February 9 2018 by Nickel Belt News

Nickel Belt News

Volume 58 Number 6

Friday, February 9, 2018

Thompson, Manitoba

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Canadian Transportation Agency will hold hearing on NDP’s complaint about Hudson Bay Railway service Feb. 15 BY IAN GRAHAM EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) has decided that a complaint filed by a Manitoba NDP staffer regarding the Hudson Bay Railway’s (HBR) suspension of service between Gillam and Churchill due to flooding will proceed to a hearing on Feb. 15. “I visited Churchill a few weeks back and consistently every conversation was, ‘We gotta get this rail line reopened,’ and I know there’s a lot of other northern communities that are impacted by the line to so this is an important step that we have standing and we have a hearing date,” Manitoba NDP leader Wab Kinew told the Nickel Belt News. The complaint against OmniTrax was originally filed at the end of August, about three months after the last train travelled between Gillam and Churchill, which has no other land link to the rest of the province. OmniTrax argued that the complaint should be dismissed because it is not the operator of the rail line and because the unnamed NDP staffer who filed the complaint does not have standing to file the application. Despite OmniTrax’s objections that it is not a federally regulated railway company and that it isn’t clear which of the many affiliated companies using the name OmniTrax that the complaint was filed against, the CTA decided that it was not unreasonable for the company to be identified as the respondent in the application “given the role OmniTrax has played in both communicating with the media about the condition of the railway line and the publication of the Fore Majeure notice.” OmniTrax also argued

Nickel Belt News photo courtesy of AECOM The Canadian Transportation Agency decided that a complaint about OmniTrax’s Hudson Bay Railway ﬁled by a Manitoba NDP staffer will proceed to an oral hearing Feb. 15. The railway owner had argued that the complainant lacked standing to ﬁle the complaint and that the agency had no jurisdiction over OmniTrax, which is not a federally regulated railway. unsuccessfully that the complainant didn’t have sufficient interest in the subject matter of the complaint and was claiming injury and seeking relief to be awarded to other parties. “However, the present case does not involve a complaint about the quality of service being provided by HBR, but rather it is a complaint about the cessation of service to an entire community,” the CTA said. “Accordingly, HDR’s request to dismiss the application is denied.” “If the CTA finds in our favour, that means that they could order the line to be repaired and OmniTrax would have to comply,” said Kinew. “I think that the best case scenario in terms of people

in Churchill and the line as far as getting a quick resolution would be that we just have the hearing for the one day, that they take it away for a few days, maybe a few weeks, and come back with their decision sometime late February, early March. However ... they could decide that maybe they want to look into it more and extend that hearing. We’re cautiously optimistic that this is going to move ahead in relatively short order.” While it isn’t clear if OmniTrax, which says it doesn’t have money to carry out the necessary repairs to restore train service to Churchill, which it estimates would cost $40 million to $60 million, could comply with

any order to take out repairs, Kinew says the possibility of that order being made can provide some leverage to the governments trying to ensure the company gets service up and running again. “This is a positive step because it could lead to the rail line being repaired by order or this could just act as another piece of leverage to get that deal done and I think that that’s important because talking to people in Churchill and other communities impacted, what I’ve heard is whether it happens by negotiation or by court or by judicial process, or quasi-judicial process like this one, the bottom line is they want a rail line operating this summer,” said Kinew.

2018 POINT-IN-TIME COUNT VOLUNTEER RECRUITMENT

The Canadian Mental Health Association Thompson in afúliation with the Thompson Community Advisory Board on Homelessness are seeking community support and recruitment in order to undertake this count. Should you be interested in volunteering, please contact: Darren Fulford @ 204-677-6057 or email: housing@cmhathompson.ca with “Volunteers” in the subject line. The Point-in-Time count will be held on: Tuesday, March 13, 2018 - Evening and Wednesday, March 14, 2018 from 7:00 am to 1:00 pm. Training will be provided at Best western on: March 2 @ 11:30 am till 1:00 pm. Lunch will be provided at the venue. For more information, please visit the HPS Website: www.esdc.gc.ca/eng/communities/homelessness/point_in_time.shtml

Faculty of Social Work

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Nickel Belt News • www.thompsoncitizen.net

News

Friday, February 9, 2018

Shorty’s Upcycling a ﬁnalist in Just Watch Me video contest again BY IAN GRAHAM EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

T h o m p s o n ’s Don “Shorty” Glenn of Shorty’s Upcycling Studio is hoping to repeat what he did last year and win the Just Watch Me video contest for entrepreneurs with disabilities or health conditions, this time in the seasoned entrepreneur category. The winner of the contest, which is open to entrepreneurs in rural Manitoba and Saskatchewan, is based on the number of votes each video receives at www.justwatchmecontest. ca/voting/, with voters allowed to register one vote per IP address once every 24 hours up until 10 a.m. on Feb 12. The seasoned entrepreneur category winner will be announced on Feb. 15 and will receive $1,000 cash and other prizes valued at over $2,000. Glenn, who was a mechanic before being forced to abandon that career after developing a skin condition called dermagraphia, which is like an allergy to contact and pressure, won $250 and other prizes last year when he earned top spot in the Manitoba start-up category. He established his business, which takes scrap materials and turns them into unique furniture pieces, with the help of Community Futures North Central Development and the Elevate program, which provides loans and other assistance for would-be entrepreneurs with disabilities and health conditions. He was partway through

Ginger-Crusted Salmon With Melon Salsa Spicy and fresh, this easy dinner of rich salmon and melon-hot pepper salsa is healthy and anything but bland. 2 cubed cantaloupe cut into 1/3-inch pieces 1 cubed honeydew, cut into 1/3inch pieces 1/4 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint leaves 1 jalapeno chile 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 2 tablespoons grated peeled fresh ginger 2 teaspoons curry powder Salt Pepper 4 piece skinless salmon fillet 2 teaspoons vegetable oil 1. In medium bowl, combine cantaloupe, honeydew, cilantro, mint, jalapeno, lime juice and 1/4 teaspoon salt, stirring until well-mixed; set aside. 2. In small bowl, stir together ginger, curry powder, 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Spread mixture evenly all over non-skin side of each fillet. 3. In 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil on medium 1 minute. Add salmon, ginger side down, and cook 10 minutes or until salmon just turns opaque in center, turning over once. Serve salmon with melon salsa. Serves 4. For thousands of triple-tested recipes, visit our website at www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipes/. © 2018 Hearst Communications, Inc. All rights reserved

Thompson’s Don “Shorty” Glenn, who won the Just Watch Me video contest for entrepreneurs with disabilities or health conditions in the Manitoba start-up category last year, is one of four finalists this year in the seasoned entrepreneur category. renovating his house when he developed the skin condition and was forced to find ways to repurpose materials he already had because he no longer had the income from his job. One of the first pieces he made for himself was a bathroom vanity with wood from the fence he had just torn down. “You have no money

so you use what’s around you, right? ” he said last year after winning the Just Watch Me contest. “My family was like, ‘Why aren’t you doing this for a business?’” Starting the business not only helped Glenn ﬁnancially, it also improved his mental and emotional situation. “I went through a real

low time mentally,” Glenn recalled after being announced as the winner last year. “I was sitting at home on the couch and I can’t pay my bills, I’ve got my kids to look after, I’ve got my family. I was going crazy. I’ve always been doing stuff with my hands and so I had to ﬁnd something to occupy my mind and to be a product-

ive member of society and in my home. It came right down almost to the point where I had to do it.” Glenn’s new video details some of the exciting things that have happened in the past year, including establishing a storefront and taking part in trade shows and speaking engagements, says Charlene Kissick of Community Futures

North Central development. “He has further expansion plans and we know he will succeed,” Kissick said. “He’s a very inspiring fellow and we are so proud to have worked with him along his journey into entrepreneurship.” To view Glenn’s video and the other entries, go to http://www.justwatchmecontest.ca/entries/.

Friday, February 9, 2018

Nickel Belt News • www.thompsoncitizen.net

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News

McDonald’s plans to reinvest in Thompson with brand new restaurant BY KYLE DARBYSON KYLE@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

After getting the green light from Thompson city council on Jan. 29, McDonald’s is moving forward with its plan to build a new 90-seat, 5,769-square-foot building on their existing lot and on part of what is currently Anay-Powin Circle between the restaurant and CIBC. Although the timeline for this project hasn’t been set in stone, construction is set to begin sometime this spring and will involve the demolition of the McDonald’s restaurant that currently resides at 217 Mystery Lake Road. According to a memo by city manager Gary Ceppetelli, the municipal government has been discussing this proposal with McDonald’s since June 2016 and the franchise owner has agreed to pay the city $66,088 to develop this project on their land. Council unanimously supported this development agreement Jan. 29, with many councillors praising the fact that McDonald’s seems undeterred by the economic hurdles that the city will be facing in 2018 and beyond. “One of the things that really excites me about this is the obvious conﬁdence that McDonald’s Restaurants Canada is putting in our city of Thompson at a time when everybody seems to only be talking about doom and gloom,” said Coun. Penny Byer.

