42,16

Sarah Marshall Story Brent Dunstan

Gives You the BIG Picture

Scott Stenbeck

When NOT to Talk

2

THIS ISSUES

CONTENTS 05

Law

EDITOR

Do I have to talk to the Police?

Columnist Scott Stenbeck

SCOTT COWAN (403) 504-7092

07 EDITORIAL Praise the Business Owner Scott Cowan

10 Brent Dunstan A Foolhardy Leap Columnist

JOAN BATEMAN

11

EDITORIAL

12

Golf

16

Mayor

joan@gainsboro.ca

The Sarah Marshall Story Scott Cowan

18 FINANCE

GRAPHICS DIRECTOR

HEATHER COONS

PHOTOGRAPHY

The Debt Trap GAINSBORO STUDIOS Drew Barnes PHONE (403) 526-3054

BMO consultant - Dan Hein,

The Fashion Files

scott-cowan@live.com ADDRESS

377 - 4 Street SE Medicine Hat, AB T1A 0K4

Get the Picture Columnist Donald Crawley.

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ART DIRECTOR

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Do I have to talk to the Police? officers. Be of assistance where you can. We all have an interest in living in a peaceful and safe society. It makes it that much easier for them to do that when citizens are generally co-operative. Regardless of the strict nature of the rights involved.

Scott Stenbeck

1(866)783 6232 Law Columnist

I get the above question pretty frequently.

It is also something I discuss with my clients that may be charged with a criminal offence.

The short answer is “no”.

If you are walking down the street minding your own business, doing nothing wrong, and you are stopped by an officer. If he demands to know who you are, or that you show some ID, you are not required to identify yourself (or even stop.) Provided you aren’t doing anything wrong. However, if you are committing even a minor offence under any legislation at all, such as bicycling without a helmet, in a jurisdiction where it is required by law. If you refuse to identify yourself, that is in itself an offence. Also, while technically an officer may have no reason to stop you or demand that you identify yourself, there are a lot of good reasons to just co-operate. Firstly, the officer may be investigating another occurrence. He may just want to know who you are so they can contact you if they need other information, or for you to provide information as a witness. Secondly, the officer may be looking for someone who looks a lot like you. Identifying yourself may disqualify you as a person she is searching for, and save you further hassle. Also, there are a lot of little regulations, and rules in our society. Being ignorant and refusing to speak or identify yourself just because you may be able to, could backfire if you are doing even the slightest thing wrong. That gum that you spat out two seconds before the officer asked who you were? Well, that’s littering, and now that you refuse to identify yourself, that is an offense as well.

So in general, when a person is just walking around, my advice is to stop for police

That advice changes when a person is placed under arrest or is being investigated for an offence. When someone calls me and tells me that they have been asked to go to the police station, or that they expect to be contacted by police, or they are under arrest. I tell them to write down the following and recite it word for word: “I want to co-operate. But my lawyer tells me that even if I haven’t done anything wrong, it is not in my best interests to speak with you.”

I advise that someone identify themselves, but not provide any further information. If someone is called and asked to go to the police station to talk about something. Or someone hears that the police are looking for them. I advise that they immediately

simply go to the police station and present themselves. Accept whatever paperwork is to be served on them, but provide no further information.

Strangely, when I speak to someone before they speak to the police, I tell them unequivocally, “Identify yourself, but other than that, don’t talk to the police”.

Sometimes people think that means don’t give a written statement. But it’s ok to just speak with them verbally. That is incorrect, it means don’t talk to the police. Even verbal statements are being written down by the officer for use later. Sometimes people think that means that they will just explain a little bit of what happened. That is also incorrect.

It just provides the police more information to work with. Don’t talk to the police means don’t talk to the police. With any incident that can happen, there is always an explanation and mitigating circumstances. However, the discussion of those things is better between an accused’s lawyer and the crown prosecutor. Not the accused and the police.

Continued on page 17

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Praise the Business Owner I grew up on Pelee Island located in Lake Erie, Canada’s most southerly inhabited point. Pelee was a community of about 200 residents that swelled to over 1000 people during the summer months. Ferry service was available from Sandusky Ohio and the Canadian mainland. Tourists came for the seclusion, anonymity, and great hunting and fishing. When I was 17 years old my Dad offered me the use of a tandem dump truck he used on our farm. Along with a tractor and front end loader, he said I could make extra money hauling dirt. One afternoon a vehicle stopped where I was working. I got off my tractor and welcomed a gentleman I knew to be a successful business owner from Ohio.

He explained the quarter mile access road on his property was riddled with potholes. He wanted to hire me to bring in fill and level the driveway. We sat in my Mom’s kitchen drinking coffee, and negotiated the deal. I explained that the use of the truck and tractor, plus my labor, would be expensive… at least $18.00 per hour. He smiled, and shook my hand. That was big money back then. Later he expressed how impressed he was that someone my age was in business for himself.

I spent days hauling the necessary fill, and leveling the dirt. Upon completion he invited me to sit down on his veranda and share a tall glass of lemonade. As he counted out the cash settling our agreement, I worked up the courage to ask questions.

First I inquired, “How do you know your wife wanted you for who you are, and not the money.” Mrs. Beach laughed and replied, “I lent him the five dollars for our wedding license.”

build this company alone!”

Factually, in today’s world business owners are suspect, dishonored, and ridiculed.

Employees are never satisfied, complaining constantly about working conditions. There is no respect for accomplishment, or the risk that was taken making the business viable, and able to offer employment. People consider their job a human right. Few aspire to be an employer themselves. Look at for instance, fire fighters, police, or any civil servants. They conduct themselves as if their positions were awarded by divine appointment. Talk about austerity, and they erupt. Not even the mere mention of layoffs is tolerated. Plus, these civil servants mentioned are making upwards to $100,000.00 per year and more. What does the average private sector worker earn… much less? Our own Prime Minister recently said, “Small business corporations basically exist to shelter money.” Our Alberta Premier isn’t upset regarding 100,000 people who have lost their jobs since she took power. Nor the huge companies leaving the Province, or filing bankruptcy. Her answer was to raise taxes on the remaining struggling businesses, while hiring hundreds of new unionized government employees. This is the

Scott Cowan Editorial

legacy of Liberal socialist policy.

