Gun club recalls bygone days
By Dan Hilborn, Burnaby NOW assistant editor
Published Jan. 22, 2003
The federal gun registration program has triggered a furious national debate. Assistant editor Dan Hilborn interviewed Burnaby gun collectors and politicians to find out where they stand on long guns and handguns.
- - -
Ron and Jan Tyson always sit at the first booth inside the main doors of the monthly gun club shows in Burnaby.
Their table is stacked tall with an impressive collection of empty shotgun shell boxes from around the world, old photographs of the couple's favourite guns, cap guns and other collectibles which Jan refers to as "Pioneeria" - North American memorabilia such as a powder horn that was originally carved in the early 1800s.
Collecting guns and all things associated with firearms has been a lifelong obsession for the couple, who are founding members of the Historical Arms Collectors Society of B.C.
"My cousin started me out when I was three or four years old," says Ron, a tall and lanky senior citizen with crew cut hair and a straight back. "My cousin was a hunter guide, and he'd give me all his old shotgun shells and boxes.
"I collected cartridges because I was too young to own a gun."
But when he turned six years old, that restriction on owning a gun was lifted in a family ritual that was common across Canada during the first half of the last century. Ron remembers it like it was yesterday. His first gun was a Model 27 Hamilton, .22-calibre rifle.
"My dad used to take me hunting when I was so small, he had to carry me home," he says. "But I also knew what a gun was capable of doing. There was no doubt in my mind you had to be careful with one."
When Ron met Jan, his lifelong love of guns turned into a family affair. By 1970, the couple were founding members of the historical arms society, which was primarily founded as a social club for hundreds of local gun enthusiasts.
"Today, the club is more of a social thing, but when we started it was all about collecting, meeting people and trading. Trading is a big part of collecting," Ron said.
Some club members travel across the continent, or even around the world, visiting similar gun collector shows.
"The people you meet are the salt of the earth," Ron said. "I remember being in Saskatoon one time, and our van was robbed. We lost pretty heavily. Somebody at the show came up and said 'I've got $1,000 in my pocket, and it's yours if you want it.'"
In Burnaby, the shows run from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the third Sunday of each month, except in April, August and December, at the Operating Engineers Hall on Ledger Avenue.
One collector who occasionally attends the Burnaby shows is an Okanagan resident with a collection of Canadian military arms used during the Riel rebellion. Another has a collection of French weaponry that was used in the Franco-American wars.
Jan has her own specialty - something she calls 'trench art,' which is any memorabilia or items that would have been found on a battlefield around the era of the First World War.
The Tysons have travelled as far afield as Toronto, Ontario and Russellville, Ark. for gun shows.
Some of the things they see would shock the weak of heart. One of those surprises is Tony Cowling, a Richmond resident who wrote the book My Life with the Samurai, chronicling the torture he underwent as a prisoner of war. Other booths offer collections of knives and bayonets, military history books, empty mortar shells, American Civil War memorabilia and even swastika-bearing items from Nazi Germany.
Ron notes that some of the most famous people in the world such as Napoleon Bonaparte, Walt Disney and Col. Saunders, were all gun collectors.
"You're not going to meet a better class of people," adds his wife Jan.
But Ron admits the world has changed dramatically in the past 50 years, and he also believes that guns and gun owners have unfairly been given a bad reputation.
Like most people in the gun fraternity, Ron believes in the need for strong guns laws, but he's not happy with the proposals contained in Bill C-68, the federal Firearms Act.
"I think the misuse of a firearm in any way - especially in the commission of a crime - should carry a heavy sentence," he said. "One thing I agree with in the present law is that all gun owners should be licensed, they must pass a test and they should have their background checked.
"I think that's a good thing, and I don't think anybody in the gun fraternity has an argument against that.
"But the whole thing is wrong. The gun registry act is 450 pages long."
Tyson says gun collectors are law abiding citizens who do not want to run afoul of the government.
But he and other gun enthusiasts are adamantly against the need to register every long gun or rifle in the country. Ron believes that as long as the rifle owner has a firearms license, and the firearm is not a high-powered tactical weapon, nor easily concealed, there is little need to have it registered.
He does, however, agree with the need to register handguns, which are more easily concealed, and are the weapon of choice for armed robbers.
But the high costs off the registry - federal auditor general Sheila Fraser recently revealed the registry is about $1 billion over budget - and the seemingly endless amounts of red tape needed to register weapons, is driving many lawful gun owners to simply give up their collections and destroy their old guns.
Ron said he gave up his old collection of 300 guns several years ago, partly out of lack of storage space, and partly because of the onerous registration process.
Ron also knows of Lower Mainland families who have destroyed valuable heirlooms - 200 year-old guns - rather than go through the registration process.
And he believes the gun fraternity has been abandoned by its own friends, such as federal environment minister David Anderson, a one-time gun collector who once attended gun shows.
Ron believes the registry is a violation of his right to private ownership.
"A lot of these weapons are works of art, and art is in the eye of the beholder," he said. "Not everyone sees beauty in a Van Gogh painting, but lots of people see beauty and art in guns."
Friday, December 7, 2007
Politicos differ on gun registry
Politicos differ on gun registry
By Dan Hilborn, Burnaby Now assistant editor
Published Jan. 26, 2003
While many Canadians are becoming increasingly worried by the growing costs of the federal gun registry, Western Canada's longest serving member of Parliament believes it is an idea that should not be forsaken.
Svend Robinson, the NDP MP for Burnaby-Douglas, says his position on gun control has been consistent since he first entered parliament more than 23 years ago - he supports a strong, effective and low- cost registry of all firearms in Canada.
