Thursday June 5, 2014 (Vol. 39 No. 45)
V O I C E
O F
W H I T E
R O C K
A N D
S O U T H
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
All geared up: South Surrey’s Lyda Salatian – recipient this week of a YWCA’s Woman of Distinction Award – will pedal solo from Victoria to Calgary to raise awareness for her Green Teams of Canada. i see page 11
Teachers union, government told to increase efforts to end job action
Students, parents call for end to ‘feud’ Alex Browne Staff Reporter
Evan Seal photo
Students rally at minister’s office in Surrey.
The impasse between the B.C. Teachers Federation and provincial government continued this week with rotating strikes and a partial lockout still in effect – and the voices of frustrated students and parents joining the fray. Disruptions to the school schedule remained, in spite of an expected three days of ongoing negotiations between the BCTF and B.C. Public School Employers Association. Rotating strikes, which began last week, continued in Surrey Tuesday, while the lockout
– which prevents teachers from assisting students during recess and lunch and limits help before and after school – was still in place. The latest word at Peace Arch News’ press time Wednesday was confirmation that the BCTF is willing to come down by one per cent on its most recent wage demands (a 15.9 per cent increase over four years) – still a long way from the province’s most recent offer (7.25 per cent over six years, plus a signing bonus). The B.C. Labour Relations Board was also due to hand down a ruling on the legality of the government’s decision to cut teachers
pay by 10 per cent during the lockout. B.C. School Trustees Association president Teresa Rezansoff said in a news release that, regardless of the outcome of the ruling, the organization stood by its ‘Stability for Students Action Plan’ emphasizing that student success “must not be compromised in any way.” “The time for serious and concentrated bargaining is now,” she said. “We call on the BCTF and the government to redouble their efforts and negotiate all summer if necessary to end the current unrest.” i see page 4
Contributed photo
Luke Chandra, 8, is carried Monday afternoon from a sandbar near Crescent Beach Marina to the Vigilant by two members of the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue team.
Beached boat turns into foot injury for eight-year-old and family
A razor-sharp lesson in ocean safety Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
Steve Chandra did what he had to do to keep his nephew calm in Boundary Bay Monday afternoon, after the eight-year-old seriously injured his foot on the shell of a razor clam. “I lied to him,” Chandra said, after paramedics whisked the boy to Peace Arch Hospital. The Delta resident said he was taking his son, Jordan, and nephews James and Luke, out boating when the accident occurred. The four were not far out from Crescent Beach
Marina – taking advantage of the teachers’ strike day to meet friends at White Rock pier – when their 19-foot “camping boat” became grounded on a sandbar in the channel. Chandra said he let the three boys swim and play nearby – as the tide continued to recede – to kill time after learning that it would take about an hour for his friend to come get them. Luke was running to rinse his feet off to get back on the boat when he stepped on the shell. “I didn’t really listen to Uncle Steve,” a bandaged Luke said from home Tuesday, referring
to instructions his uncle had given to not run. “I cut it and (fell). I was yelling his name on the ground. At first he was walking, then he saw that my foot was sliced.” At the scene Monday, Chandra said he didn’t realize how bad the injury was until he rinsed his nephew’s foot off with fresh water and pulled at the cut to see how deep it went. “Where he cut it, it went through and through,” he said, gesturing with his hand to show how the boy’s foot had almost been sliced through. i see page 4
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Tracy Holmes photo
Luke Chandra, 8, at home with cousin James and brother Jordan.
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