Mayor Dianne Watts

Surrey – The City of Surrey is moving ahead with plans to build a new performing arts centre in City Centre, which will help transform the area into an energetic hub of entertainment and cultural activity.  Bing Thom Architects has been selected as the architectural consultant for the project, and has begun the programming, site selection and conceptual sitting.
“The City of Surrey has a half million residents and we need a major performing arts facility if we’re going to create a dynamic downtown core and foster our creative economy,” says Mayor Dianne Watts.  “Arts and culture are the heart and soul of a city and play an essential role in education and learning.” It is anticipated the centre will include a flexible main stage theatre with at least 1,600 seats, a studio theatre with approximately 250 seats, and other arts amenities.
“We believe this facility will become another iconic landmark in City Centre and help create a more cohesive city,” says Watts.  She adds the City is hoping senior levels of government and the private sector will partner in the project.
Programming work on the facility has now begun, which includes site selection, siting of the new facility, budget preparation, and determining project timelines.  Bing Thom Architects will liaise with the community, City staff, the steering committee and key stakeholders to deliver the project program, which is expected to be completed by July 2012.

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CALGARY - The Harper Government is showing its commitment to a green Canadian economy with an investment to help eight new clean technology projects from across the country reach commercialization. The announcement was made today by the Honourable Joe Oliver, Minister of Natural Resources, and Vicky Sharpe, President and CEO, Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC).
"Our Government is committed to supporting clean technology in Canada as an effective measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create high-quality jobs for Canadians," said Minister Oliver. "The projects announced today demonstrate our leadership in driving clean technology innovation to help create viable new industries for Canada's economy."
"The projects receiving funding today show just how possible it is to bring environmental interests together with economic pursuits," said SDTC Chair Juergen Puetter. "Green technology truly can be a driver of our economy going forward."
The eight innovative clean technologies involve many of Canada's main economic sectors. Some highlights of this round include:
• Technology designed to meet a growing demand for quieter, safer, more environmentally-friendly and more efficient vehicles in a variety of sectors.
• Tools that will allow for better and more reliable inspection of Canada's pipelines - either water or oil-and-gas - and prevent catastrophic leaks.
• A novel energy storage system using compressed air to keep energy stored under water.
• The last step in a world-wide roll-out of a technology that promises to harness the power of major rivers that could complement conventional hydro power technology.
• Building materials that will reduce the amount of energy expended during all phases of a building's life - from when the building is in use to when components of it end up in the landfill.

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Conspirators Distributed Kilo Quantities of Cocaine, Meth and Heroin  from San Francisco to Vancouver, Canada, 
Twenty people are in custody following the coordinated take down of a lengthy investigation into a cocaine, meth and heroin trafficking ring that stretched from San Francisco to Vancouver, Canada, announced U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. The investigation, which utilized court authorized wire taps, revealed how the conspirators brought multi-kilo loads of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine into the Seattle area from California, and distributed it in Western Washington, or sent it north into Canada. Most of the defendants taken into custody today will make their initial appearance on the charges at 2:30 today in U.S. District Court in Seattle.
Search warrants were executed today on 18 residences or businesses and multiple vehicles. Law enforcement seized 24 pounds of methamphetamine, cocaine, crack cocaine and $35,000 in cash. Over the course of the Drug Enforcement Administration and Seattle Police Department investigation, law enforcement seized more than $700,000 in cash, 11 kilos of cocaine, 40 pounds of methamphetamine, and four firearms.
“Organizations that think we cannot track their crimes across borders are wrong. We will use all of our tools to shut down their operations and seize their profits,” said U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. “I commend the tremendous collaboration by federal, state and local law enforcement in disrupting this drug ring.”
“Today, over 24 pounds of methamphetamine was seized from one vehicle in this investigation, which has an estimated street value of over $1 million,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Matthew G. Barnes. “This investigation illustrates the defendants’ ill-will and disregard for our community. I want to commend the professionalism and commitment of the Seattle Police Department and the other agencies involved.”
“Working together with our federal law enforcement partners in the DEA and other local agencies, we were able to intercept a significant amount of dangerous drugs before they hit Seattle streets. It is noteworthy that this operation was made possible due to information obtained during a routine 'buy-bust' conducted by Seattle Police officers and detectives. This is another example of how ordinary police work combined with law enforcement partnerships can yield exceptional results,” said Seattle Police Chief John Diaz.
The defendants are charged with various federal crimes including conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and/or conspiracy to engage in money laundering. Those charged include:
Jose Rodriguez-Rivera, 38, Lynnwood
Juan Siquiero-Gonzalez, 33, Federal Way
Luis Orozco-Lopez, 21, Sedro-Woolley
Uriel Amin Martinez-Botello, 31, Everett
Hugo Gomez-Barrada, 29, Seattle
Lorenzo Rodriguez-Rivera, 35, Mountlake Terrace
Elmer Alvarez-Ochoa, 39, Lynnwood
Ramon Barrera, 35, Mountlake Terrace
Pedro Lopez, 38, Seattle
Jose Rodriquez-Lujan, 36, Kent
Mario Gamiz-Yescas, 33, Kirkland
Gerson Fletes-Ramos, 30, Shoreline
Dagoberto Herrera-Avila, 37, Sea-Tac
Javier Cabrera-Arteaga, 26, Shoreline
Manuel Mejia-Garay, 32, Seattle
Enrique Munoz-Andres, 32, Pacific
Juan Gomez-Diaz, 37, Des Moines,
Timothy Rishor, 36, Edmonds
Joshua Abellera, 37, Shoreline
Mayra Mendez-Rodriguez, 28, Mountlake Terrace
The charges contained in the complaint are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

