January 2, 2015

‘Les Mis’ to Sunfest: there was lots to love in 2014 Cowichan Valley Sports Years in Review 2014

A&E, Page 15 SPORTS, Page 20

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Friday, January 2, 2015 | Cowichan Valley Citizen

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Cowichan Valley Citizen | Friday, January 2, 2015

New team to help mentally ill, addicted LEXI BAINAS CITIZEN

In a move to beef up services for people with mental health and substance abuse problems, Island Health is planning to add a new service in the new year.

An assertive community treatment team is being set up to serve the Cowichan Valley, starting probably around February, according to Sarah Plank, South Island media relations manager.

It’s all part of a multi-million dollar expansion of services on Vancouver Island.

“That is probably the biggest one for the Cowichan Valley,” she said, adding that the yearly budget for that service will be $1.3 million.

Assertive community treatment means workers go out to where people live.

“It’s for generally the most vulnerable, at-risk people who find it much more difficult to engage with the health care system. They tend to need a fair amount of support but it needs to be brought to them,” she said.

It’s not exclusively an outreach to the homeless.

“It could include homeless people but it would also be people who have housing but who have severe mental illness and potentially substance abuse issues as well,” Plank said.

People will be referred to the team, but they can also get in

touch through the hospital if they came in for an emergency service.

“It’s a way to support people so they don’t get to that state where they feel they have to come to the hospital for acute services. The idea is that they can be supported at home in a variety of ways as well as getting clinical mental health support and nursing support,” she said.

Plank said she the team’s effect will quickly be seen.

“These teams have been a really effective way of supporting people who have severe mental illness.

We have been introducing them to other communities across the Island with great success,” she said.

It’s time to spend for new services all over the Island, according to Health Minister Terry Lake.

“Mental illness affects people from all walks of life throughout the province. Through Island Health’s three-year mental health plan, they are providing expanded support, beds and enhanced care teams, ensuring that services wrap around the individual, taking them from the hospital, to the community and back to their families.”

Island Health CEO Dr. Brendan Carr agreed, “These new services will improve how we reach out and provide the kind of care they need, where they need it.”

FIRE DAMAGES TRAILER

Chemainus volunteer firefighters were called out to a fire in a trailer home near Byron’s Food Market in Saltair on Wednesday morning. [KEVIN ROTHBAUER/CITIZEN]

Take the tree in for chipping The BC Lions Society’s annual Christmas tree recycle, called Chip In for the Kids, returns Jan. 3-4 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to the BC Forest Discovery Centre parking lot.

The Duncan Lions Club is working with Competition Tree Service, with all funds raised also going to benefit Easter Seals programs and services right here on Vancouver Island, especially Camp Shawnigan.

Only live, cut Christmas trees can be accepted — no artificial or potted trees — and decorations and tinsel must be removed.

••• Save your tree and empties! On Saturday, Jan. 3, a fundraising tree chipping service and bottle drive will be offered at the Cowichan Secondary School parking lot. Chipping will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. All proceeds go to Dry Grad.

Capsule Comments

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At this the time of year, some people make resolutions to change your life for the better. Why not make a resolution to make someone else’s life better, too? If you are aware of people who are lonely or depressed, try reaching out to them. Bring them home for dinner or visit them in their own home. It will help them and make you feel good too.

Speaking of resolutions, here are 7 Goals For A Healthy Life: sleep 7-8 hours per night; eat breakfast every day; don’t smoke; use alcohol moderately (or not at all); don’t eat between meals; maintain proper weight; and exercise regularly. Perhaps you can include these gems in your resolutions as well.

Here’s an idea for losing weight! Canadians consume an average of 26 teaspoonful of sugar per day.

If you cut that amount in half, you’ll lose 16 pounds in one year. Combine this with exercise, you’ll lose even more.

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Year in Review

Friday, January 2, 2015 | Cowichan Valley Citizen

Placard-wearing teachers are cheered by honks of support as they stage a big rally beside the Trans Canada Highway near Cowichan Secondary School at the end of August. [LEXI BAINAS/CITIZEN]

Teachers’ strike delayed start of school LEXI BAINAS CITIZEN

A long and bitter battle was fought in 2014 between the BC Teachers Federation and the provincial government, hitting home hardest in Cowichan when an all-out strike prevented students from going back to class in September.

It began back in February when Cowichan Valley public school teachers joined their colleagues province wide in taking a strike vote.

A lot was up in the air but although this BCTF action appeared to have arisen quickly, teachers had been bargaining with the province for well over a year, according to LCTA president Chris Rolls.

Once the BCTF took a strike vote, it had 90 days to activate it by taking job action and Cowichan Valley teachers started that on April 23.

Following a plan laid out by the BC Teachers Federation, they cut back outside supervision and communications with administrators but still prepared report cards and carried out other in-school duties.

The province’s Education Minister, Peter

Fassbender, had accused the BCTF of not making any effort to bargain.

“It’s a little disappointing but not at all surprising,” Fassbender said in a press release about the job action.

“Over the past few weeks, it appears the BCTF has been more focused on implementing its strike plan than bargaining at the table. The union hasn’t moved off its opening position of approximately 13.5 per cent increase over three years, nor has it withdrawn any of its many other monetary proposals.”

But, accusations of lack of bargaining effort cuts two ways, Rolls said.

“We’re disappointed, too. We’re disappointed in the fact that they’re not offering anything, that they don’t appear to be bargaining in good faith. There’s a whole lot of stuff that isn’t being funded within schools,” she said.

By late May, things were heating up as the school year wound down.

A bargaining breakdown between the Teachers’ Federation and the province pushed teachers onto the picket lines in rotating action that closed Cowichan Val-

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ley schools on May 29.

Naomi Nilsson, president of the Cowichan District Teachers Association, called the action Stage Two of the union’s recently voted on bargaining strategy.

“There has been no movement at the bargaining table on our key issue: class size and composition. It’s certainly our number one issue here in the Valley,” she said.

It’s been a contentious subject.

“Both in 2011 and in 2014 Justice Griffin said, ‘Yup. You can bargain that at the table.’ The government is still saying no to that, which is a difficulty because it’s taken us 10 years to get where we are,” said Nilsson.

Meanwhile, the Cowichan Valley school district asked parents to keep their school aged children at home on the day that Cowichan teachers took their part in the province-wide rotating strike.

Joe Rhodes, the district’s superintendent of schools, sent out a notice, saying, “While schools will remain open under the supervision of school district staff, we will be unable to provide students with any instruction. School buses will not be running. In the interest of student safety, we are requesting that parents keep their children at home on Thursday, May 29, 2014.”

Valley teachers were out again on a rotating strike June 3 and, with a full-scale shutdown of schools in the cards, they rallied outside the school district offices June 5 with speakers calling on the government to end what they called perpetual underfunding of many aspects of public education.

All during the summer season — usually a busy time for the school district’s works crews — workers were able to get some schools that were not picketed cleaned up but much of the scheduled summer maintenance and all the summer groundskeeping was put on hold. Buses, too, had to wait to be inspected as they languished behind picket lines.

Just days away from the official start of the new school year, the striking Cowichan Valley public school teachers rallied along the Trans Canada Highway near Cowichan Secondary School.

According to Nilsson, the action was

all part of a province-wide move to bring teachers’ issues back into the public eye as the strike, which had been ongoing since June, threatened to postpone the date when kids were supposed to be heading back into classrooms.

“This week all of our actions will pressure government to come to the table and get us a deal,” Nilsson said.

Teachers were disheartened when they saw movement in bargaining by the BC Public School Employers’ Association negotiators negated by provincial government pull-backs, she added.

“Government needs to feel pressure. Cowichan teachers and all BCTF members all over the province need to be more visible.

We also need our parents to start writing letters to MLAs because it isn’t just our fight alone. This is a fight for public education for our students,” Nilsson said.

With September, students took to the streets opposite Cowichan Secondary School, crying “enough is enough” and urging teachers and the government to remember that for high school students important time was slipping away.

Finally, Cowichan Valley teachers joined colleagues around the province in voting Sept. 18 on a tentative six-year deal to end their months-long strike.

Rolls said that she received email notification of the prospective deal only two days before the vote.

“We can’t wait to get back in school. It was exciting that the media blackout [during negotiations] actually got to happen on all sides and they got to be left alone to get this done,” she said.

Cowichan Valley public schools were set to open for a short day Sept. 22 with a full return the following day.

Premier Christy Clark praised all sides when she spoke to the media Tuesday afternoon.

“We have reached an historic six-year agreement. That means we have five years of labour peace ahead of us.”

Clark said she thought reaching a settlement through negotiation “a remarkable achievement” after “years of dysfunction”.

Year in Review

Cowichan Valley Citizen | Friday, January 2, 2015

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River’s drought crisis brought action to change the future ANDREA RONDEAU CITIZEN

The Cowichan River was literally days away from running dry this summer and fall, in one of the Cowichan Valley’s worst crises of 2014.

