The lake at Ferguson Lake Nature Reserve has frozen over, making it a great place to play a
shinny hockey Thursday afternoon.
Volleyball team’s van as safe as vehicles of its type, report says
Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca
Fifteen-passenger vans like the one that carried members of a local high school volleyball team when it went off the road last week are as technically safe as any other large-passenger vehicle, according to a 2013 study.
The Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators, a federal-provincial body that makes recommendations on transportation policy, found the vans are “not less stable or more prone to roll over than other vehicles with similar capacities.”
The study was carried out in the wake of several fatal crashes in Canada, particularly the 2008 deaths of seven New Brunswick high school basketball players and the coach’s wife in a collision with a tractor trailer in a snowstorm.
A New Brunswick MP consequently tabled a private members bill in 2010 seeking a nationwide ban on using the vans to transport students which, in turn, prompted the review by the CCMTA.
In part, it included a look at a Transport Canada comparison testing for a series of vehicles including 15-passenger vans, a 30seat school bus and a 21-seat Multi Function Activity Bus (MFAB) – a mini version of the school bus. The tests found no comprehensive safety advantage for MFABs over 15-passenger vans in vehiclehandling ability, rollover risk and other factors. In some cases, “15-passenger vans performed
marginally better than both school buses and MFABs,” the CCMTA report says. Only in a side-impact collision were MFABs found to be superior.
The CCMTA also found statistics in both Canada and the U.S. did not show the vans were involved in a disproportionate number of fatal collisions.
It did note a higher number of rollovers in situations where there were fatalities but suggested that could be due to a high percentage of occupants not wearing seatbelts.
(Six of the dead in the Bathurst tragedy were not wearing seatbelts and a seventh was not properly restrained, according to the report).
The private members bill was never passed but in the aftermath, the CCMTA produced a set of safety guidelines, now on the B.C. Passenger Transporation Board website, for use of the vans.
Among the items emphasized, they set out special instructions for loading the vans, saying they should be loaded from back to front and when not full, passengers and cargo should be loaded in front of the rear axle.
Proper attention should also be given to the condition of the tires.
It also reminds users that the driver must hold at least a Class 4 license.
“When operating a 15-passenger van, it is important to recognize that these vans handle differently than passenger vehicles especially when fully loaded with people or
luggage/equipment,” the guidelines state.
As for school boards, it says they should “develop guidelines, policies and regulations for the safe transportation of students and monitor compliance with them.”
School District 57’s policy states the driver must hold a Class 4 license, be at least 21 years old and have had three years driving experience. Qualified volunteers can get behind the wheel only with prior approval of the superintendent or assistant superintendent. Otherwise, the driver must be a professional.
Members of the College Heights Secondary School senior girls volleyball team were heading to the AAA B.C. high school championships in Powell River on Nov. 27 when their van went off the road on Highway 97 just north of Cache Creek.
Four were taken to hospital with injuries but later released.
Police suggest driver error played a role, saying the driver had veered to avoid an obstruction then overcorrected.
According to the CCMTA report, B.C. is among five provinces that allow the vans for daily trips to and from school – although Saskatchewan restricts their load to no more than eight pupils – and six that allow them for extracurricular trips.
Five do not allow their use for any school-related trips, while five prohibit their use for trips to and from school.
B.C. Speaker threatens to resign
Dirk MEISSNER Citizen news service
VICTORIA — The Speaker of British Columbia’s legislature has promised to resign if a financial audit he is recommending doesn’t prompt public outrage and back his handling of a controversy that has engulfed the province’s politics.
Darryl Plecas made the promise during a meeting Thursday of an all-party financial management committee that is grappling with the fallout from a police investigation that saw the legislature’s top two officials placed on administrative leave.
Plecas told members of the committee he can’t discuss the reasons behind the investigation but said he would welcome an audit of the legislature’s books, saying he would resign along with his special adviser, Alan Mullen, if an audit didn’t justify his actions.
“I am completely confident, completely confident, that those audits will show that we have a lot of work to do here,” he told the meeting. “And if the outcome of those audits did not outrage the public, did not outrage taxpayers, did not make them throw up, I will resign as Speaker, and Mr. Mullen will resign as well.”
Plecas hired Mullen, a former federal prison administrator and personal friend, last January. He also recently hired Wally Oppal, a retired judge and former B.C.
attorney general, to offer legal advice.
“This has gone on far enough, I’ve been reduced to a cartoon character,” said Plecas. “The press has focused on nothing but this issue since this first happened.”
Sergeant-at-arms Gary Lenz and house clerk Craig James were escorted from the building on Nov. 20 after the members of the legislature voted unanimously to place them on administrative leave because of an ongoing police investigation. Lenz and James have denied any wrongdoing and their lawyer has demanded they be allowed to return to their jobs while the investigation continues. Their lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment on Thursday’s committee meeting.
— see ‘IT WAS, page 3
PLECAS
Trustees named to committees, liaison positions
Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca
Trustee committee and liaison appointments were confirmed during the school board’s monthly meeting on Tuesday night. Here’s a look:
School liaisons
Ron Polillo was assigned to the College Heights Secondary School zone which also includes Beaverly, College Heights, Malaspina, Southridge and Vanway elementary schools.
Sharel Warrington was assigned to the Duchess Park Secondary School zone which also includes Edgewood, Harwin, Ron Brent, Spruceland and Lac des Bois elementary schools.
Warrington was also assigned John McInnis Centre.
Trent Derrick was assigned to the Kelly Road Secondary School zone which includes Glenview, Hart Highlands, Heather Park, Nukko Lake and Springwood elementary schools.
Betty Bekkering was assigned to the Prince George Secondary School zone which also includes Blackburn, Giscome, Nusdeh Yoh, Peden Hill, Pineview, Pinewood, Polaris, Van Bien, Westwood, Buckhorn and Hixon elementary schools.
Tim Bennett was assigned to the D.P.
Todd Secondary School zone which also includes Foothills, Heritage and Quinson elementary schools.
Shuirose Valimohamed was assigned to Mackenzie Secondary School and Morfee Elementary School.
Bob Thompson was assigned to McBride and Valemount secondary and elementary schools.
Standing committees
Education programs and planning committee: Derrick (chair), Bekkering and Valimohamed.
Education services committee: Polillo (chair), Warrington and Thompson. Management and finance committee: Bekkering (chair), Polillo and Valimohamed.
Springboard to Success scholarship committee: Bennett, Bekkering (alternate).
Liaison appointments
District Parent Advisory Committee: alternating schedule.
District Student Advisory Committee: Polillo, Bekkering (alternate).
District of Mackenzie: Valimohamed, Bennett (alternate).
Village of McBride: Thompson, Bennett (alternate).
Village of Valemount: Thompson, Bennett (alternate).
University of Northern British Columbia: Bennett, Warrington (alternate). College of New Caledonia, Career Programs Advisory Committee, Trades, Career Technical Centre: Bennett, Warrington.
Canadian Union of Public Employees locals 3742 and 4991: Valimohamed, Warrington.
Prince George and District Teachers Association: Polillo.
PGDTA Mackenzie sub-local: Valimohamed.
PGDTA Robson Valley sub-local: Thompson. Prince George Principal-Vice Principal Association: Bekkering, Thompson. As well, Polillo will be the B.C. School Trustees Association provincial councillor with Derrick as alternate and Bekkering with be the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association representative with Thompson the alternate.
Rally planned today to support Unist’ot’en Camp
Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca
A rally is being held in Prince George this morning on behalf of a rural Aboriginal group about a four-hour drive to the west.
The residents of the Unist’ot’en Camp – a sprawling wilderness region headquartered at the intersection of Wedzin Kwah and Talbits Kwah (the Morice River and Gosnell Creek, respectively) southwest of Houston and northeast of Morice Lake – have for years mounted a blockade of industrial activities that do not conform to their interests.
A recent court injunction by one of those industrial proponents, Coastal Gaslink (a pipeline that would move natural gas from extraction sources near Dawson Creek to the proposed LNG Canada shipping plant at Kitimat), would allow their work to take its next steps.
A court hearing on the matter is scheduled for Monday.
A response rally is set for Prince George in support of the Unist’ot’en Camp.
“These legal challenges ignore the jurisdiction and authority of hereditary chiefs and a feast system of governance, which was recognized in the 1997 Deglamuukw-Gisday’wa court case,” said a written statement issued by Prince George rally organizers.
“All Wet’suwet’en Clans have rejected the Coastal GasLink pipeline.”
The statement explained that Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. has “applied for an injunction and served notice for a civil lawsuit, seeking an ‘interim, interlocutory or permanent injunction’ and financial damages for ‘occupying, obstructing, blocking, physically impeding or delaying access’ to unceded territory.”
The company has succeeded in gaining the support of the elected Wet’suwet’en First Nation leaders, on whose traditional aterritory the project crosses at that point but the Unist’ot’en Camp residents claim a deeper jurisdiction over that particular tract of land.
“The Unist’ot’en homestead is not a protest or demonstration,” said a written statement from the Aboriginal group.
“Our clan is occupying and using our traditional territory as it has for centuries. Our free prior and informed consent protocol is in place at the entrance of our territory as an expression of our jurisdiction and our inherent right to both give and refuse consent. Our homestead is a peaceful expression of our connection to our territory. It is also an example of the continuous use and occupation of our territory by our clan. Our traditional structures of governance continue to dictate the proper use of and access to our lands and water.”
The rally is set for the Prince George Courthouse at 9 a.m. today. It includes a call for financial aid to mount a legal defense. Information is available at the Unist’ot’en Camp website and the rally’s event page on Facebook.
CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN
With colder weather ice has started to form along the Nechako River.
Snowy field
Local businessman Selen Alpay earns Medal of Good Citizenship
Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca
Prince George’s Selen Alpay is among 19 British Columbians who are receiving the Province’s Medal of Good Citizenship. He was presented with the medal Tuesday in Vancouver.
In the 11 years he’s lived in the city, the owner of the local Canadian Tire store has gained a reputation for philanthropy and volunteering.
“As a person, Alpay models good citizenship and humanity to everyone he meets, giving generously of his time to multiple volunteer boards and organizations in the city and beyond: spending
Children’s
Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca
Kids are arting it up for other kids. Children’s art will be the feature exhibition on the walls of Ritual Coffee Bar starting on Sunday. Bring down the display-ready art done by anyone in your family aged 5-12 (or thereabouts), and when the exhibition is finished on Jan. 31, all the art goes to the buyers and the money raised from the sale of the art will go to the all-local Friends of Children Society.
“We don’t mind what form it takes. It can be pencil-crayon, pastels, the pen at your desk, anything at all. We even have some shelf space for small sculptures,” said proprietor and chef Jon Letchford. “As long as it’s framed or able to be hung on the wall when you bring it in, we will include it as long as there’s space. Each child is limited to three or four small works, or one or two large works.” Each piece must also have an index card next made out by the family. It should say the name of the artist, the name of the art piece and the price. People are welcome to come to the
time with elders in care at Simon Fraser Lodge, and supporting and mentoring youth within his company and the community,” officials said in a tribute.
He is also involved in getting a new branch of the Boys Club Network launched in the city.
And he was a key supporter of an event to recognize the local volunteers who helped during the 2017 wildfire crisis, which saw more than 10,000 evacuees converge on the city.
In 2017, Alpay was named a Citizen of the Year by the Prince George Community Foundation for many of the same reasons.
Also in 2017, his Canadian Tire store
was presented the Outstanding Corporate Culture award at the Prince George Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards.
“His quiet personal philanthropy extends to his belief in corporate philanthropy, and his company is his most visible way of giving back to the community through sponsorship of, and donations to, countless organizations and events,” officials added in the tribute.
Launched in 2015, the Medal of Good Citizenship recognizes people who, through exceptional long-term service, have made outstanding contributions to their communities without expectation of remuneration or reward.
art to decorate cafe
cafe anytime during the days after the grand opening and purchase the art.
As each piece is paid for (the cafe staff will take down the contact information of those who buy), a red dot will be put on the index card indicating it is off the market but still on the wall until Jan. 31.
“We know it’ll be chaos a little bit (on Sunday at dropoff), we open at 9 a.m. and it’s first come, first served for getting the art put in place,” said Letchford.
There will be a lottery system to help coordinate where and when the kids’ art can be hung up, if there is an early onslaught.
“We expect there’ll be a lot of kids around. It’s going to be fun, and I can’t wait to see what they created. It’s a great chance for those families to meet each other, with their artsy kids. There’ll be a big pot of hot chocolate for the kids who bring in art. It’ll be a great time, because everyone there will know that it’s all about raising money for kids who are in medical need.”
The Friends of Children Society is based in Prince George but helps kids in medical need from all across the north and the Kootenay regions.
According to a statement from the
Goodsir Nature Park open for winter
Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff
The city’s botanical curiosity, Goodsir Nature Park, is once again going to be open for winter outings.
“Experience winter at its best,” said proprietor Jim Good. “We are open for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, winter camping, get-together campfires, through the holiday season and into the new year.”
The outdoor facility is a wonderland in winter of Canadian trees and shrubs, many of which grow no other place but there due to to Good’s transplantation program over the decades. It is about to enter its 30th year of operation.
It is a pleasant walk through well-marked wilderness trails wandering about his little private forest from the souvenir shop and vinyl record museum at the front parking lot.
