August 8, 2010 Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News

Maple Ridge shelter full of cats. p10Drying up

Rainfall helped local streams. p3

A boatload of close to 200 Tamil asylum seekers from Sri Lanka is expected to reach Victoria this week and the passengers are to be housed in Maple Ridge prisons for up to four months.

The MV Sun Sea, a Thai cargo boat, was turned away from Aus-tralia in May before heading to Canada.

Wardens from Fraser Regional Correctional Centre and Alouette Correctional Centre for Women met with district offi cials last week.

“What we were told is that we have this vessel from Sri Lanka heading our way, that RCMP and Canadian Border Services would be boarding the vessel mid-week this week, that ultimately that vessel would be docked in Victo-

ria,” said Maple Ridge adminis-trator John Leeburn.

“At some point they get from Victoria to Maple Ridge.”

The district was told the 100 males on board will be sent to Fraser Regional and the 80 fe-males will go to Alouette for two to four months of processing.

“I assume if they’re able to take them, they have the space,” Lee-burn said.

This will be the second time in a year a boatload of Sri Lankan asy-lum seekers has arrived in Maple Ridge. Last October, 76 men were

taken into custody onboard the Ocean Lady ship and housed at Fraser Regional.

At a Tuesday meeting of the Meadowridge Rotary Club, for-mer Maple Ridge mayor Gordy Robson asked local Conserva-tive MP Randy Kamp why Maple Ridge prisons are being used.

Kamp did not know if all the MV Sun Sea passengers would be housed in Maple Ridge, but said: “I do know that Fraser cor-rections is gearing up for another bunch.”

More Sri Lankan migrants expected to dock in B.C. this week

THE NEWS

Prisons ready for refugees

Colleen Flanagan/THE NEWS

Going fishingEd Pierre of the Katzie First Nation sticks a commercial fishing licence on his boat before heading out on the Fraser River Tuesday. The sockeye fishery is open after three previous years of dismal returns. Sports fishing for sockeye on the Fraser River is also open, until further notice.

Lawyer calls for RCMP brass to talk

The lawyer for the family of a man who died after spending a night in a RCMP drunk tank wants the police force’s top brass to testify at a coro-ner’s inquest into his death.

Cameron Ward applied for E-di-vision deputy commissioner Gary Bass to be called as a witness on Tuesday, the fi rst day of an inquest investigating the death of Ian Alex-ander Young.

He has also requested that deputy chief coroner Norm Leibel be called.

Ward wants to know if recom-mendations from other coroner’s inquests have been followed.

“It is not at all uncommon for peo-ple who are intoxicated to die while in custody of the RCMP,” Ward told the inquest.

Young was taken into police custody Oct. 17, 2008 after a passerby found him lying on the side of the road in Hammond, seemingly intoxicated.

Several hours later, during regular cell checks at Ridge Meadows RCMP detachment, offi cers found the man breathing, but non-responsive.

See Inquest, p3See Prisons, p13

Opinion 6

Letters 7

Looking Back 17

Community Calendar 18

Arts&life 25

Sports 31

Classifi eds 35

Index

Wednesday, August 11, 2010 · Serving Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows · est. 1978 · 604-467-1122 · 50¢www.mapleridgenews.com

Sidewalk art

Downtown gets fourmosaics

p15

Maple Ridge man died afterspending a night in Ridge Meadows drunk tank

b y C h r i s t i n e Ly o ncontributor

Contributed

Ian Young was described as “mellow and easy going,” by witness.

b y M o n i s h a M a r t i n sstaff repor ter

Last weekend’s rainfall was re-ceived with relief at the Bell-Ir-ving Hatchery, which experienced its driest month on record in July with just 2.6 millimetres of rain.

But thanks to the 20 mm record-ed on Aug. 3 and 6, and lots more over the weekend, the fi sh at the hatchery in Kanaka Creek Region-al Park are doing well.

“They’re holding their own. We’ve got about 24,000 coho rear-ing away quite merrily right now,” said Ross Davies, of the Kanaka Education and Environmental Partnership Society.

He explained that minimal rain-fall can be a potential threat to the hatchery’s fi sh stocks.

“Obviously it puts stress on par-ticularly the coho salmon that rear for the entire year in fresh water.

“It reduces the size of their avail-able habitat,” he said.

“The situation isn’t quite as drastic as it was last year because we haven’t had as much heat,” he

added. The hatchery received 42 mm of rain in July 2009, but tem-peratures soared above 35 C near the end of the month. A large num-ber of juvenile coho died when the temperature in the creek rose to 25 C.

Salmon fry were swimming into tiny groundwater tributaries to seek out cooler water and Davies said the same thing has been hap-pening this year, to a lesser ex-tent.

And dry weather is dangerous for plants as well as fi sh.

Davies said climate change has resulted in a long drought each summer which puts stress on tree species.

Hemlock trees, for example, can’t reach down into the ground-water during prolonged periods of dry weather.

In recent days, temperatures have not surged into the high 20s and Davies said oxygen levels in

the water have been good. The recent rainfall also means

that, as of Monday, the fi re hazard in the region has been downgrad-ed from extreme to low-moderate.

“The fi ne fuel all got wet obvi-ously on the weekend, but two or three days of hot weather and we’re going to be right back to a high rating again,” Davies warned.

When the weather is dry, there’s little hatchery staff can do but

wait for rain. In extreme weather conditions, the fi nal resort is to release the fi sh into the Kanaka River, but the hatchery has never had to do that.

Summer droughts are a trend though, Davies said.

“It’s just a sign of the times and we’re seeing creeks go subsurface that have never done it before,” he said.

Hennipen Creek near Davies’ home has dried up for the second time in three years after more than two decades of his monitor-ing it.

And last weekend’s rain wasn’t enough to get Hennipen flowing.

“It would take about probably a week of a nice cold Pacifi c weather pattern to get things going again,” Davies said, explaining the creek’s trout have likely been affected.

“Some of them would have found their way into a few standing pools, but undoubtedly some of them would have died too.”

Meanwhile, Maple Ridge’s Allco Fish Hatchery hasn’t experienced the same dry-weather stress thanks to B.C. Hydro’s Alouette reservoir dam.

“We always have a constant sup-ply of water coming out of the dam, so we might not notice it as much,” said Abby Cruickshank, of the Alouette River Management Society.

“That would sort of maintain a bit more of a steady fl ow, but defi -nitely it’s been a dry July for us as well,” Cruickshank said.

She said last month’s dry weath-er doesn’t seem to have damaged fi sh stocks.

In fact, Allco hatchery’s sockeye population is better than it was last year.

Summer heat stresses local streams

The 54-year-old was transported to Ridge Meadows Hospital, where doctors determined he needed medical intervention.

The man was then rushed to Royal Columbian Hospital, where he underwent surgery.

Young died two days later in hos-pital from a head injury.

Ward, who is acting as counsel for Young’s wife Karen, submitted two briefs as part of his applica-tion that included 15 verdicts from inquests investigating deaths in police custody from 1998 to 2008.

“For literally decades, coro-ner’s inquests have been held into deaths in police drunk tanks,” said Ward.

“It is not clear that these recom-mendations have been adopted, if they had perhaps we would not be here.”

Ward pointed to recommenda-tions made during previous in-quests urging more frequent cells checks and better communication between paramedics and RCMP.

He said evidence to be present-ed at Young’s inquest will show he didn’t move a muscle for eight hours.

“It is very much in the public’s interest, and in the juries’ inter-est, to know what happened with prior recommendations,” Ward said.

“For that reason, I think the wit-nesses should attend.”


Ross Davies says climate change is creating droughts each summer, making it tough for trees, such as hemlock, to get water.

Man rushed to hospital Witness saw Young on roadside

A week of cool, wet weather helped in driest July ever


“We’re seeing creeks go subsurface that have never done it before.” Ross Davies,KEEPS

A coroner’s inquest into the death of 54-year-old Maple Ridge man heard he had been drinking at his neighbourhood pub a short while before he was found lying on the side of the road.

A bartender and server from By Bailey’s Pub in Hammond tes-tifi ed Young was a regular cus-tomer who had a preference for bottles of Molson Canadian.

“He was a very mellow man, easy going,” said Natalie Russell, a bartender who Young greeted on his way out of the pub.

Server Kaitlan Allan said Young was already in the pub when she

began her shift at 7 p.m. on Oct. 17, 2008.

She served him two beers and saw him join friends at a nearby table.

Allan said Young appeared “normal”, not intoxicated.

“I just remember him being a little quieter than usual.”

Allan believed Young left the pub about two hours after she began her shift, around 9 p.m.

He was found around 10 p.m. by a passerby, Adam Tuck, who described him as being “half way on the road and sidewalk.”

Tuck called 911 as he believed Young was hurt.

“There was something that was wrong. I wasn’t sure whether he was drunk or hurt,” Tuck told the inquest. He described Young

as limp and said he answered questions after a few seconds de-lay, relaying replies in disjointed sentences.

Tuck recalls Young told him: “Head smacked pavement.”

“It was broken sentences.”Tuck told the inquest he saw a

wet spot, the size of a toonie, on the back of Young’s head after paramedics sat him on the bum-per of an ambulance.

