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Film explores life of aging starlet
Lantzville councillors have say on staff treatment Four Lantzville councillors have signed a letter that has been sent to district homes stating the councillors ‘do not condone’ inappropriate behaviour from ‘some members of council.’ A3
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Juliette Binoche stars in ‘Clouds of Sils Maria,’ about surviving the movie industry
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The newspaper of record for Nanaimo and region since 1874 || Friday, April 10, 2015
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EDUCATION
Lunney exits early from his own news conference
School board recommends re-opening Cedar facility ROBERT BARRON DAILY NEWS
MP James Lunney speaks to media Thursday in his office. The former Tory party member, who now sits as an independent after claiming he wanted freedom to speak about his beliefs, refused to answer some questions and left early from the news conference that he had called. [AARON HINKS/DAILY NEWS]
MP asserts views on evolution, Christianity SPENCER ANDERSON DAILY NEWS
I
ndependent MP James Lunney launched a fiery defence Thursday of his decision to resign from the federal Conservative caucus last week to defend his religious beliefs. But the Nanaimo-Alberni MP also walked out of his own press conference at his constituency office after becoming agitated with reporters’ questions, several of which he refused to directly answer. Lunney lashed out against journalists and critics and maintains he is standing up against “bigotry” levelled against Christians in Canada, and also claims he fears others will be a targeted as he says he has been.
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His resignation from the Conservatives came after a post he made on social media site Twitter in February, where he said: “No problem with ‘scientific theory;’ Just stop calling evolution fact.” The tweet was posted in defence of an Ontario Progressive Conservative MPP who had told reporters he did not believe in evolution. On Thursday, Lunney maintained he was forced by uproar from the comment into making the choice to sit as an independent. He blamed members of the media and online “trolls” for the controversy.
He repeated those views at the press conference. “It’s clear that evolution is a theory, not a fact, and apparently words do matter,” he said. “But my question is, who is funding the campaign by militant atheists to discredit a Christian world view in Canada?” Lunney cited bar associations that refused to accredit future law school graduates from Trinity Western University — a private school that prohibits sexual intimacy outside of heterosexual marriage — as an example of discrimination against Christians. The B.C. government has also revoked approval for the TWU law school. Lunney also cited criticism leveled against him by Ian Capstick, a former
NDP strategist and self-professed “militant atheist.” He also pointed to a challenge by Ontario doctors to a provincial policy requiring them to prescribe birth control. “I want to ask this question: What is the role of the MP for one, but what’s the role of the media in stirring up controversy?” said Lunney “A few words on Twitter, inflated on social media got wrapped up by the CBC, became a national story on March 2, which of course spread intolerance and bigotry from another century down on this MP, and I think it’s a trial run for what they’re attempting to do others across the country.” See LUNNEY, Page A3
The closed Cedar Secondary School may get another lease on life. Trustee Natasha Bob made a successful motion at to reopen CSS as a Grade 8-12 school in the fall of 2016 at Wednesday’s business committee meeting. CSS was closed in June in a controversial decision as part of efforts to deal with declining enrolment in RAE the NanaimoLadysmith school district. School board chairman Steve Rae said Bob’s recommendation came after the results of the district’s Your Voice 2015 survey indicated that 53 per cent of the more than 1,300 respondents to the question said they wanted the school reopened. Rae said only about 300 of those respondents were from Cedar. He said the board is expected to make the final decision by the end of the month. Rae said the board is moving forward quickly to make a decision about CSS because the district had scheduled money to soon be spent on the project to convert the CSS into an elementary school. “Staff have been asked to prepare a report on what steps are to be taken to update the rest of the facilities plan based on this recommendation and the rest of the input from the survey,” Rae said. “The facilities plan is a living document and things change so we have to have a realistic approach to it.” Trustee Jamie Brennan, who voted against the reopening of CSS, said the decision had already been “preordained.” “They misled the public with this sham of a review process,” he said. “If the board decides to reopen CSS, it will add another 450 seats to our secondary capacity in addition to the extra 2,000 we already had before that. It just means more empty classrooms in the district.” Rae, Bob, Scott Kimler, Stephanie Higginson, Noah Routley and Jeff Solomon voted to reopen the school while Brennan, Tania Brzovic and Bill Robinson voted against it. RBarron@nanaimodailynews.com 250-729-4234
Vancouver beaches fouled by fuel spill
Blaze in south end leaves six homeless
While the spill surrounds a foreign cargo ship, the crew has denied anything was coming from the grain vessel. Transport Canada is now investigating. » British Columbia, A7
A Nanaimo RCMP officer who saw the fire woke residents at the Nicol Street house shortly around 1 a.m. Thursday. Everyone escaped unharmed. » Nanaimo Region, A3
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Kit Harington stars in “Game of Thrones”
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