Admission, including overnight camping, is by donation.
Drop-ins are welcome, but guided tours and overnight camping should be arranged with an advance phone call to 250-971-2337.
Goodsir Nature Park is located at 22825 Old Summit Lake Rd., about 30 minutes’ drive north of the city.
‘It was quite unbelievable what he was saying’
— from page 1
The B.C. Liberals have questioned Plecas’s handling of the suspensions, but Premier John Horgan has expressed his confidence in him. The Liberals also recently failed in an attempt to bring forward and rescind the motion that placed Lenz and James on administrative leave.
Liberal house leader Mary Polak said Thursday’s meeting was one of the strangest she had ever been involved in.
“It was quite unbelievable what he was saying,” Polak said afterwards, adding the committee would have to approve any audit.
The committee is tentatively scheduled to meet again in January.
Plecas told the meeting that soon after he was appointed last year, he was made aware of issues that required him to do his due diligence on behalf of taxpayers.
“I can tell every single taxpayer out there, take it to the bank: I will be doing due diligence,” he added.
Acting clerk Kate Ryan-Lloyd and auditor general Carol Bellringer, who also attended the meeting, said they will not sign off on the legislature’s books until the current issues are resolved. The legislature’s budget is more than $75 million.
Two special prosecutors were appointed to oversee the police investigation on Oct. 1.
Mullen, Plecas, and Oppal have described the investigation as a “criminal” matter.
The RCMP has said it is investigating staff at the legislature, but it has not said who is the subject of the probe or described the investigation as criminal in nature. The special prosecutors have declined comment.
Lenz and James told a news conference on Nov. 26 that they were humiliated after being placed on administrative leave and they want their jobs and their reputations back. Both men said at the time they do not known what it is they are alleged to have done and offered to co-operate with the RCMP investigation.
James outlined steps he took after becoming clerk in 2011 to improve the administration of the legislature, including assuring the auditor general that problems identified in a report would be fixed.
“I have established processes in the legislative assembly that are essentially bulletproof,” he said, adding they have also led to “clean audits” since then.
Wildland firefighter recruitment underway
Citizen staff
The BC Wildfire Service is accepting applications for wildland firefighter positions for the 2019 fire season.
organization, they assist “families travelling to access medical treatments for their children.
“Our goal is to relieve emotional and financial strain by assisting with the fuel, accommodation and meal costs associated with these appointments, surgeries and consultations. We may also be able to assist with therapies and specialized equipment related to a child’s medical condition.”
Letchford said that 100 per cent of the sales income from the art show would all go to the society.
“It’s an all-local charity, it has a great track record of helping families who really need it when their kids are in terrible predicaments, and nobody wants a child to suffer, so we’re doing a little bit over the holiday season to help,” he said.
“Who knows about kids better than kids, so this is a great way to build up their sense of community and get them thinking about how they can help even at a young age.”
For more information, look up the details on the Ritual Coffee Bar’s page on Facebook, call the shop at 236-4231137 or visit them at the corner of Third Avenue and George Street.
Whale-saving efforts could hurt Vancouver Island economy, group says
Dirk MEISSNER Citizen news service
ESQUIMALT — Federal government efforts to save threatened southern resident killer whales could endanger the survival of communities on Vancouver Island whose economies depend on sport fishing and tourism revenues, a coalition of tourism, business and recreational fishing groups said Thursday. About two dozen leaders gathered at a popular sport fishing marina near Victoria to warn the federal government almost 10,000 jobs are at stake as well as the futures of several cities, towns and villages on the Island that base their incomes on fishing and
tourism.
The coalition calls itself Thriving Orcas, Thriving Communities and said the federal government has extended a 5,000 square kilometre critical habitat zone off the southwest coast of Vancouver Island that could result in fishing closures to protect the whales, whose population stands at 74. Val Litwin, president of the B.C. Chamber of Commerce, said 18 communities have come together to form the coalition.
Between 150 and 200 positions are available across the province.
Online applications can be submitted on the B.C. Wildfire Service website until Jan. 15.
Applicants who pass the screening phase will be invited to attend an interview and complete a fitness assessment. These steps will be completed in February in various locations throughout the province.
New recruits typically start work in early May and finish at the end of September. Students are able to end their terms early to return to school while others may be offered an opportunity to work into the fall, depending on wildfire conditions and activity.
After new recruits successfully complete their first fire season, they are eligible for recall rights and will have a job with a four-to-eight-month term. If work is available, this could lead to a yearround job with the BC Wildfire Service, allowing people to pursue firefighting as a career.
“Firefighting is a unique job,” officials said in a bulletin.
“It’s a great opportunity for people who are interested in challenging themselves mentally and physically, seeing some of the most spectacular locations in the province, and working with a group of dedicated people who are passionate about what they do.
“During the winter, firefighters are able to spend time pursuing other activities, such as attending school or travelling.”
To learn more about the application process, get details about required and preferred qualifications, and complete the online application, visit: www.gov.bc.ca/wildfirejobs.
A horse grazes in a field along Chief Lake Road Thursday afternoon.
Ready set, go
Bill and Jon Russell mount a projector on a lighting bar in preparation for a holiday family tradition of
Russell. The production at the Prince George Playhouse from Dec. 13 through Dec. 22.
Canada Games torch returns to P.G on Saturday
Ted CLARKE Citizen staff
tclarke@pgcitizen.ca
Was that really four years ago Prince George hosted the Canada Winter Games?
We’ve nearly reached the fouryear mark since the 2015 Games, and the heat of the flame that passes through our city on Saturday with the arrival of the 2019 MNP Canada Winter Games torch relay will serve as a reminder.
The first-ever coast-to-coast torch relay is already underway and it will eventually lead to Red Deer, Alta., site of the 2019 Winter Games Feb. 15-March 3.
For figure skater Justin Hampole, a bronze medalist at the 2015 Games in Prince George, that memory is still fresh in his mind and it stands as one of the highlights of his career as a member of the Northern B.C. Centre for Skating. Hampole, who just returned from the Skate Canada Challenge in Edmonton (see story on page 9), is among 12 torchbearers selected for the Prince George relay. He will carry the flame for the final segment which leads back to the Civic Centre.
“I just loved the Canada Games, it was one of the best experiences of my life so far and I’m just super-excited to be part of the next Games, even if it’s just a tiny role,” said the 17-year-old Hampole, who was just 13 when he soared to the medal podium despite the pressure of competing in front of a hometown audience at Kin 1, then known as Lakewood Dental Arena.
“It was almost a surreal experience. It was just insane to be in front of my home crowd and skate the way I did. I just have really fond memories attached to Canada Games and I’m excited to make a few more on Saturday.”
The whole city is invited to the celebration at the Prince George
Conference and Civic Centre at Canada Games Plaza. The torch relay starts at 11 a.m. and runs through downtown, returning to the Civic Centre at 1:30 p.m.
The relay started Oct. 4 in Ottawa with the lighting of the Roly McLennan torch from the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill. From there it went to Halifax. Montreal, St. Catharines, London, Thunder Bay, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, and Victoria. It was in Kelowna last weekend, the last stop before it arrives in Prince George on Saturday.
Alyson Gourley-Cramer will start the relay Saturday at 11, followed in order by Joel McKay, Prince George-Mackenzie MLA Mike Morris, Catherine HansenMcCarthy, Darlene McIntosh, Cariboo-Prince George MP Todd Doherty, Ted Clarke, Mayor Lyn Hall, Mandi Graham, Tony Cable, Myrna Cable and Hampole.
From Prince George the torch will be flown to Newfoundland for an unscheduled stop in St. John’s at the request of Newfoundland and Labrador premier Dwight Ball for one more tour until it hits Alberta, Jan. 5. Thirteen Alberta cities are on the torch relay route to Red Deer. It total, 48 communities will see the torch procession.
Premiers, PM head to tough first ministers meeting
Joan BRYDEN, Giuseppe VALIANTE Citizen news service
MONTREAL — Premiers arrived Thursday for a first ministers’ meeting still grumbling about the agenda set by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, with one – Ontario’s Doug Ford – threatening to walk out if the program isn’t expanded to reflect a host of provincial priorities.
The tone as they prepared to dine privately with Trudeau on Thursday evening underscored the tensions that seem likely to turn Friday’s meeting into the most acrimonious first ministers’ gathering in years.
Sources close to Ford said he’s prepared to walk away from the meeting if it does not include discussion of the federal carbon tax, which Ontario is challenging in court. And when he met Trudeau in person at a downtown hotel for a preliminary meeting Thursday, Ford went right at him.
“I’m glad to sit down with you, Justin, and talk about things that matter to the people of Ontario,” he said, as the two sat stiffly in arm chairs several feet apart.
“I’ll tell you what matters to the people of Ontario is the jobkilling carbon tax.”
Ontario also wants to talk about finding new jobs for workers affected by General Motors’ plans to close a plant in Oshawa next year and “the illegal border-crossers that are costing our province over $200 million,” Ford said.
Trudeau was generous with Ford, at least overtly, even though federal officials privately expect the premier to do his level best to derail the meeting.
“It’s a pleasure to welcome Doug here to Quebec, to Montreal, my hometown,” he said.
“This is an opportunity for us to talk about the issues that mat-
ter to Ontarians, to Canadians – economic growth, continuing to work hard to create good jobs for the middle class, creating opportunities for everyone.”
Trudeau has said he’ll discuss anything the premiers want to talk about. But that has not quelled the criticism that the written agenda is too narrowly focused on reduction of interprovincial trade barriers and gives too much time to presentations from several federal ministers.
Ford said he was looking forward to Friday’s meeting but, after his tete-a-tete with Trudeau, he refused to answer reporters’ questions about whether walking away from the table is still an option. A spokeswoman for the premier, Ivana Yelich, said,
“We remain hopeful the prime minister will see fit to reflect the concerns of his provincial partners.”
Ford later sat down with two of his conservative, anti-carbon tax allies – Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe and New Brunswick’s Blaine Higgs. All three continued to criticize Trudeau’s agenda.
“We don’t need to be lectured by his ministers, we need to talk about things that matter for people in each of our provinces,” said Ford.
Moe and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley are pushing hard for the oil price crisis to be given prime time during the meeting. On that score, Notley predicted she’ll have plenty of allies in the room.
“There is really no province in the country that doesn’t owe Alberta to some degree for their schools, their hospitals, their roads. The fact of the matter is Alberta has to do well for Canada to do well,” Notley said before leaving Edmonton.
She noted that forecasts for Canada’s economic growth are already more muted because of the low price Alberta is getting for its oil in the United States and its inability to move its product to ports for shipment overseas.
Notley also said she doesn’t want to spend time listening to what the federal government says it is already doing to try to address Alberta’s concerns.
“It just doesn’t make sense... talking about things that have already happened,” she said.
“We don’t need federal ministers to explain to us what they’ve already done. We’re all capable of reading their press releases.” Moe said he also wants to talk about his demand that the feds repeal Bill C-69, legislation to rewrite the rules for environmental assessments of energy projects, which is currently stalled in the Senate. Critics, including Moe, maintain the bill would create regulatory hurdles that will scare off investment in energy projects, particularly pipelines.
“Tomorrow will be a test to see if our prime minister is listening to working people across the nation,” he said.
Federal officials have privately conceded that little headway is likely to be made on the official objective of the meeting: knocking down barriers to trade between provinces.
CITIZEN
Judy Russell Presents: Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, adapted by Anna
HAMPOLE
FORD
Trudeau vows crackdown on handguns, assault weapons
Morgan LOWRIE Citizen news service
MONTREAL — Fourteen beams of light shone into the night sky from Montreal’s Mount Royal Thursday evening in memory of the 14 women who died at the Ecole Polytechnique engineering school 29 years ago.
A crowd, which included Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, stood in silence atop the lookout as they attended a ceremony commemorating the victims killed on Dec. 6, 1989.
As each woman’s name was announced, a new beam illuminated the night sky, the 14 forming a semi-circle around the dignitaries, victims’ family members and members of the public.
Later Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, laid a wreath of white roses at the foot of a photo memorial of the women, accompanied by Quebec Premier Francois Legault, his wife Isabelle Brais, and Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante.
Catherine Bergeron, whose sister Genevieve died in the shooting, said the light beams are an
appropriate way to remember the 14 bright women.
“They were little suns, bright girls with light in their eyes who were full of life, who wanted to do all kind of things,” she said, adding that they “never questioned” the brightness of their futures back
Five reasons you may be losing sales
Lweek, Natalie
into a
store to buy a swim cap. She found the swim caps in the store and a young man, the sales person on duty, walked over and asked “Can I help you?”
She told me she said “yes, I need a swim cap” as she stood looking at the rack of swim caps. The sales person proceeded to tell her that their most popular cap was out of stock and he didn’t know if any of the other 10 varieties would work for her, before walking off. Natalie stood dumbfounded and then decided to walk out of the store.
As she told me later, she would have bought anything swim related that day – swimsuit, goggles, towel, swim buoy, even flippers, if only the sales person had cared.
So, what went wrong? Here was a lady who had gone to a business with a specific reason to buy something, to spend her hard-earned money, and yet she walked out of the store without spending any of the hundreds of dollars she was prepared to spend.
How often does that happen?
The fact is that it happens more often than it should, and the reasons are five-fold.
