IT has been called an epidemic, hampering the live-music community. When tickets to concerts, or big-name sports events go on sale, sophisticated ticket-purchasing software – or ‘bots’ – swiftly scoop up prime seats, with brokers reselling them back to fans at inflated prices on secondary markets. Outrage over this issue hit a fever pitch last summer when it was confirmed that two-thirds of tickets for the Tragically Hip’s final tour were sold before fans had access.
A new public opinion poll from the Angus Reid Institute finds Canadians sounding a sour note on this issue: three-quarters (76%) say it’s a “huge problem” that must be solved, and indeed, eight-in-ten say that they support legislation to ban the bots in Canada.
While the problem is apparently clear, the question of whose responsibility it is to provide a solution is not. Canadians are supportive of a number of measures, from an outright ban, to credit card confirmation at venues, to price capping in the resale market. But who should oversee these regulations? Half say it should be the government’s gig, while an equal number say this is a problem for the industry to solve on its own.
Key Findings:
One-in-four Canadians (23%) say they have used the secondary market – a ticket resale service like SeatGeek or StubHub – to purchase tickets, while just 5 per cent say they’ve sold tickets this way.
A majority (60%) of those who have used a secondary market service say that the prices they found were unreasonable, while just seven per cent said they found ‘very reasonable’ deals
If bots are not banned, three-quarters (77%) of Canadians say they would also support a legal cap on the amount that tickets can be resold for
A VOICE reader sent this interesting photo of Premier Christy Clark after she quit politics back in 2004.
The reader claims that a now deleted Facebook post of Robert Boyd, former federal Conservative candidate from Saanich-Gulf Islands in 2015 read:
“The Good ole days… this was taken at her retirement party at the Whistler convention in 2004. (She wrapped the Canadian flag scarf around my hed [sic] and called me a terrorist…we were still laughing about that as the camera clicked.)
November 15, 2004”
The “she”, of course, is Christy Clark.
PRIME Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday congratulated Emmanuel Macron on his election as the next President of France.
He said: “Canada and France share a warm and historic relationship, rooted in our common history, deep cultural ties, people-to-people connections, and strong economic partnership. We also closely collaborate on important international issues as strong allies and partners with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, G7, G20 and La Francophonie.
“I look forward to working closely with President-elect Macron in the years ahead as we work together on a progressive agenda to promote international security, increase collaboration in science and technology, and create good, middle class jobs on both sides of the Atlantic. This also includes implementing the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement.”
Paris (AFP): Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday he would “fight the divisions” in the country after winning a French presidential campaign that laid bare the “anger, anxiety and doubts” of many voters.
“I have heard the anger, anxiety and doubts that a large number of you expressed,” a solemn Macron, 39, said in a speech at his campaign headquarters in Paris.
“I will fight with all my strength against the divisions that are undermining us,” he said.
The man elected France’s youngest-ever president vowed to work to “rebuild the link between Europe and its citizens.”
“A new page in our long history is opening this evening,” the centrist independent said, adding his presidency would be one “of hope and confidence regained”.
The former economy minister also promised to defend France against the jihadists that have killed over 230 people in a string of attacks since 2015.
“France will be at the forefront of the fight against terrorism,” he said.
Macron won a resounding victory over far-right rival Marine Le Pen.
US President Donald Trump congratulated Macron on his victory.
“Congratulations to Emmanuel Macron on his big win today as the next President of France,” Trump tweeted. “I look very much forward to working with him!”
Le Pen claimed a “historic, massive result” for the far right despite being soundly beaten.
But, she added, her National Front (FN) party needed to undergo a “profound transformation” in order to create a “new political force.”
Estimates based on partial results showed Macron winning 65-66.1 per cent of the vote compared with 35-33.9 per cent for Le Pen.
Le Pen said she had called Macron to wish him success.
“I called Mr Macron to congratulate him on his election, and because I have the country’s higher interest at heart I wished him success faced with the huge challenges France is facing,” she told supporters at a post-election FN gathering in Vincennes near Paris.