Young refused treatment at a hospital and was instead trans-ported to a RCMP drunk tank around 10:30 p.m.

He was found unresponsive in the jail cell the next morning and rushed to hospital.

He died two days later on Oct. 19, 2008 after surgery.

Inquest from Front b y M o n i s h a M a r t i n sstaff repor ter

The new owner of Northumberland Court is drawing up plans for a 29-unit townhouse complex on the prop-erty.

Ghalib Rawji expects to have preliminary drawings complete by

the end of the month to present to the District of Maple Ridge.

“We felt that this was more fi tting for the neighbourhood, rather than overly densify-ing it,” said Rawji, who had originally hoped to build a fi ve- or six-storey structure.

“We want to be the catalyst for something positive in the neigh-bourhood.”

The site will have to be rezoned to increase the density, a process which will take between six to eight months.

Meanwhile, the site is fenced, buildings are boarded up and a caretaker remains in

one unit at the troubled property at the foot of Fraser Street.

Rawji and his part-ners are adept at trans-forming run-down properties.

He recently fi xed up and sold the Backpack-er’s Hotel on Vancou-ver’s Downtown East-side to B.C. Housing and was also involved in the cleanup of the Sa-voy Hotel Pub on Hast-ing Street.

He met with neigh-bours last week to ap-prise them of his plans.

He said the property will remain boarded up and a caretaker will remain on site until all the buildings are torn

down. “It sends the message to all the neg-ative elements in the area,” he added.

Maple Ridge’s Mayor Ernie Daykin can’t wait for the new de-velopment, especially a name change for the complex.

“Everybody wants the thing gone,” said Daykin. ”It has an ugly cloud over it. We’ve got to think of another name, like South Haney Mews.”

Daykin added the district will work with Rawji to have construc-tion start as soon as possible.

“We can’t cut corners either.”

Rezoning though could take months

Townhomes planned for former ghetto


The long troubled Northumberland Court on Fraser Street awaits new plans.


An alert neighbour foiled a potential thief following a break-in to a Maple Ridge school on Sunday.

The 28-year-old man was arrested by police around 11:25 p.m. after the neighbour heard “odd noises” in a por-table classroom at the Arthur Peake Continu-ing Learning Centre, in the 23100-block of 116th Avenue.

Ridge Meadows RCMP Supt. Dave Walsh said officers found the man hiding underneath the por-table classroom.

He was released with a court date set for Oc-tober.

Cyclist injuredA cyclist was taken

to hospital with cuts and bruises Sunday after she crashed into a car.

The 20-year-old was riding in 21700-block of 128th Avenue when she collided with the car

around 7:30 p.m.Police said the car

not traveling too fast, which lessened the se-verity of the impact.

The cyclist injured her face, hands and a knee, but is expected to make a full recov-ery.

Vandals soughtRidge Meadows

RCMP are looking for suspects who vandal-ized a car early Sun-day.

Rocks were thrown at the car’s windows sometime between 1 a.m. and 9 a.m.

The vehicle was parked in the 11700- block of 236th Street in Maple Ridge.

Generator stolenA large, expensive

generator was stolen from a gravel pit in Maple Ridge over the weekend.

Police said thieves cut through a chain link fence on Jackson Road Saturday night or early Sunday.

COPs catch vandalCitizens on Patrol

helped police arrest a

woman who smashed a window of a business early Sunday in Maple Ridge.

The RCMP volun-teer group saw the 42-year-old around 4 a.m. acting strangely in the 22300-block of Lougheed Highway.

As they watched, the woman picked up a rock and threw it at the Fuller Watson store, breaking a win-dow.

Ridge Meadows RCMP were called and arrested the woman a short dis-tance away.

She was released from police custody but will appear in court in October on the mischief charges.

Tools stolenThieves made off

with $3,000 in tools after breaking into a shed early Saturday in Pitt Meadows.

Police believe the break-in at a property in the 19800-block of Wildwood Crescent happened between midnight and 8 a.m.

Restaurant B&EA computer monitor

was stolen during a break-in early Friday in Maple Ridge.

Police found a glass patio door at the Red Robin Restaurant on the Lougheed High-way at 227th Street smashed when they responded to an alarm around 6:20 a.m.

No one was found in-side the restaurant.

Prohibited driverA Maple Ridge man

faces a charge of driv-ing while prohibited after he was found riding a scooter last week.

A RCMP officer spotted the man in the 23200 -block of Lougheed Highway and pulled him over.

Supt. Dave Walsh said the man is known to police.

He had his driving privileges suspended by the motor vehicle branch in January and is not supposed to op-erate a motor vehicle until 2012.

The scooter, which does not belong to the man, was towed away.

Police nab man attempting break-inNeighbours heard odd noises from school on 116th

THE NEWS/opinion

Every time an FCUK ad crosses my view, I shudder and move along.

It’s not the dyslexic rendering of the most beautifully versatile profanity that’s bothersome –so much as that stealing the other f-word’s thunder gets clothing retailer French Con-nection heaps more business than deserved.

All a part of the new way forward, really.

Instead of shilling a solid product in a clever manner, marketers pique interest by leaning heavily on cliché, innuendo and a dash of profanity. Even book titles are chockablock with what was once contraband.

For example, this year’s contribu-tion to the canon of cantankerous men homages is titled: S--- My Dad Says.

The book, soon to be a movie, is akin to an Archie Bunker-esque tale, but Edith would never have allowed Archie’s bon mots to be so heavily peppered with expletives.

Then again, meat-head isn’t quite as avant garde today as it was in the ’70s.

With all that in mind, it’s no won-

der that the Canadian lexicon has gone from polite to profane in recent decades.

That’s right.Eh, may not be the

international password for public acceptance much longer.

Well, not unless it’s following that versa-

tile word I mentioned earlier.

Canadians, it seems, swear more often than

Americans and the British when talk-ing to friends.

According to an online Angus Reid poll of 1,012 Canadian, 1,013 American and 1,992 British adults, 27 per cent of Canadian respondents, 27 per cent of British respondents and 26 per cent of Americans say they frequently hear their friends swear during the course of a regular day.

And 36 per cent of Canadians, ver-sus 24 per cent of Britons and 18 per cent of Americans, reported that co-

workers swore on a regular basis.Best of all, 56 per cent of Canadi-

ans freely admit they frequently or occasionally swear when talking to friends, whereas only 51 per cent of Britons and 46 per cent of Yanks owned up to the same thing.

So you don’t paint me a prude, I’ll admit to being a fan of swearing cre-atively, liberally and comically.

If it weren’t for the guilty pleasure of lobbing curse words at drivers who don’t know how to use their signal lights in this city, I may have fallen victim to a bout of hara kiri.

That said, there’s a big difference between liking the feeling of four-letter-words pouring from my own mouth, and wanting to be part of a nation of potty-mouths.

So, all I can say to that is, “What the eff, Canada?

“Get some class, please and thank-you.”

Kathy Michaels is a staff reporter for Black Press’s Kelowna Capital News. She attended high school in Maple Ridge.

Hosers, watch your language, eh

If sockeye are back, what about inquiry?

Ingrid RiceNews Views

Published and printed by Black Press at 22328 – 119th Avenue, Maple Ridge, B.C., V2X 2Z3

Question of theweek:

Will you visit downtown Maple Ridge once the

street renovations are complete?

Yes: 42% – No: 58%

This week’s question: Should smoking be banned from all public

spaces, including parks?

@ Online poll: cast your vote at www.mapleridgenews.com, or e-mail your vote and comments to [email protected]

To make the tough job of managing and pro-tecting our salmon resource even more confus-ing, sockeye salmon seem to be making a come-back in the very summer when the federally appointed Cohen Commission is studying their disappearance.

So we ask the question, is the commission still worthwhile if this year turns out to be a strong sockeye year, showing that their death has been greatly exaggerated?

The answer is – the inquiry should proceed ag-gressively and thoroughly to determine the rea-sons for the three previous disastrous seasons.

Then, thanks to the honest testimony from all involved, combined with rigourous research, perhaps some answers can be found to explain why sockeye vanished one year – then returned the next.

It’s never easy to be conclusive about natural cycles.

But it is easy to draw conclusions after the fact, such as the over-fi shing that destroyed the At-lantic cod.

We cannot make the same mistake with B.C.’s iconic fi sh, the sockeye salmon.

The species means too much to all British Columbians – from the First Nations who fi rst harvested them, to the resort and sports fi sh-ing industry that shares them with visitors from around the world, to the severely diminished commercial fi shery – all groups agree on pro-tecting the resource.

There may be differences in how that’s achieved, but one message from all groups is clear: Do what’s necessary to save the sockeye.

– The NewsTell us what you think @ www.mapleridgenews.com

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Editorial

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Ser ving Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows since 1978

THE NEWS

My ViewKathy Michaels

Letters to the editor should be exclusive to The News and address topics of interest to residents of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. Include full name and address, as well as daytime phone number for verification. Keep letters to 500 words or less. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

@ E-mail letters to [email protected].

Letters welcome

EDITOR, THE NEWS:Much media attention has

been given recently to the HST and the debate over the government’s decision to make fi lling out the long form of the federal census voluntary.

It is encouraging to see how many people have ac-tively taken part in grass-root democracy.

