Breast calendar takes aim at cancer /33
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2005

Martin gives U.S. earful on softwood /7

Experts restore art damaged by Katrina /25

Clooney has active role in movie /27

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Schools closed for strike
by PAUL STRICKLA N D Citizen st ff a Local public schools were to be closed today as teachers carried out plans for a walkout to protest a wage-freeze contract expected to be legislated by the B.C. government. "There will be picket lines at all schools," said Karen MacKay, Prince George District Teachers' Association president. "The BCTF has stated we are on job action until we find a resolution." Picket lines will go up not only at Prince George district public schools but at all public schools in B.C., said Dick Chambers, district superintendent. "When picket lines go up, that ensures the rest of unionized staff will honour the picket line." Buses will not run, said Bill Christie, chair of the Prince George school board. "If any event is planned at a school Saturday, Sunday or Monday -- whether it is a community activity or a school-related activity -- the school will be closed and the activity will be cancelled," Chambers said. "There will be no CUPE staff to clean up." The Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3742 represents support staff in the school system. Chambers advises parents not to send children to school. "The school will not be open," he said. "While a principal might be in the school, he or she would likely call the parents to pick the child up. Some schools won't even have a principal. At some schools there will be no one except the pickets." Chambers advised parents to consider where their children might stay next week if the teachers' strike continues through Tuesday or even later. "I'm not hopeful that it will be resolved by Tuesday. It would be great if it is."

Citizen photo by Dave Milne

GIRL TALK -- Anne McGladdery, left, plays B.B., Becca Stromm plays Tess, Zandra Ross plays Linda and Katie Dunsdon plays Nancy in A Coupla Bimbos Sittin' Around Talkin' at CNC. The play is one of three short plays being staged by the Prince George Theatre Workshop Society. Shows run tonight and Saturday at 8 p.m., as well as from Oct. 13 to 15. Tickets are $15 for adults and $13.50 for seniors and students at Studio 2880.

Labour board rules strike illegal
VICTORIA (CP) -- The B.C. Labour Relations Board issued a decision against teachers late Thursday, warning them the strike they plan to wage today is illegal. CKNW reported that the board ruled after 11 p.m. Thursday night, just hours before the B.C. Teachers Federation planned to put up pickets at schools. The teachers are protesting government legislation that imposes a wage-freeze contract on them. When BCTF president Jinny Sims announced on Wednesday that teachers voted 90.5 per cent in favour of job action, she said teachers will not go back to school until they have a new deal with the government that addresses their right to collective bargaining, includes a wage hike and commitment to smaller class sizes. The union could be hit with steep fines and executive members could even be threatened with jail time if the BCTF breaks the Labour Relations Board order. In its interim order, the board told the union to immediately refrain from declaring or authorizing a strike against schools. It told teachers to resume their duties and work schedules. The board also ordered teachers to refrain from picketing at or near schools. Labour leaders and Labour Minister Mike de Jong met Thursday but didn't resolve the impasse. Sims said she told de Jong teachers are willing to bargain a settlement and an all-night session Thursday could halt Friday's walkout. But de Jong said it will be difficult to negotiate if the province's 42,000 teachers are on an illegal walkout. He said the government plans to debate Bill 12 until it passes in the legislature. NDP MLAs were arguing against the legislation late into the night Thursday. Veteran B.C. mediator Vince Ready was appointed to head an industrial inquiry commission to recommend a new bargaining structure for teachers, he said. -- See re a d st l te ories on pages 5 and 13

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Education dispute disappoints parents
by PAUL STRICK LA N D Citizen st ff a A full-scale teachers walkout expected today will cause a bit of a mess for Prince George district parents, says the chair of the District Parent Advisory Council. "If both parents have to go to work, what do you do with your children?" Jim Yurkowski said Thursday. "It's a sad situation." What's worse, parents don't know what will happen Tuesday after the Thanksgiving long weekend, he said. Yurkowski said he is disappointed with both the B.C. Teachers' Federation and the B.C. Public School Employers' Association, representing school districts and government. "It's gotten to the point where it's going to have a really negative effect on students, particularly if it becomes a lengthy job action or walkout," Yurkowski said. "It's interesting how both sides in this dispute have been saying that they have the students' interests at heart, yet here we are probably not going to have any school (today), and we don't know what's going to happen next week," he said. "While both sides keep saying they have students' best interests at heart, they're not showing it. "Maybe this is the catalyst to start a genuine negotiations process. Parents are going to be very disappointed if this continues on too long." Education Minister Shirley Bond said the government wants to contact the BCTF about creating a permanent roundtable where learning and teachers' working conditions can be discussed. "My ultimate hope is that we can find a way to work together to ensure that our students continue to get a good public education," Bond told The Citizen. "Teachers do a great job of that every day. "At the roundtable we are going to be discussing class size, class composition and other issues related to learning conditions," she said. "We have heard the BCTF express concerns around those issues, and the roundtable will be a place where we can have that discussion," she said. "We agree that class size is an issue, and that it is important to discuss. I want a forum that will allow a serious discussion with our education partners. "I've asked my staff today to contact the BCTF and other partner groups to help me develop terms of reference for the roundtable," Bond said. "And so I'm hoping this step is an indication of how much we want to hear from teachers, parents and trustees about classroom learning conditions. "My commitment is to take the information we hear at the roundtable into full consideration." -- See column on page 4

Home sales, prices up over last year
by PAUL STRICK LA N D Citizen st ff a The average price for a single-family home rose almost 13 per cent in Prince George over the past year. The average home sold for $146,832 during the first nine months of 2005, up 12.9 per cent from $130,046 in 2004. "Our employment and interest rates are favourable," said Dolores St. Amand, B.C. Northern Real Estate Board president. "Consumers remain optimistic and I think the real-estate market will continue to be strong." Property sales in Prince George during the first nine months of this year rose more than 19 per cent over the same period of 2004. In Prince George, 1,434 properties in all categories have sold so far this year, up from 1,205 last year. Total dollar value of these sales reached $196.4 million compared to $152.2 million last year. This year through Sept. 30 there had been 986 single-family dwellings sold in Prince George, up from 845 in 2004. This year's nine-month total comes close to the total of 1,073 home sales during all of last year. The number of condominiums or strata units sold year to date increased by 49 per cent from last year, St. Amand said. To the end of September this year, 161 units were sold, compared to 108 in 2004. There were 759 properties of all types available for sale through the Multiple Listings Service in the city of Prince George at the end of September.

C O N T E S T

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INDEX
Ann Landers . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Business . . . . . . . . . . . . 36-40 City, B.C. . . . . . . . . . 3,5,13,31 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . 17-22 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Coming Events . . . . . . . . . . 35 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Entertainment . . . . . . . 26-28 Horoscope . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Lifestyles . . . . . . . . . 16,29,34 Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,7 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-12 World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,15

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