Prince George Citizen October 3, 2019

THURSDAY

Frontline workers focus on street people

CHRISTINE HINZMANN Staff Reporter

chinzmann@pgcitizen.ca

There are young women shrouded in blankets, cardboard covering others.

Some people are huddled together for warmth on the chilly morning while still more are slowly making their way over to St. Vincent de Paul Society’s Drop In Centre on Second Avenue where breakfast will soon be served.

It’s about 7:30 a.m. on the day after welfare Wednesday in downtown Prince George. RCMP officers are out doing their usual downtown duty of moving those who live on the street up and out of the way of businesses that will soon be opening their doors.

According to Don, a homeless man who has lived in Prince George his whole life, nobody has to go hungry here. Don stays at Ketso Yoh as often as he can. Ketso Yoh is a shelter for men operated by the Prince George Native Friendship Centre and offers 21 emergency shelter beds, 10 alcohol and drug supportive recovery beds, and 15 supported living beds.

“It’s quieter on the street today after everyone on welfare gets their money,” Don says. “There’s a lot less people around because they all got money but usually we’ve got lots more people downtown now than ever before. There’s lots of new faces around here lately.”

He’s not sure why that is but he’s certainly noticed. He says there are more people on drugs he has to avoid.

This Thursday morning, as the people are moved along by the police, there’s a lot of debris left over. Discarded needles are strewn on the ground, there’s clothes used as bedding, food wrappers and empty cups scattered around.

There’s even human feces.

Cleanup duties are left to the bylaw compliance assistants, a team the was put in place last year to deal with the massive job on a daily basis. This effort was done as a pilot project and was recently approved as a permanent part of the city’s bylaw services. As much as 1,000 pounds of debris is removed from the downtown area a week, which includes camps set up throughout the city.

Cpl. Sonja Blom is making her morning rounds. She’s been in Prince George for the whole 12 years she’s been an RCMP officer and she loves the city, she says. She’s originally from 100 Mile House and lives here with her husband, who is also a police officer, and their two young daughters.

Blom usually rides in Car 60, the mental health and domestic violence unit, which is a partnership between Northern Health and the Prince George RCMP detachment.

Today, she’s in two hours earlier than usual to escort The Citizen on a ride along.

Accompanying Blom is Carmen De

Above: Cpl. Sonja Blom logs into her computer prior to hitting the streets Thursday morning.  Below: Blom checks

man on Quebec Street Thursday morning.

‘I still really do try to see the good in people’

Continued from page 1

Menech, the youth strategies coordinator with the RCMP. She’s been on the youth support team for about four years.

De Menech is on the lookout for her clients – high-risk youth on the street. There are three specific missing youth she is keeping her eye out for while making the rounds. The youth that take to the streets are almost always those who have experienced trauma and who are now struggling with mental health issues, De Menech explains.

“The youth that I deal with all struggle with trauma, I would say that is the number one common denominator,” De Menech says. “No young person is out on the street because they are a bad kid. They are out there because they’ve been hurt and they are struggling and they don’t know how to do it any better than where they’re at at this moment.”

It’s not easy seeing the youth struggle, she says.

“And it’s not easy to harm-reduce in the moment.”

As part of the job, those patrolling the street carry Naloxone opioid overdose kits. Blom hasn’t had to use one yet and De Menech has been there as support during three overdose incidents on downtown P.G. streets, but not all were for youth, she says.

“We see a lot of sad things through our work,” Blom says. “And it’s not all traumatic, some, yes, but a lot is just people who have fallen through the cracks, people who are struggling.”

Several times, women are seen on all fours, seemingly looking for something they’ve lost.

“It’s typical drug behaviour,” Blom explains.

When asked about it, she says she was told that they’re looking for bits of crack they think might have fallen on the ground and one time Blom saw a woman digging in the dirt looking for money she thought was buried there. So delusions and hallucinations are all part of drug use in the downtown.

At the corner of Second and George, there are two men bent over what looks like a bunson burner. There’s some sort of container being held over the small open flame but when Blom gets out of the unmarked car, the container disappears and instead the one man holds his hands over the flame as if to warm them.

Blom isn’t fooled.

As the man continues to bend at the waist, the container is gone but the foot-long blade of the knife that’s in the back of his pants is

quite obvious. He claims he just found the knife and Blom agrees that she just found it, too, and tells him she’s taking it with her.

There is no argument.

When the knife makes it back to the station, it will be destroyed.

As the route takes to the outlying areas of downtown, there’s a camp with mattresses and a plastic tote of belongings and a whole lot of garbage in one particularly isolated area. As we stop, another vehicle pulls up. The driver says he was looking to see if the man who lives there is OK. The man is worried because he hasn’t seen the homeless man for a few days.

Where Victoria Street and 20th Avenue meet, there seems to be a hub of activity. There are groups of young women walking and talking. There are groups of men and women of all ages huddled under blankets in the back alley near the convenience store. People are darting across the street looking behind them as if to make sure they’re not being chased.

De Menech spots a missing youth. She asks Blom to stop so she can get out.

After a minute, De Menech returns. We’re headed for the fast food drivethru. There’s a connection between people and food and it’s a small step so the social worker can connect to a youth on the street for just a minute longer.

De Menech explains those using drugs

often ask for cold things to eat. Ice cream is very popular.

“It helps with the fire in their belly that’s going on from the chemicals that are going into their system,” De Menech said.

Blom said she’s found that people on drugs want a lot of sugar, too.

For De Menech, she’s hopeful because part of the request for food was for hot chocolate. That might indicate the youth is not suffering from the affects of using drugs at that moment.

Both women admit there are times they have to work hard to remain hopeful and optimistic.

Blom laughs and says if you ask her mom, she’d say her daughter is more cynical.

“I still really do try to see the good in people but I think as a police officer and

dealing with the criminal element and the people we end up dealing with sometimes it can be difficult,” Blom says. “We’re dealing with either criminals or their victims a lot of the time.”

De Menech has chosen to remain empathetic.

“As soon as you harden up and lose empathy, then you might as well stop doing it because you’re not going to help any longer,” she says. When working with youth, she added, if you can separate the behaviour from the person, it somehow makes it easier.

“If the youth sense you’ve given up on them, they will do the same. If you tell someone - a youth or an adult - they’re not worth anything, how are they ever going to be more than that?”

Cpl. Sonja Blom confiscates a large knife from a man in the parking lot on George Street and Second Avenue Thursday morning. Below: The police move people from the front of St. Vincent de Paul on Second Avenue early Thursday morning.

PG NEWS

City staff deal with downtown cleanup

CHRISTINE HINZMANN Staff Reporter chinzmann@pgcitizen.ca

Cleaning up the garbage left from the homeless in the downtown core starts every morning at 7 a.m.

For the last year and a half, it’s been a pilot project to improve downtown safety and cleanliness that sees a pair of bylaw compliance assistants doing the dirty work.

The program is now a permanent part of the city’s bylaw services department.

The two men, clad in Kevlar vests and using Kevlar lined leather gloves, who do the job wish to stay anonymous for their own personal safety. Both are former correctional officers and they say the skills they learned as jail guards transfers nicely to their current positions.

Since January, they have removed more than 31,000 pounds of garbage, including many five-gallon buckets of used needles, from Prince George’s downtown.

“And that’s just what we’ve done,” says bylaw services manager Fred Crittenden. “Parks and solid wastes will also pick up stuff, especially when we go into the big camps that are in some of the parks and open spaces.”

Every morning, the bylaw services pair fill a half-ton pickup with an eight-foot box covered with a highboy canopy after rousing the homeless and moving them along, as they take care of what’s left over.

The regulars who sleep in front of or near the downtown businesses have gotten used to the routine and often will ask for garbage bags to clean up their area themselves.

“Since the program started we’ve dealt with 1,500 squatting or camp calls,” Crittenden says. “That includes anything from sleeping in a vestibule in front of a building or in one of the parkades, to a full-blown tent city that might be hidden away in one of our parks or open spaces. In addition to that there was another 345 calls specifically to just go pick up needles that are discarded by intravenous drug users.”

Those numbers represent about 35 per cent of the bylaw calls for service, Crittenden adds.

“I think it’s important that the community knows what kind of resources are being used and the kinds of things the city is doing that if they weren’t doing it, who would be doing it? It’s all about trying to maintain the community’s livability.”

The bylaw services team has an extra

task on top of its regular downtown duties with a tent city beyond the Lombardy trailer park. It was first discovered two days earlier and those living there had put up fences and attempted to camouflage the area while using generators operating at full steam with televisions and heaters working in the tents.

Revisiting the site two days later, they saw it was down to about half of what it had been and that was good progress.

One of the bylaw assistants says tent cities are popping up in the outlying areas more often because of how effective the project has become that moves the homeless out of the downtown core every morning. The other stresses that there is misuse of some of the items donated to the non-profits that help the homeless.

Continued on page 4 If you have been injured because of negligence of another person, you may have a claim.

CITIZEN PHOTO

A bylaw complance assistant officer checks a field along Queensway near a tent city that was discovered behind the Lombardy trailer park last week. Below: Part of a homeless camp behind the Lombardy trailer park.

Camps popping up in outlying areas

PRINCE GEORGE NATIVE FRIENDSHIP CENTRE

Board of Directors Call for Nominations

The Prince George Native Friendship Centre (PGNFC), through its Nominating Committee, seeks to identify and recruit new board members to its Board of Directors. We are seeking community members with a strong desire to provide strength-based and holistic leadership to one of the largest urban Aboriginal social service agencies in Prince George. Finance, Legal, Human Resource, Property Management and/or a Social Innovation background is an asset in order to best represent the diverse needs of our clients; other relevant experience is beneficial as well.

Why Volunteer as a PGNFC Board Member?

• Become a Leader in an urban Aboriginal Organization;

• Promote Personal Growth and Self-Esteem;

• Gain Professional Experience;

• Become one of the many volunteers who donated 13,122 volunteer hours to the PGNFC last year; and

• President, Treasurer, Elder Director and (2) Director positions are available, for a total of five positions.

Statement of Interest:

If you are interested in serving as a member of the PGNFC Board of Directors and would like to be formally considered at the Annual General Meeting, please forward any material(s) that speaks to your interest in becoming a Board Member, including the qualifications you possess, by October 27, 2019 @ 4:30 to Manon Desjarlais, Senior Executive Assistant at mdesjarlais@pgnfc.com or attend the meeting in person on Tuesday, October 29, 2019 at the Prince George Native Friendship Centre, Power of Friendship Hall at 1600 Third Avenue, Prince George, BC For more information about the Board of Directors’ Roles and Responsibilities and/or information about the Annual General Meeting, please refer to the PGNFC website at: www.pgnfc.com

The Annual General Meeting, scheduled for October 29, 2019, is as follows:

• 5:30-6:00 pm: Registration/Dinner

• 6:00-8:00 pm: Annual General Meeting & Door Prize Draws

• Free Parking

Continued from page 3

“In no way are we trying to dissuade people from making donations or helping out these organizations because they do wonderful things,” Crittenden says. “But it’s like anything and sometimes it’s not like people think it is.”

“People deserve to know the big picture,” says one of the compliance assistants. “And it’s a frustrating one.”

There are many resources where people can get backpacks, blankets and clothing.

“In a sense these people don’t really appreciate what they have,” notes the same compliance assistant. “They take it for granted because they know that if it gets soiled, if it gets left behind, they can just go around the corner or to the next street and they’ll get a new blanket, because somebody is going to drop it off. They’ll get these blankets, this jacket, the extra clothing and they’ll sleep it in, maybe they’ll defecate around it and put it on the ground and maybe it gets wet, frozen and instead of valuing what they’ve been given they just get up and walk away from it. It’s too much work to dry it out, too much work to fold it up, too much work to clean. They’ll just go back and get brand new stuff or dry stuff. We are enabling in that way because they take for granted what they’ve been given because

it’s always there.”

With the recent designation of the RCMP Downtown Safety Unit, the bylaw assistants work closely with those six officers.

“In the last three weeks – month – that they’ve started at 7 a.m. it’s made a huge difference. They value us and we value them. I remember the first day the supervisor asked ‘you have to deal with this every morning?’ - the back talk and the lip, and even he was kind of surprised so now they’re there to back us up if they get out of line and we’re there to take all the stuff they normally wouldn’t know what to do with - we text back and forth - we’re here, we’re there, and it’s a team effort and it works amazing.”

When the assistants first approach people, it’s a routine everyone understands.

“We show up and there’s somebody sleeping and they are in behind cardboard and we ask ‘are you OK? Time to get up and start cleaning up after yourself’ and they slowly come to.”

“We are also first point of contact,” says the other bylaw compliance assistant.

“And we’re there to see if they’re even alive,” the first assistant notes. “It’s something that’s always in the back of your mind.”

So far, they’ve been lucky.

Part of a camp set up at the far east end of Third Avenue.

From Prince George provincial court, September 23-27 COURT DOCKET

• Leigh-Ann Dawn Fenton (born 1980) was sentenced to one year probation for four counts of theft $5,000 or under. Fenton was in custody for 29 days prior to sentencing.

• Bradley Arthur Stanley Dulaba (born 1967) was sentenced to 141 days in jail and one year probation for mischief $5,000 or under and to 30 days in jail for possessing a breakin instrument and two counts of breaching an undertaking or recognizance. Dulaba spent a total of 12 days in custody prior to sentencing.

• Michael Charles Foster (born 1965) was sentenced to 13 days in jail for breaching his conditional sentence order. Foster was in custody for 17 days prior to sentencing.

• Kevin Mark Hamilton (born 1985) was sentenced to no further time in jail for two counts of breaching an undertaking or recognizance. Hamilton was in custody for 13 days prior to sentencing.

• Richard Philip Dominic (born 1976) was fined $500 and issued a two-year firearms prohibition for possessing a firearm without a licence or registration and to no further days in jail for possessing stolen property under $5,000.

• Christopher Joseph Garro (born 1985) was issued a one-year $500 recognizance after allegation of fear of injury or damage.

• Brent Edward Langan (born 1983) was prohibited from driving for one year and fined $1,500 for failure or refusal to provide a breath sample.

• Levi Eddie Stuparyk (born 1987) was sentenced to no further days in jail for breaching probation and two counts of breaching an undertaking or recognizance. Stuparyk spent 63 days in custody on the counts prior to sentencing.

• Corina Lynn Beauchamp (born 1970) was sentenced to 31 days in jail for theft $5,000 or under, to no further days in jail for three further counts of theft $5,000 or under and two counts of breaching probation and to 18 months probation on the counts. Beauchamp was in custody for 21 days prior to sentencing.

• Nathan Carl Alexander (born 1992) was prohibited from driving for one year for driving with a blood-alcohol level over .08.

Alexander was also sentenced to one day in the count, as well for willfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer and fleeing police and was sentenced to no further days in jail for breaching a recognizance or undertaking, all committed in Smithers. Alexander was in custody for 40 days prior to sentencing.

• Shane Daniel Coulas (born 1997) was sentenced to one year probation for mischief $5,000 or under, breaching probation and breaching an undertaking. Coulas was in custody for 13 days prior to sentencing.

• Aaron Joseph Glover (born 1985) was sentenced to one year probation for theft $5,000 or under, willfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer and breaching probation. Glover was in custody for 17 days prior to sentencing.

• Jason Christopher Henson (born 1986) was ordered to serve the remainder of a conditional sentence in jail. He had been sentenced on Sept. 6 to a 45-day conditional sentence order for assault and to a 15-day conditional sentence order for mischief $5,000 or under and committing an indecent act in a public place, as well as one-year probation on the counts, and had been in custody for 13 days prior to sentencing on

Sept. 26.

• Alisha Chelsi Burger (born 1994) was sentenced to 36 days in jail and one year probation for theft $5,000 or under and to no further days in jail for failing to appear in court, committed in Prince George, and to no further days in jail for willfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer, committed in Kelowna. Burger spent 11 days in custody prior to sentencing.

• Blayne Aaron Char (born 1998) was sentenced to one year probation, issued a one-year firearms prohibition and ordered to provide a DNA sample for assault and assaulting a peace officer. Char was in custody for 127 days prior to sentencing.

• Monique Lee Willey (born 1988) was sentenced to nine months probation for mischief $5,000 or under, committed in Prince George, and breaching probation and possessing stolen property under $5,000, both committed in Mackenzie. Willey was in custody for 94 days prior to sentencing.

• Fawn Kristen Theresa Plasway (born 1975) was sentenced to 18 months probation with a suspended sentence for willfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer and mischief $5,000 or under, committed in Smithers.

Citizen staff

CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE

TOY RUN A motorcyclist rides with stuffed toys on Sunday afternoon during the 38th Annual Motorcycle Toy Run in support of the Salvation Army’s Christmas hamper program.

ALL-CANDIDATES FORUMS SET FOR WEDNESDAY

All-candidates forums for this region’s two federal electoral ridings will be held at UNBC on Wednesday.

Hosted by UNBC, the Prince George Chamber of Commerce and the Prince George Citizen, they will be held at the Canfor Theatre. It will start at 6:30 p.m. with candidates contending for Prince GeorgePeace River-Northern Rockies followed

by those vying for Cariboo-Prince George starting at 8 p.m.

Both forums will last for an hour and 15 minutes with UNBC political science professor Gary Wilson moderating.

Running in Cariboo-Prince George are Tracy Calogheros ( Liberal), Todd Doherty (Conservative), Michael Orr (Independent),  Mackenzie Kerr (Green), Heather Sapergia (New Democrat) and Jing Lan Yang (People’s Party).

Running in Prince George-Peace RiverNorthern Rockies are Katherine Kendall (Green), Marcia Luccock (New Democrat), Rob Vaillant (People’s Party), Mavis Erickson (Liberal) and Bob Zimmer (Conservative).

Cariboo-Prince George snapshot

Cariboo-Prince George is currently represented by Todd Doherty (Conservative). He won the riding for the Conservatives in 2015 with 19,418 of 53,271 votes (36.45 per cent). Tracy Calogheros of the Liberals finished second with 16,822 (31.58 per cent) votes. Trent Derrick of the New Democrats finished third with 13,806 (25.92 per cent) votes.

As per the 2016 census, Cariboo-Prince George is home to 108,907 people. That is an increase of 655 (0.6 per cent) from 2011. It ranks 155th overall in population size nationally and is more populous than the national average of 103,417.

Geographically, Cariboo-Prince George is 83,018.97km² in size. It ranks 17th overall in area.

Cariboo-Prince George is younger than average with its average age being 40.5 compared to the national average of 41.06 and a median age of 41.3 compared to the national median of 41.7.

Fifteen to 64 year olds make up 66.6 per cent of the population. That group is made up of 72,575 people split into 36,395 males and 36,185 females. The zero to 14 year old cohort is 17.4 per cent of the population and is comprised of 9,805 males and 9,105 females. Seniors (65 and older) are 16 per cent of the population. There are 8,610 male seniors and 9,105 female seniors.

There are 44,655 occupied private dwellings in Cariboo-Prince George. The most popular type of housing is a singledetached house. It accounts for 29,525 (66.12 per cent) of the riding’s 44,655 dwellings. Second most popular is an other attached dwelling. It makes up 25.59 per cent (11,425) of the dwellings.

