Prince George Citizen August 23, 2019

Hundreds rally in Mackenzie over job losses

Christine HINZMANN Citizen staff

chinzmann@pgcitizen.ca

“Our logs, our jobs, Mackenzie Matters” was the chant coming from hundreds of people as they marched from the Forest Ministry office to the front of the recreation centre Thursday afternoon to start the Mackenzie Matters rally on Thursday afternoon.

Organizers created the rally in reaction to more than 250 workers losing their jobs when Canfor sawmill closed for an indefinite curtailment July 19, while Conifex is on a temporary curtailment and as a result of the shut downs Parallell 55 finger joint mill had to close because they couldn’t get the wood they need from the other mills. First at the podium was the Honourable Doug Donaldson standing in front of about 1,000 people to say the province is looking for ways to make forestry a more sustainable industry so towns like Mackenzie can thrive, but no immediate permanent or ongoing support was forthcoming from either the provincial government or the federal government.

Philip Wysoski, a Conifex sawmill worker who is currently laid off, along with his wife Danielle Hildebrand, brought all four of their children with them on the march leading up to the rally.

“We were told we’d be called back to work Sept. 3 but we know we don’t have enough logs here to go back for double shifts,” Wysoski said, who grew up in Mackenzie.

Wysoski said he hoped the march and rally would draw enough attention to the plight of the logging town to ensure it’s still around when his children are adults so they can have thriving careers in Mackenzie.

“The message we want to send is that we want to keep our logs in our town and not be sent off to other mills,” Wysoski said.

“I’ve already lost two co-workers – they’ve already left to go work in other industries.” And he knows they won’t come back.

“We need the government to open their eyes and realize what they’re doing to small communities like Mackenzie,” Wysoski said.

Retired Canfor sawmill worker Mike Broadbent brought his own chair to watch the rally in comfort.

He’s been in Mackenzie for the last 42 years.

“I am definitely disillusioned about what’s happening in Mackenzie,” Broadbent said.

“The government seems happy to take our tax dollars when things are good but when we run into trouble they seem to just forget about us.”

Broadbent hopes the sawmills will consider value-added products as a solution to the shut downs so that when the logs stay in Mackenzie it won’t just be making two by fours and two by sixes.

“To me that is really forward thinking,” he

said. “That’s something we have to look into more.”

Carrying an ‘our logs, our jobs’ sign, David Christianson, a millwright for Conifex, who was laid off four weeks ago, said he was seriously considering moving away after his 30-year stay in Mackenzie.

During the 2007-08 lumber industry crash, Christianson said it was tough but it’s something that seems to go in cycles and this time he was prepared.

“I structured my finances around E.I. (employment insurance) and I could’ve gone out and bought quads and trailers and all that kind of stuff but I held back on that,” Christianson said.

“Here I am now and I could actually survive the winter on E.I. if I needed to but, of

course, being a millwright, I am looking for work elsewhere. I am considering leaving Mackenzie.”

The reason he was at the rally was because his heart goes out to the town.

“We’re here because it’s about the people, right?” Christianson said. “And it’s about this town. B.C. forests have been slaughtered by these big companies and it needs a rest – the forest needs a rest, the environment needs a rest.”

During the rally there were several speakers on the list besides the minister of forests.

Speakers included MLAs Mike Morris and Donna Barnett; Mackenzie Mayor Joan Atkinson; MP Bob Zimmer; Peter Ewert of Stand up for the North; regional district representative Pat Crook; Vince Lucas

from Unifor; Fort

Mike Whalley from the Resource Municipalities Coalition and Northern Coalition, United Steelworkers; Cam Shiel from the Forest Stewardship Council; District of Mackenzie Coun. Andy Barnes; Gary Fiege and Todd Smith for Public and Private Workers of Canada (PPWC).

Donaldson said the government was there to support the community when he addressed the crowd.

“I just want to say it’s not easy for a politician to stand in front a community talking about tough times and challenges ahead but that’s what your community and others are dealing with,” Donaldson said. — see ‘A LONG, page 3

St. John Acting Mayor Tony Zabinsky; Dawson Creek Mayor Dale Bumstead;

CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

Participants in the Mackenzie Matters rally march from the forestry offices in Mackenzie to the Mackenzie Rec Centre on Thursday afternoon.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

Conifex worker Philip Wysoski and his wife Danielle Hildebrandt talk about their family’s struggles in Mackenzie on Thursday during the Mackenzie Matters rally.

Local artist mourned

Kathy NADALIN

Special

to The Citizen

Prominent local artist June

Swanky Parker passed away on Aug. 15 at the Prince George Rotary Hospice House. As a young woman, Swanky Parker studied at the Banff School of Fine Arts and rediscovered her love of painting in middle age. She spent the last 45 years of her life painting and teaching others the joy of art. Swanky Parker is survived by her five children, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

A celebration of Swanky Parker’s life and art will take place on Sunday, from 1 to 3 p.m., at 2212 Laurier Cres. in the back garden. Some of her remaining paintings will be on display and it was her wish that people attending take one to remember her by. Swanky Parker’s family suggests those taking a piece of art make a small donation to the Hospice House or another charity of their choice. In 2017, Citizen contributor Kathy Nadalin interviewed Swanky Parker about her life and art. An updated version of that story appears below:

Well known Prince George artist June (Swanky) Parker was born in Vancouver in 1931. Her parents Rudolf and Susan Swanky, along with her brother Gordon, moved to Prince George in 1933 when June was two-and-a-half years old. June has enough history to fill an entire book however for today here is her story in a nutshell: It was in 1933 when the application submitted by Rudolf and Susan Swanky was selected and

approved to take advantage of a provincial government land settlement offer for families to leave Vancouver (by train) and relocate in the north. This was apparently a one-time offer available to only 50 qualified applicants. Each successful applicant who was considered poor and unemployed was given a railway ticket to go north and a stipend of $50 per month for a total of $300 which was a very good deal at the time.

The Swanky family packed all their belongs and headed to

Prince George to a preselected homestead site out in the Chief Lake Road area known as Garvin Canyon.

Unfortunately there was a fire in the freight section of the train and all their belongings were lost in the fire. They were compensated by the railway in the amount of $200 and from there they started over from scratch.

One of the first things they bought with the insurance money was a cow which was the start of their new life in the north.

For the next two years, the family of four (June’s twin brother and sister Oscar and Linda came along later) lived in a small log cabin that was on the property. Their only source of income was logging, which amounted to using a saw and an axe to cut logs to produce rail road ties and firewood to sell.

June reminisced and said, “My brother Gordon was being schooled by taking correspondence lessons and I used to listen in on all of his studies so I learned to read by the time I was three years old. My husband Laurie used to say that once I learned to read I never stopped, which was true.

“When I was seven I started Grade 1 in Prince George. I was a good student and they quickly moved me into Grade 2. The school and my family recognized my talent in art at an early age. My parents encouraged me by giving me a gift of summer classes at the School of Fine Arts in Banff. After high school I went on to study art at the College of New Caledonia, the Prince George Artist Workshop and in workshops put on by teachers and artists who were affiliated with the Federation of Canadian Artists.”

In 1949 June met Laurie Isenor Parker, a Nova Scotia boy who arrived in Prince George in 1946. June said, “I used to go roller skating on the cement roller skating pad located near where the Northern Hardware store is now located. I was a good ice skater so going in circles at the roller skating pad was easy. I didn’t know it at the time but my husband to be had spotted me and he told me later that he had watched me for nearly a year going round and round on my roller skates. We were a perfect match and we were married in 1950.”

Laurie Parker, one of 12 children, was born in Nine Mile River, N.S. He first worked at Eagle Lake Sawmills and learned the B.C. style of logging. Later, he worked at Prince George Motors first pumping gas and then in the parts department until he moved up as a truck salesman. He eventually opened Parker-Hipwell Dodge on George Street and later entered into real estate, which in turn led to house construction and land development.

Laurie was an enthusiastic long-

time member of the Kinsmen Club. June said, “Together we raised five children: Gerry (Ellen), Janet (Alan), Randal (Kayley), Lorelee (Rick) and Russell, who gave us four grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. We were married for 63 years and sadly Laurie passed away in 2013 due to a fatal car accident. It was one of the saddest days of my life and everything changed for me after that. Laurie was the love of my life and he was such a wonderful fellow. He always encouraged me. He loved the community and was always positive about the future of Prince George.”

June was a long time member of the Knox United Church and sang in the church choir along with life-long friend Doris Aitken. Neither June or Doris drove so their dedicated choir director Dr. Diane Kjorven picked them up so that they could both make choir practice on a regular basis.

Over the years, June taught classes in watercolors at the Prince George Artist’s Workshop, the College of New Caledonia and the Two Rivers Art Gallery. Her works have been published in cards and calendars in both British Columbia and Ontario; her art basically tells a story of Prince George. Among her many works of art were her watercolor illustrations for the Huble Homestead Children’s book series.

She tuaght small classes in her studio called Upstairs Art, which was located upstairs at Books and Company at 1685 Third Ave., also know as Artspace.

June concluded by saying, “I have always loved painting and teaching others to paint. I learned everything from my wonderful mom. She lived in that little log cabin thawing snow to do the laundry. She was 96 when she died and bless her heart she always wanted to live to be 100.

“She wrote the book called Many Happy Years by Susan Swanky; my sister Linda helped her record and write the book. There are so many wonderful people in the world and I am so fortunate to have my family. A family is something you could never have a life without.”

Shortly after the death of her husband, June had a series of strokes. While recovery was slow, she continued to actively paint.

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO

June Swanky Parker is seen with one of her paintings in January 2017. The well-known local painter passed away on Aug. 15.

‘A long and protracted trade war... is certainly not going to help’

— from page 1

“You don’t need me to tell you that the interior forest industry is facing some challenging circumstances and you and your community are feeling the brunt of it.”

Donaldson said it’s easy to suggest the government can simply reduce stumpage rates as a solution.

“But one needs to only take a look at the latest trade news to see how the current U.S. government would likely respond if our government or any government in Canada lowered stumpage rates,” Donaldson said.

