Prince George Citizen October 12, 2018

Enbridge restores smaller gas pipeline

Citizen staff/Citizen news service

The company that shut down its main natural gas pipeline through British Columbia following an explosion and fire Tuesday night in Prince George says it has restarted a smaller line running beside the damaged pipe.

Enbridge says it received National Energy Board approval Wednesday night to restart its 76-centimetre line, which was shut down as a precaution because it is in the same path as the 91-centimetre line that ruptured and exploded near Prince George.

The Calgary-based energy supplier says the line was carefully checked before permission was received to restart it at about 80 per cent of normal capacity.

However, two of Canfor’s operations – Northwood and Prince George Pulp –remained out of commission as of Thursday morning.

“Employees are continuing to work at those mills doing maintenance and other activities,” Canfor spokeswoman Michelle Ward said.

The Intercontinental pulp mill continued to operate, running on alternate fuels. Prince George Sawmill was also unaffected, contrary to an initial report.

Fortis BC, the company that depends on the Enbridge line for about 85 per cent of the gas it delivers to its one million customers, says in an online notice that gas is now flowing, but customers are still asked to cut back.

It says restoring flow in the smaller line is a positive step, but until the damaged larger line is repaired, a shortage of natural gas continues.

In response to the call for conservation, the B.C. Institute of Technology has tweeted that heat is off on the north side of its Burnaby campus until further notice, while the University of B.C. has told researchers and other non-essential users to immediately stop using natural gas.

The UBC bulletin says although gas use should still be restricted, “UBC buildings that use natural gas for heating, hot water and cooking are no longer expected to be impacted.”

In an earlier news release, Enbridge said it is working with other companies to find alternate supplies of gas to meet demand.

natural gas pipeline linking the Fort Nelson area to Vancouver and south to another 750,000 customers in the northwest

Pipeline explosion strands natural gas output, cuts into wellhead prices

Citizen news service

Tuesday’s pipeline explosion near Prince George is interrupting natural gas deliveries and cutting into the cold weather price bonus Canadian gas producers had been enjoying for the past few weeks. More than 1.6 billion cubic feet per day – roughly 10 per cent of Western Canada’s daily natural gas output – was stranded when Enbridge Inc. halted transport on the 91-centimetre line that exploded and on its neighbouring 76-centimetre line.

The National Energy Board allowed Enbridge to restart the smaller line at a lower pressure, but analysts say that still leaves between 600 million and 800 million cubic feet per day of gas without

an easy path to market.

“There are not a lot of other routes for gas to reach Vancouver or for export,” said Ian Archer, associate director for IHS Markit, pointing out about one billion cf/d of the normal daily payload is headed for export into Washington.

“It was the main line that went out. So I would assume this is Enbridge’s absolute No. 1 priority to get fixed.”

Prices at the main interior B.C. trading hub have crashed to about $1 per thousand cubic feet from around $2.60 before the incident, said commodity analyst Martin King of GMP FirstEnergy.

“For those that can get gas out, prices at Station 2 have come down quite a bit because the

line break is south of the trading point,” said King, adding producers who can’t get their gas out will have to shut down their wells.

Some B.C. gas is being redirected into Alberta markets, Archer said, causing prices there to slip from around $2.50 per gigajoule (an energy unit that’s similar in size to 1,000 cubic feet) to just over $2. The analysts say they expect Enbridge will restore the pipeline to service within a week or two, given the lack of damage to the parallel line and the high priority of restoring gas to residential markets in B.C. at the beginning of winter. Alberta and B.C. gas prices had jumped in recent weeks thanks to more demand because of unusually cold weather in Alberta.

Real estate investors face bidding wars in Kitimat

Frank O’BRIEN Citizen news service

Residential real estate investors hoping to make a quick buck in Kitimat are running into veteran property owners who are jacking up prices as the largest private investment in Canadian history avalanches onto the town.

“It has been crazy in the last few days. I have been working 16-hour days,” said Shannon Dos Santos of Re/Max Kitimat

Realty, one of only seven real estate agents in the northwest B.C. town of 8,000 that will anchor the $40 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) pipeline and export terminal greenlighted Oct. 1 by the LNG Canada consortium headed by Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A).

“We had 87 home listings 40 hours ago. Now we have less than 10,” Dos Santos said. After three years of dormant sales and prices, vendors are greedy to cash in.

“Sellers are not being reasonable,” Dos Santos said. On Oct. 2, a Dos Santos client made an offer on a $125,000 building lot that had been on the market for months. The seller is now demanding $300,000 for the 8,000-square-foot parcel. Another buyer bid $25,000 over asking for a house on Oct. 1, but lost out to a higher bid. — see ‘EVERYTHING, page 2

The blast damaged the company’s primary

United States. Investigators are still searching for a cause of the blast just outside Prince George but no evidence of criminal activity was found,

RCMP said, and added that the investigation has been turned over to the Transportation Safety Board, with assistance from the National Energy Board and Enbridge.

A pipeline crosses the Fraser River at Shelley.

Pacific Northern Gas is planning an expansion of its existing natural gas pipeline between Summit Lake and Kitimat.

Pacific Northern Gas considers expanding natural gas pipeline from P.G. to Kitimat

Nelson BENNETT Citizen news service

Pacific Northern Gas is planning an expansion of an existing natural gas pipeline that runs from Summit Lake, north of Prince George to Kitimat, if it can get producers in northeastern B.C. to sign up for capacity on the new line.

Pacific Northern Gas, a subsidiary of AltaGas Ltd., already owns a natural gas pipeline that runs from Summit Lake to Kitimat, serving residential, business and industrial customers along the route.

On Wednesday, the company issued a call for expressions of interest from natural gas producers in the region to take additional capacity on a new 525-kilometre line it proposes to build.

Brock John, a company spokesman, said there is an existing compressor sys-

tem in Kitimat and Prince Rupert that was “mothballed” and which could be reactivated, if the company gets enough interest from producers. The company would consider twinning parts of the existing line in a looping project called the Pipeline Looping Project (PLP).

“With the addition of the PLP, PNG will expand on its unique position in offering natural gas transportation service to multiple industrial projects along British Columbia’s west coast, serving international markets and facilitating economic growth in the region,” the company said in an online posting.

The company will be accepting expressions of interest up until Oct. 26.

The LNG Canada project in Kitimat will be sourcing its natural gas from the new Coastal GasLink pipeline, which TransCanada Corp. plans to build at a

cost of $6.2 billion.

But there may be other natural gasbased industrial projects that could be developed in Kitimat and Prince Rupert that may need an additional source of natural gas, John said.

“There’s a number of different projects that are possible at this point, and that’s really what the expression of interest is trying to explore – who they are, what kind of volumes they are and the time frames of when they would require it.”

AltaGas – Pacific Northern Gas’s parent company – is building a new propane export terminal in Prince Rupert. Royal Vopak N.V., a Dutch company, is also considering Ridley Island in Prince Rupert for a new bulk terminal for natural gas liquids, diesel, methanol and other liquids.

Unemployment at 4.9 per cent in September

Citizen staff

The city’s unemployment rate stood at 4.9 per cent in September as the number of people holding down jobs slipped below 50,000 for the first time in a half year, according to a Statistics Canada labour market survey numbers.

The outcome is also a bit of a mixed result when compared to last year.

Although the unemployment rate at that time was 5.7 per cent, the number of people working was 49,400 compared to 49,000 currently.

The total labour force amounted to 51,500 last month,

900 fewer than at the same point last year, but the number looking for work was 2,500, or 500 fewer than in September 2017. The number of people of working age not participating in the workforce was 21,300, a rise of 1,200.

In August, the unemployment rate was 4.4 per cent, 50,400 were working, 2,300 were seeking employment and 19,900 were not participating.

The numbers are based on a three-month rolling average and do not separate part-time from full-time employment. The accuracy of the most recent unemployment rate is plus or minus 0.8 percentage points 68 per cent of the time.

The full report is posted with this story at www.pgcitizen.ca.

‘Everything is selling so fast’

— from page 1

“My daughter told me last night that she wanted to move back to Kitimat,” Dos Santos said. “I told her, ‘You should have told me a year ago.’ She is priced out of this market now.”

The average house price in Kitimat in the first half of this year was $256,500, up from $214,800 a year earlier, according to the BC Northern Real Estate Board, but asking prices have increased since the LNG Canada announcement, agents said.

Kitimat has only 734 purpose-built rental units and the vacancy rate is 42 per cent – the highest in B.C. – according to the latest Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. data from one year ago. In the past three years – since the completion of the Rio Tinto Group expansion project – average rents in Kitimat have plunged to $928 per month from $1,730. But this week some Kitimat landlords were listing rents for two-bedroom townhouses starting at $1,500 per month.

Landlords have left scores of apartments vacant for years in hope of a recovery in rental prices, Dos Santos said.

“If you rent it now you are only able to raise the rent by two per cent per year,” she said, referring to a Sept. 26 provincial government decision that capped the increase at that level for 2019.

Bruce Long of MacDonald Commercial Real Estate Services Ltd. in Vancouver said landlords may have been smart to keep apartments vacant.

“The current situation is that properties with higher vacancies are worth more per unit than properties that retained low vacancies during the quieter times,” said Long, who specializes in Kitimat rental apartment buildings.

Kitimat apartment buildings are now listed at $100,000 to $130,000 “per door,” but Long said some may be taken off the market in anticipation of higher prices and rents.

“Those apartment building owners who considered selling prior to the (LNG Canada) announcement are now less motivated,” he said.

Virtually no housing has been built in Kitimat since 2014, but that is about to change quickly.

“The lights were off for three years and suddenly they are switched on,” said Jason Pender, president of JV Development Group of Vancouver. “Now there is a rat race to get buildings started.”

JV, in partnership with Kerkhoff Construction, is scrambling to restart the largest residential project in Kitimat, which had been shelved back in 2015.

The 27-acre project will include 47 townhomes in the first phase, which Pender hopes to start pre-selling within weeks. He estimates prices will start in the $325,000 range, but this has yet to be confirmed.

“I expect we will sell them all out in a matter of days.”

Pender added that nearly all will be sold to out-oftown rental investors. The townhomes won’t hit the market for at least two years.

JV and Kerkhoff are also hoping to sell 30 home building lots and complete a 72-pad manufactured housing park as LNG Canada ramps up hiring of an estimated 6,000 construction workers.

Dos Santos noted that there are at least three work camps being built near Kitimat that will house most of the LNG Canada construction crews, but both Pender and Long expect management types will be seeking private, long-term rentals in town.