The average census families size is 2.4, which is slightly smaller than the national average size of census families at 2.49. For the population aged 15 years and

over (89,995), 52,845 (58.72 per cent) are married or living common law. Twentythree thousand nine hundred and twenty (26.58 per cent) were never married, 2,995 (3.33 per cent) are separated, 5,480 (6.09 per cent) are divorced and 4,755 (5.28 per cent) are widowed.

There are 25,920 couple census families in private households in Cariboo-Prince George. Fourteen thousand two hundred and sixty-five couples are childless, while 11,655 have children. Four thousand six hundred and fifty (39.90 per cent) couples have one child, 4,715 (40.45 per cent) couples have two children and 2,290 (19.65 per cent) couples have three or more children.

Cariboo-Prince George has 5,440 loneparent census families. Five thousand four hundred and forty (61.03 per cent) single parents have one child, 1,515 (27.85 per cent) single parents have two children and 610 (11.21 per cent) single parents have three or more children.

English is the predominantly spoken first language in Cariboo-Prince George. English as a first language is spoken by 106,310 people or 98.51 per cent of the population while French as a first language is spoken by 1,075 people or 1.00 per cent of the population. Both English and French are the first language for 110 people or 0.10 per cent of the population.

Households in Cariboo-Prince George are poorer than average. The median total income of households was $72,828 in 2015. The national average was $73,050. This ranks Cariboo--Prince George as 141st overall in median total household income. The median after-tax income in 2015 was $63,190.

Fewer than half of Cariboo-Prince George residents 15 years or older have postsecondary certificate, diploma or degree. Thirty-nine thousand two hundred and thirty-five people, or 44.38 per cent have postsecondary credentials.

That group is made up of 7,945 (8.99 per cent) people who have earned a bachelor’s degree as their highest certificate, 2,140 (2.42 per cent) people who have earned a master’s degree as their highest certificate and 300 (0.34 per cent) who have earned a doctorate. Contrarily, 20,200 (22.85 per cent) have no certificate, diploma or degree and 28,960 (32.76 per cent) have only a high school diploma or equivalency certificate.

Cariboo-Prince George has seen some migration. There were 4,860 internal migrants. Those are people who moved

to a different city, town, township, village or Indian reserve within Cariboo-Prince George. There were also 3,670 intraprovincial migrants. Those are people who moved to Cariboo-Prince George from a different riding in British Columbia. Additionally there were 1,185 interprovincial migrants. Those are people who moved to Cariboo-Prince George from a different province. And there were 510 external migrants. That group includes people who lived outside Canada before moving to Cariboo-Prince George.

The Canadian Press

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO

Todd Doherty with wife Kelly arrive at the victory party in the Coast Inn of The North in October 2015.

Citizen staff

Notice is hereby given that Prince George City Council will consider property tax exemptions for a term of 4 years (2020-2023) for the following properties at the October 7, 2019 regular Council Meeting. Estimated municipal property taxes are shown for 2020. The tax exemptions shown are proposed in accordance with Section 224 of the Community Charter. For more information please contact Santa du Preez 250-561-7781 or santa.dupreez@princegeorge.ca

Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies snapshot

Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies is currently represented by Bob Zimmer (Conservative). Bob Zimmer won the riding for the Conservatives in 2015 with 27,236 of 51,808 votes (52.57 per cent). Matt Shaw of the Liberals finished second with 12,863 (24.83 per cent) votes. Kathi Dickie of the New Democrats finished third with 8,014 (15.47 per cent) votes.

As per the 2016 census, Prince GeorgePeace River-Northern Rockies is home to 110,995 people. That is an increase of 3,613 (3.4 per cent) from 2011. It ranks 132nd overall in population size nationally, and is more populous than the national average of 103,417.

Geographically, Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies is 249,618.7km² in size,  ranks 10th overall.

Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies is younger than average with its average age being 37.7 compared to the national average of 41.06 and a median age of 36.9 compared to the national median of 41.7.

Fifteen to 64 year olds make up 68.5 per cent of the population. That group is made up of 76,020 people split into 39,190 males and 36,830 females. The zero to 14 year old cohort is 19.6 per cent of the population and is comprised of 11,170 males and 10,575 females. Seniors (65 and older) are 11.9 per cent of the population. There are 6,600 male seniors and 10,575 female seniors.

There are 44,275 occupied private dwellings in Prince George-Peace River-Northern

Rockies. The most popular type of housing is a single-detached house. It accounts for 29,850 (67.42 per cent) of the riding’s 44,275 dwellings. Second most popular is an other attached dwelling. It makes up 19.30 per cent (8,545) of the dwellings.

The average census families size is 2.5 which is nearly identical to the national average size of census families at 2.49.

For the population aged 15 years and over (89,250), 54,020 (60.53 per cent) are married or living common law. Twentythree thousand six hundred and twenty (26.46 per cent) were never married, 2,745 (3.08 per cent) are separated, 5,030 (5.64 per cent) are divorced and 3,840 (4.30 per cent) are widowed.

There are 26,385 couple census families in private households in Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies. Thirteen thousand five hundred and seventy-five couples are childless, while 12,810 have children. Four thousand nine hundred and fifty (38.64 per cent) couples have one child, 5,185 (40.48 per cent) couples have two children and 2,675 (20.88 per cent) couples have three or more children.

Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies has 4,675 lone-parent census families. Four thousand six hundred and seventy-five (60.11 per cent) single parents have one child, 1,340 (28.66 per cent) single parents have two children and 525 (11.23 per cent) single parents have three or more children.

English is the predominantly spoken first language in Prince George--Peace River-Northern Rockies. English as a first language is spoken by 108,340 people or 98.50 per cent of the population while French as a first language is spoken by 1,135 people or 1.03 per cent of the population. Both English and French are the first language for 85 people or 0.08 per cent of the population.

Households in Prince George-Peace RiverNorthern Rockies are richer than average. The median total income of households was $87,033 in 2015. The national average was $73,050. This ranks Prince George-

Peace River-Northern Rockies as 64th overall in median total household income. The median after-tax income in 2015 was $74,065.

Fewer than half of Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies residents 15 years or older have postsecondary certificate, diploma or degree. Thirty-nine thousand seven hundred and thirty-five people, or 45.56 per cent have postsecondary credentials. That group is made up of 6,785 (7.78 per cent) people who have earned a bachelor’s degree as their highest certificate, 1,595 (1.83 per cent) people who have earned a master’s degree as their highest certificate and 240 (0.28 per cent) who have earned a doctorate. Contrarily, 20,365 (23.35 per cent) have no certificate, diploma or degree and 27,115 (31.09 per cent) have only a high school diploma or equivalency certificate.

Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies has seen some migration. There were 5,320 internal migrants. Those are people who moved to a different city, town, township, village or Indian reserve within Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies. There were also 3,400 intraprovincial migrants. Those are people who moved to Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies from a different riding in British Columbia. Additionally there were 1,925 interprovincial migrants. Those are people who moved to Prince George-Peace RiverNorthern Rockies from a different province. And there were 590 external migrants. That group includes people who lived outside Canada before moving to Prince GeorgePeace River-Northern Rockies.

The Canadian Press

Bob Zimmer debates NDP candidate Kathi Dickie at UNBC during the October 2015 election.

public noticeS

City

of Prince George 2019 and 2020 Council

Meeting Schedules

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to section 127 of the Community Charter, Prince George City Council has established the date, time, and place of the regular Council meetings to be held in 2020. The 2020 meeting schedule is available for review on the City’s website www.princegeorge.ca and on the public notice bulletin board located on the 1st Floor of City Hall, 1100 Patricia Boulevard, Prince George, BC, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except statutory holidays.

FURTHER, there has been an amendment to the 2019 Council Meeting Schedule to accommodate the 2019 Canadian Federal Election which is scheduled to take place on Monday, October 21, 2019. The regular Council meeting previously scheduled for Monday, October 21, 2019 has been rescheduled to take place on Wednesday, October 23, 2019.

For further information, please contact the Legislative Services Division at (250) 561-7655 or cityclerk@princegeorge.ca.

Make a difference in your community!

The City is seeking the expertise of residents interested in serving on the Prince George Public Library Board

The Board meets monthly and is responsible for providing library services and programs in Prince George by establishing the policies, goals and objectives of the library and advocating for the library in the greater community.

The City is accepting applications to fill three volunteer positions on the Board with two-year terms beginning January 1, 2020 and ending December 31, 2021, and two interim volunteer positions on the Board to fill the remainder of the term ending December 31, 2020.

Involvement with council committees, commissions, and boards provides residents the opportunity to contribute to the growth and development of our municipality and to provide input on important civic issues.

All applicants to the Prince George Public Library Board are required to undergo a Criminal Records Check. Information on the Library Board, application forms and details on the application process and Criminal Record Checks are available on the City’s website or may be picked up from the Legislative Services Department, 5th Floor City Hall.

Deadline for Applications: 5:00 p.m. Friday, October 25, 2019

Completed applications, including a completed Criminal Records Check, may be mailed or hand-delivered to City Hall (1100 Patricia Boulevard), emailed to cityclerk@princegeorge.ca, or faxed to (250) 561-0183.

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Childhood’s end threatens future

“You have come to us young people for hope. How dare you! You have stolen my childhood with empty words. Yet, I’m one of the lucky ones.

“People are suffering, people are dying. All you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. For more than 30 years, the science has been crystal clear.”

Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg did not mince words in her address to the United Nations Climate Summit. She is justifiably frustrated and angry at the state of the world. Her future is in jeopardy as is the future of youth around the world. It is no wonder so many went on strike last week.

Her comment were echoed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as he urged diplomats to offer up concrete solutions. The world needs to commit to meeting its targets.

“It is a race we are losing, but that we can win… we have the tools and technology is on our side,” he said in his opening remarks.

Yet at the end of the summit, only 60 countries had stepped up to the plate with new plans and they represent only 37 per cent of the global emissions. Yes, Angela Merkel re-stated Germany’s intentions to eliminate coal energy by 2038 but the big emitters such as the United States, Japan, and Australia remained on the sidelines.

And in the United States, there is a president who simply doesn’t believe what scientists are telling him. “Fake news” is his answer, despite the evidence presented by hurricane after hurricane, drought after drought, and heat wave after heat wave.

There are many incidents in the course of human history where we have done damage to the environment. Often it is easy to look at such incidents and chalk them up to ignorance or stupidity. Who knew the dodos were restricted to only one island? Or that the last dodo was being shot and consumed to feed hungry sailors? After all, the sailors would argue, aren’t all the beasts of the Earth simply there for us to consume?

The giant ground sloth disappeared from South America around the time humans colonized the continent. Rabbits run wild over the Australian outback having been brought by early settlers. Gypsy moths are eating their way through hardwood forests across North America after being released from a failed silk farm. The dandelion was imported wherever settlers moved for its greens but is now considered a weed.

And the herds of bison, elephants, and giraffes are nowhere close to historic numbers. Lions, tigers, orangutans, gorilla, chimpanzee, polar bears – the list of large mammals gradually disappearing is staggering. A recent article estimates there has been a decrease in the bird population by three billion since 1970 alone.

Of course, these historic impacts are not a result of anthropogenic climate change. We can blame our ancestors for not having the scientific knowledge and understanding we now have. After all, they really didn’t understand what they were doing. And who knows? If they had, maybe they would have done things differently. But I think this is the point Greta Thunberg and millions of students around the globe have been trying to make over and over again.

We do know what we are doing.

We know exactly what effect we are having.

We are totally conscious of our actions.  And yet, we are not changing our ways fast enough.

The world will get warmer by two degrees over the next 80 years.

The planet we now occupy will be irreparably changed.

Species will be lost.

Eco-systems will be destroyed.  Habitat will shrink.

This is an isolated scenario and might be easy to dismiss except it has happened over and over, wherever human populations have spread. In New Zealand, the Moa are a grouping of nine flightless species of birds with the largest standing over two metres tall. They did not survive human contact, becoming extinct as a result of hunting and other pressures related to humans, such as the introduction of non-native species to the islands.

The tumbleweed which rolls across the arid mid-western United States and the back country of Australia is not indigenous to either place. It is an import from Russia and likely hitched a ride in shipments of flax.

Will it wipe out the human race? Probably not.

Will it destroy all life on this planet? Definitely not. Life is far too resilient.

But the mass extinction caused by the anthropocene will leave the world a much poorer place. And it is the youth of today –our children and their children – who will inherit the planet where many animals are only found in books and computer files and biodiversity is threatened.

Greta Thunberg is not wrong but perhaps in her speech what she should have been saying is not that we have stolen her childhood with empty words but we have threatened her future.

PHOTO

Environmental activist Greta Thunberg of Sweden addresses the Climate

OPINION

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

ANOTHER TAKE ON DOWNTOWN

This letter is written in response to a guest editorial that suggests, among other things, that the solution to downtown Prince George’s problems is stricter law enforcement and increased public surveillance through closed-circuit television video. I agree with its author on two key points: the current situation is not acceptable and the half-measured harm reduction strategies put into effect are not working.

Apart from that, I have a dramatically different view of the issue and how best to address the problem. I’d like to offer an alternative perspective, which I believe is more likely to bring about the desired change most of us seek in the long run.

By way of introduction, I am a librarian who comes from a diverse background. I was born in South America, raised and educated in South Texas, and began my career in Washington, D.C. I met my wife while working on social development projects in Central America for the Peace Corps and together we’re now raising our young children in Prince George. I’ve seen a lot of the world and perceived it from many different angles.

As a person of colour, a visible minority, now twice an immigrant, who endured the trauma of an abusive childhood, I can proudly say that I’ve done well for myself. But statistically I know the odds were generally not stacked in my favour and I never forget that. I am a fortunate outlier in the long tail of a constellation of bell curves that historically has trapped many others. While I accept individual responsibility for my own actions and therefore claim partial credit for my successes, I recognize that my fate is largely determined by factors beyond my control, some of which have benefited me and others that have hampered me.

Put another way, our lives are a sequence of coin flips. Sometimes we can increase our odds of winning those flips but not always and, even then, there’s no guarantee that we’ll win. These are the rules of the game, one that we collectively as a society – not as individuals – have agreed to follow. And unless those rules change dramatically at some point over time, we will always end up with similar sets of winners and losers that in turn accrue advantages and disadvantages as the game progresses over generations.

This is the underlying algorithm of history. It explains why social imbalances strongly correlate to things like race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and wealth. And it explains why homelessness and drug abuse are pervasive problems in much of today’s developed world, including Canada and our community of Prince George.  Yes, some individuals make particularly poor life choices and certainly they bear some responsibility for their situations. But the larger, more disturbing truth is that mathematically this outcome was inevitable because that’s how our society works. In theory, you could run the model multiple times with individuals making different decisions at different points in time, which might dramatically alter the trajectory of their respective lives, but overall the pattern distribution would remain the same

because the underlying physics of society (i.e. what we collectively value, how we determine our individual worth, how we define happiness, etc.) would continue unaltered. Under different circumstances, any of us could be homeless or addicted to drugs.

What’s the solution then?

We have to change the fundamental equation that drives everything in our world, both locally and globally. We have to transition away from development models that assume perpetual economic growth, which we know is unsustainable because it’s destroying the planet.

We have to put a halt to growing wealth inequality and even reverse it by radically redistributing income so that all humans can enjoy basic amenities like clean water, safe housing, quality education and health care.

There’s no excuse for homelessness in a world with billionaires.

We have to reject the neoliberal maxim that greed is good and that elevates the selfish wants of the individual over the collective interest. Why? Because that game has run its course. Left unchecked, capitalism will destroy itself.

In the context of Prince George’s problem with homelessness and drug addiction, that means having the state provide public housing and decriminalizing some types of drug use. It means providing 24/7 access to safe injection sites and expanding the availability of naloxone kits to the general public. It means providing and maintaining an adequate supply of public washrooms in the downtown area.

More broadly, it means having elected officials at the local, provincial and federal levels taking their cues from the scientific community when it comes to formulating policies affecting things like the environment and our health. Doing that means electing people that will have a radically different approach to government and that aren’t afraid to interfere in the marketplace when it’s necessary to preserve the elevated status of human dignity.

The next opportunity you will have to bring about such radical change is this upcoming election day on Oct. 21. Vote.

LETTERS WELCOME: The Prince George Citizen welcomes letters to the editor from our readers. Submission should be sent by e-mail to: letters@princegeorgecitizen.com. No attachments, please. They can also be faxed to 562-7453, or mailed to Box 5700, 150 Brunswick St., Prince George V2L 5K9. Maximum length is 400 words and writers are limited to one submission every three weeks. We will edit letters only to ensure clarity, good taste, for legal reasons, and occasionally for length. Although we will not include your address and telephone number in the paper, we need both for verification purposes. Unsigned letters will not be published.

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PRINCE

Ignacio Albarracin

Prince George

OPINION

HUMAN NATURE, PLATFORMS AND POLICY

Following on the idea that our knowledge of human nature should inform our vote, what do the policies and platform of a party indicate what they think of human nature? Is there a recognition that the best way to help people is not to give them a fish (to use the cliché) but rather teach them how to fish? Does the party platform heavily restrict fishing, or even allow us to fish?

Check to see how they propose to solve problems that the ordinary citizen cannot solve for himself, or if government is presented as the solver of all problems. Another thing to consider is cost: will the cost of the program save us money? The public purse is your purse, my purse, and our grandchildren’s purse. Money that we borrow today has to be paid back at some point, if not by us then our children or grandchildren.

If the party is offering to put various programs in place to solve problems, are they designed to enable people or are they designed in a way that will disenfranchise people? Will a program help build a community to be more selfsufficient and better at taking care of each other or does the program encourage government dependency? Will it help to build up people or simply make them dependent?

Consider the logging industry.

The last week of September we saw a 400-log-truck-convoy travel to Vancouver. These truckers are not asking for a handout. They know that the increased logging to deal with the beetle kill has meant that the annual allowable cut is smaller. What they want is policy and regulatory change to enable them to continue to provide a competitive product, so that they can make money with the cut that is available.

They point out, correctly, that Alberta logging is thriving. The question for the B.C. government is will they remove the roadblocks and improve the regulatory process so that our forest products can compete on at least an even field? I am no expert on the forest industry but I have heard experts speak of the need to change at least eight or 10 different regulations in order to improve B.C. competitiveness. This topic is mostly a provincial matter, but I provide it as an example of how people do not want handouts, they want opportunity.

Another example – in B.C., we value our agricultural land and felt that it needed to be protected from develop-

THINKING ALOUD

TRUDY KLASSEN

ment, so we created the Agricultural Land Reserve. I don’t understand half of the issues around this legislation, but apparently, currently, in an attempt to ensure that the land is not used for suburbs, secondary homes are no longer allowed.

The funny thing is whoever wrote this new bill – Bill 52 – didn’t consider the impact in the real world. It is human nature to want to take care of our parents, for example, and we try to find the most efficient way of doing that. Let’s say you are a young family wanting to move your parents onto your property for their retirement years. Under current legislation, this cannot happen. You cannot plan to have your parents living in a second home on ALR land. As I understand it, even if you have an existing secondary home and one burns down, you cannot replace it. Stupidly, other government agencies are taxing empty homes, partly to create rental housing... but if you live in a rural area on ALR land, rental housing is being shut down. This bill seems to actually not solve any problems and prevents people from solving their problems.

Third, read carefully if a party’s platform elevates government’s role in people’s lives. If it does, it will likely infringe on your rights at some point. Sometimes, we would like to vote for a party because all the government action they are proposing sounds really good, but what if your neighbour doesn’t like the proposals? How will they be treated? Will they still have opportunity to thrive, or will they be heavily taxed to pay for services they will never use? Is that fair?

