The Chilliwack
Progress Tuesday
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Man dead following hit and run Robert Freeman The Progress
An RCMP officer adjusts a tarp covering the front and passenger side of a black pickup truck as it is loaded onto a tow truck from an apartment building on First Avenue. The vehicle was located one address east of the Mac’s store, near where a man was killed in an apparent hit and run on Sunday evening. Police will not confirm if the vehicle is part of that investigation. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
A 32-year-old Chilliwack man was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver Sunday as he walked along First Avenue. Police are releasing few details at this stage of the investigation. RCMP Cpl. Tammy Hollingsworth said the victim was walking east on First Avenue with a female companion at about 7 p.m. when he was hit by an eastbound vehicle, “which fled the scene.” No description of the vehicle is being released publicly at this time. But RCMP were seen Monday hauling away a black pickup truck with out-ofprovince plates discovered near the scene of the hit-and-run. Hollingsworth said it’s not clear whether the victim died at the scene or later in hospital. The female was not injured, she said. Anyone with information is asked to call the Chilliwack RCMP at 604-792-4611 or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS. rfreeman@theprogress.com twitter.com/paperboy2
Candidates trade barbs as election day nears Robert Freeman The Progress A veteran by now when it comes to all-candidates meetings, NDP candidate Gwen O’Mahony’s political skills were in full blossom last Thursday at Sardis Secondary school. Several times she was able to capitalize on the clashes between her two smallc conservative rivals, BC Conservative John Martin and BC Liberal Laurie Throness.
Whether this is enough to see an NDP victory in the traditionally conservative Chilliwack-Hope riding in the April 19 byelection remains to be seen. But O’Mahony possibly got off the best line of the night after Martin bashed Throness and his party for essentially not being conservative enough, and for boasting a little too long about balancing the province’s budget next year — instead of reducing the debt. “I don’t see the Liberals or
the NDP ever being serious about paying down the debt,” Martin somberly intoned. “What services will you cut?” O’Mahony quickly interjected, to reduce B.C.’s $45-billion debt, which increased by $3.3 billion in 2010/11. “What we need is moderation and wisdom,” O’Mahony said, when it comes to managing the province’s financial affairs. And then came her piece de resistance: “The only fiscal conserva-
tive in the room these days seems to be the NDP,” she said. Throness faced the highest political risk going into the meeting organized by local teachers, and it was also the first public venue for others with complaints about the BC Liberal government. One of those, an employee of a Chilliwack wood products remanufacturing plant, said BC Liberal forestry policies had forced wage cuts Continued: DEBATE/ p20
Liberal candidate Laurie Throness answers a question during an all-candidates meeting at Sardis secondary Thursday evening. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
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