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WEDNESDAY March 18 2015

NEWS AND EVENTS FOR PRINCE GEORGE AND CENTRAL INTERIOR

Scholarship Honours Local Radiologist The name most deeply associated with starting the city’s medical imaging technician program is the name now attached to gathering funds for those students, even though the man himself is now gone.

NEWS PAGE 6

A Look at Pollutant Emitters Around B.C. Spectra Energy’s Pine River gas plant in northeast B.C. is far and away the province’s biggest single emitter of major air pollutants, according to a Vancouver Sun analysis of Environment Canada’s annual national pollutant release inventory.

NEWS PAGE 8

Krista Levar with Max, who is a therapy dog with the RCMP Victim Services, will now be available for the Prince George Courthouse.

Citizen photo by Brent Braaten

Regional District Still Waiting for Auditor’s Report The Regional District of Fraser-Fort George is still waiting on the outcome of its first review by the auditor general for local government.

HEALTH PAGE 14

NEWS PAGE 18

Therapy Dog Offers Helping Paw at Courthouse

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GATEWAYnews Star Wars legion coming to Northern FanCon Frank PEEBLES

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n the march for authenticity, appreciation and creative amusement, the 501st Legion is closing in on Prince George.

The region’s chapter of the Star Wars villain cos-play (costumed player) group - the Lower Mainland-based Outer Rim Garrison - will be on maneuvers at Northern FanCon when the event proceeds in May. A forward team of costumed Sith-sided soldiers will take up positions at CN Centre and the Kin Centre.

The 501st Legion was founded by

a couple of buddies in South Carolina in 1997. Albin Johnson and Tom Crews enjoyed role playing in their own homemade costumes based on the Star Wars franchise, especially the bad guy garb. After all, stormtroopers were visually striking and got to take part in some of the most interesting fiction the silver screen has ever produced.

Johnson and Crews suspected a few others might want to join them in their pursuit of making screen-authentic gear and showing it off in public. But they needed a cool name – an imperial name.

According to Johnson, the number 501

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COLLEEN SPARROW PUBLISHER was chosen mostly for its indication of a sizable force and its phonetics when said out loud.There is no direct connection to any Star Wars references (or Levis Jeans either).

After they had the digits they liked, Johnson said they set about picking the name for the group itself – something that paid homage to the allied military from the Second World War. Squad?

Brigade? Squadron?

“When I re-watched Return Of The Jedi and noticed that Palpatine mentioned two of his ‘finest legions’ were on Endor, I knew we had something that had roots in the Star Wars universe. Problem solved,” he said in an online statement.

The internet then was relatively new but effective. In only a few weeks, a call for peers in their area became a full-scale invasion. Johnson said it only took a few calls in from the outer rim to realize this was bigger than two guys in a basement.

They were quick to form a structure for

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NEIL GODBOUT MANAGING EDITOR

marshaling the interest.

“Squads were resurrected as units of very local orientation. And the term detachments (lifted from Vader’s speech aboard the Tantive IV) was used to describe theme-based groups within the club,” said Johnson.“Since the detachment Vader sent to the surface of Tatooine probably consisted primarily of desert troopers, it made sense that a detachment would have a specialized orientation.

Outposts made sense for remote areas.

The outpost on Dantooine was referred to in A New Hope as well, so again we lucked out with a term from the trilogy.”

The 501st Legion goes deeper into the Star Wars franchise than merely fans playing dress-up at their own events. A charity component was added to give their appearances more community value, and they were soon being called into action for causes in their respective areas.

They were also commissioned for public events and fan conventions of all sorts.

Cont’d on page 4

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GATEWAYnews

Cont’d from page 3 “There is nothing quite like a group of stormtroopers to bring attention to an event,” said a 501st Legion statement.

“Unlike individual entertainers, the 501st Legion functions as a group creating a true science-fiction/fantasy ambience with a wide range of professional-grade costumes and props. Our costumes are the result of careful research, fabrication and a lot of hard work.The majority of our costume components are hand built and assembled in our spare time.”

All the likenesses they are recreating are owned by the artists and creators within Lucasfilm.That company’s lawyers may have staged an insurrection, but instead they took it as a compliment. In fact, they helped arm the faction. Many subsequent Lucasfilm products like

books, toys and video games have reverse engineered the 501st Legion into actual existence within the Star Wars world.

George Lucas himself, founder of the Star Wars empire, has attended their events.

