DAWSON CITY The simple reason why Dawson's town council was replaced Tuesday was that 'there was more money going out than there was coming in.'

That was the conclusion Andre Carrel, the town's former government-appointed supervisor, laid before the standing-room-only audience at a public meeting here Wednesday evening.

Carrel was part of the front table panel convened at the Yukon Order of Pioneers Hall to explain to about 130 people what had happened to prompt Community Services Minister Glenn Hart to fire the council Tuesday.

Carrel came armed with comparative spreadsheets and budgets to prove that the City of Dawson's 2003 budget had, in defiance of his own predictions in January, ended with a deficit of $1.14 million. He had earlier forecast a deficit of $90,724.

He showed how the audit had produced the larger number but did not deal with the glaring discrepancy between the two figures.

Mark Lombard, a local carpenter, asked Carrel whether the difference between a balanced and unbalanced budget could be found in a line item which showed government transfers were down by $1.3 million over what had been budgeted.

Carrel said an accounting error only he had caught had had Dawson expecting to receive $2.1 million in 2003 which it had already received in 2002.

The error had passed by Dawson's administration, a former government supervisor, a deputy minister, an Outside accounting firm hired by the government to examine Dawson's books, and had ultimately been part of a budget government had approved.

Carrel was asked why Dawson alone should be responsible for a mistake made by so many people. He said he couldn't answer that question, and passed it off to new trustee Ray Hayes.

Hart said Hayes, a retired former deputy minister, has been brought aboard to help solve Dawson's problems over the next year. The minister repeatedly said the goal is help the town 'for the sake of Dawson and for all Yukoners.'

Working with Hayes will be David Skid, appointed as an interim chief administrative officer.

Both former mayor Glen Everitt and ex-councillor Joanne Van Nostrand, who resigned April 6, said they were familiar with these people and are pleased to see them appointed to these positions if things had to be this way.

Van Nostrand questioned that they did. Carrel must have known some time ago, she said, that an audit under the new Public Sector Accounting Board standards would produce a deficit.

She and Everitt had been warned that an inflated deficit would be reflected in this audit by the town's auditors, B. D. O. Dunwoody.

Carrel denied this and said this new accounting system had anything to do with the situation.

In a long statement, Van Nostrand explained what she believes is the true agenda behind the dismissals.

'I believe that this was a well-thought-out plan constructed several months ago to accomplish the removal of mayor and council. For some reason, our MLA, representing the Yukon Party, was determined to have Glen and I removed from council.

'This was made obvious during the (2003 municipal) election when both Glen and I were made aware by people visited by our MLA, Peter Jenkins, that he was going door-to-door campaigning to ask people not to vote for us.

' When we proved successful in the election, then our MLA had to push another agenda to be successful in having us removed. I congratulate him on his success; a job well done at the expense of this community!'

Jenkins did not attend the meeting.

Van Nostrand questioned the timing of the audit's release. It was given to council on Good Friday, when there was no way for council members to consult with their auditor.

She also challenged the timing of the dismissals, on the day after a long weekend, before there was any chance for the fired municipal leaders to get an expert opinion.

Hart had earlier said his final decision was made when he saw the draft audit. Van Nostrand objected to that.

'Draft statements are meant for internal use only,' she said. 'A draft statement should never go outside the town office prior to it being finalized. It is the initial review that is subject to change and may even contain errors.

'This draft statement has been used for making serious decisions outside of the city office. Why not wait for the final approved audited statements?'

The government acted on the draft statement because it did not want the former council to discuss the statement with the auditor, she said. No one at the table responded to her theory.

Van Nostrand joined in her former council mates' call for an independent public inquiry to fully investigate Dawson's financial crisis.

Former councillor Byrun Shandler demanded to know what would be done about issues that are in progress now that a trustee is running the show.

Dawson could possibly gain $250,000 by contesting a legal point in the arbitration ruling on the dispute between the town and the contractor that built its recreation centre, Shandler said.

He also said Hart has essentially released the report this week, even though council had been prevented from doing this by the arbitrator. He asked if the government will pursue that issue.

Shandler also demanded that the government follow up the ex-council's efforts to obtain the nearly $1 million needed to fix the recreation centre's roof, which buckled last month under the weight of snow.

An engineer hired by the government concluded the problem's cause was substandard engineering and construction.

'That was a good speech, Byrun,' Hart said. 'We're here to help out.' He did not commit to follow up those issues.

Local resident Dick Van Nostrand wanted to know how the advisory committee to help Hayes and Skid will be chosen. He said he hoped members won't be political appointees of a certain stripe.

Over the next few weeks, Hayes said, he will compile a list of names, and is open to suggestions. That list will be shown to Hart.

'This is one of the biggest challenges I have ever faced,' Hayes said.

He won't be moving to Dawson from Whitehorse, but expects to be in Dawson frequently.

Local businessman Martin Gehrig thanked Carrel for having found the problem with the finances, even if he didn't like the message.

Dawson resident Mirian Kator asked Hart if the government will give the town new money to help Dawson dig its way out of its mess. Hart eventually replied that is possible.

Aedes Scheer, with the local humane society, asked about funding for that agency, which runs Dawson's animal control program in partnership with the town.

The animal control funding was in place before council was fired, but the money to operate the animal shelter and the society wasn't, she said. This gives the society about six weeks before it will have to close its doors. She was assured her concern will be looked at.

Scheer also wanted to know about public meetings. Council met in televised sessions twice monthly, and she asked what will happen under the new administration. Hayes said he's open to public meetings.

There was applause for many of the comments made through the two-hour meeting, including those from the former council members.

One of the loudest outbursts came when musher Brent McDonald took the microphone to ask, where, in this time of trouble, Jenkins was.

There were shouts of 'He's our MLA!' when Hart reminded them Jenkins isn't the Community Services minister.

Glenda Bolt of the Tr'ond'k Hw'ch'in First Nation heritage branch said it was not a happy room. Making the evening's last speech, she called for applause for everyone who has ever sat on a council, either for the town or the first nation. The clapping that greeted her statement went on for more than 30 seconds.