Peschisolido is staying put

Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter

He lost the right to run as a Liberal in Richmond in the next election, but Richmond MP Joe Peschisolido says for now he's still Richmond's representative in Ottawa.

"I enjoy being an MP and I think I do a pretty good job at it," Peschisolido said Tuesday. "I'm still the Member of Parliament. I'll still try to do the best I can."

Peschisolido lost the nomination battle Saturday against former MP Raymond Chan. According to Liberal Party sources, a mere 186 votes separated the two men, with Chan taking 54 per cent of the votes at Charles E. London Secondary.

Though some might wonder if Peschisolido will try to test his fortunes elsewhere-after all, he only moved here from Ontario in 2000-he says Richmond is his home.

That means he has no plans to pursue the Liberal nomination in another riding-such as Vancouver-South Burnaby, left vacant by retiring MP Herb Dhaliwal-or in Ontario, where he waged three unsuccessful campaigns as a Reform candidate before succeeding in Richmond in 2000.

"I'm staying here. I can do my law," said Peschisolido, who graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in Ontario. "I can do business."

Though their relationship has never been amicable, Peschisolido insists he and Chan share a common cause.

"I'm going to do my all and make sure Richmond stays on the Liberal side and Paul Martin stays prime minister," he said. How he will do that, Peschisolido admits he's not too sure.

"I think it's premature to talk about that four or five days after the nomination. Who knows when the election is going to be."

Though he lost the nomination, Peschisolido said he is proud of the campaign he waged and the people who worked with him.

"We had a wonderful team. I was so proud and thankful to my supporters."

Peschisolido, then a Canadian Alliance MP, defeated Chan, a two-term Liberal MP and junior cabinet minister in the 2000 election. He won by 1,136 votes.

In January 2002, Peschisolido crossed the floor to the Liberals, saying he was upset with questionable comments made by some Alliance members about immigrants. While Peschisolido was once active as a Young Liberal, the move shocked many constituents, who branded the MP as an opportunist. It also angered the Liberal riding executive, who were Chan supporters.

In 2003, Peschisolido was named parliamentary secretary to the President of the Privy Council and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, a position he lost when Paul Martin named his new cabinet last November.

Party antics whet appetite for change

Nick Loenen says nomination battle exposes rot in the system

Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter

The nomination battle between Joe Peschisolido and Raymond Chan on the weekend was just one more example of the rot in our electoral process, says Nick Loenen.

"This is so undemocratic," said Loenen, a former Richmond councillor and MLA who is now a critic of Canada's federal and provincial electoral systems. "I think people are fed up with nomination battles. It just stinks to high heaven."

Loenen, who ran against Chan as a Reform candidate in the 1993 election, believes the current system rewards the best organizer, not the best politician.

"People bus in huge quantities of instant party members whose loyalty is shallow and short," Loenen said. "It has nothing to do with merits or a candidate's true qualifications. It's simply a numbers game. The more you can bribe the better you do."

With stories in the media about questionable membership signings, mud-slinging between candidates and conflicts between rival supporters, Loenen said disillusionment is growing, as is the appetite for change.

"The more of that we see, the more people will embrace new opportunities," said Loenen.

Loenen holds "huge hope" for the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform, which is examining B.C.'s electoral system and whether change is needed. Loenen has been an avid observer of that group's meetings.

"I can tell you quite confidently they will recommend a new system," he said.

This scenario is much less likely on the federal level, Loenen added-particularly while the Liberals are in power.

Though all opposition parties have voiced support for a new process that puts more power into the hands of citizens, the current system has served the Liberals well.

"The party in power, there's nothing in it for them. Would turkeys vote for an early Thanksgiving?"

In Richmond, however, Loenen predicts the local turkey could come to roost.

"This is not exactly a safe Liberal seat," Loenen said, citing the recent sponsorship scandal and its contribution to age-old anti-Liberal sentiment. "They could vote against the Liberals. Anything but."

Loenen said there are many alternative models being used around the world. Even the U.S. primary systems, used to select their leadership candidates, takes the power away from the parties and puts it into the hands of citizens.

Witness saw clothes dumped at landfill

Local claims man was either Robert Pickton or his brother

Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter

The Missing Women's Task Force could turn to a Richmond landfill on River Road for evidence after a local man reported seeing a man dump women's clothes at the River Road site during the 1990s.

