TUESDAY
K A M L O O P S
THIS WEEK
Tuesday, March 11, 2013 X Volume 26 No. 28 www.kamloopsthisweek.com X 30 cents at Newsstands
New executive director follows special audit By Dale Bass
STAFF REPORTER
dale@kamloopsthisweek.com
The White Buffalo Aboriginal and Metis Health Society has a new executive director. Jeanie Cardinal, former program director, has been promoted to the top spot at the agency, one of two hit with special provincial-government audits after financial concerns were raised with the Ministry of Children and Family Development. At the end of the audit, then-executive director Deb Canada stepped down from the position as a salaried job, but retained the executive-director function on a contract. Cardinal could not confirm Canada has been removed from a similar position at the Metis Commission of B.C., the other agency audited, but KTW has been told she is no longer heading it, either. White Buffalo also announced Keith Henry as the new president of its board of directors. Henry, president of the B.C. Metis Federation, recently joined the board. The investigations into both agencies noted each provided the government with “inaccurate quarterly
Edward Dostaler, nicknamed Fast Eddy by his late grandmother, will try to run across Canada and back next year in a bid to raise money for Alzheimer’s and breast-cancer research. Dave Eagles/KTW
reports” in the past due to the accounting practices each followed. The audits were conducted in May 2013 by the accounting firm Grant Thornton LLP. In its document itemizing all payments made greater than $25,000, the Ministry of Finance noted White Buffalo received $409,328 from the province during the 2012-2013 fiscal year, which ended on March 31. The Metis Commission received $586,440 in the same period. The White Buffalo audit noted Canada worked one day a week at the agency and received a salary of $60,000 in 2012 for that work. In 2009, she was paid $57,000. In 2010, she was paid $60,000. In 2011, she was paid $59,000. As executive director of the Metis Commission, where she worked four days a week, Canada’s salary was $134,000 in 2012. In the years previous, it was $90,000 in 2009, $104,000 in 2010 and $123,000 in 2011. The White Buffalo audit also noted that, unlike other staff members, Canada’s expense reports lacked the same degree of detail and had no authorization for payment by a board member.
THE THERE AND BACK MAN STAFF REPORTER
jessica@kamloopsthisweek.com
It’s going to take Edward Dostaler 47.74 weeks, $25,000 and 28 pairs of shoes to run 18,036 kilometres across the country and back next year. He’s done the math — 28 pairs of runners will get him from the Pacific to the Atlantic and from the Atlantic back to the Pacific because each pair lasts precisely 697.83 kilometres. “I’m one of those scientific people,” the 25-yearold Kamloops native told KTW. “I have it down to a T.” It’s a good thing he’s done his homework
Team B.C. drops Brier title tilt to Alberta Page A14
because Dostaler’s goal is a lofty one. “I’m going to be the first person in history to run across Canada there and back,” Dostaler said. He plans to begin in Victoria in March 2015, running unassisted across the country to Halifax and back. With no vehicle behind him, he’ll push a jogging stroller with everything he needs, including a tent. “It’s going to be me and the road,” Dostaler said. The natural athlete won’t be running for kicks. He’s getting the word out a year before to make the most of it, raising money for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and Alzheimer Society of Canada. X See EPIC RUN A12
MC118687
By Jessica Wallace
FREE Today: International Days Opening Ceremony & Keynote Speaker: Clemantine Wamariya
INTERNATIONAL DAYS
2014
Oprah Winfrey guest, Yale scholar, survivor of the Rwanda genocide and world-renowned speaker will be speaking at 6:00 pm in the Campus Activity Centre, Grand Hall. Limited Seating. Today – Thursday: Guest Scholar Speaker Series Dr. Arturo Cunanan | Dr. Prasit Wangpakapattanawong | Dr. László Puckzó | Dr. Colin Young
See full schedule at: tru.ca/idays