Leadership chat
Juan de Fuca MLA talks about life in corner office Page A3
COMMUNITY: Colwood selects “selfie” winner /A4 NEWS: Langford Lake lot at issue on Goldstream /A5 NEWS: Students rally against flavoured tobacco /A19
GOLDSTREAM
NEWS GAZETTE
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Deborah Coburn 250.812.5333
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Roy Coburn 250.812.1989
www.vicnews.com
‘Yes’ vote doesn’t mean full walkout by teachers SD62 schools picketed today Don Descoteau News staff
Don Descoteau/News staff
James Menke, a practitioner and instructor of Greenland kayaking, finishes up one of 35 different rolls that competitors will be tested on at next month’s National Greenland Kayaking Championships in that country. The Langford resident and a teammate will be Canada’s first-ever team entry into the traditional Inuit event.
Tradition key to competition Langford kayaking expert heading to Greenland for national championship Don Descoteau News staff
In the calm water of Langford Lake, which sits conveniently below his Goldstream Avenue home, James Manke runs through a
series of rolls in his kayak. A practitioner of the traditional Greenland kayaking style and a professional instructor in the discipline, Manke has spent the past few years honing his technique on each of 35 different rolls included on the list for competitors in the sport. Why the need for so many different types of rolls, one might ask? “As a hunter, if you went in the water, you were dead,” he said, referring to the frigid sea temperature that even in summer hovers
Some choices are hard.
a couple of degrees above freezing. The ability to escape potentially deadly situations when out on the lonely sea was critical for hunters whose primary task was to bring back food for their families to last through winter, Manke said. “Because these traditional hunters went out alone, their survival depended on it,” he said. PLEASE SEE: Icy-cold waters, Page A14
As members of the Sooke Teachers Association picket schools in the Sooke district today, work continues on attempting to forge a deal between B.C. teachers and the province. On Monday, Sooke Teachers Association president Ian Johnston pointed out that a yes mandate from the B.C. Teachers’ Federation membership does not necessarily mean a full-scale walkout is imminent. “A strong ‘yes’ vote does not mean the BCTF would automatically go to a full withdrawal of services,” he said. “We have no interest in going out. I don’t think it’s good for students and it’s not good for parents.” While Sooke School District teachers wound up their voting on Monday – most voted in the advance poll held Friday, when the SD62 was off on a rotating strike – the provincial strike vote was scheduled to be completed yesterday, after the Gazette deadline. Johnston said the strike vote was held mainly to increase the pressure on the government in negotiations. “It’s more the signal it sends to government; how strong is our resolve. That’s really what it’s all about,” he said. editor@goldstreamgazette.com
Some are easy.
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