2005-01-09 by The Independent

VOL. 3 ISSUE 2

ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR

SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, JANUARY 9-15, 2005

Still at it

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Oh Danny Boy, pipe up

Three more foreign trawlers charged with illegal fishing on Grand Banks; two for catching species under moratoria LIFE & TIMES

Noreen Golfman on flag imagery in the work of artist Bill Rose. Page 23

INTERNATIONAL

What happens when the bodies are buried?

Page 19

GUEST COLUMN

John FitzGerald explores the pink, white and green Page 3

By Jeff Ducharme The Independent

hree foreign vessels have been charged in recent weeks with illegal fishing on the Grand Banks outside the 200-mile limit, The Independent has learned. Two of the vessels had been charged previously with catching species under moratoria, raising concerns over the effectiveness of fisheries enforcement on the high seas. The Portuguese trawler Joana Princesa was charged Dec. 16 with illegally catching more than five tonnes of American plaice, a species under moratoria. Three charges were laid Dec. 13 against a Lithuanian vessel, The Borgin, for carrying a fisheries observer aboard who was performing crew duties, underreporting its shrimp catch by as much as 15 tonnes per day, and improper labelling of the catch. A third vessel, the Estonian-registered Lootus II, was charged Dec. 18 with a “minor” infraction relating to improperly sized gear. All three vessels were fishing outside the 200-mile limit in an area regulated by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization. NAFO is generally seen as powerless, unable to enforce the quotas it sets. The four charges bring the total number of citations issued since May — when the federal government stepped up its

enforcement activity — to 12. The Joana Princesa was boarded by Canadian inspectors who discovered an estimated five tonnes of unprocessed American plaice on the ship’s deck. “The vessel was towing its net again when we boarded,” Morley Knight of the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans in St. John’s tells The Independent. After the net was retrieved, a further 200 kilograms of American plaice was found. This is not the first time the vessel has been charged. In 2003, the Joana Princesa was issued three citations, including one for exceeding the five per cent bycatch limit for American plaice. It was also charged in 2001 for using smallmesh gear. After the most recent citation was issued, Canadian inspectors stayed aboard the trawler as it sailed to St-PierreMiquelon, where the vessel was met by European Union inspectors. Those inspectors have to agree with the Canadian-laid charges before they become official. If they do agree with the charges, it could be almost a year before the case goes before a judge. The vessel will be inspected again when it arrives in Portugal this week. It was the first test of recent changes in NAFO guidelines that allow Canadian Continued on page 2

Paul Daly/The Independent

The Canadian flag remained down in front of all provincial government buildings as of The Independent’s press deadline. Premier Danny Williams says removing the flag may have hurt his changes of getting a new deal on offshore oil revenues. MP John Efford, the province’s representative in the federal cabinet, says his past comments have hindered the dispute over energy revenues.

‘Huge shoes to fill’ Métis Nation president Todd Russell first candidate to throw hat in ring for Labrador riding; three others ponder nomination By Jeff Ducharme The Independent

IN CAMERA

Guest photographer Tasha Simms takes a dip Page 11

Quote Week OF THE

“Fling out the flag, o’er creek and cragg. Pink, white and green, so fair, so grand.” — Beginning of the chorus of the song about the tricolour flag written by Michael Francis Howley in 1903.

ith the recent and untimely death of Labrador’s lone MP Lawrence O’Brien, potential successors are already lining up to fill the big shoes he left behind. At least one candidate has confirmed he’ll run and as many as half a dozen are already testing the political waters, The Independent has learned. Todd Russell, president of the Labrador Métis Nation, says he will seek the nomination. Former MHA Perry Canning, Cartwright-L’Anse-auClair Liberal MHA Yvonne Jones, and Torngat Mountains Liberal MHA Wally Andersen confirm they’re seriously considering seeking the Liberal nomination. Peter Penashue and Newfoundland Supreme Court judge Robert Fowler have also been mentioned as possible contenders, but neither returned calls to The Independent as of press time. Prime Minister Paul Martin has yet to set a date for the election. Under federal legislation, he must set the date of the election within 180 days after Elections Canada is officially notified of the vacancy. That notification was given on Dec. 21, meaning the date of the election must be called by mid-June. “… when the writ is dropped, Todd

Cartwright-L’Anse-au-Clair Liberal MHA Yvonne Jones.

Russell’s name will be on it seeking the nomination for the Liberal party,” Russell tells The Independent. “What Ottawa presents to me is a different avenue. It presents me with a different set of opportunities to advance the agenda of all people in Labrador.” Andersen wouldn’t confirm that he intends to enter the race, but he did leave the door open more than a crack. “Labrador is still grieving the loss of MP Lawrence O’Brien and I don’t perceive the byelection call in the near

Paul Daly/The Independent

future,” says Andersen. “Even though I’ve got a lot of calls … it’s too early for me yet to say one way or another.” Jones echoes many of Andersen’s comments when it comes to making the decision to go after the Grit nomination. “There’s absolutely no doubt that the mindset for me is definitely there, but whether I’ll run or not remains to be seen,” says Jones. Canning says he’s also seriously considering seeking the nomination. “They are huge shoes to fill,” he says

of O’Brien. “He was also an inspiration to many of us who see the agenda for this region and for the people who call it home, see a way for it to move forward in a positive way.” Labrador, says Canning, is in an interesting spot as Premier Danny Williams fights it out with Ottawa over 100 per cent of the province’s offshore oil revenues. Labradorians have long complained Newfoundland treats Labrador the same way Ottawa treats Newfoundland. “I think we are annoyed, but we’re passionate about the desire to change,” says Canning. One of the largest ore deposits in the world, Voisey’s Bay, is expected to come online in 2005. Labrador’s tracts of forests are a major source of wood fibre for the island’s paper mills. One of the issues expected to dominate the run to replace O’Brien is 5 Wing Goose Bay. Raytheon, the company that designed and built the American government’s controversial missile defence plan, has already contacted Happy Valley-Goose Bay town officials and identified the base as a potential site for a radar installation. Putting in place a better road network — Labrador’s main highway remains unpaved and is often impassable — and land claims agreements for aboriginal peoples will also top the list of issues. O’Brien passed away just before Christmas after a lengthy battle with cancer. His funeral was called Labrador’s first state funeral, and attended by dozens of dignitaries, including the prime minister, who gave the eulogy.

Suing for a smoke Bar association considering class-action lawsuit against province By Alisha Morrissey The Independent

he association representing bars in the province has no intention of accepting government’s proposed smoking-ban legislation and is preparing a study of the economic impacts. Marcel Etheridge, president of the Beverage Industry Association, says the group will explore all options — including a class-action lawsuit. “Why should anybody go out of business because of government legislation?” Etheridge tells The Independent. “We will look at every angle. If government brings in this legislation I will not go away tomorrow. We will look at some other ways — class-action suits. There are many other angles that we’ll try, but we’re not going to roll over and die because government brings in this legislation.” Proposed legislation to ban smoking in bars and bingo halls could come into effect by spring, although public hearings are planned before that happens. The province has not carried out a study of the economic impacts of a smoking ban. Etheridge, who calls the proposed law “draconian,” says the association is currently crunching numbers to prove its

point. Association members — bars and restaurants — are footing the bill for a study that Etheridge contends will prove the ban will cost his members both patrons and profits. “We will do the necessary research in the next five to six months — analyzing total number of bars, total employment, consumer choice, freedom of choice, the health issue, the ventilation possibilities and say to government, ‘Now, here are the facts,’” Etheridge says. NO DATE FOR HEARINGS Carolyn Chaplin, spokeswoman for the Health Department, says public consultations will begin in a few weeks, but no official dates have been scheduled. She confirms the department will not be conducting an economic analysis prior to consultations. Chaplin says Health Minister John Ottenheimer met with officials from the association in December. “I believe they communicated, at that time, that they would be undertaking (a study).” There are approximately 600 bars in Newfoundland and Labrador. “You’re talking about millions and millions of dollars and it would be idiotic of any government official (to proceed) without getting the total knowledge of what implication this law would Continued on page 2

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NEWS

The Independent, January 9, 2005

Underreporting shrimp

Tuition freeze may melt

From page 1 inspectors to stay aboard a vessel until they are asked to leave by the country responsible for contracting the vessel. Canada won’t find out until September, during the next annual meeting of NAFO, what becomes of the citations. Based on what other vessels were reporting, Knight estimates that the Borgin was under-reporting its shrimp catch by as much as 15 tonnes per day. It isn’t known the number of days the vessel was fishing. While Knight says DFO has confidence in Canadian-trained fishing observers, he can’t say the same about observers used by other countries. “… we are not as confident that the observers in the NAFO zones are providing equally meritorious service,” says Knight, sounding diplomatic. The Estonian Lootus II was also charged with a “non-serious” infraction concerning gear regulations. The net’s mesh, however, was within NAFO guidelines. The Lootus II is another repeat offender. Since 2000, it’s been charged seven times for infractions, including fishing species under moratoria and exceeding the bycatch on American plaice and witch flounder. At least three of the other seven citations issued against foreign trawlers since May weren’t upheld by EU inspectors. FISHING CRACKDOWN The Paul Martin government began its crackdown on foreign fishing leading up to the recent federal election — a move that led to charges of electioneering. Ottawa calculates that in recent years, foreign fleets have increased the catch of illegal species — including cod and American plaice — to as much as 15,000 tonnes. At that level, federal Fisheries Minister Geoff Regan has said fish stocks face “virtual destruction” in as little as three to five years. Over the past decade, more than 300 citations have been issued against foreign vessels. Most of the citations were issued without publicity, often against boats that have been cited frequently but face no penalty in their home country. Under NAFO rules, Canada cannot order the ships to port for investigation. Instead, officials must ask the flag country for permission to take the ships to the nearest NAFO port, or to investigate themselves. Fishing advocates in this province have repeatedly called for Canada to take custodial management of the Grand Banks, a move Ottawa has been reluctant to make. Foreign fishing outside the 200-mile limit impacts fishing in Canadian waters in that groundfish stocks, which are migratory, don’t recognize the imaginary dotted line.

MUN president Axel Meisen

Marcel Etheridge, president of the provincial Beverage Industry Association.

Auditor general John Noseworthy expects to have his annual review of the province’s finances completed before month’s end. “It has to be out by the 31st,” he tells The Independent, “but I’m currently working at it right now, ready to go to print probably early next week so I’m thinking probably the week of the 24th.” Noseworthy says he can’t comment on any results of this year’s review of departments and Crown agencies until after the report is presented to the House of Assembly. The office’s annual report of the provincial government’s financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2004 was released at the end of November and recorded a deficit of $913.6 million — the highest deficit ever reported by the province. — Clare-Marie Gosse

dollar value on the amount the university would like to see in its coffers after the 2005 budget. He says the university is asking for help with increasing expenses, including salaries for faculty and staff and general operating costs. “If our financial resources fall short of what is needed to run the operation as is, then we will have to look at making changes. And that could include reductions.” Approximately 14,000 full-time students and 3,000 part-time students enrolled at Memorial in September. Students are paying an extra $10 in mandatory student union fees this semester. Fees were raised to $45 for full-time students, and $19 for parttime students. — Alisha Morrissey

Paul Daly/The Independent

‘Already taxed to death’ From page 1

Audit update

Paul Daly/The Independent

emorial University president Axel Meisen says the question of whether tuition will rise in September will hinge on a white paper on education that’s due sometime this year. The study will have a definite impact on the provincial grant ($153 million this fiscal year) allotted to the university, and should bring “clarity” to the topic of the tuition increase, Meisen tells The Independent. “From the university’s perspective, the important thing is that the total amount of money that we have available is adequate for our programs,” he says. “It’s really the sum of the provincial grant and the tuition revenues.” Meisen wouldn’t put a

have,” Etheridge says. Including taxes and sales, he says bars ring up at least $10 million in annual sales — the equivalent of 600 retail stores. As has happened in other places, Etheridge says bars in the province — especially in rural areas — will go bankrupt under a smoking ban. “Here we have a business that is owned by Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, it is not sending profits elsewhere, we are here in the community, we invest back into the community, we hire local people and we’re here to stay,” he says. “Why should anybody go out of business because of government legislation?” The Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce in Ontario

recently released details on the impact of its citywide smoking ban. It showed 93 per cent of bars and lounges suffered an average economic loss of 43 per cent and all businesses were forced to layoff staff. The ban was also said to have a noticeable impact on suppliers. SALES DOWN In Dublin, Ireland, a survey for the Licensed Vintners Association — representing 750 pubs — shows full compliance with its smoking ban, but reports sales are down by 16 per cent since the March, 2004 ban came into effect. More than 2,000 full-time and parttime jobs have been lost. In New York, Florida and in Norway, smoking bans are also shutting down businesses and in New Brunswick business

owners are struggling to keep bars, bingo halls, restaurants and hotels operating in the black — if at all. Etheridge says every job in the province is important. “There were bars that were over 100 years old in Ottawa (that) closed up since the smoking ban and yet people are saying it’s a temporary situation. There’s nothing temporary about losing one’s investment.” He says there’s another loss to a small community’s economy when any business closes — business and real estate taxes paid to the town. “In small towns, if the bar closes up, the town’s already looking at financial difficulties to finance their operations,” Etheridge says. “Where are all these taxes going to come from

if 25 or 30 per cent of all the bars in Newfoundland and Labrador close up? Who’s going to step in? Is an ordinary citizen going to be willing to increase his taxes? We’re already taxed to death.” He says the association is not pro-smoking, but pro-choice — as long as adult choices are made in an adult atmosphere. “The problem I see here is that the government is trying to stop people from smoking by forcing businesses into being their enforcer and we don’t want to be their enforcer. “We know there’s health issues — drinking is a health issue, driving a car is a health issue, I mean there’s health issues in everything in our lives, but we don’t ban products because we know that people will want to do it anyway.”

The Independent, January 9, 2005

NEWS

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Paul Daly/The Independent

Blair Metcalf flies the Newfoundland tricolour from his car antenna to show his support for Premier Williams’ flag action. “It’s far too long we’ve been getting a raw deal,” he says. “It worked for Quebec.”

