TUESDAY JULY 2, 2013
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CANADA DAY A HOT ONE
See more pictures from the fantastic Canada Day parade in the heat
Ballenas students parade inside and on facebook.com/PQBNews
A5
A3
HIGH-TECH IN QUALICUM
Incubating the future
School district, town talking about KSS space JOHN HARDING editor@pqbnews.com
If they built it, would they come? Momentum seems to be growing for a business incubator in Qualicum Beach, a high-tech haven possible situated in empty space at Kwalikum Senior Secondary. The board of trustees for School District 69 discussed the possibility at length at their regular board meeting last week. While it’s early days and board members said they have many unanswered concerns, they did pass a motion allowing senior district staff to study the costs and benefits further. Acting Supt. Rollie Koop told the board part of KSS could become a “hub of activity” for digital media enterprises. “Ultimately, it could get to a place where we might be launching businesses from that place,” said Koop, adding that the Town of Qualicum Beach sees it as an opportunity to”create an environment that would be more attractive to young families.” Seconding a chunk of KSS for this venture would take an unique partnership between the town, the school district and private enterprise, said Koop. “I think this is a project of merit,” said Koop, who said he had some concerns about some “aggressive” timelines being thrown around by some for the start of the incubator. “The trick is going to be making this a non-cost item for the district.” While they unanimously voted to pursue the idea further, trustees had their concerns. “I’m not really interested in our students working in a call centre,” said trustee Barry Kurland. “I think we will have a chance further down to approve it or not.” See STAFF, page A3
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JOHN HARDING PHOTO
These Parksville Canada Day Parade entrants both had some red and white on their hats. See more photos from the parade on page A5 today and dozens more on www.facebook.com/PQBNews.
CANADA DAY
Fun in the scorching sun It was 27C when parade started just after 10 a.m. JOHN HARDING
editor@pqbnews.com
Thousands of enthusiastic people lined the streets of Parksville on Monday to celebrate Canada Day with a colourful parade under sunny skies
and near-record-high temperatures. There were more than 150 entries in the parade and spectators were staking out their places with lawn chairs as early as 8 a.m for the parade that started just after 10 a.m. and lasted about 90 minutes. When the parade started, the sign at Community Park registered a sultry 27 degrees C.
This parade had everything a great parade should — marchers, bands, candy, clowns, cool vehicles, floats, horses. Many of the parade-goers then slid into Community Park for an afternoon and evening organized by the Rotary Club. For more photos from the parade, see page A5 and our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/PQBNews. See MORE PHOTOS, page A5
It’s Grilling Time! 25% off all BBQ’s until Sunday July 7, 2013