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Richmond MP Raymond Chan has hired his former riding association president to help defend him against a current wrongful dismissal case.
Jack Buchan was the Liberal Party of Canada's Richmond riding association president until last Friday when he handed over the party's reigns to Mahmood Awan at an annual meeting.
Buchan confirmed on Monday that he has been retained as one of Chan's lawyers and has worked on the case "since day one."
But he declined to say whether taxpayers' money was paying for his services. "That's not yet been confirmed," he said Monday during a brief break in Chan's wrongful dismissal case launched by the MP's former assistant Maria Trinh in B.C. Supreme Court.
However, Chan told a daily newspaper last Friday that taxpayers were footing the bill for his defence - not an uncommon practice when MPs are in office - but added that he will have to pay all the costs if he loses. If his lawyers win the case for him, Chan will have all costs covered by the government, he said last week.
Buchan also refused to say whether it was Chan who approached him or the MP's other lawyers Rose-Mary Liu Basham and Elizabeth Liu, the counsel on record for the lawsuit. Buchan has been watching the case unfold on a daily basis from the Vancouver courtroom's public seating area.
Chan was in Ottawa and could not be reached for comment.
Coquitlam swimmer Fin Donnelly got up-close and personal with the chemical pollutants leaching into the Fraser river during his 30-kilometre Richmond-to-False Creek swim on the weekend.
But aside from gulping a few mouthfuls of water mixed with boat oil and creosote from nearby logs, he said he enjoyed the swim.
"In a lot of areas, it (tasted) gross."
Sunday's Spirit of the Salmon Swim was but one of a series of challenges Donnelly has tackled to raise awareness of the Lower Mainland's endangered waterways.
Donnelly first became concerned about the plight of the Fraser River and neighboring water bodies about seven years ago, he said. That's when he started researching and reading about the environment.
Since then, he's made 185 presentations to 16,000 people.
"We can't continue using them as dumping grounds," Donnelly said of the Lower Mainland's rivers and lakes.
If growth continued unchecked, Donnelly fears the legacy of pollution that will be passed on to the coming generation of Lower Mainland residents.
Donnelly first made headlines during his 1,370-kilometre, 20-day swim along the Fraser river in September of 1995.
Recovering from that grueling trek, which took its toll on his body, especially his shoulders, required more than eight months of rest, he said.
Now, Donnelly promises to make the Richmond-to-False Creek swim annually on B.C. Rivers Day; or at least until he's no longer capable of tackling the feat, he said.
"I'm just contributing and I will go on contributing until we have a healthy ecosystem." Over the years, Donnelly has seen the attitudes of residents change as concern over the environment has been brought to the forefront.
"Change is slow, it's gradual, but I believe it will happen. I have seen a real conscious awareness shift."
Everyone can chip in to improve the health of the environment by altering their daily routines, he said. Everything that is taken from the environment eventually returns to it, he said, and residents need to keep that in mind when purchasing and consuming goods.
"Do an audit of yourself and make changes," Donnelly suggested.
Donnelly, whose first name is actually Finbarr, was honored for his contributions to the environment by the Squamish nation on Saturday night. He was given the name Yiem Yewyews, which means strength of a killer whale.
Office paper and newsprint are next up on the banned-substance list at Greater Vancouver garbage dumps.
Encouraged by the success of a nine-month-old landfilling ban on cardboard, Greater Vancouver Regional District staff are considering new restrictions that could take effect as soon as next spring.
"If we go on the experience of the cardboard ban, there seems to be lots of compliance," said GVRD waste-reduction official Linda Shore. "So I think we should be able to move ahead fairly quickly."
The initiatives are part of the GVRD's efforts to reduce the volume of garbage ending up in landfills by 50 per cent from 1990 to 2000. Cardboard, office paper and newsprint make up more than one-fourth of all garbage thrown out by the region's businesses and industries.
Previously, only gypsum, oil filters and hazardous wastes were banned from dumps, largely for toxicity reasons. Cardboard was first to be added, beginning last Janury.
It isn't an outright ban, but waste haulers whose loads are 10 per cent cardboard or more are levied a 50-per-cent surcharge on the usual $65/tonne dumping fee.
Shore said solid-waste officials from the GVRD's member municipalities have already expressed support for expanding the ban to office paper and newsprint. In coming weeks the GVRD will meet with some of the paper-pushing businesses and recycling companies that the expansion would affect.
