Prince George Citizen April 18, 2019

Spruce Kings look to sweep Vernon Vipers

Heathcare centre to be opened at Parkwood Mall

Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca

A healthcare centre devoted to providing urgent and primary care to people without family doctors will be opened in Parkwood Mall in June, Premier John Horgan said Wednesday in Prince George.

The second of its type to be established in northern B.C., the centre is similar to an after-hours walk-in clinic for people who need help but do not need to go to the emergency room.

However, the clinic will also provide follow-up care by appointment during the day.

Horgan said the clinic will start with pharmacare services but will be expanded over the next three years to provide drop-in “team-based” care. At full capacity, the centre is expected to serve about 8,000 people per year.

Coinciding with that, an outreach program is to be established. To be based out of the city’s Central Interior Native Health and Blue Pine community health centres, providers are to bring primary-care to patients wherever they are.

Work is also underway to establish a mobile support team to deliver mental wellness services.

Overall, more than 30 new healthcare providers are to be recruited for the centre and outreach program, consisting of a general practitioner, two nurse practitioners, one clinical pharmacist, a First Nations elder to ensure cultural safety and 26 nursing and allied healthcare providers.

By the time it’s fully rolled out, the province will put $4.7 million per year towards the effort.

“As we all know, good health is a foundation of a good life,” Horgan said. “And we have been working tirelessly for the past 20 months to try and ensure that we’re delivering healthcare where it’s needed, when it’s needed, in the most cost-effective way, ensuring the right provider is with the patient to meet the needs of those individuals, to meet the needs of families, to meet the needs of regions,” Horgan said during a media event at the Prince George Public Library.

Health Minister Adrian Dix was also on hand. He credited the city’s healthcare community for making the developments possible.

“The reason we are in Prince George today is because the Division of Family Practice, Northern Health Authority, nurse practitioners stepped up and said ‘we want to do this here,’” Dix said, noting all of the city’s 32 clinics are participating in what’s been dubbed a primary care network.

On another issue, Horgan and Dix said the effort to build a new surgical tower at University Hospital of Northern B.C. has reached the concept stage and agreed when asked it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.

“I think that’s a safe bet, yeah,” Horgan replied.

Prince George-Valemount MLA Shirley Bond welcomed the news on both fronts.

“I welcome any sort of improvements to access,” she said.

“We know we’ve been having issues at our hospital in terms of overcapacity and who’s in ER.” Bond also noted the latest rollout is based on a “fantastic northern model, building on it and adding capacity here in the north, so I think that’s an important announcement. And I want to congratulate members of the family practice team who have literally been leaders in the province.”

On the surgical tower, Bond said she was “relieved to hear that we’ve at least got the concept plan on the agenda but again it’s always in that caveat of there are lots of communities that have needs.

Chiefs want to address racist tone, misinformation about caribou plan

Alaska Highway News

Treaty 8 First Nations involved in caribou recovery efforts in the South Peace hope an extension on public consultations and the appointment of a community liaison will stem the spread of misinformation and some of the racist tone surrounding their negotiations with the provincial and federal governments.

West Moberly Chief Roland Willson and Saulteau Chief Ken Cameron met with Premier John Horgan and Forests Minister Doug Donaldson in Dawson Creek on Monday. Horgan has extended consultations until May 31, and appointed Dawson Creek city councillor and

former Liberal MLA Blair Lekstrom as his advisor on the file.

In a press release on Tuesday, the chiefs said Lekstrom will be instrumental in dispelling myths about the agreement and addressing the racist attitudes found in some commentary about the issue on social media.

“We denounce racism in every form. That includes ‘dog whistle’ statements in social media posts that promote stereotypes or invite others to imagine that there are some concealed motives lurking behind these agreements,” Willson said.

“We welcome the extra time to dispel myths about the agreements. We also appreciate hearing Premier Horgan say that the pro-

vincial government denounces the racist comments and conspiracy theories that have been circulating. There are no backcountry closures.”

The two took aim in particular at Prince George-Peace-River-Northern Rockies MP Bob Zimmer for spreading misinformation about potential closures.

There will be no restrictions on activities like hiking, hunting, fishing, and camping, and any snowmobile closures in caribou habitat will be offset with new snowmobile areas elsewhere, Willson said.

Reductions to annual allowable cuts to forestry companies will amount to 300,000 cubic metres.

— see ‘THIS IS, page 3

“Prince George is a northern centre, it deals with thousands of patients across northern British Columbia, so we need to keep pressing to make sure that we move any improvements to our infrastructure up on that list.

“But I think we heard the premier say today it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when and I’m going to continue to remind him that the sooner, the better.” Also on Wednesday, Horgan and Dix were in Quesnel to confirm $27 million worth of upgrades to G.R. Baker Hospital. The emergency department and intensive care unit will be tripled in size.

Construction is expected to start in late 2019 and be complete in 2021.

Landowner donates property to Lheidli

Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca

A private landowner is donating two regional district lots to the original keepers of the land. For the past few decades, Penelope Harris has owned the two parcels of undeveloped forest in the Willow River community. She never spent any time with the land, owning it as an investment property. On Wednesday, she handed it over, every pebble and twig, to the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation (LTFN).

“We believe this is the first time a property owner in our territory has gifted the nation with private land,” said LTFN chief Clay Poutney.

T’enneh

“I wanted the land to be taken care of,” said Harris, who lives in Abbotsford but came to Prince George on Wednesday for a ceremony of thanks at the House Of Ancestors (Uda Dune Baiyoh) conference centre. “It was made so easy for me. I’m delighted. I just wish I had more.”

Although the gesture was a personal one, Poutney said the impact was symbolic on a national level.

“What Penelope is saying, in effect, is that reconciliation is not just something governments do. It’s also about what individuals are doing,” he said. Harris said the word reconciliation was not in mind when she made her choice.

—see ‘IT WAS, page 3

Premier John Horgan and Adrian Dix, Minister of Health make an announcement in Prince George at the Bob Harkins Branch of the Prince George Public Library for an urgent care clinic in Parkwood.

Cheslatta sign restitution agreements with province

Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca

The Cheslatta Carrier Nation has reached agreements with the provincial government to provide restitution and redress for impacts from the creation of the Nechako Reservoir, the Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation said Wednesday. At a private ceremony in Victoria on March 28, Chief Corrina Leween and Councillors Ted Jack and Hazel Burt of Cheslatta Nation, along with Scott Fraser, Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, signed a settlement agreement and an interim reconciliation agreement. The settlement agreement had received unanimous support from the 60 per cent of Cheslatta members who participated in a ratification vote on March 14.

It provides payments to Cheslatta over a 10-year period and a commitment from B.C. to future land transfers and tenures as proposed by the Cheslatta. A period of engagement with neighbouring First Nations and stakeholders will proceed before final land parcels can be determined. In return, the agreement constitutes a full and final settlement of Cheslatta claims against B.C. related to impacts of the Nechako Reservoir on their rights and title interests, the ministry said.

For 67 years, the Cheslatta people have worked tirelessly to achieve resolution and reconciliation to this historic wrong. This agreement honours the justice our ancestors and previous leadership spent their lives fighting for.

Cheslatta Nation has requested that terms of the agreement remain confidential for one year pending their negotiations with other parties.

— Chief Corrina Leween

The interim reconciliation agreement is for 10 years and includes $200,000 per year for management of protected areas and fish and wildlife and $200,000 per year for watershed and heritage restoration projects within the Cheslatta’s traditional territory.

It also includes a commitment to support Cheslatta’s cultural

rejuvenation and language revitalization and to specific forestry opportunities where feasible, such as licences for harvesting wood within the Nechako Reservoir. In 1952, the Cheslatta were evicted from their homes on two weeks’ notice and forcibly resettled outside their traditional lands. Their lands, villages, cultural and spiritual sites were then flooded by the Kenney Dam reservoir.

“For 67 years, the Cheslatta people have worked tirelessly to achieve resolution and reconciliation to this historic wrong,” Cheslatte Carrier Nation Chief Corrina Leween said in a news release.

“This agreement honours the justice our ancestors and previous leadership spent their lives fighting for. Now, we are positioned to begin the healing process and to advance the social and economic standing of our people for generations to come.”

‘It was their land in the first place, I’m just officially giving it back’

— from page 1

She hadn’t had pleasurable experiences with Crown-based governments in relation to the land and she wanted to put it into hands she trusted for its long-term well being.

“It was their land in the first place, I’m just officially giving it back,” she said.

“I feel that there is nothing we can do to fix all the things we’ve done wrong as a society to Canada’s Aboriginal peoples, I just think we can have a better future together, so what are we doing right now to make things right?

The line we were all fed about what the Canadian identity was, how great the Canadian story was, that has now fallen to pieces for all to see. Good. We were all duped.

SNC-Lavalin scandal needs to play out in court, poll says

Citizen staff

During The Citizen’s last poll we asked “what would you like to see happen in the wake of the SNC-Lavalin scandal?”

With a resounding 46 per cent and 1,381 votes voters responded with “let the court case proceed against the company and let the voters decide in October.”

Coming in with 34 per cent and 1,011 votes was “Justin Trudeau should resign.”

Trailing behind with 13 per cent and 393 votes was “RCMP should investigate for possible obstruction of justice” and with seven per cent and 206 votes was “a public inquiry should investigate.”

Total votes cast during this online poll was 2,991. Remember this is not a scientific poll. Next up is “do you think Jason Kenney’s election as premier of Alberta is good or bad news?” To make your vote count visit www.pgcitizen.ca.

We’ve been lied to for generations upon generations. But we know that now. We can make choices for the future to be better and be together. I’m absolutely sure they will be much better stewards of this land.”

Poutney said the gift “came out of left field” when word arrived at the LTFN councillors’ table that someone wanted to bestow private land to them.

“We had to take this to our lawyers, because there was no past practices to go on, but it was easy to figure out in a legal sense. What we realized, though, was we wanted to meet her, and say thank you in person, and let her know who we were as people.”

He said this traditional territory has always been a place where

‘This is about caribou

— from page 1 The reductions will be split between the Mackenzie and Dawson Creek timber supply areas, and Tree Farm Licence 48, according to the chiefs. Those reductions are limited and manageable between the companies operating in the area, the chiefs said.

“We can’t control what Canfor or West Fraser do with their mills. But if they drop a shift or close the doors, it won’t be because of the caribou,” Willson said. “It won’t be because of these agreements. The grandstanding has to stop. It’s not factual and it’s not productive. The people of the Peace deserve better.”

Mining operations and pipeline infrastructure won’t be impacted, the chiefs said. Lekstrom will be key in working with the mining sector and other industries to identify opportunities to support caribou recovery, they added.

“We hope and expect that Mr. Lekstrom and other local government representatives will provide local people and local governments with the facts,” Cameron said.

“This is about caribou recovery, pure and simple. Some politicians will continue to try to use fear to manipulate voters, but it won’t work. People are smarter than that, and the agreements actually reduce the potential for impacts on communities.”

visitors and passers-through were welcomed by their ancient ancestors and the same is true today.

“We will always think of Ms. Harris as one of us,” he said.

“We will remember her generosity for years to come.”

The only other known B.C. instance of a private citizen donating their fee-simple land to a First Nation also occurred in the local region.

In May 2017, Chilcotin rancher Kenneth Linde gave hundreds of acres of his farmland, a tree-farm operation, and the water rights for that land to the Esk’etemc (Alkali Lake) First Nation.

Southern mountain caribou in the region have been listed as a threatened wildlife species under the federal Species At Risk Act since 2003. Last year, the federal government declared the species to be under imminent threat of recovery, starting a year-long timeline to put a strategy in place.

B.C. has drafted a partnership agreement with the Saulteau and West Moberly First Nations that proposes a series of moratoriums on resource development, and continuing support for their maternal penning program as well as an ongoing wolf cull.

It’s also drafted an agreement under Section 11 of the federal Species At Risk Act with Ottawa

that outlines “broad recovery actions” and gives the province access to federal funding to support those efforts.

Horgan also met with the regional district board – made up of elected officials from across the Peace Region – on Monday. The board has had no involvement in the drafting of the agreements, frustrating officials.

In a statement, board chair Brad Sperling said he was happy with the premier’s decision to appoint Lekstrom and extend consultations.

“I’m pleased that the province is taking the time to ensure that local voices are heard,” Sperling said. “Blair knows the people and the issues in the Peace well, and I’m sure he’ll be able to help find a path forward.”

Others, however, aren’t so happy. The group Concerned Citizens for Caribou Recovery amassed a 35,000-signature petition asking for a halt to negotiations over the agreement. The extra four weeks isn’t enough time to complete proper consultations and an economic study on how the agreements will impact industry and jobs.

“We would ask the provincial government in B.C. to follow the footsteps of the Alberta government and allow 18 months for proper consultation and economic impact assessments,” the group said in a post to supporters on Facebook.

Lekstrom acknowledged his longstanding friendship with Horgan helped secure his appointment. He said his goal will be to balance the needs of caribou populations as mandated by federal law with the needs of local industry.

“It’s an interesting thing: I don’t sit with his government, I sat with the BC Liberals,” he said.

“But at the end of the day, this is not about politics in my mind. This transcends any political party. We have families and jobs that could be on the line. I believe we can accomplish looking after the caribou, working with our First Nation communities, and still maintain the jobs and industry...”

CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

Lheidli T’enneh Chief Clay Pountney, right, looks on after Penelope Harris put on her jacket given to her. Harris gave two parcels of land to the Lheidli T’enneh on Wednesday.

Lou Ferrigno smashing into FanCon

Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca

Northern FanCon has announced its latest celebrity guest. It’ll make fans happy and he’ll love you if you’re happy.

It’s Lou Ferrigno, the original Incredible Hulk, the first television superhero star of the modern age, and the first prime-time body builder not called Schwartzenneger to become a household name.

Ferrigno told The Citizen he had heard about Northern FanCon – it is established enough now to have a reputation – and he did some research.

“Prince George sounds like a great town,” he said. “I’ve been all over Canada, I do a lot of cons, but I hadn’t done Prince George. The word is it’s a beautiful city, the people are fantastic, and they’d be friendly for The Incredible Hulk.” Ferrigno was already a star on the body building stage. He was expected to succeed Arnold Schwartzenegger as the Mr. Olympia titleholder, and he was featured along with Schwartzenegger in the acclaimed 1977 documentary Pumping Iron. As massive as Schwartzenegger would become in Hollywood, and even then he was getting small roles in TV and movies, he didn’t convert his physique cache until the 1982 movie Conan The Barbarian.

By then, Ferrigno had already been on weekly visits for five years into the homes of America as the green god of the Marvel universe. It was an unprecedented five-year run on prime time television for a comic book character.

“I knew at the time of the audition that the Spider-Man and Captain America series had both failed, so I felt I had to give 100 per cent,” said Ferrigno, describing the show’s expectations. “I knew the public would embrace the character, but then when it hit the air, it went like wildfire. It was much bigger than I expected.”

Adam West had succeeded as Batman. George Reeves had succeeded as Superman. The shows, though, were family melodramas, not placed like The Incredible Hulk was in prized network real estate going head to head with other networks. According to Ferrigno, it was the best result ever for a superhero on TV.

He became an instant household name, alongside actor Bill Bixby who portrayed Dr. David Banner, the human form of the Hulk’s persona. The dramatic transformation from Banner to Hulk, like a comic book Jekyll and Hyde scenario, only happened when Banner was

overcome by rage and the angry emotions triggered the bulging muscles and rancorous roars of his green alter-ego.

Ferrigno has never tired of his connection to the character. He considers himself lucky to embody this kind of hero and he still remembers how, as a child, he yearned for personal power to defeat all the bullying and other obstacles in his own life.

That childhood sadness and injustice played a role in how he got the part, he believes. There were a lot of musclemen on the option block (Schwartzenegger was considered, as was James Bond villain actor Richard Kiel), but something about Ferrigno stood out to the casting directors.

“I acted like The Hulk,” Ferrigno said, meaning the subtle sides of the creature’s personality. “I was able to be flexible, I was able to

show the sensitivity, the vulnerability, that he was a sensitive creature, not just a monster.”

It came natural, Ferrigno said, because he had severe hearing impairment as a child that translated into a speech impediment that shows traces to this day.

“It was very easy for me to pantomime – act without speaking – that sensitivity, because I had a very tough life overcoming adversity.”

He was able to find personal power within himself and channel that into becoming a person of strength via body and character. He lived a profound metamorphosis of his own, and it dates back to the same world of superheroes he entered each week on television. It was while reading comic books that he spotted an ad for a body building program. He ordered it and he stuck with it.

Pumping iron became his hobby, then his career.

He has been fortunate, but he has also been the architect of his own good luck by applying dedication and tenacity to his many pursuits in life, starting with body building, then as an actor (he has played many other characters besides the Hulk), and then in business.

He is also a certified badge-carrying peace officer with a number of law enforcement departments.

“When I travel I like to visit different departments to show my support,” he said. “It is a great career and it changed my life because my father was an NYPD lieutenant. It has always been a part of my life.”

Ferrigno gives back with volunteerism and financial aid to other causes dear to his heart, chief among them hearing impairment

advocacy, muscular dystrophy and ALS charities, and the health benefits of physical fitness.

He also tips his hat to all the fans of The Incredible Hulk and he likes to do that in person.

That’s something the latest movie version of the Hulk cannot do, because the massively successful Avengers movies don’t use an actor for the green creature. Banner is played by Mark Ruffalo, but the Hulk is portrayed by computer animation.

“I think it’s great (that the Hulk is so popular again) but everybody knows I’m the original Hulk and everybody knows CGI can’t sign autographs, but I can,” Ferrigno laughed.

He will be easy to spot at Northern FanCon all three days from May 3-5. Don’t miss it or you’ll make him angry and you won’t like him when he’s angry.

Shooting victims in Penticton remembered before vigil

PENTICTON — Family and friends are remembering neighbours who were gunned down in Penticton as the small city in British Columbia’s south Okanagan prepared to hold a vigil Wednesday for the four victims of the shootings.

Jeff Schwarz says his uncle Rudi Winter, 71, “had a heart of gold.”

“Rudi wouldn’t hurt a fly. He’s the most calm, peaceful guy you’d ever meet. If there was a confrontation, he wouldn’t address it,” he said, adding that Winter “pretty much” raised him.

Winter was fatally shot on Monday while helping a friend with some yard work in downtown Penticton. Soon after, another man and two women in their 60s and 70s were shot in a residential neighbourhood, RCMP said.

Supt. Ted De Jager said a suspect walked into the Penticton RCMP detachment and surrendered about one hour after police first received a report of a possible shooting.

