Prince George Citizen June 6, 2019

Canada, Allies mark 75th anniversary of D-Day

Canada Games mural vandalized

Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca

One of northern B.C.’s most prominent murals, one seen throughout the nation as a pivotal image of the 2015 Canada Winter Games, got defaced overnight. When Shonda Shaw came to work on Wednesday morning, she saw that a spray-paint vandal had left a mark known as a “tag” – the anonymous vandal’s sprayed signature.

“I am so fumed,” said Shaw, who works for the building’s owner, local entrepreneur Fritz Hausot. “When we acquired the building about two and a half years ago, we repainted the building but we went to great lengths to keep that painting as it was. We think it was an important part of an important time in Prince George. And then this happens.”

The painting dominates the visual impression of the corner at Fifth Avenue and Quebec Street. What’s especially galling is how upset the public was when an even larger mural, a massive Aboriginal collage on the former PG Lock & Key Building, was deliberately painted over when that building changed ownership several years ago. Now, on the same block, this acclaimed mural has also been disfigured.

The public knows this image well. It’s

the face of a goggled snowboarder on a mountain, with another snowboarder doing a trick in the reflection of the goggles.

It was painted by noted artist Milan Basic, unveiled July 27, 2012 on what was then Canada Games House – the headquarters for the Games organizers. The Canada Winter Games committee commissioned Basic to paint the mural there.

Stuart Ballantyne, CEO of the 2015 Canada Winter Games, used the world “phenomenal” to describe the mural.

“I think it’s iconic,” he said. “That’s what we wanted to achieve with launching our offices here in downtown. We knew that that was a great space to put a mural and we thank the BID Group for giving us the opportunity to have the canvas and a new office but we also thank Milan Basic for just an amazing piece of art that will last forever.”

The building was owned at the time by the BID Group of Companies. It was owned by Canada Post to begin with, and indeed the downtown post office is still located there. North District RCMP also called the place home for many years.

Basic estimated he spent between 30 and 40 hours on the project and said he was happy to have been given the op-

portunity to do it.

“I’m really big on community, and I feel like the way I can contribute to community is by bringing colour to Prince George,” he said on the day of the unveiling. “This is a legacy. This is a legacy for my children, for your children and on and on. That’s what matters the most to me.”

Basic used paint designed specifically for murals, so the piece will have a long life span. He said an anti-graffiti coating will be applied, which he finds ironic because he started out as a graffiti artist many years ago.

“That’s what cracks me up,” laughed Basic. The longevity of that coating will now be tested. Consultations are underway with the Community Arts Council and the RCMP to track down a potential solution to the damaged art and track down a possible identity of the vandal.

“It’s just so huge, a big, ugly mess,” said Shaw. “Taggers have hit our walls before (on the nondescript cosmetic paint) and we’ve just painted over that. But to vandalize a mural, that is just unbelievable, so disrespectful, I can’t believe what I’m seeing.”

Anyone with information on whom the vandal might be is asked to contact the RCMP 250-561-3300.

Anti-borrowing petitions come up short

Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mneilsen@pgcitizen.ca

Opposition to the city’s proposals to borrow as much as $32 million to pay for 11 projects fell well short of the threshold to force referendums on the items.

Under the alternative approval process, 5,546 elector response forms – adding up to 10 per cent of the city’s electorate – had to be submitted to take a proposal to the next level but the best a campaign against the items could do was 2,967 according to results posted Wednesday.

Mayor Lyn Hall said the outcomes give council the mandate to pass all 11 bylaws through final reading when they’re up for consideration on Monday night. Hall acknowledged the opposition that had been raised.

“It’s obvious that we need to continue to get out and talk about infrastructure needs in our city, talk about the position we’re in as a city when it comes to the infrastructure deficit in our community,” Hall said.

But he also said the outcome shows support for the projects.

“There are folks in the community who continue to believe that we need to continue with the infrastructure upgrades because of the deficit we’re seeing in it, both below and above ground,” Hall said.

Eric Allen, one of the key organizers of the Enough Already campaign against the bylaws, was left puzzled by the outcome.

“I thought we’d actually be over,” he said when given the news.

He estimated about 5,000 petitions for each proposal were handed out during the campaign and suggested there may have been a significant number of rejects. However, according to a staff report, the counts ranged from 33 to 49 depending on the project.

The process had been described as onerous because of the number of projects up for consideration and the requirement that the forms be submitted during city hall’s business hours. — see REFERENDUM, page 3

After-hours health centre opens at Parkwood

A drop-in health care centre aimed largely at people without family doctors is up and operating. Located at Parkwood Place Mall, doors to the Prince George Urgent and Primary Care Centre opened on Tuesday afternoon. It offers after-hours care in the evenings and weekends for people with non-lifethreatening conditions who need to see a healthcare provider within 12 to 24 hours but do not require the level of expertise found in emergency departments. Physicians and nurses will provide care supported by urgent access to mental health and substance use clinicians. Follow-up care will be coordinated through scheduled appointments with the appropriate clinician or service.

Hours are 4-9 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays, 1-9 p.m. Wednesday, Thursdays and Fridays, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays. Some services remain pending, including after-hours access to diagnostics and other types of support.

Everything should be in place by this fall, according to Northern Health.

It was created through a partnership between the Ministry of Health, Northern Health, the Prince George Division of Family Practice and the Nechako Medical Clinic.

The Nechako Medical Clinic is made up of over 35 primary care physicians who, in addition to running family practice clinics during the daytime, have been providing after-hours care in the city for the past 25 years.

“We are excited for the opportunity to integrate our medical practice with this expanded multidisciplinary primary care team,” said Dr. Brian Hillhouse of the Nechako Medical Clinic in a press release.

“The new resources of the UPCC and the expanded team-based care will allow for greater access to primary care for the community, and provide a higher quality and more holistic urgent and after hours medical care.”

Premier John Horgan and Minister of Health Adrian Dix announced the clinic’s opening in April when they were in Prince George.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

The Canada Winter Games snowboarder mural was tagged with spray paint by a vandal on Tuesday evening.

HALL

Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff

CITIZEN

PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

The Prince George Urgent and Primary Care Centre (UPCC) opened in the Parkwood Place Mall on Tuesday to provide people with same-day access to urgent and primary care.

Clean up raised cash for children’s charity

Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca

When Prince George pop-culture fans were celebrating fictional heroes like Iron Man and The Man of Steel inside Northern FanCon, some real life heroes were outside the event collecting scrap metals and turning that into cash for the Variety Club – The Children’s Charity.

ABC Recycling partnered with Northern FanCon and The Citizen to host the Community Clean-Up For Kids outside the event in the CN Centre gravel parking lot where there was space to drop off any household scrap metal – everything from copper to cans to cars – as well as refundable bottles. The staff of ABC Recycling and several

key partners celebrated the eco-affair by offering a $5 lunch all day, both days.

“I’d like to share that we raised a total of $22,826.99 during the two days we had the event,” said ABC Recycling spokesperson Jasper Randolph Sy. With some additional contributions generated by the Community Clean-Up For Kids, the final total was $24,727 for Variety.

“Community members dropped off their scrap metal and recyclable bottles and beverage containers during the two day event, with all proceeds donated to Variety,” he explained.

“ABC Prince George provided the equipment, bins and man-power for the event. A barbecue lunch was provided by Centennial Food Service. Nechako Bottle Depot provided beverages to go with lunch and staff

to collect recyclable beverage containers.

Vista Radio’s The Goat / Country 97 FM and Prince George Citizen provided promotion and media coverage. Major Appliance Recycling Roundtable (MAAR) provided funding to receive appliances, evacuate and dispose of freon products from fridges, freezers and other appliances. And finally, the partnership of Canfor was instrumental in making this event so successful.”

Wednesday was the first ever Variety Mobility Day.

“(We celebrated) the day promoting accessibility and inclusiveness while raising funds to provide much-needed mobility equipment for children who experience mobility challenges. Our goal is to raise enough money to fund two Adaptive Trikes in each of our five health regions,” said a

written statement from Variety – The Children’s Charity. This organization is focused on helping children with special needs, because the formal medical system does not cover all of the costs and tools that help these young people grow and thrive. Variety steps in where health care ends, and they’ve been doing so for more than 50 years. Another Variety event is coming soon to the Prince George region. On June 19-20 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days, radio stations 94.3 The Goat, Country 97, and Valley Goat will present the Variety Prince GeorgeVanderhoof Radiothon. Sponsored by Canadian Tire, “this 15th Annual fundraiser will celebrate the remarkable achievements of local kids with special needs and the people in the community who support them,” said a statement from Variety.

Playground purloined

Sometime between Monday night and Tuesday morning thieves stole the climbing wall portion of the playground at École Franco-Nord.

Prince George RCMP are asking anyone with information about the theft to call them at 250-561-3300. Tips can also be made anonymously by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800222-8477, online at www.pgcrimestoppers.

bc.ca (English only) or by texting CRIMES (274637) using the keyword “pgtips.”

Catchment changes considered for two schools

Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff

fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca

Two elementary schools are being considered for catchment change.

Currently Edgewood and Spruceland Traditional Elementary Schools feed their students into Duchess Park Secondary School.

School District 57 (SD57) is contemplating a change to move that flow of students to D.P. Todd Secondary School instead.

A committee was tasked by SD57 with looking into the feeder system and is recommending these changes.

“The Education Services Committee supported the recommendation and it has been accepted by the Board of Edu-

cation,” said a written SD57 statement.

“Grade 7 students leaving Edgewood Elementary and Spruceland Traditional Elementary in June 2020 would attend secondary school at D.P. Todd Secondary instead of Duchess Park Secondary in September 2020.”

Accepting the recommendations does not equal implementation, only that the plan is deemed to be workable enough to advance to public consultation.

Those hearings will be held Tuesday at Edgewood and Wednesday at Spruceland.

Both sessions are scheduled to start at 7 p.m. and end at 8 p.m. Members of the Board of Education will be in attendance to receive feedback.

The change has been recommended

as a solution to overpopulation at Duchess Park, a triple-track secondary school that opened in March 2010,” said the district’s statement.

Duchess Park’s current student population – including 44 Franco-Nord graduates – is 1,075.

Its capacity, as listed by the Ministry of Education, is 900.

D.P. Todd is also currently over capacity, with 640 students in a building meant for 600.

However, renovating this school is part of SD57’s five-year plan and that capital project could add as many as 300 new spaces.

It is a site where portables could easily be added to cover the interim until the addition is built.

Referendum not likely, advocate says

— from page 1

Had the counts been close to the threshold, Allen had said there was a chance opponents could argue in favour of taking the borrow items to referendum.

But given the margins, Allen said Wednesday he doubts council will do anything but give final readings.

“They’ll probably think it’s far enough away that they won’t have to do that,” he said.

Here’s an item-by-item look at the outcomes with rejections in brackets:

$2.9 million for equipment purchases 2,913 (34); $1.4 million for phase two of mausoleum expansion 2,825 (49); $4.7 million for civic facilities roof replacements 2,850 (49); $10.2 million for Aquatic Centre renewal and upgrade 2,901 (46); $2.7 million for Masich Stadium amenities refurbishment 2,903 (43); $1.7 million for phases two and three of Ron Brent Park redevelopment

2,967 (44); $1.2 million for upgrades along 14th Avenue from Irwin Street to Freeman Street 2,897 (41); $500,000 for traffic signals at Domano Boulevard and St. Lawrence Avenue/Gladstone Drive 2,756 (43); $800,000 for upgrades to Highway 16 frontage road from Heyer Road to Henry Road 2,795 (40); $1.1 million to replace culvert at Goose Country Road 2,850 (34); $5 million to replace 600 street lights and traffic signals 2,797 (33).

MLA working on glysophate ban

Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca

Prince George-Mackenzie MLA Mike Morris’ quest to ban the use of a controversial chemical on provincial forests has hit some bumps but his private member’s bill on the issue remains in play.

A plan to have the bill introduced in the most-recent sitting of the legislature was put on hold to make some modifications, but it should be ready for the fall session, Morris said Wednesday.

The changes were made to both cast the net wider in terms of the chemicals to be targeted while also making sure on the focus in terms of where they should be prohibited.

“It needed to be broader than just glysophate, so I was trying to come up with some terms that would cover off any other kind of derivative,” Morris said.

“But I also had a lot of input, a lot of calls from various groups and organizations within the province, whether related to silviculture or farming or other groups that were concerned that this would morph into a province-wide prohibition for the use of glysophates or those kinds of compounds on right-ofways, for agriculture and others.

“And my sole purpose is just to concentrate on the loss of biodiversity and habitat related to killing off the broadleaf and deciduous growth in there. It took me a long time to find the right wording for that and as a result, I lost the window I had for the spring session but it will definitely be on the fall session agenda.”

Morris is targeting herbicides forest companies use to kill aspen and other broadleaf plants in areas that have been logged and replanted with trees of commercial value. Opponents of their use say it also eliminates food supplies for wildlife.

On whether banning their use would affect companies’ bottom lines, Morris said it’s an argument he’s heard but noted that where First Nations have prohibited their use on traditional territories, “forest companies seem to get along quite well.”

“It does impact the bottom line and our forest companies complain that they’re not competitive any longer in British Columbia but I don’t think they have ever been truly competitive when you look at the forest industry in the southern U.S. where they can grow a tree in 35 years that’s marketable and it takes 100 years for us to do it up here,” Morris added.

MORRIS

On parade

Cheslatta man part of D-Day landings

Abel Peters spoke openly about his experiences

Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca

Seventy-five years ago today, Abel Peters was jammed shoulder to shoulder with other Canadian soldiers in a landing craft crashing through the waves of the English Channel. His rifle was clutched in his hand as he sprang into the cold water. The tide was low and the bullets were hot and thick as he clambered and stumbled through the sharp wire, the invisible hail of machine guns, the blasts of shells, and the terror of his friends’ bodies butchered where they stood by the Nazi onslaught from the hills ahead.

Peters had landed on Juno Beach in one of the deadliest days of human history – D-Day, 1944. The allied forces, including those of Canada, picked that moment to break through the coastal defences of Germany. The Allied death toll altogether was close to 4,500 dead and double that wounded. Peters was not one of those casualties.

This rifleman from Cheslatta territory in the B.C. bush, born on Sept. 16, 1922 at Cheslatta Lake, had a Nazi bullet with his name on it, but that would come later. So would a great betrayal by the very nation for whom he faced imminent death. But first he had to plod through hell with his Allied brothers on that catastrophic day. He originally enlisted in the army in 1943 in the 102nd Northern British Columbians which became part of the Winnipeg Rifles.

“We jumped into the water and had to keep my rifle way up over my head,” said Peters said of his experience, before his death in 2012. “Oh, boy I was scared and everything so confusing.

“So many boys never made it to the beach.”

The wholesale objective was to link at least five of the key Nazi strongholds on the first day. The only one to achieve breakthrough on time was Juno Beach, under the pressure of Peters and the Canadians.

On this, the 75th anniversary of that first fateful day – the beginning of the end of the Nazi regime – the Cheslatta Carrier Nation is on guard for Peters, one of their own, and one of Canada’s heroes of the Second World War.

“He said it was chaos for a couple of days,” said Mike Robertson, the senior policy advisor for the Cheslatta Carrier Nation and a lifelong Peters friend. Unlike many traumatized veterans of war who stoically buried the memories of war, Peters felt it important to tell the stories and express the feelings of that ghastly month, and its aftermath.

On July 8, 1944, after 28 days on the battlefield, Private Peters was shot by a German sniper at the Cannes Airfield. He received extensive head and arm injuries from multiple gunshot wounds, but he survived the attack.

His left arm ended up being one inch shorter than his right arm because of his injuries and a metal plate was installed in his head “which was pretty risky business in 1944,” Robertson said.

After months of rehabilitation and recovery, Peters was well enough to reenter Canadian life. His first job out of hospital was at a sawmill in Quesnel, but even there the war managed to wound him again. The head injuries caused him to experience occasional blackouts, and when one occurred on the job, he fell into a saw and severely injured his hand.

This required more rehabilitation, but again he was undaunted.

“He was a wounded soldier so that entitled him to a small pension,” Robertson explained. He used his pension to buy a little sawmill and he set it up at the original Cheslatta village. He ran it. That sawmill, the Coombs Brothers bought that, and it is still there in Grassy Plains; they moved it out when they flooded it.”

That is, they moved the mill away from the flood waters as the Crown governments of the day built the Kenney Dam to generate electricity for Alcan’s smelter in Kitimat. That was in the early 1950s and caused masses of water to swell the size of Ootsa Lake and erase much of the Cheslatta people’s primary territory.

Peters, being bilingual in English and Dakelh as well as a voracious reader and map enthusiast, acted as a translator and negotiator during that event, not that the Crown engaged in true negotiations. Decades later official apologies and other restitution had to be made for the forced clearance of and dirty dealings against the Cheslatta community, and the drastic alterations to their traditional landscape.

“He was very, very, very angry,” said Robertson. “But there was no prouder veteran.”

Peters was the grandson of famed Aboriginal leader Chief Louie, one of 10 children born to Thomas Peter and Rose Louie. He had a brother who also enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces but it is unclear, said Robertson, if he went overseas during the Second World War.

Peters also became chief of the Cheslatta, as well as an elected councillor.

He married May Jack and together they raised 12 children.

Robertson said Peters appeared over the years in many news stories and documentaries including The Nature of Things, CBC Journal, The Fifth Estate, the CBC series A People’s History of Canada, Eighth Fire, and independent documentaries Cost Of Too Much Power, No Surrender, and Finding Our Way.

“A reporter once asked Abel, ‘After all the tragedy and pain that Alcan inflicted on your land and people... you must really hate Alcan.’

Abel said, ‘No, I don’t hate Alcan, but that doesn’t mean that I like them,’” Robertson said.

Abel Thomas Peters passed away peacefully on Aug. 15, 2012, just short of his 90th birthday.

PWB takes bronze at beer awards

Prince George’s original craft brewery, now one of Canada’s biggest indie beermakers, has won a national award.

Pacific Western Brewing (PWB) popular label Cariboo Genuine Draft has been awarded a bronze trophy in the Light Lager category at the Canadian International Beer Awards in Edmonton.

“I am proud to be a part of a brewery that continues to produce award winning beers,” said PWB’s CEO Taizan Komatsu.

“It is an honour to lead a home-grown B.C. team that is dedicated to brewing quality product. At our brewery the quest for quality is ongoing and recent technological upgrades at our Prince George brewery have enhanced our ability to deliver products that taste better and stay fresh longer.”

The awards (evolved from the Calgary International Beerfest Awards to the national level) were presented by Alberta Beer Festivals which awards gold, silver and bronze trophies in 27 categories. Judging was conducted over two days. Each judging group was led by a certified head judge, along with other experienced beer industry people and select media. The judging awards criteria is based on the internationally rigorous Beer Judging Certification Program guidelines.

Cadets perform a ceremonial march in the Connaught Youth Centre on Tuesday evening during the 71st Annual Ceremonial Review of the 396 City of Prince George Royal Canadian Air Cadets Squadron.