Never forget the government has no money.

They extract all funds from taxpaying businesses… the ones that employ people. Workers pay their tax… with monies received from their employers. Therefore the employer vicariously pays all taxes government extorts. Effectively, the business community pays near 100% of all tax Continued on page 17

He regaled me with a wealth seminar others would pay today’s business guru’s to hear. The comment that left the greatest impression was, “Don’t work for money, let money work for you.” This has stuck with me my entire life. That day on the porch, I clearly understood the value of capitalism. The respect Mr. Beach had earned was amazing.

He’d built a small empire in the tool business, employing hundreds of people. He was a multi-millionaire back in the 70’s, and by any measure a tycoon. As I write these words, I again feel that same admiration and awe experienced over 40 years ago.

Today I’m afraid, people instead of respecting Ted, would be protesting his success. The “Occupy Movement,” and unions, would be demanding higher wages. The government would be auditing his taxes while quoting President Obama, “Remember you didn’t

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A Foolhardy Leap

Brent Dunstan Columnist

The Leap Manifesto is an aptly named document. The term "leap" has certain connotations and implications. A leap is a rash act, perhaps taken in desperation. One takes a leap with little or no regard for consequences, or for that matter, the destination one may end up. A leap is taken short on consideration, and long on impulse. The Leap Manifesto lives up to such a description to the letter, and it is a fairly accurate measure of the current state of the federal NDP. The events of last month's NDP National Convention in Edmonton are ample evidence of a political party in utter disarray.

The NDP is at a crossroads, and the decision at hand is whether to turn right, go straight, or turn left. By even giving the Leap Manifesto the level of consideration it is, it's quite evident that the party is taking a hard and emphatic left turn. However, in doing so, it's equally evident that the party is making a distinct departure from its roots as an advocate for labour and the disadvantaged.

It's quite clear that on the NDP journey, it's not a question of what direction they're going, it's a question of who's driving the bus.

If anything will be accomplished by the NDP adopting the Leap Manifesto as policy, it will be the shedding of the last vestiges of it's roots as an agrarian, labour-centric political movement, defending the blue collar worker.

Adopting such policies would make it clear that the NDP is now an urban party of socialist ideologues; less coveralls and work boots, more skinny jeans and Keds. While the NDP has always been more ideological vs. practical in nature, adopting the Leap Manifesto would cement that perception firmly in reality.

Just how true this is was made quite clear in

10

the unmistakably large chasm between the position taken by Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and her federal NDP counterparts. For as much as the Alberta NDP has historically been less than enthusiastic about the Oil & Gas Industry, the realities of governance have evidently tempered Premier Notley's point of view. She expressed a pragmatic (and correct) endorsement of a need for Alberta's resources to reach tidewater via pipelines, only to have her fellow New Democrats dismiss her out of hand. Given that provincial branches of the NDP are bound by party constitution to adhere to policies adopted by the federal party, it will be interesting to observe how the relationship between the Alberta NDP (among other provinces) and the federal party evolves over the next few years. With Premier Notley publicly referring to elements of the Leap Manifesto as "ill-informed," "naive" and "tone-deaf", a description using such adjectives is pretty hard to walk back.

The Manifesto itself is so lacking, it's difficult to know where to begin to describe it's short comings. The sheer brevity of the document underscores its lack of substance.

Reading more like a left wing environmentalists wish list for Santa Claus than a party policy document, it's clear what the authors of the Leap Manifesto want. However, it's entirely devoid of the slightest inkling of how it's contents are to be achieved, as well as being patently unrealistic, to put it mildly.

Take, for example, the timelines for the elimination of the use of fossil fuels. To mandate that all of Canada's electricity be produced by renewable resources within 20 years is simply untenable. The demand is too great, the technology too limited, the cost of infrastructure too high, and the cost to consumers too unmanageable, especially within two decades. But such an expectation pales in comparison to having Canada sworn off of fossil fuels altogether by 2050. Within 34 years - no cars, trucks, tractors, airplanes, trains, or ships using petroleum bases fuels, despite

being nowhere near close to producing even a car that could travel from Toronto to Thunder Bay without a battery the size of a barn.

Never mind that the materials for such batteries are primarily sourced in China, produced in a highly carbon emission intensive manner, and entirely avoiding discussion of the highly toxic waste products that are widely believed to be discarded with little or no regard for the environmental impact. I'll only briefly reference the fact that millions upon millions of the worlds poorest people rely on Canadian food production for their survival, which we would be both unable to produce, or deliver. We musn't cloud utopian fantasy with an inconvenient truth.

Other elements alluding to state control over key industries, as opposed to "profit-gouging" private companies, and isolationist rhetoric relating to ending trade agreements, point to a misguided belief in the merits of socialism, despite a litany of historical examples of it's failure time and time again. The reference to a universal Continued on page 14

The Sarah Marshall Story chiropractic sessions to no avail. Victoria, her mom, made doctor's appointments to have blood work done, hopefully to identify any problems. Some "oddities," led to genetic testing, then more specific blood tests. They wanted to get things cleared up before getting bogged down in school work. September 17/2013 the doctor called and said, take her to "emergency."

Lee and Sarah Marshall

Being parents is doubtless life's greatest reward and challenge. We nurture and protect our children. We feed, educate, discipline, and cry over them. Every time they leave the front door, we utter prayers under our breath. From birth until that day they marry, and later present grandchildren, we worry. It's then we develop the capacity to let things go a little bit. We are usually far more lenient with grand-babies than we were with our own children. Much to the consternation of those rookie parents we call our kids.

