On guard for thee
First Nations moving into forest sector
The Canadian Press
The foundations of Canada’s forestry sector are changing as First Nations, strengthened by legal victories and legislation, look for more control of the woods.
A greater share of forestry rights could help open the way to greater economic independence, and is backed by a growing body of case law that affirms treaty rights, land title and duties to consult, said Peggy Smith, a forestry expert at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay.
“Those laws are having an impact across the country, and I think provincial governments that issue forest licences are much more aware now of the duty to consult and responsibility to engage with First Nations before they make even strategic-level decisions,” Smith said.
There have been significant changes in recent decades on the question of who gets the right to manage and harvest Crown forests, though rights are still largely locked up in longterm agreements with major forestry companies.
In the early 1980s, Indigenous-held tenure made up about 0.05 per cent of Canada’s total wood supply, while in 2017, with less overall supply, Indigenous Peoples held 10.5 per cent, according to a report from the National Aboriginal Forestry Association.
The share had not changed much since a report in 2013, but that could change as several provincial initiatives get underway and provinces commit to the principles of the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
In British Columbia, where Indigenous tenure stood at 11.6 per cent in 2017, the NDP government passed a bill at the end of May to give it the right to review forest tenure transfers between companies.
The law allows the government to block transfers not in the public interest, which could open the potential of diverting more tenure to First Nations, said Charlene Higgins, CEO of the B.C. First Nations
Forestry Council.
“Nations want a bigger say in the management and use of forest lands and resources in their territories, and access to more tenure. That’s the key to Bill 22, not only to level the playing field, but to support the government’s commitment to reconciliation and implementation of UNDRIP.”
The changes come at a time of significant challenges in the industry as destruction from wildfires and the mountain pine beetle have created acute shortages of wood in B.C. and led to a wave of sawmill closures and layoffs.
Interfor Corp. and Canfor Corp. have proposed a tenure swap to make their remaining mills healthier, but the deal now has to pass the undefined public interest test that adds to industry uncertainty, said Susan Yurkovich, CEO of the Council of Forest Industries.
“Certainly capital is mobile and it doesn’t like uncertainty, and we need to make sure that the mills that have the ability to compete in the global context have the fibre to be able to do so.”
She said the industry is already the largest First Nations employer in the resource sector, and could be supportive of some tenure shifts. But she said the industry is global and that the best way to support First Nations, local communities and the industry is for mills have the fibre they need.
Higgins acknowledged the challenges faced by the industry, but said First Nations forestry could succeed through alternative approaches.
“It’s a challenging time and the forest sector in B.C. is undergoing a transition, but as more tenure comes under the control of First Nations, we’re going to see the management of forests change to better reflect Indigenous views and perspectives, and that’s a much longer-term model.”
There is potential for other business models of stewardship, said Harry Nelson, an associate professor of forestry at the University of B.C.
“If we step away from this kind of
focus on how much we try and push through the system, but we think about how much value we’re trying to generate, then I do think there’s opportunities.”
There are options on selective cutting, more value-added production, and even alternative uses of the forest such as tourism.
He said key to First Nation growth is more industry competition, less concentration of ownership, and more capital.
“I think there’s a lot of potential, because so many of them are undercapitalized, or under the optimal size. So I don’t think it would take much.”
There are examples of success.
In Saskatchewan, where Indigenous People have about 30 per cent of the allocation, the Meadow Lake Tribal Council owns the largest First Nations owned sawmill in the country. In May they announced they would start to create energy from residual biomass from the mill.
Ontario’s industry went through significant upheaval and policy changes after a downturn in the mid2000s, which helped Indigenous forest allocation to grow to about 18 per cent while some new tenure models are still only getting off the ground.
Last year, the province awarded its first enhanced sustainable forest licence that’s designed, among other things, to increase Indigenous participation in the sector.
Manitoba, meanwhile, signed an agreement in February with a group of four First Nations in what it called a first-of-its-kind forestry development agreement. Movement can be slow in an industry that has crop cycles in the decades but First Nations can be expected to continue push for benefits from their territories as part of a wider effort towards reconciliation, said Smith.
“This struggle has been going on for a long time, and First Nations have been patient and persistent and true to their principles, and they’re not going to stop doing that.”
Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff
A Prince George man was sentenced Friday to 21 1/2 months in jail for a violent and apparently unprovoked assault on a man nearly twice his age that left the victim with a what will likely be a permanent disability.
Less credit for time served, Dakota James Fairchild, 24, will serve a further six months in jail, followed by three years probation for the Aug. 24, 2018 attack. Fairchild had been drinking and had been asked to leave a gathering because of his behaviour. Later the same evening, he went to a local liquor store with a friend and his father when he suddenly turned on the older man.
Video from a nearby security camera showed Fairchild punching the man until he slumped to the ground and then kicking him as many as four times. Fairchild was in such a rage that bystanders refused to intervene and by the time RCMP had arrived, he was jumping up and down on the hood of a car.
The victim was conscious when police arrived, although he may have been knocked out for a time.
The man, who was 20 years older than Fairchild, suffered what is probably permanent damage to an eye and needed repairs to his teeth. An electrician who earned $100,000 a year, he has been unable to return to work because he now suffers from double vision in the one eye.
Crown prosecution was seeking as much as three years in jail while defence counsel argued for time served.
Due to the degree of harm the victim suffered, provincial court judge Michael Gray found Fairchild deserved to serve more time in jail but not as much as Crown had been seeking.
Gray said Fairchild had been binge drinking and that people must take responsibilty for their consumption of alcohol and the consequences.
However, Gray also found Fairchild may be suffering from mental health issues brought on by the trauma of a childhood filled with “enormous suffering and deprivation.”
Gray also noted Fairchild wrote a note of apology to the victim saying he regrets what he did every day and that it “clings to you like an evil shadow.”
Fairchild, who has remained in custody since his arrest and has no previous criminal record, also vowed to never drink again.
Conditions of Fairchild’s probation include a curfew for the first six months and 80 hours of community work. He must also take counselling as directed by his probation officer.
And after six months, he must attend Indigenous court to speak to elders about the efforts he has made to turn his life around.
CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE
Const. Trevor Hurley salutes as the national anthem is played on Monday at Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park during Canada Day festivities.
Court docket
From Prince George provincial court, June 24-27, 2019:
• Lori Ann Stoelwinder (born 1971) was sentenced to 18 months probation and fined $1,000 plus a $150 victim surcharge for driving without a driver’s licence under the Motor Vehicle Act.
• Matthew Victor Ayotte (born 1985) was sentenced to time served for breaching probation. Ayotte was in custody for one day following his arrest.
• Riley Brandon Henkel (born 1996) was sentenced to one day in jail for willfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer.
• Gary Michael Charles Davies-Tritt (born 1984) was sentenced to one year probation and fined $250 plus a $38 victim surcharge for failing to produce a driver’s licence or insurance under the Motor Vehicle Act.
• Riley Brandon Henkel (born 1996) was sentenced to one day in jail for willfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer.
• Kristopher Wayne Semaginis (born 1991) was sentenced to a nine-month conditional sentence order and 18 months probation, issued a lifetime firearms prohibition and ordered to provide a DNA sample for possessing a firearm contrary to an order.
• Nicole Emily Jean Capot Blanc (born 1997) was issued a one-year $500 recognizance after an allegation of causing fear of injury or damage.
• Gloria Ann Clement (born 1965) was sentenced to one year probation with a suspended sentence for theft $5,000 or under.
• Brandhon Leslie Dargatz (born 1993) was sentenced to 25 days in jail and one year probation for theft $5,000 or under and to 30 days in jail for breaching an undertaking or recognizance.
Dargatz was in custody for nine days prior to sentencing.
• Keith Robert Faulkner (born 1968) was issued a one-year $500 recognizance after an allegation of causing fear of injury or damage.
• Doris Anna Niedermayer (born 1960) was sentenced to one year probation with a suspended sentence for possessing a controlled substance.
• Brian David Rowe (born 1979) was prohibited from driving for one year and fined $500 plus a $75 victim surcharge for driving while prohibited or licence suspended under the Motor Vehicle Act.
• Tatiana Rose Sutherland (born 1986) was sentenced to one day in jail and one year probation for breaching probation.
