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Briefly: October 14, 2011

Police seek help A suspicious fire on the former site of Max Cameron Secondary School has the Powell River RCMP asking the public to come forward with any information that might lead to a suspect.

Police seek help

A suspicious fire on the former site of Max Cameron Secondary School has the Powell River RCMP asking the public to come forward with any information that might lead to a suspect.

On Tuesday, October 11 at about 4 am police and the Powell River Fire Rescue responded to a report of a structural fire on Joyce Avenue. The building, which School District 47 once used as a daycare centre, was in flames when fire crews arrived. The fire department extinguished the blaze but the building sustained extensive damage.

The building was vacant and no one was injured during the fire or the response.

“We had it out and extinguished and we pretty much had it all wrapped up before the morning rush hour,” said Deputy Chief Terry Peters. “We managed to contain it to the rear of the building but in our belief it’s a total loss.”

The discovery of evidence of a propellant at the site and the fact that the fire started from the exterior of the building led police to believe that the fire was set deliberately. RCMP are still investigating the exact cause of the fire and are looking for witnesses.

This is the second suspicious fire in that area in a short period. On Saturday, September 24 a small shed was burned down in the 7000 block of Duncan Street. The fire destroyed the building and police obtained evidence suggesting that people had been at the location a short time before the fire started.

RCMP currently have no suspects or witnesses for these fires. They ask anyone with any information or who saw anybody around these areas on either nights of the fires to call the Powell River RCMP at 604.485.6255 or Crimestoppers at 1.800.222.8477.


No refund

City of Powell River councillors passed a motion at the October 6 council meeting to not refund north harbour moorage fees. Some boat owners had asked for a refund because they had been required to pay their fees before all of the security system was operational.

The north harbour was opened to vessels on June 13 after a $7.2 million reconfiguration project. The contractor was finishing several components of the project after the opening, including hydro, water and the security system.

The security system was operational on August 4, but access to the floats is possible by anyone with a vessel, according to a staff report. “For this reason, staff recommends securing valuables at all times,” the report stated. Staff recommended not refunding fees.

Council also voted to inform the public that the city does not intend to develop a tidal grid in the harbour area at this time. A tidal grid in the south harbour was removed to make room for the infill between the north and south harbours in 2004 and in 2008, city council voted to eliminate the tidal grid from the plans for the north harbour reconfiguration.

According to a staff report, the major issue associated with a tidal grid is environmental contamination. “It is recommended that tidal grids have engineered collection and disposal systems that will contain any environmentally sensitive materials including bottom paint, engine oils and lubricants,” the report stated. Staff estimated the cost for a tidal grid ranged between $100,000 and $300,000, depending on the location.


Commissioner cites party

BC’s privacy commissioner has found that the BC New Democratic Party (NDP) did not have the authority to collect personal information during its last leadership race.

The party asked potential candidates to provide social media passwords as part of the vetting process. Most of those seeking to be leader complied, but MLA Nicholas Simons, who represents Powell River-Sunshine Coast, refused.

Elizabeth Denham, Information and Privacy Commissioner for BC, investigated the party’s use of social media and passwords to evaluate candidates. The purpose of the investigation was to determine whether the party complied with BC’s Personal Information Protection Act when it collected candidates’ passwords and social media content to evaluate candidates.

The act authorizes organizations to collect personal information, but states they must limit collection to only what a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances.

The investigation concluded that the BC NDP collected a large amount of personal information, including information that may be outdated, irrelevant or inaccurate. It also concluded that the BC NDP collected personal information from third parties that it did not have consent to collect. “There were also reasonable alternatives that could have been used to meet the purposes of vetting candidates,” a summary of the investigation stated. “These factors all weighed against the collection being considered to be what a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances.”

The party agreed to discontinue its practice of requesting social media passwords to access an individual’s social media account to vet candidates, the summary also stated. It also agreed to adopt the commissioner’s new guidelines for social media background checks, which highlight some of the risks, such as collecting inaccurate information and collecting too much personal information.