Thompson Citizen photo by Kyle Darbyson McDonald’s has been a consistent presence in Thompson for the last two decades. “It’s not often you’ll ﬁnd a company who is willing to tear down their building and shut their business down for four months while they redevelop. That is a huge investment in the city of Thompson.” In terms of what is going to happen to the employees who currently work at the Thompson McDonald’s during this construc-

tion period, owner Brett O’Meara told the Nickel Belt News he plans to retain all the workers by ramping up stafﬁng at the Walmart location. O’Meara also said he

plans to hire even more employees once the new restaurant is built, since there will be more ground to cover in this comparatively larger building. “As a local business

owner and an active supporter of the Thomson community, I am very committed to my employees and excited to offer our guests a new environment to enjoy their favourite Mc-

Donald’s meals,” O’Meara wrote in a email to the Nickel Belt News. “This is great news for the city of Thompson and I am conﬁdent in the future of our northern community.”

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THOMPSON THE MOM AND BABY GROUP meets every Friday afternoon between 1:00 and 3:00 pm at the Northern Regional Health Authority, 867 Thompson Drive (beside the hospital). Come meet other breastfeeding mothers and chat about a variety of topics such as the development of your baby, safe sleep habits, immunizations and starting solids. No registration is necessary and all sessions are facilitated by a Health Care Professional. Please phone the Public Health Unit at (204) 677-5350 for more information. FUTURES IS BRINGING BACK “SCHOOL’S COOL!” This is a free pre-kindergarten program. If you have a child who is 4, getting ready for kindergarten, this program is for you. Please give us a call or come see us. School’s Cool is free, educationbased, and lots of fun for your little one. 117A Commercial Place, 204-677-7822. WHITEWATER KAYAKING PROGRAM: Introduction to whitewater kayaking at the Norplex Pool, taught by certified kayak instructors. Kayak rolling clinics are also offered. Introduction courses cover paddling strokes, upside down exit techniques, rescue skills and the kayak roll. Join at any time. All equipment is provided. Ages 8 and up. Contact Ben at (204) 778-9940 to sign up. FREE SENIORS CURLING. Wednesdays, starting October 18 from 1 - 3 pm. Contact Wally at 204-778-7270 for more info. HUMANE SOCIETY IS IN NEED and would greatly appreciate the following: kitty litter, wet & dry cat & dog food, treats & bones, paper towels, Javex and old towels. Donations can be dropped off at 27 Nelson Road Monday - Friday, 3 - 5 pm. Phone 204-778-3513. ASSESSMENT AND PLANNING are important first steps when making career or educational decisions. The YWCA Assessment Centre can help you begin. We offer an assortment of high quality assessments for adults interested in upgrading, making career choices or preparing for the GED exam. The YWCA Assessment Centre offers a full range of Career Development Services FREE of charge. For more information or to make an appointment call 204-778-1208. DO YOU HAVE A DISABILITY? Are you looking for employment or work experience and have a disability? The Thompson Supported Employment Program (TSEP) provides a comprehensive variety of quality employment services to persons with disabilities as well as acting as a resource to local progressive employers. For more information or to book an appointment: contact Thompson Supported Employment Program at 204-677-8322. BABIES BEST START Nutrition program for pregnant women and new moms (Post-natal new moms Wednesdays 1:30 - 3:30 pm. Pregnant moms (pre-natal) Thursday 1:30 - 3:30 pm. High school Tuesday 12 pm - 1:10 pm. Phone 204-677-4431. 125 Commercial Place, Thompson. ARE YOU PREGNANT? STRUGGLING WITH USE OF EITHER ALCOHOL or drugs? InSight Mentoring can help. This is a free service available to women that are pregnant or may have given birth in the past year. InSight Mentoring can help you identify your goals and help you achieve them. Please call 204-677-5372 or 204-778-1521 between 8:30-4:30 pm for more information. IF YOUR LOVED ONE or friend has a problem with alcohol, and you need help, join the Alanon group meeting at 1079 Cree Rd at the Nickel Group trailer, across from Co-op Gas, Wed at 8 pm. Call Wendy at 204-778-7841 for information. PRENATAL CLASSES are a great way to meet other new parents and learn about the birthing process, breastfeeding and skills needed in caring for your newborn baby. The Northern Regional Health Authority provides free evening classes every other month until May 2018. All classes are facilitated by a Public Health Nurse. Call PHN Angela at (204) 778-1550 or assistant Chantelle at (204) 677-5382 to register or for more info.

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Friday, February 9, 2018

News

11-year-old Teresa Robinson’s killer sentenced to four more years behind bars A Garden Hill First Nation 17-year-old who killed 11-year-old Teresa Robinson in 2015 received a sentence of six years in custody minus time served, the CBC reported Feb. 5. The youth, who can’t be named under the terms of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, has already spent two years in custody and the prison term is the maximum he could be sen-

tenced to as a youth. He will be under court supervision for an additional four years, prohibited from owning weapons for 10 years and required to submit a DNA sample to a database as well. CBC reported Judge Chris Martin said the murder was a “stunningly cruel” act and that the remorse expressed by her killer was shallow and contradicted by the fact that he

THANK YOU Thompson Minor Hockey and the 26th Prince-Berscheid Tournament committee would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our tournament sponsors, ongoing and new, on helping us accomplish another successful year. We would like to thank ET Blades, Doug’s Source for Sports, Thompson Ford, Rock Country GM, JMH First Aid and CPR Training and Domino’s Pizza. Great sponsors like these are the reason we continue to host successful tournaments year after year. A special thank you going out to the Prince, Berscheid and Landers families for their continued support as we keep this memorial “Friends Forever” tournament as a reminder that the friendships shaped at these hockey tournaments will last a lifetime.

PUBLIC BUDGET MEETING February 26, 2018 On Monday, February 26, 2018 the School District of Mystery Lake will be holding a public budget meeting at 7:00 p.m. in the Board Room of the Board Ofﬁce located at 408 Thompson Drive North. The highlights of the 2018/2019 budget will be presented. The School District is committed to accessibility. We invite participants to make requests for accommodations by contacting the Secretary-Treasurer at 204-677-6150 no later than February 12, 2018.

didn’t admit his guilt until he was arrested nearly a year after her murder. The teen pleaded guilty to ﬁrstdegree murder late last year. The teen’s lawyer told the court he had difﬁculty learning English, struggled in school and was bullied about his weight, but had no history of drug or alcohol use, no history of mental illness and no prior involvement with the law.

The teen was arrested in March 2016, about a month after RCMP sought voluntary DNA samples from about 2,000 males aged 15 to 50 in Garden Hill. Robinson’s body was discovered May 11, 2015, several days after she went missing after attending a birthday party. Initially, it was believed she may have been killed by animals but an autopsy two days after

her body was found determined that she had died as the result of a homicide. The upper half of her body had been eaten by animals and her skull was found about 30 feet from the rest of her remains, the CBC reported. The autopsy also revealed that she had been sexually assaulted. The 17-year-old’s lawyer told court last year that he would admit that the murder occurred dur-

ing the course of a sexual assault. Garden Hill First Nation, an Oji-Cree-speaking community, is located on Island Lake about 300 kilometres southeast of Thompson and comprises about 18,180 acres. It is only accessible in summer and fall by boat from Island Lake and Cochrane Bay, or by air, and in the spring and winter by air or ice road.

Saunders back on top at national racquetball team selection event Thompson Sports Wall of Fame member Jennifer Saunders ended up in top spot among the nine female competitors at the Racquetball Canada national team selection event in Kitchener, Ont. Feb. 4. Saunders, a multiple winner of single and doubles national racquetball championships, was seeded ﬁrst and defeated sixth-ranked Alexis Iwaasa of Lethbridge, Alberta 15-7, 13-15, 11-7 to take top spot. Saunders was second at the season’s ﬁrst national team selection event in Vernon, B.C. in November, falling 6-15, 4-15 to Frédérique Lambert

in the ﬁnal. Saunders, who now lives in Winnipeg, opened the latest tournament with a 15-7, 15-5 victory over ninth-seeded Juliette Parent of St-Jacques De Montcalm, Quebec and then beat fourth-seeded Michele Morrissette of Baie-Comeau, Quebec 15-12, 15-0 in the semiﬁnals. Results from the two national team selection events will be used to help determine who will represent Canada at the world championships this summer. The Pan Am Championships team members are due to be announced this week.