“A long and protracted trade war with our neighbours to the south is certainly not going to help B.C.’s forest industry.”

The government is committed to being there for impacted workers

and their community, he repeated.

“We’ll do everything we can to ensure support systems are in place on behalf of forestry workers

and their families and we are taking action,” Donaldson said.

He said BC Timber Sales is currently in talks with Conifex, one of the Mackenzie mills under a temporary curtailment and is said it will reopen on Sept. 3.

“Restarting Conifex sawmill will provide support not only for mill workers but also downstream for businesses in the area that rely on the mill residuals, including Conifex Power, Fraser Fibre and Paper Excellence,” he added.

“And that’s why we’re doing everything we can to ensure there is fibre available for the Conifex mill. BC Timber Sales is working with Conifex to address some short term fibre-access issues and we are confident that those details will be worked out by the end of this month.”

Teachers, gov’t in mediated contract talks

Vancouver Sun

B.C.’s teachers’ union and the province began mediated talks for a new contract on Wednesday, but parents won’t have to worry about any disruption to the start of the school year even if negotiations fail.

Teachers’ Federation president Teri Mooring said there is no scenario in which teachers would undertake job action or a strike before school begins on Sept. 3, even if mediation ends without a deal.

“We’re going to start the school year, regardless,” Mooring said. “What would be more comfortable for everyone, obviously, would be a collective agreement in place. And that’s our goal. Eight days of mediation is actually a lot of time.”

The collective agreement between teachers and government expired on June 30, but its terms carry on until a new contract is signed. Mediation is scheduled for eight days, with mediator David Schaub instituting a media blackout on specific proposals on the table.

Teachers are one of the last major public-sector unions yet to sign a new contract with the NDP government.

Finance Minister Carole James set a “sustainable services” mandate that requires unions to agree to a three-year term, with a two-per-cent annual wage increase, and the ability to negotiate side funding for service improvements in their sector.

So far, 68 per cent of B.C.’s 330,000 unionized public-sector employees have new deals, including major unions like the B.C. Government and Services Employees Union, Doctors of B.C., and nurses.

“We want the parties to reach a fair deal that works for students, parents and teachers,” the Ministry of Finance said in a statement. “That’s why we’re pleased both sides have agreed to mediation. This is encouraging.

“We’re optimistic that the parties will find solutions and reach a deal that works for students, teachers, and everyone in the school system.”

Mooring said a new contract must address a “critical teacher shortage.”

There’s not enough certified teachers to fill classrooms in north-central B.C. and on the north coast, she said. There also aren’t enough teachers left on the substitute list in southern Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver, which means special needs teachers often have to fill in to the detriment of their classes, said Mooring.

Teachers argue part of recruitment problem is that B.C. has the second-lowest starting salary in the country.

Also looming over the negotiations is the BCTF’s 2016 victory at the Supreme Court of Canada, which restored class size and composition language the previous Liberal government had improperly stripped from teacher contracts.

Both the previous Liberal and current NDP government have sought to renegotiate that language, claiming it is a complicated series of ratios and caps that vary by school district.

Bear Aware, winery seeking apple donations

Citizen staff

Northern Lights Estate Winery and the Northern Bear Awareness Society are continuing their partnership to collect unwanted apples from local homeowners.

This year, the partners are hoping to collect 25,000 pounds (11,340 kg) of apples. Residents can drop their unwanted apples off at the winery, or there is a small crew which can pick apples for homeowners unable to pick their own fruit.

The goal of the program is to prevent bears from being attracted to trees with unpicked fruit.

“Every fall bears are needlessly destroyed due to human negligence,” Northern Bear Awareness Society president Dave Bakker said in a press release.

“In addition to programs like these, our community needs to

be mindful of all types of fruit growing in our yards; as well as garbage cans and other attractants which can bring unwanted guests to our neighbourhoods.”

This year, in addition to donating apples to the winery to make wine, residents can bring fruit harvested from their yards into Hobby Brews by Northern Lights.

“The wine produced from these northern hardy apples is a beautiful blend of sweet and sour,” winery operating partner Doug Bell said. “You can now get the same professional wines found at Northern Lights Winery using your own fruits by bringing them to Hobby Brews. This is a great way to use up excess fruit and restock your wine cellar at the same time.”

For more information, go online to www.northernbearawareness.com or www.northernlightswinery.ca.

School district hires director of aboriginal education

School District 57 has hired its first director of aboriginal education.

Pamela Spooner, who holds a masters degree in education and First Nations studies, is taking on the position after serving as principal of aboriginal education for School District 67 (Okanagan Skaha) during the 2018-19 school year.

Prior to that, Spooner was principal of Nusdeh Yoh Elementary School for four years, and taught at the aboriginal choice school for two years prior to that.

“Her expertise and her knowledge of (the) community in Prince George and the north is extraordinary,” superintendent of schools Rod Allen said in a press release.

“We’re so happy to have her back in the (School District) 57 family.”

More than 23 per cent of students across the school district self-identify as aboriginal.

“This new position demonstrates the importance that the board places on aboriginal education, as well as strong and growing relationships with the indigenous community,” Allen said.

Citizen staff

CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

People take part in the Mackenzie Matters rally outside the Rec Centre in Mackenzie on Thursday.

DONALDSON

How Trudeau’s feminism failed

In June, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked about the impact on his feminism of dealing with “tough women” in his cabinet. In response, Trudeau said: “It increases my feminism. It continues to challenge and make us think differently about it.”

It should continue to challenge him. A feminist analysis of the breakdown in the relationship between Trudeau and Jody Wilson-Raybould after she alleged she faced improper pressure to prevent the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin suggests that he still struggles to work with women in powerful roles who do not share his agenda.

Journalist Aaron Wherry’s new book, Promise and Peril: Justin Trudeau in Power, reveals a difficult relationship between Trudeau and Wilson-Raybould. Trudeau tells Wherry: “I grumbled to myself that it was difficult for me to not have a minister of justice that I was super-sympatico with.”

Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny, the 2017 book by Cornell philosophy professor Kate Manne, gives us a framework for understanding this type of conflict. Men, she argues – especially the most privileged men – operate with the tacit expectation that they can rely on women for moral support. Women are expected to provide collective moral approval and admiration. Trudeau’s avowed feminism, his famous gender-balanced cabinet in 2015 and his government’s women-directed policies only increase this expectation.

When women do not provide the expected support, it is seen by men as a personal betrayal. And, as Manne points out, those women are in the wrong from the perspective of social standards that continue to enforce these expectations.

It’s therefore not surprising that Trudeau would continue to perceive himself as having done nothing wrong in the SNC-Lavalin affair.

The use of the word misogyny is not meant to suggest that Trudeau dislikes women, or even fails to view them as equals. From this structural perspective, he sees Wilson-Raybould as part of his team, and because of that sees her, as a woman, as having an obligation to support and advance his interests. This is why when she stood up for the political independence of the attorney general he took the situation so personally.

Wherry also reveals in his book that negotiations to keep Wilson-Raybould and former health minister Jane Philpott in caucus ultimately floundered because Trudeau would not admit any wrongdoing on the SNC-Lavalin case. Announcing their expulsion from caucus, the prime minister described the ultimate cause as one of lost trust. This is also consistent with a structural analysis of misogyny. “Moral criticisms,” Manne writes, “are likely to seem like transgressions or bald-faced lies.”

In her own testimony to the House of Commons Justice Committee in February,

Wilson-Raybould reported that “the prime minister asked me to help out – to find a solution here for SNC.”

It was clear from the rest of her testimony that members of the Prime Minister’s Office conceived of Wilson-Raybould’s role as one that supported Trudeau’s agenda. When she continued to refuse to interfere with the prosecution and to force a deferred prosecution agreement for SNC-Lavalin, Mathieu Bouchard, a senior adviser to Trudeau, raised the upcoming election.

The implication was that she should “do the right thing” in order to help the party win re-election and Trudeau another term as prime minister.

The expectation that Wilson-Raybould’s primary obligation is to Trudeau and the party, despite the importance of independence in her role as attorney general, also fits with the patterns Manne identifies in her book.

Misogyny is a mechanism for keeping women in their place. It is how women who fail to meet the expectation that they “help out” are chastised.

Women who not only do not provide this help, but demand that they’re respected and supported in their projects, are, writes Manne, “perceived as greedy, grasping, and domineering, shrill and abrasive, corrupt and untrustworthy.”

Trudeau, like all of us, is subject to social forces that operate well below the level of our consciousness. Often these social forces

How does the Peace fit?

Ikeep wondering what our good government’s final verdict will be for what I call their caribou caper. After reading Vaughn Palmer’s Aug. 2 Vancouver Sun opinion piece, I thought I should say my two-bits, once again.

Will Premier John Horgan, Environment Minister George Heyman, and the unofficial leader on the further left, Andrew Weaver, really be so crass to say they have consulted with the good people of Northeast B.C. and are moving forward with their Section 11 Agreement with West Moberly and Saulteau First Nations, as it was originally written? Is that how they believe consultation is conducted in the new world of “deep” consultation, as prescribed in their new environmental assessment process?

And then I think, hell yes, why would they do anything else but sign it, and then tell us to butt out? Why should our government leader have any respect for the industrious and conservativeminded people who live here in B.C.’s northeast?

Think about it. We embody most everything they abhor. We are more conservative than liberal, carbon production is the name of our game, we like our cows, our fishing, hunting and trapping, we build big hydroelectric dams, convert our forests into lumber and pulp, dig holes in our mountains, and, in our

spare time, drive carbon belching pickup trucks and poke fun at Victoria.

Why could we be so dumb and think that they would actually be supportive of what we want?

Well, maybe one of them could. Maybe, just maybe, Finance Minister Carole James and her appreciation of where much of her cash comes from that keeps her budget balanced and their socialist friends happy is appreciated.

Jest aside, most everything we do up here goes against the values that our NDP-Green government are working so hard to implement.

Just think how much political support they would get from their voters if they could say, “look what we have done.”

