NATION & WORLD
Ex-Nanaimo Mountie’s suit seeks class action Case started by Janet Merlo alleging discrimination and harassment may be joined by hundreds more. A6
NANAIMO REGION
Healing continues es
Tot on a tractor makes his community cleaner
Next step in residential school ol process is accepting the truth, h, says commission head
Luca Finetti, 3, gets on his toy ride-on tractor and with his dad scouts the area of Diver Lake for trash. A3
Nation & World, A7
The newspaper of record for Nanaimo and region since 1874 || Tuesday, June 2, 2015
» Weather
EDUCATION
May was the third-driest on record for Nanaimo area
VIU grads celebrate years of hard work SPENCER ANDERSON DAILY NEWS
Experts say we can expect a hot summer. “The forecast for summer is warmer than normal,” Phillips said. Forecasting can be tricky, but he said current trends are so strong national climatologists’ “greatest confidence . . . is for our forecast for British Columbia, and that’s 95 per cent — it’s like a done deal. I don’t think we’ve ever been this confident as how this summer will unfold.” Showers today won’t likely give the ground a good soaking, Phillips said. The normal temperature this time of year is 18° C, but by Friday the thermometer is expected to reach 23° C, then 26° C on Saturday and 27° C Sunday. “It’s great for tourism, but B.C. needs water,” Phillips said.
Nearly 1,000 Vancouver Island University students will cross the stage this week to graduate at convocation. A string of ceremonies, which kicked off Monday, will run until Wednesday at the Port Theatre. Students from across all academic disciplines will receive masters’ and bachelor degrees, certificates and diplomas. Lt.-Gov. Judith Guichon is scheduled to address graduates today at 2:40 p.m. Several significant academic and teaching awards are also slated to be given out over the course of the three-day event. Jayson Sinnott, a graduate of the university’s bachelor of science in nursing program, also received the Governor General’s Academic Silver Medal Monday for achieving the highest marks in the school. The day was a sweet one for the former paramedic, who at age 40 was one of the older students in his program. Sinnott said he had originally intended to become a nurse, but it fell by the wayside for a few years due to family and other circumstances. He calls his graduation “a team effort.” Sinnott said the payoff was a gratifying four years of the hard work and long, “sleepless” nights of studying that he and his family went through. “It feels really rewarding and it kind of takes the edge off the pain we put up with over the last four years,” said the father of two. He encouraged other graduates and prospective students to “follow your passion.” Two VIU alumni and several faculty members are also being recognized this week. Vancouver Island First Nations artist Art Vickers received the 2015 Honorary Doctorate of Letters from VIU for his body of work. Fellow VIU graduate Dr. Skye Creba, an emergency room physician at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, is receiving the Early Achievement Award from the university on Wednesday.
Darrell.Bellaart @nanaimodailynews.com 250-729-4235
Spencer.Anderson @nanaimodailynews.com 250-729-4255
Shayday Laird, 4, plays with a stick while keeping cool at the Nanaimo River. [JULIE CHADWICK/DAILY NEWS]
Just five millimetres of rain; hot summer coming DARRELL BELLAART DAILY NEWS
T
he third-driest May on record in Nanaimo ended on Sunday and climate experts say it’s a taste of what’s in store for summer. Just five millimetres of rain fell in Nanaimo in all of May. Only twice has less rain been recorded since record-keeping first started, back in the 1800s, said David Phillips, senior climatologist for Environment Canada. The average for May in Nanaimo is 55 millimetres of precipitation. In May 1947, 2.5 mm was recorded, while just 4.1 mm fell in 1914. “It’s also warmer than normal, by two degrees Celsius,” said Phillips. That much of an increase is enough to drive up the forest fire hazard ratings while reducing stream and river levels, which affects fish habitat.
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Cloudy, showers High 17, Low 12 Details A2
“It’s like a hot tub out there. And that seems to be feeding this high-pressure (system) sitting out there like an unwanted house guest.” David Phillips, climatologist
A large body of unusually warm water in the north Pacific is responsible. “It’s like a hot tub out there,” Phillips said. “And that seems to be feeding this high-pressure (system) sitting out there like an unwanted house guest.” It makes for pleasant weather, but rain is needed by farmers, to control forest fires and to fill streams and rivers.
It’s a continuation of a trend. Since January, just 401 mm of rainfall has fallen, much of that in February. That’s 75 per cent of normal for the period: 550 mm. “April and May have been clearly on the dry side and every month but one is warmer than normal,” Phillips said. Nanaimo public works staff started to prepare early, when the winter snowpack failed to materialize. “We were anticipating not having a late spring runoff, so we started filling up our reservoir early,” said Bill Sims, city manager of water services. “Now we’re starting to use that storage, about a month earlier than normal,” Sims said. If it gets worse, stage two watering restrictions — twice weekly — may be considered. City parks staff are watering some parks less, leaving some brown grass, said Al Britton, city parks manager.
VI Raiders recruits start getting to work
China brings in tough new anti-smoking law
The Vancouver Island Raiders announced their 2015 recruiting class on Monday, one they hope will bring them back into Canadian junior football’s elite. » Sports, B2
While members of the public expressed support for the ban, it remained to be seen how uniformly the new rules would be heeded and enforced. » Health, B1
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