Kid’s book honours local fire fighters
Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca
It isn’t uncommon for kids to look upon firefighters as heroes, but in Prince George on Tuesday, there was some reverse admiration happening at Fire Hall No. 1. Nathan McTaggart was in the city on a tour showing off his latest children’s book. McTaggart is 13 years old and his fresh title Brandy & Her Super Hero is the third book he and his father Keven have written together. All of them focus on first responders and some fantastical adventures.
The McTaggart family lives in the Lower Mainland but the latest book is about a dog with agility skills who helps save a group of stranded fire fighters battling Cariboo wildfires. He stopped in places like Ashcroft, Cache Creek and Quesnel on his way to this most northerly spot on his junket, and he was headed to Williams Lake following his tours of Prince George fire halls. There he was scheduled to meet with T’exelcemc chief Willie Sellers who is also the author of children’s books.
All of these places were deeply affected by recent wildfires, hence the young writer’s interest in the personal knowledge.
“We had some crews go out,” to aid forest fire suppression efforts in neighbouring communities, explained Marcel Profeit, the city’s chief fire prevention officer, one of many at the fire department who spent time talking with McTaggart. Profeit also explained how Prince George hosted thousands of evacuees from the very area in which Brandy & Her Super Hero is based. “This book hits home for us.”
There was a quiet stream of firefighters pulling bills out of their wallets to buy their own copies of the book, intending them for the kids in their own lives.
All the money raised from the three books he has written goes to various charities McTaggart has chosen.
— see ‘FIREFIGHTERS, page 3
B.C. wildfire damage a tiny fraction of last year
Randy SHORE Vancouver Sun
The area consumed by wildfires in the province so far this season is less than one per cent of the area burned in each of the past two summers, according to the B.C. Wildfire Service.
Since April 1, 466 fires have been recorded in B.C. but just 11,568 hectares burned, more than half of that in the Prince George fire region.
That’s down from 2,117 fires and 1,354,284 hectares burned last year, the worst on record. Last year at this time fires had destroyed more than four times as much forest, according to wildfire service spokeswoman Kyla Fraser.
“Fire activity is quiet right now, especially in the southern half of the province,” she said.
“We’ve had rain over the weekend, so fire danger there is very low.”
Persistent dry weather across Alaska, Yukon and the northern reaches of the western provinces will likely continue through much of the summer, leading to a greater fire risk, according to Richard Carr of the Canadian Forest Service.
“…Southern B.C. seems reluctant to dry out, so if problems occur, they will likely be in late July and will not likely be as explosive as in the past two summers,” he said in an email.
“While much of British Columbia is forecast to have above normal severity, the moist first half of July (except the northwest corner) may not give enough time to result
in a severe situation in August,” he said.
Since 2009, an average of 400,000 hectares are burned each fire season in B.C. The lowest total in the past decade came in 2011, when just 12,604 hectares burned.
The only fire of note burning in B.C. as of Monday is at Alkali Lake, which consists mainly of holdover fires that have been smouldering underground since last year’s massive 121,215-hectare blaze.
As a side benefit, every air quality station in B.C. is forecasting low health risk due to smoke.
A nine-hectare fire that triggered an evacuation alert in Pender Harbour on the Sunshine Coast is in the final stages of mopup, according to wildfire service information officer Alan Berry.
“They haven’t called it completely out yet because there were a couple of areas that are hard to access, but the crews are out,” he said. “With precipitation coming, they will wait for some rain and do a final patrol.”
Rain on the south coast over the weekend included a “couple of hundred” lightning strikes and at least 10 small fires, maybe more.
“Cloud cover is making detection difficult, but once they lift we should be able to get out with a helicopter or a plane and see if there are any new starts,” he said.
Cool weather has definitely helped keep a lid on the damage caused by fires and more rain is the in the forecast this week over much of the province.
— see LIGHTNING, page 3
Murder trial focuses on tracks found at crime scene
Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff
mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca
Crown prosecution closed its case Tuesday against a man accused of participating in a double murder with testimony from an expert witness regarding two key pieces of evidence found at the crime scene.
Perry Andrew Charlie faces two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Thomas Burt Reed of Burns Lake and David Laurin Franks of Prince George and a count of attempted murder with a firearm in relation to Bradley William Knight, the soul survivor of the Jan. 25, 2017 targeted shooting.
Co-accused Seaver Tye Miller and Joshua Steven West have each pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and Aaron Ryan Moore to two counts of criminal negligence causing death and await sentencing.
Prince George RCMP Cpl. Robb Kean, a forensic identification specialist, testified he recovered impressions of tire tracks and footware investigators found in the snow alongside Foothills Boulevard near North Nechako Road following the earlymorning incident.
While he was able to say the tire tracks came from the same brand of tires found on the alleged getaway vehicle, it was as far as Kean could go, saying there were
no distinctive marks that would have set them apart from those found on other vehicles.
Similarly, Kean was able to say the tread from footwear found at four spots at the scene came from the same brand of shoe seized from Perry’s home. But beyond heavy wear, particularly on the heel, there was no evidence to link the shoe prints to Perry. He also agreed with defence counsel Jason LeBlond that the impression may not perfectly match Perry’s shoe size. It is Crown prosecution’s theory that Franks had offended someone in the local drug culture, a hit had been ordered on him and he was lured to the spot under the pretext of carrying out a drug deal. Reed had offered to drive Franks to the site and Knight was along for the ride. Earlier in the trial, Knight testified he had been sitting in the back of the car when gunfire broke out and dove to the floor. He was clipped in the shoulder and hip but survived.
Knight said he called 911 after hearing a van that had carried the attackers drive away but didn’t see the assailants.
Defence counsel has elected to not call evidence. Crown counsel Marie-Louise Ahrens will deliver closing arguments on Thursday and LeBlond will follow on Friday. The judge-alone trial is being held before B.C. Supreme Court Justice Marguerite Church.
CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN
Nathan McTaggart shows Prince George Fire Rescue Deputy Chief Cliff Warner his third children’s book, Brandy & Her Super Hero, about the Cariboo forest fires.
Vintage photo found in stolen vehicle
Citizen staff
The Prince George RCMP recently recovered a photograph from a stolen vehicle and want to return it to its rightful owner.
“The image is old and depicts a man in a uniform, perhaps circa the early 1900s,” RCMP said.
“The image does not belong to the owner of the vehicle and was likely stolen and left in the vehicle.”
If the image belongs to you or you know who it belongs to, contact the detachment at 250-5613300 or attend the front counter at 455 Victoria St. in Prince George.
Social media leads police to recovery of stolen property
Citizen staff
Aided by social media, an intrepid Prince George RCMP officer recovered some stolen property on Sunday.
The officer came across a post about a suspicious camp next to Shesta Lake, off the Blackwater Road, and recognized a pickup truck in the photos as stolen.
The officer drove out and found the camp.
No one was there but was able to confirm the pickup had gone missing from nearby Clear Lake Road that morning.
As well, a tent trailer reported stolen from a Quaw Avenue home on June 16 was found
and was in the process of being painted. And a homemade cargo trailer believed to have been stolen was also seized. The camp was vacant at the time.
RCMP said police are working to identify who may be responsible and are asking anyone with information to call the Prince George RCMP at 250-561-3300 or anonymously contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at www.pgcrimestoppers. bc.ca (English only). You do not have to reveal your identity to Crime Stoppers. If you provide information that leads to an arrest or recovery of stolen property, you could be eligible for a cash reward.
RCMP HANDOUT PHOTO
The Prince George RCMP recovered the above photo from a stolen vehicle.
CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE
Yoga in the Park
Jaylene Pfeifer, co-owner of Chinook Yoga, leads about 100 yoga enthusiasts at Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park on Sunday morning during the first summer session of the studio’s ninth season of Yoga in the Park.
Jewesson the Belle of the ball
Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff
fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca
Belle is one of the most coveted roles in show biz.