John Brittain, 68, a former employee in the city’s engineering department, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder. None of the allegations against him has been tested in court.

A lawyer who represented Brittain during a court appearance on Tuesday could not immediately be reached for comment.

Neighbours of Barry and Susan Wonch, who a family member confirmed were also victims of the shootings, described the retired couple as warm and friendly people. The Wonches moved to Penticton from Osoyoos in recent years, said Wally Murphy.

“They were probably the best neighbours we ever had,” said Murphy, adding he knew Barry for 14 years.

“I knew where the tools were in his garage and he knew where the tools were in mine.”

John Maxwell lived across the street from the Wonches in Osoyoos before they moved to Penticton.

He said Susan was a wonderful cook and the couple liked to organize neighbourhood parties.

“They were both the nicest people you could ever, ever ask to be with. When we went over, they really made you feel like somebody,” he said.

Organizers of a vigil scheduled for Wednesday night said the event was intended as a way for community members to support one another through the tragedy.

Kim Kirkham, executive director of the Penticton and Wine Country Chamber of Commerce, said the small city of 34,000 nestled between two lakes and rolling mountains is having trouble coming to terms with the violence.

“Any store I walk into – restaurants, coffee shops – people are talking about it. It’s affected everyone,” she said.

“Penticton’s not very big, so you either knew them or you know somebody who knew them. It’s a tough thing to fathom, happening in our small community.”

Matthew Baran, executive director of the Ooknakane Friendship Centre in Penticton, said it’s not uncommon for the community to rally behind others in times of tragedy. Vigils have been held recently for victims of domestic violence in the north Okanagan and for the Humboldt Broncos hockey team, he said.

“It’s a very caring community organically, that’s just normal.”

Lou Ferrigno attends the Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! premiere at iPic Theaters Westwood on July 22, 2015 in Los Angeles. Ferrigno, who played The Hulk in the original TV show, will be a celebrity guest at Northern FanCon.

Amy SMART The Canadian Press

Alternative approval process for city borrowing starts today

Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca

Voters who oppose any of the 11 projects for which the city is seeking to borrow a total of $32.2 million will be able to register their disapproval starting today.

That’s when the alternative approval process for the proposals begins. Voters will have until May 30 to put their signatures to any or all of 11 elector response forms and get them in to city hall.

If at least 10 per cent of the electorate, estimated at 5,546 responses, submit forms for a specific project, council will be forced to either scrap the related borrowing bylaw or take it to a full-blown referendum in which approval from at least 50 per cent plus one of those who vote will be required to advance the bylaw to final reading.

The forms will be available at city hall and online at www.princegeorge.ca/AAP. A link to the page is included on the city homepage at www.princegeorge.ca

At $10.2 million, work on the Prince George Aquatic Centre is the biggest project.

Of that total, $8.6 million would go to replacing the building envelope including roof, stucco, reconstructing the parapet and adding mechanical equipment to dehumidify air.

Slightly less than $1.4 million would go to replacing a list of building components including the three-metre and one-metre diving boards and tiling the wave pool flooring and walls.

Another $140,000 would go replacing the existing 20 year old starting blocks and

touch pads with those that satisfy provincial swim meet standards and $100,000 would go to repaving the parking lot.

The work is to be carried out in advance of the 2022 B.C. Summer Games.

Here’s a look at the other projects:

• Critical street light and traffic signal replacement, $5 million: Many of the city’s street lights and traffic signals were installed in the 1970’s and are past the end of their service life,” the city says in the elector response form for the proposal.

The work is to target about 600 of the most critical of the 2,500 street lights and traffic signals currently past their expected life.

• Civic facility roof replacements, $4.7 million: Would go to replacing roofs on various civic facilities including SPCA, Search and Rescue, Sports Centre lower roof, 1310 3rd Avenue, city yard mechanical bay, Kin 2, Kin 3, Two Rivers Gallery, Agriplex, Civic Centre, Senior’s Activity Centre, and CN Centre.

• Equipment purchases, $2.9 million: $2 million would go to annual replacement of vehicles currently part of the city fleet and $671,00 would pay for replacing firefighters’ breathing apparatus.

The remainder would be for two road foreman fleet trucks ($115,000), janitorial floor scrubbers ($99,750), and a bylaw compliance officer truck ($55,000).

• Masich Place amenities refurbishment, $2.7 million: Also in preparation for the 2022 Games, the work would include upgraded field lighting, a replacement of the score clock and PA system, and new pathway lighting, electrical kiosks, fibre optic connection, irrigation, bleachers, and

Another measles case reported in B.C.

The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER — Another case of measles has been recorded in British Columbia, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the province to 27.

Officials with Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal Health say the latest case involves a Metro Vancouver resident who returned to Vancouver International Airport on April 13 aboard a Japan Airlines flight from Tokyo.

A news release from the health authorities says the patient acquired measles while abroad, but was in several places around the Lower Mainland while infectious. It says unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated travellers may have

been exposed if they were on flight JL018 on Saturday, or if they visited the Ramada Hotel in Coquitlam, its restaurant or the Lougheed Town Centre in Burnaby on Sunday.

This marks the eighteenth case of measles confirmed in the Vancouver area since February. Cases have also been recorded on Vancouver Island, in the Fraser Valley and in 100 Mile House in the south Cariboo region. Symptoms of measles include fever, cough, runny nose and red eyes followed by a rash that starts on the face and spreads to the chest. The infectious period begins four days before the rash starts and continues for four days after it appears.

site furnishings to support visitor services at the stadium.

It would follow on the $4.5 million worth of work, completed in 2018, that brought in a new synthetic turf infield, resurfaced track, and new track and field infrastructure, as well as upgrades to the grandstand with exterior painting, lighting, and accessible infrastructure.

“This project’s improvements to existing site infrastructure and addition of new amenities and site services are required to support Masich Place Stadium’s use as a premier venue for regional training and competitions, in addition to providing ongoing public use through the popular daily walking/exercise program,” the city says in the elector response form for the proposal.

• Ron Brent Park redevelopment, $1.7 million: The project would continue a redevelopment that includes four pickleball courts, seniors fitness equipment, 10 horseshoe pits, community garden plots, lighting, a toboggan hill launch, irrigated lawns, paved trails, trees, and a washroom-storage building.

Phase one of the redevelopment occurred in 2017 and included a playground and sport field at the adjacent Ron Brent Elementary School. Phase two includes all below ground and at grade works in the park in 2019, while phase three sees the completion of the park with development of structures in 2020.

• Mausoleum expansion, phase two, $1.4 million: Would add 1,030 glass-front niches. The mausoleum is over 93 per cent full and, as of mid-September, all of the glass-front niches have been sold as have 94 per cent of the marble-front niches, accord-

ing to the city.

• Upgrades along 14th Avenue from Irwin to Freeman streets, $1.2 million: To rebuild about 280 metres of 14th, the work includes replacing and extending the existing water main with size to accommodate future multifamily residential development, as well as extending the existing sanitary sewer main, the existing storm sewer and catch basins, curb and gutter on both sides of 14th Avenue, sidewalk on one side of 14th Avenue, and street lights along 14th Avenue.

• Culvert replacement along Goose Country Road, $1.1 million: To replace two extensively-corroded 70-centimetre culverts that provide a road crossing for the fish-bearing McMillan Creek.

• Upgrades to Highway 16 West frontage from Heyer to Henry roads, $800,000: Would pay for a sidewalk, storm drainage, and street lighting along Henry Road.

“The sidewalk will connect to the pedestrian passage under Highway 16 to Vanway Elementary School and is a continuation of the work completed by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure in 2018,” the city says.

• Signalize and reconfigure intersection at Domano Boulevard and St. Lawrence Avenue/Gladstone Drive, $500,000: It is one of two intersections that allow traffic to travel between upper and lower College Heights.

“These improvements will facilitate development at the extents of St. Lawrence Avenue and Southridge Avenue, improve network access for the surrounding residential and recreational areas, and improve intersection road safety,” the city said, adding it may be eligible for funding from ICBC.

Think before you sign

shhh.

SListen.

Do you hear that? That scratching sound?

That’s the sound of pens scratching out signatures onto stacks of paper. The sound is a little louder than normal since many of those people are pressing the pen into the paper with more anger and intensity than they normally would when signing their own name.

That’s because they’re signing some or all of the 11 elector response forms as part of the alternative approval process.

Huh?

Sorry, here it is in plain English, instead of city hall jargon – they’re signing petitions against the city borrowing money to pay for 11 infrastructure projects totalling more than $32 million.

The 11 projects and their associated costs are:

• Vehicle, equipment replacement – $2.9 million

• mausoleum expansion – $1.4 million

• facility roof replacements – $4.7 million

• Aquatic Centre renovation, upgrade –$10.2 million

• Masich Place renovation, upgrade – $2.7 million

• Ron Brent Park redevelopment – $1.7 million

• 14th Avenue upgrade – $1.2 million

• Domano/St. Lawrence intersection improvement – $0.5 million

• Highway 16 West frontage – $0.8 million

• Goose Country Road culvert replacement

– $1.1 million

• Street light, traffic signal replacements –

$5 million Today is the first day residents can drop off their petitions – sorry, elector response forms – at city hall. The deadline for submitting completed forms is May 30.

If more than about 5,600 forms are submitted on any one or all of the 11 projects, city council either has to take the proposed borrowing plan to a community referendum, find another way to pay for the projects or walk away from them, in whole or part.

They’re called forms instead of petitions because all 11 projects have their own form, either two or three pages each, explaining the alternative approval process, a summary of the specific project and the signature, which also requires the printed name of the resident, their address and checking a box to confirm they either live in city limits or don’t but own property in Prince George. No simple petition signature here.

And for anyone opposed to all of it, that will require filling out 11 forms and submitting 25 pieces of paper to city hall.

Still, the organizers of the petition drive are motivated, organized and seem to have significant public support for their efforts but we won’t know for sure until the end of May.

But what are people so mad about?

Eight of these 11 projects are for less than $3 million, meaning the city could simply tap into reserve funds or increase taxes without going to the public for permission and, more importantly, without going to the bank for a loan.

The other three projects are for infrastructure upkeep. Investing in maintaining

buildings and equipment you own, whether you’re a home owner, a business owner or local government, is never a bad idea. Although borrowing to do it is far from ideal, the long term benefits – both to the infrastructure and the bottom line – is still positive.

Discussion with anyone opposed to this borrowing plan, from the petition organizers to folks calling and sending letters to the editor, reveals the alternative approval process is being used as a tool to air multiple grievances.

Upset about senior salaried city mangers being paid overtime during the 2017 Cariboo wildfire evacuation crisis?

Upset about the significant increases in wages of senior city managers over the past five years, far exceeding what unionized staff received in their contracts?

Upset about the significant increase in the number of employees at the City of Prince George in the past five years?

Upset about the significant increase in property taxes and utilities in the past five years?

Upset about the Haggith Creek Bridge construction mess and the multimillion dollar cost overrun with no one being held responsible?

Upset about a local government that should be a world leader in snow removal efficiency having to hire a retired senior city manager to review road clearing operations after the fiasco that happened over the last few days of 2018?

Upset the mayor and incumbent city councillors never mentioned a plan to borrow $32 million during last October’s election? Upset the city didn’t put that borrow-

Caribou consulation meetings confusing

I’m deeply deeply concerned about the way the caribou consultation meetings are being reported on by our local media. At last Tuesday’s meeting in Prince George, the room was full of vitriol, fear and anger. And as far as I can tell the media is “reporting” on this issue by just repeating people’s fear and anger. This is a way of perpetuating people’s fear and anger, causing more fear and anger. There has been no reporting that I’ve seen that has been a balance of views, voices of experts, data, or fact. It’s just reporting fears, flat out misinformation and more fear. It’s really quite disturbing and confusing.

The reports of job losses are super confusing, because I have yet to hear facts or data that are connected to these caribou agreements that will result in job losses. I understand that people are wondering about this and are worried, but it’s the media’s job to be curious about this and figure out if there is actual reason to worry. Investigate, don’t just repeat people’s fears.

The reports of backcountry closures are even more dumbfounding. The government has stated over and over and over again that there are no general backcountry closures. They stated that any closures on snowmobiling would be decided in the summer and would be done in conjunction with local

snowmobiling clubs, and likely include funding for new snowmobiling developments, at least in the partnership agreement. This sounds like pretty generous consultation and inclusion in the decision making process. So instead of just parroting back to us people’s fear, why not report the facts?

The mood at last Tuesday’s meeting was terrifying. The media has to take some responsibility for that. You are stoking the fires. This is not responsible journalism. You are not being fair to the people of our community by reporting this way.

Finally, Stop The Spray BC put out a statement on Facebook and I think their perspective is a super important one. I implore Prince George media to think about where your reporting choices fit into this very unhelpful divide in our community. Here is part of it:

“Sadly, they (lumber corporations) have divided our people. Those of us who should be working on the same team, like hunters and conservationists, look at each other as enemies. Look at the caribou debate. This isn’t the choice between caribou and jobs. If it was, where were the protests when they shut down a fully functional and feasible sawmill (Clear Lake) and shifted all production to Polar, costing 100 direct jobs and probably many more indirectly?

Nobody said a word. This is the choice between caribou and a monopolized, over-capitalized industry that looks at every human as a liability that is better replaced with automation, and that is completely

out of whack with our forests.”

Jenn Matthews Prince George Drive with caution through construction

The season is here where projects are on the go and often require traffic control in the form of flag people and already I have seen several flaggers out doing their jobs. Unfortunately that also means they have to watch out for bad and inattentive drivers who seem to be attracted like flies to the people in brightly coloured work clothes holding a stop sign that they are clearly waving to get your attention. Every year there are numerous near misses to full on contact with vehicles and almost always it is the driver of the vehicle at fault because they can not understand simple instructions given to them by flag people in the form of an arm wave or pointing in a particular direction. Add to that the brightly coloured and fluorescent clothing that the flaggers wear are like mosquito attractants drivers will aim for that brightly lit target. This is not just a few drivers. I have seen in years past entire rows of drivers who may be experienced drivers sit there with confused looks on their faces as the flag person gives them very simple commands to follow and then ignore those commands and drive right at the brightly lit thing standing in front of them. Don’t believe me?

cls@pgcitizen.ca

ing plan forward as a referendum question for voters to decide?

Little or nothing residents can do about any of those individual grievances.

Signing a petition on a city borrowing plan, however, even one that kinda sorta makes sense, gives frustrated taxpayers a powerful tool to remind mayor and council who’s the boss.

Signing will do nothing to address those previously listed but it will certainly put city council on notice that taxpayers expect better.

As for those last three items – the pool upgrade, the roof replacements and the traffic and street lights – that make up nearly $19.9 million, the city received $11.3 million in infrastructure money last month but said it was putting the money into reserves, rather than towards specific projects. The traffic and street lights, as well as the roof replacements, could be paid for with money left over and without having to borrow a cent.

In the end, however, what happens if all or some of these projects are rejected in the alternative approval process is uncertain. It’s that uncertainty that should be cause for caution before signing.

What next?

Each form should be read carefully before signing with full knowledge and understanding of what’s being rejected, along with acceptance of the unpredictable consequences.

Lots of reasons to sign but plenty more reasons to think carefully before rushing out to that scratching sound with a pen. — Editor-in-chief Neil Godbout

LETTERS WELCOME

The Prince George Citizen welcomes letters to the editor from our readers. Submissions should be sent by email to: letters@pgcitizen.ca

No attachments, please. They can also be faxed to 250-960-2766, or mailed to 201-1777 Third Ave., Prince George, B.C. V2L 3G7.

Maximum length is 750 words and writers are limited to one submission every week.

We will edit letters only to ensure clarity, good taste, for legal reasons, and occasionally for length.

Although we will not include your address and telephone number in the paper, we need both for verification purposes. Unsigned or handwritten letters will not be published.

The Prince George Citizen is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent organization established to deal with acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour.

If you have concerns about editorial content, please contact Neil Godbout (ngodbout@pgcitizen.ca or 250-960-2759).

If you are not satisfied with the response and wish to file a formal complaint, visit the web site at mediacouncil.ca or call toll-free 1-844877-1163 for additional information.

Ask the flag people yourself. You will probably get more than a few harrowing stories from them.

I know for some this is a tough thing to do but please try to pay attention and watch the very simple commands flaggers give you and, most importantly, go slow through construction zones. It’s the law – not a suggestion, but an actual law.

Dean Soiland Prince George

Seek local experts for wildfire protection

A wildfire protection plan for Prince George is a very good idea for our area but we have forest companies that plant, harvest, and produce products from our forests. They all have their own forestry departments. We have forestry engineering companies. We have a college that has forestry programs. We have a university that has forestry programs that are second to nobody. So why do we hire a Vancouver company – Diamond Head Consulting (DHC) – to come up here and tell us what trees to cut?

With all the above knowledge and manpower in Prince George, we hire a Vancouver company? Did the city put this contract out for tender? What are the taxpayers on the hook for this time? Does DHC take any responsibility at all?

The dollar amount they agreed on, is that written in stone or is it we will get back to you with the final bill when we are done?

Now UNBC just got a grant for $1.5 million to study why our Indigenous elders are prone to suicide.

Why could we not give UNBC a grant to come up with a plan and be the lead in what clearing is to be done, keeping our tax money here in P.G.?

While on the subject of clearing trees, we should be looking at our smaller city playground parks. They should be checked and thinned out for fire hazards. Chad Johnson Prince George

Look at big picture while mourning Notre Dame destruction

Just a reality check – Notre Dame burned down after centuries of wars, plagues and bombings while in a mere 100 years we managed to destroy our wildlife, our oceans, our climate, each other through genocide and our lands and for what?

$$$$$$$$$$$. I enjoy all that goes with this creative human race but with great sadness and remorse. I’m very sorry, Mother Nature and my grandchildren. I tried but not but not hard enough. Warner Bliskis Prince George

Shawn Cornell, director of advertising: 250-960-2757 scornell@pgcitizen.ca Reader sales and services: 250-562-3301 rss@pgcitizen.ca Letters to the editor: letters@pgcitizen.ca Website: www.pgcitizen.ca Website feedback: digital@glaciermedia.ca

Lawyer questions cop’s ‘mistake’ in murder case

Laura KANE The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER — A defence lawyer has questioned a police officer’s “mistake” of leaving an apartment after he saw bloodsmeared walls and discovered a badly injured young girl lying on a bed.

