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The Chilliwack B1
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The results are in.
Principal makes good on his promise.
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CSS coach built a basketball greenhouse.
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 U E S D AY, O C T O B E R 2 2 , 2 0 1 3
Health transfer brings vision to life, says grand chief
■ W ORKING O N T HE R AILWAY
Historic agreement creates First Nations Health Authority Jennifer Feinberg The Progress Grand Chief Doug Kelly of Chilliwack joined federal and provincial health ministers at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Vancouver Monday morning for a historymaking celebration. They were formally recognizing the transfer of aboriginal health service delivery responsibility to a new aboriginal led entity in B.C. Health programs and services formerly administered by Health Canada are now the responsibility of First Nations Health Authority, according to a new framework agreement signed by the three parties. “Now is the time for B.C. First Nations to take our rightful place, determining our own health outcomes and what wellness means to us,” said Grand Chief Kelly, who is chair of the First Nations Health Council. The First Nations Health Authority will deliver health programs and services in B.C. to aboriginals living on-reserve and off. It’s everything from primary care to mental health and addictions as well as environmental health and research, and they’ll be partnering with the province as well. The idea is to close gaps in health services with new partnerships, close collaboration and innovation through coordination. It took years of collaboration to achieve, the grand chief told The Progress recently. “I would like to commend our federal, provincial, health authority, and other partners on the Continued: HEALTH/ p14
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Surrey’s Jake Schreurs of J&M Modellers adjusts a car on his group’s N scale train display during the Mount Cheam Lions Train and Hobby Show at Heritage Park on Saturday. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Rescuers stream into Chilliwack for SARscene Jennifer Feinberg The Progress Organizing and hosting SARscene 2013 was a first for Chilliwack Search and Rescue members. (See photos, page 12.) It was a national SAR conference held in Chilliwack over the weekend, co-hosted with B.C. Search and Rescue Association, that saw more than 400 attendees streaming into town. Members of the public took in a mock rescue demonstration using long-line techniques
with a Bell 407 helicopter, and a canine display that involved a Chilliwack SAR member. Some of the local rescue vehicles and boats were also rolled out as part of a massive static display open to the public on Saturday, but not all of them, of course. “It was important for us to still have response capability during the conference,” said search manager Doug Fraser of Chilliwack Search and Rescue. The local SAR team has actually been quite busy this month
with several callouts. “Normally October starts to slow down but it’s been steady, probably due to the good weather,” he said. SARscene 2013 was held at the RCMP Pacific Region Training Centre (PRTC) with attendees taking in workshops, discussion panels, SAR games, and an awards banquet. “It was a great venue for it with ever ything we needed,” Fraser said. Of the 41 Chilliwack SAR members, about half were active-
ly involved in some way in putting on the event. “It was a fair amount of work,” he said, adding that national conference organization was a first for the local SAR team to his knowledge. A friendly competition was waged during the SAR Games that were held near the display area, but local volunteers were too busy with organizational tasks to compete, Fraser said. jfeinberg@theprogress.com Twitter.com/chwkjourno
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