Dos Santos also had a caution for investors.

“Call an agent before you come to Kitimat looking for property,” she said. “Everything is selling so fast.”

Salvage logging threatening species at risk, says Forest Practices Board

Citizen staff

An investigation of a complaint from two trappers has concluded salvage logging in the Nazko region is threatening the ability of the fisher population to survive, B.C.’s forest practices watchdog said Thursday.

A close relative of the martin but twice as large, the fur-bearing mammal is listed as a species at risk in B.C. and is at high risk of decline or local elimination in the region west of Quesnel, according to the Forest Practices Board.

“Our investigation found that government did not take steps to ensure protection of fisher habitat,” said FPB chair Kevin Kriese.

“While licensees did make some efforts to protect habitat when designing individual cutblocks, these efforts were insufficient given the unprecedented scale of salvage logging across the landscape.”

The trappers lodged the complaint after the region was subjected to extensive salvage logging between 2002 and 2017 in response to the mountain pine beetle outbreak. Forest fires also hit the area hard in 2017.

“The board is concerned that unplanned salvage of fire-damaged stands could make a grave situation even worse,” continued Kriese. “We are recommending that government take steps to address fisher habitat needs and

work to restore the local population over time.”

The board also recommends that for any large-scale salvage logging operations in future, government ensures harvesting is coordinated between the various forest companies, addresses habitat needs of species at risk and is monitored to ensure it is properly implemented and effective.

Fishers like large stands of older forests with lots of large trees, snags and coarse woody debris but areas of mostly-dead timber may still provide habitat for fishers. Impacts to fisher habitat in the Nazko area will also have implications for other species with similar habitat needs, the board added.

in Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state. Fishers, a close relative of the martin but twice as large, like older forests stands with lots of large trees. Citizen news service

Parade of Homes this Sunday

Citizen staff

The Parade of Homes is ready to roll this Sunday.

That’s when some of the best of what Prince George home builders have to offer will be showcased.

It’s an opportunity to compare styles, plans, decor and neighbourhoods – and meet the builders themselves – making it a worthwhile trip for both those thinking of buying a new home and those interested in renovating their current homes.

It all starts at the 4096 Brink Place in the Nechako View subdivision, where you can get your map along with a free pancake breakfast, available from 9 a.m. to noon, and complimentary coffee or hot chocolate and enter free draws.

It’s also the starting point for the Shaw Scavenger Hunt.

From there, you can drive yourself around or take the shuttle, which leaves at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

The lead home is the 2018 Hospice Dream Home built by Lithium One Construction

Police make huge drug seizure

Citizen news service

Calgary Police have arrested two suspects after seizing what investigators are calling a shocking amount of illegal drugs.

Police say they pulled over a minivan on Oct. 4 and found 66 kilograms of cocaine and 30 kilograms of methamphetamine along with approximately $41,000 in cash.

“To my knowledge this is one of the largest drug seizures in CPS history and certainly a substantial drug seizure for the province of Alberta,” Insp. Keith Cain said Thursday.

Navjot Singh, 23, has been charged with two counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Gurjeet Ghotra, 20, faces two counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking.

UNBC places second in Maclean’s rankings

Citizen staff

The University of Northern British Columbia continues to be rated as a top university for its size in the nation.

UNBC placed second of 19 universities in the primarily undergraduate category of Maclean’s Magazine’s annual ranking of Canadian universities.

This marks the fifth straight year UNBC has finished in the top two in its category. Mount Allison finished first, with Trent University coming third.

“The university continues to make progress across a wide variety of priority areas, from enhancing student success to fostering leading edge research,” said UNBC president Daniel Weeks.

“This ranking is a demonstration that we can be considered a destination of choice for students from across Canada, and that we are providing an environment in which our students, faculty, staff and graduates can not only find personal success, but lead the way in the global search for new knowledge and discovery.”

UNBC placed second in three of the 12 categories surveyed by Maclean’s, including the number of students who have won national awards, student to faculty ratio, and library expenses.

UNBC also received top grades in

the amount of money available to faculty for research and two categories devoted to how the university allocates resources, including operating expenditures per student.

UNBC also scored well in the number of faculty members winning national awards. In the student satisfaction survey, Maclean’s once again gave UNBC strong marks for mental health services available on campus and making Indigenous histories, cultures and languages visible on campus. Students also gave high marks to UNBC’s course instructors, student life staff and administrative staff.

“UNBC continues to play an important leadership role, not only in Northern British Columbia, but across Canada and even globally,” said UNBC board of governors chair Tracey Wolsey.

“Our consistent appearance at or near the top of these rankings demonstrates the commitment and dedication of the UNBC community, and the pride and devotion put forth by all our supporters and champions.”

Simon Fraser placed first in the comprehensive list, while McGill and the University of Toronto tied for first in the medical doctoral category.

The full report is posted at www.macleans.ca.

Trudeau appoints new senators

OTTAWA — Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau has named Ontario lawyer Josee Forest-Niesing and Mi’kmaq leader Brian Francis from Prince Edward Island as the newest members of the Senate.

The two are the latest senators to be appointed through the open nomination process created by Trudeau, who has now appointed 45 independent members to the Red Chamber.

Forest-Niesing is from Sudbury, where she has specialized as a trial lawyer dealing with family, civil litigation and employment

cases while also serving as an active member and volunteer in the local francophone community. Francis is the high-profile chief of the Abegweit First Nation on PEI’s northern coast and has served in a variety of positions, including with the federal fisheries department as a contact for local First Nations and as an advocate for Indigenous culture in the province. While Trudeau welcomed “Parliament’s newest independent senators,” Elections Canada records show Forest-Niesing previously donated thousands of dollars to the Liberal Party.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

The 2018 Hospice Dream Home Lottery house will be one of the homes on the Parade of Homes this Sunday.

not up to school boards

There are email and social media campaigns across B.C., as well as school trustee candidates in several parts of the province, that are trying to put a stop to the implementation of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) programs in schools.

The Canadian Council for Faith and Family is just one of the groups that has fired out emails to school board candidates, including those running in Prince George, demanding they do something to stop “children as young as four years of age (being taught) that they are ‘gender fluid’ and can be whatever sex they want based on their feelings.”

These groups are informing candidates that their members will decide who to vote for in the general election next Saturday based on their SOGI stance.

The problem is that the personal view of an individual school trustee on SOGI is irrelevant. SOGI is provincially mandated by the Ministry of Education, meaning it’s a mandatory part of the curriculum in every public and private school in the province. School board candidates appealing to voters for support because they are anti-SOGI is as ridiculous as a candidate campaigning to have Biblical creationism taught alongside evolution in science class.

And even if enough anti-SOGI school

board candidates were elected to form a majority in a school district, it wouldn’t matter. The instant that school board would pass a vote to take SOGI out of their local schools, the education minister would fire the board and appoint new trustees. Yes, the provincial government has that authority and yes, both the Liberals and the NDP have done so in the past for various reasons.

The Prince George school district has been a provincial leader on this file after facing some harsh criticism that it wasn’t doing enough to address bullying and provide student support.

The limited autonomy school boards have over SOGI is that they can choose to use the SOGI 123 classroom materials provided by the education ministry or they can substitute some or all of the modules with their own in-house instruction, provided those materials are approved by the ministry and meet the overall SOGI goals. A number of private Christian schools in B.C. have come up with their own SOGI instruction that meets education ministry requirement while also accommodating religious beliefs.

And it’s actually not that hard.

At the primary and elementary school grades, it’s simply about teaching diversity among individuals and families, encouraging tolerance of individuals who look or

act differently or hold different beliefs and discouraging discrimination. Teasing a girl about her short “boy hair” or a boy about acting “like a girl” or using phrases like “that’s gay” are all teachable moments about fairness and kindness.

In the higher elementary grades and moving into the secondary grades, the specifics of orientation and identity can be explored in more detail, working from that bedrock of acceptance and tolerance. By this age, students are old enough to learn the specific words – bisexual, transgender, transsexual, intersex and so on – and their meanings, the harm caused by transphobia and homophobia, as well as how some young people find themselves questioning their gender and/or their orientation.

Most importantly, this education is not presented in a moral context or as a right/ wrong judgment. On the contrary, it simply fosters a broader view, a “people are people” and “different strokes for different folks” mentality.

As for petitioning School District 57 candidates to do something about SOGI,

Voters need to be represented

Glenn Martin’s letter to the editor in Saturday’s Citizen makes the assumption that because there are right wing radicals appearing in some European countries then proportional representation is at fault. Not true. Far right politicians are appearing in every corner of the developed world no matter what form of government. We only need to look at the U.S. and Ontario for examples of first past the post constituencies sliding to the right. These right wing resurgences have everything to do with the millions of people attempting to escape from corruption, war and famine in other parts of the world and nothing to do with proportional representation. The right wing radicals are spouting simplistic solutions to what is an extremely complex problem and unfortunately many are buying into it. European governments are having to contend with millions of refugees from Africa coming to their countries and wanting to stay there. These right wing extremists are going to rear their heads everywhere in the developed world and the best defense against them is an engaged, involved population. People need to be aware of what is happening politically, both provincially and federally.

Proportional representative countries, on average, have a 1015 per cent better voter turnout than first past the post countries. More people voting and getting involved in their constituencies is

the best safeguard for a moderate democracy.

PR is not about giving one or another political ideology an advantage, it is about ensuring that the will of the majority of the electorate is represented in our government, something our present system does a poor job of.

In the five elections from 1996 to 2013 there was only one where a majority of the electorate voted for the winner yet all of them saw the winner have a majority government. The other four were all false majorities where the government did not represent the majority of those who voted. Proportional representation is all about ensuring the governments that govern us represent a majority of the voters.

If a party gets 40 per cent of the popular vote, then they should get 40 per cent of the seats in the legislature. That to me is democracy – not what we see happening repeatedly in B.C., and for that matter, Canada. Our current system gives the winning party a “bonus” at the expense of lesser parties. This bonus is what the “No” side is wanting to keep going.

Each of the three options for PR on the ballot will meet the criteria British Columbians say is important to them. That is a system that is simple, produces proportional results, does not significantly increase the numbers of MLAs, and does not reduce local and rural representation.

PR would not reduce the number of MLAs in northern ridings nor would it in any way reduce the north’s influence in the legislature.

