The mass shooting in New Zealand has failed to sway Mostafa Mohammad’s faith in Prince George.
The chairperson of the Prince George chapter of the B.C. Muslim Association said Friday the events left him “shocked and sad” but feeling no less safe.
“We are lucky in a sense that Prince George has a really deeprooted multicultural (tradition),” Mohammad said.
“Everyone is familiar with different cultures and it’s part of human nature – once you know the different cultures, then you are not threatened or you don’t fear that kind of culture.”
He also noted the large number of people who showed up for a
vigil in January 2017 following the shootings at a mosque in Quebec.
An estimated 300 people attended.
A vigil is also planned for this evening at city hall, starting at 5 p.m. Those who attend are encouraged to “bring signs, candles and support.”
“I’m sure that everyone in Prince George is as shocked as much as us,” Mohammad said of the attack on two mosques in Christchurch that left at least 49 people dead. A lone gunman is believed responsible for all the deaths (see story, page 5).
“That attack is an attack against humanity and not just Muslims as a particular group... it is very unfortunate but it happened so we have to deal with it.”
Mohammad attributed a burgeoning anti-immigrant sentiment
A vigil is also planned for this evening at city hall, starting at 5 p.m. Those who attend are encouraged to “bring signs, candles and support.”
to politicians who are “stirring up differences rather than the common things that we share as human beings.”
However, he said he’s received expressions of support and condolence from other groups in Prince George. Prince George Interfaith Council
P.G. a safe city, Muslim community leader says
chair Susan Scott called the attacks in New Zealand “horrific.”
“It doesn’t make sense to me and choices like this are born of hatred and mistrust,” Scott added.
She said the way to prevent something similar from occurring in Prince George is to keep the dialogue going – one of the reasons the council was formed in the first place.
“There have been conversations and a desire to keep that door open so that nobody is feeling that they need to lash out or feeling that someone has lashed out on them.”
Mohammad said there is always chance that something like what happened in New Zealand could occur here but stressed the chance is very slim and no more than anywhere else.
He also noted Prince George
RCMP’s efforts to work with the city’s Muslim community. RCMP officers were onsite at the mosque Friday as the congregation assembled for prayers.
Prince George RCMP said in a statement that it is asking the public to report anything suspicious.
“Although some mosques may have an increased frontline policing presence following this event, we are not aware of any specific threats and continue to exercise increased vigilance,” RCMP said.
“We are reaching out to the local Muslim community to identify whether they have any specific safety or security concerns.”
Anyone with information about possible criminal threats to national security is encouraged to immediately call the RCMP’s National Security Information Network at 1-800-420-5805.
Massacre at New Zealand mosques condemmed
Citizen news service
QUEBEC — A little more than two years after their own community came under attack, Muslims in Quebec City said they were in shock over the mass shootings at two New Zealand mosques Friday that claimed at least 49 lives.
Their horror was echoed by members of other Muslim communities across the country as they offered condolences to the grieving families and spoke out against extremism.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned as “absolutely appalling” the attack on worshippers attending Friday prayers in Christchurch.
“Hate has no place anywhere,” Trudeau said in a statement.
“We must all confront Islamophobia and work to create a world in which all people – no matter their faith, where they live, or where they were born - can feel safe and secure.”
Boufeldja Benabdallah, the head of the Quebec City Islamic Cultural Centre, said a feeling of “indescribable pain” was apparent in his own community. He extended condolences to the New Zealand victims and expressed concern for families in Quebec City being forced to relive the Jan. 29, 2017 attack that left six men dead.
“I’m convinced they are feeling a terrible pain. Imagine the children of those families here in Quebec who are hearing it on the radio and will watch their mothers cry and ask, ‘Why are you crying?’ ” Benabdallah said.
“The mothers will remember the 29th, when they ran to get husbands who were killed by Alexandre Bissonnette.”
Benabdallah added that amid the mourning, it is time for people to speak out against extremism and for lawmakers to legislate against it.
“We must get back to work once again to explain, to tell these extremists of all stripes who politicize religion, like extremists who use race as a basis for discrimination, that we must change,” Benabdallah said. “The world cannot continue like this.”
During a vigil in Toronto, federal Im-
migration Minister Ahmed Hussen said it’s important for people around the world to say no to hatred.
“We have to work every single day to eradicate this hatred in our midst,” Hussen told the crowd at Nathan Phillips Square, many of whom carried signs bearing slogans such as United Against Islamophobia.
“And we have to tell those who peddle in this kind of hatred – whether they be ordinary citizens or whether they be politicians – that this is the logical extension of
that hatred.”
Police in many cities across the country said they were stepping up patrols around places of worship on Friday and communicating with local Muslim communities about their security concerns.
“We will have a heightened police presence in the community, focusing on places of worship – especially mosques. We have done this to ensure the city is as safe and secure as possible,” said Const. Allyson Douglas-Cook, a Toronto police spokeswoman.
In Halifax, Imam Abdallah Yousri of the Umma Mosque said no special precautions were being taken, but he confirmed that the site, with a capacity of 2,000, already has a good security system.
“We will have discussions about that to see how we can enhance our security systems to make sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen in the future,” he said in an interview.
He said some members called to see whether prayers would go ahead as scheduled on Friday, and he assured them the mosque would be open.
“It’s always a special day on Fridays,” he said. “We pray every Friday.”
Rabia Khedr, executive director of the Muslim Council of Peel, said the early news about Christchurch immediately brought to mind the Quebec City shooting.
“I didn’t sleep all night,” Khedr said.
“I cannot believe the number of people that have been killed, the number of people that have been injured.”
She said an attack on Muslims in a Western nation hits harder.
— see ‘IT’S PURE, page 3
Trimming elms on Cedar
Ian Hoag with the City of Prince George prunes some of the trees on Cedar Street on Friday morning.
Legal aid funding ‘reaching a breaking point,’ lawyers say
Jeremy HAINSWORTH Glacier Media
As B.C.’s legal aid lawyers threaten strike action April 1, demanding more money to help underprivileged people get access to justice, the NDP is readying to freeze that funding over the next three years.
“These numbers are frozen,” Association of Legal Aid Lawyers spokesman Richard Fowler said. “The system has reached a breaking point.”
“As a result of cuts and consistent underfunding, legal aid is now in crisis,” said a February association report to Attorney General David Eby.
The lawyers voted 97 per cent to begin withdrawing services April 1. Withdrawals will increase in scope through May.
The funding numbers are in the 2019-22 service plan of the Legal Services Society (LSS), which administers legal aid in B.C. That plan was released the same day Finance Minister Carole James delivered the 2019 budget as well as the province’s 2019-22 strategic plan.
For 2018-19, the society, which runs the system, received $85.8 million, up from 80.7 million the year before.
However, the funding will stop increasing.
The Ministry of Attorney General said government transfers to the society would
be 86.8 million for the years 2019-22.
“The service plan shows why we’re taking this action,” Fowler said.
However, neither the Ministry of Finance nor the Ministry of Attorney General will discuss the freeze.
He said if the plan showed the system was anticipating new revenue, the lawyers would be responding much differently.
Eby was not available for comment but a statement from his office said talks with the association are continuing.
In a memorandum to staff, the society said the purpose of the lawyers’ service withdrawal “is to pressure government into increasing LSS’s funding, so that we can increase the rates we pay them to do legal aid work. If they vote to stop taking contracts, it means many legal aid clients will not have the benefit of legal advice and representation.”
The memo said efforts would be made to help the most vulnerable clients.
Priority areas of coverage will be cases where children have been or may be removed from a parent, family protection orders, clients who may lose contact with a child and clients in jail and require a bail application.
Fowler confirmed that, praising the society for doing incredible work with the scant
resources available.
“It’s unconscionable that professionals are required every year to provide this quality of work for less and less money,” he said.
But the lawyers have been unhappy for some time.
They say legal aid should be a government priority alongside health care, education, welfare and child protection.
Indeed, that’s what lawyer Len Doust recommended in his 2011 Report of the Public Commission on Legal Aid in British Columbia.
The association said in the report to Eby, a former activist lawyer with Pivot Legal Society and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, that “successive governments have starved the legal aid system of the financial resources it needs to fulfill its essential role in our society.”
An NDP freeze of legal aid funding is nothing new. That’s what happened in 1997 under Premier Glen Clark. Five years later, Gordon Campbell’s Liberals slashed the budget by 40 per cent.
While Doust’s report came out eight years ago, lawyer Jamie Maclaren’s review of the system released in January also calls for funding boosts.
“Legal aid is not broken in B.C. It has simply lost its way,” Maclaren said in his
report. “Years of underfunding and shifting political priorities have taken their toll on the range and quality of legal aid services, and especially on the people who need them. Still, the will exists in B.C. to make legal aid more accessible and effective for all of its many users.”
The association said the LSS has been able to offer only one raise for legal aid lawyers since 1991.
The average hourly rate is now $88, from which lawyers need to pay for their offices and legal support teams.
“This represents about 27-30 per cent of the private law hourly rate, well below the 75 per cent recommended by Ted Hughes in his 1984 B.C. Task Force on Public Legal Services,” the report said.
“By every objective measure the legal aid tariff is fundamentally grossly inadequate,” the association report said.
Legal aid lawyers have long maintained that the provincial government for years has failed to use the tax paid by all people who use legal services in B.C. to fund the legal aid system as was intended when it was introduced in 1992.
“The more than $200 million raised by this tax is enough to fund a legal aid system all of us in British Columbia would be proud of,” the association report said.
‘It’s
pure and utter hatred’
— from page 1
“When it hits a Muslim majority country we feel sad, we feel sorrow, however that feeling is a little different in a Western democracy where we are minorities,” Khedr said.
“Because it’s pure and utter hatred. It’s Islamophobia in its ugliest form.”
The Islamic Supreme Council of Canada, based in Calgary, also spoke out against the attack.
“This is nothing but terrorism against Muslims. This is nothing but hate against Muslims. This is nothing but Islamophobia,” Imam Syed Soharwardy said in a statement.
Trudeau said Canadians join New Zealanders and Muslim communities around the world in grieving and condemning the attack and work to act against violent extremism.
There are unconfirmed reports that the shooter was influenced by Bissonnette, the former Universite Laval student convicted of killing six worshippers in 2017.
“Far too often, Muslims suffer unimaginable loss and pain in the places where they should feel safest,” Trudeau said.
“Canada remembers too well the sorrow we felt when a senseless attack on the Centre culturel islamique de Quebec in Ste-Foy claimed the lives of many innocent people gathered in prayer.”
Mohamed Labidi, a past president of the Quebec City mosque, told reporters Friday he regretted that humanity had not learned its lesson after the attack on his community.
A fellow mosque member said the question remains why these attacks continue to happen.
“The reaction is the same as what we experienced already,” said Alpha Barry.
“We have been affected, our population is affected and we keeping asking why? Why is this happening every day?”
Parliament lowered the flag on Centre Block to half-mast in honour of the victims – a move followed in other provinces and cities. Vigils were also planned in various Canadian cities in memory of the victims.
One man was arrested and charged with murder in what appears to have been a carefully planned racist attack in New Zealand.
There are unconfirmed reports that the shooter was influenced by Bissonnette, the former Universite Laval student convicted of killing six worshippers in 2017.
A now-deleted Twitter account that is believed to be linked to the accused shooter shows what appear to be three assault-rifle magazines, one of which has Bissonnette’s name on it.
Aymen Derbali, a survivor of the Quebec City attack who was left paralyzed, said he was devastated when he saw video of the New Zealand attack.
“Certainly for me, when I saw the video this morning, it brought back what we experienced here,” he said outside the mosque.
“The hardest thing is that he was inspired by what happened here. He had the killer at the mosque here as an idol. It was written on his weapons.”
Bissonnette was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole for 40 years, but the Crown and his lawyers both recently announced they are appealing the sentence.
Through his lawyers, Bissonnette, who is seeking a reduction of his sentence, issued a statement Friday saying he was “very affected” that his name was linked to the New Zealand attack.
His lawyers said in the statement that Bissonnette’s decision to appeal wasn’t meant to minimize his actions.
— Written by Sidhartha Banerjee in Montreal with files from Michelle McQuigge in Toronto; Michael MacDonald in Halifax and Caroline Plante in Quebec City.
MAKING IT RIGHT
The contact number for Deborah Miller, facilitator of support group in Prince George for the ALS Society of B.C. is 250-280-4742. An incorrect phone number was provided in Thursday’s 97/16.
Spring sun
Runoff from melting snow on Ospika Boulevard caused strong road glare for motorists on Friday.
Council approves changes to truck stop
Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitzen.ca
A truck stop planned for Foreman Road and Highway 16 East was the subject of stiff opposition during a public hearing before city council Monday night, despite a zoning amendment intended to make the site safer.
In a presentation, city council was told the section of the property in question had already been zoned for the use prior to amalgamation with the city and is large enough to meet the legal requirements for the operation.
But at the city’s suggestion, property owner Bruce Kidd agreed to expand the portion of the property zoned for the use so the entrance can be positioned further along Foreman Road and better handle traffic going in and out of the site.
Kidd told council he operates the
Hart Highway Husky at the corner of Highway 97 North and Chief Lake Road and that a similar operation is planned for the site east of the city and noted the intersections are similar.
He said the new site will probably draw about half the amount of traffic the Hart Highway operation attracts. About 20 per cent of the traffic that pulls into the Hart Highway operation are trucks and the rest a mixture of recreational vehicles and vehicles hauling boats and trailers.
Ashley Elliott of L&M Engineering added that the Hart Highway location tends to draw a lot of traffic going to and from Ness Lake and anticipates a similar clientele related to Purden Lake.
The rezoning application also includes room for a four-lot residential subdivision and a campground.
Kidd said it will be a “stop-and-go” campground if that aspect of the plan is
pursued.
Along with gas pumps and a convenience store, it will also hold a threebay wash capable of handling large trucks and recreational vehicles. Neighbours remained concerned and, over the course of about 90 minutes, reiterated concerns about safety, noise and lighting.
But with the site already zoned for the use and Kidd saying construction would begin this spring regardless of the outcome of the hearing, council members voted unanimously in favour.
Coun. Terri McConnachie said there are more reasons to approve the application than to deny.
Coun. Brian Skakun said he would probably had turned it down had it come before council with no prior designation at all but added the adjustments will probably address the concerns.