The 48-year-old nationalist said her score made the FN the country’s “biggest opposition force” and announced she would lead the FN into June general elections.
Le Pen said the contest against the pro-EU Macron had confirmed a new faultline “between patriots and globalists”.
But the FN would have to “profoundly renew itself to be equal to this historic opportunity and the expectations expressed by the French in this second round,” she warned.
“I suggest we begin a profound transformation of our movement to create a new political force,” she said, adding: “I call on all patriots to join us.”
New Delhi (PTI): A day after being dropped as a minister, AAP MLA Kapil Mishra on Sunday levelled stunning allegations of corruption against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Health Minister Satyendar Jain.
Mishra told reporters at Raj Ghat that he “saw” Jain handing over “Rs 2 crore” [Rs.20 million] to Kejriwal at his official residence.
On being asked, the CM evaded answering where the money came from and said few things in politics cannot be explained, the sacked MLA alleged.
“I kept quiet all this while due to complete faith in Arvind Kejriwal. Day before yesterday, I saw Jain giving Rs 2 crore in cash to Kejriwal. Kejriwal said few things happen in politics. After having seen Jain hand over such a big amount to him, I had to come out. I have handed over the details to Lt Governor Anil Baijal,” Mishra said.
“I am also ready to make a statement before the CBI or Anti Corruption Bureau if required,” he added.
There was no immediate reaction from the Aam Aadmi Party or the government on the allegations. The BJP demanded the resignation of Kejriwal saying Mishra has “punctured the balloon of his probity”.
Mishra further alleged that Jain told him that he “settled land deals worth Rs 50 crore for Kejriwal’s relative”. The AAP MLA said he was sacked after he confronted Kejriwal over the issue.
Mishra’s surprise sacking came days after he sided with senior party leader Kumar Vishwas who has been at loggerheads with the party leadership.
Earlier, as Mishra went to meet the LG at Raj Niwas, the top leadership of AAP remained huddled at Kejriwal’s residence. Vishwas, who was also present, left a little before Mishra made the allegations to reporters at Raj Ghat.
Soon after the move, Mishra had claimed he would “expose” the involvement of certain AAP leaders in an alleged scam on Sunday.
He said he had met the chief minister earlier in the day and handed over documents related to the alleged scam.
“I was not informed of the decision and as per my knowledge, it was taken unilaterally by Kejriwal. The Cabinet or the Political Affairs Committee (the AAP’s top decision- making body) was not involved,” Mishra told PTI.
A senior government official said the decision to remove Mishra was taken after it was found that consumers were receiving “inflated” water bills.
Sources in the party said Mishra was sacked because of his poor performance. However, the party had considered him as one of the most vocal and active voices in the government until he sided with Vishwas.
“This is being repeatedly said that I have been moved out because water problems have not been solved in Delhi. But both Sisodia and Kejriwal have never raised the issue of water problems earlier,” Mishra said.
Mumbai (PTI): The police have prepared a detailed security plan for international pop sensation Justin Bieber’s concert, which includes a cover of 500 personnel and use of drone cameras.
Bieber is set to perform at D Y Patil stadium on May 10 in neighbouring Navi Mumbai and around 45,000 people are expected to attend the show.
Twenty five officers will also be deployed for security, said Hemant Nagrale, Navi Mumbai police commissioner.
Organisers have hired private security agencies for crowd management and ticket checking, he said.
Nagrale added plain-clothes police personnel would keep a watch inside the stadium.
A police control room will be set up at the venue, where feed from CCTV cameras would be monitored.
Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad will check the stadium premises prior to the event and drone cameras would provide live feed to the police control room, Nagrale said.
The organisers would be providing parking facility for 15,000 vehicles at various places. Shuttle services would be provided between the parking space and the stadium.
THERE has been considerable attention of late paid to the trauma experienced by those on the frontlines. Paramedics, police, nurses, doctors, social workers – anyone who works with our most vulnerable communities – can be deeply impacted by their interactions with these populations. The sheer number of fentanyl-related deaths has shone a spotlight on the issue of secondary trauma experienced by front-line service providers and caregivers.