Dave, who asked that his last name not be published, told radio station News1130 reporter Ron Bencze about what he'd witnessed because he hadn't heard whether information his family had passed on was being actively investigated. Dave said it was his brother who walked a police investigator around the site near Knox Way.

Dave said he wasn't sure whether the person he saw was Robert Pickton or his brother Dave Pickton, but recalls seeing large amounts of women's clothing being dumped at a River Road site near No. 6 Road on at least three occasions.

"I watched Pickton dump stuff there," Dave told The Richmond Review on Wednesday afternoon, adding that the Pickton brother he saw drove a small white pick-up truck with red lettering indicating the Pickton farm name.

"At the time, I never thought about it. At first, we thought he'd broken up with his girlfriend and he was dumping her stuff. Now that this has all come out, we can't believe he'd be so reckless to dump all of this stuff in front of us."

But he did think it was odd that Pickton drove out of his way, all the way from Port Coquitlam, to dump such a small amount of garbage in Richmond.

"If they were to do some digging they'd find women's clothes," Dave said.

It wasn't until Pickton's name surfaced a couple of years ago that Dave and his brother put two and two together and contacted police.

RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Catherine Galliford said: "We are aware of the Richmond site."

But she said she was unable to comment further, including when or if the local site would be dug up.

The Pickton family is also connected to another Richmond landfill.

Ron Zaruk, owner of Norm Ron Construction, said the Pickton family regularly used his site on No. 9 Road and River Road to dump soil since 1971.

But he never saw women's clothing being dumped, and he was at the site nearly everyday.

"I've known their family since the 1970s."

Zaruk said the Pickton family runs an excavation business and he continues to deal with them to this day. But he's never been approached by police, nor has he felt it necessary to contact them since Robert Pickton's arrest.

"I didn't really know Willy (Robert Pickton). I dealt with him twice in my life."

Robert Pickton, 53, is charged with 15 counts of first-degree murder. The Crown has indicated it plans to lay another seven charges against him before he stands trial. In late January, the task force announced it had discovered the DNA of six other women on his Port Coquitlam pig farm. His next appearance is in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster in June.

Jackpot of Dreams Lottery sells out

Richmond Hospital Foundation and Big Brothers are the big winners

Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter

The Richmond Hospital Foundation's new Jackpot of Dreams Lottery has sold out weeks earlier than anticipated and in the process has generated about a million dollars for the hospital and Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver.

"We're really pleased," Richmond Hospital Foundation executive director Jackie Lee-Son said Tuesday.

"We got a great deal of community support."

The success of this year's lottery means a repeat for next year is a virtual shoo-in, she said.

"We will do it again."

Although the final numbers haven't yet been tallied, Lee-Son said the lottery will generate about $750,000 for the local hospital foundation, and about $250,000 for Big Brothers. The hospital foundation raises money to purchase medical equipment for Richmond Hospital.

The lottery sold out this week, well in advance of the April 8 deadline, and that means expenses will be less than anticipated.

What's still to be determined is the number of single $50 tickets purchased, compared to the three for $100 tickets offer.

All of the draws will be held on April 17, with the complete winners list posted on the lottery's web site at www.jackpotlottery.net by April 21.

While this year's draw featured a pair of Port Moody showhomes, Lee-Son said organizers may want to consider changes, perhaps even offering a local grand prize home. But Lee-Son said that will be up to the foundation.

Council eyes 3.76 per cent property tax hike

Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter

In order to minimize a property tax hike this year, councillors plan to lean heavily on an anticipated surge in revenues that's expected to coincide with the opening of the Great Canadian Casino's new $135-million flagship facility in north Richmond this June.

But three councillors objected to the idea of putting the city in the position of relying on money that hasn't yet been generated by the casino-which hasn't even opened its doors-or received by the city.

"Now we're addicted to gambling in the worst way," said Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie, who along with Coun. Evelina Halsey-Brandt and Coun. Harold Steves voted in favour of a motion that would have eliminated that reliance on casino money this year.

Councillors gathered Tuesday night during a general purposes committee meeting to hammer out this year's operating budget. The budget must be completed by mid May.

A 5.12-per-cent property tax increase was previously proposed by staff, but councillors balked at such a large hike and requested staff to go through the books again to come up with a better number.

