Mother pleads for son's release
Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter
Tears welling up in her eyes, the 84-year-old Richmond mother of jailed human rights advocate Dr. Bingzhang Wang said she simply wants to see her son again before she dies.
Wang's family, including his mother Guifang and father Junzhen, 86, and sisters Linda and Mei, held a press conference Wednesday morning in front of the Chinese consulate on Granville Street in Vancouver to raise awareness about Wang's declining health and to plead for his release.
"We are old and very ill," Guifang said, speaking through Edward Qiu, Wang's nephew, who served as translator. "He is not a criminal. He is working for the freedom of all Chinese people. He is not a bad person."
According to Timothy Cooper, executive director of Worldrights, a human rights advocacy group, Wang was kidnapped in June of 2002 while in Vietnam during a meeting with Chinese labour leaders near the border between China and Vietnam.
"(He was) held incommunicado after being dragged across the border illegally by what we believe were nothing less than a band of Chinese government agents."
After Wang disappeared, his family was unaware of his plight and the Chinese government denied any knowledge of his whereabouts.
In December of 2002, he was charged with espionage and "leading a terrorist organization."
Wang was convicted in January of 2003 following a trial that lasted just hours, and was sentenced to life in prison by what Cooper described as a "kangaroo court."
"We want to make it very clear that the family now is calling for the release of Dr. Wang on humanitarian grounds."
His family had been given monthly visitation rights while Wang was held in solitary confinement and denied any contact with fellow inmates.
Those visitation rights were cut off last January for unknown reasons and Wang's family was left in the dark for about six months. It wasn't until three weeks ago that Wang's younger sister Mei was allowed to visit her brother and learned of his medical condition.
Wang, a medical doctor, had suffered a stroke but Chinese government officials deny his condition is as serious as his family claims.
With two guards standing behind her and speaking through a telephone while her brother sat on the other side of a window in a small concrete room, Mei Wang, who currently lives in Seattle, Washington, was allowed to speak to him for about 40 minutes.
Their conversation was monitored, and they were forbidden from speaking about anything other than their families.
"He was very thin and I was really shocked to see how much weight he lost and he was kind of leaning towards his left. I thought maybe he was uncomfortable with handcuffs and the chain on his feet. He immediately told me 'I had a stroke,'" Mei Wang said, her voice beginning to quiver with emotion.
"It was very devastating for me to hear this. Then he showed me his hands. Both hands appeared to be in different colour."
Wang told his sister that his stroke required a month-long hospitalization and occurred shortly after the last visit he had with his other sister.
That visit ended prematurely after both became emotional, and Wang got depressed and launched his hunger strike.
Over the past year, Wang's family has called upon governments across the world to request Wang's release.
The United Nations working group on arbitrary detention declared his imprisonment arbitrary, while the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution 399 to zero, calling for his immediate return to the United States. Wang lived in New York City for about 20 years before moving to Los Angeles.
Most of Wang's family, including his parents and sister, moved to Richmond last December, partly because of Richmond's strong Chinese flavour and also because they were hopeful that Richmond would be led by a Chinese politician.
Wang's family met with Richmond MP Raymond Chan Wednesday afternoon, and he promised to raise their concerns with Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew.
Chan said he met Wang during a human rights conference in the United States about 20 years ago, when Chan was active in the human rights movement.
"I am aware of the situation and I have alerted foreign affairs. I share their concerns."
Jennie Chen, spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Canada, said they are aware of Wang's situation.
"We have concerns about his trial and about the transparency of the legal process in this case. This is a file we continue to follow very closely."
Amnesty International's Jennifer Wade said Amnesty is not asking for Wang's release, but is simply requesting a fair trial.
"What is dangerous is these trumped up charges of terrorism and espionage, this is China using the mood of the world at the moment and this is the first real case of it."
Councillors don't want dogs in Terra Nova park Planned off-leash area won't happen
Don Fennell, Staff Reporter
A rural park for Terra Nova has the support of Richmond city councillors, but with one condition: Rover won't be welcome.
In sending a report back to staff for tweaking Tuesday, councillors on the parks committee stated their opposition to allowing dogs on site. Instead, staff was directed to eliminate a proposed off-leash area and to find other places for off-leash dogs to wander in the West Richmond area. And for now, at least, the dogs can continue to have access to the perimeter of the park along the dyke.