"The real tragedy around gun control is the incompetence of the Liberals in implementing Bill C-68," Robinson told the Burnaby NOW. "They've made the task of those who support the principles of effective gun control much more difficult.
"They've bungled it totally and handled it in an incompetent and fiscally irresponsible manner, and I think that people are confusing the Liberals' bungling with the principles."
When the facts are made clear, Robinson believes a majority of Canadians will still support the need to register weapons.
Robinson said local RCMP officers have told him that they need to know if guns are present when they respond to calls inside residences. And local women's shelter workers have also expressed concern about the ease with which some people can hide weapons.
"I've looked at the statistics, and in countries where there are effective gun control laws the number of deaths from firearms is dramatically lower than in the United States, where there's a constitutional right for high school students to bring guns into schools.
"I think it's not unreasonable to ask people to pay a modest sum to ensure these lethal weapons are registered so law enforcement authorities are aware of who has them."
A politician with a slightly different take on the gun registry is former NDP member Lee Rankin, who was a candidate for the federal Liberal party in the 2000 election and is now a TEAM member of Burnaby city council.
Rankin believes the registry just might stop spending so much money if it focused exclusively on restricted weapons and handguns instead of having long guns and rifles to deal with.
"I think the registering of all weapons, including hunting rifles and sport rifles, is of dubious benefit in terms of criminal justice issues," said Rankin, who split from the NDP in 1999 during a dispute over the civic politics.
Rankin said Canada already has strong laws to restrict the use of high-powered and concealed weapons. "We need better interdiction at the border, and more prosecuting of people who break the laws. That's the real problem," he said.
By Dan Hilborn, Burnaby Now assistant editor
Published Jan. 26, 2003
While many Canadians are becoming increasingly worried by the growing costs of the federal gun registry, Western Canada's longest serving member of Parliament believes it is an idea that should not be forsaken.
Svend Robinson, the NDP MP for Burnaby-Douglas, says his position on gun control has been consistent since he first entered parliament more than 23 years ago - he supports a strong, effective and low- cost registry of all firearms in Canada.
"The real tragedy around gun control is the incompetence of the Liberals in implementing Bill C-68," Robinson told the Burnaby NOW. "They've made the task of those who support the principles of effective gun control much more difficult.
"They've bungled it totally and handled it in an incompetent and fiscally irresponsible manner, and I think that people are confusing the Liberals' bungling with the principles."
When the facts are made clear, Robinson believes a majority of Canadians will still support the need to register weapons.
Robinson said local RCMP officers have told him that they need to know if guns are present when they respond to calls inside residences. And local women's shelter workers have also expressed concern about the ease with which some people can hide weapons.
"I've looked at the statistics, and in countries where there are effective gun control laws the number of deaths from firearms is dramatically lower than in the United States, where there's a constitutional right for high school students to bring guns into schools.
"I think it's not unreasonable to ask people to pay a modest sum to ensure these lethal weapons are registered so law enforcement authorities are aware of who has them."
A politician with a slightly different take on the gun registry is former NDP member Lee Rankin, who was a candidate for the federal Liberal party in the 2000 election and is now a TEAM member of Burnaby city council.
Rankin believes the registry just might stop spending so much money if it focused exclusively on restricted weapons and handguns instead of having long guns and rifles to deal with.
"I think the registering of all weapons, including hunting rifles and sport rifles, is of dubious benefit in terms of criminal justice issues," said Rankin, who split from the NDP in 1999 during a dispute over the civic politics.
Rankin said Canada already has strong laws to restrict the use of high-powered and concealed weapons. "We need better interdiction at the border, and more prosecuting of people who break the laws. That's the real problem," he said.
Olympic drive kicks off in city
Olympic drive kicks off in city
By Dan Hilborn, Burnaby NOW assistant editor
Published Jan. 22, 2003
What kind of legacy could the 2010 Olympic Games leave Burnaby?
The benefits might include a new national training centre for young female hockey players, or maybe even a boost to the already world-famous sports medicine program at Simon Fraser University, says the new chair of the Burnaby 2010 committee.
"Why do I support the Olympics? Because I want to support our youth and the upcoming generation," said Sev Morin, who is just beginning the work to determine what kind of legacy our city wants in the event the Winter Olympic Games come to this province.
"It's always a gamble, but you never achieve anything worthwhile unless you're willing to reach for the stars."
Morin, best known as the former owner of Sev's nightclub on Kingsway, was appointed to chair the Burnaby 2010 committee this week as the campaign to support the Vancouver-Whistler bid kicked into high gear.
Morin admitted his new role will involve a whole lot of cheerleading, but he's also setting the groundwork to ensure the Olympics leave behind something more substantial.
Already just one day into his new role, Morin has found ample evidence that the Olympics could trigger all kinds of good things.
For instance, when Burnaby hosted the 1972 Canada Summer Games, the city received government support to build what was once a world- class rowing facility. And when the 1997 B.C. Summer Games came to town, that provided city hall the impetus for developing the Burnaby Lake sports field complex.
Morin said Burnaby already has an excellent tradition and legacy based solely on the performance of city athletes who have gone on to perform at the Olympics. He specifically pointed to Canadian hockey hero 'Burnaby' Joe Sakic, 1988 Olympic bronze medal decathlete Dave Steen and 1984 Olympic bronze medal boxer Dale Walters.
One of his first orders of business will be attending a series of meetings with local community leaders this week to find out what they want to come out of the Olympics.
During one of his first meetings, Morin met Nancy Drolet, a Burnaby resident and a long-time member of the Canadian national women's hockey team.
"Nancy wants to set up a school for young women in hockey, and I told her that I'd be willing to talk to other Burnaby people who I know that are from Burnaby and involved in hockey, such as Richard Brodeur and Jack McIlhargey."