Nor will the system be too

complicated. There are nearly 100 countries worldwide presently using PR. If they are intelligent enough to vote, I am confident we will be too. Over 80 per cent of the 35 countries in the OECD (the most successful democracies in the world) have a PR form of government. They manage to elect governments with a higher percentage of voters than we do, and have stable, prosperous, content, peaceful societies. We will too. Is the system rigged to favour the left? The “No” folks would like to see a threshold of 60 per cent for PR to win. They want to retain a system that elects majority governments with 40 per cent of the vote but feel 60 per cent should be required for this one. Go figure.

“No” supporters are throwing out several fear mongering suggestions of what will happen with a “yes” vote. They talk about MLA’s not being accountable to their constituents. Simply not true, they will be no less accountable than they are now. They claim our government would be less stable and there would be more elections. Studies show that PR governments, on average, last as long as FPTP governments. The United Nations declared the top six of the world’s best run democracies are PR. They want to retain an unfair, dated method of voting simply because it gives the winner a bonus of more seats than the number of votes they have received justifies.

I would like to see us have a voting system that will consistently give us governments that represent the majority of voters.

John Warner Prince George

advertising: 250-562-6666 cls@pgcitizen.ca

these advocacy groups need to look at their audience.

The Prince George school district has been a provincial leader on this file after facing some harsh criticism that it wasn’t doing enough to address bullying and provide student support. After passing an LGBTQ policy in February 2014, local school trustees budgeted for the hiring of a district inclusivity teacher. Since then, Sue Trabant has been working with schools, teachers, and families to educate and inform the entire community, while also serving as an advocate for all students, regardless of where they are on the gender and orientation spectrum, with an emphasis on the most vulnerable.

Along with Trabant, school district trustees, administrators and staff should be proud of the work to make local schools safer and more welcoming, while also instilling a more tolerant and accepting attitude in a new generation.

There will be plenty of other more important issues for the elected school board trustees to work on over the next four years, on matters where they actually have greater control over education policy.

SOGI is an excellent educational program and anyone is free to disagree with that but those complaints need to go to MLAs, not to school trustees.

— Editor-in-chief Neil Godbout

Poverty argument has personal sides

Social Development

Minister Shane Simpson had a tough childhood.

He touched on it briefly in the legislature recently to make a point.

“I grew up in the Downtown Eastside in a housing project on welfare with my mom and sister.”

He worked his way out and his interest in politics led to staff jobs with MPs and MLAs that eventually led to a political career of his own.

During his first campaign, in 2005, he returned to the socialhousing project where he grew up to knock on doors.

“I ran into three people that I’d grown up with who were living there, all still living in poverty. One of them was now taking care of their grandkids.

“They were good people. They weren’t bad people. They were smart people. They could not figure out how to break that cycle. Their kids didn’t break it and the chances are pretty good that their grandkids won’t break that cycle.”

The anecdote illustrated the enormity of the problem that a bill he’s introduced is designed to solve. It’s the Poverty Reduction Strategy Act.

It’s a few pages outlining a new plan to legislate specific targets and timelines to reduce poverty substantially. He called it “historic.” It will be historic only if it works.

It’s been on the NDP’s to-do list for years, introduced numerous times through private members’ bills that never went anywhere.

Even after they gained power, it took a while to get it into the legislature, as the groundwork for the strategy ran into delays.

Now that it’s before the house, it’s prompting extended debate that illustrates some key political disagreements.

B.C. Liberal MLA Laurie Throness said it’s a classic difference – “the NDP concentrating on government action and we on this side looking to the market, to personal initiative, not just to reduce poverty but lift people out of poverty permanently.”

Simpson said 12 per cent of B.C.’s population lives in poverty – 557,000 people, 99,000 of them children.

About 200,000 of them are on welfare. The rest – the majority –are working poor. An “incredibly inordinate” number are Indigenous people.

When “five or six per cent of the population is Indigenous and 35

per cent of your poverty list is Indigenous, we’re doing something wrong,” he said.

So the fix is a series of initiatives flowing from a plan coming next spring. Specific measures will be incorporated into a plan to cut child poverty by half and poverty overall by a quarter by 2024. The actual strategy is due by March 2019. It is to include all the initiatives the government will use. Progress will be measured by StatCan’s market-basket measure.

An advisory committee of people from nine different categories will ride herd on the strategy.

That drew Throness’s fire, as well. He called it a “major talk shop” that will rack up travel bills and drive new spending programs and “new escalating demands on the taxpayer.”

Liberal MLA Ellis Ross matched Simpson’s personal story with his own. He had a similarly tough childhood before becoming a Haisla leader. He lived on welfare as an adult, which drove him to alcohol, a problem he overcame 17 years ago.

He said he worked on poverty reduction in his First Nation, “full of energy and vigour.” But he got disillusioned because all the efforts crashed into the fact his people couldn’t find jobs.

He summed up the thrust of the poverty-reduction programs as:

“Get an education, then leave your territory for the rest of your life and get a job.”

But Indigenous people don’t want to leave home.

“They leave for a job, but ultimately their goal is to get back.

“I’m just glad I didn’t spend the last 14 years trying to develop a poverty-reduction plan.

“It was one year before I realized I couldn’t get anywhere with it.” He took a different tack, toward economic development and negotiating access to the wealth flowing from it. It led eventually to liquefied natural gas partnerships, which paid off for the Haisla in a big way.

Greens back the poverty-reduction-strategy bill.

B.C. Liberals will likely wind up voting for it. Who’s going to vote against reducing poverty?

But some of them have misgivings about the thinking behind it.

LES LEYNE

In the Fast Leyne

Russian rocket failure raises questions for Canadian astronaut

Sidhartha BANERJEE, Giuseppe VALIANTE Citizen news service

MONTREAL — Canadian astronaut

David Saint-Jacques’ scheduled space voyage in December is in doubt following a rocket failure Thursday that forced a Soyuz capsule with two astronauts on board to make an emergency landing, Canadian officials say.

Russia announced Thursday it was suspending manned space launches pending an investigation into what happened when the Soyuz capsule transporting NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos’ Alexei Ovchinin automatically jettisoned from the booster.

U.S. and Russian space officials said Hague and Ovchinin were safe after a rocket failed two minutes into their flight to the International Space Station, forcing an emergency landing on the steppes of central Kazakhstan.

Saint-Jacques, 48, of St-Lambert, Que. was part of the backup crew for Thursday’s failed space flight and was on site for the launch.

He is scheduled to be aboard a Dec. 20 launch to the space station from the Russia-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, in what would be his first trip to the International Space Station.

Retired Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield said Thursday that if the rocket problem was simple and diagnosable, Saint-Jacques could be up in space “not too far away from the time they were planning.

“But if it’s a complicated problem –and rocket failures are almost always complicated problems – it will take longer for them to sort out what it was; so it could be many months,” Hadfield said during a question-and-answer session he hosted on Twitter.

Hadfield said the three astronauts currently living on the International Space Station “are basically marooned there –indefinitely at this point, until we can get another vehicle out there.”

Former Canadian astronaut Robert Thirsk was the first Canadian to fly on a Soyuz capsule, when he travelled to the International Space Station in 2009 for a six-month mission.

He said in an interview that depending on the cause of the rocket failure, the remedy might be something that could be implemented in days.

But the Soyuz capsule destined for Saint-Jacques’s trip in December is currently being assembled, Thirsk said – and if that vehicle is similarly affected

to the one that failed on Thursday, “then no, we aren’t going to launch in two months. It will be months away (following) the corrections that need to be put in place.”

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov told reporters the Soyuz capsule automatically jettisoned from the booster when it failed. He said all manned launches will be suspended pending an investigation into the cause of the failure, adding that Russia will share all relevant information with the United States.

Gilles Leclerc, director general of space exploration at the Canadian Space Agency, said the Russians have a good track record of identifying and quickly resolving problems.

“We’ll see if there’s an impact on the launch manifest to the space station,” he said from the agency headquarters in Longueuil, Que. “Right now, it’s waitand-see for the Canadian Space Agency.”

Leclerc said the plan remains “to launch David Saint-Jacques as soon as possible to the space station: conducting experiments, doing science and being the figurehead of the human space flight program for Canada.”

He added that Saint-Jacques, who was travelling to Moscow on Thursday before returning home to Houston, would not lose his spot on a launch in the event of any delays. Saint-Jacques himself was not immediately available for comment.

“Canada has a crew allocation on the International Space Station – on flight every four years or thereabouts,” Leclerc said. “There will be a Canadian flying to the space station very soon.”

Thirsk said the crew inside the Soyuz capsule likely weren’t feeling any fear when they noticed one of the rockets had failed.

“Fear would be put to the back of your mind,” he said. “We are trained to compartmentalize. If you’re doing a demanding mission, then you have to really focus on that task at hand and you don’t have time to think about injury or death or family. You just really focus on the next action you’re taking.”

Leclerc said astronauts train for all contingencies, including ballistic landings like the one on Thursday in which astronauts are subjected to heavy gravitational forces.

“It was a High-G experience. People who have gone through this type of incident report it’s like a car crash,” he said.

“But they appear to be in good physical shape.”

The space agencies said the astronauts were in good condition after their capsule landed about 20 kilometres east of the city of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan.

“Thank God the crew is alive,” Dmitry Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, told reporters when it became clear the crew had landed safely.

— With files from the Associated Press.

Public consultation begins on possible handgun ban

Citizen news service

OTTAWA — Border Security Minister

Bill Blair is launching a national public conversation about whether Canada should ban handguns and assault rifles.

Blair announced Thursday he will lead a series of public engagement activities, including roundtables and discussions with stakeholders to be held over the coming weeks. An online portal is also now open for written submissions from the public until Nov. 10.

Blair says the government wants to hear a diversity of views on how to reduce violent crime in Canada and whether a ban on handguns and assault weapons would be the best way to address the problem.

Landslide prompts evacuation alert

Citizen news service

FORT ST. JOHN — A slumping hillside that is threatening dozens of homes in northeastern British Columbia has prompted an evacuation alert for part of Fort St. John.

The alert was issued on Wednesday for a section of the city’s southernmost outskirts at the top of the steep hill overlooking the Peace River and the riverbank community of Old Fort.

The slowly moving landslide began more than 10 days ago and

has gradually torn up the only road down to Old Fort, toppled power lines and forced the Peace River Regional District to order the evacuation of all 54 homes in the suburb.

A news release from Fort St. John says the evacuation alert is precautionary and will allow city staff to effectively respond to the constantly changing event. No homes are affected by the alert, which covers two sewage lagoons described by the city as “dormant and empty.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked Blair to lead the public probe into a possible ban after a series of deadly gun incidents this year, including a mass shooting on Toronto’s Danforth Avenue in July that killed an 18-year-old and a 10-year-old girl and injured 13 others.