Oak Bay Police Const. Piotr Ulanowski was the first officer to enter Andrew Berry’s apartment in the southern Vancouver Island city on Christmas Day in 2017. Berry has pleaded not guilty to seconddegree murder in the deaths of his daughters, Chloe Berry, 6, and Aubrey Berry, 4. His trial began in British Columbia Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Ulanowski has testified that after he saw the chaotic scene inside the apartment, he left, closed the door and called for a higherranking officer to join him because of safety concerns.

Berry’s lawyer Kevin McCullough questioned Ulanowski’s decision on Wednesday. He noted that Ulanowski walked to the lobby to wait for the sergeant, leaving the door to the suite and an exit door next to it unattended.

“Would you agree with me, Const. Ulanowski, you made a significant mistake walking away from that door, which you just identified as a crime scene?” McCullough asked. “And the reason that you didn’t go in was because of that (crime scene) and your safety because someone could attack you from that scene? You should never have left that position. Do you agree?”

Ulanowski replied simply, “Should I have left the door? I left it.”

The officer acknowledged, under crossexamination by McCullough, that he was not taught during police training to step out

CP COURT ILLUSTRATION

Andrew Berry, centre, appears in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver on Tuesday. Berry has pleaded not guilty to the murders of his daughters, Chloe Berry, 6, and Aubrey Berry, 4.

of view of a crime scene.

Crown attorney Clare Jennings has alleged that Berry stabbed his daughters more than two dozen times each before attempting to kill himself. The girls had been dead for “some time” when police arrived around 6 p.m., Jennings told the jury in her opening statement.

Ulanowski has said he waited in the lobby for about five minutes before Sgt. Mike Martin arrived. McCullough pointed out that the exit door next to Berry’s apartment led to the building’s exterior, and he asked if Ulanowski knew whether anyone left Berry’s apartment during that time.

“I can’t say that anybody came or left,” the

constable responded.

After the two police officers entered the apartment together, Ulanowski said he walked down a hallway and found Andrew Berry naked in a bathtub, with lacerations to his chest and neck and a bruised right eye that was swollen shut.

McCullough questioned whether Ulanowski heard Berry say anything while in the bathroom or in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. The officer replied that he didn’t hear anything and Berry appeared to be unconscious the entire time.

Jennings has said that firefighters who responded to the scene heard Berry say, “Kill me,” and “Leave me alone.”

McCullough also asked for Ulanowski’s opinion on a media statement made by Oak Bay Police Deputy Chief Const. Ray Bernoties between 7:50 and 8:25 p.m. on Dec. 25, 2017. McCullough alleged the deputy chief said local residents had “nothing to worry about.”

The defence lawyer questioned whether that was pretty early to be “wrapping up this case.”

“Probably, yeah,” Ulanowski replied. On the night of Dec. 25, multiple news outlets reported that a police statement said foul play was suspected but there was no reason to believe the public was at risk.

Ulanowski choked up during his testimony on Tuesday as he described seeing the little girl’s body. On Wednesday, McCullough suggested the officer was in a “complete distraught and shocked state” when he left the apartment and called Martin.

The lawyer said Ulanowski was struggling to piece words together and failed to answer “yes” immediately after Martin asked whether ambulances and more detectives were needed.

“I saw a dead girl on a bed. How am I supposed to process that?” Ulanowski asked. “I wouldn’t say completely distraught, but I was shocked, yes.”

McCullough asked whether people who are in a state of shock aren’t good witnesses and have bad memories.

Ulanowski replied that those were fair statements.

The officer earlier told the jury that the apartment was in “disarray” when he arrived, with clothing strewn everywhere and even bunched up in front of the door, making it difficult to open even after he got the key from a property manager.

Kenney talks pipelines with Trudeau after election win

Dean BENNETT The Canadian Press

EDMONTON — Jason Kenney, Alberta’s incoming premier, said he cordially talked pipelines Wednesday with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – Kenney’s political nemesis and his election campaign pinata – and said the plan is to meet soon for a one-on-one.

“He called to offer his congratulations. We spoke for about 15 minutes,” Kenney said outside Alberta’s legislature building.

“We had a respectful conversation about a number of issues, including the need to get Canadian energy to foreign markets.”

Kenney said he and Trudeau will try to meet shortly after Kenney and his new United Conservative government are sworn in on April 30.

It was a much anticipated conversation, given that Kenney successfully leveraged voter dissatisfaction with Trudeau in Alberta’s election, painting NDP Premier Rachel Notley as a weak enabler of federal energy policies he says are undermining its oil and gas sector.

On Tuesday, Kenney’s United Conservatives won a strong majority government over Notley’s NDP, reducing core NDP support to mainly the city of Edmonton.

Kenney and Notley have attacked the federal Liberals on proposed legislation, including a tanker ban on the northern B.C. coast and Bill C-69.

Bill C-69, now before the Senate, creates new approval rules for energy projects, which Kenney calls an unconstitutional power grab on areas of provincial authority.

The Kenney-Trudeau nexus is expected to play a pivotal role as the UCP work to implement its core campaign promise to

create more jobs and grow the oil and gas sector.

Kenney has promised to fight Bill C-69 in court.

He will also go to court to try to stop the federal government from imposing a carbon tax on Alberta once his UCP follows through next month on its promise to repeal the Alberta-made carbon levy.

Kenney, a former federal cabinet minister under Stephen Harper, has said the mere existence of Trudeau in power threatens Alberta’s economic prospects and has said he will do whatever he can to see Trudeau defeated in the fall election.

The fight is also personal. Almost a year

ago, Kenney, in a newspaper interview, dismissed Trudeau as a dilettante and a lightweight.

“I know Justin. He doesn’t have a clue what he’s doing. This guy is an empty trustfund millionaire who has the political depth of a finger bowl,” Kenney said at the time.

Kenney said Wednesday that the plan, for now, is to be positive.

“We will begin with the path of diplomacy and try to find common ground,” he said.

“We hope that we don’t need to use more forceful measures to assert Alberta’s vital economic interests.”

Kenney also won the election on a promise to be more forceful with other provinces,

We will begin with the path of diplomacy and try to find common ground. We hope that we don’t need to use more forceful measures to assert Alberta’s vital economic interests.

— Jason Kenney

saying that Albertans feel its neighbours are happy to share in the bounty of Alberta’s oil wealth while opposing measures like pipelines to help it grow.

In Quebec, Premier Francois Legault congratulated Kenney on his electoral victory Wednesday but said all parties in Quebec’s legislature still oppose any new oil pipelines.

Kenney said he also wants to start on a positive note with Legault, but added: “We don’t think it’s reasonable for other provinces, like Quebec, to take our equalization money while opposing pipeline projects that can help us pay the bills.”

Kenney has said that the first day of his government will see him proclaim into law a bill passed by Notley’s legislature allowing Alberta to reduce oil flows to B.C. if B.C. continues to thwart the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline to take more Alberta oil to the West Coast.

He said he plans to recall the legislature in the third week of May.

KENNEY

TRUDEAU

Spruce Kings are BCHL champions

Ted CLARKE Citizen staff

Finally, after 23 years of chasing down their puck dreams in the B.C. Hockey League, the Prince George Spruce Kings are provincial junior A hockey champions. They finished off a remarkable playoff run to the Fred Page Cup with a 3-1 victory over the Vernon Vipers to complete a four-game championship series sweep Wednesday night in Vernon.

“We’re ecstatic obviously, we’re real proud of our group and all the staff,” said Kings head coach Adam Maglio. “We’ve all pushed in the right direction, it obviously takes a lot of work from the players especially and the buy-in’s been incredible. It’s a special group and it’s a pleasure coaching them.”

The Prince George power play proved a deadly difference in ending the Vipers’ season, scoring on two of its first three opportunities for a 2-0 lead. The first came from Nolan Welsh, who parked himself in front of the net and was perfectly positioned when defenceman Layton Ahac directed a shot-pass which hit the blade of Welsh’s stick. That came after a brief 5-on-3 power play and Vipers defenceman Landon Fuller was still in the box serving a tripping call.

The Kings kept their lead intact but not without a little excitement around their own net when Vernon defenceman took the puck in deep and fired a shot that went off the leg of goalie Logan Neaton and grazed the post. The puck was left unguarded just outside the crease until Neaton dove to smother it.

Nick Poisson nailed the post at the other end with a backhander late in the period. Fuller was off for interference when the Kings made it a 2-0 count. Patrick Cozzi set up Ben Poisson for his 13th goal of the playoffs. Poisson, who scored the overtime winner in Game 3, teed off on Cozzi’s pass from the top of the face-off circle. Maglio wanted a better start from his troops after getting outshot by wide margins in Games 2 and 3 of the series and the Kings responded, outshooting Vernon 9-4 in the opening period. They appeared to have better skating legs and offered the Vipers very little skating room, clogging the neutral zone effectively, and that set the tone for the rest of the game.

“Our power play came through huge tonight,” said Maglio. “It was such a tight series, 5-on-5 and you need your special teams to come through in these type of games in this series. It was a good start to get the 2-0 lead and I thought we did a pretty good job with some pushback from Vernon.”

BCHL commissioner Chris Hebb, in his

first season since taking over the reins from John Grisdale, presented the Fred Page Cup to Poisson, the Kings captain. Poisson finished the BCHL playoffs with 13 goals and 21 points, third-best in the league. As much as he helped out offensively it was his physical play and the confidence his crushing bodychecks gave his teammates that was so valuable to the Spruce Kings.

“He’s our leader, spiritually, mentally and on the ice,” said Maglio. “He’s an incredible kid and what makes him special is his highend character. Those are guys you win with. Those are guys other programs want and those are guys who will have a very successful hockey career.”

The Vipers cut the lead in half on their third power play of the game, 12:42 into the third period. Teddy Wooding let go a hard shot from the circle that fooled Neaton.

Neaton bailed his team out in a big way with 4:22 left to preserve the lead when he kicked out his leg to deny Jesse Lansdell,

whose shot came from point-blank range. Neaton was the difference-maker in so many games in their championship run and the Michigan native was at his best again in Wednesday night’s title clincher.

The Vipers came close a few more times with the goalie out in the dying minutes. Connor Marritt had the best chance to tie it but missed the net with an open shot. The Kings iced it with an empty-net goal from Patrick Cozzi with 40 seconds left.

“Logan was incredible and he was very composed tonight when they pushed hard at the end,” said Maglio. “He made timely saves like he has all playoffs – he’s been a huge part.

“I think everyone in the lineup has all contributed in their own way.”

The Kings went 16-1 in the playoffs. Their one loss came on March 5 in the third game of the opening round when they lost 3-0 in Coquitlam. They dispatched the Express in five games, then reeled off back-to-back

sweeps over the Chilliwack Chiefs and Victoria Grizzlies. The Kings finished the regular season second overall in the 17team league with a 39-13-1-5 record, one point behind Chilliwack. They will move on to the Doyle Cup bestof-seven series against the Brooks Bandits, which starts Friday, April 26 in Brooks, Alta. Both teams will advance to the national junior A hockey championship, May 11-19 in Brooks. Just once in their BCHL history have the Spruce Kings reached the national championship. In 2007 as the host team of what was known as the Royal Bank Cup they made it as far as the final, losing 3-1 to the Aurora Tigers.

LOOSE PUCKS: Kings defenceman Liam Watson-Brawn returned to action after missing three games with an upper-body injury… The Kings went 2-for-5 on the power play while Vernon was 1-for-3… The shots ended up 19-18 for the Vipers… The Kings will be traveling home today with the cup.

Hausot cracks top-10 at Whistler Cup slalom

Ted CLARKE Citizen staff

Isaac Hausot had speed to burn last weekend at the Whistler Cup.

Taking an international field of 134 skiers in the under-14 men’s slalom on Sunday, the 14-year-old Prince George Ski Team member blasted through the gates to a ninth-place finish.

Hausot dug his edges into the steep course for a two-run time of 1:35.71. That came a day after he finished 24th out of 134 skiers in the giant slalom.

“The course was very hard and icy, just the way I like it for racing,” said Hausot. “I am so excited with how I placed in both events. I have been working hard in training and in the gym, and I’m getting more confident in being able to

handle the hard snow conditions.”

Hausot was the seventh-place finisher in the slalom at the under-14 provincial championships at Purden Ski Resort, March 17.

The 27th annual Whistler Cup attracted more than 400 of the top under-14 and under-16 alpine skiers from 22 countries, including Canada, the U.S., Slovakia, Norway, Korea, Japan New Zealand and Argentina.

Hausot joined forces with clubmate Jamey Bachand, two Argentinans and two Chileans for the dual slalom team relay. Their team advanced to the B semifinal.

Hausot loved the continuous action of the relay.

Skiers wait at the top of a short course until the teammate who

precedes them on the course crosses the finish line. Only then can each successive skier leave the gate.

“It was really cool to race with kids my age from around the world,” said Hausot. “The relay event was so fun, I had never done a relay before. It was was exciting.

“I obviously need to learn some Spanish racing with the guys from Argentina and Chile, but their English was quite good. The whole Whistler Cup event was so much fun.”

The Prince George team coached by Phil Soicher and Kali Holahan included under-16 skiers Charlotte Gibson and Melinda Kobasiuk, as well as under-14 athletes Hausot, Bachand, Gwyneth Bertucci, Adree Brulotte, Sydney Sherba and Zoe Pohl.

Brulotte finished 16th in the U-14 slalom with a two-run time of 1:24.42, while Bertucci was

95th and Sherba placed 99th. In the giant slalom, Brulotte placed 57th, Pohl was 66th, Bertucci was 107th and Sherba finished 110th. Bachand was 77th in the U-14 men’s slalom. In the U-16 women’s slalom Kobasiuk posted a 17th-place finish out of 58. Gibson did not finish. In the super-G event, Kobasiuk was 25th and Gibson ended up 31st out of 53 entrants. Gibson placed 25th in the giant slalom, while Kobasiuk was 28th.

• In other Prince George Ski Club news, Gavin Rowell won the Canadian/NorAm ski cross championship at Sunshine Village near Banff, Alta. Rowell was the silver medalist at the FIS junior world championships a few weeks ago in Reiteralm, Austria.

HAUSOT

HANDOUT PHOTO BY JACK MURRAY

Spruce Kings captain Ben Poisson hoists the Fred Page Cup after the team won the BCHL championship in Vernon on Wednesday.

Cheer champions

The Prince George All Stars Cheer senior Knights traveled to Kamloops for inaugural B.C. Cheerleading Championships and came home with the provincial banner. The first-year club, coached by Jess MacDonald, completed the competition with no deductions to earn firstplace marks from the judges in the senior 12-17-year-old event. The junior Dragons from Prince George also turned in an outstanding performance, placing second in their competition for athletes aged 8-11. The provincial meet drew 600 athletes from 50 clubs. The PG All Stars teams will be in Kelowna for the seventh annual Okanagan Cheer Championships on April 27. The club begins its spring training sessions for seniors, juniors and youth age groups May 13 at Southridge elementary school. The classes on Mondays and Wednesday evenings are open to athletes aged 6-17. For more information go to the club website www.pgallstars.com.

Cougars’ Gauthier, Toman playing in Sweden

Taylor Gauthier’s season stopping pucks for the Prince George Cougars ended in mid-March when the Cats missed out on the Western Hockey League playoffs but the 18-year-old goaltender has not lost his focus on doing what he does best.

Not with a world championship to try to win.

Gauthier is in Sweden as one of three Team Canada goalies battling for playing time in the IIHF world under-18 championship, which starts today in Umea and Ornskoldsvik. Canada opens the eight-team tournament today (10:30 a.m. PT) against Finland.

Gauthier played in 55 of the Cougars’ 68 games this past season and finished with a 15-30-4-2 record, posting a 3.25 goalsagainst average and .899 save percentage with three shutouts.

NHL Central Scouting, in its final list released earlier this week, ranked Gauthier seventh among North American goalies available in the June draft.

The Calgary native played in Monday’s pre-tournament game against Russia and made 32 saves to preserve a 5-4 victory. The Hockey Canada website said Gauthier turned in a “terrific effort,” to help establish himself at that level of competition. Dylan Cozens (Lethbridge Hurricanes, WHL) and Dylan Holloway (Okotoks Oilers, AJHL) each scored twice for Canada.

The Canadians also played a pre-tournament game Sunday against Belarus. Alex Newhook (Victoria Grizzlies, BCHL) scored three goals, including the winner 45 seconds into overtime in a 6-5 win over Belarus. In that game, Dylan Garand (Kamloops Blazers, WHL) came in to relieve starter Jonathan Lemieux (Val-d’Or, QMJHL) for the start of the third period and blocked all

nine shots he faced to cinch the victory. In other tournament games, Canada will play Switzerland (Friday, 6:30 a.m. PT), Belarus (Sunday, 10:30 a.m.) and Czech Republic (Tuesday, 10:30 a.m. The other pool includes the United States, Sweden, Slovakia and Latvia.

Cougars centre Matej Toman, 18, is on the Czech roster. Toman, picked by the Cou-

gars fifth overall in the 2018 CHL import draft, played 66 games in his rookie season with the Cats and collected nine goals and 11 assist for 20 points.

Toman, a native of Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, represented his country last August at the 2018 Hlinka-Gretzky Cup in Edmonton and won bronze with the Czechs at the 2017 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John. Gauthier won gold for Canada at the Gretzky-Hlinka Cup and also played for Team Canada White at the World U-17 Challenge.

Gauthier also played in the Sherwin Williams CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game in Red Deer, Alta., in January.

Quarterfinal playoffs will be played Thursday and the four winners will meet in the semifinal round on Saturday (6:30 and 10:30 a.m.). The bronze medal game will be played Sunday (6:30 a.m. start), followed by the championship game (10:30 a.m.). All of Canada’s games as well as the quarterfinals, semifinals and medal games will be broadcast on TSN.

• Cougars defenceman Cole Moberg, in his Central Scouting ranking, moved up 39 spots from his midterm position and is now listed 136th among North American skaters. The 18-year-old from North Vancouver finished third in team scoring with 13 goals and 40 points and won the Eric Brewer Award as the Cougars’ top defenceman.

Ted CLARKE Citizen staff

GAUTHIER

TOMAN

David Pastrnak scores twice as Bruins down Maple Leafs 6-4

Joshua CLIPPERTON

The Canadian Press

TORONTO — With the Maple Leafs buzzing and Scotiabank Arena rocking after Toronto equalized early in Wednesday’s second period, the Bruins needed a push from their dormant stars.

David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron delivered, and now the Eastern Conference quarterfinal is heading back to Boston tied at two games apiece.

Pastrnak scored twice in quick succession, Marchand had a goal and two assists, and the Bruins survived a late surge to beat the Leafs 6-4.

Toronto had a chance to go up 3-1 in a series for the first time in 32 years, but instead will be kicking itself following a game where it fell behind 2-0 and 5-2 before a late rally fell short.

“We had real good energy,” Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said. “I didn’t think we had the kind of brain all that time that we wanted. Turned the puck over, two real big mistakes on the penalty kill.

“Just got in our own way a little bit.”

The line of Pasternak, Marchand and Bergeron was held in check with six points – including just two at 5 on 5 – through nine periods to start the series, but had matched that total by the time Boston made it 4-2 five minutes into the second.

Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy moved Pastrnak away from the triumvirate much of the night only to reunite the three after the Leafs tied it.

The sniper finished off a 2-on-1 with Marchand on a play started by Bergeron to put Boston back in front at 3:16 of the second. Pastrnak then took a slick backhand feed from Marchand on a power play to snap home his second just 95 seconds later.

“It’s not easy to win in this building,” said Pastrnak, who mostly played on a line with David Krejci.

“A hell of a win.”

Charlie McAvoy, with a goal and an assist, Zdeno Chara and Joakim Nordstrom, into an empty net, also scored for Boston, which got 38 stops from Tuukka Rask. Auston Matthews, with two, Hyman and Travis Dermott replied for Toronto. Frederik Andersen made 25 saves, while Morgan Rielly added two assists.

The Bruins restored home-ice advantage in the series, with Game 5 set for Friday at TD Garden. Game 6 goes Sunday back at Scotiabank Arena.

Toronto held a significant edge in 5-on-5 play with nearly 62 per cent puck possession (70 shot attempts to 43), but was undone by mental errors and an inability to connect on the power play early.

“We did a lot of good things,” said Leafs centre John Tavares, who along with Hyman and Mitch Marner have been tasked with going toe-to-toe against the Bergeron line. “We generated a lot of chances, got a lot of pucks to the net.

“We didn’t have our best start tonight, but we gave ourselves a good chance.”

Coming into these playoffs, Pastrnak had registered 27 points his

last 15 games against Toronto, but put up just one assist in the series prior to Wednesday. The line of Pastrnak, Marchand and Bergeron alone combined for 30 points in last spring’s seven-game victory over the Leafs in the first round.

Rask, who didn’t look good on Toronto’s tying goal in the second, made up for that gaffe with a great toe save on Connor Brown at the lip of the crease later in the period in the wake of Pastrnak’s double.

Matthews hit the post early in the third, but the Bruins went up 5-2 at 5:39 when Chara fired a shot through a terrific Bergeron screen. At 42 years, 30 days, Boston’s captain became the secondoldest player in NHL history to score a goal in the playoffs.

Matthews got the Leafs within two on the power play with 8:08 left in regulation as Toronto

started to press before Dermott made it 5-4 through traffic with 6:33 remaining inside a boisterous Scotiabank Arena.

Marchand hit the post with just over two minutes to go, but Boston held on late before Nordstrom scored into an empty net.

Down 2-1 after 20 minutes, the Leafs got level 1:07 into the middle period when Matthews fired a shot that squeezed between Rask’s left arm and body for his second in as many games after being held off the scoresheet in Boston.

Boston jumped out to a 1-0 lead on the power play at 3:03 of the first when McAvoy wired a shot blocker side on Andersen to silence the crowd of 19,638 that had been in full voice moments earlier.

The Bruins made it 2-0 when Danton Heinen – Pastrnak’s

replacement on the top line – fed a pass in front to Marchand, who scored his second of the series at 6:38.

Andersen made a great save on Coyle in the slot to keep his team down by two before Toronto started to find its legs.

The Leafs couldn’t do much of anything on consecutive power plays, but Hyman got his team on the board just after the second penalty expired, tipping Rielly’s point shot with 2:05 left in the period.

“They came pretty hard and were able to take advantage of some of their chances,” Andersen said. “They probably came out a bit harder than we did.”

That will have to change for Toronto in Game 5 or the Leafs could be facing elimination at home Sunday.

Stars even series with 5-1 win over Predators

Stephen HAWKINS

The Associated Press

DALLAS — Roope Hintz and Alexander Radulov scored power-play goals on Dallas’ first two shots, and the Stars chased Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne with an early four-goal onslaught, beating the Predators 5-1 Wednesday night and evening the best-of-seven series at two games each. Hintz added his second career

playoff goal in the second period, on John Klingberg’s third assist of the game.

Ben Bishop stopped 34 shots.

Bishop allowed a couple of soft goals in Game 3 in his home playoff debut with Dallas, when the Predators won their second consecutive game after the Stars won the series opener in Nashville.

Game 5 is Saturday in Nashville.

The Stars were 1 of 13 on the power play in the first three games of the Western Conference playoff

series, but went 3 of 4 in the first period of Game 4. It was the first time they scored three power-play goals in one period of a playoff game since moving to Dallas before the 1993-94 season.

Andrew Cogliano and Mats Zuccarello also scored as part of the Stars’ four goals in eight shots against Rinne, before he was replaced by Juuse Saros less than 14 minutes into the game. Rinne, who started his 87th consecutive playoff game for Nashville, had

stopped 40 of 42 shots in Game 3. It was the third goal of the series for Zuccarello. Dallas led 1-0 when Hintz scored on a pass from Klingberg only 3:42 into the game. The Stars were back on the power play only 90 seconds later, and converted again when Radulov got his second goal of the series . The Stars had scored only 39 goals in the first period all season – through 82 regular-season games and then had none in the

first three games of this series that were all decided by one goal. Nashville hadn’t allowed three power-play goals in a single period this season, or faced a four-goal deficit after the first period.

The Predators didn’t score until more than eight minutes into the third period, when Roman Josi shot from the slot in the middle of the circles. The puck whizzed to the right of Bishop, who had a lot of traffic in front of him.

Saros stopped 20 of 21 shots.

Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen (31) stops Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) during third period NHL playoff hockey action in Toronto on Wednesday.

Scientists restore brain functions in dead pigs

Joel ACHENBACH The

Washington Post

The brain is fragile, and if deprived of oxygen – for example from a massive heart attack, or through drowning – it will quickly and catastrophically degrade, leading to irreversible brain death. And that’s it – the end.

But that medical orthodoxy now must contend with a major report published Wednesday in the journal Nature that is simultaneously fascinating and disturbing: researchers at Yale School of Medicine say they have restored some cellular function in pig brains from animals decapitated four hours earlier at a local slaughterhouse.

Over the course of a six-hour treatment, the brains were infused with a cocktail of synthetic fluids designed to halt cellular degeneration and restore cellular functions, such as metabolic activity. It worked: the brains continued to consume oxygen and glucose. Many brain cells, including neurons, which send messages within the brain and to the rest of the body, ceased decaying and appear to have been revived in dramatic and detectable ways.

The scientists detected “spontaneous synaptic activity,” which means the neurons were capable of sending out signals, and the cells responded to external electrical stimulation. Cells removed from the treated brains and examined under a microscope had regained the shape of living cells, noted lead author Zvonimir Vrselja, a Yale neuroscientist.

The pig brains remained, by any traditional definition, dead. The researchers detected no signs of consciousness or any other “global” mental activity. But the study suggest that brain cells are hardier than previously thought, said study co-author and Yale neuroscientist Nenad Sestan.

“The death of a cell, or in this case, organ, is a gradual, stepwise process,” Sestan said. He stressed that the revivifying system the researchers developed, which they dubbed BrainEx, may not reverse cell death and restore brains to what would be considered a stable, living state. It’s possible, he said, that “we are just postponing the inevitable.”

The researchers are mindful that this is controversial territory with great potential to stoke outrage, or simply the

Pigs are bred at a farm in Longtan, China, in 2008. Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine say they were able to restore some brain function in decapitated pig heads from a slaughterhouse.

heebie-jeebies. Such a head-snapping experiment inevitably generates nightmarish scenarios involving live brains in vats, brain transplants, the Zombie Apocalypse, and other mad-scientist ideas.

The findings also lead to ethical quandaries, some of which are outlined in two commentaries simultaneously published by Nature. The ethicists say this research can blur the line between life and death, and could complicate the protocols for organ donation, which rely on a clear determination of when a person is dead and beyond resuscitation.

This startling research provides the latest reminder that science and medicine continuously create innovations that offer hope for treating dreaded diseases (such as Alzheimer’s or other brain disorders) while simultaneously raising head-scratching issues about how to apply transformative technologies and procedures.

The National Institutes of Health helped fund this research as part of the BRAIN Initiative, a major research effort started during the Obama administration. The human brain is often described by scientists as the most complex object known to exist in the universe, and brains in general remain rather mysteri-

ous. Many basic questions – how does a brain create a thought? – are hard to answer.

The researchers knew they were on delicate ground. A presentation they made at the National Institutes of Health in 2018 so astonished their colleagues that word of the experiment leaked to a journalist at MIT Technology Review, and the ensuing story generated a great deal of controversy. Animal rights activists protested. Other researchers wondered why the Yale team was venturing into this edgy territory.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday in advance of publication, the Yale researchers addressed some of the objections. They pointed out that the experiment did not use live animals.

These were pigs slaughtered as part of food production. They were completely dead, for hours, before their brains – drained of blood and largely removed from their skulls –were treated with the fluids.

Moreover, the experiment employed a chemical that inhibited overall brain activity. The scientists say that helped brain cells avoid stress. But the blocker also ensured the pig brain would not have any risk of awareness.

Great white sharks are afraid of Orcas, study finds

Kayla EPSTEIN The Washington Post

Jaws is afraid of Free Willy.

A new study published in Nature this week demonstrated that when pods of orcas entered an area around South Farallon Island off the coast of San Francisco, the great white sharks in the area cleared out – and didn’t return for months. No ocean predator is more fearsome in the public imagination than the great white shark, but even they appear to steer clear of orcas, highly intelligent pack hunters that have been observed on rare occasions to attack great whites – and eat their livers.

“On one occasion, we had 17 sharks that we were tracking simultaneously at the island when a group of orcas showed up,” said Salvador Jorgensen of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, who led the study that involved Stanford University and Point Blue Conservation Science.

“We were able to see from the data all the sharks leaving the side of the island the orcas had arrived on,” he said, “and within a few hours had vacated the island completely.”

The findings are the result of 27 years of research, but Jorgensen suspected the two predators had been doing this dance for a while.

Scientists tagged 165 great white sharks between 2006 and 2013, luring them to boats with seal decoys made out of everyday carpet before affixing them with beacons that sent codes to sensors throughout their territory. This way, scientists could track their movements. Point Blue Conservation Science surveyed orca activity around Southeast Farallon Island, helping the team understand how the orcas and sharks interacted.

“There’s some irony to the fact that one of the key cards that this predator has is its ability to know when to fold and run,” Jorgensen said of the sharks.

“We don’t always think of a white shark as deciding to flee, but this may be a key aspect of its behavior that may have led to the success of last several million years.”

The real winner in this ecological dance of predators, however, might be the prey. Great white sharks congregate around Southeast Farallon Island when the juvenile elephant seal population is abundant and are most likely to overlap with orcas there in the late fall or early winter. Although orcas pass through only briefly, great white sharks vacate for an extended period, leaving the seal population in peace.

Neutrons have short, mysterious lives

“By convention sweet is sweet, bitter is bitter, hot is hot, cold is cold, colour is colour; but in truth there are only atoms and the void.”

So said Democritus of Abdera, a Greek philosopher who lived from about 460 BCE to 370 BCE. We have only fragments of his writings as he was dismissed by other Greek philosophers and his work was not preserved except by the writing of others.

Yet it is an incredibly insightful statement and easily thousands of years ahead of its time. Democritus came up with the theory of atoms long before modern science revitalized the concept. He even went so far as to describe how atoms could join together through a hook-and-eye mechanism and why acids taste sour – acids have pointy atoms which poke the tongue.

That, of course, is not the reason acids taste sour. Rather our sense of a sour taste is the result of molecular and ionic interactions. But he understood the universe is composed of atoms and therefore not infinite in ei-

ther direction. Democritus’ atoms were tiny indestructible particles beyond our capacity to observe. Or at least they were until the last decade of the 19th century.

Henri Becquerel observed mysterious rays emitted from a sample of pitchblende. Through careful work he and his co-workers, Pierre and Marie Curie, were able to show the rays emanated from the radioactive decay of atoms. Uranium, radium, and polonium were all isolated from the pitchblende and their decay measured.

When talking about radioactive decay, scientists often use the term “half-life.”

It arises out of a first-order differential equation and is the time it takes for exactly half of something to turn into something else.

It doesn’t have to be radioactive. For example, prescription drugs have a half-life in the human body which measures the rate at which the drugs are utilized and discarded.

But the radioactivity of uranium-238 gives it a half-life of around 4.5 billion years which means right now there is only half as much U-238 on Earth as

TODD WHITCOMBE

there was at its beginning. For the uranium-235 isotope, the half-life is shorter – at 700 million years – leaving only about one per cent of the original concentration of U-235 on the planet.

At almost the same time as Becquerel was making his observations, J.J. Thompson was able to peal electrons out of metal and fire them across a glass tube.

While not sure what he had, he was able to measure its chargeto-mass ratio and show it was a sub-atomic particle.

Over the next decade, Rutherford formulated the solar system model of the atom with the nucleus composed of positively charge protons surrounded by a halo of orbiting electrons –Thompson’s particles. Democritus was right, but he was one layer too high. It is not atoms which are the fundamental building blocks, but protons and electrons.

Except this presented a puzzle. If protons all have positive charges and like charges repel each other, how did the nucleus hold together?

At the same time another puzzle emerged as mass spectroscopy was invented and some atoms of the same element were found to have different masses.

In 1932, James Chadwick discovered the neutron – a subatomic particle similar to the proton in mass and energy but with no charge. With the exception of hydrogen, all atomic nuclei are made up of a combination of protons and neutrons. The more protons present, the more neutrons required to stabilize the nucleus.

And with the really heavy elements, their nuclei still fall apart which is why uranium is radioactive and has a half-life.

But in 1951, the structure of sub-atomic particles became a little murky. As far as scientists have been able to measure neither protons nor electrons have a measureable lifetime.

The protons and electrons which coalesced from the big bang are still with us today.

Not so for the neutron. A free neutron has a lifespan of 14 minutes and 39 seconds. Or a lifespan of 14 minutes and 47 seconds.

This discrepancy is a result of the two different methods for measuring the lifespan of the neutron, but no one is sure why it exists.

In the first method, neutrons are essentially captured in a bottle and counted after a period of time. Several laboratories have taken this approach giving the 14:39 lifespan. The error bars on this value are relatively small.

In the second method involves a beam of neutrons which are injected into a detector and the protons produced by decay are counted. The results have equally small error bars.

In both cases, the scientists are convinced what they are seeing is real differences in time but are not sure why.

One possible and intriguing explanation is the discrepancy may arise from dark matter.

This possibility is spurring on efforts to measure the lifetime of neutrons even more accurately as it may help us to understand atoms and the void.

Monty Python celebrates Life of Brian, honours ailing Jones

Hilary FOX The Associated Press

LONDON — Celebrations for the 40th anniversary of the Monty Python comedy classic Life of Brian are being somewhat overshadowed by the health news of member Terry Jones.

Jones is “very robust” although “on the downhill slope” due to dementia, according to his friend and colleague Michael Palin. Jones was diagnosed in 2015 with a form of dementia that impairs the ability to speak.

“I go and see him and the great satisfaction is just to get a reaction; sadly, he doesn’t speak much. But I read him some stuff that we’d written together a long, long time ago and Terry actually started to laugh at it, and he laughed only at the bits that he’d written,” Palin recalled in a recent interview with The Associated Press.

Life of Brian, which Jones directed, is being feted with a worldwide re-release on Thursday. It is among the group’s revered 45 TV comedy episodes, five films and a blockbuster Broadway musical. When Life of Brian came out four decades ago, it was a huge hit, but also stirred controversy because of its plotline: It was about a man named Brian Cohen who was born in the stables next to Jesus and mistaken for the Messiah. Palin played Pontius Pilate with a speech impediment.

“We didn’t get death threats, we just got people who were deeply, deeply offended by what we’d done,” said Palin.

“Yes, the right-wing militias weren’t as strong in those days,” added troupe member Terry Gilliam.

Palin recalls the film was actually banned from a town called Aberystwyth in Wales until 2008.

“Then Aberystwyth elected a new mayor, and the mayor they

elected was Sue Jones-Davies, who played Brian’s girlfriend, romping around in the nude. She was mayor of Aberystwyth and the first thing she said was, ‘We’re going to release this film in Aberystwyth,”’ he recalled. “It was only shown for one night.”

Besides the anniversary of Life of

Brian, Gilliam, 68, and Palin, 65, are also relishing the continued cultural relevance of sketches they wrote in their youth.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte recently likened British Prime Minister Theresa May, mired in Brexit, to the Black Knight (played by John Cleese in

the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail) who refuses to admit defeat despite losing all his limbs in a fight with King Arthur.

“I mean Python’s had quite a resurgence owing to politics recently,” said Palin, who added that “a Python situation” now is a synonym for “ridiculous.”

Gilliam welcomed the attention, adding it was much needed now.

“People seem to be frightened of laughing at things, or especially to laugh at themselves, and that’s what really worries me,” he said. “If we can’t appreciate the utter absurdity of us as a species, we’re dead.”

Jeopardy host Alex Trebek feeling good and working on next season

The Canadian Press

Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek says he’s feeling good as he continues cancer therapy and is already working on the next season of the hit quiz show.

In a new video posted on the Jeopardy! YouTube page, the Sudbury, Ont.,-born TV personality is seen on the show’s set, where

he notes it’s the last day of taping for the 35th anniversary season. He thanks fans for their messages of encouragement and support, particularly the cards he’s received from young people, adding he’s touched beyond words.

In his trademark unflappable delivery style and signature suited attire, Trebek says he’s continuing with his therapy.

Soccer players ‘banned’ from pictures with unlucky Drake

The Canadian Press

From the Toronto Raptors to Serena Williams, the victims of the sports curse that seems to follow unlucky sports fan Drake are numerous.

Now one famous Italian soccer club is taking precautions to ensure its players avoid hanging around with the star Canadian rapper as it makes a push for a spot in next season’s UEFA Champions League.

“All Roma players banned from taking photos with Drake until the end of the season,” club AS Roma posted on its English Twitter feed.

While the social media post was most likely done in jest, Drake does have a reputation of giving bad mojo to top athletes.

He is the “global ambassador” for the Toronto Raptors, and has been courtside for some of the NBA club’s blush-inducing playoff defeats. He was in attendance at the 2015 U.S. Open to watch tennis Serena Williams, who proceeded to lose to heavy underdog Roberta Vinci. He posed for a picture with Conor McGregor before the Irish MMA fighter was pasted by Khabib Nurmagomedov in the main event of UFC 229.

Twitter is rife with examples of soccer players posing for a picture with the four-time Grammy Award winner, only to have their teams go on to suffer crushing defeats.

Contrary to what AS Roma may believe, however, fraternizing with Drizzy is not necessarily a kiss of death.

Drake was widely present during the Kentucky Wildcats’ run to the 2012 NCAA men’s basketball title to the point that he received an honorary championship ring.

He says he’s already working on the 36th year of Jeopardy! with the staff and is looking forward to seeing viewers again in September.

Trebek announced in a YouTube video on March 6 that he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He vowed to keep working and beat the low survival rate statistics for the disease.

“I’ve always tried to be straight with you and I’m not going to stop now,” Trebek said.

“So despite what you may have heard, I’m feeling good, I’m continuing with my therapy and we – by ‘we,’ the staff – is already working on our next season, the 36th year of Jeopardy! So I look forward to seeing you once again in September with all kinds of good stuff.”

In this 2015 file photo Terry Jones is seenat a special Tribeca Film Festival screening of Monty Python and the Holy Grail in New York. Jones health issues are overshadowing Life of Brian anniversary celebrations.

CANADIAN PRESS PHOTO

Drake smiles as he watches the Raptors play the Golden State Warriors.

Richard Roy May 24, 1944 March 14, 2019

Passed away suddenly at the age of 74. Predeceased by his parents Kelvin and Lillian Empson, Sister Joanne and Brother James. Dearly missed by his loving wife and soul mate Barbara, Daughters Kimberley (Lorne) and Lori (Brett), StepDaughters Nicole and Allison (Greysen). A most Amazing Papa to Mitchell, Damon, Danielle, Brittan, Madyson, Gabe, Illeana, Magnus, Drake, and Great-Grandchildren Harper, Barrett, Sawyer, Keller. Sister Diana and Brothers Doug (Rose), Ronald (Maxine), Kelvin ,Wally (Marlyn) also numerous Nieces, Nephews and Friends. A Celebration of life will be held in Prince George on May 25 at Pineview Hall from 1pm to 4pm. In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to the SPCA.

CINDY De SANTIS

November 17, 1961

April 7, 2019

It is with sadness that we announce Cindy’s passing after a lengthy battle with cancer. Cindy moved to Prince George in 1990 and worked at Arnold’s Restaurant, The Ramada Hotel and Super 8. She is Survived by her husband Angelo, sons: Angelo and Rocky (Brittany), mother Jenny, sister Margaret (Don), brothers: Mike (Cynthia) and Victor (Mesky) as well as many other family members and friends. Cindy is predeceased by her father Archie, stepfathers: Johnny and Duncan, sisters: Sherry and Cathy, brothers: Alvin and Archie. A Celebration of Cindy’s Life will be held from Prince George Funeral Chapel, 1014 Douglas St, April 27, 11:00am with a gathering to follow at the Super 8 (formerly Esther’s Inn) at 12:00 noon - 3:00pm.

FOREMAN,JosephineAnne[Cotterhill] September22,1931-April15,2019

Josephinelivedalonghappylifefilledwithlove.She enjoyedeverydayasitcame,surroundedbyher friendsandloudboisterousfamily.Herpuzzlemakingskillswerelegendaryandtheseniorsgroup willfeelherlossatthebingotable. Shewasunflinchinginherloveforherfamilyand fiercelysupportedthemall,throughgoodtimesand bad.Josephineleavesaverylargefamilytocarryon herlegacy.

SheissurvivedbyherbrotherEdwinandsisterRose, childrenArnie[Cathie],Herb[Wendy],Carol,Diane [Marty]andDaniel.Shewasblessedwith14 grandchildrenand22great-grandchildren.Trulyalife welllived!

JosephinewaspredeceasedbyherdaughterPatti andgranddaughterAlisaaswellassiblingsJoe,Tex, Andre,VioletandDon. ThefamilyrequestsdonationstotheCanadian CancerSocietyinJosephine’smemoryinlieuof flowers.

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Empson,

Canada, EU punch back at U.S. over Cuba shift

Mike BLANCHFIELD

The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — Canada and the European Union vowed on Wednesday to protect their businesses from the Trump administration’s new policy to allow lawsuits against foreign companies connected to properties seized from American firms during the Cuban revolution.

The defiant response was tempered by warnings that the landmark tightening of the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba’s communist government would only generate uncertainty and chaos in North American boardrooms and courtrooms.

The Trump administration followed through Wednesday on a lingering threat to allow legal action – a move that places Canadian resource, tourism and financial services companies at risk in American courts.

About one million Canadians annually vacation in Cuba and Toronto-based resource company Sherritt International is long established there, while countries such as Britain, France and Spain have companies active in rum, cigars and tourism.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Canada is “deeply disappointed” and reviewing options with the EU.

“The EU and Canada consider the extraterritorial application of unilateral Cuba-related measures contrary to international law,” Freeland, her European Union counterpart Federica Mogherini and EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said in a joint statement.

“Our respective laws allow any U.S. claims to be followed by counter-claims in European and Canadian courts, so the U.S. decision to allow suits against foreign companies can only lead to an unnecessary spiral of legal actions.”

Freeland said the government has regularly met with U.S. officials since January when the issue first surfaced. That included a recent trip to Washington, when she pressed U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to resurrect Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, which allows Americans to sue foreign companies linked to Cuban properties confiscated after the 1959 revolution.

The U.S. Justice Department has certified about 6,000 claims with an estimated value of $8 billion as having merit for legal action, and believes there could be as many as 200,000 uncertified claims worth tens of billions of

Henry David Thoreau embraced decluttering long before Netflix sent Marie Kondo to help me clean up my garage. His most celebrated work was the result of a two year experiment he conducted, quite publically, just a short walk from his home in Concord, Mass.

In March 1845 the famed writer moved out on the banks of Walden Pond, where he built a small shanty out of salvaged materials on property owned by his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson.

There at Walden, Thoreau studied and wrote about nature.

Although he is considered an early environmentalist, he wasn’t precisely focused on the earth. Ivy League professor, and selfhelp author, Dr. Cal Newport, surmises that Thoreau’s Walden excursion could be viewed as an economic lesson, rather than strictly environmental or spiritual.

Essentially he studied: “How much stuff do I really need?”

Thoreau kept careful financial records, showing he could get by on just $28.12 annually. (About $940 in 2019 US dollars.)

He planted peas, potatoes, corn, beans and turnips to supplement his food supply, and added two and a half acres of extra beans, which he harvested, and sold for a small profit of $8.71.

From his experiences at Walden Pond, Thoreau determined that there were only four things that a man really needed: food, clothing, shelter and fuel.

Incidentally, not long after Walden, Thoreau wrote a piece

Residents rest on a classic American car as a man pedals his bike past in Havana, Cuba on April 10. Canada and the European Union have pledged to protect their businesses against lawsuits from American companies whose properties were seized during the Cuban Revolution.

dollars, said Kimberly Breier, the head of State Department’s Americas branch.

“Any person or company doing business in Cuba should heed this announcement,” Pompeo said Wednesday.

The Canadian company with the highest Cuban profile essentially shrugged in response.

“Implementation of Title III is not expected to have any material impact on Sherritt or our operations in Cuba,” Joe Racanelli, Sherritt’s director of investor relations said in an emailed statement.

He said it was “business as usual” for its drilling and exploration projects.

The company’s most recent annual information form also played down the potential risk “because Sherritt’s minimal contacts with the United States would likely deprive any U.S. court of personal jurisdiction over Sherritt.”

But other observers warned of more dire consequences.

“A massive Pandora’s Box has been opened up with this,” said Mark Agnew, director of international policy for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. Many Canadian firms with links

called “From Concord to Montreal.”

He hoped to find inspiration in a trip through the less populated country to his north. But instead of another muse, in Canada he found satire: “I fear that I have not got much to say about Canada… what I got by going to Canada was a cold.”

The fact that Thoreau had the luxury of a two-year personal Camp Puck-a-Huck-a-Loogie, was in no small part because he was born to money and educated in affluence. There was never a question of what to eat next, only what to do next – the angst of the luckily-born.

While Thoreau was thoughtfully sketching birds at Walden, my ancestors were starving in a potato famine in Ireland. But I’m still glad he used his affluence to make some solid observations.

And despite his being well-born, Thoreau was also a tax and fee rebel, refusing to pay the required $5 for his own Harvard diploma, and rebuffing the authorities that came to collect six years of back taxes owed because he didn’t approve of how they were spending it. When Thoreau spawned the term “civil disobedience” his was an anti-taxation motive. Since his grandpa was among the original Boston pre-Tea Partiers, he came by tax revolt honestly.

in Cuba are privately expressing fears about being targeted by a policy they haven’t had to deal with for a generation, he said.

Canada’s Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act was amended in January 1997 to provide that any judgment under the Helms-Burton Act will not be recognized or enforceable in any manner in Canada. Other countries implemented similar ”blocking statutes” at the time.

Cyndee Todgham Cherniak, a Toronto-based international trade lawyer, urged the government to look at updating the law for the digital age, to allow Canadian companies to collect additional damages from eager American litigants who might bring unfounded claims.

“Your reputation can be damaged by online allegations of inappropriate expropriation of property,” she said. “We want to discourage U.S. persons from pursuing claims against Canadians.”

When the U.S. law went into force in 1996, then-president Bill Clinton postponed the implementation of Title III after lobbying by Canada, the EU and Mexico. Subsequent presidents followed suit.

House poor Canada?

Being house poor refers to the overextended debt loads many carry, requiring an unusually large proportion of their total income (30-40 per cent or more) on home ownership, including mortgage payments, property taxes, maintenance and utilities. A recent RBC Home Ownership Poll conducted by Ipsos in January and February this year has something to say about Canadians’ view of basic housing needs amidst punishinglypriced homesteads.

Some of us might sort of make Thoreau proud… maybe.

Over half of surveyed Canadians (51 per cent) say they would not put themselves in anything approaching an underwater house. But while nearly all Canadians (92 per cent) admit that mental stress is a potential impact of being house poor, about half (47 per cent) say it’s worth the sacrifice.

According to Nicole Wells, an RBC VP of mortgage financing:

“While many Canadians tell us that house poor may be a reality, it doesn’t have to be… Let’s face it, the white picket fence or pride of your name on the deed is a rite of passage, (but) doing it responsibly means there’s still money for the extras in life.”

Even with shifting conditions in the real estate market, 56 per cent of Canadians think it’s better to wait until next year to purchase a home, with affordability being key.

Almost half (45 per cent) of Canadians who said they would wait until next year to purchase a home, are prepared to push the

purchase out two years or more (highest among 18-34 year olds, 55 per cent).

Of those waiting to buy, 54 per cent have the expectation that house prices will come down (as high as 68 per cent of British Columbians and 58 per cent of Ontarians expect the price of housing to drop).

Hats, buggies and state-of-the-art potato harvesters

Take a note from the Hutterite community. Despite what we might think, their communities are not averse to technology or temporal acquisition, but they are careful to place the community values above those things, and then adjust from there. They might build that new home, buy that new farm implement, or what have you, but they watch the impact of their choices very carefully, and are prepared to abandon the burden of things if they interfere with their higher goals.

For the typical Prince George family, the priority of values might be different. Maybe it’s family time at the cabin, the contentment of living with a more modest mortgage burden.

As I say to my kids: “Small house, big boat. Big house, small boat.”

Go for a walk in most Prince George neighbourhoods and you will see what I mean. You might even see a bearded poet or two on your walk.

Mark Ryan is an investment advisor with RBC Dominion Securities Inc. (Member – Canadian Investor Protection Fund), and these are his views, and not those of RBC Dominion Securities. This article is for information purposes only. Please consult with a professional advisor before taking any action based on information in this article. See Ryan’s website at: http://dir. rbcinvestments.com/mark.ryan

sector, says a market observer. The key sector benefited from earlier momentum in oil prices and stronger-than-expected data overnight about the Chinese economy that boosted the demand outlook for crude, said Candice Bangsund, portfolio manager for Fiera Capital. Crude prices fell on a disappointing report that U.S. stockpiles shrank less than forecast. The June crude contract was down 32 cents at US$63.87 per barrel and the May natural gas contract was down 5.5 cents at US$2.52 per mmBTU.

“Obviously a conservativebased leadership is a pro-business, pro-corporate leadership. So that could be what’s boosting the energy sector in Canada as well,” she said. Energy sector gains were led by Canadian Natural Resources, Crescent Point Energy Corp. and Cenovus Energy Corp., which each increased by more than three per cent. Industrials, consumer discretionary and the influential financials sector also rose. Financials was aided by higher bond yields and an acceleration of Canadian inflation last month that should reinforce expectations that the Bank of Canada will leave interest rates unchanged next week. That also assisted the Canadian dollar which traded at an average of 75.01 cents US compared with an average of 74.84 cents US on Tuesday. Overall, the S&P/TSX composite index closed up 42.04 points at 16,544.24, after hitting an intraday high of 16,553.38 that was a fraction below the high for 2019. U.S. markets were down on mixed corporate earnings results and a deep decrease in the important health-care sector. The sector lost on concerns about a potential change in health-care policy if medicarefor-all gains political traction heading into next year’s presidential election. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 3.12 points at 26,449.54. The S&P

Want that first customer? Do research, don’t undercharge

Joyce M. ROSENBERG

The Associated Press

NEW YORK

— Many small business owners are so anxious to get their first customers or clients that they’ll underprice their products or services, and end up in relationships that are not only unprofitable but also unpleasant.

Owners can also find themselves doing work they don’t want to do.

Some advice for new owners on how to avoid the misery of bad clients:

• Underpricing yourself can create an abusive relationship.

When V. Michael Santoro and his business partner started their digital marketing firm, they first provided their services to other businesses in exchange for testimonials that would attract other clients.

“What we discovered is many were just taking advantage of us. Many were chronic complainers who were always trying to get more services for no money,” says Santoro, co-founder of Vaetas, based in Tampa Bay, Fla.

• Owners who are too eager to get new clients can make bad choices.

Donny Minchillo, co-owner of website developer Pineapple Development, says it’s important for a client to be a good fit for his business, in much the same way that his company needs to be a good fit for a client.

“Setting proper expectations and being transparent from the start has helped us continually bring on clients that are better matches for us as time has gone on,” says Minchillo, whose company is based in St. Petersburg, Fla. But he and his wife and business partner Jackie have made mistakes.

“We have taken on at least eight

Donny Minchillo, co-owner of website developer Pineapple Development, knows it’s important for the client to be a good fit for his business just as this company should be a good fit for the client.

of what I could consider to be ‘bad’ clients for us,” Minchillo says.

• Don’t be afraid to say no.

“It’s important to know your

boundaries, and to be firm with your limits, or the client will walk all over you and you will end up in situations you don’t want to be in,”

says Rachel Reisner, owner of Cats and Hamsters, a pet sitting service in Montreal. Reisner has found that some

Setting proper expectations and being transparent from the start has helped us continually bring on clients that are better matches for us as time has gone on”

— Donny Minchillo, Pineapple Development

clients expect to pay very little because some pet sitters, including students, are working to pick up some extra cash rather than running a company, as she is.

“Clients who give me a hard time about my prices, and often ask for discounts are not my ideal client,” she says.

• Do market research to find out who your customers are – and go after them, says Laura Willett, a business consultant and lecturer at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts. Don’t underprice, and don’t sign deals out of anxiety.

• Owners who are anxious or not sure how to find the clients they need should seek some advice, Willett says.

She recommends Small Business Development Centers sponsored by the Small Business Administration. They can be found at www. sba.gov/sbdc.

Willett also suggests contacting SCORE, which links owners with veteran business people who give free counselling. They can be found at www.score. org.

Amazon’s boss issues wage challenge

The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Amazon’s Jeff Bezos challenged other retailers to raise wages and improve benefits for their employees, saying the competition will help everyone.

Bezos covered a wide range of topics in his annual letter to shareholders Thursday that was released on Twitter and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“Today I challenge our top retail competitors (you know who you are!) to match our employee benefits and our $15 minimum wage,” Bezos wrote. “Do it! Better yet, go to $16 and throw the gauntlet back at us.”

Late last year, Amazon jumped ahead of many rivals by raising its minimum wage for U.S. workers to $15 an hour. That pay hike was not universally praised by all workers, who said the company cut two employee benefits as well: monthly bonuses and the chance to own some of Amazon’s sky-rocketing stock. Amazon did make some adjustments afterward to ensure workers were getting a raise.

Target and Walmart have increased starting wages for workers over the past few years as the job market grew hotter and people could find better pay and benefits elsewhere.

Target Corp. said last week it would raise the minimum hourly wage by a dollar in June to $13 per hour, the third pay hike in less than two years. The

Minneapolis retailer has said it plans to raise starting hourly wages to $15 by the end of 2020.

Walmart Inc., based in Bentonville, Ark., raised its starting pay to $11 an hour in early 2018. In a statement emailed to The Associated Press Thursday, Walmart defended its record, noting it has increased starting wages by more than 50 per cent in the last three years and currently has an average hourly total compensation of more than $17.50. It touted benefits like advanced job training and paid time off.

A top spokesman at the world’s largest retailer was also quick to mock on Twitter Amazon’s challenge with its own jab on the issue of taxes.

“Hey retail competitors out there (You know who you are) How about paying your taxes?”

Walmart’s Dan Bartlett tweeted. Bartlett shared an article that cited a report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy which noted that Amazon will pay no federal income taxes for the second straight year.

Bezos’s letter also comes as pilots from three carriers who fly for Amazon Prime Air and DHL cargo jets are planning to protest poor working conditions including low pay and severe attrition issues Thursday near the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, according to a press release from union group Airline Professionals Association. They also plan to call to an end to stalled contract negotiations. The pilots staging protests are from Atlas Air, Southern Air and ABX Air. The airport is the largest hub for each of the airlines.

And it appears that Amazon, well-known for giving low priority to the short-term growth interests of Wall Street, will continue taking big risks if it sees a potential pay-off in the long run.

In his letter Thursday, Bezos said Amazon’s Fire phone was a failure, but that its Echo and Alexa smart speakers have been tremendously successful.

“As a company grows, everything needs to scale, including the size of your failed experiments,” Bezos wrote. “If the size of your failures isn’t growing, you’re not going to be inventing at a size that can actually move the needle. Amazon will be experimenting at the right scale for a company of our size if we occasionally have multibillion-dollar failures.”

Bezos said one “big winning bet” can cover the cost of the clunkers, and that calculus has been playing out at Amazon.

Amazon.com Inc. churned out profits last year that exceeded $10 billion, more than tripling net income from the previous year.

Michelle CHAPMAN and Anne D’INNOCENZIO

Ray Griffith, an Atlas Pilot, walks with other Teamster Local Union No. 1224 members in an informational picket to raise concerns about stalled contract negotiations and operation concerns at ATSG holding companies subsidiaries and Atlas Air World Wide Holdings on Thursday in Florence, Ky.

ARTIST EARNS NATIONAL HONOUR

Lesley White has an international reputation for her oil paintings. She has made a specialty of Western art, with strong sales and exhibition results on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border to show for it.

She’s a little taller in the saddle now that she has earned one of the county’s most distinguished professional grades. White recently became the first from this city to ever attain the Associate Member level of the Federation Of Canadian Artists (FCA).

“It’s arduous. It’s long,” she said of the hurdles she had to leap to get through those artistic gates. It isn’t a lifetime achievement award or peer petition that gets you in. You have to hit quality benchmarks time after time.

The first requirement is to gain acceptance into seven official FCA shows within a four-year period. You can’t even apply for consideration until that’s done.

“It wasn’t something I planned to do, but I got accepted into a few shows and I suddenly realized I only had to get three or four more and I’d have the seven,” she said. “I wasn’t deliberately applying for shows with any sort of goal, but now suddenly I was, I saw the possibilities, and I was so pleased to get the required number. That changed things for me.”

Once the show numbers are attained, the next step for an artist is to go deeper to prove their consistent worth. A number of photographs of your work must be sent to a jury and three actual pieces must also be sent. A team of higher-ranked painters mulls the submissions and scores the work.

Once per year, those who are judged to be of associate member mettle are granted admission. This past year, 87 artists applied and only 16 were accepted, one of them being White.

There is yet another level to the FCA, the Senior Member designation, which, said White, requires almost constant per fection in the judges’ scores, but for the moment she’s basking in this rare enough moment.

“With the designation, it’s not all fun and games,” she said. “There is responsibility that comes with it. It’s to inspire other artists to reach for a higher standard for themselves, and to inspire the arts community itself.”

White was already a local leader in that regard. Few artists have her grasp of the business that goes along with commercial art success. She frequently gains exhibition acceptance into some of the highest profile shows in her genre. She has been a frequent contributor at the Calgary Stampede’s official art show, she has been accepted more than once into the famed Charlie Russell annual memorial exhibition in Great Falls, Montana, and she has

been such a star for the Ducks Unlimited art program that she was one of only four (the only Canadian and the only woman) inducted into their Canada 150 Legacy Collection.

“I’m always chasing my genre, my Western theme,” White said. “Some artists are spread all over themes and mediums, and there is nothing particularly wrong with that, and I’m free to do that too, but I have interests and that provides me with a focus. It points me at a market.”

She sells her paintings frequently via online portals, but the physical art exhibition is still her most effective marketing vector and none more so than her own annual open house at her home studio.

“My own show is still my favourite and I get to meet new people and thank those who have supported me and my art,” she said.

The local chapter of the FCA is holding a group exhibition at the Prince George Public Library starting May 2. White urged the public to come see what the 16 members of the new chapter were doing in their homes and studios across the local region. She may have been the first to attain Associate Member status but “there will be more. There are already others in our chapter who have their eye on it, and some who have already tried, and if they keep trying they will get there.”

97/16 photo by Brent Braaten Working in her studio, painter Lesley White has earned the rank of

ists (FCA).

FRANK PEEBLES 97/16 staff

TOUGH START IN P.G. DIDN’T DETER SASKATCHEWAN MIGRANT

Leonard Polsfut was born in 1935 in a cabin out in the bush northeast of Biggar, Sask. Here is his brief story.

“It was minus 30 the day I was born; my father was there to tie my belly button. I was the third eldest of 10 children,” Leonard said. “Long before I was born, my parents built a cabin and worked a quarter section of land leased from the Canadian Pacific Railroad. While it wasn’t good farmland, we could survive on what we grew and the few small animals that we kept. My father always planted a huge vegetable garden with the main crop being potatoes. There were all kinds of wild berries on the land and my mother dried wild peppermint for our tea. We fished and hunted and basically lived on venison. We burned wood for heat and to cook our meals.

“This way of life was not unusual in the 30s. Large families were the normal in those days. The CPR held title for all the land that could have been used for a rail line but instead made it available for lease. There were no roads, just wagon trails that we used to travel between farms. We had neighbours living on quarter sections of land trying to survive just like us. Now, most of this land has been designated for animal and bird sanctuaries with no signs of the many inhabitants who previously lived there.

“I stayed on the farm until I was 15 years old and then I left to work on various prairie farms for pay and board. I worked long days and earned $60 a month seeding and cultivating land for summer fallow.”

Summer fallow is crop land that is purposely kept out of production during a regular growing season. Resting the ground in this manner allows one crop to grow using the moisture and nutrients of more than one crop cycle. The summer fallow technique, similar to dry land farming, provides enough extra moisture and nutrients to allow the growth of crops which might otherwise not be possible.

When that job was done, Leonard found work in the fall and winter on a beef cattle farm and worked for his room and board. His parents encouraged this because there were just too many mouths to feed at home.

Leonard said, “In 1965 a friend and I loaded our belongings in my old 1955 Pontiac with a six-cylinder engine and drove to Prince George looking for work. There was absolutely no work in Saskatchewan so we had nothing to lose. When we arrived in Prince George, we stopped at the Columbus Hotel and

SENIORS’ SCENE KATHY NADALIN

someone broke into my car and stole everything I owned except for the clothes on my back.

“I met two fellows who invited me to come and share their cabin which was located on a skid in the Cache. I didn’t understand why the cabin was on skids until the early 70s when the Cache flooded as far as First Avenue. We used a choker cable to tie the cabin to a big cottonwood tree and the cabin just floated in place. All we had to do was wade in and out of our floating home; when the water went down the cabin ended up on dry land.

“My first job was with Staghorn Mills. There were a lot of people living in the Cache at that time and there was a demand for mill ends to be used for firewood. I saw an opportunity to make some extra money so I braced up the trunk door of my car and loaded it with free mill ends from the sawmill. I sold and delivered each load for $5 and while it was hard work, it wasn’t long before I had made $100.

“My next job was with Ongman Bros. driving their International lumber truck. It was my job to load the truck with lumber at the planer mill, deliver it and unload it all by hand. All I can say is that I was thankful that the truck had a roller at the back to make the job a bit easier. We also loaded box cars by hand with lumber from the planer mill. I spent almost five years with Ongman Bros. out in the Buckhorn area.

“Falling trees was no joke. I remember one year we were falling trees in the deep snow. We went back in the spring and fell the once buried 8-10 ft. stumps; that’s how deep the snow was that year.

“My next job was with Netherlands Overseas in the industrial site, followed by sawmill work in Shelley for

working for Ongman’s in their sawmill on the Parsnip River. I was a jack-ofall-trades and learned many facets of logging.

“Five years later I moved back to the city and got work building shell boxes. In 1972, I hired on with Northwood operating a 980-cat log loader. I worked at this position until I retired at the age of 65 after 28 years with the company.” Leonard concluded by saying, “I never had any formal education but I worked hard all my life and it didn’t kill me. For many years, I sent money home to my parents since there were still younger siblings at home. I remember the ration books, no money, no jobs and the hard times. When we found jobs, we felt it was our duty to send money home to the rest of the family. My father taught us all well and he taught us how to work and to share.

about two months and then I headed to Vancouver where I got a job with MacMillan Bloedel. The job only lasted a few months and I was back in Prince George

“I am thankful that I came to Prince George. It was tough when I first got here but now, I am retired with good friends, great hunting and fishing and I am able to take trips around our beautiful province. I still like camping and I follow the music festivals and attend favorite hockey games. Life is good.”

97/16 photo by Brent Braaten Leonard Polsfut today and as a 20-year-old in Saskatchewan 65 years ago.

EGGS: FRIEND OR FOE?

It’s safe to say that most people wouldn’t look at a chocolate Easter bunny or a cream-filled egg and think they’re making a healthy choice but, depending on who you ask, you may have heard that whole eggs, or the yolks in particular, are an equally unhealthy choice at Easter, or anytime.

In fact, eggs are a nutrition powerhouse; the yolk contains Vitamins A, D, E, and B12, riboflavin, selenium and folate and about 5 grams of fat and the white is a good source of high quality protein. So with all this beneficial nutrition, how did they gain such a bad reputation?

In 1968, the American Heart Association put forth recommendations that all individuals should consume no more than three whole eggs per week because high dietary cholesterol equals high blood cholesterol, which equals cardiovascular disease. This recommendation was simple and easy to understand and as a result, egg consumption declined.

Years later, it was decided that the research which formed the basis for these recommendations was flawed, for three significant reasons.

First, animal studies were often using herbivores which were more sensitive to dietary cholesterol compared to

omnivores (think, rabbit versus dog).

Second, studies using animals often required the administration of very high levels of dietary cholesterol in order to produce a response.

Third, data from the 1960s and 1970s relied on simple correlation analyses to show associations; other nutrients such as saturated and trans fat, which were also present in the test foods, were not considered as potential contributors to cholesterol levels in the body. Instead, cholesterol was misidentified as the sole nutrient responsible for high blood cholesterol, and believed to be an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Since eggs are a source of dietary cholesterol, they were made to be the bad guy.

Current research now gives us a better picture of how much dietary cholesterol is actually being absorbed by our bodies, which seems to be less than these early studies concluded.

To take a step back and understand the basis for the fear of cholesterol,

it’s important to know what dietary cholesterol actually is. Dietary cholesterol is a fat-like substance found in animal foods including meats, poultry, fish, eggs, and milk products.

Cholesterol is also a part of your body’s cells, helping you to make certain necessary hormones.

Cholesterol is not an essential nutrient in the diet since your liver can make what it needs.

the egg yolk in favour of the white, but doing so would mean you would also be losing out on the valuable nutrients contained in the yolk.

While dietary cholesterol from foods such as egg yolks can contribute to high blood cholesterol levels and high cholesterol levels are a risk factor for heart disease, that does not automatically mean that egg yolks need to be avoided in the diet.

While dietary cholesterol from foods such as egg yolks can contribute to high blood cholesterol levels and high cholesterol levels are a risk factor for heart disease, that does not automatically mean that egg yolks need to be avoided in the diet. As well, foods that contain saturated and trans fat have more of an impact on increasing blood cholesterol levels than dietary cholesterol does.

In an effort to reduce fat, calories and cholesterol, some may decide to toss

As with most foods, eggs can be eaten in moderation, especially when limiting other foods with saturated fat (such as red meat) and trans fat (such as commercially baked goods). A healthy person who does not have high blood cholesterol, diabetes or a history of heart disease can eat one whole egg per day. Eating an average of one egg per day will not increase your risk for cardiovascular disease. If you have high blood cholesterol, diabetes or heart disease, it’s best to limit your intake to no more than two whole eggs per week, while also limiting your intake of foods high in cholesterol, saturated fat and trans fat.

Kelsey Leckovic is a registered dietitian with Northern Health working in chronic disease management.

HOW CARING FOR THE POOR AND SICK IS SELFISH “IN A GOOD WAY”

When carefully examined, we find that most fear is irrational.

Legitimate fear is a good thing, however, because it pushes us to eliminate actual dangers to our wellbeing.

During the Cold War, the threat of a nuclear armageddon was very real. Many of us took up the task of changing the global atmosphere by choosing to see the people on the other side of the Iron Curtain as our neigbours. Through our collective efforts, the world changed for the better.

It is inspiring today to see the determination of young people around the world to reduce the threat of climate crisis. There is no reason to doubt the positive impact their efforts will have in assuring the survival of our planet, as long as we take heed.

The fear of a global pandemic is often sensationalized in the media, especially in movies and television dramas. The threat is actually very real. We have seen it happen many times in history, from the Black Death in the 14th century, to the smallpox pandemic in the Americas after the arrival of Europeans, to the global

LESSONS IN LEARNING

GERRY CHIDIAC

influenza pandemic of 1918 and the list goes on.

We are very fortunate today that advances in science have given us a much better understanding of disease, including the treatment and prevention. Other global changes, however, have actually created avenues for pandemics to occur. This is not fear mongering; it is an honest analysis of our situation.

The good news is that just like nuclear non-proliferation and solving the climate crisis, the solution is in our collective hands.

Due to the ease of air travel, the world has figuratively grown smaller. A disease that is a factor in any part of the world is a threat to all of us. The idea that one can wall build walls and create quarantines is as ridiculous as it is preposterous. It is necessary to take precautions but the

most effective solution is to prevent the growth of diseases in at-risk populations.

Where are epidemics and pandemics likely to gain a foothold? In places where health conditions are poor and people’s immune systems are compromised. In other words, in places where sanitation is poor and people are living in poverty.

The worst conditions tend to exist in regions where people are fleeing military conflict. Refugee camps have large numbers of people living in a small space with few resources. Groups like the United Nations and the Red Cross/Red Crescent do their best to serve these people. They are quite adept at setting up and running camps, but they are often strapped for resources, especially as the number of people in the camps swells, and the weather turns poor. These locations then become breeding grounds of disease and all it takes is an aid worker or diplomat returning home to spread a virus.

Understanding the problem and the risk, the first step in the solution comes clear. It is necessary to see that international organizations running refugee camps have all the resources they need.

This makes the second step more obvi-

ous, though the follow-through is much more challenging. We need to create conditions where there are fewer refugees by reducing the incidence of armed conflict around the world. This will not be achieved by greater military spending, but by more effective development projects. It is clearly a complex and long term endeavor, but it is possible.

It may seem that greater security at our borders and airports will save us, but in reality, its effectiveness is limited. When we treat those fleeing conflict zones with the human dignity we all deserve, the likelihood of a pandemic is almost eliminated, and our rational fears are greatly alleviated.

In other words, when we create conditions where all people can thrive no matter where they live, life becomes better and safer for all of us.

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

SMALL ACTS KEEP KIDS OUT OF GANGS

“Ihave found that it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folks that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love,” Gandalf says when great deeds are being discussed to counter the evil forces threatening Middle Earth in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Classical literature astounds me again and again with its subtle and sometimes no-so subtle application to life today. Take for instance, our guns and gangs problem. Whenever there is a shooting, it causes most community members to fear for their kids and neighbourhoods. What can be done? Large anti-gang strategies, more policing, more gun-control, or any other number of government-funded efforts are requested and offered to stem the flow of youth into addiction and gang life. Yet, according to the experts at a Guns and Gangs Symposium I recently attended

THINKING ALOUD

TRUDY KLASSEN

on behalf of the District Parent Advisory Council, the most effective preventative measures are fairly easy to do for everyone.

Once in a gang, it is nearly impossible to get out, so even though there a number of fairly successful initiatives, the best those initiatives can do is offer former gang members a decent life. Never joining a gang, or prevention initiatives, are much more effective than treatment. This is where the ordinary person can have a huge impact, with small deeds. For most youth, the path to gang life is

Relay For Life Prince George | June 9 – 10, 2018 Help us celebrate our first year at Exhibition Park

through addictions. Once addicted, the drugs and the high become increasingly expensive, they become easy targets for recruitment. To help prevent kids going into gangs:

Discourage addiction by:

- cleaning out your medicine cabinet, as well as your parent’s, and throw out any unused or old prescription painkillers.

Never joining a gang, or prevention initiatives, are much more effective than treatment. This is where the ordinary person can have a huge impact, with small deeds.

- don’t teach your children that a pill is the solution to every pain or when they are feeling down.

- be a safe family to visit for your children’s friends whose home life is difficult.

- a bigger small thing you can be in-

volved in requiring more time is become a big brother or big sister with Big Brothers Big Sisters (250-563-7410 here in PG) What surprised me was the simplicity of the solutions. The prevention programs showcased there were basically giving kids what we all know they need; loving adults in their lives who have expectations for good behavior. No fancy dance lessons or expensive sports programs are needed, just caring adults who take an interest in them and spend time with them. Just “small everyday deeds of kindness by ordinary folks.”

FOR EVERY BAG, A SEAT

Due to ongoing issues with my son’s teeth, including cavities, losing a crown (yes, he has a crown at the ripe old age of seven), an abscess and other assorted issues including a nasty cough that has been ongoing for two months, my son and I ended up at the medical clinic on a rainy Tuesday evening.

After stopping by and seeing the lineup before dinner, I elected to go home, eat dinner and come back to the clinic to wait until we could get in to see the doctor for some antibiotics. So, along with half of Prince George, we were in the waiting room that had every seat filled and people lined up along the walls –except there was one seat that was open – sort of.

Beside the seat in question, sat the elusive, super-cool, hipster daddy in the wild with baby in tow. If you are not familiar with the super-cool, hipster dad, you will be able to identify him by his markings: brown beard, wild-brimmed hat that is not quite a cowboy hat or another shape of hat that you would recognize, fitted pea coat with tight jeans and some sort of expensive, impractical-for-the-weather shoe.

Also, he’s trim because heavy people aren’t hipsters – I do not know why this is.

On this sighting in the wilds of the medical clinic, the super-cool, hipster dad had an expensive-looking yellow, leather diaper bag. It was very beautiful and clearly it had had a long day at work, the bag – not the dad – because in a waiting room filled with people and,

HOME AGAIN

MEGAN KUKLIS

at least six of them without a seat, this yellow, leather diaper bag (YLDB) had its own seat.

I sympathize with you, YLDB, I do.

It’s hard being out there, working a full-time job, doing gigs on the side, looking after sick kids, writing your thesis. It’s exhausting.

It is hard being in a waiting room filled with sick people when you are a moderate hypochondriac and you have a lowlevel anxiety about catching a disease from the 1800s that is somehow coming back because people don’t vaccinate.

It is nice, YLDB, sitting down after these long days and putting your little feet up. Don’t stand up on my account, YLDB. I’m fine here separated from my son because there are only two loose seats that are not together.

Oh look, YLDB! Aren’t people wonderfully kind? The elderly couple beside me have practically fallen over themselves to shuffle their seats so I can sit beside my son. They seem amused listening to my son grill me about every single video game I have ever played. In amongst my quiet desperation that I can remember any detail about video games that I played when I young and an urgent wish that my son will lose interest in this conversation, there you sit, comfy on your

chair, YLDB. Oh! You are up next while I get to sit here for another hour while my son and I try to remember all of the Nintendo character names and invent stories to pass the time. Every other person is on their phone except for me, the elderly couple and you, YLDB, because you are not a person, you are a bag.

My son has lost his electronics until May, the elderly couple have better things to do, my phone is almost dead and I need to conserve the batteries to send half hysterical text updates to my husband who is at home with our daughter.

I am glad when you finally are picked up by your ignorant, hipster dad and carried out of the waiting room – the two seats that you both occupied (one hipster, one bag) are quickly filled by a young girl who doesn’t look well and her dad who does not use an empty chair to prop up a ridiculous bag.

If you find yourself in a crowded waiting room and you really need to put down your expensive bag, put it on the floor or on the back of your chair.

If you are worried about it being wrecked then why in the name of all things holy did you buy a $200 bag to carry the diapers that your baby will poop in?

I bet you have cloth diapers too so you are actually carrying poo around with you everywhere you go until you can go home and rinse out your diapers in some organic, essential oil laden cleaner that doesn’t work.

Don’t be YLDB.

Give up your chair to people, not bags.

MENTAL HEALTH EXPERT TO SPEAK AT ACE OPEN HOUSE

An expert on recovery from schizophrenia and depression will be the guest speaker when the Prince George branch of the B.C. Schizophrenia Society celebrates the 15th anniversary of the Activity Centre for Empowerment on Wed., April 24.

Elizabeth Anderson, is the author of “Being Mentally Healthy (In Spite of Mental Illness)”and the “ABCs of Being Mentally Healthy” colouring book. She is also the founder of The Being Mentally Healthy Company (www.beingmentallyhealthy.com) and the recipient of the “True Grit” Award from the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta in 2013. Anderson will speak from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the ACE, located at at 1139 Sixth Ave., across from city hall. An open house will follow, running from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m.

The ACE, which opened on April 22, 2004, provides social, recreational and therapeutic volunteer opportunities to adults living with mental illness and addictions. It currently provides these services to over 600 registered members, with over 1,000 visits each month.

Consultation Chaos

For months now thousands of British Columbians have been demanding that their voices be heard on the critical issue of a Mountain Caribou Recovery Strategy. Just weeks ago two draft agreements were released, adding to the frustration that consultation with key stakeholders and the public had yet to take place. Finally public consultation sessions were announced and a schedule of dates provided.

What we have seen at each of the meetings is hundreds of people packing rooms to provide their input. In fact in most cases the rooms could not hold everyone that wanted to attend. And there are more meetings to come.

As an MLA I have received a deluge of emails and calls, not to mention conversations about this issue, virtually everywhere I go. Why does this matter so much to my constituents and those who live in our region. No

one is suggesting that there shouldn’t be a strategy to deal with the recovery of Mountain Caribou, but any policy changes need to be based on sound science and thorough, inclusive public consultation. The broader issue is how we manage wildlife in our province. That must be done in a balanced and scientific way. And the strategy must include a specific socio-economic lens. Important economic values must be considered including our tourism and resource sectors. The right to enjoy and recreate on the land we share is also an important value and that is why it is time to ensure that the consultation process is meaningful and set up in a way that encourages and welcomes maximum participation.

Anderson

Shirley Bond MLA

Prince George-Valemount

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JOHNSON TO BE WALK FOR ALZHEIMERS HONOUREE

97/16 STAFF

This year’s Walk for Alzheimers will be in honour of Granville Johnson. Since his diagnosis in 2016, Johnson, a musician, artist, two-tour Vietnam War vet, father and storyteller, has thrown open a window into his experience through his music; an expression of his vulnerability, fear, humour and hope living with dementia.

“What I’m trying to do is to feel good, even though I’m having to let go of more and more of myself,” Johnson said.

“I call it allowing yourself to be happysad. In order to maximize your quality of life, you have to be positive, but within that you have the deep sadness of impending death.”

The event is set for Sunday, May 5 at YMCA of Northern BC, 2020 Massey Dr. Registration is 1 p.m. and the walk goes from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.

For a limited time, people who fundraise in support of this event can make twice the difference. For every gift made online to the Walk in B.C. before April 14, a donor has pledged to match donations up to a total of $100,000.

To register, go to walkforalzheimers.ca.

RELAPSES PART OF ADDICTION

“GET OUT!!!” my younger brother yelled at me.

Tears flowed down my face. In between sobs, I tried to explain what happened. He was angry at the relapse.

Dad came into the room.

“Please tell him I have a disease! “ I pleaded. “I didn’t CHOOSE to be born this way.”

My brother grew angrier. He pushed me away. I left the house with nowhere to go. My brother was angry at the disease label. He thought it was an excuse. This scenario did not happen. It was a dream that I had – or rather a nightmare.

People often ask what they should do when someone relapses. During my last relapse, my family practised tough love, cutting me off. They all refused to interact with me except my older brother. I broke down in tears when he called; at that point, he was all that I had.

This experience changed my opinion on the tough love, “cut them off” approach. I question the wisdom behind cutting a loved one out of your life when they relapse or continue to use drugs. When my family cut ties with me,

ASK AN ADDICT

I had no reason to stay clean and in fact had a perfect excuse to continue using. I continued use, but held onto my brother’s love. This gave me hope and something to work toward. This does not mean giving money nor allowing use in your home but rather just conveying you will always be there when they want to stop.

Based on my personal experience, I no longer cut people out of my life. Instead, I continue to love the addict but not the addiction.

I am open and honest about how their behaviour impacts me but I ensure it is not from a place of anger. If you were a diabetic and lapsed into a coma, I would not yell at you nor threaten you with no contact. Rather, I would let you know that I care and how it hurts me to see you in such distress. I cannot control nor

change what you do but I can control my own behaviour and reactions to you.

Anger begets anger and alcoholics/ addicts cannot afford the luxury of being angry as it just fuels their use. Thus, it is imperative I remain calm and control any judgmental angry feelings I might have (anger is often a sign of feeling hurt). I tell the addict I love them, that I always will be there for them but that I cannot be around them while they are high, using or drunk.

Addiction is emotional. It is also a medical illness. Diabetes is a medical illness. When a diabetic lapses into a coma due to not following the recommended regime, people do not get angry nor pull away. With addiction, when an addict lapses back into use due to not following the recommended regime, people do get angry and pull away.

Based on my personal experience, I no longer cut people out of my life. Instead, I continue to love the addict but not the addiction.

drug use is within one’s own control and that addicts decide to use. The irony is, addiction is defined as a loss of control – the ability to decide is gone. The addict’s brain has neural pathways that develop into a welltravelled rut. Recovery requires a great deal of conscious deliberation to transform these neural pathways into new directions, new pathways and new connections. This is done by continually being conscious of ones’s own thoughts, behaviours and actions. An awakening must occur. New behaviours, thoughts must be formed in order to develop new connections in the brain.

We react to the behaviours of addiction. People assume relapse and

Presented by: YMCA Healthy Kids Day M ay 5 • 11:00am-3:00pm CANADA GAMES PLAZA

I am back on track now and am touched by the support I have received. Questions for Ann? Send your submissions (anonymously, if you choose) to columns@pgcitizen.ca and we’ll pass them along.

97/16 file photo Granville Johnson drums at the IMSS Multicultural Summer Fair in 2015.

This region is home to what has grown into Canada’s premier female-focused metal festival.

The Metallocalypstick Festival pounds the rocks of Lone Butte (near 100 Mile House) each summer. The co-founder and chief organizer, Prince George’s metal queen Kaija Kinney, is the frontwoman for Vancouver band Anarcheon. She wanted to participate in more festivals aimed at female musicians, and when she found few options she made this event her own mission.

“This festival means the celebration of both sexes coming together and creating something amazing,” Kinney said. “People like to say women in metal aren’t a big deal anymore and that we are all the same. I feel that is untrue, this is still a male dominated world and woman are still looked as lesser. I want to showcase all these bad ass ladies and celebrate the differences of men and woman rather than pretend we are all equal. Truth is we are different why can’t we celebrate that?”

Metalocalypstick happens over the Canada Day long weekend each summer. This year, 22 bands will take the stage. Kinney said each one features “at least one woman in a show of feminine power across metal, punk and rock.”

This year, bands from Canada, Tasmania, Mexico, Egypt and USA will gather for the one of a kind festival in the Canadian wilds.

The lineup for 2019 includes:

Attack The Fire (Vancouver)

Call Of The Siren (Edmonton)

Chaos Century (Vancouver)

Crimson Caliber (Medicine Hat)

Fallen Stars (Vancouver)

Forsaken Rite (Edmonton)

Interitum (Launceston, Tasmania)

Kayas (Vancouver)

Kelevra (Regina)

Kosm (Vancouver)

Lost Nebula (Hermosillo, Mexico)

Massive Scar Era (Vancouver/ Cairo, Egypt)

Obsidian (Vancouver)

Ophelia Falling (Vancouver)

Orchestry (BC)

Sins Of Sorrow (Edmonton)

Siren’s Rain (Puget Sound, USA)

Subterranea (Toronto)

Sugar Wash (Edmonton)

The Shit Talkers (Vancouver)

Violent Betty (Saskatoon)

The Vth Circle (Vancouver)

A not-for-profit organization is attached to the festival. It is the donation vessel for contributions to Girls Rock Camp, Earth Protectors, and the Vancouver Rape Relief & Women’s Shelter.

“Each year an independent band is also sponsored by the festival to further their musical pursuits,” Kinney said. It all happens at the Lone Butte Community Hall.

Tickets and more information is available through the official website: http:// metalocalypstickfest.rocks/

It might be Improv Schmimprov on stage but it’s sure not about education schmeducation.

The local comedy troupe specializes in improvisational fun times, theatre sports and whatever it takes to make you laugh. They are performing because educational struggles are no laughing matter unless they are involved.

All the money raised by this Improv Schmimprov show goes to the Learning Differences Centre (LDC), a not-for-profit education centre that has been operating in Prince George for approximately 20 years.

“As an organization they have helped many children in our community who struggle with education,” said Erin Bauman, one of the event coordinators. “They of course need support to continue their

great work, so I am helping them to organize a fundraiser with Improv Shmimprov.”

The comedians and actors will provide the entertainment, there will also be an array of beverages and snacks to refresh the audience and a silent auction to supplement the fundraising efforts. According to the Learning Disabilities Association of BC, the Prince George LDC “provides training and tutoring, using individualized, multisensory approaches in developing reading, writing, spelling and math skills, while promoting awareness and distributing information, to support children and adults affected by learning difficulties.”

The show happens April 27 at Artspace (above Books & Company). Tickets are $20 available now at Books & Company or the LDC front desk, or at the door on the night of the hilarity.

AGE NO BARRIER FOR ARTISTIC EXPRESSION

The two featured painters exhibiting in the showcase window at Mills Office Productivity represent the open possibilities of junior and the elder creators. Joseph Cunningham is in his 20s, Doreen Gray is in her 80s and yet they share the display area as peers.

“Part of what this pairing goes to show is how creativity has no age,” said Mills curator Michael Kast. “Art comes out of people no matter what their life looks like, young or old, male or female, it is built into all of us.”

Gray was a teacher in local elementary schools for about 35 years, but never became a regular artist until later.

“I decided to take this up when I retired,” she said. “My job kept me too busy, but once you retire you find yourself with more time. I did art as part of my teacher training, we did smatterings of science and music and all the topics we wanted to be included in a young child’s learning, and I felt an interest in art.”

Cunningham couldn’t agree more that jobs get in the way of artistic development.

“I decided to become a permanent artist, full-time,” said the former seasonal firefighter who made the decision to focus on art soon after completing his postsecondary education, a year of which was the CNC Fine Arts program. “A lot of people will tell you you’re not going to make any money and I just say that’s exactly what happens anytime you start a small business of your own. It starts with

struggle, there will be ups and downs, you just have to keep applying your skills to your trade - I call it a vocation - and you’ll get through them.”

Gray knows about the struggles to become an artist. For more than 12 years, now, she has been a member of the Artists’ Co-Op, a long-time local association that provides lessons and exhibition opportunties, as well as artistic fellowship.

Cunningham took over his father’s basement, when his full-time art endeavours began, but he now rents a space just outside of town where he has physical space and also mental freedom. It’s a helpful feature for someone primarily an abstract artist.

“He comes into the store and gets a few things now and then, we got chatting, and we discovered that we do the same

genre of abstract art, although it is quite different between the two of us. It all just clicked,” said Kast, describing Cunningham’s style and why he was chosen for the coveted display space in the Mills window.

“She is more of a realist, and works in oil paint,” said Kast of what Gray does. “She had been on the list waiting quite some time for a chance to display her work here, and this time we were able to make it happen and we are so excited to show the public what she does.”

Gray said she is evolving her work into mixed media and is “leaning towards abstract and impressionist work and collage which some people don’t even consider art” as a natural development she is going through. “It’s an open world now, the art world.”

The space he works in and lives in defines where Cunningham’s art is heading, he said. “I haven’t left this community except for travel. It always brings me home, every time. This is where I love to be and I think that’ll be forever.”

He has been embraced here, like when CNC bought two of his works for the college’s permanent collection of student art and like the commissions he’s received from businesses (Northern Traditional Homes, Nordic Physiotherapy, etc.) for prominent display of his paintings.

These two local painters will have their work on display in one of the downtown’s most eye-engaging corners at Fifth Avenue and Brunswick Street until the end of the month.

INDIGENOUS ARTS GROUP HOSTING SYMPOSIUM

FRANK PEEBLES 97/16 staff

The groundbreaking Aboriginal arts agency started last year with the Community Arts Council (CAC) is now flexing the muscle they promised.

The Northern Indigenous Artists’ Collective (NIAC) was launched in May and as the all-Indigenous arts advocacy group closes in on its first anniversary, its first major public event has been unveiled. In what is expected to be an annual event, the public is invited to attend the Northern B.C. Indigenous Arts Symposium to be held on April 27. It is a co-production of the CAC, the veteran arts agency that consulted with the NIAC founders on how to get up and running. They are also working in partnership with Carrier Sekani Family Services, which is hosting their annual arts gala the same evening.

“Since its founding one year ago, the artists who comprise the Northern Indigenous Artists’ Collective have been busy working on a number of initiatives in support of Indigenous artists throughout this part of the province,” said NIAC chairperson Diane Levesque. “This day-long symposium and gala will bring together artists in a very unique way, by providing educational and networking opportunities, as well as a celebration of the incredible work our members do in support of communities throughout the region.”

Local artists community leaders will be leading sessions throughout the day, including Marcel Gagnon, Darin Corbiere, Keith Kerrigan, Vince Prince, Si Transken, Crystal Kennedy and many others.

“It’s to promote Indigenous artists,” said Corbiere, one of the NIAC founders and an established artist himself with an exhibition on now at Studio 2880.

“We have a number of different artists coming in to make presentations.

What I really like is, everyone will go to the same workshops. They are set up consecutively so the delegates don’t need to make sacrifices by giving up one workshop in order to take a different one. We want everyone to get all the information and not have to pick and choose what to miss.”

The symposium will be partially held at the Uda Dune Baiyoh (House of Ancestors) Community Centre and Omineca Arts Centre.

The events include opening ceremonies, exhibitions, panel discussions and workshops. A catered lunch featuring Indigenous cuisine will be provided, as well as dinner at the annual Ying’hentzit First Nations Art Gala (the Carrier Sekani Family Services fundraiser) in the evening.

Cost to attend is $25 and participation seats are limited. Book your spot at the Eventbrite.com website (search Northern Indigenous Artists).

97/16 file photo

Shirley Babock, Diane Levesque-Majewski, Carla Joseph and Ivan Paquette are members of the Northern Indigenous Artists’ Collective.

COMING EVENTS

Art show

Painter Darin Corbiere is the artist in the spotlight with his new exhibition at the Studio 2880 Feature Gallery. Entitled Seeing Things In A Different Light: Changing Perspectives, this special presentation of the Community Arts Council will run until May 9.

Egg decorating

The art of Pysanky Egg decorating happens today at Ridge Side Art (1092 4th Ave.) The workshop runs 5:30-7:30 p.m. for a $50 entry fee. Call 250-564-5879 or drop into Ridge Side Art to book a spot and learn this ancient and intricate egg art in time for Easter.

WordPlay

The next edition of WordPlay is a celebration of National Poetry Month. The semiregular poetry and expressed writing event happens today at 7:30 p.m. at Books & Company hosted by “The Panoptical Poet” Erin Bauman. “Bring us your short poems, your long poems, your rhyming poems, your love poems, and even your hate poems if you have any. Just make sure you bring yourself to WordPlay to celebrate poetry,” Bauman said. Free of charge.

Metal show

The Metallion Festival happens in summer, but the organizers hold a special fundraiser night on Saturday (doors at 8 p.m.) at The Legion. Three metal bands are on the bill: Calgary’s WMD is the headliner, with Hellsmen and Kleaver as well. Admission is $10 for this 4-20 special event.

Museum AGM

Exploration Place Museum + Science Centre is holding its Annual General Meeting on April 24 in their panoramic front atrium. Members of the society are invited to attend at 5:30 p.m. Anyone wishing to join can do so in advance of the meeting and then take part in the voting.

Art duel

An art duel crosses paintbrushes at the official FanCon Pre Party at the Pine Centre Mall. Stop by on April 27 from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. to get a sneak peak of vendors, play games courtesy of Game Quest, have your face painted, get photos taken, and enjoy three rounds of a head-to-head art joust between local painters. The winner takes on celebrity superhero artist Andy Poon on the FanCon mainstage May 3-5.

Comedy fundraiser

Improv Schmimprov comes to Artspace

on April 27. It’s the first show of 2019 for the local improv comedy group, and this one is a fundraiser for the Learning Differences Centre. New theatre games, new comedy sketches, new jokes, and $20 at the door to raise money for children with learning difficulties.

Art symposium

The annual Ying’hentzit First Nations Art Gala hosted by Carrier Sekani Family Services happens April 27 at the Uda Dune Baiyoh (House Of Ancestors). Celebrity musical host Murray Porter leads this night of sumptuous meal, art auction, and dancing. Local star painter Carla Joseph will do a live work of art for special auction. The featured artist among the many with works in the show is Trevor Angus, maker of Aboriginally themed jewelry. Tickets are $65 each or tables of eight for $500, available at Central Interior Tickets website. All proceeds to support arts and culture programs across numerous local First Nations.

PGSO kids show

The children of the city have been looking forward to Captain Klein’s Next Adventure, the sequel to the first Captain Klein concert event last year presented by the Prince George Symphony Orchestra. The new tale, with its PGSO accompaniment, happens at the PG Playhouse on April 27 at 2 p.m. This show features the orchestra’s brass section, and it starts with Captain Klein on the moon making his way to earth, meeting interesting characters and having adventures along the way. Get tickets via the Central Interior Tickets website or at the door while supplies last.

