VOL. 3 ISSUE 4
ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR
SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, JANUARY 23-29, 2005
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Sailed through the cracks Investigation of Ryan’s Commander sinking elevated to second-highest level LIFE & TIMES
Noreen Golfman praises Mary Walsh’s new show Page 23
SPORTS
Derm Dobbin on lease of Mile One and devil details Page 25
By Jeff Ducharme The Independent
T
he Transportation Safety Board has elevated its investigation into the sinking of the Ryan’s Commander to Class 2, meaning recommendations to improve safety are imminent. A Class 1 investigation, the most serious, calls for a public inquiry — a move that wasn’t taken even after the Swiss Air disaster. Almost five months to the day after the Ryan’s Commander capsized and sunk off Cape Bonavista, taking the lives of David Ryan, 46, and Joseph Ryan, 47, their sister Johanna Ryan Guy says she now knows that it was the design of the vessel that took the lives of her brothers. “What happens in order for it to be a Class 2 is that the findings and the recommendations that will be made because of this is far reaching,” Ryan Guy tells The Independent in an exclusive interview. “It’s farther reaching than just Newfoundland. It would affect Canada and possibly other areas as well.”
Ryan Guy was informed of the move by the safety board Jan. 21. The safety board website describes a Class 2 investigation as one having a “high probability of advancing Canadian transportation safety in that there is significant potential for reducing the risk to persons, property, or the environment.” Safety board spokesman John Cottreau confirmed for The Independent that the investigation has been elevated, but he says that doesn’t necessarily mean that factors such as human error or weather have been ruled out. “It’s all about making recommendations,” says Cottreau. “Everything is still on the table, nothing has been ruled out.” Fishermen have long questioned the design of snub-nose vessels such as the Ryan’s Commander. Ryan Guy has been an outspoken critic of the snub-nose design and federal government regulations since the tragic sinking. “You can give things the benefit of the doubt, but not when safety is Continued on page 2 See related story on page 2
Johanna Ryan Guy’s two brothers died on the Ryan’s Commander. The Transportation Safety Board has elevated the investigation into the sinking to Class 2.
BUSINESS
John Dyson reflects on ghost of lower Churchill Page 16
Paul Daly/The Independent
‘Cudgelled with stereotypes’ Rex Murphy says Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are fighting for cultural survival; response to Globe and Mail columnist proves it By Stephanie Porter The Independent
INTERNATIONAL
UN’s corporate culture and oil-for-food program
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ex Murphy has already had his go at the nownotorious column by Globe and Mail writer Margaret Wente — on Canada Now, on The National, and in his very own, pointed Globe piece. Wente’s work was just that, a column, he says. “I’ve been writing and saying stuff for a long time,” he adds
— and columns are there to be responded to by all, no matter if the criticism comes from a colleague paid by the same employer. “Obviously, I’ve said what I think about the column as such … I certainly haven’t been shy about it,” Murphy tells The Independent. He knows he’s not the only one — there have been thousands of letters written in reaction to Wente’s words. “There’s been a really good back and forth on this.
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There are a lot of Newfoundlanders, and not just people like me in so-called journalism, have had a go at this thing.” And while “it’s never nice to be cudgelled with stereotypes,” as Wente’s piece did (she referred to this province as a “vast and scenic welfare ghetto,” among other things), Murphy takes pride in the fiery responses from his home province. He believes the reaction is a testament to the character of today’s Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, their connection to the province — and an acute awareness that “their situation is pretty fragile.” SHARP IN TONGUE AND WIT Murphy, a regular commentator on CBC-TV’s The National, as well as host of CBC Radio’s Cross Country Checkup, is currently based in Toronto, and has been for a while. But he’s a Newfoundlander through and through, born in Freshwater, Placentia Bay, sharp in tongue and wit. He’s politically observant and has an ability to speak to all Canadians — but never leaves his home province out of the picture, or out of context. And while his on-screen personality has a certain sly distance, in person Murphy is disarming, pleasant, and curious. He’s back in St. John’s this weekend, to host the Hands of Hope benefit concert for victims of the Dec. 26 tsunami at Mile One Stadium. He visits regularly, he says, and will one day move back to stay. In the meantime, he stays in touch with his Newfoundland contacts, attuned to what’s going on back home, both in politics and on the streets.
Quote Week OF THE
“If I was (U.S.) secretary of Energy, I’d be on your doorstep.” — John Dyson, former head of the Power Authority of the State of New York on development of lower Churchill.
Rex Murphy
Paul Daly/The Independent
Continued on page 21
Make-work millions By Alisha Morrissey The Independent
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etween ACOA and the provincial government, $34.25 million was spent last year in Newfoundland and Labrador creating work for thousands of seasonal employees trying to qualify for Employment Insurance (EI) benefits. The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency paid out $30 million in a socalled Short-Term Adjustment Initiative in an attempt to help “cod-affected workers” obtain enough insurable hours to qualify for EI. “This is not something that we normally do,” Doug Burgess, spokesman for ACOA, tells The Independent. He says 1,800 people were employed at 187 projects in communities around the province. Most of the projects are now complete. Burgess says most of the projects were centred around municipal infrastructure, tourism and cultural enhancement, and environmental clean-ups. One community that benefited from ACOA funding for tourism enhancement was Burnt Islands on the island’s west coast. Sheila King, economic development officer for Burnt Islands, says the ACOA-funded project helped fishermen and the community. “The projects that we’ve done have been related to the cod fishery where the plant workers and the fisherpersons needed enough work to qualify for EI,”
Province and ACOA spent more than $34 million last year on EI projects she says. With a $230,000 ACOA grant, the town rebuilt a garage to house the fire department and built floating docks and marginal wharves. By working on the project, those who hadn’t qualified for EI were able to get benefits they needed while helping to prepare for Burnt Islands’ come-home year. Many of the projects funded by the province’s $4.25 million make-work pot were similar to those funded by ACOA. Municipal Affairs Minister Jack Byrne says 450 projects employed 1,800 seasonal workers — similar to 2003 numbers. “The need is certainly out there in Newfoundland, particularly in rural Newfoundland, to continue with this jobcreation program,” says Byrne, adding the province is trying to change the socalled Job Creation Program so communities can apply earlier, work can last longer and have a more meaningful impact. Continued on page 2
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NEWS
The Independent, January 23, 2005
Transport Canada report questions fishing vessel technology By Jeff Ducharme The Independent
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n 1990, the Straits Pride II sank off Newfoundland taking the lives of three crewmembers. Investigators from the Transport Safety Board concluded the ship capsized because one of the paravanes had broken and caused the ship to list to one side. The list caused the Straits Pride II to take on water and it eventually capsized. Transport Canada was so concerned over the sinking, a study was launched into the use of paravanes and released in 1995. “They (fishermen) are all worried about losing one,” says Donald Bass, who teaches naval architecture at Memorial University. Paravanes — referred to by fishermen as “fish,” hang from metal booms that are attached to a vessel’s mast. Paravanes glide through the water and help decrease the rolling motion of the ship. Bass was part of the team that investigated the use of paravanes and the sinking of the Straits Pride
II. After hearing concerns about paravanes, Bass went looking for a better way to stabilize vessels at sea and invented roll-stabilization tanks. The tanks move water from side to side to counteract and lessen a vessel’s roll. The technol-
ogy that Bass invented is now the industry standard. “What these (paravanes) tend to do is they tend to reduce your motion, which really means to increase your comfort level,” says Bass. “So they are primarily there
— not to stop you capsizing— but just to increase your comfort level and to, in fact, stop accidents.” Bass says more people are injured or die during onboard accidents, such as being thrown overboard or being struck by gear, because a vessel rolls too much. “You have to weigh the advantages of making life livable with the dangers that come with it,” says Bass. According to the Transport Canada report into paravanes, “there is a misconception among operators regarding the effect of paravanes — it must be stressed to fishermen that although commonly referred to as ‘stabilizers,’ paravanes do not improve the stability of a vessel and may in fact diminish it.” The report goes on to say that “roll damping mechanisms” may only “mask an inherent stability problem.” The 64-11s, as the inshore fishing vessels are called, have often been referred to as unstable by fishermen because federal regula-
‘Give people pride in what they do’
‘How long does it take’ From page 1 in doubt,” says Ryan Guy. “And I think that’s what happened here in numerous areas, including the design, including the stability ruling …” Government regulations limit the length of such vessels to under 65 feet, meaning owners and designers are forced to build vessels that can, in certain conditions, become top-heavy. The federal regulations that limit the length of the inshore vessels to less than 65 feet created a class of vessels called 6411s because they come in just under the mandated length. Mid-shore vessels are 65-100 feet. Anything over that length is considered offshore. The Ryan’s Commander was built by Universal Marine of Triton. Transport Canada conducted the inaugural inspection of the vessel in 2004. Fishing vessels such as the Ryan’s Commander are inspected every four years by the agency. Ryan Guy says the Ryan’s Commander wasn’t subject to incline tests that would have determined stability because a smaller “sister ship” had already been tested. But changes to the design of her brothers’ vessel made it unstable, she says. The vessel had an extra deck, a wheelhouse that was aft and, unlike the sister vessel, had no concrete ballast. “There’s no way that these rules should be so vague that a 65-footer just sailed right through the cracks,” says Ryan Guy “It’s unheard of. It should never be.” The federal government has been reviewing its vessel safety regulations and hearings are ongoing. The Atlantic Fisheries Policy Framework is designed to address regulations that some contend may have been overtaken by technology. “My question is how long does it take? How long is it going to take and how many more lives are going to be at risk?” asks Ryan Guy. A 2000 Canadian Coast Guard report called into question the design of the 6411 vessels and chastised federal bureaucracy because “most issues affecting vessel safety have not been sustained by the appropriate authorities,” the report read.
tions limit the length to less than 65 feet and force ship designers to build outwards and upwards. The result is often a top-heavy, box-like boat. “I think they’re missing the fact that it’s not based on what it looks like — it just looks top heavy,” says Bass, though he does say that many of the 64-11s are subject to greater pitching (front to back) motion. Bass points to cruise ships as a prime example of looks being deceiving. Towering cruise ships may look top heavy, but because much of the ship is under water, they are far more stable than they appear. Paravanes are attached to booms that jut out from each side of the vessel and are connected to the top of the mast, which tends to raise the centre of gravity and add to the accumulation of ice. Both of these factors can spell tragedy for fishermen in a vessel that the report says has stability that is “only marginal to begin with.”
From page 1 “Rather than just having it as an ad hoc situation, we would do it in more of a planned fashion,” Byrne says. “We will be asking the organizations to come forward with plans … they will then use this money to leverage out more funds from the federal government hopefully through some of the programs that they have.” He says eventually the infrastructure would create more positions and the make-work programs could phase themselves out — replaced by full-time or seasonal work that was not there before. “Before we would have phased it out, the money that we would have spent would have created either long-term, permanent positions or seasonal positions each year where you wouldn’t need to have these programs. “Somewhere down the road we’d like to see that — to phase that money out — where you wouldn’t have to have job creation programs each year and what jobs you would be creating in the meantime would be more inclined to give people pride in what they do rather than just a job-creation program.”
For the record
Jim Wellman/The Navigator
“Consequently, the issues keep revolving and the problems refuse to disappear. “Every time I come to the waterfront,” says Ryan Guy. “I get that same gutwrenching feeling that I’m saying to myself ‘Which of these boats are going to be next and something is definitely going to happen.’” She says her brothers had concerns over the stability of the vessel, especially when it was unloaded — as it was the night of
the disaster. “There was a lot of people that have sailed on that ship for various reasons and she seemed to be the cat’s ass.” If all vessels were required to be tested for roll, says Ryan Guy, the potential for disaster may be lessened. “Every boat owner out there right now should know how far out their boat can go before she’s not going to come back, and that’s the big issue.”
A Jan. 9 story carried in The Independent reported that Supreme Court Judge Robert Fowler was being touted as a potential candidate to replace Labrador MP Lawrence O’Brien. Fowler tells The Independent he “likes his life” and has no intention of seeking the nomination.
Correction In the “Suing for a smoke” story in the Jan. 9 issue of The Independent, it was reported that stores rang up $10 million in annual sales. It should have read $10 million in taxes.
The Independent, January 23, 2005
NEWS
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Paul Daly/The Independent
Wallace Ryan
Graffiti graduate The FREE NFLD. slogan first appeared on a fence around Confederation Building’s west block. Today, it’s everywhere. pushed myself and a bunch of others into the camp of … alternatives shall we say.” As an art student studying in Toronto, fter over 20 years of guilt, Wallace Ryan is finally ready to Ryan would return home for the sumpublicly admit he broke the law. mer holidays and work in his Dad’s “When they were building the new grocery store. There was a printing Confederation Building — the extension press in the back for advertisements and to it — they had a huge fence that went flyers and he seized the opportunity to down around that whole property and I reel off 1,000 posters, which he then graffitied the slogan FREE NFLD.,” he distributed around the local area. Every April Fool’s Day and on other tells The Independent. The St. John’s graphic artist gives a special anniversaries, Ryan says he’d mock sheepish grin and shrugs, know- bust them out again, wrapping the logo ing full well that with the huge com- around telegraph poles. He says they mercial popularity of his slogan since, never lasted long because people would people have probably already put two peel them off to keep. and two together. Five years ago Ryan was The FREE NFLD. logo asked by Dave Hopley, can be found all over the “I said to him, owner of Living Planet — a province, and as a result of T‘Oh this’ll sell.’” Newfoundland-themed the flag flap, has even shirt store on Duckworth Wallace Ryan Street in downtown St. appeared recently in the national press, causing sales John’s — to design some of merchandise to sky rocket. drawings for his merchanIt’s a cheeky statement of dissatisfaction dise. Hopley encouraged Ryan to come over Newfoundland and Labrador’s up with any of his own suggestions and place in Canada, and at the time of the the graphic artist immediately thought graffiti incident, provoked a stir of inter- of FREE NFLD. est. “I said to him, ‘Oh this’ll sell.’” “It was inspired of a political event,” Although sales were slow at first, says Ryan, “after negotiations on the they gradually increased, and after one Constitution … it was actually the lack of the members in Great Big Sea wore of Senate reform which was what a FREE NFLD. T-shirt in a music video, By Clare-Marie Gosse The Independent
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demand went through the roof. “It was the month after the Great Big Sea video,” says Ryan, who receives royalties on sales. “Dave had called me and said, ‘Come down, I’ve got a cheque for you,’ and I was expecting a $100 cheque, and it was a $400 cheque.” Since then, items of clothing from tiny thongs to wooly hats bear the slogan, and are sold in other stores besides Living Planet. Five months ago, public requests also caused Ryan to launch a FREE LABRADOR version of the original. Today, FREE NFLD. sales are through the roof again, thanks to Newfoundland and Labrador’s current popularity in mainland media over the Atlantic Accord negotiations and subsequent controversies. Ryan says the Living Planet website address was visible beside the logo, which was illustrated recently in a Globe and Mail article, spurring interest for the merchandise from ex-patriots living on the mainland.
He adds somebody even sent Globe and Mail columnist Margaret Wente a T-shirt, (Wente achieved infamy after a recent rant slamming Newfoundland and Labrador). So how does Ryan feel about local political issues these days? “To be quite honest, I’m not as positive as some people. I don’t believe that in the end we will get what we need to exist as a decent province … I think the only way that Newfoundlanders can survive is as an independent nation.” Despite the fact this would mean his popular logo would become defunct, Ryan remains resolute. He grins. “It’ll be like, FREE NFLD.: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.”