Jennifer Saunders Nickel Belt News photo courtesy of Racquetball Canada

Success for All

Faculty of Social Work

Northern Social Work Program The University of Manitoba, Faculty of Social Work at Thompson is now accepting applications for the Northern Social Work Program. The deadline for submitting applications is March 1, 2018. The program is scheduled to begin September 2018. Students may complete the Northern Social Work Program as a full-time or part-time student. The program provides post-secondary education for Residents of Northern Manitoba, in particular those who have not had the opportunity due to economic and cultural reasons, lack of formal education, linguistic barriers or residence in remote areas. Relocation to Thompson will be required. Individuals can apply either under ACCESS or EXTERNAL categories. The ACCESS category is for mature students, 21 years or over, who have under 30 credit hours of university level courses. The EXTERNAL category is for regular students who have 30 credit hours or more of university level courses and are in good academic standing. For both categories, applicants must have resided in Northern Manitoba for 6 months or more prior to the application deadline or have been a long term resident of the North. For information or applications contact the Faculty of Social Work at Thompson at 204-677-1450 or No Charge Dial 1-866237-5509 or visit http://umanitoba.ca/faculties/social_work/ programs/northern/591.html

Nickel Belt News

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without notice. Conditions of editorial and advertisement content: The Nickel Belt News attempts to be accurate in editorial and advertising content; however no guarantee is given or implied. The Nickel Belt News reserves the right to revise or reject any or all editorial and advertising content as the newspaper’s principals see fit. The Nickel Belt News will not be responsible for more than one incorrect insertion of an advertisement, and is not responsible for errors or omissions in advertisements except for the space occupied by such errors. The Nickel Belt News will not be responsible for manuscripts, photographs, negatives and other related material that may be submitted

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Friday, February 9, 2018

Nickel Belt News • www.thompsoncitizen.net

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Columnists

Provincial relations with Thompson strong and positive I’m proud of the work our provincial government has done to work with Northern Manitoba and its communities, and I’m particularly pleased to see the close attention that Jeff Wharton, our minister of municipal relations, has paid to issues in the City of Thompson. In response to the Thompson Citizen’s editorial “Cold shoulder from the province? ” on Feb. 7, I can confidently say our government is maintaining strong and positive communication with municipal officials in Thompson. In October, for example, Minister Wharton was in Thompson with two of our other cabinet ministers to receive the Look North action plan from the co-chairs of this important initiative, which is aimed at strengthening the economy in Northern Manitoba. On that visit to Thompson, Minister Wharton met with deputy mayor Kathy Valentino and city manager Gary Ceppetelli. The minister also toured Thompson’s transit facility and looked at new transit vehicles that had been purchased with our provincial government’s assistance.

MLA Report

Kelly Bindle

kelly.bindle.mla.office@gmail.com Constituency Office: Unit 3-40 Moak Crescent Thompson, MB R8N 2B7 204-677-2066

As well, in Brandon at the Association of Manitoba Municipalities annual meeting this past fall, Minister Wharton met with Mayor Dennis Fenske and other members of council to discuss some of Thompson’s opportunities and challenges. The minister will meet with Mayor Fenske in Winnipeg again in the coming week. Minister Wharton is only one of several of our cabinet ministers who have visited Thompson for important meetings and announcements since we formed government in 2016. Our government looks forward to continuing close contact and cooperation with the City of Thompson, for the benefit of residents of this great northern community. Separately, it was a pleasure to see all the hardy participants out in very cold conditions to take in the entertain-

ment and opening ceremony for Winterfest’s kickoff in Thompson last weekend. Thanks to the hot chocolate provided by the Steelworkers, the bannock from Lone Wolf Cafe, the music from Poetry in Motion and the bonfire courtesy of the City of Thompson Fire & Emergency Services for helping to take the chill off the evening. Winterfest is a northern tradition that brings people together, celebrates winter and gets everyone having fun. I thank Winterfest organizing committee members Malanie Cutler, Kathleen Thrones, Edward Palmer, Lucie Lambert, Darlene Dick and Bobbie Montean, as well as all the sponsors, volunteers and organizers for ensuring this winter tradition continues to create lasting memories for residents of Thompson and Northern Manitoba.

Time’s Up A few weeks ago at Torrey Pines, Tiger Woods may have accomplished his greatest feat as a golfer: missing a birdie putt. Woods probably would have made the shot if some [expletive deleted] hadn’t taken the moment of his backswing to yell out, “GET IN THE HOLE!” The backlash among those in attendance toward the offender was swift. They were able to track the guy down and shame him on social media, and one hopes, got him kicked out and banned from the venue for life. Now if this had happened to a lesser golfer -- say, someone at the back end of the draw or someone like John Daly (who people probably just assume likes that sort that of thing) -- we’d still have to put up with hearing that at golf tournaments. But one hopes that Torrey Pines became that stupid, obnoxious, brainless, unsportsmanlike shout’s Waterloo. Let it end there. Like the fall of the Berlin Wall, and more recently the #MeToo movement, signiﬁcant social change has a way of creeping up on us until all of a sudden, it reaches a crescendo that is too strong to be stopped. In sports, we remember the

day that Jackie Robinson ﬁrst took to the ﬁeld in Brooklyn as such a moment. Shortly after, the color barrier broke all across the country. Years later, kids reading a sports almanac could only furrow their brows and ask if such a day really existed ... a time when a black guy couldn’t play big-league sports. And we remember the day Billie Jean King said she wasn’t going to play without equal pay -- that she wasn’t going to be penalized for being a woman. Sports mirrors society, but often it is a step ahead when it comes to morals and judgment. Every time sports is faced with some ridiculous set of discriminatory rules or off-base judgments, a core group of leaders pay attention to what sports is supposed to be -- competition among your peers utilizing a universal and equal set of rules -- and make changes. It doesn’t always happen as quickly as we’d like or deserve, but in general, it happens. Last month it happened in Cleveland. Since 1932, the Cleveland Indians have employed a stereotype as their “logo” (even though it also was clearly marketed or implied to be serving as a “mascot” for

decades). Never mind that “Indians” in North America were never “Indians” to begin with, the fact that too many sports fans couldn’t see the ridiculous use of “Chief Wahoo” as a logo for a team that had just moved into “Progressive Field” is a real scalp scratcher. And now we turn the tide toward Washington, D.C.’s professional football franchise and its abysmally tone-deaf and dictionary-deﬁned racist slur “Redskin” moniker. Dan Snyder, owner of the Redskins, has vowed NEVER to change the team’s name. But Snyder is on the wrong side of history, and like his team of late, he will lose. The Washington football team will change its name with or without him --preferably without. Anyone who thinks otherwise is not only on the wrong side of history, but needs to seriously consider crawling back into the hole they came from. Time’s up, Snyder ... let’s see how long it takes for you to get the message everyone else seems to have gotten but you. Mark Vasto is a veteran sportswriter who lives in New Jersey. (c) 2018 King Features Synd., Inc.

Speaking out for our region As MP I have always made it a top priority to speak out in Parliament about the issues we face in our region. The ﬁrst day we were back in session in Parliament this year I rose in Question Period to speak out about one of the most significant concerns in our region now. The loss of jobs, continuing high rates of unemployment and inequality because of decades of policies that have hurt our region. The Port of Churchill, privatized by the Liberal government in 1997, closed down by an American billionaire. The loss of hundreds of jobs in

Niki Ashton

MP Report Ashton.N@parl.gc.ca Thompson with further job losses ahead in Flin Flon and continuing ongoing uncertainty in The Pas. Indigenous communities with rates of unemployment as high as 90 per cent. My question was clear.

“While the prime minister was lecturing people about inequality in Davos, in regions like mine because of job killing trade deals, privatization and foreign takeovers we’re seeing the privatized Port of Churchill shut down, the loss of hundreds of resource jobs and up to 90 per cent unemployment in Indigenous communities. When will the prime minister admit that the loss of jobs and the rise of inequality is because of decades of Liberal and Conservative policies?” As MP I will continue to speak out on this issue and other issues that matter to our region.

Grieving cat needs comforting BY SAM MAZZOTTA DEAR PAW’S CORNER: My 3-year-old cat, “Rascal,” is having a terrible time adjusting since my other cat, “Fresca,” died just a few weeks ago. He roams the house at night, meowing for hours, and doesn’t always eat his food. What can I do to help him? -- John C., El Paso, Texas DEAR JOHN: I’m sorry to hear about the loss of Fresca. It can be surprising to learn that many animals go through a grieving process after losing a companion -whether human or animal. And, just as with humans, grieving can take time.

