Prince George Citizen July 17, 2019

Ready for BCNE

New RMCA raised as possibility

Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca

A new Rolling Mix Concrete Arena

could be the next major projects in the city’s job jar.

According to a staff report and presentation considered by council on Monday night, the now 61-year-old arena will need between $9 million and $11.5 million worth of work over the next decade to keep it in proper condition.

“The HVAC system and the floor replacements add up to over $3.5 million alone,” staff said in the report. “Some of the water piping in the foundation has failed recently and it is unknown whether the floor of the arena will last another five to 10 years.”

Moreover, staff said the RMCA’s ice plants will eventually have their chillers replaced with smaller units that use less ammonia and so consume less energy and are safer. The cost of that work is still to be determined.

Over the last 10 years, the city has spent $1.8 million on projects like replacing the roof and upgrading the exterior at RMCA.

Given the facility’s age and the cost of that work, “options for decommissioning or replacing this facility should be explored instead of investing in renovations,” engineering and public works general manager Dave Dyer said in a separate brief to council.

Staff estimated cost of a new RCMA at $29 million. Borrowing that amount will mean taking the item to voters, likely in the form of an alternative approval process. Under an AAP, voters who op-

pose the project would have to submit elector response forms and if they add up to 10 per cent of the city’s electorate, the proposal would either be scrapped or taken to a full-blown referendum that would require at least half of those who cast ballots to be in favour for the project to go ahead.

According to the report, the city will need to spend between $4 million and $4.6 million per year over the next decade to keep its facilities up to grade depending on whether only critical ones get the attention or work on interior doors, windows, flooring, walls, ceilings and stairs are included. Critical work includes electrical, fire protection, HVAC, plumbing, roofs and exterior walls.

The bill would be over and above the $2.8 million per year in the city’s fiveyear capital plan for the city’s building systems renewal work.

Over the last 10 years, $1.7 million was spent annually on that type of work, council was told.

Mayor Lyn Hall said the $11.5 million figure for RMCA is “staggering.”

“And I know that every year we invest a tremendous amount of dollars into that particular facility and we’re going to start to see more and more of that as our facilities age, so thanks for bringing that one up in particular,” Hall told staff.

“I think it really sets the tone for what we’re dealing with.”

The item was forwarded to council’s finance and audit committee.

Cabin owner describes encounter with squatter killed in police standoff

Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff

A Valemount man told a coroner’s inquest Tuesday about finding John Robert Buehler unexpectedly squatting in the trapper’s cabin he owned in the days prior to a police standoff that would end in his death.

Milton Balon said he had shown up during the late night of Sept. 7, 2014 intending to stay over at the cabin about 60 kilometres south of Valemount only to find the lock on the gate across the driveway had been changed.

“And I look up and I see this guy coming down with a flashlight,” Balon said. “And I said ‘who are you’ and he says, ‘my name’s John.’” At that point Balon said he knew who he was dealing with.

“I knew exactly who he was when he said his name,” Balon told the inquest.

It just so happened that one of Balon’s neighbours was among the people Buehler had confronted about three months before when he and his daughter, Shanna, had parked their RV at Camp Creek, a community recreation area about 10 kilometres outside of town.

According to the Rocky Mountain Goat, the two had taken over the local recreation club’s picnic area and log cabin and had blocked a public trail. He politely refused to leave when first approached by club members and a few days later, he unleashed his German shepherd dogs on a pair of horseback riders.

RCMP were called in and a four-hour standoff ensued with Buehler using the dogs as a shield while his daughter begged him to surrender.

— see BALON, page 3

BCNE summer students Jacqueline Spendiff and Katie Beck sand some

CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

Rolling Mix Concrete Arena will need up to $11.5 million worth of renovations over the coming decade, according to a report presented to city council.

Thieves targeting Ford trucks, vans, police say

Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca

Prince George RCMP are warning of a recent spike in thefts of Ford trucks and vans.

Seven have been reported stolen since July 1 and three remained missing as of Tuesday morning.

“These thefts have occurred at all hours of the day and are mostly from parking lots all over the community,” RCMP said.

“From the BCR Industrial site, to a local pulp mill, to box retail stores and hotels, Ford trucks are being targeted.”

Owners are urged to lock their doors and use an anti-theft device, such as an immobilizer and to report suspicious activity as soon as they see it.

“Checking into suspicious incidents is part of our duties and not a waste of our time. Please call police right away,” RCMP said.

The missing vehicles are:

• A white Ford F-350, with B.C.

licence plate JT3436, reported stolen from a Recplace Drive parking lot during the early morning of July 8.

• A grey 2011 Ford F-250 pickup with B.C. licence plate LE2360 and a snowplow attachment reported stolen from a home in the 28000 block of Highway 97 during the late morning of July 12.

• A burgundy 2000 Ford F-350 dually pick-up with B.C. licence plate HR7739 remains missing after it was reported stolen from a Range Road parking lot on Saturday at 10 a.m.

Here’s a closer look at each of the other incidents:

• A 2002 Ford E-250 was reported stolen on July 2 at about 8:30 p.m.

Five days later it was recovered on Quince Street. A generator and bike were located in the van, however neither have been reported stolen.

• A Ford F-350 pickup was reported stolen on July 6 at about

1:30 p.m., also from Great Street in the BCR Industrial site and recovered the next day on Upland Street. A Honda 6500 generator was in the back of the truck at the time of the theft.

• A 1999 Ford F-450 pickup was reported stolen on July 7 at about 1:30 p.m. from the parking lot of a pulp mill on Landooz Road and recovered in Dome Creek two days later.

Three people were arrested as part of that investigation.

Anyone with information about the incidents is asked to contact the Prince George RCMP at 250-561-3300 or anonymously contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800222-8477 or online at www. pgcrimestoppers.bc.ca (English only).

You do not have to reveal your identity to Crime Stoppers. If you provide information that leads to an arrest or recovery of stolen property, you could be eligible for a cash reward.

Gallery looks to buy piece by well-known local painter

Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca

A painting by one of Canada’s best-known visual artists is looking for a home.

The Two Rivers Gallery is a place striving to be that home.

The 2RG’s permanent collection is always growing as northern B.C.’s premier municipal gallery gathers the best works of art from our region.

Gary Pearson may be well known all across Canada’s arts circles, with extensive exhibitions in this country, the United States, Germany, Australia, the U.K., and Poland. And he may be a professor at UBC-Okanagan. And he may be a past winner of the International Studio Award from New York’s Museum of Modern Art, and the 1991 VIVA Award by the Shadbolt Foundation. But before all that, he was from here.

“Born in Prince George, Gary Pearson is a noted mid-to-late career artist whose work has received significant attention,” said Carolyn Holmes, executive director of the 2RG. “The Kelowna Art Gallery produced a major retrospective of his work recently and Two Rivers Gallery exhibited his work earlier this year. Paintings from the 2019 exhibition are the subject of interest from major Canadian galleries. Pearson’s large oil painting, Condominium, has been offered for acquisition to Two Rivers Gallery’s Permanent Collection for $7,500 which is 50 per cent of market value. Condominium would be an noteworthy addition to our collection and we require community support to be able to acquire this important painting.”

A fundraising campaign is now underway to buy Condomium for this hometown price.

“By supporting the Permanent Collection Acquisition Fund, you

are investing in a legacy,” said Holmes. “Collections are an enduring record of important art and the conversations we have around them and a gift for future generations.”

At the same time, the gallery is also campaigning towards a target of $5,000 for those future generations. An account is in place to help financially challenged families get their children in touch with art and the creative process. It is called the Pay It Forward Fund.

“While we offer an array of children’s art classes, day camps and youth programs, we realize that not every family can afford to send their children to these programs,” said Holmes. “While there is access to funding opportunities for sports, support for young people interested in creative pursuits is difficult to find.”

Last year, due to generous donations, the Pay It Forward Fund was able to include local children in an array of arts initiatives like 15 who got to attend the gallery’s Maker Club, studio classes and Creativity Camps, and another 216 students who experienced the 2RG’s school programming at no cost.

“While some teachers and families approached us, we also worked with inner city venture schools like Nusdeh Yoh, Ron Brent and Harwin Elementary Schools to reach out to children who might benefit from our programs,” Holmes said. “By donating to the Pay It Forward Fund, you are making it possible for the Gallery to assist those families who need a little extra help.”

To donate to either the Pay It Forward Fund or the Permanent Collection Fund to acquire the Pearson painting, follow the links at the gallery’s website or call 250614-7800.

All donations greater than $25 are eligible for a tax receipt, and a any donation above $50 earns you complimentary Two Rivers Gallery Membership for one year.

Gary Pearson’s 2013 oil paint on canvas work, titled Condominium, is seen in a handout photo.

Urban deer

A deer was spotted at the boat launch on River Road on Monday.

Liberals MLAs worried over inaction on forestry

Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca

The forest industry is reeling from a flurry of economic blows, some global and some local.

The strongest sign of a sector in trouble is the number of mill closures, production curtailments and unscheduled or protracted shutdowns that have recently taken place at a large number of sawmills around the province, most of them in the interior.

The rural caucus of the opposition BC Liberal Party met in Prince George this week to make public their greatest concern: lack of action from the sitting NDP/Green coalition government.

The Citizen asked the Ministry of Forests Lands & Resource Operations for details on the government’s plan of action and received no explanation.

The Prince George meeting was made up of MLAs from ridings outside the Vancouver-Victoria urban hives. Many of the MLAs in the opposition caucus are seasoned veterans of past governments who have experienced crises in the past. They contended that when economic problems hit communities in their day, there were actions taken to help.

This meeting was their chance to seize this moment for partisan positioning, but they also called to the NDP/Green government and the public to look past the electoral implications and focus on the grassroots effects of the forestry crunch. What was the evidence, asked the opposition MLAs, of any help for the thousands of people now out of a job?

“Given the forestry sector in B.C. is

now in the middle of what can only be

described as a crisis, the Official Opposition is calling on you (the sitting government) to take the following actions to address this situation,” said a letter signed by opposition leader Andrew Wilkinson and co-signed by the official opposition critic for forestry issues, local MLA John Rustad.

With the letter came a list of five action items to help ease the effects on the displaced mill workers, and the even larger workforce of contractors and small companies that have also lost all income because the mills stopped working.