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NEWS
The Independent, January 23, 2005
An independent voice for Newfoundland & Labrador
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Blame game
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O
ur relations with Ottawa are in for further strain in the coming weeks when Danny Williams guts the public service and the rap is pinned on the federal government. The layoffs are bound to happen under Program Renewal, an odd name for a project designed — not to breathe life into the public service like a delicate spring flower — but to search and destroy the aging sloth that is Newfoundland and Labrador bureaucracy. But then Program Renewal has a much better ring than Civil Service Anniliation Mission or Government Job Extermination Exercise. (What do columnists know about public relations?) In the end, Ottawa is sure to get the blame. Newfoundland and Labrador is flat broke and whose fault is that — big bad Ottawa’s, of course. While it’s only right to point the finger of blame at the federal government for so much of what ails us, Williams will have to be careful not to go over the top. Ottawa has given the province the short end of the stick on so many files — fisheries management, federal jobs, the Atlantic Accord, etc. Sticking with the Accord’s injustices for a moment, the Come by Chance Oil Refinery processes more than 105,000 barrels of oil a day — not a drop of which comes from the Grand
Banks. In fact, practically none of the more than 440 million barrels of oil pumped to date from the Hibernia and Terra Nova oil fields has been processed at Come by Chance. The refinery there can only handle sour crude — the heavy, dirty stuff. The oil that’s pumped from our offshore (correction, Ottawa’s offshore, refer to the Supreme Court of Canada’s 1984 decision) is a pure, sweet crude, too rich for Come by Chance’s machinery to swallow. It’s been said that the dregs of the world’s oil are processed at Come by Chance. Fair enough, but then why not build a second refinery in the province, one to handle the sweet stuff? Turns out the Accord has a provision that prevents construction of a second refinery in the province until existing capacity in eastern Canada is at maximum capacity — an amount decided on by the federal government. According to provincial government figures, 50.3 per cent of the oil from the Grand Banks is processed at refineries in the Maritimes, Ontario and Quebec. How’s that for a contribution to Canada?
Try and tally how much that oil represents in terms of direct refinery jobs and spin-offs and stick it in your cost-benefit analysis. Screwed again, we could say, but then Newfoundland and Labrador was stunned enough to sign the Accord in the first place. Too often we’re the authors of our own misfortune. Too often the political survival of leaders in this province hinges — not on doing what’s right, or in the long-term best interests of this place — but on keeping their constituents content. Margaret Wente, who represents all that’s wrong with central Canada’s attitude towards us, had a point in her infamous rant. “No one is better at this blame game than the Newfs, egged on by generations of politicians. The only way to get elected there is to pledge to stop the terrible atrocities of Ottawa (i.e. not sending enough money). If you should make the error of suggesting that people might have to become more selfsufficient, your political career is dead.” Too many politicians here have taken the easy way out, which is why there’s a rotting fish plant in every nook and cranny of this place, and a make-work project to
RYAN CLEARY
count on every fall. Last year alone more than $34 million was spent between ACOA and the provincial government on make-work projects. Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are an easy-going people, easy enough to pacify that is. But the generation that came to rely on such handouts is getting up in age; when they’re gone there will be no one to replace them. They didn’t want the same life for their sons and daughters, who didn’t want it either and moved away. The weeks leading up to the next provincial budget will be hard ones in Newfoundland and Labrador. Tough decisions will be made that will affect hundreds of families across the province. The strength of Williams’ leadership is sure to be tested over the next few months as he attempts to streamline the ship of state. Will he stand up and defend his actions, or redirect the entire fury across the Gulf? In her column, Wente wrote that Williams can do no wrong. “These days,” she wrote, “he’s more popular than God.” No Margaret, Williams is but a man, a Newfoundlander, but a man nonetheless. Pray no one believes otherwise. Ryan Cleary is managing editor of The Independent. ryan.cleary@theindependent.ca
Letters to the Editor
‘Canadian beaver in heat’ Dear editor, Seems I’ve had a vision. And it runs like this … John Efford, who’s on political resuscitation, arrives, like Moses, at the top of the stairs in Torbay airport. He’s dressed in a cuddly, fuzzy beaver suit, with a beaver hat and attached tail (like Davy Crockett used to wear in ’coon skin). With wild eyes and fanatic loyalty to Martin, he looks every inch the Canadian beaver in heat. Anyway, the place is filled with
51 per cent of 77 year olds who voted for Confederation. Scott Reid, chief weasel of the PMO’s office, is there, leading the Shearstown Liberal band, and Roger Grimes and the rest of the boys are there rolling out the red carpet for the little man in the vision. Efford is carrying a stone tablet in each arm: one says Atlantic; the other says accord. He pauses dramatically before making his descent into the crowd and gives
all hell for worshipping what he calls “false Goads” in his absence, namely Danny Williams. Efford concludes his momentary diatribe and forgives them all before descending in his beaver suit like Moses from the mountain with his tablets of stone, to the tumultuous reception of the press led by Geoff Sterling and NTV. That is my vision. I would give anything to be a cartoonist. Can’t you just see it, ghosts of Joey, and
Shaheen and all the others. Just think, why else would the weasels in Ottawa be delaying this decision on the accord, if not to make John look good and Danny look like he never existed? Talk about getting credit for bringing home the bacon! They owe John big time for his treachery in Newfoundland and Labrador. Dave Murphy, Topsail
The Independent, January 23, 2005
NEWS
Letters to the Editor
Balance sheet ‘daunting task’ Dear editor, I would like to compliment Roy MacGregor and The Globe and Mail on taking a sensible approach to investigating Newfoundland and Labrador’s contributions to Ottawa, and vice versa. Compiling this balance sheet is a daunting task,but I think MacGregor has proven that Newfoundland and Labrador has brought a lot more to the Canadian table than the Margaret Wentes of the world would like to think. In this whole debate, I don’t think I have ever heard anyone mention the amount of federal money, the tax dollars of Canadians from coast to coast to coast that go directly into the province of Ontario through the
vast array of federal buildings, infrastructure and federal jobs. Ottawa itself would cease to exist without these investments. I am not complaining, it is our nation’s capital; it is understandable to an extent. Canadians, however, should not be so hypocritical and decry the money that Ontario must contribute to equalization, when their economy is largely based on the machinery of the federal government. In Newfoundland and Labrador, we recently lost the weather centre in Gander, just one of the small number of federal offices we have that are closing at a rapid pace. Karla Edwards, Marystown
‘Ugly side of Canadian contempt’ Dear editor, Since I have returned to Newfoundland and Labrador from the mainland, I have noticed strained relations between Canada and Premier Danny Williams. I applaud our premier for removing the flag (It was raised again, Jan. 10, at all provincial government buildings) because I know the mean-spirited country we joined. I saw the ugly side of Canadian contempt for Newfoundland and Labrador during my 10 years on the mainland. I have painfully learned that Canadians do not care about our issues and our future because I’ve encountered obscene Newfie jokes, and nasty comments on why Newfoundland and Labrador is a burden on their country. Canadians have told me they resent their taxes funding equalization for Newfoundland and Labrador and their hostility towards us is real. Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who
never lived on the mainland do not realize their resentment towards us. Those who criticize our premier for removing the Canadian flag should live among these Canadians and discover the truth for themselves before passing political judgment. Everyone in Newfoundland and Labrador must honestly evaluate the damages Canada has done to our future since 1949. Then ask if the Maple Leaf deserves honour among our people. To me, the Canadian flag symbolizes a country that was cruel to Newfoundland and Labrador when it dismantled our fishery, plundered our oil, guaranteed Quebec a windfall from the Churchill Falls project, committed cultural genocide in rural communities, and then broke its promise to our premier on the Atlantic Accord. Helen Webster-Bonnell, St. John’s
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Yanking Jerome Kennedy’s chain not the answer
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awyer Jerome Kennedy is in trouble And if three went off the road … for saying publicly it is regrettable With the greatest of respect to the chief that judges are to be excluded from justice (and with less respect to the lawyers’ the Lamer Inquiry into the wrongful con- union) — yanking Kennedy’s chain is not viction of three men. He says some of the the answer. judges involved might not have been as Newfoundland and Labrador is still a competent as hoped. place where you dare not say certain things. The chief justice of the In my father’s day, to province has taken issue speak out against Joe Rant & Smallwood was to earn with those remarks and has complained to the law and exile. Reason unemployment society, which has instiWhen I was young, one gated a disciplinary heardidn’t speak out against IVAN ing. The chief justice certain priests or Christian MORGAN Brothers. claims Kennedy’s remarks could bring the No one spoke up. Look judiciary into disrepute. where that got us. OK. Here it is again — in English. And yet we still have traces of this stuJerome flew off the handle because it’s pid, counter-productive, deferential silence. quite obvious to anyone with a brain and a Three men were convicted of serious Grade 6 education that crimes they did not comthere is something dreadmit. Hello? fully wrong with the justice And it is not just the Am I being too system here in our little criminal justice system flippant? Ask province/nation/fiefdom. where there’s a problem. Gregory Parsons Three men went to jail for The Crown has lost civil crimes they didn’t commit. if he didn’t feel like lawsuit after civil lawsuit So Jerome is totally over the years — to the he was just along ticked and rants in public tune of millions of taxpayabout the whole mess. The for the ride. He sure ers’ dollars — and there as hell wasn’t chief justice hears about hasn’t been a departmental those remarks, and feeling shake up. driving the bus. honour bound to speak up But you better not say for his colleagues, writes a anything. You and I, gentle letter to the lawyers’ union telling them to reader, aren’t allowed. I have had more than yank Kennedy’s chain. How do they react? one conversation about certain doctors in If the chief justice says there is a problem, this province who write hundreds of prethen there is a problem. scriptions for painkillers. But you can’t say So they’re having an inquiry. I’m guess- anything publicly; can’t even publicly quesing that Jerome will show up and push the tion why people line up outside these docenvelope just a little — but not too much — tors’ doors each morning 10 and 20 deep. and then, because he’s not stupid, say he’s At least the doctors’ union stands up for its sorry. own. The lawyers’ union has turned on one The lawyers’ union will then rap his of its own so fast it makes your head spin. knuckles. Inquiry? If Jerome was a NAPE member And we will all still have a big problem. they’d give him a plaque. Makes you wonWhy? Because there is an old maxim that der why any of them pay dues. Oh, yeah, I claims it is not enough that justice be done forgot. They have to. — justice must be seen to be done. Not The chief justice is quite right to defend questioning the people who presided over his colleagues on the bench. That’s his job. the fiasco doesn’t make it look like justice But Kennedy is bang on to speak up. I don’t is being done. think his comments are causing any more If a bus went off the road, would we tell pain in this painful situation. On the conthe driver to go home out of it? Would we trary, they are healing in their frankness and grill the passengers instead? No we would honesty. OK, so maybe he isn’t going to be not. Poor buggers, they were just along for short-listed for the diplomatic corps. He the ride. still makes a good point. Am I being too flippant? Ask Gregory Why the hell isn’t everyone involved in Parsons if he didn’t feel like he was just this totally outrageous meltdown of the along for the ride. He sure as hell wasn’t justice system being investigated? Is not the driving the bus. system already in considerable disrepute? I’m not insinuating that all bus drivers In a word: yes. And muzzling Jerome are incompetent. I am suggesting that a bus Kennedy is not the answer. It’s more of the driver has every expectation that he might goddamn problem. have to be part of the inquiry after the crash of his bus. Why? Because he was driving Ivan Morgan can be reached at the bus! ivan.morgan@gmail.com
Letters to the Editor
‘Right there in the mind’ Dear editor, Enjoyed your two-part series on Geoff Stirling, human extrordinaire! Reincarnation? I wouldn’t put it past him. I was asleep one morning when the telephone rang at 5 a.m. It was from Geoff in Arizona. He had just finished listening to my Sharecropper Trio CD Natural OneRoom School that I had sent him. He asked me if there was anything he could do? I was so surprised I just said, “Well, no, just enjoy it and if there is another Newfoundlander down there let him hear it too.” He said he could do better than that and that NTV would be in touch. He then began to tell me how music really did promote
Newfoundland and Labrador and how he felt strongly about it. Within a month, our One-room school song, 60-second vignette was produced and ran two to three times a day for 17 months straight! Yes, Geoff Stirling is a gifted man, proNewfoundland, and daily making his own movie. Whenever I think of Geoff I think of that saying, “success is a state of mind. If you want success, start thinking of yourself as a success.” How true. Sure it takes work, but it starts right there in the mind. Mike Madigan, Pasadena
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The Independent, January 23, 2005
How to lend a hand to a kid without one
ife is simple — you wake up, survive the day, and then go to sleep and begin again the next day. When you boil it down, life really is that simple. We humans are guilty of complicating it. Our actions and interactions often result in distasteful moments that turn the simple into the complex, even the infuriating. Often, we get so wrapped up in our own little world that we can’t see past our own goals or desires. Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson once said, “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.” Many of us should devote more time to planting and less time to waiting for the harvest. A young boy in Alabama has, hopefully, taught many of us that life really is that simple; that a few words from a stranger will make you far happier than a job that will afford you a brand-new SUV or a heated-swimming pool in the backyard come springtime. Nick Waters is a 14-year-old boy who was born without arms and the ability to speak. Those of us born without such massive challenges would see what faces Nick everyday as insurmountable. And when asked what Christmas gift we wanted more than anything else, our thoughts — if we were in Nick’s position — would most certainly turn to having arms and the ability to speak, our view of normality. When Nick’s church group asked him what he wanted from the jolly old guy in the red suit, Nick’s request was pure and simple. Using his feet to type a mes-
Opinions Are Like... JEFF DUCHARME sage, he asked for Christmas cards, thousands of them. Using the Internet, his friends and family put the word out and the cards began to flow in. He’s received cards from all corners of the globe — Canada, Ethiopia, Israel, Hong Kong, Netherlands, and Australia. The cards have been pouring in and, to date, he’s received 130,000 yuletide greetings. The cards are piled waisthigh in the living room, dinning room, kitchen and hallways of his family’s home. Even the garage has been taken over and now resembles more of a post office than a place to park the family car. The church group that started the avalanche of Christmas greetings helps Nick open his mail each day. They gather with Nick’s family and watch as the young man’s face sparkles with delight as each envelope is torn open and every message read. Even the United States Secret Service, those steely-eyed men and women in reflective sunglasses that guard the president, sent a package of photos and greetings. He’s received cards from the Orlando Magic of the NBA and even Elvis Presley, who assured Nick that he’s still alive and simply in hiding. “He’s probably touched more lives in a month than we’ll touch in
a lifetime,” Darrell Cheek said in an Associated Press interview. Cheek was one of the Sunday school teachers who helped organize the Christmas-card effort. Nick may be a real-life Tiny Tim or just simply a young man trying to deal with the bad hand he was dealt in the best way possible. Either way, he’s an inspiration. Nick is what’s good about this world, not what’s perfect, but what’s good. Nick suffers from a rare genetic
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ith an election facing the province’s largest public-sector union, president Leo Puddister and his executive once again find themselves being attacked from within. Media in the province have received anonymous brown envelopes in recent days containing documents that cast the executive of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees (NAPE) in a dark light — accusing them of overspending, among other sins. “If NAPE was a corporation … Leo Puddister and the board of directors would possibly be guilty of criminal charges …,” reads a cover letter contained in the envelope, which contained internal information — most of it financial in nature, including executive salaries. The Independent received a similar package prior to the release of the 2004 provincial budget, and the 28-day publicsector strike. NAPE’s documents show the union wasn’t financially prepared for the strike, with spending exceeding revenues by 231 per cent. Puddister doesn’t buy charges that NAPE is a victim of a government smear-campaign in the
weeks leading up to the release of the 2005 budget — a budget that’s expected to cut deeper into government jobs and services. “It (the release of internal NAPE documents) gave a bit of advantage to government,” says Puddister. “It shifted the playing field a bit.” Puddister says the documents were released to “embarrass” NAPE’s executive. Some of the documents are preliminary, says Puddister, and would have had to come from the executive itself. “I don’t think government had nothing to do with this,” says Puddister. “I just think people are using it for their own reasons and it would have to be a NAPE member.” NAPE’s most recent public spat occurred when Carol Furlong — the former secretary-treasurer of NAPE who challenged Puddister for the top job in the last union election — sent an email to the membership claiming she was the victim of a witch hunt. Her job is currently classified as a union position, but Puddister and NAPE have been trying to change that in court and have the position declassified, leaving Furlong out in the cold and facing a layoff with no protection from the union. Puddister expects a union election date to be set this week. NAPE’s bylaws call for the election to be held at least three
can go an awfully long way to making a difference—in your life and the lives you impact every day. Nick’s mother, likely a saint in her own right, summed it up best. “He could have asked for anything,” his mother said. “He could have asked for a swimming pool. He just wanted cards and mail.” Jeff Ducharme is The Independent’s senior writer. jeff.ducharme@theindependent.ca
Letters to the Editor
NAPE’s Leo Puddister says union is being attacked from within By Jeff Ducharme The Independent
disorder called Holt-Oram syndrome. It causes children to be born with birth defects of the arms, legs and the heart. Many of us suffer from a-not-so rare disorder called selfishnesshumanitus. It’s a common affliction and the cure can often be an allusive one. But research into that common condition is moving forward. There is no drug or state-ofthe-art operation that can cure this affliction—the human condition. But reading stories such as Nick’s
‘Narrow-minded article’ Recently, a great deal of research was done by the staff of a small weekly newspaper, The Independent, and this research included a full cost-benefit analysis of Confederation as it relates to this province. These articles ran for a six-week period and, in the Dear Ms. Wente, I feel certain that by the time final week, a summary was printthis mail has reached your desk ed along with a synopsis of each you will have been assailed by a of the previous five reports. I have large number of those who were enclosed a copy of these summajustifiably offended and insulted ry reports for your perusal. There by your article in the Jan. 6 issue was obviously a great deal more of The Globe and Mail. With that information published during the in mind, I will refrain from attack- course of this extensive research, but I thought that the ing you for what I summary reports believe are the racist, stereotyped and ill- If it is the job of a might at least serve to informed views that columnist to evoke illustrate the point you expressed. reaction, you have that your basic conIf it is the job of a certainly succeeded. tention is so incorrect and that there is much columnist to evoke reaction, you have However, it is very more to this province stereotypical certainly succeeded. unfortunate that than However, it is very your chosen route myths. In closing, I wish unfortunate that your to this “success” chosen route to this had to be demean- you well and I am sure that, if you “success” had to be demeaning and dis- ing and disparaging should ever choose to to the people of learn about the great paraging to the people of Newfoundland and Newfoundland and people of Newfoundland and Labrador Labrador. Your article Labrador. first-hand, you would showed no evidence be welcomed with the of any real research and, as such, is a prime example warmth and spirit of hospitality of lazy journalism, unbecoming for which we are so well known. of a columnist for a national I am sure you will discover a people whose history and rich culture newspaper. In the segment that you did with have molded them into a proud, John Crosbie for the Canada Now hard-working, intelligent, and crenews broadcast, you mentioned ative people, so vastly different that the central idea of your article from what you have portrayed in was that “Ottawa has been a net your narrow-minded article. contributor” to the economy of Bob Ridgley, Newfoundland and Labrador. St. John’s Editor’s note: The following is a copy of a letter forwarded to Globe and Mail columnist Margaret Wente and forwarded to The Independent.