Cantata concert

The Cantata Singers continue to celebrate their 50th anniversary. On April 28 is their gala concert led by musical director Neil Wolfe and accompanist Maureen Nielsen entitled Curve Of Gold. This show is at the PG Playhouse starting at 7 p.m. with special guests District 57 Tapestry Singers and several local guest musicians. A special commemorative piece, Life Has Loveliness to Sell, was composed by the group’s former musical director Gerda Blok-Wilson, especially for the 50th anniversary. Tickets are available at Studio 2880 and at the door.

6x6 art show

The Best Damn Little Art Show Ever is coming up May 3 from 7-9 p.m. at Groop Gallery downtown (1127 3rd Ave.). This is the annual 6x6 art show and auction, where the artists are a mix of brand new and well established and all creations limited to six inches in any direction. It is a fundraiser and a great way to showcase the local arts scene.

Tickets are $10 to attend, and participants are encouraged to bid, bid, bid. Adcance tickets can be purchased at Studio 2880.

Ebbs on stage

A new musical duo has formed from a pair of well-know Prince George performers. The Ebbs is comprised of soloist William Kuklis and Trundled band member Joe Shea. The pair brings years of experience creating and performing music, and combine a range of instruments and vocal harmonies.

The Ebbs perform live at Trench Brewing & Distillery (399 2nd Ave) on May 3 from 8-10 p.m. Special musical guest Finn ScottNeff will also perform. There is no cover charge.

Spring breezes

The PGSO presents Spring Breezes, a “date night” symphony show at the Ramada Hotel ballroom at 7:30 p.m. featuring the orchestra’s professional core as they play selections of jazz, classical and pop all while enjoying snacks and beverages. Tickets available via the Central Interior Tickets website.

Choir concert

Award-winning local vocal ensemble Nove Voce is hosting a night of geeking out with song. The choir will perform May 4 (yes, as in, May The Fourth Be With You) as a complementary show to Northern FanCon happening the same weekend. The choir will be at the Prince George Playhouse at 8 p.m. to sing selections from video games, and sci-fi franchises, “all your favourites including Star Trek, World of Warcraft, Harry Potter and so much more,” said director Robin Norman. Tickets are $20 at Books & Company or the door.

Mayor’s ball

The Mayor’s Black & White Ball For The Arts happens May 4 at the Prince George Civic Centre, with cocktails at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7. Attire is formal with a black and white colour theme. Purchase your tickets at the Theatre NorthWest website. All money raised isshared between Theatre NorthWest, the Prince George Symphony Orchestra and the Community Arts Council.

Quilt show

On May 10 and 11, come see the biggest collection of quilts and quilt art of the year, presented by the Prince George Quilters’ Guild at their annual Fly Into Spring show and sale (this year the quilters will be demonstrating a kite theme). Tickets are $5. It includes vendors with quilting supplies, door prizes, raffles and more all at the

Prince George Golf & Curling Club. Times are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

PGSO finale

Art Of The Dance is the final mainstage show of the season for the Prince George Symphony Orchestra, with a very special guest performer.

Enjoy Lehar’s Merry Widow Waltz, Brahm’s Hungarian Dances, Marquez’ Danzon No. 2, Smetana’s Three Dance Episodes from Bartered Bride, and Strauss’s On the Beautiful Blue Danube. Also joining us for this evening will be the winner of the 20182019 Integris Youth Concerto Competition. The show is May 11 at the Prince George Playhouse at 7:30 p.m. Get tickets via the Central Interior Tickets website.

Teen Tabletop Meet Up

Every Monday until May 27 from 4 to 5 p.m. at the Bob Harkins Branch, Prince George Public Library, 888 Canada Games Way, try your hand at a variety of tabletop games. All experience levels welcome. Bring your own decks for MtG, Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh. For 13 to 18 yrs. For more information call 250-563-9251 or email ask@pgpl.ca.

Wheelchair Rugby

Every Tuesday until May 28 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the College of New Caledonia , 3330 22 Ave., wheelchair rugby program runs weekly. No experience is necessary and all equipment including sports wheelchairs are available. Everyone welcome. BC Wheelchair Sports annual membership is $10. In this full-contact sport, athletes play in tanklike wheelchairs and hit each others’ chairs in an attempt to carry a ball across the line. For more information call 250-649-9501 or email Northern@bcwheelchairsports.com.

Tea n’ Beads n’ Bannock

Wednesdays from 7 to 10 p.m. at Omineca Arts Centre, 369 Victoria St., there is a community beading circle hosted by Lynette La Fontaine, a Metis artist who blends traditional art and teachings with contemporary flair in the form of acrylic paintings and beadwork. Learn by watching, asking and doing. This is not a class, but a place to bring beading projects and sit together to inspire, connect and learn from one another. Anyone with an interest is welcome. Admission is by donation. For more information visit www.ominecaartscentre.com

OZARK HORSES HAVE FREE REIN TO ROAM

A curious wild colt in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri lived in a small herd of horses that roamed freely in Echo Bluff State Park. The park attracts thousands of visitors each year. They come to swim, boat and fish in Sinking Creek and nearby Current River, to hike on trails throughout the hills and to see the wild horses.

The horses are descended from farm horses that were abandoned during the Great Depression in the 1930s. Many families couldn’t make a living in the rugged Ozark hills, so they moved away to look for jobs. When the families moved away, many of them abandoned their livestock, including the horses. Left on their own for survival, the horses turned “feral” – a term for domestic animals that become wild. They stayed away from people and banded together in herds. Their numbers grew.

Our wild colt at Echo Bluff was curious in two ways: He had a curious colour, and he was curious about his surroundings and the people in it.

His colour is curious because he was born black but gradually turned gray, then white. This is because of a gene he carries that has existed in some horses for hundreds of years. It is thought to have originated in Europe. Some of the horses that Spaniards brought to North America

in the 1500s had this trait. The Lippizaner stallions of Spain are famous examples of horses that have it - they, too, are born black and turn white as they age.

Why was this colt curious about his surroundings? All young animals want to explore their world - that’s how they learn to survive. The curious colt explored his habitat, which included people who came to visit the park.

One day the colt watched people go through doors into a big stone lodge. He nosed around the door and, probably by accident, nudged the automatic door opener. But as he was about to go in, the desk manager saw him. She thought about what might happen if the colt came indoors: Someone could get hurt. She shooed the curious colt away from the lodge.

The wild horses in Missouri live in eight herds in Ozark National Scenic Riverways, administered by the National Park Service. The agency protects the habitat for native wildlife. The Park Service was concerned that the horses were damaging the habitat for native animals. In 1992, officials announced they were going to round up the horses to get them out of the park.

Local residents such as Jim Smith didn’t want to see the horses removed. He organized the Missouri Wild Horse League. Members worked with their congressman to draft legislation that

Grad Suit PackaGe

Many of the wild horses of the Ozarks have a genetic trait that causes them to be born black and gradually change to white as they grow.

would protect the horses.

Smith had to testify before Congress about why the horses deserved to be protected.

“I was as nervous as a wildcat’s kitten,” he said, but he described how much local people admired the beauty and natural grace of the horses. The legislation passed,

and the horses were allowed to stay as long as their numbers didn’t go above 50. To maintain that number, several young horses are put up for adoption each year. And that is what happened to our curious colt. Smith says he was adopted by a family, and he is the “gentlest animal you’ve ever seen.” And still curious.

Washington Post photo

Find a buddy and do this page together! If the page looks easy, find “somebunny” younger to be your buddy. If this page looks hard, find “somebunny” older to help you.

Color 5 - 3 eggs purple.

Color 1 + 6 eggs orange.

Color 3 + 1 eggs green.

Buzz and Beeper have hidden marshmallow chickies all over this page. How many can you find? Can you find the one that’s different from all the others?

Color 8 - 3 eggs red.

Color 6 - 4 eggs yellow.

Color 9 - 6 eggs blue.

How many eggs are in the garden?

There are _____ purple and orange eggs. There are _____ red and green eggs. There are _____ yellow and blue eggs.

Can you nd your way through this eggstra-ordinary egg maze?

The Easter Bunny left Buzz and Beeper a puzzle. Can you help them figure it out?

Change CAT into DOG by changing just one letter in each word along the word ladder.

Circle the two eggs that are eggs-actly alike.

find out what color to make

objects.

Draw an oval on a blank piece of paper. Look through the newspaper and cut out the letters that spell your spelling words. Decorate your “egg” by gluing these words onto it.

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

The Easter Bunny has been spotted and you’re the reporter covering the story. Be sure to tell who, what, when, where, why and how.

Bunny Spotted

© 2019 by Vicki Whiting, Editor Jeff Schinkel, Graphics Vol. 35, No. 19

The Prince George Citizen is looking for photos taken within the boundaries of Fort St. James to the North, Quesnel to the South, Valemount to the East, and Smithers to the West. Photos may be published in our 2019 Explore the North Magazine, with a chance for your photo to appear on the cover!

Please provide the following information along with your photo:

• Brief description of the area the photo captures and why you would recommend it to others (no more than 60 words)

• Your name for photo credit and authorization for us to publish the photo & description

We will accept photos at our office #201 - 1777 3rd Ave, or by email (jpg format at 300 dpi) to northern_explorer@pgcitizen.ca. Please include ‘Explore The North’ in the subject line. We will only be able to publish a select few photos but would like to thank everyone who made a submission. Photos will not be returned.

HOW TO ACCIDENTALLY STEAL A CAR

THE WASHINGTON POST

Everyone has that one memory that still weighs on their conscience, years or even decades later. For Kevin Freedman, a 38-year-old governance consultant and member of the business faculty at the University of Winnipeg in Manitoba, it involves a Slurpee run and a stolen Ford Taurus. Now, nearly 21 years later, he’s launched a quest to find the woman he inadvertently wronged and tell her that he’s sorry.

On a hot August day in 1998, Freedman, then 17, was working a split shift at the community pool in Winnipeg where he was a lifeguard and swimming instructor. Earlier that summer, he had totaled his car after crashing into a cow that had unexpectedly wandered onto a darkened rural road outside the city. He still had an outstanding parking ticket that he needed to pay during his break, and was about to set off on foot when a co-worker, Jocelyne McKie, told him to take her car instead and bring her back a Slurpee from 7-Eleven.

“She asked, ‘You know which car is mine, right?’” Freedman told The Washington Post. “And I said, ‘Oh, yeah, absolutely.’”

McKie’s car was a light-colored 1990s Ford Taurus, which was “every second or third car on the road” at the time, Freedman said. He spotted it in the parking lot right away. The windows were down, and the doors were unlocked. The car wouldn’t start on the first try, but he drove away without thinking much of it.

After stopping to get money from an ATM, Freedman returned to the Ford only to find that it wouldn’t start. After a few more minutes, Freedman remembered something: when he was leaving the pool, he had only been able to start the car after he put his seat belt on. Maybe, he reasoned with himself, there was some kind of new technology in the Taurus that he didn’t know about. He buckled up and then turned the key again. It worked. Relieved, he drove to the police station where he had planned to pay his parking ticket.

He returned a short time later, after being told that he needed to go to a different office to pay the ticket. But he couldn’t manage to unlock the door.

For several minutes, Freedman stood there, fumbling helplessly with the keys. Then, a group of parking patrol officers showed up.

“Oh, I’ve got a Ford just like this at home,” he recalls one of the officers telling him, after he explained the situation. “Sometimes, the keys are a little wonky. You just have to know how to do it.”

The officer took the keys from him and, on his second try, managed to unlock the Ford. The technique, he informed Freedman, was “all in the wrist.”

Once again, Freedman struggled to get the car started, and he began to seriously worry that he had damaged the ignition. After finishing up his errands, he returned the Ford back to its original parking spot, leaving the windows down and doors unlocked, just like he had found it. He handed McKie her Slurpee and apologized profusely, telling her that he hoped he

hadn’t broken her car. She had never had any problems with the key, she told him, but she was sure it was fine.

Later that night, long after McKie had left work, Freedman noticed that her car was still sitting in the parking lot. Panicked and wracked with guilt, he concluded that he must have damaged it so badly that she hadn’t been able to drive home. His co-worker had just been trying to do a nice thing, and, in exchange, he had ruined her car.

He was in the middle of teaching a swimming lesson the next day when McKie walked in. Immediately, the apologies started pouring out.

But McKie had no idea what he was talking about but something clicked.

The day before, while Freedman was out running errands, a young woman had reported her car stolen. But because she couldn’t remember the license plate number, she had gone home to look it up. The next morning, the woman had returned to the pool with police, only to find her car exactly where she had left it.

Initially, Freedman wanted to go to the police and confess everything. The teenage lifeguard’s friends talked him out of it, pointing out that he would only create more complications for everyone involved, and that there had ultimately been no harm done. In the ensuing decades, he estimates, he’s told the story hundreds of times. But the guilt still hasn’t gone away, and last month, Freedman began a quest to find the woman so that he could explain and apologize.

Egged on by his friends, who pointed out that in a tightknit city like Winnipeg, most people are connected by only two or three degrees of separation, he turned to social media for help. “Have you ever heard the other side of the story?” he asked on Facebook and Twitter last month. “Do you know this person? Help me find her!” The posts were shared hundreds of times, but so far Freedman hasn’t gotten any leads, even after being featured by the CBC. He has, however, been learning that he’s not the only one to inadvertently take a stranger’s car for a joyride.

“Since I’ve posted this, I’ve had probably 30 people send me messages personally to say they had something similar to this happen,” Freedman said. “On Reddit, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of people that have gone through the same thing.

WHEN SOME BOYS MADE A LOOKS LIST, THEIR FEMALE CLASSMATES FOUGHT BACK

THE WASHINGTON POST

BETHESDA, Md. – Yasmin Behbehani had just walked into her third-period health class when her friend asked her if she had seen the list.

“There’s a list of the girls’ names,” her friend Nicky Schmidt, a fellow senior at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Maryland, said. “And we’re ranked.” Behbehani didn’t want to see the list, or know whether she was on it. She had spent the past four years recovering from an eating disorder, working hard to avoid comparing herself with others, she said. But by her sixth-period class on that Monday earlier this month, a text message appeared on her phone with a screenshot of the list, typed out on the iPhone Notes app.

It included the names of 18 girls in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School’s International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, ranked and rated on the basis of their looks, from 5.5 to 9.4, with decimal points to the hundredth place. There, with a number beside it, was Behbehani’s name.

A group of male students in their program created the list more than a year ago, but it resurfaced last month, through text messages and whispers during class. One male classmate, seeing the name of his good friend Nicky Schmidt on the list, told her about it, and within 24 hours, dozens of girls had heard about the list.

Lists like this one had silently circulated among teen boys for generations. But it was happening now, in the era of the #MeToo movement. Women had been standing up to harassment in workplaces and on college campuses and the high school girls, who had been witnessing this empowerment, decided they weren’t going to let the issue slide.

They felt violated, objectified by classmates they considered their friends. They felt uncomfortable getting up to go to the bathroom, worried that the boys might be scanning them and “editing their decimal points,” said Lee Schwartz, one of the other senior girls on the list.

“Knowing that my closest friends were talking to me and hanging out with me but under that, silently numbering me, it definitely felt like a betrayal,” Schwartz said. “I was their friend, but I guess also a number.”

But there is power in numbers, too. Dozens of senior girls decided to speak up to the school administration and to their male classmates, demanding not only disciplinary action in response to the list but a school-wide reckoning about the toxic culture that allowed it to happen.

“It was the last straw, for us girls, of this

‘boys will be be boys’ culture,” Behbehani said. “We’re the generation that is going to make a change.”

That same Monday, a group of girls reported the list to an administrator, who encouraged the students not to talk about it around school, Schmidt said. The next day, the girls learned that after an investigation, school officials decided to discipline one male student with in-school detention for one day, which would not show up on his record.

Unsatisfied with the disciplinary action, Schmidt texted about 15 girls she knew, and told them to tell all of their friends to show up at the school’s main office the next day during lunch, “to tell them we feel unsafe in this environment and we are tired of this toxicity,” Schmidt wrote in her text.

About 40 senior girls showed up, packing into an assistant principal’s office as Schmidt read a statement she had written.

“We want to know what the school is doing to ensure our safety and security,” Schmidt said. “We should be able to learn in an environment without the constant presence of objectification and misogyny.”

The girls and administrators agreed that they should have a large meeting with the male students in the program, including the boys who created and circulated the

list. That Friday, on International Women’s Day, almost all of the students in the IB program – about 80 students – met in a large conference room for what was supposed to be a 45-minute meeting during fifth period. Instead, the meeting lasted two-and-ahalf hours. Several girls delivered personal and impassioned speeches describing not only their presence on the list, but also their previous experiences with sexual abuse, harassment, and objectification, both inside the school and outside of it.

“I feel it when walking home from school, I get catcalled by a man in a truck who repeatedly asks me to get in his car, and follows me home when I don’t,” said Rose Frank, one of the senior girls on the list, reading from a letter she had prepared.

“I feel it when my mother tells me that my third ear piercing will ‘send the wrong message’ in a workplace setting, and that in the future it’s best to let my hair down for job interviews.”

Sitting toward the centre of the room during the meeting was the male student credited with creating the list, an 18-yearold senior in the IB program. After listening to all of the girls’ speeches, many of which were directed specifically to him, he stood up and spoke to the group, admitting to making the list and apologizing for the hurt

it caused.

Since that confrontational meeting, a co-ed group of senior students - including the boy who created the list - have been gathering on an almost weekly basis at lunch time to discuss how to prevent this sort of incident from happening again.

The Bethesda-Chevy Chase students are planning a day next month in which pairs of students - one senior girl and one senior guy - will go to the younger students’ classes to talk about toxic masculinity, said Gabriella Capizzi, one of the senior girls taking the lead on the campaign.

Some students are also organizing a pop-up museum focused on the theme of cultural toxicity. While the event was planned before the list circulated, it has now taken on a new meaning, said Gloria Karekezi, a 17-year-old senior who is working on an exhibit and who has been a part of the ongoing efforts to speak up about the list.

With the two months of high school they have left, the seniors hope to set a precedent for the younger grades, Capizzi said.

“I wasn’t surprised by the list,” Capizzi said. “The kids like the kid who made the list aren’t the outliers. It’s the people who speak up about it that are. And that culture needs to change.”

Washington Post photo Bethesda-Chevy Chase seniors Lee Schwartz, 18, Jane Corcoran, 17, and Nicky Schmidt, 17 were among the girls ranked on a list created by their male classmates last month.

Gloria Karekezi, one of several senior girls who has spoken up about the list, is working on an exhibit about toxic aspects of teen culture at BethesdaChevy Chase High School.