“It may not be visible but there are over a thousand people now that have been affected by closures or curtailments; there are 3,000 contractors affected; there are 3,000 on strike, now, on the island; and we need to have a response,” said Rustad.

The five-point list included:

• Set up a rapid-response Human Resources team to match displaced workers with whatever jobs might be transferable in other industries.

• Establish dedicated mental health and social services channels in the hardest hit communities to deal with the waves of people now feeling the stress of making payments on big-ticket machines, paying the wages of their employees, not missing a mortgage payment on their own homes – all with the pressure of no income and few prospects for work anytime soon.

• Partner with the federal government to enact tailor-made employment insurance, bridging programs for older employees almost at retirement, establishing work-sharing opportunities, and

other safety nets within federal jurisdiction.

• Establish a cabinet working group that cuts red tape and shortens wait times for action.

The fifth point is the one with the most practical action, and it addresses two critical issues at the same time. Rustad said, “this helps out the contractors in particular, but also some of the mill workers. Many communities have fuel load issues (woody debris that can exacerbate a wildfire) in and around interface areas. There could be a simple, straightforward program put in place to help wildfire mitigation, get some of that fuel off the ground,” and put those idle forest professionals to work in the jobs they know how to do, while boosting community safety at the same time.

The chair of the opposition’s rural caucus, Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett, remembered that when mill closures happened in previous times “we went there.

They didn’t have to come to us and say ‘please help us’ because we were there for them. The government knows we are here to work with them and help them, so it’s time they stepped up.”

Barnett said the silence from government was deafening, when she lodged the concerns of her riding with the ministers responsible. Times like these are not supposed to hinge on partisan concerns, she said.

“We get no response,” she said.

“We may be the opposition, but I am their MLA (for Cariboo-Chilcotin residents) regardless of if they voted for me or not and you are disrespecting my constituents.”

UNBC researcher measures glacier change in Columbia River basin

Citizen staff

For Ben Pelto, glaciers have become a second home.

The PhD candidate in the geography program at the University of Northern British Columbia led a team that has spent close to 250 days in the field measuring the growth and contraction of six glaciers in the Columbia River basin.

Over 11 seasons, the team of 40 volunteers visited the glaciers twice per year to gauge winter snowfall and summer snow and ice melt.

They also used an airborne laser scanner to produce detailed maps, and captured 100 glaciers per season.

The Pelto team’s estimates of glacier mass change from both the aerial surveying and field measurements aligned with the results, revealing that this type of study can be scaled up to a larger glacier sample.

“We are providing the first large dataset of seasonal glacier mass change for the Canadian Columbia River basin,” Pelto said. “These estimates are valuable as calibration and validation data for glacier models, better allowing us to predict future glacier response to climate change and runoff from these glaciers as they continue to shrink.”

The Columbia River basin receives runoff from 2,200 glaciers, yet estimates of their changes were unmeasured until now, according to Pelto.

“Knowing how much glaciers contrib-

ute to streamflow today is important for understanding how the ecosystems they support, and services they provide, will fare when the glaciers are gone or greatly reduced in size,” he said.

The study builds on an earlier research project led by Pelto’s PhD supervisor, Brian Menounos, who is a UNBC geography professor and Canada Research Chair in Glacier Change.

The Citizen archives put more than 100 years of

Balon avoided antagonizing Buehler

— from page 1

Following the apprehension, several firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition were seized.

About a month later, Buehler was released on an undertaking to appear in court on Sept. 4, 2014. When he failed to show, a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Balon would have his own encounter with those dogs when he ventured further onto the property. Balon, who had owned the cabin for about 30 years, said it was on land leased from the Crown as part of his registered trap line.

When he stepped onto the cabin’s deck to show Buehler a brass plate the government had issued to him to signify the lease, Balon said the dogs were “right there” and growling at him

“Not very comfortable,” Balon said when asked how he felt.

Balon also noticed that all his possessions had been cleared out of the cabin and tossed over a bank, while a clutter of Buehler’s took its place both inside the cabin and in the immediate area outside.

“You name it, everything he had in life – tools, trailers, his truck, deep freezes, smokers, food cache, chicken feed, dog food,” Balon said.

“He threw all my wood out of the woodshed and filled it up with his stuff.”

Balon said he was there for about 45 minutes as the two engaged in a tense but civil conversation. Buehler never verbally threatened Balon while Balon was careful not to provoke Buehler, the inquest heard.

When Balon asked him to leave, Buehler wouldn’t answer, the inquest was told.

“He just kept saying ‘we gotta talk, we gotta talk,’ and I said ‘I am talking man, but you’re not listening,” Balon said.

Balon had previously been at the cabin over the Labour Day long weekend to build the deck and to replace the decking on a bridge heading into the site which had been washed out and then replaced by a neighbour.

Balon speculated Buehler and his daughter had been camping on the other side of the washout before the bridge was replaced.

“He told me it took him two weeks to move in,” Balon said.

The encounter ended with Balon telling Buehler he expected him to be off the property in seven days when hunting season began. From there, Balon drove back to Valemount and called the RCMP the next day.

RCMP shot and killed Buehler on Sept. 17, 2017. Shanna was also shot but survived.

Buehler has been described as a manic-depressive who refused to take medication and as a violent and abusive man who had come to believe he was a prophet of God and that the end-time was nearing.

It was also determined that his daughter had been dragged into a tragic and difficult situation and was eventually issued a conditional discharge by the court.

Shown a series of photos taken after Buehler’s death, Balon confirmed the boxes of ammunition found at spots around the cabin and depicted in the images were not his.

That study, released in January of 2019 in Geophysical Research Letters, used satellite images over the past 20 years to track glacier mass change in Western North America.

The results of the Pelto team’s field study were recently published online in The Cryosphere, an interactive openaccess journal of the European Geosciences Union.

Testimony at the inquest at the Prince George courthouse before coroner Donita Kuzma is scheduled to continue through to Tuesday.

A seven-person jury has been asked to make any recommendations that could prevent similar deaths in the future.

HANDOUT PHOTO BY JILL PELTO

Ben Pelto and volunteers cut samples from a snow core to measure the density of the snowpack on the Kokanee Glacier in April 2016.

Frigate-repair contracts split among provinces

Christian PAAS-LANG

OTTAWA — Warship repair contracts worth $1 billion will be split evenly between two shipyards, with a third deal on the way, the federal government announced Tuesday.

The Davie shipyard in Quebec and Seaspan Victoria Shipyards in British Columbia were each awarded a $500-million contract for maintenance work on the country’s fleet of 12 Halifax-class frigates.

A similar deal with Irving Shipyards in Nova Scotia is being finalized now, the government said.

In an emailed statement, Irving said details of its contract with the government would be released “in the near future.”

The contracts announced Tuesday cover a five-year period, with the value expected to rise as the government adds more work.

The federal government has promised to invest $7.5 billion to maintain the 12 frigates over the remainder of their operational lifespans, which are expected to last about 20 more years.

The oldest of the ships, HMCS Halifax, has been in service for 27 years. All recently underwent significant refits and modernizations.

Each shipyard will be responsible for refitting a minimum of three frigates each and work will begin in the early 2020s, the government announcement said.

In an emailed statement, Public Services and Procurement Canada said the work on the ships would be scheduled to ensure the fleet maintains operational readiness.

It said shipyards will be eligible for additional work based on performance.

“Each shipyard will have the opportunity to receive a minimum of $2 billion in maintenance contracts until the Halifax-class frigates (have) reached their end

of the life cycle. The exact amount each shipyard receives will depend on several factors such as ship condition and performance,” the statement said.

The Halifax-class frigates will eventually be replaced by new warships set for construction under the national shipbuilding strategy.

Davie was left out of the massive naval procurement program in 2011 because it was suffering from financial troubles at the time.

But it has since advocated to be allowed to build ships for the wider program.

In May, Prime Minister Trudeau announced the national shipbuilding strategy would be adding a third shipyard.

In an interview Tuesday, a spokesperson for Davie said it is “an open secret” the company will become part of the national program.

“There is no doubt in our minds

that we will be designated the third shipyard,” said Frederik Boisvert, vice-president of public affairs at Davie.

Boisvert said Davie would continue to pressure the government to make an announcement to that effect before the election.

Cabinet minister and Quebec City Liberal MP Jean-Yves Duclos, who delivered the government announcement at the Davie facilities across the St. Lawrence River in Levis, Que., said parts of the National Shipbuilding Strategy have been delayed “because the Davie shipyard was excluded from the Conservative strategy for naval construction.”

Duclos said this was an “error” that was “important to admit to” so that it could be more easily fixed.

That was part of why the government announced “structural investments that are long-term for Quebec, for Quebec City and for

Canada as a whole,” Duclos said.

Duclos won his riding by just under two percentage points in 2015.

Procurement Minister Carla Qualtrough delivered the government’s announcement at Seaspan Victoria Shipyards. Qualtrough represents Delta, a riding in suburban Vancouver.

The government announcement said the investment will sustain or create 400 jobs at each shipyard.

In a release Friday, the Conservatives accused the Liberals of using the announcement as an electioneering tool in Quebec.

“There are less than 100 days to the next election, and the Trudeau government is once again campaigning on the taxpayers’ dime, trying to buy people’s votes with their own money,” the statement said.

— With files from Giuseppe Valiante and Martin Leblanc in Montreal

Americans visiting B.C. help save drowning man

The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER — Several Good Samaritans from the United States have saved a man from drowning in British Columbia.

Brian Laverentz, a medical student from San Antonio, Texas, says he and his wife were honeymooning in the Vancouver area and were visiting Twin Falls when they spotted a man in trouble in the frigid water.

Laverentz says he has a long history of emergency medicine but didn’t think he could safely pull the man from the swollen river, when another man leaped in to grab the unconscious victim.

The second man turned out to be a lifeguard visiting with his family from Chicago and Laverentz says they hauled the 24-year-old man to the shore and began performing chest compressions.

The Chicago man’s daughter, a competitive swimmer, also assisted with the rescue and CPR, and they managed to revive the victim by the time first responders arrived.

North Vancouver assistant fire chief Jeremy Duncan says without the bystanders, the outcome would have been very different and he wishes the Chicago family had left their contact information so they could be thanked.

