NEXT BC LIBERAL BOSS
IN less than a month’s time – on February 3 – we will know who’s going to be the next leader of the B.C. Liberal Party, though it won’t be terribly exciting because that person will be just the Leader of the Official Opposition – not the Premier as was the case when Christy Clark got elected. The last leadership debate takes place on January 23 in Vancouver and voting will be from February 1 to 3 online and over the phone. Mass sign-ups in some ridings will prove to be of little value because all of the 87 electoral districts are weighted equally. The preferential ballot system will add more mystery to the whole affair as voters can rank six candidates. When someone’s preferred candidate loses, their second choice kicks in. The six would-be leaders are the five MLAs – Mike de Jong, Andrew Wilkinson, Todd Stone, Sam Sullivan (former Vancouver mayor) and Michael Lee – and former Conservative MP Dianne Watts (former Surrey mayor).
MARPOLE RAPIST BACK IN NEWS
GARY Jagur Singh, 62, was convicted of sexually assaulting 11 Vancouver women, aged 19 to 51, mainly in Vancouver’s Marpole area between January 1988 and August 1991. DNA evidence linked him to the crime scenes. Some women he grabbed off the street while others he sexually assaulted in their apartments. He used a weapon in four attacks. He was declared a dangerous offender in 1994. He was released on day parole in November 2006, but that was revoked in January 2008 when he tried to pick up a prostitute when he was supposed to be at work. He was classified as a minimum-security offender in May 2016 and last year he was allowed escorted temporary absences with his family. Last month, the Parole Board of Canada found that he poses an andue risk to re-offend and denied him day as well as full parole. But the board said that he did not pose a risk to re-offend if he is permitted unescorted absences with relatives under special conditions such as not to drink, to report all intimate sexual and non-sexual relationships and friendships with women, not to drive, and not to have any direct or indirect contact with his victims or their families.
