OPINION 6
Support teen theatre
ARTS 24
SPORTS 26
Exhibit reveals Urban Shift High jumper closer to dream
5
THINGS TO DO THIS WEEKEND FRIDAY JUNE 29, 2018
LOCAL NEWS – LOCAL MATTERS.
There’s more at Burnabynow.com
SEE PAGE 11
Burnaby bans sales of cats and dogs by pet stores Kelvin Gawley
kgawley@burnabynow.com
The City of Burnaby has banned pet stores from selling cats and dogs, as well as rabbits if they haven’t been spayed or neutered. Council passed three bylaws Monday outling the ban. From now on, only adoptions from shelters and rescue programs will be allowed. The BC SPCA praised the move. “Burnaby council is standing up against the importation of dogs from puppy mills and the inherent cruelty associated with unscrupulous breeders,” said Amy Morris, BC SPCA manager of public policy and outreach, in a press release. “The BC SPCA recognizes that there are many reputable breeders, who provide excellent care for their animals, but these are not the animals who are sold in stores.” Under the new rules, pet stores in Burnaby could still adopt out cats and dogs if they can prove they came from a shelter or rescue program but they cannot sell them for a profit. The rules won’t restrict any current businesses, as the last store selling pets in Burnaby closed in 2017. “I think it’s opportune.We don’t have any businesses that are doing this in the city now,” Mayor Derek Corrigan said when council discussed the issue in May. “But, from now on, people who do start up pet store businesses will have very clear rules that indicate that the sale of dogs and cats will not be permitted.” Morris said the move will also limit the number of animals adopted on impulse. “With so many cats and rabbits being abandoned and surrendered to shelters and rescues, this is the right move,” she said.
CONCERNED CITIZEN: UniverCity resident Paul Salandini points to all the new development happening on Burnaby Mountain. He thinks the growing community on the mountain needs its own fire hall, and City of Burnaby documents suggests he might be right. See the story on page 8. PHOTO CORNELIA NAYLOR
City pitches new housing strategy
But political opponents and activists say council ‘blinked’ under pressure from protests Kelvin Gawley
kgawley@burnabynow.com
Burnaby city council finally buckled under pressure from citizens angry about demovictions. Or they made another step in an ongoing effort to create more affordable housing in the city. Those are the two narratives competing to explain an unexpected twist in local politics this week. On Monday, council pulled two proposals – a 34-storey highrise on Barker Avenue and a 24-storey building on Marlborough Avenue – from a public hearing scheduled the next evening. Coun. Colleen
Jordan said she made a motion to rescind the items because she wants the developers to explore options to include non-market rental housing in their plans. Murray Martin, a housing activist with ACORN who has led much of the fight against demovictions, didn’t accept Jordan’s explanation. “They finally blinked,” he said at a rally in front of city hall before Tuesday’s hearing that had been planned before the items were taken off the agenda. “This would have been a record night.” Martin said he expected Tuesday’s hearing to eclipse a May hearing where many people be-
rated Mayor Derek Corrigan and his fellow Burnaby Citizens Association councillors for going ahead with three other demoviction plans. With an election on the horizon this fall and opposition candidates already putting demovictions at the forefront of their campaigns, Martin believes council was afraid of the optics of yet another long night of criticism. He said he would have presented more than 400 submissions from Metrotown residents opposed to the rezoning requests. The potential for affordable rental units being included in future proposals for the Marl-
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borough and Barker developments doesn’t change the fact it would mean displacing many longtime residents who would be forced to pay higher rents elsewhere or face homelessness, Martin said. “They’re taking a mud pie and they’re putting icing on it,” he said. But a press release sent out by Corrigan’s office Tuesday afternoon paints a different picture. The city is “seeking a made-inBurnaby approach to affordable housing that effectively leverages new provincial housing policies, programs and supports,” the release states. Continued on page 5