Pink, white and green Editor’s note: The following article is based on a column published by the same writer in the first edition of The Sunday Independent. By John FitzGerald For The Independent

he Newfoundland pink, white and green tricolour is one of the oldest symbols in continuous use in Newfoundland and Labrador. It predates its cousin the Irish flag by five years, and is the oldest flag in the world to use the colour pink. It has a long history, one embodied in a myth publicized by J.M. Byrnes in 1931: In the early 1800s, sealers from around Newfoundland converged on St. John’s in winter, awaiting the departure of vessels for the annual seal hunt. Public institutions benefited from this available labour by sending rival teams of sealers into the woods to haul out sleds of wood to heat the public buildings. Competitions ensued over which team had the largest “haul of wood,” the piles marked by flags flown from the top of the pile as it was hauled through the streets of St. John’s. Inevitably, strong disagreements ensued. The winter of 1843 was particularly violent. After several altercations, an English team bearing a pink flag, and an Irish team bearing a green flag decided to appeal to Bishop Michael Fleming, the nearest authority, to settle the matter. He took out a white handkerchief, announced that the white was in memory of his recently departed friend, the Scot William Carson, a founder of the House of Assembly, tied the rival flags together, and bid them go in peace. As convenient as this legend is, there is not a shred of evidence to support any aspect of it. It is pure myth. The subsequent history of the flag, though, is well documented. The Newfoundland Natives’ Society flew the tricolour until the society disbanded around 1847. By then, the flag was gaining wider acceptance. Historical geographer John Mannion notes that the first documentary reference to the flag was when St. John’s captain Walter Dillon flew the flag from the mast of his schooner, circa 1845, as he sailed between St. John’s and Waterford. The flag exploded in popularity when the governor of Newfoundland asked Dillon to remove it, and Dillon refused. Even the Irish seem to have been inspired by our flag. Dillon moored his schooner at Meagher’s Quay in Waterford in front of the merchant premises of Thomas Meagher, the Mayor of Waterford who had been born in St. John’s. In 1848 his son Thomas Francis Meagher gave Ireland its own tricolour — orange, white, and green — before being convicted of treason as a Young Irelander, deported to Tasmania, escaping to the United States, and ending up as governor of Montana before drowning in a river. But back to our flag. In 1860 the Prince of Wales was greeted at the New-

foundland parliament at Colonial Building in St. John’s by the sight of alternating union flags and the Newfoundland tricolour. In 1897, the tricolour flew at the ceremony to lay the cornerstone of Cabot Tower. Historian Paul O’Neill notes that when Frances Foster sang the Ode to Newfoundland for the first time on Jan. 21, 1902, between acts of Mam’zelle at the Casino Theatre in St. John’s, the audience wildly applauded when two soldiers brought out the pink, white, and green and the Union Jack. OFFICIAL FLAG In the May 1909 general election, Robert Bond promised if elected to make the tricolour the official flag, and the Ode to Newfoundland the official national anthem. (Unfortunately for the tricolour, Bond lost the election to Edward Morris.) And at a dinner tendered in his honour in New York, the celebrated Captain Robert Bartlett was presented with a tricolour by a Miss Phelan, aunt of the St. John’s lawyer Edmund Phelan, to take to the North Pole. When the First World War was declared and Newfoundland went to war, the tricolour flew alongside the white

The tricolour was the subject of a poem written by Michael Francis Howley in 1903. The poem later became a song: The pink, the rose of England shows, The green St. Patrick’s emblem, bright While in between, the spotless sheen of Andrew’s Cross, displays the white. Then hail: the pink, the white, the green, Our patriot flag! Long may it stand. Our sirelands twine, their emblems trine, To form the flag of Newfoundland! Chorus: Fling out the flag, o’er creek and cragg. Pink white and green, so fair, so grand. Long may it sway, o’er bight and bay, Around the shores of Newfoundland! Whate’er betide, our “Ocean Bride” That nestles ‘midst Atlantic’s foam Still far and wide, we’ll raise with pride Our native flag — o’er hearth and home. Should e’er the hand of Fate demand Some future change in our career; We ne’er will yield; on floor or field The flag we honour and revere!

ensign and the Union Jack. In 1945, at the end of the Second World War, Newfoundland troops marched past Governor Walwyn on Military Road; he stood under a Newfoundland tricolour. After Confederation, Joey Smallwood (who had campaigned on a “British Union” platform) adopted the Union Jack, but by the 1970s, even the British government was complaining that Newfoundland should get its own flag. In the 1970s, the Newfoundland Historic Trust, the Newfoundland Historical Society, and the St. John’s Folk Arts Council submitted a joint brief to the Flag Committee of the House of Assembly unanimously recommending the adoption of the tricolour as the flag of Newfoundland. Instead, the present provincial flag as designed by Christopher Pratt was adopted. Since then the tricolour has undergone a renaissance in popularity. Rugby teams sport it. Teenagers and adults — with not a shred of rebel, separatist or republican understanding or heritage — wear it. Newfoundland nationalists fly it and wear it, but so do firmly committed Canadians. Tories, Liberals, NDPers, and the non-committed fly it. Athletes who row in the St. John’s Regatta receive their medals hanging from official pink, white and green ribbons, and the cultural and arts community fly it from the legendary LSPU Hall. Ironically, many people call it “the Republic of Newfoundland Flag” — but this is a misnomer. Newfoundland never was a republic, and is not likely to become one. The flag is properly called the Newfoundland tricolour, or simply, the pink, white and green. The most remarkable part of its history is that in 162 years, the Newfoundland tricolour has yet to receive any official state recognition. One former lieutenant-governor incorporated its colours into his personal coat of arms, to the delight of vexillologists who study flags, but they also were shocked that the tricolour had yet to receive any official sanction or even casual recognition by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. That day in the flag’s history is yet to come. Surely its history — our history — deserves this. Since October 2003, when The Independent newspaper first appeared with the Newfoundland tricolour on its masthead, the popularity of the flag has grown steadily. In many ways, flags are personal things. To me, the tricolour speaks of the greatness of our past and the potential of our future. It reminds me of proud and defiant old Dillon, of the greatness of Bond and Bartlett, the sacrifice of our veterans, and the richness and vibrancy of the best of our cultural communities from Frances Foster to Rick Mercer to CODCO to Anita Best and Donna Butt. I hope that flying our tricolour will encourage us to think and debate about our cultures and our histories, and their relationships to our present and future. Dr. John FitzGerald is a historian who teaches in the Department of History and in the Faculty of Education at Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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NEWS

The Independent, January 9, 2005

An independent voice for Newfoundland & Labrador

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Wente too far

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The following commentary was aired on CBC Radio in response to a Jan. 6 column in The Globe and Mail (Oh Danny Boy, pipe down) by columnist Margaret Wente.

ow is a Newfoundlander or Labradorian expected to react when a mainlander attacks us as a people? Quote: “Rural Newfoundland is probably the most vast and scenic welfare ghetto in the world.” The first reaction is rage, to rip The Globe and Mail to shreds, to cancel the subscription and damn all central Canadians to hell. Who is this columnist Margaret Wente to insult us, to spit in our collective face? Quote: “… the surly Newfoundlanders have blamed us for everything from the disappearance of the cod stocks to the destruction of the family unit, because if people had to work more than 10 weeks before they could collect EI, they might have to move away.” Are you furious yet, listening to her? The sober, second thought reaction is to analyze the crux of her argument as to why our Danny Boy should pipe down. Wente says our sense of victimhood is

RYAN CLEARY

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

Newfoundland and Labrador is not a drain on Confederation. No, that’s not accurate. Newfoundland and Labrador is a gas tank for the nation. The have-not status is a lie perpetuated by lazy journalists like Margaret Wente who haven’t bothered to do their homework and add up what this province gives to Canada, versus what we get back. Consider this a challenge to The Globe and Mail: take your vast resources and carry out a cost benefit analysis of Confederation. Do it, this province dares you. The Independent, a weekly paper based in St. John’s, carried out such an analysis of its own. We found that Newfoundland and Labrador contributes billions more than we receive. Check the numbers, then write your columns. Over time, the rage that flares from reading a column like Ms. Wente’s subsides. The goal of most columnists is to draw a reaction, which she succeeded in doing. I’d offer congratulations, Ms. Wente, but you probably wouldn’t appreciate it from a Newfoundlander, a lesser Canadian than you. Ryan Cleary is managing editor of The Independent. ryan.cleary@theindependent.ca

Letters to the Editor

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LETTERS POLICY

unmatched. She accuses us of biting the hand that feeds us. The dispute over the Atlantic Accord isn’t so much about getting what we were promised as having our cake and welfare cheque too. Wente offers a deal: we can keep all the oil and gas revenue as long as we pay back all the money mainland Canada has sent us since Confederation. Fair enough, let’s pay back Ottawa every cent it has given us since 1949. At the same time, let’s cut off the shipment of iron ore from Labrador that keeps the industries of central Canada going. Let’s charge the federal government for not forcing Quebec to allow a power corridor through that province and demand compensation for the $1 billion a year we lose in hydro profit. Let’s bill the federal government for every fish it’s allowed foreign fleets to steal from our tables. Let’s ask Ottawa to return every cent this province has sent up along by way of taxes. Let’s put a price tag on the amount this province misses out on because Ottawa won’t base any navy boats here, on the edge of the North Atlantic — or allow us our share of federal jobs.

Qualify as hate crime Dear editor, Combining a vast superficial fact base with a profound ignorance of her adopted country Globe and Mail columnist Margaret Wente’s latest diatribe against Newfies might qualify as a hate crime if we were an identifiable group. They claim we’re not. We have our own history, culture, food, music, terminology and we were the only ones to join Canada by referendum. However, we’re not an identifiable group? Nonsense, we’re Canada’s invisible minority.

If we were aboriginal, nonwhite, non-Christian or non-English speaking we would be protected by the Charter and the Canadian Human Rights Code. Can you imagine the uproar if Wente had directed her venom at Afro, French or Italian Canadians? Or Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus or Jews? Or lesbians, gays or the disabled? The only acceptable target that remains for bigots — whether it’s the ever offensive raconteur of Newfie jokes or the condescending columnist such as Wente — is the

Newfie. In my view, Danny Williams made a serious error in removing the Maple Leaf. It did not advance our case and it probably alienated many mainlanders — who unlike Wente, actually like Newfies and believe that we are being shafted. A better approach would be to keep negotiating and appeal to the world court for an interpretation of the Terms of Union between Newfoundland and Canada. Although reserved for disputes between nations, Williams might make a successful argument that Canada has not lived up to an

international agreement. The province could showcase 55 years of cultural genocide, which has been wreaked upon Newfoundland and Labrador by the Government of Canada. The last time we fought Canada in a neutral court was at the Privy Council and we were awarded Labrador. Although a world court decision would not be binding, it is doubtful that humanitarian Canada would want to be exposed to the world as a domestic abuser. I bet they would settle. Jim Bennett, Daniel’s Harbour

The Independent, January 9, 2005

NEWS

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What it means to be Canadian

magine our delight here at The that seem like a lifetime, we Independent with the recent quickly understood what was run of pink, white, and green going on: the local men weren’t flags around the province. impressed with the American solThe flag was apparently this diers and their behavior toward year’s hot Christmas gift, a craze the local women. More to the aided by the media attenpoint, they weren’t tion on the Atlantic impressed with the local Accord dispute with the women’s behavior federal government. towards the American What a great segue into soldiers. my second column — Their obvious enthuwhat it means to be siasm in seeing what Canadian. they thought were two For Newfoundlanders Americans walk into and Labradorians to their work-out session BRIAN truly know, we need to made it clear that we DOBBIN observe how the rest of were considered much the world views us, as better fodder than bathCanadians. room stalls. As they approached I had a personal example ham- us, I reached in my back pocket mered home about seven years and pulled out my passport. ago in South America. I was in “No Americanos! We’re CanaChile with a close friend on busi- dian!” ness and we decided to sample the Ten minutes later, our new Santiago nightlife, where they friends were buying us drinks at paint nightclub windows black to the bar. hide the breaking dawn. A very simplistic anecdote, but At the time, Hilary Clinton — whether a South American bar or protected by two companies of Hong Kong boardroom, Canadimarines — was also visiting the ans are viewed by the rest of the city. world as kind, friendly, fair, and It’s hard to miss that many vir- tolerant people — which we are. ile American boys cutting their Why would anyone want to way through the South American leave a family with that reputaversion of George Street. At one tion? Well, we don’t. To borrow a point in the wee hours of the great line from my uncle and menmorning, we made our way into tor: we don’t want to get out of the restroom of a popular spot. Confederation, we want to get into As soon as we walked in, we Confederation. were confronted with a crowd of To amend it slightly, our first locals removing the doors to the choice is to get into Confederastalls with their boots. tion. Whoops — wrong place, wrong That means we should no longer time. be treated as a younger, less capaIn those one or two moments ble child in the Canadian family.

Dave Sandford/Getty Images

Patrice Bergeron (left), Sidney Crosby and Corey Perry of Team Canada celebrate their gold medal win after beating Team Russia during the world junior hockey tournament last week. Canada won 6-1, a night when all Canadians, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians included, were proud of their country.

The prevalent Canadian attitude is that Newfoundland and Labrador is a developmentally delayed sibling in need of financial support. The truth is, we have been just that for much of our brief marriage with Canada. Therefore, the true path to havenot being no more lies within us. That’s what The Independent is all about. It’s an opportunity to offer a truly Newfoundland and Labrador perspective. It’s not about rehashing news from a wire

bigger FEBRUARY 13, 2005

service to glorify a Quebec-owned becomes more dependent. If that child gets a job, he crossadvertising publication. Until we begin to appreciate the es over on the road to becoming an advantages and opportunities that equal contributor. The Atlantic Accord is imporwe have compared to the rest of the world, we will continue to tant, it gives us the right to keep be desperate and dependent on our own money from our own oil resources. It our Canadian parappears, however, ents, the federal government, to inTo borrow a great that Canadians outcrease our allow- line from my uncle side the province see the dispute as ance. and mentor: we Do I personally Newfoundland and want to see New- don’t want to get out Labrador crying for foundland and Labof Confederation, a bigger allowance. rador separate from Perhaps the time we want to get Canada? Absolutely is right to bring the into Confederation. real issue into not. Am I afraid of it? focus, to expand Absolutely not. negotiations from As a stand-alone country, New- the oil revenue sharing agreement foundland and Labrador would to our Terms of Union with Canarank among the wealthiest in the da. world in terms of resource riches Will we finally be allowed to per capita. What we’re lacking is stand on our own like big brother expertise and capital, commodities Alberta, or are we to remain under that flow freely around the globe. the federal government’s guardianWith the proper leadership, they ship? can easily be attracted to the wonI do not pose that question to derful environment we have here. Canadians, who aren’t in a position From my eyes, if a child asks a to answer. The question is posed to parent for a bigger allowance, he ourselves.