PETERS

Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff

excavate a site on Victoria Island, Nunavut in this undated handout

Genetic research is showing the Indigenous people

Study suggests Dene descended from first North Americans

Bob WEBER The Canadian Press

The Indigenous people of Canada’s Western Arctic are descendants of some of the first humans to live in North America, new genetic research suggests.

A paper published Wednesday in the scientific journal Nature has found the Dene, who live across much of the northern part of the continent and into the southern United States, have roots thousands of years older than previously thought.

“It shows the origin of an entire people,” said University of Toronto archeologist Max Friesen, one of the paper’s 35 co-authors. For years, scientists have believed North America was populated through waves of migrants from Siberia beginning about 15,000 years ago. Another wave about 5,000 years ago is thought to have brought the Dene. The final one, about 800 years ago, introduced the ancestors of today’s Inuit. Or so went the theory.

The authors examined 48 genomes from ancient and modern people spread across the North from Siberia to Alaska to the Canadian Arctic. What that genetic analysis shows is much more complicated and richer.

The results suggest that the second group did arrive five millennia ago, but it wasn’t Dene. Friesen refers to them as Paleo-Inuit.

The researchers believe the first two groups met and mingled, as human groups do.

“Dene peoples, quite clearly, don’t represent a separate migration in from northeast

Asia,” said Friesen.

“Probably in Alaska there was a meeting between Paleo-Inuit and some of those earlier First Nations. They essentially joined together to produce the Dene group, which then expanded into all the areas it is now.”

That expansion was epic.

Dene live in the Mackenzie Valley of the Northwest Territories, the western Yukon, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alaska and the southwestern United States, where their Athabaskan language links them with the Navajo. In the 2016 Canadian census, 27,430 people identified as having Dene ancestry.

Even today, genetic traces remain in modern Dene people. Friesen said between five and 23 per cent of their DNA comes from that 5,000-year-old Paleo-Inuit migration.

“The proportion has gradually been decreasing over time because Dene have been interacting with other First Nations,” he said.

The origin of Arctic people and their contribution to the settling of North America has been one of the great mysteries in anthropology.

Standard methods such as radiocarbon dating are problematic in the Arctic. The dry, cold climate preserves materials so well that a piece of charcoal from a cooking fire might have come from a tree that was 300 years old when it was burned.

“There’s so few archeologists working in the Canadian Arctic,” Friesen said. “A tiny, tiny portion of all the relevant sites have even been visited, let alone excavated.”

Aging totem pole removed from B.C. museum

Dirk MEISSNER The Canadian Press

VICTORIA — Dancers circled an aging totem pole that tells the story of a murdered Haida woman before it was hooked to a crane and gently lowered to the ground on Wednesday.

The replica Haida mortuary totem stood at the Royal British Columbia Museum’s Thunderbird Park for almost 65 years, but engineers determined the pole suffered internal damage through exposure to the elements and was at risk of falling.

The ceremony was the second such gathering in recent days to bring down totems at the end of their life spans.

Haida chiefs stood next to the totem as Indigenous dancers and singers formed rings around the eight-metre tall pole, chanting and spreading eagle feathers.

“This piece can also be finally laid to rest,” said Haida Chief Allan Davidson.

“Historically, our poles, they weren’t carved to stand forever. This one is also going to finally go to its final resting place.”

Reg Young, a hereditary Haida chief, said

the totem was carved to commemorate a woman who lived in the former village of Tanu in the late 1800s. The woman was shot while travelling on the San Juan Islands, located in Washington state waters near Vancouver Island.

Tanu, on Haida Gwaii, is a designated

National Historic Site of Canada and is part of Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve.

Young said the amount of detail on the replica totem reveals the woman was highly regarded in the community.

“She must have been a very important person,” he said.

“The poles were like our literature. It showed who they were, where they came from and what crests belonged to them.”

Lucy Bell, head of the museum’s Indigenous collections and repatriation department, said mortuary poles have boxes at their tops to hold the deceased’s cremated remains. The Thunderbird Park totem had the mortuary box, a carved hawk, eagle, whale, beaver and crests of the deceased, and parts of hats, which are signs of wealth earned at potlatches, said Bell.

Suspected home invaders arrested

Citizen staff

A trio of people suspected of carrying out a home invasion have been arrested and charged.

Each of Kari Lee-Anne Andrea Baxter, 24, Thomas Joshua Toman, 20, and Sakanisin Scotty Charlie-Tom, 28, remain in custody on counts of breaking and entering and committing an indictable offence and obstructing a peace officer.

Charlie-Tom has also been charged with pointing a firearm.

They were arrested Tuesday when, at 5 a.m., Prince George RCMP were called to a 2600-block Oak Street home.

RCMP were told two men and a woman carrying weapons forced their way into the home, demanded money, grabbed various household items and left the scene in a vehicle.

“Many frontline officers attended the area immediately,” RCMP said. “Within minutes, the vehicle was located and the suspects were arrested.”

In January, charges that included attempted murder were stayed against Toman and another man from a December 2017 home invasion. In February, Toman was arrested again, along with two others, following a reported home invasion on West Austin Road.

After 63 days in custody, he was sentenced to a further 30 days in jail and one year probation and ordered to pay $1,055.46 restitution for possessing stolen property under $5,000 and willfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer from that incident.

Charlie-Tom’s record included a conviction for forcible entry, committed in May 2017.

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO HANDOUT PHOTO BY MAX FRIESEN

Researchers

photo.

of Canada’s western Arctic are descended from some of the first humans to live in North America.

B.C. NDP botched ride-hailing

Lament our leadership. Granted, most every politician needs to possess the ingredients of blarney and bluster. What genuine veins they possess must on occasion run cold blood through them to evade those moments in which they are cornered.

But it has come time to call out this nonsense from the premier and his government about puck-ragging on ride-hailing. As we lurch toward introduction, we are the laughingstocks of North America, perceived pretenders in tech because one of the most significant applications of its innovation remains on ice into its second decade elsewhere. And what John Horgan will just not say – just will not make this one public concession to and admission of realpolitik in British Columbia – is that his government’s antediluvian posture is more than anything out of defensive dread of a perceived political third rail: the fearsome taxi lobby that possibly swung the last election by punishing two Liberal Surrey MLAs who dared suggest we adopt what the rest

of the world has.

And for those two swing seats, the province has since contorted itself into concocted tales of the need for more study, the absurd objective to level the playing field for newbies and incumbents, the hubris of creating a made-in-B.C. model, the fabrication of the difficulties in creating a new insurance scheme, and the overall pretension of protecting the public instead of a minuscule element of it.

His failure to just fess up frankly makes the most cynical think his folks are beholden. Industries everywhere have borne disruption, but the effort of the NDP government is reminiscent of 12th-century courtiers claiming King Canute could hold back the tides. Memo to the premier: Even the King admitted he couldn’t.

When the Passenger Transportation Board, newly led by BC NDP stalwarts, begins in October to entertain entrants into the ride-hailing era, they stand to do so under unique retrograde conditions that severely compromise the viability of the offering.

Caps on the number of vehicles. Bound-

aries on where they can go. Rules on what they can charge. And of course, Class 4 driving licences that require time and money to gain that will likely help undermine the side hustles these jobs typically are. This is not Ride-Hailing 1.0, but Taxi-Protecting 2.0.

The NDP’s approach is to bolt a new way of doing business on to the old way of doing it. If I were Lyft or Uber, I’d be wondering if it’s worth the effort – which, if we might resume cynicism for a moment, might be the overall discouraging purpose of the government. Last week at one of our public events, Lyft’s managing director for Canada, Aaron Zifkin, said he was cautiously optimistic of progress on some of these impediments before autumn.

I say to the fellow native Torontonian: I was once like you, but politics here can change sunny assumptions.

The NDP and previous BC Liberal government might have treated the disrupted taxi business as other governments have other industries with an adjustment package to mitigate the misery of owning the licensing medallions that must now feel like the

Doing is interaction

Ihave been thinking a lot about how much I do.

Not in some aggrandized “Look at me and how much I get done” kind of way, but instead in the “there are 24 hours in a day and I spend an awful lot of precious hours doing lots of stuff” kind of way.

And there’s nothing special about this. All of us spend lots of time doing things. Getting things done. Moving the dial.

On doing We live in a doing-driven culture.

Doing is how we interact with the world – our observable, external, normative, behaviourdriven, measurable, oftentimes linear impact. In our doing-driven culture, initiative (and completion) is valued.

A sense of urgency prevails. In our doing-driven culture, doing is what we produce, what we achieve and how we perform.

Not surprisingly, doing is also a measure of our Western identities. The time we spend at work is magnitudes more than the time we spend with our families, practising our spirituality or, frankly, anything else.

Not surprisingly, when we meet someone new, one of the first questions we ask is “What do you do?” And why wouldn’t we?

What we do is a subtle cultural signal of our clout, our income and, ultimately, our worth.

This has always bothered me – the notion that I am what I do.

We aren’t called human doings, after all. Instead, I’ve always much preferred Popeye’s wisdom: I am what I am.

Which leads us to being.

On being

Being is what’s underneath all of the doing. It’s our thoughts, our beliefs and the collection of experiences that shape our world view.

Being is the pause between our thinking, the space in which internal shifts come and go.

It is the underneath, nonnormative, feeling-driven, immeasurable, non-linear internal processes that ultimately inform what we do.

Recently, I have been a lot more mindful of my being. Indeed, I have been diligent about it. One simple question has permeated my mind over the past several months as I do things: who do I

want to be in this very moment?

And while my answers to this question change from experience to experience (be less assertive, be more compassionate, be more quiet, be way more impish, for example), the pervasive lasting feelings in this exercise of selfdetermination and mindfulness have been remarkably consistent: more acceptance, more openness, more curiosity and, ultimately, more joy.

How I choose to be in any given moment influences what I feel. That, in turn, influences what I do.

Not revolutionary stuff, I know, but still profoundly life-altering at the same time.

What if we all paused at moments during the day and asked ourselves not what we had to get done, but instead what kind of person we would like to be?

What impact would that have on our decisions, our relationships and the quality of our lives, both at work and at home?

What if we started asking ourselves at any given moment during the day: right now, who do I want to be?

— Casey Miller (casey@ sixandahalfconsulting.com), president of Six and a Half Consulting, is a leadership and team development specialist

weakest cryptocurrency. Given ride-hailing yields productivity gains and expanded economic activity in the tens of millions of dollars, might government have been wise to compensate those side-swiped by innovation instead of taking such pains to fabricate anything but that?

What we know now is that in this catchup NDP environment, ride-hailing will have no chance here of ingenuity. Under such grudging conditions, why would anyone research or invest in advances on the technology its government restrains?

Then there is the incongruence with many other stated NDP intentions: to get us out of our cars, to create more green space instead of asphalt lots and to help some of us deal with affordability issues. We need to get to the stage where getting a ride is even more seamless than getting Wi-Fi in a coffee shop. The bad news is the NDP aren’t taking us there. The good news is that they didn’t get a chance to introduce Wi-Fi.

— Kirk LaPointe is editor-in-chief of Business in Vancouver and vice-president, editorial, at Glacier Media

Class size and teacher shortages top list of B.C. education gripes

With the school year about to end, it is a good time to take a look at the education system.

For years, British Columbians have been asked about their perceptions of schools, class sizes and negotiations between the provincial government and teachers.

This time, Research Co. chose to review the feelings and perceptions of parents who have a child enrolled in Kindergarten, elementary school (Grades 1 to 7) or high school (Grades 8 to 12) in B.C.

The results outline a high level of satisfaction with certain aspects of the education system, as well as some worries that differ from region to region.

Across the province, 83 per cent of parents who have children enrolled in a K-12 program say the experience of their child with the education system has been “very positive” or “moderately positive.”

Only 14 per cent of parents describe the situation as “moderately negative” or “very negative.”

In a noteworthy twist, parents who have a child in public school have a slightly higher level of satisfaction with the current state of affairs (85 per cent) than those whose children attend a private school (79 per cent).

Still, this high level of satisfaction does not mean that everything is perfect. When parents are asked about the biggest problem facing the education system right now, the answer that heads the list is “large class sizes” at 21 per cent, followed by “shortage of teachers” at 16 per cent.

The third spot is for “lack of safety in schools and bullying” at 15 per cent, followed by “outdated curriculum” at 12 per cent, “inadequate resources and facilities for children” at 11 per cent, “labour disputes between teachers and the government” also at 11 per cent and “bureaucracy and poor management” at nine per cent.

The preoccupation with large class sizes reaches a peak in northern B.C. (30 per cent). Parents on Vancouver Island are more likely to express dismay at an outdated curriculum (24 per cent) than their counterparts in other regions.

The perception of a system that is bureaucratic and poorly managed is highest in southern B.C.

(23 per cent).

Parents in the Fraser Valley are decidedly more critical of the resources and facilities that their children are currently enjoying (17 per cent).

Class sizes have long been mentioned as one of the significant issues that need to be addressed. In the survey, six in 10 parents of K-12 pupils in British Columbia (60 per cent) described their child’s current class size as “about right.” Three in 10 (31 per cent) say the class is “too big,” while six per cent claim it is “too small.” Northern B.C. has the largest proportion of parents of K-12 pupils who believe class sizes are too big (43 per cent) while Metro Vancouver has the lowest (28 per cent). Only 13 per cent of parents whose kids are enrolled in a private school think the class sizes are too big, compared with 34 per cent for parents of kids in public schools. When asked about what their children are learning, most parents are content. More than two-thirds say they are satisfied with the quality of instruction their child is getting in four key subjects: English (73 per cent), science (72 per cent), social studies (also 72 per cent) and math (68 per cent). In addition, the level of dissatisfaction from the parents whose children are receiving second-language instruction is 29 per cent for French and 28 per cent for other languages. The survey shows that, when it comes to the opinions of parents, the debate about education in the province is not dominated by labour disputes.

Still, the fact that every region of British Columbia pointed to a different major difficulty with the education system suggests that the provincial government will be compelled to consider local needs when planning for the future. Mario Canseco is the president of Research Co. Results are based on an online study conducted from May 20 to May 28 among 700 parents in British Columbia who have a child enrolled in Kindergarten, elementary school or high school.

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BY THE NUMBERS

MARIO CANSECO

Rare colour footage brings D-Day memories alive

Jeffrey SCHAEFFER, Julian STYLES

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Seventy-five years ago, Hollywood director George Stevens stood on the deck of the HMS Belfast to film the start of the D-Day invasion.

The resulting black-and-white films –following Allied troops through Normandy, the liberation of Paris, Battle of the Bulge, the horror of the Dachau concentration camp – form the basis of Americans’ historical memory of the Second World War, and were even used as evidence in Nazi war crimes trials.

But the director was also shooting 16-millimeter colour film for himself of the same events, creating a kind of personal video journal of his experiences.

As veterans and world leaders mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day today, Stevens’ surprising colour images bring an immediacy to wartime memories, a powerful reminder of the war’s impact and its heros as those who witnessed the war are dying out.

“You’ve seen it in black and white. And when you see it in colour, all of a sudden it feels like today,” his son George Stevens Jr. said. “It doesn’t seem like yesterday. And it has a much more modern and authentic feeling to it.”

Today’s D-Day commemorations are about honouring the thousands killed and wounded on June 6, 1944 – and people like Stevens Jr.’s father.

Then 37, Stevens was already a famous American director who had made Hollywood classics like Gunga Din and Swing Time.

“My father was beyond draft age. And he had a dependent child. So there was no chance of him being called up,”

Stevens Jr., a filmmaker in his own right, said. But his father felt compelled to enlist in the U.S. military after seeing the power of Nazi propaganda films including Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will.

“The next day he started calling up to find out how he could get into the service. He couldn’t sit on the sidelines in Hollywood, and wanted to make his contribution,” his son said.

General Dwight Eisenhower assigned Stevens to head up the combat motionpicture coverage. From D-Day on, Stevens and his team stormed through France and across Europe following U.S. forces.

George Stevens Jr., now 87, was a child when his dad left to cover the war.

Only after his father’s death, decades later, did he discover reels of the colour film in storage.

They could have been anything – his father used the same camera during the war that he had used to film his son’s birthday parties.

But what his son found that day in 1980 was no normal home video.

“I was sitting alone, and on the screen came images of a gray day and rough seas and a large ship and barrage balloons up in the sky. And I realized it was D-Day.

“And I realized that my eyes were probably the first other than those who were there to see this in colour,” he recalled. “I’m watching this footage and seeing the men on the ship... and around the corner walks into the frame a man with a helmet and a flak jacket. It’s my 37-year-old father on the morning of D-Day.”

Stevens Jr., a writer, director and

ABOVE: Soldiers and landing craft are seen on the beach during D-Day operations on June 6, 1944 in France.

BELOW: British naval gun crewmen wearing protective hoods and gloves are surrounded by empty shell casings on the deck of a ship off the coast of France on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

BOTTOM: U.S. troops drive through a French town during the Second World War.

founder of the American Film Institute, later made a documentary with the footage, George Stevens: D-Day to Berlin.

“My father referred to his experience in World War II as having a seat on the 50-yard line. And seeing men at their best and at their worst,” his son said.

Long before social networks and smart phones, the outside world had little visual evidence of the Nazis’ attempted genocide of the Jews.

His father’s unit “went into Dachau, the concentration camp, and nobody had anticipated what they were going to find there,” Stevens Jr. said. “It was this harrowing sight of these emaciated prisoners and typhus and disease and dead bodies stacked like cordwood. ... Rather than just being a recorder of events, he became a gatherer of evidence, and he himself took a camera and went into these boxcars, with snow on the ground, with frozen bodies.”

Stevens documented the scenes both in black and white and in colour, and images he shot at Dachau were among those shown at the Nuremberg war crimes trials, according to his son. He also filmed Allied war generals working together during the war to defeat fascism. Now, 75 years on, the trans-Atlantic alliance is fraying and Europe’s extreme right is resurging, making remembrance of the war especially important.

“I think that common interests and purpose will keep us together,” Stevens Jr. said. He praised the U.S.-led postwar effort “to embrace the defeated and help them, help Germany become a great nation,” calling it a “very American idea... that will serve us far into the future.” Schaeffer reported from Paris.

LEFT: Hollywood director George Stevens stands on the deck of HMS Belfast off the coast of France on D-Day – June 6, 1944. Colour film taken by Stevens during the D-Day landings, Normandy campaign and liberation of Paris were rediscovered years after his death.

BELOW: French resistance fighter Simone Segouin, carrying a captured German submachine gun, watches U.S. troops drive past after the liberation of Paris in August 1944. Segouin was awarded the Croix de Guerre for her role fighting the German occupation with the Francs-Tireurs et Partisans resistance group. She took part in the liberation of her home town of Thivars and the liberation of Paris.

D-Day alliances still strong, leaders say

Lee BERTHIAUME The Canadian Press

PORTSMOUTH, United Kingdom — The terrible and tragic story of the Second World War played out in an elaborate ceremony in this city in southern England on Wednesday, mere metres from where thousands of Canadian, American and British soldiers boarded a flotilla of ships exactly 75 years earlier, on the eve of D-Day.

The ceremony, in which Canada and its role in helping free Europe from Nazi Germany figured prominently, was attended by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, U.S. President Donald Trump, Queen Elizabeth and other world leaders as well as a handful of the veterans, most now in their 90s, who fought in that conflict to free the world of tyranny.

