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WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 2013
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NDP LEADS IN BUN-OFFICIAL POLL
New West eatery dishes it out again BY THERESA MCMANUS REPORTER tmcmanus@royalcityrecord.com
Voting with their mouths: Community members have been able to cast votes in a pre-election poll at Burger Heaven. Manager Chris Geib is holding the Christy Clark Burger and the Adrian Dix Burger.
While the B.C. Liberals may be gaining ground in some of the provincial election polls, the NDP has dominated a local poll from Day 1. Burger Heaven restaurant is once again holding its bun-official burger poll, which lets diners vote for their chosen candidate. “The response has been pretty good,” said manager Chris Geib. “A lot of people are having fun with it.” Geib said staff see the odd “silent table” when couples have differing views on which candidate to support. As of May 5, the Adrian Dix (NDP) Burger held a commanding lead with 41 per cent of voters. Trailing behind were the (B)un-Decided Burger – 24 per cent; the Christy Clark (Liberal) Burger – 17 per cent; the Jane Sterk (Green) Burger – 13 per cent; and the John Cummins (Conservative) Burger – five per cent. “They pretty much have it locked up in New West,” Geib said of the NDP. Dix, his wife and a small entourage dropped by the restaurant on the weekend to cast votes for the Adrian Dix Burger. He’s the only leader who has been by to
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THE RECORD
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Where do candidates stand on coal facility? BY THERESA MCMANUS REPORTER tmcmanus@royalcityrecord.com
A proposed coal export facility at Fraser Surrey Docks is getting a lukewarm response from New Westminster candidates. Fraser Surrey Docks has submitted a proposal to Port Metro Vancouver to develop a direct transfer coal facility at the existing terminal in Surrey, which is located across the river from Westminster Quay. Green party candidate Terry Teather said his party is opposed to the expansion of the coal port at Fraser Surrey Docks. “I am in favour of not expanding that coal port,” he said. “Our position is slightly different with the Green party. We look down the road in terms of the total amount
of coal exports. If we must export coal, the very least we can do is put a carbon tax on that export and get some extra revenue from it.” Independent candidate James Crosty is opposed to expansion at Fraser Surrey Docks for the export of coal. “We have our own coal exports in B.C. We still need to export our resources – nobody is against that. But let’s do our own, not the American coal, because they can’t get export out of their own ports,” he said. “We shouldn’t be the fossil fuel dump for the Americans.” Crosty said American cities along the West Coast have opposed the expansion of coal exports. “It’s U.S. coal – let’s export our own
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coal proposal. “I think if you think parts of New Westminster are going to be blanketed by coal dust, I don’t think that is a factual statement.” While he doesn’t believe some of the fears surrounding coal expansions projects are entirely warranted, Bremner said he supports a serious conversation about the issue. “Coal is not illegal. We can’t just single coal out – it’s a legal product,” he said. “It’s a product, and you have to take the emotional value out of it. … What you can do and say to business, no matter what kind of business it is, if it is going to happen in our region, it is going to happen to the highest ◗Coal Page 4
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stuff. There’s huge documentation on the Internet, huge – about coal and its effects. They don’t need to export it from here. On the West Coast, they are opposing it all the way down to California. Why are we being used in a highly, densely populated area to export coal?” he said. “Someone said to me, what is wrong with coal? I was absolutely flabbergasted. I thought, have you not done any research on the ill effects of coal on your health.” Liberal candidate Hector Bremner, who lives in a downtown condo that faces Fraser Surrey Docks, said he’s more concerned about increased rail traffic and emissions from boats that are idling on the river. “The reality is there’s a lot of misinformation that’s out there,” he said about the
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