"We've got a gold mine of people in Burnaby."
By Dan Hilborn, Burnaby NOW assistant editor
Published Jan. 22, 2003
What kind of legacy could the 2010 Olympic Games leave Burnaby?
The benefits might include a new national training centre for young female hockey players, or maybe even a boost to the already world-famous sports medicine program at Simon Fraser University, says the new chair of the Burnaby 2010 committee.
"Why do I support the Olympics? Because I want to support our youth and the upcoming generation," said Sev Morin, who is just beginning the work to determine what kind of legacy our city wants in the event the Winter Olympic Games come to this province.
"It's always a gamble, but you never achieve anything worthwhile unless you're willing to reach for the stars."
Morin, best known as the former owner of Sev's nightclub on Kingsway, was appointed to chair the Burnaby 2010 committee this week as the campaign to support the Vancouver-Whistler bid kicked into high gear.
Morin admitted his new role will involve a whole lot of cheerleading, but he's also setting the groundwork to ensure the Olympics leave behind something more substantial.
Already just one day into his new role, Morin has found ample evidence that the Olympics could trigger all kinds of good things.
For instance, when Burnaby hosted the 1972 Canada Summer Games, the city received government support to build what was once a world- class rowing facility. And when the 1997 B.C. Summer Games came to town, that provided city hall the impetus for developing the Burnaby Lake sports field complex.
Morin said Burnaby already has an excellent tradition and legacy based solely on the performance of city athletes who have gone on to perform at the Olympics. He specifically pointed to Canadian hockey hero 'Burnaby' Joe Sakic, 1988 Olympic bronze medal decathlete Dave Steen and 1984 Olympic bronze medal boxer Dale Walters.
One of his first orders of business will be attending a series of meetings with local community leaders this week to find out what they want to come out of the Olympics.
During one of his first meetings, Morin met Nancy Drolet, a Burnaby resident and a long-time member of the Canadian national women's hockey team.
"Nancy wants to set up a school for young women in hockey, and I told her that I'd be willing to talk to other Burnaby people who I know that are from Burnaby and involved in hockey, such as Richard Brodeur and Jack McIlhargey."
"We've got a gold mine of people in Burnaby."
Plumping the website polls
Plumping the website polls
By Dan Hilborn, Burnaby Now assistant editor
Published Jan. 22, 2003
Boy, did we ever hit a nerve - or, at the very least, a political machine.
A record amount of traffic has been recorded on the Burnaby NOW's Web site ever since we posted an online poll about the premier's drinking and driving debacle.
As of Monday morning, a total of 319 people had responded to our online questionnaire at the Web site burnabynow.com. That's almost four times more than the average response to our polls.
The question, 'Do yo- accept Premier Gordon Campbell's apology after he was charged with impaired driving in Hawaii?' had elicited 213 'yes' answers and 106 'no' responses by Monday morning.
The question is scheduled to remain posted until some time tomorrow, Jan. 23.
Typically no more than 75 readers respond to our average online poll, said Chris Johnson, Web master for Lower Mainland Publishing Ltd., a division of CanWest Global and the parent company of the Burnaby NOW.
"It appears that people are exercising their political will," Johnson said Monday morning. "Typically, any time yo- get more than 100 responses, that is a large number for any newspaper. Even the Vancouver Courier gets average results of 50 to 70 responses on a question.
"So what this does is show you can drive traffic to your Web site with a good question."
Johnson also noted the poll results are completely unscientific and can easily be skewed by a few determined computer users.
"All you have to do is get a bunch of friends online and pound it out," Johnson said.
"There are also other ways to fudge the polls, but I'd prefer not to get into that."
Johnson said the main purpose of the online polls is to allow people to express an opinion and to provide some "interactivity" with the Web site users.
Region-wide, the poll results, as of Monday morning, were as follows:
- The Chilliwack Times asked 'Should Premier Gordon Campbell resign?' and received 35 'yes' responses and 109 saying 'no.'
- The Abbotsford Times asked 'Do you wish the whole issue of the premier's drunk-driving arrest would just go away?' and received 107 'yes' to 32 'no'.
- The Langley Advance-News asked, 'Under the circumstances, if you were Gordon Campbell, would you resign as premier?' and got 53 'yes' responses and 107 'no.'
- The NOW Community newspaper in Surrey asked 'Do yo- think Gordon Campbell should step down as premier?' and got 51 'yes' answers to 102 'no'.
But at least two other Van Net Web sites had substantially different results.
- The Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Times asked 'Should Premier Gordon Campbell resign?' and had a near split with 232 'yes' responses and 251 'no.'
- The Royal City Record newspaper in New Westminster asked 'Are you satisfied with Premier Gordon Campbell's apology after he was charged with drunk driving while on vacation in Hawaii?' and received exactly 200 'yes' and 182 'no' responses.
Chris Campbell, editor of the Maple Ridge newspaper, said the pro-premier side was leading substantially prior to Monday morning, when 220 yes votes were recorded in a few hours.
"I'm not even going to publish those," said Campbell (no relation to the premier), who typically publishes the results of the online poll in the subsequent hard copy edition of the newspaper.
"What I'm going to do instead is outline what happened and say how suspicious this is.
"Up until now the results have been slowly trickling in, but this is just absurd."
Johnson said he was able to trace much of the activity on the eight affected LMPL Web sites to "a couple of users" on the Shaw@home and telus.net servers.
For those keeping track, the final results of all eight Web polls combined showed 1089 (61 per cent) readers voting in support of the premier, with 691 (38 per cent) opposed.
By Dan Hilborn, Burnaby Now assistant editor
Published Jan. 22, 2003
Boy, did we ever hit a nerve - or, at the very least, a political machine.
