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Wednesday, October 15, 2014
87 candidates vie for seats across the Cowichan Valley LEXI BAINAS CITIZEN
Norm and Tami Walker and their children, Brighton, Grayson and Kinsey Lowood are waiting hopefully to see if anyone can find a way through the frustration and red tape to get Tami her new lungs. [SUBMITTED]
Mom scrambles for funds before operation LEXI BAINAS CITIZEN
A Cobble Hill wife and mother has fallen through holes in the province’s health safety net, leaving family and friends scrambling to find $25,000 so she can qualify get a life-saving operation. Tami Walker needs a double lung transplant. The 47-year-old woman is suffering from thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, a chronic condition that involves a build-up of blood clots in her lungs. She requires a 24-hour intravenous infusion to survive until a transplant, but right now, everything is hanging on meeting the financial qualifications for that.
“Tami and I are hard-working people who have always paid our own way but now the crunch has come,” her husband, Norm, said. “I can’t work because of looking after Tami. She cannot work a bit. And we’re still raising kids. “The bottom line is she needs the surgery but there’s no avenue we can go to any more.” Their whole nightmare began three years ago when she started passing out, Norm said. Trips to Victoria, Vancouver and even Toronto for diagnosis and treatment saw doctors finally realize her lungs were plugged with blood clots, he said, explaining that the crippling expenses of seeking treatment has caused him
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and his wife to lose their home and go through bankruptcy. When in February she started collapsing again, Tami was placed on an intravenous line that pumps medication into her lungs constantly. “They gave her a year on this machine as a temporary measure prior to getting the lung transplants,” he said. That was where the second problem began. If Tami is to be approved to go to Vancouver for a transplant, she and Norm must have $25,000 in an account to show they can afford her after-care. See MLA ROUTLEY, Page 4
Nominations closed Friday evening, Oct. 10 and in their wake, it could be seen that an impressive list of candidates has stepped up to run in the Cowichan Valley’s elections on Nov. 15. Between the City of Duncan, the District of North Cowichan, the Town of Lake Cowichan and the Cowichan Valley Regional District’s nine areas, 87 candidates are running. Only regional area directors Mary Marcotte (Area H), Ian Morrison (Area F) and Klaus Kuhn (Area I) were acclaimed, with former director Kuhn replacing Pat Weaver who did not run again. Voters for every other possible kind of seat are facing some tough decisions. In North Cowichan, there’s a three-way battle for mayor with incumbent Jon Lefebure taking on current councillor John Koury and Damir Wallener for the top job while a total of 20 candidates have stepped forward for the six councillor chairs. Only two of those — Kate Marsh and Al Siebring — are incumbents but Tom Walker has previously served as mayor and Dave Haywood as councillor. Paul Fletcher has previously served on Duncan council.
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Notably absent from that list are current councillors Ruth Hartmann, Jen Woike and Barb Lines, who are not running this time. In the City of Duncan, Phil Kent will face off against Peter Gordon for mayor while a total of 14 hopefuls try for a council seat. That list includes all six incumbents: Joe Thorne, Michelle Staples, Sharon Jackson, Martin Barker, Tom Duncan and Michelle Bell. In Lake Cowichan, voters must decide among three candidates for mayor: Ross Forrest, Wendy Klyne or Kyle Wylie. There, nine folks are trying for four council seats: with incumbents Bob Day, Frank Hornbrook and Tim McGonigle in the thick of it. Jayne Ingram is not running again. Elections for Cowichan Valley Regional District area directors can sometimes be quiet affairs but in 2014, there’s plenty of action starting in Area A where incumbent Mike Walker is being challenged Kerry Davis. Gerry Giles won’t be back to try for her Area C seat again but there’s still a fight brewing between Dara Quast and Matteus Clement. See BIG RACES, Page 2
Chris Schultz, CFP®, BBA, RRC® Investment Advisor Scotia Capital Inc. 110 - 80 Station Street Duncan (BC) V9L 1M4 Tel.: (778) 422-3240 chris.schultz@holliswealth.com
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