Learning to fish
Freshwater Fisheries Society of B.C. held a Learn to Fish event at Westlake Provincial Park on Monday. The half-day course taught the
4, front, and Connor Stanford, 7.
Spy agency gave oil companies environmentalist surveillance data, civil liberties group says
Jeremy HAINSWORTH Glacier Media
The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) Monday released thousands of pages of heavily-redacted documents suggesting the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) spy agency illegally spied on Indigenous and environmentalist groups opposed to the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline project.
And, the association and other groups assert, that information was illegally shared with the oil industry and the National Energy Board – which is also alleged to have engaged in intelligence gathering. They’re calling it corporate welfare.
“The Canadian government deployed people to spy on ordinary people,” said Alexandra Woodsworth, spokeswoman for Dogwood BC, one of the surveilled groups. She called CSIS actions “a shocking betrayal” of peoples’ trust in their government.
“Our tax dollars are being used to spy on people on behalf of the fossil fuel companies,” she said.
Association lawyer Meghan McDermott said it is not known whether the decision to monitor the groups came from within CSIS or from higher in the government.
McDermott denounced the state surveillance, saying it puts a chill on speaking out against issues, signing petitions and engaging in peaceful protest.
Average home price in city up nearly $10K
Citizen staff
The price of a single-family home rose by $9,595 while the number of sales leveled off, according to mid-year numbers released by the B.C. Northern Real Estate Board.
The average sale price stood at $366,073 as of the end of June while there were 449 sales, four fewer than by midpoint 2018.
Activity added up to $164.4 million, up 1.8 per cent last year, which in turn saw a 1.4-per-cent decline from 2017 when there were 515 sales at $317,856 on average.
Looking at properties of all types, 697 worth $245.7 million have changed hands so far this year, compared with 691 properties worth $216 million in the first six months of last year.
In the western part of the city, the median price of the 124 single-family homes that have sold through the Multiple Listing Service was $333,000, compared to $315,000 on 132 sales by the same point last year.
In the area east of the bypass, the 101 singlefamily homes that sold had a median price of $280,000, compared to $251,865 on 84 sales.
CSIS spokesman John Townsend said CSIS investigates activities falling within the definition of threats to the security of Canada and reports on them to the Government of Canada. He said the definition of threats in the agency’s governing law “specifically
“This all amounts to a shocking violation of freedom of expression,” she said. It was a BCCLA complaint filed in February 2014 alleging CSIS was illegally monitoring activities of Dogwood Initiative, ForestEthics (now Stand.Earth), Sierra Club BC, Leadnow.ca and the Indigenous #Idlenomore movement that led to Monday’s disclosures.
excludes lawful protest and dissent.”
Townsend said the Security Intelligence review Committee (SIRC) in 2017 investigated and dismissed the complaint, finding that CSIS had not acted outside of its mandate and that its activities were reasonable and necessary.
“As the judicial review of SIRC’s decision of this complaint is currently before the Court, I’m not able to provide further comment at this time,” Townsend said. — see ‘PEOPLE CAN, page 3
In the northern part of the city 84 single-family homes sold with a median price of $377,500, compared to $357,500 on 84 sales.
The 136 single-family homes that sold in the southwest section of the city had a median sale price of $429,900 compared to $425,000 on 148 sales.
At the end of June there were 658 properties of all types available for purchase through the MLS.
The full report is posted online with this story at www.pgcitizen.ca.
Lynden Sandy, left, and Beth Lucier teach Ryder Stanford,
GLACIER PHOTO BY JEREMY HAINSWORTH
Stand.Earth climate and energy campaigner Sven Biggs displays several of the thousands of redacted documents released about Canada’s federal spy agency’s surveillance of environmental groups opposed to the Northern Gateway Pipeline.
UNBC HANDOUT PHOTO
UNBC professor
Michel Bouchard co-authored Les BoisBrûlés de l’Outaouais, a book about Canada’s Metis history.
New book by UNBC prof celebrates rich Métis history
Citizen staff
A University of Northern British Columbia professor has co-authored a book that argues there is a historical Métis community to the north of Ottawa.
Anthropology professor Michel Bouchard worked with Sébastien Malette, an assistant professor of law and legal Studies at Carleton University, and Guillaume Marcotte to produce Les Bois-Brûlés de l’Outaouais.
They contend that a regional Métis culture and community formed in the valleys of the Gatineau and the Lièvre, a community fully integrated within a Métis diaspora found across North America.
One of the families even seems to have had an ancestor, François
Beaulieu, who accompanied Alexander Mackenzie to the Pacific Coast.
“Through a detailed analysis of unpublished sources, we demonstrate that the ‘freemen’ of the fur trade, as well as their spouses and children, constituted a core of families that would soon form a historical Métis community in western Québec,” said Bouchard.
The content of the book may surprise many.
The history of the Ottawa region is known for forestry, while the Métis are invariably depicted as bison hunters in the western prairies.
“The Métis of the Outaouais came into existence in the era of the fur trade, when FrenchCanadian and Scottish traders took as wives Indigenous women
while continuing to pursue trade whether as employees of the fur trade companies or in competition with these very same companies, notably the Hudson’s Bay Company,” said Marcotte.
“They forged a life in trading, often clandestinely, or in working for forestry companies or as guides and interpreters, but always as Métis.”
Malette said their work found that Louis Riel was reputed to have spent some time in the area, where he was pursued by bounty hunters during his exile after the resistance of 1869-70 which led to the creation of the province of Manitoba.
“The local oral history testifies to the fact that he found refuge among these Métis families of western Québec,” Malette said.
Prince George provincial court docket
From Prince George provincial court, June 28-July 5, 2019:
• Kalen William Joel Joseph (born 1993) was sentenced to one year probation, issued a 10-year firearms prohibition and ordered to provide a DNA sample for breaking and entering into a home with intent or committing an offence, to a 30-day conditional sentence order for willfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer and prohibited from driving for one year and fined $500 plus a $75 victim surcharge for driving while prohibited or licence suspended under the Motor Vehicle Act, all committed in Fort St. James. Joseph was in custody for 64 days prior to sentencing.