A record amount of traffic has been recorded on the Burnaby NOW's Web site ever since we posted an online poll about the premier's drinking and driving debacle.
As of Monday morning, a total of 319 people had responded to our online questionnaire at the Web site burnabynow.com. That's almost four times more than the average response to our polls.
The question, 'Do yo- accept Premier Gordon Campbell's apology after he was charged with impaired driving in Hawaii?' had elicited 213 'yes' answers and 106 'no' responses by Monday morning.
The question is scheduled to remain posted until some time tomorrow, Jan. 23.
Typically no more than 75 readers respond to our average online poll, said Chris Johnson, Web master for Lower Mainland Publishing Ltd., a division of CanWest Global and the parent company of the Burnaby NOW.
"It appears that people are exercising their political will," Johnson said Monday morning. "Typically, any time yo- get more than 100 responses, that is a large number for any newspaper. Even the Vancouver Courier gets average results of 50 to 70 responses on a question.
"So what this does is show you can drive traffic to your Web site with a good question."
Johnson also noted the poll results are completely unscientific and can easily be skewed by a few determined computer users.
"All you have to do is get a bunch of friends online and pound it out," Johnson said.
"There are also other ways to fudge the polls, but I'd prefer not to get into that."
Johnson said the main purpose of the online polls is to allow people to express an opinion and to provide some "interactivity" with the Web site users.
Region-wide, the poll results, as of Monday morning, were as follows:
- The Chilliwack Times asked 'Should Premier Gordon Campbell resign?' and received 35 'yes' responses and 109 saying 'no.'
- The Abbotsford Times asked 'Do you wish the whole issue of the premier's drunk-driving arrest would just go away?' and received 107 'yes' to 32 'no'.
- The Langley Advance-News asked, 'Under the circumstances, if you were Gordon Campbell, would you resign as premier?' and got 53 'yes' responses and 107 'no.'
- The NOW Community newspaper in Surrey asked 'Do yo- think Gordon Campbell should step down as premier?' and got 51 'yes' answers to 102 'no'.
But at least two other Van Net Web sites had substantially different results.
- The Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Times asked 'Should Premier Gordon Campbell resign?' and had a near split with 232 'yes' responses and 251 'no.'
- The Royal City Record newspaper in New Westminster asked 'Are you satisfied with Premier Gordon Campbell's apology after he was charged with drunk driving while on vacation in Hawaii?' and received exactly 200 'yes' and 182 'no' responses.
Chris Campbell, editor of the Maple Ridge newspaper, said the pro-premier side was leading substantially prior to Monday morning, when 220 yes votes were recorded in a few hours.
"I'm not even going to publish those," said Campbell (no relation to the premier), who typically publishes the results of the online poll in the subsequent hard copy edition of the newspaper.
"What I'm going to do instead is outline what happened and say how suspicious this is.
"Up until now the results have been slowly trickling in, but this is just absurd."
Johnson said he was able to trace much of the activity on the eight affected LMPL Web sites to "a couple of users" on the Shaw@home and telus.net servers.
For those keeping track, the final results of all eight Web polls combined showed 1089 (61 per cent) readers voting in support of the premier, with 691 (38 per cent) opposed.
Firefighters enjoy camping out
Firefighters enjoy camping out
By Dan Hilborn, Burnaby Now assistant editor
Published Jan. 19, 2003
They jokingly call themselves the trailer park boys, but, for the next 18 months, the firefighters who work out of the old #2 Fire Hall on Edmonds Street are in fact going to be more like campers in the middle of a city.
Last November, the 48-year-old single-storey fire hall was closed forever, and the two seven-person crews that served the southeast side of the city were moved into temporary quarters.
In place of the dank and mouldy old fire hall, the crews are now temporarily housed in a clean, new portable trailer, while their two trucks - a ladder truck and engine - are housed underneath a giant, steel-supported tent.
"Sure, it's a bit of an inconvenience, having to walk outside to the trucks whenever there's a call, but we still have a good job," said Captain Brian Davis, head of the crew that was on shift Wednesday afternoon. "It'll be really nice when we get the new hall."
Replacing the old Hall #2 is the third phase of the long-term fire department improvement program that started almost a decade ago under the leadership of former Burnaby mayor and one-time assistant fire chief Bill Copeland.
At the time, firefighters were complaining about cramped quarters and unsafe working conditions in a variety of the city's old fire halls, most of which were built in the early 50s and many of which needed thousands of dollars of renovations in order to meet current earthquake and post-disaster readiness standards.
The first fire hall to be replaced was the city's busiest, Hall #3 in the Metrotown area, and that's when the idea of using temporary quarters was first tested.
During the construction phase of the new #3 Hall, which opened in 1996, fire crews and trucks were relocated into a pair of the giant tents on Kingsborough Street, the site of the new Hilton Hotel Metrotown.
The next time Burnaby rebuilt an old fire hall ws just two years ago, when the #5 Hall at Hastings and Willingdon was torn down and replaced by a new facility just two blocks up the road. (Because the new hall was being built in a separate location, temporary quarters were not necessary.)
In fact, when the old #5 Hall came down, many firefighters felt a sense of nostalgia for north Burnaby's venerated old fire hall. But not so for the Edmonds hall.
The small fire hall on the southeast side of the city was notorious mainly for its rank smell. Apparently the basement of the old hall was constantly flooded and the water filled up almost to the floorboard on a regular basis.
The hall's main deficiency was the fact it failed to meet 'post- disaster standards' and it would have been of questionable use to the city in the event of a major earthquake.
The old hall also was also too small and was renovated several time in the past two decades to fit the new larger, and taller fire trucks now used by the city.
