Prince George Citizen February 7, 2019

Downtown Winterfest to offer cool fun

Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca

With temperatures expected to rise to more winter-friendly levels this weekend, Downtown Winterfest is going to be a sizzling seasonal play-date for families this Sunday.

After some time in the deep freeze, this weekend is a welcome warm-up to the kind of subzero temperatures that call northerners out to play. It’s the good kind of cold –chill enough to convey the winter spirit but playable for those who don the apparel of the season. People in Prince George know well that “we are winter,” since that slogan emerged from the 2015 Canada Winter Games experience here in this city, and it carries on through the efforts of Downtown Prince George (DPG) and its many supporters and partners in this annual endeavour. The action gets going at 11 a.m. and lasts to 4 p.m. all inside the public playground of Canada Games Plaza, in the sunny shadow of the Civic Centre, Public Library and Two Rivers Gallery.

The place will be packed with snow zumba, snow golf, road hockey (with some of the city’s top male and female youth teams), the outdoor food court, the dancing beats of DJ Ant, and much more.

“Our awesome community partners have so much going on, so make sure to mark it in your calendar and come join in the fun,” said DPG’s executive director Colleen Van Mook.

“If you need to warm up your toes, we invite you to wander through the wonderful Winter Market which will be hosted inside the Prince George Civic and Conference Centre. Our fabulous exhibitors and local merchants will be offering a little something for everyone’s shopping pleasure. The Prince George Public Library and Two Rivers Gallery will also be offering free indoor activities throughout the day.”

A favourite feature each year at Downtown Winterfest is the s’more selection. This popular sweet treat is the centre of a community contest, with businesses and agencies vying for votes with innovative recipes. The winner gets the pride and charity gets the proceeds from the There’s

S’more Downtown competition.

“While you are indulging in these traditional outdoor treats, you can be witness to a spectacular showcase of snow and ice carving art that will, once again, feature award-winning talent from international sculptor Peter Vogelaar,” said Van Mook. “His team will work their magic to create several stunning and interactive snow sculptures along with the very popular ice slide.”

A wildfire burns on a logging road approximately 20 kilometres southwest of Fort St. James on Aug. 15, 2018. Inhaling smoke from a wildfire can be equal to smoking a couple of packs of cigarettes a day depending on its thickness, says a researcher studying wildfires in Western Canada.

Wildfire smoke a dangerous ‘chemical soup’ researcher says

Hina ALAM Citizen news service

VANCOUVER — Inhaling smoke from a wildfire can be equal to smoking a couple of packs of cigarettes a day depending on its thickness, says a researcher studying wildfires in Western Canada.

Mike Flannigan, a professor with the Department of Renewable Resources at the University of Alberta, said the smoke is like a “chemical soup” that can be trapped in the lungs and cause a number of health issues. “They are all kinds of particles, mercury, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane... there’s a whole long list.”

Depending on the size of the particles, they get trapped in the lungs, accumulate over time and cause “all kinds of problems,” Flannigan said.

“The more we are finding out about

smoke and health, the more we are finding out it is bad for us, which isn’t a surprise but it’s worse than we thought.”

Sarah Henderson, a senior environmental health scientist at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, said the smaller the particles, the worse they are.

Both Flannigan and Henderson will make presentations at the BC Lung Association’s annual workshop on air quality and health on Wednesday. Their presentation is timely after extreme wildfire seasons in British Columbia in 2017 and 2018. Smoke from forest fires last year reached Atlantic Canada and even as far away as Ireland. Emissions vary depending on the differences in fuel, burning conditions and other environmental factors, Flannigan said. — see ‘ON AVERAGE, page 3

There will also be community mascots, snowman catapults thanks to The Exploration Place, a photo booth, rides on the Cetral B.C. Railway and Forestry Museum’s Cottonwood Express mini-rail train, tryouts of paranordic sit-skiing with Josh Dueck of the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club, snowmobile demos and display with Forest Power Sports, and much more.

Downtown Winterfest is one of the hottest spots on the annual Prince George calendar during the snowy season. It’s one more way that DPG can show off the quality of life in our community and boost the action of the warm heart of the city.

“Our goal is to create a downtown Prince George that is vibrant, safe, and attractive to citizens, businesses and visitors,” said Van Mook. “We do this through advocacy and partnerships that focus on events and promotions, beautification and business development initiatives.”

2018 was frustrating year for RCMP

Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca

Prince George RCMP Supt. Warren Brown is remembering 2018 as a frustrating year in which the progress made on several fronts was offset by difficulty police have had in putting a dent on trouble in the city’s downtown.

Speaking to city council on Monday night, Brown said staffing at the detachment reached a full complement, in contrast to past years when it has had trouble retaining members and replacing those who have moved on.

“Prince George used to be an undesirable place for police officers to come,” Brown said. “They want to come here now. I would say the morale here is at an all-time high so we’re firing on a lot of pistons internally.”

Added to that has been more effective use of the Car 60 program in which an RCMP officer is paired with a nurse trained in mental health and substance use services to help people in crisis, more strategic use of resources downtown and the launch of the Indigenous court.

“But yet we continue to face crisis in the community, increased calls for service,” Brown said. “Our social service providers downtown are telling us that they are confronting more violent people that they’re having to help. In that regard I had really anticipated we would see a positive effect on crime stats this year and it certainly wasn’t to the degree that I’d hoped, so that was my frustration. However, we’ll sharpen our pencils and we will be ready for another round this year and hope to sit in front of you next year and tell you it wasn’t a frustrating year.”

Year-end statistics showed that while mischief-related offences were down citywide, they were up in the downtown where RCMP responded to more than 600 calls for the offence, about 150 more than

Our social service providers downtown are telling us that they are confronting more violent people that they’re having to help.

— Supt. Warren Brown

in 2017. Trouble makers from out of town are a concern, according to Brown. He said Prince George Regional Correctional Centre houses a significant number of prisoners from elsewhere in northern B.C. who are serving time for offences committed in their home towns.

When they’re released from jail, they often have no way to get back home and have no jobs, no money and no home. Some of the trouble may be due to the loss of the Greyhound bus service, Brown added.

Coun. Murry Krause countered that many choose to stay in Prince George because the social services are better here than in the communities they came from. Brown also made reference to the rising prevalence of opioid use, which he said has reached a crisis level with addicts committing crimes to feed what can be a $500 a day habit. In response, two members per watch are working the downtown.

“Given the volume and over-represented crime we have in the core area of downtown, it’s just a necessary policing response,” Brown said. “I won’t say it’s a response we’re going to have forever but it’s certainly one we’re going to have until we can find perhaps some better treatment and care for these individuals.”

Mayor Lyn Hall said he’s noticed a rise in the use of private security firms to keep an eye on things downtown and added other communities face the same problems.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

Master carver Peter Vogelaar oversees the filling of a wood form that will create a wall that will be carved in Millian Park for this Sunday’s Downtown Prince George Winterfest.

Local

City grant to help non-profits host conventions, trade shows

Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca

Local non-profit organizations will be able to get seed money from the city to host conferences, conventions and trade shows under a new grant program council unanimously approved on Monday night.

Dubbed MeetingsPG, it will provide as much as $7,500 per event, depending on the cumulative number of paid nights delegates spend in the city’s hotels, motels and bed and breakfasts.

To get that amount, the total will have to be at least 501 nights.

Dubbed MeetingsPG, it will provide as much as $7,500 per event, depending on the cumulative number of paid nights delegates spend in the city’s hotels, motels and bed and breakfasts.

with for-profit groups holding very large events.

In answer, social planning manager Chris Bone said the number represents a total of 25 delegates each spending two nights in the city.

As for whether a non-profit could host an event large enough to draw more than 500 nights, Bone said the Ignite conference

For 301 to 500 nights, up to $5,000 would be provided, for 101 to 300 nights, the amount would be up to $2,500, and for 50 to 100 nights, it would be up to $500. Coun. Cori Ramsay raised a concern that groups unable to attract the minimum 50 nights would be shut out.

hosted by AimHi and Inclusion B.C. in 2016 would probably have met that threshold.

In approving the program, council also voted to earmark up to $25,000 out of the $75,000 council contingency fund for the cause. Prior to the vote, Coun. Terri McConnachie had suggested revenue allotted to Tourism Prince George through the hotel room tax would be a better source, but changed her mind when told TPG works

“This is meant to capture some of the smaller organizations or organizations that aren’t necessarily small as non-profits but are pretty new in this event and trade show and convention business and are seeking some small financial support from the city to help get their legs under them,” Bone said. The recently-held B.C. Natural Resources Forum would not qualify, Bone confirmed. The city manager’s office will administer the program. Recipients will get half of the approved funding prior to the event with the exact amount of the remaining fund to be determined afterwards, once the number of paid nights has been confirmed.

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO

‘On an average we’re going to see a lot more fire’

— from page 1

The spread hinges on how high smoke and fire columns rise. Winds can carry the particles north to Europe and Asia, across the world and back again, Flannigan said.

“They can travel long distances for long periods of time.”

Henderson said most people living in polluted places face a risk of chronic diseases and slightly shorter life expectancy but that data comes from cities such as New Delhi, one of the most polluted cities in the world.

The air quality in British Columbia is “extremely good” except for a few weeks during wildfire season, she said.

“If we have a season like 2017 and 2018, year after year for the next 20 years, we probably will have a health impact on the population but we don’t know what that will be yet,” Henderson said.

People should protect themselves from the smoke by spending

time indoors, using air filters and not exercising strenuously when outside, she said.

In 2017, the area burned in B.C. was 12,000 square kilometres, which was a record until last summer when 13,000 square kilometres of the province was consumed by fire. The B.C. government declared a state of emergency for both seasons.

The intensity of wildfires, as shown through remote sensing, is also increasing, Flannigan said, noting that as fuels get drier it is easier for fires to start and spread. And the wildfire season is also starting much sooner, he said.

In Alberta the wildfire season used to begin April 1 but it’s now starting March 1 and is lasting longer.

“In Canada our area burned has doubled since the 1970s. And my colleagues and I attribute this to – I can’t be any clearer –human-caused climate change,” he said. “Our climate is changing

and this has affected fire activity in Canada, western United States and other parts of the world.”

The last two years saw over four per cent of forested area burn in B.C. and the province is nowhere close to exhausting how much can burn, Flannigan said.

Historically, he said, it would have been unlikely that the province would have seen a third bad fire season.

“But its entirely possible,” he said. Climate change is making the jet stream weaker, which is causing hot, dry summer days, which are conducive to fire activity, he said.

“Will things get worse? Absolutely. Not every year. Some years will be cooler, some years will be wetter,” Flannigan said.

“On an average we’re going to see a lot more fire, and they’re going to be longer fire seasons, more intense, and the primary reason why climate change influences fire activity is that the warmer it gets the more fire we see.”

Concert cuts ticket prices

Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca

Tickets to see two of Canada’s most authentically rooted rockers (plus their acoustic progressive-folk special guest) on March 23 have gone on sale. Today and Friday only, Prince George fans can snap up seats for the Colin James-Barney Bentall show (their special guest Marty O’Reilly will open) for slashed prices. James and Bentall are both known for songs about the bright colours and dark undertones of love, so this sale is in deference to Valentine’s Day gift giving.

Anyone who purchases a seating-area ticket before 10 p.m. Friday will get the reduced rate of $25.

James, the headliner of this triple-bill, is synonymous with the blues. He knows how to rock at world-class levels (Just Came Back, Voodoo Thing, Saviour, etc.) but his foundation is the guitar twang and lyrical dust that

springs out of the epic valley of the Mississippi (check out Atlanta Moan, Jumpin’ From 6 to 6, Bad Bad Whiskey, and National Steel to see his blues breadth).

He has just released a new album called Miles To Go which is already moving the needle forward on his legacy as a master guitar player.

Bentall is also someone with a rock pedigree, forged in the heat of songs like Come Back To Me, Crime Against Love, Life Could Be Worse and his pounding hit Do Ya with his band The Legendary Hearts. Yet he also comes from a place of acoustic authenticity and rural roots. Check out his traditionalist work with The High Bar Gang, his Grand Cariboo Opry project, and the country hints in his album Gift Horse.

O’Reilly is a true indie troubadour with toes in the water of blues, Americana folk, gypsy-jazz and acoustic freewheeling.

Tickets are available at the CN Centre box office or online at the TicketsNorth website.

Cariboo Rocks lineup announced

Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff

The bands were unveiled this fall for the upcoming Cariboo Rocks The North festival, and now the daily schedule has been disclosed.

The event is the biggest annual music festival to ever be held inside the city’s borders. Last year was the inaugural set of concerts by a who’s who of classic rock. Now, primary promoter Pacific Western Brewing is lining up the sophomore roster.

For three days, tourists and residents alike will converge on Exhibition Park in front of CN Centre to hear another stellar collection of rock. The event will launch with power as Lee Aaron rips the lid off, and it will close with the legendary hits of Loverboy. In between are nine other acts that all come packing their own heat.

According to Cariboo Rocks The North organizers, these

2019 acts have a combined 27 platinum records, 17 gold records, and 18 Juno Awards. Tickets are available now at the TicketsNorth website or in person at the CN Centre box office. Here’s the lineup:

Aug. 9

• Lee Aaron – 6 p.m.

• Streetheart – 7:15 p.m.

• Trooper – 8:30 p.m.

Aug. 10

• Doug & The Slugs – 3:30 p.m.

• Sass Jordan – 5 p.m.

• Chilliwack – 6:40 p.m.

• Glass Tiger – 8:30 p.m.

Aug. 11

• Carole Pope & Rough Trade –3:30 p.m.

• Helix – 5 p.m.

• The Romantics – 6:40 p.m.

• Loverboy – 8:30 p.m.

Smoke from a wildfire creates an orange glow as the sun goes down in Prince George on July 20, 2017. In 2017 a total of 12,000 square kilometres burned B.C., which was a record until 2018 when 13,000 square kilometres.

MEISSNER Citizen news service

Dirk

VICTORIA — British Columbia’s main political parties must do a better job telling people about the information they’re collecting about them, says the provincial information and privacy commissioner.

Michael McEvoy said Wednesday he’s giving B.C.’s New Democrat, Liberal and Green parties six months to become more transparent with people before deciding if a detailed audit of party systems, databases or practices is required.

“Political parties need to be very clear with voters,” McEvoy said in an interview. “If they are going to record information they need to ask you first. In most instances (in B.C.), they don’t ask. That’s not proper under our legislation.”

The province’s Personal Information Protection Act requires political parties to obtain consent from individuals to collect, use, or disclose information about them, said McEvoy. He said no other province or the federal government requires political parties to adhere to privacy laws similar to those in B.C.

McEvoy said when political canvassers appear on the doorstep or call a member of the public they must tell them that the information they provide could be used by the party.

He said political parties must also tell people when they sign petitions, their names and information could end up being used by parties.

“They should prominently provide a succinct and simple explanation of the purposes for gathering the personal information at the point of collection,” said McEvoy.

The commissioner’s report, released Wednesday, concludes all three political parties have inadequate privacy training and must ensure the same effort goes into protecting personal information as is put into its collection.

He said robust communication with voters is vital to a party’s existence, but it must be fully transparent with people.

“A one sided dialogue in which the public is kept largely in the dark about the significant amounts of personal information collected and used about them is not sustainable legally or ethically,” says the report. “Political parties, from senior party officials to volunteer canvassers, must stand ready to demonstrate compliance with their privacy responsibilities.”

Local mom the 1,000th apprentice in LNG program

Glacier Media

A Prince George single mom studying to become an electrician has become the 1000th apprentice trained with the help of a partnership between LNG Canada and the BC Construction Association.

Marissa McTavish is the milestone participant of the Trades Training Fund, the two companies announced Wednesday. Her employer, Primus Electric, is also the 500th business to sponsor an employee with help from the fund.

“As a single mom, this opportunity to develop my skills in the electrical trade means steady employment, good wages, and self-respect,” McTavish said.

McTavish begins her Level 3 training at CNC this month, the 150th LNG Canada Trades Training Fund placement at that school.

The fund was launched in 2015 and has doled out $1.5 million to help train apprentices in high-demand trades in B.C.’s construction sector.

LNG Canada says it’s just one way it’s working to address a skilled worker shortage in the province, and that funding for the program will continue.

“At LNG Canada we recognize the valuable role all British Columbians play in maintaining a vibrant skilled workforce, not only for the emerging LNG industry, but for the prosperity of indus-

tries across B.C.,” said Tracey MacKinnon, workforce development manager.

“We’re proud that our program is connecting people to successful employment in their local regions and acknowledge the leadership of the employers who are sponsoring apprentices.”

In a 2018 industry survey, 68 per cent of employers said finding skilled workers was a challenge, according to the BCCA.

“LNG Canada is helping to address that gap and opening up rewarding career opportunities for British Columbians across the province,” said president Chris Atchison.

For more info on the fund, check out www.bccassn.com

Braving the cold

Citizen news service

VICTORIA — Auditor general

Carol Bellringer says BC Hydro has deferred $5.5 billion in expenses that it plans to recover from ratepayers over time.

Bellringer focused on the deferred expenses in a report released Wednesday about the public utility’s use of rate-regulated accounting to control the prices it charges customers.

The report found 29 BC Hydro deferral accounts, of which some will be paid off within two years while others could take 40 years to eliminate, she said.

Bellringer said rate-regulated accounting is used widely across North America, but she cautioned that Hydro has largely overridden the role of the independent B.C. Utilities Commission to regulate rates.

“We think it’s important for the

people of B.C. and our members of the legislative assembly to better understand rate-regulated accounting in order to appreciate the impact it has on the bottom line for BC Hydro, for government as a whole, for ratepayers and for taxpayers,” Bellringer said in a conference call with reporters.

Last June, the B.C. government launched a two-phase review of BC Hydro to find cost savings and look at the direction of the Crown utility.

The review came shortly after a planned government rate freeze was overturned by the utilities commission, which resulted in a three per cent rate increase for customers in April 2018.

Statements from BC Hydro and the provincial government supplied in the report say a key objective of the review due this month is to enhance regulatory oversight of the commission.

Marissa McTavish, a single mom from Prince George, is the 1,000th apprentice to take part in a program created by a partnership between LNG Canada and the BC Construction Association.

A skater wasn’t deterred by the cold weather at the Outdoor Ice Oval on Wednesday. There is some relief coming in the next few days with slightly warmer

Warm glow, cold air

‘Lives are changed forever’

Outpouring for families of B.C. train crash victims

Lauren KRUGEL Citizen news service

CALGARY — A veteran Canadian Pacific Railway engineer says railroaders are supporting each other after a derailment in the Rocky Mountains this week claimed three of their own.

“All the people I work with are incredible professionals and we take care of each other and watch each other,” Carl Schnurr of Calgary said Wednesday.

A train carrying 112 grain cars and with its air brakes on was parked on a grade before it started moving on its own around 1 a.m. Monday just east of Field, B.C. No handbrakes had been applied.

Engineer Andrew Dockrell, conductor Dylan Paradis and trainee Daniel Waldenberger-Bulmer had just taken over from a crew who were approaching their maximum hours.

“Because we try and take care of each other so much, this just hurts even more,” Schnurr said before starting his work day on the railroad.

Schnurr has set up a GoFundMe campaign called the Laggan Relief Fund for families of the victims. By late afternoon Wednesday it had raised more than $57,000.

“We need to take care of these families. I can’t stress that enough,” Schnurr said. “Their lives are changed forever.”

Dockrell’s siblings said in a statement that the engineer had worked with the rail company since 1985 and only had a few years left until retirement.

“He was a very devoted employee and had worked in Alberta, British Columbia and also in Ontario when they had a man shortage,” said Ed and Heather Dockrell.

They said that he loved golf, the Boston Bruins and had a strong faith in God.

He took his job seriously but also made it fun, added Schnurr. He said Dockrell went by the nickname Doc at work.

“Andy was a great character to work with. He had a nickname for everybody and it was great working with him,” said Schnurr.

“He seemed to be always upbeat and enjoyed what was going on and liked to have a good time with his workers.”

Paradis was a father of two young girls and Schnurr said he can’t imagine what his widow is going through.

“Dylan was great to work with – big smile on his face, enjoyed his job,” he said. “I don’t think I ever heard any negative comments out of him.”

Schnurr never meet Waldenberger-Bulmer, who started at the railway in November. But Schnurr said he has worked with Waldenberger-Bulmer’s twin brother, Jeremy, who is a Canadian Pacific conductor.

“I feel like half of me is gone now,” Jeremy Waldenberger-Bulmer said in a statement. He said he and his brother planned to work their entire careers at the railway together before retiring to play golf around the world. “My 19-month-old daughter is walking around saying ‘Unco Dano’ as a constant reminder he is still with us. Myself, my wife Merika and our daughter Tenley feel an emptiness in our home that is indescribable.”

The derailment happened between the Lower and Upper Spiral Tunnels in Yoho National Park. The tunnels were built 110 years ago to help trains traverse a treacherous, steep hill around the Kicking Horse Pass.

“This territory’s among the most challenging railway territory in North America,” Transportation Safety Board senior investigator James Carmichael said Tuesday.