"The habitat area should be a place with no dogs at all," Coun. Harold Steves said. "Dogs have the worst effect on habitat in Sturgeon Banks (of anything).
"I'm not against dogs, but with all the habitat and wildlife I'm against allowing dogs off-leash."
Coun. Bill McNulty said he doesn't blame the dogs, but the owners who don't look after them properly.
"They don't pick up after the dogs and I'm concerned about that," he said. "The city puts out bags and they're not using them."
Coun. Sue Halsey-Brandt said she is against dogs in a "wildlife" area.
"I totally think it's the wrong area," she explained. "Perhaps we should consider what Vancouver is doing-study where it would be appropriate to have dogs off-leash and not just do things piecemeal."
A 1996 referendum authorized the city to acquire the Terra Nova northwest quadrant, of which 63 acres has been purchased. In 2001 an inventory was conducted documenting the environmental and heritage features of the area and late last year that study formed the basis to begin plans for a rural park.
Staff is recommending the park be a long-term plan, with phases implemented over a number of years as finances allow. The proposed priorities should be based on public input, site requirements, further land acquisition, and availability of tenanted city lands.
A staff report suggests the focus during the first phase should be on-site restoration, public access and site cleanup as well as securing city-owned heritage houses (to prevent further deterioration), adding community gardens, and establishing a caretaker.
But McNulty said it's important not to rush things just for the sake of getting started.
"I want to make sure we do this right," he said. "This could be one of the great parks in the world. It blends so many aspects from heritage to archeology to environmental. No other park anywhere I know of does that."
A revised staff report is expected to be presented on Aug. 31.
Council says Minoru Park will not be developed
Matthew Hoekstra, Staff Reporter
Richmond council vowed Monday to protect Minoru Park from development, pledging to consult voters in a referendum if the city contemplated selling as much as a square inch of the popular public space.
"The land is not for sale, and we will ensure in perpetuity it cannot go for sale without the electorate deciding so," said Coun. Evelina Halsey-Brandt.
Halsey-Brandt has asked city staff to investigate whether the park currently carries a land-use designation that would require a referendum before a land sale, as some parks do.
If it doesn't, Halsey-Brandt said she would bring a motion to the council table to guard it with a referendum.
"We would move to do so as quickly as possible just to reassure people so that they're not worried and get themselves worked up over a non-issue."
The move came after a news report claimed Minoru Park could be sold for residential development to fund the city's portion of constructing an Olympic speed skating oval on city-owned property along River Road for the 2010 Winter Games.
The Richmond Review has been unable to substantiate the claim.
Coun. Bill McNulty said the city would never consider sacrificing existing recreation facilities to accommodate the oval.
He said Minoru Park is a jewel in Richmond, accommodating 25 sports, recreation and culture groups.
"We're not going to take anything away from the citizens of Richmond," said McNulty. "Why would we only consider taking it away? To me, it's unthinkable."
Pointing out his work in securing recreation facilities for Richmond over the last 35 years, McNulty added: "Over my dead body will we get rid of Minoru Park."
He said the oval represents a "once in a lifetime opportunity" for Richmond to achieve facilities its lacked for the last 15 years, and gain facilities it needs for the next 10 years.
As a legacy of the former Brighouse Estates, Coun. Harold Steves called Minoru Park "probably the greatest legacy any council has ever left Richmond."
Trio hailed for saving seniorWheelchair-bound woman pulled out of flaming home
Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter
London Secondary grads Dave Sullivan, Andrew Novokshanoff and Jesse Saretsky were just curious about where the smoke was coming from.
But in a matter of moments, they became a couple's heroes.
On Sunday morning shortly after 1 a.m., a hedge fire threatened the occupants of two houses on the 6900 block of Dunsany Place.
While one family of neighbourhood newcomers escaped unharmed, the trio played a big role by running into the burning house not once, not twice, but three times to pull out Heinz (Hank) Lierk, 83, his wife Florence, and their German shepherd.
"Florence's room, that's where the fire was, right outside the house," said Novokshanoff, 18.
Asked if he considers himself a hero, he said: "I just hope somebody would help me out in that same situation."
Novokshanoff and Sullivan had been visiting Saretsky when they were driving in the area and saw the smoke.