Such news stories lead us to wonder: how can we possibly care for others if we are constantly drowning in their sorrows? This question is at the centre of Amy Cunningham’s work on how secondary trauma can lead to compassion fatigue. Helping professionals such as doctors, police officers, social workers, counsellors, nurses, and firefighters can all experience secondary trauma – that is the exposure to someone else’s trauma can traumatize us.
The repeated exposure to secondary trauma can lead to compassion fatigue, which Cunningham describes as a symptom akin to that of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Individuals acting as helping professionals in their daily lives can also experience compassion fatigue. “If you are someone who is helping a friend recover from an addiction, raising children, or if you are caring for your elderly parents you may be susceptible to experiencing secondary trauma,” notes Registered Clinical Counsellor Kelly Besla-Mooker.
Secondary trauma, according to Cunningham, happens when we genuinely empathize with someone, by picking ourselves up and putting ourselves in their shoes, that is, we “really get where they are coming from.” Each time we put ourselves in someone else’s shoes we feel what they feel, but by constantly experiencing secondary trauma, it changes us. Cunningham uses the example of silencing her phone while in a session with a client so the client knows they had all of her attention. From then on, silencing her phone led to her always associating that action with that client’s story. For years, she would be transported back to that room whenever she silenced her phone. Secondary trauma doesn’t only last until the next day or even the next week, you can still feel the effects weeks or even years later.
According to Cunningham, it is important to note the distinction between burnout and compassion fatigue. It was not until the late 80’s that Dr. Charles Figley did research on trauma and he noticed that compassion fatigue is different from burnout. Burnout implies that you can no longer carry on with your work, because you are tired or worn out and somewhere along the way you lost interest; compassion fatigue on the other, hand starts “to change who you are.” Cunningham uses the examples of a child protection social worker who is constantly vigilant and scared for her children or a nurse who to this day knows the smell of death from a patient that died.
Cunningham notes how helping professionals do not admit to compassion fatigue – instead they say they are fine or that they are professionals and can carry on with their work. It becomes a problem when stress and trauma start to affect us and our body and mind are screaming that we are not okay. The behaviours of someone experiencing compassion fatigue can manifest themselves by sleeping too much or not enough, working too much, or feeling underappreciated. Cunningham notes that while we are still working the same job we started out with, it is us that has changed as a result of the constant exposure to trauma. The last symptom of compassion fatigue is self-entitlement; which Cunningham describes as the justification of negative maladaptive behaviours as a result of the positive things we do. For example, a social worker might justify their crankiness in the morning, because the night before they stayed awake all night helping a client. Or a nurse that works two shifts in a row might justify drinking all weekend, because they put in 60 hours this week.
Compassion fatigue is not a lifelong illness. Cunningham emphasizes that it can be identified, arrested and treated at any time. She labels this as post traumatic growth. In order to do that we must start by caring for ourselves first so we can care for others. Cunningham’s tip to overcome compassion fatigue is to spend ten minutes each day to ourselves, whether to pray, mediate, exercise, or take a walk. Take ten, she says. Registered Clinical Counsellor Kelly Besla-Mooker states that “we need to give ourselves a mindful reminder and consider that even in an airplane the airhostess informs that you must put on your own oxygen mask before assisting someone beside you, even if you are sitting beside a child”. This teaches us that in order to not suffer from compassion fatigue, frontline workers would benefit greatly from getting the help they need to cope with this trauma so they can effectively do their jobs in the future and also not be affected in their personal lives. This means lots of self-care, seeing a therapist and having a support system.