Early morning walk
A pair take an early morning stroll down Dogwood Street under the canopy of trees Friday morning.
Man no longer missing
Citizen staff
A man reported missing in early last month has been found and is safe. Yadwinder Singh has been located in
another community, Prince George RCMP said. “The Prince George RCMP would like to thank the public for their help in locating him,” RCMP said.
Citizen staff
RCMP are on the lookout for a vehicle believed related to the recent homicide in Valemount.
It is a white 2013 Chevrolet Traverse SUV and is linked to an investigation that began March 10 just after 11 a.m. when a dead man was found in an 1800-block Main Street home in the community 285 kilometres east of Prince George.
Police have identified the man but have not made his name public.
RCMP issued a stock photo of the vehicle on Friday and are asking anyone who may have seen one like it in the vicinity at that time to contact police.
SUV linked to homicide Local dentist honoured
Citizen staff
The contributions of Prince George dentist Dr. Richard Wilczek were acknowledged with an honorary award, presented during the B.C. Dental Association’s Tooth Fairy Gala on March 9. Wilczek is regarded as one of the founding fathers of the dental studies program at CNC and places students from the program in his practice for mentorship.
He also co-founded the Emergency Dental Outreach Clinic, serving dental needs of the less fortunate and working poor, with particular emphasis on the elderly. After a full day in his own practice, he frequently continues to volunteer his time at the clinic, held every two weeks.
As well, Wilczek has served on many community, professional and educational organizations, and was the BCDA’s president in 2012-2013.
He has been a dentist for 37 years, graduating from the University of British
“We are trying to determine a timeline with respect to the vehicle’s whereabouts leading up to and following the man’s death,” B.C. RCMP Sgt. Janelle Shoihet said.
Anyone who can help is asked to call Valemount RCMP at 250 566-4466, North District RCMP major crime unit at 250613-6744 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-2228477.
Crime Stoppers can also be reached online at www.pgcrimestoppers.bc.ca (English only). You do not have to reveal your identity to Crime Stoppers. If you provide information that leads to an arrest, you could be eligible for a cash reward.
Columbia in 1981. “A deserved recipient of the association’s highest honour, Richard is a fine example of ‘giving back’ and an inspiration to us all,” BCDA said in a statement.
CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN
WILCZEK
Gunman kills 49 people at pair of mosques
Nick PERRY, Mark BAKER Citizen news service
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — At least 49 people were shot to death at two mosques during midday prayers Friday –most if not all of them gunned down by an immigrant-hating white supremacist who apparently used a helmet-mounted camera to broadcast live video of the slaughter on Facebook.
One man was arrested and charged with murder. Brenton Harrison Tarrant appeared in court Saturday morning amid strict security and showed no emotion when the judge read him one murder charge. The judge said “it was reasonable to assume” more such charges would follow.
Two other armed suspects were taken into custody while police tried to determine what role, if any, they played in the coldblooded attack that stunned New Zealand, a country so peaceful that police officers rarely carry guns.
It was by far the deadliest shooting in modern New Zealand history.
“It is clear that this can now only be described as a terrorist attack,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, noting that many of the victims could be migrants or refugees.
She pronounced it “one of New Zealand’s darkest days.”
Tarrant, who police say carried out at least one of the shootings, posted a jumbled, 74-page manifesto on social media in which he identified himself by name and said he was a 28-year-old Australian and white supremacist who was out to avenge attacks in Europe perpetrated by Muslims.
The gunman also livestreamed in graphic detail 17 minutes of his rampage at Al Noor Mosque, where, armed with at least two assault rifles and a shotgun, he sprayed worshippers with bullets over and over, killing at least 41 people. Several more people were killed in an attack on a second mosque in the city a short time later.
At least 48 people were wounded, some critically. Police also defused explosive devices in a car.
Police did not say whether the same person was responsible for both shootings. They gave no details about those taken into custody except to say that none had been on any watch list.
Tarrant’s relatives in the Australian town of Grafton, in New South Wales, contacted police after learning of the shooting and were helping with the investigation, local authorities said. Tarrant has spent little time in Australia in the past four years and only had minor traffic infractions on his record.
On Saturday, outside one of the two mosques, 32-year-old Ash Mohammed pushed through police barricades in hopes of finding out what happened to his father and two brothers, whose cellphones rang unanswered. An officer stopped him.
“We just want to know if they are dead or alive,” Mohammed told the officer.
In the aftermath, the country’s threat level was raised from low to high, police warned Muslims against going to a mosque anywhere in New Zealand, and the national airline cancelled several flights in and out of Christchurch, a city of nearly 400,000.
World leaders condemned the violence and offered condolences, with U.S. President Donald Trump tweeting, “We stand in solidarity with New Zealand.”
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan and other Islamic leaders pointed to the bloodbath and other such attacks as evidence of rising hostility toward Muslims since 9-11.
New Zealand, with a population of five million, has relatively loose gun laws and an estimated 1.5 million firearms, or roughly one for every three people. But it has one of the lowest gun homicide rates in the world. In 2015, it had just eight gun homicides.
Before Friday’s attack, New Zealand’s deadliest shooting in modern history took place in 1990 in the small town of Aramoana, where a gunman killed 13 people following a dispute with a neighbour.
On Saturday, the prime minister said the “primary perpetrator” in the shootings was a licensed gun owner and legally acquired the five guns used.
Ardern said the country’s gun laws will change as a result of the carnage, but she did not specify how.
New Zealand is also generally considered
to be welcoming to migrants and refugees.
On Saturday, people across the country were reaching out to Muslims in their communities on social media to volunteer acts of kindness – offering rides to the grocery store or volunteering to walk with them if they felt unsafe.
In other forums, people discussed Muslim food restrictions as they prepared to drop off meals for those affected.
The prime minister said the attack reflected “extremist views that have absolutely no place in New Zealand.”
Immigrants “have chosen to make New Zealand their home, and it is their home,” Ardern said. “They are us.”
At the White House, Trump called the bloodshed “a terrible thing” but rejected any suggestion the white nationalist movement is a rising threat around the world, saying it is “a small group of people that have very, very serious problems.”
Tarrant, in his rambling manifesto, called
Trump “a symbol of renewed white identity.”
At the Al Noor mosque, witness Len Peneha said he saw a man dressed in black and wearing a helmet with some kind of device on top enter the house of worship and then heard dozens of shots, followed by people running out in terror.
Peneha, who lives next door, said the gunman ran out of the mosque, dropped what appeared to be a semi-automatic weapon in his driveway and fled. Peneha then went into the mosque to help the victims.
“I saw dead people everywhere. There were three in the hallway, at the door leading into the mosque, and people inside the mosque,” he said.
“I don’t understand how anyone could do this to these people, to anyone. It’s ridiculous.”
Facebook, Twitter and Google scrambled to take down the gunman’s video, which was widely available on social media for hours after the bloodbath.
AP PHOTO
Flowers rest at a road block, as a police officer stands guard near the Linwood mosque, the site of one of the mass shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand on Friday.
Huawei biggest problem for Trudeau
Even as it delivers its pre-election budget this week, the Justin Trudeau government has serious corporate issues on its plate: the SNC-Lavalin matter that won’t disappear no matter how it tries, the Trans Mountain pipeline that won’t find a buyer no matter how it tries, to name a plus-sized couple.
But none offers nearly the economic and ethical dilemma of whither Huawei, the world’s largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer, as it plans to help Canada into the 5G era of smart cities and the internet of things.
The excitement is correctly palpable about 5G as the fuel for faster, stronger, preferably more secure tech – but so are the suspicions in some quarters that Huawei is a state-directed provider posing cyberespionage threats and free-market distortions Canada ought to repel.
The current, protracted review of the file by the Trudeau government would become its costliest if Huawei is banned, not only in the billions of dollars it will face in industrial assistance and corporate litigation, but
also perhaps in damage to its crucial nearterm nation-to-nation relationship with the world’s fastest growing economy. Time was Canada could turn to the United States to propel technological change. But 5G is ostensibly the manufacturing domain of two European firms, Ericsson and Nokia, and two Chinese companies, ZTE and the mightiest of them all, Huawei.
The Canadian telecom giants are partnered differently: Rogers with Ericsson and both BCE and Telus with Huawei. Quite properly, they are owed clarity quickly on this issue; every day without it amplifies the fear Canada will be left behind or pay a severe price for participating.
We have had Huawei’s 3G and 4G technology coursing through our radio access networks for years, and indeed it has been a strong and positive corporate presence in investing generously in university research here.
But the concerns about 5G involve its pervasive nature. We will open the door to a much greater internet, and one think-tank likened it to the risk of the builder of your home deciding to burgle it, knowing every-
thing intimate about it.
If Huawei is permitted to stay, industry and the public need reassurance that security concerns are manageable. Our navigation via 5G inevitably will involve all providers, not just one that could theoretically seal us off, and so this supply chain will only be as strong as its weakest link.
If Huawei is airbrushed out of the Canadian picture, industry will need compensation to unravel the Gordian knot of incumbent tech, or else the cost will be passed along to the public – either way, of course, we pay. And Huawei is bound to enact a foreign investor protection agreement Stephen Harper’s government created.
In B.C., as we know all too well, we are much in the muck about this.
The forced Vancouver residency of Meng Wanzhou – Huawei’s chief financial officer arrested here in December and battling extradition to the United States to face and fight a 13-count indictment on bank and wire fraud, violating sanctions against Iran and obstructing justice – has been a force multiplier of Canada’s problems.
Even if Canada was only really following
Even the fittest can fall
Speaking as someone who can’t climb more than two rungs up a stepladder without teetering, I wanted to say a few words about falls.
According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, falls are the leading cause of injury among older folks like me. About a third of us experience at least one such event a year, and falls cause 85 per cent of traumarelated hospitalizations among seniors. The two most common injuries are hip fractures and damage to the head and neck.
Overconfidence is a leading factor. We know these things happen, but we don’t believe they’ll happen to us.
Part of that is down to a misperception. Most of us know better than to climb on the roof to clean off moss or to hurry down an icy sidewalk.
The dangers there are obvious. By avoiding them, we think we’ve handled the problem.
But half of all falls happen at home, in completely predictable circumstances.
The three most hazardous areas are stairs, the bathroom and the kitchen. The first of these speaks for itself.
The latter two are dangerous because there are usually slippery substances present. There are, fortunately, ways you can protect yourself.
Make sure you have non-slip
surfaces in the bath or shower.
Grab bars can help you sit and stand. Ideally, you want professional help with the installation. While it’s a bit more expensive than doing it yourself, an improperly anchored grab bar is a recipe for trouble.
If you have stairs, make sure there are solid handrails on both sides, and take a tip from me. Remove your reading glasses, particularly on the way down. I know whereof I speak. And never hurry. We’ve all at one time or another rushed downstairs to answer the phone. But this is a major cause of accidents in the home.
If you polish your floor with wax, make sure it’s the non-skid variety. And spilled water on the kitchen floor is a face-plant waiting to happen.
Beyond that, there are other precautions worth taking. Scatter mats are a hazard. Either get rid of them or tape them down. Install night lights. And make sure you don’t leave things lying on the floor between your bedroom and the bathroom. Be careful about standing up too quickly, especially if you have low blood pressure. A sudden rise
can leave you faint or dizzy.
I’m the last person to be giving this advice, because I never do it, but in snowy weather, keep your front steps and pathways clear. A mixture of salt and sand will help melt any ice that might have formed. And ask a neighbour for help if the task is beyond you. If you do tip over, try to land on your backside. And don’t be in a hurry to get up. Your body needs a few moments to readjust.
I appreciate all of this sounds like nothing more than common sense. Yet consider the facts.
In 2016, falls resulted in 1,800 reported emergency department visits and 417 hospital admissions every day, nationwide. And the average length of those hospital stays was two weeks, twice the average for other admissions. Who needs that?
Then again, leaving aside the human toll, those visits and admissions cost $2.33 billion, and that’s excluding Quebec, which, considering itself a separate nation, is leery about contributing data to CIHI.
All of which is to say that as our population ages, it becomes ever more important to take preventive measures. Even the fittest among us can come a cropper. So give your house a good look. If there are things you can do to make it safer, now is the time to do them.
Tomorrow you might be dialling 911 and asking for an ambulance.
LETTERS WELCOME: The Prince George Citizen welcomes letters to the editor from our readers. Submissions should be sent by email to: letters@pgcitizen.ca. Maximum length is 750 words and writers are limited to one submission every week. We will edit letters only to ensure clarity, good taste, for legal reasons, and occasionally for length. Although we will not include your address and telephone number in the paper, we need both for verification purposes. Unsigned or handwritten letters will not be published. The Prince George Citizen is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, an independent organization established to deal with acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour. If you have concerns about editorial content, please contact Neil Godbout (ngodbout@pgcitizen.ca or 250-960-2759). If you are not satisfied with the response and wish to file a formal complaint, visit the web site at mediacouncil.ca.
SHAWN CORNELL DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING
an extradition treaty with America in apprehending Meng, it has been publicly scorned and threatened and punished by China. America, Germany, Australia and New Zealand have moved to exclude the company. The United Kingdom has so far said it could muddle through, limiting procurement from Huawei in a hybrid supply chain, but the government has not formally decided.
No matter the outcome, the Public Safety Canada review will unleash litigious corporations or repercussive countries. What will be telling will be whether Trudeau listens to his intelligence agencies, if he redeploys his SNC-Lavalin job-protection mantra, how he persuades the public he is pursuing its best interests, and what it reveals about his intentions with our two largest trading partners. As he heads into an election, this couldn’t have been the decision nor the job nor the campaign Trudeau expected or idealized. Do not envy the man.
— Kirk LaPointe is editor-in-chief of Business in Vancouver and vice-president, editorial, of Glacier Media.
Shift bell curve towards health
Life is lived on a bell curve.
Many attributes of a population – height, for example – are distributed on a bell-shaped curve, with the average at the centre and then decreasing numbers of people as we get further from the centre.
At each end of the curve are the small number of people who are either extremely tall or extremely short.
This pattern is found throughout nature, and is one of the most important concepts in biology, medicine and public health.
Understanding the bell curve is important for the work of public health.
For example, we know that being overweight or obese increases the risk of developing diabetes.
