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Community engagement vital to Lower Mainland economy

Douglas College looks for community partnerships to benefit students Patrick

Vailancourt Mews Editor

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esidents, community

leaders, and business owners from New Westminster and Coquitlam gathered at community engagement forums hosted at Douglas College’s two campuses.

The goal was to brainstorm ideas on how Douglas College can partner with community groups to provide students with both an enhanced and hands-on learning experience, and to better the local economy in smaller communities surrounding Vancouver.

The forum included presentations from program coordinators and college faculty as well as a keynote address from Douglas College President Scott McAlpine.

McAlpine emphasized the need for Douglas College students to create connections and strategic partnerships in the community, particularly as demographic and labour market trends begin to shift.

“The reality is that by 2017 we will see an economy in the Lower Mainland that can be summarized simply as ‘Jobs without people; people without

jobs,’” said McAlpine. “The next [Douglas College] strategic plan needs to include an emphasis on community partnerships.” This is the first time Douglas ™ jllege has hosted a forum with mmunity participants, and mes on the heels of a forum ‘Id last year where Douglas dllege faculty and staff ...scussed ideas on how to better connect with the community. Hazel Postma, Douglas College’s associate vice president of external relations, said that the forums were important in building community connections and providing students with more employment opportunities. “Students will benefit by the increasing number of opportunities available to them for the applied portions of their programs,” said Postma. “As well, they benefit by having more community leaders aware of the depth and breadth of learning that takes place at Douglas—as employers hear about our connections and partnerships, they will be more inclined to hire Douglas

The forums asked attendees about their idea of what community connections should be and how Douglas College can assist in supporting the community—hbe it in commerce, government, or social programs.

Postma said that, while there were apparent themes emerging from each forum, the needs of each community were

unique and made apparent by the differing discussions between forum participants in New Westminster and Coquitlam.

“It was intriguing to see the differences in the feedback we received from the two forums— perhaps it reflects the urban nature in New West and the more suburban nature of the Tri- Cities,” said Postma. “We were pleased with the turnout and the wide representation from the community.”

Both forums were well- attended, and included members of the business community, heads of Chambers of Commerce, members of the Legislative Assembly, non-profit groups, school districts, and the RCMP.

Postma underscored that the business community seems to be keen to explore new connections with Douglas College based on how heavily they were represented in the forums.

“We would measure success by the number of new connections generated, new partnerships formed. And success is also in confirming that we are on the right track, that our existing partnerships and connections make sense,” said Postma.

A report on the community engagement forums is expected by the end of October, which will summarize the feedback from both forums and outline some next steps in establishing new connections.

Photo courtesy of Vancouver Sun

Sensible BC referendun

Group seeks to decriminalize marijuana

Sophie Isbister

Life & Style Fenipeittentepexa

BC-based group called ensible BC is looking to

collect enough signatures across British Columbia on a petition to include a referendum question in the September 2014 provincial election ballot. This referendum would amend the BC Police Act, which governs police conduct and includes provisions that oversee the enforcement of federal drug laws. The amendment, titled the sensible

policing act, would essentially decriminalize the possession and use of cannabis.

According to the summary

the legislative proposal

ysted on Elections BC’s

ebsite, the sensible policing

t “would prohibit the use of

ovincial police resources for unis purpose, would require police to report in detail to the Minister of Justice any actual use of resources for this purpose and why it was necessary, and require the Minister to publish that report.”

The act will also look toward repealing cannabis prohibition at a federal level, and includes a mandate that the province hold a public commission. The commission will, according to Elections

campaign

BC, “study the means and requirements necessary for the province to establish a legal and regulated model for the production and use of cannabis by adults.”

The act will include federal exemptions for BC’s new cannabis laws until cannabis is removed as a scheduled substance, and will also require an amendment to the BC Liquor Control Act, which would make possession of cannabis by a minor illegal much in the same way alcohol and tobacco are controlled.

Sensible BC requires 10 per cent of registered voters across all of BC’s 85 provincial ridings to sign the petition. That amounts to over 400,000 signatures. In order

to successfully campaign for

a referendum, all of those signatures must be collected in

a 90-day period. In the past, the only group that has successfully gathered enough signatures to place a referendum question on the ballot has been the campaign to repeal the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST).

The campaign began on September 9, 2013, and will run for three months. Campaign lead spokesperson and cannabis activist, Dana Larsen, told the Georgia Straight that at the start of the campaign Sensible BC had already secured over 1,700 volunteers to canvass for signatures. Larsen added, “I’m very confident that if we can get the signatures, we will win the referendum.”

According to Sensible BC’s website, “Over 3,580 British Columbians were charged with simple possession of marijuana last year. This is close to double the rate of charges of any other province.”

They seek marijuana law reform because, according to their website, “Decriminalizing the simple possession of cannabis in this manner will save taxpayers money, help unclog our justice system and stop young people from having their lives ruined over a joint. This is the first step towards a more sensible cannabis policy.”