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PRODUCED BY LANGARA JOURNALISM STUDENTS
NOVEMBER 26, 2015 • VOL. 48 NO. 10 • VANCOUVER, B.C.
Greener pastures for refugees
Sex assault policy blasted MLA says victims need a better system in place to deal with sexual assault By ANNE-SOPHIE RODET
A A cottage at Dunbar Memorial West Park is an example of the type of housing that could be available to refugees. KEVIN UNDERHILL photo
Rent-free accommodations for Syrian families is a welcome need By KEVIN UNDERHILL
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hree vacant park cottages could be made available to incoming Syrian refugee families. Catherine Evans, a commissioner on the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation will be proposing next month that three caretaker suites, located in Vancouver parks, be repurposed to house Syrian refugees. With a reported 3,000 refugees scheduled to settle in the Vancouver area by the end of the year, accommodation will be a major challenge. “Housing is the most critical thing,” Evans said. “It’s very difficult to find
something affordable.” Evans hopes the Park Board will accept the motion to turn three caretaker suites into refugee housing at the next Park Board meeting on Dec. 14. “I have learned that there are three that might work,” Evans said. “I don’t know if they are suitable for families or just a couple perhaps.” Vancouver city councillor Geoff Meggs said it sounds like an excellent idea if the suites are in good shape. “If it’s suitable and in good condition, it could work. I don’t think we’re just throwing a roof over someone’s head. It would need to be a step above shelter in my view,” Meggs said. “So in theory
it sounds terrific but I think they’d have to look at it case by case.” Both Evans and Meggs referred to the precedent of using caretaker suites for other purposes. “I know that some of them have been repurposed for art studios and some are being used for community garden groups…but not all of them,” Evans said. “Which is why I knew I could put this forward as a suggestion.” The board will review the proposal at its upcoming December meeting. “It would be an extraordinary step for the Park Board to take but I think everybody is looking to do what they can do to help,” she said.
REFUGEE housing
Thind Properties is offering 7 units to Syrians
Westbank Deveopments has set aside 12 units in West Vancouver
Source: News1130
Better to be over prepared for winter “ National Works Yard has all the equipment for winter roads, but may not need to use them this year
By JAKE COSTELLO
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he City of Vancouver is anticipating a warm winter, despite the current cold snap. Ken Brown, branch manager of street operations for the city held a press conference on Wednesday at the National Works Yard. He showed off a selection of Vancouver’s trucks, Bobcats and snowblowers used to combat the elements. It’s the same equipment as last year, and much of it may stay parked at the yard, if the carbon-copy Printed on recycled paper
mild weather arrives that Brown said he’s expecting. “They are predicting that we are going to get a couple of dustings of snow, but nothing too major,” he said. According to Lisa Coldwells, meteorologist with Environment Canada, the forecasted warm weather is the result of this year’s El Nino weather system, which is a warm band of water that develops in the equator. “It might even rival the El Nino of 1997-98 which was the strongest on record,” said Coldwells. Coldwells advises, however, that the first part of the season won’t be affected by the warm system, and snowfall may occur before the new year. The city of Vancouver has a fleet of 55 trucks, six snowblowers and 1,200
tons of salt on hand to fight the elements. Brown said that two of the brine trucks are on their last legs, and will be replaced next year. The new models will have greater storage capacity, which should improve output by one third. Brown applauded the public’s effort keeping the roads and drains clear during recent heavy rainfall, and hopes this will continue into winter. “We want the public to be mindful of the neighbours around them. Especially people who are elderly, people that have mobility challenges,” said Brown. He suggested people keep their sidewalks clear of ice and snow, and report any problems to the 311 call centre. Check Langaravoice.ca for a video
We want the public to be mindful of the neighbours around them KEN BROWN BRANCH MANAGER STREET OPERATIONS NATIONAL WORKS YARD
lthough plans are not yet in motion, educational institutions are pushing to make sure they have an effective system in place to deal with sexual assaults. The Fifth Estate program from CBC revealed last Friday that UBC didn’t respond appropriately to sexual assaults allegations made by its students. Some of the victims had come to David Eby, MLA for Vancouver PointGrey, to ask for help since they lived or formerly lived in his riding DAVID EBY and because UBC MLA Vancouver belongs to the con- Point Grey stituency. “On paper, it looked like UBC had very good systems, but when these women tried to go through them, what they found very quickly is that the systems didn’t work,” said Eby. He has announced on Tuesday for a province-wide policy to deal with sexual assaults on campus. In Ontario, colleges of the province published a policy back in March and the government committed to introduce a legislation on the matter, expected by the end of the year . “The reason why we have such a good system in Ontario, at universities there, is that because they had their own scandals,” said Eby. Maggie Ross, manager of the student conduct and judicial affairs at Langara, said that across the country, educational institutions have had discussions on sexual assault policies. “Whether it has to be legislation compelling institutions to put something in place, I don’t know, but there certainly is value in having some common standards across all post-secondary institutions in the province,” she said. After the revelations at UBC, she had just sent an email to the faculty about the procedures in place at Langara in a situation of sexual harassment or violence. “It reminded me that it’s always a good idea to remind faculty of what to do because if you don’t deal with it every day, you forget or you may not know,” Ross said. One of the main issues regarding the case at UBC, Eby said, was the lack of a single point of contact for the students reporting sexual assault. When it regards bad behaviour by a student, Ross said she is the point of contact, but points to other options like counselling and health security depending on what the victims are comfortable with.
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