An example from a Canadian population-health primer notes that those who are very obese have a 32 per cent chance of developing diabetes over the next 10 years, while those who are obese have a 21 per cent risk.
People who are overweight, but not obese, have only a 10 per cent risk, and those with a normal healthy weight or who are underweight have only a three to seven per cent risk.
So you might think it would make sense to focus our prevention efforts on those who are obese – and you would be wrong. Because in doing so you would miss 61 per cent of those who develop diabetes.
Forty per cent of cases would occur in the overweight population and an additional 21 per cent of cases would occur in the low-risk normal weight population.
This is known as Rose’s Paradox, identified by the noted British epidemiologist Sir Geoffrey Rose.
He pointed out that while the people at one end of the bell curve have a higher risk of getting a disease, more cases are found in the population with moderate or low risk.
This is because there are far more people in these categories. For this reason, it is better to try to shift the curve for the entire population a bit. Moreover, this doesn’t just apply to individuals, but to entire neighbourhoods.
My friend and colleague, the late Clyde Hertzman, established and led the Human Early Learning Partnership at UBC.
He led pioneering work in B.C. on early child development, and as a result, B.C. became the first jurisdiction in the world with maps of early development for every neighbourhood and school district in the province.
These maps helped to show the relationships between patterns of vulnerability in young children
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As would be expected, lower incomes and more impoverished living conditions and neighbourhood resources were linked to worse outcomes.
But importantly, HELP also showed that “although the highest risk of vulnerability is found in the poorest neighbourhoods of town, the largest number of children at risk is spread across middle-class neighbourhoods.”
This has important implications for public-health policy and programs.
It is tempting to focus only on the small number of high-risk people, groups and communities –so called “targeted” interventions – because it seems as if that would be cheaper.
But it’s not a very effective strategy because it misses most of the cases.
For example, B.C.’s Nurse-Family Partnership provides regular visits by a public-health nurse throughout a woman’s first pregnancy, and those visits continue until the child reaches two years of age.
But it is only available to a select group of women; those under 19, or those age 20 to 24 who are lone parents, or have low income and education or are experiencing social, financial or housing challenges, including being homeless.
Nobody would argue that this is not a high-risk group, but Rose’s Paradox and Clyde Hertzman’s work suggest the program may be missing most of the cases that need support.
If we want to have the greatest impact, we need to affect the entire population.
What is needed, as Clyde and his colleagues at HELP point out in the B.C. Atlas of Child Development, is a combination of civilsociety interventions that “create family-friendly environments across class and ethnic divides;” universal interventions, with barriers to vulnerable people removed; and targeted interventions.
In the U.K., this is known as “proportionate universalism;” everyone gets the intervention, but those with the greatest need get more.
It’s the best way to shift the curve toward health.
Dr. Trevor Hancock is a retired professor and senior scholar at the University of Victoria’s School of Public Health and Social Policy.
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Global student protest demands climate action
Citizen news service
From the South Pacific to the edge of the Arctic Circle, students mobilized by word of mouth and social media are skipping class to protest what they see as the failures by their governments to take tough action against global warming.
Friday’s rallies were one of the biggest international climate change actions yet, involving hundreds of thousands of students in more than 100 countries around the globe.
The co-ordinated “school strikes” were inspired by 16-yearold Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who began holding solitary demonstrations outside the Swedish parliament last year.
Since then, the weekly protests have snowballed from a handful of cities to hundreds, fueled by dramatic headlines about the impact of climate change during the students’ lifetime. Scientists have backed the protests, with thousands in Britain, Finland, Germany and the United States signing petitions in support of the students.
Thunberg, who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, said at a rally in Stockholm that the world faces an “existential crisis, the biggest crisis humanity ever has faced and still it has been ignored for decades.”
“And you know who you are, you that have ignored this,” she said.
Across the globe, protests big and small urged politicians to act against climate change while also highlighting local environmental problems:
• In India’s capital of New Delhi, schoolchildren protested inaction on climate change and demanded that authorities tackle rising air pollution levels in the country, which often far exceed World Health Organization limits.
• In Paris, teenagers thronged the cobblestoned streets around the domed Pantheon building. Some criticized French President Emmanuel Macron, who sees himself as the guarantor of the landmark 2015 Paris climate accord but is criticized by activists for being too business-friendly and not ambitious enough in efforts to reduce emissions.
• In South Africa’s capital, Pretoria, one protester held a sign reading “You’ll Miss The Rains Down in Africa.” Experts say Africa, with its population of more than one billion people, is expected to be hardest hit by global warming even though it contributes least to the greenhouse gas emissions that cause it.
• Thousands marched in rainy Warsaw and other Polish cities to demand a ban on burning coal, a major source of carbon dioxide. Some wore face masks as they carried banners that read “Make Love, Not CO2.”
• Speakers at the U.S. Capitol in Washington stood behind a banner that said “We don’t want to die.”
• Protests in Madrid and more than 50 other Spanish cities drew thousands. The country is vulnerable to rising sea levels and rapid desertification .
• In Berlin, police said as many as 20,000 protesters gathered in a
downtown square, waving signs such as “March now or swim later” before marching through the German capital to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office.
Carla Reemtsma, a 20-year-old student who helped organize the protest in Berlin, said she’s part of about 50 WhatsApp groups devoted to discussing climate change.
“A lot happens on social media because you can reach a lot of young people very quickly,” she said.
Azalea Danes, a student at the Bronx High School of Science, wasn’t a climate activist until two weeks ago when she read about Thunberg’s efforts. Now she is one of the top organizers of the youth climate strike in New York City, where she hopes thousands will rally in three places later Friday.
That shows how these protests are organized from the bottom up, she said.
Volker Quaschning, a professor of engineering at Berlin’s University of Applied Sciences, said it was easy for politicians to belittle students.
“That’s why they need our support,” he said. “If we do nothing, then parts of this planet could become uninhabitable by the end of the century.”
But some politicians praised the students. Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen showed up at a protest in Copenhagen and tweeted Friday “we must listen to the youth. Especially when they’re right: the climate must be one of our top priorities.”
Scientists have warned for decades that current levels of greenhouse gas emissions are unsustainable, so far with little effect.
In 2015, world leaders agreed in Paris to a goal of keeping the Earth’s global temperature rise by the end of the century well below 2 C compared with pre-industrial times.
Yet the world has already warmed by 1 C since then and is
on track for an increase of 4 C, which experts say would have farreaching consequences for life on the planet
In Germany, environmental groups and experts have criticized government plans to continue using coal and natural gas for decades to come.
Quaschning, one of more than 23,000 German-speaking scien-
tists to sign a letter of support this week, said Germany should stop using all fossil fuels by 2040. This would give less-advanced nations a bit more time to wean themselves off coal, gas and oil while still meeting the Paris goal globally.
“This is going to require radical measures and there isn’t the slightest sign of that happening yet,” said Quaschning. In Stockholm, Thunberg predicted that students won’t let up their climate protests.
“There are a crisis in front of us that we have to live with, that we will have to live with for all our lives, our children, our grandchildren and all future generations,” she said. “We are on strike because we do want a future.”
CITIZEN NEWS SERVICE PHOTO
Young demonstrators join the International Youth Climate Strike event at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., Friday.
World’s biggest library seeks more visitors
Citizen news service
Under Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, the world’s largest library is on its way to becoming another one of Washington’s acclaimed museums.
A splashy exhibition on baseball opened there just as Washington was hosting Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game, and last May, the library added a major collection of comic books, including early images of Mickey Mouse, to its permanent holdings, which number 170 million.
Two and a half years into her 10-year term, Hayden is making good on her promise to throw open the doors of America’s “palace of knowledge” and invite ordinary citizens to join scholars in exploring its treasures. The former head of Baltimore’s public library system and an Obama nominee, Hayden is focused on making the Library of Congress a cultural destination – a museum of American letters that will inspire, educate and, yes, even entertain.
“People don’t know that the Library of Congress has something for them,” said Hayden, who became the 14th librarian of Congress in 2016. “We built a palace to knowledge and we wanted it to rival any palace in any European city. (But) you have to let people come in and... be inspired. That’s what it was designed for.”
Central to Hayden’s goals is a $60 million makeover of the library’s Thomas Jefferson Building, the historic 1897 architectural wonder known for its Great Hall, which is open to the public, and the Main Reading Room, the hushed temple where scholars work. Hayden unveiled the first glimpses of the concept – with its additional exhibition space, youth center and innovative access to the Main Reading Room – on Wednesday at her annual appearance before the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, which oversees the library.
Some critics have expressed concerns that if the plan is approved, the library’s intellectual focus will be sacrificed to an avalanche of exhibitions and the increased foot traffic that would result. In an age when facts seem to be up for grabs and information flows quickly but often with little authority, they say, the library’s academic mission is more critical than ever.
But Hayden and her team –which includes two senior executives with museum backgrounds – say the changes would spark renewed interest in the library’s history, its collections and its role as a research institution.
“Whatever you want to call yourself, you’re trying to tell stories, share the collection, help them to understand the place,” said David Mandel, the library’s director of the Center for Exhibits and Interpretation. “The library has a long history of doing exhibitions. This is trying to do it in a more modern way.”
The changes to the Jefferson Building are intended to attract more visitors, a Hayden priority. The library had 1.9 million visitors in 2017, up from 1.6 in 2013.
“It isn’t an ivory tower only for select people. It’s the people’s library,” said historian and author A. Scott Berg, who is doing research at the library for his next book. “They are sitting on hundreds of thousands of amazing objects. It’s part of (Hayden’s) desire and mission to share that with the American public.”
At Wednesday’s hearing, Hayden showed the committee renderings of the concept, created by New York design firm Pure + Applied, that would adapt the historic building to modern visitor needs. The redesign would improve traffic flow by consolidating the entrances to one main groundfloor entry and add a Treasures Gallery to display the gems of the library’s expansive and varied collection.
It also would move Thomas Jefferson’s Library – a circular display of examples of the books Jefferson sold to Congress to start the collection – from the second floor to a ground-floor space that is not open to the public now.
The exhibit would have a circular window, 20 feet in diameter, in its ceiling, a feature Hayden called an oculus.
“You will have a welcoming orientation space where constituents and visitors will see Jefferson’s Library as the foundation of the library and look up through an oculus to the magnificent Main Reading Room,” Hayden told the committee.
A second view of the Main Reading Room would be created by installing a glass wall to replace an unused entrance to the room on the main level.
Both the oculus and the main floor window would allow visitors to enjoy a view of the spectacular room – including Edwin Blashfield’s murals and the statues representing such academic subjects as history, philosophy and art –without disrupting those working inside.
Hayden said she wants casual visitors to be inspired by the reading room’s grandeur, but there’s a delicate balance between providing access and encroaching on researchers. (The room is opened to the public twice a year, and to those 16 and older who have a reader registration card, which is free and available in person.)
“You don’t want it to become like a zoo – ‘Oh, those are the
scholars over there looking at books,’ “ said Berg, the historian.
“It’s hard for me to imagine that’s going to happen. (Hayden) respects the researchers above all.”
Representatives of the AFSCME union, Local 2910, which represents 1,350 library employees, have raised concerns about expanding access.
“All of us are interested in having people in the library,” said Local 2910 president Anne Toohey.
“We don’t want to see it turned into an events centre just because it’s beautiful.”
The proposal calls for a youth centre on the Jefferson Building’s ground level, with interactive exhibitions as well as creative spaces for young people to learn about the library and the work of librarians. It would also add such visitor amenities as a cafe and expanded gift shop.
Congress appropriated $10 million for the project last year, including an immediate $2 million for a master plan.
The final proposal will be submitted to Congress in June, Hayden said, and if it is approved, the $8 million balance will be released.
Congress has agreed to fund an additional $30 million, to be matched by $20 million in private donations.
Hayden said the library has received $11 million in verbal commitments.
As part of the planning process, library officials held a workshop for staff members in January featuring executives from “peer institutions,” including the Kennedy Center, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Metropolitan Museum in New York, who shared their efforts to engage new audiences and deepen community engagement.
That the library sees museums and arts centers as peers raised concerns of those who are alarmed by the shift from scholarship to storytelling.
“These changes have been poorly thought through and will chase after a shallow, short-term goal... at the expense of something precious – research, and writing and the Jeffersonian goal of a great library serving the American people with the treasure inside its books,” said a former senior library employee who asked for anonymity to speak candidly.
“The second you start ignoring the collection, and dangling baubles in front of people to get huge numbers to come in the door, that’s when a host of problems will begin.”
Historian and author Jay Winik pointed to other historic buildings
that balance their original mission with access to tour groups and other visitors.
“It’s a cross between a library and a museum, the same way the Capitol building is a cross between a working legislature and a museum,” Winik said. “Or the White House, where the most influential person in the world works. Tours have certain boundaries in the Capitol, and that’s clearly going to be the case at the library.
“It wouldn’t work to turn it into a train stop or a bus terminal. There will have to be a balance,” he added. “It should be for the people but maintain its identity as a workplace.”
Winik praised Hayden’s efforts to engage with the public and show them American history and culture up close.
“There’s something irreplaceable about touching original letters, seeing original photographs,” he said. “It gives me the chills.” Hayden said that’s the excitement she wants all visitors to experience.
“We want to inspire other people to become (historians), to encourage young people to be curious and be history detectives,” she said. “There’s concern about who is going to want to look through old papers and diaries? We’re trying to build the next generation.”
CITIZEN NEWS SERVICE PHOTOS
Above, patrons walk through the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress Jefferson Building during an open house in February that made the room accessible to visitors without reading cards. Below left, Carla Hayden became the 14th librarian of Congress in 2016. Below right, guests danced and toured exhibitions at the Library of Congress’ “Bibliodiscotheque” that featured singer Gloria Gaynor in 2017.
Sports
What’s new with the Cougars?
Get the latest on trades, injuries, post-game analysis and more in The Citizen
Cariboo Cats stomp Canadians in opener
Ted CLARKE Citizen staff tclarke@pgcitizen.ca
The playoffs arrived just in time for the Cariboo Cougars.
They’re playing their best hockey of the season and that bodes well for their chances of an extended postseason in the B.C Hockey Major Midget League.
They opened up their best-ofthree quarterfinal series with an 8-2 win over the Greater Vancouver Canadians Friday afternoon at Kin 1 in a game that featured eight different Cariboo goalscorers.