Montreal and Toronto city councils have called on Ottawa to implement bans on handguns and assault weapons.

Wild salmon under threat, report says

Citizen news service

VANCOUVER — British Columbia’s wild salmon face a series of complex threats that a new report says requires urgent and strategic intervention.

The B.C. government appointed the Wild Salmon Advisory Council earlier this year to provide insight and guidance on protecting provincial salmon stocks, while maximizing their resource value.

The report released Thursday says while it’s difficult to pinpoint the state of salmon in the province, it’s clear that across all regions and species, overall abundance has declined since the 1950s.

The report says poor marine survival rates, changing ocean conditions, habitat loss and inadequate water quality are all taking a toll on salmon.

The council makes 14 recommendations for a made-in-B.C. strategy to protect the salmon, including restoring habitat, increasing production of juvenile salmon, supporting value-added fishing opportunities and tourism and working with Indigenous communities on harvest and conservation goals.

The release of the report coincides with the declaration of the International Year of the Salmon, and federal Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson also introduced his government’s five-year plan to help rebuild Pacific wild salmon populations and their habitats.

“Our government will continue to protect this species, which has such cultural, social and economic significance for Canadians,” Wilkinson said. “Together, we can help rebuild these stocks for the benefit of our entire ecosystem and for generations to come.”

The Soyuz MS-10 space capsule lays in a field near Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on Thursday, after a rocket failure forced an emergency landing.

8

Powell River takes battle of Kings

Ted CLARKE Citizen staff tclarke@pgcitizen.ca

Revenge was on the minds of the Powell River Kings for what the Prince George Spruce Kings did to them in April. The teams renewed acquaintances Thursday night for the first time since the Spruce Kings sent Powell River packing with a five-game series defeat in the third round of the B.C. Hockey League playoffs.

On this night, Powell River dominated special teams play, scoring two power-play goals and one while shorthanded to overwhelm the Spruce Kings 5-2 in what has to rate as their worst home performance this season. The opponents certainly made them look bad, clogging the shooting lanes, blocking shots and preventing rebound opportunities around the Powell River net.

“They came in here and played like a team that got slighted a bit in the playoffs last year and full credit to them for the victory, they were the better team tonight,” said Spruce Kings general manager Mike Hawes. “We need to be better. The defence, which is the core of our team, was not good tonight. Our goaltending needs to be better than it was tonight and our forwards didn’t generate enough. Our veterans were not good. When our veterans decide they’re not going to show up to play, this is the result we’re going to get.”

With the win, Powell River improved to 7-4-0-0, two points behind the Island Division-leading Victoria Grizzlies. The Spruce Kings dropped to 7-4-0-1 and remained third in the Mainland Division, three points back of the first-place Chilliwack Chiefs.

It didn’t take long for the Mainland Division Kings to fall behind the 8-ball. They dug themselves a 2-0 hole after one period, both goals coming on Powell River power plays. Ben Berard was left unguarded in front and got down on one knee to slap in his 10th of the season and Mitchell Williams followed up a few minutes later,

batting in a rebound.

Corey Cunningham picked an opportune time to notch his first of the season and the 17-year-old from Prince George did most of the work. He forced a turnover with an aggressive forecheck along the end boards and Chong Min Lee got a shot away that was saved by Mitch Adamyk but the rebound was left for Cunningham, who chipped it high and in five minutes into the second period.

Powell River came into the game as the least-penalized team in the BCHL but got caught on three occasions in the second period bending the rules. The Spruce Kings set up in the Powell River end for those first two power plays but failed to produce any quality shots on goal. The only decent scoring chance came on the third manpower advantage of the pe-

riod and it wasn’t a Prince George player creating it. Josh Coblenz and Christian Buono broke in 2-on-1 with defenceman Layton Ahac the lone Spruce King back. Coblenz waited as Ahac slid to try to break up the play before laying a saucer pass on Buono’s stick and he had plenty of net to shoot at behind Logan Neaton to score the shorthanded goal.

“Special teams played a big factor, we were terrible on the power play and gave up a shorthanded goal,” said Hawes. “I don’t even think we generated many shots on the power play and their power play was good and that was certainly the difference in the game.”

The Spruce Kings outshot the visitors 15-6 in the second period but trailed 3-1 after 40 minutes.

Coblenz added to the total 4:43

into the third period, scoring on a rebound two seconds after the Spruce Kings had killed off a penalty to Tyler Schleppe. Patrick Cozzi’s rebound effort 13:56 into the third briefly fuelled the Spruce Kings’ hopes of a comeback but that’s as close it got. The shots ended up 37-22 in the Spruce Kings’ favour. The Kings will be back on home ice Saturday night when they host the Salmon Arm Silverbacks in their one and only regular-season visit to Rolling Mix Concrete Arena.

LOOSE PUCKS: Among the crowd of 706 in attendance were scouts from five NHL teams – Boston, New Jersey, Minnesota, Toronto and Anaheim. Ahac, an Ohio State recruit in his second year as a Spruce Kings defenceman, is attracting plenty of interest in ad-

T-wolves tackle Heat with playoffs in sight

Ted CLARKE Citizen staff

A top-three divisional finish is not out of the question for the UNBC Timberwolves.

Running the table and sinking their opponents in their last four games to close the U Sports Canada West men’s soccer regular season might be enough to do the trick. First things first. Making the playoffs for the second straight year is not yet a done deal for UNBC. It all comes down to winning percentages in the unbalanced Canada West conference because some teams play 15 games and some play 16, and right now the T-wolves (4-3-4, .485 percentage) have a grip on fourth place in the Pacific Division.

The T-wolves are still within striking range of the third-place Fraser Valley Cascades (6-4-1, .576 percentage) and could even leapfrog the second-place Trinity Western Spartans (7-1-4, .694 percentage), although that’s unlikely considering the Spartans are on a four-game winning streak – the hottest team in Canada West. The UBC Thunderbirds (10-0-2, .889 percentage) essentially have first place wrapped up.

“We’re at this crux here where we have to decide who we want to be – we’ve played 11 games and lost three and that’s the reality of why

we’re in a playoff position but if we really want to turn ourselves into a top team we have to turn some of those ties into wins,” said T-wolves head coach Steve Simonson.

“We’re confident now that we can handle everybody. Do we believe that we can be the better team all the time? That’s a big step for us. Can we truly step into a game and believe we’re going to win every single game? If we can do that I think we’ll have a chance to do well this year in the playoffs, if we get there.”

A pair of wins this weekend at Masich Place Stadium against the UBC Okanagan Heat (2-6-4, seventh in Pacific) in their final home games of the season Saturday and Sunday (both 2 p.m. starts) would certainly keep the T-wolves in line for a better playoff seed against a Prairie Division opponent than they had last year as fourth-place finish-

ers in the crossover quarterfinal.

“There are no easy games, every team has proven they can take points off everybody,” said Simonson. “We expect similar to last year, it was a hard-fought close game with UBCO (two scoreless draws in 2017). They’re defensively very sound and they can hit you on some set pieces for sure. But they’ve got the ability to score goals.

“What we don’t know yet is because they’re not mathematically out of the playoffs, are they here to fight or are they close to thinking they’re done? I’m going to assume they’ll come here to fight for their lives. We could be up against a very hungry team. The worst thing that could happen is if we believe we’re in the playoffs before we are. We can’t be complacent whatsoever, we have to respect every opponent and go in playing every game to the best of our ability.”

Last weekend in Kamloops the T-wolves got caught flatfooted in the first game against the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack and lost 3-1, then came up with a frenzied finish in the rematch on Sunday to tie TRU 3-3. In that game the teams traded three goals in the final three minutes.

Cody Gysbers scored on a penalty kick for the T-wolves in the 88th minute, a goal countered immediately by WolfPack shooter

Justin Donaldson. But just before the whistle, fourth-year T-wolf Emmanuel Drame took a pass from Gordon Hall in the box and redirected the ball in for the tying goal.

“During the game we thought we’d done enough to be in the lead and of course to have to come from behind and equalize in the 90th minute 2-2 is a great accomplishment, but then we chuck it away 15 seconds later,” said Simonson.

“A lot of teams might have packed it in at that moment but our guys didn’t. I’m just proud of them for not rolling over. There was a real resilience in that moment to know that it’s not over until the bitter end. If we can take that forward it means we can come back from anything that’s going wrong in this push for the playoffs.”

The T-wolves are a bit banged up and won’t likely have the services of midfielders Michael Henman (ankle), Jonah Smith (lower body) and Josh McAvoy (foot).

Sunday’s home game will be the last in the five-year university soccer careers of T-wolves forward Francesco Bartolillo and defenders Conrad Rowlands and Gordon Hall.

The UNBC women (1-6-3, eighth in Pacific) are on the road in Alberta this weekend with games Saturday in Calgary and Sunday in Lethbridge.

vance of next year’s NHL draft… Kings defenceman Jason Chu, 17, played his first game for Prince George since being acquired in a trade with the Surrey Eagles two weeks ago… With forwards Sam Kozlowski and Layne Sniher both sick, the Spruce Kings called up right winger John Herrington from the Cariboo Cougars major midget team. The 16-year-old from Hudson’s Hope lined up for his first BCHL shift in the second period alongside centre Cozzi and left winger Craig MacDonald… Powell River has added to its depth on defence, signing 20-yearold Ryan Pouliot. The Ottawa native played as a 16-year-old for Powell River before going on to the WHL. He played 175 games in the Dub over four seasons for Red Deer, Kootenay, Swift Current and Vancouver.

Maser to sit four games

Ted CLARKE Citizen staff

Welcome to the jungle. The Prince George Cougars are going Tiger hunting tonight in Medicine Hat and they’ll have to do without one of their most formidable and intimidating weapons – 19-year-old winger Josh Maser. He’s been sentenced to a four-game suspension by the Western Hockey League’s disciplinary committee. That’s Maser’s additional punishment for taking out Vancouver Giants centre Justin Sourdis with a slew-foot check early in the second period of their game Saturday at CN Centre. — see CATS, page 8

Nick Poisson of the Prince George Spruce Kings works against Neil Samanski of the Powell River Kings deep in the Powell River zone during Thursday night’s BCHL game at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena.

MASER

Cats out to stop three-game skid

— from page 7

Losing Maser means someone else will have to fill in for the six-foot-two, 218-pound native of Houston. Although Maser has struggled to produce points lately with just a goal and an assist in seven games after a 28-goal season in 2017-18, he’s still one of the team’s top left wingers and a team leader on and off the ice.

