Prince George Citizen February 1, 2019

Family mourns Lheidli matriarch

Funeral set for Saturday at Sacred Heart

Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca

When Mary Gouchie passed away at the age of 97, her spirit was carried by 84 direct descendants.

“You’ve heard it said that it takes a village to raise a child. Well, she raised her own village,” said her youngest daughter, Jo-Anne Berezanski, 63. Berezanski moved to Vancouver Island in 1986 and never returned except for visits. When she drove around Prince George after Gouchie passed away on Jan. 24 and saw that many of the civic flags were flying at halfmast, she was overwhelmed.

“I never knew my mom was so famous,” Berezanski said. “We are so very, very proud of her for all the work she did for her family and community and she was always so humble about it.”

That work spanned her entire expansive life. When she was mother to Janet, Duncan, Murphy, Shirley, Fred, Laura, Jo-Anne, Ernie, Gilbert and Douglas (the latter three predeceasing her), her efforts were applied to the work of raising a family.

She worked for years on end at the Coast Inn of the North and was its first employee to reach retirement. She would walk to and from work daily from the family home near Hakanson’s General Store on the Island Cache (in the vicinity of what is today Cottonwood Island Park) before that area was cleared of all residents in 1972.

Gouchie grew gardens of fresh food and turned much of it into preserves. She was a master at crochet work, quilting and sewing of any kind.

Her creations had function but she would also produce works of art. It was of such high quality that many cohorts of international students at UNBC and CNC received her items as gifts to take back to their home countries.

Her connection with the city’s two premier post-secondary institutions grew richly when an academic interest was taken in Gouchie’s ability to speak the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation’s branch of the Dakelh language. She was the last fluent linguist of this dialect.

She took that responsibility with care and professionalism. She became a central figure in UNBC’s and CNC’s efforts to understand the Lheidli culture and document the language. She helped in similar ways with the City of Prince George and was an official translator for the 2015 Canada Winter Games – the first time those Games officially recognized a host First Nation. She was active almost to her final day in teaching the local Dakelh dialect to younger generations eager to restore this Indigenous tongue very nearly quashed by the residential school system and other colonization efforts.

“My mom lived through such racist times it would make any moral people cry,” said Berezanski. “She was actually a very private person, but she did amazing things without any attention for it.”

Some attention is shining now on Gouchie’s legacy, over and above her 21 grandchildren, 33

great-grand children and more great-great-grand children.

Some of that attention was the simple memory of times spent with a beloved elder.

“I remember her pressing large amounts of berries through a sieve,” said grandson Joseph Berezanski. “She would make sure there were no bits, just clear raspberry or blueberry juice. Grandma would take this juice, add water, sugar and ice for a kind of real fruit Kool-Aid in the hot summers.”

He also remembered proudly trying to save the wrapping paper and bows from his Christmas gifts to give to his grandma so she would have nice trappings for wrapping her own presents.

“Money was very scarce when mom was growing up and in the early years of raising her family,” said son Duncan and his wife Norma. “She talked of a time when she suffered terribly with a toothache. There was no money to

see a dentist so she stayed up all night making moccasins, walked to town from Shelley, sold the moccasins to Harold Moffat at Northern Hardware and was able to pay a dentist to pull her tooth.”

Gouchie would joke that she was so thrifty at making a dollar stretch for miles that the Minister of Finance ought to take lessons.

“Our fondest memories of our mom/grandma are going garage saling and thrift store shopping with her. She was the most thrifty person we knew and was always on the lookout for the best deals,” said granddaughter Miranda Seymour on behalf of her mother Laura Luth. “She took opportunities to instill in us the importance of saving money, doing things right the first time so you don’t have to do it again and, most importantly, not paying full price for something if you could find it in a garage sale or thrift store.”

Gouchie also instilled the value of a life of openness.

“We also enjoyed our breakfasts with her at Ricky’s or White Spot, all of her delicious home cooked meals, especially her baking and legendary Christmas dinners. We also enjoyed spending time at her home at 680 Union St., where the door was always open and the house was always spotless. Like her cooking, her garden was legendary. We could often be caught raiding her peas and raspberries. Her other favourite pastime that she took such pride in was sewing and crocheting. We especially remember how she made myself and my sister Kerri matching outfits as kids, and clothes for our dolls.”

That garden was also a primary memory for granddaughter Nicole Wiltermuth, who spoke on behalf of her mom Shirley. She said Gouchie would have a bucket of soapy water for them to wash their bare feet if they’d been out raiding the raspberries and Gouchie would inspect their bare feet for cleanliness before reentry to the house was allowed.

She also remembered their mundane routines that now seem fondest of all, like Dairy Queen treats, watching Jeopardy, playing Keno on Saturday at the mall and Gouchie’s favourite beverage: Red Rose tea with two cream and six sugar.

“She worked harder than anyone I know and there was never an idle moment,” said Berezanski, who laughed that her mother had a lifelong heart arrhythmia and an eye damaged in an awl incident, but with modern medicine helping to ease both afflictions, the elder Gouchie was keen to point out that she was getting younger as she was getting older.

“Her life was a perfectly balanced routine,” Berezanski said. “I loved our visits and she loved hearing about my adventures. She was a joy to be with and always had wise and comforting words to share. I know that she will be dearly missed by our nation, our Prince George community, and especially our family.”

Her legacy will live on in each word of Lheidli Dakelh spoken by future generations and it will live on in physical form as well. Artifacts from her life are already being gathered for an upcoming exhibition at The Exploration Place Museum and Science Centre. Items so far collected include Gouchie’s wash tub, washboard, sewing machine, ironing board, a pink dress she wore for special occasions, a pressure cooker, some crochet work, her last piece of unfinished sewing, receipts for the purchase of some of these tools, a 100-year-old doll, some of her written notes for translation work and some tapes of her voice. Her funeral will be held at the Sacred Heart Cathedral on Saturday at 2 p.m. with a graveside service to follow at Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park’s cemetery. A reception will be held after that at the Marriott Hotel where a tribute video will be shown.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

Catriona Le May Doan and Mary Gouchie, 93, carry the torch into Canada Games Plaza in 2015. Gouchie passed away on Jan. 24 at the age of 97.

A Coastal GasLink image shows the band councils that have reached benefit agreements along the pipeline route.

Coastal GasLink back in compliance, EAO says

Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca

The Environmental Assessment Office says Coastal GasLink is back in compliance after the agency’s compliance and enforcement branch found workers had breached conditions related to work on the pipeline south of Houston.

The EAO had responded to a complaint from the Office of the Wet’suwet’en, which represents the First Nation’s hereditary chiefs.

The office had demanded the EAO issue a “cease and desist order” stopping all work in the project, saying CGL was not in compliance at six of the inspected locations and has been conducting work outside of its environmental assessment certificate conditions

“The provincial government is required to uphold its own law and issue an immediate cease-and-desist work order for Coastal GasLink pipeline project on Wet’suwet’en territories,” Chief Namoks, who also goes by the name John Risdale, said in a statement issued Wednesday. “This project already does not have free, prior and informed consent under Wet’suwet’en rule of law, and now is violating B.C laws.”

However, the EAO said Thursday in an email that CGL “has since addressed the six conditions and is now in compliance with the conditions and requirements of its EAC.”

Work in the area is continuing, CGL spokesperson Suzanna Wilton said in an email.

“Activities in the area south of Houston are progressing and on track with grading and clearing well underway, along with road main-

However, the hereditary chiefs counter that the band councils’ jurisdictions are limited to their respective reserve lands and that they have authority over the rest of the 22,000-squarekilometre territory.

tenance and cleanup,” she said.

It was the latest development in an ongoing conflict between the Office of the Wet’suwet’en and CGL, which is carrying out pre-construction work in the area after securing an interim injunction prohibiting project opponents from interfering with the work.

All five elected band councils within the Wet’suwet’en’s traditional territory have reached benefit agreements with CGL and are in support of the $6.2-billion project to deliver natural gas from the B.C. Peace to the LNG Canada facility planned for a site near Kitimat. Combined, the projects are worth about $40 billion.

However, the hereditary chiefs counter that the band councils’ jurisdictions are limited to their respective reserve lands and that they have authority over the rest of the 22,000-square-kilometre territory.

Dating back to 2012 and Enbridge’s failed effort to push through the Northern Gateway pipeline, which would have transported bitu-

men from Alberta to Kitimat, the Unist’ot’en have had a checkpoint in place at the Morice River bridge along the forest service road of the same name.

The Unist’ot’en is affiliated with Dark House, one of 13 hereditary house groups belonging to the Wet’suwet’en Nation.

In December, CGL secured an interlocutory or interim injunction ordering protesters to let workers through to carry out pre-construction work – repairing and upgrading roads and culverts, clearing the corridor of trees and establishing a work camp – while also giving opponents time to prepare legal arguments against a permanent injunction in advance of the main work, scheduled for summer 2021.

On Tuesday, a book of authorities was filed by the opponents in B.C. Supreme Court in Prince George – two days before a deadline to file materials on the issue under the terms issued as part of the interim order.

In turn, a hearing on the matter is to be held by no later than May 1, unless the parties agree otherwise.