The environmental disaster would have shut down Catalyst Mill in Crofton, sewage lagoons that discharge into the river, dried up drinking water to thousands and devastated the river’s fish population.

“This is a critical situation for our community that we’re facing,” said Cowichan Valley Regional District regional services committee chair Gerry Giles in August.

But river experts were sounding the alarm long before then.

In June Rodger Hunter of the Cowichan Watershed Board reported that officials had already started to truck fish up the river due to low water levels, and that the situation was already more perilous than the worst year on record, 2003.

A low snow pack had forecast potential trouble by early spring.

Water restrictions put in place over the summer barely put a dent in the problem.

Watershed board member and CVRD board chair Rob Hutchins explained some of the history to the board in August.

For the last 11 years the region has been feeling the effects of climate change, Hutchins said, with one significant winter flood and a number of years of low flow in the summer that have required the trucking of fish up the river.

The magic number, he said, is seven cubic metres per second.

This is the lowest level of flow that

“It is a message that we really have to drive home to people that we really need a long-term solution. It gets worse and worse every year.”

ROSS FORREST, Lake Cowichan mayor

ensures the health of fish in the river, the dilution of sewage that’s discharged from two lagoons and allows Catalyst mill in Crofton to keep running.

Predicting a bad summer, officials lowered that rate to five cubic metres per second in July, to try to hold off a water flow crisis.

Things evened out for awhile, Hutchins said, but by August the river was once again in trouble.

“The fish are under stress,” he said, citing a report that stated that as of July 13, the water temperatures in some of the pools where the fish were gathered had risen to between 25 and 27 degrees C and that many dead fry were starting to be seen as a result.

“For us, salmon are not only a staple but an overall indicator of the health of the Valley,” said Tim Kulchyski, a biologist with Cowichan Tribes.

Nevertheless, with the looming possibility of storage reaching zero, the CVRD board voted to support a move to lower the flows further to 4.5 cubic metres per second.

A number of diffusers that run from the JUB sewage lagoons were actually above the water level and thus no longer working, though not all of them have to be

working to ensure adequate dilution levels.

B.C. Parks posted signs on the river warning of the low water levels, Hutchins reported.

“The river flow is so low that it’s actually dangerous in some areas for tubers,” he explained.

“It is a message that we really have to drive home to people that we really need a long-term solution,” said Lake Cowichan Mayor Ross Forrest. “It gets worse and worse every year.”

But even that wasn’t as low as things would go, as a rainfall in mid-August caused more problems than it solved.

On Aug. 16 Island Health issued a warning against swimming, wading or tubing in the Lower Cowichan River because of high bacteria counts due to rain washing contaminants into what were still critically low water levels.

“The river is the lowest we’ve seen in decades,” Hutchins said.

It wasn’t until mid-October that things really started to turn around.

Rainfall came just in time to lift river levels back to the rule curve and watering restrictions were finally lifted.

Dwindling summer flows are not a new problem for the river, but this year’s scare has prompted action to try to prevent such a crisis in the future.

The CVRD has taken the lead on the flow issue and are drawing up plans to raise the weir by 30 centimetres to store more water for the dry season, as well as adding pumps to be able to get water from the lake into the river should the danger of running dry hit the waterway again.

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The Board of Education has scheduled an Open Board Meeting for Wednesday, January 7, 2015 at 4:30 pm in the School Board Office Boardroom.

The river ran so low that you could easily wade across it in spots, while rocks and branches normally submerged peeked above the waterline, looking like white bone beneath the relentless sun. [CITIZEN FILE]

Notice of Elector Approval Process Water Supply Agreement (Crofton) The Municipality of North Cowichan gives notice that it seeks the approval of its Crofton Water Local Area Service electors to enter into a new Water Supply Agreement with Catalyst Paper Corporation for the benefit of the users of the Crofton Water Local Area Service.

This agreement is similar to an agreement first entered into in 1999 and is required due to the expiration of the original agreement. Approval of the Crofton Water Local Area Service electors is necessary as the term of the new agreement, with extensions, will exceed 5 years.

North Cowichan may enter into the agreement unless at least 10% (180) of the Crofton Water Local Area Service electors sign Elector Response Forms and submit them to the Municipality by 4:30 pm on February 16, 2015. If at least 180 electors submit signed Elector Response Forms by February 16, 2015, Council must obtain the formal assent of the electors before signing the agreement, or may enter into an agreement that does not exceed 5 years.

Approved Elector Response Forms are available from the Municipal Hall (7030 TransCanada Highway, Box 278, Duncan, BC V9L 3X4), or by visiting the Municipality’s website: www.northcowichan.ca. The only persons entitled to sign Elector Response Forms are the Crofton Water Local Area Service electors. Copies of the proposed agreement are available for public inspection at the Municipal Hall during regular business hours.

Mark Ruttan, Director of Corporate Services

7030 Trans-Canada Highway | Box 278 | Duncan, BC V9L 3X4 T 250.746.3100 F 250.746.3133 www.northcowichan.ca

6

Friday, January 2, 2015 | Cowichan Valley Citizen

OUR VIEW

Drought, food, elections and death in 2014 A

s we look back upon 2014 in Cowichan, there was plenty to talk about on the editorial page last year.

From Cowichan’s water crisis, where prolonged drought threatened to run our rivers dry — we have to take responsibility and control and do better — to the teachers’ strike that ran, low-key, through the summer and exploded into the wider public awareness when it caused a delay in the traditional start of the school year in September — we must talk about class composition, there’s no way around the truth that it is affecting everyone

— the Valley has faced tough challenges.

Tammy Walker, in need of a double lung transplant, stunned us with the awareness that there’s a gaping chasm in our supposedly universal health care system that’s actually denying life-saving surgery to people who don’t have enough money.

We urged people to get out and vote in November’s municipal elections. Sadly, voting statistics show that far too few took up the torch, in spite of a huge 87 candidates for public office.

Elections were also a sad time for the Cowichan Sportsplex,

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which was left facing a huge financial shortfall after referenda in nine electoral areas proved that shortsightedness on economic development and regional cooperation for the greater good still abounds.

This is one that we think will be returning to bite us over and over again in the future, especially as we look towards hosting the 2018 B.C. Summer Games.

Drought and unpopular changes to the regulations governing the provincial Agricultural Land Reserve sounded the alarm on food security.

A water crisis in California,

where far too much of our food comes from, had experts predicting big price increases at the grocery store for fruits and vegetables. They pointed out how B.C.’s own growing of crops, including such favourites as strawberries and broccoli, has eroded significantly over the years leaving us precariously dependent.

The B.C. government’s opening up the possibility that more land in the ALR could be used for industrial or urban development was just another fork in the potato.

Then there were the national

Mount Tzouhalem cross is not intrusive

Cowichan Valley Citizen is a division of VI Newspaper Group Limited Partnership., 251 Jubilee St., Duncan, B.C., V9L 1W8 Phone: 250-748-2666 Fax: 250-748-1552 Publisher Shirley Skolos Editor Andrea Rondeau Advertising director Shirley Skolos Circulation manager Audette LePage Newsroom 250-748-2666, extension 235 news@cowichanvalleycitizen.com Advertising 250-748-2666, extensions 223, 227, 228, 229, 230 Classified ads 1-866-415-9169

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and international issues that came to the fore this year.

Our indifference to a recordsetting, fatal ebola outbreak in Africa until a handful of westerners started to get sick showed us a few things about ourselves we may not have wanted to see.

In Canada, the debate on dying with dignity was reopened, as the pleas of a number of people who chose to take their own lives rather than suffer a painful and prolonged end were broadcast.

The law preventing assisting someone in such a situation is one we hope changes soon.

New hope in a new year.

2015 Baby New Year refuses to be born David Suzuki is an environmental hypocrite Re: Cultural Paradigm shift taking country by storm (Dec. 24).

It is the height of irony that people are believing what David Suzuki has to say, when he is one of the greatest environmental hypocrites of all time.

The man has made a fortune manipulating people into giving him money by scaring them about the environmental apocalypse being upon us, while living a lavish one-percenter lifestyle with more than one house to his name and extensive air travel that makes the average person’s “carbon footprint” seem insignificant by comparison.

I’d rather listen to Patrick Moore, former founding member of Greenpeace.

Do environmental/peace activists know how to frame questions in ways that aren’t loaded, or riddled with logical fallacies?

Honestly, nobody is for dirty water, dirty air, or dirty food.

Particularly the question about war vs. peace is worded as a fallacy of false choice.

Of course all these questions are framed in a manipulative way to guide the reader into accepting whatever the author is proposing.

The problem is, what is proposed isn’t necessarily valid or even helpful, and may actually be counterproductive in the real world.

Research “energy poverty” and its effect on the poor, and even the middle class, as a result of mandating more expensive “green” energy, for instance.

So much for the idea that implementing the enviro-agenda will result in “greater standards of living”.

Some people say religion is a fairy tale which was only invented to control people.

The same people often don’t see that the religion of environmentalism, particularly when fudged data is produced to support it, behaves in that exact manner, particularly when dealing with “heretics”.