Emma Watson went from Harry Potter franchisee to full Hollywood superstar with her recent turn as the Beauty & The Beast lead character. When Emma Stone was interviewed at the Oscar Awards following Stone’s win for the film La La Land, Stone said of Watson (who was linked first to the La La Land role) “She’s the coolest. She’s Belle,” said an admiring Stone.
Other stars of stage and screen who have held versions of Belle in their hands include Josette Day, Rebecca De Mornay, Vanessa Hudgens, Susan Sarandon, Amy Irving, Susan Egan, Paige O’Hara, and Linda Hamilton.
Prince George now has its own Belle for the summer of 2019 and director Judy Russell feels she’s “the coolest” in the local context. Kelsey Jewesson (nee Wheatley) is the musical theatre star inhabiting the pivotal role of the curious, self-educating village maiden who uses logic and reason to think beyond the confines of her medieval social constrictions, then turns to her wit and determination again to survive being imprisoned by a bitter, indignant man-beast at his castle deep in the woods.
“It’s like a dream role,” said Jewesson, who has had her fair share of plum characters.
“You grow up watching Disney, so you grow up identifying with Disney princesses. For me, it was always Belle. Maybe it was brown hair like mine, I don’t know, but she was the one who most held my attention. She always seemed much more contemporary, education and learning were the most important things for her, it was never about needing a prince, so I gravitated to Belle. If I could pick any Disney princess, it would be Belle every time.”
Russell picked her because of those same innate values. After rising to the spotlight in local productions of Nunsense, Nunsense 2, Hello Dolly and a star turn in the role of Eponine in Les Miserables, Jewesson made off for bigger stages in musical theatre school first at Camosun College and then the University of Victoria where she excelled in her voice pursuits, winning both the Victoria Medal (for the highest GPA in the Faculty of Fine Arts) and the Governor General’s Silver Medal (UVic’s top overall undergraduate student).
Like Belle, one of Jewesson’s primary characteristics is a devotion to family. That brought her back to Prince George with her husband Chris and their baby daughter Elizabeth, where she was welcomed back into the musical theatre fold with, well, Belles on.
“I hadn’t talked to Judy about being cast in any particular roles. I had one thing only on my mind and that was being a mom,” she said, and let productions of Legally Blonde and Cabaret slide by without auditioning.
The timing was right, though, when Beauty & The Beast came up. Jewesson is now blended into a mix of singers and dancers and actors who, she knew from seeing the most recent Judy Russell blockbusters as an audience member, were high caliber performers from dungeon to tower.
“Community theatre involves everyone. That’s what’s so special about it,” Jewesson said. “The cast, the crew, the audience, it is
all of us, it is all Prince George, and we are doing it for each other and the love of the arts. It is a wholesome and holistic creation. I know the audience is going to get such joy from watching it, because we are getting such joy from preparing it.”
To come back into her home community (Jewesson shares her hometown status with Prince George and Smithers, with some family connection to Fort St. James as well) means reconnecting with people she has worked with before, and in many cases were children when she left but have developed into capable, mature performers now.
Her favourite person on set, though, is a constant guiding light in her performance life. Alex Murray is not only Judy Russell’s father, he is also one of the city’s most inveterate arts activists and seminal teachers of the performing arts. Jewesson said his presence at rehearsals is part honorary but also part necessity. She still leans on his constructive criticisms, even at this stage of her career.
She is also well aware that young eyes are fixed upon her, not only as Belle but also as someone who has been professionally schooled and had professional experience in other centres. As Murray is open and inviting to her, she wants to be open and inviting to all the other cast members, be that among the other leads who can share their insights as peers, or for the children and aspiring performers in the chorus who are just
getting started on a path Jewesson and her fellow leads remember all too well.
Everyone in the cast, she said, feels a debt of gratitude to their director and producer, who has given them all the opportunity to shine their talents and hone their crafts. Whether they ever go off and become pros in Vancouver, Toronto, London or New York is not the point for any of them in Beauty & The Beast, although local protégés are in those places doing those things right now. The point, said Jewesson, is to do good work for the benefit of their community.
“Judy is the queen of community theatre, and having worked now with Pacific Opera and some other companies, I can say with total confidence that these shows she does, using only local talent, are absolutely professional grade,” Jewesson said. “It wasn’t always that way, and you can still see some of the signs of amateur talent in these local productions, but only little traces, and if you spend time watching professional musical theatre in those other places, you’ll spot that in those supposedly superior shows as well. No, Judy has reached a point, right here in PG, where the shows could pack up and sell the same tickets in those other cities, too. We just get to see it here, all ours.”
Beauty & The Beast runs from July 11 to 27, 15 performances in all. Get tickets at all Central Interior Tickets platforms.
Lightning on coast a concern
— from page 1
“There’s always the potential for us to get back to a drying trend and the volume of lightning is a little unusual for us on the coast, so that’s a concern,” said Berry.
The extended outlook for August and September shows “a high probability of above seasonal temperatures in the southern half of the province, especially on Vancouver Island,” according to the monthly fire season bulletin released last week.
About 66 per cent of this year’s wildfires have been attributed to human causes, according to the wildfire service. About 70 per cent
of last year’s wildfires were caused by lightning strikes and 25 per cent by human activity.
The fire danger in B.C.’s northwest corner is rated high to extreme.
“They haven’t seen quite as much rain as other parts of the province and they have seen quite a bit of lightning,” said Fraser.
“That’s an area we will have to keep our eyes on, checking to see if any new lighting fires are popping up.”
After the disastrous fire seasons in 2017 and 2018, the provincial government increased its firefighting budget by 58 per cent to $101
‘Firefighters were my superheroes’
— from page 1
Mayor Lyn Hall and councillor Susan Scott also stopped by to meet the young author.
Hall remarked that each book was also an opportunity to spread the safety message to young audiences, as each story has learning points built into the plot.
One of the fire department’s chiefs, Kevin Scobie, swapped challenge coins – decorative coins presented to members of organizations like the military, police and firefighters – with McTaggart.
“It is certainly impressive at his age,” said deputy chief Cliff Warner, after showing the boy around the fire hall and some of the trucks.
McTaggart was especially young when the seeds of this book series first sprouted. He was only three and a half.
“I was at a Food Bank Friday event in Coquitlam making a donation when a fire truck rolled in. I was in awe,” he told The Citizen.
“I was being interviewed by a reporter about my donation, but when the fire truck arrived I just stopped and stared.
“The reporter wanted to know why I just stopped talking, and my parents explained it was because firefighters were my superheroes.”
When his elementary school teacher asked each student to make a book for a class project, McTaggart’s was on firefighters and he went far beyond the requirements his teacher set out for length and composition. It was that process that sparked the idea about doing a book.
His mother is an air force veteran and his father a carpenter and marketing entrepreneur, so the family dynamic was conducive to McTaggart’s affinity for first responders and public safety, and feeling empowerment to spread his stories.
“It’s a very good way to spend time with my dad. He helps me develop the stories,” McTaggart said. “We think of things off the top of our heads. We talk about ideas that fit together. We run scenarios. We cut a lot of it out, I don’t like that, because sometimes we want to add it back in later but it’s gone. It forms into a book after awhile.”
When McTaggart was wondering out loud what a firefighter would have to do if Santa got stuck in a chimney, his very first book was ignited.
Ironically, McTaggart admits that he isn’t much of a reader.
He likes the Percy Jackson book series, but he prefers to be playing hockey or lacrosse or video games instead of reading.
Writing is another matter.
He has an active imagination and an animated curiosity. Every time he finishes a book he has ideas for a dozen more already mulling in his brain, and when he is out and about living life, bits of it will spark creative elements for his next story. When he attended a Superdogs show, the inspiration for the Brandy story flashed in his mind.
McTaggart’s books are published by TellWell Talent of Victoria.
They are available for sale online via Amazon or his www. nathanssuperheroes.com website.
