Prince George Citizen September 18, 2018

CNC opens heavy duty mechanic facility

Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca

The new building at College of New Caledonia is as heavy duty as the machines inside and the education students will get as they work on them.

CNC staff and students were joined by dignitaries of all kinds for the grand opening Monday, including Melanie Mark, the provincial minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Training.

“Students will be positioned for success in the trades with the new Heavy Mechanical Trades Facility in Prince George,” said Mark.

“These students are building the best B.C. by diagnosing, maintaining, repairing and operating equipment and vehicles that keep our province growing and moving. Our government is working hard so students throughout B.C. can access the skills to thrive.”

The new building was built for the LEEDS Gold environmental designation, pending final construction analysis. It was a $18.5-million construction project that more than replaced the facility CNC was renting off-campus to house the heavy-duty mechanics education programs prior to this new building.

Frank Rossi, dean of CNC’s School of Trades and Technologies, said the college was already able to add an entire new class, thanks to the new space. The education quality was going to go up because the many new features of the building would now allow for more kinds of machines to be studied and worked on by students, plus the interior working conditions were now improved as well.

The Heavy Mechanical Trades Facility can now accommodate 251 full-time-equivalent spaces, and up to 48 new spaces, in the Heavy-Duty Equipment Technician and Truck and Transport Mechanics programs.

Heavy Mechanical Trades students inspect, service and repair heavy trucks, commercial trucks, buses, diesel engines, transport trailers, cranes, graders, drills, bulldozers and other heavy equipment.

One of those students, Ryan Bachand, came to CNC while still a high school student at Kelly Road Secondary School, and he is now closing in on completion of his full Heavy-Duty Mechanical Trades certifications. He grinned about what he called vast improvements compared to the old building.

“We’re not standing shoulder to shoulder with the next student,” he said, explaining that tight quarters in those fields were neither educationally helpful nor even particularly safe compared to the new facilities.

“As a student, I appreciate the work that

has been done to improve my learning and further education for those interested in the heavy duty mechanic trade,” he said.

“I am very happy and excited to continue my learning in this new building.”

CNC president Henry Reiser said this project has spanned his tenure at the college and he was thrilled to see it finally open.

He thanked the federal and provincial governments for their financial contributions to the construction ($6.9 million from the Government of Canada and $10.1 million from the province) which covered most of the bills, allowing CNC to invest strategi-

cally in this building (the college contributed $1.5 million of their own dollars).

“The college works with local and regional employers and industry to ensure that we’re equipping our students with the skills that are needed in the workplace,” Reiser said.

“Providing responsive, relevant and quality training positions our students for success. The strength of CNC’s programming includes practical hands-on training. The new Heavy Mechanical Trades Facility will enable students to develop the skills that employers are looking for.”

Mayoral challenger gives rambling, erratic interview

Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff

mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca

The lone challenger in the city’s mayoral race lives in a VLA-area apartment building, survives on $1,800 a month and describes himself as a “radical, non-conformist thinking coach.”

That much we do know about Willy Ens. Well that, and when it comes to fielding questions in an interview, he can be all over the map. Ens opened a phone call to The Citizen on Monday by saying he was at a food bank and launched into a rambling anecdote about talking to a recruiter at College of New Caledonia. It might make an interesting story for the newspaper, he added.

When I said I was more interested in a story on the fact he’s running for mayor, Ens sounded upset.

“You’re not interested in the local news, eh?” he replied in a gravelly voice.

“Well, that’s pretty local news,” I replied in reference to his bid for top spot on city council. Ens segued into a vague reference.

“Well hey, like I say, the way this is going and at the rate this is playing, it reminds me of being on the Charlottes and under the Charlotte agreement as they called it,” he said. “And that was that dogs still chase cats, and everybody walked.”

I interrupted to ask if he intends to see this campaign out to its end. He does.

“Oh yeah, no, no, no, this is a job application,” he said. “Our mayor, he’s got a real race happening here.”

Ens said he’s running because he’s proud of

I’m bringing real credentials to this.

(Mayor Lyn Hall) has no idea on construction, obviously. He’s tearing everything down.

— Mayoral candidate Willy Ens

Prince George and wants to see the city “held together.”

He accused Mayor Lyn Hall, who is seeking a second term, of being “bound and determined to demolish everything and reconstruct it,” in apparent reference to the Four Seasons Pool.

“Hell, I was here since the building of it. None of you guys have been here that long. I was here since ’69.”

I raised an item he referred to in a series of messages he had sent to me through social media on Sunday – the mayor’s salary. Ens said he’s living on an old age pension of $1,800 a month reduced from $2,300 a month “and nobody’s telling me why.”

Ens went on to say the mayor makes more in “bonus” than he will in a year. Starting Jan. 1, the city’s mayor will earn $127,889 in remuneration, a jump of $29,063. But Ens would not reduce the salary if elected.

“Why would I?” he said. “I’m bringing real credentials to this. He has no idea on construction, obviously. He’s tearing everything down.”

“That pool? That’s ridiculous tearing that

down. That thing survived an earthquake, do you realize we had an earthquake in Prince George?”

When I replied that if we did, it wasn’t very big, I was soon corrected and told we had one in 1986, the year after his son was born.

“This sounds like I’m trying to coach you in reporting,” he added.

I asked him what kind of experience he had in construction. Ens said he has 34 years as a class A gas fitter and the “methanol plant ran under my ticket” until there was a change in bureaucratic jurisdiction.

He went on to say it was the methanol plant in Kitimat, was built under Ocelot Industries Ltd. and that he was the liaison between the “gas branch” and the “City of Kitimat” and Ocelot Industries.

But he could not remember the specific name of the plant when asked.

He replied that this was back in the 1980s and added: “What do you remember from 30 years ago?”

When I replied that I’d remember who I worked for, Ens laughed and said “yeah, well jobs might’ve been few and far between if you were getting them on this rate.”

“Anyway, buddy, this is ridiculous. I’m done,” Ens said and hung up as I tried to find out how old he is.

With the help of two nominators with addresses at a downtown hostel, Ens submitted his papers on Friday, just hours before the 4 p.m. deadline. Candidacies remain subject to challenge until Tuesday at 4 p.m. and the deadline for withdrawal is Friday at 4 p.m.

Man who died in police custody mild mannered, inquest told

Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff

A Kitwanga man who died while in custody at the Prince George RCMP detachment is being remembered as mild mannered, friendly and well versed in his First Nation’s tradition and heritage.

An inquest into the Nov. 21, 2016 death of Jamie Wilford Shanoss, 51, began Monday at the Prince George courthouse. It opened with testimony from an uncle, Art Mathews, who described his nephew as well mannered ever since he was a child.

As his uncle, Mathews said his role was to teach Shanoss how to hunt and “all the things we do in our culture.” Showing empathy and respect for the animals he hunted and refraining from confrontation with other people were among the virtues taught, he said. — see ‘HE WAS, page 3

Ryan Bachand, a heavy duty mechanic student at the College of New Caledonia, explains how the hydrostatic transmission

training simulator is used to Advanced Education Minister Melanie Mark during the official opening of the college’s Heavy Mechanical Trades Facility on Monday.

Spraying mud

Mike Olin races his truck, Swampin Tom, through the mud pits on Saturday afternoon while competing in the first of two days of Mud Bogs at NITRO Motorsports Park.

Prince George provincial court docket

From Prince George provincial court, Sept. 10-14, 2018:

• Rodney Alexander Courtoreille (born 1988) was sentenced to 24 days in jail and assessed a $100 victim surcharge for breaching probation. Courtoreille was in custody for three days prior to sentencing.

• Ryan Michael Jacob Vigneux (born 1991) was sentenced to one year probation and assessed $200 in victim surcharges for two counts of theft $5,000 or under. Vigneux was in custody for 11 days prior to sentencing.

• Tammy Arlene McBride (born 1965) was sentenced to one year probation and assessed $400 in victim surcharges for mischief $5,000 or under, committed in Mackenzie, and three counts of breaching an undertaking, all committed in Merritt. McBride was in custody for seven days prior to sentencing.

• Garnet Alexander Izony (born 1991) was sentenced to 81 days in jail and assessed $900 in victim surcharges for possession of a controlled substance, carrying a prohibited or concealed weapon and three counts of possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose and assessed $300 in victim surcharges for two counts of

breaching an undertaking or recognizance. Izony was also issued a 10-year firearms prohibition on the weapons counts and sentenced to 18 months probation on all the counts. Izony spent 22 days in custody prior to sentencing.

• Robert Glenn Klyne (born 1973) was sentenced to 94 days in jail and one year probation and assessed a $200 victim surcharge for breaking and entering and committing an indictable offence and to 30 days in jail, prohibited from driving for one year and fined $500 plus a $75 victim surcharge for driving while prohibited under the Motor Vehicle Act. Klyne was in custody for 35 days prior to sentencing.

• Robert Richard Prettie (born 1975) was sentenced to 40 days in jail for mischief $5,000 or under and to one day in jail for two separate counts of mischief $5,000 or under, as well as to 18 months probation and assessed $600 in victim surcharges on the counts. Prettie was in custody for 40 days prior to sentencing.

• Frank Ambrose Bennett (born 1973) was sentenced to 30 days in jail and assessed $200 in victim surcharges for two counts of breaching probation. Bennett was

in custody for 24 days prior to sentencing.

• Carmen James Alexander Hodgson-McKay (born 1990) was sentenced to one year probation and assessed $200 in victim surcharges for theft $5,000 or under and willfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer. McKay was in custody for one day on the resisting count prior to sentencing.

• Tristen Sky Victor Marvici (born 1998) was prohibited from driving for one year and fined $1,000 plus $150 in victim surcharges for two counts of driving while prohibited or licence suspended under the Motor Vehicle Act.

• Aaron James Morin (born 1990) was sentenced to 52 days in jail, served on an intermittent basis, and assessed $200 in victim surcharges for mischief and uttering threats, committed in Tsay Keh Dene. Morin was in custody for two days prior to sentencing.

• Steven Charles Tye (born 1993) was sentenced to 95 days in jail for possession of stolen property over $5,000 and to 33 days in jail for mischief $5,000 or over as well as to 18 months probation and assessed $200 in victim surcharges on the counts. Tye was in custody for 38 days prior to sentencing.

• Carl Frederick Jays (born 1980) was sentenced to 90 days in jail for possessing a firearm or other weapon contrary to an order and to 70 days in jail for possession of stolen property as well as to one year probation and assessed $400 in victim surcharges on the counts. Jays was in custody for two days prior to sentencing.

• Tyson Martel (born 1992) was assessed a $100 victim surcharge for breaching probation. Martel was in custody for one day prior to sentencing.

• Simon Francis Tommy (born 1970) was sentenced to one year probation and assessed a $100 victim surcharge for assault.

• Jordy Martin Visser-Hayne (born 1996) was sentenced to eight days in jail and assessed a $100 victim surcharge for breaching probation. Visser-Hayne was in custody for two days prior to sentencing.

• Darwin Richards Ewins (born 1966) was prohibited from driving for one year and fined $1,200 plus a $180 victim surcharge for driving while impaired.