• Raphael John Joseph (born 1985) was sentenced to zero days in jail for willfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer and breaching an undertaking or recognizance, both committed in Fort St. James. Joseph was in custody for 40 days prior to sentencing.
• Saphire Jessica Marie Healy (born 1995) was sentenced to zero days in jail for willfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer. Healy was in custody for one day prior to sentencing.
• Felisha Adele Marie Paquette (born 1985) was sentenced to six months probation with a suspended sentence for breaching probation.
• Brandon Joseph Poole (born 1985) was sentenced to one year probation with a suspended sentenced for breaching an undertaking or recognizance.
• Austin Brent Joseph (born 1993) was prohibited from driving for one year and fined $500 plus a $75 victim surcharge for driving while prohibited or licence suspended under the Motor Vehicle Act.
• William Malcolm McKay (born 1973) was prohibited from driving for one year and fined $500 plus a $75 victim surcharge for driving while prohibited or licence suspended under the Motor Vehicle Act, committed in Chilliwack. McKay was in custody for 64 days prior to sentencing.
• Mark Alexander Mitchell (born 1980) was sentenced to nine days in jail and two years probation, issued a three-year firearms prohibition and ordered to provide a DNA sample for possessing a prohibited weapon (non-firearm) and possessing stolen property under $5,000. Mitchell was in custody for 22 days prior to sentencing.
• Inderjit Dhadwal (born 1989) was prohibited from driving for one year and fined $500 for driving while disqualified under the Criminal Code.
• Tahno Anthony Eimer (born 1998) was sentenced to one year probation and ordered to provide a DNA sample for assault with a weapon.
• Brian Liam Jackson (born 1974) was fined $4,000 plus $600 in
victim surcharges for two counts driving without due care under the Motor Vehicle Act.
• James Hugh Stalker (born 1992) was prohibited from driving for one year and fined $1,500 plus a $75 victim surcharge for driving while impaired under the Criminal Code and driving while prohibited or licence suspended under the Motor Vehicle Act.
• Kyle Teegee (born 1987) was sentenced to 14 days in jail, prohibited from driving for one year and fined $500 plus a $75 victim surcharge for driving while prohibited or licence suspended under the Motor Vehicle Act.
• Kenneth Michael Wipfli (born 1981) was sentenced to zero days in jail for breaching probation. Wipfli was in custody for 10 days prior to sentencing.
• Terry Lee Cameron (born 1974) was sentenced to eight days in jail for being unlawfully at large. Cameron was in custody for three days prior to sentencing.
• Angeline Louise Hammerstrom (born 1980) was sentenced to 12 days in jail for breaching an undertaking or recognizance.
• Kassidy Lynn Krewusik (born 1995) was fined $1,500 plus a $225 victim surcharge for driving without a driver’s licence under the Motor Vehicle Act.
• Rajan Nahal (born 1982) was fined $1,500 plus a $225 victim surcharge for driving without a driver’s licence under the Motor Vehicle Act.
From B.C. Supreme Court in Prince George:
• Donavan Hans Smith (born 1989) was sentenced to a further month in jail and issued a lifetime firearms prohibiton for unauthorized possession of a firearm and zero days in jail for possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, both committed in Chief Lake.
• Robert Michael Mero (born 1985) was sentenced to three years four months in jail and issued a 10-year firearms prohibition for possessing a prohibited or restricted firearm with ammunition and to eight months in jail for possessing for the purpose of trafficking.
• Derek Scott Livingstone (born 1988) was sentenced to one year probation and issued a five-year firearms prohibition and ordered to provide a DNA sample for two counts of assault, committed in Mackenzie and Prince George, and to zero days for mischief $5,000 or under, committed in Prince George. Livingstone was in custody for 87 days prior to sentencing.
• Daniel Roger McKenzie (born 1983) was sentenced to 18 months probation and ordered to provide a DNA sample for assault, committed in Hixon.
• Aaron Myles Mickey (born 1997) was sentenced to one year probation for theft $5,000 or under and to zero days for breaching an undertaking.
Woman killed in crash north of Quesnel
Citizen staff
A woman was killed early Monday morning in a singlevehicle crash north of Quesnel. RCMP said the woman, a passenger, was ejected from the vehicle while the driver was taken to hospital with non-lifethreatening injuries.
Names of the two were not released. The vehicle went off the road near Hush Lake, about 20 kilometres north of Quesnel at about 5:45 a.m.
Police were called to the scene at about 5:45 a.m. The stretch remained at single-lane alternating with delays as of mid-morning Monday.
Anniversary looms with no charges in Mount Polley dam collapse
Gordon HOEKSTRA Vancouver Sun
Environmentalists and Mount Polley mine-area residents are anxiously waiting as one deadline approaches for federal agencies to lay charges over the 2014 collapse of the B.C. Interior mine’s tailings dam.
After a 4-1/2-year investigation, a team comprised of officials with Environment Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, along with the B.C. Conservation Officer Service, delivered a charge package to federal prosecutors this spring. It is now up to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada to determine if charges will be laid.
Under federal law, there is a five-year window that ends Aug. 4 to lay charges in a summary conviction under the Fisheries Act, where a large corporation faces fines up to $8 million.
However, if federal prosecutors were to lay more serious charges as an indictment –which come with higher maximum fines of $12 million – there is no timeline.
Another deadline already passed at the three-year mark, when British Columbia officials decided not to lay charges.
One of the largest mining-dam failures in the world in the past 50 years, the Aug. 4, 2014, dam collapse of Imperial Metals’ gold mine in the B.C. Interior shook the industry and caused concern among the public, First Nations and environmental groups that aquatic life would be harmed, particularly salmon spawn in the Quesnel Lake system.