Staff did exactly that on Tuesday, proposing a tax increase of just 2.98 per cent by relying on an anticipated $916,667 GST rebate from Ottawa, an expanded parking program, expanded and new user fees, a reduction in overtime and $1 million in casino revenues.

In a twist, most councillors commented that the proposed 2.98 per cent hike was a little low, and said that the public might be willing to accept a higher rate, which would put the city in a sounder financial position.

The committee decided to add a $500,000 contribution to the city's reserves before arriving at the 3.76 per cent figure.

The proposed will now be forwarded to Monday's council meeting.

Brodie said council previously indicated it would not spend casino money that wasn't already in the bank. Yet under this year's proposed operating budget, that's exactly what's been proposed.

That's a risk the trio didn't want to take. Halsey-Brandt was specifically concerned that a legal battle with the Musqueam Indian Band-who claim they weren't properly consulted by the City of Richmond and that their land claim negotiations will be damaged by the opening of a new casino on Crown land they are eyeing-could affect whatever money is generated by the new casino, and perhaps block it from being transferred to the city.

But Coun. Bill McNulty, Coun. Rob Howard, Coun. Derek Dang and Coun. Kiichi Kumagai disagreed.

Kumagai said he's confident the money will come, and pointed out that other communities have seen a huge surge in casino dollars ever since the introduction of slot machines and expanded gaming. (Municipalities that host casinos get a cut of the revenues; the more money a casino makes, the bigger the financial slice.)

An advocate of expanded gaming in Richmond, Kumagai has previously predicted that Richmond's new casino could generate as much as $10 million annually thanks to the addition of hundreds of slot machines.

Rehabilitating a reputation

Raymond Chow pays tribute to Mata Hari

Thomas Terrio, Contributor

• Raymond Chow performs Mata Hari
• Saturday at Steveston United Church (3720 Broadway St.)
• Dinner: 6:30 p.m. Concert: 8 p.m.
• Ticket info: 604-274-5387 or 604-277-0508

Raymond Chow is determined to change the image of Mata Hari as a spy to that of a dancer, which, according to him, she truly was.

"She wasn't a trained spy. She was a dancer."

On Saturday evening, Chow will perform his work Mata Hari in a piano concert at Steveston United Church.

Mata Hari was the famous European courtesan and burlesque dancer born in 1876 in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. She was recruited by the French to spy on the Germans during the First World War.

Chow wrote, produced and will perform Mata Hari, with each song representing a scene in a ballet. He composed half of his Mata Hari songs on his John Rodwoods piano built in 1850, which is two tones lower than a Steinway. (Chow collects old pianos, not to mention vintage cars, such as his prized Bentley.)

"I had a story line, and from the storyline I worked out the music," said Chow, who has been working on the pieces for four years. "And then from the storyline itself, I went back and tried to project each scene to each individual (character in the ballet)."

Each scene or song revolves around the people in the life of Mata Hari up until the time of her execution by the French in 1917.

The theme "Mata Hari" is a song without words in which Chow uses notes to sound out the name of Mata Hari, which means "Eye of the Dawn" because of the early morning hours she entertained.

The sound of Chow's piano music seductively takes the listener back to the time when Mata Hari danced amongst the clouds of war only to fall victim herself to falsehood and deceit in the world of spies and international intrigue.

According to Chow, Mata Hari was used as a scapegoat and was caught up in the the spy business for the same reason she became a dancer-because she couldn't say no. Unfortunately, she never made any money and went on the speculation she would be paid for her services by the French.

While he has a passion for music, Chow is well-known for his painting.

Born in 1941, Chow, who grew up on his grandfather's farm in Richmond, began drawing at an early age because of the influence of his uncle, who was an architect.

When he was 12, he met Norman Rockwell, and was impressed with his drawings and sense of humour. Rockwell influenced Chow by the way he conveyed people and figures.

Chow then began drawing old buildings in Chinatown and Vancouver, and by the age of 18 was actively marketing himself as an artist.

"The only way one can grow," he added with a laugh, "is to become rebellious."

So one day he told his mother he was leaving home because he was successfully selling his drawings in the West End on Denman Street, and hasn't looked back since.

He paints using Chinese brushes and the influence of French painter Monet to capture the human form in combination with the environment.

"Painting is like creating melody," said Chow.

Chow, who studied music and art at the University of B.C., enjoys exploring the evolving theme of the human figure in his favourite medium-acrylic painting.

