OPINION 8
Burnaby baby quarantined
EVENTS 17
Your top 5 for the weekend
COMMUNITY 21
Man shares his diabetes story
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COVERAGE
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 21, 2019
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EXPERIENCING THE QURAN: The Masjid Al-Salaam mosque in Burnaby hosted an open house Saturday as part of a provincewide mosque day. Visitors were treated to food and educational displays designed to combat misconceptions and predjudice towards the Muslim community. Read the story on page 13. PHOTO JENNIFER GAUTHIER
ELECTION
Byelection debate descends into chaos
Kelvin Gawley
kgawley@burnabynow.com
The third and final public debate ahead of the Feb. 25 Burnaby South byelection briefly descended into chaos Tuesday, with shouting matches, accusations of racism and one candidate crying on stage. As with the other two debates, emotions ran high when the subject came to immigration and refugee resettlement.The de-
bate, hosted by the Ismaili Centre, was interrupted by hecklers who shouted at candidates and each other several times. The emotionally charged debate came six days before the byelection that could see Jagmeet Singh gain his first seat in Parliament since becoming NDP leader. The most heated moment came as Singh and People’s Party of Canada candidate Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson exchanged
pointed remarks about Canada’s immigration policies. “I want everyone to look around this room,” Singh said. “Every single person in this room – except for the first people of this land – the rest of you are all immigrants or from a family of immigrants.” The NDP leader said Canada “fundamentally” needs immigration. Canada needs to make its immigration system more transpar-
ent and must recognize the foreign credentials of skilled immigrants, he said. Thompson followed Singh by saying most Canadians don’t want an increase in immigration and that the NDP and Liberals are “extreme in this regard.” The PPC candidate then brought up the 2017 murder of Burnaby teen Marrisa Shen.The man accused in her death, Ibrahim Ali, was a refugee from Syria. There is no publicly known
evidence to suggest Ali had a criminal record or other red flags that were missed by Canadian officials. He has yet to stand trial. Thompson said Shen’s murder “demands that we be careful in vetting the refugees that come to our land.” This prompted loud cheers and applause from a group of PPC supporters in the crowd, followed by a man wearing a Liberal button who stood and pointed
at Thompson, yelling “That is racist! Shame on you!” The debate ground to a halt as audience members shouted at one another before moderator Jason D’Souza got things back under control. “Let’s acknowledge the emotions in the room,” D’Souza said, adding the exchange of ideas should remain on stage between candidates. Continued on page 6
richard t. lee 李燦明 the strongest voice for burnaby south
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