Do you have the music in you? On Saturday afternoon — on what promises to be a warm, sunny day — Rocky Point Park in Port Moody will be filled with sounds, from blues to folk and pop covers, for the city’s first annual buskathon. See story, page A20
THE WEDNESDAY
MAY 28, 2014
CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARD 2012
TRI-CITY NEWS
www.tricitynews.com
CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARD 2012
Where are your mayors?
Performers off to Fest
SEE ARTS, PAGE A3
SEE ARTS, PAGE A20
INSIDE
Tom Fletcher/A10 Letters/A11 A Good Read/A16 Community Calendar/A19
Lockout rules hit local schools By Diane Strandberg THE TRI-CITY NEWS
Today’s strike by teachers was expected to take place under a cloud of uncertainty, with both the provincial employers’ association and the BC Teachers’ Federation mired in a dispute that the local teachers’ union is predicting could result in future walkouts. In addition to the walkout at all School District 43 public schools, a partial lockout has been ordered against teachers, along with a 10% cut in pay, which the Coquitlam Teachers’ Association president says has thrown numerous extracurricular activities into doubt. “It’s very hard to get clarity,” the CTA’s Charley King said. He added: “What it’s going to take is for the government to change its mind and start negotiating fairly with teachers.” The number one concern is class size and composition issues, although public school teachers are also asking for what he called“fair”wages. King said the BCTF will decide at the end of the week if job action should continue. Meanwhile, today’s
For updates on the schools dispute, please visit www.tricitynews.com walkout presented some problems for parents, who were asked to keep their kids home from school, and CUPE support workers, who were expected to respect teachers’ picket lines and stay out of schools. As well, a scheduled District Parent Advisory Council meeting slated for 7 p.m. tonight (Wednesday) was relocated from a school to Coquitlam Public Library’s Poirier branch to avoid picket lines, although school-based daycares were expected to remain open. SD43 superintendent Tom Grant said he expected the walkout to create anxiety among teachers, parents, students, administrators and support workers, and he said he hoped a settlement could be reached soon to avoid problems that come when uncertainty lasts too long. see NO PLANS, page A13
DIANE STRANDBERG/THE TRI-CITY NEWS
Students from Dr. Charles Best secondary school in Coquitlam held a demonstration Monday over the ongoing dispute between the province and B.C.’s public school teachers; they also marched to Suter Brook in Port Moody, to the office of BC Liberal MLA Linda Reimer.
Teens follow teachers’ lead, rally By Diane Strandberg THE TRI-CITY NEWS
CHARLEY KING, CTA
MELISSA HYNDES, SD43
A succession of rallies by parents, teachers and students has buoyed Coquitlam Teachers’ Association president Charley King, who says
concern about budget cuts in School District 43 has galvanized support in the Tri-Cities for public education. But the union head said he’s disappointed with what he calls the silence of local school
trustees, who didn’t show up at last Friday’s teacher rally in Port C o q u i t l a m o r wh o haven’t publicly taken a stand in support of teachers in the current dispute with the provincial government.
“They’re just sitting it out,” King said of the School District 43 board of education, which recently approved $13.4 million in cuts — and hundreds of layoffs — to balance its budget. The board later ap-
proved a “needs” budget — a shadow budget that shows what the district believes it needs to maintain services — and a trip to Victoria to plead for more funding. see ALL BOARD, page A13