Gary Thandi, MSW RSW, Doctor of Education candidate, is a Special Columnist with The VOICE. He writes about emotional wellness and social justice issues as they relate to South Asian communities. He is also head of Moving Forward Family Services that provides counselling and support services to anyone who wants it – without any waits. No one, regardless of their financial circumstances, will be turned away. Services are offered in English, Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Cantonese, Farsi, Japanese, Mandarin, Russian and Vietnamese. To access services, call or text 778-321-3054 or email him at:
Vancouver Whitecaps FC (4W-4L-1D) defeated Colorado Rapids (1W-6L-1D) 1-0 on Friday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park to earn their second straight win away from home. Substitute Brek Shea scored the game’s only goal in the 84th minute after missing the last five matches with a knee sprain.
Talk about a triumphant return.
Dick’s Sporting Goods Park had not been kind to Vancouver in the past. The ‘Caps had lost their last six matches there heading into this one. But they bumped the slump on Friday, in the process improving to their record to 4W-4L-1D on the season thanks to three wins in their last four matches.
After strong performances at Portland and Montreal, Whitecaps FC head coach Carl Robinson fielded the same starting XI for the third straight match on Friday – only the second time any Whitecaps FC coach has done so since the club joined MLS in 2011.
And the ‘Caps once again looked a cohesive unit in their new 4-1-4-1 formation.
Robinson’s side pressed as a group, got into some good areas, and were solid at the back, with centre backs Tim Parker and Kendall Waston leading the way. There wasn’t much to report in terms of quality scoring chances in the opening frame, but that changed early in the second half.
In the 55th minute, Colorado came within inches of opening the scoring when Jordan Harvey’s clearance at the back post hit the woodwork, nearly resulting in an own goal. A diving David Ousted then swatted the rebound off the goalline to avert any further danger.
That seemed to open the game up a bit, as the ‘Caps quickly followed with some chances of their own.
In the 57th minute, Tony Tchani chested down a wayward Cristian Techera shot at the back post just out of the reach of Fredy Montero. A minute later, Sheanon Williams made a fine run down the flank only to see his delivery cleared at the near post. And in the 74th minute, Christian Bolaños missed the target from in close after a long throw from Williams eventually landed at his feet in the box.
A scoreless draw was looking more and more likely – until the 84th minute, that is.
That’s when a pair of substitutes combined for Whitecaps FC, with Nicolas Mezquida picking out Shea on the counter just beyond the halfway mark. Shea took care of the rest, finishing with a calm left-footed strike in stride through the legs of goalkeeper Tim Howard.
It went from bad to worse for Colorado shortly later, when Mekeil Williams was ejected for a second yellow card in the 88th minute. But that was only a footnote on another strong performance for the Blue and White, who conclude their four-match road trip next Friday at Houston Dynamo (6 p.m. PT on TSN) before returning home to face Sporting Kansas City on May 20.
MATCH DETAILS
Budweiser Man of the Match: Tim Parker Referee: Jorge Gonzalez Attendance: 13,745
Scoring Summary
84′ – VAN – Brek Shea (Nicolas Mezquida)
Statistics Possession: Colorado 59.8% – Vancouver 40.2% Shots: Colorado 15 – Vancouver 9 Shots on Goal: Colorado 1 – Vancouver 2 Saves: Colorado 1 – Vancouver 1 Fouls: Colorado 12 – Vancouver 8 Offsides: Colorado 3 – Vancouver 0 Corners: Colorado 4 – Vancouver 2
Cautions
40′ – COL – Mekeil Williams
48′ – VAN – Fredy Montero
80′ – COL – Shkelzen Gashi
88′ – COL – Mekeil Williams
WHILE Premier Christy Clark was busy dodging questions and making all kinds of unsubstantiated allegations and using scare tactics against her opponents, NDP Leader John Horgan was going out of his way to meet the media and answer all their questions directly.
He dropped in at The VOICE of his own accord on Wednesday – and I had questions for him.
VOICE: How’s your campaign been going?
HORGAN: The campaign has been going very, very well. I think we have been focusing on issues. We made three commitments at the start of the campaign: make life more affordable for British Columbians, make sure that the services that they count on are there for them when they need them, and then making sure that the economy works for everyone.
