VICTORIANEWS VICTORIA Tears and truths
Cats oh, so close
Truth and Reconciliation Commission offers residential school survivors a platform. News, Page A3
Victoria Cougars were 70 seconds away from becoming provincial junior B champs. Sports, Page A20
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Japanese Restaurant Newly Renovated
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Play ball During opening ceremonies for Beacon Hill Little League at Hollywood Park, miniminor teammates Harrison Robilliard, 4, near right, and Beatrice Brockmann, 5, try to fashion a new style of cap. Recalling days on the slowpitch field, Mayor Dean Fortin, far right, lobs in the ceremonial opening pitch. The action took place Sunday, on a day when National Little League, whose park is at Hillside Avenue and Cook Street, also held its opening ceremonies. Sharon Tiffin/News staff
Esquimalt to shine through photo contest Showing off Esquimalt in all its glory is as easy as picking up a camera and snapping a few pictures. In honour of the township’s centennial year, Victoria News invites amateur photographers to snap pictures of Esquimalt for a “Show Us Your Esquimalt� photo contest, now underway. Winning photos will be displayed at the Esquimalt Recreation Centre, May 15 to 18, and will appear in a special section of the Victoria News to be published May 16. Contest categories include parks and recreation, historic Esquimalt, about town and people and activities. Mail or drop off your entries by April 27 to Black Press at 818 Broughton St., or at Esquimalt’s municipal hall, 1229 Esquimalt Rd. For details, email promo@vicnews.com. editor@vicnews.com
Civilian workers brace for job cuts Unions hope attrition, staffing redistribution cushion blow at CFB Esquimalt Erin McCracken News staff
At least 51 full-time civilian defence jobs at CFB Esquimalt will be eliminated by spring 2015. Of those, 29 positions will be terminated at the Fleet Maintenance Facility, whose workers maintain five Royal Canadian Navy warships and the submarine, HMCS Victoria. Another 22 full-time positions filled by members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada’s Union of National Defence Employees will be eliminated. The union represents 1,200 operational, technical services and office administration work-
ers at the base, the Rocky Point ammunition depot, a supply depot in Colwood and 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron. “I think it’s a significant impact to the affected members, of course,� said Mark Miller, B.C. vice-president of the Union of National Defence Employees. “But when you compare the hit that (our union’s workers in) B.C. took in relation to the rest of the country, no, we got off (lightly).� The elimination of jobs comes on the heels of the federal government’s 2012 budget, announced March 29. About two weeks ago, CFB Esquimalt officials began informing workers at the Fleet Maintenance Facility that they may be potentially impacted.
Many members of Miller’s union also have not yet been told which positions are being terminated, a point which is impacting morale, he said. Secrecy around the department’s strategic review and deficit reduction action plan, launched in recent years to identify cost savings, adds to the worry, he said. “(It causes) uncertainty and confusion, but it also keeps the Canadian population in the dark, because no one really understands what the big hit is. I think it’s political spin-doctoring and population manipulation.� PLEASE SEE: Job losses coming at base, Page A13
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