OptimistThe Voice of Delta since 1922 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2014

Delta

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YOUR SOURCE FOR LOCAL SPORTS, NEWS, WEATHER AND ENTERTAINMENT! WWW.DELTA-OPTIMIST.COM

Boxes not welcomeSeniors concerned byCanada Post plan 3

On the blockJeweler auctioning offpieces for hospice 6

Physio FriendsCliff Drive studentshelp out classmate 14

Seasonal processionCarol ships set to sailinto Ladner Harbour 17

It was another Saturday nightto remember for South DeltaSecondary athletics.The Tsawwassen high schools

senior girls volleyball team cap-tured its third consecutive provin-cial championship with a 3-1 winover Timberline in the gold medalmatch.In a showdown between the top

two ranked teams in the province,the Sun Devils overcame an earlyone-set deficit by roaring backto win the next three in decisivefashion. It was South Deltas firstB.C. title at the AAA level after apair of AAAA crowns.UCLA-bound Grade 12 twins

Nicole and Megan McNamaraclosed out their outstanding highschool careers in fitting style,earning tournament MVP andfirst team all-star honours, respec-tively.Teammates Ashley Klassen,

Laura Findlay and CassidyPearson also earned all-star rec-ognition. Findlay and Pearsonare both headed to University ofManitoba next fall, while Klassenis just in Grade 10.Hours later, the Sun Devils

football team delivered one of thebiggest wins in school history ona snow-covered field at UBCsThunderbird Stadium.South Delta scored 16 unan-

swered second half points tostun the No. 1 ranked Terry FoxRavens 16-13. The result sendsthe Sun Devils to the provincialAAA championship game for thefirst time since 1986.They will take on the three-

time defending champion Mt.Douglas Rams this Saturday at 7p.m. at B.C. Place Stadium.For more details, see pages 29

and 30.

Lois Jackson kicked off hersixth, and final, term as Deltasmayor Monday night by sayingshes excited and energized totackle the many issues facing thecommunity.I look forward to this new

four-year term of council,Jackson said in her inaugural

address following the swearingin of the seven members of Deltacouncil elected last month.Jackson, a fixture on council

since 1972 and mayor since 1999,was returned to the top post byacclamation. Councillors SylviaBishop, Robert Campbell, JeannieKanakos, Bruce McDonald andIan Paton are all back after beingre-elected last month, while Coun.Heather King returns after a

three-year absence.In her inaugural address,

Jackson said transportation andtraffic are the number one area ofconcern.This council will continue to

fight for whats best for Delta,she said.Jackson said civic politicians

would continue to advocatefor increased access to Ladnerwith the George Massey Tunnel

replacement project.I would also like to see an

environmental greenway under thenew bridge.Council will continue to push

for other transportation upgrades,including a pedestrian/cyclistoverpass at Highway 17 and52nd Street and an interchange atHighway 17 and 56th Street.

Santa not sleeping anymore!

PHOTO BY GORD GOBLE

Youngsters woke St. Nick from his slumber as the Tsawwassen Town Centre Mall hosted its annual Wake Up Santa last Saturday morning. Santa will return tothe mall several times throughout December to pose for photos. See more photos from the event at www.delta-optimist.com.

Mayor excited by final term

Big night forSDSS teams

BY MARK BOOTHmbooth@delta-optimist.com

Lois Jackson tabs transportation as top issue during inaugural address at municipal hallBY JESSICA KERRjkerr@delta-optimist.com

SeeMAYOR page 3

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A2 The Delta Optimist December 3, 2014

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Its not clear when itscoming here, but theres nodoubting the plan to converthome mail delivery to com-munity mailboxes will posea huge problem for manyolder residents, according tothe Delta Seniors PlanningTeam.Planning team coordina-

tor Kay Dennison, a seniorand longtime Delta resident,said the Canada Post plan toend home delivery has beena big topic of concern withher group, which has over100 members.Its all the more troubled

by a lack of consultationwith groups and agenciesthat work with seniors, shesaid.What were back to,

it seems, is systems donttalk to each other. So noone bothered to talk tothose working with seniorsto find out how this wasgoing to impact them, saidDennison.This is a huge issue and