There are now units of the 501st Legion all over Europe, South America, Asia, in Africa and the South Pacific, many regions of the United States and several wings in Canada.There are also special interest units like snowtroopers, the speeder-bike squad, bounty hunters, and many others.

For the first time in galactic history, some of these cos-play soldiers will conduct a campaign in this city.They will be on the floor of FanCon and there might be some surprise community appearances as well.

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GATEWAYnews

Scholarship Honours Local Radiologist Frank PEEBLES

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he name most deeply associated with starting the city’s medical imaging technician program is the name now attached to gathering funds for those students, even though the man himself is now gone.

Dr. Larry Breckon was a one-man medical force in the Prince George community, according to his friends and peers. When he passed away on Dec. 8, it was a void his many loved ones felt deeply.They quickly moved to establish a memorial scholarship fund in his honour.

“All the money we raise goes to a fund to help those who take the two-year medical imaging tech program at CNC.

The tuition fee for that program is just shy of $20,000.That blew me away,” said Dr. Laurie Cook, one of Breckon’s longtime colleagues and a close friend.“We are structuring it so successful applicants can receive a scholarship for their first year of studies and, if they maintain a certain level of academic standing, funding would also be made available to them in their second year.”

The CNC program was launched as a response to the Prince George-based Northern Medical Program, which was established to graduate more doctors in the north, for the north. Medical imagining technologists were also a high-demand profession needed to work

alongside those doctors. Breckon was one of the early champions of this educational option being established in this region.

Breckon had a particular love for northern B.C. He graduated from medical school in eastern Canada where he was raised. His first posting as a doctor was to communities in Newfoundland.

Cook and fellow Dalhousie University classmate Dr. George Haley went the other way, settling in Prince George in 1973 and 1974 respectively. Both of them lobbied Breckon to join them in a land of opportunity they fell into immediate fondness for. He agreed, moving here in 1975. All three were general practitioners.

Breckon and wife Anne raised three children in Prince George, until he left both the city and his G.P. designation in 1986. He decided to switch into the radiology profession, studying back in Newfoundland. Upon completion of his studies, he came right back to Prince George.

“To a large extent, he came back because of the personality of the medical community here,” said Haley.“If I was

coming out of medical school today and knew what I know now about the places I could have a practice, I wouldn’t give any place a second thought except Prince George. And Larry knew that, too.”

Breckon fit well with the proactive and above-and-beyond spirit most people in the local medical professions seemed to live by. Cook said Breckon’s approach to medicine was infectious as well.

“When he came back and went into medical imaging roles, he did things differently, maybe because of his time spent as a G.P. but mostly just because that’s how he was: most people, if you have to go for X-rays, you never even see the radiologist, or only have momentary contact, but Larry was the opposite of that. He made such a point of getting to know people, coming out to interact, and he just never forgot a name.”

Haley laughed about how he took over some of Breckon’s patients when he first left in 0986 “and some of those people, 20 or 30 years later, they’d still remind me that they were Dr. Breckon’s people and I was just the fill-in.”

GATEWAYnews “He did so much for us all.The community at large has no idea what all he did to improve the lives of people in Prince George,” said Albert Taylor, the now-retired manager of the hospital imaging department. He was alongside Breckon during the development of the CNC program.

“He was an extraordinary man.

He would have been the first one to contribute to a fund to help offset the tuition costs of those students,”Taylor said.“Those students make quite a commitment.They have to pay upwards of $18,000 for the two-year course, and when they are dispersed around the north for their practicum positions, they have to pay their own travel costs and pay their own accommodations in those communities.”

But the program is working brilliantly, Taylor added.The first cohort of 13 graduates entered the workforce in 2013 and 10 of them got jobs in the northern region.

“Prior to 2011, the only place in the province that taught these skills was BCIT,”Taylor said.“There was a chronic

shortage of them in northern B.C. because students down there weren’t exposed to northern life. Larry knew that if you could train them in the north, too, the chances were much better that those students would stay here, and he was absolutely correct, and we are all benefitting from that today.”

To make a donation, visit the CNC website (www.cnc.bc.ca), scroll down the left-hand column and click on the heading Donate To CNC, then click the Ways To Give link.The first option is a link to CanadaHelps.org, and the first scholarship offered by that online form is the Dr. Larry Breckon Memorial Endowment Fund (shortcut: https://www.canadahelps.org/ dn/5725).

Supporters of the fund like Cook, Haley and Taylor hope the public helps build up the fund to make it easier for these important medical professionals to graduate from our home program, and that the members of the medical community in particular contribute to this endowment account.

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GATEWAYnews

A Look at Pollutant Emitters Around B.C.

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Vancouver Sun

pectra Energy’s Pine River gas plant in northeast B.C. is far and away the province’s biggest single emitter of major air pollutants, according to a Vancouver Sun analysis of Environment Canada’s annual national pollutant release inventory.

The Chetwynd-area plant reported 12,021 tonnes of major air pollutants in 2013 — more than twice its closest industrial competitor, Rio Tinto Alcan aluminum smelter in Kitimat, at 5,820 tonnes.

Pollutants covered in The Sun’s analysis include nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, (smog producing) volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter of 2.5

microns or less, a size that can settle in the lungs and cause respiratory problems.

Spectra’s McMahon gas plant in Taylor ranks seventh on the air-pollution list at 3,043 tonnes and its Fort Nelson gas plant 11th at 2,716 tonnes.

The familiar piles of yellow sulphur on the Vancouver harbour-front are a byproduct of the processing of natural gas from the northeast. About 90 per cent of air pollution from the Pine River plant is sulphur dioxide.

Francis Ries, a senior air-quality project engineer for Metro Vancouver who assisted in The Sun’s data analysis, said readers may be surprised at the amount of air pollution generated by the Cont’d on page 10

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GATEWAYnews Cont’d from page 8 natural gas industry.“The forest of dots in the northeast is pretty striking,” he commented.

In Metro Vancouver, the biggest air polluter is the Delta cement plant of Lehigh Hanson Materials Ltd. at 2,216 tonnes — 90 per cent of that is nitrogen oxides. Lehigh Hanson, whose parent company is HeidelbergCement, is on a shortlist to use its cement kiln as a wasteto-energy facility for Metro Vancouver.

The news came as a shock to Delta Mayor Lois Jackson, former chair of the Metro Vancouver board, who said she’d have staff look into the matter.

“Is it really?” she said.“I thought it would be the Vancouver dump.That’s amazing.”

Lehigh environmental manager Jasper van de Wetering said the process of creating cement from shale and limestone requires temperatures of up to about 1,400 degrees Celsius, which results in the release of nitrogen oxides. He said the plant stands out because there are not a lot of major industrial operations in the

region, adding it complies with Metro Vancouver pollution requirements.

Chevron Canada’s Burnaby refinery emitted 852 tonnes of major air pollutants, Metro Vancouver’s waste-toenergy facility in Burnaby at 698 tonnes, Burrard Products Terminal (Suncor Energy Products Partnership) in Port Moody, 391 tonnes, and Richmond Plywood Operations, 113 tonnes.

Strangely absent from the region’s list of top polluters is Lafarge Canada’s Richmond cement plant on No. 9 Road in Richmond.The operation reported 1,959 tonnes of air pollutants in 2012, based on The Sun’s analysis, but just 25 tonnes in 2013.

Lafarge spokeswoman Jennifer Lewis confirmed a mistake had been made and that a revised pollutant release report had been submitted to the national database.

That discrepancy hints at an issue with the national pollutant release inventory.

Industries are required to report data on some 300 pollutants where they meet the minimum threshold, Ries said, but

GATEWAYnews the federal government lacks the staff to ensure accurate reporting.

“There’s not a lot of verification or oversight of the numbers,” he said.

Ries said the likelihood of accurate reporting generally increases with larger polluters, since they are also likely to be governed by pollution restrictions from the province or Metro Vancouver.

“I’d absolutely say that’s true. People are legally bound to report to NPRI but it is unlikely someone is going to shut them down if they don’t get it right. However, if they exceed a permit or don’t report correctly or completely, they can be shut down.”

He added:“Even the highest emitting facilities are likely operating in compliance with their provincial or Metro Vancouver permit requirements.”

While pollution measurements from an industrial stack are relatively straightforward, the data does not account for “fugitive emissions” of which there can be plenty in the natural gas industry, both in pipelines and at processing plants, Ries noted.

Spectra Energy vice-president of external affairs Gary Weilinger said the company “meets or exceeds” provincial air pollution standards.

To put the pollutants into perspective, he added, the three plants produce enough natural gas to meet the combined day-to-day demands of B.C., Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

The Pine River plant was specifically built on a mountaintop outside of Chetwynd to reduce potential for pollution to cause problems in the community. Pollutants are “broadly and widely dispersed” and are causing no significant impact, Weilinger said from Calgary.