A five-goal outburst in the second period broke open what had been a one-goal game after 20 minutes. The Cougars cashed in a power play with a slow-moving shot through a crowd from Alex Ochitwa early in the second period and pointman Max Arnold made it a 4-1 count with his second goal of the game on another Cariboo power play at the 14:39 mark. On the ensuing face-off, Booker Daniel took the puck at centre from linemate Grady Thomas, skated the length of the ice and roofed a shot in behind goalie Elliott Marshall.
Curtis Hammond and Brennan Bott scored late in the period and the rout was on.
Fischer O’Brien gave the Cougars a 2-0 lead and Joshua Harrison cut the gap for the Canadians on a first-period power play. Van Lupien, for the Canadians, and Jaxon Danilec, for the Cougars, traded goals in the third period.
Xavier Cannon made 24 saves to notch his first career BCHMML playoff victory. The Cougars outshot the Canadians 29-26.
The Cougars (27-8-5) finished the regular season on a six-game winning streak having won eight on their last nine and ended up with 59 points, just one point shy
Cariboo Cougars forward Brett Fudger tries to control the bouncing puck after skating around sprawling Greater Vancouver Canadians defender Hayden Tuba on Friday night at Kin 1 in the first game of a best-of-three series between the two teams.
of the regular-season champion Fraser Valley Thunderbirds (299-1-1). Their second-place standing matched the Cougars with seventh-place Canadians (1816-4-2). Head-to-head against Greater Vancouver the Cougars won two, tied one and lost one. They swept a home set Feb. 23-23 at Kin 1, winning 5-0 and 4-1. The teams skated to a 2-2 Nov. 17 in Richmond and the Canadians took the second game 3-1.
Game 2 of the series is set for Kin 1 today at 4 p.m. If a third game is needed, that would be played Sunday at Kin 1 starting at 10:30 a.m. In other league quarterfinal matchups this weekend, No. 1 Fraser Valley hosts No. 8 Valley West Giants in Abbotsford, No. 3 Vancouver Northeast Chiefs are at home in Burnaby to face No. 6 Vancouver Northwest Hawks and No. 4 Okanagan Rockets take on No. 5 Thompson Blazers in Kelowna.
Minor midgets
The Cariboo Cougars minor midget team reached the end of its inaugural season last weekend in Abbotsford, losing a semifinal 2-1 series to the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds.
The Cougars won the first game 5-4 in overtime on a goal from Jaydon Merritt, then lost to the T-birds, 3-2 and 5-4. The Cougars placed third in the regular season with a 14-10-1-5 record, then
Manz’s magic lifts Kings over Chiefs in Chilliwack
Ted
Dustin Manz always likes it when his parents from Michigan are in the building to watch him play hockey.
Friday night in Chilliwack, the Prince George Spruce Kings centre gave his folks several reasons to gush family pride when he scored three unanswered goals in a seven-minute span against the Chilliwack Chiefs.
Manz’s natural hat trick staked the Spruce Kings to a 4-0 lead in Game 1 of their B.C. Hockey League Mainland Division final series and they never looked back, spanking the Chiefs 7-0.
Logan Neaton made 19 saves for his first career BCHL playoff shutout.
The Spruce Kings set the tone early in a dominant opening period.
Ben Poisson had just staked Prince George to a 1-0 with a tip-in in front of the Chiefs’ net when Manz scored his first of the game. Spencer DenBeste forced a turnover at centre ice and the puck came to Manz, who went wide around Alexander Marrocco and finished off the 2-on-2 rush by chipping a high shot in over the shoulder of Daniel Chenard.
Held to just two goals and four points in their five-game series win over Coquitlam, Manz and his linemates Ben Brar and Patrick Cozzi continued to expose some extremely loose defensivezone coverage from the Chiefs in the second period.
Manz collected his second of the game and third of the season 58 seconds into the period, lifting a high backhander in behind Chenard. The onslaught continued 5:36 into the period when Manz scored his third of
the night while shorthanded. He and Dylan Anhorn broke in on a 2-on-1 with Marcus Tesink the lone Chief defender and Manz took the pass and wristed in a shot in from the right side.
Nick Bochen made it 5-0 with a low shot from the point with 12:04 gone on the period and that meant an early shower for Chenard, who allowed five goals on 22 shots. Chenard’s outstanding netminding as the BCHL’s player of the week last week allowed the Chiefs to rebound from a 3-0 deficit and win the next four games to clinch their firstround against the Langley Rivermen. That was all forgotten Friday night.
Nolan Hildebrand came in to replace Chenard, but the Kings did not let up. Manz tested him on a penalty shot
with three minutes left in the period after he took a slash on a breakaway from Harrison Blaisdell. Manz tried to deke for his fourth goal of the game but Hildebrand poke-checked the puck away.
Late in the period, Kings defenceman Anhorn scored his first two goals of the playoffs 92 seconds apart, both scored from the slot. At that stage the Kings had a 32-12 shot advantage heading into the second intermission.
The Kings played it safe in a scoreless third period and allowed just seven Chilliwack shots to get through to Neaton. They outshot the Chiefs 35-19 in the game.
The series resumes tonight in Chilliwack.
Games 3 and 4 will be played Monday and Tuesday in Prince George at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena. If the series is extended, Game 5 would be played Thursday in Chilliwack, Game 6 would be in Prince George the following Saturday and Game 7, if needed, is scheduled for Monday, March 25 in Chilliwack.
In other BCHL second-round openers Friday, the Cowichan Valley Capitals continued their surprising playoff run when they beat the Wenatchee Wild 3-2 in Wenatchee.
The Capitals, seeded 16th in the 17-team league, upset the third-seeded Penticton Vees in the opening round with a 4-1 series win.
The Trail Smoke Eaters defeated the Vernon Vipers 3-1 in Game 1 of their Interior Division semifinal Friday in Vernon, while in Victoria, the Grizzlies topped the Powell River Kings 4-1 in the opener of the Island Division final.
swept their quarterfinal series two weekends ago against the Greater Vancouver Canadians, winning both games 5-4.
Northern Capitals
The Northern Capitals of Prince George are preparing for their B.C. Hockey Triple-A Female Midget League quarterfinal playoff series next weekend in Langley against the Fraser Valley Rush. — see CAPITALS, page 11
Beaudry has relay spot at world championships
Citizen staff
Sarah Beaudry of Prince George will be back on the course Saturday at the IBU world biathlon championships in Oestersund, Sweden.
In her final race at the event, Beaudry, 24, will fly the Canadian flag in the women’s 4 X 6–kilometre relay, teaming up with Emma Lunder of Vernon, Megan Bankes of Calgary and Rosanna Crawford of Canmore.
Beaudry’s second world championships began last week with a 16thplace finish in the mixed relay. The Caledonia Nordic Ski Club member placed 47th in the sprint on Friday and gained five positions in Sunday’s pursuit to place 42nd. In the 15km individual race, Beaudry finished 64th. Lunder was the top Canadian in that race, placing 26th, while Crawford was 63rd and Bankes placed 88th.
On Thursday, Lunder teamed up with Scott Gow of Canmore in the single mixed relay and finished 15th. Norway (Marte Olsbu Roeiseland/Johannes Thingnes Boe) won gold in 35:43.2. Italy (Dorothea Wierer/Lukas Hofer) captured silver (+13.4) and Sweden (Hanna Oeberg/Sebastien Samuelsson) were the bronze medalists (+20.0).
CLARKE Citizen staff
BEAUDRY
MANZ
Ichiro mania returns to Japan
There’s an adage in Japanese that translates easily to English.
Deru kugi wa utareru
The nail that sticks up gets hammered down.
Ichiro Suzuki has been the nail in a culture that values formality, caution, and deference to authority. Doing it his way, he’s developed into Japan’s greatest baseball player and arguably its best athlete.
“At such a young age he already had his own mind,” said Keizo Konishi, a reporter with the Japanese news agency Kyodo. “The older generation tells young people what they should do. Particularly in the structured baseball world.”
Ichiro has played 2,651 major league games since joining the Seattle Mariners in 2001. Konishi has seen almost every one; from Seattle to New York, then to Miami, and back to Seattle. Add on hundreds before that with the Orix BlueWave.
The odyssey returns him to Japan where Ichiro is expected to play in a two-game series when the Mariners and the Oakland A’s open the season March 20-21 at the Tokyo Dome.
Afterward, who knows? Some Japanese want the 45-year-old to finally retire, and the Mariners have said they want to go with youth. One thing is certain in Tokyo: Ichiromania rules.
He’s a source of national pride; the first position player to make it big in the majors, countering the perception that the country produced only pitchers, and players like Ichiro were too small. He’s revered for breaking through, for his fashion sense, and his Zen-like training. He’ll be the first Japanese player inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, almost surely on the first ballot.
He can also be aloof and arrogant, known to disdain interviews, and often evasive with a habit of turning his back on reporters and disparaging questions he doesn’t like. Japanese journalists have often been targets, and organizers
say just over 1,000 are accredited for the two games.
“On so many occasions he’s given me very interesting answers,” Konishi said in an interview with The Associated Press. “But he can give me a hard time. He tries for perfect preparation. So he also requires me to be perfect, which is not easy.”
The baseball editor at Kyodo, Takashi Yamakawa described two Ichiros.
“He’s acting, I think. He’s playing Ichiro,” Yamakawa said. “There are two different aspects. There’s the very normal, polite Japanese man. And there’s maybe the real Ichiro breaking the rules, fighting for himself. He’s always thinking in a different way.”
If Ichiro is the seldom-bending nail, his father, Nobuyuki, was the hammer who put his son through rigorous, well-documented daily baseball training from age seven.
“It bordered on hazing and I suffered a lot. But I also couldn’t say no to him,” American Robert Whiting quoted Ichiro saying in his book The Samurai Way of Baseball. The book was first sold under the title The Meaning of Ichiro.
Whiting points out that Ichiro means “most cheerful boy” in Japanese. He writes he “was not always so cheerful about practicing, especially during the harsh winter days of central Japan, when his fingers grew so numb from the frigid air that he could not button his shirt.”
Whiting has spent much of his life in Japan writing about baseball and Japanese culture. He speculated that because of the Second World War and the American occupation, Japan developed an inferiority complex in relation to the United States. Tokyo’s 1964 Olympics and the booming economy of the 1970s and 80s remedied much of that, and Ichiro and pitcher Hideo Nomo further boosted morale.
“The athletic field has a different kind of symbolism,” Whiting said. “No American could name a famous Japanese; not a top singer or the prime minister or even the emperor after Hirohito. The
Top, Seattle Mariners’ Ichiro Suzuki waits to take batting practice during spring training in February in Peoria, Ariz.
Above, Ichiro signs autographs prior to a spring training game against Cleveland in Goodyear, Ariz. last month. Right, Ichiro smiles upon his team’s arrival in Tokyo Friday. The Mariners will play a two- game series against the Oakland Athletics to open the Major League season on Wednesday and Thursday at the Tokyo Dome.
Japanese were simply known as people who could make things. But everybody could name Nomo and Ichiro. It had a huge impact on the country’s psyche.”
From its beginning in Japan about 150 years ago, baseball –known as yakyu (field ball) – has been viewed as a moral discipline and linked to the martial arts and relentless training. Whiting recounts how the first game between Japanese and Americans took place in Yokohama in 1898. Japan won 29-4, and many of those players were members of Samurai families.
“Basically, Japanese baseball involves an insane amount of
practice,” Whiting said. “The whole idea of self-sacrifice and the development of spirit. Japanese baseball starts voluntary training right after the new year and camp starts Feb. 1. American spring training looks like a three-week vacation at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Florida.”
Whiting called Ichiro “transformational” with five times the buzz that Nomo created just a few years before.
“He shocked everybody by how good he was. He is an everyday Japanese position player – not a pitcher – who had what it took to be a big star. It was something people didn’t imagine before.”
and
game as the Mariners won 116 times in the regular season. Ichiro won the American League batting title and was the league’s Rookie of the Year and MVP.
“For me, he should quit here,” said Takashi Yamakawa, the baseball editor. “Perfect. It’s a beautiful story.”
“Whatever he does, take your sunglasses,” Whiting added. “Because when he comes to bat, everybody in the stadium will be shooting a flash camera or an iPhone with a flash.”
Citizen news service
Ichiro was must-see TV when he joined the Mariners. Large-screen video displays in central Tokyo played –
replayed – every
CITIZEN NEWS SERVICE PHOTO
Andreescu into Paribas Open final
Citizen news service
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Bianca
Andreescu’s dream run will take the Canadian teen to the final of the BNP Paribas Open.
The 18-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., dug deep to upset No. 6 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 in a thrilling semifinal on Friday night.
Andreescu will play the winner of the second semifinal between No. 23 seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland and No. 8 seed Angelique Kerber of Germany in Sunday’s final. Andreescu has knocked off four seeds at the tournament.
“This is just so incredible – this past week,” Andreescu said in her on-court interview. “It’s been a dream come true playing in front of amazing crowds like you guys.”
Andreescu, who started the year ranked 152nd in the world, will climb into at least the top 35 next week after yet another deep run at a WTA Tour event. The Canadian is now 27-3 on the 2019 season.
Andreescu, a wild-card entry at Indian Wells, beat a top 50 player for the ninth time this year.
The teen’s run is reminiscent of Naomi Osaka’s path to last year’s title. Little known at the time, Osaka used her Indian Wells vic-
tory as a launching pad to beating Serena Williams for the U.S. Open title and winning the Australian Open while becoming the world’s top-ranked player.
Andreescu will earn US$1.354 million if she wins the final and $686,000 if she loses. Either total is well above her current career earnings of $350,909.
Leading 4-3 in the third set against Svitolina, Andreescu found herself down 0-40 before winning five points in a row for a huge hold.
Andreescu missed a match-point opportunity on Svitolina’s serve, but then won the next game to finish it in dramatic fashion, fighting off three break points. The Canadian finally won it on the fourth match point. Andreescu had 36 winners to Svitolina’s 14. The Canadian had 57 unforced errors, though, while Svitolina made 29. Andreescu showed signs of fatigue in the third set.
Andy Bettles, Svitolina’s coach, told his player “She’s dying physically” during the break after the fifth game of the set.