When they got to the house, Hank was standing at the door and indicated his wife was inside but couldn't walk.
Without a second thought, the trio entered the home, and found Florence inside the dimly lit bungalow.
They pulled her out, only to see Hank go inside the house to look for his dog on another occasion, and then try retrieve some of his possessions on a third occasion.
During the last trip in, the smoke was so thick the trio had to cover their faces with their shirts, Novokshanoff said.
Sandra Bourque, who lives a couple of houses down the street, said she heard voices on the street outside her home and took a look. That's when she saw flames shooting up over a two-storey building.
Someone knocked on the Lierk's front door and when Hank answered he wasn't convinced there was a problem, she said.
"They said 'your house is on fire, your house is on fire,' and he basically didn't believe them."
At that point, there wasn't any fire or smoke inside the house, Bourque said.
That's when the trio took action, she said.
"Within three minutes, she was there in the doorway," Bourque said.
While there were no casualties, there were questions about the length of time it took for fire crews to respond. Witnesses insist that it may have taken as much as 20 minutes to respond. Fire officials are still looking into this case.
What they do know is that from the point Richmond Fire-Rescue was informed of the fire by the centralized emergency communications headquarters in Vancouver, known as E-Comm, to the point the first truck arrived at the scene was about 10 minutes.
But fire officials have asked for E-Comm's 911 tapes, which are time stamped, for a more precise indication of what happened.
Deputy Fire Chief Ron Beaman said another major nearby fire on Pendlebury Road-early indications are that that house may be a write-off-taxed some of the local resources.
That meant other fire halls, a little further away, had to be called in when the Dunsany call came shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday.
The first fire truck to arrive was from the Bridgeport and Garden City Road location, near Costco, with the second truck coming from the fire hall on No. 6 Road.
With the two fires being called in just 20 minutes apart, investigators are looking into whether arson played a role.
While the Dunsany fire was started in the hedge, the Pendlebury fire started outside the rear of that house. The two houses are less than a mile apart.
Fire officials will have a clearer understanding of the cause of both fires by week's end, along with damage totals, said Richmond Fire Chief Jim Hancock.
Fishermen hope for more openings
Matthew Hoekstra, Staff Reporter
Steveston's commercial salmon fishermen dropped their nets Tuesday for the first time this season, but a low-cycle year and the possible return of a native-only fishery has led to disappointment.
Bob McKamey, a director of Area "E" (Fraser) Gillnetters, said he hopes the commercial fleet will secure at least one more opening this summer.
"We're optimistic that next week we're going to see some more fishing."
Steveston-based fisherman Richard Nomura said the salmon opening was earlier than expected.
"It was a slim possibility that we would be fishing this early in the season," he said.
"Our main thrust was basically that we would be fishing in the first week in August, so this is a bit of a bonus for us."
But Nomura said he's disturbed by the possible return of a race-based fishery.
"Instead of aiding the natives to become a part of this whole economy, the government has implemented support programs, like this commercial fishery, which is a pilot sales program," he said.
Chief Ken Malloway of the B.C. Aboriginal Fisheries Commission said this week that First Nations are negotiating with the federal government for the return of a pilot native-only sales fishery.
The pilot sales program was cancelled last year after a provincial court judge ruled that it discriminated against non-native commercial fishers. But the B.C. Supreme Court overturned the lower court decision earlier this month, saying it was not discriminatory.
The program allowed native fishermen to catch and sell sockeye salmon on days when the fishery is closed to the non-native commercial fleet.
Phil Eidsvik of the B.C. Fisheries Survival Coalition said his group filed an appeal of the court ruling yesterday on behalf of commercial fleet.
He said the pilot sales program could return as soon as this weekend, re-introducing a segregated fishery on the Fraser River.
Heat wave scorches region
Julia Caranci, Regional Reporter
A heat wave swept through the Lower Mainland last week, leaving in its wake parched lawns and forests and shattered temperature records.
Vancouver International Airport's weather station broke its all-time high temperature record for Friday, with a high of 29.8ËšC. The old record, set in 1991, was 29.
The heat wave was caused by hot, dry winds that swept across the Lower Mainland from the Interior mid-week, creating a concentrated mass of stagnant, superheated air.
Environment Canada meteorologist David Jones said conditions will remain hot and dry to the weekend, with little to no chance of rain.