Letters to the Editor

Stats Can numbers don’t tell full story Editor’s note: The following letter was e-mailed to Globe and Mail columnist Margaret Wente and forwarded to The Independent. Dear Ms. Wente, As a mother of two young daughters, a full-time teacher, and PhD student I rarely have time to watch the news on television. I did, however, catch your appearance on CBC television with John Crosbie this evening. The figures you cited from Statistics Canada over the last 20 years do not tell the

full story. If you care to be fully informed, you should read an article that recently appeared in a local newspaper called The Independent. This well-researched article documented in detail the contributions Newfoundland and Labrador has made to Canada and vice versa. I believe that you would find it very informative. I will send this e-mail to the managing editor of The Independent and request that he send you a copy. Cindy Murray, St. John’s

Don’t take prisoners Dear editor, If any of you folks down there at The Independent are worth a pinch of salt you’d better have a bloody good answer for Margaret Wente’s article in the Jan. 6 Globe and Mail. Her ignorance of this place is only outdone by her supercilious stance on the local TV. God knows

you have enough facts and figures at your fingertips, as demonstrated in your recent articles. Let her have it and don’t take any prisoners. David Murphy, Topsail More letters on pages 6, 8 and 16

Page 6

NEWS

The Independent, January 9, 2005

Ticket to ride (to Stephenville on the bus)

n a bid to save money this Christmas, the decision to take the bus was grudgingly made. St. John’s to Stephenville, and JEFF all Irving gas stations in between. The bus was beautiful: brand DUCHARME new and shiny, a far cry from the CN Road Cruisers of old. After leaving the Irving on Sta- to crack a smile. I’m sure the guy behind me vanger Drive in St. John’s, the bus pulled into the station at chuckled as she wedged herself Memorial University, more than into the rather narrow seat beside 100 people huddled in the cold, me. I felt sorry for her, the seats arms full of packages, a cloud of were barely wide enough for the steam rising from their collective average-sized person. I schooched over as far as I breaths, waiting to could. travel home for Surely the Christmas. After leaving the woman suffered The crowd rushed toward our Irving on Stavanger from some sort of bus as it came to a Drive in St. John’s, glandular problem, one responsible for halt, and shuffled the bus pulled her being as wide away in unison, into the station at as she was tall, but directed towards another, less-crowd- Memorial University, we weren’t 10 minutes down the road ed bus. Even Mary more than 100 before a Tupperand Joseph would people huddled in ware container was have been turned away (at least the the cold, arms full opened and out ass would have of packages, a cloud came the baked goods. been.) of steam rising She complained A few brave souls fought against the from their collective she couldn’t get the seat upright (I felt human tide. They breaths, waiting were rewarded with to travel home for sorry for the seat). Things didn’t get one of the few seats Christmas. uncomfortable until available. we went around Outside Memoriright-hand turns al, young lovers hugged and kissed goodbye, like- and centrifugal force caused her ly separated for the first time since excess size to slowly slosh onto school started and love blos- my side of the bus, pressing me up somed, pinky fingers the last to against the wall. Relief only came release as they climbed into the when the bus turned to the left. After a lunch stop in Gander, I bus. Moments later, the bus pulled returned to the bus to find the seat into Donovan’s Irving in Mount beside me empty. After giving Pearl. A father followed his young thanks to the gods of transportadaughter on board; they hugged tion, I tried to read a little as the diesel engine droned and Gander and kissed goodbye. Her first Christmas away from drifted into the distance. The family that surrounded me home, I thought. Only the scattered seat was left, continued to complain about the including one beside me. I glared bus service. “Next year we’ll drive,” one of at the people wandering down the aisle looking for a seat and, I them said. Two little girls begin singing guessed, a travelling buddy. I dodged a bullet and, one-and-a- Twelve Days of Christmas. “How charming,” I thought. half hours after boarding the bus, rolled on the Trans-Canada with “The true meaning of Christmas in the voices of little children.” no one beside me. Unfortunately, the two couldn’t Two families were seated in front and behind me. The hair of make it past the sixth day of one of the women was a shade of Christmas. (Then again, few of us red that doesn’t exist in nature. can.) The well-behaved pair Very quickly I found myself moved on to less challenging terwrapped up in their conversations ritory: Jingle Bells. A child further back in the bus (it’s not like there was a choice). The tradition of scowling at screamed for no other reason than people looking for a seat contin- to prove he could. He laughed ued for some time. A very large after every scream. He was the woman, breathing heavily, strug- only one laughing. The little girls tried again and gled to make it down the narrow isle. I cringed. She examined a again to get past the sixth day of few empty seats up front and then Christmas. No luck. Some time after supper hour we seemingly targeted the cherished empty seat beside me at the back pulled into Stephenville airport, tired but none the worse for wear. of the bus. Taking the bus across the island It could have been penance for all my earlier scowls or maybe she a few days before Christmas is was just looking for the smallest said to be a once in a lifetime person to sit beside in a bid to get experience. That being the case, I flew back the greatest possible amount of to St. John’s. free space for herself. “Is this seat taken?” she asked. Jeff Ducharme is The IndepenNever was the temptation dent’s senior writer. greater to utter a bold-faced lie. “No. Go ahead,” I said, trying jeff.duchrame@theindependent.ca

Opinions Are Like...

Letters to the Editor

Don’t go against the grain Dear editor, I’m really disappointed in the writers (if that’s what you call yourselves) at The Independent. Publisher Brian Dobbin should give all you guys a swift kick in the rear and throw the works of you out the door and hire true Newfoundlanders. We have a pathetic history of bitching and complaining about our poor asses and the state of this province. We finally get a premier with a heavy fist and a will to fight and all you guys can do is belittle and disrespect him by writing this crap. Ivan Morgan, Ryan Cleary and Ray Guy should pull their heads out of the sand. This is not Hollywood or ET were it’s OK to write crap about other people — this is your own province,

your own people. Writing like yours that put down our premier is one of the reasons the rest of Canada doesn’t take us

We finally get a premier with a heavy fist and a will to fight and all you guys can do is belittle and disrespect him by writing this crap. seriously and never will, unlike the French who are very strong and united (I salute them for that). As for removing the Canadian flag, big deal, it’s only a piece of cloth.

“

”

Ever yone is an exper t at something.. You knoww yourr business,, I knoww mine.. And d whenn we’re e talking e i t helps too knoww aboutt policiess and d cover age what’ss needed d now.... and d in the e fu tur e.

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In a case like this I ask you: what’s more important here, a piece of cloth with red ink on it or the grand future of our people, culture and tradition? If we choose to express our opinions against the grain of the people, we the people of Newfoundland and Labrador deserve only what we have now and that is … well look around. The bottom line is we don’t have room to bitch and complain about how our leader gets back what we’ve lost and had stolen as long as he can get it back. So please don’t go against the grain with your writings. Frank Hollahan, Paradise More letters on pages 8 and 16

The Independent, January 9, 2005

NEWS

Page 7

More cuts feared

Extra money for province won’t necessarily mean good news for public service By Clare-Marie Gosse The Independent

Provincial Finance Minister Loyola Sullivan

Paul Daly/The Independent

ewfoundland and Labrador’s finances seem to be improving, but unions and opposition parties fear the axe will still fall on the public service. “I think we’re going to see more of it (layoffs),” New Democrat Party leader Jack Harris tells The Independent. “I don’t think it’s necessary, given the fiscal position of the province.” Harris points to Finance Minister Loyola Sullivan’s recent midyear financial report, presented on Dec. 15, which showed that since the March budget, the $839.6 million deficit has shrunk by $132.1 million, due to a number of variables including increased oil prices, revised equalization estimates and additional health-care funding. The Danny Williams administration has spent its first year tightening the province’s belt in an attempt to alleviate the province’s worst financial debt to date. “Restructuring” seems to be the main focus since the last budget. The financial payoffs from costefficiency initiatives such as the health board amalgamations (which will be reduced to four from 14), the white paper study into post-secondary education, and program renewal — government’s reevaluation exercise — are also yet to be felt. Despite government’s commitment to reduce the deficit over the

next four years, Harris says it’s a goal that might be reached as early as this spring. Regardless, he says he has “no reason to doubt” that the layoffs will continue. Government announced its intention to reduce public service positions by 4,000 over the next four years in the March budget. An estimated 700 government workers were to lose their jobs this year, a figure that has since been revised to closer to 500. Sullivan’s department has been unable to provide any updated numbers since then, including a breakdown of how many positions have been lost due to attrition and direct layoffs. Attrition aside, Harris, says many contractual and temporary positions are simply not being renewed, an opinion echoed by Opposition Finance critic Anna Thistle. “I think you’re going to see another round of layoffs,” she says. “There have been layoffs all yea, but they’ve been in small numbers so they weren’t noticeable. In every department there are people losing their jobs all the time.” The Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees (NAPE), the province’s largest public sector union, is feeling the pressure. Union head Leo Puddister told The Independent in December that labour relations were at an all-time low and many government workers were “frightened to death about

their jobs.” “We’re having a press conference Tuesday on that whole issue (cuts in the public sector),” he says, adding NAPE will also address the issue of changes to the Atlantic Accord at that time. With the gathering frenzy over changes to the accord, all other issues seem to have fallen by the wayside. “I haven’t heard a word since the House closed on the issue of Harbour Breton,” says Thistle. “And these issues are all around the province, but we’re solely focused on one item right now and the sooner that gets settled the better.” A deal on the Atlantic Accord could have an impact on the budget but Finance Department officials won’t say for sure, says spokeswoman Diane Keough. “We’ve just started the budgetary process,” she says. “The minister has always said that until the money’s in the bank, you can’t budget it.” Thistle says she would like to see a more balanced approach from government, adding the layoffs and restructuring are creating “a rippling, negative effect. “I think what’s absent from the whole scenario was the premier promised a two-pronged approach, and the pain that was delivered last spring, well you know, we’re supposed to follow with economic development and here we are into year two and I see no sign of any new initiative.”

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Page 8

NEWS

The Independent, January 9, 2005

‘Two different histories’ Canadian flag issue widens gap between island and Labrador

Happy Valley-Goose Bay By Bert Pomeroy For The Independent

he decision by Premier Danny Williams to remove Canadian flags from provincial buildings has ignited a spark on a fire that started in Labrador more than 30 years ago, says Senator Bill Rompkey. “It has been a divisive issue in Canada and on the island, but it has also driven a wedge between Labrador and Newfoundland,” says Rompkey, who served as Labrador’s MP for 23 years before being appointed to the Senate in 1995. “Those (anti-Newfoundland) feelings are coming to the floor as they did in 1970 with Tom Burgess and the New Labrador Party.” Burgess was elected to the House of Assembly in 1966 as a member of former premier Joey Smallwood’s liberal government. But his allegiance to Smallwood and the party was short lived, brought about in part by the growing discontent in Labrador. In 1968, Burgess, who represented the district of Labrador West, crossed the House to sit as an independent. He later formed the New Labrador Party, which ran three candidates in the 1971 provincial election. Burgess won his seat in the tie election, and for a short time, held the balance of power in the legislature. History has a way of repeating itself. “Those same feelings that were very evident back then will surface whenever there’s an opportunity for the Labrador identity to emerge,” Rompkey says. “The people of Labrador have

always been closer to Canada than to Newfoundland, and the flag issue is a response to the good treatment they feel they have received from Canada and the less-than-adequate treatment they feel they have received from the provincial government.”

Senator Bill Rompkey

The flags were lowered Dec. 23 when no deal on the Atlantic Accord was reached during a meeting between the premier and federal officials in Winnipeg. QUIET PROTEST A quiet protest by provincial Supreme Court Judge Robert Fowler led Williams to modify his decision. Fowler hung the Maple Leaf inside his Happy Valley-Goose Bay office after orders came down to remove flags from outside the government building. Chief Justice Derek Green then wrote a letter to provincial Justice Minister Tom Marshall, expressing concerns about the impartiality of the courts. The premier agreed to allow the flag to fly at courthouses that do

Letters to the Editor

‘Struggle to become full Canadians’ Dear editor After 55 years, Newfoundland and Labrador is still outside the loop as far as being considered an equal partner in Confederation, and I suspect the majority of us would be very happy to feel and be treated as Canadians. The wave of dissent that currently exists with Ottawa may be difficult to curb, particularly if we continue to elect the John Effords and Gerry Byrnes of the world, who have grossly mistaken their role. Are we wrong to assume that these two individuals have an obligation to act on the wishes of their constituents just as Bill Matthews and Scott Simms have done? Politics has reached a new low when an elected member has to ask the leader which way he should vote on an issue. How could we possibly value his opinion on such an important item as the Atlantic Accord? Let us unite in supporting Premier Danny Williams in his efforts to let all Canadians know that the frustrations being felt by Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have been caused by the deceitful actions of Prime Minister Paul Martin. If the Atlantic Accord issue is not resolved successfully, Martin may well go down in history as

perpetrating the breakup of the country, an issue that raises its head more and more as we struggle to become full Canadians. Danny Williams has a daunting task of trying to rectify a half-century of wrong doings, and I support him without reservation. Whatever chance he has to bring justice to this once “resource rich and overgenerous province” can only happen with the full and unwavering support of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. We could write volumes on the injustices levelled on our province since Confederation, but our efforts would be better directed toward supporting Williams in his crusade to at last bring a decent level of prosperity to our province, equal to that enjoyed by other Canadians. It is encouraging to read supportive comments from Vic Young, George Baker and Bill Rowe, so let’s hear more from those whose voices count. Remember, united we stand, divided we fall. Oh yes, the flag thing. When you back a person into a corner, expect a reaction. If and when we are accepted and treated like Canadians I feel the Maple Leaf will fly proudly again. Ivan H. LeDrew, St. John’s

not share office space with government departments. The Combined Councils of Labrador, the umbrella organization representing Labrador’s communities, says it supports the government in its quest to receive 100 per cent of offshore revenues. That support has waned throughout the region because of the flag issue. “Our residents are very passionate about the Canadian flag and many are very upset,” says combined councils president Ford Rumbolt. “Many people would take down the Newfoundland flag here before they would the Canadian flag.” That message was loud and clear during a pro-Canada flag rally in front of the provincially owned Elizabeth Goudie Building in Happy Valley-Goose Bay last week. More than 50 residents gathered in frigid temperatures to raise the flag and denounce Williams. Lloyd Pardy, the central president of the Labrador Party (the child of the New Labrador party) helped organize the rally. “We have always seen Canada as our supplier and our protector,” he says. Pardy says the “anti-island sen-

timent” is deeply rooted, from the time Labrador was proclaimed as part of Newfoundland by the Imperial Privy Council in 1927 to the 1948 and 49 votes on Confederation with Canada and the more recent “exploitation” of the region’s resources. “We didn’t have a say in the 1927 decision, or any before that,” Pardy says. “In the referendums of 1948 and 1949, Labrador voted overwhelmingly in support of joining Canada, whereas the island was split on the issue. DIDN’T HAVE A SAY “For hundreds of years we have seen people come to Labrador, take our resources and go back to their homes. We didn’t have a say on Churchill Falls, on the iron ore mines in Labrador west, and we have not received a fair shake on Voisey’s Bay. We have not had a say in our affairs, and we did not have a say on the flag issue.” Rompkey says Labrador’s link to Canada was strengthened in 1941 when the Goose Air Base was built. “People came from the Labrador coast to find jobs and they made contact with Canadians and Americans,” he says. “That connection continues to this day.

The people of Happy ValleyGoose Bay have always worked with Canadians and, at the same time, felt the provincial government viewed Labrador as nothing more than a northern dependency.” The provincial governments, says Rompkey, have never realized that the people of Labrador feel the region is the province’s poor sister — the same feeling many Newfoundlanders have toward Ottawa. “The relationships are really no different,” he says. “That’s why the people of Labrador are more supportive of Ottawa, because they know that most of the funding that has gone into the region has come from the federal government — for the Trans-Labrador Highway, airstrips, nursing stations, docks and aboriginal programs and services, not to mention the investment that has gone into the base at Goose Bay.” Rompkey contends the antiNewfoundland sentiment goes far beyond the provincial government’s capacity to meet Labrador’s needs. “It’s more a question of identity and cultural heritage,” he says. “We have two different histories.”

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NEWS

Page 9

Turbulent waters MHA who succeeded Efford says the MP shouldn’t be counted out By Jeff Ducharme The Independent

ort de Grave district Liberal MHA Roland Butler took up in 2001 where one of the province’s most untouchable politicians — John Efford — once reigned. But Efford’s moves in the political arena since being elected in the federal riding of Avalon have come under serious scrutiny and tarnished his once near spotless reputation. Butler, who worked as Efford’s executive assistant from 1989 to 2000, says the reputation of his former boss has suffered, but he says the talk is not as negative as some have portrayed. “As you know, John was a very popular individual,” Butler tells The Independent. “In my mind he’s still a popular individual, but I guess he’s going through some turbulent waters these days.” Efford won his riding by almost 10,000 votes in the June 2004 federal election. As minister of Natural Resources, Efford has found himself caught up in some of the most contentious issues ever to face the province — changes to the Atlantic Accord, custodial management of the fishery and same-sex marriage. Efford has consistently supported the federal government’s position to the chagrin of many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. He refused to support a private member’s motion for custodial

management (despite backing it when he was a backbencher), stands firmly behind Prime Minister Paul Martin’s position on negotiations over the accord and softened his stance on the issue of same-sex marriage. “I guess there’s a warning into

“In my mind he’s still a popular individual, but I guess he’s going through some turbulent waters these days.” — MHA Roland Butler it for each and everyone of us, we should do our research and make sure what we’re dealing with and what we’re saying before we open our mouths and say it,” Butler says. Even Efford has admitted that his stance on the accord and same-sex marriage has cost him support — even good friends. “In one day the life of a politician can go from one end to another,” says Butler. After Efford chose to vote against the custodial management motion, which received overwhelming support from MPs on both sides of the House of Commons, Butler sent his former political boss a letter expressing his dismay.

