ews EDI TOR ASHLEY SINGH THE VOICE, FRIDAY, DEC. 2, 2016 5 Liberals select new candidate Michael Lee replaces retiring MLA Moira Stilwell in Vancouver-Langara riding By LAUREN BOOTHBY Ihe B.C. Liberals will replace incumbent Moira Stilwell with business lawyer Mi- chael Lee. The B.C. Liberals announced Wednesday, Lee will be running for the Vancouver-Langara riding in the 2017 provincial election. He 66 will replace MLA Moira Stilwell who . announced Christy her retire- ment earlier Clark Pp ut this year. our coast Lee is a in the partner with a business law hands of firm, Lawson the Harp- Lundell LLP er govern in Vancouver - and a_ board ment member of without the YMCA of Greater Vano- couver. reauy BC Y ° .C. Young knowing Liberals presi- the risk dent Sebas: jan ein, and the spoke well of thousand the candidate an is in- of good volvement jobs that with the youth demographic. depend on “What our coast- struck me . about him is line he always JIM MURRAY made " a pri ority to ge PRESIDENT young people van WoARa involved = in Npp anything the riding was do- ing and make them feel welcomed,” he said. “He had experienced people, young people. It was a really good ae Fall | J . Fall Photo Courtesy of VANCOUVER-LANGARA TWITTER PAGE Michael Lee and his Vancouver-Langara team go door knocking on Nov.10 during their campaign along Manson and West 39th. energetic team he’s _ building there.” Lee is on the Alumni Associa- tion Business Board and_ has pre- viously served as a political assis- tant to a cabinet minister in the 1990s. Zein also said Lee’s past record of community service is an asset. “He’s had a strong dedication to the Vancouver community and for B.C, that’s why he’s taking the next step and looking to representing Vancouver-Langara,” he said. “Certainly [his] experience of broader civil society with all manner of diverse groups definite- ly points to the fact that he has ex- perience with a wider network of non-profits in B.C.” The NDP are currently search- ing for a new candidate elect in the Vancouver-Langara riding, ac- cording to Jim Murray, Vancouver- Langara NDP president. “Unlike the Liberals we tend to do things more democratically,” he said. “We do have a nomination process. “We will have a nomination meeting probably late January or early February and members will get to decide.” Murray is curious to know how Lee will interact with Premier Christy Clark in the future because he is suspicious about Lee’s con- nections to the federal Conserva- tive party. “Where does Mr. Lee stand on this?” Murray said. “Christy Clark put our coast in the hands of the Harper government without really knowing the risk and the thousand of good jobs that depend on our coastline.” The Voice reached out to govern- ment officials regarding the selec- tion of Michael Lee as the B.C. Lib- eral representative. All of the officials were not available to comment. VPD advises public to take precautions VPD demonstrates to the public on how to keep their valuables safe during the holiday season this year By BALA YOGESH asked the public to take precau- tions during the Christmas season, due to an increase in reported number of thefts from auto vehicles in Vancou- T: Vancouver Police Department ver. By the end of Oc- r4 4 tober there were 10,554 auto thefts that the VPD are If you have estimating will in- nothing to crease to 12,000 by the end of the year. steal from {ast year, the num- plain view, ber stood at 10,148. ese The VPD_ad- it is very dressed the issue unlikely at a press confer- that ence held on at your Thursday. Current- car will ly the department is conducting sev- be broken eral initiatives into such as reminding people to ensure CONST. DALISON the public is less HILL likely to become victims of auto theft. Brian Montague, media spokesper- son for VPD, said that the reported numbers of thefts this year are stag- gering and the police are doing their best to reduce the number. “We need public support too,” Mon- tague said. “These are crimes of oppor- tunity that are absolutely preventable.” “We're providing general tips that the public can do to reduce their chanc- es of being the victim, and to reduce the number of thefts we see from the autos in the city.” Detective Phil Ens who played an in- nocent bystander in the smash and grab demonstration said that there are different ways to keep your belongings safe. “Lock them into the trunk, make one trip to your vehicle, not several be- cause they will be watching you.” VPD Const. Alison Hill said the ini- tiatives that police are conducting can make people think of their own prac- tices. “If you have nothing to steal from plain view, it is very unlikely that your car will be broken into,” Hill said. “My recommendation is to choose a parking lot that is well lit, and very well main- tained, and has excellent signage.” “We want to see two types of sig- nage: one is way finding signage, and the other is ownership signage.” The VDP said that the Safer Parking Initiatives have covered 100 parking lots and another 25 parking lots are groomed into the list. Montague said the public can follow basic tips like storing the gifts out of sight, and leaving them in the trunk to reduce the risk of auto theft. Matt MacDonald, who regularly commutes by car said that it is a shared responsibility of both police and public to prevent auto thefts. “T would say it’s a shared responsi- bility, personally I would not leave any- thing in my car ever in Vancouver,” MacDonald said. “The same thing with my bike, I wouldn’t leave it without locking up outside. If they want it, they will take it.” He also said that the police initia- tives are not enough to raise aware- ness of what the public can do in public parking spaces. “T haven’t even heard of the police initiatives, I guess they could do more to inform people,” MacDonald said. AT RISK AUTO-THEFT locations 1 Central Business District 2 Vancouver West End 3 South Vancouver, Sunset region 4 Vancouver, Joyce Street Source: http:// police/Cri pdf BALA YOGESH photo Detective Phil Ens demonstrated break-ins on Dec.1.