• Kelly Edward Burgess (born 1970) was issued a one-year $500 recognizance after allegation of causing fear of injury or damage.
• William John Marche (born 1981) was sentenced to 36 days in jail and one year probation for possessing stolen property under $5,000. Marche was in custody for 14 days prior to sentencing.
•Tai Nicholai Blue McMillan (born 1981) was sentenced to 170 days in jail and one year probation, issued a 10-year firearms prohibition and ordered to provide a DNA sample for unlawful confinement or imprisonment and assault causing bodily harm. McMillan was in custody for 129 days prior to sentencing.
• Mackenzie Taylor Curran (born 1993) was sentenced to time served for two counts of breaching an undertaking or recognizance. Curran spent 15 days in custody prior to sentencing.
Gunderson carving recently vandalized
Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff
Elmer Gunderson says he is going to try to repair the damage after one of the famed carvings he has made in the trees at Cottonwood Island Park became the target of what appears to have been a botched art heist.
On Tuesday evening, a woman called Gunderson to let him know the face of a dragon had been stripped away from one of the trees.
While it appeared whoever pulled the stunt wanted the figure for themselves, they didn’t get very far – it was found in pieces nearby.
“It looked like he tried to pry it off but any bark that’s on a living cottonwood tree, it’s virtually impossible to peel it off,”
Gunderson said.
“These ones, when I carved them, I made sure I didn’t go beyond the bark because I didn’t want to harm the tree.” It was the first time in the 14 years since Gunderson first carved a series of faces and figures into the trees that any of them have been vandalized.
“I’m going to try and fix it,” he said.
“I don’t get mad because it doesn’t help.”
Gunderson will try to rebuild the pieces as much as he can at home and then take them to the park and see if he can reattach them.
Gunderson said he carved the dragons to entertain the youngsters.
“It’s like they’re looking at an enchanted forest so I wanted to do something towards the kids so it’s very unfortunate,” he said.
Local artist Elmer Gunderson carved eight of his famous works into the bark of some of the trees lining the trails winding through Cottonwood Island Park (picture is one of the eight) in October of 2017. The artwork is carved into the dense outer bark of the cottonwood and does not harm the trees. In 2005, during the city’s 90th anniversary celebrations, Gunderson was commissioned to carve images into the bark of cottonwood trees in the park. Gunderson is a retired city employee who helped build the trails in the park during the 1980s.
Elmer Gunderson created some of his carvings in Cottonwood Island Park in May 2017. One of his many carvings in the bark of the Cottonwood trees was vandalized recently.
Local stars in operatic show at Theatre Northwest
Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff
An opera singer would usually have to leave Prince George to get a part like Musetta.
Like sopranos have since 1896, Paige Marriott got the offer to perform the coveted role in Puccini’s beloved masterpiece La Boheme. What was different for her was the geography of the call.
Marriott, who trained her voice at Capilano University, would get to stay right in her hometown of Prince George for this production.
“I screamed a little,” she told the Citizen with a laugh tinged with shyness but also blended with excitement and pride.
She has the technical abilities to fulfill the part – the character herself being a singer, one torn between an attentive admirer who is rich but uninspiring and an exciting old flame who is still smitten with her.
She also has the confidence to flirt with others who catch her eye, since she hasn’t made any firm commitments to either of the two main suitors.
“She is a firecracker, for sure,” said Marriott.
“It’s quite fun to play her because I’m quite shy and don’t like to speak my mind. Musetta is unfiltered, tactless at times, she blurts out exactly what she’s thinking, definitely more self-assured than I am. I’m learning a little from her.”
She needn’t be so modest, said Nicol.
“Paige is perfect for this role, I’m so pleased with how easily she has adapted to this new opportunity.” Marriott has been back in Prince George for about a year.
Upon graduation from Capilano University’s musical theatre program, Marriott was snapped up almost immediately to be a musical theatre instructor at Excalibur Theatre Arts, and the Sound Factory grabbed her to be a staff voice instructor.
She fronts the rock band Good Juju for their regular performances around town, and she is also in the chorus for Beauty & The Beast later this month, but the spotlight upon her shines brightly in La Boheme.
It has been a long career climb for Marriott, but she was always sure of her performance path. She was a regular medalist at the Prince George Music Festival as a youth (earning attendance at the provincials in the process), and a teenaged finalist in the first Limelight Quest competition when it was still called PG Idol back in 2011.
Unfolded with an allstar cast of local singers and actors and Marriott was in that exclusive cast.
Melanie Nicol, the artistic producer of Fraser Lyric Opera, cast Marriott in their Prince George production of Beatrice Et Benedict four years ago.
She was back on that shortlist again in 2012. In 2015, as part of the city’s centennial celebrations, Theatre Northwest’s Lauren Brotman created an outdoor production called
When it was time for Nicol to assemble the performers for this latest cast, she brought in a handful of hand-picked professionals from across Canada but she also looked to one of the best voices she had
ever heard rising from someone local – someone who had returned to live right here in her hometown again. She invited Marriott into the cast.
“It was nerve-wracking,” said Marriott, describing the feeling of entering the first rehearsals surrounded by so many professionally experienced cast members.
“But you just go in, introduce yourself, get into the work, and pretty soon you are becoming friends. Everyone is so excited to perform this for Prince George.”
Canadians gather to mark national birthday
The Canadian Press
A jovial crowd clad in red and white gathered under clear blue skies on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to mark Canada’s 152nd birthday in the nation’s capital – one of many celebrations being held across the country.
As the afternoon sun beat down, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the assembled masses that while it’s important to celebrate the nation’s victories on Canada Day, citizens must also pledge to stay on the right track.
“Canadians have so much to be proud of this year, and I’m not just talking about the Raptors,” he said.
“...But we can’t forget that Canada did not happen by accident and won’t continue without effort and hard work. We can and we must continue to make our country even better.”
Trudeau wasn’t the only highprofile Canadian at Ottawa’s celebration. In addition to Governor General Julie Payette and a smattering of cabinet ministers, actor Ryan Reynolds watched the festivities from the VIP section on Parliament Hill.
And astronaut David SaintJacques, freshly back from a stint in space, made a surprise video appearance from a hospital in Houston, TX., where he’s recovering from the trip.
In rainy Halifax, meanwhile, the occasion was marked with a 21gun salute on Citadel Hill, sending the sound of cannon blasts echoing through the sky like thunder.
Though the weather was far from pleasant, Jihan Estrella was happy to be in Halifax for the holiday after immigrating to Canada from the Philippines just a month ago.
“Even if we don’t know anybody, we talk to people at church and they help us with what we need. I think that’s something Canada has that we’re very fortunate to have experienced,” she said.
A little farther west, Torontonians had their pick of celebrations like the annual Yonge-Dundas Multiculturalism party, which celebrated the country’s diversity with jazz bands, a “Parade of Nations” and live performances from varying multicultural groups.
Terence Hampton Junior, 21, was visiting Toronto for the first time on a family vacation from Memphis, TN, when he found the Yonge-Dundas celebration.
The differences between Toronto and his hometown, he said, are palpable.
“Going around in different places and just seeing all of these people of different colours and different races and backgrounds together and just enjoying each other’s presence, that’s something that’s really important I think that Canada symbolizes well,” said Hampton Junior.
Fabiola Peoraza, 30, was also celebrating her first Canada Day in Toronto after immigrating to Canada from Mexico in 2017.
“I think it’s very easy to live here and be part of the culture and society because you have people from
all around the world,” she said.
“It feels like you are part of this country and you can share it.”
Though the celebrations were little less grand than they were two years ago for the country’s sesquicentennial birthday, 2019 is an anniversary year of sorts: the 140th official holiday celebrating Confederation.
For the first dozen years that Canada was a country, there were no official celebrations, thanks in part to Nova Scotia politicians who felt they had been forced into Confederation, said Matthew Hayday, a history professor at the University of Guelph.
At a parade in the East York area of Toronto, which was advertised as the city’s longest-running Canada Day celebration, children with painted faces and dressed head to toe in red and white ran up and down the roads blowing bubbles in small capes made of Canadian flags.
“It’s our heritage, it’s our history, and it represents a society that I think the world wants to be,” said Dennis Marangos, 60, a life-long East York resident who said he’s never missed a parade.
