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49th Year No. 21
May 22, 2014
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Teachers to strike Monday J.R. Rardon Gazette editor School District 85 students may get an impromptu three-day weekend as Vancouver Island North Teachers prepare for a oneday strike Monday, May 26.
The B.C. Teachers’ Federation on Tuesday rejected a six-year contract offer proffered by Education Minister Peter Fassbender last week, and announced the start of one-day, rotating strikes at schools around the prov-
ince beginning Monday and continuing through Thursday. SD85 School Superintendent Scott Benwell confirmed the District has received notification of a planned walkout by VINTA membership on
Monday. “We expect all SD85 schools to be behind picket lines,” Benwell said. “We fully respect the bargaining process, and this is a natural progression. I would expect other unions to honour the picket line as well.”
All school districts in the province will be impacted by a one-day strike before teachers return Friday, May 30.
See page 5 ‘Negotiations resume’
Students take on technology challenge in Port Alice. Page 3
• Career Aim
NISS draws 25 vendors to inaugural trades fair. Page 8
Dance of Ages • Muddy Moto
Tri-Port club hosts Vancouver Island motocross racing. Page 11 OPINION Page 6 Letters Page 7 Sports Page 11 Classifieds Page 13-15
Cody Walkus looks on as a dancer portraying the Gwa’sala whale Gwa’yam conveys the ancestor Yakatlanlis during the Gwa’sala-’Nakwaxda’xw School Yayuma in Port Hardy May 15. See more on page 16. J.R. Rardon
McNeill Council votes self a raise J.R. Rardon Gazette editor PORT McNEILL—Near the end of last week’s special meeting, Port McNeill council approved its 2014 budget. Well before the vote, though, they commenced the spending. First, council unanimously approved a pay raise for itself and
the mayor that brings Port McNeill from the lowest-paid council to the median compensation amount for communities of its size in British Columbia. It also unanimously approved funding for two summer student positions at the cash-strapped Visitors’ Information Centre, one of them to be funded through col-
since 2001, and came following a summary presented by treasurer Dan Rodin. Rodin noted an updated compensation bylaw had been prepared in 2005 but never adopted, and
See page 4 ‘VIC gets funds’
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lection of the hotel bed tax. Finally, council was presented the Town’s 2013 financial statements and was addressed by the auditor in what turned into a lengthy and wide-ranging session between its regularly scheduled monthly meetings. The pay raise for mayor and council is the first for Port McNeill
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