TUESDAY FEBRUARY 3, 2015
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DANCING AT THE PORT
BUILDING A BIG BOAT IN COOMBS
Parksville dance company takes its skills to Nanaimo show
A 60-foot, 70-ton commercial fishing vessel is being built at Independent Shipwrights
A26
A21
LOCAL MLA PROMOTED
Stilwell in cabinet
Swearing-in ceremony last night; replaces Don McRae JOHN HARDING editor@pqbnews.com
A double gold medalist on the track, Michelle Stilwell is accustomed to speedy achievements. Eighteen months into her first job as an elected official on any level, the Parksville-Qualicum MLA took her place in the inner circle of the provincial government on Monday. Stilwell was sworn into cabinet as the Minister of Social Development and Social Innovation, replacing fellow Islander Don McRae, who resigned for personal reasons last week. “I have lots of reading and briefing binders to go through,” Stilwell told The NEWS on Friday shortly after learning about her promotion and recently returned from a vacation with her family. “I’m well rested and ready to hit the ground running.” Stilwell said she wasn’t sure what to expect last week when her phone indicated she was getting a text from Premier Christy Clark. “You know it’s either good or bad when the premier is texting you,” she said. Stilwell replaces Comox Valley MLA McRae, who told the Comox Valley Record he was resigning due to a family health concern. “When you’re a cabinet minister, you get the province owning you a bit,” McRae said Friday, his 45th birthday. “I spent a lot of my time, when the legislature was not sitting, visiting stakeholders around the province. I think that’s a really important job as a cabinet minister, but at some stage you want to make sure you’re there for your family. Family health is super important to me.” McRae gave Stilwell a vote of confidence. “”I’m excited for her,” he said. “She’s a great new MLA. I have full confidence in her.” See STILWELL, page A5
AUREN RUVINSKY PHOTO
Members of the Phoenix Pain Management Society marched to Parksville city hall on Thursday to speak with Mayor Marc Lefebvre about policing priorities around medical marijuana.
MARCH ON PARKSVILLE CITY HALL
Dispensary debate heating up CANDACE WU news@pqbnews.com
Eight medical marijuana users went to Parksville city hall Thursday in support of a compassion club, but were told “municipalities have little power over the issue,” by Mayor Marc Lefebvre. The supporters and patients of Phoenix Pain Management Society like John Whitlock asked that the city “considers asking police to shift their priorities, based on the people’s will.” (Oceanside RCMP Staff Sgt. Brian Hunter was scheduled to appear before Parksville city council Monday
night. See Thursday’s edition of The NEWS for a report on that meeting.) With a federal election on the horizon, and marijuana legislation in flux, The NEWS asked candidates about their stance on Phoenix’s Parksville location. Vancouver Island North incumbent Conservative MP John Duncan, who is running in the new CourtenayAlberni riding that includes Parksville Qualicum Beach, said he’s “not a fan” of pot dispensaries. “We (the Conservative Party) have moved to ensure these kinds of facili-
ties are not in existence so any that are in existence are only there because people are choosing to ignore the law,” said Duncan, adding the government has “created circumstances for the production of medical marijuana (through Health Canada).” He said Health Canada has a “distribution methodology and anything else is improper and not legal.” Duncan said “in contrast certainly to the Liberal position,” he doesn’t support legalizing marijuana in the future. See TORY APPROACH, page A5 Also See EDITORIAL, page A10
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