Former N. Van officer top cop Anna Marie D'Angelo News Reporter dangcloCnsnews.com THE recently appointed head of B.C.’s new organized crime fighting unit remembers the community support she received when working as a North Vancouver Mountie. Beverley Ann Busson was nained chief officer of the Organized Crime Agency of British Columbia (OCA) last month. She is currently the commanding officer of the RCMP in Saskatchewan. Busson lived and worked in North Vancouver for about two years in the late 1980s. “For such a big. metropolis - that North Vancouver is, it still somehow maintains that feel- ing of community,” said Busson during a phonc inter- view from Regina. Busson owned a home in upper Lonsdale while she was stationed on the North Shore. North Vancouver RCMP Sgt. Rod Booth worked with Busson back in the late 1980s. “T would say she was the quintessential —_ professional, _ both personable and compas- sionate,” said Booth. Booth recently returned to North Vancouver to work in the plainclothes section after an eight-year absence when he was posted in Whitchorsc, Gabriola island and Burnaby. Booth said Bousson’s rapid . rise in the RCMP shows how bright and capable she was on the job. “It was a pleasure to work with her,” said Booth. 4 NP cuffed NEWS photo Mike Wekofield REFORM MP Ted White took his lumps recently at Lonsdale Quay as volunteer Const. David Potter removed the handcuffs at Capilano Community Services Society's first annual Jaii and Baii fundraising event. Busson is the first woman to become a chief constable in B.C. She was born in Halifax and obtained a teaching degree in 1974, the same year she joined the RCMP. Busson was in the first group of women accepted for regular waining by the RCMPin Regina. She worked in Salmon Arm and Kelowna before being trans- ferred to North Vancouver. While here, Busson worked on patrol and in plainclothes jobs. She studied criminology part-time at Simon Fraser University while working in North Vancouver. She then went to law school. * In 1990 she graduated from UBC law school and was trans- ferred to RCMP headquarters in Ottawa. In 1992, she was promoted to a commissioned RCMP officer and became the assistant commanding officer in North Battleford, Saskatchewan. Three ycars later she was transferred to B.C. as the head of an elite undercover surveillance unit called “Special ©.” In 1996, she was promot- ed to superintendent in charge ofa unit dealing with discipline and civil litigation issues atfect- ing the RCMP in B.C, The next year she became the offi- cer in charge of criminal opera- tions in Saskatchewan. And last August, she was promoted to top Mountic in Saskatchewan as assistant commissioner and commanding officer. Busson said the challenges in her new job involve assessing the extent of B.C.’s organized crime problem and how it affects the province. “I think we are seeing the tp of the iceberg,” she said. OCA staff, she said, will then focus on law enforcement. Busson is married and has two teenage children. The OCA replaces the province’s Coordinated Law Enforcement Unit (CLEU). CLEU was criticized for bein; unproductive and having staff problems. Petro-Can robbed A man armed with a kuife held up a Petro- Canada station on Wednesday at 1245 Lonsdale Ave. According to the North Vancouver RCMP, the robber first poured himself a cup of coffee and paid for it. While the clerk got change, the man pulled out a hunting knife and waived it at the clerk. The robber got away with about $150. He is described as being Caucasian, 1.7 metres (5°7”), unshaven, scruffy with short dark hair. He was wear- ing a black cap with red letter- ing and 3 black and red Mac jacket. Anyone with informa- tion is asked to cali the North Vancouver RCMP at 985- 1311. F By te eet etry fi bu omid Pane An addition and interior renovations are being proposed for Sherwood Park Elementary School at 4085 Dollar Road and you are invited to join North Vancouver School District #44 and Grant and Sinclair Architects at a meeting to discuss the project. Date: April 28 Time: 7:00 pm. Formal Presentation to begin at 7:30 pm Location: Sherwood Park Elementary School, 4085 Dollar Rd., North Vancouver The proposed development involves the construction of eight additional classrooms, an atri- um and a Multi-Purpose/Music room. Interior renovations will involve the General Office, staff room, computer lab and library and the provision of an additional general classroom and a special education area. Accessibility atures will include ramps and an elevator. seven portable classrooms, currently on site, are to be removed upon the completion of the project and a new hard-surfaced play court is also proposed. Implementation involves rezoning from Public Assembly (PA) to Public Assembly Zone 2 (PA2) to allow for the additional classrooms. The Zoning Bylaw will also be amended to control building location. The meeting is being held by the applicants in compliance with District of North Vancouver policy. The appliconis will present details of the proposals and discuss any concerns resi- dents may have. Information packages are being distributed fo the residents within 350 m of the site. If you “would like to receive a copy or if you would like more information, contact the District of ‘North Vancouver Community Planner, Doug Allan at 990-2357 or John Lewis at 903- 3444, or Paul Grant at 681-9191 or bring your questions and comments to the meeting. This is not a Public Hearing. Council will receive a report from staff on issues raised at the ‘meeting and will formally consider the proposal at a later date. Friday, April 23, 1999 — North Shore News ~— 5 Delivery date corrected THE North Vancouver Re reation Commission Leisure Guide will be distributed in the Sunday, April 25, edition of the North Shore News. Information published in’ an advertisement in’ the Wednesday, April 21, News was incorrect. The News apologizes for any inconvenience the error may have caused. FUTON BLOWOUT! COMPRAE mid 99° sto taclates: sald pone sala bee frome, Trig foam case fotun, scotch-gavded fetea coves, pdlenrs and pale cavess, Hie qaaetines iast FACTORY FUTON Entrance in fear tane —_Hon.- Keith A. 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