He rebelled against colour at the beginning, only to embrace it fully in his later life. The father of two's future plans are to paint in a grand scale and exhibit his work in larger venues. He has also been influenced by the famed Group of Seven, and has organized his own Western Group of Seven to further pursue his ambitions.

Chow is also a dreamer.

And his greatest dream involves building a new Steveston Centre for the Visual Arts. He has put together drawings which show a modern building made of four oval levels surrounded by plexiglass panels where visual artists could exhibit their work, and people could walk in a continuous circle viewing the artists' lifelong work.

"This (venue) is for visual artists," said Chow, who said he is seriously looking for funding for the project. "This is our dream."

On the level

Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter

Nearly 13,000 people offered opinions on the Richmond-Airport-Vancouver rapid transit line during the public consultation work done by the City of Richmond earlier this month.

So what do locals prefer? At-grade or elevated?

It turns out that the city is split on the issue, according to senior manager Lauren Melville who presented her report to the city's general purposes committee Thursday.

Of the 5,242 respondents who live in Richmond, 50 per cent prefer an elevated system, 40 per cent want one that's at-grade, and five per cent could go either way.

Of the 5,141 respondents who live and work in Richmond, 53 per cent want an elevated system, while 39 per cent want one that's on the street, with four per cent willing to accept both. Of the 2,400 people who do not live or work in Richmond, or only work in Richmond, more than 60 per cent want an elevated system

Although the numbers alone suggest there's a slight preference for an elevated system, Coun. Kiichi Kumagai said one must also consider the rationale used by those preferring the elevated option.

Most of them expressed a concern about the impact on traffic on the already congested No. 3 Road.

But Kumagai said synchronizing the traffic lights with the transit system would eliminate that conflict between cars and rapid transit commuters.

"As far as I'm concerned, the elevated system is very obtrusive," Kumagai said, adding that such a system will divide the community. He's also a firm believer that a ground-level system will be more popular with riders.

Kumagai noted that the support for the ground-level system maintains the position held in the official community plan.

Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie said he thought long and hard about the elevated/at-grade issue before making his decision to support one that's on the street.

"I felt the visual impact of an elevated system would be so significant, it would fundamentally change the look of our city. It would change it dramatically and far for the worse in terms of the city centre area."

In the past few weeks, Brodie and other councillors have visited other rapid transit systems in the Pacific Northwest.

"I'm convinced seeing the systems that I have, that (a street-level system) is doable."

Most council members agreed.

After listening to submissions from the public-the majority from residents wanting an at-grade system-the committee recommended that council express its preference for a street-level system.

Only Coun. Rob Howard was opposed to this motion for an "at-grade system in the No. 3 Road corridor."

He said he believes there are advantages to an elevated system, although he too prefers one that's at-grade.

Staff had recommended that council request that RAVCo and TransLink forward proposals for both an at-grade and street-level system to the Best-and-Final offer stage.

"Given the high participation rates in the consultation process, and the marginal spread between the community's preference for an at-grade and elevated system, staff believe it is prudent that both options are forwarded to the (best and final offer) stage," Melville wrote.

"This will ensure that the proponents are provided with the opportunity to address the community's concerns with either system during the next stage of design development."

But the committee did not support that suggestion.

Coun. Harold Steves introduced an amendment to the original motion, asking that staff also look at the possibility of having "an independent system constructed on No. 3 Road...with the technology to be determined."

This motion was carried, with Coun. Derek Dang and Howard opposed.

Despite the committee's recommendation, Brodie emphasized that the ultimate design of the system will be decided by both RAVCo and TransLink.

The design of the two finalists will likely be released after their offers are delivered to RAVCo, at the end of August. Construction is slated to begin in April of 2005.

More local public consultation work will be done at the airport this weekend and starting March 20 on Lulu Island.

Unlike the independent round of consultative work recently completed by the City of Richmond, this time public opinion will be gathered by RAVCo, the TransLink subsidiary charged with managing the RAV project.

Project directors want to know the public's design objectives for stations and trainways.

Input gathered before April 5 will be included in a report that will form part of the information provided to the two proponents selected to take part in the Best and Final offer stage.

According to RAVCo project director Jane Bird, an at-grade system would cost roughly $165 million for the No. 3 Road portion, some $100 million less than an elevated system.

Money man reaches his bottom line

After 23 years of working with the City of Richmond, treasurer Jim Bruce will put awayp his ledgers at the end of the month.

Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter

Jim Bruce won't miss the bureaucratic process he's become so familiar with over the past 23 years, but he'll definitely miss the people.

The city's general manager of finance and corporate services is retiring, just short of his 60th birthday which he will be celebrating this June.

"It's been a great run and I've had a lot of fun," Bruce said Friday, the day when the city issued a press release, naming the Township of Langley's director of finance Rod Kray as Bruce's successor. "I'll really miss the people, that's for sure."

Bruce started working for the city back in 1981, starting in the engineering department where he managed the budget and administration for five years.

A few years later, he became the city's treasurer, even though he wasn't an accountant, a brave move on the part of council, he noted. But Bruce did have experience in financial planning in the private sector, and relied on professional accountants to do the "debits and credits" while he ensured the work was done.

Bruce said he's proud of the fact that the city is now financially stable, with the best infrastructure in the Lower Mainland. The community centres are top notch, as are the other public facilities, not to mention the roads used to connect the various parts of the city.

"What I hang my hat on is the strong financial stability we've got."

Unlike other communities, Richmond has managed to build for the most part without borrowing. By building up a large reserve, the city can use that interest income to finance projects that would otherwise require loans.

That has helped the city keep taxes in check.

Other communities, meanwhile, are having to make cutbacks in areas such as road maintenance just to tread water.

He guesses that avoiding loans gives the city about 30 per cent extra mileage on every tax dollar.

The next challenge for the city is to maintain what we've got without letting it deteriorate, while at the same time keeping tax rates low.

"People don't want to give up what they've got, but they don't necessarily want tax increases."

That challenge now rests in the hands of Rod Kray, who is a professional accountant with a distinguished career in local government and private sector management, including several years in senior management with the City of Surrey.

Asked what he plans to do during his retirement, Bruce said he'll kick back and relax in his White Rock home, which is a few blocks from the beach.

His last day is March 31, when he'll begin his retirement with some leftover vacation.

Ethels top $10,000 for first time

Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter

The numbers are in and the 11th annual Ethel Tibbits Women of Distinction Awards was in fact the biggest success in the event's history.

Last year's fundraiser for Nova House, a shelter for women and their children escaping domestic violence, raised about $5,500.

But this year, with the addition of new sponsors, a record number of nominees, and better prizes, the fundraising total will exceed $10,000.

"Absolutely outstanding," said Lois Hourston, publisher of The Richmond Review.

"It couldn't have happened without all of our sponsors, participants and the staff at The Richmond Review."

Joan Cowderoy, executive director of CHIMO Crisis Services, said this money will be put to good use.

"I'm absolutely delighted. That's just huge for one event to give that kind of money."

Cowderoy said the goal is to raise $75,000 for Nova House this year, and the donation from the Ethel Tibbits luncheon at the Vancouver Airport Hotel and Marina is more than 13 per cent of that goal.

The money will be used to support programs in the house, in addition to providing food, supplies, access to resources and information, and travel expenses for the women and their children.

School rankings released

Thomas Terrio, Contributor

Don't believe everything you read.

Richmond Secondary principal Darlene Macklam suggests the Fraser Institute's Report Card on British Columbia's Secondary Schools is big on numbers but small on facts.

Her school ranked 225 of 277 this year in the report card, which is based strictly on academic performance.

Macklam says she doesn't get excited when the Report Card numbers are high or low because they don't consider the variables.

Macklam says her school has a number of alternative programs for students who are never intended to graduate from school in the traditional sense, such as a pre-employment program.

Also, there are technical vocational programs which aren't offered anywhere else in the district such as automotive, metal shop, and woodworking courses.

"That's why I have trouble with them (the Fraser Institute) treating all the schools the same," said Macklam. "Because not all schools are the same.

"These students are very capable young men and women, and go on to do great things in society, but for them, an academic graduation is not in the cards; so the school loses marks because they do not graduate in the traditional sense-based on the Fraser Institute ranking formula.

The Report Card is the only one of its kind which analyzes publicly available data to rate all the public and independent schools in B.C. The report highlights several key indicators such as: average provincial exam marks, percentage of provincial exam failures along with graduation and drop-out rates along with differences between male and female students in English 12 and Math 12 to arrive at a academic performance rating from one to 10, and a provincial ranking from 1 to 277.

