While many people over the age of 25 would never think of posting personal photos, addresses, birthdays and phone numbers on public websites, today's youth are flocking to websites -- such as Myspace.com, Facebook.com and SecondLife.com -- to post intimate details about their lives. The Internet is becoming the place where youth, between four and 18 years of age, complain about societal pressures, the ups and downs of working and family strife. But, according to the experts, the younger generation needs to re-examine their beliefs.

Paul Gillespie, a former police officer, says he is "very optimistic" about Canadians' vigilance. Nearly all parents (96 per cent) say they talk to their children about online dangers, according to the Ipsos Reid poll. "Parents are more aware, kids are more aware. Do we still need to improve? Absolutely," Gillespie says. "But this whole deep, dark, awful Internet thing --I think we have to move past that and work with it." One of the most surprising and revealing report findings to him was that 85 per cent of children have access to the Internet outside their homes, enabling 15 per cent of them to visit websites their parents have declared off-limits. No matter how attentive parents are under their own roof, they need to educate their children and maintain good communication to ensure they're safe when surfing away from home, Gillespie says. © The Vancouver Province 2007

Coalition calls for curbs on kids' exposure to TV, music violence
All pervasive images harmful to children
Keith Leslie, Canadian Press
Published: Thursday, January 18, 2007

TORONTO -- Children are being exposed to far too much violence in music lyrics, video games and on television and need to be protected by laws similar to those that restrict the sale of tobacco to minors, a coalition of teachers and parents said yesterday. The group called for age-based restrictions on music sales, similar to existing systems that prevent underaged consumers from obtaining inappropriate movies and video games. They also called for controls that would prevent radio and television stations from airing violent content before 9 p.m.

Women's groups slam brothel raid www.richmond-news.com
By Eve Edmonds
December, 19, 2006

The recent raid on 18 massage parlours around the Lower Mainland, including five in Richmond, has prompted debate on all sides. Some women's groups are outraged the women working in the parlours were handcuffed and photographed. Others in the media are critical of linking the file to human trafficking, since all those arrested were Canadian citizens.

Polygamist leader wed girls under 16, he tells Larry King
Winston Blackmore, head of B.C.'s Bountiful group, says none of his wives are underage now
Wency Leung, Vancouver Sun
Published: Saturday, December 09, 2006

Winston Blackmore, the leader of the Bountiful polygamist commune in southwestern B.C., told CNN's Larry King Live that he has married girls under the age of 16, and that he was aware of at least one case of inter-marriage between family members. Blackmore, who was investigated by police earlier this year over alleged misconduct, said none of his wives are underage now, but some were "just barely" under 16 when they married.

Prostitution added to the Olympic Agenda 2010 The sex trade was prominent in Turin, Athens and even Salt Lake City. Some fear the pushing of legalization here
Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun
Published: Saturday, December 09, 2006 www.canada.com/vancouversun

World Cup soccer fans could buy a beer at one stall last summer in Germany and then wander over to another and buy oral sex.
But as with all prestigious and well-attended sporting events, there were different price points for sexual services. The Love Truck, a mobile brothel and erotic show equipped with an outdoor stage as well as a small bedroom and jacuzzi, cruised the country promoting a Prague-based brothel and its website.

Surrey man loses appeal for case of gang rape
19-year-old had medical disorder
The Province
Published: Thursday, November 30, 2006

A Surrey man sentenced to four years in prison for his part in the vicious gang rape of a teen with a medical problem has had his sentence appeal thrown out of court. Gurdev Singh Dhillon was found guilty of the attack on the 19-year-old woman in July 2004, along with two other men. The victim, who is on medication for epilepsy, diabetes and a breathing disorder, became dizzy after she was forced to drink alcohol. She was made to watch a pornographic video and then taken into Dhillon's bedroom, where the assaults took place.