Differences in the three plants are a reflection of the volume and nature of the natural gas each plant processes, he said, noting the Pine River plant is especially high in hydrogen sulphide.

Communications officer David Karn released a statement on behalf of the Ministry of Environment saying that within the last five years, the Pine River plant has had five exceedances related to sulphur dioxide and the McMahon plant three.“These exceedances were within reasonable ranges, and any issues were quickly dealt with.To date, no enforcement has taken place ...”

Spectra is not the only industrial operator in Taylor — a community in the Peace River valley — and is participating in a regional air-quality review with the province, he added.

While the national pollutant release inventory does not tally greenhouses gases, B.C. Ministry of Environment greenhouse gas emissions data Cont’d on page 12

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GATEWAYnews

Cont’d from page 11 for 2013 reveal that Spectra Energy operations hold four of the top-10 spots — including its Fort Nelson gas plant, highest at 1.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

The Sun’s analysis of the federal inventory data included two waterpollution categories based on whether pollutants contributed to eutrophication.

Through this process, excessive nutrients cause a dense growth of algae and plant life leading to the death of animal life from lack of oxygen.

The Sun created the two categories because eutrophying pollutants are released in enormous quantities and would have obscured the other pollutants. As well, eutrophying pollutants are not directly harmful to health.

The biggest emitters of major eutrophying water pollutants are wastetreatment facilities, primarily ammonia and to a lesser extent phosphorus and nitrates. Metro Vancouver’s Annacis Island and Iona Island treatment plants dwarfed the list at 6,058 and 4,362 tonnes,

respectively.

Under the case of major noneutrophying water pollutants, Prince George Pulp and Paper and Intercontinental Pulp Mills topped the list at 95.9 tonnes, mostly “total reduced sulphur” and manganese.

When it comes to toxic metal releases to air, water and soil, the Trail operations of Teck Metals Ltd. topped the list at 6,365 kilograms, mostly lead, selenium and arsenic.

The next four spots on the list were claimed by Teck coal operations in southeast B.C., including 5,483 kilograms at Fording River, 4,223 kilograms at Greenhills, 3,092 kilograms at Line Creek, and 2,317 kilograms at Elkview — the vast majority of that selenium, a naturally occurring element released during extraction of the coal.

The national pollution data is for 2013, the most recent year for which Environment Canada has released information.

The four major pollutants covered in

The Sun’s analysis are contained within an air-pollutant group created by national pollutant release inventory.

The Sun removed carbon monoxide from the group since it is no longer a major health concern, due in large part to catalytic converters on motor vehicles.

Measurement of carbon monoxide is also used as an indicator of industrial efficiency, Ries said. Larger particulate matter posing less of a health risk is also excluded.

Ries noted that in 2012 industrial point sources represented about 44 per cent of the total human-generated emissions of the four pollutants analyzed by The Sun, transportation sources 41 per cent, and the remaining 15 per cent space heating, agriculture and other minor sources. n terms of B.C.’s total greenhouse gas emissions of 61.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2012, transportation represented about 40 per cent, point sources 31 per cent and other categories 29 per cent.

“The point is that industrial point

sources are not the only big sources of air pollution and greenhouse gases in B.C.,” Ries concluded.

GATEWAYnews

Population Numbers Mostly Down

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Vancouver Sun

here were 637 fewer people living in the City of Prince George in 2014 than there were the year before according to the latest estimates from BC Stats.

The city’s population declined by 0.9 per cent to 73,590.The drop of 637 people was the largest decline among the province’s municipalities.

Conversely, Fort St. John was the second-fastest growing, increasing by 4.7 per cent or 970 people to 21,523. At 5.6 per cent, Lake Country, in the Central Okanagan, was the fastest growing in terms of per cent.

Prince Rupert, Smithers and Terrace had the fastest rates of decline at -2.9, -2.7 and -1.7 per cent respectively.Their populations stood at 11,918, 5,103 and 5,701 in 2014.

Among other municipalities within the Fraser-Fort George Regional District, Mackenzie and McBride saw increases. Mackenzie grew by 0.7 per cent to 3,538 and McBride grew 0.5 per cent to 585.

Valemount declined 1.2 per cent to 1,021 and the unincorporated areas grew by 0.5 per cent to 14,911.

The FFGRD as a whole shrank by 0.6 per cent to 93,645.