The three top schools in the report are St. Georges School, Crofton House, and York House School in Vancouver. All three schools are ranked number one provincially with an overall rating of 10.

Local high schools in Richmond were rated as follows: Hugh McRoberts Secondary and Steveston Secondary equally ranked at 69 provincially with a rating of 7.2, J.N. Burnett Secondary (99-6.7), Matthew McNair Secondary (118-6.5), Richmond Christian School (130-6.4), Hugh Boyd Secondary (168-6.0), Charles E.London Secondary (193-5.6), Richmond Secondary (225-5.0).

Most overall ratings in Richmond have slipped since 1997 except for Steveston Secondary and Matthew McNair.

"In British Columbia, parents have the legal right to enroll their children in any public or private school in the province and they use the Report Card's academic indicators to make better choices," says Peter Cowley of the Fraser Institute.

But Macklam says there more to an education.

"I think that what we have to do is to educate our public that schools are about more than academics," said Macklam. "Academics are absolutely important for students who are here to do well in that area, we have to be make sure we help them do as well as they can. I will challenge anybody to show me that the students in my school don't, they do very well academically. But for the students who have different goals-we should be recognizing those as well."

Local woman to carry the torch

Thomas Terrio, Contributor

The Olympic spirit has caught hold of Richmond resident Paulina McDonald.

In June, she will run in the Olympic torch relay in preparation for the 2004 summer Olympic games in Greece.

McDonald will get to carry the Olympic torch 400 metres in Montreal on June 20 when it arrives from New York during the World Wide Olympic Torch Relay.

The relay will last 65 days, and leaves Ancient Greece on March 24. The torch will then travel to Australia, Japan, and South East Asia before coming to North America and then on to Europe.

The torch will then return to Greece for the Games which will be held Aug.13 to 29.

McDonald entered the contest online and was required to audition and perform in a talent contest before being chosen one of the winners.

To win, she performed a dance incorporating nine different Olympic sports. Twenty finalists were chosen from Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, with three winners chosen from the Lower Mainland to carry the Olympic torch.

McDonald is originally from Chile and the mother of five boys. Montreal is the only city in Canada hosting the torch relay because of the city's participation in the 1976 summer Olympics.

A total of 100 Canadians will carry the torch in Montreal, while 3,500 will carry it worldwide.

"I am thrilled," said McDonald. "I love the Olympics, and I love sports."

In addition to winning the honour of carrying the torch, McDonald also won several high end prizes.

A feline sanctuary

Thomas Terrio, Contributor

At an undisclosed location, hidden neatly behind a perennial flower farm in Richmond, rests a sanctuary where the goodness of human nature is being practiced daily on the meek and less fortunate creatures among us.

For 15 years the Richmond Homeless Cat Society, a non profit charity, has rescued and cared for homeless or abandoned animals in the Lower Mainland.

The local facility is filled with fenced-in wooden cabins which allow volunteers easy access to the animals for feeding and cleaning. Cats roam free within the sanctuary, and spend their days basking in the sun on benches and in cat boxes which line the walkways. It is a virtual paradise for cats, where every animal is given a name, and virtually every need is met. Considering there are approximately 600 cats on site, the sanctuary is surprisingly neat and clean.

Although the sanctuary has only existed in it's present location for the past four years, president Carol Reichert began offering sanctuary to cats from her home in 1989.

It was something she was motivated to do when she learned that 1,100 cats were being euthanized each year in the Lower Mainland.

She began by placing feeding stations in specific locations from Richmond to Vancouver, and spent time replenishing the stations every day. At one point, Reichert had a total of 43 feeding stations throughout the Lower Mainland. Reichert said hundreds of homeless and abandoned cats are breeding and running wild in the Lower Mainland.

To better meet demand, she is looking for more support from the community.

However, Reichert is not alone in her quest to find a home for as many stray cats as possible. A similar shelter was established five years ago under the name of Forgotten Felines, and cares for 250 cats on a quarter acre of land in Richmond.

To support the more than $12,000 a month expense of running the facility, Reichert receives donations from across the Lower Mainland and also raises money through hosting garage sales, raffles, and publishing a newsletter. Also, the sanctuary is located on six acres of suburban farmland presently leased and paid for by one special supporter, Allan Brew. Brew has recently added a new drainage system in order to make way for a future expansion, if donations make that possible.

Reichert and her volunteers spend many evenings catching stray cats using tender traps bated with food.

