Days Inn demolition
Demolition continues at the Days Inn on Tuesday morning. The site
Russell to direct TNW’s Cash show
Christine HINZMANN Citizen staff chinzmann@pgcitizen.ca
A member of the local arts community will be directing Theatre Northwest’s upcoming production of Ring of Fire: The Johnny Cash Story that will take audiences through the legend’s whole life. Along with director Anna Russell, two local performers, Curtis Abriel and Amy Blanding, will also be involved in this project by taking to the stage with the rest of the cast of five when the show opens on Nov. 28.
Russell came to Prince George eight years ago from Vancouver and has directed several musical and dramatic productions through Judy Russell Presents. Theatre Northwest’s executive director, Marnie Hamagami, reached out to Russell to see if she wanted the job. Russell said Prince George having a professional theatre company was important to her.
“Before I agreed to move to Prince George here with my husband (Judy and Bill Russell’s son
Matt), I looked into the community and what was available and I did check to see if there were any professional theatres in town, so Theatre Northwest was a big motivating factor to actually get me to move to Prince George so this is a full circle moment for me as I get the chance to direct something here,” Russell said.
The play has been cast and Russell is in the early research stages while the theatre is already in the process of building the set, which will be put in storage after it’s built and then erected when it’s time to present the play.
Russell believes Ring of Fire is a good match for the Theatre Northwest audience, who was very responsive to Million Dollar Quartet, a musical which was presented last year on the professional theatre stage.
Who’s got the lead?
“Everybody’s Johnny Cash,” Russell said.
At different points throughout his life, at different moments, each of the five cast members takes on the role of Johnny Cash, she explained.
“It’s definitely a kind of intimate concert feel with all five actors on the stage,” Russell described the upcoming production. “It’s going to be a real showcase for everybody and the story itself follows Johnny Cash from childhood through his more rebellious days that eventually leads to the end of his life where he comes full circle –it’s a Ring of Fire.”
Because it’s a unique play, it offers the opportunity to bring some original elements to the play and Russell is just starting to develop those ideas now.
Rehearsals will start three weeks before the play begins, as is traditional in a professional setting.
“I am really excited to work with Anna, having a group of local directors is really exciting for the organization,” Hamagami said.
“We have been very intentional over the past four years about developing local professionals with the technical expertise to operate the theatre and adding directors to that group is very exciting.” Tickets are available at TheatreNorthwest.com or Book & Company.
Ethics committee to decide whether to dig deeper into SNC-Lavalin report
The Canadian Press/ Citizen staff
A handful of MPs, including Prince George-Peace RiverNorthern Rockies MP Bob Zimmer, will be back on Parliament Hill today to decide whether to dig more deeply into the federal ethics watchdog’s scathing report on how Prime Minister Justin Trudeau handled the SNC-Lavalin affair.
Conservatives and New Democrats pushed for the emergency meeting of the House of Commons ethics committee, which Zimmer chairs, so MPs could debate whether to invite ethics commissioner Mario Dion to testify.
“Now we have facts,” said NDP MP Charlie Angus. “We should be able to ask the man who found those facts to explain them.”
The Liberals hold a majority on the 10-member committee.
Voting in favour of the motion to invite Dion to appear would mean keeping the SNC-Lavalin controversy in the headlines as MPs gear up for the Oct. 21 election. None of the six Liberals on the committee had agreed to comment by late Tuesday afternoon.
The report, released last week, concluded that Trudeau violated the Conflict of Interest Act by improperly pressuring former attorney general Jody WilsonRaybould to end criminal proceedings on corruption charges against the Montreal engineering giant.
Trudeau, who has defended himself by insisting he was acting in the best interests of Canadians, is now suggesting voters want to move on.
“Voters speak to me about jobs,” Trudeau said Tuesday in Trois-Rivieres, Que., when asked whether he is hearing about SNC-Lavalin at his meet-andgreet events. “Yes, people have concerns, but mostly, they speak of the work that we are accomplishing together.”
Conservative MP Peter Kent said he hopes his Liberal colleagues, at the very least, support inviting Dion to debrief the committee on his report.
Mary Dawson, the previous ethics commissioner, spent two hours answering questions about her December 2017 report that found Trudeau had violated the Conflict of Interest Act when he and his family when on vacation to a private island in the Bahamas owned by the Aga Khan.
Kent said if the Liberals are concerned about the timing, they could have supported his efforts to investigate the scandal earlier this year.
At the time, Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith said it would be “premature” to begin such a probe before the justice committee wrapped up its study.
— see ‘WE HAVE, page 3
CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE
Anna Russell was named as the director of Ring of Fire: The Johnny Cash Story on Tuesday morning at Theatre Northwest.
ZIMMER
Bryer Schmegelsky and Kam McLeod are seen in this undated combination handout photo provided by the RCMP.
Murder suspects recorded ‘will’ on phone
Bianca BHARTI Vancouver Sun
The two B.C. murder suspects that led RCMP on a cross-province manhunt left behind a “last will and testament” video before shooting themselves dead in the northern Manitoba wilderness, the Toronto Star reported. The RCMP declined to comment on the existence of a video but a source confirmed that 30 seconds of the video, left on a cellphone that was found with the bodies, was shared with the suspects’ family members.
In the clip, Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, reportedly outlined their wishes for their remains, said goodbye to their loved ones and detailed a “last will and testament,” said the family member, who did not see the video first-hand.
McLeod and Schmegelsky were suspected of killing three people in B.C.: 23-year-old Australian tourist Lucas Fowler, his 24-yearold American girlfriend Chynna Deese and 64-year-old university professor Leonard Dyck. Soon after Dyck was found
dead, the RCMP launched a search for McLeod and Schmegelsky, but the two former Walmart employees evaded law enforcement and led them on an eastward chase all the way to Gillam, Man. On Aug. 7, RCMP discovered the bodies of McLeod and Schmegelsky at 10 a.m., but said the men had been dead for several days.
The video could potentially help officials and the public understand why McLeod and Schmegelsky fled after allegedly killing three people.
Teen girl victim of attempted sexual assault at park
Citizen staff Burns Lake RCMP are searching for a man in connection with an attempted sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl at a local park.
According to police, the teenager was sitting on a park bench at Radley Beach in Burns Lake at about 11:30 a.m. last Thursday when a man sat down beside her and put his hand on her back.
When she got up to leave, he tried to stop her. She was able to run from the area and immediately called police.
Burns Lake RCMP officers responded immediately but couldn’t locate the man.
The suspect is described as heavy set, five-foot-five to fivefoot-10, with brown eyes, short dark hair on the sides with longer dark hair on the top of his head. The victim said the man was wearing a red checkered plaid sweater, black shirt and dark jeans.
“This is a priority investigation and we hope the public can provide some assistance in identifying this man,” Burns Lake RCMP Staff Sgt. Saunna Lewis said. If you have any information regarding this matter, you are asked to contact the Burns Lake RCMP at 250-692-7171 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
Airline expanding direct service to Victoria
Citizen staff
Pacific Coastal Airlines announced Tuesday that it will be expanding its non-stop service between Prince George and Victoria.
Starting on Oct. 12, the airline is adding a single daily flight on Saturdays.
The flight will leave Victoria at 10:50 a.m. and arrive in Prince George at 12:30 p.m., before departing back to Victoria at 1 p.m. and arriving at 2:40 p.m.
“It’s terrific news that Pacific Coastal is extending their nonstop service between Prince George and Victoria to seven days a week,” Prince George Airport
Citizen staff
The Northern Regional Construction Association will be offering a series of workshops throughout the region to help construction firms crack down on worksite bullying and harassment, following an announcement on Tuesday.
The workshops for site supervisors, foremen and union business managers, complement similar workshops for corporate leaders, executives and human resources professionals. The first of the workshops is planned to take place in Prince George on Oct. 7, with workshops scheduled for later in October in Williams Lake and Fort St. John.
Authority president John Gibson said in a press release. “Thirteen non-stop flights a week will make it easier to do business or visit family on Vancouver Island.”
Starting on Oct. 6, the airline is also adding additional passenger capacity to its Friday and Sunday evening flights. A 30-seat Saab 340 will be used on the route for those flights, instead of the standard 19-seat Beachcraft 1900.
“We have seen a significant amount of passenger growth on this route since we introduced a second daily flight on June 23,” Pacific Coast Airlines vice-president Johnathan Richardson said in a press release.
we need, particularly women,” NRCA CEO Scott Bone said in a press release.
“In the north, we’ve already had more than 30 employers sign the Builders Code Acceptable Worksite Pledge. Employers are recognizing the value of eliminating harassment, hazing or bullying and that these Builders Code tools are indispensable to achieve that.”
“A culture shift on construction worksites will help us attract and retain the tradespeople
In addition to the workshops, the association announced the hiring of employer advisor Diane Bourret – a human resources professional with 20 years experience – who will work with employers and unions to retain their skilled workers through a range of free advisory services. For more information, or to register for the workshops, go online to www.nrca.ca. Workshops
— Mark Twain
Former child refugee from Somalia facing unfair deportation: advocates
Michael MacDONALD
The Canadian Press
HALIFAX — Refugee advocates have launched a last-minute appeal for an Edmonton man facing deportation to Somalia because he has a criminal record, saying the case of the former child refugee is similar to that of a Nova Scotia man who was allowed to stay in Canada.
Supporters held a news conference Tuesday in Halifax, where they said it was important to remember that 34-year-old Abdilahi Elmi fled Somalia as a child and was later taken into foster care in Ontario – but provincial officials failed to fill out paperwork that would have granted him permanent residency.
“This is a violation of human rights,” Halifax activist El Jones told a group of about a dozen protesters who crowded into the narrow hallway outside the constituency office of Halifax Liberal MP Andy Fillmore, who was away at the time.
Elmi’s lengthy criminal record includes assault charges, which is why he is facing deportation as a non-citizen.
On June 26, the Canada Border Services Agency decided Elmi should be deported to Kismayo, Somalia some time later this month.
“The removal of convicted, repeat offenders is an enforcement priority,” the CBSA said in a statement.
Spokeswoman Mylene Estrada-Del Rosario said Elmi “has committed extensive crimes within Canada and is considered a danger to the public.”
However, Jones said the federal government should review the case because Elmi’s circumstances are similar to those of Abdoul Abdi, another former child refugee from Somalia.
In July 2018, Abdi was allowed to stay in Canada after a Federal Court judge in Halifax set aside a decision to refer Abdi’s case to a deportation hearing.
“Here we are, a year later, and we see that this is still continuing for people who have been in the child welfare system,” said Jones, who also worked on Abdi’s case. “It’s a very simple ask: why can’t we change the law? It’s past time to change the law to ensure that all children in care receive their citizenship.”
Federal Court Justice Ann Marie McDonald ruled last year that a delegate of federal Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale failed to consider the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in arriving at her decision to refer Abdi’s case to a deportation hearing.
McDonald also noted the delegate was required to weigh the objectives of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act with the values of the charter, and that her decision was unreasonable.
Abdi’s deportation hearing was stayed by Goodale. The court ruling resulted in changes to Nova Scotia’s child welfare rules. Abdoul Abdi’s sister, Fatuma Abdoul, said she believed the resolution of her brother’s case last year meant former child refugees without citizenship would no longer face deportation for criminal activity.
“Obviously, nothing has changed,” she said. “We’re making a plea for (Elmi) and trying to save his life.”
Elmi’s supporters say he should also be granted a reprieve because he faces “certain death” in Somalia, where he has no relatives and doesn’t understand the language.
Jones confirmed refugee groups have joined forces to file a judicial review of Elmi’s case.
“No one is saying that he didn’t commit criminal acts,” she said. “We’re saying that the payment for that should be prison and not deportation.”
Elmi arrived in Canada in 1994 at the age of 10 and was granted refugee status, but he was taken into foster care when he was 13 and was living on the streets by 16. Suffering from substance
abuse issues, he got in trouble with the law and was charged with assault-related offences.
By Tuesday afternoon, an online petition had posted more than 3,400 names. The change.org site includes a letter from Elmi, in which he says alcohol had clouded his thinking.
“My future has been just living day to day in a cell, year after year,” he wrote.
“This is not life at all. I want to be a better person ... I know that I have made a lot of mistakes in my life that I can’t take back and I am not a bad person. I am a kind, helpful, and loving person.”
Robert Wright, a prominent Halifax social worker, said Canada has an obligation under the charter and international law to protect the rights of vulnerable children from other countries.
“When a child is made a permanent ward of a provincial jurisdiction, they have effectively been adopted by this country,” said Wright, former executive director of the province’s children and youth strategy.
“It is our failure to provide adequately for our children in this state that results in their lack of education, their criminalization and their bumpy transition into a healthy and productive adulthood.... It would be a travesty of justice and a great shame to our country if we did not intervene right now.”
‘We have a prime minister without shame’
— from page 1
Erskine-Smith had also pointed out that Dion had begun investigating and that he reports directly to the ethics committee.
The committee should ensure he has what he needs to do his job, rather than do it for him, he argued at an April meeting.
Kent said he wants to ask Dion whether it is time the ethics commissioner’s office had stronger investigative powers.
In his report, Dion noted the confidentiality rules that govern cabinet documents and discussions prevented him from accessing everything he needed.
The Prime Minister’s Office had partially waived those obligations to allow Wilson-Raybould to testify before the justice committee earlier this year, but Ian Shugart, the clerk of the Privy Council, declined to expand the waiver for Dion.
Kent also said he wants to know whether Dion thinks his reports should have more teeth.
During her January 2018 testimony on the Aga
Khan report, Dawson had said the negative publicity would be enough of a consequence.
Trudeau’s response to Dion’s report has been to take “full responsibility” for what occurred, all the while saying he disagrees with some of Dion’s findings.
He has also pointedly refused to apologize for what he characterizes as trying to protect Canadians against job losses.
“We have a prime minister without shame, so naming and shaming is obviously less than effective,” Kent said.
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, who last week urged the six Liberal MPs on the committee “to do what’s right,” repeated his call for the RCMP to investigate the matter.
“What I’m looking to get out of this is the truth,” Scheer said during a pre-campaign event in Toronto.
“We’re looking to get the truth for Canadians, so they can understand the lengths that Justin Trudeau went to get a special deal for SNC-Lavalin.”
Court approves release of video, affidavits ahead of Huawei executive’s trial
The Canadian Press
VANCOUVER — A senior B.C. Supreme Court judge has agreed with what she calls a “somewhat unusual” request to provide documents and a video directly to media ahead of an extradition hearing for Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.
Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes has told a brief hearing she agrees with both the defence and Crown that the interests of justice are best served by transparency in the high-profile case.
The materials in question include a memorandum of argument, three affidavits and video footage from Vancouver’s airport, where Meng was arrested last December at the behest of the United States. The U.S. is seeking Meng’s extradition on fraud charges, but both she and Huawei have denied any wrongdoing.
The materials discussed today are exhibits her defence team plans to use as evidence in its request for access to further documentation during an eight-day disclosure hearing scheduled to begin Sept. 23.
Workers escorted away during Border Services probe at Vancouver horse track
The Canadian Press
VANCOUVER — Several people were removed form a Vancouver horse racing track this week as part of an investigation by the Canada Border Services Agency.
Border services agents arrived at the park, owned by Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, at about 6 a.m. Monday, said a news release from the Hastings Racecourse.
A number of people employed and supervised by various horse owners and trainers were escorted off the site, and none of those who were removed is affiliated with or employed by Great Canadian, the release said.
David Milburn, president of the Horseman’s Benevolent and Protective Association of B.C., said a well-organized group of people wearing black jackets descended on the racetrack and handcuffed people. The group included officers with border services and the B.C. Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch, Milburn said.
They had their targets... and they went about putting their targets in handcuffs.
It was a roundup.
— David Milburn
“They appear to be knowing who they were going for, so they weren’t just walking up and questioning people,” he said. “They had their targets... and they went about putting their targets in handcuffs. It was a roundup.”
A statement from the border services agency said it was conducting investigations at the track related to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
The Canadian Border Services Agency says it conducts enforcement actions when it is believed that a contravention of the Customs Act or the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act has occurred. The statement says it would be inappropriate to provide further information while the investigation is underway. It didn’t say if the people remain in custody.
Milburn said the arrests took place on a busy training day and they were disruptive.
“It was the type of roundup or raid that was reminiscent of something out of ICE that you see in the (United) States, not here,” he said.
Those arrested were the “foreign-worker variety of individuals,” he said, adding they didn’t arrest any of the regulars who had worked there for years.
Trainers can’t hire unlicenced help, let alone people not allowed to work in Canada, he said. “If someone has done something illegal, we are opposed. But the members rely on Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch for the licencing, so trainers have done nothing wrong,” Milburn said.
Meng’s extradition trial is set to begin Jan. 20, more than a year after she was taken into custody.
Defence lawyers plan to argue Meng’s arrest was unlawful but have previously said they want access to audio and are requesting other material through freedom of information requests.
The court’s approval Tuesday follows a request from Holmes in March that the defence and Crown work together to find ways to lessen the burden that media attention has put on staff in the court registry. Typically, media would apply through the registry for access to materials once they are registered as exhibits.
“It is somewhat unusual to provide the media copies of court material the instant they are filed, even though it will be weeks before the other party responds and the hearing takes place,” Holmes
says. “However, as counsel have noted, this case has attracted a very high degree of public interest and I agree with counsels’ assessment... that the interests of justice are best served by transparency in this instance,” she says.
The U.S. Department of Justice has laid charges of conspiracy, fraud and obstruction against Huawei and Meng, who is the daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei.
Meng’s extradition trial is set to begin Jan. 20, more than a year after she was taken into custody.
Meng has been free on bail and is living in one of her multimilliondollar homes in Vancouver while wearing an electronic tracking device and being monitored by a security company.
Her arrest angered China and entangled Canada in a diplomatic crisis with the Asian superpower. In the days after Meng’s arrest, Chinese authorities detained two Canadians on allegations of espionage. The Trudeau government has repeatedly insisted Meng will be dealt with fairly and transparently by an independent judiciary.
CP PHOTO
Demonstrators stand in the doorway of MP Andy Fillmore’s constituency office advocating for a stay on the deportation of Abdilahi Elmi to Somalia during a protest in Halifax on Tuesday.
Scheer promises tax credit for parents
The Canadian Press
Andrew Scheer made a precampaign play for parental votes Tuesday as he promised that a Conservative government would introduce a tax credit for new mothers and fathers receiving special employment insurance benefits so they can stay home with a new child.
The government taxes employment insurance benefits for new parents, along with any employer top-up, while on maternity or parental leave, although parents can be in for a surprise at tax time if not enough money was deducted off each payment.
What the Conservative leader proposed Tuesday – during an event at a Toronto daycare, surrounded by new and soon-to-bemothers – is a non-refundable tax credit on 15 per cent of whatever a new parent earns while they are on leave to reduce their taxes at the end of the year.
It’s an idea he first unveiled through a private member’s bill in early 2018, part of an early gambit to encourage families to support the Conservatives in the Oct. 21 vote. He also vowed to keep the Canada Child Benefit.
The parliamentary budget officer calculated in May 2018 that Scheer’s plan would cost the federal treasury about $600 million in its first year, and $261 million in future years, since the plan would let families carry over any unused credits.
Scheer argued that the proposal would be a “significant tangible benefit” directly to parents to help ease the cost of caring for children in that first year – part of a larger theme of cost of living that he said will permeate the Conservative election platform.
“It is a Conservative principle to provide support directly to parents, that’s something that Liberals fought against for decades,” he said.
“Of course we’re going to continue to support that program (Canada Child Benefit) and any program that provides those child care dollars or support for raising children directly to parents.”
Polling data suggest Conservatives fare poorly with younger female voters – particularly ones who claimed the majority of the almost $4 billion in maternity and parental benefits the federal government doled out in 2017-18.
Offering those voters some additional financial help could help the party while also making it difficult for their opponents to attack the measure, said Christian Bourque,
vice-president of Montreal polling firm Leger.
“What they’re announcing... actually targets the least likely voter for the Conservatives,” Bourque said. “They’re doing well among women 55-plus, so no need to throw money at them – that’s the other way of seeing it.”
EI covers 55 per cent of earnings, up to a maximum amount, over 12 months for those who have enough qualifying work hours to be eligible for benefits.
The Conservative proposal wouldn’t apply to any other benefits that new parents might mix in, such as caregiver benefits if a newborn falls ill, or sickness benefits for the parents themselves – those would remain taxed at the same rates.
Nor would there be any changes to an exemption that allows new parents to keep a portion of any extra cash they earn without losing too much of their benefits.
Scheer said that the value of the credit would put about $4,125 into the pockets of a parent earning on average $50,000. The figure is based on a 15 per cent credit on the 27,500 from EI – or 55 per cent of $50,000 income.
The parliamentary budget office previously said that the proposal, if implemented, would likely help those at higher income levels more by reducing the amounts they owe.
Those at lower income levels
Dates, moderators set for debates
The Canadian Press
Five party leaders have confirmed they will participate in two major televised election debates in October, the media group producing the events announced Tuesday.
The Canadian Debate Production Partnership said Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, the NDP’s Jagmeet Singh, Green party Leader Elizabeth May and the Bloc Quebecois’ Yves-Francois Blanchet will all attend the English debate Oct. 7 and the French one on Oct. 10.
Both events are to be held at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que. Election day is Oct. 21.
The Leaders’ Debates Commission, an independent body set up to organize the debates this year, sent invitations to the five confirmed leaders last week but did not offer a spot to Maxime Bernier, leader of the People’s Party of Canada.
The PPC did not meet criteria established by the federal government for participation in the debates, the commission found. But the commission gave the party until Sept. 9 to provide further evi-
already pay little, if any, taxes. Experts, labour and business groups have called for other changes to the parental leave system to allow more parents to qualify and boost the value of benefits paid out.
As is, about one-quarter of mothers outside Quebec aren’t eligible for benefits because they don’t
dence that they have a chance at winning multiple seats in the fall, which could earn Bernier a spot at the events.
In its announcement Tuesday, the partnership also revealed the moderators for the English debate: CBC’s Rosemary Barton, Susan Delacourt of the Toronto Star, Global’s Dawna Friesen, CTV’s Lisa LaFlamme and Althia Raj of HuffPost Canada. Also on Tuesday, Maclean’s magazine announced it will partner with Citytv to hold a debate Sept. 12 in Toronto. Maclean’s said leaders for the Tories, NDP and Greens have confirmed their participation so far.
“The Liberals have not yet confirmed Justin Trudeau’s participation but an invitation remains open and the debate will go forward regardless,” the magazine said in a post on its website.
Columnist Paul Wells will moderate the debate, which will focus on the economy, foreign policy, Indigenous issues, and energy and the environment.
The Sept. 12 date makes the Maclean’s event the first major debate in the election period, though it remains unclear precisely when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plans to officially fire the starting gun. The latest he can do so is Sept. 15.
have enough qualifying hours.
Jennifer Robson, an associate professor of political management at Carleton University in Ottawa, questioned how much the Tory proposal would actually save at the end of the year.
She also questioned how much it would help low-income parents, having spent years studying the EI maternity and parental benefits system.
“If you have a higher income before starting leave as a parent, you’re already more likely to qualify for EI. But 30 per cent of new moms don’t get $1 out of EI, even if they paid into it. Maybe there are better ways to help more families with infants?”
Military investigating reservist’s hate group link
The Canadian Press
The commander of the Canadian Army says the military will take action if an investigation finds that a reserve member based in Manitoba participated in hate group activities.
Master Cpl. Patrik Mathews, who joined the reserves in 2010, is a combat engineer with 38 Canadian Brigade Group in Winnipeg.
Lt.-Gen. Wayne Eyre said in Ottawa that he wouldn’t be discussing any individual cases, but did say that service members are expected to adhere to a high level of behaviour.
“Those that do not embrace those values, those who do not protect those values, have no place in this organization,” he said Tuesday.
The Department of National Defence said
in a statement that Mathews has not been on any deployments.
It said the military was aware of “possible racist extremist activities” by a Canadian Armed Forces member in Manitoba prior to recent media coverage and was already investigating.
The allegations came to light after a story by an undercover reporter from the Winnipeg Free Press identified Mathews as being involved in the group.
The Free Press said Mathews would not comment on the allegation when approached outside his home Tuesday.
Brigade commander Col. Gwen Bourque said Mathews last worked with the unit in May and was to return in September.
“We are currently assessing what his employment is going to look like in September,” Bourque said in a teleconference.
“We were not aware of any possible racist,
extremist activities.”
Bourque said the public shouldn’t jump to any conclusions.
“We also need to be very cognizant of due process. No military charges have been laid or have ever been laid against him, so there should not be any assumption of guilt at this time.”
Manitoba Mounties said they searched a residence in Beausejour, Man., on Monday night and seized a number of firearms.
An RCMP official said an investigation was ongoing and no one was in custody.
Eyre said disciplinary and administrative action can be taken against reservists, even for actions when they’re out of uniform, if it “reflects badly” on the Canadian Forces.
He said he doesn’t believe extreme views among members is widespread.
“Do I believe in my heart that this is systemic? Absolutely not. But when it comes to
our attention that there are those who have views that are not aligned with our values we’re going to act.”
Last week, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan asked Canada’s military ombudsman to investigate racism in the Canadian Forces following several high-profile incidents and a report linking service members to rightwing extremists and hate groups.
Sailors associated with the Proud Boys disrupted a Mi’kmaq ceremony in Halifax in 2017.
There have also been several media reports of other members associating with neo-Nazi groups such as the Atomwaffen Division.
A military intelligence report last year said officials were aware of 30 active service members who were part of a hate group or had made statements that were discriminatory or racist.
Alberta extends oil curtailment
The Canadian Press
A program that allows the Alberta government to impose production caps on oil companies is being extended by a year as delays in building new market-opening pipelines persist.
“I am the very last person who wants to see curtailment continue,” Energy Minister Sonya Savage said Tuesday. “But while extending curtailment is far from ideal, under the current context it is necessary.”
The policy was brought in by the former NDP government as the price gap between western Canadian heavy crude and U.S. light oil ballooned to more than US$40 a barrel in late 2018, ravaging companies’ bottom lines and provincial revenues.
The province and industry players have said the root of the problem is an inability to export Canadian oil as regulatory and legal challenges bog down new pipeline projects. Curtailment was supposed to be in place until the end of this year. But the province decided to extend it by a year in large part because Enbridge’s Line 3 Replacement project to the U.S. Midwest, which would add 370,000 barrels of daily export capacity, is being held up by permitting issues and legal wrangling in Minnesota.
“This, on top of the untimely deaths of Northern Gateway and Energy East, means that Alberta remains at risk of producing more crude oil than we are able to move,” she said, pointing to what she called Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s “political failure” on the energy file.
Savage said without the production limits, there would be 150,000 more barrels produced daily than could be exported.
The province has been gradually easing its limits since imposing an initial 3.56 million barrel a day cap in January. September’s levels are set at 3.76 million barrels a day, with October’s set to rise to 3.79 million barrels. Before curtailment, companies in the province could produce more than four million barrels a day during the strongest months.
Savage also said Tuesday that in order to reduce the impact on smaller players, the limits will apply to companies that produce more than 20,000 barrels a day, rather than 10,000 barrels. That means instead of 29 of the province’s more than 300 operators being affected, it will be 16.
The province is also giving the industry a month’s more notice when a change in production limits is coming so it can better plan investment.
CP PHOTO
Federal Conservative leader Andrew Sheer holds four-month old Antonio Wang while caregiver Anna Yang watches at a Toronto child care facility where he gave an announcement Tuesday.
Summer heat hits Greenland
The Associated Press
HELHEIM GLACIER, Greenland – This is where Earth’s refrigerator door is left open, where glaciers dwindle and seas begin to rise.
New York University air and ocean scientist David Holland, who is tracking what’s happening in Greenland from both above and below, calls it “the end of the planet.” He is referring to geography more than the future. Yet in many ways this place is where the planet’s warmer and watery future is being written.
It is so warm here, just inside the Arctic Circle, that on an August day, coats are left on the ground and Holland and colleagues work on the watery melting ice without gloves.
In one of the closest towns, Kulusuk, the morning temperature reached 10.7 C.
The ice Holland is standing on is thousands of years old. It will be gone within a year or two, adding yet more water to rising seas worldwide.
Summer this year is hitting Greenland hard with record-shattering heat and extreme melt. By the end of the summer, about 400 billion metric tons of ice –maybe more – will have melted or calved off Greenland’s giant ice sheet, scientists estimate. That’s enough water to flood the country of Greece about 35 centimetres deep.
In just the five days from July 31 to Aug. 3, more than 53 billion metric tons melted from the surface. That’s over 40 billion tons more than the average for this time of year. And that 53 billion tons doesn’t even count the huge calving events or the warm water eating away at the glaciers from below, which may be a huge factor.
And one of the places hit hardest this hot Greenland summer is here on the southeastern edge of the giant frozen island: Helheim, one of Greenland’s fastest-retreating glaciers, has shrunk about 10 kilometres since scientists came here in 2005.
Several scientists, such as NASA oceanographer Josh Willis, who is also in Greenland, studying melting ice from above, said what’s happening is a combination of manmade climate change and natural but weird weather patterns. Glaciers here do shrink in the summer and grow in the winter, but nothing like this year.
Summit Station, a research camp nearly 3.2 km high and far north, warmed to above freezing twice this year for a record total of 16.5 hours. Before this year, that station was above zero for only 6.5 hours in 2012, once in 1889 and also in the Middle Ages. This year is coming near but not quite passing the extreme summer of 2012 –Greenland’s worst year in modern history for melting, scientists report.
“If you look at climate model projections, we can expect to see larger areas of the ice sheet experiencing melt for longer durations of the year and greater mass loss going forward,” said University of Georgia ice scientist Tom Mote. “There’s every reason
to believe that years that look like this will become more common.”
A NASA satellite found that Greenland’s ice sheet lost about 255 billion metric tons of ice a year between 2003 and 2016, with the loss rate generally getting worse over that period. Nearly all of the 28 Greenland glaciers that Danish climate scientist Ruth Mottram measured are retreating, especially Helheim. At Helheim, the ice, snow and water seem to go on and on, sandwiched by bare dirt mountains that now show no signs of ice but get covered in the winter. The only thing that gives a sense of scale is the helicopter carrying Holland and his team. It’s dwarfed by the landscape, an almost imperceptible red speck against the ice cliffs where Helheim stops and its remnants begin.
Those ice cliffs are somewhere between 70 and 100 metres high. Just next to them are Helheim’s remnants – sea ice, snow and icebergs – forming a mostly white expanse, with a mishmash of shapes and textures. Water pools appear amid that white, glimmering a near-fluorescent blue that resembles windshield wiper fluid or Kool-Aid.
As pilot Martin Norregaard tries to land his helicopter on the broken-up part of what used to be glacier – a mush called a melange – he looks for ice specked with dirt, a
sign that it’s firm enough for the chopper to set down on. Pure white ice could conceal a deep crevasse that leads to a cold and deadly plunge.
Holland and team climb out to install radar and GPS to track the ice movement and help explain why salty, warm, once-tropical water attacking the glacier’s “underbelly” has been bubbling to the surface
“It takes a really long time to grow an ice sheet, thousands and thousands of years, but they can be broken up or destroyed quite rapidly,” Holland said.
Holland, like NASA’s Willis, suspects that warm, salty water that comes in part from the Gulf Stream in North America is playing a bigger role than previously thought in melting Greenland’s ice. And if that’s the case, that’s probably bad news for the planet, because it means faster and more melting and higher sea level rise. Willis said that by the year 2100, Greenland alone could cause more than one metre of sea level rise.
So it’s crucial to know how much of a role the air above and the water below play.
“What we want for this is an ice sheet forecast,” Holland said.
In this remote landscape, sound travels easily for miles. Every several minutes there’s a faint rumbling that sounds like thunder, but it’s not. It’s ice cracking.
In tiny Kulusuk, about a 40-minute helicopter ride away, Mugu Utuaq says the winter that used to last as much as 10 months when he was a boy can now be as short as five months. That matters to him because as the fourth-ranked dogsledder in Greenland, he has 23 dogs and needs to race them. They can’t race in the summer, but they still have to eat. So Utuaq and friends go whale hunting with rifles in small boats. If they succeed, which this day they didn’t, the dogs can eat whale.
“People are getting rid of their dogs because there’s no season,” said Yewlin, who goes by one name. He used to run a sled dog team for tourists at a hotel in neighbouring Tasiilaq, but they no longer can do that. Yes, the melting glaciers, less ice and warmer weather are noticeable and much different from his childhood, said Kulusuk Mayor Justus Paulsen, 58. Sure, it means more fuel is needed for boats to get around, but that’s OK, he said.
“We like it because we like to have a summer,” Paulsen said.
But Holland looks out at Helheim glacier from his base camp and sees the bigger picture. And it’s not good, he said. Not for here.
Not for Earth as a whole.
“It’s kind of nice to have a planet with glaciers around,” Holland said.
Thousands detained as Kashmir unrest continues
The Associated Press
At least 2,300 people, mostly young men, have been detained in Indian-administered Kashmir during a security lockdown and communications blackout imposed to curtail unrest after New Delhi stripped the disputed region of statehood, according to top Kashmir police and arrest statistics reviewed by The Associated Press. Those arrested include anti-India protesters as well as pro-India Kashmiri leaders who have been held in jails and other makeshift facilities, according to three police officials. The officials have access to all police records but spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to talk to reporters and feared reprisals from superiors.
The crackdown began just before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist-led government on Aug. 5 stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its semi-autonomy and its statehood, creating two federal territories.
Thousands of Indian troops have been sent into the Kashmir Valley, already one of the world’s most militarized regions, to man
checkpoints. Telephone communications, cellphone coverage, broadband internet and cable TV services were cut, although some have been gradually restored in places.
Kashmiris have staged protests and clashed with police since the crackdown, with about 300 demonstrations against India’s tighter control over Kashmir, the three officials said.
One of the officials said most of the arrests have been in Srinagar, Kashmir’s main city and the heart of a 30-year-old movement to oust Hindu-majority India from Muslim-majority Kashmir so that it can exist independently or be merged with Pakistan.
Both India and Pakistan claim the disputed territory of Kashmir in its entirety, but each controls only part of it. Kashmir’s special status was instituted shortly after India achieved independence from Britain in 1947.
The official spokesman in Jammu and Kashmir, Rohit Kansal, has repeatedly refused to give any details about arrests and detentions, saying only that they have been made to prevent anti-India protests and clashes in the region.
He declined questions about specific arrests.
Nearly 100 people have been arrested under the Public Safety Act, the arrest statistics showed. The law permits detaining people for up to two years without trial.
At least 70 civilians and 20 police and soldiers have been treated at three hospitals in Srinagar for injuries stemming from the clashes, the three officers said.
Moses Dhinakaran, a spokesman for the Central Reserve Police Force, which now holds jurisdiction in Kashmir, said he didn’t know how many people had been detained because his agency has “no direct role.”
Families crowded outside police stations Tuesday waiting to appeal for the release of their sons, husbands and other relatives.
At least three dozen men and women along with their children sat on the street outside a Srinagar police station waiting to hear about 22 young men and teenage boys who they said had been detained in a nighttime raid in one neighbourhood.
Residents say police and soldiers carry out the raids to suppress dissent.
Ali Mohammed Rah said police and soldiers burst into his home and dragged his two sons, age 14 and 16, from their beds.
“They forced their entry, trained their guns at us while ordering us not to raise any alarm,” Rah said.
He said his wife, who is a heart patient, “pleaded with them to let our boys go but they whisked them away. My wife collapsed and is now in a hospital.”
A young woman named Ulfat, who is still recovering from giving birth, said her husband was arrested at their home about 2 a.m.
“Who will provide our family with food and medicine? Where should I go with my baby?” she
said, her newborn daughter in her lap.
Raj Begum said her 24-year-old son was taken away barefoot and in shorts.
“Soldiers hit me with a wooden plank as I tried to resist my son’s arrest,” she said. Her husband, Abdul Aziz, displayed a bag of shoes and clothes for their son.
“Can they at least take these clothes?” he said.
In the Soura area of Srinagar, which has seen some of the biggest protests and clashes, residents have barricaded the neighbourhood by digging trenches, laying barbed wire and erecting poles and corrugated tin sheets to stop the raids.
Large Icebergs float away Friday as the sun rises near Kulusuk, Greenland. Scientists are hard at work, trying to understand the alarmingly rapid melting of the ice.
Cyclists should be trained, licensed
Iwas nine when I got my first bicycle. I needed it to go to and from school, because the school bus to our neighbourhood had been cancelled. In our little community, north of Montreal, cyclists were taught the rules of the road, took a test and if successful were issued a numbered bicycle licence. We recertified every year.
There was a large, paved area in the middle of the community and, as soon as the weather became reliable, usually the first Saturday in May, volunteers from every walk of life would get out early and paint the pavement with every colour and type of line that a person might encounter on a road.
Orange cones and portable stop signs were hauled out of storage and placed strategically, so that different types of road
situations were simulated all over the area.
Cyclists arrived with their bicycles at the pre-arranged time and began the test. The first was a test of mechanical function and balance, applied by volunteers from the two garages in town.
There was a slalom of orange cones to be done, at different speeds.
After that, the road test began, with volunteers from our local constabulary to judge our ability. They would also create situations for us to respond to, and score our performance.
Anyone who failed any part of the test would be sent off to another part of the area where a volunteer would give instruction, then send the candidate back to the part of the test he or she had failed, to try again.
Everyone passed by the end of the day.
A uniformed police officer with a large
ledger was set up at a card table at the edge of the action. He recorded the names and addresses of us all, our bicycle serial numbers and our licence numbers. Our licences came in the form of long, narrow, threecornered felt flags – bright yellow with dark blue print – which we tied to the springs under our saddles.
They fluttered out behind us when we rode. Anyone could see whether or not a cyclist was licensed. We were proud of our skills and often discussed “traffic issues” amongst ourselves.
I’ve cycled in many parts of the world and never had any trouble, thanks to my early preparation.
To anyone contemplating cycling in Canada, I’ve often said that the most dangerous thing on the road in Canada is a Canadian cyclist.
Make organ donation easier
The life expectancy of Canadians continues to climb, particularly when compared with what is transpiring in the United States.
A Canadian born in 2009 can expect to live more than 81 years, approximately three years more than his or her American neighbour.
When the current projections are compared with what was observed at the start of the 1960s, Canadians have added a full decade to their lifespan. Advances in medical technology and a functioning health-care system are usually cited as reasons to explain this success. Still, there is an issue where other countries are way ahead of Canada: organ and tissue donation.
The federal government reports that in 2016, more than 2,800 organs were successfully transplanted in our country. This may sound like an impressive number, but more than 4,500 Canadians were on a waiting list for an organ. More than 250 died before a suitable organ became available.
Organ donation is no longer as controversial as it once may have been, and several countries around the world have seen sociological and religious changes as an opportunity to save lives.
For decades, organ and tissue donation relied primarily on an “opt-in” system. Individuals had to specifically and unequivocally state that they wanted to become organ donors.
In recent years, an “opt-out” system has been implemented
BY THE NUMBERS
MARIO CANSECO
in countries such as Austria, Belgium and Spain. This policy is also known as “active donor registration,” and essentially mandates that every person over the age of 18 is considered an organ and tissue donor unless they specifically ask not to be included in a registry.
Earlier this year, Nova Scotia made history by enacting the first active donor registration system for organ and tissue donation after death in North America. With the unanimous passage of the Human Organ and Tissue Donation Act, the Atlantic province made every single person who has resided in Nova Scotia for at least a year a potential donor. The law allows residents who do not wish to be donors to opt out at the time of their choosing.
Nova Scotia’s legislation will not go into full effect until next summer but is similar to what some countries have done in the past. Having an active donor registration or opt-out system vastly increases the chances of suitable organs reaching the patients who desperately need them.
Two European countries provide an excellent example of what this type of legislation can bring. In Austria, the opt-out system has enabled 99 per cent of available and suitable organs to reach
waiting patients. In neighbouring Germany, where the system is still an opt-in, the rate is a paltry 12 per cent.
Research Co. asked Canadians about active donor registration in their province, and a majority (63 per cent) say he or she would “definitely” or “probably” like to implement this system for organ and tissue donation in their province, while only one in four (25 per cent) disagrees.
There is no gender gap in the level of support for this policy becoming a countrywide endeavour, with 63 per cent of both men and women saying they would like to see this change. All age groups – millennials, generation X and baby boomers – are also in favour of the idea.
In three Canadian provinces, two-thirds of residents (66 per cent) endorse a move to active donor registration: British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec. Support is slightly lower – but still represents a majority – in Manitoba and Saskatchewan (63 per cent), Atlantic Canada (59 per cent) and Ontario (57 per cent). The survey shows that Canadians are ready to take organ and tissue donation to the next level, as several countries have already done. A system similar to the one Nova Scotia’s lawmakers unanimously endorsed is seen in a positive light by a majority of residents in every region. Legislators in Ontario are actively discussing whether to follow Nova Scotia’s lead. Their counterparts in the rest of the country should join them.
It’s not realistic to expect a bicyclist with no experience or training to navigate busy streets, to go wheeling down a narrow lane, with oncoming traffic equally inept, in an enclosed pathway, with pedestrians totally unschooled crossing here and there. All this with not the first piece of information given out as to what to look for in changes to lights, patterns painted on the pavement in various colours, posts cemented into place here and there, rises and falls in the level of the pathway.
Add in bewildered and frequently offended motorists at intersections trying to interpret a whole new battery of lights and signs. It makes for a hilarious story, but it isn’t funny.
— Mary Adams is a Victoria senior who rides her bicycle for most of her errands.
Born to be wild
T’was a piss-poor summer for much outdoor activity.
Certainly, the rain beats the smoke and I dare not tempt the fire-demons to return.
But from hay making to festival going, inclement weather had everyone on the run.
Now it seems that fall has arrived early, begging the question what did our few months without ice and snow accomplish?
For myself, despite the lack of sun, the warm days of 2019 were spent learning how to motorcycle and coming to love it deeply.
Until this May, I had never set my derriere on the vinyl seat of any two wheeled vehicle that wasn’t human powered.
I’d seen my brother and his friends get up to no good on their dirt bikes many moons ago, developing a healthy fear of what can go wrong when your balance is the only thing between you and the debris made lethal by inertia and gravity.
Thus, it was at my father’s behest that we three all enrolled in and then completed the PG Learn to Ride course.
The instructors were knowledgeable and helpful, their cautionary tales as well as sincere love for motosport, touring, or simply cruising keeping the class engaged.
Their best demonstration was done at the outset, using a partner to push the rider from behind, gravity helping a little or a lot depending on the carpark: it only took about 10 km/h for the bike to stay upright, reinforcing the lesson that human error accounts for the vast majority of falls or crashes.
I settled into the pattern of shifting up and down, countersteering, and getting up to speed almost immediately.
A grin was glued on my face as our crew did circles and figure-8’s, tight turns and quick stops.
Of course we all have to fall once and I did so under the best of conditions: the bike slid out from under me during a quick stop drill on some loose gravel; casting it aside, I planted both hands and rolled up on two feet, all without scratching my helmet.
As Scott Adams’ Dilbert tells us, the garbage man knows all things.
Visiting the transfer station after completing our course, the handle-bar mustachioed former biker asked me if I was interested in a single owner, never dropped
Tutors at CNC would make big difference
As a former student at CNC, one of the major problems I noticed while I was in attendance there is that there’s not a lot of student support. There are quite a few classes where it would be beneficial for the students to have tutors available to them to help them understand difficult concepts and to get over the hump. Often times it is just a few stumbling blocks that are causing difficulties and a small amount of time will be necessary to get the student back on track. Rather than having them fail and waste time and money, a tutor is generally a
good way to not only help the students, but also for the college to get a better return on the students that they do have there. There are a lot of reasons why the college has insufficient student support. A big one is college policy. I decided to investigate the situation and I was told to go talk to their HR department. (Never a good sign). HR bluntly told me that the policy for all ‘tutors’ that are hired by the college have to have a master’s degree! I’ve never heard anything so silly. For a position that might pay around 4-5K a
year if you’re doing well, you’re expecting to be able to hire someone with a master’s degree? Tutors have traditionally been upperclassmen or graduates looking to earn a few dollars, the reason being so is mostly economic. There are plenty of other jobs that pay better than tutoring, so it’s hard to keep such a position staffed as well as to find (and keep) someone qualified. This crazy policy isn’t helping anyone, least of all the students who when they need help aren’t going to get the support they need. So what’s the solution? Simple. Go back
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1999 Honda Shadow 750 American Classic Edition with less than 13,000 km on the odometer. With a price that was too good to refuse, I was now in possession of a motorcycle widely known for its reliability, handling, and just plain fun factor.
I’ve added 3,000 km to that burgundy steel horse in spite of the weather.
While still living on the family farm outside Prince George, the commute to town went from a long bore to a new odyssey daily, as every curve and straight in the road became an invitation to test one’s skills.
There are of course many risks associated with motorcycling, from the fact that you’re a hard vehicle to spot to the reality that if you get into any kind of collision, you’ll lose.
Outside of keeping your head on a constant swivel and driving defensively – I have used my horn many times to remind fellow travellers I exist – the dangers of riding must be taken in stride.
And once you’ve experienced the freedom of cruising on the open road, the stakes become tolerable. Everyone I meet in the motorcycle community assures me that the first bike doesn’t last long –soon you’ll be wanting to upgrade for power, comfort, ease of use, storage, etc.
And while I’ll admit to perusing many catalogues as well as websites, all while finding my ride’s lack of protective fairings against even a sprinkle of rain very frustrating, both maturity and budgeting have caught up with me. Truth be told, the little 750 Shadow is all I really need for right now.
Walking up to the motorcycle, two-toned and chromed, makes one swell with pride.
I wear “all the gear all the time,” donning it while the carb warms. Then man and machine pull away from the curb, off to another adventure.
Neither speakers nor headphones accompany me on these trips towards the horizon: the rush of wind and roar of exhaust are all the music I need.
to how it’s always been done. Having sensible requirements for tutors (i.e, a degree in the related field and/or experience) will allow more people to work as tutors and there will be more tutors available for the students. This way our students at the college can get the help that they need rather than waiting for the two hours, three times a week when the tutors are in. But what do I know? I’m just yet another graduate from the college that isn’t good enough for the college to hire. Sean Ollech, Prince George
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Schools experiment with mental health clinics
David LEFFLER
Special To The Washington Post
At nine on a chilly February morning in Austin, Tex., Elizabeth Minne met in her office with a former counselling client and her mother. The three were all smiles, catching up for the first time in ages. As their laughter faded, they recalled their weighty introduction five years before, when Minne’s mission to create a comprehensive mental health-care system for Austin’s schools was still in its infancy – and her client, Sarah Luna Newcomer, was a teenager who wanted to die.
The room in Crockett High School was carefully arranged to evoke an atmosphere of calm for Minne’s clients, its walls lined with colourful tapestries illuminated by the warm glow of softly lit lamps. Many of the people treated here are coping with severe mental health conditions and extensive trauma. For some, this is the only safe place in their lives.
The abrupt ringing of the bell shattered the serenity, a signal that Friday classes were underway.
Newcomer, who is now 21, shuddered in mock disgust, recalling how the sound once embodied her hatred of classrooms.
A few years have passed since Newcomer left Crockett, where she was among the first students to receive on-campus treatment from Minne’s counselling practice, now known as Vida Clinic. Therapists have their offices within schools, where they treat students directly rather than assessing and referring them elsewhere. The Crockett clinic was the first of its kind in the state in 2014. Now it’s one of more than 40 in Austin run by Minne, who has a doctorate in psychology.
Moments later, tears streamed down Newcomer’s face as she detailed her struggles throughout middle and high school.
As a teenager, she faced unrelenting depression, battled trauma stemming from a sexual assault, grappled with her older sister’s several suicide attempts and felt the strains of her mother’s multiyear unemployment. Everything was scarce during those times, especially peace of mind, she said.
But when Newcomer met Minne, her pain began to melt away. She had a refuge within steps of her classes and someone to advocate for her needs to both her teachers and her parents. Most of all, she had daily access to clinically licensed mental health-care services. Newcomer felt secure, she said, for the first time in her life.
“For years, I just wanted to die. I didn’t want to exist,” she said. “But within a few months of beginning therapy, it was the complete opposite. I began feeling like I mattered, that my life mattered. It opened up a world of possibilities for me.” Over time, Newcomer’s depression and anxiety decreased, her happiness and confidence increased and her grades and attendance skyrocketed – breakthroughs that propelled her to graduate from high school a year early.
“Growing up is hard enough as it is,” Minne said. “When you add in common challenges like anxiety, substance use issues, severe school stress or family-related trauma, it’s incredibly difficult for a child to develop healthy coping habits without the proper support. That’s where we come in.”
Four years ago, Vida Clinic partnered with the Austin Independent School District (AISD) to create on-campus mental health centers at three area high schools. Their goal was to prove that accessible, trauma-informed mental health care can significantly aid students struggling with depression, anxiety and a host of traumainduced conditions.
Within a matter of months, kids who had been exposed to abuse, sexual assault and other scarring experiences saw striking improvements in their grades, behavior and overall happiness, according to evaluations by Vida and the school district.
Tracy Spinner, AISD’s director of Student Health Services, was impressed. “Not only did these kids’ mental and emotional health improve; their attendance improved and they became re-engaged in school altogether,” she said. “We couldn’t help but do a double take and think, ‘Did that just happen?’
It was stunning.”
In late 2017, with Spinner’s support, AISD secured $4.5 million of state funding through the Victim of Crimes Act to open Vida Clinics at 22 elementary schools in some of Austin’s highest crime areas.
The district’s thinking was simple: because children living in high-risk areas are more likely to be exposed to traumatic events, their schools need to be more dynamic in meeting their mental health needs.
“People with unaddressed trauma are often the ones who end up falling into drug habits or the school-to-prison pipeline,” Minne said. “If we’re catching those people early on and giving them the support they need, they’re not
going to be hospitalized or in the legal system down the line.”
Minne argues that every community needs access to mental health resources, which is why one of her three original clinics is in a school known for its high academic achievement and affluent student population.
“Many students are facing immense school-related stress that can fuel self-destructive behaviors. Their struggle is very real,” Minne said. “Mental health issues don’t discriminate by race or socioeconomic status. Every community wrestles with them in deep, painful ways.”
The concept of school-based mental health has been around since the 1890s and the Progressive Era, but on-campus counseling services have traditionally been limited in America’s education system.
Many schools’ mental health professionals (academic counselors or social workers, for instance) typically do not have the capacity or professional training to aid students suffering from severe mental health issues similar to Newcomer’s – suicide ideation, anxiety and other symptoms of severe trauma – on a daily basis. Instead, struggling students often are assessed before being referred to an outside therapist.
The ratio of students to a school’s mental health professionals is a vital piece of this conversation.
The average academic counselor has 455 kids under their watch, according to the American School Counselor Association, which recommends a 250:1 ratio. As of last December, Vida Clinic had nearly 60 therapists on hand to serve over 1,000 students enrolled in their clinics throughout the district – an approximate 20:1 ratio.
Even when school counselors are not overloaded, a referralbased process can have logistical and economic gaps. Commuting to therapy sessions, for example, can cause kids to miss extensive
Robotic monkey tail could help prevent falls
The Washington Post
The year is 2030. You’ve arrived at your elderly mother’s home to pay her a visit with your chubby toddler in tow. After several minutes of watching the giggling tot crawl across the carpet, your mom decides she can’t wait any longer – she needs to feel the squishy ball of human jello in her arms.
As she bends over at the waist, her arms outstretched, you panic, suddenly remembering that she has a bad back. Just then, as her body appears ready to topple forward, a mechanical appendage uncoils from beneath her dress and stiffens behind her like a wooden plank, steadying her from a fall. You quickly relax, wondering how you could’ve been so forgetful.
Your mother has a tail.
Though the scenario outlined above is hypothetical, it’s not exactly far-fetched. Japanese researchers at Keio University have unveiled a robotic tail that has been designed to be worn by elderly people who struggle to maintain their balance, according to Reuters. Researchers told the wire service that the thick, one-metre device, which is worn using a harness, functions the same way a monkey or a cheetah’s tail does, by providing its owner with a counterbalance during demanding movements.
“The tail keeps balance like a pendulum,” Junichi Nabeshima, a graduate student and
researcher at the university’s Embodied Media Project, told Reuters.
“When a human tilts their body one way, the tail moves in the opposite direction,” he added. It should come as no surprise that a robotic tail geared toward he elderly originated in Japan. In addition to embracing robotics, the nation’s population is rapidly aging, according to the Los Angeles Times, which notes that about 25 per cent of Japanese people are at least 65 years old. An aging populace, combined with a worker shortage, has led to a flurry of robotic designs aimed at assisting older people.
Design that imitates natural biological design is known as “biomimicry.”
Other examples include this backpack inspired by an armadillo’s shell and a synthetic adhesive that was inspired by geckos and is strong enough to allow people to scale glass walls. Initial designs mimicked feline tails, but proved to be too light to support the user’s weight, the outlet reported. Video reveals that the latest version, which is more robust and was inspired by sea horse tails, sits near the wearer’s lower back and adjusts seconds after the individual leans forward or bends to the side. When the wearer bends to the left the tail curls to the right and when the wearer shifts their weight to the left the tail moves right. When the wearer bends forward, the tail balances from behind.
chunks of class and force their parents to leave work, an especially large barrier for low-income families.
There can be lengthy waiting lists for appointments, too; Newcomer’s mother said her eldest daughter faced a three-month wait to receive services after she experienced a mental health crisis in high school and showed suicidal tendencies. Unable to wait any longer, they admitted her to the hospital, the last (and costliest) resort.
Vida’s therapists are in schools every day, allowing them to engage students, their parents and school staff simultaneously. This equips school faculty with mental health training and gives students constant access to care.
“We work with teachers on developing core skills and being able to identify warning signs. We want them to know if a student’s action is typical or atypical and what to do if they see a student in need,” Minne said. “We’re here to help create healthier learning environments for teachers and students alike.”
Other states are putting resources into schools, too. California’s School-Based Health Alliance, for instance, provides myriad services to students (including mental health care) in more than 250 schools and is considered among the nation’s top systems for oncampus care.
But Austin is creating one of the country’s most ambitious schoolbased mental health systems in a state that, according to the nonprofit group Mental Health America, ranks last in the country in youth access to mental health care.
Vida offers data to show its clinics make a difference.
In 2017, it compared nearly 800 of its clients to a control group of over 300 of their peers, who were also identified with mental health and behavioral issues.
Suspensions among Vida’s clients dropped by nearly 10 per
cent, aggressive behavior offenses and substance abuse violations dropped, and expulsions were cut in half.
High school clients’ GPA was 20 per cent higher than their control group’s.
“Numbers and cold hard data are much more difficult to refute,” Minne says. “They’re what truly speaks for our work.”
One former client described how the clinic intervened when her anger and depression poured into the classroom. Plagued by anxiety and problems at home, she frequently got into fights, disrupted class (if she showed up) and rarely did her schoolwork. Suicidal thoughts swam through her brain. She began cutting herself in secret. Her therapist, Laura Johnson, saw she was grappling with a series of traumatic experiences.