The best thing to do is to be supportive of Rascal. Recognize that you’re both missing Fresca, and give Rascal plenty of attention and cuddles. However, don’t change his routine. Mealtimes should stay the same, playing and socialization times should stay the same (though you can extend the length of that play time). If Rascal starts eating less or stops eating altogether, try encouraging him to eat by adding a little bit of warm (not hot) broth to his food. Stay in the room while he eats -- many cats don’t like being petted

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Stop being the wool-gathering Lamb, and start turning that dream project into reality. You have the ideas, the drive and the charisma to persuade others to follow your lead. So do it. TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) You’ve scored some big successes. But remember that all hardworking Ferdinands and Ferdinandas need some time to restore their energies and refresh their spirits. GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) You’re gaining a stronger mental image of what you’re trying to achieve. Now look for the facts that will help get this to develop from a concept into a solid proposal. CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Some of you eager-to-please Moon Children might want to delay some decisions until midweek, when you can again think more with your head than your heart. LEO (July 23 to August 22) A new business venture seems to offer everything you’ve been looking for. But be careful that that rosy picture doesn’t betray traces of red ink under the surface. VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) A volatile situation needs the kind of thoughtful and considerate care you can provide right now. There’ll be plenty of time later to analyze what might have gone wrong.

while they eat, but they often don’t mind owners sitting nearby. It may take as long as six months for Rascal to recover from the loss of his friend. Be as supportive as possible without changing his routine, or feeding him too many treats. If he stops eating for more than three days, still won’t sleep or doesn’t seem to be improving after a couple of months, contact the veterinarian. Send your questions, comments and tips to ask@ pawscorner.com. (c) 2018 King Features Synd., Inc.

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) Your loyalty to a friend in a tough situation earns you respect from people you care about. Those who criticize you don’t understand what friendship is all about. SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) Your strong work ethic is rewarded with the kind of challenging opportunity you love to tackle. Now, go ahead and celebrate with family and/or close friends. SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) A legal matter you thought had been finally resolved could require a second look. But don’t make any moves without consulting your lawyer. CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) Taking charge is what you like to do, and since you do it so well, expect to be asked to lead a special group. This could open an exciting new vista for you. AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) An important matter might wind up being entrusted to you for handling. The responsibility is heavy, but you’ll have support from people able and eager to help. PISCES (February 19 to March 20) A spouse or partner might make an important, even life-changing, suggestion. Consider it carefully. It could hold some of the answers you’ve both been looking for. BORN THIS WEEK: You always try to do the right thing, and for the right reasons. No wonder people have come to depend on you. © 2018 King Features Synd., Inc.

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Friday, February 9, 2018

Columnists

Keeping Flin Flon’s history alive

Nickel Belt News photo courtesy of the Flin Flon Heritage Project The Mandy Mine Glory Hole at Schist Lake, winter 1916-17.

My Take on Snow Lake marc.jackson@post.com Marc Jackson Mining in the area of present day Flin Flon has existed since 1915. That was the year that pioneering prospectors Tom Creighton, David Collins and their partners found the immense copper-zinc ore body the community was built upon. In the years that followed, land was cleared, mines were constructed, businesses set up and families arrived … many of which stayed and put down deep roots in the area’s harsh Precambrian landscape. In doing so, those forbears contributed to the formation of Flin Flon and the history of the area. Through a heritage-based web page and Facebook group, a small, but dedicated, group of individuals has worked tirelessly to preserve that history. Their endeavour – the Flin Flon Heritage Project – began as one man working on a book about his father’s life and snowballed into a archive that increases daily and currently sits at 28,000 images, 30 books, 20 family albums, maps, family stories and hundreds of newspaper and magazine back issues. One of the Heritage Project administrators, Doug Evans, unintentionally initiated the project in 2010, while searching through and scanning archival items in the basement of the Flin Flon Library. It was during this process that he became aware that the archives could not serve any useful purpose as they were. “The population of Flin Flon is now well into the fourth generation; most of the people who were familiar with the pictures and events preserved in the archive material were either dead or had left Flin Flon,” said Evans in a late January interview. He felt, if former residents were interested in Flin Flon’s history, a trip to the archives – as they were – would be a long, costly and fruitless journey north. So it was that Evans began to

gather photos; there were those from his father’s extensive collection, his own and those of his friends. He soon amassed close to 3,000, half of which were relevant to the history of Flin Flon. But still, they were useless to anyone interested in Flin Flon History unless they could access them without expense. The solution … put them on a website. Evans, who admits to knowing little about such things, made some enquires at one of the Flin Flon luncheons held regularly in Winnipeg. He was referred to another former resident, Richard Lyons, who had a Facebook page featuring Flin Flon pictures. “Richard arranged a meeting with Ken Penner who operates a web hosting company,” said Evans. Penner set up the web page and when Evans suggested “The Flin Flon Heritage Project” as its name, that became the registered domain. Shortly thereafter, Evans and others took part in a training session to become familiar with the program used to create and update the new website. “Phil Gies and John Hamilton, who were interested, also came to the training session,” said Evans. They were guided through the process of uploading items and the “project” was born. Former resident Ted Nelson also became a member and took on the intricacies of keeping the digital archives in order. Evans states that Phil Gies, who had experience with websites, worked out the coding used for entering and tracking information on the site, but they were soon overwhelmed. “We started with a few categories and subcategories, but as time went by and the collection got bigger and bigger, we had to keep adding categories; we are now up over 700 albums,” Evans explained. At ﬁrst the project seemed to

Nickel Belt News photo courtesy of Doug Evans From left to right, Phil Geis, Doug Evans and Ted Nelson. grow slowly, but then yearbooks and Northern Lights Magazines (Hudbay) started coming in. Members John Scott, Maureen McCaig, John Hamilton, Phil Gies and Richard Billy set to work at scanning and inventorying these. But they had no idea what was coming. Due to a concern that archives in the Flin Flon Library basement were vulnerable, committee member Don Peake took on the job of digitalizing the contents of the archives. “To date Don has scanned over 10,000 pictures and documents and is hard at work scanning the minutes of the town council meetings, starting at the inaugural meeting in 1933,” said Evans. Notwithstanding the hard work and obstacles they’d already overcome, most of the pictures coming into the project did not have much in the way of descriptive information with them, so the group set up a Facebook page called the “Flin Flon Heritage Project (Ofﬁcial)” and posted pictures needing descriptions, with the hope that someone would be able identify the people and events in each photo. With the page’s membership at slightly over 1,000, this process has been working well. “We took to calling the followers of the page ‘The Boam Street Irregulars’ in a reference to

Sherlock Holmes’ group of amateur detectives (and a well-known Flin Flon street),” said Evans. “There have been two unexpected, but wonderful, additional activities on this page.” He said these are the numerous contributions of photos and documents through the page, as well as it serving as a forum where people exchange news and discover old friends. Through the website and Facebook page, the project has become known to former residents and their descendants worldwide. “We have received material from Norway, England, Australia, many parts of the U.S.A., and of course from every corner of Canada,” Evans remarked. “We were recently able to assist a man in Sweden, who was searching for a long lost uncle who had settled in Northern Manitoba and was called ‘Moose.’ From California came a collection related to the life of Harry Moroz, a famous goalie with the prewar Flin Flon Bombers. Ivor Ivorson, whose father was a Lutheran Minister in Flin Flon in 1939, sent us pictures from Georgia in the U.S. And just recently, a lady in Winnipeg called us to scan a collection of documents relating to the clearing of bush of the site of what would become the HBM&S plant in Flin Flon.”