its going to impact not onlyseniors but those that aredisabled. Our group overthe last couple of yearshas been working with theprovincial health systems,the hospitals and theyreall saying the same thing:We have to find a way tokeep our seniors healthy

and independent and liv-ing in their homes as longas possible. So, to now tocome out with this, a lotof seniors wont be able togo out to a mailbox, its assimple as that, Dennisonadded.Canada Post announced

a year ago it would bephasing out door-to-doordelivery of regular mailto urban residents, cit-ing significant losses as aresult of an increasing useof digital communicationand a decline of letter mailvolumes.Having introduced the

conversion in several com-munities across the countrythis year, the postal serviceexpects to save between$400 million to $500 mil-

lion annually.That means residents

who have enjoyed homedelivery will have to pickup their mail at communitymailboxes, already a factof life for those living innewer subdivisions.Delta has about 39,000

addresses, approximately28,000 of which still getmail delivery at the door.A spokesperson for

Canada Post said the agen-cy has not determined thetimetable for the conver-sion to community mail-box service in Delta, butonce a decision is made,Canada Post will inform themunicipality and affectedresidents.The plan is to have all

the communities across

Canada converted withinthe next five years.Canada Post states it will

be sensitive to the needsof seniors and disabledCanadians.Canada Post is develop-

ing alternative approachesfor people with significantmobility challenges, wholack viable alternatives andupon whom delivery to acommunity mailbox wouldimpose an unacceptablehardship, Canada Poststated.Dennison said that alter-

native would be to delivermail to stores with postaloutlets or post offices.A concern regarding thatalternative would still beone of privacy and potentialabuse of seniors who would

still have to rely onothers to pick uptheir mail, she said.Mayor Lois

Jackson said she hasmajor concerns forseniors, shut-ins andthe handicapped, aswell as corporationsand small businesshaving access toproper service.I am also con-

cerned about thebasic security ofthe Canadian mailwhich is housedin the commu-nity mailboxes.The boxes appearto be broken into

on a regular basis. I donot believe there will beany savings to Canadianswho have treasured theirdoor-to-door service sinceConfederation, she said.I do hope the powers

that be, who have author-ity over such schemes, willreconsider their position.Representatives with

Canada Post appearedbefore Delta council earlierthis year, saying theyrecommitted to keepingCanadians informed and toimplementing the conver-sion in a thoughtful way.They also noted the postalservice will work with com-munity leaders and munici-pal officials to choose safeand appropriate sites.

Increased access to pub-lic transit is also on themayors list for the nextfour years.I can assure you, this

council is committed to bet-ter access to public transitfor our residents, she said.This council is committedto bringing about change.Jackson highlighted

Deltas success with its pay-as-you-go strategy.Over the next term, I am

excited to say, we will reachour goal to be debt free.This is an accomplishment

that we can all be proud of.Jackson said she expects

to see the Southlands proj-ect come back for finalapproval in 2015 and thatchief administrative officerGeorge Harvie will pro-vide regular updates on themunicipalitys portion ofthe land.The mayor said pushing

for an inland container ter-minal and the preservationof farmland would con-tinue to be priorities for hercouncil.Jackson also tabbed pub-

lic safety as a priority forcivic politicians, saying theDelta Police Departmentsno call too small modelis something council isproud to support and themunicipality is planning onbuilding a fire hall/train-ing centre at Boundary BayAirport.Im extremely proud of

the success record of all ouremergency responders, shesaid.Im excited by the

opportunity of being yourmayor for the next fouryears. I look forward withgreat anticipation to thecoming future.

A local business was leftto clean up and scramble toreplace lost inventory aftera break-in late last week.Thieves struck Lawlor

Goldsmith Shoppe inLadner Village early Fridaymorning.Owner Janet Holmes said

four men smashed the frontwindow at around 3:45 a.m.She said the stores securitymeasures did their jobs andthe thieves only had aboutthree minutes inside. Still,they smashed several dis-play cases and managed tosteal a significant amountof jewelry.Holmes said she is look-

ing at the positives no

one was hurt and all cus-tomer pieces were lockedup and remained untouched.She also praised the

response by Delta police.She said officers arrivedon scene while she was onthe phone with the securitycompany, which called toalert her the stores alarmhad been triggered.Theyre pretty awesome

people, she said.The store was closed

Friday to clean up, assesswhat was missing and dealwith the insurance com-pany.Holmes said suppliers

have stepped up to quicklyreplace the stolen pieces.Many were replaced by thenext day the Delta Streetstore was back in business

on Saturday and Holmessaid she expects the rest ofthe inventory to arrive inthe coming days.I am focusing on the

positive, she said. Thesupport from the communi-ty has been overwhelming.Delta police said the

investigation is ongoing andanyone with informationcan call 604-946-4411.