“We are holding our breaths over the next
couple of weeks to see what happens,” said Christine McLean, who has a home on the lake. “If charges are laid, we feel that we will finally get some justice.”
In a written response, Environment Canada said the investigation team’s charge report was delivered April 2, 2019.
The Public Prosecution Service of Canada, with the help of the B.C. Prosecution Service, is assessing the charge file.
“As the matter is now under charge assessment, (Environment Canada) is not in a
position to provide further comment at this time,” ministry spokesman Mark Johnson said Friday.
Linda Nowlan, a staff lawyer with West Coast Environmental Law, said the fact federal officials have mentioned there is no timeline for an indictment, may mean they are considering that route.
However, Nowlan said she hopes that charges are laid soon.
“I would be astonished if they did not lay charges, but they have to think they have a
likelihood of conviction,” said Nowlan.
“And if they think the company exercised due diligence that might give them second thoughts.”
Late last year, Imperial Metals announced that action for damages from the tailings dam failure had been settled among the parties, which included engineering firms, and resulted in net payments to the mining company of $108 million.
Nowlan said the settlement would “no doubt” be taken into consideration in deciding whether to lay charges.
Mining Watch Canada director Ugo Lapointe is concerned about the length of time it has taken to lay charges and also that most penalties from spills into the environment are levied when companies reach settlements and plead guilty.
“I think it stinks. It doesn’t look good,” said Lapointe. The failure at the Mount Polley gold and copper mine’s earth-and-rock dam spilled millions of cubic metres of mine effluent and tailings into Quesnel Lake, after scouring nine kilometres of Hazeltine Creek, where trout and coho salmon spawned.
The mine effluent and tailings consisted of finely ground rock, remaining after the milling process to extract gold and copper, that contain potentially toxic metals. Imperial Metals has spent millions of dollars to rehabilitate Hazeltine Creek.
The tailings dumped into Quesnel Lake remain at the bottom of the lake. Studies on the effect of the spill are expected to continue for years.
‘People can look at these documents and decide for themselves’
— from page 1
The SIRC decision said, “the service’s collection of information (portion redacted) was lawful and within its mandate, and the service did not investigate activities involving lawful advocacy, protest or dissent.”
And, the decision found, CSIS had not shared information with the petroleum industry.
And, said Enbridge spokeswoman Tracie Kenyon, the company welcomes debate but draws the line when protest activity becomes criminal with the potential to cause serious harm.
“The security of our facilities and the safety of our employees is our top priority at Enbridge,” Kenyon said. “We don’t tolerate trespassing, vandalism or mischief. Enbridge takes appropriate action to ensure the security of our facilities and our people and support the prosecution of those involved in illegal activity to the fullest extent of the law. “
The SIRC report, labelled top secret, was done by Yves Fortier, formerly a board member for TransCanada Pipelines, the company behind the Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to Texas.
The association asked unsuccessfully that Fortier, a lawyer and former ambassador, recuse himself from the investigation.
Fortier’s decision said both Sierra Club BC campaigns director Caitlyn Vernon and Leadnow director Jamie Biggar said a January 2012 letter from Conservative federal Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver suggesting environmentalists were radicals hijacking Canada’s regulatory system had spurred fears of surveillance.
And, Fortier said, there is no evidence showing CSIS shared information with the National Energy Board.
Public Safety Canada said Minister Ralph
Goodale could not comment as the case remains before the courts.
“With the coming into force of our new national security legislation, Bill C59, the law makes very clear that advocacy and protest do not constitute security threats,” the department said in a statement.
“Through this new legislation our government has strengthened transparency and the review process has been fortified.”
The civil liberties association, however, said the newly released documents validate the original complaint.
They can be read here: bccla.org/secret-spyhearings/.
“People can look at these documents and decide for themselves,” McDermott said.
“If CSIS claims it wasn’t tracking conservation groups in B.C., why did they collect thousands of pages of files relating to groups who engaged in peaceful advocacy and protest?”
She said the association intends to appeal the SIRC decision to the Federal Court of Canada.
“The documents show there was surveillance going on,” McDermott said.
“There was no proximity to violence or any security threat.”
Association executive director Josh Paterson was one of those who testified at the hearings. Under an SIRC order, he is forever gagged from saying what he said, heard or saw at the hearings – as are other participants.
He said it was CSIS that did the redaction work.
It appears from the documents that CSIS was investigating domestic extremism and that CSIS briefs stakeholders “through which the service communicates severe emerging domestic threats to certain industries.”
Among speakers at such sessions could be the CSIS director general.
In justifying the redactions in the documents, Ministry of Justice lawyer Stephanie Dion said in a July 2017 letter to SIRC that revealing some information would identify CSIS interest in people or groups and harm investigations.
Releasing such information could intensify threats to Canada’s security, Dion said. She references “domestic extremism” and threats to infrastructure but much of the redaction request letter is redacted.
An SIRC confidentiality order prevented the association from making a decision and making documents regarding the complaint public, but has been partially lifted.
Vernon said illegal spying on those concerned about protecting the environment is an attack on Canadians’ freedom.
“Why should speaking up for clean drinking water and air free from wildfire smoke make us enemies of the state?” Vernon said.
“We won’t stand for it.”
International anti-fossil fuel group 350.org spokesman Clayton Thomas-Müller said such surveillance criminalizes dissent, behaviour he characterized as repression.
“The state is surveilling and criminalizing Indigenous peoples who are acting within their right to exercise jurisdiction over their lands. This is an abuse of democracy and the nationto-nation relationship between Indigenous nations and the state. It is clearly about providing a right-of-way for the mining and energy sector.”
Biggs said one of the revelations was that a ForestEthics meeting in a Kelowna church basement was attended by someone from either CSIS or the RCMP.
And, he fears those who have opposed the Trans Mountain pipeline twinning from Edmonton to Burnaby have also been watched using “intimidation tactics by the state.”