“One of Nathan’s favourite parts is, at the back of the books, there are five pages where the children can take the book to local fire halls and have their super heroes sign them,” said Keven.
“Since we launched his first book, Santa & His Super Hero, two years ago, we have donated $2,500 to the BC Professional Fire Fighters Burn Fund and over $2,000 to other deserving charities.”
The reception was so warm in Prince George, plans are already forming in the McTaggart family schedule to return for future visits.
Alleged flasher charged
Citizen staff
A Prince George man suspected of exposing himself to a woman and then performing an indecent act while in a local park has been charged.
Jayden Rapheal Robert John, 18, faces one count of indecent exposure, Prince George RCMP said. John was arrested shortly after RCMP were called to Connaught Hill Park on Monday at about 6 a.m.
million a year.
A $60-million Community Resiliency Investment Program was launched last September to provide local governments and First Nations with resources for fire mitigation. To date, 85 projects have been funded, according to the ministry of forests.
B.C. spent $615 million fighting wildfires in 2018.
CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN
Kelsey Jewesson plays Belle in Judy Russell’s production of Beauty & the Beast.
First Nations challenging pipeline
Camille BAINS
The Canadian Press
VANCOUVER — Six First
Nations that have filed another legal challenge against the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion say Canada’s ownership of the corporation behind the project created a bias that prevented full consultations as ordered by the Federal Court of Appeal.
Chief Leah George-Wilson of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation said Canada had an opportunity to “get it right” but failed to take environmental risks into consideration as part of a rushed consultation process.
“It does feel like deja vu,” George-Wilson said Tuesday, reflecting on the first court challenge 2 1/2 years ago that resulted in a ruling requiring the federal government to redo consultations.
The Federal Court of Appeal shelved the original approval last summer and the federal government approved the pipeline expansion again in June after a second round of consultations with First Nations.
“We have not seen any significant difference in the consultation process and in some ways it was worse,” George-Wilson said.
She said she expects the latest approval will be overturned based on the same mistakes the federal government made the first time with its failure to conduct meaningful consultations.
The federal government purchased the pipeline and expansion project for $4.5 billion, saying it was in the national interest to build the country’s energy infrastructure and to preserve jobs.
However, George-Wilson said Canada was unresponsive to oil spill risks to whales and climate change. She also accused the gov-
ernment of not being forthcoming with information.
“Canada withheld information regarding their scientific assessments of diluted bitumen impacts and only provided this information to Tseil Watuth after the formal close of consultation,” she said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said after announcing the second approval of the pipeline that Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi held meetings and met with Indigenous groups as part of the process. Sohi has said Ottawa can demonstrate that is has listened to the concerns of Indigenous communities and responded to them.
Vanessa Adams, Sohi’s press secretary, said Tuesday the gov-
ernment cannot comment on the legal action because it is before the courts.
But she said in an email the government is confident it followed the guidance of the Federal Court of Appeal and “fulfilled our duty to consult with Indigenous communities by engaging in meaningful, two-way dialogue.”
Chief Ron Ignace of the Stk’emlupsemc te Secwepemc Nation in Kamloops, said the second round of “harried” consultations did not provide the opportunity to respond to complex questions.
“I would like to say to the ordinary people across Canada: Our fight is not with you, our fight is with your government, with the leaders that are making these
kinds of decisions. However, you have a duty and a responsibility to see that your governments do the right thing by us, and that’s for both provincial and federal governments.”
Lawyer Merle Alexander, who represents the Shxw’owhamel First Nation near Hope, said it initially supported the pipeline but chose to oppose it because an oil spill would destroy its sacred burial and archeological sites as well as the community’s sole source of water. Alexander said that as with all First Nations that were supportive of the pipeline, the Shxw’owhamel were not consulted the first time but expected a deep consultation after it changed course and started
opposing the project last December.
“But in fact what happened was a very superficial and often contrived process where the Crown seemed to already have a list of accommodations that it was willing to accept, had created this list and just sort of waited to roll them out.”
The First Nation had asked for about 20 concrete measures but Canada’s accommodations included items that had not been requested, Alexander said.
“In our experience it didn’t seem like the process was ever in good faith. It seemed like they had decided ahead of time what the accommodation measures would be before ever meeting First Nations. It was intended to create a false narrative of consultations so that Canadians would feel, ‘OK, at least they went out there and tried harder with First Nations.’ ” Alexander said the legal strategy this time around is expected to involve a “forensic look” into how consultations occurred, whether the federal government acted in good faith and weighed environmental issues involving species at risk including southern resident killer whales.
“The change-in-ownership issue will also be, I think, a very live issue of whether or not Canada was in a conflict of interest or had a reasonable apprehension of bias.” Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson has expressed the government’s commitment to protect southern resident killer whales including measures announced in May to address key threats, among them a program to increase slow-down zones for commercial vessels near Vancouver’s port and a requirement that vessels stay at least 400 metres away from the whales in their critical habitat.
Premiers talk child welfare with Indigenous leaders
Stephanie TAYLOR and Bill GRAVELAND
The Canadian Press
BIG RIVER FIRST NATION, Sask. — The head of the Assembly of First Nations had a receptive audience with most of Canada’s premiers Tuesday over the need to implement changes to reduce the number of Indigenous children in care.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve got 40,000 children in care and we know that’s not acceptable,” National Chief Perry Bellegarde said after a day-long meeting Tuesday with premiers at Big River First Nation, north of Saskatoon.
“It’s a human rights issue and we need to fix that and you can only do that by working together.”
Bill C-92, which was just passed in last session, clarifies the jurisdiction of Indigenous people over family and social services in their communities.
Bellegarde said he believes the premiers got the message and are committed to working toward better child welfare.
“There was a good nodding of heads around the table,” he said.
“That was one issue that the premiers said they wanted to work on together back in 2016 and I’m going to continue encouraging that.” The event marked the first time provincial
and territorial leaders met as a group on First Nations land. Bellegarde had also been boycotting premiers meetings since 2017, as Indigenous leaders have historically been kept out of those discussions.
The premiers arrived by helicopter at the First Nation and were greeted with handshakes from various Indigenous leaders.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford did not attend the meeting and New Brunswick’s Blaine Higgs was the only premier in attendance from Atlantic Canada. However, the missing premiers did send representatives. Bellegarde said it was good to meet with the premiers on an informal basis a day before they are to attend a two-day annual
meeting of The Council of the Federation in Saskatoon. He hopes to be invited to those discussions someday.
“You need Indigenous people’s voices at all of those decision making tables,” Bellegarde said.
“I’m going to keep pushing for that.” Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said turning over child care jurisdiction with First Nations communities across Canada won’t be easy and there needs to be a plan.
“How do we move forward and what are the next steps in moving forward... to keep focused on the children that this legislation was formed to ultimately protect?” he asked.
“We need to work harder as provincial leaders and engage... as we ultimately remain focused on the well-being of the children.”
Quebec Premier Francois Legault told reporters before the meeting he was glad that Bellegarde ended his boycott.
“I think it’s important because we want to listen to him and to the First Nations – as many groups as possible. We know it’s a kind of three-way negotiation between the federal government, the province and the First Nations. So it’s never easy,” said Legault.
“We know we have to make improvements regarding services... educational services, health-care services. So I’m very happy that he’s here.”
Mountain goat relocation resumes in Olympic National Park
OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK, Wash. —
For the second straight summer, mountain goats are flying in Olympic National Park. Officials this week began rounding up the sure-footed but nonnative mammals from remote parts of the park, where humans introduced them in the 1920s, to relocate them to the Cascade Mountains, where they do belong.
Animal capture specialists called “gunners” and “muggers” sedate the animals with darts or capture them in nets, blindfold them, pad their horns and fly them – on slings dangling from a helicopter – to a staging area. There, they’re looked over by veterinarians and outfitted with tracking collars before being trucked to the Cascades and once again flown by helicopter, this time into their new alpine habitats.