Svitolina, the 2017 Toronto Rogers Cup champion, responded with a break to tie the third set at 3-3. The players then exchanged breaks before Andreescu won two
games in a row to go up 5-3.
After losing her first two service games and falling behind 3-0, Andreescu stepped up and won six games in a row to take the first set in stunning fashion.
The Canadian recorded another break to open the second set, but Svitolina bounced back in the next game with her own break and then won three more games in a row to take charge.
Meanwhile on the men’s side, it’s Federer vs. Nadal again, only this time it’ll be in the semifinals.
Roger Federer beat Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 6-4 and Rafael Nadal got by Karen Khachanov 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2) on Friday to set up the old rivals’ 39th career meeting and first in 16 months.
Neither Federer nor Nadal has dropped a set in four matches in the desert. Federer has been broken just once, while Nadal has dropped serve three times, twice against Khachanov.
Nadal stands in the way of Federer’s pursuit of a record sixth title at Indian Wells.
Still, the Swiss superstar was rooting for Nadal to advance against his 22-year-old opponent.
“Playing against young guys to eventually get to Rafa, that’s exciting,” said Federer.
Capitals face Rush in playoffs
— from page 9
The Capitals (13-17-2-0) finished third in the five-team league, one point behind the second-place Rush (12-15-5-0).
That best-of-three series starts next Friday.
The Capitals lost all three of their final regular-season games in Vancouver to the league-leading Comets (32-0-0-0), who capped off a perfect season.
The Comets will play the winner of this weekend’s Vancouver Island Seals-Thompson Okanagan
Lakers series which started Friday in North Saanich.
North Central Bobcats
The North Central Bobcats of Prince George will host the sixteam bantam Tier 1 provincial championship starting Monday at Kin 1. The Bobcats finished second in the Okanagan Mainline Hockey Association standings with a 15-23-0 record, tied in points with firstplace Thompson.
Coached by Mirsad Mujcin,
North Central will take on North Shore Winter Club in the tournament-opener Monday at 10:30 a.m.
The Bobcats will also play the Victoria Racquet Club in the nightcap at 7:15 p.m. In other games Monday, Cloverdale faces Victoria at 1:15 p.m. and North Okanagan will play the North East Trackers of Fort St. John.
All games are Kin 1.
Each team will play five games.
The top two teams meet in the final Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
7 p.m.
SATURDAY, MAR. 23 x-Victoria at Powell River, 7 p.m.
MONDAY, MAR. 25 x-Powell River at Victoria, 7 p.m. MAINLAND DIVISION Chilliwack (1) vs. Prince George (2)
FRIDAY’S GAME Prince George at Chilliwack, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY’S GAME Prince George at Chilliwack, 7 p.m.
MONDAY, MAR. 18 Chilliwack at Prince George, 7 p.m.
TUESDAY, MAR. 19 Chilliwack at Prince George, 7 p.m.
THURSDAY, MAR. 21 x-Prince George at Chilliwack, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY, MAR. 23 x-Chilliwack at Prince George, 7 p.m.
MONDAY, MAR. 25 x-Prince George at Chilliwack, 7 p.m.
INTERIOR DIVISION Wenatchee (3) vs. Cowichan Valley (WC)
FRIDAY’S GAME Cowichan Valley at Wenatchee, 7:05 p.m.
SATURDAY’S GAME Cowichan Valley at Wenatchee, 7:05 p.m.
TUESDAY, MAR. 19 Wenatchee at Cowichan Valley, 7:05 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, MAR. 20 Wenatchee at Cowichan Valley, 7:05 p.m.
FRIDAY, MAR. 22 x-Cowichan Valley at Wenatchee, 7:05 p.m.
SUNDAY, MAR. 24 x-Wenatchee at Cowichan Valley, 7:05 p.m.
TUESDAY,
Mikhalchuk fires OT dagger for Cats
Ted CLARKE Citizen staff tclarke@pgcitizen.ca
The Prince George Cougars won’t make the playoffs but could not resist the chance to rain on the postseason ambitions of their WHL archrivals, the Kamloops Blazers.
The teams met Friday night in Kamloops in a game that meant nothing in the standings to the Cougars and everything to the Blazers, who started the game one point out of a playoff position.
On this night the Blazers did not have an answer for Vladislav Mikhalchuk. The Belerusian winger scored two goals, including the gamewinner 3:46 into overtime, and finished with four points to trigger a 5-4 win over the Blazers. Mikhalchuk took a pass from linemate Josh Curtis and put a backhander in behind goalie Dylan Garand to end it.
Kamloops overcame a two-goal deficit late in the game. Kyrell Sopotyk scored on a power play with 6:21 left and Connor Zary got his stick on a goalmouth pass from Zane Franklin to score the equalizer with 55 seconds left in regulation time, with Garand on the bench for the extra skater.
The Cougars were down 2-1 heading into the third period and scored the next three goals to grab their second lead of the game. Mikhalchuk started it with his 23rd of the season 1:11 into the period, on a setup from Curtis. Then it was the 20-year-old Cougar captain’s turn to score. Curtis took a pass from Mikhalchuk behind the net and banked in a shot off Garand while standing behind the goal line. Mike MacLean put the Cats
ahead 4-2 with 9:50 gone in the third on an unassisted effort. He jumped out of the penalty box and with a burst of speed down the left wing eluded Luke Zazula for a breakaway and he buried his fifth of the season.
Cougar defenceman Rhett Rhinehart opened the scoring when he joined the rush and was fed in the deep slot by Mikhalchuk. Kobe Mohr and Ryley Apelt had the other Blazer goals. The Cougars went 0-for-3 on the power play while the Blazers finished 1-for-3. Taylor Gauthier made 29 saves for his 15th win of the season, while his team outshot the Blazers 35-33.
The Cougars (19-40-5-3) won consecutive games for the first time since January and they ended a four-game Kamloops winning streak. The Blazers (27-32-6-2) did pick up a point for the overtime loss and are now tied with the Kelowna Rockets (27-32-6-2) for the third and final playoff spot in the B.C. Division. Kelowna lost 2-1 to the Vancouver Giants Friday night in Langley and will face the B.C. Division leaders again tonight in Kelowna.
Prince George and Kamloops will play their regular seasonending rematch tonight at CN Centre. A big crowd is expected on Fan Appreciation Night with 4,200 tickets already sold. If Kelowna and Kamloops end the season with identical records they would face each other in a tiebreaker Tuesday night in Kamloops.
LOOSE PUCKS: The Cougars will host their annual awards banquet Sunday morning starting at 10:30 a.m. at the Civic Centre.
Young delivers for Cubs
Ted CLARKE Citizen staff
The baseball world is taking notice of Jared Young. There’s no bigger stage for his sport than Major League Baseball and Young had been a standout with his bat in spring training with the Chicago Cubs. After missing a few games to rest up sprained ankle, the 23-year-old from Prince George returned to action Friday against the Chicago White Sox in Glendale, Ariz. Young came in to pinch hit for Cubs pitcher Randy Rosario right after Wynton Bernard blasted a two-run homer to give the Cubs a 10-8 lead.
Facing White Sox pitcher Nate Jones, Young hit a long fly ball that deflected off the glove of leftfielder Luis Gonzalez and landed for a double. Young later got caught stealing third but the Cubs added one more run in the eighth to cinch an 11-8 victory. Young’s pinch hit was his
sixth in 14 at-bats and it raised his batting average to .429. His third double this spring improved his on-base percentage to .467 and his OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging average) shot up to an astronomical 1.467. He also has two home runs. Young was featured Friday on the Major League Baseball website in a story headlined “30 prospects crushing it this spring.” That can be found at mlb.com/news/top-prospects-at2019-spring-training.
AP PHOTO
Canadian Bianca Andreescu celebrates winning a game over Elina Svitolina at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament on Friday in Indian Wells, Calif.
YOUNG
Parents struggle with YouTube content
Citizen news service
The YouTube video starts with a popular British children’s cartoon character, Peppa Pig, introducing herself and her family, but there are signs of trouble almost immediately. During the ninth second, Peppa’s mother opens her mouth and shouts, “Smoke weed!”
The video - a doctored version of a real Peppa episode – deteriorates from there. Over five minutes, there are explosions and racial and homophobic slurs, culminating with Peppa and her parents in dark sunglasses smoking marijuana as rapper Snoop Dogg dances nearby. Since it was uploaded in 2015, the altered video, which has no age restrictions, has been viewed more than 1.5 million times.
After years of vowing to police inappropriate content, YouTube continues to deliver violent imagery, drug references, sexually suggestive sequences and foul, racially charged language in clips that reach children at a troubling pace, say researchers, parents and consumer groups.
YouTube’s recommendation algorithm, they say, fails to reliably segment content by appropriate age levels, and its default autoplay feature delivers almost-endless streams of videos that confuse, upset and titillate young minds. Though many parents try to moni-
tor what their children watch, the sheer volume of YouTube content that many consume makes that impractical, especially when a single, short clip can deliver an array of off-key messages.
“YouTube is the biggest pain point for parents today,” said James Steyer, CEO of Common Sense Media, a San Franciscobased nonprofit group that advocates for families and schools worldwide. “Kids just stumble into completely inappropriate content constantly because it’s algorithmically driven.”
Steyer and others say YouTube exemplifies a tectonic shift in children’s programming over the past generation – away from the federally regulated, time-constrained world of broadcast television. The increasingly dominant online world delivers all-but-unregulated content that can be uploaded by virtually anyone, almost anywhere in the world, and that can reach children at any time, depending on parental vigilance.
YouTube has consistently said its platform is not intended for children, and it created the YouTube Kids app in 2015 to satisfy the demand for more heavily curated content aimed at younger audiences.
“Protecting kids and families is a top priority for us,” YouTube said in response to questions about inappropriate content reaching
children. “Because YouTube is not for children we’ve invested significantly in the creation of the YouTube Kids app, a destination made specifically for kids. We don’t allow users under 13 to create or own accounts on YouTube, and when we identify an account of someone who is underage we terminate that account – we terminate thousands of accounts every week as part of that process.”
But parents, consumer groups and pediatricians report that YouTube itself is wildly popular with children, more so than the kids app. Children watch YouTube on mobile devices – their own and their parents’ – as well as on internet-enabled televisions and via browsers on laptop computers. Through browsers, YouTube has no requirement that users sign in, except in cases when a video carries an age restriction, meaning there’s no practical barrier to children watching most videos on the service.
Videos with age restrictions require users to sign in to an account before watching, so it can establish that they are at least 18. This step can deter children, though experts
say many children lie about their ages to create accounts on YouTube and other services. YouTube said its “review team” puts age restrictions on content that contains vulgar language, nudity, violence or dangerous activities, when such videos are brought to YouTube’s attention. Content with age restrictions cannot carry ads or be monetized by its creators.
In a Pew Research Center poll last year of parents with children younger than 12, more than 80 per cent said their children watch YouTube, and 34 per cent said their children watch it regularly.
In its 2017 annual survey, the market research firm Smarty Pants named YouTube “the #1 kid brand,” calling it “the most powerful brand in kids’ lives.” The survey distinguished it from the YouTube Kids app, which was less popular among those between ages 6 to 12.
Researchers say YouTube’s algorithms for recommending content cause particular problems for children because they often sit in front of a screen for long stretches, watching whatever plays automatically. The content, how-
ever inappropriate in the view of parents, can mesmerize children lacking the maturity to turn away from words or images that may be unhealthy.
Problems can be especially severe when children search for such popular and seemingly innocuous terms as “Spiderman,” “superhero” and “Elsa.” The icy blond cartoon princess who starred in Frozen in 2013 has spawned so much doctored, inappropriate YouTube content that critics lump such videos under the shorthand “Elsagate.” Disney did not reply to requests for comment.
Critics also say the problem is not visibly improving. Typing “Peppa” into YouTube’s search engine, for example, generated at least one recommended video that the researchers classified as “disturbing” 70 per cent of the time, according to research published in January based on reviews of 2,500 YouTube videos.
Researchers querying such keywords found clips showing a scantily clad Elsa straddling another partially undressed cartoon character, Spider-Man wriggling beneath the sheets with a life-size Rapunzel doll, and Peppa encountering a monster with knives for hands who, amid profanity-laced dialogue, slices open the heads of various characters in bloody attacks. (YouTube said that none of those videos violated its policies and that none appeared on the YouTube Kids app; the one featuring a violent monster carried age restrictions.)
The researchers also found that children have a 45 per cent chance of seeing at least one “disturbing” or otherwise inappropriate video within 10 clips – a stretch that often amounts to an hour or so of viewing. Some videos were crude animations, some featured actors wearing costumes. Still others, including the marijuanathemed Peppa video, were actual children’s videos that had been doctored with new words and images spliced into the original. Graduate students at the Cyprus University of Technology who reviewed the videos featuring several characters popular with young children found that the fake videos often contained violence, profanity and sexually charged behavior.
“I’m a parent. It’s definitely happening more often than I’m comfortable with,” said Jeremy Blackburn, a computer science professor at the University of Alabama, Birmingham who coauthored the study and has three children. “The problem is that they can be served and recommended stuff that is not just garbage but inappropriate, just bad stuff.”
YouTube is wildly popular with children but it’s easy for kids to view inappropriate content, even when searching for innocent, kid-friendly videos.
Novel explores domesticity trap
Diana ABU-JABER Citizen news service
What is a woman’s life worth? This question echoes across countries and generations through Etaf Rum’s intense debut novel, A Woman Is No Man.
In 1990 Birzeit, a town in the West Bank, 17- yearold Isra prepares for some special guests: they’re seeking a bride for their son Adam. Dutiful and soft-spoken, Isra has wisps of longing; she dreams of romance and adventure. But her mother warns her,
“there is nothing out there for a woman but her bayt wa dar, her house and home. Marriage, motherhood – that is a woman’s only worth.”
Isra’s parents are excited because Adam and his family now live in America, which could be their daughter’s ticket out of the occupied Palestinian territories. Driven from his home by the Israeli invasion, Isra’s father was reduced to a poor plot of land on the outskirts of Birzeit. Their lives there are harsh and austere.