The hot, dry weather is creating an increased demand for water. Due to a spike in water use Saturday (a sprinkling day), Greater Vancouver water supplies slipped to just under 77 per cent (about the same as this time last year). There are no immediate plans to increase sprinkling restrictions.
Province tightens protection of data
Matthew Hoekstra, Staff Reporter
B.C. Attorney General Geoff Plant urged local residents to be wary of putting personal information in circulation after the provincial government moved to tighten protection of its own data.
"We're doing what we can as a government to protect the information that we have within our control, but ordinary folks who care a lot about privacy might want to...ask themselves whether they're taking enough precautions," said the MLA for Richmond-Steveston.
Plant announced Friday the provincial government is taking steps to protect provincial data from possible interceptions by American authorities under the U.S. Patriot Act.
From now on, no sensitive personal information will be sent south of the border, meaning government will no longer send data to the United States to be held or backed up in electronic storage facilities, even on a temporary basis.
Plant said the act, brought in after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, does present a risk to privacy rights of British Columbians.
"We think it is a small and even theoretical risk, but nonetheless, we believe the issue is important."
The strengthened privacy laws will prohibit disclosure of all government data to U.S. authorities and require companies to notify the government if they've been asked to disclose information. Those breaking the rules could face penalties.
But Plant said privacy issues today go beyond government outsourcing of contracts. He said consumers are putting personal information into circulation every day and within the reach of enforcement authorities in the United States.
"We need to be vigilant," he said.
In the case of B.C.'s Medical Services Plan, a Canadian subsidiary of U.S.-based Maximus Inc. is taking over administration. In that contract, the province will prohibit the parent company from having any control or access to the information.
"If the companies break those promises, then we will terminate the contracts and we may also impose legislative penalties on them for disclosing information inappropriately," Plant said.
The B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union believes allowing an American-owned company to administer MSP is still risky.
"We remain convinced that it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to keep British Columbians' private information away from the prying eyes of U.S. intelligence agencies," president George Heyman said.
A butterfly for a storyHolly Newman's Gift Exchange resonates beyond the art gallery
Matthew Hoekstra, Staff Reporter
In their annual migration to Mexico, millions of monarch butterflies flutter south. Two years ago, the journey proved deadly.
A freak snowstorm ended the lives of so many colourful monarchs-some estimates pegged the loss at 80 million-that observers said the massive pile of remains covered the land knee-deep.
The event served as part inspiration for 42-year-old artist Holly Newman's new exhibit at the Richmond Art Gallery, The Gift Exchange.
Coinciding with the spirit of the gallery's main exhibit, Work and Play, Newman recreates an experience of nature that touched her own urban life.
Replicating millions of butterflies for the exhibit would be impossible. But Newman still wanted the piece to be the result of hard work, and crocheting a thousand life-size butterflies seemed within reach.
"The notion of a thousand seems to resonate throughout history as being a somewhat, I don't want to say magical number, but certainly a number that's about inspiration."
It's inspiration she admits proved incredibly time consuming.
The process, which began in the fall of 2002, had everything to do with the Work and Play theme. Newman used spare moments-on the bus, during lunch breaks, while helping 12-year-old daughter Robyn with homework-to turn yarn into works of art.
Crochet is a skill Newman gleaned from her mother as a child. Unable to read patterns, she looked to doilies for ideas about constructing shapes and creating all original designs.
The result is a thousand crocheted butterflies that adorn a wall of the Richmond gallery. No more than 50 are alike, and all are made of a variety of colours. Some butterflies are small and simple, taking only 20 minutes to create. The larger pieces of the exhibit took three hours to create.
The work is meant to resonate beyond the gallery when the exhibit wraps up at the end of August. Newman invites visitors to the gallery from Aug. 27-29 to exchange a story (written text, drawing, photograph or spoken word through an on-site tape recorder) for any one butterfly.
Participants are welcome to write their stories on tags, leave them at the gallery and return when the exhibit wraps up to claim a butterfly. Newman is also offering to send butterflies by mail if participants can't return to the gallery.
Together, the stories that reflect nature's colourful creatures will become the final piece of the artwork: Newman plans to incorporate all the stories in an art book.
Newman deliberately designs her work to generate dialogue with viewers, giving each an opportunity to become an active participant. That became a basis for her artwork after her first long-distance exhibit in Halifax.
