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The Rocky Mountain Goat News PM42164515
Thursday September 22nd, 2016 Join us for
FRIDAY NIGHT LIVE Dinner @5 Music @7 Valemount
Upcoming: The Athabasca Barnburners!
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Ex-staffer sues Village by EVAN MATTHEWS
Former Corporate Officer for the Village of Valemount, Mark Brennan, is suing the Village, and Mayor Jeannette Townsend. Brennan confirmed he was dismissed by the Village in mid-July, which he says constituted a wrongful dismissal, and he subsequently filed a Notice of Claim against the Village, and Townsend, in the amount of $47,000. By dismissing him, Brennan says he’s lost at
least $25,000 in salary, and in turn, he is suing for punitive and aggravated damages. “I was dismissed with very little reason, other than being told I was unsuitable for the position,” says Brennan. “It’s absolutely absurd. “I’m not only qualified, I’m over qualified for the position,” he says. Brennan’s claim calls the Village’s actions toward him “callous and cavalier,” and that his “dismissal was unanticipated and lacked
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procedural fairness.” The claim goes on to say the reasons for his dismissal are, “deliberately fabricated… there is an absence of good faith… and the motivations for the dismissal were personal and/ or not in the Village’s best interest.” Mayor Townsend responded to The Goat via email. “Mr. Brennan’s employment with the Village came to an end on July. 18, 2016,” the
Cont’d on A07
Salmon in Danger
A03
Making music together A08
Terry Fox Run returns A09 Listings on A15! A02!
Prince George
Mayors and chairs A03
Photo: Dennis Pickerl The moon peaks around Mount Robson during a brief stint of weather with no cloud cover. Also seen here is the Berg Glacier (left). As Winter approaches and the weather gets colder, the peak of Mount Robson should be visible more consistently.
Cemetery in Tête Jaune is official by EVAN MATTHEWS
Finally, rather than having to seek a place of interment elsewhere, locals of Tête Jaune Cache will be able to lay their loved ones to rest at home, forever. Last week, the Regional District of FraserFort George (RDFFG) was given conformation regarding the transfer of the Carr Road Property from the Federal Government, meaning a cemetery in Tête Jaune is official. “Our next step is to obtain a Certificate of Public Interest through Consumer Protection (who regulated Cemeteries in B.C.),” says Meredith Burmaster, community services leader for the RDFFG. “It will allow us to use the property as a place of interment,” she says. The RDFFG hopes to have the certificate
before the end of the year, according to Burmaster, so the district will have enough time to prepare the land over the 2017 spring and summer to be used as a cemetery. In 2015, the RDFFG provided an update in which surrounding area property owners voted in favour of establishing a taxable service to fund the building and maintenance of a community cemetery on a piece of Crown land on Carr Road in Tête Jaune. After a public referendum for the rezoning application in August of 2015, the Regional Board approved the rezoning of the property, Burmaster says. Ainsley Jackman, secretary of the Tête Jaune Community Club, says the community hasn’t made any efforts to advance the cemetery in a long time, mostly because of there being so many hoops to jump through.
“Now we’re going to have to sit down and get busy, reunite with the board members, and talk about what the next steps are,” says Jackman. “Many of us hope to be buried there,” she says. Families who have lived in Tête Jaune all their lives have had to look elsewhere for proper burial arrangements over the years, Jackman says, as there wasn’t a designated cemetery. “I guess we felt it would happen at some point, so it’s not a big surprise,” says Jackman. “Families have been saving ashes in the hopes of laying their loved ones to rest here.” Dannielle Alan, director for the RDFFG says the district is looking forward to taking the next steps to make the Tête Jaune Cemetery a reality.