Leo Puddister
months prior to its convention, slated for June 24 to 25. The 2004 strike cost the union $14 million, compared to the $5million strike in 2000. NAPE was apparently in poor financial shape going into the 2004 strike, borrowing $9.5 million from its parent union — National Union of Public and General Employees — to top-up its strike fund. NAPE still owes approximately $7 million. “I can’t take $5 out of this place and go down and get a cup of coffee,” says Puddister, referring to the union’s accounting procedures. “I just can’t touch money here.” The almost 20,000-strong union collects $7.7 million in dues per year. NAPE cut a number of programs this year in a bid to put itself on sound financial ground. Puddister says he’s taking the whole issue in stride. “There’s been an attack on the organization every two years by someone who is dropping (brown envelopes) off,” says Puddister. “If people are using this as election gimmicks, then so be it. I think the media was used.”
The Independent, January 23, 2005
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Greg Locke/The Independent
‘A while to wait’ Ambulance arrival times meeting provincial target; room for improvement, minister By Alisha Morrissey The Independent
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f the just over 18,000 emergency ambulance trips taken in the province last year, 93 per cent arrived on the scene in 30 minutes or less, The Independent has learned. At the same time, more than 1,200 people waited between 31 minutes and an hour for an ambulance to come to their rescue. Health Minister John Ottenheimer says 30 minutes is the province’s unofficial ambulance time target and he’s satisfied with the results for 2004. “When we look at the numbers, our rural numbers appear to be on par with the rest of the country,
which, of course, is important when we take into account our geography,” he tells The Independent. “Overall, as a department, we are pleased with the response time.” The information on ambulance times — obtained by The Independent through the Freedom of Information Act — reveals that in 9,468 cases an ambulance arrived on scene in 10 minutes or less; 5,578 arrived in between 11 and 20 minutes; 1,695 got to the scene in 21 to 30 minutes; 766 people waited between 30 and 40 minutes; 348 people waited between 40 and 50 minutes; and 171 people waited between 50 minutes and an hour. Ottenheimer says the cases that
took longer than 30 minutes often had extenuating circumstances, including geographic restrictions, weather and preparation for air ambulance assistance. STRATEGICALLY LOCATED Wayne Power, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Ambulance Operators Association, says ambulance companies are strategically located in the province and he doesn’t know why any patient should have to wait an hour for medical attention. “I know there probably are areas of the province, given the geography and the seasons and what have you, where it may take a little bit longer to get an ambu-
lance from the base to the patient,” Power says. “It’s a big deal I suppose for the person that’s sick. I wouldn’t be able to relate to you, from my experience, anywhere in the province to take an hour. “… geez, I don’t know, that scares me to think that it would take that long.” There are approximately 63 ambulance services in 82 locations around the province. “I mean, we can’t have one in every community,” says Power. “But we can’t have a fire truck or a police car in every community either.” Ottenheimer agrees that progress could be made on the ambulance service times.
“Just because a certain goal has been reached doesn’t mean that we sit back and say ‘That’s fine.’ You always have to be prudent and vigilant in improving services of any kind as it relates to health care.” TAKING STOCK He says upcoming health care restructuring will give the new health boards an opportunity to take stock of the statistical information and make the service more efficient. Jean Gibbons, a partner in her husband’s ambulance service, Gibbons’ Ambulance in St. Mary’s, says the area her husband and son cover is so large that it’s entirely possible that it could take an hour to reach some patients. “Yes, it’s a while to wait, but that’s it. If the ambulances are not there close in an area, and government dictates that, of course, then that’s the way,” she says. “Should something be done? I guess to save people’s lives — yes.” She says the province needs more ambulances, but she doesn’t think that’s going to happen because government isn’t willing to pay for them. Reg Careen of the Cape Shore Ambulance Service says the province pays a subsidy to ambulance operators, as well as a mileage payment. He says the thought of waiting an hour for an ambulance is alarming, but admits it takes an hour to drive to the furthest end of his service area. He says the service could run much better if the province would permit him to have a base at either end of his service area. “They could have it situated better … the government won’t do it because they’d have to pay for it,” says Careen. “We’ve had operators in the last year, that have big service areas and they’ve asked the Department of Health to let them put an ambulance in … one in A and one in B. But the department of health just won’t allow it.”
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The Independent, January 23, 2005
‘We want to be treated fair’ Combined Councils of Labrador expected to evaluate provincial government’s performance at annual meeting HAPPY VALLEY-GOOSE BAY By Bert Pomeroy For The Independent
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he Combined Councils of Labrador will have the ears of at least six provincial cabinet ministers when it holds its annual socio-economic conference in Labrador City and Wabush this week. “We’re going to be telling them that Labrador deserves to get the same treatment from Newfoundland that Newfoundland wants Ottawa to give to the province with the Atlantic Accord,” combined councils president Ford Rumbolt tells The Independent. “We want to be treated fair — that’s all we’re asking for.” Rumbolt says yet-to-be-honoured commitments to establish a premier’s office in Happy Valley-Goose Bay and a senior mines position in Labrador West are among the issues expected to be raised during this year’s conference. “We put out a press release (last week) calling on government to follow through on the commitments for a premier’s office and a senior official in Labrador West and a deputy minister for the Department of Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs,” says Rumbolt. “The next day we heard (Labrador Affairs) Minister Trevor Taylor saying that the premier’s office should be in place by the end of March, and that it would take a while longer to put a position in Labrador West.” Taylor could not be reached for comment. Lake Melville MHA John Hickey says he realizes it’s not been an easy first year in office, but stresses the provincial govern-
Paul Daly/The Independent
NDP leader Jack Leyton is slated to give the keynote address at a meeting of the combined councils of Labrador.
ment “has every intention” of following through on its commitments to Labrador. “People have to realize that when we took office we inherited a huge mess, and we’ve had to make some very difficult decisions in order to try and change things around in this province,” he says. “The premier and the government made a number of commitments to Labrador and those commitments
have not been abandoned. Some things are taking longer than anticipated.” Hickey says he expects the deputy minister’s position, which has been vacant since last summer, will be filled by the end of the month. “We’re moving forward,” he says. But Rumbolt says he’s not taking anything for granted.
Lower Churchill power may not translate into aluminum smelter: Alcoa By Jeff Ducharme The Independent
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abrador has been pegged as an ideal location for an aluminum smelter when the lower Churchill is developed, but a spokesman for aluminum giant Alcoa says a smelter is unlikely. In 2001, the then-Liberal government and Alcoa conducted a feasibility study, but the cost and restrictions of the project proved to be too much. “One of the biggest costs in making aluminum, about 25 per cent of the cost on average, is energy related” Alcoa spokesman Kevin Lowery tells The Independent. Lowery didn’t close the door completely on taking another look at Labrador. “… we’re always in a position to look into and explore those things. That said, we also try to manage people’s expectations along those lines and we don’t talk about projects we’re looking into or working on until the right time.” According to the 2001 feasibility study, the average cost of power to run the aluminum smelter stood
at $18 US per kilowatt hour. That figure would have meant that the project required a 75-year deal with Alcoa and a $1-billion government subsidy to make the project — valued at $2.1 billion — viable. NOT BEST INTEREST Then-minister of Mines and Energy Lloyd Matthews said the project was not in the province’s best interest. “Government also believes that the people of this province should retain ownership of the project, realize maximum economic and employment benefits, and ensure that the return to the province escalates as the price of electricity increases over time.” Lowery says Alcoa is having discussions concerning potential smelter sites every day, but that it would be “foolhardy” to talk about the details of any project. “We’re always looking at ways we can grow.” Premier Danny Williams’ government recently called for proposals to develop the lower Churchill. The lower Churchill has the potential of producing a total of
2,824 megawatts of electricity if Muskrat Falls (824 megawatts) and Gull Island are developed. The province has said that power from the smaller Muskrat Falls development likely wouldn’t be put on the open market and instead be used to develop industry within the province. The province expects the proposal process to take 18 to 24 months. The power requirements of an aluminum smelter, says Lowery, would depend on the size of the project. He says there’s no such thing as an average-sized smelter. “We don’t traditionally talk about the mega wattage of our smelters.” Aluminum smelters require considerable amounts of secure and cheap power. Alcoa recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Trinidad to build a natural gas-powered smelter. Countries such as Trinidad are attractive because of access to cheaper power. “I don’t know of anybody building new smelters in North America,” says Lowery, “but, that said, traditionally one of the first things you have to address is the power.”
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“Until it’s done, I’m not going to put too much faith in it,” he says. “If it takes them as long to put a senior official in Labrador West as it did to get a deputy minister in place, then we could be still waiting a year from now.” Hickey says the province recently completed its program renewal process, and is about to follow through on its commitments to Labrador. “The premier’s office will be a good initiative,” he says. “It will bring government closer to the people.” The province, over the course of the last year, approved an additional seven RCMP officers for Labrador, Hickey says, and has established a more efficient health board that “will be controlled in Labrador.” It has also moved ahead with construction of Phase III of the Labrador Highway, including a causeway and bridge across the Churchill River near Happy Valley-Goose Bay. “These are exciting times in Labrador,” he says, “And I think people should be pleased with what we’ve been able to accomplish in our first year, given the financial situation this province is in.” The combined councils conference will coincide with the Atlantic Provinces Transportation Forum. Rumbolt says it’s going to be a busy week. “All of the hotels are booked — we’ve even had to rent apartments for people to stay in.” One of the highlights of the conference will be the closing banquet. Federal New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton is slated to deliver the keynote address.
The Independent, January 23, 2005
By Alisha Morrissey The Independent
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t. John’s lawyer Jerome Kennedy is at the centre of a judicial firestorm for comments he made at a 2003 conference denouncing the qualifications of judges of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, Trial Division. At the time, Kennedy said the Lamer Inquiry looking into the wrongful convictions of Randy Druken, Ronald Dalton and Gregory Parsons should include the trial judges who presided over the cases. “It’s the trial judges, some of whom don’t know what they are doing,” Kennedy said. “Part of it is as a result of political appointments. Part of this is as a result of intentional or unintentional biases.” The Independent collected the resumes of the judges with the Supreme Court, Trial Division:
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You be the judge Just how qualified are justices with the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, Trial Division
Chief Justice J. Derek Green is a Rhodes Scholar with degrees from Memorial and Oxford. He was in private practice for 18 years before being appointed to the Supreme Court in Grand Bank and, later, the Court of Appeal. In 2000, he was appointed Chief Justice, Supreme Court, Trial Division. Justice Seamus B. O’Regan was educated at Memorial and Dalhousie universities. O’Regan spent five years in private practice before being appointed to the District Court of Happy ValleyGoose Bay. He was appointed to the Supreme Court, Trial Division, in 1986.
Paul Daly/The Independent
St. John’s lawyer Jerome Kennedy (centre) is facing a rare disciplinary hearing by the Law Society of Newfoundland for publicly stating that some trial judges are biased or incompetent.
Justice Robert Wells is a Rhodes Scholar who received his masters in Law from Oxford University. Wells spent three
years with the Justice Department and 23 years in private practice before being elected to the House of Assembly, where he spent eight years before being appointed to the Supreme Court, Trial Division, in 1986.
at St. Francis Xavier University and received her law degree from Dalhousie University. She spent 12 years in private practice before being appointed a Supreme Court, Trial Division, judge in 1994.
Justice Kendra J. Goulding received her bachelor of laws from the University of Ottawa. She was the first female appointed as a judge in the Provincial Court of Newfoundland and Labrador. In 2002, Goulding was appointed to the Supreme Court, Trial Division.
Justice James Palmer Adams received his law degree from the University of New Brunswick. A founding member of the Public Legal Information Association, Palmer was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court, Trial Division, in 1996.