“Obviously it’s a big hole – he’s a big physical player for us but as a group we stress as coaches and management that you’ve got to play within the rules,” said Cougars head coach Richard Matvichuk. “There was no conclusive evidence but there was enough to suspend him and we accept it as an organization and we have to move on.”

The Cougars are on a three-game road trip which stops Saturday in Lethbridge and Sunday afternoon in Cranbrook, home of the Kootenay Ice.

The Cougars (2-4-0-1, third in B.C. Division) are trying to shake a three-game losing streak which began two weekends ago with a loss at home to the Kelowna Rockets. They played well through large stretches of their two-game series at CN Centre last weekend against the Giants and were especially good in Saturday’s game but left the ice without a point, losing 3-2.

Goalie Isaiah DiLaura made his season debut in that game in net for the Cougars and was solid throughout, stopping 25 of 28 shots. Matvichuk says the 19-year-old from Minnesota will likely play one of the three games on the weekend. Taylor Gauthier will draw the start tonight in Medicine Hat.

“I thought he played well – his rebound control was really good and his puck touches with the defence were good also. I was impressed with him,” said Matvichuk.

Defenceman Cameron MacPhee, 19, remains sidelined with a lower-body injury he was nursing during training camp. The Cougars are otherwise healthy.

“It gives an opportunity for some other guys who have stepped up and played some key minutes for us – the Jack Sanders, the Tyson Phares – it’s just a matter of us, keep building this thing,” said Matvichuk. Phare, the Cougars’ first-round bantam pick (18th overall) in 2017, started training camp as a winger but was moved back to defence, his natural position in minor hockey, and the 16-year-old has not looked out of place.

“He’s a smart player, an offensive player, and being 16 you have to be patient with guys like this and develop them in the proper areas and it’s not going to be an overnight thing,” said Matvichuk. “There’s going to be days when he plays more and days when he’s in and out of the lineup. That’s part of being 16. “With the likes of our (2003-born) and even going back to our (2002-born) players, we’ve drafted what we wanted and they’re people who are going to play in our organization. Mark Lamb (who took over from Todd Harkins this summer as the Cougars’ general manager) is a very patient GM, which is awesome. Now it’s just a matter of us sticking with the game plan and go from there.”

The Tigers (3-5-0-1, fourth in Central Division) will be looking for a better performance than they brought to the rink in their most recent game, a 5-0 loss Monday at Kootenay.

“We have to expect their best. They’re a skilled hockey team that plays hard and we’re going to have to play the way we can, the way we did on Friday and Saturday, to come out of there with a win,” said Matvichuk. “All we’ve basically played is division hockey games here and we’re looking forward to something different.”

When they play the Hurricanes Saturday in Lethbridge the Cougars will likely face former Cariboo Cougars forward Ty Kolle, acquired last week in a trade from the Portland Winterhawks. The 18-yearold from Kamloops scored two goals and was picked as the first star Wednesday in the Hurricanes’ 4-2 win over the Regina Pats.

The Cougars will be back at home next weekend to play the defending WHL-champion Swift Current Broncos in an afternoon matinee on Sunday, Oct. 21. The Cougars have designated that as Minor Sports Day and will be offering group discounts on tickets to teams and minor sports organizations.

Canucks zap Lightning in third

TAMPA, Fla. — Elias Petterson and Brock Boeser scored 1:10 apart in the third period and Jake Virtanen and Markus Granlund added empty-net goals in the Vancouver Canucks’ 4-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.

Petterson scored his fourth goal in four games in his rookie season. Anders Nilsson made 33 saves in his season debut.

Brayden Point scored his first goal of the season for the Lightning, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves.

Vancouver withstood an early surge to keep the game close, trailing by a goal entering the third period. The persistence was rewarded first when defenceman Derrick Pouliot threw a wrist shot toward the net from the left point that Petterson was able to deflect around Vasilevskiy and inside the post with 8:53 remaining. Boeser then fired a slap shot from the right circle past Vasilevskiy.

NOTES: Lightning C Tyler Johnson returned to the lineup after missing the opener with an upper-body injury. ... Vancouver C Antoine Roussel missed his fourth consecutive game with a concussion. Coach Travis Green said following Thrusday’s morning skate Roussel is getting close to a return. ... Tampa Bay scratched RW Cory Conacher, C Danick Martel and D Slater Koekkoek.

The Canucks scratched D Michael Del Zotto, D Alex Biega and LW Brandon Leipsic. ... The Lightning are 0-for-8 on the power play to start the season. UP NEXT Canucks: At Florida on Saturday night. Lightning: Host Columbus on Saturday night.

Sedins to have numbers retired

VANCOUVER (CP) — Daniel and Henrik Sedin will soon have their jerseys hanging in the rafters of Rogers Arena.

The Vancouver Canucks announced on Thursday that the numbers of the recently retired twin superstars will be retired as part of a week-long celebration next season.

So far, no date has been set for the event.

Centre Henrik Sedin wore 33 for the Canucks. He had 240 goals and 840 assists over 1,070 games and holds the franchise’s points record.

Left-winger Daniel Sedin wore 22 and is Vancouver’s all-time leading goal scorer, with 393 goals and 648 assists in 1,041 games.

The 38-year-old brothers retired at the end of last season after spending their entire 17-year NHL playing careers with the Canucks.

The organization, which came into the NHL in the 1970-71 season, has previously retired four other numbers: right-winger Stan Smyl’s No. 12, left winger Markus Naslund’s No. 19, right winger Pavel Bure’s No. 10, and No. 16, worn by centre and former team president Trevor Linden.

Two more goals for Matthews

Citizen news service

DETROIT — Auston Matthews scored twice for a league-leading nine goals – tying an NHL record after five games – and helped the Toronto Maple Leafs beat Detroit Red Wings 5-3 Thursday night.

Matthews joined Alex Ovechkin, Patrick Marleau, Mario Lemieux and Mike Bossy as the players in league history to score nine times in their teams’ first five games. He is the third player in franchise history to score in its first five games of a season.

Morgan Rielly had a goal and an assist, giving him 11 points to equal

Bobby Orr’s strong start during the 1973-74 season. Rielly and Orr trail only defenceman Harry Cameron, who had 15 points in the Toronto Arenas’ first five games of the 1917-18 season.

Nick Jensen gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead midway through the first period and scored a second goal midway through the third to pull them within a goal.

Soon after Jensen’s second goal, Matthews took advantage of a power play by scoring his second goal of the game.

Detroit pulled within a goal again when a review determined Dylan Larkin scored with 6:04 left in the game. The Red Wings pulled Jimmy Howard to

Northern

After taking their lumps last season in the B.C. Hockey Female Midget Triple-A League, there’s a new attitude that’s swept over the Northern Capitals. They plan on doing a lot more winning in 2018-19 and so far that has indeed has been the case.

The Prince George-based team, under new head coach Justin Fillion, went 2-2 last weekend at the league’s showcase in Surrey. Those two wins are one-third of their entire win output all of last season. They finished last in the five-team league with a 6-260 record.

add an extra skater, but Ron Hainsey scored an empty-net goal to seal the win.

Frederik Andersen made 26 saves and Mitch Marner had a goal for the Maple Leafs.

Howard had 30 stops for the rebuilding Red Wings, who have lost their first four games for the first time since the 1980.

The Atlantic Division-leading Maple Leafs have won three straight.

Matthews joined Sweeney Schriner (1944-45) and Corb Denneny (192122) in team history as the three players who scored in each of its first five games in a season.

“It wasn’t a bad weekend at all, we were in every game,” said Fillion. “Unfortunately we ended up 2-2 but there were a lot of positives to take out of the weekend.”

The Capitals have six returning 17-yearolds, including goalie Tessa Sturgeon, Braxtyn Shawara, Camryn Scully, Hayley Stephen, and two newcomers, Georgia Musil of Whitehorse and Sarah Sampson of Fort St. James. There are two 16-year-olds, nine 15-year-olds and one 14-year-old (goalie PetticlercCrosby).

It’s obvious this year’s team is much improved.

Local fans can see that for themselves this weekend when the Capitals host the Fraser Valley Rush in a three-game home-opening series at Kin 2. Last weekend at the showcase the Capitals started out with a 2-1 loss to the Vancouver Island Seals. They came back with a 4-0 shutout victory last Saturday over the Thompson-Okanagan Lakers, backed by goalie Cadence Petticlerc-Crosby of Williams Lake, but lost their second game of the day 3-1 to Fraser Valley. The Capitals ended the weekend Sunday with a 4-2 win over the Seals.

Fillion predicts the Rush will be difficult opponents in the three-game series.

“They’re a hardworking, good skating team and they have a bunch of skill so we can’t take them lightly,” said Fillion.

“I’m expecting a better effort from our girls. The first time we played them it was our second game of the day and there was only one game between, so there were some external factors. But at the end of the day we didn’t show up to play and we can’t use that as an excuse.”

Dayle Poulin has returned as an assistant coach. Mitch Shawara is also helping Fillion out as an assistant and Cindy Outhouse is the team manager. Tonight’s game starts at 6 p.m. The Capitals and Rush meet again Saturday at 5:45 p.m. and Sunday at 10 a.m.

Ted CLARKE Citizen staff

AP PHOTO

Brandon Sutter of the Vancouver Canucks tries to pull away from Tampa Bay’s Anthony Cirelli during Thursday night’s game in Tampa, Fla.

Citizen news service

Kershaw tasked with keeping Brewers flat

Citizen news service

MILWAUKEE — Build an early lead, get five good innings out of the starter and bring in the bullpen.

The Milwaukee Brewers used that formula to win 11 straight games going into the NL Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Clayton Kershaw could be the ace that finally puts a stop to the streak.

The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner will start for Los Angeles in Game 1 on tonight at Miller Park.

“We know we’re not going to get a ton of opportunities” against Kershaw and Dodgers starting pitching, outfielder Ryan Braun said. “So we’ve talked about the importance of cashing in on the opportunities we do get.”

Once the Brewers take a lead, they’re hard to beat. Good luck getting to their lights-out bullpen. Milwaukee’s 3.47 ERA in relief was second in the NL only to the Chicago Cubs. The bullpen went 2-0 with a save and a 1.17 ERA in the three-game Division Series sweep Colorado.

Corey Knebel can come in as soon as the fifth, usually lightsout left-hander Josh Hader in just about any situation and Jeremy Jeffress in the late innings. All three relievers are capable of closing.