• Randy Douglas Kueber (born 1977) was prohibited from driving for one year and fined $2,000 plus a $400 victim surcharge for driving while prohibited or licence suspended under the Motor Vehicle

Act, committed in Golden.

• Colby Sealley John Johnson (born 1983) was fined $500 plus a $150 victim surcharge for driving while disqualified under the Criminal Code and assessed a $100 victim surcharge for breaching probation. Johnson was in custody for four days prior to sentencing.

• Cole William Milljour (born 1993) was assessed a $100 victim surcharge for breaching probation. Milljour was in custody for one day prior to sentencing.

• Clint Harrison Gait (born 1988) was sentenced to 33 days in jail for robbery and to one year probation and assessed $400 in victim surcharges on the count plus a count of willfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer. Gait was in custody for six days prior to sentencing.

• Jessie Scott Ferris (born 1992) was sentenced to two years probation for committing an indecent act in a public place. Ferris was in custody for seven days after his arrest.

• Shaun McCook (born 1985) was sentenced to one year in jail and one year probation and assessed a $200 victim surcharge for break and enter with intent to commit an offence.

CITIZEN

Raising awareness

‘He was a nice guy and he just didn’t deserve to die’

— from page 1

Whenever Shanoss was bullied, he’d walk away.

“Because we always thought that if you get mad at somebody... what you say when you’re bawling somebody out, you’re actually describing yourself. So we can’t put anybody down, that’s what it is,” Mathews, a hereditary chief of the wolf clan in the Gitxsan First Nation, told the inquest.

Shanoss died in police custody, a few hours after he had been taken in for being drunk in a public place. Prior to his arrest, Shanoss had shown up at the Ketso Yoh men’s shelter at First Avenue and Quebec Street. Perry Mitchell, a frontline worker at the shelter, said he had known Shanoss for about 15 years and described him as “just a nice guy” who would be in a jovial mood whenever he was drinking.

“Jamie was a funny person because whenever he was intoxicated, he was happy, he was always happy,” Mitchell testified. “He was always cracking jokes and laughing at his own jokes and he was always high spirits.”

Shanoss was that way when he walked into the shelter sometime around 11:30 p.m. on Nov. 20, 2016, looking for a place to sleep. Mitchell warned Shanoss that he’d have to be quiet because there were three other people sleeping in the room.

But about 10 minutes later, Mitchell heard a loud noise and went to the room where he found Shanoss giggling and talking to himself.

Shanoss promised he would be quiet but after another 10 minutes, Mitchell heard a loud argument from the same room. Once more, Shanoss promised he would go to sleep.

Five minutes later, Shanoss was back out at the front desk where he told Mitchell he was going to go for a walk. Worried about whether Shanoss could handle the cold, Mitchell advised him to head towards the Active Support Against Poverty’s Bridget Moran shelter, about a six block walk away, and Shanoss left Ketso Yoh.

By that time, a call for the RCMP’s assistance had been phoned into the non-emergency number, Mitchell testified, saying he was concerned for Shanoss’ safety. The temperature was hovering around the freezing point that night but video of Shanoss being processed at the detachment showed him wearing a jacket, hoodie, sweater and T-shirt as well as jeans, socks and shoes.

Shanoss had been found shortly after midnight sleeping in the entryway to Shepherd’s Corner next to the Saint Vincent De Paul soup kitchen at Second and Dominion, about three blocks to the east.

Arresting officer Cst. Ewen Love testified Shanoss woke when he spoke to him and although a bit gruff and groggy at the outset, Shanoss was able to stand on his own and showed no signs of needing medical assistance.

Love described Shanoss as “essentially cooperative” and had no need to handcuff him when making the arrest and putting him in the back of the RCMP

vehicle. Love agreed with inquest counsel John McNamee that Shanoss appeared a “bit wobbly” in video from the detachment.

A toxocologist later determined Shanoss’ bloodalcohol level measured .38, or nearly five times the legal limit for driving.

Asked if the number left him surprised, Mitchell said that while many on the street don’t drink very good wine sometimes, Shanoss drank frequently and could handle himself.

“Like I say, he wasn’t falling-down drunk,” Mitchell said. “He could stand upright and he could walk no problem, but you knew he was intoxicated.”

Love was not in a legal position to administer a breathalyser on Shanoss prior to putting him in the cell, the inquest was told. He also had no reason to ask when Shanoss had most recently had a drink because he was told Shanoss had come from the shelter.

The timeline for the events was raised throughout questioning Monday morning. The call from Ketso Yoh to the RCMP was logged at 11:34 p.m. and passed on to Love by dispatch at 12:10 a.m. Love found him less than five minutes later and by 12:32 a.m. Shanoss was in the cell.

In an interview, Mathews agreed Shanoss had his troubles with alcohol but was not going through a particularly difficult time.

“He started drinking when he came here and all his rubby friends showed him how to do it, I guess, I don’t know,” Mathews said. “When he was back home, he was not rowdy or making noise or partying or anything. It’s only when he left home and ended up here.”

He said Shanoss was back in Prince George because he had met a woman.

Shanoss has been missed, the inquest heard.

“He was a nice guy and he just didn’t deserve to die,” Mitchell said.

In all, 18 people are scheduled to testify at the inquest through to Thursday. A seven-person jury will then make recommendations on how to prevent a similar death in the future.

Roughly 100 people took to the streets of downtown Prince George on Saturday morning as part of the Scotiabank AIDS Walk. The walk is in support of those living with HIV/AIDS and helps raise awareness and funds in the area.

Scott hosting town hall meeting

Local NEWS IN BRIEF

Christine HINZMANN Citizen staff chinzmann@pgcitizen.ca

Councillor Susan Scott invited members of the community to join in a conversation she offered to have during a meeting at the Marriott Courtyard in downtown Prince George Sunday afternoon to kick off her reelection campaign.

About 75 people attended including Mayor Lyn Hall, and councilors Murry Krause, Garth Frizzell, Frank Everitt, Brian Skakun and MLA Shirley Bond.

After Scott offered a few talking points about what she’s done as a city councillor in the past four years, she opened the floor to questions from the audience and with the help and guidance of her fellow councilors she addressed several issues including homelessness, affordable housing, the ability for seniors to age in place, accessibility, infrastructure, taxation and speeding on the city streets.

“It’s good to spend time with people who want to make our city the best it can be,” Scott began.

Several issues were highlighted including how services for the homeless in the downtown core can be improved, including toilets placed in strategic spots, how going forward council will address the fact that salaried employees were eligible for

overtime they claimed during last summer’s wildfires that brought more than 10,000 evacuees into the city, the sinkhole on Winnipeg Street, how residential taxes need to be kept affordable and how industry investors not in the downtown core should be offered incentive tax breaks.

Candle causes apartment fire

An unattended candle next to anything flammable is a recipe for disaster.

Late Friday night, it caused a $75,000 fire in a second-floor apartment in the 2100 block of Upland Street, igniting a nearby mattress, said Prince George Fire rescue assistant chief Denis Poulin. Twenty firefighters from four halls responded to the blaze when smoke was seen coming out of the apartment window at about 11 p.m. Friday. The building was evacuated by the time crews arrived and there were no injuries. The lone occupant of the apartment was home when the fire began.

— Citizen staff

Vigil held for missing teen

SMITHERS — More than 200 people gathered in a northern British Columbia community to show their support for the family of a teen who vanished in late August. Smithers RCMP have said 18-yearold Jessica Patrick, also known as Jessica Balczer, was last seen at a Smithers motel on Aug. 31 and was reported missing

three days later. Many of those attending Sunday’s vigil wore red as a tribute to Patrick and to honour other missing and murdered Indigenous women. Patrick is a mother and a member of the Lake Babine First Nation. The vigil was held just hours after Smithers RCMP, the North District Major Crime Unit and the BC Coroners Service confirmed they are investigating the discovery of human remains near Smithers. RCMP have not released any other details or officially identified the remains. — Citizen news service

Ammonia leak prompts closure of rec centre

COQUITLAM — A recreation centre in Coquitlam was temporarily closed Monday due to a “minor” ammonia leak. City spokeswoman Kathleen Vincent says staff sprang into action after an early alarm alerted them to the leak at the Poirier Sport & Leisure Complex. She says the cause under is investigation but most likely stemmed from a mechanical failure. In a social media post, the City of Coquitlam says no one was injured in the incident. It says all protocols were followed and the building was evacuated while fire rescue and HAZMAT crews responded to the leak.

SCOTT

Artists prepare to thrown down paint

Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca

It’s time to drop the paintbrushs and have ourselves a splatter fight.

Art Battle is more genteel than an NHL tilly, but it’s a painter’s donnybrook nonetheless, and the audience gets to watch these gladiators of colour in their Roman coliseum at Hubspace.

Twelve of the area’s best fine arts painters will sketch it out for supremacy on Sept. 28.

“It gives us a way to showcase our local artists in an interesting way that challenges them and excites the audience,” said Lisa Redpath of the Community Arts Council (CAC), the host of this annual wonderwar.

It is a revelation to see how each painter handles the pressure of an audience watching them work, the stress of the clock (each round is 20 minutes), and the spirit of com-

petition. It’s one of the few times any artist operates under conditions more like that of an athlete’s.

“For the artists, they have to come up with ways of creating images under the gun,” said Redpath. “This year we have changed the size of the canvas to 20-by-30 so that’s just to throw a wrench into it. It is on them to make colour choices and image choices that will engage the audience and get them votes.”

Three rounds of four artists will square off, with the audience picking one winner to advance to the finals. A wild card artist will also emerge from the votes to join them in the final four.

All the paintings will be auctioned off with the artist keeping half the proceeds and the Community Arts Council keeping half, so it is a mutual fundraiser for all involved.

“That creation made in the moment, I think, increases the value

of the art,” said Manmeet Kaur, in her first year of working for the arts council and also a relatively new arrival in Canada from India where she grew up in an artistically active family well known for fine arts in their home city of Patiala.

“It increases the value of the art process, as well, within the community. You get to see the brush strokes, the paint-overs, the images that seem like nothing for awhile then suddenly everything becomes clear at the end.”

Harsh Kaur, her sister, will be one of this year’s competitors. It’s her first art battle.

Other first-time competitors include Perry Melenka, Jordan Kelly, Lance Hanes and Kyla Christy. Veterans of past art battles coming back for another try include Kat Valcourt, Erin Stagg, Mandy Paavola, Darlene Nicoletti, Audrey McKinnon, last year’s wildcard winner Michael Doyle, and previ-

ous winner Carla Joseph.

The pulsing music will be once again provided by DJ Rubytrout.

“Audiences love to see things created, art in process is very interesting, and these added pressures make it even more engaging, for the artists and the audiences,” said Redpath. “This is a really great way to get the names of our artists out into the community, introduce emerging artists and show the commitment of veteran artists. It’s a unique event so I hope people come out to feel all the emotions of it as well as see the amazing images our local artists are capable of under these challenging, exciting circumstances.”

Art Battle 2018 happens at Hubspace on Sept. 28 starting at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets to get in, watch and vote are $10 each. The winner gets a prize package that includes entry into the B.C. provincial art battle competition in Vancouver.

