Parents to have say on 2-week break
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b.C. gas boom is real, all right
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minister Pat bell Calls it quits
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wednesday
February 20 2013 www.burnabynewsleader.com A local push to ban shark fin from local restaurants has hit a snag as more cities say it’s not their call. See Page a3
SFU living wage policy urged Wanda Chow
wchow@burnabynewsleader.com
ryan Stelting/Contributed
Lougheed Branch A blaze consumes a building in the 3500-block of Smith Avenue, near Canada Way, early Sunday. Several animals perished in the fire. 9608 Cameron St.
604-421-3456
Fire destroys apartment building 21¯ MONTH
TERM DEPOSIT
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Chris bryan
Eszter Nemeth
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Brentwood Branch | 1801 Willingdon Ave.
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pets lost in the building but along deployed and two more firehalls with how many were lost there was Terms & conditions apply. Financial Services Since 1940 • www.gvccu.com A *fire destroyed a Burnaby were called to the scene, he said. probably more than that many apartment building at 3526 Smith Ultimately, there were no serious saved. We brought down multiple, Ave. near Canada Way early injuries apart from multiple large dogs from Sunday, leaving the residents of all smoke inhalation, Weir video-online] the third-floor suites, 34 units homeless. said Monday. Numerous second-floor suites, Fire crews arrived at about 12:30 people were taken to burnabynewsleader.com all throughout the a.m. to find a dramatic scene, with hospital for observation. building.” fire engulfing a rear portion of All the residents have been Fire crews were still at the scene the building and multiple tenants accounted for but numerous pets in late Sunday, where they were hosing hanging out their windows in hopes the pet-friendly building were killed, off the still-smouldering building of rescue, said Rick Weir, acting he said. “I talked to a fellow, he had while an excavator was dismantling assistant chief with Burnaby Fire three cats and they perished.” the rear portion. Department. “Apparently there was quite a few “This is basically a mop-up,” said
editor@burnabynewsleader.com
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Weir. “We had a total collapse at the back and it’s continuing to burn.” An acrid stench hung over the neighbourhood as many nearby residents came out to watch. “There were no firefighter injuries, just a whole lot of tired people. They worked extremely hard, they did an unbelievably great job.” By Monday, a structural engineer had deemed the building unsafe, limiting the ability of fire investigators to determine the cause of the blaze, Weir said. Please see Fire’S CauSe, a3
Your Future. Our Focus. BRENTWOOD BRANCH 1801 Willingdon Ave.
604-298-3344
LOUGHEED BRANCH
9608 Cameron St.
604-421-3456
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Simon Fraser University is being urged to adopt a living wage policy as a means to reduce child poverty in the families of people who work there. First Call, the B.C. child and youth advocacy coalition, is releasing a report Wednesday that shows 73 per cent of the auxiliary contract workers surveyed at SFU earned less than a living wage, with only half getting any benefits through their employment. The report’s author, Michael McCarthy Flynn, First Call’s living wage campaign organizer, noted that his organization releases an annual child poverty report. The living wage campaign aims to raise awareness of the fact half of children living in poverty in B.C. have parents working in low-wage jobs. The report says the current living wage for Metro Vancouver is $19.14 per hour, a figure that is lowered to take into account any non-mandatory benefits that are paid to employees. Please see SFu, a4