Remains
identified

TWO kids looking for a shortcut
through Lynn Canyon Park on Sunday
found human remains at the bottom

boues ‘
THE wusuns: ¥

of a sieep gully off Burrill Avenue.

The remains have
been identified as those
of North Vancouver’s
Neil Allan Woodman.

Woodman was 49
when he was last seen by
his daughter at the fami-
ly home on June 18,
1998.

Woodinan was
described as being
extremely depressed
shortly before he headed
towards Lynn Canyon
Park, according to a
June 1998 News story.

NEHK. Woodman...
remains found.

On Monday, North Vancouver RCMP were
assisted by North Shore Rescue Team members in

recovering the skeletal remains.

Police do not suspect foul play in Woodman’s

death.

The remains were found off a steep, denscly
wooded area north of Lynn Canyon Park’s main

entrance. The site was just cast of homes on Burrill

Avenue.

~—Anna Marie D’Angelo 3

Lonsdate Avenue.

pe e
‘

Wednesday, July 21, 1999 —- North Shore News — 3

lranians protest tyranny

Ferry guards irked ever pay

Kevin Gillies

Mews Reporter
‘SECURITY guards working at
‘the North Vancouver fast ferry
site say they’re not being paid a
fair wage and should be com-
pensated. ; :

The five guards, who also .work as
first-aid: attendants” at | BC Ferries’
Catamaran Ferries International (CFI)
assembly plant, claim they-are entitled to
more then $330,000 in back pay under

_ the NDP’s fair wage legislation...
ao) The controversial-Stil
‘and Fair. Wage.-Act (SDFWA) specifies
.. what wage rates are to be paid to contract
employees at government works projects.
-,- Bot the guards-fear the fiscally chal-
lenged ferry project isn’t paying attention
--to their dilemma because of its own bud-
get problems. ; .

The fast ferry program, which is pro-
ducing three high-speed ‘catamaran fer-
ties, is $240 million over budget, and BC
Ferries, :CFI’s ‘mother corporation, is

expected to have a toral debt of $1.7 bil- _

-lion by.2004, :
However. CFI. spokesnian Joanne
* Whittier said, “This isn’t CFI’s issue.
“CFI does have a contract with a secu-
rity company called Kanaf,” Whittier said.

“That contract.is to have security guards -

sted at the front entrance:to monitor
“access and cgress —'so entry and exit —

lon condo plan shelved

‘spokesman Jonathan James. “It’s going .

sold by its previous owner.
‘The sale was closed last Thursday with

the “Mark James Group purchasing the.

“property for an undisclosed amount from
former owner Ken Hutchinson, who
planned to turn the commercial site into

* condominiums. |
“.-" Hutchinson had spent around $1 mil-

‘Yion in development charges for the pro-

sed development, which was to include

Bs condominiums, a 30-seat neighbour-

shood pub, a beer and wine store and
eight commercial /residential units.

‘~~. But advanced sales of the condomini-

ums —— necessary for financial arrange-

ments needed to continue the develop-

Is Development —

to the CFI sire.”

She referred questions on the matter
to Kanaf.

A Kanaf company spokesman would

-say only that “it’s (the wage issue) being

dealt with by our company in the proper
legal fashion and that’s all we’re prepared
to say.”

The guards, from Richmond’s Kanaf
Sccurity Group, say they are entitled to
$20.90 an hour plus another $4 per hour
for benefits as per the SDFWA but are
currently being paid only $9 an hour.

Some have been working at the site

. since June 1997.

According, to Labour Ministry litera-
ture, the SDFWA applies to all provincial-
ly funded construction projects with pre-

. tender values of $250,000 or more.

Qualified tradesmen and apprentices
must be employed on these projects and
all employees must be paid according to

wage and bencfit schedules set out in the |

regulations. -
Onc of the stated purposes of the act
is to ensure employees are paid fair wages
e

_for work performed on publicly fun

construction projects.

The guards filed a complaint with the
Employment Standards Branch last July,
and labour ministry representatives inves-
tigated the claim by visiting the site and
researching Kanaf?s contract with CFI.

* Guard Mehrzad Lashgari said none of
the guards have seen the contract but
that, by Jaw, it is supposed to contain a

ment -~ were low with only 18 being
pre-bought.

Sources close to the deal say a number
of factors contributed to the low sales,
including a general slump in the market,
negative spin-off from the “leaky condo”
issue and construction costs escalating
from’ around $8 million to more than
$10 million.

“Hutchinson ‘had <iready paid unre-
fundable development cost and other
charges to North Vancouver District.
Hutchinson has been involved in North
Shore hotel ownership over the past 20
years.

The new Avalon owners would not

say much about their plans for the prop- .

erty though speculation has centred.on

the possibility of their wanting to develop:

a brew pub and a Chapter’s Book Store,
along with possible residential units.

“I can’t give you any answers right at
the moment,” said Mark James Group

clause recoprizing its adherence to the
SDFWA.