The narrative draws links between economic desperation and discord in the home, driving apart parents and children, men and women. These men come and go as they please, but the women are virtual prisoners of the home – they don’t even eat dinner with their husbands. While many of these characters believe that it’s immoral for a woman to walk freely in public, the novel points out that such beliefs are not, in fact, consistent with Islam. At one point, an Islamic studies scholar recites a Koranic verse: “Heaven lies under a mother’s feet.” He explains, “When we accept that heaven lies underneath the feet of a woman, we are more respectful of women everywhere. That is how we are told to treat women in the Qur’an.” Sadly, this is not the reality of these characters’ lives.
Isra and Adam’s marriage is arranged, and within a matter of weeks, she’s whisked from her quiet home to the wilderness of New York City. Her dreams of love and freedom are crushed as she’s shown to the space she and Adam will share: a room in her in-laws’ basement. Her mother’s prophecy unfolds as Isra imagines a lifetime of domestic servitude stretching before her.
The novel shifts among character perspectives, including that of her overbearing mother-in-law, Fareeda. The older woman makes it clear that Isra’s most essential duty is to produce babies – specifically, male babies. When Isra gives birth to a daughter, she’s stunned by both her husband’s and motherin-law’s disappointment. Isra’s failure to produce a male heir becomes an ongoing crisis that sucks the joy from their lives. Fareeda and her son consider girls liabilities, drains on limited family resources and sources of worry, not pride.
Some of the most moving moments in the book take place when Isra looks at her young daughters and realizes with horror that they are destined to live out the same patterns of servitude and confinement that she has. Beyond the books that her sister-in-law smuggles home, Isra has little sense of hope. Her days are spent under her mother-in-law’s thumb, cooking and cleaning for Adam, a man who seems to be disinterested at best and outright dangerous at worst.
One of the challenges that Rum tackles is speaking openly about the brutal treatment of these women. At one point, Isra says, “If a woman called the cops every time her husband beat her, all our men would be in jail.” Rum was herself in an arranged marriage and this personal experience imbues her narrative voice with authority and authenticity. Still, a potential concern for Arab authors writing for an American audience is how to portray Arab patriarchy within a Western milieu of Islamophobic and anti-Arab stereotypes. The book tells us that these men are broken – by the occupation, by hardship, by bigotry – but what readers see, for the most part, is their assault on women. Is the political environment outside the scope of artistic concerns? Authors must create without constraints or societal pressures, especially someone writing from such a vulnerable perspective. But from an artistic point of view, while Rum’s female characters have complexity and dimension, her male characters tend to lead their lives offstage, buried in work and their humanity feels more elusive.
The book also touches on the legacy of violence passed down from the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories – the humiliation of living with armed soldiers and checkpoints, the misery of life in a refugee shelter – and its lingering echoes in America: this is a brave move. Her female characters are doubly victimized, by both the occupation and a patriarchal culture. Isra is passive and fatalistic through much of the story. But her suffering sets the stage for a breakthrough when the next generation of women begins to speak up: with independence come the first rays of hope.
A Woman Is No Man complicates and deepens the Arab American story – a tale as rich and varied as America itself. Diana Abu-Jaber is the author of Birds Of Paradise, Origin and Life Without a Recipe.
Running helped young mother cope with grief
Christie ASCHWANDEN Citizen news service
Grief has a way of reawakening us to our own bodies. When Katie Arnold’s father was diagnosed with cancer, she turned to running – not for speed or for fitness but “to get out of the house and escape the dread,” she writes in her memoir, Running Home. She ran “to feel normal again, and just a little bit alive.”
As she moves, Arnold works through her problems. The soothing power of physical activity in the outdoors is a recurring theme in this poignant and ultimately uplifting book.
After her father’s death in 2010, Arnold became obsessed with a fear of dying that turned every ache and twinge of pain into a fatal disease. To cope with her anxiety, Arnold, now 47, consulted nearly every therapist, muse and wacky alternative medicine provider in Santa Fe, where she lives. But ultimately it was her weekly hiking partner, the Buddhist writer Natalie Goldberg, who guided her away from her terror. “We joke that our hiking will save the world,” she writes of their regular jaunts up Picacho Peak, “but I know it’s saving me from myself, from my obsessive fears and imaginary ailments.”
Arnold became a runner at the age of seven, “by accident.” She was visiting her father in Virginia when he suggested that Arnold and her older sister enter a local 10K race.
“The distance was so audacious that it meant absolutely nothing to me. I had never run a race, never a single mile, let alone six, all in a row,” she writes.
The siblings agreed to run while their father, a National Geographic photographer, documented the event.
Somehow, though, he missed the finish, so the two girls had to reenact it several times, once triumphant, another time crawling on hands and knees.
“Look like you’re really in pain,” he told them; later Arnold wonders, “Did he not realize we really were in pain?”
Arnold’s complicated relationship with her father forms the heart of this story. As a young child, Arnold accidentally bumped into her father’s bass violin, knocking it to the ground and snapping its delicate neck. The incident fills her with shame. “I had broken his beautiful instrument, which he loved almost as much as us, and some days maybe even more,” she writes.
Some of the most moving sections of the book explore how the narratives we tell ourselves can shape our relationships and identities. When her parents’ marriage unraveled, young Arnold imagined that she was “somehow responsible” and that it was up to her to make things right. When she discovered her mother sobbing, face down on the floor, she vowed to never do anything that might make her cry again. For years Arnold also believed that her father’s pain over the divorce was of her own making. When she later learns new details that overturn this long-held belief, Arnold was shaken: “The story on which I’d built my childhood, maybe my very self, has been inverted.”
Not long after her father died, Arnold signed up for a 31-mile ultramarathon, and soon she was running in 50- and even 100-mile events. She writes with candor about the strain her running sometimes put on her marriage. Arnold, a contributing editor and former managing editor at Outside Magazine, is frank in her portrayal of the quiet negotiations that take place in a relationship as each party seeks to balance self-care and training with the work required to make relationships and households run smoothly. Although she sometimes feels twinges of guilt about leaving her two daughters to exercise, Arnold also notes that running helps her be more present with her kids when they are together.
Arnold’s training, race reports and newfound ambitions for athletic success after she won her first ultramarathon come to form a central thread in the book – one that could have easily grown tedious and boring, even to a lifelong runner like me. Instead, Arnold has written about running in a way that perfectly captures its essence. For her, running is a way of “being awake in the world.” Long distance running, she writes, is really “about slowing down. In the quiet of prolonged effort, time stretches, elongates.” It can simultaneously draw one’s attention inward and outward, connecting the inner self to the surrounding world.
Arnold’s running endeavors are not diversions, they are how she makes her own way after losing a parent. The story she shares in Running Home will resonate with anyone who has ever run, anyone who has lost a parent, and anyone who has struggled to make peace with a beloved but enigmatic parent – in other words, just about everyone.
Christie Aschwanden is author of
Relaxed dress codes pose challenge for women
Citizen news service
Goldman Sachs, one of the last bastions of crisp-collared, bespoke-suited workplace attire, has loosened up. It announced an official “firm-wide flexible dress code” earlier this month. And at last – after the long, slow undoing of corporate formality – business casual seems to have triumphed in the workplace.
But for women and minorities who have been playing corporate catch-up for decades, a more casual dress code presents its own complications.
As one Goldman Sachs banker in GQ put it: “All the men are psyched.”
For everyone else, dressing more casually for work can be fraught, even risky. Over decades, expensive suits have projected power, almost like a piece of “armour,” said Susan Scafidi, academic director of the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham University.
Women at work who feel pressure to prove they deserve to be in the room might be wary of ditching their blazers and pumps.
“We’ve just achieved the parity of the pantsuit, and suddenly we’re told the standard pantsuit is no longer standard workforce attire,” Scafidi said. “Women will need to find another way to achieve parity in attire at business casual or some other lower level of formality.”
Parity, of course, extends not only to power, but to pay.
Jaclyn Wong, who researches the intersection of gender and professional life, co-published a study in 2016 looking at the differences in how men and women are rewarded for attractiveness in the workplace.
Attractive men and women make roughly 20 per cent more than their less attractive co-workers, Wong found. Even so, they are measured by different standards.
For women, perceived attractiveness was based on grooming, like hairstyle, makeup, fitness and clothing. They are rewarded, Wong said, for looking the part.
For men, grooming counts far less. If attractive, they tend to be rewarded whether they are well-groomed or not.
“We know that appearance matters for women and people of colour in being seen as competent and worthy of respect,” said Wong, a professor of sociology at University of South Carolina. “It becomes this difficult position: ‘Do I want to dress down because I don’t want to be seen as this kind of stiff and un-fun person, or do I want to continue dressing up because that’s the only way people will treat me with respect?’”
Goldman Sachs is following other firms in a hunt for tech talent that is most comfortable with the sneakers and hoodies of Silicon Valley. Also it is accommodating a growing fraction of its workforce that is made up of millennials – with about 75 per cent of its workers under 40, and dressing in a way that fits more casually dressed clients.
The investment bank, which announced the change in a memo, called for employees to “please dress in a manner that is consistent with your clients’ expectations,” but stressed that they should “exercise good judgment.” A spokeswoman declined to comment beyond the memo.
“Good judgment,” of course, is open to interpretation.
“You have to decide: How do you present yourself when you’re often the only woman
in the room?” said Jane Newton, a managing partner at RegentAtlantic. Newton spent 17 years at JPMorgan and runs a forum for women in leadership on Wall Street. “In a male-dominated environment, gravitas becomes a key variable in decisions that are made about your potential.”
Workers tend to take their signals from the top.
According to the lore of Corporate America, IBM made its first big leap decades ago when executives such as Louis V. Gerstner Jr. changed up the uniform of suit and tie and white collar – by mixing in a blue button-down shirts.
A 1995 headline in the New York Times read “Black Jeans Invade Big Blue” after Gerstner said he was rolling out casual dress. Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard’s relaxed “Blue Sky Days” on Fridays were said to influence future generations of tech entrepreneurs.
Today, it’s Goldman CEO David Solomon, who performs as a DJ in his spare time and has appeared in interviews without a tie.
In the ‘80s and ‘90s, there were few role models for women on Wall Street, Newton said, so they tried to blend in. Men in suits cut imposing figures, so women wore blazers with padded shoulders. Men wore ties, so women wore blouses with bows.
Fashion is far more flexible now, she said, but younger women still ask Newton the same questions about how to present themselves to be taken seriously. Sometimes she offers to go shopping with them, or she pages through catalogues to show what works and what doesn’t.
Women on Wall Street have adapted to more casual norms. But some still face the
possibility that they could be perceived as lacking power when they dress down at work, said Laura Sherbin, managing director of Culture@Work, a division of Working Mother Media that helps companies develop best practices around diversity.
“When a woman is dressed informally, she’s more likely to be assumed to be more junior” or to be someone’s assistant, Sherbin said. The topic of dress codes still comes up all the time in focus groups she does at companies, she said.
Sherbin recalls working with one management consulting client that had a relaxed dress code. She complimented a sharply dressed female executive whose look –black dress, edgy black leather jacket with zippers – was powerful. The executive, who was headed into a tough strategy meeting, told Sherbin she was relieved to hear it.
“I want to walk in the room and be seen as fierce and somebody who’s not going to back down so instantly,” the executive said.
“I never would have worn pastels today.”
For women of colour, issues of image at the office are thornier. In schools throughout the country, girls of colour are more likely to be punished for dress code violations, according to a report by the National Women’s Law Center.
Even the freshmen women of Congress – the most female and diverse group ever –have inspired a huge amount of discussion about red lipstick, hoop earrings and ethnic garb. In some cases much more than their actual platforms and ideas.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez put it this way: “If I walked into Congress wearing a sack, they would laugh & take a picture of my backside. If I walk in with my best sale-
rack clothes, they laugh & take a picture of my backside.”
A more relaxed dress code means a broader range of choices, and “a broader range of choices means greater possibility for error,” Scafidi said. “So while men will naturally gravitate toward old-fashioned polos and khakis - or possibly to fleece and jeans - women don’t have a business casual uniform in the same way.”
Maureen Sherry worked 12 years on Wall Street and was the youngest managing director at Bear Stearns.
“Women never walked in wearing khakis or athleisurewear,” she said. “Professional women just didn’t do that because we wanted to be in meetings and not have our outfit be a point of discussion.”
She wrote a novel, Opening Belle, about a female Wall Street executive, based partly on her experience as well as interviews with other women.
“A friend of mine wore the first pantsuit on the Salomon Brothers trading floor in 1991, and it caused an uproar,” she said. “She still has it” as a kind of trophy.
Today, she said, “if you saw a woman wearing Birkenstocks or loafers, we’d like to think that we’re not taking her less seriously as a result, but I’m not sure if that’s true.”
Although shifting norms add to the litany of micro-decisions women must make before they set foot in the office, they do signal more freedom.
In the past, Newton said, “there were these clear, unwritten rules, but who wrote the rules? The men, so we adapted to them so that we could fit in.”
“Now we can write our own rules,” she said, “to the extent that we’re comfortable.”
Interview adversity tests candidate’s mettle
Karla Miller Citizen news service
While browsing Twitter recently, I came across a post that suggested an innovative interview technique: Take a job candidate out for a lunch interview, then
secretly ask the server to intentionally mess up the candidate’s order. The purported goal: to see the candidate’s true nature. “It’s easy to say how you would handle when things go wrong, (but) hard to fake your reaction as it happens,” the post concluded. Other Twitter users were quick to point out that job candidates with allergies or other hidden food sensitivities might indeed find it hard to “fake” their reaction to a sabotaged meal. And even if the “mistake” is a harmless one, such as forgotten condiments, there’s something power-trippy about enlisting a server and a job-seeker in a mind game they didn’t sign up for.
In response to those critics – and perhaps to deflect their outrage – the Twitter user who originally posted the dubious interview tip credited it to a 2016 interview with Charles Schwab chief executive Walt Bettinger. When meeting interviewees over breakfast, Bettinger said, he would privately set up the “mistake” in advance with the restaurant manager as a way to test “how (candidates) deal with adversity. Are they upset, are they frustrated or are they understanding?”
Note that in that interview, Bettinger was emphasizing the importance of being authentic, transparent and vulnerable. In that context, assessing a prospective manager’s temperament makes sense. But is rigging a fake error the “authentic” and “transparent” way to go about it? And what would the candidate’s reaction actually reveal? Having a meltdown is obviously a disqualifier – but outside of a teen romcom, is someone on best interview
behavior likely to be that easily provoked? If the candidate simply accepts the meal as served, is that a sign of passivity or inattention to detail, or does it signify a focus on true priorities?