The hall also had only one washroom - a no-no in today's world where female firefighters share quarters with their male counterparts - and the added aggravation of insufficient space for the workout facilities. (It was impossible to use the exercise space anytime the fire trucks were being used, because the vehicle exhaust was vented right into the workout area.)
But when the design plans for the new #2 fire hall are made public later this month, Burnaby fire chief Bob Cook says all those problems will be solved.
The new fire hall will be substantially larger , too. It will have three truck bays, including one that will be used as storage space until the city's population grows large enough to require another truck.
Cook, the fire chief responsible for the project, expects the new Edmonds fire hall to cost about the same as the new, $2.7 million #5 hall on Hastings Street.
Another change that will take effect when the new Edmonds fire hall opens its doors in the latter half of 2004, will be the closure of 19th Avenue, and the cul de sacing of what is currently the hall's rear lane way access.
"Right now, were just in the middle of the panning stage for the new hall, but the finished designs should be ready soon," Cook said. "Hopefully, we'll award the contract in march and begin work either that month or in April. the plan is to open the new hall 12 months after that."
Cook also said that city hall continues to review its fire hall replacement program, and plans are in the works to either rebuild the 1950-era #4 fire hall on Duthie Street, or else build a completely new fire hall in whichever area of the city sees the most substantial growth in the next few years.
"What we do next all depends on the growth of the city," Cook said. "right now there are new homes being built over the south sloe, up at SFU and around Burnaby Mountain. What happens there dictates to us what we do next."
By Dan Hilborn, Burnaby Now assistant editor
Published Jan. 19, 2003
They jokingly call themselves the trailer park boys, but, for the next 18 months, the firefighters who work out of the old #2 Fire Hall on Edmonds Street are in fact going to be more like campers in the middle of a city.
Last November, the 48-year-old single-storey fire hall was closed forever, and the two seven-person crews that served the southeast side of the city were moved into temporary quarters.
In place of the dank and mouldy old fire hall, the crews are now temporarily housed in a clean, new portable trailer, while their two trucks - a ladder truck and engine - are housed underneath a giant, steel-supported tent.
"Sure, it's a bit of an inconvenience, having to walk outside to the trucks whenever there's a call, but we still have a good job," said Captain Brian Davis, head of the crew that was on shift Wednesday afternoon. "It'll be really nice when we get the new hall."
Replacing the old Hall #2 is the third phase of the long-term fire department improvement program that started almost a decade ago under the leadership of former Burnaby mayor and one-time assistant fire chief Bill Copeland.
At the time, firefighters were complaining about cramped quarters and unsafe working conditions in a variety of the city's old fire halls, most of which were built in the early 50s and many of which needed thousands of dollars of renovations in order to meet current earthquake and post-disaster readiness standards.
The first fire hall to be replaced was the city's busiest, Hall #3 in the Metrotown area, and that's when the idea of using temporary quarters was first tested.
During the construction phase of the new #3 Hall, which opened in 1996, fire crews and trucks were relocated into a pair of the giant tents on Kingsborough Street, the site of the new Hilton Hotel Metrotown.
The next time Burnaby rebuilt an old fire hall ws just two years ago, when the #5 Hall at Hastings and Willingdon was torn down and replaced by a new facility just two blocks up the road. (Because the new hall was being built in a separate location, temporary quarters were not necessary.)
In fact, when the old #5 Hall came down, many firefighters felt a sense of nostalgia for north Burnaby's venerated old fire hall. But not so for the Edmonds hall.
The small fire hall on the southeast side of the city was notorious mainly for its rank smell. Apparently the basement of the old hall was constantly flooded and the water filled up almost to the floorboard on a regular basis.
The hall's main deficiency was the fact it failed to meet 'post- disaster standards' and it would have been of questionable use to the city in the event of a major earthquake.
The old hall also was also too small and was renovated several time in the past two decades to fit the new larger, and taller fire trucks now used by the city.
The hall also had only one washroom - a no-no in today's world where female firefighters share quarters with their male counterparts - and the added aggravation of insufficient space for the workout facilities. (It was impossible to use the exercise space anytime the fire trucks were being used, because the vehicle exhaust was vented right into the workout area.)
But when the design plans for the new #2 fire hall are made public later this month, Burnaby fire chief Bob Cook says all those problems will be solved.
The new fire hall will be substantially larger , too. It will have three truck bays, including one that will be used as storage space until the city's population grows large enough to require another truck.
Cook, the fire chief responsible for the project, expects the new Edmonds fire hall to cost about the same as the new, $2.7 million #5 hall on Hastings Street.
Another change that will take effect when the new Edmonds fire hall opens its doors in the latter half of 2004, will be the closure of 19th Avenue, and the cul de sacing of what is currently the hall's rear lane way access.
"Right now, were just in the middle of the panning stage for the new hall, but the finished designs should be ready soon," Cook said. "Hopefully, we'll award the contract in march and begin work either that month or in April. the plan is to open the new hall 12 months after that."
Cook also said that city hall continues to review its fire hall replacement program, and plans are in the works to either rebuild the 1950-era #4 fire hall on Duthie Street, or else build a completely new fire hall in whichever area of the city sees the most substantial growth in the next few years.
"What we do next all depends on the growth of the city," Cook said. "right now there are new homes being built over the south sloe, up at SFU and around Burnaby Mountain. What happens there dictates to us what we do next."
Song inspired by missing women
Song inspired by missing women
Here and Now column by Dan Hilborn, Burnaby Now assistant editor
Published Jan. 19, 2003
As local media coverage around Vancouver's missing women files now focuses on the trial taking place in Port Coquitlam, it's probably not a bad time to mention that at least some good may come out of these horrific crimes.