Laverentz says the man is lucky that a group

of strangers with specific skills was nearby at the right time.

“I just thought it was also serendipitous that we had a lifeguard father, a competitive swimmer daughter, who also knew CPR, me (with) about 10 years of emergency medicine experience, my wife who has lived around people in the medical field forever and helped direct a bunch of people,” says Laverentz.

“I don’t know if he could have had any better luck as far as having a team of strangers.”

The victim was taken to hospital for further treatment, but Laverentz says the man was talking and able to give them his name by the time park rangers had arrived.

proceeding

Scaffolding was being installed on the site of the Parkhouse condominium developments in downtown Prince George. The project includes a new city parkade.

NEWS IN BRIEF

IIO recommends charges from in-custody death

B.C.’s civilian-based police watchdog has sent a report to the B.C. Prosecution Service for consideration of charges from a July 2017 death of a man while in RCMP custody. Dale Culver, 35, died on the night of July 18, 2017 when Prince George RCMP responded to a report of a man “casing’ vehicles near the 10th Avenue liquor store. Pepper spray was deployed during the arrest. Culver had trouble breathing and when an ambulance arrived, he was taken out of a police cruiser. But he collapsed and died shortly after. In a statement issued Tuesday, the Independent Investigations Office said it is forwarding the matter to the BCPS consideration of charges in relation to issues surrounding the use of force and an allegation that a video of the arrest was deleted from an onlooker’s phone. No further information has been released.

— Citizen staff

Alleged pick-up thieves arrested

A pair of suspects were arrested Tuesday morning after allegedly trying to evade police in a stolen pickup truck. At about 9 a.m., and about four hours after receiving a report that a Ford F-250 had been stolen from a Nation Crescent home, RCMP said a truck matching the description was seen near Fifth Avenue and Highway 97. By the time the officer was able to safely turn around, the vehicle was gone. But minutes later, RCMP were alerted to a collision near the Simon Fraser bridge and then another one near the entrance to the BCR Industrial site. The occupants jumped out and at least one tried, unsuccessfully, to carjack another vehicle, according to RCMP. A 31-yearold-man and an 18-year-old man were arrested shortly after and the pickup police said they were in was confirmed as the one stolen earlier in the day. From start to finish, the apprehension took about 10 minutes, and no injuries were reported, RCMP said.

— Citizen staff

The Canadian Press

CP FILE PHOTO

HMCS Toronto heads out of Halifax to the Arabian Sea as part of Operation Artemis in 2013.

Apollo 11 astronaut returns to launch pad 50 years later

Marcia DUNN The Associated Press

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Apollo 11

astronaut Michael Collins returned Tuesday to the exact spot where he flew to the moon 50 years ago with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.

Collins had the spotlight to himself this time – Armstrong has been gone for seven years and Aldrin cancelled.

Collins said he wished his two moonwalking colleagues could have shared the moment at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A, the departure point for humanity’s first moon landing.

“Wonderful feeling to be back,” the 88-year-old command module pilot said on NASA TV. “There’s a difference this time. I want to turn and ask Neil a question and maybe tell Buzz Aldrin something, and of course, I’m here by myself.”

At NASA’s invitation, Collins marked the precise moment – 9:32 a.m. on July 16, 1969 – that the Saturn V rocket blasted off. He was seated at the base of the pad alongside Kennedy’s director, Robert Cabana, a former space shuttle commander.

Collins recalled the tension surrounding the crew that day.

“Apollo 11... was serious business. We, crew, felt the weight of the world on our shoulders. We knew that everyone would be looking at us, friend or foe, and we wanted to do the best we possibly could,” he said.

Collins remained in lunar orbit, tending to Columbia, the mother ship, while Armstrong and Aldrin landed in the Eagle on July 20, 1969, and spent 2 1/2 hours walking the gray, dusty lunar surface.

A reunion Tuesday at the Kennedy firing room by past and present launch controllers – and Collins’ return to the pad, now leased to SpaceX – kicked off a week of celebrations marking each day of Apollo 11’s eightday voyage.

In Huntsville, Ala., where the Saturn V was developed, some 4,900 model rockets lifted off simultaneously, commemorating the moment the Apollo 11 crew blasted off for the moon.

More than 1,000 youngsters attending Space Camp counted down ... “5, 4, 3, 2, 1!” – and cheered as the red, white and blue rockets created a gray cloud, at least for a few moments, in the sky.

The U.S. Space and Rocket Center was shooting for an altitude of at least 30 metres in order to set a new Guinness Book of World Records. Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden helped with the mass launching. Also present: all three children of German-born rocket genius Wernher von Braun, who masterminded the Saturn V.

“This was a blast. This was an absolute blast,” said spectator Scott Hayek of Ellicott City, Maryland. “And, you know, what a tribute – and, a visceral tribute – to see the

rockets going off.”

Another spectator, Karin Wise, of Jonesboro, Georgia, was 19 during Apollo 11 and recalled being glued to TV coverage.

“So, to bring my grandchildren here for the 50 anniversary, was so special,” she said. “I hope they’re around for the 100th anniversary.”

At the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum in Washington, the spacesuit that Armstrong wore went back on display in mint condition, complete with lunar dust left on the suit’s knees, thighs and elbows. On hand for the unveiling were Vice-President Mike Pence, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Armstrong’s older son, Rick. Armstrong died in 2012.

A fundraising campaign took just five days to raise the $500,000 needed for the restoration. It was taken off display 13 years ago because it was deteriorating, said museum curator Cathleen Lewis. It took four years to rehab it.

Calling Armstrong a hero, Pence said “the American people express their gratitude by preserving this symbol of courage.”

Back at Kennedy, NASA televised original launch video of Apollo 11, timed down to the second. Then Cabana turned his conversation with Collins to NASA’s next moonshot program, Artemis, named after the twin sister of Greek mythology’s Apollo.

It seeks to put the first woman and next man on the lunar surface – the moon’s south pole – by 2024. President John F. Kennedy’s challenge to put a man on the moon by the end of 1969 took eight years to achieve.

Collins said he likes the name Artemis and, even more, likes the concept behind Artemis.

“But I don’t want to go back to the moon,” Collins told Cabana. “I want to go direct to Mars. I call it the JFK Mars Express.”

Collins noted that the moon-first crowd has merit to its argument and he pointed out Armstrong himself was among those who believed returning to the moon “would assist us mightily in our attempt to go to Mars.”

Cabana assured Collins, “We believe the faster we get to the moon, the faster we get to Mars as we develop those systems that we need to make that happen.”

About 100 of the original 500 launch controllers and managers on July 16, 1969, reunited in the firing room Tuesday morning. The crowd also included members of NASA’s next moon management team, including Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, launch director for the still-in-development Space Launch System moon rocket. The SLS will surpass the Saturn V, the world’s most powerful rocket to fly to date.

Blackwell-Thompson said she got goose-

Health officials warn of syphilis outbreak in Alberta

Daniela GERMANO

The Canadian Press

EDMONTON — Syphilis rates not seen in Alberta since 1948 have prompted the province’s chief medical officer to declare an outbreak of the disease and encourage people to get tested for it.

A total of 1,536 cases of infectious syphilis were reported in 2018 compared with 161 in 2014 – almost a tenfold increase, said Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer.

“And it’s getting worse,” Hinshaw said Tuesday.

“From 2017 to 2018, the number of cases jumped 187 per cent and we are expecting even higher numbers for 2019.”

She added that the province has seen similar increases in rates of congenital syphilis, in which the infection is spread from a mother to her unborn child.

“It is very important for anyone who is pregnant to seek early prenatal care and get tested for syphilis during pregnancy,” she said.

“Congenital syphilis is a disabling and life-threatening disease. But if diagnosed and treated early during pregnancy, the mother and baby can both have better health outcomes.”

Hinshaw said that congenital syphilis was rare in Alberta before the recent outbreak, but in the last two years 21 cases have been reported. A provincial outbreak co-ordination committee has been set up, she said.

It will work over the next three months to determine how to increase testing for sexually transmitted diseases and reduce the overall number of syphilis cases.

Hinshaw said she couldn’t comment on how Alberta compares with the rest of the country because other jurisdictions have not released recent syphilis figures.

“This is a trend we are seeing across Canada and around the world, so syphilis cases are sharply rising in many jurisdictions, not just our own,” Hinshaw said.

Dr. Laura McDougall, senior medical officer for Alberta Health Services, said those numbers could also be skewed by the volume of testing.

“There is no doubt at all that we

are in an outbreak situation with a case load that is concerning and alarming that requires action. But it is challenging to look at comparisons,” McDougall said at Tuesday’s news conference.

Meanwhile, figures from Alberta Health Services show that almost two-thirds of syphilis cases in Alberta were reported in the Edmonton area.

The Edmonton zone saw 977 cases in 2018 compared to 206 in Calgary.

There were 88 cases in central Alberta, 208 cases in northern Alberta and 31 cases in the southern part of the province.

Hinshaw said the province’s outbreak committee will be looking into why Edmonton has the most reported cases, as well as why the most affected age group is people

between the ages of 15 and 29.

“Ultimately, when an infection gets into a particular network of people who are connected, it can spread quite quickly,” she said.

Alberta Health Services says the best way to protect against sexually transmitted infections such as syphilis is consistent condom use.

It’s also suggested that sexually active people should get tested every three to six months if they have a sexual partner with a known STI, have a new sexual partner or multiple or anonymous sexual partners, have previous history of an STI diagnosis or have been sexually assaulted.

Like other STIs, the symptoms of syphilis may not be obvious.

Hinshaw said syphilis could infect the brain, heart and eyes if it is left untreated.

bumps listening to the replay of the Apollo 11 countdown. Hearing Collins’ “personal account of what that was like was absolutely amazing.”

The lone female launch controller for Apollo 11, JoAnn Morgan, enjoyed seeing the much updated – firing room. One thing was notably missing, though: stacks of paper. “We could have walked to the moon on the paper,” Morgan said.

Collins was reunited later Tuesday with two other Apollo astronauts at an evening gala at Kennedy, including Apollo 16 moonwalker Charlie Duke, who was the capsule communicator in Mission Control for the Apollo 11 moon landing. Only four of the 12 moonwalkers from 1969 through 1972 are still alive: Aldrin, Duke, Apollo 15’s David Scott and Apollo 17’s Harrison Schmitt.