To some degree, it is the price we pay for living together, but we need to be very cautious about spending other people’s money on our own pet projects. Consider that in future a government may come to power that has the same interventionist bent, but their ideas of what is worth spending (your) money on may be exactly opposite of what you would like. Not so much fun then, eh?

We elect people to govern on our behalf, not to tell us what to do, but to assist us in doing what we want to do.

Let’s talk politics. It will make us all better Canadians.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

‘WE WANT TO BE SAFE

IN OUR CITY’

Thank you to Daniel Gallant for a excellent article on our dying downtown and thank you to the Citizen for printing it.

I have written letter after letter to city council about this topic and have been ignored. The mayor phoned one time

and I did get a answer to one letter that I had written about creating a vagrancy bylaw and was told it would cost to much.

People that do not live downtown or work or have businesses downtown are not affected by this problem so they turn a blind eye to it.  I would like the Citizen, while we still

have a paper, to print the comments online to this article. We need to know how we are going to be paying for all the money the city is spending, like the new pool being built in the wrong place, and the NR Motors property? What did it cost to tear down a perfectly good hotel to accommodate a new pool? The structure could have been put to good use.

I hope our city council will read Mr. Gallant’s article and do something about the big problem.Isn’t that what we are paying you for? You have got to start listening to the taxpayers and stop listing to the people who feed off this.  We want to be safe in our city.

Helen Robertson

Prince George

CP PHOTOS

A woman gives a thumbs-up as people gather to watch a convoy of logging trucks in downtown Vancouver, on Sept. 25.

CP PHOTOS

Doug Miller of Kamloops steps down from the cab of his truck after he arrived in a convoy of logging trucks in downtown Vancouver on Sept. 25.

Question of the week

LAST WEEK’S QUESTION:

“During The Citizen’s last online poll we asked “will the photos of Justin Trudeau in blackface influence how you vote in the election?”

THIS WEEK’S QUESTION:

Are you following the impeachment proceedings against U.S. President Donald Trump?”

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

SUPPORT GREATLY APPRECIATED

I and my wife wish to thank all the Vandehoof and Prince George people, as well as out-of-town guests, who attended our daughter Laura Freeman’s celebration of life after her very tough two years dealing with her cancer.

In particular, the oncology staff at Vanderhoof became like a family as did Laura’s incredible and supportive staff at the Ministry of Children and Families in Vanderhoof as well as the Guiders there.

Thanks greatly as well to the staff at the Vanderhoof Bakery for their generous meal contributions and Laura’s incredible in-laws for their sizable contributions to our family trip to Disneyland last February.  And finally to the surgical teams at University Hospital who enabled her to spend her last two months in her home. Thank you!

Alan and Carrie Martin

Prince George

MAKING DONNA FEEL SPECIAL

A few weeks ago, my daughter, Donna Wagar, was featured in 97/16. She has carried the various forms of the weekly paper for 25 years, the reason she was cited.

I want to thank the reporter and photographer. The story was accurate and very well written. So many of the residents to whom she delivers the paper have congratulated her and commented on her long career. Many of her friends and people she delivered papers to in the past who have moved to other areas have also mentioned the article. You certainly made her day!

I’m sorry delivery of the daily edition will soon end, but glad Donna will still be able to greet residents and her special friends ( the dogs) on her weekly rounds.

Again, thank you for making Donna feel so special. Due to the article you featured, many other people also see her special qualities.

Wilma Lewis

Prince George

HOW YOU VOTED:

With 48 per cent and 688 votes the leading answer was “no, I wasn’t going to vote Liberal anyway.”

On the opposite side with 32 per cent and 449 votes was “no, I’m still voting Liberal.”

Trailing significantly with 15 per cent and 207 votes was “yes, it’s the way he judges

HOW TO VOTE:

others but not himself that angers me most.”

And lastly with five per cent and 77 votes was “yes, what he did disqualifies him from being prime minister.

There was a total of 1,421 votes. Remember this is not a scientific poll.

To answer go online to our website: www.pgcitizen.ca

The results will appear next week along with our new question.

START WITH YOUR OWN ACTIONS

To all the school kids going on strike for climate change.

You are the first generation who have required air-conditioning in every classroom.

You want TV in every room. Your classes are all computerized.

You spend all day and night on electronic devices.

More than ever, you don’t walk or ride bikes to school but arrive in caravans of private cars that choke local roads and worsen rush hour traffic.

You are the biggest consumers of manufactured goods ever and update perfectly good expensive luxury items to

stay trendy.

Your entertainment comes from electric devices.

Furthermore, the people driving your protests are the same people who insist on artificially inflating the population growth through immigration, which increases the need for energy, manufacturing and transport.

The more people we have, the more forest and bush land we clear and more of the environment is destroyed.

So how about this?

Tell your teachers to switch off the airconditioning.

Walk or ride to school. Switch off your devices and read a book.

Make a sandwich instead of buying manufactured fast food.

None of this will happen because you are

selfish, badly educated, virtue signalling little princesses, inspired by the adults around you who crave a feeling of having a noble cause while they indulge themselves in Western luxury and unprecedented quality of life.

Wake up, grow up and learn to research facts and think for yourself and not blindly accept the words and thoughts of others.

I don’t think you formulated this action plan all by yourself. In fact, I suspect you may have had some influence and guidance from those you trust...

A word of warning: be cautious of the influence of the left because there may be a time in the future that you will be the ones left out.

Donna Burgess Prince George

CLIMATE CHANGE GULLIBILITY

“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

- H. L. Mencken

In 1988, we were told we had ten years to drastically cut CO2 emissions or it would be too late. In 1997, we were warned we only had 11 years. And just last year we were told we have but twelve years left to save the planet. When these predictions fail, they just move the deadline farther down the timeline.

With their 100 per cent failure, why believe them? The student protesters weren’t born then, many of their teachers are too young to remember, but the media should know.   Politicians know.

ClimateData.ca was set up “to support and enable Canada’s climate change adaptation planning, and improve access to relevant climate data.”

But their data only goes back to 1950. Why? Because many of our highest recorded temperatures occurred before 1950.

It’s difficult to frighten us into submission by constantly telling us that things are getting worse when things are getting better.

Deaths from climate-related events have plummeted by 97 per cent over the past 100 years.

Tornado activity is in decline. 2018 was a record low.

Hurricane activity has been in a slight decline for decades. We recently experienced an unprecedented 12-year stretch without a major hurricane making landfall in the U.S.

We’re warned that satellite observations show that Arctic sea ice is almost 50 per cent less than in 1979. But satellite observations started in 1972, and in 1972, the ice cover was considerably less than it is now. Is there any question why they left out the earlier years?

Polar bears aren’t going extinct, there are five times as many as 60 years ago. That’s a population explosion.

Permafrost melting will have no more effect than it did the last time it was this warm (and warmer) 1,000 years ago when

humanity thrived, thanks to the warmer climate.

Globally, the area burned every year by forest fires is declining.

Deserts are shrinking – more CO2 means plants need less water.

Sea levels aren’t rising any faster, islands are not being submerged, 45 per cent of them are growing and the rest are stable.  A determination of sea level trends requires 100 years of data due to the oscillations that could bias the results. Ten years ago, sea levels fell. The average rate of rise for the world’s tide gauges is about 3.5 cm per century.

Oceans are not acidifying. They contain 50 times as much CO2 as the atmosphere. They are alkaline, always have been, even when CO2 was 20 times higher. Additional CO2 will only make the oceans a little less alkaline at the surface. As more CO2 is added to the atmosphere and is dissolved in the oceans, more precipitates out as aragonite (CaCO3) or the

dead calcitic skeletons of plankton, forming limestone.

Food production is increasing. The biggest threat to our food supply is the conversion from growing food to growing biofuels.

Life expectancy is increasing. Wealth is increasing. Fossil fuels make it possible for 7.6 billion of us to live.

Climate crisis?

The Cuban Missile Crisis, now that was a real crisis, with the Soviet Union and the U.S. on the brink of nuclear war. But this? For 30 years we’ve been told the end is near, but things just kept getting better.

It’s about power. Politics. Wealth.

As Ottmar Endenhofer, IPCC co-chair of Working Group 3 said: “We redistribute de-facto, the world’s wealth by climate policy… One has to free oneself from the illusion that international climate policy is environmental policy.  This has almost nothing to do with environmental policy anymore.”

THIS IS MY FATHER’S WORLD

Sisters and brothers in Christ, I am Rev. Debbie Scheepers, and I serve at St. Michael and All Angels’ Church in Prince George. I am married to Clive and we are both ordained ministers. Clive is currently serving at St. Peter’s Church.

Originally from South Africa, I would like to share our first experiences of Canada.

We became very aware, in our short time here, that the Lord is in control and that we need to accept His timing, no matter the inconvenience.

Firstly, the cold was far beyond anything we had ever experienced. The roads, when we arrived, were covered with snow and ice, and travelling on the right-hand side of the road, was terrifying.

God, in His wisdom, knew that we

CLERGY COMMENT

REV. DEBBIE SCHEEPERS CHURCH OF ST MICHAEL & ALL ANGELS

needed to become acclimatised to the new traffic rules. He knew that we weren’t ready to drive in these conditions. So we only obtained a car once the snow had melted.

Secondly, we had always been selfreliant. Suddenly, we were dependent on other people for a ride anywhere. We felt we were imposing, but many times the people of the Church would inquire from us whether we needed a ride, even before we could ask!  They were very obliging and very willing to drive us

wherever we needed to go. But the lessons had been learnt. Wait on the Lord, and your strength will be renewed.

The third problem was that fact that nearly three months after we arrived here, our furniture had still not arrived. We were getting by with what we had brought with us, together with what had been donated by the congregation, quite comfortably. Lots of the “stuff” we thought we needed, was really not necessary. God was adapting us.

Even the way of life was so much more measured. Nobody seemed to be in a hurry. Even the traffic seemed less frantic. This enabled us to be more relaxed, and helped us to focus better. We were truly able to renew our strength.

Thus far we have been taught a number of lessons, some uncomfortable, but so necessary. And so, our journey continues here in Prince George.

So they frighten children and gullible adults, parading Greta Thunberg around with her scripted outrage, and all the while the media aids and abets their agenda instead of exposing it.

The big names in the global warming industry consider their position unable to withstand a debate. On Sept. 23, the United Nations convened its Climate Action Summit 2019 in New York City “to raise the global level of ambition to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and to galvanize action that can limit climate change to 2 C and even 1.5 C.”   Consequently, The Heartland Institute invited some of the country’s most prominent global warming individuals to represent the UN’s side in a public climate debate to be held on the same day in New York City’s Times Square. They all declined.

What climate crisis?

Reflection: Paul’s wisdom in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, is very different from the wisdom of our age.

The world tells us that we are free when we do not allow anyone to tell us who we are, who we can be, and what we should do. And when we are completely independent and oriented, only to our own needs and desires, we are truly free.

But is this really true?

Paul’s message is exactly the opposite of this teaching. Although he acknowledges his freedom in Christ, he willingly allows himself to be shaped by the people to whom he ministers.  His faith is consistent, but by adapting to the understandings, the practices, the cultural characteristics, and the needs of the people to whom he witnesses, he seeks to win them over to Christ. Are we willing to adapt to win disciples?

Art Betke Prince George

CP PHOTO

Alyssa Morin-Arcand, front, with her friends, left to right, Nitraya Gladue, Lakota Morin, and Elektra Foureyes, during the Climate Strike in Edmonton on Sept. 27.

Drazenovic

TED CLARKE Staff Reporter tclarke@pgcitizen.ca

Long before he got to the NHL, Nick Drazenovic had a decision to make.

As a young teen on the cusp of joining the Western Hockey League as a centre with his hometown Prince George Cougars, the team that chose him 11th overall in the 2002 bantam draft, there was something missing in Drazenovic’s development.

He needed somebody to teach him the skills required to become a pro hockey player.

At the time, that help was not available in Prince George, so his parents gave him the option to take the Greyhound bus to Edmonton on weekends and during the summer so he could attend a hockey skills camp. He made that trip religiously and it helped him get to the NHL, but it certainly wasn’t easy for him.

For the past three years, Drazenovic has been running his own hockey academy, Northern Elite Hockey, while also tutoring the city’s two junior hockey teams. With help from ex-Cougar goalie Ty Edmonds and former junior forward Matt Stang, Drazenovic is teaching players of all ages skills they need to become better hockey players and get more enjoyment out of the game.

“My whole goal is to be the difference that I needed,” said the 32-year-old Drazenovic. “I had to leave town and ride the bus to Edmonton every weekend for development and I don’t think kids need to be doing that any more. That’s the whole goal in this.

“I worked with about 150 kids over the summer and that’s just the start. I’ve heard really positive feedback and we’re spreading. Most of the guys I started with three years ago were midget-aged and now they’ve all aged out and are playing junior, U Sports, NHL or pro. We’ve had midget group, a bantam group and now I’ve opened it up to a peewee group and a young atom group. It’s busy times, but I’m really excited about the future of hockey in Prince George.”

Hired as the Cougars director of player development in February 2017, Drazenovic also served as an interim assistant coach near the end of the 2018-19 season. When the Cougars and Drazenovic were unable to come to terms on a new contract over the summer, the Spruce Kings offered to add him to their staff as director of skill development. He worked out a deal that now has him working with the team with coaches Alex Evin and Jessie Leung in practices once or twice a week, depending on the team’s needs and what his schedule will allow.

“I’ve known Nick for a lot of years and was

actually with the Cougars when we drafted him so I’ve got a relationship with him,” said Spruce Kings general manager Mike Hawes.

“He was a special player when he played for the Cougars and he’s got all kinds of pro experience and he wants to come back and help the kids of the north and we’re fortunate to get him.”

Drazenovic started refining the Kings skill sets during their extended playoff run last spring and he had a lasting effect on a team that went all the way to the final game of the national junior A championship.

“One of the questions Fin Williams (the Kings’ promising 16-year-old Michigan University recruit) said to us this year when we were making sure he was coming back to us was, ‘Is Nick Drazenovic going to help out with the skills stuff?’ Fin got to know him a bit and really liked the work he did,” said Hawes.

“He’s such a positive guy out there with them and those skills are ultra-important in today’s game, like face-offs for the centremen and how to take draws. He’s done a great job with Northern Elite Hockey and it’s doing well. They had another camp (last Friday) on a pro-D day and it was sold out. He’s working with a lot of young kids in the

north, not only through the hockey season to develop them but also in the summer. He’s teaching them off-ice training and nutrition and all those things that are important in today’s game.”

Considered one of the most popular Cougar players in the team’s 26-year history in Prince George, Drazenovic played nearly four-and-a-half seasons as a WHL centre from 2002-07. He was a homegrown Cougar – born and raised in the city where he first joined hockey at age seven - and he made an immediate impact in the WHL in his 15-yearold season, scoring four goals and four assists in 15 games with the Cats. In a career that spanned 281 regular season games he finished with 77 goals and 214 points and totaled nine goals and 19 points in 24 WHL playoff games.

All of his playoff points came in the Cougars’ 2007 playoff run when he was captain of a team that made it to the third round, eventually losing to the Vancouver Giants in a five-game Western Conference championship series.

He left the city that year to begin a nine-year injury-plagued pro career which included 12 games in the NHL and more than 500 in the AHL. Drafted by the St. Louis Blues

in the sixth round in 2005, he spent four seasons with the Blues’ American Hockey League affiliate in Peoria and was called up for three NHL games with the Blues in 201011. Signed as free agent with the Columbus Blue Jackets, he was on the ice with the Jackets for eight games in 2012-13, and had one game as a Pittsburgh Penguin the following season as a call-up from the AHL WilkesBarre/Scranton Penguins. Drazenovic’s pro career ended in 2016 after a 35-game AHL stint with the San Antonio Rampage.

One month into the season, Evin is already seeing the benefits of Drazenovic passing on his pro hockey knowledge to the Spruce King players.

“He’s got a passion for it, being from the area, and he does a lot for skill development, not just with our team but just in the whole northern region,” said Evin. “All his work is super-positive and our players love having him out. Not every team can say they have someone who’s played games in the NHL willing to work with them and we’ve very grateful Nick is on our staff this year. Everyone is benefiting from Drazzy being around.”

For more information on Drazenovic’s academy, he can be reached at www.facebook.com/northernelitehockey.

Nick Drazenovic works on the ice during a Cougars practice in 2017.

MIDFIELDER OFFERS EXTRA GEAR

TED CLARKE Staff Reporter tclarke@pgcitizen.ca

UNBC Timberwolves midfielder Kensho Ando has no idea how tall he is in feet and inches and he never uses pounds to divulge his weight.

From the top of his head to the soles of his feet, his body metrics extend 165 centimetres. And on the scale of gravity, he tips the Toledos at 60 kilograms. In imperial terms, he’s a five foot-five, 132pound dynamo.

He’s also the T-wolves’ Ferrari. A light touch of the gas pedal and he’s moving at drag-race speed, in any direction. The 21-year-old from Tokyo has been in Prince George for just a couple of months and already he’s one of the most popular players among his teammates. The excitement and skill he brings to the field has also touched the hearts off T-wolves fans. They can’t get enough of him.

Ando’s waterbug mobility on the turf means his opponents don’t have much time to move the ball and when they do, they have to be extra careful with their passes because he’s so quick and chances are he knows where the play is heading. That makes him one of the most dangerous T-wolves on the field.

“He’s unbelievable, he’s quick, he’s tenacious, he’s technically very good and people are starting to really see his quality,” said T-wolves head coach Steve Simonson. “He’s actually out of position,

I played in Japanese university for two years but I wanted the opportunity to play here,” said Ando. “An agent introduced me to Highlanders FC and then the agent introduced me to Steve, too, and I decided to come here.”

he’s usually more of an attacking player but he’s filled in a role (at midfield) for us that we really need.

“On top of that, he’s just a wonderful guy. He’s a favourite of our team, they love him, and he’s just a great addition to our school. He’s everything we thought he would be and we’re just happy to have him.”

Simonson latched on to Ando during the offseason in Victoria, where he was playing as a forward for the Victoria Highlanders FC.

“I played in Japanese university for two years but I wanted the opportunity to

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play here,” said Ando. “An agent introduced me to Highlanders FC and then the agent introduced me to Steve, too, and I decided to come here.”

Hard aggressive tackling is the norm in U Sports Canada West Conference and that sometimes results in violent collisions that send bodies flying. That’s not the style of play Ando learned in his home country.

“It’s so different, in Japan it’s touch play, touch play, every game, but here the most important thing is the contact skills and I had to learn about that,” he said. “It’s definitely more physical and I’m pretty small. Fortunately, I played for Highlanders FC and I learned about it. I’m comfortable here. They trust me and I trust them.”

The T-wolves put together a confidencebuilding weekend performance with a one-goal loss and a tie against the UBC Thunderbirds, the fifth-ranked team in Canada. UNBC is still hovering close to a playoff spot with just four games left in the season, including a two-game series this weekend at Trinity Western.

“I’m pretty excited about this team and the guys,” Ando said. “The level of football is so high and it’s getting higher.”

Ando is enrolled in the psychology program at UNBC and he struggles sometimes with his English skills, which adds to the challenge of adjusting to his new life as a Canadian student-athlete.

“It’s hard for me but (his classroom instructors and tutors) help me all the time,” he said. “I’m happy here. I like it because the Canadian people are so friendly and they are so nice to me. So I’m never confused. There are a few Japanese exchange students. Yesterday I had a Japanese meal that my friends cooked for me.”

Now in his third season of college eligibility, Ando is hoping to eventually land a position playing pro soccer in the Canadian Premier League, but he figures he will be a T-wolf for at least three seasons. Unless a harsh winter changes his mind.

“I hate the cold,” he said.

“I haven’t been through winter yet and I’m concerned about the cold. I never experienced minus degrees. In Tokyo, it’s zero to five (degrees) in winter. Tokyo is a big city and there are many people and many shops. When I first came to Canada, to be honest, I didn’t like (the open spaces) but I’m getting used to it. This is so different.”

CITIZEN PHOTO

UNBC Timberwolves midfielder Kensho Ando at Masich Place Stadium.

GENDRON LANDS WITH THE GIANTS

TED CLARKE Staff Reporter tclarke@pgcitizen.ca

Jacob Gendron, making his Western Hockey League debut in his hometown rink at CN Centre with the Vancouver Giants, had a tall order trying to top his father.

Back on Sept. 30, 1995, in his second season as a Prince George Cougar forward, Shawn Gendron scored the first two goals the Cougars ever scored in the building formerly known as the Prince George Multiplex. The elder Gendron also piled up two assists in what ended up a 9-4 win over the Portland Winterhawks.

His 17-year-old son Jacob is an offensive-minded defenceman but his primary mission is to prevent goals from being scored and in that department he was flawless in his first two games as a Giant. They beat the Cougars 5-3 in the seasonopener Sept. 20 and won 4-1 the following night and in both games Gendron wasn’t on the ice when the Cougars scored.

“I was pretty nervous coming in, my first regular season game, and I tried to handle it the best I could and I think I did pretty well,” he said. “I had a good lunch with my dad (before the second game). Just seeing him really helped.”

Gendron played 11 preseason games for the Giants, including six this past month, and it was fitting that his first WHL regular season games would come in Prince George where his family and friends all could watch.

Injuries and the league’s overage limit left the Giants with just five defencemen for the two games and Gendron drew plenty of icetime slotting in with the Vancouver veterans.

“It was the weirdest feeling coming back to my hometown, staying in a hotel and playing against the team I grew up watching – the team my dad played for,” he said.

“It was a good opportunity for me to step up and play, with only five D. Everybody’s faster, stronger, smarter, better sticks, it’s a way better league. It was pretty much exactly what I expected, hard and fast.”

The Giants selected Gendron in the sixth round of the 2017 WHL bantam

Prince George hockey product Jacob Gendron plays defence for the Vancouver Giants as

Cougars on Sept. 20.

draft and he went on to play 40 games for the Cariboo Cougars in 2017-18. The six-foot, 190-pounder produced 11 goals and 25 points in 40 regular season games during the Cariboo Cats’ run to the B.C. Hockey Major Midget championship last season. He dad brought him his championship ring just before the Giants boarded the bus from CN Centre back to Vancouver.

“He’s been a real pleasant surprise,” said Giants head coach Michael Dyck.

“As far as making our team in camp, he’s just gotten better every day. He was obviously really excited to come back here and it was nice to see him play so well.

“He plays on his toes, he plays an uptempo game and he skates so well. He’s not afraid to join the rush and he’s not afraid to make mistakes. He’s got a great attitude and he puts in a lot of extra work. His dad has an affect on him and how he thinks the game and how he sees the game and that’s what happens when you’ve had older siblings or parents who have played, it certainly helps with their development.”

The Giants came within an overtime goal of winning the WHL championship and advancing to the Memorial Cup. At least a dozen returning veterans, including stud defenceman Bowen Byram,

KINGS NEED TO GET HEALTHY

Relief is on the way for the Prince George Spruce Kings beleaguered blueline brigade.

After playing with only three of their starting defenceman in their most recent game Saturday, a 3-0 loss to the Trail Smoke Eaters at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena, the ranks of the injured are starting to thin.

“Any time your back end is down to three healthy bodies it’s tough and it takes its toll, but at the same time it’s good experience for those young D to play a lot of minutes,” said Kings head coach Alex Evin. “I don’t think there’s going to be many 16- or 17-year-old defencemen playing 25 to 28 minutes a night the last few games and they’ll be better for it in the long run.

“We have some good D on our roster right now who have been hurt and when

they get back we’ll hopefully get rolling a little more consistently. We could possibly have three D back by (the weekend) and maybe all four back.”

Newcomer Mason Waite, acquired last week in a trade from the Lloydminster Bobcats, was the only Kings defenceman in the lineup Saturday with any extensive junior A experience. They also dressed 16-year-old rookie Amran Bhabra and 18-year-old Brendan Hill, who just returned from a lower-body injury. The Kings added Cariboo Cougar major midgets Aiden Reeves and Mathew Magrath for the weekend to fill on defence as affiliated players. Veterans Nick Bochen (ankle sprain), Evan Orr (shoulder) and Cole Leal (ankle) were not available for either game. Colton Cameron smashed up his mouth when he fell into the boards during the Kings 8-2 win over the

Alberni Vallley Bulldogs Friday night and missed Saturday’s game after he required surgery that afternoon to stitch up his gums.

The Kings (3-4-2-0 fourth in Mainland Division) are in Penticton this weekend for the BCHL Showcase and will play the West Kelowna Warriors Friday morning in a 10 a.m. game. The Warriors (1-7-20) are off to a slow start and currently rank last in the Interior Division. Brandon Dent of Prince George, a five-footseven, 140-pound left winger, has four goals and eight points as the Warriors’ third-leading pointgetter.

The Kings are led offensively by Nick Poisson (3g-8a-11pts) Chong Min Lee (4-5-9) and Fin Williams (4-4-8). Winger Corey Cunningham (3-5-8) is back to health after a flu bug forced him to miss the three-game Mainland Division tour two weekends ago.

if he comes back from the Colorado Avalanche, could be sticking with a team that is favoured to win the B.C. Division.

“It’s really great to be part of such a good team that has the potential to go all the way,” said Gendron, who played in four of the Giants’ first five games. “We just say, this year we want that one more goal.”

The division-leading Giants (3-2-0-0) begin a six-game East Division swing Friday in Brandon. The Cougars (0-3-0-1), coming off a 3-2 shootout loss in Victoria, will host the Kelowna Rockets Friday and Saturday at CN Centre. Game time each night is 7 p.m.

Any time your back end is down to three healthy bodies it’s tough and it takes its toll, but at the same time it’s good experience for those young D to play a lot of minutes”

On Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. in Penticton, the Kings will face the Smoke Eaters for the second time in eight days.

“We seem to play a good game and then a very average game so we have to start to level things out,” said Evin.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE

they take on the Prince George

ROCKETS DESCEND THIS WEEKEND

TED CLARKE Staff Reporter tclarke@pgcitizen.ca

Taylor Gauthier did what he was supposed to do, supply lights-out goaltending.

His actions in the crease Saturday night in Victoria played a huge role in the Prince George Cougars earning their first point of the season.

Heading into Friday’s game at CN Centre against the Kelowna Rockets, the Cats are still seeking their first win and that will be much more likely if Gauthier continues to play the way he did last weekend in a two-game series against the Victoria Royals.

He stopped 33 of 35 shots and was picked as the game’s third star in a 2-1 loss Friday. He also took a post-game twirl around the rink Saturday as the game’s second star after 31 saves in regulation time and overtime and three more in the shootout before Victoria shooter Gary Haden scored in the fifth round to seal a 3-2 Royals’ victory.

“Taylor is a highly-touted goalie and he’s the backbone of our team, so from our standpoint that’s what we expect out of him,” said Cougars head coach and general manager Mark Lamb. “We expect him to lead our team and play strong goal and that’s exactly what he did.

“We’ve kind of talked about what type of team we have and that’s the strength, from the back there. Our (lack of) offence is what it is, but if we play a strong team game, just like we did on the weekend, we’ll get our share of points.”

After opening the season with a pair of losses to the Vancouver Giants at CN Centre that were closer than the 5-3 and 4-1 scores would appear, Lamb said the Cougars continued to show improvement on the Victoria trip against an older, more experienced Royals team.

“We played well, especially that second game, we really did a lot of good things,” said Lamb. “We had a few adjustments after the first game and I thought the second game was one of the most complete games we played this year, a lot of positives in all areas.

“We had bright spots everywhere. We had some rhythm with our lines, everybody played; our special teams are starting to come around a little bit. Our team game and our work ethic has never been questioned and it’s very apparent it’s a hardworking team.”

Lamb was encouraged to see his top scoring line - Ethan Browne centring Josh Maser and Reid Perepeluk - clicked for the first time this season. Browne’s goal opened the scoring in the first period Saturday.

“More than just scoring, out team created a lot of chances, especially in that second game, it was  a big step for our team,” said Lamb. “Hopefully we’ll have a good week of practice and look at Kelowna and keep some momentum going.”

The Kelowna Rockets pay their first visit to CN Centre for the start of a twogame series Friday and Saturday and Lamb expects the team that will be hosting the Memorial Cup national championship in May will be much-improved over last season and will offer stiff opposition. Already missing veteran defenceman Cole Moberg and top-line centre Ilijah Colina, both out with shoulder injuries, the Cougars lost 19-year-old winger Jackson Leppard. He suffered a lower-

Prince George Cougars goaltender Taylor Gauthier looks to make a save against Kamloops Blazers forward Montana Onyebuchi during a game at CN Centre in March.

Below: Prince George Cougars defenceman Cole Moberg jumps into the boards in the celebration after scoring the opening goal of a game against the Seattle Thunderbirds at CN Centre in November 2018. The veteran is currently out of the lineup with a shoulder injury.

body injury early Friday and finished the game but didn’t play Saturday. None of the three are expected to be back this weekend to face the Rockets.

“They’ve made some off-season changes and they’re a lot better team than the were last year already,” said Lamb. “We’re expecting a team that’s going to progress. I know it’s early in the season but they’re building a Memorial

Cup team and it’s going to be a tough challenge.

“They have a lot of good pieces and they’re a lot better team than a lot of people are giving them credit for.”

The Rockets added firepower when they acquired 2000-born left winger Dillon Hamaliuk, the San Jose Sharks’ second-round draft pick in 2019 (55th overall) as well as 18-year-old defence-

man Jake Lee in an off-season trade from Seattle. Other players to watch this weekend are D Kaedan Korczak (Vegas Golden Knights, second round 2019, 41st overall), left winger Nolan Foote (Tampa Bay Lightning, first round 2019, 27th overall), and C Kyle Topping, who led the Rockets in scoring with 69 points in 2018-19. Game time Friday is 7 p.m.

2019 Centennial Relay

Top: Runners make their way down Taylor Drive on Sunday morning while competing in the 2019 Centennial Relay. Below, clockwise from top left: Maisie Hoehn, left, and Addison Pauls sprint to the finish line in Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park while competing in the 2019 Centennial Relay on Sunday morning. Both runners finished the 5km run in 33:14. Murray Bartsch poses for a photo in Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park after competing in the 2019 Centennial Relay on Sunday morning. Bartsch was the fastest runner in the 30km solo run with a time of 2:28:55. Morgan Levant, right, raises his arms triumphantly while running with Robin Levant in Cottonwood Island. The pair finished the 10km run with times of 1:15:36 and 1:15:37 respectively. Agony of de feet members Larry Malgren, left, Steve Knowles, and Jason Laurie pose for a photo at the finish line after coming first in the 30km relay with a time of 2:23:25.

CITIZEN PHOTOS BY JAMES DOYLE

Cariboo Minor Midget Cougars forward Connor Quam looks to make a play against Okanagan Minor Midget Rockets defender Adam Bourgeois on Sunday afternoon at Kin 2.

UNBC Timberwolves forward Michael Henman leaps to make a header against UBC Thunderbirds defender Riley Pang on Sunday afternoon at Masich Place Stadium.

The PGSS Polars defeated the College Heights Cougars 25-17 and 25-19 on Saturday in the final to win the Kelly Road Secondary Senior Girls Volleyball Tournament. Kelly Road took third and D.P. Todd finished fourth.

UNBC Timberwolves Saymon Loki looks to make a basket against MRU Cougars defender Quinn Taylor on Friday evening at Northern Sport Centre in Canada West exhibition action.

Prince George Spruce Kings forward Chong Min Lee chases the loose puck while being checked by Trail Smoke Eaters defender Kieran O’Hearn on Saturday evening at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena.

UNBC Timberwolves midfielder Kensho Ando battles for the ball against three UBC Thunderbirds defenders on Friday evening at Masich Place Stadium.

Top: Patrons check out the many baked goods for sale on Saturday at the Westwood Mennonite Brethren Church during the annual Mennonite Fall Fair. Below, clockwise from top left: Volunteer Susan MacDonald cuts pies into single servings. Lynn Warkerntin of Manitoba gives a quilting demonstration. About 64,000 of these quilts will be created by members of Mennonite churches across North America and will be donated to places such as Jordan, Ukraine, Iraq, and Haiti. Volunteer Joe Vancalsteren adds some Mennonite sausage to the barbecue. Volunteer Phil Pudlas ladles a heaping portion of borscht into a jar. Volunteer Carrmen Brown

borscht.

CITIZEN PHOTOS BY JAMES DOYLE

stirs one of the giant pots of

October Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Standing strong for all the women in our lives

How is breast cancer diagnosed?

It’s impossible to identify breast cancer based on symptoms alone. This is why doctors need to perform a number of tests before issuing a diagnosis. Here are the types of assessment typically used.

Imag I ng tests

Imaging techniques such as ultrasounds, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diagnostic mammograms are used to examine tissue. These allow doctors to identify and measure the size of tumours. They’re also used to help determine how advanced the cancer is.

B I opsy

A biopsy consists of taking a sample of breast tissue for analysis. It’s the only test that can confirm a cancer diagnosis. Aside from their diagnostic purpose, biopsies are also used to evaluate how fast cancer cells are multiplying, which helps establish a treatment plan.

La B oratory tests

There are many other types of tests than can be run on samples taken during a biopsy. These are used to gather more information about the cancer, such as its type, grade, stage and potential response to different treatments.

B Lood tests

Blood tests are used to assess whether other organs are still functioning normally. Certain systemic issues may indicate that the cancer has spread.

Each breast cancer case is different, and doctors may want to perform a series of complementary tests and exams. Cancer is a complex disease, and each of these tests provides your health care team with information they need to effectively treat you.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE

A group of current and former Prince George Citizen pressmen stand with publisher Colleen Sparrow on Friday night after printing the Saturday’s Citizen, the final daily edition, at the Citizen press building.

Together We Are Stronger

MNP Welcomes the Team from Deloitte’s Prince George Practice

Success in business starts with a strong team and a common vision. That’s why we are pleased to announce the team from Deloitte’s Prince George practice has joined MNP.

Serving clients in Prince George and across the North for more than 40 years, the team members are a like-minded group of professionals who share similar values and a commitment to helping clients succeed. By bringing together our combined expertise serving private enterprises, public sector and not-for-profit organizations, First Nations and Indigenous organizations, we continue to build the best team possible to meet your business needs.

Our new team of 21 will remain at their current location at 299 Victoria Street, Prince George (HSBC Building) in the short-term and we will transition our two offices together in the near future.

Local in focus and national in scope, MNP is committed to delivering the industry-leading services and the results you need to be successful.

Contact Jameel Sayani, CPA, CA, CAFM, Regional Managing Partner, Northern B.C., at 250.596.4900 or jameel.sayani@mnp.ca

Pictured from L-R: Jameel Sayani, Lorna Wendling, Blair Traxler, Valerie Eberherr, Mindy Wight, Rod Quiring, Cindy Thomson, Andrew Adams, Greg Sale

Many memories for pioneer couple

HSENIORS’ SCENE

KATHY NADALIN

oward Foot, the youngest of the four sons of Claude Foot, was born in 1939. He was raised and educated in Prince George and remembers the gravel streets before the board sidewalks were installed.

This pioneer family, for which Foot Park was named, has close to 115 years of history in the city of Prince George. Members of the Foot family are still here and continue to be busy giving back to their community.

Howard’s father Claude arrived in Prince George in 1906. He worked for the Hudson Bay Company and came from Quesnel by a scow that was pulled up river by aboriginals; the trip took 17 days.

Following that adventure, he worked for the provincial government for 33 years. He married Kate Renwick and they raised their four boys here.

Howard said, “We used to sit on the fence around the big hole in the area across from the Northern Hardware. We threw rocks into the hole and checked out the girls as they went by.

“When my Dad retired from the government, he bought a secondhand store and I went to work part-time for him. I also worked at the Coliseum doing maintenance work for Bill Woycik. My wife Jeannette was working part-time in the concession stand at the time, but we never had the opportunity to meet.  She also worked as a junior fashion consultant at the Bay.” After high school, Howard went into the entertainment promotion business. He started out with the blessing of the city council of the day with a program called Teen Town. The idea was to involve teenagers in community events.

Howard said, “I was contacted by a U.S. promoter and I promoted entertainment concerts all around B.C. for rock and roll stars like Gene Vincent, Buddy Knox and Eddie Cochran. I also promoted car shows, boxing matches, teen dances and an aquatic show at the old outdoor pool on Watrous Street. It was an exciting time even if I did lose my shirt.

“After all that, I thought I should get out and see some of the world. I ventured to New Zealand, but a year later I decided it was time to go home. I wrote to my girlfriend Trudi Nelson and said, ‘I love you, let’s get married, send me $500.’ She did and we were married in 1963. We raised two children – Reg and Renee. We were married for over 30 years when, at the age of 52, Trudi passed away suddenly due to an aneurism.”

Howard worked in advertising at CKPG for eight years (one year in radio and seven years in television). He then spent 20 years working for Ron East at radio station CJCI. During that time a workmate introduced him to Jeannette DeWalt. Jeannette was born in 1945 in Prince Albert, Sask. When she was nine months old, her parents moved to High Prairie, Alta. When she was seven, her parents and another family moved to Prince George to look for work. Jeannette still remembers the road trip through the Pine Pass.  The construction crew was still working on the new road and had to tow cars through part of it with a Cat.

She graduated from high school and

worked at various jobs until she found the perfect job with CP Air in 1974. Over the years, she worked in ticket sales, reservations, airport operations, baggage, check in and at the boarding gate. She moved to the regional carrier Canadian Airlines and retired in 2002. Jeannette has one daughter Tracey and she helped raise four girls: Wende, Lana, Natalie and Nicki.

Good Morning Prince George was a daily coffee shop newspaper that Howard bought and ran for five years before selling and retiring once again.

Jeannette and Howard were married in 1996. They have a blended family of 12 grandchildren who basically grew up at Nukko Lake. Jeannette laughed and said, “When the grandchildren would come to visit, they would ask if they could bring along their six cousins. They always assured me that I would not have to do anything except cook.

“We used to take them raspberry picking so they could make jam. They made such a mess and would triumphantly say ‘isn’t it nice how things go so fast when you have help’ and then they would go outside to play while I cheerfully cleaned up. As soon as they had all gone home, we sat down for a hard-earned rest while we reminisced about all the fun we had with them.”

Howard started the Nukko Lake Water Ski School in 1979.  He is credited with being the first promoter of water skiing in Prince George. Word got around and people who had never seen the sport before came out to the lake just to watch what looked like Howard walking on water.

His water ski school became the training ground – or should I say the training lake – for many future water skiers. It was a great family sport and many parents got involved and not only supported it but became judges at local events. After 35 years, Howard left the school to Reg and Brian to run.

He said, “We turned out many good skiers. Back then my son Reg, nephew Brian and daughter Renee all wanted to go to the B.C. Summer Games. Reg and Brian wanted to compete. Renee wanted to compete, but also went there to check out the boys. All three of them became great on the skis and we are certainly proud of them.

“I was 75 years old the last time I was up on water skis. It was not a pretty sight.”

Howard skied competitively and won numerous medals at the Kelowna Regatta, the B.C. Provincials and the B.C. Summer Games.

He was one of the first people inducted into the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame, in the sport building classification, for his contribution to the sport of water skiing both provincially and for our city.

Howard served on the Forest Expo board for nearly 10 years and served on the Sports Hall of Fame selection committee for many years. He serves on the board of the North Central Seniors Association

and enjoys all the activities and the fun people at their senior centre.

Jeannette helps out with the Arthritis Society. Because of her rheumatoid arthritis there are now limits on her volunteer work and she volunteers quietly in the background.

Howard said, “We have done a lot of travelling around the world and right in our own back yard.  Our last camping trip was to Mount Robson where we watched the kayakers come over the falls.”

Jeannette concluded by saying, “So far I have won the battle with cancer. What a journey that was. A journey that was made easier because of our great cancer clinic and the wonderful people that work there and who care so much for the patients.

“Prince George is a great place to raise children and grandchildren. We are looking forward to the next 20 years to see what is in store for Prince George.  Even before that, we are looking forward to January 2020 when our first great grandchild is due to arrive.”

CITIZEN PHOTO/HANDOUT PHOTO

Jeannette and Howard Foot at their College Heights home and on a Mediterranean cruise in 1997.

Aaron Pritchett returns to PG Saturday

AROUND

TOWN COMMUNITY CALENDAR

CALVIN VOLLRATH CONCERT

Tonight from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Elders Citizen Recreation Association, 1692 10th Ave, Canada’s fiddling sensation Calvin Vollrath is in concert with Jeremy Rusu on piano, guitar and accordion and Rhea Labrie will be step dancing. Calvin is a true master on the stage. A show not to be missed. You’ll hear fiddle music from days of old and some original tunes as well. Tickets are $25 at Books & Co., or at the door. The concert moves on to Quesnel for Friday night at the Royal Canadian Legion Hall, 262 Kinchant St. Ticket are $20 at the door.

OTWAY MUSIC NIGHT

Tonight from 7 to 10 p.m. at Otway Nordic Centre, 8141 Otway Rd., this musical event features  Amy Blanding, The Ebbs, and Trundled. The Northern Roadshow is a collaborative effort between Canmore, Alberta, based singer-songwriter duo Trundled, and the Prince George-based indie folk band The Ebbs. Tickets are $20 in advance at zone4.ca or $25 at the door.

THE KICKERS AT THE LEGION

Friday from 8 to 11 p.m. Legion 43, 1116 Sixth Ave., are hosting The Kickers who will present a show featuring classic rock and country music. The Kickers are Shaun Bach, Tim Yule, Maurice Johnson, Scott LaPointe and Dennis Smith. Tickets are $10 at the door.

GRIZZLY BEARS WORKSHOP

Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. at Spruce City Wildlife, 1384 River Rd. in Prince George and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the College of New Caledonia’s campus at 3231 Hospital Rd. in Vanderhoof, Grizzly Bear Solutions is hosting a free workshop on grizzly bear safety, bear spray training and electric fencing for bears. For more information email grizzlybearsolutions@ gmail.com or visit the Grizzly Bear Solutions Facebook page.

AARON PRITCHETT

Saturday at Heartbreakers, 1192 Fifth Ave., Canadian country music star Aaron Pritchett presents his Out On The Town Tour. Ticket are $50 plus GST at Foothills Foods and Deli or at Heartbreakers

BIDS, BREWS & A BBQ

Saturday from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Hub Space, 1299 Third Ave., Bids, Brews and a BBQ, Live Auction & Dinner will be presented by Island Mountain Arts (IMA) in Wells (www.imarts.com). This is their annual online and live auction fundraiser and dinner, which helps support all the programs that IMA delivers including the Toni Onley Artists’ Project, the International Harp & Cello School, the ArtsWells Festival of All Things Art, the exhibitions at the IMA Gallery and the Artist-in-Residence program. Dinner and music included. Tickets are $35 for Island Mountain Arts Members and $50 for non-members (and includes an IMA membership). Tickets are at imarts.com.

Aaron Pritchett performs during the grand opening of the Northland Dodge dealership in 2015. Pritchett returns to Prince George for a show Saturday at Heartbreakers.

Contact:  250-994-3466  |  info@imarts.com

COMMUNITY COUNSELLING CENTRE’S BALL

Saturday from 6:30 to midnight at the Columbus Community Centre, 7201 Domano Blvd., the Community Counselling Centre’s will host their tenth anniversary fundraising ball which is a semi-formal event that includes dinner, cash bar, silent auction and raffles, live entertainment, dancing and a complimentary shuttle service for a safe ride home. Tickets are at www.eventbrite.ca or call 250-562-6690.

IT’S ABOUT TIME! –A KINDERCONCERT

Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Prince George Playhouse, 2833 Recreation Place, join the fun-filled and educational one-hour concert for children ages three to ten. During the concert children will explore time in music. This will be a very interactive concert. Boys and girls will have the opportunity to measure note lengths and set up note patterns for the musicians to follow. They will be exposed to a variety of musical styles and periods in an atmosphere of fun and games, and will gain an understanding of how various instruments sound and

Gardener Brian Minter who will speak about the fascinating connection between plants, people and the environment and answer your gardening questions following the presentation. Tickets $30 each. Contact:  2509648710  |  president@ddbotgarden.bc.ca

BELLY DANCE STUDENT SHOWCASE

Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m. at Theatre Northwest, 556 N Nechako Rd #36, Aimtinan: Gratitude, presents the 25th belly dance student showcase. Guests’ senses be tantalized by the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of the Middle East while attending the showcase featuring Arabic cuisine for purchase, silent auction with proceeds to be donate to the Elizabeth Fry Society and view an art exhibit. Contact:  250-563-5300  |  zahirahdancestudio@gmail.com

TEDXUNBC

Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Canfor Theatre, University of Northern British Columbia, 3333 University Way, a variety of entrepreneurs, scientists, educators, and a performing artist speak at TEDxUNBC. Through their inspiring and engaging talks, the 10 speakers will discuss the 2019 TEDxUNBC theme of Past the Future. Tickets, $100 each. Contact:  ExecProdTedxUNBC@unbc.com.

THIMBLEBERRY #4 RELEASE PARTY

Wednesday from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Omineca Arts Centre, 369 Victoria St. there will be music, readings, refreshments, good peeps. Come celebrate our fourth issue with friends, editors, contributors, and readers. All in your safe place for creativity to flourish, Omineca.

Contact:  info@ominecaartscentre.comVisit Website

ROCK THE RINK

contribute to musical pieces. Contact:  (250) 562-0800  |  gm@pgso.com

JUNK IN THE TRUNK

Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the CN Centre Parking Lot, 2187 Ospika Blvd S., there is a garage sale bonanza where 125 vendors will gather to sell items from the trunk of their car. To book a stall for a $15 donation visit www.eventbrite.ca. Donate left over items to AimHi and Canadian Diabetes. Contact:  250561-7327  |  events@reaps.org

CHRIS GASKIN COMEDY

Saturday from 7 to 10 p.m. at Artspace, above Books & Co., 1685 Third Ave., hometown boy Chris Gaskin will be taping his first ever comedy special. Hailed by Brielle Magazine as the Baby-Faced Assassin, Gaskin is known for commanding audiences’ attention with his innocent looks and sharp tongue, which has led to him being described as, brutally honest and hysterical. Tickets on sale at eventbrite. com.

MASTER GARDENER

Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. at Weldwood Theatre, 3333 University Way, David Douglas Botanical Garden Society presents Master

Oct. 12 at the CN Centre Rock the Rink, Battle of the Blades combines athletes from two of Canada’s favourite sports, figure skating and hockey to pair up in a high-stakes figure skating competition for the charity of their choice. The cast features Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, Patrick Chan, Kaetlyn Osmond and Elvis Stojko. Also appearing is world-renowned skating talent from Europe and the U.S. Italian Olympic medalist and world champion, Carolina Kostner, plus Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov. And for the first time in seven years Jeremy Abbott, Olympic medalist and U.S. champion will also join the tour. Tickets are available at www.ticketsnorth.ca.

HUBLE HOMESTEAD THANSKGIVING CELEBRATION

Oct. 14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Huble Homestead Historic Site is hosting a Thanksgiving celebration during its last weekend of the regular season. Join in to have some traditional fun with games like apple bobbing, scarecrow making, and crafts. Learn how pioneers prepared for winter with the heritage demonstrations, try the special seasonal lunch menu, and take a browse through the General Store before the historic site closes for winter. Huble Homestead

Bring family to monthly gaming afternoons

Historic Site is located 40 km north of Prince George, just off Highway 97 on Mitchell Road. For more information call 250-564-7033 or visit hublehomestead.ca.

BURTON, LIVE

On Oct. 18, Canada’s piano man, the Guess Who’s epic vocalist, the only artist inducted into the nation’s music Hall of Fame for both his band and his solo career, the incomparable Burton Cummings is coming to P.G. He was the power voice propelling American Woman, These Eyes, No Time, Clap For The Wolfman and many other hits of the groundbreaking band The Guess Who, but then when he went solo he continued the multi-platinum success with I Will Sing A Rhapsody, Stand Tall, My Own Way To Rock, Fine State Of Affairs, You Saved My Soul, Break It To Them Gently, and more besides. Cummings will be solo at the piano at Vanier Hall. Tickets are available at www.ticketsnorth.ca.

NEW HORIZONS ADULT BAND

Every Monday until June 29, 2020 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at the First Baptist Church, 483

Gillett St., the Alban Classical New Horizons Adult Band meets. For more information visit www.albanclassical.org. Contact:  250-5634693  |  admin@albanclassical.org

PJ STORYTIME

Every Monday until Dec. 9 from 6 to 6:30 p.m. at the Bob Harkins Branch, Prince George Public Library, 888 Canada Games Way, bring the little ones dressed in their PJs for stories, rhymes, and songs before bedtime. Suitable for children up to five years old. Contact:  2505639251  |  adhanjal@pgpl.ca

MENTAL HEALTH MEETINGS

The first and third Wednesday of every month at 11:15 a.m. at 1139 Sixth Ave., the Prince George Mental Health Consumer Council welcomes the public to regular meetings. For more information call Sherry at 250-562-1839.

CANTATA SINGERS EVENING REHEARSALS

Every Wednesday from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at , St. Michael & All Angels Anglican Church, 1505 Fifth Ave., the Prince George Cantata Singers, a group of about 60 voices (ranging in age from 17 on up), come together each week to sing in harmony for musical performance. The choir performs about two to four major concerts per year, divided into two sessions from Sept. to Dec. and Jan. to June. Event fee is $90 per session.

DJ DANCE NIGHTS

Thursdays until Dec. 26 from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Omineca Arts Centre, 369 Victoria St.,  Thursday DJ Dance Nights are presented to get a body grooving and keep spirits and energies high. There are licenced and dry DJ nights each month featuring local, regional and touring DJs. Entry is by suggested donation of between $5 and $20, but no one is turned away due to lack of funds. For details visit www.ominecaartscentre. com. Contact:  250-552-0826  |  info@ ominecaartscentre.com

MODERN SEXUALITY BOOK CLUB

Wednesday, Oct. 30 and Nov. 27 from 7 to 8:30 p.m., Trench Brewing, 399 Second Ave., the frustrating silent stigma is starting to fade, but now we’re left with an information gap. What does sexuality look like in 2019? Join Darcie and Kayli for this meetup. Borrow titles from the library or purchase from Books & Co. with a discount. To register and for titles call Prince George Public Library at 250-563-9251 ext. 141 or Books & Company at 250-5636637. Contact:  250-563-9251  |  adhanjal@ pgpl.ca

FRIDAY NIGHT MICS

Every Friday at 7 p.m. Books & Co., 1685 Third Ave., in Cafe Voltaire, hosts an open mic night for all musicians local or just passing through. The weekly event features great music, audience engagement, tasty beverages

and treats while intermission finds people browsing through book shelves filled with contributions from local authors as well as best sellers. For more information visit www. booksandcompany.ca.

FAMILY GAMING AFTERNOON

Every Saturday until Dec. 7 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Nechako Branch, Prince George Public Library, 6547 Hart Highway, bring the family to monthly gaming afternoons at Nechako Branch and play a variety of tabletop board games and video games. Contact:  250-5639251  |  ask@pgpl.ca.

SCRABBLE SUNDAYS

Every Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m. at Books & Co., 1685 Third Ave., in Cafe Voltaire there is Scrabble Sunday every weekend. Bring friends, family or yourself and your scrabble board. Contact:  250-563-6637  |  orderbooks@shaw. ca

WORDPLAY OPEN STAGE NIGHT

Third Thursday of every month Books & Co., 1685 Third Ave., hosts Wordplay Open Stage Night in Cafe Voltaire from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. This event is geared for poets and storytellers, aspiring, published or professional. Bring original work, take the stage and share with a creative reading.

Treasure hunters look for their perfect find on Saturday morning at the CN Centre parking lot during Recycling & Environmental Action Planning Society’s annual Junk in the Trunk sale. The fall sale goes Saturday.

Fiddler takes stage tonight

CHRISTINE HINZMANN Staff Reporter chinzmann@pgcitizen.ca

A multi-award winning fiddle player and composer of more than 700 tunes will take to the Elder Citizens Rec Centre stage tonight before he moves on to the Quesnel Legion Friday.

Calvin Vollrath has released many fiddle albums and has been inducted into the North American Fiddlers Hall of Fame for his efforts.

Vollrath has been to Prince George several times and remembers competing at the fiddle contest here in 1977 when he was just 17 years old.

“It will be nice to come and visit with old friends and new,” Vollrath said, who is from St. Paul, Alberta. “I just released my 69th album and when I think about it it’s just crazy. It’s called The Gift and so we’ve called this tour The Gift Tour.” He just returned from touring in Ontario and Quebec for two weeks and now he’s on the western portion of the tour, he said.

Vollrath, who is known around the world for his fiddle music, will be touring with Jeremy Rusu, who Vollrath said is a musical genius who can play any instrument put in front of him. Vollrath and Rusu will be accompanied by Vollrath’s wife Rhea Labrie who will be along to step dance as part of the entertainment.

“When people hear it’s a fiddle show people just think it’s old time fiddle but we’re more than that,” Vollrath said.

“We’ll be doing everything from Don Messer to Elvis Presley, Tom Jones to Louis Armstrong – pretty much anything. We’ve got big influences in music and we can play pretty much anything.”

Out of all his accomplishments one event stands out in his mind as a highlight of his career and that was when he was commissioned to compose five fiddle tunes to be performed at the Vancouver Winter Olym-

pics in 2010 during the opening ceremonies that would represent the different styles of fiddling Canada enjoys.

“It was a great honour to be chosen - I know there are lots of fiddle players in the country,” Vollrath said.

The Olympic committee spent two years touring the country and Vollrath said they realized that in pretty much every culture fiddle music held a prominent place.

“So the musical director did some research and found that I was a fiddle player in Canada that had been writing tunes and other fiddle players were playing those tunes so they contacted me and it was a huge honour,” Vollrath said. It was like a secret mission, he added. Vollrath was flown out to a recording studio in Vancouver about six months before the Olympics took place.

“I didn’t know exactly what I was flying there for,” Vollrath said. “They picked me up at the airport, took me to a recording studio, and when I got there they said we’re going to get you to compose music.” Each piece was to be composed in a different style.

“So it was an amazing thing and I was there at the Olympics to play the music along with many other fiddle players,” Vollrath said. “It was a great, great experience.”

During the western part of The Gift Tour, Vollrath will be stopping in Salmon Arm, Williams Lake and Clinton. He said he enjoys playing at the smaller venues, as well as the big ones.

“I’m really looking forward to coming to Prince George and sharing the music,” Vollrath said.

The Gift will be presented tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Elder Citizens’ Rec Centre, 1692 Tenth Ave. Tickets are $25 at Books & Co. or at the door and Friday at 7 p.m. at the Legion, 262 Kinchant St. in Quesnel. Tickets are $20 at the Legion or at Circle S.

Artist unveils fundraising calendar

CHRISTINE HINZMANN Staff Reporter

chinzmann@pgcitizen.ca

Using images from 100 Mile House and Williams Lake, local artist Rick Mintz has put together a calendar as a fundraiser for the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Mintz retired a few years ago and took up painting in water colour and acrylic along with pencil sketching to keep himself busy. He spent a year making art before he decided three years ago to start taking lessons with well-known local artist Betty Kovacic.

As part of his volunteering life, Mintz is the local chair of the Community for Kids, which raises funds for the B.C. Children’s Hospital Foundation. Although the hospital is located in Vancouver, it serves families from all over B.C., including 3,000 from Prince George and Quesnel in 2018. The overall count for 2018 is 279,000 visits to the hospital from 93,000 children in the province.

The Community for Kids group used to organize an annual golf tournament but there just aren’t enough people on the

committee to support such a big event any more so Mintz thought he could do something himself and contributed his own art work to build the calendar he is selling for $20 with all proceeds going to the B.C. Children’s Hospital Foundation.

“After traveling up and down the Cariboo Highway, I’ve seen all these old interesting buildings  and I thought I’m going to take pictures of all these and paint them and then when I did that I thought I should maybe just make a calendar as a fundraiser for the hospital,” Mintz said. “It took me about a year and a half to paint them all.”

Calendars are always available for sale at Studio 2880, 2880 15th Ave. To meet the artist Mintz will be at Omineca Arts Centre, 369 Victoria St., on Fridays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. to sell the calendars.

Mintz would like to extend an invitation to those who might like to volunteer to be part of the Community for Kids to contact him.

For more information call 250-964-9182 and for e-transfer information for out of towners wanting a calendar, email rmintz@shaw.ca.

Rick Mintz started painting in his retirement years and decided to create a fundraising calendar for BC Children’s Hospital Foundation. The calendars are $20 each with all proceeds going to the foundation.

SUBMITTED

Calvin Vollrath will perform in Prince George on Thursday and in Quesnel on Friday. Vollrath is a world-renowned fiddle player who has performed in Prince George since 1977.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

Gaskin taping hometown show

CHRISTINE HINZMANN Staff Reporter chinzmann@pgcitizen.ca

A comedian who grew up in Prince George will do a special taping of his gig at ArtSpace on Saturday at 8 p.m.

Chris Gaskin, who has been described as the “baby-faced assassin of comedy,” will present his show Working With The Negatives, which offers his unique perspective on society and how the world sees him.

The lighting in ArtSpace is a bit dim but Gaskin isn’t worried about it.

“I’ll just be using the lighting set up that they have - I mean honestly, my skin complexion is bright enough that we’ll probably use my face to light balance the cameras,” Gaskin deadpans.

He returns to Prince George often as he still has family here and his last show was held late last year when he headlined at the Treasure Cove Casino.

Gaskin has enjoyed many successes as he was a finalist in the national comedy competition Stand Up & Bite Me on Bite TV, and was featured on SiriusXM Satellite Radio. Since then he has won the Champion of Champions comedy competition, released his debut album, Lambda Male, and has worked with some of the biggest names in comedy, including Emo Philips, Godfrey, and

T.J. Miller.

Gaskin lives in Vancouver now and said he misses the winters in Prince George.

“I think growing up with that kind of made me who I am,” Gaskin said.

“People think I’m from out east from the way that I talk but it’s a winter thing. Vancouver doesn’t get winters like Prince George. They don’t have a level of cold that induces Tourette’s like Prince George does. When you’re driving to work in the winter and you get there and you open the door, you’re just cursing automatically.”

Gaskin decided to do the taping here in his hometown to showcase to the residents what locals can do.

“I also want to encourage people to go out to these other comedy venues where you have some very funny locals,” Gaskin said.

He’s doing a bit of a tour and he’s filming each gig and stitching them together, he said.

“Of course the Prince George show is the one that I am most looking forward to because I really love Prince George. For some comics in Vancouver it’s a punchline to them but I think it’s a great city.”

The show is a dry one, Gaskin said.

Gaskin decided to do the taping here in his hometown to showcase to the residents what locals can do.

“I suggest it’s for 16 years and older because of content,” Gaskin said. “The comedians are talking about our lives and so some of the stuff people won’t agree with but the whole idea is to be as funny as possible.”

Gaskin will by accompanied by Curtis Pyke, a Vancouver comedian who will do the opening set and also is the videographer for the taped show.

Always looking to support local comedians, Kylie Lewis Holt will also be part of the show.

Tickets are at the door or in advance at eventbrite.com, use promo code ‘comedy’ for a discount.

8 p.m. at ArtSpace.

HANDOUT PHOTO

Chris Gaskin, a Vancouver comedian who grew up in Prince George, is returning to do a taping of his Working With The Negatives show Saturday at

A sweet deal for hotels: Hosting honeybees

SUNNY FITZGERALD

Special To The Washington Post

If you spot a pair of beekeepers in the elevator of the Radisson Blu Mall of America hotel, don’t be alarmed. There’s no infestation; it’s just business as usual for this Bloomington, Minnesota, hotel and a growing number of properties around the globe.

Behind the bee veils at the Radisson Blu you’ll find University of Minnesota Bee Squad program manager Bridget Mendel tending to hives on the rooftop and collecting data on the resident honeybees with other members of her team. The hotel belongs to the Bee Network, individual and corporate properties that partner with the Bee Squad to host onsite apiaries across the Twin Cities.

Radisson Blu’s aim is not to collect honey - though it does so when honey is available, and infuses it into the food and drinks at the FireLake Grill House & Cocktail Bar and into skin-care products for in-room relaxation packages. The purpose of putting beehives atop the hotel is to support bee research and bring attention to a larger issue: the importance of pollinators and the threats they face.

“We’re not just talking about honeybees,” Mendel said. Other pollinators include butterflies, bats and birds, and “some of them are very much endangered.”

The 20,000 species of bees globally are a critical link in the pollinator chain that affects us all. According to a 2016 Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services report, 75 per cent of the world’s food crops - including almonds, avocados, chocolate and coffee - are dependent on pollination, and one of every three bites we eat is thanks to the work of pollinators. Unfortunately, some species of bees are facing issues due to habitat loss, pesticides, disease and climate change.

Local honey quite literally gives you a taste of a place. In Portland, Oregon, there are three Provenance Hotels properties within blocks of each other. Yet, as Kate Buska, vice president of brand development and communications, explains, the honey produced in each rooftop apiary has its own distinct flavor, depending on what flowering plants are nearby. “For example, if you taste the honey from Hotel Lucia - which is closest to the river, where there are cherry blossoms - it tastes different from the honey at Hotel deLuxe,” she said. “At Hotel deLuxe, you can taste the rose blossoms that are closer to that property.”

The ability to connect to the unique “fingerprint” of a place, as Sanchez calls it, makes for a meaningful experience. Whelan said that whether he’s leading a trip to Myanmar, Tanzania, Madagascar or some other destination, if there’s “a

chance to source local honey, people are all over it.” Consuming honey from bees that have gathered nectar from local flowers provides “this tangible connection to the local environment through food - something everybody needs and loves.”

Executive chef Isabel Chung of Fairmont Chateau Whistler also has observed a growing interest among travelers “about where things come from and how you source them.” Fairmont Hotels & Resorts facilitates this connection between its guests and the local environment through the Bee Sustainable program, placing beehives, pollinator-friendly gardens and miniature “bee hotels” on the rooftops of more than 20 of its properties around the world. When the weather in Whistler is honeybee-friendly, from around June to October, the resort offers guided tours of the rooftop garden and hives. (Chateau Whistler’s bees spend the winter in nearby Lillooet with Steve Gourley, beekeeper and owner of Goldstrike Honey.)

Even a guest not previously concerned with sustainability may be intrigued

enough by a hotel hive to dip a finger into some hyperlocal honey and consider dipping a toe into bee conservation, asking, “ ‘What can I do?’ “ Chung said.

If they’re at Chateau Whistler, they can dine on honey-glazed Yarrow Meadows duck or sample the Honeybear Blonde chocolate bar made with honey, blueberries and almonds - ingredients that wouldn’t exist without pollinators. Or they can support the cause by ordering a beeswax gin “Bee’s Knees” cocktail; for each one purchased, Fairmont donates a dollar to Pollinator Partnership, the world’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting pollinators.

The properties emphasize that guests can take action without building a honeybee hive on their roof (in fact, installing a hive without proper training could do more harm than good to the bee population). “There’s so many things an individual can do, even without a lot of outdoor space or time, to help sustain the populations of pollinators,” Chung said. “Plant a pollinator-friendly plant in your garden or on your windowsill.

Reduce or avoid using pesticides that are potentially dangerous. Put up a small solitary ‘bee hotel’ (a wooden structure to serve as a nesting place for wild bees) so they have somewhere to lay their eggs.”

Accor Group, Fairmont’s parent company, recently did just that, opening its first tiny bee hotel, arguably the most adorable lodging in Paris, at its headquarters. Chung was sent to do a honey tasting for the opening and was thrilled to see such excitement about and attention paid to the cause. “There’s 4,000 people in that office” at Accor headquarters, she says. “And they were talking about sustainability and the beekeeping program at Fairmont - that had never happened before.”

“Bees are the ‘canary in the coal mine,’” said chef Matt Sanchez, Marriott International’s first licensed beekeeper, who manages more than 30 hives at Sawgrass Marriott in Florida. “They’ve always been stress beacons for us” humans, he said. For example, if pesticides are used within a three-mile radius of his hives, the bees may die, alerting him to something amiss in the area. “By keeping bees, you’re more aware of and connected to everything in your community,” he said.

As part of the travel and tourism sector - the second-fastest-growing sector in the world - hotels are uniquely positioned to spread the message and generate buzz about bees and pollinators.

“Every kind of person” walks through the doors of the Radisson Blu Mall of America, Mendel said. Although guests aren’t permitted on the rooftop, Radisson and the Bee Squad occasionally bring a few resident bees to the lobby and bar to assist with on-site events that spark important conservation conversations with its global guests - such as “Honey Bee Helper” demonstrations to introduce guests to the honey-making process; and “Bee Happy Hour” featuring special rooftop honey-inspired menu items, with the Bee Squad on hand to answer questions. “They’re able to reach a lot of people and provide education,” Mendel said. “People start thinking about where their food comes from ... and suddenly (they’re) looking at not only our agricultural food system but all of our natural ecosystems. And they’re tied into it.”

Court Whelan, director of sustainability and conservation travel for Natural Habitat Adventures, believes travelers are seeking opportunities to better understand and connect to our environment, a trend that is “only going to grow as the world becomes more fragile and imperiled.” Furthermore, he added, “in a general sense, travel is the search for the authentic. What is more authentic than having beehives and sourcing your own local honey from the area?”

KEVIN CLARK/FAIRMONT CHATEAU WHISTLER HANDOUT PHOTO Executive chef Isabel Chung of Fairmont Chateau Whistler with a beehive.

Beekeeping conference this weekend

CHRISTINE HINZMANN Staff Reporter chinzmann@pgcitizen.ca

Urban beekeeping is a growing trend and there are many successful backyard beekeepers in Prince George.

To find out more about beekeeping and how important pollinators are to sustaining the planet, the B.C. Honey Producers Association is hosting its 2019 conference and trade show Saturday and Sunday in Prince George at the Coast Inn of the North.

“We’re all on the same mission and

that is to improve the bee colonies in the province to produce good pollinators, to make sure they’re healthy and to educate beekeepers in good beekeeping methods,”

Dave DeLeenheer, a member of Prince George beekeepers club, said. “During the conference, we are bringing in nine speakers from Canada and the United States, people who are top in their field, including scientists, researchers, and beekeepers who have large apiaries and they will be speaking at different times and on Sunday there will be workshops - breakout sessions where people can gather in smaller

groups.”

All over the world, bee populations are declining. Causes include pesticide overuse, loss of habitat, disease and climate change. Bees need humans to help recover and throughout the conference there will be workshops and speakers who will share important information with those in attendance.

Karen Pedersen, who is part of a fivegeneration Saskatchewan apiary, will share information about how to overwinter bees. This information applies to hobbyists as well as commercial operators.

Sara Red-Laird’s talk is called Adventures in Dirt and Honey. She is the founder of the Bee Girl organization and she’ll talk about her work to inspire ways for communities to conserve bees and proliferate flower cultivation.

Ian Steppler will offer a look at a single box commercial operation. Steppler comes from a 35,000-acre third-generation farm in Manitoba and has built up decades of experience with his hives. He is willing to share both his successes and failures with beekeepers.

Kristen Traynor will speak about the effect of fungicides on queen fertility. Traynor is both a writer and researcher, and former editor of the American Bee Journal and Bee World. She studies how pesticides affect honey bees. She has written the book Two Million Blossoms: Discovering the Medicinal Benefits of Honey.

Stephen Pernal will speak about apimondia and beekeeping research in Canada. Pernal is a research scientist who studies how bees resist disease in Alberta and leads Canada’s federal agricultural research program. He knows about how to detect and control bee diseases.

Kathleen Suddes will talk about beekeeping on the Sunshine Coast. Suddes will offer insight on commercial beekeeping while talking about making mead and how she is helping grow the industry of mead production in B.C.

Medhat Nasr will talk about what’s hot and what’s not after 50+ years of beekeeping. Nasr is the former provincial agriculturist for Alberta. His expertise includes bee breeding, nutrition and management of bee diseases and pests.

Amina Harris will offer insight into tasting and evaluating honey while matching flowers to flavours. Harris is a professor at the University of California at Davis who teaches courses about characteristics of honey and mead. Her specialty is discerning descriptive flavours in honey. The public is welcome to attend the conference and can register at bchpaconference.ca.

Universities, colleges hosting information night

University of Northern British Columbia 7 p.m. start.

Representatives of post-secondary schools from around the province will be in Prince George tonight to give prospective a students an idea of what they have to offer.

They will be hosting a public information event at the Canfor Wintergarden at

“The evening event is designed to allow both parents and students to meet informally with university and college representatives, ask questions and gather the most current information from as many institutions as they want, as they look ahead to making decisions

on which college or university they might attend,” said Post Secondary Institutions of B.C. administrative coordinator Josh Keller.

Participating schools include both University of Northern British Columbia and College of New Caledonia as well as British Columbia Institute of Technology, Royal Military College, Capilano

University, Nicola Valley Institute of Technology, Okanagan College, Simon Fraser University, Thompson Rivers University, Trinity Western University, University of British Columbia, University of Victoria and Vancouver Island University.

For more information, go to www.postsecondarybc.ca.

ABOUT US

• Colleen Sparrow, publisher and GM

• Neil Godbout, editor-in-chief

• Shawn Cornell, director of advertising

• Call us at: 250-562-2441 or 250-562-3301

• Find us at: 505 Fourth Avenue, Prince George, B.C. V2L 3H2

• Follow us on Facebook, by going online to: https://bit.ly/2SdAmek

• Visit https://bit.ly/2S9W4zW to find the location nearest you to pick up extra copies of 97/16.

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO

Beekeeper Theresa Healy looks in on some of her bees at her Prince George home in this 2010 file photo.

Give the 10-10-10 rule a try

We have all done it, pushed send on an email or text and then regretted our actions 10 minutes later. It happened to me just this week.

Someone had shortened a deadline on a project, I questioned the deadline, the person responded in a snarky manner. Squeezed by an already busy schedule with my temper rising, I sent an email back which may or may not have been as professional as it could have been.  Probably if I had waited 10 minutes or 24 hours, I might have taken the higher ground and just let the snarky email pass like water off a duck’s back.

The 10-10-10 rule, which I stumbled across in the book Decisive was made famous by Suzy Welch in her book 10-1010, states that when making a decision we should add an element of perspective. How happy will we be with our decision after 10 minutes, 10 months and 10 years?  Giving our decisions an element of time can give us a point of view that may not be apparent to us when we are struggling with a choice that could have a profound impact on our lives, or our businesses. Even little decisions like responding to a co-worker, business partner, or even our teenagers when we have been pushed to our limits could benefit from the 10-10-10 rule.  However, larger pronouncements like quitting

BUSINESS COACH DAVE FULLER

a job, or not, making an investment, or not, taking our business in a new strategic direction, or even getting married, would benefit substantially from this type of thinking.

It’s easy to think that after 10 minutes we might still be happy with the decision we have just made. In the case of my email, if I had waited 10 minutes, I think I might have made it shorter but still sent it. If I would have used the 10-10-10 rule, I would have considered the future consequences of my action 10 months out. I might have realized that there were some underlying factors that were raising my ire while making that decision and from the point of view of 10 months in the future, the email would not have been necessary. In 10 years, nobody will care, and with, the state of my memory, it will have been forgotten.  From the perspective of 10 months and 10 years, I probably wouldn’t feel the need to send the email.

So, what do we do if we have sent an email, or made a decision that we regret?

Let’s say we forget to use the 10-10-10 rule and make a mistake. If it’s a simple error

in judgement and has not caused deep grievous damage, a simple “I am sorry” can make a big difference. Often times we are harder on ourselves than we are on others. When we realize that we are not perfect and that we are going to make mistakes that realization will affect us and others. Forgiving ourselves is often harder than we think, but treating ourselves with some gentleness can alleviate the stress we feel about our actions.  It’s easy to say that we will never make take the same action again, however, it’s unrealistic without having some strategies, to avoid thinking that it is always going to be possible.

Eating more cake, chocolates or chips than we should have when watching our favorite Netflix series can cause us regrets. Chewing out an employee or co-worker for something they forgot to do might cause us regrets. Cutting down a tree in your backyard and falling it on your kids’ trampoline, is regrettable. We are likely to feel bad that night or the next day from our decision to act the way we did. It’s probably unrealistic to think that we will never be faced with that temptation again. So, what do we do when faced with that decision in a similar situation? We need to develop strategies that are going to be effective when faced with the situation.

Perhaps a 10-10-10 rule might be the answer.

Everyone does make mistakes, and some of these errors in judgment can cause us regrets. Avoiding those regrets or focusing too long on them is not healthy.

Everyone does make mistakes, and some of these errors in judgment can cause us regrets. Avoiding those regrets or focusing too long on them is not healthy. In order to be able to think clearly and make better decisions, tools like the 10-10-10- rule or other strategic thinking tools that gives perspective to our decisions can reduce the chances that we will have regrets. Not making decisions is not a valid option if we want to be successful in life and make the most of what we have been given. Good decisions, however small, can make our lives and the world a better place.

— Dave Fuller, MBA, is an award-winning business coach and the author of the book Profit Yourself Healthy.  Take 10 minutes to email dave@profityourselfhealthy. com – it won’t be something you regret!

Low-cost legal options available

A legal consultation is like a good night’s sleep. You may not know if or when you’ll have one, but there’s no doubt having one will help you face what lies ahead. However, many people worry they can’t afford the cost of consulting a lawyer about a legal problem. There are low-cost legal resources available, but if you don’t know how to find them it could lead to even bigger legal problems.

That’s why Dial-A-Law and the Lawyer Referral Service are so useful. Dial-A-Law, available online and by phone, offers recorded information on over 130 legal topics. And for everyday situations that need a preliminary consultation, Lawyer Referral can help to answer your first legal questions. Both services are now free. The management of both services has changed this year, as the Law Foundation of B.C. has encouraged legal information and service organizations to rationalize and focus their programs to create efficiencies and avoid overlap.

Dial-A-Law is like a library, but instead of books, it’s filled with audio recordings and web pages. It features legal information reviewed by lawyers on more than130

topics.

Dial-A-Law can help increase your knowledge of your legal rights and responsibilities. It’s especially useful for people who prefer to get information by listening rather than reading.

Formerly offered as a public service by the Canadian Bar Association, B.C. Branch, Dial-A-Law is now being modernized and maintained by the People’s Law School. The Law Foundation of B.C. continues to provide funding for this free service.

Dial-A-Law is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week at dialalaw.ca and by telephone at 1-800-565-5297 toll-free in BC or 604-687-4680 in the Lower Mainland.

You can call the Lawyer Referral Service if you have a legal problem or if you just need to ask a lawyer some legal questions.

The Canadian Bar Association, B.C. Branch, operated the Lawyer Referral Service for five decades, with funding from the Law Foundation of B.C. In August 2019, the Access Pro Bono Society of B.C. took over management and operation of the service, and was able to eliminate the small fee previously charged.

The Lawyer Referral Service call centre is still staffed by highly-trained and

experienced operators who help assess your situation. They narrow down your concerns to determine whether and how a lawyer might help. Then they may refer you to a lawyer practising the area of law that matches your concern.

With this referral, you can book a free appointment for up to 30 minutes’ consultation with the lawyer. When you meet, the lawyer will explore your legal concerns and help you decide whether you want to pursue your legal matter. There is no expectation you will hire the lawyer – that’s your choice. And the lawyer is also not obliged to take your case. However, if you and the lawyer do choose to work together, you’ll carry on and pay regular legal fees, the same as any other client.

The lawyer you consult with is one of nearly 2,000 B.C. lawyers who volunteer their time and legal skills to Access Pro Bono programs, including the Lawyer Referral Service.

Lawyer Referral Service lawyers practice different types of law ranging from family, insurance and human rights law, to motor vehicle, wills & estates and criminal law. They provide a wide range of expertise to

match the variety of legal situations callers present.

Legal services obtained through the Lawyer Referral Service are confidential – the lawyers treat your consultation as they would any other client or potential client. This commitment creates a comfortable, open space for questions and answers. To ensure confidentiality, lawyers must abide by a specific set of rules. But if a rule is broken, they can be suspended or removed from the service.

Call the Lawyer Referral Service at (604) 687-3221 or toll-free in BC at 1-800-663-1919 Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Get more information at www.accessprobono.ca/lawyer-referral-service.

The Lawyer Referral Service is always adding new lawyers. If you’d like to consider participating, see accessprobono.ca/ information-lawyers.

When you need legal resources, knowing what’s available and where to find it can help ease your mind and hopefully lead to that good night’s sleep – helping you to face the situation armed with improved knowledge, clearer expectations and appropriate legal support.