“How I react to a very low-stakes mistake that affects only me says nothing about how I’d handle something going wrong on a work project,” notes Kathryne Alfred Del Sesto, a reader living in Dublin. So what does this contrived character CAPTCHA accomplish? Note that Bettinger has since clarified that he actually used his technique only twice in 35 years –so it seems he was offering it more as anecdote than advice. And what is a job candidate to make of a prospective boss who resorts to “gotcha” games? Does the testing and gaslighting end with the interview? As Jennifer Peepas, creator of advice blog Captain Awkward, puts it, “imagine what a random Tuesday is like working with this chucklehead.”
If you’re truly curious about character, asking for references who have worked for, with and above the candidate is a good place to start. During the interview, introduce the candidate to a variety of your colleagues. Afterward, debrief everyone the candidate encountered, starting with the parking lot attendant and the receptionist. The more diverse the group, the greater the odds they’ll catch something you didn’t. Finally, if you insist on real-life stress tests during the interview process, here’s my characterrevealing suggestion that puts interviewer and interviewee on equal footing: a lunch meeting, on a rainy Saturday, at a children’s themed restaurant.
CITIZEN NEWS SERVICE PHOTO
Loosening standards at investment banking firms have broadened the range of workwear seen in New York’s Financial District, but workplace perceptions play a role in women’s attire.
At Home
How to buy a rug you’ll love – and keep it looking great
Citizen news service
Buying a rug can be daunting. With so many patterns, materials and sizes to choose from, it can be difficult to parse through all the options to find something that will last. We asked several rug experts to help demystify the process of buying and caring for a rug, wherever you’re buying it from.
Consider function
As with any major purchase, think about what your expectations are for the item. Designer Annie Selke, who founded the Pinecone Hill and Dash & Albert home decor brands, suggests thinking realistically about what function you need the rug to perform within your home.
“It’s important to say what’s going to happen in that space, whether it’s pets, people or drinking, and really take that into account before you invest in something,” Selke said.
For example, it makes sense to buy an easy-to-clean indoor/ outdoor rug made of a durable material, such as polypropylene, if shopping for a rug for your dog to nap on. A piece made from a delicate natural fibre, such as jute, is probably best for an area where kids won’t be running all over it.
Christin Terrell, owner of rug seller King’s House Oriental Rugs in Birmingham, Ala., suggests a wool rug or natural hide for a choice that’s interesting and easy to clean. “The main things I would advise to be cautious of are synthetic fibers like viscose or things that have the appearance of wool or silk because they’re sort of impossible to clean, and you might ruin the rug,” Terrell said. She said flatweave wool rugs are often a good option and come at a lower price point because they’re easier to weave and many budgetfriendly stores, such as Ikea, often carry these. Once you’re settled on the rug’s purpose, consider aesthetic factors such as size, pattern and colour. A bold pattern could add interest and dimension to the space. A solid colour is a good jumping-off point if you’re after a more traditional look. Selke suggests deciding how prominent you want the rug to be in the room – whether it’ll be more of an accent piece or the star of the show. Think about what ties the piece to (or sets it apart from) the other furnishings.
“It could just be trying to find some colour within the rug that marries nicely with whatever stuff you already have,” Selke said.
Ben Soleimani, a designer who recently launchedhis own line and previously worked for upscale rug businesses Mansour and Mansour Modern, likes rugs in muted, monochromatic colors and pieces that have subtle patterns and textures because they can add depth to a space. “I like colours that are soft and easy to work with. Harsh, contrasting colours are nice, but you get tired of them,” he said.
“They’re not as timeless.”
The ideal size for a rug doesn’t exist, he says, but a good place to start is to consider the size of the room and the surrounding furniture. Soleimani likes the look of a rug that covers the whole floor, with furniture on top to anchor the space and tie everything together.
“What I don’t really like is a little postage stamp floating in the middle of the room,” he said. “If you can afford it, I think getting a bigger rug and having the furniture sit on it is a much more elevated look.” He suggests leaving about two feet of bare floor space from the wall.
CITIZEN NEWS SERVICE PHOTOS
Above, a less-is-more approach can include a rug in an understated color with a simple design. Right, another option is to make the rug a room’s focal point by choosing a piece with a bright, intricate pattern.
Go with your gut
Thrift stores and estate sales can be treasure troves for finding household items and rugs are no different. It might be ideal to know all about the rug’s origins, especially if it’s an expensive investment piece, but that’s not always possible. Let your eye guide you and make a judgment call for yourself, knowing you won’t be able to find out everything about the piece. If the design speaks to you, and the material works for your needs (and budget), go for it.
“If it’s something that you really love and you’re drawn to the design and it’s a piece that’ll work well for you, I think long-term you’ll always be happy with that purchase,” Terrell said. “I would look at the fringe, the construction, whether it’s handmade or machine-made. Those are all things that will add value in the long run.”
Use a rug pad
A solid rug pad anchors the rug to the floor and prevents it from sliding (who hasn’t almost tripped after kicking up a rug?). Terrell recommends buying a pad that’s about two inches smaller than the edge of the rug and that’s made of a soft rubber backing and a rougher acrylic side to grip the rug’s fibers. A thicker rug pad can be helpful if heavy furniture stands on the rug, and it can provide a cushier feel. If you’re dealing with a particularly heavy piece of furniture, consider buying some casters or covers for the legs from a hardware store to avoid the legs digging in and damaging the rug’s fibers. Lay the pad out with the rug on top, and smooth it out to adhere the two together.
Know basic care
Few rugs can simply be thrown in the wash (completely saturating a rug with liquid can damage the
rug’s integrity and dyes, Terrell says, and they can be difficult to fully dry); check your rug’s care instructions. Small stains on many materials can be minimized by spot-cleaning with a damp towel and a mixture of vinegar and cool- or room-temperature water or a diluted liquid dish soap.
Just be sure to blot, not rub, the stain because rapid back-and-forth motion can damage a rug’s fibers and change its appearance. Hang or lay flat to dry outside, weather permitting.
Terrell said that while steam cleaners are great for wall-to-wall carpets, the temperature is too
high for handmade rugs. If a fragile rug is so soiled it needs thorough cleaning, it’s best to leave it to professionals. Heavy vacuuming and foot traffic are the main culprits that contribute to wear and tear.
For regular cleanings, remove the brush attachment on your vacuum and be gentle, particularly around the edges: Terrell cautions that rough vacuuming on a rug’s corners and fringed edge can pull on its threads and lead to tears.
If the rug won’t be used for an extended period of time (say it’s in a storage unit or attic) or is being packed ahead of a move, Terrell suggests having it professionally
cleaned and asking the cleaning service to wrap it in a protective material such as Tyvek paper, which is durable and water-resistant.
In the short term, Terrell said, you could roll the rug and wrap it in Tyvek or a trash bag in a pinch. Don’t forget to keep stored rugs away from moisture and to tuck a few mothballs in, too.
Clarence Vernon Mork
Deceased March 8, 2019 at Prince George, BC, Canada. Born November 9, 1935 at Cleeves District, Saskatchewan, Canada. If you know Northern Saskatchewan, you knew Clarence.
A gentleman who was truly interested in your personal story. More so if shared on a Saturday with Music involved. Survived by Daughter Shannon-Rae and Family, Son Clifford Lance and Family, Children of Sister Ruth Griffith and Sister Marion Brockman, Sister-in-Law Noella Kapphahn, Grandchildren of Mary and William Kapphan, extended Filipino family plus Spouse Mary Doreen Estabrooks and her Family.
Please attend Clarence’s Celebration of Life at the Hart Pioneer Center, 6986 Hart Highway, Prince George, BC, Canada from 11am to 3pm on Saturday, March 16, 2019.
“Life is Short, Make it Sweet”
PAUL JOSEPH DUPERRON
It is with profound sadness that we announce the sudden passing of our beloved Paul on March 12, 2019 at the age of 71. Left to mourn are Diane, his wife of 47 years; his brothers Andy Duperron (Jodi), Joe Duperron (Penny), and Lou Duperron (Shirley); his sister Louise Piquette (Guy); his brother-inlaw Larry Doll (Katherine) and his sister-inlaw Arlene Doll; several nieces and nephews, including Christopher Duperron, Katelyn Duperron, Anne Doll, Christina Doll and Alexander Doll of Prince George; and many other relatives and friends. Predeceased by his parents Leon and Rita Duperron.
Paul was employed with Northwood Pulp Mill for 38 years, initially as an electrician and later as an electrical supervisor, until his retirement in 2012. He was well respected by his co-workers.
Paul loved being outdoors, especially kayaking and sitting by the campfire at the lake as well as working in his yard. He also enjoyed dancing, walking, and socializing with family and friends.
Paul lived with kidney disease for many years. He and Diane were committed volunteers with the Kidney Foundation and passionate about providing services to kidney patients. They served on the executive of the Prince George Chapter and the BC Branch Board and devoted many hours to fund raising and public education.
Paul was a kind and compassionate person, with a warm smile and a helping hand. He touched many lives and will be greatly missed. A Celebration of his Life will be held in Prince George at a later date to be announced. In lieu of flowers consider a donation in Paul’s memory to the Kidney Foundation of Canada and/or register as an organ donor at www.transplantbc.ca
After a long and happy life, surrounded by loving family and wonderful friends, Leo Denis passed away on March 13th after a short stay in the hospital. He will be remembered as a loving husband, father and grandfather. He was a good and decent man. He was predeceased by his wife Rosella of 68 years, his parents and 6 brothers. He is survived and will be greatly missed by his children Stella, Lois, Bob and Ida, 8 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, 1 brother, 3 sisters, numerous nieces, nephews, extended family and friends. Funeral will be at Christ Our Saviour Catholic Church on Austin Rd. at 10:30am on Tuesday, March 19th, 2019.
Carol Repetowski passed away peacefully in PG Rotary Hospice House March 8, 2019.
Carol is survived by her children: Sheryl (Terry), Scott (Barbara) and Paul; grandchildren: Ann-Marie, Jacob and Luke Metcalfe.
Predeceased by her husband Peter.
Memorial Service to be held from Hixon Lighthouse Community Church on Saturday March 23 at 1:00pm.
Family Development Worker/ Early Childhood Educator Permanent Part-time
We are accepting applications for a Family Development Worker/Early Childhood Educator. This position functions within the Young Parent Program. The successful candidate will demonstrate the skills and abilities necessary to provide individual and group support with respect to parenting, relationships, skill building and child development. The successful candidate
Newcart Contracting Ltd. Offers a wide variety of oilfield services including turnaround, maintenance and construction. We are currently accepting resumes with copies of valid safety tickets for the following positions for upcoming turnarounds beginning April thru September 2019.
EXPERIENCED:
• Pipefitters
• Safety Personnel
• Laborers
Please submit your resume via EMAIL ONLY to resumes@newcartcontracting.com and clearly indicate in the subject line what position you are applying for. (ie: 1st Year Apprentice Pipefitter; Laborer; Journeyman Pipefitter). No Phone calls please.
All Resumes submitted online will be reviewed and successful candidates will be contacted by phone. All Resumes will be kept on file for future jobs.
Adult & Youth Newspaper Carriers Needed in the Following areas:
Full Time and Temporary Routes Available. Contact for Details 250-562-3301 or rss@pgcitizen.ca
MONEY IN BRIEF
Currencies
These are indicative wholesale rates for foreign currency provided by the Bank of Canada on Friday. Quotations in Canadian funds.
States set sights on tech giants
Citizen news service
Some of the country’s most powerful state attorneys general are signaling they’re willing to take action against Facebook, Google and other tech giants, warning that the companies have grown too big and powerful – and that Washington has been too slow to respond.
For many of these top law enforcement officials, the fear is that Silicon Valley has amassed too much personal information about web users and harnessed it in a way that’s jeopardized people’s privacy and undermined competition, often without much oversight.
“I think what we’ve found is that big tech has become too big, and that while we may have been asleep at the wheel, they were able to consolidate a tremendous amount of power,” Jeff Landry, the Republican attorney general of Louisiana, said in an interview.
The markets today
A broad-based rally led by the financials and health care sectors helped Canada’s main stock index close higher on Friday, while American markets also posted higher numbers.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 52.80 points at 16,140.35 Friday to mark a 144.14-point gain for the business week.
Energy saw gains through much of the week but ended the week on a down note, said Les Stelmach, portfolio manager at Franklin Bissett Investment Management.
“Energy had a decent week, even if it was a little softer today. Of the 11 indices, energy is a bit of a laggard.”
The energy index dropped 0.45 per cent Friday, while most other indices marked modest gains including a 2.33 per cent rise in the cannabis-heavy health care index and 0.74 for the influential finance index.
The fall in energy stocks came as the April crude contract closed down nine cents at US$58.52 per barrel, while Imperial Oil said it would slow the development of a $2.6-billion oilsands project because of economic uncertainty. The crude price did, however, close up $2.45 for the week on lower inventories and signs of cutbacks in production from OPEC.
“It doesn’t sound like a lot, but for a lot of oil producers in Canada the difference between $55 let’s say, and $58 is actually quite a lift,” said Stelmach.
Recent economic news that points to Canada not raising its interest rates has helped several other market sectors such as utilities, real estate and finance, he said.
“Despite some flickers of interest in energy, a number of the more defensive sectors of the market are doing quite well, and really anything more tightly correlated with interest rates seem to be doing well.”
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average moved up 138.93 points at 25,848.87. The S&P 500 index gained 14 points at 2,822.48, while the Nasdaq composite rose 57.62 points at 7,688.53.
The Canadian dollar averaged 74.95 cents US compared with an average of 75.04 cents US on Thursday.
The April gold contract closed Friday up US$7.80 at US$1,302.90 an ounce and the May copper contract rose 1.5 cents at US$2.91 a pound.
The April natural gas contract retreated six cents at US$2.80 per mmBTU.
Federal regulators have the primary responsibility for keeping watch over Silicon Valley – they can break up monopolies, for example, and penalize companies for privacy abuses. But some state officials feel that Washington bears some of the blame for the tech industry’s string of scandals in the first place. Lawmakers in Congress long have struggled to adopt a national law targeting tech giants’ data-collection practices, while federal agencies have allowed many of the headlinegrabbing mishaps at Facebook and Google to go unpunished.
