Burnaby Now - May 17, 2013

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Steve Nash drops by Fortius centre PAGE 9

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Your source for local sports, news, weather and entertainment! >> www.burnabynow.com ‘IT’S A STORY THAT I CANNOT KEEP IN MY HEART… IT’S IMPORTANT THEY KNOW ABOUT IT’ – JAWARA

Tears of the innocent Jennifer Moreau staff reporter

Mohammed Jawara was just a child of about 12 when he fled his home country of Liberia. Charles Taylor was leading a rebel war, and his infamous soldiers killed Jawara’s aunt and uncle, while the young boy fled with his family to a refugee camp in neighbouring Sierra Leone. But Jawara was not safe there either. Liberian rebel soldiers, many of whom were children strung out on drugs, attacked the refugee camp, slaughtering and raping people, including pregnant women. Some child soldiers recognized their family members in the refugee camp, and they were ordered to kill them. Those who disobeyed were executed on the spot. Jawara survived the attack, but the next day, there were thousands of bodies in the streets. He then fled to Guinea, but refugees were under attack there, too – this time from within the country. Jawara and his family members applied for refugee status and were accepted to Canada. Jawara was so excited he was jumping and crying and couldn’t sleep. When they arrived in Canada, they stayed at Welcome House, a temporary home for new immigrants run by the Immigrant Services Society of B.C. Book Page 8

Lisa King/burnaby now

A refugee’s tale: Burnaby resident Mohammed Jawara, 26, has just published The Tears of the Innocent and the Bloodshed, a harrowing account of his escape from war-torn West Africa when he was a child.

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Election 2013: One Liberal left standing in Burnaby Jennifer Moreau staff reporter

And then there was one. While the Liberals took pundits by surprise, securing another majority in Tuesday’s provincial election, they lost a seat in Burnaby, leaving Richard Lee as the sole remaining Liberal in the city. Three of Burnaby’s four provincial seats

are now held by New Democrats, after two incumbents in the south kept their ridings, and newcomer Jane Shin secured a win in Burnaby-Lougheed. “(It’s) a little bit lonely,” Lee said, adding he hopes for more diversity on the local political landscape. “I think it’s healthy to have opposition.” Gary Begin, a former TEAM Burnaby city councillor who worked on Lee’s re-elec-

tion campaign, pointed out Lee is the only Liberal out of 23 elected seats in Burnaby – all other posts, federal, provincial and municipal, are held by New Democrats. Lee’s next term means he will have served a total of 16 years as a local MLA. “I firmly believe that in the end, Richard’s work in the community had paid off for him,” Begin said. “A lot of it is he’ll meet with community groups. He has a coffee

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meeting once a month in different parts of the riding. That’s pretty much it.” Janet Routledge ran for the NDP against Lee, and while she also was out a lot in the community, it wasn’t enough to secure her the seat. Lee edged her out by 833 votes in preliminary counts. Lee told the NOW he was expecting a thinner margin of roughly 200 votes. Election Page 3

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