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KAMLOOPS THIS WEEK THURSDAY
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DECEMBER 10, 2015 | Volume 28 No. 148
TIB councillor wants inquiry to subpoena CAM FORTEMS
STAFF REPORTER
cam@kamloopsthisweek.com
A Tk’emlups Indian Band councillor who has volunteered on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside wants a inquiry into murdered and missing women to have the power to subpoena witnesses. Viola Thomas, newly elected to band council in November, is in Ottawa this week attending an Assembly of First Nations conference and hopes to meet with those designing the inquiry. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told First Nations leaders from
MORE FROM OTTAWA Band chief likes pledges Page A6 across Canada his government will stand by its promise for an inquiry, rejected by the former Conservative government. The Liberal government said it will immediately consult with survivors, family members of victims and community leaders. Beginning in January, it will stage consultation meetings. Key questions include who should oversee the inquiry, who should be heard, its length and issues to be considered. “Prior to coming back to my community, I lived for years in Vancouver and did a lot of volunteer work on
the Downtown Eastside, where many indigenous women were murdered and went missing,” Thomas told KTW. She said a critical power for the commission will be the ability to subpoena witnesses, particularly those in policing. “There’s so many studies done, but the challenge with previous studies is many didn’t have the power to subpoena witnesses from the justice system — police or coroners,” Thomas said. “That’s why this is so badly needed.” Thomas knows the family of Tk’emlups Indian Band member Samantha Paul, whose remains were found in a rural area outside Kamloops in the spring 2014. Police have said only that her death is “suspicious.” Thomas said Paul’s family and others like them need more assurance deaths aren’t treated as a byproduct of living on the streets. She added, however, that not all missing or murdered women “lived risky lives. “They weren’t necessarily marginalized or vulnerable. It cuts across all classes of women and girls.” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said those touched by the tragedy have waited long enough. “The victims deserve justice; their families, an opportunity to heal and to be heard,’’ Trudeau said yesterday. — with files from The Canadian Press
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South Kamloops secondary principal Rick Kielein (left), Education Minister Mike Bernier and KamloopsThompson board of education chairwoman Denise Harper speak with Grade 11 students Jessie Keith (left) and Jade Stobbart about the use of bilingualism and future career paths for the soon-to-be graduates. The education minister also toured Bert Edwards science and technology school during his visit yesterday.
MINISTER BECOMES STUDENT
DALE BASS
STAFF REPORTER
dale@kamloopsthisweek.com
When Mike Bernier was in Grade 6, he was memorizing multiplication tables. This week, the province’s education minister watched students in that grade learning about math and problem solving through coding and Lego-robotics. It’s part of a tour Bernier is making throughout the province, learning about his new portfolio. Bernier visited Bert Edwards
science and technology school, along with South Kamloops secondary, because he wanted to see a school of choice in action. He saw plenty. In Melody Steffenson’s Grade 5 class, Bernier saw students on their feet, engaged in a form of learning school principal Paul Hembling explained was focused on vertical spaces. What Bernier said he saw were young students working together to solve problems and sharing ideas as they learned by doing. The next stop was Justin
Hummel’s grades 3/4 class, where students were learning about science current events — in particular, the idea being promoted by businessman and inventor Elon Musk to create a hyperloop to transform the transportation system. Hummel explained the concept in real-life terms for his young students, asking them to think about going to Costco with their families and seeing the cashiers sending paperwork through a tube system. See NEW, A6
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