Shore said bans on paper and newsprint, subject to the approval of the municipal mayors and councillors on the GVRD board, would likely take a form similar to that for cardboard.
The Lower Mainland's defect-ridden taxi fleets are in the midst of a follow-up round of safety inspections announced by the transportation ministry last week.
Although results aren't expected for six weeks, transportation ministry spokesperson Jeff Knight said the ministry and taxi industry are both optimistic.
"The taxi industry has indicated they are confident there will be a much better result this time around," Knight said Tuesday.
One in 10 cabs, or about 10 per cent of the Lower Mainland taxi fleet, will be inspected for defects and to determine whether previously ordered repairs were completed.
During the last round of inspections in March and April, 30 per cent of 1186 taxis tested failed and were taken off the road.
Provincial inspectors checked every Lower Mainland taxi for faults in the spring after random inspections earlier this year turned up a high percentage of lemons.
Of 62 local taxis inspected in January, 24 had to be hauled off the road, while another 22 required immediate repairs. Only two of the cabs passed without any defects, while 11 were cited for minor repairs.
Knight said it's too early to say whether cabs companies have smartened up. But he pointed out that taxi firms have replaced about 10 per cent of their cars with new vehicles.
The ministry is hopeful that the failure rate would drop below 15 per cent.
"We fee that would be a much more acceptable rate."
Fuel system defects, often involving faulty natural-gas conversions, were found in 42 per cent of the failed vehicles tested during the spring. Steering and braking system flaws were the next most common.
Industry insiders have said many companies run their cabs to the 500,000-kilometre odometer mark or more to pinch pennies.
The government is also conducting hearings into the performance of the 671 privately-owned inspection facilities, mostly mechanics' garages, which are licensed by Victoria to do twice-yearly tests of the cabs.
Some could lose their licences if they are found to be approving high numbers of defective cabs.
In July, Richmond RCMP tested 75 cabs from Richmond Cabs and Kimber Cabs, all of which passed. Inspectors from the department of motor vehicles were not involved in those tests.
Richmond Cabs owner Peter Ho said in July that some of the older vehicles in his fleet were replaced.
But Ho was at a loss to explain the improved performance of his vehicles. He said no extra maintenance had been performed on the cabs.
A local realtor who pleaded guilty last month to theft under $5,000 will not lose his licence, according to a spokesperson for the Real Estate Council of B.C.
Council secretary Robert Fawcett told The Review Monday that he is not considering taking any further actions against Richmond realtor Robert James Moynes, who received a six-month term of probation and a conditional discharge in Richmond provincial court on Aug. 25.
While Fawcett agreed that as a realtor Moynes is in a position of trust, he doesn't think it's the council's duty to inform the public of criminal incidents involving their realtors.
"This doesn't happen very often," Fawcett said.
Moynes, a realtor with Park Georgia Realty in Richmond, told The Review Tuesday that he is worthy of his clients' trust.
While Moynes admitted that he would want to know if a realtor he had hired was convicted of theft, his offence was relatively minor. He received a relatively harsh sentence for the minor offence of stealing $12.81 worth of sandbelts from a local hardware store.
Evelyn Fox, president of the B.C. branch of the Consumers' Association of Canada, regularly deals with issues affecting consumers.
Speaking as a consumer, she said she would want to know if her realtor had been convicted of theft.
Realtors are often handed the keys to homes, and entrusted with a home's contents, she said.
"We haven't looked at this or thought of this at all. I think it's a really interesting question."
The real estate council learned through an anonymous tip that Moynes had appeared in The Review's court docket on Aug. 30. And while they followed up the lead by contacting The Review, they had no intention of sending out a press release about the incident.
Moynes realtor's licence will expire in November 1998, at which time the council will consider renewing his licence. Since Moynes received a conditional discharge, his criminal record will be wiped clean if he avoids violating the terms of his probation.
Fawcett indicated that if Moynes does not re-offend, he will not lose his licence.
Michael Janigan, executive director of The Public Interest Advocacy Centre in Ottawa, said there is a double-standard when it comes to criminal convictions and public notification. While court convictions are a matter of public record, Janigan questions whether a person's criminal history should continue to haunt them.
While Janigan has not researched this type of issue, he does question whether a licensing body has a duty to inform the public.
A Vancouver man is suing the City of Richmond and Riverport Business Park after he fell last year in the parking lot at the Ice Centre.