1. We fail to care. So often we get sales people who don’t really care if they make a sale. They fail to understand how important their job is to the success of the business and the satisfaction of the customer. Many times, they don’t care to see the customer as someone unique, a real person with a life outside this relationship. Rather we see the customer as an interference, an inconvenience, a challenge. When this mentality starts to breed within our organization, we are in for trouble.
2. We don’t train. Even if we have the right people, we don’t train them in sales. Many businesses don’t spend the time, money or energy to properly onboard their staff and teach them the fundamentals of sales.
That young guy that served Natalie probably applied for a sales job with absolutely no understanding of what it meant. We expect our staff to know instinctively how to sell things yet we fail to train them or test them.
3. We need to figure out what works. If we have a sales process, we fail to document it and script it for our sales team. Undoubtably if we have been in business for a while, there is a process that our customers go through in making a decision to buy from us. Engaging them along the way of that process and helping them to make a decision can be scripted and anticipated. Documenting and teaching this process can be huge for increasing our sales.
4. We fail to understand why. There are 100 simple questions that are better than “Can I help you” which when scripted or taught can start off the process of understanding why a prospect has reached out to us. Without understanding their why, we will rarely be able to provide the right solution. Unless we can solve the pain or pleasure need of the customer, they will go to find someone who can and we will lose a sale.
5. We fail to measure. Yes, its true that we can go into a business and get asked at the till if we were helped. But say no sometime and see what happens. Usually the person just says “oh” and moves on to the next question. Would we like a bag? Without measuring what is happening in the sales process, we are doing our business and our customers a disservice. Tracking the conversion rates of people who come into contact with us, is important. We need to understand where we are failing and determine where we can make changes in the sales process that will give the customer what they contacted us for and drive sales for us.
Natalie’s example of her defeat in her attempt to buy a swim cap might seem trivial. However, without the ability to understand how to sell, (and we all sell something whether its goods or services, solutions, religion, education, ideas, or even love) we become frustrated and unsuccessful in fulfilling our purpose. With this in mind, perhaps we might become better people if we started teaching sales skills in school with the anticipation that better questioning might just lead to a better society.
Dave Fuller, MBA, is an award winning Certified Professional Business Coach and the author of the book Profit Yourself Healthy email your questions about swimming to dave@profityourselfhealthy.com.
in 1989.
Bergeron said the memory of the country’s worst mass shooting should serve as a call to action to eliminate violence against women that exists to this day.
Earlier Thursday, Justin Trudeau said his government
plans to limit access to handguns and assault weapons to confront gun violence in the country.
Speaking to Montreal radio station 98.5 FM, Trudeau did not rule out a full ban when asked by the host.
“We are currently reflecting on how we are going to do better to counter the violence caused by handguns and assault weapons, yes,” Trudeau said. “What’s happening is unacceptable.”
Later in a news conference, he said his government is currently consulting on the best way to move forward on gun reform.
“I think people across the country expect us to do a better job protecting our citizens and our communities from gun violence,” he said. “There are concerns about the access that criminals have to handguns and assault weapons, and we’re going to look at measures to continue to keep our communities safe.”
In 2015, Trudeau’s Liberals campaigned on a promise to “get handguns and assault weapons off our streets.”
In October, as Ottawa held consultations on a possible ban of
the weapons, groups representing survivors and families of victims of Quebec mass shootings questioned the government’s commitment.
They said they feared reforms would come too late in the government’s mandate to be passed before the next election, scheduled for October 2019.
In a statement, Trudeau noted the victims were targeted because they were women.
“We remember the victims of this hateful act of violence, and unite against the misogyny at the root of this tragedy,” he said. His statement did not mention firearms, but it called for action against violence and discrimination affecting women
In a ceremony Thursday morning, flowers were laid at a Montreal monument honouring the victims: Genevieve Bergeron, Helene Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Maryse Laganiere, Maryse Leclair, AnneMarie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michele Richard, Annie St-Arneault, Annie Turcotte and Barbara Klucznik Widajewicz.
ast
walked
sports
DAVE FULLER
Business Coach
CP PHOTO
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, right, chats with Quebec Premier Francois Legault after a vigil honouring the victims of the 1989 Ecole Polytechnique attack in Montreal on Thursday.
Thermostats hot buttons for Canadians
As fall continues and temperatures drop across Canada, we may be in for a winter of increased home energy use.
December has already brought record-breaking snowfalls to Alberta, and British Columbians are being asked to conserve on account of a natural gas shortage. A Canada-wide survey by Research Co. sought to find out if Canadians are relying more heavily on home heating. Across the country, two in five residents (41 per cent) say their energy use at home has increased over the past few weeks.
Atlantic Canadians, who endured a severe cold snap on the second half of November, are ahead of every other region when it comes to home heating (46 per cent say their use has increased recently), followed by Ontario and British Columbia (43 per cent each), and Manitoba and Saskatchewan (42 per cent).
The provinces where the fewest Canadians are reporting a growth in energy use at home are Quebec (37 per cent) and Alberta (36 per cent).
The cold nights of November also provide the first opportunity to see how Canadian households are handling the thermostat. As part of this survey, we asked those who are married or living with a significant other
who is in charge of setting the temperature at home.
Two in five Canadians (40 per cent) claim to be solely responsible for this task, while fewer than one in five (18 per cent) defer the duty to their spouse or partner.
Three in 10 people surveyed (30 per cent) say they both share equally when it comes to home heating decisions, while 12 per cent are undecided or chose not to answer the question. Canadian men are more likely to claim they are exclusively in charge of the thermostat at home (43 per cent, compared to 38 per cent for women), while Canadian women are more likely to say home heating is a joint responsibility (34 per cent, compared to 25 per cent for men).
Albertans are way ahead of every other region in having the largest proportion of residents (68 per cent) who say they unilaterally call the shots on home heating, followed by Manitoba and Saskatchewan (53 per cent).
Quebec boasts the largest proportion of residents who say home heating decisions are taken by both partners (46 per cent,
compared to the Canadian average of 30 per cent and also the largest number of respondents who defer to their spouse or partner (24 per cent, compared to the Canadian average of 18 per cent).
British Columbia is second to Quebec on reaching home heating decisions bilaterally (34 per cent), followed by Atlantic Canada (33 per cent).
While these numbers point to some pronounced regional differences, it is what we do when our spouse or partner is not looking that adds a necessary layer of analysis.
Regardless of whether the household is one where a single person (supposedly) makes decisions on home heating, there is little stopping us from making our way to the thermostat and changing the settings.
Across the country, three in 10 Canadians (30 per cent) say they change the temperature at home without telling their spouse or significant other “all of the time” or “most of the time,” while just 19 per cent say they have “never” taken this course of action.
Women are decidedly more likely to change the settings without warning (35 per cent) than men (25 per cent). There is little fluctuation across age groups, but some regional disparities become evident once again.
British Columbians are more likely to change the settings when nobody is looking (35 per cent) and the least likely to say
Caribou plan raises questions
Don’t do as I do, just do as I say – where have I heard that before?
As a former resident of Chetwynd, and one who worked more than a decade in their local forest industry, I can’t help feeling a sense of foreboding as I follow the saga over caribou protection measures.
The more I read, and the more I follow this story, the more the words “do as I say, not as I do” keep coming to mind. Both the federal and provincial governments have been touting new rules and big changes in their respective environmental assessment (EA) processes.
Headlines read: more consultation, more local involvement, more listening, more information, more studies, more First Nations input. And on and on and on it goes.
OK, Mr. Prime Minister and Mr. Premier, what about the reverse? What happens when you two are looking to make changes that affect the environment and local economies? Do your new rules apply to what you do? Do you really want to understand what your decisions might mean locally? Are local concerns and fears relevant or is it only what you decide that matters? And when you roll out your new plan, are we all just supposed to fall in line and ensure it’s implemented?
Now, I do understand that you may be in the early stages of looking at what causes caribou population declines, what ef-
fects people and industries have on those, but this is where you should be engaging with not just First Nations, but local governments, affected industries, and other impacted stakeholders.
Both of your new EAs tout early engagement so we all can get a better understanding of not only what may be proposed, but what may be affected by your proposed project.
Yes, I call this a project. If you close large areas to general public access and return them to natural conditions, along with that comes the need to “unbuild” infrastructure and that should be subject to a full EA.
To you, it may seem that protecting a small part of B.C. (420,000 hectares out of a total B.C. land base of 94.4735 million hectares) is insignificant, and doesn’t meet the threshold of “significant,” but for local people, it is. And is this just the start?
Do you do the same for the other caribou herds in Northeast B.C.? Does another 400,000 hectares get added for the each of the other herds?
Like most people, I do not want to see our caribou herds go extinct but the people of Northeast B.C. are most affected by any decisions made in setting aside huge areas of land as off-limits. Figure us if we’re scared as to what it may mean to hundreds, if not thousands, of livelihoods.
You have stated you are currently negotiating some types of agreements with local First Nations, but this is not just a First Nations issue.
The caribou do not belong to the signatories of Treaty 8. They belong to all of us, and, in that, all of us need to have a say.
Yes, First Nations do have constitutionally protected rights the rest of us do not have, but they are not the only ones who should be at the table to decide on what measures will be taken and what a protection plan will look like.
The final plan should be one that we all can participate in creating, and when that is completed, is measured against the constitutionally protected rights of First Nations, not the other way around.
Or is there a more sinister plan at play?
Are there some backroom dealings to protect more lands from public access and industrial development as trade-offs for impacts that Site C and other industries are creating?
Is there a plan to trade more land rights in exchange for dropping Site C court challenges?
I sure hope not, as that is blatantly unfair to all of us, and not just non First Nations peoples.
Now, as a simple start, why don’t you state what you intend to accomplish?
Not all will agree with what you propose and wish to accomplish, but that is the Canadian process: consult, engage, create, modify, consult and engage again.
– Evan Saugstad lives in Fort St. John
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they would never fidget with the controls without the knowledge of their spouse or partner (eight per cent).
The results paint a clear picture of how coupled Canadians in specific provinces are dealing with the so-called “thermostat war.” Quebecers appear to be extremely respectful, in great part because they affirm that the decision on home heating is taken equally.
More than a third would not touch the thermostat after consensus has been reached.
British Columbians may have one of the highest proportions of people in the country who say they decide home heating settings equally.
However, they are also more likely to do whatever they please – without consultation.
Residents of Saskatchewan and Manitoba are more likely admit they fool around with the thermostat “only sometimes.”
For them, adjusting the settings seems to be determined on a case-by-case basis. Albertans are in a league of their own. They are more likely to say they take charge individually and are also the least likely to be overruled. They must be doing something right.
– Mario Canseco is the president of Research Co. and writes regularly for Glacier Media newspapers.
Climate plan will have big price tag
Considering that it amounts to a second attempt after the first one didn’t work, Wednesday’s climate-plan announcement was a touch grandiose and overproduced.
The background briefing, the validators, the hundred-plus invited guests, the orchestrated supportive reaction, the “symbolic” baby, it all added up to a big pageant before Premier John Horgan got anywhere near the details.
Those details are dramatic enough that they didn’t need the extra layer of hype.
What the government committed to was a heavily subsidized, economy-wide shift off oil and on to electricity that will transform the province – if governments follow the plan.
It’s modelled on the effort started by then-premier Gordon Campbell in 2008. Horgan struck a grace note by noting Campbell’s foresight.
Campbell had the same grand vision, the same urgency and the same charts with trend lines showing plunging carbon emissions once the plan took hold.
It didn’t happen. Officials on Wednesday acknowledged that B.C.’s annual emissions – about what China produces in a few days – are marginally below what they were a decade ago. It’s considered a win that they didn’t go up with population growth and a sustained economic boom.
But the original firm target of a 30 per cent drop by 2020 was missed by a country mile.
Maybe it was the carbon-tax coasting that happened under former premier Christy Clark. Maybe the modelling was off.
Whatever the case, the NDPGreen version is a bid to reset the greenhouse-gas-emission picture in B.C. and drive emissions down across the board – 40 per cent below 2007 levels by 2030.
The goal of an 80 per cent cut in emissions by 2050 is unchanged. The problem is that the trend line down to that level has to be much steeper, since one-quarter of the time has elapsed since that target was set.
It’s branded “CleanBC” (the NDP is borrowing the B.C. Liberal penchant for squishing words together; Campbell’s version was LiveSmart).
That brand will be touted globally as B.C. tries to capitalize on opportunities to cash in on lowcarbon moves elsewhere.
At the same time, government will target emissions in the
transportation sphere, the built environment and industry at large.
But all the measures in mind still leave B.C. 25 per cent short, so more moves will have to be devised over the next two years just to meet the 2030 target, let alone the 2050 one.
There are two keys that will drive the plan and determine how successful it is. The first is massive, ongoing subsidies. The government is going to front thousands of dollars to people buying zeroemission vehicles, in order to banish gas vehicles from new-car lots by 2040. It will spend millions more on charging stations.
And huge new sums will be made available over time for retrofitting houses and commercial buildings to lower energy costs and emissions. Plus, carbontax protection for lower-income earners is written into law and it’s going to be enhanced.
There were no overall dollar figures for CleanBC on hand. The first glimpse of costs will be in next February’s budget and they’ll be substantial.
The steadily rising carbon tax will cover some of the costs, now that it’s no longer revenue-neutral. Some industries will be paid directly from that pot to clean up their acts.