Justice Raymond Halley was educated at Memorial and Dalhousie universities. He was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court, Trial Division, in 1986. Justice David L. Russell received his education at Memorial and Dalhousie universities. He was appointed to the Supreme Court, Trial Division, in 1986. Justice Leo Barry has several degrees and taught sciences before practicing law for 11 years in private practice. He’s a former MHA, holding several cabinet portfolios before taking over as leader of the Liberal party for three years. He was appointed to the Supreme Court, Trial Division, in 1989. Justice David B. Orsborne obtained degrees from Memorial and Dalhousie universities, after which he practiced law privately for 13 years. Orsborne served on several commissions, both provincial and federal, including ones that look into hospital and nursing home costs, the Ocean Ranger disaster and the salaries and benefits of judges. He was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court, Trial Division, in 1993. Justice Maureen Dunne studied
Justice Robert M. Hall was educated at St. Mary’s University and received his law degree from Dalhousie University. After spending 25 years in private practice, Hall was appointed a Supreme Court, Trial Division, judge in Happy Valley-Goose Bay in 1998. He was transferred to St. John’s in 1999. Gerald F. Lang received his education from Dalhousie and St. Francis of Xavier universities. He was appointed to the Supreme Court, Trial Division, in 1982. Carl R. Thompson was educated at the University of Ottawa and Dalhousie. He was appointed a justice of the Supreme Court, Trial Division, in 2001. Alphonsus Faour received his law degree from the University of British Columbia and spent nine years as deputy clerk of the executive council. He was elected twice as the NDP MP in the federal riding of Humber-St. George’s-St. Barbe. He was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court, Trial Division, in 2003. Justice Garrett A. Handrigan received his law degree from the University of New Brunswick and worked as the editor-in-chief
of a provincial judges magazine for five years. In 2001, he was appointed to the Supreme Court, Trial Division. Justice Wayne G. Dymond was educated at Memorial and the University of New Brunswick. He was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court, Trial Division, in Grand Bank, and in 1999 was transferred to Gander. Gordon G. Easton was educated at Memorial and Dalhousie universities and spent 24 years in private practice before being appointed a judge of the Supreme Court, Trial Division, in Gander in 1989. Justice Abe Schwartz received his law degree from Dalhousie University before spending 15 years private practice. He was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court, Trial Division, in Grand Falls. Justice Richard Leblanc received his education from St. Mary’s and Dalhousie universities, later worked as a Provincial Court judge for 11 years. He was appointed a Supreme Court, Trial Division, judge in Corner Brook in 2000. Justice Alan Seaborne received his law degree from Dalhousie University and went on to practice private law in Corner Brook, where he was later appointed a Supreme Court, Trial Division, judge in 2001. Judge Robert A. Fowler received his education from Memorial and Dalhousie universities. He worked in the Provincial Court system in Newfoundland and Labrador and the Northwest Territories before being appointed to the Trial Division of the Supreme Court in Happy Valley-Goose Bay in 2000.
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The Independent, January 23, 2005
Hey bus driver … don’t speed up that old clunker
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or the most part, the public tendering process has boards, but the association claims it would pay off in served taxpayers well. It allows government to save terms of better buses and increased safety for students. our money by awarding public Of course, a negotiated contract contracts to the lowest bidders. And would be in the financial interest of bus although tendering doesn’t always predrivers. The cynical part of me wonders vent politicians from awarding conif they are fear mongering in order to tracts to political friends, it does curtail get a sweeter deal. And there’s no guarthe practice. In most cases, the contract antee that bus drivers would invest FRANK goes to the lowest bidder — not to the higher revenues in newer vehicles. highest contributor. CARROLL STRINGENT PROCESS But is public tendering always in the public’s best interest? The newly foundYou rarely hear of a bus accident ed Newfoundland and Labrador School caused by a mechanical difficulty. That’s Bus Drivers’Association has raised that The Public Tendering probably because of the province’s strinquestion, and it deserves some scrutiny. gent school bus regulations and inspecAct may be saving The association claims the Public tion process. money for the Tendering Act compromises the safety Yet, that doesn’t mean it couldn’t hapof the students who ride their buses. It pen. And the bus drivers’ association education system, says bus drivers are forced to bid so low does raise some issues that government but bus drivers have on contracts they must purchase ancient should delve into further. buses. The association also says the low raised legitimate doubts Dave Callahan, a St. George’s school bids allow little room for operators to bus operator who heads the association, that it may be in our budget for preventive maintenance on says other provinces in Canada negotiate overall best interest. contracts with bus companies. He says old vehicles. once companies in those provinces are Instead of placing bids under the pubfinished with their 12- or 14-year-old lic tendering process, the association would prefer to negotiate a common contract for all its buses, they do one of three things with them: scrap them; members. Such a move would raise the cost for school sell them to a Third World country; or send them to
West Words
Robbie Burns Day
Atlantic Canada. Now, as I mentioned previously, we do have an inspection system. But can the inspectors catch everything, especially when we’re talking about vehicles that are so old? Another factor is the rising price of fuel. Bus drivers negotiated their contract for the 2004-2005 school year in June. Shortly after, they saw diesel prices skyrocket. Meanwhile, like most of us, they’ve been hit hard by high insurance rates. The bidding process does not allow for a gasoline surcharge should the price of gas go up, so the only way bus companies can recoup or curtail losses is to cut costs. Hopefully, they won’t cut maintenance budgets. If what the bus drivers are saying is true, then we have a situation in which financially stressed companies are struggling to maintain 12-year-old buses in a roadworthy condition. No matter how good our inspectors are, is this the best situation for the students who ride those buses? The Public Tendering Act may be saving money for the education system, but bus drivers have raised legitimate doubts that it may be in our overall best interest. No man-made system is so sacrosanct that it can’t be amended. And remember, the public tendering process is not perfect. In cases of collusion, for example, companies can trade off regions. One might say to the other, “I won’t bid there, if you won’t bid here.” DIFFERENT ROUTE Thankfully, the bus drivers obviously aren’t taking that route. They want a negotiated contract that would level the field. Of course, the yield for them would be higher, but just because the bus drivers would profit from a negotiated contract doesn’t mean they are wrong. They haven’t fully made their case, but they should be given the opportunity. It would be appropriate if the ministers of Education and Transportation were to speak to the association and also initiate an investigation into their claims. If the concerns raised by the association are legitimate, then government should consider changing the way it awards contracts for school buses. Frank Carroll is a journalism instructor at the Stephenville-campus of the College of the North Atlantic. frank_carroll_nf@yahoo.ca
Paul Daly/The Independent
Scots around the world celebrate the birthday of Scotland’s national poet, Robbie Burns, every Jan. 25. In St. John’s, a Robbie Burns supper will be held at the Mary Queen of Peace Hall, Jan. 29. Traditional Scottish fare will be served, including haggis, a special pudding cooked inside a sheep’s stomach. Dentist Stewart Gillies (above), will join in the celebrations. Gillies has been in Newfoundland 27 years ago and says he wouldn't live anywhere else.
The Shipping News Keeping an eye on the comings and goings of the ships in St. John’s harbour. Information provided by the coast guard traffic centre. MONDAY, JANUARY 17 Vessels arrived: Atlantic Eagle, Canada, from sea; Maersk Chancellor, Canada, from Terra Nova; ASL Sanderling, Canada, from Halifax; Burin Sea, Canada, from White Rose. Vessels departed: Atlantic Eagle, Canada, to Terra Nova. TUESDAY, JANUARY 18 Vessels arrived: Atlantic Kingfisher, Canada, from Terra Nova. Vessels departed: Burin Sea, Canada, to Hibernia; ASL Sanderling, Canada, to Corner Brook; Atlantic Kingfisher, Canada, to Terra Nova. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19 Vessels arrived: Cicero, Canada, from Montreal.
Paul Daly/The Independent
Vessels departed: Maersk Chancellor, Canada, to Hibernia; Maersk Placentia, Canada, to Hibernia.
Canada, from fishing. Vessels departed: Maersk Placentia, Canada, to Hibernia
THURSDAY, JANUARY 20 Vessels arrived: Newfoundland Otter,
FRIDAY, JANUARY 21 No Report
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January 23, 2005
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Rising from the shadow At age 50, Mount Pearl is starting to find its identity — all joking aside By Stephanie Porter The Independent
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ount Pearl Mayor Steve Kent says this is another busy day, in a busy year. Just having come through the first week of activities for the town’s 50th anniversary celebrations, he’s now got to get the Mount Pearl booth ready for the St. John’s Board of Trade annual business show — within the next 24 hours. “It’s kind of a crazy year,” he tells The Independent. “A bunch of municipal projects are coming to fruition this year, there’s a new municipal plan coming, a recreation master plan, we’re doing most of the physical redevelopment of Centennial Square … and then this fall, we go to the polls.” But he’s always got time to give a tour of his hometown; will always make time for reporters. “This is important,” he says, climbing into his Jeep outside Mount Pearl City Hall. “We do have trouble getting media coverage here, always in the
“Today, we have most of the convenshadow of our neighbour.” The neighbour being, of course, iences you would expect to find in an Newfoundland and Labrador’s capital urban centre … there are a few elevacity, bustling with over 100,000 people. tors now, I have it written down at At about a quarter of the population, home, the exact number. The urban legMount Pearl has always had difficulty end is no longer true.” Kent’s town is in the position of so finding its voice as a city with its own many municipalities that sit on the boridentity, history — and advantages. der of a larger centre, Kent knows only too which is one of the reawell the jokes: Mount sons the 50th anniverPearl, the city with no “As long as we sary year is so important elevators. You can’t shop can deliver better — it’s a chance to celein Mount Pearl, can’t services at a lower brate all that is Mount buy a suit there, can’t eat Pearl. out. tax rate there’s a Kent drives around “People used to joke real economic reason the town, pointing to that Mount Pearl was for us to exist.” simply a bedroom comnew housing develop— Steve Kent munity,” says Kent. “But ments, the remaining there are more people land in Donovan’s working in Mount Pearl Industrial Park, the every day now than there are leaving to impressive network of trails, the recrework … if we were anywhere else in ation facilities that make Mount Pearl a the province, we would be recognized friendly place for kids who like to play for what we are … but people outside hockey, baseball, swim, dive, cycle … of Mount Pearl don’t always have an “The buildings aren’t really interestappreciation of everything we truly ing from the outside,” admits Kent, “but if you went in, when events were have.
Photos by Paul Daly / Story by Stephanie Porter
taking place … “The real wonders of Mount Pearl are intangible. It’s hard to capture on film the sense of community spirit and volunteerism, the real sense of community people have ….” Kent laughs as he passes the site of the former Sprung greenhouse. “I remember going to sleep as a boy, with the orange glow in my room,” he says. Former premier Brian Peckford gave a speech at the 50th anniversary opening luncheon two weeks ago. Kent was disappointed Peckford didn’t even mention the ill-fated greenhouse he brought to the province, “because we all still talk about it today …” The 26-year-old Kent has been a member of Mount Pearl council since 1997, when he was first elected deputy mayor. He fully intends to run for the mayor’s chair again this September. Kent says he gets along with everyone, can talk to anyone — with the exception of St. John’s Mayor Andy Wells. The reason is well known: Wells Continued on page 12
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The Independent, January 23, 2005
‘Viable, just as we are’ From page 11
“What is gong to distinguish us from other communities that have lost that battle is our has long been an intense advocate for amal- ability to maintain that sense of community gamating the two cities; Kent and Mount … and give people real tangible reasons why Pearl won’t entertain the notion. they’re better off to exist as an independent “The one thing Andy said to me, it was community. during a municipalities convention in Gander, “As long as we can deliver better services and we were both standing at the bar, going at a lower tax rate there’s a real economic reainto the closing dinner. He said something son for us to exist.” like, ‘Hey, young fella, you’ll be the mayor of Kent pulls into the parking lot of AdmiralSt. John’s some day.’ ty House, the city’s official museum. The 90“And that was it, that’s the extent of my year-old building, built as a wireless station conversation with Andy.” by the Marconi company in 1915, has been Mount Pearl’s population converted into a high-quality has been holding steady at communications museum, “Mount Pearlers about 25,000 since 1996. complete with ham radio There was a fairly moderate room, exhibits on ships with take pride in these number of new housing starts a connection to the station — things. The fact we last year — about 70. have nice signs at our for example, the Admiralty “The real growth has hapstation received the SOS sigpened over the past few entrance ways, banners nal from the S.S. Florizel, in on the poles …” decades,” says Kent. In 1986, 1918 — and a brief history for example, there were just of Mount Pearl. A more — Steve Kent 20,000 people in the town. extensive exhibit on the city But the real difference has is being researched and been in the amount and type of businesses should open by the summer. that have set up within the city’s limits: the The town’s namesake, Sir James Pearl, big boxes of Wal-Mart, Canadian Tire, Kent served in the British Royal Navy and, upon and Dominion — and the stores around them retirement, took possession of 500 acres of — have all made a huge difference. There are land in what is now Mount Pearl. more franchise stores, more bars, more things “Mount Pearl’s farms were developed as to do. the need for food grew,” says Alasdair Black, Donovan’s Industrial Park is home to over the museum co-ordinator. “Farming was the 300 businesses, and land is opening up for beginning of it. People saw this as a recremore. And while Kent admits Mount Pearl ational area, with fishing, farming … ” has just about run out of residential land to The land the city now stands on evolved develop, there’s plans for more infill housing, through the early 20th century into a sort of condos, and multi-level construction — dense summer resort for St. John’s residents, esperesidential planning that will keep the city cially those interested in horseracing. growing, if not in geography, in numbers and The summer population slowly turned into economy. a year-round population, and in 1955, the first “We’ve got a good enough mix of residen- municipal elections were held. tial and commercial tax base; there’s no rea“And 50 years later, here we are,” Black son for us not to be viable just as we are,” he finishes. says. “Our boundaries don’t need to expand.” Kent, driving back to city hall, takes a few Kent is determined to keep, and grow, the minutes to boast. “We have great snow clearMount Pearl sense of identity. All the street ing services, great garbage collection, bulk signs were replaced recently, for example — garbage collection, parks, trails, playgrounds, they’re blue now, and feature the city’s coat fast response to community complaints, of arms. The fleet of city equipment is being extensive recreation programs, a functional repainted blue as well — any small thing to council …” differentiate the Mount Pearl vehicles from It’s a family-oriented town, he says, but those down the road. one learning to be attuned to the needs of an “Mount Pearlers take pride in these aging population. things,” Kent says. “The fact we have nice Driving along Commonwealth Avenue, signs at our entrance ways, banners on the Kent looks over at the stores lining the road, poles …” many of which he’s seen crop up in the few He knows that amalgamation has certainly years since he first took office. happened to cities in similar situations to his “We have restaurants here now,” he says — take Dartmouth and Halifax, for example, with a laugh. “You never used to be able to or Oakville and Toronto, Kitchener and get a good meal in this town … but there are Waterloo. decent places to eat here, there really are.”
A view of Mount Pearl, circa 1915, looking east over Brookfield road with what would be called Marconi road running left to right (now Commonwealth Avenue ).
The Independent, January 23, 2005
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The Independent, January 23, 2005
Gallery Joan Blackmore Thistle Visual Artist
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here’s a perceptible depth to Joan Blackmore Thistle’s work. The images throughout her paintings, sculptures and stoneware pots are diverse and Newfoundland in origin, but unlike most artists, she relies less on what she sees outwardly and more on what she remembers. “They’re kind of here in my head, they’re memories really,” she tells The Independent. “What I experienced and what I saw growing up in Port Union and the joining towns.” A well-known local artist, Blackmore Thistle has won many awards. Her work is currently on display at Cynthia I. Noel Gallery on Long’s Hill, St. John’s, in Artists Paint the Blues, alongside displays by Leona Ottenheimer, George Adamcik and Cynthia I. Noel. As the youngest daughter of a sea captain, Blackmore Thistle grew up observing her siblings and the bustle of life in a fishing outport in Trinity Bay. Almost every piece of her work brings a hint of days gone by. One of Blackmore Thistle’s favourite creations is A Turn o’ Water, a bronze covered stoneware sculpture of a woman carrying water with the aid of a wooden
hoop. “Our daily source of water was from a well and we had buckets, these were galvanized buckets, and the men made the hoops. They were made from limbs of trees … that would keep the buckets apart.” Blackmore Thistle forms the sculptures through a process called hand building. Using regular clay, she rolls and then cuts and moulds the material into shape. She also spins pots on a wheel, using the blank surfaces for illustrations of etchings depicting
everything from cod salting to berry picking. Blackmore Thistle says that although she loves sculpting and pottery, she still always returns to her original favourite, oil painting. Images of turbulent seas and green coasts cover a wall in the gallery, the colours and shadows fitting together from an astute memory. Ashore in the Fog is a ghostly painting of an almost invisible ship wreck, awash with cool greys and blues, capturing the mystery and danger of the sea, and another picture, Maybe Tomorrow, shows a young woman gazing over an ocean bathed in moonlight. “She’s sitting there and her love is way overseas somewhere and they made a promise that each evening at a certain time they’d both go out and look at the moon. “It’s from someone who called me and commissioned me to do that story, so it was a real story.” Despite the local flavour in her work — or perhaps because of it — Blackmore Thistle’s paintings and sculptures have found homes across the world; even striking a chord with the Queen of England during the Cabot 500 celebrations. “I met the Queen,” she says. “I had a show in Bonavista celebrat-
ing that occasion and after the ceremony they had a walkabout and they weren’t supposed to stop so we were all quiet relaxed. Anyway, the door opened and in they came and she got inside the door
and then she broke from the crowd — she wasn’t supposed to do it — but she came over and spoke to me about my work. I was thrilled.” – Clare-Marie Gosse Photos by Paul Daly
The Independent, January 23, 2005
BUSINESS
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
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January 23, 2005
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After arriving in St. John’s, Franklin Roosevelt Jr., left, who tried to bring lower Churchill power to New York State, and then-chairman John Dyson of the Power Authority of New York were all smiles and big fans of lower Churchill power. Neither could get Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador to come to terms.
