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Are current measures enough?

There are two issues this week that I think should be further discussed.

There are two issues this week that I think should be further discussed.

Firstly, the auditing process at Comfor Management Services Ltd. (CMSL). I was a little surprised to hear that CMSL does not have a policy in place that requires annual auditing of their financial statements.

While I understand that the Village of Burns Lake, as CMSL’s only shareholder requires annual auditing from the company, I think there still should be a policy put in place by CMSL that states auditing is mandatory. I think the lack of this type of policy is a little lackadaisical on behalf of both the current CMSL board and past board members. While CMSL may ‘be happy to provide’ annual audited consolidated statements, I think the community would feel greater assurance in knowing that a strict auditing policy was in place.

I also find some of the statements made by McAlpine and Co. chartered accountants in their letter to CMSL a little unnerving and I think that director Bernice Magee made a fair request for more explanation on the current auditing process.

After all, if financial experts, McAlpine and Co. are saying their review of the accounts cannot be relied upon to detect any fraud or error, how does the board know if things are up to scratch? Since they are the ones who should be held accountable if things go awry, they should be asking questions.

Also, I think that it is in the best interest of the community that all of CMSL’s umbrella companies statements are scrutinized through individual annual audits. If it costs more then so be it .... perhaps individual audits may result in money being saved somewhere along the line, who knows?

As is often the case, when you have written something yourself you can go over it a million times and not see the mistake, however the mistake is glaringly obvious to anyone else.

As McAlpine and Co. stated, it is up to CMSL to verify the accuracy of the company’s individual statements, so I have to wonder if the current measures are enough? I think some adjustments should be made and I agree wholeheartedly with director Magee.

Secondly, with regard to the possibility of the Burns Lake Volunteer Firefighters Association leasing a portion of the disused Endako River Timber Ltd. mill site as a training area. I think the CMSL board really need to ask themselves if this is a wise financial decision.

Don’t get me wrong, our volunteer firefighters do a terrific and selfless job, but in the wake of millions of dollars of community funds sunk into CMSL’s failed companies in the past I think it is only fair that the property is sold and some money is recouped.

If the firefighters association want to purchase the property at market value, great.

But a $1 per year lease will not do much to recoup any of the lost community funds.

At the very least the board should try and sell the property. Waiting to determine if the property is surplus to the company’s needs seems pointless. After all the site has sat vacant and unused since the mill closed in 2007. Four years of inactivity should be a fair indication that the property is indeed surplus to the company’s needs, and if sold the community could certainly benefit from the money now.