TUESDAY JUNE 4, 2013
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Search and rescue teams from across Vancouver Island here
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AMNESTY
Turn in your guns RCMP urge residents not to bring them into detachment NEIL HORNER news@pqbnews.com
Corporal Jesse Foreman may pack a pistol, but he isn’t particularly a big fan of them and he definitely doesn’t want to see one being carried into the RCMP station during this month’s gun amnesty campaign. “Don’t bring guns to the detachment,” Foreman said Friday. “We are more than happy to pick them up. Call us and we’ll work around your schedule. We don’t want people driving around with guns.” The provincewide gun amnesty runs for the month of June and is designed to get as many unwanted guns out of the community as possible. “What do kids play with? Guns,” he said. “The less of them there are on the streets the better.” During the amnesty, residents will be able to safely dispose of unwanted, documented or undocumented firearms, weapons and ammunition that have not been used in a criminal offence, without facing weapons-related Criminal Code charges. “This is a golden opportunity,” Foreman said. “There are hundreds of guns out there where people are wondering what to do with them. There are lots of people who are widowed into guns or a father will have a prize gun collection willed to his kids and they don’t want anything to do with them.” Although police are hoping for a strong response to their appeal, they stress that guns used in crimes are not eligible for the amnesty. Anyone who would like to get rid of an unwanted firearm should call the Oceanside RCMP non-emergency number at 250-2486111. See RELATED PHOTO, page A9
NEIL HORNER PHOTO
Robin Campbell feeds orphaned bear cubs at the North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre in Errington.
MOTHER BEAR KILLED BY CAR ON PARKWAY
Orphaned cubs have a chance NEIL HORNER news@pqbnews.com
The prognosis looks good for a pair of infant black bear cubs that were orphaned when their mother was struck by a car on the Nanaimo Parkway Thursday night. North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre founder Robin Campbell said the mother was killed immediately from the impact, leaving her two young cubs up in a tree. “The police showed up and found somebody already there, cutting the feet off the mum,” Campbell said. “The cops put the run on them and they took off.” The cubs posed a challenge to rescuers, as they were
too young to be safely sedated, so the fire department was called and the pair were plucked to safety with the aid of their cherry-picker bucket. The dead mother bear was loaded into a pickup truck and taken to the North Island Wildlife Recovery facility in Errington, where she was rubbed down with blankets to put her scent on them. “Even when she was dead they were trying to suck off her,” Campbell said. “We put them in the intensive care area. They cried for about 20 minutes and then started to settle down. Then they seemed to be doing well.” See CAMPBELL, page A5
Garden Centre Sale 1395 W. Island Highway, Parksville
250-752-5565
Monday-Friday 7- 6, Saturday 8 - 6, Sunday & Holidays 9 - 5 Locally Owned & Operated
6 Pack Annuals
12” Tomato Baskets
12” Mixed Baskets
reg. $3.29
reg. $29.99
reg. $30.99
SALE
297
$
SALE
$
2497
SALE
$
2797
Sale starts June 3 until Sunday June 9, 2013