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Tuesday, Tuesday April 21 21, 2015
MUNICIPALITY
Audit of Alberni RCMP underway Report still forthcoming on city’s $6.4 million police detachment despite auditor general firing ERIC PLUMMER ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES
Despite the province’s firing of the top watchdog on local government spending last month, a performance audit on the City of Port Alberni’s handling of its multi-million-dollar police service is on its way. Mark Tatchell, the deputy auditor general for local government, would not say when residents will be informed if they are getting the best value for their money, although the department’s audit of the city’s RCMP funding began in September 2013. The Auditor General for Local Government is looking into five other municipalities’ management of local police, including Merritt, Williams Lake, Victoria, New Westminster and Surrey, the country’s largest RCMP detachment. A total of 18 B.C. municipalities
“We all know that protective services are a big area of expenditure for local governments.” Mark Tatchell, deputy auditor general
are listed in the auditor’s first round of assessments than began in 2013, which also includes pending reports on value for local government operations and the effective management of municipal assets. The department was launched in 2013 to crack down on overspending in local governments while homeowners are forced to shoulder continually rising property taxes. But after $5.2 million in provincial funding, just two reports on
Port Alberni’s RCMP detachment is the city’s largest expenditure. [FILE PHOTO]
the City of Rossland and the Corporation of Delta were released, leading to the removal of the Auditor General for Local Government Basia Ruta on March 23. “We’ve discovered that conducting these audits is a bit more
complicated than we initially thought,” said Tatchell. “We thought local governments would be more similar than they are. We took on a lot of audits at the outset, so it’s taken us a while to make our way through them.”
Whenever Port Alberni’s audit is completed, residents can expect to hear insights into the city’s largest expenditure of any single department. Budgeted at over $6.4 million this year, the 34-member RCMP detachment draws on 17 per cent of the city’s $37 million in expenditures expected in 2015. Ninety per cent of Port Alberni’s RCMP is funded by the city with the remainder covered by the federal government. “We all know that protective services are a big area of expenditure for local governments,” Tatchell said. “If [the local government has] some tools that assist them to to ensure that they’re getting good value for their police service that will be welcome.” EPlummer@avtimes.net 250-723-8171
NEIGHBOURHOOD
Police investigate mysterious pitbull poisoning MARTIN WISSMATH ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES
Illegal dumping in city needs to stop: councillor Illegal dumping is not just an issue outside the city limits – garbage is being strewn about in areas of the city and it will take a collective effort to clean up the mess. » Alberni Region, 3
Alberni Athletics on to provincial quarter-finals The Alberni Athletics are setting an historic precedent for local men’s soccer, qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Keith Millar Cup provincial championship. » Sports, 5
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A Port Alberni family is worried that someone is poisoning dogs in their neighbourhood. Frances Hemsworth told the Times her son’s pitbull cross, Zeus, died of a poisoning this month. The family euthanized the animal on April 11, she said. It was only a few days before that they noticed something was wrong with the normally energetic dog. “He just went lethargic,” Frances said. They took Zeus to the Central Island Veterinary Emergency Hospital in Nanaimo. Tests that came back indicated the dog had been poisoned and suffered kidney failure, she said. But the cause of poisoning was not determined. Frances said she’s heard of six dogs dying of poisoning this year in her neighbourhood on Burde Street. “It’s very suspicious,” she said. The family is concerned that someone might have targeted Zeus because he is a pitbull. “Pitbulls are known for a bad breed but they’re not,” said Frances. “We’ve owned pitbulls all our lives and never had a problem. Never.” Frances’s son Russell was “devastated,” she said. They reported the incident to the Port Alberni RCMP. “RIP Zeus you were loved so much and you are the true fighter the pea to my pod I love you so much,” Russell wrote on the AV Chatter Box Facebook group. Condolences were posted for the family on the social media site. Russell’s father Calvin Hemsworth said the family and neighbours are anxious about their remaining pets, and poisoned
Russell Hemsworth hugs his pet pitbull, Zeus. The dog was euthanized on April 11 after its kidneys shut down from an unknown toxin. The family believes Zeus was poisoned, though a police investigation was inconclusive. [SUBMITTED PHOTO]
treats were found on the Log Train Trail at the end of Burde Street over the past several months. “I didn’t know there were so many mysterious dog deaths until Zeus got sick,” Calvin said. “Then all of a sudden when I mentioned it to someone they would tell me about somebody else.” One neigbour who lost
three dogs to poisoning found an ice cream pail full of antifreeze beneath a shrub in her yard, he said. Calvin said he couldn’t afford to pay the vet for each of the tests to determine what kind of toxin had killed Zeus. Port Alberni RCMP community relations officer, Cpl. Jen Allan, said the investigation into Zeus’s
demise did not turn up enough evidence to prove a crime. “The dog had experienced kidney failure by an unknown toxic substance,” Allan said. “It could be anything from antifreeze to poisonous plants.” Certain plants that are ingested by animals can be toxic as well, she noted. See POISONING, Page 3
Inside today What’s On 2 Alberni Region 3
Opinion 4 Sports 5
ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES VOLUME 66, NUMBER 76
Scoreboard 6 Community 7
Comics 8 Classifieds 9
On the Island 9 Taste 10
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