Quebec’s ‘whip hand’ Former head of Power Authority of New York State reflects on lower Churchill deal that fell through more than 20 years ago By Jeff Ducharme The Independent
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n the early 1980s, John Dyson found himself in the middle of a historical minefield when he tried to negotiate a deal to develop and then buy power from the proposed lower Churchill project. Dyson, then-chairman of the Power Authority of New York State, was caught between the Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador governments — both sides still mired in the dark history that is the upper Churchill. Since 1972, Hydro Quebec has gathered an estimated $23.8 billion in revenues from the sale of electricity from the upper Churchill. Newfoundland and Labrador has taken in less than three per cent — about $680 million. “I tried to persuade them that that’s past and none of us are able to do anything about that one, but (with) the new one (lower Churchill development) we can be more intelligent about it and in the new one you guys can have a lot more say-so about it,” Dyson tells The Independent from his New York office, where he now runs a private investment firm. QUEBEC’S HEAVY HAND At the time, the government of then-premier Brian Peckford was trying to negotiate a deal to develop and then sell power from the lower Churchill. The Quebec government wielded a heavy hand — as they did during negotiations over the upper Churchill — and railed against suggestions that they should allow Newfoundland to transmit power through Quebec and into the U.S. market. The federal government refused to give Peckford, who felt the province had the constitutional right to transmit electricity
through Quebec, a commitment that it would step in. “Part of the struggle was that (Quebec) had a whip-hand and could continue to exert some kind of control over any new project similar to what they had on the other one (upper Churchill) using the transmission lines as the lever of power,” says Dyson. “That’s one of the major reasons we didn’t get any further than we did.” The provincial government spent $70 million before the 2,000-megawatt Gull Island facility was put on hold due to financing and marketing problems. ATLANTIC ROUTE? Dyson says he’s hearing rumblings again that the Atlantic route — which was proposed to bypass Quebec — could be a viable option. He’s heard estimates that the project would cost approximately twice the $1.7 billion that it would cost to build another transmission line through Quebec. Hydro Quebec’s current transmission lines that run into the States are said to be already operating at maximum capacity. Claims that such a long transmission system would lose far too much power (as would be the case with the Atlantic route) before reaching market isn’t an issue, says Dyson. When the root was first explored, the power loss was estimated at eight to 10 per cent. The development of Gull Island and the smaller 824-megawatt Muskrat Falls project is now back on the table. Premier Danny Williams has called for proposals to develop the projects. The Atlantic corridor would funnel Gull Island power through the main generating station in Churchill Falls, and back past Gull Island to the southeast tip of Labrador. From there, the power would cross the Strait of Belle Isle by means of an under-
water sea cable, and land on the Northern Peninsula. The transmission lines would then travel down to the southwest coast. The power would cross the Cabot Strait, then surface again in Cape Breton to begin its track across Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The hydropower from Gull Island would then reach its final destination in New York. “The economics are pinching again as they did in the ’70s and the actual threats of supply disruption” are increasing, Dyson says. The time is right to develop the lower Churchill. “There is plenty of capital around, which is reflected in the relatively low interest rates,” says Dyson. “So a project like this, if you can get some people at the buying end and the producing end that are reasonable, I think (it will) make a great deal of sense for both of us.” ‘I’D BE ON YOUR DOORSTEP’ In 1980, the cost of the Gull Island project was estimated at $4 billion and Muskrat Falls at $2 billion. The Williams government maintains that better construction technology will keep the price near 1980 dollars, but when adjusted for inflation — an average rate of 3.72 per cent — both projects more than double in cost. Dyson says financing shouldn’t be a stumbling block. “If I was the (U.S.) secretary of energy, I’d be up on your doorstep,” says Dyson. “To me, if we had an energy policy worth its name here in the United States, we’d be up there talking to you guys and saying ‘Look, you’ve got these enormous rivers that are still many of them untapped and you and we both have energy needs.’” The choices are simple, he says. “It’s going to be a choice between coal or Arab oil and the coal is going to look bet-
ter mined in the western parts of our countries than the reliance on imported oil from a goofy bunch of theocracies.” The demand and price for coal has already begun a steady upward climb in North American markets and is becoming an attractive power source once again. Burned in generating plants, it’s often referred to as a dirty-energy source because of the pollution it creates. NY WAS ‘A LOSER’ “The practical (form of power) is to harness the water running back to the ocean that came up there because of the weather cycle, which is basically a solar-powered weather cycle,” says Dyson. “So if that’s what you want to do, then you’ve got to (tolerate) a little bit of the damage of a dam, a lake and some power lines.” The provincial government has suggested that the 824 megawatts from Muskrat Falls be kept in the province to develop industry here. Dyson says New York had a similar policy with power developed from Niagara Falls. They offered industry deals such as a 10 per cent reduction in the cost of power in a bid to attract industry. “The difficulty with that is they are very energy intensive and they are very capital intensive and they tend to be quite light on the number of labourers they use” says Dyson. “So the actual number of jobs you get is significant in a rural area, but it’s not significant in an urban area. “I always thought that, in a direct sense, New York was a loser as was Newfoundland … There was business that could have been done that was beneficial to both sides and in a larger sense, Canada and the United States increased our reliance on oil by not having alternative power.”
The Independent, January 23, 2005
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‘Waiting for the paper’ Independent newspapers doing well against Montreal-based Transcontinental
By Clare-Marie Gosse The Independent
pendent newspaper — The Northeast Avalon Times — agrees. She says it’s much easier for “pricey customers” with the money for big ith just three independently owned advertising contracts to deal with just one newspapers in the province out of company representative and still get their ad 20, how easy is it to survive as a in multiple publications. small publication amongst the bigger conThe Times publishes monthly from Portugal glomerate? Cove-St. Philip’s and includes Torbay, Logy “Oh, difficult,” says Frank Petten, publish- Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove, Flatrock, er/owner of The Shoreline News in Concep- Pouch Cove and Bauline. tion Bay South. “A small paper in NewAs editor/publisher, reporter, distributor foundland, I mean, you’ve got to be scratch- and ad rep, Welbourn knows the market. She ing all the time.” says the paper is doing well, covering all local Rumours have been circulating as of late news within one of the wealthiest and “fastest that Petten’s paper is for sale, growing areas in the province. with interest expressed by “The areas really need the “What we call Transcontinental Inc., the Monnewspaper … there’s a lot treal-based owners of most of going on here, development is provincial news, the province’s newspapers — happening, so it’s a dynamic two dailies (Corner Brook’s or national news, or place for a newspaper to be Western Star and St. John’s international news, and absolutely essential, and Telegram), and 15 weeklies I don’t do. I leave will only be more important as around the province. goes on. Not just my that to other media. time Petten says those rumours newspaper, but any newspaper I provide people are rife, although unfounded. would be very important here.” “It’s one of these rumours With a history as a reporter, with news about that keep going around, you happenings in their Welbourn began The Northknow. I’m getting near retireeast Avalon Times after she own communities had her second child, and ment age too, so I guess that throws everything into the that they can’t get found it difficult to keep meetmix,” Petten tells The Indepening freelance deadlines. Withanywhere else.” dent. in a year she realized she need— Frank Petten The Shoreline News, which ed to extend her circulation Petten started in 1989, publisharea from one town to several. es weekly and distributes from “The paper has paid for Paradise to St. Mary’s Bay. Petten laughing- itself since day one. I make OK salary. Our ly calls himself “the publisher and chief cook readership is top-notch, solid. People phone and bottle washer” within his small staff of me waiting for the paper.” 12, saying he has no intention of selling to Five years on, Welbourn’s thinking about anyone just yet, but “never say never.” the future. As the paper stands — operating From an editorial point of view, Petten from her home in Portugal Cove — it’s diffisays The Shoreline maintains a strict geo- cult to find reasonably priced and experienced graphical area and competition from other staff, but she’s considering expanding. newspapers isn’t an issue. “Five years is a good time to take stock and “What we call provincial news, or nation- think about what should happen with this al news, or international news, I don’t do. I paper. I think the communities that I cover leave that to other media. I provide people merit a larger publication … do I think I could with news about happenings in their own get money or funding for something to communities that they can’t get anywhere expand if I decide to? Yes. The paper’s solid, else.” it’s got a good reputation, money comes into Advertising is key to a newspaper’s sur- the account, runs through all month long.” vival, which Petten says can prove difficult. If Petten ever does decide to sell The Shore“We’re all fighting for the same advertising line News, maybe he should give Welbourn a dollar.” call. Kathryn Welbourn, owner of another inde-
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Kathryn Welbourn
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The Independent, January 23, 2005
Confederation’s castaways Editor’s note: The following letter was written to federal Finance Minister Ralph Goodale.
of thousands of our people and the loss of personal dignity and the right of opportunity to tens of thousands more. Our central government allowed Churchill Falls to be signed away to Quebec under the duress and fear of causing Quebec separation, thus giving Quebec 95 per cent of the benefit of our hydro power. We have shipped billions and billions of dollars worth of our minerals, and now oil, to the smelters and refineries of the mainland of Canada because they must be at full capacity before we are allowed to build our own. We, in return, have said little, but instead sent our greatest natural resource, our people, by the thousands to the work force of mainland Canada. We have nothing else left to give Ottawa but our bodies for medical and scientific research. Do you want that too?
Dear Mr. Goodale, hank you for your letter of Jan. 20. In the letter, you imply that our provincial government is at odds with the federal government over the interruption of special arrangements made for our province as set out in the Atlantic Accord. This difference in opinion cannot be federally rectified or explained away by any convoluted manipulation of the equalization formula and its payments by the federal government. Simply put, the Atlantic Accord states we must be the principle beneficiary of our offshore oil and gas revenues. At present we are not, as Ottawa receives over 80 per cent of revenues while our province gets less than 20 per cent. Your comments at the end of your letter stating Danny Williams is requesting equalization payments long after we no longer qualify for them is misleading and not the real case. We only want to keep our offshore revenue and additional help from equalization payments for a period of time to help us become financially and economically sound so that we may move towards a status of self-sufficiency. We are in debt by some $13 billion, have the highest unemployment and tax rates, and biggest out-migration of any province. After such time when a healthy financial stability is reached in Newfoundland and Labrador we would welcome the position of being a have province so that we would be a positive contributor.
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MYTHS ON THE AIRWAVES Newfoundland and Labrador is Canada’s biggest per capita contributor of raw resources. Over the past 55 years tens of billions of dollars have left our province to the benefit of Ottawa, the rest of Canada and, indeed, the world. In return, we have gotten a few billion back from the federal government in the form of subsidies, employment insurance and other handouts and are made out to be beggars of Confederation. This myth propagates the airwaves of Canada, and Ottawa does little to nothing to dispel this indignant betrayal. As recently as this month a scathing and spurious vilification of our province and people was published on the front page of Canada’s leading newspaper, The Globe and Mail, and the only paltry comment made in our defense by our federal government was that we are not a ghetto! Unconscionable. The federal government has presided over the mismanagement and dissemina-
Nova Scotia’s $1 billion deal HALIFAX A revised offshore deal between Ottawa and Nova Scotia could add $1 billion to the provincial treasury over the next 16 years. Nova Scotia’s top federal cabinet representative, Fisheries Minister Geoff Regan, says the agreement, when finalized, will go a long way towards making the province self-sustaining. “The new offshore deal will see this province not only get 100 per cent of its oil and gas revenues, but get a full offset for equalization that it would otherwise lose,'' says Regan. Negotiations with Nova Scotia Premier John Hamm were close to being finished. When talks started, Ottawa offered an eight-year, $640-million agreement was rejected by the province.
Paul Daly/The Independent
Sean Panting as Prime Minister Paul Martin and Bernie Stapleton as Finance Minister Ralph Goodale during Rising Tide Theatre’s Revue ‘04.
tion of our life’s blood — the coastal fisheries. They have allowed, and still tolerate, foreign overfishing and violation of the principles that are essential to the restoration and future health of the stocks. We are not even permitted to jig one to eat. Instead
we must buy it for three times the price from ones who are allowed by the federal government to pirate it away from us. This is the attitude and injustice that has resulted in the break up of our coastal culture. It has led to the out-migration of tens
NO CARING PARENT We are and have been strong members in the family of Canada, giving her our all, even to the point of the decimation of our heritage. The problem with this is that we have had no caring parent in Ottawa, no one who really respects who we are and what we have done for our country. We are the used and discarded stepchild of Canada. Where is Ottawa’s and Canada’s sense of respect and moral values for us. Where is our right to equality, our right to dignity and worth of person and family in the society of Canada? Where, for God’s sake, is our right to the enjoyment of our property and the right not to be deprived thereof? Where are our chartered rights? Are they covered up by your greed for the wealth of our resources and the hypnotic power of your fattening purse? I can only find solace from the 55 years of unbearable humiliation and abuse we have felt and suffered as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians at the hands of our federation by resorting to the biblical words “blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for their’s is the Kingdom of Heaven.” My ancestors were mariners whose undaunted and steeled character was forged by the inebriate north Atlantic, the roughest ocean in the world. We have been loyal and obedient members of the family of Canada but have been treated by Ottawa as used castaways. This has to change irrespective that precedents may have to be set in the federation to do so. We have had to face and accept many such precedents since joining the Confederation of Canada, now you have to do the same. Philip Earle, Carbonear
January 23, 2005
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
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AFP PHOTO/SABAH ARAR
A man enjoys a ride on the back of a lorry carrying bags of flour along a highway leading into Baghdad. Flour for the bakeries around Iraq is still imported and distributed by the United Nations under the food for oil program.
