Susannah Pierce, external affairs director LNG Canada, speaks on Tuesday at the TrueNorth Business Development Forum, co-hosted by the Prince George and BC Chambers of Commerce at the Courtyard by Marriott.
Zaga’s owner upset with pot process
Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff
mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca
A local business owner seeking to open up a privately operated cannabis retail store is accusing Victoria of allowing a governmentrun operation it wants to establish in Prince George to jump the approval-process queue.
Ginny Burnett, who has owned and operated Zaga’s Hemp Shop in Prince George for 15 years, says city staff gave the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch initial approval to proceed with her application on Oct. 30 after taking it through its own vetting process.
That was three weeks before the Liquor Distribution Branch told the city it was ready to seek council’s approval to establish a B.C. Cannabis Store at the Westgate Shopping Centre – yet Burnett is still waiting for the LCRB to send her application back to the city for council’s consideration while the provincial government’s was advanced to the public hearing stage on Monday.
The LCRB maintains a policy of not stating publicly where in the approval process an application stands.
But in accordance with the Cannabis Control and Licensing Act, applicants from the private sector must obtain a licence from the
I think they’re sandbagging.
I think they’re not tentatively accepting anyone until they get theirs through... there’s absolutely no reason why I wouldn’t have had my approval complete by now.
— Ginny Burnett, Zaga’s Hemp Shop
LCRB before they can set up shop whereas publicly-run ones, which are governed under a different piece of legislation, do not, meaning their process is shorter.
Burnett said she recognizes private-sector applicants will go through a more thorough vetting process but suspects something more sinister is afoot.
“I think they’re sandbagging,” Burnett said of the provincial government. “I think they’re not tentatively accepting anyone until they get theirs through... there’s absolutely no reason why
I wouldn’t have had my approval complete by now.”
She said the LCRB told her two months ago her application was good to go.
She suggested it won’t be until the B.C. Cannabis Store is up an running before any applications from the private sector are forwarded to the city for approval by council.
And Burnett expressed doubt about how much money can be made selling cannabis.
“I’m doing this to keep our share of the market,” she said. “That’s the only reason we’re doing it.”
Burnett also stressed that she is not upset with the city.
“They’re just doing their job,” she said.
On Monday, Coun. Brian Skakun raised the same concern prior to council voting unanimously to pass B.C. Cannabis Store’s application to rezone the old RBC branch at Westgate through first and second reading. A public hearing is tentatively scheduled for the Feb. 4 council meeting.
“I know there are several in the community that are looking for permission from the province to come here,” Skakun said.
As of November, the province was reviewing eight applications to establish cannabis stores in the city.
Pedestrian killed in Quesnel, two hit in P.G.
Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff
Prince George RCMP are urging walkers to take precautions before crossing a street after attending to two collisions over Monday night where the driver was not at fault.
In Quesnel, meanwhile, a 32-year-old Quesnel woman was killed Monday night when she was struck by a vehicle while crossing Maple Drive near Kube Road in the community south of Prince George.
RCMP, who were called to the scene at 8:38 p.m., said the driver remained on the scene and Maple Drive was closed to traffic for several hours as investigators gathered evidence.
“The investigation is in its early stages, but preliminary information has revealed the woman was wearing dark clothing and was not in a marked crosswalk,” Quesnel RCMP said.
The victim’s name was not released.
In Prince George, RCMP and other emergency personnel were called to Fifth Avenue and Carney Street at 7 p.m. after an elderly woman using a walker
was trying to cross Carney but did not make it before the light had changed.
Because the pedestrian was wearing dark clothing, the driver of a full-sized sedan did not see the woman until it was too late.
Despite the driver swerving at the last second, she was struck by the car’s side mirror. Then, at about 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday, emergency services were called to 20th Avenue near Spruce Street where a man wearing dark clothing and on a skateboard was struck in the middle of the block by a pickup truck.
In both cases, the drivers remained on the scene and are not facing charges. Both victims were taken to hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries.
“The RCMP would like to remind all pedestrians that reflective clothing or blinking lights are the best way to ensure you are seen when walking along or across our roads,” Prince George RCMP Cpl. Craig Douglass said.
“Please take the time to ensure you are safe, especially during the dark hours of the day.”
Blue Monday
A walker enjoys a stroll through Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park on Monday. The third Monday of January is sometimes known as Blue Monday because it is allegedly the saddest day of the year in the northern hemisphere because of factors like the weather, leftover holiday debt, how much time has passed since Christmas and the chance that you’ve probably already failed at your New Year’s resolutions.
Truck rally for resource communities today
Citizen staff
A truck rally in support of resource communities will be held today in Prince George.
It will coincide with the three-day B.C. Natural Resources Forum and is meant to draw the attention of B.C. Premier John Horgan and other politicians who will attend the conference.
“Urban environmental groups are leading the current debate over the use and management of B.C.’s rich natural resource legacy with little reference to the resource producing economies of rural B.C.,” organizers said in a press release.
“Consequently, many good mining, oil and gas, hydroelectric, forestry, fisheries and agriculture industries, the essential transportation infrastructure projects (pipelines, transmission lines, rail etc),
Bourque
and service industries are under siege.
“Left out of the conversation are the working families of these industries. Our goal is to combine and amplify those voices.”
The rally is being organized by TheNorthMatters, a Kitimat-based group whose aim “is to build strength in Northern communities while aligning and creating opportunities for its residents,” according to a posting on the community’s chamber of commerce page.
Vehicles of all types are welcome, from commercial vehicles to family station wagons.
It starts at Boundary Road off Highway 16 – the lineup starts at 9 a.m. and makes its way to the Civic Centre starting at 10 a.m.
Speeches will follow, starting at 11:30 a.m.
pleads guilty to breaching release order
Convicted animal killer Kayla Bourque will be sentenced next month after pleading guilty to breach of recognizance.
The 28-year-old former Prince George resident, who was designated a high-risk violent offender after a 2012 conviction for killing animals and causing them unnecessary pain, was arrested Jan. 10 for being in breach of one of the courtordered conditions of her release.
Last June, the B.C. Ministry of Public Safety alerted the public that she had moved to Surrey and remained subject to intensive monitoring and 43 court-ordered conditions that included a ban on the possession of any pornography and devices capable of accessing the internet.
Bourque pleaded guilty to the breach Tuesday in Vancouver provincial court. She is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 8.
CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN
Vancouver Sun
Closure of Westwood Drive starts Monday
Citizen staff
Permanent closure of a stretch of Westwood Drive will start Monday, city hall is reminding motorists.
Northbound traffic will no longer be able to use the section between 22nd Avenue and the ramp connecting Westwood to Highway 97.
Drivers will still be able to reach Highway 97 northbound by heading east on Massey Drive and then turning onto the onramp just past the overpass.
The southbound section of Westwood will also be closed for a few days to allow workers to install concrete barriers and signage.
The move was one of a number made following the death of a College of New Caledonia student this summer. She was hit and killed while trying to make her way across Highway 97 at a spot north of a designated crosswalk.
The works included removing a walkway from the CNC campus to a decommissioned bus stop across the highway, installing a concrete barrier on the west side of Central Street East at 20th Avenue and erecting a fence along the Highway 97 median from 22nd Avenue
to 18th Avenue. The remaining work involves changing the signal sequence at the intersection of Highway 97 and 22nd Avenue. It will feature a dedicated left turn signal for 22nd Avenue traffic
and a pedestrian crosswalk signal with a countdown feature.
“The signal operation change requires that northbound traffic from Westwood Drive be prohibited from entering 22nd Avenue from Westwood,” city hall said.
Trio sentenced for breaking out of crime scene
Citizen staff
Three people arrested following an alleged home invasion were sentenced Monday to time served.
Brandon Douglas Joseph Deeg, Cree Indyah Parenteau and Devin Albert Olson had all been in custody since their arrests for a Jan. 7, 2018 incident, a total of 376 days.
They were issued the term in Prince George provincial court on a count of breaking out after entering to commit an offence.
The culprits were rounded up after they had fled by smashing through the living room window of a Vine Street home, police said at the time. The home’s occupants received minor injuries and declined medical treatment.
Alec Myles Hunter was issued the same sentence last week after 372 days in custody.
City council’s finance and audit committee was presented Monday with a new “starting point” for discussion of this year’s operating budget courtesy of a completed roll of assessed values of property around the city. Through the up-to-date number from B.C. Assessment, staff revised the estimated non-market rise in value to $1.7 million –a $262,000 increase that, in turn, would reduce the percentage increase to the levy first proposed to the committee in November from 5.03 to 4.33 per cent.
A 4.33 per cent hike would add $4.49 million to the levy, of which $1.5 million would go towards snow control, $1 million to road rehabilation and $1 million to the Employer’s Health Tax, under staff’s scenario.
The committee was also presented with three options that would increase the levy by five, four and three per cent respectively.
Here’s a look:
• Five-per-cent increase: By adding a further $700,000 to the levy, staff said $116,250 could go towards operating Masich Place at its extended hours, $113,225 could go to construction and ongoing costs for the All Wheels Bike Park in Blackburn and $75,000 could go to development of a community cultural plan – a framework to help prioritize the city’s grants, public art and resources for cultural services.
The remaining $400,000 would go towards, “sustainable infrastructure goals,” staff suggested, noting the general infrastructure reinvestment levy has not been increased since 2016 and the hike would help the city’s capital funds keep place with inflation.
• Four-per-cent increase: Of the $1 million increase to the road rehabilitation budget, half would be for investment in bridges and half for gravel roads and urban lanes. To lower the levy increase to four per cent, staff is recom-
A 4.33 per cent hike would add $4.49 million to the levy, of which $1.5 million would go towards snow control, $1 million to road rehabilation and $1 million to the Employer’s Health Tax, under staff’s scenario.
mending reducing the portion for gravel roads and bridges to $150,000 from $500,000.
• Three per cent: To lower the increase to that level, a further $1 million would have to be cut.
Staff is proposing that be done in part by eliminating the remaining $150,000 for gravel roads and urban lanes and lower the spending on road paving by $500,000 – the amount devoted to work in bridges is considered a necessity and so would remain untouched.
A further $250,000 could be trimmed by decreasing the general operating fund contingency, but staff recommended strongly against the move, saying the fund is already too low given the size of the city’s budget.
“The consequence of this reduction would be less risk mitigation of unforeseen overages,” Finance Director Chris Dalio said in the report. “Funds needed over and above the contingency would need to be absorbed by City surpluses or reserves.”
Another $60,000 could be saved by eliminating the Supervisor of Engineering Services position and adding a level 2 office assistant and a further $60,000 could be found by staggering the cost of replacing fire services turnout gear. The committee asked staff to refine a scenario for a four per cent increase for a full city council budget meeting on Feb. 11.
Cannabis-carrying border-crossers could be hit with fines under coming system
Jim BRONSKILL Citizen news service
OTTAWA — Travellers caught sneaking small amounts of marijuana into Canada could soon be forced to pay fines.
Although stiff criminal penalties will remain options on the books, the federal border agency is developing administrative sanctions to give it more flexibility to deal with people who arrive at the border with cannabis in the era of legal recreational use.
Since Oct. 17, adults in Canada have been allowed to possess and share up to 30 grams of cannabis, but bringing the drug into the country continues to be illegal, carrying a penalty of up to 14 years in prison.
If you are carrying cannabis upon entering Canada, it must be declared to the border agency. Otherwise, you may face arrest and prosecution, the Canada Border Services Agency says.
Agency officials underscored the seriousness for new Border Security Minister Bill Blair in briefing materials on implementation of the new cannabis law.
“The unauthorized cross-border movement of cannabis remains a serious criminal offence, subject to enforcement up to and including criminal investigation and prosecution,” say the notes, released under the Access to Information Act.
Border officials can also seize marijuana and any vehicle used to bring the drug into Canada.
However, the border agency also appears to recognize that some recreational pot users might absent-mindedly leave a few joints in a jacket pocket or simply be unaware the cross-border restrictions remain in place.
The planned new penalties will provide an “additional tool” for officers who encounter travellers carrying cannabis, Nicholas Dorion, a border agency spokesman, said in an emailed response to questions.
