The Chilliwack
Progress Friday
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3
Life
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News
Sports
Cruisin’
Pipeline
Chiefs
A popular tradition returns to Chilliwack secondary.
NEB hearing for Kinder Morgan pipeline.
Chiefs face Express in home-and-home.
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 • F R I D AY, J A N U A R Y 1 7 , 2 0 1 4
Class size a local issue, ministry says
■ O N T HE G REEN
Katie Bartel The Progress The provincial government won’t get involved with province-wide concerns over shop class sizes – despite its current push for an increased interest in careers in trades. In an emailed statement to The Progress, the Ministry of Education outlined several initiatives for boosting youth interest in trades careers, but stated that “conversations on specific class sizes are determined at the local level between teachers, principals, and district superintendents.” According to the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training, one of its key goals is to increase the number of students going directly into trades and technical training after graduation by 50 per cent – from 4,000 to 6,000 annually. In that, it’s working on several initiatives, including one that specifically targets middle school aged students. The ministry’s comments follow revelations made last week in The Progress that award-winning industrial education teacher Eric Munshaw was resigning. After years of trying to advocate for better safety practices, he said he’d lost confidence in the education system. His story generated province-wide attention with other media outlets, including interviews with CBC, CKNW and Global News. As well, as of Wednesday, The Progress website had 57 comments from concerned teachers, parents, and past students from around the province. Munshaw thinks the ministry’s response is a missed opportunity. Without enough equipment and supervision to accommodate overcrowded classrooms, the province is in fact losing students, he said. For years, shop classes ranged between 20 and 24 students in rooms designed for 24 work stations. But because class size regulations were never officially stipulated, when Bill 33 was passed by the Ministry of Education in 2009, the number of students increased across the province. Continued: SAFETY/ p5
Peter Hart, Glen Cross and Harv Janzen (left to right) enjoy a round of golf on a balmy Wednesday afternoon at the Chilliwack Golf and Country Club. The mild January temperatures, which are expected to continue over the weekend, set several new records this week. Meanwhile, windchill values in Winnipeg dipped to minus 33 on Thursday, with blowing snow. GREG KNILL/ PROGRESS
New transit line to ‘transform lives’ Jennifer Feinberg The Progress Implications of the new Fraser Valley express bus are just starting to sink in for Chilliwack. It means Chilliwack residents will be able to board a bus heading for Langley, and then onto Vancouver, starting in early 2015. Chilliwack resident Michelle Creedy said the news about a new transit option to Langley will change her life. “It means that I can now look for jobs in other communities and not have to worry about
relocating because I’m blind and can’t drive,” Creedy tells The Progress. “It means that I’ll be able to go into the city and volunteer at Canuck Place or any other place I want to.” Abbotsford mayor Bruce Banman used his executive privilege as mayor recently to bring back the express bus issue for reconsideration at the council level, and it passed, after it was voted down the first time around. Transit riders will be able to get to points west from the Carvolth transit exchange in Langley.
“It opens up my world in a way that is so freeing,” said Creedy. “I’ve always felt very stuck in Chilliwack and the job market here for blind people isn’t that great but I enjoy living out here.” As a reporter for Accessible Media, she actually missed out on work this week because the Greyhound was so late getting to Chilliwack that she missed her appointments. Chilliwack has been onboard since the idea was first discussed, said Mayor Sharon Gaetz. The clear benefits of the
route from Chilliwack’s perspective include: providing alternatives to driving, as well as establishing links and access for thousands of UFV students travelling between campuses, and the chance to have incoming visitors from other communities into Chilliwack. “It’s something our constituents have been asking for a very long time,” said Gaetz. “I can’t tell you how excited I am that it is happening. I only wish the vote had been unanimous in Abbotsford.” Continued: BUS/ p4
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