Canadian Pacific said in a statement late Wednesday that it reopened the mainline through Field, B.C., earlier that day after completing all necessary safety checks in close collaboration with Transport Canada. CP crews and contractors are still “working diligently in challenging conditions to remove the damaged rail cars and equipment.”

CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

The warm glow of sunrise lit up the sky on Wednesday morning.

Inside a B.C. Cannabis store

magine an Apple store.

IClean. Antiseptic. Modern and perfect.

White floors, white tables and white walls, further brightened with intensely cheerful LED lights, to put the focus on the merchandise – dozens of varieties precisely presented on bar-height tables, inside clear plastic containers, connected to thick wire cords, just like iPhones and iPads.

Shoppers can pull the plastic container towards them to closely examine the bud inside and then pull back the top for a sniff.

Beside each plastic container are information tags inside clear plastic holder that provide the name of the product, details on potency and its specific content of THC and CBD, along with descriptors right out of a Scotch whisky handbook.

“Citrus and diesel with a hint of pepper,” one read.

A whole wall of fancy posters that look like they came from a scientific conference explain all of the health and technical details about marijuana, such as the difference between THC and CBD.

Another wall holds glass cases with various bongs, grinders, pipes and other prod-

A safe, clean, government-approved product will win out over some cheap weed laced with God knows what that came from who knows where.

ucts for sale to the discerning consumer.

Scattered on the tables throughout the store are little boxes containing small pencils and order sheets. Shoppers can either fill out a sheet or just go to the long counter and verbally tell staff what they want to buy and how much.

Pre-rolled joints come in black cardboard packs not much different from cigarette packs. The contents inside are sealed in plastic and then each individual joint is further sealed in plastic, both to preserve freshness and also to avoid any unwanted smell.

This is the B.C. Cannabis Store in Kamloops, found in the Columbia Place Shopping Centre, right next to a Papa John’s pizza place and a Save-On-Foods store.

The same kind of design and presentation will be used in the B.C. Cannabis Store in Prince George, once it opens in the Westgate Shopping Centre. The only remaining obstacle after Monday’s public hearing (with only former School District 57 trustee

Bruce Wiebe speaking in opposition) is a rubber stamp final approval from city council. Mayor and council have already spoken in favour of both the store and its location in a standalone building that once housed a bank.

As slick and glossy as the Kamloops store is, every retailer knows that it’s the staff that complete the customer experience and the store employees deliver, from the greeter at the door to the knowledgeable and helpful workers on the floor and at the counter. Like the clientele inside the store, the employees run the gamut, from millennials to people who are now only asked for ID when they’re claiming a seniors discount.

A retirement-age couple approaches a female employee in her 20s seeking a recommendation for what they should buy to help with arthritis and aches and pains. The young staffer gives a polite, well-rehearsed response with a smile because she’s probably already been asked a similar question

Closure of clinic a huge loss

I was having my weekly conversation with one of the pharmacists at the DVT Clinic at UHNBC, going over dosage changes for my Warfarin.

At the end of the call, I said something to the effect of “I will talk to you next week.”

That’s when she said “There is something I need to tell you, the clinic will be closing and since you are stable, you will be transferred to your doctor’s care for the duration of your Warfarin use.”

We had a chat about the whys. Well, actually, I think I wailed “Why?”

These ladies have been with me through hiccups in my cancer treatment, surgeries, hospital stays, and, more recently, the loss of my husband. They not only looked after my physical health but they were there to support me with visits at the hospital, a call to see how I was doing or words of encouragement and kindness after my recent loss.

I am floored because these gals have been my go-to for over two and one half years. I trust everything they tell me.

I will miss you more than you can imagine, the information you were always able to supply me with whenever I would ask.

Kyla, Katie, Susan and Andrea ( I hope I have not forgotten anyone), I wish you nothing but the best. You are the best. Kind, caring and professional. My warmest wishes to all of you and I hope I run into you in the community soon. What a huge loss for our hospital.

Wendy Taylor Prince George

Be careful with use of literary licence

A recent editorial by Neil Godbout caused me to think about our editor and The Citizen, which previously only spouted vicious comments about the “duly elected” president of the U.S.

I am referring to comments made by the editor in which he used extreme literary licence to call the president the “nincompoop in chief” and the “cinnamon dingbat.” It’s very obvious that you showed disrespect for the people who elected the person you despise and used vulgar language to show your bias.

In a recent edition of The Citizen, the “Too much Trumping” letter (Dec. 18) at least showed that you were willing to publish someone else’s opinion, questioning your reporting as being biased.

Do not become the judge and jury.

Ed Olichny Prince George

What about us?

I am so flabbergasted and mad at our prime minister.

I’m listening to my TV and here out of the blue he has got $53 million to give away to help the people of Argentina for their cause to fight the dictator.

What about taking care of his people, like pensioners and the poor and homeless? He seems to have the money like out of the blue but when it comes to us that’s another thing.

Just buy an overpriced pipeline, no problem.

Come on, Justin, and give your head a shake and take care of the people at home first. Then take care of the rest later.

Does that sound right?

Warner Bliskis Prince George

Insult to the elderly

Justin Trudeau has given $172 million of taxpayer money to help save 75 resident killer whales (orcas). That’s very commendable and all environmentalists wet their pants in excitement and shedding tears of joy, whilst in grocery stores pensioners are shedding tears of despair as they can no longer afford to buy the products listed in the new Canada Food Guide.

I have personally seen elderly ladies in tears because they are ashamed and humiliated at having to put fresh fruits and vegetables aside in order to be able to purchase the other food stuffs required to feed themselves and their elderly, failing husbands. These are Canadians who have worked hard all their lives to support Canada and its endeavours while Mr. Trudeau, through your radicalized visions, are prepared to abandon these elderly Canadians through a carbon tax that will further increase the cost of everything that provides them with the necessities of a decent life.

Handing over $172 million to environmental groups to protect 75 orcas from the ravages of returning pink salmon is nothing short of a kick in the crotch to Canada’s elderly. I realize that in the scope of government spending $172 million is a mere pittance, but to hard-pressed seniors it says, in the minds of this government, seniors do not have the value of 75 well-publicized killer whales. You might just as well extend your middle finger to show your contempt for their lifetime efforts supporting the nation.

Larry Barnes Prince George

dozens of times before. This store sells cannabis for recreational use, she informs them. We can’t give you advice on using cannabis for health purposes. You should consult your doctor about that. The couple is disappointed but pleased with the answer that is both honest and doesn’t make them feel stupid. They thank her for her help and she asks them if they have any other questions.

If this is both the present and the future of cannabis retailing in B.C. and Canada, the days of anyone’s willingness to buy pot from the guy down the street or the dude they went to high school with will come to a quick end, once outstanding issues around supply, price and edible products are sorted out. A safe, clean, government-approved product will win out over some cheap weed laced with God knows what that came from who knows where.

There will be ongoing issues to wrestle with in the new reality of legal marijuana, from keeping it out of the hands of children to impaired driving, but selling it in a consumer-friendly setting to adults making their own choices is the right way to go.

— Editor-in-chief Neil Godbout

Images of immigration

Discussions related to immigration in Canada have been dominated in recent months by two topics: refugee claimants and family reunification.

On social media, the conversations can often take a nasty turn.

Just days ago, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned about people trying to create “fear, intolerance and misinformation” about immigration in the country. The situation in Canada is distinct (thankfully) from the debate that is currently developing in the United States about the construction of a wall that most Americans – according to a Research Co. survey conducted earlier this month – do not want. Still, it would be unwise to ignore that the feelings Canadians may have about newcomers to the country can go through shifts, depending on their life stage and the region they reside in.

Research Co. asked Canadians about immigration this month, and the results are not as unambiguous as people may assume.

More than a third of Canadians (36 per cent) think immigration is having a mostly negative effect in Canada, while a larger proportion of residents (46 per cent) believe it is having a mostly positive effect. In almost every demographic tested, there is a larger number of residents who tend to look at immigration in an encouraging light. The biggest defenders of the current state of affairs are Canadians aged 18 to 34 (55 per cent positive, 27 per cent negative) and Quebecers (52 per cent positive, 30 per cent negative). Conversely, there are two groups that are decidedly more likely to question the benefits of immigration: Canadians aged 35 to 54 (39 per cent positive, 39 per cent negative) and Albertans (41 per cent positive, 42 per cent negative).

While only one in five Canadians (20 per cent) would like to see the number of legal immigrants allowed to come to Canada increase, a larger proportion (36 per cent) believe the provinces that are more prone to want a reduction in the number of legal immigrants are Ontario (39 per cent), Quebec (38 per cent) and Alberta (36 per cent). And, once again, Canadians aged 35 to 54 appear wary, with 40 per cent calling for a decline and only 15 per cent believing an increase is warranted.

The two remaining questions gauged the views of Canadians on two topics that have been known to provoke offensive discussions online: the virtues and values of those who choose to resettle in Canada.

Most Canadians (55 per cent) agree with the notion that the hard work and talent of immigrants make Canada better. No group is more supportive of this idea than those aged 55 and over (69 per cent). The residents who have been around the longest hold

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a clearer perspective on this issue than their younger counterparts.

A slightly smaller proportion of Canadians (50 per cent) believe immigrants should be allowed in Canada only if they adopt Canadian values. This is a view espoused more often by men (57 per cent) and residents aged 55 and over (62 per cent). Given the extraordinary backlash received by the Conservative party’s so-called “tip line for reporting barbaric cultural practices” just weeks before the 2015 federal election, it would be unwise for any federal politician to flirt with a similar policy. Still, looking at the reaction of Canadians to these two questions, we get a general sense of the type of immigration that certain groups have been exposed to.

Baby boomers are the most likely to acknowledge the contributions of immigrants to Canadian society but are also extremely supportive of the idea of a “values test.”

While those in the 18 to 34 age group feel the same way about both issues, they are more likely to be undecided on the hard work and talent question. This may be a function of that group’s lack of exposure to the contributions of immigrants. Or maybe they are aware and have simply become immigrant-blind.

The group that is showing some evident discontent is Generation X. Canadians aged 35 to 54 are evenly divided on whether the virtues of immigrants make Canada better (agree 46 per cent, disagree 45 per cent), are more likely to call for a reduction in legal immigration and are more likely to question its current effect. We must bear in mind that Generation X is more preoccupied with mortgages, raises and promotions than millennials or baby boomers.

A decade ago, at the height of the global financial crisis, B.C. was one of the Canadian provinces that welcomed higher levels of immigration and was way ahead of national norms on acknowledging the benefits newcomers brought. Things have changed since then.

While 34 per cent of Albertans disagree with the notion that Canada benefits from the hard work and talent of immigrants, the proportion jumps to a surprising 46 per cent in British Columbia: seven points above the national average. There are many factors that can change the views of local residents on immigration, but pressures related to housing – and foreign ownership – are undeniably a contributing factor.

— Mario Canseco is president of Research Co.

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GUEST COLUMN MARIO CANSECO

Drinkable pot under development

Kristine OWRAM Citizen news service

People who drink alcohol typically learn the hard way how much is too much – usually in their teens or early 20s. As adults, they’re not interested in learning the same hard-knocks lesson about cannabis.

This is the challenge for an industry seeking to win over new or inexperienced users as legalization spreads through North America and around the world. It’s a particularly daunting one for makers of cannabis-infused beverages, which are keen to participate in a category that researcher Canaccord Genuity Group expects will be worth $600 million in the U.S. by 2022. That market potential has attracted several big alcohol companies that are seeking to offset declining beer consumption with the next big thing. The best-known partnership is Constellation Brands Inc.’s 38 per cent stake in Canopy Growth Corp., the largest pot firm by market value, for which it paid about $4 billion. Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev formed a research partnership with Tilray Inc., with each company investing up to $50 million in the venture, and Molson Coors Brewing Co. has teamed up with Quebec-based Hexo Corp.

All these companies are working to develop consumer-friendly cannabis drinks that can compete with alcohol. but there’s one problem: pot is nothing like booze. Alcohol is water-soluble and cannabis is not, meaning alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream quickly whereas pot edibles and beverages are metabolized much later in the digestive process. This leads to the classic edible effect, when inexperi-

enced users consume a weed bonbon, feel nothing, have a second, and then find an hour later that they’re far higher than they wanted to be.

The problem of onset time (and the related problem of how long the effect takes to wear off) is one of the biggest challenges facing makers of cannabis beverages and may be one of the reasons the products currently make up a tiny portion of the overall legal pot market-less than 0.5 per cent of total U.S. sales, according to BDS Analytics.

Many in the industry believe that the key to mainstream acceptance is creating a “sessionable” beverage, where one can have two or three drinks over a few hours, perhaps with friends drinking alcohol, while enjoying a steady, moderate high.

“We think onset time is going to be one of the critical factors in the next stage of cannabis-infused beverages, and the investments being made by consumerpackaged goods companies and by big alcohol are going to dramatically move that needle,” says John Kagia, chief knowledge officer at New Frontier Data, a Washington-based cannabis research firm.

Making cannabis compounds water soluble so they act more like alcohol will be key to improving onset time, but most in the industry agree there is no technological magic bullet.

“We’re not betting on one horse,” says Canopy Chief Executive Officer Bruce Linton. The Smiths Falls, Ont.-based company is experimenting with ways to improve onset time and taste in cannabisinfused beverages, but believes there’s no “perfect answer.”

Periodic table a living document

If there is one thing most people associate with chemistry, it is the periodic table. After all, pretty much every science classroom in the world has one hanging on the wall. It was 150 years ago that Dmitri Mendeleev first published his version of the table with all 56 known elements. It has undergone numerous modifications since then – there have been over 120 official versions in the intervening years – but the table owes its origins to much older chemistry. It is a living entity changing with time and new discoveries.

It is also a subject of some controversies perhaps only a chemist could love.

Chemistry started with a few “native” elements – elements which can be found in natural settings. The most obvious of these is carbon which is found in soot. Indeed, our very ancient ancestors used soot as a component in their cave paintings along with other chemical compounds.

Gold, silver and copper can all be found in their metallic state. They are the coinage metals and have been used as such since at least the sixth century BCE to make money.

Iron can also be found as a metal in some deposits due to its presence in certain types of meteors but it can also be separated from sulfur by heating iron pyrite or fool’s gold under the right conditions. Similarly, both mercury and lead were obtained millennia ago by heating their respective sulfides. And, of course, sulfur was a byproduct of these reactions.

It was also available in a nearly pure form from the fumaroles near hot springs and volcanic vents.

Along with tin, zinc, arsenic, antimony, and bismuth, these elements made up the ancient chemical toolbox and were the basis for much of the development of ancient civilization.

It wasn’t until 1669 that a new element was added to list with the discovery of phosphorus by Hennig Brandt. Over the next 150 years, many more elements were discovered. Gases such as oxygen and nitrogen were isolated from the air while chlorine was synthesized using electrolysis. Metals ranging from titanium to iridium were separated and purified from their mineral ores. By the mid-1800s, a total of 56 elements had been characterized.

Many early attempts were made to rationalize these elements into groupings. In 1829, Johan Wolfgang Dobereiner published his work on triad in which the elements had similar chemical properties and a mathematical relationship for their atomic weights. Chlorine, bromine and iodine make up just such a triad. Each reacts with the alkali metals in a one-to-one ratio and a two-to-one ratio with the alkaline earths.

Other metals, such as iron, result in compounds with either two-to-one or threeto-one ratios. And reactions with hydrogen generate acids. On top of this, their atomic weights are related as the lightest and heaviest average out to the middle element.

In 1860, at the Karlsruhe conference, Stanislao Cannizzaro proposed atomic weights as an organizing principle for the elements. Two years later, Alexandre-Emile Beguyer de Chancourtois published a listing of the elements, based on their atomic weights, which spiraled around a cylinder leading to the idea that the elements could be arranged in columns.

But it is Mendeleev’s table which he published in 1869 which was the real beginning of the modern periodic system and our understanding of chemistry. Mendeleev left blanks in his table recognizing there were elements left to be discovered.

He built his groups – the columns we now see in the modern table – around common chemical and physical properties. For example, all of the elements in the carbon group form tetrahalides.

Perhaps the most important aspect of Mendeleev’s table is he was able to make predictions about the missing elements such as their density, structure of their oxides, and reactivity. These were bold predictions but within a short period of time the predicted properties had allowed other scientists to find many of the missing elements.

Despite the success of the early periodic tables, they were many issues – not the least of which is the funny shape.

The elements do not organize into a nice, neat square and there are certain some properties which make it difficult to place elements.

Then there are the anomalies. For example, the atomic weight of tellurium is actually greater than its neighbour iodine despite being listed before it. However, Mendeleev noted the chemical properties of tellurium were much more in keeping with selenium, sulfur and oxygen than with the halogens and iodine was clearly related chemically to bromine and chlorine. It was his confidence in the chemistry which allowed Mendeleev to build his table.

Some 45 years later, Henry Moseley was able to show it was atomic number not weight which matter and validated Mendeleev’s choice.

More on that next week.

BLOOMBERG PHOTO BY COLE BURSTON

A lab technician pours a bottle of beer brewed using cannabis at the Province Brands of Canada laboratory in Belleville, Ont.

this

Lasting impressions

Greek siblings and other UNBC basketball graduates helped in evolution of programs

Ted CLARKE Citizen staff tclarke@pgcitizen.ca

While his graduating teammates on the UNBC Timberwolves men’s basketball team consider their options to enter the job market or pursue masters studies, 24-year-old Vaggelis Loukas has similar ambitions.

But not before he answers the call of duty to serve his country. When his U Sports Canada West conference career is over and he completes his environmental studies degree in resource management this spring, he’ll return to his home in Athens, Greece, and join the army.

“It’s mandatory for Greek male citizens and it’s nine months, thankfully, and after that I’ll probably go for a masters degree,” said Loukas. “If I continue doing well in school and my grades are where they are now I’ll be able to get accepted somewhere in Europe and after my masters, who knows, I might come back here and try to find a job.”

The T-wolves found a job for the six-foot-five Loukas soon after he arrived in Prince George alongside his sister, Vasiliki Louka, who would go on to become one of the best in the country playing for the T-wolves women’s basketball team.

Loukas needed just four seasons to become UNBC’s all-time career rebounding leader and he added another 163 boards this season to finish with 572 in five seasons. He’s also been deadly-accurate with the ball in his hands, this season finishing second in Canada West with a 63.6 per cent shooting average (66-for-99) from the field.

Loukas and his teammates Jovan Leamy, Austin Chandler and James Agyeman, as well as women’s team members Louka and Abby Gibb, were the centre of attention Saturday as UNBC paid tribute to their accomplishments on the court on seniors night.

“I love Canada, I learned a lot and I really like the country and the people,” said Loukas. “Five years went by really fast and I have a lot of great memories – I definitely grew here as a person and a player and I’m really happy I made the trip and came here to be part of the Timberwolves family.

“It’s a big transition coming from overseas to here, different culture,

different weather, different language, different everything and I’m happy we both made it and we survived and I’m glad my sister was here. I can’t imagine my life here without her. She was there every time for me and I was there for her, I hope, to support her and we picked each other up when we were at our lows.”

Loukas and the T-wolves (9-11) finished 11th and will try to extend their season when they open the Canada West playoffs tonight in Abbotsford in a one-game showdown against the Fraser Valley Cascades (13-7, fifth place).

His 22-year-old sister Vasiliki hopes to use her five years as a dominant Canada West forward as a springboard to pro basketball somewhere in Europe. She ranks second all-time in career double-doubles with 17, her 182 defensive rebounds are fifth-best in a Canada West career and she’s ninth in the league in rebounding average (12.7) and total rebounds (253). It will be impossible, at least in the near future, for the T-wolves to replace their “Greek Freak.”

“It was a really good experience to be here five years and I’m going to miss Prince George,” said Louka, who collected more than 1,500 points in five years.

It’s a big transition coming from overseas to here, different culture, different weather, different language, different everything and I’m happy we both made it and we survived and I’m glad my sister was here.

— UNBC men’s basketball player Vaggelis Loukas

“I’m kind of sad that I don’t have one more year, but I helped this program to grow and they helped me to grow as a player and it’s real nice I finish my career with a win and playoffs.”

Vasiliki and Vaggelis were both integral components who changed the face of UNBC basketball. Their teams have made the U Sports playoffs in three of the five years.

“My first year was really tough for me, coming here with no good English, trying to adapt to this environment and that’s why having my brother here was a really good thing for me,” Louka said. “I don’t know if I could have done all this without Vaggelis. We used each other to learn and I couldn’t ask for a better brother.”

Gibb’s parents and brothers from Calgary were on hand to watch her play her last home

game Saturday. She began her U Sports career playing for her hometown Mount Royal University Cougars and was there for two seasons before she transferred to St. Mary’s University in Calgary. She picked up more than 300 points and 100 assists in her U Sports career and in her final season at UNBC totalled 52 assists and 18 steals.

“Abby is the sweetest person I’ve ever met,” T-wolves head coach Sergey Shchepotkin told the Northern Sport Centre crowd during the seniors ceremony between games Saturday. “She’s kind, but on the court she’s tough.” The UNBC women (11-9) just missed out on hosting the first playoff game in the team’s sevenyear Canada West history. They’ll take on the eighth-place Trinity Western Spartans (12-8) Friday

night in Langley in a one-game playoff.

