coquitlam
Port coquitlam
Port Moody
Shuttle bus part of latest Fraser Mills incarnation
City has plans to deal with traffic on Prairie Avenue
PM joins other cities in declaring climate emergency
PaGe 7
PaGe 9
PaGe 11
There’s more at
T H u r S D ay
|
June 13
|
tricitynews.com
2019
Family gives $100k to erH + Tories block local man’s candidacy + Coq. gets in on a Green New Deal
3 5 y e a r S L aT e r , c o q u i T L a M L i T T L e L e a G u e r S L o o K b a c K
A team photo from the 1984 Little League World Series’ program of the Coquitlam A’s team that represented Canada in Williamsport, Penn. They are: (front row, from left) Scott Leroux, Ryan Seminoff, Jason Lapierre, Chad Hanson, Brad Purdie, Glenn Wright and Greg Mein; (back row, from left) Sandy Purdie (coach), Jason Hartshorne, Carl Sheehan, Chad Boyko, John Pollock, Bob McDonald, Brad Robinson, Greg Heximer and Lionel Bilodeau (manager). A plaque honouring the 1984 team will be part of Coquitlam Little League’s Founders Day Saturday at Mackin Yard, which will include the Major AAA and AA finals as well as closing ceremonies. The event begins at 11 a.m. See story on page 28. SubMiTTeD PHoTo
HoMeLeSSneSS in THe Tri-ciTieS
‘We need to help these people’ Burned out by drug deaths, a homeless advocate retires Gary McKenna gmckenna@tricitynews.com
A
s an advocate for the homeless and addicted, Rob Thiessen has seen his share of tragedy. But the fentanyl crisis that has gripped the region and killed thousands over the last few years has taken a particu-
Thanks for following us on:
larly hard toll, affecting not just the community Thiessen serves but his own mental health. “I’m burned out,” he said over coffee and donuts at a Port Coquitlam Tim Hortons. “All the death, all the people that I know that have died, it
0 1 1 34 1
has been kicked up a notch because of the fentanyl crisis. It wears you down.” Last week, Thiessen retired as the managing director of the Tri-Cities Hope for Freedom Society, a homeless outreach organization he has led for
close to two decades. He made the decision to leave after he started noticing changes in his outlook, he said, adding friends and people he relies on for support suggested it may be time to take a break. “[They] said, ‘You are going
0 11811
5 1756
Sunday, June 16 - 9am - 3pm $18.99 seniors | $11.99 kids (3-10) Kids 2 & under - Free!
to go toxic,’” he said. “And what that means to me — and I started seeing signs of it — is some of the things that used to bother me weren’t bothering me anymore.” see
‘EVERY ONE’, page 21
.ca