Details of the new fines – including the amounts to be levied – are still being worked out.
However, the internal notes say the penalties are slated to be in place some time next year, and indicate travellers hit with fines would have the right to
challenge the penalties.
The border agency already levies administrative monetary penalties for various Customs Act infractions, and the proposed new sanctions would build on that regime.
In preparation for legal cannabis, the agency posted signs at many border crossings to remind people of the prohibition against bringing even small amounts of pot into Canada. Officials have also been asking visitors and returning Canadians whether they have any cannabis with them.
The border agency received approximately $40 million over five years to help enforce the new cannabis law.
The money is intended to bolster front-line capacity, develop the publiceducation campaigns and help track the effects of the new legislation.
Some of the money is also going to beef up laboratory services needed to test suspected cannabis stashes intercepted at the border. Key activities for 2018-19 include developing methods for testing, identifying equipment needs and devising monitoring and reporting tools, the notes say.
B.C. hopes federal election won’t get in way of money laundering co-operation
Camille BAINS Citizen news service
VANCOUVER — British Columbia’s attorney general says he is hoping a federal election campaign won’t get in the way of Ottawa fully co-operating with the province to deal with serious allegations of money laundering related to billions of dollars in transactions involving drugs, real estate and luxury vehicles.
David Eby said he was more confident after meeting with Organized Crime Minister Bill Blair on Tuesday after he failed to get any action when he brought the problem to the attention of other federal cabinet ministers as well as raising it at meetings with his provincial and territorial counterparts.
“I’m increasingly hopeful that we will now see some traction on this,” Eby told a news conference with Blair after the two met to discuss B.C.’s concerns.
Eby has said he was shocked the RCMP did not provide any information on the extent of money laundering in B.C., but he did forward information to a Paris-based group that produced an international report that says $1 billion a year is funnelled through the province’s casinos.
Blair said he wants to assure Canadians the federal government will deal with the issue more effectively.
“There’s information that, clearly, both of our governments need and we need to share and we need to work on together,” he said, adding he has spoken with Peter German, a former Mountie who is conducting a second review of money laundering in B.C.
Eby said in the last 24 hours, the RCMP had advised German he would get the information he needs for his review, which is due in March, but he would wait to see what happens.
He said both he and German also want information the RCMP passed on to the Financial Action Task Force, a body of G7 countries fighting money laundering, terrorist financing and threats to the international system.
The report issued last July says money was being laundered in British Columbia through an underground banking network and part of its illegal activities involve money from illicit drugs as well as illegal gambling and extortion to supply cash to Chinese gamblers in Canada.
Eby said despite Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s mandate last year for Blair to take action on money laundering, it’s just a first step toward what the federal government must do.
“There is still insufficient capacity to investigate, detect and prosecute these things,” he said. “There’s still challenges around policy and law and minister
Blair has committed to us that he will receive our suggestions to him for improvement and more particularly Peter German’s recommendations out of a review that he’s doing right now.”
He said B.C. is aiming to take action as quickly as possible “but we need the feds along for the ride.”
“This is an area of international issues, with Mexico, the United States and China involved.”
Eby said a public inquiry into money laundering may be held and he has asked Blair for the federal government’s support.
He said time will tell if there are gaps between Blair’s commitment and the actions his department is willing to take in the short window before an election campaign gets underway.
Peter Goudron, executive director of the B.C. Gaming Industry Association, said last week casinos have implemented measures to combat potential money laundering including placing cash restrictions on players in 2015, which reduced the value of suspicious transactions by more than 60 per cent over the next two years. He said operators have also implemented interim recommendation made by German that require additional scrutiny of large cash buy-ins since last January.
Canada made sexual predator ‘our problem,’ U.S. prosecutor says
Michael TUTTON Citizen news service
A convicted killer and sexual predator who could have spent his life in Canadian prison was instead back in the United States Tuesday for a court hearing, as an American prosecutor questioned the Parole Board of Canada’s logic in sending him her way.
“They made him our problem,” Niagara County District Attorney Caroline Wojtaszek said of 47-yearold William Shrubsall, who fractured one of his victims’ skull with a baseball bat during his spree of violence in Nova Scotia during the late 1990s.
“He is an extremely scary individual. He has the combination of brutal violence and sexual offences over the majority of his young adult to adult life. To me I can’t think of anyone better to confine for the rest of his life.”
The Upstate New York prosecutor was referring to the Nov. 7 decision by two parole board members authorizing Shrubsall’s release and deportation.
The board’s six-page ruling was based in part on the authors’ belief the offender would “face many more years” of incarceration in Niagara County –where he jumped bail during his trial for sexually abusing a 17-year-old girl in 1996.
Wojtaszek questioned that logic, saying there are limits on her ability to incarcerate Shrubsall, who has adopted the name Ethan Simon Templar MacLeod.
“There is nothing in that (parole board) decision that would leave society to be any safer than it was when he was first designated a dangerous offender,” she said.
“We’re confined by the sentencing structure of 1996... and so what you’re looking at is four years and eight months before he’s out. In no way does that create a safety net for society.”
Wojtaszek will now attempt to secure a conviction and the maximum sentence for Shrubsall jumping bail during his 1996 trial in Niagara County for sexual abuse of a 17-year-old girl he met at a party.
On Monday, Shrubsall was handed over to the Niagara County police, and brought to a county jail to begin serving his sentence for the sexual abuse. He’s eligible for parole in two years and four months for that offence.
The maximum sentence for jumping bail is similar, with eligibility for bail at two years and four months, said Wojtaszek.
Shrubsall’s trial on the bail jumping charge has been scheduled to begin June 10.
However, Wojtaszek argued Canada was in a better position to keep Shrubsall in jail due to the majority of his most violent crimes being committed in Nova Scotia.
The court proceedings that led to Shrubsall’s designation in 2001 as a dangerous offender – meaning he could be held in prison for an indefinite period –lasted over two months, and heard that some of his Canadian victims have suffered disabilities that will last a lifetime.
In February 1998, while robbing a retail store, he struck a female employee with a baseball bat, fracturing her skull. A few months later, in May 1998, he attacked and sexually assaulted a woman walking home from work.
In June 1998, he met a woman in a bar and took her to a residence in a taxi. He wouldn’t let her leave his apartment, choking and sexually assaulting her.
In his oral judgment, the Nova Scotia judge said he didn’t see a “realistic prospect of controlling the threat of dangerousness and managing the risk” of Shrubsall as a regular offender.
The judge ruled he was likely to continue to pose a risk to others that would “likely result in death, severe physical injury or psychological damage to a future victim.”
He was also described as “lacking a conscience.”
Shrubsall’s record also includes bludgeoning his mother to death with a baseball bat in their home the night before his graduation, a crime committed while he was a juvenile.
The parole board decision allowing his release said he was not currently considered to be a psychopath.
It also said he had behaved well, had completed programs to reduce his violence, had been attending regular psychological counselling and had been developing a plan for his release into the community.
However, it also said these factors “would not have been enough” for his release without the board members’ knowledge he would be deported to Niagara County to face jail time. Board members also noted he continued to be overly focused on himself, rather than the impact his crime had on his victims.
Asked about the case, the parole board sent an email with general comments about its record, declining any specific comment.
“I can tell you that as with all Parole Board of Canada decisions, the protection of society is the paramount consideration,” wrote Holly Knowles, a board spokeswoman, in an email.
“When taking decisions on the parole of an offender, board members do a thorough risk assessment. They review information from a wide range of sources, including information from the police and courts, psychological/psychiatric reports, risk assessment tools, the correctional plan and progress reports, information submitted by victims, and the offender’s release plan.”
U.S. legislators pass bill to prevent Trump from pulling out of NATO
Karoun DEMIRJIAN Citizen news service
WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives resoundingly passed a bipartisan measure Tuesday to prohibit the Trump administration from using federal funds to pull the United States out of the North Atlanic Treaty Organization (NATO), rebuking the president for his frequent attacks against the strategic alliance and suggesting he might seek to withdraw.
The vast majority of House Republicans joined Democrats to pass the bill by a vote of 357 to 22, after members of both parties gave impassioned speeches for why the alliance was so vital to preserve and protect. “Time and again the alliance has proven that the free peoples of the world are stron-
gest when they stand together,” said Rep. Mike McCaul of Texas, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He called the alliance “a bulwark against international terror” and “critical to our national security, and to the preservation of our military prowess around the world.”
“The mutual defense pledge is why NATO has been the most successful alliance in military history,” bill sponsor Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., said.
“Moscow never went to war with a NATO power. We got bases and a guarantee that we would never have to fight alone... and everybody on the European continent got stability and peace to strengthen our democracies.”
Yet members of the two parties differed in how sharply they were willing to directly chide Trump as they voiced support for the measure.
The bill endorses the 2014 Wales Defense Investment Pledge, under which NATO countries said they would endeavor “to reverse the trend of declining defense budgets” and ensure that every member spends two per cent of their national income on defense capabilities that could be called upon in support of NATO.
Trump has frequently mischaracterized the pledge, alleging NATO members “owe” the United States and have been “delinquent” for years.
House Republicans backing Tuesday’s measure pointed to the bill’s support for
the 2014 declaration – and the subsequent efforts of NATO countries to ratchet up their defense spending – as a positive, without directly addressing the president’s claims. But Democrats were more blunt about framing their support for the measure as a rejection of Trump’s stance – and a warning to him not to escalate his political standoff with NATO any further.
“We can continue to put pressure on our NATO partners to pay their two per cent of their GDP, but that doesn’t mean that we want to get out of NATO,” Panetta said. “NATO is not a transactional relationship, our sole focus cannot be on who pays and who gets what.
Being a part of NATO is not like being a part of a country club.”
Growing flowers of cannabis are shown at OrganiGram in Moncton, N.B., on April 14, 2016.
Fighter pilot fined after pleading guilty to flying too low
Citizen news service
COLD LAKE, Alta.
— A fighter pilot has been fined $2,000 after pleading guilty at a court martial to flying his CF-18 jet too low during a training mission in which his wingman died in a crash.
Capt. Christopher Mileusnic was the leader of a two-aircraft formation on Nov. 28, 2016, that was practising dropping bombs on targets near the Cold Lake weapons range in northeastern Alberta.
The rules for the low altitude mission required that the aircraft have a working heads-up-display –a device that shows flight information that the pilot can read by looking forward at the canopy.
According to the agreed statement of facts, the pilots were under pressure to drop all of their bombs before returning to base.
Mileusnic’s heads-up-display was flickering, not showing consistent altitude information as required by flight rules. Despite the problem he contin-
ued making bomb runs with his wingman, Capt. Thomas McQueen.
“During the last target run, Captain McQueen flew the target run-in at 450 feet AGL with Captain Mileusnic in a three mile trail position. While conducting the safe escape manoeuvre, Captain McQueen inadvertently flew into terrain and died instantly,” reads the statement of facts.
“The actions of Captain Mileusnic during the Swift flight are in no way alleged to have contributed to the crash and death of Captain McQueen.”
At Monday’s court martial Mileusnic pleaded guilty to flying an aircraft at a height less than the minimum height authorized in the circumstances. He was also charged with negligently performing a military duty imposed on him and negligently committing an act deemed dangerous to life.
A military spokesman said the prosecutor decided not to proceed with the other charges following
the guilty plea on the first charge.
The court martial judge then accepted a joint submission by the prosecutor and defence and sentenced Mileusnic to the fine.
An accident report released last April into the fatal crash suggested that McQueen was distracted and trying to see where a practice bomb had landed just before his CF-18 hit the ground.
The report said flight rules have since been changed to raise the acceptable altitude for such training to more than 300 metres and to underline safety standards for low flying.
“The low-level environment is an inherently hazardous and unforgiving region where only a few seconds of distraction can mean the difference between life and death,” the report said.
A military publication says Mileusnic is an experienced pilot who has taken part in missions intercepting Russian Bear aircraft over the Arctic. He also once served with the Royal Air Force.
Navy to extend working life of submarine fleet
Lee BERTHIAUME
Citizen news service
OTTAWA — The Department of National Defence is pushing ahead with plans to extend the lives of Canada’s submarine fleet, with the head of the navy hoping some work will start in the coming months.
The movement comes as countries around the world have stepped up investments in their submarine and anti-submarine fleets to protect their waters –and operate in waters not under their control.
Canada’s four Victoria-class submarines have a troubled history since they were bought second-hand from Britain in 1998, with successive governments investing hundreds of millions of dollars in constant repairs and upgrades.
But in an interview with The Canadian Press, Royal Canadian Navy commander Vice-Admiral Ron Lloyd said the dieselpowered submarines – HMCS Chicoutimi, Victoria, Corner Brook and Windsor – have finally turned a corner.
Lloyd specifically pointed to HMCS Chicoutimi’s having recently spent 197 days in the Pacific and Asia even as HMCS Windsor was patrolling the Mediterranean with NATO as proof the submarines are living up to their potential.
“The fact we had two boats concurrently deployed, if that doesn’t speak to the success of the program, I don’t know what does,” said Lloyd, who will retire from the military later this year after three years as navy commander.
The clock has been ticking on the four vessels: without upgrades, the first of the submarines will reach the end of its life in 2022, according to documents obtained through access to information, while the last will retire in 2027.
But the Liberals’ defence policy promised to extend the lives of the vessels and Lloyd said de-
Canada’s four Victoria-class submarines have a troubled history since they were bought second-hand from Britain in 1998...
fence officials are now working through the details to make sure they can continue to operate into the 2030s.
More extensive work is expected to start in about three or four years but Lloyd said efforts are underway to start implementing some minor upgrades by March.
Exactly how much upgrading all four submarines will cost remains uncertain, but Lloyd said the figure that officials are working with is about $2 billion.
Some experts have previously called for Canada to consider new submarines, rather than extending the lives of the ones it has, but the government has said upgrading the Victoria-class ships is more “prudent.”
Other experts have said the country doesn’t need such expensive vessels.
But many other countries around the world are investing in submarine and antisubmarine fleets. NATO has specifically raised concerns about Russian submarines in the North Atlantic, while Canadian frigate commanders patrolling in the Atlantic and Mediterranean have reported more foreign submarines in recent years.
“The most proliferated weapon system right now on the planet are submarines,” Lloyd said.
“They by themselves can impact the outcome of a battle space. And so putting a submarine into a body of water instantly changes the calculus that are currently operating in those bodies of water.”
An RCAF CF-18 takes off from CFB Bagotville, Que. on June 7.
Scientific data key to B.C.’s future
Science is an ongoing process. The more we know, the better our questions and the more we learn.”
These wise words are from UNBC chemistry professor Todd Whitcombe’s weekly column in The Prince George Citizen on Nov. 28, 2018.
I would like to add to it: the more we learn, the better the decisions we make. And now is a good time to talk about it. This week, natural resource sector, government, community and First Nation leaders are gathering in Prince George for the annual Natural Resource Forum. Many of the delegates will be new mayors and councillors from around the province following last fall’s elections.
For 2019, the forum is focusing on subjects such as innovation and technology, mining excellence and the future of the energy industry in B.C. So much of this is driven by scientific research that it is easy to see just how important science is to a prosperous and sustainable future for B.C.
I am the former mayor of Mackenzie, so you might think it a bit odd that I am bending your ear about this. You might think it even more odd that I have a passion for and dedicate so much of my energy to an orga-
nization like Geoscience BC in my role as chair of the board. I am not even a scientist, so why am I so passionate about the need for scientific research? Why is it important to all community leaders?
Natural resource development makes up a huge proportion of the B.C. economy. For example, the Mining Association of British Columbia reports that gross mining revenue in 2017 was $11.7 billion, while the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers puts oil and gas revenues for the same year at $6.4 billion.
This advances knowledge, informs responsible development, encourages investment and stimulates innovation.
Geoscience BC is a not-for-profit society that generates independent, public geoscience research and data about British Columbia’s minerals, energy and water resources. This advances knowledge, informs responsible development, encourages investment and stimulates innovation. It complements work done by government scientists, the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission and academics and is part of a powerful body of information for community leaders wanting to make informed and balanced decisions about natural resource development.
For example, Geoscience BC is funding a
front-end engineering and design (FEED) project to verify if it is economically viable to use former oil and gas wells near Fort Nelson to generate geothermal electricity and heat. As with all Geoscience BC research, the data and reports from the project will be available publicly to inform decision-making, including potential financial decisions.
Geoscience BC’s minerals related research assists more efficient discovery of B.C.’s significant minerals resources. This catalyzes exploration and development opportunities for B.C in a world where global demand for copper, for example, is set to double in coming years to meet demand for high tech items such as electric cars. Community leaders can use Geoscience BC data and research to better understand mineral development potential in their area, and to support more informed decision-making processes.
Much of Geoscience BC’s research relating to oil and gas helps to mitigate and manage risks associated with hydraulic fracturing (fracking) for natural gas. For example, near Hudson’s Hope an unassuming looking field is home to highly innovative and
YOUR LETTERS
A new approach
In response to the donation bin column (Mario Canseco, Jan. 17).
AiMHi Prince George Association for Community Living has been an active participant in the outside bin donation stations located around the Prince George area for several years now with great support from the community. In the past there have been redesigns for the bins along the way with the intent to make them safer as new issues arise. With the increase of incidents all over the province and keeping everyone’s safety at the forefront AiMHi feels it’s time to do something different. We also hear the community when they say a change is needed. AiMHi wants to take the lead in ensuring the community is safe. We value the donations that are provided by our community to support AiMHi in our fundraising efforts and partnership with Value Village. We do not want to eliminate this valuable donation resource nor exclude our community from supporting us with this recycling opportunity. We do want to provide a viable safe alternative while ensuring items do not go to the landfill unnecessarily. AiMHi believes the community also feels strongly about supporting a new safer alternative for the collection of products.
We are currently looking at an attended donation station where the community will also be able to drop their donations off at. AiMHi feels this is a new safer concept of recycling while
making a difference in the community. We will ensure the public is aware of the location once this is up and running in the community. At this time we encourage people to take their donations directly to Value Village. AiMHi also accepts donations directly at our main office at 950 Kerry St. Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Please feel free to contact us if you have further questions.
Sandi Beningfield Prince George
Seeking answers to an ongoing problem
There are many issues plaguing the city which they must contend with regularly and some of it never ends like snow removal, infrastructure upgrades and the like.
Mostly, the city addresses these in a timely manner and sometimes finds itself floundering, as in the recent snowstorm at the start of the year. Overall, the city does a decent job of reporting on issues but I have a couple of questions for the mayor and city council that nobody seems to want to touch or answer.
First off, there is a fairly significant amount of street walkers that seem to be out 24/7. There is a large group that hangs out at the benches at 20th Avenue and Spruce Street at all hours of the day with sometimes as many as 20 people congregating there and turning the benches into makeshift homeless shelters. Some-
times they are good, sometimes they swarm you and sometimes they may mean to do you harm. It can be quite distressing especially for the average person who stops at the lights there or wants to cross the street. Add to that some businesses have given employees training on how to administer NarCan for overdoses as it is so common in the area. My question is why is the city allowing this to happen and is the city doing anything about it or is it ignoring the issue?
Secondly, I went for dinner recently with some friends at one of the restaurants downtown. We had to park some distance away and walk to our destination. All was fine and dandy until after we left it was around 8 p.m. and we had to walk by several large groups of people who were asking for money, for a ride and so on. Several appeared to be impaired and it was uncomfortable walking by and through these groups of people. Some groups were quite large and we definitely did not feel safe at all. With all the money the city has spent on the downtown core over the past several years beautifying, it they still can’t seem to fix the issue of large groups hanging around downtown. This is an ongoing issue that the local government seems to love to skirt around and pretend it doesn’t exist because I rarely hear anything being mentioned about it at council meetings or by the city itself.
Dean Soiland Prince George
multi-disciplinary research to understand the effects of a controlled natural gas leak into a confined aquifer. The findings will help to improve water monitoring in areas of natural gas development and to guide remediation work.
Geoscience BC’s transparent and collaborative approach has been welcomed by a wide range of people, including many industry, government, community and Indigenous leaders. I remember well how daunting things can seem as a newly-elected community leader, but also that much of the information needed to make well informed and balanced decisions is often available. I would urge any new mayor or councillor in B.C. to get to know Geoscience BC and its research published since inception in 2005. I will be at the Natural Resources Forum this week with some of the Geoscience BC team to talk about past research and projects getting underway, and to hear about future research needs. After all, the more we learn, the better the decisions we make.
Stephanie Killam is the former mayor of Mackenzie and is the chair of the Geoscience BC board of directors. She is also chair of the Muskwa Kechika Advisory Board and sits on the boards of the Fraser Basin Council and Northern Health.
Time for an open exchange
Democrats say government can make you healthier, richer, and remove the weeds from your lawn.
Republicans say government doesn’t work – then get elected to prove it.” — P. J. O’Rourke.
I was reminded of this pithy line the other day as the current shutdown of the United States federal government surpassed all others in length, the result of bipartisan incompetence.
After winning the White House, Congress, and the chance to remake the Supreme Court in 2016, Republicans failed to secure funding for a border wall during two years in government. It was this flagship policy of U.S. President Donald Trump that led to their victory; yet the president and party hesitated to make his promise a reality, even conceding rhetorical ground to Democrats. Now the GOP has lost the purse strings to the opposition party, thanks to the 2018 midterm elections.
Democratic House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi has declared the wall un-American and xenophobic. But the demonization of this tool used in border security across the globe rings no bells of irony in her house of woke liberalism, despite the fact that from Andrew Cuomo to Mark Zuckerberg, every celebrity, CEO, or politician of the left has strong, high walls built around their homes, regardless of how affluent and safe the surrounding neighbourhood is known to be.
This is nothing new for even casual observers of our political class: to the right, a lack of skill in working the levers of government while failing to live up to election promises, only to be matched by the flagrant hypocrisy of the elitist left declaring equality for all from their limousines.
There are policy options available to end the crisis, but these still require both parties to first give the other a fair hearing – an act deemed treasonous in itself by many on either side of the aisle. But if such an open exchange could be arranged, here are points that must be made.
the kinds of people who neither put their kids in public school nor live in neighbourhoods with any illegal aliens. Being a member of the body politic means absorbing the values and norms that have preserved the free and democratic society to which people have decided to come. Full stop.
There are policy options available to end the crisis, but these still require both parties to first give the other a fair hearing. Subscribe to The Citizen and get the best in local news, sports, arts and more delivered to your door five days a week Call 250-562-3301 to subscribe today
For the right, the responsibilities of citizenship must be the primary concern of all immigrants to the United States. Assimilation cannot be a dirty word, derided by
Mailing
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For the left, welcoming new arrivals to their shores, particularly those with reasons to flee from persecution at home, is a venerable tradition of the United States. And the problem of those illegal aliens having already long resided in the country must be carefully adjudicated, the best conclusion being green cards for those fully employed and summary deportation for those with a criminal record. More policies clearly follow, like strengthening labour laws for the working class.
As to the border, there ought to be bipartisan interest in its integrity. Monitoring 3,145 kilometres of border between the U.S. and Mexico is best achieved with a fleet of new drones rather than a wall.
And for those right libertarians and left identitarians still arguing for open borders, there is short shrift indeed: such shilling for neoliberal orthodoxy, intentional or not, is what gave rise to the populist waves around the world, best embodied by Steve Bannon’s and Bernie Sanders’ many followers.
Finally, the issue of furloughed or indentured federal employees must be resolved. To be clear, lockouts are a perfectly legitimate strategy for forcing an issue and there is a reasonable point to be made that the American federal government has grown too large. But if agencies are to be shuttered, let that be a separate argument; until then, Democrats and Republicans have a responsibility to reopen the government and discuss issues without making civil servants suffer.
None of what I am suggesting is original. Politicians, despite our wishes, are people; as such, they ought to utilize the same conflict resolving strategies we all use. But are they willing?
Shawn Cornell, director of advertising: 250-960-2757 scornell@pgcitizen.ca Reader sales and services: 250-562-3301 rss@pgcitizen.ca Letters to the editor: letters@pgcitizen.ca Website: www.pgcitizen.ca Website feedback: digital@glaciermedia.ca Member of the
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NATHAN GIEDE
Right of Centre
New Canada Food Guide nixes portion sizes
OTTAWA — Drink more water and eat more plants, Canada’s new food guide says, doing away with the traditional food groups and serving counts familiar to generations of students in health classes across the land.
The food-guide facelift unveiled Tuesday, the first in 12 years, reflects a new approach by Health Canada aimed at promoting healthier eating and lifestyle choices, rather than emphasizing serving sizes and specific foods.
“The guide continues to provide advice on what to eat, but now it also emphasizes that healthy eating is more than the food you eat,” said Hasan Hutchinson, the directorgeneral of nutritional policy and promotion at Health Canada.
Canadians should eat vegetables, fruits, whole grains and should choose plantbased proteins – such as legumes, nuts and tofu – more regularly, the guide says. It also stresses that Canadians should make water their beverage of choice as a way to stay hydrated without consuming calories.
Updated recommendations also highlight foods that undermine healthy eating and lead to higher risk of chronic disease. Processed and prepared foods that are high in sugar, salt and saturated fat should not be consumed regularly, the new guide says, with a special emphasis on the risks associated with alcohol.
“Dietary risks are one of the top three leading risk factors for chronic disease burden in Canada, however nutrition science is complex and often results in conflicting messages. This is why Canadians need credible healthy-eating information to guide
their food choices,” Hutchinson said. “These are the reasons for which it was necessary to revise Canada’s Food Guide.”
Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor said updating the guide was is not a responsibility government took lightly. It was developed with input from science and health experts, and specifically excluded the input of industry to avoid past concerns about political interference.
“We really needed to keep that distance for any perceived or real conflict of interest,” Hutchinson said. “We felt very strongly about that because in the 2007 Food Guide there was a fair amount of criticism about the influence of industry and we think, to make sure we keep the confidence of Canadians and health professionals and other stakeholders, it was necessary to stay quite strict on that.”
In eliminating specific food and portion recommendations, the guide no longer lists milk and dairy products as a distinct food group. The previous guide said Canadians should consume two to four “milk and alternatives” servings a day, depending on their age.
The national policy and lobby organization representing Canada’s dairy farmers released a statement Tuesday saying it is concerned about these updated recommendations that tell Canadians to choose lower-fat dairy options.
“Current and emerging scientific evidence does not support a continued focus on lower-fat milk products, as it reveals that milk products that contain more fat are not associated with harmful health effects and could even provide benefits,” said Isabelle Neiderer, director of nutrition and research
for the Dairy Farmers of Canada.
Hutchinson said the intent was not to cut dairy from the guide and pointed to examples where low-fat, low-sodium and unsweetened dairy products are listed within other recommended food categories, including suggested healthy proteins and beverages.
Early drafts of the guide indicating it would promote eating more plant-based protein had sparked concern among dairy and beef farmers.
Joyce Parslow, the executive director of marketing and consumer relations for Canada Beef, reacted positively to the new guide, however, saying she was happy to see no messages discouraging Canadians from eating red meat in particular.
But she stressed her organization, which markets and brands Canadian beef and veal, will try to ensure Canadians know they don’t have to replace red meat with plant-based proteins, but rather replace the unhealthy, processed foods.
“One thing we do hope that comes out in the education modules from Health Canada in the future is that people do understand that protein foods are not all created equally. They each have their own unique nutrient package to bring to us,” Parslow said of meat-based proteins compared to plant-based ones.
“It’s not an equal swap-in, swap-out to get the same amount of protein.”
Meanwhile, Anna Pippus of Animal Justice, which fights for the legal rights of animals in Canada, said the new guide offers “a glimmer of hope that truth and integrity can prevail.”
“For too many years, Canada’s Food
Guide has compromised our health, environment and animals by emphasizing meat, dairy and eggs as being foundational in our diets.
The new food guide turns that outdated thinking on its head, giving nutrient-dense and fibre-rich plant foods the prominence they deserve.”
Overall, the new direction of the updated Food Guide had health experts and organizations lining up to endorse the new guidelines.
“What is striking about the new Canada’s Food Guide is the shift to a broader approach – talking not only about what Canadians should eat, but also how they should eat,” said Nathalie Savoie of the Dietitians of Canada, who appeared with Petitpas Taylor at the official unveiling in Montreal Tuesday.
“The recommendations and online tools for consumers are easy to understand, evidence-informed and in line with the type of guidance that dietitians already use with their patients, clients and communities,” she said.
New messages included in the new guide promote healthy behaviours involving food, such as reminding people to be mindful while eating and to eat with others.
The document released Tuesday is only part of Health Canada’s new healthy-eating recommendations.
A report directed at health professionals and policy-makers is to be released later this year, which will include more details on amounts and types of foods for hospitals, schools and seniors’ facilities to use to create menus or diets in clinical or institutional settings.
U.S. seeks extradition of Huawei exec, China protests
James McCARTEN Citizen news service
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice will formally ask Canada to extradite the chief financial officer of Chinese tech titan Huawei, ensuring a protracted global dispute that one former American diplomat says will have lasting and dangerous repercussions for all three countries.
“We will continue to pursue the extradition of defendant Ms. Meng Wanzhou, and will meet all deadlines set by the U.S.-Canada Extradition Treaty,” spokesman Marc Raimondi said Tuesday.
“We greatly appreciate Canada’s continuing support in our mutual efforts to enforce the rule of law.”
Once the paperwork is filed, Canada has 30 days to make a decision on delivering Huawei’s chief financial officer – unless appeals or challenges delay things.
She is facing U.S. allegations that her company has violated that country’s sanctions against Iran and specifically that she committed fraud by lying to American banks about it. Regardless of what happens next, the damage has already been done, said Brett Bruen, who served as director of global engagement in Barack Obama’s White House.
While handing Meng over would take some direct heat off Canada, the Trump administration’s foreign policy of “bullying and being braggadocious” will only continue
to erode relations over the long haul, said Bruen, now president of Global Situation Room, a Washington-based security consultancy.
“The Trump administration has practised – not only with the indictment of this Huawei executive, but also with a number of intelligence officials and other foreign actors – this policy of aggressively pursuing the enemies of the United States,” Bruen said.
The repercussions, which so far appear to include the detention in China of two Canadians and a death sentence in the case of a third convicted of drug smuggling, will only continue, he added.
“There is a boomerang effect – there are American officials, American business executives and, clearly, Canadians who become the collateral damage, the consequences from this policy.”
China again urged the U.S. on Tuesday to abandon the extradition of Meng, who remains under partial house arrest in Vancouver after she was detained Dec. 1 at the behest of American authorities. They allege Meng orchestrated the use of Skycom, a Huawei subsidiary, to evade sanctions against Iran between 2009 and 2014, according to court documents filed at her bail hearing.
Canada, meanwhile, is between a rock and a hard place, said Bruen: granting the request won’t win it any friends in China, while turning it down – not an option if it is in accord with the terms of the extradition treaty between the two countries – would surely infuriate
the U.S.
“I think the Trump administration expects that Ottawa will bend to their will, they expect that Beijing is going to bend to their will on the trade front,” he said. “This is really their expectation, rather than a favour.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying did not mince words as she excoriated both Canada and the United States for what she called an arbitrary and unjust abuse of the extradition agreement between Canada and the U.S. that “infringes upon the security and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens.”
“Anyone with normal judgment can see that the Canadian side has made a serious mistake on this issue from the very beginning,” Hua said as she called on both countries to stand down.
“We all need to shoulder responsibility for what we do. The same is true for a country. Be it Canada or the U.S., they need to grasp the seriousness of the case and take measures to correct their mistakes.”
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, who is in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum, described the case as a “criminal-justice matter exclusively” and denied any suggestion that Meng’s freedom could be used as a political bargaining chip.
“We would object very strongly to the notion that it is being politicized or used as political leverage in any way,” Freeland said in an interview with Bloomberg.
“I want to remind people that she’s out on bail right now, she owns some beautiful homes in Vancouver, and is there. She has had and will continue to have full access to the Canadian judicial system, which is impartial and objective.”
On Monday, some 140 international China experts – including five former Canadian ambassadors – wrote President Xi Jinping calling on him to free the two detained Canadians. The letter praises former diplomat Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor as bridge-builders between China and the world, and said their detentions will make its authors “more cautious” about travelling to China.
China detained the pair Dec. 10 in an apparent attempt to pressure Canada to release Meng, the
daughter of Huawei’s founder, Ren Zhengfei. Huawei has close ties to China’s military and is considered one of the country’s most successful international enterprises, operating in the hightech sphere where China hopes to establish dominance.
A Chinese court also sentenced Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg to death last week for a previous drug-smuggling conviction.
David MacNaughton, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., was not granting interviews Tuesday. But in a report in the Globe and Mail, MacNaughton said he has informed the Trump administration that Canada feels caught in the crossfire, and fears that President Donald Trump is using Meng as leverage in his country’s trade dispute with China.
“We don’t like that it is our citizens who are being punished,” MacNaughton said.
The detentions and deteriorating relations have spilled over into talks on Huawei’s push to build Canada’s next-generation wireless networks.
China’s ambassador to Canada warned last week of repercussions if the federal government bars Huawei from supplying equipment for faster, more resilient communications systems than cellphone users have now – known as 5G. The U.S. has been lobbying aggressively in recent months against Huawei, urging Australia, Canada, Germany and Japan, among others, to close their networks to the company.
Teresa WRIGHT Citizen news service
MENG
CP PHOTO
Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor, right, and nutritionist Jessica Cole look over samples of some of the food groups at the unveiling of Canada’s new Food Guide on Tuesday in Montreal.
Greens won’t support return of ousted B.C. officials
Dirk MEISSNER
Citizen news service
VICTORIA — British Columbia’s Green party will not support the return to the legislature of two senior officers after a report by the Speaker was released alleging spending abuses.
Andrew Weaver says the house leaders for the NDP, Liberals and Greens will consider their options for the futures of clerk Craig James and sergeant-at-arms Gary Lenz, but he would not support their return to work.
“To be blunt, I do not see how it is possible for our caucus to continue to have confidence in the clerk and the sergeant-at-arms if they were recommended to come back to the legislature,” Weaver told reporters on Tuesday.
A 76-page report by Speaker Darryl Plecas alleges spending by the two men on luxurious overseas trips, payout packages and personal purchases totalling millions of dollars. Both men have denied any wrongdoing.
Plecas said the report released Monday is based on what he had seen and heard at the legislature since being named Speaker in September 2017, and that he felt obligated to contact the RCMP.
“The allegations of the report point to a culture of entitlement and was, to be honest, sickening to read,” said Weaver, who thanked Plecas for his work on it.
“This took courage and a willingness to look out for the broader public interest.”
Lenz and James were suspended and escorted out of the legislature in November after it was announced the RCMP had begun an investigation, although details have not been released.
James and Lenz were not immediately available for comment Tuesday, but in a statement Monday they said they only just learned of the report’s contents and the allegations will be shown to be untrue. Until the report was released, James and Lenz said they did not know what they were accused of doing.
“We are only now able to read the allegations for the first time and we are confident that time will show that they are completely false and untrue,” said their statement. “To be publicly accused of these things after months of secret investigation without being given any chance to respond is contrary to all principles of fairness and decent treatment.”
The report was released by the legislative assembly management committee, which gave James and Lenz until Feb. 1 to respond.
The RCMP says it is aware of the release of Plecas’s report and its in-
vestigation is ongoing. Plecas sits as Independent in the legislature after he was expelled from the Liberal caucus when he took the Speaker’s job, helping the NDP to form a minority government.
The report alleges overspending on trips overseas with questionable business rationales; expensing of personal purchases to the legislature in the tens of thousands of dollars; inappropriate payouts of cash in lieu of vacation in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and instances where thousands of dollars of alcohol and equipment may have been misappropriated from the legislative assembly.
One of the allegations made in the report involves the legisla-
ture’s purchase of a wood-splitting device and trailer that it says ended up at James’s home.
The report says the RCMP took the wood splitter and trailer last year. In the report, Plecas says he was told the trailer and wood splitter were bought by the legislature in case they were needed in a crisis.
“Why do we need a wood splitter?” Weaver asked on Tuesday.
Plecas is chairman of the legislative assembly management committee, which also includes four NDP, two Liberal and one Green member of the legislature. It voted Monday to release the report, conduct a workplace review and ask an auditor from outside B.C. to
review legislature financial issues.
Attorney General David Eby said the two men should have the opportunity to respond to the report.
“I think that most people who read the read the report shared my feeling that it contains some very disturbing allegations and, more broadly, raised concerns about controls within the legislative assembly and the lack of oversight,” he said.
Police and two special prosecutors assigned to the case continue their work, he added.
“I’ve encouraged all members of the legislature to avoid speculating and to avoid comment that could potentially impact that investigation,” Eby said.
Highlights from the B.C. Speaker’s report
VICTORIA — A report by British Columbia legislature Speaker Darryl Plecas alleges spending misconduct by two top officials who have been suspended during an ongoing RCMP investigation. Sergeant-at-arms Gary Lenz and clerk Craig James deny any wrongdoing and say they will respond to the allegations in the 76-page report. The report alleges:
• On a trip to England in August 2018 to attend an anti-terrorism exercise, James claimed $1,327.29 for a new charcoal-coloured suit he bought, but said it was black to claim it as a work uniform expense.
• On the same U.K. trip, Lenz claimed $666.11 for mother-of-pearl cufflinks and a mother-of-pearl stud set, a wing-collared shirt and an onyx and silver stud set.
• James expensed more than $5,000 in digital and print magazines, including Arizona Highways, Wired, Electric Bike Action and Popular Mechanics.
• In June 2017, James was reimbursed $504.44 for the purchase of noise-cancelling headphones.
• The government paid James $658.45 for a waterproof camera in 2017, and months later paid out $515.18 for memory cards and then over $800 for a tripod.
• Reimbursement claims made by James for $2,135.87 was for luggage he purchased in Scotland, England and Hong Kong. It says James explained he was requested to buy the luggage by members of the legislature, who would use it.
• In 2018, a wood splitter worth $3,200.91 and a $10,029.60 trailer were allegedly purchased by the legislature and delivered to James’s home. The report says both James and Lenz used the device to split wood. It says the Speaker inquired about the reason for buying the wood splitter and was told if a crisis occurred at the legislature there could be a need to split a tree for fire wood.
CP PHOTO
A wood splitter, removed from suspended clerk Craig James’s home by RCMP, is shown at the legislature in Victoria on Tuesday. A report by Speaker Darryl Plecas alleged the wood splitter was bought by the legislature, but used by James and sergeant at arms Gary Lenz, both suspended amid RCMP investigation.
Citizen news service
WEAVER
JAMES
LENZ
CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE
Booker Daniel of the Cariboo Cougars, right, battles for the puck against Jackson Murphy-Johnson of the Vancouver Northeast Chiefs during Sunday’s Winter Classic at Ernie Sam Memorial Arena, located on Nak’azdli Whut’en territory in Fort St. James.
Outdoor game embraced by community
Winter Classic a hockey revival for Fort St. James, Nak’azdli Whu’ten First Nation
Ted CLARKE Citizen staff tclarke@pgcitizen.ca
It’s tough being a hockey goalie, especially when the sun is in your eyes just as the other team lets go a shot.
Devin Chapman found himself blinded by the light late in the second period in the Winter Classic Sunday in Fort St. James. Chapman was protecting a 2-0 lead his Cariboo Cougars had on the Vancouver Northeast Chiefs, playing on the shoebox-sized outdoor rink at Ernie Sam Memorial Arena. With the bright beams of a winter sun shining at angles just low enough to avoid being blocked by the open-air rink’s roof, Chapman froze on his skates as a high floater Christian Lowe directed at the net from close range ticked off the skate of Cougars defenceman Matthew Magrath and dropped in over the goalie’s shoulder. Chapman didn’t move until the puck was already in the net.
“I lost it in the sun – it was pretty hard the first two periods, I was basically squinting the whole time,” said Chapman, a 17-yearold from Williams Lake. “There were a couple saves I didn’t even see the puck. I just got lucky and it hit me.”
Officially, the game went into the books as a 2-2 tie. Unofficially, the Cougars came away with a 3-2 shootout victory to earn bragging rights for the year.
The game was the focal point for the teams from Vancouver and Prince George and a crowd of about 700 spectators at Fort St. James, a town of about 1,600 located on the western shores of Stuart Lake, 160 kilometres northwest of Prince George. But it was much more than a game. It was a hockey revival likely to have lasting cultural effects.
Minor hockey in Fort St. James
was in the doldrums. The indoor arena, Fort Forum, where the Cougars and Chiefs played to a 4-4 tie Saturday night, was shut down until January. Teams were forced to travel 61 km south to Vanderhoof for practices until safety improvements mandated by the province in the wake of the Oct. 17, 2017 ammonia leak that killed three workers in Fernie Memorial Arena were approved. The Winter Classic spurred the town and the band council of Nak’azdli Whu’ten First Nation into action. The Ernie Sam rink built 10 years ago had fallen into disrepair. The boards were starting to splinter and ice quality depended on volunteers with hoses – no Zamboni floods.
Knowing what was coming in January, the Nak’azdli Band Council under chief Alex McKinnon approved $50,000 in rink improvements to install glass and netting, anchor the boards and put up a score clock. The town supplied its rink maintenance staff to work with Cougars general manager Trevor Sprague and his volunteer crew of eight who gave up days of their time in the week before the game to get the ice at both rinks ready for the games.
Bill Cash, who billets Cougars forward Andrew Hammond, drove out from Prince George a few days before the game to help with the rink floods at both arenas every
few hours in the lead-up to the weekend games.
“I was here three days doing the ice and painting the lines – lot of effort and time went into this because they had no ice,” said Cash. “Trevor’s been here since Monday and if it wasn’t for him I
don’t know if they’d even have ice in the town.” The Cougars arranged to borrow rows of portable metal stands from the City of Prince George and Sprague and his crew worked hours setting them up to give spectators a good view of the rink. What they didn’t count on was the weather being so warm. After dipping down to just minus 3 C overnight, the mercury climbed to almost 4 C on game day and a steady stream of water was dripping off the roof right onto the seats. Dressed in his suit and no overcoat, Sprague made a valiant effort to turn off the taps, going up
Good on Fort St. James and the band for putting in their money because it wouldn’t have happened without them. They’ll have this rink forever.
— Shawn Gendron
in a cherry-picker with a broom to try to sweep off the snow but it continued to melt, forcing spectators to sit on the high rows of the stands to stay dry.
“The whole community came together – the donations and time they put in to make it happen, that’s what it takes, a family,” said Shawn Gendron, a former Prince George Cougar whose son Jacob plays defence for Cariboo. “Good on Fort St. James and the band for putting in their money because it wouldn’t have happened without them. They’ll have this rink forever.”
Dawn Morris had a front-row seat which gave her a unique view of Mount Pope in the distance.
“It’s pretty cool, you can see the mountains in the background and watch hockey at the same time,” said Morris. “We need to have more family things like this and to bring hockey back. This looks like an NHL rink.”
— see ‘THIS IS, page 12
CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE
Connor Fleming of the Cougars celebrates after scoring the opening goal of the Winter Classic.
CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE Jacob Gendron of the Cougars puts a shot on net during the Winter Classic.
Sharks put bite on Caps in OT
Sixth loss in a row for Washington
Citizen news service
WASHINGTON — Logan Couture needed a new stick for overtime.
So convinced the San Jose Sharks were heading toward another loss, Couture went to the bench and broke his stick over the boards. Then he looked up and saw Evander Kane score the tying goal with one second left. Minutes later, Tomas Hertl completed his hat trick in overtime to beat the Washington Capitals 7-6 Tuesday night.
Hertl went hat trick-for-hat trick with Alex Ovechkin, scoring 1:48 into the extra period to snap the Sharks’ losing streak at three and send them into a 10-day break on a high note.
“All the guys in here could’ve easily looked forward to tomorrow and our break, but we decided to play hard for the third and found a way to tie it up and win it,” Couture said after the Sharks erased a two-goal deficit in the third period. “Pretty wild to be able to tie that up there. Just a big-time goal and Herts to complete the hat trick was awesome there.”
San Jose has allowed six goals in each of its past four games, and goaltender Martin Jones wasn’t at his best in giving up six on 39 shots this time. But he made two big saves in overtime to keep the game going.
The defending Stanley Cup champion Capitals have lost six in a row for the first time since the 2013-14 season, the last time they missed the playoffs. All-Star goalie Braden Holtby fought the puck at times in allowing seven goals on 43 shots.
“That’s not the way we need to play to win hockey games,” Holtby said. “We obviously haven’t been winning much lately. The solution isn’t to open up the game and go chance-for-chance. It’s a reality check. This is not good enough to win. From me, from all of us.”
Raptors overpower Kings
TORONTO (CP) — With Kawhi Leonard on a eight-day break, the Raptors’ depth is shining through.
Six Raptors scored in double figures Tuesday as Toronto downed the Sacramento Kings 120-105 to extend its season-high home winning streak to 10 games. The win marked the third straight game Leonard has missed for rest purposes. Toronto (36-13) has won all three, taking advantage of three Western Conference teams – Phoenix, Memphis and the Kings –currently out of the playoff picture. In all, Leonard has sat out 13 games this
Ovechkin, who scored goal Nos. 34, 35 and 36 to pad his NHL-leading total, took the blame for the loss for failing to make the right play with 20 seconds left and the Sharks’ net empty. Ovechkin’s shot attempt went off defenceman Brent Burns, and San Jose went the other way.
“Tough loss,” Ovechkin said. “It was my mistake at the end of the game. I tried to make a rush play. Have to be better in this situation.”
Ovechkin’s hat trick was his third this season and 23rd of his career, and he has sole possession of 14th on the career list with 643 goals. That bit of history was not enough to get Washington out of its funk.
Although Joe Pavelski scored 12 seconds in, the Capitals took the lead midway through the first period and the Sharks were at their best playing from behind. Hertl scored twice on the power play, and his second goal kept San Jose in it with Jones pulled for an extra skater.
After Couture went to the bench for a line change, his teammates got the puck into the zone and Kane managed to tap it in past Holtby with a second left on the clock. Kane had no doubt the puck was in before the buzzer, even though it showed 0.0 on the scoreboard.
“Just wanted to forecheck the puck hard and try to get it to the front of the net somehow,” Kane said. “We got in there, Pavs was able to pick it up, threw it at the end. Just desperate attempt, and it found its way to the backdoor.”
Pavelski and Hertl each had four points in what coach Peter DeBoer likened to an East Coast All-Star Game five days early. It wasn’t an effort the Sharks were proud of, but after a rough road trip, they’ll take it.
“We get it done, and the biggest thing is we get two big points before the bye week because it’s nice, a better feeling to fly back home before the break,” said Hertl, who has 22 goals this season. “I’m happy for the whole team because everybody put their everything.”
season with Toronto 11-2 in his absence.
With Jonas Valanciunas recovering from thumb surgery and OG Anunoby away for personal reasons, there are minutes available.
Head coach Nick Nurse dipped deep into his bench Tuesday, using 11 different players in a scrappy first half.
Leonard and Anunoby are scheduled to sit out today’s game in Indiana but will be back for Friday’s contest in Houston.
On Tuesday, the Raptors started Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, Danny Green, Pascal Siakam and Serge Ibaka.
‘This is bringing everybody together’
— from page 11
Shayne Firshner and Matty Saharchuk had the most comfortable seat at the rink. They strapped a leather couch to the top of their truck and parked in a corner. All they needed was the permission of the chief, which they did get.
Janie Jarvis from Manson Creek and her sister Gloria Alexander from Germansen Landing got there early to claim their high-and-dry perch. “I’m expecting to win the 50-50,” laughed Alexander.
They made the three-hour trek south to watch Jarvis’s 11-year-old granddaughter Kristen Teegee play for the Fort St. James Stars in a peewee girls game against Burns Lake the previous night in Fort Forum, which just opened for the season last week.
“They didn’t have icetime all winter and when they practiced they just ran around at the rink,” said Jarvis. “Now they can practice here at the (Ernie Sam) arena. Everyone’s happy.”
The legacy of the Winter Classic goes well beyond the rink improvements that spruced up Ernie Sam Memorial Arena. The outdoor rink sits on the dividing line between the Nak’azdli Whu’ten reserve and the town itself and RCMP Const. Justin Balfour, the community liaison officer for Fort St. James, predicts the rink will become a gathering place that will help unite white and native cultures. Balfour says other RCMP officers in the area plan to form a hockey team to play against kids around town on the outdoor ice, which will be maintained by indoor arena staff.
seeing friends he hadn’t seen for a long time.
“To see this calibre out here in the north is just amazing,” said Duncan. “This is going to build the town, it brings the whites and the Indians together and combines people. Everybody loves hockey. We’re so close here, I grew up with the white kids and we’re like brothers and sisters. I’m just happy. It’s beautiful.”
The Ernie Sam rink is 31 feet shorter and 16 feet narrower than an NHL-sized rink and as expected in a clash of two fast-skating, hard-checking teams, collisions were frequent and sometimes violent, with bodies flying into the boards, sometimes head over heels.
Cougars forward Lane Goodwin, 17, is from Fort St. James and like his teammates he had Jan. 19 circled on his calendar ever since the B.C. Hockey Major Midget League schedule was released last August.
“It was pretty fun, there were a lot of people I knew who came out and watched and it would have been a bit better if we got two wins this weekend but it was a great experience playing outside for the first time,” said Goodwin. “The barn out there is really good, the ice was a little soft but it was still fun to play on. It was sunny and not too cold.
This game is going to start a lot of good things. — Nolan Sagalon
Winning the shootout was the highlight.”
“The work they’ve done to the outdoor rink is a huge improvement to the community, especially for the youth of Nak’azdli, and it’s nice to see the community come together as a whole and enjoy this event,” said Balfour. “Especially for the youth, it’s about dropping those cultural boundaries. We all have the issues we’re born with, but to be able to come together and enjoy the sport and watch some upper-tier hockey, it’s a good thing for the community. They put all the work in this year and hopefully going forward we’ll be able to do this year after year. It’s all about bringing down borders.”
Nolan Sagalon, a youth counselor for the Nak’azdli Health Centre, used to play on the Ernie Sam ice but he’s been seeing fewer kids playing the game, which reflects the declines in minor hockey registration.
“Hockey has been dying in this town for the past few years and we struggled to have midget teams and I’m really pumped that this will get more kids more into hockey,” said Sagalon. “I have all these kids who stopped playing this year and now they’re like, ‘I should start playing, it could lead somewhere.’
“This is a small community and the youth fall into drugs and alcohol. They need activities to keep their minds busy and this is perfect for the community, it brought everyone together. You have people from out of town because they’re proud of what the town is doing, for once. This game is going to start a lot of good things.”
Donny John brought his two-year-old son Benjamin to the game and it was a new experience for both of them.
“I’ve never seen hockey before, this is the first time and it’s pretty good,” said John. “He’s enjoying it. This is bringing everybody together.”
Barry Duncan, who lives on the Binche Keyoh reserve northwest of the town, was
The game was sanctioned by Hockey Canada and B.C. Hockey and was the country’s first modern-era major midget game played outdoors. In the lead-up to the weekend games, the players visited the two elementary schools and worked with minor hockey teams to offer tips on how to play the game.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event for these players to play,” said Sean Orr, B.C. Hockey senior manager of leagues and events. “If you think of the mystique of pond hockey as a child growing up there’s nothing better than an outdoor game. It’s part of the Canadian culture and the work that’s gone into this is fantastic.
“To have this outdoor facility is a fantastic legacy that will be here for future years. The event is one thing, it’s everything else that goes into building it, all the auxiliary events that happen is what makes it a special thing.”
Skate blades turned the ice to snow shavings and both goalies made sure to build up their little snow fortresses around the posts whenever they had the chance. Chapman was under siege early in the game by the Chiefs, who came out sporting balaclavas under their helmets. With both teams generating quality scoring chances he had to be sharp to keep it scoreless heading into the second period, coming up with three stellar saves in the opening frame to rob Ryan Tattle. Connor Fleming opened the scoring for the Cougars 7:15 into the second period with his 22nd of the season, batting down a rebound with what was close to being a high stick. Brennan Bott made it a 2-0 count 54 seconds later, scoring an unassisted goal when he picked the corner behind goalie Michael Harroch with a sharp-angle shot while standing near the goal line.
After Lowe made it close just before the second intermission, the tying goal for the Chiefs came 12:58 into the third period. Samuel Schofield, who drew an assist on Lowe’s goal, let go a hard low snapshot and Chapman didn’t see that one coming either with a pileup of bodies blocking his view. — see ‘IT WAS, page 13
Brett Fudger of the Cariboo Cougars picks up a loose puck along the boards during the Winter Classic, played Sunday at Ernie Sam Memorial Arena.
Almeida scores OT winner against Cougars
Ted CLARKE Citizen staff tclarke@pgcitizen.ca
Justin Almeida fired the dagger, 30 seconds into overtime.
The former Prince George Cougar foiled his former team just the way he had it framed and he could not have written a better script.
The 3-2 winner for the Moose Jaw Warriors’ left winger came right after Warriors goalie Adam Evanoff shot out his leg to stop a shot from Josh Curtis that was heading into the net. The puck came to Josh Brook, who sent a pass up to Tristin Langan, who hit Almeida breaking in on the left wing.
“We gave up a 3-on-2 there and then we got a turnover and had a 2-on-0 with their backchecker,” said Almeida, who also assisted on the Warriors’ first goal. “I got the pass and saw (Cats defenceman Ryan Schoettler) had his stick over so I wasn’t going to pass back and I just shot it in.”
The game marked the return of Almeida to CN Centre for the second time since the Cougars traded him to Moose Jaw two seasons ago in the deal that brought forward Nikita Popugaev to the Cougars. Coming off a 98-point season last year, the 19-yearold from Kitimat, a fifth-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2018, picked up where he left off after he was named Monday as the WHL’s player of the week with three goals and five assists in four games against B.C. Division opponents.
The Cougars picked Almeida fifth overall in the 2014 bantam draft.
“It’s awesome – that’s my old team and I have some friends on that team and a lot of friends in the stands so it’s cool when you score a goal like that,” said Almeida, second in team scoring with 15 goals and 60
points in 40 games. “My uncle’s here (from Kitimat) and a few friends so it’s really cool when I can perform like that.”
The Warriors (25-11-6-2) improved on their already stellar road record, improving to 16-3-2-0. They were coming off a 2-1 overtime loss Sunday in Vancouver, after regulation wins in Kamloops, Kelowna and Victoria. But the Cougars played them tough all game, trying to end a four-game losing streak, limiting the Warriors to just 16 shots.
“We just play hard,” said Almeida, whose team was outshot 25-16. “Tonight we didn’t play too hard but we found a way to win. They played hard defensively and we kind of struggled with the puck today.”
The Cougars (15-25-3-2), who are fight-
ing for the second wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference, pulled even with Kamloops, the fourth-place team in the B.C. Division.
Isaiah Colina and Vladislav Mikhalchuk scored for the Cougars. Langan and Jet Woo were the Warriors’ marksmen.
In a rapid-fire first period with few stoppages the Cougars notched the only goal, cashing in an odd-man rush with 1:42 left in the period. Schoettler sprung Tyson Upper on a left-wing rush, with Josh Curtis and Colina joined in, using his speed to create a 3-on-1. He took the feed from Upper and blasted the puck in behind Evanoff. It was the first goal for Colina since Dec. 2 when he scored against the Victoria Royals. Mikhalchuk doubled the lead 3:51 into the second period after defenceman Cole Moberg used his knowledge of the end boards to rifle a point shot purposely wide to create a golden opportunity for his teammate. The puck ricocheted out to Mikhalchuk standing in the deep slot and he buried it in over Evanoff’s glove.
Isaiah DiLaura, making his first start in the Cougars’ nets since Dec. 30, drew the assignment with Taylor Gauthier off to Red Deer to play in the CHL Top Prospects Game tonight, made a sparking save to keep the Warriors off the board 45 seconds into the second period. DiLaura dove across the crease to get his body in the way of Luke Ormsby’s shot from just outside the crease after he took the pass from linemate Keenan Taphorn.
Almeida assisted on linemate Langan’s team-leading 37th goal of the season which made it a 2-1 game 7:12 into the second period. Almeida put the puck back to the point for Montreal Canadiens draft pick Josh Brook and his shot was tipped in front by Langan.
The Cougars, trying to shake a four-game
Serena falls to Pliskova at Australian Open
MELBOURNE (AP) — Serena Williams was one point – just one – from quite a comeback victory in the Australian Open quarterfinals when she turned her left ankle.
Everything unraveled from there.
In a startling reversal and result, Williams wasted four match points along the way to
dropping the last six games of a 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 loss to No. 7 seed Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic at Melbourne Park on Wednesday. “I was almost in the locker room,” said Pliskova, who trailed 5-1 in the third set, “but now I’m standing here as the winner.”
So instead of Williams moving closer to
an eighth championship at the Australian Open and record-tying 24th Grand Slam title overall, it is Pliskova who will continue her pursuit of her first major trophy.
In the semifinals, Pliskova will face No. 4-seeded Naomi Osaka, who advanced by beating No. 6 Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-1 earlier Wednesday.
losing streak, went right back to creating chances in front of Evanoff while offering very few good looks at their own net to their opponents. A quick whistle saved a goal near the end of the period when Moberg’s shot gave Evanoff difficulty and slipped through his pads.
The Warriors tied it 6:14 into the third period after a rare extended shift in the Cougars’ end. Denill Stepanov played the puck smartly with his skates to keep Austin Crossley from taking possession and kicked it up to Woo, the Vancouver Canucks second-rounder n 2018. Woo walked in from the blueline and from the top of the circle wired a hard wrister in past DiLaura.
LOOSE PUCKS: The Cougars play their next five games on the road, including games this weekend in Calgary, Red Deer and Edmonton. They’ll return to Prince George after the game against the Oil Kings, followed by games next weekend in Kamloops and Kelowna. The Cats have 23 games left in the regular season, 12 on the road and 11 at home… Just 2,169 turned out to watch the midweek game – the third-smallest home crowd for the Cougars this season. Their two-game set Oct. 23-24 against Tri-City drew 2,162 and 2,130… The Cougars were without winger Josh Maser, their leading goal-scorer, who began a three-game suspension Tuesday after a high hit on Kamloops Blazers D Quinn Schmiemann. There was no penalty on the play. Schmiemann suffered a concussion and is sidelined for the week…. Left winger Kjell Kjemhus played his first game against his former team. The Cougars traded him Dec. 3 for a seventh-round pick in 2021… Taphorn, a right winger, and his twin brother Kaedon, who plays left wing for the Warriors, were both traded to Moose Jaw in an October deal with the Kootenay Ice.
Williams’ surprising loss scuttled a muchanticipated rematch after her loss to Osaka in the chaotic U.S. Open final last September. The 37-year-old American’s match against Pliskova was played under a stifling sun, with the temperature around 25 C, and Williams often stepped into the patches of shade behind each baseline.
‘It was a crazy experience, one I’m sure I’ll remember forever’
— from page 12
The mid-period shovelings kept the ice more conducive to sliding pucks but eventually a rut developed behind the Cougar net in the third period that went right down to the concrete. Local ice experts Tony Panchenko and Ryan Legebokoff had to come out several times during game stoppages to patch the hole with snow and water – the price that had to be paid for winter not dealing out a -30 C January chill. When the third period ended many of the fans were hoping to see some overtime but that only happens in the playoffs in the major midget league. Considering that big rut in the ice it was probably better for everybody on the ice that it went to shootout to decide bragging rights.
Cougars winger Alex Ochitwa was the only successful shootout shooter, scoring in the fourth
round with a shot in under Harroch’s blocker. Chapman ended it in the fifth round when he stuck out his glove to deny Chiefs captain Dante Ballarin.
“It was nice to get a win – too bad it didn’t count for us. It’s unfortunate, we were hoping to get overtime there,” said Ochitwa. “We had momentum and we were thinking we could have won that one.”
Ochitwa grew up in Prince George and has played lots of shinny games on outdoor ice but never a meaningful game like Sunday’s and never on a rink that’s just 169 feet long and 68 feet wide. The third-place Cougars (165-5-0) and second-place Chiefs (17-5-4-2) are neck-and-neck in the BCHMML standings. Counting the tie the night before in the Fort Forum, the Chiefs remain three points ahead of Cariboo.
“It was special to play in this game, it was pretty different to
Anthony Maletta. Attendance – 2,169. Scratches – Moose Jaw: D Matthew Sanders (healthy), C Tate Popple (loer body, day-today), D Daemon Hunt (upper body, week-to-week), LW Cameron Sterling (healthy); Prince George: G
have a high-level, high-compete game outside and it was a good experience,” said Ochitwa. “It was tight, there wasn’t a lot of room and you had to fight for every inch. Everybody was telling us to just put the puck on net because everywhere over the blueline was a scoring opportunity.”
Ballarin grew up in Vancouver and had never played hockey on anything but indoor ice.
“There’s a lot of fans out here and nobody’s ever experienced something like this before, it’s a special feeling,” said Ballarin.
“The plays were coming fast and you had to make decisions quicker or you give the puck up or get hit. Sometimes we weren’t even thinking, just trying to get pucks out of our zone. The ice didn’t help but I think we managed pretty well.
“Back home it’s definitely not like this. This is a tight community so it’s really cool to see this exists up here.”
The game Sunday has been the talk of the league all season and it lived up to the hype. The fact Sprague and the Cougars want to make it an annual event means the nine other teams who didn’t get to play in the inaugural game are going to want to be there next year. Sprague says he’ll likely pick another Lower Mainland-based team.
Until they’re old and gray, the Cougars and Chiefs are going to be talking about their weekend
coming to a remote part of the province to show off their hockey skills in the great outdoors in a small town where they got treated like rock stars.
“It’s just a great thing that we got done – we’re blessed and thankful for everything that Sprague and everyone involved did to make this possible,” said Chapman. “It was tough, especially with the ice conditions but it was pretty fun and I was happy to be part of it.”
Chiefs goalie Harroch, 17, considered himself lucky to be one of the game’s central figures.
“It was a crazy experience, one I’m sure I’ll remember forever,” said Harroch. “The ice got a little tough but the experience was fantastic. I’m think, for sure, this will be something that people look forward to and hope to be chosen to go up and play. It’s kind of a surreal experience.”
MIKHALCHUK
In Memory of David Howard Lindstrom
On January 14, 2019, David died at the age of 84 years. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Dorala (Sadler) Lindstrom, his son Michael Lindstrom (Brenda), daughter, Debi De Bin, 4 grandchildren and 3 great grandsons. David was predeceased by daughter, Diane Lindstrom. David was born in 1934 in Santa Rosa, California and he married Dorala in 1954. David’s passion for music began at an early age and continued throughout his life. While in California, he received a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Education, and then earned his Masters in Vocal Performance in 1962. In 1968, David was invited to initiate the music program and also teach music at the new Prince George Secondary High School. Upon his acceptance of this position, the family moved from California to Prince George, BC, in 1969. After Prince George Secondary School, he taught Music and Social Studies at Lakewood Junior Secondary School for many years. His prolific music career included setting up the music program for School District # 57, assuming leadership of the Prince George Cantata Singers, taking part in a wide variety of musical performances, and supporting and participating in many musical endeavours throughout the region.
His teaching career spanned 41 years. Through it all, his faith and personal relationship with God was the foundation of his life.
A Celebration of God’s faithfulness as He walked beside David, will take place February 4, 2019 @ 2PM at Fort George Baptist Church - 1600 Johnson Street, Prince George, BC. If you want to do something in memory of David, please do a kindness for an older person.
It is with great sadness we announce the passing of our beloved Mother and “Nanna,” Natalina Maria Pellegrino, who passed away peacefully on Saturday, January 19, 2019, at the age of 84. Natalina was born in Scigliano, Italy on December 23, 1934, and immigrated to Canada in 1963, to join her husband in order to build a better life for their young family. Natalina was a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother whose greatest joy in life was to spend time with her family. Natalina is survived by her daughter, Filomena (Angelo), and sons Ted (Sherry), Hugo (Tracey), and Tony (Velinda). She will also be lovingly remembered by her grandchildren Daniela (Darren), Doriana, Briana (Paul), Stefanie, Sofia, Maximo and great-grandson Christian. Brothers Raimondo (Esterina), Albino (Algidia), and numerous nieces, nephews, family members and friends.
Natalina was predeceased by her parents Antonio and Filomena Astorino, her loving husband, Egidio and by her 6 bothers and 2 sisters. Prayers will be held at Sacred Heart Cathedral on Thursday, January 24, 2019 at 7:00 pm followed by the Funeral Mass on Friday, January 25, 2019 at 10:00 am. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the charity of your choice.
A special thank you to Dr. Higgins who provided care and support to Natalina and her family.
MONTREAL — Netflix is apologizing to the people of Lac-Megantic after actual footage of the 2013 rail disaster that devastated the town was used in dramas on the streaming service.
The company says it had not been aware of the source of the footage used briefly in the hit movie Bird Box and the series Travelers. The images show the explosion that killed 47 people when an oil-laden train derailed in the middle of downtown.
“We regret any pain caused to the Lac-Megantic community and have expressed this directly to Mayor Julie Morin,” the letter addressed to Quebec Culture Minister Nathalie Roy said.
Dated Monday, it is signed by Corie Wright, Netflix Inc. director of public policy.
The company says it will take steps to avoid use of images from Lac-Megantic or any similar stock footage in future productions.
But it says that since use of stock footage is so widespread on Netflix, it cannot make changes to “finished content.”
Roy wrote to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings last Friday asking that the footage be removed from the dramatic productions and used only in documentaries. She said it was unacceptable to use human tragedies for entertainment purposes.
Netflix has refused to remove the footage from Bird Box, despite appeals from Roy and Morin. The producers of Travelers have said they are working replace the Lac-Megantic images in their show.
In an emailed statement, Roy welcomed Netflix’s apology and its recognition of its mistake.
“However, we find it regrettable that the company is maintaining its decision not to remove the images of this tragedy from the film Bird Box, when it has already accepted to do so for another of its series, which in our eyes is illogical,” she said.
Brown released in Paris after rape complaint
Citizen news service
PARIS — U.S. singer Chris Brown and two other people were released Tuesday from police custody after a woman filed a rape complaint against them, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.
The Grammy-winning singer was detained Monday with two other suspects on potential charges of aggravated rape and drug infractions.
The Paris prosecutor’s office told The Associated Press that Brown has been authorized to leave France while the investigation is ongoing.
A post late Tuesday on Brown’s Instagram page strongly denied the accusations.
“I WANNA MAKE IT PERFECTLY CLEAR...... THIS IS FALSE,” the post said. “FOR MY DAUGHTER AND MY FAMILY THIS IS SO DISPRESPECTFUL AND IS AGAINST MY CHARACTER AND MORALS!!!!!”
Brown’s publicists at Sony Music wouldn’t comment Tuesday on the complaint or say what
Brown, 29, was doing in Paris. His U.S. attorney, Mark Geragos, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Brown has been in repeated legal trouble since pleading guilty to the felony assault in 2009 of his then-girlfriend, Rihanna. He completed his probation in that case in 2015, but has continued to have run-ins with police.
The woman who filed the Paris complaint said she met Brown and his friends overnight Jan. 15-16 at the club Le Crystal in the 8th arrondissement near the Champs-Elysees, and then they all went to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel near the Concorde Plaza in central Paris, according to a police official.
One of Brown’s bodyguards is among the others detained in the Paris investigation, according to the official. They are being held by judicial police in the 17th arrondissement of northwest Paris, the official said.
The police official wasn’t authorized to be publicly named to discuss the investigation.
Roma, The Favourite lead Oscar nominations
Oscar voters on Tuesday showered
Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma and Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite with a leading 10 nominations to the 91st Academy Awards, while two dominant but contentious Hollywood forces – Netflix and Marvel – each scored their first best picture nomination.
Though many expected A Star Is Born, Bradley Cooper’s tear-inducing revival of one of Hollywood’s most oft-remade show-business myths, to top the nominations, Cooper was surprisingly overlooked as director and the academy instead put its fullest support behind a pair of indies by international directors.
With the black-and-white, Spanish-language Roma, Netflix scored its first best picture nomination, a prize the streaming giant has dearly sought. Marvel, too, joined the club with Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther, the first superhero movie ever nominated for best picture. Cuaron tied the record for most decorated Oscar nominee ever for one film with four individual nods for Roma, his deeply personal exhumation of his Mexico City childhood. Cuaron was nominated for direction, cinematography, original screenplay and best picture. Only Orson Welles (Citizen Kane) and Warren Beatty (who did it twice with Reds and Heaven Can Wait) have matched the four-nod feat.
Just as rewarded Tuesday was Lanthimos’ period romp, which resounded most in the acting categories thanks to its trio of actresses: Olivia Colman in the best actress category, and Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone in supporting.
Along with Roma and The Favourite, the eight nominees for best picture were: Peter Farrelly’s interracial road trip tale Green Book, Coogler’s superhero sensation Black Panther, Spike Lee’s white supremacist evisceration BlacKkKlansman, the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, Adam McKay’s highly critical Dick Cheney biopic Vice and A Star Is Born, which still landed eight nominations, including best actress for Lady Gaga and best supporting actor for Sam Elliott.
Black Panther, the year’s biggest domestic box-office hit and a bona fide cultural event, finally cracked the category long kryptonite to superheroes. Despite the overwhelming popularity of comic book movies, they had previously been shunned from Hollywood’s top honour to the consternation of some industry insiders. After The Dark Knight was snubbed in 2009, the academy expanded the best picture category from five to up to 10 nominees.
(First Reformed) and John David Washington (BlacKkKlansman).
The nominees for best supporting actress were Amy Adams (Vice), Marina De Tavira (Roma), Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk), along with Stone and Weisz. Tavira was something a surprise, likely unseating Claire Foy of First Man.
But perhaps the biggest acting snub came in best supporting actor, where Timothee Chalamet, who broke through last year with Call Me By Your Name, was left out for his drug addict in Beautiful Boy. Nominated were Mahershala Ali (Green Book), Adam Driver (BlacKkKlansman), Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) and Sam Rockwell (Vice).
Black Panther, the year’s biggest domestic box-office hit and a bona fide cultural event, finally cracked the category long kryptonite to superheroes.
The lush, big-budget craft of Black Panther was rewarded with seven total nominations, including Hannah Beachler and Jay Hart’s production design, Terence Blanchard’s score, Ruth Carter’s costume design and Kendrick Lamar’s All the Stars. Beachler became the first African-American nominated for production design.
There has likewise been resistance among some academy members to awarding Netflix films since the company typically bypasses movie theatres. Steven Spielberg has said Netflix films are more like TV movies and deserve an Emmy, not an Oscar. Netflix altered its policy for Roma and the Coen brothers’ The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (which earned three unexpected nods), premiering them first in theatres before debuting them on Netflix. In turn, it was rewarded with 13 nominations overall, second only to Fox Searchlight’s 15.
Thirty years after landing a writing nod for 1989’s Do the Right Thing, Lee was nominated for his first directing Oscar for his BlacKkKlansman. The other directing nominees were Lanthimos, Cuaron, Pawel Pawlikowski (Cold War) and McKay (Vice) – a field that, a year after continued focus on gender inequality in Hollywood, included no female directors. Some had campaigned for Debra Granik (Leave No Trace) or Chloe Zhao (The Rider) to become the sixth woman ever nominated for best director.