April J. Gibson Duncan

I read Mr. Keith Gray’s letter with amusement and amazement.

He wrote that the cross should be replaced by something less intrusive and more inclusive.

The opposite of inclusive is exclusive. The meaning of intrusive is “causing disruption or annoyance through being unwelcome or uninvited.” It is a pretty harsh word to use about a simple thing like a cross.

If he finds crosses offensive, then he must find driving in Duncan an absolute torture. On Tzouhalem Road alone, there are seven places of worship within a couple of miles. My goodness, there are crosses all over the place! Driving in downtown Duncan produces the same problem.

Sherman Road has a church and a Sikh Temple. Even quiet back roads have buildings of worship.

There is nowhere that he can go without coming across one or another religious symbol.

Whether you like it or not, Jesus Christ is a historic figure.

He is mentioned by the Jewish Roman historian Flavius Josephus. He is in fact, someone who changed the world.

Mr. Grey is entitled to his opinion as I am entitled to mine.

However, I really don’t think he meant to use the work intrusive.

Surely no one in this Valley would go out of their way to insult the thousands of God loving people who live here.

Lauren M. Flynn North Cowichan

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Opinion

Cowichan Valley Citizen | Friday, January 2, 2015

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Act of kindness brightens Christmas We would like to thank the lady who sat at the next table to us at the pub on Wednesday, Dec. 17.

She said Merry Christmas to us on the way out and then we discovered that she had paid for our lunch.

What a nice thing to do for complete strangers. Once again, thanks for your act of kindness and we wish you a very, very Merry Christmas.

Isobel, Rodger and Eileen Mill Bay

Have your say, Cowichan!

Be part of our online poll

This week’s question: What would you like to see in the Citizen?

A) Comics B) Puzzles C) Comics and puzzles Tell us what you think!

To be part of our poll visit: www.cowichanvalleycitizen.com

There are still wonderful people in the world [CITIZEN FILE]

Water: if we care about the future there’s really no choice DAVID SLADE SPECIAL TO THE CITIZEN

Why would a guy who makes his living from bringing water to people suddenly start giving public lectures about using less of it; especially when this crusty old well driller is deathly afraid of public speaking?

If early onset dementia is your first guess, then you would be on the same page as my business partners. The truth however is a little more complicated.

In recent years I have become aware that from a sustainability perspective we are headed up the proverbial creek. And it’s not just that we don’t have a paddle, we have a canoe full of holes, and the fact that the creek is likely running dry should be of no consolation at all.

My home has always been the Cowichan Valley. My family has earned a good living by tapping into the many and varied aquifers that underlie this beautiful place, providing water for agriculture, industry and domestic use.

At one time, when I was young and naïve, I believed that our aquifers were inexhaustible, but lately I have seen both major and minor declines in the annual levels of some aquifers. We have also seen critically low flows above ground in our local rivers and streams, like this past summer. We don’t completely understand how surface water and groundwater interact, but we know that they do, and that depletion of one can diminish the capacity of the other.

Our climate is changing. Some few may still argue about the cause of this change, but the fact that the change is real is beyond question. Locally, one of the most striking changes is our precipitation pat-

terns. Longer, drier summers could soon result in the tragic loss of complete salmon runs in the Cowichan River unless we make major improvements to how we manage river flows.

2014 delivered a near “perfect storm”, combining absent snow pack with low spring rainfall and extended summer drought, which really put water sustainability in the spotlight.

Throughout last summer and fall, I was graciously accepted into the boardrooms and council chambers of the largest water utilities in the Valley to talk about how we can do better at water conservation.

I see no reason why Canadians should use more water per capita than any other nation, but our average consumption is a shocking 250 per cent higher than Germany. In my role with the Cowichan Watershed Board, I invited them all to join the Cowichan Water Conservation Challenge. To my delight, all are now taking steps to join that initiative, starting with annual reporting of local water consumption.

Early results show Mill Bay and Ladysmith as local water conservation leaders but with many water saving initiatives planned or underway, we look forward to seeing what the New Year will bring.

Becoming a grandfather has put a fine point on my efforts as a sustainability activist, so I am determined to continue trying to move us all towards a truly sustainable future. If we care about our grandchildren’s future, I don’t believe we really have a choice.

David Slade is a senior partner at Drillwell Enterprises, and a member of the Cowichan Watershed Board

www.valleycarpetoneduncan.com 230 Kenneth Street, Duncan

250-748-2581

“I want to express my sincere thanks to the wonderful gentleman who quietly paid for my groceries in Walmart on Monday, Dec. 22. He had no way of knowing that I was still reeling from having my purse with everything in it stolen on the weekend in Vancouver.

There are still wonderful people in this world.

Shirley Van Wieren Duncan

Handy-dart staff very kind, helpful I moved to Duncan about a year ago from Regina, Saskatchewan, for health reasons and to be closer to my family.

Since then I have had reason to use the Handy-dart bus a number of times.

I would like to say how kind the drivers have been to me.

I need assistance as I use a walker and on every occasion they have been most kind and helpful and I would like to have this letter printed in your newspaper if possible.

The people who book your times for pick-up are very helpful, too.

Look for the results of this week’s poll question in next Friday’s edition of the Cowichan Valley Citizen.

Last week’s question: On December 24 we asked you: What should be done about derelict ships?

A) They shouldn’t be allowed off our coast 40% B) If they start to sink or leak, take them away at owner’s cost 57% C) Leave them alone 4%

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Year in Review

Friday, January 2, 2015 | Cowichan Valley Citizen

2014: Elliott sentenced for ‘brutal’ murders Editor’s note: This story contains graphic details of the murders.

KEVIN ROTHBAUER CITIZEN

Nearly four years after the murder of Karrie-Ann Stone, and nearly three and a half after the murder of Tyeshia Jones, their killer finally received his sentence in 2014.

William Gordon Robert Elliott, 26, was sentenced to 20 years in prison without parole in June, bringing an end to the harrowing saga and providing a measure of closure to the victims’ families.

Stone was 42 at the time of her death in July 2010, and Jones just 18 when she was killed in January 2011. Judge Keith Bracken, in handing down his sentence in the Duncan courthouse, called the murders “brutal, senseless and callous.”

After a lengthy investigation, Elliott was arrested and charged in April 2012, and he pleaded guilty to the murders in the summer of 2013.

Around 3:30 a.m. on July 7, 2010, Elliott picked Stone up at the motel where she was living. He drove her to his home where they had consensual sex that he paid her for.

According to Elliott, she then threatened to tell his wife about it if he didn’t give her more money.

He beat her with a baseball bat, put her in the trunk of his car and drove her to a location off Elliott Road in Glenora where he poured gasoline on her and set fire to her, while she was still alive. He later claimed that he didn’t realize she was still alive until after he started the fire.

Stone’s body was found five days later by a berry picker.

Jones was reported missing on Jan. 22, 2011. She had been on her way to meet a friend outside the Duncan Superstore when she stopped responding to texts and phone calls around 3 a.m.

Elliott later revealed that he had accidentally struck her with his truck outside the Cowichan Tribes Gym. He picked her up and put her in the bed of his truck and took her to the Shaker

Mary Jim

Bev Stone speaks outside the courthouse following the sentencing of her daughter’s killer. [CITIZEN FILE]

William Gordon Robert Elliott

Church cemetery off Indian Road.

There, he tried unsuccessfully to rape her. When he was unable to do that, he removed her clothes and choked her to death with her bra. He also tried to knock her teeth out and poke her eyes out to make it difficult to identify her before dragging her body into the woods. He later burned her clothes and threw some of her teeth into the ocean.

Following an exhaustive search by the RCMP, Cowichan Search and Rescue and other volunteers from the community, Jones’s body was located six days after her disappearance.

The two murders were investigated separately until police

mother worked as a prostitute.

After returning to Duncan, he was once found sleeping under a bush outside a bank at the age of nine. Shortly after that, he went into foster care.

Prosecutors Scott Van Alstine and Laura Ford, meanwhile, asked for the maximum sentence of 25 years. Ford acknowledged Elliott’s aboriginal heritage and problems at home, and agreed they were important, but that there were many other factors to consider.

Among various other criminal convictions, Bracken noted two other sexual assaults Elliott had committed as a teenager: one in Courtenay and one in Duncan. In both cases he approached young women, punched them in the face, then raped them.

After the sentencing, the victims’ mothers broke down in tears outside the courtroom.

“As far as I’m concerned, this man is a monster,” said Bev Stone, Karrie-Ann’s mother. “My reaction is this man got what he deserved, plain and simple. He took two children from us, Mary’s daughter and my daughter, and nothing else could have been better.”

In the eyes of Mary Jim, Jones’s mother, the sentence wasn’t enough.

“It doesn’t bring my daughter and Karrie back,” she said. “I’m not happy about it.”

Jim added that she will never stop thinking about her daughter.

“She will always be my everything,” she said. “She’s my angel.”

began seeing similarities between the two cases in February 2011.

