Here are some of our biggest stories from the week of Jan. 20-26
Abbotsford woman speaks out after she fainted and bystanders ignored her
Meghan Canavan, who lives with eight chronic conditions ranging from ADHD to a condition that caused her joints to pop out to her most recent diagnosis: postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome.
That condition, commonly referred to as POTS, makes it difficult for her blood to reach the upper half of her body when she stands up, which can make her dizzy or even faint – Canavan said she faints about once per day, now.
But when she fainted while waiting for a doctor’s appointment near an Abbotsford mall, she found those around her neglected to offer any help.
Plecas: Christy Clark told MLAs to fire non-partisan constituency workers
In a bombshell interview with The News, Abbotsford South MLA and B.C. legislature Speaker Darryl Plecas said former premier Christy Clark told B.C. Liberal MLAs to fire any constituency assistants who refused to campaign for the party in 2017.
The move, Plecas said, was “immoral and possibly illegal,” with constituency associations and their employees are publicly funded and intended to be non-partisan.
In a statement, the B.C. Liberals denied the allegations, levelling their own – that the B.C. NDP was politicizing constituency offices by placing executive assistants in the offices.
Rings stolen from hand of dying woman in Mission care home
An Abbotsford woman says two rings were stolen from the hand of her dying mother and a third stolen from a locked drawer in her room at a care home in Mission last month.
Marion Harris’s mother, Marianne Treichel, died on Dec. 16 while living in The Residence in Mission, a seniors’ care facility operated by Fraser Health.
But a day before her mother passed, Harris says she noticed that the rings were missing from the 94-year-old’s fingers, with only her wedding band remaining.
Transgender woman who was charged with murder loses extradition fight
Rachel Patterson and co-accused Christopher Shade allegedly used shovels to bludgeon to death Patterson’s roommate, 57-year-old Richard Bergesen, who was found dead in his Sammamish, Wash. home on Sept. 17, 2014.
The pair allegedly stole Bergesen’s credit cards to go on a shopping spree in Abbotsford, but were later tracked down by U.S. authorities.
Patterson, who has dual U.S.-Canadian citizenship, remained in B.C. where she has fought extradition, stating that she has been sexually assaulted while serving prior prison terms in the U.S.
Abbotsford School District management’s gender pay gap at 15%
Women working in management at the Abbotsford School District, on average, make 86.2 cents for every dollar a man makes in management.
The school district notes that the pay disparity is not a result of pay discrimination, with management on pay grids, but due to experience levels and the positions they hold.
However, women’s advocates note that women are often passed over for promotions due to societal norms, such as maternity leaves, with child care often left mostly to women.
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