The Canada-wide manhunt for two Port Alberni teens suspected in three deaths in northern British Columbia has thrust the small city located in the heart of Vancouver Island into an unwanted limelight.

Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky have been charged with second degree murder in the death of Leonard Dyck of Vancouver, whose body was found at a rest area on Highway 37 a couple of kilometres away from where the Port Alberni teenssa国际传媒� truck was found on fire last week. They are also implicated in the shooting deaths of international tourists Lucas Fowler and Chynna Deese near Liard Hot Springs on July 15.

Barry Shep of Calgary was already down on Port Alberni after his truck was broken into while he was helping a fellow fisher, whose truck and boat trailer were stolen while he was fishing down the Alberni Inlet. sa国际传媒淲ow, seems this town has its share of murders as well,sa国际传媒� he said.

Tom Shanahan from Pickering, Ontario wrote to the Alberni Valley News with his thoughts regarding the manhunt for two Port Alberni teens. sa国际传媒淭his sad story disproves the idiotic theory that raising kids in a small town is better than raising kids in a big city,sa国际传媒� he said.

Port Alberni Mayor Sharie Minions said her city is not unique in the negative attention it has been receiving.

sa国际传媒淲e do get big media attention when itsa国际传媒檚 for something negative; I donsa国际传媒檛 think wesa国际传媒檙e unique in that,sa国际传媒� she said.

Minions said she reached out to Gillam, Manitoba mayor Dwayne Forman, whose community has been inundated with SWAT team members, law enforcement members and international media because it was the last place McLeod and Schmegelsky were spotted.

sa国际传媒淭heir community is struggling with the same thing,sa国际传媒� she said.

City Councillor Cindy Solda, who has been a politician in Port Alberni for well over a decade, said the press attention has been difficult to take. sa国际传媒淚 love press, but only for the right reasons,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淭his whole situation has affected a lot of communities and so many families, the relatives, the friends.

sa国际传媒淧eople are judging. What happened in our society to innocent until proven guilty? Of course, everyonesa国际传媒檚 talking about it. People are being judge and jury before these young adults even had a chance. We donsa国际传媒檛 know; wesa国际传媒檝e just heard bits and pieces and wesa国际传媒檙e judging.sa国际传媒�

Port Alberni has been labeled one of the worst places to live in Canada by Moneysense magazine for several years. The label spawned a spoof Facebook campaign called The Worst Place to Live, then a social media campaign called Heart of Vancouver Island to try and combat the bad reputation by highlighting positive things about the community.

sa国际传媒淚 do feel that Port Alberni unfortunately only gets international media attention when something bad happens,sa国际传媒� said Kama Jones, one of Vancouversa国际传媒檚 top mom bloggers of 2018 who is from Port Alberni. Jones was part of the team that operated Heart of Vancouver Island blog from 2016sa国际传媒�2017.

sa国际传媒淲e started Heart of Vancouver Island as a direct response to Port Albernisa国际传媒檚 notoriety as sa国际传媒楾he Worst Place to Live in Canadasa国际传媒� by Moneysense Magazine,sa国际传媒� Jones said.

sa国际传媒淲e didnsa国际传媒檛 agree with this label, and wanted to create a grassroots campaign to increase local pride about living in the community, which would ripple forward to all of our social networks.

sa国际传媒淓ven though the city stopped funding it and the page now lays stagnant, Isa国际传媒檝e been told it helped to change the story about why people love living in Port Alberni.sa国际传媒