THE WEDNESDAY
CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARD 2012
TRI-CITY NEWS Renewal at New View
‘Midsummer’ in spring
SEE LIFE, PAGE A17
SEE ARTS, PAGE A21
APRIL 25, 2012 www.tricitynews.com
INSIDE Byelection coverage/A3 Tom Fletcher/A10 Letters/A11 Sports/A25
The grads will go on Parents & admins are expected to play a role By Diane Strandberg THE TRI-CITY NEWS
A decision by B.C. public school teachers to withdraw from volunteer extracurricular activities has caused some disruption but most graduation activities and long-planned field trips are going ahead, at least at schools The TriCity Newss contacted this week. But some concerts, middle school sports and other after-school
activities likely won’t be held as members of the BC Teachers’ Federation protest Bill 22, which they see as an attack on collective bargaining rights. Administrators are picking up the slack and parents are jumping in to help with commencement ceremonies and grad dinner/dances that teachers won’t be helping with or attending this year.
Grieving father wants more help for victims: A8
Tax hike is low in PoCo but at a cost
see UNION U O WON’T, O , page g A6 6
City backs off on hiring Mounties
THE PLAYS ARE THE THING Two drama productions will be held at SD43 schools despite the extracurricular activity ban. As of Tuesday, Dr. Charles Best secondary planned to continue with its evening shows of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (see photo) from April 25 to May 5 because of the cost and complexity of the production, which was too far along to call off, said principal Mary O’Neill. Gleneagle secondary is also going ahead with its production of “Seussical the Musical,” set for May 9, but principal Gerald Shong said it’s tied to course work for the musical theatre class and, therefore, permissible. The Coquitlam school’s planned production of “The Outsiders” was, however, cancelled because of teachers’ withdrawal from extracurricular activities.
By Gary McKenna THE TRI-CITY NEWS
High school sports to go on in District 43 By Larry Pruner THE TRI-CITY NEWS
The senior girls soccer show will go on — at least for now. That’s what Fraser Valley North AAA high school league co-ordinator and Centennial Centaurs coach Larry Moro told The Tri-City News on Monday after BC Teachers’ Federation members voted decisively last week to withdraw from all extracurricular activities, including sports.
BC School Spor ts (BCSS) responded last Friday by announcing it is going to proceed with the planned season for the 35,000 students involved in girls’ soccer, track and field, rugby, golf, tennis and mountain-biking, although it’s largely in the hands of the many volunteer teacher coaches to decide if they continue. T his season, five School District 43 teams play girls’ soccer: see ‘RIGHT RIGHT NOW NOW’,, page A7
JANIS WARREN/THE TRI-CITY NEWS
Hermia (Courtney Symmes) begs for mercy from Theseus (Stephen Marchesini) in Dr. Charles Best’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which starts tonight and runs until May 5 at the Coquitlam high school. The spring production involves dozens of actors and stagecraft students in Grade 9 to 12, and the show is going on despite the BC Teachers’ Federation vote on extracurricular activities. For more on the play, see Arts, page A21
Port Coquitlam residents asked the city to keep this year’s tax bill as low as possible and staff have responded, putting to council a budget proposal with a 2.97% increase. But the lower than anticipated rate hike does not come without some sacrifices. Initial plans to hire three firefighters and two Coquitlam RCMP officers have been scuttled and the city has reduced the amount it is setting aside for infrastructure replacement funding from $250,000 to $140,000. Funding for the Port Coquitlam Community Foundation was also reduced from $50,000 to $35,000 while money for the city’s Sports Alliance was cut in half, from $30,000 to $15,000. The changes dropped the 2012 rate increase from a proposed 4.77%, or about $90 for the owner of an average single-family home, to the current 2.97%, or about $55 per average home. see DOING ‘MORE’, MORE , page A13