CITY PEOPLE 3
Helping tiny human beings
NEWS 5
City hopes for ‘comfort’ truce
NEWS 8
Third homicide of the year
5
THINGS TO DO THIS WEEKEND FRIDAY APRIL 17 2015
LOCAL NEWS – LOCAL MATTERS
There’s more at Burnabynow.com
SEE PAGE 13
Union says no jobs left to cut By Cornelia Naylor
cnaylor@burnabynow.com
VAISAKHI The Burnaby board of education celebrates the Sikh New Year with bhangra dancing by the Byrne Creek secondary dance company at a public school board meeting Tuesday. PHOTO CORNELIA NAYLOR
New ice rink in the works
Population growth has put pressure on rec facilities – city looks at new rink in southern part of Burnaby By Janaya Fuller-Evans
jfuller-evans@burnabynow.com
There could be more ice time for Burnaby athletes this year. Burnaby’s parks, recreation and cultural services department is looking at options for a new ice rink for the city. The project was made a priority by council, according to parks director Dave Ellenwood, with amenity bonus funds earmarked for it. “Hopefully we can get that done this spring and then start developing concept plans in the summer,” Ellenwood wrote in an email to the NOW. The city has been planning to build an-
other rink for years, according to Coun. Sav Dhaliwal, chair of the city’s parks commission. “For a number of years now, we have been looking at the need for ice in the community,” he said, adding the city last assessed the need six years ago and determined they were short “half a rink. “Since then, the population has grown quite a bit,” Dhaliwal added. The commission has heard from ice skaters, ice and ball hockey players, and ringette players about the need for more ice, according to Dhaliwal. The project is a priority because the Burnaby Lake arena needs replacing, he said.
REALTOR®
“Before we can take that out of action, we need to have a new rink built,” he said. Burnaby is looking at putting a new rink in the southern part of the city, close to Metrotown or Edmonds, according to Dhaliwal. The size and configuration are still in the planning stages. Once the rink is built, the city would close and replace the Burnaby Lake arena, he said, adding they hope to do so at the same time as the C.G. Brown pool complex. Burnaby has three arenas – Bill Copeland and Burnaby Lake, which are in the Central Valley area, and Kensington in North Burnaby. In 2011, the Bill Copeland arena was upgraded with a portable wood floor, which was part of the original design for the centre.
2961 NORLAND AVENUE BURNABY, BC
BJELICA
Making Transitions Smooth 604-619-6263 Cell 604-435-9477 Office vidabjelica@hotmail.com
REGIONAL RECYCLING BURNABY
EARTH DAY EVENT
PRFO IZ OD ES
SUNDAY APRIL 25, 2015 from 11 am - 4 pm www.regionalrecycling.ca/burnaby
D E! ANOR M
As the Burnaby school district considers cutting the equivalent of 30 jobs to plug a projected $6.5-million shortfall next year, the president of the local support-staff union says there’s no more room for cuts to his members. “All of our members have been cut over the years by so much, there’s no job that I truly believe I could say we have any excess at,” CUPE president Paul Simpson told the NOW. “I truly do not believe there is one CUPE position that you can potentially cut.” Among the staff reductions district managers are exploring are 12 supportstaff positions, including lab assistants, library assistants, noon-hour supervisors and clerical staff. Last year, the district cut 12 daytime custodians, and Simpson said students’ learning has been affected. “People realize it does impact the learning of the kids because it’s pretty hard to learn in a classroom when you have one child getting sick in the corner and sitting beside paper towels covering up someone’s vomit,” he said. At this point, cuts to any support staff position would impact students, Simpson said. CUPE, along with other partner groups, like the Burnaby Teachers’ Association and the Burnaby Principals’ and Vice-Principals’ Association will meet with the board April 21 to discuss the proposed cuts before trustees vote on the preliminary budget April 28. Simpson said he will leave it to district managers to decide which cuts to make rather than recommending some CUPE positions over others. “I can’t come to a meeting and play favourites,” he said. “Some of it, it’s hands off.” Simpson said he expects all partner groups will be aiming their frustrations at the provincial government.
COFFEE WITH RICHARD! Saturday, April 25 9:00 - 10:30 am Caffe Artigiano 4359 Hastings, Burnaby
I hope to see you there!
Richard T. Lee MLA Burnaby North
604.775.0778
Richard.Lee.MLA@leg.bc.ca www.richardleemla.bc.ca