T-wolves forward Chandler joined the team four years ago but was nursing an ankle injury and red-shirted his first season with the team. He majored in international business and picked up where he left off as a high school student in Wenatchee, Wash., becoming involved as a volunteer basketball coach for Prince George Special Olympics. The players he coached gave him a demonstration of their skills Saturday in an intramural game at halftime. For Chandler, the decision to come north of the border to finish his basketball eligibility was lifechanging.

In two seasons the six-foot-six forward became the T-wolves’ all-time leader in blocked shots (42). He played all 20 games this season, averaging 24.6 minutes per game.

“I was injured when I got here and they took a chance on me and my experience at UNBC has been really good,” said Chandler, 23, who played two years of junior college in Wenatchee. “With the community’s support, the coaching staff, and everybody around me who’s really pushed me to be better in the classroom, on the court, in the classroom, with Special Olympics, it’s all around been good and I’ll miss it here.”

So will Leamy, a quicksilver guard from Toronto who led Canada West in steals this season with 61 and now ranks second behind Loukas on the T-wolves career list with 82 steals in his two years at UNBC. He was in the top 10 in Canada West scoring all season and finished ninth with an 18.1-point average.

“It was what I needed, coming here, I just needed to be in a smaller city where there aren’t as many distractions and I could focus on what’s important,” said Leamy. “The city and the school and the program has shown me nothing but love since I stepped off the airplane into Prince George and I’m just thankful for the opportunity they’ve given me to play basketball.”

Leamy fed off the UNBC crowds which are well-known around the league for getting behind their teams.

“I love playing in this building, the energy in the crowd is just amazing,” Leamy said. “They get me going and I’ll always remember playing here and cherishing it.” — see LEAMY, page 10

CITIZEN

PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE

Graduating UNBC basketball players James Agyeman, Jovan Leavy, Austin Chandler, Vaggelis Loukas, Vasiliki Louka and Abby Gibb were honoured during seniors night

past Saturday at the Northern Sport Centre.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE

Vasiliki Louka of the UNBC Timberwolves tries to fight her way through traffic to get to the hoop during a Saturday Canada West women’s basketball game against the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns.

Pebble Beach a U.S. Open preview, but only of the scenery

Doug FERGUSON Citizen news service

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Only four American courses have hosted a PGA Tour event and a major championship in the same year, a concept that USGA chief executive Mike Davis does not consider to be ideal.

One big exception is Pebble Beach.

“I think this is great,” Davis said Wednesday as he walked down the 16th fairway. “Because this is nothing like it will be June.”

The views won’t change, and they were as spectacular as ever on the eve of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, with turquoise waves crashing against rocks and sending eruptions of white spray against the back drop of Pebble’s small greens.

But this is not a week for any scouting reports.

Heavy rain over the weekend, with wind so strong it knocked over a corporate tent left of the sixth fairway, has saturated Pebble Beach so much that the turf sunk ever so slightly with every step on the fairway. Davis Love III didn’t see where his shot landed on the 10th green because it was plugged, only the top half of the ball showing.

No, this isn’t a sneak preview of the U.S. Open. It’s not a complete waste of time, either.

Tommy Fleetwood of England is making his debut in the tournament, and he was so enamoured being on the Monterey Peninsula that he quite happily played through the chill and a few hail stones during a practice round Tuesday. Pebble has such a reputation that Fleetwood compared it with St. Andrews, not because of the course, but because of the iconic nature.

“It’s just one of those few places in the world that has like an aura and an atmosphere about it and you feel very lucky to be playing golf this week,” he said. He only pictures what it will be

like when Pebble hosts the U.S. Open for the sixth time in June.

“It’s nowhere near what it’s probably going to be like,” Fleetwood said. “There’s so many guys that have played the PGA Tour for a long time will have been here. They know it. They feel comfortable. For me, this is the first time, so any advantage I would have had just turning up in June is much more positive and good for me.”

Torrey Pines also hosted a PGA Tour and U.S. Open in the same year in 2008 (Tiger Woods won them both), and that will happen again in two years. The other courses were Riviera (LA Open and PGA Championship in 1995) and Pinehurst No. 2 (North & South and PGA Championship in 1936).

Changes already have started at Pebble, with fairway lines moved in the way it will be in June. That much was obvious on No. 8, which has a white, knee-high rock on the hill leading up to the fairway as an alignment aid. The rock is not there this week,

because any shot over it would wind up in the rough, not the fairway.

“The fairways taken in is what you notice immediately,” Jordan Spieth said. “The rough is actually lower than it has been in past years for this tournament right now. But the fairway lines... like our yardage books look different from last year to this year. They have started to take them in already, and you’re starting to see the fairways that we’re going to see for the U.S. Open. It just will play wider given how soft it is. The ball is not rolling.”

Spieth won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am two years ago and is back in his regular group, with country singer Jake Owen as his amateur partner alongside two-time Pebble champion Dustin Johnson and Wayne Gretzky. Johnson is coming off a victory last week in the Saudi International and only arrived from his home in Florida on Wednesday morning. Masters champion Patrick Reed also was in Saudi

Arabia and will be playing in his usual group alongside Phil Mickelson.

The sky cleared Wednesday and it should be reasonable for at least a few days across Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and the Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula, with more rain expected Friday and into parts of the weekend.

For some players, Pebble is beautiful in any weather.

“When you’re here... it’s kind of like a holy golf ground if you will,” Tony Finau said. “And it’s never not a thrill to play Pebble Beach.”

With so much rain over the last few days, and the forecast for the weekend, players will likely be able to lift, clean and place their golf balls in the short grass. That’s not unusual for this tournament. It might be unusual for Davis and few others on the USGA executive committee.

The U.S. Open never uses lift, clean and place – another example that while it’s the same course, this isn’t the U.S. Open.

Golf adjusts rule on caddies standing behind players

Citizen news service

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Six weeks into the new year and the new set of golf rules have their first change, this one on caddies standing behind their players.

Golf’s two governing bodies released a clarification Wednesday on the rule aimed at keeping caddies from being able to help their players line up a shot.

The rule now says a two-shot penalty for his caddie standing behind him can be avoided if a player backs away from his stance and starts over anywhere on the golf course. Previously, the penalty could only be avoided on the putting green.

The rule also says caddies won’t violate the rule if they were not aware their players were stepping in to take their stance.

“Experience has taught us that introducing a new rule requires us to balance patience with a willingness to act quickly when necessary,” said Thomas Pagel, the senior manag-

ing director of governance for the USGA.

The clarification was a quick response to a two-shot penalty on Denny McCarthy at the Phoenix Open, which later was rescinded so the rule could be studied. McCarthy’s incident followed another case a week earlier on Li Haotong in Dubai.

Rule 10.2b was created because of longtime criticism that caddies were helping to align players on shots. The rule stated that caddies could not deliberately stand behind their players as they were starting to take their stance until the shot was hit.

Li’s caddie was behind him on the 18th green in Dubai as Li stepped into to take his stance. He was penalized two shots, which dropped him from a tie for third to a tie for 12th, and the R&A supported the decision because it followed the letter of the rule.

McCarthy’s case was more complicated. He faced a 70-yard shot over water and was casually swinging the club away from the ball as his caddie stood behind him. Even though

McCarthy backed away to take his stance, he initially was penalized because it did not occur on the green.

Once the PGA Tour noticed several other examples that could be cited, it took back the penalty for more study.

By clarifying what is deliberate, the USGA and R&A have allowed exceptions when it’s clear the player is not trying to gain an advantage.

Among the examples cited by the USGA and R&A were a caddie who was raking a bunker and was in a direct line behind the player; and a caddie standing behind as the player walks over to tap in a putt. It also says caddies could stand behind a player while holding an umbrella until it’s time to hit the shot.

Under the clarifications, caddies can line up their players for the purpose of making sure their club won’t hit a tree, or their feet are not on a cart path.

The new rule was effectively immediately.

Former Jays skipper hopes to return to game

Gregory STRONG Citizen news service

TORONTO — Looking relaxed and refreshed in an off-season where he doesn’t have to worry about baseball plans, former Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said Wednesday that he’s loving life and is enjoying a break from the game.

“After I’ve been at home for a couple extra weeks and they’re starting to play games, I might feel a little different,” Gibbons said with a laugh before attending the Conn Smythe sports celebrities dinner and auction. His departure was finalized late last season and the team made it official on the day of the home finale. Gibbons got a chance to say goodbye at a news conference that afternoon, with fans and players showing their love and respect for the popular skipper that night at Rogers Centre.

Gibbons received a standing ovation every time he came out to make a pitching change in that 3-1 win over the Houston Astros. He even got a Gatorade shower at the end of the game.

The 56-year-old first managed the Blue Jays from August 2004 to June 2008. He returned in November 2012 and guided the team back to the playoffs in 2015, ending the franchise’s 22-year post-season drought.

“To finally actually get there,

LEAMY Leamy, Agyeman gave UNBC package deal

— from page 9

Leamy’s arrival with the Twolves coincided with UNBC signing Agyeman, Leamy’s childhood buddy from Toronto. They’ve known each other since they were nine years old and both majored in marketing.

“I told coach (Todd Jordan) about him,” said Agyeman. “We grew up in the same neighbourhood, played on the same club teams.”

Agyeman, transferred from Wilfred Laurier University and quickly became a household name as UNBC’s starting point guard, racking up 213 assists in just two seasons to pass Billy Cheng as the all-time team leader. He also finished in the top-10 in points, rebounds, free throws and steals.

Agyeman, who helped fund the Timberwolves Student Athletic Society, took UNBC rookie guard Colburn Pearce under his wing and went out of his way to teach the 19-year-old Duchess Park graduate how to adjust to the university game.

“It feels good after all that hard work I put from transferring,” said Agyeman. “Before I came here I was lost and confused, so I took the risk to come out here and made history. I’m proud of myself, taking the risk. Coming out here from Toronto builds character, getting to know people you don’t know, just a forced change in life and it worked out for the better. I came out of my shell.”

No evidence to support allegations against Mariners: MLB

SEATTLE (AP) — Major League Baseball’s independent investigation found no credible evidence to support claims of disparaging comments and discriminatory treatment by members of the Seattle Mariners front office.

MLB said in a statement Wednesday that the investigation found the Mariners did not violate baseball’s “workplace code of conduct, or applicable anti-discrimination law,” in the treatment of Lorena Martin or in her termination by the club. Martin was the club’s director of high performance for one season, then was fired following the 2018 season.

I’m pretty proud of that,” Gibbons said. “It was a good group of guys that did it.” Toronto returned to the American League Championship Series in 2016 but missed the playoffs the last two seasons. The Blue Jays are now rebuilding and hope to return to contention in two or three years.

Former Rays bench coach Charlie Montoyo was hired as manager last fall. He takes over a young team that’s coming off a 73-89 regular season.

“I’m a big fan, I always liked

the guy,” Gibbons said. “When we played Tampa, we’d kind of run to each other and say a few things. He’s got great enthusiasm. “I think he’s a good fit for them, especially with all the young kids, because he is enthusiastic.” Gibbons, who’s from San Antonio, doesn’t need to rush to find that next job as he had one year left on his contract. He said he’s been doing a lot of fishing lately and has been casually monitoring the off-season baseball news. Gibbons has also made some calls and said he

expects to get back in the game next year.

“I’ve got some friends out there that are in baseball and in good positions,” he said. “We’ve talked about some things. But I’m going to take a break. I think I could use it to re-energize a little bit. I’ll do something next year.

“I’d love to manage again but who knows how that goes. But I’m going to do something (in 2020). Or maybe pick something up in the middle of the year or something like that.”

Gibbons is in second place on the Blue Jays’ all-time list for managerial victories with 792. Cito Gaston, who leads with 892 wins, guided the team to World Series titles in 1992-93.

Gibbons said he took a couple weeks to decompress once the 2018 season ended.

“After that, I let it go man, and then life goes on,” he said. “I’ve got friends and family and we did our thing. But I’ve got nothing but great memories.”

Gibbons first joined the Toronto coaching staff in 2002 as a bullpen catcher. He was promoted mid-season to first base coach and served in that capacity until replacing manager Carlos Tosca.

As a player, Gibbons spent parts of three seasons as a catcher with the New York Mets. He later worked as a coach and manager for a number of teams at a variety of minor-league levels.

The investigation also concluded there was no evidence to support Martin’s claims that general manager Jerry Dipoto, director of player development Andy McKay and manager Scott Servais made disparaging comments against Latino players. The Mariners have denied Martin’s claims.

Martin has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the team. MLB said it will have no further comment regarding the investigation due to the pending litigation.

The investigation was conducted by Epstein Becker Green, a law firm specializing in labour and employment matters. MLB said the firm’s lawyers interviewed 17 potential witnesses, including Martin. Martin took to social media on Wednesday in response to the MLB investigation, saying she is “disappointed but not surprised at the outcome.” In her statement, Martin said she was interviewed by Jennifer Gefsky, a former MLB deputy general counsel who is now an Epstein Becker partner. “It is also puzzling why the interviews and information obtained is being kept confidential. I would have hoped for a bit more transparency,” Martin wrote. “More importantly, there were no tapes, no emails, no hard evidence requested nor evaluated other than the questioning of individuals most of whom are still employed by the Mariners.”

Martin was hired away from the Los Angeles Lakers with much fanfare by Dipoto. Her first public allegations came in November when she posted on social media claims that Dipoto, McKay and Servais had called Latino players “lazy, dumb and stupid.”

AP PHOTO

Clay Walker strolls with his family up the third fairway during Wednesday’s celebrity challenge event of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in Pebble Beach, Calif.

CP FILE PHOTO

After his final game as manager of the Toronto Blue Jays on Sept. 26, 2018, John Gibbons offers a salute to fans.

Rielly lifts Leafs past Senators in third

Citizen news service

TORONTO — The fans left happy after a back-and-forth game

Mike Babcock deemed “way too entertaining for the coach.”

And his team won.

Trailing 2-1, the Maple Leafs scored three goals in four minutes late in the second period Wednesday to pull ahead of the Ottawa Senators. Auston Matthews, fresh off news of a contract extension, scored what had looked to be the winning goal at 3-2 while Mitch Marner set up two others to press his case for a lucrative new deal.

But Ottawa pulled even at 4-4 early in the third on goals by Thomas Chabot and Magnus Paajarvi, with his second of the night, in a stretch of three minutes 19 seconds.

Morgan Rielly scored the winner midway through the third period for a 5-4 win.

“We were playing well and then we just got careless and we never really seemed to be able to get it back,” lamented Babcock, who liked his team’s start.

“At the same time when you’re a good team and you win games, sometimes they’re not very pretty but you still won them. So at the end, when we get up (Thursday) in the standings, it’s going to look pretty good.”

Rielly started the rush after a Sens turnover. After racing up the ice, he passed to Zach Hyman, whose backhand pass found Rielly alone in front of the goal for his 14th of the season at 9:12. It was also Rielly’s career-high 53rd point of the season.

“It’s a blast playing with him.

He’s a great guy to go to battle with every day,” said Leafs centre John Tavares.

The Sens piled on the pressure with the goaltender out but could not score.

Andreas Johnsson, Hyman and Tavares also scored for Toronto.

Matt Duchene had the other Ottawa goal.

Toronto (33-17-3) won its third straight and fourth of its last five (4-0-1). While the Senators (1929-5) suffered their fifth straight loss, they did not look like a team last in the standings.

“It’s the NHL,” said Matthews. “So it doesn’t matter who you’re playing on any given night. It doesn’t matter what the standings are.”

Added Tavares: “They pushed back hard. Give them credit.”

Ottawa outshot Toronto 44-30.

“I thought we carried the play for most of the game,” said Ottawa coach Guy Boucher. “Just a few puck management turnovers cost us.”

Boucher thought his team, up 2-1, should have put the game away in the second period but

could not convert good scoring chances.

“That was the moment. When you play a team like that and you’ve got them on the ropes, that’s the moment where you’ve got to bury them,” said Boucher.

The Leafs came into the game flushed with news of Matthews’ US$58.2 million, five-year contract extension.

“Welcome home Auston,” said one sign in the stands. “Drink$ on you?”

Matthews opened his NHL account against the Sens on Oct. 12,

Cougars grab point from Giants in OT loss

Ted CLARKE Citizen staff tclarke@pgcitizen.ca

The win-starved Prince George Cougars probably deserved a better fate. Their fans, all 2,083 of them who occupied the seats Wednesday at CN Centre, certainly felt their pain when they fell 4-3 in overtime to the Vancouver Giants, a loss which extended the Cats’ losing streak to 11 games. After wriggling off the hook to erase a 3-0 deficit, just when it appeared this just might be the night the Cougars might find the win column for the first time in about a month, Bowen Byram fired the overtime dagger.

The slick 17-year-old defenceman, touted as a top-10 overall pick in the next NHL draft, created a 2-on-1 rush in the first minute of overtime and with 57 seconds off the clock he dragged the puck into the middle and ripped a shot through the legs of goalie Taylor Gauthier.

In the lead-up to overtime, the Cougars did not get discouraged, even when they were down by

three goals. They got their feet moving and forechecked ferociously, scoring the next three to tie it up. Reid Perepeluk picked an opportune time to score his first goal of the season. Sent over the boards by coach Richard Matvichuk to energize the Cats’ top line late in the third period playing right wing with Vladislav Mikhalchuk and Ethan Browne, Perepeluk gained the puck deep in enemy territory when the Giants lost possession, turned and fired as soon as he had the puck on his stick and his shot from the hash marks found a five-hole on goalie David Tendeck.

“The great thing was we didn’t quit, the reliance in the room, just kept going at it and we made some changes with the lines to see if it could give us a little spark and it did,” said Matvichuk.

“There’s some things we have to clean up, but coming back from 3-0 against a very good hockey team and getting a point, we’re happy, we’re not excited but it could be a springboard for us.”

Mikhalchuk and Josh Maser were the other Cougars goal-scorers in regulation time. Jared Dmy-

triw, Brayden Watts and Aidan Barfoot scored for the Giants.

The Giants (35-12-2-1) continue to set the bar as the B.C. Division leaders. The Cougars (16-30-4-2) gained a point but remained last in the Western Conference, eight points out of a playoff spot. The Seattle Thunderbirds, who lost 5-3 Wednesday in Victoria, continue to hold down the second wild-card spot in the West. The Cougars have 16 games left.

Just as they did Tuesday with a two-goal outburst in their 4-2 win over the Cougars, the Giants found their scoring touch in the second

period and lit up the Cats for three goals in a 5:44 span. Byram showed off his offensive abilities, jumping into the rush as Giants centre Justin Sourdif cruised through the slot with the puck and took a left-wing feed from Sourdif. Byram could have shot but spotted a wide-open Watts standing just off the far post and set him up for a shot into the open cage. That came 83 seconds after Giants captain Dmitriw opened the scoring at the 7:11 mark of the second period. He stole the puck from Cats defenceman Austin Crossley and broke in alone, filing away his 11th goal of the season with a forehand-backhand deke through the legs of a sliding Gauthier.

Then at 12:55, right after a Giants’ power play, Barfoot fired off a hard backhander from the left side that found the net over Gauthier’s glove for a 3-0 lead.

The Cougars got one of those back, scoring on their third power play of the game.

The Cougars answered with two goals late in the period to make it close. Mikhalchuk be-

2016 at Ottawa where he set a league record for goals scored in an NHL debut (4).

Marner, the Leafs’ leading scorer with 65 points, upped his assists total to 45. It was his 14th multiassist and 20th multi-point game of the season.

The 21-year-old winger, who is eligible to become a restricted free agent July 1, is next on GM Kyle Dubas’ to-do list. Babcock has no doubts it will get done. “Mitch is a lifetime Leaf,” he said after the morning skate.

Ottawa has contract questions of its own. Duchene, Mark Stone and Ryan Dzingel are all eligible to become unrestricted free agents on July 1.

Senators owner Eugene Melnyk says he is prepared to open his wallet.

According to a club release, Melnyk told a Sens corporate event Tuesday in Toronto that the team’s “current rebuild is a blueprint on how to bring the Stanley Cup home to its rightful place in Ottawa.”

He pledged the team will spend close to the NHL’s salary cap every year from 2021 to 2025. The Battle of Ontario was a mismatch looking at the numbers. Going into play Wednesday, the Leafs ranked sixth in the league. Ottawa was 31st, some 24 points below Toronto. But Ottawa had won six of its last seven visits to Scotiabank Arena.

It was Craig Anderson versus Freddie Andersen in goal. Ottawa’s Anderson was playing his 599th NHL regular-season game.

The Leafs started on time, outshooting the Sens 8-1.

came the first Cougar to reach the 20-goal mark when he cashed in a power play chance, batting in a rebound after Cole Moberg let go a slapper from the blueline. That came four minutes before the intermission. Maser made it a 3-2 count with another power-play goal, scoring his 20th in typical Maser style. He drove to the net and laid the puck at the feet of Tendeck, then jammed in the rebound with just 10.5 seconds left in the period.

