POLICE SEEK OWNERS OF STOLEN GOODS
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TRYING TO RESIST A FLOATING BUFFET
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REBELS, LIONS TO PROVINCIALS
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WEDNESDAY
MARCH 6 2013 www.burnabynewsleader.com
It was a night of great music and fun, and a trip beneath the sea, to benefit South Burnaby Neighbourhood House. See PAGE A12
Leaked memo ‘insulting’: Chouhan BC Liberals’ multicultural strategy Wanda Chow
wchow@burnabynewsleader.com
MARIO BARTEL/NEWSLEADER
Jim White blows the winter’s debris off a green at the Central Park Pitch and Putt on Monday. The course is scheduled to open for weekend play on March 15.
Buckingham top public school in rankings Top 6 in Burnaby all independents on Fraser Institute’s annual list Wanda Chow
wchow@burnabynewsleader.com
Buckingham is the top public Burnaby elementary school in the Fraser Institute’s latest rankings, coming in 104th place out of 853 schools overall. The top six Burnaby elementary schools in the rankings are all independents, starting with Our Lady of Mercy which was ranked
13th overall with a score of 9.9 out of 10. There was a three-way tie for 13th. The rankings of B.C. schools were compiled using the provincial Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) exams, testing reading, writing and numeracy, written by students in grades 4 and 7 in the 2011-2012 school year. With rankings based on a 10-point scale, there were numerous ties. In the Burnaby rankings, Our Lady of Mercy was followed by John Knox Christian and Holy
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Cross tied for 16th place overall (9.8 points) along with six other schools, St. Michaels in a two-way tie for 31st place (9.5), St. Francis de Sales in 33rd (9.4) along with five other schools, and St. Helen’s among five tied for 50th (8.9). Buckingham repeated as top public elementary but dropped in the overall rankings as it came in 81st place last year with a score of 8.4 compared to 8.0 this year. It was among 13 schools which tied for the 104th spot. It was followed in the Burnaby
rankings by public schools Cameron, Clinton, Montecito and Seaforth which were among 15 schools provincewide tied for 118th spot overall (7.9 points). The lowest ranking Burnaby school was Morley elementary which came in 784th place with a score of 3.4. That’s down from last year when it scored 4.2 and, while it was still the lowest-scoring in Burnaby, it placed 720th overall. Please see CHAFFEY-BURKE, A2
The BC Liberals’ controversial multicultural strategy is no different than its earlier plan to use a proposed upgrade of Burnaby Hospital as an issue to win votes with, says BurnabyEdmonds NDP MLA Raj Chouhan. “I’m really appalled the government is still doing these kinds of gimmicks,” Chouhan said, saying the earlier hospital strategy was less about improving health care and more a “plan to win people over.” The latest controversy has led to the resignation of the premier’s deputy chief of staff, Kim Haakstad, who distributed the strategy document to the personal email addresses of several Liberal operatives. And John Yap, the minister responsible for multiculturalism, has stepped aside while a review is conducted of the issue. The document, sent January 2012 and leaked to the NDP last week, appeared to show taxpayer-funded government staff and resources used in an attempt to win votes among ethnic communities. Please see ‘WE HAVE’, A3