If you're like me, wishing there could be a "do over," I'd have yelled less, loved more, and generally shown much less concern for so many "insignificant things." But what do you do when suddenly, without warning... circumstances dictate that none of our natural instincts to protect our child in the face of mortal danger is possible. In a moment, nothing within our power affords the ability to restrict or mitigate the danger.

We realize we are completely and finally helpless. This is the Sarah Marshall story.

Lee and Victoria Marshall moved to Medicine Hat to take over the Nissan dealership. Lee stepped in to re-brand a local business that by his own admission was, "slipping." After his years of auto experience, he welcomed the challenge and opportunity to take over the business. The prospect of moving to a smaller city during the final child rearing years was appealing. A typical family, with an abundant future.

In August of 2013, 15 year old Sarah complained of just not feeling good. She attributed some bruising and aching joints to her dance lesson regimen. They tried some

Victoria had no inkling of the seriousness of the situation. You never think, nor does it cross your mind that your child has anything wrong that may be life threatening. The diagnosis was A.L.L. acute lymphatic leukemia.

The doctor explained the rash was actually "petechiae," on her legs and feet. He recommended they go to the Calgary Children's Hospital. It was either a bad bacterial infection, or cancer! Sarah remembers being in shock.

"All I knew about cancer is what I had seen on TV and in movies. I immediately began to block the fear and pain. Am I going to die?

Will I make it to Christmas? How long do I have to live? The doctor began to talk about 2.5 years of treatment. I didn't want to know!

For the first six months depression hung like a weight. Thoughts of I am going to die resonated in her mind. I kept my feelings trapped inside, where before, I used to tell my mother everything. Talking about it would be wrong, they're going to have to get used to not having me around. My family may as well start getting acclimated to it now."

Sarah's trouble was compounded by the fact she was in a new school. She had yet to make any close friends. She ate lunch alone, and walked to and from school by herself. She felt isolated... and in her mind, she knew she was dying anyway.

The first trip to Calgary involved a bone marrow biopsy. Victoria remembers the drive as one long haze. She wanted to be strong for her daughter by keeping the drive light and happy. Inwardly, she fought off urges of breaking down emotionally. Sarah remembers being terrified, while desperately trying to hold on clinging to hope. Lee's sales manager at the dealership had just married, and had left on his honeymoon. Upon hearing about Sarah, he immediately returned to work to run the store, after only one day out of town. Lee joined his family in Calgary the next day. The majority of this physical and mental burden would fall on Victoria to carry. Lee had the business to maintain. Especially now, they were becoming a single family working household.

So the endless tests began, while waiting for bone marrow results. Doctors administered a high risk A.L.L. chest port tube. On the 19th staff began chemo treatments. The Marshall's were inundated with doctors and social workers flooding them with information.

Nothing was processing, and Victoria only remembers the tears, and wondering...how could this be? So began the ordeal of over two years of Facebook postings. Victoria found communicating via social media was easier. Everyone she met wanted to know how Sarah was doing. Discussing the story Continued on page 15

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Get the picture

A good short game starts in the mind. The best in the business, who wizard around the green, have an incredible imagination.

Seeing and conjuring up a miracle shot is a trait that is innate to the short game geniuses. But that trait can be developed.

As you approach the green and see your ball, start to assess the situation. Ask yourself these questions; “What is the best approach to get this shot close?”

“Do I want to fly the ball high and stop?”

“Where do I want the ball to land?”

“If it lands on that spot how much do I want it to roll?”

You are starting to paint a picture in your mind of the best shot for that situation. You need to jump into the right side of your brain. Which has the creative, visual or spatial imagery qualities. This helps you visualize the shot from start to finish.

Remember Seve Ballesteros, the swash buckling Spaniard and star in the 80’s, winning Masters and British Open’s. He had one of the best short games in the history of golf. Let me describe an incredible pitch that vaulted him into top 3 of the British Open as a seventeen year old. The ball lay on hard dry sandy turf, just left but pin high on the par five18th. In between the ball and the pin were two gnarly pot bunkers, which sloped down to the flag. There was little green to work with, and the putting surface was dry and fast due to a summer drought.

Even a high cut shot, now called the Phil Flop shot, wouldn’t hold the ball on the green. A lob shot off the lie he had would be near impossible to pull off. He saw a two foot gap in between the bunkers. Using the right sloping bank of the left bunker as a deflection point, rather like banking a ball on a pool table, he aimed 45 degrees away from the flag. He played a low bumpy pitch that ricochet off the side of the bunker, bounced between the traps and rolled around to the pin for a makeable putt. His incredible up and down gave him a birdie and a share of the lead heading into the final round brimming with confidence. His visualization and creativity, not to mention talent, was poetry in action. I was fortunate to be watching from the grandstands that day.

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Seve talks about how he grew up as a caddie with only a 3 iron. He learned to use that three iron, and turn it into every club in your bag. He developed his arsenal of score saving shots by inventing and utilizing that three iron. He opened the face to increase the loft. He altered his swing length and pace to make the ball fly different trajectories and speeds. He changed the ball position, and experimented with his wrist action. Through practice, persistence, trial and error, he grew with a touch like a surgeon.

Today Rory, Jordan, Jason, Rickie, Bubba, the new and modern talent, have similar talent and touch. They are artists as well as power players. They work on their mechanics (well not Bubba, he’s just a natural player operating in the right side of his brain most of the time!) Plus their creative short game and shot making skills.

It all starts with a picture in your mind.

From this moment on make a promise to yourself that you “see,”the shot before you select the club. Take a few balls and walk around a practice green. Put yourself in different situations. Toss the ball underhand and watch. See what kind of ball flight you throw to get the ball close.