LOOSE PUCKS: The Cougars were without D Joel Lakusta (upper-body injury), G Isaiah DiLaura (upper body) and C Ilijah Colina (returned to his home in North Delta for personal reasons). DiLaura got hurt Monday in practice. Fifteen-year-old Tyler Brennan, called up from Rink Hockey Academy in Winnipeg for his second WHL game, backed up Gauthier… The Cougars hit the road for games Friday night in Kelowna and Sunday afternoon in Langley, their fourth game in eight days against the Giants… The Spokane Chiefs did the Cats a favour Wednesday, beating the Kelowna Rockets 5-4 in Kelowna.

CP PHOTO

Chris Tierney of the Ottawa Senators crashes into Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen during Wednesday’s game in Toronto.

Davis remains in trade limbo

Citizen news service

MIAMI — Anthony Davis is still a member of the New Orleans Pelicans.

By noon today, that may change.

Davis remained in place Wednesday, though the run-up to the NBA’s annual trade deadline picked up steam in plenty of other locales around the league – including Dallas, where the Mavericks took Harrison Barnes out of their win over Charlotte in the third quarter because he’s about to get moved to Sacramento, according to two people familiar with the negotiations there.

“I got word of it during the game,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said.

Tobias Harris going to Philadelphia from the Los Angeles Clippers as the centerpiece of a six-person, four-draft-pick swap was the first notable deal of Trade Deadline Eve. Later, Chicago agreed to acquire Otto Porter Jr. from Washington for Jabari Parker and Bobby Portis. The Mavs and Kings agreed to swap Barnes for Zach Randolph and Justin Jackson, and as the day was winding down the Wizards struck again – this time sending Markieff Morris to New Orleans for Wesley Johnson.

The Mavs-Kings and Wizards-Pelicans deals were confirmed to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity by people directly involved in the negotiations, all speaking on condition of anonymity pending the mandatory NBA trade calls to make the deals official.

“Part of the business,” New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry said.

And business, on Wednesday, was busy –as expected. The Dallas-Sacramento deal will be significant for both sides.

The Kings are trying to get into the Western Conference playoffs, and now can add Barnes to their promising young core. Barnes has a $25.1 million player option for next season. Meanwhile, Dallas – which got Kristaps Porzingis and Tim Hardaway Jr. from New York last week in a massive deal – will have tons of salary-cap space to spend in the coming months as it looks to add more pieces around Luka Doncic.

“Things are going to look different on the court,” said Carlisle, who wished Barnes well and told him after Dallas’ game that he believes the Sacramento deal is a good situation for him.

Harris, Boban Marjanovic and Mike Scott went to the 76ers, while Wilson Chandler, Mike Muscala and Landry Shamet went to the Clippers. Philadelphia – with an eye on moving way up from the No. 5 spot in the Eastern Conference – also gave up a protected 2020 first-round pick, a 2021 first-rounder that was once owned by Miami, and second-rounders in 2021 and 2023 through Detroit.

“We are in the unique position to contend now and we think this trade positions us well for the post-season,” 76ers general manager Elton Brand said.

Porter will be headed to Chicago, with the Wizards taking back Parker and Portis.

Parker has been bracing for a trade, and moving Porter is a financial win if nothing else for Washington. So is the move that sends Morris to the Pelicans, one that should get the Wizards out of having to pay anything in luxury tax this season.

Another deal with tax ramifications was worked out between Miami and Phoenix.

The Heat sent Tyler Johnson and Wayne Ellington to the Suns for Ryan Anderson, helping alleviate the logjam of guards that Miami coach Erik Spoelstra has been dealing with all season – plus considerably lowering the Heat’s expected luxury tax bill. It’s likely that Ellington will be a buyout candidate, and therefore would be able to pick his own spot to finish the season.

“This business is tough but this kid is tougher,” Heat guard Dwyane Wade wrote on Twitter, talking about Johnson. And later, he told Ellington he has “a brother for life.”

Meanwhile, Davis remained in place and out of uniform.

The Pelicans haven’t played him since he and agent Rich Paul went public last week with their trade request, and decided not to play the six-time All-Star in Chicago on Wednesday either. The reasons for that were obvious; in case a deal can be made, it’s not worth it for the Pelicans to risk an

Antetokounmpo a beast for Bucks

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo called it “a crazy game.”

A little too crazy for the All-Star. Antetokounmpo scored 43 points, Eric Bledsoe had 22 points and 11 assists, and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Washington Wizards 148-129 on Wednesday night for

their fifth consecutive victory.

“I think we were just trading baskets at one point,” Antetokounmpo said. “We’re a good team but we’re trying to be a great team. Even though we scored a lot, we were sloppy. Defensively we have to pick it up a little bit.”

injury.

“It’s going to eventually get resolved,” Gentry said. There will be resolution – maybe just partial resolution, but resolution nonetheless – when the deadline arrives this afternoon. Davis is still under contract for next season, so the Pelicans are in a slippery spot where they don’t need to deal their best player now for fear of losing him in July for nothing but also know that he doesn’t want to remain in New Orleans.

If the Pelicans don’t trade Davis by today, they’ll almost certainly be back in the depths of trade talks in June and July –draft time and free agency.

“I mean, obviously, it’s on everyone’s mind,” Gentry said. “But we just try to put it on the back burner and focus on the task at hand and that’s playing the Chicago Bulls. Not anything we can do about it.... I think everything kind of clears up after (Thursday), at least for a while. And you can go back to I guess normal, or whatever our new normal is going to be.”

In other trades Wednesday:

• A person familiar with the terms said NBA-leading Milwaukee was sending centre Thon Maker to the Detroit Pistons for forward Stanley Johnson. Both were

The Bucks shot 60 per cent (56 for 93) from the field and placed six players in double figures while becoming the first NBA team with 40 victories. Malcolm Brogdon had 18 points and Khris Middleton finished with 16.

Washington trailed by as many as 25

Falcons cut their all-time scoring leader

ODUM

Charles

Citizen news service

The Atlanta Falcons released kicker Matt Bryant on Wednesday, ending the 10-year run of the team’s all-time leading scorer.

The decision to not renew the team’s option on the 43-year-old Bryant comes despite another strong season in 2018, when he made 20 of 21 field goals and 33 of 35 extra points.

Bryant’s only missed field goal was from 53 yards at Green Bay. He said the miss was “probably like a 60-yarder on a normal field.”

Health concerns could have played a role in the Falcons’ decision. Bryant missed three games with a hamstring injury.

Bryant insisted he is healthy. “I’m not retiring and I feel fine and plan on feeling even better with some changes to my off-season program,” he said on Twitter .

Bryant also thanked Falcons fans for their support and added: “I take great pride in my body of work on and off the field. I hope I have represented you well while I was here.”

Bryant recently told The Associated Press he wants to extend his career. “Yes, I am 43, and different things come along with that,” Bryant said. “As long as I can produce the way I think I can and I do it out there on the field, I’ll take the bumps and bruises. ... Oh yeah, it’s not over. The journey goes on.”

Falcons owner Arthur Blank took note of Bryant’s team-record

1,122 points and his honour of being named the team’s Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2013 and 2014. Blank said in a team statement Bryant “will be remembered as one of the greatest Falcons of all time.”

Blank said Bryant “made countless memorable and gamewinning kicks. His reliability and dependability were unmatched and he has been unflappable in pressure-filled moments.”

Bryant set a team record with 158 points in the Falcons’ 2016 Super Bowl season.

Giorgio Tavecchio was signed when Bryant was injured and was kept on the active roster for the remainder of the season in a move that could have been a hint of the plan to release Bryant.

lottery picks, Johnson in 2015 and Maker a year later. That trade was also pending the NBA reviewing the financial terms and approving, which is required for any deal to become final.

• The Los Angeles Lakers – one of the teams known to want Davis – made another deal, getting Reggie Bullock from the Detroit Pistons for rookie guard Svi Mykhailiuk. Bullock is a shooter, and Lakers star LeBron James loves surrounding himself with those. Bullock is making nearly 39 per cent of his three-point tries this season. Mykhailiuk has averaged 3.3 points in 39 appearances.

• Philadelphia swung a deal with Toronto, getting Malachi Richardson and some draft considerations for cash. Richardson appeared in 23 games during two seasons with the Raptors.

• Two people with knowledge of the deal say Houston, Sacramento and Cleveland are finishing a trade that will most notably send Iman Shumpert from the Kings to the Rockets. Houston is sending Brandon Knight and Marquese Chriss to the Cavaliers. Alec Burks – now traded for the second time this season, after starting the year in Utah – will go from the Cavaliers to the Kings, when the league signs off on the necessary matters.

in the first half, but closed to 120-113 on Chasson Randle’s layup with 10:22 left. Bledsoe helped finish off the Wizards with 10 points in a quick scoring flurry, including a dunk off a missed free throw by Antetokounmpo. He made a three-pointer with 7:07 remaining to make it 138-118.

Tavecchio, 28, could be the starter in 2019 after making each of his five field goal attempts, including a 56-yarder, this season.

The team’s release of Bryant comes one day after it cut another veteran, cornerback Robert Alford. The release of Alford will clear $7.9 million in cap space for the 2019 season. The Bryant move clears $2.8 million in cap space.

“There is no doubt he is one of the all-time great Falcons as he’s been an integral part of our success,” general manager Thomas Dimitroff said. “This was a difficult decision but one that was necessary for us to move forward into 2019. We have the utmost respect for the person and the player that Matt is, and we wish (him) and his family the best going forward.”

BRYANT

AP PHOTO

New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis sits on the bench during the second half of the team’s game against the San Antonio Spurs in San Antonio last Saturday.

MONEY IN BRIEF

Currencies

OTTAWA

Canada staying out of U.S. ratification fight over USMCA deal, Leslie says

Mia RABSON Citizen news service

OTTAWA — The Canadian charm offensive deployed to secure the new North American free trade deal in the face of a protectionist White House has gone dark even though the agreement faces a perilous path to ratification in the U.S. Congress.

Andrew Leslie, the parliamentary secretary to Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, said Wednesday he is confident the U.S. and Mexico will ratify the deal, but Canada won’t interfere with each process. Canadians, he noted, would not want others trying to influence the domestic parliamentary process.

While cabinet ministers spent much of the first two years of Donald Trump’s presidency lobbying hundreds of state and federal politicians, business leaders, unions – and anyone else with any influence and a willingness to listen – to convince a wary U.S. Congress to green light the agreement, the Canadian charm offensive is now on ice.

“There’s a good argument to be made that Canadians are always charming, but there’s no over-emphasis on that scale down in the United States,” Leslie said, prior to the Liberals’ weekly caucus meeting on Parliament Hill.

The markets today

TORONTO (CP) — Canada’s main stock index eked out gains Wednesday even though the cannabis sector sustained losses, while U.S. stock markets headed lower.

“It’s a pretty quiet day,” said Anish Chopra, managing director with Portfolio Management Corp. There was no significant market moving economic news or geopolitical headlines, U.S. President Donald Trump’s congressional address Tuesday evening didn’t earn a lot of news while corporate earnings have been largely positive, he said. “The earnings generally have been reasonable (and) there was nothing coming out of the State of the Union (speech) that would have an impact on equities.”

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 9.62 points to 15,712.31 after hitting an intraday high of 15,745.38. The consumer discretionary sector led by gaining nearly one per cent, followed by utilities, real estate and financials. Health care dropped 3.5 per cent as cannabis names like Aphria Inc. lost nine per cent after rejecting a hostile takeover bid and other pot firms Cronos Group Inc., the Green Organic Dutchman Holdings, Hexo Corp. and Aurora Cannabis Inc. all fell by between 3.5 and 9.6 per cent. The influential energy sector was essentially flat even though oil prices rose slightly. The March crude contract was up 35 cents at US$54.01 per barrel and the March natural gas contract was unchanged at US$2.66 per mmBTU. The April gold contract was down US$4.80 at US$1,314.40 an ounce and the March copper contract was up 1.95 cents at US$2.84 a pound. Earlier, a Bank of Canada deputy governor said the effects of U.S. trade unknowns, lower oil prices and weaker housing and consumer spending were behind the recent deceleration in economic growth. To help the economy get through this “temporary” soft patch, Timothy Lane is expecting the lower Canadian dollar to provide support. The Canadian dollar traded at an average of 75.82 cents US compared with an average of 76.14 cents US on Tuesday. While the Toronto market hit its highest level in four months, U.S. markets fell. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 21.22 points at 25,390.30. The S&P 500 index was down 6.09 points at 2,731.61, while the Nasdaq composite was down 26.80 points at 7,375.28.

In September, the three countries signed the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), but the deal still needs to be approved by the legislatures in each country. Canada will introduce legislation on the deal in the coming weeks, while Mexico’s Senate needs to vote on the agreement.

In the U.S., ratification is up to a now divided Congress, where Democrats control the House of Representatives and Republicans command a majority in the Senate. Many Democrats are skeptical of the deal’s environment and labour protections and leery of supporting anything with Trump’s fingerprints on it.

Leslie said the government isn’t directly reaching out to Democrats.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau indicated Wednesday that Canada’s efforts are largely focused on ensuring ratification of the trade agreement coincides with the White House agreeing to lift punishing tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports.

“We continue to work with the American administration, with a lot of people in Congress, who do feel rightly that these tariffs are

hurting American workers like they’re hurting Canadian workers and Canadian industry,” he said on his way into the caucus meeting. “The president has, you know, stuck to his approach on tariffs even though it’s hurting the American people as well.”

Trump imposed the tariffs in May, arguing Canadian steel and aluminum posed a national threat to U.S. Canada retaliated with tariffs of its own on steel, aluminum and dozens of other products to equal the value of the Canadian exports affected by the American levies. The government targeted industries in states of prominent U.S. Republicans, hoping to get those politicians to pressure the White House to lift the tariffs.

Canada has collected about $1 billion from those tariffs. Ontario and Quebec jointly wrote to Trudeau this week asking him to do more to distribute that money and even revisit the ones that aren’t having the intended effect.

Ottawa immediately rejected that idea, saying it would not surrender.

Dean Allison, the Conservative critic for international trade diversification, said it’s disappointing the Liberals have backed off the lobby effort to get USMCA passed, but said getting the tariffs lifted should be their top priority.

The party’s deputy leader, Lisa Raitt, said Wednesday she wants to know why the $1 billion hasn’t flowed to help workers and companies in Canada hurting from the U.S. tariffs.

The Liberals pointed to $150 million announced for Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. in January, and nearly $50 million last fall for ArcelorMittal Canada, which has plants in Ontario and Quebec.

Leslie said the government is reviewing hundreds of submissions about how to help Canadians weather the tariffs.

“Obviously, because of the large number, there’s a certain amount of time to prioritize them and to get the money out the door,” he said. “I’m very confident that process is unrolling the way it should. But can we do better? Absolutely.”

Of the IRS and other dungeon dwellers

In the First Grade, I frequented the school janitor’s dimly-lit refuge under the building. It had barely enough space for its utility equipment, a small desk and maybe three people. The room also had a bolted-down cast iron stationary vacuum cleaner, designed to remove dust from overused chalk brushes. This curious machine served no other purpose, save the occasional forearm hickey. If a boy was well-behaved, finished his work early and was adventurous, he was given a box full of choke-invoking chalk erasers and sent down the hall, through the Staff Only door and down the creaking wooden stairway. We entered the dungeon, watched suspiciously by the escaped convict who held court there. The old man had a wooden left arm, more of a large stick (with the bark still on it) than a prosthetic, and one eye made of a slightly-rusted steel ball-bearing. Legend held that he had won this “Steely” in a marbles contest against an unfortunate Grade 7 boy, “One-eyed” Orin Mckinsky. In the centre of the room stood the wrong end of the school garbage chute, right next to the incinerator. The resident pirate was duly terrified of the firebox – his left arm was made from kindling after all – and the door of the burner served as its damper, exposing the glowing hot cavern

– that detention of detentions, reserved for especially bad boys. But the chalk brush vacuum’s pure steampunk magic was what held my gaze. Its powerful hum either consumed or emitted lifeforce or both. Captain Curmudgeon was also fond of it. Patting it gently on its side before switching it on, he leaned down to whisper a tender apology. It worked. The machine wheezed to a full capacity, sounding more like Apollo 11 than a household appliance. The mystical robot sucked the darkness out of the air, de-dusting the brushes back to their pristine striped red, white and blue. I wanted to dirty them again just to watch them get clean. It was all so very soothing. If I had one today I would rent it out for therapy. The erasers were now shipshape, ready for the pretty teacher upstairs, who would smile warmly and cup my face in her hands and try to resist the urge to kiss my forehead.

Taxes and trusts

Even scarier than janitors, if the IRS could tax pirates they would. But they are more likely to tax

ex-patriot draft-dodging American teachers or others residing in Canada.

There is widespread use of trusts in Canada for estate and tax planning purposes, involving income splitting with family members, the growth shares of a family business or commercial real estate in an estate freeze plan.

The U.S. considers a trust to be a foreign trust if U.S. courts cannot exercise primary supervision over the trust or if U.S. persons don’t control the trust. Income earned in a foreign trust that is deemed a grantor trust, (generally the case when the settlor and beneficiaries are Americans), is taxed directly in the hands of the grantor for U.S. tax purposes. Income distributed from a non-grantor trust (often the U.S. classification of this trust after the settlor or transferor of the trust dies) that was earned in years prior to the year in which the income is distributed may be subject to U.S. income accumulation rules. These rules which are often referred to as the “throw-back” rules apply tax at the taxpayers U.S. marginal tax rate of (up to 39.6 per cent) plus an interest charge on all accumulated income even if the income is from capital gains or qualified dividends.

Being mindful of these U.S. tax rules as they apply to foreign trusts can be critical in avoiding potential U.S. interest and penalty charges down the line.

As a result of the enactment by the U.S. of the Foreign Account

Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) the IRS will have an easier time locating noncompliant Americans in Canada. This is because financial institutions around the world are now required to report financial account information to the U.S. in relation to such persons.

The U.S. estimates that it loses $100 billion a year in annual tax revenues that should be paid from amongst the estimated seven million U.S. taxpayers living abroad, 6.6 per cent of whom are thought to properly file under U.S. tax rules.

The U.S. has implemented voluntary disclosure programs over the years, providing methods by which noncompliant U.S. taxpayers, wherever they live, can get up to date on their U.S. tax filings. One of these programs is better suited to taxpayers at a high risk of incurring significant tax penalties, and another is more suitable to those in lower risk scenarios with straight forward tax situations and minimal U.S. tax owing. Details of these programs are beyond the scope of this article. Mark Ryan is an investment advisor with RBC Dominion Securities Inc. (Member–Canadian Investor Protection Fund), and these are Mark’s views, and not those of RBC Dominion Securities. This article is for information purposes only. Please consult with a professional advisor before taking any action based on information in this article. See Mark’s website at: http://dir. rbcinvestments.com/mark.ryan

“Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising.”

Mark Twain

CP FILE PHOTO

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrew Leslie speaks in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Nov.1, 2018.

A&E IN BRIEF

BAFTA suspends Singer nomination

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The British Academy of Film and Television Arts says it is suspending its nomination of director Bryan Singer amid accusations that he sexually assaulted minors.

Singer had been among those nominated for his work on the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, which he was fired from in late 2017.

The Atlantic magazine last month published an expose detailing the stories of four alleged victims who said they were seduced and molested by the Singer while underage. Singer has denied the allegations.

The film and others nominated for it will remain eligible for BAFTAs, which will be presented Sunday.

Swift stalker gets six months in jail

NEW YORK (AP) — A man who broke into Taylor Swift’s New York City townhouse and took a nap has been sentenced to six month in jail.

The New York Post’s Page Six reports that 22-year-old Roger Alvarado, of Homestead, Fla,. was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to criminal contempt and attempted burglary.

The Post says Alvarado plans to return to Florida after his jail stint, which is nearly finished, and serve five years’ probation. He must also complete a mental-health program.

Officers found Alvarado asleep in the pop star’s home in the Tribeca neighbourhood of Manhattan in April. Police say he had also used her shower. Swift was not home during the break-in. Alvarado had been arrested at the same address last February on charges of breaking the front door with a shovel.

Clark tells familiar tale

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Marcia Clark insists she’s not reliving her post-O.J. Simpson trial life in the new series The Fix. Clark co-created the ABC show about a character that viewers

who followed the Simpson saga will recognize. Robin Tunney stars as a Los Angeles district attorney whose failed prosecution of a famous movie star on trial for double murder derails her career.

Eight years after the first trial, the actor comes under suspicion for another murder and Tunney’s character seeks the justice that first eluded her.

Clark told a TV critics’ meeting on Tuesday that the show’s first five minutes draws on what she went through during the Simpson trial. After that, she says the story is complete fiction.

The series debuting March 18 will focus on a single case over 10 episodes.

Dylan promoter dies

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Izzy Young,

a former music store owner who organized Bob Dylan’s first New York concert and devoted decades of his life supporting folk musicians, has died at age 90. Young’s daughter, Philomene Grandin, said Wednesday that her father died of natural causes late Monday at his home in Stockholm. Before he moved to Sweden in 1973 and went into business there, Young ran a folk music shop in New York that nurtured a generation of artists.

Dylan was a regular visitor to the Folklore Center, the shop Young opened in Greenwich Village in 1957, and once called it “the citadel of Americana folk music.”

Young kept his eyes and ears open for talent as people with guitars and sheets of song lyrics went in and out of his store, inviting some to perform there. He organized Dylan’s first major public concert. The Nov. 4, 1961 gig took place at Carnegie Chapter Hall, a small venue connected to the venerable Carnegie Hall. Others who played at the Folklore Center early in their careers include Peter Paul and Mary, John Sebastian of The Lovin’ Spoonful, Joni Mitchell, Emmylou Harris and Tim Buckley, according to Young’s website. In Stockholm, Young reopened his shop as the Folklore Centre. It closed at the end of November due to his age, his daughter said. Grandin said her father dedicated over 60 years to promoting folk music and musicians who wrote and performed songs in the genre.

start on March 30.

Famous Monroe dress going on the block

LOS ANGELES — The black dress that a distraught Marilyn Monroe wore to a 1954 press conference announcing her separation from baseball legend Joe DiMaggio less than a year after she married him is going up for auction.

The simple wool dress with a zippered turtleneck front will be up for bidding starting on March 30, KruseGWS Auctions announced Wednesday.

The auction house expects the dress will fetch between $100,000 and $150,000. The seller’s name is not being made public.

Monroe was wearing it on Oct. 6, 1954, when she stepped out into the Beverly Hills sunlight to meet a mob of cameras and shouting reporters and announced the split in her marriage with the New York Yankees star that united sports and Hollywood and brought frenzied press coverage.

“You can certainly see the anguish and despair on Marilyn’s face when she spoke, said Brigitte Kruse, founder of GWS Auctions. “That moment changed Hollywood history forever.” Monroe barely spoke at the press conference, appearing to be on the verge of tears and nodding

to answer one question while her attorney Jerry Giesler explained the two were splitting because of conflicting careers.

Monroe and DiMaggio married in January 1954. She cited mental cruelty as the reason for the divorce, which became final the following year.

In 2014, a love letter DiMaggio wrote to Monroe after the news conference sold for $78,125 at auction.

Monroe had previously been married to James Dougherty and would also marry and divorce playwright Arthur Miller before her death in 1962 at age 36.

Creepy kid, good movie

New horror flick stands above so many others

Alan ZILBERMAN Citizen news service

Creepy children are a mainstay of the horror genre. Going back to The Bad Seed and beyond, children have proved capable of unnerving audiences with a combination of precocious dialogue and psychopathic behavior. The chilling new horror film The Prodigy continues that fine tradition, with one intriguing complication: in the hands of director Nicholas McCarthy and screenwriter Jeff Buhler, the young villain is a metaphor for parental failure.

When Sarah and John (Taylor Schilling and Peter Mooney) bring home their newborn, Miles, it is with a sense of relief. They have been trying to conceive for so long. Years pass, and Sarah realizes that Miles (Jackson Robert Scott) has extraordinary cognitive ability. By age eight, his parents have enrolled him in a school where he can receive special attention. That doesn’t last long. In a burst of sudden violence, Miles grabs a monkey wrench and beats a classmate. Alarmed, Sarah takes him to a behaviour specialist (Colm Feore), who suspects that another, more disturbed consciousness may inhabit Miles’s body, alongside his own.

ates an involving scenario that leads to a shattering payoff.

Horror fans will recognize Scott from the recent adaptation of Stephen King’s It. In that 2017 film, the actor played an achingly sincere little boy whose body is later possessed by a demonic spirit. As Miles, he hits those same notes – with an added dose of dark comedy.

Scott transitions between these two modes seamlessly; his ability to contort his face and alter his tone make his portrayal utterly convincing. It’s rare – and disconcerting – to hear a child actor using four-letter words, especially in the way that they are spoken here. McCarthy shrewdly taps into that unease, manipulating us into believing his young star.

Buhler’s script is clean and economical, with an inexorable logic to each twist.

Trusting the audience’s intelligence, the filmmakers waste no time with ambiguity over whether Miles is evil or simply misunderstood. Buhler’s script is clean and economical, with an inexorable logic to each twist. What’s more refreshing is how the scariest moments upend the cliches of the genre.

When Sarah goes into labour, for example, a cute puppy watches her and John gather their hospital bag. We suspect that the poor dog will fall victim to Miles’ hands, and that it’s just a question of when. And that subplot does resolve itself in an exacting, tragic way. But by making the dog’s fate more about character development than chills, McCarthy cre-

The final stretch of The Prodigy involves Sarah’s desperate, and bizarre, plan to save her son. McCarthy adds just enough plausibility that we can accept the strategy, which clearly makes sense to her. Several nightmare sequences fuel her desperation, including a flourish so strange and bluntly effective that audiences will remember it long after the film is over. Schilling’s performance is crucial to the success of the film’s climax: Sarah makes many quick decisions, reversing some of them, but her turmoil never strikes a false note. There is also emotional complexity at work. What motivates Sarah is her devotion to Miles, but her reward for that devotion comes with a punchline both sinister and inevitable. McCarthy is not (yet) a celebrated director, but The Prodigy may change that. As with his under-seen debut film The Pact, his greatest asset here is his patience, followed by his evocative use of light, shadow and negative space. He’s a filmmaker who recognizes that the buildup is more fun than the payoff, and he manages to generate suspense with seemingly little happening on the screen.

If parents hire a sitter so they can see The Prodigy, they just may look at their kid differently when they get home. They may also be relieved that the caregiver is unharmed.

— Three stars out of four

Citizen news service

TOP LEFT: Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio pose for a photo as they await their marriage ceremony in San Francisco on Jan. 14, 1954. TOP RIGHT: The black dress Monroe wore to a 1954 press conference announcing her separation from DiMaggio is going up for auction. Bidding will

PHOTO BY RAFY/ORION PICTURES

Jackson Robert Scott and Taylor Schilling appear in a scene from The Prodigy.

Appeal court upholds firing of parent with newborn baby

Glacier Media

A parent of a newborn may be fired for refusing to take an out-of-province work assignment, the B.C. Court of Appeal has ruled, overturning decisions of the B.C. Supreme Court and the Human Rights Tribunal.

The court said an employee had not established that his being ordered to work out of town for a period would harm the care his child would receive.

“There are many parents who are required to be away from home for extended periods for work-related reasons who continue to meet their obligations to their children,” the court said Feb. 5 in ordering the case returned to the tribunal.

Brian Suen alleged before the tribunal that Burnaby-based Envirocon Environmental Services discriminated against him on the basis of family status when, shortly after the birth of his jaundiced daughter, it assigned him in January 2016 to a Manitoba project requiring him to be away from home for eight to 10 weeks.

On previous out-of-town assignments, the company had rotated Suen home.

Considering his family situation, Suen refused, saying in “consideration of my wife and fourmonth-old baby, I will not be going to Manitoba.”

The company director of projects replied in an email: “When I assign you to an out-of-town project, it is not appropriate to respond with a statement to the effect of ‘yeah, no, I am not going to go.... This was out of line, inappropriate and viewed by me as insubordinate.”

Suen was immediately fired.

The tribunal decision said the company asserted it was a condition of Suen’s employment that he could be assigned to work on projects away from Burnaby, an assertion Suen denied.

Suen filed a complaint with the tribunal, which Envirocon applied to have dismissed. Tribunal member Emily Ohler ruled evidence justified the case going to a hearing, a decision B.C. Supreme Court Justice Miriam Maisonville called reasonable.

Ohler also said the company’s suggestion that Suen had “no special skill or ability to make him indispensable in caring for his daughter” minimized a father’s role.

“This argument could serve to reinforce ideas that fathers are ancillary to their children’s lives; that the brunt of childcare belongs to mothers; and that a coupled parent’s obligations are solely the most basic needs of a child with no regard to the co parenting spouse or a more fulsome recognition of what parenting means in the life and development of a child,” Ohler said.

Suen’s lawyer, Fred Wynne, said family status discrimination is harder to prove in B.C. than in any other province.

“This is about him trying to get some redemption and compensation for how he was treated,” Wynne said, noting an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada hasn’t been ruled out.

“I expect there would be interest in this kind of case,” he said.

CBC hires Williams as English-language boss

Citizen news service

TORONTO — The CBC is turning to former Corus executive Barbara Williams to lead its English-language TV, radio, and online services.

CBC/Radio-Canada president Catherine Tait says Williams takes the reins as executive vicepresident on May 1.

The industry veteran assumes the role following the resignation of CBC executive Heather Conway, who announced last November she was stepping down after five years.

In October, Williams announced her retirement from Corus, where she was executive vice-president and chief operating officer.

In that role, she oversaw content on Global Television and specialty channels including History, HGTV Canada and Food Network Canada, as well as digital, radio and the children’s media company Nelvana.

Before that, Williams served as president of Shaw Media, overseeing all aspects of the company’s business before it was acquired by Corus in April 2016.

“I have asked Barbara to take on this role because of her vast experience as a network executive and her keen understanding of Canada’s everchanging media landscape,” Tait said Wednesday.

Doughnut deal?

Citizen news service

Tim Hortons and an association representing some of its frustrated franchisees are close to reaching a settlement in two class-action lawsuits the group filed against the coffee-and-doughnut chain.

Tim Hortons and the Great White North Franchisee Association submitted a term sheet signed by their respective legal counsel to justice Edward Morgan at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice Wednesday.

“I think both parties, we’ve worked really hard to reach this point and I think that it’s going to be positive for the Tim Hortons brand moving forward and for our guests and for Tim Horton franchisees,” said Mark Walker, GWNFA president.

The three-page document, which comes after weeks of negotiations between the two parties, is non-binding, but outlines the key points to a future settlement in the two cases.

The first lawsuit, filed in June 2017, alleged Restaurant Brands International, the parent company of Tim Hortons, improperly used funds from a national advertising fund. It sought $500 million in damages. RBI denied the allegations and they have not been proven in court.

The second lawsuit, filed in Oct. 2017, alleged RBI subverted the franchisees’ right to associate by denying future store opportunities to franchisees “not aligned” with the chain’s interest, for example, or setting aside a $2-billion

fund to buy out the GWNFA’s current and future members. RBI also denied these allegations and they were also not proven in court.

The key terms of a future settlement address some of these concerns, said Walker and a source familiar with the case.

The parties agree that the coffee chain’s elected advisory board remains the only organization that represents the franchisees’ interest. Though, that does not mean the dissolution of the GWNFA, which Walker said will continue to serve its membership and help franchisees in whichever way it can.

The term paper states Tim Hortons has not interfered with any franchisee who joins or participates in an association, and will not do so in the future.

Tim Hortons will shorten members’ terms from four years to three and will shift to electronic voting. Previously, only franchisees who attended the chain’s convention could cast a ballot.

Additionally, four members of the advisory board will review substantial details of the advertising fund spending at least four times a year in an apparent effort to increase transparency of the disputed monies.

Walker also reviewed a summary of the fund’s spending from 2015-17 and said he received satisfactory answers to questions he had.

Tim Hortons will also pay $5 million a year for two years to boost local and regional marketing budgets. Local regions

will determine how to use those funds.

The chain will also pay $2 million to the GWNFA’s law firm, Toronto-based Himelfarb Proszanski.

The move came as the GWNFA had a hearing in court for the judge to rule on whether a third party company could help fund their suit.

The judge will likely rule on the funding request Thursday, the source said, and booked two additional court dates after the term paper was submitted.

The two parties will continue negotiating details and aim to bring an agreement to the judge on March 21, said the source.

That agreement would then be sent to every Canadian franchisee, who will have four weeks to accept or reject the terms.

The judge will hold another hearing on April 26 when any dissenting franchisees will have their voices heard and make a final ruling on the settlement.

The company has spent the last year working closely with its restaurant owners, said Alex Macedo, the chain’s president, in a statement.

“These lawsuits and previous public disagreements with some restaurant owners don’t reflect how positive our relationship is today and all the progress we have made together to focus on building the business,” he said.

“It became obvious to all of us that we need to put these lawsuits behind us and focus on what Canadians care about –great coffee, great food and great support for our communities across Canada.”

Protection in the world of workplace romance

Valentine’s Day is not far off and romance is in the air.

Many people spend more time at work than anywhere else, so it is only natural that people fall in love among the cubicles and warehouses of the modern workplace.

Given that workplace romance is rampant to the point of inevitability, many employers are asking themselves what, if anything, should be done.

Sexual harassment policies are necessary to address unwanted sexual behaviour in the workplace but dealing with consensual relationships is a different matter. Employers often adopt a “handsoff” (no pun intended) approach to workplace romance, but question that wisdom when dealing with the aftermath of an office romance gone sour. As gossip and tension increase among staff and valuable employees consider leaving because they no longer feel able to work with their ex-partners, many employers consider implementing anti-fraternization policies.

Indeed, there are a number of reasons why employers may not want their employees becoming romantically involved. Most importantly, where the relationship is between a senior employee and a subordinate, a classic conflict-of-interest concern arises about possible preferential, or disadvantageous, treatment of the subordinate depending on the health of the relationship. In addition, the existence of a power imbalance begs the question of whether the relationship is truly consensual or whether the subordinate feels unable to object. Where there is a significant power imbalance in the relationship involving senior or executive management, it may constitute a

GUEST COLUMN

breach of trust, even where the conduct is truly consensual. While these concerns are legitimate, policies categorically prohibiting consensual workplace romances are not likely to be upheld by Canadian courts and arbitrators. The individual privacy rights of employees generally prevent employers from using a private relationship as the basis for an employee’s dismissal, absent evidence that the relationship has negatively affected the employer’s interests. In addition, terminating an employee on the grounds of a consensual relationship can be a breach of human rights legislation if it amounts to discrimination on the basis of marital status.

• Ensure that sexual harassment and conflict-of-interest policies are up to date and that employees are educated regularly on those policies.

• Rather than trying to impose policies prohibiting fraternization, employers should consider policies requiring management or executive staff to proactively disclose relationships with any subordinate employee so that appropriate measures can be taken.

• Where a relationship is one in which the true consent of one of the parties is questionable, great care must be exercised to ensure that the situation is not one of sexual harassment.

• Employees in positions of power should be aware that their involvement in an intimate relationship with another employee may be cause for discipline or dismissal where the relationship places the employee in a position of conflict of interest, or breaches the relationship of trust between the employer and the employee.

In the case of Dooley vs. C.N. Weber Ltd. (1994), the plaintiff’s employment was terminated on the grounds that he had sexually harassed a number of female employees. Although these allegations were found to have no merit, the plaintiff had admitted to having two affairs with women in the organization. Following the first affair, he had been warned by the company’s president that if he engaged in sexual relations with any other female employees, this would be grounds for dismissal. The court ultimately held that the president’s warning was “not reasonable in today’s world” and went beyond the scope of the employment relationship. Employees have a right of privacy and it is hard to imagine any aspect of human interactions that is more intensely private than sexual relations. That said, where a significant impact can be demonstrated, discipline and even termination of employment may be warranted. As stated by the court in the Dooley case, prohibiting workplace romance is not reasonable in today’s world, but steps may still be taken to protect both the interests of the employer and the well-being of employees:

Jennifer Russell is an employment, labour and human rights lawyer and a partner at Roper Greyell LLP. This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

JENNIFER RUSSELL

Tim Hortons, franchisee group close to settling class-action lawsuits

A Tim Hortons location in Montreal is shown.

WARR Died suddenly January 30, 2019 at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver. She was the most important person to Mike and a caring mother for Stephen and Julie (now deceased). Norma worked at Sears for many years before retiring with Mike. She enjoyed European travel, and held the fort when Mike was off on Antarctic cruises. We both enjoyed reading so we met in a bookstore. Her favourite music was The Marriage of Figaro. There will be no service. Donate to charities of your choice. Norma will be remembered by friends and family and as Mike’s best friend.

DUFTON, Jeremy

It is with the saddest of hearts that we announce that Jeremy Dufton, age 44, our beloved son, brother and friend passed away suddenly on January 31, 2019. Jeremy loved everything outdoors. He enjoyed photography, fishing, surfing and gardening. Our family will always remember his passion for nature and wildlife. He was happiest when he was on a river, somewhere remote in Northern BC. Jeremy was an accomplished fly fisherman and was so proud to have worked as a fly fishing guide. Jeremy was a kind person who always wanted to help others. He inspired and comforted many. Jeremy leaves behind his father, John Dufton; mother, Ann Dufton; sister, Kate Cahill; brother, Ian Dufton and nephews, Owen, Liam and Jackson as well as numerous friends in Victoria and beyond.

“We miss you and want you to know that you will always be loved and never forgotten.”

A Celebration of Life will be held in the Sequoia Centre at McCall Gardens, 4665 Falaise Drive in Victoria at 2:00 pm on Monday, February 11, 2019. Memorial donations may be made to Umbrella Society for Addictions and Mental Health. Condolences may be offered to the family at www.mccallgardens.com

McCall Gardens of Victoria, BC (1-800-870-4210)

Carl Felix Bjorklund

November 13, 1940February 1, 2019

Carl passed away peacefully with family by his side. He was predeceased by his wives Mary, and Cita, parents and siblings. Carl is survived by his first wife Mae and his children Sharon (Bill), Lloyd (Ruby), Vincent, Karl, Donna, Duwayne, Cheryl (Mike), Curtis, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and many other family members and loyal friends. Carl was born and raised in Prince George. Throughout the years, he accomplished many things. He was in the logging and trucking industry, also a successful business man, he loved the outdoors and truly enjoyed fishing with his buddies. Carl was gentle, kind, giving, and compassionate and his genuine smile would warm your heart. He has met so many wonderful people over the years and he was truly grateful for all the wonderful friendships that came of it. Carl will be deeply missed by his family and friends whom he cherished. The Bjorklund family would like to express a heartfelt Thank You to all of the staff in Emergency and on the Second Floor of UHNBC for their excellent care, love, and support they all provided to Carl and his family during his final days.

A funeral service will be held on Friday, February 8, 2019 at 1:00pm at Westwood Mennonite Brethren Church, 2658 S. Ospika, with a viewing held prior to the service at 12:00 noon at Westwood Mennonite Church. Carl will be laid to rest in the Prince George Cemetery. Following the interment, friends are welcome to join the family at Westwood Church for some snacks and refreshments.

SCHWEDA, MARGARET TERESA June 12, 1928 — January 30, 2019.

It is with great sadness we announce the passing of our Mom. She was predeceased by her husband Paul Schweda, sisters Thelma and Norah. She is survived by her 3 daughters, Debbie, Karen and Terri and sister Kandy. 7 grandchildren and many great grandchildren. Margaret moved from North Vancouver in 1949 and started teaching in Shelley, BC and then taught at Connaught Elem./ Ron Brent for 42 years. She will be missed by all who knew her. There is no service by request.

Dancey,PeterM. June15,1949-January17,2019

Itiswithgreatsadnessthatweannouncethesudden passingofPeterDancey,onThursday,January17, 2019.HewasbornJune15,1949,inCardiff,Wales. Heissurvivedbyhislovingwife,Connie;sons,Kris andAndrew;hisbrother,Nigel(Judy);grandchildren, NolanandTaylor,alongwiththeirmum,Brandy. Predeceasedbyhisson,Spencer,andparents, ThomasandMarjorie.PetemovedtoCanadain 1974.Heretiredasamachinistandgottospendhis retirementwithhisfamilyandfriendsinPrince George.Petelovedtheoutdoorsandspentasmuch timeaspossiblehunting,fishing,crosscountry skiing,camping,orjustgoingforastrollwithhis dog,Mia,foradayinthewoods.Hewasalsoagreat loverofmusic.Petewillberememberedforhiskind andcompassionatespiritandwillbegreatlymissed byallhisfamilyandfriendshereinCanadaandinthe UK. Wewouldliketoexpressourdeepappreciationtoall thedoctorsandnursesattheUHNBCER,HAU,ICU inPrinceGeorge,andVGHinVancouver. Aspecialthankyoutoallourfriendsandfamilywho werewithusallalong.

AtPete’srequest,therewillbenoservicebutwhen yougooutforadayintheoutdoors,thinkofPeter.

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Stigma always stings: page 20

No matter how far away an addict gets from drugs the stigma stays close

Thursday, february 7, 2019

Page 4, 5

Mary Gouchie’s memorial

celebrating “the Queen of P.G.’s” life

Page 3 Miracle on stage

Miracle Theatre offers play where proceeds go to charity

GeorGe’s weekly News

Back to the future

TNW is revisiting The Occupation of Heather Rose 25 years later

It really is possible to move forward by going back.

Theatre Northwest is celebrating its 25th anniversary by celebrating past touchstones, and when their next play opens tonight, it will also be their very first. TNW is re-mounting The Occupation of Heather Rose, the production that started it all for the all-local professional theatre company.

To act the part of the titular character, a young and inexperienced nurse dispatched to a remote Canadian Aboriginal community, TNW also looked back in its own human archives. The role will be played by Julia Mackey, one of the most personally celebrated actors to ever tread the region’s boards. She brought audiences to tears and cheers in her onehander play Jake’s Gift.

As with Jake’s Gift, Mackey will be aided in the direction by Dirk Van Stralen. Both of them live and work in Wells, the Cariboo hamlet connected to Barkerville.

“Because this is a return to that first show ever done by Theatre Northwest, we want to be good stewards of that opportunity,” said Van Stralen. “But, too, we wanted to put the play into the modern context so we have enveloped the production with everything that’s come since it was written in the 1980s.”

The audience won’t get any re-vamping of the script, the words are honoured as they were written by celebrated playwright Wendy Lill (the award-winning writer went on to become a Member of Parliament and is still an effective social development activist). The set and staging, however, are designed to cast the play in a 21st century light.

An arrangement of papers on the floor

are pages from documents like The Indian Act and the Truth & Reconciliation Commission Report.

The leaves on the background trees number exactly 94, one for each of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s recommendations.

The script references both Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, books that followed an ill-equipped lone stranger plunging into a surreal and dangerous realm. In accordance with those, and the primary story about Heather Rose strid-

ing with false confidence into the desolation of the Snake Lake Reserve, the production team built the on-stage decor “to show how skewed it all is, no 90-degree angles anywhere,” said Van Stralen, “and to further the upside down world of it all, the branches of the trees are made to look like they’re growing downwards and resemble a root system.”

Mackey is embracing the role with a sad realization.

“What struck me right away was how, even though it was written in the 1980s and it has some dated language in some

ways, just how relevant it is today,” she said. “The issues it brings to the surface are not at all resolved.”

The play is a raw, gutsy confrontation of the Indigenous-colonial culture clash that has defined the worst side of Canadian history, but it is also infused with joy and humanity. As with that history itself, there were colonial abuses and institutionalized prejudice but also outbreaks of friendship and rashes of mutual support.

“The word ‘occupation’ means a lot of things in this play,” said Mackey. “It pertains to her nurse’s profession, and it also means something that’s been on her mind a lot, and it also speaks of the takeover of colonization.

“As a new and very naive nurse, she has a lot of preconceived notions about this world she’s going into and a lot of ill-conceived notions about how to solve the problems she encounters there,” Mackey added. “But what she saw and experienced there helped change her and reshape her views, and it has occupied her mind ever since.”

“It may as well have been written last week,” said Van Stralen for how the same white privilege exists today – how mainstream culture doesn’t know what it doesn’t know about Aboriginal culture by virtue of the fact white people do not commonly interact with First Nations on their own turf under the terms of their living conditions. The biases – some indirect and some aggressive – that hold down Aboriginal people and communities are unseen and unfelt by non-Aboriginal people.

The Occupation of Heather Rose opens tonight and runs at TNW until Feb. 24. Tickets are on sale now online at the TNW website or in person at Books & Company.

PriNce

97/16 photo by brent braaten

Julia Mackey stars in Theatre Northwest production of The Occupation of Heather Rose. The play is a restaging of the first play TNW produced.

frank peebles 97/16 staff

Miracle on stage

Preparations for Miracle Theatre’s next production are well under way and although this is a comedy for adults, one of the biggest goals of the production is to serve the needs of local children.

As with past productions, this year’s comedy Halfway There will provide a night of first-class professional theatre. And in keeping with the theatre’s motto of giving to Prince George’s worthy causes, Miracle Theatre will again donate all the proceeds to a Prince George charity. The money raised will help meet the priority needs of local children by launching the Children of Prince George Fund at the Prince George Community Foundation.

Miracle Theatre is under the direction of long-time theatre practitioners Anne Laughlin and Ted Price. The current play is the 74th professional production for Prince George audiences that they have directed, designed and/or produced over the past 25 years. Halfway There will mark their fourth play where proceeds are entirely donated to a local charity. Their past three fundraising productions have raised a combined total of more than $144,000.

Anne and Ted have set the goal of raising $55,335.58 with Halfway There. When asked about this odd number they explained: “this figure would bring Miracle Theatre’s aggregate community

seniors’ scene

donation to a milestone of $200,000 over the previous 38 months.

“We want everyone who buys a ticket to know that not only will they enjoy a fun night out, but they will be making a contribution that will give to this city’s children year after year after year.

“The Prince George Community Foundation will use the money raised to create a new endowment fund. The money will be invested to provide interest and investment income every year.

The principal in this fund will never be spent and the annual investment income will be available for granting each year in perpetuity. This means the funds raised by Halfway There will create a lasting legacy for children in Prince George.”

The PGCF manages more than $12 million in endowed funds and has granted out more than $2.1 million to local charities within the community. The Community Foundation grants funds to eligible charities twice a year.

Anne and Ted said, “Miracle Theatre hopes that those attending the play will never have had so much fun supporting

a worthy Prince George cause. Halfway There is a comedy about friends for life and it is full of laughter and surprise. As one theatre critic put it, ‘It is filled with Maritime wit and wisdom. It has sugar and spice and everything nice – with a dash of Maritime salt.’ You are sure to laugh from start to finish as the play concludes with a heart-warming message that puts friendship first.

“Playwright Norm Foster has been the most produced playwright in Canada every year for the past twenty years. His plays receive an average of 150 productions annually. Foster pens plays that are known for their humour, accessibility and insight into the everyday tribulations of life.”

Performances are held at ArtSpace, above Books and Company, at 1685 Third Ave., which Miracle Theatre transformed into a theatre space with tiered seating, full set and thrust stage.

The comedy runs 8 p.m. nightly, except Mondays, from Feb. 28 to March 20 with additional 2 p.m. Sunday matinees on March 3, 10, and 17. Tickets are $33 and available at Books and Company or can be ordered by phone by calling 250-5636637. ***

February birthdays that I know about:

Diane MacLean, Helga Bertram, Judy Jackson, Lloyd Annis, Darlene Meyers, Cy Fortin, Bob Carrier, Judy Fisher, Amy

Vander Ploeg, Ton Vander Ploeg, Sophie Chartrand, Kirsten Redding, Paul Steindl, Iris Frenkel, Verna Wright, Clarence Boudreau, Kathy Iselmoe, Joan McKay, Peter Osis, Aurela Kronebusch, Marlene Johnson, Roman Hildebrandt, Raymond Roch, Helen Dahl, Evelyn Porter, Delores Bircher, Ingrid Maack, Lillian Peter, Edna Stitt, Fred Dettling, Marlys Labonte, Anna Sciara, Rosetta Mauro, Mary Brizan, Betty Pearson, Susan Scott, Helen Wlasitz, Wendy Wlasitz, Edith McLaughlin, Rudy Wortman, Jo Nore, Judy Johnson, John Hepwood, Clifford Haiste, Ed Olichny, Luisa Botelho, Bob Dods, Joyce Antonyk, Neil Peterson, Denise Chenail, Anita Laurin, Louis Matte, Gilbert Stolz, Mel Pearson, James Stanyer, Jack Wagner, Luci Goodfellow, Russel Prouse, Doug Warren, Carol Ventress, Wanda Hauff, Corinne Collins, Rene Coburn, Kenneth Stephens, Barbara Carson, Audrey Kelly, Tena Sevigny, Tom Holgate, Doreen Kather, Bryan Erickson, Gordon Hall, Vicki Shanoss, Lory Denluck, and 91 years for Rosa Fornari. ***

Anniversaries for February: 64 years for Keith and Marg McLachlan, 54 years for Ernie and Diana Myers, 54 years for Wayne and Jan Braaten, 54 years for Earl and Lorraine Turner, 41 years for Jim and Brenda Doucette, 25 years for Joe and Janice (Taylor) Anderson, and 17 years for Lino and I.

97/16 photo by Brent Braaten

Miracle Theatre and the Prince George Community Foundation are serving up some needed funding for the children of Prince George by presenting the comedy Halfway There, which begins Feb. 28. From left are actors Emma Stoet, 5, Lily Angus, 6, Jesse Blocka, 10, and Case Noonan, 10. Servers from Miracle Theatre and The Community Foundation are Alain Lefebvre, Ted Price, Anne Laughlin, Rae-Ann Noonan and Mindy Stoet.

Kathy NadaliN

MeMorial celebrates Gouchie’s life

died in hospice Jan. 24 at the age of 97 after a brief battle with cancer.

Gouchie was born on Feb. 15, 1921.

A memorial was held at Sacred Heart Cathedral on Saturday to honour Mary Gouchie, a Lheidli T’enneh elder who

Presiding over the funeral mass was Father Rectorino Tolentino and offering the blessing of the gathering was daughter Janet Kozak.

Darlene McIntosh, a Lheidli T’enneh elder and cultural advisor, gave the eulogy and described Gouchie as an elder, mentor, friend, keeper of the Lheidli dialect of the Dakelh (Carrier) language, wisdom keeper and matriarch of her extensive family. To preserve the language of her people, Gouchie worked extensively with her people, the city, the university and college to preserve and document the Carrier language.

“Mary demonstrated many virtues –humility, kindness, patience and charity, unconditional love and acceptance of all people,” McIntosh said.

Everyone who knew Gouchie was blessed, she added.

McIntosh said Gouchie met and married Dan Gouchie, had 10 children and many grandchildren, great grandchildren and great great grandchildren.

“She loved them all the same,” McIntosh said and talked about how Gouchie would always say if people forgot the past they would never find the future.

“Mary was and is love,” McIntosh said.

Continued on page 5

Mayor Lyn Hall made a tribute to Gouchie, whom he had known for more than 20 years.

97/16 photo by James Doyle a large array of flowers and a framed portrait of Mary Gouchie stood at the front of sacred heart Cathedral on saturday during the funeral service for the renowned Lheildli elder.

CHRISTINE HINZMANN 97/16 staff

97/16 photo by James Doyle

Mayor Lyn hall speaks about his many conversations he had over the years with Mary Gouchie during her funeral service saturday.

‘The queen of Prince GeorGe’

Continued from page 4

He offered sympathy and prayers to her family and fondly recalled one particular thing she liked to say when she saw him. He said he was reminded of it by one of Gouchie’s grandchildren when Hall and wife Lorelle visited Gouchie in hospice during her last days.

“She would say ‘he may be the mayor of Prince George but I am the queen of Prince George’,” Hall said with a smile, acknowledging that being reigning queen was far more prominent than his role with the city.

Hall said that during his time on the School District 57 board he got to know Gouchie better as she would stress the importance of having an Aboriginal school component within the district. Ultimately, Nusdeh Yoh (House of the Future) became the Aboriginal Choice program, that was put in place in September 2010.

“I always walked away knowing more than I did before we talked,” Hall said of his many conversations with Gouchie over the years.

Kym Gouchie, granddaughter of Mary and well known singer-songwriter, presented her Atsoo (grandmother) story and song, sharing memories of her time with her grandmother and what it meant to her.

Jo-Anne Berezanski and Miranda Seymour read poems to honour Gouchie, Buddy Gouchie sang Amazing Grace and then prayers were said beginning with Ron Polillo who read from the Book of Wisdom in the Bible.

Father Tolentino concluded the memorial by saying a few words about Gouchie.

“The words said by loved ones in the eulogy and the tributes, the newspaper articles published in the paper, all testify about who Mary is to everyone,” Tolentino said. “In my own reading of these stories and listening to the stories shared today and my own understanding of that the life of Mary showed she was a good steward of everything that was given to her in her life. She took good care of whatever was entrusted to her and Mary is just a beautiful person.”

He spoke about how Gouchie was a positive role model and shared her knowledge freely, especially when it came to passing on the First Nations language.

“But it wasn’t just her native language she shared with others but also the language of love,” he said.

In lieu of flowers, the extensive family of Mary Gouchie asked that people please consider donating to the Prince George Hospice Society to honour her memory.

97/16 photos by James Doyle above, Kym Gouchie drums and sings at her grandmother Mary’s funeral saturday at sacred heart Cathedral. below, Janet Kozak spoke about her mother’s tireless efforts to save the Lheidli dialect of the dakelh language. bottom, buddy Gouchie sang a song at the service.

Downtown winterfest, francofun anD more

Downtown Winterfest

Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Canada Games Plaza, 808 Canada Games Way, the annual festival brings a celebration of winter to Downtown Prince George. Bring sticks to join a fun road hockey game, get inspired with our snow sport demonstrations, give the ice slide a whirl, enjoy a ride on the Cottonwood Express train, or witness a spectacular showcase of snow and ice carving art. Indulge your taste buds with fun and tasty food from the outdoor food court or taste the creative variety of traditional campfire treats during the There is S’More Downtown contest. Check out the Winter Market featuring exhibitors and local merchants who will be offering a little something for everyone. For more information call 250-614-1330 or visit www.downtownpg.com.

The Occupation of Heather Rose

Today through Feb. 24 at Theatre Northwest, #36-556 North Nechako Rd., the Occupation of Heather Rose will be presented. It’s the first play ever staged by Theatre Northwest and 25 years later the theatre is bringing it back. It’s a beautiful heartwarming and inspiring play that charts the growth in understanding of a naïve nurse working on the Snake Lake Reserve in Northern Ontario. There is a relaxed performance Saturday, which is designed to welcome audience members who will benefit from a less restrictive audience environment, including (but not limited to) patrons with sensory processing conditions, autism, a learning or intellectual disability, or parents with infants and toddlers. There is a more casual approach to noise and movement within the theatre space. For more information call 250-614-0039 or email FOH@theatrenorthwest.com

FrancoFUN Festival

Today through Sunday, the Prince George French Canadian Circle presents the 34th annual FrancoFun Festival featuring activities throughout the city, including a traditional Sugar Shack, which will be held at St. Mary’s Hall on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will feature music from the Old Time Fiddlers, Father Garneau and Les Rats of Swomp. For more information call 250-561-2565 or email infolecercle@gmail.com

Lunar New Year

Celebration

Friday from 5 to 8:30 p.m. at First Baptist Church, 483 Gillett St., presented by the College of New Caledonia’s International education program, the 2019

Lunar New Year Celebration is open to all and includes a full program of cultural entertainment and dinner. Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for children 12 or younger, available at CNC International Education or CNC Students’ Union. For more information call 778-349-1317 or email yangy7@cnc. bc.ca

Body Soul & Spirit Expo

Friday to Sunday at the Ramada Plaza, 444 George St., the expo showcases products, services and resources for growth, and fosters the individual quest for wholeness and self understanding. For more information including for vendors visit www.bodysoulspiritexpo.com

Salmon Dinner

Friday at 6 p.m. at the Omineca Arts Centre, 369 Victoria St., the Sea to Sands Conservation Alliance will be hosting a

fundraiser for the Wet’suwet’en featuring a casual salmon dinner with the Khast’an Drummers performing. Admission is a minimum donation of $20. There is also a vegan option. To RSVP email sea2sands.ca@gmail.com

‘90s Dance Party

Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Roll-ADome, 2588 Recplace Dr., a 90’s Dance Party is being hosted by the Give a Chance Society and the Afro Caribbean Student Association. Tickets are $20 each. This is an adults only event. Cash bar. Best dressed will be awarded a prize. For more information 250-277-8051 or email toni@serengetinorthernbc.com

Symphony show

Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Prince George Playhouse, 2833 Recreation Pl., the Prince George Symphony Orchestra presents a concert featuring German

Masters, beginning with Bela Bartok’s Romanian Folk Dances and ends with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. In between these two different pieces, the symphony welcomes Canadian Violinist Jasper Wood who will play Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. For more information call 250-981-8456 or email GM@pgso.com

Wheelchair basketball

Every Monday until April 15 from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at the Northern Sports Centre, 3333 University Way, PG LumberJacks Wheelchair Basketball offers a Rec North drop in program. No experience is necessary and all equipment including sports wheelchairs is available. Everyone welcome.

Free for Northern Sport Centre members and youth under 13 yrs or $6 drop in rate for non-members. For more information call 250-613-5187 or email pgwheelchairbball@gmail.com

97/16 file photo amelie Giroux, 4 1/2, brother Liam, 8, and twin Cleo, at the sugar shack Francofun day in this 2012 file photo.

Journals tell region’s history

Have you ever found yourself in Europe and amazed at how ancient history is celebrated along with the events seemingly in the recent past?

I have had a few opportunities to stand where the great battles of history – Crecy, Agincourt, Vimy Ridge – were fought and breathed the air and tried to hear and feel those events. I have touched the lighthouse built by the Romans at Dover in 2 AD. I entertained the thought these same soldiers possibly being present at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Mindtingling stuff.

Last fall, I had the opportunity to hear Jo Chrona, curriculum coordinator for the First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC), ask something like: “If you go to Europe to learn about and see the historic places of the Romans and Greeks, and if you are of European descent, your own ancestry; where would the first peoples of Canada go to learn about their own history?”

Thinking aloud

Trudy klassen

That single question made me hope that the stories of our area’s history, both pre-European and early-European contact, would be told and made more available to the wider population. Then, only a few months later, I heard Ted Binnema, history chair at UNBC, talk and he asked if anyone would be interested in helping transcribe official Hudson Bay journals from our area.

Well, count me in!

It may not be an archeological dig, but it is a way I can contribute to our knowledge of our history.

Among the jewels I have unearthed: in the official Hudson Bay Journals from

Fraser Lake, February 1889:

• Wednesday 27th Cloudy. Thermr at Freezing. John Sutherlands Wife, Annie, died at 4 a.m.

• Thursday 28th Weather same as yesterday. Light frost during the night. Several Indians from Stella arrived. Come to the funeral of the late Mrs. Sutherland. Adam and Thomas taking down the rafters from the Old Store.

• March 1889 Friday 1st Fine bright warm morning. Thermr 26º A light frost during night. Several Stony Creek Indians arrived. Colin & Peters arrived from St. Creek. Saturday 2nd Cloudy. Thermr 25º Adam and Thomas off after hay. Sunday 3rd Cloudy Thermr 13º above 0. Heavy frost on the ground this morning. About noon, the remains of the late Mrs. Sutherland were taken to the Cemetery and buried attending by all the Indians of the place and many from a distance. Messrs Peters and McKenzie also attended.

My question is why did so many Indigenous from near and far come to this Mrs. Sutherland’s funeral? How had she gained their respect?

There are many, many journals to transcribe because Hudson Bay employees were very consistent with their journals. So many stories and books to be written, using these journals as sources.

For example, the author saw a huge flock of gulls in May but I thought gulls were a recent thing up north. Bush fires were burning in June already. Fur bearing animals were in short supply, but fish plentiful, weirs were being built. I could go on and I have only transcribed February to August.

If you can read cursive handwriting, have a computer, and are interested in helping, please send me an email to me at itklassen@hotmail.ca and I can put you in touch with Prof. Binnema, or you could contact him at UNBC, and be a part of this wonderful opportunity.

Childhood diseases and how to deal with them

Years ago, me and a few of our friends were all talking about what childhood diseases that we had.

We were living in Wells at the time and this is the sort of conversation that you end up having when you live in a small mountain town in the summer in your twenties.

After you exhaust all the big conversa-

home again

Megan kuklIs

tions about life and love and religion, random oddities become the conversa-

tion lubricant when there is no cable and the gas station has lost the VHS of the first Harry Potter movie.

Anyway, of the lot of us, most of us had chicken pox, one had mumps and one had scarlet fever.

When my girlfriend told me that she had scarlet fever when she was little, it stunned us all for a moment in disbelief.

“Like Beth in Little Women? That scarlet fever?” I asked.

Yep, that scarlet fever. Who gets scarlet fever?

Turns out that lots of people still get scarlet fever and there is no vaccine.

Continued on page 8

Scarlet fever; not juSt for early 20th century

Continued from page 7

According to Wikipedia, scarlet fever was a leading cause of death in children in the early 20th century so thank all things holy that it is not the early 20th century.

I thought of this conversation again when I received a text last week letting me know that scarlet fever was spreading around the Kindergarten classes at my daughter’s school.

Imagine my utter delight when a few days later, my son develops a fever.

Luckily, it was not scarlet fever but just a run-of-the-mill pukey virus that laid him out (and us) for a few days and he is now back to his chipper self. To no one’s surprise, our daughter got sick immediately after our son started to feel better and now no one has slept for days.

Our daughter is the rockstar of all children who are ill.

Since the time that that she was little, she always ran to the toilet to be sick and then would say, “I’m okay. I’m okay,” after she was done. My son has always been a bit of a panicker and tended to

just stand and be sick wherever he was. He seems to be growing out of that (thank God) and he now hits the bucket most of the time.

We are exhausted from being up into the wee hours of the morning administering Tylenol and actively monitoring the children for signs of a disease that should be resigned to the pages of Louise May Alcott novels.

The thing that you discover when you become a parent is that your own sleep becomes less important than anything else in your life.

You sleep lightly so you can hear your child’s midnight whimpers and unsettling fever dream chatter.

You administer medicine, draw cool baths, kiss foreheads and hold buckets of sick and barely even notice the deep fatigue in your own body (that is a lie –you notice your own tiredness, you just can’t do anything about it).

Hour by hour and day by day, you do what you can to keep your kids safe and healthy and you hope that what you are doing is enough, while trying to dodge the puke that is aimed your way.

PreParInG StuDentS for an uncertaIn future

In the world of education today, we are preparing our students for an uncertain future. Some jobs which we have today will not exist 20 years from now. New jobs are being created all the time, the likes of which we can hardly imagine. Our current educational system was primarily designed during the industrial revolution. We needed clerks and factory workers to keep the economy moving forward, along with relatively small numbers of professionals and entrepreneurs. This was sufficient for a time, but it is clearly inadequate for the 21st century.