Trudeau and the other leaders not only paid homage to those who fought and died defeating Nazi Germany, but also promised to work together to ensure the horrors of that global conflict are never again repeated – an especially relevant message at a time of growing global instability.

“Over the last 75 years, our nations have stood up for peace in Europe, democracy, tolerance and the rule of law,” leaders from 16 countries pledged in a joint declaration after the ceremony.

“We re-commit today to those shared values because they support the stability and prosperity of our nations and our people. We will work together as allies and friends to defend these freedoms whenever they are threatened.”

Among the countries represented were belligerents on both sides of the Second World War, including France, Germany, the United States and U.K. One country missing was Russia.

Under a hazy sky and with a brisk breeze blowing in from the harbour, the ceremony charted the course of the war in Europe: from Germany’s invasion of Poland in September 1939, which pulled in France, Britain and Canada, among others, to the fateful decision to launch the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. Actors and dignitaries recited sombre diary entries and letters written by those who fought – and in some cases died – in the war, while dancers and musicians recalled some of the music of the day before turning to martial tunes.

At one point, Trudeau took the stage to recount the story of Lt.-Col. Cecil Merritt, who was awarded a Victoria Cross, the military’s highest decoration, for his role in saving countless fellow Canadian soldiers during the disastrous raid on the French port of Dieppe in August 1942.

“Although twice wounded, Lt.-Col. Mer-

ritt continued to direct the unit’s operations with great vigour and determination,”

Trudeau said, reading from a citation in the London Gazette from October 1942.

“He then coolly gave orders for the departure and announced his intention to hold off and ‘get even with’ the enemy. When last seen he was collecting Bren and Tommy guns and preparing a defensive position which successfully covered the withdrawal from the beach.”

More than 900 Canadians died at Dieppe and nearly 2,000 more were captured, including Merritt. But as Wednesday’s ceremony noted, the lessons learned from that attack helped carry the Allies to victory in Normandy before the liberation of Paris and, eventually, the fall of Berlin.

The Allied invasion of Normandy involved nearly 150,000 troops – including 14,000 Canadian soldiers – who stormed ashore into German machine gun fire. Before the day ended, 359 Canadians had been killed and another 715 wounded or captured. The battle for Normandy would continue

for another two months and cost more than 5,000 Canadian lives.

Wednesday’s ceremony also featured accounts from U.S. and British soldiers as well as addresses by Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron and the Queen.

“Seventy-five years ago, hundreds of thousands of young soldiers, sailors and airmen left these shores in the cause of freedom,” the Queen said. “The fate of the world depended on their success. Many of them would never return, and the heroism, courage and sacrifice of those who lost their lives will never be forgotten.”

Trump, whose appearance at Wednesday’s event capped an official state visit to the United Kingdom, read a quote from one of his predecessors, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was president of the United States for most of the Second World War.

Retired major-general Richard Rohmer, who flew two surveillance missions over the D-Day beaches as a young pilot on June 6, 1944, said it was important that Canada be represented during the ceremony and for

young Canadians to understand the importance of what happened 75 years ago.

“From time to time they will run across issues that are worth fighting for in Canada, which I believe is the finest country in the world,” Rohmer said of future generations.

“I hope you will recognize the old people like myself made some contribution to what Canada is today... We’re quite a different country, but it’s a good one and well worth fighting for if we have to.”

That message was clearly top of mind for some leaders such as outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May, who, in a meeting with Trudeau following the ceremony, thanked Canada as an ally and friend during the Second World War and now.

“It has been hugely important showing the strength of the alliance, looking back to the past but also, as we’ve been discussing, looking to the future,” May said.

World leaders will continue the commemorations in Normandy on Thursday, including at Juno Beach, the eight-kilometre stretch where the Canadians came ashore.

RCMP, border agency deny searching Huawei executive’s phones, devices

Amy SMART The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER — Lawyers for the RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency deny allegations that their officers searched Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou’s phones and electronic devices after a border official wrote down her passwords.

A joint response filed Monday to Meng’s civil lawsuit says a border officer asked Meng for her phone numbers and passwords in case he was required to search the devices for customs or immigration purposes. It says neither border officials nor RCMP officers examined their contents.

The RCMP and the U.S. Department of Justice never requested or suggested that border officials pursue any particular line of questioning before Meng was presented with an American extradition order, was read her rights and arrested at Vancouver’s airport on Dec. 1, the response states.

“The plaintiff’s allegations that her charter rights were violated, that the defendants acted unlawfully and that she suffered harm are without merit,” it says.

Lawyers for Meng could not be reached Wednesday. A statement from the Chinese telecom giant Huawei said it remains confident that the Canadian judicial system will provide an opportunity for Meng to receive complete exoneration.

None of the allegations in the legal action has been proven in court.

The American government wants Meng to face criminal charges over allegations of breaking sanctions against Iran.

The U.S. Department of Justice has laid

charges of conspiracy, fraud and obstruction against Huawei and Meng, who is the daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei. Her extradition process in Vancouver has created increasing tensions between Canada and China.

Meng’s civil lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court alleges “serious violations” of her constitutional rights, and accuses officers of detaining and questioning her for three hours before notifying her of her arrest.

The suit alleges that RCMP officers and/ or representatives from the U.S. Department of Justice arranged for Canadian border officials to delay serving her with the arrest warrant “under the guise of a routine border check.”

The lawsuit seeks damages for false imprisonment based on multiple alleged failures of government officials to comply with the rule of law upon her detention, search and interrogation at the airport.

The joint response says that although border officers were alerted by RCMP about the arrest warrant, they only examined Meng and her luggage for immigration and customs purposes.

Border officers did not have the authority to immediately execute the extradition warrant themselves and it was appropriate for the RCMP not to interfere in the customs process, it says.

The reply also says a three-hour examination by border officials is not uncommon. After Meng landed, border officials confiscated two of her cellphones at the request of the RCMP “so that any data could not be remotely deleted,” the court document says.

Canadian Lt.-Gen. Richard Rohmer talks with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as they take part in the veterans reception as part of the D-Day 75th Anniversary British International Commemorative Event at Southsea Common in Portsmouth, England on Wednesday.

Sports

Basketball, volleyball stars discover tennis

Ted CLARKE Citizen staff tclarke@pgcitizen.ca

Three weeks ago, Jenna Korolek played tennis for the first time. Justine Guillet, her opponent Wednesday in the girls’ singles final at the North Central zone high school championship at Prince George Tennis Club, had just two weeks to get into the swing of things, having never played the game before that.

As tennis neophytes, they were experts at disguising their lack of experience, and it took a tiebreaker to decide who was the better of the two.

Korolek won the single-set match 4-3 (8), ending it with a baseline return that landed at Guillet’s feet, forcing her to rush a shot that landed out of bounds. That gave Korolek and 8-6 win in the tiebreaker, after seeing a 4-0 lead evaporate.

For Korolek, a provincial basketball team point guard in her senior year at Kelly Road Secondary School, joining the tennis team was just another outlet for her athleticism and having a high level of fitness helped her gain the upper hand.

“I’d say our matches were pretty evened out, it was always like Game 1 we both evened out, but then I think (her opponents) started getting more tired but my endurance was kind of up and that really helped,” said Korolek.

“I’m used to running a lot. That helps especially in singles. It’s a lot of running back, and we had a lot of good hits and rallies. Going to the tiebreaker was awesome.”

Guillet, whose father Jay is longtime coach of successful high school volleyball teams in the city, was born into a volleyball family and she’s taken her game to the highest level as a provincial team right-side hitter.

Guillet’s agility and leaping ability came in handy several times Wednesday when she had a tennis racquet in her hand. Korolek’s

smart shot selection in the final kept her on the move.

“That was a close game, I’m still out of breath,” said Guillet, who learned both sports from College Heights tennis/volleyball coach

J.P. Martin.

“I think for this game and in general my volleyball skills transferred over because I kind of just learned to play tennis. I didn’t hear about the season starting at College Heights so we just had a practice last week and I was just doing it for fun because my friends were doing it. I love it.”

Like Guillet, Korolek intends to

stick with tennis, now that she’s learned some of the basics playing on the Kelly Road team coached by Todd Kuc.

“I will play with my dad and cousins more because they always come out with their friends,” said Korolek.

“I might come out with them now that I actually know how to play the game.”

Korolek and her Kelly Road doubles partner Naomi Dugdale lost 4-2 in the final to Stasha Telford and Tessa Sturgeon of Prince George Secondary School. Korolek/Dugdale were seeded

No. 1 going into the zone tournament, based on league play days between the schools in May, while Telford/Sturgeon were seeded seventh.

“We played them before (in league play) and they were really good,” said Telford, also a firstyear player.

“Today’s match was good, there was some nice serves and good hits and lots of strong rallies. We returned it more and we were very strategic on where we were putting the ball.”

The school season started in March and teams met for practice

sessions at the PGTC on Wednesdays, going through the entire season without a rainout. The sky opened up a bit Wednesday morning but only for a brief shower.

The players got out the squeegees and the courts dried quickly to allow play to resume.

Evan Crobar of PGSS successfully defended his boys singles title from last year’s zone tournament, defeating Nick Jansa of Kelly Road 4-1 in Wednesday’s final. Crobar, who was just three years old when starting playing tennis with his dad Robert.

“I just do things like this for fun,” said Crobar.

“The final was pretty tight, every game went to deuces but the score didn’t show it. Sometimes I could serve him out. He was strong with mixing up his shots, he placed the ball well and I had to run around.” Crobar later teamed up with Jaxson Danilec in to win the boys double title. They swept Matt Shand/Nolan Minck of College Heights 4-0 in the final.

Crobar played rep hockey until a year ago when he was with the midget tier two Cougars.

Now that his minor hockey career is behind him he has more time for other sports like tennis and he says he’ll consider entering the Prince George club’s tournaments later this month and in early September.

In the bronze medal matches, Johvan Janjua/Logan Vennberg of PGSS defeated Rychel Lamber/ Nick Jensa 4-1 in boys doubles; Ava Wedel/Sasha Schurack topped Emily MacDonald/Aysha Madsen of College Heights 4-1 in girls doubles; Reese Desmarais of College Heights blanked Ava Wedel of PGSS 4-0 in girls singles; Alex Ochitwa of PGSS posted a 4-1 win over Rychel Lamber of Kelly Road.

The one-day tournament drew 40 players from three schools. PGSS, which entered 28 players coached by RJay Berra, took the team title.

Jenna Korolek from Kelly Road Secondary School was competing in the girls final of the high school zone tennis tournament on Wednesday.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

Justine Guillet from College Heights Secondary was competing in the girls final of the high school zone tennis tournament held Wednesday at the Prince George Tennis Club.

T-birds bask in the rain, win Cloverdale title

Ted CLARKE Citizen staff

tclarke@pgcitizen.ca

While rain was falling on the girls fastball diamond in Cloverdale and all the rest of the games of the day postponed, one of the 14 teams decided it was time to pretend they were the stars of their own Tide commercial.

Knowing they had plenty of time to put their uniforms through the wash before the tournament resumed the following day, the Prince George Thunderbirds practiced their hitting/fielding techniques and held a contest to see who could come up with the best diving catch.

All those grass stains and mud streaks were wiped clean by the time they returned to the field and the T-birds went to town, winning four of their five games, including a come-from-behind 7-6 triumph over the South Surrey/White Rock Thunder in the championship game.

Their tournament win two weekends ago is believed to be the first for a Prince George girls fastball team at a Lower Mainland tournament in more than two decades.

“I don’t know how long it’s been but I reckon it’s been 20-plus years – to come away the champions felt really good,” said T-birds head coach Lee J. Leslie.

“It’s been a lot of hard work that’s gone into this. To finally come back as the champions made it all worthwhile.”

The T-birds won their morning game on the first day of the tournament and were slated to come back that afternoon but the rain was persistent and organizers decided to call it a day.

“It seemed like that was the turning point for us this season,” said Leslie.

“Our hotel was really close and we didn’t have anything planned. We were a bit behind on the field time compared to the other teams down there so we practiced in the rain, and had a lot of fun with really no structure.

“They were kind of just letting everything out and having fun and

you could really see their confidence and skill level coming up because of it. The other coaches walked by us and sort of looked the other way because they were off to their houses, where they’re warm and dry, and there’s these kids from the north playing in mud puddles.

“After five games on Sunday and winning a tight one, it made that all worthwhile.”

The T-birds came back the next day and lost 4-3 to the Nanaimo Diamonds to finish fourth in their pool, but went 3-0 the rest of the day, beating the Coquitlam Classics 8-4 and the Abbotsford Outlaws 6-3 in the semifinals leading into the final against Surrey/ White Rock.

The Thunder built a 5-0 lead on starter Rylee Paterson and she was replaced in the third inning by another Quesnel pitcher, Kaitlyn Doucette, who gave up just two hits and had six strikeouts and gave up just one walk in 4 2/3 innings and the T-birds’ bats came to life, scoring five runs in the third to tie it up. Tessa Sturgeon and Brooklyn Hill each had multiple hits and Sturgeon went 3-for-3 at the plate.

“I think the highlight for our girls was beating the Abbotsford Outlaws in the semifinals, they’re ranked 1 or 2 down there and they handed it to us pretty good in a prior tournament (in South Surrey/White Rock),” said Leslie.

“That really boosted their confidence for the tournaments coming up.”

The U16 T-birds will be in Abbotsford this weekend for their third tournament of the season.

The T-birds have a 5-3 record this year in the four-team Prince George Women’s Fastball Association, which also includes the U19 T-birds, Raiders and Lightning.

“We’re very fortunate we have the opportunity to play in that league,” said Leslie.

“With the calibre of ball we know we’re going to get pushed and we know we’re going to see good pitching. The ladies have a lot of experience and think the game very well.”

The T-birds will travel to Surrey, July 5-8 for the Canada Cup international tournament and will spend the following week in Greater Vancouver preparing for the provincial championships in Delta, July 12-14. The top two teams advance to the Western Canadian championships in Biggar, Sask., in August.

The other T-birds players are Jordan Maloney, Morgan Case, Destiny Bautista, Avery Leslie, Kiana Mero, Hannah Case, Amelia Musselman and Camryn Frie. Musselman and Bautista are also from Quesnel, the rest are from Prince George. Doug Sturgeon and Don Doucette are the T-birds’ assistant coaches.

PGSS golf team misses provincial medal cut

Ted CLARKE Citizen staff

tclarke@pgcitizen.ca

The gusty wind that swept through the narrow confines of Squamish Valley Golf and Country Club on Day 1 of the triple-A provincial high school golf championship subsided, but rain clouds moved in and it was wet Wednesday for the final round. Wet enough to dampen the spirits of a group of five golfers from Prince George Secondary School.

“It’s definitely a tough course with a lot of wind coming through the valley here and tight fairways made shot selection tough on our guys,” said PGSS coach Justin Fillion. “We had a decent day (Tuesday) but today the weather wasn’t the best and we struggled a little bit and didn’t shoot as well as we’d hoped. It’s a tough course that got some rain today and there’s a lot of good golfers here.”

The Polars – Parker Pretty, Matthew Magrath, Cody Bailey, Brophy Dunne and Landen Niemi – stood 16th out of 22 teams after the first round and likely dropped in the final standings, which were not available at press time. Fillion admitted the odds were stacked against the North Central zone champions, as they are every year, just because of the winter climate which delays the start of the season for northern B.C. golfers. “A lot of these teams here got to be on the course at the beginning of March,” said Fillion.

but this is the first time in four years the Polars have gone to the provincial tournament. Two of the Polars, Magrath and Dunne, played major midget hockey this past season for the Cariboo Cougars. Until 2018, Bailey played rep hockey at the midget Tier 1 level.

“The level of experience is very slim,” said Bailey.

“We kind of just put this team together and did a lot of fundraising and decided to come down and play.”

Bailey’s golf season began with a bang in late April when he won a Maple Leaf Junior Tour Ford Series tournament in Chilliwack. The 18-year-old native of Terrace won the Junior Simon Fraser Open in Prince George the past two seasons and last year he beat his own tournament record when he finished the two-round event at six-under.

“Some of the programs here are private schools that golf all year round and those kids on the team are there for a reason. We have golfers on our team but a lot of them play other sports and are busy with that throughout the winter.”

The PGSS team beat Williams Lake in the zone tournament a few weeks ago, winning the team event by 50 strokes.

Bailey, a Grade 12 PGSS student who shot an opening-day even-par 72 to move into a tie for third place in the individual standings, fell back to earth Wednesday when be carded an 80.

“It could have been a lot better,” said Bailey.

“If I could have shot even-par or better after Day 2 I would have been in the medals, but I was just a bit over that today.

“Today, the weather wasn’t the best, it was rainy and it was cold, and it was changing a lot, which we aren’t used to in Prince George. It was actually calmer than (yesterday) and I’d rather play in the rain than in the wind.”

Bailey is the only PGSS team member with an extensive golf tournament resume. The team has won the past four zone titles

“Cody is a step ahead of everybody, he’s a great golfer and thing about him is he’s willing to help the other guys on the team out in little parts of their game,” said Fillion.

“He’s definitely a leader on our team and you can see why he has success in these tournaments he’s been going to.” Bailey will get back on the junior tour once school is finished and plans to try to defend his Junior Simon Fraser Open title, June 15-16. He also has on his hit list the Aberdeen Glen open, July 26-28, and the Men’s Simon Fraser Open, Aug. 17-18. He finished third in the Men’s Simon Fraser in 2018.

The Prince George Thunderbirds fastball team brought home the Cloverdale tournament title.

HANDOUT PHOTO

The Prince George Polars golf team, from left, coach Justin Fillion, Mathew Magrath, Brophy Dunne, Cody Bailey, Landen Niemi and Parker Pretty pose for a shot at the Squamish Valley Golf and County Club, where they played the B.C. Secondary Schools triple-A golf championship. The two-day tournament wrapped up Wednesday.

Raptors take 2-1 series lead with win over Warriors

Lori EWING The Canadian Press

OAKLAND, Calif. — Kawhi Leonard

scored 30 points, and Danny Green had six three-pointers and 18 points to lead the Toronto Raptors to a 123-109 victory over the Golden State Warriors in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday.

The victory gives Toronto a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series heading into Game 4 on Friday.

Six Raptors scored in double figures. Kyle Lowry had 23 points and nine assists for the Raptors, who are making their NBA Finals debut. Pascal Siakam had 18 points, while Marc Gasol finished with 17, and Fred VanVleet had 11.

Stephen Curry had 47 points for the banged-up Warriors, who lost for the first time in six games at Oracle Arena.

Green’s huge game ended a lengthy dry spell for the Raptors sharp-shooter, who made four three-pointers in the entire sixgame Eastern Conference final against Milwaukee. Green has now made six or more three-pointers in three career NBA Finals games, the second most in history.

The Raptors led virtually from outset, going up by 12 points in the first quarter, stretching it to 14 in the second, and 16 in the third to stun yellow-clad crowd, which hadn’t seen a loss at Oracle Arena since April 25 – Game 5 of the opening round of the playoffs versus the L.A. Clippers.