It’s even more astonish-ing that, in a time of fi scal restraint and austerity, the Conservative government has spent taxpayers’ money to the tune of $9 billion for new fi ghter jets and $16 billion for maintenance of these jets.

The contract for the jets is the biggest single purchase in Canadian history without a competing bid.

Another $9 billion of tax-payer money has been allot-ted for new prisons. Where are the protests?

Let’s look at what $34 bil-lion could have done for the economy, the environment and for social and health programs:

Finance Minister Jim Fla-herty tabled a budget for Canada that failed to invest signifi cantly in renewable energy like solar energy, wind energy, hydrogen and fuel-cell technologies, geothermal, water power, green job training etc., even though these technologies create jobs, increase GDP and create benefi ts for the environment.

In 2010, the U.S. will out-spend Canada nearly 18 to 1, per capita, on renew-able energy programs, and more than eight to one on clean-energy programs and projects, according to the Pembina Institute’s analysis of Canadian and American budget documents.

Canada’s military spend-ing in 2009 of $21 billion is the sixth highest of the NATO members, while the Department of Environ-ment only got a measly $1.1 billion.

Canada has no new pro-grams in the 2010 budget for public transit and ve-hicle effi ciency. Living in the Fraser Valley an extra billion dollars would do

wonders for extending the SkyTrain to Mission or even to Chilliwack.

The U.S. and Canada com-pete for clean-energy jobs

and capital investments, and the relative levels of government investment and support for clean energy will play a part in dictating where clean energy invest-ments happen.

Investing in low- and zero-carbon energy now will pos-itively impact the country’s relative productivity and

competitiveness as North America moves to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

We will be left behind.On the health and social

side, we all know how long a wait is for an MRI. At the cost of between $1 million and $3 million for a top ma-chine, we could have fi ve or six times as many machines instead of war planes. (Can-ada has now approximately 222 MRIs).

Canadian statistics show, that Canada has the highest incarceration rates among the western industrialized countries.

It costs the taxpayer up to $88,000 per year to keep a male offender in federal prison.

What could that funding, plus $25 billion spent on fi ghter jets and new pris-ons, do for education, youth programs, child-care facili-ties and programs, drug and alcohol treatment centres,

job creation and affordable housing to prevent more crime?

Contrary to what the Con-servative government pos-tulates, the crime rate has dropped.

Taxes are the contribu-tions of each of us entrusted to a government to spend wisely for the common good and well-being of its citi-zens.

Is this the way we want our money spent?

On war planes and pris-ons?

Poverty and homelessness is on the rise, medical needs are being neglected, and the effects of climate change are going to catch up with us faster than we may think.

Grass roots democracy works, as we have seen. Now, make it work for the things that really count – es-pecially at the next poll.

MARIA RAYNOLDS

MAPLE RIDGE

EDITOR, THE NEWS:Wayne Clark asks, “What happens when an overwhelm-

ing force meets an immovable object? (Letters, Aug. 6)When the overwhelming force is anarchy, and the im-

movable object is an elected government with, yes a man-date, then let democracy prevail.

Winston Churchill said, “ Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”

CHERRYL KATNICH

MAPLE RIDGE

EDITOR, THE NEWS:Would people who don’t think a fi refi ghter is worth the

pay think differently if it was their loved one saved by a fi refi ghter?

Firefi ghters put their lives at risk every time they’re called out.

Not only do they put out fi res, what about the chemicals toxins they’re exposed to?

Firefighters do charity work for their communities, they help seniors and children, ensure apartment buildings, seniors’ centres, rec centres and schools are safe.

Do you really think they would rather be sleeping in the fi re hall than being at home with their families?

What about the images of burnt, hurt, screaming scared people they see and cannot always save?

Do you think they just forget about it?They could not pay me enough to do what they do.I praise them and thank God we have brave men and

women do what they do.I would rather see my tax money going to someone who

saves lives, rather than a library, art gallery or fi xing up 224th Street

So, do I think fi refi ghters are worth my tax money?Darn right, times two.

KELLY HENSENS

MAPLE RIDGE

P.S. I am not married to a fi refi ghter.

Democracy the worst form of gov’t. …

Tories wasting our money

Way to go boys, for showing how to behave

Rather pay fi refi ghters than spend on library

EDITOR, THE NEWS:My friend and I went for a

walk around the Pitt Mead-ows elementary school grounds last night (Wednes-day, Aug. 4).

At one end of the fi eld were about eight to 10 teens play-ing football. You couldn’t

have asked for a greater bunch of boys. They were obviously enjoying them-selves immensely.

The whole time that we were there we didn’t hear one swear word and we didn’t hear one put-down.

Even when one of the boys

obviously had to leave, he waved his good-byes and a couple of guys just yelled “see you” – no negative comments about having to leave.

I thought that when we often hear everything nega-tive about teens someone

ought to step up and let them know when they are just being great kids. Kudos to all of you.

You did yourselves proud, your parents proud and all your peers proud.

KARIN BREUER

PITT MEADOWS

THE NEWS/files

Solar panels, such as those on Maple Ridge leisure centre, are a rare sight in Canada.

THE NEWS/letters

[email protected]

Do we need mass immigration?From: ACSial, posted on www.mapleridgenews.com.Re: People riled about Liberal MP’s pension bill (The News, Aug. 6).

For years, the story was that we ‘needed’ mass immigration to support Old Age Security and medicare ... and we ended up with this actuarial armageddon bill, plus tens of thousands of elderly immigrants with medical complications and other issues.They said we ‘needed’ mass immigration to fill jobs ... but they bulk-imported a quarter million people during a recession when tens of thousands of Canadians lost their jobs. Finally, the facade’s fallen off.

From: yajra, posted on www.mapleridgenews.com.If it ain’t broke don’t fix it!The reason I quit voting Liberal, is their elitist, know-it-all at-titude. Actually, MP Ruby Dhalla could probably pay her hired help less, if she got this through the mill.

“Finance Minister Jim Flaherty … has failed to invest significantly in solar energy, wind energy …”

Contrary to a Maple Ridge resolution op-posing a garbage in-cinerator, Mayor Ernie Daykin cast his vote July 30 in favour of the motion that will see Metro Vancouver still consider burning as an one of the options for disposing of garbage.

Daykin was one of the Metro Vancouver board members – along with Pitt Meadows Mayor Don MacLean – who voted for a solid waste plan that would include that option, ei-ther within or outside the Lower Mainland, as one of many to be considered.

That has Coun. Craig Speirs wondering why the Maple Ridge mayor would contradict a pre-vious council resolu-tion in which it opposed any waste plan that in-cluded burn-ing garbage as an option. Council said at its July 12 meeting, “that a plant that includes a mass burn incineration facility not be support-ed.”

For Speirs, “It wasn’t the direction we asked.”

The incineration op-tion would produce electricity from the garbage that can’t be recycled, but is opposed in the Fraser Valley be-cause of fears about air quality.

Speirs suggested perhaps the mayor got caught up in the mo-ment and voted for the

plan. With Maple Ridge having four out of a total of 112 votes, the close vote would have been even closer and could have been 59-53 in stead of 63-49.

“But on the face of it, he went against coun-cil’s resolu-tion, as far as I can tell.”

It’s a com-plicated issue, however, said the mayor.

The motion he eventually s u p p o r t e d at Metro Va n c o u v e r included in-cineration as one of several waste-to-energy techniques that didn’t involve burning – such as gasifi cation, anero-bic digesting, industrial burning of refuse, and composting.

“The reason I sup-ported the alternative is there is a variety of options in there, albeit incineration is one.”

Daykin will explain his actions at a future council meeting, but

p o i n t e d out that l e g a l l y , the mayor d o e s n ’ t have to f o l l o w council’s w i s h e s a n d s h o u l d consider the re-

gion’s interests when voting at the Metro Vancouver table.

“The reason I support this is that No. 1, there’s a range of technologies to consider. We need a plan to go forward to the minister (Environ-ment Minister Barry Penner). Penner then can review the plan and make any changes he wants.”

As far the emissions from an incinerator clogging up the Fraser Valley air shed, Daykin said there are virtu-ally no emissions from the existing waste in-cinerator in Burnaby,

although it is possible that 20 years from now, new t e c h n o l o g y will be able to measure smaller emis-sions.

“The bot-tom line is, what do we do with the crap?” he asked.

To keep trucking the trash and burying it in the Cache Creek land-fi ll will cost $1.2 to $1.5 billion over the next 25 years, while tipping fees there could double, he pointed out.

Penner could approve the plan as presented by Metro without changes, make changes himself and then approve the amended plan or fl ag defi ciencies in the plan and send it back for Metro to amend and re-submit.

If the province ap-proves the new Inte-grated Solid Waste and Resource Management plan, Metro Vancouver will issue request for proposals and then de-cide on the location and type of technology for handling the remaining waste.

Daykin added that whatever technology is considered, it will go through a peer-review process before a fi nal decision is made.

The new solid waste plan boosts the per cent of garbage that’s recycled from the cur-rent 55 per cent to 70 per cent by 2015 and 80 per cent by 2020.

