Royal City Record February 9 2011

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2011

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Out of Egypt City man escapes as civil unrest hits BY THERESA MCMANUS REPORTER tmcmanus@royalcityrecord.com

Claude Maillé finally embarked on a trip-of-a-lifetime to Egypt – only to be caught up in civil unrest. ThelongtimeNewWestminster resident left for Egypt on Jan. 24 and returned Feb. 1. His trip was cut short because of political unrest in the Middle Eastern nation. “When I was in Cairo, in the terminal with no food and no sleep, I was happy to get out of there,” he said. “At the airport, there are all these soldiers with AK47s. I was happy to go home because I could tell everything was going to escalate. We were getting reports from other travelers and our group leader.” Anti-government protests started in Egypt on Jan. 25. Maillé witnessed protests wherever he went, including Cairo, Alexandria and Aswan. “We joined the Nile cruise there (Aswan) so we were insolated,” he said. “Our group leader was on top of it. It was supposed

Larry Wright/THE RECORD

Cruise denial: Claude Maillé had been waiting 40 years to go to Egypt, only to have his trip cut short by the protests. to be three days. The last day was cancelled because of safety. It docked in Luxor. We flew from Luxor to Cairo.” While moored in Aswan, the tourists were unable to do many of the things they’d planned to

do in Luxor because of safety concerns. Maillé then spent some long hours at the Cairo airport, awaiting a flight out of Egypt. “I got stuck at the airport,” he said. “No food, no place

to sleep. I couldn’t reach the Canadian embassy. I was trying for five days, but I couldn’t get through.” Maillé said passengers were told they needed to sign a contract saying they’d pay $400 or

they couldn’t take the flight. Then, when passengers were waiting to board the plan, Maillé said Egyptian officials told them they wanted $2,000 US or the plane wasn’t leaving Egypt. Two ◗Egypt Page 3

Janzen: ‘... they have no relevance to anything’ Fraser Institute’s report card puts city schools in the middle of the pack – but who cares in New Westminster? BY ALFIE LAU REPORTER alau@royalcityrecord.com

The annual release of the Fraser Institute’s controversial annual report card on elementary schools on

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Monday drew a collective yawn from people in the New Westminster education community. “I don’t look at them,” said school trustee James Janzen. “I think they have no relevance to anything and I don’t think they’re helpful. ... I’ve never had one person comment on them to me, so the results don’t mean much to me.” Of the seven Royal City schools ranked, the highest ranking went to Herbert Spencer, which finished 201 out of the 875 schools ranked. Its average five-year ranking is

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188 out of 751 schools ranked. Next amongst New Westminster schools was F.W. Howay at 237 for 2009-2010 and 269 over the past five years; John Robson at 281 and 342; Lord Tweedsmuir at 495 and 493; Queen Elizabeth at 513 and 596; Richard McBride at 554 and 322; and Lord Kelvin at 554 and 493. The rankings are controversial because they use results from Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) tests taken by students in Grades 4 and 7, which the B.C. Teachers’ ◗Ranking Page 10

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