In response, states like Arizona and Mississippi now are taking aim at Google for the way it collects and monetizes web users’ data. The District of Columbia, meanwhile, is challenging Facebook’s business practices in court. And there are “numerous bipartisan discussions” among Democrats and Republicans about other areas where attorneys general can coordinate their attention on big tech, Landry said.
“We are in a moment where the federal government’s level of effectiveness and engagement on a range of issues, on technology, consumer protection and privacy, is limited,” added Phil Weiser, the Democratic attorney general of Colorado. Absent federal intervention, he said, “states in general or state AGs are able to act.”
Asked about the criticisms, Will Castleberry, Facebook’s vice president of state and local public policy, said the social giant has had “productive conversations” with state AGs. “Many officials have approached us in a constructive manner, focused on solutions that ensure all companies are protecting people’s information, and we look forward to working with them,” he added in a statement.
Google declined comment for this story.
The appetite for action seemed apparent last week, when state officials gathered in Washington for a series of events including an annual forum with the National Association of Attorneys General, where Landry is president. Concerns about the tech industry’s privacy practices were on full display, while a few miles away, the District of Columbia appeared in court to argue that Facebook had deceived its users about its approach to collecting and monetizing their data. The lawsuit stems from Facebook’s entanglement with Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy that improperly accessed data about roughly 87 million of the social-site’s users without their knowledge or permission.
Federal watchdogs have been probing the matter for nearly a year, and they could soon bring
“Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising.”
— Mark Twain Call 250-562-2441
Right, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg pauses while testifying before a House Energy and Commerce hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington in 2018. Several U.S. states are threatening legal challenges against Google, Facebook and other tech giants over privacy concerns, data breaches and undermining competition.
a historic fine. But D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine opted not to wait for his federal counterparts, and he filed his case in December, which Facebook has sought to dismiss on grounds that D.C. lacks jurisdiction. Both sides are set to air their next round of arguments in front of a D.C. Superior Court judge on March 22. A slew of additional states, including New York and Pennsylvania, are proceeding with Facebook probes of their own.
Other state attorneys general have set their sights on Google, fearing the search, advertising and mobile giant knows too much about consumers – and can easily squash its competitors. Some states’ calls for stronger antitrust enforcement stand in stark contrast with Washington, where federal regulators investigated Google but ultimately decided in 2013 against breaking apart the company.
The latest to take aim was Arizona’s GOP attorney general, Mark Brnovich, who began investigating the tech giant’s data-collection practices in 2018.
Last week, Brnovich reaffirmed his concerns with Google’s use of location data gleaned from Android smartphones during a private event for fellow Republican attorneys general, according to a person who attended the gathering but asked not to be identified because it was off record. Brnovich also raised new questions about Google’s search practices, particularly the company’s approach to surfacing results to queries about local businesses, the person said.
Asked Thursday if the states needed to open an antitrust probe of Google, Brnovich replied: “Maybe,” adding: “I think there are a lot of us in the AG world that are collecting information, trying to get documents, and trying to get to the bottom of whether that’s
a reasonable step or a reasonable option.” He said he could not comment on any open investigations.
Google’s challenges could span far beyond Arizona. Before becoming Minnesota’s attorney general, Democrat Keith Ellison argued in Congress for the federal government to embark on an antitrust probe of the tech giant. Ellison’s office declined comment for this story. In Missouri, meanwhile, the state embarked on a wide-ranging antitrust and privacy investigation into Google under former Attorney General Josh Hawley, who left the office for the U.S. Senate in January. A spokesman for his successor declined to say if it’s still under way.
Louisiana’s Landry slammed Google last week for being “more and more manipulative” with its search results. And in Mississippi, Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood has sued the company for its handling of students’ data. For years, the two sides have warred repeatedly, with Google at one point suggesting that the Democratic attorney general had wrongly targeted the company with the aid of its foes in the movie industry. Hood faulted Google for trying to “send a message to other states that we will sue you.”
“You cannot allow this power to accumulate in the hands of this few people,” Hood said. “At some point, there’s going to have to be a reckoning for it.”
In these and other probes, state attorneys general are powerful in their own right: They can leverage local laws to fine companies for their misdeeds, and in some cases, their rules are tougher than what
the federal government has at its disposal – especially in California under a landmark privacy statute adopted in 2018.
But they often band together to take aim at common targets, and at their most effective, state attorneys general can prod the federal government to do the same. The tech industry learned that lesson firsthand two decades ago, when state attorneys general helped drive a landmark U.S. antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft – and sought later to block a settlement out of concern the federal government had been too soft on the company.
The most recent wave of activity began in September, when the Justice Department asked attorneys general to discuss the power of Facebook, Google and online platforms. The session in Washington had been designed to probe claims that some tech companies censor conservatives –a concern Democrats don’t share – but the conversation proved far more wide ranging, with Mississippi’s Hood and others weighing whether to partner in a formal way to study big tech companies.
Roughly six months after that DOJ summit, Xavier Beccera, the Democratic attorney general of California, said their early talks were “perceived as something worthwhile.” He acknowledged there’s been “increased discussions among the state AGs” about the privacy challenges and other troubles posed by some of the tech industry’s biggest players. Beccera added: “I think everyone’s trying to get a handle on what we can do.”
CITIZEN NEWS SERVICE PHOTOS
Above, a man using a mobile phone walks past Google offices in New York.
U.S. Catholics ponder leaving, poll finds
Citizen news service
The percent of U.S. Catholics who say the clergy sex abuse crisis has them questioning whether to leave the faith has jumped 15 points since the last major crisis in the early 2000s, a poll released Wednesday finds. Thirty-seven per cent of Catholics told Gallup that “recent news about sexual abuse of young people by priests” has them personally questioning whether to remain Catholic, compared with 62 per cent who said it had not. Priest misconduct and its handling by clergy all the way to the papacy has exploded as a topic in the U.S. church since last summer, when a series of scandals began to rock the denomination, America’s largest. It’s the broadest such scandal in American Catholicism since the early 2000s, when 22 per cent of U.S. Catholics told Gallup that clergy sex abuse news was pushing them to question staying, and 76 per cent said it was not.
Experts on Catholic polling say considering leaving isn’t the same as leaving. Also, the current crisis is unfolding at a time when religious identity is deconstructing and fluid for many tens of millions of Americans, so Catholics leaving the option open can’t be wholly credited to anger over clergy abuse and its handling. But Gallup’s finding is a striking data point, pollsters say. “As an indication of frustration, it seems like a pretty significant step,” said Jeff Jones, Gallup Poll senior editor. “Leaving is another one, and we don’t have good data on that. But it does give a sense of the impact (the scandal) is having. And that the impact is greater than it was in 2002.” Gallup in recent months has been tracking problems in how U.S. Catholics see the institution of their church.
The poll about potentially leaving, which was conducted in January and February, also found that a quarter of Catholics said they had very little or no confidence in their U.S. bishops (“and other Catholic leaders in this country”) and said the same about American priests. They have double the confidence levels, Gallup found, in their own parish priests and in Pope Francis. A December Gallup poll looking at views of “honesty and ethical standards” in different fields found that a record-low 31 per cent of U.S. Catholics ranked clergy as having “high or very high” standards. That was down from 63 per cent a decade ago and represented a drop of 18 percentage points from 2017.
During that same period, the percent of U.S. Protestants who gave high or very high rankings for the ethics of their clergy dropped from 61 per cent to 48 per cent in the past decade, Gallup found.
Yet polling on something as complex as switching religious identity has shown widely varying results. A CBS News/New York Times poll in 2010 asked U.S. Catholics whether the abuse issue was pushing them to consider leaving – at a time when the American crisis wasn’t significantly in the news. Nine per cent said yes, and 86 per
cent said no. When CBS asked the question in October, 26 per cent said yes and 70 per cent said no.
In the months between CBS’s fall poll and Gallup’s survey last month, the church was hammered with a slew of negative, dramatic news, including a frustrating national meeting of U.S. bishops, during which a major vote on abuse reform got delayed, and the historic defrocking of a cardinal. An explosive grand jury report about the Pennsylvania church that was released in the summer continued to be reported on through the fall and into 2019.
Laura Hogan, 47, has a rich Catholic history.
The Vienna, Va., woman has three Catholic immigrant grandparents, went to Catholic schools as a child and in college (the University of Notre Dame), and was so fascinated by the rituals, prayers and saints that she became an expert in religious art history. At her parish, she works with people who are converting to Catholicism, and her 10-year-old son goes to the parish school.
“As I’ve gotten older, the sacraments have grown in importance for me,” she wrote to The Washington Post, and she can rattle off Catholic figures living and dead whom she looks to for inspiration in their ability to serve others and to overcome their circumstances.
She was living in Boston during the earlier crisis, which took off in that archdiocese, but it’s only now, with this new round, that Hogan feels seriously on the fence.
She’s starting to mentally envision shifting to another part of Christianity (“I’ll still be under Jesus’ umbrella”), and says she’s completely fine if her older son, who is about to head to college, leaves their family faith.
Why now? It’s a combination of the crisis and the church’s direction overall, she said. “I am different. I am older. I have two children and have seen one of them almost grown, and watched their friends and cousins grow. How can I look one of those children in the face if he or she is gay, and say ‘No, you can’t be fully yourself in the Catholic Church.’ Or tell a girl she can’t be a priest simply because of how she was born?” she wrote. The grand jury report produced a disappointing feeling of déjà vu, and more than that, she said.
“The hierarchy has betrayed us, and has gone on the defensive, when healing from betrayal requires accountability and transparency. I dream of my church dropping the defensiveness, displaying true, abject penitence in the face of the horrors of child sexual abuse and adult sexual coercion, and devoting itself to the humble service of those who have been harmed. Ceasing to lobby against statutes of limitations
Reconciling divinty with suffering
Many might suggest I avoid addressing the existence of God directly.
But one cannot write about “why I believe” without facing the question of God’s reality head on. If there is no God, we’re all wasting our time on Sunday, as St. Paul himself affirms. Furthermore, I’m not interested in non-profits or clubs masquerading as places of worship. Churches are ships full of stricken passengers, bearing their souls towards the healing shores of heaven with Godspeed. Who or what is God? While the Almighty is usually defined by negation, there are at least two positive statements that can be made: in the cause and effect sense of physics, God is the unmoved mover and in the metaphysical sense, He is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-loving.
When I survey the wondrous
RIGHT OF CENTRE NATHAN GIEDE
world, I gain a sense of the first premise.
The artist’s brush is revealed everywhere: our genetic structure, the laws of physics, perfect symmetry, beauty in each environment, complementary traits. With no exhaustive materialistic answer for “why is there something rather than nothing,” as well as issues of entropy or the statistical improbability of our universe creating itself, the sciences bolster, rather than harm, my faith in the Creator. However, it is God’s metaphysical definitions that give reason for doubt, even rage, when placed alongside the problem of pain, the two greatest retorts being: “what about when evil acts are done in
the name of a religion?” and “why does God let bad things happen to good people?”
The former should not be excused and I will be dwelling on the issue of corruption, in light of the recent scandals, at a later date in this series.
But it is certainly the weaker of the two arguments, as evil things are done in the name of supposedly upright institutions everyday. We ought to expect the highest from God’s representatives on Earth but they are made of the same stuff as our civil authorities and are just as susceptible to the hubris that paves the way to Hell.
But if there is a God who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving, why do innocent people suffer?
Why are children born with painful, debilitating diseases? Why are people trapped in abusive relationships? Why do the unjust thrive and the powerless remain oppressed?
being extended. Ceasing to blame mature homosexuals for the predatory behavior of sick people and their power-hungry bosses,” Hogan wrote.
John Carr, a longtime official with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and an advocate for the church on Capitol Hill, now runs a center that runs lectures and programs on how to understand and improve the church. A frank critic of the institution who recently told the public about his own experience with clergy abuse, Carr said one phenomenon he sees is the separating of the creed from the power brokers.
“People are asking, ‘Why am I a part of something so broken?’ Other people are saying, ‘I’m not going to let this define my faith,’ “ he said. “For some of us, it has deepened our faith in Jesus and tested our faith in the church. You go back to basics in times of trouble, and we’re in big trouble.”
The U.S. church has held its place in terms of size, in large part because of Latino immigration. Roughly 20 to 25 per cent of Americans identify as Catholic, according to various surveys, and have for decades. The question is how the growth of the Latino church here will affect Catholics’ views. Gallup said its sample pool wasn’t large enough to see whether there were disparities in views based on race or ethnicity. It did say there were no significant differences based on age or gender.
The tragedies of life and the incalculable pain humans intentionally visit on each other is enough to make one cry out towards the blackened sky, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Of course, those words were said by Jesus Christ, who with the Father and Holy Spirit, make up the triune God of Christianity. In a classic paradox, the Almighty managed to enter into the human experience of abandonment at the crucifixion – and that terrified even the omnipotent.
At the heart of the Christian message, reenacted on Good Friday, is the truth that God is not some distant supreme being.
The Almighty understands our suffering because through the incarnation, He became man, and even after acting with perfect love and justice towards all, the Godman was betrayed by a friend for money to enemies who wanted Him dead.
After an unfair trial, Jesus was
sentenced to torture and death on a cross, Rome’s cruelest form of execution.
In short, the God I worship gets unjust pain and suffering – even death itself – because He has experienced more of it than I will ever know. Throughout His teachings, both before and after the crucifixion, God the Son states unequivocally that all who follow Him will indeed suffer – but He will share their burdens and at the end of all things, there will be rest from every strife. To those with difficult questions about evil and injustice, I can only answer, “Christ suffers with you.” Catholicism displays the cost of eternal life over the altar – a naked man, with a crown of thorns, hanging from two pieces of rough wood by hands and feet. Thus I am reminded that evil and suffering are so ubiquitous, even God faced them.
Put bluntly, what more proof do I need?
CITIZEN NEWS SERVICE PHOTO
A group with Catholic Laity for Orthodox Bishops and Reform gathers to pray the rosary outside the Apostolic Nunciature of the Holy See in Washington last month. More American Catholics are considering leaving the church, a new poll finds.