In response to this, the British Columbia Ministry of Education redesigned the curriculum. The question remains, however, as to how we prepare our young people for an uncertain future. We need to keep in mind that “uncertain” does not have to mean “frighten-

Lessons in Learning

Gerry chIDIac

ing.” Even in our most stable times in history we have faced many uncertainties. Countries went to war, economies crashed, and new inventions created demand for new products. We have always had to adapt. Some people, however, have handled these changes better than others.

As I reflect back on my own education, I realize there are many skills I learned in school that I do not use in my life today, and there is a great deal I had to learn beyond the classroom. To believe that our schools can teach our children

everything they will need to know in life by the time they are 18 is, and always has been, unrealistic.

Perhaps the greatest weakness of earlier public education systems was the emphasis on skill development rather than personal development. In my teacher training in the 1980s, the vast majority of our studies focused on what skills to teach, and how to effectively teach them.

I recall asking my professors, “Is it more important to cover the curriculum or to teach the students?” There was good discussion, but there was no definitive answer. Today, the emphasis is clearly on the learner.

What we have come to realize is that our young people are the most valuable investment in our future, and we need to invest wisely. The new B.C. curriculum therefore not only emphasizes skill development in reading, writing and

arithmetic, it stresses the importance of personal and social development. In other words, it recognizes that in order to function well in a changing world, one needs a solid grasp of core competencies, including personal identity, social awareness and social responsibility.

Many agree that the most important thing our children need to know is their own value. As I walked through my school the other day, I noticed sticky notes on everyone’s locker affirming this. The Me to We group had written messages like “You’re special” and “You are a gift” and put them up. This communicates to every person they are valuable, and so is everyone around them.

Gerry Chidiac is a champion for social enlightenment, inspiring others to find their greatness in making the world a better place. For more of his writings, go to www.gerrychidiac.com

sports

‘Great memories’

Cougars dream team player

Ronald Petrovicky looks back

ted clarke

For a 17-year-old Ronald Petrovicky, coming to Canada to play hockey in the Western Hockey League wasn’t a total shock to his system.

Three years earlier he made the choice to leave his parents behind in Zilina, Slovakia to play for a team in Trencin, 70 kilometres away. He was giving up the comforts of home for life in a hockey club dormitory to follow his dream of playing in the NHL.

Petrovicky’s move to Canada was prompted by a disagreement over transfer fees between his club team in Zilina and the Trencin junior team he played for. Unable to work out the situation he talked to his agent and asked to be put on the list of available players for the 1994 CHL import draft and was chosen fifth overall by the Tri-City Americans.

He spent a month in Edmonton getting acclimated to North American life and went to the Americans’ camp in Kennewick, Wash., where he started the 1994-95 WHL season. After five months, Petrovicky joined the Cougars on Jan. 24, 1995 during their first season in Prince George, part of a 10-player trade orchestrated by Rick Brodsky, the Cougars owner and general manager. Defencemen Sheldon Souray and Kevin Bertram, centre Geoff Lynch and goaltender Mike Walker also came to Prince George in the deal that sent forwards Rob Butz and Dorian Anneck, defencemen Ryan Brown and Alexandre Boikov and goalie David Trofimenkoff to Tri-City.

At the time of the swap the Cougars were last in the West Division with a 1333-3 record. Playing in the tight confines of the Prince George Coliseum under head coach Doug Hobson, the Cougars managed just one more win in their next

97/16 news service file photo

New york rangers left winger ronald Petrovicky celebrates his goal as san Jose sharks defenseman bryan Marchment skates to the net in a Nov. 11, 2002, NhL game in san Jose, Calif. Petrovicky played junior hockey with the Prince George Cougars and was selected to the team’s 25th anniversary dream team.

22 games that season and finished deadlast at 14-55-3. In 21 games Petrovicky collected four goals and 10 points. The Cats weren’t much better the following season with Dale Marquette as the coach, finishing last again at 17-53-2, but as a

sophomore WHL right winger Petrovicky averaged a point per game with 19 goals and 21 assists in 39 games.

“Once I came over here to North America I learned a different style of game, I was more on the offensive side as long as

I could remember but I changed into that third- or fourth-line guy and you have to be aggressive and tough to play against,” he said.

Continued on page 10

‘EVERY YEAR wAs good’

Continued from page 9

“I never minded that kind of stuff. It was kind of cool that you drop your gloves and get five minutes and get back into the game. Back in Europe you get kicked out of the game and you’re a bad guy.”

His second full season, with Stan Butler at the helm, playing in the justopened Prince George Multiplex, was a memorable one for Petrovicky. After an unspectacular 28-39-5-0 regular season, with 19-year-old Zdeno Chara on the blueline the Cats got hot at the right time and gave the city an irresistible dose of playoff fever as they advanced to the third round of playoffs.

“Every year was good here, the people were into hockey quite a bit and it was something new for the town,” said Petrovicky. “I have nothing but great memories how great the fans were and how excited everybody was. Then we had that playoff run and the whole town was behind us. That was a great experience, on top of my list as a hockey player when you see four of five thousand people in the warmup and the building is full for the game.

“It was great to play here. People were sleeping in front of the Multiplex just to get ticket. That was before the computer era and people were calling Ontario just to get a ticket.”

Petrovicky was the only European on the Cougars’ roster his second season un-

til they brought Chara over from Slovakia in the summer of 1996.

“I knew him from before because he’s from Trencin so he played there and once he came over here we became good friends,” said the 41-year-old Petrovicky. “We still talk to each other once in awhile. He’s a hardworking guy and I can’t believe he’s still playing. It’s amazing at his age and how physical everything is and how demanding. He’s crying and whining all the time about how fast those guys are. It’s getting faster and faster every year. It’s amazing. There’s less physical play but more speed and that’s the way the game is going.”

After a 19-goal 40-point season with the Cougars, Petrovicky was drafted by the Calgary Flames in the ninth round in 1996.

His feisty style and above-average hockey skills made him a Cougar fan favourite and he was even more productive the following season, finishing with 32 goals, 69 points and 119 penalty minutes playing in all 72 regular season games. In 15 playoff games he had four goals and 13 points.

The rebuilding Cougars traded him to the Regina Pats in the summer of 1997 and he led the Pats in scoring that season with 64 goals and 113 points. He turned pro with the AHL Saint John Flames and after two seasons made his NHL debut in Calgary.

Continued on page 11

97/16 file photo

ronald Petrovicky fires a shot on Kelowna rockets goalie rob Friesen during a game at the Prince George Multiplex in december 1995.

‘people are good here’

Continued from page 10

“The first day after I made the team I got hurt in practice,” he said. “I still played the first game against Detroit but I went for an MRI the next day and I had tore ligaments in my wrist and needed surgery.”

Petrovicky drew sporadic duty his two years in Calgary and the New York Rangers acquired him in the waiver draft. He played 66 games in 2002-03 for a starstudded New York team.

“It was a great city to play in and a great team, that was before the salary cap so it was playing in the all-star game pretty much with all those big names –(Brian) Leetch, (Mike) Richter, (Pavel) Bure, (Petr) Nedved, (Eric) Lindros, it was unbelievable.”

That summer, the Atlanta Thrashers picked up Petrovicky on waivers and he responded with his best NHL season, scoring 16 goals and 31 points in 78 games.

During the NHL lockout he returned to Slovakia and played for pro teams in Zilina and Brynas, then came back to Atlanta for another season.

He signed a one-year deal with Pittsburgh as a free agent in 2006.

Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were just arriving for the playoff-bound Penguins and in what he describes as his best hockey experience as a pro, playing home games in the Igloo.

He played 31 games but was sidelined with a hip injury which required two surgeries.

“I had an offer to go to Chicago for a free-agent tryout and I kind of regret it to this day that I didn’t end up going,” he said. “I thought I’d just wait out the camp and somebody will call me and I’ll sign somewhere but nobody did, so I went to Europe and European hockey wasn’t for me anymore.

“My style of game, you couldn’t do it over there. Plus, when you’re an import they want you to score goals and get points and I wasn’t doing that there, so it

was tough for me and my family, moving around and not playing well.”

After three seasons he returned to North America and was playing a preseason game for the Vancouver Canucks in Anaheim when he strained his MCL and was released.

He played four games in 2009 for the Springfield Indians, Edmonton’s AHL affiliate, when he decided he’d had enough and moved back to Prince George.

In his six-year NHL career, Petrovicky

played in 342 regular season games and three playoff games, where he totaled 41 goals, 92 points and 429 penalty minutes.

His four-years-older brother Robert had a brief career as an NHL centre with Hartford, Dallas, St. Louis, Tampa Bay and the New York Islanders and played 25 pro seasons, mostly in Europe.

He’s now coaching in the KHL with Bratislava.

After he quit hockey, Ronald worked in housing construction for several years and he’s now a project manager for Winmar, a Prince George property restoration contractor.

“My wife’s from here and we always came back (for summers) – I like the town, it’s a nice size and the people are good here,” he said. “It’s not too big, not too small. It’s nicer than anywhere I know.”

Petrovicky and his wife Ashley have a 19-year-old daughter, Riannon, a 16-year-old son Reif and a 13-year-old daughter Ella.

Reif played minor hockey for a few years and switched to football and basketball.

After a year in hockey, gymnastics was more appealing to Ella. Ronald coached Reif’s peewee rep team but he’s no longer involved in hockey and it’s been a few years since he’s played a game.

“I’m too old for that,” he said. “Nobody wants a fourth-line grinder. I had enough and I’m stepping away from hockey and I’m taking it easy now. Maybe in the future I’ll find the urge to coach or play.”

97/16 news service photo

Pittsburgh Penguins ronald Petrovicky crashes over Ottawa senators goalie ray emery as he tries to score during an NhL game in april 2007.

The masTer in his prime

How Bill Belichick outcoached Sean McVay to win the Super Bowl again

97/16 wire service

The Los Angeles Rams’ offense had been dominant all season, so glorified it made coach Sean McVay an exemplar of modern football, causing envious owners to trip over themselves trying to hire any coach who lifts weights and uses hair gel. The Rams had scored the second-most points and gained the second-most yards during the most offense-crazed season in league history.

Then came the Super Bowl. Then McVay confronted a football savant who had 33 years and five Lombardis on him. Then came a defensive throttling almost without precedent. Then came clarity at the top of football’s coaching hierarchy: McVay may be a genius, but he’s no Bill Belichick.

One of Belichick’s defensive game plans already is on display in the Hall of Fame, from his days as a New York Giants defensive coordinator in Super Bowl XXV. The one he and defensive play caller Brian Flores designed for the Patriots’ 13-3 victory over the Rams on Sunday night may soon join it. One year after

the Patriots allowed 41 points in a Super Bowl loss to the Eagles, they yielded the lowest output in a Super Bowl in 49 years.

The Patriots confused Jared Goff, dismantled the Rams’ offensive line, shut down their skill players and left McVay without answers. Belichick surprised the Rams by starting in zone defense after playing man-to-man all season. He produced havoc by changing the role of an unheralded defensive back. He unleashed a torrent of different pass rushes despite barely blitzing. He did nothing the Rams expected and everything to specially stifle a high-powered attack.

Belichick made McVay his latest highprofile victim, a fact McVay lamented in both ornate vernacular and plain English. He talked about Belichick’s deployment of “single-high buzz structures” and “quarters principles” in the defensive strategy. And then he admitted what had been plainly obvious during four hours of brutalist football.

“It was a great game plan,” McVay said. “There is no other way to say it but, I got out-coached.”

Super Bowl LIII was a victory for wisdom over phenoms. The Rams were obliterated statistically, gaining just 260 yards, recording 12 first downs and punting nine times. The only reason the Rams had a chance in the fourth quarter was the defense of 71-year-old coordinator Wade Phillips, who had Tom Brady offkilter all night. But one coach dwarfed the others, and it was the one who now has eight Super Bowl rings as either a coach or coordinator.

“Bill’s the best to ever do it,” Patriots secondary coach Josh Boyer said.

The biggest spectacle in American culture staged Belichick’s opus, but it began two weeks ago on a quiet field in Foxborough, Mass. In their first practice after the Patriots beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC championship game, when other coaches might have rested players after an arduous, emotional game, Belichick put the Patriots in full pads and went full-bore. He added extra drills and additional practice periods. Mistakes were met with coaches demanding “do it again.” At the end, players toiled through an extra 12 sprints.

Patriots players knew to expect two weeks of intensive study. Belichick does not use a set system. He has a basic set of fundamental tenets, but he alters strategy weekly based on his opponent’s features and flaws.

Belichick unveiled his defensive game plan to his team early during the off week. Belichick and his staff had deduced that the Rams specialized in “man beaters,” Boyer said – tactics meant to defeat man coverage. Their litany of shifts, bunched formations, and frequent jet motion all thrive against man coverage, which is the style the Patriots played almost all season, and what they used extensively in Kansas City. Against the Rams, though, the Patriots would start the game in zone coverage. The Patriots believed it would limit the effectiveness of how McVay dresses up his simple-yet-deadly scheme, and that it would stagger Goff, a 24-year-old facing Belichick for the first time.

The Patriots added a wrinkle within the wrinkle. Halfway through the first week of preparation, coaches switched Jonathan Jones’s primary role from cornerback to safety. Jones, an undrafted

free agent the Patriots picked up out of Auburn in 2016, has toggled between the positions all season, and his versatility is one reason the Patriots value him.

All year, Jones had frequently blitzed as either an outside corner or a nickelback. When he crept close to the line, Goff would assume he might blitz. Then he would drop back – not to a corner’s position, but to the center of the field, where he was responsible for a deep quarter of New England’s coverage. When Goff audibled, Boyer said, the Patriots could change their defensive call simply by moving around Jones.

The Patriots also devised exotic pass rushes from an alignment meant to stifle

the run and force Goff to beat them. The Patriots walked up two linebackers to the line of scrimmage, effectively employing a six-man defensive line. The alignment clogged running lanes on early downs. When the Rams passed, the Patriots would vary which defenders rushed and which dropped into coverage, frequently using pass-rush combinations they had never shown.

Along with the mixed personnel, the Patriots used a vast array of stunts, with pass rushers crossing and twisting along the line. “You name it, we threw the bus at them,” defensive end Adrian Clayborn said. “We just tried to mix it up and tried to confuse them.”

97/16 news service photos above: New england Patriots head coach bill belichick watches from the sideline, during the first half of super bowl 53 sunday in atlanta. below: Quarterback Tom brady talks with belichick during the first half.

Scene

STREAMING NOW A FLOOD

When CBC president Catherine Tait compared Netflix’s presence in Canada to cultural imperialism at a conference last week, some audience members could be heard laughing and expressing disagreement.

But around the tables of the threeday Prime Time event in Ottawa, many industry members agreed with her, says Corner Gas co-executive producer Virginia Thompson.

“I’d say she’s bang on. I think she’s absolutely right,” said Thompson, cofounder of Toronto-based Verite Films, who was at the conference.

“We’re now dealing with global players having free access to our country, our market, our audiences. They’re bringing the world’s best programming to us, so it’s a gift.

“But on the other hand, there also has to be a commitment to local programming... from the voices of the country in which Netflix is playing in.”

Thompson is among several Canadian producers who say they support Tait’s comments, which were made on a panel last Thursday and criticized by some as being “tone deaf” for drawing parallels between Netflix programming and the colonialism of the British and French empires.

Tait, who did not respond to a request for comment, also said Canadians should be “mindful” of how they respond to foreign companies entering the market here.

“I think what she means, and what is correct in what she said, is that all of the big internet companies that have come in have (done so) in a new a way that is different than in the past culturally,” said Brad E. Danks, a Vancouver-based producer and CEO of OUTtv, who was in the audience for Tait’s panel.

“And because of the scale and the scope of it, it’s not something that we’ve

contended with before. In the past, American content, other content came in through Canadian services, and now with the internet, things arrive without any sort of regulation.”

Vancouver-based producer and filmmaker David Paperny noted Netflix is “probably the most dominant cultural force globally” in terms of TV and film viewing around the world.

“So the question I guess that Catherine Tait raised is... Should they be regulated, as Canadian broadcasters are, to support Canadian content?” said Paperny, who got an Oscar nomination in 1994 for the documentary The Broadcast Tapes of Dr. Peter.

Thompson and Paperny said they appreciate that Netflix is making content in Canada and acknowledged that foreign streaming services are helping Canadian projects reach a wider audience.

The rest of the world is now watching

and “loving” Corner Gas thanks to its presence on Amazon Prime Video Direct outside of Canada (inside Canada, it’s on Bell Media properties), Thompson noted.

And several CBC shows – including Schitt’s Creek, Kim’s Convenience, Alias Grace and Anne with an E – have received international buzz thanks to their presence on Netflix.

But Netflix so far hasn’t fallen under federal regulations that require the country’s broadcasting companies to pay into the Canada Media Fund for the creation of homegrown programming, which is defined as being “Canadian” if it meets six out of 10 criteria in a points system.

The California-based company has argued it shouldn’t be forced to pay into such funds, pointing to its 2017 pledge to spend $500 million over five years to fund original content made in Canada, a number it recently said it will “significantly exceed.”

Because it’s a foreign digital company, Netflix also isn’t required to collect or remit federal or provincial sales tax.

“They need to be regulated akin to and similar to what goes on in the system,” said Danks.

“Netflix is probably a broadcaster and as such should have the same obligations as a broadcaster.”

Paperny agreed, noting that while Netflix is benefiting from Canadian tax credit opportunities, the content it’s creating here isn’t necessarily originating from this country.

The company is also likely taking away viewers from the country’s broadcasters and thereby reducing their advertising revenue, he added.

Paperny would like to see Netflix do what he’s done with shows including Yukon Gold and Chopped Canada, and make homegrown cultural products that reflect “Canada back to itself.”

AP file photo

Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin address the audience during the 19th annual Costume designers Guild awards in beverly hills, Calif. on Feb. 21, 2017. another season of their Netflix series, Grace and Frankie, will come out in 2020.

Taking care of business

When it’s 30 below and the dog’s gotta go

karin brulliard 97/16 wire service

Let’s say the cold wind feels like a hot iron, boiling water instantly turns to snow, a giant lake is so frigid it is emitting “sea smoke,” and officials are exhorting all humans to stay inside.

But you’ve got a dog, and the dog has some urgent needs to take care of. What happens next?

“Honestly, it’s a damn nightmare,” said Chicago resident Bridget Devine, who described a routine that will sound familiar to all parents of small children about to go sledding.

“In order for them to be safe, I have to put these little boots and jackets on them for every single trip outside,” she said. “These boots are basically deflated balloons that I have to force on their feet, and because I have two dogs, this process alone takes like 10 minutes.”

That’s if the dog will wear bootees, which many won’t. Or if the dog will even consent to going outside, which some won’t.

This week, owners of dogs, big and small, were confronted a few times a day with the unavoidable prospect of taking their pets out for bathroom breaks – an activity that could be painful for both human and pooch. Some described standing in their warmish doorways while holding onto an extra long leash attached to a dog doing its business outside.

Others told of dogs that chose to urinate on the porch rather than venture beyond, or that resorted to indoor “pee pads” for a few days.

One pet owner reported that the family dog stuck its nose out the dog door one recent morning, backed away and “took a pee on the table leg while looking at me.”

Chicago resident Joseph Berger’s dog, a shepherd-Chow mix named Summer, usually takes three to four walks that last 30 minutes to an hour.

This week, they lasted 10 minutes max, or “about nine minutes too long by my count,” said Berger, who works in magazine marketing.

Putting on her bootees is “a traumatic experience for both of us,” Berger said. But particularly excruciating was collecting what she had produced (a substance that, several Midwest dog owners attested, froze like a rock within seconds).

“Cleaning up after her was really terrible because I have to remove one glove layer to be able to manage the poop bag,” Berger said, adding that Summer is accustomed to getting a biscuit as a reward when she does something good, such as not barking at other dogs. “Glove off, toss her a biscuit, glove back on. Yesterday and today, that was torture,” he said.

Not all dogs are alike, of course, and some did not mind the subzero outdoors. Lucy, a thick-coated border collie mix in Madison, Wis., even frolicked with delight in the deep snow.

“I think I require more preparation than the dog does,” said her owner, illustrator Michael Hirshon, 31, who donned long underwear and multiple layers of shirts, sweaters and jackets for a fleeting excursion Thursday morning in minus-30 temperatures.

“It took about five minutes, because I knew she had to poop, and she likes to dawdle. So it required a lot of her jumping around. She usually walks around to find the perfect spot.”

The polar vortex-friendly dogs did not include Luna, a thin-coated labcattledog-pitbull mix who lives near Minneapolis. After refusing to wear protective socks, she consented to wearing a small hooded sweatshirt belonging to her owner, dental student Andrea Smith. But she only barely agreed to go outside.

“She was just hunched over, like, ‘Nope, forget it,’” said Smith, 26. “She will keep minimal amounts of paws on the ground, and she runs inside.”

Darren Szrom’s Lab-retriever mix, 13-year-old Diamond, is used to hunting with him in winter weather. But it was “just way too cold for literally man or beast,” Szrom said, and even Diamond wasn’t having it.

Within seconds of being let out into the yard, Diamond “was on the deck, laying down on top of his paws to keep them warm like a wild animal would,” Szrom said. “Apparently, a minute was too long.”