The Edmonton-based artist had expected her work to be somehow altered by Canada's historic east-coast heritage when it returned to her Prairie home.
"When I got the project back, it felt like it hadn't been changed at all by the experience, and yet, I had."
Ironically, the piece, Extended Lament, symbolized the passage of time. Newman says it should have come back reflecting where it had been, but the work didn't allow that change to happen.
Her next project, Nesting, did just that. Of 200 textile bird nests that comprised the piece, almost half were taken home by participants in Newman's hopes of inviting birds into the city. The response was amazing, but feedback was limited to responses in a guest book.
In The Gift Exchange, Newman offers her audience a new avenue by posing a question: Will you tell me about the butterfly you saw?
"I want to really investigate this relationship that I have with nature as an urban dweller. I want to see how many people share it, or to what extent they share that relationship or how it's different from mine."
It's sharing between the artist and audience that has now become the driving force behind the former painter's work.
"If I can sort of motivate or trigger in them a memory or a thought about something, it's really special if they can share that with me."
Newman will be at the Richmond Art Gallery Aug. 27 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 28 and 29 for the exchange: colourful threaded gifts for vivid threads of experience.
City prepares bid for 2010 oval
Matthew Hoekstra, Staff Reporter
City staff are feverishly preparing Richmond's proposal for an Olympic speed skating oval in its attempt to best other bidders and extend the city centre to the waterfront.
Next Friday, the city will submit its bid for the venue for the 2010 Games, along with other cities looking to win Olympic cash to build the speed skating oval.
Simon Fraser University, identified as the oval's site in the original 2010 bid book, is submitting a revised proposal after the Vancouver Organizing Committee raised concerns that costs were creeping over its $69 million contribution.
Coquitlam might also submit a bid for the oval. Coquitlam city manager Warren Jones said this week the city has "expressed interest" to the Vancouver Organizing Committee.
"We will certainly be expressing our further interest before next Friday directly to the organizing committee," he said.
Jones declined to comment further, and would not confirm whether or not the city has drafted a proposal.
Representatives for two other potential bidders-the University of B.C. and the City of New Westminster-have stated they've bowed out of the race.
Following Friday's submission, Richmond's chief administrative officer George Duncan said the city will make its formal presentation to the Vancouver Organizing Committee on Aug. 4.
He said staff are still working on the presentation, which will likely begin with an introduction by Mayor Malcolm Brodie, flanked by former Olympians from Richmond.
Duncan said Richmond's team of staff working on the bid aren't comparing strategies with those anticipated by other cities.
"If you do a great job, and somebody else wins it with a better job, it's all better for B.C., it's all better for the Games, it's all better for Canada."
The city has researched other speed skating ovals in preparation for the bid, including the former Olympic Games sites of Calgary and Salt Lake City. But the only oval that Mayor Brodie, four Richmond councillors and three senior bureaucrats have visited is Lillehammer, Norway-the site of the 1994 Winter Games.
The city has so far refused to reveal costs associated with the trip, the bid's preparation and the potential cost to taxpayers for construction of the Olympic complex.
Duncan said he believes in full transparency and disclosure-in time.
"It's not that anybody here's being evasive. In terms of the costs for the trip, for example, those costs are being compiled," he said.
Duncan said it was necessary to travel to Lillehammer, because its oval closely matches Richmond's proposal. He said council was only invited to Europe to ensure an informed vote on the proposal.
Once the organizing committee makes a decision, Richmond will release money numbers, said Duncan. Releasing the information before then could jeopardize the city's shot at the oval, he said. In defending the city's decision to pursue the bid, Duncan said following the Games, the oval will house recreational facilities the city wouldn't otherwise be able to afford for at least 25 years.
The proposed Olympic plaza would be a landmark facility, aimed at exploiting the city's 29-acre riverfront property between the No. 2 and Dinsmore bridges.
The city purchased the land in 1962 as part of the approximately 500-acre Brighouse Estates, owned and farmed by Samuel Brighouse since the 1860s. The decision was controversial, as taxpayers had actually voted against the $1.4-million sale in a referendum.
Nearly 20 years before the purchase, the bacterial disease anthrax showed up on the property. Six anthrax-carrying cows were put down, covered in lime, and buried where the foot of the No. 2 Road bridge now stands.
