Q&

Parties just want to have funds
Spotlight: The Douglas College Business

Association

(¥ Royal Columbian Hospital secures million
dollar upgrade

And more!

Port Coquitlam city staff receive
raise to living wage

> City of Vancouver to follow suit

Mercedes Deutscher
News Editor

 

ort Coquitlam became yet another

BC municipality—after New
Westminster, Quesnel, and the Huu-
ay-aht First Nations—to award its staff
a living wage at the beginning of 2017.

All those employed by the city are
now guaranteed a minimum wage of
$20.64 per hour—$g.84 more than BC’s
current minimum wage. Those who have
not had their contracts renewed yet may
still be paid under the new wage, but can
expect the raise by the end of the year.

A task force of city managers will
calculate the exact costs of the new
living wage, with a formalized report
due in the spring to be certified by
the Port Coquitlam city council.

The change will hopefully raise some
of Port Coquitlam’s families above the
poverty line. Last year, the Living Wage for
Families Campaign reported to the Port
Coquitlam city council that 15 per cent of
children in the city, or approximately one
in seven, lived below the poverty line.

“Implementing a living wage is a

New Westminster and
Coquitlam drive changes

> Agreement reached over Brunette interchange

a

Mercedes Deutscher
News Editor

 

ew Westminster and Coquitlam
have created a task force on
the Brunette interchange, after the
provincial government began creating
a formal project plan for the roadway.
The task force will be co-chaired by
both mayors from New Westminster
and Coquitlam, and will contain two
councillors and two experienced engineers
or transportation staff from each city.
The task force is undertaking three
alternative proposals for the interchange,
with a report expected from the task
force by February 27. All three proposals
will share a common theme—to focus on
making Brunette a direct corridor between
New Westminster and Coquitlam, and
to divert regional traffic elsewhere.
For New Westminster, keeping
Brunette accessible for ambulances to
go to and from the Royal Columbian
Hospital is a top priority. As for
Coquitlam, improving the flow of traffic
through the community of Maillardville
is key, as well as not having any

small cost for a big impact in the lives
of low-wage workers and contractors
who will breathe a little easier at

the end of the month,” said Deanna
Ogle, member of the Living Wage for

 
  

Laser

negative impacts on local businesses.

The interchange has been the cause
for heated debates between the two
municipalities in the past, with both cities
having gone to court and arbitration.

“The hope is that we might be
able to choose an option,” Coquitlam

  

Image via Thinkstock

Families Campaign, in a statement.
However, it is unknown whether
the wage increase for city employees
will make a significant difference for
Port Coquitlam families living under

MAILLARI

    

1
a = eran 1

=
OGKEACoquIlam  .

Eaghequest Gall (i

Image via Google Maps

Mayor Richard Stewart told the Tri-
City News. “Tt might be a blend of
options, [and] it would be something
that enables both communities to
achieve what we want to achieve.”

The provincial project website states:
“Improving the Brunette overpass is

the poverty line as a whole, since the
wage increase will only affect those
hired by the city, not those who make
their living in the service industries.
Port Coquitlam’s changes will be
soon followed by the City of Vancouver,
who will be awarding living wages to
not only its city staff, but also staff
members of the Vancouver Public
Library and the police board.
“Changing this reality requires a
host of policy initiatives at all levels
of government. But without question,
having a major city government adopt a
living wage policy is an important piece
of the mix,” said Seth Klein, the director
of the BC branch of the Living Wage
for Families Campaign, to the CBC.
Ogle scrutinized the provincial
government for being relatively absent
from the growing conversation on living
wage, noting that it is something the BC
Liberals should be taking interest in with
the provincial election around the corner.
“This is an opportunity to
make poverty an issue. Affordable
living is something that we want
to see all political parties endorse,”
Ogle said to the Tri-City News.

critical for moving people and goods in
this area and for private and emergency
vehicles accessing Royal Columbian
Hospital. Currently, this interchange

is often a bottleneck on the Highway

1 corridor, especially at peak times.”

Brunette, which has an average of
60,000 vehicles passing through it daily,
has been problematic for collisions,
which can often lead to the interchange
being idle for hours. Brunette also
hosts the highest number of crashes in
Coquitlam, according to ICBC data.

The interchange has also been
problematic for those who utilize
public transportation at Braid Skytrain
station, as pedestrians have long had
struggle accessing the station.

“Given the potential impacts of a
new Brunette Avenue interchange, it is
critical that we work together to ensure
the best interests of our respective
communities are kept front and centre,”
New Westminster mayor Jonathan Cote
said to the New Westminster Record.

Until a plan is decided on,
there are no speculative completion
dates for the interchange.