Option included other ways of disposal

Mayor votes for garbage burning despite council

Daykin

b y P h i l M e l n y c h u kstaff repor ter

“There is a variety

of options in there,

albeit incineration

is one” Ernie DaykinMaple Ridge mayor

The colourful street banners created to cel-ebrate the Olympics have been transformed into shopping bags.

Instead of sending the 84 nylon signs to a land-fi ll, executive-director of Maple Ridge’s Down-town Business Improve-ment Association, Ineke Boekhorst, decided to convert them into 200 re-useable bags.

They were sewed to-gether, inexpensively, by inmates at the Alou-ette Correctional Cen-tre for Women.

“They made the bags with a lot of pride,” said Boekhorst.

“Most of them had never sewn before.”

Hand-painted by stu-dents from Maple Ridge

and Pitt Meadows, the banners adorned the streets before and dur-ing the Olympic Games.

“This green initiative even goes one step fur-ther” said Boekhorst.

“All proceeds from the sale of these shop-ping bags will be used for development of new green spaces in Down-town Maple Ridge.”

The bags come in many different colours and sizes. Small bags re-tail for $6 and large bags

for $8. You can buy two for $15 or three for $20.

The bags are avail-able at the BIA offi ce at 22362 Lougheed High-way and will be sold at the BIA’s Summer Markets on Aug. 28 and Sept. 25.

Green bagsRecycling the banners

saved:• 301 kg (663 lb) of ny-

lon from going to the landfi ll

2010 Olympic banners turn into bagsWomen inmates at Alouette prisonprovided the labour


Ineke Boekhorst got the idea of turning banners into shopping bags.


SPCA shelters around the province are in ur-gent need of perma-nent homes for cats and kittens.

The non-profi t soci-ety currently has 3,100 cats and kittens in its network of shelters and foster homes.

But many facilities have reached capacity and are struggling to accommodate addition-al animals.

In Maple Ridge, the shelter has 41 cats – 11 more than its capacity of 30.

Shelter manager Mark Vosper said they’ve been receiv-ing calls from people everyday who’ve found abandoned or missing cats and want to drop them off.

He’s been asking people to hold on to the felines until space frees up.

Vosper said the sud-den increase in cats at the shelter often hap-pens in summer, when people are on vacation.

“The cat goes miss-ing and it ends up with us.”

The SPCA recom-mends people spay and neuter their cats.

To ensure their safe

return if lost, put a visible tag around the cat’s neck that includes the cat’s name and a phone number or use a permanent form of ID such as an ear tattoo or microchip.

“Now is the height of kitten season, which is our busiest time of year,” says Mark Takhar, assistant gen-eral manager of opera-tions for the B.C. SPCA.

“We’re asking people to be patient until space becomes available.”

Takhar says most guardians are under-standing when told that many shelters are not accepting cats.

“They know they are ultimately responsible for their animal and in most situations could have done something to prevent having to give it up – for example,

spaying and neutering would have prevented an unwanted litter.”

As much as it’s a busy time of year for SPCA staff, volunteers and the society’s foster homes, it’s also the best time of year for animal lovers to adopt a cat or kitten, Takhar says.

“We have cats and kit-tens of every colour, size, age, breed and personal-ity.”

SPCA needs homes for thousands of straysRidge shelter is above capacity


Maple Ridge SPCA manager Mark Vosper, holds Mittens, who had to have its eye removed after it turned up at the SPCA, possibly from being run over by a car. Mittens is not good with other cats, nor with kids.


He said anybody who lands on Canadian soil must be treated accord-ing to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but added that new federal legislation will make it more diffi cult for refugees to abuse Canada’s asylum sys-tem. Currently, he said it can take up to 10 years to deal with one refugee claim.

“These long delays en-courage people to come abuse that system and stick around for as long as they can,” he said.

The Balanced Refugee Reform Act will eventu-ally help deal with that problem, he said.

“Unfortunately, al-though it did pass in June, it won’t be in place for about another six months and so it prob-ably won’t help us with this next boatload.”

Kamp believes the 76 men who arrived last October have all been released from Maple Ridge prisons and are awaiting refugee claim hearings.

The Canadian Tamil Congress, a Toronto-based non-profi t or-ganization that repre-sents Tamil Canadians, does not want people to assume the boat contains Tamil Tigers, as Sri Lankan offi cials have reported. The Ti-gers are offi cially des-ignated as a terrorist group in Canada.

“To look at the en-tire boat without even having evaluated each

person on a case-by-case basis and say that they’re an entire boat of Tamil Tigers is very speculative,” said con-gress spokesperson Manjula Selvarajah.

“The sense I get is that there’s a little over 200 people and that there are women and children on board too, which is slightly differ-ent from the situation in October when it was just men.”

She hopes the pas-sengers are treated like any other person appearing at a Cana-dian port and seeking asylum, and sent back if they are proven to be a threat to Canada.

“We’re not asking that these people be allowed into the coun-try carte blanch. What we’re saying is that they be evaluated on an individual basis which is what would be given to any other person that comes to any of our ports,” she said.

B.C. Corrections would not confi rm pas-sengers of the MV Sun Sea will be housed in Maple Ridge.

“We’re confi dent that if a boat does arrive, we can certainly ramp up to a state of readiness where we could house all those that we’re re-quired to take care of,” said spokesman Jess Gunnarson.

He added B.C. Cor-rections generally is responsible only for adults and would not typically house kids.

Last year’s arrivals have been released

News files

Women’s prison on 248th Street could take about 80 female migrants after boat docks in Victoria.

Prisons from Front

A resident along the North Alouette River is worried about the fate of the stream after a neighbouring farmer pumped from the river.

But all the farmer was trying to do was save his crop during a hot, dry summer.

“There’s very little water in the river to begin with. There are thousands of fry in there right now,” said Binder Khunkhun, whose property fronts the North Alouette.

“The rivers are going to dry out,” said Khunk-hun, whose new home is built near the river on 224th Street, down-stream from neighbour Hang Cho.

Why bother protect-ing fi sh habitat if people pump from the river? Khunkhun asked.

Cho, though, who grows radishes, bok choy, cucumbers and chives for a Korean market in Vancouver, just wanted to keep his crop alive.

He said he only pumped for one day and said next year he will apply for a licence.

He added that he wants to produce food locally, rather than having the country im-port it from the U.S.

In late July, a two-inch hose was in the river at the east end of Cho’s property, at 13261 – 224th St., although no pump was attached.

According to the Ministry of Environ-ment, there are no wa-ter licences issued for Cho’s property and he is required to have one if using river water for irrigation.

Khunkhun says in-stead, farmers in the area north of 132nd Av-enue should drill wells rather than pump from the river. The high wa-ter table makes it easy to use well water for

farming, he said.Meanwhile, the At-

torney General minis-try still hasn’t decided whether to recommend charges against Golden Eagle Group after it admitted installing a 45-centimetre-wide in-take pipe and pumping about 100,000 litres of water from the North Alouette without a li-cence, last summer.

The company said it needed the water to keep alive 200 acres of young cranberry bushes.

After investigating from June to December last year, the fi le was handed to the Attor-ney General to decide on whether charges should be laid. But no decisions have been made and neither have

there been any new wa-ter licences issued to the blueberry and cran-berry company.

According to an e-mail from the environment ministry from last Decem-ber, the incident is “still under investigation.”

There’s no deadline for its completion.

“It is important to note that an investi-gation can take many forms, including gath-ering data, information, interviewing witnesses, etc. Because there are many different vari-ables to any one investi-gation, it is not possible to predict how long any investigation may take to complete,” the envi-ronment ministry said.

Golden Eagle, part of the Aquilini Investment Group, which owns the Vancouver Canucks, has applied to double the amount of water it wants to pump from the North Alouette for its berry production. Most of those applications were fi led in 2007.

Cho has also applied to raise the elevation of his property. That request was referred back to the District of Maple Ridge from the Agricultural Land Commission.

Maple Ridge director of engineering opera-tions Russ Carmichael said the district is awaiting more details from Cho on his appli-cation to bring soil on to his property.

And except for having to narrow a road that he built on his farm, Cho is following all the rules, Carmichael said.

Resident worried about riverSays farmers should drill wells


Binder Khunkhun shows hose in North Alouette River. There was no pump at scene.





“The rivers are going to dry out,” said Khunkhun, whose new home is built near the river on 224th Street, downstream from neighbour Hang Cho.


Cho, though, who grows radishes, bok choy, cu-cumbers and chives for a Korean market in Van-couver, just wanted to keep his crop alive.


He added that he wants to produce food

locally, rather than having the country im-port it from the U.S.



Khunkhun says in-stead, farmers in the area north of 132nd Av-enue should drill wells rather than pump from the river. The high wa-ter table makes it easy to use well water for farming, he said. Mean-while, the Attorney

General ministry still hasn’t decided whether to recommend charges against Golden Eagle Group after it admitted installing a 45-centime-tre-wide intake pipe and pumping about 100,000 litres of water from the North Alou-ette without a licence, last summer.


After investigating from June to December last year, the fi le was handed to the Attor-ney General to decide on whether charges should be laid. But no decisions have been made and neither have there been any new wa-ter licences issued to

the blueberry and cran-berry company.



“It is important to note that an investi-gation can take many forms, including gath-ering data, information, interviewing witnesses, etc. Because there are many different vari-ables to any one investi-gation, it is not possible to predict how long any investigation may take to complete,” the envi-ronment ministry said.


