Spotlight: Local teen ready to beat the pros in video game battle Valley: New and expectant valley moms given a little loving
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Friday, March 2, 2012
Transportation minister makes Malahat Drive safety promise
Calvin Simpson (as the innkeeper Thenardier) leads the cast through Master of the House, the signature number in the Brentwood College School production of Les Miserables, which opened Tuesday in Mill Bay. For more, see page A17.
Responding to Cowichan lobby: Lekstrom says he hopes to begin work on improvements as early as this year
Andrew Leong
Krista Siefken
News Leader Pictorial
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Teachers poised to walk on Monday Three-day walkout: Schools will be open but district recommends kids stay home Krista Siefken
News Leader Pictorial
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hile the percentage of valley teachers who voted in favour of strike action will not be disclosed publicly, this much is certain: Cowichan teachers will start a three-day strike on Monday. “We did try to keep this from affecting the students, but this legislation (Bill 22) is so brutal that if we don’t stand up now, it really speaks to the whole labour movement,” Cowichan District Teachers’ Association president Shellie Trimble said on Thursday, a few hours after the B.C. Teachers’ Federation announced its members had voted 87 per cent in favour of striking. “This is not our ¿rst choice, or even our second or third choice, but when you’re faced with a bill like this, which is so outrageous, we need to respond.” The bill in question is Education Minister George
Abbott’s Education Improvement Act, tabled Tuesday afternoon — shortly after the Labour Relations Board ruled teachers can legally strike for three days in one week, and then one day each subsequent week. Close to 28,000 of the 32,209 BCTF members who voted favoured strike action, while almost 9,000 teachers did not cast a ballot. Trimble, meanwhile, emphasized teachers would not be picketing schools, although they would be utilizing information lines — handing out pamphlets and allowing access to school facilities. Abbott con¿rmed Thursday that schools would remain open to students, and it would be up to parents whether kids show up during the teachers strike. However, SD79 superintendent Joe Rhodes says school buses will not be running, there will be no instruction offered, and parents are encouraged to keep their kids at home as administration and clerical staff will be unable to provide appropriate supervision for students.
Krista Siefken
Cowichan District Teachers’ Association members and their supporters rally outside of School District 79 headquarters Monday afternoon. Daycare providers using the schools will be unaffected by the action, and Cowichan parent Dana Arthurs pointed out that since next week’s strike action will be followed by SD79’s two-week break, the majority of local parents have already made arrangements for the third and fourth weeks of March.
FLOORING
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ransportation Minister Blair Lekstrom hopes to make improvements on the Malahat Drive this year. He made the announcement in a scrum Tuesday. “As the minister of transportation I certainly recognize the concerns that have been brought forward and I’m hopeful we can move forward on this, and hopefully have something beginning in this year’s construction, and we’ll see some changes made,” he said. He said that could “possibly” include more centre barriers on the ‘Hat. “We’re looking at it right now. I know there’s a full report about to be concluded by the end of March. But I think there’s opportunity — as there are with many of our highways in this province — in trying to improve some of the safety aspects.” Fueling the safer-Malahat ¿re is Cowichanian Chelsey Dollman’s drive for improvements on the accident-heavy highway. Dollman, along with local leaders like Cowichan Valley MLA Bill Routley, Cowichan Valley Regional District Chairman Rob Hutchins and Malahat ¿re chief Rob Patterson, met with Lekstrom Feb. 20 in Victoria. “They’ve done a tremendous job,” Lekstrom said of the group led by Dollman. “They came forward understanding that obviously this is really a joint effort from everybody involved, and we’re going to do what we can.” more on A5
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