Ride-hailing coming in September
VICTORIA (CP) — The British Columbia government has set up a series of rules and regulations as it opens the door to riding hailing applications for the service on Sept. 3. There’s no exact day when riding hailing could start in the province and opinion varies from mid-September to as late as the end of the year.
New Democrat Bowinn Ma, who heads an all-party committee that deals with ride hailing, says the service could start by year’s end, while a Transportation Ministry bureaucrat says the companies could be approved to operate as early as Sept. 16.
Uber Canada spokesman Michael van Hemmen says the ride hailing company will review the B.C. policy to evaluate it’s impacts on the ability to serve customers.
Contents from a tailings pond pour down Hazeltine Creek into Quesnel Lake near the town of Likely on Aug. 5, 2014.
Jumper fails to evade police
Citizen staff
A 25-year-old man who jumped from the third floor in an attempt to escape police was among four people arrested Friday when the Prince George RCMP’s street crew unit executed search warrants on two homes in the city.
The suspect made the leap when RCMP entered a 3800-block 15th Avenue home. He was apprehended by a police dog and handler and found in possession of a significant amount of cash, cocaine, and heroin or fentanyl or combination of both, RCMP said.
He taken to hospital with minor injuries.
Two other people, a 28-year-old man and a 49-year-old woman, both from Prince George, were also arrested.
And a 27-year-old Prince George man was arrested when RCMP executed a search warrant on a 200-block North Ospika Boulevard home where police said a significant amount of cash was found. All four suspects have been released from custody pending further investigation. Their names were not released Monday.
A colourfullydressed parade participant dances down Seventh Avenue on Saturday morning while taking part in the 2019 Prince George Pride Parade.
Volunteers sought to clean up Teapot Mountain
Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca
A group dedicated to cleaning up and improving Teapot Mountain is welcoming volunteers.
The Rock Ed Backcountry Society is holding a meeting today at the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development at 2000 S. Ospika Blvd., 7 p.m. start.
The society has a contract from Recreation Sites and Trails British Columbia to remediate the popular hiking spot, near Summit Lake, about 50 kilometres north of Prince George.
The work has included getting rid of the abundance of teapots that have been left on top over the years, but that’s only part of a bigger plan.
Additional work includes rerouting
and improving the trail to make it safer and so it can handle larger amounts of traffic, replacing the outhouse and upgrading the parking lot and road into the site.
Something of a tempest brewed recently when the group posted a video on social media urging hikers to refrain from leaving teapots on top of the mountain. Although doing so has become a bit of a tradition for many, they’ve turned into a safety hazard, particularly for the rock climbers whose routes are below the viewpoint.
“When you approach the viewpoint, there’s a little spot that, if you look close enough, you can see a little trail that goes off and there are some anchors there,” said Society president Michelle Jackson in a recent interview.
“If you’re looking out towards Summit
Lake, it’s slightly to the left.” She said volunteers have taken about a “bag a week” of teapots off the mountain. Ways to keep the tradition going while making it safe for those below were looked at but found to be not possible, Jackson said. Moreover, she said it’s part of the contract with RSTBC to keep the mountain free of litter, and the teapots are considered litter.
Maintaining and hosting the Dougherty Creek campground on the west side of the Tabor Mountain Recreation Area is also among the Society’s goals. The meeting is for members and those interested in becoming members only and those interested are asked to RSVP by email through the society’s website (rockedbackcountry.org) or on the organization’s Facebook page.
Beauty and the Beast orchestra to perform behind the scenes
Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca
Belle was forbidden from entering the West Wing in the castle of the Beast, for it contained an enchanted rose withering under glass.
There is a wing of the Prince George Playhouse that is verboten as well, as long as Beauty & The Beast performances are underway. This room is home to the live orchestra conducted by PGSO maestro Michael Hall. The orchestra is sequestered there and linked by technology to the action on the stage. The musicians are not in visual contact with the dancers and singers of the show, but they are all linked in live collaboration nonetheless.
“It’s a bit of a song and dance, ha!, but it is working out the way we hoped,” said Jon Russell, who portrays the production’s Beast character and is also acting as sound technician, his primary profession.
There are 24 microphones arranged around the stage expanse, feeding the singing and dialogue into the orchestra’s room.
The musicians are likewise linked by 24 channels back to the stage and auditorium. Cameras and monitors also provide visual contact, but otherwise the musicians and dancers are in separate worlds.
Each show has its own configuration of orchestra and cast. In shows like the local productions of Tommy and Cabaret, the band was smaller and could be placed above the performance on a balcony above the stage.
In Chicago, done at Vanier Hall where the stage is larger, the musicians were assembled on the stage almost as part of the action.
For the majority of PG Playhouse (also Vanier Hall) performances, the orchestra is in a pit at the foot of the stage, sometimes requiring the removal of some front-row seats. This time, since the technology was available, the production team experimented with an outof-sight orchestra.
“Michael has never conducted for musical theatre before, and the fact he had the orchestra seamlessly connecting with the stage performer pretty much in the first real rehearsal is just a sign of how talented he is,” said Matt Russell, performing as Gaston and also involved in the crew setting up the set. “He was locked in pretty much after the first run-through.”
Jon Russell said the successful rehearsals were a weight off the minds of the stage crew and direction team because of the flesh and blood presence provided to an audience by the musicians.
“People have asked us, why don’t you just use canned music?
Wouldn’t that be exactly right every time?” he said. “The answer is, the on-stage tempo changes from night to night. The delivery changes every single time. Lines get forgotten, or sometimes words will get added. Parts of the dialogue might get dropped, or rearranged. Dialogue might start early, a dancer might miss a cue. Even just the mood changes from show to show. Pre-recorded music cannot adapt to those organic things that happen in any show. And a live orchestra just sounds better, I’m sorry, that’s just a fact. Recordings are a bit of a cop-out, I think. We have the musical talent right here in Prince George, so why not give the audience that level of quality?”
