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AsWe Age all about seniors THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 27, 2018
LOCAL NEWS – LOCAL MATTERS
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Extend advance voting: residents Theresa McManus tmcmanus@newwestrecord.ca
A Queen’s Park couple is dismayed they won’t be able to vote in the 2018 civic election. Keith Gagne and Diana Carr will be away on vacation for much of October – meaning they won’t be able to vote in the Oct. 20 local election or in the three advance voting days on Oct. 10, 13 and 17. “Based on a phone call and visit to the election clerk at city hall, we have been informed that there is no way for us to vote, as the advance polls start on Oct. 10,” Gagne said in an email to the Record. “Oct. 10 is just 10 days ahead of the polls and does not even accommodate someone who is taking a two-week vacation.” Gagne said he was out of town during a federal election, and even though the ballots hadn’t yet been printed, he was able to write in the name of a candidate on a ballot provided by Elections Canada. If the Local Government Act is the problem in allowing write-in ballots in civic elections, Gagne said the city should lobby the Ministry of Municipal Affairs to make changes. “Accommodate the citizenry. Engage the people. Make it easy so we can try and get the per cent of people up,” he said. “Don’t put roadblocks in people’s way.” Gagne, who has lived in New West since 1988, said this will be the first time he hasn’t voted in a federal, provincial or municipal election since he was 19 years
old. He believes municipal government is critically important as it affects people’s day-to-day lives. “If you take a simple twoweek vacation, you are disenfranchised,” he said of the time between advance polls and election day. Carr said he will be checking election results online or on the radio while on vacation – and hopes none of the candidates lose by two votes, as those could represent potential votes from him and his wife. The Record was unable to reach the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, which oversees the Local Government Act, or the city’s chief election officer by deadline. “The city has no flexibility to change the dates, advance the dates or change details of the election process at this late stage, this is governed by the Local Government Act.The city has provided residents statutory notice of the advance poll dates, locking them in stone. At this time the city is not able to offer mail ballots to out-of-town residents because the city’s bylaws do not permit it.While some larger municipalities do offer advance voting starting Oct. 6, most (like New Westminster) are beginning advance voting on Oct. 10, a legally required date articulated in provincial legislation,” chief election officer Jacque Killawee wrote in an email to the couple. “I understand your frustration at being unable to vote but the city is unable to make any changes to accommodate electors who may be on vacation during the election.”
Senior attacked with a hammer Cayley Dobie
cdobie@newwestrecord.ca
BAT SIGNAL: Taking a chisel to maple, New Westminster’s Oscar Porcellato has carved out a niche market as a bat maker at the tender age of 16. He’s also a pretty good baseball player, too. Read the full story on page 39.
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A 27-year-old New Westminster man is facing a number of charges after an attack on three pedestrians on the Queensborough Bridge.The incident happened at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. Police say a man wielding a hammer attacked a 75-year-old pedestrian who was walking on the sidewalk on the Queensborough Bridge.Two passersby tried to intervene, but the suspect turned his hammer on them, said police. New Westminster Police were called to the scene and instructed the suspect to drop the weapon. He refused, and officers used a less-lethal weapon called an Arwen, a “distance weapon where a hard plastic round is projected from it,” according to Sgt. Jeff Scott. “The suspect continued to attack the victim, so another less lethal option (Taser) was deployed,” said police. Lieto Nasitwitwi has been charged with aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, assault causing bodily harm, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and assault. He remains in custody at this time, according to police.
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