas prices in B.C. can diverge from what other Canadians pay — which is what’s happening now. Most of the difference between Metro Vancouver prices and the rest of the country is explained by the higher 17-cent-a-litre TransLink tax as well as B.C.’s carbon tax. Motorists are paying just over $1 in Alberta, a few cents more in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and $1.10 to $1.20 in most of Eastern Canada. see BLAME, page 13
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