But it was long enough for Szrom to be able to answer a burning question for those in balmier parts of the world: No, he said, dog pee does not freeze midair.

“It definitely hit the ground as a liquid,” Szrom said of Diamond’s urine.

“I don’t know how long it was liquid.”

97/16 file photo

Warren Gaffney walks his two bassett hounds ezra and Jubal on a cold day in February 2017.

Music Medicine

Doc Walker returns for Playhouse show

frank peebles 97/16 staff

The Doc is in.

Doc Walker is riding back into Prince George but not for the same country shows you’ve seen them do even before you knew they were doing it.

The guys in this Canadian country super-achiever group have been performing in P.G. since they were operating under different band names at the now defunct Cadillac Ranch. They were on the same circuit as 12 Gauge, the band that would one day be Emerson Drive (the two would work together later, after they became two of the top-ranked Canadian acts on the U.S. side of the border).

They have been back since then, after Doc Walker became a headline act from coast to coast, but not in this form. It’s an acoustic show interspersed with anecdotes, comical asides and insights right from the band.

Chris Thorsteinson (co-leader of the group along with Dave Wasyliw) told The Citizen that since the acoustic shows became one of their go-to concert formats, he’s been having the most fun he’s enjoyed on stage in years.

“What I think it is is the connecting with the audience,” he said. “As a writer, what you’re always trying to do is connect, and we’ve been pretty true to that over the last 20 years with songs like Driving With The Brakes On, and That Train, and whatnot. There’s a lot of really cool stories behind a lot of these songs, and for me to be able to sit with the crowd and kinda share these inspirations behind the songs, or funny road stories that led to a song, it’s just a blast. It reminds us more of a Bob & Doug McKenzie episode from SCTV than it does a country show.”

They have the material and experience to customize almost any kind of show. Doc Walker released their first album in 1997 and their most recent was 2017’s Weathervane.

The singles had deep appeal in the country audience on both sides of the border, and they also etched themselves into crossover pop audiences in Canada thanks to tunes like She Hasn’t Always Been This Way, North Dakota Boy, Rocket Girl, Put It Into Drive, That’s How I Like It and their cover of the Genesis hit That’s All, just to name a few. Arguably their top song is Beautiful Life, but there’s a bunch of contenders.

The public response has been one long, sustained high five. They have almost 40 Canadian Country Music Award nominations, a dozen of them for wins. They have also been up for a Juno Award seven times, with one win.

If there’s a single reason for the success it would have to fall under the word “material.” They have taken the craft of songwriting seriously, spending more than a decade in Nashville honing their composition skills from some of the world’s best.

On a year-round basis, said Thorsteinson, he, Wasyliw and their main collaborators only put the pen down for a week or two.

They “never really stop writing” having learned over the years to pace out the process of composing, recording and touring. They’ve also listened to their co-

writers, sought out mentors, and studied the craft. One piece of advice he took in was “the secret to being a good songwriter is being aware of your surroundings at all times, because there are songs everywhere, you just have to see them, find them.”

For Thorsteinson, it’s such a reflex now that “I’ll be watching a hockey game and write half a song in my head without touching a piece of paper.”

It’s easier than ever to actualize the material, Thorsteinson said, because they live back in their hometown of Westbourne where they’ve built a recording studio.

Westbourne is situated on Highway 16 just like Prince George. It’s on the twisty shores of the Whitemud River, which starts at Neepawa where Margaret Laurence’s stories also begin. It takes the

outflows of Lake Irwin and Park Lake and pushes it all northeast in a meandering snake engorged with northern pike and walleye, to where it’s all discharged into massive Lake Manitoba at Lynch’s Point Campground.

The place is so definitive for Thorsteinson that he has intentions of opening a waterfront resort. He’s already got the land and he’s developing the landscape for his R&R dreams.

Then he will have all the roots any songwriter could ever ask for to inspire the next batch of tunes.

Doc Walker performs in Quesnel on Feb. 21 at the Seniors Centre then Feb. 22 at the P.G. Playhouse in our city. Book your local seats at the Central Interior Tickets website.

Their latest single, Get Back On My Horse, is out now on radio and video.

Handout photo

Dave Wasyliw and Chris Thorsteinson of Doc Walker are playing the Prince George Playhouse on Feb. 22.

Takla Trap house

Short film chosen as top-10 finalist for StoryHive

frank PEEBLES 97/16 staff

peoples were the subject of the latest StoryHive competition. The film industry development program went looking for Indigenous storytellers with their latest edition, and the response was so strong that the organization bent its own rules. Instead of 10 finalists from B.C. and 10 from Alberta, the Telus initiative shortlisted 30 finalists this time. All of them get $20,000 to take their in-development film proposals and make them a reality.

The region around Prince George was well represented among these finalists, so stories springing from the waters of our local culture will soon be fashioned into indelible screen documents.

One of them is entitled Takla Trap House, flowing from the ancient Aboriginal communities near Fort St. James.

Director Levi Davis said in his story pitch that “I don’t have any formal training that pertains to film but I love the art of story telling,” and he has transferrable skills from other endeavours.

“I am an accomplished professional manager that aspires to get into the digital video industry. I currently work for Takla First Nation and feel the need to tell their stories. Their nation is the headwaters for the Fraser River and with that bring many opportunities to record their lengthy history.”

His production team includes former UNBC student Caitlin Abraham who now works for Sasuchan Development Corporation, the economic arm of the Takla First Nation.

Their cameras will roll on the Takla traditions of fur trapping, which speaks both to ancient sustenance practices and post-colonial economic forces.

“This isn’t about being noble and living in harmony with nature, this is what they do to make a living,” said Davis.

“Yet, there remains the conflict they live between trying to uphold traditional practices while industry and the evergrowing presence of the modern world encroaches upon the preservation of culture. As I have never lived on reserve or in a remote destination before, I find this fascinating and believe others will also.”

Another local lens will be focused on musician Quanah Style, a transgender performer now based in Vancouver but born into the Cree traditions of the Saulteau First Nation traditions at Moberley Lake.

Style has a sister named Niska Napoleon who is also a noted musician and a father, Art Napoleon, who is both award-winning musician and television personality. Style, with a music career also acclaimed, steps into the spotlight with the film Dance With Me.

“Lets explore identity, what it means to be two-spirit (trans), and dance through cultural teachings about the jingle dress,”

said Style. The film proposal was to show how a young boy would turn to powwow music and the jingle dress throughout elementary school years in the progression towards understanding the different primal forces contained within.

“Now Quanah wants to explore culture and two-spirit identity with traditional knowledge keepers, to decolonize gender roles, and help create acceptance through understanding,” said the film’s production team.

“We want to capture the experience of her first regalia making a jingle dress (and) share stories from elders in the prairies about the meaning of the dance and traditional teachings.” The proposed documentary would be told in Cree and translated to English, “to pass on these important lessons to future generations. Lets reclaim pride in our two-spirit leaders and dance like no one is watching.”

A third production grant for a local project is going to Hey Cuzzin, a comedy by Prince George’s Joy Haskell.

“I want to make a difference in this industry,” Haskell said. “I love this film industry and am passionate about screenwriting.”

She has been attending master-classes, has obtained an experienced mentor based in the Los Angeles television sector, and she has a number of projects in development.

“I taught Creative Writing in a men’s federal prison and taught poetry slams for youth,” she said, describing her path towards filmmaker. “I grew up dancing, singing and acting. I have a strong musical theatre background. I have put together dance and musical programs.”

Creative BC contributed funds to this edition of StoryHive. It was the first time in the organization’s six-year history that the competition was exclusively for Indigenous filmmakers. Each competition starts as a pitch made to a panel of professionals who form a long-list of contenders.

Next, those contenders are unveiled to the public and thus begins an online voting period where the finalists are whittled down to a shortlist.

In addition to the production grant, the selected finalists also receive training and mentorship opportunities and some are shown on Telus platforms like Optik TV.

Modern stories told by the oldest of

HANDOUT PHOTOS

Caitlin Abraham and Levi Davis collaborated on the short film Takla Trap House, which has been chosen as a StoryHive finalist.

Solitary eating Loneliness a factor in getting good nutrition, experts say

97/16 wire service

Flo Elliott was never a big eater, but her appetite plummeted when her husband died.

Suddenly alone after 54 years of marriage, Elliott says she lost interest in food and would routinely skip meals.

It would take about seven years to recover that appetite, says the now 89-year-old.

“It’s really, really hard after living with someone for so long to be alone,” she says from her home in the eastern Ontario hamlet of Wilberforce.

“That was the worst of it. I think I couldn’t seem to enjoy food. I didn’t care, I guess.”

Loneliness is a big factor in getting good nutrition, say experts in the field of senior health. Many, including nutrition professor Catherine Morley, are applauding a section of Canada’s new food guide that encourages people to eat with others when possible, to prepare more foods at home and to plan their meals.

Morley, who teaches at Acadia University in Wolfville, N.S., notes seniors often have lower appetites but “when they are with other people they do eat more.”

A good mood, attractive plating, and colourful, delicious-looking food all play a role in encouraging eaters to savour a meal, she notes.

But finding fellow diners can seem like an insurmountable challenge for those grappling with depression, mobility issues or poverty, Morley adds, arguing that this portion of the guide’s suggestion shouldn’t entirely rest on the individual.

“The evidence is absolutely there that cooking together as families and eating together as families builds stronger communities, that’s been documented for

quite a long time,” says Morley.

“The responsibility that I’m feeling isn’t resting with the person who’s the old person, it’s resting with the community around them.”

She cites a 2015 study by the Canadian Malnutrition Task Force that found 45 per cent of older adults admitted to hospital for a non-nutrition diagnosis were malnourished.

Aside from financial hurdles, seniors may have mobility and health issues preventing them from grocery shopping, or visually determining whether a piece of fruit is fresh or rotten, experts say. Arthritis can make holding a knife well enough to chop vegetables difficult, while back trouble can limit ability to stand at the stove or sink.

“It takes a village in a situation like this,” says Carol Greenwood, an emeritus

at the University of Toronto in nutritional sciences and a senior scientist at Baycrest’s Rotman Research Institute.

“Families are not tight-knit the way they used to be four generations ago when people moved a block away from one another.”

Elliott credits her friends and various activities – a book club, historical society, and a community cooking group – with keeping her mindful of healthy eating.

She considers herself a “plain cook” but tries to eat well by limiting meat and favouring vegetables. She will buy frozen prepared meals, such as the meat pie she had recently with a baked potato and carrots. Back trouble makes it hard for her to stand for long periods in the kitchen.

“The last two or three years I’ve come to realize you have to take care of yourself because you’re not doing anybody any

New food guide an improvement

On Jan. 22, Health Canada released the new Canada’s Food Guide, a significantly revised and updated version of 2007’s Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide.

The long overdue revision was made to ensure current recommendations are based on current evidence and concerns regarding the previous guide were addressed. The recommendations now being made send the message that a healthy diet does not require a “one-sizefits-all” approach but is personal to each individual and is strongly influenced by eating behaviours.

The previous food guide was criticized as being difficult to follow and implement in everyday life, as well as being unrealistic and inflexible for the average person; not every male aged 19-50 wants to, or needs to, eat eight servings of grains or eight to 10 servings of vegetables everyday. The previous food guide recommendations were also not considerate of cultural diversity, sustainability and the traditional foods of many Canadians.

Dietitians encourage healthy eating habits, but instead of focusing on behaviours, the previous food guide felt more like a rigid diet plan; one where foods should be weighed or measured to deter-

good being sick,” she says, noting that her adult son lives in Peterborough, which is about an hour-and-a-half drive away.

Elliott goes out to lunch regularly with two senior friends who are also living alone, and they call each other nearly every day.

Of course, experts say the benefits of eating with others extend to all age groups. The food guide encourages people to foster connections between generations – especially children who learn from behaviour modelled by parents and caregivers.

U of T social and behavioural health sciences professor Kate Mulligan says social isolation is known to put health at risk.

“All kinds of things happen when we eat alone – we may be in a rush, we may not be focusing on the foods we’re eating, and we may eat standing up, eat at our desks,” says Mulligan, whose work includes drawing links between social well-being and nutrition with the Alliance for Healthier Communities.

“Being together allows us to slow down, to focus on the culture of eating and being around food to spend time together preparing food, learning about food, building food literacy.”

Morley encourages people to consider the hurdles facing older neighbours and family members who may not be as fortunate as Elliott.

“I’d like to see us as a whole culture do that better,” she says. “Let’s think about the people who you’ve seen or live close by. Simple things like: ‘Do you need a lift to get to that church lunch?’ That would be all that’s needed.”

Food For thought

Kelsey lecKovic

mine appropriate portion sizes. This was not a realistic strategy for healthy eating and so the previous food guide was not something I, and many other dietitians, used in practice.

The 2019 Canada’s Food Guide has ditched the previous rainbow visual in favour of food photography featuring healthy food choices and a selection of online resources for a variety of users and is now available in a mobile-friendly web application. The terminology used in the guide has also changed, dropping the previous food groups for more commonly used terms such as “protein foods.”

There are also no longer recommendations for serving sizes or number of servings.

The new guide provides advice on how to be a more mindful eater, to allow you to be more conscience of your eating habits, leading to healthier choices. Another approach to behaviour change addressed in the guide involves identify-

ing hunger cues. Being able to identify whether you’re actually hungry or eating due to stress, fatigue or boredom is an important skill in managing a healthy diet.

The new guide uses reliable, current evidence on food and health to make recommendations, excluding industrycommissioned reports to avoid the perception of bias.

One criticism of previous food guides, including the American version, was that the food and beverage industry had substantial say over the nutritional recommendations being made. However, officials from Health Canada’s Office of Nutrition Policy made the purposeful choice to not meet with representatives from the food and beverage industry to, once again, avoid bias.

The 2019 food guide has been endorsed by Dietitians of Canada as “modern, relevant, informed by scientific evidence and in line with the recommendations provided during consultations.” By focusing on not just what foods constitute a healthy diet, but the skills and eating behaviours that are important components of healthy dietary habits, the new food guide provides more useful recommendations and direction, with accessible, user-friendly resources.

The guide also acknowledges individuals with specific dietary requirements and those receiving care in a clinical setting, steering them towards the specialized services of a dietitian, something the old food guide did not do.

If you’re looking to make healthy diet changes and need some direction, or even if you’re just looking for some healthy new recipes, the 2019 Canada’s Food Guide could be a valuable resource for you. You’ll find tips on meal planning, eating on a budget, grocery shopping, healthy cooking methods, eating around the holidays and a variety of other topics, as well as accompanying one-page resources.

The guide addresses the different environments in which we eat, with specific resources and tips on eating at home, school, work, in the community and out at restaurants. The specific nutritional needs of infants, teens, adults and seniors are also addressed, as well as the nutritional challenges that can be associated with these populations.

For more information on the 2019 Canada’s Food Guide, go to food-guide. canada.ca.

Kelsey Leckovic is a Registered Dietitian with Northern Health working in chronic disease management.

97/16 news service photo by Fred Thornhill Flo Elliott is photographed at her home in Wilberforce Ont. last week, said since she hasn’t had anyone to cook for she’s lost interest in food.

Stigma alwayS StingS

Ask An Addict

Stigma stings.

I hide in the shadows because people judge me as evil. I am not evil or bad, only suffering and sick.

I meet others who think they hold no judgment towards people like me. I once held this same view. I believed I was nonjudgmental, pure in my thoughts. I lectured, wrote about and cared for people who were similar to me: marginalized, ashamed and downtrodden. Stigma stings.

People look down upon me; I hear their judgment and taste their disdain. In various medical, healthcare reports, I hear the sting of my shame.

Like others, I thought I was 150 per cent OK in my actions, particularly towards those who had suffered. In my world, due to my experience, I believed I stood beside those who were hurt.

I was completely, absolutely 100 per cent wrong.

I believe that what I believe becomes my thinking, my next level of thought. My thoughts then turn into actions and my actions become reality. I explore beliefs to find out what I will think. What I think is different from what I believe. My beliefs arise from a deeper, often uncon-

scious space. In recovery, I uncover who I believe I am, not who you, or I think, me to be.

Mind twisting, I know. Stigma stings.

I recall two times, first with my doctor. She knows everything about me and I am honest with her. One day, she allowed me to use her cellphone in her private, personal space. I was honoured, touched by this act. When my call ended, I sat waiting for her outside to finish up her work. Suddenly, she came into the hallway and asked me back into her office.

“I am sorry to do this to you, but can you open up your purse?” I grew afraid. What had I done?

I opened and showed the contents to her. Nothing was found.

“I lost my (prescription pad),” she said. That’s what doctors use to write for controlled narcotics.

I felt ashamed. I knew I had done nothing wrong yet I felt ashamed. Stigma stings.

Even now as I type, humiliation presses deep into my gut.

She apologized after she found her

prescription pad.

I never stole or lied to her, ever, yet her fear of addiction came out clearly to me.

Stigma, it stings.

The second instance reveals my own stigma to me.

A few years back, I hired a personal worker to help in my home. This person had been with me for two to three years. She knew my addiction story and one day decided to share her own history with me. In the past, I had without question left her alone in my house. I trusted her. She proceeded to tell me she was also an addict; once addicted to narcotic pills.

In that moment, I faced me.

I then knew that everything was different. I could no longer trust her to be alone in my house.

How horrible is that? She had done nothing to me. Yet here I was facing myself, in her state of being.

So if you think you are free from judgment and the evaluation of others, I ask you this: if your child or newborn was to be cared by someone, would you allow an addict or an alcoholic in recovery to do this for you? I think not.

Therefore I throw out a challenge, to examine yourself, be true with your beliefs. After all, what we believe becomes reality and I want – no, I need – that to change.

Questions for Ann? Send your submissions (anonymously, if you choose) to columns@pgcitizen.ca and we’ll pass them along.

97/16 news service photo by Martin Brosy ask an addict columnist said no matter where she goes there is stigma attached to drug addiction, including at the doctor’s office.

The LosT man a TaLe of deaTh in The ouTback

Oline H. COgdill 97/16 wire service

The Lost Man, by Jane Harper

The three Bright brothers, bonded by blood, history and the vagaries of the Australian outback, are the true lost men of Jane Harper’s engrossing third novel, The Lost Man.

The Lost Man works as a story about families and also as a tale about surviv-

ing in the outback, a “land of extremes where people were either completely fine or they were not.”

Oldest brother Nathan Bright is isolated even more than the norm, banished from the town of Balamara for breaking one of those Australian rules and is semiestranged from his family. He spends his solitary life tending a dying ranch, waiting for those infrequent visits from his teenage son, Xander. He and young-

est brother, Bub, are brought together when the body of middle brother, Cam, is found near the landmark grave of an old stockman, an area icon wrapped up in legend. How Cam, so well-seasoned in the ways of Australia, ended up dead forms the crux of The Lost Man. Solid, believable characters fill The Lost Man. But equally important is the exploration of the outback where “too much space” gives way to resentments.

How to take a case to small claims court

b.c. provincial court

The BC Provincial Court’s Small Claims Court usually deals with cases involving from $5,001 to $35,000. Larger claims generally go to the B.C. Supreme Court. It is possible to make a claim for more than $35,000 in small claims court, but if you do you must abandon the amount over that limit.

Although a provincial court judge cannot award you more than $35,000 plus interest and expenses, people sometimes choose to abandon part of their claim in order to take advantage of the simpler procedures in small claims court.

This article explains some of the differences between small claims court and supreme court procedures for claims in that range.

Procedures

Small claims court offers settlement conferences where the parties to a lawsuit meet with a judge to discuss whether it’s possible to settle the claim without a trial.

If that’s not possible, the judge will usually make orders to help the parties prepare for trial, including orders to exchange all relevant documents and summaries of what their witnesses will say.

For longer trials, there may also be a trial conference to ensure everyone is prepared for trial.

Small claims court is designed to make it relatively easy for people to conduct their own trials without a lawyer.

The small claims rules are written in plain language, they have less legalese, forms are simpler, and the rules of evidence can be more relaxed than in supreme court.

On the other hand, the B.C. Supreme Court offers fast track litigation for claims that meet certain criteria, includ-

ing a dollar value of under $100,000 or a trial that can be completed in not more than three days.

Fast track litigation is intended to streamline the more complex supreme court legal process and reduce the cost of suing in that court.

The supreme court rules also offer a variety of procedures that may help lawyers resolve some of the issues in a complex case before a trial.

Legal fees

If you are represented by a lawyer in supreme court and you win, you can be reimbursed for at least some of your legal fees.

If you hire a lawyer for a small claims court case you cannot be reimbursed for legal fees, even if you win.

However, it is possible that legal fees for a small claims trial may be lower than for a supreme court trial because of the shorter, simpler process.

More information

If you are considering launching a lawsuit for an amount somewhat larger than $35,000 it would be wise to consult a lawyer for advice on which court would work best for you.

Note that regardless of the dollar value, small claims court can only deal with claims involving: debt, damages (money to compensate for loss or injury), recovery of personal property or opposing claims to person property and performance of agreements about personal property or services.

Cases involving other subjects must be taken to other courts or tribunals.

You may also wish to read Choosing Small Claims or Fast Track Litigation and Fast Track Litigation, guidebooks produced by the Justice Education Society.