AGM meeting sparks
student debates

> All policies in question passed, most concern Student

Representatives

Jamal Al-Bayaa
Staff Writer

 

O n Wednesday, February
17, nearly 120 students

were packed into the DSU
lounge to attend the Annual
General Meeting so they
could vote on new resolutions
proposed by the DSU Student

Representative Committee
Before voting began,
students were informed about
the previous years’ financial
statements. Of note is that
there is an annual allocation of
$100,000 put towards funding
student productions in the
performing arts department. The
money is meant to assist students
in putting on productions and
incentivize the students to run
performances independently.
However, no money was spent
on performing arts projects.
After the financial overview,
students were allowed to voice

their concerns to the current

Student Representatives.

The special resolutions could
be organized into two categories:
“Housekeeping,” and “Issues.”

“Housekeeping” included
items that only needed to
be voted on due to political
procedure in the school. For
example, the student body has to
vote on whether or not to accept
the auditors from last year as
the auditors for this year as well.

The vote passed unanimously.
Before this year’s AGM, there
were no anti-bullying policies
that were legally binding to the
DSU. Bullying has always been
unacceptable in Douglas and at
the DSU, but having one passed
means that it has been made
explicitly clear that bullying is
never allowed. Douglas College
has always had its own bullying
policy, but since the DSU is not a
part of campus, it did not legally

extend to the DSU as well.

The following major policies
were implemented, as of February
17: in order to seek election,
Student Representatives must
sign an acknowledgment of
their roles and responsibilities,
promising that they are familiar
with them and are abiding by
them; no student representative
can serve more than three
terms in office; and all Student
Representatives must maintain
a 2.0 cumulative GPA or else
they cannot continue in their
position. An amendment to this
motion was also made which
states that they cannot continue
in their position as a student
representative “without a vote
from the current representatives
as to whether or not an

exception should be made.”

As well, four separate
policies were passed, all making
Student Representatives
more accountable to the
students, and more transparent
about the work they do.

City of New Westminster
leads on affordable housing

> Mayor Cote hopes other municipalities follow suit

Mercedes Deutscher
News Editor

 

he City of New Westminster

is recognizing the growing
population in the Lower
Mainland, and has created new
incentives to build rental units.

In Metro Vancouver, condos
and apartments are often built
with the intention of selling
each of the individual units
to prospective home owners.
While this provides a cheaper
option for those looking to
own property, it makes for
difficult residency searches for
those only looking to rent.

New Westminster has
gradually been offering more
incentives to build rental units
in the city since 2013. Such
incentives include allowing
higher density buildings to
be built, lowering the costs
of permit fees, and easing
requirements for parking lots.

However, the city also
made strides towards helping
families who use rental housing
by creating a by-law in June
2015 that required 10 per cent

of all rental housing built

in the city to have 3 or more
bedrooms. The by-law is slated
to come into effect this year.

“We're finding the majority
of growth in our city is multi-
family units, and what we’ve
seen recently is most of the
new units are very small and
are one bedroom and studio
apartments,” Cote told CBC.

Most of the increasing
number of rental units are
multi-unit properties, such
as duplexes, four plexes, and
apartments. This provides for
better use of space in the city.
Even Cote opted for living in a
condo with his family, as opposed
to a single-family home.

That being said, there will
still be plenty of options left for
those seeking smaller residences,
with a larger selection of one
and two bedroom residences,
ideal for students and those
working without children,
becoming available for rent.

“New Westminster is
probably one of the most
affordable communities in all
of Metro Vancouver, given the
challenges that we're facing,

which [are] the same challenges
as most other cities,” said
Cote to CBC’s Early Edition.

New Westminster Is
being praised by Tony Roy,
the CEO for the B.C. Non
Profit Housing Association.

“Where is the incentive
to say, ‘I’m going to build
something that’s permanently
going to be rental, and it’s
going to be suitable for family,
and it’s going to be long term,”
Roy said to CBC in response to
Cote’s initiatives. “There’s really
no incentive to do that, but
it’s what the market needs.”

Roy encouraged
neighbouring municipalities,
Vancouver in particular, to
observe New Westminster’s
model of rental housing.

“All municipalities in
Metro Vancouver need to start
looking at what policies are
working, because the status
quo is not leading to the
development of new rental
housing, and if anything,
we're actually seeing some of
our best sources of affordable
housing in the region start to
disappear,” Cote agreed, via CBC.

  

Salmon go
mainstream 1n
Coquitlam

» Fish sculptures planned for celebration
of city’s 125th anniversary

their imagination.”

According to the City
of Coquitlam’s website, the
story is told that the once-
small town used to be a place
where you would find an
abundance of sockeye salmon
in the Coquitlam River. When
a dam was built upstream in
the early 1900s, all the fish
disappeared, but thanks to the
Kwikwetlem Nation and local
stakeholder groups, the fish
have once again returned.

Broomfield said to the
Tri-City News that he wanted
to celebrate the success story
by incorporating the letter “C”
(for Coquitlam) in the shape
of his fish. Also, he wanted the
iconic symbol to smile about
its homecoming. “I wanted a
happy salmon,” he added.

All artists and artistic
teams in Coquitlam and
any surrounding cities are
encouraged to reach out and
submit their proposals to the
city’s website by March 15. The
sculptures are planned to be
unveiled at the Kaleidoscope
arts festival at Town Centre
Park on July 23 and 24. Once
revealed to the public, the 12
pieces will be placed at Blue
Mountain Park, City Hall,
Como Lake Park, Cottonwood
Park, Coquitlam Crunch,
Coquitlam Public Library
(Poirier Branch), Mackin
Park (two sculptures), Mundy
Park, Poirier Sport & Leisure
Complex, Town Centre
Park, and Victoria Park.

Aaron Guillen
Staff Reporter

 

his summer, stay on

the lookout for a dozen
salmon sculptures beautifying
the landscapes around the
Coquitlam area. For its 125th
anniversary, Coquitlam
offered award-winning Jody
Broomfield, a Squamish Nation
artist, the chance to lead an art
project that will be remembered
in Coquitlam’s legacy for
many decades to come.

In an effort to capture the
theme of the city’s landmark
year, Stories Told, Stories to
be Created, Bloomfield wants
residents to be reminded
of Coquitlam’s continuing
journey for more than a century
whenever they see one of his
sculptures. The goal is to reflect
the remembrance of the past,
the gratitude of the present,
and the hope for the future.

Currently, the fibreglass
art pieces, standing at more
than six feet tall, are plain
and ready to have local
artists paint them with their
imagination. An emphasis will
be placed on connections to
First Nations artwork, as the
city’s name is obtained from
the Kwikwetlem First Nation
meaning “red fish up the river.”

“They're a blank canvas,”
Broomfield said to the
Tri-City News about his
12 works. “People should
think outside the box and
test their boundaries, use

Image via www.coquitlam125.ca