The nominations, announced by Kumail Nanjiani and Tracee Ellis Ross from the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre in Beverly Hills, Calif., included plenty of surprises. In a banner year for documentaries, the Fred Rogers documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbour was snubbed despite more than $22 million in ticket sales (a huge sum for a doc). Instead the nominees were Free Solo, Hale County This Morning, This Evening, Minding the Gap, Of Fathers and Sons and the Ruth Bader Ginsberg portrait RBG.
The acting categories played out largely as expected with a few notable differences. Along with Lady Gaga and Colman, the best actress nominees are Yalitza Aparicio (Roma), Glenn Close (The Wife) and Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?).
In best actor, the expected front runner Christian Bale was nominated for his transformation into Cheney in Vice (his fourth Oscar nod), along with Cooper, Willem Dafoe (At Eternity’s Gate), Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) and Viggo Mortensen (Green Book). Notably left out were Ethan Hawke
Some Oscar regulars were honoured again. Joel and Ethan Coen notched their seventh screenwriting nomination. Close, never a winner, landed her seventh acting nod. But the nominees were crowded with first-timers, including new performers (Aparicio) and veteran ones (Grant, Colman, Driver, King). Paul Schrader, the 72-year-old Taxi Driver scribe, was nominated for his first Oscar for the script to his religious thriller First Reformed.
The lead-up to Tuesday’s nominations was rocky for both the film academy and some of the contending movies. Shortly after being announced as host, comedian Kevin Hart was forced to withdraw over years-old homophobic tweets that the comedian eventually apologized for. That has left the Oscars, one month before the Feb. 24 ceremony, without an emcee, and likely to stay that way.
Some film contenders, like Green Book and the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, have suffered waves upon waves of backlash, even as their awards tallies have mounted. Before landing five nominations Tuesday, Green Book – which has been criticized for relying on racial tropes – won the top award from the Producers Guild, an honour that has been a reliable Oscar barometer. In the 10 years since the Oscars expanded its best-picture ballot, the PGA winner has gone on to win best picture eight times.
The season’s steadiest contender – Cooper’s A Star Is Born – looked potentially unbeatable until it got beat. Despite an enviable string of awards and more than $400 million in worldwide box office, Cooper’s lauded remake was almost totally ignored at the Golden Globes. Still, A Star Is Born was the sole film to land top nominations from virtually every guild group.
Potentially benefiting this year’s broadcast will be a number of popular nominees. Black Panther, Bohemian Rhapsody and A Star Is Born have all done enormous box office. Just how many people have seen Roma, though, remains a mystery. Netflix doesn’t release box office receipts or streaming viewership.
It’s also an usually international crop of nominees. It’s only the second time directors from two foreign language films were nominated for best director (Cuaron and Poland’s Pawlikowski). Roma is aiming to be the first foreign language film to ever win best picture. Some of that could be attributed to changing academy, which has greatly expanded its ranks in recent years to diversify its membership, including more overseas members. Up for best
and the Palme d’Or winner, Shoplifters (Japan).
Jake COYLE Citizen news service
foreign language film are Roma, Cold War (Poland), Capernaum (Lebanon), Never Look Away (Germany)
AP PHOTO
This image released by Netflix shows Yalitza Aparicio in a scene from the film Roma. Aparicio was nominated Tuesday for a best actress Oscar.
AP PHOTO
This image released by Fox Searchlight Pictures shows Emma Stone in The Favourite. Stone has been nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar for her work in the film.
‘An
excessive amount of due diligence’
Alberta gov’t to partially backstop $2-billion bitumen upgrader
Bill GRAVELAND Citizen news service
CALGARY — The Alberta
government is providing a $440-million loan guarantee to help a Calgary-based company build a bitumen upgrader east of Edmonton.
Value Creation Inc. says it’s ready to break ground on the $2-billion upgrader that would convert more than 77,000 barrels of diluted bitumen each day into medium synthetic crude and an ultra-low-sulphur diesel.
Synthetic crude can flow easier through pipelines and the company says that would reduce the need for diluent or thinning agent while increasing pipeline capacity by up to 30 per cent.
“With our proprietary technology we are able to first clean up this very nasty bitumen... such that we can achieve much lower capital costs, operating costs, energy costs and greenhouse emissions,” Columba Yeung, chairman and CEO of Value Creation, said Tuesday.
Premier Rachel Notley said the loan guarantee for the Heartland Upgrader is part of her government’s strategy and is all the support the company will receive.
“We’re just looking at the loan guarantee and... as you can imagine we’ve gone through an excessive amount of due diligence already. There would be much more due diligence that would go on between the letter of intent and the binding agreement being signed,” she said at a news conference.
“Of course, we’d ultimately be looking at a number of conditions... before the guarantee
Tilray to buy Natura for up to $70M
Tilray Inc. has inked a deal to buy Natura Naturals Holdings Inc. for up to $70 million, a move which roughly doubles the licensed cannabis producer’s domestic cultivation capacity.
Under the agreement announced Tuesday, the Nanaimo-based company will acquire Natura’s 61,500-square-metre greenhouse cultivation facility, of which 14,400 square metres is licensed.
Tilray chief executive Brendan Kennedy said Natura, a licensed cultivator under the Cannabis Act through a whollyowned subsidiary in Leamington, Ont., was selected after an “extensive and thorough search for the right supply partner.”
“We’re very pleased to have an agreement in place that allows us to expand our capacity to supply high-quality branded cannabis products to the Canadian market,” Kennedy said in a statement.
The company will pay $35 million upon closing of the transaction, consisting of $15 million in cash and $20 million stock when the transaction closes.
The total purchase price may reach $70 million upon Natura hitting certain quarterly production milestones during the subsequent 12-month period, payable in up to $35 million worth of Tilray shares.
Tilray’s move comes as recreational cannabis retailers, both private and governmentrun, continue to face a supply crunch more than three months after Canada legalized pot for adult use on Oct. 17.
would come in place.”
Notley said the project is expected to create more than 2,000 jobs during construction and another 200 full-time positions once the upgrader is running in 2022. It was its advanced technology that made it an ideal candidate for support, she said.
“It upgrades the bitumen so that there are more refineries in the world that can use it, which helps drive up the price for it. It reduces (the bitumen’s) volume to help with takeaway capacity, which we all know is a problem.”
Alberta’s official Opposition said there was nothing new in the
announcement.
“We agree that Alberta needs to pursue more upgrading, refining and petrochemical developments. The question is how best to achieve that, and we look forward to seeing a complete economic assessment from the NDP,” said Prasad Panda, energy critic for the United Conservative Party. He suggested the problems facing Alberta oil and gas producers will remain unchanged.
“The premier told Albertans that a carbon tax on their daily living would secure so-called social licence for a pipeline. Albertans still have the carbon tax,
but not an inch of pipe is in the ground.”
Notley said she’s unsure about the support the project would receive if another party were elected in the upcoming spring vote.
“When we introduced this program... at the time the energy critic for the official Opposition referred to the businesses with whom we would be partnering or supporting as folks that were lining up at the trough,” she said.
“That’s not necessarily a good signal, but it’s not black and white and I’ll leave it to them to speak to it.”
Stronach family feud escalates
Ian BICKIS Citizen news service
TORONTO — Belinda Stronach has counter-sued her father for millions of dollars in a statement of defence that alleges he lost vast sums of money on pet projects.
She claims in an Ontario Superior Court of Justice filing that she is owed about $33 million from her father Frank Stronach from funds she gave him for a run at politics in Austria and to settle unpaid taxes in the country.
Frank Stronach, who founded Magna International Inc., sued his daughter and others last year for more than $500 million over alleged mismanagement of the family’s assets and trust funds.
The elder Stronach had accused his daughter as well as former business partner Alon Ossip of appropriating family funds for their personal benefit.
The dispute focuses on control of The Stronach Group, the centre of a number of businesses focused on thoroughbred horse racing and gaming that Frank Stronach expanded to farming
and golf course development.
In the statement of defence filed Monday, Belinda Stronach said she had to intervene to stem losses from the hundreds of millions of dollars being spent on a cattle ranch, golf course, and other projects.
“Frank’s entrepreneurial approach to the business was ultimately out of synch with market demand,” the statement of defence read.
Both Belinda Stronach and Ossip paint Frank Stronach as
having a long history of ventures outside of core auto businesses over decades, including magazines and a ski resort, a proposed Austrian theme park, and energy drinks.
Her statement of defence said that more recently he spent hundreds of millions of dollars on a Florida farming operation and golf resort, with the agriculture business running up losses of more than US$100 million. Expenses have also included two Pegasus statues for a horse-racing course, whose initial cost was estimated at US$6 million but climbed to US$55 million.
Overall the defendants estimate that Frank Stronach’s spending and “unsound business decisions” have reduced the family net worth by some $800 million.
“His refusal to let go of his failing business ventures has become financially disastrous,” said Ossip in his statement of defence.
“Frank was, in his day, a giant of Canadian business... today, at 86 years of age, Frank’s business judgement is not at all what it once was.”
Johnson & Johnson profits soar
(AP) — A big jump in prescription drug sales, particularly overseas, helped Johnson & Johnson swing to a large fourth-quarter profit after posting a huge loss a year earlier, when it took a $13.6 billion charge related to the late2017 U.S. tax overhaul.
The world’s biggest maker of health care products also benefited from an effective tax rate of 2.6 per cent for the latest quarter, amounting to just $80 million.
That was the main reason J&J topped Wall Street profit expectations, Credit Suisse analyst Vamil Divan wrote to investors. The company also reported lower spending on research and development, restructuring and interest charges. But currency exchange rates have swung from boosting revenue to a drag, reducing revenue by 2.3 per cent in the quarter. The maker of baby shampoo
and biotech drugs on Tuesday reported net income of $3.04 billion, or $1.12 per share, for 2018’s fourth quarter.
A year earlier, J&J reported a rare net loss – $10.71 billion, or $3.99 per share. That was due to the $13.6 billion charge, for a tax payment on years of accumulated foreign earnings amounting to more than $66 billion, brought back to the U.S. at low tax rates.
on Tuesday as
about slowing global economic growth. The S&P/TSX composite index’s streak ended at 12 days by closing down 120.40 points to 15,233.76. The market had gained 1,141.41 points or 8.9 per cent. The drop came as U.S. markets also moved lower following a long weekend. They responded to Monday’s move by the International Monetary Fund to downgrade its global GDP growth forecast for the year and Chinese data confirming the country’s slower economic growth in 2018. U.S. housing numbers also fell significantly to reinforce persistent worries about economic growth amid heightened uncertainties about global trade, Brexit and a U.S. government shutdown, says Brian See, vice president at CIBC Asset Management.
“Whether the streak ends at 12 days or 11 days, I think the key point here is things are bad and that’s what we’re seeing at this point,” he said in an interview. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 301.87 points at 24,404.48. The S&P 500 index was down 37.81 to 2,632.90, while the Nasdaq composite was down 136.87 points at 7,020.36.
The Toronto market absorbed a broad-based decline led by the energy sector. The key sector fell by 3.5 per cent on a nearly twoper-cent drop in oil prices.
The March crude contract fell US$1.03 to US$53.01 per barrel and the February natural gas contract was down 44.2 cents at US$3.04 per mmBTU.
Crude prices fell mainly on worries that weaker economic growth would curtail demand.
“There seems to be comfort around the supply side given the OPEC cuts that took place in December,” said See. “We even saw the production cuts here in Alberta as well and for the most part the production growth predominately is coming from U.S. shale.”
The United States is now the world’s largest crude oil producer at about 12 million barrels per day and is expected to add another one million barrels this year.
The Canadian dollar traded for an average of 74.96 cents US compared with an average of 75.20 cents US on Monday.
Cyclical sectors like industrials, technology, materials and financials were also lower, while the defensive telecommunications and utilities sectors rose on the day.
The February gold contract was up 80 cents US at US$1,283.40 an ounce.
CP PHOTO
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley speaks to cabinet members in Edmonton in December 2018.