The Richmond RV Park became the site's new tenants in the mid-1980s as a service for Expo 86 visitors. Richmond's first community garden also moved onto the site in 1999.
Council considered building city hall on the site, but residents rejected the proposal, citing city hall's longstanding presence at Granville and No. 3 Road, Coun. Kiichi Kumagai said.
Richmond's bid calls for an oval that occupies six-and-a-half acres of the site. An equal size would be left for parking and landscaping. The remaining space would likely be used for development.
Temple hopes to build 10-storey Buddha statue Lingyen Mountain Temple plans $50-million transformation
Matthew Hoekstra, Staff Reporter
A massive $50-million transformation of Richmond's Lingyen Mountain Temple into a pivotal North American religious centre-complete with a 10-storey statue of Buddha-could begin as early as December.
"This will go a long way in promoting Richmond as a multicultural community," said Kabel Atwall, a development consultant handling the proposal.
If the project meets final approvals from the city and the Agricultural Land Commission, eight or nine new buildings will be constructed, including a giant temple hall.
At 140 feet high, the main temple would house a massive statue of Buddha and rival heights of high rises in Richmond's city centre.
Its architecture would be similar to the existing temple's at No. 5 Road and Williams Road, characterized by its great orange sloping roofs.
The proposed temple complex would dwarf the current buildings and more than triple the current floor space with a proposed 131,700 square feet of construction.
Other buildings will serve as smaller temples and dormitories for male and female monks.
The complex is proposed for a site directly south of the current structures on the same 20-acre lot. Newly purchased property, sandwiched between Fantasy Gardens and Richmond Bethel Church, will either serve as a parking lot or farmland for the temple.
Temple goers have farmed the main property since the first temple was built, harvesting mostly vegetables, apples and pears.
The towering Buddha the temple hopes to build will reflect the significance of the building, said Atwall, as the continent's centre for worshippers. It would be a hollow copper design and gold plated. The temple's current statue of Buddha is significantly smaller at 15 feet tall.
"The idea is when you see Buddha, you are awed by it," said architect John Ho.
Lingyen Mountain Temple, which has 5,000 members and 38 resident monks, celebrated its grand opening in 1999. Last year marked the end of a second construction phase.
A public information meeting last month attracted over 250 people. Atwall said most of the 200 comments were positive.
Lingyen Mountain Temple is part of the Pure Land Buddhist sect. Local worshippers are followers of a monk who established a temple in the rugged mountains of Taiwan over 20 years ago.
Tin Ma, executive officer of the temple's preparatory committee, said despite the proposed size of the development, large crowds are only expected for three main events throughout the year: Chinese New Year, Buddha's birthday and the Vegetarian Festival.
Cummins left off shadow cabinet
Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter
He's never been afraid to speak his mind and toeing the party line isn't exactly one of his strengths.
So it came as no surprise this week when Delta-Richmond East MP John Cummins found himself without a shadow cabinet portfolio.
For years, Cummins has been an Official Opposition fisheries critic, but that changed shortly before this year's federal election after Cummins backed Belinda Stronach and not Stephen Harper in the race for the Conservative Party leadership.
"I don't think it was the Stronach thing that bothered him (Harper) and maybe it was, you'd have to ask him," Cummins said.
Rather, Cummins believes it was his opposition to fish farms-which went against the Conservative Party's stance-that played a role in Cummins losing favour with Harper. Cummins in fact wrote a minority report in which he criticized the handling of fish farms and the negative impact they were having on the environment.
"He felt my criticism was too strident and we had a go-around about that. The support I've had from my constituents on that has been overwhelming. I'm not about to apologize about that."
Asked if he was surprised that he won't be the opposition critic, Cummins said: "No, I mean it was pretty easy to read the tea leaves on that."
Cummins said as an elected official, his job is to act in the country's best interest after consulting his constituents. If that means going against the party line, so be it, he said.
"If I believe something to be wrong, I'm not going to say it's right just to appease the party hierarchy or anybody else."
So is he disappointed?
"I was elected to be the member of Parliament, not the cabinet minister," he noted.
And just because he's not an opposition critic, this doesn't mean he won't continue to be outspoken and passionate about the issues he's most well known for, including his criticism of federal officials for not providing a full-time back-up search-and-rescue hovercraft for the waters around Vancouver International Airport.