“I would encourage you to come out to see this show because a full opera is not common in Prince George, we are so lucky to have Fraser Lyric Opera here doing this sort of work, and you will find ways to connect to this story even if opera isn’t your thing. It is a tragedy, it is a comedy, it hits on a lot of big human emotions, and the music is just amazing,” Marriott said, admitting that she has been listening to the recordings of the entire opera on a daily basis and can’t tire of it.
La Boheme will be performed at Theatre Northwest with shows on Friday (7 p.m.), Saturday (7 p.m.) and Sunday (2 p.m.). Tickets can be purchased online at the TNW website or at the Books & Company front desk.
Shakespeare
Paige Marriott takes part in rehearsals for La Boheme. The show debuts Friday
CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE Donna Munt, with grandson Riley, 5, draw on a chalkboard at the schoolhouse beside The Exploration Place on Monday as part of Canada Day festivities at Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park.
Canadian artist dropped after Trump cartoon
The Washington Post
Within hours after an anti-Trump cartoon proved popular on social media, its creator, Michael de Adder, was released from his freelance contract with Canada’s Brunswick News company.
The timing of the news – which de Adder shared on his Facebook and Twitter accounts over the weekend – raised eyebrows within the editorial cartooning community. But the Brunswick News said Sunday in a statement that its cancellation of de Adder’s contract was not because of the President Donald Trump cartoon, but rather follows weeks of negotiations over bringing back another cartoonist, “reader favourite” Greg Perry (who is currently The Citizen’s regular editorial cartoonist).
“It is entirely incorrect” to attribute the decision to de Adder’s viral immigration cartoon, said the Brunswick News, calling that a “false narrative” that spread “carelessly and recklessly on social media.”
In the cartoon, which de Adder tweeted Wednesday, Trump has pulled his golf cart up to two drowned bodies and asks, “Do you mind if I play through?”
His image references the widely circulated photo of father Oscar Alberto Martinez Ramirez and daughter Angie Valeria, who died crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico to Texas.
“They can stand behind their statement, but it is clear with the last few cartoons that (de Adder)... was revisiting Trump after taking a break” from criticizing the U.S. president, said Wes Tyrell, president of the Association of Canadian Cartoonists.
“Maybe these were the straw that broke the camel’s back.” Tyrell told The Washington Post on Sunday that the timing was not coinciden-
tal, and that Trump was a taboo subject for cartoon satire at the Brunswick News. But the left-leaning de Adder “is getting a reputation in Canada as the guy who takes
More homeowners thinking small
The Canadian Press
Amelia Jasper-Laurin dreams of living in a community of tiny house owners, where like-minded neighbours all pitch in to share chores and property maintenance.
Karina Jacobsen, an artist, would like to live in a vehicle that combines a studio and living space so she could travel to different communities to volunteer and learn new artistic techniques.
And Amelie Guertin, 37, toys with the idea of leaving behind the big city and big mortgage for a simpler life close to nature.
The three Montreal-area women
are all among those contemplating the idea of eschewing bigger spaces for tiny homes, spurred by a rising cost of living and an increasing focus on minimal living that minimizes one’s ecological footprint.
Kenton Zerbin, an Edmontonbased sustainable living expert who teaches about building tiny homes, said there’s been a growing interest in the topic, and that the cost of living is the most important factor.
“At the end of the day, when you have to get into a quarter million, half a million dollars to get into a property, for many people today in
an uncertain time, with uncertain wages and uncertain jobs, it’s just not feasible,” he said.
Over the weekend, Zerbin led about 20 people, including Jacobsen, Guertin and Jasper-Laurin on a workshop that covered the elements of building a tiny home, from planning and design to tangling with local officials.
In a vast Montreal warehouse turned community space, he assigned them exercises including outlining a blueprint of their dream homes on the ground with tape. In a lunch-break interview, Zerbin said there’s no exact
on Trump,” Tyrell said. De Adder, who is based in Halifax and grew up in New Brunswick, announced the Brunswick News’ decision on Twitter on Friday. (He did not respond to The Washington Post’s request for comment.) The company noted in its statement that it was “not even offered” the immigration cartoon. De Adder’s work prominently appears in Toronto and Halifax newspapers, Tyrell noted. His freelance cartoons will stop appearing in several key papers owned by Brunswick News, to which he had contributed for 17 years.
“He’s done hundreds of Trump cartoons,” Tyrell told The Post, “but none has run in these (Brunswick) papers” that represent de Adder’s native province, where he still has family, the cartoonist tweeted.
The immigration cartoon went viral after celebrities such as George Takei and Mark Hamill noted it on social media.
News of de Adder’s canceled contract comes shortly after The New York Times ended its contracts with two political cartoonists, including longtime contributor Patrick Chappatte, whose work appeared in The Times’ international edition. The Times’ announcement followed controversy and an apology from the publisher for an overseas cartoon mocking Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Last year, Rob Rogers was fired from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after a quarter-century at the paper, immediately after editors killed at least 18 of his cartoons and cartoon ideas. All the spiked work was critical of Trump or issues closely connected to his administration.
definition of what makes up a tiny home. Most people agree it’s a dwelling ranging from roughly 10 square metres to 45 square metres – or 100 to 500 square feet – although he personally disagrees with such a rigid definition.
“If you’re a family of seven, you have different needs than a family of two,” he said.
While they can be built as cheaply as $10,000, he says that between $40,000 to $80,000 is more realistic, while some of the fancier models can cost much more.
He said the main draw of tiny homes that their smaller price and
size allows owners to focus their money energy on other things, such family, community, or travel.
“A tiny home enables you to live your life, versus living for your house,” he said. Zerbin said that while interest in tiny homes is high in Canada, especially in Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec, municipalities have been much slower than their American counterparts to accept them.
Many set a minimum square footage requirement, while others have bylaws that go so far as to specify the colour and type of building materials.
Trump wants tanks for July 4 event
The Washington Post
U.S. National Park Service acting director Dan Smith faces plenty of looming priorities this summer, including an $11 billion backlog in maintenance needs as well as natural disasters such as the recent wildfire damage to Big Bend National Park.
But in recent days, another issue has competed for Smith’s attention: how to satisfy President Donald Trump’s request to station tanks or other armored military vehicles on the Mall for his planned Fourth of July address to the nation.
The ongoing negotiations over whether to use massive military hardware, such as Abrams tanks or Bradley Fighting Vehicles, as a prop for Trump’s “Salute to America” is just one of many unfinished details when it comes to the celebration planned for Thursday, according to several people briefed on the plan who spoke on the anonymity to speak frankly.
Trump – who has already ordered up a flyover by military aircraft including Air Force One – is also interested in featuring an F-35 stealth fighter and involvement from Marine Helicopter Squadron One, which flies the presidential helicopter, two government officials said. The Navy’s Blue Angels were supposed to have a break between a performance in Davenport, Iowa, on June 30 and one in Kansas City, Missouri, on July 6 but will now be flying in the District on the Fourth.
At least 300 service members were slated to participate, primarily from military bands and drill teams, but that number could rise as additional military aircraft and other flourishes are added to the event.
The Defense Department has not released any estimate for how much the celebration
could cost. But the use of numerous aircraft could drive it well into the millions of dollars when counting fuel and maintenance.
The F-35 costs about $30,000 per hour to fly, according to Pentagon estimates. Each Blue Angel jet costs at least $10,000 per hour to operate and the cost of flying an Air Force One jet is more than $140,000 per hour.
The cost of a military parade Trump had planned for last year was about $92 million, including $50 million in Defense Department costs, defense officials said at the time. The parade was scuttled after the potential costs became public.
Other details of the July 4 celebration remain up in the air with just days to go. White House officials intend to give out tickets for attendees to sit in a VIP section and watch Trump’s speech but did not develop a distribution system before much of the staff left for Asia last week, according to two administration officials. Officials also are still working on other key crowd management details, such as how to get attendees through magnetometers in an orderly fashion.
Traditionally, major gatherings on the Mall, including inauguration festivities and a jubilee commemorating the start of a new millennium, have featured a designated event producer. But in this case, the producer is the president himself. Trump has demonstrated an unusual level of interest in this year’s Independence Day observance, according to three senior administration officials. He has received regular briefings about it from Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, according to the people briefed on the plan, and has weighed in on how the pyrotechnics should be launched and how the military should be honoured.
IMAGE FROM @DEADDER VIA TWITTER
Longtime cartoonist Michael de Adder was dismissed Friday from Brunswick News in the wake of his latest piece on U.S. President Donald Trump.
WASHINGTON POST PHOTO
The stage and bleachers are in place for U.S. President Donald Trump’s July Fourth address on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Food policy brings everyone to the table
Marie-Claude Bibeau, Canada’s agriculture and agrifood minister, recently announced that, after years of consultations, Canada finally has a national food policy.
Developing the policy had been one of the ministry’s stated commitments since 2015, when Justin Trudeau’s cabinet was first sworn in, and in the final days of the government’s mandate in 2019, it delivered on this important promise.
The food policy itself notes that Canadian foods lead the world in terms of quality and safety, and that our food sector is one of Canada’s economic powerhouses, accounting for an eighth of Canadian jobs.
But problems exist. Too much of our population cannot access healthy food on a reliable basis, while $50 billion of food, or 11 million metric tonnes, is wasted annually in our country.
The food policy, therefore, aims to bolster the economic impact of the agri-food sector while tackling issues like waste and childhood hunger.
Building on a consultation with approximately 45,000 Canadians through a series of regional town halls, a major summit, and an online survey, the government has decided to invest $134 million in this area.
Included is a local food infrastructure fund worth $50 million that will support community-led projects to drive access to safe, culturally diverse and healthy food.
There will also be a campaign to increase both pride and awareness in Canadian food. And there will be initiatives to tackle food insecurity in northern and isolated communities, and a “challenge fund” that will fund strategies to reduce food waste.
Overall, this is an impressive list of commitments, and while the funding allocated to this project is modest (and amounts to just $4 per Canadian), this represents an important moment for the country.
A centrepiece of the policy is a new Canadian Food Policy Advisory Council. The council will bring together expertise from beyond government and act to inform future developments regarding food and food policy.
The creation of this council is particularly important. For too long, food has fallen between ministerial portfolios. This is because food-related issues are too varied to be encompassed by any single minister’s mandate.
For instance, healthy food is an obviously component of the minister of health’s mandate. But so too is food a function of Agriculture and Agri-food Canada. Food, and the food industry, are intrinsic to Canada’s economic development and so
touch on trade policy. And with the rapid development of novel digital agri-food technologies, ministers responsible for innovation, science and technology are also keenly interested in food.
Until now, however, there has been no single place for food-related policies to be debated, contentious issues discussed and evidencebased advice provided to government.
As a result, this new advisory council, which will bring together stakeholders and experts, is critical to ensuring that food policy receives the attention it deserves in the long term.
It’s particularly noteworthy that the council will include members from industry, health professionals, academics, nonprofit organizations and Indigenous groups, and will be open to provincial and territorial participation.
While populating this council will be difficult, stakeholders from across the political spectrum have lauded the government for this announcement. The executive director of Food Secure Canada, Gisèle Yasmeen, welcomed the announcement, noting: “We are pleased that a council drawn from across non-profit organizations, academia, health professionals, Indigenous organizations and agriculture and food industries will help to steer the implementation of the policy.”
The Canadian Federation of Agriculture, an organization formed in 1935 to provide
YOUR LETTERS
Do nothing for climate change
It was refreshing to read that Todd Whitcombe acknowledges that nothing Canada does to fight climate change would have any effect. Yet, he seems to think we should do it anyway.
Why spend all that money and take a major hit on our economy if it has no effect?
So we can hold the “moral high ground?”
Virtue signaling, that’s what really matters, not actually doing anything that will “save the planet.”
Preening in front of the world is what it’s all about.
Look at us, we’re so admirable!
As Whitcombe said, there’s little substance in the Conservative climate action plan, but then there’s little actual substance in the Liberal plan as well, which isn’t surprising because they know the damage that would ensue from serious emission cuts. If it was the climate emergency they’ve proclaimed it to be, if they were serious about fighting climate change, wouldn’t they shut down half of our industries,
ban recreational fossil fuel usage, price those fuels out of reach and take the hit for the good of humanity?
Well, yes they would, but the backlash would be open rebellion and besides, they don’t actually believe there’s even a problem. Actions speak louder than words and their actions clearly reveal what they really think.
Justin Trudeau’s personal carbon footprint, both as private citizen and as prime minister is extravagantly huge and he places no restraints on himself. Likewise his environment minister Catherine McKenna jets all over the country to tell the great unwashed that we must cut back.
On shorter junkets, she hops aboard a chauffeur-driven, gasguzzling limousine. So the climate change plans of both parties are all for show. They address a supposed global problem that Canada has no ability to affect. They are kowtowing to the mindset that not to take steps to address climate change would portray them as callously unconcerned for the planet in peril. Just as long as they’re seen to be taking action, that’s all that matters in politics.
But wait.
Whitcombe thinks that’s nowhere near enough. Does he think if we take real actions, if we sacrifice so nobly, the big players like China who can make a difference will be inspired to follow our example?
Yeah, right, let’s not be that naïve.
China has 2,363 coal plants and is constructing 1,171 more. They and the other “developing” nations have made it abundantly clear that they have no intention of even so much as attempting to slow their emissions growth, although they’re quite happy for us to make cuts and thus transfer our industry, wealth and emissions to them.
In actual fact, both Liberal and Conservative plans go too far. No action should be taken that hurts us economically. Former Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chrétien knew how to play this game. While deploring the imminent threat of climate disaster, when it came to taking action he... made a few TV and radio ads.
That’s as far as any government should go.
Art Betke Prince George
LETTERS WELCOME: The Prince George Citizen welcomes letters to the editor from our readers. Submissions should be sent by email to: letters@pgcitizen.ca. No attachments, please. They can also be faxed to 250-960-2766, or mailed to 201-1777 Third Ave., Prince George, B.C. V2L 3G7. Maximum length is 750 words and writers are limited to one submission every week. We will edit letters only to ensure clarity, good taste, for legal reasons, and occasionally for length. Although we will not include your address and telephone number in the paper, we need both for verification purposes. Unsigned or handwritten letters will not be published. The Prince George Citizen is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent organization established to deal with acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour. If you have concerns about editorial content, please contact Neil Godbout (ngodbout@pgcitizen. ca or 250-960-2759). If you are not satisfied with the response and wish to file a formal complaint, visit the web site at mediacouncil.ca or call toll-free 1-844-877-1163 for additional information.
a unified voice on behalf of all Canadian farmers, was similar in its praise. Mary Robinson, the president of the CFA, noted that food is affected by a variety of factors that are rarely in the spotlight and that the food policy can help “…organize this puzzle and help fit the pieces together.”
Meanwhile, Michael McCain, CEO of Maple Leaf Foods and the honorary chair of the Maple Leaf Centre for Action on Food Security, noted: “The commitments reflected in the Food Policy for Canada will play an important role in making nutritious, sustainably produced food accessible for all Canadians. We are greatly encouraged that the policy includes the establishment of a Food Policy Advisory Council that recognizes the need for collaboration across industry, civil society and government to implement the vision and goals of the policy.”
While it remains to be seen exactly how the food policy, and the council, will operate, the announcement is a tremendously important step in ensuring that food –intrinsic to our economic, environmental, social and biological health – is given the attention it deserves.
— Evan Fraser is a professor and director of the Arrell Food Institute and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in global food security at the University of Guelph This article first appeared in The Converstaion.
Your current events quiz
To fulfil the commitment to Canada Day, herein lies a different Canadian quiz, which aims to test your knowledge of current events.
1. The most influential leader in our country is:
a) Kawhi Leonard, b) Aubrey Drake Graham, c) Brooke Henderson.
2. The leader of the official opposition is:
a) Jody Wilson-Raybould, b) all of the above, c) all of the above.
3. Justin Trudeau was an on-call teacher in Vancouver when he was: a) three or four jobs away from the prime ministership, b) one or two jobs removed from a gig as a nightclub bouncer, c) not yet using “drink box water bottle sorta things.”
4. The hip-hop superstar Drake, in celebrating the Toronto Raptors’ championship win, said: “I want my chips with the dip.” This means: a) Drake was not content to eat chips without the accompanying side dish,
b) Drake was signalling he wants to still be able to eat chips in the event of economic headwinds that affect his asset base,
c) Drake was working on new material and, while we might think it’s weird, he will eventually make millions of dollars from his genius public improvisation.
5. Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott left Liberal cabinet positions to sit as independent MPs because:
a) the anonymity it provides is easier than providing the paperwork to change their identities,
b) they want to lead independents to take over the Commons two-by-two over the next 600 years, c) they grew tired of all that authority.
6. The CFO of Huawei, Meng Wanzhou, was apprehended in Vancouver and now faces an extradition hearing to the United States. During what is expected to be a protracted stay here she will: a) pursue a PhD, b) finish developing 6G and 7G technology, c) persuade Canadian carriers to provide a much better data and phone plan.
7. Canada finds itself part of three new or revised trade deals with unwieldy acronyms. They are: a) USMCA, TPTCC and CETA, b) JAYZ, ADELE and CARDIB, c) TRUMP, NOTXI, and NOTBREXIT.
8. China has expressed unreservedly its support for Canada in recent times by:
a) randomly taking visiting Canadians hostage so they need not fear for their safety on the streets,
b) helping us understand that our canola is a health risk and our meat is uncertified,
c) assisting our economy by buying houses no one else can afford.
9. Ride-hailing will debut later this year here, with such made-inBritish Columbia features enshrined by the provincial government to ensure the taxi industry is not unduly disrupted as:
a) for appropriate hailing, a mandated dispatch system by teletype,
b) for true ride-sharing, a maximum trip of 500 metres and minimum of seven passengers at once per vehicle, c) for safety’s sake, open sunroofs in ride-sharing vehicles in the rain.
10. The CFL’s BC Lions made a major off-season announcement to increase attendance by:
a) hiring off-season actors to play seat extras,
b) playing at alternating 15-minute intervals with the Vancouver Whitecaps to double the crowd size,
c) serving as the intermission for the Paul McCartney show.
11. The year’s top-selling Canadian book has been:
a) How to Make Friends Abroad, by S.N.C. Lavalin, b) Leadership Through LetterWriting, by Kennedy Stewart, c) Dealing With A Diminished Toolbox, by John Horgan.
12. The Trudeau government bought the Trans Mountain pipeline project for $4.5 billion to: a) increase greenhouse gas emissions to save his climate change action plan,
b) prop up an Alberta NDP government it knew would lose, c) to help avoid balancing the budget unduly in the next halfcentury.
13. The NDP-Green alliance has persisted in British Columbia despite:
a) legislation to confiscate Green Party leader Andrew Weaver’s property,
b) a clause in the two parties’ agreement requiring Weaver to work each weekend on the legislature’s landscaping projects with the new government woodchipper,
c) a requirement that Weaver limit his antagonistic press releases about the Horgan government to four times daily.
Mailing address: 201-1777 Third Ave. Prince George, B.C. V2L 3G7 Office hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday General switchboard: 250-562-2441 info@pgcitizen.ca General news: news@pgcitizen.ca Sports inquiries: 250-960-2764 sports@pgcitizen.ca Classifieds advertising:
250-562-6666 cls@pgcitizen.ca 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 National Newsmedia Council A division of Glacier Media SHAWN CORNELL DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING
KIRK LAPOINTE COLLEEN SPARROW PUBLISHER AND GM
Canadian eateries springing up everywhere
The Canadian Press
Growing up, Paryse Lambert spent summers with her mother’s family in Quebec indulging in French-Canadian staples including croque monsieur, steak hache, and of course, poutine.
After settling down in Jacksonville, Fla., the dual U.S.-Canadian citizen longed for that mouth-watering medley of crispy french fries and slinky cheese curds smothered in gravy. What she found were grotesque mutations of the dish with shredded mozzarella broiled over what seemed like a spudbased baked ziti.
These American abominations were nothing short of “shameful,” said Lambert. So, she decided to rectify this culinary crime by launching the Stuffed Beaver, one of many establishments around the world devoted to an unexpected theme: Canada.
From Japan to Brazil, Canuckcentric bars and restaurants were busy on Canada Day with festivities featuring Tragically Hip cover bands, maple-infused menus and a steady flow of caesars.
Bedecked in kitsch Canadiana ranging from local licence plates to sports jerseys, these redand-white restos are exporting Canadian culture and cuisine to a global audience, while serving as a hub for expats to be reminded of the comforts of home, proprietors say.
“(Canadians) are growing like cockroaches here, even in northern Florida,” said Lambert. “We’re an underserved market.”
A stone’s throw away from the Interstate 95, which serves as a migration route for snowbirds and other sun-seekers, the Stuffed Beaver regularly caters to Canadians making their way across the border, said Lambert.
Behind the counter hangs a map dotted with the hometowns of visitors from Yukon to Prince Edward Island who have savoured her “grandma’s kitchen food” while travelling through the U.S. South, she said.
“When they hear that there are other Canadians, they get really excited,” she said. “They say, ‘it feels like being home,’ so I know I’m doing something right.”
Hearty fare like crepes, poutine and lobster rolls also isn’t a tough sell for Americans, Lambert added.
On Canada Day, the counterservice joint hosted a special event for 20 guests to dine on a sevencourse feast featuring vol-au-vent, salmon tartare, boeuf bouilli and poor man’s pudding by the light of a candelabra.
It may lack the star-spangled flash of the Fourth of July, Lambert concedes, but she can’t think of a better way to celebrate
Canada’s national pride than with a full stomach.
Halfway around the world in Queensland, Australia, Alana and Mike Vandenbrink toasted pints of Molson not only to Canada Day, but the third-anniversary of opening Mollydookers Cafe and Bar in the small country town of Apple Tree Creek.
The Aussie-Canuck couple goes all out for the dual celebration, bolstering their sprawling menu of cross-hemispheric cuisine with perogies, dry ribs, pickle spears, smoked salmon latkes and venison.
The eatery also hosts games
such as You’re Welcome/We’re Sorry, in which photos of Canadian celebrities are tacked to a wall for patrons to sort into one of two categories: cultural ambassadors the world is grateful for and those who bring shame on our country’s reputation.
The Tragically Hip is permanently fixed in the You’re Welcome bracket, they said, while Nickelback is stapled under the heading, “We sincerely apologize. Please forgive us!”
When he opened BJ’s Canadian Bar in southern Portugal two decades ago, Pat Ferreira says the watering hole’s maple-crested
A tray of cookies,
and a bagel sandwich, below left, from Alana and Mike Vandenbrink’s Mollydookers Cafe and Bar in Apple Tree Creek, Australia. The Vandenbrinks, below right, pose for a photo in their restaurant, one of many Canuck-themed establishments exporting Canadian cuisine and culture around the world.
branding was a way to set it apart from the British and Irish pubs catering to vacationers on the Algarve coast.
But Ferreira said the sports bar has evolved into a “home away from home” for the increasing number of Canadian backpackers and retirees taking in the nightlife of Albufeira.
The bar’s slogan is “a taste of the true North in the beautiful South” – a place to root for Canadian sports teams while sipping on Canadian brews and cocktails.
For the international crowd that flocks to BJ’s, he said the appeal is almost “a connection to a dream”
for people entranced by Canada’s natural beauty.
Others feel connected through friends and relatives who have moved there, which Ferreira sees as emblematic of the multiculturalism that makes Canada Day a global celebration.
“There’s something about being Canadian that brings us all together in a way that I’ve never seen in any other nationality,” Ferreira said.
“That’s really what makes Canada Day something that everybody wants to be a part of: It’s just a mix of everybody together and acceptance of everything we are.”
Canadian classics get international treatment
The Canadian Press
A stack of flapjacks drizzled in maple syrup with a side of bacon and sausage: all part of a complete and scrumptious breakfast. At least in Canada.
While restaurateurs say most Canadian culinary exports are successful, sometimes things can get lost in translation. Here are some international takes on Canadian classics:
Poutine
Paryse Lambert, owner of the Stuffed Beaver in Jacksonville, Fla., says she has a “no-brainer” pitch for the poutine-uninitiated: think mashed potatoes and gravy, but
indescribably better.
The French-Canadian eatery serves an American-inflected iteration of the dish called The Michigan with a heap of Lambert’s signature chili. If that doesn’t satisfy, there’s also The Hangover, which comes with barbecued hamburger, hotdog slices, crumbled sausage and bacon, drenched in a melange of gravy, hot sauce and maple syrup.
Whatever poutine option they pick, Lambert said first-timers always come back with the same review.
“They’ll try it and they’ll fall in love.”
Caesars
BJ’s Canadian Bar in Albufeira, Portugal, offers an array of Canadian cocktails. But
owner Pat Ferreira says there’s one drink that outdoes them all: the caesar.
In Canada, a celery-garnished glass of red-hued booze is a standard brunch feature. But abroad, Ferreira said one crucial ingredient is hard to come by: Clamato juice.
The bar imports the clam-broth beverage by the gallon, and once, Ferreira said he had to resort to asking his wife to bring back the powder-based version back from Canada.
Pancakes, bacon and sausage
“They’re not on the same plate are they?”
This question stumped Mike Vandenbrink, the Canadian co-owner of Mol-
lydookers in Apple Tree Creek, Australia, when he first heard locals express discomfort about their pancakes touching a side of bacon or sausage.
“(Australians) are just so weirded out by it,” Vandenbrink said.
He’ll offer to separate the breakfast components onto individual dishes.
But the accommodation comes with a warning: “The best bite is when you’ve got a little pancake left and maple and bacon, and then you realize you made a mistake by not starting like that.”
This proved to be true in the case of a 10-year-old boy who was initially appalled by the breakfast platter.
He came back to the restaurant the next day screaming, “I want bacon and pancakes!”
CP/HANDOUT PHOTOS
left,
Canadiana references abound at Rolling Stones concert
David FRIEND
The Canadian Press
ORO MEDONTE, Ont. — For a bunch of British chaps, the Rolling Stones sure know a lot about Canada, and Mick Jagger didn’t hesitate to flaunt his wisdom at their Canada Day weekend concert in Ontario.
The frontman for the iconic rock band doled out handfuls of Canadiana on Saturday, pausing to reference everything from the Toronto Raptors’ historic NBA championship win to the “buck a beer” policy of Ontario Premier Doug Ford.
Standing before a crowd of roughly 70,000 concertgoers, it didn’t take long before Jagger wished a simple “Happy Canada Day” to the receptive crowd, who didn’t seem to mind it was technically two days early.
The concert at Burl’s Creek Event Grounds in Oro-Medonte, Ont., about 30 kilometres north of Barrie, was the only Canadian date on their North American tour. And for many people in attendance, it seemed a miracle that Jagger was even on stage, given his recent heart surgery.
None of that was referenced in the 75-year-old singer’s tireless performance, which included swapping out one glittery jacket for another before eventually donning a hat and T-shirt emblazoned with the band’s famous tongue logo.
Armed with his flamboyant swagger, Jagger zig-zagged across the massive stage – and strutted down the catwalk – for two hours, playing 20 of the band’s greatest hits.
Popular classics Paint It Black, Gimme Shelter, and Honky Tonk Woman, were balanced with a selection of fan favourites, including
Before They Make Me Run, a song Keith Richards wrote in response to his 1977 arrest for heroin possession in Toronto.
And beneath four towering digital screens, Jagger played right into the audience’s hand at nearly every turn.
“What about those Raptors?”
he shouted, as the We the North logo flashed overhead. He poked a bit of fun at Toronto Mayor John Tory’s famous black-and-gold Raptors jacket, which he’s enthusiastically worn around town for weeks.
“He’s still wearing his dirty blazer,” the singer said to Tory, who was in the audience.
Jagger later introduced the band’s drummer Charlie Watts as the Toronto Maple Leafs’ mascot, seemingly for no particular reason.
He also took a jab at Ford’s “buck a beer” election platform, telling the crowd at one point that “for the next 15 minutes it’s a buck-a-beer –courtesy of Doug Ford.”
The comment elicited some boos in parts of the crowd, and no apparent discounts at the beer tents.
But the Stones’ fans didn’t seem to mind, so busy caught in a moment that would be a little piece of history, and perhaps even a farewell.
Earlier this year, Jagger under-
went emergency heart surgery, putting the single Canadian date on hold, and raising questions about whether the British rockers would ever tour again. When the singer got the all clear, the date was back on.
“The health scare was kind of an indication this might actually be the last one,” said Marc Fielding, who joined about 30 of his friends on a road trip from Toronto.
“They’re such an iconic band, so you don’t want to risk them maybe not coming back.”
For others in attendance, seeing the Stones live came with an extra significance.
Jackie Morin’s father, a longtime fan, died shortly after the Stones most recently played Toronto. So this night was an especially poignant moment.
“This is a big deal,” she said.
“Never will you ever see a concert like this – it’s history.”
Dino Bruno landed tickets when his sister-in-law surprised him. He last saw the Stones in the mid-1970s at Maple Leaf Gardens where he said the local news captured him playing Frisbee with police in the street.
“The Stones were the bad boys of rock,” he said.
“I wanted to be here because I want to die happy.”
Jayne Sidey first caught the Stones at a Canadian National Institute for the Blind benefit concert over 40 years ago in Oshawa, Ont. It was part of a court-ordered performance for Richards after he was arrested for heroin possession.
She said she was forever changed by Jagger and his buddies and has gone to at least 20 Stones concerts since.
“I saw them three times in the U.K. last year, and we’re booked for two shows on this tour,” she said.
“The 2013 show in Toronto was so good we all jumped in a car to Montreal and saw them there.”
Several homegrown acts performed before the Stones took the stage, including Saskatoon-formed One Bad Son, the Glorious Sons from Kingston, Ont., Toronto fourpiece the Beaches, and longtime favourites Sloan.
Toronto cover band Dwayne Gretzky played a late-night show of other rock and pop classics, ranging from Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. The day-long festival marked the third concert on the Rolling Stones tour.
The Rolling Stones performed during the No Filter tour in Oro-Medonte, Ont., on Saturday.
Sports
Teens set for high school rodeo national finals
Ted CLARKE Citizen staff tclarke@pgcitizen.ca
Lainy Procter would have preferred to stay in B.C., closer to her Ness Lake home, to study animal health technology as a college student. Problem is Dawson Creek is not exactly rodeo central.
In fact, there’s only one college rodeo event in close proximity to the Northern Lights College campus four hours northeast of Prince George and that was enough to convince Procter to take her fistful of scholarships to Lakeland College in Vermilion, Alta., for the fall semester.
The 2018-19 B.C. High School Rodeo season has been especially rewarding to the 18-year-old Kelly Road Secondary School honours graduate. She won the B.C. high school small-bore rifle shooting crown, finished second in the north in barrel racing and was fourth in pole bending and goat tying.
As the B.C. champion in rifle shooting, Procter will compete at the National High School Rodeo Finals in Rock Springs, Wy., July 15-21. Until this season she’d never competed in the event but her background in target archery paid off when she won both Prince George shoots and duplicated the feat in Fort St. John.
“I’ve shot guns all my life because my family hunts and I was in competitive archery for a really long time, as long as I could hold a bow, and that really helped,” she said.
“The rifle shoot is new, about three years, and I’d never done it before because they always had it up north but Christine (Jones) brought it to Prince George and I thought it would be fun to do with my dad.
“It’s really big in the States and there’s a lot of money in scholarships down there. That was another big draw because school’s expensive.”
Procter hurt her shoulder in a goat tying event a few years ago and stopped slinging arrows after winning bronze at the 2016 B.C. Winter Games so she could focus more on her rodeo events.
She likely would have contended for the B.C. title in barrels, but her horse Corona suffered a bad bruise in a fall a few months
ago in Fort St. John and she rode the rest of the season on a horse she borrowed from Lannae Boyd, a friend in Chetwynd.
“I should be going to nationals for barrels but he had a really big fall and I had to keep
myself and my horse safe, so we had to make slower runs,” Procter said.
“I was really proud of myself to stay up there. I went into the spring season in first place and to only drop down one place on
someone else’s horse is really cool. I high school rodeoed with (Boyd) and with that horse (Gunner) all my life.
Payden Hinton, a Grade 11 student at College Heights Secondary School, also qualified for the National Finals in Wyoming. Hinton placed second in the north in pole bending and was fifth in goat tying and tied for fifth in barrel racing. Hinton is entered in the Finals in goat tying and cutting, an event which requires her to separate a cow from the rest of the herd.