Raise-AReader day coming

Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff

The annual Raise-A-Reader campaign will flash its orange colours on Wednesday morning. From 7-9 a.m., a sales force of volunteers in orange T-shirts will be selling copies of The Citizen at favourite morning coffee and commuter locations throughout the city. The cost of the paper is a donation. The proceeds go to fund literacy programs at the Prince George Public Library.

Last year’s Raise-A-Reader day collected almost $6,000. Look for The Citizen hawkers at all McDonald’s locations, Ritual Coffee, Books & Company, Denny’s, Zoe’s, the College of New Caledonia, UNBC and the Telus office on Sixth Avenue downtown.

Those who can’t attend any of these locations can still make an online donation at raiseareader.com/donate

“All of the money raised stays in the community for literacy focused initiatives,” said Kaitlyn Vecchio, Raise-AReader coordinator and children’s librarian with the Prince George Public Library.

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO

Michael Rees, Lisa Marie Tosoff and Carla Joseph Aubichon take part in the second round of the 2016 Art Battle at Hubspace.

How to have your voice heard

With five weeks until municipal elections on Oct. 20 to select Prince George’s city council, directors for the Regional District of FraserFort George and trustees for School District 57 (Prince George), there’s plenty of time to learn about the candidates and issues. The reality, however, is many eligible voters won’t take five minutes, never mind five weeks, to take part in the democratic process. If that’s all you have to give, however, you can still get involved. Even if you don’t actually go out and vote, that five minutes can still pay off and you can make your voice heard. It’s easy.

If one (or more) of the candidates comes to the front door of your home or you see one (or more) candidates at the grocery store, at the mall, at a hockey game, wherever between now and Oct. 20, stop, introduce yourself and ask them either one question or let them know how you feel about one issue.

Some sample questions for mayor and council candidates:

• How will you vote on a cannabis retail

store application that meets all of the city’s bylaw requirements?

• Do you support revising the city’s overtime policy for management or do you support keeping it the same as it is now?

• Do you support giving the city’s senior managers the same yearly pay increases as the unionized employees or do you support paying them with other cities pay for the same positions?

• Will you keep Masich Stadium open from dawn until dusk for residents who want to use the track when the field is not booked or will you reduce the hours if city staff recommend it?

• What are your ideas on: lower tax increases, reduced city spending, economic development, job growth, tourism, arts spending, sports funding, more city parks, better snow removal, street and sidewalk maintenance, accessibility (pick one of the above)?

Some sample questions for school trustee candidates:

• What are the pros and cons of the new curriculum for elementary or high school students (pick one)?

• Do you support SOGI instruction or do you think that should be left to parents (see if they know that SOGI stands for sexual

orientation and gender identity)?

• Do you support mandatory vaccinations for all public school students or do you think parents should have the right to opt out due to their personal beliefs?

• What are your thoughts on: compulsory concussion protocol testing for all high school athletes, banning smartphones during school hours, mandatory playground speed limits around all schools and in effect 24/7 (pick one from the above)?

And let them answer, listening carefully, for a few minutes.

Even if you don’t know a ton about any of those topics, what you’re trying to find out is how much the candidates (who are applying for jobs, after all) know about the topic.

If the answer sounds reasonable and wellinformed, you’ve probably found a good candidate. If they have no idea what you just asked or it sounds like they’re making it up as they go along, now you know who doesn’t deserve a seat at the table.

Either way, you should now be motivated to actually spend a few more minutes and actually take the time to cast a ballot.

Either way, thank them for both taking the time to answer your question and for letting their name stand for public office. Or maybe you’d rather do the talking. If

YOUR LETTERS

Message from a mourning mom

September is national Suicide Prevention Awareness month. This also happens to be the month my son passed away two years ago, on Sept. 28, 2016. Sadly, he did take his own life. I’m thankful for the friends that haven’t asked me about this in great detail. I’m not really prepared for follow-up questions, but I can tell you it does still feel like yesterday that my bright, smart, healthy, BMX biking 20-year-old kid was ripped from my heart.

I type this message to you today (and make it public) for families with children like my son who spend hours upon hours trying to master that “Ultimate YouTube millions of views” bike trick. My son always wore a helmet. His helmet saved his brain many a time, but I think the last couple of bike tricks were too much. So much so that he even dislocated his shoulder – twice. I believe he had a concussion or possibly several that went undiagnosed. He never let on

He began to suffer from anxiety, was prescribed medication for that, which I think in the end is what led him to take his own life.

how bad he smashed his head, but his attitude changed. He became more distant, stopped biking, and didn’t want to hang out with his friends anymore. He began to suffer from anxiety, was prescribed medication for that, which I think in the end is what led him to take his own life. This all happened within a period of nine months. It infuriates me still as he never was one to take a pill for anything. I’m still very upset over our society’s idea to have quick magic pills that even say right on them: ‘Warning – may cause feelings of suicide.’

I’m not sure what the solutions are, but I can say if you notice different behaviours in your child, don’t dismiss it as just ‘being a

teenager.’ Say something, do something, don’t give up and get a second opinion about them taking ANY prescription medications for anxiety, depression or any of those epidemics that are taking over this generation’s life.

The worldwide BMX community video of Ryan Waldner is located here (www.northernembassy.com/2016/10/17/ryanwaldner-rip/)

Ryan’s friends and family tearfully still try to say... “Ride in Peace.”

Liz Ferris

Prince George

Waiting and listening

I have been watching the news, especially Toronto’s city hall going-ons and before I put my X on this fall’s ballot, I would like to hear from our city leaders to make a decision this fall and hope to hear from you soon in this paper and not at a city hall meeting. I can’t waste my time going there to hear the same ol’ BS. Maybe the city should look into downsizing.

Warner Bliskis

Prince George

LETTERS WELCOME: The Prince George Citizen welcomes letters to the editor from our readers. Submissions should be sent by email to: letters@pgcitizen.ca. No attachments, please. They can also be faxed to 250-960-2766, or mailed to 201-1777 Third Ave., Prince George, B.C. V2L 3G7. Maximum length is 750 words and writers are limited to one submission every week. We will edit letters only to ensure clarity, good taste, for legal reasons, and occasionally for length. Although we will not include your address and telephone number in the paper, we need both for verification purposes. Unsigned letters will not be published. The Prince George Citizen is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent organization established to deal with acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour. If you have concerns about editorial content, please contact Neil Godbout (ngodbout@pgcitizen.ca or 250-960-2759).

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elected, they’ll have plenty of opportunity over the next four years to talk, so maybe you’d just rather introduce yourself and tell them what you think about a local issue you care about that the candidate would actually have the power to do something about should they be elected.

If they want to respond and either you don’t have the time or don’t want to hear it, tell them that.

Just be calm and respectful.

No need to be a screaming lunatic.

A screaming lunatic thinks their voice should be heard above all others.

A screaming lunatic thinks everyone should stop and listen.

A screaming lunatic is ignored as... a screaming lunatic.

Same goes for online or social media. Skip the all-caps shouting and ask questions or post comments in a civil way. Whether you take a few minutes to interact personally with the candidates, whether it’s face-to-face, by email or through social media, they’ll hear you, especially if they’re getting the same question or comment over and over. So even if you don’t vote (and you really should), election season is always the time would-be politicians are listening.

Editor-in-chief

Neil Godbout

Democracy, part two

Last week, I took a historical approach to democracy and maybe spent a little too much ink on the structure employed in ancient Greece. However, I think understanding the history of governance is important to understanding where we are as a country and a culture.

In particular, one of the points I didn’t make last week is just how recent democracy is as a form of government. For a thousand or so years after ancient Greece fell under Roman rule, the word “democracy” was used pejoratively. The notion the people should have a say in governance was simply out of the question.

Dissent by the masses and revolutionary actions were the only recourse to dealing with monarchs and aristocracy which ruled by virtue of birth. These uprisings were usually violently suppressed or by the simple expediency of killing the leaders.

This is still happening as dissent is often met with a show of force.

Consider U.S. President Donald Trump’s response to protesters at his campaign stops and his view of the free press. Or the treatment of protesters outside of the G8 and G20 summits in Toronto.

Around the world, democracy is a recent and still somewhat fragile form of government. Indeed, according to the Polity IV scale, the number of nations scoring eight or better on their analysis of democratic structures was zero in 1800, 12 by 1900, and only 60 in 2000.

This scale uses factors such as freedom of expression and respect for human rights along with assessing the government structure.

With respect to our voting system, it has been criticized as simply following the British Parliamentary system. Not really surprising as there were few true democracies in the world upon which to base a precedence.

Furthermore, our national parents – Britain and France – both used a form of single-member plurality in electing their parliaments.

But despite its relatively recent rise and the pervasiveness of democratic systems in most world government, it is still a work in progress. The core principles are there – liberty and equality – but are they truly at the core of our democracy?

I do not ask this question lightly because the idea everyone is equal is a core value and yet there are many people who would argue they are not treated as equal citizens at a variety of levels. And liberty is prescribed by the laws of the land. We put constraints on just what people can and cannot

do. Governments make laws all the time which restrict our freedoms. I am not saying I disagree with these laws. Personally, there are many – such as speed limits in school zones or not driving high –which I think are necessary for a civil society. But each law restricting the actions of people is an erosion of our liberty and should be considered very carefully before being passed. Which leads to a further principle which I feel is a necessary component of our representational democracy – accountability. How do we hold our elected officials to account? The simple answer is through elections. But what happens when there isn’t an election? In 2014, 30 municipalities in B.C. had their mayors acclaimed. As of right now, the number of acclaimed mayors in B.C. is at 62. If a second candidate hadn’t come forward on the last day for nominations, Prince George would have seen its mayor acclaimed. Maybe the mayor has done a particularly good job of running the city or maybe potential candidates feared retaliation for running or maybe no one could be bothered, but acclamation eliminates the possibility of accountability. Prince George is not actually anomalous. Our sister cities of Kamloops, Kelowna and Nanaimo which are comparable in size and structure have seen dramatic declines in the number of mayoral candidates. In 2014, there were 10, eight, and 10 candidates respectively. As of right now, Elections BC is reporting two, three and three. I am not sure what this says about the state of electoral system. It might have something to do with the four year term. Certainly, most of the small communities at the UBCM were opposed to extending the length of a term but the larger communities – Vancouver, Victoria, Surrey, etc. – won the vote. It might have something to do with the remuneration for being mayor. In many small communities, it is little more than a stipend and not a salary. In any case, an election is the opportunity to hold our elected representatives accountable for both their past actions and their future plans. It is a necessary part of a representational democracy. And it is a safeguard to ensure we have equality and liberty for all.

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AP PHOTO

Cars try to navigate a flooded road leading to Interstate 40 in Castle Hayne, N.C., after damage from Hurricane Florence cut off access to Wilmington, N.C., on Sunday.

Hurricane death toll rises to 20

Chuck BURTON, Martha WAGGONER Citizen news service

WILMINGTON, N.C. — Throwing a lifeline to a city surrounded by floodwaters, emergency crews delivered food and water to Wilmington on Monday as rescuers picked up more people stranded by Hurricane Florence and the storm’s remnants took aim at the densely populated Northeast.

