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Thursday, June 27, 2013 Trail Times
Provincial
BCTF calls vote on B.C. bargaining By Tom Fletcher Black Press
VICTORIA – The B.C. Teachers’ Federation is holding a member vote this week, seeking a mandate to reject “government interference” in provincewide bargaining. Outgoing BCTF president Susan Lambert notified 40,000 public school teachers of the vote in a letter sent out Monday, a copy of which was obtained by Black Press. Teachers have until Friday to vote. “We need to send a strong message to government that teachers will not accept a 10-year scheme to lock in another decade of deteriorating conditions,” Lambert wrote. “The ballot will
read: ‘Do you support our bargaining team and their efforts to achieve a negotiated settlement, and oppose any government interference in the bargaining process? Yes or No’.” The vote signals a reversal of the BCTF position on bargaining. In a submission to the government in December 2012, the union called for “provincial bargaining between the BCTF and government regarding salary, benefits, hours of work, paid leaves, class size, class composition, and staffing levels for specialist teachers,” and “local bargaining of all other items.” BCTF president-elect Jim Iker acknowledged Wednesday that the union called for direct bargaining on
provincial issues late last year, but negotiated a new “bargaining framework” with the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association in January. “This ‘agreement in committee’ allowed bargaining to move forward in a quiet, out-of-the-media-spotlight manner and meetings began in February,” Iker said. “The talks since have been the most constructive talks in years and that’s why teachers are hoping the provincial government does not interfere.” The province-wide vote follows Monday’s announcement by Education Minister Peter Fassbender that he has asked for a “pause” in bargaining, to appoint a direct government negotiator with a goal of reaching a 10-year deal.
Oak Bay
Council gives green light to deer cull By Danielle Pope Oak Bay News
Oak Bay will be culling its deerly beloved soon, as the region moves forward on a plan to euthanize part of the deer population. More than 40 resi-
dents appeared at a meeting on Monday when council made its decision to become the pilot project for the Capital Regional District’s deer cull. The vote asked the CRD to move ahead with a plan
of action for a cull, and also addressed the 10 requests that were proposed by the Regional Deer Management Strategy. For the first time this year, the newly mandated 20-minute
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public participation period hit its time limit with heated arguments for and against the cull. This, after more than 100 residents and 33 speakers already attended Oak Bay’s Committee of the Whole special deer meeting on June 12.
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All council members spoke passionately about the issue and the emotional conflicts involved, though only Coun. Pam Copley spoke against the cull. In the end, the motion to create the plan passed unanimously.
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Kelowna
Clark agrees to take part in byelection debate By Alistair Waters Kelowna Capital News
Christy Clark is breaking with tradition. The B.C. premier, seeking a seat in the B.C. Legislature by running in the We s t s i d e - K e l o w n a byelection July 10, will do what none of her predecessors in the last 30 years did—participate in an all-candidates’ debate at the riding level. Clark will join the other seven candidates vying for the We s t s i d e - K e l o w n a seat in the debate slated for July 4 in Westbank. Clark agreed to participate Monday, as did NDP candidate Carole Gordon and B.C. Conservative Sean Upshaw. Independents Daylene Van Ryswyk, Silverado Socrates, Korry Zeplik, John Marks and Jag Bhandari of the B.C. Vision Party are also running in the byelection and are expected to participate. The debate is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. at the Westbank Lions Community Hall and will be moderated by
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Andrew Glass of CBC Radio. For Clark, who plans to also participate in the Westside Daze Parade in Westbank this weekend, as well as serve Canada Day cake on Monday at both the West Kelowna and the Kelowna Canada Day celebrations (different cake-cutting times), participation in the all-candidates’ debate will mark a change in tactics from her failed bid to retain her VancouverPoint-Grey seat in the provincial election May 14. There, she did not participate in any allcandidates’ debates in her riding during the campaign, instead focussing on her role as leader of the B.C. Liberal Party. She travelled the province drumming up support for other Liberal candidates. In the provincial election, she lead her party to a surprise win, with the Liberals taking 49 of the 85 seats in the B.C. Legislature. The NDP took 34 and two independents elected. Clark lost the riding to the NDP’s David Eby by just over 1,000 votes. Clark did participate in two provincial leaders’ debates during the provincial campaign—one on television and one on radio. Meanwhile, two of Clark’s challengers, Gordon and Upshaw, have said they are eager to debate Clark about local issues, with Gordon even accusing Clark of “ducking” her in a news released issued Monday just hours before Clark’s camp confirmed her participation in the July 4 all-candidates debate. Upshaw criticized Clark for not committing to participate in a debate sooner.