THURSDAYMARCH 10, 2016
Black Press C O M M U N I T Y
N E W S
M E D I A
www.pqbnews.com
CCNA BCYCNA
General Excellence
SPRING FORWARD
SPOTLIGHT ON PLACE NAMES
Don’t forget to move your clocks ahead on Saturday night
Ever wonder how the towns and cities of Vancouver Island got their names?
A5
A REMINDER IT COULD OPEN THIS YEAR
A trail to Coombs Route will end within sight of Goats on Roof AUREN RUVINSKY writer@pqbnews.com
A trail along the E&N Railway from Parksville to Coombs that has been in the works for eight years, could be finished this year. “It will be, it has to be — we’ll have shovels in the ground by the end of May,” said Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) Parks and Trail Coordinator Joan Michel. The RDN board gave the green light in February after shuffling some budget priorities and receiving the latest cost update, Michel said. “We like to locate trailheads in public parks,” she said, explaining the benefits of parking and infrastructure like washrooms, “so the trailhead in Parksville will be in Springwood Park, which is perfectly located.” Following 2009 design guidelines established with the right-of-way owning non-profit Island Corridor Foundation (ICF), local governments and interests, the trail will be three metres wide, hard-packed gravel following beside the rail line to Station Road in Coombs, within sight of the Goats on the Roof tourist destination. The goal is a 290-km bike and pedestrian trail along the entire length of the railway from Victoria to Port Alberni and Courtenay, and some districts like Victoria and Cowichan already have completed sections, but this will be the first in the RDN, Michel said. Though the new trail will initially be a sevenkilometre standalone segment, it will connect with work being done by Parksville around the new water treatment facility, which will eventually extend the existing Top Bridge trail system to Springwood Park and total around 20 km. See PROJECT TO COST, page A8
TONY MARKLE PHOTO
MINE, MINE, MINE: Our thanks to reader Tony Markle for sharing this photo of gulls fighting over herring. Markle took the photo on Monday at French Creek Marina. Markle was using a Canon 5DSR with a 100-400 mm lens with a 1.4x teleconverter. The roe herring gillnet fishery in the Strait of Georgia opened on Sunday, with most of the action centred east of Denman Island.
FEDERAL POLITICS
MP likens Liberal policy to Trump JOHN HARDING
editor@pqbnews.com
The federal Liberals need to change their definition of ‘middle class’ because right now they seem to be following a Donald Trump model, says Courtenay-Alberni MP Gord Johns. On Monday, Johns (CourtenayAlberni) urged the Liberal government to bring greater fairness to Bill C-2 ,which changes income brackets for Canadian taxpayers. During the
campaign the Liberals had promised to cut taxes for the middle class but Johns says Bill C-2 does the opposite. “The problem with this bill is the Liberal definition of middle class seems to be have been created by the Donald Trumps of the world,” Johns said in the House of Commons. “This is a bill that gives most of the tax benefits to those making around $200,000/year while offering Canadi-
ans who make around $40,000/year nothing at all.” Johns said in an interview that MPs like himself, for example, could see a tax reduction under Bill C-2 of $679/ year while those making less than $45,000 would get no reduction. The median income for a Canadian is $31,000. An MP’s basic annual salary is $167,400. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s annual salary is $334,800.
See SENIORS, page A6
join us this easter SUNDAY MARCH 27 FAMILY BRUNCH
4-COURSE DINNER
WITH AN EASTER EGG HUNT FOR THE KIDS!
WITH OPTIONAL WINE PAIRINGS
SEATINGS AT 9:30 AND 12. RESERVATIONS REQUIRED. $39/ADULT, $19.50/KIDS 12 & UNDER. EASTER EGG HUNT BEGINS 20-MINUTES PRIOR TO SEATING.
SEE MENU ONLINE $54/PP (+$29 WITH WINE PAIRINGS) RESERVATIONS REQUIRED
181 beachside drive , parksville
250.947.2109 beachclUbbc.cOM