“Once I saw Mrs. Johnson, everything changed,” the student said. “Now, I have friends I’ve been close with for years, have a better relationship with my grandma and I’m thinking about the future.” She plans to begin college this fall and eventually hopes to pursue a master’s degree in social work.
Funding these services isn’t cheap, but Vida has received steady support from AISD – especially Spinner, who has worked to secure previously untapped revenue streams to pay for the clinic’s expansion.
In addition to the $4.5 million grant AISD received from the Texas state government in 2017, Spinner obtained another $9.1 million from the governor’s office to fund Vida’s services in 20182019.
This funding has kept the clinics open and allowed Minne to treat anyone who enters her offices, regardless of their insurance coverage or financial situation. They even treat teachers, school administrators and clients’ family members – a holistic approach to make a child’s entire surrounding environment healthier.
Simran Jawanda, Spirit Bear and Ryan Kennedy create excitment on 15th Avenue during the Third Annual Spirit Day fundraiser in May. This year’s goal was to raise $70,000 to support enhancements to youth mental health and addictions in Northern B.C.
New study raises fluoride questions
The Washington Post
A study of young children in Canada suggests those whose mothers drank fluoridated tap water while pregnant had slightly lower IQ scores than children whose mothers lived in non-fluoridated cities. But don’t dash for the nearest bottled water yet. Health experts at the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Dental Association cautioned that public policy and drinking water consumption should not change on the basis of this study.
“I still stand by the weight of the best available evidence, from 70 years of study, that community water fluoridation is safe and effective,” said Brittany Seymour, a dentist and spokeswoman for the American Dental Association. “If we’re able to replicate findings and continue to see outcomes, that would compel us to revisit our recommendation. We’re just not there yet.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics, likewise, recommends fluoride in toothpastes and tooth varnishes for children because the mineral prevents tooth decay. In drinking water, “fluoridation has been incredibly protective,” said Aparna Bole, a pediatrician who chairs the Council on Environmental Health at the American Academy of Pediatrics. Fluoridation reduces the prevalence of cavities by about one-fourth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC considers water fluoridation one of the 10 top health achievements of the past century, on par with vaccines and antismoking campaigns.
Bole called the new study, published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics, “an important addition to our body of knowledge. It supports the public health community’s ongoing reevaluation of optimal fluoridation levels in drinking water.”
In January 1945, researchers added fluoride to municipal water in Grand Rapids, Mich., the first program to enlist fluoride to protect a city’s teeth. Opponents of fluoridation have since raised concerns both ludicrous – fluoridation is not a communist plot – and legitimate, such as fluorosis. In the mild form of fluorosis, faint white streaks appear on the teeth of young children. Severe fluorosis, which is much rarer, damages bones.
Dozens of cities in the United States and Canada, including Prince George, do not add fluoride to city water. Elsewhere in the United States, fluoridation is the norm. As of 2014, per CDC data, two-thirds of people in the United States had fluoride in their drinking water. In 2015, to reduce the risk of mild fluorosis, the Department of Health and Human Services cut its fluoride recommendations almost in half, from 1.2 milligrams per litre to 0.7 milligrams per litre.
Few older studies addressed potential risks, or the lack thereof, associated with fluoride exposure during pregnancy, said study author Christine Till, a neuropsy-
chologist at Canada’s York University. She added that “whether we found an effect or not, the data would be really relevant because we would then address that gap in our knowledge.”
Till and her colleagues acquired data and frozen urine samples previously collected by MaternalInfant Research on Environmental Chemicals, or MIREC. That project, run by Canada’s public health department, studied thousands of mothers who gave birth between 2008 and 2012. MIREC researchers measured the toddlers’ IQ after the children turned three.
Pregnant women reported their consumption of tap water and black tea, which is high in fluoride, in questionnaires. The authors of the new study also calculated the amount of fluoride in municipal water, based on the levels at wastewater treatment plants linked to the women’s postal codes. The researches estimated the women’s fluoride intake based on a combination of those measures. The researchers compared the fluoride intake of 400 women, some who lived in fluoridated cities and some who did not. They controlled for factors such as household income and the women’s education. A one mil-
ligram increase in fluoride intake was associated with a 3.7-point drop in children’s IQ, they found.
As an additional step, Till and her colleagues measured fluoride biomarkers in urine from 500 pregnant women, collected during each trimester. Fluoride content in urine was only moderately related to the estimates of the mothers’ fluoride intake, suggesting that neither was a perfect measure of how much fluoride a pregnant woman drank.
The scientists observed that a one milligram-per-litre increase in urine fluoride predicted a drop in IQ of 4.5 points in young boys.
When the researchers examined the urine of mothers who had daughters, however, fluoride had no association with IQ.
Previous observational studies claimed to find relationships between fluoride and IQ, but most were “of poorer quality due to various weaknesses in study design,” said David Bellinger, an expert in neuroepidemiology at Boston Children’s Hospital who was not associated with this study.
The methods in this report, he said, are “very similar” to studies that showed low-dose lead and pesticide toxicities.
But he called for further re-
search. “Generally, no single epidemiological study settles a question like this,” Bellinger said.
“The decision to publish this article was not an easy one,” said Dimitri Christakis, the editor of JAMA Pediatrics and a pediatrician at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Christakis appended a note to the study, a first in his career, explaining that the journal subjected the paper to “additional scrutiny.”
This included multiple statistical reviews, he said.
“The findings are what they are,” Christakis said. “There is clearly an association. It by no means proves definitively that this is a risk.”
Several researchers unaffiliated with the report applauded this work’s publication in the face of intense review.
“I believe that, in general, the dental community will discount these findings, minimize their importance and continue to recommend the use of fluoridated water during pregnancy,” said Pamela Den Besten, a pediatric dentist who studies tooth enamel at the University of California, San Francisco. She added: “This study has been carefully conducted and analyzed.”
The study has flaws, said John Ioannidis, a Stanford University
meta-scientist and the author of an influential 2005 paper, Why Most Published Research Findings Are False.
“It has major drawbacks in terms of how the measurements have been made,” Ioannidis said. “The results are very borderline in terms of statistical significance.” It’s a weakness, he said, that the self-reported consumption was not linked directly to levels of fluoride measured in bodily fluids. What’s more, the sex difference in IQ – the drop observed for boys but not girls – “makes no sense,” he said. “If you see a gender difference claim for this type of association, it’s far more likely to be a spurious finding rather than something true.”
Some physicians offered advice based on this study. “The answer for me, I can say, is I would not have my wife drink fluoridated water” if she were pregnant, Christakis said.
Others did not. “I’m hoping people don’t conclude on the basis of this one study, ‘Oh boy, we should all be drinking bottled water.’ No,” Bole said.
“Tap water in most communities is the healthiest and most environmentally responsible choice,” Ioannidis said.
CITIZEN FILE PHOTO
Brody Solonas, 10, a Van Bien student gets a teeth brushing lesson from a CNC Certified Dental Assistant student in May 2018. The college promotes oral health for local children through its annual Seal in a Smile program.
Northern Capitals on solid footing
Ted CLARKE Citizen staff tclarke@pgcitizen.ca
Mario Desjardins knows he has the makings of a good hockey team . Watching his Northern Capitals play each other in the third intrasquad game of the weekend at the development camp at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena only confirmed his suspicions, and that bodes well for the female midget triple-A hockey team.
“This is going to be another special team – they don’t know it yet,” said Desjardins.
“This team has a lot of skill.”
Back after a three-year absence as head coach of the Capitals, Desjardins predicts his squad of northern B.C. girls will be title contenders in the six-team B.C. Midget Triple-A Female Hockey League. He knows what he’s talking about, having been through it before when he molded the Northern Capitals into provincial champions in two consecutive seasons.
In three seasons behind the bench of the female Cougars/ Northern Capitals from 2014-17, Desjardins put together an unprecedented run of success, compiling a 62-15-13 regular season record.
In 2015, the Capitals put up a 25-3-2 record and won the league playoff championship. They repeated as playoff champions the following season after finishing second in the regular season with a 21-6-3 record and also won the prestigious Mac’s Tournament in Calgary in 2016.
“I don’t want to take anything away from those teams we had for those three years when I did coach major midget, that was a special team, but it was a different time and a different era,” said Desjardins.
“That was four or five years ago and the game has changed so much. Female players at this level are more skilled, they can skate and shoot.
“The depth of this team is going to be unbelievable. We’re going to have a lot of speed, and with the system we’re bringing in, we’re going to catch teams standing flatfooted.”
Desjardins coached the Western Industrial Contracting bantam female Cougars the past two years and guided them to a third place provincial finish last season. Backed by assistant coaches Grace Barlow and Lauren Smaha-Muir, he replaces Justin Fillion as Northern Capitals head coach.
“I’m really looking forward to getting this group together and get them practicing,” he said.
“We think we can bring in a few systems we’ve never used at the major midget level that we’ve been working on in bantams the last couple years. Now that we have a group of players as skilled as what we’re going to have this year, it’s really exciting. It’s going to be fun hockey to watch.”
Twenty-nine players tried out for the team and nine forwards, six defencemen and two goaltenders made the roster following the scrimmage Saturday afternoon. This year’s team includes eight returning players from the Capitals team that finished third in the regular season (13-17-2-0) and lost in the semifinal round of playoffs last season.
The returning Capitals are forwards Brette Kerley, Pyper Alexander, Paige Outhouse and Destiny Bautista; Kiera Mulder and Brooklyn Hill on defence; and goalies Cadence Petticlerc-Crosby and Tessa Sturgeon.
Making the jump from the WIC bantam team are forwards Brooklyn Hutchings, Ocean Anderson and Nancy Moore, along with Brooke Norkus, Samantha Wiley and Ella Boon on the blue
Hockey drills
Young players work on drills at CN Centre on Tuesday morning as part of the Prince George Cougars summer hockey school.
Cats name O’Rourke director of player development
Citizen staff
The Prince George Cougars have promoted associate coach Steve O’Rourke to the position of director of player development.
O’Rourke had served as associate coach for the Cougars since 2016, and held previous coaching positions with Team B.C., the Red Deer Rebels, Abbotsford Heat and Langley Rivermen.
“As an organization, we’re committed (to) providing leadership
and support in hockey development in the region,” Cats’ head coach and GM Mark Lamb said in a press release. “We feel Steve’s expertise in skill development makes him the perfect fit for this role within our team and (the) hockey community in northern B.C.” O’Rourke will work to help develop Cougars players, both signed and listed prospects. In addition, he will work in partnership with the Prince George Minor Hockey Association, the Cariboo
Cougars and B.C. Hockey to develop local players and minor coaches through skills programs and clinics.
“The future of Prince George minor hockey looks extremely bright. I am excited to have Steve on board,” PGMHA president Glynis Vennberg said in a press release. “With his experience and knowledge of the game, we are well on our way to building a much stronger foundation for our organization.”
line. Moore was in Australia and did not attend the development camp. Three other newcomers –forwards Hailey Armstrong and Maria Ayre with Keagan Goulet on defence – played for bantam teams in the Peace region last season.
Desjardins was hopeful there will be enough players who didn’t make the cut to form a midget rep team in Prince George. Some of those players will affiliate with the Northern Capitals this season.