"What it means is I don't speak for the party."
Cummins said for his voice to be heard, he will have to continue to have a strong relationship with cabinet ministers.
"I don't have to be the critic to do that."
It likely won't be until late October when Cummins learns if he will be appointed to any House of Commons joint committees.
Although he can sit on any committee he wishes to provide input, only those recognized by a party have voting status.
Man charged with importing child porn
Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter
A 32-year-old Chinese national was nabbed Sunday by Canada Customs trying to carry child pornography through the Vancouver International Airport.
Jing Chen Wang was charged with possession of child pornography, but was released on Monday after posting a $10,000 cash bail during his first court appearance in Richmond provincial court.
Sources told The Richmond Review that Wang purports himself to be the grandson of a former high-ranking Chinese official. He lives in Hong Kong.
The Richmond Review was unable to confirm Wang's story, or the name of the official to whom Wang claims to be related.
Paula Shore, spokesperson for the Canada Border Services Agency, did not provide many details about the arrest.
She said he was caught Sunday by Canada Customs officers carrying "prohibited material" and was arrested.
"There were things that didn't seem to be consistent to us," she said of the suspicions aroused by Wang.
Speaking generally, she said customs officials are trained to look for inconsistencies and indications that would make them want to do a follow-up search.
Shore wouldn't say which plane Wang disembarked from Sunday, or what city he flew in from.
RCMP Cpl. Dave Williams said investigators found images of "what is believed to be child pornography...on his computer."
Wang, who flew into the airport around 3:15 p.m., indicated during his questioning that he was "entering Canada for the first time" and that he intended to stay for "only a short time."
Williams wouldn't say what led customs officers to search through Wang's personal computer, noting that this case is currently before the courts and that this investigation involves two agencies working together.
In addition to posting his bail, Wang must report to a bail supervisor. He must provide his current residential address to a bail supervisor and is prohibited from possessing any material contrary to section 153 (4) of the Criminal Code of Canada, which deals with child pornography.
Wang is next scheduled to appear in Richmond provincial court on Oct. 21 at 9:30 a.m.
Stolen salmon found on ice
Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter
Nearly one quarter of the $20,000 worth of frozen salmon stolen Monday night from a Richmond warehouse has been recovered at a Langley pub.
On Tuesday night, a man walked into Jimy Mac's Neighbourhood Pub on 96th Avenue in Langley, to ask for a favour, Langley RCMP Cpl. Dale Carr said Thursday.
The stranger claimed that his truck's "reefer" (refrigerator freezer) had broken down and that he had to find a place to store his frozen salmon. The pub's cook called management, who "cut (the stranger) some slack" and agreed to keep the 32 boxes in the pub's cooler, Carr said.
The stranger and somebody who was in the truck with him then moved the frozen boxes to the cooler.
When a pub employee went home and told his girlfriend the unusual story, she recalled reading an article which indicated 160 boxes of frozen salted salmon had been stolen recently from Luxury Smokers' warehouse, at 145-5660 Graybar Rd. in Richmond.
When they checked the stored salmon with the description provided in the newspaper, they matched and the police were eventually called.
Hoping to catch the culprits, police set up surveillance at the pub after the pub contacted the man. But the officers were called away to another incident when he showed up.
That's when someone from the pub told the man that the "jig was up" and that police were aware it was stolen property.
The man insisted the goods were his, told them this was all a big mistake and said he'd be right back to prove it. He then left and wasn't seen again.
But the pub's alert employees wrote down the man's licence plate number, which police are currently tracking down.
The frozen salted salmon has been returned to its rightful owner, Carr said.
The 10-kilogram boxes were each labelled with the distinctive mark: "Frozen Sockeye Salmon Centre Cut Salt Added" and had the packing date of July 19, 2004, along with an "A" lot number.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Richmond RCMP at 604-278-1212.
Casino to get buffer from pawn shops
Matthew Hoekstra, Staff Reporter
The City of Richmond is proposing a buffer zone around the new River Rock Casino to curb proliferation of adult video stores, massage parlours and pawn shops.
"We felt it was important to be proactive," said director of development Raul Allueva.
If the proposed bylaw is approved, all adult video, sex shops and body-painting and body-rub studios wouldn't be permitted within 500 metres of the casino.
