BIGGER OFF-LEASH AREA APPROVED
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ALBERTA STREET GETS A DIVERTER
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GETTING TOUGH ON STUDENT LOANS
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FRIDAY
MARCH 6 2015 www.burnabynewsleader.com
A New Westminster nurse and her Italian boyfriend are puttering around the globe on a Vespa. PAGE A3
New West family continues battle for better diabetes care Mario Bartel
photo@newwestnewsleader.com
MARIO BARTEL/NEWSLEADER
Claude LeDoux, co-ordinator of New Westminster Plant a Row-Grow a Row, is ready to get to work in his garden. The community initiative that encourages backyard gardeners to plant an extra row to donate to their local food bank, kicks off with its Spring Gardeners’ Party on March 12 at 6 p.m. The event, to be held at St. Thomas More Collegiate, features a panel of experts like Brian Minter, the national co-ordinator for Plant a Row-Grow a Row, Pasquale Porico, who will speak about mason bees, Mike Campbell who will talk about edible gardening, and June Hewko of Lee Valley tools who will speak about new implements for the home gardener. Admission is free, but a donation of non-perishable food items to the Food Bank is appreciated.
New deadline for Woodlands claims Court denies request for 10-year extension; now due Sept. 16, 2016 Mario Bartel
photo@newwestnewsleader.com
The law firm handling claims in the settlement of a class action lawsuit filed by former patients at the Woodlands School in New Westminster has until Sept. 16, 2016 to sort through those claims. The law firm, Klein Lyons, had applied to B.C. Supreme Court
for a 10-year extension to the claims deadline. The province said a further six months would be sufficient. In her judgment released on Feb. 23, Madame Justice Lauri Ann Fenlon said the case is unique because many of the eligible claimants can’t self-identify as having been wronged. But, she said, “the time has come to draw a firm line.” The class action suit was originally filed in August, 2002 on
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behalf of child and adult patients at Woodlands who had alleged physical, sexual and psychological abuse during their care. Mediation that began in the spring of 2009 led to a settlement that October. The settlement created a process for members of the suit to file claims for compensation that could range from $3,000 to $150,000. The original deadline to file for those claims was Sept. 19, 2011. But as that deadline passed, only 10 claims had been filed, so the
Supreme Court granted a one-year extension, citing the complicated and time-consuming nature of processing those claims as many of the former residents couldn’t read or write or were non-verbal. Many also didn’t have family members to assist them with the claims process. When only a few more claimants filed by the second deadline, another one-year extension was granted. The filing process was also simplified and some cases had been resolved. Please see JUDGE RECOGNIZES, A8
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A New West parent may have won the battle for better care for her daughter’s Type 1 diabetes while she’s in school. But Guilly Milburn says she still hasn’t won the war. So she’s joining another family in a similar situation in Surrey to file a human rights complaint against the Ministries of Health, Education, and Children and Family Development. The complaint asks the ministries to offer individualized care plans for kids with Type 1 diabetes. “All kids have the right to attend school safely,” said Laura Johnston of the Community Legal Assistance Society which is working with the parents on the complaint. “This raises an issue of accommodation of children with a physical disability, and Type 1 is a disability.” Child Health B.C. estimates there are approximately 2,200 children under 19 years of age with Type 1 in the province, with another 220 new cases diagnosed every year. NO GUARANTEE, A3