A i -

NEWS photo Paul McGrath

FRED WESTCOTT recenity retired after 40 years with the ambu-

lance service.

[Mayors to be # consulted on s RCMP pay hike

‘NORTH VANCOUVER City {| Mayor Jack Loucks called his ‘excursion to Ottawa to fight 2

mem} Mountie pay boost worth-

while, but added no commit- Ments were squeezed out of the feds.

“By Jan Noble

; TR NE: aza News Reporter

., Loucks, one of four Lower Mainland mayors to call on }-Treasury Board president Art Eggleton and solicitor general Herb Gray, said the federal repre-

Sj sentatives did promise to consult

the mayors before 2 final decision is made.

.. The hastily called expedition left the Lower Mainland Dec. 19, ‘after the RCMP had asked for a ‘cost-of-living allowance that .would cost Nor h Vancouver City "$239,692 and North Vancouver

os District an extra $400,701.

a.

- The “recruitment and retention”

_— S allowance would pay $4,696 a year <—sy

to 59 city and 92 district RCMP officers, Local municipalities, -which pay 90% of police costs, ‘would fork over $4,226 of that. Loucks said the Treasury Board has final say on the RCMP’s Request, and the RCMP falls under ‘Gray’s wing. The. two federal representatives ‘listened to Jocal concems and said

‘they would take those concerns -

into consideration, said Loucks.

- He said mayors oppose a wage freeze the RCMP officers are cur- rently under. Whatever is done should be phased in, Loucks said. “Jt’s a considerable sum of money to pick up in one year,” Loucks -added.

Loucks earlier told the News he flatly opposes a cost-of-living allowance for RCMP officers. He ‘worried it would set a precedent in “Negotiating with other employee

Hi Broups. North Vancouver, Mayor

Murray Dykeman doesn't like the way the issue hes been dumped on municipalities. The allowance is not part of the policing contract, Dykeman noted.

North Vancouver RCMP Const. Catherine Galliford made it clear RCMP officers believe the cost-of- living allowance is fair. According to an RCMP staff news release, a survey shows 66% of RCMP mem- bers in the Greater Vancouver Regional! District want to be trans- ferred. “The reasons given per- tained to the high cost of living vis a vis the quality of fife enjoyed by their peers in other parts of the country,” said the release.

GVRD costs of living are 29% higher than the Canadian average, but RCMP wages remain constant Canada-wide.

Municipalities, said RCMP B.C. media spokesman Sgt. Peter Montague, “are getting very cheap policing at the expense of our members and it has to stop.”

West Vancouver District has a municipal police force. First-year West Vancouver constables make $40,486.32, while first-year RCMP constables in North Vancouver pull in $31,172. For 10- year veterans of policing, West Vancouver constables rake in $54,334.98 while their counter- parts in North Vancouver make do with $51,518.

Because their cops are cheaper, North Vancouver taxpayers lay out significantly less than West Vancouver residents for policing. In North Vancouver District, peo- ple pay $100 a year for policing services, in North Vancouver City policing costs $151 per person, and in West Vancouver each person pays $171. The figures come from the provincial attorney general’s policing services branch,

RCMP members, particularly junior members, are required to accept transfers at the discretion of senior management, said the staff release.

Wednesday, December 27, 1995 — North Shore News — 3

Paramedic retires after 40

Fred Westcott helped to

build ambulance service

IT WAS June 17, $958 and Fred Westcott was an ambulance attendant on duty. The bridge under construction over the Second Narrows had collapsed. Men and machinery plunged into the water below.

Colin Thomas Contributing Writer

Westcott was 28 yeurs old at the time. He had been an ambulance attendant for six years. The emergency call would prove to be one of the most memorable in his 40-year career. Twenty-four of the years were served in North Vancouver. He recently retired.

Westcott says emer- gency crews were ill- prepared for the extent of the disaster. Ambulance attendants could do fittle more than “scoop and run” back and forth to area hospi- tals.

Twenty-three men died and many more were injured that day amidst the twisted stecl and frigid water of Burrard Inlet.

In his many years of ambulance service Westcott has scen more than his share of victims. Westcott began in 1952 with almost no training. “We used to call them horizontal taxis.” he said, referring to the primitive emergency response vehicles of the 1950s. “Most of the first-aid we learned, we learned on the

66 We used to call them horizontal taxis. 9

— Retired paramedic Fred Westcott

job... it was not like there were any prerequisites for the job or anything.”

Today's paramedic stands in stark contrast to the ambulance attendant of the 1950s. The competition to become an attendant is fierce. Paramedics have more education and training than ever before.