Cho has also applied to raise the elevation of his property.

Maple Ridge director of engineering opera-tions Russ Carmichael said the district is awaiting more details from Cho on his appli-cation to bring soil on to his property.









“The rivers are going to dry out,” said Khunkhun, whose new home is built near the river on 224th Street, downstream from neighbour Hang Cho.


Cho, though, who grows radishes, bok choy, cu-cumbers and chives for a Korean market in Van-couver, just wanted to keep his crop alive.


He added that he

wants to produce food locally, rather than having the country im-port it from the U.S.



Khunkhun says in-stead, farmers in the area north of 132nd Av-enue should drill wells rather than pump from the river.

The high water table makes it easy to use well water for farming,

he said. Meanwhile, the Attorney General min-istry still hasn’t decided whether to recommend charges against Golden Eagle Group after it admitted installing a 45-centimetre-wide in-take pipe and pumping about 100,000 litres of water from the North Alouette without a li-cence, last summer.


After investigating from June to December last year, the fi le was handed to the Attor-ney General to decide on whether charges should be laid. But no decisions have been made and neither have there been any new wa-

ter licences issued to the blueberry and cran-berry company.



“It is important to note that an investi-gation can take many forms, including gath-ering data, informa-tion, interviewing witnesses, etc. Be-cause there are many different variables to any one investiga-tion, it is not possible to predict how long any investigation may take to complete,” the environment ministry said.


Cho has also applied to raise the elevation of his property. Maple Ridge director of engineering operations Russ Carmi-chael said the district is awaiting more details from Cho on his appli-cation to bring soil on to his property.






The next time you’re walking through Maple Ridge, look down: you may be stepping on a piece of history.

Two artists are using the down-town sidewalks as canvasses to cre-ate four colourful mosaic tiles – each one paying tribute to Maple Ridge’s unique history.

Vancouver artists Bruce Walther and Ann Wilson have already com-pleted two tiles on 224th Street as part of the district’s downtown en-hancement project. The fi rst honours the Canadian military, and the sec-ond commemorates Thomas Haney. The artists will install two more tiles on Lougheed Highway at the end of the month, but the images remain a secret until then.

The pair spends about 200 hours on each nine-square-foot tile, which they piece together with small bits of hand-cut ceramic tile.

“It’s kind of like making a paint-ing, except with pieces of tile in-stead of brush strokes,” explained Walther. The durable tiles are frost, fi re and fade resistant.

Each of the four Maple Ridge mosa-ics will have the same border, unique to the community. In every corner, a yellow-gold line forms the Golden Ears peaks with a green forest in

front. A blue band surrounding the central image represents the Fraser River.

“You can see the river in the fore-ground and the forest and then the Golden Ears,” Walther said, adding that the colour scheme and addition of maple leaves was inspired by the District of Maple Ridge logo.

A graduate of what is now Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Walther worked in a stained glass studio before trying mosaic tile.

He has been installing his decora-tive tiles in public spaces for 10 years now. He and fellow mosaic artist Liz Calvin were commissioned to install 22 tiles in downtown Vancouver.

Walther’s work can also be found in North Vancouver, Richmond, New Westminster and Winnipeg.

The 200-hour construction time doesn’t include the design, which Walther sketches out on paper.

“It’s just working with different images and you kind of play around with them until something clicks,” he said.

Walther and Wilson collaborated with the Maple Ridge Museum to come up with the theme of each of the four tiles.

“Having to reduce all of the commu-nity’s history to four was tough,” said museum director Val Patenaude.

“You kind of have to divide it up into major categories, and we de-cided to focus on people rather than industry,” she added.

The next two tiles will also focus on broad historical categories. “It’s nice to have those reminders around,” Patenaude said.

Sidewalk art marks historyMosaic tiles will giveenduring images of Maple Ridge’s heritage

Contributed

Two mosaic tiles are brightening up downtown Maple Ridge’s main street as part of the downtown enhancement project. One salutes pioneer Thomas Haney, the other, its military heritage.


A 10-year-old girl needed more than 100 stitches to piece her face back together af-ter being attacked by a neighbour’s dog Fri-day afternoon in Ham-mond.

Darryl Barber said his daughter, Savan-

nah, will require plastic surgery to repair the damage to her face.

According to Ridge Meadows RCMP, the girl was playing in the family’s front yard on Princess Street in Maple Ridge with her eight-year-old sister when the attack occurred.

Savannah and her sis-ter were petting their neighbour’s small Shih Tzu through the fence and asked if they could pet the neighbour’s other dog, a German

shepherd/bull terrier cross, as well.

The woman obliged and brought the dog out on a leash. How-ever, when Savannah approached the dog, it attacked her, leaving her with disfi guring face injuries. She was rushed to Ridge Mead-ows Hospital, where she received more than 100 stitches.

Police were called to the scene and are in-vestigating the incident along with the SPCA,

who are contracted by the District of Maple Ridge to enforce the city’s animal bylaws. A spokesperson with Ridge Meadows RCMP said they are looking into the possibility of charges against the dog’s owner.

Because it was the three-and-a-half year-old dog’s fi rst violent attack, Maple Ridge’s bylaws don’t require the dog to be put down.

Barber said he was frustrated the SPCA didn’t do more.

“Nothing’s been done. The SPCA says the own-er’s going to handle it. Nothing’s been done,” Barber said Monday.

However, SPCA spokesperson Lorie Chortyk confi rmed Tuesday that the own-er voluntarily agreed to have the dog eutha-nized after speaking with SPCA and police.

“They were able to convince her it was the right thing to do, given the severity of the at-tack,” Chortyk said.

She said the dog was likely trying to protect its owner and terri-tory when the child ap-proached it face-to-face. which dogs interpret as an act of aggression

Girl needed 100 stitches after dog bitePet was to be put down

b y R o b e r t M a n g e l s d o r fstaff repor ter

If you haven’t thought much about it you might wonder, as I did, how the Emerald Pig Theatrical Society got its name. Well, just anagram or re-arrange the letters of “Maple Ridge” and you’ll get “Emerald Pig” and you have a perfect fi t for a town that is green and rural!

That’s what Sharon Malone and John Stuart thought in 2001 when they began their theatri-cal venture here.

Sharon and John moved to Maple Ridge from Williams Lake where they had been active in local theatre as well as Theatre B.C. As there was not much going on in the dra-matic arts here other than the Millen-nium Players, which started the previous year, and the ACT was not yet even built, they decided to launch a new endeavour.

An ad in the paper at-tracted 15 enthusiastic replies and they were off to a good start.

Descriptions of the group of course were rife with comments like “Oh, they’re just a bunch of hams!”

A logo contest was won by Tammy Routley with her design of the two piggy drama muses, tragic and comic, and later, for Bard on the Bandstand, appropriate

Elizabethan jesters’ hats were added.

And while Bard on the Bandstand became the much-loved Maple Ridge summer tradi-tion, other programs included dinner theatres in

the fall, as well as smaller events for specific community events or needs.

Sharon describes one of the theatre’s missions as “com-munity building,” and to this end the group performs for free at Bard on the Bandstand where, since 2007, all proceeds go to the Friends In Need Food Bank.

Organizations such as the Maple Ridge Hospital Founda-tion, the Maple Ridge

Historical Society, the Rotary Wine Festival, and many others, have had small troupes of emerald pigs perform-ing at their special events. The players, all volunteers, as are the

stage crews, directors etc., have always built a strong rapport over the months when they rehearse three to four times a week.

Emerald Pig Society builds communityTheatre groupactive for almost a decade

Contributed

Maple Ridge Coun. Craig Speirs, Mayor Ernie Daykin and Jeffrey Lowe in this year’s Emerald Pig Society production of The Tempest.

See Theatre, p22

CarlaReed

Community Calendar lists events in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. Notices are

free to local non-profi t groups courtesy of The News. Drop off details to 22328 119 Ave., fax to 604-463-4741 or e-mail [email protected] at least a week before the event. Include a contact name and num-ber. (No submissions by phone.) Listings appear as space permits. For guaranteed publication, ask our classifi ed department at 604-467-1122 about non-profi t rates.

Ongoing• The Ridge Meadows

Hall of Fame Society is now accepting nominations for 2011 inductees. The Hall of Fame honours the achievements of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows residents in the fi elds of sports, the arts, business, education, and community volunteerism. Those considered for the honour will have contributed to the community over a signifi cant number of years, bringing pro-vincial, national or international recognition to Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. Nominations can be mailed to the Ridge Meadows Hall of Fame Society at #303 - 22213 Selkirk Avenue, Maple Ridge. Call 604-463-6595 for more information. Nomination deadline is October 5.

•Golden Ears United Soccer Club women’s teams are now

accepting players for the fall sea-son. There is space in Divisions 1, 3, and 4, as well as the 30-plus Division. Division 1 is best suited to former gold and Metro players. Ages 17 and up. Season runs from September to March, with registration underway. For more information please contact Susan Carr at 604-467-8447 or via email at [email protected].