There was absolutely no letup by Toronto in one of its most consistent games of the post-season. With 29 seconds left in the third, Leonard dove to keep the ball inbounds after Lowry’s shot was blocked, then fired a deft pass to Green, who launched his sixth three-pointer of the game. Toronto took a 96-83 lead into the fourth.

The Raptors held their proverbial foot to Golden State’s throat in the fourth. A Serge Ibaka steal led to an easy Siakam dunk just three minutes into the quarter that set the tone for the final frame. Leonard drove to the hoop three minutes later to put Toronto up by 17 points.

A driving layup by Draymond Green sliced Toronto’s lead to 10 with 2:28 to play, but then Leonard, with Curry and Alfonzo McKinnie all over him, got a pass off to VanVleet, who drained a three-pointer as the shot clock buzzer sounded. The play with 1:37 left put the Raptors back up by 13 and sent many Warriors fans to the exits. Virtually any fan left sitting departed when Gasol connected on a three with just over a minute to play. Toronto fans in attendance chanted “Let’s go Raptors!” over

the game’s dying seconds. The Warriors’ slogan is Strength in Numbers. But they were down in numbers on

Wednesday.

Klay Thompson, one half of the Splash Brothers with Curry, was ruled out shortly

before the game because of the left hamstring injury he suffered in Game 2. The Warriors were already without Kevin Durant and Kevon Looney because of injuries.

“If there’s risk, we would not play (Thompson),” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said before tipoff.

The Raptors have their own battle wounds. Lowry has been playing with a serious thumb injury since the conference semifinals, and Leonard, who played just nine games last season with San Antonio, has hobbled at times.

The Raptors captured Game 1 of the Finals 118-109, but dropped a 109-104 decision to Golden State in Game 2, allowing a 20-0 Warriors run that straddled the end of the second quarter and the first five minutes of the third – the longest run in NBA Finals history.

The Warriors, who swept Portland in the Western Conference final, were playing their first home game since May 16. Oracle Arena, which has seen the Warriors win four of the past five NBA titles, is in its final season as home of the Warriors. The team is moving to the new Chase Center in San Francisco next season.

Pockets of Raptors fans dotted the arena, enough to produce an audible “M-V-P!” chant when Leonard went to the free-throw line. There were also plenty of stars on hand including Beyonce and Jay-Z.

Vince Carter was in attendance as part of ESPN’s broadcast crew, a full-circle moment for the former Raptors star who won the dunk contest during NBA All-Star weekend at Oracle Arena in 2000, an event that helped put Toronto’s basketball team on the map. Canadian Tenille Arts sang O Canada, while Metallica’s James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett performed an electric guitar rendition of the American anthem. Rapper Lil Pump performed at halftime. The Raptors led for all but 30 seconds of the first quarter, despite 17 points from Curry. A Siakam step-back shot capped a 13-3 Raptors run that put the Raptors up by 10. They stretched their advantage to 12 with 2:13 left in the quarter, and led 36-29 heading into the second.

Ibaka’s free throws had Toronto up by 14 points midway through the second. The Warriors responded with a 10-3 run to pull to within seven. The Raptors took a 60-52 lead into the halftime break.

The series returns to Toronto for Game 5 on Monday. A Game 6, if necessary, would be back in Oakland.

Blues wearing down Bruins in final Cup battle

Stephen WHYNO

The Associated Press

BOSTON — Twice the Boston Bruins have been forced to finish a Stanley Cup Final game down a defenceman. The St. Louis Blues won each time.

That’s not a coincidence.

Wearing out opponents and winning the war of attrition has been an ingredient of the Blues’ playoff success. They took advantage of injuries to San Jose’s Erik Karlsson, Joe Pavelski and Tomas Hertl to move on to the final, and with Boston potentially without captain Zdeno Chara for Game 5 Thursday St. Louis is now two victories away from lifting the Stanley Cup as the healthier team.

“We can see it throughout games and throughout series,” Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo

said Wednesday. “It’s tough minutes to play against our forward lines when they’re playing the way they can. You can see the momentum we create by our line changes in the offensive zone, we’re just using all four lines. If I was a defenceman, that would be tough to defend against.”

Chara did not go to the arena at all Wednesday, 36 hours after taking a puck to the jaw in Boston’s Game 4 loss that tied the series at two games apiece. Coach Bruce Cassidy didn’t talk to and only briefly texted with the 42-yearold defenceman, who has a facial injury that has been reported to be a broken jaw.

Just like the Sharks series in the Western Conference final, the Blues insist their game plan doesn’t change depending on who’s in or out of the lineup on the

other side. That includes Chara, even though missing him on the penalty kill and defensively could make a big difference.

“We prepare for a game from our side,” Conn Smythe Trophy candidate Vladimir Tarasenko said.

“We can control our game. We don’t know what’s gonna happen if he’s gonna play or no. We just follow our plan. That’s it.”

The absence of Chara could prove to be the tipping point in a bruising battle between the Bruins and Blues. Boston defenceman Matt Grzelcyk is out with a concussion and St. Louis forward Robert Thomas is out with a suspected hand or wrist injury. Cassidy said Grzelcyk, who practiced in a no-contact jersey Wednesday, is still in concussion protocol and would need to be medically cleared in order to play

Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies, both Germany, def. Janko Tipsarevic and Dusan Lajovic, both Serbia, 6-1, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3). WOMEN Singles - Quarterfinals Johanna Konta (26), Britain, def. Sloane Stephens (7), United States, 6-1, 6-4. Marketa Vondrousova, Czech Republic, def. Petra Martic (31), Croatia, 7-6 (1), 7-5. Doubles - Quarterfinals Kristina Mladenovic, France, and Timea Babos (2), Hungary, def. Samantha Stosur, Australia, and Shuai Zhang (5), China, 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3). Saisai Zheng and Ying-Ying Duan, both China, def. Yifan Xu, China, and Gabriela Dabrowski (4), Ottawa, 6-2, 5-7, 7-5. Kirsten Flipkens, Belgium, and Johanna Larsson (15), Sweden, def. Kveta Peschke, Czech Republic, and Nicole Melichar (7), United States, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1. MIXED DOUBLES Quarterfinals Gabriela Dabrowski, Ottawa, and Mate Pavic (2), Croatia, def. Shuai Zhang, China, and John Peers (5), Australia, 1-6, 7-5, 10-8. Ivan Dodig, Croatia, and Latisha Chan, Chinese Taipei, def. Amandine Hesse and Benjamin Bonzi, both France, 6-4, 6-3. JUNIORS Boy’s Doubles - First Round Toby Alex Kodat and Martin Damm Jr, both United States, def. Govind Nanda, United States, and Liam Draxl (7), Toronto, 6-4, 1-6, 10-8. Girl’s Singles - Second Round Leylah Annie Fernandez (1), Montreal, def. Marta Custic, Spain, 6-0, 6-3. Doubles - First Round Leylah Annie Fernandez, Montreal, and Melodie Collard (8), Gatineau,

in Game 5 on Thursday night.

If Boston is without two of its top five defencemen in Chara and Grzelcyk, it would mean bigger roles for John Moore and Connor Clifton and the possibility of Steven Kampfer seeing his first action since Game 1 of the East final.

Meanwhile, St. Louis is relatively healthy except for Thomas.

The Blues got defenceman Vince Dunn back for Game 4 after he missed almost three weeks after taking a puck to the face in the West final, and he assisted on a goal and drastically improved their puck movement.

“He’s a dynamic player,” coach Craig Berube said.

“He can make something out of nothing a lot of times. He’s very good at that. He’s elusive and even coming out of our own end, you feel like there are times when the

puck is going to get stopped up and he’ll do something and make a move and a quick play with the puck that breaks a guy out and it’s a great play that we’re going up the ice now.”

It appears rugged Robert Bortuzzo will return to the Blues’ lineup in place of Joel Edmundson, who had his ice time reduced for performance reasons by coach Craig Berube in Game 4. Bortuzzo came out when Dunn was ready to return but has two goals in the past two rounds despite not being much of a scorer.

Cassidy and Berube have been matching wits all series with roster decisions.

From this point on, the right and wrong calls could determine the Cup champion, and the Bruins have faith in Cassidy to push the right buttons and compensate for injuries.

Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry shoots between Golden State Warriors forward Alfonzo McKinnie (28) and forward Jonas Jerebko (21) during Game 3 of basketball’s NBA Finals in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday.

Oil tanker ban off targets Alberta, Senate committee says

Joan BRYDEN The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — A Senate committee says the Trudeau government’s bill to ban oil tanker traffic off British Columbia’s northern coast should be scrapped because it will divide the country, inflame separatist sentiment in Alberta and stoke resentment of Indigenous Peoples.

That conclusion is contained in a Conservative-written report of the Senate’s transportation and communications committee on Bill C-48.

But the sharp partisan tone of the report appears to have backfired, angering even some independent senators opposed to the bill but who are now urging their colleagues to reject the report.

If senators vote to accept the report, that would immediately kill the bill. If they reject the report, the bill would proceed to third reading debate, where all senators would have a chance to propose amendments and decide whether the bill should live or die.

The committee last month passed a motion to not proceed with the bill, which is aimed at formalizing the moratorium on oil tanker traffic in the ecologically sensitive waters off northern B.C. The motion was passed on a tie vote of 6-6, supported by Conservative committee members and Independent Sen. Paula Simons, who represents Alberta.

The report, written by Conservative chair David Tkachuk, is meant to explain why the committee recommended killing the bill. It includes an assertion that the bill is “not as advertised” – the same tag line Conservatives use in a series of ads attacking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Combined with other Trudeau government measures like rejecting the Northern Gateway pipeline proposal and proposing more stringent environmental assessment rules for energy projects, the report argues the Liberals are deliberately “land-locking Prairie oil” and telling Alberta and Saskatchewan “that they have a lesser place in Confederation.”

“This is not just a matter of dampening the economic interests of specific provinces. It is a nationally corrosive and divisive policy which pits one region against another, inflaming separatist sentiment and stoking a misplaced resentment of Indigenous Canadians,” the report says.

The ban on tankers carrying diluted bitumen from Alberta’s oilsands appears to be “intentionally designed to damage the economy of western Canada,” rendering the bill “both divisive and discriminatory,” the report adds, going on to say that “targeting one region of Canada for economic punishment is unconstitutional and destructive to

the fabric of Canadian federalism.”

The report also maintains that the bill is “motivated above all else by partisan political considerations” – the Liberals have only three seats in Alberta and one in Saskatchewan, compared to 17 in B.C. – and says it’s “deeply inappropriate for a ruling political party to consider only the regions of Canada where it is electorally competitive when crafting legislation.”

But during debate on the report Wednesday, Independent Sen. Julie Miville-Dechene, vice-chair of the committee, urged her colleagues to reject the “biased, one-sided” report with its “inappropriate, unhealthy rhetoric” which, she said, “does a disservice to the Senate.”

While she agreed that the bill has fuelled western alienation and said she’s opposed to it as written, Miville-Dechene criticized the report for further contributing to the divisiveness and for ignoring the views of many witnesses who favour the tanker ban, including coastal First Nations.

Similarly, Independent Sen. Andre Pratte,

who is also opposed to the bill, said the report’s “partisan and excessive language does a disservice to the Senate.” He said the report “distorts the facts and caricatures reality” in blaming the Liberal government solely for Alberta’s economic decline when it was already on the skids before the 2015 election due to slumping oil prices.

“The Senate’s duty is not to foster division but to point the way towards negotiation and compromise,” Pratte argued, urging rejection of the report so that senators can propose amendments that attempt to find a balance between protection of B.C.’s coast and the need to ship Alberta’s oil and gas to markets overseas.

Possible amendments could include allowing for a shipping corridor and putting a time limit on the tanker ban, rather than making it permanent.

Conservative senators, echoing the committee report, argued that amendments would be pointless since Transport Minister Marc Garneau told the committee the government won’t accept any changes.

However, Sen. Peter Harder, the government’s representative in the Senate, pointed out that Garneau actually rejected the idea of a shipping corridor as antithetical to the purpose of C-48 but said he’d welcome other constructive amendments that were in keeping with the spirit of the bill.

Alberta Conservative Sen. Doug Black acknowledged that it’s extremely rare for the Senate to kill a bill based on a committee report and without full debate by the entire upper house. But he said: “This is an unusual circumstance for an unusually bad bill.”

Tkachuk asserted that C-48 is “an egregiously bad bill that should be stopped in its tracks.”

Noting that public opinion polls have suggested more than 50 per cent of Albertans and Saskatchewanians support joining a western separatist movement, Tkachuk added: “The feeling of resentment I can tell you is palpable and no legislation that seeks to – if you’ll excuse my phrasing – pour fuel on that fire should be allowed to proceed.”

MPs call for subsidy to help homeless veterans

Jordan PRESS

Canadian Press

The

OTTAWA — A cross-party group of MPs, flanked by organizations that help veterans in need, made a plea on the eve of the 75th anniversary of D-Day for the government to end veteran homelessness and create a special housing stipend as a key first step.

The motion from Ontario Liberal MP Neil Ellis asks his own government to create a subsidy similar to one in the United States that’s credited with helping to cut in half the number of homeless American veterans and could get thousands of veterans off Canadian streets.

Veterans Affairs Canada recommended something similar in early drafts of its strategy for helping homeless vets, noting that a rent-assistance program would help veterans quickly find permanent housing wherever

they live.

The department wasn’t authorized at the time to provide that kind of financial help because any aid had to be related to a veteran’s time in the military, but Ellis and other MPs now see a path to make it happen through the decade-long national housing strategy, which includes the prospect of rent supplements.

Accurate data about the number of homeless veterans in Canada remains elusive,but various studies peg the number between 3,000 and 5,000 – possibly more, since homeless counts and shelter studies rely on veterans to self-identify – with about 10 per cent of those being women.

Ellis’s motion, which has backing from Conservative and New Democrat MPs, also calls on the government to end veterans’ homelessness by 2025 and deliver a plan to do so by this time next year. Although the motion doesn’t commit the government to spend

money on housing vouchers, Ellis said the American model should be considered for a Canadian plan.

“If we can cut our numbers from 5,000 down to 2,500 down to zero, we’ve got to look at how it’s been done in other countries,” said Ellis, chairman of the Commons veterans-affairs committee.

The Liberals’ 10-year, $55-billion national housing strategy

includes $2 billion in federal spending, with matching funding from provinces and territories, to create a housing benefit the government expects to help 300,000 households across the country.

Advocates suggest a special stipend for veterans, which would only require federal cash, would be a fraction of the larger benefit.

“The number of homeless veterans in Canada is relatively small. We know what to do and we know how to do it,” said Tim Richter, CEO of the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness.

“We have a duty to these men and women. Veterans’ homelessness is a solvable issue. Let’s get on with it.”

Adam Vaughan, the parliamentary secretary to the minister overseeing the housing strategy, said the government modified portions of the program to deal with specific gaps that have let veterans slip through the cracks, including working across depart-

mental lines to target specific populations.

The motion, he said, is “consistent with everything the government is doing” in trying to provide housing and services for those in need.

Veterans groups have been waiting for a dedicated strategy for more than a decade, despite multiple drafts circulated in Veterans Affairs Canada since at least 2017. In April, Ellis’s committee released a report that asked the government to “create a rent supplement for veterans who are homeless” as part of a broad action plan.

“Our governments past and present have spent a lot of time and money on studies. So have other countries. We have a lot of knowledge,” said Ray McInnis, director of veterans services with the Royal Canadian Legion.

“Our priority now needs to be a clear plan, full of evidence-based actions.”

Tug boats prepare an oil tanker to go under the Second Narrows bridge after it left the Kinder Morgan marine terminal in Burrard Inlet just outside of Vancouver on May 1, 2018.

ELLIS

MONEY IN BRIEF

Currencies

OTTAWA (CP) — These are in-

dicative wholesale rates for foreign currency provided by the Bank of Canada on Wednesday. Quotations in Canadian funds.

Should Amazon be broken up? No, says Amazon exec

Joseph PISANI The Associated Press

LAS VEGAS — An Amazon executive said Wednesday that the online shopping giant isn’t too big and shouldn’t be broken up, but added that large companies deserve to be examined.

Amazon and other big tech companies are facing scrutiny from government agencies that are looking into their business practices.

In addition, Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has called for the breakup of large tech companies like Amazon.

“I think that substantial entities in the economy deserve scrutiny,”’

said Jeff Wilke, who runs Amazon’s retail business and reports to CEO and founder Jeff Bezos.

“Our job is to build the kind of

The markets today

TORONTO (CP) — North American stock markets continued to rise on anticipation of U.S. interest rate cuts, sending gold prices to a three-and-a-half month high while oil prices plummeted. The trajectory is a continuation of Tuesday’s large increase, except for oil, that’s got stock market bulls happy, says Michael Currie, vice-president and investment adviser at TD Wealth.

“It’s not unusual after a huge day like yesterday to see a little bit of profit-taking the next day, so the mini-rally continues,” he said in an interview.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 46.42 points to 16,212.66, after gaining 150.35 points on Tuesday.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 207.39 points at 25,539.57. The S&P 500 index was up 22.88 points at 2,826.15, while the Nasdaq composite was up 48.36 points at 7,575.48.

Wednesday’s gains came a day after markets bounced back with their second best day of the year after the Federal Reserve signalled possible interest rate cuts to address trade challenges and a slowing economy.

Nine of the 11 major sectors of the TSX were higher, led by a 2.65 per cent increase for technology as Shopify Inc. rose 6.6 per cent.

Crude oil prices hit their lowest level in nearly five months with the July crude contract losing US$1.80 at US$51.68 per barrel. The July natural gas contract was down 3.8 cents at US$2.38 per mmBTU.

Crude prices decreased following a weekly U.S. report that showed inventory stockpiles increased by 6.8 million barrels, well above an expected decrease of 850,000 barrels. The large swing was unusual because demand is still pretty decent, said Currie. Materials also lost some ground even though gold prices rose to their higher level since February.

The August gold contract was up US$4.90 at US$1,333.60 an ounce while the July copper contract was down 4.6 cents at US$2.62 a pound.

The Canadian dollar traded at an average of 74.62 cents US compared with an average of 74.55 cents US on Tuesday.

The stock market gains came despite an ADP jobs report in the U.S. that confirmed a slowing economy by indicating private sector hiring added just 27,000 jobs in May, the fewest in nine years.

company that passes that scrutiny.”

Wilke made the comments during a meeting with reporters at an

Amazon conference in Las Vegas focused on artificial intelligence.

He also defended the company from criticism that it hurts its sellers by creating competing Amazon private-label products.

The company has developed many private-label goods, including Solimo paper towels and Amazon Basics batteries.

But Wilke said that no one inside Amazon shares seller data to create new products and said that its private-label brand business accounts for less than one per cent of sales.

“It’s a tiny fraction of our business,” he said.

“Most of our competitors have much larger percentage of their sales in private label.

Amazon says drones will be making deliveries in ‘months’

Joseph PISANI The Associated Press

LAS VEGAS — Amazon said Wednesday that it plans to use self-piloted drones to deliver packages to shoppers’ home in the coming months.

The online shopping giant did not give exact timing or say where the drones will be making deliveries.

Amazon said its new drones

use computer vision and machine learning to detect and avoid people or clotheslines in backyards when landing.