Some of Canada's most prominent musicians have lent their names and voices to a project to help build a four-bed women's detox centre and transition house in East Vancouver, dedicated to the memory of the missing women.
A very soulful song, The Streets Where You Live, written by Vancouver-area musicians Wyckham Porteous, Gary Durban and John Ellis, is being used to raise funds for the Via Nova Transition Society.
The project proved to be so inspiring that more than 50 of Canada's most famous musicians, including Gordon Downie of the Tragically Hip, Steven Page of the Barenaked Ladies, Bif Naked, David Usher, Colin James, Barney Bentall and Sarah Harmer, have all lent their voices to the cause.
"Last February, when the police started searching the farm, Wyckham and Gary met to talk about how disgusting it was and how sad it was that people were now associating these women with the pig farm," said project organizer Anna Lily.
Within days of writing the music, the trio talked local songstress Bif Naked into adding her voice to the soundtrack, and then the musicians travelled to Toronto where they spent a weekend seeking out the biggest names in Canadian music to add their voices, too.
The result is a tune that is reminiscent of the international bestseller We Are the World and is now for sale at all A&B Sound stores as a limited edition CD single (price $5.99) released by the Buried Heart Society.
The song is also part of the Women & Songs 6 compilation CD released by Warner Music just prior to the holidays, and will receive partial proceeds from that recording which is expected to sell between 100,000 and 150,000 copies.
The Buried Heart Society is now hoping to promote a fundraiser or concert to continue raising funds for the transition house fund. We'll keep you posted on their progress. In the meantime, check out their Web site at www.buriedheart.com.
More Jubilee Medals
Another long list of Burnaby residents and local personalities has received the Commemorative Medal for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, according to a raft of press releases sent out from a variety of sources in the past few weeks.
Burnaby North MLA Richard T. Lee held a ceremony at the Shadbolt Centre just prior to Christmas where he handed out the medals to six prominent city residents.
Lee presented the medals to Dr. Peter Borwein, lawyer Celso Boscariol, baker Jack Kuyer, Arthur John Lee, auto dealer Gary Morrey and Tong Yuet.
The Vancouver Branch of the War Amputations of Canada Society held a similar occasion at the Holiday Inn Metrotown, where medals were presented to six people active in their national organization.
The War Amp medals were presented to: national president B. Alan Russell; national council member Donald J. Latter; national director Gordon R. Peck; Vancouver branch president E. W. Plumtree; Mary Agnew, the widow of Jack P. Agnew; and Hilda Mayo, the widow of Warren Mayo.
But the longest list of local inductees were those who were invited to a special ceremony in Victoria Wednesday, presided over by B.C. Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo and premier Gordon Campbell.
Local honourees were Greg Aasen, founder of PMC Sierra; Ray and Roxy Abernathy, who are active in community service and sports; Moira Colbourne of the national field hockey program; Tony Knowles of BCIT; and Dr. David R. MacLean.
Other prominent names with some kind of Burnaby connection among the 211 people who received medals at the sober occasion were: Burnaby South graduate and Georgia Strait columnist Terry Glavin; soccer star Bob Lenarduzzi, former national basketball team coach Jay Triano; SFU wrestling coach Dave MacKay; former BCIT chair Wynne Powell; and NHL star 'Burnaby' Joe Sakic.
And the medal notices will keep on coming.
Burnaby-Edmonds MLA Patty Sahota will hand our more medals in a ceremony next Thursday at the solarium at Edmonds Community Centre, while Burnaby-Willingdon MLA expects to see several RCMP members in red serge at his medal presentation ceremony Feb. 6 at the Radisson Hotel.
Here and Now column by Dan Hilborn, Burnaby Now assistant editor
Published Jan. 19, 2003
As local media coverage around Vancouver's missing women files now focuses on the trial taking place in Port Coquitlam, it's probably not a bad time to mention that at least some good may come out of these horrific crimes.
Some of Canada's most prominent musicians have lent their names and voices to a project to help build a four-bed women's detox centre and transition house in East Vancouver, dedicated to the memory of the missing women.
A very soulful song, The Streets Where You Live, written by Vancouver-area musicians Wyckham Porteous, Gary Durban and John Ellis, is being used to raise funds for the Via Nova Transition Society.
The project proved to be so inspiring that more than 50 of Canada's most famous musicians, including Gordon Downie of the Tragically Hip, Steven Page of the Barenaked Ladies, Bif Naked, David Usher, Colin James, Barney Bentall and Sarah Harmer, have all lent their voices to the cause.
"Last February, when the police started searching the farm, Wyckham and Gary met to talk about how disgusting it was and how sad it was that people were now associating these women with the pig farm," said project organizer Anna Lily.
Within days of writing the music, the trio talked local songstress Bif Naked into adding her voice to the soundtrack, and then the musicians travelled to Toronto where they spent a weekend seeking out the biggest names in Canadian music to add their voices, too.
The result is a tune that is reminiscent of the international bestseller We Are the World and is now for sale at all A&B Sound stores as a limited edition CD single (price $5.99) released by the Buried Heart Society.
The song is also part of the Women & Songs 6 compilation CD released by Warner Music just prior to the holidays, and will receive partial proceeds from that recording which is expected to sell between 100,000 and 150,000 copies.
The Buried Heart Society is now hoping to promote a fundraiser or concert to continue raising funds for the transition house fund. We'll keep you posted on their progress. In the meantime, check out their Web site at www.buriedheart.com.
More Jubilee Medals
Another long list of Burnaby residents and local personalities has received the Commemorative Medal for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, according to a raft of press releases sent out from a variety of sources in the past few weeks.