And we have laid out our campaign over the past three weeks, particularly here in Surrey, talking about transportation, talking about schools – 7,000 kids in portables. With our $10 billion capital plan we are going to invest in schools to get kids out of portables, light rail here – south of the Fraser – as part of the mayors’ 10-year plan, and, critically important, supporting the concept plan for a new hospital here in Surrey.
For too long, it seems to me and to our candidates, Surrey has been left behind on big capital investments. The community’s growing so rapidly that the public infrastructure has not been there to make sure that families get the services they need. And that’s been the focus for our campaign, and so far, so good.
VOICE: What’s been your experience dealing with Premier Christy Clark and her tactics?
HORGAN: Well, I am focused on making sure that we elect a government that will work for people. We can’t afford four more years of Christy Clark – not just for tactics during the campaign, having a truck follow us around; for example, BC Liberals showing up at our events and recording what we are doing. … For example, because of the weather, rather than have an event outside to talk about bringing on a new program to build infrastructure for playgrounds, for schools, for sporting facilities, for seniors’ facilities, we ended up doing it at a candidate’s house … and the Liberals show up out front with a big truck with billboards on the side. I think that’s juvenile and I think the voters think that’s juvenile. They stopped doing that after the media started calling them out on it.
But I don’t think the Premier’s focusing on things that matter to the people. Her message is ‘this is as good as it gets’ – status quo, let’s stay the course. And I believe the people expect more from government, particularly those people who are not getting the services that they count on: health, education, transportation. And we are talking about building British Columbia, a better British Columbia.
VOICE: A recent poll showed that you are leading on all fronts expect the economic front. So Christy Clark is always placing emphasis on jobs. What do you have to say about people tending to rely more on her than on you when it comes to the economy?
HORGAN: I think that how we do that is talk about jobs in a way that makes sense to people. Christy Clark talked about 100,000 jobs from LNG , which wouldn’t have had any impact whatsoever here in the Lower Mainland. She said that there was going to be 100,000 jobs there – there are no jobs. That was her promise in the last election.
We are committing to building public infrastructure: hospitals, schools, roads, bridges. We have a $10 billion capital plan and it will put 96,000 construction workers to work. That’s public sector investment. And when we make those investments in schools so that we get kids out of portables, the development community can start building more houses. The school board – I think it was last year – appealed to the Surrey planners and said ‘Please stop issuing permits; we can’t keep pace. Our schools are bursting at the seams.’
So if we don’t build that public infrastructure, the private sector can’t bring on more housing supply. If you can’t bring on more housing supply, the cost keeps going up and people can’t afford to live here. So I think public sector investments lead to freeing up private sector investments and that’s why our plan, I think, is superior to the Liberals’. They say we are going to create jobs in the North or build a pipeline into the Lower Mainland. But once that’s done, they’ve got nothing. I think if we are building the infrastructure we need, that keeps jobs going for a 10-year period and that’s good for the economy.
VOICE: There has been this controversy about the Liberals hiring some economists to claim that your budget plan will put the economy into a big hole. What about those economists’ credibility?
HORGAN: They are characterizing them as ‘independent economists’ from Toronto. But when you pay someone to do a review, they are no longer independent; they are employees. And the Liberals gave these economists inaccurate information about our plan. They said that we were freezing Hydro rates for four years, that we are going to be freezing ICBC rates for four years and so, when they made their economic analysis, they didn’t have all the right variables.
When we tabled our plan … the media asked economists in UBC, Simon Fraser [University], UVic [University of Victoria] ‘what do you think of the plan?’ and … the answer was ‘it holds together.’ We used the numbers that the BC Liberals tabled in the Legislature. We have the same forecast allowance, we have the same contingency fund for unforeseen circumstances – about $1 billion altogether – that’s not allocated.
