2 THE VOICE, WEDNESDAY, NOV. 26, 2015 EDITOR ETHAN REYES tlarge Surrey gets ready for Syrian students School district won't let overcrowding hamper excitement for settling refugee children 66 We are excited to welcome these kids. Being here will give them op- portuni- ties they definitely would not have had before NICOLE KALER By MONA BUTLER urrey teachers and officials are optimistic about the arrival of an estimated 500 refugee students despite the problems with the school system. Regardless of the uncertainty over the exact amount of students arriving and the resources that will be avail- able, Surrey school officials are deter- mined that refugee students will be cared for in their school system despite overcrowding. Bob Holmes, a Surrey school trustee said that once all the information is col- lected, everything would be done to make the students feel welcome. “As always, we welcome all students with open arms, and no matter what will ensure that they are coming to a PARENT safe, caring environment and receiving a quality education, but we need to ad- vocate for the proper support to make that happen.” Nicole Kaler, a mother of three, said that although the schools are over- crowded, she welcomes the arrival of these new children. “As a community, we are excited to welcome these kids. Being here will give them opportunities they definitely would not have had before,” she said. “Until we get more formal notice with actual numbers, and sit down with the various levels of governments and local social and immigrant support agencies to discuss logistics and de- tails, we can’t do much more right now,” said Doug Strachan, manager of communication services for Surrey Schools. Overcrowding has been a problem in Surrey schools but solutions are limit- ed because the bulk of them require provincial funding or approval. There are over 70, 000 students in Surrey, White Rock Teachers are also concerned about whether they will be provided with enough resources to help these chil- dren but they are not apprehensive at the thought of their arrival. Jennifer Wadge, president of the Surrey Teachers’ pea ianairsre Association — said, resident of tbe » “Teachers, in gen- Surrey Teachers Loh Association eral, ave gone into this profes- sion to help. I know that Surrey teach- ers will be anxious to do whatever they can to make sure that these students are welcomed,” she said. Across Surrey, there are currently 274 portable classrooms in use. There are the main solutions to overcrowding and are in theory supposed to be tem- porary but most schools have them as permanent fixtures. They are also ex- pensive to operate, costing $10,000 per year over a regular classroom each in extra heat, light and maintenance. “There are children who will likely spend their entire school career in Sur- rey in a portable. Unless the govern- ment is committed to providing the funding to build new schools in Surrey, students and teachers will have to con- tinue dealing with portables,” Wadge said. Party line be dam‘d Q&A session with Christy Clark about the Site C dam became chance to ask the premier about settlement of Syrian refugees BY NANCY PLECHATY the go-ahead to one of the prov- ince’s biggest projects on Tuesday morning, however media were more concerned with Syrian refugee settle- ment in B.C. The construction of Site C hydro dam in the Peace River Valley area, r4 4 which has been op- posed by Aborigi- Pie Christy Clark announced nal and environ- We are mental advocacy happy to groups, is slated to start next spring, welcome costing $8.8 billion. our share Clark’s speech on the develop- of ref ugees ment was derailed CHRISTY CLARK when reporters questioned her stance on settle- ment of Syrian ref- B.C PREMIER ugees. “We are happy to welcome our share of refugees,” said Clark at BC Hydro’s Burnaby location, Horne Payne Substa- tion. “We live in the fastest growing economy in the country. I will never forget, I don’t think that any of us will, that our province was built from people overseas.” Last week, Clark encouraged refu- gees to settle up north in places like the Peace region. Many northern B.C. resi- dents were upset, worrying that an in- flux of refugees will take away jobs from locals that are already in need. In light of the controversy Clark said, “[The province’s commitment] will employ local and First Nations, first, [and] all other British Columbi- an’s next.” The work will span over an eight- year period, creating approximately 8,000 person-years employment, ac- cording to a news release distributed by BC Hydro Media Relations. BC’s Minister of Energy and Mines, Bill Ben- nett, said, “This particular contract, at its peak, will employ over 1,500 people.” P| 2; ah NANCY PLECHATY photo Minister of Energy and Mines, Bill Bennett, and Premier Clark addressing the media about both clean energy and Syrian refugees at a press conference about the development of the Site C dam. Saving city's heritage List of registered heritage homes in Vancouver is continuing to grow By JULIA WICKHAM ver has become increasingly pop- ular since the heritage designa- tion of First Shaughnessy _ last September. Three more homes were added Tuesday to the Vancouver Heritage Register in the ‘C’ evaluation category. The City of Vancouver labels them as “a building that contributes to the historic character of an area of streetscape” and designates them as protected heri- tage property. Heritage — ex- pert John Atkin, O::": a heritage home in Vancou- who leads sever- — al walking tours around d vancou ADRIANE CARR Sh h Vancouver city aughnessy, councillor said owning a heritage home 66 isn’t “as terrible as many Owning a thought.” heritage ‘As more own- . ers become home is be- aware of the ad- coming in- vantages of hav- . ing a heritage creasingly home we'll see desirable more being list- ed,” he said. Vancouver city Coun. Adriane Carr said heritage homes have become a trend in all developed countries, but particularly in Vancouver. “Owning a heritage home is becom- ing increasingly desirable,” she said. Carr also said there is huge advan- tage for homeowners who receive heri- tage status for their homes, including a “modest increase in property value.” “Heritage homes generally increase in value ... there may be a bit of a catch up in prices initially but generally the price goes up,” Atkin said. Atkin also said that any home older than 25 years old might be considered for heritage status. “We have neighbourhoods devel- oped in the 1960s which now would be considered eligible for heritage status,” he said. “So a Vancouver Special may be on the Register because it was the first house in a new neighbourhood.”