FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, 2010
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SHE NEEDS HELP MOVING. ANY VOLUNTEERS?
Exotic critters on the move as Cinemazoo finds new digs in Surrey. Page 3
CONSTRUCTION
SURREY HOUSING STARTS BLOW COMPETITION AWAY
So far this year, nearly as many new homes started here than in all of Metro Vancouver combined
CRIME
Student teacher charged with sex crimes Ted COLLEY Staff Reporter
Peter Simpson, CEO of the Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association, says Surrey is at the top of the heap. Ted COLLEY Staff Reporter
SURREY – Growth, thy name is Surrey. Recently released housing starts figures from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation confirm in hard data what has been obvious to anyone living in the city – Surrey is grow-
ing at a dazzling pace. Peter Simpson is the CEO of the Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association. He quoted a number that pretty much said it all. “Year to date, that’s in the first seven months of this year, Surrey came very close to recording more single-detached starts than the rest of Metro Vancouver
combined.” According to the CMHC, Surrey accounted for 46.8 per cent of single-family starts in the region – 1,297 out of a total of 2,750 – putting this city head and shoulders above its nearest rival, Vancouver proper where only 373 starts were recorded in the same period. When all types of residential
❚PHOTO/Brian Howell
construction are considered, Surrey accounted for 28 per cent of all Metro Vancouver starts between New Year’s Day and July 31 with 2,244 units, nearly three times the 779 units started during the same period last year. “That has created the equivalent of 6,283 full-time jobs for one year,” Simpson said.
see MASSIVE GROWTH page 4
SURREY – A student teacher has been charged with sexual assault and other offences stemming from a complaint laid by a female pupil at a Surrey high school. Michael Herrera, 24, a Surrey resident, appeared Thursday in Surrey provincial court charged with one count each of sexual assault, invitation to sexual touching and sexual interference. The complaint was lodged with Surrey RCMP in May and a subsequent investigation by the detachment’s serious crime section led to the charges. Herrera was working on a practicum in the school attended by the girl, but school district officials believe the alleged crimes were committed after the practicum was completed. District spokesman Doug Strachan said teachers, including student teachers, must submit to a criminal background check. “In the case of a student teacher, the educational institute – the university – is expected to have done the checks,” Strachan said. “I don’t know with certainty which university he went to and if I did, in all probability, I wouldn’t be able to tell you because of privacy legislation.” The Now was unable to learn before press deadline when Herrera is scheduled to return to court.