Feel how big and hard you swung your arm while releasing the ball from your palm.

Picture, see, and feel.

Now pick up the club that has the loft to produce the requested trajectory. It could be anything from a four iron to a lob wedge. Don’t get stuck on one club. If you do you will limit your repertoire of shots.

Visualize the entire shot from start to finish.

Look at your landing area, be specific and pick a spot. Look at that spot and feel what length and pace of swing you’ll need. Take a few practice swings. Up to this point you have been operating in the right side of your brain. Once you step to the ball you will need to jump into the left side to go through your mechanical check list. Don’t stay there too long!

Just so we don’t lose you here, quick review as to what this right side / left side of brain has to do with golf? Just about everything to do with the way you learn. An engineer or accountant will likely think more in terms of angles and numbers.

That person, perhaps you, may have to work a little more to be creative. To use the

Donald Crawley Golf Columnist TOP 100 Teacher Director of Instruction Boulders Golf Academy 480 488 9028 Donald.crawley@theboulders.com www.theboulders.com www.golfsimplified.com

right side of your brain. An artist or creative person is more likely to see and feel things rather than analyze. Operating more in the right side of their brain. You use the right side of your brain for the creative thought process, visualizing and feeling. You use the left side of your brain for the mechanics, the physical part.

We are back to the mechanics (left side brain). Aim the selected club with loft. Lean the shaft forward of your center line. Play the ball centered, weight favoring front foot. I’ll need a half swing and only 60% power. Get back into the creative visual right side of your brain to smoothly execute your stroke.

Swing your arms and chest back... and up allowing your wrists to hinge softly. Keep the shot in mind, and go with the flow. Swing through the ball, with arms and chest working, turning, together, being connected but not stiff. The bottom of the club strikes the bottom of the ball.

IF you miss hitting the shot, you need to work on your mechanics. If you get the distance wrong, you need to keep dreaming and practicing from the right side. See the shot. Feel the swing. Paint a masterpiece.

Don’t be afraid to experiment. Try new shots, different shots. Be creative. Practice, and then practice some more.

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A Foolhardy Leap

Continued From page 10

guaranteed minimum income is particularly indicative of the Manifesto's short-sightedness. To be clear, this is not a guaranteed minimum wage; a wage being something one earns. This is a guaranteed income, regardless of what one does. The hallmark characteristic of the failure of Socialism throughout history is the productivity disincentive created by guaranteed minimum incomes, and a failure to reward personal initiative.

The Leap Manifesto does, however, advocate the expansion of "low-carbon" sectors such as teaching, care giving, social work, public-interest media, and the arts.

Each is desirable in a modern society, but the one thing they have in common is none produce a tangible product that adds value to the economy, in and of themselves. While all are critically important for a society's health and well-being, from an economic perspective, they must be, by necessity, financially supported by the net-positive productivity of other sectors of the economy.

Expanding these, while consciously

contracting others that produce tangible products is, to quote Premier Notley, "ill-informed," "naive" and "tone-deaf". The Leapist's idea as to how generate the necessary revenues? Ironically and impossibly, their plan can be summarized as asking the energy sector, the wealthy, and private corporations to fund their own demise.

Adoption of the Leap Manifesto would serve only to turn Canada into a larger and colder Cuba; a figurative, if not literal, anachronistic island unto itself, as its proponents fail to account for the fact that Canada does not exist in a vacuum. Canada is, inextricably, in a global community, and the Leap Manifesto's policies would do nothing more than impoverish Canadians to achieve goals that would have little if any impact in the context of the bigger picture. It most certainly does nothing to aid the traditional supporters of the NDP, who obviously matter little to the new powers that be in the party.

To coldly and unflinchingly advocate for the adoption of the Leap Manifesto in Edmonton

Alberta of all places, in economic conditions such as they currently are, is ample evidence of that. The marriage between the NDP and Labour is on the rocks, and it appears one side, perhaps out of desperation, couldn't care less.

It's clear that NDP policy initiatives are no longer being birthed in a community hall or church basement over a cup of strong coffee and donuts. They are being formulated in an independent boutique cafĂŠ over an organic fair-trade soy lattĂŠs and locavore-friendly ancient grains scones.

Brent Dunstan

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The Sarah Marshall Story Continued From page 15

over and over was excruciating. Facebook was the only way to push away the bad and the horrible. In a few postings she could keep friends and family updated. After ten days in hospital they were sent home.

Victoria was terrified they would do something wrong. Can I manage the fluids properly? What about the proper meds for the IV? These helped side effects of the chemo. I'm not a doctor! To parents today facing this mountain, Victoria's advice is to take it five minutes at a time. Now it's like... I can do things in "robot mode." Each month the chemo would change based on the blood count. Which meant the anti-nausea meds would also vary in dosage.

On one occasion coming home, Sarah was laying down in the back of the SUV. She recalls feeling every single bump in the road, the sensitivity and nausea intensified due to a miscalculation in medication. Each depression and the resulting tire vibration against the pavement, forced her stomach to recoil in defiance. She spent an hour laying on the side of the road heaving. They decided to go to her Uncle's house. He lived much closer than driving all the way to Medicine Hat. He took one look and said, she looks like "death warmed over." They went back to the hospital.

As the chemo progressed, Sarah's beautiful blond hair began to fall. She decided first to get a "bob cut." She cried in the stylist's chair as the locks fell. Soon after she chose to get it shaved rather than watching it continue to shed like fall leaves. Wigs and scarves were offered and politely declined. She determined she would not let the cancer change her, and opted for baldness. This is now who I am, get used to it world!

Arriving home from the hairdresser she discovered Lee and her brother Scott in a show of support, had shaved their heads as well. The first year of treatment, Sarah was too immune compromised to attend school.