Burnaby North MLA Richard T. Lee held a ceremony at the Shadbolt Centre just prior to Christmas where he handed out the medals to six prominent city residents.
Lee presented the medals to Dr. Peter Borwein, lawyer Celso Boscariol, baker Jack Kuyer, Arthur John Lee, auto dealer Gary Morrey and Tong Yuet.
The Vancouver Branch of the War Amputations of Canada Society held a similar occasion at the Holiday Inn Metrotown, where medals were presented to six people active in their national organization.
The War Amp medals were presented to: national president B. Alan Russell; national council member Donald J. Latter; national director Gordon R. Peck; Vancouver branch president E. W. Plumtree; Mary Agnew, the widow of Jack P. Agnew; and Hilda Mayo, the widow of Warren Mayo.
But the longest list of local inductees were those who were invited to a special ceremony in Victoria Wednesday, presided over by B.C. Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo and premier Gordon Campbell.
Local honourees were Greg Aasen, founder of PMC Sierra; Ray and Roxy Abernathy, who are active in community service and sports; Moira Colbourne of the national field hockey program; Tony Knowles of BCIT; and Dr. David R. MacLean.
Other prominent names with some kind of Burnaby connection among the 211 people who received medals at the sober occasion were: Burnaby South graduate and Georgia Strait columnist Terry Glavin; soccer star Bob Lenarduzzi, former national basketball team coach Jay Triano; SFU wrestling coach Dave MacKay; former BCIT chair Wynne Powell; and NHL star 'Burnaby' Joe Sakic.
And the medal notices will keep on coming.
Burnaby-Edmonds MLA Patty Sahota will hand our more medals in a ceremony next Thursday at the solarium at Edmonds Community Centre, while Burnaby-Willingdon MLA expects to see several RCMP members in red serge at his medal presentation ceremony Feb. 6 at the Radisson Hotel.
Standing by their man
Standing by their man
By Dan Hilborn, Burnaby Now assistant editor
Published Jan. 15, 2003
Local Liberal MLAs are standing in support of embattled premier Gordon Campbell, who is facing widespread criticism after he spent last Friday night in an Hawaiian jail on charges of drunk driving.
"Everyone is human," said Burquitlam MLA Harry Bloy, echoing thoughts expressed by the four of five Burnaby and New Westminster area MLAs interviewed for this story. "The premier admitted he made a huge mistake, and he's not contesting it.
"It was a serious offence, period, and it was totally wrong. But he's also taken total responsibility for it, and he's asked for forgiveness, and I am prepared to work with him."
"I accept his apology," said Joyce Murray, the New Westminster MLA and B.C. environment minister. "He has acknowledged it was the wrong thing to do. But I also think the premier has a responsibility to the people of B.C. to carry through with the programs that he's initiated.
"I think the responsible thing for the premier to do is to continue to carry out that agenda. That, to me, is serving the public interest in a far more difficult or valuable way than he would be by resigning at this point."
"It certainly is a matter of bad judgment and the fact that he has the courage to admit it publicly and take responsibility to face the consequences, I think is a very courageous thing on his part," said John Nuraney, Burnaby-Willingdon MLA. "I certainly feel that the matter is not demanding of his resignation particularly because of the vision and the direction that he has offered British Columbians for the past several months.
"We need his leadership to take us to a fruitful conclusion."
"This is his moment of darkness and he needs to know there is an army of supporters who will work tirelessly to make sure he carries on and remains as premier," said Patty Sahota, Burnaby-Edmonds MLA.
But those kind words were a far cry from the opinion of Graeme Bowbrick, the former B.C. NDP attorney general who once called on his own party's premier, Glen Clark, to step aside while he was under investigation for the North Burnaby Inn casino affair.
"For Gordon Campbell to try and make this distinction that this is a personal matter and doesn't impact on his duties in office is wrong," said Bowbrick, a practising lawyer. "He is the leader, he appoints the attorney general and he is the senior lawmaker in the province.
"If you ask whether he has to resign from a legal or constitutional basis, the answer is probably not, but on a moral basis I guess that's up to Gordon Campbell's morality. Certainly the moral standard he's imposed on everybody else for almost a decade has been much higher than the standard he is himself living up to.
"Campbell has done more than anyone else to create an environment where very high demands are made on politicians who make any kind of mistake," Bowbrick said. "Now he has to live up to his own standards.
"There's a huge issue of hypocrisy here," Bowbrick said. "I'm not aware of any other premier who was guilty of a crime while in office. And we've seen premiers in B.C. who have resigned for much less. Mike Harcourt resigned not for anything he was personally accused of, but because of criticism towards his own political party."
Bowbrick also believes that Campbell exhibited a lack of sincerity when he made his public apology on television Sunday afternoon.
"He (Campbell) doesn't want to utter the words 'I committed a crime' because he doesn't want it thrown back at him, but it's all sophistry and spin. His remarks were carefully crafted by the spin doctors. They were not the remarks of a man who was personally devastated. Yes, I accept he feels badly. But someone who is truly devastated when asked if he committed a crime would just say 'yes.'"
Bowbrick also said that Campbell should resign because he personally kicked former Vancouver Island MLA Paul Reitsma out of the Liberal caucus when he was caught writing phony letters to the editor, and Surrey MLA Tony Bhullar was ejected because of a criminal matter that is still before the courts.
"I think that level of hypocrisy will hurt him more than anything else," said Bowbrick. "On another level this is saddening and sickening because it debases politicians in British Columbia, and I don't say that in a partisan way.
"I don't think this is going to go away anytime soon. I think Campbell is making a mistake and it's going to damage his party and that's a very selfish thing to do. I've seen this before.