After identifying Elliott as a suspect, police began a “Mr. Big sting.” Elliott was befriended by undercover officers posing as gang members. He gradually worked his way up the ranks of the “gang” until he was given an opportunity to meet with the “Big Boss” on April 14, 2012.

During that meeting in a Victoria hotel room, Elliott provided extensive details about both murders in conversations recorded on a hidden camera. He also visited several areas in the Cowichan Valley along with “gang” members, including the sites where the murders took place, and took them to

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his house, where he handed over the baseball bat he used to kill Stone and a bag of other items related to crimes. He was arrested and charged soon after.

In Elliott’s sentencing hearing, his defence lawyer, Scott Sheets, recommended a prison sentence of 10 to 15 years.

“He has provided a confession, expressed remorse, has participated with people in preparing reports,” Sheets said. “The articulation he uses in them will never be enough. There is no excuse for that, but there is a partial explanation.”

It was also pointed out during the hearing that Elliott grew up in a household where alcohol and physical abuse were prevalent. He spent time living on the streets of Vancouver, where his

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Year in Review

Cowichan Valley Citizen | Friday, January 2, 2015

9

Power of people saves web camera LEXI BAINAS CITIZEN

The problem technically began at the end of 2013 but it came to a head a few weeks later and by mid 2014, it was solved.

The removal of the webcam located on Hill 60 on Highway 18 had locals up in arms.

Many motorists, discovered the following message when trying to find out from Drive BC what the snow situation was on Hill 60 last December: “The Cowichan HighwayCam on Hwy 18 is currently unavailable. The webcam is in the process of being moved to another location in the area. Stay tuned!”

What? Was the least of the questions being asked by residents from both ends of the Lake Cowichan highway, especially when it was rumoured that the new home being considered for the camera was the turnoff at Mesachie Lake to the road to Port Renfrew.

Asked for answers, Lisanne Bowness, senior public affairs officer for the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, said, “Mainroad South Island Contracting owns and maintains the Highway 18 webcam, which had been running on solar power and a weak cellular signal since it was installed nine years ago, causing reliability issues.

“The camera at this site was older technology and Mainroad had identified it for upgrading.

Since there is a second HighwayCam nearby, at Skutz Falls, Mainroad, in consultation with the Ministry, determined the webcam would be more useful at the South Shore Road/Pacific Marine Road intersection, which connects Lake Cowichan to Port Renfrew as part of the Pacific Marine Circle Route,” she said.

That didn’t satisfy Highway 18 drivers, however, many of whom pointed out that the climate at the top of Hill 60 is far different from that at Skutz Falls.

However, good news was on the way. The Hill 60 highway webcam — acknowledged as a winter lifeline for Highway 18 drivers — would be back.

The Cowichan Valley Regional District’s Area F director Ian Morrison announced the news over the Easter weekend.

“We’re getting a brand new Drive BC webcam up there in the next few months,” he said April 20, just before heading out to Honeymoon Bay’s Easter egg hunt.

Along with firing off a fusillade of furious comments on Facebook and in letters to editors, Mainroad Contracting and the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, Highway 18 drivers had been on the phone to Morrison.

His far-flung area includes the site of both the Hill 60 and the Mesachie Lake webcams and he got an earful, he said.

“Essentially when the original

webcam equipment went out and your story...came out I contacted my contacts at MoTI and began discussions with them.

“I set about explaining to them the importance of that site and that quite often if there’s going to be a weather change you’ll first notice it there,” he said.

He was thrilled with the success of his plea.

“They have already started work up at the site. A brand new solar-powered webcam [will go] there. I even was pushing to get some lighting put in there, too, to enhance it to 24-hour service since there is a Hydro line that goes right by the site but apparently it would be extremely expensive to do a power drop from that line,” he said.

However, Morrison is happy about any camera there. “This is really good news,” he said.

Morrison agreed that there is significant reason for concern as there are school buses that travel that route, not to mention large numbers of people going to and from work or the Cowichan District Hospital.

“I think I was able to convey the level of outrage that people felt.”

By mid-June, he was showing off the new operational Drive BC webcam as a victory demonstrating the power of the people in keeping a weather eye at the top of the hill between Duncan and Cowichan Lake.

Morrison was clearly delighted to announce that the replacement camera was up and running.

“I received an email from [transportation] ministry officials telling me that the switch had been flipped and it was live,” he said.

Looking at the new camera, Morrison noted, “The solar panels are a little bigger than the other ones.

Everyone says the images are fantastic. Now, we just need to get some Hydro here so we can get a light to see conditions at night.”

‘It’s here!’ cries a jubilant Area F Director, Ian Morrison, as he shows off the results of the long push to ensure the web camera on Hill 60 was not shut down and moved to Mesachie Lake. [LEXI BAINAS/CITIZEN]

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Year in Review

Friday, January 2, 2015 | Cowichan Valley Citizen

Swimmer’s 32 hours in the lake an inspiration ANDREA RONDEAU CITIZEN

One of the most inspirational stories of the year is Susan Simmons’s marathon 70 kilometre swim on Lake Cowichan in August.

Not only did she and friend Alex Cape complete the huge challenge, Simmons discovered in early November that she has been nominated for World Open Water Woman Swimmer of the Year by the World Open Water Swim Association for the feat.

Her story is not just about distance and endurance but about inspiring others with her battle against multiple sclerosis.

“It was an amazing experience,” Simmons said days after the swim.

“It had a lot of challenges along the way.”

The pair left the beach just outside of Lake Cowichan at 2:30 p.m. on a Friday afternoon in August, headed for Heather campground, surrounded by an entourage of swimmers and kayakers who took turns serving as support crew for the two women.

Simmons and Cape used English Channel marathon rules, meaning they accomplished the feat without wetsuits or swim aids, and have now qualified for the 24hour club, a group of open-water swimmers who have completed non-stop swims in open bodies of water for a minimum of 24 hours.

Their swim time of 32 to 33 hours puts them in an elite group of 117 worldwide.

Their distance also puts them

Susan Simmons prepares to swim the length of Lake Cowichan and back, a feat she accomplished with pal Alex Cape in August of 2014. She has been nominated for a prestigious award for the swim. [CITIZEN FILE] among the top flatwater distance swimmers in the world, as less than 10 swimmers on record have swum 70 kilometres or more in a lake unassisted.

“It was a blast,” Simmons said in November of the swim, which saw her battle not only the water and fatigue, but hallucinations and hypothermia.

“The last three hours were hal-

lucinations,” she said in August.

“I knew it was going to happen, so it was fine, it’s just a little uncomfortable.”

Because of that, Simmons didn’t want to stop in the last hour to eat or look up.

“I was seeing so many things in front of me that I just thought, ‘I don’t want to see this anymore, I just want to get to the finish’.”

“I fell asleep twice, too, which I didn’t think you could do while you were swimming,” Simmons recalls. “That kind of scared me.”

She made sure her crew knew what was going on, and she persevered under their watchful eyes.

When the pair finally reached the end of their journey, they were greeted by a crowd, Simmons said,

as well as a doctor and ambulance technician who treated them for mild hypothermia.

It was all worth it, Simmons said. “I learned so much while I was doing this,” she said.

A driving force behind the challenge for Simmons was to get word out about the importance of exercise for people who have multiple sclerosis.

Simmons, 49, was diagnosed with MS about 20 years ago, and was told at that time not to exercise at all. That made her increasingly unhealthy, she said, so about nine years ago she began to swim.

It has made a huge difference in her life.

Simmons said her fight against MS is part of the reason for the nomination.

“It’s nice because this takes it from the Island to the international community,” she said.

“So it’s bringing awareness on that level.”

Part of what made the experience so worthwhile, Simmons said, is the incredible team of community volunteers who helped out and accomplished their own goals. Some paced the swimmers in kayaks, while others joined the two women for a portion of the journey.

This isn’t the end for Simmons.

She and Cape have started planning a 105 kilometre Cowichan Lake swim for next July-August.

“We’re expecting it to take about 50 hours,” she said of what she describes as a “full tour of the lake.”

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Year in Review

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Cowichan Valley Citizen | Friday, January 2, 2015

Valley macaws could help save a species KEVIN ROTHBAUER CITIZEN

It’s a good-news story with global impact, rooted right here in the Cowichan Valley.

Seventeen blue-throated macaws — a critically endangered species endemic to a tiny part of Bolivia — that were raised in Shawnigan Lake by life-long parrot fan April Sanderson, made their way from Vancouver Island to Bolivia, by way of Toronto in August, in an attempt to help revive the wild population.

To evaluate the status of the blue-throated macaw, consider that the World Parrot Trust estimates that for every individual bird in the wild, there are 3,750 African elephants, 200 rhinos, 12 giant pandas, and six mountain gorillas.

Release programs aren’t without controversy, but with the blue-throated macaw wild population estimated at around 125 birds in an area the size of Vancouver Island, Sanderson feels it is the only way to keep the species alive.

