VOL. 2 ISSUE 39
ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR
SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2004
‘Twist of irony’
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Lower Churchill abort
Design of snub-nose boats questioned in wake of Ryan’s Commander tragedy By Jeff Ducharme The Independent
BUSINESS
The rhyme and reason of employment numbers Page 15
LIFE & TIMES
Sara keeps the Rostotski name on the walls Page 21
GALLERY
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hen the cold harsh light of day is shone on a tragedy like that of the sinking of the Ryan’s Commander Sept. 19 off Cape Bonavista, people are left asking why. Some blame the horrific weather; others blame cruel fate in the form of a rogue wave. Still others blame federal regulations that force the hand of boat builders and designers. “Boats aren’t supposed to capsize,” Bill Broderick tells The Independent. Broderick is vice-president of the Food, Fish and Allied Workers’ union and a family friend of the Ryan brothers. “Boats are supposed to roll with the waves and nudge into the waves.” But Ryan’s Commander did capsize — there was no roll, no nudge. David Ryan, 46, and his brother Joseph Ryan, 47, died in the sinking. Broderick knew the Ryan brothers since they were young boys. He taught the boys when he was a “teacher in another life.” He was around when the Ryans first fished from an open boat; he was also there when the 65-foot Ryan’s Commander was launched a year ago. “The one thing they never did was skimp on anything,” Broderick says from his home on the island of St. Brendan’s, where David Ryan was laid to rest Saturday, Sept. 25. Searchers are still trying to locate the body of Joseph Ryan. Richard Brown, 40, Don Brown, 56, Jamie Aylward, 22, and Ron Furlong, 22, were all saved during a harrowing
Vivian Pedley examines questions of identity
Courtesy of Jim Wellman/Navigator
nighttime rescue in fierce weather conditions. “They had two life rafts on the boat. They had every piece of navigation equipment money could buy and they had the lifesaving equipment. In a sense, that’s a strange twist of irony that the one who’s the most cautious, the most — don’t you see it that way?” The boat was built by Universal Marine of Triton. When contacted by The Independent, the owners declined comment. Transport Canada conducted the inaugural inspection of the vessel in 2004. Fishing vessels such as Ryan’s Commander are given a complete inspection every four years by the federal agency. Broderick understands that people will now question the safety of the
vessel. “They really thought that they were safe. I know that from having talked to them and certainly from having met the family face-to-face Sunday night and breaking the bad news to them,” says Broderick. “Their faces told me a story that ‘Bill, you’re not telling us the truth here. This boat didn’t go down. How could this be? This is a safe boat.’” The Transportation Safety Board is responsible for investigating marine accidents. Officials have already begun interviewing some of the survivors. “The vessel has been built by a builder to plans,” says Capt. Eric Snow of the Transportation Safety Board. “So you have the plans of the ship, you have the information from survivors on as to what she was carrying, maybe how much fuel was left on the vessel, what the conditions were like at the time, what course she was travelling, what the weather was like — all these things have to be put together and analyzed,” says Snow. But some fishermen are questioning the design of the snub-nose vessels. Wade Bolt, 29, of St. John’s has been fishing for 10 years. Because government regulations limit the length of the vessels to under 65 feet, he says owners and designers are forced to build vessels up rather than out. In certain conditions, Bolt says the boats can become topheavy. “That determines your stability, and when you got a full bottom it’s good, a full fish hold,” says Bolt from the wheel Continued on page 2
What a dump
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Up to 500 tonnes of garbage are added every day, but Robin Hood Bay isn’t the mess it once was By Stephanie Porter The Independent EPA/AKHTAR SOOMRO
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SPORTS
Chris Collingwood takes first place in his first Targa Page 26
Quote Week OF THE
“The people around here are pretty impressed with you guys.” — A senior U.S. State Department official on The Independent’s investigation into a Chinese firm’s connection to terrorist activities.
hes Saunders remembers the way the Robin Hood Bay landfill was when he started working there: “heaps and heaps” of exposed garbage, rarely covered, never separated. At night, the surface of the trash became a sea of rats, bold enough they’d run right over a person’s feet. And the smell. The smell of all that untreated, uncovered trash was incredible. “The amount of material coming in here was frightening,” says Saunders, now the supervisor of the landfill site. “There was raw septic, metals, oil, chemicals, everything.” In other words, it really was a dump. That was only a dozen years ago. “I’ve seen a lot of changes since then,” Saunders says. “I’ve made a lot of changes.” Saunders is only too happy to give a tour of the landfill in his four-wheel drive. He’s used to giving the low-down on the site — he often gives tours to school kids in late spring. “People have the wrong perception of landfills,” he says as he starts down the bumpy road winding along the perimeter of the site. “That it’s hazardous, contaminated … it’s not as hazardous as people may think.” Now, Saunders says, fresh garbage is covered over with clay or fill at the end
A Chinese firm involved with a proposal to develop the Lower Churchill has been linked to Pakistan’s Shaheen-1 and Shaheen-2 missile systems. The firm has also been sanctioned by the U.S. government for supplying military components to Iran.
Ballistic dealings Chinese company involved in Lower Churchill proposal has alleged terrorist links; Williams concerned with leak’s source By Jeff Ducharme The Independent
Paul Daly/The Independent
The Robin Hood Bay landfill.
of each day. A lot of material — metal, recyclable cardboard, hazardous waste — is no longer allowed in. The measures have resulted in a cleaner-looking, better-smelling dump — and the rodents rarely come out in the open. But there are still the gulls — between 35,000 and 40,000 of them, according to this year’s count. They’re big, look well fed, and screech as they dodge out of the way of Saunders’ vehicle. Three or four trucks can be seen working away on the landfill — digging and
transporting fill, evening out the surface of the day’s trash. A slow but steady stream of private and commercial cars and trucks — about 300 a day — pay quick visits to the site. Trees along the border are decorated with plastic bags and other bits of stray trash. A “litter fence” constructed on one side is clear — but if the wind changes direction, Saunders says, it would be thick with refuse in a moment. Continued on page 12
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he battle to develop the Lower Churchill Falls hydro-electric project is becoming a cloak and dagger affair. “The stakes here are extremely high,” Premier Danny Williams tells The Independent. “Competitors in these projects will try to undermine other competitors because it’s a dogeat-dog world out there.” Williams’ comments follow media reports that reveal a Chinese company with terrorist links is part of a consortium of energy companies that has signed a memorandum of understanding with the province to develop Labrador’s Lower Churchill. The China National Machinery and
Equipment Import and Export Corporation has been sanctioned by the U.S. government for selling components used to make and develop weapons of mass destruction. While the premier won’t point any fingers, he believes the information about the company was leaked to the media. The Independent was also tipped off on information this week that led to the discovery of the Chinese company’s sordid background. Questions have been raised whether the tip originated with Quebec, which is interested in financing the Lower Churchill project. Officials with Hydro Quebec and the Government of Quebec would only say they’re watching developments, offering no further comment. “If people are into underhanded tactics that’s not the way — this is being
done above board and they better approach it that way otherwise they’re making a big mistake.” The province of Quebec has long wanted to develop the Lower Churchill, but its 2002 proposal has been deemed unacceptable by the Williams administration. “But you can be rest assured that this will be a dogfight,” says Williams. “Let me tell you something else, a dogfight between competitive companies is in the best interests of the people of this province.” Williams says the province’s Justice Department will launch an investigation into the Chinese company. “And if in fact they have improper connections with terrorists or terrorist Continued on page 10
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NEWS
‘This is about history and heart’
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From page 1 house of his 64-foot, 11 inch Atlantic Quest that he owns shares in and his brother captains. “But I don’t think the height gives you stability whatsoever. And they (snub nose vessels) are built like boxes. They’re not built like an old-school boat, like a schoonerstyle where the stern cuts in and the bow got a nice cut on it to ride the waves.” Bolt’s boat is 23 years old (rebuilt in 1995) with a traditional bow that slopes in as opposed to the new snub-nose vessels that have a stern that’s almost vertical. The federal regulations that limit the length of the inshore vessels to less than 65 feet created a class of vessels called 64-11s because they come in just under the mandated length. Mid-shore vessels are 65100 feet and anything over that length is considered offshore. “Our opinion don’t matter as fishermen, you know what I mean, we haven’t experienced none of it,” says Bolt. “We’re just stupid fishermen.
“The government won’t allow people to go over 65-feet so that’s restricting people in their ability to improve quality … now to improve quality you have to go higher and wider,” says Bolt. “If you had length, you wouldn’t have to go so high and so wide and you’d have a more stable boat.” Steve Outhouse, spokesman for the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Ottawa, says that the guidelines were put in place some two decades ago at the request of industry and fishermen as “protective boundaries.” Outhouse admits that times and technology have changed considerably. He says ongoing hearings for the Atlantic Fisheries Policy Framework are designed to address regulations that may have been overtaken by technology. “There is that process underway and so it will be interesting to see if industry raises anything or stakeholders raise these types of issues.” Broderick says while there may be safety issues with the design of the snub-nose vessels, making ves-
Going it alone City of St. John’s intends to buy junior hockey franchise without help from private investors By Alisha Morrissey The Independent
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The Independent, September 26, 2004
t. John’s Sports and Entertainment Ltd. plans to invest up to $2.5 million in a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League franchise without the help of private investors, The Independent has learned. Keith Coombs, chair of the group that runs Mile One stadium and convention centre, says the city had offers from private investors interested in bringing in a “Q” team, but the city chose to go it alone. Coombs says the proposal and subsequent tender would take too much time and create too much confusion. At the same time, the city lost millions of dollars running the baby Leafs. “Once a number of groups go after it, it causes all kinds of problems for the board of governors to make up their minds,” says Coombs. The Leafs plan to leave the capital city after the upcoming season. The city will have three options once it has ownership of a Q team: allowing St. John’s Sports and Entertainment Ltd. to keep full ownership of the team; entering into a private/public ownership; or allowing a private group to buy the team from the city and lease the use of Mile One. “Up to this point in time, anyone we’ve spoken to, we’ve said we are going to get the franchise as St. John’s Sports and Entertainment Ltd., then we are going to weigh our options,” says Coombs. He says the door is now open for the city to get a team in that the board of governors of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League have referred the city’s interest to an owners’ meetings later this fall. “We shouldn’t be jumping for joy at this point because we don’t actually have one (a franchise), it does mean that we’ve got-
ten through the first stage,” says Coombs. St. John’s Sports and Entertainment Ltd. held an emergency meeting Sept. 22 to decide how to proceed in terms of acquiring a Q team. “We’ll be making our presentation visa-vis, why we believe that the City of St. John’s and Mile One Stadium is a great place to have a major junior hockey league (team),” says Coombs, who was tight-lipped on what was decided upon at the meeting. Coombs says he’s unsure of the exact cost of the team. “It could be anywhere between $1.75 million and up to $2.5 million,” he says. “As with the AHL, we would have to do the same with the Q, which is provide a travel subsidy. That’s something that any group, whether it be St. John’s Sports and Entertainment Ltd. or some private group or what have you, would have to take into consideration.” The Toronto Maple Leafs farm team has cost St. John’s a small fortune, with losses of up to $700,000 a year. Mile One opened in May, 2004 — five years after the St. John’s Maple Leafs and the city signed an eight-year contract. The team will finish the 2004-2005 season before going home to Toronto. The Leafs’ owners decided to move the team closer to home after the announcement the Toronto Roadrunners hockey team would be moving to Edmonton, leaving an opening for the baby Leafs. “At the end of the day, we were really, simply just renting the (Toronto) franchise. This here means, of course, that you would actually be purchasing a franchise, therefore, building an asset to the city,” says Coombs. Once the Leafs leave St. John’s, the American Hockey League won’t have any teams east of Toronto. There are several Q teams in the Maritimes.
sels longer isn’t necessarily the answer. “Some will maybe want to make it that because it will serve their interest, but I think it would be unfortunate to use the deaths of these two individuals to achieve those ends,” says Broderick. “I don’t want people out in vessels that are unsafe and if that means we have to redesign some of the things we do, then so be it.” Snow says the Transportation Safety Board will check to see if Ryan’s Commander had stability data and, if not, they’ll seek out sister ships and test them for stability. When they have that data, they’ll be able to determine if the vessel’s design had any safety deficiencies. “We’ll never know exactly,” says Snow. “It’s theoretical, but we can get a damn good idea.” Snow says while the final report could take months or even years to complete, any verified safety issues will be released and stakeholders will be notified immediately. “It’s not going to bring them
back, of course,” says Snow. “It’s not going to help their cause, but hopefully it will help seafarers in the long run.” Bolt knows the ocean can be a cruel mistress to those who choose to make a living on her seas. She gives with one hand and she takes with the other. “This is about history and heart,” says Bolt. “This is not about, you know, getting rich or anything else. We want this to be here for our kids down the road and we want it as safe as we can have it for ‘em. “It’s our history. It’s our livelihood. It’s all we’ve ever done and it’s all we’re ever going to do.” Broderick talks about the men who he says were “neighbours in the true sense of the word.” As he talks about his lost friends, he looks down at heaters the Ryan brothers helped him install in his home — the loss hits again, his voice cracks and he begins to sob. “This is a blow that we haven’t seen in my lifetime,” says Broderick “The community won’t be the same. It’s terrible.”
The Independent, September 26, 2004
NEWS
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‘Necessary evil’ Ronald Dalton speaks to The Independent about the murder of his wife, the impact on his children and getting on with his life By Stephanie Porter The Independent
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onald Dalton has been through this before. Over and over again. In the 17 years since Dalton was accused of murdering his wife, the mother of his three children, he’s been asked to replay the day, and much of what he’s lived through since, repeatedly — in court, in lawyer’s offices, in his own mind. He’s gotten used to answering the media’s questions, “a necessary evil.” Dalton was convicted of the murder and spent eight-and-a-half years in jail waiting for an appeal. When that appeal finally came, he won. In 2000, he was declared not guilty in a retrial. Now he’s heavily involved in the on-going Lamer Inquiry, which is examining the cases of three recent wrongful convictions in the province: Randy Druken, Gregory Parsons, and Dalton. In 2000, Dalton was living in a downtown St. John’s boarding house with his youngest son, existing on social assistance, wondering what to do next. Today, Dalton appears tidy and relaxed in the spotless living room of his sparselyfurnished, modest home in the west end of St. John’s. The walls are covered in family photos. Dalton answers every question without a pause or waver. He doesn’t show any anger; bitterness at the years of legal limbo and a decade away from his family is only referred to in passing. He speaks quietly and clearly, gesturing rarely, appearing every bit the mild-mannered banker. Every Ronald Dalton bit like someone who’s had a lot of time to police alleged Brenda was strangled or think. “I can talk about it a little more detached suffocated — Dalton maintained she now,” he says about his wife’s death. choked on cereal. Brenda was proclaimed “Unfortunately, you almost become desen- dead at about 1 a.m. in the hospital. “That’s the big loss, I lost my wife and sitized to it. Going through the trials, you have autopsy pictures of your wife’s body the children lost their mother,” he says. cut up, pictures of internal organs that “We went from being a family of five with nobody wants to look at anytime, even the normal stuff on the go to me being a from a perfect stranger. And this, you have widower at 32 with three small children. “I sat awake all night that night, wonan emotional attachment … “But the more times you tell it … that’s dering how do you explain to a six- and the danger of retrial, that I would sound nine-year-old their mother had died … cold and detached, because I’ve retold and despite everything that came afterwards, I think that morning was the worst. relived it so many times.” “The nine-year-old understood, he In spite of the inquiry, Dalton says he is getting on with life. He’s set up a small thought maybe she’d dieted too much … home office downstairs, where he’s doing the six-year-old cried with us, sort of some bookkeeping and accounting, understood, then half an hour later she “enough to keep the wolf away from the wanted her breakfast. It reminded me that door.” It’s the kind of work he was doing there were still responsibilities, you have to “1,000 years ago”; making half of what he deal with whatever life throws at you.” But the Dalton family ordeal had barely made 20 years ago, but managing to surbegun. Within 24 hours, Dalton was in vive. Dalton remarried two years ago. He met police hands; the three children went to his wife in the late ’90s in the elevator out- live with their aunt and uncle — with three side the office of their mutual lawyer, youngsters of their own — on Prince Jerome Kennedy. At the time, he was get- Edward Island. When Dalton was released ting ready for retrial; she was involved in on bail, he stayed with the kids while her son’s case — he had been accused of awaiting trial, figuring, he says, the system and the courts would take care of him and homicide, of which he was later cleared. The two immediately had the bond of prove his innocence. “I can still hear my mother in the back of shared experience, and grew close over the next few years. “Neither one of us thought that courtroom in 1989 when the jury came we had time, were looking for a relation- in and said ‘guilty,’ that screeching and bawling won’t ever go away.” ship,’ says Dalton. “But it happened.” Dalton still carries a lot of baggage gathDalton’s youngest son, 17-year-old David, lives with the couple and has just ered during the eight-plus years he spent in begun his first year of university. His other prison, waiting for the appeal. “The mailman walks up wearing a unichildren, 25-year-old David and 22-yearold Allison, live in Prince Edward Island. form and uniforms get my attention,” he Dalton reports all three children are “cop- says. “The antennae go up because you’ve ing,” they have their own lives and have been locked up in a cage where people in avoided much of the media spotlight by uniform control your life. Someone jingles a set of keys and you react because that’s not being in Newfoundland. Before Brenda Dalton died in 1988, Dal- what the prison guards do. The first couple ton says the family unit was stable, with of months you’re out you stand in front of the regular ups and downs any family a doorway waiting for someone to open it.” Dalton is still waiting for an apology might go through. He was manager of a bank in Gander; she stayed at home with from the provincial government for his the three kids. They had a house, a car, a conviction and years behind the bars of a maximum-security prison in New “regular life.” Then, abruptly, everything changed. The Brunswick. He’s made no secret of the fact
Paul Daly/The Independent
he’s not pleased with the terms of reference of the Lamer Inquiry — while Antonio Lamer is looking into the wrongful convictions of Gregory Parsons (cleared in 2002 of the 1991 killing of his mother) and Randy Druken (spent six years in prison for the 1993 murder of his girlfriend; the charges were later stayed), he is only looking at the delay — why it took eight years for the appeal to begin — in Dalton’s case. Parsons is the only one of the three to receive an apology, and compensation.