“From paragliders to power lines to a corgi in the backyard, the brain of the drone has safety covered,” said Jeff Wilke, who oversees Amazon’s retail business.

Wilke said the drones are fully electric, can fly up to 24 kilometres, deliver in 30 minutes and

carry goods that weigh up to 2.3 kilograms, like a paperback or toothpaste.

Amazon has been working on drone delivery for years. Back in December 2013, Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos told the 60 Minutes news show that drones would be flying to customer’s homes within five years. But that deadline passed due to regulatory hurdles.

The Federal Aviation Admin-

Don’t be fooled, debt matters

M&M’s were, as far as us kids were concerned, an inferior effort to copy the Canadian equivalent, Smarties. But while we were busy separating the local candy by colour (not because we were racist, because of the jingle) the American marketers were busy red-herring-ing the issue at hand, so to speak. I began to doubt.

Did Smarties actually melt in your hands? And would that make them inferior? The consternation eventually won me over to the enemy side. The shame of my betrayal haunts me. Today, I’m a serious chocolate snob (also not a racist thing – except that continental chocolate is by far superior to anything conjured over here, but that’s because we’ve taken the fine art of yummy stuff and Henry-Forded it.) In Europe, it was never lost on yummy-makers that fine chocolate should melt.

My later exposure to the M&M theory of capital structure, through which I waded in my second and third level finance classes, also left scars.

I held my tongue every which way, and never quite understood how Modigliani and Miller’s famous hypothesis made sense. Their proposal said that – subject to an ethereal set of assumptions – the amount of debt carried by a public corporation didn’t matter. And since it didn’t matter, it mattered. Loading up the balance sheet with loans will give the corporate shareholders an advantage, offloading risk to bondholders, and granting a juicy interest write-off against taxable corporate profits. Of course the idea was as much about theoretical investigation as practical application, I get that, but... say whut?

My fourth year finance professor rescued me. He was a Wall Street guy who landed at SFU for a couple of years while his mother-in-law was dying from cancer, and he was a very special kind of smart. Publishing in academic journals several times a year, his brand of cocky seemed more factual than self-congratulatory.

He was very funny, always poorlydressed, and somewhat greasy-haired, but he could breezily explain the most baffling financial theory without hiding behind hyper-academic lingo. Every lecture turned lights on for me: “Oh… I get it now!”

We clung to his words like Beatles fans. Late in the year, it came as a great relief to me when he quipped something about the Modigliani Miller debt hypothesis being mostly the slippery sort of stuff that fell

from the sky… from seagulls.

A shiny new pair of M’s: Popular amongst populist left-leaning faithful, Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) is also about debt not mattering, and therefore mattering as a policy good, this time at the government level.

The idea suggests that governments and the central banks they influence can just… give’r. That is, spend and borrow in Everest proportions, limited upwardly only by inflation, and currency considerations, ignoring the amount of debt completely. Jonathan Livingston seagull couldn’t have launched a dreamier concept.

His flighty financial advice: “Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding.”

Splat.

Democratic Party congresswoman, and presidential hopeful, Alexandria OcasioCortez recently announced that MMT “absolutely (needs to be) a larger part often conversation.”

In this mindset, MMT is a sweeping answer to the question: “Other than taking more from the wealthy, (which quickly shows its mathematical shortfalls) how do we pay for our policy of free stuff for everyone?”

The concept brings to mind the Weimarera (post First World War) when wheelbarrows of cash were eventually needed to buy basic foodstuffs.

Canadian household debt – an economic threat looming in the sky like… well, never mind.

According to RBC Economics, “Household indebtedness held relatively steady in Canada in the third quarter (2018) as credit market debt and household income grew at a similar pace.

This steadiness took place at a higher level of indebtedness than previously reported, however. Downward revisions to household income over the past couple of years… boosted the value of indebtedness metrics measured against income.

The revisions in particular led to increases of more than four percentage points in the debt-to-disposable income ratio in 2017 and 2018. The updated ratio stood at 173.8 per cent in the third quarter of 2018, still down from a peak of 174.3 per cent reached

a year ago.”

istration, which regulates commercial use of drones in the U.S., did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

In April, a subsidiary of search giant Google won approval from the FAA to make drone deliveries in parts of Virginia.

Wilke said that the company is working with several regulatory agencies to get approval.

“We expect to do it within months,” he said.

I don’t think any reader needs a lecture on the many ways this kind of debt matters, but here’s one point that applies to all loans.

Interest rates often go up when we can least afford them, because low interest rates attract excessive debt.

For example, according to Stats Canada, the total number of insolvencies in April 2019 was 9.6 per cent higher than the total number of insolvencies in April 2018. Consumer insolvencies increased by 9.3 per cent, while business insolvencies increased by 21.4 per cent.

Let theories be provocative, but let principles be grounded. Debt matters.

Mark Ryan is an Investment Advisor with RBC Dominion Securities Inc. (Member–Canadian Investor Protection Fund), and these are his views, and not those of RBC Dominion Securities. This article is for information purposes only. Please consult with a professional advisor before taking any action based on information in this article. See his website at: http://dir.rbcinvestments.com/mark.ryan

The Amazon logo.

Paul Gross returns to Tales of the City with Ellen Page

Victoria AHEARN

The Canadian Press

TORONTO — The first time

Paul Gross acted in a project with fellow Canadian Ellen Page was for the 2004 Nova Scotia-set film Wilby Wonderful.

Page was still establishing her career (her breakout, Oscarnominated role in Juno came a few years later) and they didn’t have any scenes together during production in Shelburne, but she left a huge impression on him.

“A friend of mine who was working on it called me and said, ‘You should come down and just watch her. There’s this kid on set who’s good,”’ the Calgary-born actorfilmmaker recalled in a recent interview.

Gross said he went to the set, stood at the back watching Page act out a scene and was astounded by her talent, thinking: “‘Ooo, that’s the real stuff.”’

The two didn’t work together again until recently with the new Netflix series Tales of the City, which finds them digging into deep emotions in shared scenes playing father and daughter.

Premiering Friday, the drama is inspired by Armistead Maupin’s novels and is an update to previous TV adaptations, about the LGBTQ culture of San Francisco and the residents of 28 Barbary Lane, an apartment complex run by an eccentric landlady played by Olympia Dukakis.

Dukakis, Gross and Laura Linney are among the original cast members from the 1993 miniseries who reprise their roles in the new version, which is billed as a limited series.

“I didn’t remember everything about the show, so it was almost like watching it for the first time,” said Gross, “and it was horrifying to watch yourself 20-plus years

ago thinking, ‘You’re terrible and your hair is worse.”’

In this incarnation, Linney’s character returns to the city she left 20 years prior and is reunited with her ex-husband, played by Gross, and her gay daughter who doesn’t know she’s adopted, played by Halifax-born Page.

Gross’s character was a lothario in the original. In this version, he’s an overprotective single dad trying to find love on dating apps. Returning to a beloved project so many years later with the same cast is a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity, said Gross, noting he didn’t hesitate to sign on.

“It was one of the best things I’d ever worked on,” said Gross, who was replaced by another actor for subsequent versions of Tales of the City because he was busy starring in the Canadian TV series Due South.

“Doing it was one of the first times I ever worked on anything

at any length where I felt part of something that everybody was a part of, including the crew. It’s an experience that had a lot to do with shaping how I thought we ought to go about making stuff.”

The new Tales has an even more diverse and intergenerational slate of characters than the original, including a young transgender man, played by Josiah Victoria Garcia.

The writers for the series are all queer, said showrunner and executive producer Lauren Morelli.

“Telling some of those stories felt really exciting because we don’t get to tell them a lot,” said Morelli, who worked closely with Maupin on this project and is known for writing on Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black.

“I think everybody needs a Barbary Lane now. I certainly am really hungry for a place that feels safe and warm and like everybody’s welcome, and a reminder of our inherent goodness and empathy as human beings.”

Other returning characters include Michael Tolliver, who is HIV-positive and dating a younger boyfriend.

In this version he’s played by Australian actor Murray Bartlett, who said he’s long been a fan of the Tales franchise.

“It played a really important role in my life, as it did for a lot of us in the queer community, particularly when it first came out on TV,” said Bartlett.

“The show for me is celebrating family and community and the possibility of that, especially when you haven’t found it potentially with your biological, to find what Armistead calls a ‘logical family.’

“And at a time when there is so much division around us, I think it’s a story worth telling, that we need to rediscover community globally and locally.”

Tanya Tagaq and others take home prizes at Indigenous Voices awards

The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER — Inuit throat singer and author Tanya Tagaq was among the winners at the second annual Indigenous Voices Awards. The IVAs handed out a total of $16,000 in honours to eight emerging Indigenous writers at a Vancouver gala on Tuesday. The prizes, each worth $2,000, recognize published and unpublished works in a range of languages, genres and media. Tagaq won the award for prose published in English for her debut novel Split Tooth (Viking Canada).

Smokii Sumac, a two-spirit

member of the Ktunaxa nation, earned the accolade for Englishlanguage published poetry with You are Enough: Love Poems for the End of the World (Kegedonce Press).

The two finalists for works published in French were both named as winners: Josephine Bacon’s Uiesh, Quelque Part (Memoire d’encrier) and Pierrot RossTremblay’s Nipimanitu – L’esprit de l’eau.

Francine Merasty’s Iskotew Iskwew, the sole contender for the prize for works in an Indigenous language, was also honoured. The award for works in an alternative format went to the graphic novel Surviving the City

(HighWater Press) by Tasha Spillett, with illustrations by Natasha Donovan.

For English-language unpublished works, Francine Cunningham prevailed in the prose category with a selection from Teenage Asylums, and Elaine McArthur was the poetry winner for Brush of a Bustle.

This year’s 17 finalists were selected by jurors Jordan Abel, Jeannette Armstrong, Joanne Arnott, Warren Cariou, Margery Fee, Gabrielle L’Hirondelle Hill, Francis Langevin and Jean Sioui.

The IVAs were founded in 2017 to celebrate Indigenous literary talent and create opportunities for up-and-coming writers.

The initiative began as a $140,000 fundraising campaign launched in response to online controversy over a proposal to establish a prize for cultural appropriation in Canadian literature.

TAGAQ

CP PHOTO BY NATHAN DENETTE

Actor Paul Gross poses for a photograph last week for the new film Tales of the City in Toronto.

#MeToo backlash?

More male managers avoid mentoring women or meeting alone with them, survey says

Jena MCGREGOR

The Washington Post

The unintended consequence of the #MeToo movement – that men are now more fearful of working one-on-one with womenis getting worse. Much worse.

Or at least, that’s the takeaway from a survey released Friday by LeanIn.org, the women’s self-empowerment organization founded by Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg.

The survey found that 60 per cent of male managers say they are uncomfortable doing common workplace activities with women such as mentoring, socializing or having one-on-one meetings –sharply up from 46 per cent last year.

Meanwhile, senior-level male managers were nine times more likely to say they hesitated to take work trips with junior women than they were with junior men, a gap that grew from just five times last year.

The rise was startling enough that Sandberg herself is speaking on it, offering brief interviews about the findings at a time when headlines involving her name are far more likely to focus on her handling of the social media company’s massive privacy scandals or its response to Russian influence operations than her perch as the mid-2010s maven of workplace feminism.

When LeanIn has been in the news of late, it’s faced more questions about its role in a post#MeToo world – a movement that showcased how powerless women’s individual efforts to get ahead can be against institutional barriers – or even how much the organization remains identified

with Sandberg following a series of bruising headlines.

Sandberg said there has been “not one bit” of distancing between herself and LeanIn.org calling the organization “the main extracurricular thing I do.”

“It’s too important,” she said.

“And by the way, knowing what’s happening for women, I think, makes me a better leader at Facebook.”

Asked about the intense criticism she and the company have faced in recent years, Sandberg said it had “definitely” changed her job and its priorities.

“We made mistakes at Facebook, and we missed really important things,” she said. She added that she was “scared” to testify before Congress, but that “when things go wrong, we should be held accountable publicly. I think there’s a lot of responsibility that I need to take and I think I should own that.”

On the survey results, Sandberg said she was upset to see them, if not surprised. (The survey, which included a national sample of more than 5000 U.S. adults, was co-released by SurveyMonkey, the software company where Sand-

berg serves on the board and her now-deceased husband was the former CEO.)

She said she’s spoken to many male executives who say they have been told by their human resources department or by senior leadership “don’t put yourself in that position; don’t be alone with a woman.”

That so many senior-level men are reporting that they are uncomfortable taking work trips, having a work dinner or taking a one-on-one meeting with junior female colleagues is a particularly bad sign.

“I really think we are facing a very serious crisis for women in getting promoted,” Sandberg said.

The problem with this kneejerk fear, of course, is that to get promoted, younger employees need the kind of informal face time and one-on-one interactions that builds trust and develops relationships, giving senior-level managers the confidence to take a risk on promoting them. When senior executives – who are often disproportionately male – back away from those relationships, it can make it harder for women to get promoted.

One criticism of Sandberg’s 2013 book, after which the organization is named, has been that it offered too much individual advice that women – particularly professional, white-collar women – had to follow on their own, putting the onus of change on them rather than on the underlying systems and biases of corporations or society itself.

Asked, therefore, what companies or employers can do to keep men from backing away – or what Facebook itself is doing to try to prevent this from happening –Sandberg said it’s up to leaders to be clear about what’s expected.

“I’m sending the survey myself to so many CEOs, and so many people, and I’m hoping that they’re going to go to their teams and they’re going to say ‘let’s make sure we’re not telling men not to be alone with women,’ “ she said.

At Facebook, “I’m explicitly saying on many occasions and will continue saying – the rule here is you make access equal,” she said, adding that “I think you get to institutional change by making people aware of a problem.”

Veteran public servant named to RCMP board

Jim BRONSKILL The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — A former top public servant in the federal, Alberta and Ontario governments will head up the RCMP’s fledgling board of civilian advisers assigned to help the police force modernize.

Besides Richard Dicerni, others appointed to the 13-member board Wednesday include outgoing Fredericton police chief Leanne Fitch, Canadian Football League commissioner Randy Ambrosie and former British Columbia attorney general Wally Oppal.

The Liberal government announced plans for the board in January, aiming to transform the RCMP’s dated culture and make it more innovative and forward-looking after years of fallout from bullying and harassment within the force.

The government wants the board to focus at first on updating business practices and

ensuring employee health and well-being.

Over time, it will work on issues including effective use of RCMP resources, labour relations, and corporate and strategic direction.

The board is being established on an interim basis, as passage of a measure in the federal budget bill is required to make it permanent.

Dicerni served as the federal deputy minister of industry for six years before becoming head of the Alberta public service.

“We look forward to providing the best possible advice to support a modern, healthy, safe and respectful work environment for all members and employees,”

Dicerni said in a statement.

The public-safety minister will be able to direct the RCMP commissioner to seek the board’s advice and require that the commissioner report back as to what was done with it.

The board will not be involved in matters relating to active law-enforcement investigations, in keeping with the principle of police independence.

The long-anticipated measure flows from two critical reports released in May 2017.

In the first, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP said the force lacked both the will and the capacity to address the challenges that dog its workplaces. The commission urged the government to bring in civilian governance or oversight for the paramilitary-style police force.

The second report, a review by former auditor general Sheila Fraser of four harassment lawsuits from female members, also called for substantial reforms.

RCMP commissioner Brenda Lucki said Wednesday the advisory board will hold its first meeting in coming months. “Their advice will provide additional, valuable

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington last fall.

perspectives to help us make decisions that support our people and the communities we serve.”

DICERNI

April (Taylor) Mason

April 15, 1964 to May 25, 2019

We attended a wonderful service in Alberta June 1,

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Bruce Raymond Gendron 65 years old, taken before his time, passed peacefully in his sleep on Thursday May 30, 2019.

Bruce was survived by his two daughters Kelli (Dan, Charlie, and Ben) and Shayna, brothers Albert (Betty), Ray (Ivy), Lorne (Cheryl), and Alex (Shirley). Bruce was predeceased by his parents Florida and Phil Gendron, his brothers Oliver (Carol) and Edward, and sister Dianne (Albert). All of whom will miss him dearly. Bruce was born in Prince George, BC March 26, 1954. Bruce was a hard worker and was employed as a trucker for 30 + years. In the past two years he successfully completed further education to earn his licensure which enabled him to switch paths and drive a gravel truck until his final day. His love for work and the comradery that accompanied his job is what made him happy. In his free time Bruce enjoyed camping with his family, hunting, fishing, riding his motorcycle, playing the guitar, sketching out new plans for new projects, and tinkering around with any old project he could get his hands on. There will be a funeral service on Saturday June 15, 2019 at 10:00am at St. Mary’s church, 1088 Gillett street in Prince George. Following the service there will be a gathering held at Bruce’s home at 1:00pm for family and friends to share stories and memories of this special man.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

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

PROGRAMMING COORDINATOR (FT)

Provides program support in Prince George Alzheimer Resource Centre. Schedules: First Link® support calls, education workshops, healthcare provider meetings. Manages materials and info resources in the region. Key duties: Reporting to Manager, maintains programming related to: incoming referrals and allocate intake calls, follow up calls Dementia Helpline support calls to Support & Education team. Schedules/books education prog based on regional plan. Manages attendance tool client lists and waitlists. Books meetings, distributes info resources. Maintains/orders materials inventory. Prepares dementia education packages. Coordinates local First Link bulletin info, prints/distributes posters and promo channels like: news releases, website, print ads. Oversees office volunteers & provides info to general public as needed. Qualifications: Superior admin & organization skills, meticulous attention to detail. Excellent computer skills, experience with Word, Excel & Outlook essential; familiarity with PowerPoint, Publisher, databases and mail merge an asset. Interpersonal/customer service skills. Able to recruit & supervise volunteers. Basic accounting bookkeeping exp. Knowledge of local area & dementia.

Resume w/ cover letter to: humanresources@alzheimerbc.org

300-828 West 8th Ave

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1E2

Closes: June 7, 2019

For full job description and information about the Society: www.alzheimerbc.org

Adult & Youth Newspaper Carriers Needed in the Following areas:

• 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,

THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2019

Asay taking another swing at World Cup

LOCAL ARTIST INSPIRED BY ANDY WARHOL

The paintings come from the same traditional roots as before, but internationally celebrated artist Robert Sebastian is working in new forms.

One of the evolutions in this veteran art star’s work is producing paintings on printcanvas. His original images are still for sale, and fetch thousands of dollars each, but he is also allowing select images to go into print series. He chose the canvas medium “because it saves on framing, people can just hang them as they are, and you get just the image in its raw form,” he said as he released them to the world.

The first places they are on public offer are WD West Studios and Two Rivers Gallery’s Art Shop, both located in his second home of Prince George. His original home, and the place where his art career his its primary base, is Hazelton in the midst of his Gitxsan Nation ancestry.

There is a sect of artists, he said, and he was one of them, that pins their career hopes on selling originals one by one. The price of a single original can be prohibitive, so the buyers become financially elite as an artist’s career develops.

Sebastian wanted the average person to be able to afford his art, and have his work appreciated by the mainstream public. He has now embraced the print, where several copies can be sold at a more inclusive price. “What motivated me was Andy Warhol,” said Sebastian. “I found out he almost never sold an original. That made me think.” He has also been inspired lately by the younger generation of Aboriginal artist. He is now infusing modern images into his traditional depictions, like his recent painting of a leaping fish that has, small in the background as if looking down from high above, an airplane.