Among the gala attendees: Eight former shuttle astronauts, including Mark Kelly and his wife, former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and “space lover” and aspiring space tourist Vesa Heilala, 52, who travelled from Helsinki to Florida for the anniversary. “I had to come here because in Finland we don’t have rockets and we don’t have astronauts for 50 years,” said Heilala, who was collecting astronaut autographs on his colourful propeller cap.

NASA PHOTO BY FRANK MICHAUX VIA AP

Astronaut Michael Collins, right, speaks to Kennedy Space Center director Bob Cabana at Launch Complex 39A, about the moments leading up to launch at 9:32 a.m. on July 16, 1969, and what it was like to be part of the first mission to land on the moon. Collins was orbiting in the Command Module, while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin went to the surface of the moon.

Fifty years later, Apollo 11 is still a miracle

It was a day of miracles and wonders. That much I remember very clearly.

One did not need the brainpower of a scientist or the erudition of a philosopher to know it. I was just an eight-year-old boy gazing through a bedroom window at a crescent moon, boggle-minded. People were up there.

July 20, 1969. The internet reminds me that it was a Sunday, so there’s a nearly 100 per cent chance that I started the day glumly preparing for church. All the parents were still married in those days, and most of the kids in our fecund suburb on the western edge of the Great Plains were passably compliant.

Scrubbed and neat, we all would have been praying that morning for the astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins – who seemed to me the unluckiest man alive, doomed to circle just above the moon while his fortune-blessed comrades flew down to walk on its pockmarked surface.

That day and the days leading up to it were like a second Christmas. By that I mean they passed with excruciating slowness. It is said that people of a certain age all remember where they were when news came of U.S. President John Kennedy’s assassination. For my slightly younger cohort,

Apollo 11 was that universal moment. But a shock leaves a more vivid, more jagged impression than the memory of a long-awaited culmination.

Thus, the waiting itself is among my clearest memories, one long day after another as Apollo 11 seemingly inched across space toward that impossibly distant, yet tantalizingly close, world. History itself became a tedious family road trip with an entire nation asking, “Are we there yet?”

Willa Catheronce wrote of crossing the prairie: “The only thing very noticeable about Nebraska was that it was still, all day long, Nebraska.”

Even more true of space travel.

Recently, I asked my mother what she remembered of the day. Her answer was characteristic: she recalled her touchingly humane fear for the safety of the crew. I don’t think I gave that a moment’s thought.

Little is more abstract to children than some distant adult in peril. My friends and I were wanton with our unconcern. The Vietnam War was raging, and my best friend’s father was over there. Yet our favourite games involved flying imaginary raids and combat in imaginary jungles. We died often, always recovering quickly.

While we were at church, Armstrong and Aldrin floated from the command module into the lander, leaving poor Collins behind.

Another infinity dragged by as the little

craft flew toward the moon. Years later, I learned that this trip was a nerve-jangling succession of blaring false alarms, a missed landing zone and a nearly spent fuel supply.

At the time, we had only the laconic voices of the astronauts and Mission Control to shape our impressions, and they made the whole thing sound about as exciting as sweeping the garage. I went outside to kill time, popping occasionally into the den to check on their progress.

The Eagle landed after lunchtime. And, now, any doubt that these voyagers were grown-ups at heart was erased, for rather than flinging open the hatch and bounding down the ladder, they sat inside the lander doing who knows what for hours. This was incomprehensible, and as the afternoon crept past with no change, I went from anticipation to annoyance to anger.

At last, as if programmed for our primetime enjoyment, a ghostly image appeared on the little TV set – a picture beamed from the moon. All television was a form of magic to me, how they chopped up a picture and sent it invisibly to millions of places simultaneously to be reassembled inside warm boxes of glowing tubes. But this was another order of miracle altogether: television from another world.

We saw Armstrong descend rung by rung as slowly as spring sap until he hovered just above the surface. Then, finally, his boot

YOUR LETTERS

Crime in city out of control

I would like to share my story about my house being broken into, big rock being thrown through my house window just to steal my wallet – they raided my shed, disabled my flood lights.

About how unsafe I feel living in this city and my own home.

About how our crime rate is unbelievably high.

Even admitted by police since the forest fires. About how our justice system is a joke and I was told by police dispatch, the third time my car was broken into, that even if they catch the criminals they’re usually let go.

I told them it’s only a matter of time before my house is broken into and how scared I was, and that my neighbourhood needs more patrols.

They brushed it off and then my house gets broken into. Even now my case seems to be barely getting handled as I found a cell phone in my wallet when a

stranger who found it returned it to me and the police won’t get back to me on taking this cellphone that isn’t mine.

These criminals seem to be more protected than we are.

The jails aren’t even a punishment... my mom is a corrections officer and she says the ones who are constantly in and basically look it is as home.

It’s not a bad place for them to be. These people are not being sentenced properly.

They’ll barely be a prisoner and now I will be a prisoner of fear for the rest of my life. I have so much to say and maybe my stories can get us enough attention that maybe things can be revised and maybe we can get more help.

Most of the time I’m being told there’s just so much going on that these so-called “little things” get by passed.

But I don’t feel this problem is little anymore. If there’s too much going on then we need more help. Jennifer Kayla Kapeller, Prince George

City offering excuses, not service

When we were asked to vote for the city’s spending and all the hullabaloo we had to go and vote, and I asked why can’t the city put a thing in the paper and a simple yes or no tag to send in!

I got every excuse from the moon not lining up or the sun is too hot, but I see in today’s paper a full two-page questionnaire on readers choice voting from July 11 to Aug. 10. You can see the difference.

I’m trying to make sense of this. Its a wonder why we have so much animosity of our elected leaders – elect me trust me I’m for you. HAHAHAHAHAH!

Need I say anything more?

Good job, city fathers. We get snow in the winter and plenty of it, we don’t need more from you guys. Thank you, Warner Bliskis Prince George Editor’s note: This letter was edited for clarity.

LETTERS WELCOME: The Prince George Citizen welcomes letters to the editor from our readers. Submissions should be sent by email to: letters@pgcitizen.ca. No attachments, please. They can also be faxed to 250-960-2766, or mailed to 201-1777 Third Ave., Prince George, B.C. V2L 3G7. Maximum length is 750 words and writers are limited to one submission every week. We will edit letters only to ensure clarity, good taste, for legal reasons, and occasionally for length. Although we will not include your address and telephone number in the paper, we need both for verification purposes. Unsigned or handwritten letters will not be published. The Prince George Citizen is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent organization established to deal with acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour. If you have concerns about editorial content, please contact Neil Godbout (ngodbout@pgcitizen. ca or 250-960-2759). If you are not satisfied with the response and wish to file a formal complaint, visit the web site at mediacouncil.ca or call toll-free 1-844-877-1163 for additional information.

was on the moon.

The other thing mom remembers is that she realized – as Armstrong and Aldrin went about their lunar chores, scooping soil, planting the flag, deploying experimental devices – that we were out of milk for the baby’s bedtime bottle. She had to tear herself away from the television to run to the convenience store.

And isn’t that the essence of what soon happened to the world? The demands of Earth – of daily lives down here – reclaimed our attention and tore us away from the men on the moon. The Apollo program expired a few years later. It turned out there was nothing up there beyond the sheer fact of the moon itself.

“Magnificent desolation,” Aldrin said as he looked around, and he was precisely right on both points. We’ll find it unchanged if we go back. And beyond? That’s where space gets really big. Where even light needs years to travel from place to place.

If that’s our next destination, we had better get used to waiting. David Von Drehle writes a twice-weekly column for The Washington Post. He was previously an editor-at-large for Time Magazine, and is the author of four books, including Rise to Greatness: Abraham Lincoln and America’s Most Perilous Year and Triangle: The Fire That Changed America.

Reach for the stars

Fifty years ago this week, Apollo 11’s Neil Armstrong spoke the words, “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” as he exited the lunar lander, becoming the first person to walk on the moon. An estimated 500 million people watched the event on television – perhaps double tuned in by radio: it was the defining moment of the time. Apollo 17, the final mission, took place in 1972; since then, no human being has ever gone back to the lunar surface.

Presently, exploring the moon, as well as the space beyond Earth’s orbit, is relegated entirely to unmanned probes, landers and rovers. These feats of engineering and mathematics are certainly mind boggling. But robots don’t deliver great lines while landing on Venus or Mars.

It may seem out of character for a curmudgeonly columnist to write about and advocate exploring “the final frontier.”

Indeed, many of my fellow low-agreeables’ attitudes are the reason funding for “where no man has gone before” was decreased dramatically over the years.

But I cannot shake the belief that the gravity keeping us here is partly the result of man’s fall from grace. Our Creator intended for us to reach the farthest stars – let alone neighbouring planets. Of the cosmos, the medievals wrote,“their wondrous order speaks to us and draws our hearts and minds to God.”

Several private firms are experimenting with reusable rockets and seaborne landing pads – some are even planning for revenue from space tourism. But if the discovery of fire was almost outdone by wheels and arches, so is earth-bound rocketry to one day be overshadowed by the completion of a “space elevator.”

This idea, first proposed by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in 1895, has evolved from “a tower to the sky” into a tensile structure with a hub out in space on the end, based on the centrifugal forces everyone intuitively understands after tying a rope to a water bucket and swinging it at high speed to prevent a spill.

But I cannot shake the belief that the gravity keeping us here is partly the result of man’s fall from grace. Our Creator intended for us to reach the farthest stars – let alone neighbouring planets.

Galileo and Newton certainly agreed, just as modern Christian writers like C.S. Lewis and Madeleine L’Engle encourage us to reimagine an enchanted universe. As to temporal matters, the single biggest obstacle keeping us from exploring away from Earth is the cost of getting men and materials off world. This has decreased significantly over time, but a pound of payload still takes about $10,000 US to get out beyond our stratosphere – not exactly free, same day shipping. What compounds the problem is re-entry; the wear and tear on the most hi-tech machinery in history adds astronomically to the price tag of spacecraft.

Supposedly this toll will go down after demand and competition increases, as well as better technology is used for liftoff.