Mouth-watering opportunity While it isn’t clear who’s to blame, oil-for-food scandal has become metaphor for questions about UN’s corporate culture NEW YORK
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he “oil-for-food” scandal at the United Nations has been a mouth-watering opportunity for the organization’s critics. But when the UN-appointed inquiry looking into the scandal releases its long-awaited interim report this month, it will be a moment of truth for supporters as well. The scandal encompasses some of the most dramatic allegations of fraud and criminal conduct ever attached to the UN According to asyet unproven charges, senior UN officials connived in a kickback scheme that allowed former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to reap billions from a program intended to help Iraqis survive the sanctions regime imposed by the UN Security Council following the 1991 Gulf War. It couldn’t have come at a worse time. Two major reports aimed at helping the 60-year-old organization reinvent itself for the 21st century are now on the table. Late last year, the High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change mapped out a role for the UN in the new world of pre-emptive warfare and global terrorism. This week the UN’s Millennium Project released an ambitious blueprint for fighting poverty. Yet both of these worthy projects threaten to be hamstrung by the emerging picture of flawed management at the organization’s most
senior levels. which ran from 1996 to 2003. While The oil-for-food program illus- there were no “smoking guns,” the trates how a good idea can be sub- audits showed that UN managers verted when no one is watching. In failed to perform due vigilance. an effort to ensure Iraqis wouldn’t be Even before the program began, penalized for the sins of their lead- there were good reasons to assume ers, the UN created an exemption to that Saddam would try to subvert its the 1991 oil embargo that allowed purpose. limited quantities of Iraqi Nevertheless, UN petroleum to be marketed in managers not only failed order to pay for desperately to carefully monitor the needed food and medical oil-purchase and humansupplies. itarian-supply contracts The exchange contracts that were the heart of the were to be closely superprogram, but steered vised by UN-appointed conauditors away from tractors, yet Saddam manexamining the records at aged to conclude a series of New York headquarters. secret arrangements with Had they done their job suppliers in some 46 counSTEPHEN properly, concluded the tries that allowed him to HANDELMAN inquiry’s investigators in siphon off anywhere from a summary of the audits, US $7 billion to US $21 bilthey could have limited lion in black-market takings — Saddam’s success “in generating money which went to build new income from the contracts in violapalaces and may still be funding tion of UN sanctions.” insurgent activities in Iraq. That failure has only reinforced Who’s to blame? The murky trail prevailing suspicions about how UN of deception leads in too many agencies and programs conduct their directions — including member business. “This stuff was imputing states of the UN Security Council the integrity of the UN,” concedes that set the program’s framework — Reid Morden, the ex-chief of the for all the responsibility to fall on Canadian Security and Intelligence hapless UN officials in New York Service (CSIS), who was named and Baghdad. executive director of the oil-for-food Yet it’s clear that the UN bureau- inquiry last spring. Morden, who cracy was asleep at the switch. also served as a deputy foreign minEarlier this month, the inquiry ister in Ottawa, runs a staff that has released 58 internal audits of the US grown to nearly 80 people from 27 $64 billion oil-for-food program, countries, under the chairmanship
of former U.S. Federal Reserve Bank head Paul Volcker. It will be up to Morden’s team, which operates outside UN auspices as an independent inquiry, to identify what went wrong, and why. The interim report (the final report is expected in June) will tackle allegations of expense padding by several companies hired to monitor the program. Other allegations tie the program’s former director, Benon Sevan, and even Kojo Annan, Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s son, to influence-peddling. But even if the worst suspicions of critics don’t pan out, the process of reclaiming the UN’s reputation is going to hurt. Whether anyone likes it or not, the oil-for-food scheme has become a metaphor for all the simmering questions about the UN’s corporate culture, where whistle-blowers get slapped down and cronyism is endemic. “We may never satisfy the critics,” says Morden. All the same, it will be up to the organization’s defenders to push for a genuine overhaul. That is, if they don’t want to cede ground to the growing number of UN-bashers who would just as soon allow it to drift into irrelevance. 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 Feb 6.
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The Independent, January 23, 2005
‘Lights, lights and more lights’ Bonavista-native Tanya Kobaly says there’s a normal life to be found in the city that never sleeps — Las Vegas, Nevada Voice from away Tanya Kobaly In Las Vegas, Nevada By Stephanie Porter The Independent
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he first day Tanya Kobaly moved to Nevada, she thought she was going to be sick. “The heat was so unbearable,” she tells The Independent. “Everybody told me that your first summer here in the desert is always the worst and now the summers are so much easier to bear.” The heat wasn’t the only thing the Bonavista-native had to get used to. Living in Las Vegas is a world away from her former residences — “a city of lights, glamour, a city that never sleeps,” she says. “The first time I ever visited, I was flying into the city during the nighttime. You look out the window and nothing, nothing, not a light in sight and then all of a sudden … bam. There it is — lights, lights and more lights.” But beyond the 24-hour parties and gambling exists a “normal city … just like living in any other city,” where Kobaly and her husband have found a quiet, familyfriendly neighbourhood. They go to work, walk their Golden retrievers, and relax at day’s end. Kobaly left Newfoundland in the 1990s and lived in Ottawa for three years. She met her California-born husband, Chris, on a vacation to Cold Lake, Alberta. A member of the United States Air Force, he’s assigned to the USAF Thunderbirds — a demonstrating squadron, currently based in Las Vegas. Kobaly was off work for her first year Stateside while she waited for her immigration papers to be processed. Everything now in order, she’s enjoying her job and colleagues in the IT department of WestStar Credit Union where she serves as a core processor specialist. Kobaly says almost 6,000 people move into Vegas every month, making it the fastest-growing city in the States — many come from
Nick Potts
MGM and New York, New York hotels on the Strip in Las Vegas.
California, in search of cheaper property and no state taxes. The ever-growing congestion makes her daily commute about 40 minutes each way.
“… this is the city of lost wages and we feel that we work too hard for our money to throw it away. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose.” — Tanya Kobaly
Shopping in the city is great, she says, so is the entertainment and food. She and her husband venture down to the infamous strip
only once in a while. “It’s a little overwhelming, so we just head to Freemont Street if we want to play the slots or gamble a little,” she says. “We don’t normally do that because this is the city of lost wages and we feel that we work too hard for our money to throw it away. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose.” It’s also easy to get out of town. The Kobalys often head to California for weekends, to visit Chris’ family. Other weekends, they’ll drive to the mountains, 30 minutes away, where there’s snow certain times of the year. “… and the Hoover Damn is just 20 minutes away and is spectacular. The Grand Canyon is close by and the scenery is just beautiful. The desert has some of the most beautiful sunsets you will ever see,” she says. Although the dry heat can be
incredible — 50 C or over in the summer — this time of year, the daytime temperature is a very comfortable 20 C. “It can go down to freezing temperatures, but doesn’t last long,” she says. “It actually snowed on Jan. 7 here, which is only once in a blue moon … I missed the snow until I went home this Christmas and realized that it’s a pain to shovel, scrape windows and constantly having wet mats in your car and porch. “It was nice to come back to warmer weather, but there’s nothing like home for the holidays.” Kobaly says there were virtually no cultural differences to get used to in Vegas. “I love the fact you can make plans and know that they won’t be cancelled because of the weather,” she says. “I do miss the fall of the year and seeing all the leaves
change colours. I miss looking out my window and seeing big white snowflakes falling. I miss the smell of the ocean and the sound of the waves crashing against the shoreline. I just miss Newfoundland and I think that no matter where I live in the world, I will.” Kobaly and her husband will be in Vegas for another year and a half, she estimates, then Chris will be transferred elsewhere — to Italy or Germany, she hopes. After he retires, five years from now, the couple plan to move back to Newfoundland. “I always wanted to see the world,” she says. “But I love Newfoundland and would want to live there all my life.” Do you know a Newfoundlander or Labradorian living away? Email editorial@theindependent.ca.
International Briefs
‘Pester power’ LONDON, England British children are the richest in Europe thanks to their ability to pester their parents into parting with their cash, according to a recent survey. Youngsters aged 10 to 17 had an average annual income of 775 pounds (about $1,775 Cdn), more than twice as much as their Italian or Spanish counterparts. “Parents are curtailing the growth in the pocket money that they give children, partly through fear of encouraging excessive consumerist behaviour at an early age, but also increasingly because of fears regarding the consumption of unhealthy food and drinks,’’says the report’s author, Lawrence Gould. “But parents are increasingly prepared to give in to the demands of their children, a phenomenon known as pester power.” British children look likely to continue as the highest earners when compared with youngsters in six other countries in Europe: Spain, Italy, Sweden, the Nether-
lands, France and Germany. Datamonitor used government figures on 10- to 17-year-olds in the seven countries, figures from the European Union’s statistics office Eurostat, and interviews with more than 500 parents. — Associated Press
Military kills suspected rebels BANDA ACEH, Indonesia Rebels in tsunami-devastated Aceh province accused the government of abandoning an informal ceasefire after the military said it has killed scores of suspected guerrillas to protect aid deliveries. The rebels disputed the military’s claim of killing 120 rebels in the past two weeks, saying only 20 of its fighters had died in skirmishes. The rebels said 100 others killed were unarmed civilians. The renewed hostilities in the nearly three-decade separatist conflict called into
question the security of efforts to aid survivors of the Dec. 26 tsunami. Tallies of the dead from the disaster have varied from about 158,000 to 221,000. With as many as one million survivors in need of food and shelter, humanitarian groups said a U.S. military decision to begin pulling back from relief operations could disrupt the flow of aid. More than 11,000 U.S. troops and 16 Navy ships are providing relief support. Since the operation began Jan. 1, they have delivered more than 8,600 tonnes of relief supplies to the affected region. Nearly four weeks after the disaster, hundreds of delegates to a UN conference in Japan put the final touches on a pact late last week backing creation of a tsunami alert system. But references in a planned final statement to global warming causing some natural disasters appeared likely to be removed after objections from the United States, Canada and Australia. — Associated Press
Greece tightens media rules ATHENS, Greece Greece’s conservative-controlled parliament approved legislation Friday to tighten restrictions on media ownership, an effort to curb alleged corruption involving state contracts. Under the new law, people who own one per cent or more of a media company _ as well as their close relatives _ will be barred from receiving public contracts. The ownership limit was reduced from five per cent. An independent broadcast licensing board will also be awarded greater powers. Greece’s conservatives ousted the longgoverning socialists in general elections last March after promising to clean up public finances and battle corruption. Socialist lawmakers voted against the bill, while two smaller left-wing parties gave partial backing to the legislation. — Associated Press
LIFE &TIMES
January 23, 2005
Rex Murphy
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Paul Daly/The Independent
‘Survival of the culture’ Rex Murphy questions whether Newfoundland and Labrador can ‘maintain’ itself From page 1 “One of the major things that was going on in the reaction to the Wente column, it was a stand-in for something,” he says. “I think the fight that occurred in the past couple of weeks kind of speaks to the uncertainty of something really central. “I’m speaking in the long-term and survival of the culture. Is this province as we know it, and I haven’t left in that sense, is that province of ours going to maintain itself? That’s the crucial question in the minds of Newfoundlanders I’m sure — it has nothing to do with politics.” Since the “savage calamity” of the 1992 northern cod moratorium, Murphy points out, things have changed, to a degree few outside the province — and not everyone within — has grasped. The disintegration of so many of the outport communities as economic, living, and imaginative centres, he says, is tearing apart the very essence of what makes the province what it is. “Newfoundland culture is built up of the dynamic between the two or three cities we have, and the outport tradition and history,” Murphy says. “If you amputate the outport element and the cultural element associated with the fishery, you lose that
invisible chemistry that gives (New- tance of the Atlantic Accord issue, foundland and Labrador) its distinc- and is modestly optimistic an agreetive character.” ment will be struck before long. Throughout its history, and contin“Now that both sides know how uing through the current and ongoing much passion is into this thing … fight for survival, Murphy says his that most parties see that this runs home province has always occupied really deep, and there’s no merit in a larger space in the collective Cana- extending a division for the sake of a dian mind than its population would division … We just can’t go on with suggest. “We do have more of a pres- this perpetual deficiency of resources ence somehow,” perhaps because that leave us have-not, I think, by Newfoundland was the last to join structure.” Canada, perhaps because of its physHe brushes off talk of separation, ical isolation, perhaps because its saying he doesn’t see, or hear, any first premier, and so substantial dissent many Newfoundland with the idea of Conpoliticians since federation. Granted, Joey Smallwood, “It’s the fragility of, the Newfoundland have been larger government has as we perceive, the than life. always had its fights future, that’s made Murphy says the with the feds, and the “very capable” curpartnership has alpeople so sensitive rent premier, Danny when other people give ways been, and is Williams, displays going to continue to us an awful smack.” be, messy at times. some of the in-yourface traits of his pre“It is worth assert— Rex Murphy decessors. ing our presence in Murphy makes no terms of revenue. I secret of his thoughts do think Churchill on the recent flag flap. Hauling down Falls has been sitting there, simmerthe Canadian flag, he says, might not ing, longer than anyone wants to have been the right move, and ran the acknowledge, even though there’s risk of turning an argument over one been promise after promise to update particular issue into a slight against the agreement or at least get the all Canadians. lower Churchill development, so that But he does recognize the impor- it, in its fairness, can start to bring us
in. “With a more grim determination to seek things out with more consistency we may not be here.” Although “the damn Newfie joke is alive and well in certain minds,” Murphy believes the people of the province have risen above it, thanks to strength of personality, and an even better sense of humour. “Newfoundlanders, I like to say it this way, can take care of themselves.” That all winds back to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians and their fight to keep their culture alive. “What has inflected Newfoundland since the beginning is the oscillation of this outside-the-city culture with the inside, and that dynamic — look at the dictionary of Newfoundland English: that’s a map of our imaginative terrain. “It’s the fragility of, as we perceive, the future, that’s made people so sensitive when other people give us an awful smack.” Thinking back on the furore around the Wente column, he offers his final word. “If there is a feature of this that gives me some optimism, it’s that Newfoundlanders still seem to want to stand up and make clear that they have their dignity and they like where they live.”
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LIFE & TIMES
The Independent, January 23, 2005
‘Great hardships’ Tidal Wave lists statements of damage from 1929 Burin Peninsula tsunami
By Clare-Marie Gosse The Independent
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here’s something about cold, hard facts when dealing with a tragedy. They often speak louder than any narrative, and shock in their simplicity. This man lost his wife and three children in the disaster: Surviving children and also the father were supplied with clothing. That excerpt is taken from Garry Cranford’s book Tidal Wave, published in 2000, documenting the disastrous 1929 tsunami that struck the Burin Peninsula. The book, which was to inspire Maura Hanrahan’s provincial best-seller Tsunami: The Newfoundland Tidal Wave Disaster, is unusual in format, compiled almost completely from statements of damage for compensation by up to 800 families throughout the 50 affected communities. Two and a half hours after a major earthquake rippled under the Grand Banks on Nov. 18, 1929, a giant wall of water assaulted the southern end of the Burin Peninsula, carrying away houses, livelihoods and people. Although only 29 deaths resulted from the event — tiny in comparison to the recent disaster in southeast Asia — the long-term effects were enormous and no less heart wrenching. At a time when worldly goods were stored at home, particularly at the beginning of the winter in terms of food supplies, the extent of loss is blatant when laid out in black and white in Tidal Wave. “My idea of doing that book five years ago was to generate discussion among survivors and their families,” Cranford tells The Independent, “and if they hadn’t written down their accounts, to write them down.” In 1996, Cranford began researching the events surrounding the Newfoundland tsunami for a book he hoped to have published by the 70th anniversary of the disaster in 1999. But as the owner of the gradually expanding publish-
ing company, Flanker Press, work commitments and other assignments started to take up his time. One particular job, commissioned to him by the Senior’s Resource Centre in St. John’s, involved interviewing seniors across the province about their life experiences. Cranford took the opportunity, while covering the Burin Peninsula, to ask about the tidal wave. He discovered details of “the biggest story” never written.
