NEWS
KELOWNA ROCKET Jordon Cooke ends his WHL career by being named the top Canadian Hockey League goaltender.
INDUSTRY LEADERS throw their support behind the Okanagan College trades complex expansion.
THE BC LIBERALS gathered in Kelowna last weekend for their party’s annual convention to talk about many issues, such as election fundraising and the invasive quagga and zebra mussels.
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TUESDAY May 27, 2014 The Central Okanagan’s Best-Read Newspaper www.kelownacapnews.com
Approval set for overhaul of ALR policies Alistair Waters ASSISTANT EDITOR
in crime here in the first part of the year that Romanchuk said has seen an overall jump of six per cent. Last year, overall crime dropped in Kelowna by about 13 per cent. Romanchuck said he expects to “break even” this year when it comes to the crime rate, adding a drop of 13 per cent over two years is “not that bad.”
Any hope that opponents of proposed government changes to B.C.’s Agricultural Land Reserve had that the legislation would be scrapped have been quashed by Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick. Despite an avalanche of feedback about the proposed changes—much of it negative, according to Letnick—Letnick told the Capital News on Friday the legislation, known as Bill 24, along with several amendments he proposed shortly after taking over as minister in April, will be passed in the legislature this week. “It’s a government bill, the government supports it and we will pass it by the end of the (current) session (of the legislature),” Letnick said. The session ends Thursday. While he would not comment on a sparsely attended “emergency” meeting on the proposed changes organized by the NDP in Kelowna last week (see story A7), Letnick said he has read every letter and email sent to him about the issue, has Norm Letnick met with many groups including the B.C. Agriculture Council, the Agricultural Land Commission and local government representatives, as well as MLAs on both sides of the legislature to gather as much input as possible. “I’ve found that most everybody wants to protect good agricultural land for future use,” said Letnick, the MLA for Kelowna-Lake Country. “But they also want to help farmers be successful.” The NDP opposes the governing Liberals plan for the ALR. The government argues that in order to help farmers, the rules for the use of some farmland in B.C. —in areas like the Kootenays, parts of the Interior and the north—should be relaxed. Critics say that will open those areas of protected Agricultural Land Reserve land to development and natural resource extraction and result in the loss of valuable farmland in B.C.
See Spike A20
See ALR A7
CONTRIBUTED
OFF THE JOB… Teachers staged a rotating strike in Penticton on Monday and will be doing the same at Central Okanagan School District public schools today. Teachers will be back at school on Wednesday.
▼ KELOWNA
Domestic violence part of crime spike
Alistair Waters
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Kelowna’s top cop says he believes awareness about reporting domestic violence is the biggest reason the city has one the highest domestic violence rates in the country, according to Statistic Canada. But RCMP Supt. Nick Romanchuk says just because it is now easier to report, that doesn’t mean
his officers plan to ease up on tackling the issue. Romanchuck told Kelowna city council Monday one of his department’s top priorities for 2014 is a five per cent reduction in repeat victimization for domestic violence and another five per cent reduction in repeat offenders of the same crime. Last year saw a 4.5 per cent increase in that crime. But he said by
changing its approach from one of focusing on making it easier and more comfortable for victims to report to going after repeat offenders, he hopes to see the rate here drop. In addition, as part of the police effort, the Kelowna RCMP plans to add another officer to its existing one-officer anti-domestic violence unit and team up the two officers with representatives of Elizabeth Fry and Min-
istry of Child and Family Services to work out of the RCMP detachment on Doyle Avenue. “That will provide a more holistic service,” said Romanchuk. Following his presentation to council, the superintendent said he doesn’t believe the actual level of domestic violence here is greater than in other major centres. Domestic violence was just part of a spike
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