Knebel and Hader are making their post-season debuts, while Jeffress’ playoff experience before this year was limited to just one inning in 2016 with Texas.

“I thought it was going to be a lot different,” Knebel said Thursday of the playoffs. “The first time

I came in, I felt the same surprisingly. ... Hey’s it’s just another game. That’s all it is. You just want to keep playing ball.”

The spotlight probably won’t faze the Dodgers, who are in a third straight NLCS for the first time in franchise history. The strategy at the plate doesn’t change, either, just because Milwaukee’s relievers are so good.

Knebel, Hader and Jeffress, along with righty Joakim Soria, appeared in all three games against Colorado spread out over four days.

The NLCS is best-of-seven, with

the first four games over five days, so bullpen usage could differ.

“When you’re talking about a seven-game series,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “having those guys go to their bullpen and taxing them and beating the starter, there’s still a lot of value in that.”

Chasing the starter will require building an early lead that might require the Brewers to dip into their bullpen earlier or more often than planned.

“If they go bullpen game, like they did against the Rockies, it’s a seven-game set,” Dodgers infielder Max Muncy said. “It’s more

games you’re putting stress on the bullpen.”

Other notes and things to watch:

Unfinished business

Pressure in the NLCS? Maybe not for the Dodgers, who lost Game 7 of the World Series to the Houston Astros a year ago. Now that’s pressure.

“We want to finish off what we didn’t finish off last year. That’s been their focus since after that Game 7,” Roberts said. “We’re in a position right now where we can give ourselves an opportunity to

Springer still getting it done for Astros

Citizen news service

HOUSTON — Ask Houston manager AJ Hinch to name the best thing about George Springer and he rattles off a laundry list of qualities he admires in the outfielder.

When he finishes that list, he adds a final thought.

“I’m not sure there’s a perfect player,” Hinch said. “But he’s pretty close.”

Last year’s World Series MVP hit three homers during a sweep of Cleveland in the AL Division Series, and the Astros look for him to keep delivering as they prepare for Boston’s powerful lineup in the AL Championship Series beginning Saturday.

“There’s nothing not to like about Springer,” Hinch said. “His makeup’s good, his effort’s good, his competitiveness is off the charts, he’s happy when he comes to the ballpark every day, blends in well with all aspects of the clubhouse.”

Springer’s three homers are tied with Yankees slugger Aaron Judge for the most this post-season and his six hits rank third in the playoffs. It’s a continuation of the work he did in helping the Astros to their first World Series title last season.

In 2017, Springer hit six homers, five doubles and drove in nine runs in the post-season. Most of his damage came in the World Series when he hit five homers.

The leadoff man came one shy of the MLB

In 2017, Springer hit six homers, five doubles and drove in nine runs in the post-season. Most of his damage came in the World Series when he hit five homers.

record when extended his streak of post-season games with a home run to five with a solo shot in a win over the Indians in the ALDS opener. He didn’t homer in Game 2, but made up for it by connecting twice in Game 3 to help the Astros complete the sweep.

Springer tries not to get too wrapped up in statistics, but knows what people expect in October.

“This is a result-oriented time of the year,” Springer said. “But for us it’s about doing anything that you can for the team. So just sticking with that mentality.”

Springer’s teammates rave about what he does on the field and the attitude he brings to work every day.

“Unbelievable teammate, unbelievable player,” third baseman Alex Bregman said. “Stepped up huge for us last year and then is stepping up huge for us now. Definitely fun to be on his team. He loves to compete and

do anything to help the team win. We love George.”

A two-time All-Star, Springer was the 11th overall pick out of UConn in 2011. He made his debut in 2014 and since then has become one of Houston’s most consistent and dynamic players, part of a young core that helped the Astros morph from league laughingstocks to World Series champions in just a few short years. Springer hit a career-high 34 home runs last season and had 22 this year. It’s the type of power rarely seen in a leadoff hitter, but his pop combined with speed has been a great combination for the Astros.

He believes the experience this team gained in capturing the franchise’s first title last year will help the Astros as the get deeper into this post-season. Springer also thinks Houston’s success last year has given the team a certain calmness this season no matter what challenge it encounters. Springer is rarely seen without a smile and you can often find him cracking jokes to his teammates or dancing around the clubhouse. Despite the importance of the situation, he believes it’s important to remember that even though the stage is much bigger, they’re simply playing the game they love.

“This is a game where the higher up you go the harder it gets so you want to try to make things simple,” he said. “You want to try to have as much fun as you possibly can and just enjoy it and try to keep yourself and other guys loose.”

get back there.”

MVP watch

Outfielder Christian Yelich, making his post-season debut, hit .250 with a homer and two RBIs with two steals in the NLDS. The smooth-hitting left-hander went on a tear in the second half, hitting .367 after the All-Star break with 25 homers to help lift the Brewers to the NL Central crown.

When the series shifts to Dodger Stadium next week, the southern California native will be playing in a park where he used to watch games as a child .

Start it up

No bullpen day to open up the series for the Brewers. Milwaukee is going with left-hander Gio Gonzalez to oppose Kershaw in Game 1. For Gonzalez, it has been quite a rebound since being acquired in a deal with the Washington Nationals, going 3-0 with a 2.13 ERA in five starts with Milwaukee. “So to sit here, and I’m pitching Game 1 of the second round, I think it’s remarkable, pretty incredible,” Gonzalez said, “and hopefully I get to tell my kids about this one day.”

An 11-year veteran, Gonzalez is 4-1 with a 1.89 ERA in six career starts against the Dodgers.

Cy Kershaw

One of the toughest left-handers in baseball, Kershaw (9-5, 2.73) hasn’t been quite as good in his career in the NLCS. He is 2-4 with a 4.65 ERA in five career starts in this round.

Wentz on the mark for Philadelphia

EAST RUTHERFORD (AP)

— All the Philadelphia Eagles needed to get over their Super Bowl hangover was a little more urgency, some big plays – and a timely game against the New York Giants. Carson Wentz threw a seasonhigh three touchdown passes and the Eagles got an early lift from their defence and special teams in beating the struggling Giants 34-13 on Thursday night, avoiding their first threegame losing streak since 2016. Wentz sandwiched touchdowns passes of 13 yards and one yard to Alshon Jeffery around a 10-yarder to tight end Zach Ertz to help the Eagles (33) build a 31-6 lead. Corey Clement scored on a one-yard run and Jake Elliott added field goals of 33 and 30 yards for the defending Super Bowl champions. Rookie halfback Saquon Barkley scored on a 50-yard run and rushed for 130 yards in a bright spot for the Giants’ offence, which was booed repeatedly in losing at home for the third time.

AP PHOTO

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw smiles during a workout session in advance of the NLCS, which starts tonight in Milwaukee against the host Brewers.

Part of case against Weinstein dropped Melania says she might be ‘the most bullied person’

Citizen news service

A New York judge on Thursday dismissed part of the criminal sexual assault case against Harvey Weinstein after prosecutors said in court that they wouldn’t oppose the request from lawyers for the once-powerful movie mogul.

The dismissed charge relates to Weinstein accuser Lucia Evans, the Associated Press reported. Evans previously had told the New Yorker that Weinstein had forced her to perform oral sex on him in 2004.

On Thursday, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office also released a previously sealed letter it had sent to Weinstein’s lawyer in September. According to the letter, the DA’s office had recently learned a third-party witness gave an account to a detective, who then “failed to inform our office of important aspects of the account prior to the indictment in this case.”

Prosecutors maintain the disclosure doesn’t “impact the strength of the remaining case,” including predatory sexual assault.

“In short, we are moving full steam ahead,” assistant district attorney Joan Illuzzi said. “As

we do with every case, we will follow the facts of law wherever they may lead, and protect those who are preyed upon as well as the integrity of the process. Those who place their trust in us and the justice system deserve no less.”

Weinstein’s attorney, Benjamin Brafman, accused Evans of lying.

“This is a very positive development. I have said from the start that sexual assault is a serious crime, but falsely accusing someone of sexual assault is also a very serious crime,” Braufman told reporters Thursday outside of the courthouse.

An attorney for Evans said Thursday’s development “speaks volumes about the Manhattan DA’s office and its mishandling of my client’s case.”

“The prosecutor’s decision to abandon my client, Lucia Evans, does not invalidate the truth of her claims. It does speak to a system that needs to be reformed,” attorney Carrie Goldberg said in a statement. “The decision to throw away my client’s sexual assault charges says nothing about Weinstein’s guilt or innocence. Nor does it reflect on Lucia’s consistent allegation that she was sexually assaulted with force by Harvey Weinstein.”

Dino HAZELL Citizen news service

WASHINGTON — U.S. First lady Melania Trump says she could be “the most bullied person” in the world, judging by “what people are saying about me.”

She made the remark during a television interview in which she promoted her Be Best initiatives, which take on online bullying.

Critics have pointed out that her husband, U.S. President Donald Trump, routinely mocks people for their looks and for what he says is a lack of talent or intelligence.

“I could say I’m the most bullied person in the world,” Mrs. Trump said in the interview segment that aired Thursday on Good Morning America.

Mrs. Trump said her Be Best campaign is focusing on social media and online behaviour in part because of “what people are saying about me.”

“We need to educate the children of social emotional behaviour so when they grow up... they know how to deal with those issues,” she said.

The first lady also said there are people in the White House whom she and the president can’t trust. She didn’t name names but said she let her husband know about them.

“Well,” she said, “some people,

Ex-Top Chef contestant has year to live

they don’t work there anymore.”

Asked if some untrustworthy people still work in the White House, she said, “Yes.”

The Trump administration has dealt with an anonymous senior official’s newspaper op-ed column critical of the Republican president and with numerous staff departures. This week, UN Ambassador Nikki Haley announced she’s leaving at the end of the year.

The president, in an interview Thursday with Fox & Friends, was asked about why people he and

NEW YORK (AP) — Former Top Chef Fatima Ali says she has a year to live.

The 29-year-old underwent surgery to remove a tumour in January. However, Ali wrote Tuesday in an essay for Bon Appetit that the “cancer cells my doctors

his wife don’t trust are still in his administration.

“I didn’t know people in Washington, and now I know everybody,” he said. “I know some that I wish I didn’t know.”

He said he has “great people right now working.”

“Are there some that I’m not in love with? Yes,” Trump said. “And we’ll weed them out slowly but surely.”