“You know, old ladies come up to me in Sobeys and want to give me a hug, people recognize me, the general public realized that there are three tragedies and three lives that got messed up. I don’t think the government has to hide from the fact they’re going to have to throw us a few dollars along the way.” — Ronald Dalton
“We wanted everything out there, not just the delay, to see how this happened,” says Dalton. “We were disappointed we weren’t consulted. “You know, old ladies come up to me in Sobeys and want to give me a hug, people recognize me, the general public realized that there are three tragedies and three lives that got messed up. I don’t think the government has to hide from the fact they’re going to have to throw us a few dollars along the way.” Dalton, Druken and Parsons put out a press release earlier this month, asking again that the scope of the inquiry be expanded. Lamer has already asked for a year’s extension on the project — Dalton expects a response from the province by the end of the month.
In other words, he’s still waiting. “This is nothing that’s going to end soon. What will be the closure? There won’t be. There will never be finality for us. Commissioner Lamer will long be dead and buried and we’ll still be having flashbacks.” Dalton won’t make any predictions about his future, where he’ll be, what the inquiry will reveal. Although says he doesn’t entirely disrespect the courts, he knows nothing will ever restore his confidence in the justice system: “That’s too big a task for anybody.” He says he and his lawyers have three civil cases “on the go against the provincial government and other players.” It may be years before the cases are finalized, years before Dalton sees any money — if he ever does. Through this long, ongoing journey, Dalton says he’s learned to keep his emotions in check. “Certainly there’s anger and I can reach down and grab it when I need to but that can eat you up after a while. Never mind bitterness, you can go into a rage … but you can’t do too much of that or you won’t have a ticker left. “Everybody has to deal with stuff in life. I got out of jail and my three children are alive and well, my parents were still alive, my health is reasonably good. Other people have different things to deal with — some people 40 years old drop dead of their first heart attack, or there’s the 25year-old young mother who gets cancer and dies. Some people lose children along the way. “It’s different stuff to deal with. I deal with all this the way someone else deals with the loss of a child or some other very traumatic thing.” But not everyone faced with tragedy or trauma is thrust into the public eye for almost two decades. “Yes, I’m quite sick of courts, judges, lawyers, media … no one in particular, just of having your life out there,” he admits. “I’d just as soon not be in the media, not be a public figure, but it seems to be important.”
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NEWS
The Independent, September 26, 2004
An independent voice for Newfoundland & Labrador
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LETTERS POLICY The Independent welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must be 300 words in length or less and include full name, mailing address and daytime contact numbers. Letters may be edited for length, content and legal considerations. Send your letters in care of The Independent, P.O. Box 5891, Station C, St. John’s, NL, A1C 5X4 or e-mail us at editorial@theindependent.ca
Another fishery column
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here’s an odd sensation that comes with writing a column about the Newfoundland fishery, the nagging tug of a question: will anyone read any further than this? For so many years the moratorium was an unspoken embarrassment to those of us born here: the fish were gone, the blame was partly ours, and upwards of 40,000 of our people lived on the charity of Canadians, who shook their heads and wondered why all Newfoundlanders didn’t pack it in to live — and work — with them on the mainland. “The biggest layoff in Canadian history,” was the quote of 1992, moratorium year one. Richard Cashin knew how to catch a country’s attention with a mike in his hand and an army of union men, unemployed ones, at his back. The news, he said, was comparable to shutting down southern Ontario’s automotive industry or wrapping police tape around the western wheat fields. Competition for the camera was fierce: Petty Harbour fishermen suddenly spent more time hogging the lens than hauling nets; our own John Crosbie needed police protection. “We’ll starve,” shouted the big-bellied fishermen. “Is that enough?” asked the politicians, who filled the outstretched hands. The story line got old — fast.
The fishery, as a newspaper beat, was dropped: with no fish, what was there to write about? Newfoundlanders, by and large, were appeased, food was still on the table, and the fish were forgotten — which is why the problems never go away, and, like it or not, the fishery never drifts far from the front page. This place’s future is tied to the sea; oil and ore will only last so long — cod fillet could keep us forever. The fishery closure was meant to save the stocks, but it hasn’t, because the underlying problems have not been addressed. The death of the commercial fisheries is comparable to the end of Davis Inlet. The move by the Innu to the new community of Natuashish did not address the underlying social problems, which is why the substance abuse continues, the suicides mount, parental neglect goes on, the suffering never ends. Likewise, foreign over fishing continues unabated, the health of the stocks has deteriorated from serious to critical, and rural Newfoundland and Labrador slowly rots into the sea like so many abandoned fish plants. The cause of the illness has never been treated. To their credit, the federal and provincial governments struck a committee to draw up a cod stock recovery plan, but that group was only formed last August — 11 years after the
RYAN CLEARY
northern cod fishery collapsed. What a pathetic joke. The committee is expected to have a discussion paper ready for public release later this year or early next, with a final recovery blue print ready, God willing, later in 2005 — 12 years after the 500-year-old industry died in the water. Coincidently, the federal government is expected to decide next year whether to follow the recommendation of an independent group of scientists, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, and declare cod an endangered species — commercially extinct, for all intents and purposes. The blue print should come just in time for the funeral. The federal government has cut the guts out of fish science since the early 1990s. In the latest slap in the face to every Newfoundlander and Labradorian alive, they’re considering another 19 per cent slash to science as a way to pay for Paul Martin’s new health-care commitments. Killing the outports is one thing; killing them slowly, quite another. That’s just downright mean. On Sept. 22, the prime minister urged the United Nations General Assembly to adopt rules for intervening early to protect vulnerable people around the world and prevent humanitarian catastrophes like the Sudan crisis. What about the crisis in this end of the world? Why didn’t Martin take the podium at the recent NAFO meeting in Dart-
mouth and blast global delays in responding to this province’s environmental and social catastrophe? As this column is being written, the Portuguese trawler Brites is tied up outside The Independent’s front window on the St. John’s waterfront. The crew of the vessel cut their nets May 4 after Canadian inspectors boarded the ship, suspected of illegally fishing. The Coast Guard retrieved the net, sailed it to St. John’s harbour, and displayed it for all potential voters in the thenupcoming federal election to see. The Brites was never charged, and eventually returned fishing on the Grand Banks. Ottawa won’t release any information on exactly what happened because it may damage international relations. Martin, who was so eager to talk about custodial management prior to the election, has moved on to other files and foreign trawlers, like the Brites, continue on their merry way, dropping in to port occasionally for fuel and supplies. And that, pretty much, is where we’re at in our long and proud history. The question shouldn’t be whether we’re prepared to read another column on the fishery, but how in the name of Jesus, Mary and Joseph we can get through another column inch without rioting in the streets. Ryan Cleary is The Independent’s managing editor. ryan.cleary@theindependent.ca
Letters to the Editor
Are we ‘stupid Newfies’ Dear editor, To be a Newfoundlander (Ivan Morgan, The Independent’s Sept. 12 edition), to me, means to bend over and take it from behind. As a 24-year-old, I have travelled throughout much of Canada and come to the conclusion that the reason we have always been labeled stupid Newfies is because,
for the most part, we are. We are known all over for our hard work. Thanks, but to me that’s an insult. We have been working ourselves like dogs and for what — another opportunity to bend over. For generations we have been getting the worse end of the deal and I think it’s quite disgusting. When you beat an animal it never expects
any different and it doesn’t think it deserves any more. That’s what has happened to our people and until we stand up we will continue to create generations of the same. Newfoundland is so repressed that it saddens me to think we could have it all, yet it is our attitudes that keep us here. The worse part is that with the leadership we have
had, and continue to have, nothing will ever change. We need some serious leadership at this point in time, leadership that’s not afraid to stir things up and do things differently. As a changing province what we need is strong guidance. Shannon Hillier, St. John’s
The Independent, September 26, 2004
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NAFO meeting a ‘humiliation’ for Canada Would things be different had we joined the U.S in 1949
By Gus Etchegary For The Independent
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till another meeting of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization has come and gone — at considerable expense to Canadians — and nothing has been done to stop continuing abuse by foreigners fishing outside 200 miles. The meeting concluded late on Sept. 17, complete with the usual Department of Fisheries and Oceans press release outlining the great accomplishments achieved by NAFO to save the beleaguered fisheries of the Grand Banks. Having reviewed NAFO deliberations and listened to Canadian Commissioner David Bevan’s press conference, it’s practically impossible to believe the “spin” applied to the NAFO charade by DFO’s public relations department. With specific reference to the much-heralded breakthrough in regulating redfish, hake and skate, Bevan and the official Canadian delegation humiliated themselves and the Canadian fishing industry. They did so by deliberately agreeing to settle the total allowable catch (TAC) for area 3O redfish and 3LNO skate so unrealistically high that it even prompted the head of the European Union delegation to question why Canada was being so generous! In the final analysis, the TAC clearly showed why it wasn’t difficult for the EU and other foreigners to agree to the regulation of redfish and skate. In reality, a scientifically supported TAC for redfish would not exceed 10,000 tonnes (the actual TAC is 20,000 tonnes) and a skate TAC would likely be in the region of 6,000 tonnes (The TAC is 13,500 tonnes). This is typical of the type of NAFO management regime we have had to endure in Newfoundland and Labrador and why we have the mess on our hands today.
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New NAFO quotas Total allowable catch, 3O redfish — 20,000 tonnes Breakdown European Union — 7,000 tonnes Russia — 6,500 tonnes Canada — 6,000 tonnes Japan — 150 tonnes Korea — 100 tonnes Ukraine — 150 tonnes Others — 100 tonnes Total allow catch, 3LNO skate — 13,500 tonnes Breakdown European Union — 8,500 tonnes Russia — 2,250 tonnes Canada — 2,250 tonnes Others — 500 tonnes
Those interested in fisheries in this province should understand that the foreign fishing members of NAFO — not Canada — make the final decisions on all matters regarding the management of fisheries on the Grand Banks and the Flemish Cap. Furthermore, they should know that practically every species — including turbot, cod, American plaice, yellowtail flounder, haddock, caplin, redfish, shrimp and other species that occupy the continental shelf off this province — migrate over the 200-mile line. These species are uncontrollably overfished by the same foreign NAFO members that have total voting control over NAFO deliberations. NAFO’s fisheries management decisions have led to the destruction of one of the world’s great fisheries — the same fisheries that Newfoundland delivered to Ottawa in 1949 to carefully manage and sustainably develop on our behalf. NAFO continues to legitimize the brutal overfishing practices that have destroyed the economic base of this province — our renewable fisheries. It does so by protecting
Paul Daly/The Independent
irresponsible foreign owners, their skippers and crews, from any form of punitive measures in response to their destructive practices. Bevan, the Canadian commissioner — supported by Earl McCurdy of the fishermen’s union — attributes Canada’s success at NAFO to the fact that redfish, thorny skate and hake are now regulated. Veteran Newfoundland deepsea skippers would have advised them differently. The skippers would have told them the cod and American plaice fisheries will not be rebuilt by regulating these previously unregulated species. The Canadian delegation should tell the truth to the people of this
province — the unhappy Danes plan to use the objection procedure to disregard its NAFO shrimp quota and unilaterally set its own. Ottawa will never attempt to remove the objection procedure, the same tool the foreigners will use to ultimately destroy what little is left of our fishery. The same tool also lets Ottawa completely off the hook for any responsibility in rebuilding our fisheries. When a fisheries bureaucrat, such as Bevan, completely ignores the commitment made by Prime Minister Paul Martin in a pre-election speech in Charlottetown (with MPs John Efford and Bill Matthews present) to implement custodial management, we can
only assume the die has been cast and that Martin gave Bevan approval to thrust aside the previous commitment. The Government of Canada cannot escape the fact that the only possible way our fisheries will ever be rebuilt is through custodial management and unless the task is undertaken immediately our renewable fisheries resource will be gone forever. Any hope we had that Canada valued our fishery was badly shaken when DFO’s public relations department informed us that the prime minister may cut our science budget by another $40 million. The news comes eight years after then-Finance Minister Martin cut the science budget for East Coast fisheries in half and badly crippled the whole fisheries science program to a point where today we know very little about the state of our offshore fisheries. It’s becoming increasingly clear that unless Premier Danny Williams begins to apply the same aggressiveness displayed in recent weeks with the prime minister, the future of fishing communities in our province will only get worse. We must no longer depend on DFO bureaucrats, politicians and their supporters. It is in times like this that one wonders where we would be today had we had joined the U.S.A. in 1949. One thing is certain, as soon as Washington recognized the value of our fish stocks and their migratory pattern jurisdiction would have been extended to the slopes of the continental shelf without delay and foreign destruction of our fishery brought to a halt. Who knows, with Norwegians and Icelanders being fifth and sixth in the world in terms of per capita income, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians could well be in the same league. Gus Etchegary is a fisheries activist and former fishing industry executive.
‘Ripening in the late summer sun’
o you feel like a blueberry? You should, because it looks for all the world like you’re ripe for the picking. For those of you who don’t pay attention to such things, there has been a veritable orgy of Tories replacing Liberals on any board or Crown corporation where the picking is good. A lot of it has been in the news; a lot of it hasn’t. I can also tell you there are more than a few Liberal appointees out there who know their heads will be served to them on a platter just as soon as soon can be. Why is the picking so good? Well, because you pay the bills. We have big problems in the fishery. We have big problems in other industries in the province, too — money problems. But in the utilities? No real problems there. There the pickings are good, and the Tories are falling over themselves to get in line for the juicy berries. I recently read a press release in which Premier Danny Williams thanked Paul Dicks and Danny Dumaresque for their time on the board of Newfoundland Hydro. I got thanked like that once when I lipped off to a bouncer in a club. I got thanked right onto the
sidewalk. Now I hear Mr. Dumaresque is angry at being turfed from the board and is going to have a press conference so he can tell all. Whatever.
Want to impress me? Go run a restaurant or a corner store — they’re businesses. I’m impressed by someone who can run one of those. I am not so impressed by someone who edges his or her way into Newfoundland Hydro’s boardroom. Any moron can do that … apparently. During their time on the board he and Dicks skillfully ensured that … truth be told, I have no idea what they did. But I know they aren’t going to get to do it anymore. Come to think of it, if Dumaresque is going
to tell all now, what did he think he was getting before — hush money? Williams has his own people in there now. I bet we will never really get to know what they do either. What is it about these people and utilities? Cable Atlantic always looked like a utility to me. I have been lectured by business types about the difference between a business and a utility, but it remains unclear to me. From where I stand, it was never a real business. There was only one cable company — so there was no competition. They had to have permission from the government to operate. The only real choice I had was buying their product at the rates they set, or going without. (Sounds like Newfoundland Power to me.) But I’m told Cable Atlantic was a business, so I guess that’s what it was. I am also told the liquor corporation isn’t a utility either. But I can’t buy my Scotch from anyone else. I was a business major only briefly, so I guess the subtleties are lost on me. Whatever the definition, Williams and company are making sure they get their friends
Rant & Reason IVAN MORGAN all the cushy jobs in these organizations. Why? I think it’s because it’s easier to look all business-like and confident when the only business decision you ever have to make is whether to stick it to the customer or the unionized staff — or both. Want to impress me? Go run a restaurant or a corner store — they’re businesses. I’m impressed by someone who can run one of those. I am not so impressed by someone who edges his or her way into Newfoundland Hydro’s boardroom. Any moron can do that … apparently. And you people look like blueberries to me. Every time I read a press release about new appointments to these organizations I visualize a group of well-dressed men and women running, in slowmotion, across the barrens, buckets swinging at their side in their race for the big ripe berries. I also
see forlorn, haggard -looking Liberals being forced off the barrens, down into the bog, where they will plot their revenge. And you all sit there, slowly ripening in the late summer sun. As is thus, and ever shall be. As the late great Rossy Barbour once said, “To the victor goes the spiles.” (Note to anyone under 30 — go look it up.) The vast majority of us pay the bills so a small bunch of folks can play “innies” and “outies.” Right now the Tories are “in” and the Liberals are “out.” That means we’re seeing formerly wellpaid and prominent Liberals being thanked all over town. If you look carefully enough, you can also see some Liberals beginning to jockey for position in the next election. They hope to win back power and then thank the current thankers. And so it goes. For the next little while we will all have to listen to the howls of outrage from folks sacked from jobs they were parachuted into in the first place. The outrage of it all; they were all so busy looking out for you and me. It kind of makes you want to thank the lot of them. Ivan Morgan can be reached at imorgan@elvis.com
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The Independent, September 26, 2004
When you wish upon a racing star
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s a journalist, there is no shortage of death and destruction bashing through your daily life. There are times when you question if the JEFF human race even has the right to exist. Man’s inhumanity to man is, DUCHARME at times, just too hard to fathom, fan and was looking for anything even take. Evil doesn’t discriminate — the that had to do with racing. Giving innocent are slaughtered right up a few photos and a couple of posters seemed like such a little along with the guilty. But just when you think your thing, but it meant the world to this last drop of faith in humankind has youngster and brightened what been squeezed out of you and lost, days he had left on this earth. That was the beginning of a you find it reaffirmed in the journey that would introduce me strangest of places. Back in the 1980s, I was walk- to some of the most selfless indiing around the pits of Mosport viduals one could ever hope to Racing Park in Ontario and meet — the volunteers of the noticed a number of young chil- Newfoundland and Labrador Children milling around a racecar. dren’s Wish Foundation. Shortly after movMost children are ing to Corner Brook fascinated by racecars and the men and Armed with a head in 1995, I heard women who drive of hair that fell to about the Children’s Foundation them. Kids love the middle of my Wish Telethon. Armed racecars; the thunder of the engines, the back, I offered to with a head of hair flashy colours, the shave my head bald that fell to the middle of my back, I offered big tires and the if people in the shave my head smell of gasoline Corner Brook area to bald if people in the mixed with burning would open their Corner Brook area rubber. would open their But this was difwallets wallets enough to ferent. make the numbers of The Porsche 944 the children were surrounding was the pledge board hit $20,000 — that of Canadian-racing icon Scott the numbers did and the hair was Goodyear. He can still lay claim to gone. They say you can never go back the closest Indy 500 finish in history. He literally lost by a nose — again, but after a number of years .43 seconds — to Al Unser Jr. in away from the telethon because of a three-year stint in Alberta, I 1992. The kids that Goodyear was returned Sept. 19 to co-host the showing off his car to all seemed event. It wasn’t easy for the hosts, volto have one thing in common — they appeared frail and at least one unteers and crew, they had lost their most tireless volunteer just a had no hair. While generators droned and few weeks earlier. Claudine Wall’s engines revved, I stood in front of name was synonymous with the Goodyear’s race trailer and stared. telethon, but she was no longer Goodyear led the children there and the void was as tangible around the car like some sort of as the cold-concrete studio floor pied piper; a huge grin beaming each of the co-hosts stood on for across his face. One after the other, eight hours. With a total population far less he gingerly lifted each child into the front seat of his Porsche and than St. John’s, the people of Corexplained all the buttons and dials. ner Brook, Pasadena, Deer Lake I stood there, watched and won- and Bay St. George dug deep and sent the telethon total through the dered. The children looked like every roof. Almost $70,000 was raised to wish they’d ever made had just make the dreams of wish kids come true. come true. Every year the telethon total Other drivers and crew called Goodyear’s car the “wish” car. His rises, but this year it almost doumajor sponsor was the Children’s bled the previous high in 2002 of Wish Foundation of Canada. The $49,000 (there was no telethon in foundation grants wishes to seri- 2003). What I found out that day so ously and terminally ill children. As a 20-something kid, fast cars long ago amidst the roar of raceand faster women were of far more cars and then again, many years interest than any sort of charity. later, is that there is nothing more pure or worthy than a child’s wish. But something changed that day. Jeff Ducharme is The IndepenA few weeks later, my brother told me about a boy living in our dent’s senior writer. neighbourhood who was dying of cancer. The boy was a huge racing jeff.ducharme@theindependent.ca
Opinions are Like...
Paul Daly/The Independent
Strikers in arms A tourist is stopped by a striker at the entrance to Signal Hill National Historic Site. The striker is a Parks Canada worker and a member of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the union representing 4,000 park workers across the country (including 200 in Newfoundland and Labrador). The tourist eventually got around the striker by walking on a nearby wall.
Prostitutes pay taxes, too By Alisha Morrissey The Independent
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eath and taxes are the only certainties in life — even for prostitutes and drug dealers. Dawna Labonte, a representative for the Canada Revenue Agency in Ottawa, says anyone who has an income must file a tax return. “It doesn’t matter how you make your money, the income that you do make is taxable, so you have to pay income tax on that,” Labonte tells The Independent. She says confidentiality is ensured for all tax returns — including those who list illegal activity as the main source of income. Prostitution has been in the spotlight in recent weeks ever since Wayne Lucas, head of the province’s chapter of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), told The Independent that prostitution should be legalized and unionized. “Unless there is a search warrant that is given by the court, the only time that we would be allowed to share the information would be if the police came to us and it was gang related,” Labonte says. If people don’t declare an income, the Canada Revenue
Agency does an audit based on the lifestyle the individual leads. “We’ll go through everything that the person owns. We’ll go through bank records to see if there was any money that came in or went out and we try to assess how much — we assess the value of a lifestyle,” says Labonte. “So how much would someone have to make, in order to have, for example, a $300,000 home, a $50,000 car, two trips to Hawaii, children in university?” INCOME ESTIMATED The agency then estimates an annual income. Of course, late fees and penalties for not filing income tax apply to prostitutes and drug dealers, too. Labonte says the Proceeds of Crime Act is in place so every individual pays for federally funded services. “If you work a legitimate job and you make $50,000 a year you’re going to pay a certain amount of tax on that, it’s not fair for you if your neighbour is making $50,000 a year illegally and is not paying income tax and yet still benefiting from all the benefits of our system.” Labonte says the Canada Revenue Agency doesn’t have statistics on how often audits are carried out on prostitutes and drug dealers in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Police still hunt for rapist A spokesman for the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary won’t say exactly why details of a July sexual assault in Conception Bay South weren’t reported in the media, despite the fact police believe the same man was responsible for a second sexual assault in August. “That’s not uncommon,” says Sgt. Sean Ryan of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary. “There are some issues that are released and some that are not,” he tells The Independent. “A lot of it depends on the potential for the compromise of the investigation.” Despite the possibility of a repeat attack, Ryan says Constabulary officers were concerned “over issues that needed to be tied together.” In a recent news conference, Ryan admitted police believe the July attacker to be the same man who assaulted a young woman in Conception Bay South in late August. In both cases the women were walking alone late at night and were attacked by a young man with his face covered. Ryan says the Foxtrap investigation is “going vigourously,” but could not provide any further details. – Clare-Marie Gosse
The Independent, September 26, 2004
NEWS
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‘Incorrect rumour’
Janeway trimming clerical hours, not hours of operation, officials say By Alisha Morrissey The Independent
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ublic relations officials with the Health Care Corporation of St. John’s, the organization that runs city hospitals, say fewer patients are turning up at the Janeway’s emergency room, leading to a change in hours for at least one clerk. But officials say there are no plans to cut back on the Janeway’s hours of operation or to raise the age limit of patients from the current cutoff at age 16. Susan Bonnell, spokeswoman for the corporation, says the Janeway’s ER sees an average of five patients between the hours of midnight to eight a.m. As a result, she says it doesn’t make sense to have a clerk at the registration desk during those hours. “But the emergency room itself is not being closed … it’s got to do with numbers late at night and not having the need for a particular individual. It’s just an administrative issue,” says Bonnell. “Basically all that’s happened is that there is an individual who works from midnight until eight in emerge (who) is not going to be working.” Bonnell says no one will lose their job as a result of the shift change. The shift just won’t be available. It had been speculated the change in clerk hours is indicative of reduced Janeway hours of operation.
Bonnell says that’s an “incorrect rumour. “There is no plan to reduce service hours at the Janeway emergency,” she tells The Independent. “The decision there is just an administrative decision — the volumes are low in the evenings — so we’re just looking at how to better use resources.” Bonnell says the plan is for nurses to take over preliminary patient admission, with the registration department following up later in the morning. Debbie Forward, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses’ Union, was unavailable for comment. A union spokeswoman says the union hasn’t registered any complaints from nurses upset over taking on registration duties. Bonnell says the topic of increasing the age cutoff for treatment at the Janeway (to 19 from 16) has been discussed, but no decision has been made. “This business of the age thing, that’s been an ongoing thing for many, many years, they have meetings about it and talk about it, but it’s certainly no, no decision has been made that next month, or as a result of restructuring, we’re going to up the age limit at the Janeway,” says Bonnell. “There’s been talks, meetings, and discussion. We’re looking at ways we can run the system efficiently and that is something that is going to come up, but there is certainly no plan to up the age limit at the Janeway emergency.”
Foreign-owned vessel fishing in Canadian waters without proper licences By Ryan Cleary The Independent
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research vessel from Greenland has been hired by the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans to conduct a 22-day survey of turbot stocks off Baffin Island, The Independent has learned. As it happens, Greenland also has an interest in the Inuksuk I, a foreign fishing vessel that was at the centre of a storm of controversy in early July when it was allowed to fish turbot in Canadian waters off Baffin Island. Officials in Ottawa say the fact Greenland is both fishing turbot in Canadian waters and carrying out scientific research on the stock does not put it in a conflict of interest. “The decision by the (Fisheries) department to use the Greenland vessel for the survey was in support of the science program,” says Christie Parcigneau, spokeswoman for Fisheries and Oceans in Ottawa. “So it was a department decision and there is no conflict.” Parcigneau tells The Independent the Inuksuk 1 — which is 45 per cent owned by Greenland, and 55 per cent owned by Icelandic interests — is now considered a Canadian vessel because it’s registered in Canada. FISHING FOR WEEKS In yet another development, however, the Inuksuk 1 has been fishing for weeks in Canadian waters without the proper licences from the federal government. Parcigneau admits that to be the case, explaining the vessel needed two separate licences — one from Transport Canada; the other from Fisheries and Oceans. She says the registration number for the DFO licence is on the Transport Canada licence, and vise versa. “It’s an administrative error … a clerical error,” says Parcigneau, adding the vessel does have a
valid fishing licence. She says the error should be corrected by early this week. The 65-metre Inuksuk 1 was registered in Canada in late June, and is owned by a Canadian company called Nataanaq Fisheries Ltd. That company, in turn, is owned by Royal Greenland, one of the world’s largest seafood companies, which is wholly owned by the Danish government. Denmark speaks for both Greenland and the Faroe Islands on the world stage. The turbot quota in the Davis Strait is controlled by the Baffin Fisheries Coalition, a group representing 11 Nunavut fishing communities. The coalition owns a 4,000 tonne turbot quota and is using the Inuksuk 1 to fish it. The catches could be worth up to $40 million. The coalition will land 15 per cent of the profit. NO SHIP CAPABLE Parcigneau says a Greenland vessel was hired to survey turbot stocks in the Davis Strait because Canada does not have a ship capable of doing the work in the Arctic region. She says the Greenland vessel also conducted the survey in 1999, 2000 and 2001. “The same vessel also conducted studies in Greenland waters,” she says. “In order to avoid discrepancies we’re using the same vessel … to ensure the methodology is the same.” The Inuksuk 1 was previously called the Salles, which was registered with Estonia last year and fished shrimp in international waters on the nose of the Grand Banks. Officials with Fisheries and Oceans recently turned down an Independent request asking whether the Salles had been cited for illegal fishing. Denmark, the same country that represents Greenland, overfished its shrimp quota last year by 10 times the limit set by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization. It’s believed Denmark will overfish its shrimp quotas again this year.
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NEWS
The Independent, September 26, 2004
‘Softer market’
Tourism down in St-Pierre-Miquelon thanks to Newfoundland numbers being down By Alisha Morrissey The Independent
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ewer tourists took in the sights, sounds, culture and wine of StPierre-Miquelon this summer as a slight dip in tourism in Newfoundland and Labrador had an impact on the French islands off the south coast. Jean Pierre Andrieux, owner of St-Pierre Tours, says there was a 15 per cent drop in tourism numbers across St-Pierre-Miquelon this year. “St-Pierre’s tourism is dependent on Newfoundland’s tourism,” says Andrieux. “So if they don’t come in to Newfoundland — the CN (Marine Atlantic) ferries are more expensive, the schooner rates are more expensive, the Canadian dollar has gone up against the American dollar … all of these things together, they don’t go to the island.” He says there have been fewer French Canadians visiting the island this summer as well. “I think the dollar rate having adjusted they have headed back to the traditional
A tourist takes in the sights of St-Pierre-Miquelon
vacations of Myrtle Beach and some of these places,” Andrieux tells The Independent. “There’s just been a softer market
Paul Daly/The Independent
than there has been the last few years.” He says there are changes coming to make the island more accessible to tourists,
including a brand new ferry and further partnerships with Newfoundland and Labrador. “A state-of-the-art ferry where you’ll be less sea-sick … we have brand-new vessel that’ll be on-stream next year for 254 passengers,” Andrieux says. “Most of the people who come here come on the ferry from Fortune — part of visiting St-Pierre is like visiting L’Anse aux Meadows — it’s a destination within Newfoundland.” He says for the past few years the Burin Peninsula and St-Pierre-Miquelon have worked together on some projects, including tourism marketing. “The St-Pierre tourism budget is very small, it’s only a small island but they do cost share some items.” Andrieux says the only way to improve tourism for the tiny French islands is to improve tourism on the bigger Canadian island of Newfoundland. “The St-Pierre tourism industry is dependent on the number of visitors in Newfoundland — you can turn it any way you want — that’s how it ends up.”
‘There is hope’
Progress made to improve social conditions in Nain Happy Valley-Goose Bay By Bert Pomeroy The Independent
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ayne Hallett says it’s not uncommon to see children walking the streets of Nain on any given night of the week. “I walked home the other night around 10:30 and saw 50 or so junior-high students, and some younger children,” says the principal of Jens Haven Memorial School. “In any other community I would expect that they’d be home on a school night.” Like other communities along Labrador’s north coast, where chronic alcohol abuse is commonplace, school-aged children often fall through the cracks. Student achievement is below average, and finding solutions has not been easy, Hallett tells The Independent. “Nothing you try to address in Nain is simple,” he says. “That’s not to say, however, that no progress is being made. There are a lot of good things happening in the community.” Still, some children arrive at school in the morning, make it through the day and are back on the streets at night. They seldom do any homework, Hallett says. “In some cases, depending on their home environment, a child does not have a place for privacy where he or she can do homework,” he says. “They often share a bedroom with a brother or sister.”
Beginning this week, the school will open its library in the evenings in an effort to try and encourage students to do their homework. “It’ll be a place for the children to go and study,” Hallett says, noting the library will be staffed by teachers and community volunteers. “It’ll be available for use by the whole community.”
“I’ve seen a lot of darkness, but I’ve also seen a lot of light. I’ve seen people with destruction all around them pull through because of their determination and motivation.” — Rene Phair The school’s attempt to enhance learning opportunities for its students is part of a community effort to improve social conditions, and fits nicely with a new program implemented by the Nain RCMP detachment. Known as Project Hope, the program is aimed at keeping children off the street at night, and driving home the message that parents need to be more responsible. “Basically, what we started to do was to initiate saturation patrols, to seek out individuals that were out when they shouldn’t be out,” says Sgt. Troy Lightfoot.
“You could call it a curfew, but basically any child that is under the age of 12 years old should not be left outside unsupervised for any length of time and children under 10 should be supervised at all times.” Children between the ages of 12 and 14 years, Lightfoot says, are not to be left unsupervised for more than eight hours at a time. The RCMP is enforcing the socalled curfew under the province’s Child, Youth and Family Services Act, he says. “When we implemented the program last month our aim was to educate the population on the guidelines in the Child, Youth and Family Services Act. Initially, when we started doing patrols and removing children off the streets, we saw a noticeable difference, and in the subsequent weeks to follow we didn’t see any children on the street at all.” Apparently, that’s not the case now, and Lightfoot says it’s time to step up efforts again. Many Nain children are often victims of a vicious cycle of alcohol abuse and neglect at home, according to the Labrador Inuit Health Commission’s regional psychologist, Rene Phair. “If children are out at night, then why are they out and why is it continuing? There are a lot of problems that have to be dealt with at home that are not being dealt with,” she says. Phair is quick to note, however, that some parents in the community “have never had a good, sta-
ble environment,” and that their children are prone to lead similar lives. “But I have seen a lot of progress, although it’s up and down at times,” she says. “I’ve seen a lot of darkness, but I’ve also seen a lot of light. I’ve seen people with destruction all around them pull through because of their determination and motivation. “It’s a cycle that can be broken,” Phair says. “There is hope.” While much of its focus has been on keeping children off the streets, the RCMP is also cracking down on adults who violate the province’s Liquor Control Act. On Aug. 27, police arrested 21 adults — 15 of whom were intoxicated in public. Others were arrested for breaches of undertaking and assault. All arrests were alcohol related, says Lightfoot. “The following week we only
picked up four people that were contravening the Liquor Control Act, and then one night we didn’t pick up anybody.” Mayor Henry Broomfield says the RCMP’s efforts are starting to pay off. “There were a lot of problems before the RCMP started doing this,” he says. “You can really notice the difference now in the number of people on the streets at night.” In the meantime, Hallett says he’s confident the community will find a way to cope with its problems. “It’s got to start at home — parents have to take more responsibility. It’s a very caring community and everything is not negative. If you can somehow take all of the alcohol out, I’m a sure things would be better.” And more children would probably do their homework, he adds.
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The Independent, September 26, 2004
NEWS
Changing skyline
Page 9
‘Weather weenies’ Accuracy of weather predictions questioned since Gander closure
St. John’s won’t be the same without Basilica scaffold By Clare-Marie Gosse The Independent
By Alisha Morrissey The Independent
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he St. John’s skyline will soon lose a sight almost as familiar as the Basilica of St. John the Baptist. The scaffolding that has adorned the Basilica’s west tower for over 10 years is coming down. The Most Rev. Brendan O’Brien, who has been archbishop since 2001, tells The Independent the parish hopes to have the repairs completed and the scaffolding gone before year’s end. “This is the 150th anniversary celebrations this year,” he says, “so what we’ve decided to do is to borrow the money in order to complete some of the things that are really crucial.” The lower roof around what is called the “ambulatory,” the area at the front where people gather coming in and out of the church, is also under contract to be replaced. O’Brien says the cost for repairing the tower is about $500,000 and just like anybody else, the Basilica has turned to the bank for a loan. Churches notoriously suffer with financial restrictions, and O’Brien says that the last few years have been particularly difficult for the four diocese throughout the province. Parishes receive funds from their congregations through weekly collections and give a percentage of their revenue to the central administration (the archbishop), which, in turn, makes money from the interest generated through savings. “That’s why it’s been very difficult in the last few years,” he says, “because of the way in which the markets and the stock markets have gone on, the interest
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Paul Daly/The Independent
rates have been very low on independent investments.” O’Brien says the Basilica can expect to generate a few thousand dollars a weekend from the congregational collections at masses, but it’s a large building, requiring a substantial budget. SLIGHT DECLINE Although he says congregation sizes across the province have declined somewhat, O’Brien doesn’t see that as a reflection of a lack of interest. “I think population is moving towards St. John’s,” he says. “There has been, I think in some of the rural areas, quite a decline. If you look at statistics from the last census and compare them with the 1991 census you’ll see that in some areas, like the Southern Shore, they may have lost about 10 per cent or 12 per cent of the population. Other areas like Conception Bay South have grown.” O’Brien adds another reason numbers might be down is due to modern lifestyles and the draw of weekend leisure activities that
take people away from home. “It’s not so much that people don’t go to church but they go to church less regularly,” he says. “Somebody who, in the past, would be there every Sunday might be there only once or twice a month. So they haven’t completely disassociated themselves from the church.” O’Brien says that at least in his diocese — the Avalon Peninsula and Burin Peninsula — no churches have closed over the last 10 years or so, other than a small parish called St. Matthew’s, which had been functioning in a rented building, without a fulltime priest. He says the Basilica is gearing up for a year of anniversary celebrations spanning from this September to Sept. 9th 2005, the birthday for the dedication of the Basilica 150 years ago. Numerous religious, musical and artistic events are planned throughout the year — not to mention a few bank payments. “We’ll accept any kinds of contributions that people want to give,” O’Brien says with a smile.
ummer forecasts were way off, Environment Canada officials admit, but there’s no proof the closure of weather stations across the country had an impact. The Gander weather station was downsized in the spring of 2003, leading some people to assume the accuracy of weather reports for the province — which are now generated in Halifax — aren’t as accurate. David Phillips, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, admitted earlier this year the weather agency was wrong on seasonal outlooks across Canada — nailing forecasts only 37 to 40 per cent of the time from Alberta to Quebec. “We weren’t too bad in Newfoundland and Labrador. In fact, we scored quite well,” Phillips tells The Independent. “We weren’t too far off for you guys, but that didn’t cut it for the rest of Canada.” Claude Elliott, mayor of Gander, says he’s seen no indication that weather information has been inaccurate or the cause of any tragedy. At the same time, he was extremely vocal in condemning the downsizing of the weather station when it was announced. “I haven’t heard of any incidents where, if the weather office was here in Gander, it would have been better or it would have been worse,” says Elliott. “The biggest concern we have with the weather station center moving is that the province of Newfoundland and Labrador has probably one of the most rugged coast lines around. And I mean winds, winds can change in a moments notice here.” Local CBC Television weatherman Karl Wells says with the technology at Ottawa’s disposal Canadian weather stations could probably formulate a forecast for anywhere in the world. Still, he doesn’t think the subtle nuances of Newfoundland and
Labrador’s unique weather can be summed up quite that easily. “It’s the finer details, it’s the honing of the forecast that I think we’re missing,” says Wells, adding when it comes to knowing how a particular weather system will hit St. John’s or Harbour Grace it’s hard to predict pinpoint details. “It’s probably not going to be as accurate,” he says. “Maritime climate as opposed to a continental climate — weather is influenced mainly by the ocean,” Wells says. “You could literally have good weather on one side of the bay and snow on the other side of the bay. Newfoundland is surrounded by water and Labrador is a continental and maritime area.” Wells says with so many people in the province depending on weather — on land and sea — a correct weather forecast is crucial in Newfoundland and Labrador. “It’s a life or death situation out there.” ADAGE TRUE Phillips claims the old adage — if you don’t like the weather wait around five minutes — is still relevant today, especially in Canada, where weather changes so quickly. “It makes Canadians weather weenies. We are passionate about our weather and we’ve been called a boring country, perhaps because we talk so much about something we can’t do anything about … all the blowing and talking is not going to prevent that storm from coming your way.” Since the Gander weather office has been cut back only 10 positions remain. Elliot says the financial impacts have been much more noticeable than the weather impacts. “There was about 15 jobs disappeared from the weather office. I think that most of them, if you look at salaries alone, probably $500,000, and you know there’s spin offs and everything from it, the economic impact was certainly severe to the Town of Gander.”
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NEWS
The Independent, September 26, 2004
I’m a reporter, trust me (but can you really?)
C
ops lie. So do generals. But that’s OK; sometimes they have good reason. An undercover cop deceives criminals so he can arrest them and protect the public. A military general might lie to reporters about the location of his troops in order to protect them from the enemy. Journalists tell lies, too. And even though reporters are in the business of truth-telling, lying is sometimes an acceptable method of reporting. Paradoxically, sometimes you have to lie to get to the truth. Did I say sometimes? I meant rarely. As I tell my journalism students, undercover and other underhanded methods of reporting can be justified under only two circumstances: when the public interest is great enough; and when there’s no other way to get the story. Recently, there was a case in England that met both criteria. A reporter with The Sun newspaper succeeded in smuggling a bag with bomb materials into the Parliament buildings. The reporter, Anthony France, had been working as a waiter in a restaurant at Parliament for three weeks. He
West Words FRANK CARROLL had obtained the job using false references. No other method could have demonstrated so clearly the dire laxness of security at the Houses of Parliament. Given the threats made by al-Qaeda against the United Kingdom, the reporter’s work may ultimately save lives. RECENT DECEPTION By contrast, a deception recently perpetrated here in Canada by Atlantic Business Magazine did not meet the standards of public need or journalistic necessity. An editor with the magazine sent fictitious letters to convention centre marketers in 10 Atlantic Canadian locations — including St. John’s, Grand Falls-Windsor and Corner Brook. In the letter, she claimed to represent an organization called AnimalAid and said she was trying to convince her group to hold its annual convention in the targeted communi-
‘We’re watching them’ From page 1 countries, well then we will sever ties with that company. There’s absolutely no doubt.” The China National Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Corporation is a state-run company of the People’s Republic of China. Company officials have vehemently denied U.S. government allegations the firm and its sister companies provided missile components to Pakistan nuclear capable Shaheen-1 and Shaeeen-2 missile systems. The company has also been sanctioned for providing expertise and equipment to produce biological and chemical weapons to countries on the American government’s “terrorist list” — in this case Iran. The Chinese firm is one of three companies in the Sino Energy consortium that has signed a memorandum of understanding with the provincial government. The lead player in the consortium is the PCL Construction Group — the firm responsible for the construction of Hibernia’s gravity-based structure. During a visit by U.S. ambassador Paul Cellucci in late August, Williams said he supported the American government’s missile defense plan and even suggested that he would have no problem if the system had nuclear capabilities. “Well, if we’re going to put in a system that protects Canada and the United States, and it’s a necessary system of necessary force to counter what the threat can be, I’m in favour of it,” Williams said in an exclusive interview. A senior U.S. State Department official confirms the sanctions against the Chinese company for The Independent. “We know these guys and we’re watching them,” the senior U.S. State Department official says from Washington on the condition of anonymity. “We wish that other countries would do business with entities that do
not have a history of sanctions.” The sanctions were handed down in July of 2002 under the Iran-Iraq Non-proliferation Act of 1992 and the Chemical and Biological Control and Warfare Act of 1991. Those sanctions (the final sanction expires by the end of 2004) means the company is banned from doing business with the U.S. government and prohibits American companies from attaining export licenses that involve the Chinese firm. “The only check that we would have done would have been a preliminary check just to see what the whole financial credibility was, but this certainly didn’t surface then,” says Williams. The State Department source says they have no control over dealings between the province and Chinese company, but they will be watching closely considering that the two countries share the world’s longest unguarded border. “It’s a concern.”
ty. The editor asked the marketers for information and then wrote about the speed and quality of their responses. In the article, the editor referred to the operation as a “sting” and to the various convention centre marketers as “marks.” I guess that would make her the con artist in this scenario. The marketing people in Corner Brook came out looking bad in comparison to the other marks. The editor wrote that Corner Brook’s Pepsi Centre manager “was supposed to wax poetic” about the facility but only issued a “terse six-sentence discourse” and that the promotional package he promised was not received. I’m sure there are people in Corner Brook who might be grateful to Atlantic Business Magazine for pointing out some issues that may or may not need to be addressed at the Pepsi Centre. However, the good that might come from this story does not outweigh the potential harm done to the public’s trust in journalists. It’s not a great leap in logic for a reader to ask, “Well, if journalists lie to their sources, how do I know they’re not lying to me?”
Critiquing the marketing effort at a convention centre is not, in my opinion, a good enough reason. Yes, it’s important to the city and the local business community. But this was not a matter of life or death. This was not a case of consumers being duped by unscrupulous businesses nor was there any criminal activity involved. And weren’t there other means of getting the story? Couldn’t the magazine have surveyed various
Keeping an eye on the comings and goings of the ships in St. John’s harbour. Information provided by the coast guard traffic centre. MONDAY, SEPT. 20 Vessels arrived: Gesmere 1, Canada, from sea. Vessels departed: None TUESDAY, SEPT. 21 Vessels arrived: Atlantic Eagle, Canada, from Terra Nova; Atlantic Kingfisher, Canada, from Terra Nova; Maersk Nascopie, Canada, from Hibernia. Vessels departed: ASL Sanderling, Canada, to Corner Brook; Atlantic Eagle, Canada, to Terra Nova; Sauniere, Canada, to Magdalen Isles. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 22 Vessels arrived: Maersk Chignecto, Canada, from Terra Nova; Polar Star, Barbados, from St. Anthony. Vessels departed: None Paul Daly/The Independent
THURSDAY, SEPT. 23 Vessels arrived: Jean Charcot, Britain, from sea; Anglo Scotia, Canada, from Dartmouth; Cicero, Canada, from Montreal; Burin Sea, Canada, from Terra Nova; Deutshland, German, from Portugal. Vessels departed: Atlantic Kingfisher, Canada, to Terra Nova; Maersk Placentia, Canada, to Hibernia; Thibaud, Canada, to Sable Island; Cicero, Canada, to Montreal.
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It’s not a great leap in logic for a reader to ask, “Well, if journalists lie to their sources, how do I know they’re not lying to me?”
organizations who might have dealt with these convention centres? Or was that too much trouble? This was a case of someone lowering the bar. That is, lowering the standards by which a journalist can justify lying. It should not go unchallenged. People depend upon reporters to deal truthfully with them. That applies to sources as well as readers. If you were one of these “marks,” would you likely ever trust another journalist? How does that affect the ability of other reporters to do their jobs? The overall credibility of journalists has taken a severe beating in the past decade. Such prestigious icons of journalism as the New York Times and the New Republic have had their reputations tarnished by reporters who were willing to do anything for a story. The issue of public trust in the media is very much in the air. This is a time for raising our standards, not lowering them. Frank Carroll is a journalism instructor with the Stephenvillecampus of the College of the North Atlantic. frank_carroll_nf@yahoo.ca
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I’m not suggesting that Atlantic Business Magazine lied to its readers. But once you’ve established that you’re willing to lie for a story, you’d better be prepared to prove it was for a good enough reason.
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FRIDAY, SEPT 26. Vessels arrived: Brites, Portugal, from fishing. Vessels departed: Cape Beaver, Canada, to Marystown; Polar Star, Bermuda, to Trinity; Cicero, Canada, to Montreal; Anglo Scotia, Canada, to Lewisporte; Sikuk, Canada, to sea; Deutshland, German, to Argentia.
INDEPENDENT N E W F O U N D L A N D & LABRADOR’S O W N
THE
September 26, 2004
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‘The best landfill’ Photos by Paul Daly / Story by Stephanie Porter
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‘So many prospects’ From page 1 Saunders says Robin Hood Bay was first used as a dump in the 1950s by Americans at Fort Pepperrell, a former base on the city’s east end. The city took over the dump in the 1960s. The current landfill covers 67 hectares. Between 300 and 500 tonnes of garbage come in every day; 155,000 to 170,000 tonnes from 18 communities in the area are added to the site annually. “That’s everything — domestic garbage, commercial, building material, demolition material, hospital waste, waste water …” Under current conditions, Saunders figures the landfill could operate for another 30 to 35 years. (It could last longer if more recycling efforts come on stream.) By then, Saunders says the road he’s driving on — which circles the perimeter of the dump — would be 30 metres higher than it is now. The valley would be completely filled in; the ocean view of Cape Spear, now visible from almost every point on site, would be virtually erased. PLANNING AHEAD Robin Hood Bay may never reach that capacity. Plans are already in the works for a major regional waste management centre for the entire Avalon Peninsula to be located — pending environmental assessments — on Dog Hill, just south of the TransCanada Highway, three kilometres west of the Foxtrap interchange. Although the committee investigating the plan hopes to have the facility operational by 2010 or so, Saunders remains skeptical. In the meantime, he says he’s working to make Robin Hood Bay cleaner and more efficient. “I expect more and more communities will start to use this site,” he says. “Before the first bag is thrown in the new landfill, it’s going to cost millions and millions of dollars. We will play a part in the interim. As far as I can tell, right now, this is the only alternative.” “Robin Hood Bay is one of the best landfills we have in the province,” says Melvin Regular, chair of the Greater Avalon Regional Waste Management Committee, the group working to develop the plans and secure financing for the new facility. The project is an ambitious integrated waste management system, with wet and dry waste being separated into compostables, recyclables, and non-recyclables. There would be an indoor composting facility and an engineered, lined, landfill. “It will be an environmental park,” says Regular. “And around the site other businesses will develop — an area for construction debris, a hazardous waste depot. The idea is to recycle whatever we can, and market whatever we can.” There are currently 43 landfill sites and eight incinerators
(“They are low-temperature incinerators and heavy polluters of the environment,” Regular says) on the Avalon. The care being taken to maintain Robin Hood Bay is not shared by all the facilities. “At least they’re monitoring what goes into (Robin Hood Bay),” Regular says. “Most of the landfills, we have no idea what’s going into them, and we don’t know what goes into our incinerators. Therefore, we don’t know what comes out of them either.” There is a major need for change, he adds. Regular figures when the regional site is up and running Robin Hood Bay will still serve a purpose. Though it may no longer be used as a landfill, “it might be that it will become a site for construction and demolition waste.” Saunders refers to Robin Hood Bay as an “old style” landfill. “Landfills on the mainland are a different kettle of fish, they’re engineered, there’s waste diversion, everything is separated. Catching up is a very slow process, but we’re getting there.” He mentions the recent on-site testing of the groundwater, the neighbouring wetland and ocean outfall. He’s got plans for a methane collection system, which will either turn the gas, created by decomposing materials, into energy, or flare it off to eliminate both the smell and the risk of fire. Saunders has visited schools to give talks on recycling and says kids are expressing more interest, but adds the associated costs are proving to be prohibitive for many materials. And then there are the other recyclers — otherwise known as scavengers — the people who show up daily to sift through the refuse. “When I came here first, I’d look out and see eight or 10 people out wandering around the machines,” Saunders says. “Between them and the gulls in the air, the machine operator’s nerves are jangled.” There was one death he knows of in the dump, in 1982. A person was behind a garbage pile, out of sight of the truck driver. The truck pushed the garbage back, and rolled over him. These days, people aren’t allowed on site to scavenge until 4:30 p.m., when the machines are done the day’s work. “At 4 p.m. I have to park by the gate to watch because we’ve got eight to 12 people waiting to come in. After 4:30, there’s nothing to restrict them coming in, there’s nothing we can do about it. They’ve been coming here since the dump’s been on the go.” Saunders finishes the tour back at the check-in building at the front gate. “Of all the jobs I’ve had, this is about the most interesting,” he says. “It’s a brand new area I can see opening up, I like it. “There are so many prospects, so many things you can do to make a difference, especially to the environment.”
