Tuesday April 28th, 2015 – 10am
Posted Apr 28, 2015 12:10:28 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
10:00 AM – Stratford Teacher – Petition
Loreena McKennitt, Canadian musician
A petition – along with letters of support – were delivered yesterday to the board of education in Seaforth. It’s in support of a Stratford teacher who wants to attend a Second World War ceremony in Holland with his veteran father. More than two thousand people signed the petition, after the Avon Maitland District School Board denied Rick Boon’s request for unpaid leave. According to reports, he’s taken similar leave in the past – and was told that would be the final trip. Dutch organizers have invited 90-year-old Art Boon to attend a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Holland from German occupation, and the family says no one else can go with him. Celtic musician Loreena McKennitt started the petition – and joins us now to discuss.
10:30 AM – Nepal Update
Dave Kroetsch, cofounder and president, Aeryon Labs.
Helicopters fill the air above hard-hit areas of Nepal near the epicentre of Saturday’s magnitude-7.8 earthquake that killed thousands. Pilots are ferrying the injured to clinics and taking emergency supplies back to remote villages cut off from any other transportation. Officials are certain the quake’s death toll will rise above the current 44-hundred once they get to remote villages. The U-N World Food Program says 1.4-million people are in need of immediate help. A Canadian Forces transport plane is to arrive near the region tomorrow with thousands of kilograms of relief supplies and equipment. A local firm that makes Drones…Aeryon labs has three drones en route to the affected areas to help with aerial pictures of the damage.
10:45 – Nepal Update
Rahul Singh, Executive Director, GlobalMedic
GlobalMedic provides emergency relief to those affected by natural disasters and complex emergencies. It currently has 4 missions underway in Nepal – including gathering aerial imagery, installing water purification units, infrastructure tenting and introducing child friendly space with psychosocial programming. They have 4 people from Ontario on the ground, 2 BC staff are in the air right now – and more are rolling out in the coming days (likely ten)
Listen:
