War of words accompanies launch of public consultation on forestry
Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff
mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca
Complete with a series of community meetings, the provincial government has launched a public consultation process on the future of the Interior forest sector.
Starting this week and lasting until at least late August, “localized, in-person engagement sessions” will be held in two dozen towns while submissions will be accepted online until Oct. 11.
Forests Minister Doug Donaldson was quick to accuse the previous Liberal government of failing to prepare for the inevitable, namely a wave of sawmill closures as a result of the decline in available timber.
“The previous government failed to help the forest sector when it had a chance, eroding the public’s trust in B.C.’s forest sector operations and diminishing its competitive advantage,” he said in a press release issued Thursday.
“We are taking action and making different choices by asking for local input and insight into how we want to shape a prosperous, competitive and culturally sensitive Interior future forest sector.”
Opposition critic John Rustad, in turn, accused the governing NDP of inaction in its own right, noting how long it will take for the process to conclude. In a press release, the Liberals dismissed the exercise as a “useless survey.”
“I think it’s good that the government is seeking input on forestry, but they seem to be completely ignoring the fact that the industry has got a crisis right now,” Rustad said in an interview. “There are short term things that are needed.”
Alluding to a five-point plan
Interior Liberal MLAs highlighted earlier this week, Rustad suggested support for contractor struggling to make payments, bridging older workers through to retirement, job sharing and putting a greater emphasis on clearing out areas prone to wildfires as a form of job-creation.
“This is the type of action the government should be taking and
it’s very frustrating that they just seem to be fiddling while Rome is burning,” Rustad said, suggesting the inattention is due to the affected areas being located in Liberal-held ridings.
“Quite frankly, that’s just completely and totally unfair,” Rustad said.
In an interview, Donaldson stressed deployment of community transition response teams to coordinate help for displaced workers.
“We’re holding job fairs, we’re doing a micro-approach to job opportunities, I have staff looking at what are some of the opportunities that are seeking workers in communities and what’s the experience and training needed and are there workers laid off now that are interested in acquiring that and working with local colleges, for instance to provide that,” Donaldson said. “So we’re working on a number of fronts to deal with those situations and that’s the number-one priority, the immediate response for workers and families.”
Rustad dismissed the teams’ effectiveness, saying they failed to consider the impact on surrounding communities when the Chasm sawmill in 70 Mile House was closed in 2017.
Rustad also made note of District of Fort St. James’ council declaration of a “state of financial emergency” this week in the wake of the closure of the Conifex sawmill.
“I’ve never seen a community do
anything like that before but clearly that is a sign that government is not stepping up to the plate and providing some help,” said Rustad, the MLA for Nechako-Lakes, which includes Fort St. James.
Donaldson said action is being taken through a community transition team.
“We’re coordinating with Services Canada, the federal agency, and Work BC, the provincial agency,” he said.
As for the consultation, the government issued a consultation paper seeking input on forest tenure and fibre supply; climate change and forest carbon; manufacturing capacity and fibre use; wood products innovation; reconciliation with Indigenous communities; and fibre and sustainability of timber and non-timber forest values.
It’s posted at engage.gov.bc.ca/ interiorforestrenewal
The first engagement session was held in Williams Lake on Thursday.
Sessions are to be held in Burns Lake, 100 Mile House, Mackenzie, Anahim Lake and Terrace during the week of July 21-27, Smithers, Houston, Hazelton, Quesnel, Castlegar, Cranbrook and Revelstoke during August 4-10, Kamloops, Merritt and Williams Lake once again during Aug. 11-17 and Vernon during Aug. 18-24.
Dates and locations are still to be set for engagement sessions in Prince George, Vanderhoof, Fort St. James, McBride, Chetwynd, Fort St. John and Fort Nelson.
Building permits speak to a ‘quiet boom’
Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff
The city is continuing to enjoy a “quiet boom” on the construction front.
That’s how Coun. Garth Frizzell put it when he commented Monday on the city’s latest building permit report. As of halfway through this year, permits for $87.1 million worth of construction have been taken out. The total is down from $99.6 million reached by the same point last year, which finished at a record-setting pace, but is still well up from $49.2 million as of halfway through 2017.
“It seems like each month is one in an ongoing series of discussions about the quiet boom that’s taking place here in Prince George and it’s quiet because we don’t talk much about it,” Frizzell said. “But you can see that the numbers continue on year after year giving us better and better construction and better and better development in the city. It’s not something that can last forever, but it sure has been a consistent rise over the last four to five years.”
It seems like each month is one in an ongoing series of discussions about the quiet boom that’s taking place here in Prince George and it’s quiet because we don’t talk much about it.
— Coun. Garth Frizzell
Frizzell emphasized the number of permits that have been issued. As of the end of June, that count stood 289, compared to 231 by midpoint 2018 and 235 by halfway into 2017.
“That’s pretty significant, seeing the amount of construction going on in the city and it should be recognized,” Frizzell said. Looking solely at June, 71 permits for $31.3 million worth of work were taken out, compared to 50 permits for $44.7 million for June 2018 and 69 permits for $14.8 million for June 2017. Highlights from last month included 17 permits for $9.4 million worth of new singlefamily homes and permits for a $5.5-million water treatment plant at the Canfor pulp mill and $11.8 million worth of work at the new fire hall.
Canfor announces more production cuts
Citizen staff
Canfor is imposing an “indefinite curtailment” at its Mackenzie sawmill and permanently eliminating a shift at its Isle Pierre sawmill, the company said Thursday.
The shutdown at the Mackenzie sawmill is effective immediately, while the reduction at Isle Pierre will come into effect on Sept. 20, which will be reduced to one shift.
“We deeply regret the impacts that these capacity reductions will have on our Mackenzie and
Isle Pierre employees, contractors, their families and the local communities,” said Canfor senior vice president of Canadian operations Stephen Mackie.
“The B.C. forest industry is continuing to face very significant challenges.
“None of our temporary or permanent curtailment decisions have been made lightly, nor are they a reflection on the hard work and dedication of our employees.”
The moves will reduce Canfor’s annual production by about 400 million board feet.
Ty Janse, 12, rides his scooter through the large puddle in the parking lot of the Rotary Skate Park on Thursday.
DONALDSON RUSTAD
Huble Homestead hosting Kids’ Carnival this Saturday
Christine HINZMANN Citizen staff chinzmann@pgcitizen.ca
The Kids’ Carnival at Huble Homestead Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. will be filled with magic, offer an outlet for artistic expression, an opportunity to play carnival games and there’s even a chance to dig for buried treasure.
“This is one of our long-running events – we’ve been hosting it since 2007 and it’s one of our favourite events because it’s just so much fun,” Krystal Leason, executive director of Huble Homestead/ Giscome Portage Heritage Society, said.
“One of the big draws, of course, is the magic shows.”
There will be four shows held throughout the day featuring William the Conjurer who offers his latest tricks and illusions to mystify his audience.
The big draw of the day is the carnival games, hence the name Kids’ Carnival, Leason said.
Each game costs 25 cents per play and there are guaranteed prizes.
“There are games like spin the wheel, buried treasure, bean bag toss, fish pond, key to the past, and things like that,” Leason said.
Some of the games are familiar and some are not.
Buried treasure sees participants dig around in a bucket of sand to find a plastic coin.
Prizes are colour-coded to match the coins to determine the prize, while key to the past allows guests to pick a key to take a chance at opening a treasure chest.
“If you manage to open the
chest, that’s extra special, but you get a prize no matter what,” Leason explained.
“These games are suitable for all ages and there are a variety of prizes available.”
There are also demonstrations held throughout the homestead.
“There is an ice cream making demonstration and of course the best part of making ice cream is tasting ice cream,” Leason laughed.
The blacksmith will be on site working in the shop so guests can watch as a nail or horseshoe is created, she added.
Two Rivers Gallery staff will be on hand to offer a craft-making experience and when it’s time to take a break from all the excitement, taking a colouring sheet to the barn might be in order or just take it home.
“Guests can get a sparkle tattoo, their face painted, and there’s toys all over the site so people can play with balls and inflatables,” Leason added.
“There’s game times with scheduled pioneer races, relays, and the parachute will come out so people can join in on the parachute games.”
There’s also a treasure hunt that offers exploration of the homestead.
“So if you want to you can get the paper in the welcome barn and explore the historic site, looking for all the different clues and finish with a prize,” Leason said.
“It’s just a really packed day. It is a lot of fun for all ages.”
The general store is open and offers old-fashioned candy, and locally-made toys and accessories.
There’s a concession that offers hot dogs and hamburgers or visitors are welcome to bring their own picnic.
The following Saturday, July 27, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., features a scavenger hunt where guests are invited to round up the troops for an outdoor adventure.
“This is more of a self-led activity day so it’s less of a production,” Leason said.
“This is a scavenger hunt so you get the paper at the welcome barn. There’s things you can find all around the site and also things that you can do to help check off all the items on the list.”
One of the many things you can do to achieve success is build a five-person pyramid and take a picture to show at the end of the hunt.
How many things you do and find on the list depends on the size of the prize you get at the end of the scavenger hunt.
“You can take as much time as you want, so it’s really personally paced,” Leason said.
“It’s a great activity for all ages, ideal for families with young children or groups of people who can come out as friends and have a good time and you can do as much of it or as little as you want so it’s really just an excuse to get outside and have some fresh air while you explore Huble Homestead.”
The historic site is a 30-minute drive north of Prince George on Highway 97, turn off on Mitchell Road and continue six kilometres down a well-maintained gravel road.
Huble Homestead is dog friendly and open daily for guided tours and shopping in the general store. Enjoy a picnic or purchase lunch from the barbecue.
Admission is by recommended donation of $10 per family.
Local woman wins record $2.1M slot machine jackpot
Citizen staff
It just took one spin to see Prince George’s Marlyne Dumoulin win a record-breaking B.C. slot jackpot worth more than $2.1 million on July 13 at the Treasure Cove Casino.
“I was just in shock,” Dumoulin said. “I thought I had won $2,100, but my husband, who was sitting beside me, said he thought it was a lot more than that. That night was so surreal... I wasn’t able to sleep or eat for the first two days. I actually have bandages on my fingers from chewing my fingernails.”
During a Powerbucks jackpot the amount of money grows to $1 million and more as people continue to place bets across participating Canadian jurisdictions. A portion of each wager gets added to the progressive jackpot until it is won.
“Celebrating a record-breaking Powerbucks jackpot in British Columbia is a thrilling occasion for our players,” Brad Desmarais, VP of Casino and Community Gaming, said. “On behalf of BCLC, I’d like to congratulate Marlyne on her win at Treasure Cove Casino in Prince George.”
B.C.
Marlyne Dumoulin won more than $2.1 million on the slot machines at the Treasure Cove Casino on July 13.
CITIZEN FILE PHOTO
Blacksmith Mike Hardeman puts on a demonstration during Huble Homestead’s annual Spring on the Homestead event in May. The historic site is holding its annual Kids’ Carnival on Saturday.
Drumming and carving
Lenard Paquette took time away from carving at the Tourist Centre on First Avenue to drum for passengers leaving on the Via Rail train to Jasper on Thursday morning. Paquette was the latest artist to participate in the ‘Artnership’ between Tourism Prince George and Community Arts Council will see a different artist displaying their work Thursdays at the tourist centre.
HIV/AIDS Walk happening Saturday
Christine HINZMANN Citizen staff chinzmann@pgcitizen.ca
Positive Living North, in partnership with the Prince George Nechako Rotary Club, are hosting the HIV/AIDS Walk and Family Fun Day Saturday at Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park bandshell from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Everyone is welcome to attend the fundraising event.
The day is especially geared to emphasize how HIV is now a manageable chronic illness and those living with HIV are able to lead long, healthy lives with family and friends and that’s why a big portion of the event will focus on family fun, Kyla Turner AIDS walk coordinator and education manager for Positive Living North, said.
“We’re going to have a bit of a change up for us,” Turner said.
“Typically speaking in the past we’ve just had the standard charity walk but this year though we wanted to bring out some new faces and acknowledge that a
lot of the people who are living with HIV in Northern B.C. are also now raising families, have grandchildren, and there’s not so much for them to do with their younger family members so we’re having a family fun day.”
There will be games for the children who will be playing for tickets. It will be set up like an arcade where participants collect tickets and then exchange those for prizes. Games include ring toss, a fish pond and chuck-a-duck, which is similar to a bean bag toss.
Not only is the event geared for family fun but also to raise awareness.
Today’s new medicine for HIV can take a person’s viral load, which is the indicator of how much HIV is in the body at any given time and brings it to almost a zero, Turner explained.
“We call it ‘undetectable,’” Turner said.
“Now you still have HIV in your body, unfortunately it’s not a cure, but it does mean that you are much less likely to have a weakened immune system and
you are much less likely to get sick and very few people today who are on medication are developing AIDS, which is much more serious than having HIV virus in your system.”
Registration for the fundraising walk is from 10 a.m. until noon, when the walk starts.
There will be prizes for individuals and teams who are the greatest fundraisers, while others can pick up a donation form and those who are only able to raise awareness because of financial constraints are also welcome to participate in any way they can.
The walk route is a combination of in the park and on the street, going down Queensway from 20th to 17 Avenue and back into the park.
“It will be a nice and relaxing lovely little river walk on Saturday afternoon and we’re hoping to make a little bit of noise and create some awareness going down Queensway as well,” Turner said. For more information visit www.positivelivingnorth.org or call 250-562-1172.
Go By Bike Week achieves new milestone
Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca
A record amount of pedal power showed up for a rebranded campaign to encourage more bike riding in the city.
Go By Bike Week drew 883 riders from May 27 to June 2 – a 35-per-cent jump over last year’s count. Collectively, they traveled 38,132 kilometres over that time, more than double the previous edition’s total of 15,941.
“Overall, it was pretty good success,” coordinator Dane Greenwell said during a presentation at Monday night’s city council meeting.
He agreed that a lack of wildfire smoke helped with the turnout.
“I think it certainly motivated people to get out riding this year,” Greenwell said.
“I think it was the weather that really turned it around for Prince George.
“We’re one of the northernmost communities with Go By Bike Week with a large number and in past years we’ve had quite a bit of rain, so people certainly had cabin fever and definitely they wanted to capitalize with no smoke in the early part of the year.”
Part of a province-wide effort, it was previously known as Bike to Work Week. Although the renaming was meant to give it a more inclusive feel, Greenwell said it created some confusion.
Next year will be the 10th anniversary of the event, he noted, and would like to see 1,000 participants at that time.
“We need to ride this momentum,” Greenwell said.
Mayor Lyn Hall recalled holding a friendly competition with Jillian Merrick when she was a councillor. With Hall on his motorcycle and Merrick on her bike, they would meet at Southridge Elementary School and ride to a predetermined spot.
“Interestingly enough, I’d beat her each year by only two or two-and-a-half minutes,” Hall said and added that while both had to stop at the stop lights, Merrick was able to take some shortcuts.
Maintenance work scheduled for Hwy 97
Citizen staff
A day of maintenance work is on the calendar for a stretch of Highway 97 North.
The right northbound lane between Northwood Pulpmill Road and Hartway Drive will be closed on Friday, starting at 8 a.m. and lasting until 4 p.m., DriveBC said in a posting.
The section is 3.5 kilometres long.
Consultant predicted wave of sawmill closures 10 years ago
Nelson BENNETT Glacier Media
The current wave of sawmill closures and curtailments rippling through B.C. had been expected for at least a decade.
But few expected that wave to hit so fast and furious.
In recent weeks, B.C. forestry companies have announced the closure of four sawmills, and several have eliminated, or plan to eliminate, shifts at mills that are still operating.
They include:
• Canfor Corp., permanently shutting down its sawmill in Vavenby.
• Tolko Industries, permanently shutting down its Quest Wood sawmill in Quesnel and eliminating one shift at its mill in Kelowna.
• West Fraser Timber Co., permanently shuttering its Chasm lumber mill near Clinton and 100 Mile House and eliminating the third shift from its 100 Mile House mill.
• Norbord Inc., indefinitely curtailing production at its oriented strand board (OSB) mill in 100 Mile House.
Jim Girvan, a forestry consultant who estimated in 2010 that 16 Interior lumber, veneer and plywood mills would shut down in B.C. by 2019 – which is exactly how many did – more recently predicted in May that another 13 mills will have to go.
Since his May prediction, four mill closures have been announced, which mean nine will follow before long if his projections are correct.
And because B.C.’s forestry sector is so highly integrated, the next wave of plant closures could be pulp mills and other processors that use wood waste from nearby sawmills.
“That’s our next concern, is the next shoe has to drop,” said Bob Simpson, former BC NDP forestry critic and current mayor of Quesnel, which will suffer roughly 210 job losses as a result of mill closures. “As sawmills go down, then all the residual dependent businesses become much more vulnerable.”
In mid-June, Canfor Pulp Products Inc. announced a temporary curtailment at its pulp mill in Taylor, and more recently it announced production curtailments at its Intercontinental and Northwood NBSK pulp mills in Prince George.
B.C.’s Interior forestry sector is being hit the hardest, largely
because of the mountain pine beetle epidemic that peaked in 2005, wiping out roughly half of the merchantable timber in the region, according to Natural Resources Canada.
With a population of just 1,800, 100 Mile House is being hit particularly hard with the announced closure of the Norbord OSB mill, West Fraser’s Chasm mill and the elimination of one shift at the West Fraser mill.
Because the West Fraser mill in 100 Mile House is so big, the elimination of one shift is tantamount to the shutdown of a regular-sized sawmill. In total, the direct job losses for 100 Mile House tally more than 400.
“That’s direct jobs,” said 100 Mile House Mayor Mitch Campsall. “Those aren’t indirect, which is the logging industry and what have you. It could be close to 1,000.”
The community recently convened an emergency meeting with provincial officials and industry leaders to try to address anticipated social impacts and retraining.
In towns like 100 Mile House and Quesnel, it’s not just the loss of jobs that hurts. Many of these smaller communities rely heavily on industrial taxes, so when a mill permanently closes, it can blow a significant hole in the community’s tax base.
Quesnel anticipated the current wave of mill closures and began working a few years ago to brace for it by shifting some of the tax burden from industrial to the residential sector, and through economic diversification.
As a former NDP forestry critic, Simpson knew what was coming and has tried to prepare Quesnel for the inevitable. He expressed frustration with some of his mayoral peers for not doing likewise.
“I’m really struggling with mayors who are wringing their hands in public and going, ‘Oh my God, what do we do now?’” Simpson said. “In our case, we started on our transition strategy in 2014. Community plans should already have been in place for that transition.”
By “transition” he means adapting to the reality that B.C.’s forestry sector has entered a longterm contraction that will last decades.
Quesnel still has operating sawmills and two nearby pulp mills. But Simpson expects his community may not have seen the end yet
of mill rationalization.
“This has been a long, slow burn, knowing that at some point around 2019, 2020, we were going to have a massive rationalization in the industry,” he said. “And there’s more. We’re not done.”
The current wave of mill rationalization would likely have started earlier, but a strong U.S. economy drove the demand, and prices, for lumber so high that it made it economic to continue processing wood products from a shrinking timber supply, despite rising log costs and American softwood lumber tariffs.
But when U.S. lumber prices began to fall in 2018, companies very quickly began taking mill curtailments, followed by announcements.
Some of B.C.’s biggest forestry companies went from posting record profits in 2018 to posting first-quarter losses in 2019.
While a recovery of lumber prices in the U.S. could postpone more curtailments and mill closures, the long-term prospects are that the B.C. forest sector will inevitably continue to shrink.
Climate change impacts
While scientists cannot directly ascribe extreme weather events or forest fires to climate change, the evidence is compelling that the pine beetle epidemic that ravaged B.C. forests was very likely a result of global warming.
“Climate change has contributed to the unprecedented extent and severity of this outbreak,” Natural Resources Canada scientists, writing about the pine beetle epidemic, concluded in a paper published in Nature in 2008. “The current
outbreak in British Columbia, Canada, is an order of magnitude larger in area and severity than all previous recorded outbreaks.”
And things could get even worse for Canadian forests, according to a recent special report by the Council of Canadian Academies, which identifies forestry as one of the top six areas of risk in Canada from the effects of climate change.
“The rate at which forests are anticipated to change is estimated to be beyond the natural capacity for forest species to sufficiently adapt,” the report warns.
Pine beetle infestation provided wood bonanza
For right or wrong, the Gordon Campbell government decided to make lemonade from the lemon that climate change handed B.C.’s forest industry, by increasing the annual allowable cut to let companies salvage what they could from the fresh beetle kill while the wood was still usable. It provided forestry companies with a decadelong bonanza of timber.
Simpson said he believes it ultimately amplified the crash.
Quesnel’s annual allowable cut before the pine beetle epidemic was 2.3 million cubic metres.
“We went up well above four million of actual cut during the
height of the salvage operations,” Simpson said.
“West Fraser, as a milling operation, went from a log diet of about 800,000 or 900,000 cubic metres to today, which is 2.2 million cubic metres annually. So their log demand for the mills far exceeded even the previous long-term sustainable cut, so that’s what’s creating the double whammy,” Simpson said.
Girvan said he doesn’t fault the Campbell government for bumping up the annual allowable cut in the wake of the pine beetle epidemic.
“It was good for the province; we utilized timber that was otherwise dead,” he said. “The forest was killed. We couldn’t do anything about it so we salvaged and did the best we could.”
Pre-pine beetle, the allowable cut for the Interior was about 50 million cubic metres, Girvan said. It was bumped up to 70 million at the height of the pine beetle bonanza and is now back down to 50 million. Girvan estimates it will shrink to 41 million by 2025.
“Our modelling shows that, within 30 to 40 years, the allowable cuts will all come back up,” Girvan said, “so long as some other catastrophe doesn’t happen.”
Western toads are seen near Whistler in this undated handout
photo. An annual migration involving up to 40,000 tiny western toadlets has started. The toadlets climb out of Whistler’s Lost Lake where they hatched as tadpoles earlier this year and move into the surrounding forest.
Mass migration of toads begins in Whistler
The Canadian Press
WHISTLER — An annual migration involving tens of thousands of creatures is underway in Whistler, B.C., but observers could miss it if they don’t look down.
Up to 40,000 tiny western toadlets are climbing out of Whistler’s Lost Lake where they hatched as tadpoles and are moving into the surrounding forest.
The dime-sized toads, which are native to British Columbia and listed as a species of special concern, grow to full size in wooded areas before returning to the lake to breed.
The Resort Municipality of Whistler says western toads are
an important part of the Lost Lake environment because the tadpoles feed on residue in the lake, keeping the water clean.
But the little amphibians are particularly vulnerable during the toadlet stage as they cross beaches, trails, lawns and busy roads in their journey.
The Whistler website says the road to Lost Lake, as well as the beach and lawn are still open.
However closures are possible at the height of the migration when as many as 1,800 tiny toads can hop over roads and paths every hour.
A statement on the website says environmental technicians and volunteers monitor the migration, while temporary fences, signs and
boardwalks have been installed to protect the toadlets from getting crushed.
The migration will continue for the next three or four weeks. People are encouraged to observe but are urged to leave pets at home.
“Dogs are not allowed on the beach area, as they may trample tadpoles and can become sick from ingesting or licking amphibians,” the statement says.
Whistler’s migration has been monitored since 2005 because western toads are very sensitive to environmental changes and the municipality says the amphibians offer an insight into the health of the area’s entire ecosystem.
Chiefs honour Indigenous leader hanged in B.C. 154 years ago
The Canadian Press
NEW WESTMINSTER — Chiefs have gathered in New Westminster to commemorate an Indigenous leader who was tried and hanged 154 years ago.
Chief Ahan was hanged in the city’s downtown on July 18, 1865, and a ceremony memorializing his exoneration was held at a high school today where the Tsilhqot’in Nation believes its ancestor could be buried.
Chief Joe Alphonse, tribal chair of the Tsilhqot’in National Government, says the nation had asked the province and school
district to conduct DNA tests if the remains are ever found, but neither has agreed.
Alphonse says their chief was wrongfully executed and they want his remains returned to his homeland in B.C.’s Cariboo region.
Historian Tom Swanky says Ahan was arrested in May 1865, nearly a year after five Tsilhqot’in men were hanged during the Chilcotin War, when Indigenous leaders reacted to an attempt by settlers to deliberately spread smallpox for a second time.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau officially exonerated all six war-
riors last year and then-British Columbia premier Christy Clark offered an official apology in 2014 for the hangings.
Swanky says Justice Matthew Begbie, whose statue was removed earlier this month from in front of the provincial courthouse in New Westminster, ordered the hanging of the other five men but was not connected with Ahan’s case.
He says all six Tsilhqot’in leaders were arrested and given brief trials before five of them were hanged in Quesnel and Ahan later met the same fate in New Westminster.
B.C. posts $1.5B surplus as tax revenue increases
Laura KANE The Canadian Press
VICTORIA — The British Columbia government ended its fiscal year with an operating surplus of $1.5 billion as the province collected more revenue from taxation and less money from a softening real estate market.
The 2018-19 public accounts released Thursday by Finance Minister Carole James show that the surplus was some $1.3 billion higher than anticipated, driven by $2.9 billion in increased revenue primarily from personal and corporate income taxes. James said she was not concerned about a $315-million reduction in property transfer tax revenue. She said the previous Liberal government relied on an out-of-control real estate market to grow resources while her NDP government has a long-term economic plan.
“In fact, my bigger worry that I certainly had coming in as finance minister, is the worry of running an economy based on a speculative real estate market and skyrocketing housing prices, which meant that people couldn’t build their lives here in British Columbia,” she said.
“That’s part of the reason that we’re investing, as you can see, in education, in child care, in making sure that we have people who are able to get back into the workforce and that families have opportunities here, because we believe that’ll create the long-term sustainable growth that we need.”
James said the increased revenue reflected economic growth, household income growth and higher income tax assessments, not just government intervention. But the province also raked in millions from new taxes, including the employer health tax which brought in $415 million.
The public accounts also revealed that the province has eliminated its operating debt for the first time in 40 years and that the taxpayer-supported debt-to-gross domestic product ratio is 14.5 per cent, the lowest it has been in a decade.
James said her budget in 2018 put B.C. on a different path with record investments of $1 billion for child care and $7 billion for affordable housing.
Her government has also chosen to confront financial challenges at the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia and BC Hydro, and both Crown corporations are now on a more sustainable path, she said.
“ICBC is still running at a loss, but we are starting to see some small improvements, although a
great deal of work still needs to happen,” she said.
B.C.’s economy grew by an estimated 2.4 per cent in the 2018 calendar year, the third highest rate in the country, led by goodsproducing industries with notable gains in mining, oil and gas extraction, construction and manufacturing, the public accounts showed.
B.C. had the lowest unemployment rate in Canada at 4.7 per cent in 2018, down from 5.1 per cent the year before. Wage and salary growth also led the country at 5.9 per cent in 2018.
Shirley Bond, finance co-critic for the Opposition Liberals, said the government’s numerous new or increased taxes are having a devastating impact on British Columbians while their government refuses to lay out an economic or jobs plan.
“The NDP government’s primary source of revenue continues to be the pockets of taxpayers,” she said in a statement.
Bond, who represents the riding of Prince George-Valemount, noted the public accounts reflect last year’s numbers and there are serious concerns about economic challenges ahead. Revenues were largely driven by federal transfers which are expected to go down next year, she said, adding that the public auto insurer lost $1.2 billion.
The government’s “failed” tax policies are beginning to drive B.C.’s competitiveness backwards, said Liberal finance co-critic Tracy Redies.
“As our housing sector struggles, with housing starts down and construction projects coming to a halt, and businesses continue to raise alarm bells about the province’s deteriorating competitiveness, the NDP clearly has no plan for our economy and how to ensure it can provide hard-working British Columbians the opportunities they deserve.”
Sawmill closure in Fort St. James prompts declaration of financial crisis
The Canadian Press
FORT ST. JAMES — The small community of Fort St. James, B.C., has declared a state of local financial crisis in the wake of the closure and recent sale of its largest sawmill.
Mayor Bev Playfair signed the declaration this week, less than a month after Conifex Timber Inc. announced a $39 million deal to sell its sawmill to Oregon-based Hampton Lumber.
The sawmill is a major employer in the north-central B.C. town of about 1,600 and remains closed prompting the declaration which will remain in effect until Aug. 15, unless cancelled by the mayor.
In its declaration, the district is asking for all levels of government for support “to protect the health, safety or welfare” of its people, and has attached a list of resources, including family assistance, tax deferral and employment support programs. A statement from the District of Fort St. James says it will work with the governments and support organizations to help area workers and contrac-
tors until the financial crisis is resolved.
Canfor, Conifex, Louisiana-Pacific, Norbord, Tolko and Aspen Planers are among the forestry companies that announced shift reductions, layoffs or total closures at mills around B.C. over the last several months.
When the Conifex sale was announced in June, company chairman Ken Shields called the decision “difficult,” but said it was almost inevitable because too little saw log supply is available to maintain the existing manufacturing base in the Interior region of B.C. Hampton Lumber CEO Steve Zika pledged to build a new mill in Fort St. James but didn’t offer a timeline, noting in a statement that the long-term outlook for Canadian lumber is “promising,” while current economic conditions are challenging.
The district’s declaration of financial crisis also includes an announcement of a planned job and service fair aimed at helping laid-off workers transition to new employment.
The fair is set for July 31 in Fort St. James.
Third member quits Surrey civic party
The Canadian Press SURREY — Fractures within a civic political party in Surrey are widening with the resignation of a third member of the Safe Surrey Coalition in the last two months. Coun. Jack Hundial announced his departure Thursday, citing concerns about coalition leader and Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum’s methods in the effort to replace the city’s RCMP with a municipal force, a key plank in the
coalition’s election platform. He says in a statement that the mayor’s decision to dissolve Surrey’s public safety committee in favour of an interim Police Transition Advisory Committee was “the last straw.”
Hundial joins former coalition councillors Stephen Pettigrew and Brenda Locke in sitting as an Independent on council, while McCallum and five other councillors continue under the Safe Surrey Coalition banner.
JAMES
A deer tick is seen under a microscope in the entomology lab at the University of Rhode Island in South Kingstown, R.I.
Lyme-disease-carrying ticks spreading
Mia RABSON The Canadian Press
OTTAWA — Lyme disease has settled so deeply into parts of Canada many public health units now just assume if you get bitten by a tick, you should be treated for Lyme disease.
In Ottawa, where more than two-thirds of the ticks tested in some neighbourhoods carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, the public-health unit no longer bothers to test ticks at all.
Dr. Vera Etches, the unit’s top doctor, said that in 2016 and 2017 more than one-fifth of black-legged ticks tested in Ottawa came back positive for Lyme.
“That’s a threshold,” she said. “Once you know that more than 20 per cent of the ticks in your area carry Lyme disease bacteria then we don’t need to check in on that. That is what we now call an ‘at-risk area.’ ”
That means if a tick is found on a person, and is believed to have been there for more than 24 hours, then the patient should get antibiotics to prevent Lyme infection, even without any testing of the tick.
It takes 24 hours before bacteria in the tick’s gut move to its salivary glands and are transferred to a person.
After three days, the preventive treatment won’t work so patients then wait for symptoms or enough time for antibodies to evolve to show up on a test. It can take more than a month before symptoms appear. They’re mostly similar to the effects of influenza, including fever and aches, as well as – usually but not always – a rash. It typically takes just
about as long for the immune system’s antibodies to show up on a lab test.
If left untreated, Lyme disease can cause serious illnesses such as meningitis, but Etches is quick to point out that because it is caused by a bacteria, it’s treatable with drugs.
“It’s a good-news story, actually, that there is antibiotics that work to treat Lyme disease,” she said.
Most public-health offices in Canada used to test ticks submitted by the public, as well as conducting their own surveillance by actively seeking out tick populations and testing them. Some, including Ottawa’s, have decided now that Lyme is endemic, they should shift to public education and prevention as well as treatment.
Lyme disease was named after the town of Lyme, Conn., where the first case was diagnosed in 1975. It is caused by bacteria that are traded back and forth among black-legged ticks and migratory birds and small mammals like mice and chipmunks. Ticks bite birds and small mammals infected with the bacteria and get infected and then spread the disease when they bite their next victims.
Before 10 years ago, most of the cases diagnosed in Canada were in people bitten by ticks while travelling in the United States. But climate change has led to southern Canada seeing milder winters, which means the ticks that migrate to Canada on the backs of migratory birds are now surviving the winter in larger numbers, spreading the Lyme-causing bacteria more rapidly.
Canada started keeping track of Lyme
disease cases in 2009, when 144 cases were confirmed or considered probable. Only 79 of those cases were believed to have been contracted in Canada.
In 2017, more than 1,400 cases were confirmed or probable across the country, more than two-thirds of them in Ontario and most of them believed to have been contracted locally.
National statistics for 2018 are not yet available but in Ontario, the number actually fell significantly, from 967 in 2017 to 612 in 2018. Etches said that was because 2018 was hotter and drier than 2017, and ticks thrive in wet, cool weather.
A 2014 study by the National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases at the University of Manitoba suggested the Lyme-carrying ticks are expanding their territory by about 46 km a year, an expectation being borne out in health units’ mapping
In 2017 and 2018, Point Pelee National Park near Windsor, Ont., was considered to be an at-risk region but the rest of Windsor-Essex County in Ontario’s southernmost tip was not.
In 2019, almost all of the county has been added as an at-risk area.
In 2017 all of Nova Scotia was declared to be at risk for Lyme Disease.
In New Brunswick, six of 15 counties were declared at-risk as of 2018.
There are also at-risk areas for Lyme in southern Manitoba, northwestern Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec. While some cases of Lyme have been found in the other four provinces, the numbers are very low and mostly contracted elsewhere.
Rent unaffordable for low-income earners, study says
Jordan PRESS The Canadian Press
OTTAWA — The federal government is facing new questions about how much its plans for a rent-supplement program for low-income households will help them afford high rents, detailed in a new study and newly obtained government documents detailing the affordability crunch.
The new portable housing benefit is to roll out next year and will be tied to a person rather than a unit – meaning recipients can carry it with them through the housing market rather than losing the financial help when they move out of government-supported dwelling.
Its design is to be tailored to each province.
The October briefing note to the top official at the Finance Department said that about 11 per cent of all renters lived in subsidized units in 2015. The vast majority earned about $17,000, less than half of the Canadian average of $48,000.
The Canadian Press obtained a copy of the document under the access-to-information law, but officials have blocked from release swaths of the briefing note containing advice to government.
The report said that someone earning minimum wage would only be able to afford a onebedroom rental in nine per cent of 795 neighbourhoods in Canadian cities in the study.
A study released Thursday by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternative shone a critical light on the supplement as part of research that found a minimum-wage worker could afford to rent in just a few neighbourhoods in Canada.
Spending on the benefit is set at $4 billion over a decade – split among federal and provincial governments – which will require tough decisions about who gets it, how much they can receive, and when it gets taken away.
“You really have to ration it based on some simple criteria, otherwise you blow through your (spending) cap,” said David Macdonald, a senior economist with the CCPA who wrote Thursday’s study.
“Second of all, it’s likely not generous enough to substantially reduce the rent for renters, particularly at the lower end of the income spectrum and particularly in big cities like Vancouver, Toronto, Victoria, Calgary, Ottawa.”
A spokeswoman for Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, the minister in charge of the new rent supplement, called the Canada Housing Benefit, “a new tool fighting the challenge of housing affordability.”
Valerie Glazer said the benefit, when it rolls out, “will provide rapid and responsive relief from rising housing costs” for at least 300,000 households and “deliver unique local solutions to local housing needs and priorities.”
Thursday’s report from the CCPA painted a grim picture for low-income renters.
The report said that someone earning minimum wage would only be able to afford a one-bedroom rental in nine per cent of 795 neighbourhoods in Canadian cities in the study. The figure dropped to three per cent of neighbourhoods when looking at the affordability of two-bedroom units.
The report defined “affordable” rent as 30 per cent or less of a renter’s pre-tax income, the same cut-off used by federal officials. Roughly one-third of households, or 4.7 million, are renters and they are often low-income earners, young adults, or newcomers to Canada.
Gov’t settles military class action suit
The Canadian Press
OTTAWA — The federal government is paying $900 million to settle multiple classaction lawsuits lodged on behalf of survivors of sexual harassment, gender discrimination and sexual assault in the military.
The settlement provides $800 million for members of the Canadian Armed Forces and $100 million in compensation for another class of employees of the Department of National Defence.
Over the past few years, participants in several lawsuits alleging similar misconduct and systemic problems in the military agreed to co-operate in their legal actions against the government.
One claim, filed by three former members of the military, said the Armed Forces was “poisoned by a discriminatory and sexualized culture” that encouraged sexual misconduct and was caused by a failure in leadership.
In a statement Thursday, deputy defence minister Jody Thomas and the military’s top general Jonathan Vance said they acknowledged the “obligation to ensure a safe work environment for all women and men” in the military.
“We hope that the settlement will help bring closure, healing, and acknowledgment to the victims and survivors of sexual assault, harassment, and discrimination,” the statement said.
Class members will mostly be eligible for between $5,000 and $55,000, with higher compensation for people who were subjected to exceptional harm and were denied disability benefits.
Lawyer Garth Myers, part of the team representing the plaintiffs in the suit, called the day “historic.”
Average rents, adjusted for inflation, have increased since the early 1990s as construction of traditional apartments declined in favour of homes and then condominiums, Macdonald said.
In the 1970s, he said, it wasn’t uncommon to see 100,000 new, purpose-built rental units being constructed each year.
While there has been some uptick in rental construction over the last decade - mostly in the luxury rental market, Macdonald said - the Liberals hope to use billions in federal funding to help finance more than 100,000 new rental units to boost supply and drive down costs.
At the rate that money is being committed to projects, the study estimated most units won’t come open until the late 2020s.
Combining provincial and federal commitments, the study projected an average of 15,400 new rental units annually, well below the number the country saw decades ago when the population was smaller.
How blindness to racism happens
U.S. President Donald Trump’s tweet proposing that four Democratic congresswomen of colour – three of them born in the United States, one a naturalized citizen – “go back” to the “totally broken and crime infested places from which they came” was textbook racism. Yet while some Republicans condemned the statement – Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who is black, lamented its “racially offensive language” – others flatly denied that there was a racial component to the salvo.
A particularly contorted reaction came from Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, who said, “Clearly, it’s not a racist comment,” adding that the president “could have meant go back to the district they came from, to the neighborhood they came from.” But the president could hardly have made his meaning more clear: he said the four “originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe.”
“Well, I certainly do not think the president’s a racist,” said Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., who suggested that the tweet was justified by the representatives’ constant criticism “not only [of] the president but also Congress and our country.”
Fear of crossing a president who’s popular with the Republican base surely explains some of the convoluted rationalizations on offer. But a psychological phenomenon called cognitive dissonance may also shed
light on some people’s unwillingness to acknowledge the self-evident racism in the tweets.
Cognitive dissonance, first described by the psychologist Leon Festinger in the late 1950s, occurs when conflict emerges between what people want to believe and the reality that threatens those beliefs. The human mind does not like such inconsistencies: they set off alarms that spur the mind to alter some beliefs to make the perceived reality fit with one’s preferred views.
In the case of Trump’s remarks – when absorbed by his supporters who do not consider themselves racist – those inconsistencies can be summarized in a sort of syllogism: (1) I do not support racists. (2) I do support President Trump. (3) President Trump has just made a racist remark. Those three facts simply don’t fit together comfortably in the mind.
Just as a hungry person will seek food to alleviate hunger, Festinger argued, people who experience mental discrepancies of this sort will work to put them in accord, to reduce the dissonance. And they will often go to extraordinary lengths to do so: resolving cognitive dissonance often takes considerable mental gymnastics.
Supporters of Trump who experience cognitive dissonance over his remarks essentially have three psychological options to resolve it, altering in various ways the three beliefs that are in tension. One is to change the belief that they do not support racists. This response is unlikely, however, because
it would require a massive overhaul of the view of the self, placing the person in a category he or she knows is morally dubious, not to mention socially vilified. Very rare is the person who will resolve psychological dissonance by saying, “Actually, I am a monster.”
Another option is to introduce new beliefs that bolster support for Trump. This does not address the conflicts among beliefs head-on but rather lessens the impact of the inflammatory statement by considering positive information about the president. One approach along these lines is to emphasize the awfulness of the policy positions and statements of the congresswomen Trump attacked, thereby casting the president as a defender of decency (and perhaps as a victim himself, not an aggressor).
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., for instance, described Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota as “a bunch of communists” who “hate Israel” and “hate our own country.”
Relatedly, Marc Short, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, played up Trump’s lack of racism in other contexts, noting that his transportation secretary, Elaine Chao,was born in Taiwan. As reasons for supporting the president grow – either his sterling qualities or the negative characteristics of his opponents – it becomes easier to overlook a single misstep.
A third route to resolving dissonance, in
YOUR LETTERS
See the forest from the trees
As a conservation group based in Prince George, we are concerned that B.C.’s “Big Tree Policy’” is a cynical calculation to avoid the protection of old growth at a scale that is necessary to avoid ecological collapse. Protecting individual trees does little to protect the values that exist in our interior old growth forests. A few big trees do not a forest make.
In our backyard, the boreal rainforest contains slow-growing 400-plus year-old spruce that are currently being razed under the pretext of beetle salvage. The Big Tree Policy does nothing to
protect them from the juggernaut of industrial forestry.
The plantations that replace these forests will not support our iconic mountain caribou, lichens, bull trout, or the myriad other species that are reliant on old growth.
The one-hectare buffer zone around each of the 54 big trees will protect a patchwork of fragmented areas subject to “edge effects,” a phenomenon that divides natural, functioning ecosystems into unnatural and non-functioning ones.
Contrary to government claims, 55 per cent of old growth forests
are not protected. Here in northcentral BC, most of the remaining intact inland and boreal rainforest exists within timber licences, not in protected areas. The Big Tree Policy will make people feel good and it might bring in some tourists. Meanwhile we are losing the aweinspiring beauty and function of intact forests. B.C. needs a system of legally protected, connected and large reserves for old growth forests, not a policy for 54 individual trees.
Michelle
Connolly Conservation North Prince George
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.
this specific case, is to flatly (and boldly) reject the consensus that telling someone to “go back” to their family’s country of origin is racist. Rep. Harris – with his revisionist argument that Trump wanted the women to go back to their districts – is probably the most striking example of this. But Fox News analyst Brit Hume may also belong in this category, with his hairsplitting statement that Trump’s comments were “nativist, xenophobic... and politically stupid” – but absolutely not racist, “a word so recklessly flung around these days that its actual meaning is being lost.”
If Trump is just the latest in a long parade of people falsely accused of racism by liberals, that, too, makes it easier to take his side. (“Xenophobic” is not too far from “racist,” definitionally, but it does not carry nearly the same moral charge, so reframing the accusation that way may well ease psychological tension.)
Since the uproar, Trump has proclaimed that many people agree with his controversial statement and that indeed, “a lot of people love it.”
But decades of behavioral research suggests that not all the people refraining from condemning the president support his attacks. Instead, they’re doing mental contortions to explain away the ugliness, to justify their continued support of him – and to maintain their positive views of themselves.
— Kathleen Vohs teaches at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management.
What Canadians think of grilling
With a federal election expected in October, Canadian politicians are currently participating in what is affectionately known as the “barbecue circuit.”
In the backyards of the nation, a different grilling spectacle emerges when the snow and rain give way to the precious summer months. Canadians begin to prepare and enjoy more meals outdoors, and have a unique chance to share good times with friends and family as the days become longer and hotter. But, as is the case with many other facets of Canadian life, grilling is not immune to gender, age and regional differences.
In a survey conducted by Research Co. earlier this month, almost two thirds of Canadians (65 per cent) say they own a barbecue or outdoor grill – a number that fluctuates from a high of 74 per cent in Atlantic Canada to a low of 61 per cent in Quebec.
Home barbecue owners can be categorized into four different groups. First, there are the “apathetic.” Almost one-in-ten owners (nine per cent) say they do not prepare any meals at home for themselves and their family during the summer using the barbecue or outdoor grill. The proportion of people who possess the current tools but choose not to use them reaches 12 per cent among those aged 55 and over, 14 per cent in Atlantic Canada and 20 per cent among those of South Asian descent.
A second group can be labelled as “opportunistic.” They will rely on the barbecue or outdoor grill one to three times a week for meals at home. Just over three-infive owners (62 per cent) fit this description, including 73 per cent of British Columbians and 67 per cent of those of European descent.
The third group is “enthusiastic.”
These 22 per cent of barbecue or outdoor grill owners fire it up four to six times a week. This includes 27 per cent of those aged 18-to-34 and 27 per cent of Ontarians. Finally, there is the “overpowering” group. For seven per cent of owners, every summertime meal requires the barbecue or outdoor grill. Men are almost twice as likely to belong to this group (nine per cent, compared to five per cent of women). Quebec, at 11 per cent, has the highest proportion of
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“overpowering” owners across the country.
When barbecue or outdoor grill owners are asked about their favourite food to grill, two offerings rank way ahead of all others: steak (43 per cent) and hamburgers (31 per cent). No other component reaches double digits, including summertime staples such as ribs (nine per cent) and sausages or hot dogs (seven per cent).
What we prefer to grill is yet another issue where affordability appears to be leading to generational quarrel. Steak is the top choice for those aged 55 and over (47 per cent), but drops to 44 per cent among those aged 35-to-54 and to 34 per cent among those aged 18-to-34. Conversely, Millennials are more likely to enjoy grilling hamburgers (34 per cent) than Generation X (30 per cent) and Baby Boomers (29 per cent). Some of the regional fluctuations are not shocking. British Columbia, for instance, has the highest proportion of owners who say their favourite food to grill is fish and seafood (six per cent). In Alberta, steak as a favourite food is the highest in Canada, at 50 per cent.
But there are some findings that challenge our preconceived notions about specific areas. Atlantic Canadians have the highest affinity for ribs (12 per cent) and are tied for the lowest for fish and seafood (one per cent, the same level observed in the Prairies). Nobody in Quebec selected chicken as a favourite food to grill.
Lastly, we should focus on hygiene. The vast majority of owners (65 per cent) claim to clean their barbecue or outdoor grill “after each use” during the summer, while one third (32 per cent) do this “a few times” and only three per cent admit to “never” doing any cleaning.
Men are slightly more likely than women to clean the barbecue or outdoor grill after each use (67 per cent to 62 per cent). On the question of generations, we observe a high of 76 per cent among those aged 55 and over who clean the grill after each use. The proportion drops to 60 per cent among those aged 35-to-54 and 55 per cent among those aged 18-to-34.
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Arsonist kills 33 people at Japanese anime studio
Mari YAMAGUCHI The Associated Press
KYOTO — A man screaming “You die!” burst into an animation studio in Kyoto, doused it with a flammable liquid and set it on fire Thursday, killing 33 people in an attack that shocked the country and brought an outpouring of grief from anime fans.
Thirty-six others were injured, some of them critically, in a blaze that sent people scrambling up the stairs toward the roof in a desperate – and futile – attempt to escape what proved to be Japan’s deadliest fire in nearly two decades. Others emerged bleeding, blackened and barefoot.
The suspect, identified only as a 41-yearold man who did not work for the studio, was injured and taken to a hospital. Police gave no details on the motive, but a witness told Japanese TV that the attacker angrily complained that something of his had been stolen, possibly by the company.
Most of the victims were employees of Kyoto Animation, which does work on movies and TV productions but is best known for its mega-hit stories featuring high school girls. The tales are so popular that fans make pilgrimages to some of the places depicted.
The blaze started in the three-story building in Japan’s ancient capital after the attacker sprayed an unidentified liquid accelerant, police and fire officials said.
“There was an explosion, then I heard people shouting, some asking for help,” a witness told TBS TV. “Black smoke was rising from windows on upper floors. Ten there was a man struggling to crawl out of the window.”
Japanese media reported the fire might have been set near the front door, forcing people to find other ways out.
The building has a spiral staircase that may have allowed flames and smoke to rise quickly to the top floor, NHK noted. Fire expert Yuji Hasemi at Waseda University told NHK that paper drawings and other documents in the studio also may have contributed to the fire’s rapid spread.
Firefighters found 33 bodies, 20 of them on the third floor and some on the stairs to the roof, where they had apparently collapsed, Kyoto fire official Kazuhiro Hayashi
said. Two were found dead on the first floor, 11 others on the second floor, he said.
A witness who saw the attacker being approached by police told Japanese media that the man admitted spreading gasoline and setting the fire with a lighter.
She told NHK public television that the man had burns on his arms and legs and complained that something had been stolen from him.
She told Kyodo News that his hair got singed and his legs were exposed because his jeans were burned below the knees.
“He sounded he had a grudge against the society, and he was talking angrily to the policemen, too, though he was struggling
with pain,” she told Kyodo News.
“He also sounded he had a grudge against Kyoto Animation.”
NHK footage also showed sharp knives police had collected from the scene, though it was not clear if they belonged to the attacker.
Survivors said he was screaming “You die!” as he dumped the liquid, according to Japanese media. They said some of the survivors got splashed with the liquid.
Kyoto Animation, better known as KyoAni, was founded in 1981 as an animation and comic book production studio, and its hits include Lucky Star of 2008, K-On! in 2011 and Haruhi Suzumiya in 2009.
Trump lies about trying to stop ‘send her back’
Alan FRAM, Darlene SUPERVILLE
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday chided his supporters who chanted “send her back” when he questioned the loyalty of a Somali-born congresswoman, joining widespread criticism of the campaign crowd’s cry and his Republican allies worried about political blowback from the angry scene.
In a week that has corkscrewed daily with hostile exchanges over race and love of country , Trump also claimed he had tried to stop the chant at a reelection event Wednesday night in North Carolina – though video shows otherwise. The crowd’s “send her back” shouts resounded for 13 seconds as Trump made no attempt to interrupt them. He paused in his speech and surveyed the scene, taking in the uproar.
“I started speaking really quickly,” he told reporters Thursday. “I was not happy with it. I disagree with it” and “would certainly try” to stop any similar chant at a future rally.
The taunt’s target – Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota – was pressed for a response on Thursday.
“This is what this president and his supporters have turned our country” into, she said as she walked outside the U.S. Capitol.
“This is not about me. This is about fighting about what this country truly should be and what it deserves to be.”
“I believe he is fascist,” she said.
The freshman congresswoman, a hijab-wearing Muslim, has fast become a leading face of the resistance to Trump and his politics, winning fans at home and far beyond. A crowd of supporters holding signs that read “Stand with Ilhan” and “Stop racism now” met her Thursday at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport as she arrived from Washington. She was due to hold a town
chant at rally
hall Thursday night in her Minneapolis district.
Trump started the week’s tumult by tweeting Sunday that Omar and three other freshmen congresswomen could “go back” to their native countries if they were unhappy here. His other targets – all Trump detractors – were Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.
All are American citizens, and all but Omar was born in the U.S. She fled to America as a child with her family from violence-wracked Somalia.
The president did not back down from that criticism on Thursday.
They have “a big obligation and the obligation is to love your country,” he said. “There’s such hatred. They have such hatred.”
Citing Trump’s rhetoric, House Democrats said they were discussing arranging security for Omar and the three other congresswomen. The Democratic-led House voted Tuesday to condemn Trump’s tweets as racist.
On Wednesday, it rejected a resolution by one Democrat to impeach Trump that
was opposed by party leaders as premature. The chants at the Trump rally brought scathing criticism from GOP lawmakers as well as from Democrats, though the Republicans did not fault Trump himself. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California declared that the chant has “no place in our party and no place in this country.”
Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois tweeted that it was “ugly, wrong, & would send chills down the spines of our Founding Fathers. This ugliness must end, or we risk our great union.”
Even by Trump’s standards, the campaign rally offered an extraordinary tableau for American politics: a president drinking in a crowd’s cries to expel a congresswoman from the country who’s his critic and a woman of colour. It was also the latest demonstration of how Trump’s verbal cannonades are capable of dominating the news. Democrats had hoped the spotlight on Thursday would be on House passage of legislation to boost the minimum wage for the first time in a decade.
To many GOP ears, this time the attention wasn’t all positive.
Rep. Mark Walker of North Carolina, a conservative who attended Trump’s rally, told reporters at the Capitol that the chant “does not need to be our campaign call like we did ‘Lock her up’ last time.”
That was a reference to a 2016 campaign mantra that Trump continues to encourage aimed at that year’s Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton.
Walker, who called the chant “offensive,” was among about 10 House GOP leaders who had breakfast Thursday with Vice-President Mike Pence at Pence’s residence in Washington. Walker said he cautioned Pence that attention to the chant could distract voters next year from the economy and other themes Republicans want to emphasize.
The company does not have a major presence outside Japan, though it was hired to do secondary animation work on a 1998 Pokemon feature that appeared in U.S. theatres and a Winnie the Pooh video.
“My heart is in extreme pain. Why on earth did such violence have to be used?” company president Hideaki Hatta said. Hatta said the company had received anonymous death threats by email in the past, but he did not link them to Thursday’s attack.
Anime fans expressed anger, prayed and mourned the victims on social media. A crowd-funding site was set up to help the company rebuild.
Amnesty International urges feds to suspend refugee deal with U.S.
Teresa WRIGHT The Canadian Press
OTTAWA — Amnesty International is calling on the Canadian government to suspend the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States in light of a controversial refugee policy implemented this week by the Trump administration.
The new U.S. policy, adopted earlier this week, says asylum-seekers who arrive in the U.S. at its southern border are barred from filing for refugee protection if they failed to file a protection claim in a transit country.
The move would disqualify thousands of migrants who have travelled through Central America and Mexico to get to the U.S.
The new U.S. policy no longer guarantees asylum-seekers the same legal rights as those offered in Canada and could see some migrants sent back to countries where they face risks of violence and persecution, Amnesty International says.
Canada’s agreement with the U.S. is based on the principle that people seeking refugee protection must file their claims in the first safe country they arrive in, unless they qualify for one of a few exceptions.
Canada officially considers the United States a safe country for refugees because it gives access to comparable legal protections. So if an asylumseeker comes to Canada at an official border crossing from the United States and tries to claim refugee protection, he or she will be refused entry and encouraged to make a claim in the U.S. – the “safe country” from he or she just came.
“The Safe Third Country Agreement has long been premised on the equality of access to refugee protection in the United States and Canada. This (policy change) demonstrates very clearly that the U.S. system will no longer provide protection for a category of refugee-protection claimants, and for that reason we call for it to be suspended,” said Justin Mohammed of Amnesty International Canada.
The agreement has provisions saying people turned back to the U.S. by Canada must not only have access to the U.S. asylum system, but they also cannot be transferred to other countries prior to having asylum hearings.
Firefighters battle a fire at Kyoto Animation in Kyoto, Japan on Thursday. Kyoto police said an unidentified man set fire to the building, killing 33 people and injuring 36 others.
OMAR
Film Festival to open with Robbie Robertson doc
The Canadian Press
TORONTO — This year’s Toronto International Film Festival will kick off with a star-studded feature documentary about Canadian rock legend Robbie Robertson and the creation of The Band.
Organizers say Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band will make its world premiere as the opening night gala film at Roy Thomson Hall on Sept. 5.
This marks the first time TIFF is opening with a Canadian-made documentary, and the second year in a row it’s kicking off with a film intended for a streaming service.
Once Were Brothers is a Crave original and will launch on the Bell Media streaming service later this year.
Last year TIFF opened with the Netflix historical drama Outlaw King.
Executive produced by a team including Martin Scorsese, Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, Once Were Brothers is described as a deeply personal story of how Robertson overcame adversity and founded his seminal 1970s group.
It’s the first Canadian film to open TIFF in nine years, after
2010’s Score: A Hockey Musical. The film includes rare archival footage and is inspired by Testimony, the 2016 memoir from
the guitarist and songwriter, who was born in Toronto and is also a producer and film composer. Many of Robertson’s friends and
collaborators appear in the film, including Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Scorsese, Peter Gabriel, David Geffen and
Ronnie Hawkins.
Toronto documentary maker Daniel Roher (Ghosts of Our Forest) directed the film.
In a statement, Robertson said he’s “tremendously honoured” the film will be opening TIFF in his hometown.
Roher called the film “a remarkable reminder of how vision, ambition, and hard work can empower one’s wildest dreams.”
“Robbie took a chance on me, and I will be forever grateful that he rolled the dice on a kid from Toronto to helm his story,” Roher said.
“Opening the Toronto International Film Festival is beyond some wildest dreams of my own and I am thankful for everyone who believed in me.”
TIFF co-head and artistic director Cameron Bailey called the film “one of Toronto’s great stories of a hometown hero.”
And TIFF co-head and executive director Joana Vicente said audiences can expect some “very special guests” at the premiere. The 44th Toronto International Film Festival runs Sept. 5-15. TIFF will announce more galas and special presentations on Tuesday.
Jerry Seinfeld learns from comedy’s best on Netflix series
JR.
Jonathan LANDRUM
The Associated Press
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Jerry Seinfeld would rather cruise in classic cars and sip coffee with comedy’s best than reboot his uber-successful Seinfeld television series. “No, and do what? Make it worse?” Seinfeld said in an interview Wednesday night about his eponymous NBC sitcom, which celebrated its 30-year anniversary this month.
“I’m very fortunate to be in the position to make that show with those people at that time. I wouldn’t be arrogant enough to think I could do it again. That’s egomaniacal. I’m happy with what I have now.”
These days, Seinfeld is focused on learning more about the “sharpest minds in comedy” through his Netflix series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.
The 11th season of the series premieres Friday on the streaming service featuring Eddie Murphy, who talked about his career and shared stories with Seinfeld about them coming up in comedy together in New York in the 1970s.
The new season also includes an array of
other comedians including Martin Short, Rick Gervais, Seth Rogan, Bridget Everett, Barry Marder, Melissa Villaseno and Mario Joyner. Jamie Foxx appears in an episode to talk about him wanting to return to standup and his impersonation of Dave Chappelle.
“It’s kind of a music video to me. It’s just
kind of visual. The words are interesting and sometimes it’s funny, but I like it to have a rhythm and flow and then it’s over,” Seinfeld said.
“It’s just very quick. I always like when people go ‘I wish that was a little longer.”’
Seinfeld launched Comedians in Cars Get-
ting Coffee on Sony’s Crackle in 2012. The series was moved to Netflix two years ago after the comedian signed a massive deal with the streaming service.
This season, Seinfeld continues to pick up each guest in a different vintage car, from a Maserati Mistral to a Rolls-Royce convertible to a beat-up Dodge Monaco. He takes them to a cafe or restaurant for coffee where they have an easy-flowing conversation about their career and life experiences as comedians.
Seinfeld said he learns something new from each guest. He was surprised when Murphy spoke about not being as confident as most thought during his rise in comedy. For Seinfeld, he feels somewhat like a news reporter in an effort to create a comfortable environment for guests to open up.
“People like to tell me stuff, and I don’t know why,” said Seinfeld, who has featured former U.S. President Barack Obama and Kevin Hart in previous seasons.
“It’s happened to me my whole life, because I think I really listen. But I would never put anything in the show I think the person might not want in there. I want the show to be fun like a little cappuccino foam, just light and pleasant.”
Fans descend on San Diego for the 50th Comic-Con
Lindsey BAHR
The Associated Press
SAN DIEGO — Dust off your Captain Marvel cosplay, San Diego Comic-Con is here.
The four-and-a-half day convention kicked off Wednesday with the show room floor opening to thousands vying for exclusive merchandise, from art to toys. Later, Warner Bros. is hosting a ScareDiego event promising some hair-raising new footage from It: Chapter Two.
“We have some exciting footage but I can’t go into details,” said It director Andy Muschietti.
“But I think it’s going to be worth it for the fans to go and watch.”
Workers were putting the final touches on the all the branded exhibitions Wednesday evening, like the Walking Dead-themed AMC Deadquarters installation, while enthusiastic fans lined up outside of the convention centre.
A few were already in full costume, including a man in a Stranger Things Hawkins Police uniform and an Australian couple dressed as Marty McFly and Doc Brown, although most opted for the nerd-approved T-shirt (there were more than a few AT-AT, Jurassic Park and Laura Palmer shirts) for badge pickup. Those in full cosplay were grateful for the cooler-than-usual temperatures.
“I would be melting,” said Ana Nibbla of San Diego, who was dressed as a female Pennywise, or Princess Pennywise as she likes to call it.
As the week goes on, movie fans will also get a look at Paramount’s Terminator: Dark Fate at a Hall H presentation Thursday, and on Saturday be treated to a Marvel Studios presentation with its president, Kevin Feige.
Details for the Marvel show are being kept under wraps, but many expect Feige and his “special guests” will outline the plans for Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which could include announcements about Black Widow, Guardians of the
Galaxy Vol. 3, Shang-Chi and The Eternals.
The movie fare is lighter than usual, however.
A few of the studios have chosen to sit this year out, like Sony, which is already cleaning up at the box office with Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Universal Pictures, which doesn’t have any superheroes on its slate at all.
Although Warner Bros. is coming with It: Chapter Two, it does not have a big Hall H presentation planned for any of its DC properties like Joker and the Harley Quinn spinoff Birds of Prey. And there will be no Star Wars news either.
“If anything, the exiting of some movie studios has made more room for TV and TV is just the best of the best right now,” said Perri Nemiroff, a senior producer for Collider.com and host of the YouTube series Movie Talk.
Television enthusiasts will have their pick, whether they want one last go-around the cast of a show that’s ended (like Game of Thrones and Supernatural), to check in with some old favourites (The Walking Dead, The Good Place, Westworld, Arrow, Rick and Morty and Riverdale), or get first look at a new property (such as Snowpiercer, Star Trek: Picard and The Witcher).
Songwriter-musician Robbie Robertson is seen here as he spoke at the National Association of Music Merchants’ Breakfast of Champions event in 2017 in Anaheim, Calif.
AP PHOTO BY WILLY SANJUAN
Jerry Seinfeld attends the Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee photo call at The Paley Center for Media on Wednesday in Beverly Hills, Calif.
WESCAR returns to PGARA Speedway on Sunday
Ted CLARKE Citizen staff tclarke@pgcitizen.ca
WESCAR, the province’s richest and fastest late model touring stock car series, is coming back to Prince George this weekend. Sunday’s afternoon’s 100-lap feature race will be Round 2 of the Cariboo Gold Rush, a weekend WESCAR doubleheader that starts Saturday afternoon in Quesnel.
Ian Graham of Harrison Hot Springs was the big winner in the most recent WESCAR race, June 15 in Williams Lake. He qualified
quickest and won the 100-lap feature, claiming top spot in the podium ahead of Chris Babcock of Fort St. John, who was second, and third-place Donny Kunka of Williams Lake. Prince George driver Sheldon Mayert, now in his second season as WESCAR president, ended up fourth, right on Kunka’s tail.
“That was a good one for us, we were pretty happy,” said Mayert.
“We were the second-fastest qualifier so we were happy about that. We just had a good setup there.”
After two of five WESCAR stops,
Babcock leads the points championship race with 159. He won the season-opening 100-lap feature at PGARA Speedway on June 1.
Darrell Howarth of Prince George, the second-place finisher at PGARA, is just two points back with 157, followed by Kunka (154) and Mayert (142).
Thirteen WESCAR drivers made it to Williams Lake and Mayert hopes to see at least 15 cars running this weekend with the lure of a two races back-to-back within an hour’s drive of each other.
“It’s good for the guys in the series, it’s good for spectators, they
get to go down to watch and race in Quesnel and either come back and camp in Prince George and the traveling guys get double the bang for the buck,” said Mayert.
“You get two races and it’s one fuel bill to come from the Okanagan or Lower Mainland, or Fort St. John or Terrace.”
Dave Olson of Quesnel is expected to race both races this weekend and Trevor Adelman of Quesnel is back after a wedding forced him to miss the Williams Lake race. Trevor Reinert of Kitimat will make his season debut and other possibilities to enter the
WESCAR fray are Dave Haworth of Kamloops and Jeff Cameron of Lake Country. Qualifying starts at 1 p.m. Sunday and racing begins at 2 p.m. The four Prince George Auto Racing Association classes – Canadian Tire street stocks, Chieftain Auto Parts mini stocks, Canadian Brewhouse Northern Outlaw pro minis and Ron’s Towing hornets –will also be featured Sunday. The WESCAR series resumes with the Mertins 100 next Saturday in Agassiz and wraps up with the season-ender in Quesnel on Sept. 14.
Thunderbirds land provincial silver medals
Ted CLARKE Citizen staff
The Prince George Thunderbirds, understandably, thought they’d have no problem beating the Langley Extreme in the under-16 girls provincial B championship final.
Just four hours earlier on the ball diamond in North Delta they walked off the field early after pasting the Extreme 10-0, a four-inning mercy-rule drubbing.
That forced the Extreme to play an extra playoff game and they needed a dramatic ending in that game to come back and beat the Delta Invaders, while the T-birds rested.
So when Prince George and Langley met again in a game for all the marbles, the stars appeared to be aligned for the T-birds to get their hands on the trophy. It didn’t pan out that way. They lost Sunday’s final 5-2 and had to settle for second-best.
“Everybody’s a little heartbroken, but anybody who’s been around sports long enough understands that that’s how it goes and why you have to play the game,” said T-birds head coach Lee J Leslie, whose team went 7-1 in the double-knockout tournament.
“Up until that point our bats were extremely active and the girls were hitting the ball and averaging 12 to 15 hits a game. But unfortunately that was one of those games where everything we hit hard was right at them. I think their shortstop made eight or nine plays, everything was in her area, and their fielders were backed up against the fence. Everything we were pounding for double or triples before were going right at their players.
“Kaitlyn (T-birds pitcher Doucette) threw a great game for us and most of the time they were just throwing their bat at the ball and unfortunately it was falling into gaps for them.”
Prince George went 4-0 to start and had the best run differential to claim the top ranking heading into the elimination round.
They started the playoffs with a 4-3 win over the South Surrey/White Rock Thunder and needed a late-game comeback in that one to keep their perfect record intact.
“That was probably the most exciting, nerve-wracking game I’ve ever been part of,” said the T-birds coach.
“We should have stood on them pretty good but we let them hang around and they got a couple runs in the fifth and went up 3-1 on us. Then in the bottom of the sixth we scrapped out a few runs to tie it.”
The game ended in the seventh inning with a walk-off home run from Kaitlyn Doucette. The T-bird pitcher, one of five
Quesnel players on the 12-player roster, seized the spotlight as the provincial home run derby queen, blasting 15 balls over the 200-foot outfield fence, to the delight of the crowd in North Delta. It was their version of the Major League Baseball home run derby last week that featured Toronto Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
“She hit 15 total and many overtop of the berm behind us and into the playground,” said Leslie. “It was very much like a rock concert-type atmosphere. When she started to hit these moon shots people came out of their seats. She put on a Vladdy performance, for sure.”
The T-birds defeated the Nanaimo Diamonds 8-1 in the quarterfinal, leading up to their semifinal shutout of the Extreme. The mercy rule came into effect in five of the eight games the T-birds played. Rylee Paterson and Tessa Sturgeon also shared the pitching duties with Doucette. Outfielder Brooklyn Hill was the T-birds’ top hitter, batting .583 in the tournament.
The weekend before provincial tournament, the T-birds played in the under-19 division at the Canada Cup in Surrey/White Rock. The team added 18-year-olds Camryn Scully and Caley Leslie to the roster but was still on the young side compared to the rest of the teams in the division and they ended up 1-4. They won their first game 6-5 over the Ridge Meadows Rage, then lost 7-5 to the Surrey Storm. The 2000-born Parksville Rage beat Prince George 12-6 in the next game, which was tied 5-5 after five inning. Prince George then dropped to the Silver Division and lost 7-3 to the Abbotsford Outlaws and ended with a 5-2 loss to Freedom Fastpitch of Seattle.
“Most of the girls in that division are 2000 (born) and we have ‘03s and ‘04s, which I think really helped us in provincials because the older girls think and play the game at a whole different level that our girls needed to match in order to survive, and they were able to carry that momentum over to provincials,” said Leslie.
The T-birds entered the older division due to the difficulty of finding players from Prince George in the U-16 age group and they wanted to enhance their chances of staying healthy for playoffs.
The team stayed in the area in the week leading up to provincials, living in a rented house in Tsawwassen and got to be spectators watching the older women play in the Canada Cup, which featured some of the top NCAA college players. They kept busy between games with practices and an Over The Line beach softball game.
“In the evenings they got to see the highest-calibre they’ve ever seen or probably ever will see with the international side playing,” said Leslie.
The season isn’t over yet for the T-birds. As a a top-two provincial finisher they’ve qualified for the Western Canadian championship in Biggar, Sask., Aug. 2-5.
“The girls are excited and looking forward to an opportunity for redemption at the Westerns,” said Leslie.
PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE
Car No. 2 driven by Austin Ogonoski of Edmonton races around PGARA Speedway on June 1 during a WESCAR 100 event. WESCAR racing returns on Sunday.
HANDOUT PHOTO
The Prince George Thunderbirds celebrate their silver-medal at the under-16 girls provincial B championships.
Red Sox snap Fenway losing streak, beat Blue Jays
BOSTON — That was a relief.
And not a bad start, either.