“My idea of doing that book five years ago was to generate discussion among survivors and their families and if they hadn’t written down their accounts, to write them down.” — Garry Cranford With the help of a full-time researcher who pored over 24 boxes of documents from the South Coast Disaster Committee — set up as aid for the survivors in 1929 — Cranford began realizing the facts were powerfully important. “I said, OK, later on I’m going to write a book on the tidal wave, but in the meantime, I felt if I compiled all this information … it would trigger people’s memories and people in here could contact me for my later project, and to a certain extent that certainly did happen.” Tidal Wave was published in time for the 70th anniversary and Cranford embarked on an application for funding for the next five years to allow time to collect written accounts and conduct extensive interviews, with a view to publishing a more personal book for the 75th anniversary. When the proposal for funding fell through he had to admit defeat and turned his attention full-force on his publishing business, shelving the many interviews already
collected. Then in 2003, author Maura Hanrahan, who had family connections from the Burin Peninsula, published her novel Doryman with Flanker, giving Cranford an idea. “Early last year I said to Maura, ‘Look I have all of these files, these interviews I’ve done with people. In the fall is the 75th anniversary of the tidal wave, it needs to be done … how would you like to look through the files and see if you’d be interested in writing a narrative?’ And so the rest is history.” Tsunami: The Newfoundland Tidal Wave Disaster was published in September, 2004, and immediately sold out two printings. Just after Flanker had ordered a third round before Christmas, the giant tsunami tragically struck overseas on Dec. 26, directing even stronger attention towards the book. “When Maura originally submitted the manuscript it was called Tempest and sort of at the last minute we were toying with that, and we thought no, that’s not it … and I started coming around to using the word tsunami.” Ironically, up until Boxing Day most people didn’t know how to pronounce the word, or in many cases, what it even meant. Fundraising and aid work has since been a focus towards helping rebuild the shattered coastal areas in Asia and Africa. Similar tireless commitment to helping the devastated families back in 1929 is clear through reports from the South Coast Disaster Committee, documented in Tidal Wave, as members tried to distribute fair relief based on individual need: This man lost his wife and three children in the disaster, as well as his property, and since then has been badly depressed in mind and affected by his great hardships. The Committee feels that every effort should be made to domicile him and for this purpose an expenditure of $1,000.00 should be made … (page xvii of Tidal Wave by Garry Cranford)
Excerpt from the book Tidal Wave, a list of victims and survivors of the 1929 Newfoundland tsunami, which struck the Burin Peninsula. Rennie, Patrick 38, widower; Albert, 14; Martin, 11; Margaret, 4. Claim of loss Large dory 60.00 50 imperial gallons salt 2.50 barrel turnips 1.50 barrel flour 5.00 10 lbs. beef 2.00 4 gallons molasses 3.20 10 lbs. butter 3.50 2 lbs tea 2.40 Other provisions in house 40.00 Ton coal 6.00 Damage to dwelling 500.00 Damage to bedding 50.00} Household effects 20.00} Damage to stove 18.80} Clothing 70.00 Spark coil 6.50 791.40
Compensation 60.00 500.00 {100.00} 6.00 666.00
The Independent, January 23, 2005
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LIFE & TIMES
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On with the show this is it
ever a dull moment around here. Last week’s debut broadcast of Hatching, Matching and Dispatching is part of a pretty dumb contest run by the geniuses at CBC-TV HQ. As most readers likely know, the locally produced comedy was the last in a trinity of pilots aired in January by CBC, a glittering showcase of potential offerings. The popularity contest angle isn’t new. Ever since American/ Canadian Idol turned the primetime experience into an interactive playground, even the national public broadcaster has been pitching to the common denominator, otherwise known as the viewing public. Indeed, following commercial marketing trends, CBC has been opening itself up more and more to viewer feedback, practically begging audiences to watch and then register their opinion on anything from the merits of three new comedies to whether Max the Dog was the best character on a holiday special. Like so many other websites today, the CBC’s cyber pages beckon browsers to count themselves in. We might not be earning those nice fat salaries the senior programming executives are making in Toronto, but we will presumably have a large say about what goes to air. As the website threatens even now, “your feedback will help us decide the next comedy special on CBC Television.” Is this such a good idea? If the only measure of a show’s success were high ratings, then television would be littered with fear factoring contestants devouring worms and swimming in urine. Sometimes the viewing public really doesn’t know what’s good for it. That’s why a public broadcaster should aim higher, have the confidence to make sound programming decisions based on quality and not enslave itself to the tyranny of popularity. The creators of Hatching, Matching and Dispatching (HMD) had no choice but to throw the show on the mercy of Canadians. The comedy followed two other new productions: Walter Ego and Getting Along Famously. As with job interviews and good sex, it’s always best to go last and HMD had the fortuitous advantage of perfect positioning. By mid-January, most viewers were back at work, the distracting excesses of the holiday season were well behind us and it was time to recommit to the rituals of evening television. Soon enough, audiences woke up to the CBC popularity contest and so by the time the third show aired everyone well knew the game and how to
Rick Boland and Mary Walsh on location for the filming of Hatching, Matching and Dispatching.
Standing Room Only NOREEN GOLFMAN play it. Moreover, the third slot allowed for more promotion time. Not surprisingly, HMD drew a lot of attention. Where Walter Ego has a clever conceit if a tepid execution, and Getting Along Famously boasts high production values and some limited ’50s retro appeal, HMD is original, observant, and outrageous. Produced by Mary Sexton and directed by Mary Walsh, the show is a wickedly dark exercise in comic mischief. In the matriarchal role of Mamesanne Furey, Walsh runs an outport ambulance-weddingfuneral service business, a set-up that provides rich opportunities for a wacky confluence of body jokes, graveside humour, and wedding mayhem. UNABASHEDLY FUNNY Walsh is uncannily, unabashedly funny in the role — whether spitting profanity, hurling abuse, smacking her children up the side of the head, propping up the neighbours in their time of need/grief/joy, or gossiping with a frightening familiarity. The rest of the ensemble cast (Rick Boland, Jonny Harris, Joel Hynes, Sue Kent, Shaun Majum-
der, Mark McKinney, Sherry White) is pretty impressive, too, each swiftly claiming an identity as strong and memorable as the characters they evoke: the cynical gravedigger, the uptight husband, the kinky daughter, and so on. Well, you know that in addition to the Rest-of-Canadians, Newfoundlanders from St John’s to Fort McMurray were perched in front of their flat screens, one hand on the remote and another on either the keyboard or the phone pad, ready to vote early and often in favour of this fresh and reliably irreverent Newfoundland comedy. After all, the track record of authority-bashing boundary-pushing comedy is stunning: CODCO, Gullages, Dooley Gardens, This Hour has 22 Minutes, Made in Canada, Rick Mercer, and let’s not forget CBC Radio’s listenerapproved The Great Eastern. Of course, everyone was going to like HMD. Well, not quite everyone. As of the writing of this column, CBC has been flooded with thousands of e-mails and phone calls, only a relative handful of which have been negative. Over coffee and cigarettes in bars and at work breaks, everyone has been talking — do you believe the way Mary Walsh looked? Didn’t you love the bit about the licenses? Do you believe they were screwing in a coffin? They even did jokes about the blind! But over on VOCM, the pri-
vately owned radio network, that bastion of the common folk, bastion of common this and common that, if not common sense, the phone-in callers were going ballistic. You’d think that HMD stood for Humour of Mass Destruction, because the persistently loud, noisy, angry and vociferous com-
It actually serves the Margaret Wentes of the world for us to be worried about this stuff. Her racist-inflected stereotyping does not come from watching Newfoundland-based CBC comedies … it comes from her own widely shared ignorance, her myopic understanding of places outside the 416 area code … plaint was that HMD portrayed Newfoundlanders as a bunch of Margaret Wente-defined morons, and therefore the show was a harmful travesty, an embarrassment, evidence for mainland stereotypers. Perhaps understandably bruised black and blue from Wente’s almost comically idiotic tirade in the Globe and Mail, still
Paul Daly/The Independent
nursing wounds as big as Mississauga, caller after caller railed against the show’s (mis)representation of Newfoundlanders. This passionate reaction, one of paranoia, insecurity, and defensiveness, is both interesting and stupid. It actually serves the Margaret Wentes of the world for us to be worried about this stuff. Her racist-inflected stereotyping does not come from watching Newfoundland-based CBC comedies, goddammit: it comes from her own widely shared ignorance, her myopic understanding of places outside the 416 area code, her chattering-class blathering at Toronto dinner tables, her complete and utter indifference, finally, to this province, its culture and its history. And so to think for a moment that a brilliantly subversive comedy like HMD actually fuels her stupidity is, sadly, a sign of a pathetic ignorance itself. Come on. It is because of a CODCO and a 22 Minutes, because of Mary Walsh’s compulsively aggressive refusal to be mainstream, her shrewd recycling and transformation of those stereotypes that local culture has achieved such rich cultural capital. Let’s stop worrying about what a Margaret Wente thinks of us, and just get on with the show. Noreen Golfman is a professor of literature and women’s studies at Memorial. Her next column appears Feb. 6.
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The Independent, January 23, 2005
A cold-weather alert was issued. “When that happens, every social service agency is on alert,” Gardener says. “When someone asks for shelter and it’s a reasonable temperature outside we can say we don’t have enough beds and offer to find a place for them somewhere else. If there’s a cold-weather alert we have to give them a mat if there’s no bed. We have to make sure they are not outside in the cold.” Outreach teams from various agencies, including Covenant House, hit the streets with coffee, hot chocolate and blankets to try and convince the homeless to come inside. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. “If you are of sound mind and have an opportunity to go into a shelter or somewhere dry and warm you are more likely to choose that,” Gardner says. “But if you have mental health problems, are an alcoholic or drug addict, there isn’t as much rationale. Those are typically the people who die on the streets. It’s very sad. You can’t get used to that.” Gardner sees a lot of scared, hungry kids who have left their homes for various reasons. Sometimes the job is personal — a slight accent, or a last name that tips her off a person is from home. “We get kids from Newfoundland,” she says. “They come up here thinking they are going to have it made Photo by Andy Clark/Reuters A homeless man uses an umbrella to protect himself from falling and melting ice in Toronto's financial district. and then reality hits.” Her most poignant moment came when a male prostitute about 16 years old (not from Newfoundland) came in after being assaulted. The boy described what had happened and Gardner was shocked. “He was picked up by a man driving a vehicle that had a baby seat in the back,” she says, still horrified. “This family man picked up a lost kid, paid him for five minutes, and had a baby seat in the car. That image has CORNER BROOK use the bank machine because it would have lived in the Ontario city since 1991. Seeing always stayed with me.” By Connie Boland meant stepping over her. I was just standing people sleeping on the streets, in porches, on That’s probably why she and thousands For The Independent there and I didn’t know what to do. I was park benches or over subway grates is some- other shelter staff and volunteers continue to scared and I was sad. I didn’t know if she thing she’s never gotten used to. help the homeless. “I like the quote that “I’m always sad by it,” she says. he person huddled beneath the well- was alive or dead.” Mohammad Ali always says, ‘Service is the This past week the worn sleeping bag could be asleep — Gardner retrieved her money, walked price we pay for our or dead. Sometimes it’s hard to tell. home and told her two Newfoundland-born city was gripped by a rent here on earth,’” “We get kids from Stacy Gardner wasn’t in Toronto long roommates what had happened. “We made cold snap that sent temsays Gardner, who’s Newfoundland. They come also a writer. “I feel before she encountered her first homeless a pot of goulash, put a bag of fruit and drinks peratures plummeting person. The memory is as fresh as the day it together, tossed in some silverware because to -34 C and put lives that even though my up here thinking they are happened. we didn’t have any plastic utensils and at risk. Experts advise interests often go into going to have it made that at those extreme “When I first moved to Toronto I was walked back and gave to her,” she says. different ideas and difand then reality hits.” completely naive about a million things,” “The woman kept saying ‘No, no no …’ temperatures exposed ferent fields, my comthe former Corner Brook resident tells The She was in her 60s. I thought this could be skin can become frostmitment to helping will — Stacy Gardner Independent. “One night, I was coming my Nan. This is somebody’s mom or grand- bitten in as little as 10 be innately part of who minutes. Some people home off the subway and I stopped at a bank mother.” I am and what I like to machine. I guess it was November. Now a youth worker with Covenant living on the streets sought refuge in shel- do. If eventually it comes to where I am no “A woman was sleeping in the bank House, a shelter for teenagers on Yonge ters. Others huddled under blankets, waited longer doing it as a job I’m sure I will someporch. I didn’t know if I should go in and Street in downtown Toronto, Gardner has and hoped. how do it as a volunteer.”
‘I’m always sad by it’ Corner Brook-native helps homeless of Toronto; images are never gotten used to
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INDEPENDENT CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Barnyard mom 4 Cads 9 Tea in Toulon 12 Longtime Tory minister MacDonald 14 Betrayal 16 First Canadian to swim English Channel (1951): Winnie ___ Leuszler 19 Had something 20 Mario Bernardi, e.g. 21 Extreme 22 Where epidemics killed 5200 Irish immigrants (19th c.): Grosse-___, Que. 23 Come into one’s own 25 Uncouth 27 Regatta blade 28 Of the flock 30 Like some red wines 31 About: prefix 32 Mystical character 33 Kind of ending to trauma 35 Reunion attendee 37 Dorm 38 Its capital is Kathmandu 40 ATM request 41 Macaques 45 Unit of energy 46 Carthage’s country 50 Electronic-point-of-sale 51 Annoy 53 Gush 55 Einstein’s birthplace 56 Society newbie (esp. U.S.) 57 Normandy city of WWII fame 59 Lustful look 60 Milieu of terns and erns
Solutions on page 26
61 Fury 62 Victoria’s Empress 64 Feline foot 65 Closed 66 City originally named Fort Brisbois 68 Contingencies 70 Raw fish dish 73 Shakespearean commotion 74 Mediterranean island 76 Formerly 77 Short-lived 80 General idea 84 Good Hope ___, B.C. 85 Late in Limoges 86 Hot flower 87 Pierre’s papa 89 Eggs 90 Plural of locus 91 Dave of the Rheostatics 93 Kitty pop 94 Ball star 96 Animate 98 Theatrical drop 100 Tearjerker 101 Late afternoon, in England 102 Like snowmobiles 103 Nanny’s baby 104 Dane’s neighbour 105 Sock end DOWN 1 Cirque du ___ 2 It may have a silver lining 3 Use hip boots, perhaps 4 Listen (lit.) 5 Poem of lamentation
6 If all ___ fails ... 7 Building parcel 8 Like Dali’s art 9 Yukon tourist slogan: Canada’s ___ North 10 Whole: comb. form 11 Give the cook a break 12 Get an F 13 Fragrant flower 14 Sling mud 15 They may be guided 17 Whooping ___ 18 Fast starter of fable 24 Shy or timid 26 Argument 29 Stoppers 31 Beach in Bretagne 32 Rajah’s wife 34 Date 35 It connected B.C. to eastern Canada (19th c.) 36 Westray victim 39 “___! A mouse!” 41 Battlefield doc 42 La Scala production 43 Famed prize giver 44 Like many a stream bed 46 Author of A Complicated Kindness (2004 GG) 47 Japanese snack 48 Intestine section 49 Fine fiddle 52 Fish eggs 54 Provincial rep. 57 Elm’s offering 58 Glenn Gould’s hometown 63 B.C./N.W.T. river 64 Vancouver time 65 Wool bearer
67 Video ___ 69 Pilot 71 Kofi ___ 72 Dry, to an oenophile 74 U.S. military corps 75 University community 77 Expert 78 First premier of Nunavut
79 Be silent (mus.) 81 Flock description 82 “Bay Boy” writer/director 83 Les ___ mousquetaires 84 Apple variety 86 Enraged 88 U.S. TV award 90 Advance
91 Nip 92 Is not 95 French law 97 Canadian P.M. of Great Britain (1922) 99 Dove sound
SPORTS
January 23, 2005
Derm Dobbin, owner of the Fog Devils.