The death toll from Florence rose to at least 20, and crews elsewhere used helicopters and boats to rescue people trapped by still-rising rivers.

“Thank you,” a frazzled, shirtless Willie Schubert mouthed to members of a Coast Guard helicopter crew who plucked him and his dog Lucky from atop a house encircled by water in Pollocksville.

It was not clear how long he had been stranded.

A day earlier, Wilmington’s entire population of 120,000 people was cut off by flooding. By midday Monday, authorities reopened a single unidentified road into the town, which stands on a peninsula. But it wasn’t clear if that the route would remain open as the Cape Fear River kept swelling. And officials did not say when other roads might be clear.

In some places, the rain finally stopped, and the sun peeked through, but North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper warned that dangerously high water would persist for days. He urged residents who were evacuated from the hardest-hit areas to stay away because of closed roads and catastrophic flooding that submerged entire communities.

“There’s too much going on,” he told a news conference.

About two dozen truckloads of military MREs and bottled water were delivered overnight to Wilmington, the state’s eighthlargest city, officials said.

The chairman of New Hanover County’s commissioners, Woody White, said three centres would open by today morning to begin distributing essentials to residents.

“Things are getting better slowly, and we thank God for that,” White said.

Mayor Bill Saffo said he was working with the governor’s office to get more fuel into Wilmington.

“At this time, things are moving as well as can be in the city,” he said.

Crews have conducted about 700 rescues

in New Hanover County, where more than 60 per cent of homes and businesses were without power, authorities said.

Compounding problems, downed power lines and broken trees crisscrossed many roads in Wilmington three days after Florence made landfall. The smell of broken pine trees wafted through damaged neighbourhoods.

Desperate for gas to run a generator at home, Nick Monroe waited in an 800-metre line at a Speedway station even though the pumps were wrapped in plastic. His power went off Thursday before Florence hit the coast, but he couldn’t recall exactly when.

“It’s all kind of a blur,” Monroe said. At another gas station, a long line of vehicles followed a tanker truck that pulled in with 8,800 gallons of fuel.

Downgraded from a tropical depression, the deadly storm still had abundant rain and top winds around 35 km/h. Forecasters said it was expected to continue toward the Northeast, which is in for as much as 15 centimetres of rain, before the system moves offshore again.

Flooding worries increased in Virginia, where roads were closed and power outages were on the rise. In all, about 420,000 homes and businesses in three states were in the dark. Most of the outages were in North Carolina.

The death toll climbed by two as authorities found the body of a one-year-old boy who was swept away after his mother drove into floodwaters and lost her grip on him while trying to get back to dry land.

Elsewhere in North Carolina, an 88-yearold man died after his car was swept away.

Florence, once a fearsome Category 4 hurricane, was still massive. Radar showed parts of the sprawling storm over six states.

Fears of what could be the worst flooding in the state’s history led officials to order tens of thousands to evacuate, though it was not clear how many had fled or even could.

Emergency officials had difficulty keeping up with the scope of the spreading disaster.

In Lumberton, where the Lumber River inundated homes, Fire Chief John Paul Ivey couldn’t even count how many calls authorities had received about people needing to be rescued.

“We’ve been going so hard and fast we don’t have a number yet,” he said.

Steve Helber, Jonathan Drew, Gary Robertson and Jay Reeves contributed to this report.

Filipino-Canadians concerned about family after typhoon hits Philippines

Alanna RIZZA Citizen news service

Members of Canada’s Filipino community expressed concern about family and friends in the Philippines after a fierce typhoon hit the country over the weekend, triggering landslides and building collapses that left dozens dead.

Local authorities said Typhoon Mangkhut had killed 66 people in the Philippines and four in China, where it weakened to a tropical storm that was expected to continue to produce rain and strong winds through today.

For Quebec resident Luzviminda Mazzone, the last two days had been particularly stressful as she hadn’t been able to reach her extended family in the northern part of the Philippines where the typhoon made landfall on Saturday.

“I can only pray that they’re OK,” said Mazzone, who is the president of the Federation of Filipino Canadian Associations of Quebec.

“Otherwise there’s not much I can do.”

Mazzone said her cousins live in the province of Cagayan, where at least three deaths have been reported and buildings

have been damaged.

“Right now the only thing I can depend on is the news for updates,” Mazzone said, adding that her association was also planning a fundraiser to support aid efforts in the region.

Augusto Cuyugan, president of the Filipino-Canadian Association of Niagara, said he had been able to reach family and friends in the central pat of the Philippines who told him they had missed the worst of the typhoon.

While his loved ones were safe, Cuyugan said he was still concerned about others who may not have been as lucky and said his association was planning to raise money to help those in need.

“Victims of typhoons lose everything. So we need to do something here in Canada to help them out,” he said.

“In Canada, and even in the United States, we have a lot of Filipinos that came here to North America...so we need to fundraise to help the victims of the typhoon.”

Typhoon Mangkhut prompted about 87,000 people to evacuate from high-risk areas of the Philippines over the weekend.

Citizen news service

B.C. man charged in tourist’s murder Province defends pot approach, despite lack of stores ready to

SURREY — A B.C. man has been charged with the first-degree murder of a 28-year-old Belgian tourist.

Detectives with the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team say Oliver resident Sean McKenzie was arrested Sept. 14. He remains in custody, awaiting a court appearance in Chillwack on Wednesday.

Cpl. Frank Jang says McKenzie is linked to a white van found north of the community of Boston Bar on Aug. 22, near the area where the body

was found.

Jang says McKenzie is known to drive throughout the province for work and investigators believe he met Sakkalis as she was hitchhiking toward Vancouver from Penticton on the day she died.

Detectives are urging anyone who may have seen McKenzie, Sakkalis, or the two together, to speak to police.

Jang has not said how Sakkalis died or why Crown lawyers laid the first-degree charge. First-degree murder can apply when a homicide is planned and deliberate, or when death occurs during a sexual assault or kidnapping.

Laura KANE Citizen news service

VANCOUVER — British Columbia’s public safety minister says the province will meet demand for recreational marijuana with only one government-run shop and an online store when the drug is legalized next month.

Mike Farnworth also defended the province’s approach to legalization Monday after it announced that only one brick-andmortar BC Cannabis Store in Kamloops will be open when recreational pot becomes legal Oct. 17.

“This is the largest public policy shift in this country in decades and it’s not something that just happens overnight,” said Farnworth. “The fact that we went out and said we’re going to consult with local government and make sure that communities are involved right from the get-go was the right approach to take.

“To say that because you only have one store, this is a failure, quite frankly I just don’t accept that one bit.”

Farnworth said the Kamloops store is just the start and he expects a number of public and private shops will open in the weeks and months after legalization.

It’s still a possibility that some private stores will be ready to open on the day pot becomes legal, he said, adding that the province has received about 115 paid applications and notified local governments where those applicants are based. Once a municipal government decides to support an application, the province does a background check and issues a licence, he said.

Some communities have done a lot of work to prepare for legalization, but others have not, and many are waiting until after B.C.’s municipal elections on Oct. 20 to start the approval process, Farnworth said.

The site in Kamloops did not require a rezoning application and the province paid the city $5,000 for a business licence, plus an application fee of $1,600.

Vancouver has set its licence fee at $30,000. Viviana Zanocco, a spokeswoman for the Liquor Distribution Branch, which will operate the government’s cannabis stores, said decisions to pay the fees would be made on a case-by-case basis.

Farnworth said he expects to see government stores in Vancouver and many other communities.

He said the province will have plenty of supply and a significant variety of pot. It has signed agreements with more than 30 licensed producers of medical cannabis, including Tilray Inc., Aurora Cannabis Inc.

and Canopy Growth Corp. Ian Dawkins, president of the Cannabis Commerce Association of Canada, said he expects about a half-dozen private retailers will be able to open their doors in the first month and a half of legalization. But he said that’s still “absolutely not” adequate.

“Somebody who is in Vernon or Surrey wants to go buy some cannabis. They can’t,” he said. “OK, so I’m going to buy it on a website? I’ve never smelled this cannabis before. I don’t like the idea of it coming in the mail, maybe. I’m not able to have a conversation with the person selling it to me about the effects.”

He criticized the province for moving too slowly on legalization and said it has fundamentally failed to ensure that people currently operating in the black or grey markets will be able to participate come Oct. 17.

“We’re four weeks away. It’s too late. I’ve been squawking about this for a year and a half, and the ship sailed,” he said.

Jessika Villano, owner of Buddha Barn Craft Cannabis in Vancouver, said she completed her provincial application about three weeks ago. She already holds a business licence from the city to sell medical marijuana.

“We’ve done everything right,” she said. “There’s no reason why our doors should not be open on Oct. 17.”

In contrast to Dawkins, she said the province has moved “incredibly fast” on legalization.

“They’ve had to do so much,” she said.

“They’re doing the best they can. This is the first time cannabis has been legalized. They might not get it right the first time, but they’ll be tweaking it for years to come.”

of Amelie Sakkalis

COUGARS FALL IN OVERTIME IN FINAL EXHIBITION GAME

Page 10

Cooper derails Express offence

Kings improve to 4-0

Ted CLARKE Citizen staff

Bradley Cooper’s shutout wizardry continued Saturday at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena.

In his first game of this season, the Prince George Spruce Kings goalie stopped all 19 shots the Coquitlam Express fired his way to pave the way to a 3-0 victory. For Cooper, a 19-year-old native of West Vancouver, it was his fifth career B.C. Hockey League shutout and third consecutive game in which he has not allowed a goal, dating back to his final two starts last season in February. He ended the 2017-18 season blanking the opposition in four of his last seven games.

Ben Brar provided the offensive punch with two goals, giving him five goals in four games to start the season as the Spruce Kings improved their leagueleading record to 4-0-0-0.

Dustin Manz also scored for Prince George, in front of a crowd of 743. Kings defenceman Dylan Anhorn and winger Patrick Cozzi each provided two assists. Cozzi has two goals and four assists for a team-leading six points, seventh-best in the BCHL.

Manz opened the scoring with an even-strength goal 71 seconds into the game. Brar made it a 2-0 count 7:11 into the second period, scoring while shorthanded, and added another late in the third period while the Kings were on their eighth power play of the game.

Kings’ penalty-killers had an exceptional night, preventing any damage on seven Coquitlam power-play chances. Kolby Matthews was busy in goal for the Express as they were outshot 47-19.

The Spruce Kings hit the road for two games this week in Chiliwack at the BCHL Showcase, a four-day gathering of all 17 BCHL teams and hordes of NCAA scouts. Prince George plays the West Kelowna Warriors Thursday at 1:30 p.m., then has a date with the Penticton Vees Friday at 4 p.m.

Boeser anxious for game action

WHISTLER (CP) — Brock Boeser can’t wait to play for the Vancouver Canucks again, even if it’s in a exhibition game.

The right-winger’s highlightreel-worthy goals were a rare bright spot in an otherwise dismal season for the Canucks last year before a lower-back fracture cut short his rookie season.

Boeser had 29 goals and 26 assists in 62 games, while Vancouver finished at 31-40-11 – second last in the Pacific.