Wising up about gangs
Abbotsford Times - www.abbotsfordtimes.com
By Sylver McLaren - For the Times

Abbotsford police say when young men in the community have gang connections, they are likely to have access to guns. - Photo illustration by Sylver Mclaren/For the Times Abbotsford police are hoping a little awareness will help curb gang violence in our streets. And with 11 shootings this year - two homicides, five residential drive-by shootings, one bullet-ridden unoccupied Hummer, two shootings in the street and one shooting inside a home after a man was beaten - now is as good a time as any, says Const. Casey Vinet.

Man charged with series of sex attacks
News Services
Published: Wednesday, November 08, 2006

WILLIAMS LAKE - RCMP have charged a 23-year-old parolee with a series of sex attacks against mostly teenaged girls. RCMP said David Neil Black was picked up on a federal parole violation and was identified as a suspect in sex assaults against young females. He's charged with three counts of sexual assault with a weapon, one count of invitation to sexual touching and one count of sexual interference. National Parole Board officials did not return phone calls yesterday and it could not be determined what offence Black had served time for.

Soaked teens found after night lost - Vancouver Province - Nov 7, 2006
Searchers hampered by heavy rain that turned trails to mush
Ethan Baron, The Province
Published: Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Two North Vancouver teens survived a perilous mountain mishap, and were discovered cold and wet yesterday after a massive overnight search. Adam Lofting, 16, and Alec Beaton, 17, were dropped off by a parent around 11 a.m. Sunday at the entrance to the steep and rugged trail up Mt. Unnecessary behind Lions Bay. The two, with dogs Pasha and Mocha, were planning to hike to the Lions, search-and-rescue officials said.

Education: Fees fight may mean more cuts
Langley Advance - published on 11/03/2006
by Matthew Claxton

The next funding fight between the school board and Victoria is already heating up. The Langley School District could face budget cuts of $1.5 million to $2.5 million as a result of a court decision on school fees. An analysis of the impact a loss of school fees will have on the district will be presented at November's school board meeting, said board chair Steve Burton. The exact dollar figure is unknown, and each school is still going over its programs and counting up the impact the loss of fees will have, Burton said.

Mother struggles to reunite her family
Burnaby Now News - published on 11/04/2006
Christina Myers/Burnaby Now
Family faces seemingly overwhelming obstacles to bring daughter to Canada.

Razieh Nabizadeh speaks Farsi, the official language of Iran, though having grown up in Afghanistan it's not her first language. Her son, Ramin, translates what he's able to for her, but he's still learning English himself, and it's difficult for him to keep up to everything she wants to say.

Canadian models targeted
Potential victims of human trafficking
Norma Greenaway, CanWest News Service
Published: Friday, November 03, 2006

OTTAWA -- A former international model sounded a passionate warning yesterday about the dangers lurking for Canadian teens who dream of stardom on the runways of the fashion capitals of the world. Liz Crawford, 33, told a Commons committee that some aspiring Canadian models, just like their counterparts from Russia, Romania and other hard-pressed countries, have ended up as victims of human trafficking.

Sex-trade recruiters hit suburbs
Girls invited to 'work' at parties
Times Colonist
Published: Friday, November 03, 2006

VICTORIA -- Young women are being lured into the sex trade at parties held in Victoria's western suburbs, says a new report on violence against sexually-exploited youth and sex-trade workers in B.C. The report, written by three researchers from the Justice Institute of B.C., was released yesterday. The 78-page report looks at five communities and reveals a rural and small-town sex trade with a common thread of violence against sex-trade workers, whether at parties, in the bush or on the streets.

Girls lured to sex parties in West Shore
Young women exploited, constantly face violence, sex-trade study says
Judith Lavoie, Times Colonist
Published: Friday, November 03, 2006

Young women are being lured into the sex trade at parties held in the West Shore and Sooke, says a hard-hitting report on violence against sexually exploited youth and sex-trade workers, released yesterday. The report, Violence in the Lives of Sexually Exploited Youth and Adult Sex Workers in B.C., was written by the Justice Institute of B.C, which conducted dozens of interviews in five communities, including Victoria and Campbell River

Victims hit back
October 26, 2006

Victims hit back Editor: Abbotsford, B.C. Court Watchers, the Victim's Rights Movement and the "Furious Grandmas" have joined forces to help in a letter writing campaign with the family of the 10-year-old boy, the victim of pedophile Peter Whitmore last July. Court Watchers are enraged that Whitmore was released from jail to shatter yet some more young lives. "Furious Grandmas" are seething mad how Whitmore, with six sexual assaults on children, served less the five years jail time.