She spent all her time in her room, or in hospital. On rare occasions she sat on the front step. Lonely days rolled into weeks, and months. Few visitors could come, and fewer still knew her well enough to want to visit the girl who was dying. Close friends lived far away in another city. In fact Sarah remembers thinking ...if you weren't around before, why come now?

The echoes of small children crying imprint on Sarah's memories of hospital visits . They were too young to understand what was

happening, or why staff were hurting them.

The doctors she recounts, were too busy to talk to her as a young adult, and she resented being treated like a child. "Why can't he just speak normally?" These guys try to distract me before a needle poke, just like they do with toddlers.

Victoria struggled with feelings of guilt because her child was surviving, when so many others were lost. Day after day, she would look at her daughter wondering when she might begin to fail? Why is she any different than these others? You're constantly waiting for bad news after every blood test.

You watch the blood work...is it good or plunging? So the ordeal unfolded, seemingly forever, two to three days a week from home to Calgary. Victoria recalls nothing was ever typical during the different phases of chemo.

Always unpleasant reactions, and new obstacles to overcome. They would receive the treatment... then two days of saline to flush out the poisonous cure. Chemo can't be left in the system or it builds up in the internal organs, resulting in the whole body being compromised. So a week on and a week off...for years. The hospital was an oasis of sorts. Everyone there had children sharing the same burden of fear. They understood the exhaustion mentally and physically. But the catharsis was a double edged sword.

Some children as if a switch was flipped, no longer were coming. Another family devastated by loss... each a stark reminder of the fragility of your own child's life. It became easier to remain distant...

As I sat interviewing Victoria and later Sarah, I was struck with the absolute rock solid determination from both to beat this disease.

Any doctor will tell you the "fight," of the patient has a strong effect on the prognosis and outcome of recuperation. Although Sarah is now a beautiful young woman of 18 years, anyone can see that cancer has made her strong. Facing ones mortality either instills maturity, or overwhelms the person. They become a negative statistic. In total Sarah lost her hair twice. In the first semester of September 2014 she missed 33 days of school. Yet still made the honors role.

One of her teachers remarked how extremely impressive it was that Miss Marshall never used cancer as an excuse for not performing academically. At age sixteen she had missed the entire year. Then chose to attend summer school. She is on track to graduate with her class. For her sweet 16 birthday surprise, her parents arranged to bring her best friend from Black Falds. Victoria was

busy with treatment travels and posted a request on Facebook, asking for someone to supply a birthday cake. A Medicine Hat lady baked and decorated the perfect, most beautiful cake they had ever seen. A Nissan client brought two dozen roses, and his son presented his "bottle money," as a gift. Sarah donated the cash to a patient needing travel funds for treatment only available in the USA. Nissan matched the gift, as did several other business people. The family was able to afford the trip, and the treatment was successful!

Starting grade 11 was a struggle. Due to extensive bed rest, Sarah had experienced significant muscle loss. It was difficult to navigate the halls and stairs of Hat High. She was given an elevator key. Even a teacher asked, why are you using the lift...do you have cancer or something ? Actually yes I do, she replied, much to the embarrassment of the teacher. One afternoon Sarah over heard some other girls whispering... that's the cancer girl at the elevator. She never used it again. After 1.5 years into treatment, she was nearing the end of the worst effects of the procedure. The family was contacted by the "Make a Wish Foundation." On her 17th birthday Sarah was given a party at Nissan.

At the party with media in attendance, she was presented tickets to travel to London England to meet Pewdie Pie. If you don't recognize his celebrity, you do not play video games. After Pewdie posted pictures of the two of them together, within hours Sarah had 4000 followers on Instagram. If you don't know how impressive that is... you need to hire a tech person. I asked why she chose to meet this particular celebrity. Her answer...I had nothing to do for months but play video games. He is the king of on line gaming.

When I was having a bad day his videos would make me laugh.

By her second semester of grade 11 Sarah was in complete remission. December 31, 2015 was her last chemo date. January 2016 began once a month blood tests. Victoria explains how cancer simply becomes part of your life. It is normal in your experience. After so long Facebook people really don't want to hear about it anymore. But the victims have no choice. You can't throw the cards back at the dealer and say...I don't want this hand.

You just have to play what you are dealt. I asked what she would tell others discovering a similar diagnosis is their lot.

Continued on page 22

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The Debt Trap and ask, “Who cares?”

To this, I say that I believe debt is fundamentally unfair and improper. At the most basic level, debt robs a society of control over its own matters and its own destiny. We’ve all heard that the debtor is beholden to the lender; a society stuck in such a steep and cavernous fiscal hole is fundamentally trapped by forces and cycle beyond its control.

DREW MLA BARNES Cypress - Medicine Hat cypress.medicinehat@assembly.ab.ca 403-528-2191

By this point, you’ve probably heard about the Government’s budget for 2016 and beyond. The numbers are eye-catching in their size and staggering in their implications for the future.

On the tax side, we will see a new carbon tax that will vastly raise the cost on our natural gas bills, bump up gasoline and diesel at the pump, and filter down through the economy to increase the price of nearly all goods and services. Meanwhile, municipalities and their taxpayers will be forced to shoulder a greater load.

But what really stands out is the projection of massive deficits for the entire term of this government, which will bring our total debt up to $58 billion. By the time this government is done with its ghastly tax and spend agenda, the province will be paying $2 billion dollars per year in interest alone.

Just to get a sense of the scale of this problem, consider that $2 billion is as much as we’ll be spending on the Ministries of Justice and Agriculture combined this year.

That’s about $2000 for every typical Alberta family. Just in interest payments.

While the magnitude of this debt is clear and shocking, I believe we must take a closer look at exactly why debt is such an unacceptable problem.

There is a temptation for some to call it “good debt” or to simply downplay it as a problem.