The curtain will open on Beauty & The Beast on Thursday with the run ongoing to July 27. Tickets are on sale now at all Central Interior Tickets platforms, including online purchasing for instant seat bookings 24 hours a day.
Charges pending after truck driver runs rampant
Citizen staff
A 50-year-old local man was arrested on suspicion of driving while impaired Saturday afternoon after Prince George RCMP responded to calls of a full-sized pickup truck crashing into vehicles along Ospika Boulevard and Massey Drive.
Called out at 3:30 p.m., and guided by callers, RCMP found a pickup at rest at Massey Drive and Opie Crescent with both front tires deflated.
Police said the driver fled but, with the help of witnesses, RCMP tracked him down.
The suspect underwent a 12-step evaluation conducted by a drug recognition expert who concluded he was impaired.
A urine sample was also obtained for analysis.
Police also said the vehicle was uninsured and with licence plates belonging to another vehicle and the driver had been prohibited from driving from a previous incident.
The driver was issued a 24-hour suspension, along with a violation ticket and his vehicle was impounded for seven days. He has been released on a promise to appear for court at a later date and the investigation is continuing, RCMP said. Charges remain pending and the suspect’s name was not released.
Anyone information about this incident is asked to contact the Prince George RCMP at 250-561-3300.
UNBC offering new degree
Citizen staff
The University of Northern British Columbia will launch a new degree this fall.
Students in the bachelor of science in conservation science and practice program will develop skills to restore ecosystems, plan for conservation, inform policy, conduct citizen science, make and analyze decisions involving ecological, social and economic criteria.
It includes majors in either wildland conservation and recreation or landscape conservation and management.
Graduates with the WCR major will have the skills to identify, plan, monitor, and manage conservation values within the parks, recreation, and nature-based tourism sectors in new and innovative ways.
Graduates with the LCM major will gain the cutting-edge technical skills and knowledge for solving some of the most
complex and pressing challenges facing the conservation of the planet’s biodiversity.
Career opportunities include working in the public sector with municipal, regional, provincial, federal, and First Nation governments and non-governmental organizations.
Graduates might work as researchers, outdoor or environmental educators, planners, policy advisors, or field biologists.
Private sector opportunities include starting a business, working as a consultant, or employment with companies in the resource or outdoor industries.
“We are in a time of expanding awareness and support for the value of conservation in protected areas,” said Dr. Tory Stevens, an ecologist with BC Parks.
“Having a program well rooted in science and maintaining currency will be invaluable.”
Mark Twain
CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN
Kelsey Jewesson plays the lead role of Belle in Judy Russell’s production of Beauty & the Beast, which hits the stage on Thursday.
Spend less, get better home support
Seniors advocate Isobel Mackenzie has released a deeply troubling report on home support services. Mackenzie found that the program, which provides home-based assistance with such basics as dressing, bathing and nutrition, is unaffordable for most seniors. It also fails to meet the requirements of high-need clients.
The affordability problem is selfevident. The program is incometested, but fees climb so steeply that a senior making $26,000 has to pay $7,300 for a once-daily visit. That is far beyond the reach of many, and the highest fee rate in the country.
One result is that elderly folks who could remain at home with the necessary support end up going to a residential care facility. From a humane perspective, this makes no sense. Why rob seniors of the independence and comfort that comes with staying in their own home when an alternative is
available?
Financially, it makes no sense either. The cost to taxpayers of subsidizing long-term care beds averages $57,500 a year. Yet two hours of daily home support costs just $27,740. Since 4,200 seniors occupy residential care beds who could remain at home, the province would save $125 million by helping them do so.
The same problem crops up in hospital admissions. Due to the lack of adequate home support, family physicians are sending their patients to hospital as the only available alternative. It’s estimated that about 15 per cent of hospital beds in major centres are occupied by patients who don’t belong there.
This is also financial lunacy. The average cost of a typical seven-day hospital stay is about $7,000.
But many seniors remain in hospital for weeks, waiting for a residential care bed. This is a far more expensive option than providing home-based support.
Then there is the reality that a third of family members who have become the primary care giver for elderly parents are at their wits’ end.
How did this state of affairs come about? One reason is that home support workers are the lowest paid of the auxiliary health
Powerful predators
The news that Jeffrey Epstein, a well-connected financier who a decade ago in Florida served a disconcertingly lenient 13-month sentence for soliciting prostitution, faces federal sex-trafficking charges is making headlines (see story, page 8). But the story is only partly about Epstein, who has pleaded not guilty, himself. Rather, his tendency to collect powerful friends makes it tempting to view his arrest as the beginning of a tale in which many of Epstein’s world-famous friends with dubious reputations could meet their comeuppances. Approach this temptation carefully. As part of a global reckoning with sexual exploitation and sexual violence, it is important to learn who enabled Epstein, who excused him and who may even have participated in what prosecutors allege was an ugly and predatory pattern of behaviour.
A true reckoning, though, won’t stop with people whose downfall we might find convenient or satisfying on partisan grounds. If we really care about stopping sexual exploitation and sexual violence, we should be prepared for whatever may come of this investigation, no matter whose character is impeached and no matter how misplaced our trust and confidence may have been. Epstein’s connections are the stuff of which global scandals and string-heavy conspiracy-theory diagrams are made. Epstein flew former president Bill Clinton and actors Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker to a series of African countries on his private jet in 2002 “to work on democratization, empowering the poor, citizen
must be held accountable
service, and combating HIV/ AIDS,” as Clinton put it in a statement at the time. Donald Trump praised him as a “terrific guy” later that year, though in 2015 a Trump spokesman said he knew Epstein only as a guest at one of his resorts.
