Councillor running
Vision Vancouver Coun. Geoff Meggs announced last week hell seek the provincial NDP nomination in Vancouver-Fairview.
Meggs, a longtime NDP strategist who was elected to council in 2008, will challenge former B.C. Government and Service Employees Union president George Heyman for the nomination.
Meggs announcement drew criticism from NPA Coun. Elizabeth Ball who questioned Meggs ability to simultaneously campaign for the nomination and fulfill his council duties.
Conversely, in a statement released last week, Vision Mayor Gregor Robertson, a former Vancouver-Fairview NDP MLA, endorsed Meggs decision. Geoff Meggs has been and continues to be an excellent public servant and I know hell continue to work in the best interests of Vancouver.
B.C. Liberal Margaret MacDiarmid won the riding in 2009 with 47 per cent of the vote compared to NDP candidate Jenn McGinns 42 per cent. The NDP leads the B.C. Liberals in the polls.
Neither Meggs, a former communications director for NDP premier Glen Clark, and Heyman, executive director of the Sierra Club of B.C., live in the riding.
The nomination vote takes place in October before the provincial election in May 2013.
Lodge opening
The Skwachà ys Healing Lodge social housing project on West Pender opened this week.
The building features 24 units of low-income housing, a medical facility, traditional longhouse and sweat lodge catering to aboriginals.
In a statement released Monday, Rich Coleman, Minister Responsible for Housing, said the project will provide interim housing for people seeking medical treatment.
The project cost more than $14 million mainly from the federal and provincial governments (in addition to the $2.8 million land value).
Vancouver city hall kicked in $490,000 and waived development cost fees valued at $156,000. The Vancouver Native Housing Society plans to contribute $261,000.
Aboriginals comprise three per cent of Vancouvers population, yet according to the 2012 homeless count, represent 30 per cent of Vancouvers homeless population.
Snakeheads
According to provincial officials, the snakehead fish must be slaughtered for the sake of other fish including salmon in the Fraser River.
This is a voracious predator, said Terry Lake, B.C.s environment minister, during an interview last Friday with the CBC. It has no natural enemies in this environment. And so left unchecked, it could devastate ecosystems, and native species would really suffer.
Biologists caught a live snakehead, a fresh water fish native to Russia and China, last week in a Burnaby lagoon.
Provincial officials dont know how the snakehead landed in the lagoon but Lake says his B.C. Liberals plan to ban snakehead importation.
In addition to swimming, snakeheads can breathe oxygen for up to four days and travel short distances on land. Snakeheads feed on other fish, and where available, small mammals. They have long dorsal fins and large, toothy mouths. Sizes vary depending on the region but they may grow up to 3 feet long and weigh more than 13 pounds.
Twitter: @MarkHasiuk