Sebastian was part of the surge of west coast Indigenous art that broke out of the 1970s and ‘80s as the leading edge of First Nations cultural revival that is still building momentum today.

As one of the recognized masters of this genre, Sebastian’s work is in collections all over the world, including British royalty and international governments. The Mon-

treal Expos, for example, commissioned him and brother Ron Sebastian to carve a totem pole for Olympic Stadium. They presented it in 1980 at a home game ceremony with Maurice Richard, Donald and Keifer Sutherland and other Montreal dignitaries in attendance.

That kind of exposure was hard-earned and came with immense responsibility, said Sebastian. The shapes, colours and subject matter of traditional Aboriginal art are not haphazard. Cultural guidelines from nation to nation and even clan to clan inform the rules around what can be represented in such art. Artists’ mastery of these genres partially includes perfecting the shapes, but necessarily includes perfecting the rules

Sebastian shakes his head over the purists who claim no one from outside a First Nation should be allowed to work in the

artistic aesthetic of that First Nation. He wholeheartedly agrees with non-Aborignal artists taking up these artistic traditions, or a Cree or Inuit artist who might want to learn to paint in the style of the Gitxan. However, he said, a commitment must be made on the part of that outside artist before they take their work to the commercial level.

“You have to check the history so you know what you are doing,” he explained. “Our culture has been underground for a long time, forced there, shamed there, and it’s only been coming out again since about 1970. It’s still hurting, the pain is still great, we still feel the repercussions today. It was made illegal for a long time to even talk about sacred things, but it was through art, important activists who were extremely good craftspeople, that it started to come back and become free. That has to

be respected.”

Sebastian names Walter Harris as a Gitxan art master he personally looked to as a leader, and he also saluted the Hunt family of Vancouver Island as being art activists who helped Canada begin to think early thoughts about reconciliation with the oppressed First Nations.

One of the important things the Hunt family did, Sebastian said, was welcome and mentor John Livingston into their traditions. Livingston, who passed away this spring, was non-Aboriginal but became a leading figure in that region’s Indigenous arts scene. He earned his adoption by committing to the study of the art’s cultural foundations, said Sebastian.

“As long as they study the meaning, learn the full history of the symbols and designs, then I am ok with anyone who feels moved to make our art,” he said. “But you have to do your work, and that means person to person, learning directly from one artist to another, over a period of time. I strongly believe in new traditions - basing all new designs off of old traditional ones - but you have to know what you’re doing. It’s also important for older generations to be open to the designs of the new generations. You have to allow youth to find their own way, express themselves authentically in their times. When you are trying to build a culture that stands for honesty, that stands for integrity, then that has to come out in the art. If you build good children, you will find some fine art come out of that. That’s so important. The art will tell you what kind of culture you have, what kind of community you have.”

At age 65, Sebastian believes he has about 15 more years of vital art still ahead. Some artists, he said, don’t even start their careers until this point in life. He doesn’t want to waste the head start he has been given, especially since his life was, by his own admission, deeply troubled and painfully disrupted in his early adult years. He credits his two children as being the forces in his life that forced him to correct his path, and even that was slow and uneven in its execution. He stands now a gratefully changed man ready to take on new concepts in Canada’s oldest forms of art.

97/16 photo by James Doyle

MARKETING WORDS IMPLY HEALTHINESS

TFOOD FOR THOUGHT

KELSEY LECKOVIC

he marketing of a food can make a big difference in the decision to purchase. While cost and taste are significant factors in that decision, the healthiness of a food is an equally important influencer for many, and food companies are well-aware of this. By claiming a product to be organic, clean and natural, companies give the impression that their product is not only healthier, but that the company cares more for the consumer, all while charging a premium. Since these claims are being used more frequently, it’s helpful to know how they’re being regulated and what they actually mean.

Organic – “Organic” refers to the way agricultural products are grown and processed. Organic food is produced without pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, drugs, antibiotics, animal cloning, genetic engineering and irradiation and organic standards prohibit the use of artificial additives.

Although there isn’t enough scientific evidence to say that organic food is more nutritious than non-organic food, or that there are specific health benefits associated with organic products, the label “organic” still carries with it the suggestion of a healthier product. While some foods grown organically may have more

nutrients, others have less than their nonorganic counterparts. As well, small differences in the nutrient content of organic foods have not been found to be beneficial to overall health. Factors including soil quality, growing conditions, harvesting methods, and the species and diet of the animal can affect the nutritional content of a food, whether organic or not.

In Canada, only products with an organic content greater than 95 per cent can be labelled and advertised as organic. For products with multiple ingredients, each organic ingredient must be identified as organic in the list of ingredients. Products with 70-95 per cent organic content must state the percent of organic ingredient content and these products cannot use the organic logo. With products containing less than 70 per cent organic content, the organic ingredients must be identified as such in the list of ingredients and the product cannot use the organic logo or make the claim of being organic or containing a percent of organic ingredients. The label of an organic product must also indicate the name of the certification body that has certified the product as organic.

Bottom line: A product labelled as “organic” could have varying amounts of organic ingredients and this content should be labelled. Check the ingredient list to find out what components are actually organic.

Clean – Clean eating is promoted as a way of eating that focuses on whole foods with simpler ingredients. While

you might not see a front-of-package label stating that a product is “clean”, the words “free-from” will often appear instead. Claims of a product being “free from preservatives” or “free from artificial colours” embody the ideology of clean eating and are another method for food companies to appeal to our desire to be healthier. However, a product that is “free from” is not always healthy or healthier. Marshmallows labelled as “fat-free” are still high in sugar and chips labelled as “trans fat-free” are often still high in sodium and saturated fat.

In Canada, a product can be labeled “free from” as long as that claim is not misleading. For example, a label of “hormone free” cannot be attached to meat, poultry or fish products because they contain naturally occurring hormones.

Bottom line: Although the Canadian Food Inspection Agency prohibits the use of misleading claims, it’s important to check ingredient labels to confirm that the product you’re buying contains the ingredients you believe it does.

Natural – The labels of “nature”, “natural”, “Mother Nature”, and “Nature’s Way” are often misused on food packaging. When the words “natural” or “nature” are used in a trademark name, such as in the “Nature Valley” brand of granola bars, that product must meet certain requirements according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. “Natural” products cannot contain added vitamins, minerals, artificial flavours or food additives. Products labeled as “natural” cannot

have a naturally-occurring component removed, such as removing caffeine from coffee then calling it “natural.” “Natural” products must not have been significantly altered from their original physical, chemical or biological state. Companies stating that their product is natural must substantiate that claim by providing information to consumers on the meaning of the claim. A company cannot give the consumer the impression that “nature” has made a product considerably superior to its unnatural counterparts.

While “natural” products may appear healthier due to their lack of additives, they aren’t necessarily any better for you. Many foods have added vitamins and minerals, which increase their nutrient content and support certain populations in meeting their dietary requirements. For example, in Canada, folic acid is added to white flour and therefore all white flours in Canada cannot be considered “natural” because of this addition. However, the addition of folic acid helps to promote proper fetal development of the brain and spinal cord.

Bottom line: If a product is labelled as “natural,” it must comply with federal requirements with regards to it’s content and the way it was produced. Natural products are not necessarily healthier and checking the ingredients label and nutrition facts panel will help you to determine the nutritional value of a food.

— Kelsey Leckovic is a registered dietitian with Northern Health working in chronic disease management.

LONG PATH FROM LITERATURE TO COMPUTERS

Igrew up in a society with a patriarchal culture, in which women are supposed to stay home, taking care of kids and doing the housework. As a kid, there was no woman around me who I could call my role model. I didn’t want to be like my mom, I didn’t want to spend my days just cooking and cleaning. I wanted to live a different life.

When I was around six or seven, I always wanted to be an actress. I used to stand in front of a mirror and practice my acting. In all of my stories, I was either a victim or a hero. In the beginning, I was just working on dialogues. I stood straight and talked instead of all the characters. A bit later, I decided to add actions. So, I taught myself how to whistle with my fingers, how to mimic emotions by my face, and when and how I should move my hands or turn my head. I was always trying to follow the news around my favorite actresses to keep myself updated. I knew there were many limitations for actresses in my country, but I still wanted to grow up and be a successful superstar.

I was eight or nine when I realized I really want to be an author or a poet. I was spending a lot of time reading books and I

was reading everything, from classic novels, both original and translated, to history and science. Anything that I could find on my dad’s book collection or on my sister’s bookshelf. Instead of acting my stories, I tried to write them down. Notebook after notebook, I was dreaming of being a wellknown author. Unlike actresses, there were a few well-known women in that area at the time. So I knew I should be very very good to be able to compete and be successful in that male-dominated world.

I remember that day very clearly. I was 10 and in Grade 4 and at the end of math class the teacher distributed a quiz. I was always a good student, but that was a hard one. We had literature in the next class and we were supposed to memorize a poem, which I didn’t. I was all distracted by trying to remember words, which prevented me to focus on the question in the quiz.

Literature was my favorite course; I was always shining there, and I didn’t want to disappoint my teacher. I finished the math quiz as soon as I could and started working on that poem which I don’t remember what it was now.

The next day, our teacher walked in. She talked a little bit, and then called my name. Surprisingly, I got the highest mark on that math quiz! I was like “wow, did that really happen?” My teacher, a very kind and smart person, talked to me later and encouraged me to work on my mathematical mind. She said math and literature are related and I can describe the beauty of math in my stories and my poems or that’s how I understood it.

Difficult decisions! That’s what life always has to offer. I knew I was good at math and I knew I wanted to write, not to become an author anymore, but to write to calm myself down. So that was not a very hard decision to make after all. Math became my passion, my profession, something I could build my career upon. It made me think deeper.

Writing became my hobby, my relaxation and my meditation. It made me feel deeper. I went to university to study applied

mathematics for my undergrad studies. For four years, characters in my stories were numbers and operations, fractions and decimals, algebra and geometry. There was one and only one woman, who won many national and international prizes in math, who I was following, and I wanted to be like her.

How about computer science? My husband asked that when we were in the middle of applying for Canadian universities to attend as graduate students. I had limited knowledge about that, however, I agreed to apply for it. That was the new thing I was looking for. I was so excited when we got our admissions, and that was the moment I realized that’s the different life I chose to live it. When I started my studies here, the big problem was there again: a few numbers of women in computer science. From acting to computer science, I have been always looking for someone I can look up to. I know what I am about to say is huge, but sometimes I ask myself how about I try and become someone else’s role model.

– Nahid Taheri is an instructor in computer science at CNC.

HURD MADE SOCIAL WORK HER LIFE

Local radio personality Sharon Hurd has dedicated her life to helping those in need, mostly through social work.

Sharon was born in the small community of Birch Cliff, Ont. in 1939 and went to the same elementary school that her parents attended when they were children. She graduated from high school at the age of 16 and worked as a clerk in the emergency department at the Toronto General Hospital. Many times, she was asked to scrub up and work in the surgery room counting sponges to make sure they were all accounted for after a surgery.

Two years later she was invited to work in a plastic and reconstructive surgeon’s office in Toronto. She worked there for 10 years and then moved to Vancouver to seek out the realities of one of her favourite books called Grass Beyond the Mountains. Sharon said, “I had 13 cents in my pocket when I arrived in Vancouver. I landed a job at the Vancouver General Hospital and eventually I found a motel owner that would extend me credit until my first paycheck came in.

“I still wanted to live in the country so I found a caretakers job on a big farm in Haney. It was my job to look after the horses and the chickens. I lived in what I called a small shack until I found work at the Maple Ridge hospital as a stenographer.”

She moved to Quesnel in 1973; rented a small house on rural 10 Mile Lake and cooked her meals on a wood stove. Still she

longed to experience the frontier life as depicted in her favorite book. She moved to west Quesnel and lived in a small cabin without power or running water on 400 acres of property on the Fraser River. She worked to set up a propane system for lights and a gravity fed water system and was able to enjoy her horses, dogs, cats and the wilderness.

She first worked as a medical stenographer at the GR Baker Memorial Hospital and later at the Holly Clinic in a similar position. In the 1980s she was hired as the executive director and addictions specialist at Amata Transition House in Quesnel for 10 years.

She was president of the B.C. Yukon Society of Transition Houses and received the Governor General of Canada’s commemorative medal for her contributions to her community and country in 1992. Sharon moved to Prince George in 1995, to work at the Phoenix Transition House. She said, “The director was leaving and

offered me the job as executive director. Their mandate was to be open to all women and I knew that this was my ideal job. The Phoenix Transition House is a temporary shelter/housing for women – and their children - who have experienced and/or at risk of abuse and violence. I had ideas of how to help women who had been in prison, those struggling with addictions and other women who needed shelter and support for one reason or another.

“Next came Harmony House and Celynn House both of which are affiliated with the Phoenix Transition House Society and all of which are my passion. I was raised in a family who had an open-door policy – especially during the war years. The house would be full of soldiers on leave. My parents called themselves agnostic and yet there was always a place for someone at the dinner table or a room for them to sleep when times were tough.

“My father was one of six children and my mother one of five. We all lived in the same neighbourhood and we all shared what we had.”

Sharon is a busy volunteer. In the past, she was involved with the boards of the Prince George Council of Seniors, the Prince George Crisis Line, St. Pat’s Halfway House and she said with a chuckle that she is a 1950s past president of the Four Lads Fan Club.

She is currently involved with the Hutda Lake Wellness Project for women with addictions, the John Howard Society of Northern B.C., the Baldy Hughes Therapeutic Community, the Prince George Hospice Society, Prince George Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation and the Prince George Community Radio Society for CFIS FM – just to name a few.

She was presented with the Queens Diamond Jubilee Award in 2012 and the Prince George Citizen of the Year award in 2010.

For the past six years Sharon has been a radio host for the Senior Moments talk

show on the local CFIS FM 93 radio station. Sharon lost her co host Bob D’Auray when he left this good earth October 13, 2018. Bob and Sharon developed a show where topics give insight into the lives of seniors, questions they may have regarding programs, volunteers, recreation and information the listeners may never have thought much about. The program discusses a variety of issues and events with guest speakers and a few jokes along the way just to keep things lively.

Sharon concluded by saying, “I started working towards a degree in gender studies at the University of Northern B.C. when I was 55 years old. I spent two years taking night school courses and have not yet completed the degree.

“My goal is to share with other people what I have learned over my lifetime. I tried marriage (more than once) and it didn’t work so my social work became my life and the people I work with became my family.

“I see potential in all people. I strive first to help them see their potential and then we work towards reaching their potential. It works by increments, set a goal, reach it, set another goal, etc. It can be tough if a person does not believe in themselves and so many are survivors of horrific trauma.

“Prince George is the most accepting and generous community I have ever lived in and I am grateful for the support and acceptance I have received from people. I am thankful for the support and encouragement from our MLA’s, our mayor, leaders in the non profit community and my many good friends and colleagues.

“I just turned 80, I have my horse, dogs and cats and I am living my coveted rural life. I have achieved much in those 80 years by over coming many challenges. I have had some happy times and I have felt sadness in the loss of good friends. I am still doing all the things I love to do and, in my mind, I believe I have

97/16 photo by James Doyle Sharon Hurd has

others.

VENDORS NEEDED FOR HEATWAVE FESTIVAL

FRANK PEEBLES

97/16 staff

Cultural vendors have been called to sign up for the upcoming Heatwave - Celebrate Cultures festival.

This music and activities event happens June 21-23 at Canada Games Plaza in front of the Civic Centre. It is a joint production of the Immigrant and Multicultural Services Society (IMSS), Lheidli T’enneh First Nation, Le Cercle des Canadiens Français, the Prince George Metis Community Association, and the Prince George Folkfest Society (organizers of Coldsnap) to celebrate the cultural diversity of our community.

Ravi Saxena, executive director for IMSS, says “anyone who wishes to celebrate their culture is encouraged to do so at Heatwave – Celebrate Cultures, as even one person can set up a great booth, sell food, or participate in the fashion show.”

Not sure how you or your group can be involved? A few suggestions include:

• Information booth

(demonstrations of activities, a map that highlights the geological location of your culture, photos or displays of traditional dress, etc.)

• Food demonstration booth (sell bite-sized portions of a traditional food for a low price)

• Restaurant vendor (sell a food taster, and/or dinner-sized portions, beverages, etc.)

• Goods & Services vendor (sell jewelry, art, homemade crafts, etc.; provide a service such as henna, eyebrow threading, temporary tattoos, face painting, or other goods or services that are family-friendly, etc.)

• Performances (dance, sing, make music, or show Prince George other kinds of cultural or traditional talents).

For the Heatwave Fashion Show, the public is encouraged to come on the Saturday in traditional clothing and participate in a fashion show to go around the world by going around the Canada Games Plaza.

“This event is free to participate,

and we have unlimited spaces so anyone can come out and celebrate cultural dress,” said Saxena.

HERE FISHY, FISHY, FISHY

By a streak of luck, our family is the lucky recipient of a used fish tank.

I say lucky because fish tanks are outrageously expensive in my opinion, and had we had to buy a new fish tank,

we would not have because I am cheap. We have not had a pet in the house since our dog was put down and we both felt that we weren’t quite ready for another dog, my husband is not a huge fan of

Accounting Skills You Need for Your Business to Succeed

If terms like depreciation, cash flow, balance sheets, and, worst of all, budgets, make you flinch, this workshop is perfect for you!

Financial management doesn’t have to be scary! We can show you how.

May 31 & June 7, 2019 | 8:30-4:30 | $329

To register call 250 561 5801 or go online cnc.bc.ca/ce

Application forms and more information can be found at the IMSS website.

HOME AGAIN MEGAN KUKLIS

cats and we thought that maybe some fish would be a much needed addition to our little family.

I did not have fish growing up but I did have a few goldfish in a bowl when I was in university in Victoria.

I had come home to Prince George for a wedding and the centerpieces were little fish bowls with goldfish swimming around. At the end of the night, I was able to take the little fishies home with me.

I put the fish in a baggie, and carried the fish, their bowl and their fish food with me on the plane. This was only a few years after 9/11 and before liquid was restricted on planes. They didn’t blink at the fish I was carrying on the plane with me but the fish food set off all sorts of sensors when checking my carry-on bag. Lacking a reason not to, I was allowed to travel with Virgil and Othello and they kept me company for a few months during my studies. They died because I didn’t know what I was doing. Also, as I have been researching, you shouldn’t use tap water in a fish tank (that is likely why they died). But I’m older and somewhat wiser now and I’ve kept a couple of children alive for a while so I am moderately

confident that I can keep a couple of fish alive too (I am crossing my fingers that this is true).

