Friday November 20, 2015 (Vol. 40 No. 93)
V O I C E
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W H I T E
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Cusp of change: A tour of Peace Arch Hospital’s emergency department demonstrates the need for expansion, in the first of a series of articles on the hospital’s plans for the future. i see page 11
S U R R E Y
w w w. p e a c e a r c h n e w s . c o m
Terror investigation of Surrey couple who planned to bomb legislature reviewed
Judge probes ‘illegal acts’ by RCMP Sheila Reynolds Black Press
A B.C. Supreme Court judge has ruled there is evidence the RCMP “were engaged in unlawful acts” during an undercover sting that led to a Surrey couple being arrested and later convicted of planning to bomb the Victoria parliament buildings on Canada Day 2013. John Nuttall and Amanda Korody were found guilty earlier this year of one count
each of conspiring to commit murder and possessing explosives for the benefit or on behalf of a terrorist organization. The verdicts were not entered, however, due to a defence application for a stay of proceedings. Defence lawyers argue RCMP officers entrapped the couple during a months-long police sting in 2013 – dubbed Project Souvenir – that culminated in Nuttall and Korody’s arrest after inert pressure cooker bombs
were planted outside the B.C. legislature. “In this case there is evidence that the RCMP’s actions during Project Souvenir constituted the offence of facilitation of a terrorist activity,” said Justice Catherine Bruce in her Nov. 17 finding in response to a defence application for all legal opinions provided to the RCMP during the investigation. During Nuttall and Korody’s criminal trial, which began in February, the jury saw and
heard more than 100 hours of undercover video and audio evidence collected by the RCMP as undercover officers posing as Islamic extremist sympathizers befriended and worked with the couple, who had recently converted to the Muslim faith. While the Crown argued Nuttall and Korody knew what they were doing and intended to kill or harm hundreds of innoi see page 4
Eagle-eyed attraction Residents of a South Surrey neighbourhood were delighted to spot two bald eagles in a backyard tree near 10 Avenue and 164A Street Sunday, who spent “quite some time” taking in the view atop a branch in the sun, according to Leo Le Couteur, who caught a snapshot of the pair with the help of a zoom lens. Leo Le Couteur photo
Some elected officials get early look at preliminary sketches of White Rock development
Fathers wants level playing field for all councillors Melissa Smalley Staff Reporter
A White Rock councillor is expressing concern that preliminary sketches for a development at a recently sold uptown property are being shared with some members of council and not others. At last week’s council meeting, Coun. Helen Fathers directed a request to city manager Dan Bottrill following a meeting she had the week before with Patrik
Kutak of Landmark Premier Properties. “We don’t’ have a lobby registration policy, but I would like it conveyed to developers that when they meet with members of council, it’s imperative that every single member of council gets the same information,” Fathers said Nov. 9. “There’s nothing wrong with members of council meeting, however we should all be apprised of the same information at the same time.”
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Fathers explained to Peace Arch News that her comment was in reference to a meeting she and Coun. David Chesney had with Kutak Nov. 4, when the developer discussed preliminary ideas for the 2.5-acre lot in the 1500-block of Martin Street but told the pair there were no plans to be shown at that time. Later that week, Fathers said she was driving uptown and saw Couns. Lynne Sinclair, Megan Knight and Grant
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Meyer meeting with Kutak and two other men at Brown’s Social House, and that there were “plans all over the table.” Fathers said this week that she has since emailed Kutak twice requesting that the plans be dropped off at city hall for her. “I expressed in my council report that it’s an unfair playing field if some members of council get information and others don’t,” Fathers said. i see page 4
Helen Fathers