Epstein was friendly with Prince Andrew, a relationship that continued after Epstein served his Florida sentence for solicitation. Lawyer Alan Dershowitz has defended Epstein in court; Alexander Acosta, then a U.S. prosecutor and now the labour secretary, signed off on Epstein’s plea deal in his solicitation case. Internet sleuths spotted Epstein’s longtime confidante Ghislaine Maxwell in a photo from Chelsea Clinton’s 2010 wedding. Entries in Epstein’s address book, which was among documents in a 2015 court case, ranged from rocker Courtney Love to Israeli politician Ehud Barak.
Given Epstein’s ties to various members of the global power elite, it is tempting to think of the charges against him primarily as a weapon to be used against others. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu used Epstein’s arrest to slam Barak. Some in the United States have called for Acosta to step down.
The Week asked “If Jeffrey Epstein gets nailed, will he bring any of his powerful friends down with him?”
But there are good reasons not to approach Epstein’s arrest in
occupations. Many need second jobs.
That tends to cause gaps in service, as staff members miss appointments because of other commitments. There is also the reality that housing costs in regions such as Greater Victoria are unaffordable to many low-income workers.
However, these are merely symptoms of a larger failing. For decades, home support has been the orphan child of our health-care system. Far too often it is out of sight and out of mind, as managers wrestle with more immediate difficulties such as rising drug costs and the shortage of family physicians.
This must stop. It’s not just that we owe seniors and their families a better life. There is no other area in health care where savings are so readily available if we reorganized our priorities. The first step is to increase the wages of home support workers. This can be done either by raising their hourly pay rate, or by
guaranteeing them full-time work, because large numbers can find only part-time employment. No doubt this is easier said than done. There will be union ramifications. Yet what is the alternative?
And fee levels for low-income seniors must be reduced to levels that are genuinely affordable. This, too, is easily said. Clearly there will be cost implications. But against these obstacles must be set the benefits of helping elderly residents remain in their home, and just as important, keeping them out of hospital or long-term care.
It’s not uncommon to hear advocacy groups claim that spending more money on social services will create savings down the road –savings that rarely materialize. But this is one instance where the status quo is visibly more expensive than an available alternative – more and cheaper home support.
– Victoria Times Colonist
An ocean of plastic
Plastic is everywhere. It is not merely that the material, rarely used in consumer products before 1950, has become ubiquitous in the homes, cars and offices Americans inhabit.
Scientists using remotely operated submersibles announced last month that they had found plastic microparticles in the deep ocean off California’s idyllic Monterey Bay, with, surprisingly, the highest concentrations in the middle of the water column.
Researchers have found the stuff on isolated Alpine peaks, in animals’ digestive tracts and in human stools. Some effects on the ecosystem, such as animals getting tangled in or choking on plastic waste, are obvious. It is alarmingly unclear what all the tiny microparticles ending up in the environment –and human bodies – is doing.
These 10 rivers, led by China’s Yangtze, result in a quarter of all the oceans’ annual plastic pollution.
these terms beyond the risk of playing into foreign hopes for American disunion. Some who knew Epstein socially may have been unaware of the sordid private life that prosecutors allege. But the only hope for making sure that men like Epstein aren’t tolerated by the powerful and wealthy is for everyone who did enable him to suffer the appropriate consequences. Any exceptions send a dangerous message: that if you’re a star they let you do it, that if you just donate to the right fundraiser, or back the right candidate, or make available your private jet on the right occasion, everything will turn out just fine. If you want to actually cure a disease, you need to burn it out entirely. We’ve all watched enough zombie and epidemic movies to understand that the metastasizing monster hidden away in the closet will always reemerge to wreak havoc. And we ought to know by now that no party, anywhere, has a monopoly on vice. Supporting Planned Parenthood or funding a professorship named for Gloria Steinem did not insulate Harvey Weinstein from rape allegations. Becoming a born-again Christian as a teenager didn’t stop former U.S. House speaker Dennis Hastert from sexually abusing students he taught and coached at an Illinois high school.
There are no beliefs, no magic talismans, that can ensure that the only people who are sexual predators are ones with whom we have other profound disagreements. That’s the thing about lancing a boil: you can’t do it strategically, making sure the ooze only flows in one direction.
Findings such as these have driven recent movements to eliminate onetime-use plastic products, such as plastic straws, which the District of Columbia banned, polystyrene food containers, which Maine banned, or plastic shopping bags, which California banned.
The petrochemical industry responds that alternatives often come with substantial hidden environmental harms: producing paper and cotton shopping bags requires more carbon dioxide emissions than thin plastic ones; foam food containers need less water and energy to make than possible replacement materials.
More and better plastic recycling is the answer, the industry suggests.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration argues that the United States is not the real culprit. Researchers concluded in 2017 that the 10 rivers with the most plastic pollution all were in either Asia or Africa. These 10 rivers, led by China’s Yangtze, result in a quarter of all the oceans’ annual plastic pollution.
In fact, this environmental prob-
lem is so massive, everyone needs to address it, not least the world’s largest economy. Fixing it is not as easy as handing out reusable shopping bags that many people do not use or developing alternatives to plastic products that have their own environmental impacts. In some cases, alternative products can help, but often only if coupled with policies that promote more sustainable practices – such as taxes on all one-time-use shopping bags, whatever the material. Faith in the promise of technological development cannot lead to neglect of hard systemic changes that promise to cut waste.
Recycling is not a complete answer, either, but plastics have become so important to the modern economy that it is an indispensable tool.
The United States recycles only about nine per cent of its plastic waste. The federal government should set recycling standards, rather than watching as some localities do well and others poorly. Part of the shift must include better educating people about what is and is not recyclable and pushing for more products to be made of the latter stuff.
The Trump administration is right that other big countries have massive plastic pollution problems, too.
But the United States has contributed by exporting plastic waste meant for recycling to places such as China.
And spoiling international moves to reduce plastic pollution, as the administration has done this year, will not help pressure other nations to change.