Post plan upsets seniorsIntroduction of community boxes will make it difficult for older residents to get their mail

MAYOR from page1

Thieves hit jewelry store in middle of the night

PHOTO BY JESSICA KERR

Mayor Lois Jackson takes the oath of office and oath of alle-giance with Justice Kenneth W. Ball.

BY JESSICA KERRjkerr@delta-optimist.com

PHOTO BY SANDOR GYARMATI

Theres no timetable for Delta, but Canada Post plans to convert all areas to community mailboxes withinthe next five years.

BY SANDOR GYARMATIsgyarmati@delta-optimist.com

What's Layared today

"" Page 1See more photosfrom this years WakeUp Santa event atTsawwassen TownCentre Mall.

"" Page 19Check out more fromthe Ladner BusinessAssociations secondannual ChristmasTree Festival.

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December 3, 2014 The Delta Optimist A3

Friends of Delta Hospitalsays it makes sense torestore the hospitals surgi-cal program, but theres noindication the health regionis willing to budge.The newly formed citi-

zens group issued a sum-mary document this weekaimed at highlighting thechallenges the hospital cur-rently faces.Issued by group member

Gord Freeborn, a formerDelta fire chief, the docu-ment notes the communitiesof Delta and Tsawwassen

First Nation want and needa fully functioning commu-nity-based hospital that canprovide secondary care, aswas the case up to the earlypart of the past decade.Although Delta is listed

as an acute care hospitalwithin the Fraser HealthAuthority, the region limitsits surgical functions, thedocument states.Raising concern over the

level of urgent medical careavailable at the hospital,doctorswhomake upthe DeltaHospitalMedical Staff Associationmet with Fraser Health for asecond time last week.Neither Fraser Health nor

the doctors group wouldcomment on the meeting,but it doesnt appear thehealth region is willing tobegin reinstating the hos-pitals surgical program tothe level it had been prior tocuts over a decade ago.The two sides met a cou-

ple of weeks prior and cameaway with two very differ-ent takes on what had beenagreed to by Fraser Health,with the doctors saying foursurgical beds for overnightstays were being added, animportant first step towardmaking restoration of thesurgical program possible.However, the health

region then said somethingmuch different, noting itwas committed to workingwith the hospital physiciansto further strengthen theprocess for safely trans-ferring surgical patientsrequiring overnight care tohospitals that have a surgi-cal role.Delta South MLA Vicki

Huntington said the govern-ment and Fraser Healthsfailure to respond to doc-tors concerns is puttinglives at risk.Thirty-one Delta

Hospital doctors wroteto the health minister inOctober to tell him thatpeoples lives are in dan-

ger because acute surgicalservices are not offeredafter hours, Huntingtonsaid last week. People arebeing transferred to Surreyif their appendicitis happensto strike too late in the day,where they have to waithours before treatment. Itsunacceptable.Since the doctors wrote

to the minister, Huntingtonsaid Delta Hospital staffreported two additionalcases where patients with

appendi-citis weretransferredto SurreyMemorial

because they arrived atDelta Hospital after hoursand could not be scheduledfor surgery.Fraser Health says

patient outcomes arenot being affected, saidHuntington. They tell usthat they review data everyyear to see if they need toexpand services, and Deltajust hasnt made the grade.Thats nonsense. Go to anyother municipality in B.C.with over 60,000 people Langley, Port Moody,Maple Ridge, Cowichan they all provide the typeof care Fraser Health saysDelta does not need. Weare not a small municipal-ity, and it is time we weretreated fairly.Huntington, who asked

questions about FraserHealth and that first meet-ing with doctors in thelegislature last week, notedDelta is already home tothe biggest container portin the country as well as aferry terminal and industrialparks.Doug Massey with

Friends of Delta Hospitalsaid the community shouldbe outraged over FraserHealths refusal to restoreproper medical care. Hesuggested the Corporationof Delta play a role byasking the TFN, which isundergoing a major expan-sion, to partner as advocatesfor the hospital.