Youth shelter back in business
By Brennan Clarke
Oak Bay News
Nov 01 2006

The Out of the Rain Youth Shelter is back in business. Sidney-based Beacon Community Services announced Friday it has offered to serve as lead agency for the shelter, filling a void left when the YM-YWCA decided it could no longer afford to run the program. "We have volunteered to take it on, but it's still up to the board to decide if they want us to," said Beacon Community Services executive director Isobel Mackenzie said Friday.

Bureaucracy kills haven for children
by Danna Johnson

The Pitt Meadows After-School Club sputtered to an end, despite the hard work and dedication of volunteer teachers and parents. The Fraser Health Authority informed club organizers that in order to keep going they'd either need to get a licence or change their mandate entirely. The health authority said the club was acting as a daycare and needed to be licenced as such.

Police are looking to speak to the driver of a van that hit a four-year-old girl in Coquitlam last Thursday evening. Around 6 p.m. that day Coquitlam RCMP and paramedics were called to Lincoln Avenue and Ponderosa Street after the girl was hit while crossing the street with her father in a marked crosswalk. The four-year-old Anmore resident sustained minor injuries.

Boy injured in burning Kamloops group home
Nine kids escape fire that started in child's room
Lena Sin, The Province
Published: Sunday, October 29, 2006

A 12-year-old Westside boy was medevaced to Vancouver General Hospital early yesterday morning after he was rescued from his burning foster home. Kamloops firefighters got a call about the blaze, which broke out at a group home in the 800-block Grant Road, just after 1 a.m. yesterday. "When the crews arrived, there was smoke and fire and nine children and two adults out on the lawn," said battalion Chief Jim Marchuk.

Gertie leads ‘fury’
By Trudy Beyak
Oct 19 2006

Her dad always told her to stand up for what she believes and Gertie Pool made it her lifetime theme. The slender, white-haired, 70-year-old Christian woman is a street fighter known for standing up for justice to help abused women and children. She is pure compassion. I’ll never forget the night this small, frail-looking woman faced a room full of steely-eyed, angry lawyers in Clearbrook. One by one, the men took turns blasting Pool for daring to give the infamous racquet award to Justice Harry Boyle. If you’ll recall, the judge decided not to give Darrel Adam Ursel any jail time after he had sexually assaulted an Aldergrove woman in 1996 with a racquet for an hour and a half. It was a brutal attack and the sentencing injustice infuriated women across B.C. But, not these lawyers.

Anxious mom awaiting baby's Hep C test - Vancouver Courier
By Sandra Thomas-Staff writer

An East Side resident wants the sandbox in his nearby park made safer after his neighbour's baby poked herself with a used hypodermic needle hidden in the sand. Terry Nelson said his neighbour took her 18-month-old child to the tiny Salsbury Park next to the Grace McInnes Co-op on Salsbury Drive a month ago. After doing a visual check of the sandbox, she put her child down to play. Within seconds the child had uprooted a used hypodermic needle and stuck herself twice. Nelson said the mother doesn't want to be identified because though the child has since tested negative for HIV, she's till waiting for the results of a Hepatitis C test.

Boys play with needles on playground: student tested for HIV, hepatitis and on anti-virals
Sylver McLaren - For the Abbotsford Times

Two Grade 3 boys were on their school's playground with little more to worry about than their free time running out before the Tuesday morning bell rang. But that carefree feeling has dissolved now that one of the boys will have to endure blood tests, anti-viral medication and a long six-month wait to find out if he's been infected with a communicable disease from the poke of a dirty syringe.