As well, the 14 people arrested in early January when RCMP moved in to take down a protest camp further north on the Morice River Forest Service Road after the order was expanded to cover two entire forest service roads are to appear in court in Prince George on Monday. They each face a charge of civil contempt of court. One of those arrested has applied to have the proceeding moved to Smithers, saying the trip to Prince George for the hearing is a hardship and expense and a safety issue in the winter.

City ramping up snow clearing

Citizen staff

City hall is ramping up its snow clearing efforts in anticipation of roughly 30 centimetres of snow having fallen on Prince George by Saturday afternoon.

Work on priority routes was limited to applying de-icing material on Thursday.

But overnight, crews were to begin grading and plowing those priority routes and it is likely these routes will need to be addressed again on a subsequent nightshift, the city said in a statement, adding much of that work is done at night to avoid conflicts with daytime traffic.

By Friday morning, “all available City and contracted resources” will be deployed and remain at work until all routes have been brought to a passable condition with an emphasis on clearing residential streets ahead of garbage collection days.

“The weather forecast also predicts a steep drop in temperature this weekend,” city hall added.

“Multiple factors, including temperatures, accompanying weather systems, and total snow accumulation, affect operations, timelines, and decisions about equipment deployment.”

The Citizen archives put more than 100 years of history at your fingertips: https://bit.ly/2RsjvA0

COASTAL GASLINK HANDOUT

Family members pay tribute to Mary Gouchie

Lheidli T’enneh elder Mary Gouchie passed away at the age of 97 on Jan. 24. Below are two family essays paying tribute to the matriarch who touched the lives of many:

Atsoo

by Kym Gouchie

Granny Mary was a very dignified woman whose life was built on hard work, sacrifice and resilience. She believed that education was the most powerful survival tool and it was predictable that she would mention it at least once during a family visit. She would say “nobody could have done what I’ve done.” And I believed her. She lived in The Cache and worked in housekeeping at the Inn of the North. She’d pride herself in never missing a day of work even when she was sick. She knew that she couldn’t afford to miss a day because money was so tight. She walked to work in all kinds of weather and often told stories of how she had to climb over the train and under the train which she said was no easy feat. She was born in a government built house on the north side of the Fraser River out in Shelley, which is where many of the community members were placed after the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway took ownership of their ancestral land.

As a child and teenager, she was the eyes of her blind mother Lizette Seymour which didn’t allow her much time to play. She’d go to school and the rest of her time was spent helping at home. From a young age she learned to cook, clean, sew, pick berries, set rabbit snares and night lines for fish. This work ethic guided her right to the end. She lived for the last six years at the Laurier Manor, which is an independent living complex that provides meals and in-home support. They would come in and clean her place on Wednesdays but she would often do a cleaning before they got there. She was ruled by the clock and lunch time and dinner time had her pushing you out the door. She would grab her tea bag and head down the long hallway to the dinner hall. She never wanted to be late.

I was always shocked at how much sugar she used in her tea and she told me that sugar was the secret to a long life, and she’d say it’s salt that’s the killer. The only time that I ever put sugar in my tea was at Granny’s house.

Atsoo means grandmother in the Lheidli dialect. My atsoo and I spent many, many hours together as I documented Lheidli words and phrases, many of which I have included in my songs (and will continue to). She was a wealth of information and kept original documents that lay out the story of her life in chronological order. She kept

journals and diaries and was always aware of what was going on with politics and in the world.

On Oct. 2, 2017, she told me this, “There’s something wrong in the world. The whales are dying.”

She’d often greet us at the end of the long hallway when she knew we were coming. She called it death row and would smirk.

Oh, I loved her smirk. She was always so quick-witted and sharp. Even on her death bed she would wake up just enough to add to the conversations happening around her.

When she was in hospice, sleeping longer and communicating less, I was standing alone with her and she drifted off. Uncle Murphy walked in and came to her side. As he leaned in, she opened her eyes and Uncle Murphy said, “Hi Mom, it’s me, Murphy.”

She turned her head to me and laughed and said, “He says that every time.”

She knew who he was.

When she was still coherent she never lost her ability to recognize us and to tell us she loved us.

The day before she passed, she was

looking up at the ceiling and pointing. She said “They are waiting for me. I need to go through there. That’s where I need to go.”

I asked her if she sees my dad and she nodded and said “yes.” I told her it was okay if she wanted to go with them.

My mom whispered to her “everything is ready” and Granny nodded and smiled and said “yes.” She then said, “after I’m gone, it doesn’t matter.” She repeated this sentence.

My mom asked her if she saw her mom, my Blind Granny. Granny held her hand to her mouth and nodded yes. She left us on Jan. 24 at 9:25 p.m. She was surrounded by the love and tears of our big family. There was a confusion of joy and sadness with an overwhelming feeling of peace.

A Memory of Mom Gouchie I’ll Never Forget

by Noella Gouchie on behalf of her husband Murphy and daughter Jacqueline Taylor Gouchie I remember visiting mom years ago

shortly after she moved into 680 Union St. She was cooking something in a very large pot on the stove. She was using a very large wooden spoon.

I was sitting at the table in the kitchen and I noticed mom had several scandal magazines.

I was browsing through these old scandals and noticed she underlined a picture of Clark Gable. I asked her what was so good about this old black and white picture of Clark Gable. She started to laugh under her breath muttering something about how she thought he was such a good looking man and Jake (in her eyes) kinda looked like him.

I couldn’t believe what I just heard. I said “what did you say?”

She said in modest little laugh, “ya, I think he is so handsome.”

I remember saying without thought “Mom, if you think Jake looks like Clark Gable, then what the hell did you see in Dan Gouchie?”

She quickly pulled out that wooden spoon out of the pot and flicked it clean. She turned toward me (I thought she was going to hit me with the spoon for saying hell) and said “You know, dear, Dan was a good looking man too. He was such a good dancer as well. I loved dancing and so did he. He always liked to dance with me or Josie John Paul. He was always dressed like a proper gentleman and spoke so kind to me. He was a great help preparing wood for her and caring for her blind mother (Lizette Seymour).”

As she returned to her large pot, she continued to stir vigorously to whatever she had going on for thoughts. She never shared her thoughts and I knew better than to continue that conversation. Whew, glad that was over with.

On Aug. 4, 1994, Murphy and I did a reaffirmation of our wedding vows of 25 years. Mom got to do the first dance with her son Murphy. She said she hadn’t danced in over 30 years. She was in her glory. Mom never danced again since that day.

I remember Mom when Murphy and I came home in August last year that we would be celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary in August 2019. I said “you know, Mom, maybe you could dance again even if you could use your walker.”

She looked at me and laughing so softly saying, “you know dear, I think my dancing days are over.”

I asked her if she would change her mind if Clark Gable was present. She shook her hand above her head and then lowered her head to a graceful bow, saying “nothing could change me now. I’m just too old.”

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO

Mary Gouchie, and her granddaughter Kym Gouchie, pose for a photo together in 2008. The pair had received a grant for a project to preserve the Lheidli T’enneh language and put it to music.

Teaching the magic

First responders call for end to stigma about mental illness

Camille BAINS Citizen news service

VANCOUVER — Eighteen years as a firefighter had exposed Greg Gauthier to endless trauma but a call involving a tour bus hitting a family triggered his descent into mental illness as intrusive thoughts and sleepless nights became his daily existence.

Gauthier, 48, could no longer function at work but the stigma of asking for help in a job where chaos is the norm initially prevented him from reaching out.

“I knew something was wrong right after that call,” he said of the August 2017 incident when an American man died and three others were injured as a bus rolled into a crowd of tourists, pinning at least two people beneath the vehicle.

Gauthier said it wasn’t the most horrific situation he’d encountered, but it was the one that broke him emotionally. Over and over again, he would relive the scene of people taking cellphone video of the crash scene as police dealt with a hoard of visitors near a busy cruise-ship terminal and convention centre. Gauthier’s family life began to unravel and he felt helpless.

“When you don’t have control of your mind and when you can’t block those thoughts then you feel like you’re losing control and it’s an incredibly distressing feeling,” he said. “I’m still dealing with it a year and a half later but I’m certainly managing it.”

Gauthier finally realized that as a supervisor he had to set an example for the rest of his crew at a Vancouver fire hall so colleagues who had also been at the scene and others like it could feel free to talk about their struggles in a job that required them to soldier on day after day.

“There’s a stigma and we’re trying to break that down,” he said as he prepared to share his experience and gradual return to work at a conference of first responders meeting in Richmond on Thursday and Friday.

About 350 people including firefighters, police officers, paramedics, dispatchers as well as their unions and associations are taking part in the event that will feature Gauthier.

Survey launched for revamped sewer bylaw

Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca

City hall has launched an online survey seeking public input on a proposed revamping of the sanitary sewer bylaw that includes codes of practice for restaurants, vehicle repair shops and car washes.

The aim is to reduce the cost of dealing with blockages in the system, consisting of 465 kilometres of sewer mains and 220 kilometres of service connections.

The city typically receives 500 calls per year regarding blocked sewers. The annual cost of responding to those calls and removing grease is about $420,000 per year and the city has sunk $1.7 million into the vacuuming and flushing trucks used to do the work.

As it stands, the current bylaw, which is 13 years old, lacks clarity on responsibility for users, limits the city’s ability to control sources, regulate septic waste disposal and enforce regulations, according to the city.

Fees and charges also require updating, the city also contends.

If passed as proposed, the new bylaw would set out clear standards for selecting, sizing and installing grease interceptors at restaurants, and detailing what drains and fixtures need to be connected to those interceptors. Restaurants may also be required to install solid food interceptors.

The bylaw would also encourage adequate clean-out schedules and force those who are not meeting the requirements to install alarmed monitoring systems.

As for vehicle repair shops, it would provide standards for selecting, sizing and installing oil water separators and encourage adequate clean out for effective wastewater treatment.

The bylaw would allow for alternate treatments designed by qualified professionals.

Oil water separators would also be required in car washes and engine washing would not be allowed without additional wastewater treatment.

As well, water recycling targets are being considered.

Septic sewage haulers are also being eyed. Measures in that regard would include monthly hauling reports, manifests for each load and sample analysis to test for compliance.

The online survey is available until Feb. 15 at www.princegeorge.ca/utilities.

Officers honoured

Prince George Crime Stoppers congratulated co-officers of the year, Cst. Mike

and Cst.

on Thursday.  Mikkelsen has worked in General Duty responding to calls from the public his whole career, but is in the process of joining the Forensic Identification Section. Hallmark has been a member of the RCMP for nearly eight years, the last three of which have been at the Prince George Detachment, and the last year of that in the Detachment’s Traffic Services Section.

Terra Lightfoot, song writer and performer, brought her masterful talent for singing, song-writing and guitar playing to an instructional workshop for aspiring musicians held Thursday at Omineca Arts Centre. She was joined by her good friend, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sam Weber. The workshop, titled Guitar Magic, was part of the Coldsnap music festival.

CITIZEN

Mikkelsen

Dave Hallmark,

NDP win crucial byelection

VANCOUVER — An NDP victory in a crucial byelection has prompted political soul-searching in British Columbia, with the Opposition Liberals hoping to revitalize their party while the Greens distance themselves from the New Democrats.

The Nanaimo byelection had the potential to tip the balance of power in the legislature, as the NDP have 41 seats and govern with the support of three Green members. The Liberals hold 42 seats.

In the end, New Democrat Sheila Malcolmson won the riding with over 49 per cent of the vote.

Green Leader Andrew Weaver said he wasn’t surprised by the collapse of his party’s vote in the riding, from 20 per cent in the 2017 general election to seven per cent on Wednesday. He heard from many Green supporters who said they would vote NDP to maintain the status quo in the house, he said.

However, he said the byelection sent a message that his party has to more clearly distinguish itself from the New Democrats. The Greens have a vision while the NDP has “none,” other than they’re not Liberals, he said.

“We haven’t been very good at telling our story. We haven’t been very good at telling British Columbians that a lot of the stuff that’s happened are actually B.C. Green priorities – getting big money out of politics, lobbying reform,” Weaver said on Thursday. “If the B.C. NDP had been left alone with the reins of this government, we would have seen dogs’ breakfasts coming across as law.”

He said things are going to change in the legislature, beginning with the Greens stepping aside from a “large number” of legislative committees that examine policy issues and make recommendations to the government.

The committees reflect the composition of the house, so a B.C. Liberal will take each Green member’s spot.

“We’re going to be focusing on our priorities and we’re not going to be focusing, moving forward on... NDP priorities,” Weaver said.

Weaver also accused the NDP of taking his party’s support for granted, adding that the New Democrats pushed a vote-splitting narrative in Nanaimo and knocked multiple times on the doors of homes that had Green

signs on their lawns.

The New Democrats declined to respond to Weaver’s comments, but Premier John Horgan acknowledged Wednesday that the byelection became a test for his government.

“This was an exciting, pivotal election campaign,” he said. “This means we can continue to deliver on the issues we campaigned on. Health care, education, housing, those are the things people are talking about.”

Opposition Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson said Thursday that his party’s defeat has it shifting into a period of renewal. Every party needs new faces and new blood, he said, adding he expects at least three members of the Liberal caucus to announce they will not be running in the next provincial election, set for 2021. He didn’t name the three members.

“We’ve got a new approach to things and we’re very excited about the future, as this is a very unstable coalition government now,” said Wilkinson.

He said Tony Harris – the party’s 34-yearold candidate in Nanaimo who took 40 per cent of the byelection vote – is the kind of successful and well-known local representative the party needs in the next election.

“That kind of youthful enthusiasm is exactly what we’re looking for in candidates,” he said.

He added that the Liberals increased their share of the vote from the last provincial election in the NDP stronghold.

Michael Prince, a social policy professor at the University of Victoria, said the Greens dropping out of legislative committees won’t have much of a practical impact on the NDP. The committees produce reports but it’s up to the government whether to include their recommendations in legislation, he said.

But the move suggests the Greens are going to dissent more often from the NDP in public.

“As the junior partner, there’s always the risk that you get lost in the shadows of your senior partner, and certainly, as history suggests, that’s a real risk,” said Prince.

In 1985, Ontario’s Liberals were able to govern with a minority by forming an alliance with the New Democrats. Two years later the Liberals won a majority while the NDP lost six seats.

— With files from Dirk Meissner in Nanaimo

End of an era

Karen Heathmen speaks about Prince George Employment Services society (Employment Action) dissolving as a society after nearly 30 years serving the residents of Prince George. Employment Action mandate was to provide services to enhance the quality of life for people experiencing mobility, access, communication, health or vocational challenges. The organization passed on its remaining assets to four different organizations. The Community Arts Council, Special Olympics Prince George and the Northern BC Children and Families Hearing Society each received $25,000 while the Prince George Community Foundation received $92,300.

Feds overpaid for pipeline, watchdog says

OTTAWA — If the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion does not go ahead as planned and on budget, the $4.4 billion that government paid to buy the pipeline project will have been too much, says Parliament’s budget watchdog.

Yves Giroux, the parliamentary budget officer, on Thursday presented an analysis of the overall value of the oil pipeline, which the government purchased from the Texas oil company Kinder Morgan last August.

Parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux estimates the Trans Mountain pipeline and a planned expansion project are worth between $3.6 billion and $4.6 billion, which means taxpayers paid close to the high end of the project’s calculated value.

“If it was a car, we would say they paid sticker price, they didn’t negotiate very much, they didn’t get that many deals or manufacturer’s rebates – quite the opposite,” Giroux told reporters Thursday.

Expanding the pipeline’s capacity will come at a cost of $9.3 billion if the project

is completed on schedule by Dec. 31, 2021, the PBO estimates.

But should the project encounter any construction delays or cost increases, Giroux says, “then it’s quite clear to us that the government would have overpaid” for the pipeline.

The federal government bought the pipeline from Kinder Morgan in August after political opposition to expanding the existing pipeline between Alberta and the B.C. coast gave the company and its investors cold feet. The government announced the purchase price as $4.5 billion but Giroux reported that after final adjustments, the net payment to Kinder Morgan was $4.4 billion.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau contends, however, the final cost to taxpayers was actually $4.1 billion, after a $325-million capital-gains tax payment – and therefore falls in the middle of the PBO’s valuation of the project.

Morneau also contends the government engaged in “significant negotiations” to get the best deal. He defended the pipeline purchase as “a good economic decision.”

Laura KANE Citizen news service

Teresa WRIGHT Citizen news service

The boys in the bright red ball caps

Two weekends ago, a boy from a Catholic high school in Kentucky blew up social media with the smirk heard round the world.

On the surface, it looked terrible. A white kid wearing a Make America Great Again ball cap and a patronizing sneer staring down a Native American drummer in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.

The outrage was immediate and deafening, with race, that ball cap and that smirk used as a convenient frame to launch into the standard left-wing lectures about white male privilege, racial discrimination, rural prejudices and how U.S. President Donald Trump has provided social licence for this kind of confrontational nonsense under the umbrella of that hat and that ridiculous campaign slogan.

There are so many other avenues to make legitimate points about the ongoing damage of racism, bigotry and Trump but this wasn’t one of them.

In the days after the incident, the simple and convenient tale started to unravel as different videos were posted online, showing the crowd around the boy and the Native American elder. Prominent voices in the liberal media found themselves briefly aligned with Fox News pundits complaining that the

boy and his classmates – visiting Washington on a school trip – were being unfairly tarnished as country bumpkin racists.

Andrew Sullivan, certainly no defender of Trump or apologist for bigotry, writing in the New Yorker online, certainly a publication not read by Republicans or anyone who would be caught dead in a MAGA hat, exposed the fraud in his excellent essay The Abyss of Hate Versus Hate.

“What I saw was extraordinary bigotry, threats of violence, hideous misogyny, disgusting racism, foul homophobia, and anti-Catholicism – not by the demonized schoolboys, but by grown men with a bullhorn, a small group of self-styled Black Hebrew Israelites,” Sullivan wrote. “They’re a fringe sect – but an extremely aggressive one – known for inflammatory bigotry in public. The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated them a hate group: ‘strongly anti-white and anti-Semitic.’ They scream abuse at gays, women, white people, Jews, interracial couples, in the crudest of language... They were the instigators of the entire affair.”

can be clearly seen and heard harassing the drumming elder and the rest of the people taking part in the Indigenous Peoples March, calling them “savages” and “uncle tomahawks.”

