By lan Noble News Reporter ian@nsnews.com THE fast ferry program continues to operate behind schedule, but a ferry ‘spokesman insists the first ferry wili be in service this spring. ‘At the same time B.C. Ferries announced it had lost $76.5 million in 1996-97, the Crown corporation’s Clay Suddaby acknowledged that the fat! 1997 launch date for the first fast-ferry has been pushed back to someti in December. . But he said the ferry will still be in operation on the Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo route in the spring. '.. “The construction is now focused that instead . of meeting an arbitrary date for launch we want to have the ship as complete as possible when it hits the water.” Suddaby said the more that’s done inside the Catamaran Ferries International (CFI) construc- tion facility on North Vancouver’s waterfront, the more cost-effective and efficient the process will be. Previously B.C. Ferries had announced the First catamaran will begin operation in spring, says B.C. Ferries ferry would be in service in the fall of 1996. Suddaby said the fast ferries are the largest alu- minum-hulled catamarans ever built in] Norch America. “This is an enormous project,” he said, adding the engineering, worker training and upgrades to the shipyards must be considered. * Ifyou’re doing a schedule for something (of this size) vou’re constantly re-examining and changing things within that schedule and that’s the case with that project,” he said. In addition to scheduling delays, CFI, a B.C. Ferries subsidiary, earlier announced the total cost of the three-ferry program has climbed from $210 million to $222 million. Suddaby said an event to show off the first ferry to international delegates is being planned around the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in November. Delegates for the conference will be brought to the nine-storey CFI assembly shed to see the ship. x-teacher sentenced By Anna Marie D'Angelo News Reporter dangelo@nsnews A former Argyle secondary school teacher received a six-month condi- tional jail sentence on Oct. 14 for indecently assaulting two students in the early 1960s. Allan Cecil Hare, who had been convicted in 1990 of molesting a Vancouver boy in the 1980s, ¥ to wo charges of indecent assault Nncouver provincial court. On Tuesday, Judge Jerome Paradis sentenced Hare, 68, to the conditional jail sentence and ordered the Vancouver resident to perform 150 hours of community work service. - The convicted child molester will serve his conditional jail sentence in the community with restrictions similar to probation orders. According to the North Vancouver RCMP, several boys in a boys club at the Lynn Valley high school claimed to have been sexually fton- dled and sexually touched by Hare. The bovs were in Grade 8 and Grade 9 at the time. One of the victims was a grown man when he told his mother what} had done to him. The mother contacted police in 1995 and a criminal investigation began. Hare was charged with thy cent assault and three counts of gre after official allegations were made by three : complainants. Hare pleaded guilty to two charges. The rest were droppe he charges cov- ered a period berween September 1962 and December 1965. The victims’ identities are banned trom publication by court order. In 1990, Hare received two years’ probation and a suspended sentence for sexually assaulting a Grade 8 boy while Hare was a teacher at Vancouver's Gladstone secondary in the mid- 1980s. The student was on the school’s golf team and Hare was his coach, said police. Sunday, October 19, 1997 - North Shore News ~- 3 er . NEWS Photo Mike Wakefield . THE first of three fast ferries takes shape at the Catamaran Ferries International assembly faciiity in North Vancouver. Another . deadline for the ferry’s completion will come and go, but the ship will still be in service in spring, says 8.C. Ferries. erry deadline delayed again CFi hope: to build and sell aluminum catama- rans around the world when the three ferries for B.C. Ferries are complete. Critics of the fast ferries say high Canadian labor costs and competition from earlier enirants to the ferry markee will ham- per export plans. Suddaby said a significant amount of interest trom ov s operators has been received by CFI The of the market for this kind of vessel is pretty smali, but suddaby added it’s still. the fastest-growing segment of the international ferry 1. “There's not that many people out there that want to buy a fast ferry,” said Suddaby, offering a ball park figure of 20 customers worldwide. The second fast ferry is scheduled to enter ser- vice by the end of 1998 and the chird in the spring of 1999, The 250-vehicle boats are expected to cut a half hour off che 95-minute ride between Nanaimo and Horseshoe Bay. Suddaby said the first ship is now 65% to 70% complete. Once the first ferry is finished, the second ferry, which is being built ar numerous facilities in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island, will move into the assembly facility, said Suddaby. FORMER Argyle teacher Allan Ceci! Hare sentenced for 1960s indecent assaults. s Bike crash investigated TRANSPORTATION Ministry spokesman Brenda Jones said a cyclist injured on the Lions Gate Bridge Tuesday should have been walking his bike. Cyclist Larry Zimich says a bridge worker kicked him into traffic lanes, breaking bones in his shoulder and displacing his hip. Jones said that Zimich was riding on the sidewalk in an area posted with signs noting that cyclists should dismount and walk their bikes. Cyclists, said Jones, should also dismount when approaching pedestrians. “This is to help ensure the safety of sidewalk users,” said Jones. Zimich said he was riding by slowly when the worker : kicked him. Jones said she can’t com- ment further because police are investigating the inci- dent. She called after the dead- tine for Friday’s News, which contained Zimich story. Robber sentenced A 20-year-old North Vancouver resident was sen- tenced to a six-month condi- tional jail sentence on Oct. 14 in connection with a robbery. Devon Lane Gibson, 20, pleaded guilty to robbing a man who was on his way to the bank with about $3,000 to deposit on Sept. 8. According to the North Vancouver RCMP, wit- nesses near the CIBC bank at 16th Street and Lonsdale Avenue got the licence plate number and vehicle description of the getaway ear, Gibson Police arrest- ed two men less than four hours after the 10:30 a.m. robbery. A third man is believed involved. The money was not recov- ered, Gibson was also prohibit- ed from possessing firearms for five years. Aco-accused Rami Kadi, 19, of North Vancouver, is scheduled for a court appear- ance on Oct. 22 to fix a date for trial. Police continue the investi- gation. — Anna Marie D’Angelo