A new paramedic typically will have completed a cours: in occupational first-aid, have a class four dri- ver’s licence and will already have years of experience as a life guard, ski patroller or search and rescue team member. The training and on-job learning never stops.

Westcott joined the privately operated Kingsway Ambulance Services in 1952. His first formal training did not come until 1954 when he received an industrial first-aid certificate from the Workers Compensation Board.

Westcott helped pioneer the Ambulance Employees Union in 1963 and served as secretary treasurer on the first executive board. He remained on tue executive for 17 years. He also chaired the first provincial negoti- ating committee in 1974.

In 1973 Westcott, along with seven other para- medics, was selected for advanced training at Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster. It was an important milestone for the service as it required the provincial government to pass a law that allewed paramedics to practice procedures beyond first-aid.

Before fintshing his career at the Lions Gate Hospital station, Westcott worked as an advanced life support paramedic at various Lower Mainland stations and was a member of the provincial air-evacuation team for five years.

One of Westcott’s four children is a paramedic in Vancouver.

Burrard Roche Pt. access supported

AT A hastily called meeting Friday = morning, North Vancouver District Council authorized staff to enter an agreement “that will allow Takaya Developments to con- struct an extension to Roche Point Drive.

By lan Noble News Reporter

confident the deadline will be in the final permis- sion to enter.

“I guess we have to put our trust in those peo- ple, that they are going to include con- cerns in the final agree- ment. I

The final agreement with the developer, which plans to build 520 housing units on Tsleil-Waututh Nation (Burrard Band) land, will be substantially based on terms and con- ditions outlined in a Dec. 21 report to council.

Although the conditions to extend Roche Point Drive include the con-

the process.”

After the mecting, Roche Point Road Community Association presi- dent Christine Kwan said she would like to see the Sept. 30 completion date included in the draft, but she is

COUN. CUTHBERT backed deadline.

think we have to have some trust in

Neighbor Bill Fox concurred:

shot down all Cuthbert amendiments.

After the meeting, Cuthbert said he approved the authorization te enter district lands because he’s also confi- dent the “critical” Seytember dead- line will be included in the final “pet- mission io enter’ agseement.

In the draft, district lands manager Don Sigston said the band has agreed to use its “best efforts” to complete the Dollarton connector by Sept. 30.

At the meeting, district director of parks and engineering services John Bremner assured councillors that the Sepi. 30 date will be included in the final permission to enter.

The Friday morning meeting was called Thursday morning. Tsleil- Waututh Chief Leonard George said the band needs direction from council now because a delay at this time could cause much longer delays in construction for band projects,

struction of a contentious access road from Dollarion Highway to the band’s Seymour development site, a completion date for that connector is not specified in the draft.

A September 1996 date had been bandied about earlier to placate Roche Point Road residents who want construction traffic from the development off local roads as soon as possible.

“T've got to have faith in the process,” he said, “Chief (Leonard) George I’ve always thought an honorable man.”

Coun. Jim Cuthbert introduced many amendments to have the Sept. 30 date included or have the agree- ment come back to council oefore final authority is given.

However, Coun. Emie Crist, who accused Cuthbert of nitpicking, and the other three councillors present

including a skating rink.

Conditions of tre permission to enter were initially slated to be dis- cussed at a Jan. 8 council meeting.

Local residents have been lobby- ing council for months to negotiate a Dollarton access road with the band instead of extending Roche Point Road. The Dollarton connector was in the original plans proposed by the

and.

Store manager beaten

Suspect jumped man

responding to alarm

THE ASSISTANT manager of the Canadian Tire outlet in the 1300-block of Main Street was attacked on Dec. 17 by a man wearing a ski mask with a single eye hole.

By Anna Marie D'Angelo News Reporter

The injured victim, age 41, suffered a broken nose, a large cut to his head and bruises after being hit with a baton in the face and fiead and kicked in the ribs, according to a North Vancouver RCMP spokesman.

Police said the store employee went to the business at 11:30 p.m. after receiving a call that the store’s alarm was sounding.

As he was checking the doors at the business, the man said a person wearing a black ski mask suddenly ran from the bushes shouting obscenities.

Police say the store employee tried to run away.

After the attack, the injured man ran to the street and flagged down a motorist for help.

The man was taken to Lions Gate Hospital.

The suspect is described as being 77 kg (170 Ibs.) and 1.8 m (5°10"). The suspect was wearing a black sweater, black gioves and black boots.

Police are asking an anonymous caller who phoned the North Vancouver RCMP regarding this incident to contact them again. Anyone else with information is . also asked to call the Serious Crime unit at 985-1311.