The relocations began last year, following a years-long stretch of planning and public comment, with 115 of the roughly 725 mountain goats in the Olympics being moved to the Cascades.
Officials caught 17 Monday and Tuesday at the start of a two-week goat relocation period, including a six-week-old kid, which got a ride on a mugger’s lap inside the helicopter instead of hanging beneath it.
The Olympics have few natural salt licks. That makes it more likely goats there will be attracted to the sweat, urine and food of hikers, which is potentially endangering. One goat
gored
in
A
and
CP FILE PHOTO
A aerial view of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain marine terminal, in Burnaby is shown last year.
The National Energy Board will hear oral traditional evidence from Indigenous groups in the coming weeks as part of its new review of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
Elaine THOMPSON The Associated Press
fatally
a hiker
2010.
coalition of state and federal agencies
American Indian tribes is behind the effort, which involves closing parts of the park, including the Seven Lakes Basin and Klahhane Ridge. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife plans to release the goats at six sites in the Cascades. They include the Chikamin area in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, Preacher Mountain in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Hardscrabble Ridge and mountain peaks south of Darrington.
CP PHOTO BY JONATHAN HAYWARD
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde and Big River First Nation Chief Bruce Morin are seen during a media availability during the Premiers and Indigenous Leaders meeting in Big River First Nation, Sask., on Tuesday.
AP PHOTO BY ELAINE THOMPSON
A pair of mountain goats hang in slings as they are airlifted by helicopter on Tuesday to Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park, near Port Angeles, Wash.
46 rushed to hospital after carbon monoxide leak at Winnipeg hotel
Steve LAMBERT
The Canadian Press
WINNIPEG
— Sergiy Bolshakov
was watching TV in his Winnipeg hotel room when a firefighter knocked on the door and told him the building was being evacuated because of an emergency.
The Toronto man quickly realized he wasn’t feeling well.
“I felt very dizzy and had a headache,” said Bolshakov.
He was among 46 people taken to several hospitals Tuesday as firefighters determined there had been an extreme carbon monoxide leak at the Super 8 on Portage Avenue.
Emergency officials said 15 people were in critical condition, but everyone was expected to survive.
Bolshakov was released within a few hours.
“They did all the tests necessary and we were good to go,” he said.
John Lane, chief of Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service, said in total 52 people, including two children and hotel staff, and a dog, were evacuated from the threestorey business at about 10 a.m.
The leak originated in the hotel’s boiler room, he said.
Steve Brglez, acting platoon chief, said 15 patients were listed as critical because of high carbon monoxide readings in their blood.
“They were transported critical based on that reading and other symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, a decrease in level consciousness,”
Emergency personnel were called to a gas leak at a Super 8
in Winnipeg on Tuesday. As a result of the incident 46 people were taken to emergency hospitals.
he said.
Paramedics were concerned about their immediate health but not that they might die, he added.
“We don’t expect any fatalities from this.”
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority said later Tuesday that most patients had been released and no patients required intensive care.
Brent Brooks of Flin Flon, Man., who was staying at the hotel with his wife and 15-year-old son, said they all woke up feeling lightheaded Tuesday and felt worse later on.
They were among those released from hospital later in the day. The former miner, who worked underground for years, said it was still a scary experience.
Quinton Tomalin, who works at the Winnipeg Auto Gallery across the street from the Super 8, said it seemed as though those in the worst condition were brought out of the building first.
“We saw the first guy come out, he was a younger gentleman. They put him on a stretcher and he was vomiting quite bad,” he said.
“A couple other people who
were in pretty rough shape were brought out and put on stretchers immediately.”
Manitoba Hydro said its crews also responded, shutting off gas lines and ventilating the building.
The Crown utility confirmed it was not a natural gas leak, but a carbon monoxide poisoning.
“Natural gas has a rotten egg smell added to it so that it can be detected – carbon monoxide is odourless, which is why you need a CO alarm in your home and business,” it said on Twitter. The hotel’s owner, Justin
Lawyer for father charged with killing children accuses mother of lying
Laura KANE The Canadian Press
VANCOUVER — A mother wept at her estranged husband’s trial for the murder of their daughters when a defence lawyer accused her of lying about when she learned the man’s electricity had been shut off.
Sarah Cotton has testified at the B.C. Supreme Court trial that before she dropped off the girls at Andrew Berry’s apartment in Oak Bay, B.C., on Dec. 21, 2017, she stopped by and noticed it was dark. Her daughter Chloe, 6, said they used flashlights and it was like “camping.”
This was the first time she realized he might not have power, she said, but she didn’t mention it when she dropped off Chloe and Aubrey, 4, because she didn’t want to “provoke” him.
She instead sent him two emails to which he didn’t reply.
She also said that Dec. 21 is her birthday and that morning, Berry emailed her to ask if she wanted to keep the girls overnight. Cotton said it was an “unusual” offer and she wished he’d given her more notice as she had plans.
Defence lawyer Kevin McCullough questioned on Tuesday why she didn’t change her mind and take him up on the offer to keep the girls overnight, after she learned he had no power in his apartment.
“That is the biggest regret I’ll ever have in my life,” she said, taking her glasses off and sobbing into her hands.
Cotton went to police on Dec. 25 when Berry failed to return the girls as scheduled. Officers entered his suite and found the girls dead with stab wounds and Berry with a black eye and cuts on his chest and neck.
The Crown alleges he stabbed the girls dozens of times before attempting to kill himself. Berry has pleaded not guilty to two counts of second-degree murder.
McCullough accused Cotton of lying about only learning on Dec. 21 that Berry had no electricity.
He said she knew “full well” for quite some time and she was also fabricating her concern about provoking him.
“I’m going to suggest you created this story because you wanted to offset Mr. Berry’s offer to you to have the children on your birthday. Isn’t that what you’ve done?” he asked.
“No,” she replied through tears.
Earlier Tuesday, McCullough asked if Cotton was “very upset” with the custody decision in May 2017 that allowed Berry access to their daughters 40 per cent of the time and she replied that she was.
“I was also very concerned about the schedule that was put in place for them because it was too much back and forth,” Cotton told the jury.
The court heard the couple met while working at BC Ferries and began dating in 2009. They were living with their two young daughters as common-law spouses in September 2013 when Cotton called police alleging Berry had assaulted her.
An assault charge against him did not proceed and he instead signed a peace bond that meant he was to have no contact with Cotton except in relation to their daughters, the court heard.
Cotton later called the Children’s Ministry twice saying that Berry had sexually touched Aubrey, but police found no evidence the touching was sexual or criminal.
Cotton rejected McCullough’s characterization of the incidents as her making “allegations” of sexual touching.
“I wouldn’t say I made allegations. I reported what my daughter told me because I had the responsibility to,” she said.
McCullough read texts and emails between the parents from June through December 2017 that he said suggested co-parenting was going “very well” and that they were regularly speaking in person.
Cotton repeatedly disputed his assertions, saying all their communication took place in text messages, emails and brief phone calls.
“Andrew would not communicate with me face to face,” she said.
The messages focused on parenting matters such as picking up and dropping off the girls, swimming lessons, social events, occasional illnesses and school lunches.
Cotton said it was difficult to read into text messages and the exchanges were not “pleasant,” but were “amicable” at one point. She also said some messages and calls appeared to be missing from the court’s record.
She said he regularly dropped off the children late and had cancelled his parenting time on several occasions.
He also rarely provided details of his time with the girls, she said, in contrast with her comprehensive messages.
Cotton broke down in tears as the correspondence neared the Christmas holidays in 2017, the last time she saw the girls alive.
In response to McCullough’s suggestion that they were “co-parenting very well,” Cotton replied simply, “We were co-parenting.”
Killer named vexatious litigant by Federal Court of appeal
The Canadian Press
MONTREAL — A former Montreal university professor who fatally shot four academics in 1992 has once again been declared a vexatious litigant, this time by the Federal Court of Appeal.