The Independent, September 26, 2004
The Independent, September 26, 2004
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The Independent, September 26, 2004
Gallery Vivian Pedley Visual Artist
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rtist Vivian Pedley and his partner Nicola Flanagan are at the endpoint of a 12-week road trip that’s taken them from their London, England home to New York City, Oakland, Monterey, Big Sur, Los Angeles, Nevada, through the Adirondacks, Quebec and, finally, to Pouch Cove, Newfoundland. “We have this amazing love affair with this place,” says Pedley, four weeks into a five-week stay. “There’s a subtlety here, you don’t always know quite where you are. “I’ve just become more and more intrigued by the place. I’ve found it incredibly helpful for my work; my work has changed. I’m working very fast and I’m very tired.” Pedley looks around his studio. It’s an old classroom in the former Pouch Cove elementary, a small school a 30-minute drive from St. John’s. The building was taken over by the Pouch Cove Foundation, led by gallery owner James Baird, who turned the rooms into studio and living spaces, inviting artists from around the world to visit, work, and explore the geography and personality of the area. For Pedley, it’s the perfect place to reflect on, and work through, the ideas he’s gathered on his trip. The walls are lined with the work Ped-
ley’s completed in the past month — a dozen or more large pieces, striking combinations of drawing and painting, as well as sketches based on the female form, layered with text, familiar logos and icons, and splashes of colour. “The work is all about identity and where better to come in Canada to work with that th Newfoundland? Either lost or found or reclaimed or whatever,” says Pedley. He says his goal is to raise questions within the viewer — presenting complex, evocative images the public can delve into as deeply as they choose. The figures in most of the works are naked except for heels and some lingerie, starkly female — almost. “A woman with a penis poses another question, in terms of my search for identity,” says Pedley, referring to a recurring image in his current work. “Male-female roles cross over now a lot more than they would have 40-50 years ago … What I’m trying to do is just get people to stand in front of them and think about who they are in the world, their personality, how identity is affected by where you are in the world.”
Pedley also hopes his paintings aren’t “misread as slightly erotic” — he doesn’t see them that way. “The other thing that’s interesting to me is, they’re all of Nicola, I don’t think I could get the same image out of somebody I don’t know … I know when I stop seeing her in the picture it’s not working for me at all. “The work does have a graphic feel, makes it a bit like a shop mannequin, which raises another question: what’s
real?” Pedley and Flanagan are already planning a return trip to Pouch Cove next spring. James Baird will show Pedley’s work in an exhibition this December. In the meantime, the public is invited to view the current pieces today (Sept. 26), from 1-5 p.m., during an open studio afternoon hosted by the half-dozen artists working in Pouch Cove elementary. — Stephanie Porter story; Paul Daly photos
The Gallery is a regular feature in The Independent. For further information, or to submit proposals, please call (709) 726-4639, or e-mail editorial@theindependent.ca
September 26, 2004
BUSINESS & COMMERCE
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Paul Daly/The Independent
Help wanted More jobs in the province than ever these days, but 16,000 of them last year paid minimum wage By Alisha Morrissey The Independent
U
nemployment numbers in Newfoundland and Labrador are at their lowest level since 1997, but where are the jobs and how much do they pay? The jobs, according to Labour Minister Joan Burke, are mostly high paying and in rural areas. “The majority of our employment growth, over 90 per cent of the new jobs that came to the province between 1997 and 2003, they have been relatively good paying jobs, and we’re talking like $20-an-hour or more,” Burke tells The Independent. “So a lot of the new employment that’s coming into the province is not focusing on work at the minimumwage level.” She’s currently reviewing the minimum wage — as is outlined in the government’s own legislation that requires a review every two years. The Progressive Conservative’s socalled blue book of pre-election promises contains a commitment that government will achieve minimumwage parity with the Atlantic provinces. The province issued a call for submissions on raising the minimum wage on Sept. 21 — with a deadline of Oct. 15. The last time minimum wage was increased was November, 2002, when it rose to $6 per hour from $5.75. Approximately 8.5 per cent of provincial workers — about 16,000 — were paid minimum wage in 2003. “We’re certainly, as a government, looking to develop our rural strategy,” says Burke. Rural areas remain highly depen-
dent on the fishery for their economClarenville boasts employment ic well being. rates of 69 per cent with a total labour Barry Budgell, economic develop- force of 5,500, 25 per cent of those ment officer for St. Anthony, says sea- jobs are in sales and service (minisonal jobs, such as fish processing, mum wage jobs). On the other hand, pay much more than minimum wage. the unemployment rate hovers at 31 “(These) past two summers if any- per cent with only 33 per cent of the one wanted to work, there was work, population in the age category of 25there was a job,” Budgell says, adding 44. job-creation efforts on the Northern Further west, Susan Goulding, Peninsula have been executive director turning towards of the Deer Lake “There’s no easy fix to tourism. Chamber of ComThe unemploy- how we’re going to get in merce, says the ment rate on the town has plenty of there but we have to west coast and jobs in high paydevelop our rural Northern Peninsula ing industries reached its peak at available. The strategy, we have to be 19.8 per cent in catch-22 for resiable to listen to people 1998. dents is they have who have ideas on The current rate no experience or economic development — 17.2 — is better, education in those but marginally, says fields. and we also have to be Budgell. “It seems to me Gary Gosine, able to move, on a larger there are positions mayor of Bell scale, with issues like the available, but not Island, says he’s Atlantic Accord and the the right people to seen incredible fill them,” says development of Lower growth. Goulding, Churchill.” He says 300 peoThe town has ple commute to St. been looking for a — Labour Minister John’s and surroundchild-care specialJoan Burke ing areas everyday ist for quite someand 450 people work time, says on the island. Goulding. “You still got the convenience “We get calls from businesses, but stores, you got the hospital … within people aren’t trained in that job marthe next few weeks we’ve got the fish ket,” she says. plant opening again,” Gosine says. Most of the jobs available in Deer He says more than 80 jobs will be Lake pay more than minimum wage, available in the plant this year, up says Goulding. from 70 last year. Reg Anstey, president of the New“We’re seeing for the first time, in foundland and Labrador Federation probably three or four generations, a of Labour, is skeptical of numbers community that is really starting to that say the province boasts a decreascome alive,” he says. ing unemployment number.
“I think generally the economy here is getting better, that’s a bit of a moot point when better is from 18 per cent to 15 per cent unemployment and in some areas from 22, you’re gone back to 20 or 18 per cent,” says Anstey “We still have a very unacceptable rate of unemployment and we got a long way to go to get it down.” Anstey says St. John’s may be thriving, but it’s the rural areas that are still hurting. “I think St. John’s is getting pretty busy, but rural Newfoundland, for the most part, is still in a struggle because it’s been tough for the last decade or so — there’s been a tremendous outmigration.” Anstey says the province isn’t even close to a reasonable employment rate. Burke agrees, saying there is no “quick fix” for any specific community. “There’s no easy fix to how we’re going to get in there but we have to develop our rural strategy, we have to be able to listen to people who have ideas on economic development and we also have to be able to move, on a larger scale, with issues like the Atlantic Accord and the development of Lower Churchill.” Burke says seasonal work is not an ideal situation, but there is another encouraging number — employment rose by 4.5 per cent in the past year, but more importantly the labour force increased by 2.7 per cent. She says that means more people are looking for work. “So when your labour force stats go up that’s an indication that people are feeling more optimistic about the labour market and they’re beginning to look for work,” Burke says.
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BUSINESS
The Independent, September 26, 2004
‘Ahead of schedule’
Work picking up at Argentia; not as many Voisey’s Bay jobs as hoped for By Clare-Marie Gosse The Independent
T
he once deserted U.S. naval base in Argentia, Placentia Bay, is at last a hive of activity. Since the beginning of June, progress has been made towards construction of the Voisey’s Bay ore processing facility, which will begin life as a demonstration plant and, hopefully, evolve into a permanent operation. After so many years of uncertainty, however, there are still concerns within the community that not enough local workers will land jobs. “It’s going ahead of schedule,” John Maher, former mayor of Placentia and past-president of the Argentia Area Chamber of Commerce, tells The Independent. Maher has been following the saga of the “when-will-it-happen project” ever since Inco announced in 1996 that the base would be the site of its future Voisey’s Bay experimental smelter and refinery. “In Labrador the production level up there is apparently very, very good. They’re something like six months ahead,” he says. “That creates a bit of a dilemma with the company because part of the deal with the government was they’re not allowed to ship any ore out, or the concentrate out of Labrador until the demonstration plant is up and running in Argentia.” The original date slated for the opening of the demonstration plant was July, 2006. Inco is now focusing on pushing that forward to fall, 2005. After so many delays and false starts, Maher says it’s a relief to finally see some progress — espe-
Paul Daly/The Independent
Left to right, Ian Walsh, Gary Keating and John Maher on the future site of the Argentia smelter.
cially in an area where the unemployment rate was pegged in the mid-1990s at upwards of 70 per cent. The shut down of the naval facility was a huge blow to the area. The fishery downturn also led to the closure of two fish plants in the Placentia region. Ironically, after so much community speculation, Maher says the average person on the street seems unaware of recent developments, which have finally started to spawn significant spinoff companies such as a metal fabrication plant. Still, the area is in desperate need of the job and economic opportunities that the processing plant will bring.
At the moment, about 40 construction workers are on site, a figure that is estimated to rise to 70. When the demonstration facility opens it will employ 200 people, a number that will double as soon as the commercial plant is up and running. Maher, however, says he’s disappointed with the current local employment levels associated with a pilot mini-plant in Ontario that’s being used for test purposes and for staff training. “It was always understood that local people would be taken to Sheridan Park (in Mississauga) during the operation of the miniplant,” he says, “at which point they would be trained into various
aspects of the operation.” To date, Maher says only a couple of locals have been hired. “I know there are some people, unemployed here now, that can fit into some of those jobs,” he says. Bob Carter, manager of public affairs at Voisey’s Bay, says the original development agreement for Argentia did not specifically reference the hiring of local people, except in the area of on-site construction. But he says the company is committed to the province and recognizes the importance of hiring locally. “Where we have qualified local people, clearly we will give them consideration for working at that facility in Argentia,” he says. “Cur-
rently at the facility in Ontario, there are about 60 to 65 folks working there, about 25 per cent of them are from Newfoundland and Labrador.” Cory Kelly is a Placentia local who’s particularly keen to secure a job at the Argentia plant. He has taken a three-year electronics, engineering and technology course with the College of the North Atlantic and has held several positions within the oil industry. “That’s my main goal, to get my job down there,” he says. Kelly applied for one of three positions at the mini-plant in Ontario, but has had no luck so far. He remains optimistic. “I keep in contact with the company a fair bit; I e-mail and try to get information when I can. I’ve got two of my buddies from here working up there.” A short while ago Kelly set up a web page. Young people from the area can chat online and post comments about current topics of interest. He says the Argentia plant is often a favourite subject and Kelly himself makes sure to post any news from the Voisey’s Bay site. “A lot of people are just thinking negative,” he says, “where it was supposed to go (ahead) so many years ago and it didn’t happen. But I think it’s totally different now, within the past year or so there’s after so much happening.” Kelly says he’s looking forward to the second annual Opportunity Argentia conference and exhibition. The event, slated to run between Sept. 29 and Oct. 1, is a project supported by the Argentia Management Authority, a nonprofit agency that was created after the U.S. pulled out to attract business to the area.
No deal yet Sale of Arnold’s Cove fish plant still being worked on By Clare-Marie Gosse The Independent
arrangements involved in the deal are slowing the process down.
M
JUNE DEAL The provincial government announced in June its intention to invest $3.5 million to buy 3,676 tonnes of groundfish quotas — including cod, haddock, turbot and halibut — from High Liner to enable Icewater Seafoods to continue operating the facility. As part of the deal, the plant’s roughly 400 employees — living in communities from Clarenville to Southern Harbour — agreed to take a wage cut of 35 cents an hour in order to keep the plant running. Taylor says that business negotiations for such a substantial deal are time consuming. “There are a number of bodies: there’s us as a provincial govern-
ore than three months after arrangements were made for a local Newfoundland company to take over the fish plant in Arnold’s Cove, and the deal still isn’t done. Bruce Wareham, who’s worked at the plant for 35 years and owns Icewater Seafoods, the local company interested in the groundfish plant, was reluctant to discuss the transaction, saying he would prefer to wait for the conclusion of the final transfer to take place. The plant is currently owned by Nova Scotia-based High Liner Foods Inc. Fisheries Minister Trevor Taylor tells The Independent that the significant number of contractual
ment and all of the cabinet and committee processes that we have to go through for us to purchase the quotas.” Taylor adds that the change of ownership and marketing arrangements between High Liner and Icewater, as well as various legal considerations, are lengthening the delay. “We’re fairly optimistic that we’ll have it concluded within the next couple of weeks,” he says. “At this point anyway it’s in process, and moving along fairly well considering the magnitude of what we’re trying to put together here.” While most commercial groundfish fisheries are either closed or have had total allowable catches significantly reduced, Taylor has said, should stocks recov-
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er it’s “crucial” to have plants such as the one in Arnold’s Cove up and running. He says local plants must also have access to quotas.
Ironically, provincial government policy clearly states it will not subsidize the operation of processing plants.
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The Independent, September 26, 2004
BUSINESS
Page 17
‘Most Irish area outside of Ireland’ Province and Emerald Isle working on big-ticket events to bring cultures closer together
By Alisha Morrissey The Independent
CULTURAL LINKS The Irish delegates say they intend to create physical linkages — as well as cultural ones. Walter Kirwan, vice-chair of the Ireland Newfoundland Partnerships, says a direct airline flight is needed from Ireland to Newfoundland, and vice versa. Calvin Manning, executive director of Avalon Gateway, a regional economic development board, says he’s “sick and tired” of waiting for Air Canada to set
CHC expands repair business ST. JOHN’S HC Helicopter Corp. is expanding its repair and overhaul capabilities with the acquisition of a majority stake in Aero Turbine Support Ltd. of Langley, a Vancouver suburb. CHC, which is in the process of moving its head office from St. John’s to Vancouver, says that it is also setting up a new repair and overhaul centre in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond. The global provider of helicopter services, largely to the offshore energy industry, did not disclose how much it is paying for its stake in Aero Turbine Support, an independent maintenance company specializing in General Electric CT58/T58 and Pratt & Whitney PT6T turboshaft engines, used in Sikorsky S-61 and Bell 212 and 412 helicopters. CHC operates about 100 of these engines in its worldwide fleet, and spends about $9 million a year on repair and overhaul of them. It will begin performing this work in-house, and also plans to expand the service to thirdparty customers. Chief executive officer Craig Dobbin states: “The acquisition and expansion are part of an ongoing strategy to increase our in-house capabilities to better serve our existing customers, and to expand our R&O business to new thirdparty customers.” — Canadian Press
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reland and Newfoundland and Labrador will re-forge historical, cultural and economic linkages in the coming years with a festival planned every second year on either side of the big pond. A delegation of Irish organizers spent six days recently traveling the island’s east coast, laying the ground work for a steering committee, gaining knowledge and experience and planning for the first major event of the Ireland Newfoundland Partnership — Festival of the Sea. Ireland plans to hold its festival in Waterford and Wexford over a two-week period beginning in late May 2005, and ending in June. Newfoundland and Labrador will have its turn to host the Festival of the Sea in 2006.
Briefs
Paul Daly/The Independent
Left to right, Colin Maddock, Alex Kelly, Conor Gilligan and Marc Colfer at the St. John’s waterfront.
up a direct route. He says the delegation met with private industry to try and arrange charter flights. Premier Danny Williams recently took a trip to Ireland where he signed a Memorandum of Understanding, covering a range of topics, including marine and ocean technology, education and culture. UNFAIRLY BALANCED Upon Williams’ return, he said he felt the contributions to partnerships between the country and
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province were unbalanced, with that’s OK, but it’s a bigger sharthis province contributing less ing piece,” he says. financially. The Irish delegates have been Connor Gilligan, chairman of planning events throughout the the board of the Festival by the year — including theatre producSea committee, agrees there may tions, a tall ships’ race and dozens have been more financial contri- of exhibitions. The Irish delegates butions on Ireland’s behalf, but say the educational and cultural he’s confident a linkages should balance will be make the biggest achieved. impression. Lec“Newfoundland is “The momentures, boat-buildthe most Irish area ing demonstrations tum has started and nothing’s outside of Ireland and lobster fishing going to stop us — that connection are all attractions now,” says Gillithat will have a to Newfoundland is N e w f o u n d l a n d gan. a particular asset.” flair. On this end, Manning says the “Let them work — Walter Kirwan steering commitin conjunction tee for the festival with a Newfoundwas created on land counterpart,” Sept. 24 and there are already says Kirwan, adding the things some plans in place for New- the two cultures could learn from foundland’s turn at hosting the one another are innumerable. festival. “Newfoundland is the most “We are careful of the word Irish area outside of Ireland — (festival) because we associate that connection to Newfoundland that with one big drunk … and is a particular asset.”
