TUESDAY
ARTS
March 25, 2014 Vol. 29• No. 24 ••• $1.25 inc. G.S.T.
Triple Heat dancers are more than a triple threat at competitions. page A7
THIS PUBLICATION AVAILABLE ONLINE AT comoxvalley record.com
COMOX VALLEY
Enter to Win!
comoxvalleyrecord.com/contests
2014
ECONOMY
Business &Progress A special section about
Economic Progress in the Comox Valley
In today’s Record you will find our annual look at the economic health of the Comox Valley. Insert
RECORD Hospital project progressing
Your Loca l Choice for over
THIS IS WHAT the new Comox Valley hospital will look like from several angles.
Renee Andor Record Staff
Two much-anticipated health-related projects in Courtenay are expected to take big steps closer to reality this year. Island Health will shortly name the chosen consortium, or project company, which will design, build and maintain the new Comox Valley and Campbell River hospitals. This announcement is expected this spring with the ground-breaking ceremony following this summer, and completion slated for 2017. The 153-bed Comox Valley hospital will be on Lerwick Road near Ryan Road in Courtenay. It is expected to cost about $334 million and will be jointly funded by the provincial government (60 per cent) and the ComoxStrathcona Regional Hospital District (40 per cent). The economic benefits that three years of construction will bring to the Comox
A division of
Valley are far-reaching, says Tom Sparrow, North Island Hospitals Project chief project officer. “While it’s being built there will be a significant draw on all of the potential services, suppliers and agencies that are providing any type of service in the community,” says Sparrow. “So, whether it’s a restaurant or a hotel, or a car rental agency or airplane services, transportation services, material suppliers, any of the local vendors that are renting equipment — we will be drawing on every single one of these services over the next three to four years.” Sparrow adds whichever consortium is chosen will look local first when choosing where to obtain supplies and services. “They want to use as many local services, tradespeople, labour force as they possibly can,” he says. “It’s just so much more reliable, and obviously cost-efficient,
using the local labour force.” Long-term, the new hospital’s training facilities will attract and retain healthcare professionals, says Sparrow. Lecture rooms, specialized video conferencing and simulation labs with
development project, located adjacent to the Comox Valley hospital site, is moving ahead smoothly. The proposed two-building wellness centre is slated to go in on Mission Road near Lerwick. Although the
❝
They want to use as many local services, tradespeople, labour force as they possibly can.
❞
Tom Sparrow
high-quality medical mannequins are some examples of training facilities the new hospital will offer. As well, says Sparrow, the new hospital’s state of the art equipment — about $86 million worth — will draw medical specialists to the Valley. Meanwhile, Tom Moore of Moore Architecture says another health-related
main entrance will be off Mission Road, plans include a bicycle and pedestrian path connecting the wellness centre to the new hospital. Moore plans to open the Mission Professional Centre before the hospital is complete, and says it could open by mid-2015. Pure Pharmacy, which integrates pharmacy with alternative health solutions,
has signed on as the anchor tenant of the wellness centre. “We’re currently negotiating with quite a few people in the medical profession, everything from general practitioners to specialists that work in the Valley,” continues Moore, pointing out the advantages medical professionals would have if their office is located right next to the new hospital. Moore says he’s also in negotiations with labs and imaging providers, physiotherapists, alternate medical service providers like naturopaths and a yoga studio. “We have some commercial tenants, too, so we have offers out and we’re waiting on headquarter approval on a couple of them as well,” says Moore, noting the leasing phase of the project is nearly complete. “We need one or two more leases signed and then we’ll be moving forward and getting this thing forward.”
Moore estimates the project will cost about $20 million to build, and it will take about 130 person-years of work to complete. Once it opens, Moore notes there will likely be about 300 permanent jobs thanks to the wellness centre. Moore adds the new Comox Valley hospital will be an “enormous gamechanger” for the Valley. “It’s just going to be an incredible economic driver for the companies who might, just for lifestyle reasons, want to be in the Valley,” he says. “They say, ‘Well, look at this we’ve got airport, we’ve got connections around the world, we’ve got a great hospital and healthcare network that people working in our business can now avail themselves to.’ “So, I think it really provides an incredible foundation for growth and diversity of job opportunities in the Valley.” writer@comoxvalleyrecord.com
Your community. Your newspaper. www.comoxvalleyrecord.com
• One D ay Install ation • Plumb ing Servic e • Remov al & Disp osal • In Stoc k Lamina te
Free In-H o
me Estim
Up to $15 0 Off Kitchen Countert o Installati p on! 250-33
#1-2989 K 4-2126 ilpatrick A nialcoun ve. tertops.c om
www.colo
ates
Pot users receive reprieve
Family saved by boy
Scott Stanfield Record Staff
Erin Haluschak Record Staff
Escaping with just the clothes on their back, Valerie Brimacombe is hoping the Comox Valley community can help her family in need of everything from clothes, a vehicle or monetary donations after a fire ravaged their home in Oyster River. Last week, Lyle Johnson, Kelly Bouzanne and their son Dylan, 14, awoke to the screams of six-year-old Bobby in the middle of the night. Soon after, fire gutted their two-storey home at 2259 Fearon Rd. The family, which does not have insurance, lost everything and escaped with only the clothes they were wearing, said Brimacombe, a cousin, who created an online fundraising page on YouCaring. com. “It’s just so devastating. You hear about it every day but you don’t actually think it’ll happen to you,” she noted. “It’s very overwhelming.” The intense heat of the fire, combined with wind, kept the main crew of volunteer firefighters on scene for three and a half hours, with others at the house until noon. The fire was so strong, the front of Johnson’s pickup truck, which he uses to run Clean Sweep Chimneys, was melted. ... see DONATIONS ■ A2
THANKS TO BOBBY (centre) this family escaped early Monday morning from a fire at their Oyster River home. PHOTO BY PAUL RUDAN / BLACK PRESS
A court reprieve has allowed medical marijuana users to continue growing pot at home instead of destroying it and turning to licensed producers. The Marijuana Medical Access Program was to end March 31. The following day, Health Canada’s new regulation banning personal growing was slated to take effect. But Friday, federal court judge Michael Manson granted a temporary injunction for those with a personal production licence to continue growing medical marijuana, pending the outcome of a constitutional challenge. “It’s excellent news,” Comox Valley activist Ernie Yacub said. “There are a lot of people who were afraid, who were facing having to get rid of their medicine on April 1. You’re supposed to cut down all your plants and get rid of all your medicine by mixing it in with kitty litter and disposing of it. Now how’s that for an April Fool’s joke? “Consider sick people having to worry about their medicine,” he added, noting the pain relief benefits of cannabis. “Think about the stress. We all know that stress is a killer. “This is very cruel of the federal government to try to do this to sick people.” Yacub praises the efforts of Abbotsford lawyer John Conroy for challenging the new program. A trial date is expected this year. Government cited problems ... see GROW-OPS ■ A2
2014 Toyota RAV4 Purchase or lease for rates as low as Dlr#7478
445 Crown Isle Boulevard 250.338.6761 www.courtenaytoyota.com
40 Years
“Get a well Equipped Rav4 AWD for $187.01/Bi Weekly*”
2.9
%Toyota cmyk
*Payment of $187.01 Bi Weekly is for 2014 Rav4 AWD L, Model Code BFREVT A. Payment does not include Taxes Levies and Fees. Bi Weekly payment Calculated at 3.9% for 72 Months totaling 26 Payments/Year OAC see Dealer for Details.
Come in for your test drive today!