B.C. Provincial Court

BEAR ENCOUNTER WORKSHOPS SET

CHRISTINE HINZMANN Staff Reporter chinzmann@pgcitizen.ca

Ever wonder how to properly use bear spray in the middle of an attack? How to avoid an attack all together? How to set up and maintain effective electric fencing to avoid conflicts and keep fruit trees, chickens and gardens safe from bears? All these questions will be answered during a free workshop held at Spruce City Wildlife in Prince George on Friday and again Saturday in Vanderhoof at the College of New Caledonia’s campus.

Gillian Sanders, project coordinator and owner of Grizzly Bear Solutions in Meadow Creek, B.C. will be traveling north to share her knowledge with those interested in hearing it.

Sanders has been working in the field of grizzly bear conservation for 18 years and started the work she does with Grizzly Bear Solutions about seven years ago. “I live, work and recreate in grizzly bear habitat and I am a beekeeper myself,” Sanders said. “So part of my motivation for preventing grizzly bear conflicts was my own personal need to protect my hives from bears.”

In 2002, Sanders worked on a PhD research project for a friend and that introduced her into the science and research of grizzly bears and then she started Grizzly Bear Solutions to improve people’s coexistence with grizzly bears, prevent unnecessary conflicts, provide education and promote the use of effective practical tools, Sanders said.

The first part of the workshop is training on how to use bear spray, which Sanders said is a fairly simple and effective tool.

“The bear safety part of the workshop provides information more around how to prevent an encounter and how to act in an encounter,” Sanders said. “Bear spray is only effective within three to four metres in distance so basically we never want to be that close to a bear in the first place. In an encounter where we suddenly find ourselves that close to a bear, whether it’s coming towards us or we happen to have a surprise encounter at close range, bear spray can be very effective to deter a bear.”

The workshop includes hands-on practice with inert bear spray, which is

Seen here in 2007, a young grizzly digs up the ground where he is snared in between the Aberdeen Glen Golf Course and Aberdeen Road. The bear was tranquilized and moved away in a bear container.

the same consistency of bear spray but without its pepper component.

“This will allow us to practice removing the safety, pressing down on the canister, and seeing how far the bear spray moves away from us, without having to

work with the spray that has the pepper content in it,” Sanders said. “Bear spray is a very effective tool when deployed correctly.”

Sanders was quick to make the point that despite what people say, even with

the wind blowing towards a person, bear spray is still an effective way to avoid a bear attack.

“For me, if I’m in a tight situation with a bear and the wind happens to not be in my favour, I’m still going to choose to use my bear spray and maybe get a little bit of pepper in my face than actually be mauled,” Sanders said as someone who has never been attacked by a bear.

Meadow Creek has a man-made Kokanee spawning channel and there are multiple grizzly bears coming in for the fish. Sanders is involved in research projects collecting hair samples that provide DNA information about the bears in the area and she is also a bear viewing guide.

“So basically every time I go out I have bear encounters,” Sanders said.

During the workshop, Sanders will talk about how a black bear will react to people versus a grizzly bear and offer advice for both situations.

Through her work, Sanders has helped to set up more than 290 electric fences to keep bears away.

“That’s to keep them out of all kinds of situations,” Sanders said. “Primarily, it’s to protect agricultural attractants, such as chicken coops, bee hives, small livestock pens and fruit trees. Electric fencing is an awesome tool to use when installed and maintained correctly. It makes it so we can grow our food without having any conflicts with bears.”

Sanders understands how stressful and expensive it can be when bears come in and create property damage.

“With properly installed and maintained electric fencing we can avoid those problems all together even if bears are active in the area,” Sanders said.

Friday’s Prince George workshop will be held at Spruce City Wildlife Association, 1384 River Road from 6 to 9 p.m. The free workshop on Saturday in Vanderhoof will be held at CNC’s NechakoVanderhoof campus, 3231 Hospital Rd., from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The free workshops provided by Grizzly Bear Solutions are supported by the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation. For more information contact Sanders at grizzlybearsolutions@ gmail.com or visit the Grizzly Bear Solutions Facebook page.

Choosing P.G. over Toronto

I’m not going to lie; Prince George is not at all Vancouver, not even close.

From the eyes of an open minded, thirty-something girl from the big city, now suddenly navigating small town B.C., Prince George somehow turned into something much bigger. It became the centre, like a nucleus, like magic.

The original plan when I moved to Prince George was to stay and help the local office where I worked for several months, after which I was scheduled to move to Toronto to help expand the company. My new Prince George friends protested boldly that Toronto was a travesty. Without really knowing why, I listened and made the decision to stay on in Prince George for the foreseeable future. It just seemed right, but I still had to figure things out quickly. With the change of plans, my pre-arranged accommodation at the Pioneer Inn Apartment ended in short order.

LATITUDE

LINDA REMPEL

Of course, right away a perfect solution presented itself as an available rental on Seventh Avenue and Vancouver Street. The price for two upstairs rooms of a very old house converted into offices was $100 per month, with my cat Sydney approved.  $100 a month? Unheard of.

There were challenges though. No kitchen, which was really a non-issue for me. Also, I had to shower before the psychologists arrived at work at 8 a.m. weekday mornings, but in reality they could show up at any time, day or night. That was stressful! And finally, regularly turning away very disappointed patients

looking for the denturist that used to work in the building.

Life was cozy and convenient but sometimes scary and cold. The walls were thin against winter and downtown Prince George became a ghost town weekdays at about 5 p.m. on cue. This happened on weekends, too. It seemed like after work people had exciting places to go. Cabins on lakes, five acre properties with horses, hiking, fishing, hunting, scuba diving, and the list goes on.

The exodus out of downtown made me feel isolated and alone. Even the very house that Sydney and I had grown to love eventually left downtown after being thrown onto the back of a flatbed truck and driven to Paddlewheel Park to form part of a new development. All that was left on Seventh and Vancouver was a parking lot that remains to this very day.

It was just before my upper room house drove away on me that my dear friend

asked me to take her substitute teaching pay sheets to the School District 57 administration office when it was still located on Winnipeg and Ninth Avenue. I was happy to take them over and when I arrived, curiosity got the better of me. I started asking questions. It did not take long for me to mention that I had studied education in Alberta and was certified.  On that very day, I left with a teaching job and a new beginning. Another amazing instance of when Prince George gave me some latitude. Immediately, I started substitute teaching, entertaining students by pretending to be from Texas with my cowgirl Calgary accent. This was really an earnest attempt to keep them in the classroom just until the bell. The good news was that very soon I had enough money for a proper apartment and I impulsively rented a two bedroom suite smack dab in the middle of McIntyre Crescent.

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO

Healthy Living

Northern Health staff Ride to Conquer Cancer

By Haylee Seiter; Communications Advisor, Public and Population Health, Northern Health

Did you know that approximately 1 in 2 Canadians will develop cancer in their lifetime and that 1 in 4 will die of the disease?

With these statistics in mind, you might think: what can I do about it? How can I help? What can I do to prevent this disease from starting in the first place?

For many BC cyclists, the Ride to Conquer Cancer is the answer to these questions. It’s about doing something to raise money, find wellness, and kick cancer’s butt!

The Ride to Conquer Cancer

The Ride to Conquer Cancer is a two-day cycling and fundraising event that benefits the BC Cancer Foundation and supports leading clinicians, scientists, and researchers. It spans over 200 kilometres with participants riding from Cloverdale to Hope! This year’s event took place from August 24-25, and included the Wheelin’ Warriors of the North – a team that takes part every year, and is largely made up of Northern Health (NH) staff and health care workers! Healthcare workers come together to fight cancer

Christine Plouffe (Dufresne) is a lab technician at the University Hospital of Northern BC (UHNBC). This was her first year riding: “I joined to ride for my family, friends old and new, co-workers, high-school teachers, and classmates, as well as their families who are currently fighting, who have won [or lost] their fight … with cancer. I’m riding for all of you because I can!”

Brittany Schultz, another first year rider, is a registered nurse (RN) at the BC Cancer Centre for the North:

“I joined the team to ride this year for a few reasons. The first reason is that I’ve had several family members and close friends diagnosed with cancer, some who have sadly been defeated by this horrible disease. The second reason is that over the past four years of working at BC Cancer, I’ve been nothing short of amazed by numerous patients and their families that battle cancer with tremendous courage and strength. I see them from the day of diagnosis to the end of treatment, and I’m astounded by their resilience day after day. I want to ride to raise money towards an improved future for this disease, for my friends, family and anybody else facing cancer. The third reason I will ride is for a personal challenge, and for the chance to get to know the incredible team of Wheelin’ Warriors.”

As for me, this year was my fourth Ride to Conquer Cancer and it was special because I got to ride with both of my parents. It was my dad’s first time riding and he loved it!

Learn more

These are just a few of the people who made up the team. To learn more about the Ride to Conquer Cancer or the Wheelin’ Warriors of the North, please visit: BC Ride to Conquer Cancer (https://ride. conquercancer.ca/vancouver/)

Wheelin’ Warriors of the North (https://www. facebook.com/WheelinWarriorsOfTheNorth/) Cycling in the north: a Warrior’s perspective (https://blog.northernhealth.ca/active-living/ cycling-in-the-north-a-warriors-perspective)

Regional Spirit of Healthy Kids program launches October 1

By Andrew Steele, Community Funding Program Coordinator, Northern Health

“Dad!

I met the Hockey Cougars! I could win a chance to meet the whole team! I need to read and exercise every day!”

These words, from a young participant in the Spirit of Healthy Kids program, sum up what makes the program successful and important: the program gives kids positive role models to look up to and rewards them for making healthy choices, and it can have a tremendous impact on their lives.

Up until recently, Spirit of Healthy Kids was only available in Prince George, but now it’s going regional, to communities throughout Northern BC!

Program now available to all of Northern BC

The first ever intake for the Spirit of Healthy Kids Regional Program (https://www.northernhealth. ca/services/healthy-living-in-communities/spirithealthy-kids) will be open from October 1 to October 31, 2019. Here’s how it works:

• Interested schools in Northern BC can apply, and six schools will be selected to participate in the challenge, based on healthy kids’ projects they want to accomplish (see Criteria section in link above).

• Students will view a video that has health, wellness, and philanthropic messages from the PG Cougars, then record their healthy activities in tracking sheets for the next two weeks.

• At the end of the challenge, the school with the highest level of participation will receive a $5,000 grant from the program to complete a project in their school that will help students make the best possible choices every day.

• The other competing schools will each receive a $1,000 grant.

• Kids from schools that weren’t selected can still complete activity forms and enter a random draw for a $500 grant.

While this funding is important, the real win is getting kids to be active, kind, and as healthy as they can be. It’s no secret that building healthy habits in kids leads to healthy habits in adults. By supporting schools to encourage these habits in their students, the Prince George Cougars, the Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation, and Northern Health aim to build a happier and healthier Northern BC for years, and generations, to come.

Spirit of Healthy Kids background

In 2015, the Prince George Cougars wanted to give back to the community. They introduced Read to Succeed, a program focused on getting elementary school children to spend more time reading and being physically active. The program was a hit and, in 2016, a new partnership between the Cougars, the Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation, and Northern Health came together, and the Spirit of Healthy Kids program was born.

This new program built on the foundation of Read to Succeed, adding new areas of focus including philanthropy, smoke and vape reduction, and injury prevention, among others. Since the program began, over 4,100 children have participated and read their way to rewards, like enjoying Cougars hockey games.

For more information

Visit the Spirit of Healthy Kids program (https:// www.northernhealth.ca/services/healthy-livingin-communities/spirit-healthy-kids) for more information, and application details and forms.

Brittany (left) is an RN at the BC Cancer Centre for the North and Christine (right) is a lab technician at UHNBC. It was the first year riding in the Ride to Conquer Cancer for both of them!

Using local hockey players as role models, the Spirit of Healthy Kids program helps kids to be as active, kind, and as healthy as they can be. (photo credit: Prince George Cougars)

WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 29 TO OCTOBER 5, 2019

ThE luCKiEST SignS ThiS WEEK : CaPRiCORn, aquaRiuS and PiSCES

a R i ES don’t be afraid of change, it will mean good things for you. at home, at work and in your love life, you need to do a little readjusting to regain your joie de vivre also, you’ll succeed in resolving a conflict.

Tau R u S agreements that are reached in a hurry are often broken just as quickly. Take the time to get everything straightened out to avoid starting over from the beginning. Success will come when you focus on the details.

g EM ini

at the office, there will be a mountain of work on your desk. a good strategy is necessary to increase your revenue and get a promotion. leading by example will help you achieve your goals.

C an CER

usually, self-esteem is something that’s developed over time. however, sometimes a small achievement is all it takes to realize your worth. You’ll accomplish one such feat for which you’ll be appreciated and remembered.

l EO

Even if buying property is still just a dream, you’ll give yourself the tools you need to reach your goals. You’ll have the support of your family, both financially and emotionally. n ew couples will start to think about living together.

V i R g O

To avoid driving in circles for hours, don’t forget your gPS or to get detailed directions before heading to a new place. Take the time to treat yourself considerably.

li BR a

You’ll find a solution to all your financial troubles. You may even land your dream job by having the courage to apply. action is required to succeed.

SCORP i O

Professionally, this is a new beginning. You’ll find the tools to jump feet first in an exciting and profitable new direction. The law of attraction will be strong for you this week.

S agi TTa R iu S at work and in your love life, you’ll hear some interesting offers. Think carefully before making any big decisions. You’ll have a better view of the situation when you’re in good company.

C a PR i COR n

You’ll be surrounded by those closest to you, and they’ll be your safe haven. You’ll be struck by inspiration that leads you to create a masterpiece. You’ll trust your intuition. Remember that all great accomplishments begin with a dream.

aqua R iu S

Your considerable efforts will be rewarded with a surprising promotion at work. You’ll start a new diet that will have positive impacts on your health. let pleasure guide you in your romantic relationship.

P i SCES

You’ll be tempted to follow a spiritual movement that brings your inner peace. To your delight, you’ll find your place among a special group of people. a spontaneous trip may be in the works.

Look beyond pumpkin spice lattes

Fall is pumpkin season and in northern British Columbia that means access to locally grown varieties. Whether you’re adding them into muffins, blending them into soups or baking the seeds for a crunchy snack, pumpkins are full of valuable nutrients and are a healthy addition to your diet in October, or any time of year.

While you may think of pumpkins as a Halloween decoration or seasonal pie filling, they can actually be used in a variety of dishes when you consider sweet and savoury options as well as using the seeds, flowers and leaves, in addition to the flesh. Each part of a pumpkin plant contains valuable nutrients in varying amounts.

The flesh of a pumpkin is high in potassium, which is an important electrolyte for muscle contraction, maintaining fluid balance in your body, controlling blood pressure and maintaining normal nerve function.  The “meat” of a pumpkin is also an excellent source of Vitamin A, which helps keep your eyes and skin healthy, and can lower your risk for some diseases.

Pumpkin can be chopped and baked, like any squash, or pureed and added to smoothies, folded into a waffle or pancake recipe or cooked into your morning porridge. If you usually add pureed fruit, like applesauce, to your quick bread recipes, consider pumpkin for a change.  The recipe for Hearty Manitoba Vegetable Soup (below) can help you get started with incorporating this versatile fruit into your diet.

Just like the flesh of a pumpkin, the seeds contain a variety of micronutrients including iron. Iron is a mineral that carries oxygen in the body and low levels of iron can leave you feeling tired and irritable.

Pumpkin seeds are also a significant source of fibre, which is important for bowel health, and protein, which helps you maintain and build muscle mass. Bake

pumpkin seeds into a granola or use them

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

KELSEY LECKOVIC

to top homemade pumpkin muffins.

To prepare roasted pumpkin seeds, first clean all pumpkin debris off seeds, make sure the seeds are dry, then toss 1.5 cups of seeds with two teaspoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Place seeds in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for about 45 minutes in a 300 F oven. Stir seeds occasionally to prevent burning.

While pumpkin flowers and leaves are not readily available in local grocery stores, you may still have access to these ingredients if you’ve grown your own plants. Both the flowers and leaves of the plant carry with them valuable nutritional qualities. Both foods are a source of betacarotene, which is converted to Vitamin A in the body. Although there are no specific recommendations for beta-carotene intake, it may reduce the risk of disease, some cancers and heart disease by acting as an antioxidant.

Pumpkin leaves can be chopped and cooked into soups and stews, just as you would use kale, and the flowers can be stuffed and baked, as you would prepare stuffed pasta shells.

If you’re purchasing canned pumpkin, be sure to read the label carefully to confirm you’re getting canned pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling, which has added sugar and spices and is often more expensive. As well, if you’re buying pumpkin seeds, look for a product with no added salt.  Pumpkin seeds can also be marketed under the name pepitas, which are just seeds from a different variety of pumpkin than that of a carving pumpkin.  — Kelsey Leckovic is a registered dietitian with Northern Health working in chronic disease management.

HEARTY MANITOBA VEGETABLE SOUP

Makes 6-8 servings

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 40 minutes

Note: ½ tsp dried herbs can be substituted for each of the fresh herbs in this recipe.  Also, if the soup becomes too thick, add 1-2 cups water.

Ingredients

- 1 tbsp canola oil

- 3 celery stalks, chopped

- 2 carrots, chopped

- 2 onions, chopped

- 1 zucchini, chopped

- 3 garlic cloves, minced

- 3 potatoes, peeled and diced

- 3 tomatoes, chopped

- 3 bay leaves

- 1 ½ tsp fresh rosemary

- 1 ½ tsp fresh thyme

- 4 cups (1L) vegetable broth

- 1 can (19oz) red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

- 2 cups Swiss chard or spinach leaves, chopped

- 1 cup pumpkin puree

- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

- 1 tsp prepared mustard

- ½ tsp pepper

- 1 cup rice or small pasta, cooked (optional)

- Parmesan cheese, grated (optional)

Instructions

1. In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium heat and cook celery, onions, carrot, zucchini and garlic for about 8 minutes or until softened.

2. Stir in potatoes, tomatoes, bay leaves, rosemary and thyme. Add broth and beans; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

3. Stir in Swiss chard, pumpkin puree, Worcestershire, mustard and pepper; simmer about 10 minutes or until chard is wilted. Stir in pasta/rice, if using, and heat through.

4. Sprinkle each serving with cheese if desired.

Nutrition Facts: Per serving

277 Calories, 11g protein, 4g Fat, 53g Carbohydrates, 10g Fibre, 0g Sugar, 569mg Sodium, 3mg Iron

*Recipe courtesy of: www.unlockfood.ca

Junk in the Trunk goes Saturday

CHRISTINE HINZMANN Staff Reporter chinzmann@pgcitizen.ca

If you’ve got Junk in the Trunk, the CN Centre parking lot is the place to be on Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

There are 125 spots available for vendors who wish to sell their items to as many as 4,000 garage salers who will be ready to browse for bargains that day.

It’s the 15th sale the recycling and environmental action planning society (REAPS) has held as a fundraiser for the non-profit while offering the community an opportunity to upcycle and recycle thousands of items. The events are held twice a year in May and October.

People who attend the event will see vendors taking up two stalls, one to park and one to set up.

“A lot of people will bring their own tables and tents, some bring trailers to set up and some use their trunk and the ground,” Terri McClymont, REAPS executive director. “There is everything under the sun for sale at these events. There’s vehicles, kitchen cabinets, and even sinks, household items, clothing and recreational stuff, like children’s sporting equipment.”

