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Local woman takes a real shot at redemption ... and wins A3
■ FORMER IPG BOSS
McEwan rebounds DELYNDA PILON newsroom@pgfreepress.com
Tim McEwan, former Initiatives Prince George CEO, is taking on a new challenge as associate deputy minister of the province’s new Major Investments division. McEwan left IPG at the beginning of February with Heather Oland taking over the position. “I think Tim will be a great choice for the position at Major Investments,” said MLA Pat Bell, Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation. “He brings with him a wealth of knowledge with big natural gas and mining projects, which will likely be the ones he will be responsible for. Those are the types of things that drive norther economies, and having someone who lived in the north four years will be a great asset to us across the region.” Bell said McEwan went through the normal hiring process. The job, he said, was posted on the B.C. government website in December. He added the hiring process is independent from any political influence. “I wasn’t aware of it until a few weeks ago,” he said. According to the BC Jobs Plan, the major investment office’s job is to support job creation; work with B.C.’s international trade offices to provide consistent and personalized business relationships and services to potential investors; work with investors to propose, coordinate, facilitate and negotiate solutions to problems impeding major investment opportunities; and prepare offerings for potential investors, including approvals in place, zoning, labour supply and other investment-related issues.
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Deep Purple lead singer Ian Gillan belts out a song during the band’s concert last week. For more turn to page A14.
Teachers may be in strike position DELYNDA PILON newsroom@pgfreepress.com
Teachers in the province may go on strike as early as Wednesday if the government legislates a contract forcing them to return to their full duties. Minister of Education George Abbott appointed Trevor Hughes, deputy minister of industrial relations, to meet with the BC Teachers’ Federation and BC Public School Employers’ Association and report back Feb. 23 on the probability of a settlement between the two groups, who have been negotiating for about a year. The report found that a resolution is unlikely. Abbott tasked his staff to begin preparing back-to-work legislation for teachers over the weekend.
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Matt Pearce, president of the Prince George District Teachers’ Association, said the legislation shouldn’t even be referred to as back-to-work since teachers never stopped working. They simply withdrew administrative services, he said, including refusing to issue report cards and supervise playgrounds, making the term ‘back-to-work’ a misnomer. Instead the government is attempting to legislate working conditions, Pearce said, just as it did in 2002. “If they strip the contracts as they did in 2002 you can expect major disruptions,” he said. “I think, should there be legislation you will find that will cause a lot of disruption in the education system.” In 2002, the government made changes to class sizes and staffing, a move the B.C. Supreme Court found unconstitutional in
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2011. “They tend to use the courts as a delaying tactic,” Pearce said, adding it took nearly 10 years to get a legal decision on that bit of legislation. “We’ve played by their rules before and that may not be what we can do anymore.” Teachers will be taking an escalation vote on Wednesday, which could mean anything up to a full withdrawal of services, Pearce said. “But we are hoping they are not going to legislate while the two parties are in negotiations,” he said. However, he added, a lack of trust remains between the teachers’ union and the government. In 2001, essential services legislation removed the teachers’ right to strike in British Columbia.
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