• The Canadian Cancer Society is looking for a volunteer driver dispatcher in Maple Ridge. Work from the comfort of you home coordinating rides with volunteer drivers to transport cancer patients to and from treatment related appoint-ments. Volunteers need to be well organized with good record keeping skills. Must have excellent people skills and telephone manner and the abil-ity to communicate clearly and solve problems eff ectively. Time commitment is approximately 4 to 6 hours per week over a minimum one year term. To fi nd out more, please contact Vinyse Barberat [email protected] or 604-215-5209.

• Debtor’s Anonymous meets Tuesdays, 8 to 9 p.m. at St. Andrew’s Church, 22165 Dewdney Trunk Road. Park and enter from the back of the building. Hope and recovery for debtors, compulsive spenders and under-earners. For more information, e-mail mapleridge@

debtorsanonymous.ca or call John 604-928-9697.

• Sizzlin’ outside? Refresh yourself with a cool story. Come to the Maple Ridge Public Library and enjoy stories, songs and fi ngerplays that will entertain and delight you. All ages are wel-come. Storytimes begin at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays through July. For more informa-tion, please call the Maple Ridge Public Library at 604-467-7417.

• Singles dance, at various locations, every Saturday night. Includes dinner and a live band. For more information call Doris at 604-465-4412.

• The Meadow Ridge Singers are accepting new members. Practices are Mondays, 7 to 9:30 p.m. starting Sept 14. Two concerts per year. Contact Lonnie at 604-460-9331 for more information.

• The Pitt Meadows Senior Snooker Club is a non profi t group of seniors ages 55 and up who play daily at the Pitt Meadows Family Recreation Centre. The group is looking for new members. Contact Collin at 604-465-2391.

• The Gone Hooking Group (traditional rug hooking) will not be meeting again until Sept. 22 at the Lion’s Den. The group will be demonstrating the craft all throughout the month of September at the ACT, where their work will be displayed.

• Health and wellness clin-ics are available every Tuesday from 9 a.m. to noon at the Ridge Meadows Seniors’ Activity Centre, 12150 224th Street. Volunteer nurses check blood pressure, pharmacist and diabetic educa-tors, and massage therapy. The Pitt Meadows health and well-ness clinic meets every second Friday from 10 a.m. to noon at the Pitt Meadows Seniors’ Lounge, 12027 Harris Road.

• Drop-in summer touch rugby from now until Septem-ber. The Ridge Meadows Bruins are hosting weekly drop-in touch rugby on Thursdays at Maple Ridge secondary (Merkley Park). Mini rugby (ages fi ve to 12) goes from 6 to 7:30 p.m. and U-14, U-16, men and women are on the fi eld from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. Safe and fun, this is touch rugby, not full contact tackle and open to all ages. www.bruinsrugby-

club.com• The Maple Ridge Second-

ary School Class of 1980 is holding their 30-year reunion Aug. 28 at Maple Ridge Eques-trian Centre Ranch Bar and Grill. Contact Janice at [email protected] for more details and RSVP.

• Do you sing or play an in-strument? Come out to Kanaka Creek Cafe open mic/stage every Wednesday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. 101-24155 102nd Avenue. Come and perform or just come and have a good time.

• Overeaters Anonymous meets every Tuesday at the Maple Ridge Library, Alouette Room at 1:15 p.m. Drop in or call 604-878-4575 for more informa-tion. No dues or fees. Newcomers welcome.

• Improve your communica-tion and speaking skills with Toastmasters. Toastmasters is dedicated in helping its members overcome speaking fears while building confi dence and self esteem. The club meets at the Pitt Meadows City Hall, 12007 Harris Road, every Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Everyone welcome. For more info contact Bernie at 604-465-9699, or email [email protected]

• Co-dependence Anony-mous support group meets Mondays at 7:30 p.m. at the One Way Club Society, 22270 North Avenue, Maple Ridge. Call 604-836-1217 for more information.

• Katie’s Place animal shelter needs volunteers, particularly cleaners for Fridays and Sundays right now. However, Katie’s Place can accommodate any schedule. Help out some messy but grateful and loving little critters! Call 604-463-7917 or email [email protected] for more information.

• Maple Ridge’s Fraternal Order of Eagles needs more people so it can keep helping people in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. The Eagles raise mon-ey for youth groups, hospitals, school events, boy scouts and girl guides, as well as the Friends in Need Food Bank and Meals on Wheels. The Eagles meet every fi rst and third Monday in the Eagles Hall at 23461 Fern Cres. at 7:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome. Contact Eric Phillips at 604-465-6795 or e-mail: [email protected]

Community Calendar

Those whose day jobs don’t permit them to take part in every pro-duction, take a break when needed, although the Bard team seems

to return loyally year after year.

This year’s success, The Tempest, drew on actors from Maple Ridge and all over the Lower Mainland.

In total, there were 35 actors/dancers and another 30 or so crew.

Sharon, who directed, considers the pivotal storm scene to have been a highlight of her career, with drama, choreography, sound and light all coming together for a great scene.

In contrast, the real-life thunderstorm that shut down the production in mid-per-formance in 2009 was one of Emerald Pig’s darker episodes.

As they say now, it foreshadowed 2010’s The Tempest …

Over the years, there have been other crises.

In 2003, the leading lady in Queen of Bingo at the Ruskin Hall, early home of the Em-erald Pig theatre, fell ill on the day of the dress rehearsal; production was postponed a week while Sharon learned the part, and the show went on successfully.

Thirteen Hands a Carol Shields play directed by Sharon and entered into the 2006 CanWest play festival in Fort St. John, suf-fered the same fate when the lead actress went into hospital.

This time, Sharon had only four days to learn the lines. Fortunately she was

required to hold up a hand of cards from time to time and – you guessed it – her cues were strategically placed on those!

As Emerald Pig looks forward to its 10th anniversary in 2011, its biggest challenge is to fi nd a permanent home.

Meanwhile, we anticipate A Comedy of Errors next summer, and in the near future, Butterfl ies Are Free, the 2010 dinner theatre for which auditions are Sept. 1 to 2 (see www.emeraldpig.ca).

As always, Emerald Pig will put on a great show!

Tempest succeeded despite previous stormTheatre from p17

Air quality advisory liftedAn air quality advisory issued by

Metro Vancouver Aug. 4 has been cancelled.

The caution was lifted after three days Saturday, when offi cials said cooler, rainier weather over the weekend had improved air quality.

Smoke from forest fi res in B.C.’s In-

terior, plus some coming across the Pacifi c from wildfi res in Russia, were blamed for the haze that hung over the Lower Mainland late last week.

Metro planners say fi re activity re-mains a worry and another advisory could be issued if conditions deterio-rate again.

Robert “Willie” Pick-ton was neither stupid nor incapable of sin-glehandedly murder-ing dozens of missing women.

That’s one of the con-clusions veteran Ca-nadian journalist and author Stevie Cameron drew after witness-ing the serial killer’s lengthy trial and vid-eotaped statements to police.

“I believe he acted alone,” Cameron said in a wide-ranging inter-view with Black Press.

“He said he killed 49 women – I believe him,” she said, referring to his claims to an under-cover offi cer in jail.

Cameron, author of the forthcoming book On The Farm, rejects defence theories that other Pickton associ-ates or even the Hells Angels were respon-sible and the Port Co-quitlam pig farmer was simply stuck with dis-posal duty.

Women he knew and paid helped lure des-perate drug-addicted prostitutes to his farm,

she said, but there was never any evidence anyone else killed any of the women.

“I think he’s a classic psychopath,” Cameron said.

“He enjoyed kill-ing these women. He planned it. He kept mementos, souvenirs. He hid them between walls, all over his area of the farm.

“He had absolutely no conscience about it. He could get away with it. He was quite aware that he had better ways to dispose of the bodies than the average per-son.”

She said the evidence shows Pickton was ca-pable of running his own business and was good with numbers.

“He’s cunning,” she said. “He’s not a mo-ron.”

Cameron does not blame police for letting Pickton slip away after a bloody knife fi ght in 1997 when one would-be victim escaped.

It seemed like an iso-lated altercation, she said, noting the missing women’s task force had not yet been set up.

For some time, she said, police had no good reason to go onto the farm and one request for a search warrant was rejected.

From 1999 on, the focus shifted back to

Pickton, but investiga-tors had no excuse to conduct a search un-til 2002 when he was charged with weapons offences, triggering the massive search of the property.

Despite graphic and horrifi c evidence, Cam-eron says the only part of the trial that “made my stomach lurch” was watching Pickton’s crack defence team re-lentlessly cross-exam-ine Crown witnesses, particularly one who saw another woman’s body hanging in the slaughterhouse.

“They were just cruci-fi ed by the defence.

“Every single thing they’d done in their lives that was illegal or em-barrassing was dragged up. They were ham-mered again and again and again. But they stuck to their story.”

Pickton maintained his innocence last week in a phone interview

from prison with CTV. Cameron believes new

killers could again tar-get the desperate and the vulnerable, noting the Downtown Eastside remains a magnet for addicts, often coming from all over B.C.

“There are still wom-en disappearing.”

Cameron backs the idea of a public inqui-ry to deliver a better sense of justice for the families and push for reforms.

The tragedy for each victim began with their

terrible lives before Pickton took them, she said. Many had been in two or more foster homes in their youth, and many suffered sex-ual abuse. Some of them were from aboriginal communities, where the damage of residen-tial school abuse con-tinues to echo.