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Paul Daly/The Independent
Devil in the detail Fog Devils still don’t know what St. John’s will charge for lease of Mile One, although Mooseheads pay $500,000 a year for 10,000-seat Metro Centre in Halifax By Darcy MacRae For The Independent
I
t’s a stressful time for the St. John’s Fog Devils. The city’s newest hockey team has yet to play a game in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, but it’s already involved in its first scuffle. The club is working toward securing a lease to play out of the city-owned Mile One Stadium. Both sides want to complete a deal soon, but neither can say when a lease will finally be worked out. The situation leaves Fog Devils’ owner Derm Dobbin frustrated. “We’re disappointed that it’s taken as long as it has,” Dobbin tells The Independent. “I wish we had been able to conclude these negotiations and move on to establishing the team. But it’s difficult to do that with this cloud hanging over us.” Dobbin was awarded the major junior franchise on Dec. 1 and hoped to have a deal with Mile One completed quickly. He envisioned getting a lease signed, sealed and delivered as soon as possible so he could move on to other aspects of running the team. “It’s very difficult to finalize anything until you know where your home is going to be,” says Dobbin. “It affects everything — scouting, designing a logo and jerseys, getting ready for training camp. We should be talking to our corporate sponsors, but we can’t do that either. We can’t do any of that until we get a lease in place.” Communication with Mile One has not gone as smoothly as Dobbin would
have liked. It’s not that there’s animos- the end, they came away with a deal in ity between the two groups over the which they pay $500,000 a year to play competition they had for the franchise out of the 10,000 seat stadium. in the fall, but a case of bad timing. The yet-to-be named Saint John franWhile Dobbin has been trying to chise (which will join the Fog Devils as secure a lease at Mile One, St. John’s a Q expansion team this fall) just comcity officials have had their plate full pleted a deal costing $350,000 a season with several other business matters. to play out of Harbour Station. While “There’s a lot of activity taking place neither agreement can be expected to at City Hall. They were into union suit all the needs of both the Fog Devnegotiations (with employees of Mile ils and Mile One, the similarities in the One Stadium) and they’re into bud- size, population and quality of hockey getary works, plus facilities in these three Christmas came into cities indicate a similar play,” says Dobbin. deal could work in St. “We’re having diffi- “We should be talking John’s. culty getting responses “Saint John is a great to our corporate back as fast as we’d comparison for us like to. As a result, it’s because their demosponsors, but we going on longer than I graphics are exactly the can’t …We can’t do same as ours,” Dobbin wish it had.” City councillor and any of that until we says. “The city is about St. John’s Sports and the same size as ours, get a lease in place.” the facility they will Entertainment chairperson Keith Coombs play out of is on par — Derm Dobbin agrees it’s been a hecwith Mile One.” tic fall and winter. “It While most of the wasn’t the greatest of stadiums used by Martimes to get things in order.” itime teams currently playing in the Q Now that both sides have each are fairly new and include many modother’s undivided attention, they say ern luxuries, few match Mile One. The it’s time to get the lease done. While crown jewel of downtown St. John’s is neither side is comfortable discussing a 6,000 seat, state-of-the-art facility specific dollar amounts at this time, that includes a concourse pub, an inrecent transactions in the Quebec house restaurant, 35 corporate suites League indicate the type of deal that and a 6,000-square-foot dressing room could develop between the two. for the home team. While these qualiThe Halifax Mooseheads recently ties make a game experience enjoyable endured a nasty public dispute with for both players and fans, they are also Halifax city councillors during lease factors of negotiation when a lease for negotiations with the Metro Centre. In the stadium is under debate.
“You have a lot of different issues at different buildings. You have the number of staff it would take to operate at a game, the size of the rink and luxury suites,” says Paul MacDonald, president of the Quebec League’s Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. “At Mile One, it will be as modern a building as we’re going to have in the league and with that the different amenities will come into play.” MacDonald’s counterpart with the Halifax Mooseheads, Kevin Cameron, agrees that each building presents its own set of circumstances. However, he feels there is one rule that applies to most teams. “Generally, the bigger the capacity, the more you are apt to pay,” Cameron says. While there are many factors to discuss and investigate before a deal is signed to put the Fog Devils in Mile One, both sides are confident an agreement will eventually be worked out. The days of Dobbin pondering moving the team to Corner Brook appear to be over, as does any chance of another team setting up shop at the city’s premier stadium (the Quebec-based North American Hockey League expressed interest in icing a team in St. John’s late last fall). “Both parties are basically charting new ground. Mr. Dobbin has never been involved with hockey and we’ve never been in a situation where we had to lease Mile One,” says Coombs. “Both sides want the Fog Devils playing out of Mile One.” Darcy_8888@hotmail.com
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SPORTS
The Independent, January 23, 2005
English brings spark to Flame C
Solutions from page 24
arl English has been on fire recently in the National Basketball Developmental League. Playing for the Florida Flame, the six-foot, fiveinch native of Patrick’s Cove on the Cape Shore is averaging 15.6 points, four rebounds and three assists per game. He’s been coming off the bench of late, but his production has soared nonetheless. In fact, he holds the team lead for single-game highs in points (28) and steals (five). Now if he could only follow in the path of former Florida teammate Smush Parker, who was called up to a 10-day contract with the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. Parker was only with Florida for a short while after starting the season with the defending champion Detroit Pistons, who cut him loose last month. Such is the life of a player in the developmental league, where bus travel and meager pay (compared to NBA salaries) are the reality. At the same time, private jets and a substantial jump in wages are only a few breaks or bounces away in the NBA. English could be making more by playing in Europe, but a call-up to the NBA is all but out of the question if he’s playing overseas. A few months ago, I opined that English would be better off play-
Bob the Bayman BOB WHITE ing for bigger dough in Europe. I was wrong. At this point in his career, he just needs to be given a chance, and the only way he will be given one in the NBA is if he can show scouts that he has what it takes to be an NBA player. He has to be seen, and the developmental league is more easily scouted because it’s based in America.
English could be making more in Europe, but a call up to the NBA is all but out of the question if he’s playing overseas English is also playing under the tutelage of former Boston Celtics great Dennis Johnson, head coach of the Flame. As a huge Celtics fan growing up, I’m sure DJ can help English in his
quest to make an NBA roster by imparting his knowledge onto English and by virtue of his contacts throughout the league. Johnson is regarded as one of the best defensive players in the history of the league, and it seems that every young player looking to break into the big league needs to improve on defense. English has the offensive tools — especially an accurate shot from long range. If he can show scouts he has the ability to stop opposing shooters, it will only bolster his chances of playing in Da League. Rafer Alston, the current starting point guard for the Toronto Raptors, bounced around in the developmental league for a few seasons before he hooked on in the NBA. Always a talented offensive player, the knock on Alston was that he was a defensive liability and it was only when he added that strength to his game (through toiling in the developmental league) that he made the jump to become a legitimate NBA player. So Carl, keep plugging away, man. Hopefully sooner, rather than later, you’ll get your chance. ••• Smush Parker was summoned to the Suns because of recent injuries to Canada’s Steve Nash and Brazilian Leandro Barbosa, the team’s two point guards. A couple of columns ago I wrote how nice it would be to see Nash win the league MVP title. Although I really feel he’s deserving of the honour, his worthiness for the award has been strengthened, oddly enough, while he sits on the sidelines. Without Nash to guide the offence, Phoenix struggled mightily, indicating the team needs the league’s top playmaker on the court to be firing on all cylinders. Nash’s game is based on his outstanding ability to get his teammates open shots and easy buckets. In my humble opinion, he’s the best point guard in the league. He also knows how to score, and is a deadly shooter from deep, meaning opposing point guards not only have to
Justin Kase Conder/Icon SMI
Carl English played with the Hawaii Rainbows in college.
worry about stopping Nash’s penetration to set up his teammates, they also have to honour his shooting ability. That double-threat — coupled with the great athletes Phoenix has on its roster — has made the Suns one of the league’s elite teams. If Nash comes back and restores Phoenix’s winning ways, his candidacy for MVP should no longer be in doubt. It might be a bit of a stretch to think the American media would vote for a Canuck as MVP, but if
you look at his numbers (15 points, 3.1 rebounds and a leagueleading 11 assists per game), Nash deserves the award as much as any player this year. If the award is not a popularity vote, and in fact goes to the player who means the most to his team, Nash’s absence during the past week or so speaks volumes to his value with the Suns. Bobby White writes from Carbonear. whitebobby@yahoo.com
The Independent, January 23, 2005
COMMENT
Page 27
Time they washed their mouths out Dare we hope that political discourse will rise out of the gutter whenever Atlantic Canada is at issue in some controversial way?
Editor’s note: This column first appeared in the Jan. 19 edition of the Halifax-based Chronicle Herald. By Ralph Surette
A
s unwise and irritating as the Danny Williams flag caper was, there’s something in the backwash of it that’s even more grating: once again, a certain ugly attitude of putdown and snobbery towards Atlantic Canada has erupted, and in one of its usual places — The Globe and Mail. I thought that stuff was dying out, or at least drifting down from the peak it reached following the 1997 federal election when we had the spitting nerve to “bite the hand that feeds us” by sending the Liberal party packing and knocking off heavyweight cabinet ministers David Dingwall in Nova Scotia and Doug Young in New Brunswick, and then refusing to be sorry. Maybe the fact that they’ve got it mostly narrowed down to Newfoundland and Labrador this time is a sign that it’s declining, but you wouldn’t know it from the tone of voice. In the now-famous column by The Globe’s most upfront columnist, Margaret Wente, Newfoundland, a “scenic welfare ghetto,” had an “unmatched sense of victimhood,” its premier like a “deadbeat brotherin-law” always after Toronto’s hard-earned money. And so on. If this was just one column out of the blue, it would be no big deal. After all, newspaper columnists are expected to stir the pot, and being outrageous is within bounds. The problem is that it fits too neatly into a pattern. I’m not talking here about the ins and outs of what Atlantic Canada gets or doesn’t get, which is a legitimate debate. I’m talking about a patronizingly insulting form of political speech that rose with the advent of neo-conservative thinking, and for a while spewed from the right-wing think tanks, the Canadian Alliance party (Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, formerly of the CA, was still trying to live down comments of that nature during the last federal
Paul Daly/The Independent
Brian Tobin was once admonished in a Globe and Mail editorial to “take a Valium and call Inco in the morning, preferably in a more reasonable state of mind.”
election), and from The Globe and Mail editorials and certain columnists and journalists. After that 1997 election, the B.C.-based Fraser Institute put out a report characterizing Atlantic Canadians as “wards of the state,” “dependent,” “will always be seen as second-class citizens,” and more. Then in 2000, Canadian Alliance strate-
gist John Mykytyshyn pretty well declared that the problem with Atlantic Canadians is that they’re lazy vote peddlers, and started a firestorm. With regard to The Globe, which otherwise does a creditable job as a national newspaper, a number of its offerings over time still stick in my craw, notably a statement by a business reporter who described
the Atlantic Vision conference in Moncton in the fall of 1997 as an attempt by the region to “lift itself out of the muck.” And when then-Newfoundland premier Brian Tobin insisted that nickel giant Inco process more nickel in the province from the huge Voisey’s Bay deposit, Tobin was admonished in an editorial to “take a Valium and call Inco in the morning, preferably in a more reasonable state of mind.” Yet what really got me chewing nails was whenever the subject of Frank McKenna came up. Ever since he left office a halfdozen years ago, the former New Brunswick premier, being a corporate board kind of guy, has been a hero of The Globe and Mail editorial board, although not of anyone I know in Atlantic Canada. Whenever his name came up, there was always this drumbeat in favour of him joining federal Liberals and, among other things, becoming the “czar” of Atlantic Canada to set things right. The very point of that 1997 election is that we dumped the “czars” — and not, by the way, because they cut EI (which was an issue only in a few ridings), but because we were fed up with their lies and manipulations. It’s more than galling to have the same voices that call us backward and dependent wanting us, in fact, to be backward and dependent. There was an interesting second thought, however, that appeared in The Globe. Columnist Jeffrey Simpson, more national in scope than his Toronto- and Ottawabound colleagues, took Williams to task, but also said this: the flag gesture “opened the doors to gross attacks against the province of the kind usually found in British Fleet Street rags such as the Daily Express and the Sun when they rail against continental Europeans.” I presume that includes the Wente column. Dare we hope that political discourse will rise out of the gutter whenever Atlantic Canada is at issue in some controversial way? Ralph Surette is a Nova Scotia journalist living in Yarmouth County.
Events JANUARY 23 • Evening of Burlesque, Neighbourhood Dance Works, LSPU Hall, a night of song and dance, comedy and fun, 8 p.m., $15 (adult entertainment), 753-4531. January 23 • Introduction to meditation: The St. John’s Shambhala Group offers an opportunity to learn about meditation and how to meditate at a free introductory program, 9:30 a.m.– 4 p.m., Memorial University, physical education building, Room 1008, St. John’s, 753-5156. JANUARY 24 • Open mic with Damien Follett, Greensleeves, George St., 10 p.m., 579-1070. • Open mic with Jim Bellows, Fat Cat Blues and Jazz Bar, George St., 739-5554. • The St. John’s annual library book sale continues until Jan. 29
at the Michael Donovan Library, Marjorie Mews Library and A.C. Hunter Library. New titles added to sales display daily. Hardcover and trade paperbacks will be $1 each and other paperbacks will sell for 25 cents. • Labrador West Craft Guild annual general meeting and election of officers, Wabush Recreation Centre, Wabush, 8 p.m., 9443091. • Newfoundland and Labrador Organization of Women Entrepreneurs (NLOWE) public speaking workshop, College of the North Atlantic, Carbonear, 9 a.m.-noon, 754-5555. JANUARY 26 • Ed Riche will talk about his book The Nine Planets, 7:30 p.m., A.C. Hunter Library in the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre. Free admission. • NOIA’s annual general meet-
ing and awards night, featuring keynote speaker Ruud Zoon. Presentation of NOIA’s 2005 outstanding contribution award to Bernard Collins, 6 p.m., The Fairmont Newfoundland, St. John’s.
JANUARY 28 • Jim Payne, Rabbittown Theatre, with special guest Oddly Enough. All net proceeds got to the Community Food Sharing Association, 7 p.m., 739-8220.
JANUARY 27 • Cherry Docs by Canadian playwright David Gow. Featuring Neil Butler and Brad Hodder. Masonic Temple 8 p.m. $15, Jan. 27-Feb. 6. Pay-what-you-can Sunday matinees, 2 p.m. • Family Literacy Day: Mary Fearon will share stories for preschoolers at Michael Donovan Library, St. John’s, 10:30 a.m. At 3:30 p.m., she will present a storytelling program for school age children at the A.C. Hunter Children’s Library in the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre. At 3:45 p.m., Mr. Wizard will visit Marjorie Mews Library to entertain school-aged children.
JANUARY 30 • Book signing with Ron and Lila Young, the Downhomer Shoppe & Gallery, 303 Water St., 1-3 p.m. Copies of their newest book, Tonic for the Woman’s Soul will be available, as well as previous best sellers, 722-2970. • The St. John’s Folk Art Council presents the fourth annual Young Folk At The Hall concert, 2 p.m., $10/$6, at the LSPU Hall, St. John’s, 753-4531. IN THE GALLERIES • Works on Paper , James Baird Gallery, 221 Duckworth St, until Jan. 30. Work by Sid Butt, Orlin
Mantchev, Otis Tamasaukas, Monica Alder and more, 722-4502. • Artists Paint the Blues, 121 Long’s Hill, Cynthia I. Noel Art Gallery, until Jan. 30. Work by Cynthia I. Noel, Leona Ottenheimer, Joan Blackmore Thistle and George Adamcik. Drop by and watch one of these artists painting, 2-4 p.m., 754-5560. • Artworks by Gerald and Esther Squires and others, Gerald Squires Fine Art Gallery, 52 Prescott St. Open by chance or appointment, 579-3814. • The Healing Garden group exhibition, Craft Council Gallery, Devon House, 59 Duckworth St., St. John’s,. Jan. 23 – Feb. 25. Opening reception Jan. 23, 2 – 4 p.m. Playing Dress Up, by Lori Doody, opens the same time in the Craft Council’s Annex gallery. • Landscape: New Perspectives opens Jan. 30 at the RCA Gallery, LSPU Hall, St. John’s.