— The Washington Post
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MONEY IN BRIEF
Currencies
OTTAWA (CP) — These are indicative wholesale rates for foreign currency provided by the Bank of Canada on Monday. Quotations in Canadian funds.
Wealthy financier charged with molesting girls
Michael R. SISAK, Jim MUSTIAN
The Asosociated Press
NEW YORK — In a startling reversal of fortune, billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein was charged Monday with sexually abusing dozens of underage girls in a case brought more than a decade after he secretly cut a deal with federal prosecutors to dispose of nearly identical allegations.
The 66-year-old hedge fund manager who once socialized with some of the world’s most powerful people was charged in a newly unsealed federal indictment with sex trafficking and conspiracy during the early 2000s. He could get up to 45 years in prison if convicted.
The case sets the stage for another #MeToo-era trial fraught with questions of wealth and influence.
Epstein’s powerful friends over the years have included U.S. President Donald Trump, former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Britain’s Prince Andrew.
The markets today
TORONTO (CP) — North American stock markets started the week lower on fading hopes of U.S. interest rate cuts later this month.
The decreases followed a downward movement on Friday after a strong U.S. jobs report suggested that deep cuts weren’t as paramount to support the economy. That is causing equity markets to recalibrate expectations around what the U.S. Federal Reserve might do with rates at its July meeting, and over the remainder of the year, says Craig Fehr, a Canadian markets strategist with Edward Jones. The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 79.04 points at 16,462.95 after hitting an intraday low of 16,458.47.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 115.98 points at 26,806.14 as shares of Apple Inc. fell 2.1 per cent on an analyst downgrade.
The S&P 500 index was down 14.46 points at 2,975.95, while the Nasdaq composite was down 63.41 points at 8,098.38.
This week’s U.S. inflation data will provide another economic signal, but all eyes will be focused on Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell’s congressional testimony on Wednesday, Fehr added.
The key energy sector dropped 0.78 per cent, followed closely by telecommunications, materials and industrials.
Canadian Natural Resources and Encana Corp. each lost more than two per cent as the price of crude oil decreased with geopolitical concerns over Iran’s nuclear program offset by worry about weakening global demand.
The August crude contract was up 15 cents at US$57.66 per barrel and the August natural gas contract was down 1.5 cents at US$2.40 per mmBTU. Telecommunications dropped with shares of Rogers Communications and several other companies decreasing following service outages.
A 4.4-per-cent decrease in shares of Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. pushed the materials sector lower as metal prices fell and the U.S. dollar rose on the prospect that the Fed might not cut rates.
The August gold contract was down 10 cents at US$1,400 an ounce and the September copper contract was down 0.2 of a cent US$2.66 a pound.
The Canadian dollar traded for an average of 76.45 cents US compared with an average of 76.34 cents US on Friday.
Prosecutors said the evidence against Epstein included a “vast trove” of hundreds or even thousands of lewd photographs of young women or girls, discovered in a weekend search of his New York City mansion. Authorities also found papers and phone records corroborating the alleged crimes, and a massage room still set up the way accusers said it appeared, prosecutors said.
Epstein, who was arrested Saturday as he arrived in the U.S. from Paris aboard his private jet, was brought into court Monday in a blue jail uniform, his hair disheveled, and pleaded not guilty. He was jailed for a bail hearing next Monday, when prosecutors plan to argue that the rich world traveller might flee if released.
His lawyers argued that the sexcrime allegations had been settled in 2008 with a plea agreement in Florida that was overseen by Alexander Acosta, who was the U.S. attorney in Miami at the time and is now Trump’s labour secretary.
“This is ancient stuff,” Epstein attorney Reid Weingarten said in court, calling the case essentially a “redo” by the government.
But U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman of New York said that the non-prosecution agreement that spared Epstein from a heavy prison sentence a decade ago is binding only on federal prosecutors in Florida, not on authorities in New York.
The alleged victims “deserve their day in court,” Berman said. “We are proud to be standing up for them by bringing this indictment.”
Epstein was accused in the indictment of paying underage girls hundreds of dollars in cash for massages and then molesting them at his homes in Palm Beach, Florida, and New York from 2002 through 2005.
He “intentionally sought out
minors and knew that many of his victims were in fact under the age of 18,” prosecutors said. He also paid some of his victims to recruit additional girls, creating “a vast network of underage victims for him to sexually exploit,” prosecutors said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Rossmiller said that while there is some overlap between the Florida and New York cases, one of the counts is based entirely on New York victims.
Federal authorities said new accusers have come forward since Epstein’s arrest, and they urged other possible victims to contact the FBI.
Some of Epstein’s accusers welcomed the indictment.
“The news of my abuser’s arrest today is a step in the right direction to finally hold Epstein accountable for his crimes and restore my faith that power and money can’t triumph over justice,” Sarah Ransome said through her lawyer.
Prosecutors in New York are seeking the forfeiture of Epstein’s mansion, a seven-story, 21,000-square-foot townhouse less than a block from Central Park.
The home, formerly a prep school, is across the street from a home owned by Bill Cosby and has been valued at approximately $77 million.
Epstein’s arrest came amid increased #MeToo-era scrutiny of the 2008 non-prosecution agreement, which caused a furor in recent years as the details came to light, many of them exposed in a series of stories by The Miami Herald.
Under the deal, Epstein was allowed to plead guilty to state
Watchdogs launch investigation of Desjardins privacy breach
Christopher REYNOLDS The Canadian Press
MONTREAL— A pair of privacy watchdogs have launched an investigation after a data breach at Desjardins Group that affected nearly three million members.
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and its Quebec equivalent said the probes will examine whether Desjardins was in compliance with federal and provincial laws around personal information protection.
The financial co-operative operates mainly in Quebec, where it is subject to provincial law, but falls under federal privacy rules for its activities elsewhere in Canada.
A pair of class-action lawsuits were initiated last month that allege the organization either violated its members’ privacy rights or showed negligence in safeguarding their personal and financial information.