“With numbers so low, I don’t believe they can recover without human intervention,” she said. Breeding pairs typically have one chick per year, and chick survival rates are low, so the introduction of Sanderson’s birds should help boost the population.

Among the 17 birds are five breeding pairs representing nine different bloodlines. It’s probably one of the most diverse groups in North America, which will make for a much deeper gene pool.

Not all 17 will make it to the wild, a fact

Sanderson had to come to grips with.

“I’m not being naive about it,” she said.

“I know some of them are going to die, but what are the species’ chances? Our generation could be the last one to see them.”

Sanderson’s participation in the project is the culmination of a lifetime with the birds.

“I’ve had parrots since I was a child,” she said. “I got my first one when I was nine, and I’ve worked with them all my life.”

She started breeding birds for the pet trade, but soon realized it was a nasty business and that many parrots end up in unfortunate circumstances.

“A lot of people don’t know how to care for parrots,” she related.

Sanderson then decided to breed parrots for the World Parrot Trust’s conservation program, which took a lot of work. She required plenty of permits and contracts, and had to keep the macaws quarantined for five years — even the owners of other parrots were forbidden from having contact with Sanderson’s birds. They also required a minimum of three hours of labour a day, seven days a week, which took a toll on family holidays. That’s not to mention the hundreds of dollars it cost each month in order to keep the birds fed and sheltered.

“It has been hard for my family to understand,” Sanderson admitted.

Once in Bolivia, the birds would be closely watched as they began their time in aviaries, developing their flight wings, transitioning to a new diet and getting accustomed to the South American climate.

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A blue-throated macaw, one of 17 raised in Shawnigan Lake and bound for a release program in Bolivia, nibbles on a nut. [KEVIN ROTHBAUER/CITIZEN]

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Friday, January 2, 2015 | Cowichan Valley Citizen

Cowichan Valley Citizen | Friday, January 2, 2015

In brief: 2014 top stories

This tree, which crushed the house beneath it, was just one of the casualties of a huge windstorm that hit the Cowichan Valley in November. [CITIZEN FILE]

A huge windstorm in November knocked out power and downed trees throughout the Cowichan Valley. It was days before power was fully restored to all customers, and one home was crushed by a falling tree.

••• 2014 saw another chapter opened in the case of the shooting of William Gillespie by RCMP officer Const. David Pompeo.

Pompeo was convicted of aggravated assault in the case in February of 2013.

For shooting the unarmed Gil-

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lespie in 2009, he was sentenced to two years probation and 240 hours of community service. He was also allowed to keep his firearm.

But in August a new trial was ordered after Pompeo successfully appealed the conviction.

The appeal, heard by Justice Harvey M. Groberman, Chief Justice Robert James Bauman and Justice Nicole J. Garson, concluded that Judge Wood erred in excluding the evidence of an expert witness who said the use of lethal force was in accordance with police protocols and training and so the shooting

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Independents Randy Doman and Elizabeth Croft rounded out those elected.

••• Federal Conservatives in the Cowichan Valley were thrilled by a January visit by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, while those of other political stripes met Canada’s leader at the gates of Brentwood College with protest signs.

It was the first time a prime minister had visited the Valley in 60 years.

••• The Chemainus Theatre did a huge renovation of its dining room — the first time in 20 years.

Theatre goers were treated to new sophisticated décor that brought an additional touch of class to this popular Valley spot.

••• The Cowichan Regional Visitor Centre held its grand opening in February.

Less than one year after shovels broke ground, the stunning $1.15-million facility quietly opened its doors in January and has seen nothing but success thus far. The project finished on time and on budget.

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In the Cowichan Valley Regional District there was a big turnover of directors, with Kerry Davis, Sonia Furstenau, Alison Nicholson, and Matteus Clement winning seats in the region’s south end — all newcomers to regional politics.

In Lake Cowichan Carolyn Austin and Lorna Vomacka ensured that half of the four-person council would be new going forward.

There were plenty of eyes on the school board race, as the number of seats dropped from nine to seven, and many candidates divided into teams during the election.

There was particular interest in who would be elected because the last board had been fired by the provincial government for failing to file a balanced budget, leading to two-and-a-half years of rule by a single provincially-appointed trustee.

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The appeal court also found that Judge Wood “went beyond his proper role when he made requests that evidence be tendered and when he engaged in lengthy questioning of witnesses.”

••• Cowichan Valley residents headed to the polls in November to elect local governments for the next four years in municipal elections.

The results delivered a lot of change for many areas of the Valley.

While Jon Lefebure was returned to the mayor’s chair in the Municipality of North Cowichan after a hard-fought race against former councillor John Koury, council itself saw a significant number of new faces, with Rob Douglas, Maeve Maguire, and Joyce Behnsen all taking seats for the first time, and former mayor Tom Walker coming back to council after a term away.

In the City of Duncan, Mayor Phil Kent returned to office, winning the mayoral race handily. There were two new faces elected to council however: Roger Bruce and John Horgan.

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ON NOW AT YOUR BC CHEVROLET DEALERS. Chevrolet.ca 1-800-GM-DRIVE. Chevrolet is a brand of General Motors of Canada. Offers apply to the purchase, finance and lease of a 2014 Chevrolet Trax, Silverado or Cruze. Freight ($1,600/$1695/$1,600) and PDI included. License, insurance, registration, administration & dealer fees, PPSA and taxes not included. Dealers are free to set individual prices.

Limited time offers which may not be combined with other offers, and are subject to change without notice. Offers apply to qualified retail customers in BC Chevrolet Dealer Marketing Association area only. Dealer trade may be required. *Offer applies to eligible current owners or lessees of any model year 1999 or newer car that has been registered and insured in Canada in the customer’s name for the previous consecutive six (6) months. Credit valid towards the retail purchase or lease of one eligible 2013, 2014, 2015 model year Chevrolet car, SUV, crossover and pickups models delivered in Canada between December 2, 2014 and January 2, 2015. Credit is a manufacturer to consumer incentive (tax inclusive) and credit value depends on model purchased: $750 credit available on all eligible Chevrolet vehicles. Offer applies to eligible current owners or lessees of any Pontiac/Saturn/SAAB/Hummer/Oldsmobile model year 1999 or newer vehicle or Chevrolet Cobalt or HHR that has been registered and insured in Canada in the customer’s name for the previous consecutive six (6) months. Credit valid towards the retail purchase or lease of one eligible 2013, 2014, 2015 model year Chevrolet car, SUV, crossover and pickups models delivered in Canada between December 2, 2014 and January 2, 2015. Credit is a manufacturer to consumer incentive (tax inclusive) and credit value depends on model purchased: $1500 credit available on all eligible Chevrolet vehicles. Offer applies to eligible current owners or lessees of any model year 1999 or newer pick-up truck that has been registered and insured in Canada in the customer’s name for the previous consecutive six (6) months. Credit is a manufacturer to consumer incentive (tax inclusive): $1,000 credit available towards the retail purchase, cash purchase or lease of one eligible 2013, 2014 or 2015 model year Chevrolet light or heavy duty pickup(except Colorado); delivered in Canada between December 2, 2014 through January 2, 2015. This offer may not be redeemed for cash and may not be combined with certain other consumer incentives. Certain limitations or conditions apply. Void where prohibited by law. See your GMCL dealer for details. GMCL reserves the right to amend or terminate offers for any reason in whole or in part at any time without prior notice. **$500 Boxing Week Bonus is a manufacturer-to-consumer credit (tax inclusive) available on the retail purchase or lease of 2014 or 2015 model year Chevrolet Sonic, Cruze, Trax, Equinox, Traverse, Silverado 1500 Double Cab, or Silverado HD (gas engine only) delivered in Canada between December 15, 2014 and January 2, 2015. †$3,250 is a combined total credit consisting of a $750 Holiday Cash (tax inclusive), $500 Boxing Week Bonus (tax inclusive) and a $2,000 manufacturer to dealer cash credit (tax exclusive) for 2014 Trax which is available for cash purchases only and cannot be combined with special lease and finance rates. By selecting lease or finance offers, consumers are foregoing this $2,000 credit which will result in higher effective interest rates. Discounts vary by model. ‡$8,500 is a combined total credit consisting of a $4,000 manufacturer to dealer delivery credit (tax exclusive) for 2014 Silverado Light Duty Double Cab, $1,000 Holiday Cash for Truck Owners (tax inclusive), $500 Boxing Week Bonus (tax inclusive) and a $3,000 manufacturer to dealer cash credit (tax exclusive) for 2014 Chevrolet Silverado Light Duty (1500) DoubleCab, which is available for cash purchases only and cannot be combined with special lease and finance rates. By selecting lease or finance offers, consumers are foregoing this $3,000 credit which will result in higher effective interest rates. Discounts vary by model. *†$5,500 is a combined total credit consisting of a $1,000 manufacturer to dealer delivery credit (tax exclusive) on 2014 Chevrolet Cruze LTZ, a $750 Holiday Cash (tax inclusive), $500 Boxing Week Bonus (tax inclusive) and a $3,250 manufacturer to dealer cash credit (tax exclusive) for 2014 Cruze LTZ which is available for cash purchases only and cannot be combined with special lease and finance rates. By selecting lease or finance offers, consumers are foregoing this $3,250 credit which will result in higher effective interest rates. Discounts vary by model. ~Visit onstar.ca for coverage map, details and system limitations. Services vary by model and conditions. OnStar acts as a link to existing emergency service providers. After complimentary trial period, an active OnStar service plan is required. ††Based on Wardsauto.com 2013 Large Pickup segment and last available information at the time of posting. Excludes other GM vehicles. Maximum trailer weight ratings are calculated assuming base vehicle, except for any option(s) necessary to achieve the rating, plus driver. The weight of other optional equipment, passengers and cargo will reduce the maximum trailer weight your vehicle can tow. See your dealer for additional details. ‡‡2014 Silverado 1500 with the available 5.3L EcoTec3 V8 engine equipped with a 6-speed automatic transmission has a fuel-consumption rating of 13.0L/100 km city and 8.7L/100 km hwy 2WD and 13.3L/100 km city and 9.0L/100 km hwy 4WD. Ford F-150 with the 3.5L EcoBoost V6 engine has a fuel consumption rating of 12.9L/100 km city and 9.0L/100 km hwy 2WD and 14.1L/100 km city and 9.6L/100 km hwy 4WD. Fuel consumption based on GM testing in accordance with approved Transport Canada test methods. Your actual fuel consumption may vary. ++Whichever comes first. See dealer/manufacturer for details. Based on Wardsauto.com 2013 Large Pickup segment and last available information at the time of posting. +Based on WardsAuto.com 2012 Upper Small segment, excluding Hybrid and Diesel powertrains. Standard 10 airbags, ABS, traction control and StabiliTrak. ▼Based on GM Testing in accordance with approved Transport Canada test methods. Your actual fuel consumption may vary. *^Government 5-Star Safety Ratings are part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA’s) New Car Assessment Program (www.SaferCar.gov). ^Whichever comes first. Limit of four ACDelco Lube-Oil-Filter services in total. Fluid top-offs, inspections, tire rotations, wheel alignments and balancing, etc., are not covered. Additional conditions and limitations apply. See dealer for details. ^^Whichever comes first. See dealer for details.