We set up the tank last week and let it go through it’s nitrogen cycle and treated the water et cetera and were able to finally go to the pet store for a few fish. It was more expensive than I was anticipating. Our son was very sure that he wanted a gold fish and he wanted to name him Goldie. Our daughter wanted a pretty fish and so we walked amongst the tanks looking at fish before they made their choices. Our son picked a goldfish except when he looked at him/ her (because how do you tell the gender of a fish) through the little plastic bag, he announced that the fish’s name was Joe. Joe the goldfish. Our daughter was drawn to the neon tetras all swimming around erratically and picked the brightest, pinkest little fish she could find. The fish’s name is Princess Pinky. In the evenings after dinner, we gather around our little ten galleon fish tank and watch Joe and Princess Pinky swim around their watery world. The kids fight over whose turn it is to feed the fish and my husband and I try to manage the excessive amount of fingerprints on the tank. We have chairs in front of the tank and we sit and watch them swim and learn about their little fishy personalities as they go about their day. It’s soothing. I set up my laptop so when I stare off into space when I am trying to write, they give me something to watch instead of the wall. We can’t wait to get more.

ABOUT US

• Colleen Sparrow, publisher and GM

• Neil Godbout, editor-in-chief

• Shawn Cornell, director of advertising

• Call us at: 250-562-2441 or 250-562-3301

• Find us at: 201-1777 Third Ave. Prince George, B.C. V2L 3G7

• Follow us on Facebook, by going online to: https://bit.ly/2SdAmek

• Visit https://bit.ly/2S9W4zW to find the location nearest you to pick up extra copies of 97/16.

97/16 file photo

Frontal Lobotomy band member Samantha Scott performs during the lunch hour for Canada 150 Heatwave in Canada Games Plaza in July 2017.

CNC STUDENT WINS NATIONAL COMPETITION

A College of New Caledonia mechanical apprentice has won a national competition.

The CNC student is Dustin Cathcart who studies at the Quesnel campus of the regional college. He picked up the gold medal in the Industrial Mechanic/ Millwright skill area at the Skills Canada National Competition (SCNC) in Halifax held this past Tuesday and Wednesday.

Cathcart competed throughout the two-day competition performing skills such as fabricating a jack shaft base within .0001-inch tolerance and taking apart, checking, and reassembling a gear box and a centrifugal pump.

“I felt confident with my work and was hoping for the best,” Cathcart said. “It was challenging but definitely a great experience. “

CNC Industrial Mechanic/Millwright instructor Sergio Jorquera attended the SCNC to support his student. He said there were many challenges throughout the competition but Cathcart’s flexibility to manage change contributed to his win.

“The machinery and circumstances were different from what he was used to,” Jorquera said. “I’m very proud of him.”

Cathcart qualified for the SCNC back in April when he won the Skills Canada BC Industrial Mechanic/Millwright competition in Abbotsford.

More than 550 students and apprentices from across the country competed at the national event for the

title of Canadian champion in 44 skill areas.

“All of us at CNC are incredibly proud of Dustin’s accomplishment,” said CNC Quesnel Regional Principal Tim Lofstrom. “He and his instructor, Sergio,

are wonderful ambassadors for the College and the community of Quesnel.”

CNC’s Dean of Trades & Technologies Frank Rossi attended the provincial round of competition and saw Cathcart’s potential to win it all.

“We hope Dustin’s success will inspire youth to consider trades as a future career, help current students connect with future opportunities, and enhance our trades community,” Rossi said.

Skills Canada handout photo College of New Caledonia student Dustin Cathcart, centre, won the gold medal in the Industrial Mechanic/Millwright competition at the Skills Canada National Competition in Halifax last week.

Acetylene/Oxygen

ASAY TAKING ANOTHER SWING AT WORLD CUP

Amanda Asay got an early start with Canada’s national baseball team.

She was just 17 and still a student at College Heights secondary school when she cracked the Nats roster for the first time. The following year, after leading her team in nearly every offensive category at the 2006 women’s World Cup of baseball in Taipei, she was Baseball Canada’s player of the year.

Asay has been a fixture on the national team every year since, and the World Cup is the big event that binds the program. Held ever other year, she’s helped Canada win medals in five of the last seven World Cups – silver in Japan in 2008 and in South Korea in 2016, and bronze in Taipei in 2006, Edmonton in 2012 and Viero, Fla., in 2018.

Gold is all that’s missing from her collection, and next year at a yet-to-be determined site, Asay says the time will be right for that championship drought to finally end.

“I’ve had enough of silver and bronze,” quipped Asay. “It’s been pretty incredible that we’ve had such a strong team and the program is getting stronger all the time. The kids we have are getting better and better, we have some really good young players. The future of women’s baseball in Canada looks pretty good, the sport is definitely growing.”

Asay attributes growth of the women’s game to the advent of social media and livestreamed events like the World Cup which have kept teenaged girls

interested in playing beyond Little League, knowing they could have a future playing internationally. Baseball Canad takes a group of 30 national team prospects to Cuba for a development camp every February and Asay said that continues to funnel new players to the team.

Asay will travel to Mexico in midAugust to play in the Pan American qualifier for the 2020 World Cup tournament. She’s comfortable playing in the outfield and or at catcher, but in the past two World Cups has been used primarily as a pitcher/designated hitter.

“I like pitching but I would love to get some more at-bats, too,” she said. “We have lots of good players and we have a good shot at getting into the gold-medal game and then the goal is always to beat Japan next summer. We’ve never played in a qualifier before with the national team.”

The daughter of Loris and George Asay was a dual-sport athlete in her four years at Brown University, playing hockey and softball. In 2017-18 she spent six months in Australia playing baseball for the Footscray Bulldogs in a five-team league based in Melbourne. She played hockey as a forward this past season for the Northern Penguins of the South Coast Women’s League.

Asay is no stranger to Citizen Field, having played the past few seasons in the Prince George Senior Men’s Baseball League for the Queensway Autobody Red Sox. Earlier this month she played

97/16 photo by Ted Clarke Amanda Asay has been suiting up for the Queensway Autobody Red Sox whenever she returns home to Prince George to sharpen her skills as a 15-year member of Canada’s national women’s baseball team.

LIVING IN A BOTH/AND WORLD

Another column about me being wrong.

Again, I love/hate this program as it reveals me to me. After all, I am all that I have – I came into the world on my own and will die all alone – (meaning you will not die in my death). I have only me in my world. Thus the better I know me, the better I can be in my life when living alongside all of you. Do not get me wrong, this does not mean I am alone, but ironically it truly does. It is both/and.

I am both alone and I am not. I live in a both/and world today, not either/or.

Both death and life, both black and white, both day and night. I cannot have one without the other. Yin and yang, male and female, open and closed. Clean and sober is my life today.

ASK AN ADDICT

I was wrong in my words about choice. I wrote as an addict I had no choice. I do.

I do decide if I pick up a drink or a drug in my life today.

How does that happen when (if ever) does choice come into play? I admit I don’t know anymore. I do know however, that in the midst of my using it is almost impossible to stop. When actively using I need help to get out, my brain has been hijacked by the drugs that I use. It feels as though I have no choice, but does it

really mean that I cannot stop on my own?

I quit drinking 30 years ago, I did that all by myself. I made a choice.

This is how I was wrong in my words, shoot, I hate being wrong. They say in the program that we alcoholics/ addicts are egomaniacs with inferiority complexes. That is me to a tee.

I love the question of would I rather be right than happy; and in this I guess I’d rather be happy. Why then does this feel so awful to me?

It is about ego. I am an egomaniac with an inferiority complex. I am so truly sick.

Viktor Frankle writes beautifully about choice in his remarkable book, Man’s Search For Meaning. He wrote about being in a concentration camp during the Nazi based war. He watched as some men gave their only piece of bread to

suffering others while others would only steal the food from other men’s plates. He said the only thing Nazi’s could not take away was his power of choice.

That stuck with me. I read that book in my 20s and here I am today, inching my way towards 60.

Holy cow, 60 years old… and I am still ill with this horrible disease. What did I expect, after all addiction is chronic, life long, it never goes away, it only goes into remission. I only hope that when I die alone, that I don’t die with only drugs in my soul.

That is a horrible, sobering, thought.

– Questions for Ann?

Send your submissions (anonymously, if you choose) to columns@pgcitizen.ca and we’ll pass them along.

AMANDA ASAY LOOKING TO ADD GOLD

Continued from page 8

five games for the Sox in the icebreaker tournament at Citizen Field before making the move to Nelson to begin a new job. She’s now putting her 11 years of forestry-related university studies to practical use as a silviculture researcher for the Ministry of Forests and Natural Resources.

“I always love playing in Prince George and the guys are always great to me and welcoming and it’s so nice to know if I am in Prince George I can call up a few guys and find a game,” she said. “Particularly early in my

career with the national team the league helped me a lot. It was a really good level for me to play at with a lot of variety in the pitching. The ball is in play lots in that league and I always enjoy pitching against those guys, some of them I know pretty well.”

Two of her national teammates live

close to her new home in Fruitvale and Asay began practicing this week with a men’s team in Trail. She’ll have about a month to tune up her game before she joins Team B.C. at the women’s national baseball championship July 4-7 in Okotoks, Alta.

AROUND TOWN

Sewing Camps

Registration is now open for Sewing For Young Children and for Sewing Camps-Beginners, a pair of fiber art summer programs for youngsters being offered by the costume department at Theatre NorthWest. The Sewing For Young Children classes run July 2-5 with options for morning (9 a.m. start) or afternoon (1:30 p.m. start). This class is designed for young children with an interest in learning to sew, ideal ages 8-10 years old. The class consists of 3 hours per day for 4 days.

The Sewing Camps-Beginners program runs July 22-26 afternoons only starting each day at 1:30. The ideal ages are 1015 years (as young as 8 for experienced kids) with no experience necessary. It runs three hours per day, producing a project each day.

Sign up at the Theatre NorthWest website.

Rees’s Pieces

Vanderhoof painter Michael Rees is the subject of the solo exhibition on now at the Rustad Galleria in the Two Rivers Gallery.

Shoot, Sketch

Photographer Philomena Hughes and painter Christina Watts lead a two-part arts excursion each Monday morning through the month of June. Meet up at 6:15 a.m. (a different location each week) and apply the skills of the two dif-

fering artists to your own creations made on the spot. Call 250-564-5083 or drop in to Ridge Side Art downtown to sign up for the series.

Recycled Fashion

The outfits worn in the recent Trashion Show at Two Rivers Gallery were all made artistically from recycled and up-cycled common items. These ecofashion clothing statements are now on static display at the Omineca Art Centre until June 14. This additional use of art is itself a statement in sustainability even for creative expressions.

Agatha’s Appointment

The Nechako Community Theatrics Society is returning to Artspace. The run has already begun for Agatha Christie’s classic mystery story Appointment With Death. There is still time to see the show on June 7 and 8 (all shows starting at 7pm). Tickets are $20 each and available in advance at Books & Co., and at the door. This crew and ensemble cast is made up entirely of community volunteers who are passionate about plays.

Jaided Music

Affable local recording artist Genevieve Jaide performs some of her material and hosts an open mic night at Trench Brewing & Distilling on June 7. Catch some of her infectious folk-pop and add some music of your own. Showtime is 7 p.m.

The Prince George Friends of the Library are holding a book sale at the Nechako Branch at the Hart Mall. Friends members can shop on June 14 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Memberships are available for $5 at the door. The public can browse the books on June 15 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Ferret Frenzy

Have you ever wondered what ferrets are like as pets? Join Ferrets North Information & Rescue Society in the library’s Knowledge Garden on June 8 from 1-2 p.m. Enjoy a short presentation, bring questions, and best of all, meet some ferrets. (Weather permitting.) This is an all ages, drop in event.

Motocross Racing

The Rockstar Energy Motocross National Triple Crown races by Jetwerx happen June 8-9 at the Blackwater MX Park at 28100 Blackwater Road. This is the only B.C. date on this Canadian motorcycle circuit. Racers on this premier circuit are building up to a $100,000 top prize.

Derek Edwards

Standup star Derek Edwards comes to the Prince George Playhouse on June 9 on his Alls I’m Saying Tour. This veteran of Just For Laughs and The Debaters is considered to be among the comic elite, as evidenced by the fact that he’s a fourtime nominee, and winner of Best Standup Comic – Canadian Comedy Awards, as well as a multiple Gemini nominee for Best Performance in a Comedy. As Rick Mercer says, “Everyone knows Derek is the funniest man in Canada.” Get seats through the Central Interior Tickets website.

O yes! Oboe!

Alban Classical Arts Society presents

AROUND TOWN

an oboe and piano recital on June 9 at 3 p.m. at Trinity United Church (3555 5th Ave). Tickets are $20 at the door.

Huble For Seniors

On June 9 it’s Seniors’ Day at the Historic Huble Homestead (30 minutes north of Prince George on Mitchell Road – huge sign points the way). Seniors’ Day is the perfect chance for elders who have difficulty visiting Huble Homestead to make their way to the historic site. Participants can pre-register for this event, catch the bus at one of the local pick-up points, and visit the homestead for a hot lunch and dessert, entertainment, guided tours, and shopping in the General Store. The cost for this event is $15 per person, with registrants also receiving 10 per cent off all non-food merchandise in the store.

New Ancient Information

Get the latest information on the features and future of The Ancient Forest-Chun T’oh Whudujut Park and the adjacent Slim Creek Park. A June 10 discussion at 7 p.m. happens in the UNBC Weldwood Theatre (Room 7-238). It’s a one hour presentation by Darwyn Coxson (UNBC) and Anna McIndoe (BC Parks) on the most recent overview of the ecosystems within the two parks, as well as information on the management planning process that BC Parks is undertaking. There will be time for questions following the presentation.

Weavers Convention

The Association of Northwest Weavers’ Guilds holds its annual fiber arts conference from June 11-16 in Prince George. The event features workshops, seminars, a fashion show, exhibits, vendors’ market, awards, and more than 20 highlevel instructors all on site at the Prince George Civic & Convention Centre. Go to the anwgconference2019.com website for more info.

Library Sale

Where better to buy books than the PG Public Library’s book sale for the Friends Of The Prince George Public Library organization. This two-part event happens at the Nechako Branch at the Hart Mall. Part 1 is June 14 from 4-8 p.m. for “Friends” members only but you can obtain the $5 membership at the door. Part 2 is June 15, open for all, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. All funds raised at this book sale will support a renovation to the Nechako Branch multi-purpose room. Cash only.

Diamonds And Rust

Judas Priest, one of the crunchiest

metal bands of the glam era, roars into CN Centre on June 14 along with artful rockers Uriah Heap. Get tickets at the Tickets North website or the CN Centre box office.

Steampunk Railroads

Celebrate the official international day of Steampunk with a weekend of fantasy pop-culture at the Railway & Forestry Museum. Steampunk Days runs June 1416 at the downtown historical entertainment site. Go back in time and ahead into imagination with the aesthetic that welds together Victorian glamour, Industrial Revolution imagery, and science fiction. There will be Pioneer Blacksmith demonstrations, wood-turners’ activities, crafts, rides on the Cottonwood Minitrain, and much more, all for the nominal cost of regular admission.

Canada Laughs

The Canada Comedy Jam is coming to Prince George on June 15 at Sonar Comedy & Nightclub.

Canada Comedy Jam regulars Andrew Verge, Velina Taskov, and Matt Baker are hitting Sonar Comedy Club for a hilarious showcase event. You’ve got two chances to get in on the funny before they head east on their Canada wide tour.

Higher Parties

The Prince George Legion hosts two popular dance bands Party On High Street and Flying Machine together for one raucous night of fun on June 15. The eclectic funk-jazz-folk-rock gumbo celebrates the release of the new Party On High Street album Electric Spinach. Tickets are available at the door.

Homestead Homicide

Historic Huble Homestead holds its annual murder mystery afternoon. On June 15 from 12-4 p.m. come enjoy a free-form dramatic play where the participants are the characters. There are prizes for best costume, performance, most money and identifying the script’s killer. Join the drama game by signing up for one of the show’s characters by emailing programs@hublehomestead.ca or phoning 250-564-7033.

WordPlay Changeup

Erin Bauman, known affectionately as the Panoptical Poet, has been the stalwart host of the semi-regular WordPlay spoken word series held at Books & Company. Her next will be her last. New host Marc Sinclair will be on hand for introductions. Bauman said Sinclair “will carry on the WordPlay tradition while adding his own wonderful literary

flare. Join me, the Panoptical Poet, one more time on Thursday June 20th to help me celebrate the ups, downs, and inbetweens of my time at WordPlay.” The poetry and prose takes voice at 7:30 p.m.

Goodsir’s Anniversary

Goodsir Nature Park, the one-of-akind outdoor botanical attraction on Old Summit Lake Road is hosting its 30th anniversary. This private forest has natural gardens, a plant museum, a vinyl music museum, a network of easygoing walking trails, a beaver pond, and many other enjoyable features, not the least of which is a collection of trees and shrubs thriving in one Prince George place collected from all across Canada. Join park founder Jim Good and his supporters at 7:30 p.m. on June 21 for a casual ceremony celebrating this natural dream come to life. No appointment necessary to come walk the trails any day of the week. Guided tours can be arranged by calling 250-971-2337. Overnight camping also available. Free refreshments throughout the anniversary weekend.

Heatwave-Celebrate Cultures

The Heatwave-Celebrate Cultures festival happens outside at Canada Games Plaza and Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park from June 21-23. Free activities, live music, cultural performances, food vendors, and more make this a premier summer event for the city, brought to you by the organizers of the Coldsnap Music Festival (Prince George Folkfest Society), the organizers of National Indigenous Peoples Day (Lheidli T’enneh First Nation), the organizers of St. Jean Baptiste Day (Le Cercle Des Canadiens Francais), and the Immigrant & Multicultural Services Society. It is a “heatwave” of music and culture.

Ribfest

Pacific Western Brewery is hosting Ribfest 2019, a three-day barbecue party

(June 21-23) with world-class rib cooks from across Canada to tempt the city’s taste buds. They will be joined by complementary local food vendors, talented music acts performing live on-site, and the full power of PWB beer. It’s all free to attend the all-ages daytime portion (pay for the vendor wares you desire), with $5 cover charge for the +19 nighttime portions. All money raised goes to the many charitable causes of the Nechako Rotary Club.

Rock Hattrick

Three bands are revving up the Omineca Arts Centre on June 28. Chiliocosm is the headliner, Cvstles is the support show, and local band The Handlebars is the opener.

Chiliocosm from Grande Prairie is described as “combining soothing alternative grooves with energetic melodic punk rock creating a unique blend of emotional fueled fire.”

Sherwood Park’s Cvstles is called “pop punk as interpreted by four metalheads and one sadboi.”

The Handlebars will bring the “PG mayhem” based on “their own brand of rock/punk. The Handlebars bring you high energy, juicy riffage.”

Tickets are $10 at the door. Showtime is 8 p.m. for this licensed all-ages show.

Homemade Funny

Prince George’s Funniest Person With A Day-Job comes back to the Sonar Comedy & Nightclub stage on July 5. If you have the material, come out for the big reveal. Limited number of spots available. Contact Sonar to sign up.

KidzArt Dayz

A big happy mess gets made downtown each summer. It’s time again for BMO KidzArt Dayz on July 5 & 6 inside and out front of the Two Rivers Gallery.

on page 14

Burton Cummings, the former vocalist of Guess Who, will be bringing his solo show to Vanier Hall on Oct. 18.

Summer Sign-up!

Summer Sign-up!