Pawn shops would be restricted within 1,500 metres.
According to a staff report, two adult video stores are near the casino, but are outside the buffer. Of Richmond's 13 massage parlours, four are located close to the casino but outside the proposed zone.
The west Bridgeport area is currently dominated by industrial and auto-service businesses.
TransLink Euro trip gets downsized
Julia Caranci, Regional Reporter
A proposed $60,000 journey to France and England for a number of TransLink directors and mayors has been significantly downsized.
TransLink chair Doug McCallum has publicly said the trip could be done with fewer people and for less money.
He got his wish at Wednesday's board meeting, when a motion was passed cutting the trip's participants down to four people, including two mayors (likely Coquitlam's Jon Kingsbury and Port Moody's Joe Trasolini) a community member and one staff member.
TransLink spokesperson Ken Hardie said the public price tag for the trip will likely be less than half of the suggested $60,000.
TransLink staff originally recommended up to five board members and mayors, along with two community members and as many as four TransLink staff, travel to Caen, Lyon and Strasbourg in France and Croydon, England in September to study existing rail systems for the northeast sector line, an estimated $800-million rapid transit project to connect Coquitlam Centre to the existing Millennium SkyTrain line. The route and technology for the project have yet to be determined.
Directors and staff will inspect several newer types of rail systems in Europe, namely light rail transit and guided light rapid transit systems. It is believed guided light rapid transit (street-level cars that run on rubber tires) could save hundreds of millions of dollars on the final cost because they can climb hills.
Couple hopes to open on-farm winery
Matthew Hoekstra, Staff Reporter
A Richmond couple is hoping to open the city's first on-farm winery to make use of surplus blueberries and create a new source of income for the farm.
After struggling through months of regulatory process, Dave and Neeta Sandhu are now thinking like vintners, envisioning vats filled with fermenting berries and a one-of-a-kind tasting room on their 10-acre farm at Blundell and Sidaway roads.
"Nice trellising, big beams, vines growing all over the front," said 37-year-old Dave Sandhu. "It's a big project. Not only this, but everything around it."
A site for the $2-million winery and fruit drying operation is already loaded. Although discouraged over delays in government approval, the Sandhus found promise this week with a warm reception from Richmond's planning committee.
Once all approvals from the city and province are met, the couple hopes to make blueberry, grape and cranberry winesboth table and dessertunder the Sanduz Estate Wines label.
"Who knows what else we'll get into," said 35-year-old Neeta Sandhu, noting the variety of berry wines they could produce.
"We'd like to make it by Christmas. That'd be nice," Dave said.
The Sandhus began thinking about establishing a winery five years ago. Seeing surplus blueberries go to waste on their 150 acres of farmlandmost of it in Richmondâthe Sandhus began to search for new ways to use them.
The sweeter and smaller Richmond blueberries aren't sought after by processors, so using them for wine seemed like a natural fit.
Along with the winery, a new berry drying machine will create another market for small, split and squashed berries.
"The people that do have surplus berries need another outlet besides the frozen market and the fresh market," said Sandhu.
The Sandhus realized an on-farm winery has the potential to attract local buyers and tourists after a steady stream of blueberry-hungry visitors led to their first farm-gate sales last summer.
Sandhu, who is also a director for the B.C. Blueberry Council, added that tough times are coming for Richmond blueberry farmers, who are finding less demand for smaller berries.
Agri-tourism is one way to help make farmland profitable again, said Sandhu. It's something farmers across the province are turning to.
Robert Thompson, co-ordinator of the B.C. Agri-Tourism Alliance, said a growing number of farms are creating new attractions for visitorsfrom farm-gate sales to corn mazes to wineries.
He said that's due in part to a growing interest from consumers, who find a sense of security in knowing where the products they buy come from.
"The whole trend is towards rural experience...and to experiencing life on the farm," said Thompson. "Now we're starting to see an interest in more on-farm activities."
The rapid growth of agri-tourism is also about the survival of the family farm, which is facing growing competition from big producers.
Said Thompson: "Direct farm marketing has been essential to the survival of smaller farms in particular."
Once up-and-running, Sanduz Estate Wines will be Richmond's second winery. Blossom Winery makes blueberry and raspberry wine from its Minoru Boulevard plant.
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