Justice David Stratas recently ruled that Valery Fab-
rikant, who is serving a life sentence in Quebec, unduly wastes the resources of other people and the court through the many legal procedures he’s initiated from behind bars.
Fabrikant, now 79, was an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Concordia University.
Schinkel, said the Super 8 recently passed a fire inspection and has never had a carbon monoxide leak before.
“It’s the worst imaginable feeling, all of a sudden, something bad like this happens, you don’t know the extent of it,” Schinkel said.
“We’re just super happy that the first responders are so helpful and they’ve been able to get here so quick and help us out here.”
Alex Forrest, president of United Firefighters of Winnipeg Local 867, called the leak a nightmare scenario that could have been a lot worse.
“We’re in an area where we have a very quick response of firefighters,” he said.
“We were able to be here within minutes.”
He said the fire trucks were equipped with devices to test the air quality.
“That’s when they found extreme levels of carbon monoxide,” he said.
“We just hope there’s no deaths that result from this.”
Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister, who was at a meeting with other premiers and Indigenous leaders in Saskatchewan, said he was shocked to hear about the leak.
“To see this many people impacted by carbon monoxide poisoning – it’s unprecedented in my experience,” he said.
“Hopefully we see people on the road to recovery very quickly.”
With files from Nicole Thompson in Toronto and Daniela Germano in Edmonton.
Chicago police confirm an alligator is living in a city park
The Associated Press
Chicago police have confirmed the social media buzz: A 4-5 foot alligator is living in a lagoon at one of the city’s most popular parks. Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says Tuesday that investigators went to Humboldt Park Lagoon on the city’s West Side and confirmed the unusual resident.
Officials couldn’t say how the creature got there. City officials say alligator traps are being placed around the lagoon in hopes the animal will swim into one and be safely removed.
Guglielmi says the animal was expected to be trapped “and relocated to a zoo for veterinary evaluation.”
He was facing dismissal when, in August 1992, he went into the engineering department and opened fire, killing four academics and wounding a secretary.
Stratas noted that Fabrikant meets the criteria of a vexatious litigant, which includes filing lawsuits with little merit, trying repeatedly to file appeals without obtaining leave and making unfounded accusations of bias, incapacity or fraud against members of the court.
The Federal Court and Quebec Superior Court have previously given Fabrikant the designation, which means he generally needs permission before filing further lawsuits.
CP PHOTO BY JOHN WOODS
hotel
Blasé about the Big One
We have had so many warnings of the Big One – the massive earthquake that is going to strike Vancouver Island one of these days, maybe tomorrow, or maybe in 500 years –that we tend to ignore the reports of earthquakes elsewhere.
Like the ones in California last week, for example. It would have been hard to get excited, given that the earthquakes did not result in any deaths or major injuries. There was a bit of property damage and a few fires, but other than that, not much to worry about.
Yet bear in mind that the California shakers were strong – a 6.4 magnitude followed by a 7.1 – and hit near rural areas you’ve probably never heard of. Had they hit Los Angeles or San Francisco rather than Ridgecrest and Trona, many more people would care. That’s because many more people would be dead.
Last week’s two earthquakes were the first magnitude 6.0 or larger in Southern California since the 1994 one in Northridge. That 6.9 magnitude temblor destroyed thousands of buildings and killed dozens.
Larger urban areas have more people, more roads, more utilities, more communication systems, so there is much more that can go wrong. When the Big One hits Vancouver Island, its impact will depend on the location of its
epicentre. The people closest to that point will have much more to deal with than people 100 kilometres away. If the hardest-
Canada not immune to interference
The nation was at a crossroads.
Foreign states were attempting to influence its politics and elections, while within the country, citizens were deeply divided about which course to take and who should be in charge.
The current leader and party had lost a great deal of goodwill and political capital, due to fatigue, resignations, and scandals. In the end a new personality and his political faction took over, thanks largely to collusion with a foreign power, as was proved later.
Some might assume the words above are an excerpt from a book on the 2016 Trump election and Brexit vote, the populism that is plaguing Europe, or the many coups aided by first world nations in third world countries. These are all fair guesses, given the malaise we live in.
But that paragraph accurately describes the defeat of John Diefenbaker by Lester B. Pearson in the 1963 election: during both that and the earlier, minority inflicting 1962 contest, the pollster Lou Harris was dispatched by President John F. Kennedy to help ensure a Liberal Party victory. The Grits, as George Grant explains in Lament for a Nation, had made “continentalism” the foundation of their economic policies, thus signalling vassalship to “the American Empire.”
Of course the context and the results of the story are common knowledge – questions of whether or not to accept American
nuclear arms on Canadian soil, the personal tension between our PM and their president, as well as Dief the Chief’s defeat despite his heroic electioneering.
But the story of Mr. Lou Harris is not well known.
The Globe and Mail’s Lawrence Martin wrote that, “to avoid detection, Mr. Harris was even provided with a fake passport,” and bragged about helping Pearson and Kennedy defeat Diefenbaker to the Canadian Press decades later.
Questioned about my strong anti-Grit rhetoric, I always tell this tale, asking why decades of calumny and cravenness by Liberal leaders and policies has not earned them total contempt?
That litany of sins ought to be well known by all but the best educated and indoctrinated in our land. As the federal election draws nearer, I will reiterate it with a sense of both anger and despair, as its legacy has left our country anemic, sanctimonious, and a global laughingstock.
Indeed, Liberal and American collusion has reared its head again in recent years as the researcher Vivian Krause, whom I interviewed on Prince George Up Close, uncovered: Lead Now targeted a dozen key Conservative ridings in the 2015 election
with funds from the U.S.A.; hundreds of millions have poured into Canada for the “Tar Sands Campaign” to landlock our oil; even Gerald Butts once got his paycheques from a “non-profit” awash in this shady cash.
And the Democratic Party still dispatches operatives to ensure the Grits get elected: the most famous example being David Axelrod, an adviser to President Barack Obama going back as far as his bid for the Illinois senate seat, giving advice to Justin Trudeau in our last election.
In short, nothing has changed since that fateful day in 1963, when the last pan-Canadian prime minister was pushed into political oblivion. With our fatal tilt to regionalism, one wonders if we’ll ever be able to shake off our fetters and become the Canada Sir Wilfred Laurier spoke of.
Until then, the Canadian people should know they are being taken for rubes, and have been for over 55 years, by the Liberal Party of Canada and its allies.
Thankfully elections still have some effect in our malaffected dominion. Thus, I humbly suggest tossing these bums out once and for all, if not defenestrating that political party entirely, showing some “true grit” as self-respecting citizens, a concept the Liberals’ once advocated by adopting that old epithet.
To be clear, this is not a cure all – our problems go much deeper than turning out this sad government. But like the 12 steps, one has to name and face the problem to begin the recovery.
hit area is densely populated, it will take longer for help to reach everyone.
The simple fact is this: You cannot predict when, or where, or how severe the earthquake will be. All that you know is that it is coming. The usual advice for preparing for an earthquake is simple: Stock up on water, non-perishable food, flashlights, radios, batteries, water, prescriptions, first-aid kits, hygiene items and more water; arrange safe meeting spots with your family members; make copies of important documents. But that is not all. Another bit of advice could be just as important, and it can pay dividends right away.
Get to know your neighbours. Learn which ones might be able to help you, and which ones you will need to help. It’s better to learn that now, than when it truly is a matter of life and death. If you can work together with a goal of self-sufficiency, everyone will gain. And besides, you might even make new friends.
When the Big One strikes Vancouver Island entire communities – yes, possibly your own – will be seriously affected. The sooner you have a plan to help you respond, the better you will be able to cope.
Of course, all of this has been said before. This time, will we pay attention?
— Victoria Times Colonist
British Columbians OK with automated speed enforcement
Late last summer, Research Co. took an early look at the views of British Columbians on the complex issue of automated speed enforcement. At the time, the Insurance Corp. of British Columbia had reported a staggering increase in the number of vehicle crashes that happen in our province in each year.
Speeding is happening not only at intersections. A few weeks ago, more than two in five British Columbians told Research Co. that drivers disregard the speed limit on the street where they live “at least one a day.”
The City of Vancouver will begin a pilot project to reduce vehicle speeds on selected residential streets later this year, but there is no clear strategy yet to take this measure to a provincewide level.
The provincial government decided to study the speed and crash data from 140 intersections in the province that had been equipped with red light cameras. The findings revealed that, during the course of an average week, 201 cars drive at least 30 km/h over the advertised speed limit.
This discovery prompted the government to order the conversion of 35 existing cameras into what is usually referred to as speed-on-green intersection equipment to capture vehicles that are speeding through intersections.
Nine municipalities – Abbotsford, Coquitlam, Delta, Maple Ridge, Nanaimo, North Vancouver, Pitt Meadows, Port Coquitlam and Richmond – will get one camera. There will also be two cameras in Kelowna, two in Langley, three in Burnaby, seven in Surrey and 12 in Vancouver.
In Vancouver, three intersections that will have speed-ongreen cameras are West Georgia and Cardero, Main and East Hastings, and Granville and King Edward. This last one is personally special – it was where I witnessed my first crash as a driver in Canada. It was caused by speeding.
British Columbians, and particularly those who drive a vehicle on a regular basis, have been exposed to messages related to automated speed enforcement for almost a year. In our latest survey, the level of support for some measures continues to be high.
The 35 speed-on-green intersection cameras are the main feature of the provincial government’s approach to safer roads. Last month, more than two-thirds of British Columbians (68 per cent) voiced their approval for this type of automated speed enforcement, including 74 per cent of women and 76
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per cent of residents aged 55 and over. The findings are consistent with what we reported in 2018. More than three in five British Columbians are also supportive of two other types of automated speed enforcement. Fixed speed cameras, which stay in one location and measure speed as a vehicle passes, are endorsed by 69 per cent of residents. Mobile speed cameras, which can be moved from place to place to measure speed as a vehicle passes, garner the backing of 63 per cent of residents.
As was the case last year, pointto-point enforcement is simply not as popular. Just over half of British Columbians (51 per cent) approve of this method, which would require cameras located at two or more distant points on a road. The average speed of vehicles that pass between the two points is assessed and tickets are issued to vehicles whose average speed over the distance was excessive.
Speed-on-green cameras are widely supported by the province’s non-drivers (72 per cent). Still, it is important to note that majorities of British Columbians who drive once or twice a week (64 per cent), three or four times a week (74 per cent) and five days a week or more (66 per cent) also believe retrofitting red-light cameras in this manner is a good idea.
Some critics have regarded the anticipated use of speed-on-green intersection cameras as “the return of photo radar.”
The current provincial administration has claimed that the rollout of automated speed enforcement in the 21st century will be different, with prominent signs that make it clear to drivers that the intersection they are entering has a speed-on-green camera.
The Saskatchewan government has reported a reduction in vehicle collisions and injuries after enacting a similar program in 2014.
Mario Canseco is president of Research Co. Results are based on an online study conducted from June 22 to June 26, 2019, among 800 adults in British Columbia. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region in British Columbia. The margin of error, which measures sample variability, is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
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BY THE NUMBERS
MARIO CANSECO
AP PHOTO
Visitors cross a highway next to a crack left in the road by an earthquake near Ridgecrest, Calif., last week.
RIGHT OF CENTRE NATHAN GIEDE
La Bohème al la Theatre Northwest
opening night of Fraser Lyric Opera’s presentation of Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème.
Sum 41’s Whibley went with Trumpian lyrics
David FRIEND
The Canadian Press
TORONTO — Sum 41 frontman
Deryck Whibley watched from his hotel rooms as the world descended into havoc over the course of the rock band’s last tour.
The Canadian singer-songwriter can place the exact moments when he sensed the political divide growing wider. The first time, his rock band was in England on a European promotional tour as the Brexit vote dropped and “mayhem” ensued.
Months later, he saw Donald Trump’s rise to power in the U.S. election, which polarized the nation across party lines, and witnessed the heated 2017 presidential election in France that led to violent clashes in the streets.
“It seemed to get worse and worse wherever we went,” the performer said in a phone interview from Los Angeles ahead of Sum 41’s new album release.
“I would wake every day and start my morning routine. You’d have the news on, and you’re just kind of watching the chaos of the day – from Donald Trump to whatever else is going on.”
Whibley would occasionally dip into writing new songs to distract himself, but as the turmoil picked up in the outside world, he said he found it harder to escape. Trump had winnowed into the recesses of his mind, and he was seeping into the lyrics.
“My first thought is I’m not going to let this (expletive) take over my music too,” he said.
“I tried to stop it and tried to fight it... I tried to change the words, and it just felt really disconnected. After about a week, I said, ‘Well, (expletive) it. It is what it is, I’m just going to write words
and we’ll figure it out.”’
Hearing Whibley talk about politics can be jarring at times.
While Sum 41 built its reputation throwing stones at authority, their rowdy pop-punk anthems mostly ignored specific targets in favour of pushing back on The Man and nameless conformity,
like on the title track of their 2007 album Underclass Hero.
These days, the 39-year-old songwriter observes the world with more specificity.
His work on the band’s previous album 13 Voices was an exercise in self-reflection as Whibley clawed back from years of unad-
dressed alcohol abuse that led him to be hospitalized in 2013 with nearly fatal health problems.
Sum 41’s latest studio release Order in Decline, due on July 19, inches closer towards an edgier sound for the band that started in Ajax, Ont. It’s their heaviest, most hardcore effort to date, and Whibley produced and engineered the album in his home studio.
Signs this project is different begin with the album artwork, an apocalyptic illustration of a puppet master operating overtop a man who’s enveloped by flames. Beneath him, a skull looms with glowing eyes.
While the songs don’t directly address Trump, the 45th president of the United States, some come incredibly close to calling him by name. On 45 (A Matter of Time), Whibley sings about a man who rises to power unexpectedly, but he quickly shifts the narrative onto the people who got him there.
And on The People Vs... he breathlessly chastises a failed leader between guitar shreds: “I know a bad man when I see his face, and now we suffer as a human race. And he’s a bad man, but I got faith. To rid this misery he’s got to go.” Whibley says he doesn’t necessarily consider Order in Decline a political protest record, despite the occasional pointed lyric.
“I’m not really talking about specific policies... There’s no specific song about gun control, so I say it’s not really political,” he said.
“I guess you could call it a personal protest.”
Cineplex sticks by decision to screen anti-abortion film
Victoria AHEARN The Canadian Press
TORONTO — Cineplex is further defending its decision to screen the anti-abortion film Unplanned, noting it was “a complicated one and it was not made easily or lightly.”
Ellis Jacob, president and CEO of Cineplex,
has released a statement that follows up comments the company made last week to The Canadian Press about the film’s release.
The American drama, based on the true story of a Planned Parenthood clinic director in Texas who becomes an anti-abortion speaker, will screen in 14 Cineplex theatres in Canada for a week beginning Friday.
It will also screen in 10 Landmark Cin-
emas as well as some independent theatres in Canada, after a U.S. release that stirred up intense debate on both sides of the issue.
Jacob says showing controversial films on the big screen is not new to him, Cineplex or the industry as a whole, and he’s confident the company made the right decision.
He adds it’s important to remember that Canada is a country that values freedom of expression, and that audiences can decide whether or not they want to see the film.
“When I immigrated to Canada back in 1969, one of the things that I loved, and still love, the most about living here was that we didn’t shy away from our differences – we embrace them,” Jacob, who was born in India, said in the statement issued Monday.
“Canada is a country that believes in and rallies behind freedom of expression, but that isn’t always an easy thing to do and it certainly doesn’t always make you popular.
