THE WEDNESDAY
2010 WINNER
FEB. 29, 2012 www.tricitynews.com
TRI-CITY NEWS Three chances to live
Festival du Bois
SEE LIFE, PAGE A14
SEE SPECIAL SECTION, C1-C8
INSIDE
Tom Fletcher/A10 Letters/A11 Arts/A18 Sports/A22 Sports/A2 ri-Cit New
Wednesda
Crikey, mate! Port Moody’s annual fish fest needs some multilingual help. See page A3
Women’s centre’s future is uncertain Funding cuts are one problem By Diane Strandberg THE TRI-CITY NEWS
The women’s resource centre in Port Coquitlam will be closed to the public for a month and its future is uncertain. Tri-City Transitions, which has operated the resource centre for more than 30 years, is grappling with cuts to gaming funding on top of a gradual erosion of program funding, said executive director Carol Metz Murray, and its management and staff are working to determine the future of programs operating out of the rented bungalow on Mary Hill Road. She said the centre is operating with 75% less funding than it did a decade ago and “We need to have a look to see who we’re serving and what we’re providing.” Prog rams such as Empowering Moms will continue to operate out of the bungalow at 2420 Mary Hill Rd. and other groups will be allowed to use the space. But there will be no public hours, which means the women’s dropin, clothing bank, community kitchen and job search computers will be off-limits to dozens of women who use the services daily. see ‘NOT NOT EASY’, EASY , page A8
MARIO BARTEL/BLACK PRESS
Cameron Bateman (2) of the Coquitlam Adanacs gets a leg up on a Mid-Island opponent during an Under-16 field lacrosse contest Saturday during the B.C. Tier 1 provincial championships at Burnaby Lake Sports Complex. Coquitlam took bronze at the tournament. More sports, see page A22.
Teacher strike possible Local teachers stage demo on Monday By Diane Strandberg THE TRI-CITY NEWS
DIANE STRANDBERG/THE TRI-CITY NEWS
Terry Fox teacher Steve Sainas during Monday’s demonstration.
Some 2,000 unionized teachers in School District 43 are voting today (Wednesday) on whether to escalate their job action to support a negotiated contract settlement. Voting began Tuesday after the Labour Relations Board agreed to an application by the BC Teachers’ Federation that would per-
mit teachers, considered an essential service, to walk off the job for three days as long as they give two days’ notice. After the initial three-day strike, the board said the teachers could strike one day per week. C o q u i t l a m Te a c h e r s ’ Association president Teresa Grandinetti couldn’t comment on the outcome of the vote — expected Thursday — but she said morale is high and teachers are determined to win a fairly negotiated settlement. She said teachers staged a day of action Monday to
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What is province going to do? Go to tricitynews.com raise awareness about their ongoing dispute with the provincial government over their collective agreement. Teachers spent their lunch breaks in study sessions and some walked around outside their school grounds with signs to pro-
test a legislated agreement. At Terry Fox secondary in Port Coquitlam Monday afternoon, about 30 teachers wore black and posed for photos with signs they made showing what they usually do on their lunch breaks to support students. “We’re doing this in solidarity,” explained Robert Harding, an English teacher, who said teachers want a fair settlement and don’t want a contract imposed on them by the government. see GOV’T GOV T IS TRYING TRYING,, page A4