Calling grads Esquimalt High class of 1973 to celebrate 40th Page A9
NEWS: Sustainability gets a boost in Victoria /A3 ARTS: Irish dinner theatre coming to Oak Bay /A10 SPORTS: Royals’ playoff foe already determined /A15
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Tax hike guarantee of 3.25 per cent set for one year Kit Pearson, left, and partner Katherine Farris, congregation members for about five years at Christ Church Cathedral, look at a stained glass window near the church balcony. Members recently voted to allow same-sex union blessings in the church, in accordance with a Anglican Diocese of B.C. rule change. The change, however, does not allow for legal same-sex marriages to be conducted.
Long-range plan still aims to cap property tax increase over three years Daniel Palmer News staff
Sharon Tiffin/News staff
Church moves toward equality Same-sex union blessings are a step in right direction, parishioners say
Daniel Palmer Reporting
Better late than never. The congregation at Victoria’s Christ Church Cathedral voted overwhelmingly last week to allow same-sex blessings in the church, more than a decade after Vancouver-area Anglican churches did the same. “The Anglican church has been talking about this for more than 30 years,” Rev. Logan McMenamie says. “In some ways it’s disabled us,
but it’s an important decision. It’s really a justice issue.” The 148-14 vote in favour of the blessings means gay couples can now hold such ceremonies inside Christ Church Cathedral, although McMenamie still cannot conduct the legal portion of samesex ceremonies. “The vote was a formal recognition that we are welcome and we are equal,” says parish member Kit Pearson, who along
with her partner, Katherine Farris, has been attending the church for five years. “Of course, it’s not absolutely equal because we can’t get married. ... It’s just a step along the way.” Pearson, 66, says she and Farris have never experienced prejudice under the cathedral’s roof. PLEASE SEE: Anglican church, Page A4
Victoria councillors have given preliminary approval to the city’s 2013 operating budget, in an effort to save $4.3 million over the next three years. The city will spend $198 million this year, a $3.5-million increase over 2012. That total does not include capital expenditures such as the Johnson Street Bridge project or other infrastructure. Staff salaries and VicPD’s budget make up about 54 per cent of the total spending amount. Coun. Lisa Helps said the city delivered on its promise to limit property tax increases to 3.25 per cent this year, but plans to create a three-year budget Lisa Helps with the same commitment were delayed. “We’re waiting on an organizational review that was supposed to come back in January,” Helps said. “Now, we won’t get that review until April. It’s just dragging the process out.” Non-union staff salaries will be frozen to save about $200,000, while the freeze on council and mayor salaries – a savings of $9,000 – is largely symbolic. Policing costs will increase by two per cent to $43.7 million in 2013, mostly due to unionized pay increases at VicPD. A second crime analyst was approved for the department at a cost of $85,000, a resource VicPD argues is integral to successful intelligence-led policing. Councillors will also consider the automation of city parkades this summer, which could save about $300,000 annually, Helps said. dpalmer@vicnews.com
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