— see CANUCKS, page 11

T-wolves bite back against Huskies

Ted CLARKE Citizen staff tclarke@pgcitizen.ca

The Saskatchewan Huskies looked to be on their way to their first victory of the season, leading the UNBC Timberwolves 2-0 with about five minutes left to play Sunday at Masich Place Stadium.

But there was a dramatic finish to this U Sports Canada West conference Battle of the Dogs, one that left the T-wolves smiling.

In the 86th minute, UNBC midfielder Sonja Neitsch put on a burst of speed with a right wing rush and her crossing kick landed in the danger zone for the Huskies. Claire Stillwell tried to boot the ball to safety but instead it rolled beyond the reach of goalie Jadyn Steinhauer into the net. Neitsch, a second-year player from Calgary, was the last T-wolf to touch the ball and was credited with her first U Sports career goal.

Knowing the clock was about to strike 90, UNBC defender Mara McCleary immediately picked up the ball and ran it back to centrefield for the ensuing kickoff. The T-wolves eventually gained possession deep in Saskatchewan territory and Paige Payne was elected to take a corner kick. Her looping rainbow came down just in front of the far goalpost where rookie Sarah Zuccaro was standing.

The ball glanced off Zuccaro’s hip and with only a sliver of net showing between the post and goalie Steinhauser, it ricocheted in at the 89:17 mark to complete an unlikely UNBC comeback.

“I didn’t know if the ball was going to make it over without getting intercepted,” said Zuccaro. “I knew it was too low for my head to go down and I didn’t want to get kicked in the face so I just thought I’d put anything on it and hoped it would go in and it worked out.”

The Huskies jumped in front 2:19 in when Cassidy Hayward blocked McCleary’s clearing attempt and finished off her breakaway by filing the ball away high into the corner behind goalie Madi Doyle. Taneil Gay made it 2-0 in the 34th minute, set up in the box by a short pass from Payton Izsak, and the lead was never threatened until UNBC’s late outburst.

“We already had our motivation to get out in the second half and really get after it,” said McCleary, 19. “Two goals down isn’t a huge lead and we kept going right to the end. I think that really speaks to our mental toughness to keep going right to the end of the game.”

Two goals down isn’t a huge lead and we kept going right to the end.

— Mara McCleary

UNBC made some strategic adjustments trying for more offence in the second half and had better success keeping the ball upfield and away from their own goal. Zuccaro, an 18-year-old from Nanaimo, had a chance to win it for UNBC in injury time with ball on her foot in scoring range but she was unable to get the shot away.

“We changed up our formation quite a bit, it was a strange one, to be completely honest,” she said.

“We had players who were sort of defenders, but also strikers, but it worked really well. I think it shows we have a lot of diverse people out there who are able to shoot and not afraid to shoot. I think they were needing more players like that... and I think it’s real good improvement for the team.”

Combined with their 3-1 win over the Regina Cougars Friday night at Masich, it was a productive home-opening weekend for the T-wolves (1-1-2) on their new field turf pitch.

Last season, on their way to their first-ever playoff berth as a university team, the T-wolves scored just nine goals in a 14-game season.

This year, through four games, they’ve already scored seven. The addition of American import Sofia Jones and the emergence of Payne as a scoring threat has added a new dimension to the young UNBC crew and head coach Neil Sedgwick likes what he’s seen so far.

“We’re creating more good goal-scoring opportunities which is fantastic for the group because we’ve worked on that the last few years and things are coming together for us,” said Sedgwick.

“Saskatchewan is a well-organized team and all their players are strong physically, they’re strong technically, so it was a real challenge for us. But great to see the character of the girls in the second half to come back. They performed really well.”

The Huskies (0-0-4) are still looking for their first victory and their disappointment at blowing the lead in a game they largely controlled was obvious.

“I thought our girls played an unbelievable 85 minutes and we just didn’t have the composure or the experience and it was a little bit of fatigue in the last five or seven minutes,” said Huskies head coach Jerson Barandica-Hamilton. “They need to understand that in this league you need to play 90 minutes or more to secure three points. UNBC is a fantastic team and if you give them opportunities to get back into the game they’ll take them and that’s what we have to learn.”

— see UNBC men, page 10

Sonja Neitsch of the UNBC Timberwolves protects the ball while being guarded by Payton Izsak of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies on Sunday at Masich Place Stadium.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE

Madison Emmond of the Timberwolves controls the ball while being watched by a trio of Huskies defenders during Sunday’s game.

OT loss may be ‘a wake-up call’ for Cats

Ted CLARKE Citizen staff tclarke@pgcitizen.ca

Shoot. For Prince George Cougars fans, that’s the sanitized version of what they were muttering under their collective breath when the reality of Saturday’s overtime outcome at CN Centre set in.

The Cats fans in the crowd of 1,449 watching the final test of the WHL preseason wanted Vladislav Mikhalchuk to end what was an ugly game against the Kamloops Blazers when he took a 2-on-1 pass from Ryan Schoettler with a clear path in front of him to the Blazers net. Instead of shooting, the Belarusian winger elected to pass back to Schoettler, who by that time was too deep in front of goalie Dylan Garand to do anything with the puck. Seconds later, after a face-off win in the Cougars end, Blazers forward Josh Pillar gained the puck along the side boards and rifled a wrister that went high over the shoulder of goalie Taylor Gauthier 40 seconds into OT for a 4-3 Kamloops win.

The Cougars ended up with a 3-1-1-0 record in exhibition play, both losses at the hands of the Blazers (4-1-0-0). While the Blazers had a reason to smile after beating their traditional WHL rivals again, none of what happened on the ice Saturday matters to either team. The real season starts this weekend.

Defenceman Joel Lakusta, just back from the St. Louis Blues’ rookie camp, appeared to have bailed out the Cougars with an unassisted goal to tie the game with 2:33 left in the third period. He dragged the puck across the slot and with two Blazers defenders hounding him he kicked the puck up from his skate to his stick, then fired off a wrist shot past Garand to make it 3-3.

That came 10 minutes after Blazers defenceman Luke Zazula fooled Gauthier with a pass attempt into the slot that slid the puck along the ice right through the legs of the Cougar goalie, giv-

ing the Blazers their third lead of the night.

Quinn Schmiemann, on a 5-on-3 Kamloops power play, and Cougars rookie Tyson Upper, on a shorthanded breakaway roof shot, traded goals 27 seconds apart in the first period. Connor Zary, for the Blazers, and Cougars veteran Josh Curtis, on a Prince George power play, scored early in the second period. It was a tough game for Gauthier, who played well while having to face all kinds of bodies banging in front of him. The 17-year-old was called upon to make at least a dozen difficult saves.

“It’s the last tune-up before regular season starts and both teams were going hard and I think I did an alright job seeing through traffic and battling hard,” said Gauthier.

“It’s a tough loss – obviously OT losses are always hard to take. We just have to regroup and get ready for the next game. We’ll probably take this as a wake-up call. The new guys coming into the league will see how the intensity is in the regular season and for the veteran guys it shows we’ve got to ramp

it up a level and guide the young guys with us.”

Penalties were the story of the game. The Blazers went 1-for-10 on the power play while the Cougars scored once on nine opportunities.

“It was an ugly hockey game from the get-go,” said Cougars head coach Richard Matvichuk.

“Our guys were just trying too hard. They knew it was the last exhibition game and the only one at home and they were trying to do too much instead of sticking to our game plan.

“You lose so much momentum,

UNBC men blank Saskatchewan

— from page 9

Sunday afternoon in Saskatoon, the UNBC men rolled to a 3-0 triumph over Saskatchewan. Francesco Bartolilio scored twice in the opening half and assisted on Conrad Rowlands’ goal 80 minutes into the game to seal it. Rob Goodey made six saves in net for the T-wolves, who improved their season record to 1-1-2. The Huskies (2-4-0) outshot

Orioles tie futility record in loss to Jays

BALTIMORE (AP) — The Baltimore Orioles lost their 107th game, tied for most in a season since their arrival in 1954, falling to the Toronto Blue Jays 5-0 Monday night.

Rookie Ryan Borucki pitched eight innings of three-hit ball for the Jays, who have won 13 of 17 games

you lose your bench when you’re taking that many minors. Some guys don’t play for 10 minutes and some guys play every second shift. Even if we win that game, it’s ugly. It’s one of those you burn, and now you get ready for the regular season.”

The bad blood started to spill early and the hacks and whacks coming from both teams began a near-constant parade of penalties. It was, after all, the renewal of the Kamloops-Prince George rivalry and somebody had to set the tone, but it was difficult to watch.

From a fan’s perspective, it certainly wasn’t much fun seeing the red-striped arms of referees Bronson Tazelaar and Nick Panter going up to signal a penalty about every third hit. The guys in black and white knew Jeff Bradley, the WHL’s officiating co-ordinator, was watching from the press box and taking notes and there wasn’t much room for leniency with the players showing an obvious lack of restraint. The refs went out of their way to make sure no transgressions would escape the long arm of the law.

It was the first taste of the rivalry between the teams for new Kamloops head coach Serge Lajoie, a former defenceman who played briefly for the Blazers before moving on to the University of Alberta as a player and a coach. He coached the Golden Bears to a U Sports championship last season. He didn’t like what he saw from either in Saturday’s game.

“Hopefully that’s not an indication of how games between these two organizations are going to be, it’s unfortunate because there was no flow to the game,” said Lajoie. “We’re still in an evaluation period and special teams is not something we’ve worked on a lot.

“I really liked coming up to Prince George, my first time up here – it’s a really nice facility, it’s just unfortunate it wasn’t a better game.”

With Dylan Ferguson still with the Las Vegas Golden Knights and Max Palaga trying to shake off an illness, Lajoie started 17-year-old Rayce Ramsay, who faced just 10 shots and gave up one goal playing half the game. The 16-yearold Garand replaced him and allowed two goals on 14 shots. The shot count favoured the Blazers 37-24.

LOOSE PUCKS: Cougars defenceman Austin Crossley got a one-game suspension for sticking out his knee with an open-ice hit on Blazer centre Orrin Centazzo midway through the first period. Crossley received a major penalty for kneeing and game misconduct as well as an unsportsmanlike conduct minor as his immediate punishment… Centazzo was helped off the ice and went to the dressing room but returned in time for his next shift… Tazelaar and the three linesmen who split the duties for Saturday’s game – Blair Scott, Tyler Garden and Braiden Epp – are all rookies on the WHL list of officials. The 21-year-old Epp, a native of Prince George and former Spruce King forward who played four seasons in the B.C. Hockey League, is also breaking into the BCHL as a linesman this season… The Cougars start the season Friday in Victoria.

this weekend. Friday night’s game will be the official opening of Masich Place Stadium, which has undergone $4.6 million renovations as the future site of the 2022 B.C. Summer Games. The UNBC women play Friday at Fraser Valley and Saturday at Trinity Western.

The UNBC

between the two bottom teams in the AL East.