When the sale is done people are encouraged to donate their left over items to the Salvation Army which will have a truck ready to accept donations.

“Please remember to donate quality

items because we don’t want to offset their tipping fee - we don’t want to be asking a non-profit to pay to dispose of unsellable items,” McClymont said.

Vendors are asked to clean up their own spot so volunteers at the Junk in the Trunk sale don’t have to do the dirty work.

“This event is held rain or shine or sn... nope, not saying the word - but you know what could happen on Oct. 5,” McClymont said. “And no matter what the weather brings the event will be held.”

There will be food vendors on site so people can take advantage of that.

The first Junk in the Trunk was held in October 2012 to raise awareness for Waste Reduction Month.

During previous events, there were round ups for bigger items held in conjunction with the Junk in the Trunk events but because everything is recyclable within the regional district, there won’t be one held this time.

REAPS encourages everyone to call 250-561-7327 or email events@reaps.org or visit reaps.org to find drop off locations for specific items under their waste reduction directory at www.reaps.org/assets/ waste_reduction_april2019.pdf. There is also a repair guide so if you want something fixed REAPS can tell you where to get that done, too.

To book a Junk in the Trunk stall for a $15 donation visit www.eventbrite.ca.

Susan Driedger from Vanderhoof pulled her many treasures behind her as she browsed through thousands of items available for sale during the Junk in the Trunk Sale held last September at CN Centre’s parking lot.

Treasure hunters looked for their perfect find last May at the CN Centre parking lot during REAPS Junk in the Trunk sale. The next one is Saturday.

In Memoriam

In Memory

Philis A. Welch

April 26, 1938October 1, 2018

Those we love Don’t go away they walk beside us everyday unseen, unheard but always near still loved still missed and very dear to us. You live forever in our hearts.

Sharlene, Clarence and family Allan, Donna and family

Gail, Morry and family Adele and family

Svend Andersen (March 25, 1931May 23, 2019)

Celebration of Life

Please join us in sharing memories and honouring

Svend’s life

2:00 PM, October 12, Prince George Golf and Curling Club A short program will begin at 2:30pm Light refreshments will be served

As you share the stories and the memories of how they lived their lives and how very much they meant, may you find comfort...

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Celeste Daniele Scheelar. She was born in Vermilion, Alberta to parents Gloria Sand and Irvin Scheelar. Celeste passed away on Thursday, September 19, 2019 in Surrey B.C.. She is survived by her Mother Gloria and Father Irvin (Gale); sisters Monique, Angeline; brothers Kelly, Ron, Russel, Brian, Bruce; Children Justice, Liberty, Aislynn and Kennedy. A celebration of life will be held at Gateway Church in Prince George October 19, 2019 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. as well as at Lou Soppit Community Centre in Rocky Mountain House October 27, 2019 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers the family has chosen programs that operate in our communities to support women needing support in mental health, addiction, recovery, and housing:

Prince George - Gateway Church - Donations can be made online https://gatewaypg.churchcenter.com/giving

Prince George - Elizabeth Fry Society - Donations can be made online https://www.pgefry.bc.ca/donate/

Edmonton - Women’s Emergency Accommodation Centre (WEAC) - Donations can be made online https://e4calberta.org/donate/

CAROLE ANITA LAWRENCE 1939 - 2019

My Sweetie, the woman I loved with and laughed with and cried with. 57 Years of being together, sharing and caring. Saying goodbye to you was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. You are the love of my life, my friend, my partner and my wife. Now you are gone to another place, waiting for me to join you one day. I talk to you daily as if you are here, reliving the memories I hold so dear. I miss you so much today, tomorrow and forever.

Until we meet again, Your Loving Husband, Grenville.

Loved and missed by her husband Grenville, daughter Elizabeth (Steve), grandson Steven (Amie), many family members and extended family and friends. Thank you to Dr. Denise McLeod and all the staff at Gateway for the excellent care given to Carole over the years.

Celebrate the lives of loved ones with your stories, photographs and tributes

BEZO, Cecile Anita Marie Born March 25, 1937, Passed away Sept 26, 2019

Cecile passed away peacefully in the loving presence of her family at the Prince George Hospice House after a short but brave battle with cancer. Predeceased by her loving Husband, Norman Bezo. She is survived by her children Bryan (Shannon), Gina, Michele (Kelly), grandchildren Lance, Grace (John), Zacharie, Brandon, Sarah and numerous nieces and nephews.

A wonderful mother, grandmother, and aunt, Cecile’s sense of humour and loving nature will be fondly remembered by all who knew her. Celebration of life will be held on Saturday, October 5th, 1 p.m. at Lakewood Funeral Home 1055 Ospika Boulevard, Prince George, BC Special thanks to family friend, Annette Barrette, and to the caring staff at the PG Hospice House. Donations to the Prince George Hospice Society would be greatly appreciated.

Tomlin,SydneyF. May28,1930-September22,2019

SydpassedawaypeacefullyonSeptember22,2019, afterlivingafulllifeandbeinglovedbymany.Born onMay28,1930,SydspenthisearlyyearsinNorth Vancouver.Hisworkasamasonrycontractortook himfirsttoVictoriaandthentoPrinceGeorge.He livedatCluculzLakeformanyyearsandwasalways happiestwithafishingrodinhishands. Sydwaspredeceasedbyhisparents,JohnandHelen Tomlin;hisbrother,Alfred;hiswife,Molly(1981); hiswife,Marcelle(2004);andhisstepdaughter, Michele(neeSchmit)Triplett.Hewillbemissedby hisdaughters,BarbaraTomlin(TerryHood),Dona Tomlin(JohnNorris),KathleenBertoli,DianeTomlin (GaryGagen),andJennifer(John)Stanway;andhis stepchildren,CharleneOuellette,Kevin(Karen) Schmit,Karla(Neil)Antonini,andKarenSchmit.He willalsobemissedby14grandchildren,eightstepgrandchildren,andninegreat-grandchildren. ThefamilywouldliketothankDr.DevonReddyand thestaffofGatewayLodgefortheirkindand compassionatecareovertheyears.Thefamilywould alsoliketosayaspecialthankyoutoDel Guttormson,Syd’sbookkeeperandfriendformore than40years. AcelebrationofSyd’slifewillbeheldat2pmon November9,2019,atthePrinceGeorgeGolfand CurlingClub,2601RecplaceDrive.Formore informationcontactBarbaraatbtomlin@shaw.ca. May the Sunshine of Comfort

Itiswithgreatsadnessthatweannouncethepassing ofourbeautifulwife,sister,aunt,andfriend,Cyndie Pickup(neeBrassard).

Cyndie,passedawaypeacefullyatthePrinceGeorge HospiceHouse,surroundedbyherhusband,Steve; family;andfriends.AnyonewhoknewCyndiewould attesttoherincrediblespirit,kindheart,mouthwateringcooking,andbeautifulgarden.Wemissher dearly.

WewillcometogethertocelebrateCyndie,on October6thfrom2:00pmto4:00pmatSalmon ValleyCampground.AllwhoknewandlovedCyndie, arewelcometoattend.

Campbell,JosephW.

June26,1959-September16,2019

Withdeepestsorrow,weannouncethatJoseph WilliamCampbell,age60,passedsuddenlyon Monday(September16,2019)inKamloops. Josephisprecededindeathbyhismother, Genevieve,andsurvivedbyfather,Reginald; brothers,ChristianandShawn;daughters,Stephanie CampbellandCheyenneMingo;andgrandchild Emma.Josephwillbemissed.

AChurchServicewillbeheldat11:00amonFriday, October4,2019,atOLPH,635TranquilleRoad, Kamloops,BC.ParkviewCommunityCentre,500 McDonaldAvenue,Kamloops,BC,willbereceiving familyandfriendsatnoon.

YRB-WINTEROPERATOR/

LABOURER

YRBisseekingwinter operators/labourersforthe PGarea. Minimumrequirements includeavalidclass1or3 driver’slicensewithair,a cleandrivingrecord,and driver’sabstract. YRBisalsolookingfor candidatesavailableonan asandwhenneededbasis. Ifyouaresemi-retired, andlookingforoccasional winterwork,thismaybe theperfectopportunity. Pleasedropoffaresume at2424HartHwyoremail tobens@yrb.ca. bens@yrb.ca www.yrb.ca

SUMMITTRAILERLTD PARTS/SERVICEMANAGER

Positionavailableinour PrinceGeorgebranch.You have5yearsexperiencein asimilarfield;proven trackrecord;andabilityto problemsolveandthink onyourfeet.Weoffer competitivewages, benefitspackage,profitsharing,fun,inclusive atmosphere. E-mailresumesto: darin@summittrailer.ca www.summittrailer.ca

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OVERVIEW:Seewhatittakestobecomeaproattaxesat H&RBlock’sTaxAcademy.Thealwaysin-demandskills andknowledgeyou’lllearncanopendoorstorealjob opportunities.

CAREERBENEFITS:Trainingfromindustryleaders,the abilitytotackleanytaxsituation,theopportunitytowork asapart-timetaxprofessionalatH&RBlock,and flexibilityandindependence.

There’sneverbeenabettertimetoenroll!Classesstart thisSeptember. hrblock.50864@hrblock.caor www.hrblocktaxacademy.caorcall250562-6247

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Wearelookingfortwoexperiencedjourneyman plumberstojoinourserviceteam;weofferacompetitive benefitspackage.Ifthisopportunityissomethingyou wouldbeinterestedin,pleaseemailyourresumetoBrett atoffice@mayfairinc.comoraccounts@mayfairinc.com.

Ghost in the Graveyard

Do you like to play Hide and Seek? Do you like to run and chase? Then this is a game for you!

HOW TO PLAY:

icki Whiting, Editor Jeff Schinkel, Graphics Vol. 35, No. 43

Looking for a way to have fun and get some exercise? Head outdoors! Here are a few games to turn outside time into game time!

Round up three or more friends. Choose a ghost (or person to be it) and a place to be home base.

When players are touching home base, the ghost can’t see them.

After counting, the players yell, “Apples, peaches, pumpkin pie; if you’re not ready, holler ‘I’!”

The ghost hides while the other players close their eyes and count to 30.

The players search for the ghost. If a ghost can tag a player without getting spotted, that player becomes the ghost for a new game.

6. For extra fun, you can play Ghost in the Graveyard at night using ashlights. Can you nd an exact match for each of these ashlights?

If any player sees the ghost, they yell, “Ghost in the graveyard!” and all the players try to get back to the home base before the ghost tags them. If they do, then the ghost has to be the ghost again in the next game.

HOW TO PLAY: Choose one person to be It. He or she stands a good distance away from the other players with their back to the other players who line up on a starting line, facing It.

When It calls “Green Light,” the other players move towards It until It spins around, yelling “Red Light.” When they hear the “Red Light” command, the other players must freeze on the spot.

Any player seen moving must return to the starting line. The players must remain frozen until the next “Green Light” command is given.

Draw the road sign that continues the pattern in each row.

Play continues in this manner until someone reaches and tags It. The tagger becomes the new It and the game begins again.

Newspaper Ball

Roll up several pages of the newspaper to make a “bat.” Wad up some other pages and tape up to make a “ball.” With a pal, play catch with the ball. Have one person pitch the ball and the other try to hit it with the newspaper bat.

Freeze Tag

HOW TO PLAY: Divide a group of friends into two teams and choose one of the teams to be It. The team that is It tries to tag the players on the other team. When tagged, a player must freeze. Untagged teammates can unfreeze their frozen teammates by tagging them. The game ends when the It team has frozen everyone. Then the other team is It and a new game begins!

Find the words in the puzzle. How many of them can you find on this page?

a

sports story about something that happened in a game you played or watched. Include the who, what, when, where, why and how.

FORGIVENESS AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Justin Trudeau recently caused a stir when photos and videos were revealed of him darkening his face to pretend to be characters of other ethnicities.

Green Party leader Elizabeth May stated, “I am deeply shocked by the racism shown in the photograph (from 2001) of Justin Trudeau. He must apologize for the harm done and commit to learning and appreciating the requirement to model social justice leadership at all levels of government.”

This is precisely what Trudeau has done. There has been no denial or justification of his action. He knows it was wrong and he has asked the Canadian people for forgiveness.

When teaching about social justice, I believe it is very important to ask why crimes against humanity happened in the past. If we understand the way that people thought at the time, we can objectively see how such grave mistakes were made. If we understand them, we are less likely to repeat them.

Seeing the world as historians, we can put away our twenty-first century judgments and find the truth behind events. Most importantly, we are able to come back to our age and ask, “How will history judge us?  Are we doing all that we can right now to build a more

just world?”

LESSONS IN LEARNING

GERRY CHIDIAC

Clearly, the black and brown face tradition in theatre has a horrible history. It was borne out of a social justification of racist stereotypes. Even if Trudeau’s intentions were benign in 2001, deeper reflection would have led to a more appropriate costume for an Arabian Nights gala.

The photos and videos of Trudeau in his high school and university years, however, may be a different matter. How many of us have pictures from earlier in our lives that we are embarrassed about, pictures that people today could potentially find scandalous? From grass skirts to princess outfits, I know that I am not without fault. I often point out to my students that they are much kinder to each other than when I was in high school in the 1970s. Our tolerance for bullying, sexism and racism would shock young people today. Would any of us be immune to criticism if our words

and actions were now made public? Perhaps the best that any of us could do would be to say, like Justin Trudeau has done, “I’m going to continue…. to fight intolerance and discrimination even though obviously I made a mistake in the past.”

The recently revealed photographs do not influence whether I will vote for Justin Trudeau and his Liberal candidate in my riding. I have four years of government actions on which to base my decision. As an Arab-Canadian, I find his government’s policies toward the people of Palestine and Yemen far more offensive than his silly Aladdin outfit. I also see Trudeau’s lack of eagerness to implement the 94 Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, released shortly after he took office. I can also evaluate how the Liberal government has dealt with scandal and corporate welfare, as well as their environmental record and failure to implement electoral reform.

Quite honestly, I believe that it is important to see this event for what it is – an attempt to discredit a politician. Why were these pictures and videos leaked to the media during an election? Do the opposition parties have so little confidence in the legitimacy of their own platforms that they feel the need

As an ArabCanadian, I find his government’s policies toward the people of Palestine and Yemen far more offensive than his silly Aladdin outfit.

to publicly discredit the leader of the current government?  Their timing, in my mind, is no less scandalous than the images of Trudeau themselves.   Canadians have a very important choice to make on Oct. 21.  It will determine the future course of our country and our place in the world. May we each embrace this responsibility with a clear and informed conscience. — Gerry Chidiac is a champion for social enlightenment, inspiring others to find their greatness in making the world a better place. For more of his writings, go to www.gerrychidiac.com.

AUTOMOTIVE

GENESIS G90

Upstart luxury creation a contender

PEDRO ARRAIS

Genesis is hoping its business model will appeal to buyers as much as the vehicles it sells.

The young luxury brand, spun off from the Hyundai umbrella, has gone to great lengths to set up as a viable competitor to more established brands such as Lexus, Mercedes-Benz or Lincoln.

Although Genesis will happily sell you a new luxury car, what it’s offering buyers is a different ownership experience.

It has borrowed a concept from another young, successful brand — Tesla — by eliminating traditional brick-and-mortar dealerships and taking everything online. Interested in a car? A representative will bring it to you — at home or your place of work.

Haggling? Forget about it. It’s a fixed price. Need maintenance? A representative will come to pick up your car and leave you with a loaner. For the first five years, all your maintenance charges are free as well. But do its vehicles meet the brand’s lofty goals?

I drove a 2020 Genesis G90, the flagship of the brand, to find out.

Before I drove the car, I toyed with the online configurator. What I discovered was that, unlike for almost every other manufacturer, extras were limited.

There is only one trim. You have a choice of exterior and interior colours, of course (at no extra charge), along with accessories, such as floor mats.

The final price even includes freight and preparation and delivery inspection.

For anyone who has chosen a vehicle, only to find the final price with the goodies you really want can add tens of thousands of dollars to the bottom line, so far so good. As the new kid on the block, one would expect that they would try to undercut the competition.

With a list price of $89,750, it is certainly the most expensive vehicle from South Korea. In comparison with some of the others in this segment, however, it sounds like a deal. The Lexus LS 500 starts at $103,150, while the BMW 740Le xDrive is $117,750 — both not including obligatory freight and PDI charges.

But how about the car itself?

The Genesis certainly looks the part of a high-end luxury sedan, with styling cues that tell a casual observer that it runs in the

that tell a casual observer that it runs in

right crowd.

The two biggest changes over the past year include a more in-your-face grille and bespoke wheels.

The visual masterstrokes transform an also-ran candidate into a contender. My only surprise is that they left the wheels at 19 inches. The BMW, by comparison, now proudly wears 21-inch rubber.

At more than 5,200 millimetres long, the G90 is a full-size car. As with the BMW, you can regard the car almost as a mini limousine. With a wheelbase of 3,160 mm, rear head and legroom is more than generous.

The centre armrest in the back seat doubles as a secondary command console, giving rear passengers full control of their environment.

The rear occupant can also control the front passenger seat, to enhance their legroom, for example. The right rear seat, the best seat in the house, can be adjusted 14 ways.

The rear doors are long and open wide, both benefits for people accessing the rear seats more than occasionally.

The only difference from riding in a regular limo is there is no glass partition.

If you plan on doing your own driving,

you will find the front seat equally inviting, including a 12.3-inch widescreen infotainment system screen.

Genesis must have taken apart the competition, analyzed every component and included them in the G90. Soft-close doors? Check. Whisper-quiet cabin? Check. Highend sound system? Check. Open-pore wood trim? Check.

Although equipped with a 420-horsepower, 5.0-litre V8 that produces a muted roar under hard acceleration, the G90 would not be at the top of the list of an enthusiast driver. It’s a luxury vehicle, not a sports/ luxury offering. While it offers good control, I can’t say it would be my first choice for back roads.

It does feel secure, thanks to the standard all-wheel-drive.

The full-size luxury-sedan segment of the market, as with the sedan market in general, isn’t growing — unlike the luxury SUV segment.

With the market already crowded, it will be a challenge for Genesis to gain market share. But an innovative business model, a lavishly equipped car and an eyebrow-raising price may be enough to entice buyers to check out the newest kid on the block.

SPEC SHEET

TYPE: Full-size luxury four-door sedan, front engine, all-wheel-drive

ENGINE: 5.0-litre V-8, 420 hp at 6,000 r.p.m., 383 lb.-ft. of torque at 5,000 r.p.m.

TRANSMISSION: Eight-speed automatic

DIMENSIONS (MM): Length, 5,205; width, 1,915; height, 1,495; wheelbase, 3,160

CURB WEIGHT (KG): 2,225

PRICE (BASE/AS TESTED): $89,750/ $89,850 (includes freight and PDI and $100 AC tax)

OPTIONS: Nil

TIRES: 245/45 R19 front, 275/40 R19 rear

FUEL TYPE: Premium

FUEL ECONOMY (L/100KM): 15.2 city/ 10.2 highway

WARRANTY: Five years/100,000 km new car, five years/100,000 km powertrain and five years/unlimited km roadside assistance

Glacier Media

The Genesis G90 certainly looks the part of a high-end luxury sedan, with styling cues

the right crowd.