Chris Sale and two relievers combined on a two-hitter, and the Boston Red Sox lefthander struck out 12 in six innings to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-0 on Thursday and earn his first regular-season win at Fenway Park in more than a year.
Sale (4-9) gave up both hits and walked two to earn his first victory anywhere in a month and his first at home since July 11, 2018 – a span of 14 starts.
“It’s good to see him win a game here, win a game at home – for whatever that means,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said.
“But the way he did it is the most satisfying thing.” It was Sale’s 11th game this season with 10 or more strikeouts.
The seven-time All-Star, who had allowed five runs in three straight starts for the first time in his career, had a 7.89 ERA in three previous appearances against Toronto this season.
“I’m obviously coming off three of the worst starts of my career,” said Sale, who had a dozen teammates watch his bullpen session on Tuesday, whether to help spot a flaw in his mechanics or just to show their support. “Good, bad or indifferent, I’m not out on an island.”
Marcus Walden pitched two hitless
innings for the Red Sox and Darwinzon Hernandez struck out two in a perfect ninth to end it.
Rafael Devers hit a three-run homer off Thomas Pannone (2-4), who matched Sale into the fifth inning before giving up Sam Travis’ double and Sandy Leon’s RBI single.
After Mookie Betts walked, Devers hit the first pitch out to right-centre to make it 4-0 and chase Pannone.
“You could tell early on that Chris Sale was on, and so there was no room for error,” Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said.
“(Pannone) gave us a chance.”
Betts, who also hit a solo homer in the seventh, scored a run for the 13th consecu-
tive game, tying Ted
Devers delivers
Devers has seven homers and 23 RBIs in 13 games this month, and he is batting .397 in July.
He has 28 RBIs against the Blue Jays in 2019, the most ever for a player against Toronto in one season (with three games left). It is the most for any player against a single opponent since Gary Sheffield drove in 28 runs against the Orioles in 2005.
“Whenever he’s at the plate, you feel like something great is going to happen,” Sale said. “That was a big swing for us.”
Devils take two-game lead over Assault
Ted CLARKE Citizen staff tclarke@pgcitizen.ca
Practice makes perfect.
The Westwood Pub Devils have been doing that since long before the Prince George Senior Lacrosse season began and are reaping the rewards in the playoffs.
They took a two-games-to-none stranglehold in the best-of-five championship series Thursday night at Kin 1, beating the Northland Nissan Assault 10-5.
The Devils have had strength in numbers all season and their dedication to working out game strategies in practices has paid off. That extra work preparing for games shows in their passes and quick ball movement and a short-staffed Assault has had a tough time matching that level of cohesiveness in the final.
After getting smoked 21-6 in the series opener Tuesday the Assault was a much
better team in Game 2 but they still aren’t on the same page as the Devils, who are now within one win of claiming their thirdstraight league championship.
Jake McIntosh continued to spark the Devils offensively, collecting three goals and two assists Thursday, matched by a three-goal, two-assist effort from Andrew Schwab and two goals apiece from Kyler Boucher and Dylan Long.
Doug Porter had a three-goal night for the Assault and PGSLA rookie of the year Riley Stevens scored twice.
Northland tried for a comeback with some extended power-play time early in the third period but could only reduce the deficit to 7-5. Goals from McIntosh, Long and Schwab put the game out of reach.
Patrick Bayliss continued to impress in the Devils nets, after collecting the Ted Conway Award Tuesday as the league’s top goalie.
The Assault built up some power-play pressure early on him in the second period and Bayliss stood his ground with a couple of stellar saves just before Long took off on a shorthanded breakaway and scored over the shoulder of Assault goalie Kyle Frederich.
That gave the Devils a 6-3 lead.
Northland cut the lead to two when Porter completed his first hat trick of the playoffs with the only goal of the second period on a quick setup pass from Dave Jenkins.
In the opening period, Schwab scored twice in the first minute, but the Assault got the next three.
Porter fired a pair and Stevens also found the net to give the Assault its first lead of the series.
Boucher answered Porter’s second goal less than a minute later and McIntosh pounded in two more in to restore the Devils’ lead heading into the first intermission.
The Devils can wrap up the best-of-five series with a win in Game 3 Monday night at Kin 1.
If the series is extended, Game 4 would be played Wednesday night, with Game 5, if needed, set for next Thursday.
Both teams were missing some of their big guns. Matt Rochon, who had 13 goals and a whopping 19 points in just three playoff games to lead the Assault, was out with a shoulder injury and sniper Clarke Anderson is also on the injury shelf.
Devils forward Colton Poulin was nursing a sore shoulder, while Westwood veterans Adam Moleski, Jeff Moleski, Danton Nicholson and Scott Anderson were also unavailable.
Nicholson and Anderson are in North Saanich this weekend coaching the Prince George bantam Posse in the provincial A2 championship. The Posse lost its opener Thursday 10-7 to Peninsula.
5. Fabio
6. Matteo
Mitchelton-Scott, s.t.; 7. Oliver Naesen, Belgium, AG2R La Mondiale, s.t.; 8. Rui Costa, Portugal, UAE Team Emirates, s.t.; 9. Simon Clarke, Australia, EF Education First, s.t.; 10. Jasper Stuyven, Belgium, Trek-Segafredo, s.t. 11. Greg Van Avermaet, Belgium, CCC Team, s.t.; 12. Dylan Teuns, Belgium, Bahrain-Merida, s.t.; 13. Serge Pauwels, Belgium, CCC Team, s.t.; 14. Mathias Frank, Switzerland, AG2R La Mondiale, s.t.; 15. Nicolas Roche, Ireland, Team Sunweb, s.t.; 16. Maximilian Schachmann, Germany, Bora-Hansgrohe, s.t.; 17. Tony Gallopin, France, AG2R La Mondiale, s.t.; 18. Michael Valgren Andersen, Denmark, Dimension Data, 1:33; 19. Imanol Erviti, Spain, Movistar Team, 5:13; 20. Alberto Bettiol, Italy, EF Education First, s.t. Also - 27. Geraint Thomas, Britain, Team Ineos, 9:35; 28. Egan Bernal, Colombia, Team Ineos, s.t.; 31. Julian Alaphilippe, France, Deceuninck-QuickStep, s.t.; 35. Enric Mas, Spain, Deceuninck-QuickStep, s.t.; 39. Thibaut Pinot, France, Groupama-FDJ, s.t.; 44. Nairo Quintana, Colombia, Movistar, s.t.; 45. Emanuel Buchmann, Germany, Bora-Hansgrohe, s.t.; 50. Steven Kruijswijk, Netherlands, Jumbo-Visma, s.t.; 53. Hugo Houle, Sainte-Perpetue, Que., Astana, s.t.; 60. Dan Martin, Ireland, UAE Team Emirates, s.t.; 68. Adam Yates, Britain, Mitchelton-Scott, s.t.; 88. Michael Woods, Ottawa, EF Education First, s.t.; 103. Ben King, United States, Dimension Data, 18:58; 114. Joey Rosskopf, United States, CCC, s.t.; 118. Chad Haga, United States, Sunweb, s.t. OVERALL RANKINGS (after 12 of 21 stages) 1. Julian Alaphilippe, France, Deceuninck-QuickStep, 52:26:09; 2. Geraint Thomas, Britain, Ineos, 1:12 behind leader; 3. Egan Bernal, Colombia, Ineos, 1:16; 4. Steven Kruijswijk, Netherlands, Jumbo-Visma, 1:27; 5. Emanuel Buchmann, Germany, Bora-Hansgrohe, 1:45; 6. Enric Mas, Spain, Deceuninck-QuickStep, 1:46; 7. Adam Yates, Britain, Mitchelton-Scott, 1:47; 8. Nairo Quintana, Colombia, Movistar, 2:04; 9. Dan Martin, Ireland, UAE Team Emirates, 2:09; 10. Thibaut Pinot, France, Groupama-FDJ, 2:33. 11. Patrick Konrad, Austria, Bora-Hansgrohe, 2:46; 12. Rigoberto Uran, Colombia, EF Education First, 3:18; 13. Alejandro Valverde, Spain, Movistar, s.t.; 14. Romain Bardet, France, Bauke Mollema, Netherlands, Trek-Segafredo,
Jimmy GOLEN The Associated Press
Williams’ franchise record.
AP PHOTO
Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Thomas Pannone pitches during the first inning of a game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park in Boston on Thursday.
PM bashes NDP over trade deal
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called out New Democrats Thursday after their leader encouraged French officials to reject the comprehensive trade agreement between the European Union and Canada.
Earlier this week Jagmeet Singh, along with Green Leader Elizabeth May and five other Canadian and Quebec politicians, signed a letter urging lawmakers in France not to ratify the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA.
As an EU-Canada trade summit wrapped up in Montreal Thursday, Trudeau asked who Canada should trade freely with if not its European allies, calling the NDP stance “unfortunate.”
“You have to ask the question of people like the NDP in Canada: If you don’t think that we should have a free trade deal with Europe – as
progressive, positive and aligned as they are –then with whom would the NDP want to sign a trade deal?” Trudeau asked.
The NDP fired back, saying a “rushed” ratification is “what’s really unfortunate,” threatening jobs, increasing medication costs and hurting dairy producers.
The NDP also drew attention to a controversial CETA mechanism to resolve disputes between governments and investors, the International Court System, which New Democrat spokeswoman Nina Amrov called “undefined” and friendlier to corporations than taxpayers.
So far, 13 EU countries have ratified the pact, which nonetheless went into force provisionally in September 2017, eliminating tariffs on more than 90 per cent of goods flowing between Canada and the EU.
The benefits have been uneven, however, as European businesses ramped up exports right
out of the gate while Canadian exporters were slower to boost trade.
In 2018, EU goods imports from Canada declined by two per cent to roughly $46 billion, though aluminum, motor vehicles and parts, and other sectors saw major gains.
Meanwhile, EU exports to Canada shot up 10 per cent to about $62 billion last year, increasing the deficit in goods trade by more than two-thirds to $10.4 billion, according to the European Commission.
Agri-food exports to the EU have dropped 10 per cent since CETA’s 2017 entry into force.
Brian Innes, head of the Canadian AgriFood Trade Alliance, criticized “protectionist” country-of-origin labelling rules in Italy.
“The consequences of these non-tariff barriers are real – they’re shutting out a significant portion of Canadian agri-food exports from the EU market,” Innes said in a release.
Monetizing happiness
There is a story told that a financial planner was on holidays in Mexico and was walking along the beach one day when he came to a wharf and saw a fisherman sitting there, his feet hanging off the edge playing his guitar.
“Is that your boat?” the planner asked the fisherman.
“It is,” the fisherman replied.
They continued to have a conversation about the fishing in those parts and the financial planner learned that the fisherman had one boat and was quite a good fisherman, having become skilled in fishing from the generations before him.
“What do you like to do with your time when you are not fishing?” the planner asked the fisherman.
“I like to sit here and play my guitar. I play soccer with my children over there on the beach. I enjoy having a beer with my good friends and spending time with my wife,” the fisherman replied.
“You seem quite successful with one boat, imagine if you had 10 boats like that,” said the planner.
“You would have money to take vacations and travel the world, money to build a bigger house. I could invest the money you make
for you in a retirement fund. Your kids wouldn’t need to take care of you when you are older and you would have more time to play guitar here on the wharf while your employees were out fishing. I can show you how to plan for that if you like”
The fisherman thought for a moment and his eyes widened in amazement.
“Let me get this straight, señor. You want me to go into debt to buy 10 more boats, so that I can manage 30 employees who might not show up for work, so that I can make more money, give it to you to invest and do exactly what I am doing now, play my guitar on the wharf?”
The monetization of happiness is a disease that affects our culture. It is not propagated by financial planners, (I do know some very ethical ones who have no part in that) but by our society in general.