Among the project’s treasures is a near complete history of the Mandy Mine and its famous ore haul by horse drawn sleighs, steamboats, and rail to Trail, B.C. The “Mandy” was established in 1916, and was the ﬁrst productive copper mine in Manitoba. The project also has pictures of the original claim that became Flin Flon and copies of many out of print books scanned to PDF and posted on the website. The project is registered with the government of Manitoba as a not-for-proﬁt (NFP) under the name Flin Flon Heritage Project. Although there are hundreds of people who contribute to their work, the president of the NFP is Phil Gies, the vice-president is Beatrice Walker, the secretary-treasurer is Larry Brown and there are three directors – Les Oystryk, James Stephens and Doug Evans. As well there is Ed Mason, a skilled photographer who restores damaged photos, Ken Penner, the group’s webmaster, and Ted Nelson, a retired IT expert. Most are former or current residents, or Flin Flonners as they choose to be called. The website is located at: http://flinflonheritageproject. com/ and the Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/ groups/214476565550641/

Friday, February 9, 2018

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Columnists

What is truth? Pilate certainly asked the question, but left before the answer could be given. The reader need only take two minutes to receive that answer. Philosophically, truth is the perfect correspondence of a human thought with one of three things: reality, right desire or fulfilled purpose. By perfect correspondence, what is meant by correspondence is agreement, the perfection of that agreement being that which is appropriate and fitting to the subject matter in question, whether it be certain agreement (self-evident truths) or probable agreement (demonstrated truths having a balance of probability in their favour). By thought, what is meant is an assertion. It exists first in the mind but can be expressed in a verbal or written statement or a proposition for analysis. By reality, what is meant is that which exists totally independently of the human mind. It is what it is

and has the character it has, whether or how we think about it. It is sensible, intelligible, knowable by the human mind. By right desire, what is meant is what ought to be desired, what is really good. It is not necessarily that which is consciously desired, though it should be. Herein lies the two important distinctions: the distinction with right desire and wrong desire, and the distinction between the really good and the apparently good. At the moment of desire, all things desired appear good to us, but over time some goods turn out not to be really good for us. What is rightly desired, what is really good for us as human beings, is what fulﬁlls a natural human need. The reason is simple, even self-evident. There is no such thing as a wrong natural need. There are only wrong wants. If it were wrong, we would not by nature need it. The very idea of a wrong natural need is incoherent.

Chocolate Rules on Valentine’s Day Valentine’s Day and chocolate are the perfect pair (although I don’t need a special holiday to celebrate the joys of eating chocolate). Women make 75 percent of all chocolate purchases throughout the year, but in the days before and on Valentine’s Day, 75 percent of chocolate purchases are made by men for the women in their lives. They must love us a lot, because more than a billion dollars is spent each year on chocolate for Valentine’s Day. Recent health research supports the benefits of eating dark chocolate in moderation, including helping to lower high blood pressure. Plant phenols — and in the case of dark chocolate, cocoa phenols — are compounds known to lower blood pressure. Chocolates made in Europe are generally richer in cocoa phenols than those made in the U.S. Dark chocolate also contains beneficial antioxidants, which rid the body of free radicals. Free radicals are destructive molecules that are implicated in heart disease and other ailments. The antioxidants in about 1 1/2 ounces of dark chocolate exceed those found in walnuts, grapes and cranberries. This recipe for Chocolate Lover’s Chocolate Cake should be made with high-quality, premium dark cocoa powder for the best results. Think of it as a delicious way to improve your health while celebrating love on Valentine’s Day.

Spiritual Thoughts robsutherlandlaw@gmail.com Rob Sutherland By fulfilled purpose, what is meant is the expected actualization of the potentialities that deﬁne the being of a created thing, whether that thing be natural or artiﬁcial. Descriptive truth deals with the reality external to the human mind through variations on the verb “is.” It describes what it “is” now in the present, what “was” in the past, what “could be” or “will be” in the future. Its range is extremely broad, covering all matters of fact, whether they be physical or non-physical, material or immaterial. The language commonly used in connection with such statements of descriptive truth is the language of “true” as op-

CHOCOLATE LOVER’S CHOCOLATE CAKE 2 cups sugar 1¾ cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup premium dark chocolate cocoa powder 1½ teaspoons baking powder 1½ teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 2 eggs 1 cup milk 1/2 cup vegetable oil 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup boiling water Chocolate frosting (recipe follows) 1. Heat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two (9-inch) round baking pans (or see variations below). 2. Using a large bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat mix-

Depositphotos.com

ture on medium speed for 2 minutes; DO NOT OVERBEAT. Stir in boiling water. The batter will be thin. Pour the batter into the prepared pans. 3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with the Chocolate Lovers Chocolate Frosting recipe below. Makes 10 to 12 servings.

VARIATIONS: ONE-PAN CAKE — Grease and flour 13-by-9-by-2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350 F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost with the choc-

posed to “false.” Prescriptive truth deals with right desires in the human person through variations on the verb “ought” or “should.” It prescribes what “ought” to be desired, what is “really good.” Its range is extremely broad, covering all matters of value. The language commonly used in connection with such statements of prescriptive truth is the language of “right, good” as opposed to “wrong, evil.” Ontological truth deals with purpose rooted in the being of persons or things through variations on the verbs of “realize,” “actualize” and “fulﬁll.” It judges whether a purpose exists in a person

or thing. It differs from descriptive truth in that the focus is on purpose within being, not mere being. And it judges whether that purpose is successful realized in a particular person or thing. It differs from prescriptive truth in that the focus in on the actualization of potential, not on mere potential. It is a judgment that someone or something, at a particular state in their development, pleases upon being seen, because it is wellformed or beautiful, it has a unity, proportionality and clarity. Its range is extremely broad, covering a wide variety of matters of mixed fact and value. The language commonly used in connection with such statements of ontological truth is the language of “real, true, authentic, faithful, genuine, mature, complete, whole, perfect, beautiful” as opposed to “imitation, false, inauthentic, faithless, counterfeit, fraudulent, immature, incomplete,

broken, imperfect, ugly.” Rob Sutherland is a graduate of University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall Law School He is a criminal defence lawyer with 30 years experience, a member of the bars of Ontario, Alberta, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Manitoba. He is a Senior Canadian Fellow at the Mortimer J. Adler Centre for the Studies of the Great Ideas, an American think-tank based in Chicago. He has published one book “Putting God on Trial: the biblical Book of Job,” a defence of God’s goodness in the face of his authorization of undeserved and unremitted evil in the life of Job and the world, which is taught at a number of Canadian, American and Indian universities and available through Amazon. He is writing a second book “Putting Jesus on Trial: the biblical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,” a defence of Jesus’ divinity.

olate frosting recipe below. THREE-LAYER CAKE — Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350 F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with the chocolate frosting recipe below. BUNDT CAKE — Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350 F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost with the chocolate frosting recipe below. CUPCAKES — Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350 F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost with chocolate frosting recipe below. Makes about 30 cupcakes.

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CHOCOLATE LOVER’S FROSTING 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine 2/3 cup premium dark chocolate baking cocoa 3 cups powdered sugar 1/3 cup milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Using a small, microwave-safe bowl, melt butter in the microwave, about 30 to 40 seconds or until melted. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating until the mixture is smooth. Add a small amount of additional milk, if needed, to make the frosting easier to spread. Stir in vanilla extract. Makes about 2 cups frosting. *** Angela Shelf Medearis is an award-winning children’s author, culinary historian and the author of seven cookbooks. Her new cookbook is “The Kitchen Diva’s Diabetic Cookbook.” Her website is www. divapro.com. To see how-to videos, recipes and much, much more, Like Angela Shelf Medearis, The Kitchen Diva! on Facebook. Recipes may not be reprinted without permission from Angela Shelf Medearis.

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Columnists

Grassroots First Nations people need accountability protections BY TODD MACKAY AND HARRISON THUNDERCHILD It’s worrying to see an old watchdog blindly wander away from its post especially when a keen-eyed replacement is kept from standing guard. The federal government is moving to provide 10-year grants to some First Nations with little bureaucratic oversight. Essentially, Ottawa would add up the amounts due to individual First Nations for education, housing, etc., and transfer the total for the chief and council to spend as they wish. It’s an unprecedented proposal (the feds routinely pull strings on transfers to provinces), but it got little attention. Bureaucratic oversight isn’t perfect, but that doesn’t negate the Crown’s duty to ensure accountability for grassroots people in First Nations communities. Band members are the best people to enforce accountability. It’s an obvious point, but it comes with a caveat. People can only hold their leaders accountable if they have the vital protections

Todd MacKay such as free and fair elections, close scrutiny from the press and strong accountability requirements. At this point it’s important to emphatically state that

many First Nations are well run by ethical leaders, but we also need the courage to admit there are challenges. Consider the case of Mosquito Grizzly Bear’s Head

