City BYLAWS AFFECT LOCAL MUSICIANS wecceccecceceeceeseenen

Bylaws limit options for local performers in Vancouver

Langara
MLA sparks
marijuana
legalization

Fraserview MLA feels
legalization would reduce
crime .

By RYAN BANAGAN

ash Heed, the MLA for Vancou-

KC ier: has joined a le-

ion of B.C. politicians and other

policy makers in calling for the legal-
ization of marijuana.

As reported in the October 18 Van-
couver Sun, Heed, who is the MLA for
Langara College, said he believes orga-
nized crime activity from the illegal
drug trade will be reduced immensely
if pot were legalized and taxed.

With more than 30 years of experi-
ence in law enforcement, Heed said he
has seen the “devastating consequenc-
es” of pot prohibition, according to a
press release announcing his decision.

“In the early 1990s, I began to fully
recognize the futility and the social,
economic and public health costs of
continuing marijuana prohibition,”
Heed said in a prepared statement.
“And I came to one inescapable conclu-
sion — cannabis prohibition fuels gang
violence in B.C.”

Heed feels there is no way to deal
with the drug problem under the cur-
rent policies.

He believes it’s easier for our youth
right now to go out and buy marijuana
than it is to purchase alcohol and ciga-
rettes.

Though the movement is gaining
popularity, Vancouver-Fraserview resi-
dents are split on the MLA’s solution.

“Organized crime will always follow
the money,” said Fraserview resident
Max Renger. “If we can eliminate pot as
a money-making crop, hopefully the
gangs will turn elsewhere.”

But another Fraserview resident,
Marissa Denning, said Heed is wrong.

“People are missing the big picture
here. Legalizing marijuana in B.C. will
not stop the violence,” said.

“Most of these gangs’ demand for
pot is coming from the United States.
That’s where they are making the big
money and competing with one anoth-
er,” she added.

Heed announced he’s joining Stop
the Violence B.C., a coalition of aca-
demic, legal, law enforcement and
health experts fighting to regulate and
tax weed.

Included among the coalition are
B.C. mayors, the Health Officers Coun-
cil of B.C. and former B.C. attorneys-
general.

Heed’s statements were made after a
Union of B.C. Municipalities resolution
was passed last month, calling for the
decriminalization of marijuana.

i)

Jail time no issue for LSU

A ‘confidential’ document leaked to The Voice reveals details on LSU
staff compensation and other benefits — including jail-time leave.

Maybe the
student
union
didn’t
know that
it was
required
to file the
collective
agreement
with the
LRB.

Larry Page,

By SAM REYNOLDS

angara Student Union employees
are entitled to full benefits and
salary if they’re sent to jail, ac-
cording to a collective bargaining
agreement leaked to The Voice that the
LSU has repeatedly refused to release.

The agreement, negotiated between
the LSU and Canadian Union of Public
Employees Local 15, outlines the condi-
tions of work agreed to by the employ-
ers and the employee.

According to the agreement, the cur-
rent wage for full-time LSU staff is $30
an hour — which increased from $26.30
in 2007 due to a cost-of-living allowance
and other adjustments. Sessional staff
wage rates began at $16 an hour in De-
cember 2007 and are now at $18.40.

LSU staff are entitled to a buffet of

See also New LSU bylaws on page 3

medical benefits: full coverage of B.C.
Medical Services Plan, an extended
health-care benefits plan, as well as a
dental plan, with coverage extending to
their family.

Staff also enjoy full life insurance
paid for by the LSU with coverage of
one-and-a-half times their salary, a 10.5
per-cent contribution of the annual
regular staff payroll into a registered
retirement savings plan and five weeks
paid leave if their spouse gives birth.

The agreement also grants leave
without pay for any member sent to jail
for up to two years. The document
specifies that if this incarceration
comes as a result of action taken at the
request of the LSU, the member will re-
ceive full pay, benefits, and not lose se-

niority while in jail.

To put some perspective to the
LSU’s wages, Statistics Canada reports
that the average wage for administra-
tive occupations is $21.87 per hour.

Claiming the document was confi-
dential, the LSU media liaison refused
to comment. A CUPE Local 15 liaison
later said that the LSU would not be
commenting because of a “blackout”
due to upcoming negotiations.

Larry Page, a Vancouver labour law-
yer with Davis LLP, dismissed the
LSU’s claim.

“Collective agreements are public
and they are required to be filed with
the Labour Relations Board of B.C.,”
said Page. “Maybe the student union
didn’t know that it was required to file
the collective agreement with the
LRB.”

labour lawyer

a
=:
‘a.

a

7”

a fi

SANDIP RAKHRA photo

The Five Beloved Ones of the Surrey Nagar Kirtan during the Vaisakhi Parade in 2007. The South Asian community continues to grow in

Metro Vancouver, espcially in Surrey.

South Van no longer Punjabi draw

Surrey markets replace
Main street as Punjabi
community grows.

By ANNIE ELLISON

Lower Mainland is growing, but
not in south Vancouver.

The 2012 Canadian Census data
shows that 126,000 Metro Vancouver
residents speak Punjabi, but a walk
through Vancouver’s Punjabi Market
suggests otherwise.

For the last five years, the Main
Street merchant district has been
struggling while Surrey’s explodes.

“More people in India know of Sur-
rey than Vancouver, ” said Madan Dh-
ingra, owner of Mona Cloth House on
Main Street.

T South Asian community in the

High property taxes are forcing mer-
chants to relocate, he said.

“That guy called it a day and went to
Surrey,” said Dhingra gesturing to va-
cant storefronts, “so did that guy and
that guy.”

New immigrants are also avoiding
Vancouver’s sky-high property and
rental prices.

“Anybody new has no chance to
come here,” said Dhingra.

Clients can buy bigger, cheaper
houses south of the Fraser, says Surrey
real estate agent Tejinder Singh.

“Vancouver won’t run out of Punjabi
people,” he said. But there is more sup-
port, community and opportunities for
new immigrants in Surrey.

Singh says there is also better shop-
ping than on Main Street. “Back there,
you only have food and fashion.”

Comparatively, Payal Business Cen-

tre in Surrey has banks, opticians, trav-
el agents, lawyers, notary publics and
other services.

“Tt’s more like a market back home
and that’s what people want,” said
Singh.

People want to go where the shops
are and merchants want to be where
the people are. This feedback is flood-
ing Surrey and “killing us here,” says
Dhingra.

This shift also has devastating impli-
cations for community ties in the
neighbourhood, says Langara anthro-
pology instructor Carol MacLeod.

Even if the extent of your relation-
ship with a shopkeeper is waving hello,
“what’s important is that they know
who you are,” said MacLeod.

Without the honour guard of fre-
quented shops, such basic community
connections don’t exist, says MacLeod.

ht a

IN METRO VAN
According to the 2012
Canadian Census,
126,000 Metro Vancouver
residents speak Punjabi

Source: Canadian Census