Tom Famulak, of East 5th Avenue in Vancouver, slipped and fell Jan. 4, 1996 on a patch of ice while visiting the arenas in the Steveston Highway/No. 6 Road area.
Famulak maintains that the city and business park are responsible for ensuring the parking lot was properly maintained. As a result of his mishap, he suffers from pain and injuries, according to his statement of claim filed June 26, 1996. He broke his right ankle, strained his lumbar and thoracic spines, and lost sleep and movement. He is seeking general and special damages, plus costs, his claim adds.
But Famulak is at fault for failing to take care of his own safety, according to the city's statement of defence filed July 24, 1997. He didn't watch "where he was going," wore unsafe footwear, moved in a "quick or unusual manner" and failed to wear corrective eyewear, the defence statement says.
The city also claims Famulak allowed himself to "become under the influence of fatigue, intoxicant, drugs, and alcohol."
Famulak also didn't seek medical attention right away, and after getting help, didn't follow the doctor's advice, the city claims.
The business park owns the facility and the city leases it for civic use.
A court date has not yet been set.
Municipalities "don't have the guts" to legalize secondary suites, a Greater Vancouver tenants' group charges.
Kim Zander of the Tenants' Rights Action Coalition said city governments can't justify continuing banning basement and similar suites in homes after a B.C. Supreme Court judge struck down a Delta bylaw.
Justice Marvyn Koenigsberg ruled Sept. 19 that Delta's bylaw, which allowed suites only for blood relatives of homeowners, was discriminatory and unlawful.
"Any (city) council with any guts or initiative can legalize secondary suites," Zander said recently. "They just don't want to take on the vocal minority of uninformed homeowners who are against (suites)."
But Richmond city Coun. Derek Dang said he doesn't expect any changes to a local bylaw that bans secondary suites.
"This is going to be a touchy issue," he said Tuesday. "I think we are fine for the time being."
Despite Richmond's ban on secondary suites, the outlook for those who can't afford to buy homes, condos or townhouses and must rent is not bleak, said Dang, who's also a Re/Max realtor. He just rented out his own Richmond home to a couple from Vancouver who were happy to get a whole home for roughly the same price they were paying for a two-bedroom suite in Kitsilano, he said.
Richmond city hall does not allow secondary suites, although homeowners may rent out rooms as long as they are connected to the main suite and are not separated by locked doors or completed kitchens.
Richmond at one time allowed extended family members to occupy a secondary suite, similar to Delta's bylaw that was recently struck down in court. That bylaw was repealed years ago, yet some of those suites remain.
Richmond city staff know illegal suites exist, but will only act to shut them down when a complaint is lodged, according to the city's chief building inspector Rick Bortolussi.
Dang said he could support allowing some secondary suites in single-family home areas if the property's lot is large enough to accommodate more parking and the suite is professionally built and safe.
Koenigsberg's ruling also noted that Greater Vancouver's rental vacancy rate, 1.3 per cent in 1995, and that at least two provincial studies on the subject point to the need for legalization of secondary suites on the grounds that they are an important source of affordable housing.
A 1994 provincial task force recommended that B.C. Building Code requirements for suites be relaxed, and the province grant powers to municipalities to license and regulate the suites. The first recommendation has since been acted upon, but not the second.
A provincial spokesperson said simply that discussions with municipalities would continue.
A new $65-million hotel will call the Vancouver International Airport home when it opens in the fall of 1999.
Canadian Pacific Hotels was selected by the Vancouver International Airport Authority to build a 29,000-square-metre, 400-room hotel on the east side of the airport's new terminal, it was announced this week.
The hotel's construction will coincide with the addition of seven new gates to the new terminal, according to VIAA spokesperson Earle Weichel.
Susan Kavanagh, spokesperson for CP Hotel Vancouver, said 250 full-time employees will work at the new hotel. Hiring full-time staffers likely won't begin until eight months before the hotel opens.
At least 100 more construction workers will be employed during the estimated 20 months it will take to build the hotel. Construction is scheduled to begin next spring.
"This hotel may be the first stop for international visitors to Vancouver, and we intend to ensure that their first impression reflects well on this city and on Canada," Robert DeMone, president of CP Hotels, said in a press release.
The hotel will feature more than 320 square metres in meeting space and two restaurants that can accommodate more than a combined 300 people.
Ground-breaking ceremonies will be held this fall.
