INSIDE: Beating Breast Cancer – she has the heart of a dragon Pg. 14 T U E S D A Y
September 25, 2012
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Hard work, food awaits Cops for Cancer riders
E N T E R T A I N M E N T abbotsfordtimes.com
Independence day for van Dongen
CHRISTINA TOTH CToth@abbotsfordtimes.com
Again citing leadership, MLA leaves second party in 6 months
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the reason for his leaving, as well as differences in the party’s direction. “The job of the premier of B.C. is an extremely tough job. [Cummins] doesn’t have the skill set or the qualities for that tough job,” van Dongen said Monday. “And frankly, I did not have a good response from [Abbotsford] constituents about John Cummins as the leader,” he told the Times.
hortly after B.C. Conservative Party members voted Saturday to retain John Cummins as their leader, Abbotsford South MLA John van Dongen said he was quitting the party to sit as an independent. For the second time in six months, van Dongen cited a lack of confidence in a party leader’s abilities as
Van Dongen left the B.C. Liberals in March to join the Conservatives because he could no longer support Premier Christy Clark. At the time, he cited the unexplained cancellation of a $35-million naming rights agreement with Telus as “another example of failed leadership,” and also cited the unanswered questions regarding the writing-off of $6 million in legal
fees in the B.C. Rail case. Van Dongen said he joined the BCCP in “good faith with the stated goal of building a credible, broad-based free enterprise party. I enthusiastically applied myself to that.” However, in the past three months it became clear that he and Cummins had differing views on the direction of the party, he said.
“He has not appealed to middle of the road voters and he does not appear to want to do so,” said van Dongen. A faction in the party, calling itself the Friends of the B.C. Conservatives, was also questioning Cummins’ leadership abilities. The group pushed for a vote to get a leadership review at the general meeting held Saturday. In the end, see JVD, page A10
Young dad dies in crash
H.S. FOOTBALL RED-HOT IRONS BURNS IRISH DEFENDERS
‘One of a kind, loving friend, wonderful father’ ROCHELLE BAKER RBaker@abbotsfordtimes.com
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– JEAN KONDA-WITTE/TIMES
W.J. Mouat Hawks tailback Maleek Irons drags a Vancouver College defender along for the ride during the Hawks 53-31 win over the Fighting Irish Friday night at Mouat Field. Irons scored five touchdowns and rushed for 273 yards. He’s aiming to be the leading rusher in the league. See more on page A17.
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he family and friends of a young Abbotsford father of two are mourning after he was killed in a car crash early Sunday. Brian Patchett was a passenger in the back seat of a 1997 Chevy Malibu, headed west on Vye Road just past Sumas Way prior to 2:41 a.m., when it struck a cement barrier and collided with a hydro pole before coming to rest on its roof, said Const. Ian MacPATCHETT Donald. Emergency responders pronounced Patchett, 22, dead at the scene. A woman, originally thought to have been flung from the car, see CRASH, page A3
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