Wouldn’t they love to say, and say with great fanfare, “we are slowly grinding down those loathsome, old world, carbon producing, environment destroying industries and under our new leadership, industries that sustain the people of B.C.’s northeast will soon become a shadow of their former selves. Their blight on our environment will soon be over.”

And while they are saying this, quietly and out of the other side of their mouth, they are admitting that they can’t completely shut us down, as they do need what we produce. Sure, they can and will point out that they have supported an LNG proposal, that they didn’t shut down Site C, or haven’t stopped fracking as so many of their supporters wish. Our coal mines are still operating, although these new caribou and park agreements may send our mines to the dust bin when their current sites are depleted. Yes, our forest industry is still limping along and cattle ranching has not been eliminated in favour of factories making fake meat, but are we really sure of their survival?

When I think about what we have, and what our government actively supports, I wonder where we fit. Are we truly that economic engine for the province, or are we a major impediment in their new world order? Are we a bunch of relics, living in the past and supporting dying industries?

And to think when I started writing, I thought I would stay positive. On second thought, is it positive thinking to hope that when Premier Horgan flips the switch on in Victoria, that light does come on and he truly understands the role we play in ensuring his survival?

— Evan Saugstad is a former mayor of Chetwynd, and lives in Fort St. John.

– in this case the forces of patriarchy – are incompatible with our strongly held moral commitments. The prime minister could be genuine in his feminism, but it can be difficult to adhere to feminist commitments against the background of misogynist social institutions.

The sense of personal betrayal that Trudeau felt when he grumbled about the difficulty that his relationship with WilsonRaybould caused him is a product of these social institutions and the gendered expectations of support that are a part of them. If anyone should feel let down by these events, it is Wilson-Raybould. The attorney general should be supported by the prime minister in fulfilling her role as Canada’s chief legal adviser. The SNC-Lavalin scandal is a reminder that in government, policies matter more than the moral commitments of individuals. Trudeau’s feminism did not protect him from the personal failures that lead to the ethics commissioner’s conclusions that he wrongly used his position of authority to pressure Wilson-Raybould.

A firm policy in the PMO on respecting the political independence of the attorney general might have served him better when Wilson-Raybould first cautioned him against interfering in the SNC-Lavalin case. — Prof. Nicole Wyatt heads the philosophy department at the University of Calgary. This article first appeared in The Conversation.

Eat some poutine

One of the features of social media that users have grown to either love or hate is the discussion of food. Some people welcome the opportunity to learn from the experience of their friends and family at restaurants. Others can get tired of endless pictures of dinner plates or step-by-step recipe live-blogging from a kitchen.

Last month, my colleague Bob Kronbauer from Vancouver is Awesome registered his displeasure with poutine in a tweet. I am compelled to announce that Bob is in a tiny minority. Almost four in five Canadians who took a recent Research Co. poll (79 per cent) said they would “definitely” or “probably” eat poutine, including 84 per cent of Quebecers and 87 per cent of those aged 35 to 54.

Politicians, like all humans, have a chance to discuss what they would eat and what they would refuse, even before social media.

In 1990, U.S. President George H. W. Bush famously got in trouble for declaring that he would never eat broccoli again.

In 2017, the president of Iceland curiously threatened to ban pineapple as a pizza topping in his country. The ensuing social media firestorm from Canadians, who remembered that “Hawaiian pizza” was created in Ontario and not Oahu, included a defence of the delicacy from Justin Trudeau himself. Still, many social media users also made it clear that they would not eat a pizza with pineapple. When we asked a representative sample, two-thirds of Canadians (66 per cent) said they would “definitely” or “probably” eat pizza with pineapple. The highest proportion of “Hawaiian pizza” lovers resides in British Columbia (76 per cent) and the lowest in Quebec (57 per cent).

There was another moment in 2017 when the realms of food and politics collided. The Washington Post reported that the first meal of Donald Trump as president in a District of Columbia restaurant was a well-done steak with ketchup. Canadians reacted to this way of enjoying beef with an even split: 48 per cent said they would eat a steak with ketchup, and 48 per cent said they would not. There is a noteworthy gender gap with this dish. While only 41 per cent of Canadian women would eat steak with ketchup, more than half of Canadian men (54 per cent) would do so. We also looked at a few more “adventurous” offerings. Only 18 per cent of Canadians would eat

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cod tongues, a proportion that jumps to 39 per cent in Atlantic Canada, where the dish was perfected. A similar situation ensues with scrunchions – bite-size salted and fried pieces of pork rinds and fat – with 16 per cent of Canadians (and 29 per cent of Atlantic Canadians) saying they would try them. Still, a sizable number of respondents across the country (44 per cent) were simply not sure. As we enter Western Canada, two controversial dishes yielded similar findings. Prairie Oysters – deep-fried flour-coated bull testicles – are an item that only 26 per cent of Canadians are willing to eat. The surprise here is that this particular delicacy is more popular in Quebec (32 per cent) than in Manitoba and Saskatchewan (25 per cent) and Alberta (15 per cent). Canadians were also asked about shark fin soup, and the dish was accepted by only one-in-five (20 per cent) and rejected by almost three quarters (73 per cent). Earlier this year, Canada moved to ban the import and sale of shark fins. Federal Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson referred to the practice of shark finning as “unquestionably destructive.” In any event, 51 per cent of respondents of East Asian descent would still enjoy shark fin soup if they had the opportunity, compared to just 29 per cent of South Asians and 17 per cent of Europeans. Finally, we looked at the most recent addition to Canada’s culinary delights: the plant-based hamburger patty that has made its way to many restaurants, including White Spot, A&W and Tim Hortons. Three in five Canadians (60 per cent) say they would eat a plant-based hamburger patty. The acceptance of this dish drops with age, from 67 per cent among those 18 to 34, to 62 per cent for those 35 to 54 and to 52 per cent among those 55 and over.

There are more potential devourers of plant-based hamburger patties in British Columbia (63 per cent), Atlantic Canada (62 per cent) and Ontario (also 62 per cent). The lowest incidence is reported in Alberta (55 per cent). Time will tell if the plant-based hamburger patty has staying power in British Columbia, or joins fish tacos and bone marrow as offerings that were ubiquitous for a while and were later forgotten.

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of the

BY THE NUMBERS

MARIO CANSECO

U.S. slams China over spat with Canada

The Canadian Press

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo slammed any suggestion that two Canadians being detained in China are on par with the arrest here of a Chinese tech executive at the United States’ behest, firing a counter-punch Thursday in an escalating feud between Canada and China.

Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor have been held in China since shortly after Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at the request of American authorities, who want to try her over allegations of fraud in violating Iran sanctions. Her extradition hearing is ongoing.

During an official visit to Canada, Pompeo said the Canadian detentions and Meng’s arrest are not “morally similar,” suggesting instead that linking these two issues is “what China wants to talk about.”

“These are fundamentally different matters than the Canadian decision to use their due process and the rule of law to behave in a way that’s deeply consistent with the way decent nations work,” Pompeo said.

Pompeo unprompted and curt interjection came in the wake of a question to Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland during a joint press conference after the two wrapped up one-on-one meetings. A reporter from the New York Times – which has long been in U.S. President Donald Trump’s crosshairs – asked Freeland if Canada has sought for the U.S. to withdraw its extradition request in order to secure the releases of Kovrig and Spavor.

China issued comments Thursday saying the fate of the two Canadians, and the increasing difficulties in China-Canada relations, is Canada’s fault and is linked to Meng’s detention.

“When you ask this question, you connect them up that’s what China wants to talk about,” Pompeo said. “They want to talk about these two as if they are equivalent, as if they were morally similar, which they fundamentally are not.” China’s arbitrary detention of the two Canadians was “fundamentally different as a human rights matter, as a rule of law matter” than Meng’s extradition case, he added.

Pompeo stressed that Trump was “unambiguous” in making it known that America is concerned about China’s “inappropriate be-

haviour” during a recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. He added that American officials have engaged in “other diplomatic activity” to make the case for the release of Kovrig and Spavor. He did not elaborate on any other steps the U.S. would be willing to take to help free the two Canadians.

Any decisions in Canada about Meng’s case will be left to civil servants and the criminal justice system, as it ought to be, Freeland said. Meng’s future, she added, would not be a political decision.

Questions about China loomed over Pompeo’s first official visit to Ottawa as Trump’s top diplomat.

China was on the agenda when he met Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, one of a number of hotbutton issues the two discussed

ahead of the upcoming G7 summit this weekend.

Trudeau thanked the U.S. for its support in working on the release of Spavor and Kovrig during brief remarks ahead of their closed-door meeting, adding that he looked forward to discussions about how they could move ahead with getting the two men released.

Canada and the U.S. are locked in differing battles with Beijing –the Americans over trade issues, primarily, while Canada is in a diplomatic dance over Kovrig, Spavor and China’s decision to block imports of some Canadian agricultural products.

The Trudeau Liberals and the Chinese government have traded escalating jabs since Canada’s joint statement with the European Union over the weekend on the

current unrest in Hong Kong.

The Chinese government has effectively told Canada to butt out, and that its internal affairs are none of Canada’s business.

Trudeau fired back Wednesday during a speech where he emphasized Canada wasn’t going to back down – not on the case of Kovrig and Spavor, and not on the need to safeguard the human rights and freedoms of the 300,000 Canadians in Hong Kong and the rest of the people there.

The war of words continued Thursday during a regular press conference in China with a foreign ministry spokesperson.

“Loudness is not necessarily persuasive and people can tell right from wrong,” said Geng Shuang, according to an English transcript of a news conference published

online. “We urge the Canadian side to reflect upon its wrongdoing, take China’s solemn position and concerns seriously, immediately release Ms. Meng Wanzhou and ensure her safe return to China.”

Trudeau and Trump don’t have a scheduled meeting, as yet, when the G7 summit gets underway in Biarritz, France, this weekend, but the two spoke by phone late last week about the Chinese detentions, the ongoing unrest in Hong Kong and their shared support of the ratification of the new North American trade deal.

A readout of this conversation issued by the Prime Minister’s Office said the two looked forward to furthering these discussions “when they see each other at the upcoming G7 summit.”

Freeland exploring peace options in Venezuela

The Canadian Press

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland will head to Cuba next week for more talks with her counterpart there on the situation in Venezuela.

Freeland made the announcement following a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Ottawa on Thursday, where the deepening political and economic crisis in the South American country was on the agenda.

Canada and the U.S. are seeking the end of a months-long democratic deadlock in the country that revolves around who rightfully occupies the presidency; incumbent Nicolas Maduro’s 2018 victory was dismissed by many countries as illegitimate, with his rival Juan Guaido accepted as the actual victor.

The stalemate has seen the economy of Venezuela plunge further off a cliff, with widespread food and drug shortages among

the issues prompting millions of Venezuelans to flee to neighbouring countries.

How best to resolve the crisis is an ongoing point of debate between Canada and the U.S., with the potential role of Cuba as one irritant. The Trump administration views Cuba as a negative influence, while Canada believes the country could help engineer a solution that would see a peaceful transition to full democracy.

Another point of differentiation is the role of sanctions.

Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump froze all Venezuelan government assets in his country, a massive ratcheting up of economic pressure.

Freeland suggested Thursday that Canada was not going to follow suit and tighten its own sanctions regime. She said Canada is instead continuing its work with the Lima Group, a coalition of regional countries that have been working together since 2017 to support Guaido.

“We have very strong sanctions in place against the Maduro regime and we also believe that it is important to explore all possible paths to a resolution of the situation,” Freeland said.

Her upcoming trip to Cuba is being made with that in mind, Freeland said.

Cuba is not a member of the Lima Group, and still accepts Maduro’s government.

Canada has been trying to pressure Cuba to come around for the last several months, with next week’s visit the latest in a series of discussions on the subject.

While Trump may consider Cuba a bad influence, his administration confirmed this week that it too has been talking to the Maduro regime in a bid to find a way to transition him out of power.

Pompeo said the talks do not signal a shift in U.S. policy.

“There cannot be free and fair elections so long as Maduro is on the same ballot and we continue to work toward achieving that

end on behalf of the Venezuelan people.”

A scathing report by the UN Human Rights Commission released last month accused the Maduro regime of using torture tactics to silence its critics, and documented numerous violations of human, civil and social rights.

The situation has forced a massive migration of Venezuelans into neighbouring countries, prompting calls for increased humanitarian support and, if necessary, refugee resettlement.

This week, Canada made it easier for Venezuelans to travel here, or extend their stays, by agreeing to accept expired passports as documentation.

The most recent data suggests visa application numbers from Venezuelans have been going down. In 2018, there were an average of 709 temporary resident visa applications per month, while so far this year it’s closer to 450. In 2018, 56 per cent of all temporary visa applications were rejected.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo looks on as Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland responds to a question Thursday during a joint news conference in Ottawa.

Parties throw same-sex marriage barbs

The Canadian Press

The federal Liberals hinted on Thursday at some of the notes they will look to strike in the fall campaign to win over young and progressive-minded voters when they circulated a video of Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer speaking out against samesex marriage early in his career as an MP.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale tweeted a short, edited video of an April 2005 speech Scheer gave in the House of Commons explaining his opposition to the Civil Marriage Act, which legalized samesex marriage in Canada later that year. Along with the video came a challenge to march in Sunday’s Ottawa Pride parade, noting Scheer has never done so.

The parade has taken on some additional significance this year after Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson days ago came out as openly gay after decades in public life.

“There is nothing more important to society than the raising of children, for its very survival requires it,” Scheer said in his speech, delivered about a year after he was elected as the Conservative MP for the Saskatchewan riding of Regina-Qu’Appelle for the first time.

“Homosexual unions are by nature contradictory to this,” he said.

“There is no complementarity of the sexes. Two members of the same sex may use their God-given free will to engage in acts, to co-habit and to own property together. They may commit themselves to monogamy. They may pledge to remain in a loving relationship for life,” he said. “In that sense they have many of the collateral features of marriage, but they do not have its inherent feature, as they cannot commit to the natural procreation of children. They cannot therefore be married.”

The majority of Conservative MPs voted against the bill, as did a number of Liberal MPs. Some remain in caucus.

Brock Harrison, director of communications for Scheer, said the Conservative leader has no plans to change same-sex marriage laws.

“Mr. Scheer supports same-sex marriage as defined in law and as prime minister will, of course, uphold it,” Harrison tweeted Thursday. “This is yet another desperation tactic from Trudeau on the eve of an election to distract from his record of failure and incompetence.”

Scheer has softened his stance on same-

sex marriage since the debates over the Civil Marriage Act. He supported a move to erase the traditional definition of marriage from the Conservative Party of Canada’s policy book at its 2016 convention, arguing Canadians already had their say in two elections where same-sex marriage was a major issue, and that it had been legal for more than a decade.

Still, the Conservatives said earlier this year he would not take part in any Pride events, and he has dodged questions about his personal beliefs.

“People have personal views on things,” he said in a 2016 interview with CBC.

“I voted my conscience. I voted my constituents’ wishes. It’s not something that I’m looking to revisit or to reopen.”

Goodale said Thursday that promising not to reverse legislation on same-sex marriage does not go far enough.

“The unfortunate reality is that too many Canadians still face discrimination, hate and violence because of their sexual orientation,” Goodale said in a statement. “Canadians expect action, not words alone.”

Goodale, who was not available for comment, voted in favour of legalizing same-sex marriage in 2005. But he did vote against a private member’s motion calling for the recognition of same-sex spouses in 1995.

In 1999, Goodale voted in favour of a motion saying it was necessary to state that marriage should remain between one man and one woman, and that Parliament should do what it could to protect it.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh stepped into

the fray to say Scheer’s comments are why his party would not support the Conservatives should they win a minority government in the Oct. 21 vote.

“We can’t trust Mr. Scheer or his caucus to champion the fundamental rights of Canadians,” he said in a statement.

Jonathan Rose, an associate professor of Canadian politics at Queen’s University, said the video is setting the stage for the campaign to come.

“All parties need to is sow the seeds of doubt,” he said.

“This won’t cause anyone to change their mind, probably, but over time, the slow, steady, drip, drip, drip of these kinds of allegations from now right to election day may have people change their minds,” he said.

“It’s the first salvo in a long, ongoing war.”

Parents of Canadian in Syrian prison blast Scheer

The Canadian Press

The parents of Jack Letts, a British-Canadian man imprisoned in northern Syria, are chastising Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer for saying he wouldn’t lift a finger to help their son.

Scheer might react differently if his own child was locked in a foreign dungeon without access to a lawyer or contact with his family, John Letts and Sally Lane said in a statement distributed Thursday.

The couple, who live in Oxford, England, said it is time for Canadian politicians to show leadership and demonstrate that Ottawa is able to protect the rights and freedoms of all citizens.

Questions about the fate of Jack Letts, who is being held in a Kurdish jail in Syria, recently resurfaced following word that Britain had revoked his citizenship.

Letts’ parents said their son, who still holds Canadian citizenship,

went to Syria for religious and humanitarian reasons, not to fight for the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

It is irresponsible of Scheer, and the U.K. government, to “pass the buck” and let other countries deal with the Westerners being held in Syria following the demise of ISIL, they said.

Last year, John Letts accused Scheer and his colleagues of falsely stating Jack was a terrorist who had gone abroad to fight with the terrorist organization.

“Mr. Scheer and his colleagues have continued to spread lies about our son in order to appear to be ‘tough on terrorism,”’ the parents’ statement said.

“In 2018 we offered to show him all of the evidence we had about Jack, including undisclosed court documents that we believe prove his innocence. He refused to speak to us.

“Mr. Scheer knows that every

time he calls our son ‘Jihadi’ Jack (as the British press has done for five years) he condemns him in the mind of those who are unable to distinguish between ‘fake news’ and the truth, and drives another nail into our son’s coffin.”

A few Facebook messages allegedly sent by Jack show an “extremist mindset,” but he insists his account was hijacked by ISIL and that he did not send them, the statement added.

The parents said they also have evidence from a human-rights lawyer who visited their son that the only other potentially incriminating statements from Jack – during interviews with the BBC and ITV – were made under the threat of torture.

“Our son is a hostage, not a ‘prisoner.”’

Simon Jefferies, a spokesman for Scheer, said Thursday in response to the statement that the Conservative leader has been crystal

clear. “He would not lift one finger to bring this self-described terrorist to Canada.”

Neither the Opposition Conservatives nor the governing Liberals expressed enthusiasm this week for trying to secure Letts’ release.

Asked Monday if he would welcome Letts to Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would only say it is a crime to travel internationally with the aim of supporting terrorism.

“And that is a crime that we will continue to make all attempts to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.”

The Canadian government expressed disappointment Sunday that the United Kingdom had moved to “off-load their responsibilities” by stripping Letts’ British citizenship.

Like many Muslims, Jack wanted to help the people of Syria and naively thought that ISIL would build a genuine Islamic society

after the collapse of the Syrian regime, said his parents’ statement.

Once inside ISIL territory he realized his mistake, but anyone caught trying to escape was either crucified or decapitated, they said. Jack got married in Iraq and lived far from the war until his house was destroyed in an air strike and he was taken to Raqqa for medical treatment, the statement added.

While Raqqa was the headquarters of ISIL, it was also the centre of opposition to the regime and Jack worked with others to condemn the group publicly for being “un-Islamic.”

“He was imprisoned and tortured, but escaped from house arrest and went into hiding.”

For more than two years, he has been detained in Quamishi, capital of the Kurdish-controlled region of Rojava in northeastern Syria.

Drug price changes cause for concern

Some Canadian patients and groups that advocate on their behalf are sounding the alarm about the federal government’s recent changes to the way it regulates the cost of patented medicines.

Toronto lawyer and longtime Liberal supporter Chris MacLeod, who lives with cystic fibrosis, said it pains him to speak out against the government but he fears lives could be on the line as a result of what he calls a “wholly irresponsible” approach.

“It will be delayed access at best; denial or no access at worst,” MacLeod said.

Health Canada recently finalized its longawaited changes to establishing drug prices, which include providing the Patented Medicines Prices Review Board with the market price of medicines rather than an inflated list price. The department says the board –first created to ensure companies don’t use monopolies to charge excessive costs – can now consider whether the drug price actually reflects the value it has for patients.

Earlier this month, board chair Dr. Mitchell Levine also said the body now has the tools and information it needs to meaningfully protect Canadian consumers from excessive prices.

Statue pays tribute to Jack Layton

The Canadian Press

Jack Layton’s family and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh are celebrating the late politician’s life today, saying they continue to be inspired by his memory.

Layton’s wife Olivia Chow, his son, and Singh placed flowers at a statue of the former NDP leader to commemorate the eighth anniversary of his death. Mike Layton says he misses his father, who inspired people to do good for others to make the country a better place.

CP PHOTO

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, seen arriving Tuesday at a child-care facility in Toronto, spoke out against same-sex marriage as MPs were debating whether to legalize it nearly 15 years ago, and the Liberals are reminding everyone about it while pressuring him to attend the Ottawa Pride parade.

The Canadian Press

Youngest Seibert sprints to victory

Three generations of same family race in West Coast Vintage event at PGARA Speedway

Ted CLARKE Citizen staff tclarke@pgcitizen.ca

Ryley Seibert knew his dad was somewhere in the pack of sprint cars he spotted in his rear view mirror as he made his way around the dimly-lit track at PGARA Speedway.

They’ve been duking it out for years in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series race circuit and his father Trevor is never that far from the frontrunners. But he wasn’t much of a factor in Wednesday night’s 30-lap West Coast Vintage Racers A-main event.

Ryley made sure of that when he took off from the rest of the field early in the race and with his grandfather Karl watching from the pits, he held that lead the rest of the way to pull off the victory.

“The name of the game was to run a gap and get away from all the guys that were going to have to pick their way through from the back and it worked out for me,” said Ryley. “It’s unfortunate, I don’t like to win like that when all the fast guys are in the back. But I was going to take my advantage and run with it.”

Ryley’s car broke during practice and he has just four laps and qualified 12th in a 24-car field. The inverted start order meant he started the A-main on the pole. Matt Stephenson of Penticton finished a couple seconds behind him in second place and Tyson Cross wrapped up third, with Trevor Seibert in fourth. After that it was anybody guess who finished where in the 12-car feature race, which included local drivers Richie Larson and Wendell Moore. Trevor, 51, qualified 13th and lapped the rest of the field in the 20-lap B-main to advance to the

A-main. Karl, his 80-year-old father and Ryley’s grandfather, also qualified in a sprint car Wednesday and completed the dash and C-heat races.

“To have three generations of racing on the race track at the same time is pretty special,” said Ryley. “It’s the first time we’ve all been on the track together and to bring home the win is really awesome.”

Karl Seibert, a longtime veteran stock car driver in the ‘60s, ‘70’s and ‘80’s, introduced Trevor to racing carts as a young kid and was with him all the way as he developed, racing the Player’s-GM Canadian circuit to CASCAR, Indy Lights, Formula Atlantic and the NASCAR Pinty’s series and he relished the opportunity to join the sprint car fray and take on Trevor and Ryley on Wednesday. He had just 15 practice laps in Ryley’s car in Williams Lake before they drove to Prince George.

“I get a joy out of this because Ryley and Trevor are pretty well equal when both their cars are good,” said Karl. “I still root for Trevor. Him and I spent a lot of time together all over North America.”

Karl knew he didn’t have a shot at winning, but proved he can still handle a car spewing out more than 600 horsepower.

“I just decided if I could get a car I’d give this a go,” Karl said. “My biggest concern is getting in somebody’s way. I don’t want to wreck one of these guys who are really good. They’re going by so fast.

“I said to Trevor, ‘You’ll pass me every five laps, so just pass me the donuts and coffee, I take it black.’” Trevor, who operates an excavating company in Vancouver, raced the West Coast Series race last year in Williams Lake with Ryley and finished second. He designed and built Area 27, a fivekilometre road course race track in Oliver and he’s building a fleet of identical race cars for a new series on that course, which restricts the time he has to race.

“It was exciting to see all three of us out there for sure,” said Trevor.

“For me it’s a lot like the old days when I ran the open-wheel stuff but it’s been a long time since I drove anything with the wheels sticking out the side.

“It was awesome to see Ryley win his race. I wish I had something for him but I lost my brakes

Young Guns loaded for Cats’ camp

Ted CLARKE Citizen staff

Let the shooting begin.

The Prince George Cougars begin their training camp today at CN Centre and the team’s youngest prospects will get first crack at impressing the coaching staff when they play tonight in the Young Guns (Team Brewer versus Team Hamhuis) game starting at 6 p.m.

The Young Guns game includes the 17-and-under prospects the Cougars have picked in the bantam draft the past two years or have otherwise recruited as free agents to their 50-player protected list. Following morning practices and workouts, 90-minute scrimmages begin Saturday with Team Chara taking on Team Byfuglien starting at 2:30 p.m. and Team Connolly facing Team Bourke at 4:30 p.m.

All training camp sessions are open to the public and Cougars fans will get to see firstround draft picks for 2019 – defenceman Keaton Dowhaniuk, who went third overall and their fourth-overall pick, centre Koehn Ziemmer.

Forward Filip Kofer, a native of the Czech Republic selected 10th overall in the draft, will get his first opportunity to show why the Cougars selected him 10th overall in the CHL import draft in June.

This is Cats’ general manager Mark Lamb’s first training camp since taking on

the role as head coach in late July.

Associate coach Jason Smith will also be on hand since he was hired over the summer, joined by former associate coach Steve O’Rourke, who was just announced this week as the team’s director of player development. Training camp scrimmages continue Sunday at 9 and 11 a.m., 3:30 and 5:30 p.m., and on Monday at 4 and 6 p.m. On Tuesday, following practice sessions, the team will have its annual Black-White intrasquad game starting at 7 p.m.

Cougar fans will have a chance during Tuesday’s game to participate in the SelectA-Seat promotion to try different seats in the building before making their choices on season memberships.

• Former Cougar defenceman Joel Lakusta has accepted a U Sports scholarship to play in Edmonton this season with the University of Alberta Golden Bears. The 20-year-old from Sherwood Park, Alta., played 239 games with the Cats over four full seasons. Last year he picked up five goals and 25 points in 59 games.

The Cougars other two graduates from 2018-19, forwards Josh Curtis and Mike MacLean, have also landed U Sports scholarships. Curtis is heading to Queens University in Toronto while MacLean is bound for Concordia in Montreal.

in the (B-main). The brakes were locked on so we basically ran with no front brakes just to get the race behind us. We’re usually neck-and-neck, even in these cars we swap back and forth between who’s beating up on who on any particular day. There won’t be too many days I’ll be able to chase him down.”

The combination of poor lighting in front of the grandstand and small number decals on the cars made it extremely difficult for lapcounters and spectators to identify the drivers in their sprint cars, which became a blur as they sped around the three-eighths-mile oval track only about 16 seconds.

The Prince George race was the third West Coast Racers event this season for the 27-year-old Ryley, a former WESCAR racer who grew up in Williams Lake but now lives in Whitecourt, Alta. He also caught up with the series in Arizona, racing in Tucson and Lake Havasu. The delicate touch needed to control a sprint car is teaching him an entirely new skill-set than what he was used to racing late-model series.

“I’m really enjoying it, this group they’ve got here is a lot of fun,

these guys are good,” he said. Good and experienced. Karl Seibert wasn’t the oldest driver in the bunch. Eighty-four-year-old Ralph Monhay of Spokane, Wash., has 64 years of racing behind him and showed that experience winning his trophy dash race. Monhay started in 1955 in Burnaby and used to race at the old highbanked PGARA track when he was part of the Canadian American Modified Racing Association (CAMRA) super-modified series. The West Coast Racers ran with the four PGARA race series and crashes plagued the evening, which made for a long night at the track. It was about 11:30 p.m. when Ryley Seibert took the checkered flag in the feature race.

In the Canadian Tire street stock series, points leader Lyall McComber gave up his driver’s seat to Paul Clark, who had a tough time controlling the car. He clipped the grandstand wall during the heat race trying to make a pass and peeled back a fender, then had three spinouts and was ordered to report to the pits. In the main event, Clark spun again and after the caution was black-flagged again near the end of the race for causing another wreck coming out of the backstretch with Lawrence Barks and Lloyd Olson, who finished second and third respectively behind race winner Shane Murphy.

Quinton Bonn of Quesnel won the Ron’s Towing hornet main event, while Spencer Forseth captured the Chieftain Auto Parts mini stock feature race.

Former IndyCar driver Cliff Hucul waved the ceremonial green flag to start the West Coast main event, while Crystal and Carl Hiebert, the daughter and son of PGARA/Interior Open Wheel Association legend Ken Hiebert, were came up from Penticton to wave the checkered flag at the end of race.

The West Coast Series moves on to Goldpan Speedway in Quesnel on Friday for the Doug Larson Memorial race, then hits Thunder Mountain Speedway in Williams Lake on Saturday.

School in session for

Ted CLARKE Citizen staff

The future is now for the Prince George Spruce Kings. Coming off the shortest off-season in the team’s 23-year B.C. Hockey League history, the Kings officially begin training camp today with fitness testing followed by practice sessions at 1 and 2:45 p.m. at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena.

Just three months have passed since the Spruce Kings played their last game of 2018-19 when they lost 4-3 to the Brooks Bandits in the National Junior A Championship final in Brooks, Alta.

The 32 players invited to camp will be play for either Team White and Team Blue in an intrasquad game at 7 p.m. tonight.

The Kings will gather for practices Saturday at 10 and 11:15 a.m., then play intrasquad games at 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday.

A round of cuts will follow Sunday’s game and the remaining players will be around for the first exhibition game Tuesday at 7 p.m. when they face the Merritt Centennials at RMCA.

The same two teams meet again next Friday in Merritt to wrap up the brief exhibition schedule.

Kings

After sending 15 players to college hockey teams, just eight players are left from the team that won its first Fred Page Cup BCHL championship and Doyle Cup Pacific region championship last spring. The eight returning players are: defencemen Jason Chu and Nick Bochen, and forwards Corey Cunningham, Nolan Welsh, Craig MacDonald, Fin Williams, Nick Poisson and Chong Min Lee.

Nine on the Spruce Kings’ training camp roster already have NCAA Division 1 scholarships lined up, including Bochen (Michigan), Williams (Michigan), Poisson (Providence), and new recruits D Nolan Barrett (Merrimack), D Brendan Hill (Lake Superior State), F Thomas Richter (Union), F Andrew Seaman (Union), F Henry Wagner (Yale) and F Ryan McAllister (Western Michigan).

Kings fans will get their first look at 20-year-old goalie Jett Alexander, selected last season as the country’s top junior A netminder after backing the North York Rangers to the Ontario Junior Hockey League conference finals. The native of Bloomfield, Ont., was also a national junior A MVP finalist.

The Kings open their 24th BCHL season on Friday, Sept. 6 at home against the Surrey Eagles.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE

Ryley Seibert of Whitecourt leads the pack around the track at PGARA Motor Speedway on Wednesday during West Coast Vintage Racing Association sprint car action.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE

Carl Seibert leads the pack around the track at PGARA Motor Speedway on Wednesday during West Coast Vintage Racing Association sprint car action.

Should people have a right to sleep on city streets?

Tim CRAIG The Washington Post

AUSTIN, Texas – Christopher Paul hasn’t felt a police officer tapping at his foot in more than a month – the tap, tap, tap that usually meant he was about to get another citation that he was never going to pay.

Living on the streets for five years after he lost his graphicdesign job, Paul has been having undisturbed nights since the city council and mayor eased restrictions on “public camping” this summer, a move that liberal lawmakers billed as a humane and pragmatic reform of the criminaljustice system. But the change has drawn the ire of Republicans and local business owners who decry it as a threat to public safety and the local economy, exposing a partisan clash over how to manage poverty and affordable housing in America’s cities.

Since Austin’s public-camping ban was relaxed, “people can sleep much better in the open, and they are a lot safer than somewhere hiding in a back alley,” said Paul, who estimates that he received 20 citations for illegal camping before the rule change went into effect July 1. But as Paul, 50, sprawled out shirtless on the sidewalk on a 38 C day, shop owner Craig Staley stood a few feet away on Congress Avenue reconsidering his party affiliation.

“I got two emails last month from customers who said, ‘I can’t go to your store anymore because it smells like urine,’” said Staley, who operates Royal Blue Grocery. “I am a Democrat at heart; I have been in Austin for over 30 years. But I am telling you, I am feeling a lot more red these days when it comes to my business.”

With an estimated 2,200 homeless adults sleeping on sidewalks and in makeshift tent cities, Austin has become the latest flash point in a debate over whether homeless residents have a right to sleep on public streets, particularly in cities with overcrowded shelters.

As a legal matter, the issue could reach the U.S. Supreme Court. The city of Boise, Idaho, plans to appeal a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which applies in nine Western states. The ruling determined that criminalizing public sleeping is unconstitutional when there is inadequate shelter space.

Meanwhile, Republicans have made the nation’s growing homeless population a political weapon, characterizing it as a failure of liberal policies.

“Look at Los Angeles with the tents and the horrible, horrible conditions,” President Donald Trump said at a Cincinnati rally this month. “Look at San Francisco; look at some of your other cities.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, when asked about Trump’s recent comments, said that Democratic policies have fueled the economic resurgence of U.S. cities that has caused a short-term increase in homelessness. California has the secondhighest rate of homelessness in the nation after New York, according to federal data.

“We don’t need (the president’s) megaphone to tell us we have challenges,” said Newsom, adding that California is spending $1.7 billion to address housing affordability.

In Austin, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has threatened to push the GOP-dominated Texas legislature to pass a law overriding Austin’s public-camping action. The Travis County Republican Party has organized a petition drive calling for the policy to be rescinded, and local party leaders are trying to put it on the ballot next spring.

“They thought it would be compassionate and not a big deal, but it has been an absolute disaster for this city,” said Matt Mackowiak, chairman of the county party. “This is our best example of (liberal) overreach, so we have been very strategic focusing on this issue.”

But Austin officials are refusing to back down, saying it’s not practical to effectively criminalize homelessness.

“When you move these people, they don’t disappear. They just go somewhere else,” said Austin Mayor Steve Adler, a Democrat. “The real answer is not just moving people from there to over there and back again. The real answer is giving them the services they need.” Previously, the city prohibited “sitting or lying down on public

sidewalks or sleeping outdoors” in downtown Austin, where an influx of well-paid workers has driven up the cost of housing. Between 2014 and 2016, Austin police issued 18,000 citations for rule violations, which cost as much as $500 with court fees, though many violators received only community service hours.

But those cited didn’t show up for court 90 per cent of the time, a 2017 city auditor’s report found, and nearly three-quarters of the citations led to an arrest warrant.

Concerned that those criminal records made it even harder for homeless people to find jobs and housing, the Austin City Council amended the ordinance to allow loitering if an individual is not posing a threat to the “health or safety of another person or themselves” or “impeding the reasonable use of a public area.” Overnight camping is still prohibited in city parks and at city hall.

“We basically said, if someone is poor, and they have nowhere to sleep, and they are not endangering or blocking anyone, how can we say that is wrong?” said Gregorio “Greg” Casar, a council member who pushed to ease the rules.

Alvin Sanderson, who has been living on Austin streets since he was released from prison in 2014, thinks the new approach is saving lives. After he received two citations for public camping, Sanderson slept in drainage ditches to avoid the police until, one night in 2018, he was awakened by a thunderous wall of water that crashed down the creek bed during a flash flood.

“The water hit my back and I stood up and it just washed me off my feet,” said Sanderson, 64, who was swept downstream.

Sanderson was rescued, but his story helped convince Austin lawmakers that they needed to bring homelessness out of the shadows.

Now, on some mornings, dozens of homeless people are sleeping on sidewalks in the city’s well-known East Sixth Street nightlife district. A messy encampment has been erected near a mural honouring two Texas music legends, Janis Joplin and Willie Nelson.

That has sparked intense backlash from Austin business owners along the corridor.

“We hear it from our guests that walk into the restaurant and say, ‘My God, what has happened to Austin?’” said Gary Manley, owner of the Iron Cactus Mexican Restaurant, Grill and Margarita Bar.

There were about 553,000 homeless people in the United States last year, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and 35 per cent of them were not sleeping in shelters.

It was the second consecutive annual increase in homelessness, a trend being driven by single adults, the report noted.

The debate over camping bans

triggered a far-reaching federal lawsuit in Boise, where the ban was ruled a violation of the constitutional right against “cruel and unusual punishment,” because sleep is “biologically essential.”

Theane Evangelis, an attorney for the city of Boise, said courts should not “usurp” the role of local governments in regulating public health and safety, noting that homeless camps in Los Angeles and elsewhere have been battling outbreaks of disease.

“We need to keep control over those issues in local communities because they are very complex problems, and constitutionalizing the issue ties the hands of cities and states to address this,” Evangelis said. She is partnering with attorney Theodore Olson, who argued the Supreme Court case that mandated same-sex marriage nationwide.

On a recent morning in Austin, Curtis Underwood, 49, was sitting along Sixth Street with a bloody nose. He said he suffers from epilepsy and had just been to a local social service agency searching for housing but was turned away.

“They said there is a waiting list of at least six months,” Underwood said. “I guess I need to get a job, but the rent is so expensive because all the people from California are moving here.”

The wait list for affordable housing is about three years, said Adler, the city’s mayor. Austin is planning to spend $30 million to build more, but Adler notes that state funding has been stagnantone reason he’s outraged over the governor’s opposition to Austin’s public-camping action.

The day after the relaxed rules took effect, Abbott retweeted a photograph of a car crash and implied that a homeless person caused it by running into traffic.

“Look at this insanity caused by Austin’s reckless homeless policy,” Abbott wrote.

Austin police later told local news media that there was no evidence a pedestrian caused the crash.

Abbott did not respond to requests for comment.

But even some homeless people in Austin question whether the rules are too lenient.

“Everyone now has a sense of entitlement, and now things are beyond out of control,” said Ambra Hall, 38, a homeless woman who was sitting in a camp while five men were passed out at her feet after smoking synthetic cannabinoids. “It went from one extreme to another, from criminalizing people for not having a home, to this.” Drug use and crime in some homeless camps has become fodder for Republican politicians in Texas and nationally.

In Washington, state Sen. Phil Fortunato announced that he will run for governor next year on a platform that includes removing the “criminal homeless” from the streets by incarcerating them for

even minor crimes.

“Everyone wants to address it with kid gloves,” Fortunato said. “You have got to get them off the streets.”

Republicans think they have the upper hand, noting that Denver’s “Right to Survive” measure, which would have allowed people to sleep in tents or cars in public, was voted down by 82 per cent of voters this spring. In Austin, however, views about the camping rules may be less decisive.

Homeless residents “have nowhere else to go,” said Michael Sherman, 40, a graphic designer who moved to Austin four years ago. “So it doesn’t bother me if they are just lying around.”

WASHINGTON POST PHOTOS

Above, Alvin Sanderson, 64, rests on a bench in Butler Park. Sanderson said he thinks the Austin rule change is a lifesaver. Right, Christopher Paul, who is homeless, stands outside a grocery store. Below right, David Fields sits on Sixth Street in Austin.

Living with face blindness

When your brain won’t let you recognize people, how do you navigate the world?

Sadie DINGFELDER

The Washington Post

Last year, I was trailing behind my husband Steve in a grocery store when he grabbed a jar of store-brand peanut butter from a shelf. I plucked it out of our cart and examined the label.

“Since when do you buy generic?” I demanded.