Mrs. Trump’s full interview, conducted on her recent trip to Africa, is set to air tonight on ABC.

believed had vanished are back with a vengeance in my lift hip and femur bone.” Ali says her oncologist told her she has a year to live, “with or without the new chemotherapy regimen.” Ali appeared on Season 15 of the Bravo series.

AP PHOTO

Melania Trump pauses as she speaks to media during an Oct. 6 visit to the Giza Pyramids site near Cairo, Egypt.

At least six dead in aftermath of hurricane

Mark BERMAN, Antonia NOORI FARZAN, Eli ROSENBERG and J. Freedom DU LAC

Citizen news service

Tropical Storm Michael continues to march through the U.S. Southeast, still packing powerful winds and flood-causing rains.

Michael made landfall in the Florida Panhandle on Wednesday as a “potentially catastrophic” Category 4 hurricane – the strongest on record to hit the area – and charged north through Georgia and into the Carolinas, wreaking havoc and causing emergencies.

In the storm’s wake lay crushed and flooded buildings, shattered lives and at least six deaths, a number that officials worry could rise.

Authorities said Thursday they have linked at least six deaths in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina to the storm, a toll officials have worried could rise as search and rescue efforts continue.

In Florida, the Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office reported four deaths related to the storm. A spokeswoman said that one man was killed when a tree crashed through the roof of his home in Greensboro. The sheriff’s office said that it also had three other “storm-related fatalities following Hurricane Michael,” although it did not immediately release further information about what happened beyond saying that all four deaths were “in relation to or occurred during the storm.”

Gadsden, a county in northwest Florida not far from Tallahassee, took a direct shot from Michael as it churned northward on Wednesday.

In North Carolina, a 38-year-old man was killed Thursday afternoon shortly before 1 p.m. in Iredell County, north of Charlotte, when a tree fell on the vehicle he was driving, according to David Souther, the county’s fire marshall.

And in Georgia, officials in Seminole County, on the Florida border, said early Thursday said an 11-year-old girl in a mobile home was killed by a metal carport that was thrown in the air by Michael’s gusting winds.

William “Brock” Long, the FEMA administrator, said early Thursday that “search and rescue is where we are hyper-focused this morning.” He warned that the death toll may go up, saying in an appearance on CNN that “those numbers could climb as searchand-rescue teams get out.”

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, D, on Thursday declared a state of emergency in advance of the storm’s impact, warning people in the commonwealth to get ready for a sizable hit from the former hurricane.

“I want to urge all Virginians to prepare for the serious possibility of flash floods, tropical storm force winds, tornadoes and power outages,” Northam said.

In his executive order, Northam said he was activating the state’s emergency opera-

tions center as well as the Virginia National Guard.

Northam’s announcement comes after officials in the five states already hit by Michael – Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina and North Carolina – all declared emergencies.

Much of Virginia was under tornado watches and flash flood watches Thursday, with rainfall of up to 18 centimetres predicted in some parts of the state, a total that could lead to dangerous flash flooding.

Other areas could see up to 7.5 cm of rain, but more than twice that amount could fall in a swath from Charlotte to Richmond and on to Salisbury, Md.

Michael pummeled Tyndall Air Force Base, near Panama City, Fla., causing “widespread roof damage to nearly every home and leaving the base closed until further notice, officials said.

Tyndall is located just east of Panama City, which endured punishing winds and took intense rain from the storm.

“At this point, Tyndall residents and evacuated personnel should remain at their safe location,” said Col. Brian Laidlaw, 325th Fighter Wing commander. “We are actively developing plans to reunite families and plan to provide safe passage back to base housing.”

In a statement, officials said the that the “catastrophic” storm delivered a direct hit to the base, “bringing down trees and power lines, ripping roofs off buildings and causing significant structural damage.”

Michael’s winds topped 240 km/h. No injuries have so far been reported, the base said, but the condition of Tyndall’s runway is not yet known.

Tyndall’s mandatory evacuation order was declared Monday, and it remains in effect. The 600 families who live on base were

offered space in local shelters.

“Initial assessments of the damage at Tyndall Air Force base have identified severe damage to the base infrastructure,” according to an Air Force official. “There is no power, water or sewer service to the base at this time. All personnel assigned to ride out the storm are accounted for with no injuries. The Air Force is working to conduct aerial surveillance of the damage, to clear a route to the base and to provide security, potable water, latrines and communication equipment. The base will remain closed and Airmen assigned to Tyndall should not plan to return at this time.”

U.S. President Donald Trump approved disaster requests for Georgia and Florida stemming from the hurricane, moves that authorize federal authorities to coordinate response efforts while also opening up federal funding to officials in those areas.

The White House said Trump declared a major disaster in Florida, while FEMA said that he had signed an emergency declaration for Georgia. In remarks Thursday, Trump addressed the hurricane, noting that it had swept through the area quickly.

“The big problem with this hurricane was the tremendous power, and fortunately it was very fast,” he said Thursday. “It went through Florida very, very quickly.”

Trump also defended his decision to hold a political rally in Pennsylvania on Wednesday night, an event that occurred while the storm, then still packing hurricane-force winds, was still churning through the Southeast, saying that he could not disappoint the people already in line.

Although Michael has weakened, but it continued to batter the Southeast and the impact will continue to spread in the coming day.

Forecasts now call for Michael to sweep

across the Carolinas and then southeast Virginia through the day, which could lead to flash flooding. Just as they did last summer in Texas during Hurricane Harvey and last month during Hurricane Florence, several groups of grass-roots, ragtag searchand-rescue teams have arrived in Michael’s wake.

But this time, even the experienced Cajun storm chasers say they are more cautious due to the number of downed trees and telephone poles.

“This one just looks like a bomb dropped,” said Clyde Cain, a self-described admiral with the Louisiana Cajun Navy. “This one is so powerful that my guys are having to use chain saws to cut through downed trees to get into the neighborhoods. This one is just real bad, and no one saw it coming. We were just recovering from Florence.”

Cain, who was at a command center they set up in Mobile, Ala., said he’s been so busy after Hurricane Florence that “my mama still hasn’t seen me.”

He said he was warning his guys this time to be even more careful, “there are a whole lot of telephone poles dropping. This one is just real dangerous.”

As the remnants of Michael began to spread across North Carolina, state officials warned Thursday morning that residents were feeling an impact that would only worsen. Tens of thousands had lost power, at least 16 roads were closed, dozens of school systems shuttered and three rivers were poised for moderate or major flooding, authorities said.

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper offered his thoughts for the other states that bore the brunt of the storm, something that North Carolina is grimly familiar with after Hurricane Florence delivered deadly flooding last month.

“People in North Carolina know all too well what that feels like,” he said to his neighbors to the south. “For North Carolina, Michael isn’t as bad as Florence, but it adds unwelcome insult to injury, so we must be on alert.”

The National Hurricane Center said that shortly before 11 a.m. on Thursday, the center of Michael was about 55 km away from Charlotte, N.C., and “producing heavy rainfall and tropical-storm-force wind gusts” across much of the central and eastern parts of both Carolinas.

Tropical-storm-force winds extend up to 300 km from the storm’s center, mostly to the south and east, with a wind gust of 87 km/h mph reported in South Carolina.

FEMA chief William “Brock” Long said that Mexico Beach, Fla., not far from where Michael made landfall, appeared to be “ground zero” of the storm’s impact.

“Mexico Beach took the brunt,” Long said during a news briefing Thursday morning in Washington. “That’s probably ground zero.” Still, Long noted that authorities still had not “been able to get in and truly assess” the damage, which he said would take some time over the next two days.

AP PHOTO

Logan Brisson of the Sarasota County Fire Dept. strike team, walks past debris in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Fla., on Thursday.

WASHINGTON POST PHOTO BY JABIN BOTSFORD

A car is seen caught in flood water in Panama City, Fla., after Hurricane Michael made landfall along the Florida panhandle on Wednesday.

Reginald Anthony McFadden Sept 4 1947October 5 2018

It is with extremely heavy hearts and deep sadness that we announce the very sudden passing of our beloved Garry McFadden. Garry is survived by his loving partner of 22 years Veronica Kueng, sons: Cameron & Brian, daughter, Candace, granddaughter, Sophie, stepdaughters: Pamela (Shawn) & Joanna (Justin). Brother Billy & Numerous Aunts, Uncles & Cousins. Predeceased by his Parents & Sister Beverly. Garry was dearly loved and admired by Veronica beyond words. He was devoted to her and his family as well as to hers and was so proud of his Granddaughter Sophie. He loved spending time on his research of family genealogy and was a huge history buff. He loved to fly and had owned his own airplane for several years. He enjoyed fishing and travelling with Veronica to visit family and old friends. He also had a great passion for his Irish music and sadly never made it to fulfill his lifelong dream of going to Ireland. Garry was proud of his work at Northwood Pulpmill for 32 years as Security/Protection Officer. He also served with the Prince George Ambulance & Fire Department. He made numerous friends along the way and always loved to catch up whenever they would meet. He will always be remembered for his great (though sometimes twisted) sense of humor. He had such a gentle compassionate soul and huge loving heart. A Celebration of Garry’s life will be held at The Elks Hall (Old Moose Hall), 663 Douglas Street, Prince George, on October 20th From 12:00pm until 3:00pm. All are welcome to come and share your stories and memories. Flowers are welcome (his newly found passion) or Donations to the Heart and Stroke Foundation in his honor are appreciated.

STEVEN GENAILLE (Garfie)

October 5, 1959, Kamsack, Saskatchewan to October 4, 2018, Prince George, BC

Predeceased by his father

Rennie Jean Genaille, sister Bernadette, brothers Vernon, Laurie and Mickey and brother-in-law Bill Wipfli.

Survived by mother Lenore Genaille, sister Darlene, brother Frank (Valerie), sister-in-law Fran, daughter Jeannie (Shawn), son Steven and his very cherished grandchildren: Justyss, Jurrney, Taiya, Tierney, Rielle, Brent, Brayden, Billie and Daylynn. Numerous aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. Special mention to his most favorite aunt Madeline Whitehawk. Visitation Friday, October 12, 2018 7:009:00pm at Assman’s Funeral Chapel. Luncheon to follow 12:00 noon at the Prince George Native Friendship Centre, 1600 3rd Ave.

