NEWS 3
Out with the old at hospital SCHOOLS 8
Can you help the Class of 2021? COMMUNITY 15
Remembering Shannon Elmer THURSDAY JANUARY 14, 2021 LOCAL NEWS – LOCAL MATTERS
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City works to support affordable housing Theresa McManus
tmcmanus@newwestrecord.ca
The City of New Westminster is exploring options for providing financial support to affordable housing projects – including a project being proposed on Sixth Street. The Aboriginal Land Trust Society has made applications to the city for an amendment to the official community plan, a rezoning and a development permit as part of its plan to build a 96-unit apartment building at 823 to 841 Sixth St.The proposed six-storey apartment building, which would be built on six lots across the street from the new high school, would house members of the Indigenous and Swahili communities. The Aboriginal Land Trust, Lu’ma Native Housing Society and Swahili Vision International Association are Continued on page 5
MASKED FUN: Mala Dave, with six-year-old Mythica and eight-year-old Henna, hit the ice for a public skate at Moody Park Arena before Christmas. Public skating and lessons are still taking place with pre-registration and reduced capacities. PHOTO JENNIFER GAUTHIER
New West teachers’ union wants action on COVID Julie MacLellan
jmaclellan@newwestrecord.ca
The NewWestminster Teachers’ Union is adding its voice to a call for health officials to improve COVID-19 safety measures in Fraser Health
schools and to put teachers on the priority list for vaccinations. SarahWethered, president of the NWTU, was one of 12 teachers’ union local presidents in the region to sign on to a statement calling on the Fraser
Health Authority to improve health and safety standards in schools as students returned to class in the wake of the twoweek winter break. “I was actually quite surprised that, unlike other jurisdictions, our
winter break was not extended by two weeks,” Wethered said in an interview with the Record Friday. “That horse has left the barn now.” At the time of that interview, there had not yet been any exposure notices
in local schools, but Wethered predicted it was “just a matter of time.” Two local school exposures have since been reported by Fraser Health: one at Glenbrook Middle School dating back to Jan. 4 and the other at Queens-
borough Middle School Jan. 11. Wethered said teachers were anxious about heading back to class with all the unknowns around how people may have spent their winter break. Continued on page 12
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