Procter is the current president of the BCHSRA and has been rodeoing since she was five, when she started riding ponies in Little Britches events. That got her trained in barrel racing, pole bending, goat tying and dummy roping.
“I did Little Britches rodeo until I aged out, from five to 16, and it really brought me up,” she said.
“I loved it, and it really started my rodeo career.”
Procter and Hinton hit all the BCHSRA north region events in Chetwynd, Hudson Hope, Quesnel and Williams Lake and that meant some lengthy trips each way hauling their horses from Prince George. Procter’s trip to Wyoming will be a breeze by comparison. She won’t need a horse and she’ll be using a borrowed rifle so that means less hassle crossing the border.
“I never travel without a horse, so this is really weird,” she said
“It’s a blessing in disguise because traveling that far is really hard on a horse. My horse will be happy in a field at home.”
Procter has B.C. Rodeo Association events on her calendar this summer and plans to compete in college rodeos in Canada for the next two seasons before she pursues her options at U.S. colleges.
“When you look at the people at the National Finals Rodeo, there’s only a handful that didn’t (compete in) high school or college rodeo,” said Procter. “In Canada, college rodeo is less competitive, but in the States it’s huge. It’s the same level as pro rodeo.
“I had contact from Idaho State University to come and rodeo for them but I’m not ready to go to the States yet. Even Vermilion will be a big move.”
Fleck recovers from shaky start, defends Citizen Open title
Ted CLARKE Citizen staff
Prince George Citizen Open singles champion Cory Fleck became the first tennis player to get his name engraved twice on the Matt Altizer Memorial Cup.
But not without suffering some punishment on the court Sunday afternoon at Prince George Tennis Club handed out by Thomas Tannert, who came up one game away from eliminating Fleck in the third set of their advanced singles final.
Tannert recovered from an opening-set 6-1 loss and got in the groove with a 6-4 win in the second set.
Fleck, who was virtually flawless in winning the club’s Spring Fling tournament a month ago,was his own worst enemy at times, double-faulting on serves and hitting what looked to be routine returns into the net.
By the time he recovered, Tannert had built up a 5-2 lead in the decisive third set. That was Fleck’s cue to settle down and start living up to his capabilities. He got his first serves working for him again and reeled off five straight game wins to take the title.
“After the first set I was thinking maybe I can cruise through this in the heat and he came back and I think I got a little overconfident and got a little tentative in the second set,” said the 27-year-old Fleck.
“He was just getting everything back and it made it a good match. He did hit a few good winners but probably 80 per cent of the points I lost were my own doing.
“I was a little frustrated at the end of the second set and you could tell at the beginning of the third set.
“But I’ve played a lot of three-set matches and it’s just kind of getting a hold of your emotions again and reining it back and being able to translate that into playing your game instead of being dictated on. That felt pretty good, coming back from that with five straight games. That was probably one of the highlights for the last three years for my tennis career.”
They were tied 5-5 in the third set and Tannert was facing break point when he sent a lob deep into Fleck’s court.
Thinking the ball was going long, Tannert turned his back, figuring he’d lost the game, but the ball landed eight inches shy of the line and Fleck put the return back into the open court for game point with Tannert still looking the opposite way.
Fleck then finished the match on serve in the next game.
Tannert, 45, played frequently in his native Eisenach, Germany (the home of composer Johannes Sebastian Bach) before immigrating to Canada in 2000. But tennis took a back seat for the father of three for a couple decades while he began a new career that took him to Chile and Vancouver before he resettled his
CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE
Cory Fleck, above, who took the championship for the second time, makes a forehand return on Saturday morning at the Prince George Tennis and Pickleball Club while taking on Rick Davore in an Advanced Men’s Singles round-robin match of the Prince George Citizen Open tennis tournament. Cory Fleck, left, and Thomas Tannert, below, pose for a photo after their match on Sunday afternoon at the Prince George Tennis and Pickleball Club. Fleck defeated Tannert to claim the Men’s Open Singles title of the Prince George Citizen Open tennis tournament and is the first back-to-back winner since the trophy’s inception in 2014.
I was a little frustrated at the end of the second set and you could tell at the beginning of the third set. But I‘ve played a lot of three-set matches and it’s just kind of getting hold of your emotions and and reining it back...
— Corey Fleck, Citizen open champ
Fleck advanced to the final with a straight-set 6-1, 6-1 semifinal win over 2018 finalist Shawn Hegan. In the other semifinal, Tannert needed a tiebreaker to eliminate Jim Condon 7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-6 (8) and he knew it would take a colossal upset to defeat Fleck.
“I’ve played him a couple times before and he beat me pretty easily so my goal in the match was to make him work for it,” said Tannert. “In the second set I was down 3-4 and I just wanted him to make him to have to work for it and I think he started to get a little nervous and I managed to win the second set.
“Then in the third set, the first three games all went to multiple deuces, back and forth, and I was up a break and I thought well this is almost too good to be true when I was up 5-2. But he was getting back into the game, he calmed down and was hitting his shots. At 5-3 I thought this is my chance, I have to win it, and I froze and doublefaulted all the time and from then on it was just him.
“He’s a great player. It’s always tough to have close matches but better to lose this way than to be played off the court.”
The Altizer trophy has been awarded to the Open advanced singles champion since 2014, named in honour of Matt, the former Citizen IT manager, who died along with his wife, son, daughter and sister in a highway accident February 2012 near McLeese Lake while on a trip to watch the Davis Cup pro tennis tournament in Vancouver. In other results, Steve Laing defeated Fara Kashanchi 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 in the advanced singes consolation final. In the intermediate singles final, Andrew Olson topped Rob Yliruusi 6-1, 6-1. Fleck also shared in the advanced doubles title with Les Obst and Phil Redding. Fleck took over for Redding when he suffered a torn calf muscle in their opening match of the round robin Saturday morning.
Lainy Procter, left, and Payden Hinton are both heading to the high school rodeo naitonals held in Wyoming from July 15-21.
family in Prince George three years ago to take a job at UNBC as a wood engineering instructor. He’s put more work into
his tennis game over the past year and proved that with his results in the weekend tournament.
Canadians clash at Wimbledon
The Canadian Press
It was only a matter of time until Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime won his first career main draw singles match at a Grand Slam tennis tournament. That time came Monday as the 18-year-old from Montreal posted his first victory at his first Wimbledon as a professional –on Canada Day, no less – against fellow Canadian Vasek Pospisil.
The 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Pospisil, 29, who was playing his first match since back surgery in January, was the first time Auger-Aliassime had played more than three sets to win a match in his life.
On a day when highly-regarded young stars Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas both were upset in the first round, getting out unscathed was a victory in itself for the 19th-seeded Auger-Aliassime.
“First matches in any tournaments are tough. I think they’re even tougher in Grand Slams. On grass things can go fast if you don’t serve well, return well,” he said. “I think the thing for me was just to accept it. ‘Okay, here’s the thing, I’m maybe nervous, not serving as well as I would like’ and to accept it and find ways to deal with that.”
Auger-Aliassime reached the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon junior event in 2016 when he was 15. That was his last visit to the All-England Club.
But despite his inexperience, many of the local bookmakers have him among the top six favourites to win the tournament.
Auger-Aliassime will play French qualifier Corentin Moutet in the second round.
Pospisil had the trainer come out on a couple of occasions to try to free his locked-up right hip – an alignment issue he dealt with a few weeks ago.
The treatment, in a nutshell, made it appear as though the trainer was trying to yank Pospisil’s right leg right out of its socket, even if it was less painful than it might have seemed.
“Considering I haven’t played for eight months, I was hitting the ball well. I started pretty well. I think as the match was going on, my level was just dropping a little bit. His was going up,” Pospisil said. “You know, you’ve got to be in top shape and playing extremely well to be beat Felix in any match. Best of five, especially.”
Following the two Canadians onto Court 12 was another countryman – No. 15 seed Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont. Raonic, who reached the Wimbledon singles final in 2016, dispatched Prajnesh Gunneswaran of India 7-6, (1), 6-4, 6-2 to advance to a second-round meeting with Robin Haase of the Netherlands.
“It’s always been tough for me here, to win the first round of Wimbledon – no matter how well I’ve been playing. So today, I think I did a better job of creating some distance, and getting ahead, and giving myself a little more freedom to swing out.”