“I don’t think for a minute, by him not (voting for the motion) sent the wrong message … that belittled John’s concern for the fishermen in his district or anywhere else in the province.” But Butler does believe that Efford should have stood up “and toed the line” for fishermen. “And I let him know that.” Butler says he’s not trying to deflect the heat being directed at Efford, who he calls a strong constituency politician and a proud Newfoundlander. He also says that people shouldn’t start planning for Efford’s retirement party from politics just yet. Butler wouldn’t count out Efford even taking back his former provincial seat if he chose to return to provincial politics. “Regardless of how the people feel (about) John now, whether it’s the custodial management issue or whether it’s the Atlantic Accord issue or whether it’s the same-sex marriage issue, you have to keep in mind that John was a very popular politician and a very shrewd politician because he knew what had to be done to win.” As far as Efford’s future in federal politics goes, Butler contends that he may fall victim to a voter backlash, one that will be directed at the whole Liberal party in the next federal election and not just particular politicians. “Even if the accord is signed, I don’t know if that’s enough to save (the Liberal government).”

stronger FEBRUARY 13, 2005

Jim Williams

Paul Daly/The Independent

Taking turns More and more dads stay home to look after baby By Alisha Morrissey The Independent

Parental Claims

im Williams admits to being YEAR WOMEN MEN “frightened to death” at the 1999/00 2,050 60 thought of spending six 2000/01 2,000 90 months on paternity leave — at 2001/02 2,440 170 home and alone — with his newborn son. 2002/03 2,300 200 “My heart used to go up in my 2003/04 2,380 210 throat every time. You wouldn’t Source: Human Resources know, but you have a little piece and Skills Development Canada of glass (the baby) that you could break.” Williams tells The Independent that his friends laughed at him I was glad to pass him over,” he when he told them he was plan- says of his time with Ethan. ning on taking over daddy duties “Like everything else you had while his wife returned to her sea- your good days and bad days.” sonal secretarial position at the He says he was lucky the baby fish plant. was never sick and slept well. “They didn’t think I was going While he’s reminded by his fiancé to cut it.” that he had the easiest time with Williams, from Bay Bulls, the baby, he says the most he sufbrags about Ethan, his second fered was spending so much time child: how he had two teeth by the indoors. age of six months “I used to be and how he crawls home on a beautiful to the front door day and you “This is something sunny when his father could see the grass relatively new … comes home. wanted to be cut — “He hardly has and that was the where men and said mom since he hard part.” women can take was born really.” Williams says it Williams isn’t the time off to look after also wasn’t easy to only father to take find out informathe kids. Before advantage of patertion about taking it was like it was nity leave. In fact, time off and in 2003-2004 210 the woman’s job.” parental benefits fathers in Newavailable to him. — Jim Williams foundland and He says he’d Labrador took such only ever known leave — compared to 60 in 1999- one other man to take paternity 2000. leave and his supervisors didn’t One perk for Williams’ fiancé, know much about it either. Leeanne, is Williams’ newfound “This is something relatively respect for traditional female new … where men and women roles. can take time off to look after the “It gives you a whole new kids. Before it was like it was the respect for women, to be honest woman’s job.” about it, because you’ve got to Williams says he was compenhave pretty heavy duty nerves to sated well — with EI benefits and handle it all,” he says. “It’s not the coast guard topping up his easy to be at home with a child all benefits so they almost equaled day long, it’s nice to get a break.” his salary. Since returning to work with No matter the challenges, he the Canadian Coast Guard, when says, it was “the right thing to Williams gets home he immedi- do.” ately takes over with the children. “I thought it was a good way to, “After spending eight hours or how do you say, get to know your nine hours a day with him, when baby, and to be honest about it it’s my fiancé came home from work the best thing I ever done.”

Page 10

NEWS

The Shipping News

Saving Rocky Harbour from the next tsunami

I Paul Daly/The Independent

eeping an eye on the comings and goings of the ships in St. John’s harbour. Information provided by the coast guard traffic centre. MONDAY, JANUARY 3 Vessels arrived: Cicero, Canada, from Montreal; Irving Canada, Canada, from Saint John; Shoshin Maru #68, Canada, from sea. Vessels departed: Cicero, Canada, to Montreal. TUESDAY, JANUARY 4 Vessels arrived: ASL Sanderling, Canada, from Halifax; Cape Roger, Canada, from sea. Vessels departed: Maersk Placentia, Canada, to Hibernia; Atlantic Kingfisher, Canada, to Terra Nova; ASL Sanderling, Canada, to Corner Brook; Irving

Canada, Canada, to St. Pierre. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5 Vessels arrived: Ryoun Maru #25, Japan, from fishing. Vessels departed: funk Island Banker; Canada, to fishing; Cygnus, Canada, to sea; Shoshin Maru #68, Japan, to Fishing; Nain Banker, Canada, to Fishing; Maersk Chancellor, Canada, to Terra Nova. THURSDAY, JANUARY 6 No Report FRIDAY, JANUARY 7 Vessels arrived: None Vessels departed: Ryoun Maru #25, Japan, to sea; Genny & Doug, Canada, to sea; Atlantic Kingfisher, Canada, to Terra Nova.

History lesson Province’s students will look to past in bid to move forward By Jeff Ducharme The Independent

the dusty pages of history. “In that sense we’re asking students, school by school and comrade 8 students in New- munity by community, to engage foundland and Labrador in a conversation with the past and will be facing their past a conversation with their elders, when the 2005 school bells ring. the citizens who are alive in the The provincial government community that have so much to committed $1 million in 2000 to offer in terms of uncovering their develop a provincial history course own place.” for Grade 8 students. That course The province’s schools already has been under development since offer Newfoundland and Labrador then and is now ready to be intro- history, but the Grade 8 course duced across the province. will deal specifically with the 19th In 2001, the Ministerial Panel and 20th centuries. on Educational Delivery in the Smita Joshi, manager of curClassroom recomriculum with the mended that the Education Depart“Our hope is that course be directed ment, says there’s at Grade 8 students. been no shortage of we’ll be able to Eldred Barnes, people and groups develop a curricudirector of program coming forward lum here that will development with with ideas as to the Education what should be part … allow them to Department, says the course. construct a history of “Our the history course curriculum of their own famiisn’t a typical one. becomes richer by “Our hope is that the moment lies, of their own we’ll be able to because of the communities, develop a curricuinput we receive — Eldred Barnes lum here, or deliver from people like a curriculum at the Parks Canada or school level, that the provincial will not only give students a museum or even people like the knowledge of certain events and Newfoundland Rangers.” places and times in our history, but Barnes says the most exciting allow them to construct a history facet of the course is the fact that of their own families, of their own many people who were involved communities,” Barnes tells The in the history that will be studied Independent. in the classrooms are still alive. The main textbook is being “This course, while it can’t be developed by a group of local all things in one course, is intendscholars and historians and will be ed to provoke student interest and published by Breakwater Books. teacher interest and carry on the At the same time, Barnes says the study of their own history and their textbook will only be the “anchor” own culture so that they start to and he hopes the course will look at present events and present encourage students to go beyond issues in the context of history.”

The Independent, January 9, 2005

f an earthquake were to occur on the floor of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, how long would it take before a tsunami swamped Port aux Basques, Rocky Harbour, Port au Choix and dozens of other communities along this coast? An hour? Forty-five minutes? Fifteen? As horrible as it is to contemplate, a huge wave could sweep over hundreds of passengers waiting for the ferry in Port aux Basques or deluge scores of homes and fishing stages in Rocky Harbour. The chances may be remote, but it could happen. Just ask the survivors of the 1929 tsunami that struck the Burin Peninsula. Generated by an earthquake 250 miles south of Newfoundland on the Grand Banks, the tsunami killed 29 people and left 10,000 homeless. The financial losses, estimated in the millions of dollars, were devastating for an already poor nation that was entering the Great Depression. Following the earthquake, it took more than two hours for the 1929 tsunami to hit shore. If it happened today, there would be plenty of time to warn Newfoundlanders to get out of harm’s way — if we were living in the Pacific Ocean instead of the Atlantic. Tsunamis regularly swamp the coast of Japan, but that island nation suffers few casualties thanks to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii. Operated by the U.S. National Weather Service, the centre is part of an international system that can accurately predict when and where the giant waves will hit. The system has procedures in place to warn people when a tsunami is heading toward them. Again, tsunamis rarely occur in the Atlantic Ocean. They also rarely occur in the Indian Ocean, but it only has to happen once to have a horrendous impact. The recent Indian Ocean disaster left more than five million people homeless and 150,000 dead. You can probably see where I’m going with this. There should be a tsunami-warning system in place for the Atlantic Ocean. The government of Newfoundland and Labrador should work with the government of Canada to establish an international tsunami warning centre in the province. It is the right time and the right place. Now that the entire planet is aware of the threat, the political will could be mustered to establish an early warning system. Symbolically, considering we suffered through the last tsunami, Newfoundland would be the ideal location. And we could suffer again. Sir David King, Britain’s chief scientific advisor, said last week that if a volcano were to erupt on one of the Canary Islands, it could send a tsunami 10-

metres high crashing into Newfoundland. That’s the same height as the waves that claimed so many lives over Christmas. The possibility is remote; it may never happen. But that’s the same kind of thinking that put a tsunami warning system so low on the priority list of Indian Ocean nations. FRANK took hours for the waves to CARROLL hitIt some of those countries. Experts estimate that if a warning system had been in place, authorities would have been able to save 90 to 95 per cent of those who died. Do the math: that’s more than 142,000 people — too many of whom were children — who could have been saved. The benefits of an Atlantic tsunami warning centre in Newfoundland are obvious. For one thing, it could save lives. It could also raise the province’s profile in the scientific community. If you look at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre on the Internet, it isn’t exactly a huge complex. Its doubtful many jobs would come with it, but that shouldn’t be the main concern. The province and Canada should push for an international summit to establish an Atlantic tsunami warning system. Perhaps we could host it. Before that happens, our federal and provincial governments would have to start talking to each other again. Until that time comes, this issue — along with more immediate concerns such as the Atlantic Accord, health care and the fisheries — will have to wait. Which do you think has been a more destructive force in human history: tsunamis, or pride?

West Words

Frank Carroll is a journalism instructor at the Stephenville-campus of the College of the North Atlantic. frank_carroll_nf@yahoo.ca

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Newfoundland 1-877-513KIDS (5437) www.helpingkids.ca

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January 9, 2005

Page 11

‘A little intimidating at first’ Underwater football has been played for 20 years in St. John’s — if only more people knew about it

very Sunday evening, Roy Sandland and Don Earles pack up their flippers, masks, swimsuits — and a 10-pound rubber brick — and head to the Aquarena swimming pool in St. John’s. At precisely 8:45 p.m., they meet a handful of other men and women on the deck beside

the deep end. Teams are picked, newcomers are given instructions, and minutes later there’s a faceoff at the bottom of the pool, 16 feet below the surface. The weekly underwater football game has begun. For Sandland and Earles, this is the

way it’s been for years. “I’ve been pretty regular for at least 15 of the last 20 years,” Earles tells The Independent. “Most of us are still around … we have some new blood, we’re looking for more. “Most of the guys who play are late 30s, early 40s sort of thing, but that

Photos by Tasha Simms / Story by Stephanie Porter

doesn’t make us old and it certainly doesn’t make us out of shape.” And you’d have to be in shape to play. The Sunday night games are hour-long, full-contact events, requiring skill and comfort in the water. Continued on page 12

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‘You get a few scratches and scrawbs’ From page 11 Though intense at times, the game has little in common with regulation football — except, perhaps, for the tackling. The goal is to get the ball (i.e. the brick) to your team’s side of the pool. Sandland sums it up in three rules: if you’re carrying the brick, you’ve got to be below the surface of the water; you can only tackle someone who’s carrying the brick; and you’ve got to lay the brick on the side of the pool to score. There are other guidelines, designed to ensure the games are good clean fun: do not remove another player’s equipment; if you’re running out of air, let go of the brick and stop kicking; if you push off someone, push him towards the surface; if your mask does come off in a struggle, both players stop the play. Players communicate underwater by shouting or smacking a fist into the opposite hand. Sandland says there’s plenty of passing — the trick is, players have to look 360 degrees around to find an opening. As much as these players delight in their sport, word hasn’t really gotten around about it. In fact, according to the official underwater football website (www.underwaterfootball.com), the game is only played regularly in four places in Canada: Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary and St. John’s. “Winnipeg is kind of the hotbed for it,” says Earles, adding there’s a full-on underwater football league in that city with regular intramural games. A few players from there visited St. John’s a dozen years ago, giving local players a few tips and tricks of the game. Sandland says the game “evolved” from underwater hockey — similar, except the brick is pushed along the bottom of the pool using T-bone shaped sticks. “(Underwater football) came from Canada,” he says with a laugh. “A guy named Greg Harvey, he went out west one summer for a period of time, and brought the game down when he came home. “It’s a fun game but it’s hard to get people to play. We don’t lose many people once they’ve gotten into it … but they have to get into it.” “It’s a little intimidating at first,” agrees Earles, a registered nurse. “I think most people are not the most comfortable being tackled in the water … we certainly don’t try and drown anybody, but it can get a little bit rough on occasion.” Sandland says all the players are excellent swimmers, and most have a background in scuba diving — which helps, especially when it comes to swimming to any sort of depth. “I mean, none of us are jocks or anything like that,” he says. “We go for a game, have a beer afterwards, we’re those kind of athletes.” And injuries, both players are proud to report, are few and far between. “You get a few scratches and scrawbs, but the worst thing I’ve ever seen — and I can count the number of games I’ve missed on one hand — is a broken eardrum … one guy got a heel that just happened to hit him right there in the head.” But, within a few weeks, the injured party was back in the pool. Sandland invites anyone interested to come check out a game. “Come down, you won’t be attacked, you won’t be absconded, you won’t be forced to play,” he says. But, should a new player decide to give it a whirl, he suggests he or she play three times before deciding to take it or leave it. By then, he figures, the addiction should have kicked in. As Earles says, it’s a great way to get rid of some frustrations — and at the end of the day, no one worries about the score. “It’s more of a get up and go for a swim with the boys — and girls if they’re there — and get some exercise. We have the pool from nine until 10 p.m. and then we got for a beer, sit down and chew the fat, cool down after the game. “It’s been a lot of fun.”