Toronto stands 25 games better than the Orioles, whose 43-107 record is worst in the majors. The only other Orioles team with 107 defeats was the 1988 club, which started 0-21 on its way to a 54-107 finish.

will host the Lethbridge

and Calgary

This Baltimore team has been blanked 15 times and owns a major league-worst 26-49 record at home. Only 8,198 fans showed up at Camden Yards to watch yet another defeat. The franchise record for losses is 111, by the 1939 St. Louis Browns. After going 54-100 in 1953, the Browns

moved to Baltimore. The major league record is 120 losses, set by the expansion New York Mets in 1962. Borucki (4-4) struck out seven and walked one in his 15th career start. The left-hander allowed two runners to reach third base, one of whom got there during a near triple play.

UNBC 6-5.

men

Pronghorns

Dinos

CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE

Prince George Cougars forward Matej Toman attempts a shot on goal while being defended by Quinn Schmiemann of the Kamloops Blazers on Saturday night at CN Centre.

Canucks plan to get Pettersson into action ‘soon’

— from page 9

The 21-year-old said he isn’t thinking about how many goals he’ll put up this year, but he is eager to build on his success.

“I think the key for me is just to show up to the first pre-season game and hopefully start right where I left off last year,” he said Monday after the Canucks wrapped up a four-day training camp.

“I’m going to go into the game and not worry about injury or anything like that and just focus on the way I play, taking it shiftby-shift, putting in all the effort I can.”

What Boeser will have to show this season is that he can replicate his first-year performance, said Canucks head coach Travis Green.

“To be consistent and to do it year after year is what the great goal scorers do. And I know that, in his mind, that’s what he wants to do,” he said.

“He doesn’t have to prove anything to me. It’s proving it to himself and his teammates. And that happens over time.”

Just when fans will get their first glimpse of Boeser this year remains unclear. Green said he plans to keep two groups for the team’s seven exhibition games and has a “road map” in mind, but he stayed tight-lipped Monday about possible lineups.

Asked when 19-year-old Swedish centre Elias Pettersson will make his debut, Green was curt. “Soon,” he said.

Canucks fans have anxiously awaited Pettersson’s arrival, especially after the teen notched 56 points in the Swedish Hockey League last season, leading the entire league in scoring.

The fifth-overall pick at the NHL’s 2017 draft joined the Canucks other young prospects in Penticton for a showcase in early September before hitting the main camp in Whistler.

Pettersson described his first NHL training camp as difficult but fun.

“I knew it was going to be tough because I saw on Twitter from last season. But after

the first practice I knew it was going to be tough, all three or four days,” he said.

Now the centre is looking forward to getting a chance to show what he can do.

“I have opportunity to show hopefully I can play good in the games,” he said. “I will take those (exhibition) games and try to make the most of it.”

The Canucks had ample opportunity to see what games might be like at training camp, where they scrimmaged three days in a row. The scrimmages were an opportunity to see things that may otherwise go unnoticed, Green said.

“Guys are trying to make the team and not just make the team, but fighting for ice time, special teams time,” the coach said. “Everyday you’ve got to go to work and give your best.”

It was also a chance for coaching staff to experiment with different lines.

Pettersson skated with fellow Swedish prospect Jonathan Dahlen on his left wing and Nikolay Goldobin on his right for most of camp.

Others were switched around.

Getting a chance to skate with different guys is good because it creates versatility, said Bo Horvat, who lined up with Boeser last season.

“There’s going to be points in the season where teams are going to hone in on us and you got through little slumps and stuff like that,” said the 23-year-old centre. “So to get chemistry with everybody on the team’s going to be important.”

Horvat is going into his fifth season with the Canucks, and said he’s optimistic after a fast-paced, competitive training camp.

“I find the speed and the skill even in scrimmages and practices has been really high,” he said. “So it’s looking bright for sure.”

CP PHOTO

Vancouver Canucks prospect Elias Pettersson skates during training camp in Whistler.

Lulay seems to have only bad luck versus Als

Citizen news service

Nothing good seems to happen to Travis Lulay when he faces the Montreal Alouettes in September.

The veteran quarterback suffered a dislocated left shoulder on the opening series of the B.C. Lions’ 32-14 road win in Montreal on Friday night. It’s unclear if Lulay’s season is done but the best-case scenario would seem to be missing four-to-six weeks before rejoining the squad sometime next month.

It’s the latest in a long string of injuries for Lulay, who turns 35 later this month. But he’s been especially snake-bit when facing the Alouettes in September.

Lulay has been hurt in four of his last five starts versus Montreal, all coming in the unlucky month.

He suffered a torn right labrum against Montreal on Sept, 13, 2013 then a strained left medial collateral ligament Sept. 3, 2015. And Sept. 8, 2017, Lulay’s season ended with a torn right anterior cruciate ligament in a home contest versus the Alouettes.

Lulay was also forced from B.C.’s 26-14 home win over Ottawa on Sept. 7 after Redblacks’ defensive lineman J.R. Tavai used his helmet to hit Lulay on the chin. No penalty was called but the CFL admitted one should’ve been, then fined Tavai.

To add insult to injury Friday night, Lulay was also randomly selected following the contest to provide a urine sample for drug testing.

Once again, the Lions are Jonathon Jennings’ team. He opened the season as the starter before being replaced by Lulay after passing for just 487 yards with three interceptions and two TDs in B.C.’s first three contests. Jennings finished 19-of-30 passing for 180 yards with a TD and interception against Montreal.

Defence pushes Bears past Seattle

Citizen news service

CHICAGO — Khalil Mack had one of six sacks against Russell Wilson, Prince Amukamara returned an interception 49 yards for a touchdown and the Chicago Bears beat the Seattle Seahawks 24-17 Monday night to give coach Matt Nagy his first career victory.

Mack sprinted out of the tunnel to a neat ovation prior to his first appearance at Soldier Field since a blockbuster trade from Oakland just over two weeks ago. That deal happened after he held out the entire off-season and preseason seeking a contract extension from the Raiders rather than play under the final year of his rookie contract. Chicago gave him a six-year, $141 million extension that guarantees $90 million –the richest deal ever for an NFL defensive player. Mack also had the crowd roaring with a strip sack in the first half, smacking the ball out of Wilson’s hand as he wound up to pass, and he consistently pressured the quarterback. It was more of the same from last week, when he had a strip-sack and interception return for a TD at Green Bay, except there was one key difference.

The Bears came out on top after blowing a 20-point lead against a hobbled Aaron Rodgers in a loss to the Packers. “That’s a great feeling,” Mack said. “We took it over the top.”

Amukamara jumped the route on a pass intended for Rashaad Penny near midfield for his first career touchdown, making it 24-10 with 6:37 left. It was his first interception since 2015 with the New York Giants.

Danny Trevathan then stripped Wilson with his second sack of the game. The Bears’ Leonard Floyd recovered the fumble, and Chicago hung on after blowing a 20-point lead in a season-opening loss to a

hobbled Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.

The Seahawks (0-2) lost for just the second time in nine Monday night games under coach Pete Carroll.

“We’re still a work in progress,” he said. Wilson has been sacked six times in each game this season. With the Bears applying constant pressure and his receivers struggling to get open, the four-time Pro Bowl quarterback completed 22 of 36 passes for 226 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Chicago’s Mitchell Trubisky was 25 of 34 for 200 yards. The No. 2 overall pick in last year’s draft, Trubisky threw touchdown passes to Trey Burton on Chicago’s first possession and rookie Anthony Miller early in the fourth quarter. But he was also intercepted two times by Shaquill Griffin – on a deep ball that was under-thrown and on another throw tipped at the line.

“I’m really proud with how he handled himself from Play 1 until the end of that fourth quarter,” Nagy said. “His attitude was great. He didn’t worry about anything. And so that’s growth right there.”

The Bears presented longtime linebacker Brian Urlacher with his Ring of Excellence for being inducted into the Hall of Fame.

The ceremony came after an ugly first half that saw Trubisky get picked off twice and Wilson get sacked five times. But the Bears managed to take a 10-3 lead to the locker room. Trubisky gave them a 7-0 lead when he shovelled to Trey Burton from the 3 on Chicago’s first possession, finishing a 96-yard drive. He also led a drive to the Seattle seven, only to throw two incomplete passes – one that should have been picked off by Justin Coleman – before Cody Parkey kicked a 25-yard field goal to make it 10-0 with just over a minute left in the half.

Vintage Kennedy pictures released

William J. KOLE Citizen news service

BOSTON — It’s an expansive and quintessentially Kennedy photo album.

Here’s a young, shirtless JFK, baring six-pack abs and smirking poolside while striking an unpresidential pose. There’s Rose Fitzgerald not-yet-Kennedy in her Sunday best, long before she’d become the family matriarch and trade girlhood grins for imperious stares. Here’s Kathleen Kennedy, awkwardly twisting upside down in a skirt to kiss Ireland’s Blarney Stone. There’s little Teddy Kennedy on the playground, sporting skinned knees.

The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum has completed an 18-month project to catalogue and digitize more than 1,700 vintage family snapshots, and they’re now all viewable online – a photographic fix that’s sure to feed America’s continuing obsession with Camelot.

“It’s just fun to see where the camera took them,” said Nicola Mantzaris, a digital archivist who helped compile and catalogue the fragile negatives, all carefully stored in subfreezing temperatures to slow their chemical decomposition.

“If you think about your own family photos and in what disarray they are in and just the volume – there’s definitely a universal aspect to this,” she said.

Many of the photos are ordinary snaps of typical American family life in the first half of the 20th century: vacations, holidays, kids mugging for the camera, meals captured ever

In this October 1936 photo provided by the Kennedy Family Collection, courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, John F. Kennedy, right, Robert F. Kennedy, second from right, and Patricia Kennedy, front left, pose with friends in Palm Beach, Fla.

so slightly out of focus.

But the candid images throw open a new window into a world that few have been able to peer into without physically visiting the presidential library in Boston, and even then by appointment

with an archivist.

The collection is the culmination of what presidential historians dubbed the Nitrate Negative Project,” a nostalgic look back at the Kennedys through the lenses of the affordable cameras and black-

Underwood talks about miscarriages

NEW YORK (AP) — Carrie Underwood says she turned to God after experiencing three miscarriages in two years.

The 35-year-old country singer and former American Idol champion told CBS Sunday Morning she got pregnant in early 2017 and it “didn’t work out.” She had a second miscar-

riage later that year and a third in 2018.

Underwood says she was afraid to be angry because she has an incredible husband, hockey player Mike Fisher, and an incredible son, three-year-old Isaiah.

She says she got mad when she thought she might be suffering a fourth miscarriage and she

and-white film that ushered in the era of amateur photography and family albums. The new technology also laid the foundation for today’s social sharing platforms such as Instagram, complete with a few amusing instances of Kennedys appearing to photobomb one another.

The digitization effort was launched last year to coincide with celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of JFK’s birth.

“They’re the closest counterpart to a royal family that Americans have,” said Patrick Maney, a Boston College professor who specializes in presidential history.

“There’s a perception that it was a golden age in America, and in some ways it was,” he said.

These photographs fascinate all the more because they were taken before most of their youthful subjects went on to greatness.

JFK, captured toothy and goofy in the collection, became the nation’s 35th president, and his assassination in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, still guts older generations of Americans.

No less evocative: how one can see in their young faces their adult selves – hints of the impactful public servants and household names they would become.