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This project poses many challenges. First, is the distance needed for the counterweight (bucket) on the line to provide the proper tension: by some estimates, it might have to be placed halfway to the moon. Second, is the tensile material (rope): nothing we currently manufacture is strong enough to withstand the forces involved. Lastly, a zone is required on Earth for anchoring: who will volunteer an equatorial Pacific possession, or take responsibility for funding the project?

Added to all these problems are the unimaginable risks of such an undertaking. Failure would be nigh apocalyptic in scope, and even if everything went smoothly, there’s no guarantee this project would lead to “peace on Earth” –it might even become a modern “tower of Babel.”

But the human spirit’s desire to do the impossible has birthed all our major technological and logistical achievement, perhaps best exhibited to date by the moon landing five decades ago.

On this question of human ability and personal courage, I believe a unity can be found on all sides of the ideological spectrum: everyone, regardless of background, talent or foibles, must brave the unknown to come of age; that extends to our species and its place in the cosmos.

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RIGHT OF CENTRE NATHAN GIEDE

Company fined $2.9M for diesel spill from tug

BELLA BELLA — The company responsible for a fuel spill that contaminated the fishing territory of a First Nation on British Columbia’s central coast has been fined $2.9 million but the chief of the Heiltsuk says the sentence is a long way from justice.

Texas-based Kirby Corp. pleaded guilty in May to three separate counts after the tug Nathan E. Stewart ran aground and sank, spilling 110,000 litres of diesel and heavy oils in October 2016.

The guilty pleas were under the Fisheries Act, the Migratory Birds Convention Act and the Pilotage Act for the spill that damaged both fish and birds, and for failing to have a pilot aboard the vessel.

The Transportation Safety Board ruled last May that a crew member missed a planned course change because he fell asleep while alone on watch.

Chief Marilyn Slett said Tuesday the Heiltsuk Nation wanted the company to be banned from its territorial waters until there is proper restitution in accordance with the nation’s traditional laws to respect the land and the people who depend on the sea for sustenance and jobs.

Slett, along with elders and youth as well as representatives for Kirby, participated in a sentencing circle during provincial court proceed-

ings held in a gymnasium in Bella Bella before Judge Brent Hoy announced the sentence.

“The effects of the spill have rippled throughout our community,” Slett said in her victimimpact statement.

“Our community was traumatized by the actions of visitors in our territory, and we have collectively grieved and mourned our losses.”

“It was emotional,” she said afterwards.

“We’re still feeling the effects of this spill and we’re continuing to try and resume life to see what we can do moving forward to ensure that this doesn’t happen to us again.”

The community still does not have adequate resources to respond to any future incidents, Slett said.

Families can’t fish in Gale Creek and the nation is trying to gain justice through a civil lawsuit against Kirby, Slett said, adding the company has chosen not to do an environmental impact assessment.

“We have a principle that if we take care of the land the land will take care of us,” she said.

Paul Welsh, spokesman for Kirby, declined to comment but issued a statement from the company.

“We sincerely regret this incident and we have amended our operating procedures, training, auditing, promotion protocols and equipment to help reduce the potential for future accidents,” it said.

William Housty, 37, said in his victim-impact

B.C. on right road with tougher ride-hailing driver rules, says expert

Dirk MEISSNER The Canadian Press

VICTORIA — The British Columbia government’s firm position on tougher driver’s licence requirements for ride-hailing is a move in the right direction, given the experiences from other jurisdictions, a transportation expert says.

“I would applaud the B.C. government for standing up, because most other governments have basically stood down,” said Garland Chow, an emeritus associate professor at the University of B.C.’s Sauder School of Business.

The B.C. Transportation Ministry updated safety, insurance and penalty rules and regulations this month and set Sept. 3 as the date ride-hail companies can apply to enter the market. Rules covering fares drivers can charge, vehicle boundary zones and the numbers of ride-hail vehicles allowed on the roads are due to come this summer, the ministry said.

Chow said other jurisdictions have had push back from the large ride-hailing companies over licence restrictions and safety concerns, but B.C. has the opportunity to get it right before the service takes to the streets.

The provincial government is holding firm that ride-hailing drivers have a Class 4 licence, like those held by taxi, limousine, ambulance and other commercial vehicle drivers, as opposed to the Class 5 licence, held by most B.C. drivers.

Chow, who testified last January before the all-party legislative standing committee that produced proposed ride-hailing regulations, said he agrees with the licence requirement, for now. He noted the regulations allow for a review of the requirement after two years.

But both Uber and Lyft have said the requirement could be a deal-breaker for them in the province.

Lyft Canada spokesman Aaron Zifkin said in a statement the company remains concerned.

“Requiring commercial Class 4 licences for drivers will not improve safety, but will increase wait times and benefit the taxi industry,” said Zifkin. “Lyft does not currently operate ride sharing in any jurisdiction that requires drivers to change their driver’s licence to a commercial driver’s licence.”

Uber Canada said in a statement last week that Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec do not require ride-hail drivers to hold a Class 4 licence or equivalent. It said there is no evidence that such a licence provides more safety than a standard licence.

Chow, who’s an economist with a statistics background, disagrees.

He has reviewed recent accident comparison data from the Insurance Corporation of B.C. that shows from 2012 to 2016 the accident rate for those driving commercial vehicles with the Class 4 licence is 13 per cent lower than Class 5 drivers.

FortisBC to ship LNG by cargo container

The Canadian Press FortisBC says it has signed its first term contract to send liquefied natural gas shipments to China from its facility near Vancouver.

The utility company, which has operated its Tilbury LNG facility since 1971, says a recent expansion made possible its two-year contract to ship 53,000 tonnes per year by the summer of 2021 to Chinese LNG distributor Top Speed Energy Corp.

(From) 2012 to 2016 the accident rate for those driving commercial vehicles with the Class 4 licence is 13 per cent lower than Class 5 drivers.

The insurance corporation said in a statement that when the mileage difference between Class 4 and Class 5 drivers is factored in, one would reasonably expect that the Class 4 crash rate would be even lower.

Chow agreed that the accident difference could be dramatic for Class 5 drivers if road time is added to the equation.

“It would not be 13 per cent, it would be more like 40 to 45 per cent more accidents,” said Chow. “That’s super significant.”

Transportation Minister Claire Trevena said in a statement the requirement adds an extra level of safety for passengers, which is an issue the government continues to feel strongly about.

Class 4 drivers must be at least 19 years old, have at least two years of non-learner driver experience, have fewer than four penalty point incidents in the last two years and could be excluded over certain medical issues.

“We are not the only jurisdiction that requires taxi drivers or drivers of commercial ride-hailing vehicles to hold a commercial class of driver’s licence: Alberta has this same requirement, New York City has an equivalent, and ride-hailing companies are complying,” said Trevena.

Chow said the other factor in the market is B.C.’s public auto insurer, which is floundering financially and has to set the insurance rates for these vehicles.

“If Class 5 licensees, indeed, have more accidents and all of the sudden a whole bunch of Class 5 people now go into the commercial world of driving other people, you’re increasing the probability of a more costly accident because for sure that other vehicle is going to have people in it.”

The government has said the insurance corporation will have its product ready for the launch of ride-hailing in September. It will be a blanket, per kilometre insurance that applies when a driver is providing ridehailing, with the driver’s own basic insurance applying in all other instances.

Chow expects Uber and Lyft to continue to push to have the Class 4 licence requirement dropped in what he said would be an extended staring contest between the government and the companies.

“This is no different than me going to buy a house and I’m saying, ‘there’s no way I’m going to buy this house for more than this amount of money, period,’” he said.

“It may be that this is part of negotiating gamesmanship.”

statement that he was among the first responders after the spill and joined Slett in serving as an incident commander on behalf of their nation.

“My 27 days in this role were one of the most stressful, hurtful and challenging of my life,” he said, adding his team worked hard to fit into a response system the members knew nothing about and fought to be included with Kirby in assessing a barge that had also sunk.

“It was from that point on that it was stated that for any and every crew that went anywhere in our territory there had to be a Heiltsuk person on that crew. This caused extreme annoyance to everyone but we forced it to happen,” said Housty, who is chair of the board of directors for the Heiltsuk Integrated Resource Management Department.

About 70 per cent of the community is unemployed and about 40 people who relied on the clam fishery through the fall and winter can no longer provide for their families, he said.

The First Nation is seeking funding to implement innovative projects designed to create healthy fish populations elsewhere on its territory, Housty said. Amid those efforts, the effects of emotional trauma linger among many of the first responders following the spill, he added.

“This incident has caused so much damage to all of us and there is no amount of money in the world that can replace what was lost.”

The division of St. John’s, N.L.-based Fortis Inc. says shipments are to be delivered in 60 specialized shipping containers per week from its plant near the Fraser River, noting the volumes would be sufficient to heat about 30,000 average B.C. homes per year. The contract is modest compared to what’s planned for the Shell Canada-led LNG Canada facility at Kitimat, B.C., a $40-billion project approved last fall that is expected to produce about 14 million tonnes per year after it opens in 2023 or 2024. FortisBC says it has been selling small shipments of LNG in China on a spot basis since 2017.

Doug Stout, vice-president of market development, says FortisBC’s $400-million expansion project took capacity from about 35,000 to 250,000 tonnes per year, allowing a facility that had been used mainly for natural gas storage to become a commercial LNG production plant.

“This plant allows us to serve the local marine and transportation markets as well as the smaller-scale export opportunities,” he said. “We’re looking at further expansions both for this type of market and for the marine and truck transportation markets.”

Camille BAINS The Canadian Press

Local weekend entertainment

CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE

Neda Jalali, lead singer, performs with band Navaz at Cafe Voltaire during their Friday Night Mics.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

The Prince George Motocross Association had a hole shot demonstration on Saturday afternoon at the CrossRoads Motorsports, Motocross & Jetboating Festival. Here Dean Johnson leaves the starting gate. This was the second event of the season in Crossroads Street Festival Series.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE

LEFT: Vancouver punk legends D.O.A. perform at the Prince George Legion on Friday night.

RIGHT: Children of the Wave was the supporting act for D.O.A.

Sports

Lamb extending his roots with Cougars

Ted CLARKE Citizen staff tclarke@pgcitizen.ca

Mark Lamb turned down the bright lights and big cities that come with an NHL coaching job to remain with the Prince George Cougars.