Steve jumped away from me, his eyes wide with fear and surprise. It was an expression unlike anything I’d seen cross my husband’s face before – because, I belatedly realized, this man was not my husband. I dropped the peanut butter jar and sprinted off – leaving this poor stranger utterly perplexed. When I found Steve in the frozenfood aisle, I told him what had happened.

“It’s because you have the same coat,” I explained. “Good thing you have different cars, or I might have gone home with him.”

“You have no idea what my car looks like,” Steve said. He would know. Steve has learned that I will stand on the curb squinting into every car that passes by if he doesn’t honk or wave. I’d long assumed that only car fanatics could identify cars on sight, but, by then, I was beginning to understand that my visual world is a lot different from everyone else’s. After all, I had been quicker to notice the wrong label on a jar of peanut butter than the wrong face on my husband. That doesn’t happen to normal people. And instead of smoothing my mistake into a funny story, for the first time I saw it as evidence that something might be wrong with my brain.

This spring, I found out that I have a rare neurological disorder known as prosopagnosia, or face blindness. This discovery sent me on a journey that I thought, at first, would be a lark. After all, I’m a happy, successful adult – who cares if my brain isn’t quite like everyone else’s? What I didn’t realize was that this diagnosis would make me question all the stories I’ve ever told about myself, the very fabric of my identity. It felt like I’d bought a ticket for a Ferris wheel and ended up being launched into space.

I first learned about face blindness in 2010, when I read an article by Oliver Sacks in the New Yorker.

Like me, Sacks had long assumed that his difficulties remembering people were the result of general absent-mindedness. It wasn’t until halfway through his life that Sacks – a neurologist! –realized that he had a neurological disorder. I read with astonishment as he described moments from his life that could have been lifted from mine.

We’ve both, for instance, accidentally snubbed our respective therapists and were later forced to unpack the incidents at length.

“It’s not just you,” I said to Dr. Jadin during a session. “Sometimes I don’t recognize my own mother.” That wasn’t exactly true, but I did mistake my aunt for my mom last Thanksgiving. I’m told the two don’t look very much alike, but they became identical to me when my aunt dyed her hair blond.

Despite these similarities, I was hesitant to diagnose myself with Sacks’s disorder.

For one thing, it seemed presumptuous to think that I had the same condition as this world-famous scientist and science writer. Also, his experience didn’t quite line up with mine.

As Sacks writes: “I think that a significant part of what is variously called my ‘shyness,’ my ‘reclusiveness,’ my ‘social ineptitude,’ my ‘eccentricity,’ even my ‘Asperger’s syndrome,’ is a consequence and a misinterpretation of my difficulty recognizing faces.” This didn’t sound like me at all. I am not the least bit shy – in fact, I talk to strangers every day. Sometimes it feels like all I do is talk to strangers.

I tossed that New Yorker into my recycling bin, but the topic of face blindness lingered. On occasion, I even connected it to myself, saying, “Sorry, I’m a little face blind,” when I couldn’t remember someone, but I meant it as a joke, a comic exaggeration.

One day I was thinking about the grocery store incident and I started Googling prosopagnosia. Then I began searching medical databases and emailing scientists, asking them to send me the full text of their studies if I couldn’t find them free online.

Printouts piled up on my desk until I had more than I could pos-

sibly hope to read. Why was there so much research on such a rare disorder?

I walk down the hall to my appointment with Joseph DeGutis, the lead researcher of the faceblindness study I have come to Boston to participate in. He is a neuroscientist with a joint appointment at Harvard Medical School and the Boston VA.

DeGutis, a young, athletic man, stands up from his chair and thanks me for coming. I know I’m going to have to find him later, when we meet up for my fMRI brain scan, so I try to memorize his face – handsome, if a little wolfish.

“So am I face blind?” I ask.

“We think you have mild to moderate prosopagnosia,” he says. DeGutis doesn’t want to elaborate because knowing too much about the experiment could taint my data. “We’ll tell you everything you could ever want to know when you’re done.”

Prosopagnosiacs can be tough to recruit for studies, he adds. They are so good at working around their disability that they trick everyone into thinking that they are normal, including themselves. And when they do recognize that something is amiss, it’s hard to convince anyone else of the fact. It’s so difficult to describe how you see the world because you don’t have anything to compare it to.

Plus, early tests of facial recognition were defeated by prosopagnosiacs who used hair and ears and facial expressions to remember who was who.

The tests I’d taken that morning truly were impossible. I particularly struggled with one that began with a grid of six faces. Somehow, I was supposed to memorize them and then pick out the ones I’d seen before from lineups of nearly identical mugs. “There’s no way anyone can do that,” I assert.

Actually, the Cambridge Face Memory Test is pretty easy for most people because normal folks have a near photographic memory for faces, DeGutis says. The brain doesn’t bother to do that for any other kind of object. Give people a grid of six rocks, and there’s no way they can pick them out of a lineup. But faces tend to make an indelible imprint in our minds.

This is possible because of an olive-size lump of brain located just above and behind each of your ears – the fusiform face area. The FFA seems to come programmed with information about facial configuration – two eyes above a nose above a mouth. Researchers shining lights onto the bellies of pregnant women have found that third-trimester fetuses orient to this pattern, as do babies who are just a few hours old, DeGutis explains.

“Even before you’re born, you have this kind of proclivity toward faces,” he says. This is also why people see faces in electrical outlets, on the front of cars, on burned toast – basically everywhere two dots appear over a line.

Although we are born with basic facial-recognition software, we have to tune it by scrutinizing the faces around us, DeGutis adds. This is why people who are mostly exposed to faces from their own racial group sometimes think (but hopefully don’t say) that so many of the people from another group look alike. It’s also why people

fact that some of these people are acquaintances and even friends is no solace. It’s actually a source of constant anxiety.

who are born blind but gain the ability to see as adults often end up face blind.

A few people become face blind when they have an FFA-damaging stroke, but most face-blind people simply seem to be born with faulty FFAs.

“There’s a genetic component,” DeGutis says. “Is anyone in your family face blind?”

“Not as far as I know,” I say. “But I am stereo blind.”

My eyes are so badly misaligned that my brain can’t combine the two images into one mental picture.

Because I’m always seeing out of one eye or the other, my world is a little flat. 3-D movies are lost on me, and I’ve never once caught a flyball.

“That could definitely be related,” DeGutis says. It’s not the whole story, though – six to 12 per cent of people are stereo blind, but only about two per cent are face blind, and the two don’t always go together.

An interesting thing about people who are born face blind – the so-called developmental prosopagnosiacs – is that they are otherwise normal. In DeGutis’ experience, prosopagnosiacs tend to be smarter than average, perhaps because they often have lonely childhoods with lots of time for reading, thinking and other solitary pursuits.

Being face blind means living in a world full of strangers. The

One face-blind man I read about walked around with his eyes downcast to avoid chance encounters with people he knew but couldn’t recognize. This earned him a reputation for being aloof, which made it even harder for him to make friends.

There’s some evidence that faces act as the brain’s file folder for all the other information you gather about people – when and where and how you met; their favorite bands; the name of their last boyfriend; and why they broke up.

Because my brain is unable to make a good file folder, these details often get lost at the bottom of the drawer.

Some face-blind people can hitch biographical details to people’s voices, but for me, face blindness means being a little people blind, too.

Of course, I didn’t know any of this at age 19.

All I knew was that people I didn’t know often greeted me, and I never stopped to chat for fear that they’d figure out my ignorance and be offended.

How, I asked my dad, do you have a conversation with someone you don’t recognize?

“Everyone just wants to talk about themselves,” he said. “Just ask a lot of questions, and they’ll think you’re the most fascinating person in the world.”

I took this tip back to college, and it transformed my life.

In one semester, I went from being lonely all the time to having too many friends to fit into my dorm room.

All it took was faking that I knew the people who appeared to know me.

When I was walking to class, if someone seemed to be looking my way, I smiled. If they smiled, I stopped to chat. Before long, the whole campus was brimming with close, personal friends of mine.

A lot of my friends don’t believe me when I tell them I’m face blind. “But you can recognize me, can’t you?” they say.

The answer is: sometimes.

If you’re in the right context, in good lighting and wearing your usual glasses, my brain will probably put the clues together and come up with a name. If you’ve popped up somewhere unexpected or gotten a haircut, there’s a good chance I won’t. What I will see, instead, is a person who seems to know me, and I will greet you warmly and hope that, at some point, you say something that clues me in to who you are.

I have spent my whole life pretending that I know what’s going on and trusting that I will eventually figure it out. This comfort with uncertainty is perhaps prosopagnosia’s greatest gift – and most vexing characteristic.

In July, I celebrated my 40th birthday with 60 or so of my closest friends, many of whom I wasn’t able to recognize on sight. I was fine with that, and, presumably, they were, too. Most of them have no idea that I am face blind; they probably just think that I am absent-minded. Or maybe I’ve been so good at faking it that it has never occurred to them that they all look pretty much the same to me.

WASHINGTON POST

A photograph of the author, left, and an illustration of her.

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

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HUBERT,RolandG.

March25,1948-May9,2019

Rolandpassedawaypeacefullysurroundedbyhis wifeandchildren.Hewillbedeeplymissedbywife, Louise;children,Jeremy,Jarod,Rachael,Lisa, Shelly,Mary,andJoe;his13grandchildrenandhis fourgreat-grandchildren. Heissurvivedbymother,TeresaHubert,andhis siblings. PleasejoinusforacelebrationoflifeatWestside ChurchonSeptember7that1pm.

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.

JACK BATEMAN LITTLEdo you know Jack? In addition to selling “schmoos”, picnic tables, pallets,fences, and any other entreprenuerial enterprises he could think of, he was the founder of Dollar Saver Lumber, sold real estate (WG Barton), worked for Finning, was involved in Kiwanis, curled, golfed, volunteered at Salvation Army food bank, had a regular “coffee with the boys” date, and was one of the sign installers for quite a few political campaigns. If you ever spent time with him, you know he loved a good prank, was always ready to help with any project (and his kids always had something on the go). Help us celebrate his 88 years of living by joining our family at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club on Saturday, August 24th at 12:30 to 4:30 pm.