The flapper fashion of the era, too, captures the imagination: bobbed hair, cloche hats and cigarettes.

JFK, especially, “is still alive in a way,” said Maney, the Boston College expert, who was in high school when Kennedy was gunned down.

Although some have suggested JFK’s star power may be dimming just a bit, Maney doesn’t buy it.

“He’s frozen in time,” he said.

“told God how I felt.” She went to the doctor and was told everything was fine. Underwood says God heard her.

The pregnant singer said she’ll go on tour this spring, hopefully with her new baby. She says “things are looking better.”

Cosby’s wife wants judge investigated

Maryclaire DALE

The Associated Press

Days before Bill Cosby’s scheduled sentencing on felony sex assault charges, his wife demanded Monday that a Pennsylvania ethics board investigate the judge over what she called bias.

Camille Cosby renewed allegations that trial judge Steven O’Neill had a grudge with a key witness, former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor, in a 2016 pretrial hearing. O’Neill sent the case to trial afterward, and Cosby was convicted at a retrial this spring of drugging and molesting a woman at his home in the area in 2004.

Camille Cosby travelled to Harrisburg on Monday to file a complaint with the state Judicial Conduct Board.

“My husband was improperly prosecuted in a trial presided over by an unethical judge who seeks to compound his unethical behaviour by sentencing Bill Cosby, now 81 years old and unsighted, for a charge that the former DA and the judge’s rival, Mr. Castor, determined was unwarranted and would never be prosecuted,” Camille Cosby said in a statement.

Defence lawyers filed a similar motion in Montgomery County Court last week asking O’Neill to step down before Monday’s sentencing.

Cosby, 81, faces up to 10 years in prison on each of three felony counts, but would likely get far less time under state guidelines. He has been on house arrest at his estate near Philadelphia since the April 26 conviction.

The Cosbys said they’ve hired a former FBI agent to investigate the alleged feud between O’Neill and Castor, the witness at issue, who had declined to prosecute Cosby when accuser Andrea Constand went to police in 2005.

Cosby’s legal team asked O’Neill to step down before the retrial because of his wife’s work as an advocate for college sex abuse victims, and previously called the case a political football in the 2015 race for district attorney. Castor was seeking to return to office, but lost to Kevin Steele, who later charged Cosby in the case as more accusers came forward and Cosby’s deposition testimony in Constand’s related lawsuit was unsealed.

The defence said the alleged O’Neill-Castor feud stemmed from the late 1990s, when they both pursued the job of county prosecutor and O’Neill dated a woman in Castor’s office. Steele, in a filing last week, called the defence effort to unseat O’Neill “a desperate, 11th-hour attempt... to stop the sentencing.” O’Neill has not ruled on the motion but issued a passionate defence of his judicial independence when he refused to step down before trial.

Penn weighs in on #MeToo

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sean Penn says much of the spirit of the #MeToo movement is to “divide men and women.” Penn appeared Monday in an interview with the co-star of the new Hulu show The First on NBC’s Today show. Natascha McElhone said her character is informed by the movement. Penn disagreed. The two-time Oscar winner says he’s “very suspicious of a movement that gets glommed onto in great stridency and rage and without nuance.” Penn it’s “really good to just slow down.”

BILL COSBY

AP PHOTO VIA KENNEDY FAMILY COLLECTION

The heart of the matter

Citizen news service

A regimen of low-dose aspirin offers healthy, older people no benefit in staving off cardiovascular disease, dementia or disability and increases their risk of bleeding in the digestive tract and brain, according to a large study released Sunday.

Millions of healthy people take small doses of aspirin regularly in the belief that the drug will prevent heart attacks and strokes. But when researchers looked at more than 19,000 people in Australia and the United States over nearly five years, they found it wasn’t so. There is good evidence for people with known cardiovascular problems to take aspirin. But it had been unclear whether healthy people older than 70 would derive the same benefit.

“Clinical guidelines note the

benefits of aspirin for preventing heart attacks and strokes in persons with vascular conditions such as coronary artery disease,”

Richard Hodes, director of the National Institute on Aging, which helped fund the research, said in a news release. “The concern has been uncertainty about whether aspirin is beneficial for otherwise healthy older people without those conditions.”

The test subjects, most of them from Australia, were older than 70, except for blacks and Hispanics in the United States, who were recruited at age 65 or older because people in those groups have a higher risk of heart disease and cardiovascular problems than whites. About half of them took 100 milligrams of aspirin daily (slightly more than a baby aspirin, which has 81 milligrams) and the other half were given a placebo.

Low-dose

aspirin

offers

new study has found that taking daily low-dose aspirin has no real benefit and increases the risk of other health problems.

no overall benefit for healthy older people

They were followed for a median of 4.7 years.

The results of the study, led by John McNeil of Monash University in Melbourne, were released Sunday in three articles in the New England Journal of Medicine. It was called the Aspirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE) trial.

One surprise for the researchers was that the group that took aspirin died at a slightly higher rate from all causes than the group that didn’t. The difference was attributed almost entirely to cancer, a leading killer of older people, and not internal bleeding. But the researchers interpreted the data cautiously, because other studies have shown aspirin to have a protective effect against colorectal cancer.

The researchers did not state whether healthy older people who have been taking aspirin should

Japan is centenarian central

Citizen news service

In mid-July, the Japanese government announced that Chiyo Miyako, the oldest person in the world, had died at the age of 117. Her title would likely not have to travel far, however: another Japanese woman, the 115-yearold Kane Tanaka, was expected to become the oldest women in the world in her place.

New information released by the Japanese Health Ministry suggests that there may be more Japanese women who take the record in the future. The ministry announced Friday that the number of Japanese citizens who were over 100 years old had risen once again to reach 69,785. Of that number, more than 88 per cent are women. The figure is an increase of over 2,000 centenarians from 2017 and a dramatic increase from 1963, when Japan first started collecting data on those who had lived past 100. Back then, there were just 153. Japan celebrates the lives of its centenarians. Monday will be a public holiday known as the Respect for the Aged Day, when those who have reached the 100-year mark receive a letter of

The ministry announced Friday that the number of Japanese citizens who were over 100 years old had risen once again to reach 69,785.

congratulations from the current prime minister, Shinzo Abe, and a commemorative sake cup.

But their growing numbers are also evidence that Japan is a rapidly aging society. The median age of the country is 47.3, according to U.S. government figures. That makes it the second oldest country in the world, after Monaco; with low birth rates leading to a shrinking population, that figure is likely to get higher in the future.

With Japan’s public debt at 236 percent of gross domestic product, there are concerns about the economic burden that this rapidly aging society will place on Japan. Many expect the elderly to suffer under budget cuts in the future,

with pension benefits further delayed to the age of 68. There are already concerns that many elderly are falling into poverty, with women in particular vulnerable as they struggle to find work. Under Abe, the Japanese government has pushed the idea of a “100-year-life” where the elderly would continue to contribute to society. “Being 70 years old today is like reaching one’s 60s or 50s in the past,” the prime minister said at an event last year. “I myself will turn 63 this year, but I still feel like I am 52 or 53.”

Japan’s National Institute of Population and Social Security Research Japan has estimated that the number of centenarians will grow as the country’s broader population shrinks, potentially reaching 170,000 in a decade, according to Kyodo News.

Though the United States has a slightly higher number overall, 2015 research from Pew found that it had only 2.2 centenarians per 10,000 people while Japan had 4.8 per 10,000. Studies have suggested that a Japanese diet and efforts to keep the elderly active in later life keep people living longer in the country.

Starbucks opens cafe staffed by seniors

Citizen news service

Starbucks customers in Mexico City may notice something distinct about one particular coffee shop’s new employees: they’re all seniors. The company recently opened its first ever cafe operated by people aged 50 and older, in partnership with the National Institute for Older Persons (INAPAM), a government welfare program in Mexico. Fourteen older workers will run the shop.

“It’s becoming more difficult to employ people over 40 years of age,” said Christian Gurria, the chief executive of Starbucks Mexico, according to Reuters. “But the need to keep elderly people in work exists. If the opportunity is there, I’m happy to help.” Starbucks said the opening builds on an employment agreement it signed with INAPAM in 2011 to offer job opportunities to seniors to help boost their quality of life.

Mexico’s elderly population is increasing rapidly, according to United Nations data, following trends previously seen in Europe, owing to lower birthrates and greater longevity. People aged 65

and older made up 10 per cent of Mexico’s population in 2017, but that figure is expected to more than double to 25 per cent by 2050, the UN projected. see WORKERS, page 16

stop. And the findings do not apply to black or Hispanic people younger than 65 or others younger than 70.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that people between the ages of 50 and 59 take low doses of aspirin to prevent cardiovascular problems and colorectal cancer if they have a 10 per cent or greater chance of events such as heart attacks and strokes and do not have conditions that increase their chances of bleeding. The risk is generally calculated using factors such as age, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, smoking history and other conditions such as diabetes. For people 60 to 69 with a 10 per cent or greater risk of cardiovascular events, the task force considers the decision an individual one. For people older than 70, the task force says it does not have enough

information. When the researchers looked at death, disability and dementia, they found virtually no difference between the aspirin-taking group and the group given a placebo: 21.5 events per 1000 person-years in the former and 21.2 per 1000 person-years in the latter. For cardiovascular disease, the rate was 10.7 events per 1000 personyears in the aspirin group and 11.3 events per 1000 person-years in the placebo group – also considered no difference.

But the rate of bleeding was significantly higher in the aspirin group: 3.8 per cent vs. 2.8 per cent. “The use of low-dose aspirin resulted in a significantly higher risk of major hemorrhage and did not result in a significantly lower risk of cardiovascular disease than placebo,” the researchers wrote in one of the papers.

Getting your eyes checked regularly can help guard against cataracts and age-related macular degeneration.

Regular eye exams a key to cognitive health

Regular eye exams have always been an important part of maintaining healthy vision, but it turns out they can help keep your brain healthy, too. New research is revealing just how connected eye health and brain health are, and how receiving regular eye treatment might mean the difference between a healthy brain and cognitive decline. That’s according to the authors of a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Ophthalmology this summer. Researchers examined 2,520 adults age 65 and older over the course a decade and found a link between failing vision and mental decline. The exact nature of the relationship still needs to be better

understood, but one thing is clear: research shows that taking care of your vision is extremely important for maintaining good cognitive function.

The reasons behind the connection might be that declining vision discourages people from activities like reading and crossword puzzles that challenge the brain and keep it active. But whatever the root cause, the key takeaway stands out: older adults should get regular eye checkups and undergo treatment right away for any issues.

Two of the most common age-related vision problems – cataracts and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) – have common treatments available that can help keep vision crisp, and potentially help reduce the risk of associated mental decline.

Workers will have customized schedules

from page 15

Mexico’s expanding senior population may also become vulnerable to poverty, according to a Rand Corporation study. “One of the primary challenges facing Mexico is a growing older population. The demographic transition in Mexico combined with the lack of formal sources of income in retirement place many older persons in a state of financial insecurity,” the analysis found. Starbucks said it employs more than 7,000 people in the country, across 61 cities. The company aims to staff 120 older

workers in Mexico by the end of next year.

