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The Baillie House on Voght Street has its decorations up and is ready for a visit from Santa tomorrow (Friday). Phillip Woolgar/Herald
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MERRITT HERALD FREE
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2012 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS
Rally organizers respond to lawsuit By Emily Wessel THE HERALD
reporter@merrittherald.com
Great Canadian Bike Rally organizers have released a statement claiming the allegations against them in a lawsuit by Community Futures Nicola Valley are false. “Mike and Paul Fairfield have been accused of receiving unjust compensation and benefits from the Great Canadian Bike Rally,” the release from the men states. “This is not true.” The lawsuit alleges the organizers of the event failed to pay back roughly $40,000 the federal funding organization loaned them for the first Merritt bike rally in 2011. However, the Great Canadian Bike Rally response outlines four loans from Community Futures totalling $100,000, of which the last loan of
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$30,000 to purchase beer for the event was repaid. “On November 9th, a bailiff seized the truck and motorcycle, although the loan, which these assets secured, was paid in full,” the statement reads. “This seizure was applied to the other loans. We question if this is legal. We are certain it is not moral.” The lawsuit has also put a lean on Paul Fairfield’s Merritt home. The statement alleges the Fairfields provided financial statements from the first rally to the City of Merritt to explain how it lost money. The longer version of the statement, available at greatcanadianbikerally. com, alleges the event was $160,000 in the hole after the first year, and that neither Fairfield took wages for acting as VP/Controller
and CEO. The statement alleges that wages to the two men for their work as VP/ Controller and CEO were part of the event budget that was approved by Community Futures’ board, and that the Society Act prevents wages being paid from the event’s profits, not from its operating budget. The lawsuit alleges the father and son violated their loan agreement with a line item indicating salaries in the documentation they filed with the funding organization. The statement outlines problematic dealings with various groups besides Community Futures, including the City of Merritt and the RCMP. It alleges the high police presence at the first event pushed the halfplanned 2012 event off-track. “They [Mike and Paul Fairfield] started receiv-
ing horror stories of police harassment, roadblocks (often rude and harassing), tickets being issued for very minor issues, especially on custombuilt bikes, and a generally negative attitude,” the release states. The statement says the organizers have proposed a 2013 event to the city with a commitment to pay back any reasonable debts over a three-year period, but that they refuse to pay the alleged $38,000 policing bill, saying they were originally quoted $23,000. It goes on to state that the organizers provided financial documents to the city both before and after the rally, at the city’s request, and that 90 per cent of the income was through credit cards. It also states volunteers handled all cash transactions and the Fairfields only handled small, petty cash.
Greyhound crashes on Coq., 40 sent to hospital By Phillip Woolgar THE HERALD
newsroom@merrittherald.com
A Greyhound bus crashed on Monday after reportedly dodging a stalled vehicle on the Coquihalla Highway, the Logan Lake RCMP said. The bus was travelling northbound near the Helmer Road exit at about 1 a.m. when it veered off the road to the right and rolled onto its side down an embankment, police said. No one died. “Passengers were extracted through the front windshield
as the passenger door to the bus was not accessible,” Const. Robert Drake said. “The winter conditions may have been a factor at the time.” The highway was sporadically closed in the northbound lane so emergency crews could help the 40 passengers who were all taken to Kamloops Royal Inland Hospital. Emergency crews from Merritt, Kamloops, Logan Lake and Ashcroft arrived to the scene in rescue vehicles. Police said they were still investigating at press time.