TUESDAY JANUARY 6, 2015
www.pqbnews.com
BCYCNA
Silver 2013 General Excellence
CHAMPIONS CROWNED
CHANGING THE VIBE IN QUALICUM
B.C. junior championships wrap up in Parksville
Big names form band that will play Thalassa Resturant on Jan. 16
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DEFAMATION CLAIM
ICF sues Julian Fell Regional district director has criticized board, staff CANDACE WU news@pqbnews.com
The Island Corridor Foundation said it is “protect(ing) the credibility of the foundation and the personal reputations of the directors and staff ” by taking regional district director Julian Fell to court. Fell, who represents Coombs/Errington on the RDN board, has confirmed he is being asked to show up in the Supreme Court of B.C. for allegedly making defamatory comments about the ICF. Fell has declined to comment about the lawsuit. None of the allegations from any party in the suit has been proven in a court of law. ICF office administrator Janice Roberts issued a statement to The NEWS saying “Mr. Fell made serious defamatory comments about the ICF, its directors and staff in a July 2013 memo. A retraction and public apology was demanded but none was forthcoming from the director … the board has a responsibility to protect the credibility of the foundation and the personal reputations of the directors and staff.” The news release said on top of a July 2013 memo, Fell also made “similar defamatory comments” on public radio in October, 2014 which led the ICF “to instruct legal counsel to proceed with the defamation suit.” The NEWS obtained a copy of Fell’s memo, which alleges the foundation enacted a new operating bylaw that “imposes high levels of secrecy,” thereby stripping regional district and First Nation ICF members of their ownership rights. “I see (this) as a ‘hijack’ of ownership through a seemingly secret scrapping of the original operations bylaw and the substitution of another that appears to strip the members (RDs and FNs) of their ownership rights,” states the memo. See FELL SAYS, page A9
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CANDACE WU PHOTO
BRRRRR: The Polar Bear Swim tradition is alive and well in Parksville. Hundreds of people were on the beach and/or in the water on Jan. 1, some like those pictured above in festive costumes (from left, Rod Horne, Rowan Sepos and Chris Peters). See more photos of the event on page A5 today and on our Facebook page: www.facebook.come/PQBNews.
LATE SATURDAY NIGHT ON MOUNT HORNE
Jogger rescued by military copter A jogger from Qualicum Beach is home safe and uninjured after being airlifted off Mount Horne Saturday night by a military helicopter. At 11:00 p.m. Saturday, the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) Victoria responded to a call from the RCMP about a missing jogger on Mount Horne, west of Qualicum Beach, according to a news release from the Department of National Defence (DND). Other than feeling the effects of the
HUGE LIGHTING CLEARANCE from January 6 to January 18, 2015
cold weather, the jogger was in good health and did not require medical attention, according to the DND. A CH149 Cormorant helicopter from 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron was tasked to assist the RCMP and Qualicum Ground Search and Rescue. “This is our first mission of 2015 for 442 Squadron and a successful one,” said Captain Pete Wright, Aircraft Commander Cormorant Helicopter Pilot, 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron. “Again, the efficiency and
expeditiousness by which we conducted the SAR was a result of the prompt alerting procedure by JRCC and by the RCMP and by ground SAR volunteers who kept in contact with the missing jogger.” Ground SAR volunteers maintained cell phone contact with the jogger. At 12:10 a.m. the Cormorant helicopter arrived on scene and the crew used night vision goggles to locate the jogger. See HER SPIRITS, page A9
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