Rutter and Aqua Purge team up ST. JOHN’S arine technology firm Rutter Inc. is linking with Aqua Purge Environmental 2004 Inc. on a water-oil separation project, hoping to tap into a market estimated to be worth $200 million over the next five years. In a 50-50 deal, Rutter says it has paid $75,000 in cash to Aqua Purge and has committed to a three-year investment of $325,000 in cash or related services to advance Aquatek Environmental, the joint-venture entity. Rutter says it will begin to share in the profits on an equal basis and may use the cash flow to fulfil its obligations under the agreement. “This technology has a wide array of applications,” says Kenneth Knight, a Rutter engineering vice-president. “Treatment and disposal of oily water is a major expense for enterprises scaling from retail service stations, oil refineries, offshore oil and gas facilities and ships of all sizes.” As of Jan. 1, the International Maritime Organization will require all newly built vessels over a certain size to carry an oil-water separator that meets stringent new standards. The standards will also apply to all new installs and major retrofits of oil-water separators on existing vessels. — Canadian Press
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BUSINESS
The Independent, September 26, 2004
Robbed by Paul (Martin) to pay Peter MP Hearn questions means by which federal government plans to raise money for health care By Clare-Marie Gosse The Independent
government schemes. “When you sell buildings how is it going to affect the workplace generally?” he says. “The workers involved? Are we paying more down the road? There are an awful lot of questions to be asked here, rather than quick cash to cover a 10-year agree-
ment or whatever, and then let somebody else worry about it down the road.” As fisheries critic for the federal Tories, Hearn says he’s more immediately concerned over the proposed DFO science cuts, which he called “scary” — considering the millions of dollars in
budget cuts that have been made since the commercial fishery closed in the early 1990s. Steve Outhouse, spokesman for the Fisheries and Oceans in Ottawa, confirms the department is looking at shaving money from the science budget. He also acknowledged a $40-
million figure has been bandied about. Outhouse says science for priority species such as cod won’t be jeopardized. “The minister stated publicly that research on things such as cod and the cod stocks and on seals, those go hand in hand in trying to determine how we can help the cod and ground fish recover,” Outhouse says. “So the minister is very public that those are top priorities. And we’re working with the province, you know the cod recovery team, and you know exercises like that.” The cod recovery team was established last year — 11 years after the closure of the cod fisheries. Hearn accuses the federal government of not being interested in Newfoundland and Labrador. “The attitude is, who cares? The fishery affects probably Newfoundland more than anybody else so it’s only Newfoundland,” Hearn says. “They don’t kick up and if they do, so what? There’s only a handful of them, it doesn’t make any difference in the scheme of things. He says he’s looking forward to the fall when the House of Commons reopens and government will be forced to account for their actions in front of cameras and press. “Fishermen are referred to as following in the footsteps of St. Peter,” he says, “so you’re really robbing Peter to pay Paul aren’t you?”
tive officer. The $542-million deal had been expected for weeks after the union representing B.C. shipyard workers said the German firm Flensburger Schiffbau was the only bidder left in the race. The union has fought an aggressive campaign, arguing local shipyards were given short shrift in the bidding process and that the halfbillion-dollar contract should stay in the province, along with the jobs it would create. Federal NDP Leader Jack Layton was in Victoria to attend a protest rally by several hundred shipyard workers. He called the decision “repre-
hensible” and “disgusting.” — Canadian Press
says in a report on the industry. “The good news for the industry is that profits have passed their lowest point, however, the recovery will be gradual,” says Louis Theriault, associate director for industrial outlooks. Revenues are expected to rise 8.7 per cent in 2004 and 10.2 per cent in 2005. This growth will offset increases in material costs, producing profits of $1.2 billion in 2004 and $2.6 billion in 2005, the board says. Profits are expected to climb again in 2006 to $3.4 billion and hold close to that level through the rest of the forecast period, which looks ahead to 2008.
In 2003, weak prices and the surge in the Canadian dollar restrained exports to the United States, the board says. As a result, profits were all but eliminated, as the industry ended up only $40 million in the black. “The Asian market represents the best opportunity for pulp producers,” the board says. “Exports to China now account for 12 per cent of all exports, four times what they were a decade ago.” The most significant risk for the industry remains a further increase in the Canadian dollar. But soaring energy prices also pose a risk, the board said. — Canadian Press
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ory MP Loyola Hearn says the federal government’s plan to raise money for health care by selling off public buildings across Canada and cutting the budget for fisheries science by 19 per cent is unacceptable. For their part, federal government officials admit they’re looking for ways to save money to offset Ottawa’s 10-year, $41-billion health deal with the provinces. First to the federal government properties. Ottawa owns 37 buildings across the province, which, for the most part, are historic properties. At least 13 are office buildings such as the Sir Humphrey Gilbert Building, Revenue Canada’s head office in St. John’s. Pierre Téotonio, spokesman for Public Works Canada, says it’s too early to say how many, if any, buildings might be put on the market. “The minister has not committed himself to selling government buildings,” he tells The Independent. “What he said is, ‘We are now looking at the pros and cons of owning versus leasing.’ So at this time no decision has been made, we are just documenting information.” Hearn says people need to take time to think carefully about such
German firm to build B.C. Ferries VICTORIA .C. Ferries confirmed Sept. 24 its controversial decision to give a half-billion-dollar contract to build three new ferries to a German shipyard rather than elect to have the ships built in the province. “These are design-build, fixedprice contracts that provide B.C. Ferries with substantial guarantees related to delivery dates, performance criteria, cost certainty and quality construction,” says David Hahn, the company’s chief execu-
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Paul Daly/The Independent
MP Loyola Hearn.
Paper profits to triple OTTAWA rofits in Canada’s paper industry are on an upswing after slumping in 2003 and should almost triple to $3.4 billion by 2006 if the Canadian dollar stabilizes, the Conference Board says. “The stabilization of the Canadian dollar will translate into price increases for exporters, and growing demand for paper products will boost production,” a board official
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FPI says sale still pending government approval
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ishery Products International says nothing has changed concerning a deal that would see the company sell much of its marketing and value added operation. “There is nothing new to report since our news release of Aug. 6, in which we confirmed that we are considering a proposal to establish an income trust fund involving our marketing and value-added group,” Russ Carrigan, a spokesperson for FPI, tells The Independent. In an August press release that confirmed a story that The Independent published in May, FPI CEO Derrick Rowe described the sale as “another form of unsecured debt financing.”
Under the proposal — currently being reviewed by the provincial government — a Canadianbased, publicly-traded income trust will be established to acquire 40 per cent of the marketing and value-added arm, currently based in Danvers, Mass. This part of the business is vital to this province’s fishing industry. Much of the fish processed in Newfoundland and Labrador is shipped to the American-based operation for further production. It’s then marketed, from the U.S. across North America. “The internal review is continuing, and the timeframe for anything that we might eventually announce would be driven primarily by the need to update all
our financial data to reflect the new quarter,” says Carrigan. The main reason for the proposed change, Rowe says, is to allow FPI to pay down some $30 million in debt it carries on its Newfoundland-based fishing assets. FPI is the province’s largest fish processing company, employing more than 2,600 workers, most of whom work in eight plants around the island. The company is subject to the FPI Act, which prevents any shareholder from owning more than 15 per cent of the company. It also prevents FPI from selling substantial portions of its operations. — Independent staff
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INDEPENDENT N E W F O U N D L A N D & LABRADOR’S O W N
THE
September 26, 2004
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Kelly Wilson of Grand Falls at work down under.
‘It’s a warm Newfoundland’ Kelly Wilson enjoys the weather and company in southern Australia
Voice from Away Kelly Wilson In Toowoomba, Australia By Stephanie Porter The Independent
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rand Falls-native Kelly Wilson says he was surprised — but not offended — when he was called a “seal-basher” by his colleagues at work in Australia. The phrase, he says, is said in jest and harkens back years ago, to the news footage taken by Greenpeace off Newfoundland and shown around the world. Instead of being angered by the nickname, Wilson says it made him smile to himself, as he reflected on his Newfoundland heritage. “It’s a much localized saying used basically by the people in my industry,” says Wilson, currently the senior field supervisor for Santos Petroleum in Moomba, South Australia. “There are a lot of Canadians that came here when the oil fields were being developed and the Aussies like to pick on us. “If you are walking down a sidewalk in Sydney and somebody hears your accent, you won’t be stoned by local animal rights activists … it is said with total humorous intentions.” Wilson describes Moomba as “the on-shore equivalent of Newfoundland’s Hibernia,” a large oil and gas facility in the middle of the desert. He’s now been based in Australia
for 15 years and, though he still foundland.’ In a way, I think he thinks of himself as “the nomad of summed it up pretty good.” the family,” he feels settled there. In 1995, Wilson married an AusWilson was born, the sixth of tralian woman. The couple now seven children, in Grand Falls in lives in a town named Toowoomba 1959. After graduating from St. with their two children: 16-year-old Michael’s High School, he moved Alana and eight-year-old Joel. Last to St. John’s to attend Memorial. year, the family traveled to Ontario Two years into university life, Wil- and Newfoundland for the first time. son realized he “wasn’t going to “We had six weeks tripping make it as a student any more.” around and had a great time visiting He packed his my family,” Wilson bags, borrowed says. “I also saw plane fare from his “As you could probably plenty in Newsister, and headed foundland that I tell from the last west. Wilson says hadn’t seen myself he had some Olympics, swimming is when I was a boy. friends in Red also a big sport. A funny “While we were Deer, Alta. — his there my wife met statement made by destination. Thus artist Cynthia Noel Aussies in regards to began his career and we commison the oilfields — Canada’s performance sioned her to do a work that would in the summer Olympics painting of the row keep him in Alberhousing in St. is we only get three ta for a decade. John’s. It turned “In 1989 I was out great and that months to practice.” offered an opporpainting now hangs — Kelly Wilson tunity to move proudly on our wall from Red Deer to at home. Queensland, Aus“(It’s) quite a tralia for two years and … I jumped conversation piece when people at it,” he says. “That was 15 years visit.” ago so I guess you could say I liked One of the biggest differences in the place straight off.” living in Australia, says Wilson, is Wilson’s first impression of Aus- celebrating a green Christmas. In tralia would probably be the same as Toowoomba, Dec. 25 is mid-summost people’s — the weather. mer and usually about 30C. “The Queensland motto is ‘sunny “Similarly though, we still sit one day, beautiful the next.’ After around enjoying family and friends, that (the best thing) would be the exchanging gifts over cold beer and people. My brother-in-law visited drinks (albeit outside in shorts and me in 1992 and said ‘I know why T-shirts).” you like it here. It’s a warm NewIn general, Wilson says, the local
lifestyle focuses on the outdoors. “Camping, beach-going and boating are probably the most popular pastimes. Sporting is big with rugby and cricket the main ones, not ice hockey and football (grid-iron as it is called here). “As you could probably tell from the last Olympics, swimming is also a big sport. A funny statement made by Aussies in regards to Canada’s performance in the summer Olympics is we only get three months to practice.” Wilson’s job in Australia has offered him the opportunity to work elsewhere in the world. He’s spent seven years in the Middle East, worked in Papua, New Guinea, and travelled in Thailand — experiences, he says, that will last a life time. “As for missing Newfoundland, there was something I re-discovered … last year. When we arrived in Grand Falls, within two hours my (then) six-year-old boy hooked up with the son of one of my long time friends and for the next 10 days he came and went as he pleased. “My wife was a bit concerned to have him out of her sight so often, something that we don’t feel comfortable doing elsewhere, but I just explained that’s how it is in Newfoundland. It was the same when I was a boy, and hopefully will never change. Do you know a Newfoundlander or Labradorian living away? Please email us at editorial@theindependent.ca or call 726-4639.
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INTERNATIONAL
The Independent, September 26, 2004
So Mr. Bush, how do you really think? Guest Column MICHAEL MOORE
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ear Mr. Bush, I am so confused. Where exactly do you stand on the issue of Iraq? You, your Dad, Rummy, Condi, Colin, and Wolfie — you have all changed your minds so many times, I am out of breath just trying to keep up with you. Which of these 10 positions that you, your family and your cabinet have taken over the years represents your current thinking: 1983-88: We love Saddam. On Dec. 19, 1983, Donald Rumsfeld was sent by your dad and Reagan to go and have a friendly meeting with Saddam Hussein, the dictator of Iraq. Rummy looked so happy in the picture. Just 12 days after this visit, Saddam gassed thousands of Iranian troops. Your dad and Rummy seemed pretty happy with the results because Rumsfeld went back to have another chummy hang-out with Saddam’s righthand man, Tariq Aziz, just four months later. All of this resulted in the U.S. providing credits and loans to Iraq that enabled Saddam to buy billions of dollars worth of weapons and chemical agents. The Washington Post reported that your dad and Reagan let it be known to their Arab allies that the Reagan/Bush administration wanted Iraq to win its war with Iran and anyone who helped Saddam accomplish this was a friend of ours. 1990: We hate Saddam. In 1990, when Saddam invaded Kuwait,
Eamonn Farrell/Photocall Ireland
U.S. President George W. Bush
your dad and his defense secretary, Dick Cheney, decided they didn’t like Saddam anymore so they attacked Iraq and returned Kuwait to its rightful dictators. 1991: We want Saddam to live. After the war, your dad and Cheney and Colin Powell told the Shiites to rise up against Saddam and we would support them. So they rose up. But then we changed our minds. When the Shiites rose up against Saddam, the Bush inner circle changed its mind and decided not to help the Shiites. Thus, they were massacred by Saddam. 1998: We want Saddam to die. In 1998, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and others, as part of the Project for the New American Century, wrote an open letter to President Clinton insisting he invade and topple Saddam Hussein. 2000: We don’t believe in war
and nation building. Just three years later, during your debate with Al Gore in the 2000 election, when asked by the moderator Jim Lehrer where you stood when it came to using force for regime change, you turned out to be a downright pacifist: “I, I would take the use of force very seriously. I would be guarded in my approach. I don’t think we can be all things to all people in the world. I think we’ve got to be very careful when we commit our troops. The vice president [Al Gore] and I have a disagreement about the use of troops. He believes in nation building. I, I would be very careful about using our troops as nation builders. I believe the role of the military is to fight and win war and, therefore, prevent war from happening in the first place. And so I take my — I
take my — my responsibility seriously.” (October 3, 2000) 2001 (early): We don’t believe Saddam is a threat. When you took office in 2001, you sent your Secretary of State, Colin Powell, and your National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice, in front of the cameras to assure the American people they need not worry about Saddam Hussein. Here is what they said: Powell: “We should constantly be reviewing our policies, constantly be looking at those sanctions to make sure that they have directed that purpose. That purpose is every bit as important now as it was 10 years ago when we began it. And frankly, they have worked. He has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conven-
tional power against his neighbors.” (Feb. 24, 2001) Rice: “But in terms of Saddam Hussein being there, let’s remember that his country is divided, in effect. He does not control the northern part of his country. We are able to keep arms from him. His military forces have not been rebuilt.” (July 29, 2001) 2001 (late): We believe Saddam is going to kill us! Just a few months later, in the hours and days after the 9/11 tragedy, you had no interest in going after Osama bin Laden. You wanted only to bomb Iraq and kill Saddam and you then told all of America we were under imminent threat because weapons of mass destruction were coming our way. You led the American people to believe that Saddam had something to do with Osama and 9/11. Without the UN’s sanction, you broke international law and invaded Iraq. 2003: We don’t believe Saddam is going to kill us. After no WMDs were found, you changed your mind about why you said we needed to invade, coming up with a brand new after-the-fact reason — we started this war so we could have regime change, liberate Iraq and give the Iraqis democracy. 2003: Mission accomplished. Yes, everyone saw you say it — in costume, no less. 2004: Oops. Mission not accomplished. Now you call the Iraq invasion a “catastrophic success.” That’s what you called it this month. Over a thousand U.S. soldiers have died, Iraq is in a state of total chaos where no one is safe, and you have no clue how to get us out of there. Mr. Bush, please tell us — when will you change your mind again? Yours, Michael Moore
International Briefs
BBC scraps Popetown LONDON, England he British Broadcasting Corp. has scrapped a cartoon featuring Pope John Paul II on a pogo stick following a wave of protests by Roman Catholics. Popetown, featuring the voices of comedienne Ruby Wax as the pontiff and model Jerry Hall as a fame-hungry nun, was commissioned for the digital channel BBC3. The animation featured corrupt cardinals and an infantile pope who bounced around the Vatican on a pogo stick. BBC chiefs say it was too offensive to broadcast. “Despite all the creative energy that has gone into this project and the best efforts of everyone involved, the comic impact of the delivered series does not outweigh the potential offence it will cause,” says BBC3 controller Stuart Mur-
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phy. “There is a fine judgment line in comedy between the scurrilously funny and the offensive.” More than 6,000 Roman Catholics had signed a petition demanding Popetown be scrapped after excerpts of the planned show appeared on the Internet. — Associated Press
Bodies exhumed from mass grave SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina orensic experts have exhumed 249 bodies from a mass grave in northeastern Bosnia containing victims of the country’s devastating 1992-95 war, an official says. Murat Hurtic, an official with the missing persons commission in the Muslim-Croat part of the country, says exhumations have been
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completed at the site in the village of Bljeceva, about 90 kilometres northeast of Sarajevo. Based on the documents and other evidence found on the bodies, most of the dead appeared to be Bosnian Muslims killed in the 1995 massacre in nearby Srebrenica, the worst massacre of civilians in Europe since the Second World War, he says. The site is a so-called secondary grave, where bodies initially buried elsewhere were dumped in an effort to hide them, Hurtic said. Over the years, UN and local forensic experts in Bosnia have exhumed 16,500 bodies from more than 300 mass graves. Thousands of people remain missing following the war. About 250,000 people were killed and 2.2 million driven from their homes during the ethnic conflict, which pitted Bosnia’s Muslims, Croats and Serbs against each other. — Associated Press
Hijacking crackdown DUBLIN, Ireland reland has become the first country to cut off direct-dialed calls to entire countries in a bid to crack down on Internet-based fraud. The crackdown, announced this week and due to come into force Oct. 4, will block calls to 13 locations — all but one of them farflung islands — to deter fraudsters from breaking into people’s computers and hijacking their modems for profit. The government-appointed Commission for Communications Regulation said it was obliged to act after receiving more than 300 complaints this year from Internet users who discovered their connections had been altered without their knowledge — with financially disastrous results.