The second key aspect is electrification on a huge scale. Meeting the targets means increasing demand for electricity by eight per cent. That’s the equivalent of supplying the city of Vancouver. Meeting the longer-range goals could raise electricity demand by as much as 50 per cent. To continue the equivalency, that’s about six new Vancouvers worth of demand over the next 30 years just to reduce emissions, never mind accommodate growth.
And it all has to be clean electricity, meaning substantial additional volumes of new electricity will have to be generated.
The NDP’s days of fighting the carbon tax and hemming and hawing over the Site C dam are long gone.
It will need every nickel it can wangle out of a much-higher carbon tax.
And it will need to produce electrons from any running water it sees to meet the goal of saving the world in the next 30 years.
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
LES LEYNE
In the Fast Leyne
MARIO CANSECO Glacier Media
EVAN SAUGSTAD
People walk past an advertisement for Huawei at a subway station in Hong Kong on Thursday. Canadian authorities said Wednesday that they have arrested Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou for possible extradition to the United States.
Canadians could face retaliation over arrest of Chinese executive
Mike BLANCHFIELD Citizen news service
OTTAWA — Canada’s arrest of a Chinese telecommunications executive in Vancouver at the request of the United States sparked widespread surprise, but in security and diplomatic circles it was pure deja vu. Canada did a similar favour for the Americans in July 2014 when it arrested a Chinese businessman in British Columbia for hacking the data bases of U.S. defence contractors to steal military secrets.
In that case, Su Bin – a Chinese national who had permanent residency in Canada – was eventually extradited to the U.S. where he pleaded guilty in 2016 to a criminal conspiracy, years in the making, to steal U.S. military secrets. He was sentenced to 46 months in prison.
But it’s what happened a month after Su’s initial arrest that now has some spooked: Canadians Julia and Kevin Garratt, who lived three decades in China operating a coffee shop and doing Christian aid work, were arrested and
accused of spying and stealing military secrets.
Now, there are fears of what China may do next.
The Garratts have since been released after a two-year ordeal, but in light of last Saturday’s arrest of Huawei Technologies’ chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, concern is rising that other Canadians in China are at risk of being arrested in retaliation.
“China will be furious and look for means of punishing us, in part as an example for others,” David Mulroney, a former Canadian ambassador to China, said Thursday.
“That could include tit-for-tat moves against Canadians, a motive that many, myself included, suspect to have been at the bottom of the 2014 arrest and imprisonment of Canadians Julia and Kevin Garratt.”
That view is shared by other international security analysts after Canada’s Justice Department said the U.S. is seeking Meng’s extradition. Canada is not providing further details about the case because of a court-ordered publication ban on her pending bail hearing, and Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau said Thursday he’s not commenting on an independent legal process.
“The Chinese are likely to play tit-for-tat on this one and we should be ready for it,” said Fen Hampson, the director of the global security program at the Centre for International Governance Innovation based in southern Ontario. Stephanie Carvin, a former Canadian security analyst who teaches at Carleton University,
said on Twitter: “In light of the #Huawei arrest, a reminder that China takes innocent Canadians hostage on a whim for its own purposes. Would not want to be a Canadian business leader in China right now.”
Chinese foreign-ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters Thursday that his government wants Canadian officials to reveal their reasoning. He said Meng’s legal rights must be ensured, adding that neither Canadian nor American officials had so far responded to China’s concerns.
China’s embassy in Ottawa has also branded Meng’s arrest as a serious violation of human rights.
But Trudeau said Thursday he hasn’t talked to any international counterparts about the affair, and he made clear he’s staying out of it. He said his office got “a few days’ notice that this was in the works” but he emphasized the actions of law enforcement officials are independent from politics.
“We are a country of an independent judiciary, and the appropriate authorities took the decisions in this case without any political involvement or interference.”
Some say Canada’s firm stand against China could have an economic cost as it tries to deepen trade ties. Carvin speculated on Twitter that this could affect the sale of Canadian lobsters, among other things.
Others say Canada needs to stand firm in the face of Chinese pressure. They say Beijing is trying to press Canada where it might sense vulnerability – Ottawa’s own strained relations with the Trump administration in Washington over tariffs and trade.
“It’s the bully next door Trudeau and Canadians have the most to worry about, and if the choice is between Beijing or Washington, Washington will always trump Beijing,” said Hampson.
Mulroney said the Meng case has brought Canada and China to an inevitable reckoning in their relationship.
“China has entertained hopes that they could split us away from the U.S. in the Trump era,” he said.
“This reminds the Chinese, and ourselves, that we are part of an international order backed by the U.S.”
MENG
AP PHOTO
Man sexually assaulted during prison tour awarded damages Chiefs boo Scheer at AFN meeting
Citizen news service
VANCOUVER — A man who was required to visit a notorious British Columbia prison as part of a “scared straight” program has been awarded $175,000 in damages for a sexual assault that happened during the tour.
The man, only identified by his initials in the judgment, was 14 in the late 1970s when he was placed on probation for breaking and entering.
The B.C. Supreme Court decision says as part of his probation he was required to take a tour of the now-closed Oakalla prison and was sexually assaulted after a corrections officer forced him into a cell with five inmates.
The man’s lawsuit named the British Columbia government and Roderic MacDougall, a former prison guard who was convicted for indecent and sexual assaults against prisoners.
Justice Jennifer Duncan ruled the sexual assault took place and the province is liable, but the plaintiff couldn’t establish that MacDougall was the officer who
facilitated the attack.
She awarded the man, who is now 54 years old, $150,000 in damages and $25,000 for the cost of future care, plus his legal costs.
“The structure and operation of the youth tour program in 1978 left a great deal to be desired from a modern perspective, to put in mildly,” Duncan said in her ruling posted Wednesday.
“The officers were left to choose the inmates they felt were appropriate to interact with the youth” said the judge, who noted that the youth could have been exposed to inmates facing sex charges.
“The youth were subjected to catcalls and verbal abuse by inmates, but that seemed to depend on whether the youth appeared suitably chastened by the experience. The purpose of the program was, after all, to scare children into disavowing a life of crime.”
Several successful civil court lawsuits from other prisoners were filed against MacDougall.
Janice DICKSON Citizen news service
OTTAWA — Hundreds of First Nations chiefs booed Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer on Thursday when the opposition leader told them they will have to wait until his platform is released to see how he differs from former prime minister Stephen Harper.
The Assembly of First Nations chiefs were meeting in a downtown Ottawa hotel. During a question-andanswer session with the opposition leader, chiefs asked Scheer how he’s different from Harper, with one asking him to name one policy stance he holds that’s different from Harper’s and another asking how he plans to rebuild trust with First Nations people that “Harper lost.”
Chief Elaine Johnston of Serpent River First Nation in northern Ontario told Scheer that First Nations people have not had positive relationships with Conservative governments, including the new one in Ontario.
“My concern here is when you’re talking about the spirit of reconciliation, what are you going to do in that spirit of reconciliation that is going to be different than your predecessors in the Conservative government? I need to hear that because I’m not seeing it. The rhetoric is there, but there has not been positive action,” she said.
Jessica Jacobs, a councillor for Ta’an Kwach’an Council in Yukon, asked Scheer flatly how he feels about Indigenous people and issues and how he plans to try to fix the relationship between the Conservative party and Indigenous people in Canada.
“First two questions were kind of similar ... the differentiation between myself and the previous Conservative government specifically when it comes to policy. So on that I am going to have to ask you to have a little bit of patience for when our platform gets released,” Scheer said, and was hit by the wave of boos.
Scheer quickly added that Indigenous people will see change. In the last election the Conservatives did not win support from a large majority of First Nations communities and people and he wants to fix that, he said. “Part of that is coming to these kinds of meetings, in a respectful way.”
But Scheer did suggest his party would seek to protect and promote Indigenous languages, saying he and AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde have already talked about it.
That will be part of a whole segment of the Conservative party’s election platform, said Scheer, which he vowed would not be crafted only by his inner circle.
“I’d be happy to come back at a future time and explain more detailed aspects of what we’ll be campaigning on, but it will be a different approach to the Liberals. It will be an approach that’s based on getting the relationship right, but also getting results,” he said. “You talked about what we’re going to do to overcome the relationship challenges that we may have had in the past. It is frustrating for me as a Conservative when I think about the great things that we did do in terms of policies.”
He said it was a Conservative government that rec-
ognized Indigenous rights and extended the vote to First Nations people and a Conservative government appointed the first First Nations senator. He also raised Harper’s apology in the House of Commons that acknowledged the legacy of the residentialschool system.
“So we have these legacies but clearly when you don’t have the relationship right... often tangible results get overlooked or at least get viewed in a different way.”
Scheer said the big hurdle for the Conservative party is to get that relationship back on track so the party and Indigenous people can work more closely together “in that spirit of trust.”
“I view Indigenous Canadians as an integral part of our society, proud of their contribution to Canadian history, great deal of respect for all they did preConfederation, the way that they have been partners in building this society we have, and I’m very proud to represent a dozen First Nations communities in my own riding,” the Saskatchewan MP said.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Green Leader Elizabeth May also addressed chiefs Thursday. Singh raised NDP MP Romeo Saganash’s private member’s bill aimed at ensuring Canada’s laws are in harmony with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, calling it a powerful and transformative piece of legislation.
Singh said that while the last three years seem like a “ray of hope” given the 10 years before, half steps are not enough and paternalism toward Indigenous people needs to be abandoned.
May said she will advocate for Indigenous people in the next election, saying that Green party candidates want to tell the truth about what’s happening to Indigenous people.
“I just want you to know I’m here in full solidarity.”
SCHEER
Challenge complete, Hampole takes aim at nationals
long program at last year’s national championships in Vancouver.
Portland offence cause for Cougars’ concern
Ted CLARKE Citizen staff
Team Canada is calling Portland Winterhawks centre Cody Glass.
Looking at his stats this season, who wouldn’t want the 19-yearold Winnipeg native on the team? Glass ranks fourth in scoring in the Western Hockey League with 21 goals and 51 points in 24 games.
Canada’s world junior camp starts Tuesday in Victoria and Glass is likely a shoo-in to make the roster. He’s done everything the Vegas Golden Knights expected he would when they picked him sixth overall as their first-ever choice in the 2017 NHL draft.
The Prince George Cougars are about to be reminded what Glass is all about when they get to play against him in a two-game set which starts tonight in Portland.
As productive as Glass has been, there’s one other Winterhawk with more points this season. Danish import Joachim Blichfeld has been dynamite as the left winger on Glass’s line
with right winger Ryan Hughes. Through 28 games. Blichfeld has 25 goals and 29 assists for 54 points and ranks third in the WHL scoring race, six points behind Brett Leason of the Prince Albert Raiders and Trey Fix-Wolanski of the Edmonton Oil Kings. Glass and Blichfeld each collected five points in their most recent game Sunday, a 10-2 blowout victory over the visiting Kootenay Ice. Portland also has 31-point centre Reece Newkirk and a couple
of stud defenceman – Jared Freadrich (3-21-24) and Carolina Hurricanes pick Brendan DeJong (4-12-16) – who love to jump into the rush.
The Hawks (16-10-0-2) are flying high as the second-place team in the U.S. Division. Just two other teams – Prince Albert (136) and Edmonton (117) – have scored more goals than Portland (114). Compare that with the Cougars’ 66-goal total in 28 games and it becomes clear how difficult a task it will be for the Cougars to stifle the Winterhawks offence in back-to-back games tonight and Saturday.
“They’ve got some horses up front with the likes of Cody Glass, a special player, it’s only a matter of time before we see him in the National League,” said Cougars head coach Richard Matvichuk.
“That Blichfeld kid is playing well too, as a 20. They’ve got some power up front and we’ll have to manage the pucks in the right areas and do the right things.”
see GAUTHIER, page 10
Ted CLARKE Citizen staff tclarke@pgcitizen.ca
Figure skater Justin Hampole was attempting to carve a top-10 finish at Skate Canada Challenge and just about reached his target.
He placed 11th out of 23 junior men from across the country who gathered in Edmonton for last weekend’s event and with that top-18 result Hampole has qualified for the Canadian Tire national skating championships for the third straight year.
“My main goal was to qualify for Canadians again this year and I did that, and everything after that came as a bonus,” said Hampole. “It was always in the back of my mind that I wanted to be in the top 10 but I was mainly focused on laying out two solid programs that would get me to move on to Canadians.”
loops and two double-Axels. Hampole’s total score of 139.82 was not a personal best. The judging system has been revamped this season and skaters are being marked slightly lower than in previous years. But he figures both his performances in Edmonton were better than a few weeks ago at the Super Series B.C. Yukon section championships in Coquitlam, where he finished third.
Hampole began his sixth Skate Canada Challenge and second as a junior skater last Saturday with his best performance of the season...
Hampole began his sixth Skate Canada Challenge and second as a junior skater last Saturday with his best performance of the season when he posted an eighthplace score of 52.6 with the short program.
In his free skate on Sunday, Hampole wasn’t quite so flawless and he ended up with the 10th-best score of the day (87.44 points) and finished 11th overall.
“I had a really good short, almost a clean skate with no falls, and I was really happy with it,” said Hampole. “It’s a newer program and the song is Sign of the Times by Harry Styles and I’m really happy with that performance.”
Hampole landed three of his four triples in his free skate. The one that’s given him the most difficulty, a triple flip, proved elusive for him in Edmonton.
“I had one fall but everything else was done really nicely,” he said. “There are still some things I wish I’d done better but it’s still a great stepping block for the Canadians for the long. The triple-flip is usually one of my best jumps in practice but it’s a new element for me and under pressure it’s been a bit tough. In the short I landed it really nicely.”
His free skate includes two triple Lutzes, one triple-flip, two triple-
The two junior men who finished ahead of him – section champion Alexa Rakis of Burnaby and Beres Clements of Gibsons –finished fourth and third respectively at Skate Canada Challenge. Alistair Lam of Hamilton won the gold medal and Jack Dushenski of Toronto was the silver medalist. A back injury that’s been bothering Hampole most of the year refused to go away and has curtailed his training. He’s still receiving physiotherapy and he’s hoping his pain will diminish as he gears up for the biggest competition of the season.
“I’m still injured,” he said. “Right before my long program I had to make some modifications just because I was experiencing pain in my back. Moving forward after Challenge, I’ll be in rehab for a while and I’m still on the ice but I’m reducing my load and hopefully that will help me out.”
Coached by Rory Allen and Andrea Ludditt, Hampole will have about a month to fine tune before he packs his bags for the Canadian Tire national championships in Saint John, N.B., Jan. 13-20. He’ll have a couple days to adjust to the four-hour time change before he skates his short program on Jan. 14.
The junior men’s free program is scheduled for Jan. 16.
Last year, as a first-year junior, Hampole finished 14th at nationals. Because of his August birthday, which falls after the June 30th cutoff, he’s eligible to compete as a junior skater for three more years.
“My goal is definitely top 10,” he said. “I’m just going to continue my training and keep doing what I have been doing this season and I think it will go really well if I just do that. I think we’re set on a good plan right now.”
Spruce Kings clashing with Clippers
Citizen staff
The Prince George Spruce Kings are back in the B.C. Hockey League penthouse suite and they intend to stay there at least heading into next week.
To ensure that possibility they’ll have to find a way to beat the Nanaimo Clippers tonight at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena.
A win would leave the first-overall Spruce Kings (22-8-1-2) three points ahead of the second-overall Chilliwack Chiefs. The Chiefs will make up the game they hold over Prince George when they host Powell River on Saturday and
Trail on Sunday. The Clippers (12-16-0-0) have 24 points, about half the 47-point total of the Spruce Kings, but Namaino has played only 28 games, five fewer than Prince George. The Clippers have struggled to score this season, with 78 goals in those 28 games, ahead of just one team, Alberni Valley, which has scored 72 times.
Ethan Scardina is the only Clipper producing at a point-per-game pace or better. The 18-year-old from White Rock has 12 goals and 16 assists for 28 points in 28 games. Game time tonight is 7 p.m.
HANDOUT PHOTO COURTESY JUSTIN HAMPOLE
Prince George figure skater Justin Hampole competes in the
Creating traffic
The puck bounces off Austin Watson of the Nashville Predators as he screens Vancouver Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom on Thursday night in Vancouver. The Canucks upset the injury-riddled Predators 5-3.
Oosthuizen has lead on home soil
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Louis Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open champion, led the South African Open by a shot after a 9-under 62 in the first round on Thursday.
Oosthuizen, playing his home Open for the first time in eight years, made a brilliant start at Randburg Golf Club in Johannesburg with nine birdies, including six in an eight-hole surge on the back nine, and no bogeys.
“It was one of those rounds where you don’t really look at any scoreboard or your card, you just play,” he said. “I drove it really well and gave myself good opportunities to hit it close.”
Oosthuizen was one stroke ahead of
Kurt Kitayama of the U.S., who won the Mauritius Open last weekend, and surprise challenger Madalitso Muthiya of Zambia.
Zander Lombard was fourth on 64 while Ernie Els, a five-time winner of the event, opened with a 5-under 66. Els, 49, had a run of five birdies in six holes from the seventh.
His last victory at the South African Open was in 2010, and his previous win anywhere on the European Tour came in 2013.
The tournament is being played on the Firethorn Course and the Bushwillow Course. Players will have a round on each before the final 36 holes are held at Firethorn.
Leicester helicopter crash caused by mechanical fault
LONDON (AP) — Investigators say the helicopter involved in a crash that killed the owner of English soccer team Leicester and four other people lost control because of a mechanical fault.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch says the mechanism linking the pilot’s pedals with the tail rotor blades became disconnected, resulting in the helicopter making an uncontrollable right turn before it spun and crashed.
Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, the Thai
retail entrepreneur who owned Leicester, was among those killed when his aircraft crashed and burst in flames outside the King Power Stadium following a Premier League game on Oct. 27.
The AAIB provided its update on Thursday after a detailed examination of the helicopter’s control system. It will continue to investigate. Footage of the incident appears to show that sections of the tail rotor may have fallen off in mid-air.
Mayweather plans to fight kickboxer
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Floyd Mayweather says he and Japanese kickboxing star
Tenshin Nasukawa will meet after all –but only in a nine-minute New Year’s Eve exhibition.
Mayweather said the match in Tokyo would be for entertainment purposes
only, with no judges, no official record –and no kicking. “I’m in the entertainment business.
That’s what I go out there to do,” Mayweather said Thursday at his Las Vegas gym. “I love to do this. I’m working out to put on a show for three rounds.”
Gauthier getting start in Portland
from page 9
“Discipline is a huge part. We’ve got to stay out of the penalty box.”
Neither team has been very good at doing that. The Winterhawks have 422 penalty minutes (fourth-most in the WHL), just ahead of the Cougars 413 minutes (fifth overall).
The Cougars (11-14-1-2) have dropped to fifth in the B.C. Division but they’re just three points behind the second-place Kelowna Rockets, having played two fewer games than Kelowna.
The Cats practiced Thursday in Portland and Matvichuk said it was a high-tempo session. He’s hoping to see more regular power-play point production from players like Josh Maser, who had a goal and two assists last game after going seven games with just one point.
“We’re just working some things offensively to try to create some more offence and we changed a couple things within our system and hopefully they’ll pay off this weekend.
“(Maser’s) kind of snakebitten. He’s had the opportunity to probably have four to six more power-play goals. It’s not bouncing that way now. It’s one thing to not score on your chances, but if you weren’t getting the chances (which Maser is) then you’d have to go look elsewhere.”
The weekend games will be the first in Portland for Cougar forwards Ilijah Colina and Connor Bowie since the Winterhawks traded them to Prince George in the Dennis Cholowski deal.
Matvichuk intends to start Taylor Gauthier in goal. He played both games last weekend at home against Victoria and its obvious he still holds the role as the starter despite a couple shaky performances the past couple weeks in which his youth as a WHL goalie was exposed.
“We’ve got to remember he’s only a 17-year-old kid and he has a lot of pressure going on with his draft year and the more we can keep him focused and the more he can play him through his growing pains, the better he’s going to be,” said Matvichuk. “You look around the league at Ian Scott (the Prince Albert Raiders goalie who sports a WHL-best 1.62 goals-against average). His first couple years in the league wasn’t his best but all of sudden the switch went
The weekend games will be the first in Portland for Cougar forwards Ilijah Colina and Connor Bowie since the Winterhawks traded them to Prince George in the Dennis Cholowski deal.
off and his maturity took over and he’s one of the top goaltenders in the league.”
The Cougars gave up four first-period goals in a 5-2 loss to Victoria last Saturday but rebounded with a much better outing in the rematch Sunday afternoon when they beat the Royals 5-3.
“It was a tough eight minutes, the first eight minutes of the first period we kind of fell asleep with three breakaways and a bad goal on the power play and that’s not our team,” said Matvichuk. “Both those games were very similar, it’s just that Victoria scored on their chances in the first one and in the second one we scored on ours.”
The Cougars left on Wednesday for their 11-game trip and won’t be back until the second week of January. The nearly six-week gap between home games will be the longest for the Cougars since the team moved from Victoria in 1994.
“The good thing about being away is you’re not thinking about the Christmas break or your families and friends and your billets, so it’s almost a blessing in disguise that we’re away,” said Matvichuk. “We’re able to keep them focused and we’ll do some team bonding activities planned on Sunday. It’s a matter of keeping them focused. We need these wins when we can get them.”
The Cougars will be without one of their top forwards tonight. Winger Jackson Leppard was suspended one game for being assessed a game misconduct at the end of Sunday’s game. D Tyson Phare is out for the next three or four weeks with a knee injury, while D Cameron MacPhee had shoulder surgery and could miss the rest of the season.
Tandy leads Canadians in World Cup race
Citizen staff
Megan Tandy was the top Canadian Thursday, finishing 62nd in the BMW World Cup biathlon women’s 15-kilometre individual race in Pokljuka, Slovenia.
The 30-year-old Caledonia Nordic Ski Club member from Prince George stopped the clock four minutes 30.4 seconds after gold-medalist Yulia Dzhilma of Ukraine crossed the finish. Dzhilma shot clean in four shooting bouts and finished the course in 43:06.6 for her first World Cup win.
Tandy missed three of her 10 prone targets and cleaned all 10 standing targets. Rosanna Crawford of Canmore, Alta., placed 64th, 4:34.7 behind the winning pace, after three misses on the range. Emma
Smith shuts out Wild
Citizen news service
CALGARY — Mike Smith pumped his fist after a 31-save shutout for the Calgary Flames in a 2-0 win over the visiting Minnesota Wild on Thursday.
Calgary’s goaltender earned his second shutout of the season, the 38th of his career, and improved to 5-0 in his last five appearances.
“That’s the only time of the game I can celebrate, is when we win the game,” Smith said. “It’s always nice, especially in a close game to hear the horn go off at the end and get the two points.
“I could honestly care less about the shutout. It’s just a bonus, but I’m more celebrating because that’s the only time I can in a game.”
Elias Lindholm scored twice for his 14th goal and 15th goals of the season. The Swede has 32 points in 29 games in his first season as a Flame.
His career season-high is 17 goals for the Carolina Hurricanes in 2014-15.
Johnny Gaudreau and Calgary captain
Mark Giordano assisted on both Lindholm goals Thursday.
“We find ways to score. It’s good for us and good for the team,” Lindholm said. “Smitty made some huge saves for us at key moments so I have to thank him for this one.”
Calgary topped the Pacific Division at 18-9-2 and improved to 13-2 this season when scoring the first goal of the game. The Flames are at home to the Nashville Predators on Saturday.
Minnesota (15-11-2) dropped to 1-2 on a road trip in which the Wild face five different Canadian teams in a row for the first time in franchise history. Minnesota is in Edmonton on Friday.
Wild starting goaltender Alex Stalock stopped 18 shots in the loss.
“I thought we were sloppy,” Minnesota head coach Bruce Boudreau said. “Right
Lunder of Vernon was 71st (5:22.2 behind, with four misses), and Nadia Moser of Whitehorse, Yukon was 98th, 10:20.4 off the pace with seven missed targets. In the men’s 20 km individual event postponed until Thursday due to foggy conditions, Martin Fourcade of France won gold in 47:09.2. Canadian brothers Scott and Christian Gow of Canmore were not far behind. Scott finished 14th overall, 1:43.3 behind Fourcade, while Christian was 16th, 1:59.2 off the pace. Each of the Gows had just one miss. Brendan Green of Hay River, N.W.T., was 100th, 9:04.1 behind. He missed seven of 20 targets. World Cup action resumes today with the men’s 10 km sprint, followed on Saturday by the women’s 7.5 km sprint. The pursuits are scheduled for Sunday.
from the get-go they had two really good chances in the first five minutes.
“I always think for the most part the effort was there, but a lot of our guys weren’t handling the puck well. Alex played a really good game and kept us in there, especially at the beginning.”
The Flames had rallied for a 9-6 win in Columbus on Tuesday when Calgary trailed the Blue Jackets 4-1 early in the second period.
Smith relieved David Rittich after one period and stopped 13 shots in the win in Columbus.
Smith held off Minnesota on a pair of power-play chances in the second period and another to end Thursday’s game when the Wild had two attackers with an empty net.
“He was good tonight,” Boudreau said. “When he’s on, he’s really on. Everybody knows that. When he’s off, he’s really off.” Smith got his shoulder on a point-blank shot from Minnesota’s Matt Dumba, the top-scoring defenceman in the NHL, during a second-period power-play for a key stop in the game.
“I think the guys have bailed me out a lot this year so I think it’s nice to make some saves and contribute on the team’s success,” the 36-year-old veteran said.
Smith checked Wild leading goal scorer Zach Parise in the second period when the goalie came out of his net to play the puck.
“I wasn’t trying to hit him, I was just trying to protect the puck,” Smith said. “They teach you that in minor hockey, to turn your back and get your big butt out.”
Dumba steamrolled Calgary centre Mikael Backlund in the final minute of the game. Flames forward Ryan Lomberg went after Dumba, which resulted in a Calgary penalty.
“I think it’s showing no respect for the player and for the game,” Lindholm said of the Dumba check.
Red Wings spoil Nylander’s return
Citizen news service
TORONTO — Dylan Larkin
scored at 2:48 of overtime as the Detroit Red Wings beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 on Thursday despite blowing a three-goal lead in the third period.
Larkin moved in on a breakaway after taking a pass over the top from Gustav Nyquist, who had a goal and two assists, and beat Garret Sparks between the pads to snap the Leafs’ five-game winning streak.
Mike Green, with a goal and an assist, Jonathan Ericsson and Luke Glendening also scored for Detroit (13-12-4). Former Leafs goalie Jonathan Bernier stopped 27 shots for the Wings. Larkin also had an assist.
Andreas Johnsson and Kasperi Kapanen, with a goal and an assist each, John Tavares and Zach Hyman scored for Toronto (20-8-1). Jake Gardiner added two assists.
Garret Sparks made 27 saves for the Leafs with No. 1 goalie Frederik Andersen getting the night off after facing 40-plus shots in four straight starts.
William Nylander suited up for his first game since coming to terms with Toronto on a new sixyear, US$45-million contract over the weekend to end a contract impasse that cost the restricted free agent the season’s first 26 games, but wasn’t a factor.
The 22-year-old winger, who got a mostly warm reception when he stepped on the ice for his first shift, started on a line with Auston Matthews and Patrick Marleau before getting
SPORTS IN BRIEF
Jacobs tops so far at Canada Cup
ESTEVAN, Sask. (CP) — Defending men’s champion Reid Carruthers of Winnipeg has yet to earn his first win through six draws at the Canada Cup. Carruthers was toppled by Kevin Koe 4-2 in Thursday’s evening draw to fall to 0-4, while the Calgary skip improved his record to 3-1 with the victory. Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher downed Matthew Dunstone 8-6 in the other men’s late draw to keep pace with Koe at 3-1. Regina’s Dunstone sits at the bottom of the standings with Carruthers at 0-4.
Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., leads the men’s side with a 4-0 record in round-robin play. There’s a three-way tie atop the women’s standings after Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones, Casey Scheidegger of Lethbridge, Atla., and Winnipeg’s Kerri Einarson earned evening draw victories to move to 3-1. Jones beat Ottawa’s Rachel
benched midway through the third period.
“He’s an intelligent player,”
Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said of Nylander before the game.
“Once he gets up to speed he’ll be real good. We expect him to have energy tonight.
“He should be the freshest guy in hockey.”
But neither Nylander or most of his teammates looked fresh or had much energy through 40 minutes against an injury-hit opponent missing a number of
Homan (2-2) 9-5, Scheidegger defeated Winnipeg’s Allison Flaxey (1-3) 12-2 while Einarson got past Winnipeg’s Darcy Robertson (1-3) 8-7. Round-robin play continues today.
Henry runs into NFL record book
NASHVILLE (AP) — Derrick Henry sped and stiff-armed his way to a record-tying 99-yard touchdown run and the Tennessee Titans routed the Jacksonville Jaguars 30-9 on Thursday night to stay in the playoff chase.
And that was just part of an amazing night for Henry.
Henry tied Tony Dorsett’s 99-yarder on Jan. 3, 1983, for Dallas against Minnesota for the longest TD run in NFL history.
Henry ran to his left and ran up the sideline, stiff-arming first Jaguars cornerback A.J. Bouye, then rookie linebacker Leon Jacobs twice and finally a shove to linebacker Myles Jack to finish off the TD.
The 2015 Heisman Trophy winner, celebrated by striking the Heisman pose not once, but twice.
Henry set a franchise record with 238 yards on just 16 carries,
regulars as the Leafs trailed 4-1 through two periods.
Toronto came to life in the third, however, scoring three goals in just under nine minutes to tie it as Babcock put his lines in a blender, including the stapling of Nylander to the bench.
Tavares made it 4-2 when he ripped his 18th past Bernier off the rush at 2:38 of the third.
Sparks, who had a shaky opening, made a nice pad stop on Larkin at the other end to keep his team within striking distance
topping the previous mark of 228 yards set by Chris Johnson in 2009 against yes, the Jaguars.
Henry finished with a career-high four TDs, tying Lorenzo White and Hall of Fame running back Earl Campbell for most rushing TDs in a single game in franchise history. Henry also became the first player in the NFL with four rushing TDs in a game since Jonas Gray of the Patriots in Week 11 in 2014.
Titans coach Mike Vrabel called Henry’s night “very impressive.” With the rout and second win in a row, the Titans (7-6) stayed in AFC playoff contention with their fourth straight victory over their oldest division rival. They’ve won six of their last seven against Jacksonville. The Jaguars (4-9) have lost eight of their last nine.
Irving leads Celtics past Knicks
BOSTON (AP) — Kyrie Irving heard all of the doubts when the Celtics, who were among the favourites to win the Eastern Conference, still had a .500 record through Thanksgiving. The low point may have been a home loss to the Knicks that
before Hyman potted his seventh on a rebound at 8:50.
Johnsson then chipped his sixth up and over Bernier from in tight after Matthews fired a deflected shot off the end boards at 11:36 to make it 4-4 and send Scotiabank Arena into a frenzy.
Connor Brown was stopped on a partial breakaway in the final minute before Detroit’s Nick Jensen hit both posts on a point shot that somehow stayed out at the other end with under 10 seconds to play.
snapped New York’s six-game losing streak. “I was thinking about it since we lost to them,” the Celtics point guard said after scoring 22 points to coast past the Knicks 128-100 on Thursday night and exact a measure of revenge for the embarrassing earlier loss. “I remember players from other teams asking about what’s going on when we were 10-10.”
Irving also had eight assists before leaving the game with about four minutes left, rubbing his right shoulder and swinging it around in pain. He raised his hand for coach Brad Stevens to take him out of the game but couldn’t get his attention and instead walked to the bench at the next whistle.
The shoulder was wrapped in ice when he walked off the court at the end of the game. Irving thought it was his AC joint and said he would be OK.
“I think he got hit,” Stevens said. “He didn’t seem too concerned about it, but he’s going to get looked over, as usual.”
Al Horford had 19 points and 12 rebounds for Boston. Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 22 for New York, which has lost four of its last five games.
Edmonton, Red Deer to host World juniors
Citizen news
Edmonton and Red Deer will host the 2021 world junior hockey championship, Hockey Canada announced Thursday.
It will mark the tournament’s return to Alberta for the first time since Calgary and Edmonton cohosted the 2012 event, drawing a record 455,342 fans.
Red Deer, located near the midway point of the Calgary-Edmonton corridor, was the primary host of the 1995 championship, with some games played in other cities and towns in central Alberta.
“To return to Alberta is an incredible opportunity for Hockey Canada and the IIHF World Junior Championship,” Scott Smith, president and chief operating officer of Hockey Canada, said in a statement. “The province of Alberta and the cities of Edmonton and Red Deer have a history of hosting successful, world-class events.
“We are confident in this committee’s ability to successfully execute on its vision for the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship, and we look forward to working with them to ensure we leave a lasting legacy in Alberta and across the country that helps us continue to grow and foster the game from the grassroots to elite levels.”
Canada will host the world junior championship for the 13th time when the 2019 tournament kicks off on Boxing Day in Victoria and Vancouver.
Stampeders retain five Canadians
(CP) — The Grey Cup champion Calgary Stampeders have resigned five of their Canadians. Punter Rob Maver, kicker Rene Paredes, long-snapper PierreLuc Caron and fullbacks Ante Milanovic-Litre and Charlie Powe all inked deals with the Stamps on Thursday. The five players, who played special teams for the Stampeders this season, have a combined 28 years of CFL experience.
The Toronto Argonauts also extended two Canadian players, locking up defensive linemen Hassan Barry and John Biewald through 2020. Both players joined the Argos this year.
Elsewhere, the Hamilton TigerCats re-signed three Canadians –defensive back Nicholas Parisotto, linebacker Dillon Grondin and wide receiver Mitch O’Connor – as well as two Americans in defensive tackle Bobby Richardson and offensive lineman Isame Faciane.
CP PHOTO
William Nylander of the Toronto Maple Leafs pulls away from Detroit Red Wings defenceman Niklas Kronwall during Thursday’s game in Toronto.
Homeland heroes
Canada not only country that will have CHLers at world juniors
Kyle CICERELLA Citizen news service
Maxim Cajkovic didn’t know a thing about the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League when he left Europe for the 2018-19 season, never mind how the world junior championship is embraced in Canada.
The annual tournament isn’t viewed quite the same back home in Slovakia.
“I hear people in Canada watch it more than the actual men’s championship,” said Cajkovic, a Saint John Sea Dogs forward from Bratislava.
“I talked to my billet family and they told me they watch it every year, every game. And I see all the commercials here so I guess it’s really, really big.”
Canada has invited 29 Canadian Hockey League skaters to selection camp next week, but it isn’t the only country with CHL players at the event.
The 17-year-old Cajkovic is one of many CHL import players that will be leaving his team and heading to camp in an effort to crack his national team’s roster for the tournament that begins Boxing Day in Vancouver and Victoria. Kazakhstan is the only country among the 10 participating teams that won’t have a CHL player.
“It would mean almost everything to me,” said Cajkovic, who went No. 1 to Saint John in the 2018 CHL Import Draft. “I watched world juniors last five years and it’s pretty much my dream to go there.”
The Ontario Hockey League’s Sudbury Wolves will be losing a big part of their early-season success with Finnish goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen heading to the tournament for the second year in a row.
He was Finland’s starter in the 2018 edition in Buffalo and is looking for some redemption after his country was bounced in the quarterfinals by the Czech Republic and placed sixth.
“Last year was a hard year for us but there’s a lot of things to learn from,” said the 19-year-old, who
Schoop, Twins have a deal
Citizen news service
Second baseman Jonathan Schoop and the Twins agreed to a $7.5 million, one-year contract on Thursday, another step in an off-season remake of Minnesota’s infield.
Schoop’s deal would allow him to earn a $100,000 performance bonus for reaching 600 plate appearances, plus additional award bonuses. He was an All-Star with Baltimore in 2017 when he hit .293 with 32 home runs with 105 RBIs.
He was traded to Milwaukee last summer right before the non-waiver deadline and became a free agent last week when the Brewers declined to offer him a 2019 contract rather than allow him to be eligible for salary arbitration. Schoop made $8.5 million in 2018.
The 27-year-old made his major league debut with the Orioles in 2013 and spent five seasons as their regular second baseman, until their salary dump triggered the deal that sent him to the Brewers for second baseman Jonathan Villar and two minor league prospects. Though the Brewers came within one win of reaching the World Series, Schoop went 0-for-8 in the post-season after batting .202 with four home runs and 21 RBIs in 46 games for Milwaukee after the trade.
was taken No. 3 in the CHL import draft. “There’s no easy team in the tournament. You have to be ready for everyone.”
Luukkonen plans to have his parents and girlfriend make the flight over from Finland for the tournament, which is a big deal back home.
“A couple real good years and hosting in Finland, it’s a big thing,” said Luukkonen. “Of course it’s hard for a lot to watch the games when we are in Vancouver but as hockey it’s a big thing.”
Cajkovic has never played for Slovakia’s under-20 squad but was dominant at the past U18s, where he finished second in tournament scoring behind American and top NHL prospect Jack Hughes, who’s expected to be one of the stars at the world juniors.
Cajkovic, a five-foot-11, 179-pound right-handed winger, has had a long road to the CHL, and is closing in on fulfilling his dream of playing in the world juniors after years of travelling around the world looking for the
best competition. He moved away from home with his mom when he was 12 to the Czech Republic to pursue hockey at a higher level, and went on to play two years in Sweden prior to joining the Sea Dogs. He has spent the majority of his young career playing with players much older than him.
“Hockey (is) pretty much everything for me,” said Cajkovic. “It was the only thing I ever played competitively. Started at five, playing with the under-11 guys when I was five.
“I always played with older kids, only season with my age group was the first year in Sweden.”
Players like Luukkonen have used the international spotlight in the past to gain the attention of NHL teams, leading to the Finnish netminder being taken 54th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in 2017.
Cajkovic is hoping to do something similar in 2019.
“You see the rankings and people talking about it... it’s pretty tough for my head to think about all that stuff. I try to stop and just
focus on what I do with Saint John,” said Cajkovic.
“A lot of pressure, most pressure I’ve ever had on me. It’s unbelievable how much pressure there is.”
The main reason he came to the CHL was because he was told it would help his chances of making it to the NHL.
“I didn’t know much, just that it was the junior NHL, best junior league in the world and I would compete with the best players for this age. That was pretty much it. I didn’t know any teams,” said Cajkovic.
Just like Canada, which finds an extra gear when it plays the rival Americans, Cajkovic says that representing Slovakia is always extra special when he lines up across from the Czech Republic.
“Czechs are really good and they think they are better than us and not nice to us, so we just want to beat them,” said Cajkovic. “Basically a rivalry. I don’t think we have anyone else like that.”
Slovakia opens its tournament Dec. 26 against the U.S. in Victo-
ria, where all Group B games are being held. Canada starts against Denmark in Vancouver, the site of all Group A games.
CHL players who are attending national team camps and could be participating in the world junior hockey championship include: Czech Republic: Goalie Jiri Patera (Brandon); Defencemen Filip Kral (Spokane), Radim Salda (Rimouski), Daniel Bukac (Niagara); Forwards Petr Cjaka (Erie), Jakub Lauko (Rouyn-Noranda), Matej Pekar (Barrie), Ostap Safin (Halifax), Krystof Hrabik (Tri-City). Denmark: Goalie Mads Sogaard (Medicine Hat); Forward Philip Schultz (Victoria). Finland: Goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (Sudbury); Defencmen Anttalainen Aleksi (Blainville-Boisbriand), Thomson Lassi (Kelowna).
Russia: Defenceman Dmitry Samorukov (Guelph), Alexander Alexeyev (Red Deer), Alexander Khovanov (Moncton); Forward Ivan Chekhovich (Baie-Comeau).
Slovakia: Won’t be confirmed until Dec. 15.
Sweden: Defenceman Adam Boqvist (London); Forwards Hugo Leufvenius (Sarnia), Rickard Hugg (Kitchener).
Switzerland: Defencemen Nico Gross (Oshawa), Simon Le Coultre (Moncton); Forwards Valentin Nussbaumer (Shawinigan), Nando Eggenberger (Oshawa), Philipp Kurashev (Quebec), Kyen Sopa (Niagara).
USA: Goalie Kyle Keyser (Oshawa); Defenceman Joey Keane (Barrie); Forwards Sasha Chmelevski (Ottawa), Cole Coskey (Saginaw), Jason Robertson (Niagara). (Americans are not considered import players in the CHL).
Playoff stakes high for Vikings, Seahawks
Tim BOOTH Citizen news service
SEATTLE — With where both the Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks sit in the NFC standings, Monday night’s matchup might as well carry a playoff title.
NFC play-in game? NFC elimination game?
“I think going on the road with that crowd and the type of football team that they are, I think yeah, a little bit. These next four games will determine what we do and where we go and how we perform in the clutch. Yeah, I guess you could say that,” Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said.
The Seahawks (7-5) host the Vikings (6-5-1) in a meeting filled with playoff implications.
The Seahawks won’t be able to catch the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC West, but their threegame win streak has them sitting in the No. 5 spot in the NFC playoff picture going into the final quarter of the season, with three of their final four games at home.
It’s far from a foregone conclusion Seattle is headed to the post-season after missing the playoffs last year. But a win over the Vikings would be a huge step in locking up a postseason berth.
“Keeping your head down and grinding is really what it’s all about at this point,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. “We’re upbeat and we’re positive. We know that we can win every game and we’re going out to get that done.”
If the Vikings want a chance at catching Chicago in the NFC North race, a win in Seattle is almost a must. Far easier said than done, especially when it comes to night games. Seattle is 15-2 at home in Thursday, Sunday or Monday night games dating to Carroll’s arrival in 2010. Minnesota is currently in the No. 6 spot in the NFC and its tie earlier this season against Green Bay could end up being a hindrance – or a benefit. The Vikings are a half-game ahead of
Philadelphia, Washington and Carolina entering the week.
“It’s big. It’s very big. It’s a road game. We want to go out there and put a full game together as a whole team on the road,” Vikings RB Dalvin Cook said. “This is another game to go out there and do that to show that we’re still in this thing. We’re still fighting. We’ve got to just put it together.”
Here’s what else to watch as the teams face for the first time since the 2015 NFC wild-card game:
Russell’s roll
Is anyone going to be able to slow down the efficiency of Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson?
Through 12 games, Wilson has 29 touchdowns and just five interceptions. He’s thrown at least two TD passes in eight straight games and 11 of 12 this season. Last week against San Francisco, Wilson had three touchdowns passes on four completions in the first half.
And it’s not just underneath throws or short passes that are turning into touchdowns. Wilson has six TD tosses of 30 or more yards.
“He is moving around a little bit. The guys take off. They are second in the league in redzone touchdown percentage,” Zimmer said. “A lot of that has been obviously they run the ball well. He moves in the pocket and guys get open. They’ve had some guys where they had been pretty open, too.”
Playing catch
Minnesota’s Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs are the only receiver duo in the NFC each with more than 80 catches. Thielen has 98 receptions and Diggs has 84. They’ll be facing a pass defence that has been struggling of late, allow-
ing 315 yards per game passing over the past three weeks.
Revenge game
Revenge might be a strong word, but Minnesota defensive tackles Sheldon Richardson and Tom Johnson might have a little bit more incentive for the game. Richardson played for Seahawks last season before signing with Minnesota in free agency. Seattle couldn’t match the money offered by the Vikings, so Richardson found a new home in Minnesota.
Johnson’s situation is a bit stranger. He signed as a free agent with Seattle during the off-season with the intent of being part of the defensive line rotation. He started Week 1 with Seattle, then was released before the Week 2 game at Chicago because of Seattle’s need for a roster spot. The Seahawks believed they would be able to re-sign him the following week, but Johnson chose to return to Minnesota and rejoin the Vikings, the team he had spent the previous four seasons with. Johnson has played in nine games with the Vikings and has 3 1/2 sacks.
Winning record
Carroll already owns the team record for most victories, regular season and playoffs combined. He can claim the franchise record for most regular-season wins with his next victory. Carroll is currently tied with Mike Holmgren for the top spot with 86 regular-season wins. Asked if he had a regular season win that stuck out, Carroll immediately went to a 2012 overtime victory at Chicago. It was the start of a five-game win streak to close the regular season that got Seattle into the playoffs.
“We haven’t been the same since,” Carroll said.
Slovakia’s Maxim Cajkovic, centre, battles for puck possession against Canadians Maxence Guenette, left, and Peyton Krebs during the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Edmonton in August.
Small town on search for answers
Ellen MORTON Citizen news service
Once Upon a River, by
Diane Setterfield
Diane Setterfield haunts familiar ground in Once Upon a River, an eerily mystic tale of a mute child who captivates the local townspeople after she’s seemingly brought back from the dead.
The author of The Thirteenth Tale and Bellman & Black begins this account on a winter solstice more than a hundred years ago.
A near-drowned stranger arrives at a rural inn, grievously injured and carrying a young girl who, to all appearances, has already died. Despite the child’s corpse-like state, however, the local nurse, Rita, discovers a pulse.
Though the girl is revived, the stranger lapses into unconsciousness and so the mysteries quickly stack up like branches snagged in the river: What accident befell him? How was he saved? Who is the child? How did she die and then live again?
Most importantly, to whom does she belong?
Three separate families lay claim to the girl: Helena and Anthony Vaughan believe she’s their kidnapped daughter; Robert and Bess Armstrong think she’s the illegitimate grandchild they would dearly love to welcome home; and Lily White hopes she’s the sister whose loss has drowned her in guilt.
These characters are finely drawn and wholly sympathetic, their lives rendered in precise, poignant detail.
The female characters particularly are gifted with uncommon clarity, each of a different kind. Rita is a woman of science, Helena has strong emotional instincts, Bess is blessed with insight and Lily takes an unflinching view of practical realities.
Even so, each character lives in a state of profound denial, easing painful realities by telling themselves stories. Setterfield illuminates how such stories can be our most compelling forays into fiction. Even amid swirling doubts about the child’s identity, Helena so depends on finding her daughter in this lost girl that she builds an elaborate new world on top of the ruins of her old life, with the mute girl at its centre.
At different points the narrative emphasizes the powers of oral tradition, photography and performance, using stories that straddle fiction and fact to reveal essential truths to the speaker and the audience.
The river acts as both setting and character, a force in the everyday lives of its neighbours.
Though Setterfield writes emotions with marvelous truth and subtlety, her most stunning prose is reserved for evocative descriptions of the natural world, creating an immersive experience made of light, texture, scent and sensation.
The timeline is slippery, flashing back at length and jumping months ahead. Though each branch of the story is well served, we spend some intervals away from each character. Rather than resenting these diversions, however, the reader finds herself yearning for the updates the next chapter will bring.
The novel’s central mysteries are dispatched in one dramatic scene that feels overwrought, especially given that this is not a tightly plotted whodunit so much as a story for those who appreciate the tale’s telling as much as its end – who mark with interest the bends in the river, and who will treasure the friends they bump into along the way.
RBC Taylor Prize nominees announced
Citizen news service
TORONTO — A comedian, a former governor general and several of this year’s literary awards darlings are among the 10 writers in the running for the RBC Taylor Prize.
Mark Critch, anchor of CBC’s This Hour Has 22 Minutes, earned a spot on the long list for the $25,000 non-fiction prize with his memoir about growing up in Newfoundland in the 1980s.
Elizabeth Hay made the cut for All Things Consoled: A Daughter’s Memoir (McClelland & Stewart) about her experience acting as a guardian and caregiver to her parents, which won the $60,000 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction last month.
Darrel McLeod of Sooke, B.C., is
also a contender with his Governor General’s Literary Awardwinning debut Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age (Douglas & McIntyre).
Terese Marie Mailhot added a nod from the Taylor Prize to the plaudits for Heart Berries: A Memoir”(Doubleday Canada), which was shortlisted for the nonfiction prize at both the Writers’ Trust and Governor General’s Literary awards.
Former Governor General David Johnston is vying for the honour with Trust: Twenty Ways to Build a Better Country (Signal/ M&S), billed as a repair manual for the social fabric on which democracies depend.
The prize was created in 1998 by the Charles Taylor Foundation and awards the winner with $25,000, plus $5,000 given to every finalist.
Adventurer Kate Harris also has a shot with Lands of Lost Borders: Out of Bounds on the Silk Roads about her bicycle travels retracing the fabled network of trade routes of centuries past connecting Asia and Europe. Rounding out the long list are: Just Let Me Look at You: On Fatherhood, by Bill Gaston (Hamish Hamilton/Penguin Canada).
Jan in 35 Pieces: A Memoir in Music, by Ian Hampton (Porcupine’s Quill).
Seeking the Fabled City: The Canadian Jewish Experience, by Allan Levine (McClelland and Stewart).
Power, Prime Ministers and the Press: The Battle for Truth on Parliament Hill, by Robert Lewis (Dundurn Press).
Jurors Camilla Gibb, Roy MacGregor and Beverley McLachlin praised this year’s long-listed titles, culled from more than 100 books, as a “barometer for current issues, from reconciliation to political trust.”
The short list for the Taylor Prize will be announced Jan. 9 and the winner will be named on March 4, 2019. The prize was created in 1998 by the Charles Taylor Foundation and awards the winner with $25,000, plus $5,000 given to every finalist.
PHOTO BY ATRIA/EMILY BESTLER
Once Upon a River, by Diane Setterfield, is a well-written and engaging mystery story.
settles in at Netflix
Citizen news service
LOS ANGELES — To say Andy Serkis has been through the ringer with his adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book is a bit of an understatement. It was always going to be an ambitious project for a first-time director – dark, intense and more in the spirit of Kipling’s stories, with a big studio (Warner Bros.) behind it, a blockbuster budget, A-list talent to match, from Christian Bale to Cate Blanchett, and all the high-pressure stakes that go along with that.
But five years ago when he signed up to direct, Serkis didn’t know that Walt Disney Studios would soon be announcing its own live-action Jungle Book, which would beat his to theatres by over two years and become a nearly billion dollar box-office sensation. And no one would have guessed that at the 11th-hour this summer, after promotions had already begun, his own studio would sell his version to Netflix.
“This wasn’t the easiest ride for anybody,” Serkis said. “It really did go through a massively long journey.” Serkis was even able to direct another movie (Breathe) and star in at least one (War for the Planet of the Apes) during the post production for Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle which debuts
on the streaming service today.
The affable Serkis is just excited people are finally going to get to see his passion project.
The Callie Kloves-written screenplay takes the Mowgli myth away from the sunny, toetapping Disney versions, and back to Kipling’s original vision of the boy raised by wolves.
Actor Rohan Chand (Lone Survivor) was brought on to lead the film at age 10 (he’s now 14), opposite heavyweight actors like Bale, who plays Bagheera, Blanchett as Kaa, Benedict Cumberbatch as Shere Khan, Naomie Harris as Nisha and Serkis himself as Baloo.
In order to see through Serkis’s grand vision, Chand had to essentially shoot the film twice. First with the “A” talent like Bale and Cumberbatch, wearing motion capture tech on their faces and arms, and then again on location with a different set of actors mimicking the movements of the jungle animals.
“Rohan was extraordinary,” Serkis said of his young star who he helped guide through some intense scenes, emotionally and physically. “He had to endure real physical pain and a lot of technical challenges which he did with great ease.”
The Motion Picture Association of America has given Mowgli a PG-13 rating.
More movie stars grabbing Golden Globe TV nods
Even the sometimes-offbeat Golden Globe Awards are unable to resist the allure of movie stars who dabble in television work.
Julia Roberts, Amy Adams, Jim Carrey and Michael Douglas were among the nominees announced Thursday for next month’s awards voted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
Television’s increasing artistic prestige has persuaded more big-screen talent to add it to their portfolio. But not every film actor made the awards cut, with Emma Stone and Jonah Hill out of the running for Netflix’s Maniac.
Also snubbed was This Is Us, one of the few broadcast network shows that has garnered awards respect amid an onslaught of cable and streaming shows. It failed to earn a best drama series bid or recognition for last year’s Globes (and previous Emmy Award) winner Sterling K. Brown or the twice-nominated Chrissy Metz.
Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, the defending best drama series winner, was overlooked this time, a sting that follows its loss in this year’s Emmys to Game of Thrones. But Handmaid’s star Elisabeth Moss and co-star Yvonne Strahovski were nominated.
HBO’s Game of Thrones missed out on 2019 Globes consideration because new episodes didn’t air within the eligibility window. Instead, Globe voters tipped their hats to the last season of FX’s The Americans and newcomers including Netflix’s Bodyguard, a British series about a politician’s protector, and FX’s Pose, set in 1980s New York and with a groundbreaking number of transgender cast members.
Donald Glover’s Atlanta was ignored as best comedy series while star Glover, who won for his role in 2017, was nominated. His competitors include Carrey for Showtime’s Kidding, Douglas for Netflix’s The Kominsky Method and Bill Hader, fresh off an Emmy win for Barry.
Henry Winkler, who claimed an Emmy for his supporting role in HBO’s Barry, also is up for a Globe. The series itself is competing for top comedy honours against defending Globes champ and Emmy winner The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Issa Rae, a two-time nominee for Insecure, didn’t earn a best comedy actress bid, but Candice Bergen got a welcome-back hug for CBS’ revived sitcom Murphy Brown. She was a Globes favourite when the original series aired, earning nine nominations and winning a trophy in 1989.
Bergen is part of an all-white field of nominees, including Emmy winner Rachel Brosnahan for Mrs. Maisel and Debra Messing, star of NBC’s Will & Grace revival.
“Wow. I am so grateful that our show came back,” she posted on Instagram, adding a shout-out to its producers.
Glover is the only actor of colour in his category, with black actors Billy Porter (Pose) and Stephan James (Homecoming) earning best drama series acting bids.
FX’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story received the leading number of bids, four, including best limited series or TV movie, and nominations for stars Darren Criss, Penelope Cruz and Edgar Ramirez. Their nominations boosted the nominations’ inclusiveness, as did bids for Sandra Oh (Killing Eve), Regina King (Seven Seconds) and Thandie Newton (Westworld).
Oh will host the Jan. 6 Globes ceremony on NBC along with Andy Samberg. Earlier this year she became the first actress of Asian descent to receive a lead drama actress Emmy nod for the spy thriller.
At the Globes, she’ll compete with the Oscar-winning Roberts, who earned a bid for Amazon’s nominated Homecoming, a psychological thriller based on the podcast of the same name.
Keri Russell was nominated for The Americans, as was her co-star (and real-life partner) Matthew Rhys, who earned an Emmy this year for his role.
The Globes, which honour both TV and movies, made the satirical Vice, about former Vice-President Dick Cheney, the top-nominated film. A Star is Born with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, Green Book and The Favourite were all close behind with five nominations apiece.
Adams earned acting bids for the limited TV series Sharp Objects and for Vice, sharing double-nominee status with King: besides Seven Seconds, she earned a nod for the film If Beale Street Could Talk.
Mellencamp puts fearless touch on American classics
Citizen news service
John Mellencamp, Other People’s Stuff (Republic Records)
In his youth John Mellencamp was known to be cocky. That brashness carried him to the big stage, where he became a stadium-scale rocker with an adventurous spirit. He mostly fell short of the stature attained by contemporaries named Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty, but he sometimes took bigger risks.
Mellencamp’s fearlessness is well-represented on his latest album, Other People’s Stuff, a collection of cover songs, some of them American classics, from four decades of work.
There are cuts that would fit in neatly on The Lonesome Jubilee, Mellencamp’s finest album...
There’s a version of Keep Your Eyes on the Prize, the old civil rights anthem, which Mellencamp introduced at a White House event in 2010. Mellencamp’s gentle interpretation may surprise those not expecting such soulful notes out of a white man from the heartland.
There’s also a slowed-down take on Wreck of the Old ’97, the iconic train song, and a Merle Travis song called Dark as a Dungeon that Mellencamp originally performed for a documentary about
coal mining. Mellencamp’s earthy, cigarette-shaped growl conveys working-class honesty on both. There are cuts that would fit in neatly on The Lonesome Jubilee, Mellencamp’s finest album, with accordion and fiddle enhancing the hard-charging vibe. And there are hints throughout, in the range of songwriters he’s embraced –from Jimmie Rodgers to Robert Johnson to Stevie Wonder – that Mellencamp’s brashness sometimes takes him where others won’t go.
Lynn ELBER Citizen news service
This image released by Amazon shows Julia Roberts in a scene from Homecoming, which has been nominated for a Golden Globe award for best TV drama series. Roberts was also nominated for best actress in a drama series. The 76th Golden Globe Awards will be held on Jan. 6.
It is with a heavy heart that I have to say goodbye to my Mother VIOLA ELIZABETH PFEFFERLE, she passed away @ 5:55pm on December 1, 2018. Her daughter Debra is her only survivor. Mom was born in Lake Lenore, Saskatchewan on May 29th, 1925 on the farm of Pankratz & Emma Voelk (nee Schreiner) the 2nd oldest child of five siblings. Her oldest sister Isabel, Iris and brother Butch (Irvin) Voelk also survive her. Viola was predeceased by her husband Clarence Pfefferle and her sister Rosella (Sally) Denis and her parents. There will be a memorial for Mom at the Hart Pioneer Centre, 6986 Hart Highway on Saturday December 8, 2018 from 12:00pm4:00pm. All who knew her and bowled with her over the years are welcome to come by and share your stories and memories of being with her. You can enjoy checking out her life pictures that I have prepared of her long 93.5 years young journey.
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Currencies
OTTAWA (CP) — These are indicative wholesale rates for foreign currency provided by the Bank of Canada on Thursday. Quotations in Canadian funds.
Canada will feel oilpatch pain
Andy BLATCHFORD Citizen news service
OTTAWA — The hit from low oil prices in Western Canada will reverberate across the national economy – but should have less cross-country bite than the crisis of 2015, the head of the Bank of Canada said Thursday.
The 2015 oil-price crash contributed at the time to a slight, technical recession and prompted the central bank to cut interest rates to boost Canada’s economy – twice.
Even with the latest collapse in oil prices, governor Stephen Poloz insisted Thursday that he expects interest-rate hikes will still be needed over time. The central bank has been gradually raising rates for more than a year, thanks to the stronger economy.
The arrival, however, of future rate increases will likely be more gradual than many observers had predicted just a few days ago. Market watchers, many of whom had expected the bank to increase the rate again in January, are now predicting a slower pace following the concerns expressed by Poloz in recent days regarding recent economic developments.
The markets today
TORONTO (CP) — North American stock markets partially recovered from deep losses Thursday amid falling oil prices and worries that the arrest of a senior executive at Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei could derail progress in China-U.S. trade talks.
Nervousness pervaded markets early as hopeful signs about a trade truce between the world’s two largest economies disappeared overnight with the arrest, said Candice Bangsund, portfolio manager for Fiera Capital.
“Markets have just been whipsawed today, right at the open the market just collapsed a couple per cent. It seems to be making up a little bit of ground here this afternoon but it looks like it’s still going to be a sea of red across equity markets today,” she said in an interview. Bangsund said there have been no signs yet of a pullback in the agreement reached at the G20 meeting or retaliation from China.
“But I think that there’s just a lot of speculation that this is going to sour the relations between the U.S. and China at a very sensitive time.”
In addition, ongoing uncertainty about crude production after an agreement wasn’t reached at Thursday’s OPEC meeting in Vienna weighed on crude prices and equity markets.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 1.6 per cent, losing 245.64 points to reach a five-week low of 14,937. At one point in the day, the TSX lost more than 400 points to reach 14,773.86.
The influential energy sector was the big loser, falling 5.4 per cent to wipe out Wednesday’s gains. Other key sectors including industrials, financials and materials were also down. Health care closed up 6.6 per cent as cannabis producer Aphria Inc. rebounded from three days of share losses with a 51 per cent gain on the day after a special committee of independent directors was appointed to review the company’s acquisition of LATAM Holdings Inc., which has been criticized by short-sellers. Energy shares fell as the January crude oil contract was down US$1.40 at US$51.49 per barrel. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average rebounded from a 780-point plunge to lose 79.40 points at 24,947.67. The Canadian dollar traded at an average of 74.60 cents US compared with an average of 74.89 cents US on Wednesday.
without stoking inflation.
On Wednesday, the bank left the rate unchanged at 1.75 per cent as it underlined fresh negatives, such as the recent drop in oil prices.
In explaining the rate decision Thursday, Poloz appeared less inclined to make a move any time soon.
“The current level of interest rates remains appropriate for the time being,” Poloz said Thursday in a speech at an event hosted by CFA Society Toronto.
“We continue to judge that the policy interest rate will need to rise... The pace at which this process occurs, of course, will remain decidedly data dependent.”
The bank said Wednesday the timing of future increases will now depend on several factors – the persistence of the crude slump, the ability of corporate investment to pick up its pace and how much room the overall economy still has left to grow
Bombardier on target
The bank raised its key interest rate target at its October meeting –its fifth increase since the summer of 2017.
But much has changed in just six weeks.
In the speech Thursday, Poloz said the data since October has been “on the disappointing side” and that the economy has less momentum heading into the final three months of 2018 than the bank believed it would.
Poloz pointed to an unexpected decline in business investment over the summer as a key development – but he said the dive in oil prices has been the most-important “new shock.”
“It is already clear that a painful adjustment is developing for Western Canada, and there will be a meaningful impact on the Canadian macro-economy,” he said.
“That said, given the consolidation that has taken place in the energy sector since 2014, the net effects of lower oil prices on the
Canadian economy as a whole, dollar for dollar, should be smaller than they were in 2015.”
He said oil and gas production now makes up just 3.5 per cent of Canada’s economy, compared with six per cent in 2014. In the years that have followed the last slump, the sector has adjusted its cost structures, wages and employment levels, Poloz said. Poloz also said that in 2015 about 30 per cent of all business investment in Canada was in the oil and gas sector, while today it’s only around 18 per cent. That means investment had farther to fall a few years ago.
Looking at the positive side, Poloz said the latest oil-price slump has arrived at a time when Canada’s economy is running close to full tilt and the unemployment rate is at a 40-year low.
He added he remains hopeful business investment will rebound now that much of the uncertainty surrounding North American free trade has eased with the new
MONTREAL (CP) — Bombardier Inc. says its largest jetliner, a massive rail backlog and aftermarket services will propel the plane-and-train maker to 10 per cent revenue growth in 2019, roughly in line with analyst expectations. The 2019 forecast comes in the wake of a 60 per cent stock
Record imports push U.S. trade gap to $55.5 billion
Citizen news service
WASHINGTON — Record imports in October drove the U.S. trade deficit to the highest level in a decade.
The Commerce Department said Thursday that the gap between the United States sells and what it buys from foreign countries hit $55.5 billion in October, the fifth straight increase and highest since October 2008.
The politically sensitive deficit in the trade of goods with China rose 7.1 per cent to a record $43.1 billion. The goods gap with the European Union widened 65.5 per cent to a record $17.6 billion.
Led by shipments of medicine and cars, overall imports rose 0.2 per cent to a record $266.5 billion. Exports fell 0.1 per cent to $211 billion.
President Donald Trump campaigned on a pledge to slash America’s long-standing trade deficit with the rest of the world. Despite his import taxes on steel, aluminum and Chinese goods, the deficit so far this year is running 11.4 per cent above January-October 2017.
U.S. exports of soybeans, targeted for retaliatory tariffs by China, dropped 46.8 per cent in October.
Trump sees the lopsided trade numbers as a sign of U.S. economic weakness and as the result of bad trade deals and abusive practices by U.S. trading partners, especially China.
He has slapped tariffs on $250 billion
agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The central bank, he said, will also be watching for signs the economy can still grow without fuelling inflation. Poloz pointed to recent downward revisions to gross domestic product data that suggested there’s still some room for non-inflationary growth. Moving forward, the bank will scrutinize the results of its quarterly survey of business executives, to be published Dec. 21, for clues on corporate sentiment. Poloz said the bank will also meet with leaders in the energy sector, as it did following the oil-price collapse in late 2014 and early 2015.
In a news conference Thursday following his speech, Poloz was asked about the chances a rate cut could be needed to deal with the latest oil slump.
“I’m just not going to comment on that for now,” he said. “We have to do our work in order to understand the shock better and what its magnitude actually is.”
dive over the past five months and recent restructuring plans that will see 5,000 employees lose their jobs over the next five years. Bombardier forecasts total revenues of about US$18 billion next year, as the freshly certified Global 7500 – its longest-range business jet – enters into service.
worth of Chinese imports in a dispute over the tactics Beijing is using to challenge American technological supremacy. These include the theft of trade secrets and forcing U.S. companies to hand over technology in exchange for access to the Chinese market, the U.S. charges.
In a meeting over the weekend, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to a ceasefire in the trade dispute. Details are unclear, but the White House says it agreed to delay a planned tariff increase on $200 billion in Chinese goods for 90 days to buy time for more substantive negotiations.
Mainstream economists view trade deficits as the result of an economic reality unlikely to yield to changes in trade policy: Americans buy more than they produce, and imports fill the gap. The strong U.S. economy also encourages Americans to buy more foreign products.
U.S. exports are also hurt by the American dollar’s role as the world’s currency. The dollar is usually in high demand because it is used in so many global transactions. That means the dollar is persistently strong, raising prices of U.S. products and putting American companies at a disadvantage in foreign markets.
In October, the U.S. ran a $22.6 billion surplus in the trade of services such as banking and tourism. But that was offset by a record $78.1 billion deficit in the trade of goods such as cellphones and machinery.
CP FILE PHOTO
Stephen Poloz returns to the Bank of Canada after holding a press conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa in October.
