Peeping Tom Mounties issue warning for Westwood, university area. PAGE 7 Wage rollback Hospital pharmacists raise alarm over provincial move. PAGE 19 Playing together Four siblings prepare to compete at music festival. PAGE 3
Wildcats winners PAGE 25
Judged the the Judged Judg community aper bbest newsp best newspaper in B.C.in B.C. TUESDAY, FEB. 28, 2012
www.nanaimobulletin.com
VOL. 23, NO. 130
City charges forward with electric cars
SWORDPLAY
BY TOBY GORMAN THE NEWS BULLETIN
CHRIS BUSH/THE NEWS BULLETIN
Mary Cabell takes advantage of a brisk, but sunny morning and relative solitude of Bowen Park to practise the Wu Dang Mountain Primal Chaos Taiji sword form, which is a specific form of Tai Chi.
TTeachers voting on escalation of strike BY JENN McGARRIGLE THE NEWS BULLETIN
Teachers will vote this week on whether they are in favour of escalating the “teach only” job action to a full-scale walkout. The vote, which takes place today and tomorrow (Feb. 28-29) with results released Thursday, comes on the heels of Education Minister George Abbott’s announcement last week he intends to
introduce legislation this week to end the dispute with public school teachers. That decision came after a report from Trevor Hughes, assistant deputy minister for industrial relations, stated it is unlikely the B.C. Teachers’ Federation and the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association will come to a negotiated settlement. The two sides have bargained for almost a year. Teachers’ contracts
expired last June. The Hughes report lists the province’s “net-zero” mandate as one of the major stumbling obstacles to a voluntary settlement. Derek DeGear, president of the Nanaimo District Teachers’ Association, said the vote is so the union can send a strong message to the province prior to a legislated contract, if government chooses to go that route. ◆ See ‘UNION’ /4
Nanaimo drivers are beginning to warm up to the idea of electric vehicles, so the city is staying ahead of the curve by introducing public charging stations. Beginning today (Feb. 28), electric vehicle owners will be able to plug-in free of charge (as it were) at three city-owned locations – two charging stalls will be available at the Beban Park Complex, one at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre parkade and another a short distance away at the Port Theatre parkade. “We’ll start there and see how it goes,” said Coun. Ted Greves, who sits on the city’s transportation advisory committee. “These sites are destinations. At VICC people can charge their car while they do some shopping or visit restaurants downtown, and at Beban they can use the recreational facilities while charging their electric vehicles. As demand increases, I imagine so, too, will the number of charging stations but this should provide a good start.” It cost the city $13,500 to install the two outlets at Beban Park and $8,400 total at VICC
and Port parkades, according to Greves. Installation at VICC was less expensive because much of the infrastructure required was already in place. The city has three Nissan Leaf electric vehicles and one converted electric Ford Ranger as part of its fleet, powered by two charging stations near city hall on Franklyn Street and two more at the public works yard on Labieux Road. Bruce Labell, Nanaimo’s fleet manager, said over time the city estimates about $25,000 in savings per EV over a 10-year period compared to traditional vehicles while helping to achieve city goals to reduce its carbon footprint. Because of fuel and maintenance savings, demand for electric vehicles is increasing in the public realm, prompting the city to offer charging stations. “The city has to be a leader,” said Labelle. “I get calls all the time from the public, often from Vancouver or Victoria, inquiring about charging stations. I received a call (Thursday) from a person who wanted to travel to Whistler, and wanted to make sure there was an opportunity to charge their vehicle in Nanaimo.” ◆ See ‘PUBLIC’ /6
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