The Independent, January 9, 2005

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Gallery

The Independent, January 9, 2005

Paul Dyer Photographer

aul Dyer has found an escape in photography. “It’s kind of a passion now of mine, I’m trying to mix that with school and find time for it,” the 21-year-old sociology student tells The Independent. “Sometimes it’s nice to get out and get a bit of fresh air and clear my head when I’m trying to write three or four papers. That really helps relax me.” He says the island’s scenery is an inspiration — though he’d taken it for granted until some Americans were looking at the pictures he’d shot. “I started thinking, you know, maybe I should go out and really experience it … “It’s the Newfoundland thing, being very proud of where you’re from and everything, and the absolute beauty of the place.” Dyer uses a digital camera for now, but says when he becomes more comfortable with his work, he’d like to learn to develop his own film and maybe even start a darkroom. Dyer says he took photos for a long

time without a clear purpose or focus on composition, but now he’s thinking about taking classes and is doing a lot of Internet research on photography. But don’t go looking for Dyer’s name in photography magazines just yet. While he won’t rule out a career involving photography, he prefers to keep the art a hobby. “If anyone wants to enjoy my pictures, that’s flattering and nice, but you know, I’m just doing it for myself — that’s about it.” During this year’s Targa Newfoundland, Dyer shot photos of the racing cars with the province’s coastline behind them. He showed around and since then people from around the world have requested copies. He says he’s thrilled so many people are interested in his work — but is a little worried about what those closest to him think. “People like, of course, my friends and family enjoy it, but I don’t know if they’re just saying that.” — Alisha Morrissey

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

The Independent, January 9, 2005

NEWS

Page 15

Be damned to raise the flag again

et’s pretend. Let’s pretend that a federal cabinet minister returns to his riding in Quebec. Let’s pretend there’s a big fuss going on between Quebec and Ottawa. It doesn’t really matter what the issue is — maybe it’s Quebec’s insistence on representing itself at international meetings as separate from Canada. No wait, they do that (and Ottawa doesn’t mind). Maybe it’s Quebec’s insistence on not allowing English — one of the two federal languages — anywhere. No wait, they do that too (and no one seems to care.) Well, anyway. Let’s pretend there was a fuss about something. The local media visits the home of a federal minister from Quebec and interviews him while he sits on his sofa. The minister goes on and on about how the premier of Quebec had better toe the line and stop all this Quebec-first nonsense. The federal minister says he has spoken to the prime minister and senior cabinet members who have instructed him to get right back to Quebec and tell them to smarten up and fly right — or else. This is a ridiculous scenario, whatever the issue. No matter what political personality you pick, no federal cabinet minister from Quebec in his right mind would threaten the premier of Quebec openly — on any issue. Ever. Why? Because the people of Quebec would not put up with it. But if you change the province to Newfoundland and Labrador and give the minister a name — John Efford — and an issue — Danny’s silly flag flap — you have this very scenario. Shouldn’t it be ridiculous? That Efford

felt comfortable talking the way he does to his fellow Newfoundlanders and Labradorians speaks volumes about the kind of political troubles we have in this province. Early last week I watched CBC Television’s Doug Letto dutifully interviewing Efford at his home in Bareneed. Efford said there would be nothing done on the file until the Canadian flags were raised again over provinIVAN cial buildings. Efford MORGAN seems to feel that Williams will just have to simmer down. Now I think the whole flag thing is silly, and I wouldn’t have had them removed, but I would be damned if I would raise them again if I was spoken to like that. Look’s like I can be just as childish as any premier. My loved ones don’t like it when I yell at the TV — but there I was, yelling at Doug Letto. “What about Quebec? They don’t fly the flag! Ask him about Quebec!” If I had to haul a camera crew out over a snowy highway for that little piece, I’d have asked Efford about Quebec. Let’s pretend some more. Let’s pretend, gentle reader, that you are in Efford’s place. The premier gets the prime minister in a head lock over a sweet nothing whispered in the heat of the moment. The prime minister’s people go into damage control. They contact you and in some way try and get you to “play ball.” What do they tell you? Do they tell you that as a minister of the Crown you have national responsibilities? Do they imply that you had better sell it “or else?” Is it the portfolio they dangle in front of you, or are you sent back here as a Team Liberal player? If so — where are all the other Liberals? I simply do not understand Efford’s thinking. I would have thought his role in all this

Rant & Reason

Jim Young/Reuters

Prime Minister Paul Martin waves as he drives past Isabelle Gareau, faced painted with the Quebec flag, during a St. Jean Baptiste parade in St. Lazare, Quebec.

would have been peacemaker/emissary. If it was me, I would have been shuttling back and forth between here and Ottawa trying to get everyone to calm down and get back to the table. But if I was forced to pick sides, I would know where my bread was buttered. The irony is almost too much. We are treated to the spectacle of Paul Martin’s Liberal party not wanting to give us too much money — about the same amount they spent trying to keep Quebec from separating. Did they think we’d forget? Does anyone remember the sponsorship scandal? We can’t keep our own money for schools and roads because the Liberals need it to piss away on their advertising buddies? If I had been crowned MP for Avalon I would have stepped lightly over this mess — not of my

making — and whistled happily on down the hallway. Instead, Efford seems to have put his foot right in it. For the life of me, I don’t know why. These heady times lead to intemperate remarks. We get the tedious spectacle of Newfoundland nationalists thumping their chests. We get folks making websites and growling typically empty threats. Some have cast aspersion on Efford’s sincerity and commitment to the province. I don’t think sensible local political observers question Efford’s character. But his political judgement lately makes me think maybe that snowy day in the Mount Pearl Glacier all those years ago was a lot closer, for all of us. Ivan Morgan can be reached at ivan.morgan@gmail.com

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The Independent, January 9, 2005

Letters to the Editor

‘We must fight back’ Dear editor, Is Newfoundland and Labrador’s relationship with Canada any different than an abusive relationship? Were we not wooed by Canada in 1948 and promised a better life, baby bonuses, oldage pensions, etc? But a few years after the marriage, the relationship changed drastically — it became outright abusive and offensive — from refusing to intervene and allow a transmission line through Quebec from Churchill Falls to New England, to utter and total mismanagement of our fishery, trading it to the benefit of central Canadian manufacturing trade deals, to national newspapers referring to us as the Newfie joke and now the false promises at election time of revenue from offshore oil and gas. Now Scott Reid, the prime minister’s deputy chief of staff, threatens us — we will pay if we do not obey! The statement was obviously endorsed by Prime Minister Paul Martin since Reid still retains his position. Newfoundland and Labrador has been beaten down long enough by Ottawa. We must fight back or leave this abusive situation now. Denying the abuse takes place is not the answer. Perhaps we should look to the star in the east, not the west, for the solution to our dilemma. That star to the east is Iceland, a small country with a population of a mere 300,000 souls, but they had the courage to leave their abusive partner (Denmark) in 1942 and today is a model of success, with zero unemployment, the highest literacy rate in the world and one of the highest standards of living in the world, and with much better social programs (EI, free education, better pensions) than

Canada has. There are some advantages to being a small nation ... ask them! There is an interesting story my father would tell about a St. John’s clerk who retired to a house he bought on the Southern Shore of the Avalon Peninsula. He decided that he was going to put in a vegetable garden and noticing that his neighbour had a horse, asked his neighbour if he could borrow this horse for a day to plough up some of his garden. The neighbour gladly agreed but added that the horse was an old girl and that if he hoped to get a day’s work out of her, he would have to treat her with “tender loving care.” The townie understood and walked the horse up the road to his house. He then hitched up the old hand plough, but the horse would not move. He then gave her a bucket of cold water and some fresh apples. Still the horse would not move. Then he gave her some fresh grass and brushed her down. Still she did not move. After two hours of this the townie became so frustrated that he walked the horse back down the road to the neighbour’s. The neighbour said “you got your work done quickly.” “No,” said the townie. “I got nothing done; I couldn’t get her to move.” “What,” said the neighbour, and he bent down and picked up a piece of two by four and started beating the horse around the head. The townie stopped him and said, “I thought you told me, I had to treat the horse with “tender loving care.” “That’s right,” said the neighbour, “but first you got to get her attention!” John Andrews St. John’s.

Paul Daly/The Independent

Premier Danny Williams

‘By no means an equal’ Dear Editor, The strong objections being raised by some towards Premier Danny Williams removing the Canadian flag from government buildings would make some sense if Newfoundland and Labrador shared the same affinity towards it as do other provinces in the federation. This, of course, is not the case. Newfoundland, neither constitutionally nor in any other way that is meaningful, is privy to the partnership that other provinces take for granted, and thus, wishful thinking notwithstanding, is by no means an equal. Considering the perversion of the democratic process that brought us into this union in the first instance, perhaps it is too much for us to expect better of it. The Canadian flag has little relevance in Newfoundland and Labrador other than as a reminder of the litany of injustices that we have suffered under its domain. To dismiss any notion that this union is one of mutual consent and shared benefit it is sufficient merely to mention Churchill Falls or the great fish resource we brought into Confederation and placed under the aegis of federal conservation and management.

The resources were mindlessly plundered for the benefit of others and with total disregard for the social, cultural and economic catastrophe wrought upon its victim — Newfoundland and Labrador. Paul Martin’s promise might have been a God-sent opportunity to redress some of those wrongs but instead it was the same old lies, deceit, betrayal, disrespect and dismissal that prevailed — reminding us once again of what our place is in this federation. The removal of the Canadian flag is not a disrespect to the flag per se, but rather a statement of its incongruity in our midst until such time as it is demonstrated that it deserves the right to fly here. That can only happen by a return to, and a revision of, the shamefully unjust dealings that brought it here in the first place. So, I say kudos to Premier Williams for having the guts to take it down. In my opinion, it should have

been done long before, on any one of those several occasions when our rights as a proud people of a proud old nation were treated with such utter disregard. In Newfoundland and Labrador the old Irish April Fool’s prank of “send the fool further” is well known. Maybe now that game is up, for it’s not just a matter of Martin playing Danny for a fool, it’s a matter of the feds having played us all for fools for far too long. Will 2005 see us finally getting out from beneath this thrall and standing up to demand the respect and the recognition that is not only our basic human right, but our due as citizens of this nation. It does not become us Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to be either the butt of jokes or beggars at our own table. Lloyd Rees, Conception Bay South

January 9, 2005

BUSINESS & COMMERCE

Page 17

Slaying the dragon youth of the province have “rejected” the processing sector and moved to the mainland in search of employment. “What we now have to decide is are we now structuring an industry to take care of the baby boomers for another five, 10, 15 years, however long it takes to flow them through the system?” The days of the fishing industry being a tool of social policy have to end, says O’Rielly. “… the public policy has been to generate more employment and the dilution of benefits so that everybody shares a little, that has been rejected by our people. That’s why you cannot entice people into the seafood processing industry.” For O’Rielly, taking the approach that the strong will survive and the industry will correct itself is a dangerous game. He calls it “death by default.” Centralizing plants, closing down certain plants and strengthening those that have strategic advantages — attractive to workers and employers because of transportation, port facilities, nearby hospitals, schools and community facilities — must be managed and approached with focus. “Unless you facilitate global competition, you’re not going to have anything that is globally competitive.”

How do fish plants in rural Newfoundland and Labrador compete against the Chinese, where labourers earn $2 a day? By Jeff Ducharme The Independent

he rise of the Chinese in the fish processing business has been blamed for the decline of fish plant operations in Newfoundland and Labrador. And, once removed from the political rhetoric, the numbers tend to prove it. China can process fish for approximately one third the cost of Canadian plants, according to a report by the Canadian Centre for Fisheries Innovation. China’s average yearly salary for labourers ranges between $600 and $1,300, compared to the $20,000 yearly salary for the average plant worker in this province. ‘CHINESE DRAGON’ Called the “Chinese dragon” by Alastair O’Rielly, the report’s author, Newfoundland and Labrador finds itself firmly in the dragon’s jaws. Fishery Products International has blamed the closing of the Harbour Breton plant and layoffs at the Fortune plant on competition from the Chinese. O’Rielly contends that industry, government, workers and unions have to come to grips with issues such as centralizing plants and carving out a niche in the American and European gourmet markets if the industry has any hope of slaying the dragon. “One thing that the Chinese are very good at is producing mainstream commodity products, high-volume material at low labour input costs and they do good quality,” O’Reilly tells The Independent. “So we can’t be successful at that. We just can’t be competitive at it.” O’Rielly says the province must look to high-end markets where people are willing to pay for premium product. He says total sales would drop, but profit margins would rise. Quality in Chinese plants was an issue, but the Chinese have apparently made great strides in improving plant standards. “We’re not really dealing with a Third World producer. It is a developing economy.” O’Reilly says people shouldn’t kid themselves when it comes to China. “They know as much about the

Plant workers at Woodman Sea Products in New Harbour, Trinity Bay.

United States Food and Drug Act, product quality and product safety requirements as anybody in Canada does,” he says. “And they have all the competency — technical, scientific — to meet those requirements.” China has excelled in the industry to the point where it produced one-third of the world’s supply of seafood in 2003. Also a major player in the aquaculture industry, it produces approximately 75 per cent of the world’s farmed fish. O’Reilly, using the tilapia fish that the Chinese have pioneered as an example, says China can process that fish at a cost of 70

cents per kilogram — compared to three times that amount in Canada. Since 1993, China has increased its imports of Canadian seafood by almost 2,000 per cent. Japan ships approximately 95 per cent of the crab it buys from Atlantic Canadian harvesters to China for extraction. In 2004, Japan bought more than 10,000 tonnes of Canadian snow crab and the bulk of that species was also exported to China to be processed and then sold in Japanese markets. Over the last two years China has claimed the crown as the world’s largest exporter of

Paul Daly/The Independent

seafood — $5.5 billion. Newfoundland and Labrador’s industry is worth less than one-fifth of that. “What we’re seeing is an absolutely phenomenal global shift in fortunes.” O’Rielly says China has a seemingly unending supply of skilled and enthusiastic labour. In this province, the processing industry is facing a serious labour shortage with a workforce that is rapidly reaching retirement age. By 2016, 75 per cent of all plant workers will be over 45 years of age. With uncertain employment and low wages, O’Rielly says the

CENTRALIZING ‘LUDICROUS’ O’Rielly says some call centralizing plants “ludicrous” because people living in rural Newfoundland will riot in the streets. “I’m of the view that people in rural Newfoundland are much more cognizant of this than most of us give them credit for,” says O’Reilly. “I think they are willing and they’re receptive to some sort of a plan and orderly structure and I think you’re better off doing that in public policy structure context than you are in an exclusively private sector.” There are 122 processing plants in the province employing 15,000 people from 500 communities. Calls for a government-funded early retirement program, says O’Reilly, could be part of an overall plan as long as it decreases the number of workers by an equal amount. “There is no plan. There is no strategy. There is no assessment of where we’re going. There’s lots of pandering and there’s lots of pontificating and posturing …” O’Rielly says some are suggesting that “there’s a plan but nobody wants to tell you what it is because it’s so frightening that people will not be willing to accept it. “If we’re going to continue to be what we have been or maintain any semblance of that, we better find a way to respond to challenges facing rural Newfoundland and we haven’t even begun to come to grips with it.”