Richmond had one of the highest hotel room occupancy rates in Canada in 1996. During the first half of 1996, many hotels were more than 95-per-cent full.
Hotel construction has boomed since the summer of 1996, with more than a dozen hotels proposed for the city.
A dog that severely injured a Richmond man two weeks ago was destroyed this week.
Peter Markovic, owner of Rocko, the bull mastiff that attacked Donald Douglas on Sept. 11, assumed full responsibility for the incident.
"I'm really sorry for what happened to that guy," Markovic told The Review Friday. "He never bit anyone before."
Markovic said the attack likely wouldn't have happened if he used a stronger leash to restrain his powerful 10-year-old dog.
"It's actually my fault. I should have kept him on a thicker rope. He broke his leash."
Concerned that his dog was "running on the loose", Markovic started leashing his dog about a month ago, he said. "I did my best."
SPCA's Brian Nelson said dog owners are responsible for their dog's actions.
Aside from facing a civil suit for the injuries, a dog owner can be charged in certain cases with criminal negligence causing bodily harm, he said.
For dogs with a "known propensity of viciousness", owners who show "wanton or reckless disregard for the lives and safety of others" can be charged under the criminal code offence, he said.
"(The criminal charge) is considered generally speaking in cases of attacks," Nelson said.
But Crown counsel Jim Lees said this week that it's too soon to tell whether criminal negligence charges will be laid against Markovic.
Despite being mauled and nearly losing his leg, Douglas said he didn't relish the idea of having the bull mastiff destroyed, despite the fact that he is now facing two years of rehabilitation, and is concerned he may not regain full use of his leg.
Douglas was attacked while walking his dogs near his home, at Garden City and Francis Roads. A female husky in heat bit one of Douglas' dogs, prompting him to strike the dog in the head. That's when the bull mastiff attacked Douglas, tearing off his pant leg.
Douglas required more than 100 stitches to close the wound. He nearly lost his leg after an infection set in two days after the attack.
The timing of a UBC study warning of the environmental impact of continued growth in the Lower Mainland could not have been better.
With Richmond currently reviewing its official community plan, the $2.4-million study released this week by a group of UBC researchers should serve as food for thought for city planners and councillors currently charting the city's future.
"I hope it will be useful," said Michael Healey, one of the study's principal investigators.
The study warns that if population growth in the Fraser river basin continues at its present pace of two per cent annually, the environment will suffer, he said.
"We cannot hope to retain many of the environmental amenities that the majority of residents value. I'm not convinced growth is inevitable."
Richmond environmentalist Reggie Ho, a member of the Vancouver Natural Historical Society, said the study's findings are nothing new. He agrees that the region is growing to quickly and that the environment can't sustain the rate of development.
"People don't realize there's a limit to what the (Fraser river) can stand in terms of growth."
But Ho said he's not sure how growth can be slowed. He's worried that the future of the Fraser river is threatened because it runs through numerous jurisdiction and lacks a central authority's oversight.
Some of the signs the environment is already deteriorating was uncovered in the study. Ground water sources were found to be contaminated and the species composition of Fraser Valley flora was found to be changing.
Jennifer Nener, a water quality biologist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, agrees with the study's "take-home message," but she says that some of the collected data about fish is flawed. Nener disputes one of the study's findings that 90 per cent of the fish samples taken from the Fraser river showed "visible abnormalities."
Different species of Fraser river fish were improperly compared to pin-reared rainbow trout, she said.
"What is defined as normal for rainbow trout is not normal in other species."
But Nener emphasized that the study should still be taken seriously.
"We do have a lot of reasons to be concerned. I think there's certainly lots of problems with fish that result from urban development. Population growth is certainly an issue."
Researcher Healey said some of the more than five dozen researchers who worked four years on the study "worked closely with council and staff in Richmond."
The researchers were trying to design a sustainability checklist to help council keep an eye out for the environment. The checklist would help council consider bylaw options to "reduce Richmond's demands on the environment."
Should Richmond's population continue to boom, Healey envisions a city of highrises, increased traffic congestion, less green space and more environmental pollution. To put the brakes on growth, Healey suggests that upset residents give their input to the OCP that is currently being reviewed.
"That's certainly a good way."
Making the city less desirable to move to by improving other municipalities across the country would also reduce migration between provinces. Changes to international immigration might also curb growth, he added.
"I'm fairly satisfied we have enough evidence to indicate our ecosystem is stressed."