“Employment Standards representative
Cal Davis sent the guards a letter in July
1998 stating thar the CFI site is subject
to the act. ,

“He assured us that this is our right
and we are going to get this money,” said
Lashgari.

He added that it took a few more
months to conduct an audit and calculate
exactly how much the guards were owed
in back pay. .

A Jan. 15, 1999, letter from Davis to
then-CFI chief financial officer Gavin
Cooper said, “The audit indicates the six
employees arc owed a_ total of
$236,748.89 which includes interest.”

Employment Standards then asked
CFI to voluatari!y pay the guards their
back wages. : .

It hasn’t happened, said Lashgari.

“Up to Dec. 20, 98, Mr. Davis calcu-
lated (CFI owed me) about $59,000-
something; more than $59,000,”
Lashgari said of what he personally was
owed.

“That’s more than two years back pay.
By now it’s probably about $70,000 or
more than $70,000.”

But now the guards are concerned
that the Employment Standards Branch is
backing off because the government
doesn’t want to add more red ink to the

See Job page 8

to pretty much remain the same for the
next while anyways. It will remain. the

same for at least the next six months to a
‘year. I don’t know.” ‘

When asked if his group would con-
tinue with Hutchinson’s development
plans, James said, “That won’t happen.”

He referred all subsequent calls to

' company owner Mark James who did not

return News calls to press deadline
Tuesday.

Hutchinson, who was a former co-.
owner of the Lynnwood hotel and was
involved with Goofy’s nightclub and the
Coach House hotel, also did not return
News calls. -

All district zoning bylaws passed for
the Hutchinson development and any
building permits issued are no longer

valid. Any new development proposal for ©

the site would have to include new devel-

~ opment cost charges.

LOCAL Iranians rai:_ in Nerth Vancouver for the second time in three days against a crackdown on pro-democra-

cy students by the Musiim regime in their homeland. RCMP reperted no problems from the Saturday protest on_

Ground scanner
added to search
for Lynn Duggan

Frovs page 1
Vancouver City Potice officer Brock Graham at the time of her |
death, Graham, 40, is suspected of killing Duggan, although
North Vancouver Mounties have never confirmed that Graham
is a suspect in the case.
In 1996, Graham killed his girlfriend, Patricia Grace —
‘Ducharme, 41, in Campbell River..Graham was convicted of
second-degree murder in Ducharme’s death. He is eligible for
parole within 10 years. ; :
A year after Duggan’s death, two men found her skull and_
jaw bone off an embankment near the. first gate entrance to
what used to be called the Seymour Demonstration Forest. The

skull was found on the west bank of the Scymour River. Police «: .’

later found some of Duggan’s tecth near the same. spot, sup- *
porting speculation that Duggan was buried in the area... |

But, despite an extensive scarch by North  Vancouver’..~
Mounties and other searches organized by the Duggan-family, ”.’
Lynn Duggan’s body has never been found. ©

On Monday, a subsurface radar machine, ‘also «called a
ground-penctrating radar, was used to look for burial evidence.
The RCMP have three subsurface radar machines in Canada.

Nanaimo RCMP. Sgt. Rick. Lynch said he recently ‘used the
device successfilly in Medicine Hat, where the remains of a per
son who went missing 17 years ago were found in a back yard.
The case became a murder investigation. 2-2!

“T was able to pinpoint some of the boncs. The one bone we
found was the jaw bone with teeth and we-were able
tively identify the missing person,” said Lynchi:) sy 3

Lynch said that. the’ subsurface radar machine detects spaces
or voids under the earth. It also’ detects metal - objects. The:
machine, which costs more than $30,000, sends radar signals
into the ground where the voids and metal objects: reflect
and are depicted on a graph. The machine: can’ distin
between loosely compacted-and tightly compacted soil unde:
the surface. It can map out a grid in ideal flat in wh
there are not many trees. aa :

To press time, there was nothing to report in the subsur:
radar search, according to, Sgt. Rod Booth" of: the:-North'
Vancouver Mounties serious crime section. ° 2° 008 217,

Meanwhile Lynch said graves become more compacted

“- time, but the subsurface radar should still detect body ‘pic

and metal. we ; . nee

At the site where Lynn Duggan may be buried, however,’
there is only a small area where the subsurface radar: canbe
used. The sest is heavily treed, steep terrain. "1.0

Lynch planned to use a metal detector in the area where th
subsurface radar could not be used.

Also helping in the search on. Monday were 12 arcshe
students from Simon Fraser University. ae

They were conducting a ground search, sometimes on their.
hands and knees.. They are looking for evidence of a burial
remains or anything that may be potential evidence...

Another searcher was. Vancouver Fire ‘and Rescué
Flynn Lamont who volunteered to use. his .specially-trained
search dog, Barklev.. The golden retri¢ver was. trained
California to find cadavers. So Te) :

Meanwhile Lynn. Duggan’s father .Merv said, “Anythin
they can do to bring this to a resolve is fantastic .... We are neve!
giving up. We are going to win this.”. - wy