EN IB WEEK PRIME R T $21.99 STARTING A
DS
Delicious Prime Rib Dinner Every Fri., Sat., & Sun after 4pm
Election analysis NDP expected
to play leadership role in Ottawa. PAGE 7
FREE
C&S TRANSMISSION
DESSERT
SPECIALTIES LTD.
with prime rib promotion
“EXPERT SERVICE SERVED RIGHT”
IMO HWY., NANA 6550 ISLAND3 9 0 - 1 2 2 7 250-
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2015
6852 Mart Rd. LANTZVILLE
www.nanaimobulletin.com
VOL. 27, NO. 47
Voters send Malcolmson to Ottawa
Threats of closure impact enrolment
BY GREG SAKAKI
I
THE NEWS BULLETIN
Nanaimo’s new MP is hopeful her party will be able to work together with a majority Liberal government, for Vancouver Island and for Canada. Sheila Malcolmson of the New Democratic Par ty was elected in the Nanaimo-Ladysmith riding on Monday with 33.1 per cent of the popular vote and a margin of victory of 6,500 votes. She is expected to be sworn in next m o n t h , re p l a c i n g Nanaimo-Alberni’s James Lunney and Nanaimo-Cowichan’s Jean Crowder. Malcolmson pointed out that in the past, New Democrats and Liberals co-operated on initiatives such as public health care, old-age security and the Canada Pension Plan. “We want a lot of the same things and I’m confident we’ll be able to work together,” Malcolmson said. “I’m taking [Prime Minister designate Justin] Trudeau at his word that he wants the best for the whole country and he wants to represent all Canadians.” See ‘NDP’ /7
250.390.1871
PARENTS WORRY instability leads to fewer students. BY KARL YU THE NEWS BULLETIN
KARL YU/THE NEWS BULLETIN
Park planting
Graeme Corsan was among neighbourhood volunteers planting trees at Hawthorne Park Saturday. The City of Nanaimo beat out 125 applicants and was awarded $13,300 from TD Friends of the Environment Foundation and Tree Canada, as part of TD’s Green Streets program. The money will be used to plant trees at Hawthorne Park, which had large portions burned in a brush fire this summer.
Quality & Service at Budget Prices Quote Of The Week
I can resist anything except temptation.
Woodlands Secondary community members say the school’s history of being on the chopping block is having an effect on enrolment. The high school has been considered for both closure and rebuild by various Nanaimo school district boards in the past, and under a current proposal, could be closed in June 2016. The school district said Woodlands has a projected student count of 514 in 2015, with functional capacity of 700. If closed, students would be distributed to Nanaimo District and Wellington secondary schools, leading to enhanced programming and greater support for students, according to the school district. Stakeholders attended a closure consultation meeting Tuesday night. Joshua Holloway, a Grade 12 student at Woodlands, said its status has been a roller-coaster ride throughout his high school years. When he entered Grade 8, it was thought a new school would be built. “Year by year, I started
Fogged up sealed units can easily be replaced. Call us for an estimate. 3900 ISLAND HWY. N.
| 250.758.3374
to realize this could possibly, actually, happen and this year when they said there’s a strong potential that Woodlands could close this year, while I was sad, there was also a sense of, we kind of saw this one coming,” he said. Chris Sholberg, who has a child enrolled in Grade 8, said the long-standing threat of closure is a legitimate concern. “There’s no way to quantify it necessarily or statistically or anything, but it’s sort of the perception,” said Sholberg. “We just know other families that were in the area that chose to go elsewhere just because they figured the school was going to be closing.” Steve Rae, board chairman, said the threat of closure’s effect on enrolment is a fair observation. He empathizes with parents, but the board must deal with the facts. “I know I will consider it, but we have to base things on the facts of where we are today. That is speculation, it is a fair speculation ... but I know that all trustees will go through whatever they need to go through on each of the schools we’re discussing to come to an educated decision on what we do with that school and others in the district,” Rae said. reporter@nanaimobulletin.com
No need to go to ICBC, come directly to us!
| www.budgetglass.com