"But the real test will be what the opinion polls say in about three months' time," said the former NDP cabinet minister. "Already his personal approval ratings are quite low, and they'll go down now to about the 20s and it's likely he'll pull his party down with him. If I was a Liberal MLA I'd be worried."
But the Liberal MLAs are confident that, given time, the whole affair will blow over.
"I don't share Graeme's opinion," said Murray, who defeated Bowbrick in the last provincial election.
"I want to turn this into a positive," added Bloy. "It's a wake- up call to thousands of British Columbians and I hope he (Campbell) gets together with Mothers Against Drunk Driving to become a spokesperson and possibly with ICBC or insurance groups,too."
When asked if Campbell would have called for the resignation of any political foe who spent the night in jail, Bloy said: "I can't answer that question. There could be so many other circumstances. We're lucky that nobody was hurt. He asked for forgiveness, and I'm prepared to give that to him."
The 71-member B.C. Liberal caucus is scheduled to meet Thursday morning to discuss the issue.
By Dan Hilborn, Burnaby Now assistant editor
Published Jan. 15, 2003
Local Liberal MLAs are standing in support of embattled premier Gordon Campbell, who is facing widespread criticism after he spent last Friday night in an Hawaiian jail on charges of drunk driving.
"Everyone is human," said Burquitlam MLA Harry Bloy, echoing thoughts expressed by the four of five Burnaby and New Westminster area MLAs interviewed for this story. "The premier admitted he made a huge mistake, and he's not contesting it.
"It was a serious offence, period, and it was totally wrong. But he's also taken total responsibility for it, and he's asked for forgiveness, and I am prepared to work with him."
"I accept his apology," said Joyce Murray, the New Westminster MLA and B.C. environment minister. "He has acknowledged it was the wrong thing to do. But I also think the premier has a responsibility to the people of B.C. to carry through with the programs that he's initiated.
"I think the responsible thing for the premier to do is to continue to carry out that agenda. That, to me, is serving the public interest in a far more difficult or valuable way than he would be by resigning at this point."
"It certainly is a matter of bad judgment and the fact that he has the courage to admit it publicly and take responsibility to face the consequences, I think is a very courageous thing on his part," said John Nuraney, Burnaby-Willingdon MLA. "I certainly feel that the matter is not demanding of his resignation particularly because of the vision and the direction that he has offered British Columbians for the past several months.
"We need his leadership to take us to a fruitful conclusion."
"This is his moment of darkness and he needs to know there is an army of supporters who will work tirelessly to make sure he carries on and remains as premier," said Patty Sahota, Burnaby-Edmonds MLA.
But those kind words were a far cry from the opinion of Graeme Bowbrick, the former B.C. NDP attorney general who once called on his own party's premier, Glen Clark, to step aside while he was under investigation for the North Burnaby Inn casino affair.
"For Gordon Campbell to try and make this distinction that this is a personal matter and doesn't impact on his duties in office is wrong," said Bowbrick, a practising lawyer. "He is the leader, he appoints the attorney general and he is the senior lawmaker in the province.
"If you ask whether he has to resign from a legal or constitutional basis, the answer is probably not, but on a moral basis I guess that's up to Gordon Campbell's morality. Certainly the moral standard he's imposed on everybody else for almost a decade has been much higher than the standard he is himself living up to.
"Campbell has done more than anyone else to create an environment where very high demands are made on politicians who make any kind of mistake," Bowbrick said. "Now he has to live up to his own standards.
"There's a huge issue of hypocrisy here," Bowbrick said. "I'm not aware of any other premier who was guilty of a crime while in office. And we've seen premiers in B.C. who have resigned for much less. Mike Harcourt resigned not for anything he was personally accused of, but because of criticism towards his own political party."
Bowbrick also believes that Campbell exhibited a lack of sincerity when he made his public apology on television Sunday afternoon.
"He (Campbell) doesn't want to utter the words 'I committed a crime' because he doesn't want it thrown back at him, but it's all sophistry and spin. His remarks were carefully crafted by the spin doctors. They were not the remarks of a man who was personally devastated. Yes, I accept he feels badly. But someone who is truly devastated when asked if he committed a crime would just say 'yes.'"
Bowbrick also said that Campbell should resign because he personally kicked former Vancouver Island MLA Paul Reitsma out of the Liberal caucus when he was caught writing phony letters to the editor, and Surrey MLA Tony Bhullar was ejected because of a criminal matter that is still before the courts.
"I think that level of hypocrisy will hurt him more than anything else," said Bowbrick. "On another level this is saddening and sickening because it debases politicians in British Columbia, and I don't say that in a partisan way.
"I don't think this is going to go away anytime soon. I think Campbell is making a mistake and it's going to damage his party and that's a very selfish thing to do. I've seen this before.
"But the real test will be what the opinion polls say in about three months' time," said the former NDP cabinet minister. "Already his personal approval ratings are quite low, and they'll go down now to about the 20s and it's likely he'll pull his party down with him. If I was a Liberal MLA I'd be worried."
But the Liberal MLAs are confident that, given time, the whole affair will blow over.
"I don't share Graeme's opinion," said Murray, who defeated Bowbrick in the last provincial election.
"I want to turn this into a positive," added Bloy. "It's a wake- up call to thousands of British Columbians and I hope he (Campbell) gets together with Mothers Against Drunk Driving to become a spokesperson and possibly with ICBC or insurance groups,too."
When asked if Campbell would have called for the resignation of any political foe who spent the night in jail, Bloy said: "I can't answer that question. There could be so many other circumstances. We're lucky that nobody was hurt. He asked for forgiveness, and I'm prepared to give that to him."
The 71-member B.C. Liberal caucus is scheduled to meet Thursday morning to discuss the issue.
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