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April 22, 2014 Vol. 29• No. 32 ••• $1.25 inc. G.S.T.
Tower of Song bringing creative Leonard Cohen tribute show to Little Red Church page A7
Valley named Tennis Friendly Community of the Year by Tennis Canada page B1
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BCTF beginning work-to-rule action on Wednesday Tom Fletcher Black Press
LOTS OF EGGS-CITEMENT Danielle Bae was pretty in pink Saturday morning as she and other eager children rushed to find the 16 000 eggs distributed at the annual Northgate Foursquare Church Easter egg scramble. The event took place at the church and at the Phil and Jennie Gaglardi Academy in Comox. PHOTO BY MANDY LARADE
Thieves ruin family ski trip Scott Stanfield Record Staff
A Victoria resident had thousands of dollars worth of belongings stolen from his truck that was parked between 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Thursday near the intersection of Strathcona Parkway and the Inland Island Highway. Curtis Simpson, 22, a student who had been working on Cortes Island, had met up with his parents for a day of skiing at Mount Washington. Rather than taking two vehicles, the family car-
pooled to the top of the mountain. Curtis’ father Carl figures thieve(s) pried open the back of the locked canopy, which was loaded with two surfboards, a wet suit, fishing rods and camping equipment, among other items. Curtis also lost a CD collection and his passport. Thieves also broke into the cab. “I don’t know how they got in there. I think some stuff was stolen out of there as well,” said Carl, a Campbell River resident. “They just cleaned out everything.” Carl said there were about six
other vehicles parked to the side of the parkway, which he notes is a “fairly visible spot.” Still, he had thought twice about leaving a loaded vehicle at the base of the hill. “We should have realized,” said Carl, who called police and local pawn shops. “They (thieves) probably saw the tip of the surfboard.” Anyone with information about the break-in or whereabouts of the belongings is asked to contact the Comox Valley RCMP at 250-338-1321. The file number is 14-4336. reporter@comoxvalleyrecord.com
VICTORIA – After rejecting an offer from the school district bargaining agency for a long-term contract, the B.C. Teachers’ Federation has served notice it will begin work-to-rule action April 23. BCTF president Jim Iker said last Thursday that 72-hour notice has been given, after union members voted 89 per cent in March to endorse a three-stage strike plan. Phase one includes refusing communication with school managers, arriving no more than an hour before and leaving an hour after school hours, and refusing supervision of students outside class time. It does not affect pre-arranged voluntary activities such as coaching, but the refusal of supervision requires essential service levels that compel some teachers to assure the safety of students while they are out of classes. Report card preparation and parent meetings will continue. Iker said progress at the bargaining table will determine how long phase one action would last. Phase two of the BCTF plan is rotating one-day walkouts in districts around the province. Phase three, a full-scale strike, would require a second vote by members to authorize. The BCTF has rejected the government’s offer for a 10-year agreement with pay increases totalling 6.5 per cent over the first six years and additional
wage increases to be negotiated for the final four years. There has been little change to the “lowball offer” on wages and no movement on the long-running dispute over class size limits and special needs support, Iker said. BCTF negotiators countered with a three-year proposal with three per cent plus a cost-of-living increase in each year. With compounding and current estimates of inflation, BCPSEA calculates that could amount to 13.5 per cent over three years. The education ministry says per-pupil JIM IKER funding has increased 38 per cent since 2001, and the ministry has provided $225 million over three years to hire 500 teachers and 400 new special education assistants for the 2012-13 school year. Peter Cameron, chief negotiator for B.C.’s 60 school districts, said once stage one strike action begins, the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association will seek an order that the union pay for its extended benefits during any withdrawal of service. “In order that there is in fact pressure on both sides, BCPSEA needs to respond to any phase one activities with measures that put corresponding pressure on the union,” Cameron wrote in a letter to Iker.
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