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BUSINESS

The Independent, January 9, 2005

Lawyers are a dime a dozen, but what happens when there’s a complaint against one? By Alisha Morrissey The Independent

n total, 38 allegations of misconduct were laid against lawyers in the province in 2004, a figure that’s on average with recent years. Phyllis Weir, legal director of the Law Society of Newfoundland, the organization that governs the legal profession, tells The Independent the most common allegations against lawyers were from clients who allege their solicitor didn’t provide the quality of service they expected. “An allegation is, I suppose, if you were in the criminal context, you’d call it a charge. It’s something that gets investigated — not all allegations become complaints.” She says many of last year’s allegations — which must be submitted to the law society in writing before becoming an official complaint — are still in mediation, investigation or dismissal stages. As of year-end, four of the 38 allegations had been

referred to the discipline committee. There were two cases in which lawyers were reprimanded, the same number as in 2003. The process of making a complaint against a lawyer has no predetermined time frame and can lead to a range of penalties depending on the severity of the allegation. The first step a complainant must take is to write a letter to Weir and the vice-president of the law society. “If it constitutes an allegation of conduct deserving sanction, then an investigation or the mediation process is triggered,” Weir says. “One way or the other the investigations are done through the legal director.” An investigation is carried out through correspondence and, once complete, a report is made to the complaints authorization committee. The committee holds a lawyer’s conduct up to certain standards and if there are reasonable grounds to show the lawyer has engaged in misconduct and deserves a sanction, the

allegation becomes a complaint. “Then that committee … determines is this matter of such nature that it requires a full disciplinary hearing — if they believe so they refer it to the disciplinary committee for a hearing,” says Weir. “Just like … the criminal context, people are given their opportunity to appear and be heard when charged.” If the committee determines there’s no need for a hearing the lawyer will receive a warning letter. If there’s no need for action the committee dismisses the allegation outright. The sanctions brought against lawyers who are found guilty of misconduct range from a letter of caution and reprimands, to restrictions of practice and suspensions. In more severe cases the lawyer may be disbarred. Weir refuses to say whether sanctions are a common practice because, just like the courts, allegations are done on a case-by-case basis.

Supreme Court, St. John’s

Paul Daly/The Independent

More businesses to pay into workers’ comp By Jeff Ducharme The Independent

he Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission expects 90 per cent of employers to pay “the rate that they should” this year, compared to only 20 per cent in 2002. The number of employers paying into the compensation pot will increase to 13,007 this year — up from the 5,565 employers who paid into the system last year. The increase is attributed to the addition of small businesses to the system. Many changes have already come into effect under legislation that was passed in 2002. Those changes include companies with more than 10 employees who are required to have a trained health and safety representative on site and ensure that all workers under-

stand their role in health and safety issues. “The way the system works now, because of the changes we made back in 2002, everybody now carries their own weight,” says Ann Marie Hann, the commission’s CEO. “There was a concern, and it proved to be somewhat legitimate way back in 2001, when we first looked at this, because there was concern that the costs were not being fairly distributed.” The commission looked at the classifications of businesses and made changes to the way they were grouped in an effort to level the playing field. “We looked at every single account and we realized that some of the groupings were not appropriate and, in fact, some groups were paying more than they should and others were not paying as much as they should.”

The fees are based on every $100 of payroll and the likelihood of accidents in a given industry or business — manufacturing will pay more than a bed and breakfast. For instance, banks pay 53 cents per $100 of payroll, compared to saw mills that pay

“Basically, the bigger you are and the more accidents you have, the more you are going to pay us.” — Ann Marie Hann $14.93 per $100. The minimum assessment is $50. “Basically, the bigger you are and the more accidents you have, the more you are going to pay us.”

Some small business owners have voiced concerns that the rates will impact a profit margin that can, at times, be razor thin. “The reality is, if you’re a small home-based company, we’re not going to charge you very much in terms of assessments,” says Hann. Hann says the commission is just like having an insurance policy — when needed, it can be a lifesaver. “It doesn’t take much for the cost to add up in an accident. You have a slip and fall and you’re into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.” The goal of the commission is to reduce the average assessment to $2.75 per $100 of payroll by 2007. As of 2005, the average assessment will be $3.19. While not law, all employers are being asked to display an accident-reporting poster and inform employees where it is and

how to use it. Such action by employers could net them a five per cent reduction in their rates. They could receive an even further reduction if they meet certain targets set by the commission. “We’re going to give (employers) a target every year as to where we think their (accident) costs are going to be and if you beat the target, we’ll give you the difference,” says Hann. The commission is self-supporting and is funded by the fees employers pay. Hann says accident rates, which were on the rise before the new legislation was brought in, have dropped by almost 30 per cent. “Obviously, the best defense is a good offence,” says Hann “The first area we wanted to tackle was trying to prevent accidents from happening in the first place.”

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

January 9, 2005

Sukree Sukplang/Reuters

A Thai mother holding her daughter walks in front of her tent after she lost her house in the tsunami in Takuapa district, about 130 kilometres north of the Thai resort island of Phuket.

What happens next? Does our collective responsibility end when humanitarian workers go home, bodies are buried, and attention moves to the next gripping crisis NEW YORK By Stephen Handelman For The Independent

bout half the world’s six billion people are poor, and at least one-third have little or no access to fresh water supplies. In the aftermath of last month’s tsunami, those numbers are likely to increase. Of course, most of the victims in the path of the killer waves and flooding were already scraping along at the bottom of global statistics. They live in Africa and South Asia — regions where poverty, disease, corruption and failed infrastructure already combine to make lives hard and short.

NEW BURDENS But the disaster added two new burdens to people who have had more than their fair share of trouble. For millions, misery and insecurity have increased as they cope with staggering losses of homes, livelihoods and family members. But they must also cope with a second loss — the destruction of communities and networks on which they depended. And in the process the small but growing number of innovative social programs in those communities has been lost in the storm. That’s low right now in the list of aid priorities, which is partly understandable. The millions of dollars currently pledged by Western gov-

ernments are needed for emergency of a global natural disaster because it rescue efforts. But it may be years struck simultaneously in so many of before those key social programs — the world’s poorest countries. In the ranging from microcredit to agricul- process, it reveals the deeper needs of ture and civil service reform — will populations that were living on borrevive. rowed time to begin with. If they ever do. And it also offers in the It might seem superflunew year a chance for polous to mourn a small loan icymakers to reinvent and program established in a reexamine some of the tiny village bank, for premises of development instance, if the village has aid. disappeared. But it evokes Some of that re-thinking a question that ought to was already underway absorb our attention. before the disaster struck. When the humanitarian like the MillenSTEPHEN Inititatives workers go home, the bodnium Account, aimed at ies are buried, and our HANDELMAN conditioning aid to targeted attention moves to the next countries who can show gripping crisis, what happens next? progress in eliminating corruption, Do we have any further collective were a good start. responsibility, once we meet the most But it also requires placing compressing moral obligations of caring munity development, such as encourfor the wounded, finding them hous- aging local leadership programs and ing, food and water, and nursing entrepreneurial projects which give them back to health? the poorest a measure of control over Natural catastrophes always call setting their own priorities, at the out the best in us. Few people, heart of foreign assistance programs. regardless of their political leanings, That’s why one of the early prioriwill turn away from a cry for help — ties following humanitarian efforts and massive reconstruction efforts in the storm-damaged areas should are the most obvious and useful be to reconstitute many of the small response. village-based or regional programs But one reason disasters take such aimed at tackling economic and a heavy toll on the developing world social reform. They take many forms, is that the infrastructure to cope with obviously, but much of the post-disthem was missing in the first place. aster aid should be tied to commitThe tsunami of December 2004 ments from governments to establish may be our first modern experience relief programs where communities

set priorities — and not corrupt officials. “The root cause of poverty is social injustice and the bad government that abets it,” outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell writes in this month’s issue of Foreign Policy magazine. RADICAL IMPLICATIONS He’s right, but the implications of following up on that thought may be far more radical than the U.S. and other Western countries may be prepared to go. Tackling “social injustice” risks alienating powerful establishments in many countries, and getting at the roots of economic powerlessness in many Third World nations (by reducing our trade barriers or subsidies that hamper those nations’ access to the world marketplace) can cost us jobs. The December 2004 Indian Ocean catastrophe reminds us how slim the margin of survival already is in much of the world. If we can find a way to increase the odds of survival for the next time, it would be a fitting testament to those who died. Stephen Handelman is a columnist for TIME Canada based in New York. He can be reached at shandel@ix.netcom.com. His next column for The Independent will appear Jan. 23.

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INTERNATIONAL

The Independent, January 9, 2005

English for all St. John’s native Beverly Boone is one of the first English-speaking teachers to enter Seoul’s public school system Voice from Away Beverly Boone In Seoul, Korea By Stephanie Porter The Independent

everly Boone had never really travelled before she went to Korea to teach — and as first trips go, it’s been a resounding success. Boone went overseas in 1996, intending to stay a year. But, having met her husband and finding a series of jobs she enjoyed, she hasn’t been able to leave — yet. “I never intended to stay in Korea for eight years,” she tells The Independent. “Every year I would say it was my last, but this year I mean it. I intend to go home in July to stay.” The decision comes, even though she’s found her most rewarding job yet: Boone is involved in the first program ever in Seoul to place English speaking teachers into the regular elementary school system. Boone left her hometown of St. John’s after graduating with bachelor’s degrees in fine arts and education. She found herself with few employment prospects in the province, and, determined to teach, went where there were plenty of jobs. Little did she know at the time, but she arrived in Korea on exactly the same day as the man she would marry, a businessman from Nigeria. The two met early on in their first year in the new country, and tied the knot in

Brief

India considers aid BOMBAY, India Departing from India’s longheld stance of refusing outside aid, the finance minister says the government would consider international assistance for reconstruction of the tsunami-devastated south. Minister P. Chidambaram says India is fully capable of providing short-term emergency aid to its citizens but needs help with the more expensive reconstruction stage. “We believe we are a large enough country to provide relief to our country and we even have provided relief to Sri Lanka and the Maldives,” he says. “However, long-term rehabilitation and reconstruction require massive investments.” India has recorded nearly 10,000 deaths from the tsunami. Another 6,000 people are missing and presumed dead, mainly in the island territories. Indian relief efforts in those areas did not include assistance from foreign organizations. Several had asked for permission from New Delhi to go to the devastated island areas, but just a handful of exceptions were made, such as a UNICEF vaccination program in relief camps. International aid organizations such as Oxfam had criticized India’s go-it-alone aid operation, saying it would lead to more death and suffering. — Associated Press

Paul Daly/The Independent

South Korean children on their lunch break.

Nigeria in 2003. Boone’s first job was working at a private English language institute in Puchon, a small city outside Seoul. Moving through the ranks quickly, she became academic coordinator there after her first year. For six years, she helped develop curriculum and hire and train incoming teachers. Finally deciding she wanted a change, she moved to the capital city and took a position as a regular teacher. After another year, she landed her current job.

The program she works for operates in the Kangnam district of Seoul, the financial hub of the city and country. “The public school system is very much the same here as in Newfoundland,” Boone says. “The thing that is unique here is that there is a system of after-school academies that parents pay extra for … sometimes thousands of dollars a year. “The problem is that all families cannot afford the private academies for their children.”

That’s why the Kangnam government was eager to place English-speaking teachers within the public school system — so all children would have the opportunity to study the language during regular school hours. “The mayor is trying to reduce some of the costs of education for parents and to expose less privileged children to a better English education within the school system.” The program started last July, with five English-speaking teach-

ers in five elementary schools. It’s already expanded to 10 teachers and schools. There is more work yet to be done with the program. “At this point there isn’t a consistent curriculum for (English) teachers to use so we are all developing or own programs within the schools. “I teach a total of 800 students with 40 students in the classroom at a time. This makes it very difficult to conduct an English conversation class, which is the main objective.” Although Boone and her husband will “hopefully” move back to Newfoundland this year, she already knows she’ll miss Korea. “I consider this my second home. I love the culture, I really enjoy living in a foreign land. Being located in Korea has allowed me to have many opportunities to travel and see other countries.” When asked what she likes most about the culture, Boone pinpoints Korean food first. “Each meal offers a variety of tastes through a wide selection of side dishes,” she says. “I also love living in Seoul, the pace of the city is very energetic and the ex-pat community is unique. I have met many people from all over the world.” If she does indeed return to St. John’s, Boone will look for a teaching job and plans to get a start on her art career. She looks forward to a future exhibition of her prints and drawings. And has the couple ever thought about moving to Nigeria? “We have left that option open,” Boone says. “Who knows what the future may bring?”

LIFE &TIMES

January 9, 2005

Page 21

Paul Daly/The Independent

Mary Sexton

‘Humour has to be used’ Hatching, Matching and Dispatching airs this month on CBC. Will it be the hit Mary Sexton is looking for? By Stephanie Porter The Independent

ary Sexton’s got a lot riding on Jan. 17. That’s the day the Hatching, Matching and Dispatching pilot episode airs on CBC television. The one-hour comedy about the Furey family — owners of an all-in-one outport business offering wedding, funeral and ambulance services — was written by Mary Walsh, produced by Sexton and Walsh, and features some of the province’s, and country’s, top actors. If the show, filmed last year in Petty Harbour and Torbay, is well received, and the necessary funding — some $700,000 per episode — arranged, Sexton would co-produce 13 more episodes, to be filmed this summer. “With Mary Walsh at the helm, producing, writing, starring … I think it will have the audience appeal to secure the funding,” Sexton tells The Independent. “I think — I mean, it’s a bit unorthodox …” She refers to Hatching as a “hybrid”: part mockumentary, part sketch comedy. Scenes of the Furey family (and the rollicking cast of characters that surrounds them) at work at home, in the ambulance and in the graveyard, are interspersed with short interview-style segments. The humour is dark, the scenery beautiful, and the well-drawn characters fit together in a gloriously dysfunctional web. ‘The response from most people, my contemporaries, is they laugh until they

cry. But I’m not sure how my mother is going to react,” Sexton says with a laugh. “CBC is really behind it, but they’ve got three pilots this month … I’m really hoping.” Not that it’s the only project Sexton has going. In the film and television industry, as she points out, nothing is certain and you’ve got to have any number of projects simmering away on the back burners, so there’s always something ready to go as soon as all the elements — cast, crew, money — come together. Sexton, non-stop in conversation, ideas and work, seems to have an endless amount of projects and assignments in various stages of development. Dressed in flannel-lined jeans, hat and scarf, Sexton is about to catch a plane to “Winterpeg,” Manitoba, where she’s doing preproduction work for Canadian Idol 3. For the past two years, she’s produced the audition stages of the show in St. John’s, Halifax and Montreal. This year, she’ll be involved in every stop (Victoria, Saskatoon, Yellowknife, Sydney, Moncton …) except those in Ontario: “Basically I cast the show,” she says, adding she’s involved in “first- and second-tier” judging. Idol work will occupy most of her time until May, when the production gets underway in Toronto. She points out that the CTV-produced Idol has become Canada’s highest-rated show, with some 3.2 million viewers. CBC rarely pulls in more than 300,000, she says — all too aware of what this means for her own work.