The 54-year-old native of Ponteix, Sask., ended weeks of speculation he was on his way to rejoin his good friend Dave Tippett, the Edmonton Oilers newly-hired head coach, to join the Oilers as Tippett’s assistant. Instead, Lamb has shed the interim head coach tag he had with the Cougars at the end of last season and intends to fulfill the three remaining years of a four-year contract he signed last summer to be the general manager, now in a dual role as the head coach.

“I put a lot of thought into it right from when the season was over and a lot had to do with the meetings we had after the season and the (original) plan was to move on after the interim coaching part,” said Lamb.

“In this business, things change pretty quick and the Edmonton opportunity came up and it was a great opportunity to get back in the NHL. Even though you’ve been there before (Lamb was Tippett’s assistant coach in Dallas from 2002-09) it’s still a privilege to be talked about. You don’t take those opportunities lightly because they might never come around again.

“But when I looked at all the things we have going here, the stuff that we haven’t got going yet, the future of the hockey club and the ownership group we have here, I didn’t think it was the right time to make a move at this point. This is an unreal opportunity also to build something special and the vision I talked about with the ownership is just something I couldn’t put behind. Me and my family made the decision and we’re happy with it.”

Lamb said his wife Tanya, who is from Edmonton and met Lamb when he was playing for the Oilers in the early-1990s, wanted them to stay in Prince George.

Three other WHL head coaches also handle the duties of a general manager – Mike Johnston (Portland Winterhawks), Brent Sutter (Red Deer Rebels), and Dean Brockman (Swift Current Broncos). Lamb held

both jobs in the seven seasons he was with the Broncos from 2009-16.

“I don’t think there’s anything difficult about it, you’ve just got to be organized and work hard, but the biggest thing is you’ve got to hire the right people,” said Lamb.

“In our scouting we’re going to revamp some stuff there. We need more people and more eyes watching players.

“We’re going to hire an associate coach, a guy with a lot of credibility that is head coach material, that has been a head coach, that can really take charge when I’m doing other stuff. Doing two jobs, it’s two titles, but if you have good people around you with the same vision, you want to be challenged to make yourself better and that’s what we’re going to do.”

The Cougars did not renew the contract of associate coach Steve O’Rourke. O’Rourke, 44, was hired in 2016 after three years as an assistant coach in Red Deer. Goaltending coach Taylor Dakers will be return for a second season with the Cougars.

Lamb confirmed Nick Drazenovic, who served as director of player development, won’t be back with the Cougars, a choice made by the former Cougar captain. He plans to branch out and start up his own business teaching private lessons to minor hockey and adult rec league players.

A big part in Lamb’s decision to extend his duties with Cougars was the relationship he’s built over the past year with the ownership group, which includes locals John Pateman,

Greg Pocock, Ernest Ouellet and Ray Fortier and former Cougar defenceman Eric Brewer and Dan Hamhuis.

“They’re one of the main reasons when I talked about taking the job last year – the vision and what I thought we needed to do was right in line with what they were thinking,” said Lamb. “The working relationship between myself and them has been incredible and it’s something I don’t take for granted.

“Eric and Dan played here, but the other owners know this community. They’ve been in the guts of the business for years and they have a lot of roots here the other two don’t have. Eric and Dan are the hockey players, and everyone knows who they are and it certainly doesn’t hurt (player recruitment). The credibility – they see where they’ve gone and the careers they’ve had that started here is something you can look back on and tell the other players you’re trying to recruit.”

The Cougars went with a young lineup last season and missed the playoffs for the second straight year. Long-suffering Cougar fans have had to be patient with a team that hasn’t gone beyond the first round of the playoffs since 2007, when the Cats last made it to the third round. The team has missed the postseason cut in seven of the last 12 seasons.

Lamb left the Broncos in 2016 to take a head coaching job in the AHL with the Tucson Roadrunners, the top farm team of the Arizona Coyotes. The following season the Broncos won the WHL championship. He isn’t making any guarantees he’ll bring the Ed Chynoweth Cup to Prince George but he’s been around hockey long enough to know there is cause for optimism.

“I see a lot of upside, but a lot of things have to go right to make it really work and to ultimately put a team together to win a championship at some point,” he said. “To do that you need good players and draft picks and we’ve done that. Even next year, we’ve got all kinds of draft picks and we’ve got to hit on those and get guys signed. A lot of things have to come into play but potential-wise, it’s there.”

Catching a draft Lamb’s key to success

Prince George Cougars head coach and general manager Mark Lamb, who took over as interim head coach Feb. 7 when Richard Matvichuk was fired, thinks he can build a championship contender in Prince George, like he helped do in Swift Current, knowing the Cougars have been acquiring young talent and stockpiling high draft choices the past few seasons.

That started in 2017 when then-Cougars GM Todd Harkins dealt D Tate OIson to Lethbridge for a third rounder in 2018 which turned out to be D Ethan Sampson.

The 2018 draft also brought F Blake Eastman (Vancouver’s second-round pick they gave up in the Brad Morrison deal) and F Ty Mueller (Regina’s third-round pick the Pats sent to the Cougars in the Jesse Gabrielle trade).

Harkins pulled off the January 2018 deal that sent D Dennis Cholowski to Portland and that paid off handsomely for the Cougars.

They picked up the Winterhawks’ first-round pick in 2020, second-round picks in 2018 (D Hudson Thornton) and 2019 (D Jaren Brinson) and a third-rounder in 2020. The deal also brought to Prince George F Ilijah Colina and F Connor Bowie.

The Kody McDonald trade in 2018 to Prince Albert gave the Cougars D Rhett Rhinehart and D Austin Crossley and the Raiders’ ninth-overall pick in 2018, which the Cats used to select F Craig Armstrong.

The Cougars also shipped D Josh Anderson to Swift Current before the 2018 deadline to acquire the Broncos’ first-rounder in 2018 (which they used to pick G Tyler Brennan 21st overall) and Swift Current’s first-rounder 2019, which the Cats used this past May to select Keaton Dowhaniuk, considered the best defenceman available in the draft.

Dowhaniuk went third overall after the Cougars sent the second-overall choice to the Winnipeg Ice, who gave up their third-round pick to Prince George in 2020.

The Cats used their own first-rounder this year, fourth overall, to pick F Koehn Ziemmer, who played with Dowhaniuk at Okanagan Hockey Academy-Edmonton.

Next year, the Cougars will have two first-round selections, a second-round pick, and three choices in the third round.

They also have an extra seventh-round choice, acquired the Kjell Kjemhus trade from Moose Jaw.

Rushton gearing up for lacrosse playoffs

Ted CLARKE Citizen staff

Ainslee Rushton’s lacrosse goalie equipment makes her look like a giant in the crease.

Away from the rink, it’s hard to believe her tall and slender five-foot-nine frame is making all those saves while she draws doubleduty for the Prince George midget Posse and the B.C. girls midget provincial team. Until you see the welts and bruises those heavy white rubber balls leave behind.

“When I came back from Calgary (after playing for the Posse in the Canada Day tournament) my thumb was double in size from having shots go right through the glove,” said Rushton. “My other hand was bruised and I had a cut on my neck and collar bone. I’ve had to work on (developing pain tolerance) over the years.”

The 15-year-old Rushton, who backstopped B.C. to the national girls bantam championship last year in Halifax, N.S., will be sticking closer to home for the Canadian Lacrosse Association national midget girls championship, which will be played in Coquitlam, Aug. 16-18

“It’s going to be hard because I’m playing against the older girls this year and I know there’s a lot of skill, from playing (in her first of three nationals) as a first-year bantam,” she said.

“I know Ontario’s best players and they’re so good, so this year will be another battle

to get that gold medal.”

The national tournament will involve just three teams, B.C., Ontario and Nova Scotia. Alberta won’t be sending a team, which

is disappointing for Rushton. She and her

Team B.C. teammates beat Alberta 5-3 in last year’s bantam gold-medal final in Halifax and she wanted another crack at them.

The midget A2 Posse, coached by Doug Schoenwille, competed in the 11-team A1 midget division at the Canada Day tournament and Rushton split the goaltending duties evenly with Spencer Rogers.

The team went 0-4, but for Rushton the two games she played against high-calibre opponents offered perfect seasoning for the playoff action she’ll face over the next few weeks with her two teams.

“Those A1 shots were hard but I made a couple saves there and they were really good shots to take before nationals,” she said.

The Posse will travel to Langley for the A2 provincial championship, July 25-28.

Rushton has been the only player on her female provincial team from outside of the Lower Mainland for three seasons and the costs of commuting to and from Vancouver for regular training sessions add up.

“The coaches are going for a lot of fitness this year to try to get us in good shape for nationals,” she said.

Earl’s restaurant donated to her a large stockpile of bottles and cans for recycling. Rushton has had help from a few local sponsors to pay her travel costs and she’s always trying to find more backers to keep her playing high-level lacrosse. Donations can be made directly to the B.C. Lacrosse Association in her name or through the National Sport Trust Fund.

Posse claims bronze reward in peewee lacrosse provincials

Citizen staff

The Prince George Posse saddled up and rode out of Ladner Leisure Centre Sunday afternoon clutching bronze medals. The Posse defeated Richmond 9-5 for third place in the six-team A2 peewee provincial lacrosse championship. Saanich edged Kamloops 4-3 for gold.

The Posse tied Richmond 9-9 on Saturday to finish third in the round-robin tournament with a 2-2-1 record.

Fourth-place Richmond went 1-22 in the preliminary round. Saturday’s tie in Ladner came after consecutive losses for the Posse to the two frontrunners. Prince

George dropped a 7-6 decision to Kamloops Friday afternoon, then lost 11-6 to Saanich, which went undefeated and wrapped up first place in the standings.

The Posse opened the tournament with a pair of victories – 8-5 over Vancouver and 7-5 over Langley.

The Prince George bantam Posse will be in Victoria/North Saanich for the A2 bantam championship next weekend. The Posse’s first game is Thursday at 5 p.m. against Ridge Meadows.

-HANDOUT PHOTO

The Prince George Posse celebrates its 9-5 win bronze medal win over Richmond at the provincial A2 peewee championship in Ladner.

LAMB

Thomas blowing in the wind at Tour de France

Samuel PETREUIN, John LEICESTER

The Associated Press

ALBI, France — Geraint Thomas and his teammates don’t need a mountain to deliver a hammer blow on their rivals at the Tour de France.