FHA standing groundon surgical programCitizens group and MLA are calling for greater level ofservice at Delta Hospital, but no headway being made

BY SANDOR GYARMATIsgyarmati@delta-optimist.com

FILE PHOTO

Cuts made to the surgical program at Delta Hospital over adecade ago havent been restored.

Hospital plays criticalrole in FHA network

Page 10

A4 The Delta Optimist December 3, 2014

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December 3, 2014 The Delta Optimist A5

Ladner Villages LawlorGoldsmith Shoppe hascome up with a unique wayof giving back this holidayseason in response to somerecent gifts made to theDelta Hospice Society.Delta Hospice received

two valuable pieces ofjewelry and was unsurehow to sell them safely andsecurely in order to honourthe true value of the itemsand their donors.With the knowledge that

proceeds go towards ser-vices offered to the commu-nity through the Centre forSupportive Care, LawlorsJanet Holmes came up witha solution a silent, in-store auction.

The auction will includea starting bid and a buy itnow price. Bidders mayvisit Lawlor GoldsmithShoppe, 4817F Delta St.,during business hours toplace their bid hours. Eachnight the current bid willbe updated on http://lawlor-goldsmithshoppe.com/delta-hospice-silent-auction.Bidding will remain open

until Dec. 23.Each piece of jewelry

a diamond ring and dia-mond necklace has beenprofessionally appraisedand winning bids willreceive an appraisal certifi-cate for the full value. Onehundred per cent of the pro-ceeds will go to the Delta

Hospice Society.It is really exciting to

see the commitment localbusinesses make to supportour community throughhospice, says DeltaHospices Tama Recker.We are so happy to partnerwith Lawlor to make thesepieces available to the com-munity and appreciate theirkindness in hosting the auc-tion.Holmes says shes grate-

ful for the opportunity topartner with Delta HospiceSociety.There is no greater joy

than to help such a gener-ous community give back tosuch an important society,she says.

Jeweler hosting auctionto benefit Delta HospiceBids welcome on two valuable pieces until Dec. 23

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Janet Holmes (left) of Lawlor Goldsmith Shoppe and Tama Recker of the Delta Hospice Societyshow the diamond ring and diamond necklace that were donated to the society and are now onthe auction block.

A6 The Delta Optimist December 3, 2014

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Dave Lemire climbed upand down the stairs at FredGingell Park in Tsawwassenfor four straight hours lastSaturday, raising approxi-mately $11,000 for B.C.Childrens Hospital in theprocess.Lemire, who called the

fundraiser Climb for Kids,said it was an awesome dayand it couldnt have goneany better.It was cold but the

participation from the com-munity was unbelievable. Itwas overwhelming for me,actually, said the Ladnerresident.Lemire, the produce

manager at Save-On-Foodsin Tsawwassen, said he

never stopped once duringthe four-hour fundraiser. Hesaid his daughter Brookemonitored him the wholetime, making sure he waswell hydrated and fedthroughout the event.His friend, Myles

McHattie, cheered him onthe whole time as well.It was pretty special,

he said.When Lemire started

as a produce manager inTsawwassen, he becamegood friends with Johnny,a young kid who wouldvisit with him while hismom would do her groceryshopping. Johnny, who hada condition called Apertsyndrome, passed away in2008.Lemire became good

friends with McHattie, who

gave a touching eulogy atJohnnys funeral.The parks stairs

have been described asTsawwassens version of theGrouse Grind.Lemire said Monday that

his legs were feeling fine.I put my Christmas

lights up yesterday, so Icouldnt be that bad, hesaid with a laugh.He noted his Save-On

coworker Peggy Coonferand the rest of the staffhelped him out a lot andthat members of the DeltaFire Department were phe-nomenal as well.

PHOTO BY GORD GOBLE

Dave Lemire climbed the stairs at Fred Gingell Park in Tsawwassen for four straight hours lastSaturday in his Climb for Kids fundraiser to benefit B.C. Childrens Hospital.

Climber raises $11,000for Childrens Hospital

BY DAVE WILLISdwillis@delta-optimist.com

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