The company told The Washington Post in a statement, “Starbucks celebrates its commitment to providing opportunities to everyone and being a multi-generations company that embraces diversity and inclusion and welcomes everyone who is seeking employment.”

The older workers hired to run the Mexico City cafe will receive additional benefits, the company said, including an increase in total coverage of their health insurance and an adjusted work schedule to fit their needs.

Citizen news service

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MONAI,CandaceA.

March4,1973-September8,2018

"Thebestwaytofindyourselfistoloseyourselfin theserviceofothers."-MahatmaGandhi

Candace(Gladu)Monai,whilesurroundedbyfamily, passedawayonSaturday,September8,2018atthe PrinceGeorgeHospiceHouse.Fromherbirthon March4,1974,toherpassing,Candacenourished peoplearoundherwithloveandlaughter.Mother, wife,sister,daughter,friend,andleader.Candaceis survivedbyherhusbandMarco,childrenAlessiaand Julien,herfatherPatrick,brotherLes,sisterAngela (Norm),andmanyaunty,uncles,andcousins. CandacewaspredeceasedbyhermotherSandrawho Candacesaidstoodbyhersideinherfinaldays.

In Loving Memory

Richard Peter Stahl, age 37, died suddenly and unexpectedly in Mackenzie, BC on September 10, 2018. He is survived, loved and will be missed by his life partner, Tamara Wiese; children, Zachary, Emmitt and Elliott; step children, Rebecca and Daniel Schneider, Dillon Marcellus; nephew, Matthew Rice; parents, Ernest Stahl and Jennifer Rice; brothers, Michael Stahl, Philip (Kathy) and Tavern (Camilla Brinkman) Rice. Richard was a loving partner and caring father. He will be missed by his many friends and colleagues.

Rest in peace Richard. We love and miss you.

John Patrick McKeown patriarch of the McKeown family, passed away peacefully September 6, 2018. He was born in Cutknife Saskatchewan on May 20, 1929. Pat was always a cowboy and most comfortable on the back of one of his beloved Arab horses. He remained committed to, and loved by, his soul mate of 70 years, his wife Dorothy. Proud father of his daughter and five sons; he bragged about their expertise in any endeavour they took on. He had a wicked sense of humour, an avid news- junkie, loved working in his leather shop, a breeder of fine Arabian horses, a gentleman, teller of stories, loved trail riding and cattle drives and was a great role model for his family and friends. Predeceased by his parents Jack and Florence, his beloved son Ted and great grandson Ethan, as well as brothers Paul, Lonnard, and sister Faith.

Survived by his precious wife Dorothy, his daughter Laurel (Brad) and daughter in law Janet; sons Neil (Gail), Lloyd (Phyllis), Colin (Lauri) and John (Tammy); grandchildren Joshua (Robert), Michael (Angie), Kelly (Ryan), Scott, Megan, Jessica (Darrell), Brittany (Tyler), Shaun (Jeanie), Shaela (James), Daryl (Ashley), Daniel (Alisha), Darcy (Kristen), Samantha; 19 great grandchildren and his sisters Melba, Patricia and Beverly. He will remain eternally in the hearts of his family and friends. See you in heaven dad, we are blessed with a legacy of stories, family history, jokes and hysterical anecdotes.

The family has held an intimate and noisy celebration of his life.

There will be a funeral at College Heights Baptist Church Saturday September 15 at 1:00 with cake and coffee to follow in the reception area.

Candacewasoftenreferredtoastheeternalstudent, andinMay2017,shecompletedhereducational careerwithaMastersofEducationinCounselling. SheconsideredherMasterstobeherfourthgreatest accomplishment,followinghermarriagetoMarco, andbirthofherchildrenAlessiaandJulien.

ACelebrationofLifewillbeheldonSatirday, September22at11am,atthePrinceGeorgeNative FriendshipCentre,locatedat16003rdAve.Inlieuof flowers,thefamilyrequeststhatdonationsbemade totheCCC(CommunityCounsellingCentre)ofPrince George.

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The markets today

TORONTO (CP) — The renewed prospect of a trade war between the United States and China caused American stock markets to slump on Monday, but Canada’s main stock index diverged by closing higher after getting a boost from gold, materials and the cannabis-heavy health-care sectors.

Rumours about the Coca Cola Company being interested in talks with Aurora Cannabis Inc. to develop pot-infused drinks caused a halo effect for the country’s cannabis sector, said Craig Fehr, Canadian markets strategist for Edward Jones.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 68.82 points to 16,082.31, after reaching a high of 16,117.95 on 222.7 million shares traded.

The health-care sector led by gaining 4.58 per cent on the day as Aurora Cannabis gained nearly 17 per cent and Canopy Growth Corp. was in positive territory.

“The lift in gold prices and the lift in the health-care sector domestically is kind of carrying the day for the TSX,” Fehr said.

While uncertainty over NAFTA talks have affected markets and the Canadian dollar in the past, the focus Monday was on uncertainty over relations between the world’s two largest economies.

“Those trade tensions for today are centred on the U.S. and China. As we progress not only through this week but over the next coming weeks I think that the conversation for the domestic markets is really going to centre around any progress or lack thereof with NAFTA talks,” he said.

Investors reacted to speculation that the Trump administration is preparing to impose tariffs on another $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 92.55 points to 26,062.12.

The S&P 500 index was down 16.18 points to 2,888.80, while the Nasdaq composite was down 114.25 points to 7,895.79.

“We’re still a long, long way away from this being officially a trade war but clearly in terms of some of the rhetoric in the news about potential tariffs being a negotiating tactic we’re starting to see that the U.S. and China are calling each other’s bluff to an extent and we’re inching closer to potentially slightly larger tariffs on a bigger pool of goods,” said Fehr. Technology stocks also moved lower as they often do whenever the mood around the international environment sours.

The Canadian dollar averaged traded at an average of 76.81 cents US compared with an average of 76.73 cents US on Friday. The October crude contract was down eight cents at US$68.91 per barrel.

Ban on partially-hydrogenated oils came into effect on Monday

Sheryl UBELACKER Citizen news service

TORONTO — Canada’s ban on the main source of artificial trans fats came into effect Monday, making it illegal for manufacturers to use the additive in any food made or imported into the country, as well as in any meals prepared in restaurants.

The ban takes aim at partially-hydrogenated oils, or PHOs, which are the main source of industrially produced trans fats in all foods sold in Canada.

The new regulation applies only to PHOs, not naturally occurring trans fats, which can be found in some animal-based foods such as milk, cheese, beef and lamb.

Trans fats have been used for the last century to add taste and texture to food as a replacement for butter. They also extend the shelf life of many foods, including commercial baked goods like cookies, pastries, donuts and muffins, snack foods and fried foods.

But they are known to increase levels of “bad” cholesterol, raising the risk of heart

disease.

The head of the Heart and Stroke Foundation, an organization that has long pushed for the removal of trans fats, said he is thrilled to finally see the ban implemented.

“This important and final step will eliminate these heart-clogging fats from our food supply, benefiting the health of all people in Canada by reducing the number of heart attacks and saving lives,” Yves Savoie said in a statement.

Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death, killing tens of thousands of Canadians each year. Replacing trans fats in foods with unsaturated fatty acids, such as canola oil, decreases the risk of heart disease.

The federal government first unveiled the trans fat ban last year, but gave the food industry until now to adapt to the changes.

Any products containing trans fats can be sold for the next two years as long as they were manufactured prior to Monday, under the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s enforcement strategy.

Ottawa obesity expert Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, who has been railing against artificial trans fats in Canada’s food supply for about two decades, is glad to see the legislated removal of the “deadly toxin,” but wonders why it took so long to enact.

The Trans Fat Task Force first recommended to the federal government in 2005 that the ingredient should be reduced in foods eaten by Canadians.

While Freedhoff believes the amount of products containing trans fats remaining on grocery store shelves will be relatively small, consumers should look at the ingredient list for the words “partially hydrogenated,” even if a product’s label says “trans fat-free” or “zero trans fats.”

That’s because under labelling laws, a product containing 0.2 grams of a partially hydrogenated oil can be called trans fat-free, he said Monday from Ottawa.

“So if it says partially hydrogenated, even if it says trans fats zero, it doesn’t mean that there are zero trans fats.”

NAFTA talks to resume this week

Terry PEDWELL Citizen news service

OTTAWA — High-level meetings are set to resume this week in Washington in an effort to bring Canada into a revised North American Free Trade Agreement.

The renewed effort comes as the Opposition Conservatives criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the tactics his government has been using to get a NAFTA deal done.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Monday that she and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer have agreed to meet again face-to-face to try to reach an understanding about each other’s positions on NAFTA, although an exact meeting schedule hadn’t been set.

Freeland told reporters in Ottawa that trade officials from Canada and the U.S. have been meeting in the American capital since last Thursday, continuing what the minister described as “intensive” talks aimed at reaching a deal.

The discussions are being held under a Sept. 30 deadline for getting the text of an agreement to the U.S. Congress.

U.S. President Donald Trump started the clock ticking last month when his administration informed Congress of a U.S.-Mexico trade pact, which he invited Canada to join.

Freeland told reporters in Ottawa, where MPs were returning to Parliament after their summer break, that she and Lighthizer would meet later this week.

“The specifics of our calendar we haven’t quite yet worked out.”

The Conservatives have for the most part, until now, made efforts to project a team Canada spirit with the Liberals as the talks have progressed.

But Opposition House Leader Candice Bergen criticized the prime minister Monday for his approach to the talks, saying the Conservatives would have done things differently.

“We certainly wouldn’t have gone in and lectured on things like gender rights and the

environment,” Bergen said when asked how the Conservatives would have handled the negotiations.

“What the prime minister had done in these trade negotiations is tick people off,” she said.

While Canada has been pushing for chapters in NAFTA aimed at strengthening labour protections and gender equality, the overall negotiations are said to have stalled over Canada’s insistence that an agreement contain an independent dispute-settlement mechanism.

The prime minister has also vowed to protect Canada’s supply management for dairy and poultry products against U.S. demands for greater access by its farmers to Canada’s dairy market.

Supply management has been a big issue in the provincial election campaign in Quebec, home to about half of Canada’s dairy farms.

Quebec Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard has warned there will be “serious political consequences” if there is any further dismantling of the protections for dairy farmers

through NAFTA negotiations. The issue was expected to play prominently Monday evening in the provincial party leaders’ second election debate – this one in English.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his economic development minister, Jim Wilson, were scheduled to travel to Washington on Wednesday for an update on the NAFTA talks, which the premier characterized as critical to his province’s agriculture, automotive and steel industries.

Ford’s team is expected to meet with Canada’s trade officials, as well as the Canadian ambassador to the United States, and the premier said in a statement that he planned to stress the need to protect Ontario workers.

Freeland said she would welcome any efforts by the provinces to bolster Canada’s position at the bargaining table. “I think that the involvement of premiers from provinces and territories across the country has been very positive.”

AP FILE PHOTO

A battered Milky Way candy bar is deep-fried in trans fat-free oil at a food booth at the Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis, Ind. The Canadian government’s ban on partially-hydrogenated oils – a major source of trans fats – came into effect on Monday.

FREELAND

LIGHTHIZER