The Chilliwack
Progress Thursday
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Fish Scare
Al Stewart
Newcomer brings size and skill to Chiefs.
Strange fish prompts Fraser scare.
Song writer helps Blue Heron celebrate 10 years.
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Y o u r c o m m u n i t y n e w s pa p e r • F o u n d e d i n 1 8 9 1 • w w w. t h e p r o g r e s s . c o m • T h u r s d ay, A u g u s t 3 0 , 2 0 1 2
Shop teacher skeptical of ed minister’s assurance
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S ummer V acation
Katie Bartel The Progress
Even though the B.C. Education Minister has admitted there are safety concerns in shop classes, his words rang hollow for a Chilliwack teacher who’s been pressing the school district and government to improve safety for more than three years now. In a back-to-school media conference call on Tuesday, when Minister George Abbott was asked about the growing concern of large class sizes for industrial education, he acknowledged the difficulties shop teachers face. Shops that were designed for no more than 24 students are running anywhere from 25 to 35. As well, in an environment that regularly operates heavy duty equipment, some classes also have additional untrained educational assistants in them, requiring even more teacher supervision. Abbott, who met with the BC Technology Education Association in January, said he’d like to see more shopspecific training for educational assistants, and said the size issue is something the ministry continues to look into. “I do think the technology association made some really good points to me and the ministry about safety in shop classes,” said Abbott. However, due to last year’s “heated” labour relations between the teachers’ federation and the ministry, he said conversations ceased, and the government has not yet moved ahead with any plans for improvement. For Eric Munshaw, Mt. Slesse middle school teacher, and member of the BC Technology Education Association, that’s not good enough. It’s not just a concern, it’s unsafe, he said. But unfortunately, “I think it will take an accident or two to really bring it to the surface.” Munshaw doesn’t believe improvements will be made until next year at the earliest. Continued: Safety/ p7
Children play in a shallow section of the Chilliwack River near Teskey Rock on Monday afternoon. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Draft community plan for the Chilliwack River Valley, Cultus Lake, ready for public review Robert Freeman The Progress
A draft community plan for the Chilliwack River Valley area has some flaws that range from minor to major, according to some area residents. But there will be a public hearing Sept. 12 to hear about those perceived flaws, and a number of public information meetings before the draft plan goes back to the Fraser Valley Regional District board for approval. The draft plan was two years
in the making through a household survey, three open houses, 10 advisory planning committee meetings and a number of technical studies. If adopted, the plan will apply to the Chilliwack River Valley, Columbia Valley, and much of the land surrounding Cultus Lake. Electoral Area E is home to about 3,400 people, and a tourist destination for about two million campers, fishermen and outdoor enthusiasts who visit the area every year.
It’s that recreational use that is overshadowed by industrial interests in the draft plan, according to Glen Thompson, spokesman for the Friends of the Chilliwack River Valley. “What we are proposing, we’d like to balance the heavy industry use with recreational uses,” he said, with stronger language to that effect in the draft plan. He said some land-use designations in the draft appear to leave residents “exposed to weird situations” like a patch of river bed in the Agricultural
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Land Reserve, which could be approved for a non-farm use like gravel mining. He also said more forest clearcuts could become more visible, if language in the draft isn’t tightened up. In a letter to the FVRD, the president of the Lindell Beach Resort Association said he is “adamantly opposed” to parts of the draft and would “vigorously challenge” them at the Sept. 12 public hearing. Continued: OCP/ p7