Burnaby Now November 18 2015

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NEWS 3

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Sinkhole stalls traffic

No investigation of cops

ARTS 11

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WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 18 2015

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Endangered fish could be at risk Ecologist concerned about Nooksack dace in Stoney Creek Jeremy Deutsch

jdeutsch@burnabynow.com

AT RISK? Ecologist Mike Pearson stands in the Brunette River near the mouth of Stoney Creek, where he suggested sediment has put the endangered Nooksack dace fish at risk. PHOTO JEREMY DEUTSCH

Mike Pearson has spent years studying and working the Stoney Creek watershed in Burnaby. As an ecologist, he samples the creek several times a year. And what Pearson has found most recently has him concerned for the future of a rare fish that calls the waters of Stoney Creek home. There are several types of fish that inhabit the creek, including trout and coho salmon. But his biggest concern is for the Nooksack dace, a small fish that is listed as endangered and protected under the federal Species at Risk Act. Pearson said the fish has only been found in four creeks in the country, one being lower Stoney Creek. Most recently, he said he’s found Continued on page 8

Burnaby could receive 500 Syrians

‘... we’re getting hints that the airlifts will start in early December ... as high as 900 a day.’ – Friesen Jennifer Moreau

jmoreau@burnabynow.com

Burnaby could be receiving more than 500 Syrian refugees as the Liberal government moves to bring 25,000 to Canada by the year’s end. The initial figures are from Immigrant Services Society of B.C., which hosted a daylong emergency planning conference in Burnaby Monday. “We’re still waiting for the federal government to formerly announce what the logistical arrangements are, but we’re getting hints that the airlifts will start in early December,

Dec. 1 or so,” said the society’s Chris Friesen last Thursday. “They’re looking at as high as 900 a day.” Immigrant Services Society is the main group tasked with helping government-assisted refugees settle in B.C. “Governmentassisted” or “convention” refugees are preapproved by the United Nations and receive government help for their first year in Canada. Immigrant Services Society’s initial estimates show 477 to 596 Syrian governmentassisted refugees are expected in Burnaby, which is the third most common municipality in B.C. for government-assisted refugees

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to settle. About a quarter of those arriving in Burnaby will likely be children and teens, based on previous settlement patterns.The society also estimates 300 long-term housing units are needed in Burnaby to accommodate the new arrivals. Friesen is asking people with any types of housing – extra rooms, basement suites, vacant apartments – to sign up at tinyurl.com/ ISSRefugeeHelp. Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan raised concerns about government support and Burnaby’s low vacancy rates for affordable rental housing. “It’s a good thing that we’re trying to help with refugees,” he said, “But there’s a responsibility on the party of the government to provide the resources, not just to expect they’re going to spring from local commu-

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“Our vacancy rates are almost zero. I don’t know where they are going to put people” – Mayor Corrigan

nities. It’s just not there.” Corrigan said the “Vietnamese boat people” (refugees who fled Vietnam during and after the Vietnamese War) went to smaller towns, integrated and then moved to larger communities. “Our vacancy rates are almost zero. I Continued on page 4

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