They can do it on the flat, too. With a little help from the wind.

The defending champion was the big winner of a chaotic Stage 10 in southern France on Monday when French rival Thibaut Pinot and other title contenders were caught napping by a treacherous combination of winds and narrow roads.

Unable to all ride at the front, Pinot and other riders got left behind when the winds first stretched and then shattered the peloton into groups over 35 frantic final kilometres of a 217.5-kilometre trek from Saint-Flour to Albi in south-central France.

Perfectly positioned at the front when the pack took different routes around a traffic circle, triggering the first split, Thomas and his Ineos teammates put pedal to the metal to make the gap on Pinot and other contenders caught behind as big as possible.

The bill for the French podium finisher in 2104, as well as Rigoberto Uran, Jakob Fuglsang, and Richie Porte was costly. They rode in a whopping 1 minute, 40 seconds behind Thomas.

“At the start we said at some point this race is going to split,” explained Luke Rowe, one of Thomas’ teammates.

“We were all over it with numbers at the front.”

Once opened, the gap increased speedily, with yellow jersey-holder Julian Alaphilippe and Ineos riders setting a frenetic tempo until the end.

“We were straight on the front foot, we knew it was on us to drive it to the line,” Rowe said. “I was saying to the guys, ‘This is a TTT (team time trial) all the way to the finish line.”’

Tour de France rookie Wout Van Aert won the stage with a sprint to the line. But Thomas was the headline act.

“I couldn’t think of anything better,” Thomas said.

“It’s especially good on a day like today when you never expect it. It was just a positioning error from them and they lose a minute and a half. That’s how it goes.”

Ahead of big Pyrenean stages this week, Thomas vaulted to

second place overall, 1:12 behind Alaphilippe, with teammate Egan Bernal in third place, four seconds further back.

After a flawless start to the race, it was Pinot’s first mistake, and a big one. Looking to become the first Frenchman to win the race since Bernard Hinault in 1985, he dropped from third to 11th overall, 2:33 behind Alaphilipple and 1:21 behind Thomas, perhaps not fatal to his Tour but a huge setback.

Pinot used an expletive to describe his day.

“What do you want me to say?

There’s nothing to say,” he said, looking absolutely disgusted.

Tour de France director Chris-

tian Prudhomme was almost as disappointed.

“He was ideally placed in the Tour and to be trapped like that in the last 35 kilometres of the stage before the rest day is sad for him,” he said.

“It’s a lot of time lost.”

Ottawa’s Michael Woods was 43rd overall after finishing 101st in Monday’s stage, and Hugo Houle of Sainte-Perpetue, Que., was 113th overall after finishing 129th in Stage 10.

The peloton split into three groups on a long but narrow section of road opened to the wind when Alaphilippe’s Deceuninck Quick Step teammates sped up the pace at the front to close the gap to

six breakaway riders. The fugitives were reeled in with 25 kilometres left before Thomas and Co., working well with Alaphilippe’s team, pushed harder in an impressive display of collective strength.

“It’s not only in the mountains where you can gain time, we have a strong team for days like today, too, and that’s what we showed,” Thomas’ teammate Dylan van Baarle, said.

Enjoying another day in yellow, Alaphilippe said he and his teammates were thinking about placing Elia Viviani for the finish-line sprint when they accelerated, not deliberately trying to hurt Pinot.

“We didn’t plan to split the bunch. We only expected the stage to be nervous and tricky. Our intention was only to protect my yellow jersey and to focus on a sprint,” he said.

“We knew precisely at which kilometre there was a risk of crosswinds. All teams gave the same instructions. There was a lot of stress and pressure in the peloton and when it split, everyone expected it, then we did the maximum.”

A three-time cyclo-cross world champion starting to live up to his billing as a future star, Van Aert is riding his first Grand Tour.

“The last 70 kilometres were very nervous,” he said after edging Viviani by just a few inches. Australian Caleb Ewan placed third. Van Aert surged from the left in the last stretch and resisted Viviani’s comeback by throwing his bike at the line.

The up and coming Belgian said he got the OK from his team bosses to race for the win because his team leaders were trapped in the group behind.

But even then he didn’t expect to beat recognized sprinters such as Viviani and Peter Sagan in a photo finish.

“It’s crazy,” he said.

New head coach preparing Canada for long FIBA World Cup run

John CHIDLEY-HILL The Canadian Press

TORONTO — Nick Nurse is going to prepare Canada’s men’s basketball team for a long haul.

A group of 29 players – including 17 NBAers – were invited to Canada’s training camp on Tuesday ahead of the FIBA World Cup. The Canadians will play a pair of exhibition games in Toronto and Winnipeg before five more games in Australia before travelling to China for the international tournament that will be held from Aug. 31 to Sept. 15.

Nurse, fresh off of an NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors, wants Canada to be in the final.

“It’s a talented group of guys. If these guys can gel, we can go as far as we want to go,” said Nurse.

“But there’s some work to do. We’ve got to get together, we’re going to have to develop a really tough mentality defensively, we’re going to have to develop a selfless, hit-theopen-man offensive mentality.

“When you start doing those things who knows where you can go. But my objective is to win.”

Rowan Barrett, Canada’s general manager of men’s high performance teams, said depth will be one of the critical components of his roster. Canada had the second-most players in the NBA to start the 2018 season behind only the United States.

That number is expected to grow this fall after six Canadians were selected in the NBA draft, a new record for most players picked from any country outside the U.S. in a single draft.

Playing in the World Cup amounts to a six-week commitment from players, with Canada opening its two-game exhibition

series against Nigeria in Toronto on Aug. 7 and then playing in Winnipeg on Aug. 9.

After those two games the Canadians will travel to Australia for a five-game exhibition series against Australia (Aug. 16-17), New Zealand (Aug. 20-21) and the Americans (Aug. 26) before heading to China for the tournament itself.

Basketball Canada said a finalized list of training camp attendees will be announced prior to the start of camp.

“I think to give our team the best chance

that we have to be successful we need to have those commitments and have the players in,” said Barrett.

“If you’re in, you need to show up on that first day and let’s get going, let’s get started.”

Jamal Murray is the biggest name invited to play for Canada at the tournament.

He averaged 18.2 points and 4.8 rebounds for Denver this past season, guiding the upstart Nuggets to within a game of the Western Conference finals. The 22-year-old

from Kitchener, Ont., agreed to a five-year, US$170 million contract extension with Denver on July 1, the richest deal for a Canadian player in NBA history.

R.J. Barrett, who was drafted third overall by the New York Knicks this summer, is also on the list of invitees. The son of Rowan Barrett and godson of Canadian basketball legend Steve Nash, the younger Barrett averaged 22.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists for Duke University last season. Other notables include Cleveland Cavaliers forward Tristan Thompson and Miami Heat centre Kelly Olynyk.

Former No.1 draft pick Andrew Wiggins was not invited to the camp. He averaged 18.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game last season with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“We’ve had some conversations with him. At the end, it’s come out to him not feeling like this was the right time for him,” said Barrett.

“We have to respect that and from now we’ll move forward and we’ll focus on, and respect, all the other players that have decided to play and focus on them moving forward.”

Things won’t get any easier at the World Cup, with Canada in a group with Australia, Lithuania, and Senegal, considered by many to be the toughest group in the tournament.

“I know that we’re playing some physical teams,” said Nurse who was an assistant coach for Great Britain from 2009-12, including the 2012 London Olympics.

“I’ve coached many times against Lithuania in the past and a few times against Australia. Their trademark is physicality. We’re going to have to understand that going in. We have to be ready and to play through some physicality.”

France, Arkea-Samsic, 3:26.

Kreuziger, Czech Republic, Dimension

Meurisse, Belgium, Wanty-Gobert, 3:42.

Australia, Trek-Segafredo, 3:59.

AP PHOTO

Colombia’s Egan Arley Bernal Gomez, left, Britain’s Geraint Thomas, centre, and Italy’s Gianni Moscon ride during the ninth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 170.5 kilometres with start in Saint Etienne and finish in Brioude, France, on Sunday.

CP FILE PHOTO

Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse smiles during a news conference in Oakland, Calif., in June.

Prosecutor: woman oversaw $145M investor fraud plot

Michael KUNZELMAN

The Associated Press

GREENBELT, Md. — Recorded telephone calls, company emails and videotaped evidence will show that an Israeli woman oversaw a “massive” scheme to defraud tens of thousands of investors across the globe out of tens of millions of dollars, a federal prosecutor told jurors Tuesday.

“She trained (employees) to lie to victims, over and over and over again,” Justice Department prosecutor Caitlin Cottingham said during opening statements for Lee Elbaz’s trial in Maryland.

But an attorney for Elbaz said the 38-year-old woman didn’t condone any of the fraudulent tactics used by employees who worked under her supervision at a call centre in Israel. Defence lawyer Barry Pollack said the evidence will show Elbaz never intended to defraud investors “even if others around her did.”

“She wanted her employees to work clean,” Pollack told the jury.

Elbaz is one of 15 defendants in the case and the first to be tried. Five have pleaded guilty and agreed to co-operate with prosecutors. Nine others were indicted in February.

Elbaz, who was CEO of an Israelbased company called Yukom Communications, is accused of engaging in a plot to dupe investors through the sale and marketing of financial instruments known as “binary options.”

The binary options market largely operates outside the U.S. through unregulated websites. In court papers, prosecutors said the payout on a binary option is usually linked to “whether the price of a particular asset – such as a stock or a commodity – would rise above or fall below a specified amount.”

“Investors are effectively predicting whether its price will be above or below a certain amount at a certain time of the day, and when this option ‘expires,’ the option holder receives either a pre-determined amount of cash or nothing,” they wrote.

Yukom provided sales and marketing services for BinaryBook and BigOption, the brand names for internet-based businesses that purportedly sold and marketed binary options.

By late 2017, investors had

deposited roughly $185 million into BinaryBook and BigOption accounts and withdrawn less than $50 million, prosecutors said.

Elbaz, who used the alias “Lena Green” while interacting with investors, was indicted in March 2018 on three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. FBI agents arrested her in September 2017 after she travelled to New York.

She has been living in San Francisco with a relative while awaiting trial in Greenbelt, Md.

