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Tapping into political waters
Just as fish don't know what water is, many Richmondites take for granted the abundance and quality of this precious resource - but that's changing. Young people, as well as city hall, are turning off the tap to waste, while activists question the commodification of what they believe should be a human right. See pages 10 & 11.
Funding changes underway
Burnaby service providers who help immigrants and refugees are in the midst of a government-funding sea change.
Canada bans all trade to and from Iran
IRANIAN Canadians on the North Shore are expressing mixed views as the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade has announced it will ban all imports and exports between Canada and Iran.
Parents continue push for bus
Parents hoping the school bussing program can be saved have put forward a new proposal to the Delta school board.
Tribunal hears complaint
The B.C. human rights tribunal should toss out three complaints of racial discrimination against the Langley Shark Club because the complainants didn't show the bouncer denied them entry because they were Indo-Canadian, the Shark Club's lawyer said Friday.
Sudents from schools all over Chilliwack will be shutting up to make a statement this week.
Sudents from schools all over Chilliwack will be shutting up to make a statement this week.
Foreign workers hired at cut rates
Does Cherryl Katnich [EI rules allow exceptions that punish legitimately unemployed workers, March 21 Letters, TIMES] or the federal government expect us to believe that people are asking to be laid off for the sole purpose of collecting Employment Insurance?
Woman awarded $9K by Rights Tribunal
A realty company with headquarters in Surrey has been ordered to pay a former employee $9,000 in damages after the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal found she'd been discriminated against because she was pregnant.
Ukrainian group targets ex-KGB member - again
The Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association still has its eyes on former Burnaby resident Mikhail Lennikov, an ex-KGB member who has been living in a Vancouver church, avoiding deportation since 2009.
League partially spikes ethnic rule
Following last summer's controversy over a limit on non-South Asian athletes, the United Summer Soccer Association has voted to remove the ethnicity exclusive rule in its U13 and U14 boys and girls divisions.
Former Chilliwack firefighter says lack of manpower poses risk
A former firefighter dismissed because of his age says a lack of manpower often makes it impossible for the Chilliwack Fire Department (CFD) to adhere to operational guidelines meant to reduce health and safety risks.
Christians still being persecuted
You might want to ask, "What's the relevance of the heading above? Are Christians still persecuted? Isn't it something that happened during the time of the martyrs for Christ, but then freedom of religion came?"
Cops want to confiscate cellphones
The B.C. Civil Liberties Association has grave concerns about police wanting to confiscate motorists' cellphones if they're caught talking on them or texting while driving.
Grandmother keeps up social justice fight
Years ago when I was a wide-eyed reporter starting my journalism career, I met Jennifer Wade. My recollection of our meeting is dim, but I know it centred on social activism. How could it not? Since the early 1960s when Wade became involved in the civil rights movement in the U.S. state of Georgia, where she also taught writing at Emory University, Wade has devoted her life to human rights and social justice. Her work has included: co-founding the Vancouver chapter of Amnesty International in the early 1970s; sitting on the boards of the Elizabeth Fry Society and SOS Children's Villages; ongoing Amnesty cases including that of Leonard Pelletier, a Native American man serving what has now become a 37-year-prison term for two murders Amnesty believes he didn't commit; and the imprisonment of Dr. Wang Bingzhang, a founder of the Chinese overseas democracy movement who was convicted in 2002 of terrorism and espionage in a closed-door, one-day trial without legal representation. Bingzhang, who earned a PhD in pathology at McGill, also has the backing of Liberal MP Irwin Cotler who started a petition in 2010 to secure his release from a Chinese prison.
Helping hand, from Burnaby to Ecuador
Students at Burnaby Central Secondary raised $8,500 to help build a school in Ecuador.
Richmond advocate receives national award
Engaging children, understanding that they have their own voices and listening to what these voices have to say has been a priority for Richmond Children First's Helen Davidson for at least 10 years.
Give a rose to symbolize peace
This Valentine's Day, courageous women in Zimbabwe will be handing out paper roses in the streets.
T-shirts' message questioned
Prince Rupert teachers are wearing T-shirts bearing Section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The first right and freedom, 2(a), is the freedom of religion.