A typical girl would fall in with a bad boy-friend who would lead her to drugs. She’d gravitate to the Down-town Eastside to fi nd a new boyfriend to keep her on drugs, and then would work as a prosti-tute to keep them sup-plied.

“It’s like some kind of hideous slave trade.”

They were failed by a system that offered inadequate detox facili-ties, she said.

“Often the treatment was four nights at the Sally Ann and you’re out on the street and best of luck.”

Too often, she’s heard people say the women made their own poor choices.

“They were brave. They earned their liv-ings. They loved their kids. They kept in touch with them. They kept in touch with their moth-ers, their sisters. They phoned their kids on their birthdays. They all wanted out of the life.”

The family members and friends lined up to observe every day of the trial were proof the women were loved and missed. “They were not disposable people.”

* * *Stevie Cameron is au-

thor of On The Farm: Robert William Pickton and the Tragic Story of Vancouver’s Missing Women.

Pickton acted alone: authorInvestigators had no good reason to search farm

b y J e f f N a g e lBlack Press

“He said he killed 49 women, I believe him” Stevie Cameron,author,On The Farm: Robert William Pickton and the Tragic Story of Vancouver’s Missing Women

Contributed

Stevie Cameron covered Pickton trial and is writing book.

The peaked sailor hat and sequinned navy-blue jacket has Trevor McDonnell sold.

He’ll be trying out for the role of Sir Joseph Porter, the stuffy First Lord of the Admiralty.

“He seems like he’s got a big part. Look at this hat and this jumble of sequins,” the 16-year-old says, pointing to his but-toned, stiff coat.

The problem is McDonnell won’t know if he’s landed the lead until he begins his own adventure on Gilbert and Sul-livan’s H.M.S Pinafore next week.

McDonnell and the 21 other young thespians have yet to see the script, don’t know who they are playing or what they’ll wear on stage.

Odeum Theatre has only let them glimpse the immense task before them. Once the workshop begins Aug. 19, the cast will have just 10 days to master the comic opera that takes place aboard the British ship H.M.S. Pinafore.

They’ll get their scripts on day one, immerse themselves into learning a range of parts and need to know every note, rhythm and word by day three.

Come day four, artistic director Rayne Beveridge says, it will be time to take that sixty-fi ve minutes of melody and dialogue and turn it into a full-blown production.

That’s when the actors begin to learn choreography but the cast, costumes are only revealed and fi tted, props and staging introduced - on day fi ve.

“We just have to be very focused,” says Beveridge of the formidable task. “Our main job is to create the prop-er environment for them and [the students] generally take the initiative from there.”

Odeum Theatre was created in Beveridge’s hometown of Maple Creek, Saskatchewan in 2005 by a handful of university students who wanted to share music with a new generation of budding artists.

They built an intensive musical theatre workshop, staffed by volunteers, that’s staged summer produc-tions for the past fi ve years.

Beveridge, who is now a vocal teacher at Maple Ridge’s Bergthorson Academy, staged Odeum’s fi rst production locally last year.

This year, Clarke Schaufele, from the University of In-diana, joins its ranks as musical director.

Cari Russell, an actor and theatre instructor from Rosebud, Alberta, takes the reins as theatrical direc-tor.

So far, the cast seems undaunted by the task before them.

Laura Dand, 15, scoped out the script on the Internet. She’d like to play Josephine, the daughter of Captain

Corcoran, who is in love with a “lower-class” sailor.“I don’t know if I’ll get to play her. She’s just a girl who

wants to please everybody,” says Dand. “But she still wants the guy she loves.”


Tianna Hall, Jamye Leclerc, Natasha Krilow, Alyssa Froese, Carly Strang, and Trevor McDonnell, front, will be performing in Gilbert & Sul-livan’s H.M.S Pinafore on Aug. 27 and 28.

On stage Gilbert & Sullivan’s world famous comic operetta H.M.S. Pinafore drops

anchor at the Clarke Theatre in Mission on Friday, Aug. 27 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Aug. 28 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Tickets are $10, children 10 and under are free. Advance tickets available at the Bergthorson Academy of Musical Arts & Hair Expressions. For tickets, call 604-467-6613. 7 p.m. on Aug. 26.

The Clarke Theatre is located at 33700 Prentis Avenue in Mission.

THE NEWS/arts&lifeSection coordinator:Monisha Martins 604-467-1122 ext. [email protected]

All aboard the H.M.S Pinafore


(Left) Graham Strang, Tianna Hall, Cayla Lynn, and Alyssa Froese get a taste of the costumes that will be used in H.M.S Pinafore. (Right) Graham Strang, Connor Rasmussen, Jung-Wook Luke Kho and Cayla Lynn salute Laura Dand.

Odeum Theatre actors begin a 10-day adventure next week at a unique theatre workshop


“We just have to be very focused.” Rayne Beveridge,artistic director, Odeum Theatre

Maple Ridge’s Matt Kennedy has sung his way into Red Robinson’s Talent Showdown this year - again.

It will be the fourth time Kennedy has com-

peted in the event, held during The Fair at the PNE.

The top three perform-ers from each day will advance to an all-ages fi nal on Aug. 25, follow-ing three days of semi-fi nalist competition.

Award-winning singer Michael Bublé, country music’s Lisa Brokop and Paul Brandt are among the artists who have

been discovered at the talent show. The winner receives $5,000. A $2,000 prize will be awarded to the runner-up and the contestant fi nishing in third place will take home $1,000.

• Kennedy will perform in the adult division semi-fi nal on Aug. 24. The show begins at 3:30 p.m. on the main stage at the PNE.

Arts&Life

Singer at Talent Showdown

Deck style is myriad pro, 16p17


Weird and wonderfulMarc-André Lafleur aka Super Weirdo performs outside the Pitt Meadows Library Thursday aftenoon. Catch children’s musician Will Stroet at the same spot on Aug. 17 from 11 a.m. to noon.

Beat the line by be-coming an Arts Centre Theatre VIP.

Launched last week by the Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Arts Council, the new pro-gram, gives “Very Im-portant Patrons” front of the line access to purchase tickets be-fore anyone else.

“We’re introducing this new program as a bonus to our very important patrons and to offer a package that provides great value,” said ACT executive director Lindy Sisson. “There are many excit-ing benefits that make it easy for our patrons to take advantage of our variety of presen-tations this upcoming

year.” From stand-up com-

edy to music, theatre and dance, the upcom-ing season has some-thing for everyone.

Tickets go on sale

to the general public on Aug. 16, but all VIP members will have ex-clusive pre-sale access to the best seats.

• The ACT VIP mem-bership can be pur-

chased for $60 in per-son and by phone at 604-476-2787.

For the season line-up, visit www.theact-mapleridge.org/calen-dar.

Arts&Life

Get front of line access to ACTVery Important Patrons get perks

NEWS FILES

The ACT is now offering a VIP membership.

Email your arts events to THE NEWS at [email protected]

THE NEWS/sportsSection coordinator:Robert Mangelsdorf 604-467-1122 ext. [email protected]


Shayne Bennett of the New Westminster Salmonbellies checks Joel Dalgarno of the Maple Ridge Burrards during a playoff game at Planet Ice in Maple Ridge Monday evening.

The Ridge Meadows Royals peewee AAA baseball team is headed to the Western Canadi-an Championships in Brandon, Manitoba later this month after knocking off Abbotsford in the fi nal game of the provincial fi nals Sunday.

The Royals mercied the Vancouver Monarchs in the semi-fi nal, 14-3, before trouncing Abbots-ford 12-7 in the fi nal. The Royals opened up an 11-run lead in the top of the fi rst against Abbots-ford, working their way through their entire batting order. Thanks to mercy wins earlier in the tournament, the Royals still had fresh pitch-ers ready to throw, and they never looked back, cruising to the win.

Royals coach Rey Comeault credited the team’s suc-cess at the

plate to their focus on developing

hitting skills.“Our batting was phenom-

enal, and that’s something we’ve been work-ing on all summer long. We work on it every single practice, and these kids are practicing or playing every single day,” he said. “At this level, I think it’s one of the most important skills you can work on.”

Comeault also had the team follow a strict diet absent of any fried foods or soft drinks, and was surprised by how receptive the team was to the changes.

“[Baseball’s] a sport where you really need to be sharp mentally, and when you’re fatigued, it’s that mental sharpness that’s the fi rst to go,” he said. “We knew we had to prepare if we were going to be successful, and all these little things play dividends in the end. We were the most en-ergetic team out there, so I think it helped.”

Team members included Ryley Loppky, Matt Cameron, Brendan Halstrom, Zachery Comeault, Josh Speiss, Dominic Battista, Devon Bird, Nick Evans, Cole Benard, Garett Mayda-niuk, and Clayton Skipper.

Comeault said every single player was instru-mental in helping to win the B.C. title.

“Every batter stepped up and pounded the ball,” he said. “It really was a team effort.”

Comeault has coached the crop of 1997-born players for the past four years, previously win-ning a provincial title at the mosquito AAA lev-el. With the peewee AAA team aging out this season, the Ridge Meadows Minor Baseball As-sociation will be fi elding a bantam AAA team next season after a one-year absence from the province’s top fl ight league for 13- and 14-year-olds.