Tender traps allow the animal to enter the trap only to be captured by a dropping trap door.

Animals are then placed in transfer cages and transported directly to the vet for vaccines and tests. Teeth and ears are cleaned, blood is tested and the animals are also tested for fleas. More importantly, the cats are spayed or neutered.

Testing and vaccinations cost the Reichert's organization between $100 to $300 per cat. The most serious problem with wild cats is their dental condition. Many have poor teeth and mouth abscesses which can drive up vet bills.

Reichert says every four months, calls to the sanctuary from people looking for a "no kill" shelter are doubling-phone calls Reichert says she no longer has time to handle. She says most people will not call the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals any longer, because they fear their pet will be put down.

Reichert does not disclose the location of the facility because of problems with some irate property owners who believe her efforts to control the wild cat population are, in fact, creating the potential for an explosion of vermin-such as rats.

But Afzal Mahmood, manager of IPM Pest Control, says rats don't live in the wild anymore.

They live on our garbage, said Mahmood. He adds that rats live in burrows, crawl spaces, and attics, and tend to hide in areas where cats can't go.

Volunteer Leslie Landa is considered the animal expert at the shelter. Landa hopes people will "think carefully before they decide to take a cat into their lives. People should realize that this is a lifetime commitment and if they are not willing to make that lifetime commitment and treat these animals as part of their family, then they shouldn't be taking them home in the first place."

Reichert's philosophy goes one step further, "If we let them be born, then we have a responsibility to give them a good life, and that's what we all work towards here (at RHCS)." To volunteer, adopt, or make a donation call 604-275-2036.

It's about time

Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter

Gastown has one. So do White Rock and Kitsilano.

So Chad Heringer figured it was about time that Steveston get one too.

Last Friday, a turn-of-the-century timepiece Heringer purchased from a Tsawwassen antique dealer was placed in front of his store, Heringers Olde Fashioned Quality Meats at 190-12251 No. 1 Rd.

The ornate street clock, which boasts large numbers, the words "Historic Steveston Village", and a new battery-operated mechanism, is already proving popular with tourists.

"There's a couple out here taking pictures right now," Heringer said Friday afternoon.

In fact, less than an hour after it was erected, people were posing with it, he said.

"It's definitely drawing some attention. It's a beauty."

Heringer first noticed the clock in the garage belonging to an antique dealer.

Although it's got a late 1800s heritage style, it wasn't too expensive so he picked it up.

"I thought that it would look really cool in Steveston. It's something Steveston didn't have and I found reasonably priced."

That was more than two years ago.

It took more than 18 months to get the required approvals from the city before the clock was sitting on the sidewalk in front of his family business, established in 1990.

Watchdogs with a modern twist

Philip Raphael, Staff Reporter

Shortly after the spectre of terrorism reared its ugly head in the continental U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001, Margrett Donley's Richmond-based business has gone to the dogs.

No, she doesn't run a tourism-based enterprise, or a cross-border export firm that relies on unfettered links to interests south of the border. In fact, a new world focused on guarding against terrorism is what her business called K-9 Detection Services (www.canadiank9.com) and Investigations is anticipated to thrive upon.

"Ever since 911 and the Amercians developed their Homeland Security service, business has been busy," explains Donley who has been in the private investigator business since 1997 and branched out to include detector dogs in 2003. "We knew their needs would be shifting."

Part of her firm's work centres around checking the baggage and cargo loaded on cruiseships plying the waters between Vancouver and Alaska from spring to the end of summer. What they are looking for are for traces of explosives since the Alaskan cruise market carries thousands of passengers, mostly U.S. citizens, from international waters (Vancouver) to an American destination and is considered a terrorist target.

She also has dogs that can sniff out illicit drugs. And in a new wrinkle, she has dogs that can sniff out mould, the kind that can develop in leaky condos.

So, when a serious, prospective buyer comes to view a property with their building inspector they can also have a dog in tow to check out what you can't see on the surface.

"Usually, you don't even need to take the dog inside the unit you're looking at. You can just let them sniff around the common areas, hallways, foyers, or what have you," Donley explained. "And if there's mould there, they'll find it."

One dog managed to detect mould, that can not only create significant damage but cause serious health hazards for the home's occupants, by sniffing the power outlet in the hallway outside the home.