Louka returns to Greece to play pro
A couple months ago, while she was finishing up her international studies at UNBC, Vasiliki Louka had a part-time job growing flowers at a Prince George nursery.
Her new occupation will allow her basketball career to continue to bloom.
The 22-year-old Louka has signed a professional contract with Olympiacos in her native Athens, Greece to play in the 16-team FIBA
NHL FREE AGENCY
EuroLeague Women, the top women’s basketball league in Europe, becoming the first UBC Timberwolves athlete to ever turn pro.
Louka established herself in a five-year university career as a dominant post, leading the T-wolves to three consecutive playoff berths. In her final season, she led the U Sports Canada West in rebounds, averaging 12.7 per game, and finished eighth in the scoring race with a 17.3 average. In a 20-game season, she recorded 18
double-doubles and was named a Canada West first team all-star, the first female UNBC athlete ever to reach that pinnacle. Louka was chosen as UNBC’s top female athlete the past three seasons.
She left Prince George as the T-wolves’ all-time leader in points, rebounds, minutes played and blocks.
Olympiacos is coming off a last-place 2-12 season in Group B. The 2019-20 season starts in October.
Connolly goes to Florida for four years, $13M
The Canadian Press
NHL general managers pulled out their owners’ wallets as free agency opened Monday.
Marc Bergevin made the biggest splash.
The general manager of the Montreal Canadiens tendered the league’s first restricted free agent offer sheet since 2013, signing Carolina Hurricanes centre Sebastian Aho to a contract worth US$42.27 million over five years.
The deal, which the Hurricanes have a week to match in order to keep the 21-year-old, carries an annual average value of $8.454 million.
“He wanted to be here in Montreal,” Bergevin said. “He believes that’s a really good offer for him, and he wants to be part of the Montreal Canadiens.”
Meanwhile, the three biggest unrestricted free agents to hit the open market Monday all ended last season with the Columbus Blue Jackets – and all left for greener pastures.
Flashy winger Artemi Panarin signed with the New York Rangers, two-time Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky inked a deal with the Florida Panthers and centre Matt Duchene agreed to a lucrative contract with the Nashville Predators.
If the Hurricanes decide not to match the agreement with Aho, who is just one of a number of impressive RFAs across the NHL potentially available this summer, the Canadiens will have to surren-
der first-, second- and third-round draft picks to Carolina.
The offer sheet to Aho, who had 30 goals and 83 points last season, is the first in the NHL since 2013 when the Calgary Flames tried to pry then-Avalanche centre Ryan O’Reilly out of Colorado, which matched the deal.
The last offer sheet to be accepted was back in 2007 when the Edmonton Oilers poached winger Dustin Penner from the Anaheim Ducks with a five-year contract at the cost of three draft picks.
Hurricanes GM Don Waddell said his franchise will take time to assess the offer, but joked he was “surprised it wasn’t more.”
Carolina’s social media team had some fun with situation, posting a poll on the team’s official Twitter feed with the question: “Will we match the offer sheet for Sebastian Aho?”
The only options presented were “Yes” and “Oui” – which should give a pretty good indication which way the Hurricanes are leaning.
There are a number of high-profile RFAs on the market, including Aho, Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner, Winnipeg Jets sniper Patrik Laine, Calgary Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk and Tampa Bay Lightning centre Brayden Point.
Leafs GM Kyle Dubas, who has cleared salary cap space in hopes of making a deal – or at the very least matching a potential offer sheet – continues to negotiate with Marner’s camp.
“It’s part of the CBA and it’s within the rules,” Dubas said of offer sheets. “You have to be mindful of that and leave yourself protected and well-situated to defend whatever may come your way.”
Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff was part of the Chicago’s front office in 2010 when the San Jose Sharks signed Niklas Hjalmarsson to an offer sheet. The Blackhawks wound up matching the four-year deal and keeping the defenceman in the Windy City.
“You evaluate it and you act accordingly,” Cheveldayoff said. “When it comes to an offer sheet, I listened to the press conferences of respective general managers and like Don said in his, as a group they’ll take a look at it and then respond accordingly.”
On the UFA front, Panarin got a seven-year contract worth $81.5 million in the Big Apple after the 2016 Calder Trophy winner as rookie of the year scored a careerhigh 87 points in 2018-19.
Bobrovsky, meanwhile, heads to South Beach on a seven-year, $70-million pact to guard the Panthers’ crease after Roberto Luongo retired last week. Joining him will be Prince George’s Brett Connolly. The Stanley-Cup champion free agent signed a four-year deal for $13 million with the Panthers.
And Duchene continued the exodus from the Blue Jackets, who made the second round of the playoffs for the first time this spring, when he agreed to a sevenyear, $56 million contract in Music City – a move only made possible
after Nashville traded defenceman P.K. Subban to the New Jersey Devils at the draft.
The Vancouver Canucks addressed a need on their blue line by signing Tyler Myers – a member of the Jets since 2015 – to a five-year, $30-million contract.
“He’s a great fit for our group going forward,” said Canucks GM Jim Benning, who also signed defenceman Jordie Benn to a twoyear pact worth $4 million.
The day got going with a trade between Toronto and the Ottawa Senators, which saw the Leafs exchange Nikita Zaitsev for fellow blue-liner Cody Ceci. The six-player swap also included winger Connor Brown going to the Senators in deal that helps salary cap-squeezed Toronto clear more space as it endeavours to sign star Marner.
The Senators also raided the Leafs’ locker room in free agency, nabbing defenceman Ron Hainsey ($3.5 million) and winger Tyler Ennis ($800,000) on one-year deals.
“Our goal is to make sure the Ottawa Senators are better and we feel we’ve done that,” Dorion said. “We’re really comfortable with these decisions.”
The Alberta teams played a version of goalie musical chairs as Mike Smith signed a one-year deal worth $2 million, plus incentives with Edmonton after two seasons in Calgary, while Cam Talbot, who the Oilers traded to Philadelphia in February, inked a one-year pact with the Flames for $2.75 million.
Citizen staff
UNBC Timberwolves foward Vasiliki Louka looks for a way around University of Manitoba Bisons defender Addison Martin during a January game at the Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre.
Adult & Youth Newspaper Carriers
areas:
Needed in the Following
• Hart Area • Driftwood Rd, Dawson Rd, Seton Cres,
• Austin Rd.
• Lower College Heights
O’Grady Rd and Park, Brock, Selkirk,
• Oxford, Simon Fraser Trent, Fairmont, Guelph, Gladstone,Hartford, Harvard, Imperial, Kingsley, Jean De Brebeuf Cres, Loyola, Latrobe, Leicester Pl, Princeton Cres, Prince Edward Cres, Newcastle, Melbourne, Loedel, Marine Pl, Hough Pl, Guerrier Pl, Sarah Pl, Lancaster, Lemoyne,
• • Upper College Heights • St Barbara, St Bernadette, Southridge, St Anne Ave, Bernard, St Clare St, St Gerald Pl, Creekside, Stillwater.
• • Full Time and Temporary Routes Available. Contact for Details 250-562-3301 or rss@pgcitizen.ca
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY
It is with profound sadness I share the news that Kay Horrocks - Mom, Grandma Kay, Auntie Kay departed this world on June 16, 2019. Kay was a devoted mother, grandmother, great grandmother and friend to all whose lives she touched.
She struggled stoically with the anguish of losing her eyesight, yet was blessedly taken before blindness triumphed.
Kay did not wish to have a service. A donation to C.N.I.B. would be appreciated.
Kay will be remembered by her extensive legacy, family - far too many to be mentioned here - you know who you are, friends, companions and colleagues.
All My Love, Lori
Established Franchise Photography Business
Serving Northern B.C for over 35 years
Gross Revenues of $150.000 plus annually from seasonal work Lots of opportunity to expand the business.
Transition support available to the right buyer
Serious Enquiries Only Office 250-596-9199 Cell 250-981-1472
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY
Established Franchise Tax Preparation BusinessMackenzieservicing and McLeod Lake area for over 30 years.
Gross Revenues of $85,000 to $90,000
Annually and Potential to expand revenues in a growing economy.
Transition support available for the right buyer.
Serious Inquires Only Office (250)997-9003 Home (250)997-5538 Cell (250)990-0152