In the Bulkley-Nechako Regional District, Vanderhoof’s population decreased by 1.5 per cent to 4,539, Fort St. James grew by 0.9 per cent to 1,808, Burns Lake’s declined by 1.3 per cent to 1,999, Fraser Lake’s grew by 1.2 per cent to 1,171, Houston’s declined by 0.5 per cent to 3,142, Granisle’s declined by one per cent to 304 and Telkwa’s declined by 0.5 per cent to 1,377.

In the unincorporated areas, the BVRD’s population grew by 2.7 per cent to 20,944 and overall, that regional district’s population grew by 0.8 per cent to 40,387.

In the Cariboo Regional District, Quesnel’s population grew 0.1 per cent to 9,806, Wells’ held steady at 234, Williams Lake’s grew 0.5 per cent to 11,003 and 100 Mile House’s grew 0.3 per cent to 1,889.

For the unincorporated areas, there was a 0.4 per cent increase to 40,179 and overall the Cariboo Regional District’s population rose 0.4 per cent to 63,111.

In the Peace River Regional District, Dawson Creek’s population grew by three per cent to 12,653, Chetwynd’s grew 0.6 per cent to 2,793,Tumbler Ridge’s grew three per cent to 2,983, Hudson Hope’s declined by 0.3 per cent to 1,037,Taylors declined by 0.9 per cent to 1,490 and Pouce Coupe’s declined by 1.4 per cent to 726.

Population in the unincorporated areas grew by 1.9 per cent to 23,116 and the total population in the PRRD grew by 2.9 per cent to 66,321.

The estimates were issued on Jan. 15.

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GATEWAYnews

Regional District Still Waiting for Auditor’s Report

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Charelle EVELYN

he Regional District of FraserFort George is still waiting on the outcome of its first review by the auditor general for local government.

The regional district was tagged as part of the first round of performance audits by auditor general Basia Ruta and her municipal watchdog office, looking at how it hires suppliers to provide various goods and services with analysis to make sure the district is receiving good value for money.

Announced back in the spring of

2013, the results of the review - which would also look at practices in Vernon, Delta, Revelstoke, Comox Valley Regional District and West Vancouver - were initially slated for release by the end of March 2014.

Regional district staff say they went through the audit process in the fall of 2013 and are still waiting to hear the results.

The reporting date has since changed twice, first pushed back to Aug. 31, 2014 and again to this spring. Out of the 18 local governments selected for review

on various topics - local government performance in managing police agreements and police budget oversight; local government capital projects and asset management programs; the role of local government in ensuring clean drinking water; and managing the risks of limited human resources within small local governments - only one, the city of Rossland, was reported on in 2014.

“We had to revise our targets because in 2013/14 because we had to reallocate resources to deal with a pressing issue that emerged in one particular audit... so we’re anticipating still making good progress and releasing more reports this year,” said deputy auditor general Mark Tatchell.

The Rossland review of spending on capital projects between 2010 and 2012 revealed “many of the transactions reviewed did not meet the standards taxpayers would expect of their local government,” Ruta said in a press release.

This included not receiving value for money on the replacement of the Rossland arena complex’s roof and that

as of the audit’s completion in February 2014, some of the city’s “policies and procedures still exposed Rossland taxpayers to substantial financial risk.”

There are a total of 17 reports still awaiting release by the end of March, said Tatchell.

“I think we recognize we took on a large number of audits to begin with,” he said.“We’re working our way through those and we are making good progress on them, I can certainly say that.”

And although the office officially opened its doors in Surrey in mid-January 2013, the last fiscal year was the AGLG’s first full year in operation,Tatchell said.

With a new model unlike anything else in the country, it took a fair bit of groundwork to get it going, he said.

“Most auditors general under the provincial or federal level report to the parliamentary body.There isn’t an equivalent in the local government sphere,”Tatchell said.“The provincial auditor general has just one government to work with - we’ve got 190, and they’re not all the same. All those things make

GATEWAYnews the job more interesting, but also creates some challenges in terms of moving ahead.”

When the office was first proposed by the provincial government, the Union of B.C. Municipalities had its doubts.

A 2011 policy paper endorsed by the membership included a caveat that while they would negotiate with the province through its creation, they disagreed on its necessity.

The majority of issues and concerns would be that the office would function like the auditors general at the provincial and federal level, said UBCM president Sav Dhaliwal.

“Since then we’ve had made pretty clear that the model that works at the federal government and provincial government cannot work because we have 190 different (local) governments and each one of them is unique,” Dhaliwal, a Burnaby city councillor, said.