Mack D Usipuik

November 22nd, 1929October 3rd, 2018

Passed away at UHNBC Hospital on October 3rd, 2018 at the age of 88 years. Mack is lovingly remembered by his wife Dorothy; his three children Kathy (Donnie Gee), Shane (Janice), and David (Kim); his grandchildren Ashley (Jared Brann), Megan, Kirstin, and Daniel; his great-grandchild Aela; and his beloved companion Annie. Mack was predeceased by his parents William and Helena Usipuik, sisters Annie, Katie, and Mary, and his sister-in-law Bernice. He was survived by his brothers Joe, John, and Steve, and his sister Lena. He will always be remembered for his storytelling, his green thumb and love of fishing, and his pride in his family. His Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, October 13th, 2018 at the Fore Bistro and Patio (at the Prince George Golf Course) from 1:00pm to 5:00pm.

There will be an open mic available at his service for anyone who would like to share stories and memories. Please join us in celebrating his life.

Lawrence Marsolais

October 22, 1928 to September 14, 2018

It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to a Husband, Father, Grandfather, Great Grandfather and friend. Lawrence is now back in the loving arms of his wife, Hilda who left us in January of 2013. Survived by daughters, Cheryl and Eva; son, Art (Gretchen); grandchildren, Lecia (Tony), Opal, Lance, Mitchell; and great grandchildren: Cianna, Ivy, Payton, Gunner and Ryken as well as extended family and friends. Lawrence was the brother to Christine Thevenot, Simone Ray, Lucien Marsolais, Roseanne Peters, Connie Ducharme, Andre Marsolais. Predeceased by parents, Arthur and Celina Marsolais; brothers Tony Marsolais, Jacque Marsolais, Guy Marsolais, Martin Marsolais and sisters, Clare Fontaine, Jeanne Lloyd. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Rotary Hospice House, 3089 Clapperton Street, Prince George, BC V2L 5N4 or a charity of your choice would be appreciated.

A special thank you to Dr. Attia and Dr. Geddes for their wonderful care of Lawrence.

Kristi and Julie, you put a smile on his face daily, he was so lucky to have you both in his life. To celebrate Lawrence’s life the family would like to invite you to join us for a tea at the Hart Pioneer Centre (6986 Hart Hwy) on Sunday, October 14th, 2018 from 2 pm to 4 pm.

It is with great sadness that we mark the passing of Dana John Chrobak on October 5th, 2018. Dana was predeceased by his father (Joseph), mother (Leona), step-mother Anne, brother Joe, and sisters Donna and Debbie. He is survived by his son Chad, brother Jim (Lorraine), and sister Janice (Purcell). Also left to mourn his passing are niece (Ashlee) and nephews (Jason, Darren, and Casey), aunt (Pat) and uncle (Dick), brother-in-law (Larry) and stepsiblings Roy, Holly, Patsy, Evan, Tara, and Tracy. Dana fought a courageous battle with Huntington’s Disease for many years. The family would like to extend their sincere thanks to Dr. Gary Knoll and the nurses and health professionals at Parkside for their care and compassion. Dana’s life will be celebrated during a graveside service for family and close friends at noon on Saturday, October 13, 2018. A reception at Parkside Care Home will follow. Donations in memory of Dana may be made to Parkside Care Home (recreational fund), or St. Vincent De Paul Society (drop in centre).

It is with great sadness we announce the sudden passing of Stanley Henry Klimek Junior on October 3, 2018 peacefully in his sleep. Stanley was a funny, kindhearted, very generous and loving man who will be deeply missed by his family, friends and all who got the opportunity to meet him. He is predeceased by his parents Stanley Klimek Senior and Henrietta Klimek, survived by his 4 brothers Richard Klimek, Edward Klimek, Jim Klimek and Bobby Klimek, his daughter Heather Sybil Olive Saunders, husband Matthew Saunders, grandkids Serena and Skylar Saunders and son Buddy Daniel Klimek, wife Megan Hozjan and grandkids Ryker, Jaxon and Mikaela Klimek. The service will be at St Peters Church in Mackenzie at 2:00pm on October 20, 2018 with a Celebration of Stan’s

Garry

MONEY IN BRIEF

Currencies

OTTAWA

The

markets today

TORONTO (CP) — Canada’s main stock index hit a sixmonth low Thursday while U.S. stock markets suffered another selloff day as investors are pricing in political and trade uncertainties they’ve long overlooked.

The result is they have now woken up to issues that have existed for the last six to 12 months, says Kash Pashootan, CEO and chief investment officer at First Avenue Investment Counsel Inc.

“The longer they shrug them off the more of a price we have to pay at some point,” he said in an interview.

“When you’re trying to price in uncertainties that have existed for six, 12, 18 months over four or five trading sessions, of course you’re going to feel that in the markets.”

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 200.27 points to 15,317.13, the lowest level since April with 389 million shares traded.

The 1.3 per cent selloff came a day after the TSX shed more than 330 points in the largest one-day decline in more than three years.

Energy posted the largest decrease, falling 3.37 per cent in a pullback from steady gains. The November crude contract was down US$2.20 at US$70.97 per barrel.

Gold stocks rose nearly eight per cent as the price of gold hit its highest level since August as investors sought a hedge against uncertainty. The December gold contract was up US$34.20 at US$1,227.60 an ounce.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 545.91 points to 25,052.83 after dropping more than 800 points on Wednesday. All companies were in the red for a second-straight day. The S&P 500 index was down 57.31 points to 2,728.37, while the Nasdaq composite was down 92.99 points at 7,329.06

Pashootan says the hemorrhage likely hasn’t ended.

“I would not be surprised if we saw a 10 to 15 per cent correction in the market,” he said, noting that the S&P 500 had gone 74 consecutive days without any plus or minus move above one per cent. Even sophisticated and experienced investors have become accustomed over the last decade to a pretty easy ride in equities, he said.

The Canadian dollar traded at an average of 76.70 cents US compared with an average of 76.97 cents US on Wednesday.

imposing a

Feds impose surtax on foreign steel

Christopher REYNOLDS Citizen news service

The Canadian government says it will impose a 25 per cent surtax on some foreign steel products in a bid to head off dumping.

The Finance Department said “excessive imports” are harming the steel industry, prompting it to impose a surtax on seven products that range from rebar to wire rods.

The surtax, which begins Oct. 25, will be in place for 200 days, pending an inquiry by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal into whether longer-lasting safeguards are necessary, the government said.

The announcement comes more than three months after Canada imposed tariffs on $16.6 billion worth of American goods in retaliation for hefty U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.

The government also announced Thursday that some Canadian manufacturers can now import those products from the U.S. without paying the surtaxes that have applied since July 1.

A portion of the relief will be temporary, offered until Canadian producers are able to adequately meet domestic demand.

The exemption applies on a case-by-case basis to companies that applied for it, and pertains to American steel, aluminum and certain other products.

The products affected by the fresh tariffs go into structures from condominiums to dams and bridges, “which encompasses a heck of a lot of steel,” said Jesse Goldman, a lawyer representing the Canadian Coalition for Construction Steel.

He said the surtax puts the construction steel industry in “a very dire position” because of Canada’s limited domestic steel supply.

“Because of the actual quota amounts for this type of steel from non-U.S. sources, U.S. steel is going to come into Canada at record high prices. They will simply pass on the 25 per cent retaliatory tariffs to their Canadian customers.”

The surtax on steel plates and other products could “jeopardize” mega-projects in Newfoundland, which relies almost exclusively on

foreign steel, primarily from Europe, Goldman said.

A lot of imported structural steel has been put toward the refurbishment of the Parliament buildings, he added. “It’s more ironic than intentional, but it gives you an example of the importance of imported steel in Canada.”

The country’s geography deters West Coast buyers from purchasing from central Canadian mills. It costs more than four times extra to ship a tonne of steel to Vancouver from Ontario than it does from China or Korea, said Richard Lyall, president of the Residential Construction Council of Ontario.

With rebar an essential component in residential towers, the new steel tariff could boost the price of new condos in Vancouver by up to $10,000 per unit, Lyall said.

“Housing affordability got thrown under the bus on this one,” he said.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau is slated to address the Commons international trade committee Tuesday on its study of how tariffs are impacting Canadian businesses and workers.

Pot workers won’t automatically be denied entry into U.S., border agency says

Mia RABSON Citizen news service

OTTAWA — Working in Canada’s legal pot industry won’t deprive you of a Disney World holiday but the U.S. government’s aboutface for cannabis employees doesn’t change anything for Canadians who admit to legally smoking marijuana after next week.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection quietly updated Wednesday its statement on Canada’s legalization of cannabis to say Canadian citizens who work in the industry and want to travel to the United States should “generally be admissible” as long as their trip is unrelated to the marijuana industry.

Workers who want to travel for business related to the industry will still be denied entry, the statement says.

It is a significant change from the policy issued on Sept. 21 which said working in the industry “may affect admissibility.”

“I’m shocked,” said Len Saunders, a Canadian working in Washington State as an immigration lawyer.

“This is what I was hoping for.”

When the original statement came out in September, he said he figured two years of lob-

bying efforts had failed. He has no idea what changed in the last three weeks.

“This helps hundreds of thousands of Canadians who have any sort of direct or indirect involvement in the Canadian cannabis industry,” he said.

“Everyone is calling me, whether it’s CEOs or regular workers or those with remote connections to the cannabis industry.”

Saunders had been telling Canadians in the industry that they should be concerned. Now he said he will tell them to print out this new statement and bring it to the border to ensure whomever they deal with can read the policy.

Saunders also said it’s important to note that Canadians involved in any elements of the U.S. cannabis industry, in states where it is legal like Colorado or Washington, may still be denied entry.

But for those in the Canadian industry, it is “the best case scenario.”

Henry Chang, a partner in the cannabis practice group of Toronto law firm Blaney McMurtry, said some uncertainties remain surrounding the U.S. policy.

“Can you not go at all as a business visitor, can I go to a cannabis conference?” he asked.

“I don’t know.”

He noted the statement is also specific to Canadian citizens and employees, but it doesn’t mention investors in marijuana companies or Canadian permanent residents.

“Logically, it should apply to them too but none of things we’ve been hearing from CBP has been logical,” he said.

Chang, who also is licensed to practice law in California, said much of this will be a matter of wait and see. It also may matter where you attempt to cross.

Chang said he had a client who was a senior executive at a cannabis company in Canada who was turned down at the Vancouver airport earlier this year because of his job. But since then, after legal inquiries to a port closer to Toronto, it was decided he was eligible to travel for tourism purposes.

Chang also said the new policy doesn’t change anything for Canadians who want to smoke pot after it becomes legal on Oct. 17. Admitting to smoking legal pot could keep you out of the U.S. if the border agent thinks you are a drug addict.

“Legalization doesn’t protect you from everything,” said Chang.

“Many