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“These people found out only when they got their telephone bill, which might normally be 80 euros ($157 Cdn) and found out this time it was 780 euros ($1,225),” says the commission’s spokesman, Tom Butler. The racket often works like this: the Internet con artist bombards computers with an annoying popup message asking a question unrelated to modem use. The computer user clicks “yes” to get rid of it — and thereby lets a so-called “trojan” virus into the computer. The virus then reroutes the computer’s dial-up connection to the distant island. A connection that costs just cents in Ireland is transformed to one costing up to $10 a minute, with the fraudster taking a cut of the charge. The fraudsters use remote islands, regulators said, because they typically attract the most expensive international call rates. — Associated Press
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INDEPENDENT N E W F O U N D L A N D & LABRADOR’S O W N
THE
LIFE &TIMES
September 26, 2004
Page 21
Paul Daly/The Independent
Sara Rostotski
Family portrait Lorne or Sara, the Rostotski name in this province is one and the same in terms of fine photography By Clare-Marie Gosse The Independent
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hen Sara Rostotski was 22 years old her father had a brain aneurysm. Up until that point, she and her family assumed she would eventually turn her interest in photography towards helping her father — respected photographer Lorne Rostotski — in his successful portrait studio. The aneurysm changed that. “Basically at that point then they didn’t know if he would live,” says Sara Rostotski, now 28. “I’m an only child and this is a complete family business and my mother just said, ‘I don’t know if he’s going to live but in four weeks we’re going to have to close the business so what do you want to do?’ So the next day I went to work and I’ve been doing it ever since.” Despite her baptism by fire, Rostotski tells The Independent she knew what she was getting into. “When I started doing this I did have an understanding of it all because I had been around it my whole life,” she says. “Until I was six we lived above the studio and I was allowed to run around down there. I used to go and get photos taken with the clients; I was just around it a lot. I knew all the basics let’s say, or at least I assumed (I) knew.” Although she was originally more into Anne Geddes-style photography
(setting up babies in creative environ“All the portraits are by me, but it’s ments and waiting for them to fall hard for me to say I’ve taken over asleep), Rostotski says she soon had to because if my parents decided to stay learn how to take grad pictures. home in bed for a week it would fall “Now I’m really partial to family apart.” (portraits). There was a point in time She laughs, explaining that her when family portraits weren’t really mother (Jill) has always run the busiimportant to people, not even that they ness side of things. Rostotski says true weren’t important, but they just didn’t artists like her father “have no business do them for some reason.” Rostotski sense to them at all.” She calls herself says. a balance between “I’m not sure if her mother and “It’s funny because it’s where I’m so father, who, after a people just think that close to my family, year of recuperation, or maybe where returned to work I’ve taken over the Dad was sick and behind the scenes. business … All the you realize how “He does any of portraits are by me, quickly it can be the digital manipulagone but I just realtion,” Rostotski says. but it’s hard for me ly think that every“He was always a to say I’ve taken over body should have a really amazing artist because if my parents really nice family but he used to do it portrait. When famall on photographs, decided to stay home ilies come in they on the actual images. in bed for a week it enjoy themselves Now he gets to work would fall apart.” with each other and on the computer and it’s a great experihe’s starting to really — Sara Rostotski ence to be part of.” love that.” Rostotski Studio Rostotski admits and Gallery in St. John’s is still boom- to being less-than-thrilled with the ing, with Sara’s name emblazoned over industry’s transition from film to digithe door. It’s a chic establishment; tal photography. She says sorting and prospective clients are greeted by soft fine-tuning images is time consuming; lighting, polished floors, impressive people often take less care with their wall displays and attractive female staff work. Rostotski predicts photogradressed in black. phers, ones that love photography, may “It’s funny because people just think one day decide to revert back. that I’ve taken over the business …,” She says she finds the success of the says Rostotski. family business surprising, particularly
as portraits are essentially a luxury item. But then, word of mouth can get you far in this province and a wall display of pictures lining the escalator in the Avalon Mall for 15 years helps too. Rostotski’s has been a St. John’s staple ever since Sara’s parents visited the province one Christmas and “didn’t have enough money to leave.” They’ve been here ever since. “He (Lorne) was born in Saskatchewan, and his family are Ukrainian,” she says of her father. “Dad was a travelling photographer; my mother was working in Goose Bay as a teacher. He ended up there where she was and they hooked up.” Rostotski admits that as an only child in a “tight-knit” family business, there was a certain amount of pressure on her to carry the name forward. She sees the passing of the torch as a privilege, as well as a responsibility. There are also perks. “I just actually got back from Italy,” she says. “I was hired to go over there and shoot a wedding. They paid for me to go and they paid my accommodation.” She says she spent so much time during those six days away taking pictures that she slept for four days upon her return to the province. The Rostotski business has gone a long way towards capturing the faces and features of Newfoundland and Labrador. Found in malls, homes and offices across the province, the glossy images are as familiar as family.
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LIFE & TIMES
The Independent, September 26, 2004
MHA doing well, says “final chunk” and heredity caused heart attack By Jeff Ducharme The Independent
C
lyde Jackman roars with laughter as he describes the events that surrounded his brush with death. Jackman, Progressive Conservative MHA for Burin-Placentia West, awoke in the wee hours of Aug. 19 feeling nauseous and suffering from pains in both arms. “I didn’t call my wife for the first time and I just laid down and let it pass and then the second time it came on I knew I had to go (to the hospital),” he tells The Independent. Jackman is the second Tory to suffer a heart attack this summer. Windsor-Springdale MHA Ray Hunter was treated at the Health Sciences Centre in St. John’s just days after Jackman. “We were told we couldn’t talk politics,” Jackman says of his visits to Hunter’s hospital room. Hunter is still recuperating and wasn’t feeling up to an interview.
MHAs Clyde Jackman (left) and Ray Hunter recently suffered heart attacks. Both are recuperating.
A few days before Jackman suffered his heart attack, he had eaten sausages wrapped in bacon. He calls it the “final chunk that done it.” But the 49-year-old former principal knows that genetics likely had as much or more to do with it
as questionable eating practices. Jackman’s father died of a heart attack at 57. Jackman’s wife, Liz, whom he credits with saving his life, hustled him into the car and drove the 20 minutes to hospital. “Two o’clock in the morning
and we stopped at red lights too,” roars Jackman. “Going down Kenmount Road, not a car in sight, and we stopped.” As Jackman was being hooked up to a heart monitor, the big one happened. “The doctors seem to say that if this (heart attack) hadn’t happened where it did, I probably wouldn’t be here right now,” says Jackman. Doctors found that one of Jackman’s arteries was 80 per cent blocked. They inserted a stent that will keep the artery open and blood flowing. “…this is not something that happened in the last year. This has probably been building up in my arteries for the last two and three years.” With first-hand knowledge of the health system and an undying respect for the doctors and nurses that saved his life, Jackman says he plans to have some frank discussions with Premier Danny Williams and Health Minister Elizabeth Marshall. He says he can’t
even imagine the stress patients feel who are left languishing on cardiac waiting lists in this province. There are approximately 300 people on the cardiac surgery waiting. “And as much as we put into health care, unless we have people accepting the education that we’re trying to put out there and to change your lifestyle, this will keep happening,” says Jackman. Jackman, who’s run the Tely 10 road race three times, plans on running it again as soon as his doctors give him the go ahead. He plans to be back to work within two weeks. Health care may be free in this country, but Jackman still has a hefty bill to pay. The nurses at the Health Sciences told him he should buy his wife jewelry since her driving him to the hospital — stoplights and all — saved his life. “She (Liz) came and said she had something picked out, $500 or $600,” says Jackman letting out a huge laugh. “I said my heart pace is picking up again.”
Mini Ironman The first annual independent Half Ironman was held Sept. 25 in St. John’s. The race included a two kilometre swim, 19 km bike ride and 21 km run. The swim portion was won by Keith Manuel. The race was still going on as of The Independent’s press deadline.
Paul Daly/The Independent
Local news. Human interest stories. Bold opinions. Great photos. Sports and much more
Now available at all locations GARY PERRY
753-3030
The Independent, September 26, 2004
LIFE & TIMES
Page 23
Jenny Gear CD gets it right Jenny Gear and the Whiskey Kittens Jenny Gear and the Whiskey Kittens (Independent, 2004)
Local Spins
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RICK BAILEY
his one’s been a long time coming for the Carbonear singer thrust into the Canadian Idol spotlight. She was working on this album before her brush with television fame, so I can understand why she waited to get everything right. This album from Gear is representative of her musical integrity in that she sings what she enjoys singing, and beautifully. For this collection, Gear has chosen 11 songs by contemporary Newfoundland songwriters and arranged them in a lovely fusion of traditional folk and jazz. Pale Slice Of Moon, written by Amelia Curran, is a perfect lead single with its bouncier pop sensibilities, added fiddle from Colin Carrigan, and rising harmony vocals for the rays of reassured hope found in the chorus lyrics. The Jody Richardson ode to Brave Percy is sorrowfully sung by Jenny and opera-studied Calvin Powell, with guest cello by Francesca Swann to set the mood. She next takes a sultry jazz tone to Mark Bragg’s eccentric and eerie tale of Murder In The Southlands, complete with regular Bragg sideman Patrick Boyle on trumpet. Boyle returns on flugelhorn with Swann’s cello for a stirring rendition of Ron Hynes’ Away, Gear’s sailing verse over proficient guitar by Duane Andrews. Duane’s drumming brother, Curtis, keeps mischievous time for a full-folk rendering of the lively Win Win by Sean Panting, who offers backup harmonies with Jenny leading the charge. Backseat, written by Pamela Morgan, is pure club jazz with Brian Way’s piano flair, brushed drums by Kris Mullaly and apt upright bass from Frank Fusari under Gear’s smoky charm. Jenny then sings a fabulous array of ranges in free-flowing reflections on Kyla Tilley’s folk tune, Little. Duane and Curtis Andrews jam on Steven Guy’s Mirror In Mom’s Room, a jangly dance number with Gear’s lilting lines joined by Mullaly on the chorusy “doos.” All
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You Gotta Do, a Mike Davis song, has a thick melodic lead of fiddle, flute and accordion that steps aside for Gear’s fluttering notes. Lots of kidding around on Sherry White’s Bicycle, heavy on funky drums and playful lyrics with wild playground sound included for atmosphere. Gear finishes the album with a soaring version of Pat Byrne and Al Pittman’s The Silver Dove, accompanied only by Duane’s guitar.
Jenny Gear is a unique interpreter of songs, and with an all-star cast of Newfoundland’s talented songwriters and musicians to back her up, this disc can be nothing less than a significant debut. Don’t forget the sexy cover art painted by Grant Boland, and the recording location — the warmth of Nanny Gear’s house. Wow. Jenny Gear is a unique interpreter of songs, and with an all-star cast of Newfoundland’s talented songwriters and musicians to back her up, this disc can be nothing less than a significant debut. Don’t forget the sexy cover art painted by Grant Boland, and the recording location — the warmth of Nanny Gear’s house in Carbonear, where she learned her craft. Home is certainly where her heart is. Trailer Camp Penny Whistles EP (Independent, 2004) This CD caught my attention for two reasons. One: I remember catching a few of their songs at a
Darfur After Dark
live show not long ago, and it impressed me. Two: the bespectacled guy on the front cover wouldn’t stop looking at me until I bought it. It was pretty cheap, so I didn’t mind. Trailer Camp’s music is anything but cheap, though. Sure, there’s only four songs recorded here, presumably on four-track tape, but isn’t that how the best garage bands came to be known? Make the music and get it out there, gang. These four selections pack a powerful punch, with plenty of fast, progressive changes involved to make you forget about the disc’s actual length. Starting falsely with lo-fi distorted drums and guitar floundering, Halves on the Go Carts takes a fast turn into a manic rockabilly-style riff in 6/8 time with fuzzed bass from Anthony Brenton, noisy guitar interjections and machine-gunned drums. With guitarist Jon Hynes’ vocals cracking through like an over-caffeinated version of Canned Heat, this first tune is the catchiest and surprisingly, the longest. A snappy track with lots of guts. Transfer Management for Jack has drums and a clean guitar riff to begin with, gets heavied up for screaming verses and choruses,
dips to the clean part in between and ends by slowing the tempo down to drift lyrics over some moody, snarling chords. The next tune, Wine Rules, is composed of punked-out progrock split in several sections. I especially like the solo drum and guitar breakdown near the end that returns to the opening theme. It’s a relentlessly brutal mash with twisted vocals. Pre-Tickerton ends the disc with more erratic time signatures and straight-ahead punk growl. Very spirited in the distorted yelling of repeated cryptic thought and a crafted drum explosion from Jamie March. The dreamier breaks of light guitar and voice cut in at the end to balance the tight blasts of instruments that slam the door in your face. This trio has the most adventurous disc I’ve heard in a while. Four cups of blistering garage math and mixed well, tasting like warm noise without the mud. I even got a flashy sticker inside. Best under-$10 purchase I’ve made this week, because I get a lot of flavour in just a few quick chomps. Rick Bailey is a radio DJ and musician. His next reviews will appear Oct. 10.
ingers, actors, artists and craftspeople will donate their services to help raise funds for Oxfam Canada, 7 p.m., Sept. 29, at the Masonic Hall, Cathedral Street, St. John’s. The United Nations has declared Darfur the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Over one million people have been forced to flee their homes. “The UN has estimated 50,000 people have already died in Darfur,” says Bill Hynd of Oxfam Canada. “More needs to be done to save lives. Currently Oxfam’s emergency programs are providing 265,000 people with clean water, toilets, hygiene kits, and household items.” Hosted by Mary Walsh, the event in St. John’s will feature Andy Jones, Liz Pickard, Sean Panting, Steve Cochrane and Mopaya. Arts and crafts donated by Newfoundland visual artists will be sold through a silent auction. The evening will begin with a CBC Radio Voices of Sudan panel featuring speakers from the St. John’s Sudanese community.
Word on the Rock
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t. John’s fifth annual Word on the Rock festival is scheduled to be held today (Sept. 26) in front of the Johnson Geo Centre on Signal Hill, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. There are nine venues with a variety of attractions, running the gamut from exhibits by local publishers, book sellers and magazines, improv comedy, poetry slams, memoirs to screenplays, short stories and live music from local artists. Special appearances by musicians, sports figures and buskers. Chefs from the Fairmont will demonstrate local recipes.
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LIFE & TIMES
The Independent, September 26, 2004
Getting her chops On her way to becoming a master printer, Lori Doody printed the work of some of the province’s top artists
By Stephanie Porter The Independent
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t first glance, it’s hard to find the thread that connects the artwork currently on display in the LSPU Hall’s RCA gallery in St. John’s. The work is varied in subject matter and mood, in style, technique and colour. That’s exactly the point, says printmaker Lori Doody. Each of the 12 pieces in the show is by a different artist, using various printing techniques. The links: the works are all prints, and all were printed by Doody, with the guidance of master printer Jerry Evans. Together, the pieces are the tangible culmination of a year’s worth of work and training for Doody. She looks at the result of her printing apprenticeship as a master’s thesis — and a solid exhibition of work. Doody began work at St. Michael’s Printshop in 2001 as a technical assistant and apprentice with Evans. She assisted Evans on custom print jobs for many top local artists, and offered help to artists taking part in St. Michael’s visiting artist program. In 2003, she invited 20 St. John’s-based artists to create an image that she would then print. The artists — some established, some emerging, with varying levels of experience in printmaking — would come to the printshop with an image in mind, and draw it on the stone or plate, depending on the chosen technique. “I also chose artists with different aesthetic styles to show a
Paul Daly/The Independent
Lori Doody’s St. Michael’s Printshop Portfolio — which includes this work by Elena Popova — will be on display until Oct. 17 at the LSPU Hall.
range of imagery that is possible for somebody else,” she says. project was that I had to learn to with printmaking,” she says. The “When I print for myself, mis- interpret what each artist expectfirst print, Scott Goudie’s August takes may happen, but I can ed, so I had to decide on what Moon, St. John’s, was printed by always start over or try again. type of drawing materials would Evans, with Doody’s assistance. “With this project, I was work- best create the images they had in She took the lead on mind.” the remaining pieces, Most of the participat“Most of them seemed pleased with and within a year, printing artists are primarily ed 12 editions of 30 the finished product, and I hope I was painters, and not used to prints. Each featured able to help them become more interested working with inks or artist — Anita Singh, presses. in different printmaking processes.” Bonnie Leyton, Di “Most of them — Lori Doody Dabinett, Allyson seemed pleased with the Stuckless and more — finished product, and I received half of their hope I was able to help prints; the other half went to the ing on a deadline, and had only so them become more interested in printshop for fundraising purpos- much paper to use, and I certain- different printmaking processes.” es. ly did not want to disappoint any Doody is an accomplished “I was always nervous printing of the artists. A huge aspect of the printmaker herself, with several
INDEPENDENT CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Pledge 4 Pronto! 8 Site of 1947 oil strike (Alta.) 13 Frog’s milieu 17 Start for centre or cure 18 Author of O Canada in English: Robert Stanley ___ 19 Kind of acid 20 Smallest Great Lake by volume 21 Police officer in Paris 23 Darken 24 Grimm offering 25 Simple soul 26 Egypt’s capital 28 To speak (Fr.) 30 Holy one 32 Author M.T. ___ 33 Limp watch painter 34 Curved body parts 35 It makes a fall display 36 St. Urbain’s ___ (Richler) 40 Of the nature of: suffix 41 Zest 42 Opposite of neo 43 Long follower 44 N.S. town where Cyrus Eaton hosted conferences on world affairs (from 1957) 46 Misunderstood animals 48 Small, biting insect
solo exhibitions under her belt. She’s known for her prints of blackbirds and boats, and her fun series of dress-up fashion. Printing the work of others, she says, has affected her own art. “My favourite piece (in this show) is Elena Popova’s Scorching Blizzard because I have always admired her work, and thought it would lend itself to lithography — particularly because of the vibrant colours of the inks. “I think because of that piece and because I have more time to work on my own art now I have started to incorporate more colour into my own prints.” Even after completing her St. Michael’s apprenticeship, Doody says she doesn’t yet like to call herself a master printer — she feels she has a lot left to learn. In the meantime, she will be receiving a chop from the printshop, which is a stamp that embosses each proof, and is a symbol that she printed it. For this year, Doody has moved from St. John’s to Corner Brook, where her fiancé is teaching literature at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College. As an alumni of the college, she has an artist residency to print in the printshop there. This November, Doody has a show opening up at Twisted Sisters Boutik (a clothing store on Water Street, St. John’s). In January, she has two exhibitions opening — one in St. John’s, the other in Trois Rivieres, Que. Lori Doody’s St. Michael’s Printshop Portfolio will be on display at the LSPU Hall’s RCA Visual gallery until Oct. 17.
