Thursday August 28 2014
The
Leader
▲ In tune with winning 26
▲ Star-studded ride benefits Sophie’s Place 3
SCHOOL DELAY LIKELY
▶ DISTRACTED DRIVING CITED BY AUTO INSURER AS INJURY CLAIMS RISE
ICBC seeks 5.2% rate hike for drivers
▶ AS CLOCK TICKS DOWN ON THE FIRST DAY OF CLASS, OFFICIALS TELL PARENTS TO ARRANGE CHILDCARE
JEFF NAGEL
good sense of the need. “There’s lots of interest,” she said. “I just don’t want to do anything (that could jeopardize a potential agreement).” Marion Goriak was among parents who had taken Muir up on the offer, after turning to Craigslist to find care for her seven-year-old daughter, Tasha, who is deaf. For Tasha, school is “her whole life,” Goriak said. “It’s her social life,
ICBC is asking regulators to approve a 5.2 per cent increase in basic auto insurance rates. The public auto insurer said the rate hike would cost the average customer an extra $40 per year if approved by the B.C. Utilities Commission (BCUC). The rate hike is to take effect Nov. 1 on an interim basis while the BCUC reviews the application. A previously approved 5.2 per cent rate hike that took effect in 2013-14 means drivers will soon be paying 10.4 per cent more than they did in 2012 for basic coverage. ICBC blamed the latest increase on a continued rise in injury claims costs paid to crash victims for pain and suffering, future care and lost wages. Bodily injury claims hit $1.9 billion in 2013, up $73 million from 2012 and by more than $500 million from five years earlier. Legal and medical costs are also up. Drivers’ rapidly growing use of cellphones and other personal electronic devices behind the wheel is one of the factors ICBC cited for the rise in injury claims. Distracted driving is the second leading cause of fatal car crashes in B.C. – killing 88 people a year – and is the leading cause of rear-end crashes that often cause injuries, spokesman Adam Grossman said. A new campaign against distracted driving is to roll out in September.
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TRACY HOLMES
Surrey school officials are not optimistic parents will receive a last-minute reprieve. In a letter to parents this week, superintendent Jordan Tinney encourages them to “begin to make alternate arrangements for the care of their children.” “While we continue to hope for a resolution at the bargaining table, a deal does not appear to be likely this week,” Tinney writes. He notes that if a deal is reached in the days ahead, “there is still time for schools to open on Sept. 2.” The final week of the summer holiday opened Sunday with a demand in Kamloops from B.C. Teachers Federation (BCTF) president Jim Iker for an immediate start to mediation. No formal bargaining dates are scheduled, but Iker, Education Minister Peter Fassbender and government negotiator Peter Cameron were to meet Wednesday afternoon in Victoria, raising hopes for some
▶ “While we continue to hope for a resolution ... a deal does not appear likely this week.” JORDAN TINNEY
Surrey teachers picketed outside Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary and a handful of other local schools this week. EVAN SEAL movement. Teachers have also stepped up picketing as both sides prepare for the strike to stretch into September. Pickets were up outside select Surrey high schools this week. At the same time, some teachers are offering to fill the daycare void for parents stranded by the strike. Elgin Park Secondary teacher Camila Muir describes the provincial government’s offer of $40 per day to help parents pay for childcare during the teacher strike as “ridiculous.”
The lump sum payouts to parents following the end of the strike will consume all of the $12 million a day in strike savings the government would have amassed going forward. It’s money that would be better spent helping improve the education system, Muir said. She decided to offer daycare in South Surrey as soon as she heard of the funding plan, but decided this week to withdraw her offer following word the work could be deemed a breach of union policy. She said her online ad gave her a
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