Langley Times, June 12, 2014

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All in the Family

THURSDAY June 12, 2014 • www.langleytimes.com NEWS Challenges of Special Needs

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BUSINESS G&F Lands in Langley

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SPORTS Cardinals Crowned Champs

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Fort dragon boaters up for award DAN FERGUSON Times Reporter

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Members of the Abreast with FORTitude dragon boat team, seen here in a 2013 national competition, are up for an award for their part in rescuing a man from drowning.

Some dragon boat racers are up for a Township of Langley commendation for saving a man from drowning in Bedford Channel in Fort Langley on April 14. According to a written description of the incident, distributed to Township council, the man was rowing without a life jacket around 10 a.m. when he suffered a cramp and fell into the water. Jan Choquete, a member of the Fast and Furious dragon boat team, alerted other boaters, directing them to help. A man on the Fort Langley Canoe Club dock, who wishes to remain anonymous, jumped in the water and swam to the floundering man and kept his head above the water until members of The Abreast with FORTitude dragon boat racers arrived. “The fellow in the water, he was not staying afloat,” said team coach Juanita Peglar. “He wasn’t able to swim, his head was going under the water, I think had it been in many more moments he wouldn’t have made it.” The dragon boat racers put lifejackets on both men and towed them to shore.

The account of the incident suggested several people should be considered for commendation by the Township, including Choquette, the unnamed man who swam to the drowning man, and members of the Abreast with Fortitude team, including team steersperson Heather Innis. At the urging of Councillor Charlie Fox, council has agreed to refer the details of the incident to Township fire chief Stephen Gamble for consideration. “I think that should be recognized,” Fox said. The Abreast with Fortitude team is one of six crews of Abreast In A Boat, the world’s first breast cancer dragon boat team. An online entry about the team says Abreast in a Boat was started to disprove the then-commonly-held theory that women who had undergone breast cancer surgery should not do rigorous upper body exercise. The team has won multiple medals at various competitions including the Canadian National Championships (Silver), the False Creek Womens’ Regatta — Scotiabank Breast Cancer Race (Gold), the Nanaimo Breast Cancer Survivors Challenge (Gold) and the Rio Tinto Breast Cancer Challenge (Gold).

Teachers vote in favour of full-scale strike BCTF HOLDS OFF ON ISSUING OFFICIAL STRIKE NOTICE JEFF NAGEL Black Press

B.C. teachers have voted in favour of a full walkout to put maximum pressure on the provincial government, but their union did not immediately move to issue

72-hour strike notice. The result of the vote, conducted Monday and Tuesday, was 86 per cent in favour, or 28,809 out of 33,387 ballots cast. B.C. Teachers Federation president Jim Iker called it a “very

strong message” to the province. “So far this government has come to the table empty-handed, it’s time to change that,” Iker said Tuesday night. He said while teachers are prepared to go to a full-scale strike that’s “a decision we never take lightly” and would depend on how talks proceed with the pro-

vincial government. “You’ve got to remain hopeful that government has learned from the past mistakes they’ve made,” Iker said, who referred to the union’s legal battle with the province over class size and composition and “the government’s chaotic lockout.” The earliest a full-scale strike

could begin is Monday and with no strike notice issued as of Wednesday it appeared the strike start could shift to next Tuesday or later. Langley schools will be closed Friday, as part of the current rotating strikes. Continued Page 4

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