news // 6 Local news roundup: Week of March 16 » Fire destroys home, pubs introduce shuttle service ., Angela Espinoza News Editor @ NMinews @ —_. @theotherpress.ca Coquitlam round 4 a.m. on March 18, a Coquitlam house on Dawes Hill Road burned down. Although no major injuries were reported, at least two people were taken to hospital for : : harassment towards women : he’s met online, with one case : occurring in North Vancouver : and another in Waterloo, : Ontario. smoke inhalation; seven people were in the house at the time. Homeowner Shawn MacWilliams told CBC, “By the time I grabbed my clothes and got out the curtains in the bedroom were on fire.” CBC reported MacWilliams had to crawl out of the house to escape the fire. Police have confirmed the cause of the fire to bea displaced cigarette. pled guilty of “swatting” in the state of Florida last year. The then 17-year-old reported false alarms that : resulted in emergency : responders being deployed. : Incidents included the teen : falsely threatening to “blow : everyone up” at Fort Meade High : School, which resulted in police : dispatch, and another false : report that he had murdered his : own parents and would shoot : police, according to the Tri- : Cities Now. The teenager also reportedly hasa history of criminal The teen was arrested by RCMP on December 5 and will : face sentencing on May 15. : New Westminster : The New West-based pub : Frankie G’s has invested roughly : elevated public park. : $30,000 towards a patron shuttle : A Coquitlam-based teenager has : °TVI®- The service was launched in : an attempt to prevent drinking : and driving incidents from : occurring. The shuttle seats eight people, which pub owner : Calvin Basran told the New West : : Record could benefit patrons : : who are required to travel : further out in order to visit the : pub. a: : “We're a hidden gem in New : 9 : West,” Basran told the Record. : “We have a lot to offer, but : : nobody wants to cross the bridge : : and drink and drive.” : Shuttle services run every : Thursday to Saturday from 5 : p.m. to closing, and drive out to : various locations throughout : New West, excluding the : Sapperton area. ? On March 21, residents of New : Westminster protested the : demolition of part of the Front : Street parkade at the Fraser River waterfront. Protestors suggested that instead the rooftop parkade : should be converted into an “It’s the kind of view that you need to buy a water-front : condo to get,’ elaborated : Roland Guasparini, of the Save : the Parkade Committee, inan : interview with CBC. : However, the proposed park would be close to the already : established Westminster Pier : Park, and demolition of the is me = Sr isa Photo by James Duncan Davidson/TED. theotherpress.ca ; parkade has been confirmed to : begin this summer. Trans rights : inas law due to objections from : the Opposition, the upcoming : recess, and the upcoming federal : : election. Bill C-279 represents : the fourth attempt since 2005 : toamend the law to represent : gender identity. Michel Ghanem The Martlet bill aiming to increase Arorowection to transgender persons has been effectively gutted by an amendment proposed by Conservative Senator Don Plett. While two amendments are considered procedural, the third : : award-winning film director. prevents the law from applying to places like public bathrooms, crisis centres, and change rooms. The amendment is considered so contrary to the bill’s original purpose that proponents are unlikely to support it should this : version be subject to a vote. Bill C-279 itself was originally proposed in 20u by Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca MP Randall Garrison, seeking to add “gender identity” and “gender expression” to the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code. “Gender : : you could choose a bathroom : ora change room of your own : choice, this wouldn't even be an : issue. It’s seeing the whole world : through a very stripped and : not very accurate gender binary : that’s put us into this position : and this problem.” : Currently, some protections : : for transgender people are expression” was subsequently removed from the bill, and “gender identity” was defined in order to maintain Conservative support. According to Garrison, Senator Plett’s amendment is contrary to the intention of the bill, and is not likely to be voted bill ‘killed’ by gendered bathroom amendment Maureen Bradley is : an associate professor in : the University of Victoria’s department of writing, and an According to Bradley, : “[Plett’s amendment was] based : onacomplete lack of research : on his part, and that’s shocking, : to put forth an amendment that’s just based on fear, and fear : : mongering.” Politically, the amendment : was a tactical move to have : the bill killed, but opposes the : original intention of the bill. : “Bathrooms are a dangerous : place for trans people,” Bradley : said. “If we just decided that : offered at a provincial level : under sex and gender, “but [the bill, with its original : intent,] would advance the : rights of gender-variant people : to have protections that are : specifically for them in both : the Criminal Code and human : rights legislation,” said Dr. : Aaron Devor, director of the : Transgender Archive at UVic, : the world’s largest collection of : historical materials from positive : and negative transgender : activism and research. Devor referred to Plett’s bill : as “an extremely hostile act,” undermining and reversing the bill’s original intent. Plett was : able to make use of colleagues in : : the unelected Senate to passthe : : amendment, which he will be : unable to do next time the bill : awaits passage. Plett put forth the amendment claiming it : would protect his five-year- : old granddaughter from the : “dangers” of being exposed : to transgender people in the : bathroom. If the bill were : to become law, with Plett’s : amendment included, it may : expose transgender people to : dangerous situations. “The public increasingly : understands that there really is : no danger to his five-year-old : granddaughter, or anybody else, : from transgender people using : the bathroom that’s appropriate : to their gender identity,” Devor : said. “In fact, there is danger to : transgender people if they are : required to use or expected to : use a facility that corresponds to : gender they are not expressing.” : A social media backlash : began shortly after Plett’s : amendment, including : transgender people taking : selfies in the bathrooms of their : assigned gender at birth. : “We're seeing the power : of social media, but we're also : seeing, if you’re comparing it : to 20 years ago, a change in the : public’s understanding of where : the dangers are,” he said. : Ina tweet to the Martlet, : trans-activist Daphne Shaed Photo by Chris Ayers : stressed that “the issues go way : beyond bathrooms.” Shaed is : also the editor of Thirdspace : zine, in conjunction with the UVSS Women’s Centre. Ina YouTube video on : the topic, Shaed said her : involvement in the trans : movement was not to secure a bathroom stall. “Is the bathroom : the central issue of trans rights? : No” Rather, Shaed seeks to address issues that do not : necessarily happen in the : bathroom. These include : protections against harm, : hate crimes, discrimination, : unemployment, and suicide, : as well as improved access to : education, healthcare, identity : documents, shelters, and sexual : assault centres.