Parents deny learning problems
Behavioural, intellectual, language hurdles ignored
CanWest News Service
Published: Wednesday, October 25, 2006

OTTAWA -- Teacher Barbara White knows how difficult it is to tell parents their child might have learning challenges, and how testy the conversation can become when behaviour problems lead her to recommend a student assessment. "The behavioural ones are the most difficult because no one likes to believe their sweet little angel isn't behaving perfectly at school," she says. "Right away, they think you want their child put on medication, and that's not the case."

Highway of Tears private eye announces break in case
Ethan Baron, The Province
Published: Wednesday, October 25, 2006

A number of people were present when Highway of Tears victim Ramona Wilson was killed, a private investigator says. Wilson, 16, vanished in June 1994 while hitchhiking on Highway 16 near Smithers. Ten months later, two teens found her body in bush near Smithers Regional Airport. Surrey private eye Ray Michalko is probing the case and has received what he believes is reliable information about Wilson's killing.

Don't be a ho for Halloween - Maple Ridge TImes
by Danna Johnson

Pimps and hos - dressing up as either is about as tasteful a Halloween costume as, say, a KKK leader or a gay basher. And yet, says Diane Sowden, it has somehow become acceptable attire. As the co-founder of the Children of the Street Society, Sowden has partnered with the Ridge Meadows PLEA-Onyx program to provide education to local youth about sexual exploitation.

Provincial funding boosts substance abuse programs
Copyright 2006 Abbotsford News
Oct 24 2006

Two local Abbotsford organizations have been awarded Addictions Prevention Grants from Fraser Health to develop and implement programs aimed at reducing substance abuse in children and youth, announced MLAs Mike de Jong and John van Dongen. “The dangers and consequences of drugs cannot be stressed enough and any initiative to reduce their use is welcomed,” said de Jong, MLA for Abbotsford-Mt.Lehman.

Missing 3 Year Old Has Tragic End
North Vancouver-

On Friday October 20, 2006 the North Vancouver RCMP responded to the area of Chief Jimmy Harry Drive in North Vancouver for a report of a 3 year that had gone missing. Initial information received at the scene was that the 3 year old boy was out playing with friends, when he apparently wandered off on his own.

Safe house gets smaller funding boost

The local Iron Horse Youth Safe House is boasting a few more bucks thanks to a provincial grant. The funding announcement was made Thursday as part of the Housing Matters BC strategy. It will see $80,000 directed to the safe house to be used for hiring a third outreach worker.

Irate mom wants trucks stopped
Christina Toth - staff reporter

Abbotsford mom Michelle Cook is ready to head into the road herself with a stop sign to divert gravel trucks off Marshall Road. "You know, I've had it. There are 300 gravel trucks a day going past my house, and this is a residential street. I've called the police, I've called the mayor, I've called the city, but no one had done anything. They tell me just to hold on until the end of October, but it's not going to be the end of October," she said Wednesday.

Kids chew the fat with MLAs on fat
Lena Sin, The Province
Published: Wednesday, October 18, 2006

The youngest group to ever testify before members of the legislative assembly wasted no time yesterday in telling government exactly what it needs to do to start curbing obesity among kids.

Disneyland for a day dazzles 130 kids
Non-profit group gives children opportunity families can't afford
Ian Austin, The Province
Published: Tuesday, October 17, 2006

As you read this, 130 ecstatic kids are scheduled to be winging their way to Disneyland. The ecstasy quotient is highest at Sir William Macdonald Elementary on Vancouver's east side, where 40 young children are realizing a dream their families simply can't afford. Agatha Reid is delighted her son Alan will be Disney-bound today. "It's a dream come true for him," the happy mother said yesterday. "I'm a single mother with five kids. I'm really glad that this school has a connection with Dreams Take Flight."

Waiting for people to die not an answer
DISABLED: Families need help
Michael Smyth, The Province
Published: Sunday, October 15, 2006

All you fellow parents of young kids out there who find yourselves feeling tired and stressed out, believe me when I say: "I feel your pain!" But if your kids are healthy -- as mine are, thank God -- then we should all consider ourselves the luckiest people in the world. Imagine how different our lives would be if one of our kids had been born with a severe disability.