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March 1 2013 www.burnabynewsleader.com
tina palazzo is up for a challenge—and now she’s burnaby’s contestant in a special, 13-week health and fitness contest. Meet tina on page a10
Crossing guard program to be reviewed City funding hasn’t been increased since 1998 Wanda chow
wchow@burnabynewsleader.com
carrie Sera/contributed
true colours was the theme at Gilmore community School for pink Shirt day on Wednesday, where students illustrated paper shirts with their own strengths to emphasize that the root of kindness and bullying prevention starts with being kind to yourself.
Hopes raised for transitional housing Mayor Corrigan says willing to support in NewsLeader interview Wanda chow
wchow@burnabynewsleader.com
Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan expressing support for a transitional housing facility in the city is a very positive step forward, say local advocates for the homeless. In a recent interview for a column by NewsLeader editor Chris Bryan, Corrigan reiterated his opposition to emergency shelters, saying people who use them should be getting help
elsewhere, such as addictions treatment, an institution like Riverview for the extremely mentally ill, or group homes. The remainder could then be accommodated in transitional housing facilities, where social workers would refer them to support services and help them on their way to a more stable lifestyle. It’s a model of housing Corrigan said he would be willing to accept in Burnaby. “Shelter is one part of a larger continuum, all are important and transitional housing is approved by the city,” said Wanda Mulholland
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of the Burnaby Task Force on Homelessness. “That’s very positive.” Mulholland noted that when it was considering a proposal last year to turn the 401 Motel on Boundary Road into transitional housing, Burnaby city hall developed a template on what would be needed for such a facility to be approved. While the 401 Motel plan was not given the go-ahead due to lack of BC Housing funding, council decided the template could be used in other cases as it sets out requirements, the roles of different levels of government and the
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necessary processes for community consultation and rezoning. The challenge, as always, is to find a site, Mulholland said. “I have people talking to me about their concerns about housing all the time, daily,” Mulholland said, noting homelessness is part of community concerns about the affordability of housing in general. Emergency shelters generally provide overnight or short-term stays for people who are homeless and include staff that can refer them to resources in the community. please see ‘need a Plan’, a3
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With funding no longer covering costs, Burnaby school district’s adult crossing guard program is currently under review. “The allocation of adult crossing guards is based on a priority rating system developed by the City of Burnaby and no longer fully meets the needs of the district,” according to the minutes of Tuesday’s meeting of the district’s buildings and grounds committee. The program, which provides adult crossing guards at 26 sites, has been funded by Burnaby city hall since September 1998. While the $205,000 annual funding originally covered the full cost of the program, it has increasingly been subsidized by the district due to increased costs. In 2011-2012, the $31,432 shortfall was covered by the district’s operating budget. School board chair Baljinder Narang said in an interview that over the past 15 years, program costs have gone up due to inflation and wage increases. see PrograM, a8