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Y O U R C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R • F O U N D E D I N 1 8 9 1 • W W W. T H E P R O G R E S S . C O M • F R I D AY, O C T O B E R 9 , 2 0 1 5
School board makes historic acknowledgment
■ I N T IME F OR T HANKSGIVING
Jessica Peters The Progress School trustees have made a small but significant change to their meeting protocol that will acknowledge local First Nation history. At the beginning of each board meeting, they will acknowledge that they are carrying out their work on traditional Sto:lo territory. It’s an announcement that’s already made at many larger ceremonial events, such n aas awards nights This iis th Thi the h and graduations, formally traditional and informally land of the in speeches. But after a brief Sto:lo people discussion and a failed amendment, it will now ~ Dan become a regular Coulter opening statement at meetings, as well. The motion was presented by Trustee Dan Coulter, and supported by Trustees Barry Neufeld, Walt Krahn and Paul McManus. Trustees Heather Maahs and Silvia Dick, board chair, both opposed the motion, preferring an amended version that asked board to support making the same announcement only once a year, at the first meeting in September. The differences of opinions sparked a short debate on the purpose of the statement, and drew some passionate arguments on either side. When challenged by Maahs on who the statement was referring to, and what land the statement was speaking to, Coulter said it could apply to the entire school district. “The beauty of this motion is that it’s the truth and there is nothing wrong with telling the truth,” he said. “This is the traditional land of the Sto:lo people.” Maahs called the motion to acknowledge the Sto:lo land history “condescending” and argued that it wouldn’t help with the education of students — the board’s main goal.
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Continued: STO:LO/ p6
John Guliker wades into a sea of red as he begins the annual cranberry harvest at Better Berries farm in Chilliwack. The 36-acre bog was flooded on October 1, yielding 210 barrels per acre of cranberries to be processed through Ocean Spray. SAM BATES/ PROGRESS
Candidates trade shots at Culture Centre debate Jessica Peters The Progress A young girl named Cadence stepped up the microphone Wednesday night, facing the full panel of six federal election candidates. She had waited a half hour to reach the microphone, and it will be years before she will be old enough to mark a ballot. Neither of these things stopped her from addressing what she sees as the biggest problem in Chilliwack — homelessness. As was the rule with everyone stepping up to the microphone at the All Candidates Debate at the
Chilliwack Cultural Centre, she had to address just one candidate. She chose the NDP’s Seonaigh MacPherson, and asked what could be done better at the Yale Road overpass near McDonald’s. MacPherson then asked the child what she would want to do about it. Cadence wasn’t sure. “I have to walk by them on my way to the Leisure Centre,” Cadence said. “The fence doesn’t help. They’re still there, you know. They’re still there.” While someone on the panel noted that it’s more of a city problem, federal funding was given to 15 communities to deal with homelessness — but not Chilliwack.
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After asking the young girl what she would do about the problem, MacPherson then explained the NDP’s housing strategy. Green Party candidate Thomas Cheney took the question on as well, saying that it would cost less to house the homeless than to allow them to live on the streets. “The City of Chilliwack’s approach is heartless,” he said. “It’s an embarrassment to the community.” But that was about as hyperlocal as the questions got in the two-and-a-half hour debate. Most of the questioning — from the microphone but also taken via Twitter and delivered by mod-
ANNIVERSARY
erator Paul Henderson — focused on national issues such as the economy, terrorism, daycare policies, Canada Post, and the TransPacific Partnership deal. Liberal candidate Louie DeJaeger pointed out that “nobody is going to know what’s in that deal (TPP) until after the election.” Cheney, who has a minor in economics, said that free trade has not proven itself in the past and that jobs will be lost if the 12-country trade deal goes through. Dorothy-Jean O’Donnell, the perennial Marxist Leninist candidate, spoke up about the trade Continued: VOTER/ p4
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