The 30-game league schedule starts in October. The Northern Capitals will be in Calgary for the Firestarter tournament Sept. 1215. They’ll also play tournaments in Notre Dame, Sask., Langley and they hope to be invited to the Mac’s, which is reinstating its female tournament after a year without it.
The support of the WHL Prince George Cougars and their initiative to create a farm team system which involves the city’s male bantam and midget teams will also benefit the Northern Capitals. Desjardins said his team will now have access to nutritionists, trainers, therapists and goaltending coaches which they did not have before this season.
“When you have those kinds of
resources to work with it’s going to benefit the players and you’re going to make your program better,” said Desjardins.
“That’s Trevor Sprague’s vision, having the north more noticed for their athletes. It’s an exciting time in the north for hockey at an elite level.”
Former Caps goalie on national team
Kelsey Roberts, a 20-year-old native of Kitimat who played for the Northern Capitlas from 2013-16, was one of three goalies picked for Canada’s national development team, which faced the United States in three-game series that ended Saturday in Lake Placid, N.Y.
Roberts stopped 22 of 26 shots in a 4-2 loss to the U.S. on Thursday. Canada went on to win Saturday’s game 2-1, after dropping Wednesday’s opener 4-3 to the Americans in overtime.
Roberts is about to begin her fourth season playing for the University of Calgary Dinos, along with former Capitals Saige Desjardins and Taylor Beck. Roberts is the only U Sports player picked Canada’s development team.
Asay doubles at World Cup
Canada bests Cuba
The Canadian Press AGUASCALIENTES, Mexico — Pinch hitter Amanda Asay hit a go-ahead two-run double in the seventh inning as Canada rallied for a 7-5 win over Cuba on Tuesday in a women’s baseball World Cup qualifier.
Cuba had taken a 5-4 lead in the top of the sixth inning before the Canadians stormed back to win their third game of the tournament (3-0).
Asay, from Prince George, B.C., is a 14-year veteran of the women’s team.
“I can’t say enough good things about Asay,” said Canadian manager Aaron Myette.
“She pitches, she’s a leader, and then we know we’re going to get good at-bats from her. We know she’s not intimidated by any situation or any pitcher, and we know she can hit the ball hard like she did today, bringing in those two runs for us.”
Claire Eccles of Surrey, B.C., paced the Canadian offence with three hits while scoring a run and stealing a base. Ellie Jesperson of Spruce Grove, Alta., singled twice and drove in two and Toronto’s Emma Carr reached base in all four of her plate appearances with two singles, two walks, one run scored, and one driven in.
Anne-Sophie Lavallee of
Boucherville, Que., allowed four runs (none earned) on eight hits, with three walks and two strikeouts through five innings.
“It’s been fun to see what this team can do,” said the 21-yearold Eccles.
“I’ve been used to being one of the young ones and this year kind of flipped the switch. Now I’m on the higher side of the average age (of 20), but it’s been fun. They’re really talented, so it’s been cool to play with all of them.”
Canada plays the United States Wednesday at the eight-team tournament. The top four teams advance to the 2020 World Cup. Canada, ranked No. 2 in the world in women’s baseball behind Japan, won the bronze medal at the last World Cup in 2018.
Canada has six World Cup medals in total since the biennial tournament began in 2004.
CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE
Team Black player Brooklyn Hutchings looks to put a wrist shot on net against Team White on Friday night at Rolling MIx Concrete Arena during the first day of the Northern Capitals Female Midget AAA training camp.
CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE
ASAY
Henderson back to defend CP Women’s Open title
Gregory STRONG The Canadian Press
AURORA, Ont. — Brooke Henderson remembers being rather star-struck when she made her first appearance at the CP Women’s Open.
It’s a feeling that fellow Canadian Michelle Liu is experiencing herself this week at the Magna Golf Club.
Henderson played in the 2012 tournament in Coquitlam, B.C., at age 14, about two years older than Liu is now. She recalled her friendship with fellow Canadian Alena Sharp taking root at that event and also being stunned that four-time LPGA Tour winner Lorie Kane knew who she was.
Henderson called her two-round appearance at the Vancouver Golf Club a lifechanging experience filled with memorable moments.
“Just walking around the clubhouse with the best players in the world when you’re 14 years old and trying not to ask for autographs,” she said with a smile.
“I think (that) was probably the hardest thing.”
Now Henderson, the defending champion and a nine-time winner on the LPGA Tour, is one of the star players that juniors like Liu are excited to meet.
Liu chatted with Henderson on the driving range Monday and played practice rounds with Christina Kim, M.J. Hur and Daniela Darquea. The Vancouver amateur earned a spot in the field by finishing as the low Canadian at the 2019 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship.
“She seems very nice, a very sweet girl,” Henderson said. “It’s pretty cool that she got an invite to play here.”
Liu will be 12 years nine months and six days old when first-round play begins Thursday, making her the youngest golfer to play in the 47-year history of Canada’s national women’s championship.
“I’d definitely say crazy is a good word for it,” Liu said of the experience so far. “I would say I’ve got to play with some really nice and really good LPGA players. Christina Kim, M.J., and all of them.
“I think I really got to learn something from them and especially how warm and welcoming they are to me.”
Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ont., previously held the record for youngest player at this tournament.
Liu won’t be the youngest to ever play in a national championship on the LPGA Tour. American Lucy Li qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open as an 11-year-old in 2014.
Liu drew raves from Kim after they played the back nine together Monday.
“Can’t wait to watch her golf career, and her stroke is pureeeee!” Kim said in an Ins-
tagram post. “Made nearly everything she looked at!”
Liu, who took up the sport at age six, will start Grade 8 in a couple weeks. She turns 13 in November.
After coolly dropping a 12-foot putt on the 15th hole on Tuesday, Liu was greeted by several autograph seekers on her way to the next tee.
“I feel like I’m getting pretty famous,” she said with a laugh. “It’s a new experience for me, so I would say that’s definitely pretty cool.”
Liu is one of five Canadian amateurs on the 156-player entry list. The others are Celeste Dao of Notre-Dame-de-l’Ile-Perrot, Que., Emily Zhu of Richmond Hill, Ont., Brigitte Thibault of Rosemere, Que., and Mary Parsons of Delta, B.C. Henderson, meanwhile, has been her usual steady self on Tour this season. She has traditionally been quite comfortable in the role of defending champion. She won her first LPGA Tour event at the Cambia Portland Classic in 2015 and
defended the title in ‘16. The 21-year-old also won the LOTTE Championship for the second time in a row last April.
Henderson won last year’s CP Women’s Open at Regina’s Wascana Country Club and will be the star attraction this week in her home province.
“I’m going to give it all I have, my best shot,” she said. “I think it’ll be extremely hard to repeat. It’s just facts, I think. Like I said, I’m going to give it my all, see what I can do, and hopefully post a solid round on Thursday and give the fans something to cheer about.”
A strong field is confirmed for the US$2.25-million tournament. Nine of the top 10 players on the LPGA money list are entered, including Jin Young Ko of South Korea, American Lexi Thompson, Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand and Sung Hyun Park of South Korea.
The par-72, 6,709-yard course has rather wide fairways and large, undulating greens. A total of 96 bunkers will be in play and nine holes have water features.
Warm, dry weather conditions are expected through the week. Kane is playing the tournament for a record-setting 29th time, moving the Charlottetown native ahead of JoAnne Carner for most all-time appearances at Canada’s women’s golf championship. Sharp, from Hamilton, is also in the field with Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., Megan Osland of Kelowna, B.C., Valerie Tanguay of Saint-Hyacinthe, Que., Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont., Maddie Szeryk of London, Ont., Quebec City’s Anne-Catherine Tanguay and Casey Ward of Picton, Ont.
There are more television options this year with TSN and RDS providing coverage of all four rounds along with the Golf Channel. There was no domestic broadcast or simulcast of the 2018 tournament. When Henderson led after 54 holes last year, Bell Media and the Golf Channel reached an agreement to allow Canadian viewers to watch the last three hours of the final round live.
Benning signs three-year extension with Canucks
Gemma KARSTENS-SMITH
The Canadian Press
VANCOUER — Despite five seasons of mediocre on-ice results, Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning believes his new contract shows that the team trusts his plan for the future.
The organization announced Tuesday that Benning has signed a three-year extension, keeping him with the Canucks through the 2022-23 season.
“The ownership, I think, is happy with the direction of the team,” the GM told reporters after the announcement. “We want to continue going in the right direction, taking that next step and being a competitive team.”
Benning, 56, has held the post since 2014 and was entering the final year of his deal. He was given a multi-year contract extension in February 2018 and months later, his portfolio grew to include hockey operations after the club split with team president Trevor Linden.
Vancouver has made the playoffs just once in his five seasons at the helm and the team has consistently lingered near the bottom of the Western Conference standings, finishing last season with a 35-36-11 record.
Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini said in a statement that Benning’s experience, relationships and hockey knowledge are “invaluable.”
“We’re committed to building a winning team and getting back among the NHL elite for the long term,” Aquilini said. “There are no shortcuts, but we’ve embarked on a path to get there, and I have confidence in Jim’s ability to see it through.”
The extension comes during a busy off season for Benning.
At the NHL draft in June, Vancouver acquired forward J.T. Miller from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for a future first-round pick. The following week, the Canucks added some big names in free agency, including defencemen Tyler Myers and Jordie Benn, and forward Micheal Ferland.
The contract extension was in
the works long before those deals were sealed, Benning said.
“Those moves were made so our team can take the next step and be more competitive next year,” he said.
“I think last year, the first 60 games we were competitive and the last 20 games we kind of fell off. We didn’t have the depth and we got injuries and stuff and we ended up not making the playoffs. And I think we’ve addressed some of those needs by signing what we think are two top-six forwards to help out.”
Before joining the Canucks, Benning served as an assistant GM with the Boston Bruins for seven seasons, earning a Stanley Cup with the team in 2011.
The Edmonton native also spent 12 years with the Buffalo Sabres, working as their director of amateur scouting, and put in 12 seasons on the blue line for the Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Benning has been credited with drafting some of Vancouver’s up-and-coming stars, including centre Elias Pettersson, who was named the NHL’s rookie of the year last season.
“We’ve got some good players now who I think are going to be cornerstones, core players for our group for the next 10 years, whether it’s with Petey, with (Brock Boeser), with Quinn Hughes, with (Thatcher) Demko,” Benning said Tuesday.
CP PHOTO
Canadian Brooke Henderson blasts out of the sand on the eighth hole during a practice round ahead the CP Women’s Open in Aurora, Ont., on Tuesday.
China leading quantum revolution
The Washington Post
More than a decade ago, Chinese physicist Pan Jian-Wei returned home from Europe to help oversee research into some of the most important technology of the 21st century.
At a conference in Shanghai this summer, Pan and his team offered a rare peek at the work he described as a “revolution.”
They spoke of the hacking-resistant communications networks they are building across China, the sensors they are designing to see through smog and around corners, and the prototype computers that may someday smash the computational power of any existing machine.
All the gear is based on quantum technology – an emerging field that could transform information processing and confer big economic and national-security advantages to countries that dominate it. To the dismay of some scientists and officials in the United States, China’s formidable investment is helping it catch up with Western research in the field and, in a few areas, pull ahead.
