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INSIDE: Marijuana future in Tri-Cities is still hazy [pg. 3] / TC Sports [pg. 31] WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2017 Your community. Your stories.
TRI-CITY
NEWS
VoteSmart2017 Horgan promises R’view to remain in public hands DIANE STRANDBERG The Tri-CiTy News
BC NDP leader John Horgan promised to keep the 244-acre Riverview Hospital lands in public hands just days after a Riverview advocacy group expressed frustration with red tape and fees for holding public tree tours. Flanked by local NDP can-
didates at a parking lot across from the former Coquitlam hospital Monday afternoon, Horgan gave few hints about what he would do with the property, other than stating that it would be retained for mental health purposes and some facilities could possibly be reopened for more residential care.
see NOT ENOUGH, page 14
MORE ELECTION COVERAGE INSIDE n Election 101: what you need to
know to vote on May 9: page 7 n Meet the candidates who aren’t with the major parties: page 7 n Student group works to get young adults out to vote: page 5
MARIO BARTEL/THE TRI-CITY NEWS
BC NDP leader John Horgan chats with mental health care advocates at a campaign stop at Colony Farm, near Riverview Hospital, on Monday. For more coverage of the campaign leading up to the May 9 provincial election, see pages 5, 6 and 7.
CHILD CARE IN THE TRI-CITIES
Daycares hit by Supreme Court ruling Baker’s Corner to close due to lack of commitment of space by SD43
GARY MCKENNA The Tri-CiTy News
A preschool that has operated out of Baker Drive elementary school in Coquitlam for more than 40 years will be closing.
School District 43 said it will need the extra classroom currently used by the daycare as it adds classes and hires teachers to comply with last year’s Supreme Court of Canada decision to reinstate class-size and
composition to pre-2002 levels. For Rob McTavish, the vicepresident of the not-for-profit operating Baker’s Corner Preschool, the news is disappointing, as it is for parents and residents in the community.
“It is really said,” McTavish said. “We will have to tell 25 families that their 29 kids will no longer have a preschool in September.” Discussions had been ongoing between the preschool and
the district since the beginning of the year but SD43 will not commit to offering a classroom until it sees how many students arrive in September, he said. see LACK OF, page 15
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