“In this instance many of us will have to set aside our own personal beliefs and remember that living in a country that censors content, opinions and points of view because they are different from our own is not a country that any of us want to live in.”
Jacob also noted that the responsibility of determining whether content is appropriate for movie audiences and setting age parameters falls to provincial and territorial governments, through film classification boards.
“I understand and can appreciate the concerns about the film, but it is up to each of us to decide whether or not we want to see it,” Jacob said.
“In Canada, we have that option and I think it is an important thing to remember.”
Unplanned is being distributed in Canada by Fredericton-based Cinedicom, which is run by BJ McKelvie, who is also a pastor.
The Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada has called the film “a dangerous piece of anti-abortion propaganda” that “could incite fanatics to commit acts of harassment or violence against clinics or doctors.”
Jacob said Cineplex has received many phone calls and emails from Canadians on both sides of the conversation.
Salmar Theatres in Salmon Arm, says it has cancelled a planned five-day screening of the film after staff allegedly received threats.
And The Movie Mill in Lethbridge, Alta., is planning to beef up security for its Unplanned screenings after “a vocal negative opposition, who have indicated on multiple occasions boycotts and protests.”
“In light of this, we are hiring additional security for the opening weekend just to err on caution,” Leonard Binning, president of The Movie Mill Inc., said in an email last week to The Canadian Press.
“My young staff does not need to deal with any political fallout from showing movies – regardless of popular opinion.”
Tegan and Sara use songs penned in high school
The Canadian Press
TORONTO — Calgary twin sisters Tegan and Sara are mining songs from their high school years for a new album due this fall.
The pop duo say they unearthed a treasure trove of forgotten music created roughly two decades ago.
They found the collection while sifting through old material for their upcoming memoir. Those rediscovered cassette tapes became the basis of Hey, I’m Just Like You, their ninth studio album due on Sept. 27.
Tegan Quin says those old recordings made between the ages of 15 and 17 include dozens of songs that are an “essential part” of their high school story. Sara Quin says they took the ideas into the recording studio and made only minor tweaks to the lyrics and structure to maintain the essence of each song.
The album was produced in Vancouver throughout April and May alongside producer Alex Hope, who’s known for her work on Troye Sivan’s acclaimed debut project Blue Neighbourhood. Tegan and Sara say the album is a “full collaboration” between them, with production levels they could’ve never achieved as teenagers built with songs they could’ve never written as adults.
Hey, I’m Just Like You arrives three days after their memoir, titled High School, which will be published by Simon & Schuster Canada on Sept. 24.
Deryck Whibley of the Canadian rock band Sum 41 performs during the concert at the 24th Sziget (Island) Festival on Shipyard Island, Northern Budapest, Hungary in 2016.
Northern Hardware’s Classic Canoe Race
ABOVE: A voyageur canoe crosses the finish line on the Fraser River on Saturday while participating in the Simon Fraser class of the 2019 Northern Hardware
Race.
BELOW LEFT: Ian Chadwick of Enderby paddles his stand-up paddleboard across the finish line to complete the race.
BELOW RIGHT: Brad McRobert and Travis Sillence cross the finish line to complete the race.
Cougars sign draft picks
Citizen staff
The Prince George Cougars have signed two of their bantam draft picks.
Defenceman Keaton Dowhaniuk and forward Koehn Ziemmer are on standard Western Hockey League player agreements, the team said Monday.
Both played for the OHA Edmonton bantam prep team of the Canadian Sport School Hockey League last season.
“We are thrilled to have these
For the bronze
The Prince George Impact (orange) took on the Guildford AC Dynamo on Sunday at the Prince George Soccer Association fields. The two teams met in the U18 bronze medal game of the BC Soccer Les Sinnott Memorial Boys B Cup. The Impact were victorius taking home the bronze winning 2-1 over the Dynamo.
two in the fold,” Mark Lamb general manager and head coach.
“We are in a development cycle that is trending upwards and these two will be key pieces to the core of our team that we feel will be very competitive in the coming years.”
The Cougars used their first pick, third overall, in the 2019 bantam draft to select Dowhaniuk, who comes in at five-foot-10 and 160 pounds.
The Sherwood Park, Alta. product played in 25 games
and was his team’s top-scoring defenceman with eight goals and 27 assists to go with 34 penalty minutes.
Dowhaniuk was named the CSSHL bantam prep division top defenceman. He also was named an Alberta Cup All-Star after he posted two goals and two assists in five games.
“He can play the game anyway you want him to play; he’s a smoothing-skating puck-mover. He brings a physical element too and he’s only going to grow,”
said Cougars scouting director Bob Simmonds.
Prince George used their second pick, fourth overall, to select Ziemmer.
The Mayerthorpe, Alta. native measures five-foot-10, 179 pounds and led OHA Edmonton in scoring and finished second in league scoring, as he compiled 37 goals and 39 assists in 29 games.
Ziemmer also played at the Alberta Cup, where he tallied two goals and two assists in five
games.
“Koehn is a highly-skilled goal scorer with a versatile offensive package. He’s a constant producer and will be counted on to do the same at the WHL level,” said Simmonds.
Both Dowhaniuk and Ziemmer took part in Hockey Alberta’s under-16 provincial camp in Red Deer last week.
The camp is part of an evaluation process for Team Alberta’s roster for the 2019 WHL Cup in the fall.
CITIZEN
Prince George Canoe
Amazon can be sued over defective product
David PORTER
Associated Press
The
A U.S. federal appeals court has ruled that Amazon can be sued over a defective product sold by one of its third-party vendors, in a decision the dissenting judge called “a relatively uncharted area of law.”
The lawsuit was brought by a Pennsylvania woman who suffered permanent blindness in one eye after a retractable dog leash she bought online snapped and hit her four years ago.
Heather Oberdorf sued Amazon for strict products liability and negligence, but a lower court ruled the online retailer was protected because it couldn’t be characterized as a seller under state law. It also concluded her claims were barred by the Communications Decency Act, a 1990s federal law that shields online publishers of third-party content.
In a 2-1 decision released last week, however, the third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia reversed most of the lower court’s ruling, holding that Amazon can be classified as a seller in part because it doesn’t allow customers to communicate directly with third-party vendors.
David Wilk, an attorney who argued the case for Oberdorf, said he believed it was the first time a court had characterized Amazon as a seller under state products
liability laws.
“There’s an intuitive logic to our position, and it wasn’t a hard argument to make,” he said.
“It was just a matter of whether the court was going to look past what I considered an antiquated precedent.”
An Amazon spokeswoman declined to comment Tuesday on the Third Circuit’s ruling.
Amazon had cited a 1980s Pennsylvania case involving a man who was injured by a tractor his father had bought at an auction. A court had found the auction house couldn’t be held liable because it wasn’t a seller but had only acted as an agent for the seller.
The appeals court disagreed with that interpretation, writing that, while items sold by Amazon
can be traced to a vendor, customers can only communicate with vendors through the retailer’s site.
“This enables third-party vendors to conceal themselves from the customer, leaving customers injured by defective products with no direct recourse to the third-party vendor,” the majority wrote.
“There are numerous cases in which neither Amazon nor the party injured by a defective product, sold by Amazon.com, were able to locate the product’s thirdparty vendor or manufacturer.”
That is what occurred in Oberdorf’s case, according to the ruling, as neither she nor Amazon was able to contact a representative of the vendor, The Furry Gang.
The appeals court also said the Communications Decency Act
Bombardier to lay off workers in Thunder Bay
Christopher REYNOLDS and Jordan PRESS
The Canadian Press
Bombardier Inc. is laying off half of the 1,100 workers at its Thunder Bay, Ont., railway car plant, according to a federal government source.
Two major contracts in Ontario – for the Toronto Transit Commission streetcars and Metrolinx GO Transit rail cars – are slated to halt by the end of the year.