“You know, I work on Canadian Idol so I can support my company to work on my own projects,” she says. Sexton currently employs five staff in the office of Rink Rat Productions in St. John’s. Over the course of the interview, she mentions more than a few of her other plans: Sergeant’s Son, a film written by Steve Cochrane; Accordion Voices, a feature documentary she’s working on with her husband, Nigel Markham; The Life and Times of John Crosbie, still in the very early stages; Bark Avenue, a “bit of fun … about getting back to your pedigree” that she’s writing and directing on her own time. ATLANTIC BLUE Then there’s Atlantic Blue, a $15 million feature film about the Ocean Ranger tragedy, which has been in the works for five years. “It’s really near and dear to my heart … I think it’s one of the great Canadian stories, I think because of it ,safety’s had to come up 10,000 notches, and people have been saved. “But it’s not as easy to raise the funds as we’d like. Unfortunately, I’m not independently wealthy.” Sexton started in the film and television industry about 15 years ago, and says she’s “getting there” in her career. “It’s an industry that you can be a onehit wonder in, you’re only as good as your last production,” she says. “I always thought I could just go ‘bang’ and get what I wanted, but it takes years of working to get something going. “And I think in a way I’ll always be

considered Tommy’s little sister, although I’m older than Tommy ever was now.” (The beloved actor, comedian and CODCO founder died in 1993 at age 36.) Tommy, a documentary and tribute to her brother, was Sexton’s one major directing project. Saying she finds the job of director “too daunting,” Sexton figures she’s better at raising funds and putting teams in place — two of her main jobs as producer. “And the producer certainly has a certain amount of creative input, it is your vision just as much as anyone else’s.” That’s exactly how she feels about Hatching, a project she obviously believes in, and has high hopes for. “I just hope that people will get to watch it, have a laugh, and phone CBC or e-mail CBC and say they’d like to see more,” Sexton says. Although the series has fun with events surrounding funerals, death, sickness, and weddings gone awry, Sexton thinks it works. “Just have a bit of fun with it. That’s all it’s meant for, it’s not meant to be disrespectful in any way, shape or form. “I found that when I lost people, like Tommy, like my father, it was always the stories that people told about them and the laughter we had during the wakes, that really touched me. Because you cried so much when they were dying that you didn’t think you’d ever be able to say their names without crying. Sometimes, humour has to be used, even in serious situations. “So we’ll see.”

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LIFE & TIMES

The Independent, January 9, 2005

Needle in a garbage stack Exchange program multiplies output sevenfold; former drug user relieved vice when the office is open. If the government did indeed implement the recommendations of the Oxycontin task force — in particular the one about funding the needle exchange — we could have staff work different hours,” Walsh says. “I don’t know why the government is so reluctant to put the money into the needle exchange.” Since the recent controversy over the misuse of Oxycontin by injection drug users, she says few people will admit to using the drug. Gosine says before he went to a treatment center in New Brunswick he was “at death’s door. “If you wake up — if you don’t have a fix you’re … in pain physically, mentally, your bones are aching, your muscles are aching, you’re vomiting, diarrhea — all the withdrawals that come with it and you just start out day after day, it’s a continuing cycle, because no matter how many drugs you have, it’ll run out, no matter how much money you have, it’s going to run out, and then you go from robbing stores to doing anything.”

Darryl Gosine

Paul Daly/The Independent

By Alisha Morrissey The Independent

arryl Gosine used to have grocery bags full of used needles to use when he couldn’t find a clean one. “I’m after using them and they’d be bent, clogged up and I’d light it with a lighter to try to unclog it, then try to bend up the needle to straighten it up,” he tells The Independent. “Sometimes you have enough — $50 to get your drugs — but you don’t have an extra $2 or $3 to get your needles, or you just ran out, or the drug store is closed or what have you. People use old needles, people share needles ’cause there’s not enough needles to go around. Everyone would like to have a fresh needle.” Once addicted to the prescription painkiller Oxycontin, Gosine says he knows many people who have contracted hepatitis C and other infections through shared needles. “Whoever owned it will use it (the needle) first and pass it on kind of thing,” he says. “And of course they’ll ask the person, ‘You don’t have nothing do you?’… but if the person never got checked they’ll say that they

don’t have nothing because they don’t know that they have anything.” Gosine himself contracted a severe infection in his leg after injecting with a used needle. He says he was lucky he caught it in time or he could have lost his leg. Gosine is glad to hear the province’s only needle exchange program has more than tripled its business. Throughout 2004, more than 1,234 clean needles were given out in the exchange program run by the AIDS Committee of Newfoundland and Labrador, located in downtown St. John’s. By contrast, only 170 needles were given out in 2003. PROGRAM AWARENESS Tree Walsh, co-ordinator of injection drug use programming with the AIDS committee, says there are more people these days facing the filing cabinet in her office that serves as the needle exchange. “I’d like to see a steady stream actually because of the level of use that I’m hearing about from the people that do come in, it (injection drug abuse) is growing remarkably,” Walsh tells The Independent. She says people often comment that by

providing needles free of charge the AIDS committee is actually encouraging injection drug use. “We come from a really pragmatic approach. People are injecting drugs, they are going to continue to inject drugs and what we want to do is prevent or reduce the risk of them getting a life-threatening condition … to help them stay as healthy as they can and also to reduce harm from the community.” She says she’s heard horror stories about discarded needles, severe infections and risky behavior. “There was a woman in here, not even an hour ago, and she said, ‘God, I wish I could get off.’ She’s addicted to opiates … there’s not an option for her in St. John’s.” Walsh says the number of people using the exchange is up because of awareness of the program and active outreach programs. “Some days we could put a revolving door there and it wouldn’t matter. Some days nobody comes in.” The reason the numbers aren’t even higher, she says, is because the program is only accessible during business hours — 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday. “As it stands, we can only offer the ser-

MAKING A LIFE Gosine got addicted to Oxycontin after a car accident. He says he was prescribed all kinds of drugs and nothing dulled his pain until a friend gave him a few pills. “I slept great — no pain — it just went from there. After a while your tolerance goes up so then my intake of the drug went up, and the money, the amount of money that I spent on the drugs kept going up, it just kept increasing and increasing.” Walsh says her clients are all ages and come from all walks of life. She even sees health care professionals — all injecting drugs to maintain control in their lives. “Frankly, it’s irrelevant to me (what kind of drug they are using), what I talk to them about is doing it safely.” In 2003, there were 11 new cases of HIV in the province. In 2004, there were seven. Gosine is now 12 months clean — without any illnesses from using shared needles — and volunteering with others who have ventured down the road of drug abuse. He hopes to enter the field of social work so he can continue helping others. “I went up there (New Brunswick) and there was actually heroine addicts … and they were working there and had good jobs, good lives, nice families, nice houses and nice cars and they made a life out of it. I really looked up to them because before I left St. John’s I didn’t know anyone who went down and came back,” says Gosine. “The littlest things please me now, like before I wasn’t content with anything, now it’s just the littlest things that really get me going. Its strange how it turns around that way.”

Events JANUARY 9 • Tsunami relief benefit concert. Barry Canning, Cantus Vocum, the Palmer Sisters, Les Ms. and more raise their voices to help victims of the recent disaster in southeast Asia. Gower Street United Church, St. John’s, 8 p.m. All gate receipts go directly to the Red Cross. • Piano trio concert featuring Jennie Press on violin, Jonathan Korth on piano and Heather Tuach on cello. MUN music school recital hall; 8 p.m. Tickets $15, $10 student/senior. • Open mike hosted by Blair Harvey, Fat Cat Blues Bar 10:30 p.m. JANUARY 10 • Open mike with Jim Bellows, Fat Cat Blues Bar, 10:30 p.m. • Writer’s Alliance monthly reading featuring Sara Tilley and Agnes Walsh, LSPU Hall Gallery, Victoria Street, St. John’s, 8 p.m.

JANUARY 11 • Books For Babies volunteer meeting for individuals interested in helping organize the C.C. Loughlin School library in Corner Brook. Meet 10:30 a.m. at the library, 634-4888. JANUARY 12 • Chekov Longs … in the Ravine presented by Artistic Fraud and performed by Theatre SmithGilmore, LSPU Hall, St. John’s, 8 p.m. Show continues until Jan. 15. (Saturday matinee 2 p.m.), 7534531 • Rising Tide’s Revue ’04 St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre. Continues until Jan. 16. • Scott Goudie and friends play The Basement, Baird’s Cove, St. John’s. • Folk night featuring The Forgotten Bouzouki, Ship Pub, Solomon’s Lane, St. John’s.

JANUARY 14 • Video Screening featuring The Gospel Spoken by Paddy Barry; Ugly Telling Lies by Colleen Power, The Good Goodbye by Lizband, Sore from Wintersleep, more. Ship Pub, St. John’s, 8:30 p.m. • Cherie Pyne, Faster Miles Per Hour, The Firewires, TrailerCamp, The Black Bags, Ship Pub, 10 p.m. • Wayne Hynes at The Basement, Baird’s Cove, St. John’s. • Canadian jazz pianist Michael Kaeshammer at the Grand FallsWindsor Arts and Culture Centre, 8 p.m., 292-4520. JANUARY 15 • An evening for Asia, a benefit for Oxfam Canada featuring Michael Crummey, Alison Pick, Agnes Walsh, The Atlantic String Quartet, Fergus O’Byrne & Fergus Brown-O’Byrne, The Mahers

Bahers, Dzolali Drum & Dance Ensemble, Majestic Theatre, St. John’s, 7:30 p.m. • Rock Can Roll Records daylong conference including discussions on the state of the music scene in the province and a question and answer session with Ian MacKaye. Masonic Temple, Cathedral Street, St. John’s. Free. • Video screening featuring: Oh Heart New video from Jill Barber, Rock School for Girls by g.i.r.l., new video by Moral Less Right, an excerpt from Newfoundland Aquarelles Can’t Stop Loving You, new video by Brian Borcherdt. Ship Pub, St. John’s, 8 p.m. • Jody Richardson, The Coast Guard, The Lizband, Kuroda, Ship Pub, St. John’s, 10 p.m. • Roundelay, The Rockford Peaches, Moral Less Right, Commoname, the New Junctions, St. John’s, 11 p.m. • Winter Photography Courses

at The Studio, Water Street, St. John’s, begin Jan. 15: the digital camera workshop, basic 35mm photography, intermediate photography, introduction to the darkroom, 739-0346. • Applications for the Molson provincial senior basketball championships due today. Event will be held in St. John’s-Mount Pearl March 11-13. Visit www.nlba.nf.ca or call 576-0247. IN THE GALLERIES • Spirit, the annual members’ exhibition, RCA Gallery, LSPU Hall, St. John’s. • In Sequence II, annual Christmas show, Leyton Gallery of Fine Art, Baird’s Cove, St. John’s. • The French Fishery, black and white photography by Anita Conti of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, provincial museum, Duckworth Street, St. John’s. Runs until Jan. 15.

The Independent, January 9, 2005

LIFE & TIMES

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Fetish objects I

n 1991 St. John’s artist Bill Rose painted a Canadian flag — actually a set of stacked Canadian flags — entitled The First Casualty. Rose approached this canvas in his characteristic way: first by mapping an elaborate grid of squares and then by filling in each of these with oil, patiently and one at a time, until the completed image became at once a large (24 inches by 30 inches) and easily identifiable image of stacked Canadian flags and a series of two-inch squares, each contributing to the greater image, like perfectly even pieces of a jigsaw puz-

Standing Room Only NOREEN GOLFMAN zle. The title of this painting, as with almost all of Rose’s work, is actually stencilled directly in the bottom half of the canvas. The effect of Rose’s stencilled titles is almost always subversive. The First Casualty, conceived as it is by a Newfoundlander, raises provocative questions about patriotism, history, and the province’s

relationship to the larger nation. The old adage is that (in times of war) truth is the first casualty. Is Rose saying that Canada, for which his stacked flags stand, is a nation of lies and liars? That the symbol of the country is inherently a lie because it masks the falsehoods and dirty politics that inform nationhood? Does every symbol of every nation mark the casualty of truth? Is patriotism an essentially hollow gesture? What we like about art (as opposed to politics) is the way it thrives on ambiguity, opening us up to more questions than we could ever hope or even want to answer. It makes us think and question, not merely react. Perhaps the really subversive quality to Rose’s painting is that it is, indeed, about the flag of Canada, the traditional symbol of a nation of peacekeepers, draft dodgers, socialized medicine, and now same-sex marriages and the virtual decriminalization of pot. A widely recognized symbol of a peaceful nation is expertly painted, titled and framed as The First Casualty; it challenges us to question, among other things already noted, Canada’s benign international reputation. As anyone who follows the history of modern art knows, Rose openly borrowed his inspiration from American artist Jasper Johns, whose 1958 work Three Flags is actually a series of three separate canvases of Old Glory stacked on top of each other in decreasing size. Johns painted a lot of American flags in the ’50s, in the chilly climate of the Cold War, stealing a hugely sacred icon and making it his own, thereby challenging the public to ask what the limits of art (and patriotism) could be. His work was at first labeled dissident and disrespectful but it soon became a major marker of American modernism, a sign of both the creative and democratic impulse at work in his culture. The tour de force of Rose’s Canadian version, so to speak, is that it captures the three-dimensionality of Johns’ piece in one flat frame. Among other tensions inspired by Rose’s painting is that between the two dimensional reality of the canvas and the illusion of

movement and layering created by the play of shadows, the depth of colour, and the precise manipulation of the grid. You know you are looking at a flat surface but the illusion of three-dimensionality is amazingly powerful. It’s the great trick of art. In the late ’90s Bill Rose started painting a series of Newfoundland flags. One of these gorgeous canvases hangs proudly in my entranceway. It is a stunning rectangle of colour and irony, a celebration and a critique, captured in glorious red, white, blue and yellow against a solid black background.

Flags are, indeed, fetish objects, if not exactly sexualized ones. They are, however, powerful symbolic reminders of something else — something larger than their mere painted cloth … To defile a flag, to stomp all over it, to burn or lower it in protest instills intense emotional reactions. The flag is randomly folded in over itself, freed from its pole and allowed to float freely in an invisible dark wind of space, a familiar iconic object drained of its sacramental power but given new life as a comic work of art. Stencilled in the left hand corner of the canvas is the phrase Fall Out. Like First Casualty, the title provokes a series of questions about the image. Are we experiencing the fall-out of having joined Confederation, which this flag surely signifies? Does patriotism, which the flag of Newfoundland produces, in turn generate a fall-out? What exactly is falling out? The ambiguity of the painting

haunts my hallway with a charged and lively presence. Anyone who sees it laughs at its joke, admires its technique, its realism, its irreverence. A similar Newfoundland flag painting of Rose’s is titled Fetish, ironically enough purchased by the Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador before I could put my money down for it. Even more pointedly than Fall Out, its title mocks the power flags possess, that provinces claim they have, and that we confer on them. Flags are, indeed, fetish objects, if not exactly sexualized ones. They are, however, powerful symbolic reminders of something else — something larger than their mere painted cloth. We imbue them with a kind of primitive and abstract power. To defile a flag, to stomp all over it, to burn or lower it in protest instills intense emotional reactions. This should not be surprising. Flags replaced earlier totemic objects of worship. They have always been, whether as rising poles of masks, stars and stripes, or tricolours, symbols of a group. Today we salute them. Earlier we prayed to them. Once they were religious totems; today they are social totems. Did Premier Williams have any idea what he was doing when he ordered the lowering of the Canadian flag across this province? Could he have even remotely anticipated the fall-out of his actions? His decidedly unambiguous gesture, so artless and petulant, so bold and astonishing, has at once inspired intense solidarity with his public actions and given much offense, within and beyond Newfoundland’s borders. Unlike art, this political action has created more division and produced more fatuous opinion than all the Maple Leaves in Canada. Give me liberty or give me art. I wonder what Bill Rose is stencilling now?