There are some who don’t want us to be concerned about it (for self-interested reasons), and there are some who may simply throw up their hands

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When we borrow, we become the investment of somebody else.

But because we are at the mercy of others, the trap of debt also carries with it enormous risk. I think we should remember the wisdom of Rutherford B. Hayes who advised that “it is the debtor who is ruined by hard times.” In challenging times, it is the debtor who feels the greatest pain. It is the debtor who lacks options and gets buried under the weight of borrowing.

We must be careful not to be tempted by the appeal of cheap and easy access to credit.

While it may seem like a good idea now, we can never forget that the conditions in place today are not permanent. Runaway

borrowing further erodes confidence in Alberta, in turn leading to potential credit downgrades and more expensive interest rates.

For these reasons, running up the debt is sorry stewardship of our resources and a poor way to govern. However, it’s also more than that: it is unfair, unprincipled, and wrong.

A dollar borrowed today is a dollar put on the backs of the future. It is, at best, a tax deferred; at worst, it is an obligation put onto all future generations. It is a violation of the sacred trust between people and their government.

This Government is taking from the future to cover their inefficient and unrestrained spending today. This is not right. That a province blessed with such wealth would leave nothing for the future except an expensive bill to pay is truly shameful.

Alberta has always been a place of opportunity, vision, and creativity. Let us not allow crippling debt to deprive us of what makes us strong, free, and exceptional.

Praise the Business Owner

Continued From page 07

collected. You know, that rich 1-5% Liberals claim… don’t pay their fair share!

If entrepreneurs are not again held up as examples to emulate and admire, and given the respect deserved, we are doomed. Where are the 17 year olds today who are aspiring to, and opening their own businesses?

Alberta actually just passed the farm legislation that would prohibit me from using my Dad’s equipment… or even working at all on the family farm. By law, I could not have done today, what I did back then. How many adults are planning to be in business for self?

Where are the oil companies that were viable operations only months ago? How do we get a crippled economy back on its feet? We must rise up against the mental illness that has infected our politics. That disease is Liberalism! I am not using this as a euphemism. Notley and her crew, and every Liberal MP are clinically, mentally ill.

Just look at Germany, Sweden, France, Belgium, and England. See what the leftist immigration agenda has done to those

countries. Now Liberals are doing the same in Canada. These are sick people in charge of our future.

Just consider their ideas…we are hopelessly in debt… so let’s spend more money. Can anybody accept this as sane? With six billion potential refugees to choose from worldwide, let’s import those who are proven to hate us, and want to overturn western democracy. This week Liberals announced 300,000 refugees will be brought in next year. How will our social services handle the incredible amount of people thrown into our schools, health care, and welfare systems?

What’s the government’s response to all these concerns? They hired 100’s of new tax auditors, union employees, to find tax cheaters.

You know those nasty business owners who employ workers. But hey, rest assured those 300,000 new voters will perpetually elect Liberals to remain in charge of everything.

Do I have to talk to the Police?

Continued From page 05

Anything that an accused says to the police is taken down and can be used later. However, when a lawyer speaks to the crown prosecutor later, those discussions are without prejudice and can’t be used.

Often someone thinks that if they just explain why something happened that it will assist. But that is almost never the case. So, for instance, if the police are investigating an assault at a nightclub. When an accused explains that the person he hit shoved his girlfriend, was belligerent, made threats, and so forth, all that has the effect of doing is providing an admission that the accused struck the complainant without his consent.

The explanation is nice, but all that it did was provide an admission of guilt to the offence that is being investigated. If the accused just identifies himself and then remains quiet, it leaves a lot more for the crown prosecutor to prove. Which means there is more risk of not getting a conviction, which means that there is more I can probably do for that accused.

Often as well, a person just wants to get something off their chest, and tell the police everything so they don’t have to hold it in anymore. But a policeman isn’t a priest.

Ironically, offenders that are more sociopath in nature and don’t feel the need to justify their behavior or purge their conscience by confessing are easier to defend. If a confession is given without coercion, freely and voluntarily, it greatly limits what defence counsel can do. I advise people to leave it to their religious leader or counsellor.

I don’t lay out any of the above in the hopes of giving advice so that career criminals can have more likelihood of escaping conviction.

People who get in trouble a lot have already figured out on their own to not give the police any information. Quite the opposite, the limited criminal practice that I do is mostly people that have never been in trouble before. But have made a mistake.

Often the mistake isn’t commission of a crime, but putting themselves in a precarious position where they get accused of one. Because they are basically honest, they think that going to the police station to “just explain,” will be of help. And while their explanation may not be a full confession to a crime, it places them in the circumstances, and the time, with some kind of “smoking gun.” It puts me in a position as their lawyer to try to provide reasons to the Court why they said what they said, but still are not guilty. It doesn’t mean that a good lawyer can’t still secure acquittals in those circumstances. But it does make it more difficult. My advice to someone that has never been in trouble before but gets that fateful call. Or visit from the police wanting to talk to them about an occurrence.

Something they are being investigated for, is to politely and respectfully repeat something pretty close to the quote printed above.

Leave it to your lawyer to provide the fuller explanation later.

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BMO Nesbitt Burns

“Millennials” Thinking About Your Money Budgeting – Critical First Step Track your expenses for three months using a cash flow worksheet, then estimate how much you spend and on what. There are many online apps and websites that can help you set-up a budget and monitor spending.

Planning for the Unexpected An emergency fund covers the cost of surprise expenses. 3 to 8 months’ worth of living expenses in your emergency fund is recommended. Put aside a set amount of money on a regular basis – this reduces your need for credit cards, loans or personal savings when unplanned events occur.

The ‘Big 3’ Financial Priorities A recent BMO Wealth Institute Report1 reveals, like your baby boomer parents, Buying a Home, Funding your Kid’s Education and Saving for Retirement are Millenials top three financial priorities.

