THURSDAY
DECEMBER 6, 2012
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Vol. 60, Issue 236
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Teachers who claimed mercury poisoning get new hearing ANNALEE GRANT Townsman Staff
BARRY COULTER PHOTO
Ralph Sultan, BC Minister of State for Seniors, takes a moment from his duties take pose for a photo with fellow server Lourdes Roxas Butalid of Cranbrook. The Minister, MLA for West Vancouver-Capilano, was helping out at the annual Seniors Dinner at the Colombo Lodge on Wednesday, Dec. 5. The dinner, put on by the Colombo Lodge and Rotary Club, is the largest gathering of seniors in southeastern B.C., and features food preparation and service by Rotarians, Colombo Lodge members, City Councillors and other dignitaries. Minister Sultan himself was touring the East Kootenay listening to seniors’ concerns. He spent Tuesday in the Elk Valley Communities of Fernie, Sparwood and Elkford. On Wednesday he was in Invermere and Kimberley, and Thursday in Cranbrook. Sultan is the first such Minister of State — the Ministry was created by Premier Christy Clark earlier this fall.
Fill your skates with indoor ice ANNALEE GR ANT Townsman Staff
The City of Cranbrook is warning residents to stay clear of Elizabeth and Idlewild Lakes for skating purposes due to thin ice. But fear not, Cranbrook, there is plenty of free skating
opportunities coming up in the next few months. Chris Zettel, corporate communications officer for the City of Cranbrook said the ice is not yet firmed up enough to allow for winter skating. “Ice is beginning to form on both lakes at Idlewild Park and
at Elizabeth Lake, as well as the area creeks and streams,” Zettel said. “With the warmer temperatures we’ve seen the past few weeks, the ice is thin and is not safe to be on. For now, residents are being asked to stay clear. “We are asking parents and
kids to please stay off all the outdoor ice for your own safety,” Zettel said. City staff is keeping an eye on the situation and an announcement will be made once the ice is thick enough.
See BEWARE , Page 4
A group of six Cranbrook teachers who claim they were poisoned by mercury during their time at Mount Baker Secondary School were vindicated Tuesday as a Supreme Court Justice granted them a new court-ordered compensation board hearing. In a tersely worded decision from a Vancouver Supreme Court room, Justice A. Saunders said the decision handed down by the Worker’s Compensation Appeal Tribunal in September, 2010 was unfair. “It was manifestly unfair to the petitioners. The panel’s conclusion was patently unreasonable,” Saunders wrote in his ruling. B.C. Teacher’s Federation president Susan Lambert is lauding the move that she says has taken too long. “It’s a long time coming,” Lambert told the Townsman. “It’s a good ruling. It’s a strong rul-
ing. That’s very strong language from a Justice.” Saunders ordered the case be sent back to the WCAT for another hearing, where the teachers will go through the process all over again. The teachers spurred the Supreme Court case after filing a judicial review in June of this year. The WCAT found in 2010 that the teachers did not suffer mercury poisoning at Mount Baker. “The panel found that the evidence was insufficient to establish that the workers suffered from mercury poisoning,” the ruling said. “The workers did not have an occupational disease due to the nature of their employment.” Lambert said the six teachers began noticing symptoms of mercury poisoning in 2004 and 2005, and have been fighting to be covered by the Worker’s Compensation Board ever since.
See TEACHERS , Page 3
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