And we looked at the toll question. For example, people south of the Fraser are paying a toll to cross the river – the only people in B.C. paying a toll. I don’t think that’s fair. We said we are going to get rid of it. The Liberals said they are going to get rid of two-thirds of it. And when they said they were going to get rid of two-thirds, they wanted a pat on the back. When we said we were going to get rid of it entirely, they said ‘Oh, the world will come to an end if that happens.’ Well, that’s just not true. The money is there to pay for the first three years and we are going to look at refinancing the debt on that bridge which is a public asset. I live on Vancouver Island and I benefit when people in Surrey can move around freely, when good and services can move around freely in the Lower Mainland. That’s a benefit to me; that’s a benefit to all British Columbians. So it was a question of fairness for us and … also that hangs together based on the numbers that the B.C. Liberals tabled in the Legislature.
VOICE: What about the controversy about a new Surrey hospital? The Liberals claimed that you first said you wouldn’t do it and then you suddenly announced that there would be a Surrey hospital.
HORGAN: I never said I wouldn’t do it. I said ‘stay tuned,’ because we knew we were going to make that announcement. We had our Surrey MLAs standing at the location of the land that was sold by the B.C. Liberals that was supposed to be the site for the second hospital. And so, it’s always been part of our plan to make sure that people in Surrey are getting the services they deserve. They’ve been shortchanged on education in terms of building schools, they’ve been shortchanged in our hospital with the ER clogged all the time … We need to get that fixed. We need to make sure that people are going to be able to access health care in their community.
One of the other elements that we’ve announced in our plan is to create what we call “urgent care centres” … a bridge between the walk-in clinics and the emergency room. We have a continuum of nurse practitioners, doctors, registered nurses, therapists, psychologists, counsellors, whoever you need to provide services to people, in one location that’s open in evenings and on the weekends. And if you need urgent care, you rush there, and if you need to be in emergency, you go directly to the ER. But if you take people out of ER that are going in because their elbow hurts and they don’t have a family doctor, then you are breaking up that backlog and then you are getting people out of the ER, which means you can get people into wards, which means you can get surgeries done so that the health system works more effectively. So it’s a temporary measure to take off the pressure before we get a chance to build the hospital.
VOICE: So what’s been your experience on the campaign trail?
HORGAN: Hmmm, having the time of my life. I am really enjoying it, and especially enjoying engaging with people. We’re getting larger crowds wherever we go. We started the campaign here in Surrey with 800 or 900 people, and I played the Commodore Ballroom in downtown Vancouver with another thousand people, and there were 800 people in Victoria … and it feels really good.
We’ve got a young group of people working with us. We’ve got just a great, diverse group of candidates … 14 South Asian candidates, seven Chinese Canadian candidates, First Nations candidates, 50 per cent women. Our team reflects some young, some old, experienced, enthusiastic. I think we reflect the diversity of B.C. And people can’t afford four more years of Christy Clark. And that’s why I think the campaign is doing so well because people are looking at us and seeing themselves and saying ‘I’m with them; they’re going to work for me.’
VOICE: So you are quite confident of forming the next government?
HORGAN:(laughs) Not at all! This is my fourth election and I’ve been in too many elections to take anything for granted. We were supposed to win last time – everyone said we were. But I feel very good. I think we’ve done everything we can to make ourselves available to the public and to the media to ask the questions about how we are going to build a better B.C. and we are not leaving anything on the field. We are going to go right to the eleventh man. [A cricket reference – there are 11 players in a cricket team. Cricket is the most popular game in South Asia].
VOICE: A lot of people are wondering if the NDP will be able to get their supporters out to vote – or will the supporters stay home.
HORGAN: Well, we are doing everything we can. The advance voting has already begun. There’s two more days of advanced voting than we’ve ever had before. The NDP usually does a really good job of getting their supporters out early. … You don’t leave it to chance, because anything can happen on a Tuesday: you could have an accident that clogs traffic, you could have a family emergency. … We’ve been calling our supporters, urging them to get out to vote, helping them to get out to vote and I am confident that we’ve done everything we can to make that happen. But we’ve been talking about the issues that matter to people and I think that’s the winning formula for us. The Liberals seem to always be on their back foot, they don’t seem to be attacking. They attack us every day and people go ‘well, that’s not true.’