 

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Tara Singh Hayer

The cocaine conspiracy trial of a Montreal man suspected by police of being involved in the assassination of Vancouver publisher Tara Singh Hayer opened in Vancouver on Wednesday.
The trial of Jean Gaetan Gingras and his co-accused, Bruno Diquinzio, began following a failed attempt by Gingras to have the judge impose a rare publication ban on the entire trial.
After B.C. Supreme Court Madam Justice Carol Ross last week dismissed the publicaton-ban application, Gingras’ lawyer, Karen Bastow, sought leave to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear the appeal.
In her opening statement Wednesday, federal prosecutor Martha Devlin told the judge that the background to the drug conspiracy case began in 2005, when RCMP launched Project Expedio.
The project was aimed at investigating several separate but related cases, including the attempted bombing of Hayer in 1986 and the publisher’s murder in 1998.
In 2007, RCMP began an undercover operation seeking to gather evidence of Gingras’ alleged role in the attempted bombing case, Devlin told the court.
“The plan was for the undercover operator to approach and develop a relationship with Mr. Gingras in an effort to gain his confidence so that Mr. Gingras would ultimately disclose to the undercover operator his involvement in the Tara Singh Hayer bombing.”
Devlin told the judge that the first meeting between an undercover operator and Gingras took place in Montreal in September 2007.
The relationship grew to the point where Gingras expressed a willingness to launder money and traffic in cocaine along with his co-accused, she said.
The conspiracy called for Gingras and his co-accused to obtain 50 kilograms of cocaine from the undercover cop in exchange for a $375,000 downpayment, said the prosecutor.
Most of the events in the conspiracy took place in Montreal but the undercover operation concluded following a meeting in Vancouver in May 2008, said Devlin.
Gingras and a third man, Luc Bolea, were arrested in Vancouver following the May meeting. Diquinzio was arrested several months later.
Bolea last week pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic in cocaine.
In court Wednesday, Gingras entered a plea of not guilty to one cocaine conspiracy count and two counts of money-laundering. Diquinzio pleaded not guilty to the cocaine conspiracy.
At the time the charges were laid, police said they had ruled out any involvement by Bolea and Diquinzio in Hayer’s death but hadn’t ruled out Gingras.
The Province

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Surrey-Tynehead MLA Dave S. Hayer attends the grand opening of Sophie’s Place with Gene Simmons, from rock band KISS, and his daughter Sophie Tweed-Simmons.  Sophie’s Place will provide service to physically, mentally and sexually abused children up to the age of 16 years. It will house doctors, police, counsellors and other care providers to deliver specialized care in a child-friendly atmosphere. The facility was built during a four-week construction schedule by over 60 volunteers including Surrey firefighters and RCMP, city staff, business leaders, and residents throughout the Christmas holidays. Sophie’s Place operates within the second-floor of The Child Development Centre in Surrey. January 15, 2011.

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It may not be obvious from the outside, but public schools have been hard hit by the teachers' job action and students are suffering, says the organization that speaks for B.C. principals and vice-principals.
To suggest otherwise, is spin, their association said in a release today, adding: "We believe that until the strike is resolved, schools will struggle to maintain their place as the best possible learning environment for students."
Furthermore, the volume of calls and emails from concerned parents is up fivefold. "This speaks to the fact that many parents, while not protesting in front of schools or at the B.C. legislature, are noticing and living with the problems created by phase one of this strike," the B.C. Principals' and Vice-Principals' Association says.
Under the B.C. Teachers' Federation (BCTF) job action, which began in September, teachers are refusing to write report cards, supervise students outside of instructional hours, attend staff meetings, administer standardized tests or communicate with principals about routine matters. That means many issuesare not being properly handled or brought to the attention of principals and vice-principals, the release adds.
"The end of semester may be the first time that many parents and principals and vice-principals learn of the challenges that a student may have been facing."
In addition, many school initiatives and strategies to help students are on hold, the association says. Principals and vice-principals, who are not part of a union, have said little about the strike before now, although they've had to carry extra work, including supervision duties, administering standardized tests and, now, preparing for high-school graduation.
"Planning for school graduation has begun and will go on with or without the participation of teachers but will it have the same value and meaning to students and families without the teachers present?"
The public is likely unaware of how much schools have changed this year, the release says.
Janet Steffenhagen-The Sun

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