1. Buying a Home – The real cost of home ownership in Canada has increased significantly since your parents purchased their first home.

In the past 17 years, incomes are up just over 50% (2.6% annually). Yet, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association, average home prices have more than doubled in this same period (5.4% annually)2.

• Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSA) provide terrific flexibility – such as saving for your down payment.

Contributions aren’t tax deductible BUT investments grow tax-free and withdrawals are not taxable.

Canadian adults can contribute $10K per year, and unused contribution room is carried forward to be used in any future year. Withdraw funds at any time, for any purpose. So, if 1

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allows tax-free withdrawals from your RRSP to finance training and education, including postgrad degrees. You may withdraw up to $10K a year, to a maximum of $20K. LLP withdrawals must be repaid to your RRSP within 10 years.

– HBP and LLP may look attractive – but the opportunity cost to your RRSP is the growth potential of the loan amount and the compound income it would earn over time.

The younger you are, the greater the loss to your RRSP. Also, repaying the funds with regular annual amounts may prove difficult to manage.

you withdraw $25K from your TFSA in June for a down payment on a house, starting the following year you can re-contribute that $25K in addition to your $10K annual limit.

2. Education Funding - Take advantage of the Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) to help cover the cost of your kid’s post-secondary education.

RESP contributions aren’t tax deductible, but investments grow taxdeferred and are eligible for Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG) from the federal government. You can contribute a maximum of $50,000 per child, and each child may qualify for up to $7,200 in CESGs. Withdrawn funds are taxed in your child’s hands.

3. Retirement - RRSP contributions are tax deductible and grow taxdeferred until withdrawal. Your RRSP contribution amount shows on your Notice of Assessment from Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

• If you contribute $10K each year to your RRSP from age 50 to 65 and earn 6% annually, you would accumulate $246,725. By starting at age 30, your RRSP would be worth $1,181,209 at age 65. The extra $200K plus 20 extra years of compounding creates an extra $934,484!

• 2 federal programs may allow you to make tax-free withdrawals from your RRSP before retirement

If your cash flow is insufficient to maximize both your RRSP and TFSA contributions, discuss the choice with your trusted Wealth Advisor how to best achieve your goals.

It’s never too early for a financial plan Balancing saving priorities while paying for everyday living expenses and establishing an emergency fund may seem overwhelming, but by starting early and developing a financial plan that addresses your unique needs and goals, it will ensure you live comfortably, provide your children with the opportunity for a great education and enjoy your retirement.

Lets Connect:

– The “Home Buyers’ Plan” (HBP) allows you to withdraw up to $25K tax-free from your RRSP to purchase or build. First-time home buyers qualify as defined by CRA, and RRSP funds must be repaid over a 15-year period.

– “Lifelong Learning Plan” (LLP)

Wealth Generation: The Financial Challenges for Generations X&Y, BMO Wealth Institute, Jan 2014,

2

Dan Hein, BRE Investment Advisor BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. 606 2nd St SE Medicine Hat, AB T1A 0C9

403-528-6771 Dan.Hein@nbpcd.com www.bmo.com/nesbittburns

Carrick, Rob - Why Canadian homes are more unaffordable than ever. Globe & Mail, Nov 25, 2013

BMO Wealth Management is the brand name for a business group consisting of Bank of Montreal and certain of its affiliates, including BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., in providing wealth management products and services. “BMO (M-bar Roundel symbol)” is a registered trade-mark of Bank of Montreal, used under licence. “Nesbitt Burns” is a registered trade-mark of BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank of Montreal. If you are already a client of BMO Nesbitt Burns, please contact your Investment Advisor for more information. The comments included in this publication are not intended to be a definitive analysis of tax applicability or trust and estate law. The comments contained herein are general in nature and professional advice regarding an individual’s particular tax position should be obtained in respect of any person’s specific circumstances.

Member-Canadian Investor Protection Fund and Member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada

Catalin Botezatu Designer and Andres Aquino Couture Fashion Week

Catalin Botezatu Designer and SpotLight Editor

20 Photo Credit Joan Bateman

Couture Fashion Week is one of the most unique shows in New York. Each and every designer redefines "Couture." But none more than Catalin Botezatu. His fashion shows are always extravagant and over the top. They are theme related.

Some past themes include “Egyptian”, “Buddha Bar”, “Angels”, “Witches”, “Byzantium” “Barbarian”, “Kyoto”, and “Chicago”, among many others. Mr. Botezatu is the most particular of design-

ers who personally oversees all production elements of his shows. From garments and accessories to hair and makeup, soundtrack and choreography.

I forgot to ask if he got along with Couture's famous hair stylist "Elie Esper!"

I suspect he may just have learned a few tricks. Catalin's bio reads as a Who's Who of fashion. His collections have been seen all over the world including in Milan, Venice, Paris, Bali, Iceland, Cannes, Monte Carlo, Rome, Istanbul, Malta, Athens, Moscow, Las Vegas, Chicago, Bucharest, Jakarta, Sri Lanka, New Delhi and Jamaica. He has been a special featured designer at Couture Fashion Week New York on multiple occasions.

Photo Credit Joan Bateman

Catalin Botezatu started his fashion career as a model studying and working with fashion legend Gianni Versace. Mr. Botezatu decided to return to his native Bucharest to launch his own fashion house, “Delphi.” He has received more awards than any other Romanian designer. These accolades also include being twice named Romanian Designer of the Year by Romanian National Television. He has made fashion history doing photo shoots at the Amir Palace in Tunisia, and at the world-famous Egyptian pyramids and Sphinx. He has been featured in major media including Book Moda (Italy), DerStern (Germany), Fashion TV (France and Canada), OQ TV (Austria), She (UK),Vogue and now Spotlight Magazine.

