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Candidate cries foul
Fair play?
School board candidate Elias Ishak says antipipeline brochures with the mayor’s photo on them should be classified as political material and, according to the city’s own bylaw, not displayed in public spaces such as Burnaby libraries.
Political pipeline brochure with mayor’s photo on it is ‘hypocritical’ says Elias Ishak Jacob Zinn staff reporter
An aspiring Burnaby school trustee is challenging the city over its sign bylaw, which prohibits election advertising on city property, after finding the incumbent council has political brochures at the library. Several weeks ago, Elias Ishak, who is running as an independent for school board in next month’s election, was informed by the city that he was in violation of Burnaby’s sign bylaw after he placed election signs on streetlights and at intersections. According to the bylaw, “no political or election temporary signs, or temporary signs relating to a public referendum, shall be erected or placed on any public property,” except as otherwise permitted. But shortly after he took down the signs, Ishak said he noticed the Burnaby Public Library carries anti-pipeline brochures with Mayor Derek Corrigan’s pho-
Jennifer Gauthier/ burnaby now
tograph on the cover. Given that the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion is among the biggest issues in this year’s election, Ishak said he considers the allowance of the brochure at the city-owned library branches hypocritical. “I kind of took it personally because I got a phone call recently saying, ‘You
can’t put up your flyers on city property,’” he said. “It’s one thing for the incumbent party to neutrally publish something without a photo on it before the election, but he had his photo on it.” Ishak noted he doesn’t take issue with the city’s opposition to the pipeline but rather the political nature of the pamphlet.
He said he asked library staff if he could put his own stack of election brochures at their information booth but was told anything with political content is not allowed. However, Sid Cleave, Burnaby’s deputy city clerk, differentiated between Ishak’s Brochures Page 4
MP wants Burnaby waterways protected Jennifer Moreau staff reporter
Burnaby-Douglas MP Kennedy Stewart put forward a bill in the House of Commons, calling for the protection of Burnaby Lake, Deer Lake and the Brunette River. The bill, tabled on Oct. 6, is called the
Protecting Burnaby Lakes and Rivers Act, and it was timed to coincide with World Rivers Day, an international celebration of waterways started by Burnaby’s very own Mark Angelo. “At the demand of oil and gas lobbyists, the Conservatives recently removed protections for 98 per cent of Canada’s water
bodies so that proposed development projects – including some pipelines – would no longer need environmental assessments or public consultation before proceeding across our lakes and rivers,” Stewart said in a media statement. The changes Stewart referenced were in the Conservative’s 2012 omnibus budget
bill, which altered Canada’s environmental laws. Stewart’s bill would classify Burnaby Lake, Deer Lake and the Brunette as “navigable waters,” which are protected by the federal government. Bills from the Opposition very rarely become law, as the majority-holding party can easily vote them down.
On Nov. 15 Re-elect
and Burnaby’s BCA Councillors and School Trustees Authorized by Timo Sokkanen, financial agent, 604 764 8701.
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