Local union president Dominic Pasqualino said he fears more job losses are on the horizon beyond the initial 550 as the contracts wind down.
“This business is cyclical. Things go up, things go down. But the thing is, it doesn’t look like things are going to go back up,” he said in an interview.
“Now you’re looking at these people moving from Thunder Bay or working in the logging industry or the mining industry. It’s very disruptive.”
Ontario Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney confirmed layoffs were coming.
“Our government has spoken to executives at Bombardier to
express our disappointment that their company has taken this step.
We urge the company to work with the provincial government to come to an agreement that would see jobs remain at the Thunder Bay plant,” Mulroney said.
Pasqualino laid part of the blame for a lack of new contracts on the province, however, saying that “our customer is the government, it’s not individuals.”
He also pointed the finger at the Trump administration, which has backed Buy America-like clauses
doesn’t shield Amazon from liability because Amazon “plays a large role in the actual sales process” and isn’t merely a publisher of information or content provided by third parties.
It did, however, rule that the act bars Oberdorf’s claims that Amazon had a duty to publish a warning about the dog leash.
In his dissent, Judge Anthony Scirica called the case a “relatively uncharted area of law” and noted that numerous rulings in other states have barred consumers from suing Amazon for liability. He also warned that many small entrepreneurs could be excluded if Amazon were to have to research its products and police its sellers more closely.
Third-party sellers have become a big part of Amazon’s success, helping boost the number of products Amazon has available to sell. Amazon said that 58 per cent of the items bought on the site last year were sold by third-party sellers.
Jon Reily, global commerce strategy lead at Publicis Sapient, a digital consulting company, said the ruling was “definitely a harbinger of things to come” for Amazon and could eventually lead to federal legislation.
“This looks to me as something that will have to get to a federal level before it will be a huge thorn in Amazon’s side, because the laws haven’t caught up to the reality yet,” he said.
to slow down production of the 63 remaining rail cars slated for completion by year’s end.
A Bombardier spokeswoman declined to comment.
The transportation giant has been downsizing its aerospace and railway operation for several years as it attempts to improve profitability.
It is exiting the commercial aircraft business after selling its turboprop and regional jet operations.
Bombardier has also sold a majority stake in its C Series aircraft program to Airbus, which renamed it the A220. Employment at its Quebec railway manufacturing plant in La Pocatiere has also been threatened by a lack of new contracts.
requiring a minimum threshold of local content.
Last month, Kenora-Rainy River MPP Greg Rickford said Ontario’s regional transportation agency, Metrolinx, extended an offer for 36 additional rail cars to Bombardier.
Pasqualino said he’s “happy with 36, but we need 360.”
“We’re going to have an empty plant in 2020,” he said Tuesday.
“We want to keep the wheels turning. But it’s getting close.”
The regional transit agency has also given Bombardier the option
The company shored up its finances in 2015 by selling a 30-per-cent stake in Bombardier Transportation to the Caisse de depot for US$1.5 billion.
Despite the ownership, the Quebec pension fund manager awarded a contract for its $6.3-billion electric train project to a consortium involving Alstom Transport Canada and a subsidiary of SNCLavalin instead of Bombardier. No local content requirement was set by CDPQ Infra, the subsidiary of the Caisse leading the project.
AT&T pulls Friends from Netflix
NEW YORK — AT&T is pulling Friends from Netflix to beef up its own upcoming streaming service. With new services launching, popular shows are splintering onto several different platforms.
The wireless company, which owns the WarnerMedia entertainment business, also said Tuesday that its service will be called HBO Max. It will launch in spring of 2020. As the name suggests, it will contain HBO content, other video from the Warner Bros. studio –like Friends – and new series and movies that are exclusive to the service. AT&T has not announced a price. As more companies – Comcast, Apple, Disney – unveil their own streaming services, they’re trying to make them more appealing with exclusive shows and deep libraries. Entertainment companies are pulling some of their stuff from Netflix to stock their own services. It’s not clear, of course, how successful those services will be, and they are losing out on licensing revenue by pulling their content. It could also create a confusing and expensive situation for consumers, who have to decide which of
all these existing and new video services is worth the cost.
AT&T’s decision follows Comcast’s NBCUniversal saying last month it would keep The Office, Netflix’s most popular show, for itself starting in 2021. Its service debuts in 2020. Disney’s upcoming service will be the exclusive streaming home for its big movies. Netflix for years has been playing up its original shows and movies, but much of its most popular video belongs to other companies. Friends, for example, is the second-most watched show on Netflix, according to Nielsen. The company has said it isn’t worried about the increased competition. Netflix said in a prepared statement Tuesday that it’s sorry to see Friends go in the U.S. Viewing rights for other countries are not affected.
AT&T also said Tuesday that the teen drama Pretty Little Liars, currently on Netflix, will move to its service.
It is also making original movies and series for the service, including a romantic comedy with Anna Kendrick and at least two movies produced by Reese Witherspoon.
producers announced they’re talking with the Alberta government to increase their quotas if they ship the output by rail.
News that Suncor Energy Inc., Cenovus Energy, Canadian Natural Resources and others were in talks with the provincial government was the primary reason for the TSX gain, says Patrick Bernes, a portfolio manager for CIBC Asset Management.
“So I think that that’s just being taken well by the market because it means potentially increased sales,” he said in an interview.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 82.26 points at 16,545.21, up from an intraday low of 16,421.66.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 22.65 points at 26,783.49. The S&P 500 index was up 3.68 points at 2,979.63, while the Nasdaq composite was up 43.35 points at 8,141,73. U.S. markets were relatively flat as investors were in a holding pattern until they get more clarity about whether the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates. Investors had anticipated rates would be cut later this month until a strong jobs report on Friday tempered those expectations.
Bernes said it will be difficult for the Fed to now meet those dovish expectations.
All 11 major sectors of the TSX were up on the day, led by a 1.5-per-cent gain for energy, followed by technology.
The August crude contract was up 17 cents at US$57.83 per barrel and the August natural gas contract was up 2.2 cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU. Health care was the weakest performer as shares of CannTrust Holdings Inc. lost 5.4 per cent, on top of the nearly 23-per-cent drop on Monday.
The tech sector got a lift from Blackberry Ltd. shares rising 2.4 per cent and Open Text Corp. gained 1.8 per cent on the announcement of a strategic partnership with Google Cloud. Materials rose just 0.11 per cent as the August gold contract was up 50 cents at US$1,400.50 an ounce and the September copper contract was down 3.4 cents at US$2.62 a pound.
The Canadian dollar traded for an average of 76.18 cents US compared with an average of 76.45 cents US on Monday.
AP FILE PHOTO
People stand in the lobby for Amazon offices in New York in this undated photo.
CP FILE PHOTO Bombardier President and CEO Alain Bellemare attends the company’s annual general meeting in Montreal in May.
Tali ARBEL The Associated Press
Lorna Carol Nooski
Aug 25, 1955 - July 6, 2019
Lorna passed away peacefully at Hospice House with her loving family by her side. She will be greatly missed by her husband Karle Nooski, children Priscilla Joseph (Mike Specken), Donnie Linton (Patti Bjorklund), and Dennis Linton, numerous grandchildren, one great-grandson, numerous brothers and sisters and extended family. A viewing will be held on Thursday, July 11, 2019 at Assman’s Funeral Chapel from 10am until 12pm. The funeral will start at 12pm. Interment to follow at the Prince George Memorial Park Cemetery.
Irene Cardinal
Irene Cardinal (Garnot) born September 10th, 1940, spread her Cardinal wings to join many loved ones above on July 3rd, 2019. Irene’s celebration of life will be held at PGNFC on Friday, July 12th at 1:00pm, prompt. Please join us in celebrating her life and all the memories made. Potluck to follow at PGNFC. In lieu of flowers, there will be a donation box to set up a bursary in Irene’s name.
& Youth Newspaper Carriers Needed in