The same men then went after the boys, calling them “crackers,” “faggots” and “future school shooters.”

There are so many other avenues to make legitimate points about the ongoing damage of racism, bigotry and Trump but this wasn’t one of them.

As Sullivan points out, this group of men

The boys, waiting for their bus to pick them up for the next part of their tour of the capital, started chanting school cheers. Others tried to engage the men – “Why are you being mean? Why do you call us Klansmen?”

Somehow, out of all of this, a white boy in a bright red ball cap, saying nothing, is a redneck racist and the adult black men shouting epithets are simply protesting racial inequality.

Right.

Like teenagers in general and teenaged boys in particular, the boys in the video aren’t perfectly behaved but they are angels next to the men around them. Perhaps to defuse the situation, perhaps to stand up for themselves, perhaps because so many had their phones out shooting video, perhaps because being disrespectful is what teen-

Canadian divide seems to be growing

Here’s what unites the West: we think Ottawa sucks. Otherwise, the Western provinces have little in common, particularly when it comes to feuding neighbours Alberta and B.C.

The Angus Reid Institute just released a poll on attitudes in the West. Here’s what it found: “More than anything else, the issue that unites Western Canada is each province’s sense that it isn’t treated fairly by the federal government.”

With the exception of Ontario, no region feels well-represented in our national institutions – the Supreme Court, Parliament. Also in the findings: “The four Western provinces have major disagreements on questions of politics and identity, with the rift between British Columbia and Alberta and the closeness between Alberta and Saskatchewan particularly notable.”

“I feel we’re bound more by handshakes than hugs in this country,” says the institute’s executive director, Shachi Kurl, on the phone from Vancouver. Canadians get along OK as long as we’re all building the same road to prosperity, but things get testy when our paths diverge.

The West doesn’t trust Ottawa. Alberta and B.C. have stopped sending each other Christmas cards. Within B.C., people in the Interior feel they play second fiddle to those on the coast. On the coast, Victorians are envious of the focus on Vancouver. This isn’t particularly new.

Western alienation – particularly in Alberta, which has long resented feeling like Canada’s milk cow – gave rise to the Reform Party 30 years ago. The internal splits are worsening, though. “The pipeline debate has certainly exacerbated the issue in a big way,” says Kurl.

Consider these poll results:

• When asked which geographic area they have most in common with, in terms of values and lifestyle, 54 per cent of British Columbians pointed to Washington state (that’s up just a bit from when the same question was asked in 1991), followed by California (18 per cent) and Alberta (15).

Asked the same question, 70 per cent of Albertans identified Saskatchewan. Only seven per cent chose B.C. – down from 33 in 1991.

• Only in Manitoba do Westerners think of themselves as Canadians first and citizens of their province second. In B.C., 45 per cent identified as mostly British Columbians, while 42 per cent said Canadian. In Alberta, it was 49 to 36.

• Albertans feel hard done by. Responding to the statement “my province is respected by the rest of the country,” 57 per cent of British Columbians said yes (that’s the highest rate in Canada), but only 26 per cent of Albertans did so (the lowest).

When the statement was “my province is treated fairly by the national government,” only 17 per cent of Albertans agreed –again, the lowest. In B.C. it was 36 per cent.

Albertans are also most likely (69 per cent) to want their provincial government to take a hard line against Ottawa.

The angry Albertan image is hardly new. The self-pitying bellicosity of the province’s political leaders – Premier Rachel Notley and her even shriller rival Jason Kenney – makes you worry about Canada slipping into the kind of snarling polarization that has crippled the U.S. Into this toxic mess marches Victoria council and its support for a class-action suit against oil and gas companies over climate change, a move that might target global Big Oil but is being taken as a raised middle finger by Albertans. It smacks of a sophomoric stunt more suiting attention-grabbing activists than elected officials serious about finding a solution.

Do we have to fight climate change? Of course we do. But given the existing tensions between Alberta and B.C., the lawsuit vote will serve only to hammer a wedge between opposing views and make Alberta dig in its heels. When has anyone ever changed your mind by yelling at you or mocking you – the only way B.C. and Alberta communicate these days.

Kurl was asked if we are losing our commonality.

“My question would be ‘was it ever there?’” she replied.

SHAWN CORNELL DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING

agers are expert at or perhaps all of those reasons combined, many of the boys are seen laughing in that uniquely annoying mocking tone that parents everywhere immediately recognize.

But the hat, the hat, look at that hat, insisted those who didn’t want facts and details to get in the way of their convenient narrative.

The hat is provocative, no question, but it’s also been given a ridiculous amount of power and significance by the very same critics who despise it. It is not “the new white hood,” it is not a “white supremacy signalling device,” akin to the Confederate flag, as some would like to call it. Not only is it wrong to exaggerate the MAGA hat’s symbolism, such a comparison with white hoods and the Confederate flag trivializes those racist symbols and their central role in a deadly, painful and ongoing chapter of American history.

Worst of all, focusing solely on that bright red ball cap dehumanizes the boy wearing it, reducing him to nothing more than a poster child in a race war. If hatred and false narratives about children are now legitimate weapons in the war against racism and bigotry, then the difference between right and wrong has been sacrificed in a winner-takes-all battle where everyone loses.

Editor-in-chief Neil Godbout

—

Green tail meets

orange dog

New Democrat Sheila Malcolmson maintained the status quo in Nanaimo and B.C. Wednesday night. The big new development was the Green collapse.

Malcolmson withstood a strong challenge from B.C. Liberal Tony Harris to win a kind of unprecedented proxy general election, given the stakes.

But Green candidate Michele Ney started slow and never recovered. Her poor showing has a lot more to do with B.C. Green Leader Andrew Weaver than it does with her. Dismal is the only word to describe it. Particularly considering Weaver’s ebullient predictions just a few days ago.

After four days canvassing with her in the last stretch, he blogged: “I’ve been absolutely floored by the level of support for our candidate Michele Ney.”

His in-depth analysis also included assorted reasons why he expected the traditionally strong NDP vote to fade, if not collapse.

People were “profoundly troubled” that Malcolmson bailed on her federal MP job in an “opportunistic quest for power,” he said.

“Numerous people who voted B.C. NDP feel betrayed by them on a number of their key election promises. “People are sick and tired of Nanaimo being known as an Orange town.”

Some of this can be discounted as enthusiastic cheerleading designed to bolster the team. There’s no point in playing the game if you don’t expect to win.

But what can’t be discounted is the slippery, confusing position the Greens carried into the byelection campaign. The three Green MLAs signed a pact to support the NDP 18 months ago and have supported every bill the government brought in. But then Weaver adopted a chippy tone and started attacking his senior partners when the contest opened.

He even threatened to walk away from his deal to support the NDP. “An NDP win by no means ensures (the Greens) will continue to prop them up. … (It’s) hubris

IN THE FAST LEYNE LES LEYNE

to think NDP have our continued support,” he warned, via Twitter.

“It’s remarkable that the NDP have the audacity to be fear mongering (the) vote split narrative.”

In his mid-race analysis, he said the NDP vote splitting talking point “literally caused me to burst out laughing on the doorstep.”

Everybody is laughing at that now, because the Green vote is so small it scarcely made a difference. Ney held seven per cent of the vote, one of the worst showings for the party in Nanaimo ever. Even more confusing than Weaver’s about-face when the campaign started was his stance on the NDP’s speculation tax over the past few months.

He criticized it vociferously throughout the fall debate on the controversial tax. He was successful in forcing some amendments, the key one being one flat rate for all Canadian owners of B.C. properties whom the government deems to be speculators.

But the key thing is that he voted for it. He can claim the amendments as a win. But it looks like voters are puzzling over exactly what the Greens are all about. Weaver shrugged off the equally-devastating loss in the proportional representation referendum last month. Changing the voting system could have catapulted the Greens to prominence. When the idea was rejected, he portrayed indifference.

He’ll try to do the same thing today. But he’s got to be thinking about recasting his caucus in a more definitive role than the one they are currently struggling to play.

Premier John Horgan said he was looking forward to seeing Weaver and B.C. Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson in the house next month. No doubt. All three will be on a slightly different footing.

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OTTAWA (CP) —

on

The markets today

TORONTO (CP) — Canada’s main stock index rebounded from December’s selloff by gaining 8.5 per cent in January, fuelled by a surge in crude oil prices. North American markets as a whole performed well in the month, led by the Nasdaq composite, which ended 9.7 per cent higher. The gains were pretty impressive especially since the month started with investors unsure if there would be a temporary or so-called dead cat bounce or a sustainable rally, says Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist for SIA Wealth Management.

“Certainly we’ve seen a fairly sizable rally unfold over the last few weeks, so January has been a particularly strong month and a very big rebound from the dismal December that we had.”

Since the turn of the century, January’s performance has been mixed, he said. This year’s results were the strongest in at least 14 years for the TSX.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 56.05 points to 15,540.60, marking the sixth consecutive daily gain. The Toronto market advanced by nearly 1,200 points in the month as it faced just three losing sessions.

Cieszynski said the Canadian market benefited from a recovery in U.S. markets, but higher oil prices and turnarounds in a number of commodities, including gold, silver, copper and forest products, also made positive contributions.

Several other sectors, such as industrials, health care, technology and consumer staples have also done well.

On Thursday, the market was led by gains by cannabis companies in the health-care sector, particularly Aphria Inc.

AP FILE

PHOTO A venti Mocha Frappuccino is displayed at a Starbucks. Distinguishing your business with exclusive products is one of the lessons business owners can learn from the international coffee chain, columnist Dave Fuller says.

What businesses can learn from Starbucks

My wife Margaret likes Starbucks and, when I ask her what she likes about it, she can’t quite put her finger on just what it is.

She tells me that the coffee is good (I don’t drink coffee, so I wouldn’t know) but I have friends who say that McDonald’s coffee is even better.

She said, “it’s the lighting and that they have windows.”

“But Tim Hortons has more windows,” I counter.

It’s the “ambience,” she says, “how you can just sit there and be at peace, how people are friendly, or that they change it up regularly.”

I argue that there are other coffee shops that have all of that and more.

Let me say that I know lots of people who don’t like Starbucks coffee too. My father tells me the coffee is so strong that he has to dilute it with 50 per cent water. I have other friends who frown on the high cost of a drink or others who don’t appreciate the fact that they won’t find their friends sitting around there.

So what is it that Starbucks does that keeps their customers so loyal? And what could you learn from Starbucks that would make your business better?

1. Customer service: If there is one thing that every business could learn from Starbucks is customer service. Last week, I went into our local Starbucks at 6:45 a.m. because I was out for a walk and thought I would get a ride home with Margaret who regularly meets her running friends there for a coffee after their 6 a.m. run. I wasn’t going to get a drink because we were heading home shortly. Alyson, one of the baristas whom my wife knew by name, but I didn’t, came over to our table a couple minutes later with a drink in hand and hands it to me, telling me it’s on the house.

Low and behold, the drink is “my drink,” the special drink I order almost every time I go into a Starbucks (which I might add is fairly rarely compared to my wife, because I don’t drink

BUSINESS COACH

DAVE FULLER

coffee). How many of our businesses would know enough about our customers to take care of their spouses? How many of our staff would go that extra mile to make visitors feel special or do something extra for someone outside of our core customers?

Alyson did exactly that at my local Starbucks and my gut feeling is that Starbucks supports their staff in going that extra mile.

2. Exclusive products: Where else can you buy a triple, venti, half-sweet, non-fat, Caramel Macchiato? And what does that even mean? Where else could I buy something like that? Not only does Starbucks have a level of quality that seems to exceed their competitors, they have names that spell exclusivity.

So often in business we try to have similar products to our competitors and we fail to differentiate ourselves as Starbucks does. When we fail to give unique reasons for our customers to buy from us, we reduce the long-term value of our business.

Don’t just always do everything the same. Do something different.

3. Ambience: Whether you are going to meet a friend or read a book by yourself, Starbucks has something for you. No, it’s not typically a place where you will find a group of retired seniors on a budget, but you will find a table full of mothers, a couple athletes, three business people, a mother and daughter, two friends and three students, all who want to relax while having a favourite drink. Having just the right lighting, colours and odours that allow your customers to relax when they are doing business with you goes a long way to ensuring that they keep coming back.

4. Pricing: I have never ever had anyone tell me that they thought Starbucks was cheap. In fact, they are generally considered to be an expensive place to buy coffee. Yet every time I go to pick up my wife from Starbucks, the place is wall-to-wall people. So often in business we think we need to have the lowest prices to get more customers and, as a result, many businesses never make it. We are so focused on low prices that we forget that customers want so much more. Studies show that most customers are more interested in value than pricing, yet we often fail to understand what that value really is. It’s obvious that Starbucks has figured out what that value is for their customers.

5. Systems: Whether it’s opening or renovating a store, picking a location or serving their coffee, Starbucks revolves around having great systems that promote efficiency, quality and timelines. Having great systems ensures that the Starbucks coffee you order in Prince George is going to taste the same as the coffee you get in Heathrow Airport in London. Could you say the same for your business? That the product or service you deliver is going to be equally good each and every time? Having great systems in your business means that you have systems to ensure the proper hiring and training of baristas like Alyson who go over and above your customers’ expectations.

After talking to Margaret, I am not sure I could pinpoint what it is that she likes about Starbucks, however I do know that Starbucks costs me money and that she tends to go back there regularly to get her fix.

Margaret seems happier if she has a Starbucks coffee in her hand, having come away talking to a barista like Alyson. Although some of the small local coffee shops can sometimes give her that feeling, as a husband, I know that a happy wife equals a happy life.

Dave Fuller, MBA, is an award-winning business coach and strategist. He is the author of the book Profit Yourself Healthy. Email dave@ profityourselfhealthy.com.

SPRUCE KINGS OUT TO GROUND EAGLES

Page 10

Leaving her mark

Louka ranks as one of the best all-time in Canada West

Ted CLARKE Citizen staff tclarke@pgcitizen.ca

Vasiliki Louka knows when she steps out on the women’s basketball court at the Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre to play games tonight and Saturday against the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns, her regular-season career as a UNBC Timberwolf is over.

It should come as no shock to anyone who has followed Louka’s five-year career in the U Sports Canada West conference that she has risen to the top of the charts as one of the conference’s all-time best post position players. But for casual observers who might not be aware what she’s accomplished since she left her home in Athens, Greece, nearly five years ago to come to Prince George, the stats don’t lie.

On the all-time Canada West lists which date back to 1972, the six-foot-three Louka ranks second in career double-doubles (47), second in defensive rebounds (675), third in defensive rebounds per game (6.4), fourth in total rebounds (950), and ranks fifth in minutes played (3,186). She’s in the Canada West top10 in blocked shots (126, ninth overall), blocked shots per game (1.325, ninth), and ranks in the top 20 in rebounds per game (2.75, 11th), field goal attempts (1,274, 14th), field goals made (556, 14th), total points (1,462, 16th) and offensive rebounds (556, 19th).

“It’s actually pretty nice to know you’ve helped the team and the program to develop,” said Louka. “I was lucky because when I came here coach Sergey (Shchepotkin) gave me the opportunity in my first year to play a lot and that helped me to get experience. Only a few players in their first year play more than 25 minutes and I was lucky that Sergey really trusted me and gave me all these leadership roles, even in my first year. When you’re a rookie that’s a pretty major thing.

“You play more confident when you know the coach trusts you and you have the trust from your teammates as well. For sure, seeing the things I have accomplished is really important for me because I want to play (professional) basketball after. It helps my confidence to keep trying and keep practicing hard.”

In Louka’s first two seasons the T-wolves took their lumps

as Canada West bottom-feeders. They went 2-18 her first season and ended up with a 3-17 record in 2015-16. They improved to 6-14, which got the T-wolves into the playoffs for the first time in 2016-17 and they put up a 9-11 season last year to make a repeat trip to the postseason.

Now Louka has the T-wolves heading into uncharted territory as they wrap up their seventh season playing in Canada’s top university league. After a 6-0 start they now sport a 10-8 record and are on the verge of clinching home-court advantage for the opening playoff round for the first time in team history. To guarantee that, the seventh-ranked T-wolves will need at least a weekend split with the Pronghorns (11-7) and that’s not going to come easily against the No. 6 team in the conference. Lethbridge has won its last six games.

“They have one more win than us so they are a good team and a pretty tough team but I think we can play with them and get the two wins, that’s the goal,” said Louka, who will graduate with a degree in public administration and government development.

Louka is among six graduating

UNBC players nearing the end of their university basketball careers. She and guard Abby Gibb play for the women’s team. Louka’s brother, Vaggelis Loukas, James Agyeman, Austin Chandler and Jovan Leamy are in the twilight of their careers as seniors with the T-wolves men’s team.

Vasiliki, 22, and Vaggelis, 24, grew up in a basketball family. Their mother Stella played for the

For sure, seeing the things I have accomplished is really important for me because I want to play (professional) basketball after.

— Vasiliki Louka

Greek national team in the mid1980s and both kids thrived on the court. Stella has a connection with Shchepotkin which traces back to his time in his native Russia and that led to Vasiliki and Vaggelis coming to UNBC as a package deal in 2014. Throughout Vasiliki’s UNBC career, the men’s games have followed the women’s games and she has had a front-row seat watching her six-foot-five brother haul in rebounds and block shots as one of the T-wolves’ go-to forwards. As a five-year player, Vaggelis has started more Canada West games than any other player in UNBC history. He ranks first alltime on the team in steals (102)

Win-starved Cougars head south

Ted CLARKE Citizen staff

Last weekend was a pointless exercise for the Prince George Cougars.

Three games on their tour of the Western Hockey League’s Central Division resulted in losses to Calgary, Red Deer and Edmonton, which extended the Cougars’ losing streak to a season-high seven games. They’ll try to end that slide tonight in Kamloops against a Blazer team that’s won all five games so far in the season series with the Cougars.

“We have to go in and play our game, we have to get to work and play the way we should – this is another four-point game that will have a huge impact come midMarch on who will make the playoffs and who’s not,” said Cougars head coach Richard Matvichuk.

The goal-starved Cougars have scored fewer goals (105) than any other WHL team and that lack of production, averaging 2.18 goals per game, has been the bane of their existence – the most obvious reason they rank dead-last in the Western Conference with a 16-273-2 record.

Defensively, they stack up 12th-stingiest in a 22-team league, having allowed 156 goals for an average 3.25 per game. But if you don’t have the finishers, which the Cougars certainly lack, points in the standings are tough to come by. Only four Cougars are producing a point or better every two games. Vladislav Mikhalchuk leads the

Cats in scoring with 17 goals and 18 assists for 35 points in 48 games. The other three are Josh Maser (18-10-28) defenceman Cole Moberg (9-16-25) and Ethan Browne (7-18-25).

The Cats were outscored 26-10 in those seven losses and picked up points in just two of those games, overtime defeats on home ice to Kamloops and Moose Jaw. That’s dropped them further out of the playoff race with just 20 games left to try to reel in the teams ahead of them.

The Cougars (2-6-2-0 in their last 10 games) are five points behind the Blazers (19-25-3-1) for fourth place in the B.C. Division and eight points back of the

Kelowna Rockets (20-24-4-1), who hold the third and final division playoff spot.

“We’re getting the chances, it’s just we’re struggling to put the puck in the net right now,” said Matvichuk. “If you’re not getting chances that’s one thing but we are getting the chances, so we just have to find the back of the net.

“Defensively and systems-wise I thought we’ve been fine and our effort’s there, it’s just a matter of scoring an early one or getting a bounce that we need. We’re finding ways to lose right now and we have to find ways to win.”

The power play continues to struggle, as it seems to every year in Cougarville. They’ve scored just 29 goals in 197 chances and have given up seven shorthanded goals this season. Scoring at a 14.7 per cent clip, they rank last in the WHL, continuing a trend that’s plagued the Cougars. In each of the past dozen seasons their power play has ranked in the bottom

third of the league. It hit rock-bottom in 2011-12, and 2016-17 and they were 21st out of 22 in 200910, 2102-13, and 2013-14. The last time their power play cracked the top 10 was in 2006-07 when it was ranked ninth, while Devin Setoguchi and Nick Drazenovic were playing for the team – the last time the Cougars advanced to the third round of playoffs.

“When you look back for the last many years of this organization the power play’s never been high, I think it’s been once in the top-15 in multiple years,” said Matvichuk.

“Does a lot of it come because it’s easier (for opponents) to adjust on a back-to-back game basis compared to playing a different opponent all the time? We’re always playing back-to-back because of our location and I’m not making excuses but that might come into play at some point.”

The Cougars aren’t that far out of a wild-card spot, seven points behind the Seattle Thunderbirds, but they’re going to need a better power play and a run of victories to avoid missing the playoffs for the second consecutive year.

Expect Taylor Gauthier to get the start in the Cougar nets tonight. Gauthier played in Calgary and Edmonton after representing the Cougars at the CHL Top Prospects Game in Red Deer. Through 37 games in his sophomore WHL season Gauthier sports a 3.01 goals-against average, .907 save percentage and has three shutouts. He’s ranked fifth among North American goalies available

and blocks (39). His 132 assists rank 11th in the UNBC record book and his 679 points are 14th on the team list.

“Both me and Vaggelis will finish our college careers together and it’s really nice for me and my family to do that,” said Vasiliki. “My mom let me choose whatever sport I wanted to do and I chose basketball. But having my mom close to me I could get all this advice and that was a really huge opportunity. Not everyone has that, to have someone in your family experienced in good basketball.

“It’s kind of sad that these are our last regular-season games but we’ve accomplished a lot of things and we’re going to remember things like hosting playoffs, probably, and going into playoffs for the first time and Vaggelis’s team winning their first playoff game (last year). All these things are going to stay with us even after we are done with college in Prince George.”

The male Pronghorns (11-7) have won four straight and are seventh in the standings, taking on the 10th-place T-wolves (9-9) who were swept last weekend at UBC. Tonight’s women’s game starts at 6, followed by the men’s tip-off at 8.

for the NHL draft in June.

“I thought he was really good (last weekend), he’s such a competitor and we’ve kind of been running with him as of late and with the confidence he’s getting, he’s not getting tired, which is great,” said Matvichuk. “He’s practicing the way he should, he’s putting the time in with videos and doing the right things and this is why this kid keeps getting better and better. We have to still realize he’s still a young goaltender in this league at 17. He possibly has three more years in this league, hopefully only two, but if you look at two years from now, he could be really good.”

Browne will be back in action tonight after missing two games with an upper-body injury. The Cougars have no other injuries to report. The Blazers will be missing D Luke Zazula (out with an upperbody injury), D Quinn Schmiemann (listed as day-to-day with a concussion sustained in collision with Cougars forward Maser Jan. 20 at CN Centre) and LW Ryley Appelt (lower body, one week).

The Cats play Saturday night in Langley against the B.C. Divisionleading Vancouver Giants and will be back at home Tuesday and Wednesday to face the Giants again.

The Cougars are making plans to round up a guest coach to fill in for associate coach Steve O’Rourke, who leaves Feb. 11 to take on the head coaching duties for the B.C. men’s team at the Canada Winter Games in Red Deer.

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO

Vasiliki Louka of the UNBC Timberwolves drives past University of Manitoba Bisons defender Addison Martin during a Jan. 12 Canada West women’s basketball game at the Northern Sport Centre. Louka is nearing the end of a five-year playing career with the T-wolves.

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO

Louka gains inside position on Kelly Fagan of the MacEwan University Griffins during a 2016 game at the NSC.

MIKHALCHUK

Sports Jets burn Blue Jackets with late goal

Citizen news service

WINNIPEG — Blake Wheeler knows the Winnipeg Jets don’t panic if they’re behind.

That approach paid off Thursday when Kyle Connor scored with 1:14 remaining in the third period to lift the Jets to a 4-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

“We’ve done it enough this year that we have a lot of confidence that we know we don’t have to change our game,” Wheeler said. “We can continue to play the same way for 60 minutes.

“We’re going to generate enough chances. It’s just a matter of finishing them. Some nights they’re going to go in, and some nights they’re not.” Winnipeg also came from behind to beat the Bruins 4-3 in a shootout in Boston on Tuesday.

With their victory Thursday, the Jets extended their home win streak to six games and handed the Blue Jackets their four straight loss.

Mark Scheifele scored his teamleading 26th goal of the season, with Wheeler picking up his 54th assist. Mason Appleton and Jack Roslovic also scored and Jacob Trouba had a pair of assists.

Connor Hellebuyck made 28 saves for the Jets (33-16-2), who were starting a three-game homestand.

Artemi Panarin scored his 20th goal and added one assist for Columbus. Josh Anderson had a power-play goal and Oliver Bjorkstrand also scored. Seth Jones contributed a pair of assists.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 shots for the Jackets (28-19-3).

Columbus led 2-1 after the first period and 3-2 after two, but Roslovic tied it up at 8:47 of the third when his shot went into the corner with 17 seconds left in a Winnipeg power play.

“It sucks to lose that way in the last minute,” said Columbus forward Nick Foligno. “Guys played really hard, played to our identity

Eagles landing in Kings’ country

Ted CLARKE Citizen staff

The Surrey Eagles might not make the B.C. Hockey League playoffs and that’s a difficult feat considering 16 of the league’s 17 teams do advance to the postseason dance. With only a month remaining in the season, the Eagles are dead-last in the BCHL, nine points behind Cowichan Valley for that final playoff spot.

Tonight and Saturday at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena the Eagles will try upset the balance of power while taking on the Prince George Spruce Kings in a two-game set.

Although the Spruce Kings are 40 points ahead of Surrey in the standings, Kings head coach Adam Maglio is quick to remind his troops that two of the Eagles’ 10 victories in 201819 have come at the expense of the Spruce Kings. They beat them 3-2 in Surrey Sept. 28 and posted a 2-1 decision in the second game of a weekend doubleheader at RMCA on Dec. 15. Combined with the Kings’ 2-1 win at home Dec. 14 and a 3-0 triumph Dec. 21 in Surrey, that makes it an even split in the season series with the rubber matches decided this weekend.

The Spruce Kings (27-12-1-5, second in the Mainland Division) have slipped seven points behind the Mainland Divisionleading Chilliwack Chiefs for first overall in the BCHL and need a weekend sweep of the last-overall Eagles (10-34-2-2) to try to make up lost ground on the Chiefs.

“Surrey’s going to be a big test for us, even though where they are in the standings,” said Maglio.

“The last time up here they took one from us so we have to be ready. Every game to the end is going to be important for standings for us.”

After this weekend the Spruce Kings will have nine games left, six on the road and three at home. Three of their remaining games are against Chilliwack.

Game time tonight is 7 p.m.

tonight and just doesn’t sit well with me getting scored on late like that.”

Connor was coming off a change and took a pass from Bryan Little and beat Bobrovsky over his stick.

“The puck got rimmed down low to Bryan and he made an incredible pass on his backhand there and found me in the slot,” Connor said.

“Just tried to get it off quick.”

Columbus leading scorer Cam

Atkinson was hit in the face by a puck during warmup and replaced by Mark Letestu. Head coach John Tortorella had no update after the game.

Despite the loss, Tortorella was satisfied with his team’s performance.

“I thought our guys rallied together and played a good game,” Tortorella said.

Tortorella was yelling on the

bench when a play late in the third period with the game tied was stopped after defenceman Zach Werenski fired a shot that hit the back of Jets forward Brandon Tanev.

The coach wouldn’t comment on it, but Werenski did.

“We had them hemmed in for a while there and I thought they were pretty tired and (Tanev) makes a good block, but the puck comes right back to us,” Werenski said. “I think he starts getting up and they blow the whistle, so it’s definitely a little frustrating. “I know where the ref’s coming from, he wants to make sure the player is OK. First and foremost, that’s the most important thing, but I know where I hit him, right in the mid-to-low back, so you could kind of tell it wasn’t anything up high, so it’s definitely frustrating for us.”

Wheeler helped open the scoring after a Columbus turnover when he set up Scheifele for a one-timer that beat Bobrovsky at 4:34 of the first. Ryan Murray sent the puck between the skates of a Winnipeg defender right to Panarin’s stick and he fired it over Hellebuyck’s glove to tie it at 8:52. Panarin has a three-game point streak with a pair of goals and three assists. Anderson go the go-ahead goal on the power play when Panarin found him in the slot at 13:30. Appleton made it 2-2 when his shot hit Bobrovsky and trickled under the netminder at 13:21, but 57 seconds later Bjorkstrand regained the lead for the visitors.

Richards sees record drop at Scotties

Citizen staff

The two top teams on the third day at the Scotties B.C. women’s curling championship each have Prince George connections. Sarah Wark of Abbotsford improved to 5-1 at the eight-team tournament in Quesnel, finishing with a three-ender in the 10th to cap an 8-6 win Thursday night over Karla Thompson of Kamloops.

Wark’s team includes third Kristen Pilote, second Carly Sandwith, lead Michelle Dunn and fifth Jen Rusnell and is coached by Rick Fewster. Rusnell and Pilote, and their father, Fewster, are from Prince George. Wark recorded her fourth win Thursday morning, beating Corryn Brown of Kamloops 8-5 in nine ends.

Meanwhile, Brette Richards and her combined Prince George/ Kelowna/Victoria rink were trying to keep within striking range of Wark for first place with one day left in round-robin play. Richards took on Diane Gushulak of New Westminster (2-2) in the ninth draw Thursday night and lost 7-6. Gushu-

Ugly loss for Raptors

TORONTO (CP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 19 points to lift the Milwaukee Bucks 105-92 over

lak scored the decisive point holding the hammer in the 10th to improve to 3-2, moving her into second place just ahead of Richards, who also has a 3-2 record.

Richards and her team of third Blaine de Jager (her sister from Prince George), second Steph Jackson Baier (Kelowna) and lead Heather Tyre (Victoria), coached by Doug Dalziel (Prince George), needed a little overtime to beat their previous two opponents.

Richards scored one in the 11th end in the late draw Wednesday in a 7-6 victory, handing Wark her only loss of the tournament. Then in the morning draw Thursday, Richards blanked the ninth and 10th ends and put up one in the 11th in a 6-5 triumph over Thompson to improve their second-place record to 3-1.

Richards and de Jager captured the B.C. title in 2017 as part of a team skipped by Marla Mallet. Jackson Baier teamed up with Kesa Van Osch to claim the B.C. championship in 2014. Van Osch, of Nanaimo, is the defending champion.

Richards and her crew will be back on the ice in Quesnel today at 9

the Toronto Raptors in a battle for first place in the Eastern Conference on Thursday.

Pascal Siakam scored 28 points to lead the Raptors (37-16), who saw

a.m. to play Kim Slattery of Vernon in the 10th draw, then face Lindsay Hudyma of Vancouver at 2 p.m. Wark has a bye this morning and is matched against Gushulak in today’s final round-robin draw. The playoffs start Saturday at 9 a.m. with the two top teams facing each other. The winner advances to the championship game Sunday at 2 p.m., while the loser of 1-versus-2 game faces the winner of the 3-versus-4 playoff Saturday at 7 p.m., with the winner advancing to the final.

At stake is the right to represent B.C. in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Sydney, N.S., Feb. 16-24. The B.C. provincial men’s tournament is also on this week in Quesnel. Jim Cotter of Vernon beat Jason Montgomery of Victoria 7-5 in the A-final Thursday morning. Montgomery will face Dean Joanisse of Victoria in the B final tonight at 9. Cotter will play the winner of that game Saturday at 9 a.m. The winner advances to the championship game Sunday at 10 a.m. The men’s champ will go on to the Tim Hortons Brier in Brandon, Man., March 30 to April 7.

their 10-game home winning streak come to an end. Kawhi Leonard scored less than 20 points for the first time in 23 games, finishing with 16.

Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky looks behind him as a shot by Kyle Connor of the Winnipeg Jets enters his net for the winning goal on Thursday night in Winnipeg.

Atwood reveals details about Handmaid’s sequel

Citizen news service

TORONTO — Margaret Atwood is offering a glimpse into her much-hyped sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale.

The celebrated novelist tweeted an image of The Testaments front cover and it features the outline of a woman wearing the story’s famous bonnet and cloak.

But instead of the standard red colour described in The Handmaid’s Tale, the attire is bright green.

Hidden within the minimalist graphic is the form of another woman with arms outstretched, and without the cloak and bonnet.

Book publisher McClelland & Stewart has said the story picks up 15 years after protagonist Offred stepped into the unknown. It also features the testaments of three female narrators from Gilead, the totalitarian society in which women are treated as property of the state.

Atwood has said little about the storyline, except that it was partly inspired by “the world we’ve been living in.”

The Testament is slated to be released Sept. 10 and is available for pre-order.

Atwood remained tightlipped Thursday despite seeming to tweet a clue to what’s in store for the dystopian saga.

“My publishers have locked me in the Naughty Room so I won’t be able to hint,” Atwood tweeted from her verified account, @MargaretAtwood.

In a separate statement provided by her publisher, Atwood heaped praise on illustrator Noma Bar for his minimalist art.

“It can’t have been easy, but he came through with a cover that is fresh and intriguing: within an apparently simple double image, there are hidden figures to be discovered – just as in the book. I hope you like it as much as I do.”

First released in 1985, The Handmaid’s Tale has enjoyed renewed popularity in recent years, and inspired the Emmy Award-winning series of the same name starring Elisabeth Moss as Offred.

The Toronto-shot series is heading into its third season and has eclipsed the events of the original novel. McClelland & Stewart says the sequel will not be connected to the TV adaptation, seen on Bravo and Hulu.

Cara’s tour hitting Vancouver

TORONTO (CP) — Pop singer Alessia Cara is heading out on a Canadian concert tour this spring. Last year’s Grammy winner for best new artist has revealed plans for a 12-city tour throughout May to support her second full-length album The Pains of Growing. The Brampton, Ont.-raised performer will roll through many cities in her home province, including stops in Ottawa (May 11), Hamilton (May 12), Toronto (May 17) and Thunder Bay (May 19). Among the other cities with dates are Winnipeg (May 20), Regina (May 21), Calgary (May 25) and Vancouver (May 27). Earlier this week Cara was nominated for three Juno Awards, including single of the year for Growing Pains.

‘I thought people had forgotten’

Corey Hart returns with new album, hall of fame induction

David FRIEND Citizen news service

TORONTO — Corey Hart isn’t making any promises he can’t keep this time around.

Five years ago, the raspy-voiced Sunglasses at Night singer-songwriter was prepared to unplug his microphone forever. So certain of his decision, he proclaimed a sold-out concert in his Montreal hometown as his last, branding it as “a farewell” in one interview and “a full stop as far as... being a live performer.”

Hart played 44 songs lasting more than four hours. And then it was over... or so he thought.

Hardly an album’s cycle after walking off into the sunset, as he calls it, Hart is on the cusp of a considerable return to music. First, he’ll be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, closing out the Juno Awards broadcast with a live performance of his biggest hits.

Then he’ll release Dreaming Time Again, a confident five-track EP that re-introduces Hart as an alt-country and rock star buried underneath all those synthesizers. Hart will walk the line between

nostalgia and new material with a multi-city Canadian tour that kicks off on May 31, his birthday. It’s a considerable task for a man who claimed to be leaving the music industry.

“When I said it, I meant it. I really meant it,” Hart insisted as he sat in a Toronto hotel for a blitz of interviews.

“Life is all serendipitous – intersecting moments and unexpected discoveries. Everything sort of coalesced together at this particular time for me to say, ‘You know what? There’s a demand to do this.”’

Perhaps it was fate, which Hart

firmly believes played a role in his life, or maybe it was simply a confluence of events set forth by TV shows like Stranger Things that embraced Hart’s biggest hits in the canon of 1980s classics. The Seth Rogen-produced Hulu comedy series Future Man built an entire storyline around one character’s obsession with Hart.

Whatever it was exactly, calls for an encore became tough for Hart to ignore. One evening, after performing an acoustic set at a fundraiser for Canada’s Walk of Fame, he was stopped by acclaimed Canadian producer Bob Ezrin.

“He took hold of my shoulders and said, ‘Wow that was really good. Where have you been?”’ Hart recalled.

Hart pointed to his wife and kids sitting at another table. “I’ve been there,” he responded. One of the reasons Hart left the music industry was to raise his four children.

But Ezrin wasn’t sold on the excuse anymore, pointing out to Hart that his kids were now all teenagers or older. He urged him to consider showcasing his talents again.

Hart was cuffed by Ezrin’s persistence and the two agreed to grab a coffee and discuss working

together. It led to Ezrin visiting the family’s home in Nassau, Bahamas, where Hart moved in 1995 with his wife, Quebec singer Julie Masse.

“We developed a friendship,” Hart said. “He certainly was the catalyst for me taking that leap of faith.”

Inside the studio, Hart describes a working relationship that wasn’t necessarily smooth, but led to satisfying results.

“His famous line was ‘Corey, I think you can do better. Please consider it,”’ Hart said.

“I sometimes felt like I was in school – and I did badly in school. So it was kind of frightening.”

Ahead of the Junos, Hart is simply trying to enjoy the moment, he said. He was honoured organizers even considered placing him among the pantheon of greats in the hall of fame.

“I thought people had just forgotten,” he said.

“I’ve never really felt part of the core of the industry,” he continued. “It’s important to keep your feet on the ground and to be level-headed about things, and not subscribe to the mythology of the music business and rock stardom.”

HART

VERHEYDE,NeallJ. July15,1972-January25,2019

Survivedbywife,Alison(neeMcLean);daughter, Eva;mother,Marlene;father,Bert;sister,Angela;and herpartner,Kris.Numerousaunts,uncles,cousins, andfriendswillmissNeallgreatly.Insteadofflowers pleasesenddonationstoSpiritoftheNorthorthe HospiceSociety.

KEVIN LORNE MEREDITH

It is with great sadness that we announce the peaceful passing of longtime Prince George resident Ellis May Douglas, born July 4, 1928 in Peace River, Alberta. Ellis came to Prince George in November 1951 with her husband Donald. They raised their family and in 1974 moved to West Lake where she lived the remainder of her life. Ellis started a long career as a legal assistant in 1952 and retired in June of 1998. She lived a rich and full life and enjoyed family, cooking, gardening and her life at West Lake for over 44 years. Ellis is predeceased by her loving husband of 63 years, Donald J Douglas and grandson Alistair Douglas McLennan. Ellis is survived by daughter Diane Forsyth (Dennis), son James Douglas, granddaughters Jill Boland and Adriane Budgeon (Travis), great grandchildren Chloe (24), Orion (22), Griffin (20), Keira (13) and Emmeline (5). An internment will take place at 10 am Saturday February 2nd 2019 at the Prince George Cemetery. In lieu of flowers a donation can be made to Heart and Stroke foundation.

Calvin Bester

A Heart of Gold stopped beating. Hard working hands at Rest, God Broke our hearts to prove to us, He only takes the best. The leaves and flowers may wither.

The Golden sun may set. But the Hearts that loved so dearly, Are the ones who won’t forget.

Calvin was Born on July 22nd, 1950 in Fort Macleod, Alberta. It is with great sadness we announce that our father, grandfather, brother, uncle and lifetime friend passed away naturally due to medical complications, in his Prince George home in the early morning of Friday January 25th, 2019. He shared many memories of adventures growing up on the farms in Alberta. He loved fishing, hunting, camping and the people he shared those times with. Calvin was a calm and patient man. He was a selfless, hardworking, friend and family man. He was always giving - even if it meant he went without. His incomparable strength and will to protect and care for others first was a cherished and rare quality. Calvin was well respected by his work industry, and one of the longest employees of Houle Electric to date, working there for 45 years. He was always reliable, honest, capable and hardworking not to mention he could fix anything. He could come up with the simplest and most efficient way to fix or get the job done right.

Calvin Bester is survived by his life partner and best friend Darlene Bester, his children and grandchildren: Jason Bester, Chad (Grace) Bester, Branden and Eliana, Julie (Fred Pigeon), Jaden, Devin, Tylin, Miranda, Calum and Jacob, Jana (Peter Campbell), Darian (Skyler), Austin, Emria, Dexter, Declan, and Bowen. He is also survived by his brothers and sisters Jim (Carolyn) Bester, Debra (Ron) Gauthier, Larry (Susan) Bester, Randy Bester, Sandra (Tom) Rupprecht, Sherry (Troy) Nelson. His mother and father in law Frank & Aline Pighin, the Pighin family, many nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews and friends who are family. Calvin was predeceased by his loving mother Arlene Bester (Law) and his father Henry Bester.

God looked down on your body, so tired from hanging on, from a life that was overwhelming you, and wanted back his son. So, he took away the air you breathe, and gave you what was best, A place to be at peace, A final place to rest. Rest In Peace

Please send any fond memories or photos of Calvin Bester for his family to the following email: memoriesofcalvinbester@outlook.com bring a photo for his memory box, Join us to celebrate Calvin’s life: Family led prayers and viewing for all, Feb 8th,

Evelyn Muriel Capp (Reid) nee Spence

August 11, 1931January 21, 2019

Our much beloved mother, Evelyn Capp, passed away peacefully at Prince George Rotary Hospice House on Jan. 21, 2019. Born and raised in Chauvin, Alberta, she married George Reid, a railway engineer, and raised a family of 4 children in Prince George. She worked at the Prince George Experimental Farm, then later as Administrator for the Prince George Senior Citizen’s Society. Evelyn and George could be found almost every weekend at Purden Mountain during the ski season. After George’s sudden passing in 1985, she eventually married another railroader, John Capp. John and Evelyn moved to Penticton and lived there happily for 22 years until John’s passing in October, 2018. While in Penticton, she was very involved in the Concordia Lutheran Church and its school. In April, 2018, Evelyn moved back to Prince George to be near her many children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Nine months later, she unexpectedly passed away after a two week illness with family and her pastor by her side. Evelyn was also predeceased by her parents, Alfred and Ethel Spence, sister Mildred (brother-in-law Bob Pickrell), mother and father-in-law, Clayton and Victoria Reid. She is survived by brother Stan (Kay) Spence, and four children Patricia (Amos) Culham, Barry (Carla) Reid, Brenda (Mike) Morton, and Robert (Christine) Reid. Surviving grandchildren are: Samantha Parent, Melanie Culham, Robyn Culham, Dayna Culham, Courtney (Kris) Carr, Amy (Jess) Morton, Benjamin Reid, and Emily Reid. Great grandchildren: Kyla, Kelly, Jamie, & Morgan Culham, Kalen & Jasper Jamison, and Corbin Carr. Great Great grandson: Joel VanKonett. Sister-in-law, Marg Ziglin.

We greatly appreciate the excellent and very empathetic care from the many doctors, nurses, and care aids working in the Emergency and Surgical South wards of UHNBC, as well as those at Prince George Rotary Hospice House.

A celebration of Evelyn’s life will be held at the Zion Lutheran Church and Christian School on Saturday Feb. 16, 2019 at 11:00 am. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Zion Lutheran Church and Christian School or Prince George Hospice House.

passed away on the 25th of January 2019 at the age of 59 years. He is mourned by his loving wife Doris, sons; Hayden (Ceara) and Harrison (Carli) as well his brother Allen (Jeanie), sisters; LeeAnn Pollard, Cindy (John) Wells, Debbie Kozjak and his step-father Lionel Clarkson. Kevin is predeceased by his Father Raymond Meredith, Mother Ruth Clarkson and brother in law, William Pollard. A Celebration of Life will be held at the Hart Pioneer Center 6986 Hart Hwy Prince George B.C. on Saturday February 02, 2019 from 1:00 pm-4:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the BC Cancer Prince George Center for the North.

Ian Malcolm Wiseman June 4,1943 to Jan 29, 2019

On January 29, 2019 Ian’s wife and girls said, “see you later” one last time. Ian/Dad/Grandpa passed away in the arms of those he loved most and those that love him with all their hearts; his loving wife and four daughters. Left to miss him forever his wife and best friend of 61 years: Marie. His four daughters: Terrie (Dennis), Wendy (Derek), Deena (Lance) and Nicole (Jeff). His grandchildren: Ryan (Alysha), Courtney (Josh), Sydney (Brennan), Mitchell, Gregory (Danielle), Nathan, Ashley, Jordyn and Ella. Great grandchildren: Leilan and baby Z. Brother: Bill (Shirley). No Service by request.

Range,Edward(Ted)B. April15,1930-January30,2019

ItiswithgreatsadnessthatthefamilyofTedRange announceshispassingafteralengthyillnesson Wednesday,January30,2019,attheageof88 years.Tedwillbefondlyrememberedbyhiswife, Dot;hischildren,Brian(Lauretta)andAnn(Ron);his grandchildren;andgreat-grandchildren.

TedwasproudlybornandraisedinPrinceGeorge, andaCelebrationofLifewillbeheldonWednesday, February6,2019,attheElksCommunityHall,663 DouglasStreet,PrinceGeorge,BC,at1:00p.m.

AspecialthankyoutotheGatewayLodgeComplex CareStaffforthekindnessandcompassionshown forTed.

Thosewhosodesiremaymakememorialdonations inmemoryofTedtotheAlzheimerSocietyofBritish Columbia.

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