Tuesday October 28, 2014 (Vol. 39 No. 86)
V O I C E
O F
W H I T E
R O C K
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S O U T H
Courting victory: The highly ranked Elgin Park Orcas entered last weekend’s Peace Arch News Classic as top contenders, and proved why, winning the senior girls volleyball tournament over Lambrick Park. i see page 19
S U R R E Y
w w w. p e a c e a r c h n e w s . c o m
Candidate for trustee says she was taunted as a student when there were no anti-homophobia programs
‘Sickened’ by attack on school policy Sheila Reynolds Black Press
A candidate for school trustee is firing back at a South Surrey-based group that wants the Surrey Board of Education to quash its year-old policy targeting homophobia. B.C. Parents and Teachers for Life (BCPTL) – a self-described pro-life, profamily organization – delivered a position
paper and hundreds of signatures opposing the regulation earlier this month. Among other concerns, the BCPTL’s paper says the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity portion of the 2013 Safe and Caring Schools policy “opened up the schools to wide-ranging indoctrination,” by mandating teachers be trained “to be instruments of propaganda on behalf of homosexualist activism.”
Nicole Joliet – whose campaign literature for the Nov. 15 election describes her as “a trans woman running for Surrey school trustee” – said in response last week that she was outraged upon hearing about the crusade against the policy. “This is downright horrible and hateful,” she said in an email to media. “Their statements make it sound like the protections our children need somehow consti-
tute vile brainwashing propaganda.” Joliet said she was taunted daily in high school and there were no LGBTQfriendly spaces or services at her school, or any policies that specifically addressed homo- and transphobic harassment. (LGBTQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning or queer). i see page 4
Nicole Joliet
Civic elections
Region’s voters eying change: poll Jeff Nagel Black Press
Boaz Joseph photo
Ross Nicholson, a nurse at White Rock Home Health, stands out in the crowd during warmup for the Peace Arch Hospital’s Great Pumpkin Run.
Pumpkin Run brings community support to hospital
1,200 take steps to raise $80,000 for PAH Hundreds of participants donned their most-festive workout gear and braved the brisk weather Sunday for the eighth annual Great Pumpkin Run Walk. More than $80,000 was raised for Peace Arch Hospital by 1,200 people who ran or walked the five-km or one-km routes. This year’s top youth fundraiser was 11-year-old Logan Watson and the top adult fundraiser was Fred Kikhosrowkiany from
the Centre for Active Living. Top fundraising teams were White Rock Optometry ($15,911) and the Peace Arch Hospital Cardiac Rehab team ($4,485). The top male runner on the five-km route was Evan Durrant, whose father, Rob, won in previous years and this year came in second. The top female runner for the same route was Charlene Janzen. Dan Demontreuil was the top cardiac-rehab
patient participant and eight-year-old Markus Stones was the first youth to cross the finish line on the one-km route. Dozens of volunteers – including hospital employees, business people, service club members and high school students – came together to organize the event, which was once again hosted by Global TV meteorologist Kristi Gordon, who was born at Peace Arch Hospital. i see page 2
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Most Lower Mainland voters want the Nov. 15 civic elections to result in at least some change at their city hall, according to a poll by Insights West. Thirty-one per cent of those surveyed in the region said it’s time for a significant change on council, and appetite for change was highest in Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows at 53 per cent and Vancouver at 36 per cent, followed by Surrey and Richmond, both at 34 per cent. A further 35 per cent across the region want a minor change (42 per cent in the Tri-Cities, 39 per cent on the North Shore and 37 per cent in Abbotsford). But most mayors running for reelection can take solace in generally strong approval ratings from the online survey of 2,138 residents. Outgoing Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts scored best, with a 74 per cent approval rating, while 69 per cent of Tri-Cities residents generally approve of their mayors, followed by 67 per cent for Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan. New Westminster, Delta and White Rock mayors also had 67 per cent approval, and Abbotsford had 65 per cent. The worst mayoral ratings were in Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows, i see page 4