The accessed data includes social insurance numbers, names and addresses of 2.7 million individual members and 173,000 business members.
Desjardins spokesman Jean-Ben-
oit Turcotti said the organization was alerted to the investigation Monday and planned to co-operate with authorities.
Desjardins chief executive Guy Cormier said last month a lone suspect “acted illegally, betraying the confidence of Desjardins” in a “malevolent” act that was first detected in December.
The organization offered to pay for a credit monitoring plan and identity theft insurance for five years.
The security breach is among the biggest in Canada to come about internally, rather than via external cyberattacks, in recent years.
The Bank of Montreal and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce both suffered data breaches last May.
Equifax announced in 2017 that a massive data breach compromised the personal information and credit card details of 143 million Americans and 100,000 Canadians.
In August, some 20,000 Air Canada customers learned their personal data may have been compromised following a breach in the airline’s mobile app.
charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution. He avoided a possible life sentence and served 13 months in jail, during which he was allowed out to go to his office during the day. The deal also required that he reach financial settlements with dozens of his alleged victims and register as a sex offender.
“The last couple of years have helped build this environment where the public isn’t willing to see these cases swept under the rug anymore,” said Scott Berkowitz, president of RAINN, the antisexual violence organization.
“I also think there was such outrage over the sentence that he got and what seemed like a very special deal that he got the first time. So I think similar to the first attempt to prosecute Cosby, I think there was a lot of public outrage at justice not being done. And so that helped lead the drive.”
Acosta has defended the agreement as appropriate, though the White House said in February that it was looking into his handling of the case.
The new charges were brought by the public corruption unit within the U.S. attorney’s office in New York, which normally handles cases against politicians. Berman would not say why that was done.
Attorney General William Barr declined to comment on Epstein’s case, saying he has recused himself from the matter.
Former federal prosecutor David Weinstein agreed that the nonprosecution deal applies only to federal prosecutors in the Florida, not those in New York.
Authorities in Florida have said at least 40 underage girls were
brought into Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion for sexual purposes after being recruited around the world.
Some of the alleged victims have accused Prince Andrew and former Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz of taking part in Epstein’s sex ring. Buckingham Palace has vehemently denied any involvement by Andrew, and Dershowitz has accused the victims of lying about him.
The non-prosecution agreement is being challenged in court in Florida.
A federal judge ruled earlier this year that Epstein’s victims should have been consulted under the law about the agreement, and he is now weighing whether to throw it out.
Federal prosecutors recently filed court papers in the Florida case contending the deal must stand.
“The past cannot be undone; the government committed itself to the NPA, and the parties have not disputed that Epstein complied with its provisions,” prosecutors wrote.
Prosecutors said they would oppose Epstein’s release on bail. The defendant owns airplanes as well as homes in Paris and on a Caribbean island.
“He has enormous wealth. The charges are very serious and carry with them a maximum sentence of 45 years, which to someone of Epstein’s age is basically a life sentence,” Berman said, “so we think he has every incentive to try and flee the jurisdiction.”
Associated Press writers Ali Swenson and Jocelyn Noveck in New York, Curt Anderson in Miami and Michael Balsamo in Edgefield, South Carolina contributed to this report.
AP PHOTO BY ELIZABETH WILLIAMS
In this courtroom artist’s sketch, defendant Jeffrey Epstein, centre, sits with attorneys Martin Weinberg, left, and Marc Fernich during his arraignment in New York federal court on Monday.
Sports action around town
CITIZEN PHOTOS BY JAMES DOYLE
ABOVE LEFT: Bob Raine hits a return while partner Jan Leong watches on Sunday morning at the Prince George Tennis and Pickleball Club as the pair compete in the Prince George Open Pickleball tournament.
ABOVE RIGHT: Karen Walkey hits a return during the Prince George Open Pickleball tournament.
CITIZEN PHOTOS BY JAMES DOYLE
ABOVE LEFT: RPR Mechanical/JR Construction Bandits player Patrick Griffiths looks to make a play while being checked by a Westwood Pub Devils defender on Thursday night at Kin 1 in Prince George Senior Lacrosse playoff action.
ABOVE RIGHT: Westwood Pub Devils player Danton Nicholson scores a goal while being checked by RPR Mechanical/JR Construction Bandits defender Ryan Waddington on Thursday night during the Prince George Senior Lacrosse playoff action.
PHOTO CREDIT
The Prince George Impact (orange) took on the Vancouver Athletic FC Vikings on Saturday at Rotary Fields. The two teams met in U13 action of the BC Soccer Les Sinnott Memorial Boys B Cup.
ERDMAN (Ed) Jacob Toews also known as “Pops” to his dearest friends passed away on June 7th 2019 at the age of 77 years. He is survived by his daughter, Christine (Arlen) sons; Paul (Joline) and Gene (Xan), seven grandchildren, 1 great grandchild, Brother Jack, and Sisters Ruth (Cornie), and Edie. Ed was predeceased by his parents Jacob and Agatha (Wiebe) Toews and brother Victor Toews. A Memorial Celebration of his life will be held on Saturday July 13th 2019 at 11:00am at Assman’s Funeral Chapel. In Lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Prince George Cancer Clinic.
Irene Cardinal
Irene Cardinal (Garnot) born September 10th, 1940, spread her Cardinal wings to join many loved ones above on July 3rd, 2019. Irene’s celebration of life will be held at PGNFC on Friday, July 12th at 1:00pm, prompt. Please join us in celebrating her life and all the memories made. Potluck to follow at PGNFC. In lieu of flowers, there will be a donation box to set up a bursary in Irene’s name.
In Loving Memory Of NORMAN CLARK
Norman passed away suddenly July 2, 2019 and is survived by his loving wife Lillian of 30 + years and their families. A viewing will be held at Assman’s Funeral Chapel on Friday, July 12, 2019 from 1pm until 3pm. The funeral service will start at 3pm. A reception to follow.
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