Thursday, December 6, 2018 | Your community newspaper since 1916
CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN
Icing the oval Stan Hyatt was one of many volunteers helping flood the outdoor ice oval on Wednesday afternoon. Volunteers try to get three floods per day in the colder weather to build up the ice to get it ready for skating.
Guards followed policy in prisoner death, union says Kim BOLAN Vancouver Sun
CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN
The intersection of Queensway and Patricia Boulevard is scheduled to reopen on today. This week, crews have been working to repave and install lighting and electrical work at the intersection, which has been closed to traffic since Nov. 7 to allow for the installation of a sewer line along Patricia.
Queensway intersection to reopen today Citizen staff The intersection of Queensway and Patricia Boulevard is scheduled to reopen today, the city says. The stretch has been closed since Nov. 7 to allow a sewer line to be installed along Patricia. “There will continue to be minor traffic interruptions on Patricia for the next few weeks while work continues at the site,” the city said. The line, which extends along Lower Patricia to London Street, is
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now complete except for operations to tie the new line into the existing downtown sewer main. This work will require further excavation on Seventh Avenue near city hall and will be done when weather permits in the spring. The east shoulder of Queensway has been temporarily paved to serve as a walkway connecting two sections of sidewalk. It will be replaced with a curb and sidewalk in 2019.
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Two other walkways – one connecting Patricia Boulevard to Queensway and another running along the base of Connaught Hill – will be open, but will not be paved until the spring. The new line was put in because the old one, which serves the downtown and industrial area east of Queensway, is at capacity. It’s also part of a larger project to upgrade aging infrastructure in the vicinity of city hall that is at capacity or at high risk of failure.
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The vice-president of the union that represents B.C. prison guards says his members followed policy the day an inmate died in the back of a corrections van. Dean Purdy of the B.C. Government and Service Employees Union said in a memo to his members that a government review has already determined that “no discipline is required” in the death of Alex Joseph. Alex Joseph, 36, died of a suspected drug overdose Oct. 4 as he and other inmates were being driven from Prince George to Maple Ridge in the back of a B.C. Corrections vehicle. Others in the van told Postmedia that they tried for more than an hour to get the correctional officers to stop and help Joseph by shouting and pounding on the walls. The van finally pulled over north of 100 Mile House, but by then Joseph was dead. Postmedia reached out to Purdy for comment at the time of the original stories last month, but he didn’t respond. He said in his memo, obtained by Postmedia, that he understands that his members are frustrated “at the tone and content of the media coverage of this event.” “I understand and share your frustration,” Purdy said. “It’s difficult to see our profession getting publicly criticized.” He also said he supports the two members involved and offered his “commitment to making sure they have access to all the resources and supports they need to deal with the psycholog-
ical, emotional and professional aftermath of the incident.” “I can tell you that, at this point, the employer’s initial review has revealed that both (correctional officers) involved followed policy and protocol and as such, no discipline is required. This is good news and I will keep you posted if any other relevant findings emerge,” Purdy said. But B.C. Corrections said in a statement Wednesday that its investigation has not been completed and no determinations have yet been made. “B.C. Corrections is treating this incident very seriously and conducting a critical incident review,” spokeswoman Cindy Rose said in the statement. “However, that process is not yet complete. As such, it would be premature to speculate on whether or not policy and procedures were followed, or whether any discipline may or may not be appropriate.” — see ‘THE OFFICERS, page 3
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