Tuesday May 13, 2014 (Vol. 39 No. 38)
V O I C E
O F
W H I T E
R O C K
A N D
S O U T H
Graduate guide: For Cloverdale resident Monica Nelson, her yellow w lab Ash, who recently graduated from B.C. Guide Dog Services training, is not simply a companion – he’s an important partner in a busy schedule of volunteering and attending support group meetings. gs. i see page 11
S U R R E Y
w w w. p e a c e a r c h n e w s . c o m
Semiahmoo First Nation maintains BNSF needs permission to replace train bridge
Trestle won’t budge ‘without band OK’ Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
While BNSF has said the deteriorating rail bridge over the Little Campbell River can be replaced as early as this summer by accessing it via rail-owned land, Semiahmoo First Nation disagrees. This trestle is on property belonging to Semiahmoo First Nation and any work to address its condition must go through the proper channels first, band spokesperson
Joanne Charles said Friday. While safety is the Semiahmoo’s numberone concern, Charles said, there is more to repairing or replacing the trestle than most people realize. “This is complicated… a very complex legal matter and a legal issue,” Charles told Peace Arch News. The corroded condition of the bridge has been a subject of concern for years – most recently, in the year since the Lac Mégantic,
Que. derailment. It has been earmarked by the railway for replacement since 2011. BNSF spokesperson Gus Melonas told PAN last July and again in January that the company was negotiating with the Semiahmoo for access to build a replacement bridge. April 29, railway officials told White Rock Coun. Grant Meyer and city manager Dan Bottrill they “had a plan” for the trestle, and Melonas then told PAN last week that replacement work could begin within
months and is anticipated to be complete by the end of the year. It would be done using technology that can be applied from railroad property, he said. But Charles said nothing can be done – including from railway property – until full consultation has taken place with the band, Transport Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and formal permissions are in place. i see page 2
Police overtime
Summit costs city after all Kevin Diakiw Black Press
Surrey taxpayers spent more than $30,000 in police overtime costs and tickets for city staff for this year’s Surrey Regional Economic Summit. Surrey’s sixth-annual summit – held on Feb. 18 – included former prime ministers Julia Gillard (Australia), George Papandreou (Greece) and Ehud Barak (Israel). Surrey has long said the cost of speakers at the yearly event is completely covered through ticket sales and sponsorships. The city won’t disclose the cost of the speakers, nor the amount received by way of sponsorships or ticket sales, citing that those things are within the control of the Pace Group, which organizes the event. However, taxpayers did cover the costs of police overtime for this year’s event, a figure that reached $24,300. There was an additional $5,600 in officer amenities, such as food, portable toilets, etc. The city also paid for six tickets for staff at $499 apiece, for a total of $2,994. The Pace Group gave the city 20 complimentary tickets. That brings the city’s investment in the event to $32,894. i see page 4
Tracy Holmes photo
Celina Strachan, a casual employee for the City of White Rock, walks the picket line outside city hall Monday morning.
Garbage pickup on hold as all city worksites behind picket line
Full-scale strike for White Rock workers Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
Striking City of White Rock employees ramped up job action Monday, withdrawing services and putting up picket lines at all city worksites. The move is the latest in job action that began May 1 with withdrawal of services at city hall, continued May 5 with an overtime ban and expanded Thursday and Friday when public-works employees walked off the job. The citywide shutdown will continue “until
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we get an agreement,” CUPE 402-01 president Mike Guraliuk said Monday. But city manager Dan Bottrill told Peace Arch News the union has shunned city efforts to get talks back on track. “We proposed two days this week,” Bottrill said, noting the mediator put the offer out Friday. “The response was the union declined both of our proposed dates. It’s very disappointing.” Guraliuk disputed the statement. “That is absolutely false,” he said from outside city hall. “We’ve heard nothing.”
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“The city manager, all he has to do is step outside and say, let’s meet.” Thursday’s rotating job action affected garbage and recycling collection, maintenance of the sewer system, street cleaning and parks and road maintenance, with a picket line outside the city’s Keil Street facility starting at 6 a.m. Monday, all five city facilities – city hall, the works yard, Centennial Arena, Kent Street Activity Centre and White Rock Community Centre – were affected. Only city hall remained open. i see page 2
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