A separate indictment against nine other defendants, including Yukom owner Yosef Herzog, says the scheme involving BinaryBook and BigOption cost investors more than $145 million worldwide, including thousands of victims in the U.S.

Cottingham said Yukom employees at a call centre in Caesarea, Israel, solicited investments through lies and false promises. Employees pretended to be from other countries, lied about their professional qualifications and adopted “stage names,” the prosecutor said.

They also falsely guaranteed profits, lied about their histori-

cal rates of return and didn’t tell investors that they only made money if their customers lost money, she told jurors.

“They knew that if they told clients the truth, they wouldn’t have sent money,” Cottingham said.

Cottingham told jurors they will see video of Elbaz telling FBI agents that 95 per cent of clients who sent money to BinaryBook and BigOption lost money.

“No one told victims that,” she added.

Pollack said Elbaz expected employees to meet their sales targets and earn their commissions honestly.

“Some of them made false promises and false guarantees,” he said.

“And you know what? Some of them got caught.”

An email instructed BinaryBook sales representatives to target retirees, Social Security recipients, pension holders and veterans as clients, according to court filings accompanying guilty pleas by former employees.

Eugene and Penelope Timmons of Kansas City, Mo., said they dipped into life savings to invest approximately $110,000 through BinaryBook over nearly two years.

They lost everything. Penelope Timmons, 72, said BinaryBook’s website initially created the illusion they were making money.

“We couldn’t get our money out. All they kept doing was hand us off to other people,” she said during an interview last year.

“Once you realize these people have taken you, it’s very demoralizing and discouraging.”

In 2011, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received only four complaints from victims of binary options fraud, reporting losses of just over $20,000.

In 2016, however, the centre received hundreds of these complaints with millions of dollars in reported losses.

“This has been a worldwide problem,” Justice Department prosecutor Ankush Khardori said during a September 2017 detention hearing for Elbaz, according to a transcript.

Elbaz’s indictment cites a September 2015 email from one employee to co-workers about a sales “marathon,” a competition to obtain deposits from investors.

“This is not a cemetery here! It’s a boiler room!” the employee wrote.

Alberta economy doing better than expected in June forecast, TD economists note

The Canadian Press

CALGARY — Encouraging data points are forcing economists to consider upgrading their expectations for weak 2019 economic growth in Alberta as the province continues to recover from the effects of extreme heavy oil price weakness late last year.

The provincial economy appears to have started growing again in recent weeks, based on stats showing rising oil exports by pipe and rail, stronger wholesale and manufacturing shipments and a jump in small business confidence, says a report from TD Economics released Tuesday.

It also cites an improvement in the jobless rate and positive population growth, along with more upbeat trends in Alberta’s stalled retail sales and housing sectors.

“All in all, recent encouraging data have added credence to the view that economic growth in Alberta is gaining some traction,” the TD report says.

“While a continuation in this momentum would set the stage for a forecast upgrade, we remain cautious for now.”

In its quarterly provincial forecast in June, the bank suggested the province’s economy would grow by a “paltry” 0.5 per cent this year and a slightly better 2.1 per cent next year. It said the province’s mandated oil production curtailments that started in January had succeeded in strengthening heavy oil prices in early 2019 but business and

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household spending remained hampered by concerns around medium-term energy investment.

Similarly, ATB Financial cut its 2019 growth expectations to 0.7 per cent in May from an earlier forecast of about 1.4 per cent, said Rob Roach, director of insight for the Alberta government-owned lender.

“It’s a bit of a mixed bag,” he said on Tuesday, citing statistics including Alberta’s recovery to a 6.6 per cent jobless rate in June from 7.3 per cent in February.

“There are definitely some signs of life but I think it’s too early to tell.”

ATB is more likely to increase its growth estimate than cut it, he conceded, in its next update in August.

The TD report arrives the day after the Calgary Stampede announced attendance at this year’s outdoor exhibition was 1.275 million, up about 4,200 from last year and second only to the event’s centennial year total of 1.4 million in 2012.

Roach said the rise in attendance is good news for the economy but doesn’t necessarily indicate a big change in consumer attitudes because it could mean people are staying in town to save money on a vacation.

The TD economists stopped short of an immediate upgrade in their forecast, noting the volatility of regional statistics and the newly elected United Conservative government’s likely moves to restrain provincial spending.

in the Middle East. The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 8.40 points at 16,502.42 after hitting a low of 16,467.13. Seven of the 11 major sectors were down on the day, led by the energy sector. It fell 1.6 per cent, with Husky Energy Inc. and Canadian Natural Resources losing 2.6 and 1.9 per cent respectively. Shares in the key sector were awash in red as the August crude contract was down US$1.96 at US$57.62 per barrel and the August natural gas contract was down 10.2 cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU. The August gold contract was down US$2.30 at US$1,411.20 an ounce and the September copper contract was down 1.1 cents at US$2.70 a pound. Technology was down along with telecommunications while industrials climbed 1.4 per cent as CP Rail shares hit an all-time high after it beat analyst expectations by posting record second-quarter revenues and net income jumped more than two-thirds to $724 million.

The Canadian dollar traded for an average of 76.62 cents US compared with an average of 76.69 cents US on Monday. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 23.53 points at 27,335.63. The S&P 500 index was down 10.26 points at 3,004.04, while the Nasdaq composite was down 35.39 points at 8,222.80. U.S. markets fell after President Donald Trump said in a cabinet meeting that trade talks with China have a long way to go.

Stronger-than-expected U.S. retail sales numbers in June also prompted markets to question the size and timing of expected interest rate cuts.

“I think the market has now come to some consensus that it would be 25 basis points if they cut as opposed to when we looked a few weeks ago the thought that it could be as high as 50 basis points at the July meeting,” Chopra said in an interview. He said the Federal Reserve will be constantly reviewing new data and making adjustments to their decision.

“If you continue to get strong economic numbers, investors would have to adjust their expectations for rate cuts in the future.”

AP PHOTO

Lee Elbaz, left, accompanied by her attorney Barry Pollack arrives at federal court for jury selection in her trial in Greenbelt, Md., on Tuesday. She is accused of duping investors through the sale and marketing of financial instruments known as “binary options.”

Johnson

September 17, 1920July 14, 2019

It is with great sadness, that we announce the passing of Celestina (Tina). Predeceased by her husband Ralph, daughter Carol and son Keith. Survived by her son, Ken (Norma), Bob and many grandchildren, great grandchildren and great- great grandchildren and numerous friends.

Tina was born in London, England and came to Canada in 1927, to Vancouver where she married Ralph in 1940 and then they settled in Surrey, BC. After the passing of her husband, in 1995 she moved to Prince George. Here she became known as a “social butterfly” where she became very involved in the community. She was well known for her involvement in the Anglican Church as well as her cake decorating skills. Later she moved into Parkside where she remained until her death. We would like to thank the staff at Parkside for their excellent care of Mom.

A Celebration of her life will take place at her granddaughters’ place at 6529 Rampart Place on July 28th from 1:00 - 3:00pm No service by request.

It is with great sadness we announce that on July 13, 2019, Lawrie Pennington passed away at the age of 85. He is survived by his loving wife Elsie, his four children: Rod (Corinne), Perry (Gina), Greg, Carla (Kyle), his nine grandchildren: Rodney, Cory, David, Sean, Kevin, Ryan, Tiernan, Shae, Brin and his great grandchild Santino. Also survived by his two sisters: Ann (Wayne) and Joan (Lloyd). Lawrie was born on December 29th, 1933 in Beechy, SK. He met Elsie in the spring of 1957 and they soon wed the same year on November 9th. He settled with his young family in Prince George, BC in 1965 and resided there until his passing. Loving hockey from an early age, Lawrie coached all three of his sons, and was instrumental in establishing the Prince George Spruce Kings. His family will remember him for the unconditional love and support he always gave, his strong work ethic, as well as his great sense of humor. Many thanks to the Jubilee Lodge nursing staff for all of the care Lawrie received. Immediate family will be gathering for a private function in Prince George, BC. You may share your memories, messages or condolences on remembr.com/lawrie.pennington.

In lieu of flowers, if you so wish, donations may be made to the SPCA in Lawrie’s name.

Castley

Kimberly Frances Jean

It is with heavy hearts that we inform you that Kim peacefully passed away July 11, 2019 at the Rotary Hospice House, surrounded by family and friends after a courageous battle with cancer. Kim was born in Prince George, BC July 12, 1979 to parents Doug and Val Pohl, and a little sister for Carolyn (Dale) Bull and Krista (Shawn) Coburn. She lived her entire life in Prince George, with the exception of 4-1/2 years in Ft McMurray, AB, moving back with her family to Prince George in 2011. Kim graduated from Kelly Road Secondary school in 1997, and completed both the Medical Office Assistant and Long Term Care Aid programs at the College of New Caledonia. Kim had a passion for serving kids especially special needs children. Kim spent her working career in group homes, health care and after her children were full time in school, into the school district as an educational assistant. Kim was heavily involved in her Church and Chubb Lake Bible Camp. Kim enjoyed camping, crafts, knitting and thoroughly enjoyed relaxing in her hammock. Kim married her husband David August 12, 2000. Kim leaves behind her husband David and sons Sean, Daniel and Ethan, parents and sisters. Kim was cremated at her request. A celebration of life will be held at Cornerstone Life Centre (6912 Hart Highway) on Saturday, July 20, 2019 at 11 AM. In lieu of flowers it is requested that donations are made to either Chubb Lake Bible Camp, or the Rotary Hospice House in memory of Kim.

Adult & Youth Newspaper Carriers Needed in the Following areas:

• Hart Area • Driftwood Rd, Dawson Rd, Seton Cres, • Austin Rd.

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• Oxford, Simon Fraser Trent, Fairmont, Guelph, Gladstone,Hartford, Harvard, Imperial, Kingsley, Jean De Brebeuf Cres, Loyola, Latrobe, Leicester Pl, Princeton Cres, Prince Edward Cres, Newcastle, Melbourne, Loedel, Marine Pl, Hough Pl, Guerrier Pl, Sarah Pl, Lancaster, Lemoyne,

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• • Full Time and Temporary Routes Available. Contact for Details 250-562-3301 or rss@pgcitizen.ca

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