Lean Man First Nation near Saskatoon. On Dec. 13, CBC reported on a federal investigation that found candidates in the band election bought votes with cocaine, marijuana and cash. Band member Glenn Moosomin blew the whistle, but empathised with band members who didn’t. “They fear for their wellbeing and worry about being refused band benefits for not supporting the incumbents,” said Mr. Moosomin. Ottawa’s response provided little comfort. Indigenous Services Canada confirmed the report’s authenticity, but said no decision has been made in this case. Nor was there much media interest. If any candidate in any federal, provincial or municipal election bought votes with weed and blow, there would be supernova media glare. But CBC was the only major media outlet to cover the report. While Mr. Moosomin’s case is extreme, the problems aren’t entirely unique. INAC applies its Default Prevention and Management Policy on First Nations with financial problems to work

with the communities “to increase their ability to selfmanage and to prevent default and default recurrence.” Essentially, when a First Nation has serious financial problems, Ottawa imposes requirements ranging from an approved financial plan to all the way to appointed third-party management. Of the 617 First Nations in Canada, 143 are under this policy. The problem is serious and Ottawa is making it worse. The federal government stopped enforcing The First Nations Financial Transparency Act. The act requires bands to publish salaries and expenses for chief and council as well as audited financial statements. When Ottawa announced it would no longer enforce the act, it added another unequivocal statement. “Transparency and accountability are paramount to any government, whether it is municipal, provincial, federal or First Nation,” wrote Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett in a statement released Dec. 18, 2015. “We will work in full

partnership with First Nations leadership and organizations on the way forward to improve accountability and transparency.” Ottawa has done nothing. It hasn’t brought forward legislation to strengthen accountability. It hasn’t enforced the old legislation. Now it’s planning to hand out string-free grants. It’s wrong for Ottawa to use its nation-to-nation policy to deal only with First Nations leaders while ignoring the rights of grassroots people in First Nations communities. When Chief Thunderchild entered into Treaty 6 in 1876, it wasn’t merely a contract between himself and the government. He forged a deep and lasting connection between his people and the Crown. Ottawa has a duty to stand up for the people as well as their leaders. Grassroots people in First Nations communities must have the ability to hold their leaders accountable. Todd MacKay is the prairie director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and Harrison Thunderchild is the grandson of Chief Thunderchild.

The soft racism of low expectations BY BRIAN GIESBRECHT SENIOR FELLOW FRONTIER CENTRE FOR PUBLIC POLICY

I recently became engaged in a war of words with the editor of a local newspaper. I was accused of slurring Indigenous people by using the term “gravy train” to describe the rich beneﬁts that a minority of people have been able to extract from the system. I had always been careful to point out that the vast majority of Indigenous people are not on a gravy train – quite the opposite, in fact. But I maintain that people like high-income earning chiefs and some lawyers charging huge fees for victim cases are indeed on a gravy train. The editor made it clear that in his opinion Indigenous people were being insulted by my criticism of what I perceive as an unfair and corrupt system. He didn’t refer to the many successful Indigenous Canadians to make his argument. Instead, he resorted to stereotypes, such as the “the smiling faces of Indigenous children doing hoop dances at ceremon-

You take away people’s independence and their pride by placing them in a different category than everyone else ies,” and similar references in a patronizing and facile response. It occurred to me that this editor was in a trap that so many Canadians fall into: the soft racism of low expectations when it comes to Indigenous people. For reasons not clear to me, many people seem to believe that Indigenous people must be treated differently than everyone else and often offered help that’s not offered to others. Syrian refugees will be given help on a temporary basis but are then expected to make their own way. Wellmeaning people routinely collect winter clothing or put together hampers for Indigenous people, treating them as though they were unable to look after their families. Many of these people fall into the trap of expecting less of Indigenous people than they expect from other people. This soft racism is done with the best of intentions – but it’s racism, all

the same. This soft racism infects government thinking as well. There are many special government programs available only to Indigenous people and they treat them like they’re children. A myriad of federal plans are available to Indigenous people regardless of their level of income. Those programs are based on a subconscious belief that all Indigenous people need special help. Why does this happen? One thing I learned early in my career as a lawyer and a judge is that Indigenous people are just as capable as anyone else. However, it was equally clear that you take away people’s independence and their pride by placing them in a different category than everyone else. Treating people as helpless victims contributes to a victim mentality and the phenomenon of learned helplessness, as described so well by the noted Af-

rican-American author Thomas Sowell. When we routinely regard one group of people differently, we’re not helping but hurting them. And that’s what we’ve done in the case of Indigenous people in Canada. If any proof is needed for the assertion that Indigenous people are every bit as capable as anyone else, one need only glance at a newspaper: Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew delivered a policy statement; singer/actor Tom Jackson gave a concert; and Sen. Murray Sinclair wrote a tweet read by thousands, and on and on. And of equal significance: the many Indigenous people quietly living successful lives and inspiring young people by their example. These people are just telling us what we already know – Indigenous people are just like everyone else. We do them a great disservice by expecting less of

Brian Giesbrecht them because of their ethnic or racial background. We must show the soft racism of low expectations the door.

Brian Giesbrecht is a retired judge and a senior fellow with Frontier Centre for Public Policy. © Troy Media

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The plastic bag ban bandwagon is way off course A ban of anything the environmental movement doesn’t like is smart politics for a government that wants to look green, but a bag ban is pointless BY LEE HARDING RESEARCH ASSOCIATE FRONTIER CENTRE FOR PUBLIC POLICY

The fish in the movie Finding Nemo had made their great escape. After a far-fetched plan and an unlikely set of circumstances, five fish made it out the window and into the ocean. But since they each floated as buoyant prisoners in plastic bags, one asked, “Now what?” It’s the very question those on the plastic bag ban bandwagon need to ask. The Great Pacific Ocean Patch, some claim, is the size of Texas. This swirling mass of garbage is said to be full of plastics that will never break down – to the detriment of marine life and eventually of people. But as many scientists have noted, the amount

Lee Harding of garbage is sparse and bears no resemblance to the marine equivalent of a landfill. Not all the garbage is plastic and 60 per cent of what is plastic is discarded fishing gear. Not even an animal activist like Pamela Anderson could ban fishing, though she might be able to distract fishers for awhile. So what can be banned? Plastic bags!

Montreal and Victoria have enacted bans, while Halifax and Edmonton may soon follow. Merits aside, a ban of anything the environmental movement doesn’t like is smart politics for a government that wants to look green. It’s straightforward to enact and has no direct cost to the taxpayer. It has none of the pitfalls of a renewable energy investment that fails in its goals and makes political friends richer and taxpayers poorer. Legislators need not fear a scandal that could ambush them for banning anything. They need only endure the justiﬁed grumbles of people who wish they had more freedom and fewer rules. But if we ban disposable plastic bags, now what? Here the plot thickens and leads to an ironic con-

clusion more astonishing than Nemo finding his parents. In 1976, Mobile Oil brought the Swedish invention of plastic bags to America to replace the paper bags. Would environmentalists who always oppose the petroleum industry push us back to paper? This would mean higher carbon emissions in the production of the bags and even in their transportation. Paper bags have greater bulk and weight, requiring more trucks burning more diesel fuel just to get the bags to market. Plastic bags could also be replaced with cotton bags, if poison is your thing. The World Wildlife Fund reports that although cotton accounts for 2.4 per cent of the world’s cropland, it

accounts for 24 per cent of the market for insecticides and 11 per cent of pesticides. Plus, cotton is the thirstiest crop ever, needing 5,000 gallons of water to produce a single pound of cotton. A cotton bag is responsible for even more carbon emissions than a paper bag – it would need to be reused 131 times to have the same carbon emissions as a single-use plastic bag. Besides that, it would consume even more water in washing (without washing, E. coli and other bacteria collect on a reusable bag). So the most environmentally friendly solution? Plastic bags. The superiority of a permanent plastic bag was demonstrated in a “Life cycle assessment of supermarket carrier bags”

study released in 2011 by the Environment Agency of the United Kingdom. The extensive study examined global warming potential, abiotic depletion, acidiﬁcation, eutrophication, human toxicity, fresh water aquatic eco-toxicity, marine aquatic eco-toxicity, and petrochemical oxidation. The reusable plastic bag came out on top in all but one category when compared with six alternatives. Concerns about ocean ecology and garbage can’t justify the demonization of plastic bags. But we need to stop letting our garbage end up in the water. Lee Harding is a research associate at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. © Troy Media

King-for-a-day solutions to homelessness don’t work If we’re serious about ending homelessness, we need to institute long-term solutions across all levels of government BY VIVIAN TAM STUDENT EXPERT EVIDENCENETWORK.CA

Three years ago, I set out for clinic on the kind of morning like those we’ve been having in Toronto lately, where the hair in your nostrils freezes with each breath. I had walked about two intersections before I realized my ﬁngers were stiff from cold – of course, I had forgotten my gloves. So I walked into one of the many stores lining Yonge Street and quickly emerged with two pairs of mittens, courtesy of a buyone-get-one-free discount. When I left the store, I came across an individual sleeping on the street covered only with a thin blanket. Snow was falling and he looked cold. Feeling the extra mittens in my bag, I offered them to him. His response has stayed with me ever since. He said, “Well, doesn’t everyone like to be king for a day.” Initially, I was stunned. I had only meant to do what