14 Friday, January 2, 2015 | Cowichan Valley Citizen

Call Peter Baljet Chevrolet Buick GMC at 250-746-7131, or visit us at 6300 Trans Canada Highway, Duncan. [License #8347]

Year in Review

Cowichan Valley Citizen | Friday, January 2, 2015

15

‘Les Mis’ to Sunfest: lots to love in 2014 LEXI BAINAS CITIZEN

A year of stellar entertainment, Cowichanstyle, began early in 2014 when Shawnigan Lake School held its annual musical in January. They presented Little Shop of Horrors in truly creepy style, breathing zestful life into a show that’s always a favourite with teenage performers.

•••

By February, things were up and running on several fronts.

Nick Versteeg’s long-awaited film, Resilience, about the Cowichan River, was released, and proved remarkably timely considering that the year that followed saw tremendous attention focused on the plight of the river and its water supply.

Later in February, the students of Brentwood College presented Fiddler on the Roof in a super showcase for their young performers.

As the month ended, the Cowichan Music Festival also began to wind down, offering the first of its three gala performance days.

••• March saw the South Island Musical Theatre Society’s production of My Fair Lady postponed when flu hit the company, most notably their beloved Liza, Sarah Lane.

March also saw the Chemainus Theatre, boasting its newly-refurbished dining room, present Jeeves in Bloom, one of a pair of spring short-run plays, and it brought hilarity to the end of winter.

Young Valley stars Lynnea Bruce and Parker Schmidt, both chosen to compete in the YTV series, The Next Star: Supergroup, thrilled fans with their performance on the exciting TV show.

••• In April, the first of a whole clutch of great tribute shows came to the Cowichan Theatre when Elvis, Elvis, Elvis roared onto the big stage, offering a taste of Las Vegas in the Cowichan Valley.

•••

By May, plays were hitting stages everywhere. Theatregoers were able to enjoy The Original Cast at the Mercury Theatre, Murder in Green Meadows at the Queen Margaret’s School Theatre and even The Wizard of Oz at Lake Cowichan’s Centennial Hall.

Dance troupes, too, took to stages at the Bunch Theatre at Brentwood and the Cowi-

chan Theatre for their exciting year-end shows.

••• By the end of June, it was again time to launch the popular 39 Days of July series of shows at Charles Hoey Park in downtown Duncan. These outdoor events included every kind of performer and Longevity John Falkner again offered Duncan’s Got Talent for young performers.

At the Chemainus Theatre, the annual summer blockbuster was Les Misérables and everyone was waiting to see how the huge show translated to the intimate venue.

The verdict: Wowza! And an extended run.

••• In July, at Providence Farm, everyone was getting ready for the Islands Folk Festival. On the opening night of the festival, Duncan’s Paul Ruszel fulfilled a dream by winning the Island Song Contest.

Elsewhere in the Valley, actors were preparing for the Shawnigan Players’ outdoor presentation of Romeo and Juliet. This Shakespeare favourite opened at Charles Hoey Park before moving on to its usual venue at Cowichan Station.

••• Country music fans had been holding in their gathering excitement, waiting for Sunfest 2014 to arrive. When it finally came time, they showed up in record numbers to cheer big names such as Jake Owen, Dean Brody and especially headliner Tim McGraw, cheering to the skies when they heard next year’s top draw is Keith Urban.

••• By autumn, events had moved indoors again. Stellar presentations of Shirley Valentine and Kiss the Moon Kiss the Sun at the Mercury Theatre brought raves all around.

At the Cowichan Theatre, Gordon Lightfoot, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and even Frank Mills rolled away the years, offering special events for their fans and Stuart McLean brought his Christmas show to the Valley to the delight of adoring fans.

••• With the holidays on the way, the entertainment scene heated up, too. Several local choirs scheduled performances of Christmas favourites old and new while at the big venues, shows like Winter Harp, The Nutcracker and Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol packed them in for December fun.

2015 PLAYER

REGISTRATION

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Saturday & Sunday, Jan 10 & 11 10 am – 3 pm Saturday, Jan 31 10 am – 3 pm

Register at the Clubhouse located at the ball fields on 6257 Somenos Rd. in Duncan New Players Welcome! Coaches Needed!

www.duncanball.ca

On a sizzling evening, country chart topper, Tim McGraw, sings to the record-breaking crowd at Cowichan Exhibition Park during Sunfest 2014 in August. [LEXI BAINAS/CITIZEN]

16

Year in Review

Friday, January 2, 2015 | Cowichan Valley Citizen

A year filled with Buddy Holly LEXI BAINAS CITIZEN

Va n c o u ve r I s l a n d ’s ow n Zachary Stevenson obviously has a special place in the hearts of Cowichan Valley music fans.

They’ve flocked to theatres every time he performed in 2014.

And perform he did.

He opened in February at the Chemainus Theatre, reprising — by popular demand — his role of Buddy in The Buddy Holly Story starting Feb. 11 and continuing well past its scheduled end of run as fans crowded the theatre.

He was again seen at the Cowichan Exhibition in early September, performing Buddy Holly songs for a delighted crowd.

But he wasn’t done yet.

He hit the Cowichan Theatre on Oct. 11 as Buddy Holly, sharing the stage with the Beatles’ tribute act, The Fab Fourever for a spectacular show joining the work of the Liverpool lads with the tunes that influenced them so strongly.

Finally, Stevenson brought Buddy Holly back for a fourth performance, this time as part of A Rock & Roll Xmas, an event that featured not only his Holly songs but Lance Lipinsky’s tribute to Jerry Lee Lewis. Fans also got to see more of Stevenson’s new love, charming singer Molly

Elvis, Elvis, Elvis opened a series of tribute shows in 2014.

Duncan’s Paul Ruszel won the Island Song Contest in July.

The Mercury Players’ production of The Original Cast was hilarious.

Dancer Vance Driver was a co-winner of Duncan’s Got Talent again.

Parker Schmidt made it to the finals of YTV’s The Next Star: Supergroup.

Illness meant My Fair Lady was late starting but it was worth the wait.

Zachary Stevenson as Buddy Holly sings with Molly Dee. [LEXI BAINAS/CITIZEN] Dee, in that show.

While chatting with the crowd Dec. 14 at the Cowichan Theatre, Stevenson acknowledged that fans had seen a lot of him in 2014 and asked how many people in the big crowd had actually been in the audience for his October show. He was delighted to see many hands go up and thanked

them for their loyalty.

It was plain to see that his admirers have enjoyed seeing him polish his act from its first days, which included stints at Ryder’s Road House in Mill Bay, until he can now take the stage with other high-quality tribute acts at big venues around North America.