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The Sarah Marshall Story Continued From page 15

When starting you really don't need the big picture too much. Keep hoping, hold on tight, I just prayed God would let me keep my precious child. With Leukemia you must not, cannot, blame anyone. There was nothing anyone did wrong. It just happens. Had I not had faith that God was actually in control, I don't know how I could have made it through. I believed against hope that something good in all this would come... in spite of the cancer. Maybe God chose her to tell a story, to teach us the deep meaning of compassion for others, to eventually help someone else, something! She had to grow up facing obstacles most defer until the end of life. It has forced her into adulthood before her time. Now she has to find her way.

Hopefully she can reclaim a portion of the teenager she didn't get to experience. With cancer there never really is an end. You hope you'll get better. But when the nightmare of chemo ends, new fears emerge. What if this fatigued body can't fight without the chemicals? What if all this was for nothing... because it comes back? You watch for those forgotten bruises, and wonder every time she feels a little off. Is it a relapse? Sarah is still now being accessed for internal organ damage, infertility, something new is always there hanging over your head. Victoria remembers, I never wanted to discipline her.

When is the unacceptable attitude typical teenage defiance, or stress over the disease symptoms? Do you want to discipline your kid when she may die any day?

One funny story, after chemo there is sometimes memory loss. Victoria was being a bit too motherly, touching Sarah's face. She was not very nice about telling mom to stop.

Later she woke up and asked for some toast.

"Why should I after you were such a bag to me," her mother replied. Sarah has no recollection of the earlier event.

Sarah seemed to have regained enough health for a trip to Mexico. During the vacation what appeared to be bruising, began to reappear. Everyone worried until blood tests upon returning, proved no problems.

The family unit through the years of cancer really came together. Scott especially stepped up and became the brother she never had growing up. They were somewhat normal , siblings scrapping, and not getting along until the diagnosis. They grew closer, and he was there for her through it all.

Everyone realized the little things that before seemed so important...weren't. You think about the cancer 24/7.

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Work for Victoria became a relief. It was an escape, just to get out of the house and not have illness in your face. A lady approached her in the mall concerned about Sarah. They had met in the hospital. After reports of Sarah doing well, and getting better, she asked about the ladies son. A muted response, "We lost him," was the reply." I was so awestruck, that even after the tragedy of her son's death, this lady showed such compassion to inquire about my daughter."

Sometimes overwhelming fear just attacks, and you cry alone, maybe in the car after getting your groceries. One of the hardest things was to learn was that it is okay to let your loved one know you're frightened. That way neither of us had to pretend to be tough.

Sometimes mother and child cried together.

Victoria recommends everyone take advantage of the resources offered at the Children's Hospital. They can be a safety net 24/7. In the end you have to find faith, or something to offer hope. Sarah endured chemo two years, three months, and thirteen days.

Sarah described the doctor's installation of the port in her chest. I winced almost feeling the scalpel vicariously. Every time the port moved, or was accessed for treatment, she endured excruciating pain. She believes it was improperly implanted. On days feeling very sick, her description was akin to knives being thrust into her stomach. I sat across the table from a teenager who conversed very much like a grown woman. She regaled the number of people who would tell her she would make it, and not to worry. Inside she just wondered. Then about six months after diagnosis she debated, am I going to live or am I going to die? I think I want to live. She developed thick skin, and became interested in the meds, and what they were for specifically. She decided ignorance is not bliss. This instilled her with a great feeling of empowerment. Understanding the meds made it easier to decide what and when I needed a particular drug. I am now thankful for cancer in the respect that it's made me far more confident, and brought my family so much closer. Losing my hair was traumatic, my mom still has it saved. I remember standing in the shower with huge clumps falling out, and I just cried. I decided to force cancer into a positive. I started making jokes about it, which made my friends feel more comfortable in my presence. Cancer was just an extension of who I was. The intensity of the treatments meant I missed my entire

grade 11 year. My teachers worked well with me. I was determined to get my assignments in on time. Evan though this meant a lot of sleepless nights.

I got sick of being sad. But the only person who was going to make me happy was me, this I knew. There was a point when I asked God, what I did to deserve cancer? God are you even real? Then I realized, God gives the toughest journeys... to his toughest warriors. I never questioned him after that day.

Everything happens for a reason...a higher purpose determines our route. It's like bowling, only with the rails up, so you can only go so far wrong, but not fall in the gutter.

It was like my brother, he had to almost lose me, to find me. Now he is this protective big brother. But we still fight.

When people find out your sick, they immediately treat you different. It makes you bitter. Throughout the ups and downs, in order to cope, you have to keep your eyes pointed forward. As cheesy as it sounds.. you just can't give up. You have to choose, I want to live. You don't come to this conclusion because you feel you have to do it for your family, you have to make the decision for yourself. My mom says I have too big a heart.

Supposedly I am too willing to sacrifice my own happiness. I've learned I can't control the inevitable, it takes more energy to be bitter.

Since I was stuck in the house all that time I figured at least I could look nice, and do my makeup. I developed a love for cosmetics. My new plan is to take a year off to work, and learn to drive, since my dad bought me a car.

Then I'm moving to Vancouver to attend the Blanch MacDonald Fashion School.

After wrapping up this interview with Sarah, I was struck with a thought. Failing an accident of some type, sometime a doctor will look across the desk, and give me bad news. I hope I meet that day with the same degree of grace, resolve, and bravery, I witnessed talking with Sarah Marshall. I originally met her just before the chemo started. Her striking long blond hair, and teenage innocence, hid the cancer raging through her system. What I saw and heard throughout this interview were stories of a survivor. A battle hardened veteran, one who has endured combat with death, and prevailed. Now the smiles, and maturity, and darker hair, hide the painful scars of that conflict, and of adulthood thrust upon a girl. I was humbled.

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Inside this Month’s Issue “Catalin Botezatu” 2016 24