WEDNESDAY JANUARY 16, 2013
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Local RCMP get interim commander C AROLYN GR ANT Daily Bulletin
RCMP Sgt. Laurie Jalbert will return to the Kimberley office after being seconded to Cranbrook for the past ten months as Officer In Charge. The Kimberley/Cranbrook Detachment continues to await the arrival of their new commander, Inspector Blake McLeod, who has not yet sold his home at his previous posting. However, rather than have Jalbert continue to try to run two offices, Elk Valley Commander Lorne Craig will be coming to Cranbrook as Commander in the interim.
Jalbert introduced him to Kimberley City Council Monday evening when she delivered her year end policing report. Craig has been with the RCMP for 21 years and told Council he has served in both small towns and larger urban centres, and worked major crime units. “I have been eight years as Commander of the Elk Valley Detachment,” he said. “I’m no stranger to the issues of a ski town.” Mayor Ron McRae welcomed Craig and commended Jalbert on her excellent service to both communities.
Hipper by the minute More tix released for Saturday concert ANNALEE GR ANT Townsman Staff
SUBMITTED PHOTO
A TALE OF TWO CITIES: Aiden from Kimberley Novice Nitros and Hunter from Cranbrook Key City faced off in Sparwood last Sunday. Key City won 4 to 2.
Was your Saturday going to be tragically un-hip after missing out on tickets to see Gord and the gang? With only three days to go until they kick off their Now for Plan A tour, the Tragically Hip have released an extra 158 tickets for Cranbrook – and 100 are left as of Tuesday afternoon. Jill Henderson, events and marketing manager for Cranbrook Leisure Services, said every artist books a certain amount of tickets for a variety of purposes, and as the show draws nearer, they release a few as they become available. Those tickets
can be earmarked for stage positioning, or the artists had planned to have friends and family attend. The seats are at the second pricing level, available for $80.25 and Henderson promises they are not nosebleed seats – ticket buyers will get the full Hip experience. They are in the arena seats, not on the floor. The tickets are available at the Western Financial Place box office. The Tragically Hip chose Cranbrook to launch their next tour after releasing their album Now for Plan A in October. The seminal Canadian band has been around since the ‘80s, releasing 13 studio albums.
Time to start fresh with new AG, Bennett says ANNALEE GRANT Townsman Staff
NDP candidate for Kootenay East Norma Blissett is calling on the B.C. Liberal government to walk back their decision to not re-appoint Auditor General John Doyle. “Auditor General John Doyle has been an excellent watchdog for the people of B.C. It now appears that the
Liberal government is trying to silence him,” Blissett said. But MLA for Kootenay East Bill Bennett says the decision not to re-appoint Doyle is no conspiracy, and Doyle leaving after only one term is normal. “This is the second Auditor General in a row that has had a five-year term,” Bennett said.
Before Doyle assumed the position in October, 2007, Errol Price was B.C.’s top watchdog. He served only one term as well. Bennett said that because there was no election looming in 2007, the issue was not publicized as much. “There was no election. No controversy,” Bennett said. “It isn’t unusual for Auditors General across the
country to last five years.” Doyle’s responsibility is to conduct audits of government’s ministries, Crown corporations and other government organizations. Once those reports are completed, they are filed and entered in the public record. “Government has an obligation to listen to the reports and respond to them,” Bennett said.
He added that the Auditor General works with bureaucrats behind the scenes for the legislature, not for the elected officials who ultimately decide if his term is renewed or not. “Auditors General don’t deal with the politicians,” he said. Bennett said the decision not to re-appoint Doyle had nothing to do with politics.
“There’s often reason to start fresh,” he said. “I think it’s a little rich for the NDP to suggest it was some sort of partisan decision.” Bennett said that the rules for the committee – which conducts its business in-camera – are different than regular government committees.
See AG , Page 3