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Year in Review

Cowichan Valley Citizen | Friday, January 2, 2015

17

Unforgettable images from 2014

This junior firefighter rides atop a fire truck in the Grande Parade through Duncan in July. [CITIZEN FILE]

Alexis MacLeod finishes the Tuff Kidder course at the Cowichan Aquatic Centre. [CITIZEN FILE]

The piglets are always one of the most popular features at the Cowichan Exhibition. [CITIZEN FILE]

Shawnigan Lake resident and veteran Bob Collins provides an honour guard at the Cobble Hill cenotaph in memory of two men who were killed in separate incidents in Quebec and Ontario. [CITIZEN FILE]

Dorothy (Lynnea Bruce) discovers that a scarecrow in a field is alive and looking for a brain. [LEXI BAINAS/CITIZEN]

PUBLIC NOTICE

Like looking in a watery mirror, a small Cessna float plane rests upside down after being towed to Maple Bay by emergency personnel. The 68-year-old pilot and sole occupant escaped the crash uninjured. [CITIZEN FILE]

AVIS PUBLIC

Review of the Draft Recovery Strategy for Northern Goshawk laingi subspecies

Examen de la version provisoire du programme de rétablissement de l’autour des palombes de la sous-espèce laingi

Parks Canada is pleased to announce Parks announce that that aa draft draftrecovery recovery strategy for the Northern Goshawk strategy Goshawk laingi laingi subspecies, subspecies,aa Threatened species listed under the Species Threatened the Species at at Risk RiskAct, Act,isis now available available for for review review and now and feedback. feedback. The The draft draftstrategy strategywas was developed in collaboration with government agencies, technical developed in collaboration with government agencies, technical experts, and and many many interested experts, interested parties, parties, including including representatives representatives from the the forestry forestry sector, sector, First from First Nations, Nations, and and environmental environmental organizations. organizations.

Parcs Canada est fier d’annoncer qu’une version provisoire provisoire du du programme de rétablissement de l’autour des palombes palombes de de la la sous-espèce laingi, laingi, une une espèce espècemenacée menacéeinscrite inscritedans dansla laLoi Loisur sur les espèces en péril, est maintenant disponible disponible pour pour examen examen et et commentaires. La version provisoire du programme aa été été élaborée élaborée en collaboration avec des organismes gouvernementaux, gouvernementaux, des des experts techniques et de nombreuses parties intéressées, intéressées, yy compris compris des représentants du secteur forestier, des des Premières Premières Nations Nations et et des organismes voués à la protection de l’environnement. l’environnement.

Are you interested in the recovery Are recovery of of the the Northern NorthernGoshawk Goshawk laingi subspecies?

Are you a property owner in the Duncan area laingi subspecies? Are you Port Alberni where Goshawk recovery activities may affect you? If so, If so, area where Goshawk recovery activities may affect you?

Parks Canada would like to hear from you.

Parks Canada would like to hear from you.

Le rétablissement de l’autour des palombes de la la sous-espèce sous-espèce laingi laingi vous intéresse? Vous êtes un propriétaire foncier foncier de de région région de de Port Alberni où Duncan où des des activités activitésde derétablissement rétablissementde del’autour l’autourdes despalombes palombes pourraient vous concerner? Si tel est le le cas, cas, Parcs Parcs Canada Canada aimerait aimerait connaître votre opinion.

Your comments are important to Your to the the development developmentof ofthe the recovery strategy.

To receive a copy of the draft strategy oror toto recovery To receive a copy of the draft strategy share your comments, concerns, share concerns, or or questions questions by byFebruary February16, 16, 2015, please 2014, please contact contact us us by byemail emailat atNorthern.Goshawk@pc.gc.ca Northern.Goshawk@pc.gc.ca or by phone at 1-888-773-8888. or by 1-888-773-8888.

Vos commentaires sont importants pour l’élaboration l’élaboration du du programme de rétablissement. Pour obtenir une une copie copie de de la la version version provisoire ou pour nous faire part de vos commentaires, commentaires, de de vos vos préoccupations ou de vos questions d’ici le le 16 16 février février 2015, 2015, veuillez veuillez communiquer avec nous par courriel à Northern.Goshawk@pc.gc.

Northern.Goshawk@pc.gc.ca ou parpar téléphone au au 1-888-773-8888. ca ou téléphone 1-888-773-8888.

18

Friday, January 2, 2015 | Cowichan Valley Citizen

Cowichan Valley Citizen | Friday, January 2, 2015

19

20

250-748-2666 ext. 236 sports@cowichanvalleycitizen.com

Friday, January 2, 2015 | Cowichan Valley Citizen

Cowichan Valley Sports Year in Review 2014

Fifteen wrestlers from the Cowichan Valley Wrestling Club qualified for the provincial championships, and seven qualified for nationals.

The Duncan Stingrays had 10 swimmers qualify for the AAA provincials, four of which attended the meet in Kamloops, and another 12 qualified for the AA provincials. Stingrays Natalia Garriock and Laura Kissack also competed on the Western Canadian Championships.

In January, Hayley Baker became the first Duncan Dynamics gymnast to medal at a national competition when she helped Team BC to silver at the National Stream Cup in Montreal.

Duncan Christian School won its third consecutive singleA boys basketball Island title, while the girls team placed second at Islands.

Cowichan Valley athletes made major contributions to the Island teams at both the BC Winter and Summer Games in 2014. They accounted for 13 medals at the Winter Games and dozens more in the Summer Games, including 11 in towed water sports alone.

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Sports Year in Review

Cowichan Valley Citizen | Friday, January 2, 2015

The Cowichan Valley Soccer Association qualified three teams for provincial championships: the U14 girls Gold Cowichan Chaos, U15 boys Gold Cowichan Grizzlies, U16 boys Gold Cowichan Spartans. In April, Cowichan won District Cups in the U13 girls Gold, Silver 1 and Silver 2 divisions, and in the U18 girls Gold division.

21

Duncan’s own Braydon Luscombe represented Canada at the Sochi Paralympics, competing in the men’s standing slalom, standing super combined, downhill and super-G.

Cowichan LMG lost 1-0 in overtime against Saanich Fusion in the final of the Jackson Cup soccer tournament.

It was the team’s fourth appearance in the final in a fiveyear span, including wins in 2011 and 2012.

Two Cowichan Valley Minor Hockey Association teams made the provincial championships. The peewee Tier 1 Capitals and bantam Tier 1 Capitals both teams finished fourth at their respective tournaments.

The Cowichan Rugby Football Club senior women’s team won the provincial First Division championship 34-12 over Kamloops at Brockton Oval. The senior men’s First Division Cowichan Piggies fell to Velox in the Island final, while the Thirds beat Velox for their Island championship then lost in the B.C. semifinal.

Thanks to plenty of second- and third-place finishes in individual races, Brentwood College once again finished first among school teams at the school’s annual regatta.

Brentwood’s junior boys quad crew went on to win gold at the Canadian championships, as did Shawnigan Lake School’s senior girls quad crew.

Bantam Capitals Ben Berard and Dawson Frank were selected by the Victoria Royals and Kyle Topping is picked up by the Kelowna Rockets in the Western Hockey League’s annual bantam draft.

Kerry Park’s Wes Craig rink won the B.C. mixed championship hosted by the Duncan Curling Club in March.

In August, Ceevacs sprinter Taryn Smiley finished first in the 100m at national track and field championships, and second in the 200m, while teammate Chicago Bains second in the 80m hurdles and third in the 300m hurdles. In May, Smiley was named the Outstanding Female Athlete at the Island high school meet as she led Cowichan Secondary to eight medals.

The peewee AA Duncan RiverCats won the B.C. provincial championship and the Western Canada championship, and the mosquito AAA RiverCats won their provincial title, while the bantam AA Cowichan Valley Mustangs and midget AA RiverCats also made their respective provincial tournaments.

After five consecutive provincial championships, Shawnigan Lake School finished second in the AAA boys rugby tournament. Cowichan Secondary placed 16th in AAA, while Brentwood was eighth and Frances Kelsey 11th in the AA tournament.

Senior men’s fastball returned to the Cowichan Valley as the Gord Closson Forest Products Fastball Club won the BC Cup tournament in Cedar and finished atop the Nanaimo Senior Men’s Fastball League.

The West Coast League’s Victoria HarbourCats played a well-received exhibition baseball game against the Langley Blaze of the Pacific Metro Baseball League at Evans Park in June.

The midget C and intermediate B Cowichan Thunder took silver in their respective provincial lacrosse tournaments, while midget A player Mat Jung was named the top young player in B.C.

22

Sports Year in Review

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Shawnigan Lake School won the provincial AAA field hockey championship in November after voluntarily stepping up from AA, where they had won two titles in the previous three seasons.

Cowichan Secondary finished ninth at the tournament, just ahead of 10th-place Frances Kelsey.

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Towering Duncan product Tyson Roe was selected by the Calgary Roughnecks with their first pick, 16th overall in the National Lacrosse League draft.

In December, Duncan boxer Jeannine Garside learned that she will be inducted into the International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame in 2015.