It is perpetrated by banks through our access to easy credit. Marketers in the perpetuation of desires and even by our families as we encourage the next generation
to climb the ladder to affluence.
This perception of happiness and money is not limited to business. Recently, I participated in a fundraiser for a non-profit, where it seemed that happiness was being monetized. The organization was tying donations to happiness implying that the more money you donated, the happier you would feel and the more sadness and perhaps guilt you could alleviate. I am not saying that money is bad. We need money for our basic necessities, we need money for investment for businesses to create jobs, we need marketing to sell what we make and we need people to help us use our money wisely and share with others.
However, we are at a point in society where we have created the illusion that more money equals more happiness. We know in our hearts that this is false, yet we all fall for it time and again.
So how do we move away from this notion that more money means we will be happier? Recently, I heard of a law firm who was recruiting lawyers by offering them less money but more time off.
As a business coach, I often have to catch myself and ensure that I am looking out for all the best
interests of my clients and not setting them up on a treadmill chasing dollars. As individuals we need to consider if spending more time pursuing more cash will really make us happier. Think about the people you know who have made the biggest difference in the world or your life. Were they rich?
Yes, more money might allow us to take more holidays on a beach, have nicer vehicles, fancier clothes and keep up with the Jones. But will that money mean that we sleep better at night, spend more time enjoying our friends and family, or contributing to society?
Will it make us happier? Having travelled the world (yes, with money I saved) most of the happiest faces and best memories were with people like the fisherman who understood that happiness was not dependent on having more money. When we begin to believe that happiness can be monetized, we lose sight of our true purpose or calling in life and become disillusioned in our misery.
Dave Fuller, MBA, is an awardwinning, happy business coach who has never been to Mexico. He is the author of the book Profit Yourself Healthy. Comments or criticisms? Email dave@profityourselfhealthy.com
Critics, industry clash over well cleanup costs
The Canadian Press
An Alberta coalition that says oil and gas producers are lowballing how much it will cost to clean up their wellsites is being accused by the head of the Alberta Orphan Well Association of overstating those numbers.
The Alberta Liabilities Disclosure Project, a coalition of landowners, environmentalists and others, on Thursday published a list of producer companies with estimates of how much it would cost each to remediate its Alberta oil and gas properties if the job had to be done immediately.
Those costs are much higher than the companies estimates because they are assuming they will have decades of cleanup time, the coalition said, while calling on the province to release independently verified estimates of liabilities.
“When companies report their liabilities at discounted rates, without also reporting what it would cost to do the cleanup today, it makes them look – on paper – healthier than they are,” said Regan Boychuk, the ALDP’s lead researcher.
“But their numbers assume the companies have decades they may not actually have.”
The cost estimates from the coalition seem much higher than actual costs his organization incurred to clean up 800 inactive oil and gas wells last year, said Lars DePauw, executive director of the OWA, an organization funded by industry that steps in to clean up wells when their owners either can’t or won’t.
“With all the work we did last year, the average cost on the abandonment side, or decommissioning, as we call it, was $34,000 per well and $27,000 to reclaim a site,” he said.
“I don’t know how they came up with their numbers.” Boychuk said in an interview his group’s assumed average cleanup cost per well is $229,000, a number based on an internal Alberta Energy Regulator study obtained through freedom of information law.
The numbers given by DePauw may be accurate but they are for cleaning up “cheap, easy, quick wells,” such as shallow gas wells with no associated hazardous gases, he said.
DePauw, in response, said OWA’s job list last year included a mixture of both simple and complex wells, pointing out that the OWA did as many cleanups in one year as it has in the past 20 years.
Cleanup costs were far below targets set by the Alberta Energy Regulator, he said, thanks to growing expertise and the use of area-based programs that allow for greater efficiency.
Calgary-based Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. was singled out by the coalition as facing by far the largest bill at $11.9 billion to clean up 73,000 oil, gas and bitumen wells in Alberta.
The coalition adds that is “more than double the $5.3 billion in worldwide asset retirement obligations reported in CNRL’s audited financial statements.”
However, in its Annual Information Form submitted to Canadian regulators in March, CNRL reports its undiscounted worldwide ARO is $12.3 billion.
When asked about that, Boychuk said the coalition worked with a U.S. specialist who consulted American regulatory filings, which didn’t include the undiscounted amount. He said many companies reduce their apparent liability by spreading it out over decades.
As
nears a close, companies,
banks, have generally beaten the weak analyst forecasts.
If you dig a little deeper, however, the reports suggest underlying challenges ahead including the impact on banks from a lower interest rate environment, said Kash Pashootan, CEO and chief investment officer at First Avenue Investment Counsel Inc.
“Although we have seen some decent earnings beats, the bar is quite low,” he said.
“What’s surprising to us is that with fairly low expectations on earnings numbers, we’re still seeing a mixed bag. We think that given the expectations are quite conservative and the bar is quite low, we should see a much rosier picture for the earnings beats.”
Pashootan said earnings are the primary driver of markets after investors have grown tired of reading tea leaves on trade negotiations between the U.S. and China, economic data and central banking policy.
Yet, the mixed or disappointing results increase the probabilities of interest rate cuts, which is supporting markets to inch higher, he added.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 10.02 points at 16,494.23, after losing 26.61 points over the last two days.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 3.12 points at 27,222.97. The S&P 500 index was up 10.69 points at 2,995.11, while the Nasdaq composite was up 22.04 points at 8,207.24.
The Toronto market rose primarily as the strength of the materials sector offset declines in health care and energy.
The August gold contract was up US$4.80 at US$1,428.10 an ounce, the highest level since May 2013.
Interest-rate sensitive commodities like gold are gaining with anticipation of rates going lower.
The September copper contract was down 0.6 of a cent at US$2.71 a pound. Among the gainers were First Majestic Silver, Yamana Gold and Barrick Gold Corp.
The health care sector dropped 2.1 per cent as several cannabis producers suffered share price decreases, including Aurora Cannabis Inc, which fell 6.5 per cent.
The Canadian Press
Ian W. Wood April 3, 1930-July 14, 2019
It is with sadness that we announce the passing of Ian Wood on July 14, 2019. Ian was born In Edinburgh, Scotland and although Canada was his chosen home, Scotland held his heart. Ian is now with his wife, Judy and his son, Rob. Ian was always a gentleman, a kind person who will be deeply missed. Ian is survived by his daughters: Nancy, Lynn (Morris), grandchildren; Tyler (Jaime), Nicole, Matthew and great grandchildren; Ciaran, Caia and Lincoln. The family would like to thank Dr. Khan for his care and support through the years. We would also like to thank the wonderful caregivers at UHNBC ER and the Rotary Hospice Society for their care, compassion and respect.
If you would like, in lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Rotary Hospice Society, Red Cross or a charity of your choice in Ian’s name. There will be no service as per Ian’s request.
Glenn Clifford MacKenzie July11,1956July11, 2019
It is with heavy hearts that we announce the unexpected passing of Glenn MacKenzie on his 63rd birthday. Predeceased by his parents Glen and Joan (Quigley) MacKenzie and brother in law Dennis Laurin, he leaves behind his partner Eileen Ulrich, daughter Morgan (Bobbie), brothers Greg, Bruce (Terry), Garth, sister Joanne, nephews Graeme (Cassidy), Trevor and in laws Phillip and Maddie Ulrich. Born in Vancouver, but moving often due to his father being an engineer with the railway. Glenn’s family
finally settled in Prince George when he was 10. Glenn attended Austin Road, Kelly Road and PGSS schools. Before being summoned by his true calling and passion, logging. Glenn’s first job was at Shoppers Food Mart and then he moved on to Polar Refrigeration. He also did a short stint framing homes in Edmonton. At age 18 Glenn started driving logging trucks, and by age 20 he bought his first Kenworth. In 1985 Glenn and his sister Joanne had the opportunity to purchase Mackye Kennels, and this is where he made his home. In 1997 Glenn decided to take his driving skills to a whole new level by building a killer 1955 Chevy drag race car. Glenn had a great head for business and was very successful at his occupation. He loved his family was their biggest supporter and strongest defender. Glenn had a big heart, was very kind and generous to a fault with those he knew and loved. He was a great provider, loving partner and proud father. Glenn had countless friends and acquaintances through out the logging industry and the drag racing community. The family wishes to thank the doctors and nurses who showed so much compassion, dignity and support during this difficult time. There will be a Celebration of Life on Saturday September 21, 2019 from 1-4pm at the Hart pioneer Centre 6986 Hart Highway
It is with great sadness we announce the passing of Brent Allan Fulljames Brent was born in Prince George, BC on January 11th 1987 and passed away on May 21st 2019. He will be deeply missed by his parents Steve and Sandra, twin sister Michelle, daughters Teagan & Brooklyn (mom Ashley), Grandma Peggy and his countless cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces,
MEAD,ElizabethJean July9,2019
MEAD,ElizabethJean,aged94,ofFraserLake, passedawayJuly9,2019,atStJohnHospitalin Vanderhoof,BC.Sheissurvivedbyherchildren,Sue, Bob(Claudia),andJoan;andgrandson,James.Jean waspredeceasedbyherhusband,Fred,in2015. Thefamilysendsaheartfeltthankyoutoallthe friendswhomadeFraserLakethespecialplacethat gaveJeansuchjoy.RespectingJean’swishes,there willbenoservice.Inlieuofflowers,adonationtothe VanderhoofHospiceSocietyorcharityofyourchoice isappreciated.
***CORRECTION***
CLARENCE HARMON passed away peacefully after a courageous battle with cancer that he bravely fought that ended after a near two week stay at Hospice House July 8, 2019 at the age of 81. Clarence is survived by his loving wife Marie of 33 years, his only son Lyle (Debbie), stepdaughters; Beverly (Bill), Sandra (Neil), Sheila (Richard), Deanna (Raymond), and Barbara, his stepsons; Rodney (Wanda), Derrick (Yvonne) as well as 10 grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren and sisters-in-law Lorraine and Millie. He will be remembered by his nieces and nephews with special thanks to Sharmon. Clarence is predeceased by his parents Art and Clara, brothers: Albert, Jess, Frank and sister Shirley. A Celebration of Life will be held at the Eagles Hall, 6742 Dagg Rd, on Sunday July 21, 2019 from 2:00-3:30pm.
Cunin, Jeffrey Ryan December 31, 1987July 15, 2019
It is with deep regret and heavy hearts that the Cunin family is announcing the sudden passing of Jeffrey Ryan Cunin. Jeffrey’s life ended the way he enjoyed living it with selflessness and thinking of others. Jeffrey is survived by his mother (Pamela, Kelowna). Father (Maurice, Quesnel), brothers (Dennis, Ft St John and Kevin, Prince George, Chris, Victoria and Dan, Cochrane, Alberta) as well as other family members. There will be a viewing at 1:00pm with a celebration of life to honour Jeffrey at 2:00pm on Saturday, July 20, 2019 at Prince George Funeral Service, 1014 Douglas St. In lieu of flowers, donations to Prince George Rotary Hospice would be appreciated in his memory. Prince George Funeral Service in care of arrangements 250 564 - 3880.
Koenen,Donald September25,1936-July7,2019 DonaldKoenen,82,ofWhiteRock,BC,diedJuly7th, 2019.HewasbornonSeptember25th,1936,toJack andMaryKoeneninWetaskiwin,Alberta. DonattendedHighSchoolatPrinceGeorgeSenior Secondary. Heworkedinforestry,construction,andwasaheavy -dutyequipmentmechanic.Inhissparetime,he enjoyedflying,friends,andtheoutdoors. DonissurvivedbyhiswifePauline(separated)their twosons,AndrewandPaul,hisgranddaughter, TalishaMeisel,andhiscommonlawpartnerLiza Cruz.
Obituaries
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