The study also found that dozens of Greater Vancouver streams that previously supported salmon runs have been turned into storm sewers. The study also makes recommendations to help make the Lower Mainland more sustainable.
An arbitrator's ruling this week on Bill 43 surprised those on both sides of the dispute.
"The decision is a little different than all of us expected," school district secretary treasurer Ken Morris said Thursday about the contentious school sites acquisition tax agreement. The agreement between the city and school board was forged last year, taxing new development to help purchase school sites.
Instead of siding with the city, which claimed a three-per-cent tax was appropriate, or with the school board, which had hoped for a five-per-cent levy, arbitrator Martin Taylor decided on 2.47 per cent.
Richmond Mayor Greg Halsey-Brandt said Friday that he was surprised at the ruling, but pleased that Taylor's decision "fitted with the city's rationale." He thought Taylor would side with either the city or school board.
In his 33-page ruling, Taylor determined that six of the 15 requested school sites deemed necessary by the local school board and approved by the Ministry of Education were not eligible under Bill 43. Since the tax rate is based on the number of needed school sites, that decision did not bode well for the school board.
But Taylor was less than certain his ruling was correct.
"Because of the haste with which I have been obliged to prepare this award, I am concerned that I may have erred in applying the reasoning I have adopted to a particular proposed site or sites, or may have made some mathematical mistake in arriving at the "contribution percentage", Taylor wrote. He was unavailable for comment at press time.
Despite Taylor's statement, the city likely will not be appealing the arbitrator's decision, according to Halsey-Brandt. City staff quickly reviewed the decision and said "it looked pretty good," he said.
Secretary treasurer Morris said filing an appeal is still an option for the school board.
The school board's legal fees for the arbitration hearing and ruling totalled about $50,000. That's roughly equivalent to the amount of money Bill 43 has generated for the school district, Morris said. The legal bill will be forwarded to the provincial government, he added.
Both school board chair Sylvia Gwozd and Morris were uncertain whether the ruling favored the city or school board.
"This has been for both of us such a frustrating process," Gwozd said. The upcoming discussions between the city and school board regarding the official community plan (OCP) and growth-related concerns are "absolutely critical," she said.
The school board continues to have difficulty accommodating students as a result of Richmond's population boom. With 246 classroom portables sprinkled throughout the city, about 40 per cent of secondary students learn in portables, Gwozd said.
"The decision doesn't diminish the need for school sites."
With the anniversary date of the signing of the agreement on Sept. 30, neither the school board or city are certain when the new rate will come into effect.
Halsey-Brandt believes that both council and school board may have to pass a resolution ushering in the new rate.
But the controversy of Bill 43 likely won't end there, he said.
"I expect it to be opened up in the legislation next spring."
Halsey-Brandt isn't convinced a mandatory province-wide policy is the right way to go because it may hurt slow-growing communities. A provincial task force is currently considering the feasibility of implementing Bill 43 in all communities.
Both Morris and Halsey-Brandt agree that the signing of Bill 43 shows the commitment both the city and school board have to education.
"Other municipalities can't even get this far," Morris said.
A food service company is suing the City of Richmond and the Richmond Arenas Community Association for breach of duty, acting in bad faith and disclosing the company's confidential business information.
Alberta-based Western Food Services Ltd. launched the suit July 31 after it says the city and community association reneged on a contract and broke the rules of proposal calls.
Western says it submitted a proposal in March - at the city's invitation - to manage vending machines and operate food stands at the Richmond Ice Centre, Aquatic Centre and the basketball facility in Riverport Leisure Centre. The proposal contained confidential marketing and sales information, according to its statement of claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court.
That information was discussed during an April meeting between a Western representative, four city officials, one community association representative and a member of the aquatic centre, the claim states.
The city awarded the contract to Western on May 6 and, a week later, scrapped it, the company states. The city rejected the contract because it had an existing contract in place with the community association, a contract that was not disclosed to Western, the company states.
As a result, Western says it suffered loss and damages, including profits.
According to both the city and community association's defence statements, Western was told of the existing contract. The community association also maintains that Western was also told that any new deal would require the association's consent, which was not given.
City solicitor Paul Kendrick told the Review Friday that the city did not initiate a formal tender process, but merely invited companies to submit their "ideas" about running the food stands.
Western's lawyers could not be reached for comment by press deadline Friday.
No court date has yet been set.
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