Burrards face elimination

Banner year for Ridge baseballPeewee AAA, midget AA squads win provincial championships


See Baseball, p33

The Maple Ridge Burrards are clinging to life in their first round play-off series with the New Westminster Salmonbellies after losing their third straight game Monday night at home.

After winning the series opener 12-11 in New West-minster last week, the Bur-rards dropped the next three games and find themselves facing elimination tonight in New Westminster.

The Burrards had a chance to tie the series Monday night but instead fell 12-6 as the team’s shooters couldn’t

find a way past New West goalie Tyler Richards.

Burrards coach Daren Fridge said his shooters took too many stationary shots from the outside, and weren’t able to penetrate the Salmo-nbellies’ defense and fire off close-range shots.

“We’re not shooting on the run,” he said. “We’re just standing there. We need to get open off the ball, and get them chasing us.”

New West got out to a 3-1 lead after the first buzzer, and increased their lead to five goals after the second.

The Salmonbellies were four-for-five on the power-play. If the Burrards are go-ing to have a chance Wednes-day, they are going to have to stay out of the penalty box, said Fridge

“Five-on-five is where we are most successful,” he said. “We need to stay disciplined

and limit there chances, because they know how to make the most of them.”

Errors in transition and turnovers also proved costly for the Burrards.

Curtis Dickson again led the Burrards in scoring, with two goals, while Nate Tar-rant, Derek Lowe, Jarrett Da-vis and Aaron Pascas added a goal apiece.

Joel Dalgarno reg-istered five as-sists, while Randy Daly finished with two assists.

Ron Schibild allowed 12 goals on 29 shots. After leading the league in the regular season with an 8.14 goals against average, his numbers have fallen to 11.81 in four post season games, second to last in the league.

However, Fridge said he

still has faith in his netmind-er, and that the team in front of him bares some of the re-sponsibility.

“Our defense hasn’t done the best job of supporting him,” he said. “We need to be more aggressive.”

While the odds might be stacked against the team to

come back from a 3-1 se-ries deficit, Fridge said

the series is far from over.“We needed

three wins too end the sea-son to make the play-offs, and we got them,” he said. “All we need to do is force a Game 6, and then force a Game 7.”

• The Maple Ridge Bur-rards face the New Westmin-ster Salmonbellies tonight at the Queen Park Arena Game time is 7:45 p.m.

Maple Ridge falls behind 3-1 to New West after 12-6 loss Monday night


Sports


Cool customerSamanta Cools competes for the Ridge Meadows BMX club in the elite female division Sunday afternoon during the CBA Western Nationals at the Barnes Road race track in Pitt Meadows.

Three Maple Ridge teens have been se-lected to receive the fi rst-ever Burnaby Mountain Selects La-crosse Scholar Athlete Award.

Lyndon Knuttila, 15, of Maple Ridge Chris-tian School, Jarek Olah, 13, of Mead-owridge School and Brad Rowbotham, 14, of Samuel Robertson Technical School are being acknowledged for their on-fi eld ex-cellence and academic achievement. They will receive an award certifi cate at the next Maple Leaf Awards Dinner in January.

The inaugural schol-ar athlete awards recognize 57 student lacrosse players who competed in the fall 2009 and/or summer 2010 Burnaby Moun-tain Selects Elite Touring Program and achieved an academic average of 80 per cent or higher for the 2009-10 school year.

This year's award recipients come from 20 communities across the Lower Mainland, B.C. Interior and Washington State.

Student athletes recognized

The Ridge Meadows Minor Baseball Association will be busy raising banners this summer, as a number of local teams found success in the post

season.The Ridge Meadows midget

AA team also won their provin-cial championship, making the association was the only one in the province to take two B.C.

titles.Meanwhile, the midget AAA

Royals and the junior men’s Royals both finished second in B.C. at their respective provin-cial tournaments.

Midget AAA, junior men’s teams grab 2nd

Get your community news fi rst @ www.mapleridgenews.com

Baseball from p31

With another drowning in the Vedder River

this past week, I feel some safe wading tips are in order.

Neoprene waders fi ll with water and all others fi ll with air, when an angler takes a tumble. This makes regaining stability diffi cult. Always seal off your waders at the waist with a belt.

Swimming and or ma-neuvering in the fl ow of a stream, is often diffi cult due to the weight of wading boots and equipment in most fi shing vest. For this reason an infl atable collar should be worn while wading.

Never overestimate your ability to wade safely.

Never underestimate the force of the wa-ter. The water you want to cross may only be knee deep but if the water is moving at high speed, the force on your legs could be that of a truck. You can multiply this if the bottom is unstable or rocks are undermined.

Fishing reportOur Lower Mainland lake fi shing (trout

and kokanee) remains good. For wet (sinking) fl y fi shing try: Big Black, Na-tion’s Black, Baggy Shrimp, Coachman, Cased Caddis, Halfback, Dragon Nymph, Carey Special, Zulu, or Doc Spratley. For dry (fl oating) fl y fi shing try: Tom Thumb, Renegade, Black Gnat, Foam Ant, Griffi th Gnat, Royal Coachman, or Elk Hair Caddis. For kokanee try: Red Abbis, Red Spratley, Bloodworm, Royal Coachman, San Juan Worm, or red Micro Leach.

Safe wading can save your life

Tight Lines Jeff Weltz

See Fishing, p34

Jean Ann McKirdy of Maple Ridge and Sandra Walter of Co-quitlam of the Maple Ridge-based Local Ride women’s cycling

team have been chosen to represent Canada at the 2010 Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships in M o n t - S a i n t e - A n n e ,

Quebec on Sept. 5 in the elite women’s cross country Olympic disci-pline event.

McKirdy and Walter have had strong results so far this season, with wins on the provincial road and mountain bike circuits, along with sev-eral podiums in the Can-ada Cup series. Walter placed fi fth at the Na-tional Championships in Canmore on July 17 and second at the pres-tigious Squamish Test of Metal in June. Many of McKirdy’s top per-formances came on the road, including wins at the Barry’s Roubaix road race in Pitt Mead-ows and the Race the Ridge criterium. She also aims to cinch the B.C. Cup MTB cross-country title at the se-ries fi nal in Whistler this Sunday.

“When I’m standing at the starting line at Worlds in September, it’ll be with the knowl-edge that I wouldn’t be there without the support of my family, friends, and sponsors,” said McKirdy. “I know it’s the same for San-dra [Walter]. We’re so fortunate to have an amazing support net-work that allows us to do what we do.”

Sports

Local bass and crappie fi shing is good with lots of 50-plus days reported. For bass try: Wooly Bugger, Big Black, Blood Leach, Matuka, Popin Bugs, Chernobyl Ants, Turks Tarantula, Crayfish, Clouser’s Deep Minnow, Ep-oxy Minnow, Deceiver, Mud-dler Minnow, Dolly Whacker, Bucktail, Hair Frog, Irresist-ible, or Tom Thumb. For crappie try: Black Gnat, Lady McConnel, Coachman, Royal Coachman, Ant, chartreuse Boobie, Wooly Bugger, Trico, Griffith Gnat, or Irresistible.

Fishing on our interior lakes has improved due to the rain and cooler tempera-tures. Mornings and evening are the ticket. For wet fly fishing try: Chironomid, Pumpkinhead, ‘52 Buick,

Wooly Bugger, Micro Leach, olive Matuka, Butler’s Bug, Halfback, Baggy Shrimp, Sooboo,

Sixpack, or Green Sprat-ley. For dry fly fishing try: Lady McConnel, Irresistible, Big Ugly, Double Hackled Peacock, Tom Thumb, Royal Wulff, Goddard Sedge, Sofa Pillow, or Elk Hair Caddis.

The Fraser River is good for sockeye, spring, dolly varden, cutthroat, and rain-bow. For sockeye try: (char-treuse) Dean River lanterns, Bunny Leach, Bucktail, Nitnook, Besure, Green Slime, or Caboose. For spring try: Kaufmann Stone, Eggo, Popsicle, Squamish Poacher, GP, Big Black or Flat Black. For cutthroat and rainbow try: Rolled Muddler, Mickey Finn, Tied Down Minnow,

Professor, Lioness, Kaufmann Stone, Coachman, Zulu, Chez Nymph, Black Gnat, Sooboo, Irresistible, Elk Hair Caddis, or Stimulator.

For dolly varden try: large Rolled Muddler, Zonker, Clouser’s Deep Minnow, Dol-ly Whacker, black Popsicle, or Big Black.

The Vedder River is good for spring and rainbow.

The Stave River is good for cutthroat and rainbow.

The Harrison River is good for cutthroat, and Rainbow.

The Thompson and Nicola rivers are both fishing well for rainbow. Try Kaufmann Stone, Chez Nymph, Hairs Ear, Roller Muddler, Tom Thumb (standard or red bod-ied), Grass Hopper, Stimula-tor, Chernobyl Ant, Irresist-ible, or Elk Hair Caddis.

Cooler temperatures bring out fi shFishing from p34

Local Riders picked for Team Canada

Contributed

Local Ride’s Sandra Walter will wear the maple leaf.

Documents

August 8, 2010 Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News