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LIFE & TIMES

The Independent, January 9, 2005

So long Wilfred Grenfell

Or maybe not. MUN’s west coast campus grapples with possible name change CORNER BROOK By Connie Boland For The Independent

ir Wilfred Grenfell College is looking for a new name. The degree-granting institution wants a handle that better reflects its true character. Before any change is made, however, the committee tasked with renaming the college is asking the general public, college alumni, faculty and staff for input on an appropriate name for the Corner Brook campus of Memorial University, which opened in 1975. People have sent in a variety of ideas, Eric Mintz, professor and chair of the renaming committee, tells The Independent. “Just about everyone agrees the word college should be changed to university, but there are different ways they suggest this should be done. Some people want to keep the name Grenfell while others want us to be known in terms of our geographic location,” he says. “We have received a few different suggestions, but generally it comes down to the question of how important is it to retain the name Grenfell, and in what way should Memorial University be recognized as part of the name?” Almost 30 years ago, the college opened as the Western Coast Regional College of Memorial University of Newfoundland. In 1979, it adopted its current name, honouring the renowned Grenfell, who arrived from England in 1892 to find northern Newfoundlanders living in poverty. Grenfell built hospitals, nursing stations and schools, eventually becoming one of the province’s

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most influential people. “We started out as an institution that just involved transfer programs for students who wanted to get their first or second year of education locally before they went on to St. John’s,” Mintz says. “Since then, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College has matured into a fullfledged undergraduate university.” The name change — which has been approved in principle by Memorial president Axel Meisen and has been in the works for a couple of years — will reflect the

INDEPENDENT CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Variety of apple 5 Hindu god 9 Sudan’s neighbour 13 Assemblage of beauties 17 Like unbleached cotton 18 Of the ear 19 Hindu spring festival 20 Corrida cries 21 One of the 5 W’s 22 Quebec comedian: Yvon ___ 24 Chest sound 25 Like some whiskey 27 U.S. military corps 28 Lenard Whiting or Ben Heppner 29 Old, euphemistically 31 Army insects 32 Giant N. Zealand bird, once 33 Hole maker 36 Faucet 37 Looking solemn or wise 41 Of great importance 45 Maritime wildflower 47 Little white ___ 48 Anger 49 Painter Harris (Group of Seven) 51 Negatives 52 Fiddlehead, e.g. 53 River transport 55 Typeface feature 57 Cockpit face 59 First-born 61 Wedding fabric 63 Arctic explorer John

college’s growth. The institution currently offers 12 degree granting programs with several other degree programs in various stages of development. TREMENDOUS COUP In November 2004 the institution obtained a research chair in environmental economics, a tremendous coup for the relatively small campus. The so-called Tier 2 chair, tenable for five years and renewable once, is for exceptional emerging

researchers, acknowledged by their peers as having the potential to lead in their field. A Tier 2 chair means $100,000 a year for five years. In recent years, the college has seen a steady increase in enrollment. Over 1,300 students registered for the fall 2004 semester. That number is expected to reach 1,400 in 2005. The college is also a focal point for Corner Brook and surrounding communities, offering community education and wellness programs

as well as part-time and evening classes. Mintz points out that a name accurately reflecting the college’s university status would be a bonus for recruiters working to entice out-of-province students and faculty to Corner Brook. “According to our recruitment people, some students who are not familiar with us do not realize that we are actually a university,” he says. “That may be hampering our recruitment efforts.” Students coming to Corner Brook from other provinces contribute to the college’s growth as well as the local economy. Six years ago, fewer than 20 national and international students attended classes at Grenfell. In 2004, the number reached 138, with students from Belize, Mexico, Nigeria, the Far East, the United States and Atlantic Canada. Early indications are that the number could rise again this year. “The notion that we are a university makes us more attractive to students and professors interested in coming here,” Mintz says. The committee on renaming the college will host two forums this month, at least one of which will be open to the public. Dates and times have not yet been announced. “We don’t have a fixed idea of what the new name should be,” Mintz says. “Once we hold those forums, our committee will examine the pros and cons of different suggestions and make a recommendation to the college’s governing body. They will make a recommendation to the Board of Regents which ultimately will make the decision.”

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Franklin’s long-lost ship 67 Osiris’s wife 69 Former Yugoslav 71 Studio fixture 72 Magnetic ___, N.B. 75 Golden ___ (dog) 77 Gilded metal 79 Era 80 Employ 81 Stomach malady 83 Committed 85 ___-eyed 87 Ump’s cousin 89 Hosiery 90 Some 91 Not a 93 Yukon National Park 97 Roo’s mom 100 Clumsy oaf 103 Author Marion (193385) 104 Stratford’s river 105 Obligatory (2 wds.) 107 A Broadfoot 108 Spanish boy 109 Togs 110 Roman fiddler 111 The Iliad, e.g. 112 Yemeni port 113 Prune 114 Delighted 115 Repose DOWN 1 U.N. envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa: Stephen ___ 2 Pale brownish yellow 3 ___ drain 4 Exterior

5 Turf 6 News piece 7 Passport endorsement 8 Capital of Ghana 9 Pop singer Kreviazuk 10 Plain and simple 11 Swiss range 12 Not: prefix 13 Of the North 14 Distinctive flair 15 Brigitte’s bike 16 Belgian river 23 SoupÁon 26 Like polled cattle 28 Sunshine Sketches of a Little ___ (Leacock) 30 Singer MacNeil 32 Quebec river with aquatic reserve 34 Highs and ___ 35 Seduces 38 Where epidemics killed 5200 Irish immigrants (19th c.): Grosse-___, Que. 39 Knight’s title 40 Female lobster 41 Rodents 42 Spoken 43 Give a darn 44 Glacial ridge 46 Silkworm’s cocoon 50 Explosive, briefly 52 Pup’s parasite 54 Eye in Aix 56 Norwegian inlet 58 Illustrator of 100+ Maclean’s covers 60 Canadian hat maker 62 Blabs, when doubled

64 Little terror 65 Hankering 66 Sow 68 French bag 70 Commotion 72 ___ and kiss 73 Equal: prefix 74 Thing to break or shake 76 Conductor Mario 78 Use the tongue

81 Arm bone 82 Art showing life as it is 84 Apart (lit.) 86 Impressionist AndréPhilippe ___ 88 Prince-to-be? 92 Youthful 94 Visibly astonished 95 Saint Kitts and ___ (W. Indies) 96 Send to City Hall

97 Japanese script 98 Ardent 99 Not one 100 Francine’s fear 101 Fall (over) 102 Nimbus 105 Old pesticide 106 Senate officer: Black __

January 9, 2005

SPORTS

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Easy Ryder Easy to coach that is; Bonavista’s Daniel Ryder making name for himself in Ontario Hockey League By Darcy MacRae For The Independent

and Bonavista (where he spent Christmas). He enters the Petes’ locker room with aniel Ryder is doing his best to the politeness and mannerly disposition endear Newfoundlanders and of an athlete who doesn’t take his place Labradorians to mainland Canaon the team for granted — despite the dians. fact he’s one of the team’s best players. The 17-year-old has made quite an Before games and practices, he prepares impression on the people of Peterborwithout saying much to anybody, all the ough since travelling to the southern while sporting the smile of a kid who Ontario town in 2003 to play for the loves the game. major junior hockey club there. “He’s a quiet kid who always has a big Not only has Ryder become one of the smile on his face,” Todd says. “He’s an team’s top players in a short period of easy kid to coach.” time, he’s also demonstrated many of the When it’s time to take to the ice, Ryder qualities that make people from this is all business. In the attacking zone, he province so popular across the country. uses his quick release to catch opposing “He’s an excellent kid who is a pleagoalies by surprise and takes advantage sure to work with,” Peterborough Petes of soft hands by sending tape-to-tape head coach Dick Todd tells The Indepasses to teammates in the clear. pendent. Once the puck enters the Petes’ end of Ryder, a Bonavista native, is one of the the rink, Ryder is once again in the thick Petes’ top players — of things, using his both offensively and strong, 5’11, 190defensively. He’s averpound frame to bounce “Many times when I aging more than a opponents off the puck point per game after and clear his zone. start out with young racking up 52 points Considering his players, the biggest part in 63 games as a rookstrengths, it’s little of the learning process ie last season. The fact wonder Ryder is a that his offensive pro- is defensive zone awareness. leader on Peterborduction has increased ough’s power play and But Daniel already this season speaks volpenalty killing units. possesses that aspect of umes about his game “Daniel is an excepthe game, which is why since he’s skating tionally talented young against top lines on a boy. He’s a good he’s leading the team regular basis — after skater and has a good in plus/minus.” competing against understanding of the third- and fourth-line game,” Todd says. — Coach Dick Todd players as a rookie. “Many times when I “He’s a 17-year-old start out with young player who on many players, the biggest nights is matched up against 19 and 20part of the learning process is defensive year-olds who are a lot more experizone awareness. But Daniel already posenced,” Todd says. sesses that aspect of the game, which is Skating against players two or three why he’s leading the team in years older doesn’t bother Ryder, nor plus/minus.” does the pressure of knowing hockey While the coach says Ryder will grow scouts are watching his every move. into one of the top scorers in the Ontario Ryder is eligible for this year’s NHL Hockey League (Ryder has three more entry draft, and is expected to go in the years of eligibility in the league), the top three rounds. That’s if there is a draft. Bonavista native prefers to set more It’s been speculated the draft may be modest goals. delayed until a new collective agreement “I just want to improve every year,” he is signed between owners and players. says. “I want to become a better player The possibility is not one Ryder is each season.” even remotely worried about. As far as As good as Ryder has performed since he’s concerned, there’s nothing he can do entering major junior hockey at the age about it. He’s enjoying life as a major of 16, he knows there will be bumps junior hockey player. along the road to the NHL. He’s also “I don’t look at it that way. I don’t put aware that should he need advice, he pressure on myself,” he says. “All I won’t have far to go. know is that the draft is supposed to be Older brother Michael just happens to in Ottawa this year.” be one of hockey’s rising stars, judging While Ryder carries the weight of by his outstanding rookie season with the responsibility and expectation, he’s still Montreal Canadiens last year. a regular 17-year-old. He enjoys listening Michael Ryder was an eighth round to the music of Green Day and hanging draft pick of the Canadiens in 1998 and out with friends, both in Peterborough went through both the East Coast Hock-

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ey League and American Hockey League before finally making it to the NHL last season. His experiences undoubtedly made him a better player and could eventually help his younger brother reach the top. “Michael had to fight to get where he is, so he always says to keep working hard and things will work out for you,” Daniel says of his brother. With the Ontario Hockey League’s season now past the midway point, Ryder has a few things to look forward to. His team currently occupies first place in its division and is gearing up for a playoff run. Ryder is also expected to be chosen for the annual Canadian Hockey League Top Prospects Game in Vancouver on Jan. 19 — a contest that features the top 40 ranked major junior

players in Canada going head to head in front of representatives of all 30 NHL teams. Ryder’s coach believes that by the time that game is over, Ryder may be a house hold name for hockey fans who aren’t yet familiar with the young Newfoundlander’s abilities. “He was on the Canadian Under-18 team (which won gold at the 2004 Junior World Cup in Breclav, Czech Republic last summer), so that would identify him as one of the top 20 players in the country in that age group. I think in the future he’ll be a candidate for the national junior team,” Todd says. “His brother plays in the NHL and I suspect Daniel will someday as well.” Darcy_8888@hotmail.com

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SPORTS

The Independent, January 9, 2005

Fog lifts on Devils’ coach Bonavista, Burin and Trinity-Conception. The Frost won the provincial championship in his first year and has been a top contender every season since. BOB Crocker is quick to credit the rest of the Frost staff: coach Ian WHITE Moores, manager Tom Snow and trainer Mark Reynolds. They have orey Crocker never certainly helped, as have the numthought he’d enjoy coach- ber of talented players that have ing hockey as much as come through the system. playing the game. After a stand“We run the team just like a out career in the Conception Bay major junior team,” says Crocker, North minor system, under the who draws on his experience in tutelage of Dick Power (a legend Kingston and Peterborough, “both in these parts), the Harbour Grace on ice and off ice.” native left for the mainland to Many former Frost players have play junior hockey. gone on to higher levels of hockCrocker started as a 15-year- ey. Jason Churchill and Adam old with the Kingston Voyageurs, Pardy were selected in the 2004 a Tier II team where he was guid- NHL entry draft. Others, like ed by Jim Hulton, who just picked Daniel Ryder, will hear their up a gold medal as an assistant names called in future drafts. coach of the 2005 world champi- More still have gone on to sucon Canadian junior team. Hulton cessful careers in major junior on now coaches the Kingston Fron- the mainland, or other junior tenacs of the Ontario Hockey leagues and college hockey. League. Those kind of results bring a After developing his game in smile to his face, but for Crocker, Kingston, Crocker went on to there’s more to consider. make a name for himself in the “There’s so much more to OHL with the Peterborough Petes, hockey than the product on the winning the league title and reach- ice,” he says. “It’s very rewarding ing the Canadian Hockey to make an impact on these guys’ League’s Memorial Cup final as a lives, from helping them learn rookie in 1996. Dave MacQueen how to control their egos to giving was on the bench for the Petes, them an understanding of how to and Crocker rates him as one of contribute to a team’s success.” the best coaches he’s ever had. Most players who play at the After finishing up with the AAA midget level have dreams of Petes, he played for a while with moving up the ladder to major the University of Prince Edward junior or college and, beyond that, Island Panthers. professional hockey. At one time, Along the way, from his pee Crocker had those same dreams, wee days under and while he is still a Power on through, fabulous player with Crocker admits he “We run the team the Cee Bees in the was a student of the just like a major Avalon East senior game. He remem(he won a junior team, both league bers writing down Herder champidrills that he was put on ice and off ice.” onship with the Flathrough as a player — Corey Crocker trock Flyers a few and taking every years back and is opportunity to pick one of the league’s the brains of his mentors. At 26, top snipers), he’s quite happy with the attention to detail has already helping others reach their hockey paid off for Crocker, who’s now goals. one of the province’s top coaches. He’s done just that with the He’s in his fourth year at the Frost, and wouldn’t it be fitting to helm of the Tri-Pen Frost, an see him do the same with the Fog AAA midget team that takes play- Devils — this province’s entry in ers from three peninsulas — the Quebec Major Junior Hockey

Bob the Bayman

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Corey Crocker

more than 10, 20 or 30 years his age, but Crocker remains optimistic in his chances. The Fog Devils will certainly contribute to the development of our hockey players, both for those who eventually play for the team and for those who aspire to. The

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League? I know there are many talented coaches out there who are no doubt interested in joining the Fog Devils’ staff, but I can’t think of many who have Crocker’s credentials. He’s played major junior, and did so under the tutelage of many great coaches. He’s coached and won at AAA midget, a step under the major junior. He’s even coached a national championship team, a provincial under-19 ball hockey team he steered with fellow Harbour Gracian Ian Moores two years ago in Toronto. On top of all that, for the past five years he’s been the head scout in charge of Atlantic Canada for the Petes. He has an eye for talent and understands what it takes to develop it. He’s got the necessary qualifications, and while he’s young, he has significant experience and the ambition to be successful. “It’s a dream of mine to coach at the major junior level,” Crocker says. Most coaches are older, often

same should apply for coaches. All Crocker needs is an opportunity, and in my mind, he’s earned his shot. Bobby White writes from Carbonear. whitebobby@yahoo.com

The Independent, January 9, 2005

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