NEWS 5
BUSINESS 11
Man charged with child sex offences
Big dreams for Big Star
JUST FOR KIDS 17
Raise a reader this month FOR THE BEST LOCAL
COVERAGE WEDNESDAY APRIL 12, 2017
LOCAL NEWS – LOCAL MATTERS
GO TO PAGE 23
There’s more at Burnabynow.com
BUNNY FEAR
THE TANK FARM
SFU works on mock disaster By Tereza Verenca
tverenca@burnabynow.com
SFU students on Burnaby Mountain will go through a mock tank farm disaster next summer, the NOW has learned. Mark LaLonde, the university’s chief safety officer, said his department has been working on a mass evacuation and shelter-in-place plan for the last few months.The goal is to have it finished by this fall, with a “large exercise on campus” scheduled for June 2018. “Kinder Morgan, one of their NEB conditions is that they work with us on that,” said LaLonde. “We’ll be working with our community partners – fire, police, ambulance. ...We’re going to simulate an event at the tank farm, and what we’ll do is shelter in place and a partial simulated evacuation.” Right now, SFU has what’s called a “comprehensive emergency plan,” which gets updated periodically (the last update was done November 2016).The plan takes “an all-hazards approach to any number of things that could happen,” according to LaLonde. “It’s not as robust as we would have liked, and that’s why we’re working on a new plan. The expansion of the tank farm poses new challenges,” he said. The chief safety officer stressed that any Continued on page 8
NO, THANKS: Hillview Preschool once again invited the community in for a little pre-Easter fun, hosting its 10th annual Easter fundraiser on
Saturday, April 8. The popular community event includes an Easter egg hunt, crafts and activities for kids – and, of course, a visit from the Easter bunny, whose presence clearly didn’t impress Pavel and Aria Girn too much. See more photos at www.burnabynow.com. PHOTO JENNIFER GAUTHIER
City’s homeless population keeps increasing By Tereza Verenca
tverenca@burnabynow.com
Burnaby’s homeless population increased by 19 per cent over the last three years, according to preliminary findings from the 2017 homeless count. Volunteers counted 69 homeless people on March
8, up from 58 in 2014. The report, released on Monday, defines homeless as not having a place to stay for more than 30 days, and not paying rent. The 24-hour snapshot showed that 49 of the 69 homeless in Burnaby were unsheltered, meaning they were living outside, includ-
Order Take-Out.
ing in alleys, doorways, parkades, parks and in cars. Given the freezing temperatures on the evening of the count and no permanent homeless shelter in the city, 19 homeless people said they were staying at an emergency facility. Lookout Society’s extreme weather shelter at Westminster Bi-
ble Chapel opened for 76 nights during the 2016/17 season and recorded 709 stays. The findings also show Burnaby’s homeless population includes 12 unsheltered and five sheltered children and youth under the age of 25. “It’s a crisis that can’t be
ignored,” said Wanda Mulholland, organizer of the Burnaby count and coordinator of the Society to End Homelessness in Burnaby. “People need housing.The United Nations talks about housing as a basic human right.” Data not included in the report, but just as impor-
tant, is the number of people who have died as a result of homelessness and long-term poverty, according to Mulholland. She told the NOW since the last count in 2014 (they happen every three years), 24 Burnaby citizens have died, with 15 in the last Continued on page 10
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