I could, with the resources I had, in the place that I was in. But I realized he had articulated a valuable truth: as a society, we’ve become really good at king-fora-day solutions. For the chronically homeless or under-housed, this has meant that over successive winters we’ve temporarily increased shelter capacity. Just recently, the City of Toronto has also heeded the call resounding on social media to #OpenTheArmouries to facilitate additional shelter space. For many citizens using Toronto’s at-capacity shelter systems, respite takes the form of a sleeping mat on the ﬂoor. But while this reactive approach is necessary to address crises, it’s no longer enough. If we’re serious about ending homelessness, we need to institute long-term solutions and invest in a public health, preventive approach to homelessness. We need an approach

that targets the milieu of causative factors (primary prevention), supports those who are at risk of or newly experiencing homelessness (secondary prevention), and addresses those who experience chronic homelessness (tertiary prevention), in equal measure. Last November, the federal government launched a $40-billion National Housing Strategy that aspires to reduce chronic homelessness by 50 per cent over the next 10 years. The strategy will create and repair housing units, and involve the development of a $4-billion housing beneﬁt, set to launch in 2020. The National Housing Strategy is a welcome sign of emerging progress. But it will only succeed if we also commit to addressing the factors that make individuals vulnerable to homelessness in the ﬁrst place. Previous long-standing federal divestment in affordable housing is one such cause. However, sys-

temic issues – including poverty, racism, discrimination, inadequate mental health supports, domestic violence and a history of colonialism confronting disenfranchised individuals and populations – also directly contribute. The solutions we develop must therefore seek to address the specific needs of those we’re trying to serve. The face of Canadians experiencing homelessness (approximately 200,000 individuals a year) is becoming increasingly diverse. It has mounting representation from those with mental health concerns, adults with intellectual disabilities, women, newcomers to Canada, youth, the LGBTQ+ and Indigenous peoples. There’s sound evidence that strategies like Housing First are effective, cost efﬁcient and can be tailored to support the unique needs of groups from youth to veterans. A Housing First approach couples immediate access to housing for

Vivian Tam those with mental health concerns or other speciﬁc needs with a recovery-oriented approach that focuses on social and community integration. Implementing Housing First – in cities including Moncton, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg and Vancouver – demonstrates unequivocally that individuals are more likely to remain housed and experience improved overall well-being. In addition to targeting housing strategies to the populations served, a focus on primary prevention of homelessness

must remain a priority. Redressing these systemic factors will entail a collective effort across sectors of government. But an initial step for policymakers will be to take an incremental approach, and to recognize the impact of structural injustice on an individual’s ability to retain stable housing. It’s time to develop solutions that address the causes and consequences of homelessness as a whole. Anyone experiencing or vulnerable to homelessness in Canada deserves to be supported by a system that’s responsive to their concerns year-round and not just when we’re galvanized by acute need. Vivian Tam is the Ontario Medical Students Association (OMSA) director of representation and a student expert with EvidenceNetwork.ca. She is finishing her final year of medical school at McMaster University. © Troy Media

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Church Services in Thompson

ST. JAMES ANGLICAN 10 Caribou 677-4652 11 am Sundays ST. JOSEPH UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC 340 Juniper Drive 778-7547 ST. LAWRENCE ROMAN CATHOLIC Fr Shantha Gandamalla and Fr Guna Sekhar 114 Cree R. 677-0160 Sat. 6:30 pm & Sun. 10 am THOMPSON PENTECOSTAL Pastor Dan Murphy Youth Pastor Colton Murphy Children’s Pastor Karen O’Gilvie 126 Goldeye 677-3435 thompsonchurch.ca Sunday school 9:45 am, coffee time at 10:40 am Church Service at 11:00 am ST. ANDREWS PRESBYTERIAN 249 Thompson Drive 204-677-2799 Pastor Murat Kuntel Regular Hours: 11 am Church service CHRISTIAN CENTRE FELLOWSHIP 328 Thompson Dr. N. 677-4457 Sun. School 9:45 am • service 11 am FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH 456 Westwood Dr. S. Ph. 778-8037 service @ 11 am LUTHERAN - UNITED CHURCH OF THOMPSON Congregations worship at 52 Caribou Rd. at 10:30 am Sundays. Phone 204-677-4495

LIVING WATER CHURCH Pastor Archie McKay Ph: 677-2469 Sunday services @ 7:00pm. LIGHT OF THE NORTH CHURCH 32 Nelson Road GATEWAY BIBLE BAPTIST CHURCH Pastor Chris Lowe 159 Cree Rd 204-677-3000 Sunday school 10:00 am AM Service at 11, PM Service at 7 Prayer meeting - Wednesday 7 pm THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS everyone welcome Sundays at 10 AM 83 Copper Rd For more information, church tours or home visits call the missionaries at 204-939-4382 or visit Mormon.org THE SALVATION ARMY Thompson Corps (Church) 305 Thompson Dr. - 204-677-3658 Worship services every Sunday at 11 am BURNTWOOD BAPTIST CHURCH 39 Beaver Crescent Thompson MB R8N 1C5 204-778-4494 Pastor Lee Pickett Sunday morning service 11:15 a.m Sunday evening service 7:00 p.m Wednesday prayer meeting 7:00 p.m

1. Which artist released “Fraulein”? 2. Who actually recorded the 1962 hit song “He’s a Rebel”? 3. Who released “Dreadlock Holiday”? 4. Which artist released the album “Never a Dull Moment”? 5. Name the song that contains this lyric: “Spread your tiny wings and fly away, And take the snow back with you, Where it came from on that day.” Answers 1. Bobby Helms, in 1957. Meant as a message from an American soldier he sings about leaving his love, a German’s daughter, by the banks of the old river Rhine. 2. Not the Crystals, even though they got the credit. Producer Phil Spector was in a rush to record (one step ahead of Vikki Carr), and the Crystals were out of town. He snagged backup group singers the Blossoms, had them cut the record and put the Crystals name on it. 3. 10cc, in 1978. The video for this Jamaica-reggae number was filmed on a beach in Dorset, U.K. 4. Rod Stewart, in 1972. 5. “Snowbird.” Anne Murray’s 1970 version was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the first time the American organization awarded a gold record to a Canadian female artist. © 2018 King Features Synd., Inc.

• What’s on sale in February? Get great deals on electronics — including computers — and mattresses, carpet/ tile/laminates and other flooring, used cars, catalog closeouts and exercise equipment. Also, look for gift add-ons with perfume purchases and after-holiday deals on candy and red items (think ahead for Fourth of July and Christmas tableware!) • “We recently got a cute pot rack, but when we put up our stainless steel pots, it became clear that we weren’t doing a great job of cleaning them — eew! My neighbor and best friend came to the rescue with a product called Barkeepers Friend. It’s a scouring powder, but it doesn’t scratch. Anyway, all the yellow stains on the bottom of our pots came off. And it de-grossed a cast-iron skillet too (we re-seasoned it). Our pot rack now looks great.” — M.D. in Louisiana • Fine particles of dust and grease mix in the air in the kitchen, and when they settle on things, it can get sticky! If you have a buildup of this sticky dust on appliances, try this trick: Make a paste from baking soda or cream of tartar and water. Apply with a damp sponge for a little gentle abrasive. Follow with a clean damp cloth. This works especially well on the top of the fridge. • If you dye your own hair, apply a border of petroleum jelly to the outside of your face at the hair line. This will keep those drips from staining your face. Apply some to your ears as well, and the back of your neck for the same reason. • Don’t forget to wash your kid’s backpack from time to time. The places it goes and the things it sees make me shudder, especially in this cold and flu season. Send your tips to Now Here’s a Tip, 628 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803. © 2018 King Features Synd., Inc.

CLASSIFIED@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

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PHONE 204-677-4534

Friday, February 9, 2018

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

Nickel Belt News • www.thompsoncitizen.net University College of the North (UCN) is committed to building a workforce that is representative of the populations we serve. Applications are invited from individuals who have a demonstrated interest and ability to work with Aboriginal learners and mature students. Preference will be given to Aboriginal candidates.