They can also detect if a home has been used in the past for manufacturing or growing illicit drugs, something that is currently a real concern with the ever-increasing number of drug busts happening in seemingly normal-looking residential neighbourhoods.

"Dogs can smell about 25 different scents at one time and their sense of smell is 220 times better than humans, and that is a real help when it comes to checking to see if a condo has been leaky in the past, or that a previously leaky one has had its repairs done right."

All of Donley's dogs are what is termed "passive" detector dogs, meaning they will not go into a foaming-mouthed frenzy if they find what they are tasked to detect. Instead, once they discover something, they will simply indicate that to the their handler by sitting or lying down beside the item or area they are inspecting.

The cost of training a first class detector dog is around $5,000 US, plus another $1,500 or so to educate the handler. And in a cost-conscious era for public service providers such as city run police departments, a K9 unit can be the first to suffer budget chill.

And when that happens, privately run firms like Donley's can offer their services to a police agency which doesn't have to bear the overhead cost of acquiring and training a dog and handler.

But to find a qualified team to perform work of a serious, sometimes life-saving nature, Donley said companies and police departments have to ensure they are getting a dog who possesses the right stuff.

Thanks to a lack of regulations in B.C. to govern dog detection services, "There were a lot of unethical companies out there with dogs that were just not qualified to be doing the work," she said, adding her company gets its supply of animals, and handler training from Tom Brenneman, (tombrenneman.com) a renowned, former law enforcement officer who specialises in detector dogs and is chief trainer at the Vom Kaiserhofe Training Center near Kansas City.

Donley said she keeps in close contact with Brenneman and has him visit her dogs and their handlers every four months to re-certify them, something that is done voluntarily.

And that commitment to keeping her teams up to snuff has paid off with work not only coming from local companies and police agencies, but security firms south of the border at the Port of Seattle where Donley's dogs will be employed to check out cruiseship cargo.

"That was quite an accomplishment," Donley said of the Seattle job, explaining there is a lack of truly qualified detector dogs in the industry.

And that can lead to gaps in the effort to counter terrorism.

"Needs are shifting. And especially as Canadians, we can get complacent (about terrorism), and we have to understand that things are going to change."

Surrey street racers nabbed

Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter

Three Surrey teens were nabbed by police last Friday night as they were allegedly racing down No. 6 Road as part of a pack of five vehicles.

A Richmond RCMP officer, part of the city's enhanced enforcement team, witnessed the vehicles heading south on No. 6 Road near Cambie and managed to stop three of the five vehicles around 11 p.m..

RCMP Cpl. Dave Williams said the vehicles were travelling as a group at high speed, were jockeying for position and driving aggressively, which together constitutes street racing. The drivers of the three vehicles are all from Surrey and aged 17 to 19 years old.

They were charged with excessive speeding and lost their driving privileges for at least 15 days. Their vehicles were also impounded.

On Tuesday morning, speed and slick roads made a dangerous combination, resulting in a crash on River Road, near Hollybridge Way.

The 18-year-old female Burnaby driver of a 2003 Acura was heading east on River Road when she lost control of her car and struck a lamp standard, and then rolled onto its roof and slid down the roadway. The driver was taken to hospital suffering from minor injuries.

Williams said the driver held a "Novice" driver's licence and evidence indicates she was driving too fast for the rainy weather conditions.

Police believe the driver was travelling more than 80 kilometres per hour in a 50 kilometre-per-hour zone

City gets $1.6M for upgrades to roads

Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter

The region's transportation authority has agreed to provide $1.6 million in funding to upgrade a stretch of Westminster Highway, along with building a centre median along No. 2 Road where a local woman was killed in a tragic accident last summer.

TransLink announced earlier this month that $1.56 million will be used to widen Westminster Highway to four lanes between Nelson Road and the Westminster Highway/Highway 91 interchange, which is east of Fraserwood Place.

The road widening will include providing paved shoulders for bike lanes and new street lighting. A storm drain will also be added on the south side of the road.

Last July, 23-year-old Janelle Macdonald was killed when her motorcycle slammed into the side of a car that was making an illegal left turn from the southbound centre lane of No. 2 Road, near Blundell.

The funding means work will go ahead to erect a permanent barrier to replace the temporary one that was put up by the City of Richmond a few weeks ago.

City of Richmond spokesperson Ted Town send said the city has also asked the Insurance Corporation of B.C. to contribute to that $15,000 project.