u
Cariboo O tlEt Consignment & Crafts
HUGE SALE ON NOW! ENDS SATURDAY, FEB. 1
Only 10 Minutes from 100 Mile House. OPEN: MON. – SAT. 10AM-4PM
Cariboo
Connector
Vol. 8 No. 16
• free distribution throughout The South Cariboo • JANUARY 31, 2014
LITERACY LEADER
in Downtown Lone Butte, Hwy 24 250-395-1010
96 Hwy 97
100 MILE REALTY INDEPENDENTLY OWNED AND OPERATED
(Beside Tim Hortons)
100 Mile House, BC
250-395-3424 1-800-663-8426 bo o
Re a l Est ate C o
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Website: www.100milerealty.com
r o f y d a e r Get ’S NE VALENATYI! D
Carole Rooney photo
Dustin Catho, in truck, bought a 100 Mile House Free Press from Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett to help fund local literacy efforts, while Patch the dog looked on. Barnett was one of several dignitaries, including Mayor Mitch Campsall and April Roberts, out in the snowstorm on Reach-A-Reader Day on Jan. 29 to catch folks in the Tim Hortons drive-thru.
Premier orders review of mill explosion
ONLY
2
99 ea.
By Tom Fletcher
Hershey Cello’s Assorted 161 - 240 g
Black Press
Aquafresh Cavity Protection Toothpaste 90 mL
ONLY
¢ 79ea. Prices in effect Jan. 31 - Feb. 6, 2014 Limits may be in effect. While quantities last. See store for details.
Your Community Drugstore
CARIBOO MALL 250-395-2921
Premier Christy Clark has ordered a review of the decision not to lay charges after the fatal explosion and mill fire in Burns Lake. Clark has directed her deputy minister John Dyble to review the circumstances that led to the decision. WorkSafeBC’s investigation has been criticized after Crown prosecutors said some of their evidence would not be admissible in court because of the way it was gathered. Clark announced the internal review at the recent Truck Loggers’ Association convention in Vancouver. She emphasized
the review is not to second-guess the independent decision of the criminal justice branch, “but if there are lessons to be learned from this, I want to make sure that we learn them.” Two workers died and 20 more were injured in the explosion and fire at Burns Lake. A province-wide program of sawmill dust inspections has been in place since the Babine mill explosion in January 2012 and a similar blast at Lakeland Mills in Prince George three months later. NDP Leader Adrian Dix said there should be a review, but Dyble is not the right person to do it because he reports to the premier. The investigation was
“bungled,” and cabinet ministers also intervened to keep a B.C. Safety Authority report on the situation from being made public before last May’s election, he said. “Somebody independent should address the question of what happened here, why the government acted in this way, why information that should have been made public wasn’t, and why charges weren’t brought because of the inability of government agencies to work together in the correct way.” WorkSafeBC also released its final report on the explosion Thursday, and is considering orders and penalties for the owners of the Babine Forest Products mill, which is being rebuilt.
WorkSafeBC investigators concluded the explosion was preventable. They found that the company knew its dust collection system was under-sized, but the mill increased production before an electrical upgrade was completed. The report said there was “considerable work” done to the mill’s dust management system and improving the waste conveyor system, which was the likely the ignition source for the dry dust from pine beetle-killed lumber. It also found that “no adequate actions were taken to reduce or control the levels of airborne wood dust, even though this was the root cause of the violation cited in December 2011.”
WHY EMPLOY ONE PERCENT REALTY? ONE PERCENT REALTY
100 Mile House and Surrounding Area
• Sellers pay LESS COMMISSION • Buyers pay NO COMMISSION • CO-OPERATE with all real estate companies • WORK in the best interest of our clients
In the Red Caboose, Save-On-Food’s Parking Lot
www.onepercentrealty.com
KATHY FIRTH Cell: 250-706-9776
Toll Free: 1-877-593-2276
Email: kathy@onepercentrealty.com