COWICHAN ADULT LEARNING CENTRE 756 CASTLE PL. ATTENTION ALL HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES! IF YOU HAVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT UPGRADING, YOU NEED TO ACT QUICKLY. REGISTER NOW WHILE

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Cowichan Valley Citizen | Friday, January 2, 2015

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BCGMCDEALERS.CA

ONNOWATYOURBCGMCDEALERS.BCGMCDealers.ca1-800-GM-DRIVE.GMCisabrandofGeneralMotorsofCanada.Offersapplytothepurchaseorleaseofanewordemonstrator2014Sierra1500DoubleCab(1SA)or2014TerrainFWD(3SA).Freight($1,695/$1,650)andPDIincluded.License,insurance,registration,PPSAanddealeradministrationfeesandtaxesnotincluded.Dealersarefreetosetindividualprices.OffersapplytoqualifiedretailcustomersintheBCGMC DealerMarketingAssociationareaonly.Dealertrademayberequired.*Offerappliestoeligiblecurrentownersorlesseesofanymodelyear1999ornewercarthathasbeenregisteredandinsuredinCanadainthecustomer’snameforthepreviousconsecutivesix(6)months.Creditvalidtowardstheretailpurchaseorleaseofoneeligible2013,2014,2015modelyearGMCSUV,crossoverandpickupsmodelsdeliveredinCanadabetweenDecember2,2014throughJanuary2,2015.

Credit is a manufacturer to consumer incentive (tax inclusive) and credit value depends on model purchased: $750 credit available on all eligible GMC vehicles. Offer applies to eligible current owners or lessees of any Pontiac/Saturn/SAAB/Hummer/Oldsmobile model year 1999 or newer car or Chevrolet Cobalt or HHR that has been registered and insured in Canada in the customer’s name for the previous consecutive six (6) months. Credit valid towards the retail purchase orleaseofoneeligible2013,2014,2015modelyearGMCSUV,crossoverandpickupsmodelsdeliveredinCanadabetweenDecember2,2014throughJanuary2,2015.Creditisamanufacturertoconsumerincentive(taxinclusive)andcreditvaluedependsonmodelpurchased:$1,500creditavailableonalleligibleGMCvehicles.Offerappliestoeligiblecurrentownersorlesseesofanymodelyear1999ornewerpick-uptruckthathasbeenregisteredandinsuredinCanadainthe customer’snameforthepreviousconsecutivesix(6)months.Creditisamanufacturertoconsumerincentive(taxinclusive):$1,000creditavailabletowardstheretailpurchase,cashpurchaseorleaseofoneeligible2013,2014or2015modelyearGMClightorheavydutypickup(exceptCanyon);deliveredinCanadabetweenDecember2,2014throughJanuary2,2015. Offeristransferabletoafamilymemberlivingwithinthesamehousehold(proofofaddressrequired).Aspartof thetransaction,dealermayrequestdocumentationandcontactGeneralMotorsofCanadaLimited(GMCL)toverifyeligibility.Thisoffermaynotberedeemedforcashandmaynotbecombinedwithcertainotherconsumerincentives.Certainlimitationsorconditionsapply.Voidwhereprohibited.SeeyourGMCLdealerfordetails.GMCLreservestherighttoamendorterminateoffersforanyreasoninwholeorinpartatanytimewithoutpriornotice.**$500BoxingWeekBonusisa manufacturer-to-consumercredit(taxinclusive)availableontheretailpurchaseorleaseof2014or2015modelyearGMCTerrain,Acadia,Sierra1500DoubleCab,orSierraHD(gasengineonly)deliveredinCanadabetweenDecember15,2014andJanuary2.‡$8,500isacombinedtotalcreditconsistingofa$4,000manufacturertodealerdeliverycredit(taxexclusive)for2014Sierra1500DoubleCab,$1,000HolidayCashforTruckOwners(taxinclusive),$500BoxingWeekBonus (taxinclusive)anda$3,000manufacturertodealercashcredit(taxexclusive)for2014GMCSierra1500DoubleCab,whichisavailableforcashpurchasesonlyandcannotbecombinedwithspecialleaseandfinancerates. Byselectingleaseorfinanceoffers,consumersareforegoingthis$3,000creditwhichwillresultinhighereffectiveinterestrates. Discountsvarybymodel.†$4,250isacombinedtotalcreditconsistingofa$750HolidayCash(taxinclusive),$500BoxingWeek Bonus(taxinclusive)anda$3,000manufacturertodealercashcredit(taxexclusive)forall2014Terrain,whichisavailableforcashpurchasesonlyandcannotbecombinedwithspecialleaseandfinancerates. Byselectingleaseorfinanceoffers,consumersareforegoingthis$3,000creditwhichwillresultinhighereffectiveinterestrates. Discountsvarybymodel.††U.S.Government5-StarSafetyRatingsarepartoftheU.S.DepartmentofTransportation’sNewCarAssessment Program(www.SaferCar.gov).¥TheGMCTerrainreceivedthelowestnumberofproblemsper100vehiclesamongcompactSUVsintheproprietaryJ.D.Power2014InitialQualityStudy.Studybasedonresponsesfrom86,118new-vehicleowners,measuring239modelsandmeasuresopinionsafter90daysofownership.ProprietarystudyresultsarebasedonexperiencesandperceptionsofownerssurveyedinFebruary-May2014.Yourexperiencesmayvary.Visitjdpower.com.

Call Peter Baljet Chevrolet Buick GMC at 250-746-7131, or visit us at 6300 Trans Canada Highway, Duncan. [License #8347]

24

Friday, January 2, 2015 | Cowichan Valley Citizen

DUNCAN HYUNDAI

OUR PREMIUM SELECTION 2008 FORD FOCUS SES Sedan, Auto, 130,231 km #15-21A

Sale Price

2013 SONATA HYBRID

2007 ACADIA

Auto., CD player, immaculate condition, 7 seats, AWD #14-2068

Quad Cab, Auto, 33,754 km

#15-55A

#14-158A

Sale Price

22,895

$

Sedan, Automatic, 71,569 km #14-199A

Sale Price

17,999

$

2009 GENESIS

2013 FORD ESCAPE SE

2010 KIA SPORTAGE

2010 HYUNDAI SANTA-FE

2009 FORD FUSION

2010 HYUNDAI GENESIS

1.6 Engine, Power Group

Leather, Power, AWD, Auto

FWD, Ac, Great Cond.

Full Power Group.

4cyl, auto, Grey Exterior Sedan, 43,000km

2.0 Engine, Power Group, Auto

79,664 km, Auto, Full Power Group

17,370

Sale Price

Sale Price

2009 HONDA ACCORD EX-L

9,484

$

37,300

$

#14U25

#14-154A

#15-01A

$

22,230 km, Auto, Full Power Group

2012 RAM 1500 LARAMIE CREW CAB 4X4

Sale Price

17,980

Sale Price

24,740

$

$

#14-19AA

Sale Price

16,914

$

Sale Price

17,500

14-148A

Sale Price

15,664

$

$

#14U23

$

Sale Price

19,600

NO SENSIBLE OFFER REFUSED

10,000!

$

UNDER

2006 HYUNDAI SONATA GL

2003 HYUNDAI SANTA FE

2003 HONDA CIVIC

2004 HONDA ACCORD LX

2001 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE

2010 HYUNDAI ACCENT GLS

Sedan, 5 Speed Manual, 120,319 km

2.7 Engine, Power Group

1.7L I-4 Cyl, 5 Speed Manual, 112,306 km

Auto, PW, PL, PM

4.0 Engine, Power Group #14U22

Hatchback, 5 Speed Manual, 66,342 km

Sale Price

Sale Price

Sale Price

Sale Price

#15-11A

#14-165A

Sale Price

7,840

$

2006 SUBARU LEGACY

$

Sale Price

8,499

2004 NISSAN MAXIMA SE

2.5 Engine, Auto, Full Power Group

SE 3.5, 5 Spd Manual

Sale Price

Sale Price

#14-211AA

#14-221A

7,190

$

#14-46A

#14-166A

$

6,880

$

8,914

2009 HYUNDAI ACCENT SE 1.6 Engine, 5 Speed #14-110AA

$

Sale Price

7,870

#14-95A

$

4,499

2006 PONTIAC G5 BASE Coupe, Auto, 43,813 km

$

7,885

$

2002 FORD EXPLORER XLS 4.0L 6 Cyl, Auto, 4WD

#14-113A

#14-214AA

Sale Price

Sale Price

7,740

$6,910

$

9,427

2010 HYUNDAI ACCENT SE 5 spd, A/C, PW, PL, PM #13-489A

$

Sale Price

5,999

2801 ROBERTS ROAD DL 9988

250-746-0335 1-800-461-0161

(1 mile south of Duncan on Island Highway)

hours: • mon. - thur. 8:00-7:00 pm • fri. & sat. 8:00-5:30 pm • sun. 11-4 pm B w e ve y l e @ www.d c y d .c