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Serving Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Anmore and Belcarra since 1984
WEDNESDAY July 7, 2010
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Port Moody firefighters help make a special delivery.
Your source for local news, sports, weather and entertainment. www.thenownews.com
Province looks for Evergreen builder Simone Blais sblais@thenownews.com Who wants to build the Evergreen Line? The province is officially asking contractors to put their name in the hat to bring SkyTrain to the Tri-Cities, after issuing a request for qualifications (RFQ) on BC Bid Monday. “It marks the start of the formal procurement process,” said Liberal MLA Iain Black (Port Moody-Coquitlam). “That is something that’s a very important milestone. It is yet another milestone in this thing moving forward, and we’re very excited about that.” The Ministry of Transportation uploaded a 124-page document to the province’s website on competitive bids that details what will be required of the contractor that will eventually be awarded the job of building the line. The summary design and construction scope is one of the tallest orders for a job description out there; builders will be expected to obtain the necessary permits, approvals and authorization according to federal and provincial regulations, and conduct site preparation, including demolition of existing buildings where needed. Companies are also expected to conceptualize the line: designing and building guideways, stations, a vehicle storage facility, road and civil works, utility relocations and traffic management. The line calls for a combination of elevated and at-grade guideways, as well as an approximately two-kilometre-long tunnel to be bored through Clarke Road hill. Lougheed Station must CONT. ON PAGE 8, see MLA.
Gabrielle Beer/NOW
HAPPY CANADA DAY! Four-year-old Michela Chalmers shows off her gymnastic skills during a demonstration at Castle Park in Port Coquitlam by members of the TAG (Trampoline and Artistic Gymnastics) Sports Centre. For more Canada Day photos, see Page 3.
City rejects tougher smoking ban
Coquitlam council opposes idea of 7.5-metre buffer zone around entryways John Kurucz jkurucz@thenownews.com A more than seven-metre ban was flatly rejected, but $10,000 fines weren’t. That’s where things stand after Coquitlam councillors got their first look at the city’s proposed smoking bylaw, which, as of Monday, has been in the works for six months. Monday’s discussion began around a proposed amendment to restrict smoking within 7.5 metres (24.6 feet) of entryways, windows, air intakes or in the perimeter of customer service areas, as opposed to the three-metre (10-foot) restriction set out by provincial law. “It’s not an arbitrary number,” said Coun. Selina
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Robinson. “It’s actually the number that’s recommended by the Canadian Cancer Society.” The new bylaw also includes provisions that clarify who is responsible for enforcing the bylaws: a clause that ensures people don’t smoke on private properties by putting the onus on owners of restaurants and coffee shops, and the owners, stratas and property management companies of buildings. Fines for the bylaw have been set at $10,000. But how and who would be responsible in certain instances where the bylaw is being contravened was called into question. Coun. Brent Asmundson asked who would be responsible in the event that someone smoking on a public sidewalk within 7.5 metres of a private business was found to be in contravention of the bylaw — would the business be responsible or the smoker,
he asked. He, along with Coun. Lou Sekora, also questioned whether or not the bylaw could ever be enforced. “We don’t have a way of enforcing this, so you’re putting in a bylaw that has no teeth except for a public relations issue,” Asmundson said, adding, “The $10,000 fine, sure it sounds great [and] very threatening, but there’s no way that we’re going to get a conviction on it, that I can see.” The issue of the public enforcing the bylaw as opposed to bylaw officers was also discussed, with Coun. Neal Nicholson suggesting that “social pressures” would force many smokers to adhere to the bylaw. Coun. Doug Macdonell, however, doesn’t see it CONTINUED ON PAGE 5, see TOUGHER SMOKING BAN.
or www.dbmlaw.ca 604.939.8321 Good advice. Good law. Good people.