STOREKEEPER

Full-Time Regular Position The Pas, Manitoba Competition No: 18-012 Closing Date: February 21, 2018 Please visit our website for more detailed information about UCN and this employment opportunity. At http://www.ucn.ca, select “UCN Careers”, and select from the list of positions to view. Thank you for your interest in UCN. Announcer Operator (English Services) - THO00012 Job Family Programming (TV-Radio-Web) Primary Location Thompson Position Language Requirement English Only Language Skill Levels (Reading / Writing / Speaking) Status of Employment Contract Work schedule(s) Full-time

Thompson (866) 677.6450

Description What it’s like working at CBC/Radio-Canada At CBC/Radio-Canada, we’re all about creating content that informs, entertains and connects Canadians on multiple platforms and from coast to coast to coast. Want to be part of all this, and think you have the ability and drive to keep pace with this exciting, ever-changing industry? Then we hope you’ll consider this posting, check out our job-listings, and explore the possibilities of working with us. Whether it be in front of the camera, on mic, online or or behind the scenes, you would be joining a team that thrives on making the connections and telling the stories that are important to Canadians. This is an amazing opportunity at CBC Manitoba. This is your chance to join our team as our next great Announcer/Operator based in Thompson, Manitoba. If you are passionate about everything that makes Northern Manitoba what it is -- its people and its neighbourhoods, its culture and its sports, its politics and its business -- then this might be the perfect job for you.

University College of the North (UCN) is committed to building a workforce that is representative of the populations we serve. Applications are invited from individuals who have a demonstrated interest and ability to work with Aboriginal learners and mature students.

This is a development opportunity. Here are some of the traits we’re looking for you to have (or that you can convince us that you’ve got deep down inside of you and we can develop): • you are passionate about your community. • have a deep understanding of Thompson and the North. • you have a deep knowledge of the Indigenous and/ or a visible minority community in Thompson. • you’re a creative storyteller. • have a warm and confident style with people. • a strong interviewer in a live format. • you’re a critical thinker. • ability to work independently. Qualiﬁcations Who Should Apply Applications from across Canada are welcome, but you’re going to have to make a case for why you are passionate about Thompson. A diverse workforce is important to us, so we encourage Indigenous people, women, members of visible minorities and people living with disabilities to apply.

Candidates may be subject to skills and knowledge testing. CBC/Radio-Canada is committed to being a leader in reflecting our country’s diversity. That’s because we can only create and tell the stories that connect Canadians, by having a workforce that mirrors the ever-changing makeup of our country. That’s why we, as an employer, value equal opportunity and nurture an inclusive workplace where our individual differences are not only recognized and valued, but also extend to and pervade all the services we provide as Canada’s public broadcaster. For more information, visit the Talent and Diversity section of our website. If you have accommodation needs at this stage of the recruitment process, please inform us as soon as possible by sending an e-mail to recruitment@cbc.ca. If this sounds interesting, please apply online! We thank all applicants for their interest, but only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.

& Bianchini Warehousing Thompson’s Biggest Little Secret!

OFFICE ASSISTANT • We are looking for someone who is dedicated and ambitious to develop management skills for long term future considerations. • Full time, permanent, 35 + hours per week, must be bondable, able to pass criminal background check, have driver’s licence and access to own transportation. • Must have excellent communication/typing skills, experience with Microsoft Office and basic bookkeeping preferable. • Preparing bank deposits, able to organize, prioritize and complete reports by deadline dates. • Attention to detail, ability to work independently and within a team environment applying confidentiality in all matters. • Be open to new ideas and changes that may improve efficiency in day to day operations. • Ability to fill in for the manager when required/willingness to carry company cell phone in case of emergency. • Training provided, flexible work environment, wages based on experience. Start date: ASAP Email resume to Carolyn Turpie: manager@friulirentals.com or fax to: 204-677-3195 or drop off at 31 Oak St. Office. Closing date: February 16, 2018 We appreciate the interest of all applicants, however only those individuals selected for interviews will be contacted.

LIBRARY TECHNICIAN

Full-Time Regular Position Thompson, Manitoba Competition No: 18-011 Closing Date: March 1, 2018 or until filled Please visit our website for more detailed information about UCN and this employment opportunity. At http://www.ucn.ca, select “UCN Careers”, and select from the list of positions to view. Thank you for your interest in UCN.

Thompson (866) 677.6450

Looking for journeyman plumber or person with plumbing experience Competitive wages, great health benefit program, ever expanding business Please send resume to

mikeabbuilders@gmail.com or call 204-677-9998

Please include a link in your application letting us know what you sound like. It could be an interview you have done, or tell us your favourite story. Give us a sense of what you sound like and how you are when you talk to people.

Fr i u l i S u i te Re n t a l s

Preference will be given to Aboriginal candidates.

Please note that this is a one year, full time contract. What You Need to Bring:

Page 11

Customer Service Representative/Driver Flexible Hours: Part-Time or Full Time Thompson, MB

Leading with such values as Integrity and Honesty, Innovation, Technical Leadership and Customer Service Excellence, Welders Supplies is committed to helping their customers achieve their goals by providing the best industrial product, combined with the best service. To maintain this high level of customer care to our key Northern accounts, Welders Supplies is seeking a new Customer Service Representative/Driver for their Thompson location. As the Customer Service Representative you will be responsible for: • Providing in-depth knowledge and courteous service to customers. • Processing customer orders, providing excellent customer service along the way. • Maintaining the inventory and cleanliness of the warehouse. • Ensuring the showroom displays are clean with up-to-date products and prices. • Supporting customer deliveries as required, including short haul deliveries of their main product (compressed gas cylinders) to customers inside Thompson, and the surrounding communities. You and Your Experience: • You have a customer-focused mindset, both internally and externally. • You love working with customers to find the best solutions for them. • You are able to pick up new technology and computer programs easily. • You have at least 3 years of experience in sales or customer service. • You may have an understanding of welding (industry experience is not a requirement, it is an asset). • You have a valid Class 5 Manitoba driver’s license with a clear driving abstract. • Must be physically capable of lifting, pushing, and pulling weights of up to 75 lbs, as well as comfortable maneuvering cylinders weighing up to 1000 lbs (with proper lifting/pushing apparatus and techniques). What Welders Supplies has to offer you: • CAFE Family Enterprise of the year • Opportunities for growth • Strong leadership, focused on an established strategic plan • Competitive rewards To submit your candidacy: Please apply email your resume in confidence to Janelle Robin at jrobin@peoplefirsthr.com For more information about this career opportunity please call Janelle at 204.938.4034

WORK WITH US & GROW A CAREER Glacier Media Group is growing. Check our job board regularly for the latest openings: www.glaciermedia.ca/careers

Thompsoncitizen.net

Page 12

Nickel Belt News • www.thompsoncitizen.net

Friday, February 9, 2018

Sports

Karate club members collect gold, silver and bronze at tournament BY KYLE DARBYSON KYLE@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

Four members of the Thompson Karate Club recently took part in the Joseph Kryschuk Memorial Friendship Tournament in The Pas Jan. 20. The club ended up walking away from the tournament with eight medals in total, four in the choreographed portion known as kata, and four in the sparring section of the competition, also known as kumite. The big winners from the tournament included: • Max Nerbas (bronze in kata, silver in kumite for males aged 8–9) • Teyara Braun (gold in kata and kumite for females aged 8–9) • Gerry de Beer (gold in kata, silver in kumite for males aged 10–11) • Pamela Lawhead (gold in kata and kumite for adult females) Although this was a smaller medal haul compared to previous years, sensei Peter de Beer said many of his pupils still qualiﬁed for the national tournament, which is going to be held in The Pas

Nickel Belt News photo courtesy of Peter de Beer Participants of the 2018 Joseph Kryschuk Memorial Friendship Tournament show off their hardware from the competition. From left to right: Max Nerbas, Teyara Braun, Pamela Lawhead, Gerry de Beer and sensei Peter de Beer. April 21. De Beer went on to say that his students are more motivated than ever to

2017 4295*

compete, since they know that karate will make its first appearance as an Olympic sport at the 2020

Games in Tokyo, Japan. “So if people can start training for it, they can get ready for it, and whoever

ﬁts the bill will be able to go,” he said. The Thompson Karate Club holds classes every

Tuesday and Thursday from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at École Communautaire La Voie du Nord.

Babies Did you welcome a new bundle of joy in 2017?

If you became a proud parent, grandparent, uncle or aunt send us a picture and a few details (max 50 words) and we will publish them for all to see!

IN FULL COLOUR

This special feature will be published on February 21 or 23. Deadline to submit materials is February 14 by 3:00 pm

Call 204-677-4534

or email classified@thompsoncitizen.net

Welcome to our world ANNA LISA SMITH! Born October 4, 2017. We are so blessed to have you in our lives! Love and hugs and kisses, Mommy and Daddy