And the great example of this campaign is two issues that have emerged. One is private health care. One of the Liberal candidates at an all-candidates meeting in Port Moody said she felt that it was okay if you could afford to, to go in front of the line, to buy private care. Well that led to an explosion of questions from the media to the Premier, Christy Clark, saying ‘do you support two-tier health care?’ and she didn’t give a direct answer on the first day, so they came back the second day. And I am not convinced that Christy Clark supports and believes that our public system is worth saving. So that’s an issue that we’ve been able to talk to people about.
The other one is this idea of a value added tax. And even [former premier and anti-HST advocate] Bill Vander Zalm said that they [the Liberals] said they weren’t going to bring in the HST, they brought in the HST. Now one of Christy Clark’s candidate said we are looking at a value added tax, which is an HST by another name. And when the Premier was asked about it, she said ‘well … umm … err.’ If you are not going to do it, you say ‘no, I am not going to do it.’ She stumbled, she stammered, and she said ‘well, we are looking at ways to make business more competitive.” Well, you are always looking at ways to make business competitive, but if you are going to bring in a new tax, you should talk to people about it. And I am not convinced that the Liberals are not planning to bring in a new HST with a different name and as I say, even Bill Vander Zalm got riled up enough about it to go on the radio.
Private health care, another tax and constantly attacking us with these childish tactics!
We’re putting forward ideas. We are holding them responsible for the choices that they make and we believe four more years of Christy Clark is something that B.C. can’t afford.
JUST when some were willing to accept Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan’s apology for making the false claim of being THE architect of the 2006 Operation Medusa in Afghanistan twice – once this year in India and once in Canada in 2015 – and look upon it as an aberration or a mere mistake, out comes another revelation that seems to prove that Sajjan might indeed have the habit to exaggerate or even lie just to glorify himself.
A video of a press conference of his in India is now circulating around and causing people to shake their head in disgust and disbelief.
Sajjan told the media in India: “I had a contract put on me once. I had my parents’ house … There was an attempted home invasion because I was taking out an organized crime group that was ruining our community with drugs.”
That statement is now causing bewilderment because when a contract is put on any cop, it is a very serious matter. But there appears to be NO proof that such a thing actually took place.
I would like Sajjan to show any evidence in this regard.
Also, covering crime in the Lower Mainland since the 1990s, I know very well that no single Rambo-type cop can ‘take out an organized crime group.’ It takes dozens of cops in teams to do that!
This seems to prove Sajjan’s propensity to take credit for other officers’ efforts also – just like his Operation Medusa claim – to appear as THE hero.
FOR the second year in a row, a Surrey team won the Grand Reading Link Challenge. Erma Stephenson Elementary School beat out 166 teams from 32 Surrey schools as well as teams from Coquitlam, Port Moody, North Van City and Fraser Valley. This year’s Grand Challenge was hosted by Surrey Libraries at Kwantlen Polytechnic University on Wednesday, May 3.
“The Reading Link Challenge program is an excellent example of how Surrey Libraries engages with partners to promote literacy and community engagement. We’re so proud of all the students that competed and were inspired to read,” said Surinder Bhogal, Chief Librarian.
The Reading Link Challenge program is run by Surrey Libraries in collaboration with other Lower Mainland libraries and their respective school districts. This event comes to Surrey every four years as libraries rotate hosting the Grand Challenge where teams from various municipalities compete. Teams of six children from grades 4 and 5 read and become familiar with a set of six selected books.
At the first challenge level, teams within a school compete with each other answering questions about characters, plots and settings. The winning team at each school then goes on to the next challenge level at the local branch library where the competition is repeated with a different set of questions. From here the teams advance to a Community Challenge where they compete with various Surrey neighbourhoods for a spot in the Grand Challenge.
The Grand Challenge is comprised of the top teams from other Lower Mainland library systems where they vie for the top honour in front of a public audience.