Beijing is pouring billions into research and development and is offering Chinese scientists big perks to return home from Western labs. China’s drive has sparked calls for more R&D funding in the United States, and helped trigger concerns in the Trump administration that some types of scientific collaboration with China may be aiding the People’s Liberation Army and hurting U.S. interests.
“The United States must be prepared for a future in which its traditional technological predominance faces new, perhaps unprecedented challenges,” the Center for a New American Security wrote in a recent report about China’s quantum ambitions.
Quantum technology seeks to harness the distinct properties of atoms, photons and electrons to build more powerful tools for processing information.
Last year, China had nearly twice as many patent filings as the United States for quantum technology overall, a category that includes communications and cryptology devices, according to market research firm Patinformatics. The United States, though, leads the world in patents relating to the most prized segment of the field – quantum computers – thanks to heavy investment by IBM, Google, Microsoft and others.
Helping oversee China’s program is Pan, whom Chinese media call the “father of quantum.”
From his labs at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), in Shanghai and Hefei, the 49-year-old leads a team of 130 researchers. In 2017, the journal Nature named him one of “ten people who mattered this year,” saying he had “lit a fire under the country’s efforts in quantum technology.”
Pan occasionally gives lab tours to President Xi Jinping, who takes a keen interest in his work, according to Chinese media. Pan is also overseeing plans for a new national lab for quantum research in Anhui province, which he said had drawn about $400 million in government funding.
At the Shanghai event, Pan illustrated his slide presentation with science-nerd jokes about Einstein and Star Trek. In a nod to Schrödinger’s cat – a 1930s thought experiment that helped define a quantum concept called superposition – Pan used images of a cartoon feline standing upright and lying flat on its back.
“As we all know, in our everyday life, a cat can only either be in an alive or dead state,” Pan said, but “a cat in the quantum world can be in a coherent superposition of alive and dead states.”
He was making the point that quantum particles, also known as quantum bits, differ fundamentally from the bits in today’s technology. Existing computers and communications networks store, process and transmit information by breaking it down into long streams of bits, which are typically
electrical or optical pulses representing a zero or one.
Quantum bits, or qubits, which are often atoms, electrons or photons, can exist as zeros and ones at the same time, or in any position between, a flexibility that allows them to process information in new ways. Some physicists compare them to a spinning coin that is simultaneously in a heads and tails state.
In his talk, Pan detailed how China is harnessing qubits to safeguard its communications from hacking – one of the fields in which China appears to have a lead over the West.
Pan and his team are aiming to launch a constellation of satellites and a nationwide fibre-optic network that use qubits to securely transmit information. An almost 1,300-mile fibre link connecting Beijing, Shanghai and other cities is already up and running. So is a satellite China launched in 2016, which has conducted several prominent experiments, including facilitating a hacking-resistant video conference between Beijing and Vienna.
When the network is complete, it could complicate U.S. efforts to eavesdrop on China’s government or military communications, some Western scientists say.
“I predict China will go black in two to three years – we won’t be able to read anything,” said Jonathan Dowling, a physics professor at Louisiana State University who spends part of the year as a visiting faculty member at USTC in Shanghai.
Others argue that even if China’s network equipment is more secure, it could still be hacked by manipulating the humans running the system.
If the technology gains traction globally, China could be in a strong position to sell it, given the large number of patents its universities and companies have registered for devices and technology
relating to quantum communication and encryption, according to Patinformatics.
Pan has credited Edward Snowden for motivating China’s quantum research. The former National Security Agency contractor’s revelations about NSA eavesdropping led China to pour money into developing more secure communications, Pan has said in published interviews.
Barry Sanders, a Canadian physicist from the University of Calgary, spends two to three months a year as a visiting professor at the USTC labs in Shanghai. He got the job through China’s Thousand Talents program, which recruits Western scientists for teaching and research stints, and offers incentives to persuade Chinese researchers to return home from overseas.
Sanders said China’s cultural differences can provide advantages in the lab.
“I have my Western way of doing things – freedom of thought, take risks,” he said. In China, there is more emphasis on the common good, he said. “One guy spent two years really focused on how to prepare the lab room. You can assign people these tasks – they will do something that in our world would be seen as beneath us. But here they are supported and held in high esteem.”
Quantum computers might someday be able to crack all existing forms of encryption.
Quantum sensors could help the Chinese military track and target enemy troops with greater precision.
The university where Pan works, USTC, has established several quantum-research partnerships with state-owned defense companies in recent years, with aims that include enhancing the combat capability of naval vessels, according to Chinese media reports cited in the Center for a New American Security paper.
“China’s national advances in quantum communications and computing... will be leveraged to support military purposes,” according to the paper’s authors, Elsa Kania and John Costello, who reviewed hundreds of Chineselanguage media, government and technical reports.
Scientists who have discussed the field with U.S. government officials say the Trump administration has recently expressed concern about the number of Chinese students pursuing studies in the United States in sensitive areas such as quantum science.
“We’ve always encouraged the best and brightest to come from overseas, and it’s always served our nation well,” said John Preskill, the Richard P. Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics at the California Institute of Technology, who has advised the government on quantum-tech issues.
“But there is concern in government about how we are training all these people, and a lot of them are going back to China and competing in technologies that have implications for national security.
And we’re talking about what to do about it.
“Many of us in academia, although we know there are complicated issues, are inclined to continue encouraging Chinese students to come,” Preskill said, “but there is a continuing discussion in the government about what’s the best policy for doing that.”
In an opinion piece this month, two U.S. university associations said their members were strengthening security protocols and building closer relationships with the FBI and intelligence agencies, after hearing “increasing concern” from the federal government about “foreign interference” in university research.
They also praised the contributions of Chinese students and faculty, and said the United States must continue to welcome them.
Reserve. In addition to uncertainty about a trade war between the U.S. and China, there are concerns about economic growth, and the potential for a hard Brexit in October.
Bond yields moved lower again after inverting last week in a signal of a potential recession. With no major data or tweets from U.S. President Donald Trump, investors turned their focus to two important events this week from the Fed. Minutes of the last central bank meeting will be released today and chairman Jerome Powell will speak on Friday in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Markets are pricing in another interest rate cut next month and will be looking for signals from Powell as some, including Trump, have called for a large decrease to stimulate the economy.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 90.74 points at 16,213.31. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 173.35 points at 25,962.44. The S&P 500 index was down 23.14 points at 2,900.51, while the Nasdaq composite was down 54.25 points at 7,948.56.
The telecommunications sector led the TSX decrease, falling 1.46 per cent as Rogers Communications Inc. dropped 2.1 per cent a day after a federal regulator lowered wholesale broadband prices that major telecom companies can charge smaller internet providers. The key energy sector was also lower amid ongoing concerns about the impact of slowing global economic growth on crude demand. Shares of Canadian Natural Resources were down 2.5 per cent, followed by Suncor Energy Inc. at 1.6 per cent. The October crude contract was down one cent at US$56.13 per barrel and the September natural gas contract was up 0.8 of a cent at US$2.22 per mmBTU. Investors will be watching as Canadian bank earnings get underway on Wednesday for any comments on bank profitability caused by an inverted yield curve. The Canadian dollar traded for an average of 75.06 cents US compared with an average of 75.20 cents US on Monday. Materials climbed
Jeanne WHALEN
Hubert,RolandG. March6,1948-May9,2019
It is with heavy hearts that we announce that Guy Kristian has made his transition in life on August 14, 2019 at the age of 50 years. Guy was born on September 20, 1968 in North Battleford, Sask and raised in Prince George, BC. Guy had a great love of sports, was an avid skier and hockey fan. He was a lover of animals and nature, especially his dog, Bennie. Guy loved working outdoors and working with his hands and had a great love of music, singing and playing his guitars. He was a Youth Counselor, Diamond Driller, Personal Trainer, Professional Photographer and Graphic Designer. Guy was a warm loving man with a kind spirit and a deep love of God. His love and laughter will be missed by his family, parents, Ray and Arna Kristian, sister Bonnie Squire (Brock, Julian and Chanel), sister Diane Jansen (Ashleigh and Brett Harris), sons, Zakary and Dylan Kristian, Debbie Critchlow, Aunts, Uncles and cousins. Guy will be missed by numerous friends and tenants. A viewing and friendship gathering will be held at Prince George Funeral Services at 1014 Douglas St, Prince George on Friday, August 23, 2019 at 7:00 PM.
In lieu of flowers donations made be made to the S.P.C.A.
In Loving Memory of George Kostas Blanis October 26, 1937August 17, 2019
It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we announce the peaceful passing of George Blanis, aka “George the Barber”, on August 17, 2019 in Hospice House with his devoted son by his side. George was predeceased by his beloved wife Helen on February 19, 2010. George is survived by his son Dean (Irina), daughter Lisa (Fred), and his grandchildren Brandon, Connor and Victoria. George’s many family and friends in Greece and Canada will deeply miss him. George was born in Diava, Kalambaka, Greece and immigrated to Canada in 1962. He married Helen shortly after and together they built a wonderful life for their family and became integral parts of the Greek community helping to build the Greek Orthodox Church. In 1964 he opened up his own shop - George’s Barber Shop - at the Simon Fraser Inn and was cutting hair for 55 years. He was proud that he was the oldest and only European barber in town and worked in the oldest shop in Prince George. George’s passion, dedication and commitment as a barber will be remembered and missed by everyone. George was known all over the city for his work and great personality. George was an institution in Prince George. He had an amazing love of life and positive attitude. George loved cooking, baking, making wine, listening to Greek music and singing in the Greek Church. George had a big heart and a great sense of humour.
George had many passions including gardening and fixing things; spending time at the cabin at Cluculz Lake was his favourite. Family was everything to George. He was loved by all who knew him. His magnificent spirit and love for life will live on forever with all who were fortunate enough to have had him in their lives. He will be always loved, never forgotten and forever missed. Our grateful thanks to the staff at the Hospice House who were so compassionate and caring for Dad. A celebration of life for George will take place on Saturday, August 24, 2019 at Koimisis Tis Theotokou Greek Church at 511 Tabor Boulevard at 11:00am. Viewing to be held on Friday, August 23, 2019 at Assman’s Funeral Chapel at 7:00pm. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Greek Orthodox Church.
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DATE:Wednesday,August14th,2019 TIME:9AM-5PM LOCATION:FourPointsbySheraton(Room320),1790 BC-97PrinceGeorge Cannotattend?PleasesubmityourresumetoJessicaat jodriscoll@cbi.ca 403-266-2410 cjiwani@cbi.cawww.cbi.ca
Veloso,Carlos’Tito’Andres August27,1988-August11,2019
Itiswithdeepsadnessthatweannouncethesudden deathofCarlos’Tito’AndresVeloso.Hedieddoing whatheloved,BMXing,andinthearmsofthe brotherthathelovedonAugust11,2019,inthecity ofhisbirth-Vancouver,BC.
BornAugust27,1988,toJoanneSandbergand CarlosVeloso.Heleavesbehindhisfiance,Tauni Kula,andtheirchildren,Daniel,Connor,andOdin;as wellashismom,JoanneSandberg;dad,Carlos Veloso;step-dad,KevinChartrand;siblings,Valerie Veloso,NicoleDuggan(Ryan),andLynden Chartrand.
ThecelebrationofhislifewilltakeplaceatthePrince GeorgeNativeFriendshipCentreonSaturday,August 24that2pm.Noflowersplease.
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