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www.comoxvalleyecho.com Friday June 13, 2014
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Volume 20, No. 47
Mystery over ‘gagging’ of Regional District Chair and CAO By Philip Round Echo Staff Mystery surrounds the effective gagging of the two most senior people at Comox Valley Regional District over controversial proposals to develop land alongside Stotan Falls. The chair of the board, Area C director Edwin Grieve, and the regional district’s chief administrative officer, Debra Oakman, will no longer have any place in responding to proposals made by 3L Developments Ltd. The issue is considered so serious the pair will not even be in the room or on site when “any discussions or activity” occurs relating to 3L’s land alongside the Puntledge. And to avoid any misunderstandings and to ensure efficient meeting management, from now on when 3L is slated to be on an agenda, a separate meeting will be arranged where no other item will be discussed, and it will be chaired by another director and advised by other senior staff. The Echo has learned the decision by the pair to totally remove themselves was taken after high-level advice from lawyers and has something - it is not clear precisely what - to do with a human rights issue following an alleged reference to an individual associated with 3L that occurred some weeks ago. The first public manifestation of the fallout occurred on Tuesday, when a special CVRD committee of the whole meeting was convened prior to the regular monthly meeting to consider whether a process should be initiated to amend the regional growth strategy to accommodate the development of 3L’s land. That meeting was chaired by CVRD vice-chair Jon Ambler and advised on the topic by the general manager of development and planning services, Ann MacDonald. Grieve’s place at the table was taken by his appointed alternate, Curtis Scolville, who is authorized to sit in and vote on behalf of rural Area C - in which the proposed 3L development lies - when Grieve is absent. Also present at that meeting were two representatives of 3L, Kabel Atwell and Rob Howard, who were invited to speak in support of their request for the CVRD to initiate a process to amend the growth strategy to allow a negotiated development of the land, to include dedication of parkland along and in the Puntledge river.
The Mark Isfeld robotics team making some robot adjustments prior to going into the playoffs.
Valley students bag medals at national skills competition By Michael Briones Echo Staff Comox Valley students pitted their skills against the best in Canada and returned home with shining medals around their necks. The team from School District 71 competed at the 20th Skills Canada Nationals in Ontario last week. It is the only national, Olympic-style, multi-trade and technology competition for young students and apprentices in the country. “It was just amazing to see what these youth could accomplish in the two days of competition,” said Randy Grey, SD71 Career Programs Coordinator. “The intensity and focus in each of their activities was great to witness.” In the individual competition, Matt Dyck from Highland Secondary placed third overall to take home the bronze medal for Auto Service Mechanics competition. “This is a first individual medal at the national level for School District 71 and a huge accomplishment,” said Grey. (Continued on page 2)
Matt Dyck proudly wears his bronze medal with Katinka Neumann sitting beside him.
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Teachers’ strike hurts outdoor learning centres and facilities By Michael Briones Echo Staff Students are missing out on a lot of extra-curricular activities and events like field trips due to the teachers’ rotating strike. This is the time of year when many schools organize educational field trips or outdoor activities at museums, parks and learning centres. But the teachers’ job action, compounded by the provincial government’s retaliatory lock out, has
deprived thousands of eager students the opportunity to gain invaluable educational experiences outside the classroom. However, students, as well as parents and other employees in the school district are not the only ones suffering from this ongoing labour strife. The operators of museums, parks and outdoor facilities in the region that rely on school field trips, particularly during the months of May and June, are experiencing significant losses.
“We’re collateral damage,” said Gord Campbell, executive director of the Tribune Bay Outdoor Education Centre located on Hornby Island. “It’s nice that you, from the media, picked up on this, because normally people are usually surprised when they hear us. Then they say ‘Oh yeah, we never thought of it affecting you.’ We’re not in the forefront of the media.” The popular outdoor centre that attracts thousands of students annually has been dealing with a
huge number of cancellations in the last three weeks that now extend until the end of June. Campbell said it’s a major blow to the centre. “We are open year-round but when you consider that our target time is April till October, everything is concentrated so all our infrastructure cost, staffing and everything else is all tied to making it in a very short period of time,” Campbell said. “We’re a youth facility and a
non-profit society so we make our cost based on cost-recovery. So when you lose a week of fees coming in, it takes a huge chunk of our situation. We went through this in 2012. We’re slowly getting back to our feet and we’ve been hit again.” The centre normally has around 15 staff during this time of the year. But because of the cancellations, Campbell said, he has had to lay off some of them, leaving just six workers, including him. (Continued on page 2)