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Kwantlen commitment for Grizzly grad.
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Government wins appeal on class size Tom Fletcher Black Press
Const. Jodi Lymburner (left) and Cpl. Nicole Delagorgendiere were at UFV Trades and Technology Centre Thursday handing out steering wheel locks to students and staff who own some of the top-ten stolen vehicles listed by ICBC. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Pre-emptive attack on climbing car thefts Older vehicles still a favourite target Jennifer Feinberg The Progress It might sound counterintuitive, but older vehicles are at a higher risk of being stolen than flashy new ones. The number one vehicle stolen in the Fraser Valley was either a 1998 or 2000 Honda Civic, according to the Top 10 list from ICBC. The older Hondas are second only to F-series Ford trucks from 2005 or 2006. Using a steering wheel lock or an immobilizer can go a long way toward preventing auto
theft. That’s the thinking as Chilliwack RCMP, and ICBC team up this week to launch Operation Lock Up, a program to help protect older model vehicles from being stolen with free steering wheel locks. They’ve got 100 locks to give away over the next while, and the timing couldn’t be more perfect. “Auto crime is on the rise in B.C. for the first time in a decade,” said RCMP Cpl. Nicole Delagorgendiere. The first month of 2015 in Chilliwack saw 44 vehicles
stolen, compared to only 18 in January 2014, which shows it more than doubled from the same time last year. In February 2014, there were 27 vehicles stolen, and 32 in February of 2015. The activities and movements of known prolific offenders make a big impact when it comes to auto crime, said the officer in charge of community policing in Chilliwack. Four car thieves that came to town earlier in the year were put out of commission when they were taken into custody, and by the end of February the auto theft numbers were down. “Our theft of auto and theft from auto rates often correlate
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with who recently gets out of custody and who goes in,” she said. Officials are trying to get across the message that “prevention and education” are key, and are targeting owners that don’t have immobilizers installed with the lock-up program. It may be obvious, but it’s crucial for owners to lock and secure their vehicles each and every time. Nothing should be left inside the vehicle. Anything in view can be a target, from soughtafter purses, laptops, or GPS systems, to something as simple as that loonie or toonie left in the tray. Continued: STOLEN/ p10
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The B.C. Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of the B.C. government on the longrunning dispute with the B.C. Teachers’ Federation over the removal of class size and special needs support formulas from classrooms. In a lengthy judgment released Thursday, four of five appeal court judges found that the province did not infringe on the constitutional rights of teachers to bargain working conditions. The appeal court pointed out numerous errors in the 2011 judgment of B.C. Supreme Court Justice Susan Griffin, and overturned her order that the government pay $2 million in damages, which has been paid to the union. BCTF president Jim Iker said the decision is “very disappointing” the union will seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada in its bid to restore classroom rules the government removed from its contract in 2002. “All teachers are looking for is workable and teachable classrooms,” Iker said. Education Minister Peter Fassbender said the changes made to classroom organization in the disputed period have led to “dramatic improvements in student outcomes, particularly for students with special needs.” The B.C. education ministry has argued that caps on class size and number of students in each class with personalized learning plans were unduly restrictive. The NDP government of the late 1990s negotiated a settlement where the BCTF gave up salary increases in exchange for class size caps, specialist teacher levels and limits on the number of designated special needs students in each class. The appeal court decision leaves in place efforts by the government to settle the bitter dispute, including a provision in the current contract to pay $105 million to the union to retire thousands of grievances filed over class size and composition. The six-year contract signed last fall after a lengthy strike also includes additional preparation time and a “learning improvement fund” to deal with special needs support.