Solutions on page 26
49 Available in draft (2 wds.) 51 Abacus unit 52 Give one’s address 53 Marshy 56 Most of the world 58 Hurt 59 Cartoonist Ben (1926-2000) 60 Little legumes 61 Humiliate 63 Like some red wines 64 Empty ___, Nfld. 66 Squirm 70 ___ of a kind 71 Monet’s mania 72 Lolls in the tub 74 Gobble up 75 Cooked oatmeal 77 Sweatbox 78 Peggy’s ___, N.S. 79 Finds a sum 80 Main artery 81 Domesticates 82 Actor Callum Keith ___ 85 Seize 86 Ready to eat 87 First ed. 88 Toronto main street 90 Good at sports 94 Eat on white linen 95 Needing kneading? 96 Widely spoken indigenous language 97 Language ending 98 ___ Tissue (Ignatieff) 99 Mount 100 Young hawk 101 Fish eggs
DOWN 1 Do nothing, blissfully 2 Open, to Keats 3 City with Canada’s oldest press club 4 Expect 5 Feudal labourer 6 Objective 7 Maxim 8 Unstable 9 Nail file coating 10 Queen of Carthage 11 Start for lateral 12 Likens 13 “Bay Boy” writer/director 14 Dental exam? 15 River of Sudan 16 Whitetail 22 French in 27 Permit 29 Too 30 The Titanic, e.g. 31 Japanese aboriginal 32 Cooked buckwheat cereal 33 Meted (out) 35 Stale-smelling 36 Cigar 37 N.B. island: Grand __ 38 Playing marble 39 Well-known 41 Bands of baddies 42 Guilty, or not guilty 45 Askew 47 Really rotund 48 Norwegian composer 50 French poetry 52 Desert stop 53 Plunge for prey 54 Parlour instrument
55 Uncouth male (Austral.) 57 Angel or sponge ___ 58 Winter jacket 60 Sudden sharp pains 62 Master (Swahili) 64 Credit rating killers (2 wds.) 65 Russian rulers, once 67 Mathematician of a kind
68 Bathe 69 They’re hot in Cannes 71 Noon (Fr.) 73 Go faster than 76 The Lone ___ 77 Rose 78 ___ Enrage, N.B. 80 Left bed 81 Floor coverings 82 Staffs
83 Actor Peterson (“Corner Gas”) 84 Pinta’s sister ship 85 Departed 86 Moon of Saturn 89 Permit 91 Hear in court 92 Equal: prefix 93 Dee preceder
INDEPENDENT N E W F O U N D L A N D & LABRADOR’S O W N
THE
SPORTS
September 26, 2004
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St. John’s native Ryan Power.
A cut above CBC Television show Making the Cut just the ticket to revive local hockey player Ryan Power’s career
By Darcy MacRae The Independent
M
aking the Cut is proving to be a life-changing event for Ryan Power. The CBC Television series, which debuted Sept. 20, gave thousands of hockey players across the country a shot at trying out for a National Hockey League team and has given new life to Power’s hockey career. “I have a fresh start now,” Power tells The Independent. “I was at a crossroads this year where I was almost ready to hang up my skates.” Power, a native of Norman’s CoveLong Cove, about an hour’s drive west of St. John’s, was one of more than 4,000 players who attended Making the Cut camps across the country. His outstanding skating ability, solid work ethic and creativity with the puck impressed scouts so much that he was one of only 68 players chosen for the main camp in Vernon, B.C. Legendary NHL coaches Scotty Bowman and Mike Keenan then took over the proceedings and guided the players through a professional training camp before deciding which six would get NHL tryouts. The show plays out over the next 12 weeks. Power still remembers the day he learned he had made it to the final 68, obviously a moment he will never forget. “When I got the call from Scotty McWilliam (Making the Cut’s assistant director of hockey operations) on Canada Day, I didn’t know what to think,” Power says. “What could I say? I knew
there were thousands of players trying the camp, impressing scouts with his out for this, so my chances of making it smooth, strong strides and soft hands. were less than one per cent.” Power was then selected to take part in Considering the magnitude of what the three-on-three game later that afterhe accomplished, it’s interesting to learn noon, an event in which he knew he that Power almost didn’t bother trying could stand out. out for the television series. “Three-on-three is something I’ve He considered attending the Halifax always been good at,” says Power. “It camp with former teammates, but gives you a lot of room to skate and instead stayed at his home in Charlotte- handle the puck. My main asset has town, P.E.I., and enjoyed a visit from always been my skating, so it allowed family members. But after his team- me to open up and fly. I ended up havmates returned from ing a fantastic threeHalifax and told on-three game.” Power Making the “When I got the call from Power was a domiCut was exactly the Scotty McWilliam (Mak- nating player in the type of camp that game, using his speed ing the Cut’s assistant could get a player to beat opponents with his skills director of hockey opera- wide, and strength to noticed, he looked a tions) on Canada Day, I out muscle them little further into the along the boards en didn’t know what to matter. route to leading all After a failed at- think. What could I say? scorers with six tempt to get into the I knew there were thou- goals. The perforMontreal camp, mance not only solidsands of players trying Power discovered ified his place in the out for this, so my on the show’s webfinal 68, it also consite that there were chances of making it were vinced him that a still a few openings less than one per cent.” career in professional at the Ottawa tryout. hockey was not only He immediately something he wanted, — Ryan Power checked out airline but something he was fares for a trip to the capable of. nation’s capital and, much to his “It gave me the confidence to give delight, found a ticket in his price range. things another shot,” he says. “I realized “I didn’t even think twice, I just took that I am a better player than I thought it and went back to the Making the Cut I was and better than other people made website and registered immediately,” me out to be.” says the 26-year-old. Power had a successful major junior Once in Ottawa, Power took to the career, playing in both the Ontario ice with hundreds of other NHL hope- Hockey League with North Bay and the fuls for the drills and skills portion of Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
with Halifax. He had a chance to turn pro at the age of 21, but instead attended the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown, thinking he could get an education while also sharpening his hockey skills. But some questionable and yet-to-be explained actions by UPEI head coach Doug Currie lead to Power seeing more time on the bench than on the ice, and ultimately caused him to leave the team early last season. “After my first year, my opportunity to play well and contribute was thrown out the window by my coach,” Power says. “It was really frustrating for four years. I was a guy who was expected to get points there, but you can’t score sitting on the bench.” After his success at Making the Cut (he’s not permitted to talk about the show until it airs), Power pursued a pro career, and just recently signed a contract to play for the New Mexico Scorpions of the Central Hockey League. He left for Albuquerque, New Mexico on Sept. 24 and will take to the ice with his new teammates early in October. With his pro career taking off and his personal life at an all-time high (Power will marry veterinarian Penny Spencer next August), he says he’s a happy man. He adds with a light-hearted chuckle that the only question in his life now is how he will be able to watch Making the Cut from his new home south of the border. “Hopefully one of my team mates will have a satellite dish,” laughs Power. “If not, I’ll get someone back home to tape it for me.” Darcy_8888@hotmail.com
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SPORTS
The Independent, September 26, 2004
Flatrock Flyers fold; long live CBN North Stars plus crowd. Both players have not only enjoyed long careers, but have led their positions for two decades. Bonds will try and add to his six previous MVPs while Clemens goes for a 7th Cy Young. Both players play with a consistency that is nothing short of incredible.
Week in Review SHAUN DROVER
I
tem: The Flatrock Flyers of the Avalon East Senior Hockey League won’t be icing a team this season. Comment: The well-respected Flyers have, at times, dominated the senior hockey league over the years. With the team’s folding, the players must find new clubs for the 2004-05 season. The Flyers — along with Herder champion Southern Shore Breakers — controlled the Avalon East last season. Both clubs had strong teams that ruled most games. Flatrock’s demise means a number of skilled players will be dispersed amongst the remaining teams.
Solutions from page 24
RECENT DRAFT To that end, a draft was held recently that saw the remaining Avalon East teams pick away at the Flyers’ corpse. The firstround went in order based on last year’s standings, with the last placed CBN North Stars selecting first and Outer Cove Breakers selecting second. Flatrock’s dismantling leaves Southern Shore as a heavy favourite to take the Avalon East title again this year. It also gives the remaining teams a chance to improve their squads. With a strong hockey background, it would be nice to see the North Stars grow into a contender and revive senior hockey in Conception Bay North. Item: With the Major League Baseball season coming down the homestretch, fans can look forward to a number of interesting storylines. Paul Daly/The Independent Comment: I can’t say that baseball is Chris Collingwood of St. John’s finished first in his class (non-equipped touring division) durmy favourite sport to watch. With the Jays ing Targa Newfoundland 2004. struggling and the Expos a non-factor, interest is waning. That said, this season is League. Most major sports have their split Young stars like Albert Pujols have a shaping up to have an exciting finish, with of young superstars and old veterans com- legitimate shot at MVP. But two players some strong clubs headed for the post-sea- peting head to head. There will always be that have certainly been able to sustain son. young athletes looking to come up through long-term success are Barry Bonds and One specific storyline that I can appre- the ranks and take the jobs of the athletes Roger Clemens. At ages 40 and 42 respecciate is the run for most valuable player who came before them. The veterans with tively, these two old-timers may capture and Cy Young winner in the National fight is what impresses me most. both the MVP and Cy Young for the 40-
NEARING RECORD Bonds has another milestone to aim for as he has moved into third place on the alltime homeruns list. He needs 14 dingers to catch Babe Ruth and 55 to pass Hank Aaron to become the king of the long ball. Also, watch for Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki, who needs just 14 more hits to set the alltime single season hits record — which currently stands at 257. Item: The Ryder cup concluded recently with a strong performance by the European squad. Comment: I hope I wasn’t the only disappointed fan after the conclusion of this year’s Ryder cup. It’s said that the Ryder Cup is the most coveted golf tournament in the world. It has the highest ratings and the highest emotion — not to mention the pride of playing for one’s nation mixed in. But if that’s the case, why isn’t the whole world involved? The U.S. has the highest level of golf talent in the world, although it didn’t show at the Ryder Cup where the Americans were outplayed in every aspect of the game. Apart from a few U.S. players, the team performed terribly — including captain Hal Sutton. Shallow Hal put out ridiculous combinations of players that seemed to be wrong every time. Like the U.S. basketball program, golfers from the States will certainly be taking a closer look at what happened and why they finished so poorly. For the next Ryder Cup in 2006, why not change the format to include other players from around the world? The way the Ryder Cup has been going, maybe the U.S. should expand to include Canadian players to create a North American team. I realize the tradition involved in the Ryder cup, but things change. Mike Weir’s style of play is well suited for match play format, and would be a welcome addition to any squad. Weir would be a much better choice than Fred Funk to cap off a team.
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The Independent, September 26, 2004
SPORTS
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Events SEPTEMBER 26 • Word on the Rock book & magazine fair. In front of the Geo Centre on Signal Hill, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. • Open Studio by visiting artists in residency at the Pouch Cove Foundation’s studios, Pouch Cove Elementary, 1-5 p.m. • Partridge Berry Festival, St. Modeste, Labrador, ends today, 927-5583. • Doors Open days continue at the Barbour Living Heritage Village in Newtown,www.doorsopendays.com or 576-3220. • AIDS Walk 2004. Corner Brook: registration at noon, walk begins 1 p.m., Humber Community YMCA, 634-4429. St. John’s: registration at 12:30, walk begins at 2 p.m., Marquee Building, Quidi Vidi Lake, 579-8656. • Quidi Vidi Rennie’s River Development Foundation 17th annual Rubber Duck Race, starts at Herder Bridge, Rennie’s River, St. John’s, 3 p.m., 722-3825. • Annual Police and Peace Officers’ Memorial Ceremony, 2 p.m., Confederation Hill, (east side) in front of the Police and Peace Officers’ Memorial. • Book launch: Honour Thy Mother by Tom Badcock, Johnson Geo Centre, 175 Signal Hill, 4:15 - 5:15 pm. • Book launch: Tsunami: The Newfoundland Tidal Wave Disaster by Maura Hanrahan, 10:1511:15 a.m., Publishing House tent at Word on the Rock Book & Magazine Fair on the grounds of the Johnson Geo Centre. SEPTEMBER 27 • Book launch: Sub Rosa Stealth: The Argentia Operations by
Edward F. J. Lake, 7 p.m., Freshwater Community Center, Freshwater, Placentia Bay. • The Three Sopranos, Labrador West Arts and Culture Centre, 8 p.m. SEPTEMBER 28 • Alzheimer Society Coffee Break, Canadian Alzheimer Society of Newfoundland & Labrador Inc. 10 a.m to 12 p.m. 687 Water Street, St. John’s. 576-0608. • Memorial University career fair, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Physical Education and Athletics Building gymnasium, St. John’s, 737-8167. • Central Northeast Health Foundation Legs-for-life relay, begins at Tim Horton’s in Gander, 2565742. Relay continues Sept. 29. • The Three Sopranos, Labrador West Arts and Culture Centre, 8 p.m. SEPTEMBER 29 • MUN Botanical Garden presents A sneak preview of what’s hot for gardens for 2004, guest lecture by Ken Beattie, of W’s Get Growing, Hampton Hall, Marine Institute, 8 p.m., 737-8590. Admission by donation to Community Food Sharing Association. • Folk night with Chris Kirby at the Ship Pub, St. John’s. • Scott Goudie plays The Basement, Baird’s Cove, St. John’s. • Andrew and Barry LeDrew play the Fat Cat, George Street. • Cathedral organist David Drinkell recital, 1:15-1:45 p.m., Anglican Cathedral, St. John’s. • Darfur After Dark, a benefit for Oxfam Canada’s work in Sudan, Masonic Temple, Cathedral Street, St. John’s, 7 p.m. CBC Radio panel, entertainment, silent auc-
• Tarahan play Erin’s Pub, Water Street, St. John’s. • All ages, all levels, all instruments folk music session, hosted by Rik Barron & Dave Panting, Masonic Temple, Cathedral Street, St. John’s, 7 p.m., bring your instrument - free admission. • The Three Sopranos, Gander Arts and Culture Centre, 8 p.m., 256-2731.
Derek deLouche/Children’s Wish Foundation
Grant a wish Mike Payne (left) of K-ROCK radio station in Corner Brook and The Independent’s Jeff Ducharme read pledges during The Children’s Wish Telethon on Rogers Television Sept. 19. Ducharme and Payne were among the co-hosts for the Corner Brook telethon that raised almost $70,000 in just over eight hours to grant the wishes of seriously ill children in Newfoundland and Labrador.
tion, 753-2202. • Humber Road Greasers and a juke box Wednesday evening, Corner Brook Arts and Culture Centre. SEPTEMBER 30 • Choices for Youth Inc. Youth Services Site will be hosting monthly youth open mic nights and Coffee House (last Thursday of each month) to provide a safe, accessible venue for youth to perform. Choices for Youth Inc., 12-16 Carters Hill Place, St. John’s, 8-10 p.m., 754-3047. • The Three Sopranos, Corner
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Brook Arts and Culture Centre, 8 p.m., 637-2580 OCTOBER 1 • Wayne Hynes plays The Basement, Baird’s Cove, St. John’s. • Sir Thomas Roddick Hospital Foundation’s Radiothon 2004, broadcast over Steele CFSX Radio Station, 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Continues Oct. 2, 643-7478. • Central Northeast Health Foundation Dooly’s Jam Weekend, Dooly’s, Town Square, Gander. Activities nightly through Oct. 3, 256-7665.
OCTOBER 2 • Tarahan play Erin’s Pub, Water Street, St. John’s. • MUN Botanical Garden’s 6th annual Potato Festival, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Activities, exhibits and potato tasting for all. Admission by a food donation to the Community Food Sharing Association. MUN Botanical Garden, Mount Scio Road, St. John’s, 737-8590. • Maura Hanrahan will sign Tsunami: The Newfoundland Tidal Wave Disaster, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Coles, Village Mall; 1:30-3:30 p.m., Coles, Avalon Mall; 4-6 p.m., Chapters. • St. John’s Maple Leafs single game tickets will go on sale 10 a.m. Fans can purchase tickets by visiting or calling the Mile One Stadium box office 576-7657, 1800-361-4595 or www.admission.com. Remember: it’s the last season for the local Leafs. OCTOBER 3 • Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation’s CIBC Run for the Cure, St. John’s. For more information or to register, call 579-8777 ext. 229. • Public meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous will be held in conjunction with fall convention, 3 p.m. St. James United Church, Elizabeth Avenue, St. John’s.