“They’re different in their policy, different in their locations. So there are definitely challenges producing reports and doing audits based on the service delivery for each different area or different government that the auditor chooses.”

Despite initial misgivings about the scope and role of the auditor general for local government, the UBCM has come on board with the office.

“We have welcomed [Ruta] at our

convention, we continue to work with her and we always look forward to the reports that are being produced,” Dhaliwal said.“I look forward to the new ones coming out because I think there’s always an opportunity for us to learn, to see if there’s some way to provide a service better - a service that’s more direct to the objectives and we want to learn from that.”

The delay in reporting isn’t a cause for concern for the UBCM, Dhaliwal said, acknowledging the office has a complex job.

“Her contributions to improving our practices and our services isn’t going to be measured by the number of reports produced, but rather the quality of the reports,” Dhaliwal said.“If that takes time, then so be it.”

In the interim, the UBCM president said the group will be keeping its eye on the pressure being placed on municipal staff to participate in the audits.

“Local governments are run on a very, very fine budget and we don’t have a whole lot of slack built in to any of our services and delivery so that we have spare time,” Dhaliwal said.“We’ll continue to monitor that and work with the auditor general to make sure that we can work more collaboratively and in a sense that has minimal impact on the services we deliver.”

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GATEWAYnews

Northern Highways Deadly For Young Drivers, Report Finds Mark NIELSEN

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ver a decade-long span, Northern B.C. was home to the second-highest number of young drivers who died in motor vehicle incidents, according to a B.C. Coroners Service report released.

Between 2004 and 2014, 106 youth from 15 to 18 years old died while behind the wheel in B.C. and of that total 27 died in the North, second only to the Interior region where 33 were killed. In contrast, 18 died in each of the Fraser and Island regions and 10 in the Metro region.

Exactly why the numbers are so much higher here and in the Interior remains “pure speculation” but the difference is significant, said Coroners Service’s child death review panel chair, Michael Egilson,

because so many fewer teens live in those two regions.

“If you look at the North and you look at the Interior, certainly you have more weather issues than you have elsewhere,” Egilson said.“But when I also look at when these crashes occur, more of them occur in the fall and summer, so that sort of seemed counterintuitive.”

Egilson agreed that one of the report’s three recommendations speaks to getting a better sense of the causes behind the crashes. It calls for obtaining and reviewing driver abstracts in all BCCS investigations of such crashes.

Egilson also stressed an aspect of another recommendation, which calls on the Insurance Corporation of British

Columbia to review the graduated licencing program, complete with a consultation of young people themselves.

“Getting a sense from their perspective what’s working with graduated licensing, where could tweaks be made, what kinds of things would further encourage people to comply with all the restrictions and their thoughts on where, through graduated licensing, you could reduce fatalities,” Egilson said.

For the province as a whole, the report’s authors found three-quarters of the drivers were male, while impairment and speed were common contributing factors at 40 and 30 per cent respectively.

Lack or improper used of seatbelts was noted in 30 per cent of the crashes, driver inexperience played a role in 20 per cent, one-third were driving contrary to licence restrictions, as many had one or more penalty points, and 18 per cent had either an invalid licence or no licence at all.

On the bright side, said Egilson, the rate of such crashes has fallen since 2008.

“But motor vehicle incidents are still the leading cause of death in this age group, so given the preventative nature and opportunities of this, there is more work that can still be done,” Egilson said.

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GATEWAYnews

Therapy Dog Offers Helping Paw at Courthouse Mark NIELSEN

A tail-wagging furry friend is now appearing at the Prince George courthouse to help ease the stress victims and witnesses often face when they’re about to take the stand.

Max, a seven-year-old yellow Labrador Retriever and trained therapy dog, won’t be able to accompany anyone into the actual courtroom but he can be there to provide a level of reassurance right up to that point.

He did as much on Tuesday, his first day on that particular job.

“They asked if Max would come and sit with her and keep her calm and so far so good, it went really well,” said Krista Levar, the Prince George RCMP’s victim services coordinator and the dog’s handler.“He was very welcomed over at the courthouse and I think he feels like a bit of a

star going up those stairs.”

Levar pitched the idea to Judge Michael Brecknell, the administrative judge for the provincial court’s northern region, in September and Max was subsequently given courtesy access within the courthouse.

As a victim services worker, Levar said she can do only so much to settle a witness’s nerves, particularly since the law prohibits her from talking with the witness about the case at hand.

“You want to provide support but you don’t want to affect testimony. But with Max there, I think that tension is broken and sometimes you just don’t need to talk as much when a dog is there and becomes the focus of the conversation.

“They’re just calming and soothing.”

Max went through extensive training with the help of Pawsitive Horizons. Next steps include teaching him sign language so he can be commanded from a distance, which will help in a courtroom, where verbal commands could interrupt proceedings.

Policy is also being developed around allowing therapy dogs into the courtroom during trials.

Just one other courthouse in B.C. - Surrey Pretrial - allows a therapy dog past its doors and only under circumstances similar to how they’re used in Prince George. Levar said a therapy dog has been allowed in a Canadian courtroom during a trial just once so far - that occurred in Calgary.

But it’s becoming more common in the United States and interest is growing in Canada. Levar said she’s had queries of interest from as far away as Ontario as well as from around B.C. “It’s just such a positive program that people want to be engaged and be a part of it,” Levar said.

GATEWAYlife

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Let’s get our teenagers moving in British Columbia

anadian teens need to increase their physical exercise every day for a lifetime of good health.

Research from ParticipACTION, the national voice for physical activity and sport participation in Canada, shows that only four per cent of Canadian kids aged 12 to 17 get enough heartpumping exercise on a daily basis. Are you concerned about the teens in your life?

To address this growing issue, Participaction Teen Challenge, sponsored

by Coca-Cola Canada, encourages teenagers to establish healthy habits for life and that includes fostering social

interactions that build their confidence and self-esteem.The program helps to remove the barriers that prevent physical activity – namely cost and accessibility – providing teens with access to the equipment, facilities, instruction, or the transportation needed to get active.

Teen Challenge gives community organizations in British Columbia access to micro-grants that enable this age group to get active and have fun in ways that mean something to them.The community groups work with local teens to identify needs within their neighbourhood and come up with solutions to meet them.

The successes of Teen Challenge are exemplified by numerous stories in British Columbia, such as the snowshoeing club at Leave Out Violence - a youth outreach group in Vancouver also known as LOVE. On a cold winter morning in 2013 with the help from a micro-grant, the LOVE team took to the hills of Mount Seymour for a day of snowshoeing with 12 local youth. Many of the teens had never seen snow, let alone been able to stretch their legs on a mountain-side.

“The beauty of Teen Challenge is that it empowers our youth to be creative and come up with physical activity ideas that suit their peers, in their local neighbourhoods,” says Elio Antunes, president and CEO of Participaction. “Once teenagers get active and participate in regular physical activity, it can help them to do better in school, to grow stronger, feel happier, improve their self-confidence and learn new skills. A program of this kind can do so much good.”

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GATEWAYlife Cont’d from page 19 Leave Out Violence’s snowshoeing club has been able to make a significant difference in the lives of teenagers in that community, Antunes points out.

It is empowering them to take control of their health. If you are a community-level organizer in British Columbia additional information is available at www.participaction.com/ teenchallenge, where you can also apply for a micro-grant. www.newscanada.com

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GATEWAYnutrition

Tap Into These Sweet Maple Syrup Facts Canada produces 85 percent of the world’s annual supply of pure maple syrup –not surprising considering the maple leaf’s iconic status in our national identity. But just how much do you know about our famous sticky treat? Read on for more facts about Canada’s liquid gold.

GATEWAYnutrition • 91 percent of Canada’s maple syrup is produced in the province of Quebec.

• The top importer of pure Canadian maple syrup is the United States, followed

by Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France.

• Pure maple syrup is 100 percent natural with just one ingredient – maple tree sap.

• Maple sap is mostly water (97 percent) plus natural sugars, some vitamins, minerals, amino acids and proteins. It takes about 40 litres of sap to produce one litre of syrup.

• During the annual “sugaring off” season, tree sap changes – producing the different grades, colours, and flavours of the resulting maple syrup. Early in the season, it is light in colour and slightly sweet. As the weeks go by, it becomes darker, richer and caramelized.

• Amber varieties of maple syrup have bold caramel-maple flavour, while very strong-tasting dark versions are primarily used in commercial food production.

Medium varieties such as the PC 100% Pure Maple Syrup is the number one choice among Canadians.

• “While maple syrup is high in natural sugars and thus should be consumed in moderation, it delivers 100% of your daily value (DV) of magnesium,” says Samara Foisy, a registered dietitian for Loblaw Companies Limited. “Each 60 millilitre serving is also an excellent source of vitamin B2 and a good source of zinc..”

• To be designated pure maple syrup by law in Canada, it must originate from maple sap and be free of any additives, maple substitutes or flavoured products.

www.newscanada.com

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GATEWAYdiy

“Easterriffic” DIY Décor Ideas T

he tulips are blooming, the days are getting longer, and the Easter holidays are just around the corner.Time to banish those winter blues and add festive, Easter-themed touches here, there, and everywhere—just in time for celebrations with family and friends.

“Whether you’re hosting a brunch, lunch, dinner party, or egg hunt, Easter is a perfect time for families to come together and get creative,” says Shelli Gardner, CEO and cofounder of Stampin’ Up!, a leading papercrafting company.

“Sharing what we create is a powerful yet simple way to reach out and strengthen our relationships.”

Spring is also a time for renewal, and

what better way to bring a fresh, new look to your home décor than with do-ityourself Easter-themed design ideas from Stampin’ Up!?

How about creating a “pin-worthy” table setting for your holiday meal by decorating your table with handmade table place cards, baskets, flowers, and eggs? Easter-themed stamp sets, such as the whimsical For Peeps’ Sake Stamp Set, and the colourful Petal Potpourri Stamp Set with the coordinating Flower Medallion Punch, will help bring these fun projects to life.

Once the family has coloured and decorated their Easter eggs, present these wonderful treasures in adorable handmade baskets you can decorate

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GATEWAYdiy

Cont’d from page 26 yourself using the Berry Basket Bigz L Die and other themed embellishments.

Gardner also suggests that you bring your own style to the holiday by packaging Easter chocolate party favors in handmade boxes or kraft bags that you can decorate with themed stamps, tags, buttons, flowers, paper, and vibrantly coloured ribbons.

Handmade Easter cards are another fun family project that displays everyone’s personality and taste.These custom cards made with coloured cardstock and Designer Series Paper can feature themed stamps and embellishments that show loved ones how much you care.

Make sure to celebrate the arrival of spring with special décor touches both indoors and out. Enjoy the long-

awaited warmer weather by doing some gardening work and dress your flowers and plants with charming personalized Handpicked Framelits Dies with accompanying From the Garden collection stamps. More spring decorative ideas and tips can be found at stampinup.ca.

www.newscanada.com

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GATEWAYdiy

Phe-Momenal Handmade Gift Ideas for Mother’s Day

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ccording to experts in the do-it-yourself crafting industry, you’ll make the most impact with your gift this Mother’s Day by offering Mom something handmade.

“Showing your love and appreciation for Mom doesn’t have to be expensive,” said Shelli Gardner, CEO and cofounder of crafting company Stampin’ Up!.“The gift with the greatest impact, the one that shows you truly want your mom to feel special, is the one you make yourself.”

Recent survey findings published in an article from The Week magazine, “The Economics of Mother’s Day: By the Numbers” seem to support Gardner’s opinion. According to the study, 36 percent of mothers surveyed preferred

to receive handmade gifts, the highest percentage of all gift options given.

This is good news for the growing number of craft enthusiasts across the country who take great pleasure in showing their gratitude by making gifts for their mom with their own hands.To make things a little easier, the following DIY Mother’s Day gift ideas from Stampin’ Up! will help you create treasured keepsakes for Mom on her special day.

Build her a forever bouquet For flowers that will last forever, create a sophisticated, stylish floral bouquet with Stampin’ Up!’s Build a Bouquet Project Kit.This kit includes a gift tag; cotton paper squares; die-cut cotton paper for assembling the flowers; die-cut

images; cardstock pieces; cotton ribbon; linen thread; floral tape; floral stem wires, and decorative buttons.

A special scrapbook for Mom Collect special memories with your mom in a traditional scrapbook—or take advantage of the new, simple, time-saving solutions with the Project Life by Stampin’ Up! collection. Project Life makes memory keeping easy and fun with card collections, accessory packs, albums, photo pocket pages, pens, and other accessories. Warm her heart by making a timeline of all your treasured moments throughout the years.

Create a customized card Forego the predictable pre-printed Mother’s Day card in favour of a decorative handmade creation that can itself become a beautiful gift. Select colour cardstock or Designer Series Paper and themed stamps, then embellish with accents and ink spritzing to create just the desired colour and look. More Mother’s Day gift ideas and tips can be found at stampinup.ca. www.newscanada.com

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