WEDNESDAY
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March 7, 2012
A division of
Vol. 27 No. 19
COMOX VALLEY RECORD Your community. Your newspaper. www.comoxvalleyrecord.com
T FIDDLE FEST
Fiddle and stepdance champion Kelli Trottier visiting. ■ 9
END OF THE LINE
The Comox Valley Glacier Kings’ 2011-12 Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League season has come to a heartbreaking end. After going to Kerry Park and winning a must-win game six matchup Thursday against the Islanders the Icemen returned home Saturday night for the two most exciting words in sports: Game seven. Glacier Kings’ head coach Jordan Butcher said before the winner-take-all contest: “If you don’t understand the importance of this game, you don’t deserve to be here.”
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FINDER
COMOX VALLEY TEACHERS were joined by local Canadian Union of Public Employees members Tuesday for a rally in front of the School Board Office to show opposition to Bill 22. Here, they begin to mass for the demonstration. PHOTO BY ERIN HALUSCHAK
Teachers get support in rally on Tuesday Future striking not ruled out by teachers’ union as NDP prepares to filibuster Renée Andor
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Record Staff
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Comox Valley schools have been closed to kids since Monday, and future teacher walkouts are a possibility, according to Comox Valley District Teachers’ Association president Steve Stanley. Stanley said he expects teachers will be back to work on Thursday but they will still be in Phase One of job action, as they have been since September.
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■ Editorial
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■ Opinion
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■ Wedding Planner INSERT
While Stanley said Tuesday that the BC Teachers’ Federation has not discussed what will happen next week in regards to a strike, there’s a chance teachers will withdraw from all duties again. “It’s possible,” said Stanley. “The Labour Relations Board said that we can be out one day next week, so it’s possible — if Bill 22 hasn’t passed at that time.” The Labour Relations Board ruling last week allows teachers
to withdraw all duties one day per week following this three-day strike. However, if passed, Bill 22 includes “stiff financial consequences” for “illegal strike action” during mediation, according to a news release from the Ministry of Education. According to the BCTF, these penalties include $475 per day for individual teachers, $2,500 per day for union officers, and a minimum of $1.3 million per day for
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the BCTF. Debate on the Education Improvement Act began on Thursday, and NDP House Leader John Horgan has since told media that the 34 NDP opposition members will each use their half hour of allotted time to debate it, which adds up to about 17 hours just from them. When Education Minister George Abbott tabled the legislation last week, he said he did not ... see SOME ■ 3