Louise Little, Bob Little and Deborah Cripps and families. We miss you, Jack Little. 1931-2019

Obituaries

Obituaries

Threats cloud global economy

The Associated Press

As global leaders gather on two continents to take account of a darkening economic outlook, this is the picture they face:

Factories are slumping, many businesses are paralyzed, global growth is sputtering and the world’s two mightiest economies are in the grip of a dangerous trade war.

Barely a year after most of the world’s major countries were enjoying an unusual moment of shared prosperity, the global economy may be at risk of returning to the rut it tumbled into after the financial crisis of 2007-2009.

Worse, solutions seem far from obvious. Central banks can’t just slash interest rates. Rates are already ultra-low. And even if they did, the central banks would risk robbing themselves of the ammunition they would need later to fight a recession. What’s more, high government debts make it politically problematic to cut taxes or pour money into new bridges, roads and other public works projects.

“Our tools for fighting recession are no doubt more limited (than) in the past,” said Karen Dynan, an economist at Harvard University’s Kennedy School.

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have downgraded the outlook for worldwide growth. On Thursday, Moody’s Investors Service said it expects the global economy to expand 2.7 per cent this year and next – down from 3.2 per cent the previous two years. And it issued a dark warning: Get used to it.

“The new normal will likely continue for the next three to four years,” the credit rating agency said.

Concerns are rising just as central bankers meet in Jackson Hole, Wyo., and leaders of the Group of Seven advanced economies gather this weekend in the resort town of Biarritz in southwestern France. A spotlight will shine, in particular, on whatever message Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell sends in a speech Friday in Jackson Hole.

The dour global outlook partly reflects U.S. President Donald Trump’s combative trade conflicts with China and other countries. A realization has taken hold that Trump likely will keep deploying tariffs – and in some cases escalating them – to try to beat concessions out of U.S. trading partners.

“The trade uncertainty is here to stay,” said Madhavi Bokil, senior credit officer at Moody’s. Squeezed by tightening protectionism, global trade is likely to grow just 2.5 per cent this year, its slowest pace in three years, the IMF says. Manufacturers, whose fortunes are closely tied to trade, are struggling. J.P. Morgan’s global manufacturing index dropped in July for a third straight month, hitting the lowest level since 2012.

The global funk also reflects the pull of gravity: the economies of Europe and Japan, fueled by central banks’ easy-money policies, overexerted themselves a couple of years ago and are now returning to their more typical state: sluggishness.

The IMF expects China’s economy, the world’s second biggest, to grow 6.2 per cent this year – the weakest since 1990 – and just six per cent next year. Trump’s trade war is certainly a factor. The president has imposed tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese imports and is set to tax nearly $300 billion more before year’s end. China’s slowdown is also being orchestrated in part by the officials in Beijing, who are trying to contain lending to control the country’s runaway debts.

And an economic chill in China sends shivers into the many countries – from copper-produc-

Emily hit the golf ball and started running, swinging her club mid-stride, she repeatedly hit the ball and kept sprinting forward toward the first hole. Our yelling and laughter confused her and finally she stopped. “What are you yelling about?” she turned to us defiantly. “You told me that the goal was to get the golf ball into the hole!”

Emily’s understanding of the game of golf was that the first one to get their ball into the hole was the winner. The competitive nature of her Grade 7 brain decided that golf was a race and not a game. Unfortunately, many small business owners are unsure of the rules and goals of the game of business. For example, when we first start a business, we often end up thinking that the goal is to make the most sales possible in the shortest period of time. While sales are essentially important in business, if we sell the wrong

ing Chile to iron ore-making Australia – that feed Chinese factories with raw materials.

Then there’s Europe. In the 19 countries that use the euro currency, growth slowed to an anemic 0.2 per cent in the second quarter from the quarter before.

The eurozone, which maintains close trade ties with the U.S. and China, has been sideswiped by the collision between Trump and President Xi Jinping. What’s more, Trump has threatened to impose significant tariffs on European auto imports.

Even more than the tariffs themselves, uncertainty over whether the trade disputes will be resolved is chilling investment and purchasing. Despite cheap borrowing costs from central bank stimulus, investment in new plants is lagging – an ominous sign that bosses don’t foresee future prosperity.

In Europe’s usual economic powerhouse, Germany, the economy shrank 0.1 per cent in the second quarter from the quarter before. If output should fall for a second straight quarter, Germany would find itself on the verge of a recession.

Some of Germany’s troubles originate closer to home. Its major automakers have been compelled to sink billions into technology to meet stricter emissions tests, and some have endured delays in doing so. BMW lost money on its car business for the first time in a decade in the first quarter. Daimler posted its first net loss since 2009 in the second quarter.

Brexit is another risk for Europe. Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the U.K. will leave the 28-country European Union and its free-trade zone on Oct. 31, with or without a divorce deal. Not knowing what will happen is a nagging source of uncertainty.

Facing such risks, the European Central Bank has signalled that it could launch new monetary stimulus as early as next month. As recently as December, the ECB had been confident enough in the European economy to halt a nearly four-year, $2.6 trillion euro ($2.9

FULLER

product to the wrong person, make sales that aren’t profitable, or end up selling a product or service that isn’t reliable or that we can’t fulfill our promises on, our business isn’t going to be around long. Recently, I received a testimonial from a business owner I worked with, that while working with me their sales dropped by $200,000 but their profits doubled. Hopefully you get the point here. Until we understand that the rule of business is that we need revenue, but the right type of customers and buying the right product at the right time is critical. Failure to understand this can result in disappointment. Another rule of business that often isn’t considered is the rule of cause and effect. We think that

trillion) bond purchase program. That optimism has vanished.

The U.S. economy, now enjoying a recordbreaking 10-year expansion, still shows resilience. American consumers, whose spending accounts for 70 per cent of U.S. economic activity, have driven the growth.

Retail sales have risen sharply so far this year, with people shopping online and spending more at restaurants. Their savings rates are also the highest since 2012, which suggests that consumers aren’t necessarily stretching themselves too thin, according to the Commerce Department.

But Trump’s tariffs loom over the U.S. economy. The import taxes he plans to impose on China on Sept. 1 and again on Dec. 15 are likely to hit ordinary Americans more than the earlier rounds of tariffs.

Already, companies are delaying investments because they don’t know where to put new factories, seek suppliers or find customers until they have a better idea where the trade disputes are going. “Uncertainty is high,” said Eric Lascelles, chief economist at RBC Global Asset Management. “Businesses everywhere are sitting on their hands.”

“All forecasts for the U.S. economy in the second half of this year and beyond are contingent on the trade war,” Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, concluded in a note Thursday.

For all the global gloom, RBC’s Lascelles said policymakers aren’t without options. Even with short-term interest rates near zero, central banks can aggressively buy bonds to pump money into the financial system – the so-called quantitative easing the Federal Reserve, the ECB and the Bank of Japan used to revive growth during and after the financial crisis.

And even with the heavy debt burdens, governments could capitalize on low rates to borrow cheaply if they decided to stimulate their economies with tax cuts or stepped-up spending, Lascelles said.

because we have a business offering products or services, customers will flock to us. In reality, 50 per cent of businesses go broke within three years because they don’t understand the rule of cause and effect.

Everything we do in business has an effect. If we want customers to buy from us, we have to do something. That something is called effective marketing. In marketing and sales, we need to do three things:

1. Capture our ideal client’s attention.

2. Give them a reason to believe in us.

3. Give them a call to action. The purpose of marketing is to attract customers and the purpose of sales is to sell our product or services to those prospective customers attracted by our marketing. The rule of cause and effect states that failure to establish the necessary marketing research and resources will have an effect that is undesirable for the business. Sales is another area where

many business owners don’t know the rules of the game. They fail to put in the effort to have a sales model and adequate sales training, and then can’t understand why they don’t have the sales that they need. Often there are unspoken rules in smaller communities where business owners are operating. If a business owner is too outspoken, opens on the wrong days, or competes with the some of the “in-crowd,” there may be repercussions that include the silent boycotting of the business.

Business and golf might look easy to an outsider and there are people who have natural talent in both. However, until we are taught some of the basic rules, we might be chasing down balls and dollars in a game that we are guaranteed to lose.

— Dave Fuller, MBA, is an award-winning business coach and the author of the book Profit Yourself Healthy. Confused about your business? Email dave@ profityourselfhealthy.com.

chairman. “The markets are in a bit of a holding pattern today,” said Candice Bangsund, portfolio manager for Fiera Capital. The speech by Jerome Powell at Jackson Hole, Wyo., is “going to really give the market a better idea of where the Fed’s thinking is at following that first rate cut in July.”

Markets mostly fell Thursday after minutes from the July Fed meeting released Wednesday highlighted opposition within the Fed to reducing interest rates. Two Fed presidents then said in interviews that they didn’t believe cuts were required given the relative strength of the U.S. economy. Bangsund said markets were on the defensive because they were gauging this “hawkish rhetoric” that brought into question the markets’ overly aggressive expectations for further rate cuts.

Reducing interest rates will help to steepen the yield curve, which inverted again briefly on Thursday, Bangsund said.

She expects Powell’s comments will be “pretty balanced,” acknowledging the health of the U.S. economy but adding that there are prevailing risks that allow the Fed to take a wait-and-see approach.

“What we’re going to be searching for are some clues and some clarification as to his thinking on the future policy move given the latest developments,” she said, adding that the Bank of Canada is expected to maintain current rates.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 55.77 points at 16,253.46.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 49.51 points at 26,252.24. The S&P 500 index was down 1.48 points at 2,922.95, while the Nasdaq composite was down 28.82 points at 7,991.39.

The Canadian dollar traded for an average of 75.23 cents US compared with an average of 75.31 cents US on Wednesday. Eight of the 11 major sectors of the TSX were lower, led by health care as shares of cannabis producers Canopy Growth Corp. and Aphria Inc. were down 5.2 and 3.5 per cent, respectively.

Energy was the third-worst performer on the day as crude prices dropped and U.S. manufacturing activity contracted this month for the first time in a decade.

BLOOMBERG PHOTO