AROUND TOWN

Continued from page 11

This creative blast brings art, music, movement and family fellowship into Canada Games Plaza where everything is hands on and high fun, all for free. It runs 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. both days, and gallery memberships will be for sale for half-price to get families connected to year-round creativity at the region’s top visual arts facility.

Monster Trucks

On July 6-7 the PGARA Speedway is truly the playground of power. The Malicious Monster Truck Insanity Tour comes to Prince George for a pair of shows (6 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday) with a wild herd of mega-machines, unique vehicle entertainment, and a pit party. Get tickets at all TicketsNorth platforms.

Beastly Beauty

Judy Russell Presents brings incredibly popular musical theatre show Beauty & The Beast to the Prince George Playhouse stage for 15 shows running between July 11 and 27. See the best of the city’s homegrown stage talent and the storytelling power of Disney in a live summer blockbuster. Get tickets at all Central Interior Tickets platforms.

Summerfest

Downtown Prince George’s signature event in the summertime is a celebration of food, entertainment and activities for

the whole family. Live music, merchant booths, arts and culture displays and much more make this a day to circle on the calendar, headlined by the popular food pavilion. This year the extravaganza is July 14 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Canada Games Plaza over to 6th Avenue.

Red Green

He’s colourful in name and deed. Red Green is the bumbling but pleasantly practical TV fix-it man, the clown prince of duct tape, the sage of the man-shed. This Canadian comedy icon is coming to Vanier Hall on Sept. 26 on his Red GreenThis Could Be It Tour. His PG shows are always a sell-out. Get tickets at the TicketsNorth website/box office.

World Curling

Don’t let the date fool you. The event may be in 2020 but the plans are underway now and the tickets are on sale for this Prince George groundbreaker. P.G. goes global as the host of the World Women’s Curling Championships starting March 14. Get your tickets now, and spread the word to friends and family everywhere that this is the time to come spend some Prince George time, and get a close, personal view of the worldclass action the rest of the winter sports community will only get to see on TV. Oh yeah, and there’s also the great social side of curling – there’ll be no bigger party in Canada. Contact Tickets North for tickets and info.

IN DEFENCE OF PARENTS

Iwas working on a more rational column this week, but I just need to rant.

This time, instead of bashing those in authority, today, some self-righteous members of the general public are in my line of fiery thoughts.

I cannot believe the ignorance of people’s comments in regards to kids being left in cars. I am not bashing the parents who make the horrible mistake of forgetting their kids in their vehicles while they go to work, or the parents who are running around doing errands and leave their kids in their vehicles for a few minutes. No, I am ranting at the people who think these kids would be better off apprehended by the state.

First, let me send a shout out to the amazing people who provide foster-care. They are not the problem, they are providing loving care in extremely difficult situations, so thank you for your selfless work.

The stats for children in care are, of course, biased, as the kids originate from very troubled homes. However, the numbers are startling. According to Stats Can, in 2016 in BC, 293 kids died, and 120 of those were children receiving care from the state.

With nearly one million kids 19 and under in BC and only roughly 8,000 in care of the state, those numbers present a huge problem for anyone declaring the state should take the kid.

Do you realize saying that means these kids should rather face those odds against them rather than take a chance with their parents? Of course, these folks, or you, if you have said that, don’t mean that. Then don’t say it, please.

THINKING ALOUD

TRUDY KLASSEN

Yes, the kids in care come with baggage that puts them at higher risk, but the damage to kids from being ripped away from their not-great parents into foster homes seems to (too often) outweigh the damage they suffer from being torn from their parents.

That they are placed with well-intentioned, good, professionally-trained foster parents, doesn’t seem to mitigate this damage or to improve their outcomes significantly. The long-term outcome of kids in care is terrible too. After leaving care at age 18 they are five times more likely to die before age 25. Sad statistics. Even the slow-moving bureaucracy of the Ministry of Children and Families is beginning to see that we need to find a better way to solve family violence and abuse situations.

But in the meantime: just stop hating on parents. It is hard enough to raise kids in our world without ignorant comments. Maybe offer to babysit so your neighbour can run errands without the kids. Now, wouldn’t that be fun? More fun than making stupid comments? Okay, perhaps not more fun for everyone, but it would be more productive, and more helpful. Try that next time you feel like saying “They shouldn’t be allowed to have kids,” or something else similarly stupid. Thanks.

ROCKETMAN DOESN’T SUGARCOAT ELTON JOHN

couldn’t be further apart.

Much ado has been made about Elton John’s insistence that the filmmakers behind his biopic Rocketman not sand the edges of his sometimes tumultuous life.

A piece that John wrote in the Guardian about the film, which opened Friday, has made the internet rounds a few times lately: “Some studios wanted to tone down the sex and drugs so the film would get a PG-13 rating. But I just haven’t led a PG-13 rated life. I didn’t want a film packed with drugs and sex, but equally, everyone knows I had quite a lot of both during the 70s and 80s, so there didn’t seem to be much point in making a movie that implied that after every gig, I’d quietly gone back to my hotel room with only a glass of warm milk and the Gideon’s Bible for company.”

That might sound like it’s just a titillating ploy to sell tickets, but it points toward what makes Rocketman work, particularly in an age of tepid biopics like the much-awarded movie about Freddie Mercury and Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody. Though Rocketman was directed by Dexter Fletcher, who actually finished the Queen biopic after the departure of Bryan Singer, the two films

One of the major flaws of Bohemian Rhapsody and other films of its ilk, such as Walk the Line about Johnny Cash and Ray about Ray Charles, is the way they tone down the less savory aspects of the artist’s life. Part of the reason seems to be that these movies are meant to create a warm glow in the audience – the same glow created by the songs that made these people popular in the first place. Viewers have to grapple with their darker sides, but only for a moment.

Much like The Who’s drummer Keith Moon did with an infamous television set, Rocketman throws that formula out the hotel window. Instead of glossing over the rough bits – namely, John’s anger issues and addiction to alcohol, cocaine and sex – it focuses on them. For much of the movie, John isn’t a very likable character. He’s cruel, narcissistic, high, drunk and terrified. He doesn’t push everyone who loves him away so much as bulldozes over them.

And the camera doesn’t look away. We watch John snort mountains of cocaine, only to have them return as blood dripping from his nose. Passionless sex and miserable orgy-adjacent activity fills the screen. Stomachs are pumped in full detail.

Setting it further apart from other movies of its kind, John’s songs – many of which might sound poppy and pleasant but are actually about sorrow and solitude – are employed during these dark moments. Rocket Man, the song that lent its name to the film, begins when John attempts a (very) public suicide. The movie remembers that our favorite songs often come from painful places, and it makes sure we remember it as well.

Most biopics about musicians tend to mess with both truth and timelines, but often filmmakers attempt to stay true to the general order in which songs were released. Rocketman cares only glancingly about either, as it makes clear with its opening sequence, which finds John in a bright orange, sequined, devil outfit walking in slow motion toward what we assume is a stage. That is, until he kicks the door open and is in a 12-step meeting.

The movie is filled with surreal fantasy sequences that elevate the mood in any particular moment. During John’s debut at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, he and the audience literally are lifted off their feet and begin floating above the floor for a while. Add on the fact that much of the movie is a jukebox musical, and it’s not surprising that

one of the first scenes finds John as a child, his parents and his grandmother all singing parts of I Want Love, which he and Bernie Taupin didn’t write until 2001.

The ultimate result is the movie feels like John’s life, which is more effective than seeing a decades-long career compressed into two hours. As John himself wrote, the point was to “make something that was like my life: chaotic, funny, mad, horrible, brilliant and dark. It’s obviously not all true, but it’s the truth.”

When Rami Malek won the Oscar for his portrayal of Mercury, a common criticism was that all the actor did was wear fake teeth and lip sync. This isn’t fully true, of course, and Malek is a lauded actor. But there is something lacking when an actor mimes singing, rather than actually doing it.

Egerton, the Kingsman actor who shines in the role of John, sings every song here. The importance of this decision, which John insisted upon, adds an immediacy and emotional dynamic to these songs, even if they are covers. Elton John’s career exists in the space where fantasy meets fact, ridiculousness meets reality and camp meets certainty. Rocketman showed exactly that.

Paramount Pictures photo by David Appleby/ via AP Taron Egerton stars as Elton John in a scene from Rocketman.

TRAVIS M. ANDREWS

The Washingion Post

First

Black

Black Holes and Time

Replace the missing words.

Spaghetti cation

If an ___________ was able to get close to a black hole ___________ and spend a few _________ there, a strange thing would happen when he or she returned to their __________. Many years might have _______ in Earth time while the astronaut was ______ the black hole!

Use the Decoder Ring to discover the name of this fun book by Jane Yolen, which is available at the library. To fill in the blanks, find the letter on the outer ring, then replace it with the letter below it on the inner ring.

lack holes in space are hard to see. But some black holes, especially super big ones, stand out. They gather bright rings of gas and other material.

This super huge black hole is about

While the existence of black holes was first discussed by Albert Einstein and other scientists a little more than 100 years ago, it wasn’t until this April that a photograph of one was taken.

This year, a world-spanning network of observatories, called the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), zoomed in on a huge galaxy called M87 to create the rst-ever photograph of a black hole.

Let the Name Black Hole Fool You!

What is a black hole?

When a star implodes, it collapses in on itself. The tremendous gravity of this can create a black hole.

A whirlpool in water is similar in some ways to a black hole. Both have a core that sucks in whatever is close by, which in a black hole includes light.

A black hole is not empty. Rather, it is a great amount of matter packed into a very small area think of a star ten times more massive than the sun squeezed into a sphere approximately the diameter of New York City. Packing all that matter into one little space causes a huge gravitational field so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape.

It would be like squashing all the bricks, concrete, steel, wood and glass of a large building into a tiny ball smaller than the size of a pea.

Katie Bouman, a 29-year old graduate student, came up with the math and made it possible for the EHT to capture the rst photo of a black hole!

What do noodles and spaghetti have to do with black holes? The closer one gets to a black hole, the stronger the pull of its gravity. As the gravity pulls things towards the black hole, they get stretched out like a long piece of spaghetti. That’s called spaghettification, or the noodle effect.

Here’s what a carrot might look like during spaghetti cation.

Draw what you think these things might look like if they went through spaghetti cation.

What’s the area?

Area is the measure of how much space there is on a flat surface. Practice calculating area by measuring the sides of photographs in the newspaper. To find the area, multiply the length by the height.

Commander Toad and his crew on the spaceship Star Warts come across a black hole while leapfrogging across the galaxy. Something long, pink, and sticky grabs their spaceship and it isn’t space gum it’s the tongue of an E.T.T. an Extra-Terrestrial Toad! When all else fails, Commander Toad has to resort to a secret weapon from his past to save the ship from “toad-al” destruction.

H U U P F W T

W

The words black and hole are often used in compound words. Those are words created by combining two smaller words. Use the words floating in space to create compound words by combining them with either the word BLACK or the word HOLE.

Find the words in the puzzle. How many of them can you find on this page?

Do you ever struggle with your homework? Libraries to the rescue! Most libraries have after-school programs to give one-on-one help to students. A tutor or a volunteer will provide personal help with a school assignment. Some libraries offer online help. And for students that perhaps do not have internet access at home, some libraries provide reference sources suitable for students.

Pretend you could win a ride into space on a rocket. Write a paragraph telling why you should win that prize.

© 2019 by Vicki Whiting, Editor Je f Schinkel, Graphics Vol. 35, No. 26

Hole Photo Don’t

TAKING A CHANCE FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE

SLESSONS IN LEARNING

ometimes one must risk appearing foolish in order to speak a very deep truth.

As a person of Middle Eastern ethnicity, I have long felt a tie to all peoples of that area of the world. As I watch the news I see a horrible conflict between the Christians, Muslims and Jews of this region. Perhaps it is just me who feels a closeness to all of these groups.

Perhaps I feel this way because my grandparents left over 100 years ago and I don’t understand the reality of the conflict.

Yet, don’t we all call ourselves children of Abraham? Don’t we all recognize the person of Jesus of Nazareth, either as a prophet or messiah?

As I’ve gone on to study human conflict, primarily in the area of genocide studies, I can’t help but notice that certain lessons are presented in every case. The obvious is that people are capable of inflicting horrible suffering upon their neighbours. Less obvious is that goodness and love always triumph in the end. We also come to realize that the distinctions between groups that we thought were so important are actually completely insignificant. We really are just people, amazing and wonderful human beings, filled with infinite potential.

So why do we hate and kill one another?

My hearth is broken with each missile strike into or out of Gaza. My heart is broken with each attack on a mosque, synagogue or church. I am driven to tears, and I am forced to look deep inside myself to find the truth of our oneness, a oneness I know is real.

Humour, counter-intuitive in the face of sadness, but perhaps I can make people laugh at the ridiculousness of our selfimposed separation and the true beauty of our common humanity. If we are laughing together perhaps we can bridge the gap, perhaps we can heal together.

But humour is a risk. Many may not find my efforts funny, others may even find them offensive. As a well-respected professional, am I willing to look so foolish?

Yes, I have to at least try. I have to do all I can for peace and truth.

So I called myself Middle-Aged Middle Eastern Guy and wrote The Jesus Homeboy Rap:

Jesus is my homeboy!

Jesus is my homeboy!

Jews they are my homeboys!

Jews they are my homegirls!

Christians are my homeboys!

Christians are my homegirls! Muslims are my homeboys! Muslims are my homegirls! We are all called Semites!

Ahraham’s our grandpa!

(Vocalized drum solo)

Jesus is our homeboy!

You call him messiah!

You call him a prophet!

Let’s go eat some hummus, So we can talk about it!

(Vocalize drum solo)

Then I make a comment about how many Semites struggle with punctuality, myself included, do a mike drop and walk away.

I wear a black shirt I bought years ago at a Moroccan store in Montreal, set myself up in front of a bright orange wall, and bellow like a fool.

I post on YouTube and social media, wondering if anyone will notice.

Perhaps people will hear me, and perhaps they won’t.

Perhaps they will think I’m an idiot and that I really don’t have a clue.

The interesting thing is that I feel at peace with what I have done. The doubts are superfluous to the fact that I know that I have done something radical to proclaim a message which I know to be true within the depths of my being. I have countered hatred with a love song to my sisters and brothers.

I know that I am a part of something bigger. The call to peace is gathering strength. I hear it in the Jewish Voice for Peace and the Independent Jewish Voice. I see it as political leaders bravely stand up to powerful lobby groups.

Peace happens when we take the risk to be true to our common humanity, no matter how preposterous we may appear.

You can watch The Jesus Homeboy Rap here: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=pCvClcAE6UQ

Turn on the closed captions.

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

NEW FEATURES ELEVATE

TOP-SELLING COROLLA

If you can’t understand what the fuss over SUVs is all about and yearn for a conventional compact four-door sedan, the 2020 Toyota Corolla is your ride. Not a week goes by without a manufacturer announcing yet another SUV or crossover.While some manufacturers have publicly stated that they will no longer produce conventional sedans after this year, others, such as Toyota, have reaffirmed their commitment to the segment. In the past two years, the Corolla’s main competitors — the Honda Civic and the Mazda3 — have both been completely revamped.The Corolla is arguably the world’s most popular nameplate, with more than 46 million vehicles sold since it was first introduced in 1966. This is the model’s 12th generation.(This review is for the Corolla sedan. I have previously reviewed the Corolla Hatchback.)In Canada, the 2020 Corolla starts at $18,990 for the base L model and a manual transmission. I drove an SE model with a continuously variable transmission, with a list

price of $23,290.The new Corolla now sits on the Toyota New Global Architecture platform, a chassis that the company claims is 60 per cent stiffer than last year’s model.The new car rides on a new multilink rear suspension, which elevates the Corolla’s handling to a new, higher level. While its ride has always been comfortable, the nameplate wasn’t always synonymous in the past. With the upgraded chassis, the new Corolla sedan can actually be regarded as fun to drive.The new car feels more confident in corners. The SE model benefits from a sport-tuned suspension to give a more sporty feel on back roads.Toyota has also changed the product offerings to cover three groups. The L, LE and XLE now come with a 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine with 139 horsepower and 126 pound-feet of torque. The S line includes the S, SE and XSE, powered by a new, larger 2.0-litre four producing 169 hp and 151 lb.-ft. of torque. The third line is fitted with a gasoline-electric hybrid powerplant (a first for Corolla), borrowed from the Prius.The extra oomph between the 1.8- and the 2.0-litre engine is noticeable. The Corolla now pulls from

a stop with authority. While the vehicle was fitted with a CVT — a transmission not known for pulling power — Toyota added a physical first gear into the mix. This addition gives the Corolla a leg up in low-speed acceleration, putting it in the same league as a conventional automatictransmission unit.While no sports car, power delivery is linear, with ample power to pass or merge on the highway. The cabin feels more upscale than before, abandoning its econobox roots. The quality of the materials is right up to what one would expect from a Toyota — functional and durable.The driver gets a eight-inch touchscreen infotainment display with a rotary knob. Navigating the various menus and sub-menus is fairly intuitive, and the screen is sharp.Toyota includes Apple CarPlay, but Android users will go away disappointed.My tester had an upgraded option package that included a wireless charging dock for a cellphone. Legroom in the rear is the most generous in this group, at 1,052 millimetres (the Mazda3 only has 892 mm by comparison). Rear headroom is good, even for occupants approaching six feet tall.The

THE SPEC SHEET

Type: Compact four-door sedan, front engine, front-wheel drive

Engine: 2.0-litre four cylinder, 169 hp at 6,600 rpm, 151 lb.-ft. of torque at 4,500 to 4,900 rpm

Transmission: CVT

Dimensions (mm):

Length, 4,635; width, 1,780; height, 1,435 ; wheelbase, 2,700

Curb weight (kg): 1,395

Price (base/as tested):

$23,290/ $27,035 (includes $1,645 freight and PDI and $100 AC tax)

Options: SE upgrade package

$2,000Tires: 205/55 R16 on alloy wheels

Fuel type: Regular Fuel economy (L/100km): 7.6 city/ 5.8 highway

Warranty: Three years/60,000 km new car, five years/100,000 km powertrain and three years/ unlimited km roadside assistance

rear occupants get cupholders, but no vents or power outlets (parents with children be warned).The 60/40 seatbacks fold completely flat.What is impressive is Toyota’s Safety Sense 2.0 suite. Standard on all trim levels, it offers a host of features to detect and prevent a collision. It includes a pre-collision system with daytime/low-light vehicle and pedestrian detection, plus Daytime Bicycle Detection (yes, that’s its full title), lane-departure alert with steering assist and road-edge detection, automatic high beams, lanetrace assist and dynamic cruise control with radar in the CVT.Blind-spot monitoring is standard on top trims, optional on others. Hill-start assist is standard.Toyota now offers Safety Connect (available on XLE and XSE models), a system that offers emergency services, roadside assistance and help to locate a stolen vehicle.Despite the popularity of hatchbacks in Canada, sedans still account for the majority of Corolla sales, according to Toyota. While the popularity of SUVs continue unabated, those wishing the most up-to-date technology and fuel economy can now depend on the new Corolla to deliver in the years ahead.

Victoria Times Colonist photo by Darren Stone

The 2020 Toyota Corolla has everything you want in a compact, four-door sedan.

PEDRO ARRIAS

Victoria Times Colonist