106th Year - Week 11
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
www.interior-news.com
Leuenberger sentenced to three years
PM 40007014
LIFE AFTER SCHOOL The Ssscoop reporters opine about part-time jobs, life after high school and adults.
By Jerome Turner Smithers/Interior News
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WOMEN’S DAY Women in Hazelton gathered for support and chuckles.
COMMUNITY/A20
CUB CARS Ethan Jackson watches the action during the Smithers Cub Scouts car races on March 4. Sophie Bruintjes took the top spot, followed by Emily Coldwell and Jimmy Rudkavich. Ryan Jensen photo
MAKING THE GRADE Ssscoop, the monthly section from SSS, is up for a BCYNA award.
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FI report card gets mixed reviews By Percy N. Hébert Smithers/Interior News
The Fraser Institute released their annual report on the performance of schools across the province and received mixed grades from local educators. Of the 853 elementary schools included in the report, St. Joseph’s school finished in 13th place, with a score of 9.9/10, behind 12 Lower Mainland schools tied for first place. Last year St. Joseph’s scored 8.9 and was ranked 38th out of 703 schools. “Are we pleased with our
ranking, yes,” Rosemary McKenzie, principal at St. Joseph’s Catholic School said. “But it doesn’t mean other schools in the district or in the province aren’t meeting the educational needs of their students. “I think the public should really know that.” Muheim Memorial elementary school finished in 58th place with a score of 8.7, up from 177th place last year with a score of 7.1. The report puts Walnut Park in 597th place, down from 472th place in the last report. Walnut Park scored 5/10, down from 5.3 in the previous
report. “We don’t pay a lot of attention to the Fraser Institute [School Report Cards],” Superintendent of Schools for School District 54 Chris van der Mark said. “It is what it is. “It uses one snapshot of information and imposes things that may or may not be statistically relevant, depending on how you look at it.” The scores are determined in part based on Foundation Skills Assessment scores, for reading writing and numeracy, from Grade 4 and Grade 7. See REPORT on p. A4
Susan Gail Leuenberger of Houston was sentenced to three years in federal prison plus one year concurrent on criminal charges of theft and fraud by B.C. provincial judge Calvin Struyk last Thursday. Leuenberger is also prohibited from any bookkeeping or authoritative financial activities for five years, unless under the supervision of an employer with full knowledge of her past criminal activity. The sentence comes more than eight years after Leuenberger was found guilty in civil court for the same offences and ordered to repay more than $600,000 to Kyah Industies Ltd. Leuenberger, who has never been a registered or chartered accountant, was contracted by Kyah in the late 1990s to bookkeep for the Moricetown logging company. Pleasant Valley Accounting, Leuenberger’s business, came under investigation after Kyah’s accounts were frozen in 2004 because Leuenberger failed to properly submit Kyah’s records to Revenue Canada. The PVA records documented more than 60 cheques drawn from Kyah payable to either PVA or a third party. The cheques totalled more than $600,000, all found to have gone directly to PVA. “In my view each of those transactions would have required a decision to perpetrate fraud or theft from Kyah,” Judge Struyk said in his decision last Thusday. Kyah, not to be confused with Kyahwood Forest Products, is owned by the Moricetown Band. Lucy Gagnon, Moricetown band manager, is relieved to have a sentence handed down. “It’s been such a long time,” Gagnon said, adding she was also disappointed. “For a company that’s still struggling it’s too bad that there will be no monetary restitution.” Part of the reason Leuenberger received such a long sentence is due to maintaining her innocence, despite being found guilty in both civil and criminal court previously. Leuenberger was found to have altered bookkeeping records after the investigation into her activities had begun and would later provide no credible reason for doing so, Struyk said. See FRAUD on p. A2
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